It’s Time to Tell the True History of Texas :: Personal Narrative

It’s Time to Tell the True History of Texas When the Bob Bullock Texas State History museum opened in March 2001, it advertised itself as â€Å"The Story of Texas.† It still calls itself the story of Texas in letters chiseled into the top of the building, on its Web site, on signs directing visitors to the museum, and even on the refrigerator magnets you can buy in the gift shop. When I first saw the slogan, I wondered how there could be â€Å"the† story of Texas, since Texas has been culturally diverse throughout its history as a part of Mexico that became a separate nation and later a state. Shortly Texas will have no one group as a majority. I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, where the great majority of the population, like me, is Mexican American. How was this new museum going to present my story? I had to go and find out.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When I first walked into the lobby, I noticed the large mosaic on the floor but I couldn’t figure out what it depicted. I just saw a campfire and a bunch of wiggly figures. Someone next to me told their kids that they’d be able to see the entire mosaic from the third floor. I decided to wait and do the same.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first exhibit I saw was the â€Å"It Ain’t Braggin’ if it’s True† (one of my friends told me I had to see the shrine to Lance Armstrong and the rhinestone car). The name of the exhibit didn’t make much sense to me though; aren’t all museum exhibits, especially ones about history, supposed to be true? The big banner in the middle of the room didn’t help much either. It simply said â€Å"Vision† and had a quote about how only those with great vision can see opportunity where others see empty space. Maybe those who have this type of vision get the braggin’ rights?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Texas was never a big empty space. The Spaniards and later the French who came here discovered cultures that were centuries old. But history, and the museum itself, begins with European colonization. The history of Texas, one of the signs says, was shaped by the way the different groups of people who came to Texas responded to the land and to each other. So land, and interaction between different groups of people, would be used a lot in the telling of this story of Texas, I assumed.

Inside The League by Scott Anderson, and Jon Lee Anderson :: Inside The League Scott Anderson

Inside The League by Scott Anderson, and Jon Lee Anderson   Ã‚  Ã‚   For over ten years progressive researchers in this country and in Europe have been uncovering evidence linking certain American conservatives and rightists to racist and fascist movements around the globe through a shadowy organization called the World Anti-Communist League. Now the book "Inside the League" exposes the hidden nature of the League and documents in devastating detail a parade of League-affiliated authoritarian ideologues marching from the death camps of Nazi Germany into the parlors of Reagan's White House. The idea for the book came when Jon Lee Anderson was researching a series of columns on Latin American death squads for Jack Anderson, (Jon Lee's employer but not his relative). Enlisting the aid of his brother Scott, the two first began tracing the connections between the death squads but soon were unravelling networks and alliances that involved terrorists, Nazi collaborators, racists, assassins, anti-Jewish bigots, and right- wing anti-communist American politicians. The one factor all had in common was their involvement with the World Anti-Communist League.   Ã‚  Ã‚   The Latin American death squads, for instance, were found to be linked through an umbrella group of Central and South American rightists called the Latin American Anti-Communist Confederation (CAL). CAL in turn was affiliated with the World Anti-Communist League (WACL), lead by a retired U.S. Major General, John Singlaub.   Singlaub boasts WACL is the coordinating body for raising private aid for the Contras, a task support ed explicitly by the Reagan White House which has sent government officials and glowing letters of support to WACL meetings in recent years.   Ã‚  Ã‚   WACL also serves as an umbrella for several Eastern European emigre groups founded and lead by Nazi collaborators, and there is far more. As the Anderson brothers write:   Ã‚  Ã‚   "We have examined the World Anti-Communist League...because it is the one organization in which representatives of virtually every right-wing extremist movement that has practiced unconventional warfare are to be found. The League is the one constant in this netherworld; whether looking at Croation terrorists, Norwegian neo-Nazis, Japanese war criminals, or American ultra-rightists...." (p. x, Author's Note).   Ã‚  Ã‚   WACL is more than a club for aging facists and their modern- day

Analysis of Bbc at the Time of Greg Dyke

