Empress Dowager Cixi - Chinese History

Empress Dowager Cixi - Chinese History Few people in history have been as thoroughly vilified as the Empress Dowager Cixi (sometimes spelled Tzu Hsi), one of the last empresses of Chinas Qing Dynasty. Depicted in writings by English contemporaries in the foreign service as cunning, treacherous and sex-crazed, Cixi was painted as a caricature of a woman, and a symbol of Europeans beliefs about the Orient in general. She is not the only female ruler to suffer this indignity. Scurrilous rumors abound about women from Cleopatra to Catherine the Great. Still, Cixi received some of the worst press in history. After a century of defamation, her life and reputation finally are being re-examined. Cixis Early Life The Empress Dowagers early life is shrouded in mystery. We do know that she was born November 29, 1835, to a noble Manchu family in China, but even her birth-name is not recorded. Her fathers name was Kuei Hsiang of the Yehenara clan; her mothers name is not known. A number of other stories - that the girl was a beggar who sang in the streets for money, that her father was addicted to opium and gambling, and that the child was sold to the emperor as a sex-slave - seem to be pure European embroidery. In truth, Qing imperial policy forbade the publication of personal details, so foreign observers simply made up stories to fill in the gaps. Cixi the Concubine In 1849, when the girl was fourteen, she was one of 60 nominees for the position of an imperial concubine. She was probably eager to be chosen, since she once said, I have had a very hard life ever since I was a young girl. I was not a bit happy when with my parents... My sisters had everything they wanted, while I was, to a great extent, ignored altogether. (Seagrave, 25) Fortunately, after a two-year preparation period, the then-Empress Dowager selected her as an imperial concubine from among the large pool of Manchu and Mongol girls. Qing emperors were forbidden from taking Han Chinese wives or concubines. She would serve Emperor Xianfeng as a fourth-rank concubine. Her name was recorded simply as Lady Yehenara after her fathers clan. A Birth and a Death Xianfeng had one empress (Niuhuru), two consorts, and eleven concubines. This was a small assortment, relative to earlier emperors; as the budget was tight. His favorite was a consort, who bore him a daughter, but while she was pregnant, he spent time with Cixi. Cixi also soon became pregnant  and gave birth to a boy on April 27, 1856. Little Zaichun was Xianfengs only son, so his birth greatly improved his mothers standing in court. During the Second Opium War (1856-1860), Western troops looted and burned the lovely Summer Palace. On top of existing health problems, this shock is said to have killed the 30-year-old Xianfeng. Co-Empresses Dowager On his death-bed, Xianfeng made contradictory statements about the succession, which was not guaranteed to Zaichun. He did not formally name an heir before he died on August 22, 1861. Still, Cixi made sure that her 5-year-old son became the Tongzhi Emperor. A regency council of four ministers and four nobles assisted the child emperor, while the Empress Niuhuru and Cixi were named co-Empresses Dowager. The Empresses each controlled a royal seal, meant to be a mere formality, but which could be used as a form of veto. When the ladies opposed a decree they refused to stamp it, converting the protocol into real power. The Xinyou Palace Coup One of the ministers on the regency council, Su Shun, was intent on becoming the sole power behind the throne or perhaps even wresting the crown away from the child emperor. Though Emperor Xianfeng had named both Empresses Dowager as regents, Su Shun tried to cut out Cixi and take her imperial seal. Cixi publicly denounced Su Shun and allied herself with Empress Niuhuru and three imperial princes against him. Su Shun, who controlled the treasury, cut off food and other household items for the Empresses, but they would not give in. When the royal household returned to Beijing for the funeral, Su Shun was arrested and charged with subversion. Despite his high post, he was beheaded in the public vegetable market. Two princely co-conspirators were allowed to die by suicide. Two Young Emperors The new regents faced a difficult period in Chinas history. The country struggled to pay indemnities for the Second Opium War, and the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) was in full swing in the south. Breaking with Manchu tradition, the Empresses Dowager appointed competent Han Chinese generals and officials to high office in order to deal with these problems. In 1872, the 17-year-old Tongzhi Emperor married Lady Alute. The following year he was made emperor regnant, although some historians charge that he was functionally illiterate and often neglecting matters of state. On January 13, 1875, he died of smallpox at just 18. The