Futalognkosaurus - Facts and Figures

Name: Futalognkosaurus (indigenous/Greek for giant chief lizard); pronounced FOO-tah-LONK-oh-SORE-us Habitat: Woodlands of South America Historical Period: Late Cretaceous (80 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 100 feet long and 50-75 tons Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Quadrupedal posture; thick trunk; extremely long neck and tail About Futalognkosaurus Youd think it would be hard for a 100-foot-long dinosaur to keep a low profile, but the fact is that paleontologists are still digging up new genera. One of the latest examples is the oddly named Futalognkosaurus, 70 percent of whose skeleton has been reassembled from three fossilized specimens discovered in Patagonia (a region of South America). Technically, Futalognkosaurus is classified as a titanosaur (a type of lightly armored sauropod with a widespread distribution during the late Cretaceous period), and with 70 percent of its skeleton accounted for, some experts have hailed it as the most complete giant dinosaur known so far. (Other titanosaurs, such as Argentinosaurus, may have been even bigger, but are represented by less complete fossil remains.) Paleontologists have made significant process identifying the exact place of Futalognkosaurus on the titanosaur family tree. In 2008, researchers from South America proposed a new clade called Lognkosauria, which includes both Futalognkosaurus, the closely related Mendozasaurus, and the possibly even more gigantic Puertasaurus. Tantalizingly, the same fossil site where these titanosaurs were discovered has also yielded the scattered bones of Megaraptor, a meat-eating dinosaur (not a true raptor) that may have preyed on the juveniles of Futalognkosaurus, or scavenged the bones of adults after they perished.

U.s. Health Care System With Japan - 1088 Words

Comparison of the U.S. Health Care System with Japan Introduction Healthcare is a major sector in any country since it determines the health condition of the population. In most countries, the government is charged with the responsibility of safeguarding the well-being of its citizens. In the U.S., for instance, the Liberals believe that it is the obligation of the government to provide people with good health services, whereas the Conservatives prefer them to be privatized (Blahous, 2015). The focus of this study is to compare the healthcare status of the United States of America to that of Japan. The choice of Japan was majorly determined by its economic power, given that it is a developed nation with a tiger economy. Additionally, just†¦show more content†¦Life expectancy at birth recorded at 83.2 and mortality rates are high among the aged due to cardiovascular diseases as well as cancer (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2014). Other risks to health include tobacco smoking and alcoholism. Obesity appears a mong the aged at 3.6% (OECD, 2014). In comparison, it is evident that life expectancy in Japan is higher than in the U.S. and the same applies to child mortality where Japan records lower infant deaths. Apparently, the United States spends a lot of funds to cater for the health of a single person, thus spending much of its GDP on healthcare as compared to Japan. Evidently, Americans are more prone to lifestyle diseases such as obesity, which happens to be common among young people as well as the older generation. Healthcare Financing In the US, a portion of medical services is taken care of by employers as well as by individuals. Moreover, the government has developed programs such as Medicare that cater for both disabled and elderly supported by federal funds (Blahous, 2015). Further, the state and federal funds help support Medicaid that caters for individuals with low income. The Affordable Care Act declares that individuals should not be denied health cover due to their pre-existing health conditions (Elhauge, 2015). It also forbids the insurance companies from dropping people with the

Unit 7 Free Essays

string(70) " Feminists have sought to analyse the impact of family life on women\." Principal Sociological Perspectives P1 Unit 7 Functionalism This is the relationship between the parts of society; how aspects of society are functional (adaptive). A strength of Functionalism would be that it states that there are purposes for social conditions or facts. For example, under a functionalist point of view the newspaper deliverer and retail worker all contribute to the function of the entire unit–without serving these purposes, the social structure would not function properly. We will write a custom essay sample on Unit 7 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Also functionalism is considered vital for the smooth running of society, as Durkheim stated. A criticism of the functionalist approach would be it does not address areas of conflict, which undoubtedly characterise modern societies and in principle could be found in all societies. Functionalism assumes that there is consensus: that everyone in the structure holds the same norms and values; that we all essentially believe in and work for the same thing. Functionalism is a theory about the nature of mental states. According to functionalists, mental states are identified by what they do rather than by what they are made of. Functionalism is the most familiar or â€Å"received† view among philosophers of mind and cognitive science. Family Functionalists look at how the family as an institution, helps in maintain order and stability in society, and the significance of the family for its individual members. A well know functionalist who have written about the family is George. P. Murdock. Murdock carried out a study that included 250 families. From this he argued that the family achieves four basic functions for its individual members and society. He says these are ‘sexual’, ‘reproductive’, ‘economic’ and ‘educational’ functions. The sexual function refers to the sexual activity. Murdock argued that the family provides to the sexual needs of its adults and also limits sexual access of other member of the society thereby maintaining stability. The ‘reproductive’ function is manner and raising children. The family provides the society with new members and assume responsibility for raising them. The family is an ‘economic’ unit, with a division of labour along gender. Murdock considers this division of labour as rewarding for the spouses and as strengthening the bond between them, as they are perceived as doing distinct but complementary work. The ‘educational’ function that Murdock refers to, can also be known as ‘socialisation’. The family has the responsibility of transmitting a society’s way of life, norms and values to the younger members. This function is important because without culture the society wouldn’t survive; too much deviation from the norm would disrupt the stability of the society. Marxism The sociological perspective sees society as structures with interconnected parts, and focuses on the structural features of society, emphasising social differences and the conflicting interests and values of different groups in society. Proletariat – Class of poor