Barbie, If Looks Could Kill Free Essays

Hannah Mekeel Pg1 Barbie: If Looks Could Kill Almost every American girl desires a Barbie at some point, for the chance to vicariously live her fabulous life. The average girl from ages 3-11 owns upwards of 10 Barbie dolls throughout her childhood, with hours on end spent exploring a Pepto-Bismol colored world, where Barbie has any dream job. For 53 years, Barbie has been an American standard of beautiful. We will write a custom essay sample on Barbie, If Looks Could Kill or any similar topic only for you Order Now With her leggy, busty figure and unattainable body measurements, neatly wrapped in pink packaging and a sunny disposition, Barbie has had over 80 careers, ranging from the President to a McDonalds’ cashier. When she’s not teaching or fighting fires, she still manages to maintain her Barbie dreamhouse, her body, and her dreamboat of a boyfriend, Ken. In the world of Barbie, a girl can have it all! But not all is sunny in paradise since the emergence of a Barbie backlash, as parents and child development experts begin to see the possible connections between young girls who play with Barbie’s and adult woman with body issues or eating disorders. The question becomes; What are these toys teaching young girls about their bodies, their gender, and their role in society? Is the character that has become Barbie a role model for all women can achieve? Or, have Barbie been teaching young girls that the perfect, attractive, and socially valuable woman is thin, always glamorous, always happy, and always silent? Since Barbie was first debut in 1959, she seemed to be a picture perfect role model for middle class, American girls. She was perfectly thin, had a perfect family, perfect hair, perfect car and house. Yet how was this image of a perfect woman affecting the millions of young girls who were playing with her? Some would argue that Barbie’s thin, but busty and hippy figure, instill in young woman an idea of the perfect body, desired by men and envied by other women, Mekeel Pg 2 ll the while, completely unattainable. â€Å"If Barbie were an actual woman, she would be 5’9†³ tall, have a 39†³ bust, an 18†³ waist, 33†³ hips and a size 3 shoe,† Slayen wrote in the Huffington . â€Å"She likely would not menstruate†¦ she’d have to walk on all fours due to her proportions. † (Ka tz). Many women admit they started worrying about their weight when they were between the age of 4 and six years old, and many of the girls who have or had an eating disorder admitted that Barbie played a huge role in influencing their attitudes toward their bodies. Barbie led young girls to believe, if you want Barbie’s fabulous life, you have to also look â€Å"fabulous†. During the formative ages of 4-6, right about the time young girls receive their first Barbie, they really begin to absorb the social standards around them, and the 1961 gem, â€Å"Slumber Party Barbie†, could not have been a positive influence on young girls. â€Å"Slumber Party Barbie† came equipped with a book titled How to Lose Weight , which offered advice like â€Å"don’t eat,† and a bathroom scale permanently set at 110 lbs. Slumber Party Barbie† is something no good parent would expose their young, impressionable daughter to, and something Mattel wouldn’t even attempt 40 years later. Mattel has had its missteps in the last 20 years, putting feminist across the country up in arms with the 1992 flop â€Å"Teen Talk Barbie†, who famously proclaims that â€Å"math class is tough†. Sure, math class is tou gh, but shouldn’t Barbie be reiterating to girls that math is essential, especially if you want to be just like Barbie and grow up to be a doctor, scientist, astronaut, or whatever you want. Mattel wasted no time silencing their quintessential bimbo following the backlash. Borger). Another major flaw in Barbie portrayed values is her desire for material wealth. Barbie has everything, but it wasn’t always that way. Barbie came from humble beginnings, dressed like Mekeel Pg 3 a typical white, middle-class female of the 1960’s. She continued to evolve into mod Barbie, disco Barbie, and by the 1980s â€Å"she had the taste of a lottery winner,† says M. G. Lord, author of Forever Barbie. â€Å"At the core of this change is class. † (Borger). Barbie suddenly had a dreamhouse mansion, a convertible sports car, and in more recent years, began wearing designer duds from the likes of Ralph Lauren, Christian Dior, and Bob Mackie. Barbie advocates stress that the problem doesn’t lay in Barbie’s appearance, or even her values, but with our perceptions of a doll. After all, Barbie is an inanimate object, something that living women shouldn’t compare themselves to. If Barbie were real she would likely be divorced from Ken and in debt up to her eyes after remortgaging her dreamhouse, but she’s not real. She is a fantasy, which little boys and girls can use when flexing their imaginations to develop a whole world and life for Barbie, as they would see it. It’s the ability to make Barbie into anything they want that makes her so appealing to children. We are in danger of looking at a child’s toy through an adult’s microscope and, of course, seeing all the wrong things. To a child she.. never says she can’t play with you, always smiles, will accompany her owner everywhere, and never shouts. Onto her can be projected wishes and dreams. †(Russel) Barbie has also taken the form of many positively influential female role models like Jackie Onassis Kennedy or Olympic athletes. Having experienced first-hand, amongst girls my age, the damages of low self-esteem and a poor body image, I find it hard to believe that Barbie has played no role in damaging females. Though a six year old might not process the impact at the time, subconsciously she carries the effects of Barbie’s image with her for the rest of her life, affecting the way she sees Mekeel Pg 4 herself and women around her. Sure, Barbie encourages young girl to be whatever they want to be, but only if you’re beautiful. With doll collecting being the second most popular hobby, to stamp collecting, and Barbie being a $1. 5 billion dollar industry, she’s not going anywhere soon. It is a parent’s responsibility to choose their children’s toys wisely, considering how it might impact them. If nothing else, parents should be present in their daughters’ lives contextualizing all these images they encounter in the public and in pop culture, and reinforcing a positive body imagine and self-esteem. Mattel continues to make efforts to bring Barbie to a place of more positive realism, but until woman are accurately represented and positive portrayed by gender specific toys, Barbie could be a serious danger to a young girls psyche, giving a new meaning to the phrase â€Å"if looks could kill. † How to cite Barbie, If Looks Could Kill, Essay examples

