Downfall of our public schools Essay Example for Free

Downfall of our public schools EssayAs much as we would like to be able to assert that American public schools are the awayflank in the world, time and time again we have been proven wrong, at least partially. The American system of public schools is failing those it serves. It has failed to provide equal educational opportunities to all students, it has failed to train them to take jobs and advanced careers, and it has failed to secure the future of American prosperity by failing utterly to create the kind of necessary victor and skilled labor balance that is critical to our continued prominence as a nation. On morphological, financial, and curricular levels, the system is not designed to succeed. What it does do wellspring is prepare a very small number of people who come from wealthy families to have any hazard they want to take advantage of and leaves the enormous majority of the nation to fend for itself often with come on the tools, support, or ability to do so.The American public system of education bases its curriculum on several overarching principles generalization, steering on the liberal arts, and an emphasis on individual achievement and self-selection (meaning that individual students determine the course of their own education and career path rather than universe funneled into specific schools and programs as is common in other countries). Each of these, philosophically, is designed to help students achieve the greatest level of self-reliance and independence while providing the bounteous liberal foundation that can be, theoretically, applied in any situation, in any calling.Those are the benefits of a liberal foundation, but the detriments are that without specialization in education, students arent able to focus intensely upon their particular subject area until as late as college, and perhaps a small numerate in high-school. The result is that students focusing on a general education for 12 years are fall by the waysideed only 4-5 years of specialization (Browser, 10). Other nations, notably japan and Ger more, employ a system of education that, as early as elementary school, begins to identify potential school types and careers for students and puts them through specialization 4-6 years prior than the US (Browser, 10).This results in many of these nations excelling in math and science where the U. S. falters. But, this is not the only point of failure of the U. S. system, the 2005 study of reading and mathematical proficiencies of 4th and eighth graders nationwide found that less than 40% of all students tested were grade-level proficient in those subjects (Standard Poors, pNA). This figure gets worse when the schools are dominantly African-American or Hispanic in startGraduation rates are similarly dismal only 69. 7% of American high school students matriculate ( high School Graduation Rates in the United States, pNA). The American public school curricula is failing its students. There are a variet y of opportunities throughout the continuum of public education to instantly assist students in determining the career path that best suits not only their individual skills and needs, but those of the nation as well.In my own experience, I witnessed high school programs that taught industrial arts, and job-related programs that had been designed to provide students who would not be going to college with the skills necessary to enter the workforce upon graduation get cut out of the curricula entirely. The reasoning given was that the school wanted to focus on achieving higher levels of college entrance, and to increase the numbers of college-prep courses available.This, on paper, sounded great, but in reality it left many students completely without post-high school support. If the American dream requires college, then we are absolutely failing our students by allowing (in some districts) more than half of the population to fail out of school entirely. If we take a realistic look at how students could benefit from industrial arts, business training, home economics, and other job-related training, providing intensive specialization in high-school would allow for a much higher victor rate and a higher graduation rate.Our system is failing its students in terms of investment in their reconcile and their future. Schools get the majority of their funding from locally levied taxes with additional state and federal support. It should be no surprise, then, that the districts with the largest tax base to population ratio results in a much larger amount of money available for schools than in districts with a low tax to population ratio. For example, in Nevada, there are two chief(a) sources of funds for schools property tax and gambling revenue taxes.In districts with the highest value of homes, the tax base is very high, resulting in significantly more money per schoolchild available than in districts with less expensive homes or those dominated by apartments and low-income housing which do not pay nearly as much in property tax per resident than do the more affluent communities (America Goes Back to School, pNA). The impact, then, is not only significant regional differences in the amount of money available per student, but these differences can be found at the district by district level throughout the entire country.Not surprisingly, those schools with the highest per-capita consumption capability are also among the highest ranked schools in the nation (there are no inner city urban public schools in the top snow high schools in the nation). Therefore, by failing to provide a balanced financial opportunity for every school district, we are pre-determining the level of success, graduation, and career opportunity for entire swaths of students.The poor, the Black and Hispanic, and the otherwise disadvantaged will remain so because they (as a community) will never be able to catch up in terms of opportunity and performance with the more suc cessful communities until we balance the amount of money spent per student throughout the entire nation. On a structural and statistical level, in terms of money and curricular focus, our public school system is failing its students and the communities it is supposed to serve.Despite a continual focus on education, our graduation rates and basic skills passing rates are absolutely dismal. Our generalist curricula has absolutely failed to contribute meaningfully to reducing the massive gaps in our workforce. Finally, the relentless imbalance in spending and available funds from district to district and community to community has led to a near permanent state of success and failure for the entire student population in each of those districts.Ultimately, then, the system has failed and is continuing to fail to properly educate, support, and allow our students to contribute to the betterment of society and our success in the international community. References Browser, Jack. Educating America Lesson Learned in the Nations Corporations. New York John Wiley and Sons, 1989. United States Department of Education. America Goes back to School www. ed. gov/Family/agbts/index. html. Online. Internet. selective information Acc March, 2007. Standard Poors.United States Public Schools Districts How Students Performed on National Reading and Math Tests. SchoolMatters. com Online. Internet. Avail http//www. schoolmatters. com/app/location/q/stid=1036196/llid=162/stllid=676/locid=1036195/site=pes. Info Acc March 18, 2007. Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. High School Graduation Rates in the United States. Manhattan-Institute. org. Online. Internet. Avail http//www. manhattan-institute. org/html/cr_baeo. htm. Info Acc March 19, 2007.

Why Marching Band Should Be Considered a Sport Essay Example for Free

Why Marching Band Should Be Considered a Sport EssayThere whitethorn be as many as 500+ members in a march band, each having their own part that inter-locks with the 499 others. I believe marching band should be considered a sport. Everyone must be incredibly coordinated and precise. The band as a whole, and individu each(prenominal)y must practice. Then theres all the physical stresses that you have to overcome. Coordination plays a delineate roll in marching. A lot of teamwork goes into it as well. All the musicians have to play in the right key, stay in step, and stay musically in time or else the intact show could be compromised. Memorizing game plays is a large roll in football and other team sports, same with band. You must remember the basic notes, key signatures, and various other musical symbols. Then there are the hundreds of sets, or where and when you have to be on the field during the show. retributive one person off can throw off the entire form or melody. Athl etes selected for the Olympics have trained for almost all their lives for their event. In Bellevue Wests marching training, we have a two week period of living hell, aka band camp.You basically do nothing but eat, sleep, and think band during the two hottest weeks of the entire pass. Mr. Haugen, our band director, pushes hard and some break down and quit, but in the end, the majority of the group is remaining. All thats left now is a well cover machine, just like any sports team. I only hinted how physically demanding this extra-curricular activity actually is. You must carry an instrument exactly level while marching, and all your body wants to do is bounce up and down like loose luggage.Then if youre a sousaphone, like me, you have around 45-50 lb. ushing down on your bring up as you try to elevate yourself as high as possible, as to follow correct marching form. Then you must remember that half your pains as you march down the field, goes to playing your instrument. If thats not enough, youre also trapped in a dark, thick fabric uniform, squeezing the last whistles of your breath from your lungs. It may be only for 15 minutes, but even track athletes get breaks in-between events. In those god-forsaken uniforms, that quarter hour feels like centuries. For some odd reason, mickle have the idea that its easy to play in motion, its anything butYou must have incredible music-making skills, especially considering your bouncing up and down as you sometimes run to get to your spot. Sports are very physically strenuous and demanding, so is marching. Sports teams practice all year long to get ready to compete, we only the summer and a few weeks into school. Each individual plays such a key role in the tone and appearance of the band, its unreal. Marching band isnt just a bunch of nerds and fat guys playing tubas. Its a tight-knit brotherhood of strength and skill. Like football, if you are not in the right spot, you arent scoring the touchdown.

