comparative proteomics Essay - 944 Words

Comparative Proteomics: Protein Profiler Lab by Jonathan Thulson Biology 113 October 6, 2013 Lab Partner: Vernon Morris INTRODUCTION Proteomics is the study of proteins. Their functions, interactions with other proteins, cellular locations and levels at which they are expressed. The purpose of this lab was to compare the proteins present in different species of fish to be able to determine which species of fish have the closest relation. This can be determined based on which two fish species have the most proteins in common with one another. The Central Dogma of biology is a process in which a gene made of DNA is transcribed by a messenger RNA and then translated into a protein. Based on the Central Dogma of†¦show more content†¦The proteins are also added to a Laemmli sample buffer in order to give each protein a negative charge so it is able to get pulled through the polyacrylamide gel. The next step is to put the gel into the electrophoresis module and to run it. It is run until the proteins have almost reached the bottom of the gel. A blue tracking dye is added to the Laemmli sa mple buffer in order to track the distance in which the proteins travel through the gel. If it is run for too long, the proteins will run off the bottom of the gel and it will mess up your results. Once the protein reach the bottom of the gel, the gel is stained in order to be able to see the individual bands of the different proteins. When the gel is stained, the protein distances will be able to be measured and compared. For a detailed procedure, refer to the Comparative Proteomics Kit I: Protein Profiler Module Lab Manual. RESULTS I did not get conclusive data from the gel I made. As you can see in figure 1, the bands that showed up on the gel were too cluttered to be able to measure them. So I could not compare protein bands between the fish species based on our gel. Instead, I used a default gel picture that another group did in the class to get my data. From their gel I was able to compare the different species. Table 1 shows the number of bands that were similar between the different fish species when they were compared. I was able to determine that fish species C (Tuna)Show MoreRelatedDirect Analytical Sample Quality Assessment (DASQ) for Biomarker Investigation591 Words   |  2 PagesThere are several important factors to increase the chances that a proteomic study based on CSF biomarkers becomes successful. For proteomics analysis, the standardisation of CSF collection protocols is a mandatory step to search and identify new biomarkers indicators of a disease status. This point represents a mil estone especially when samples are collected and stored in different centres. 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In spite of these scientific advancements, however, very little information isRead MoreChlamydomonas Lab Report1426 Words   |  6 Pagesrecognized that cilia play critical roles in animal physiology and development. They need to identify the gene products necessary for ciliary assembly and function by running a proteomic analysis of human cilia. However, the proteomic analysis of human cilia is limited in its ability to detect low-abundance proteins. Comparative genomics was used to identify genes found only in the genomes of organisms with cilia and flagella and was successful. This study was then implemented to find the low-abundanceRead MoreEvaluation And Evaluation Of Protein2753 Words   |  12 Pages Overall proteomics has the large scale determination of quality and cell work particularly at the protein level. Mass spectrometry (MS) has progressively turned into the technique for decision for examination of complex protein tests. 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Cricket World Cup Free Essays