Microeconomics Samuelson free essay sample

Explain how the cool head might provide the essential positive economic analysis to implement the normative value judgments of the warm heart. Do you agree with Marshall’s view of the role of the teacher? Do you accept his challenge? In order to achieve the ultimate goal of economic science which is to â€Å"improve the living conditions of people in their everyday lives† (*) a cool head attitude has the knowledge and wisdom acquired through a lifetime relation to the economic momentum. Balancing this with a warm heart compassion vision, and a willingness to improve society, is the most appropriate way to use certain economic models in order to acquire economic sustainability with social improvement. We agree with Marshall’s view which was conceived through a social corporate responsibility. We, as leaders, accept his challenge through developing projects which should be not only profitable but also socially accepted and with respect to the environment. Also, we should use our cool heads to objectively take challenges and make difficult decisions that will lead us to a prosperous society with a sustainable economic growth. *) Economics – Samuelson Nordhaus 18th edition, pg. 6 2. Question 7 . Some scientists believe that we are rapidly depleting our natural resources. Assume that there have only two inputs (labor and natural resources) producing two goods (concerts and gasoline) with no improvements in society’s technology over time. A. Show what would happen to the PPF over time as natural resources are exhausted. B. How would invention and technological improvement modify your answer? On the basis of this example, explain why it is said that â€Å"economic growth is a race between depletion and invention. It is said that economic growth is a race between depletion and invention because the continuous use of the natural resources of a country will tend to deplete them, over a long period of time but in the contrary, the invention of new technologies can extend a country PPF – making a race between them, since both things usually happens at the same time. Chapter 2 1. Question 1 . What determines the composition of national output? In some cases, we say th at there is â€Å"consumer sovereignty† meaning that consumers decide how to spend their income on the basis of taste and market prices. In other cases, decisions are made by political choices of legislatures. Consider the following examples: transportation, education, police, energy efficiency of appliances, health-care coverage, television advertising. For each, describe whether the allocation is by consumer sovereignty or by political decision. Would you change the method of allocation for any of these goods? National Output includes the total amount of goods and services that a country is capable to produce in a certain period of time. It is also known as the country? s GDP = C+I+G+(X-M). A country has the responsibility to decide what outputs to produce and in what quantity, how to produce them and for whom should they be produced. In a market society, the national output is influenced by consumer tastes and the resources and technology available in the country. On the other hand, governments may intervene to compensate for market failures that usually occurs inside a country, or to fund social programs. Here there are some examples that show mixed economies between consumer sovereignty and government interventions. Transportation Generally speaking transportation means are controlled by the private sector through companies that provide transportation services such as airlines, company taxis, trains, etc. Inside a country, there also exists public transportation for those people who can not afford the private one. In Peru, specially for the ground transportation, the government plays a fundamental role regulating tariffs, taxes and making sure we have a safe an organized transportation system in the country for the society. Education In a country generally exists public and private education. Usually, private schools tend to have a higher price but also delivering high quality and it is market driven. There are different private schools with different prices in the market. On the other hand, public education is provided by the government to lower socio economic levels in order to make education accessible to the whole population. Government applies procedures in order to maximize its quality. In Peru for example the government is trying to break the poverty cycle incentivizing the rural population to attend school through monetary allowances. There are also regulations in terms of the requirements asked for being a public teacher, the education syllabus of the country, etc. Police Police is a government regulated service to the population which is part of the arm forces of a country. Its function is to assure security to the population. However, in some countries where there is scarce resources allocated to this public entity, private police petrol are created. In Peru even in rural areas where police is not present, communities organize themselves to fight against crime. Energy efficiency of appliances Energy is a strategic scarce resource for a country. Therefore, the importance of having government regulations to control it, its tariffs while having private companies supplying the service in order to assure this service on the long term to the community. Health care coverage Health care is a private and public good also. Government provides health care services to the majority of the population by building public hospitals