Tongzhi Emperor did not leave an heir, so the Empresses Dowager had to select an appropriate replacement. By Manchu custom, the new emperor should have been from the next generation after Tongzhi, but no such boy existed. They settled instead on Cixis sisters 4-year-old son, Zaitian, who became the Guangxu Emperor. At this time, Cixi was often bed-ridden with a liver ailment. In April of 1881, Empress Dowager Niuhuru suddenly died at the age of 44, possibly of a stroke. Naturally, rumors quickly spread through the foreign legations that Cixi had poisoned her, although Cixi was herself probably too ill to have had any part in a plot. She would not recover her own health until 1883. Guangxu Emperors Reign In 1887, the timid Emperor Guaungxu came of age at 16, but the court postponed his accession ceremony. Two years later, he married Cixis niece Jingfen (although he reportedly did not find her long face very attractive). At that time, a fire broke out in the Forbidden City, which caused some observers to worry that the Emperor and Cixi had lost the Mandate of Heaven. When he took power in his own name at 19, Guangxu wanted to modernize the army and bureaucracy, but Cixi was wary of his reforms. She moved to the new Summer Palace to be out of his way, nonetheless. In 1898, Guangxus reformers in court were tricked into agreeing to cede sovereignty to Ito Hirobumi, Japans former Prime Minister. Just as the Emperor was about to formalize the move, troops controlled by Cixi stopped the ceremony. Guangxu was disgraced and retired to an island in the Forbidden City. The Boxer Rebellion In 1900, Chinese discontent with foreign demands and aggression erupted into the anti-foreign Boxer Rebellion, also called the Righteous Harmony Society Movement. Initially, the Boxers included the Manchu Qing rulers among the foreigners they opposed, but in June 1900, Cixi threw her support behind them, and they became allies. The Boxers executed Christian missionaries and converts all over the country, tore down churches, and laid siege to the foreign trade legations in Peking for 55 days. Inside the Legation Quarter, men, women and children from the UK, Germany, Italy, Austria, France, Russia and Japan were huddled, along with Chinese Christian refugees. In the fall of 1900, the Eight-Nation Alliance (the European powers plus the US and Japan) sent an expeditionary force of 20,000 to raise the siege on the Legations. The force went up-river and captured Beijing. The final death toll from the rebellion is estimated at almost 19,000 civilians, 2,500 foreign troops and about 20,000 Boxers and Qing troops. Flight from Peking With the foreign forces approaching Peking, on August 15, 1900, Cixi dressed in peasant garb and fled from the Forbidden City in an ox cart, along with Emperor Guangxu and their retainers. The Imperial Party made its way far to the west, to the ancient capital of Xian (formerly Changan). The Empress Dowager called their flight a tour of inspection, and in fact, she did become more aware of the conditions for ordinary Chinese people during their travels. After some time, the Allied Powers sent a conciliatory message to Cixi in Xian, offering to make peace. The Allies would allow Cixi to continue her rule, and would not demand any land from the Qing. Cixi agreed to their terms, and she and the Emperor returned to Peking in January of 1902. The End of Cixis Life After her return to the Forbidden City, Cixi set out to learn all she could from the foreigners. She invited Legation wives to tea  and instituted reforms modeled on those in Meiji Japan. She also distributed prize Pekingese dogs (previously kept only in the Forbidden City) to her European and American guests. On November 14, 1908, the Guangxu Emperor died of acute arsenic poisoning. Although she was quite ill herself, Cixi installed the late Emperors nephew, the 2-year-old Puyi, as the new Xuantong Emperor. Cixi died the following day. The Empress Dowager in History For decades, the Empress Dowager Cixi was described as a devious and depraved tyrant, based largely on the writings of people who did not even know her, including J.O.P. Bland and Edmund Backhouse. However, contemporary accounts by Der Ling and Katherine Carl, as well as later scholarship by Hugh Trevor-Roper and Sterling Seagrave, paint a very different picture. Rather than a power-mad harridan with a harem of faux eunuchs, or a woman who poisoned most of her own family, Cixi comes across as an intelligent survivor who learned to navigate Qing politics  and rode the wave of very troubled times for 50 years. Sources: Seagrave, Sterling. Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China, New York: Knopf, 1992. Trevor-Roper, Hugh. Hermit of Peking: The Hidden Life of Sir Edmund Backhouse, New York: Knopf, 1977. Warner, Marina. The Dragon Empress: The Life and Times of Tzu-Hsi, Empress Dowager of China 1835-1908, New York: Macmillan, 1972.