string(46) " the first World Cup held outside of England\." Abstract Cricket World Cup is the biggest international event of cricket. The first Cricket World Cup was played during 1975 in England (www. wikipedia. We will write a custom essay sample on Cricket World Cup or any similar topic only for you Order Now org). The first three matches were also recognized as Prudential Cup with the sponsorship of prudential plc, it is a pecuniary services company. Till the1992 Cricket World Cup, only 8 teams used to participate in the tournament. Later on, the number of teams increased and in Cricket World Cup2007, 16 teams had participated. But in 2011 Cricket World Cup 14 teams are participating. Introduction Cricket is a sport that has been played around the world for more than eight centuries. It is one of the most well-loved and feverishly watched sports in the  world. It involves two teams with 11 players on each side. The captain who wins the toss decides whether his team bats or bowls first. If they bat first, their aim is to score a lot of runs and make sure the other team does not reach that score. Cricket is played in many formats, but the most popular are Test cricket And One Day cricket. In Test cricket game goes on for 5 days, with each team batting twice – if time permits. One Day is the most popular format, with each team getting 300 balls to score runs. And the other team tries to outscore them within the same number of balls. One-day cricket originally began between English County teams in the 1960’s. The first one-day international was played in Melbourne, Australia, in 1971, with the quadrennial  Cricket World Cup  began in 1975. The Cricket World Cup is organized by the sport’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament is the world’s fourth-largest and fourth-most-viewed sporting event. History The first attempt at any kind of world championship was in 1912, when a three-way series was arranged between the then current Test playing nations, Australia, England and South Africa. No similar events were held again until 1975. The first ICC World Cup (officially called the Prudential Cup) was in1975, hosted by England (see full list of host countries). This tournament included the six Test-playing nations (England, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, India and Pakistan), who were joined by Sri Lanka and East Africa. Following the success of this tournament, it was repeated in 1979 and 1983 in England. After this, the tournament moved to be played in other countries, maintaining a four-year cycle. 60 overs were used for the first three world cups. This was reduced to 50 in 1987 and has been that way since. Women also participate in another Cricket World cup since 1975. Cricket World Cup Hosting Nations England, 1975 This was the first ever Cricket World Cup, officially called the Prudential Cup, and was held from June 7 to June 21, 1975 in England. The tournament was held in England as it was considered the only nation at the time that had the resources to stage an event of such magnitude. The matches played consisted of 60 overs per team. Unlike today, all players wore a traditional white uniform and red balls were used. There were also no night games. There were 8 participating countries: o Australia o England o India o New Zealand o Pakistan o West Indies o Sri lanka o East Africa (composed of players from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) The preliminary matches were played in 2 groups of 4 teams. The top two teams from each group played the semifinals, and the winners of these played the final. The final was played at the Lords ground, between West Indies and Australia, with the favorites the West Indies winning by 17 runs. The West Indies scored 291 runs in 60 overs at a loss of 8 wickets. In reply Australia made 274 runs in 58. 4 overs all out. England, 197 England, 1979 †¢ This was the second Cricket World CUP (called the Prudential Cup), held in England between June 9 to June 23, 1979. †¢ The format of games was the same as in the 1975 World Cup (preliminary matches were played in 2 groups of 4 teams, with the top two teams in each group playing the semifinals, and the winners of these playing the final). The final was played at the Lord’s cricket ground in London between the West Indies and England. The West Indies won by 92 runs. They batted first and made 286 runs in 60 overs at a loss of 9 wickets. In reply, England made 194 runs before being all out after 51 overs. New Zealand and Pakistan were the other semifinalists. †¢ There were 8 particip ating countries: o Australia o England o India o New Zealand o Pakistan o West Indies o Sri lanka o Canada †¢ This tournament saw the introduction of the ICC Trophy, a competition used to determine which non-Test playing teams qualified for the World Cup. England, 1983 †¢ This was the third Cricket World Cup (Called the Prudential Cup). The tournament was held in England for the third consecutive time, between 9 and 25 June 1983. †¢ The preliminary matches were played in 2 groups of 4 each as in the previous two tournaments, though this time each country played the other teams in its group twice. The top two teams in each group qualified for the semifinals, and the winners of this played the final †¢ The final was played between India and the West Indies at the Lords ground in England. India scored 183 runs in 54. 4 overs all out. In reply, the West Indies made 140 runs in 52 overs all out, with India winning by 43 runs. †¢ There were 8 participating countries: o Australia o England o India o New Zealand o Pakistan o West Indies o Sri lanka o Zimbabwe (http://www. sportscanon. com/2011/01/25/1983-cricket-world-cup-summary/) India Pakistan, 1987 †¢ This was the fourth World Cup event (called the Reliance Cup) †¢ It was held jointly in India and Pakistan, held from October 9 to November 8, 1987 †¢ It was the first World Cup held outside of England. You read "Cricket World Cup" in category "Papers" †¢ The format was unchanged from previous World Cups, except for a eduction in the number of overs a team played from 60 to 50. †¢ The final was played between Australia and England at the Eden Gardens stadium in Calcutta India. Australia made 253 in their 50 overs with a loss of 5 wickets. In reply, England came up just short, making 246 in their 50 overs for a loss of 8 wickets. Austral ia winning by 7 runs. †¢ Australian David Boon was man of the final match, and the winning captain was Allan Border †¢ There were 8 participating countries: o Australia o England o India o New Zealand o Pakistan o West Indies o Sri lanka o Zimbabwe Australia and New Zealand, 1992 †¢ This was the fifth World Cup event and the first tournament held in the Southern hemisphere. It was also the first tournament to feature an African Test nation, South Africa. †¢ This was the first time day/night matches were used and the first tournament to use white cricket balls and colored team uniforms. †¢ The leading run scorer of the tournament was Martin Crowe of New Zealand with 456 runs. †¢ The leading wicket taker of the tournament was Wasim Akram of Pakistan with 16 wickets †¢ The format for this tournament changed from previous years. All teams were in one group and played each other once, rather than in two groups. The top four qualified for the knockout stage which was contested in similar fashion to the previous events. †¢ The final was played between Pakistan and England in Melbourne, Australia. Pakistan made 249 runs in 50 overs for 6 Wickets, compared to England’s total of 227 runs in 49. 2 all out. Pakistan won by 22 Runs. India, Pakistan Sri Lanka, 1996 †¢ At the World Cup in 1996, Australia and West Indies refused to play their matches against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka due to security concerns, causing both matches to be awarded to Sri Lanka by default. Also, Sri Lanka was awarded a victory for their semi-final by default against India because of crowd riots. This aided their campaign which eventually led to them winning the final. †¢ The final was played between Sri Lanka and Australia in Lahore, Pakistan. Australia made 241 runs in 50 overs for a loss of 7 wickets. In reply, Sri Lanka made 245 runs in 46. 2 overs losing only 3 wickets on the way. The final result: Sri Lanka by 7 wickets. Eden Garden Stadium (Kolkata) (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1996_Cricket_World_Cup) England, 1999 †¢ The 1999 event returned to England after sixteen years. Some matches also held in Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands. †¢ This tournament has a similar group stage format as 1996, though there was a dramatic change in the second stage, where a â€Å"Super Six† round replaced the quarter-finals. †¢ One of the greatest matches in the ICC World Cup history was the Australia and South Africa tied game in their semi-final. †¢ The final was played between Australia and Pakistan at Lords, London. Australia made 133 runs in 20. 1 overs for 2 wickets; in reply Pakistan made 132 All out in 39 Overs. Australia won by 8 Wickets. (http://breakingnewsonline. et/cricket/6923-1999-cricket-world-cup-at-glance. html) South Africa, Zimbabwe Kenya, 2003 †¢ The 2003 World Cup was held between 9 February and 24 March 2003, in Southern Africa (co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya). †¢ The number of teams participating in the event increased from twelve to fourteen. †¢ Because of security concerns, Zimbabwe and Kenya won their matches against England and New Zealand by default. †¢ The Final was played between Australia and India on 23 March in Johannesburg, South Africa. †¢ Australia batted first and made 359 runs in 50 overs losing only 2 wickets. In reply India made 234 after being all out in 39. 2 overs. Australia was crowned champions after beating India by 125 runs. Wanderers Stadium (South Africa) (http://breakingnewsonline. net/cricket/6966-2003-cricket-world-cup-at-glance. html) West Indies, 2007 †¢ The 2007 ICC World Cup of Cricket was held in April 2007. It was the 9th World Cup tournament, and the first time it had been held in the West Indies. †¢ The tournament consisted of 16 teams, including all 10 Test playing nations and 6 qualifiers. The 10 Test match playing countries plus Kenya qualified automatically. The other five teams qualified via the 2005 ICC Trophy. The field of sixteen teams is the largest ever for the Cricket World Cup. †¢ The 16 teams were allocated into four groups of four. Within each group, the teams played each other in a round-robin format and the top two teams advanced to a ‘Super 8’ round. These eight teams then played in a round-robin format, except that they did not play the other team that advanced from their respective group. The top four teams from the Super 8 round advanced to the semi-finals, and the winners of the semi-finals then ompeted in the final, held at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, on 28 April. †¢ The first hat-trick plus one (4 wickets in 4 balls) in World Cup history was by Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga against South Africa (Super Eights: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Providence, March 28, 2007) Bangladesh, India Sri Lank a, 2011 †¢ The 2011 Cricket World Cup was held in Bangladesh, India Sri Lanka. It was World Cup tourn ament, and the first time it had been held in the Bangladesh. †¢ Pakistan was originally going to co-host this event but due to security concerns in the years leading up to the event Pakistan’s hosting rights were revoked. The format of the tournament has been revised from previous events, and 14 teams will participate instead of 16. †¢ The new format ensures that each team gets to play a minimum of six matches even if they are ruled out of the tournament due to early defeats. [pic] Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium. Mirpur, Dhaka (Outside Part) (http://dhakadailyphoto. blogspot. com/2011/02/dhaka-set-for-world-cup-cricket-2011. html) Cricket World Cup Firsts 1. The first world cup was held in 1975 in England. 2. The first world cup held outside England was in 1987 in India and Pakistan 3. The first time day/night matches was used was in 1992. . The first tournament to use white cricket balls and colored team uniforms was 1992. 5. The first tournament to feature an Afri can Test nation, South Africa, was in 1992. 6. The first team to remain undefeated throughout the whole tournament was Australia in 2003. They repeated this feat in the 2007 tournament. 7. The first hat-trick at the World Cup was by Indian Chetan Sharma in a game against New Zealand in 1987 www. images. google. com Chetan Sharma Trophy †¢ The current Trophy awarded to the winners of the ICC Cricket World Cup was created for the 1999 championships. It is the first permanent prize in the tournament’s history. †¢ The trophy was developed by a team of craftsmen from Garrard, the Crown Jewelers. It was designed and produced in London within two months. Cricket World Cup Trophy †¢ The trophy is 60 cm high, made from silver and gild and features a golden globe held up by three silver columns. The columns, shaped as stumps and bails, represent the three fundamental aspects of cricket: batting, bowling and fielding, while the globe represents the world and a cricket ball. The trophy is designed so that it can be instantly recognized from any angle. The trophy weighs approximately 11 kilograms and has the names of the previous winners inscribed on its base. There is still room for a further ten teams to have their name inscribed on the base. †¢ The actual trophy is always kept by the International Cricket Council. A replica is presented to the winning team, which is identical in all aspects apart from the inscripti on of the previous champions. (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Cricket_World_Cup_Trophy) Cricket World Cup awards Since 1992, one player has been declared as â€Å"Man of the Tournament† at the end of the World Cup finals: Year |Player |Performance details | |1992 |Martin Crowe |456 runs | |1996 |Sanath Jayasuria |221 runs and 7 wickets | |1999 |Lance Kluserner |281 runs and 17 wickets | |2003 |Sachin Tendulker |673 runs and 2 wickets | |2007 |Glen McGrath |26 wickets | |2011 |Yuvraj Singh |362 runs and 15 wickets | (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Cricket_World_Cup_awards) Conclusion Cricket World Cup is the most premier international championship of men’s One Day International Cricket. It has huge fan following in the world, especially in South Asia. In South Asia cricket is like religion . When ever world cup comes to the people of this region gone mad. Successive World Cup tournaments have generated increasing media attention as One-Day International cricket has become more established. References http://www. wikipedia. org http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1975_Cricket_World_Cup http://cricketfreaks. contentcreatorz. com/cricket-world-cup-1979-cricket-histor y/ http://www. sportscanon. com/2011/01/25/1983-cricket-world-cup-summary/ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1987_Cricket_World_Cup http://en. wikipedia. rg/wiki/1992_Cricket_World_Cup http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1996_Cricket_World_Cup http://breakingnewsonline. net/cricket/6923-1999-cricket-world-cup-at-glance. html http://breakingnewsonline. net/cricket/6966-2003-cricket-world-cup-at-glance. html ht tp://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/2007_Cricket_World_Cup http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Cricket_World_Cup_Trophy http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Cricket_World_Cup_awards ———————– Lords Cricket Ground [pic] [pic] (http://cricketfreaks. contentcreatorz. com/cricket-world-cup-1979-cricket-history/) (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1975_Cricket_World_Cup) (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1987_Cricket_World_Cup) How to cite Cricket World Cup, Papers