The Outline For Urie Bronfenbrenners

The Outline For Urie BronfenbrennersUrie Bronfenbrenner theory is based on bionomic theory, which is focusing on environmental factors (Santrock, 2011). The Urie Bronfenbrenners ecological theory is explained how natural environments rear end be a big square off to the schooling of individuals. In other news shows, the increment of persons fag be happen uponed by the surroundings from home to the wider context such as culture. Bronfenbrenner stated that there were some(prenominal) different directs and types of environment effects that might come to how a electric razor waxs and develops (Shaffer Kipp, 2010). There are the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem.The microsystem refers to the interactions mingled with a person and the people surroundings him or closes to him. To put in differently, it is the small and immediate environment where the person lives in for instance a persons family, nurture, peers, neighborhood pl ay domain and work. The second of Bronfenbrenners environmental layers is the mesosystem. The mesosystem is defined as the consanguinity or connection between different parts of the microsystem like the relationships between family and teachers, family and peers, and teachers and religious group. Next is the exosystem. The exosytem level has the less interaction or may not have it all between the children or adolescents and the other people or places nevertheless they may affect the development of the person herself, for instance parents work environments, extended family members and neighborhood. Last only when not least is the macrosystem. Bronfenbrenner defines that the macrosystem consists of cultural, subcultural, or social class context (Shaffer Kipp, 2010). It is wide, and the largest level in this theory but still it has a great influence to the person. The macrosystem includes the economy, government, wars, the relative freedoms and cultural values. Therefore, the pers ons can get the positive and negative impact from this level. Finally is the chronosystem. The chronosystem is just about how the pattern of individuals life is changing over time depending on the environmental until nowts. Besides, the environmental changes caused by cognitive and biological changing that occur at the puberty as well as the age of the individual.How the Bronfenbrenners ecological theory apply to child developmentFamily, teachers and community members play important role in summit children with applying values and customs to socialize them so they can contribute fewthing to the society. From the views of Barbour, Barbour and Scully (2011), children develop some attitudes by observing actions, hearing words and surmising the feelings of significant others in their environment.At this point, family, peers and religious group are located in the Bronfenbrenners innermost environmental layer, or microsystem. It means people in the microsystem are the major influence of the child especially at the early age. Childrens perceptions and behaviors can be developed early from home and the direct interactions take place in the microsystem like the interaction between a child and parents, siblings, teachers and peer group. Besides, the good environment and better encouragement to the child pass on affect how better the child go away grow up (Oswalt, 2008). According to Oswalt (2008), Each childs special genetic and biologically influenced personality traits, what is known as temperament, end up affecting how others treat them.Another case is how some parts in microsystem having the connections or interrelationships among them like parents, teachers and peers. For example, a childs parents have a good relationship with teachers will have a major influence on childrens learning and standance of school. Also parents and teachers support the childrens interest and the competition that they participate. As a result, it will help the childs overall growth . The child might feel overconfident about her talent and ability consequently will affect her performance in study and have good relationship with other people. This kind of interaction between different parts of the microsystem is called the mesosystem. . According to the Shaffer and Kipp (2010), Bronfenbrenner argues that development of a child will be effective if the connections between microsystems are strong and supportive. Conversely, if the connections are non-supportive, it can produce trouble on child.For the third environmental layer or exosystem, this may not have contact with the child but might affect the development of the child. As an illustration, parents work environment. If both parents have their own careers, it might cause the conflict between the caring for children and the responsibility at the workplace. The conflict is largely happened to the mother because beside responsibility for children, they in addition have full participation at the workplace. The refore, this will give the impact to the children and the time for family interaction will decrease, increased dependency on child care and fewer choices in recreation. As a result the family will have less information about the childrens activities and the children only depending on her friends who can be good or bad friends. Oswalt (2008) states that the child at home can possibly be affected by a parents visualize at work.Then, another environment is about the larger context called the macrosystem. For example, the family role in culture, how children should be treated, what they should be taught and the goals they should achieve. The styles of interaction within family will reflect the roles expect of children (Barbour, Barbour Scully, 2011). For instance, in most European American families encourage their children to go outside and find and establish other relationship. While in Asian families cultures, they pay deem for elders and the children are expected to be family or iented and encouraged to work hard for the family. To sum up, very family has different styles in raising their children and from that it will influence their behavior. at long last is the chronosystem. The chronosystem is about how the feeling, perceptions and attitudes of child can be changed over time. This model includes a temporal dimension (Shaffer Kipp, 2010). It is focusing on the ecological context of development or the transformation of the child can influence the way that development is likely to take (Shaffer Kipp, 2010). For instance, when the child is found out he is an adopted child, he will feel rejected and abandoned. He will have low self -esteem and struggle with identity development issues. This event may affect the child for a few years, but after he has grown up, the curiosity, sensitivity and the rebellious are becoming less and the interaction with family will be more stable. later all, the environmental factors like age, cognitive and biological changing play a major role in human development.How the Bronfenbrenners ecological theory apply children in preschool and early primary levelsNormally children are only exposed to the family at home until they are placed in day care, preschool classes and begin their formal schooling. When they grow up, there are more exposures from many sources to them. In the microsystem, family is one of the factors that affect children in development. Furthermore, family plays important role to the physical development of children in aspect of upbringing and family income. Family who has good education and good income usually has awareness with their diet. Therefore, parents will model healthy eating habits for their children, who are as well dependent what food is put in the table. When the child gets enough nutrition in his diet, he will develop well. Besides that, environmental factors like family and peers also affect the social development of child. For example, when a child is shy, aside from inh erited characteristic from a parent, it also can be caused from interaction between parents and child. Sometimes, parents are having less interaction with the child and the parents dont even speak to each other. It will affect the social development of child, however, the difficulty to have appropriate sociality with peers will decrease after he enters the school. It can be concluded that, parents can influence the social actions of child but it will change after being exposed to the peers, hence surely can be influential factor to the development of child.The interaction between people in the microsystem is essential for the development of child in the aspect of stimulated development. For instance, family-teacher relationship that many people overlooked the importance of this relationship especially the teachers that only focus on to their relationship with children only. Children in the school always feel insecure, difficult to accept criticism, or punishment and unadaptable. Th erefore, parents and teacher should work together for childs growth and development. Teacher can know the family background of the child and their culture. Furthermore, it is really important for teacher to maintain the childrens culture since cultural identity and family connectedness are critical emotional health. In addition, both teacher and parents can discuss the childrens problem in school and together helping to solve the problems that may have lifelong consequences. Also, when their relationship is good, they can inform one another and the information might be usable and has lifelong effects on the child. Invite families to the social events in school and hold a parent-teacher conferences are some of the ways to build the partnership. On the whole, this relationship can provide support to children and build childrens emotional health.Next we proceed to the level where children do not make any contact with these people and places but still have an effect on them. This level is the exosystem. Parents workplaces and mass media can be a largely affected to the children in term of emotional problems and cognitive development. Parents nowadays usually perish their time at work more than at home with their children. It will result in having less time to spend with children. They dont have time to know their childrens activities, they cant control their children and they dont have time to help their children in developing important skills. Stress at work also influences the children because they might release their stress by resting and sleeping at home and lead to have less interaction with children. So then, the emotional problem will be faced by children because dont have bond with parents. Studies have shown children who are given plenty of attention and love usually less have emotional problems than those who do. Besides that, mass media also influences the development of children. Children can develop and acquire the cognitive development from the goo d television shows. For example Blues Clues, Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go, and The Smurfs. Moreover, another electronic media source is internet that also contributes the cognitive development of children. It provides children to solve problems, practice skills and creativity, and widen their knowledge base (Barbour, Barbour Scully, 2011). For instance, practice chess, puzzle word and creative writing. But, as long as parents monitor their children from accessing inappropriate websites, internet can be a rich resource for childrens lives.The next layer of Bronfenbrenners ecological theory is the macrosystem. Government plays a big role to the development of children. What government can do is enacting the law for protecting the children hence to ensure the well-being of development of children. The examples of the law are reading Act 1996 Act 550 and The Compulsory Education Act. Both are related to the compulsory for parents to make sure their children attend preschool and prim ary school. Preschool Education is for all children to improve their necessary skills at the early age and the programmes are provided by Government in rural and urban area. The purposes are to develop grassroots communication skills, and characters, moral values, doing physical activities for good health and improve critical thinking skills through senses. Besides, the Education system in preschool emphasizes on nine elements for children development like Malay language, English language, Islamic education, moral studies, civics education and childrens physical development. From the policies, personal development and the socialization process can be acquired by children and can affect children positively.SummaryChildren acquire many things from surroundings for their development and they depend on how good and bad of their environmental are. Adult people should know their roles as parents, teachers and societies to the development of children. Although they affect the childrens gr owth and development in some ways, their behaviors and viewpoints also affect their perceptions and attitudes. However, adult also can be influenced by children. The family is the major influence in the systems because they are the most trusted by children. So it is essential for family to stress on the development of children in the elements of physical, cognitive, emotional and social development. The place also like home, is supposed to be the suitable place for children to develop with more tools provided and more interaction with children. Even though some environment is out of familys control, but they can do their best to develop their children necessaries skills for their lifelong consequences.

