ExploringThe Bhagavad Gita :: research papers, literary analysis

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Bhagavad-Gita begins with the preparation of battle between the two opposing sides: on the left stands the collected armies of the one hundred sons of Dhritarashtra and on the right lies the soldiers of the Pandava brothers. Warring relatives feuding over the right to govern the land of Kurukshetra, both forces stand poised and ready to slaughter one another. The warrior Arjuna, leader of the Pandava armies, readies himself as his charioteer, the god Krishna, steers toward the opposition when the armies are ready to attack. Arjuna stops Krishna short before the two sides clash together. Hesitation and pity creeps into Arjuna’s heart as he surveys his family and relatives on the other side; he loses his will to win at the cost of the lives he still loves. As Arjuna sets down his bow and prepares for his own death, the god Krishna begins his council with Arjuna, where Krishna uses various ideas on action, self-knowledge, and discipline to reveal to Arjuna the freedom to be attained from the suffering of man once Arjuna finds his devotion to Krishna.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before Krishna begins his teachings, Arjuna analyzes his emotions and describes to Krishna the way his heart feels. â€Å"Krishna, I seek no victory, or kingship or pleasures† (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 25). Arjuna admits that he stands to gain nothing of real worth from the war. He knows he cannot consciously triumph over family for his own wealth and glory. â€Å"We [Pandava brothers] sought kingships, delights, and pleasures for the sake of those assembled to abandon their lives and fortunes in battle† (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 25). Arjuna continues on to state that once the family is destroyed and family duty is lost, only chaos is left to overcome what remains. He goes so far as to describe how chaos swells to corrupt even the women in the families, creating disorder in society. Arjuna tells Krishna that the punishment for men who undermine the duties of the family are destined for a place in hell. Finally, Arjuna asks Krishna which is right: the tie to sacred duty or reason?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Krishna begins his explanation by stating that all life on earth is indestructible. â€Å"Never have I not existed, nor you, nor these kings; and never in the future shall we cease to exist† (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 31). Because life has always been, reasons Krishna, then how can man kill or be killed when there is no end to the self?

The Mind of Someone Who Uses Drugs :: essays papers

The Mind of Someone Who Uses Drugs In the mind of someone who does drugs there is always a reason to take that hit of acid, that pill of ecstasy, that line of coke or that bump of crystal. Justification is a powerful tool of persuasion, it’s a manipulation tool that others can use on you but more commonly you use on yourself. You don’t have to go to work for ten hours and the acid trip will only last about seven hours so as long as you don’t go to sleep you’ll be fine. You’ll not sleep for twenty-four hours and you’ll be cracked out as all hell at work but hell, it’s worth it. Most people that do drugs will say that they have great will power and only do a drug when they know they have the time and energy. I have heard and said that phrase so many times. The more drugs you do the less will you have to say no and the easier it is for people to persuade you to take that pill with them. Friends don’t persuade you because they want you to be â€Å"bad† like they are or any of that other crap you see on anti-drug commercials on television. Your friends want you to be there so that they can have fun with you while on the drugs together.. It is generally true that I have had most of my drug experiences with friends and it is also true that I have made some true bonds with people while on drugs. The question I use to always ask myself is â€Å"who are my real friends and who were friends that I made simply because we were on a substance†. It is so easy to bond with someone while on drugs, especially ecstasy. On the drug ecstasy it’s possible to bond with someone while that you have never gotten along with and probably never will again. My girlfriend who I dated for about three months, while knowing that I was gay, I met through drugs. Since she and I were generally high on something at all times our relationship was completely ( what does this meanthrough) and because of drugs. I have not spoken to her for over five months and if we did speak we would probably have little interest in each other.