Decision Making Personal Integrity and Social Responsibility

Question: Discuss about the Decision Making for Personal Integrity and Social Responsibility. Answer: Introduction Case and King (2014) stated that spam email is a subset of the electronic spam where a single message is sent by email. The email includes malware as executable file attachments. The spam email is grown since the early 1990s. The spammers collect the email addresses from the websites, newsgroups as well as viruses that get the email addresses of the users and then sold it to other spammers. Chell et al., (2016) argued that email continues to be far most important service for the users of the internet. The report is based on privacy issue that is one of the main causes of receiving spam emails from the spammers. The report also reflects of the ethical analysis of the identified issue using four of the ethical theories and one of the theories of ACS code of ethics. It helps to identify if spam mail is right or wrong. Background of issue of spam email Reidenbach and Robin (2013) opined that spam is a result of lack of ethics as well as integrity in regards to promotional activities on the internet. The ethical dilemma faced by the organization is an invasion of privacy. In this report, spam is taken as a privacy issue. The customers of any organization should consider as unethical if it harms the professional credibility of them. It is a non-permissive approach if the spammers disclose the profile information or any sensitive information of the customers to others that could exploit the individuals life (Weiss, 2014). The advent of the email within the business world creates a new ground to moral dilemmas involving the information access as well as privacy. Ethical Analysis of spam email Utilitarianism Warren and Lucas (2016) stated that utilitarianism is a theory of ethics states that the right action is the one, which produces the greatest amount of happiness as well as pleasure for a large number of population. The rule of utilitarianism adopts moral rules, and if everyone follows it, then it leads to a greatest rise in total happiness. If the organization follows the rule of utilitarianism, then it diminishes the usefulness of the email system. A spammer chooses to send advertisements to many email addresses so that it would prefer to buy their products. When one advertisement is sent to other email addresses, then there is a chance of clogged with spam (Hartman, DesJardins MacDonald, 2014). Spammers do not respect others time as well as money; they are only focused on their profit. The recipients are not interested in their messages, and there is wastage of time deleting unwanted emails. As per the act of utilitarianism, the people those are involved in spamming are the spammers. The recipients those are receiving those spam either happy if they want the product and irritated if they unwanted messages that clog their email (DesJardins McCall, 2014). Some people are happy with this act of thinking that it would give help in saving money with cheap products. However, on another hand, some people are not happy with the spam email, and it is not making happy to everyone. Therefore, spamming is identified as wrong. According to the rule of utilitarianism, spam benefits the spammers if they buy their product and the product prove to be beneficial for them (Hursthouse, 2013). The disadvantage is for those people who are not interested in the message. It causes announce due to wastage of both time as well as money, and the email is being clogged by unwanted messages. Deontology Ethics Schrittwieser, Mulazzani and Weippl (2013) stated that the deontology theory is that the individuals are morally obligated in order to act by some principles as well as rules regardless of the outcomes. According to this theory, the principles derive from divine commandment such that it is under the religious laws, that the individuals are morally obligated not to tell a lie, steal as well as a cheat. The messages those are sent to the individuals should not hurt other feelings as well as emotions. Broad (2014) argued that this theory teaches that if the spammers treat others as an end, and they only think of their profit, then the spammers treat the recipients as a means to an end and therefore the spamming is identified as wrong. Melewar, Gambetti and Martin (2014) opined that this theory is mainly duty based. Morality must be grounded in this concept of duty. Morality does not do with the promotion of happiness as well as achievement of desirable consequences. Unless, the spammers treat fairly since the same rules would be applied to all the persons. The spammers should also treat the recipients in same equality level such as they should only think of their profit but also think that due to receiving of spam messages, the recipients are not irritated. When the spammer should send messages to the individuals, then it should ensure that they are happy with it (Meijdam, 2015). Spammers should also respect the time as well as money of the recipients and give them proper profit. Social Contract Theory Warren and Lucas (2016) stated that the social contract theory gives a right to free speech for everyone. Therefore, anyone can send an email to anyone. There is no such requirement that people should listen to them about what they say. However, when this right of free speech is given to people, it has being observed that on rights of others as well. If some of the people are unhappy with the spam message, then it should able to send an angry reply to the message to the spammers. The problem is that the spammers forge headers such that they do not get angry replies from the recipients (Shafer-Landau, 2012). It violates the equality, and therefore the spam mail as well as this spamming is identified as wrong. Therefore, the factor that creates a problem is equality of human power. If all people are happy with the spam messages, and they think that, it will give benefit to them, then there is a high level of equality among the human beings. Then, it will prove that spamming is not wrong. However, the main fact is that 99,990,000 are people are unhappy with the spam mail (Weber, 2014). Then, they should send an angry reply to the spammers, and it would result in a high cost to the spammers. Melewar, Gambetti and Martin (2014) argued that the social contract theory is defined as an individuals at the society consenting to set of moral rules which govern how the people are to be treated one another for mutual benefit. The antis-spam organization is refusing to accept the mail did something wrong. Even though, the spam emails dropped down to approximately 25 percent (Leicester, 2016). It is not right to put in there; it is called blacklist. Only the anti-spam organizations are benefited due to this. Character based Theory Reidenbach and Robin (2013) stated that the character based theory is a term which refers to normative ethical theories that would emphasize the virtues of the mind as well as character. It is also known as virtue ethics. If the organization should follow as well as understand the virtue ethics, then it helps frame different approaches in order to communicate in the workplace, which leads to a better outcome for the employees as well as customers. Warren and Lucas (2016) opined that this ethical theory develops strong positive character traits which will tend to do the right thing. This theory focuses on criteria to do with the development of the character of the spammers as well as the acquisition of good character traits from the habits they develop. In order to become a character based ethical person, one is being required to develop their strength as well as excellence (DesJardins McCall, 2014). To become a moral person, one requires getting right virtues. It is required to give proper training of good habits as well as character traits; one should require achieving moral virtues such as courage. In a case of spam email, sometimes the spammers sent spam email to the customers to get any information from them. As taken an example, InterMovies is a site, which streams movies for a monthly fee. It is used to collect information about movie choices from the customers. It also constructs profiles of the customers (Vanberg, 2016). Some of the customers are happy in order to receive mail order from the spammers while others are happy due to increasing in spam mail. Therefore, here again, all the customers are not happy with the spam mail, therefore the process of sending spam mail to the customers as well as individuals are again wrong. ACS code of ethics Warren and Lucas (2016) stated that the professional person should advance the honor as well as the effectiveness of the profession of information processing. They should also keep high standards of competence as well as ethical conduct. In this report, honesty is taken as an element of ACS code of ethics. The spammers should be honest about their skills, services as well as products. Spam email is most of the biggest privacy threat as the spam where the unwanted emails are sent daily without aware the users. In some of the regions, the spammers are difficult to track since it clusters the mailbox as well as contains malicious content (Reidenbach Robin, 2013). When email is sent to the individuals, then the spammers should be honest in the following areas such as: The spammers should not mislead the customers to the suitability of their products as well as services (Case King, 2014). The spammers should not misrepresent their skills as well as knowledge while delivering spam emails to the persons. They must qualify opinions of professional, which are based on limited knowledge as well as experience (DesJardins McCall, 2014). They must give credit for the work that is done by others. The Spammers should know about the law about sending emails such as Spam Act. If the spammers are promoting as well as advertising some product or services through the electronic communication such as through the use of spam mail, then they should ensure that it must not against the Spam Act (Vanberg, 2016). The law should focus on honesty such as tell the recipients about where the email is coming from. There should be a label of "From", "To" as well as "Reply To", so that the recipients should know the sender. Therefore, the spam mail should contain the person's name as well as a name of the business sending the email to the recipients. Conclusion It is concluded that the spam mail is the emails that are unsolicited as well as it is sent to the users. The spammers collect the address of the emails of the users through the websites or sometimes hack it from the website where the users have shared it. They get the email addresses of the users and then sold it to other spammers. The spam emails are accepted as unethical when it harms the professional credibility of the users. When lost of emails are sent to the users, then it would clog their emails, and it results in dissatisfaction of the customers. From the ethical analysis of the spam email, it is identified that all the ethical theories are identified spam mail as wrong. When all the users are happy with the mail, and they are a desire to buy the products and services, then it results into equality of the human. Honesty code of ethics is required to form some trust among the users so that they are ensuring that the spam emails cannot harm their personal information as well a s their reputations. References Broad, C. D. (2014).Five types of ethical theory(Vol. 2). Routledge. Case, C. J., King, D. L. (2014). System Security: A Trend Analysis of Student Electronic Resources Use Policy Perceptions and Risky Behavior.ASBBS E-Journal,10(1), 31. Chell, E., Spence, L. J., Perrini, F., Harris, J. D. (2016). Social entrepreneurship and business ethics: does social equal ethical?.Journal of Business Ethics,133(4), 619-625. DesJardins, J. R., McCall, J. J. (2014).Contemporary issues in business ethics. Cengage Learning. Hartman, L. P., DesJardins, J. R., MacDonald, C. (2014).Business ethics: Decision making for personal integrity and social responsibility. McGraw-Hill. Hursthouse, R. (2013). Normative virtue ethics.ETHICA,645. Leicester, N. (2016). Ethics in the IT Profession: Does a Code of Ethics have an Effect on Professional Behaviour?. Meijdam, K. C. (2015).Phishing as a Service: Designing an ethical way of mimicking targeted phishing attacks to train employees(Doctoral dissertation, TU Delft, Delft University of Technology). Melewar, T. C., Gambetti, R. C., Martin, K. D. (2014). Special Issue on: Managing Intangible Ethical Assets: Enhancing Corporate Identity, Corporate Brand, and Corporate Reputation to Fulfill the Social Contract.Business Ethics Quarterly,24(02), 310-312. Reidenbach, R. E., Robin, D. P. (2013). Toward the development of a multidimensional scale for improving evaluations of business ethics. InCitation Classics from the Journal of Business Ethics(pp. 45-67). Springer Netherlands. Schrittwieser, S., Mulazzani, M., Weippl, E. (2013, May). Ethics in security research which lines should not be crossed?. InSecurity and Privacy Workshops (SPW), 2013 IEEE(pp. 1-4). IEEE. Shafer-Landau, R. (Ed.). (2012).Ethical theory: an anthology(Vol. 13). John Wiley Sons. Vanberg, V. J. (2016).Social contract vs. invisible hand: Agreeing to solve social dilemmas(No. 16/04). Walter Eucken Institut eV. Warren, M., Lucas, R. (2016). Ethics and ICT: Why all the fuss?.Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society,14(2). Weber, T. M. (2014). Examining Social Contract Theory. Weiss, J. W. (2014).Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Taoism Essays (498 words) - Taoism, Philosophy, Chinese Culture

Taoism Taoism The Eastern Philosophy of Taoism is probably one of the earliest forms of philosophy known to man. Lao-tzu book the Tao Te Ching is the guidelines for any true follow of Taoism to live by. Taoism is a philosophy practice by one to get in accordance with nature, and to live simple. The ultimate goal of Taoism to become Sage or a wise man and once you achieve this goal you are said to be one with nature and you are heavenly. Taoism has many different aspect of it but one particular portion I am going to focus on is in chapter three of the Tao Te Ching. The Tao Te Ching says in this portion that one must give up wordily things such as luxuries and lifes little extravagances because they cause great disturbance for another individual, on the basis that they dont have this particular item. (c.3) The Tao Te Ching states that one must be willing to give these items up and not want them at all, for if one individual has an extravagant item or luxury another individual will want that item or another one like it. Thus induces the fact that an individual will be more willing to steal the item from you than work for his/her own because it is easier to steal. Which then causes the owner stress on wondering if someone will try and take his possession and in the end causes great disturbance for both parties. On one point the Taoist can be correct in making this claim. A good example of this would be if no one valued gold, well then no one would want it. Yes and also in a hypothetical world this would cut or even stop theft and other crimes that may occur in relation with theft. However to what extent is this theory true? We cannot assume that everyone can just throw basic desires or even certain wants away; after all we are all human and many of us want many different things out of life. The Taoist theory has many good intentions but is by far unethical. You cannot expect anyone person to throw away what they desire. People in a society and culture desire things for a reason. The first reasoning being because that individual wants that particular item, and secondly it makes them feel good to own it, to have achieved it. Every individual is different in society some of us have the same traits but no one is identically alike, that is one of the things that make our race so unique. To suggest that we give up a portion of our self worth and drive for achievement is ridiculous. A society or culture is founded upon certain rules and ethics. These ethics our taught and handed down by generations and our elders, if stealing or theft is a problem then we need to correct it there, not in our wants and desires. Philosophy Essays

