William Faulkners A Rose for Emily Essay -- A Rose for Emily, William

William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily In the story â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, William Faulkner, the author talks about a life of a woman and the town she lived in. The story begins just when miss Emily died. The author doesn’t tell us much about that time except that many people were interested to see what was in her house. As the story progresses, the author decides to jump all the way to the beginning when miss Emily was still a young woman and her father was still alive. During that time, the town felt bad for poor miss Emily and thought that she was going to die with out a husband by her side, since her father didn’t like any men that liked his daughter. Later on, the author gets to the time when her father just died. Miss Emily felt so alone that she decided to keep her dead father’s body in the house, and not let anyone take him away from her. After the neighbors kept coming to the city council and complaining about the fowl smell that was coming from miss Emily’s house, the judge sent a few men to put lime around the house to kill the smell. As the reader later finds out, the smell was coming from miss Emily’s father’s decaying body. Finely the authorities took the dead body out of the house and buried it. As the story goes on, the reader is told that the town was being renovated, streets being paved and such. With the renovators, came a young man, by the description, he was a handsome young man. The town kept talking as they always did, gossiping about miss...

Unhappy Cows – Short Essay

The California dairy Industry would like us, the consumers, to believe that their dairy cows In some mysterious way are â€Å"happy cows†. They literally use this term, thus insinuating that for some reason or another, milk from California is better. Or, perhaps they are trying to convince us that cows in other states are too â€Å"sad† to produce quality milk. However, I say this campaign is nothing but a big pile of manure. Pun intended. I have found no research supporting the claim that California cows are â€Å"happy sows†.At least, no happier than normal. In fact, Californians practices are quite the same If not Identical to any other states. It Is very sad that they use a campaign of hope and happiness when in all reality their dairy cows are mistreated just like the rest. Dairy cows endure annual cycles of artificial insemination, mechanized milking for 10 months out of each year, which includes 7 months out of the 9 months a cow may be pregnant. Cows both In California and around the nation are given hormones so hat they might produce more milk.This active and rigorous cycle overburdens the cows, thus only making them useful as dairy cows for two years. These particular cows are usually slaughtered at four years old. Dairy cows are expected to produce one calf per year per cow according to the U. S. Department of Agriculture fact sheet. Just imagine what kind of strain this must be on the animal! This would be comparative to a human running or jogging 6 hours a day, every day for a year while pregnant! Does that sound Like a happy cow to oh?Most female dairy calves are eventually put onto the milking line while most of the male calves are found to be useless and are often sold into the veal industry. Yes folks, even the calves from the â€Å"happy' California cows are sold to these kinds of industries. Hundreds of thousands of little baby calves are shoved into cages so small they can't so much as turn around until they are roughly 12 to 14 months old and then they are slaughtered for their meat; the meat that has gone tender after so many months of little to no activity.California is essentially capitalizing on American citizens ignorance of what is happening right in front of them. If people of this country would bother to read the facts, I doubt they would be supporting this ridiculous â€Å"happy cow' business. Perhaps Californians campaign should be a bit more realistic, such as the way we treat our cows will make your milk curdle'. â€Å"Farm Bill : Laws and Regulations : National Agricultural Library. † Information Centers : National Agricultural Library. US Department of Agriculture. Web. 10 Novo. 2011.

US Imperialism in the Post-9/11 International Order

The history of the world is hitherto marked by the antagonisms in the economic aspects of the society. Since the existence of hierarchical orders in societal relations in political and economic relations were conceptualized, the contradictions between and among the decisive forces in the production process have long been made brutal and more explosive than any other points in human history. Hence, the development of the capitalist mode of production and its dominance as the world's economic system gave way for the advancement of nation-states into imperialist powers of the modern world.Contradictions among the classes in the society, between the industrialized countries and industrialized versus the colonies and semi-colonies, only intensified the differences and irreconcilable economic interests of the nations. These contradictions gave way for most of the world's major catastrophic events like the First World War and the Second World War, being, in reality, war between imperialist and industrialized powers secure their insatiable interests for the control of the market.Such nature of class antagonisms reflected the exploitation and oppression that the motive forces experienced in the light of these economic restrictions in the present economic condition (Lenin 1916: IX). This essay would settle on the issues raised by the presence of the United States' vast economic, political, and social sphere of influence on most regions of the world. As the world's only remaining superpower, the United States of America, maintains its structure in presenting and directing the course of global diplomatic, military and economic affairs.US imperialist expansion would be studied in order to come up with the particular nature of the hegemony and provide necessary clarifications on the nature of imperialism, super-imperialism and inter-imperialism and if ever these terms are applicable and politically relevant in today's discussion of global relations. After the terror attacks become the focus of regional diplomatic and military roadmaps, United States role in overseas affairs became even more directed towards armed resolution of conflict as essential appendage