Family Guy Travesty Essay Example for Free

Family Guy Travesty Essay Scholars express the concern that the image of an American family is transitively evolving through time. The conceptions of denigrating the styles and beliefs of racial-ethnic, immigrant, gay-lesbian, and single parent families has been contended in the early nineties to be that which is not encouraging the veracity of portraying an American family but rather offers the otherwise. Hence, little has been known on the context of the eminent portrayal of an American family in television. Family ideology shapes the consciousness and expectations of those growing up the margin of the mainstream; nevertheless, this leads to the manifestation that the image of the aforementioned member in the community transforms as the market of media simultaneously evolves as well (Greenblatt, 1990). In essence, media is one of the most surprising sources of information in the society. The potential of television to negatively or positively affect attitudes, social behaviors, and other sort of the like has been studied and thrilling results were gathered. Same is true for the portrayal of families, age, sex, and race-role socialization. As a matter of fact, studies show that the images seen on television by its viewers somehow serve as an educational tool, with this, the threat of getting the â€Å"wrong perspectives† is uncontrollable and so are the views of those who have been touched by the influence of media (Fabes, Wilson, Christopher, 1989). This then connotes the perception that the portrayals aired on television are products of the evolving sense of simultaneous reaction over the media and the society. In simple logic, what the society wishes to see are given by the media, therefore, the portrayal of an American family in the television nowadays are depicting â€Å"reality† so to speak. Of course critics often spur a fight with whatever is served on the table that is not a new thing. How media portrays an American family is an issue that comes along with societal changes (Lasswell, 2002). More specifically, the rise of â€Å"reality TV shows† could attest to that matter. 1950: The Black and White Medium Media in the fifties were not as influential as it has been today. Perhaps the barrier on this is the connotation that there were only few who has television in their household because TV shows were then new to them. In the light of portraying American families, the issue on ethics and morality then surfaces the scenario. Americans were still â€Å"conservative† in some point that showing the â€Å"bedroom† or love scenes would be considered as pornography. Basically, what most viewers would love watching are news about the war, or the commercials which are basically done on live stream. The scarcity of technology and celebrities keep the audience up waiting for their favorite show to air. As critics and normal citizens would contend, they consider the shows in the fifties as strict and politically correct; perhaps because television wanted to portray an â€Å"idealistic† form of family to attract audience whom as commended are experiencing several financial and social problems during that time (Lasswell, 2002). Popular shows in the fifties Something unique sprouted during the 1950s in the vortex of television shows – the heroes were young men returning from war to a nation ravished and ripe for one of the greatest booms in civilized history, and the love stories that utterly triggers romance among its viewers. Few of the shows who topped are The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver and the Lone Ranger. These shows were among the pioneers of the quasi-comic, quasi-drama shows that contemporary media are now pursuing. For Nelson and Harriet’s reality show, it portrayed the reality of being in a middle class family in the eyes of the masses. They were in the limelight and the story mainly revolved to them. It was the politeness of David and Ricky which captured the hearts of young women, and what amazes the audience all the more were the practicality of the show since they were all representing their real lives and their real names. Similarly, the Beavers in Leave it to Beaver belonged to the â€Å"elites† or the middle-class families. They were the epitome of nice individuals and they were living in Pleasantville. Airing for ten years, I Love Lucy was the representation of a typical American family. Unlike that of the Ozzies, there is a husband who frantically hates his wife’s dream of becoming famous and being a movie star but never left her despite the opposing poles. Not only that, there was a bond between Lucy’s family and the Mertz, it showed that a typical American family is healthy inside and outside the corners of their house (Casconi, 2008). 1960: Batman, Gilligan’s Island and the Addams Family Conceivably, the sixties is considered as the rise of â€Å"superficiality. † This is because the shows which topped the charts were owned by fictional characters and imaginary families. There came Batman, Gilligan’s Island and the Addams Family. Among the rest, these are few of the shows which are carried on in the 21st century. As a matter of fact, up to date, these shows have several renditions—movies, cartoon shows and theatrical plays—all of which connote one thing, that their influence is flexible. American families in such shows showed determination, passion for life and love for family. Still, explicitness was not very much present due to the fact that there have been regulations on the content of the shows aired. However, the question needs further deliberation as there are media laws and other forms of rules but then again, these are not properly implemented since these are tolerated (Casconi, 2008). Empowerment: The positive effect of media in the current schema For every human services organization, the empowerment both of its members and of its target population is perhaps at the core of its every endeavor. A compact and lively human service can only be thoroughly and truly achieve under the condition where the members and participants in the provision of human services are active and empowered. There are many ways to achieve this end, and perhaps the most recent of these ways is the trend of using video files for informing the public and the members of the organization (Coontz, 1998). Since empowerment essentially means â€Å"bringing people who are outside the decision-making process into it (Rowlands, 1995, p. 102). † Thus, it can be said that the empowerment of people outside of the inner circle in the provision of human services can be achieved through the actual mode of absorbing these people right into the heart of the decision-making process. This can be achieved through the help of digital videos where a careful elaboration into the processes of the provision of human services is done through moving images instead of the conventional paper documents and slideshow presentations. For example, the group of people who does not fall among the ranks within the circle of decision-makers in the human service operations can be empowered by giving them a thorough and lively presentation of what they will be doing. By making them fully aware of their tasks, they can be empowered in terms of preparing for what they should expect from the actual operations or field work. Digital videos can help strengthen such a drive for empowering the other members of the human services organization through the creation of visually stimulating videos or documentaries which are rich in content but are not presented in a stale and conventional manner typical to that of formal business corporate meetings. By using videos to stimulate the active participation of the organization members who are not essentially part of the decision-making body can lead to a more vibrant campaign for providing services to people. For instance, in organizational operations such as information dissemination, the human services organization can arrive at certain decisions such as what specific