and providing insurance coverage programs. Usually private health care provides a higher quality service and is accessible to higher socio-economic levels of the population. Television advertising It is a consumer sovereignty good, driven basically by program ratings and market price. Usually, the government owns public television channels but even in those cases the advertising is not controlled. What government usually does is to control advertising of some products such as cigars, or the time and programs where you can advertise such products. Would you change the method of allocation for any of these goods? We would not change the method of allocation for any of the goods mentioned above. We think that in the examples mentioned, a mixed economy of public and private goods is the best to make services accessible to the whole population while having a market driven economy. However, if we customized this question to the Peruvian reality, we think that an example where government could intervene more is the banking regulations entity which should improve the credit policies in order to create a sustainable finance growth. 2. Question 3. This chapter discusses many â€Å"market failures† areas in which the invisible hand guides the economy poorly, and describes the role of government. It is possible that there are, as well, â€Å"government failures† government attempts to curb market failures that are worse than the original market failures? Think of some examples of government failures. Give some examples in which government failures are so bad that it is better to live with the market failures than to try and correct them. A possible failure can be represented by a tax system that discourages private and foreign investments in the country that at the end will affect government’s income. Another example is a bad monetary policy in which inorganic emission of currency will impact over inflation rate dramatically, affecting purchasing power of nationals (Peru 1985) . During this time Peru suffered more than 7000% inflation generating scarcity of basic goods and creating a parallel black market. During this time, another bad example would be that the banking system was nationalized and generated a lack of confidence in the population towards the banking system, loosing a high percentage of the savings of the population decreasing the country’s investment. Chapter 3 1. Question 1 . Explain why the price in competitive markets settles down at the equilibrium intersection of supply and demand. Explain what happens if the market price starts out too high or too low. In competitive markets, the prices settles down at the equilibrium intersection of supply and demand because at that point the market finds the optimal balance between the amounts willingly supplied and the amounts of what consumers are willing to demand. If the market price starts out too high, because of the high price, the suppliers are willing to sell more than what consumers are willing to demand, and this would produce a surplus of the product in the market, having to lower the price in order to reach the correct equilibrium. If the market price starts too low, the quantity demanded by consumers is higher from the amount the suppliers are willing to sell at that price level, and this generates shortages of the product in the market, this will generate the prices to rise in order to reach also the correct equilibrium. At the equilibrium price, there are no surpluses or shortages and the market is correctly balanced. Question 7. Examine the graph for the price of gasoline in Fig 3-1, page 46. Then, using a supply-demand diagram, illustrate the impact of each of the following on price and quantity demanded. a. Improvements in transportation lower the costs of importing oil into the United States in the 1960s. †¢As imports cost falls, the supply increases its quantity. †¢The supply curve therefore shifts to the right . †¢The producers reduces the price Q (+) , P (-) b. After the 1973 war, oil producers cut oil production sharply. †¢Since, the suppliers cut production, the supply curve moves left and the price increases †¢The quantity demanded decreases †¢ Q (-), P ( +) c. After 1980, smaller automobiles get more miles per gallon. †¢The technological improvement decreases demand of gasoline. †¢Shifting the demand curve to the left, the price decreases and also the quantity demanded. †¢ Q ( +), P(-) d. A record-breaking cold winter in 1995-1996 unexpectedly raises the demand for heating oil. Since heating oil and gasoline both come from the same natural resource, we are assuming that the supply for gasoline would shift to the left, since more production of heating oil would be made, considering that the PPF remains constant. Shifting the supply curve to the left would increase gasoline? s price and reduce the quantity demanded. †¢ Q( ), P(+) e. A global economic recovery in 1999-2000 leads to a sharp upturn in oil prices. †¢Prices increased to the new point of supply – demand equilibrium. †¢Shifting the demand curve to the right †¢Higher price and quantity. †¢ Q( +), P ( +) Chapter 4 Question 4. Consider a competitive market for apartments. What would be the effect on the equilibrium output and price after the following changes (other things held equal)? In each case, explain your answer using supply and demand. a. A rise in the income of consumers – This effect would shift the demand curve to the right increasing the price of the apartments and also the quantity supplied. b. A US$10-per-month tax on apartment rentals – This effect would shift the supply curve to the left, increasing the prices of apartments, therefore reducing the quantity demanded. . A government edict saying apartments cannot rent for more than US$200 pero month – By fixing a low price of US$200 would discourage suppliers to rent apartments and the demand for them would increase because of the low price – this would generate a shortage of apartments in the market. d. A new construction technique allowing apartments to be built at half the cost – Th is would incentive suppliers to build more apartments, reducing the price of the apartments, and this would increase the quantity demanded in the market.

