Hitlers Statement Before His Suicide

Hitler's Statement Before His Suicide On April 29, 1945, in his underground bunker, Adolf Hitler readied himself for death. Instead of surrendering to the Allies, Hitler had decided to end his own life. Early in the morning, after he had already written his Last Will, Hitler wrote his Political Statement. The Political Statement is made up of two sections. In the first section, Hitler lays all blame on International Jewry and urges all Germans to continue fighting. In the second section, Hitler expels Hermann Gà ¶ring and Heinrich Himmler and appoints their successors. The following afternoon, Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide. Part 1 of Hitlers Political Statement More than thirty years have now passed since I in 1914 made my modest contribution as a volunteer in the first world war that was forced upon the Reich. In these three decades I have been actuated solely by love and loyalty to my people in all my thoughts, acts, and life. They gave me the strength to make the most difficult decisions which have ever confronted mortal man. I have spent my time, my working strength, and my health in these three decades. It is untrue that I or anyone else in Germany wanted the war in 1939. It was desired and instigated exclusively by those international statesmen who were either of Jewish descent or worked for Jewish interests. I have made too many offers for the control and limitation of armaments, which posterity will not for all time be able to disregard for the responsibility for the outbreak of this war to be laid on me. I have further never wished that after the first fatal world war a second against England, or even against America, should break out. Centuries will pass away, but out of the ruins of our towns and monuments the hatred against those finally responsible whom we have to thank for everything, International Jewry and its helpers, will grow. Three days before the outbreak of the German-Polish war I again proposed to the British ambassador in Berlin a solution to the German-Polish problem - similar to that in the case of the Saar district, under international control. This offer also cannot be denied. It was only rejected because the leading circles in English politics wanted the war, partly on account of the business hoped for and partly under influence of propaganda organized by International Jewry. I have also made it quite plain that, if the nations of Europe are again to be regarded as mere shares to be bought and sold by these international conspirators in money and finance, then that race, Jewry, which is the real criminal of this murderous struggle, will be saddled with the responsibility. I further left no one in doubt that this time not only would millions of children of Europes Aryan people die of hunger, not only would millions of grown men suffer death, and not only hundreds of thousands of women and children be burnt and bombed to death in the towns, without the real criminal having to atone for this guilt, even if by more humane means. After six years of war, which in spite of all setbacks, will go down one day in history as the most glorious and valiant demonstration of a nations life purpose, I cannot forsake the city which is the capital of this Reich. As the forces are too small to make any further stand against the enemy attack at this place and our resistance is gradually being weakened by men who are as deluded as they are lacking in initiative, I should like, by remaining in this town, to share my fate with those, the millions of others, who have also taken upon themselves to do so. Moreover I do not wish to fall into the hands of an enemy who requires a new spectacle organized by the Jews for the amusement of their hysterical masses. I have decided therefore to remain in Berlin and there of my own free will to choose death at the moment when I believe the position of the Fà ¼hrer and Chancellor itself can no longer be held. I die with a happy heart, aware of the immeasurable deeds and achievements of our soldiers at the front, our women at home, the achievements of our farmers and workers and the work, unique in history, of our youth who bear my name. That from the bottom of my heart I express my thanks to you all, is just as self-evident as my wish that you should, because of that, on no account give up the struggle, but rather continue it against the enemies of the Fatherland, no matter where, true to the creed of a great Clausewitz. From the sacrifice of our soldiers and from my own unity with them unto death, will in any case spring up in the history of Germany, the seed of a radiant renaissance of the National Socialist movement and thus of the realization of a true community of nations. Many of the most courageous men and women have decided to unite their lives with mine until the very last. I have begged and finally ordered them not to do this, but to take part in the further battle of the Nation. I beg the heads of the Armies, the Navy and the Air Force to strengthen by all possible means the spirit of resistance of our soldiers in the National Socialist sense, with special reference to the fact that also I myself, as founder and creator of this movement, have preferred death to cowardly abdication or even capitulation. May it, at some future time, become part of the code of honor of the German officer - as is already the case in our Navy - that the surrender of a district or of a town is impossible, and that above all the leaders here must march ahead as shining examples, faithfully fulfilling their duty unto death. Part 2 of Hitlers Political Statement Before my death I expel the former Reichsmarschall Hermann Gà ¶ring from the party and deprive him of all rights which he may enjoy by virtue of the decree of June 29th, 1941; and also by virtue of my statement in the Reichstag on September 1st, 1939, I appoint in his place Grossadmiral Dà ¶nitz, President of the Reich and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. Before my death I expel the former Reichsfà ¼hrer-SS and Minister of the Interior Heinrich Himmler, from the party and from all offices of State. In his stead I appoint Gauleiter Karl Hanke as Reichsfà ¼hrer-SS and Chief of the German Police, and Gauleiter Paul Giesler as Reich Minister of the Interior. Gà ¶ring and Himmler, quite apart from their disloyalty to my person, have done immeasurable harm to the country and the whole nation by secret negotiations with the enemy, which they have conducted without my knowledge and against my wishes, and by illegally attempting to seize power in the State for themselves. . . . Although a number of men, such as Martin Bormann, Dr. Goebbels, etc., together with their wives, have joined me of their own free will and did not wish to leave the capital of the Reich under any circumstances, but were willing to perish with me here, I must nevertheless ask them to obey my request, and in this case set the interests of the nation above their own feelings. By their work and loyalty as comrades they will be just as close to me after death, as I hope that my spirit will linger among them and always go with them. Let them be hard but never unjust, but above all let them never allow fear to influence their actions, and set the honor of the nation above everything in the world. Finally, let them be conscious of the fact that our task, that of continuing the building of a National Socialist State, represents the work of the coming centuries, which places every single person under an obligation always to serve the common interest and to subordinate his own advantage to this end. I demand of all Germans, all National Socialists, men, women and all the men of the Armed Forces, that they be faithful and obedient unto death to the new government and its President. Above all I charge the leaders of the nation and those under them to scrupulous observance of the laws of race and to merciless opposition to the universal poisoner of all peoples, International Jewry. Given in Berlin, this 29th day of April 1945, 4:00 A.M. Adolf Hitler [Witnesses]Dr. Joseph GoebbelsWilhelm BurgdorfMartin BormannHans Krebs * Translated in the Office of United States Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1946-1948, vol. VI, pg. 260-263.