information should be given to the audience and what specific information should given more emphasis and how it can be achieved by taking into consideration the perceptions of the other members (Lasswell, 2002). One way to spur these members to contribute to the decision-making process is by showing them what the organization and the people expect from them through videos. By the time the other members are informed and have become acquainted with the expectations, they can further replenish the tasks and operations of the organization by sharing what they know to the decision-making body which the latter may not be familiar with (Okwumabua, 1999, p. 154). For example, after playing a certain digital video documentary, other members who are very much familiar with the topic viewed can be stimulated by the desire to share what one knows for the awareness and betterment of the organization. The Underprivileged: Their Dose of an Ideal Family in the Fifties The scenario in the fifties showed the following: acutely and chronically ill children were cared for in hospitals and other institutions with severely restricted parental visiting privileges; moreover, children with chronic illnesses rarely survived. But the otherwise are shown today, advances in health care have prolonged and improved the lives of children with chronic illness, and the majority of children are cared for by their families in their homes and communities. The first merger movement at the turn of the century led to significant concentration in some manufacturing industries, and less conspicuous inter-corporate links through family connections, financial houses, and interlocking directorates probably reinforced the trend towards concentration. However, there seems to have been little trend toward increased concentration since then, although average concentration ratios, however measured, show modest increases since 1945. Whatever the measures used, it is clear that oligopoly is prevalent in about one-half of American manufacturing industry, and that there remain sharp distinctions in concentration levels among industries. This does not mean that there have been no recent changes 1950; problems of housing, medical services, education and employment. And so majority of the families were in dire need of a dose of fantasy in their lives (Lasswell, 2002). If they were living in the underprivileged level of the pyramid, then at least they witness how Lucy and Harriet lived a life of fame and fortune. Sixties and Crossing the Lines of Mainstream TV Meanwhile, the expansion of schooling combined with growing affluence contributed to the emergence of a youth culture separate and apart from the family. Late-Twentieth-Century Families In 1960, 70 percent of American households consisted of a go-to-workdad, a stay-at-home mom, and two or more kids. By the end of the twentieth century less than 10 percent of American households fit that profile. But what makes the sixties fascinating in the world of media and broadcasting were the rise of â€Å"adventure† flicks and creative stories. Apart from the â€Å"usual† types of stories—which in one point are considerably idealistic—they crossed the line and took the risk of introducing superficial characters, and superficial kinds of families. 21st Century Warning: Explicit Content The presence of media as a tool of information dissemination has increased largely because of the technological innovations consistently being introduced not only in advancing the productivity rate of media organizations but also in expanding the capacity of the various media outlets to include a wider range of topics (Hudson, 1986). With this expansion, the subjects incorporated into the mass media has also been augmented (Graber, 1980) such that former topics that were once rarely untouched have now been constantly infused with unceasing publicity such as those that tackle Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The changes made by mass media are evidently found on a series of notions due to consciousness, certain perceptions on reality and the palpable alterations of the masses’ individual lives concurrent on what had reconstituted by the mentioned technological change (Palmer Young, 2003). Technological or digital innovation dwelled on to by human beings had been observed to have been conducting a protective bubble of fixed racial, cultural and ethnic identity resulting to a sense of detachment which lies on the physical state of the screen persona as well as with the transcends in the reality of social culture (Barker Petley, 2001). To thoroughly understand the representation of media of an American family, one must be enlightened of the status of real-life events. With this, an assessment on the trend of the shows shall commence. Perceivably, the five major parts regarding on the family status includes married, separated, widowed, divorced and never married. Their study showed that there is an increasing number of adults who are not presently married due because of separation of the partners. As expected, there was a variation of the proportion of the numbers of separated people in different cities of the country. Florida exhibits the highest rate of divorce while in Boston and California got the lowest proportion. This can be explained because of the geographic differences (DAntonio, 2004). Gradually, television shows nowadays such as those which have been mentioned are almost synonymous in context and manner. Furthermore, American families differ from those of more educated families who typically were studied with regard to family interactions and adolescent autonomy issues. Inner-city African American families may experience age-condensed generations such that the generational boundaries are not as clear. Because the boundaries between the roles of mothers and daughters may be blurred, the need for a struggle over autonomy issues may be less salient because the authority differences were never as strong (Lawler, 1997). Additionally, autonomy issues may not be as pressing in a context characterized by preoccupations with the representation of media in such forms of distinction. How they portray and American family is no longer boxed in a certain class—Americans, for that instance—but their target market includes global viewers. Nonetheless, the diversity of characterization of the shows is proof that freedom in the vortex of media and entertainment has lesser rules and the core virtue lies in the truth of fame (Fabes et al. , 1989).

Demand And Supply In The Cigarette Industry Economics Essay

Demand And Supply In The Cigarette Industry Economics Essay The following essay helps us know what demand and supply concept and that we are explaining with the example of cigarette industry. And we have also mentioned the factors affecting the demand and supply for cigarettes in the market. The essay also includes the income effect, impact of close substitutes and compliments, and also the price and income elasticity of the product of the industry. A cigarette is a product consumed through smoking and manufactured out of cured and finely cut tobacco leaves and reconstituted tobacco, often combined with other additives,[1] then rolled or stuffed into a paper-wrapped cylinder (generally equal to 100  mm in length and 10  mm in diameter). Rates of cigarette vary widely. While rates of smoking have leveled off or declined in the developed nations, they continue to rise in developing nations. Fixing the price of a product is a very important factor for an organisation and the product success. Organizations look at the effective demand (demand) and effective supply (supply) of a product to set the best price to generate the maximum revenue for the organisation. If the price of the product increases or decrease then it can affect the demand of the product. As the price of a good rises less will be demanded, and if the price falls more will be demanded (Philp Galt, 2009, Lecture Notes, p: 2). The increase or decrease in price can happen due to the either