The Practice of Social Work Community Intervention free essay sample

According to I. Martin (1987), Community Education has evolved from three main strands. Following our needs assessment of trying to improve a few areas of education (primary areas such as English, Math) with the children at the orphanage, the second strand of community education was attempted. The second strand of Community Education involved providing compensatory education to the children. Some of the children in the orphanage were unfortunate enough to not have been enrolled in a school until at an age where they were way behind the curriculum. Very few of them seemed to be working at their suited level in their respective schools. To compensate for this we divided ourselves among the twenty eight children to attempt to teach them Math and English. Fortunately, we had two teachers in our group who structured lessons for some of the children while the others were given one on one tutoring based on school work they had trouble understanding. We will write a custom essay sample on The Practice of Social Work: Community Intervention or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Community Development has been defined as organized efforts of people to improve the conditions of community life and the capacity of the people for participation, self-direction, and integrated effort in community affairs. In this case, the community we are talking about is the orphanage. Community development places emphasis on promoting self-help through education. Our process of community development began with our group firstly visiting the orphanage and speaking to the founder and the children after introducing ourselves. Next as part of the process, we carried out a needs assessment based on our meeting at the orphanage where everyone had an input to say what they wanted from our group. And based on most of them said we decided upon the enhancement of their numeracy and literacy skills. One characteristic of Community Development is that though the development is concerned with all members of a community, not all of them will be willing to participate. This was experienced at the orphanage where the older boys, though at times we got them to participate, would rather help the workers in the yard rather than let us work with them. Community development, instead of just dealing with one specific aspect, it entails developing total community life and addressing all its needs. Though we were not required to address all their needs, we attempted to address literacy and numeracy. We also did crafts to improve their creativity. In the process of doing these planned educational activities, there were times when we taught them unplanned lessons that were valuable to them such as helping them to realize that to be able to do things they must first give it a try and also when we noticed that one boy was not able to use a scissors we attempted to improve his motor skills with a simple task of cutting drawn lines. In building on the community assets, we found that the orphanage had the required materials (e. g. textbooks) so all that our group needed to do was make ourselves useful to the children. With increasing the skills of the children, we taught them literacy and numeracy which are two basic things that will benefit them in the future and for a lifetime We also baked cakes and biscuits with them attempting to teach them to cooperate among themselves. This cooperation was observed when they let each other take turns at making the biscuits. With the crafts we did with them we challenged their creativity and patience. With the pep talks we had with some of the children we observed that the talks helped to build some confidence in some of the children. Along with the community education and community development, understanding the children we were working with was very important. The backgrounds of the members in our group were very different from the experiences of the children. We needed to understand why they might behave a certain way. The founder of the orphanage helped us in this way by telling us about the children and their experiences before they came to the orphanage. We had an idea of what kind of behavior to expect from the children. We understood that it would at times get difficult but we were not to judge them. We understood why they behaved in certain ways and we were mostly successful at dealing appropriately with their behavior. We made it a point to not appear in anyway better than they were and that we were there not only for our own means but also so that we can be of service to them and in turn help improve themselves. Community Profile The Bless the Children Home Orphanage is a registered non profitable organization whose mission is to help all needy children of different races, religion and background; to feed, house, clothe and give them an education. Founded by Mr. amp; Mrs. Surujpaul, the Home was opened on October 1st, 2008 and is located at Industry, East Coast Demerara. The Orphanage to date consists of twenty eight children, boys, girls, of which are Indians, and –blacks, -Amerindian, mixed race. Their ages range from three years to seventeen years old. These children share a common history of coming from improvised communities with minute or no rudimentary education. Some were sexually abused or physically abused, while some were rejected and neglected. And some parents have died, leaving no legal guardian to take care of them. All the children from four years and above attend school; the ones 4-6 yrs old attend the Plindola Nursery School, and the ones from 6 years to twelve years old attend the Graham’s Hall Primary School. The others above 12 yrs attend the Cummings Lodge Secondary School, and Plaisance Community High School. The children although from different race, creed or color are Christianized once they become a member of the orphanage. They are taught the principles of the bible daily. They have daily morning devotion and in the evening they are taught stories from the bible along with their evening prayers. Every Sunday it is compulsory for them to attend church services. The children are taught to live a ‘Christian life’, and sing praises to their God. The children are disciplined or punished when they have don’t abide by the rules of the Orphanage. Their punishment takes different measures, depending how severe they bend the rules. For misbehavior, they are not given snacks. Other forms of punishment include going to their rooms (quiet time) and not allowing them to participate in any recreational activities they enjoy doing. Apart from the Christian principles that the children must follow, there is also a daily schedule hat they must abide with. This schedule is a daily time table that delegates each child of what minor chores they are expected to do. They wash their clothes and clean their rooms and their surrounding, help in the kitchen to wash the dishes and even to prepare meals. Apart from minor chores, they children have schedule time for their meals, schoo l/homework time, recreation time, sleep time, etc. Given the children’s abusive and neglected background before they came to the Orphanage, they have been psychologically scared, some displaying deviant behaviours, mood swings etc. Mr. Surujpaul is a qualified Pastor and prays for the children along with his church members so their hurt and gruesome pain can be alleviated. Professional help is also afforded to them as well. Medical Doctors, Social