How to Create a Mad Scientist Costume

How to Create a Mad Scientist Costume A mad scientist costume is great for Halloween, inspiring images of how science can run amock, creating horrific monstrosities. Here are tips on how to create a great mad scientist costume: Hair ... or not The decision on what sort of hair to have is an important one. You can go with wild hair (such as Albert Einstein and Doc Brown from the Back to the Future movies) or bald, the Lex Luthor route. If going for wild hair, there are inexpensive wigs available in most costume shops. Alternately, you can create your own with a bald cap by gluing fabric hair (from local fabric or craft stores) onto it - perhaps different colored hair. Or, if your hair is long enough, you can use styling gel and unusual hair colorings to get the desired effect. A bald cap (especially nice for female mad scientists) will also do. To really complete the look, you may want to use some fake skin to cover up your eyebrows. This will create an effect that youve lost all your hair due to the bizarre potions youve tested on yourself. A middle approach between the two is to glue chunks of fabric hair onto the bald cap, so that it looks like your hair is falling out in chunks. Again, using hair with strange colors might be useful. Other Headgear Some sort of eyewear is generally a good idea. Find an old pair of glasses with bulky frames, perhaps from a thrift store, and pop out the lenses. You might want to decorate them by gluing or taping object to them, like bottlecaps, beads, etc. Tape (duct tape) or Band-Aids can be used to make the glasses look like theyve been broken and mended. Goggles are also a nice alternative. A goattee is a nice addition for a mad scientist. If you cant or dont want to grow your own, you can glue some fur into your chin. Try to frame it into a sharp point, perhaps using a bent paperclip or piece of cardboard as a frame to mount it on. Lab Coat The lab coat is, of course, the crucial element of the mad scientist costume. This is what translates the costume from random weirdo to mad scientist. Around Halloween, lab coats are pretty easy to find anywhere costumes are sold. You can also get actual lab coats at medical supply stores, thrift stores, and the like. If you have trouble finding one, you can contact your local hospital to find out where they are sold locally. Personally, the best lab coat Ive ever seen is the Mad Scientists Union Local #3.14. I didnt buy it online, so I cant attest to this vendor, but the lab coat is very cool. You can also decorate the labcoat with pins, stickers, stencils, decals, rips, scorch marks, food spills, equations, and the like ... whatever you feel comfortable with based on the cost of the lab coat. Pants - The Easy Part Generally, dark pants or a dark skirt will work to finish the outfit. A goofy pair of shoes, such as bowling shoes, would do well to complete the outfit. Final Accessories A pocket protector (try office supply stores) is a perfect addition to the costume. Fill it up with as many pens and pencils as you can. Throw in a compass, ruler, spiral notepad, and calculator if you can. Heck, carry around an abacus if you can find one. Another nice accessory would be a beaker filled with strange-colored liquid. Exotic colors of punch (i.e. Kool-Aid) can create this. Add some dry ice so smoke will drift off of it. Note: If you do have a potion with dry ice in it, do not drink. A flourescent stick, like what you get at the circus, can be inserted to make it glow ... and is great for stirring up your concoction. Some Last Comments The unbridled wackiness is the best part of the mad scientist costume. Be funny and nuts, and youll pull it off. Anything you can think of to add to the costumes eccentricity is a plus. Try to go as cheap as you can, since you may want to make a real mess of the costume to create the right mood. Old pants, tattered lab coats, funny shoes, out of style glasses ... thrift stores are the perfect place to get components for the mad scientist costume. Mad Scientist Sidekick Costumes Robot costumeBride of Frankenstein costumeCousin It costumeFrank-Einstein costumeGeeky Science Nerd costumeGhostbuster costume