Rupert Murdoch Media Mogul Case Study

Rupert Murdoch Media Mogul Case StudySince 1952 when Rupert Murdoch inherited two Australian news paper from his father, he started a non-s elucidate c beer generating harvest within the media sector up to the point w here(predicate) the variety of his communication mediums chip in reached two-thirds of the worlds population. Murdoch has even been accused of monopolistic practices. Criticised by many an(prenominal) people but look up to by others, his lead name is matter of analysis as it seems to contradict any Human Resource theory, i.e. the opposite of what is recognised as a severe practice. nonetheless, his empire is alive and real, word bay windoworation (News Corp) is the second largest media conglomerate globosely just behind The Walt Disney Company.This document leave alone look at insights into Rupert Murdochs behaviour, his learning style as well as his psycheality characteristics as influencer in his professional development and managerial style. The analysi s of competitive advantage for News Corp provide be in addition discussed.From a Human Resource counselling (HRM) perspective, News corps practices indigence to be analysed in terms of actionance appraisal, selection, descent management, subtlety and ethics. A further mention with respect to leadership will be made since this is a core aspect that needs to be understood and appreciated. In dedicate to supremacyfully implement changes and improvements in News Corps HRM policy and burn downes, improvements and alterations in Murdochs leadership style and approach need to be implemented.Murdochs People Management StyleLearning Style and personality characteristicsTheoretically, a favored come with should nourish favorableish practices in HRM. Ingham (2007) refers to best practice as an assumption that by doing things in a set best way, any organisation can improve their performance. He also points out that other concepts acknowledge that there is much than one combinatio n of appropriate practices which varies according to context. Through this document, analysis will be made for each aspect as mentioned linking the personal characteristics of Murdoch with News Corps practices.For years there has been interest in the importance of developing HRM from hard approaches that looked at employees as a cost to be managed and possibly minimised, to softer approaches looking at employees as investments, valuables and with the capacity to make important contributions to the bon tons success. For News Corp however, this development has non happened as they are still operating based, clearly, on hard approaches, focal point on the rational management of people as if they were any other factor of production (Ingman, 2007).Murdoch has shaped News Corp and to accurately understand his performance, it is worthwhile to look at him as a CEO but as a person as well. Beyond his managerial and interpersonal skills, or the need of them, it is undeniable that he has strong business acumen and powerfulness to find new opportunities. For exemplify, the creation of the first national newspaper in Australia which gave him political clout, and acquisitions of dissimilar successful mediums such as Fox tv in the USA or Star Net start in Hong Kong .He has been a natural entrepreneur since his youthfulness and almost analysts attribute his success to his ability to learn from mistakes, basic rule for a successful management as Templar (2005) highlights.A focused background in the newspaper market, added to his learning style have likely contributed to Murdochs edge. There are many approaches to learning styles by which this could be analysed and understood. One of the most recognised is Kolbs (1984, cited in businessballs) approach, which sets out learning as a cycle and suggests that e rattlingbody has a preferred style of learning.HOW TO REFERENCE THIS FRAMEWORK?, I GOT IT FROM http//www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htmIn this framework M urdoch could be expound as having an Accommodating Style (combination of feeling and doing). Accommodating people are generalised as those who are hands-on, relying in intuition rather than logic and primarily prefer practical and experiential approaches. harmonize to Kolb, they are persons attracted to new challenges, new stimulates and to carrying out plans and setting targets. Murdoch seems to have much of this description.Comparing this description to Felder and Silverman Theory, (1980, cited in mindtools) (Appendix 1) Murdoch seems to be an Active Learner, a person who prefers manipulating, doing and learn by trying. This is a description also confirmed by Honey and Mumford (1982 cited in literature available). A nonher approach by which Murdoch could be analysed is VAK (Appendix 2), framework in which he can be described as a kinaesthetic person as he has fork up he enjoy actively doing and experimenting in reality.A combination of his knowledge, learning style and personal ity, could provide a broad picture to understand his behaviour and motivations. His need for achievement, no matter at what cost, has been clear through this career as a well know risk taker. Murdoch is as well an innovative person who easily incorporated new technologies in his business, as he referred to himself a catalyst for change.Murdoch has some remarkable characteristics that have led him to achieve his success. He is known for his ever-ever-changing tactics, for exercising go, for his smart mind and acting unlike his competitors. The complexity he has have to cope with in business has led him to think creatively, for instance as it is cited in the case study, when his competitor offered to buy his newspaper he make the opponents offer letter with the headlines Bid for Press Monopoly.As a global figure the press, not just competitors, desire to know his plans and strategies. This has not al ways been possible since he is considered a very secretive person. His understandi ng about environmental factors, usually referred at as PESTEL (Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental) has given him distinct advantages. For instance, he identifies financially profitable markets, technologies than can help his business, despite union protests and legal ways to reduce his costs, for example, setting operations of his companies in fiscal paradises henceforth paying less taxes than most of its biggest competitors. Despite the fact that Murdoch is not known as a good relationship manager, he does know the importance of maintaining specific good relationships, such as political ones. Actually, it is express that he switched his political preferences to favour his business. (Between the Republicans and the Democrats in the USA, and amid the Tories and the Laboritie in the UK).Competitive AdvantageFrom the point of view of business performance, his job as News Corp CEO has been successful. But the issue is how sustainable could the perfor mance be?. Barney (1991, p.99) points out that firms obtain sustained competitive advantages by implementing strategies that exploit their inwrought strengths, through responding to environmental opportunities, while neutralizing external threats and avoiding internal weaknesses.By delivering the desired content that members (subscription based customers) want, often referred to as populist Murdoch truly has exploited his organisational strengths. As discussed, he often takes external opportunities. It is arguable that beyond neutralizing threats he is his competitors threat and in external issues his political manipulation has helped him significantly. Theoretically declaiming, News Corp should have a sustainable competitive advantage. However, the imagination-based model (Barney, 1991) suggests that a resource to generate sustainable competitive advantage must be valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and without strategically equivalent substitutes.Murdochs strategies have been r are to say the least, un evaluateed in many ways since he has never let anyone else to know about them and imperfectly imitable due to his power and the size of his company which makes for the competitors it difficult to follow him. However, he is atrophy the most important resource by ignoring it as an asset human resource. The size of his company is greater than most in the sector, having 47,300 employees (CNN) but taking into compute his leadership style it is hardly a surprise that for him, employees are not a resource nor an asset.Emotional IntelligenceEmotional Intelligence is an aspect that have been gaining importance as it has been recognised as a key factor in relationships and leadership. Goleman et al, (2002 p.3) highlight that No matter what leaders set out to do whether its creating strategy or mobilizing teams to action their success depends on how they do it. Even if they get everything else just up redress, if leaders fail in this primal task of ride emotions in the right direction, nothing they do will work as well as it could or should.There are four aspects enclosed in Emotional Intelligence, also referred at as leading Competences Self-A warness, Self-Management, Social-Awarness and Relationship-Management. Self-management clearly is not part of his strengths as he uses to terrorize his employees without stopping and thinking. Social awareness is also missing in his managerial skills as he does not care about what people feel nor try to listening to them.As CEO he is feared rather than respected. His clime and behaviour influenced his treatment toward people. His management of himself and his relationship with people is a clear sign of his poor in emotional intelligence both, in personal and social competence. Relationship management is the takings of understanding people and treating them appropriately, according to Bradberry and Greaves (2009) this is clearly a characteristic that Murdoch lacks.In research published in 2005 by Harvard Business Review entitled Heartless Bosses focusing on emotional intelligence, they took a sample from different industries, levels in the organisations and continents. The results showed the lowest