Workers and a Psychologist volunteer their services towards the cause. Apart from that, there are routine visits from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security Social Work Department. The children are well kept and fed; no one seems to be in lack of anything materially. Every child has got a bank account for themselves. Through donated funds and their pocket piece, they are taught to save. At the age of eighteen, it is expected that they are in the field of employment and move on with their lives. (i. e. they move out from the Orphanage) The children work together, play together, especially among their own age groups. They share a special bond of being one big happy family that care for each other. Petty fights are settled among themselves and the bigger ones look out for the smaller ones. It’s truly amazing to find such unity among the children. They are also very friendly children and are always open to guests and visitors that arrive at the orphanage. The building of the Orphanage is relatively new; the place they call ‘home’ is well maintained. All fixtures and light are well updated. And everything inside their home is well packed and kept in order. The Orphanage apart from its owners has six staff-Manager, Cook, Three House parents, and a Driver. The Orphanage also has a part time security guard to ensure the safety of this community. The Orphanage’s main source of income is fundamentally obtained through donations from friends and families, churches, stake holders abroad, especially from the USA and Canada, and fund raising activities. Food items are donated almost monthly by local supermarkets and grocery stores. Also families and friends and church members donate lunch, dinner and snacks regularly to the children. The children’s clothing are also donated through same means. Some children are also sponsored monthly by individuals/families who support the â€Å"Sponsor a child for $50 USD a month† program. Community needs On July 18th, 2012, our group of six members visited the Orphanage. We were given a very warm welcome by the children, especially the younger ones. Each one of us introduced ourselves to them and indicated our purpose of being with them. Then each child was also given the opportunity to introduce themselves and indicate their hobbies. What we realized is that most of the children liked to sing, and play cricket, a few liked drawing and watching cartoons. As part of our needs assessment process we directly asked the children of what help we may provide to them. They all indicated they were poor in basic Math and English skills. Eighty percent of the children above seven years old indicated they wanted to learn to read, spell, and improve of their grammar skills, while the remaining twenty wanted help in their mathematics skills. The children below the age of six asked to sing and play with them. Having made direct contact with the children about their needs, we decided to arrange them into three groups according to their ages and they were asked to name their respective groups. The 3-6 yrs old were named the Superheroes, the 7-12 yrs old were known as the White Diamonds and the teenagers, 13 -16 yrs old named themselves the Untouchables. With the knowledge and expertise of two trained teachers who we were fortunate to have had in our group, an activity planner was organized with a list of topics to complete with the children with a given amount of time (thirty two hours) for a six and a half week period ( 5 hour per week- two days a week). Since the children were divided into three groups, two of us were responsible for each group. Apart from the planned numeracy and literacy skills we planned for them, we also made it fun through games and crafts. We also decided to teach them a craft skill of baking banana oats cookies and baking a cake. We the group members believe that having an education is a form of empowering the minds of our youths today in accordance with Convention on Rights of a Child which came into force Sep, 02nd, 1990. Article 29 1. States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to: (a) The development of the childs personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential; (b) The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations; (c) The development of respect for the childs parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own; (d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin; Community resources The dining room was transformed into a classroom set up for the three groups. The available textbooks that the ch ildren used in their schools were a great asset to helping us complete the below mentioned program. We the group members used our primary and secondary school books that we found relevant to helping the children with their educational activities. Our group donated the necessary exercise books, pencils, pens, craft paper, paint for the basic numeracy and literacy activities and the ingredients for the baking endeavor. Age group| Activities| Group Members| 3-6 years | Language Pre Reading Activities:- Identify, trace and write letters of the alphabet. Identify and colour odd objects from series. Literacy: Pronounce the sounds of the letters of the Alphabet and list words with those sounds. Differentiate Vowels from consonants. -Pronounce the short vowel sounds. List words and colour pictures with initial short vowel sound. Grammar: Opposites: Identify big amp; small pictures and objects. List and draw examples of nouns. Composition Writing: Write sentences on the topic : My Self .

Life on the Line essays

Life on the Line essays For thousands of years, and generations upon generations, humans have faced decisions of life and death. Many times these decisions are based upon religion, superstition, and politics. Now we come to a junction in the social evolution of man, where we have the ability to take giant steps forward in the development of medicine and we stumble with our resolve to help everyone, based on ideologies of religion, ethics and politics. I would like to ask why, the full funding of stem cell research by the U.S. government should not proceed. In order to achieve the great breakthroughs in curing many diseases burdening all societies throughout the world, shouldnt we continue experimentation? Should we expect financial help from the federal government? In a report by B.A. Robinson, a stem cell is a primitive type of cell that can be coaxed into developing into most of the 220 types of cells found in the human body (e.g. blood cells, heart cells, brain cells, etc). Some researchers regard them as offering the greatest potential for the alleviation of human suffering since the development of antibiotics. Over 100 million Americans suffer from diseases that may eventually be treated more effectively with stem cells or even cured. These include heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer. Research using stem cells has been authorized in Britain, but was halted in the U.S. by President George W. Bush. Bush decided on 2001-AUG-9 to allow research to start again in government labs, but restricted research to use only existing lines of stem cells. Research continues in U.S. private labs and in both government and private labs in the UK, Japan, France, Australia, and other countries. In an article for Newsweek by Sharon Begley, there appears to be three main sources for stem cells. "Spare embryos" embryos leftover after a couple's in-vitro fertilization procedure is completed ...