Cold War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cold War - Essay Example In post WW2 scenario, America’s image as powerful democracy and its efforts to contain communism had received considerable jolt when its racial segregation and other such problems had caused international backlash. The Cold War has become pertinent part of history as it had divided the nations into democratic and communist political platforms. The two powerful nations: USA and USSR had different political ideologies. While America was a devout democracy with strong capitalistic economy, USSR was a communist country which was founded on the philosophy of socialism and state control on the economic activities. Belmonte (2007) emphasizes that Cold War was hugely critical motivator for American leadership to introduce constitutional amendments like Civil Right Act which had promoted social justice and equality across race, culture and color. The cold war era had therefore emerged as a highly critical phenomenon that had significantly influenced the world polity with wide ramifications on the national issues of the countries across the

Homework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 38

Homework - Essay Example This discusses how inventory as a whole may just be given representation by average inventory and thus solve the related issues which crop up from time to time. 11- Suppose an operation has excess capacity (i.e., it is not a bottleneck); however the set up time between batches is not insignificant. Should process batches be large or small? What determines the size of a process batch? Process batches should neither be large nor small. However their size should be equal to the size of the operation so that neither excess capacity is an issue nor minimal levels stand as a concern. The need is to know how excess capacity can be kept at a safe distance and so is the case with minimal levels where set up times focus more on how time between batches can be increased or decreased as per the need. Therefore, the set up time between batches should be considered in essence to have a better know-how of how things shall shape up within the batch routines. It will take care of all the concerns that either excess capacity or under capacity may have at a given time and thus protect the batches as

Columbia Gs Admission Essay Essay Example for Free

Columbia Gs Admission Essay Essay My name is Edgar Martinez. I was born in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) 34 years ago. My childhood was pretty normal. My parents had enough to provide for my little brother and I. My father was a local councilman at the time my mom a homemaker. I always wanted to be a politician like my father I admired him as a matter of fact I still do. I graduated from High School in 1995 and soon after and got drafted to go the Colombian Army. I was sent to Santa Marta a small town located a 200 miles north from my hometown. There I encounter my first experience with the real word and left for good my childhood. In the middle of deployment my father a secretary of Energy for the national government was kidnaped . After that life was never going to be the same. We waited and waited and waited †¦.. and waited. And after a few weeks a platton of navy seals of some sort rescue my father and he was brought back to us alive and almost well. The trauma of being in captivity was devastating for him and the family . My parents desided to send me to the US to be in a safer place. Little did I know I would never return to live in the place I was born. I came to the US in 1997 directly from Cartagena to Salt Lake City.

Dont Confuse Freedom with Individual Rights :: argumentative, persuasive essays

How many times have we heard people justifying their needs by saying something like, "This is a free country. I have the right to (anything goes here)". For words that people use quite frequently, they are often misused and misunderstood. From my point of view, it seems that most people use them as an alternative to explaining the real reasons why they want something. So let me tell you what I think the two words mean in practice. Freedom is taking responsibility for you own actions and your own life.   If for example someone says, "I am freeing you of the need to make decisions", they are in fact taking your freedom away. So, how many people act as if they are free? Not all that many. Those who constantly complain that the government should do something about this or that, or that they have had a lot of bad luck in life, are not free. These people have abdicated their freedom to outside factors. Acknowledge that you are in the best position to alter your own situation and accept the consequences of all of your actions and you will be truly free. And it will be obvious, from that point on, when someone tries to take your freedom away. What about personal rights. Do we have the right to free speech? What about a minimum standard of living? Or the right to bear arms and to vote? All of these rights seem to change in every culture in the world, so are there no ultimate rights. Well let me tell you. There are two ways to look at it. There are the rights that nature has given us. Which are the right to have what ever we are strong enough to take and the right to die without mercy. Does that seem a little harsh? Well that's nature for you, she's a mother. Now the other way to look at it, is that rights are what most of the people in any given region agree is fair treatment. So, under this system there are no universal rights, just opinion. Does that make rights useless? Far from it. By constantly testing our rights against the current opinion, we learn the unofficial rules of our society. Thus if you can convince enough people around you that you have the right to fly unaided, then you are free to do so.