President Trumans Fair Deal of 1949

President Trumans Fair Deal of 1949 The Fair Deal was an extensive list of proposals for social reform legislation suggested by U.S. President Harry S. Truman in his State of the Union address to Congress on January 20, 1949. The term has since come to be used to describe the overall domestic policy agenda of Truman’s presidency, from 1945 to 1953. Key Takeaways: The "Fair Deal" The â€Å"Fair Deal† was an aggressive agenda for social reform legislation proposed by President Harry Truman in January 1949.Truman had initially referred to this progressive domestic policy reform program as his â€Å"21-Points† plan after taking office in 1945.While Congress rejected many of Truman’s Fair Deal proposals, those that were enacted would pave the way for important social reform legislation in the future. In his State of the Union Address, President Truman told Congress that that, â€Å"Every segment of our population, and every individual, has a right to expect from his government a fair deal.† The â€Å"Fair Deal† set of social reforms Truman spoke of continued and built on the New Deal progressivism of President Franklin Roosevelt and would represent the last major attempt by the Executive Branch to create new federal social programs until President Lyndon Johnson proposed his Great Society program in 1964. Opposed by the â€Å"conservative coalition† that controlled Congress from 1939 to 1963, only a handful of Truman’s Fair Deal initiatives actually became law. A few of the major proposals that were debated, but voted down, included federal aid to education, the  creation of a Fair Employment Practices Commission, repeal of the Taft–Hartley Act limiting the power of labor unions, and the provision of universal health insurance. The conservative coalition was a group of Republicans and Democrats in Congress who generally opposed increasing the size and power of the federal bureaucracy. They also denounced labor unions and argued against most new social welfare programs. Despite the opposition of the conservatives, liberal lawmakers managed to win approval of some of the less controversial measures of the Fair Deal. History of the Fair Deal President Truman first gave notice that he would pursue a liberal domestic program as early as September 1945. In his first postwar address to Congress as president, Truman laid out his ambitious â€Å"21-Points† legislative program for economic development and expansion of social welfare. Truman’s 21-Points, several of which still resonate today, included: Increases to the coverage and amount of the unemployment compensation systemIncrease the coverage and amount of the minimum wageControl the cost of living in a peacetime economyEliminate federal agencies and regulations created during World War IIEnact laws ensure full employmentEnact a law making the Fair Employment Practice Committee permanentEnsure sound and fair industrial relationsRequire the U.S. Employment Service to provide jobs for former military personnelIncrease federal assistance to farmersEase restrictions on voluntary enlistment in the armed servicesEnact broad, comprehensive and non-discriminatory fair housing lawsEstablish a single federal agency dedicated to researchRevise the income tax systemEncourage the disposal through sale of surplus government propertyIncrease federal assistance for small businessesImprove federal assistance to war veteransEmphasize conservation and protection of natural in federal public works programsEncourage foreign post-war reconstructio n and settlements of Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease Act Increase wages of all federal government employeesPromote the sale of surplus wartime U.S. naval vesselsEnact laws to grow and retain stockpiles of materials essential to the future defense of the nation Expecting lawmakers to take the lead in drafting the bills necessary to implement his 21-Points, Truman did not send them to Congress. Focused at the time on dealing with rampant inflation, the transition to a peacetime economy, and the growing threat of Communism, Congress had little time for Truman’s social welfare reform initiatives. Despite the delays and opposition from the conservative Republican majority in Congress, Truman persisted, continuing to send them an ever-increasing number of proposals for progressive legislation. By 1948, the program that had begun as the 21-Points had come to be known as the â€Å"Fair Deal.†Ã‚   After his historically unexpected victory over Republican Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948 election, President Truman repeated his social reform proposals to Congress referring to them as the â€Å"Fair Deal.