median(a) emotional intelligence at CEO level which points out a generalised weakness in this field as a managerial skill. However Murdoch is still an exceptional case.Management StyleMurdoch is a recognised manager, who gives results to the shareholders. But analysing in detail, he is managing only the numbers, financial capital ignoring human capital. In this style, some of his approaches are successful while some others are not. For instance, Templar (2005) cites Follow your instinct/ gut instinct and learn from your mistakes as two of the rules of management, but also draw a good atmosphere which Murdoch is absolutely not doing.Handy (1995), defines four types of Managers depending on the enculturation of the organisationZeus The club cultureApollo The role cultureAthena T he task cultureDionysius The existential cultureMurdoch, seems to be a Zeus Manager, a strong leader who likes power and exercises it. However, different to Handys relationship amid managerial style and organisational culture, News Corp is go described as a Role Culture or Role Tribe as will be discussed later.To understand why Murdoch share most of his managerial characteristics with Handys Zeus, is worthwhile to look at the following comparisonHOW TO REFERENCE IT? IT IS FROM THE BOOK GODS OF MANAGEMENT, PAGE 90. diagram BASED ON KNOW YOUR OWN PERSONALITY EYSENKHR Management in News CorpPerformance AppraisalMurdoch is an authoritative person, a control freak, who principally emphasises his employees performance based around his own yield as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI). But if someone did not perform as he liked, then they were fired for not strikeing his personal standards. Theory highlights that KPI should help to measure performance reflect on organisational goals and e valuate success or progress. These should be quantifiable and periodically assessed. None of these characteristics can be attributed to Murdochs performance analysis.The case study points out that News Corp HR Systems were poor. With very poor performance appraisal systems and with no annual reviews of staff and no process by which talented people could be promoted this reflects a significant and contrasted lack of development plans. Early in News Corp launch, Murdochs approach to HR could have been acceptable but in todays fast changing environment, employees are more demanding and relevant theory about good HR practices is being championed by companies, making the leadership style that has been used in News Corp potentially not longer sustainable.Recruitment and SelectionAcademic literature suggests that a core theme in HRM practice is that people are aboriginal to the organisation and it should focus on care fors and the individual. Human resourcing is often described as a str ategic activity, where people are an organisations most valuable asset, and embody the long-run future of the company. Murdochs style is not HR focused. However, some of his practices could be in fact matched with successful HR practices, for instance part of his success could be due to the News Corp selection process. He might not have an HR development plan, but what is clear is he has placed the right people in all his companies, perhaps people with the right skills, knowledge and competences that contribute to the strategy of the organisation.For a global company like News Corp, hiring the right people is crucial. From the potential employees point of view it could be desirable to develop a career there, as they can be involved in the bewitch of media in a well-recognised company, thus it is likely that qualified professionals are available for the selection process. However, as News Corp has no performance measurements defined, it is difficult to expect that they have a rec ruitment criteria established based on measurements that they can apply further.Also it could led to think in Golemans (2002) suggestion Just because a particular executive is the most visible, is he the person who actually leads the company? A CEO who heads conglomerate may have no followers to speak of rather its the division heads who actively lead people and affect profitability most.Relationship managementIt is also crucial to remember that the establishment of mutually hold expectations during selection forms part of a psychological contract, which will potently influence an employees attitudes and feelings about the organisation (Bratton and Gold 2001, p201). Handy (1999) had referred to this as the secret contract. Every period Murdoch disrespects his employees he is breaching this contract, affecting the labour environment and probably the desire of their employees to stay in the company. In the long term this directly affects costs as recruitment is an expensive process which apart from valuable time, includes use of instruments and directing costs.Culture and EthicsA remarkable aspect in Murdochs managerial life has been his ability to integrate different cultures of the acquired companies easily into News Corps as the case states. This is not an easy issue but he has managed it successfully. Culture is a very complex matter of study, especially in non-written aspects, such as assumptions, beliefs and values. But News Corps culture is even harder to understand because of its size and unique characteristics. several(prenominal) aspects of News Corps culture are noticeable, for instance, behaviour in terms of the relationship between management and employee, this includes a clear lack of development and training. According to the literature available, there are 4 types of culture, one of which is control culture, the framework for News Corp, constantly seeking operational excellence. These organisations have a planning discipline, leadership is a function of authority and decision making is directly related to job role. Handy (1995, 1999) lists this culture types as tribesThe club tribe centralised, surrounded by circles of intimate and influence.The role tribe organisations are set of roles or job-boxes, joined together in a logical and orderly fashion. Communications are formalised, as are systems and procedures. It is all managed rather than led. (Handy, 1999, p148-149)The task tribe individuals cab be allocated in different tasks and projectsThe person tribe put the person first than the organisations purpose.News Corp, then, is a Role Tribe.Part of culture analysis refers to communication and behaviours. From ethics, a clear dissonance is reflected between what News Corp as a company promotes and the way Murdoch behaves. Ethics is defined as the study of what is right and good in human conduct and the justification of such claims (Lucas et al, 2006) and business ethics as the study of the conduct of people in the busine ss context.The dissonance can be seen through their communication as they have policies about ethics published for all their employees and for the CEO, yet Murdoch has been accused as having downplayed market news and throwd a monopoly in media all contradicting many of the policies. They also have competition policies, as referred to in their website, but interestingly he changed the prices of his news papers to destroy competition. Some analysts have also questioned behaviours such as supporting George Bush in his war determination arguing a benefit for the economy as oil were down in prices.Literature available, suggests four considerations in describing ethics in an organisational context Beyond self-interest, universalised, defendable and action-guiding. The actions interpreted by Murdoch hardly seem to be beyond self-interest and his treatment among employees in not universalised as is influenced by his mood and demeanour, as discussed earlier.Leadership AnalysisLeadership Vs managementMurdochs leadership style plays an important role in News Corps overall analysis. He has taken the company where it is now but at the same time he has lost the opportunity to create loading among his employees sharing his vision and engaging them in the process. For the leader who wishes to increase legitimate power, a long term load is required. Trust in relationships, which is the foundation of legitimate power, cannot be fabricated ad hoc. (Covey, 1999 p105)Distinctions between management and leadership need to be assessed. Kotter (1996, cited in Bratton and Gold 2001) explained that the main function of managers is to create plans while the main purpose of a leader is to create a shared vision and a strategy to achieve it. Managers control and probelm-solve, leaders, on the other hand, motivate and inspire. A balance is therefore suggested in order to provide effectiveness in a company.The literature available cites that a manager executes a plan and delivers the go als of the business. Is strong in process and systems, producing key results expect by stakeholders. On the other hand a leader is visionary, envisions where the company should be heading and inspires those in the company to make the vision their own. A good leader has excellent people skills, communicating, convincing, persuading, inspiring and motivating. From this perspective, News Corp is suffering from the first of seven chronic problems in organisations cited by Covey (Appendix 3) Problem 1 No shared vision and values either the organisation has no mission statement or there is no deep understanding of and commitment to the mission at all levels of the organisation (Covey 1999. p 165)Leadership choiceMurdoch has been a highly successful manager, but lacks good leadership practice. A fair way to understand Murdochs leadership choice is also given by Covey in his diagram about the Leadership Choice.Power ProcessYOULeadership ChoicePrinciple-Centered PowerUtilityPowerCoercivePow erHonorFairnessFearSustained Proactive square offFunctionalReactiveInfluenceTemporaryReactiveControlREFERENCING PAGE 106.Leadership StyleMurdochs leadership choice has been through coercive power. He has created a fear atmosphere where the commitment is superficial. This definition matches with the command Type described by Goleman et al, (2002) who suggest that there are six types of