EMBA Organisational Behaviour Coursework – Analysis of BBC 1. Analyse the culture of the BBC at the time that Dyke took over. To what degree is it facilitating the success of the BBC? The BBC was set up in 1922 as a public service broadcaster. The BBC quickly became a household name and played a part in shaping British culture. Company culture is the values and beliefs shared by the members of a ‘group’ and the BBC is a ‘group’ which has both internal (BBC employees) and external (general public) members.The BBC is financed by a TV license fee paid by each household and represents the cultural artefacts: the concrete aspect of the BBC which is its ability to maintain its ‘independence and impartiality’ (Keys, 2006) due to public funding and a not for public service ethos. The BBC’s biggest critic: the UK press, are always at the helm of every attack and question over the quality – guarding the BBC on behalf of every person. The public values and principles that the BBC is based on were publically declared by the first director general.The BBC’s role was in ‘inform, educate and entertain’ and to ‘bring the best of everything to the greatest number of homes’ (Keys, 2006) and this became the espoused values for BBC culture. The culture of the BBC is so deeply ingrained in its employees that Dyke commented that what the BBC ‘does has enormous value and helps to define culture. People work at the BBC because of this value. Their commitment to the BBC, not necessarily to management, is very strong-at a level other companies would only dream of’ (Keys, 2006).These basic underlying assumptions of unconscious commitment to the organisation result in an unwillingness to tolerate change, whether good or bad, as it is an unconscious belief that it is interfering with the national heritage that belongs to each and every British person. The BBC culture is so strong that it has the ability to transport the general public on the same journey as its employees. They to, feel that the BBC is national heritage that they own a little piece of. It has a strong external identity of independence and impartiality which creates a sense of nshakable commitment by many employees that what they do is more than a job. When Dyke took over the BBC it had been through a period of cost cuts, staff cuts, implementation of new management controls and the formation of an internal market for services. While the new structure and aggressive cuts left the organisations morale low, the managerial reforms had not affected the core culture which under pinned the ethos of those who worked for the BBC. There was a strong belief by BBC employees ‘that what they achieved, they achieved despite management’ (Keys, 2006).This strong culture had facilitated continued success through a period of uncertainty for both employees, during cuts and managerial reforms, and the ge neral public, during a period of technological advancement in the digital space. However, with strong cultures can come dysfunctions and the BBC shows warring factions of low levels of agreement (with management) but high levels of intensity (believing they achieve without management) which if not addressed could become a barrier to future success. 2. What source of power does Dyke have? How do you predict he will manage in the upcoming political battles that he faces?Dyke has three forms of power: decision making, symbolic power and process power. One of the main sources of decision making power is the formal power of authority. Charisma is one of the forms of authority and Dyke is described by his own friends as ‘commercial, colourful and charismatic’. People with decision making power have the ability to inspire and to attract followers and this can be supported by Carolyn Fairbairn, director of strategy and distributions description that those who knew him ‘we re excited [by] his reputation as an inspiring leader†¦ who was instinctive†¦.. (Keys, 2006). Dyke’s showed symbolic power in his method of gaining a sound understanding of the business situation in his first weeks in post. Dyke undertook an extended ‘walkabout’ away from the BBC’s corporate centre in London in a bid to get to the grass roots of the business. He met with employees and asked ‘How can I make a difference? ’ and he listened to what people had to say and did not express any opinions. He also quickly gained respect at the top of the organisation using similar tactics and Mark Byford described what he really liked about ‘†¦ im and me is we talk a lot about the wider BBC together, not just World services. He doesn’t say everything he does is right, he asks, ‘what do you think’. ’ On his appointment Dyke was not a popular choice as Director-General only gaining his position on a 7-5 vote so his ability to influence at all levels was important. Those with symbolic power can change people’s understanding of a situation so that they adopt your goals as their own. Dyke’s process power due to his formal status held in the organisation hierarchy allows him to be able to stop/start or influence processes in order to achieve a desired outcome.Immediately after starting, Dyke launched an organisational review of the broadcast division and he later extended this to the whole of the BBC (Keys, 2006). Dyke’s process power is strong due to his position as Director General and his previous experience. Dyke’s ability to change peoples’ understanding of a situation and move them in the direction of his own goals, his charisma and ability to influence higher and lower in the hierarchy, and his innate understanding of the process of running a media company set him in a strong position to manage the upcoming political battles that he faces.Gaining t rust is essential after the tabloid attack due to share issues and history of working in the private sector. While Dyke is able to overcome these issues it is essential that he is transparent at all times and shows empathy to the public service ethos on which the BBC is based. 3. The organisational members that Dyke encountered on his walkabout were â€Å"despondent, down, and dismayed†. What underlying problems contributed to this lack of motivation?Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory can be used to analyse the underlying problems which caused the BBC employees to feel ‘despondent, down and dismayed’. Herzberg suggests that motivation will be enhanced by maximising the motivator factors and minimising the hygiene factors (Stilbiger, 2005). There are three main categories people can sit within an organisation when referring to overall motivation: a) dissatisfied and de-motivated, b) not dissatisfied but not motivated and c) positively satisfied and motivated.To m ove those who reside under categories a) or b) it is essential to understand what hygiene and motivational factors are lacking and attempt to rebuild. On Dyke’s ‘walkabout’ of the BBC outside of London it became apparent that when he asked the question ‘how can I make a difference? ’ that the issues were ‘pathetically’ small. The hygiene factors such as ‘fix the roof, get new paint’ were provided by employees (Keys, 2006). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs also explains why tangible issues such as ‘fix the roof, get new paint’ are important to having motivation.Maslow refers to these needs as safety needs and unless you have ‘biological, physical and safety needs’ in place you are unable to move to ‘belongingness needs’ which include work groups. These hygiene factors are important for a business to avoid the feeling of unpleasantness at work. When employees feel these factors are inad equate they cause dissatisfaction and no matter how well the company addresses the motivational factors they cannot work with motivational factors alone – the two go hand in hand. Motivational factors were also contributing to the overall lack of motivation.Due to the period of cost cuts, staff cuts, implementation of new management controls and the formation of an internal market for services that the BBC had been through in the 90’s, the changes meant that divisions were ‘competing aggressively to get a larger slice of the pie’ (Keys, 2006). This was potentially affecting individual’s opportunities for advancement, recognition of their work within the BBC, and sense of personal achievement and growth in their position. This was all being exacerbated by a ‘very analysis based, almost obsessively so’ (Keys, 2006) business from the previous Director – General.On an individual level the motivational circle can be used to understand where an employee is personally affected. This can be split into four categories: satisfaction, effort, recognition and performance and they link to each other. If the link between effort and performance is affected people feel that no matter how hard they work their performance will not improve. This could be due to a lack of resources, knowledge, training, tools and skills and also an ineffective process within the company.This break in the motivational circle can be seen as a symptom of the formation of an internal market for the services of the BBC. The internal market was causing the commissioners to become ‘king’ and the impact of programme–makers on decision making fell dramatically causing producers to become unhappy and leave as they felt the move towards external, independent production was increasing and no matter how much effort they put in within the BBC the performance would never be enough. 4. Analyse Dyke’s initial steps as he begins the c hange process. How has he done so far?What do you think about his approach to organisational change? What do you see as his biggest challenges going forward and how would you suggest he tackle them? Dyke recognised that the organisation had been through a major change period of cost cuts, staff cuts, implementation of new management controls and the formation of an internal market for services that the BBC. While these changes were essential to improve efficiency and to make the finances more transparent the change had been pushed from the top down and not been embraced by the employees.Dyke’s approach to further change is very different to that of John Birt as he recognised that further major changes were needed within the organisation. Dyke begins his role as Director-General by putting distance between Birt and himself by going on a ‘walkabout’. Dyke chooses to use is charisma, understanding of process and influencing powers to begin the change process. Dyke u nderstands that as Director-General of the BBC you are ‘damned if you do, and damned if you don’t’ due the strong public service ethos and culture of the BBC that lives both within the organisation and within every stakeholder.Dyke begins his change process by building relationships with employees both high and low in what Dyke termed ‘were too many hierarchies’. By asking employees views and building relationships before announcing major changes Dyke is able to build a network of people to support him through the changes and in turn influence others within the organisation. Dyke uses this time to launch a review of the organisation and learn where the inefficiencies reside in the organisation. By using both the relationships and analysis, Dyke begins to establish himself as a credible Director-General.He quickly puts in place tactics which are quick wins: changing the internal competitive market and the use of resources. These high impact changes ar e important for Dyke to establish his power and leadership of the BBC. Dyke clearly recognises the employee ‘commitment to the BBC, not necessarily to management, is very strong-at a level other companies would only dream of’ (Keys, 2006). For Dyke’s success it is essential that he shows employees that he understands the underlying culture of the BBC and is able to listen to his employees.Dyke needs to build a team that are able to discuss, decide and do real work. Dyke needs to select team members for their skills and set clear rules of behaviour and address the strong belief by BBC employees ‘that what they achieved, they achieved despite management’ (Keys, 2006). If Dyke can build a team within the BBC he has a very strong chance of success. 