people who work for wages. Bourgeoise – Class of wealthy people who have their own means of wealth. Strengths would be that it recognises the power interests of different groups and is good at explaining conflict and change in society. It stresses the role of class struggle (conflict) within society between the proletariat (workers) and the bourgeoisie (owners). Weakness would be that it doesn’t recognise that people are socially active, with some power and the ability to make choices and influence the direction of their own lives. It focuses on the economy as the driving force of social behaviour and ignores other important influences such as gender, ethnicity and religion. Marxism is a political and sociological perspective based on the work of Karl Marx (1818-1883) Marx provided an account of the new class based society that emerged after the industrial revolution. The Marxist perspective questions the functionalist idea that business owners and bosses are morally entitled to keep profits for they are part of the ruling ideology in capitalist society. Family Friedrich Engels is a famous Marxist. He believed that during the early stages of human evolution that property was collectively owned and that the family did not exist. The community formed the family and there was no restraint to sexual access. Although with the development of private ownership of property and the idea of having successors who were to inherit the property, the question of paternity grew in importance and the rules of monogamous marriage were created to control woman’s sexuality and assure the legitimacy of heirs. Feminism Capitalist – Another word for a member of the bourgeoisie Feminism is a movement for social, cultural, political and economic equality of men and women. It is a campaign against gender inequalities and it strives for equal rights for women. Feminism can be also defined as the right to enough information available to every single woman so that she can make a choice to live a life which is not discriminatory and which works within the principles of social, cultural, political and economic equality and independence. Strengths that the sociological feminist theorists had were on how their perception of womanhood was socially constructed and not even real. A weakness of it is that it felt as though the sociological feminists are very judgmental and it feels as though almost all men and most people looked down on women. There are 3 main types of feminist approach: * Marxist feminism * Radical feminism * Liberal feminism Marxist feminism Marxists feminists see woman as oppressed by capitalism and by men or the patriarchal society. They believe that woman produce the next generation of workers and those they provide all the key needs to meet for their children; and prepare them for the work life. They support their partners and cook, clean, and care for the family. Radical Feminism Radical feminists believe that it is not capitalism that dominates woman, and that it is men. They see the woman as the housewife and mother. Liberal Feminism These feminists believe that changes have happened. They believe that since new legislations have been bought out that there is now more equality. Legislation and policy changing, leads to liberal feminists believing that improvements will always be made Family Feminists have sought to analyse the impact of family life on women. You read "Unit 7" in category "Papers" Regardless of the numerous differences in their approach and main concern, different feminists tend to agree that women occupy a subordinate position in the family and are exploited in various ways. The Marxist feminists consider capitalism as the main exploiter. This exploitation is seen in terms of the unpaid work they carry out at home. Like the Marxist, they believe that the family also serves capitalism by reproducing the future labour force, but they also assert that it is not the family as such that suffers more, but the women. It is women that bear the children and assume the main responsibility for their care. Women are also exploited in that they are expected to provide outlets for all the frustration and anger that their husband experience at work and therefore prevent them from rebelling against their employers. Interactionism The interactionist’s perspective is a major theoretical perspective; it focuses on the concrete details of what goes on among individuals in everyday life. It derives social processes (such as conflict, cooperation, identity formation) from human interaction. Its focus is on small groups and how they influence individual behaviour in society. A strength of this would be that it takes into account an individual’s choices they make and how they behave (their free will). It cannot explain where people get the meanings to symbols and that it ends up drawing these answers from other sociological theories, and it doesn’t explain social order and how it comes about; this would be a weakness. They do not study where the social roles come from. The evidence of symbolic interaction is that humans use symbols to understand and interact properly with the natural and social world. Symbolic interactionism is a theory of social cognition, which models human interaction among significant concepts like identity, language, meaning, labeling and roles. Family The interactionalist perspective looks at the family dynamics. This view explores the interaction of the family members; this is back and forth talk, gestures and actions that go on in families. The interactionist perspective refuses to identify a â€Å"natural family structure†. The family is not a stock social unit but the creation of its participants as they spontaneously relate to one another. Postmodernism This is an approach that emphases on the quick changing and uncertainty in our society. Postmodernists suggest that we cannot talk about well-known institutions such as the family, religion or the economy because nothing stays the same. Postmodernists think that because there is constant change you cannot use structuralist perspectives such as Functionalism and Marxism to understand society. Strength of postmodernism would be that it provides a good critique of modernism and helpfully stresses the use of the aesthetic. Weakness would be that Postmodernism, like modernism, is characterized by astounding arrogance. Family Other theories believe that nuclear family is dominant family type within society; postmodernists disagree with this opinion and have different views. Postmodernists argue that this structural approach ignores moral relativism of individuals that they always have a choice of family type and nobody can judge them. Also modernists ignore the increase of family diversity; however there is no ‘best’ family type anymore. Collectivism Collectivism is an approach to providing health and social care services that is reinforced by a government commitment to provide care and support for the vulnerable, funded through taxation and National Insurance. This contrasts with the ‘New right’ that consider welfare to be the responsibility of the individual and their family and believe that the state should play a minimal role. An