Partnership Working Essay

Partnership work is essential when providing person centred support and it also the only way to address some of the govements most challenging long term social objectives. The national services frame work for older people 2001 (24-25) also outlines expectations around integrated working bet between health services and social care agencies working towards a single assessment process and joint commissioning. The health act reinforces the importance of joint working The white paper July 2012 also state about working together long term paths and goals for a single assessment proses all working together to ensure all needs are met and people are in control know where to go and how to access making it easier to get what you need and when preventing delays lack of support the wrong support etc. Change work in partnership and provide the services people need and want in a streamlined and readily accessible manner. When organisations work closely together it has a positive impact on peoples lives. When they develop shared protocols and co-ordinated interventions, people are able to access and use services more easily and effectively. It requires innovation and leadership and leads to reduced time, cost and duplication as well as simplified and accessible services, which improve wellbeing. Successful partnerships need will address the tensions between structures and cultures particularly in relation to national targets. They need to face the challenges associated with integrating services that are based on fundamentally different principles of governance and different types of central and local government accountability. The outcome is always to improve the quality of life and improved health and emotional wellbeing for all individuals using or needed services. At a time when the whole of the public sector must find significant savings, reports are saying: that integrated working across health and social care offers opportunities for efficiencies and improvements to services. Without it there is a risk of duplication and cost shunting where savings made by one organisation or sector create costs for others. And a lack of integrated working means that people are less likely  to receive the best care. Some of the Befits of good partnership working Being able to offer a whole informed service Being able to tap in to resource which other agency hold which leads to a better outcome for the service user Assistance and help from appropriate people single assessment approach†¦ helping the individual reduce the need to repeat their story to different professionals Clear roles and responsibilities Being able to put in place effective and safe practices around confidentiality and information sharing services user has a legal and moral right to know what information is being shared regarding them The sharing of knowledge and good work practices Services user and staff know when to access further support and how to gain that it in turn providing both with more confidence and better service provision and better outcomes for the services user Benefits for people Services designed to meet people’s needs Improved choice and control Independence and inclusion Targeted help Benefits for partnerships Sharing of knowledge and understanding Pools resources Reduced cost, time and duplication Strong local ownership Benefits for organisation Increased capacity to deliver community services Increased satisfaction with the service Improved performance assessment Improving information sharing between professionals. Improving the efficiency of the care system as a whole. Co-ordinating the provision of care. Improving the planning and commissioning of care so that health and social care services complement rather than disrupt each other. Some of the general Problems with partnership working Despite the introduction of government legislation and initiatives during this time to promote closer multi-agency partnership working there is still: A lack of information sharing across agencies and services Duplicated assessments to identify needs and subsequent provision Poorly co-ordinated integrated activities across agencies Too much ‘buck passing’ and referring on of clients between agencies A lack of continuity and inconsistent levels of service provision Unclear accountability. Despite longstanding support for joint working, it has been beset by problems across all client groups that have been found. Delayed discharges from hospital, mainly of older people. These involve cases when a patient cannot leave hospital because of the unavailability of health or social care services in the community or because of administrative issues within hospitals. NHS cuts to continuing healthcare. This has led to disputes between NHS and social care professionals and shunted costs on to councils, who often have to fund care packages for people no longer fully funded by the NHS. The break-up of community mental health teams. In some areas of England councils have withdrawn social care staff from mental health teams, run by mental health trusts, because of cost pressures or concerns over trusts’ approach to issues including adult safeguarding and the  personalisation of care. A lack of NHS engagement in child protection and a lack of co-ordination of health and social care services for children. Pooled budgets have not translated into improved outcomes. Formal partnership arrangements in some areas have been scrapped following disagreements between partners. More generally, barriers to good partnership working include: Health and social care agencies facing different government performance regimes. Health and social care agencies using different IT systems. Cuts in one budget creating demand pressures in the other. Health and social care staff being on different terms and conditions in integrated teams. Policy and legislation on joint working Some of the agency challenges Financial resources: conflicts within or between agencies, a general lack of funding, concerns about sustainability, staffing. Roles and responsibilities: understanding the roles of others, conflicts over areas of responsibility, the need to move beyond existing roles. Non-financial resources: Time, staff, Communication, Being able to talk to the right person at the right time, All parties getting the information, Build the communication link up, Getting the right people together. Professional and agency cultures: Polices and procedure, training, ways of working, finances knowledge Management: how the management work, how they train and inform the staff the working philosophy, support, structure Government plans and initiatives towards partnership working Under section 75 of the NHS Act 2006, NHS bodies and local authorities in England can pool budgets, join together their staff and management structures or delegate commissioning responsibilities to each other. The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 require primary care trusts and local authorities to produce joint strategic needs assessments of the health and well-being of  their populations. This should shape joint planning of services. The Health and Social Care Bill would establish health and well-being boards in every local authority area to co-ordinate the The 10-year plan for social services, published in 2011, also includes plans to drive integration, for instance by requiring councils and health boards to jointly commission and arrange enablement services, to support people to regain independence. Good practice in joint working The while paper No secrets Outcomes inspected by CQC†¦. etc. What is working in partnership and why is it important Partnerships are about a way of working together rather than about a way of meeting together they involve the dissolution of organisational service and sometimes geographical boundaries and are about overcoming the constraints that these can place around effective outcomes and behaviour Partnership is therefore about focusing on objectives and outcomes that require considerable mutual understanding and trust in order to achieve them, including an awareness of the way in which they can contribute to the objectives of each organisation Crucially, this is likely to mean that the activities of individual members and member organisations will be carried out in a way that contributes wider benefits and longer term gains than if they were carried out in isolation. Partnership working is perhaps best seen as a spectrum, ranging from informal networking forums, consulting and sharing an information and intelligence, through to formal strategic alliances where partners come together to achieve common goals by changing the way that they work. It is critical for partnerships to understand where they lie on this spectrum as it will shape the way the partners work together, the commitment required and the achievements expected. There can often be confusions among partners about the nature of the partnership and this can seriously undermine progress. Partnerships should focus on doing those things that only they can do by working together – and that no-one  else can do better or more efficiently on their own. They should ensure that all the required members are round the table and that they are represented at the right level, and that they have ways of drawing on a much wider range of insights, experience, perspectives and expertise. Organisations should encourage and support partnership working across all their staff. They should offer opportunities to develop partnership skills and they should recognise and reward effective partnership behaviour. Good training and information on partnership working to staff so they can ensure good partnership working that they have the knowledge to support the services users and their families to ensure on going best support and practises. The more partnership working we as an organisation can do the more effective safe and services user focused sevice we can deliver. Partnerships need to maintain a strong connection to clients in terms of: Being able to draw on the service user experience of support and the extent to which this helps them make progress in their lives Creating ways of involving service user in the design of services Capturing the difference that services user perceive in the accessibility, quality and coherence of services.

Debate About Same-Sex Marriage Essay

One of America’s most debated issues today is the Same-Sex Marriage. In fact, gay marriage has been legalized in nine States in America. Having to be a part of the Christian community, we truly disagree to this for it is a sin as we consider it and we do not have to think twice in contradicting this topic. However, it doesn’t hurt to talk a little about this. Same-sex marriage will be legalized is most countries some day. The inevitable are being postponed by the generations who precede us and govern our lands. A lot of young people do not even realize the enormity of it all. We heard a lot of people say that they accept homosexuality, but that they don’t think that the whole â€Å"marriage† thing is important.. Well, it obviously is. Because when marriage happens, the things on a personal level are not just the ones affected. One’s finance, future, status, insurance, contract, and so many more will also be affected. If the government does not recognize your same-sex partner as your husband/wife, a lot of complicated situations, in terms of paperwork and justice, will arise. And that’s why we think it needs to be legalized. ‘’Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his teachings about multiple things – he never said that gay people should be condemned. I personally think it is very fine for gay people to be married in civil ceremonies.’’ – Jimmy Carter. Love has no boundaries, they say. But when referring to love, does that mean the affection between a man and a woman or the affection between two individuals, regardless the sexuality? Personally, we think, the word ‘sexuality’ from the phrase ‘regardless the sexuality’ can be referred as a boundary from the quote ‘’Love has no boundaries,’â⠂¬â„¢ — which should not be a hindrance in finding true love. Picture an x-ray photograph of two skeletons showing affection by kissing. The moment you look at it, you are slowly being baffled by the curiosity if it is a girl and a boy, a boy and a boy, a girl and a girl, or even a black man and a white woman. Just the simplicity of the connection and the beauty of the two human beings sharing love is all that should matter. Love prevails beneath all that skin. However, the institution of marriage has traditionally been defined as between a man and a woman. It is believed that marriage is the union of man and woman, uniquely involving the procreation and rearing of children within a family. Legalizing same-sex marriage would weaken the respect for the real definition of marriage. The legality of marriage has been encountering a few inconsistencies – having multiple wives; being okay of marrying your own relatives; the latest argument, same-sex marriage; and maybe in the near future, the legalization of marrying an animal. If same-sex marriage is to be approved, it will only start a chain reaction which will eventually ruin the essence of marriage. Another disadvantage would be carried on as a burden and embarrassment by their child, and an insult bullies can use against them. That is, if ever a gay family plans on adopting their own child. The child will have so many questions – why he has two fathers or maybe why he has two mothers, why he does not have a normal family. No matter how thorough and understandable their explanation is, if the child sees a normal family composes: a mother, a father, and a child, and he/she is aware that only a man and a woman can bear children, then curiosity and confusion will just hit their child harder. Being part of the Christian community, we believe that marriage is for men and women and friendship is for two individuals of the same sexuality. Yes, loving the same gender does not hurt anyone, but it just does not appeal to the culture we have learned and have been taught. God has created woman for man, and man for woman. Abiding to His rule is an act of sinfulness. Marriage is of the seven sacraments Catholic Church. It is not something a person can just plan the day before and do the day after. It is well thought and prepared for. For this is a commitment not only to your partner but also to God. Basically, we approve of gay relationships but not gay marriage.