Riordan Manufacturing †Hardware and Software Essays

Riordan Manufacturing – Hardware and Software Essays Riordan Manufacturing – Hardware and Software Essay Riordan Manufacturing – Hardware and Software Essay Riordan Manufacturing – Hardware and Software Introduction One of the top priorities at Riordan and many other businesses is guarding against loss, theft, and waste of the company assets. According to Bagranoff, Simkin Strand protecting these assets means an organization must focus on developing and implementing an internal control system. Further, the internal control system must also be capable of performing other functions like assisting in ensuring data processing is dependable and encouraging operational efficiency within the business (2008, p. 40). This paper will initially identify the hardware and software necessary to integrate the conversion cycle into an automated system at Riordan. Then, the information that needs to be shared between the different cycles and who will need access to this information will be discussed. Next, what controls need to be in place and the types of reports that need to be generated will be examined. Lastly, what in formation should be available through Internet and corporate intranet will be discussed. Hardware and Software Necessary The essential key to the integration of the conversion cycle is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System. ERP is a way to integrate the data and processes of an organization into a single system. Usually ERP systems will have many components including hardware and software, in order to achieve integration, however, most ERP systems use a unified database to store data for various functions found throughout the organization (techfaq, 2008). Todays ERP systems can cover a wide range of functions and integrate these functions into one unified database. For instance, functions such as human resources, supply chain management, customer relations management, financials, manufacturing functions and warehouse management functions were all once stand alone software applications. These functions were usually housed with their own database and network. Today, they can all fit under one umbrella the ERP system (techfaq, 2008). Shared Information The information that needs to be shared between departments at Riordan Manufacturing is purchase orders, invoices, work orders, customer orders and customer billing. Many different departments of Riordan will need access to various levels of the new system. For example, the research and marketing supervisor will need access to the system to confirm what supplies production has on hand and what supplies still need to be obtained. The product department supervisor needs access to the system to keep oversee labor, supplies, budget and deliveries. The workers in production need system access to input supplies used, output produced and quantity of hours spent on producing a product. The billing department needs system access to charge costs to the proper department. The President, CEO, COO, and CFO need system access to view the entire system, from month end reports down to payment reports (Moss and Stine, 1993). Although, normally there is no requirement for upper and middle level management to examine the lower level reports, questions periodically arise from the monthly and annual reports that require investigation. During these occurrences management will use date gathered from various sources like inventory and labor reports. Controls To integrate the accounts receivable process into an automated system for Riordan Manufacturing, management needs to reduce the likelihood of risks happening in the future. To reduce the risk, management should identify possible events that represent a problem to the firm then determine the appropriate internal controls to implement to deter those problems from occurring (Dunn, Cherrington Hollander, 2004). â€Å"Internal control describes the policies, plans, and procedures implemented by a firm to protect its assets† (Bagranoff, Simkin Strand, 2008, p. 40). Three types of controls that need to be operational for the business to reduce risk and function optimally are preventive controls, detective controls, and corrective controls. Preventative controls are the initial level of protection an organization implements to discourage problems from occurring. At this level risked are analyzed and solutions are implemented to prevent problems. When the preventive control has faile d a detective control is implemented. This control is designed to uncover an undesired problem that has transpired (Dunn, et al, 2004). The third control is the corrective control, which is designed to restore a system to an approved or last known good state. A company usually establishes corrective controls to remedy problems that are discovered by the detective controls. One advisable procedure that can be implemented for this control is establishing training programs that educate employees about how to use the new automated system that can help them perform their job functions more efficiently and effectively. It is imperative to understand that for the integration, any control strategy has to be tailored to address the risks to objectives that management identifies as unacceptable. The objective should be detecting risks that are materially threatening the goals of the organization and reducing them to the point that management is more willing to accept. Generated Reports The reports that need to be generated in an automated system are customer orders, purchase requisitions, labor requests, and general reports. Customer orders dictate what items are manufactured and what quantities need to be supplied in a specified time frame (Dunn, et al, 2004). At Riordan, purchase requisitions are important because they exhibit the materials that need to be purchased to manufacture customer orders. Labor requests are used to dictate the number of employees needed for each job order as well as the timeframe the job will occur. General reports are used to inform management and other supervisors of the results of inventory expended and labor used to accomplish a job. Internet and Intranet Riordan will have some reports available on the Internet for stockholders and outside interests to access. These reports will include quarterly and annual reports that will be uploaded after being approved by the CFO. This will allow research into the financial standings of Riordan in order to show the financial stability of the company and the strength of the stock holdings. There will also be a corporate intranet available to all internal interests. Most reports will be available on this system in order to keep satellite locations aware of financial decisions and information. The IT department will give different access to the various levels of the company through the use of password protection. As described in the access section above, not all levels will need to view all reports. Conclusion By making one of the top priorities at Riordan guarding against loss, theft, and waste of the company assets, the company enjoys the success in business. Riordan accomplishes this task by focusing on developing and implementing an internal control system that is capable of performing other functions like assisting in ensuring data processing is dependable and encouraging operational efficiency within the business. This paper initially identified the hardware and software necessary to integrate the conversion cycle into an automated system at Riordan. Then, the information that needs to be shared between the different cycles and who will need access to this information was discussed. Next, what controls need to be in place and the types of reports that need to be generated were examined. Lastly, what information should be available through Internet and corporate intranet was discussed. Reference Bagranoff, N. A. , Simkin, M. G. , Strand, C.. Core Concepts of Accounting Information Systems (10th ed. ) Wiley, 2008 New York, NY Dunn C. L. , Cherrington J. O. , Hollander A. S. (2004). Enterprise Information Systems: A Pattern- Based Approach, 3e. The McGraw-Hill Companies, copyright 2004. Moss, Jimmy D. , and Bert Stine. Cash Conversion Cycle and Firm Size: A Study of Retail Firms. Managerial Finance. December 1993 Techfaq. (2008). What is ERP? Retrieved August 15, 2008, from techFaq Web site: tech-faq. com/erp. shtml

Atomic Bomb 5

Atomic Bomb 5 Essay On the morning of August 6, 1945, the first Atomic Bomb in history was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Soon after, on August 14, 1945, the Japanese abruptly surrendered, abandoning their ancient customs regarding honor in war. The fact that only two bombs were able to bring an entire country to its knees is a true testament to the awesome power they held. There is nothing in modern warfare that can compete with the devastating effects of nuclear weapons. At the beginning of World War II, the Japanese were a major threat to the Asian World. On December 7, 1941, when they decided to attack Pearl Harbor (a US naval base in Hawaii), it was evident that their intentions were not limited to Asia. The United States entered World War II as a result of this attack. The war continued for six long years, and involved most of the major World Powers. During this time, there were many battles between the United States and Japan, i ncluding one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, which took place at Okinawa. If allowed to expand, Japan posed a serious threat to the allies. During the war, one of the most brilliant scientists in history, Albert Einstein, hypothesized that if the true power of the atom were released in a weapon, the results would be devastating. This was soon confirmed by a large portion of the scientific community. Whoever possessed such a weapon would be in complete power. Many government officials felt that such a weapon could put an end to the war. For this reason, in 1942, the United States decided to pursue the atomic bomb. Later that year, Franklin D. Roosevelt began the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was a massive engineering enterprise aimed at the ultimate goal of creating an atomic bomb. At one time it employed over 129,000 workers. The United States was the only nation in the world with the capacity to work on such a high level. Though it cost approximately $2 billion dollars, many officials who knew about the Top Secret project felt it was well worth it- if the Atomic Bomb proved useful. Another major expense of the United States government was the development of the B-29, a bomber plane specifically designed for dropping Atomic Bombs. The estimated cost of this project is $3 billion dollars, bringing the total cost of the new atomic weapon to $5 billion dollars (approx. $50 billion 1998 dollars). If the Atomic Bomb failed, not only would many people lose their jobs, but the outcome of the war might have changed. For this reason, the Manhattan Project employed many of the top scientific minds of the world. Unbeknownst to the Allies, the Germans decided not to pursue an atomic weapon. They felt it was more important to spend the money on troops and machinery, and thought that they would have won the war before they were able to obtain an atomic weapon. They were also unaware of the top-secret Manhattan Project. The Japanese conducted small research on the possibility of building a bomb, but never fully pursued it. If the Germans had decided to build a bomb, and obtained it before the United States, they most certainly would have used it against the Allies. This is why it was so crucial for the U.S. to complete the Manhattan Project as quickly as possible. A German victory would have resulted in a history that is completely different from that which took place. If the Axis Powers had developed the Atomic Bomb, they would have been unstoppable. A nuclear weapon harnesses the power of the atom with a process known as an Uncontrollable Fission Reaction. In this process, a neutron (a subatomic particle found in the nucleus of atoms) is bombarded with the nucleus of a radioactive atom, such as Uranium or Plutonium. This causes the nucleus of the radioactive atom to become unstable, and split into two new atoms. To stabilize the new atoms, more neutrons are released, which move on to bombard with another radioactive nucleus. READ: A critique of a jazz concert Essay The energy released comes from the binding energy (the energy required to keep the nucleus together) .