emphasis is placed on unification and a common purpose. Families are considered very important for personal growth. An advantage to living in a collectivist society is that the group members are close-knit and care for and help one another, which is not always the case in an individualistic society. Another strength would be that communication is very important in a collective group. No one is left out of the mix, and everyone is involved in making decisions. A weakness would be that collectivism stifles individuality and diversity by insisting upon a common social identity, such as nationalism, racialism, feminism, or some other group focus. Also collectivism is linked to statism and the diminution of freedom when political authority is used to advance collectivist goals. Family Family ties will be different in different cultures; they will be strong in a collectivist society, Collectivist societies will be more characterized by coexistence of several generations within the household and stronger ties towards the larger family clan. ‘New right’ This is political movement made up especially of Protestants, opposed especially to secular humanism, and concerned with issues especially of church and state, patriotism, laissez-faire economics, pornography, and abortion. They believe that welfare should be largely seen as the responsibility of the individual and their family. The New Right regarded tate support as intrusive and supporting a dependency culture. Mrs Thatcher thought the welfare state produced a society in which people relied on state benefits rather than planning for the future and taking responsibility for their own needs and responsibility. A Strength of this would be that it would get more people that can work but don’t, to go out and work. Also it would benefit people because they would be going out earning their own money and it would be a good social factor. A Weakness of this would be that how do you get the people that have been off work for such a long time back into education and work. Family The New Right Family Ideology is patriarchal, the family is male dominant. Feminists argue that this is negative for women. It ignores the dark side of the family e. g. domestic abuse, poverty, conflict. It is harmful, calling other family-types ‘inadequate’ – schools, advertisements and television reinforce this idea. It is anti-social – it stereotypes, labels and discriminates against other family-types; ‘inadequate’ and has a ‘Them and Us’ theory – Nuclear families are the only family type, other family types aren’t families. How to cite Unit 7, Papers Unit 7 Free Essays string(70) " Feminists have sought to analyse the impact of family life on women\." Principal Sociological Perspectives P1 Unit 7 Functionalism This is the relationship between the parts of society; how aspects of society are functional (adaptive). A strength of Functionalism would be that it states that there are purposes for social conditions or facts. For example, under a functionalist point of view the newspaper deliverer and retail worker all contribute to the function of the entire unit–without serving these purposes, the social structure would not function properly. We will write a custom essay sample on Unit 7 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Also functionalism is considered vital for the smooth running of society, as Durkheim stated. A criticism of the functionalist approach would be it does not address areas of conflict, which undoubtedly characterise modern societies and in principle could be found in all societies. Functionalism assumes that there is consensus: that everyone in the structure holds the same norms and values; that we all essentially believe in and work for the same thing. Functionalism is a theory about the nature of mental states. According to functionalists, mental states are identified by what they do rather than by what they are made of. Functionalism is the most familiar or â€Å"received† view among philosophers of mind and cognitive science. Family Functionalists look at how the family as an institution, helps in maintain order and stability in society, and the significance of the family for its individual members. A well know functionalist who have written about the family is George. P. Murdock. Murdock carried out a study that included 250 families. From this he argued that the family achieves four basic functions for its individual members and society. He says these are ‘sexual’, ‘reproductive’, ‘economic’ and ‘educational’ functions. The sexual function refers to the sexual activity. Murdock argued that the family provides to the sexual needs of its adults and also limits sexual access of other member of the society thereby maintaining stability. The ‘reproductive’ function is manner and raising children. The family provides the society with new members and assume responsibility for raising them. The family is an ‘economic’ unit, with a division of labour along gender. Murdock considers this division of labour as rewarding for the spouses and as strengthening the bond between them, as they are perceived as doing distinct but complementary work. The ‘educational’ function that Murdock refers to, can also be known as ‘socialisation’. The family has the responsibility of transmitting a society’s way of life, norms and values to the younger members. This function is important because without culture the society wouldn’t survive; too much deviation from the norm would disrupt the stability of the society. Marxism The sociological perspective sees society as structures with interconnected parts, and focuses on the structural features of society, emphasising social differences and the conflicting interests and values of different groups in society. Proletariat – Class of poor people who work for wages. Bourgeoise – Class of wealthy people who have their own means of wealth. Strengths would be that it recognises the power interests of different groups and is good at explaining conflict and change in society. It stresses the role of class struggle (conflict) within society between the proletariat (workers) and the bourgeoisie (owners). Weakness would be that it doesn’t recognise that people are socially active, with some power and the ability to make choices and influence the direction of their own lives. It focuses on the economy as the driving force of social behaviour and ignores other important influences such as gender, ethnicity and religion. Marxism is a political and sociological perspective based on the work of Karl Marx (1818-1883) Marx provided an account of the new class based society that emerged after the industrial revolution. The Marxist perspective questions the functionalist idea that business owners and bosses are morally entitled to keep profits for they are part of the ruling ideology in capitalist society. Family Friedrich Engels is a famous Marxist. He believed that during the early stages of human evolution that property was collectively owned and that the family did not exist. The community formed the family and there was no restraint to sexual access. Although with the development of private ownership of property and the idea of having successors