Buddhist Nuns in Tibet

Our work aims to research Buddhist nunnery in Tibet. We are going to give information about Tibet in general and about peculiarities of Tibetan religion. We are going to pursue a case study of ordination to a nunnery. Buddhism is one of the world religions. Its believers live through in India, China, South-East Asia, Tibet and other countries. In old times inhabitants of Tibet didn’t practice Buddhism. Their folk religion called â€Å"mi-chos†, which meant the law of men. In after years it transformed to â€Å"bon-chos† – Bon religion. There some people who practice it in Modern Tibet and a handful of handful of Moslems..Nowadays Tibet is a poor Chinese province. It makes modern Tibetan Autonomous Republic. Besides of TAR Tibetan people live in the Chamdo region of Szechwan; some are found in Tsinghai and Kansu (Chang-tu Hu 66). Population carries on animal husbandry. Most of Tibetans consider themselves Buddhists Tibetan Buddhism is differs from the other national forms of this religion. It adapted to everyday life of inhabitants. As Guiseppe Tucci stated, â€Å"the entire spiritual life of the Tibetan is defined by a permanent attitude of defense, by a constant effort to appease and propitiate the powers whom he fears† (187).Tibetan Buddhism is heavily influenced by belief in supernatural. Tucci observed, that religion of Buddha in Tibet shot with a certain ambiguity: on the one side the fear of capricious spirits that was inherited by Lamaism from the country's original religions and, on the other, the conviction that man possesses the means to control these dark vengeful forces demanding propitiation. Magic, ritual, acts of piety, liberality towards monasteries and teachers, exorcism, liturgical technique, all come to his aid. And the human victim he was at the outset, at the mercy of a thousand invisible forces, is able to become their master.(73-74) On this basis scientists state there is a detached Tibetan form of Buddh ism. They called it Lamaism. Lamas were privileged class in Tibetan society. They operate in many sectors of daily life, and the monasteries are important social and economic centers of society. Basic concepts of Buddhism (karma, nirvana, transmigration, and reincarnation) are the same in Lamaism. There were three religious sects in Tibet: Nyingmapa, Kargyu, Sakya, and Gelugpa. The last one is known as the â€Å"Yellow School,† because monks wear yellow hats during ceremonies.It emerged in China since the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and became the most influential school in Tibet since the 17th century. Gelugpa sect governed over the country until the Chinese re-exerted control over Tibet when head of â€Å"Yellow School† Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959. The Panchen Lama, who resided at Shigatse, has been elevated by the Chinese government to the position vacated by the Dalai Lama. Followers of the Panchen Lama used to claim that his spiritual powers rival those of the D alai Lama. Both of them were reincarnations of their predecessors.When either dies the priesthood have to decide in which newly born child he has been reincarnated. The reincarnation can happen anywhere, even in a peasant family, but such a family automatically becomes a member of the noble class. Our study of Tibetan nunnery will be incomplete without defining the role of monasteries. Monastery system is the basis of Lamaism. There were 6000 of Buddhist monasteries in Tibet until the Chinese invaded in 1950. Nowadays only six of them are restored (Kerr 37). Monasteries as landowners were authority under units of villages. Many of them used to house five thousand monks.Percentage of the monks composes from 20 to 33-1/3 percent of male population. According to Havnevik Hanna, there were also 27,000 nuns in 1959 (37). In Buddhist countries nuns are called by many different terms —bhik? un? i, don chee, sikkhamat, dasasilmata, jomo, mae chi, tila shin. According to Tibetan tradi tion celibate female Buddhist practitioners are known as ‘ani’. Karma Lekshe Tsomo states in her book, that many women in Tibet became ‘anis’ because nunnery provides an opportunity to get an education (201). Knowledge turned out to be an important theme in the history of many monastic communities.Owing to the isolation from the rest of the world, there was a lack of scientific knowledge in Tibet. Alexandra David-Neel notes, that many Tibetans believed that the earth was flat (26-29). The first radio station in Tibet started operating on January 1, 1959 (Chang-tu Hu 251). There were no primary schools prior to 1950. After the defeat of revolt against Chinese authority in the late fifties Tibetan diaspora began. In the sixties many young people from western countries began heading to the East searching for religious and philosophic alternatives to replace inadequacies they felt in their own cultures.Communication innovations of the eighties established close r connections among people. That’s why desire for knowledge and education affected even remote nunnery high up in the Himalayas. Karma Lekshe Tsomo narrates what was the monastery education to be: The monks and nuns had been recruited with promises of a life of study. Instead, they had to work day in and day out on the ‘gonpa's’ (settlement) construction. At night, they were too tired to concentrate on the lamas' teachings in Tibetan, an unfamiliar language†¦.In this culture, women only left home if they had specific, compelling reasons to do so. For many women, the quest for religious learning and an aversion to hard labor do not constitute compelling reasons. (204) If there is no senior monk in the monastery nuns live in the villages with their parents and work with them. They could gather together only several days on month to read few ‘pechas’ (religious texts). Those, who are not ordained just have to take five precepts: not to kill, steal, lie, commit sexual misconduct, or take intoxicants. Beijing notes that it’s not easy to be a teacher.To be appointed as a teacher of nuns, a monk must fulfill sixteen qualifications : respectability (not having incurred a defeat or partial defeat and being conscientious in that he has forsaken unwholesome deeds such as killing animals); steadfastness (twenty years of standing as a monk); learning (knowledge of the three collections of the scriptures); and thirteen qualities of helpfulness (the twelve explained in the first chapter of this work in the discussion of the qualifications of the monastic preceptor, plus not having previously been appointed as a nuns' teacher and then removed from that position).A monk with these qualifications is appointed to be the nuns' teacher within the boundary of his monastic community; qualified fellow monks perform the appropriate ceremony during the confession ceremony of the fifteenth of the lunar month (132). At first to be accepted as a monk it was enough to take refuge in front of the Buddha. Then special rules were instituted. To be a monk or a nun became a matter of maintaining regulations.Aspirant needs to assume vows. To enter the Buddhist community novice have to pass a long way. According to Beijing, vows of personal are of seven categories when distinguished according to the person: the [vows of the] monk (bhik? u), the nun (bhik? uni), the male novice (srama? era), the female novice (srama? erika), the layman practitioner (upasaka), the laywoman practitioner (upasi?ka), and the postulant nun (sik? amana) (122). In the original procedure for conferring monastic ordination, the aspirant became a monk without any complex ritual. The present-day procedure confers ordination with a considerable amount of ritual. Beijing recorded several ways in which persons became instantaneously ordained as monks and nuns. For example by accepting the eight severe precepts:To receive ordination from monks; to await announce ment of the proper date for the fortnightly confession from monks; to participate in the rainy season retreat near a place where monks are also in retreat; to attend the ceremony of lifting of restrictions (imposed during the rainy season retreat) in an assembly of both monks and nuns; to serve respectfully both monks and nuns if one has transgressed any of these eight precepts ; not to reveal the corrupted morals of monks; not to reproach a monk; to behave respectfully (prostrating and so forth) toward the community of monks, including prostrating before a newly ordained monk.(89) The ceremonies that confer the lay practitioner vows or the novice vows on a woman are essentially the same as those for a man, except for the aspirant being referred to as â€Å"the woman known as†¦ ,† instead of â€Å"the man known as†¦ ,† and the additional questions posed to the woman. The precepts of the postulant nun may be assumed at the age of eighteen in the case of one wh o has not been married and at the age of ten in the case of a woman who has been married. This ordination is conferred by a group of twelve nuns through a two-part ceremony including proposal.A female novice must receive the postulant nun's vows and observe them for two years before she can receive full ordination as a nun. The aspirant nun should give the vow for strict observance of celibacy. Beijing mentions that a woman cannot receive this vow if she has any of the following five obstacles: having both the male and female organ or having neither; menstruating continuously or having no menstruation; having no feeling in the vagina; and having been a nun before (178). The bestowal of this vow constitutes the intermediate part of the nun's ordination.In the first part, her request to become a nun is forwarded to the abbess with a report on whether she is free from obstacles to her ordination (not having received permission from family or husband, being pregnant, etc. ). The second part of the ceremony consists of her request for the vows of strict observance of celibacy, which is forwarded to the abbess along with a report confirming that she will abide by such a vow (determined from further questioning), and the final agreement by the abbess which signals the conferral of the vow.In the third part, she is fully ordained by a group of both monks and nuns. An extensive explanation of the rules for nuns concludes the ceremony. Then the full ordination is bestowed in the presence of group of nuns augmented by a group of ordaining monks. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the preceptor instructs the new nun on the twelve points of discipline, which include the eight defeating offenses, the eight severe precepts, and other rules.However, it should be mentioned that the traditions for the ordinations of the postulant and fully ordained nun were never introduced in Tibet. Once became a nun, female practitioner of Buddhism must observe three hundred and sixty-four ru les: not to commit the eight defeating offenses that constitute root downfalls, twenty partially defeating acts, thirty-three downfalls involving forfeiture, one hundred and eighty downfalls requiring confession alone, eleven downfalls to be individually confessed, and one hundred and twelve minor infractions.In Buddhism, vows are viewed in many ways, depending on the context of the discussion, but generally the ethical systems are designated as three sets of vows, as two sets of vows, or as one all-inclusive vow. The three sets of vows spoken of throughout all divisions of the Buddhist scriptures are those of personal liberation (pratimok? a), of meditative absorption (dhyana), and of the uncontaminated (anasrava) vows. These are essentially identical to the three forms of training on the Buddhist path: the development of morality, meditation, and wisdom.In fact, in order to gain the different types of enlightenment of their systems, proclaimers (Rravaka), solitary sages (pratyekab uddha), and bodhisattvas must forsake disturbing emotions and other obstacles on their paths by cultivating an uncontaminated discriminative awareness which is developed by training in wisdom. This discriminative awareness is grounded in mental quiescence achieved by training in meditation, and mental quiescence is developed on the basis of training in pure morality.The proclaimers' system speaks of two sets of ethics, each with three vows: the vows of a lay practitioner, novice, and monk (or nun); and the vows of body, speech, and mind. The three vows in the scriptures of the Universal Way (mahayana) refer to the processes of refraining from the unwholesome, of aiming at acquiring good qualities, and of working for the benefit of all living beings. These are also known as the three trainings, or ethics, of the bodhisattva. The tantras speak of four sets of ethics, each with three vows.The first set includes the commitments of awakening mind, the vows related to the creation phase, and those related to the completion phase. The second set includes the pledges of the Buddha's body, speech, and mind. The third set, as taught by the great adept Vitapada, consists in not conforming to the practice of accepting what is good and rejecting what is bad with respect to any physical, verbal, or mental action. The fourth set includes the vows of personal liberation, the bodhisattva commitments, and the pledges of the awareness holder (vidyadhara).The tantras also speak of two types of ethics: the common pledges received during the vase initiation of the five awarenesses (of the vase) and the stages of the initiation prior to these; and the uncommon ones received at the time of the irreversible vajra-master initiation. According to a different explanation, the two types of ethics in the tantras refer to the vows related to the creation phase and those related to the completion phase, also known as the outer and inner vows.Moreover, when the tantric adept assumes all the v ows of personal liberation, the bodhisattva commitments, and the tantric pledges, he or she maintains these ethics in both their outer and inner aspects. Works Cited Beijing, Chos ‘byung. The History of Buddhism in India and Tibet. Delhi: Sri Satguru, 1986. David-Neel, Alexandra. â€Å"Edge of Tibet†, AATA 44:1 (January 1944): 26-29. Chang-tu Hu. China: Its People, Its Society, Its Culture. New Haven, CT: HRAF Press, 1960. Havnevik, Hanna. Tibetan Buddhist Nuns.History, Cultural Norms and Social Reality. Oslo: Norwegian University Press, 1989. Kerr, Blake. Sky burial : an eyewitness account of China's brutal crackdown in Tibet. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1997. Shen, Tsung-lien and Liu, Shen-chi. Tibet and the Tibetans. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1977. Tucci, Guiseppe. The Religions of Tibet. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1980. Tsomo, Karma Lekshe. Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming against the Stream. Richmond: Curzon Press Limited, 2000.