Capitalismâ€a Propaganda Story Essay

Michael Moore is the Leni Riefenstahl of our time. Or, perhaps he would be better characterized as a Bizzaro World Leni Riefenstahl, because while she propped up with propaganda the political powers of her time, Moore uses the same techniques to bring down the powers of our time, be it GM (Roger and Me), the gun lobby (Bowling for Columbine), the government (Fahrenheit 911), the health care industry (Sicko), or free enterprise (Capitalism: A Love Story). In this latest installment in his continuing series of what’s wrong with America, Michael Moore takes aim at his biggest target to date, and the result is a disaster. The documentary is not nearly as funny as his previous films, the music selections seem contrived and flat, and the edits and transitions are clumsy, wooden, and not nearly as effective as what we’ve come to expect from the premiere documentarian (Ken Burns notwithstanding) of our time. And, most importantly, the film’s central thesis is so bad that it’s not even wrong. First, let me confess that even though I have disagreed with most of Michael Moore’s politics and economics throughout his career, I have thoroughly enjoyed his films as skilled and effective works of art and propaganda, never failing to laugh — or be emotionally distraught — at all the places audiences are cued to do so. My willing suspension of disbelief that enables me to take so much pleasure from works of fiction, does not always serve me well when pulled into the narrative arc of a documentary. Thus it is that with his past films I have exited the theater infuriated at the same things Moore is †¦ until I rolled up my sleeves and did some fact checking of my own, at which point Moore’s theses unravel (with the possible exception of Bowling for Columbine, his finest work in my opinion). But with Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore’s propagandistic props are so transparent and contrived that I never was able to suspend disbelief. What was especially infuriating about Capitalism: A Love Story was the treatment of the people at the bottom end of the economic spectrum. The film is anchored on two eviction stories contrived to pull at the heart strings. One family filmed the eviction process themselves and sent the footage to Moore in hopes he’d use it (many are called, few are chosen), and the other was filmed by Moore’s crew. The message of both is delivered with a sledge hammer: Greedy Evil Soul-Sucking Bankers (think Lionel Barrymore’s villainous Mr. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life) are tossing out onto the streets of America poor innocent families who are victims of circumstances not of their making. Why? First, because this is what Greedy Evil Soul-Sucking Bankers do for fun on weekends. Two, because the economic crisis caused solely by said bankers has made it impossible for families to make the payments on those subprime loans they were tricked into taking by those same bankers, who themselves were suckered into a Ponzi-like scheme cooked up by Alan Greenspan and his Wall Street/Federal Reserve buddies to take back the homes fully owned by (first) the elderly and (then) the poor. In the fine print that the bankers carefully slipped past the elderly and the poor for these second mortgages and subprime loans, the contracts said that the rates on variable rate loans could go up, and that the house was collateral for the loan such that if the loan payments are not made the home is subject to foreclosure and repossession by the bank (which is what the bankers are hoping happens). In Michael Moore’s worldview, a goodly portion of the American people are ignorant, uneducated, clueless pinheads too stupid to realize the fundamental principle of a loan: you have to have collateral to secure the loan! No collateral, no loan. You say to the banker â€Å"I would like to take out a loan.† The banker says to you â€Å"what do you have for collateral?† What happened in the housing boom was that bankers relaxed their standards for what they would require for collateral (and income, assets, etc.) because (1) the government told them to do so and promised to cover their losses if it didn’t work out, and (2) they wanted to make more money; and borrowers wanted in on the cash cow that everyone was milking, from individual house flippers looking for a quick buck, to ordinary families wanting extra cash for remodeling, tuition, or whatever, to mortgage giants wanting corporate expansion. And all were driven by the same motive: greed! Yes, greed. Those evicted families knew perfectly well what they were doing when they freely chose to climb onto the housing bubble and take it for a ride. I have a much higher view of the American public than does Michael Moore. I don’t think the American people are so stupid or uneducated that they didn’t know what they were doing. This wasn’t rocket science. It was even on television, the ne plus ultra of pop culture! I well remember watching A & E’s television series Flip This House, and reading all those magazine articles and get-rich-quick books on how to make a fortune in the real estate market, and thinking â€Å"wow, everyone’s getting rich except me; how can I get in on the action?