who were to inherit the property, the question of paternity grew in importance and the rules of monogamous marriage were created to control woman’s sexuality and assure the legitimacy of heirs. Feminism Capitalist – Another word for a member of the bourgeoisie Feminism is a movement for social, cultural, political and economic equality of men and women. It is a campaign against gender inequalities and it strives for equal rights for women. Feminism can be also defined as the right to enough information available to every single woman so that she can make a choice to live a life which is not discriminatory and which works within the principles of social, cultural, political and economic equality and independence. Strengths that the sociological feminist theorists had were on how their perception of womanhood was socially constructed and not even real. A weakness of it is that it felt as though the sociological feminists are very judgmental and it feels as though almost all men and most people looked down on women. There are 3 main types of feminist approach: * Marxist feminism * Radical feminism * Liberal feminism Marxist feminism Marxists feminists see woman as oppressed by capitalism and by men or the patriarchal society. They believe that woman produce the next generation of workers and those they provide all the key needs to meet for their children; and prepare them for the work life. They support their partners and cook, clean, and care for the family. Radical Feminism Radical feminists believe that it is not capitalism that dominates woman, and that it is men. They see the woman as the housewife and mother. Liberal Feminism These feminists believe that changes have happened. They believe that since new legislations have been bought out that there is now more equality. Legislation and policy changing, leads to liberal feminists believing that improvements will always be made Family Feminists have sought to analyse the impact of family life on women. You read "Unit 7" in category "Essay examples" Regardless of the numerous differences in their approach and main concern, different feminists tend to agree that women occupy a subordinate position in the family and are exploited in various ways. The Marxist feminists consider capitalism as the main exploiter. This exploitation is seen in terms of the unpaid work they carry out at home. Like the Marxist, they believe that the family also serves capitalism by reproducing the future labour force, but they also assert that it is not the family as such that suffers more, but the women. It is women that bear the children and assume the main responsibility for their care. Women are also exploited in that they are expected to provide outlets for all the frustration and anger that their husband experience at work and therefore prevent them from rebelling against their employers. Interactionism The interactionist’s perspective is a major theoretical perspective; it focuses on the concrete details of what goes on among individuals in everyday life. It derives social processes (such as conflict, cooperation, identity formation) from human interaction. Its focus is on small groups and how they influence individual behaviour in society. A strength of this would be that it takes into account an individual’s choices they make and how they behave (their free will). It cannot explain where people get the meanings to symbols and that it ends up drawing these answers from other sociological theories, and it doesn’t explain social order and how it comes about; this would be a weakness. They do not study where the social roles come from. The evidence of symbolic interaction is that humans use symbols to understand and interact properly with the natural and social world. Symbolic interactionism is a theory of social cognition, which models human interaction among significant concepts like identity, language, meaning, labeling and roles. Family The interactionalist perspective looks at the family dynamics. This view explores the interaction of the family members; this is back and forth talk, gestures and actions that go on in families. The interactionist perspective refuses to identify a â€Å"natural family structure†. The family is not a stock social unit but the creation of its participants as they spontaneously relate to one another. Postmodernism This is an approach that emphases on the quick changing and uncertainty in our society. Postmodernists suggest that we cannot talk about well-known institutions such as the family, religion or the economy because nothing stays the same. Postmodernists think that because there is constant change you cannot use structuralist perspectives such as Functionalism and Marxism to understand society. Strength of postmodernism would be that it provides a good critique of modernism and helpfully stresses the use of the aesthetic. Weakness would be that Postmodernism, like modernism, is characterized by astounding arrogance. Family Other theories believe that nuclear family is dominant family type within society; postmodernists disagree with this opinion and have different views. Postmodernists argue that this structural approach ignores moral relativism of individuals that they always have a choice of family type and nobody can judge them. Also modernists ignore the increase of family diversity; however there is no ‘best’ family type anymore. Collectivism Collectivism is an approach to providing health and social care services that is reinforced by a government commitment to provide care and support for the vulnerable, funded through taxation and National Insurance. This contrasts with the ‘New right’ that consider welfare to be the responsibility of the individual and their family and believe that the state should play a minimal role. An emphasis is placed on unification and a common purpose. Families are considered very important for personal growth. An advantage to living in a collectivist society is that the group members are close-knit and care for and help one another, which is not always the case in an individualistic society. Another strength would be that communication is very important in a collective group. No one is left out of the mix, and everyone is involved in making decisions. A weakness would be that collectivism stifles individuality and diversity by insisting upon a common social identity, such as nationalism, racialism, feminism, or some other group focus. Also collectivism is linked to statism and the diminution of freedom when political authority is used to advance collectivist goals. Family Family ties will be different in different cultures; they will be strong in a collectivist society, Collectivist societies will be more characterized by coexistence of several generations within the household and stronger ties towards the larger family clan. ‘New right’ This is political movement made up especially of Protestants, opposed especially to secular humanism, and concerned with issues especially of church and state, patriotism, laissez-faire economics, pornography, and abortion. They believe that welfare should be largely seen as the responsibility of the individual and their family. The New Right