Biography of Al Capone, Prohibition Era Crime Boss

Biography of Al Capone, Prohibition Era Crime Boss Al Capone (January 17, 1899–January 25, 1947) was a notorious gangster who ran an organized crime syndicate in Chicago during the 1920s, taking advantage of the era of Prohibition. Capone, who was both charming and charitable as well as powerful and vicious, became an iconic figure of the successful American gangster. Fast Facts: Al Capone Known For: Notorious gangster in Chicago during ProhibitionBorn: January 17, 1899 in Brooklyn, New YorkParents: Gabriele and Teresina (Teresa) CaponeDied: January 25, 1947 in Miami, FloridaEducation: Left grade school at 14Spouse: Mary Mae CoughlinChildren: Albert Francis Capone Early Life Al Capone (Alphonse Capone, and known as Scarface) was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian immigrants Gabriele and Teresina (Teresa) Capone and was the fourth of their nine children. From all known accounts, Capones childhood was a normal one. His father was a barber and his mother stayed home with the children. They were a tight-knit Italian family trying to succeed in their new country. Like many immigrant families at the time, the Capone children often dropped out of school early to help earn money for the family. Al Capone stayed in school until he was 14 and then left to take a number of odd jobs. Around the same time, Capone joined a street gang called the South Brooklyn Rippers and then later the Five Points Juniors. These were groups of teenagers who roamed the streets, protected their turf from rival gangs, and sometimes carried out petty crimes like stealing cigarettes. Scarface It was through the Five Points gang that Al Capone came to the attention of brutal New York mobster Frankie Yale. In 1917, 18-year-old Capone went to work for Yale at the Harvard Inn as a bartender and as a waiter and bouncer when needed. Capone watched and learned as Yale used violence to maintain control over his empire. One day while working at the Harvard Inn, Capone saw a man and woman sitting at a table. After his initial advances were ignored, Capone went up to the good-looking woman and whispered in her ear, Honey, you have a nice ass and I mean that as a compliment. The man with her was her brother, Frank Gallucio. Defending his sisters honor, Gallucio punched Capone. However, Capone didnt let it end there; he decided to fight back. Gallucio then took out a knife and slashed at Capones face, managing to cut Capones left cheek three times (one of which cut Capone from ear to mouth). The scars left from this attack led to Capones nickname of Scarface, a name he personally hated. Family Life Not long after this attack, Al Capone met Mary (Mae) Coughlin, who was pretty, blonde, middle-class, and came from a respectable Irish family. A few months after they started dating, Mae became pregnant. Al Capone and Mae got married on December 30, 1918, three weeks after their son (Albert Francis Capone, a.k.a. Sonny) was born. Sonny was to remain Capones only child. Throughout the rest of his life, Al Capone kept his family and his business interests completely separate. Capone was a doting father and husband, taking great care in keeping his family safe, cared for, and out of the spotlight. However, despite his love for his family, Capone did have a number of mistresses over the years. Plus, unknown to him at the time, Capone contracted syphilis from a prostitute before he met Mae. Since the symptoms of syphilis can disappear quickly, Capone had no idea that he still had the sexually transmitted disease or that it would so greatly affect his health in later years. Chicago About 1920, Capone left the East Coast and headed to Chicago. He was looking for a fresh start working for Chicago crime boss Johnny Torrio. Unlike Yale who used violence to run his racket, Torrio was a sophisticated gentleman who preferred cooperation and negotiation to rule his crime organization. Capone was to learn a lot from Torrio. Capone started out in Chicago as a manager for the Four Deuces, a place where clients could drink and gamble downstairs or visit prostitutes upstairs. Capone did well in this position and worked hard to earn Torrios respect. Soon Torrio had increasingly important jobs for Capone and by 1922, Capone had risen up the ranks in Torrios organization. When William E. Dever, an honest man, took over as Chicagos mayor in 1923, Torrio decided to avoid the mayors attempts to curb crime by moving his headquarters to the Chicago suburb of Cicero. It was Capone who made this happen. Capone established speakeasies, brothels, and gambling joints. Capone also worked diligently to get all the important city officials on his payroll. It didnt take long for Capone to own Cicero. Capone had more than proven his worth to Torrio and it wasnt long before Torrio handed over the entire organization to Capone. Crime Boss Following the November 1924 murder of Dion OBanion (an associate of Torrio and Capones who had become untrustworthy), Torrio and Capone were seriously hunted by one of OBanions vengeful friends. Fearing for his life, Capone drastically upgraded everything about his personal safety, including surrounding himself with bodyguards and ordering a bulletproof Cadillac sedan. Torrio, on the other hand, did not greatly change his routine and on January 12, 1925, he was savagely attacked just outside his home. Nearly killed, Torrio decided to retire and hand his entire organization over to Capone in March 1925. Capone had learned well from Torrio and soon proved himself to be an extremely successful crime boss. Capone as a Celebrity Gangster Al Capone, only 26 years old, was now in charge of a very large crime organization that included brothels, nightclubs, dance halls, race tracks, gambling establishments, restaurants, speakeasies, breweries, and distilleries. As a major crime boss in Chicago, Capone put himself in the publics eye. In Chicago, Capone became an outlandish character. He dressed in colorful suits, wore a white fedora