5. Analyse the structure of the BBC at the time Dyke took over. How appropriate was the structure given the goals of the BBC at that time? The structure of an organisation should follow strategy and for this r eason company structure can change often.The structure of an organisation should exploit the core competencies of its employees and managing organisational behaviour. John Birt had created an organisation based on bureaucracy due to the resistance to change that he met when restructuring the BBC. He found the internal resistance to change and the press hostility difficult and his management of staff became ‘defensive, solemn, businesslike’ and his style became rationalised and methodical without regard for people. Bureaucracy has positives which are its efficiency and fairness – this can be seen in the formation of an internal market for services that the BBC which brought inances under control and improved transparency. On the other hand it can be inflexible, restrict innovation and de-motivating – this can be seen with the loss of talented producers. The BBC at the time Dyke took over is divisional. The BBC network operations were split into two major di visions: broadcast and production. However, the broadcast division became more powerful as they were the division that set the strategy and content. The structure created unhappy programme makers who began to leave the BBC and set up their own companies to tender for the production from the outside.The structure was important to begin the re-structuring process of the BBC to make it a more transparent and accountable for its spending. However, the structure was causing the BBC to lose talented people and losing its internal innovation and intellectual property by pushing it outside of the BBC. When Dyke joined the BBC the external market place was rapidly changing. Digital, pay TV and the internet were making the average consumer more needy than ever and the BBC was required to stay at the forefront of the changes as it was funded by households.Audiences were becoming more and more fragmented and every new channel was gaining fewer viewers. For the BBC this meant that it was becomin g difficult to provide programming for all and the BBC mission from 1922 was – to ‘bring the best of everything to the greatest number of homes’ (Keys, 2006). The structure at the time Dyke joined was causing the BBC to become reliant on outside talent and leaving it open to flounder in the future. Keys, T, 2006. Greg Dyke: Taking the helm at the BBC (A). IMD286. International Institute for Management (IMD). Silbiger, S, 2005. The 10-day MBA. 3rd ed. Piatkus Books Ltd.

Branches of Philosophy

Branches of Philosophy Professor John Wise American Intercontinental University Thesis This essay project with answer different questions to the six branches of Philosophy. The branches are Metaphysics-is something real? Epistemology-How do we know? Ethics-What is right or wrong? Aesthetics- Is something beautiful? Political- What government is best? And Social- How should we act in in society. Six Branches of Philosophy There are six branches of philosophy. There is Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Aesthetics, Political, and Social. Each branch asks us all specific types of questions that we ask ourselves each and every day.Some of these questions we ask without even realizing that we have done so. Metaphysics is the first branch of Philosophy in this discussion. This asks the question of what is real. At an early age we are taught that there is a heaven and earth. At different times we ask ourselves is there really a heaven. Based on what we are taught I believe there is a heaven and that there will come a time in our life that we will be in the place created by God called heaven. According to the bible, God created man from the dust of the earth. We live in the physical world and the spiritual world depends on each person’s spiritual belief.I believe each one of us has a soul. I believe the soul stays around loved ones until the day of reckoning. I believe all people have free will but different circumstances determine what happens to us thru fate. The psychological world I believe consists of our mind and the world that we chose to create for ourselves to live in. The Epistemology branch asks us the question of how is anything known. Things that are known are taught to us from our parents and by teachers in school. We are taught different things thru text books and by experience.Thru different experiences we learn how to conduct ourselves around other people and we gain knowledge by studying the different works of scientists and scholars. There are not any limits to human understanding. Each person’s understanding depends on them. Some people understand things differently than others and each person’s limits differ from others. I don’t believe there is a relationship between faith and reason. Faith goes along with ethics and morals. I don’t fully understand what artificial intelligence is. The next branch of philosophy is the Ethics branch.We are taught from an early age the difference of right and wrong. Laws tell us what is or isn’t right and as humans if we break these laws we are punished. To me being a good person means to follow the golden rule â€Å"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you†. I believe that virtue does lead to happiness. If you do what is right by others then others will have the tendency to follow your lead. I believe society affects