Friday, March 20, 2020

Read Your Writings †for a Fee!

Read Your Writings – for a Fee! As writers, we get a buzz from knowing people are reading our work. But have you ever thought of reading it out loud, to an audience? Neither did I until recently. Now it’s a regular sideline gig. If you write on a specialist subject, why not talk about it, too? Or talk about being a writer! It’s a pretty offbeat career that would interest many. If you write comedy, give those sketches a whirl. In my case, I had a drawer  full of rhymes about the flip-side of gardening and modern life, so I shaped them into 60-minute presentations for gardening and over-50s clubs. The social aspect of the work provides an antidote to the laptop, and you can control bookings to suit your time – and bank account. It’s potentially lucrative, depending on factors such as advertising levels, travel and topic flexibility, and caliber of events you’re comfortable speaking at. I choose to keep bookings occasional and low-key, with earnings correspondingly reasonable rather than great. But if you’re confident you can keep a large, high society audience gripped for 45 minutes or more! Some hosts will pay handsomely for a polished, spellbinding talk. Whatever the venue, it’ll offer a platform for your books. Rich market Online searches will reveal innumerable societies, many engaging speakers for meetings. Here are some examples, but bear in mind that opportunities vary: Sports, especially mainstream Personal interests (e.g. gardening, bee-keeping, wine-making, family/local history, books) Age-related groups (e.g. 50s/60s; grandparents, war veterans) Social groups (e.g. singles, single parents, women’s) Charities (for fundraising events) Businesses/professional groups – for training or social events. Finding markets   Society websites: some societies have their own websites, with handy information such as usual topics, timings, audience numbers and contact details. Society affiliation websites: in some cases, you have to visit the society’s regional or national affiliation website and comb its listings for your local group. Follow these links to sample affiliations, and spot their speaker/talk references: 1.   The Royal Horticultural Society (speakers’ register page): https://www.rhs.org.uk/communities/pdf/aff-socs/speakers-and-judges-registers/total-speakers-register 2.   Scubaboard.com, USA: scubaboard.com/forums/new-england/491173-club-speakers-ct-club.html  Ã‚  Scroll down to second item: Club speakers 3. Federation of Family History Societies, USA: ffhs.org.uk/members2/overseas/usa.php The first society on their list mentions a meeting with a speaker on their website: rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bifhsusa/ The first one links to the speakers’ register of the UK’s leading gardeners’ organisation, to which I added my name (free) with positive results. If you have trouble finding a group, try a related website such as that of your local community, tourist information centre or charitable organisation, for group or event listings. Here’s an example produced A brief deeper delve using the search term talks took me to upcoming events:  bostonhistory.org/?s=oshp=calendar Some clubs may only supply a telephone number: no matter! A human voice may kindle interest in your speech offer. Also look up speaker agencies. See what opportunities they offer, and browse their client profiles for inspiration.   I picked US examples .randomly: 1.   APB Speakers International: apbspeakers.com/;   2.   The Speaker Agency, California: thespeakeragency.com/; 3.   Washington Speakers Bureau (for businesses): washingtonspeakers.com/ 4.   Great Garden Speakers: http://greatgardenspeakers.com/   How much to charge?   Before setting my fee, I checked other speakers’ rates via agency websites and enquiries to local groups. The range is huge, but to me, audience response is as important as check size; besides, a happy group will refer you to others. My audiences are courteous, attentive, and prompt to pay. So, what’s stopping you?