4 short papers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

4 short papers - Essay Example The Banks are ambitious and very uptight and less open. Both Will and the Banks learn a lot about each other over the course of the shows six seasons. Since the show is a sitcom it is clearly not a realistic representation. The Banks children, especially Carleton and Hilary, are vain and materialistic as well as insecure—these are not unrealistic characteristics but they are not related to the race, they are related to class. The character of Will is somewhat more realistic and represents a racial minority. Will, however, is a very strong personality for someone who has no personal status. So his character is somewhat unrealistic. He is part of hip hop culture but his race and minority status in no way define him. Indeed, what most defines him is his irreverence and charm. Fresh Prince of Bel-air is a bit of a mould-breaker so far as cultural depictions of racial minorities come. Race does not play a large role, instead class does. This is a commentary on the expanding African-American upper class which was increasing significantly in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the time period of the show. In a sense Fresh Prince was an update of the groundbreaking Cosby Show, but with a bit of a tweak. This is a very useful article about social skills. Too often we focus on grades and hard accomplishments like degrees, but simply making conversation can be very important when trying to get ahead from a career perspective. It is very important to be able to talk to people and make them feel comfortable about themselves. People want to feel normal and comfortable around them. You have to have the correct amount of eye contact and small talk. It is not enough to be smart, you also need social skills. It is a question that has troubled billions of people since the dawn of time: how should a person lead a good, meaningful life? There are as many theories as there are grains of sand on the beach, but some ideas over the years

Assignment 8 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

8 - Assignment Example It is a practice that helps organizations achieve their desires for products and services in a manner that realizes the value for their capital on the entire foundation in terms of creating remunerations to the organization, society and the economy at large while minimizing damage to the surroundings. It helps in creating markets for proper expertise and revolutionary solution. Sustainable procurement tries to attain the suitable balance between the three main components of development which includes ecological, communal and commercial factors (Abrams 45). A good number of businesses are turning to social responsibility by linking the similarities among the products and the services they offer and the problems that are occurring every day in their societies. For example, organizations providing health services may crop up with methods of offering medical support to the individuals who undercover with life assurance amenities. United Health Group is one of the key groups in the health assurance sector and services dominion operating to advance the spread of its influence by working hard to improve access to the medical concern for unmerited group of people, senior and low-income families and individuals (Thompson et al., 100-107 ). It is enthusiastically working together with stakeholders, supply agents, clients, non-governmental organizations and government agencies in an effort to unearth ways to today’s vast healthcare scheme crisis. The organization is also concerned with sharing its quantifiable facts with healthcare provid ers to assist in the improvement of the quality of supply chain so as to make sure Dell’s Guiding Principles and Procedures concerning social responsibility are in place (Amato, Sybil Henderson, and Sue 20). The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 2009 published its guiding principles for social responsibility (Amato, Sybil Henderson, and Sue 34-45). They are of one’s free will to use and do not include

Adults across America Essay Example for Free

Adults across America Essay Although this type of outrageous behavior may upset many people, it is accepted widely and enjoyed by millions of teenagers and adults across America. People in America have become desensitized to sex and violence by having organizations such as the WWF making it appear O.K. on television. Although it is immoral and not yet accepted by society, pornography is rampant in America, with strip clubs and porn shops situated in the same areas as family shopping centers. Violence can be seen everywhere, especially in the evening news. Wrestling takes the two biggest topics of American society, and turns them into a two hour show. Americans accept this and are willing to watch or pay to see the action. Although many wrestling fans such as myself view the show and see it as pure entertainment, there are many more people who believe what they see. Sadly, these type of people make up a large portion of wrestling fans. Because of this, many nations see Americans as ignorant and shallow. Critics claim that wrestling is a Cultural Phenomenon which embodies all of the negative aspects of American culture. People who are willing to watch a man rolling around in feces or someone falling twenty feet from a cage into a wooden table instead of doing something that could be potentially productive does not say much for American society. Opponents of professional wrestling may also say that the direction and values of American culture are quickly deteriorating, in part, due to a cultural phenomenon such as professional wrestling. As long as Americans demand instant gratification and the quick fixes of raunchy entertainment, phenomena such as wrestling will be around to act as mindless distractions from the real world. The critics of wrestling have not stopped its tremendous success across the world. Wrestling can be seen as a form of entertainment, just as movies and sports represent the same kind of enjoyment to viewers. Wrestling is not the cause of societys deterioration, as it is meant to please viewers across America. One form of entertainment is not going to cause American society to crumble. Wrestling used to represent good guy vs. bad guy. Times have changed, and now, everyone cheers for wrestlers such as The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin who portray qualities that the fans appreciate. The Rock is extremely popular, due to his coolness factor. Everytime he gets on the microphone, he promises to Lay The Smackdown on Someones Candyass and things of that nature. He always praises the fans, and considers himself the Peoples Champion. Because of his popularity, it doesnt matter if he wrestles a good guy or a bad guy. Fans like someone they can cheer, but would not cheer someone who appears corny, like a superhero type character. Professional wrestling never has any repeats, and always keeps a fresh, new storyline. That may be the biggest reason why people keep tuning in to this phenomenon. When it comes down to watching either a rerun of Ally McBeal or a live WWF Raw, many people would choose to watch something new, such as WWF Raw. American society is constantly evolving, and over time, all people need to accept the changes that it goes through, whether positive or negative. Work Cited Pioch, Nicolas. Realism. January 1, 1996. http://www.oir.ucf.edu/wm/paint/glo/realism/  (December 16, 1999)  Roberts, J.M. The Penguin History of the World. London, England : Helicon Publishing, 1992.  Ross, Cilla. June, 1999. Greek Democracy in Practice. http://www.oir.ucf.edu  (December 18, 1999)

Online Communities or Mental Pictures? :: Internet Communication Chats Essays

Online Communities or Mental Pictures? It was 11:00 p.m. on a Tuesday night. I sat at my computer typing and anxiously waiting for a response. â€Å"Hello how is everyone tonight?† â€Å"I am from Virginia, where are all of you from?† No one responded to anything I said. I tried again, â€Å"Does anyone want to chat?† Again, I was ignored. I felt lonely, confused, and upset. â€Å"What is wrong with me?† I thought to myself. I hated knowing that I was the one being rejected in this so-called â€Å"community.† Are there really such things as â€Å"online communities?† Can you form friendships with the people you come across in an online community? There are many claims that there are such things as online communities. That is true if you classify a community as â€Å"a group of people having common interests† (Dictionary.com) but having a common interest did not play a significant role in the forum I worked with. Online communities can be overrated and not meet the standards for which they are intended if the people participating do not follow the proposed rules and are not there for the correct reasons. In fact, when I was in the Teen Chat room no one talked about fashion, which is the topic of the site. In the discussion forum, some of the posts were off of the subject. Some online communities may appropriately be classified as a â€Å"community†, but the teen forum that I participated in was not a virtual community. Online communities are not physical places , instead they are a state of mind; a place which exists only in the mind of the participant. I participated in an online community in the Student Center which is just a site dedicated to teens. From this site, you can access many other sites such as: â€Å"diaries,† â€Å"teen forums,† â€Å"groups,† â€Å"tests,† etc. I accessed the teen forum section where you can choose many different topics under the four main categories. The categories are Advice and Sexuality, Entertainment, General, and Information. Under each category you can choose a specific subject of your interest such as: dating and relationships, health and fitness, sexuality, fashion, sports, music, movies, religion, and job search, along with others and be involved with it. I chose a teen forum focused on fashion because I really enjoy learning about different styles.