hat, proudly displayed his 11.5-carat diamond pinky ring, and would often pull out his huge roll of bills while out in public places. It was hard not to notice Al Capone. Capone was also known for his generosity. He would frequently tip a waiter $100, had standing orders in Cicero to hand out coal and clothes to the needy during the cold winters, and opened some of the first soup kitchens during the Great Depression. There were also numerous stories of how Capone would personally help out when he heard a hard-luck story, such as a woman considering turning to prostitution to help her family or a young kid who couldnt go to college because of the high cost of tuition. Capone was so generous to the average citizen that some even considered him a modern-day Robin Hood. Cold-Blooded Killer As much as the average citizen considered Capone to be a generous benefactor and local celebrity, Capone was also a cold-blooded killer. Although the exact numbers will never be known, it is believed that Capone personally murdered dozens of people and ordered the killing of hundreds of others. One such example of Capone handling things personally occurred in the spring of 1929. Capone had learned that three of his associates planned to betray him, so he invited all three to a huge banquet. After the three unsuspecting men had eaten heartily and drank their fill, Capones bodyguards quickly tied them to their chairs. Capone then picked up a baseball bat and began hitting them, breaking bone after bone. When Capone was done with them, the three men were shot in the head and their bodies dumped out of town. The most famous example of a hit believed to be ordered by Capone was the February 14, 1929 assassination now called the St. Valentines Day Massacre. On that day, Capones Henchman Machine Gun Jack McGurn attempted to lure rival crime leader George Bugs Moran into a garage and kill him. The ruse was actually quite elaborate and would have been completely successful if Moran hadnt been running a few minutes late. Still, seven of Morans top men were gunned down in that garage. Tax Evasion Despite committing murder and other crimes for years, it was the St. Valentines Day Massacre that brought Capone to the attention of the federal government. When President Herbert Hoover learned about Capone, Hoover personally pushed for Capones arrest. The federal government had a two-pronged attack plan. One part of the plan included collecting evidence of Prohibition violations as well as shutting down Capones illegal businesses. Treasury agent Eliot Ness and his group of Untouchables were to enact this part of the plan by frequently raiding Capones breweries and speakeasies. The forced shut down, plus the confiscation of all that was found, severely hurt Capones business- and his pride. The second part of the governments plan was to find evidence of Capone not paying taxes on his massive income. Capone had been careful over the years to run his businesses with cash only or through third parties. However, the IRS found an incriminating ledger and some witnesses who were able to testify against Capone. On October 6, 1931, Capone was brought to trial. He was charged with 22 counts of tax evasion and 5,000 violations of the Volstead Act (the main Prohibition law). The first trial focused only on the tax evasion charges. On October 17, Capone was found guilty of only five of the 22 tax evasion charges. The judge, not wanting Capone to get off easily, sentenced Capone to 11 years in prison, $50,000 in fines, and court costs totaling $30,000. Capone was completely shocked. He had thought he could bribe the jury and get away with these charges just like he had dozens of others. He had no idea that this was to be the end of his reign as a crime boss. He was only 32 years old. Alcatraz When most high-ranking gangsters went to prison, they usually bribed the warden and prison guards in order to make their stay behind bars plush with amenities. Capone was not that lucky. The government wanted to make an example of him. After his appeal was denied, Capone was taken to the Atlanta Penitentiary in Georgia on May 4, 1932. When rumors leaked out that Capone had been receiving special treatment there, he was chosen to be one of the first inmates at the new maximum security prison at Alcatraz in San Francisco. When Capone arrived at Alcatraz in August 1934, he became prisoner number 85. There were no bribes and no amenities at Alcatraz. Capone was in a new prison with the most violent of criminals, many of whom wanted to challenge the tough gangster from Chicago. However, just as daily life became more brutal for him, his body began to suffer from the long-term effects of syphilis. Over the next several years, Capone began to grow increasingly disoriented, experienced convulsions, slurred speech, and a shuffling walk. His mind quickly deteriorated. After spending four-and-a-half years at Alcatraz, Capone was transferred on January 6, 1939, to a hospital at the Federal Correctional Institution in Los Angeles. A few months after that Capone was transferred to a penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. On November 16, 1939, Capone was paroled. Retirement and Death Capone had tertiary syphilis, which could not be healed. However, Capones wife Mae took him to a number of different doctors. Despite many novel attempts at a cure, Capones mind continued to degenerate. Capone spent his remaining years in quiet retirement at his estate in Miami, Florida while his health slowly got worse. On January 19, 1947, Capone suffered a stroke. After developing pneumonia, Capone died on January 25, 1947, of cardiac arrest at age 48. Sources Capeci, Dominic J. Al Capone: Symbol of a Ballyhoo Society. The Journal of Ethnic Studies 2.33–50 (1975).Haller, Mark H. Organized Crime in Urban Society: Chicago in the Twentieth Century. Journal of Social History 5.2 (1971): 210–34.Iorizzo, Luciano J. Al Capone: A Biography. Greenwood Biographies. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2003.