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Biography of Elizabeth Proctor

Biography of Elizabeth Proctor Elizabeth Proctor was convicted in the 1692  Salem witch trial. While her husband was executed, she escaped execution because she was pregnant at the time she would have been hanged. Age at time of Salem witch trials:  about 40Dates:  1652 - unknownAlso known as: Goody Proctor Before the Salem Witch Trials Elizabeth Proctor was born in Lynn, Massachusetts.  Her parents had both emigrated from England and had married in Lynn.  She married John Proctor as his third wife in 1674; he had five (possibly six) children still living with the eldest, Benjamin, about 16 at the marriage. John and Elizabeth Bassett Proctor had six children together; one or two had died as infants or young children before 1692. Elizabeth Proctor managed the tavern owned by her husband and his eldest son, Benjamin Proctor. He had a license to operate the tavern beginning in 1668. Her younger children, Sarah, Samuel and Abigail, ages 3 to 15, probably helped with tasks around the tavern, while William and his older stepbrothers helped John with the farm, a 700-acre estate south of Salem Village. Salem Witch Trials The first time Elizabeth Proctor’s name comes up in the Salem witch accusations is on or after March 6, when Ann Putnam Jr. blamed her for an affliction. When a relative by marriage, Rebecca Nurse, was accused (the warrant was issued March 23), Elizabeth Proctor’s husband John Proctor made a public statement to the effect that if the afflicted girls were to have their way, all would be â€Å"devils and witches.† Rebecca Nurse, a highly respected member of the Salem Village community, was the mother of John Nurse, whose wife’s brother, Thomas Very, was married to John Proctor’s daughter Elizabeth from his second marriage.  Rebecca Nurse’s sisters were Mary Easty and Sarah Cloyce. John Proctor’s speaking out for his relative may have drawn attention to the family.  About this same time, a Proctor family servant, Mary Warren, began to have fits similar to those of the girls who had accused Rebecca Nurse.  She said she had seen the ghost of Giles Corey.  John threatened her with beatings if she had more fits, and ordered her to work harder. He also told her that if she had an accident while in a fit, running into a fire or into water, he would not help her. On March 26, Mercy Lewis reported that Elizabeth Proctor’s ghost was afflicting her. William Raimant later reported he’d heard the girls at Nathaniel Ingersoll’s house saying that Elizabeth Proctor would be accused.  He said that one of the girls (perhaps Mary Warren) had reported seeing her ghost, but when others said that the Proctors were good people, she said that it had been â€Å"sport.†Ã‚  He didn’t name which of the girls said that. On March 29 and again a few days later, first Mercy Lewis then Abigail Williams accused her of witchcraft. Abigail accused her again and also reported seeing the ghost of John Proctor, Elizabeth’s husband. Mary Warren’s fits had stopped, and she requested a prayer of thanks at the church, bringing her fits to the attention of Samuel Parris, who read her request to the members on Sunday, April 3, and then questioned her after the church service. Accused Capt. Jonathan Walcott and Lt. Nathaniel Ingersoll signed a complaint on April 4 against Sarah Cloyce (Rebecca Nurse’s sister) and Elizabeth Proctor for â€Å"high suspicion of several acts of witchcraft† done on Abigail Williams, John Indian, Mary Walcott, Ann Putnam Jr, and Mercy Lewis. A warrant was issued on April 4 to bring both Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor into custody for an examination at the town public meeting house for an examination on April 8, and ordering as well that Elizabeth Hubbard and Mary Warren appear to give evidence.  On April 11 George Herrick of Essex issued a statement that he had brought Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor to the court and had warned Elizabeth Hubbard to appear as a witness. No mention is made of Mary Warren in his statement. Examination The examination of Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor took place on April 11.  Thomas Danforth, the Deputy Governor, conducted the verbal examination, first interviewing John Indian.  He said that Cloyce had hurt him â€Å"a great many times† including â€Å"yesterday at the meeting.† Abigail Williams testified to seeing a company of about 40 witches at a sacrament at Samuel Parris’ house, including a â€Å"white man† who â€Å"made all the witches to tremble.† Mary Walcott testified that she had not seen Elizabeth Proctor, so had not been hurt by her. Mary (Mercy) Lewis and Ann Putnam Jr. were asked questions about Goody Proctor but indicated that they were unable to speak. John Indian testified that Elizabeth Proctor had tried to get him to write in a book. Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam Jr. were asked questions but â€Å"neither of them could make any answer, by reason of dumbness or other fits.† When asked for her explanation, Elizab eth Proctor replied that â€Å"I take God in heaven to be my witness, that I know nothing of it, no more than the child unborn.