Court Case on Pre-Elclampsia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Court Case on Pre-Elclampsia - Research Paper Example She gets valuable advice from her doctor that the only way to save her from these contingencies is only through an induced abortion as the fetus is not fully developed to the point where it can stay in an incubator. She goes to court to seek assistance so that she may procure the abortion(Kerry, 2010). The evidence she produces holds water and the judges are adamant to allow her to do as she wishes. The jury rules in her favor and she gets the permit with the assistance of her doctor to make the abortion (British Medical Association, 2012). Pre-eclampasia is pretty grim and looking at the symptoms and the expected end result, it makes one skeptic of the decisions they need to make either in favor or in disregard for the challenges that come with the condition. I think that it is something that affects many women across the globe and some are not even aware of the dangers that beckon them as they continue leading their lives. I believe that education is key to eliminating this devastation that is about to completely change the lives of women. I also feel that there should exist channels that women talk and interact with so as to give their opinions and experiences with pre-eclampasia so that they enlighten each other on the probable ways to overcome if not entirely eliminate the state of affairs.

Assignment of International Economics Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Of International Economics - Assignment Example As argued by Auernheimer, (47) the markets are equipped with financial regulators who protect the investors against fraud as well as performing other functions. In the modern world, the markets are managed by an electronic system. Entities such as stock exchanges, investment banks and government departments manage the system. The systems are available across the globe, but more concentrated in London, New York and Hong Kong. International capital flow is facilitated by a global financial system that was established in the late 19th century. The formation of central banks and multilateral treaties was intended at ensuring transparency and efficiency international markets. The early 19th century was marked with a substantial development in the sectors of transportation and communication. Innovations in transportation sparked high rates of human migration while an improvement in communication facilitated efficient transfer of information. These innovations steered fast growth in international trade and investment. During the First World War, foreign exchange markets in London were heightened as United Kingdom went into war. The market became paralyzed and this impelled and the sterling pound lost its power against the French, franc currency. United States endorsed trading tariffs on its agricultural and manufacturing imports. The global trade nearly halted worsening the aftermaths of the world wide great depression. In 1930 marked the establishment of Bank for International Settlements to manage reparations from Germany imposed by the Treaty of Versailles and act as a bank for central banks across the world. Auernheimer (115) observed that most states in Europe, America and Asia departed from the classic gold standard following the end of World War 1. The great depression came to be and Germany was the first country to officially abandon the postwar gold standard and implement foreign exchange controls. After these host countries

Accounting Information Systems Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Accounting Information Systems - Assignment Example Air New Zealand has also has diversification in aircraft engineering and ground handling services of airlines. Apart from it won services it also provides these two services to other domestic as well as international companies. Subsidiaries of this group also offer online ticket booking services, retailing and travel wholesaling services. Vision of the company is that it strives to become number airlines company in terms of customer satisfaction of services in every country where it provides services (Air New Zealand, 2012). The company is dedicated to become customers’ first choice of airlines for travelling to within and from New Zealand. The company has developed a competitive advantage in terms of creativity and innovation in its services quality. The company promotes the domestic culture, people, behaviors and quality of business practice to the overseas people. It also has a long term value i.e. growth company and contribution a major percentage to the domestic countries growth. The company has been awarded Airline of the year in 2010 and 2012 and it also achieved many national international awards for its quality services. According to company’s financial report of 2010, it has total assets of NZ$1,566 million and profit of NZ$82 million. Accounting information systems of the company refers to the efficient use information technology to management of company’s operating activities and recoding of daily financials transactions and information. Company provides high priority to its Accounting information systems as it maintains the company’s accounting and financial information and update daily basis. AIS help the company to operate accounting and financial management efficiently and easily. As AIS has higher involvement of information technology and computers systems, network, internet etc so there is higher possibility that the company could be exposed to computer fraud and abuse in many ways (Sori, 2009, p.36). There are some general types of threat related to accounting information systems of the company. Terrorist attack and natural deserter in New Zealand and other operating countries are considered as macroeconomic threats to the company’s information systems. Other micro environmental threats are malfunction of hardwires software errors, human unintentional manual errors, and lastly the most dangerous intentional acts or computer crimes. Now fraud refers to intentional unethical and unfair business practice by organizations or individual or groups. Supplier of product and services to this company might gain unethical interest or benefits over the company. Any individual within the organization may commit fraudulent activities intentionally for his or her individual interests. In efficient asset management through absence of internal control systems leads to theft of company’s valuable assets. Another affective type is fraudulent reporting of financial statements. Accounting informatio n systems has given high priority and focus by the company to protect any fraudulent activities regarding financial reporting which is quarterly or yearly result of daily accounting records and maintenance and updating ethically and fairly representation of that. The company could be exposed to any type of fraudulent financial reporting due to some common reasons that leads to unethical business practice by the company. Presence of deceive creditors or suppliers, or investors might be the reason one reason. Another way of reporting fraudulent financial statements can be done by increasing the current market of share of the company. Third reason might be to collect investment to sufficient cash inflow to the

Developmental stages of children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Developmental stages of children - Essay Example To assist in the study of these types of development, various developmental tasks are commonly divided into four primary domains: physical, cognitive, social, and emotional. By defining and applying these domains to the pre-school developmental stage, it is possible to identify activities that may assist the child in successfully achieving the primary goals of this stage. Unsurprisingly, physical development refers to the actual growth of the child's body structure. This includes muscles, bones and organs as well as all motor and sensory development. Motor development is largely dependent on the child's muscle strength and coordination. Actions such as standing, sitting, and running involve the large muscles of the body. Other activities such as speech, vision and the use of hands and fingers require increasing mastery of the smaller muscles of the body. As most people are aware, sensory development refers to the increasing awareness of the five senses: sight, taste, touch, smell and hearing. â€Å"The coordination and integration of perceptual input from these systems are controlled by the central nervous system† (Roditti, 2002, p. 11). Thus, activities that promote physical development will concentrate on preparing the core muscles for greater use and encourage exploration of abilities and senses. A child's cognitive development is also important in understanding these opportunities. Cognitive development takes place through activities such as thought, memory, reasoning, problem-solving and abstract thinking. One of the most difficult cognitive activities is using language because, although speech is technically a motor activity, the use of symbolization and memory in producing meaningful speech is a highly specialized thought process. Comprehending and expressing language is a complex cognitive endeavor that is encouraged as well by the child's social development. Social development refers to the child’s interactions with other people and their involvement in social groups. The earliest social function of a child is the attachment to mother. This attachment then leads to the â€Å"development of relationships with adults and peers, assumption of social roles, adoption of group values and norms, adoption of a moral system, and eventually assuming a productive role in society† (Roditti, 2002, p. 12). All of these also contribute to and are shaped by the child's emotional development. Emotional development refers to the maturing of personal behaviors and characteristics. This can include developing an individual identity and self-esteem along with the ability to enter into mutually fulfilling emotional relationships. Pre-School Physical Development Sensory and motor domain development is perhaps most noticeable during the first year of life when the child is doing the majority of his or her physical growth. This growth begins to slow at about one year of age. There are many things parents worry about at this stage. Fo r example, they may notice that their child has a suddenly decreased appetite at this point or be concerned about the apparently misshapen body as the child begins to walk. However, there is often no cause to be concerned. As the physical growth starts to slow, the body no longer requires such high intake of building blocks. As children begin to walk, their posture appears bow-legged with the belly sticking out and a sharply inward curved back. While