morality. This all depends on the circumstances in which you live. If you live in an area that has a lot of crime and ha tred then you have the tendency to follow others in that area.If you set high moral standards for yourself then no matter where you live or the types of people you are surrounded with won't affect you. I think that morality is more culture based. Each person has to choose how they apply the morals they are taught at an early age to their adult lives. Each person has different morals that they live by and have to decide how these will be applied. The next branch of philosophy we are going to discuss is the Aesthetics branch. This brings up the question of what is beautiful. In my opinion beauty is in the eye of the beholder and each culture has what they regard as to what is beautiful.Art depicts the creator’s feelings or ideas as to what they believe beauty is. Art can be successful and valuable to the creator and also to the person that enjoys different art forms. To one person a piece of art might have beauty to it and to another person it might be just horrendous. So there fore beauty in art may or may not matter to all people. The next topic is the political branch of philosophy. I believe the best type of government is the democratic government. This form of government, people do have a small voice in different matters.I think the government should have limited power and that the government should listen to the common people as to what the needs of the population are. I believe that if the common person had the ability to be more involved in the government of today then the needs of the common person would be made possible thru a vast majority voice. The last branch of discussion is the Social branch. I believe this branch is determined thru the ethics branch of philosophy. People shouldn’t have to give up rights just to live in a specific society. We should be able to live our lives the way we now and by the morals and ethics we have built for ourselves.I think some people act according to the surroundings they are in at different times. Wit h many different cultures of society today, I believe there is a large language barrier. With all the different cultures communications has become a big issue. Each culture believes that their language should be the language spoken. I believe that there needs to be one universal language spoken and then different societies of people wouldn’t feel as if they were being mistreated or neglected.Reference: Baird, F. E. , ;amp; Kaufmann, W. E. (2000). Ancient philosophy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. M. U. S. E. My Unique Student Expeience

Lady Macbeth Coursework Essay

When Shakespeare was writing ‘Macbeth’, most people believed that the Sun went around the Earth and that magic and witchcraft existed. This made them very superstitious indeed. Religion was also a dominant factor at the time. All children were baptized, soon after they were born. This then enabled them to be taught the essentials of the Christian religion. Education at the time was only best for the rich. Shakespeare was one of the lucky ones; because of him being brought up in a very wealthy society he got the chance to be well educated. This then got him writing plays such as Twelfth Night, Hamlet and including Macbeth. He is now widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in English literature. In ‘Macbeth’, Lady Macbeth can be seen in many ways which can be related to Macbeth’s villainy. She can be seen as the protector/protected, manipulator, victim, Jacobean wife and also how she is in charge of the relationship with Macbeth. Manipulation is the process of bending another to your will and making them believe or do something that they normally wouldn’t do. Manipulation can be seen when both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth plot to kill their own King (King Duncan). â€Å"And live a coward in thine own esteem†, in this quotation we can see that Lady Macbeth is literally saying to Macbeth that he is only being a coward to himself if he was going to back away from the deed. Lady Macbeth uses such strong words so that Macbeth has a greater chance of not backing down to the regicide. From analysing the quote ‘live a coward in thine’ we can clearly see that the word ‘coward’ is emphasised with the word ‘thine’. The word ‘coward’ means someone who is afraid and someone with no bravery at all. This is important to me because it gives a great impact to the reader that Macbeth is being called a ‘coward’ by his own wife. This to me sounds like Lady Macbeth is acting in a very sly way to get her husband to do what she wants him to do. Another example of manipulation can be seen when Lady Macbeth is talking about the plot to kill the King with Macbeth. â€Å"These deeds must not be thought after these ways†¦so, it will make us mad†. Here we can see that Lady Macbeth is trying to bend the situation a bit so that it goes to her favour. In other words, telling Macbeth to not worry about what has happened. ‘It will make us mad’. In this quote the word ‘mad’ is important because it is being emphasised so that Macbeth is more alert about the murder. Mad is an adjective which is usually associated with people that are not acting in a normal way. To me this suggests that Lady Macbeth is saying that if you don’t forget about the deed, we are going to be in a normal state. We can also see Lady Macbeth in control of the relationship with Macbeth when she helps Macbeth with the murder of King Duncan, making the guards drunk, assuring that Macbeth doesn’t get caught in the process. â€Å"Only look up clear; to alter favour ever is to