†Ã‚  (She was pregnant at the time of her examination.) Ann Putnam Jr. and Abigail Williams then both told the court that Proctor had tried to get her to sign a book (referring to the devil’s book), and then began to have fits in the court. They accused Goody Proctor of causing them and then accused Goodman Proctor (John Proctor, Elizabeth’s husband) of being a wizard and also causing their fits. John Proctor, when asked his response to the accusations, defended his innocence. Mrs. Pope and Mrs. Bibber then also displayed fits and accused John Proctor of causing them. Benjamin Gould testified that Giles and Martha Corey, Sarah Cloyce, Rebecca Nurse and Goody Griggs had appeared in his chamber the previous Thursday. Elizabeth Hubbard, who had been called to testify, had been in a trance state the whole examination. Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam Jr., during the testimony against Elizabeth Proctor, had reached out as if to strike the accused. Abigail’s hand closed into a fist and touched Elizabeth Proctor only lightly, and then Abigail â€Å"cried out, her fingers, her fingers burned† and Ann Putnam Jr. â€Å"took on most grievously, of her head, and sunk down.† Samuel Parris took the notes of the examination. Charges Elizabeth Proctor was formally charged on April 11 with â€Å"certain detestable arts called witchcraft and sorceries† which she was said to have â€Å"wickedly and feloniously† used against Mary Walcott and Mercy Lewis, and for â€Å"sundry other acts of witchcraft.† The charges were signed by Mary Walcott, Ann Putnam Jr., and Mercy Lewis.  Ã‚   Out of the examination, charges were placed against John Proctor as well, and the court ordered John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, Sarah Cloyce, Rebecca Nurse, Martha Corey, and Dorcas Good (misidentified as Dorothy) to the Boston jail. Mary Warren’s Part Notable by her absence was Mary Warren, the servant who had first brought attention to the Proctor household, who the sheriff had been ordered to have appeared, but who does not seem to have been involved in the formal charges against the Proctors to this point, nor to have been present during the examination.  Her answers to Samuel Parris after her initial note to church and her subsequent absence from the proceedings against the Proctors was taken by some to be a statement that the girls had been lying about their fits. She apparently admitted that she had been lying about the accusations. The others began accusing Mary Warren of witchcraft herself, and she was formally accused in court on April 18.  On April 19, she recanted her statement that her previous accusations had been lies. After this point, she began to formally accuse the Proctors and others of witchcraft.  She testified against the Proctors in their June trial. Testimony for the Proctors In April of 1692, 31 men submitted a petition on behalf of the Proctors, testifying to their character.  In May, a group of neighbors- eight married couples and six other men- submitted a petition to the court saying the Proctors â€Å"lived Christian life in their family and were ever ready to help such as stood in need of their help,† and that they never heard or understood them to be suspected of witchcraft.  Daniel Elliot, a 27-year-old, said he’d heard from one of the accusing girls that she had cried out against Elizabeth Proctor â€Å"for sport.† Further Accusations John Proctor had also been accused during Elizabeth’s examination, and arrested and jailed for suspicion of witchcraft. Soon other family members were drawn in.  On May 21, Elizabeth and John Proctor’s daughter Sarah Proctor and Elizabeth Proctor’s sister-in-law Sarah Bassett were accused of afflicting Abigail Williams, Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewis and Ann Putnam Jr. The two Sarahs were then arrested. Two days later, Benjamin Proctor, John Proctor’s son and Elizabeth Proctor’s stepson, was accused of afflicting Mary Warren, Abigail Williams, and Elizabeth Hubbard. He was also arrested.  John and Elizabeth Proctor’s son William Proctor was accused on May 28 of afflicting Mary Walcott and Susannah Sheldon, and he was then arrested.  Thus, three of the children of Elizabeth and John Proctor were also accused and arrested, along with Elizabeth’s sister and sister-in-law. June 1692 On June 2, a physical examination of Elizabeth Proctor and some others of the accused found no signs on their bodies that they were witches. The jurors heard testimony against Elizabeth Proctor and her husband John on June 30. Depositions were submitted by Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Warren, Abigail Williams, Mercy Lewis, Ann Putnam Jr.,  and Mary Walcott stating that they had been afflicted by the apparition of Elizabeth Proctor at various times in March and April. Mary Warren had not initially accused Elizabeth Proctor, but she did testify at the trial. Stephen Bittford also submitted a deposition against both Elizabeth Proctor and Rebecca Nurse.  Thomas and Edward Putnam submitted a petition stating that they had seen Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, and Ann Putnam Jr. being afflicted, and â€Å"very believe in our hearts† that it was Elizabeth Proctor who caused the afflictions.  