How far were Mao’s agricultural policies responsible for the scale of the famine? Essay

Mao’s agricultural policies could certainly be seen as responsible for the scale of the famine or at least as a huge factor contributing towards it. Other factors, such as the conspiracy of silence, bad weather and withholding information by peasants and government officials were also partly responsible for the scale of the famine; however Mao’s policies played the biggest role in causing the scale of the famine. Collectivisation was the first agricultural policy taken on by Mao which was unsupported by the peasants in the countryside, who were the majority of the population. The policy contributed hugely to the scale of the famine as it involved joining peasant families together to farm collectively rather than individually and then sharing the food produced with the rest of the community. This, in theory, was a good idea; if the peasants worked together they could share knowledge and potentially grow more food. However, they didn’t like the policy as it meant, regardless of how much they grew individually, they would only get a set amount, and it was never enough to feed the whole family. Mao believed that many peasants were growing more food than necessary and keeping some for themselves, however this was proved not to be the case; production rate had fallen from 200 million in 1958 to 143.5 million in 1960. Mao simply didn’t trust the peasants, believing they were ‘inherently capitalist’ and were against being a communist state. The peasants resented farming collectively because they didn’t have enough land to farm their crops, as well as the fact that the authorities believed that they needed to be ‘strictly controlled and directed.’ This attitude towards them caused the peasants to be reluctant to hand over their crops to the state, however they had no choice as they were no longer allowed to farm for themselves and the grain produced went to the State instead, to feed the cities, leaving many to starve. Lysenkoism was also a huge factor that contributed to the scale of the famine. This was a theory introduced by Trofim Lysenko, a Soviet agronomist, who claimed to have discovered a new method for producing at least double the amount of crops, which involved planting crops deeper in the ground and closed together. China was heavily influenced by the work of the Soviet Union, especially Lysenko’s ideas as Mao aspired for China to be similar to them, meaning he assumed the policies they followed must work. He introduced the policy in 1958; however, the plants couldn’t grow in these conditions, causing huge famine and lack of food. Furthermore, a competition was developed during the Great Leap Forward for creating the most striking demonstrations of close planting. Most peasants took this to the extreme and planted seeds as close to each other as possible. As a result, a large amount of their crops died and what survived was taken away by the government officials, leaving the peasants with nothing to eat. Although collectivisation and Lysenkoism were the main factors leading to the scale of the famine, there were other aspects that contributed to it. Mao was determined to stay in power and refused to believe the true scale of the problem. When presented with a report on the genocide in Tibet, Mao dismissed it as a ‘collection of lies and distortions’ as it criticised the PRC. He was informed that around 15 million peasants had died due to his new policies but he was adamant that he was not to blame. Instead he blamed other external factors causing the scale of the famine, such as bad weather, uninformed local officers and greedy peasants. Other factors that also contributed to the scale of the famine included how focus was taken away from agriculture and set on industry instead. This meant that a dangerously high proportion of farm workers were diverted into steel production and a shortage of agricultural labour meant led to insufficient planting so large amounts of crops died. Another of Mao’s policies that failed was â€Å"Sparrowcide†; this was the killing of thousands of sparrows because it was claimed they ate the seeds of the crops. However the campaign against sparrows was so effective that as the number of sparrows decreased, the number of caterpillars, on which the birds did actually feed, increased so they consumed large areas of crops. On the other hand, Mao’s agricultural policies weren’t solely to blame for the scale of the famine; the conspiracy of silence also played quite a major role. Government officials knew that Lysenkoism was failing and that the targets set by Mao weren’t being met but they were too scared to speak out about it. They knew Mao would have them purged if they appeared to go against him, due to his refusal to face the facts. An example of this was when a conference was called to discuss the progress of the Great Leap Forward in Lushan, during which one official, Peng Dehuai, spoke the truth about the extent of the famine in an attempt to rectify the situation. However the other members did not support him so as not to appear that they were against Mao because they were afraid of what would happen to them and it was also said to them that criticism of the Party could lead to the collapse of its power. Because of this, some of the information on the scale of the famine was held back from Mao. At the beginning of the famine, reports of success soon became obligatory and were used for future planning. The figures were believed, resulting in communes serving over-generous meals and using up valuable food reserves on top of the State taking ownership of the food they produced. As the famine continued, officials would still report back to Beijing that the peasants were producing enough grain and the targets were being met so more and more peasants would be left to starve whilst their food was taken away to feed the urban population and to use as exports to the USSR. Furthermore, the peasants would lie about the amount of food they were producing by moving the grain around or including other food they were producing, such as fruit and vegetables, as well as all the grain they had produced. This meant that the officials would take away all the grain that the peasants had, leaving them with nothing. Therefore, some historians could argue that the peasants themselves contributed to the scale of the famine and it wasn’t just down to Mao’s policies. Although Lysenkoism is seen to be one of the biggest factors leading to the scale of the famine, the failure of Lysenkoism wasn’t entirely Mao’s fault. Lysenko’s theory on how to increase productivity was false and, although it could be argued that the failing of this policy was inevitable, China was heavily influenced by Soviet scientists. They were influenced into believing that Lysenko’s theories were right and he could do no wrong and this propaganda would have led Mao to believe the policies would benefit his county. The peasants were also influenced into believing that Mao could do no wrong, so many believed that the new policies would save them, rather than send them further into famine. Additionally, there were some factors contributing to the scale of the famine that Mao couldn’t have controlled, such as bad weather and natural disasters, such as floods. During 1959, China suffered a lot of bad weather and floods that destroyed large amounts of land and crops and in 1960 an estimated 60% of agricultural land in northern China received no rain at all. Mao blamed the scale of the famine on this, although this was far from being the sole reason for the scale of it. It could be argued that if Mao had not forced the peasants to follow Lysenkoism, the plants may have had a better chance of surviving, despite the weather. To conclude, I feel that Mao’s agricultural policies were the biggest factors that caused the scale of the famine, as the lack of food only started after they had been introduced. Policies such as Lysenkoism and large communes meant that crops weren’t growing properly and that the peasants didn’t have enough to eat even before the State started to claim them to feed the urban population, besides other policies. However, there were other contributing factors that led to the scale of the famine, the main one being the conspiracy of silence. The officials were been terrified of Mao’s punishments, so would have told him whatever he wanted to hear to avoid them. Some historians argue that if the officials hadn’t lied, and instead told Mao the extent of the famine, he would have been forced to accept he must rectify his mistakes, and change the policies. However, as the officials were lying to him, there is a possibility he genuinely may have not known the scale of the famine and therefore not seen the need to change anything. On the other hand, Mao had very little knowledge of agriculture in the first place and set ridiculously high goals for the amount of grain that the peasants were expected to produce. He didn’t realise that the peasants didn’t have the correct methods or enough land to produce the correct amount of grain. If he hadn’t set such ambitious goals in the first place, the officials wouldn’t have had to lie to him to cover up his mistakes, so the majority of the scale of the famine should be placed on Mao’s agricultural policies.