Report on the Solar Power Generation Versus Hydropower Generation Assignment

Report on the Solar Power Generation Versus Hydropower Generation - Assignment Example The research had been done through; questionnaires, interviews and document review. It discusses hydro electric power production systems, wind turbine generators, coal as a source of energy, solar energy and geothermal sources of energy. Government is seen to play a key role in the progress of these processes. It is seen that the government has affirm stand as pertains to the different kinds of power generation methods. Its support of hydro power systems is evident from the percentage of hydro power generated and connected to the national grid system. This report will look at the methodology used in collecting data, the results and carry out a discussion from which a conclusion and appropriate recommendations will be made (Patton, 2002). Introduction This is a report of research on the power production in Waikato. Research was done to compare the methods of power generation in Waikato; hydroelectric power and solar power. ... This report is to outline some the merits and demerits of these methods of production of power. These were to be used in the control of the environmental pollution during energy generation processes. Government involvement in the production and supply of power to other parts was to be discussed. This was to help know the depth of government intervention in these processes. These pieces information were required for the deep understanding of these methods. It was to help know the one that call for more intervention by the government, their impact on the environment, the cost of production and supply to the areas of use. The report therefore entails; research plan, results, discussion, conclusion and recommendation. s Research plan/ methodology Before commencing our study we structured our research plan in the following steps: Description of evaluation criteria Data collecting process and information research Assessing the power supply sources and levels Interviewing of experts Analyzi ng the power supply trends based on the collected data Step1: description of evaluation criteria To ensure that we collected relevant information, we outlined our criterion as follows; 1. Identification of the power generating methods: this entailed the identification of the sources and machines involved. 2. Identification of the impact of the related power sources to the environment; we were to describe or find out the sources, machines and procedures involved impact the surrounding environment. 3. Determination of the cost effectiveness of the methods and systems; we were to determine the cost incurred to construct, maintain and run the production system. 4. Determination of the life span of the equipments, structures and machines involved; from the

A Portfolio in Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Characteristics Essay

A Portfolio in Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Characteristics - Essay Example The paper tells that the creation of a business plan will not be acted upon unless the business concept is created. Concepts are based on the ideas of the group members who are planning to put up a business. This process is called idea generation. Idea generation puts emphasis on creativity, and on the discovery of new ideas. Not all ideas are turned into a business concept; it has to be weighed based on its appeal and substance, and the best idea that is chosen is the one used for commercialisation. It is the method used to stimulate and pick up internal, as well as the external ideas. In idea generation, the obtained ideas are being converted into an instrument that helps organisations reach their objectives. Since the process of creating a business plan takes a long time, it is crucial to choose the most appropriate idea to be used for commercialisation, to save time and effort. The success of an entrepreneurial venture depends on the accuracy of the business plan, and the accurac y and effectiveness of a business plan depend upon the ideas that were generated through the process of idea generation. Strategic objectives are extensive, long-term goals, which identify the basic nature and direction of an entrepreneurial venture. It serves as the basis for the decisions made by the members of the group or organisation that are planning a business. It takes into account the necessary information required in the making of a new product or business such as the product or service used as the main attraction, the primary target market, and the designated location. (Crosson and Needles, 2011, p.6). When the members of an organisation have already chosen the strategy to be implemented for the proposed business, strategic objectives have to be designated. It will help them recognise the probable outcome of the strategy and identify the targeted results of the business plan. However, one must ensure that the objectives are definite and assessable, and this can be done th rough including the targeted dates, the values to be attained and the milestones that are aimed by the firm (Stutely, 2002, p.113). Market Analysis and Research Information with regard to the target market, competitors, and marketing trends are seen in the market analysis section of the business plan. The target market is the group of people to whom the organisation wishes to sell or offer its product or service. This group of people is classified and identified through the process of market segmentation. Market trends can be classified into two, and these are industry trends and target market trends. Market research involves the methods used to obtain relevant information that are useful in making accurate and preventing inappropriate business decisions. The giving of questionnaires, polls, and surveys are some of the techniques used in market research. Competition Business competition is fundamentally a contest of product or service salability. Competitors are rival

Motorola Marketing Campaign Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Motorola Marketing Campaign - Case Study Example Marketing has grown by leaps and bounds today. It is a creative industry that has expanded down to various genres such as advertising, distribution and selling. Customer base is figured out, their needs and aspirations realized and the relevant product developed accordingly. Future predictions and the expected turn the market is to take is often analyzed through various forms and types of Market research. Motorola had witnessed significant rise in its profits in the year 2009. It registered a profit of $143 million against a loss of $ 3.7 billion it faced in 2008. The situation was a very drastic one which led to the top management to adopt a very aggressive strategy. There were some heavy cost cutting measures adopted followed by a heavy profit. There was a hefty cost cut strategy applied leading to heavy profit margin, whereas on the other hand sales graph was in the decline state for the mobile phones. Currently Motorola is looking around to launch new technologies .Recently it was announced that they would be launching a new indoor and outdoor wireless networking solution in Australia, that will cover a variety of industries benefiting the enterprises with high speed secured wireless communications. They also have a plan of releasing eight more products and solutions related to networking. This would bring in flexibility, convenience and productivity in the way of work of the employees of these enterprises. It has also announced to split up of the company into two separate companies which will be effective by first quarter of 2011. One of the companies will focus on the mobile phones and home units operated by Co-CEO of Motorola, whereas the other one, headed by Co-CEO Greg Brown will focus on the mobility and business solutions. The primary reason behind this is to generate customer value and ensure the delivery of customer specific products on time that would cater to all their needs. Motorola's Market Orientation: Market Orientation: Marketing has derived its influences from innumerable fields of life such as social sciences, psychology, sociology and economics. It is a unique amalgamation of various fronts of life. Anthropology has been impacting marketing for quite some time though the influence is comparatively smaller in scale. Research conducted by marketing analysts has chalked out these activities. Its association with advertisement has co-joined with creative arts too. Today marketing variables have incorporated creative arts too for marketing the product. The Marketing literature is no more constant and is infamous for its rapidly changing nature. There have been a multitude of marketing definitions connoted by various institutes. The Chartered Institute of Marketing is one such marketing premise and it explains marketing in terms of customer needs and the efforts undertaken to satiate them. This is normally achieved by transforming and adapting the product completely in accordance with the needs of the customers. Another organization goes on to define marketing as a process closely related to management which is aimed at identifying and assessing customer needs efficiently while some others claim

Cultural Differences in Business Essay Example for Free

Cultural Differences in Business Essay I have read a lot about the cultural differences between Asia and the United States. I have talked to some of my Asian acquaintances here in Okinawa. There are quite a few cultural differences in the business worlds in Hong Kong and the States. In the states, employees have stronger feelings about and opinions of the intrinsic contracts of a business. The employees inner images come into play with these feelings because they feel that if they have a good and strong inner image then the outer image will automatically be a good one. They feel that extrinsic contracts are not as important, but still an issue when it comes to business. Employees in the United States are not as respectful to management and will even argue if they feel they have a strong point. In some cases this may be a good thing. In the United States we tend to be more aggressive and have strong opinions rather than suggestions. In Hong Kong, they believe that extrinsic contracts are everything. They believe as long as they have a strong front and image then there business will succeed. This is a good thing when it comes to public images because if you look like you have a strong business then the public will not know any different. Intrinsic contracts are not a main concern in Hong Kong. They are pushed to the side until they have a strong front and then it may be worked on.