Because the depositions of minors by themselves would not stand up in court, Nathaniel Ingersoll, Samuel Parris, and Thomas Putnam attested that they had seen these afflictions and believed them to have been done by Elizabeth Proctor. Samuel Barton and John Houghton also testified that they had been prese nt for some of the afflictions and heard the accusations against Elizabeth Proctor at the time. A deposition by Elizabeth Booth accused Elizabeth Proctor of afflicting her, and in a second deposition, she stated that on June 8 her father’s ghost appeared to her and accused Elizabeth Proctor of killing him because Booth’s mother would not send for Dr. Griggs. In a third deposition, she said that the ghost of Robert Stone Sr. and his son Robert Stone Jr. had appeared to her and said that John Proctor and Elizabeth Proctor killed them over a disagreement. A fourth deposition from Booth attested to four other ghosts that had appeared to her and accused Elizabeth Proctor – and in one case also John Willard- of killing them, one over some cider Elizabeth Proctor had not been paid for, one for not calling a doctor as recommended by Proctor and Willard, another for not bringing apples to her, and the last for differing in judgment with a doctor- Elizabeth Proctor was accused of killing him and laming his wife. William Raimant submitted a deposition that he had been present at the house of Nathaniel Ingersoll in late March when â€Å"some of the afflicted persons† cried out against Goody Proctor and said â€Å"I’ll have her hang,† had been reproved by Mrs. Ingersoll, and then they â€Å"seemed to make a jest of it.† The court decided to formally charge the Proctors with witchcraft, on the basis of the testimony, much of which was spectral evidence. Guilty The Court of Oyer and Terminer  met on August 2 to consider the cases of Elizabeth Proctor and her husband John, among others. About this time, apparently,John rewrote his will, excluding Elizabeth probably because he expected them both to be executed. On August 5, in a trial before jurors, both Elizabeth Proctor and her husband John were found guilty and sentenced to be executed.  Elizabeth Proctor was pregnant, and so she was given a temporary stay of execution until after she would give birth.  The juries that day also convicted George Burroughs,  Martha Carrier, George Jacobs Sr., and John Willard. After this, the sheriff seized all the property of John and Elizabeth, selling or killing all their cattle and taking all their household goods, leaving their children with no means of support. John Proctor tried to avoid execution by claiming illness, but he was hanged on August 19, on the same day as the other four condemned on August 5. Elizabeth Proctor remained in jail, awaiting the birth of her child and, presumably, her own execution soon after that. Elizabeth Proctor After the Trials The  Court of Oyer and Terminer had stopped meeting in September, and there had been no new executions after September 22 when 8 had been hanged. The Governor, influenced by a group of Boston-area ministers including Increase Mather, had ordered that spectral evidence not be relied on in court from that point on and ordered on October 29 that arrests stop and that the Court of Oyer and Terminer be dissolved. In late November he established a  Superior Court of Judicature  to handle further trials. On January 27, 1693, Elizabeth Proctor gave birth in jail to a son, and she named him John Proctor III. On March 18, a group of residents petitioned on behalf of nine who had been convicted of witchcraft, including John and Elizabeth Proctor, for their exoneration. Only three of the nine were still alive, but all who had been convicted had lost their property rights and so had their heirs. Among those who signed the petition were Thorndike Proctor and Benjamin Proctor, John’s sons and Elizabeth’s stepsons.  The petition was not granted. After the wife of Governor Phipps was accused of witchcraft, he issued a general order freeing all 153 remaining prisoners accused or convicted were released from jail in May 1693, finally freeing Elizabeth Proctor.  The family had to pay for her room and board while in jail before she could actually leave the jail. She was, however, penniless.  Her husband had written a new will while in jail and had omitted Elizabeth from it, probably expecting her to be executed. Her dowry and prenuptial contract were ignored by her stepchildren, on the basis of her conviction which made her legally a non-person, even though she had been released from jail. She and her still minor children went to live with Benjamin Proctor, her eldest stepson.  The family moved to Lynn, where Benjamin in 1694 married Mary Buckley Witheridge, also imprisoned in the Salem trials. Sometime before March of 1695, John Proctor’s will was accepted by the court for probate, which means that the court treated his rights as being restored. In April his estate was divided (though we have no record of how) and his children, including those by Elizabeth Proctor, presumably had some settlement.  Elizabeth Proctor’s children Abigail and William disappear from the historical record after 1695. It was not until April of 1697, after her farm had burned, that Elizabeth Proctor’s dowry was restored to her for her use by a probate court, on a petition she filed in June 1696. Her husband’s heirs had held her dowry until that time, as her conviction had made her a legal non-person. Elizabeth Proctor remarried on September 22, 1699, to Daniel Richards of Lynn, Massachusetts. In 1702, the Massachusetts General Court declared the 1692 trials to have been unlawful.  In 1703, the legislature passed a bill reversing the attainder against John and Elizabeth Proctor and Rebecca Nurse, convicted in the trials, essentially allowing them to be considered legal persons again and file legal claims for the return of their property.  The legislature also at this time outlawed the use of spectral evidence in trials. In 1710, Elizabeth Proctor was paid 578 pounds and 12 shillings in restitution for her husband’s death. Another bill was passed in 1711 restoring rights to many of those involved in the trials, including John Proctor.  