Managing Business Activities to Achieve Results Assignment - 2

Managing Business Activities to Achieve Results - Assignment Example The director is significantly responsible for determination of firm’s vision and mission. Recruitment: The recruitment activities are highly diversified and do not comprise only the interviewing process of job applicants. The manager in the department is responsible for managing the overall process of recruitment including communication with potential client firms and implementation of recruitment process. The manager is essentially responsible for resolving issues associated with the hiring process and taking necessary managerial decisions thereof. Another important responsibility of the recruitment manager is to take care of internal recruitment (succession or promotion, layoff and new recruitment) and demand of external recruiters. IT: Organisations are increasingly incorporating technologies in their business activities and ABC Company is no different in this regard. Most of the tasks at operational and managerial level are coordinated through email, virtual networking and intranet. As a result, information technology forms an important functional department of the firm. The firm also interact with its external clients through emails. Hence, IT department is necessary for efficient management of soft and hard technologies that are employed in the firm. Training: The training department is essential in ABC Company for supporting the recruitment department. The department ensures that internal employees are imparted with sufficient and requisite training necessary for performing in their respective arena. Additionally, the training department evaluates qualifications of job seekers and candidates so that they can be set up with appropriate job interviews. Business development: The process of business development in the recruitment agency comprises continuous interaction with existing and potential client organisations for better understanding of their requirements regarding candidates. The process of business development

Management of common minor injuries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Management of common minor injuries - Essay Example Somatic pain that emanates from the skin, muscles, bones, ligaments, and joints can be regarded as the most prevalent form of pain encountered in musculoskeletal injuries. Somatic pain can be categorized into two types: deep and superficial. Usually, deep somatic pain is lasting and mainly indicative of sizable tissue damage to the internal joint structures/muscles (O'Connor 2013, p.87). Wrist and sprains have analogous signs and symptoms but differ anatomically. Wrist sprains and sprains mainly result from a fall onto an outstretched hand. The hand’s position and/or rotation at point of impact determine the form of and severity of the injury. Complex wrist and hand anatomy can render a diagnosis of wrist injuries on a challenging task (Parmelee-Peters and Eathorne 2005, p.35). The scaphoid represents the most dominantly injured carpal bone, accounting for close to 70% of carpal fractures. The management of wrist injuries should encompass rehabilitation of muscles weakened and motion lost by pain, immobilization, and inflammation. The rehabilitation should respond to five goal-oriented phases: (1) minimizing pain and inflammation, as well as oedema, if present; (2) enhancing pain-free range of motion; (3) reinforcing and enhancing general condition; (4) enhancing coordination and flexibility; (5) returning to normal work with prevention of injury that may include utilization of protective equipment (Moulton and Yates 2012, p.125). Discussion Scenario 1: The immediate pain in the left wrist below the thumb could arise from sprained thumb injury sustained after the fall. A sprained thumb is a dominant cause of thumb pain and swelling. This may emanate from damage to the Ulnar Collateral Ligament at the base of the thumb. In cases where the patient experiences severe sprained thumb injuries, there is frequent immediate thumb swelling and bruising may develop. The capability to pinch grip small objects maybe frequently impaired owing to the resultant instability within the Meta-Carpo-Phalangeal (MCP joint). Diagnosis for sprained thumb made through physical examination, whereby stressing the Ulnar Collateral Ligament may reveal instability within the joint (Kamper, Mahoney, Nelson, and Peterson 2001, p.371). This can be confirmed by undertaking an x-ray while stressing the joint; nevertheless, x-ray evidence may not be always helpful in isolation. Sprains usually tend to resolve in a period of about 4-6 weeks and can be aided by physiotherapy treatment. Ultrasound can be an effective mode of assessment in the early stages, coupled with mobilization, can help