The pyramid Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The pyramid - Essay Example raftsmen talent on exemplary basis having a perfect architectural structure and several theories exist with regard to its constructional methodology and purpose. The pyramid was built around 4500 years ago by the Egyptians for Pharaoh Khufu as his tomb. If looked at from an engineers perspective, the design, accuracy and crafting of its structure matches the modern day structures that exist in todays world. The placement of rocks that give it a triangular design are within tiny fractions of degree and so the largest structure not only reflects history but past society engineering methods2. The structure of the pyramid consists of approximately 2-3 million blocks of granite, which weigh two and a half tons. The total weight of the entire set of graphite rocks used would be approximately six million tons. The Great Pyramid is an epitome of a mixture of different branches of science that include geometry, the value of pi and astronomy. This makes it one of the highlighted wonders of the world. The slides are so aligned and precise that they give the entire structure a relationship with the moon, sun and the stars in the sky. The pyramid over th is period of time has seen disturbances geologically that have made an impact on its structural accuracy. If these are excluded, it is believed that the entire structure would have been more accurate in its integrity 3. There are several theories that revolve around the construction of the Great Pyramid. Science is still figuring out how huge heavy stones were taken to the top and placed with such precision to make the great structure. It is believed that the rocks were aligned in the structure with the help of a series of wooden staves in a parallel fashion that were placed at right angles and moved in the motion. More rocks were taken to the top with the help of placing them on wooden sledges4. The labor force used in building the Great Pyramid is also a mystery. One theory highlights that the slaves were made to work until

Politics of war extra Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Politics of war extra - Essay Example The Captain of the Chesapeake refused to be boarded and the ship was fired upon by the Leopard; as a result, about three men of the Chesapeake were killed and 18 were wounded. The Captain then gave in to the inspection, whereupon, four members of the crew who were allegedly deserters were removed from the Chesapeake. When the maimed Chesapeake later returned to Norfolk, outrage from across the country was expressed by the American people. As a result, â€Å"American opinion not only supported, but demanded war† (Coles, p. 7). The present international laws and regulations on war were not in place in the 1800s. The existing international and legal policies surrounding the declaration of war during the 1800s lay in each state’s right to exist and declare war. â€Å"In the United States, it is confided to the federal legislature where it resides with the people and is retained by them as a portion of sovereign power; it must be exercised by them in their collective capacity as provided by constitutional law†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Halleck, p. 351). On June 4th 1812, President James Madison asked the Congress to declare war; the latter immediately approved Madison’s proposal. After much debate, and only by six votes, the Senate also approved Madison’s proposal (Katcher, et.al., p. 3). Based on this approved process of declaring war existing at such time, the War of 1812 is considered legal. The primary causes of the War of 1812 are the policies of impressment and trade imposed by the British Empire. Impressment subjected British subjects to compulsory military service and in service to the war being fought by the British Empire against Napoleon Bonaparte. Many British subjects who did not want to serve in the British military found work in many of the US ships and other American workplaces. Some Americans were also illegally impressed into service by the British military. This angered many Americans. Due

Commentary on Testing the Reality Essay Example for Free

Commentary on Testing the Reality Essay This short but powerfully descriptive poem tells the story of a young man who comes to discover just how fragile the boundary between life and death really is. Written in the form of a dramatic lyric, the poem highlights the moment of revelation and reflection as the man realizes his mother hadnt died; instead she had moved on to another place. The themes of death and abandonment are clearly depicted by the poet through the use of tone, setting, rhythm, symbolism, hyperbole, alliteration and time. Through all these methods, the poet builds a sense of sorrow and feeling of utter reliance the narrator has upon his mother. It emphasizes the mans lifelong journey, from a young child learning to count to a fully grown man mourning the death of his 70-year-old mother. As he grows in body and matures in mind, he fills his head with knowledge and pushes at the boundaries of his world, testing it. The name Testing the Reality arises because the son has to face the reality of life, and the deaths that occur in life. The poem takes place in a church, in a funeral set-up, with flocking birds in the sky. We understand this because of the phrase so crammed church roof and belfry. I can comprehend that it is a funeral because the poet relates the hibernation of the birds to a 70 year old woman. The writer also illustrates a picture of a myriad of birds as he writes There must have been 10,000 there or more. Even though he feels immense loneliness and sadness after the passing on of his mother, he is not yet ready to follow her, and must remain in reality, hence he is the last soul still unhatched. The poem begins in the first person as the poet describes