Perception of The Vietnam War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Perception of The Vietnam War - Essay Example However, America’s involvement in Vietnam began long before the decision to send troops into the region. Near the beginning of 1950, the Ho Chi Minh regime in Vietnam had been recognized as the governing body by Communist China, and the Soviet Union3. Thus, the Truman administration was faced with the decision of whether to allow communism to extend throughout Vietnam, or to attempt to fight it. Three key sources will be examined as part of this discussion, which take different perspectives and approaches to discussion on the war. These are, Vietnam Wars 1945-1990, A Rumor of War and the movie Platoon. This article focuses on the perceptions of the Vietnam War as portrayed in these three sources and argues that to understand the way that the Vietnam War occurred, and its true cost, it is important to examine many different perspectives. The first aspect of this argument is to understand the way that Vietnam veterans were treated, and the attitudes of the country to war. Becaus e of the high controversy that surrounded the Vietnam War, many veterans felt ostracized and mistreated on their return to America. To help mitigate this, some books and movies, such as the ones being discussed in this article, attempted to portray the Vietnam War in a different light. Platoon attempted this by showing harsh reality of the war from the American perspective, without glamorizing the events through propaganda. The film tells the story of a young, naive soldier, Chris Taylor, who enters the war full of high hopes and the desire to serve his country. The director uses the experiences of Chris to enlighten the audience about the confusion that soldiers felt during the war, and to create a connection between the people that viewed the movie, and the soldiers. The approach of personalizing the soldier that was used in Platoon, was also used in the book A Rumor of War, which is a war memoir written by Philip Caputo about his own experiences in the war. Both of these sources take a highly personal and emotionally charged approach to explain the difficulties that soldiers faced during the war. In addition, this perspective helps viewers to sympathize with the soldiers, and to better understand the role that they played in the war. One of the biggest contentions about Vietnam is the politics, specifically, whether the United States should ever have become involved in the war. This approach is considered differently in the sources. In Platoon, Stone does not address the morality of the presence of Americans in Vietnam. His characters do discuss the desire to go home, it is not because of the morality of the war, but because of how bad it is for them. As Chris comments â€Å"Someone once wrote: â€Å"Hell is the impossibility of reason.† That’s what this place feels like. Hell.† Thus, for the soldiers, the politics of the war matter little; they are all involved in their own personal, and deadly, hell. In A Rumor of War, the author expr essly states â€Å"This book does not pretend to be a history. It has nothing to do with politics, power, strategy, influence, national interests or foreign policy†4. In contrast, The Vietnam Wars 1945-1990 focuses almost exclusively on the political aspect. This is indicated by the fact that the author opens the introduction with the question â€Å"Why are we in Vietnam?†5 This question suggests a very different focus to the book, one that is expanded on throughout the introduction and then the rest of the

Dream job Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dream job - Essay Example I therefore, must admit how privileged I am to have passion for something. This is electrical engineering. I love everything about electrical engineering, and I believe that my future in electrical engineering is promising. I am driven by passion in my studies, and I believe my love for electrical engineering will continue to benefit me in many different ways, now and in future (Anderson 33). I remember my childhood period when I grew up as a curious child, wanting to know everything I had no idea of. I would watch my father repair electronics, including light bulbs, and I would get interested in knowing why the appliances had stopped working, and how they were fixed. I am thankful that my father was patient with the stubborn me, and always took delight in offering me detailed explanations of how he had fixed the appliances. This was instrumental, as almost every day; I would learn a new thing. I grew up with this curiosity and inquisitiveness, and I am glad this helped me get a lot of information about new things and concepts. When I was of considerable age, I learnt that my passion for electrical engineering was real. I remember telling my parents one evening that I would study electrical engineering when I grow up. My father did not object, he patted me on the back and affirmed that that was my thing. From that moment, I became focused on electrical engineering. ... he world, and that each day I will be looking forward to learning something new, increases the urge in me to know more, to comprehend an extra concept, and excel in electrical engineering. Therefore, my hard work, dedication, and passion for this course will ultimately take the world and me to the engineering standards that we aspire in future. All study courses are important in the world today. However, I believe that electrical engineering plays a special role and holds a special place in the global economy today. This is why I admire the prominent dedicated electrical engineers in this country. I have always stopped to think and imagine how the world would be, if electrical engineers never existed, or if they suddenly gave up their roles. Afterwards, I figure out that if all electrical engineers were to vanish from the world one day, many of the things people depend on would become non-existent or would suddenly stop working. This has always given me the pride to be an electrical engineer in the making. Thus, I am a motivated person, knowing that I am on the right track to my profession, and to a fulfilling future. Electrical engineering is responsible for shaping talented individuals to become successful electrical engineers. The electrical engineers hold a special place in society today. For instance, these influence the work of mechanics and electricians, by ensuring everything, including things such as circuits, is in place, before the mechanics and electricians start working gadgets, vehicles, among other electrical appliances. In addition, many homes, offices, malls, hospitals, schools, among others need an electrical engineer to ensure that everything runs as intended. Electrical engineers generally provide important services in society, which ensure that all