of its imperialist hegemony (Stivachtis, 2007).Marxist analysis of the society in general and political economy in particular could mainly present the foundations of this discourse by which we would draw the explanation for such concepts of imperialism and monopoly capitalist hegemony in the economic, political, cultural and other societal structures that are essentially intertwined with this. To Marxists, â€Å"imperialism† is not simply the â€Å"trend towards expansion† or the â€Å"conquest of foreign lands,† as it is defined by most political scientists and sociologists.The word is used in a much more precise sense to describe the general changes which occurred in the political, economic and social activity of the big bourgeoisie of the advanced capitalist countries, begin ning in the last quarter of the 19th century. These changes were closely related to alterations in the basic structure of this bourgeoisie (Germain 1955). With this definition, there are still varied interpretations of imperialism even among Marxists.Vladimir Lenin's theoretical exposition on this subject has long been accepted widely after the Soviet Union molded a formidable economic and military superpower and directly/indirectly influenced the outcomes of revolutions in third world countries. The first and second world wars were the major eruption of these antagonisms and the world experienced an imperialist war over territories for the acquisition of raw materials for the industries and market for the surplus products of the capitalist western powers. A polarized global atmosphere boiled into wars that in reality, wars of expansion.The United States benefitted greatly from the war. It made the nation accumulate more neo-colonies after the defeat of the Axis powers in Europe and Asia. Hence, a conclusion can be derived from these events: the United States, after its economy faced a major crisis in the 1930's, needed war in order to boost its military industrial complex, obtain new territories as sources of industrial needs and market for overproduced goods, propel its strategic military positions overseas and contain the Soviet union's growing power and influence.Kautsky and Luxemburg, famous Marxists in Europe, clarified imperialism and presented yet another perspective on imperialist stage of the bourgeois capitalist system. Kautsky stated that imperialism is an absolute terminology to be applied to the interests of an industrial nation to expand its commercial realm by arguing that precisely an industrialized nation cannot sell all its products within industrialized nations so it has to look for nations with backward economies that do not have the technology and capacity to produce similar goods or products (Germain 1955).Cox stipulated the mechanics of how the United States was able to control foreign markets and flooded with surplus goods. He argued that the ‘Empire' dominated these backward or lagging economies through intimidation by use of the military, alliance with the local elite thus assuring an elite's government friendly, if not servile, to United States' imperialist interests (Cox 2004: 309). The reality of the economic basis of imperialist hegemony has not really subsided at the turn of the 21st century and even after the Socialist block has collapsed in the 1990's.In fact, the same contradictions n the political economy of the world, however, significant alterations have pervaded since and the resulting events are what the current United States' ruling class faces. Robert Cox noted the events which shaped the present international order as end products of centuries of societal evolutionary and revolutionary processes. First, he refreshed what French diplomacy baptized as ‘hyper-power' of the United States of America due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disintegration of a bipolar world.Second, environmental concerns have taken the center stage of international affairs because of unstable conditions in the biosphere, biotechnology and genetically modified organisms. Along with these, there is the economic dilemma which suggests that capitalism continues to contain a tendency of widening the gap between the rich and the poor; ethnic, national, religious and other reason for polarization have been reaffirmed and; the emergence of ‘irregular' activities pertained to as terrorism and other organized crime.Hence, in the light of the authority's inaction regarding these concerns, the public developed skepticism towards established institutions (Cox 2004: 318). Further delving on this particular reasons for the establishment of a new international order, Cox asserted that with all these, there must be a ‘power' holding all these things completely so that this ‘p ower' could set forth the destruction or the genesis of an established reason.This ‘power' poses a dilemma as to what nature does this power hold that even Cox tried to provide an acceptable definition. Power†¦ [Is] in a very general sense to mean whatever force can intentionally bring about change in the behavior of any of the diversity of agents in world political economy. States are obviously to be included among the agents. Military strength and the capacity for economic coercion are obviously to be included among the relevant forces.The problem is to infer from observation of what has happened what the key forces are and what agents are capable of wielding those forces (Cox 2004: 308). Current international scene is dominated by the United States but the economic and diplomatic influences are fast rescinding because of US hegemony in many aspects of world affairs. The US led war on terror and its coalition of the willing is a manifestation of an inherent crisis in a monopoly capitalist system.Military power now assumes the greatest role in preserving the existing order while its continued intervention in domestic and regional conflicts only isolates US hegemony from the collective of nations. This fragile condition of artificial harmony in a US controlled international scene radiated greater conflicts and majority of the nations initiated their independence from the economic influence of the US through the formation of a regional economic and political cooperation.The euro for example, attempted to present an alternative to the US dollar. Even if this attempt did not gain head on with the US dollar, its presence already showed that economic regionalism was developing into more stable formations and poses formidable challenge to US unilateralism (Cox 