† Highlights of Truman’s Fair Deal Some of the major social reform initiatives of President Truman’s Fair Deal included: A national health insurance planFederal aid to educationAbolition of poll taxes and other practices intended to prevent racial minorities from votingA major tax cut for low-income workersExpanded Social Security coverageA farm assistance programExpansion of public housing programsA substantial increase in the minimum wageRepeal of the labor union-weakening Taft-Hartley ActA new TVA-style program to create public works projectsCreation of a federal Department of Welfare To pay for his Fair Deal programs while reducing the national debt, Truman also proposed a $4 billion tax increase. The Legacy of the Fair Deal Congress rejected most of Truman’s Fair Deal initiatives for two main reasons: Opposition from members of the majority-holding conservative coalition in Congress who viewed the plan as advancing President Roosevelt’s New Deal’s effort to achieve what they considered to be a â€Å"democratic socialist society.†In 1950, barely a year after Truman proposed the Fair Deal, the Korean War shifted the government’s priorities from domestic to military spending. Despite these roadblocks, Congress did approve a few or Truman’s Fair Deal initiatives. For example, the National Housing Act of 1949 funded a program removing crumbling slums in poverty-stricken areas and replacing them with 810,000 new federally rent-assisted public housing units. And in 1950, Congress nearly doubled the minimum wage, raising it from 40 cents per hour to 75 cents per hour, an all-time record 87.5% increase. While it enjoyed little legislative success, Truman’s Fair Deal was significant for many reasons, perhaps most notably its establishment of a demand for universal health insurance as a permanent part of the Democratic Party’s platform. President Lyndon Johnson credited the Fair Deal as being essential to the passage of his Great Society health care measures such as Medicare.

The sickness care system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The sickness care system - Essay Example In such a case, it is perceived to handle sicknesses and different kinds of illnesses through research; funding and other medical infrastructure thus deserves to be called as sickness care systems. In addition, healthcare system is associated with research of sufficient information concerning treatment of infectious diseases through dependent laboratories that are of significance to the community. Such a system is mainly concerned by eradication of an infectious syndrome. The engagement of technological and research systems that are geared towards the eradication of infectious diseases enables it to get a reference as a sickness care system (Gumbiner & Gumbiner, 2008). Majority often refer to the United States healthcare systems as sickness care systems simply because the government of the United States often implement a reactive model that is targeted at health and medical care situations. The model entails efforts targeted at forestalling clinical manifestations. Ultimately, prevention has been perceived as the most effective mechanism aimed at improving the societal wellness, healthcare systems help to reduce a bigger percentage of Medicare costs. As such, it is much more related to treatment care systems (Gumbiner & Gumbiner,

How technology impact to fashion & life style industry Essay

How technology impact to fashion & life style industry - Essay Example The demand for Performance and wearable technology products in this category comes from professional athletes, managers of corporate wellness programs as well as consumers of recreational fitness (MENA Report, 2014, 4). This indicates that more people are undertaking fitness and wellness programs. In addition to that, there are more than 230 million installs of fitness applications Performance and wearable technology devices have improved the medical field as well as the health care industry as a whole. Aside from reducing the costs of health care by enabling people to maintain healthy lifestyles by practicing, performance and wearable technology have made it easier for doctors to detect defects in the human body on time (SNS, 2013, 12). Smart glasses and head ware are increasingly being used in hospitals to manage diseases such as diabetes through a label reader, educating patients, accessing patient records and improving emergency responses. Further, they have enabled complex activities such as surgery and hearing augmentation to become relatively easier. Health care practitioners can treat inner injuries like brain injury with better technology (May, 2013, 7). It is estimated that almost half a billion smartphones were shipped in the year 2011 alone. Projections indicate that smart phone manufacturers will ship more than 1.2 billion smartphones annually by 2016 (Editorialist, n.d., n.p.). As the number of smart phone owners increases and the smart phones fast turning into an information hub for their users, analysts foresee a situation where new devices will enter the market with the ability to connect to smart phones and exchange data with them (Scaturro, 2008, 474). Smart glasses and smart watches are already sharing data with smart phones, case in point being the i-Watch by Apple Inc. The number of people with