Mohammed Morsi Essay

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi has become Egypt’s first freely elected president after a delayed announcement of the results of last weekend’s runoff. He beat former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq by more than almost 900,000 votes. Morsi secured 51.7% of the vote, compared to 48% for Shafiq. Mohammed Morsi heads the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm. Mubarak appointed Shafik as prime minister in response to the protests against his regime. Shafik resigned a little more than a month later amid protests decrying him as a holdover from a discredited, ousted regime. Supports the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF): â€Å"SCAF is serious about power handover and is seeking to achieve the goals of the revolution. SCAF stands at an equal distance from all political and religious powers.† Parliamentary elections: the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party seems set to emerge as the biggest winner, with some analysts estimating it will capture about 40% of seats in the new legislature. Al-Nour, a more conservative Salafist party, looks likely to secure second place. The Muslim Brotherhood (known in Arabic as al-Ikhwan al-Muslimeen) is Egypt’s oldest and largest Islamist organization. As the most organized opposition group following the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, the Brotherhood became the country’s dominant political force, winning a near majority of seats in the post-revolution parliament, and its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, winning the presidency. Some Egyptians are concerned over the group’s aim to establish a state ruled by sharia, or Islamic law, and ambiguity over its respect for human rights. Such concerns intensified after Morsi announced new sweeping powers for the presidency in late 2012 and a draft of theproposed constitution was published. The domestic political challenges also provide a difficult road for U.S.-Egypt relations, especially with regards to foreign aid. The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political party of the Muslim Brotherhood, could not have come into being without the 25 January revolution. Up to that time, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), Egypt’s most powerful Islamist organization, was not only denied the right to form parties, but also barred – at least legally – from political life. As a result, the group had to pay a heavy price in detentions and repression to practice politics under the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak. The group had been trying to get a foothold in the country’s political arena for decades but was met with entrenched opposition by the Mubarak regime, which tended to accommodate the Brotherhood, but only within strict limits. Now, after the 25 January uprising, the group’s political ambitions have resurged on an unprecedented scale. Officially founded in May 2011, the FJP says that it is committed to a modern state, democracy, women’s rights, and national unity. The FJP’s initial membership of nearly nine thousand included one thousand women and one hundred Copts. New members are subject to a probationary period of six months after which, and based on their performance record, they become eligible for permanent membership. The FJP—along with the Salafist Al-Nour—is among a very few Egyptian political parties that issue probationary membership Formed alliance with name of Democratic Alliance (Freedom and Justice) Al-Nour Party Established in the wake of the 25 January uprising, Al-Nour (â€Å"The Light†) Party is the largest of Egypt’s three licensed Salafist parties (the other two being Al-Asala and Al-Fadila Parties). It was established by Al-Da‘wa Al-Salafiyya (â€Å"The Salafist Call†), Egypt’s largest Salafist group, commonly known as Al-Daawa Movement. Al-Daawa started in Alexandria where it now enjoys a considerable following. Al-Nour Party was officially licensed in June 2011. Official registration is of paramount importance in Egypt at the present time, as the current election law limits the right to contest two-thirds of the seats of the upcoming parliament to a limited number of officially registered parties, including Al-Nour. Under the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak, the state generally did not allow for the formation of Islamist parties, but after the revolution many Islamist groups managed  to obtain official political party license. The Islamist Bloc is an electoral coalition formed by three Islamist political parties with the aim to integrate their efforts in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The Islamist Bloc is comprised of the Salafist Al-Nour and Al-Asala Parties, as well as the Building and Development Party, the latter of which was founded by the Islamic Group (Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya). Wafad party: Wafd Party is one of Egypt’s oldest liberal parties and is expected to play a significant role in the upcoming elections. With deposed President Hosni Mubarak’s ruling party officially disbanded, Wafd has emerged as an influential player in the political arena. The party commands the largest network that any political party in Egypt possesses today, covering major cities in twenty-four out of twenty-six Egyptian governorates. With a distinguished group of top Egyptian businessmen on its membership list, Al-Wafd stands out as one of the few established parties that do not face the same financial constraints that have historically challenged many of the country’s political parties. The party also enjoys a very strong presence in the media, thanks to its famous daily newspaper, its Internet portal, and a professional, well-equipped media department. Additionally, Wafd’s current leader Al-Sayed Al-Badawi is owner of Al-Hayat, one of Egypt’s top five television channels. Such are luxuries that very few Egyptian parties possess. Wafd’s history dates back to the beginning of party life under the monarchy, making it the oldest among existing Egyptian political parties. The name of the party is Arabic for â€Å"The Delegation,† and it references Saad Zaghloul’s attempt in 1919 to lead a popular delegation to the post-World War I Paris Peace Conference to demand independence for Egypt against the will of British occupation authorities. Threatened by the immense popular support that Zaghloul was able to garner for his mission, British authorities exiled the Egyptian nationalist leader along with members of the prospective delegation to Malta. This move instigated a mass uprising, which led to the 1919 Revolution. The Egyptian Bloc: The Egyptian Bloc consists of the Free Egyptians Party, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party and Al-Tagammu Party. The Bloc is often portrayed as a â€Å"secular-leaning† alliance that seeks to counterbalance the influence of the Muslim Brotherhoodin the upcoming elections, specifically the Brotherhood led Democratic Alliance’s electoral coalition. Members of the Bloc announced in early November that their partnership is not simply a short-term electoral coalition, but encompasses a long-term political alliance aimed at turning Egypt into a civil democratic state. Magdi Abdelhad:iMiddle East analyst The Islamists’ rise to power in Egypt will send shockwaves through the courts and palaces of conservative Arab kings and presidents who have tried for decades to put the lid on political Islam. But foremost among Egypt’s neighbours who watched the brotherhood’s success with increasing alarm is Israel. Cairo was the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel and the brotherhood has traditionally been vehemently opposed to that. But its opposition has softened over the years – at least publicly. It is widely believed that the Muslim Brotherhood have reassured Washington that an Islamist government in Egypt would respect the peace deal with Israel. Given also that the ruling military council will continue to have the final say on matters of war and peace, it is unlikely that the brotherhood can put that peace at risk. It is also more likely that Mr Mursi’s immediate priority will be to concentrate on Egypt’s many daunting domestic problems including rampant poverty and unemployment. Debating leaders: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/opinion/21iht-edzewail21.html?pagewanted=all From the time of Ramses II, the strong pharaoh who ruled Egypt thousands of years ago, until last year when Hosni Mubarak’s reign ended, Egyptians were never able to witness a debate over who should take over the democratic reins in the highest office of the land. Our new culture of debate, together with the election of the Parliament last December, are milestones in the history of the nation, paving a new, but rocky, path toward democracy. The open debate between the secular and religious orientations of politics was  unthinkable over the past 60 years. This new openness means the Egyptian body politic is maturing. In the end, Egyptians know that, for the first time, they can choose their future. It won’t be dictated or imposed by anyone. Army protected revo: Unlike in nearby Syria or earlier in Libya, the Egyptian Army has taken the high road and protected the revolution in its infancy. And it has been the guardian of these unprecedented transparent elections. Problems: Among the most serious problems are economic hardship, the uncertainty of the political climate and the deterioration of security — a feature that Egyptian society faces anew. These problems have been compounded over the past 15 months as each of the three main constituencies involved in the revolution — the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which is in charge of the transition period; the politically liberal as well as Islamic-oriented parties; and the youth who triggered the uprising — have stumbled in one way or another. Little bloodshed: It is a hopeful sign indeed that we Egyptians are still marching forward toward democracy with relatively little bloodshed. All signs indicate that a counterrevolution is not in store for Egypt. We will not turn back to a totalitarian governing system. Perhaps the most encouraging of all is the confidence of Egyptians in their future. In Egypt, a Victory for Democracy but Fear for the Future: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-25/in-egypt-a-victory-for-democracy-but-fear-for-the-future â€Å"So many questions remain unanswered that what can best be said is that either SCAF and the Brotherhood have worked out a deal of some sort or the political jousting has only just begun,† wrote Issandr El Amrani, a popular blogger on Egyptian politics. â€Å"Both the Brothers and  SCAF have positioned themselves in a manner in which backing down from their respective positions on the question of parliament and the Supplemental Constitutional Declaration would be a loss of face.† Tensions ran high for two weeks, when the SCAF assumed legislative responsibilities after shutting down the Islamist-controlled Parliament, announced a Supplemental Constitutional Declaration that drastically reduced presidential powers, and gave themselves the ability to veto articles of drafts of Egypt’s new constitution. They also reintroduced martial law, allowing soldiers to arrest civilians. Critics called their actions a soft coup. The Muslim Brotherhood, the most powerful political player in Egypt, has on the surface refused to accept any of these decisions, staging a sit-in in Tahrir Square and issuing aggressive statements to the media, all the while vowing to pressure the military government to rescind their declarations. It was a rare move, as the pragmatic group is more generally known for cutting deals with the regime rather than going toe-to-toe. Last week, with the possibility of a victory by Ahmed Shafiq, the other candidate in the run-off election who is widely viewed as aligned with the military, the Brotherhood showed a willingness to work with the revolutionary groups it had mostly ignored since the uprising against Mubarak. Morsi pledged to form a national salvation government to include secular politicians, Christians, and women. â€Å"The big question is: Can they build a broader, more inclusive front that can effectively challenge SCAF’s grip on power?† asks Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center. â€Å"Now that fear [of Shafiq’s victory] has passed, is there still enough that binds [the opposition groups] together? I do think the Brotherhood has at least implicitly acknowledged the mistakes of recent months and they have tried to strike a more conciliatory tone, and the recognition that they can’t do this alone because they are fighting a very challenging adversary: SCAF and the old regime.† To add to the challenges of running a country with a crumbling economy, President Morsi won with a narrow margin, garnering 51.7 percent of the vote. He had promised to be the president of all Egyptians during his first address to the nation Sunday night . â€Å"The game was being played almost like a game of poker on both sides,† says Hani Shukrallah, managing editor of the English-language online version of the Al Ahramnewspaper. â€Å"If we have reached a compromise, that’s a bit helpful for healing the deep schisms  [within] society. We have a society that’s been split down the middle, with enormous polarization. Most of the people who voted for Morsi did so out of dread [of] Shafiq.† On a side street leading to Tahrir Square on Sunday night, Ehab El Shawi led his three children to the epicenter of the celebration in the birthplace of Egypt’s uprising. Like many, he was caught between rejoicing at the idea of a new president and the reality of the office’s lack of power. â€Å"This is the first time all Egyptian people made a choice in 7,000 years to elect a normal Egyptian citizen. This is the first time we have freedom in more than 60 years,† El Shawi said happily of the first non-military president in Egypt’s history. â€Å"But we have to change all the decisions taken during the presidential elections and force the powers to ensure Dr.Morsi will have all the power to make Egypt a modern country,† he added. â€Å"We still need to take Egypt back from the old regime. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Timeline: Anti-Mubarak protests 2010 February – Former UN nuclear chief Mohammed ElBaradei returns to Egypt and, together with opposition figures and activists, forms a coalition for political change. ElBaradei says he might run in presidential election scheduled for 2011. 