fear. Leave all the rest to me†. In this text we can literally see that Lady Macbeth is giving Macbeth the opportunity for her to do most of the covering up, this clearly indicates Lady Macbeth taking the role of being the ‘protector’ towards her husband. By the use of the command ‘Leave all the rest to me’ this to me emphasises that she is the dominant character at this specific part of the scene. The word ‘leave’ is a command that you would usually use after a word, in this occasion Lady Macbeth has used this at the start of the sentence which to me sounds more appealing for the reader too. Furthermore, she implicates to ‘the rest’ as referring to the King, the daggers and the stewards. This to me shows that she is telling Macbeth that she can take control of situations like these. The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth does not always go in Lady Macbeth’s favour. In this case she is more of a ‘victim’. This can be seen at the end of the story when she is guilty of all the murders which that she has contributed to, this then leads her going ‘mad’. â€Å"The thane of Fife he had a wife, where is she now?† by examining this text, we can see that now Lady Macbeth is in a ‘half away/half dreaming’ state to hold herself for all the deeds that Macbeth has committed, this to me explains why she is asking such questions. ‘The thane of Fife he had a wife’, here by Lady Macbeth using the past tense ‘had’ it shows to me that a level of confusion has taken place. This is then emphasised when she adds on the question at the end of the sentence. Therefore, in the reader’s point of view, it shows us that she is behaving in a ‘mad’ sort of manor, which isn’t rea lly seen before. We can say that Lady Macbeth is the catalyst of the murder. Furthermore, she can be known as the protector and the protected. Macbeth is one character who tries best to protect Lady Macbeth. When Banquo was murdered, Macbeth kept Lady Macbeth in complete darkness. â€Å"Be innocent of the deed, dear chuck†, this quote suggests that Macbeth is trying to protect her and is shown as the ‘protected’. By the use of the words ‘be innocent’ it suggests to me that Lady Macbeth is forcing Macbeth to ‘be innocent’, this is because the command is used at the start of the sentence which usually indicates that the person is in control. The whole quote â€Å"Be innocent of the deed, dear chuck† infers that she wants him to forget about the murder, showing that she’s a protector. Lady Macbeth can also be seen as a protector when she responds to Macbeth’s actions. â€Å"Leave all the rest to me†. In this quote we can clearly see Lady Macbeth as the dominant character in their relationship and also as the protector towards her own husband. By looking at the text used and concentrating on the word â€Å"me†, we can see that Lady Macbeth could be using the word as in referring herself to the ‘manipulator’,’ protector’ or even the victim. Also by use of the words â€Å"the rest†, this could give the reader a thought that it can be referred to or mean the king, or his guards, the daggers or can simply mean different abstracts such as shame, guilt, and consequence. This to me shows a perfect demonstration on how Lady Macbeth is being a protector and manipulator towards Macbeth to get her own way. Lady Macbeth is not always seen as the catalyst. In this case it is shown when she takes the role of being a ‘victim’. â€Å"Unsex me here†. In this quote it shows that Lady Macbeth is asking for her feminine side to be taken away. This to me shows that she is making a change from the typical female stereo type (e.g. kind, vulnerable) to a more masculine character (e.g. leader, ‘macho man’). This change could have made her more manipulative towards Macbeth and in a leading role, but in the state she is in now she is seen more as the victim. Lady Macbeth can also be seen as ‘victim’ in the quote â€Å"sweeten this little hand†. Here we can see that what Shakespeare is trying to say that, because of how Lady Macbeth’s contribution to the regicide, she is trying to forgive herself for what she has done wrong. By the use of the words ‘sweeten’ and ‘little’, it clearly shows that she’s vulnerable and delicate. By the use of words like these it also infers Lady Macbeth’s sorrow and the role of her being a victim. Overall we can see that Lady Macbeth is the dominant character that contributes to Macbeth’s villainy in many ways. Killing a king in the was the worst crime you could possibly do in Shakespeare’s time.

Banana Chips

This provides an ample opportunity to a new entrant as the market is not dominated by some brands and with good quality and competitive pricing, it is possible to capture adequate market share. Production Banana Chips or Crisps are deep fried snack a small or casual meal. Cooking type bananas produce good Chips/Crisps. It is easy to make and the product is very tasty. The small-scale production requires but a few equipment, viz. A stove (Gas, Diesel fired or even a Firewood Stove), Kitchen knives, Peelers, Cutting boards, Plastic buckets, Cooking pots, Containers, Frying pan or Wok, Long Spoons or ladles, Cheese cloth, Colander, Trays and Baskets, Plastic Pouches, Candles amp; old Hacksaw blade or a small Electric Impulse Heat Sealer and Weighing scale. Production steps of Banana ChipsGood large size green cooking bananas slices are cut cross wise to give circular shape. Bigger size fruits are preferred to produce large size slices and an attractive product. Different varieties give products of different colour, flavour and taste. Crosswise slicing gives uniform, circular, attractive, product and is universally adopted for commercial