Salman Rushdies Chekov and Zulu free essay sample

Most of the stories in Salman Rushdie’s book East, West regard the subject of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984. Indira Gandhi was the first and to date the only female Prime Minister of the Republic of India has had. She served for three consecutive terms from 1966-1977 and for a fourth term from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. When Indira Gandhi returned for a fourth term in 1980, she became involved in a conflict with separatists, specifically the Sikh religious group, in Punjab. Two of Indira Gandhi’s bodyguards, both Sikhs, assassinated her with machine guns in the garden of her residence on October 31, 1984. The assassination led to rampages, riots and chaos in New Delhi, the capital city of India. Over the next few days, mobs ran through the streets of New Delhi and other parts of India, killing several thousand Sikhs. The 25-page story â€Å"Chekov and Zulu†, based in London, starts off a few days after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; it revolves around two main characters—Chekov, a Hindu and Zulu, a Sikh—and the effect of Indra Gandhi’s assassination on their friendship. We will write a custom essay sample on Salman Rushdies Chekov and Zulu or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In 1994, the year when East, West was published, violence against the Sikhs diminished, although other conflicts arose. Ethnic and regional tensions formed between India and Pakistan, leading to the Kashmir conflict, a dispute over the most northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. Current events in the year 1994, such as the previous example, contributed to the audience’s viewpoints about â€Å"Chekov and Zulu†. Interestingly enough, Chekov and Zulu received their names from two fictional characters from Star Trek, which in 1994, was widely popular.