2004:314). The war on terror has unveiled the nature of US imperialism that it is an ‘Empire' that sought to expand its influence and domination wherever necessary and possible.Conflicts in th e Middle East and the terror attacks in the US re-opened the debating floors to the concerns of terrorism and the ‘dialectic' relation of ‘terrorism' and ‘war on terror'. As Robert Cox puts it: †¦terrorism is a violent reaction to ‘Empire'; and for dominant power the response to ‘terrorism' is an expansion of ‘Empire'. The two are joined in dialectic without end since the two contestants are not of the same order†¦ The physical elimination of ‘terrorists' by police and military action does not eliminate ‘terrorism'.It encourages more people to take up the role of terrorist. The only way this quagmire dialectic could end would be by transcending the conflict in a reestablished legitimacy (Cox 2004: 318). Accumulating the economic, political, cultural and ideological crisis of the United States' monopoly capitalist empire, various thinkers attempted to explain the nature of this ‘Empire'. The most common of these terminol ogies used to refer to US imperial structure are ‘super-imperialism', ‘ultra-imperialism' and ‘inter-imperialism'.Super-imperialism is more concerned with the mechanics of the economy and that evolution from classical imperialism to super-imperialism was caused by a reverse in the international scene where US surpassed its preeminent creditor status to a debtor status, hence, the worsening crisis of finance capital under the capitalist system. Ultra Imperialism is a term coined by Karl Kautsky as a theoretical conception of imperialism in the September 1914 issue of Die Neue Zeit. Kautsky articulated that capitalist could exist without wars and these industrialized nations need not to divide territories and markets rather form a cartel.Lenin quickly repudiated this assertion and stressed that ultra-imperialism understates the class antagonisms in an imperialist system and the contradictions were disregarded. Inter-imperialism on the other hand does not really offer a new conception of imperialism but only an earlier term used by Hobson to what Kautsky referred to as ultra-imperialism. In broadest sense, US imperialism maintains the exploitative conditions at present, the contradiction between and among industrial nations and between industrial nations and third world.

Free Essays on Analysis of the Letter to the Galations

Analysis of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians It is presumed that Paul’s letter to the Galatians was probably written around 55 A.D. This particular letter deals with question whether gentiles must become Jewish before they can become Christian. The problem came about when Judaizing teachers in Galatia declared that Christians not only had to have faith in Jesus Christ, but also that they were obligated to keep the Mosaic law. Paul insisted that a person only has to have faith in Christ and does not have to perform good works, ritual works, ect. According to Paul, Jesus appeared to him and told him to preach the good news to the Gentiles (Paul 264). Paul uses scripture to explain why Gentiles should not be required to be circumcised, or obey Jewish Law; however, there are no direct quotes in scripture that say this. One would wonder why Paul, someone who grew-up in a good Jewish family, would not follow in the footsteps of Jewish Christian Missionaries, and require Christian converts to become Jews first. He certainly had to fight to have his belief accepted. Paul tried to follow the example of the original apostles by converting whoever was willing to listen. He must have understood human nature better than the other apostles preaching circumcision to the gentiles. Perhaps he thought that Gentiles would accept Christianity more easily if it were natural to their lifestyle because the thought of circumcision, and strict dietary laws could scare gentiles from converting to Christianity, which would not be good (Ellis! 51-54). It seems that the "Judaziers" preached a God that was hard to please. Paul's major problem confronted in his letter to the Galatians is the preaching of the Judaziers. Apparently, men who preach circumcision and the Law had been trying to mislead the Galatians, and change their beliefs away from Paul's preaching’s (Paul 264). This angered him that the Galatians are so easily convinced. So, the l... Free Essays on Analysis of the Letter to the Galations Free Essays on Analysis of the Letter to the Galations Analysis of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians It is presumed that Paul’s letter to the Galatians was probably written around 55 A.D. This particular letter deals with question whether gentiles must become Jewish before they can become Christian. The problem came about when Judaizing teachers in Galatia declared that Christians not only had to have faith in Jesus Christ, but also that they were obligated to keep the Mosaic law. Paul insisted that a person only has to have faith in Christ and does not have to perform good works, ritual works, ect. According to Paul, Jesus appeared to him and told him to preach the good news to the Gentiles (Paul 264). Paul uses scripture to explain why Gentiles should not be required to be circumcised, or obey Jewish Law; however, there are no direct quotes in scripture that say this. One would wonder why Paul, someone who grew-up in a good Jewish family, would not follow in the footsteps of Jewish Christian Missionaries, and require Christian converts to become Jews first. He certainly had to fight to have his belief accepted. Paul tried to follow the example of the original apostles by converting whoever was willing to listen. He must have understood human nature better than the other apostles preaching circumcision to the gentiles. Perhaps he thought that Gentiles would accept Christianity more easily if it were natural to their lifestyle because the thought of circumcision, and strict dietary laws could scare gentiles from converting to Christianity, which would not be good (Ellis! 51-54). It seems that the "Judaziers" preached a God that was hard to please. Paul's major problem confronted in his letter to the Galatians is the preaching of the Judaziers. Apparently, men who preach circumcision and the Law had been trying to mislead the Galatians, and change their beliefs away from Paul's preaching’s (Paul 264). This angered him that the Galatians are so easily convinced. So, the l...