Critical Review for the Article Essay Example for Free

Critical Review for the Article Essay The electronic journal entitled: ‘The Long-Term Performance of Horizontal Acquisition’, by Laurence Capron of the Institut Europeen dAdministration des Affaires (INSEAD), published in 1999 by the Wiley and Sons publishing, has studied the creation of â€Å"horizontal mergers and acquisition†. In Capron’s paper, he dated his studies from mid-1980’s to early 1990’s financing strategies of firms in divesting and liquidating its assets which he referred as the â€Å"horizontal mergers and acquisition†. Capron has cited about 253 firms in Europe and America that patterns the financing strategies. According to Capron (1999), examination reveals divestment of assets and capital infusion (re-financing of liquidated assets) makes effective to â€Å"acquisition performance†, but could have potentially detrimental impact. As what Capron emphasized on the performance of acquisition based on â€Å"divestment and redeployment (re-acquisition) of resources†, his study examines the defects and compliments on effective means in â€Å"horizontal mergers and acquisition†. Key points and rationale As reviewed from the journal, the â€Å"horizontal acquisitions† may be exemplified as a means and strategy in establishing the resource-divestment scheme, in which by doing so, it â€Å"optimizes or exploits the values of cost-based and revenue-based synergies† (Capron 1999: p. 988). As explained, it may be perceived that the â€Å"synergy† patterns the continuing acquirement of business values, as a result of divestment wherein merging of the newly diversified firm or business values acquires more assets and capital budget. According to Capron (1999), the cost efficiency theory emphasizes on the significance of cost-based synergies that occur when assets have been divested resulting the integration of cost-saving measures. Thus, the firm performs effectively in enhancing its revenues that synergizes with the redistribution of the capital towards an enhanced capability. It may be analyzed from the findings of Capron that the 1980’s and 1990’s rapid growth of industries brought about by globalization have emerged more investments in the supply chain. One of which is the positioning of developed and high-end industries within raw material sources. Like, for example, diversification process has been developed in Asian countries wherein more investment in cheap raw materials and labor are available and can be acquired easily. The â€Å"horizontal acquisition† could be drawn from establishing partnership, subsidiary in operation, joint ventures and inter-dependency in export and import schemes. Hence, for example â€Å"Company A† has divested in establishing â€Å"Company B† to engage in tire manufacturing that source out the cheapest raw materials. In which case, a diversified industrial firm could venture out into â€Å"versatile† business values that optimize capital investments for a larger revenue generation translated into cost effectiveness that means substantial profitability. In Capron’s finding, the so-called â€Å"economy of scale† became the bases of diversification process that paved the way to a â€Å"large-scale† industrialization. The 20th century practice of the economy of scale has favored more industries to capture the â€Å"investment areas†, specifically in poor countries. The â€Å"dispensation of merging† through open-ended stockholding in small-medium-large enterprises units has put significant relevance in acquiring industrial partnership, wherein capital investment has a critical role in merging companies. As cited from Capron’s findings, the logical economic explanation is capturing revenue-based synergies which are commonly identified as allocating and complementing resources by providing â€Å"core competencies† or â€Å"mobilizing invisible assets† (Penrose 1959; in Capron 1999: p. 989). As cited, Capron also pointed out in his â€Å"theoretical model† of post-acquisition and target redeployment (Capron 1999: pp. 990-995). According to Capron, the theory describes the diversification process as focusing on (1) asset divestiture, (2) cost-saving, (3) resource redeployment, and (4) revenue-enhancing capabilities as an effective means of â€Å"acquisition performance† (Capron 1999: p. 992). The theoretical model refers to and explains the â€Å"basic economic behavior† as outlined in the acquisition performance. Capron further theorized that capabilities in a divested firm are being distributed as an organizational undertaking. Meaning, it can be explained that the system of corporate governance and human resources are distributed or being shared that composes the acquisition performance. However, key â€Å"organic elements† were emphasized to have been integrated in the divestment process, in which the re-deployment (or deployment) of the organizational â€Å"system or setting† are acquired. Conclusion Capron’s examination on the horizontal acquisition and projection of model in strategic post-acquisition and redeployment could be understood as a fundamental undertaking in diversification process. It may be true that most of merging firms in their acquired assets or business are mainly distributing their in-placed â€Å"organizational or corporate system†. However, the merging firms could likewise optimize or â€Å"streamline the existing organizational set-up, which is the common occurrence in most firms that undertaken a â€Å"buy-out†. It may be perceived that the revenue-generation could be largely acquired into options by streamlining the existing organizational set-up or re-organizing both human and capital resources. Capron’s findings have emphasized more on the performance capability on the theory of â€Å"horizontal acquisition† referring only to capital budget, as implied on the capital resources or fixed assets of the firms. The human resource aspect [as a critical unit] of the post-acquisition process may have not been well emphasized. What has been generally discussed in the study is the transformative business value in divestment schemes referring to capital investments and fixed asset liquidation. It could be reflected that the capital investment and fixed asset liquidation are the critical factors in the divestment schemes as the primary resource of merging stakeholder. It could be suggested that the â€Å"potentially detrimental impact† [as also pointed out by Capron] could be referred to the human resources or labor force in a diversified industry. The merging stakeholder in Capron’s findings were much given relevance on how they could effectively perform in targeting their post-acquisition and redeployment, in which the study itself envisions to complement the performance capabilities of the stakeholders. At this point, we may re-examine Capron’s â€Å"theoretical model† as giving more â€Å"weight† to the envisioning of transnational and multi-national enterprises in furtherance of globalization, in which the continuing divestment scheme competes in the large scale economy of labor market and capital build-up. We may then conclude that Capron’s findings could be re-examined with further studies relating to human resources re-deployment or deployment on its horizontal development complementing the diversification of industries, in which the parallelism envisions both human and capital divestment. Section B Morrison’s bid to Safeway The electronic magazine of the Financial Times on its December 8th 2003 issue at the www. ft. com web site has published the news article of Richard Milne entitled: ‘Countdown Starts for Morrisons Bid for Safeway’. According to the news article, the Morrison Supermarket bided 21 days from its competitors, such as Tesco, J. Sainsbury and Asda-WalMart, following the UK government’s offer to sell the Safeway supermarket. The UK Department of Trade and Industry disclosed that â€Å"Morrison was willing to sell its 53 stores if acquisition of Safeway is successful† (Richard Milne 2003; in Ft. com 2008). Morrison’s negotiation was favored by the UK Competition Commission that disqualified the three major competitors from the bidding and upheld Morrison to takeover Safeway with a share of 219-1/2 from the 279-1/2, in which Safeway acknowledged the buy out. In a follow up report in 2004, after a year of the buy out, the Safeway has gained 40% of sales growth. Financial analysts claimed that Safeway has â€Å"migrated customers† to Morrison supermarket, as it cited that â€Å"quality of sales has gone better because Morrison has stopped the Safeway policy of rolling deep discounts† (Martin Dickson 2004; in Ft. com 2008). Perception of the issue Morrison’s takeover of Safeway supermarket has gauged the situation of significant financial divestment venture. The business potentials of Safeway [being an established supermarket that solely competes with Tesco, J. Sainsbury and Asda-WalMart] were the â€Å"strong intent† of financial divestment of Morrison to even offer the sell of its 53 stores. The financial divestment of Morrison could be relating Capron’s findings on the â€Å"horizontal acquisition† of merging stakeholders by way of capital investments through diversified assets. In which case, the Safeway supermarket has found by Morrison as a â€Å"potential divestiture† that shall absorb the vulnerability from tough competitors. The merging of stakeholder through a buy-out or takeover of an established investment [like Safeway] may have validated Capron’s theory of â€Å"post-acquisition and redeployment†, in which Morrison has able to â€Å"contain† the migratory customers and could further develop the acquisition performance of divesting financial investments. The divestment process of Morrison’s takeover to Safeway has likewise described Capron’s finding on merging firms that engages in the economy of scale. One that Morrison has learned from the Safeway’s enterprise approach on rolling deep discounts, wherein it found to be defeating the â€Å"selling schemes†. Thus, managing the risks in â€Å"horizontal acquisition† has gained Morrison’s capability to undertake strategic competition that transformed the â€Å"old Morrison business† through the new outfit of Safeway supermarket. It may be then generally perceived that Capron’s theory on â€Å"horizontal acquisition† has transformative business value in enhancing the financial investment and liquidating a frozen asset [like Morrison’s 53 stores that are non-performing], of which a â€Å"unilateral† financial divestment scheme in managing risk investment, that is vulnerable to tightened competition, gains flexibility upon acquiring an established business venture. However, this assumption is perceptive of a challenge to the continuing financial divestment of core industries in the global market. List of References Capron, L. (1999) ‘The Long-Term Performance of Horizontal Acquisition’. Strategic Management Journal, pp. 987-1018, John Wiley Sons, Ltd. , CCC 0143– 2095/99/110987–32. Dickson, M. (2004). ‘Companies UK: Safeway Sale’. The Financial Times (2008). [online] available from http://search. ft. com/ftArticle? queryText=Morrison%E2%80%99s+takeover+of+Safe wayy=3aje=truex=16id=040521002246ct=0 [14 June 2008] Milne, R. (2003). ’ Countdown Starts for Morrisons Bid for Safeway’. The Financial Times (2008). [online] available from http://search. ft. com/ftArticle? queryText=Morrison%E2%80%99s+takeover+of+Safe wayy=3aje=truex=16id=031208004508ct=0 [14 June 2008]