The role of the community worker is fraught with tensions and dilemmas

In Britain in the 21st century, community workers are often linked with economic regeneration and consultation, empowerment and capacity building. This is in total contrast with the 1970's when community work was very closely associated with social work. (Twelvetrees, 2003.) Twelvetrees suggests that at its simplest community work is the ‘process of assisting people to improve their communities by undertaking collective action.' (Twelvetrees, 2003.) Community work though is not just carried out by community workers, community leaders, support workers and many others may choose to call themselves community workers. The majority of community work is carried out by paid workers and they undertake a wide range of functions. Community workers are classically seen as a guide or catalyst, enabler or maybe a facilitator. Community workers ‘go' to the place of the group and can advise its members on how they can do what they want to do. They can also cover roles such as secretary or chair, broker or advocate, but most important being clear about the fact that they must be clear about the role which they are playing at a certain particular time. Twelvetrees, (2003) suggests that community workers should be a ‘Jack of all trades' who can take on different roles and approaches and are willing to bring them into play in different situations. Community work therefore has a wide skill base with a great emphasis placed on the ability to make judgements and build relationships with others. Community workers must be able to adapt to each new situation and be able to listen, understand and act in an appropriate way to the situation that they are involved with. Butcher, (in Butcher et al, 1993) suggests that on the most basic principles community stands for the idea that community is a network of people who share a common interest. For many, community is where they can both have a sociological and psychological link to others. Sociologically they can ‘be part' of the community and can ‘identify with' it psychologically. These two factors greatly strengthens the idea that community workers work with groups of people who have a common interest and reason for being together. Summarising the above Community work can therefore be best described as both a set of values and as a set of techniques, skills and approaches which are linked to these values. Twelvetrees (2003) suggests that these values are to do with justices, democracy, love and empowering, and ‘getting a better deal' for those who are in some way disadvantaged. Primarily community workers must be able to establish relationships with others see the world through the community's eyes and find ways to assist them to help themselves. The theory behind most community work is basically about helping people to get a better deal, primarily by making this happen themselves, by being a facilitator and empowering the community groups in which one is working. Derrricourt and Dale, (in Jacobs et al, 1994) suggests that no one can work in community work long before realising that even ‘the simplest thing is difficult'. Community work it's self is a task of working with groups of people who may have different ideas but empowering them to come to a mutual agreement and find common ground in order to make the ‘project' work. In any real life situation within community and youth work there will be pressures and constraints on a worker to operate in some ways rather than others. Whatever the ideology, the worker must select actions which seem most likely to help the members of the particular community to get a better deal for themselves and become more confident and skilled. Twelvetrees (2003) suggests that while the values of community workers will quite legitimately influence their priorities, they also have to be pragmatic about choosing which approach is likely to work best. One of the major sources of tension within community work is that some workers can sometimes go into a new project with the agenda already clear in their head, with no room for changing it. By having this approach community workers produce a great deal of tension simply because they are meant to be helping the community it's self get a better deal through empowerment but by coming in with a fixed agenda it suggests that they have it all worked out. This leaves no room for any sort of consultation or community group meetings and can take away nearly all the interest by the residents. By not using community consultation the residents can very easily loose interest and involvement in a project if they are suspicious of the fact that it is not what they want to see happening. Community workers must be careful to go into a project with an open agenda and the ability to mould the agenda to what the residents want or face tension and the possibility of the lack of support of the community that they are working in. This happened in my local community. A substantial grant was won to improve the town. The council decided to create a community centre that would house a cyber-cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ and open access hall for a variety of activities. It seemed like a good idea to the council yet the local community just wanted the money to be spent on tidying up the council estate, a new set of playground equipment and a new layer of paint in the church hall that the community had always used. Unfortunately the community worker and the council did not listen to what the residents wanted, and 5 years down the line the community centre is un-used except by a mothers and toddler group, with the rest of the community groups preferring to use their old hall. This project has tarred the council with a stereotype that they do not listen anyway so the local community has lost any belief in the fact that they are in it for their interests, even 5 years later this still is a lasting view. Community work often involves inter-agency working. Inter-agency work brings together a range of individuals, organisations and interest groups. By working with these agencies it can bring about tensions between the different managers, and can bring about competition and misunderstandings. Working with different agencies can seem like a good idea but there are many issues that can be raised and these can have a big effect on the overall ‘community; formed by the worker. Because each agency comes with its own agenda then their will be differences in the organisational systems. Banks et al (2003) states that different agencies have different