Compare and Contrast the Political Culture of Australia and Saudi Arabia

Compare and Contrast the Political Culture of Australia and Saudi Arabia Political culture represents the multidimensional model of orientation to political activities in a certain community. 1The concept of political culture is essential in explaining political actions and behavior in different nations. This study compares and contrasts the political culture of Saudi Arabia and Australia. Saudi Arabia is the largest state in the Arabian Peninsula, and most residents are Arabs.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Compare and Contrast the Political Culture of Australia and Saudi Arabia specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The country hosts Medina and Mecca, which are the holiest cities according to the IslÄ mic faith. 2On the other hand, Australia is the smallest mainland continent that lies in the southern hemisphere, and it makes up several islands in the Pacific and Indian Ocean as well as the Tasmania islands. Australia has six protectorates. Differences between the Political Culture of Aust ralia and Saudi Arabia The Australian political culture has roots in classical liberal values and British cultural traditions. Australians value the idea of rights since liberal persons believe in equality and the related aspect of limited government authority. These rights are clear in the voting process. According to the Australian political culture, voting is compulsory. The law requires all Australians to vote. The process of voter registration and turnout at polling stations is also mandatory. Australians vote by way of secret ballot and women have a right to vote. Australians have a tendency of voting for diverse political groups into authority at federal and state ranks. 3 The current leader of Australia’s federal government is John Howard. On the other hand, the political culture of Saudi Arabia has its foundations in the IslÄ mic law. This is because the modern kingdom of Saudi Arabia becomes governed by the ideals of Abdul-Aziz bin Saud. In 1902, Abdul-Aziz began efforts to capture Al-Saud and, in 1932, he succeeded. 4This led to the declaration and recognition of Saudi Arabian kingdom as an independent state. The king heads the nation and is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Besides, the king acts as the highest court of appeal because he is at the top of the legal system. The king elects a crown prince who assists him in his daily tasks. The crown must come from the royal family, and he is second to the king (Al-Rasheed, 2009). As a result, women get undermined, even in the electoral process. The electoral system of Saudi Arabia came into effect, during the 2005 election. Only men aged above 21 took part in this election, for selecting half of the municipal council members.Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Australia has a constitutional monarchy while the Saudi Arabian monarchy is absolute. The six Australian prot ectorates formed a commonwealth in 1901 and became a federation. From that time, Australia has remained a commonwealth monarchy and its political structures have liberal democratic systems. Countries with constitutional monarchies usually have a queen or king as well as a constitution that limits their powers. Queen Elizabeth II acts as the head of state in Australia. Despite that the Queen also heads the United Kingdom she has different responsibilities in each case, both in constitutional processes and law. Practically, the Queen does not have any role in the Australian political system. Rather, she acts as a figurehead and she appoints a governor-general, who represents her, under the prime minister. The queen does not interfere with daily activities of the governor-general. In other words, the governor-general represents the Queen of the British administration, although, the Queen does not supervise his activities. According to the constitution the governor-general has the power to dissolve parliament, give assent to bills, appoint ministers and judges, as well as conduct summons. Nevertheless, the rule requires the governor-general to act according to the instructions of ministers in most matters. On the other hand, the Saudi Arabian monarchy has no constitution, unions, or political parties. Also, Saudi Arabia does not have power distribution among various bodies such as the legislature, executive and judiciary. This is because the Al Saud, which is the royal family, controls the government. The totalitarian regime upholds powerful public security equipment and outlaws all unions that lack official authorization. Nevertheless the 2005 elections represented a basic step away from Saudi Arabia’s supreme monarchy. There is also a difference in Australia’s legal and judicial systems and that of Saudi Arabia. The judicial branch of government in Australia creates room for the founding of law courts in the nation as well as the appointment and di smissal of judges. Australian courts interpret all laws, together with the Constitution, and this makes the rule of law absolute. The general governor appoints the chief justice and judges who serve in these courts. The High Court acts as the supreme authority on matters relating with constitutional review, and it has supreme authority on issues to do with interpretation of the constitution. Besides, the High Court handles international and interstate issues. Cases that occur for the first time get tried in local courts, childrens courts or magistrates courts, while main crimes get tried in state supreme courts.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Compare and Contrast the Political Culture of Australia and Saudi Arabia specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The federal and state courts are sovereign. The High Court requires the state to cater for the expenses involved in guiding defendants. Besides, defendants remain innocent until when they get proven guilty. Defendants who get found guilty have a right to appeal. The law requires that every person should have a fair trial. Magistrates work alone in local courts while the judge and jury conduct trials in high courts. The law forbids random interference with relatives, privacy or home. On the other hand, legal and judicial systems in Saudi Arabia follow the Sharia or IslÄ mic law. 5Since Muslims believe in the Sharia they only appoint judges who are familiar with the Sharia law, the Quran and Muslims traditions such as prophet Mohammed practices and judgments. Traditionally, qadis decisions had to undergo verification, by the ruler, who ensured that the entire IslÄ mic community followed