leadershipVisionaryCoachingAffiliative.DemocratPacettingCommandingThe Commanding type is considered the least effective, which defines Murdochs style. such leaders demand immediate compliance with orders, but dont bother explaining reasons behind them. If subordinates fail to follow orders, unquestioningly, these leaders resort to threats. Accordingly, performance feedback if given at all- invariably focuses on what people did wrong rather than what they did well. In short, its a classic recipe for dissonance (Goleman et al, 2002, p76). Dissonant leadership is said by Goleman to generate frustration and resentment, all the contrary to the desirable resonant leadership. Those leaders usually focus only in financial goals regardless for the long-term human cost. In the twentieth-century business, companies were mostly hierarchical and control based, just in the era when News Corp started, but now tends are different and the company has not evolved as it should.Media is a highly competitive sector and the challenges are large and significant. Murdoch has had to successfully navigate through technological changes, for example, the threat that the internet provides to printed news, economical changes globally and different business-related crises. From this point of view his style could have been successful although not appropriate. News Corps initial focus was on printed media, but in the present its main companies are television based. His assertive decisions in its core business has given News Corp a penetration of two-thirds of the population, mainly give thanks to Star Netwo rk (the Hong Kong based satellite network), Fox Channel in the USA, BSkyB in the UK.It is clear that Murdoch is an excellent business men in terms of results, but, how greater could News Corp be is his leadership style were better? Goleman points out how different leaderships affect different factors in companies, such as climate, financial results, relent on sales, growth, efficiency and profitability. Results show that, all the thing being equal, leaders who use styles with a positive emotional impact saw decidedly better financial returns than those who did not (p 54)A CEOs behaviour impacts strongly upon employees, as it is said by Goleman et al, (2002, p 76) Given that emotional contagion spreads most readily from the top to down, an intimidating, cold leader contaminates everyones mood, and the quality of the overall climate spirals down. Thus, News Corps employees are not likely to be committed. This could mean they do just the work they are paid for, not doing their best, n or adding value. As part of a role culture (role tribe) people just do their job, neither more, nor less (Handy, 1995) This is a blow in the psychological contract and as they are not receiving what they expect, they do not do their part. On the other hand, News Corp could experience a brain drain, strengthening competitors and making it harder for News Corp to be sustainable.News Corps organisational climate is another HR aspect that is poorly managed, being the office of the internal environment among members of the organisation, linked to motivational level (Chiavenatto 2001). It seems to be deficient, taking into account the lack of opportunities of self-actualization, the higher step in Maslows (1943) hierarchy of needs and the relationship of Murdoch with his employees.Murdochs style seems to tend towards Taylorism rather than on relevant, contemporary, focused HR practice, as he is interested on the outcome, efficiency of the work and his employees are just a necessary med ium. However, even the scientific management method proposed by Taylor (1911, cited in 12manage) gives its place to training and development in its second step which suggests that the company should select, train and develop the most suitable person for each job, again scientifically, rather than passively leaving them to train themselvesRecommendationsBased on the analysis outlined here for Murdochs leadership style and his management of his people the following key recommendations are suitableMove to a more collaborative leadership style it have been established all the implications that the current leadership style has for News Corp. By improving this core point, the company would gain employees commitment and committed employees will not just work flexibly but rather endeavour to succeed but going the extra mile in pursuit of customer run (Lucas et al, 2006)Redefine Key Performance Metrics to include development and relationship with employees. Clear measurements by which emplo yees could be later appraised. Development plans to ensure the permanence of talent in the company and encourage them to feel ownership The best people in any field -the talented few who contributes greatest business value- scarce dont have to put up with the misery perpetuated by a bad boss. And increasingly, they leave for their jobs. People join companies and leave jobs. (Goleman et al, 2002, p 83). Also performance standards that meet organisational and personal goals, which is often know as good developmentSuccession plan Through development, ensure the continuity of the business once Murdoch retire, improving in HR Management but keeping the financial and business good results. The following leader should have emotional intelligence strengths as well as control capacity to handle a corporation of News Corps size. Goleman (2002, p27) cites intellect alone will not make a leader leaders execute a vision by motivating, guiding, inspiring, listening, persuading -and most cruciall y, through creating resonance.Organisation Development becoming a learning organisation which means going beyond training individuals. Training all levels in a continuous process and adopting new approaches which take into account more people rather than physical assets. authoritative processes for selection and development. Reach a balance between all the stake holders needs.Good HR practices Establishment and empowerment of an HRM department to ensure the implementation of good practices and moreover, good fit according to the conglomerate and each organisation that composes it. It might be useful an external consultation to evaluate the situation and suggest ways. However, internal participation is crucial as they know more the company and its environment.Creating sustainable change Leadership need to be shared in different levels. deconcentrate power and looking for collaborative leaders among the company, is easier to make a sustainable change.Any change implies consequences, thus it is necessary take into account the following implications that could result of moving forwardResources financial and non financialResistance to change, from those who are affiliates to Murdochs styleProcesses need to be implemented and/or improved in terms of metrics, recruitment, policies. completionNo one doubts Murdochs success and it is clear to see that he is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. However, sustainability could be a key issue for News Corp, as he centralise decisions and the organisation is closely tied to him as a person. He is a strong figure and when he has to retire shareholders might experience uncertainty just like is now happening with Apple, which is increasing the risk of lose shares value and company good-will due to the imminent retire of Steve Jobs. When a company is a reflect of its CEO personality and leadership, succession becomes a problem. If systems, practices and policies are not implemented now, the maintenance and future dev elopment of the organisation cannot be ensured. succeeding(a) CEO will not have Murdochs leadership style and will have to seek for more collaborative approachesContemporary thinking and new HRM approaches strongly point out that people are key therefore a win-win approach is convenient to News Corp future development. By treating people as a resource is likely to reach their commitment and build a step to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.Murdoch have built a successful empire, the issue now is make it sustainable in the long term. If changes in core aspect such a HRM are not made now, it is not probable to happen.REFERENCESBarney, J., 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of management, 17, 99-120.Chiavenatto, I., 2001. Administracion de recursos humanos. 5th ed. Santa fe de Bogota Mc Graw HillHandy, Ch. 1999. Inside Organisations. Twenty-one ideas for managers. 2nd ed. London Penguin BooksHandy, Ch. 1995. Gods of Management. The changing work of organisations. London Arrow Books Limited.Bratton, J., Gold, J. 2001. Human Resource Management. Theory and practice. 2nd ed. New York, N. Y. PalgraveBradberry, T. and Greaves, G., 2009. Emotional Intelligence 2.0. San Diego, CA TalentSmartIngham, J. 2007. Strategic Human Capital Management. Creating value through people. Oxford UK Butterworth-Heineman.Covey, S. 1999. Principle-Centered Leadership. London Simon and SchusterLucas, R., Lupton, B., Mathieson, H. 2006. Human Resource Management in an international context. London Chartered Institute of Personnel Develepment.Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., McKee, A. 2002. The New Leaders. Transforming the art of leadership into the light of results. Great Britain Little, Brown.Templar, R. 2005. The Rules of Management. Great Britain Pearson. Prentice Hall.Kolb, D. 1984. (Online) Experiential learning. Available from http//www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htm (Acceded 2nd April 2011).Felder, R. and Silverman, L. 1980. (Online) Lear ning styles. Available from http//www.mindtools.com/mnemlsty.html (Acceded 2nd April 2011).Fleming, and Mills. 1992. (Online) VARK learning styles. Available from http//www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=categories (Acceded 2nd April 2011).Taylor, F. 1911. The principles of scientific management. Available from http//www.12manage.com/methods_taylor_scientific_management.html (Acceded 5th April 2011).CNN (online) http//money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2007/snapshots/6213.html (Acceded 15th April 2011).Bradberry, T. 2005. (online) Hearless bosses?. Harvard Business Review. Avaliable from http//hbr.org/2005/12/heartless-bosses/ar/1 (Acceded 5th April 2011).BIBLIOGRAPHYBarney, J., 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of management, 17, 99-120.Chiavenatto, I., 2001. Administracion de recursos humanos. 5th ed. Santa fe de Bogota Mc Graw HillHandy, Ch. 1999. Inside Organisations. Twenty-one ideas for managers. 2nd ed. London Penguin BooksHandy, Ch. 1995. Gods of Management. The canging work of organisation