production. This way as the slicing is faster the production increases. The steps involved in Banana Chips processing are: Selection: Good quality, green cooking bananas is preferred. Cutting and Peeling: Using a knife, banana bunches are separated from the main stem and individual bananas hands are separated from the bunches. Using a hand peeler, bananas are peeled and immediately sliced cross wise into thin, round slices. As some varieties with latex cause itching or irritation while handling, it is better to rub the hands with salt before peeling and slicing. Immersion in salt water: Immediately after slicing the slices are placed in salt water @ 3 to 5% of salt to the water. Added salt gets in to the slices and improves taste arid acceptability of the product. If slices are not placed in water, they turn Brown and later give an unacceptable dark product. Frying: Keep a large shallow Frying Pan or wok over a suitable stove (with adjustments for flame/heat control). The frying pan should be thick bottomed and with side rings for easy handling. Good edible vegetable cooking oil is used for frying. Bring the oil to fuming hot temperature. The long spoon or ladle used for taking out the fried chips from the wok can be either a big perforated one, of 8 to 12 inches in diameter and with long handle or of a large diameter wire mesh spoon with bamboo handle. The salt soaked slices are then dropped one by one manually into the hot oil in the frying pan. Never put the slices together in clusters into the oil as the slices being starchy stick to each other and are difficult to separate later. The normal practice followed is: Holding slices in left hand and dropping in rapid succession the separated slices one by one into the hot oil, or Slices taken out from the salt solution, separated and arranged either on a cheese cloth or on the dry big spoon itself and then carefully dropped into the hot oil. The frying temperature is maintained around 150 to 160C (just fuming) and frying time around 3 5 minutes depending on the slice thickness. Slices are deep-fried to golden yellow colour (till the bubbles seize) and taken out immediately using big perforated spoon. Over frying turns the chips dark and this will be considered an unattractive product. Draining of oil: Deep fried chips are put into perforated Colander for the excess oil to drain out and later transferred to a wide plastic or aluminum tray lined with craft paper or kitchen towel which absorbs/removes excess oil in chips and product is allowed to cool. Packing: Chips should never be packed while hot since hot air inside the pack condenses into water, which moistens the crisps resulting in soft, soggy chips. After cooling, chips are packed manually in plastic pouches and scaled airtight using either Hacksaw blade over candle flame or an electric impulse plastic sealer. Market PotentialDemand and SupplyThere is a very large market for banana chips and they can be sold at all such places where people assemble like theatres, picnic spots, bus stands or railway stations, traffic junctions etc. Retailing has to be done through small grocery shops as well as big departmental stores and super markets. There exists a strong demand for banana chips as most people enjoy eating snacks. While fresh cooking bananas are widely available, banana chips are not easily available in many parts of the country. Making chips increases the shelf life of the product in times of abundant harvest. Sales Location The owner has several options for selling the product as follows: At the local market; Through shops; and Through hotels amp; clubs. If the owner wishes to sell direct to the end customer, then the location with the highest traffic should be chosen. This will generally mean higher expenses in the form of rent. If the owner wishes to sell through shops, hotels or clubs, then the business can be started from your house. However, the owner will have to accept a lower mark-up to allow for a margin to be made for the shop owner. Costing the BusinessEquipment cost The following list represents a range of possible equipment needed for establishing a small scale banana chip producing business: Item | Quantity | Estimated Cost (Birr) | Purpose | Equipment | | | | Wok of frying pan | 1 | 500 | Fry chips | Gas Burners | 2 | 3000 | Stove top cooking | Plastic pots with lids | 5 | 200 | Storage | Knives | 3 | 60 | Cutting food | Spoons, wooden ladles | 5 each | 100 | Stirring for uniform frying | Cooling trays | 2 | 100 | Cooling hot fried chips prior to packing | Bag sealer | | 1600 | Packing fried chips | Total Equipment | | 5560 | | The prices used are estimated average cost based on Adama prices at the time this document was prepared. The above capital requirements are based on the principle of starting a small scale banana chip producing operation with minimum outlay of capital. This business can be of larger scale through the introduction of a deep fryer, and slicing machine. Staff CostA basic banana chip operation could be started by an owner helped by a family member. Position | Main responsibility | Monthly salary (Birr) | Owner | Manage business: decide prices, prepare chips, procure suppliers, supervise all staffs | 1500 | Helper | Assist in all areas | 700 | Total Staff Cost | | 2200 | Raw Material costYour major raw material is cooking bananas. Availability and price you pay for bananas will be determined to some extent by the weather conditions. In times of drought, availability will be less and price will be high. We will buy regularly from a few farmers. Once the suppliers know that we will be buying regularly, they will adjust their production to meet our demand and they should be willing to offer us a special price. Based on the costing and pricing part of this document, our raw material cost will be 1. 