external or internal or both environments of the organisation. Demand of a product or service can be defined as the amount of a particular economic good or service that a consumer or group of consumers will want to purchase at a given price over a specific period of time. The demand is usually downward sloping, since consumers will want to buy more as the price decreases. Demand for a good or service is determined by different factors other than price, such as the price of substitute goods and complementary goods. In extreme cases, demand may be completely unrelated to price, or nearly infinite at a given price (in the case of the tobacco industry) (Beardshaw, 1991). According to Philp, Dan and Galt (2009) it could be deduced that demand relative to the tobacco industry is caused by a number of aspects in which the key driver is the price of the cigarettes. As a result, for a cigarette (t) the quantity demanded (QtD) represents a function of its price (pt), individual customer (n) income levels (Y1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Yn), other forms of substitutes like electronic cigarettes and herbal cigarettes (r1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦rt-1) and other external factors (E) such as labour, raw material. Then, demand within the tobacco industry can be represented as QtD = f (pt, Y1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Yn, r1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦rt-1, E) Being consistent with this, influential demand in economics (tobacco industry) would be hard to figure the quantity demanded due to the number of determinants required to make-up the cigarette packets price and quantity, therefore, it is assumed that all factors are held constant and the market (quantity demanded) is analysed as a function of packet price. So the quantity demanded QtD = f (pt, Y1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Yn, r1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦rt-1, E) Graphically illustrated will be Following the above figure, managers would be able to depict that the higher the price of the cigarette packets in the industry, the lower the demand for it. Consequently prices will have to move from p0 to p1 in order to increase demand from q0 to q1. Consider two extreme cases. Suppose the price of all cigarettes rises by 1 per cent. The quantity of cigarettes demanded will not affect that much. People who can easily quit smoking have already done so. In contrast, suppose the price of a particular brand of cigarettes rises by 1 per cent, all other brand prices remaining unchanged. We expect a much larger quantity response. Consumers switch from the dearer brand to other brands that also satisfy the nicotine habit. For a particular cigarette brand the demand elasticity is quite high. From the above figure it can be noted that the same $1 tax has a much larger impact on quantity when demand is more elastic than when it is inelastic. Elasticity is the responsiveness of one variable (e.g. demand) to a change in another (e.g. price). This concept is fundamental to understanding how market works. The more elastic variable is, the more responsive the market to changing circumstances (Sloman, 2005). The law of demand states that a fall in the price of a good raises the quantity demanded. The price elasticity of demand measures how much the quantity demanded responds to a change in price. (Mankiw, 1998) Cigarette consumption is totally found to be negatively related to price. As far the result of the test, surveys and the studies done before, there result says that increase in price on cigarettes are not that much affected on the demand of it. Many economists viewed that cigarette smoking is illogical and therefore not suitable for usual economic analysis. They believe that demand for cigarettes does not follow the basic law of economics including the downward-sloping demand curve. Findings on how demand for cigarettes changes as consumers income increases is inconsistent. From a number of studies it found that income has either negative effect or insignificant effect on the demand of cigarettes. As far as the government and other health concern trust are trying to stop smoking in public place and in the private work sites because it is very harmful for other who is non smoker and it is not environmental friendly (Bradford, 2003, Vol 9). Government at all levels are adopting the policies to limit smoking. Government also banned that it the customer should be above a legal age to buy the cigarettes. World health organisation survey of smoking control policies in lot of countries indicated that the mostly all the countries have adopted policies to limit smoking in public places. Although the restrictions are primarily intended to reduce non-smokers, they can also affect the smokers since the restrictions reduce the smokers opportunities to smoke or otherwise raise the cost of smoking (Reuijl Leeflang, 1985, Vol 49). Cigarettes was the one of the most advertised and promoted product in the world. But due to some controversial issues many countries restrict it. While some other countries have few restrictions, others ban advertising and promotion completely. Due to the restriction on the advertising and the promotion the demand of the cigarette industry was affected. A lot of new opportunities of the new organization to enter are hard. And the new customers or consumers are decreased. And due to this there is less increase in the quantity of the young generation. Cigarettes are been long been taxed by the government and due to this there is rise in the price in some countries. Taxes are varying from country to country and the price also. The inelastic demand off the product makes good revenue for the government. But in recent taxation has been applied to cigarettes are in order to health. Cigarette taxes in some countries such as the United States have been imposed by various levels of government, national, state and local level. Governments in nearly every country impose taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products. One of the major factors that affect the demand for any product is due to the substitutes. The more substitutes, the more elastic the demand will be. For example, if the price of petrol went up by  £0.25, consumers could replace public transport. This means that petrol is an elastic good because a raise in price will cause a large decrease in demand as consumers start travelling by the public transport more from private transport. The rise of the fuel price can affect the automobile industry. This factor is also known as the invisible hand (Adam Smith Cited in Mishan, 1993, p 91) which is affected from the variation of the other product or substitutes which affects the main product demand in the market. For the tobacco industry the invisible hand factor is not that much affected but the competition in the market within the industry is high. If the price of alcohol goes up as a whole, there will be probably a little change in the consumption of beer and other products because there are only few substitutes for alcohol. Most people are not willing to give up their enjoyment at any cost and even the alcohol is used in several medicines also so no matter what the price is the consumption of alcohol will be not affected by the substitutes. Therefore, we would say, that alcohol is an inelastic product because of its lack of substitutes. So we can say that a product is elastic in the industry but the complete industry tends to be inelastic. This is the second factor that effects the demand elasticity and it refers the total amount of a person that can be spend on a particular product or good. Like, if the price of a chocolate goes up from  £1 to  £2 and income of the customer remains the same, the amount that is available to spend on chocolate is for e.g.  £4, is now enough for only 2 rather than 4 chocolates. In other words, the customer is forced to reduce the demand of chocolate. Thus if there is an increase in price and no change in the amount of income available to spend on the product then there will be an elastic reaction in demand. But in cigarette industry it is not that much affected because of the addiction of the consumer. Time is the third factor which influences the demand elasticity. If the price of packet of cigarette goes up  £1, a smoker with a very  few available substitutes will continue buying the daily cigarettes. It means that cigarettes have inelastic demand because the changes in price will not have a great influence on the quantity demanded.   But if the customer or consumer finds that they are not capable or cannot afford to spend the increased amount then they will definitely try to quit it but in a long run. Then for that customer price elasticity of cigarettes becomes elastic in the long run. If quantity demanded is completely unaffected by a price change, then If the absolute value of the elasticity of demand is less than 1 at some point, we say that demand is inelastic at that point (Varian, 2006, P 282). You would say that demand is perfectly inelastic at that price, to reflect the fact that quantity demanded is completely unresponsive to a change in price. On a graph with price on the y-axis, perfectly inelastic demand appears as a vertical demand curve. Its slope is negative infinity, which leads to Ed = 0. Looking at the graph above, we can see that a 5 percent increase in price causes no change in quantity demanded. Therefore, Ed = 0 and demand is perfectly inelastic for the tobacco industry. Hence, manager of a cigarette company within the industry should not worry about the taxation from the government or increase in price due to the external environment due to the inelastic demand for the tobacco industry. (Source by Begg Ward, 2007) The variation in consumer demand for cigarettes with respect to income is ambiguous from a theoretical stand point. Cigarettes consumption could be a normal good for which the level of consumers demand increases with income. Alternatively, it could also be a lower good for which the consumer demand drops with income levels. In either case, the presence of such behavior gives us no guidance whatsoever with respect to the extent to which these decisions are rational. Similarly the other major factor which can be affected by the price of the cigarettes is supply. Supply for a product or a service can be defined as the quantity of a good, seller wishes to sell at each possible price. Supply of a good refers to various quantities of good which a seller is willing and able to sell at different prices in a given market, at a particular point of time, other things remaining the same. An aspect of supply which needs attention is that supply is related to scarcity. It is only the scarce good which has a supply price. On the contrary, goods which are available freely have no supply price, e.g. Air is available freely and hence, does not have a supply price (Begg et al, 2005). According to Philp, Dan and Galt (2009) supply relative to the tobacco industry is reflective of the number of competitors (m) setting the price of providing cigarettes packets as a function of the level of technology (T) determines the price (pt), cost of resources, for example, labour, taxations, substitutes, and quality within the manufacture process (F1, F2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Fm) and other charge (w) i.e. cost of machines and salaries of work force, all add up to become determinants of the number of cigarettes packets to be supplied at each given price. It is represented as QtS = T (pt, F1, F2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Fm, w) Identical to economics in demand, in the analysis of supply all factors are held constant and quantity is seen as a function of price; QtS = T (pt, F1, F2 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Fm, w) Graphically illustrated as; From the above figure managers can know that a investing in manufacturing the product needs a certain level of supply to overcome from they break even point, therefore higher the investment in price the more the supply. Hence cigarette manufacturing companies offer different brands for the taste e.g. long cigarettes, strong and light cigarettes. Consequently, the managers will push for a higher supply in p1 to maximize profit. If there is plenty of spare capacity of Cigarettes then a business should be able to increase its output without a rise in costs and therefore supply will be elastic in response to a change in demand. Supply Elasticity is a measure of the degree of responsiveness of quantity supplied to changes in the products own price. Elasticity of supply works similarly. If a change in price results in a big change in the amount supplied, the supply curve appears flatter and is considered elastic. Elasticity in this case would be greater than or equal to one (Lipsey Chrystal, 2004) On the other hand, if a big change in price only results in a minor change in the quantity supplied, the supply curve is steeper and its elasticity would be less than one. As we have seen that demand of cigarette is inelastic we can observe from the graph that supply of cigarette is also inelastic i.e. even a big change in price does not have major change in quantity supplied. It means that when a price increases consumers will not demand for more quantity thats why supply will also remain the same. After knowing that the demand and supply for the tobacco industry is inelastic but the competition within the industry is high. The higher price than the competitors can result less demand for the product, the lower price can increase the demand for the product. It influences managerial decision to look for the new markets where they can reduce their operational and manufacturing cost like cheap labour, as well as look for the new market so that the organisation can generate maximum revenue. This content can be found on the following page: http://www.investorwords.com/1396/demand.html Conclusion This essay completely shows us that how the demand and supply take effects into the market and how principles of demand and supply inform the managerial decision making. From this essay we come to know that the cigarette industry is not that much affected from the higher price that much and its demand in the market is almost remain same. From this essay we come to know that both the supply elasticity and demand elasticity for cigarette industry are inelastic, they are not affected by the price. From the essay we come to know that income effect is significant and positive in case of cigarette industry. Refrences Beardshaw, J, 1991, 2nd Edition, Economics, London, Pitman Publishing. Begg, David, Fisher, Stanley, Dornbusch, Rudiger, 2005, Economics, 8th Edition, Berkshire, McGraw Hill Education. Begg, David, Ward Damian, 2007, Economics for Business, 2nd Edition, Berkshire, McGraw Hill Education. Data Monitors, 2005, UK Cigarettes, Business Source Premier. Lipsey, Chrystal, 2004, 10th Edition, Economics, Ney Work, Oxford University Press. Philp, B., Wheatley, D., Galt, V. (2009). Business Economics, Unpublished Course Notes, Nottingham Trent University, pp. 9-15. Philp, B., Galt, V., 2009, Business Economics, Unpublished Course Notes, Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University p 2. Mankiw, G., N., 1998, Principles of Economics, Orlando, The Dryden Press. Mishan, E., J., 1993, The Costs of Economic Growth, Revised Edition, London, Weidenfeld Nicolson, p 91. Sloman, J., 2005, The Economic Environment Of Business, Harlow Essex, Pearson Education Limited. Varian, H., R. 2006, Intermediate Micro Economics, 7th Edition, Ney York, Norton Company, p 282. Bradford, W.,D., 2003, The American Economic Review, Pregnancy And The Demand For Cigarettes. www.chowrangi.com/e-cigarette-quit-smoking-while-smoking.html Leefhang, P.,S.,H., Reuijl, J.,C., 1985, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing, Volume 49, Advertising and Industry Sales: An Empirical Study of the West German Cigarette Market.