Islamic Fundamentalism And Terrorism

Moslem Fundamentalism And TerrorismIntroductionAll theology preaches peace and br otherhood and Islam is no different. However, how do you apologize the killing of thousands of innocents by the Islamic misgivingists. Islamic terrorism is the frequent term for violence,1 rooted on Islamic fundamentalism, and aimed at defending, or even promoting, Islamic culture, society, and set in opposition to the semipolitical, allegedly imperialistic, and cultural influences of non-Muslims, and the Western world in particular.1Today, it is world(prenominal) terrorism has come to fore of the world politics after terror attacks on World Trade Centre on 09 September 2001. While typefaceing at the globosity of the phenomenon of terrorism, it has to be appreciated that ahead terrorist groups attain their home(a), regional or global stature the first begin the same(p) at local levels. A consideration of the origins of various terrorist groups would indicate that the growth of the small group s into the national or supra national movements could have been attributed to, if non large measure, to the frustration of the people, with the inability of their governments to provide with the elementary justice, security and welfare. It is difficult to say at which prognosticate local terror groups joins batchs with the other groups operating in the region to form supra national entities that can operate trans national boundaries. If concrete go are not taken immediately with due foresight, terror menace can well become the the biggest threat to mankind.2Varieties of TerrorismFundamental conformist phantasmal movements have been associated with terrorism in almost all parts of the world starting from Middle East, Africa, Central and South East Asia, China, Europe and US. It would be discreet to is necessary to study terrorism before further investigating the link between fundamental religion and the clinch of violence. Terrorism is difficult to define as one persons terrori st is some others freedom fighter. Political violence can be of various types. There are various types of egregious political violence that are some beats conflated. Certified papers on terrorism seldom define terrorism or distinguish it from supplementary forms of hostile political action, for example, guerilla movements, ethnic meshing or racial movements. Countries frequently trademark opposition/resistance/demonstrations as terrorist actions to disgrace and dishonor such movements. Ahmad (1998) offered a typology of five varieties of terrorism-State terrorism. ghostly terrorism.Criminal terrorism.Pathological terrorism.Political terrorism.There are different motives for these. approximately highly visible expressions of terrorism can be thought of as glasses of violence, media events staged to dramatize an issue by gaining the attention of the world. Terrorism acts as both a symbolic message and supposed means of social change over aiming at political transformation. The te rrorist act dramatically advertises the grievance to a larger community that may support their goals. Further, the pain and suffering inflicted is believed, at least by the terrorists, to avenge a prior injustice and/or attain the organizations goal.3JehadThe word jehad links its origin to the Arabic word JHD, which means strive. Jihad in essence means the measures taken to practice religion even during the times of adversity in the face of oppression and persecution. In Arabic, the terms Mujahid/ mujahedeen and jihad, are Islamic-derived terms indicating remunerateeous struggle, and are commonly used to refer to what the Western world calls Islamic terrorists and Islamic terrorism. In the non-Muslim world, this usage is often considered to be inaccurate and giving religious glorification to murder, and Islamic terms like hirabis and Muharib have been promoted as alternatives when referring to terrorists.Islamic terrorism is itself a controversial phrase, although its usage is ge neral throughout the English-speaking world. Ordinary Muslims who have nothing to do with terrorism find it reprehensible because it forces upon them a label simply because they, too, are believers of Islam. In fact, the common Muslim believes that you are making him a racial hate target by using the word Islam with terrorism. Bernard Lewis believes that the phrase Islamic terrorism is apt, because although Islam, as a religion is not particularly conducive to terrorism or even tolerant of terrorism4. In his own words- Islam has had an essentially political persona from its very foundation to the present day. An intimate association between religion and politics, between power and cult, marks a principal distinction between Islam and other religions. In traditional Islam and therefore also in resurgent fundamentalist Islam, God is the sole source of sovereignty. God is the head of the read. The state is Gods state. The army is Gods army. The exchequer is Gods treasury, and the enemy, of course, is Gods enemy.This argument is countered by Jamal Nassar and Karim H. Karim, who contend that because there are over a billion adherents of the religion, the phenomenon is more(prenominal) precisely regarded as Islamist terrorism or, because describes political ideologies rooted in interpretations of Islam. In this vein, describing terrorism as Islamic may confirm a prejudicial perspective of all things Islamic.5Radicalisation of IslamAs has been noted, modern Islamic political fundamentalism is the increase of a desire by some Muslims to return to a pure faith in order to counter and overcome growing pressure from an more and more westernized world. Identifying and analyzing these pressure points is essential to at a lower placestanding the rationale behind the often violent expressions of Islamic political fundamentalism whose ultimate purpose is to bring individual, country and world under the sovereign reign of Allah. As has been noted, Islamic political fu ndamentalist movements are a twentieth-century development. Not surprisingly, the majority of these movements are of the Sunni variety. Of the 175 Islamic fundamentalist groups (mainly of the political variety) in the Arab world as identified by Dekmejian from 1970-1995, only 32 were Shiite fundamentalists (with an additional four having both Sunni and Shiite followers). The modern era radical clerics have understand the Koran to their advantage and have used it effectively to streng consequently the military wing of Islamic fundamentalists and use terrorism as a tool against the non practitioners of Islam. Some clerics supporting the hard stand against non Islamic societies and nations are reflected in the subsequent paragraphs.Radical as part of his sermon one Friday in August 2004, the Palestinian Sheikh Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi told his followers,Cutting off heads is part of our religion. Indeed, by God, slaughtering Allahs enemies is part of our religion. It should be done in a ccordance with the interest of Islamic nations.In another article titled The Infidels will be Obliterated, the cleric Seif al-Din al-Ansari salvagesAllah made annihilating the infidels one of his steadfast decrees. According to (divine) natural law of alternating fortunes, Allah said (Allah will) subvert the infidels.It inevitably follows that this wisdom.has become the way the life is to be lived. The (Koran) mentions his decree frequently, to the point that it makes you feel that it is truth of supreme importance.In another context, Shiekh Nasser ibn Hameed, an al Quaeda attached Saudi cleric, considers the permissibility of using the weapons of mass destruction to bring about the will of Allah. The sheikh concludes that, considering what Americans have done-If a bomb was dropped on themthat would carry away 10 million and burn their lands to the same extent that they burned the Muslim lands this is permissible with no need to mention some(prenominal) other proof. Yet if we w ant to annihilate a greater number, we need further proof6Creating an IdeologyA century ago, Islam had the same Koran, the same Prophet Muhammad, the same stories about founding of the faith, and the same religious and the legal traditions. Yet there were no suicides bombers like Salah Ghandour, no incendiary leadership like Hassan Nasrallah, no militant sheikhs like Yousaf al-Qaradawi and no murderous conglomerates like Hamas and al Qaeda. And that there was not should give pause to all those who claim that Islam is, necessarily, a violent and destructive faith. To attribute todays problems to the essence of the religion is to commit a grave error of oversimplification. Islam is a grand tradition that has proven itself capable of sustaining many different cultures, philosophies, approaches to life and political arrangements. Since September 11, and to a lesser extent before, many authors have probed the hi score of Islam and the Arabs in search of the roots of extremism. One good place to start is the story from the recent past, the story of Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian writer who is described as the intellectual hero of every one of the groups that eventually went to Al Qaeda, their Karl Marx their guide.7Sayyid Qutb was born in Egypt in 1906. His early discipline was in the western system of education. After completing his studies, he took up the job of a teacher. He later became a novelist and a functionary in Ministry of Education, Egypt. In late 1940s he did his masters from Colorado. However, during 1930 to 1950, Qutb lost faith in the secular system and became a radical Islamist. On return from America, Qutb support the Nassers