Health and Wellness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Health and Wellness - Essay Example â€Å"The total cost of osteoporosis in the United States alone is estimated to be over $14 billion per year† (Christodoulou & Cooper 133), and is expected to increase with the growing proportion of elderly people. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to identify the symptoms of Osteoporosis, examine how the disease develops, review the latest research on the topic, investigate the costs to community, and express one’s beliefs on the subject. Bone mass is the chief determinant of bone strength. Loss of bone occurs silently and progressively, often without symptoms until the first fracture occurs (IOF, 2006). When bones have been weakened by osteoporosis, the symptoms of the disease present as â€Å"back pain which can be severe† (Manila Bulletin, 2009) in the case of a fractured or collapsed vertebra, gradual loss of height with increasingly stooped posture, and fractures of the vertebrae, wrists, hips, or other bones. In the case of women, bone loss in the spine begins shortly before menopause, and as early as the mid-30s in the femoral neck (Christodoulou & Cooper 133). The years following menopause bring about radical depletion in bone mineral density as a result of decreased estrogen levels (Lineback 43). In both men and women, bone density and strength depend greatly on the extent of mineral content, such as calcium and phosphorus (Manila Bulletin, 2009). The size and density of bone are mainly dependent on genetic factors, but lifestyle factors also play a significant part. Recommendations from latest research for building and maintaining bone matrix and reducing the risk of osteoporosis are as follows: 1. Nutritious Diet: A balanced nutritious diet which includes not only sufficient calcium and vitamin D, but also adequate protein as well as vitamins and minerals (Feinstein, 1996). A healthy body weight is essential, since being underweight with a body mass index less than 18.5 kg/ m2 is a strong risk factor for osteoporosis

Human Cancers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Human Cancers - Essay Example The paper describes different types of cancer by human beings. There is one experience which consists of reading about a disease, and another to see the cadavers on display with the vivid details of their disease made transparent to the world as in â€Å"BODIES†¦The Exhibition.† Even the most detailed photos in medical textbooks fail to carry the full impact of disease that the cadavers at â€Å"BODIES†¦The Exhibition† communicate to the crowd. As the majority of the viewers of this display appear to be students and not medical professionals, the information presented and graphic detail of disease offers a preventative message for lifestyle choices that can assist in the national development of anti-cancer initiatives. For this reason, The American Cancer Society, Breast Cancer and Lung Cancer awareness groups have all joined together with â€Å"BODIES†¦The Exhibition† to use the facilities of the displays in alignment with their anti-cancer messag es. Whereas lung cancer, liver cancer, and colon cancer are related in some ways to lifestyle choices, there is not always even in these instances a direct relationship between personal mistakes or individual faults and the onset of disease. Rather, deep genetic issues, environmental exposures, immunity, cell regeneration, and old age all combine in ways that continue to elude scientific research to find a cure in the causation of cancer. One effect of the â€Å"BODIES†¦The Exhibition† display should be to encourage participants or viewers to increase their resolve to find a cure for cancer.

Leading the Way - A Marketing Plan for Sustainable Competitive Essay

Leading the Way - A Marketing Plan for Sustainable Competitive Advantage - Essay Example Apple may have to invest a great deal of financial and human capital effort into performing market research to gain new market interest, something the firm is not experienced with as, historically, Apple has chosen to focus on developing existing markets through product development strategies. Marketing Strategy and Analysis for Apple, Inc. 1.0 Introduction Apple, Inc. has long been considered a pioneering company; an innovative organisation that develops unique products with features and benefits unavailable by competition that gives the business a positive market position. Marketing has been one of the fundamental success factors for Apple, especially in relation to launch of the iPod, iPhone and iPad, methods of differentiating the business from other competition. Marketing is defined as being all-inclusive of all activities related to commercial exchanges that involve advertising, branding, distribution, establishment of pricing structures, and responding to consumer behaviour pa tterns (McCall 2003). Apple successfully utilises marketing in order to build relationships with consumers that lead to brand loyalty, attachments that have consumers favouring Apple branded products over other competitive products offered by such competitors as Samsung and Blackberry. Apple focuses on building a brand, a holistic representation of the business that is reflective of quality and internal corporate values. Branding is a strategy that creates the ability to build connectivity between internal market-centric assets and important target markets that allow a business to nurture its resources effectively (Abimbola 2001). Apple maintains a brand strategy that reflects emotional appeals, building a brand personality that emphasises such consumer-centric concepts as â€Å"inspiring passion and hope, power-to-the-people through facilitating technology, imagination and liberty regained† (Robinson 2012, p.2). This is how loyal markets view Apple as a leader in the technol ogy industry. 2.0 Responses to competitor activities Apple uses marketing as a tool to create perceptions in desired target markets that Apple products and services as superior to competitor brands. Apple is adept in creating pioneering products that have relatively long product life cycles as competitors are not able to quickly replicate the features and benefits of Apple branded products. Apple, in the early 2000s, was able to gain favourable market attention and brand preference with diverse markets by being the first-to-market. According to marketing theory, the publicity associated with pre-launch activities set up the foundation for brand loyalty. When a first-mover achieves positive gains with an innovative product, they actually define the product category and are seen as a model by which consumers evaluate late movers (Agarwal and Gort 2001; Liberman and Montgomery 1988). Apple is not generally taken to creating marketing strategies as a response to competitive efforts, but to build proactive methodologies of promotion that enhance its public brand reputation through media coverage. The former CEO, Steve Jobs, used to serve as a relevant and trusted celebrity endorser that engaged many diverse consumer