This bill gave the Proctor family 150 pounds in restitution for their incarceration and for John Proctor’s death. Elizabeth Proctor and her younger children may have moved away from Lynn after her remarriage, as there is no known record of their deaths or where they are buried. Benjamin Proctor died in Salem Village (later renamed Danvers) in 1717. A Genealogical Note Elizabeth Proctor’s grandmother, Ann Holland Bassett Burt, was married first to Roger Bassett; Elizabeth’s father William Bassett Sr. is their son.  Ann Holland Bassett remarried after John Bassett’s death in 1627, to Hugh Burt, apparently as his second wife.  John Bassett died in England.  Ann and Hugh married in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1628.  Two to four years later, a daughter, Sarah Burt, was born in Lynn, Massachusetts.  Some genealogical sources list her as the daughter of Hugh Burt and Anne Holland Basset Burt and connect her to the Mary or Lexi or Sarah Burt married to William Bassett Sr., born about 1632.  If this connection is accurate, Elizabeth Proctor’s parents would have been half-siblings or step-siblings.  If Mary/Lexi Burt and Sarah Burt are two different persons and have been confused in some genealogies, they are likely related. Ann Holland Bassett Burt was accused of witchcraft in 1669. Motives Elizabeth Proctor’s grandmother, Ann Holland Bassett Burt, was a Quaker, and so the family may have been looked on with suspicion by the Puritan community.  She had also been accused of witchcraft in 1669, accused by, among others, a doctor, Philip Read, apparently on the basis of her skill in healing others.  Elizabeth Proctor is said in some sources to have been a healer, and some of the accusations relate to her advice on seeing doctors. The skeptical reception by John Proctor of Mary Warren’s accusation of Giles Corey may have also played a part, and then her subsequent attempt to recover from seeming to call into question the veracity of the other accusers. While Mary Warren did not participate formally in the early accusations against the Proctors, she did make formal accusations against the Proctors and many others after she herself had been accused of witchcraft by the other afflicted girls. Another likely contributing motive was that Elizabeth’s husband, John Proctor, had publicly denounced the accusers, implying that they were lying about the accusations, after his relative by marriage, Rebecca Nurse, was accused. The ability to seize the rather extensive property of the Proctors may have added to the motive to convict them. Elizabeth Proctor in  The Crucible John and Elizabeth Proctor and their servant Mary Warren are major characters in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. John is portrayed as a fairly young man, in his thirties, rather than as a man in his sixties, as he was in reality. In the play, Abigail Williams- in real life about eleven or twelve during the accusations and in the play about seventeen- is portrayed as a former servant of the Proctors and as having had an affair with John Proctor; Miller is said to have taken the incident in the transcripts of Abigail Williams trying to strike Elizabeth Proctor during the examination as evidence of this relationship. Abigail Williams, in the play, accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft to gain revenge against John for ending the affair. Abigail Williams was not, in reality, ever a servant of the Proctors and may not have known them or not known them well before she joined in the accusations after Mary Warren had already done so; Miller has Warren joining in after Williams ha s begun the accusations. Elizabeth Proctor in  Salem,  2014 series The name of Elizabeth Proctor is not used for any major character in the highly fictionalized WGN America TV Series, airing from 2014, called Salem. Family, Background Mother:  Mary Burt or Sarah Burt or Lexi Burt (sources differ) (1632 – 1689) Father:  Captain William Bassett Sr., of Lynn, Massachusetts (1624 – 1703) Grandmother:  Ann Holland Bassett Burt, a Quaker Siblings Mary Bassett DeRich (also accused; her son John DeRich was among the accusers though not of his mother)William Bassett Jr. (married to Sarah Hood Bassett, also accused)Elisha BassettSarah Bassett Hood (her husband Henry Hood was accused)John Bassettothers Husband John Proctor  (March 30, 1632 – August 19, 1692), married in 1674; it was her first marriage and his third. He had come from England to Massachusetts at three years old with his parents and had moved to Salem in 1666. Children William Proctor (1675 – after 1695, also accused)Sarah Proctor (1677 – 1751, also accused)Samuel Proctor (1685 – 1765)Elisha Proctor (1687 – 1688)Abigail (1689 – after 1695)Joseph (?)John (1692 – 1745) Stepchildren: John Proctor also had children by his first two wives.   His first wife, Martha Giddons, died in childbirth in 1659, the year after their first three children died. The child born in 1659, Benjamin, lived until 1717 and was accused as part of the Salem witch trials.John Proctor married his second wife, Elizabeth Thorndike, in 1662. They had seven children, born 1663 – 1672. Three or four of the seven were still living in 1692. Elizabeth Thorndike Proctor died shortly after the birth of their last, Thorndike, who was among the accused in the Salem witch trials.  Ã‚  The first child of this second marriage, Elizabeth Proctor, was married to Thomas Very.  Thomas Very’s sister, Elizabeth Very, was married to John Nurse, son of  Rebecca Nurse, who was among those executed.  Rebecca Nurse’s sister  Mary Easty  was also executed and another of her sisters,  Sarah Cloyce, accused at the same time as was Elizabeth Proctor.