Causes of the Revolutions in Latin America

Causes of the Revolutions in Latin America The French Revolution has often been credited with fanning the revolutionary flames that swept through Latin America at the turn of the nineteenth century. It thus seems logical that the struggle against Spain was conditioned by the ideas and events that caused the upheaval in France, and that the great liberators of the continent, men like Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin, were inspired by political tremors from across the sea. Yet a careful study of the Latin American uprisingsplaced against the nineteenth-century backdrop and amid the influences of the American Revolution, several English authors, and the writings of some liberal Jesuitsmakes the French connection rather difficult to discern. The scholar must also distinguish between the influence of the famous critics of the ancien regimeRousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu, and the encyclopedistsand the impact of the guillotine. In Latin America, the first carried much more weight than the second. Placing the whole period in historical perspective, it is safe to say that French Jacobinism produced a negative reaction among most Latin revolutionary elites. By the mid-eighteenth century, the Creolesa powerful white minority born in the colonieswere undergoing a cultural crisis. Taught that their mother countries were glorious and powerful empires, they realized Spain and Portugal had become second-rate powers, far beneath mighty England and enlightened France. Seeking cultural independence, the Creoles learned economic liberalism from England and political liberalism from Francealong with near mystical faith in the power of a constitution, popular sovereignty, and the evils of absolutism. Ideologically armed, they aimed their criticisms against the obsolete policies of Spain and Portugal. Although increasingly chaffing under colonial rule, and impressed by these new ideas, the Creoles were far from revolutionaries. They wanted to curtail their monarchs authority and become equals to the Spaniards and Portuguese without violent upheaval. Surrounded by seemingly docile Indians, black slaves, and mestizos, most Creoles worried that any political turmoil would provoke a disastrous racial conflict. The Indian rebellions of 1791 in Peru (which had drawn the Creoles to the Spanish side), and the heroic, successful black revolt in Haiti in 1794 (the one Latin American uprising directly connected to the French Revolution) gave credence to this worry. The writings of the French critics of absolutism (particularly Rousseau and Montesquieu), which began reaching Latin America at the end of the eighteenth century, were thus cautiously embraced by the enlightened elite, despite cultural and traditional barriers to their acceptance. For example, even the most radical Creoles, unlike their French masters, were outspokenly Catholic. In 1810, the Argentinean revolutionary Mariano Moreno translated Rousseaus Social Contract, but suppressed those chapters criticizing religion. Concerning religion, Moreno explained, the great French philosopher suffered a certain delirium. Consequently, the Creoles were willing to approve or applaud the events in France as long as they followed a pattern outlined by the ancien regimes critics. The proclaiming of a constitution and the Declaration of the Rights of man thus had a profound impact. But when the Revolution intensified, Creole attitudes changed. The royal executions, mob violence, religious persecutions, and Robespierres guillotining provoked a general rejection. At the end of the eighteenth century, Colombian leader Antonio Narino and a group of Venezuelan conspirators translated and distributed the Declaration of the Rights of Man, defending most French revolutionary ideas. A few years later, Venezuelas Francisco de Miranda, the great ingurator of Latin independence who had fought as a general in the French revolutionary army (his name is inscribed in the Arc de Triumph), stressed that the ideas of the French Jacobins and Girondins should not be allowed to contaminate the continent, not even under the pretext of bringing us freedom I fear anarchy more than dependence, he stated. That pervasive fear of anarchy (evident in the writings of Bolivar and San Martin) and the events leading to Napoleons rise reinforced the creoles cautious instincts. They associated in French Revolution with anarchy, bloodshed, and sacrilege. In 1800, the distinguished Peruvian politician Pablo de Olavide (who like Miranda had lived in France during the revolution) publicly recanted his former liberal ideas and exalted orthodox Catholicism as the only defense against the destructive tide of the French Revolution. I was in Paris in 1789 and saw the birth of the horrible revolution, which in little time has devoured one of the most beautiful and rich kingdoms of Europe, de Olavide wrote. Almost at the same time Mexico Citys Fray Servando de Teresa y Mier, who had endured prison and fought for Mexican independence, attacked the Revolution: The French have deduced it is necessary to hang each other to attain equality in the cemetery, the one place we are all equals. To judge from the writings and declarations of the period, three concepts survived the creoles rejection of revolutionary excess: constitutionalism, republicanism, and popular sovereignty. Too hastily attributed to the French Revolution, all had penetrated Latin American years before, legitimized by the popular (at the time) example of the United States. In 1806 Napoleon deposed and imprisoned Spains King Ferdinand VII, imposed his brother Joseph on the throne, and caused the Portuguese royal family to flee to Brazil. When the Spanish people rebelled, the creoles cultural crisis became decidedly political. Amid the collapse of royal authority and the threat of anarchy, they moved from condemning Napoleons crime and asserting their loyalty to the deposed king to proclaiming their independence. After Napoleon was forced to free Ferdinand, most creoles, enjoying new political power, fought the kings attempt to regain authority over his colonies. The struggle intensified after the fall of Napoleon (denounced by the creoles as an ambitious tyrant and the product of the French Revolution) and the vague threat of the Holy Alliance formed in Europe to crush any revolutionary movement. Only then, when the campaigns against Spanish armies had become tough and bloody, did some creoles refer to the early stages of the Revolution in glowing terms, comparing their fight to the French peoples. The allusion was as rhetorical as creole claims of fighting to avenge the conquered and abused Indians. By the mid-nineteenth century, nearly all the newly created Latin American republics had inserted into their constitutions the basic tenets of liberal tradition: the division of power, individual rights, and equality before the law. All decreed Catholicism the official religion. But unlike the previous period, many Latin writers were by then crediting the political advances to the French Revolution. The change of attitude may have stemmed from two main factors. First, the creolesthe new upper elite of their respective countries, with firm control of the state forcesnow had less fear of social turmoil. As the danger of anarchy declined, sympathy for the French Revolution increased. Conservatives acknowledged the justice of the peoples uprising, and liberal factions in each country strove to realize constitutional freedoms. The Triumph of Romanticism: Another factor was the triumph of Romanticism, the most popular and lasting literary movement in Latin America. For many Latin writers, Romanticism was embodied by France, and primarily Victor Hugo. France became the spiritual fatherland for Latin intellectuals, with a pilgrimage to la Ville Lumiere, Paris, mandatory. Ironically, Europes romantic poets glorified the bandits, rebels, and outcasts. French writers from Michelet to Hugo hailed the glories of revolution, of barricades, and of violence against tyrants, and extolled Napoleon, now transformed into the Great Soldier of the Revolution. The Latin writers followed suit. Suffering postindependence disillusionment, watching the rise of caudillos who trampled their beloved constitutions, enduring what the Argentinean poet-politician Esteban Echeverria called the shipwreck of our dreams; they declared themselves the heirs of the Girondins and the Jacobins, and the continuers of a revolution for independence frustrated by tyrants. Every leader, idealist, or bandit who challenged the status quo proclaimed himself revolutionary, with every revolution a child of the glorious French barricades. This lasting devotion to nominal radicalism moved philosopher Hermann Keyserling to register a keen observation. Everywhere, he wrote in 1905, the words tradition and revolution are opposite. Except in Latin America, where politicians appear to be traditionally revolutionary. In 1849, a group of Chilean writers and mystic revolutionaries adopted the names of Danton, Saint-Just, and Demoulins. They formed a Society of Equals and attempted a popular uprising in Chile. Although the revolt was a total fiasco, leader Francisco Bilbao (a writer in the apocalyptic style) swore they had saved the dignity of the Chilean people and vindicated the glory of the French Revolution. Bilbao may have used the wrong example. In 1848, France and other European countries witnessed a new revolution, one whose failure heralded a new concept of what revolution should be. For the first time, Paris saw a parade of workers displaying red flags and witnessed the bloody collapse of their barricades. The following year, Marx and Engels published their Communist Manifesto. The Romantic movement had died. Romanticism took the rest of the century to die in Latin America. At the end of the Latin American romantic era, Nicaraguan Ruben Dario became the acknowledged leader of Modernism. By then, the French Revolution had been sanctified. It was a political and philosophical ideal, a sign of the Latin identity before the menace of the barbarians from the north (the American Revolution was now viewed as the source of American imperialism) and a spiritual bond with the beloved France. The French Revolutions mythic influence has far exceeded its actual contributions to the political trends, constitutions, and laws of Latin America. But the myth has had an influence, helping to maintain the dream of real democracy and true equality for Latin Americans. Sadly, contemporary Latin revolutionaries raise banners closer to the red flags of 1848 than to the ideals of Liberte, Egalite, and Franternite. The French Revolution and Freedom: We have devoted a considerable portion of this months issue to the two hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution. Americans, who are aware that France has been our ally since the time of our own revolution, empathize with the French celebration. The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, shares with the flag and the bald eagle the distinction of symbolizing our own nation and civilization. The great motto of the French RevolutionLiberty, Equality, and Fraternityexpresses values we Americans respect greatly. Yet, it would be dishonest if we did not note the distortions these values suffered during the Revolution. In one of his rare poetic moments, Hegel referred to the concept of absolute freedom, as it came to be expressed in the French Revolution, as absolute death, meaningless death, as meaningless as quaffing a glass of water or clefting a head of cabbage. French intellectual life at the time of the Revolution was dominated by the philosophers. Some, like Holbach, were empiricists, who believed that knowledge started with sensation. These sensations produced a picture of an external world that was in principle completely knowable. Others, like Condorcet, following the model of inquiry initiated by Descartes, were rationalists. Conceiving of the world on the basis of mathetmatical logic, they believed it was governed by fundamental axioms the mind could grasp intuitively. If Godwho had made the world but then left it to its own devicesknew the initial conditions of the atoms, he would be able to predict the entire future. Men were machines in a clocklike world that science, in principle, could understand thoroughly. Because ignorance had destroyed the initially happy state of nature, science would be required to restore such a state in modern societyeven if humans had to be forced to be free. It is this aspect of the French Revolution that justified the Terror in the minds of its partisans. And it is this aspect of the French Revolution that inspired the Bolsheviks. It is the concept of limitless freedomthe kind of freedom that Hegel satirizedthat today inspires a number of discontented groups in the United States. Although the German language, with its immense penumbra of connotations, permits the looseness of reasoning that one finds in a Mein Kampf, it is the lucidity and precision of the French language that inspires a type of rationality that allows a few a priori axioms to constrain thought about life and politics. The absolute freedom that Hegel called absolute death is an abstract freedom that lacks concrete connectedness. All freedoms are dependent upon correlative constraints. For example, if an object is to be free to roll, it must have a rounded shape that makes it difficult for it to rest on the crest of a slope. The ability to think rationally is dependent, among other things, on not taking mind-altering substances. There is no absolute freedom and no absolute perfection, at least not in this life, where every choice and every freedom involves a trade-off. The ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity also require trade-offs. Any attempt to absolutize one of these values will impose intolerable costs on the others. Possibilities are limited by circumstances. Noveltyand this includes at least some aspects of the futureis not predictable. Moreover, even with respect to mechanicsand especially with respect to quantum theorypredictive power is limited. In fact, the paths of planets are not entirely predictable, for both measurement error and the accumulation of small effects eventually will produce radical, unforeseeable change. Any philosophy that fails to give due weight to uncertainties, complexities, and historically concrete idiosyncracies is likely to encourage tyranny. Any philosophy that is willing to jettison established institutions solely on the basis of a prior theory is likely to produce a reign of terror. This is not an argument against rationality per se, but against only a particular type of rationality, the type that manifested itself in France at the time of the Revolution and against which the most profound French thinkers now are reacting. The overreaction that France experienced twenty years ago in the deconstructionist movementwhich risks turning into its oppositenow is being rejected by the best French thinkers at the very time that deconstructionism has invaded prestigious American universities. The reexamination of the French Revolution, which is so vigorous in France today and which we recount in this issue, should help to inoculate against this intellectual virus. We can thrill to the ideals of the Revolution while sternly rejecting its excrescences and false ideals. Hail, Marianne, still beautiful, glorious, and lucent. This time your scholars and intellectuals are leading the way. From El Cid to El Che: The Hero and the Mystique of Liberation in Latin America Spain gave the world the hero incarnate in El Cid and the transcendent hero in Don Quixote. Much of Spanish destiny would unfold in their shadow, as affirmation and negation of their exemplary lives. The poem and the novel reflect and foreshadow the two great epics of Spanish history: the