† What I felt is, I’m sure, what lots of people felt. I looked into securing a second mortgage on my home in order to build a second home on an undeveloped portion of my hillside property, and then selling it to turn a tidy profit. Everyone was doing it. What could go wrong? Well, for starters I thought, what if it takes longer to build the home than I projected? We all know how slow construction projects can be. Could I make the payments on the second mortgage for an additional six months to a year? And what if I couldn’t sell that second home? Could I make the payments on the new loan indefinitely? What if my income decreased instead of increased, like it was at the time (and, subsequently, did †¦ dramatically!). And what would happen if I couldn’t make the payments? The answer was obvious, and it wasn’t in the fine print: I could lose my primary home. Forget that! Making a profit on a second home would be nice, but losing my first home would hurt well more than twice as much as making a profit on the second home would feel good. That’s a basic principle of risk aversion: losses hurt twice as much as gains feel good. Now, I’m not really a risk-averse guy (I gave up a secure career as a college professor for an insecure career as a writer and publisher), but even I could see the inherent risks involved when the home you live in could be taken away. My hillside remains sagebrush and wild grass. What about the people on the other end of the economic spectrum — the bankers and Wall Street moguls? Why aren’t they being evicted. Now, given that I’m a libertarian, you might expect me to come to the defense of Corporate America. Not so. Here I am in complete agreement with Michael Moore that, as I’ve been saying since the day it was first pronounced, â€Å"too big to fail† is the great myth of our time. None of these giant corporations — GM, AIG, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, et al. — should have been bailed out. In fact, they should have been allowed to fail, their stocks go into the toilet, their employees tossed out on to the gilded streets of lower Manhattan, and their CEOs dispersed to work as greeting clerks at Walmart. They gambled and lost on all those securities, bundled securities, derivatives, credit default swaps, and other â€Å"financial tools† that I’ll bet not one in a hundred Wall Street experts actually understands. If you really believe in free enterprise, you must accept the freedom to lose everything on such gambles. These CEOs and their corporate lackeys are nothing more than welfare queens who adhere to the motto â€Å"in profits we’re capitalists, in losses we’re socialists.† Sorry guys, you can’t have it both ways without corrupting your morals, which you have, along with the politicians you’ve bribed, cajoled and otherwise coerced to your bidding. The solution? I have some suggestions of my own, but Michael Moore’s solution is beyond bizarre: replace capitalism with democracy. Uh? Replace an economic system with a political system? Even the à ¼ber liberal Bill Maher was baffled by that one when he hosted Moore on his HBO show. How does a democracy produce automobiles and computers and search engines? It doesn’t. It can’t. Capitalism: A Love Story, ends with a remarkable film clip that Moore discovered of President Franklin Roosevelt reading from his never proposed second Bill of Rights (he died shortly after and the document died with him). Included in the list are: The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation; The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation; The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living; The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad; The right of every family to a decent home; The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health; The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment; The right to a good education. That’s nice. To this list I would add a computer in every home with wireless Internet access. I’m sure we could all think of many more things â€Å"under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all — regardless of station, race, or creed,† in Roosevelt’s words. But there is one question left unstated: Who is going to pay for it? If there is no capitalism, from where will the wealth be generated to pay for all these wonderful things? How much does a â€Å"decent† home costs these days, anyway? Do you see the inherent contradiction? Of course you do. So does Michael Moore, who elsewhere in the film longs for the good old days when the â€Å"rich† were taxed 90% of their earnings. So did Willie Sutton, who answered a similar question after being nabbed by the FBI during the Great Depression and asked by a reporter why he robs banks: â€Å"Because that’s where the money is.†