his experiences as a boy. We learn that his mother taught him to count to a ragged 20 but no higher. When he was still a boy, the sheer number of birds perching on the belfry exceeded his counting abilities, cramming church roof and belfry, cross and spire. At this later stage in his life, however, it is not due to his counting skills that he cannot count but due to the sheer immeasurable quantity and their uncontrollable, free nature, unable to be caged or catalogued. Their numbers were so great that their final taking off blacked Beestons sky. These birds feature throughout the poem, creating a sense of activity and movement and dramatic symbolism. Here, the black sky symbolises the unfortunate and sad mood. While the flocking birds represent what the man is looking at and his memories of them as a boy, they also have a metaphorical meaning, symbolizing the life and death of his mother. The crossroad of reality and imagery appears in line six with the following alliteration: picketed piercingly the passing of each day. The power of the repeated P sound reflects the sound of the birds cries. In the poets mind, each bird also represents a single day in the life of his mother. In fact, as the second stanza progresses, the birds only exist to measure the accumulated days in the life of the mans mother. Her attraction towards the birds is completed when they suddenly depart, taking her life with them. The shock of the mothers death is so deep that the first person used throughout the first two stanzas is obliterated and transformed into the third person in the last stanza, the man suddenly being referred to as her son. The third stanza also dramatizes the metaphorical blend of his mother and the birds. Death becomes the wings of night, her life becomes the flocking days. Her departure from the earth is an effusion, a release, of all her physical experiences which are soaring away. So significant was she to her son that her departing life blocked the light. In the final line the son becomes an unhatched egg/soul left behind in the clutch or the nest. Having come to associate the birds with his mother, his memories of her are immediately summoned whenever he sees them. She may be dead but she lives on in his memories of the birds. At first they shrilly hailed the first new light they saw, greeting the new day in what initially seems to be an irritating way because they are portrayed as having loud, high-pitched cries that are not particularly pleasant to the ears. However, after his mother dies, and they leave too, he comes to see them in a different light, after they soared away. His opinion of them has now changed and he sees them as graceful and elegant creatures. This imagery also successfully implies life after death, and the setting of the poem becomes important when looked at in this light. A church is a place of peaceful meditation, praying and holiness, a place where the boundaries between the physical and the spiritual, the barriers between life and death, merge. For these reasons it becomes the nest that hatches souls into the heavens. Even though the birds, and the mans mother with them, fly beyond all sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch they do not fly beyond love or memories, instead leaving a path for the man to follow when it is his turn to be hatched. The lesson the mother taught her son began with counting, but ended with a realization of life after death and the possibility of living, in spirit, for infinity.

The Determinants Of Customer Satisfaction In Airline Industry Tourism Essay

The Determinants Of Customer Satisfaction In Airline Industry Tourism Essay Introduction Customer satisfaction has been established as a psychological concept that involves the feeling of customers well-being and pleasure which results from obtaining what he or she hopes for and expects from consuming an appealing product and/or service (Florian and Maren, 2007; Christian, 2005; Abraham and Taylor, 1999). While different scholarly write-ups have confirmed variety of approaches to the explanation of customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction in marketing, in a comprehensive work done by Abraham and Taylor (1999), they developed nine distinct theories of customer satisfaction: namely expectancy disconfirmation; assimilation or cognitive dissonance; contrast; assimilation-contrast; equity; attribution; comparison-level; generalized negativity; and value-precept (Oh and Park, 1997). Customer satisfaction and service quality have also been confirmed to be critical issues in most service industries, and are even highly important for Airline service providers that offer generally un differentiated products. For example, in the airline industry, the main approach to differentiation and the principal means by which one Airline can distinguish itself from another is service before and after sales services (Stafford et al, 1998). Otherwise, companies will be generally unable to differentiate their services based on market offerings because Airlines offer state-mandated standardized products/services. The recent emphasis on service quality and customer satisfaction in the Airline industry illustrates the increased importance Airlines are placing on customer quality and satisfaction (Halil et al, 2008). As such, service quality measurement and customer satisfaction are increasingly becoming important for service firms to stay in the business (Parasuraman et al. 1988). And these service quality measurements processes differs across different industrial domains, because the service manager will account for the unique nature of services, while different service attributes in each organizations are acting as determinants of customer satisfaction because of the complex interrelationship and dependability that exist between them (Fochen and Robert, 2003). Customer satisfaction, one of the