reconquest of Spain and the conquest of America. For almost eight hundred years Spaniards were obsessed, consumed by the passion of the reconquest of Spain from the infidels, the Arabs who invaded in 710. The notion of lucha, struggle, which permeates much of the revolutionary poetry of Spanish America today, probably goes back as far as 1099, when it is said that El Cid, already dead but strapped to his horse Babieca, won his last battle at Valencia. The capture of Granada and the final expulsion of the Moors from the Iberian peninsula in 1492 was the epic feat of another Spaniard not unlike El Cid, Gonzalo de Cà ³rdoba, El Gran Capità ¡n, whose tactics, training, and organization would make Spanish infantry invincible for almost two centuries. The centuries devoted to warring against the infidel, an enterprise involving much the male population, resulted in plebeians who regarded themselves as noblemen, fumo di fidalgo, according to the Florentine ambassador to Spain in 1513. A Frenchman who visited Spain in the seventeenth century was amazed to hear a poor squire boast that I am as much a noble as the king, aye, and nobler, for he is half Flemish. And the noblemans, or hidalgos, chief occupations were to make war and attend mass; a knights tasks, like Don Quixotes, were battle and prayer. The heroic life was, had to be, a quest, a gesta filled with adventure and longing, longing for honor, even deathanything but the ordinary. Otherwise one might as well be dead or worse, working with money, papers, or ones hands, like Jews and other infidels or, God forbid, women. The regard for leisure and aversion to ordinary work that existed in medieval Spain were exacerbated by the conquest of America. Saint Teresa describes how one of her brothers, having returned from America, refused to work the land. Why should he toil like a dirt farmer after having been a seà ±or in the Indies? The notion of a heroic life was propagated by the cantares de gesta, or chansons de geste, the heroic poetry of the Spanish Middle Ages, the popularity of which is exemplified by Don Quixotes reciting such a ballad to an innkeeper perceived to be the governor of a fortress: Mis arreos son las armas mi descanso el pelear mi cama las duras peà ±as mi dormir siempre velar (Arms are my ornaments combat, my rest vigilance, my sleep the hard rock, my bed). If Spain is the home of the idea of chivalry, observes Miguel de Unamuno, then Quixotism is simply the most desperate phase of the battle of the Middle Ages against its offspring the Renaissance. The books of chivalry, which popularized the medieval ethos of heroic poetry, were the favorite reading not only of the general public but of such austere spirits as Saint Ignatius, Saint Teresa and the Emperor Charles V. indeed, Cervantes, who published the worlds first novel in 1605 to ridicule the genre, was in a sense unhorsed by his own creation, a caricature that took off with a life of its own, leaving its creator behind, eclipsing all his serious works, galloping onto posterity to become that most endearing and enduring of gallant knights. The conquest of America was the consecration of the Spanish hero as crusading knight. The conquistadors exemplify Joseph Campbells definition of the hero: individuals who venture forth from the world of common day into regions of supernatural wonders where fabulous forces must be encountered and decisive victories won so that the triumphant hero can return home with the power to bestow blessings and riches on his fellow men. And the feats of the conquest would be as heroic as anything in the books of chivalry. Few men have shown the daring of Cortes marching into Mexico with 400 men or of Pizarro taking over the Inca empire with 180. And what witnesses they had in their soldiers! One of Cortes men, Bernal Diaz del Castillo, writing as an old man, left us the most vivid, unforgettable account of that mythic European entry into the New World: With such wonderful sights to gaze on we did not know what to say or if this was real that we saw before our eyes and, as I write, it all comes before me as if it had happened only yesterday. But the first wizard to infuse the New World with all the magic and wonder of the Old Worlds legends was the discoverer himself. Columbus painted the inhabitants of Hispaniola to the Spanish sovereigns as if they were blissful creatures from the Golden Age, unsullied before the fall; free of violence or greed, the natives showed as much love as if they were giving their hearts. And from the seed of Columbuss fancy would grow that most enduring American myth, one that combined the bliss of Ovids Golden Age with the innocence of the Bibles paradise lost: the notion of the Noble Savage, a much stronger and lasting presence in the history, literature, and folklore of Latin America than in the United States. In a brilliant examination of Latin American political mythology, the Venezuelan author Carlos Rangel points to the connection between the past notion of the Noble Savage and todays notion of the Noble Revolutionary. The present essay is an exploration of this connection, an attempt to establish whether the Latin America guerrilla of today is somehow the latest incarnation of the Spanish hero. The crusader, warrior, savior, is once again stalking the continent, charged with a sacred mission: to liberate us, to restore us to that free and happy state that Columbus found before the rot set in, to convert us to the true faith, to that very old belief in the New Man. Spanish America, the Nineteenth Century: The Hero As Emancipator: Is it possible, as has been pointed out, that the most significant achievement of that prototypical hero of the nineteenth century, Napoleon, was one that never entered his mind: the emancipation of Spanish America? That Napoleon was both the denial and the consummation of the French Revolution is exemplified by the coins that bore the inscription: REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE, NAPOLEON EMPEREUR. But even more than France itself, the young Spanish American republic would be doomed to the paradox of that inscription, to the cyclic transmutation of revolutionary liberation into absolutism. After the Napoleonic invasion of Spain and the abdication of King Ferdinand VII in 1808, the Spanish American colonies proclaimed their freedom. Their independence, however, was achieved after sixteen years of savage war with the Spanish armies, a campaign led by the Venezuelan Simà ³n Bolivar (1783-1830), thereafter known as the Liberator. At the time, belief in the power of the heroic individual was at its peak. And Bolivar, a dashing, brilliant, irresistible personality, exemplified the Napoleonic ideal (the Argentine Josà © de San Martà ­n, the liberator from the South, was more of a George Washington and did not fit the heroic-romantic mold). Bolivar had not only the conceit of genius but, as noted by Unamuno, the heroic energy, indomitable will, and cult of glory characteristic of Don Quixote. The Latin American war of independence was fought with unwilling, untrained, and poorly equipped recruits, over terrain of a savagery inconceivable to either Julius Caesar or Napoleon. In such circumstances, military science counted less than the heroic will and a gift for leadership, traits that were characteristic of Bolivara brilliant improviser who lived by Dantons famous maxim: Laudace, laudace, toujours de laudace! Audacity in everything. In addition to being a great warrior, Bolivar was also the regions first romantic writer and the first great interpreter of Spanish American history. Unquestionably one of the most gifted revolutionary leaders in history and the first Latin American to attain universal renown, he was also the regions greatest visionary. Not the least of his gifts was the clarity of insight with which he analyzed the Latin America conditions that would prevent the liberation he so brilliantly led from producing either a workable political system, as in the Unit ed States, or extensive social and economic reforms, as in post-Napoleonic Europe. He concluded that to serve the revolution was to plow the sea. Truthfulness, harsh honesty about the problems and faults of Latin America, as well as emphasis on the regions responsibility for its own destiny, have been characteristic of the true Latin America hero. But in a political culture where mendacity, sentimentality, and the rationalization of responsibility are endemic (especially among the elites and the intelligentsia), Bolivars harsh truths have never been popular. The great irony of Spanish American emancipation was that el puebloall who are not among the elite (e.g., Indians, blacks, mestizos, mulattoes, poor whites)were consigned to either harsher bondage or greater servitude after liberation than they had been in colonial times when the humanitarian laws of the Spanish Crown did, to an extent, shelter the weak from total exploitation by the powerful. Partly as a result of such abuses and injustices, there arose in the nineteenth century a veritable tide of populist leaders, the rural caudillos who would wreak almost as much havoc and destruction across the young republics as had the savage wars of independence. With clairvoyant desperation, Bolivar anticipated the vengeful rise and bloody wake of these Latin American Cossacks. Another true and truthful hero, the Cuban Josà © Martà ­ (1853-1895), a great admirer of Bolivar, also expressed doubts about the relevance of North American or other democratic systems of government for Latin America. Alluding to the continents violent heritage, the tradition of meeting force with force, he warned, to paraphrase him, that you dont stop the charge of a caudillos stallion with a Hamiltonian decree. The magnitude of Bolivars achievement, the continental scope of his mission, as well as his unrealized dream of an independent and unified Latin America would haunt future generations and inspire in Martà ­ and others a peculiarly Spanish American mystique of continental liberation. The millenarian and totalitarian tendencies of this cult would become more evident in the twentieth century when more than one liberation movement resulted in the oppression and repression of the people it liberated. The great Russian writer Alexander Herzen (1812-1870), who had known or befriended many European revolutionaries of the nineteenth century, including Marx, Bakunin, Garibaldi, and Mazzini, was as prescient as Bolivar about the dark forces unleashed by liberation. He foresaw them engulfing his own country with dire consequences for the Russian people. His statement about Catholic Europe also applies to Latin America: The Latin World does not like freedom, it likes to sue for it; it sometimes finds the force for liberation, never for freedom. He concluded that if only people wanted, instead of liberating humanity to liberate themselves, they would do a great deal for human freedom. Cuba, the Twentieth Century: The Hero As Revolutionary: It is no accident that the Cuban Revolution of 1959 took place in one of those Caribbean islands mythified by Columbus: The earliest utopias of the imagination and the starting places for many key nineteenth century revolutionaries were often islands. The old utopia was thus reborn in the romantic dream of a socialist island inhabited by noble revolutionaries, led by a new Prospero who, like the discoverer himself, could transmute American reality into the stuff European dreams are made of. At long last, through magic incantation, through the language of fantasy and sorcery, a much beloved figure would be summoned: the Noble Savage as New Socialist Man. Like the medieval Spanish knight who consecrated his words, his life, and his death to the nobility of his cause, one of the islands warriors would set forth into the wicked world to proclaim the good news, to spread the gospel of the incarnation of the revolutionary word: In Latin America a New Man had risen to die for our sins, and the New Man was heErnesto Che Guevara. Almost twenty years ago, I published a memoir about him, reminiscences of the young man I knew in Cordoba, Argentina, in the 1940s-1950s, Ernestito Guevara as we knew him then: a handsome, mesmerizing young man who was wildly eccentric and shockingly opinionated but unusually idealistic and generous. But now, I write not about that boy, but about El Che, the Revolutionary, the Guerrilla, an implacable zealot of total war, whose ultimate end is as much a mystery to me as to anyone else. The attempt to unravel it here, to explore from the distance of years, books, articles, this second, abstract persona against the me mory of the first real and immediate human being that I knew well, is a disconcerting endeavor, somehow like refocusing a multiple exposure in which the first impression will always overshadow the others. He was different from other childrenwiser, tougher, more independentprobably because of having been from infancy on the verge of death because of asthma attacks. From the beginning, we wondered at his amazing nonconformity, his passion for the out-of-the-ordinarywhat in hindsight now appear to have been the first stirrings of that very Spanish yearning for the heroic. Unamuno described this yearning as the need to live a life of restless longing, an existence driven, in Huizingas words, by the vision of a sublime lifeor perhaps a sublime death? In a journal he kept as a young man, he carefully transcribed the words of an unidentified victim of the French Revolution: I go to the scaffold with my head high. I am not a victim, I am the blood that fertilizes the soil of France. I die because I must, so that the people can live on. And so are revolutionary myths spun and revolutionary heroes born. In our case, the mythmaking begins with the history of the Cuban Revolution, which would not be portrayed not as the outcome of an extraordinarily favorable constellation of forces and circumstances (e.g., approval rather than intervention on the part of the United States; enthusiastic reports in the American press; massive support on the part of the Cuban middle class; active encouragement and even some assistance from democratic governments in Latin America; and last but by no means least, a powerful and deadly urban terrorist network of middle-class students). The peasants, as Leo Sauvage has observed, played a more important role in Ches imagination than they did in the Cuban Revolution. But the myth of a rural-based revolution would grow and persist, all credit being accorded Cubas peasants as well as that indispensable factor: a miraculously small band of men the armed vanguard, the twelve apostles that would le ad the poor peasants to victory. The number twelve is no coincidenceeven if the original survivors of Batistas first attack were in fact fifteen. The incorporation of biblical or eschatological imagery into political ideology is characteristic of what one historian has called the revolutionary faith. In the nineteenth century, revolutionary ideologies became secularized versions of the old Judeo-Christian belief in deliverance-through-history. At a deep and often subconscious level, the revolutionary faith was shaped by the Christian faith it attempted to replace. In the Paris of the French Revolution there was, as in Galilee, a revolutionary apostolate of twelve, presided over by an ascetic visionary aptly called Saint-Just. The apostles would return with the Russian Revolution in Alexander Bloks 1918 poem The Twelve, the final image being that of Christ-as-revolutionary leading armed apostles into windswept St. Petersburg. As in Paris and St. Petersburg, the apostles third apparition in Havana in 1959 would be as ominous, as fraught with danger for the flock as for the apostles themselves. The Cuban gospel was so electrifying that Ches words would reach as far as his original arch enemy: the Catholic Church. Latin American priests would adopt th