regarded tate support as intrusive and supporting a dependency culture. Mrs Thatcher thought the welfare state produced a society in which people relied on state benefits rather than planning for the future and taking responsibility for their own needs and responsibility. A Strength of this would be that it would get more people that can work but don’t, to go out and work. Also it would benefit people because they would be going out earning their own money and it would be a good social factor. A Weakness of this would be that how do you get the people that have been off work for such a long time back into education and work. Family The New Right Family Ideology is patriarchal, the family is male dominant. Feminists argue that this is negative for women. It ignores the dark side of the family e. g. domestic abuse, poverty, conflict. It is harmful, calling other family-types ‘inadequate’ – schools, advertisements and television reinforce this idea. It is anti-social – it stereotypes, labels and discriminates against other family-types; ‘inadequate’ and has a ‘Them and Us’ theory – Nuclear families are the only family type, other family types aren’t families. How to cite Unit 7, Essay examples

Toulose Essays - Early Middle Ages, Prefectures In France, Nmes

Toulose Toulose is a city in southern France, Capital of Haute -Garonne Department, on the Garonne River and the Canal du Midi. Its major Commercial , Transportation and Manufacturing center, is known for its production of aircraft and aerospace equipment. Other products are chemicals, clothing , electrical machinery, and farm implements. Places of interest in Toulose include a the largeRomanesque Basilica of saint Sernin, which contains the tomb of St. Thomas Aquinas; the Gothic Cathedral of WSaint Etienne; and the church of Notre Dame la Blanche. The city alsocontains mansions in the renaissance style; these include the Hotel Felzins, the Maison de Pierre, and the hotel d;Assezat et de Clemence -Isaure. As the Gallic city of Tolosa, the community was important long before the Roman conquest of Gaul. It became an episcopal see in the 4th century and was the capital of the Visigoths from 419 to 508, when it was captured by Clovis I, king of the Franks. It served as the seat of the Carolingian kingdom of the Aquitainebfrom 781 to 843, when the separate county of Toulose was established. The city joined the $Roman Catholic cause during the Wars of the Religion in the late 16th century, however, in 1562 some 4000 Protestants Huguenots of the city were killed. Nimes, city in southern France, capital of Gard Department, on a plain in the Cevennes Region. Its farm -trade and manufacturing center, products include: texties, clothing.

An Essay on talk show as a part of the public sphere Essays

An Essay on talk show as a part of the public sphere Essays An Essay on talk show as a part of the public sphere Essay An Essay on talk show as a part of the public sphere Essay Essay Topic: Public Speaking Talk Has the holy book not lament that the people will not believe except the gospel is preached to them? Has it not also said that people perish for lack of knowledge? Talk show should be classified as a part of public sphere and in discussing this one should note that there is hardly any piece of work which relates to talk show as a public sphere that does not lay emphasis on Habermass theory. Habermas said that the media shows blurring activities in the public sphere: as it is being trivialized with unimportant news, activities rather than serious political issues. This was disputed by others who thought that even though talk shows did not meet Habermass criteria, it still contributes meaningfully to the public sphere through means of active public participation. In this essay Habermas would be a central figure in the discussion and also other theorist whose academic literature discusses on pubic sphere would be considered. There would be vast discussion on the dimensions that make up the public sphere other academic and popular literature would be used, history, benefits of talk show, analysis of a talk show amongst others would also be discussed. Tyra banks show and Oprah Winfrey show would be used as yard sticks to measure Habermas theory of rational critical public sphere. What then is talk show and what is public sphere. First let us examine talk show. Talk show A talk show is a television or radio program were one person or group of people come together to discuss topics put forth by a talk show host. Some times, talk shows feature a panel of guests, usually consisting of a group of people who are learned or have great experience in relation to whatever issue is being discussed. (Wikipedia). It can be said to a forum where certain individuals are called upon by an initiator to deliberate over issue(s). The oxford advance learners dictionary defines talk show as a television or radio program in which a presenter introduces a particular topic which is then discuss by the audience. The Museum of Broadcast Communication sees talk show as any unscripted conversation directed to the audience. Talk show is therefore a show organized principally around talk. Certain points are common in all these definitions the fact that talk show involves people, talking, audience, media, issues and host. Usually, talk show features a panel of guests consisting of people who are learned, relevant and experienced in relation to the topic on the show for that episode, at other times, a single guest is asked to discuss his work or area of expertise with the host. For instance, a gynecologist may be asked to speak on the issue of pregnancy and other related issues on the female human being or a lawyer having to speak on the issue of human rights. Talk show can be regarded as a part of journalism which has evolved in a popular direction as its tentacles are spread across the different issues of societal concerns ranging from public affairs(politics) to entertainment Forms of Talk Show There are several types of talk shows. Some are outlandish like the defunct the Graham Newton Effect while others are traditional like the Late Night Show with David Letterman but the common ones now is the informal guest host format in which the host welcomes celebrities or other talk worthy individuals in an informal discussion like Kakaki Africa shown daily on AIT. The second most common form of talk show is the Public Affair in which a host(s) interviews people in the news, shows of this format are Good Morning America or Meet the People and Peoples Parliament shown daily on AIT. Others are issue oriented talk shows like Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Maury, Tyra Banks, Rachael Ray shows and many others. Public Sphere First and foremost when we use the word publics it is people who are not in the same families, communities, and clubs; people who are not the same as each other. As such, they are central to the functioning of modern societies. The term public sphere is a metaphor that we use to think about the way that information and ideas circulate in larger societies, it is used in everyday to describe information when it is made generally available to the public. When