central marketing objectives, is closely linked to customer loyalty, the likelihood of recommendation to others, cross-buying behavior; up-grading and lower price sensitivity (Anderson, 1994; Matzler, 2005; Reichheld and Sasser, 1990; Zeithaml, 2000). Literatures like Kurt et al (2006), have explore the dimensionality of price satisfaction as a means to determine customer satisfaction. In their paper, they empirically find that price satisfaction is a complex construct consisting of several dimensions, i.e. price-quality ratio, price fairness, price transparency, price reliability and relative price. Their analyses of these dimensions are given as thus; price transparency is defined as increasing access to information, access to more alternatives, more simplified transactions, increasing communication between customers and a general distrust and resentment among customers. They argued that as a consequence, customers will increasingly demand open, ho nest and complete information on products and prices. Thus, price transparency can be considered as an important aspect of pricing policy. They concluded that price transparency exists when the customer can easily get a clear, comprehensive, current and effortless overview about a companys quoted prices (Matzler et al, 2006). They also explained that price-quality ratio is when the consumers ascribe value to a product or service subject to their perception of two factors: perceived price and perceived quality, or, in other words, the price-quality ratio. They defined customer value as a cognition-based construct that captures any benefit-sacrifice discrepancy. They said if perceived quality exceeds perceived costs, customer value is high, if cost exceeds quality, customer value is low. In their conclusion, they explained that the buyers perceptions of value represent a trade-off between the qualities of benefits they perceive in the product relative to the sacrifice they perceive by paying the price. 1.1 Background of the study The history of Saudi Airline could be traced to 1945 when the then US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a Douglas DC-3 plane as a token gift to the then Saudi Arabia King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud. This event actually marked the Muslim Kingdoms gradual development in the civil aviation industry. The Kingdoms main carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines was founded in September 1946, which is fully owned and controlled by Saudi government under the control of the Ministry of Defense. In addition to the above development, the airline took extra two delivery of Boeing 720s in 1962, giving it an opportunity to officially register its operations on 19 February 1963. This continuous development has led into establishing the Kingdoms airline as one of the leading in the industry, especially Asia in particular (). In fact, Saudi Airline has been confirmed as the regions second-largest airline by turnover after the giant Emirates airline (). This is because Saudi airline has continuously remained larger than the Qatar Airways in terms of its revenue, and also rated larger than the current fast growing airline popularly called Etihad (). But if measured by the numbers of traffics in the region, the Saudi Arabian airline will still be number three behind the Qatar Airways and the Emirates (). Part of the arguments in favour of Saudi airline is that it is strategically located at the crossroads between Africa, Asia, and Europe and also serving as the largest country within the Arabian Peninsula (). But very important concerns among its transportation stakeholders is how to maximize this external opportunity in conjunction with its current population of about 28 million people that are still depending on few rail network and air travels, an issue that have been argued as a critical component to the economic development of Saudi Arabia (). Following this trend was why the Kingdoms government encouraged the idea of strategically allowing the privately owned low cost airline competitors to rival with the Saudi Arabian Airlines both in the domestic and international markets (). This initiative from the government was subsequently reciprocated by the private investors first through the establishment of NAS airline in February 2007, and Sama airline in Marh, 2007 both initially focusing on various trucks routes within the country (). 1.2 Research problem Due to excessive subsidy of the transport system in Saudi Arabia, both the air and land transport marketers are strategically challenged on best approach to apply in order to efficiently acquire, service and retain profitable customers both within and outside the country (). This issue of subsidized fuel prices does not exclude the Saudi Arabian airline, but practitioners have continuously argued in favour of the need to remove the fare cap so that marketers can conveniently compete without any fear of fare restrictions (). This and many more are the reasons that experts believe serves as the primary cause of Saudi Arabia airline inability to strategically compete with other international airlines like the Emirates and the Qatar Airlines (). Sequel to the above practical issues in Saudi Arabia airline, several authors have argued that service quality can be a strong differentiating factor for any Airline that wants to boost up their market shares and profit position (Halil et al, 2008; Fochen and Robert, 2003; Dennis et al, 1993). Also very recent among the scholarly write-up on Airline Customer Satisfaction is Ekiz et al. (2006), that developed an alternative to SERVQUAL and called it AIRQUAL. They emphasized that this scale is to overcome the psychometrical application of existing problems in Airline Service Quality scales, as initially guided by Churchill (1979) and Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988). The findings of Ekiz