Arguments for and against prostitution legalization

Arguments for and against prostitution legalization The articles writer is Emily Bazelon who is a senior of Slate. Majority of the articles in which she wrote, were mostly controversial subjects, such as, the Hamdan v. Rumsfelf trial and post-abortion syndrome. She is a contributing writer who plays in many roles. Emily is the co-editor of the Jurisprudence blog, and edits Slates legal column. The Jurisprudence blog talks about womens issues. Emily Bazelon was a senior editor of Legal Affairs before she started joining Slate as well as a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine. In the year 1993 and 1994, she worked as a reporter in the San Francisco Bay Area and also as a journalist in Israel. Moreover, she is also a Senior Research Scholar in Law and Truman Capote as well as a fellow for the Creative Writing and Law at Yale Law School. She examined the reasons why prostitution is illegal or why it should be legal in the article of Why is Prostitution. Emily was comment that the reasons of it are because of the deprived wom en in the industry and it would only help brothel frequenter who are the ones who exploit and demean these women. From the article of Why Is it prostitution illegal?, Emily Bazelon talks on the prostitution issue by giving argument. Argument on legalizing prostitution expands, leads to back-alley violence and fails to protect woman. It also causes greater demand for human trafficking victims. Martha Nussbaum argues on sale of bodily services and poor woman that work as bad conditions. Difference between a street worker controlled by a pimp and a high-end call girl who picks her own clients, and how to increase poor womens access to decent and safe work. Prostitution is inevitable but if its regulated then conditions will be better. Countries that prostitution is legal arent cesspools. In 1999, legal to sell but illegal to but sex and only johns and traffickers can be prosecuted. According to Womens Justice Center, Swedens way is a big success. Prostitution has been reduced in Stockholm and Finland. SANS, for sex workers and Allies Network in Sweden dislike the 199 law. It has more dangerous clie nts and unsafe sex. Industries want straight-out legalization but without systematic studies shown law has made sex work worse or riskier. Prostitution laws should not come down to working conditions, laws that would lead for sex workers. Due to a recent working paper (PDF) by economist Steven Levitt and sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh, apparently dont know that much about the specifics of the structure of the sex market. Levitt and Venkatesh found that women working on streets were making $27 a day and less than $20,000 a year from the data of Chicago police department. The Ricks of the trade were serious as an annual average of a dozen incidents of violence and 300 instances of unprotected sex. Surprisingly, high prevalence of police officers demanding sex from prostitutes in return for avoiding arrest. Its another argument against the bans on prostitution; presumably women would not be caught in this particular trap if they were not worried about going to jail in the first place. Prostitution means, the act or practice of engaging, and a career in which it is contempt by society even if it has been around for centuries. In ancient Greek, prostitution is not to be contempt because of the prostitutes dedication to the Gods or goodness of the priests. It began many centuries ago, as a way to service for the God. Today prostitution has become more and more open to the extent that some countries approve for the legalization of prostitution, countries such as, Bulgaria and the Netherlands industry. In my opinion, prostitution is an immoral transaction, even if it has been around for thousands of years. Legalization of prostitution is a problem on the countrys controversial topic. The article does not entirely agree because it has brought many negative effects, such as health, community policy issues and religious issues. As we all know, that the biggest impact caused by prostitution is none other than health problems. There are many impacts created by prostitution, whether to the society or other people, and it is physically harmful to sex workers. Those sex workers have a high probability will get sexually transmitted disease (STD), such as HIV/ AIDS, Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Herpes, Human Papilloma virus , and Syphills. These STD are alarmingly high among women in the prostitution industry. According to Minneapolis/St. Paul, studies demonstrated that 31% of the women interviewed had experienced at least one episode of DID which is the accounts for most of the serious illness associated with STD infection.(Janice, 1994). Besides that, it does not only gravely impair to the sex workers, but it will also be passed to innocent people such as their couple partners. In some developing countries, it has been estimated that 70% of females have STD and infertility, most of which were caused by their husbands o r partners who were involved in prostitution (Jacobson, 1992). It shows that prostitution does not only affect sex workers and clients, but it also implicates to innocent people as well. Assuming that these diseases are uncontrollable and are continuously being spread out into community, the consequences will be disastrous. Hence, the rate of health in the community will be in the danger zone. Furthermore, prostitution also related to the crime problems in the community. Most prostitution industries connected to crime groups such as triad. Illegal prostitution does not bring any benefit to the society; instead, it will increase the rate of crime. Because prostitution is being induce, it leads to the production of criminal such as theft robbery, assault, murder, alcoholism, drug abuse, kidnapping, human trafficking and others. Some of the sex woman workers are victims of human trafficking which are manipulated by criminal groups. Many of them are living in a violent environment even life threatening ones as Emily Bazelon mentioned in the article. She mentioned that women who fear prosecution could not go to the police for help due to life threats. As the article mentioned, many of the works involve the sales of bodily services and that lots of the works involve bad working condition. I strongly believe that legalizing prostitution is a huge mistake because not only will it encourage the rate of crime to continuously rise but sooner or later it will become a rampant increase. For example, as Why Is Prostitution Illegal article mentioned, the government claimed that legalizing or tolerating prostitution would create a greater demand for human trafficking problem. More succinctly, legalizing prostitution industry will increase the demand of sex worker because of the shortage of voluntary sex workers, so they will kidnap girls and force them to be sex workers. Therefore, do not legalize prostitution is the best choice. In fact, professional ethics have always despised sex workers in the society because it is a violation of religious moral teachings. Prostitution represents a distortion of traditional cultural values and a corruption of humanity. For example, there have five percepts in Buddhism. One of the percepts is talking about prostitution. The third percept is to be refraining from sexual misconduct. Prostitution is a systematic violation of this rule, a problem Buddhists need to take more seriously. Among other things, a substantial improvement in the economic well-being of rural areas, as well as the enforcement of laws punishing profiling from the business of prostitution, is needed to reduce pressure on rural young women to resort to prostitution (Peter, 1999). From this, we know that a religionist or a superior man does not allow prostitution. Even in ancient China, the status of sex workers has no value and its level is lower compared to slaves. Despite some countries acceptance, the Mu slim religionist in Malaysia does not. Therefore, Malaysia