referring to the term it could also be seen as a forum or arena or aspect of political life where people come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems and through these discussions political decision may or may not be influenced. Political sphere is a contrast to personal, domestic, individual or private issues; it bothers on any issue that occupies public space and interest. Public sphere is therefore formed around the dialogue surrounding issues rather than the identity of the population engaging in the discourse . Though public sphere is ignored in dictionaries, it is at the centre of any democratic society, it is therefore a discursive arena in which the talking populace converges to discuss matters of public interest and where possible reach a common judgment. The public sphere is seen as a theatre in modern society in which political participation is enacted through talking, a place where public opinion is formed; a bridge between the ruled and the rulers. Through the vehicle of opinion, public sphere puts the State in touch with the needs and aspirations of the society creating impression that the populace has a voice in the affair of the country. How did talk show in public sphere begin? What is known as talk show in public sphere today can be traced back to history to the time when men began to exist having to deliberate on issues affecting their common interest. The term talk show was a relatively late invention coming into the media in the mid 1960s. Before then some spontaneous talks was common in broadcasting for instance, all radio program from 1927 1956 talk show of one kind or another made up 40 60% of the day time schedule comprising general variety, human participation and human interest. From 1973 1974, networking television filled over half of its day time program hours and 15 -20% of its evening schedule with talk shows of assorted types. By the summer of 1993, the television page of USA today had listed seventeen (17) talk shows and from 1948 1993, over two hundred talk shows had appear on the air. Talk shows as a part of public sphere has indeed pass through a lot of circles, to get to the present stage. The first circle starting from 1948 1952 and feature hosts like Authur Godfrey, Dare Garroway, and Edward B. Murrow. These were the pioneers of talk shows in public sphere. The second circle covers the period from 1952 1972 and features great hosts like Johnny Carson, Barbara Walters and Mike Wallace among others. These persons were linked to programs that became an established profit centre for their networks. The third circle was from 1970 1980. This was a boom period, a time that saw the birth of new technologies of production and cheaper television studio, new methods of distribution via satellite and cable transmission and regulatory decisions. Chief among the host of this period was Phil Donahue. The fourth and last circle commonly referred to a post network era 1980 till date. Donahues success was emulated by others, the most notable being Oprah Winfrey whose popularity in talk show business has make her the most financially successful talk show host in TV. Others are Racheal Ray and Ricki Lake whose popular chips include issues on international conflict such as homosexuality and bisexuality. Taking us to the foreign scene, let us speak about how talk show began and evolved in Nigeria. Talk show as a part of public sphere in Nigeria can be dated back to the beginning of mass media. A major breakthrough of talk show in public sphere began in April 2000 with the birth of New Dawn with nearly one thousand shows. Top among the hosts of this period was Funmi Iyanda. Today, it is on record that Bunmis television talk show grew to become a strong voice of the people, a beckon of hope and a brand with integrity. Bunmis show came to limelight when she featured an eight year old Senu Gonoda who suffered from a congenital hole in the heart the effect of the show on the society was indeed overwhelming. People who are considered as the marginalized voice have used talk show as a means to reach out to high power (the government) to air their own opinion which in turn positively influenced the decision about the issue of concern. Talk show can thus be seen as a part of the public spher e because the media here has been used as a means of resolving an issue which was a problem of the society Are talk shows a part of the public sphere? In the work of a German philosopher Jurgen Habermas (who is a central figure in this discussion) in his theory of public sphere (1964/1989) he conceptualizes the public sphere as that realm of social life where the exchange of information and views of questions of common concern can take place so that public opinion can be formed. The public sphere takes place when citizens exercising the rights of assembly association gather as public bodies to discuss issues of the day specifically those of political concern. Yet his concepts of public sphere insists on the analytic centrality of reasoned, critical discourse, it exists in the active reasoning of the public and it is in such discourse that public opinion is generated which in turn shapes the policies of the state and the development of society as a whole. Public sphere is not of course a sphere; it is a metaphorical term that is used to describe the virtual space where people can interact (Hartley, 1992: pp1). A place where peoples conversations, ideas and minds meet- that is public space (Robbins, 1993: xvi). It is the place where information, ideas and debate circulate in society and where political opinion can be formed (Dahlgren, 1995: ix). Speaking in terms of interaction, there are three areas of analytic concern within the interaction dimension of the public sphere: discursive, spatial and communal. The discursive has to do with the nature of the talk which circulates, is the talk political, social and therapeutic? In the discussion of a particular topic there has to be unity and coherence in the questions, views and suggestion; spatial refers to the sites and settings of the social interaction. Where do people meet? What factors foster of hinder their interaction in these spaces? The spatial is seldom separable form the discursive, both together serve to define contexts and occasions, for example, an emotional type of talk the atmosphere would be conducive enough, the people would be comfortably sited; the communal aspect has to do with the nature of the social bonds between citizens, there has to be oneness amongst the people, that is having similar opinions on a particular issue, people talk to each other and thus give each other a sense of how there are thinking. Thus, the term public sphere, there must be interaction to permit and foster the processes of sense-making. The talk show clearly fits into the description mentioned above; as interaction is the key element, the site or the show is clearly defined and different issues are discussed in the shows. For public sphere theorist there are two dominant models of how such a sphere would operate to serve democratic ends. In Habermas view, the goal to be achieved would be an arena in which every voice was given