et al (2006), through their AIRQUAL identified a scale of five distinct dimensions, i.e. (airline tangibles, terminal tangibles, personnel, empathy, and image) as a means to successfully manage and measure the quality perceptions of airline customers. Although, it is confirmed that they successfully developed the AIRQUAL scale, but evidences from other scholars shows that their findings failed to identified the impact of Airline price, solution quality, and employee job satisfaction on customer satisfaction, because these variables have been proven to be very significant in determining customer loyalty (Dean, 2007; Kau and Loh, 2006; Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004). Considering Ekiz et al (2006) and other authors limitation and given the importance of these dimensions to the Airline industry, this proposed study wishes to develop on the findings of Ekiz et al.s (2006) and other related literatures on Airline service quality and customer satisfaction. And studies like this will assist in determining the true behavioral intentions of airline customers in Saudi Arabia and the world at large. This proposed research work has develop an additional variable (Price) with specific reference to literatures like Kurt et al (2006), which has explo re the dimensionality of price satisfaction as a means to determine customer satisfaction. In their paper, they empirically find that price satisfaction is a complex construct consisting of several dimensions, i.e. price-quality ratio, price fairness, price transparency, price reliability and relative price. Besides service quality and employee satisfaction, another strong factor that has a direct bearing on a customers satisfaction with a service provider is the quality of the solution that the service provider provides for the customers business problem (Whyte, Bytheway, and Edwards, 1997). To achieve the intended purpose of this proposed study, below is a proposed conceptual framework for this research: Price Customer Loyalty Loyalty Customer Satisfaction Satisfaction Service/Product Quality Quality Solution Quality Employee Satisfaction Satisfaction + + + + 1.3 Research Questions The following questions are based on the issues discussed in the research problem by analyzing the practices of Airline industry in order to find out the impact of Price, Product/Service Quality, and Solution Quality on Customer satisfaction. These research questions are meant to get a feedback from Airline customers that patronize Saudi Airline and a comparable industry leader such as Singapore Airline on what actually constitute their Satisfaction and loyalty. How does Price/Fare affect Customer satisfaction in Airline Industry? How does Product/Service Quality affect Customer satisfaction in Airline Industry? How does Employee Job Satisfaction affect Product/Service Quality in Airline Industry? How does Employee Job Satisfaction affect Solution Quality in Airline Industry? How does Solution Quality affect Customer satisfaction in Airline Industry? How does Customer satisfaction affect Customer Retention in Airline Industry? 1.4 Research Objectives This primary objective of this study is to establish the interdependence of Price perception, Service Quality, Employee Job Satisfaction and Solution Quality on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. To achieve this, this study plans to measure the impact of metrics such as Price perception, Service Quality, Employee Job Satisfaction and Solution Quality on customers satisfaction and loyalty in the Airline industry. Equally included in the study objective is to test the mediating impact of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty, an issue the researcher believes will strong assist in better understanding the mechanism that are behind the relationships between the antecedents and outcome of customer satisfactions within the airline industry. The theoretical framework is based on market orientation approach as a means to exploring and establishing the relationship between Efficient Airline projects as the independent variable and customers loyalty as the dependent variable. To simplify this, the researcher has designed the following objectives to capture the research problem and provide answers to the research questions. To test a model that can explain the impact of Price, Service Quality, Employee Job Satisfaction and Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty. Research objective 2: To determine the mediating effects of Customer Satisfaction on Customer Retention/Loyalty. 1.5 Scope of the study The focus of this study is to understand what aspect of Airline operations determines Customer satisfaction. This research is limited to the Airline industry, where Saudi Arabia Airline and a leading Airline such as Singapore Airline will be selected for investigation with a set of sampling technique to explore the determinants of customer satisfaction and loyalty. The focus of this research is limited to the airline industry, where selected customers from the airline industry will be investigated with a set of sampling technique to explore their perceptions of the airline services within tourism industry as a strategic part of tourism marketing. The theoretical background of the research is base on market orientation approach and customer satisfaction theories, while airline Tourism will be study from the perspective of the customers. The researcher is planning to structure this research study as a triangulated exploratory investigation that will integrate both qualitative and quantitative techniques, which will be primarily based on an in-depth interview with managers and professionals from the Saudi Arabia airline industry. 