Monday, February 17, 2020

Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Business - Assignment Example According to the study conducted by FAI Consulting Services (2009), â€Å"the company has employed cross-functional teams around the world to plan, design, and manage facilities†. This multinational company is equipped with a highly professional staff that is capable of sharing the needed detailed information across borders and transcends time elements. The other strengths of DHL are as follows: (1) a global network which spans 220 countries; (2) owns 60,000 vehicles and 250 aircrafts for transport services; (3) highly professional management and staff composed of 160,000 employees worldwide; and (4) uniquely positioned to offer a one stop shop transport service and logistics needs. Their success stems from offering high quality products and retaining the most professional league of personnel who are all committed to making DHL the one brand in the global express and logistics market. Go to http://www.fita.org which is the Federation of International Trade Associations. Click on "Really Useful Links for International Trade." Follow five of those links and explain how they would help an American manufacturer that wanted to "go global.† The link contains 30 sublinks which explain in detain various categories which assist an American manufacturer wanting to â€Å"go global†. One link, the business directories and trade information contain data on country-specific and industry specific directories, among others. American manufacturers targeting different markets can initially identify global companies they can do business with. Cultural issues is another link which is critical for globalization. The link provide tips, cultural awareness and training, on-line cross cultural communication training, guide to international business culture, customs, and etiquette, among others. The element of culture is relevant for any organization planning to go global because the culture of the country it plans to do business with should be considered to ensure an

Monday, February 3, 2020

Asset Bubbles Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Asset Bubbles - Assignment Example Asset price movements that are not related to economic fundamentals result in the occurrence of asset bubbles. The role of government in the economy encompasses both protection and intervention. Conservative politics are relatively resistant to change, but they do not overlook the role that government plays in the regulation and control of economic activities (Evanoff, Kaufman & Malliaris, 2012). The occurrence of asset bubbles and related scenarios in the economy trigger critical decision making pursuits among involved stakeholders. The fact is such occurrences distort economic performance, leading to the realization of variant hardships in the many sectors of the economy. In this respect, the government stands a chance to manage the situation through protection and intervention. This means that the government should remain vigilant over sectorial "animal spirits" in order to protect the economy and safeguard public interests, as well as take relevant actions in the event that such "animal spirits" bursts (Evanoff, Kaufman & Malliaris, 2012). The idea is to create coherence among economic v ariables for enhanced economic

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Early Growth And Development Of Islam Religion Essay

Early Growth And Development Of Islam Religion Essay The foundation of Islam can be traced back to 6th century Saudi Arabia. Islam is the youngest of the enormous world religions. Islam is the religion of loyalty to God, or Allah, and his prophet Muhammad. The word Islam itself means obedience to Allah. Muhammad is the central prophet of the Islamic faith. He was born into a noble Quraish clan, and he was orphaned at an early age. Mohammed lived from around 570C.-632C. He also grew up to be a successful merchant in his home town Mecca. The prophet Muhammad introduced Islam in 610 A.D. after experiencing what he declared to be an angelic visitation, which consisted of the angels command from God for Muhammad. Muhammad dictated the Quran, the holy book of Islam, which Muslims believe to be the perfect words of Allah, their God. It is said, that beginning when he was around 40 years old, Muhammad was commanded by Allah to recite the words that would later become Islams book and Holy Scripture, the Quran. Mohammed is also said to have rece ived all of his revelations over a period of around 23 years from the angel Gabriel, who was repeating the word of God to Muhammad. However, to a spiritual Muslim, Islam began long before Muhammad ever walked the earth. Early Growth and Development: After Muhammud completed the Quran, he traveled back to his hometown to spread the news of his new religion. Soon, Arab conquests outside of Arabia began under the second caliph, Umar. The religion of Islam and the Muslim community began to stretch through the Middle East through invasion and the result in growth of the Muslim state offered the ground in which the newly exposed faith could thrive. The military occupation was encouraged by religion, but it was also motivated by gluttony and politics. But this combination of motives united to form a procedure that created Islamic and Arab ideals, and societies into a fast-growing spiritual and political uniqueness. The early progress of Islam quickly started with military expansion. Abbasid decline became evident in the second half of the ninth century as the conversion to Islam accelerated. Transition Period: After the death of Muhammad in 632 CE, the youthful Muslim alliance came under tension. Some of the tribes determined that their loyalty to Islam had been principally to Muhammad himself. His death approved them to conclude their faithfulness to Mecca and to Islam. This began to cause many new problems in the Muslim community because many had become sincere Muslim believers and began to fight amongst themselves over who should take control now that Muhammad had passed away. To make things more difficult, Muhammad had not left clear directions as to who should lead and take power of the society. Fortunately, the community immediately choose Muhammads close friend and father-in-law, Abu Bakr, as his heir. Abu Bakr was famous as the first caliph and a