equal access and all opinion would be heard and deliberated on, in ways that allowed for the development of public opinion. However, following a more Gramascian view how hegemonic norms- which are always unstable, dynamic and contested- develop, work through a process by various groups with varying agendas and view contest for a voice with an always negotiated, multifaceted and contradictory results. There are some major themes which are pertinent in both academic literature and popular saying about the public sphere, these are; that the public sphere is too trivialized- consumers are more interested in unimportant information about celebrity, scandals rather than the more serious issues (public affairs); it is too commercialized- critics thought that through the commercialization of the public sphere, it began to represent public opinion rather than to provide a free forum for the emergence of public opinion and also the media do not care about the material in the public sphere, it focuses more on monetary value; it depends greatly on spectacle instead of ratio argumentation; it is too fragmented- and it has caused people to become apathetic about serious public issues- people no longer care about the important issues. But other critics have said the public sphere been trivialized is not entirely bad as it has paved way for feminist in public debates. Habermass writing provides a vision of the ideal public sphere- a vision that is common both to academic and popular thinking. the public sphere should ideally deal only with serious issues of real importance- only party politics and not celebrity issues, sport or entertainment. It should not be sensational, easily accessible or commercialized. It should refuse to dumb down to consumers and rather demand that they work harder to improve themselves. It should only engage in rational, logical arguments: not emotional or spectacular appeals. And it should be unified and different kinds of culture. Despite the fact that Habermas stressed the standard that cuts out to be public sphere one should not forget the fact that talk shows also contribute immensely to public participation and expression. It has also been conceived that talk show may be considered as a different form of public sphere. According to Livingstone and Lunt (1993), they suggested that talk shows are a candidate for oppositional public sphere, emphasizing the expression of interested point of view that give voice to participants perspectives and aiming at compromise rather than consensus. Habermass bourgeois theory is different for the oppositional public sphere, while Habermass theory centers on rational critical discussion in which in an argument other position should be considered, the oppositional public sphere just aims for negotiation compromise. The oppositional public sphere favors feminist theory and women, the female viewers love the chance to hear the voices of ordinary people speak on everyday life Gerard Hauser proposed a different direction for the public sphere than previous models. He proposed that public spheres were formed around the dialogue surrounding issues, rather than the identity of the population that is engaging in the discourse. Emphasizing the rhetorically of public spheres foregrounds their activity. Rather than arguing for an all inclusive public sphere, or the analysis of tension between public spheres, he suggested that publics were formed by active members of society around issues. They are a group of interested individuals who engage in vernacular discourse about a specific issue. Publics may be repressed, distorted, or responsible, but any evaluation of their actual state requires that we inspect the rhetorical environment as well as the rhetorical act out of which they evolved, for these are the conditions that constitute their individual character. These people formed rhetorical public spheres that were based in discourse, not necessarily orderly discourse but any interactions whereby the interested public engages each other. This interaction can take the form of institutional actors as well as the basic street rhetoric that open[s] a dialogue between competing factions. The spheres themselves formed around the issues that were being deliberated. The discussion itself would reproduce itself across the spectrum of interested publics even though we lack personal acquaintance with all but a few of its participants and are seldom in contexts where we and they directly interact, we join these exchanges because they are discussing the same matters. In order to communicate within the public sphere, those who enter any given arena must share a reference world for their discourse to produce awareness for shared interests and public opinions about them. There are different genre of talk shows which can be divided into different spectrums; Public affairs format, conflict issue oriented (trash talk show) therapeutic format which centers on social problems in personal perspective. Most of the scholarly writings available labels talk show as trash television but it is worthy to note that one mans trash is another mans pot of gold, there is this conjured image of talk show as a place were demented individual with deviant behaviors scream at each other but this is not the case all the time as some have been seen to depict positive effects and enhances public participation which can be termed as public sphere. Studies have shown that talk shows offer potential for public sphering because it is one of the few spaces were ordinary people engage in conversation on television or radio, creates awareness of certain issues that are rarely included in topics of other forms of public sphere. Leurdijk (2000) qualifies talk shows as a postmodern public platform for debate; she concludes that the talk shows offers opportunity for women and men of different background to get their own voices heard, in a framework that allows for more diversity than traditional news media do. In other words, talk shows should be seen not just in the light of it been a public sphere but as a way in which voice is given to those who would not ordinarily be heard (an ordinary citizen is given a microphone an has the opportunity to ask a top government official a question), it gives people the opportunity to express their opinion /views on issue of concern. Talk show are more like a college of opinion, experiences and thru the sharing of individual experiences it allows not only new topics but different styles of talking about them. The restrictions of the bourgeois public sphere as discussed in the work of Habermas (1989) and his critics Calhorn (1992) are alleviated in favor of a more diverse spectrum of topics and styles considered appropriate for public concern and debate. Carpignano et al (1990) privilege the talk show as a new site within the public sphere which embodies strong democratic potentials. Amongst other things, they point to the fact that these programs are geared towards public debate using conversational discursive modes- they establish bonds of familiarity with television audience and the studio audience via its talk; also most times common sense prevails over expertise.