2010 March – President Mubarak undergoes gall-bladder surgery in Germany, returning to Egypt three weeks later. 2010 June – Muslim Brotherhood fails to win any seats in elections to the Shura consultative upper house of parliament; alleges vote was rigged. 2010 November – Coptic Christians clash with police in Giza over construction of church. Parliamentary polls, followed by protests against alleged vote rigging. Muslim Brotherhood fails to win a single seat, though it held a fifth of the places in the last parliament. 2011 January – 21 killed in bomb at church in Alexandria where Christians had gathered to mark the New Year. Anti-government demonstrations, apparently encouraged by Tunisian street protests whic h prompted sudden departure of President Ben Ali. President Mubarak reshuffles his cabinet but fails to placate demonstrators, whose calls for his resignation grow louder. Days later he promises to step down in September. 2011 February – President Mubarak steps down and hands power  to the army council. 2011 March – Egyptians approve package of constitutional reforms aimed at paving the way for new elections. 2011 April – Former President Mubarak and his sons, Ala and Gamal, are arrested on suspicion of corruption. 2011 April-August – Protests continue in Cairo’s Tahrir Square over slow pace of political change. Islamist groups come to the fore. Army finally disperses protestors in August. 2011 August – Former President Mubarak goes on trial in Cairo, charged with ordering the killing of demonstrators earlier in the year. 2011 October – Clashes between Coptic Christians and security forces kill 24 people. Egypt and Israel swap 25 Egyptians in Israeli custody for a US-Israeli citizen accused of spying. 2011 November – Violence in Cairo’s Tahrir square as security forces clash with protesters accusing the military of trying to keep their grip on power. Prime Minister EssamSharaf resigns in response to the unrest. Start of parliamentary elections. 2011 December – National unity government headed by new Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri takes office. 2012 January – Islamist parties emerge as victors of drawn-out parliamentary elections. 2012 March – Pope Shenouda III, the veteran head of the Coptic Church, dies. 2012 April – Crisis in relations with Saudi Arabia over the Saudi detention of an Egyptian lawyer briefly threatens the substantial aid that the Saudis provide Egypt. First free presidential poll 2012 May – Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi tops the first round of voting in first free presidential elections, narrowly ahead of Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Shafiq. Official media put turnout at a low 43%. Military leaders announce the end of the state of emergency in place since Anwar al-Sadat’s assassination in 1981, as its last renewal expires. 2012 June – Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi narrowly wins presidential election.Armyvs civilian rule Court sentences ex-President Mubarak to life in prison for complicity in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising. 2012 July – President Mursi submits to a Supreme Court ruling that the parliamentary elections were invalid, after initially ordering parliament to meet in defiance of a military decree dissolving it in June. 2012 August – New prime ministerHishamQandil appoints a cabinet dominated by figures from the outgoing government, technocrats and Islamists, to the exclusion of secular parties. Islamist fighters attack an  army outpost in Sinai, killing 16 soldiers, and mount a brief incursion into Israel, highlighting the tenuousness of government control over the largely-lawless area. President Mursi dismisses Defence Minister Tantawi and Chief of Staff Sami Annan and strips military of say in legislation and drafting the new constitution. 2012 September – Egypt kills 32 militants and destroys 31 smuggling tunnels to Gaza in an offensive against militants who attacked troops in Sinai in August. 2012 November – Bishop Tawadros is chosen as the new pope of Egypt’s Coptic Christians. President Mursi issues a decree giving himself extensive new powers. The decree sparks angry demonstrations and is condemned by Egypt’s top judges, who accuse him of undermining the independence of the judiciary. The Islamist-dominated constituent assembly tasked with writing a new constitution approves all 234 articles of the draft constitution, which boosts the role of Islam in Egypt’s system of government. The assembly session is boycotted by liberal, left-wing and Christian members. The vote is held earlier than originally scheduled, after Egypt’s constitutional court threatened to dissolve the constituent assembly. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13315719 †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2012/01/23-egypt-indyk Prospects for Democracy in Egypt: There’s a conventional wisdom in the United States that Arabs are incapable of sustaining a true Western-style, liberal democracy. It will take them hundreds of years to acquire a â€Å"democratic culture,† the argument goes. And in the meantime new authoritarian regimes — either Islamist or military — will replace the ones that have been overthrown in the past year and give us all a lesson in â€Å"Arab democracy.† Advocates of this view were the first to announce, with all-knowing smiles, that the Arab Spring had become an Arab Winter. When Islamist parties won free and mostly fair elections in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco in recent months, the proponents of this view had an â€Å"I told you so† moment and they were quick to denounce anybody who said otherwise as hopelessly naive. After a prolonged hibernation, politics has broken out in Cairo, the capital of the Arab Awakenings. For the first time in six decades people are acquiring a taste for freedom and, yes, Western-style democratic politics. The issues they debate so vigorously are critical to the shape of Egypt’s democratic future: What will be the residual powers of the Egyptian military? What’s the best model for dividing powers between the Presidency and the Parliament? What revisions should be made to the Constitution to ensure democratic rule? At the same time, the newly-elected parties are busy engaging in the horse-trading necessary to coalition politics, since no one party gained a majority (the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party won around 47 percent of the vote; the Salafi Al-Nour Party won 25 percent, and a variety of liberal parties won the rest.). We were treated to an amazing sight: Salafi religious purists attempting to negotiate an alliance with liberal secularists. How did they justify such a pragmatic deal? The enemy of my enemy is my friend, one of them explained to us. They can both agree on a short-term political agenda: countering the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and getting the army out of politics. And what about the imposition of Sharia law? The leader of the Salafi Al-Nour Party noted that his party is comfortable with the conservative nature of Egyptian society so a campaign to impose sharia law is unnecessary. They can be satisfied (at least for the time being) with the existing language of Article 2 of the Constitution which states that the â€Å"principles† of Islamic shariah will guide the state. This kind of pragmatic politics is deeply disturbing to the â€Å"Costa Salafis† — a young generation of Salafis whose makeshift headquarters is in a Costa cafe. They denounce their elders not so much for being willing to compromise, which they readily accept as part of the new politics, but of failing to articulate through â€Å"fatwas† the religious basis for those compromises. It’s as if the Salafi leadership, propelled onto the political stage for the first time, has become unplugged and feels able to do whatever is necessary in the political realm to protect its community of social  conservatives. They reminded me of the religious parties in Israel! Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood is busy making its own compromises with the military and with other liberal parties that would enable its Freedom and Justice Party to build a governing and empowered coalition (at the moment, they can control the parliament but until its powers are defined in the constitution and the military hands over power, they cannot control the government). Whereas the Salafis are looking to constrain the Muslim Brotherhood, the MB is focused on how to ease fears of its intentions. After operating for eighty years in the political wilderness, the MB has learned just how fragile this moment could turn out to be. That’s why its leadership is more willing to compromise with the military than the other parties to its left and right. Consequently, the other parties fear that the MB will sell them out to the military in some sweetheart deal that compromises the revolution and their abilities to use democratic rules of the game to constrain the MB and hold the military accountable. This tension will likely manifest itself in the massive demonstrations that are expected on January 25 in Tahrir Square to commemorate the first anniversary of the Revolution. The military and the MB have called for a celebration, complete with party balloons and patriotic songs. Youth activists and some liberal parties, particularly exercised by the eighty some demonstrators who were killed by the police and the army in crackdowns in November and December last year, are calling for a demonstration against military rule. Some of the far-left revolutionary youth are calling for a campaign of violence. The way the January 25 demonstrations play out will be only one of the ways in which â€Å"square politics† and â€Å"party politics† interact in Egypt’s newly dynamic democracy. All the parties feel that they can claim legitimacy from the people’s mandates that they have received in the elections. This empowers them to stand up to the military in demanding that it leave the political arena promptly and allow Egyptian democracy to have its day. If the military focuses only on protecting its narrow interests (e.g., retaining its business interests, claiming immunity from prosecution for  past actions, demanding only responsibility for protecting the state’s borders), then a reasonable compromise can be fashioned. However, if the military insists on specifying reserve powers in the constitution and protecting its budget from civilian oversight, then the people know the way back to Tahrir Square. As one newly-elected parliamentarian put it: â€Å"We are legitimate now; the army is not.† And what about the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty? We didn’t raise the issue — they did. It came up in most conversations in the following way: â€Å"We have been elected by the people. We’re responsible to them. The people want stability, above all. They want the police back in the streets and calm and predictability restored to their daily lives. We don’t like the way Israel treats the Palestinians. We don’t like the price that Israel pays for Egyptian gas. But we’re not going to mess with the peace treaty.† That sentiment is so widely shared that one of the heads of the Muslim Brotherhood could declare to the New York Times last week that the peace treaty is a â€Å"commitment of the state,† and therefore will be respected. The sense of responsibility that rests on the shoulders of those who would govern 87 million people is palpable. They know the severe economic straits that they will have to confront. They know that neither tourists nor foreign investment will return to Egypt unless there is a clear commitment to stability. And they know the people will not forgive them if they fail to address their basic needs for order, jobs and housing. In short, newly-elected Egyptian politicians — the Muslim Brotherhood first and foremost — understand that they have to make a choice between feeding the people and fighting Israel, and for the time being they have made a conscious choice of bread over bombs. The fact that Palestine is not a priority for the Egyptian people has been manifest since the early days of the revolution. It was underscored for me during a lecture I gave at the American University in Cairo, just off Tahrir Square. A Palestinian student, draped in a Palestinian flag, stood with a makeshift banner in silent protest at the front of the hall. Despite this prominent reminder, during the ensuing ninety-minute Q&A session with  students and journalists no-one asked a question about Palestine. To be sure, there’s always the risk that populist politicians will outbid each other in their demagoguery on the Palestinian issue, especially if Israeli-Palestinian violence flares. But Israel is particularly sensitive to this possibility and the Muslim Brotherhood is apparently signaling its Hamas branch to keep things quiet too. (With 350 trucks a day passing from Israel into Gaza, and smuggling of weapons through the tunnels continuing apace, Hamas has its own reasons for maintaining the current de facto ceasefire with Israel.) What was perhaps most striking to me, however, was the attitude of the new political class to the United States. I had expected to encounter hostility — after all the United States had been Mubarak’s staunch ally through the three decades of his Pharaohnic rule. I had assumed that the Islamist politicians in particular would be antagonistic towards American influence in post-revolutionary Egypt, just as the Iranian clerics have manifested intense antagonism towards the United States since their revolution. Yet Egypt’s Islamists all seemed keen to engage with the United States government. The Muslim Brotherhood was trying to understand President Obama’s intentions in demanding that the military hand over power to civilian (i.e. Muslim Brotherhood) rule, â€Å"expeditiously.† They weren’t sure how to deal with the fact that Bill Burns, the Deputy Secretary of State, had just met with their leadership. But one thing they were very certain about — they need U.S. economic assistance and U.S. help in mobilizing international assistance. They were therefore quite anxious to know how Congress would treat them. Because of this new U.S. Government engagement with their arch-rivals, the Salafis too are seeking American recognition. Their leaders are keen to come to Washington to explain their intentions. They even appear willing to engage with Israel to establish their bona fides — one of their leaders recently gave an interview to Israeli Army Radio.