innovative monarch of the society. The title of caliph gave Abu the status of a spiritual leader, in addition to his political power. This can be seen as a similar role as the Judaic priest. Abu Bakr took hasty military feat in opposition to the communities that sought to break away. These campaigns, identified as the apostasy or ridda wars, effectively consolidated Arabia into a single nation under Muslim rule within two years. The political position of Islam, and the task Muhammad had given it as a political and religious strength was toughened in the military conquests. Within half a century of the prophets death, Islam had spread to more than three continents. By the 8th century, Africa, western Asia and even Europe had been influenced and conquered, in several regions, by the Muslim conquests. The original Islamic doctrine was not a faith of war nor did it multiply primarily by means of invasion. The wars and battles that took place around Saudi Arabia were targeted at controlling and correcting the many communities of people that worshiped false idols, in contrast to the real God, or Allah. Islam was spread by declaring war against those clans which did not accept the message of God. At first, Christians and Jews were not required to convert or were treated with disrespect. In addition to the region around Saudi Arabia, the vast lands of the Middle East dominated by the Arab armies in a small period were ultimately converted to Muslim by the appeal of the latest religion, instead of by the sword. It was faith in one God and stressed the importance of his mercy that brought immense numbers of people into the religion of Islam. The new faith did not oblige people to convert to Islam. Many continued to remain Jews and Christians and to this day, significant communities of the supporters of these faiths are found in Muslim lands. The expansion of Islam was not restricted to its astonishing early growth outside of Arabia. During later centuries the Turks accepted Islam calmly as did a great number of the citizens of the Indian subcontinent. Islam has stretched during the past two centuries even under the potent authority of European colonial monarch. Today: Islam is a large and powerful worldwide religion up to this day. Although the religion of Islam has spread to throughout the world, Indonesia is the country which has the largest population of Islamic followers. In addition to Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh each have an grand number of 100 million or more devotees. Today Islam persists to grow not just in Africa, but also in Europe and America where Muslims now encompass a well-known minority of people. Today, Muslims and Islamic followers face many new challenges. One of the biggest problems Muslims and Islamic believers are facing is other people having ignorance towards Islam. This ignorance has begun to lead to stereotyping, fear, and distrust towards the Islamic people. Muslim American citizens allegiance and loyalty to the United States has grown to be questioned. Muslims are given a bad name and therefore an easy target for prejudice and racism. Another danger resulting from ignorance of the religion of Islam is the omnibus anti-terrorism legislation that, which unfairly targets Muslims as widespread purveyors of terrorism. Although affected by various ideologies such as communism, during much of the twentieth century, the Islamic individuality and the supremacy of Islam on political troubles and arguments have dramatically increased during the early twenty-first century. The quickly expanding Western interests in Islamic regions, international conflicts and globalization have changed the pressure of Islam on the world of the twenty-first century. Muhammad was born in Mecca just around the time of 570 C.E. and was a affiliate of the Quraysh tribe. As with many famous people, almost nothing is known about his years of adolescence. His parents passed away when he was a juvenile. Something that was quite sad for Muhammad the great prophet was that as a child he was never taught how to read or write. When Muhammad was only twelve years old, he visited Syria and had his first introduction to other religions and other faith groups, Muhammad began to grow respect for these other people. At the age of twenty-five, Muhammad wedded a widow who was called Khadija. Khadija was a merchant, like many people of his time were, and soon enough he began to be a merchant himself. While he left home to go onto a trading expedition, when he was around the age of forty, Muhammad stumbled upon the angel Gabriel. The word of God was discovered to him through the angel Gabriel and Muhammad copied down everything he was told, in Arabic and was later kn own as the Quran. The angel Gabriel began to reveal to him, many special revelations. The revelations which the angel Gabriel revealed to him, said that he was to grow to be the herald of God and he would become a great prophet. Some of the revelations told to Muhammad incorporated that the world would end one day, that God would arbitrator humans fortunately if they gave in to His will, and that people should pray to demonstrate their gratitude to Allah. After his great experience and revelation, he began to follow the path of a prophet. Mohammed hurried to return home to his wife and city where he soon began spreading the teachings he learned. After his teachings began to spread, he started to create a system of conduct that he said had been spoken by Allah himself. The main beliefs of Islam were incorporated over time, as not everyone was eager to believe Muhammads claim to be Gods herald. People who believed in Muhammads knowledge came to be branded as Muslims. The religion that Muhammad had created became to be known as Islam, which means in Arabic, surrender (to the will of Allah). Muhammad was said to be one of the last and most perfectly spiritual prophets. However Muhammad was hated by many people at the time. In addition to having to hear and listen to the criticism of his ideas and what he believed, he also went through a great deal of pain, when his wife and uncle passed away in the same year. In 622, Muhammad left on a journey from Mecca, for an oasis that was known as Yathrib at that time. This trip became known as the hejira, or as the flight from persecution in Mecca. Muhammad soon gained a new home