Virgin Atlantic Airways Case Study

Critically assess how the organisation has employed e-business technologies to perform its key business processes and improve service levels for its customers To begin with, the online e-business model of Virgin Atlantic Airways is a business to consumer as the Virgin Atlantic Airways sells plane tickets directly to customers without passing intermediaries. Virgin Atlantic Airways implements the e business technologies to perform its key business processes and improve service levels for its customers by improving reservation online, provide all convenient services, flight data , route, cost saving ,more flight and news update and promotion. Reservation Online System First of all, Virgin Atlantic Airways (2012) stated that the reservation online enhance booking system and increase sales. This is because it is convenient for passengers to check dates and flight. No matters where passenger live, they can reserve online and make a payment directly to Virgin Atlantic Airways through credit cards. Secondly reservation online provide all level of services. So passengers can select the service to suit their need. Virgin Atlantic Airways provide services such as economy class, premium economy class as well as upper class. Convenient. B2C or Business direct to customer is quite convenient and efficient with airline business (Kotler, 2008) . This reduces the need of sell agents as intermediary. As a result of this, Virgin Atlantic Airways can sell plane ticket at a lower price. Furthermore, e-business technology can increase foreign passengers through Virgin Atlantic Airways booking system. This is because foreign passengers can check the route , flight data and prices to compare with other airline. However, if they find Virgin Atlantic Airways suit their need more , they will book directly with Virgin Atlantic Airways. Flight Data E-business technologies make a flight data more accurate and fast due to, the system is operated by computer. To demonstrate this, if one passenger book the plane ticket the system will show the seats availability left and if one change his or her mind by cancellation the system will responds very quick. Route E-business technologies could perform its key business processes and improve service levels for passengers by showing the flight route and provide alternative route for passengers to select. Therefore, passengers have varies option to pick the most convenient route and economical route. For a long flight, sometime passengers can pick an economical flight by choosing the flight that transfer at other airport or require couples stop. This enhance customers base and flight booking system. More Flight Virgin Atlantic Airways (2012) mentioned that online system can enhance more flight. This is due to if any flight or route is popular due to high demand or season factors. The system will suggests to possibility to increase more flight . Therefore, Virgin Atlantic Airways revenue and profit will rise as Virgin Atlantic can serve more demand. Cost Saving Cost saving is one of major key success of Virgin Atlantic Airways (Kotler, 2008) . The e business online system can save the cost effectively as there is less need for sell agents and intermediary . Also, the e-business system can manage ticket price effectively as well. This is because if the fuel price and tax price change , the system will adjust the selling price of plane ticket instantly. E –business system which is a computer system require less staffs working. Therefore, the system can save hiring cost. News update and Promotion. Virgin Atlantic website shows all news and promotion update. This is a fast way to communicate directly to passengers and it is quick because the company can just update instantly. This benefits both passengers and the Virgin Atlantic company due to passengers can compare the airways promotion with other airways or decide to purchase the promotion that suit their need instantly.

Supply Chain Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Supply Chain Managment - Essay Example The environmental changes have given rise to problems such as uncertain climatic changes that threaten the existence of all life forms. The Mileage calculator introduced a new parameter of monitoring the addition of pollution in the environment. In the mean time, by utilizing an unbroken supply chain with quality and cost effectiveness, the supermarket suppliers develop new supply chains from farm lands to the supermarket with innovation and new strategic allies. These supply lines some times use airplanes, some times trains and of course all of them use the road routes. For example, The Netherlands is the fourth biggest European Union exporter of fresh fruits. The largest export includes grapes 16%, apple 15% and orange 9% (CBI, 2005), Recommendations to Corporate Strategists As a consultant to the corporate strategists of the fruit and vegetable supermarket I recommend that the corporate should not compromise on the quality of the products at any cost. Secondly, it has to take step s to offer the best price to their customers. Thirdly, the environment sustainability issue should also be a major concern for the corporate. The quality of the product should be maintained within the over all cost, no matter from where the products get imported. As far as the millage calculator is concerned, most of the time there are no other solutions to use means of transportation like buses, trains, and air planes to transport fresh products to the customers. The cost (in terms of cash, environmental sustainability, labor and sometimes the quality) does not rely upon the nearest available products in comparison to fresh products from far places. Here the question arises that how to maintain the affordable cost for the customers... This paper approves that the earth is facing new challenges in the form of global warming, toxic rains, earthquakes, floods, melting of icebergs and big typhoons as well as cyclones and hurricanes. The environmental changes have given rise to problems such as uncertain climatic changes that threaten the existence of all life forms. The Mileage calculator introduced a new parameter of monitoring the addition of pollution in the environment. In the mean time, by utilizing an unbroken supply chain with quality and cost effectiveness, the supermarket suppliers develop new supply chains from farm lands to the supermarket with innovation and new strategic allies. The quality of the product should be maintained within the over all cost, no matter from where the products get imported. As far as the millage calculator is concerned, most of the time there are no other solutions to use means of transportation like buses, trains, and air planes to transport fresh products to the customers. The c ost does not rely upon the nearest available products in comparison to fresh products from far places. This essay comes to the conclusion that according to the corporate strategy the corporation should take care about the performance in terms of 'ethical' and 'cost' bases. The corporation should be very clear about their target customers with respect to their choice. If customers do not compromise on cost and compromise on quality then definitely it should not be your target.