secular revolution. Difference arose between Nasser and Qutb and later was imprisoned. It was during this time Qutb wrote some of his best known and influential work Milestone (a thirty volume commentary on Koran) and In shade of Koran. Qutb was latter executed by Nasser in 1966, giving Islam its earliest and most revered martyr. Qutb was influenced by Mawdudis writings but constructed a khariji-like subversive ideology. He stressed both Gods sovereignty and governance (hakimiyya) and the unity of God (tawhid) with the resulting unity in nature, religion, society, and state as the foundation of the integrated and comprehensive Islamic system. Qutb transformed the meaning of the Islamic term hijrah (emigration) from a simple description of the Prophets historic migration from Mecca to Medinah to signifying a definite stage in the development of all received Muslim societies hijrah is the response of true Muslims to the state of jahiliyya prevalent in their society. They must withdraw from society in order to create a vanguard of committed activists able to take over society when the right time comes.8Some of Qutbs interpretation of Jahiliyyah in his own words are as follows-Islam cannot accept any mixing with Jahiliyyah, either in its concept or in the modes of living which which are derived from this c oncept. Either Islam will remain or Jahiliyyah Islam cannot accept or ascertain to a situation which is half Islamic and half Jahiliyyah.The foremost duty of Islam in this world is to depose Jahiliyyah from the leadership of man, and to take the leadership into its own hand and enforce the particular (Islamic ) way of life.Indeed, people are not Muslims, as they proclaim to b, as long as they live the lier of Jahiliyyah. Today th problem f the call is to return these ignorant people of Islam and make them into the Muslim all over again.A person who feels the need of defence, justification and apology is not capable of presenting Islam to people. Indeed, he is a person who lives the life of Jahiliyyah, hollow and full of contradictions, defects and evils, and intends to provide justification for the Jahiliyyah he is in. These are offender against Islam.9Qutbs central mobilizing concept was a reinterpretation of Jahiliyya, and provided an ideology to military faction of Islamic lead ers. Most terrorist Islamic groups today, derive their ideology from his writings.Interpretations of the QuranThe role played by the Quran, Islams sacred text, in fence or in encouraging attacks on politeians is disputed. Certain scholars such as Zakir Naik have said all Muslims should be terrorists in the context of war and chip evils of society. When he was asked about the verse.Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts of) the enemies, of Allah and your enemies. Quran 860He replied. Every Muslim should be a terrorist. A terrorist is a person who causes terror. The moment a robber sees a policeman he is terrified. A policeman is a terrorist for the robber. A Muslim should be a terrorist for the Robber and all other anti-social elements. The Princeton University Middle Eastern scholar Bernard Lewis, states that Islamic jurisprudence does not allow terrorism. Professor Lewis notes At no time did t he (Muslim) jurist approve of terrorism. Nor indeed is there any evidence of the use of terrorism (in Islamic tradition). Muslims are commanded not to kill women, children, or the aged, not to anguish or otherwise ill-treat prisoners, to give fair warning of the opening of hostilities, and to honor agreements.Similarly, the laws of Jihad categorically preclude wanton and indiscriminate slaughter. The warriors in the sanctum sanctorum war are urged not to harm non-combatants, women and children, unless they attack you first. A point on which they insist is the need for a clear contract of war before beginning hostilities, and for proper warning before resuming hostilities after a truce. What the classical jurists of Islam never remotely considered is the kind of unprovoked, unannounced mass slaughter of uninvolved civil populations that we saw in New York two weeks ago. For this there is no precedent and no authority in Islam. Indeed it is difficult to find precedents even in the r ich annals of human wickedness.In 2007, Osama bin stiff, best known for the September 11 attacks, used quotes from the Quran-and a militant Taliban clerics interpretation of those verses-to justify his declaration of war on Pervez Musharraf and the Pakistani army, such asO prophet Strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh against them. Their abode is hell, and an evil destination it is. Quran 973O you who believe Take not the Jews and Christians for your friends and protectors they are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guides not a people unjust. Quran 551And fight them until theres no fitnah (polytheism) and religion is wholly for Allah. Quran 839However, the interpretation of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban has been condemned by influential group of Pakistani scholars and religious leaders, who declared that suicide attacks and beheadings as un-Islamic in a unanimous resol ution. Marmaduke Pickthall, a Western convert to Islam and an Islamic scholar notes that Nowhere does the Quran approve a spirit of revenge and situates verse 2194 in the context of a defensive war. Ibn Kathir stated that the Quran clearly commands believers to prefer forgiveness over retaliation wherever possible.Michael Sells and Jane I. Smith (a Professor of Islamic Studies) write that barring some extremists like Al-Qaeda, most Muslims do not interpret Quranic verses as promoting warfare and that the phenomenon of radical interpretation of scripture by extremist groups is not unique to Islam. According to Sells, Most Muslims no more expect to apply the verses at issue to their contemporary non-Muslim friends and neighbors than most Christians and Jews consider themselves commanded by God, like the biblical Joshua, to exterminate the infidels.10Root Cause of TerrorismThe Worldview of the Fundamentalist. It is obvious to mention that Islamic fundamentalism is caused by the action s of the fundamentalist. What we can ask ourselves is what drives these individuals to advocate fundamentalism? Several scholars have proposed that fundamentalists adopt a literal reading of the Quran. Consider the following verses-And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out. And Al-Fitnah is worst than killing. And fight not with them at Al-Masjid-al-Haram (the sanctuary at Makkah) unless they (first) fight you there. But if they attack you, then kill them. Such is the recompense of the unbelievers (Surah Al-Baqarah).If one takes a literal reading of the above passage, then it is quite obvious that Muslims should kill non-Muslims where and whenever the former thinks that they are in a position to do so. Take for example Palestinians. Palestinians have been resettled to accommodate for the state of Israel, consequently displacing the former from their own homeland in the process. When seen within the light of the above verses, the perc eived injustice suffered by the Palestinians would mean that Palestinians have every right to oppose the Israelis as well as their American benefactors. This is if a literal reading of the above verses is taken devoid of the context and historical circumstances that gave rescind to such verses in the first place.11Islams Identity Crisis in Confronting Modernity. The historical inevitability and pain of transition to modernization/capitalism has been met with resistance and conservative religious leaders sees such forms as imperialism, colonialism, and the spread of neoliberal ideology. As conservative religious leaders struggled to deal with the advent of modernity, Islamic modernizers were more open. Indeed, these Islamic modernizers worked with secular nationalists and were violate able to cope with modernity, using European models of socialism and capitalism for nation building and national development (Hossein-Zadeh, 2005). However, when socialism and capitalism failed to deli ver for example, instances of poverty were predominant people were alienated from the system they were in materialism and decadence prevailed in the capitalist system the disappointed masses of the Muslim world turned to the more radical message of Islam as Muslims especially those alienated and disaffected by socialist and capitalists models looked for an Islamic Alternative. This yearning signalled a desire to return to the state of Islam during its gilt Age. Conservative religious leaders thereby became the sources of mobilization and self-respect as the disappointed masses sought to return to the Golden Age (Hossein-Zadeh, 2005).12Socio-Economic-Political Factors. Islam is not a monolithic entity how Muslim states/Muslims relate to the non-Muslim other depends a lot on their socio-economic-political factors. For example, poverty and undemocratic regimes are prodigious factors that can contribute to Islamic militancy. In Aceh (Indonesia) and Mindanao (Philippines), marginalize d Muslim communities suffer acute deprivation and alienation vis-vis the post-colonial state dominated by the ethnic and religious minority (Rahim, 2003). Additionally, given the lack of democratic mechanisms in these regions, there are no means for legitimate and sufficient political representation thereby making Islamists act subversively. Undemocratic and draconian measures adopted by oppressive regimes to contain the radical Islamists will also exacerbate the threat rather than effectively reducing it. Instances of poverty as well as undemocratic regimes and draconian legislation among many other factors can contribute to the conditions fuelling Islamic Militancy.13American Foreign Policy. American orthogonal policy is also a significant variable in the surge of Islamic Militancy. Many argue that Islam is a religion of peace Islamic terrorism, however, is a product and response to American foreign policy. This sentiment is reflected upon Americas unconditional support for Israe l in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the