1.6 Significance of the research Airline Industry has been chosen as the subject of this study because it will assist in identifying those variables that determine customer satisfaction and loyalty. To the Airline industry, this proposed research work will assist in establishing industry standard and assist the academics in developing alternative theories and models that will facilitate the general operations of the Airline Industry (Halil et al, 2008; Fochen and Robert, 2003; Dennis et al, 1993). Significance to the Academics Very important to the academics on this research is the detail explorations of the linkages that are between airline operational processes, service quality and contemporary customer satisfaction theories. Arguably, the existing literatures have implied that there exist a relationship between airline operation processes and customer satisfaction (), but till date there is very little published empirical research in this area that is looking at the impact of price, solution quality and employee satisfaction on customer satisfaction and loyalty. In addition to this, existing theoretical gaps have indicated that there is need for the academics to further explore, analyze, explain and expand the links between customer satisfaction theories and airline operation processes. Given the aforementioned, this research will be primarily contributing to the academics through its conceptualization and empirically testing the impacts of airline operational processes like price, service/product quality, employee job satisfaction and solution quality on customer satisfaction and loyalty within the airline industry. Through the developments of a measure that can determine the impact of airline operational processes on customer satisfaction and loyalty will provide the empirical methods for the academics in better understanding and able to predict the actual relationship that is existing between service quality and customer satisfaction theories within the airline industry. Measuring the impact of price will provide the knowledge to determine if increase or decrease in the prices of airline services will lead to better customer satisfaction and improved customer relationship performance or not. Significance to the Practitioners Airline management and managers will benefit by better understanding those factors that actually influence the relationships that exist between their operation processes and customer satisfaction and intention to repurchase. In particular, airline mangers will benefit from their understanding of how solution quality and price can affects their relationship with the customer, and how key attributes in airline services can be developed and supported by operational processes. Both the HR and Production managers will benefit how employee satisfaction can be of significant impact to their service quality and solution quality, specifically through their understanding of the key relationships that exist between airline operational processes and their customer relationship performances. The enhanced knowledge though this research would a long way assist the airline management decision-making processes when they are evaluating their customer relationship performances. In the final analysis, it is worth mentioning here that service quality cannot be separated from the concept of customer satisfaction. This is because the nature or characteristics of the service has also been found to influence the relative importance of the drivers of customer satisfaction (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2000). 1.7 Proposed Methodology and data collection process Though there are many methods of collecting data via survey. In this proposed research work, primary data for the intending statistical analysis will be collected through questionnaire design among the selected Airline customers in Saudi Arabia. The researcher is planning to adopt a second qualitative measurement to affirm research findings and assist in the interprà ©tations of the research results with the help of the Airline Experts/Managers. The Unit of Analysis is who or what that is being studied in a given research. Evidences from the social science research have established a unit of analysis as an organization, an individual, a social interaction or a group of organization/individual. Relating the above into this research, the unit of analysis are the Airline customers that will be surveyed. 1.8 STRUCTURE OF THIS STUDY Chapter one introduces the research topic determinants of customer satisfaction in airline industry and argues on the reasons for using price, service quality and solution quality, also included in it were statement of the research problem, the research questions, the research objectives, scope and limitations of the study and significance of the research. Chapter two will define the dimensions of service quality and offer the theoretical background of airline marketing through a series of literature reviews on tourism marketing and customer satisfaction. The theoretical background upon which the researcher plans to develop a theoretical framework and hypothesis in form of summary will equally be contained in chapter two. Chapter three will introduce the research methodology to be employed in this research, by providing a detailed qualitative and quantitative approach to be applied on each case study; and also contain the procedures for the selection of each case, data collection and discussion of data quality that will assist to determine the validity of the research. Chapter four will consist of the descriptions and analyzes of the practices of the airline projects in Saudi airline. The outcomes of the findings on Saudi airline will be presented for discussion in chapter five. While chapter six will analyze, discuss and make conclusions regarding the research questions and points to the theoretical contribution along with the managerial implications contained in the research. Also to be included in chapter six are the alternative recommendations as a direction for future research.