Dream Deferred Essay Example for Free

Dream Deferred Essay In a dream, a man was walking amidst a seemingly endless desert in the Middle East. At a distance, he saw a patch of land abundant with date nuts olives and a fountain-a mysterious oasis in the middle of the dessert. In his desperation to save his life from hunger and thirst, he walked towards the place. However, he was horrified with what he saw when he came closer. The land was destroyed before his very eyes. At the same time, he heard screams of anguish and death from the place. The man woke up from his nightmare- but could not shake the image out of his memory. It is once said that visionaries were born in dreams, and dreams are born out of visions. But so many dreams are deferred by the sudden awakening, in which awakened to visualize the bareness of facts and trace from the threshold of dreams. In today’s world, many have told about fragilities of society and frailties in life. Would there be enough reasons to find an answer in a society that has been divided by conflicts and the dogma of deceit? Could there be enough rationality to justify conflict of ideas being worsened by war? These questions may be meaningless but in a sense explains the obsessions of a dreaming man. This paper will discuss the typical American dream—of what can be done to visualize orderliness and reach out a dreamed legacy for the Middle East. Partnership for Reform Would qualifying the partnership for reform mean apolitical to the socio-religious-political life of the Middle Eastern people? Could apolitical be defined as maintaining the neutrality to the societal condition and cultural beliefs? How partnership for reform be then achieved without prejudice? The partnership for reform may be determined by recognizing and exposing a public interest—the interest where people enjoy the way of life; a life without fear and misery but peace, harmony and prosperity—that is not vindicated by the plagues of war. At a glimpse of the dailies between the consciousness, the partnership for reform is a day of celebration for the American families for the homecoming of their loved ones serving the Armed Forces; as the US Congress called the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, and as the President held its intrastate policies to foster diplomatic ties in the interstate political-religious affairs in the Middle East. What future can bring by this development may recoil to the governmental reform on fostering diplomatic ties. The Middle East governments has opened its cultural exchange as the rest of the Arab states [to include Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine and Lebanon] paved its way to a unified democratic processes, and the leaders of these Arab states convened to political and economic planning that resembles with the creation of the European Union. Reflective of the partnership for reform is the unification of the Arab States that brought about subsequent political change. First, when the Islamic fundamentalism was supplanted with a neo-Islamism that isolates the Islamist paganism in Iraq and Afghanistan, in which many members of the Al-Qaeda has renewed their Muslim faith and intensely abhorred the doctrine of Bin Laden who is now in exile somewhere in Africa. Second, the leaders of the Arab States vowed to bring justice to the people of the world by eliminating and disarming themselves with weapons of mass destructions, and prosecute the individuals and government personalities that conspire and condone terrorism. The US-Middle East partnership for reform is jointly envisioned by the people and governments to reach out legacy of peace and world order. One of the first 100-day plans is the institutionalization of welfare and services to revitalize the rehabilitation process on the effects of war. This â€Å"healing of wound† of the war is likewise appealing to the member countries of the United Nations to spur the reform in Middle East by supporting the creation of