Finnish Culture of Michigans Upper Peninsula

Finnish Culture of Michigan's Upper Peninsula Tourists to the remote towns of the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan may be puzzled by the many Finnish flags adorning local businesses and homes. Evidence of Finnish culture and ancestral pride is ubiquitous in Michigan, which is less surprising when taking into account that Michigan is home to more Finnish Americans than any other state, with the majority of these calling the remote Upper Peninsula home (Loukinen, 1996). In fact, this region has more than fifty times the proportion of Finnish Americans than the rest of the United States (Loukinen, 1996). The Great Finnish Emigration   Most of these Finnish settlers arrived on American soil during the â€Å"Great Finnish Immigration.† Between 1870 and 1929 an estimated 350,000 Finnish immigrants arrived in the United States, many of them settling in an area that would be come to known as the â€Å"Sauna Belt,† a region of especially high population density of Finnish Americans encompassing the northern counties of Wisconsin, the northwestern counties of Minnesota, and the central and northern counties of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Loukinen, 1996).   But why did so many Finns choose to settle half a world away? The answer lies in the many economic opportunities available in the â€Å"Sauna Belt† that were extremely scarce in Finland, a common dream to earn enough money to buy a farm, a need to escape from Russian oppression, and the Finn’s deep cultural connection to the land. Finding Home Half a World Away Like Finland, Michigan’s many lakes are the modern day remnants of glacial activity from thousands of years ago. In addition, due to Finland and Michigan’s similar latitude and climate, these two regions have very similar ecosystems. Both areas are home to seemingly ubiquitous pine-dominated mixed forests, aspens, maples, and picturesque birches. For those living off the land, both regions are located on beautiful peninsulas with a rich fish stock and woods full of delicious berries. The forests of both Michigan and Finland are home to a plethora of birds, bears, wolves, moose, elk, and reindeer. Like Finland, Michigan experiences bitterly cold winters and mild summers. As a result of their common high latitude, both experience very long days in the summer and significantly shortened daylight hours in the winter. It is easy to imagine that many of the Finnish immigrants arriving in Michigan after such a long sea voyage must have felt like they had found a piece of home half a world away. Economic Opportunities The primary reason Finnish immigrants chose to immigrate to the US was for the job opportunities available in the mines prevalent in the Great Lakes area. Many of these Finnish immigrants were young, uneducated, unskilled men who had grown up on small rural farms but did not own land themselves (Heikkil Uschanov, 2004). By Finnish rural tradition, the eldest son inherits the family farm. As the family plot of land is generally only large enough to support one family unit; splitting the land among siblings just was not an option. Instead, the oldest son inherited the farm and paid the younger siblings a cash compensation who were then forced to find work elsewhere (Heikkil Uschanov, 2004). The Finnish people have a very deep cultural connection to the land, so many of these younger sons who were unable to inherit land were looking for some way to earn enough money to buy land to operate their own farm. Now, in this point in history, Finland was experiencing rapid population growth. This rapid population growth was not accompanied by a rapid increase in industrialization, as seen in other European countries during this time, so a widespread job shortage occurred. At the same time, American employers were actually experiencing a labor shortage. In fact, recruiters were known to come to Finland to encourage frustrated Finns to immigrate to America for work. After some of the more adventurous Finns took the leap to emigrate and sailed to America, many wrote back home describing all of the opportunities they had found there (Loukinen, 1996). Some of these letters were actually published in local newspapers, encouraging many other Finns to follow them. â€Å"Amerika Fever† was spreading like wildfire. For the young, landless sons of Finland, immigration began to seem like the most viable option. Escaping Russification The Finns met these efforts to effectively eradicate their culture and political autonomy with widespread backlash, especially when Russia mandated a conscription law that forcibly drafted Finnish men to serve in the Russian Imperial Army. Many young Finnish men of conscription age saw serving in the Russian Imperial Army as unjust, unlawful, and immoral, and chose instead to emigrate to America illegally without passports or other travel papers. Like those who ventured to America seeking work, most if not all of these Finnish draft-dodgers had intentions to eventually return to Finland.   The Mines The Finns were wholly unprepared for the work that awaited them in the iron and copper mines. Many had come from rural farming families and were inexperienced laborers. Some immigrants report being ordered to begin work the same day that they arrived in Michigan from Finland. In the mines, most of the Finns worked as â€Å"trammers,† the equivalent of a human pack mule, responsible for filling and operating wagons with the broken ore. Miners were horrendously overworked and were subjected to extremely dangerous working conditions in an era where labor laws either didn’t properly exist or were largely unenforced. In addition to being completely ill-equipped for the manual component of mining work, they were equally unprepared for the transition from the completely culturally homogenous rural Finland to a high stress working environment working side by side with other immigrants from many different cultures speaking many different languages. The Finns responded to the massive influx of other cultures by shrinking back into their own community and interacting with other racial groups with great hesitation. Finns in the Upper Peninsula Today With such a high proportion of Finnish Americans in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, it is no wonder that even today Finnish culture is so intricately intertwined with the UP. The word â€Å"Yooper† means several things to the people of Michigan. For one, a Yooper is a colloquial name for someone the Upper Peninsula (derived the acronym â€Å"UP†). Yooper is also a linguistic dialect found in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan that is heavily influenced by Finnish due to the masses of Finnish immigrants who settled in Copper Country. In the UP of Michigan it is also possible to order a â€Å"Yooper† from Little Caesars Pizza, which comes with pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms. Another signature UP dish is the pasty, a meat turnover that kept the miners satisfied through a hard day’s work in the mine. Yet another modern reminder of the UP’s Finnish immigrant past lies in Finlandia University, a small private liberal arts college established in 1896 in the thick of Copper Country on the Keweenaw Peninsula of the UP. This University boasts a strong Finnish identity and is the only remaining university established by Finnish immigrants in North America. Whether it was for economic opportunities, an escape from political oppression, or a strong cultural connection to the land, Finnish immigrants arrived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in droves, with most, if not all, believing that they would soon return to Finland. Generations later many of their descendants remain in this peninsula that looks eerily like their motherland; Finnish culture is still a very strong influence in the UP.

A Nation of Idiots Analysis

What evidence does Moore offer to support his contention that America is a nation of idiots? Is calling us all a nation of idiots an effective way to get our attention and sympathies? Moore shares a number of personal experiences in this selection to dramatize his disgust with formal education. Overall, how would you characterize his attitude toward school and schooling? What textual evidence leads you to make those conclusions?What are the potential problems with using this kind of rhetorical or argumentative strategy in his writing? Moore offers evidence of public ignorance to support that America is a nation of idiots. He does this by stating, â€Å"Only 11 percent of the American public bothers to read a daily newspaper, beyond the funny pages or the used car ads† (Idiot Nation excerpt, Colombo, Cullen, Lisle, 129).This example is a good reflection of Moore’s attitude and style of grabbing the reader’s attention. He relates to the readers in simple terms, but always with a hint of sarcasm. I believe that calling America a â€Å"nation of idiots† is an effective way of getting us to listen. The way Moore sees it, schools have used various tactics to educate its students and politicians have used different forms of engaging the public, but the public is not interested.Moore states, â€Å"A nation that not only churns out illiterate students but goes out of its way to remain ignorant and stupid is a nation that should not be running this world – at least not until a majority of its citizens can locate Kosovo (or any other country it has bombed) on the map† (Idiot Nation excerpt, Colombo, Cullen, Lisle, 129). The potential problem with using this kind of rhetorical strategy in his writing is that the readers probably do not think of themselves as â€Å"idiots† and therefore will assume that Moore’s words do not apply to them and readers will tune out.Another problem is Moore will offend some of his audience and naturally these audience members will become defensive and disregard Moore’s current and future work. Moore does not see schooling in America as an effective way of educating the nation. He also views it as a very harmful environment that teaches children not to question authority and not to think, but rather do as they are told. â€Å"They learn that to rock the boat could get them rocked right out of school† (Idiot Nation excerpt, Colombo, Cullen, Lisle, 143).