which was renamed Medina, Muhammad became a negotiator, arbitrating arguments and fights between different tribes. Muhammad had respect for the Jews, and his early knowledge appeared to be taken from the Jewish tradition. The Jews started to keep themselves from Muhammad; however, once it was clear that the Jews would not recognize him, Muhammad sta rted to eradicate the Jewish power on his viewpoint. Originally, he said the Arabs were offspring of Abraham through his son Ishmael, but in the Koran Abrahams correlation to the Jews is deprived of, with Muhammad saying that Abraham is only the patriarch of Islam. One of the instant consequences of Muhammads aggravation was the eviction of two Jewish clans from Medina and the execution of all the associates of a third Jewish clan. But what was even worse, was that for the long-term handling of the Jews were a number of provoking statements about them that Muhammad created that appeared in the Koran. Muhammad gradually began to construct his control by the persuasiveness of his confidence. He came to be in charge of the markets, which forced other traders and tribesmen to negotiate with him. During the two centuries after Muhammads death, the rules that all believers were to abide by were codified in the Shariah. Muhammad passed away in 632, and it was left to his followers to carry on the customs he had begun. His clique developed Islam, just as the supporters of Moses and Jesus created Judaism and Christianity over time. http://www.islamfortoday.com/beliefs.htm The Earth and Its People, Houghton Mifflin, Bulliet Crossley, Headrick Hirsch, Johnson Northup, Third Edition, 2005. In the Shade of the Quran, Sayyid Qutb, Islamic Foundation. The True Religion, by Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Case: “Lessons on Leadership from Ann Fudge”

†¢ Openness to Experience: The way she approaches problems, learns new information, and reacts to new experiences are showing that she is open to new experiences and curious. For example, she willingly took 2 years off to travel and see the world—try new things—and define her life by more than her career (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012, p. 233). She exposed herself to new cultures and ideas. She is very strategic and has her eye on the big-picture which indicates her high level of openness to experience. Agreeableness: How does she get along with others, as opposed to getting ahead of others?Again, it is likely she would score high on this factor. She is about being out with people (customers and employees) and listening to them. She has the ability to interact effectively with all constituencies of a consumer business. She could engage all three constituents in the same day. She is approachable and optimistic. Extraversion: Fudge is self-confident, competitive, li kes being around people (and in a team environment), decisive, goal-oriented, and drives to make an impact. Neuroticism: How does she react to stress, failure, and personal criticism? Moderate to high on this factor.As her old boss pointed out, she is very comfortable with who she is and is not interested in pretending to be someone else (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy, 2012, p. 233). This indicates she can handle the personal criticism and deal with it. However, the fact that she decided to take some time off and do other things might show she was not dealing with the stress and pressure well. †¢ Analytic Intelligence: Although not as important in this case, her track record for high levels of success and performance indicates she likely has a high degree of general mental ability.Practical Intelligence: Also known as â€Å"street smarts,† has been important in her new job. She has used her knowledge of the business and industry to land some very big new clients to the firm ( i. e. , Microsoft, Toys R Us). †¢ Benefits: It allowed her to gain new and broader experiences. Perhaps, even it helped increasing her commitment to various and diverse ideas as a way to stimulate thinking and business. She was also true to herself about what she wanted to do to define her life. In addition, it also provided her with a chance to take a break and recharge her battery (and avoid urnout)—in the end this has the chance to make her more of an asset to her organization and employees. Drawbacks: Leaving the industry for 2 years could result in losing contact with the industry as well as updating the current trends. It might hurt her credibility in the sense that others thought she could not â€Å"hack it† when things were getting tough. The perceptions others have might be an initial hurdle, but Fudge appears to have cleared this and other potential drawbacks and is leading Y&R back to the top in this industry.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Wired For Intimacy How Pornography Hijacks The Male Brain

Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain is a book that was written by William Struthers. Struthers is a professor of psychology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He teaches courses on the subjects of behavioral neuroscience, addictions within men, and biological bases of behavior. The student has read the book in its entirety. Description of Book Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain looks into the consequences of pornography upon the male brain. The author does not deny the fact that porn has effects on both males and females, but men are primarily the ones that consume the product. The consumption has had a major impact on the way men look at women. Many authors and scholars present pornography as a spiritual matter, but Struthers thinks the matter at hand is also a physical problem. â€Å"Pornography is also a physical matter, rooted in the biological intricacies of our sexual desire.† (15) The purpose of the book is to look into the physical impact of porn. The book is broken into two different sections. The first section looks at the male brain on porn. It opens this section by attempting to defend porn. As seen within the book this is no easy matter for a number of reasons. Regardless of the definition the negative impact of porn cannot be denied. Pornography has lasting effects on the brain and prevents men from seeing woman in the way they should be viewed. When a man views a picture of a naked the woman the image does