Neo-China Politics Essay -- China Economics Political Essays

Neo-China Politics   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  China is interested in modernizing itself while at the same time maintaining security' is the only general statement that can be made about China's foreign policy. To achieve these two ends, China is willing to ignore conflicts that do not substantially affect its development or security. Economic organizations are welcomed because they facilitate economic development but security multilateralism is employed only where feasible, resulting in most security concerns solved bilaterally. This case-by-case determination of policy results in China supporting the status quo in some issues while challenging it in others. To better understand China's foreign policy requires an investigation into these three characteristics. Post-Cold War Asia has been witness to a China that increasingly focuses its foreign policy on its neighbors rather than on a regional or global context. This stems from China's realization that free markets have triumphed over centrally planned economies and that a world revolution is not going to happen. This has two implications. One, China no longer needs to divert resources to involve itself in global politics since the proletarian revolution is not going to take place. Second, China needs to embark on a program of economic development and modernization (F. Wang p. 32 and J. Wang p. 80). China has decided that economic growth should receive first priority before any other concerns because of two reasons. One, economic growth allows China to upgrade its aging military by purchasing advanced weapons or developing new weapons based on the infusion of technology from consumer goods. Second and perhaps more importantly, economic development has become crucial to the Party's legitimacy to rule. During Mao's era, ideological fervor provided the basis of the Party's right to rule. However, since Deng Xiaoping's market reforms in the late 70's and 80's, the CCP has increasingly relied upon economic progress as a source of political legitimacy. The Party has promised economic prosperity in return for the undisputed right to rule. Any slowdown in economic growth could potentially lead to political instability. Therefore, all available resources are directed to maintaining a healthy pace of economic growth (Yu p. 186). At this point in development, China does not feel that it has the resources to be involved in remote... ... cede to informal discussions on security to prove that China is a responsible international actor and because any refusal might result in China being left out of international decision making. However, except in the nuclear non-proliferation issue, China's new acceptance of multilateralism is based on a calculated tactical adjustment rather than a true fundamental shift in appreciation for multilateralism. China must feel secure in its new place as a global power before any true shift may occur. This can only happen if several conditions exist. First, Beijing must no longer feel threats of containment from its neighbors and the United States. Second, China must become content with its military power and begin to see preserving a status quo in military strength as desirable. Third, the outstanding territorial disputes must be resolved. Finally, the security of each Asian nation must become so intertwined that bilateralism becomes ineffective in dealing with rising issues. Until all these conditions exist, China will not truly embrace economic and security multilateralism, and the result will continue to be the incohesive, hypocritical foreign policy that China practices today. Neo-China Politics Essay -- China Economics Political Essays Neo-China Politics   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  China is interested in modernizing itself while at the same time maintaining security' is the only general statement that can be made about China's foreign policy. To achieve these two ends, China is willing to ignore conflicts that do not substantially affect its development or security. Economic organizations are welcomed because they facilitate economic development but security multilateralism is employed only where feasible, resulting in most security concerns solved bilaterally. This case-by-case determination of policy results in China supporting the status quo in some issues while challenging it in others. To better understand China's foreign policy requires an investigation into these three characteristics. Post-Cold War Asia has been witness to a China that increasingly focuses its foreign policy on its neighbors rather than on a regional or global context. This stems from China's realization that free markets have triumphed over centrally planned economies and that a world revolution is not going to happen. This has two implications. One, China no longer needs to divert resources to involve itself in global politics since the proletarian revolution is not going to take place. Second, China needs to embark on a program of economic development and modernization (F. Wang p. 32 and J. Wang p. 80). China has decided that economic growth should receive first priority before any other concerns because of two reasons. One, economic growth allows China to upgrade its aging military by purchasing advanced weapons or developing new weapons based on the infusion of technology from consumer goods. Second and perhaps more importantly, economic development has become crucial to the Party's legitimacy to rule. During Mao's era, ideological fervor provided the basis of the Party's right to rule. However, since Deng Xiaoping's market reforms in the late 70's and 80's, the CCP has increasingly relied upon economic progress as a source of political legitimacy. The Party has promised economic prosperity in return for the undisputed right to rule. Any slowdown in economic growth could potentially lead to political instability. Therefore, all available resources are directed to maintaining a healthy pace of economic growth (Yu p. 186). At this point in development, China does not feel that it has the resources to be involved in remote... ... cede to informal discussions on security to prove that China is a responsible international actor and because any refusal might result in China being left out of international decision making. However, except in the nuclear non-proliferation issue, China's new acceptance of multilateralism is based on a calculated tactical adjustment rather than a true fundamental shift in appreciation for multilateralism. China must feel secure in its new place as a global power before any true shift may occur. This can only happen if several conditions exist. First, Beijing must no longer feel threats of containment from its neighbors and the United States. Second, China must become content with its military power and begin to see preserving a status quo in military strength as desirable. Third, the outstanding territorial disputes must be resolved. Finally, the security of each Asian nation must become so intertwined that bilateralism becomes ineffective in dealing with rising issues. Until all these conditions exist, China will not truly embrace economic and security multilateralism, and the result will continue to be the incohesive, hypocritical foreign policy that China practices today.