systems for allocating work and recording and sharing information, this can cause many internal issues surrounding the smooth running of the project. When trying to work as a community worker to bring about change these issues must be carefully addressed. The tension will always be there because of the different agencies involved with their own interests but the role of the community worker here is to make sure that the project does not suffer and that the issues are dealt with in a open arena. Take for example a youth action project may include the police, youth workers and nurses. All these come with different agendas, youth workers looking at informal education and welfare, nurses on health and police officers on law enforcement and crime prevention. (Banks et all 2003) All of these different agenda have to be carefully managed in order for the project to be successful. Each agency must understand the importance of the project as a whole and be able to communicate any issues that it has with the other agencies. This is where the community worker can get stuck in the middle, between the different agencies and stuck in with inter-agency politics instead of being out in the community. Dilemmas also form part of the daily planning for community workers. Take for example the planning of a new project, does the worker go for a big and high profile project that will involve the whole community but may not be very effective due to the fact that it may never reach its goals. Or does the worker settle for the small project that will enable him/her to achieve the desired outcome and be able to address a certain issue that the community has raises like youth ‘hanging about on the streets'. This causes the community worker to face the fact that he either has to work with all the community, which he is likely to get more funding and support for, or just to focus on an achievable project like talking the youth ‘boredom' that is happening. Dilemmas surrounding confidentiality is always a difficult to decide the ‘right' course of action. Although community workers are not seen as a counselling service, many see workers as a trusted person in the community to talk to. In this situation confidentiality becomes important, but also the rules of breaking confidentiality have to be addressed as well. Confidentiality has its limitations to be enforced and this can cause the dilemma to the worker as to what is ethically right. Should the worker pass the information on or keep the confidentiality that he promised. (Roche, 2004) This issue was brought up when I was working as a youth worker in the local youth club setting. A young woman approached me saying that she needed to talk. Due to the fact that I had time to spare and she seemed distressed I let her talk and told her everything that she said would be confidential. She then told me that she was getting beaten up at home but did not want to it get out as she did to want her and her siblings to be spilt up. I spent a whole supervisory session talking to my supervisor about confidentiality. In the end I had to break it as a way of helping that young person to escape the endless circle but it was not a light hearted decision. My trust had been broken and since then the young girl has not come back to the youth club, but I know that she is now safe and living with a foster family and her siblings. One dilemma that community workers often face is the fact of accountability and who are they actually accountable to. Many workers would suggest that they are accountable to the community groups as they are working for what they need but others may suggest that they are accountable to the state and their employer. Community workers are employed by a wide range of bodies, including local authorities, primary care trusts, regeneration partnerships, charities, housing committees, the list is endless. All of these bodies have their own organisational and departmental aims for the community worker's role, and the worker is accountable to in a legal/employment sense to their employer. (Henderson and Thomas, 1992) In any community work there is the potential for a complex layering system of accountability, as managers may be employed by some agency to mange work funded by their agency. (Banks, 2003) this is where community workers can find them selves pulled in different directions and must always be careful about what they do. In some cases they may have to balance contradictory and compelling demands and attempt to make sense and achieve them in order to carry out the desired aim. This may be where they community project has been given a set of money from the Church of England for a youth project, this project has then started to deal with people from all religions coming to the project. In order to retain the centres success the worker does not want to ban the youth from the centre due to the fact that they are benefiting from it. Yet the worker is going against the aims of the funding application. In this case the worker has to be accountable to both the Church of England and the youth who are attending the project. In order to attempt to solve this situation then the worker must talk to the Church and attempt to re-structure the funding application so that it can be used across the project and not just on the youth of the Church. (Adapted from Brierley, 2002.) Bryants, (1982, cited in Jacobs et al) suggests that a community worker acts as a catalyst and has nine skills: 1. relational 2. communication 3. organisational 4. mediating 5. bargaining 6. entrepreneur 7. researcher 8. political 9. tactical. In order to be all these then at some point there will always be conflicting ideas and dilemmas to be addressed. One can not attempt to fill all theses roles of a community worker and still be able to work on a level ground with others. Although all of these are very important the fact that a community worker can relate to others within the community is essential and the skill of being able to accept differences and be able to address these is a skill which is learnt and will always be important in our world of work. There will always be tensions and dilemmas to address but these must not get us down. We must learn to take everything in our stride and learn from our mistakes, being able to see where we went wrong and be able to apply these lessons learnt to our future practise. Our strategy must be based on a clear awareness of what we as workers are aiming to achieve by our intervention and use negotiation and communication to overcome any difficulties that we encounter.