the Sharia. In other words, the judiciary was not a sovereign body but a wing of the political regime. This conventional association between the king and Qadis prevails up to date. All Sharia courts fall under the ministry of justice. These courts include deal with appeals together with other cases that occur for the first time. Petty criminals and civil cases become settled in summary courts. A sole qadi decides on all hearings in the summary court. Some cases, which surpass the ruling of summary courts, get heard in general courts. A single judge decides all cases in general courts, although three Qadis get involved in these cases when handling serious crimes like rape, and murder. Judgments made by general and summary courts get appealed in Sharia courts. The court of appeal has three branches including personal suits, penal suits, as well as other suits. The court of appeal could be found in Mecca and Riyadh. Several Qadis accompanied by the chief justice direct all cases. The king leads the judicial system as he acts as a source of pardon in the last court of appeal. Saudi Arabia’s policies allow for the founding of local courts by royal decree in cases where some aspects do not get covered in the Sharia. Kings have made several tr ibunals handle violations of government regulations that do not get covered in the Sharia court system.Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Government systems between Australia and Saudi Arabia vary. The Australian Constitution, which became established during the founding of the federation, has the outline for the system of government in Australia. The constitution carries out two main tasks. First, it forms main bodies like the Parliament, the high court, the senate and the House of Representatives. The Constitution gives power to all these bodies and defines their roles and structures. Another notable feature in the Australian constitution is that there are some powers that get vested to the commonwealth government while other powers remain among the six Australian states. States and federal governments also share some powers. The nature of the Australian federation represents another noteworthy element of the Constitution. The constitution has parliamentary elements borrowed from both the American and British systems. Since Australia belongs to the Commonwealth of Nations, it recognizes the British as its monarch an d ruler. However, Australian has a prime minister who leads the parliament. The governor-general holds the executive power in the Commonwealth federation. Besides, the governor-general acts as the representative of the British sovereign as well as the congress, which the prime minister leads. The cabinet represents the coalition or union in control of the parliament’s assembly. Entity states appoint all other authorities that get left out in the federal government. State governments also collaborate with the common wealth in several areas where territories and states have responsibility. Some of these areas include transport, education health and implementation of the law. Levying of income tax gets conducted by the federal state, and this creates the problem of access to revenue among different levels of government. On the other hand, the government systems of Saudi Arabia become centered on religion. Particularly, Saudi Arabian government executes the IslÄ mic law called Sharia and all residents in the country follow this law. While religion in Australia only influences faith and church, IslÄ mic religion in Saudi Arabia influences other aspects such as the administration, law, taxation rules and business. All Saudi citizens and visitors can behave the way they want when they are alone, but in public, they have to adhere to several religious laws. For instance, all men and women must dress conservatively and conduct daily prayers, with exceptions of some cases in women. Also, all people must follow the law on gender segregation. The Saudi government has an agency that seeks to prevent immorality and support virtue, to see that all these laws become followed. The formal enforcers of this committee become referred to as the Mutawwa’in. Mutawwa’in have the right to question and bring into law any men and women who they find socializing. These law enforcers also have the power to outlaw Western music, television shows and consumer media. In efforts to reinforce these regulations, the agency has a website that creates a platform for people to report any activities that differ from IslÄ mic standards. Those who infringe this law experience cruel reprimands such as whipping and public beating. Saudi Arabia prohibits political parties although some political segmentation exists. The royal family occupies most significant political places in the kingdom, although, the Al Saud and the King should rule by consensus. A strong group of religious leaders called the Ulama, makes sure that the king follows IslÄ mic law. The Al Saud concentrates on interests presented by religious leaders in trying to pacify the strong religious mass of Saudi public. The Saudi Arabian community gets shaped by alliances between top religious leaders and significant members of the Al Saud family. The culture of tribal organization in Saudi Arabia also plays a role in political inclinations. Heads of the main ethnic groups usually have lots of powers. Previously, tribal leaders have demonstrated their ability to mobilize martial units from among their cohorts. Merchant families also have political influence in the kingdom. Revenues from merchants act as a stable source of income for the government and the royal family occasionally asks for financial help from these merchants. Saudi Arabia does not have a legislative body while Australia has a bicameral parliament. Saudi Arabia mainly depends on decisions by the King and seeks opinions of religious leaders and does not encourage public participation through parliament. On the other hand, Australia’s parliament is bicameral because it has two chambers including the lower house and the upper house. The house of representatives represents the people, and it gets chosen from almost identical electorates. The house of Senate, however, has twelve designated senators from each one of the six states and two senators from the two federal regions. These chambers oversee nati onal laws such as law in industrial relations, foreign affairs, trade, citizenship, immigration and taxation. Any bills get approved by the two chambers before becoming law. The lower house starts most legislation. Presently, this house has 148 members and each member represents about 80,000 voters. Also, every house has a distinct