livelihood projects for displaced families and generate employment opportunities by restructuring the economic base. The program of â€Å"re-education for all† is being established in order to improve the level of literacy and social awareness of people who once denied with the right to education as brought about by war. On the other hand, the democratic processes are being renewed by holding an Islamic Convention that will study the promulgation of Constitutional Assemblies in Islamic States. The constitutional assembly thus far takes into effect the modification and reforming of political-religious rights of Middle Eastern people to restore its cultural heritage and obliterate the stigma of jihad (holy war) with its Judeo-Christian brethren. It is then the partnership for reform harnesses the well-being of the people and rekindles its Islamic faith for the life of the world. Thus, the partnership for reform may be a dreamed legacy in 2012. Conclusion The dream for Middle East may not only be a mock article but everybody’s dream specifically by the progressive minds of the Middle Eastern people, and likewise the typical American dream. It may be said that the plagues of war in the Middle East has its in-depth origin from the socio-religious-political-economic perspective. But what is much been said about is the macabre tales of economic interest patterned by deceit and political overpowering. What

Killer Bees: The American Invasion Essay -- Exploratory Essays Researc

Killer Bees: The American Invasion 1.0 Introduction: Invasive species have a variety of impacts, many of which are unpredictable. The Africanized honey bee (also known as the â€Å"killer bee† in the media community or apis mellifera scutellata among scientists) provides an excellent case study of how even an intentionally introduced invasive species can become uncontrollable and problematic. 2.0 Brief History: Honey bees are a non-native species in both North and South America. European honey bees (EHB) were first introduced as a relatively mild species. The EHB, however, is not well suited for tropical climates. After comparing the honey yields of EHB in the Americas to the yields of honey bees in Africa, Brazilian geneticist Warwick Kerr transported queens from Africa to Brazil in 1956 for colonization (via artificial insemination) with the preexisting EHB species. Kerr was aware that the African species was considerably aggressive, but thought that hybridization with the European species would create a less defensive yet more productive subspecies (or race). The results were favorable; Kerr described the Africanized honey bee (AHB) colonies as, â€Å"the most prolific, productive and industrious bees that we have seen up to now† (Spivac 3). In 1957 the experiment went awry when 26 AHB colonies escaped and swarmed into the forests of Sao Paulo. Since that time, AHB have sp read 300 to 500 kilometers (100-200 miles) each year through the Americas, entering Mexico in 1986 and the United States in 1990. 3.0 Biology and Habits: AHB differ from their EHB counterparts in both physical and sociological aspects: â€Å"Africanized bees resemble their African parents more than their European parents in mitochondrial DNA, mor... ..., DC: Island Press. Lyon, W. F., & Tew, J. E. (2003, April 2). Ohio State University extension fact sheet: Entomology. Ohio State University [Online]. Available: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2124.html [2003, April 2]. Kim, K. T., & Oguro, J. (1999, April). Update on the status of Africanized honey bees in the Western States. The Western Journal of Medicine, 170 (4), 220. Robinson, G. E. (1998, Sept-Oct). From society to genes with the honey bee. American Scientist, 86, 456-457. Spivac, M., Fletcher, D. J. C., & Breed, M. D. (Eds.). (1991). The â€Å"African† honey bee. Boulder: Westview Press. Watanabe, M. E. (1994, August). Pollination worries rise as honey bees decline. Science, 265, 1170-1171. Winston, M. L. (1992). Killer bees: The Africanized honey bee in the Americas. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Company Law Essay