Consultancy advice for the supplynetwork and process Essay

Consultancy advice for the supplynetwork and process - Essay Example It therefore recommends the direct delivery of customized orders to clients from Bang & Olufsen's headquarters through a fast and trusted airlifting courier service. Also, it recommends the use of strong and reliable forecasting techniques to ensure that the demand for small and mass produced items are monitored in the various retail outlets around the world and shipments made at the right time to prevent shortages. The consultant also recommends the formation of a Design/Innovation Management unit in Bang & Olufsen to help in the integration of IdeaLab as a emergent as well as a primary/pure innovation unit. This way, IdeaLab can live above the conflicts and become a major player in Bang & Olufsen without going through too much conflicts. Supply Network Design There is the need for the design of a new supply network design. This new design and this new network must focus on customizing and supplying directly to the small niche of customers who account for over 70%. It should also fo cus on improving the shop design system for the large segment of customers who buy single items or in smaller quantities. Large/Customized Buyers The new supply network design must seek to always keep in touch with these customers and get an idea of what they want and prepare their positions to order the right type and volume of stocks to produce from these customers at a short notice. This can be done by using the customer relations management system to communicate regularly with the customers and find out their concerns. Once this kind of information can be ascertained, various units of the customization system can be mobilized to take the right steps even before orders are taken. Based on this forecast system, components can be ordered and delivered in anticipation of demand. In cases where the forecast show longer periods between orders, the plant in Koprivnice and on site should be programmed to be able to put the vital components together in the shortest period of five days so that they can be obtained just when they are needed. The Assembling department should maintain its production period of 1 day to ensure that all order details and quality functions are met so that the reputation of Bang & Olufsen remains intact. However, it is recommended that the use of retail outlets be eliminated from the process. It is ideal that the headquarters in Denmark maintains a direct link with these larger consumers and ship directly to them without using retail outlets. This will reduce the lead time between the consumers and the retail outlets for larger clients. It is also recommended that Bang & Olufsen uses a fast and reliable courier company that has a global reach for shipment of customized goods. An ideal courier company is one that uses airlines to move goods from one point to the other over all the continents. If this arrangement is in place, orders can be taken and assembled in one day and shipped upon arrival at the customer center. This will eliminate the one day waiting period at the customer center and the three days of transit to the retail outlets. This will save the customers a four-day period of waiting! In summary, the following supply network systems must be adopted for large buyers and customized orders: 1. Large orders should be directly sent to the global headquarters as soon as it is made anywhere in the world. 2. The assembling plant must always ensure that components for goods in demand are always in stock and there is a production cycle for that. 3. Shipping should be made directly from the headquarters to customized clients through the use of a global courier with a good reputation of delivery quickly. Smaller/Mass Produced Orders Although Bang & Olufsen head office will try to eliminate

Court cases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Court cases - Essay Example Frye v United States ruled on in 1933. In this case, Frye was convicted of 2nd degree murder. Attorneys for the defendant proposed an expert witness to testify as to results he discovered using a ‘deception test’, which is similar to modern day lie detector tests. The expert witness elaborated on how blood pressure is monitored by this device. The expert felt that scientific experiments showed that negative emotions, such as fear or anger, produces a rise in blood pressure. The expert then deduced that the same would occur for someone who is lying, since there would be a fear of detection of the lie. It was further reasoned that speaking truth would be natural, and so no emotion such as guilt or fear would enter the picture, and hence no rise in blood pressure. (FRYE V UNITED STATES) The Supreme Court ruled that there is a difference between (1) expert testimony gained through training and lengthy work experience in the field versus (2) expert testimony that is based on experimental research that has not yet gained solid scientific backing in the science community at large. As a result, the proposed testimony of the expert was not upheld as admissible evidence (FRYE V UNITED STATES). The ‘Frye Standard’ thus became a well known basis for future court cases to allow scientific techniques as admissible evidence only if it is already ‘generally accepted’ in the relevant scientific community. The second case is Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (DAUBERT V MERRELL DOW PHARMACEUTICALS, INC) Daubert was a 1993 product liability case where the Supreme Court had to determine what type of scientific evidence is admissible in court. Daubert sued Merrell Dow due to birth defects that occurred in two of their children. The mother was taking the drug Bendectin, which was manufactured by Merrill Dow. Science did not provide a direct link between the drug and any birth defects. Statistical data was proposed as an alternate solution, but