role in state politics. The government gets formed by the political party with the most seats in parliament. Currently, the Howard regime most seats in both the lower house and upper house. The senate reviews all proposed laws and makes sure that all laws are fair to the state. Each state elects 12 senators together with 2 senators from the 2 Australian provinces. Australia has fair distribution of power, which lacks in the Saudi Arabian government. In Australia, the state and territory governments address issues that the commonwealth fails to address. Each territory and state government owns a constitution Act and parliament. However, both governments mu st conform to the national constitution. Common wealth law takes precedence over state laws when the law is within the constitutional authority of the common wealth. Some issues that get addressed by the state and territory governments include fire outbreaks, roads, education, land, public health, as well as ambulance services within their individual territories and states. Similarities between the Political Culture of Australia and Saudi Arabia Both Australia and Saudi Arabia have a governor-general. Australia has six provinces, and each province gets represented by the governor-general. The governor-general represents the Queen of the British administration, although, the Queen does not supervise his activities. According to the Australian constitution, the governor-general has the power to dissolve parliament, give assent to bills, appoint ministers and judges, as well as conduct summons. Nevertheless, the rule requires the governor-general to act according to the instructions of ministers in most matters. 6Similarly, Saudi Arabia adopted a system of the provincial government in 2005. The Kingdom has 13 provinces, and each province gets headed by a governor, who is normally a prince, or a member of the royal family. Every governor meets with his provincial council four times per year to check development in the province and guide the Council of Ministers about any needs in the province. 178 municipal councils became created in 2003, to guide the provincial governors. Half of the municipal council members became elected by collective suffrage while the central government elected the other half. The first structured election occurred in 2005. At this time, over 1,800 candidates vied for 592 posts amid the 178 municipal councils. More than 600 candidates vied for the 7 positions in Riyadh. Some laws in the Australia do not get described in the constitution, similar to laws in Saudi Arabia. The Constitution gives power to most government bodies and defines thei r roles and structures. However, the constitution does not define the makeup of the cabinet and the Prime Minister, but they get assumed in the practices and conventions of the government. Thus, there are some crucial bodies of the Australian political system that do not get described in writing. Similarly, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not have a written constitution. This gets attributed to several reasons. First, the Saudi Arabian political culture identifies the Sunnah and the Quran as sources of law. 7The Quran is the holy book in Islam while Sunnah is the sayings and actions of Prophet Mohammed. Up to today, Saudi Arabia uses the Sunnah and Quran as the kingdom’s constitution. 8 Second, the Saudi royal family knows that a written constitution may limit its power and thus, does not advocate for one. The royal family desires to have the last authority although the IslÄ mic culture encourages public discussions and involvement in running the government. The IslÄ mic system gives the public power to select its leaders and only recognizes the absolute power of God. However, the political system of Saudi Arabia neglects this condition. Also, the Sunnah supports public participation in electing leaders and government administration. Again, Saudi rulers take advantage of the conservative public. These rulers make religious leaders influence the public opinion through informal agreements. Such agreements assure the royal family of power and supremacy over the kingdom. Saudi rulers assert that accepting the Quran as the source of law and warranting the support of religious leaders in a conservative society contradicts the need for public participation, or a written constitution. Moreover, the rulers guarantee high standards of living to the public, and this makes Saudi Arabians lose concern in political participation. Saudi rulers use oil revenues and the wealth of the kingdom to give the public high living standards. In other words, Saudi rulers sil ence the public through giving them high standards of living so that they can switch their focus from demanding political involvement.9 Some citizens in both Australia and Saudi Arabia do not support the idea of the constitution and IslÄ mic laws that the King applies. Several, Australians usually have divergent views about the constitution. Some people despise it while others support it partially. They say that the Constitution neither symbolizes the nation nor the popular culture. Compared to neighboring countries, Australians do not respect the constitution. In fact, most Australians do not know the provisions in the constitution. Nevertheless, Australia has enjoyed democracy for a long time, and most visitors admire the country. On the other hand, some Saudi Arabians oppose how the King applies the Sharia and Sunnah laws as he disallows public participation. Lastly, both Saudi Arabians and Australians do not take part in selecting some of their top leaders. In Saudi Arabia, th e King rules with the help of a council of ministers. This king selects 29 government ministers who make up the council. 10Most of these ministers come from the royal family. Other ministers in main departments like defense and foreign affairs also come from the royal family. The Council of Ministers acts as the highest law making and administrative authority where all actions and roles get harmonized. The council of ministers formulates policies in the areas of finance, education, education, defense as well as foreign and domestic policy. The council oversees execution of all government and public affairs. Saudi Arabia has 13 provinces and the king appoints a governor and a deputy governor in each province. All the present governors belong to the royal family. The king also appoints a council of ministers in each province. 