Multigenre paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Multigenre paper - Essay Example Power is now vested in institutions and not individuals, further, these institutions are designed in a way that allows them to manage and check the powers borne by every institution. However, the absence of a critical example in modern day does not mean such examples never existed, on the contrary, there are a myriad of such examples. One critical lesson to be learnt from the absolute power contexts is that it only leads to vicious, ruthless, and corrupt leadership. This research takes interest in the life of Al Capone; his is an example of a man born in poverty and rose to become the head of a vicious criminal gang in Chicago, actually, head of crime in Chicago (Bardsley). Through him the transformation of a man by power is manifest and the result of having greater power is obvious. Review Al Capone was a Chicago mobster, one of the most talked about gang leaders in the history of United States. However, Al Capone’s life was not entirely laden with crime; he had started off a s an honest young boy, who sought to lead a decent life like his father, who ran a barbershop. His effort to lead a balanced life was disrupted by two men Johnny Torrio and Frankie Yale (Balsamo 8). Both men were gang leaders with the only difference being their means of managing their criminal activities. Torrio was a diplomatic and a shrewd businessman who silently and wisely expanded his criminal activities (Lorrizo 24). He was the first criminal leader Al Capone worked under and had a chance to interact and learn from. The other was Yale; Yale was a brutal man who expanded his criminal reach through brute and murder. Al Capone had a chance to work under him as well. However, it was through Torrio that Al Capone honed his criminal life, as expected he had learnt from two extremes and he never shied from implementing the lessons from his mentors (Eig-WSJ). Being shrewd and brutal allowed for his fast expansion owning brothels, gambling houses and bootlegging businesses in quick su ccession (Knight 54). This built up his empire fast enough and allowed him a lot of power. Unlike his preferred mentor, Torrio, Al Capone led a more public life which meant his actions were much more publicized than Torrio’s (Capone 29). Under his leadership, following Johnny Torrio’s retirement, Al Capone became a target by rival gangs and by Chicago’s authority. This fact seemed to make him more brutal and unforgiving a characteristic of absolute power. His monster side was defined by two events; one was when he ordered the murder of his two sworn enemies in 1926 and when he masterminded St. Valentine’s Day massacre in 1929 (Capone 52). Both of these events dealt a major blow to his reputation and provided a leeway for his prosecution (Eig 321). He was duly sentenced on June 1931 and committed to 11 years in prison (Al Capone Museum). Comparison Al Capone’s turnaround from an honorable childhood to a vicious gang leader reads like a tale. However , it is a true reflection of what unchecked power would do to an individual. His rise and subsequent fall is reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Macbeth is a play about an army general who served diligently and led conquests for the king only to be misguided by witches and his personal ambitions and affinity for power. He ended up killing his king and together with his evil wife masterminded other deaths of probable heirs and likely opposition

Netflix in 2012 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Netflix in 2012 - Case Study Example The five forces model has been rated in the table as shown. Netflix Company currently experiences medium entry barriers. The company does not experience much of the entry barriers. However, the company receives low cost of switching powers concerning the capital requirements thus enhancing financial stability. Besides, Netflix seems to be one of the leading movie rental companies with decline in the identity and loyalty to subscription (Thompson 140). The organizational returns are mainly linked to customers’ returns that have bargaining power in terms of the quantity of order, while most customers are not willing to make streams as before. The above is because most customers have found alternatives to watching movies. The organization experiences different types of competitors from all corners of the world including Amazon and blockbusters who deal in similar products. As in the case above, Netflix needs to redefine the strategy and offer the best video on demand based on customers experience (Thompson 147). The company experience high level of competitiveness splitting along two main service provisions, pay TV distributors and cash technological companies. For instance, the organization experiences Apple cash balance leading to a decline in sales from 11.84 to $77.37 in Nov 2011. It has also been facilitated by low switching cost of consumers (Thompson 140). The organization experiences high bargaining power of suppliers with the quality in content-based as part of the organizational key input. Otherwise, there is no specific substitute for movie contents. Therefore, suppliers are limited to high-quality contents (Thompson 140). As from the year 2000, the movie industry has experienced quite a big mode of transition from technology to electronics and multiple consumer opportunities. For instance, current