Mid term constitutional law 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mid term constitutional law 3 - Essay Example There are two varied views on the right for a person to hold and carry weapons, those who agree with this right and those against it (Bogus, 2000). Those for this view argue that individuals need guns for their self protection within the confines of their residences and that so long as they keep these weapons dismantled and not functioning, there is no cause for alarm. Others who love hunting as a sport argue that they need their guns for this purpose reasoning that as long as they are doing it strictly on their property there is no danger posed by the usage of their weapons. Consequently, both these groups of people in favor of this right maintain that owning a weapon is their fundamental freedom right (Halbrook, 1989). On the other hand, those against this view argue that the Second Amendment has no control on criminals and the mentally challenged possessing weapons; neither does it help deter people carrying weapons while entering institutions and buildings or moving around freely with a firearm. They also maintain that Second Amendment fails to provide provisions that govern weapons being sold. For instance, person may acquire an unlicensed weapon illegally and use it to commit a crime then use the second amendment right as defense alleging that his rights were infringed upon by quoting the Bill of Rights (Halbrook, 1989). The stance I find convincing is the one that is against the possession of weapons despite the reasons for ownership. For one, this is extremely dangerous especially if the weapon is kept at home, and minors have access to it (Bogus, 2000). Then there is the probability of it going off unexpectedly and injuring an innocent person. There have been several cases in learning institutions where innocent students and teachers have been killed or injured by a student carrying a weapon to school (Halbrook, 1989). Further still, there are no clear provisions that govern the weapons being sold. I believe that rights should also have some

Racial Profiling Goes Beyond Black and White by Polakow-Suransky, Essay

Racial Profiling Goes Beyond Black and White by Polakow-Suransky, (Pages.200-205) - Essay Example rican Americans, especially young males, are more likely than are whites to be involved in the commission of a crime.   Racial profiling is illegal but police are allowed to stop and search drivers if they have reason to believe that person may be in possession of drugs or weapons so therefore, this practice continues. Since September 11, 2001, law enforcement agencies around the country are practicing a new type of racial profiling which has the approval of most all citizens. It is referred to as ‘flying while Arab.’ â€Å"In the post-September 11 climate, ‘driving while black’ has become ‘flying while brown’† (204). Many cases have been reported where Arab, or ‘Arab looking’ Americans have been ordered to depart airplanes simply because their appearance was making some of the other passengers uneasy. Decisions regarding what person to hire, which people will be admitted and who will be detained by airport security as their suitcase is ransacked while they are trying to catch a plane is based upon characteristic generalities that are either observable or perceived. However, even when generalizations are statistically legitimate, they can be very erroneous in particular cases. For example, many black students are more prepared, scholastically speaking, to enter a university than many white students. Racial profiling is, by anyone’s definition, a rational method of discrimination. While most would have agreed prior to September 11, 2001 that racial discrimination is morally wrong and cannot be justified for any reason, those following the tragic events which killed more than 3000 Americans and the continued threat of terrorism has made this practice more palatable and even desirable. Had the terrorists that committed these acts not been of Arab descent, then the profiling of airplane passengers and the widespread fear of this particular ethnic group would not be a matter of discussion. Profiling Arabs is an easy sell to a country made up