11Therefore, the Saudi Arabian central government formulates laws according to Sharia while provincial governments carry out these laws. On the other hand, the Q ueen appoints governors in Australia. The Queen appoints a governor-general, who represents her, under the instruction the prime minister. The governor-general carries out his daily activities with no interruptions from the Queen. How and why these Political Cultures have contributed to the Peculiar Characteristics in these Two Political Systems The Saudi Arabian political culture has roots in the IslÄ mic faith. As a result, the Muslim faith characterizes all political systems in the country. First, IslÄ mic political culture affects the judicial and legal systems in the country. Judges who serve in courts must prove that they are fully aware of the Sharia law and Sunnah. The basis of these laws is in the Quran, which is the Holy book for Muslims. Occasionally, decisions made by Qadi get evaluated to make sure the entire IslÄ mic community followed the Sharia. Second, IslÄ mic faith believes that the Quran has all laws and thus, there is no need for a written constitution. As a result, the political system of Saudi Arabia does not write law but follow IslÄ mic laws. Particularly, the Saudi Arabian government executes the IslÄ mic law called Sharia and all residents in the country follow this law. IslÄ mic religion in Saudi Arabia influences other aspects such as the administration, law, taxation rules and business. Third, the IslÄ mic culture, does not value women since they get considered inferior human beings. As a result, the political system of Saudi Arabia does not include women in the electoral process. Since the beginning of the electoral process in 2005, only men take part in elections that seek to choose half of the municipal council members. Fourth, the IslÄ mic culture promotes inheritance of power and existence of Kings. As a result, the Al Saud, which is the royal family, rules the Kingdom with no opposition. The king appoints all top government leaders from his family. Al Saud concentrates on interests presented by religious le aders in trying to pacify the strong religious mass of Saudi public. The Saudi Arabian community gets shaped by alliances between top religious leaders and significant members of the Al Saud family. This protects the King against any public opposition. The totalitarian regime also upholds powerful public security equipment and outlaws all unions that may cause opposition. On the other hand, the Australian political culture has roots in classical liberal values and British cultural traditions. Since liberal people believe in equality and the related aspect of limited government authority, these aspects characterize the Australian political system. First, Australia upholds a commonwealth monarchy, and its political structure has liberal democratic systems that are similar to Britain. Since Australia has a commonwealth monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II acts as the head of state. This is because countries that uphold the commonwealth monarchy culture have either a queen or a king as the head . Practically, the Queen does not have any role in the Australian political system. Rather, she acts as a figurehead and she appoints a governor-general, who represents her, under the prime minister. The appointed governor-general acts independently without direction from the Queen. The rule requires the governor-general to act according to the instructions of ministers in most matters. Second, Saudi Arabia has a governor-general who is independent as well as ministers who give counsel to the governor. This demonstrates that the Australian political structure reveres in power distribution. Besides, powers that get left out in the common wealth government get addressed in the state and territory government. Each territory and state government owns a constitution Act and parliament. These aspects of power distribution relate to the political culture of liberalism and equality. Third, Australian political system makes voting mandatory for everyone. Australia gives women a chance to vot e unlike the situation in Saudi Arabia. This demonstrates the culture of equal entitlement and participation among all citizens as any elected person can lead the nation. Fourth, Australia has a judicial system, which creates room for the founding of law courts in the nation as well as the appointment and dismissal of judges. This demonstrates the liberal culture of Australian politics. Also, the liberal culture of Australians makes the High Court act as the supreme authority on matters relating with the constitution. This is because a country like Saudi Arabia assumes that Al Saudi has supreme power over almost all institutions. In conclusion, political culture of a country has substantial influence on political systems that a country adopts. This implies that different political systems occur due to the existence of different political cultures. The political culture of Saudi Arabia has its foundations in the IslÄ mic law while the Australian political culture has roots in class ical liberal values, as well as British cultural traditions. These two distinct political cultures create differences in the political systems of the two countries. While the political system of Australia uses a written constitution as a source of law , Saudi Arabia uses the Sharia law together with actions and speeches of Prophet Mohammed as sources of law. Besides, the king of Saudi Arabia acts as the last court of appeal because he is at the top of the legal system while neither the Queen nor the governor-general has such powers in the Australian political system. Rather, the High Court acts as the last court in Australia. Another difference among the two political systems gets seen in power distribution. Australia distributes powers across different arms of the government including the judiciary, the executive and legislature. Conversely, the Saudi Arabian political system vests all powers in the king. This is so because the country does not have a parliamentary system or a writ ten constitution to guide the activities of the King. Although Saudi Arabia identifies the Quran as an adequate source of law, there are some issues that this book leaves out, and the king has absolute authority over such issues. Although similarities may occur in different political systems that have different political cultures, they seem insignificant as compared to differences. This is clear in this study as most similarities show people’s ideals about the system and not the real political systems. Lastly, political cultures affect political processes such as appointment of judges in Saudi Arabia. Bibliography Abdul, Alrashid. â€Å"Modern Judicial System,† Alsharq Alawsat. Web. Abdullah, Bassam. â€Å"Political Reform in Saudi Arabia Necessity or Luxury,† Journal of Middle East Studies 3, no.2 (2011): 175-196. Al-Rasheed, Mohammed. Kingdom without Borders: Saudi Arabias Political, Religious, and Media Frontiers. West Sussex, England: Columbia University Pre ss, 2009. Bruce, Russett. World Politics: The Menu for Choice. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2010. Champion, Dominic. The Paradoxical Kingdom: Saudi Arabia and the Momentum of Reform. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1998. Galligan, Bruno and Ravenhill Justin. New Developments in Australian Politics. South Melbourne: Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd, 1997. Long, David. Culture and Customs of Saudi Arabia. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2005. Nehme, Morris. â€Å"Political Development in Saudi Arabia: Empty Reforms From Above, â€Å"International Sociology 10, no.2 (1998): 619-645. Saha, Justin. â€Å"Prosocial Behaviour and Political Culture among Australian Secondary School Students,† International Education Journal 5, no.2 (2004):9. Whitaker, Brian. â€Å"Hello, Democracy – and Goodbye,† The Guardian. Web. Footnotes 1. Justin Saha, â€Å"Prosocial Behaviour and Political Culture among Australian Secondary School Students,† Intern ational Education Journal 5, no.2 (2004):9. 2. Russett Bruce, World Politics: The Menu for Choice (Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2010), 10. 3. Bruno Galligan and Ravenhill Justin, New Developments in Australian Politics (South Melbourne: Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd, 1997), 3. 4. David Long, Culture and Customs of Saudi Arabia (Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2005), 5. 5. Morris Nehme, â€Å"Political Development in Saudi Arabia: Empty Reforms From Above, â€Å"International Sociology 10, no.2 (1998): 619. 6. Bassam Abdullah, â€Å"Political Reform in Saudi Arabia Necessity or Luxury,† Journal of Middle East Studies 3, no.2 (2011): 176. 7. Ibid. 8. Alrashid, Abdul, â€Å"Modern Judicial System,† Alsharq Alawsat. 9. Brian Whitaker, â€Å"Hello, Democracy – and Goodbye,† The Guardian, last modified February 10, 2009. 10. Dominic Champion, The Paradoxical Kingdom: Saudi Arabia and the Momentum of Reform (New York, NY: Columbia University P ress, 1998), 45. 11. Mohammed, Al-Rasheed, Kingdom without Borders: Saudi Arabias Political, Religious, and Media Frontiers (West Sussex, England: Columbia University Press, 2009), 17.

Henry Brown Patents Safer Document Storage

Henry Brown Patents Safer Document Storage Henry Brown patented a receptacle for storing and preserving papers on November 2, 1886 This was a kind of strongbox, a fire-safe and accident-safe container made of forged metal, which could be sealed with a lock and key. It was special in that it kept the papers inside it separated, A precursor to the personal safe? It was not the first patent for a strongbox, but it was patented as an improvement. Who Was Henry Brown? No biographical information about Henry Brown could be found, other than his being noted as a black inventor. He lists his place of residence as Washington DC at the time of his patent application, filed June 25, 1886.  There is no record of whether Henry Browns receptacle was manufactured or marketed, or whether he profited from his ideas and designs. It isnt known what he did as a profession and what inspired this invention. Receptacle for Storing and Preserving Papers The box designed by Henry Brown had a series of hinged trays. When opened, you could access one or more of the trays. The trays could be lifted separately. This allowed the user to separate papers and store them securely. He mentions it was a useful design for storing carbon papers, which might be more delicate and could be damaged by scraping against the lid. They could also transfer carbon smudges to other documents, so it was important to keep them separate. His design helped ensure that they didnt come into contact with the lid or the tray above each lower tray. That would minimize any risk of damaging documents when you opened and closed the box. The use of typewriters and carbon papers at this time likely presented new challenges in how to store them. While carbon papers were a handy innovation for keeping a duplicate of typewritten documents, they could be easily smudged or torn. The box was made of sheet metal and could be locked. This allowed for secure storage of important documents at home or the office.   Storing Papers How do you store your important papers? Have you grown used to being able to scan, copy, and save paper documents in digital formats? You may have difficulty imagining the world where there might be only a single copy of a document that could be lost and never recovered. In the time of Henry Brown, fires that destroyed homes, office buildings and factories were all too common. Papers being flammable, they were likely to go up in smoke. If they were destroyed or stolen, you might not be able to retrieve the information or proof they contained. This was a time when carbon paper was the commonly used way to make multiples of important documents. It was a long time before the copying machine and before documents might be saved on microfilm. Today, you often get documents in digital form from the outset and have a reasonable reassurance that copies can be retrieved from one or more sources. You may never print them out.

Financial Analysis - residual earnings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Financial Analysis - residual earnings - Essay Example Pinto (2010) explains that one of the drivers of residual earnings is book value growth. Residual earnings depend on the growth in the value of the invested assets in the business. When investment is made in a business, the invested resources then start to produce earnings. With a well growing business, the investments will produce more earnings which then lead to the increased book value of the capital beyond the expected returns (Wahlen, et al 2010). This then delivers the residual earnings. Return on common equity also is a driver of residual returns. The general returns that a business earns excess of the shareholders equity is what defines the residual earnings (Easton, 2009). When these returns therefore exceed the returns on capital that the business set to achieve, it delivers residual earnings. However, critical analysis shows that return on capital is the same as residual earnings. Diebold, F. X., Doherty, N. A., & Herring, R. 2012. The known, the unknown, and the unknowable in financial risk management: Measurement and theory advancing practice. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University