Blood Bananas: Chiquita in Colombia Essay

For Chiquita Brands International, a pioneer in the globalization of the banana industry, bananas are not only serious business, they represent an array of economic, social, environmental, political, and legal hassles. Since its founding more than a hundred years ago as United Fruit Company, Chiquita has been involved in paying bribes to Latin American government officials in exchange for preferential treatment, encouraging or supporting U.S. coups against smaller nations, putting in place dictatorships in Central America’s â€Å"banana republics,† exploiting local workers, creating an abusive monopoly, and now doing business with terrorists.1 For American multinationals, the rewards of doing business abroad are enormous, but so are the risks. Over the past decades, no place has been more hazardous than Colombia, a country that is just emerging from a deadly civil war and the effects of wide-ranging narco-terrorism. Chiquita found out the hard way. It made tens of millions in profit growing bananas in Colombia, only to emerge with its reputation splattered in blood.2 In 2004, Chiquita voluntarily admitted criminal responsibility to the U.S. Justice Department that one of its Colombian banana subsidiaries had made protection payments from 1997 through 2004 to terrorist groups. Consequently, a high-profile investigation and legal trial followed. In 2007, Chiquita entered into a plea agreement to resolve the criminal prosecution. The interactions between the Justice Department and Chiquita were very contentious, but with the settlement, Chiquita expected that it could put the past behind and refocus on developing its business. However, in 2010, the victims’ families filed a separate lawsuit against Chiquita in an American court, demanding compensation. At the same time, investigators in Bogota and on Capitol Hill were looking at other U.S. companies that may have engaged in similar practices, dealing with terrorists as part of the conduct of business. With this in mind, Fernando Aguirre, Chiquita’s CEO since 2004, reflected on how the company had arrived at this point, and what had been done to correct the course so far. He faced major challenges to the company’s competitive position in this dynamic industry. What would it take to position the company on a more positive competitive trajectory? Would this even be possible in this industry and in the business climate Chiquita faced? Chiquita Brands International: Defendant The atmosphere in the Washington D.C. courtroom on September 17, 2007, was testy, with the lawyers on both sides pointing fingers at each other. The defendant, Chiquita Brands International Inc., had already signed a plea agreement that included a US$25 million fine and a five-year probation period. In addition, Chiquita was required to hire a permanent compliance officer. The plea did not stop Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Malis from taking a shot at Chiquita. He accused the company of making millions in profits while paying off Colombian right-wing terrorist groups, including the AUC (United Self Defense Forces of Colombia), for almost seven years. He said the almost US$2 million in payments made by Chiquita â€Å"fueled violence† and â€Å"paid for weapons and ammunition to kill innocent people.†3 Copyright  © 2010 Thunderbird School of Global Management. All rights reserved. This case was prepared by Professors Andreas Schotter and Mary Teagarden, with the assistance of Monika Stoeffl, for the purpose of classroom discussion only, and not to indicate either effective or ineffective management. This document is authorized for use only in Estrategia 2013-I Preg. Montes by Juan Carlos Montes at UNIVERSITY DE LOS ANDES COLUMBIA from January 2013 to May 2013. Chiquita’s lead defense attorney, Eric Holder Jr., snapped back, accusing Malis of shading the facts, of â€Å"being a little too cute and a little too crafty,† as well as â€Å"a little deceptive.† Holder told the judge that the government was partly to blame for the company’s predicament. In 2001, the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, added Colombia’s AUC to the list of â€Å"specially designated foreign terrorist organizations† in company with mostly Middle East-based groups like Al Qaeda and Hamas. Holder argued that in 2003 Chiquita asked the U.S. Department of Justice if it should stop the payments to the terrorists. Holder said, â€Å"All the government had to do was, ‘yes, stop the payments,’ just say yes, but they never did.† Bananas are Serious Business As one of the first tropical fruits to be internationally traded, bananas are a cheap way to bring â€Å"the tropics† to North America and Europe. Over the years, bananas have become such a common, inexpensive grocery item that we often forget where they come from and how they get to us. Bananas flourish in tropical regions, such as the Caribbean and Central America, where the average temperature is 80 °F (27 °C), and the yearly rainfall is 78-98 inches (198-249 centimeters). In fact, most bananas are grown within 10 degrees north or south of the equator. Iceland is an exception, where banana plants grow in soil heated by geysers.4 Bananas do not grow on trees; instead, they are perennial plants, which grow repeatedly from the same root system. They are related to the orchid, lily, and palm families. Bananas are harvested green and ripened during the transportation process, and as soon as the banana stem is cut from the plant, ripening starts. Within 36 hours, the fruit is packed in boxes and loaded onto refrigerated ships, where the cool temperatures slow down the ripening process. The whole trip, from plantation to grocery store, takes about two weeks. The earliest recorded writings about the banana date from around 600 BC or earlier in India. There were several different varieties growing in the wild, all of which were inedible due to taste, and some varieties even made people ill. The Indian agriculturalists experimented with crossbreeding wild varieties of bananas, but while some of the resulting hybrids were edible, they were also sterile, which meant that the original plants needed to be crossbred each time someone wanted a new edible banana crop. Eventually, they came up with a hybrid that produced offshoots (suckers) that could be planted to grow into new plants full of sweet bananas. Between 400-300 BC, bananas found their way eastward with Alexander the Great and his armies. The banana appeared in Chinese literature around 200 AD and then migrated westward to Africa. From there, it likely hitched a ride in the ships of Spanish explorers to the Canary Islands, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and other parts of the western hemisphere. Along the way, other hybrid breeds were created. New varieties were also developed in China. Somehow, a Chinese banana made its way to Great Britain and became famous as the â€Å"Cavendish Banana,† named after an important English family. The Cavendish became the great granddaddy of all commercial bananas sold in the 21st century. In 2010, there were 300 different varieties of bananas worldwide, of which about 20 varieties are being grown commercially, mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In 2010, bananas were ranked third on the list of staple crops in the world after wheat and coffee, making them critical for economic and global food stability. Bananas are one of the biggest profitmakers in supermarkets. The average American eats 27 pounds of them every year. Europeans also love bananas. For example, in Sweden the per-capita consumption was 35 pounds. In Eastern Europe, consumption was growing strongly and had already reached 20 pounds per capita per annum. While bananas may simply be a humble fruit with a long history, the banana business creates serious environmental, economic, social, and political problems. Historically, the banana trade symbolized economic imperialism, injustices in the global trade market, and the exploitation of agriculture-dependent third-world countries.