has laws to those prostitution offenders. They will be given serious punishments if the laws are violated. It is stated in the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997. In section 21 of Act 559, it is demonstrates that any women who are involves in prostitution shall be arrest and offense on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to whipping not exceeding six strokes or to any combination thereof. This is one of the ways Muslim people go against prostitution, which is using strict laws. Therefore, the legalization of prostitution would be very likely to break with the harmonious relationship between governments and religionists. In conclusion I strongly believe that these three factors are why prostitution is should not be legalized. Prostitution is to increase the culture of corruption in a society, because it will gradually undermine the social morality and the destruction of human conscience. If peoples cultures are being corrupted continuously, we will no longer live in a peaceful and harmonious life. Thus, prostitution should not be legalized. Reference Page Parriott, Ruth. Health Experiences of Twin Cities Women Used in Prostitution: Survey Findings and Recommendations. Unpublished, May 1994. Available from Breaking Free, 1821 University Ave., Suite 312, South, St. Paul, Minnesota 55104. Retrieve from November 27, 2010 from http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/mhvhealt.htm. Jacobson, Jodi L. The Other Epidemic. World Watch. May-June 1992, pp. 10-11. Retrieve from November 27, 2010 from http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassana/Archive/J/Jackson/homoBuddhaJackson.html Emily Bazelon. Article of Why is Prostitution Should Illegal? Posted Monday, March 10, 2008 at Slate Magazine. Retrieve from November 27, 2010. From http://www.slate.com/id/2186243/ Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997. In section 21 of Act 559. Retrieve from November 27, 2010. From http://www.mylawyer.com.my/pdf/Syariah_Criminal_Offences_Federal_Territories_Act.pdf

Sonnys Blues by James Baldwin Essay example -- Sonnys Blues James Ba

Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin A captivating tale of a relationship between two troubling brothers in Harlem, "Sonny's Blues" is told from the perception of Sonny's brother, whose name is never mentioned. Baldwin's choice of Sonny's brother as a narrator is what makes "Sonny's Blues" significant in terms of illustrating the relationship and emotional complications of Sonny and his brother. The significance of "Sonny's Blues" lies in the way Sonny's brother describes their relationship based on what he observes, hears, and feels, and how he struggles trying to understand Sonny through the course of the story. This is a story of how two African Americans brothers take their own path through life as they struggle to find meaning in their lives. Sonny's brother point of view is shared in this story as he feels responsible to keep his brother safe. The brother learns to listen throughout this story to better understand Sonny's life. This story is primarily about Sonny's brothers' life, how he struggled in his life and how he is now watching his younger brother Sonny go through the same situation. He worries about Sonny's life; that Sonny might not be able to escape the turmoil that life brings especially being a musician with no ties to family and job security. Sonny's brother sees Sonny trying to become a jazz musician, he watches and listens as Sonny goes through many difficulties in life. He doesn't want Sonny to be a jazz musician, because there is no future in this. At the end of the story, Sonny's brother attends the nightclub to watch... ...Blues" illustrated how life was growing up in an African American family during 1930 Ââ€" 1960's. Black Americans struggled to make their imprint on society. The life of the amazing blind musician Ray Charles comes to my mind as I struggle to understand how the African American culture learned to survive during this time. Sonny and Ray Charles had many of the same life experiences, in particular relying on drugs to forget their past and living in a society where the black man struggled to make a living. Both men used their music of rhythm and blues to gain respect from family and friends. In particular they learned to use music to survive in times of racism, segregation and poverty.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Essay -- IMF Economics Economy

International Monetary Fund (IMF) The international monetary fund or IMF, basically promotes international monetary harmony to simplify the expansion of international trade. In a more detailed view, it advocates global monetary understanding, monitors the exchange rate and financial policies of member nations, and provides credit for member countries that are experiencing a temporary unbalance of payments. Contrary to popular belief, It is not a world central bank which exists to help the economic development of poor, undeveloped countries, nor does it have any authority over its member’s domestic policies and regulations. It is a mutual establishment with voluntarily membership that enables its members to benefit from consultations with each other. This provides a stable environment for exchanging payments smoothly and quickly. Thus, the IMF greatly increases international trade, which, in effect, expands the world economy. How does this system work? Established by the United Nations at a conference held in 1944 at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, the IMF seeks monetary stability. At that time, because of all the recessions and the Great depression, people all over the world were demanding gold, instead of the national currency, beyond what national treasuries could supply. Therefore, many nations were coerced into abandoning the gold standard, which had given money a known and stable value. Now that countries could not depend on the steady value of gold, exchanging money became very difficult between the nations using gold and those that did not. These complications caused many of these nations to sell their products at a cheaper rate (way below its realistic value) just to undermine the trade of other nations selling the same products. There wasn’t a high demand for foreign currencies that weren’t backed by gold; governments weren’t willing to take the chance on foreign currency and its current rates. This global turmoil caused the UN to create the IMF to help regulate the International trade. From the headquarters in Washington D.C., membership is open to all independent countries with a current membership of 181 nations. On joining the fund, members are assigned a quota (a sort of membership fee) in special drawing rights or SDR, the fund’s unit of account whose value is based on the average value of five major currencies. Each member’s ... ...roversial debate in Congress raises the question of whether taxpayer money should go to the increasing contributions to the IMF. However, without this much needed assistance from the IMF, the Asian crisis will worsen with eventual negative consequences for the U.S. economy because these Asian countries will not be able to buy American goods or must cut prices so that American firms would find it hard to compete in international markets. Also, this financial affliction of Asian countries can harm U.S. security interests in Asia, claims Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright. Therefore, this policy of helping out member countries, especially by the United States, is greatly appreciated and needed by many unstable countries. By overseeing the international monetary system, the International Monetary Fund creates a more sturdy and prosperous world economy. The IMF assists countries with economic problems and consults its members on improving economic policies. By improving the exchange rates between nations, the IMF promotes a sturdy and healthy universal trade. Therefore, The International Monetary Fund is the necessary tool that helps the global economy continue into the future.