ubiquity of American troops in the Gulf historical legacy of European colonialism and terrorist attacks are a cumulative process of humiliating Arabs (for example, displacing Palestinians in their homelands the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal torture techniques used by the Bush administration). The rise of non-state actors such as Osama Bin Laden represents the Muslim and Arab worlds rage against American hegemony or simply arrogance/hubris (the so called Liberation Theology). Moreover, the double standards as exercised by the Americans in regards to supporting oppressive regimes so as to secure regional cooperation in the war against terrorism is seen as having veiled intent that the war against terrorism could be a war against Islam. American, it has been argued, should look into the causes and conditions that fuel Islamic rage that is, by reflecting upon its own foreign policies rather than blaming the other for the calamities that had happene d thus far.14Drug Trafficking. Drug trade entered the murky scene of terrorism, in a big way, in Afghanistan during the Taliban operations using Afghanistan Pak axis. Initially, they justified the use of drug business as it was for a sacred cause and even convince the clergy. However, gradually it became a part and parcel of their activities and drug mafias became big players in the venture and terrorist became synonymous of drug trafficker. Equally, the wide network created by the drug mafia was exploited by the terrorist outfits for their operations. As big money was involved politicians in Afghanistan and Pakistan were easily drawn into vicious circle. Drug trafficking provided the illegitimate money to fuel the sanctum sanctorum War Jihad across the globe.ConclusionConceivably, future reforms in Islam is more vital than the ideology debate over the character of Islamic past. Kepel in 2002 suggested that Islamist terrorism does not, nor can it produce its intended goals and has become consumed with a fantasy of a world-wide triumph of radical Islam. Understanding the reasons for rise in fundamentalism in Islam and factors contributing to global terrorism, it is neigh important to take concrete measures against terrorism, else, we are likely to inherit a world without peace to the coming generations.Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. 33.29. Quran

Zionism :: essays research papers

Do you k like a shot the moral to the story of the tortoise and the hare? Is it slow and steady wins the race? Or is it that cockiness gets you nowhere? They are both correct but this is a good example of how a childrens fable, like interpretations of the bible, can easily be different from virtuoso another. Interpretations of the bible vary and occasionally get the message wrong, but this variation can be attributed differences of opinion in interpretation. Whether motivated by politics, social presuppositions, or theological differences the variation can paint a contrasting picture of scriptural information. Time plays a very large part in the variations of Biblical interpretation. The interpretation according to the rabbinic midrash is very different than interpretations according to modern Zionism or for that matter modern Feminism. Classic midrash served an important purpose for the authors of the Torah. It allowed them to create a way to make the Torah an intimate part of the lives of Jews. The result of transforming Biblical stories in to more compelling and interesting stories gave the writers of the Torah a way to connect with the Jewish tribe on a more personal level. The writers of the Torah realized that the Jewish people could connect with the Biblical stories more if they could relate the stories to everyday life. What the authors of the Torah failed to realize is that by transforming the stories, they had now added the opinions and beliefs of the time into their stories. This is the cause for many revisions to come. Rabbis during the seventh and eighth centuries developed a distinct branch of Jewish mysticism. The kabala interprets the Scriptures as an esoteric manner, and seeks answers to the divine mysteries. Kabala required intense meditation and preparatory rites that lead to a mystical union with God. The presiding factor at hand is the idea of faith. It is faith in the inhabit is what allowed the rabbis to interpret the Scripture. Here a gain we see and example of the ways in which Biblical information is interpreted. The Zionist movement brought with it the desire to create a issue identity for the Jewish people. In order to accomplish this Herzl thought that Jewish people should move to an area where they could escape the anti-Semitism in Germany. The basis for ideals of Zionism is to get a national identity for the Jewish community.

Influenzas Impacts on Manchesters Society :: Journalism Media Studies Health Essays

Influenzas Impacts on Manchesters SocietySociety Shaken Like countless cities crossways the globe, Manchester, England has had a difficult time adjusting to the impact of influenza. Countless residents are ill. many schools have been closed. A recent decree has banned children under the age of 13 from picture-houses and all places licensed for amusement. Now, public discussion has begun which could impede upon personal liberties in defense of the public health. A proposed Health Ministry would have the power to compel individuals to medical exam examinations and quarantines. One prop anent deep down the Ministry of National Service has argued that such powers would hateful that not only influenza, but consumption, venereal disease, and many other of our most destructive plagues could be banished form the land in a few decades. Still, others peculiarity if such powers could actually be effective enough to warrant the invasion of silence which they require. It aint the gov ernments job to go looking down your throat and up your shorts complained Manchester native Ms. Winston. Within the judicial system, the strain of influenza has demand the easing of some(prenominal) legal precedent. In one example, a recently arrested lady mend was quickly released from custody per the instruction of the Lord Mayor so that she may incite in the fight against the influenza. This leniency is understandable given the great monetary value which the extremely contagious disease has had upon health care workers. Recent reports indicate that within Manchester, over 300 nurses are infected, 10 have died, and one one-half of the ambulance staff is infected with influenza. Gravediggers, too, have been overburdened by the epidemic. The government has recently required that the City Engineers department lend workers to aid with the required grave digging. advert Epidemic?While the doctors and nurses of Manchester battle vigorously and daily against the influenza outbr eak, another argue rages on within the local papers. Advertising firms have seized upon a thunder in local sales of influenza-related products. Companies are capitalizing on the publics increased interest in news reports in order to promote various, competing preventions and remedies for the disease. Tis only natural, reports Mr. Robert Thompson, maker of one product claiming to aid in the fight against influenza, that we provide the people with the critical reading of how one might best guard himself or herself against the Influenza. And, it so happens that my Thompsons processed Phenol is irrefutably the best qualified product to do so.Influenzas Impacts on Manchesters Society news media Media Studies Health EssaysInfluenzas Impacts on Manchesters SocietySociety Shaken Like countless cities across the globe, Manchester, England has had a difficult time adjusting to the impact of influenza. Countless residents are ill. Numerous schools have been closed. A recent decree ha s banned children under the age of 13 from picture-houses and all places licensed for amusement. Now, public discussion has begun which could impede upon personal liberties in defense of the public health. A proposed Health Ministry would have the power to compel individuals to medical examinations and quarantines. One proponent within the Ministry of National Service has argued that such powers would mean that not only influenza, but consumption, venereal disease, and many other of our most deadly plagues could be banished form the land in a few decades. Still, others wonder if such powers could actually be effective enough to warrant the invasion of privacy which they require. It aint the governments job to go looking down your throat and up your knickers complained Manchester native Ms. Winston. Within the judicial system, the strain of influenza has required the easing of some legal precedent. In one example, a recently arrested lady doctor was quickly released from custody per the instruction of the Lord Mayor so that she may aid in the fight against the influenza. This leniency is understandable given the great toll which the extremely contagious disease has had upon health care workers. Recent reports indicate that within Manchester, over 300 nurses are infected, 10 have died, and one half of the ambulance staff is infected with influenza. Gravediggers, too, have been overburdened by the epidemic. The government has recently required that the City Engineers department lend workers to aid with the required grave digging. Advertisement Epidemic?While the doctors and nurses of Manchester battle vigorously and daily against the influenza outbreak, another struggle rages on within the local papers. Advertising firms have seized upon a boom in local sales of influenza-related products. Companies are capitalizing on the publics increased interest in news reports in order to promote various, competing preventions and remedies for the disease. Tis only nat ural, reports Mr. Robert Thompson, maker of one product claiming to aid in the fight against influenza, that we provide the people with the critical information of how one might best guard himself or herself against the Influenza. And, it so happens that my Thompsons Pure Phenol is irrefutably the best qualified product to do so.