80 birr per 100 gram package. Raw materials include the raw banana, oil, salt, packaging and label. Raw material cost for one month consumption: Item | Quantity | Estimated Cost (Birr) | Raw Banana | 50kg | 600 | Edible Oil | 30ltr | 850 | Salt | 5kg | 15 | Packaging polythene/plastic | 1package | 200 | Total Raw Material Cost | | 1665 | License or Registration CostThe size and nature of this business does not require company registration and will be set-up as small and micro enterprise. For the purpose of this guide, the annual licence fee is estimated at 200 Birr. Operating CostA banana chip producing business has certain operational costs. Some of these costs are: Paid once when we establish services such as water, electricity ; Some are paid on a monthly basis. When we start our business we will usually need some working capital (money) to establish services, pay certain yearly expenses and to meet some of our monthly operational costs until the business can generate enough income to meet these costs. In the case of a banana chip producing business this should only be for the first month. The size and nature of this business probably will not warrant renting a new place. Electricity is not needed, but water is essential to the operation. Hence the operating costs listed below are on the basis of incremental costs incurred to run the business. For the purposes of this guide, it has been assumed that the product will be sold through a market stall. Below is a table showing the start-up and monthly operating cost associated with a banana chip producing business. Operational Cost | Initial Working Capital (Birr) | Monthly (Birr) | Rent (market stall) | 1000 | 500 | Water charges | 10 | 10 | Electricity | 50 | 50 | Gas | 200 | 200 | Cleaning supplies | 50 | 25 | miscellaneous | 100 | 50 | Total Operating Cost | 1410 | 335 | Startup Costs Item | Total (Birr) | Equipment | 5560 | Staff | 2200 | License and Registration | 200 | Raw Materials (First month) | 1665 | Operating expenses | 1410 | Total Start-up cost | 11,035 | The cost to start a banana chip producing business is around Birr 10,000. Costing and PricingIngredients: Bunch of cooking banana Water Salt Cooking oil Plastic bag Label Costing Ingredients | Quantity | Cost (Birr) | Cooking Banana | 100gms | 1. 35 | Salt amp; Cooking oil | | 0. 15 | Plastic Bag | | 0. 15 | Label | | 0. 15 | Total Cost per 100gm bag | | 1. 80 | Selling PriceObviously our selling price cannot be below Birr 1. 80. To determine our selling price we will try and investigate prices for similar items available. If there is a similar item, then our price will be close to that price. As we will be selling our product through shops, hotels or clubs, so we would have to allow a reasonable margin for the reseller. Probably a reasonable price for the above product will be Birr 2. 50. We will review prices if our product is not selling. ProfitabilityMonthly profit and loss | Breakeven Sales | Sale per day | 175 bags | Sales per month (25 days) | 4335 bags | Cost of raw materials | 1. 80birr/bag*4335 bag=7803 birr | Gross Profit | 2. 50birr/bag*4335bag-7803birr=3035 | Operational expenses/month | | Rent(market stall) | 500 | Wages | 2200 | Electricity | 50 | Gas | 200 | Water | 10 | Cleaning Supplies | 25 | Miscellaneous | 50 | Total | 3035 | Operating profit per month before tax | 0 | If we assume 2. 0 birr per bag unit price then the breakeven sales for this business is 175 bags per day. This means that if you sell less than 175 bags per day, you will make a loss. If you sell more than 175 bags per day at unit price of 2. 50 birr, you will make a profit. Financing the BusinessThe size and nature of this business is such that savings must necessarily be used for financing the business. In addition to our saving we will take a loan from Oromia Micro Finance Enterprise. Source of Finance | Amount (Birr) | Saving | 300 0 | Loan | 9000 | Total | 12,000 |

Du Bois The Souls of Black Folk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Du Bois The Souls of Black Folk - Essay Example As the discussion stresses the Souls of Black Folk represents a collection of fourteen historical and sociological essays framed by the Forethought and Afterthought. In the Forethought and Of Our Spiritual Strivings Du Bois outlines the primary metaphorical concepts of his work, the â€Å"veil† and â€Å"double consciousness†, through which, according to the author, American blacks face the world. Hence, the â€Å"veil† represents â€Å"Negros’† innate feature, an indication of color line, historically conditioned lack of ability of white people to accept blacks as equals and at the inability of African-Americans to exceed the poor limits society establishes for them. The â€Å"double consciousness† is closely related to the concept of the â€Å"veil† and refers to the existence of two conflicting identities of African-Americans, that is to say the one of emancipated American citizen and the other of former slave continuing to experien ce inequality and restrictions.This paper discusses that  social tendencies of the post-emancipation epoch aggravated a lot African-Americans’ plight then. For example, in Of the Black Belt Du Bois cites his experience of travelling in so-called Jim Crow Car giving readers the insight of how poorly the discrimination on the ground of skin color legalized by Jim Crow Laws affected the blacks’ life conditions and their self-appraisal in particular.  Du Bois also outlines the prejudicialness of American society toward the Black people.