Sole Survivor Essays - English-language Films, Survivor, McCunn

Sole Survivor Essays - English-language Films, Survivor, McCunn Sole Survivor This story is called Sole Survivor written by Ruthanne McCunn. It is based on a true story of one man's will to survive. It's an inspiration to all of mankind. This story is about a steward of the ship "S.S. Benlomond" which was torpedoed during the war. Lim was the only survivor. He survived on a wood life raft from the ship. Lim lived 133 days out at sea using his wits and will to keep him alive. Lim was awarded many tributes such as; a watch, the British Empire Medal, the Certificate of Honor, and the first foreign legal citizenship of the United States. Lim still holds to this day the record for the longest survival at sea. I think the author did a great job on this book. The detailing was very good, and very real. For example, "Exhaustion drained Lim's already depleted strength, blurred his vision, and muddied his thinking." (p. 72) This book was well written and well thought out. It was one of the few books I have ever enjoyed. I could really tell the author put a lot of time into this book. This book didn't have very many weaknesses to it but, like all books, it had a few. One thing I didn't like about the book was the constant rambling of his thoughts which made you uninterested in reading any further. For example, "His brothers had been similarly betrothed, and before they left Hainan, their parents had made a wedding for Gee Hin, so there would be a daughter-in-law to take care of the cow, pigs, chickens, and light farm work that the boys would no longer be there to do." (p. 82) I am not a person who likes to read, and if it just drags on about nothing, it fails to hold my attention. I think the author could have put a little more drama into it as well. In conclusion, I think overall this book was good. I would rate it 9-10 points. It was a book I feel fortunate to have read.