Capital Punishment :: essays research papers

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Capital Punishment -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Should Christians support the death penalty? The answer to that question is controversial. Many Christians feel that the Bible has spoken to the issue, but others believe that the New Testament ethic of love replaces the Old Testament law. Old Testament Examples Throughout the Old Testament we find many cases in which God commands the use of capital punishment. We see this first with the acts of God Himself. God was involved, either directly or indirectly, in the taking of life as a punishment for the nation of Israel or for those who threatened or harmed Israel. One example is the flood of Noah in Genesis 6-8. God destroyed all human and animal life except that which was on the ark. Another example is Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19), where God destroyed the two cities because of the heinous sin of the inhabitants. In the time of Moses, God took the lives of the Egyptians' first-born sons (Exod. 11) and destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea (Exod. 14). There were also punishments such as the punishment at Kadesh-Barnea (Num. 13-14) or the rebellion of Korah (Num. 16) against the Jews wandering in the wilderness. The Old Testament is replete with references and examples of God taking life. In a sense, God used capital punishment to deal with Israel's sins and the sins of the nations surrounding Israel. The Old Testament also teaches that God instituted capital punishment in the Jewish law code. In fact, the principle of capital punishment even precedes the Old Testament law code. According to Genesis 9:6, capital punishment is based upon a belief in the sanctity of life. It says, "Whoever sheds man's blood by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God, He made man." The Mosaic Law set forth numerous offenses that were punishable by death. The first was murder. In Exodus 21, God commanded capital punishment for murderers. Premeditated murder (or what the Old Testament described as "lying in wait") was punishable by death. A second offense punishable by death was involvement in the occult (Exod. 22; Lev. 20; Deut 18-19). This included sorcery, divination, acting as a medium, and sacrificing to false gods. Third, capital punishment was to be used against perpetrators of sexual sins such as rape, incest, or homosexual practice. Within this Old Testament theocracy, capital punishment was extended beyond murder to cover various offenses.

Deception Point Page 73

Corky leaned forward to look at her. â€Å"Please don't tell me your new theory is that NASA took a fossilized rock up in the space shuttle and sent it hurtling toward earth hoping nobody would notice the fireball, the massive crater, or the explosion?† Rachel had not thought of that, although it was an interesting premise. Not feasible, but interesting all the same. Her thoughts were actually closer to home. All natural atmospheric elements. Clean burn. Striations from racing through the air. A faint light had gone off in a distant corner of her mind. â€Å"The ratios of the atmospheric elements you saw,† she said. â€Å"Were they exactly the same ratios you see on every other meteorite with a fusion crust?† Corky seemed to hedge slightly at the question. â€Å"Why do you ask?† Rachel saw him hesitate and felt her pulse quicken. â€Å"The ratios were off, weren't they?† â€Å"There is a scientific explanation.† Rachel's heart was suddenly pounding. â€Å"Did you by any chance see an unusually high content of one element in particular?† Tolland and Corky exchanged startled looks. â€Å"Yes,† Corky said, â€Å"but-â€Å" â€Å"Was it ionized hydrogen?† The astrophysicist's eyes turned to saucers. â€Å"How could you possibly know that!† Tolland also looked utterly amazed. Rachel stared at them both. â€Å"Why didn't anyone mention this to me?† â€Å"Because there's a perfectly sound scientific explanation!† Corky declared. â€Å"I'm all ears,† Rachel said. â€Å"There was surplus ionized hydrogen,† Corky said, â€Å"because the meteorite passed through the atmosphere near the North Pole, where the earth's magnetic field causes an abnormally high concentration of hydrogen ions.† Rachel frowned. â€Å"Unfortunately, I have another explanation.