Idioms and Expressions With Money

Idioms and Expressions With Money The following idioms and expressions with the noun money are less formal than collocations used with money. However, they are common in everyday conversation. Each idiom or expression has a definition and two example sentences to help understanding of these common idiomatic expressions with money. Color of Someone's Money Definition: the amount of money someone has available Show me the color of your money and then we can talk.If we knew the color of the companys money we could make a better bid on the deal. Easy Money Definition: money that can be earned with little effort Some people think that playing stocks is easy money.Unfortunately, there are few jobs are truly easy money. Front Money Definition: money paid in advance of receiving something Ill need to put up $100,000 front money to get in on the deal.Always be suspicious of companies that ask for front money. Heavy Money Definition: a lot of money Tom will bring heavy money into the company if he agrees to invest.They have heavy money. Im sure theyll buy the house. Hush Money Definition: money paid to someone so that they dont provide information Many people are paid hush money to not testify in court. Its illegal, but it happens.The gang tried to pay the man off with hush money, but he was having none of it. Mad Money Definition: money used to have fun, money to waste Weve put away a few thousand dollars in mad money for our next vacation.Dont go to Las Vegas without some mad money. Money From Home Definition: easily gained money Peter thinks investing in stocks is money from home.Shes looking for a job thats money from home. Good luck! Money Grubber Definition: someone who does not like to spend money, a stingy person Shell never give you money for your idea. Shes a money grubber.Money grubbers cant take it with them. I have no idea why they take it so seriously. I say easy come, easy go. Money Talks Definition: money has influence in a situation Of course, they let the big box store build in town. Never forget: Money talks.Just remember money talks. If they really want you for the position, theyll meet your salary demands. On the Money Definition: correct, exact Id say you are on the money about that situation.His guess that the company would succeed was on the money. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is! Definition: lets have a bet about something Come on, if you think that is true, put your money where your mouth is! Ill bet you 100 to 1 that it isnt true.She put her money where her mouth was and made a fortune. Smart Money Definition: the best option, money of smart people investing in something The smart money is on Congress changing the law.He thinks the smart money is going to invest in renewable energy. Soft Money Definition: money which can be earned without much effort Take the job for a few months. Its soft money.Jane thinks the position is soft money. Spending Money Definition: money to spend to have fun, purchases unnecessary items Its important to have at least a little spending money each month.They dont have much spending money, so they like to stay home rather than go on vacation. Throw Money at Something Definition: waste money on a situation Throwing money at the situation isnt going to make it better.Some governments feel that throwing money at a program always helps. Once youve learned these expressions, its a good idea to also learn important phrasal verbs about money. Finally, use the business English resources on the site to continue improving your English as it relates to the business world.

Unisys Corporation Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Unisys Corporation - Term Paper Example Due to the fact that the company faced financing problems including a large debt, the procedure of this transformation proved to be not an easy task to accomplish. Today Unisys is a worldwide information technology services and solutions company. The company has presence in numerous areas of the world. On top of the company hierarchy are the Chairman and CEO, as well as the following leading positions: -Senior vice president, Worldwide Human Resources -Senior vice president / President, TCIS / President, WW Strategic Services -Senior vice president / President, Federal Systems (US government) -Senior vice president / President, Global Outsourcing & Infrastructure Services -Senior vice president & Chief Financial Officer - Senior vice president & Chief Information Officer - Senior vice president, Corporate Development - Senior vice president, General Counsel & Secretary -Vice Precident & Treasurer - Vice Precident & Corporate Controller At the subordinate levels there exists a number of Regional heads, that are responsible for specific areas of the world, and below them the country general managers. However the whole organizational structure not strictly vertical. There exist a number of company operations that are decentralized and others that are centralized. Competitors The main competitors of Unisys include the traditional large-scale computer manufacturers such as IBM, group BULL, Fujitsou and HP have been the main â€Å"traditional† competitors of Unisys in its Core business, the mainframes market. In addition during the resent years, those companies, as well as numerous new ones -e.g. consulting integrators such as Accenture - compete Unisys in the new market of Systems integrators and Integrated Solutions Providers. Problems of the Unisys Corporation Although... This essay stresses that most of the leading players realized that in order to maintain their leading position they had to become more client focused, i.e. more focused to the client needs than to just selling computer boxes. In that way they quite successfully transformed their products from just â€Å"computers† to solutions. Their marketing strategy changed in order to be service oriented rather than product oriented. Customers should now have to choose integrated IT solutions, not just IT systems. This is what made the difference. Unfortunately Unisys did not do that well in that field. Although the company did make efforts to become a systems/solutions integrator, by developing consulting services in parallel to selling products, it was not made possible to catch up with competition. As a consequence, the company profitability has fallen dramatically during the recent years. Financial results of the recent years have been relatively weak for a firm of such size. This article makes a conclusion that a new strategy and organizational change are required in order to reposition the Unisys brand name in order to create competitive advantage against its competitors, based on the improvement of the following main elements. Within the last decades Unisys has experienced certain problems due to its lack of solid strategy, increasing competition and market saturation. The company requires revising of its strategy and organizational structure in order to ensure its competitive advantage and leading position in its field in the years to come.