Supply Chain Use Case Analysis Essay Example for Free

Supply Chain Use Case Analysis Essay The final assignment for the course is a Final Paper on two cases. The Final Paper should demonstrate understanding of the reading as well as the implications of new knowledge. The eight- to ten-page paper should integrate readings and course discussions into work and life experiences. It may include an explanation and examples from previous experiences as well as implications for future applications. Read the case study at the end of Chapter 15 and the case study at the end of Chapter 16, and thoroughly answer all the following questions. Supplement your answers with scholarly research using the Ashford Online Library. Each case study should be addressed in four to five pages, resulting in a combined Final Paper of eight to ten pages. Chapter 15 Case Study: The Realco Breadmaster 1. Develop a master production schedule for the breadmaker. What do the projected ending inventory and available-to-promise numbers look like? Has Realco â€Å"overpromised†? In your view, should Realco update either the forecast or the production numbers? 2. Comment on Jack’s approach to order promising. What are the advantages? The disadvantages? How would formal master scheduling improve this process? What organizational changes would be required? 3. Following up on Question 2, which do you think is worse, refusing a customer’s order upfront because you don’t have the units available or accepting the order and then failing to deliver? What are the implications  for master scheduling? 4. Suppose Realco produces 20,000 breadmakers every week, rather than 40,000 every other week. According to the master schedule record, what impact would this have on average inventory levels? Chapter 16 Case Study: A Bump https://bitly.com/12C3yhI It is important to remember that college is not all about studying. College is a significant step into adulthood and should be treated as such. While you should not party the night away, do not keep your nose in your books to the point that you do not get to enjoy this time of your life. Business General Business Focus of the Final Paper The final assignment for the course is a Final Paper on two cases. The Final Paper should demonstrate understanding of the reading as well as the implications of new knowledge. The eight- to ten-page paper should integrate readings and course discussions into work and life experiences. It may include an explanation and examples from previous experiences as well as implications for future applications. Read the case study at the end of Chapter 15 and the case study at the end of Chapter 16, and thoroughly answer all the following questions. Supplement your answers with scholarly research using the Ashford Online Library. Each case study should be addressed in four to five pages, resulting in a combined Final Paper of eight to ten pages. Chapter 15 Case Study: The Realco Breadmaster 1. Develop a master production schedule for the breadmaker. What do the projected ending inventory and available-to-promise numbers look like? Has  Realco â€Å"overpromised†? In your view, should Realco update either the forecast or the production numbers? 2. Comment on Jack’s approach to order promising. What are the advantages? The disadvantages? How would formal master scheduling improve this process? What organizational changes would be required? 3. Following up on Question 2, which do you think is worse, refusing a customer’s order upfront because you don’t have the units available or accepting the order and then failing to deliver? What are the implications for master scheduling? 4. Suppose Realco produces 20,000 breadmakers every week, rather than 40,000 every other week. According to the master schedule record, what impact would this have on average inventory levels?

Food Production Essay -- essays research papers

Over the 10,000 years since agriculture began to be developed, peoples everywhere have discovered the food value of wild plants and animals, and domesticated and bred them. The most important crops are cereals such as wheat, rice, barley, corn, and rye; sugarcane and sugar beets; meat animals such as sheep, cattle, goats, and pigs or swine; poultry such as chickens, ducks, and turkeys; animal products such as milk, cheese, and eggs; and nuts and oils. Fruits, vegetables, and olives are also major foods for people. Feed grains for animals include soybeans, field corn, and sorghum. Separate articles on individual plants and animals contain further information. Tillage operations that prepare the soil for planting and control weeds also expose bare soil to possible erosion by wind and water. Erosion removes fertile soil and contributes to problems of air and water pollution. Several techniques are used to combat erosion. Crop farmers are shifting toward reduced-tillage techniques to prepare their seedbeds. Many keep a mulch cover of residues to shield their soil from wind and water erosion. Crop rotation and cover crops are also being increasingly used to hold soil in place between plantings. Still, many small-seeded crops require a finely worked, pulverized seedbed, and soil erosion cannot be completely eliminated. Fertilizers from both natural and manufactured sources can also contribute to water pollution. Soluble-nitrogen forms can leach into groundwater, and all fertilize...