† 87 The fourth floor of NASA headquarters was less impressive than the lobby-long sterile corridors with office doors equally spaced along the walls. The corridor was deserted. Laminated signs pointed in all directions. LANDSAT 7 TERRA ACRIMSAT JASON 1 AQUA PODS Gabrielle followed the signs for PODS. Winding her way down a series of long corridors and intersections, she came to a set of heavy steel doors. The stencil read: Polar Orbiting Density Scanner (PODS) Section Manager, Chris Harper The doors were locked, secured both by key card and a PIN pad access. Gabrielle put her ear to the cold metal door. For a moment, she thought she heard talking. Arguing. Maybe not. She wondered if she should just bang on the door until someone inside let her in. Unfortunately, her plan for dealing with Chris Harper required a bit more subtlety than banging on doors. She looked around for another entrance but saw none. A custodial alcove stood adjacent to the door, and Gabrielle stepped in, searching the dimly lit niche for a janitor's key ring or key card. Nothing. Just brooms and mops. Returning to the door, she put her ear to the metal again. This time she definitely heard voices. Getting louder. And footsteps. The latch engaged from inside. Gabrielle had no time to hide as the metal door burst open. She jumped to the side, plastering herself against the wall behind the door as a group of people hurried through, talking loudly. They sounded angry. â€Å"What the hell is Harper's problem? I thought he'd be on cloud nine!† â€Å"On a night like tonight,† another said as the group passed by, â€Å"he wants to be alone? He should be celebrating!† As the group moved away from Gabrielle, the heavy door started swinging closed on pneumatic hinges, revealing her location. She remained rigid as the men continued down the hall. Waiting as long as she possibly could, until the door was only inches from closing, Gabrielle lunged forward and caught the door handle with just inches to spare. She stood motionless as the men turned the corner down the hall, too engaged in their conversation to look back. Heart pounding, Gabrielle pulled open the door and stepped into the dimly lit area beyond. She quietly closed the door. The space was a wide open work area that reminded her of a college physics laboratory: computers, work islands, electronic gear. As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, Gabrielle could see blueprints and sheets of calculations scattered around. The entire area was dark except for an office on the far side of the lab, where a light shone under the door. Gabrielle walked over quietly. The door was closed, but through the window she could see a man sitting at a computer. She recognized the man from the NASA press conference. The nameplate on the door read: Chris Harper Section Manager, PODS Having come this far, Gabrielle suddenly felt apprehensive, wondering if she could actually pull this off. She reminded herself how certain Sexton was that Chris Harper had lied. I would bet my campaign on it, Sexton had said. Apparently there were others who felt the same, others who were waiting for Gabrielle to uncover the truth so they could close in on NASA, attempting to gain even a tiny foothold after tonight's devastating developments. After the way Tench and the Herney administration had played Gabrielle this afternoon, she was eager to help. Gabrielle raised her hand to knock on the door but paused, Yolanda's voice running through her mind. If Chris Harper lied to the world about PODS, what makes you think he'll tell YOU the truth? Fear, Gabrielle told herself, having almost fallen victim to it herself today. She had a plan. It involved a tactic she'd seen the senator use on occasion to scare information out of political opponents. Gabrielle had absorbed a lot under Sexton's tutelage, and not all of it attractive or ethical. But tonight she needed every advantage. If she could persuade Chris Harper to admit he had lied-for whatever reason-Gabrielle would open a small door of opportunity for the senator's campaign. Beyond that, Sexton was a man who, if given an inch to maneuver, could wriggle his way out of almost any jam. Gabrielle's plan for dealing with Harper was something Sexton called â€Å"overshooting†-an interrogation technique invented by the early Roman authorities to coax confessions from criminals they suspected were lying. The method was deceptively simple: Assert the information you want confessed. Then allege something far worse. The object was to give the opponent a chance to choose the lesser of two evils-in this case, the truth. The trick was exuding confidence, something Gabrielle was not feeling at the moment. Taking a deep breath, Gabrielle ran through the script in her mind, and then knocked firmly on the office door. â€Å"I told you I'm busy!† Harper called out, his English accent familiar. She knocked again. Louder. â€Å"I told you I'm not interested in coming down!† This time she banged on the door with her fist. Chris Harper came over and yanked open the door. â€Å"Bloody hell, do you-† He stopped short, clearly surprised to see Gabrielle. â€Å"Dr. Harper,† she said, infusing her voice with intensity. â€Å"How did you get up here?† Gabrielle's face was stern. â€Å"Do you know who I am?† â€Å"Of course. Your boss has been slamming my project for months. How did you get in?† â€Å"Senator Sexton sent me.† Harper's eyes scanned the lab behind Gabrielle. â€Å"Where is your staff escort?† â€Å"That's not your concern. The senator has influential connections.† â€Å"In this building?† Harper looked dubious. â€Å"You've been dishonest, Dr. Harper. And I'm afraid the senator has called a special senatorial justice board to look into your lies.† A pall crossed Harper's face. â€Å"What are you talking about?†