6 Idioms Using the Word for Dog in French

6 Idioms Using the Word for 'Dog' in French About 40 percent of the French consider their dogs the most important things in their lives. Thats good because there are 10 million of them  in France, which works out to about 17 for every 100 people. Many of the smaller breeds live charmed lives  in handbags, on restaurant chairs or eating gourmet doggie food; the countrys many hunting dogs are tolerated; dogs who chase cars apparently get chained up and sort of forgotten, and a lot of homeless pooches just run free. In the midst of all this is the growing French appreciation for the rights of dogs (and cats, horses, and other pets);  2014  legislation changes their Napoleonic-era status as personal property to living and feeling beings who can be protected from cruelty and inherit wealth.   French Idioms Featuring Dogs Although the French may have a hot-and-cold relationship with their dogs, they are a part of everyday French life and have been for centuries. So naturally, dogs appear often in popular French idioms. Here are six French-language idiomatic expressions using chien, the word for dog in French Actually, the  French word for dog can appear in one of three forms in expressions: as un chien for a male dog, une chienne  for a female dog, or un chiot  for a puppy. The latter is always masculine. Careful: The plural chiottes  is slang for toilets. Traiter quelquun comme un chien Translation: To treat someone like a dogMeaning: To treat them badly, physically or emotionally Mon boss me traite comme un chien;  il me parle agressivement, ne me fait jamais de compliment.My boss treats me like a dog; he speaks aggressively to me, never pays me a compliment. Avoir du chien Translation:  To have some dogMeaning:  To be attractive, to have a lot of charm. Used mainly for women Sylvie n’est pas vraiment belle, mais elle a du chien, et elle a beaucoup de succà ¨s auprà ¨s des hommes.Sylvie is not really pretty, but she has this special something, and she has a lot of success with men. Être d’une humeur de chien Translation:  To be in a dog’s moodMeaning:  To be in a very bad mood Oh la la, je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais je suis d’une humeur de chien ce matin!Oh my, I don’t know why, but I am in a terrible mood this morning! Avoir un mal de chien ( faire quelque chose) Translation:  To have a dog’s pain (to do something)Meaning: To be in a lot of pain OR to find doing something very difficult Hier, je me suis tordu la cheville, et aujourd’hui, j’ai un mal de chien.Yesterday, I twisted my ankle, and today, it hurts like crazy.​ J’ai un mal de chien faire cet exercice de grammaire.I have a very hard time doing this grammar exercise. Dormir en chien de fusil Translation:  To sleep like a gun’s hammer  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Meaning:  To sleep in a fetal position, curled up in  a ball​ Olivier dort allongà © sur le dos et moi, en chien de fusil.Olivier sleeps lying on his back and me, curled up in a ball. Se regarder en chien de faà ¯ence Translation:  To look at each other like china dog statuesMeaning:  To look at each other  in a coiled, aggressive way​ Ils se regardaient en chien de faà ¯ence et on pouvait voir la haine sur leurs visages.They were looking at each other with intensity, and you could see the hatred on their faces.

Mesopotamia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mesopotamia - Essay Example History has always been chronicled as a series of political events, rise and fall of dynasties. It is within the framework of political history that the historian has to discern the religious and intellectual emotions of the people living in the ancient world. Although literary sources are not abundant sine they have not been preserved till date, archeological sources including monuments and inscriptions provide us a more or less clear picture of the thought process of the people living in the ages gone by. Polytheistic religious ideas are evident in the inscriptions and dedications of various temples and shrines, the myths and legends of particular gods, the recorded or observed practices of various cults and rituals, hymns and prayers that were transcribed by the priests and priestesses of the temples. The Mesopotamian thought process and religious ideas were characterized by polytheism coupled with a unique pessimism. In Mesopotamia, city-states were theocracies. The king was rega rded as the political and religious leader of the city-state. He was the people’s representative to the gods, and was the ‘First Servant’ of the gods to the people. Individual city-states often adopted a patron god to worship as their chief god. but recognized the validity of other gods and worshiped them on appropriate occasions. However, one god would be chosen as a patron god to aid them in time of war or crisis.... lands on Mt. Nimush, he offers sacrifice to the gods. The gods responded by gathering like flies around the sacrifice having not received any because humanity was destroyed by the flood: "the gods smelled the sweet savour, and collected like flies over a sheep sacrifice." 2. Only the best yield of the land and best animals were sacrificed at these rituals. It was their conviction that Gods could be appeased only by these offerings. So they had to be of optimum quality. The whole community would be involved in these rituals. Localized or private cults dedicated to a particular god that limited membership to a few or an elite also emerged, but the predominant forms of cultic worship involved the whole community; rich and poor; artisan and craftsmen, city-dwellers and country folk. Mesopotamian polytheism had many gods and goddesses that were immortal, but these gods had gender and specific functions or duties, and thus, limited powers. While they may appear to have been powerful and immortal, they were very human, in terms of behavior and emotions. They had the full range of human emotions: they expressed fear, lust, anger, envy, greed; yet the gods also expressed love, compassion, and a sense of justice, as well as, injustice and revenge. One notices an incredible and overwhelming mood of pessimism and insecurity that underlines the Mesopotamian Weltanschauung (world-view). The Mesopotamians viewed their relationship with their gods in this way rather consistently. Since they were devoid of political and personal security, the threat of constant war contributed to a sense of dread, uncertainty, and pessimism. This is potrayed in the "Lament for Ur", in which the goddess Ningal recounts the destruction of Ur in wartime and the sufferings of her