Philippine Marriage Customs Essay

The Filipino people have strange marriage customs. Among the Mangyans in the southern end of Oriental Mindoro, courtship takes a romantic flavor. Under the magic splendor of the moonlight, young man takes his native guitar and blanket, goes to the girl’s hut, and sings to her. The girl comes out and goes with him to a forest. There, in some secluded spot, the man spread out a mat. The girl lies on it, while her suitor sits at her side pouring out his feelings in love songs the whole night through. The maid answers him in songs also. When the girl finally gives her consent, the two go to the girl’s parents for their blessings. In the Bicol lagpitaw (slingshot) custom, the parents of the boy propose by letter. The other party answers verbally or in writing. Sometimes, a son learns that he has proposed and been accepted only on his wedding day. One of the easiest and quickest marriage ceremonies in the Philippines are performed among the Bagobos in Mindanao. Portions of rice are laid out on a banana leaf. Then the bride and bridegroom serve each other some rice, bump their heads together and are pronounced married. Up north in Benguet, Mountain Province, Cupid wears a G-string; he is usually an older man armed with plenty of gab. It is during kanyaos that the Benguet Cupid begins to feel the match itch. Warmed up by the ricewine, the impish oldster known as kalon scouts for a prospect from among the men of marriageable age: from 16 up. The â€Å"chosen† would be enlightened on the joys of matrimony and the horrors of bachelorhood. After the victim has been properly â€Å"softened† he has only to name the girl and the rest would be taken care of by the matchmaker. In the land of the Ibanags, when a young man’s fancy turns to love, his father turns poet. Usually, the father’s first concern is the right time for their sons to marry, usually between the ages of 16 and 18. The parents decide who will be the right girl. They employ the help of two respected and prominent friends to do the actual proposing. These two men called kumakagon intercept for the boy’s parents. On an appointed day, they go to the girl’s parents to ask for her hand in marriage. Marriages among the Batangans of Mindoro are partly by parental arrangement and partly by choice of groom and bride. When a child is born, the prospective bride or groom simply signifies his or her intention by telling the parents, â€Å"he or she is mine.† In this manner, the newborn becomes bethroted, without the cumbersome formalities of signing contracts or requiring witnesses. When the child is big enough to leave the parents, for instance at age three or four, the prospective husband or wife, as the case may be, claims it from the parents. Thereafter he or she cares for the child until it is mature enough for parenthood. In Sulu, the wedding, usually attended by relatives of the bride and the bridegroom dressed in very bright and flowing custom†s, climaxes months of careful preparation and negotiations between families. To them, marriage units not only two persons but two families as well. The Kalinga marriage is celebrated with a feast. The boy’s parents usually ask for presents from the girl’s parents. These are given as soon s the wedding is performed. Divorce is allowed. If this happens, the girl returns the dowry, usually resulting in a long family feud and a lot of vengeful killing. In Oton, Iloilo, it used to be the custom that both the bride and the groom have to cope with the wedding preparations or the timetable for planning marriage. Some Morong people who adhere to their marriage customs don’t simply announce any day for their marriage or wedding day. They believe that a wedding on Thursday brings suffering and sacrifices; on Friday some losses; Saturday will bring bad licks. For wealth, Morong people wed on Monday, Tuesday for health. But above all, they usually wed on Wednesday for good luck. In Quezon, a young man desiring to take a maiden for his wife must first be  put to a test. He lives with the maiden’s family but he has to show the best he can along all lines of work. He must be the first one to wake up in the morning. Every water container in the house should be filled before everyone gets up, a pot of coffee should have been boiled and firewood properly ready for cooking. After breakfast he goes to the kaingin and there he works until the sun is overhead. The rest of the day is spent either in the kaingin or in some other useful work. This trial marriage usually lasts  several years.

Most Important Turning Point in WW2 Essay

There’s always a discussion or argument as to what the most important turning point in the war was. This is a very difficult question to answer because every important part of the war happened because of another important part of the war. But is there just one main turning point in the war or could there be multiple? The Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain took place between August and September 1940. After the success of Blitzkrieg, the evacuation of Dunkirk and the surrender of France, Britain, on the Western front, was by herself. The Battle of Britain was the closest British Civilians actually got to see any of the fighting in WW2. In July 1940 through to October 1940 a few thousand young men, ably backed by the British Public and the men and women of the RAF ground staff held off the mightiest Air Force assembled up to that point in time. The German Luftwaffe. On September 15th came the last major engagement of the battle. On that day, the Luftwaffe lost 60 planes while the RAF lost 28. The overall casualties amounted to Germany losing 1,100 planes whereas Britain had lost just over half that amount (650). On September 17th, Hitler cancelled the invasion of Britain. The invasion would not have been possible if the Royal Navy had been able to attack the barges; and, with the RAF in existence the Germans could not hope to attack the Royal Navy. So, no invasion took place. If Britain had lost the Battle of Britain then Britain would have almost certainly been invaded and probably conquered like the other European countries. But Britain did not lose the Battle of Britain and, so, Britain was not conquered. The continued existence of Great Britain as a fighting nation meant that†¦ Germany needed many men to garrison Western Europe rather than attack Russia because the resistance movements in the occupied countries had support from Britain. When Japan and Germany declared war on America, America, being the biggest industrial power at the time, was able to use Britain as a massive base to store all the aircraft they needed to bomb Germany. The majority of Germany`s artillery was kept back in Europe and Germany on anti-aircraft duties because of these huge bombing raids. These drains on Germany’s resources meant they were not able to conquer Russia in the quick manner needed. This led to the eventual meat  grinder of the Eastern front which swallowed so much of their army and air force. How much difference would those guns, men and ammunition have made at Stalingrad? The Battle of Britain boosted British morale through the roof. This was shown in the famous â€Å"never was so much owned by so many to so few.† Speech by Winston Churchill. The British also kicked the Axis out of Africa, forcing Hitler to send much needed supplies and men to assist the failing Afrika Korps. All of this would not have happened if the British had lost the Battle of Britain. The Enigma Code The German military used the Enigma cipher machine during WW2 to keep their communications secret. The machine was available commercially during the 1920s, but the military potential of the device was quickly realised and the German army, navy and air force all used a more developed model of the machine to encipher their messages believing that it would make these communications unsolvable to the enemy. The Enigma machine is an electro-mechanical device that relies on a series of rotating ‘wheels’ or ‘rotors’ to scramble plaintext messages into jumbled cipher text. The machine’s variable elements can be set in many billions of combinations, and each one will make a completely different cipher text message. If you know how the machine has been set up, you can type the cipher text back in and it will unscramble the message. If you don’t know the Enigma setting, the message remains indecipherable. The German authorities believed in the absolute security of the Enigma. However, with the help of Polish mathematicians who had managed to secure a machine before the outbreak of WW2, British code breakers stationed at Bletchley Park managed to exploit weaknesses in the machine and how it was used and were able to crack the Enigma code. Breaking the Enigma ciphers gave the Allies a key advantage, which, according to historians, shortened the war by two years thus saving many lives. In one specific case the team behind the Enigma code were able to inform the British 8th Army at El Alamein of an incoming attack from the Afrika corps. Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the most major and decisive battles of World War 2 where the Axis fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad. The battle took place between August 23, 1942 and February 2,  1943 and was fought with close-quarters combat and lack of regard for civilian casualties. It is among the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare with almost two million casualties. The German attack, led by General Paulus, to capture Stalingrad began in late summer 1942, and was supported by severe Luftwaffe bombing that reduced much of the city to rubble. The German offensive eventually became reduced to building-to-building fighting. Despite controlling nearly the entire city at times, the Germans were unable to shake off the last soviets clinging to their City. Both sides fought vigorously over the city and Stalin ordered his troops, â€Å"Not a step back.† The Battle for Stalingrad was rife with sniping on both sides; however the Russians us ed a tactic no other country did during the war. This tactic was the employing of female snipers on the field, which they did to great effect. By doing this, the Russian Army was able to fill their ranks further as well as raise morale of troops and civilians by reporting on the lethal effectiveness of the Soviet fighting woman. Morale was one of the most vital things a soldier could have. Without morale a soldier became ineffective and the worst thing for morale was an enemy Sniper. The presence of a sniper was usually revealed to enemy troops by a single shot, followed by the death of one of their comrades. This presented a problem to the remaining troops. Not only were they under fire from an enemy, but they could not see where this enemy was nor could they predict who would be the next victim. Additionally, if the sniper left, there was no way for the opposing men to know unless one of them left cover, and therefore risking his life. The strain of being constantly in danger was increased by the inability of the troops to strike back at the sniper, as well as their anger at the death of their fellow soldiers. During the Battle of Stalingrad, the Russian snipers, particularly Vassili Zaitsev, proved to cause so much damage to German morale and such a boost to the Russians that German High Command sent in their best sniper, a Major Koning, to hunt down and kill Zaitsev. Unfortunately for the Germans, this plan backfired, and Zaitsev killed Koning, further lifting Russian morale and dropping German fighting spirit to a new low. On 19 November 1942, the Red Army launched Operation Uranus, a two-pronged attack at the weaker Romanian and Hungarian forces protecting the German flanks. After heavy fighting, the Axis army was cut off and surrounded inside Stalingrad. Adolf Hitler’s resolute belief in  no surrender led to more loss of life. Eventually, the failure to save the German Forces and lack of supplies led to the surrender. By February 1943, Axis resistance in Stalingrad had stopped and nearly 125,000 remaining troops of the 6th Army had surrendered, the others were killed. Only 6,000 soldiers made it back home. The battle lasted 5 months, 1 week, and 3 days. It was Germany’s first major defeat. However by the end of the battle 99% of the buildings in Stalingrad were reduced to piles of rubble. â€Å"The siege of September 13, 1942 to January 31, 1943 will inspire forever the hearts of all free people. Their glorious victory stemmed the tide of invasion and marked the turning point in the war of the Allied nations against the forces of aggression.† Franklin D Roosevelt, congratulating Joseph Stalin on the soviet Victory at Stalingrad. This shows that not only did Stalingrad spread morale throughout the U.S.S.R but throughout Allied troops around the world. For the U.S.S.R Stalingrad was it. A desperate last stand against the Axis and total inhalation. Not only were there vital oil sources to the South-East but it was a battle between Stalin and Hitler themselves (considering it was Stalin’s city). After the Battle of Stalingrad Germ an forces never recovered to their earlier strength and so gave up their campaign on the USSR. It was the beginning of the end and retreat for the Axis powers in Russia. El Alamein Between 1940 and 1942, the desert war went back and forth over the north coast of Africa. After initial British success, the Afrika Korps (the German army) made a determined advance, gradually beating the British 8th Army back as far as a small town called El Alamein near the Egyptian border. At the end of the First Battle of El Alamein, the Allies suffered about 13,250 wounded, captured, missing, and killed, while the Axis suffered 17,000. The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle lasted from 23 October to 5 November 1942. Germany had: 30,542 casualties, 500 tanks, 254 guns, 84 aircraft. And British and other Commonwealth forces had: 13,560 casualties, 332- 500 tanks, 111 guns, 97 aircraft. After the two battles the world was convinced that the Axis powers, particularly Germany, were not invincible as this was their second major military defeat. A quarter of a million Italian and German soldiers su rrendered at El Alamein which was nearly twice the  amount that surrendered at Stalingrad four months earlier. This destroyed Italian moral completely because not only were they crushed at El Alamein, their country became the new frontline, and for Germany It was another momentous disaster. The Battle of El Alamein not only allowed total free access to the Suez Canal for Allied shipping, which was of special importance now that the war had taken on a global nature, but it also stopped the Germans from threatening the Middle-Eastern oil fields, a major supplier of Allied oil reserves. The victory, coupled with joint Allied landings in French Algiers, also finally spelled the elimination of an Axis presence in North Africa and ended the Italian dreams of a ‘new Roman Empire’. There were also strategic implications: the defeat in North Africa began the series of events that led the invasion of mainland Italy and the toppling of the Italian dictator Mussolini. This brought the Italians onto the Allies’ side and left Germany at a strategic disadvantage across the whole of the M editerranean. The North African campaign also drew German troops away from the massive battles that were taking place in the U.S.S.R. I have not included D-Day as one of the most important turning points in the war because I believe that the fact that D-Day happened means that the tide had already turned. For the Western Front the tide turned at the Battle of Britain because if Britain had been taken then: America wouldn’t have an Allied country close to Germany, the Allies wouldn’t have been able to win in North Africa and D-Day wouldn’t of been able to happen in the first place. I have also not included Pearl Harbour as a Turning point because I feel Japan only attacked the Americans at Pearl Harbour so they could destroy some of their vital ships and resources. I think they did this because they knew that war was going to break out between Japan and America at some point and so decided to jump the gun and get the upper hand. This would mean that Pearl Harbour was significant point in the war rather than a turning point. In conclusion I would say that there wasn’t a turning point as such but four main turning points that led do the downfall of Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan. These being: The Battle of Britain, The breaking of the Enigma Code, Stalingrad and El Alamein. This is because the three battles were last chance stands against the mighty German Army, and defeat would have meant loss of highly important resources, land, men and morale. Additionally if the Enigma code had not been broken the war might have raged  on for another two or three years and many more millions could have died. Bibliography http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/russianow/features/9942741/stalingrad-dates-legacy.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/ww2_summary_01.shtml http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/defeat/catastrophe-stalingrad.htm http://bbrown.umwblogs.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_was_so_much_owed_by_so_many_to_so_few http://stalingrad3.weebly.com/index.html http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battleofbritain.htm http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/machines.rhtm