Poverty and Humanity in I Had Seen Castles :: I Had Seen Castles

Walk through a door, and enter a new world. For John, raised in home resplendent with comfort and fine things, Ginny’s family’s apartment above the fruit market is a radically different environment than his own. Economic differences literally smack him in the face, as he enters the door and walks into towel hung to dry. â€Å"First lesson: how the poor do laundry† (Rylant 34). In this brief, potent scene, amidst â€Å"shirts, towels, underwear, pillowcases† hanging in a room strung with clotheslines, historical fiction finds crucial expression in the uncomfortable blush of a boy ready for a first date and unprepared for the world in which he finds himself. Rylant juxtaposes Ginny’s poor family, living on a salary that can only be secured within the harsh, unrelenting working conditions of an industrial mill, against John’s family who is oblivious to the fear of poverty or hunger. In this juxtaposition, contemporary issues of economic privilege and workers rights influence the budding war-time romance of John and Ginny, and to us, the audience, peering in at them. By gradually magnifying John’s discomfort in entering Ginny’s â€Å"tattered neighborhood,† Rylant reveals the historical extraordinariness of wealth amidst squalor in the city of Pittsburgh. â€Å"Mills were fed coal and men so Pittsburgh might live,† and Ginny’s father gives his life to the mill so his family might live, albeit in the walls of this tiny rented apartment (Rylant 2). Both historically realistic and entirely fictitious, Rylant’s characters break the â€Å"single perspective† of history texts, fleshi ng out facts with their own stories, and marking our modern time with their experiences (Jacobs and Tunnell 117). I Had Seen Castles primarily chronicles the disillusionment of wartime heroism in the archetypal young solider, John. His illusions of war sustain Ginny’s controversial criticisms, though she infuriates and bewilders him, ultimately demonstrating the chilling effect of patriotic propaganda upon entire American communities throughout WWII. Beyond my diorama depiction of young lovers and a venerable mother meeting beneath clean laundry, the gruesomeness of war lurks and waits. Rylant brings war history to life in detailed, intimate ways, in dismembered, bloody soldiers, in the child with frozen legs that come off in warm bathwater, and in realistic treatment of John’s disenchantment; â€Å"as the war dragged on through 1944, it became more difficult for us to justify to ourselves why we fought† (81). Yet Rylant also offers a picture of the resilience in human beings, through our undeniable bonds to one another, despite nationality, class or war loyalties.

Childrens Story Puss in Boots :: Child Literature Fairy Tales Puss Boots Essays

Children's Story Puss in Boots A close examination of the tale type 545-b (according to Aarne and Thompson) (1) reveals a well known, almost universal tale of man and animal helper. There are many consistencies between western tradition and Central Asian renditions. Several themes are parallel yet cultural influences vary some of the plot details. The political and social structures of the time in which these stories were told shape these details and lays the background for the story. The most significant difference between western versions and those of Central Asia seems to be which animal plays the role of hero, cat or fox. The story of â€Å"Puss In Boots† is a children’s favorite. It is one of Charles Perrault’s most well known fairy tales. The tale originated from oral tradition in the East. It has undergone many changes over a long time period and a wide geographic area. Today many literary adaptations of this famous story fill classrooms, libraries and children’s bookshelves world-wide. â€Å"Versions with a cat as a protagonist are predominantly found in Western Europe...† (2) However, the historical renditions of the tale as well as many modern adaptations have a fox as the protagonist. It was the arrival of the tale to Southwestern Europe that saw the character change to a feline. According to Marianthi Kaplanoglou, in Central Asian tales, specifically Mongolian, Tibetan, and Alti-Turkish, the animal-helper is a fox. The fox is known in myths and tales from China, Korea, and Japan as a mythical creature. They are often associated with Mangus, a typical demon of Central Asian tales. He or his relatives are able to transform into foxes at any given time. According to tradition, a poor hunter spares the life of a fox, who repays the favor by helping the man. The animal , either fox or cat, introduces the young man as a person of wealth who was robbed by highway men. He captures animals and presents them to the ruler. The fox then arranges for the wedding of the man to the rulers’ daughter. The tale continues with the fox killing the owner of a large fortune. This owner is usually Mangus . In this tale, the fox proves beneficial to the man and therefore becomes an adversary of Mangus. The killing of this supernatural being then becomes a just act rather tha n one of maliciousness. The young man has acquired fortune, married the daughter of a person of great wealth and power.