It has been a long established principle of Company Law that the corporate personality is a separate legal entity distinct from its members. (Salomon v Salomon & Co. (1897) However, there are circumstances in which the courts might find it appropriate to dispense with this principle and ignore the principle of separate corporate personality by ‘lifting the corporate veil’ so to speak. Yet, the courts have not been as prepared to pierce the veil of the corporation as they have been to protect it. Salomon v Salomon & Co. gave birth to the separate legal personality of the corporation. In this case, Mr. Salomon, who was conducting business as a leather merchant formed a company which he called Salomon & Co. Ltd in 1892. His shares were distributed among his wife and children, each of whom held one share each, for Mr. Salomon. This was necessary at the time because the law requires that the company consist of at least seven shareholders. It is also important to note that Mr. Salomon was the managing director of the company. (1897) Salomon & Co. Ltd. purchased the leather business which Mr. Salomon estimated to be worth 39,000 pounds. Mr. Salomon based this valuation on his view that the business was bound to be a success rather than the actual value at the time of purchase. The funds were paid as follows: 1) 10,000 pounds worth of debenture stocks leaving a charge over all of the assets of the company and 2) 20,000 pounds in 1 pound shares and 9,000 pounds in cash. At this juncture, Mr. Salomon paid off all of the creditors of the business. As a result, Mr. Salomon held 20,001 shares in Salomon & Co. Ltd. and his wife and kids held the remaining 6 shares. Also, as a result of the debenture, Mr. Salomon was a secured creditor of the company. (Salomon & Salomon Co. Ltd. 1897) The leather business floundered and within a year Mr. Salomon ended up selling all of his debentures so as to salvage the business. This did not work out the way Mr. Salomon planned and the company was unable to pay its debts and consequently went into insolvent liquidation. The company’s liquidator alleged that Salomon & Co. Ltd. was nothing but a sham serving as an agent for Mr. Salomon. Therefore Mr. Salomon should be held personally liable for the company’s debts. The Court of Appeal agreed with this finding and held that a company’s shareholders were required to be a bona fide organization with the intention of going into business rather than just for the purpose of meeting the statutory provisions for the number of shareholders. (Salomon & Salomon Co. Ltd. 1897) The House of Lords reversed the decision of the Court of Appeal holding as follows:- 1) It was not relevant for the purposes of determining the genuineness of a company’s formation that some shareholders were holding shares for the purpose of forming the company pursuant to relevant statutory provisions. In fact, it was perfectly legal for the procedure for registration to be used by a person for the purpose of conducting a one-man business enterprise. 2) Moreover, a company that was formed pursuant to the regulations provided in the Companies Acts is a separate legal person and was not therefore an agent or trustee for the controller. Therefore the company’s debts were its own and were not the debts of its members. The liability of the members would be limited in proportion to the shares that they each held. (Salomon & Salomon Co.  Ltd. 1897) Salomon v Salomon & Co. Ltd. has stood up well against the test of time. In Macaura v Northern Assurance Co. [1925] AC 619 the House of Lords held that in the same way that the company’s liabilities are the company’s and the shareholders, the assets are also the company’s rather than the shareholders. (Macaura v Northern Assurance Co. [1925]) In Barings Plc (In Liquidation v Coopers & Lybrand (No. 4) [2002] 2 BCLC 364 a parent company suffered a loss as a consequence of the loss incurred by one of its subsidiaries. It was held that the subsidiary was the proper party to commence an action in respect of the loss. This rationale followed the rationale in Salomon v Salomon & Co. Vis-a-vis the loss was that of the subsidiary and was therefore that company’s liability rather than the parent company’s liability. The subsidiary was a separate legal entity from its parent company. (2002 p 364) This ruling was closely followed in both Gile v Rhind [2003] as well as Shaker v Al-Bedrawi {2003]. In Re Southard &Co Ltd Templeton [1979] 3 ALL ER 556 at 565 LJ said that A parent company may spawn a number of subsidiary companies, all controlled directly or indirectly by shareholders of the parent company. If one of the subsidiary companies, to change the metaphor, turns out to be the runt of the litter and declines into insolvency to the dismay of its creditors, the parent company and other subsidiary companies prosper to the joy of the shareholders without any liability for the debts of the insolvent subsidiary. ’(Re Southard &Co Ltd Templeton [1979] 3 ALL ER 556 at 565) Lee v Lee’s Air Farming, a New Zealand case, is another good example of the court’s reluctance to pierce the corporate veil. In this case, in 1954 Lee started a company called Lee’s Air Farming Limited. Lee owned all of the shares of the company and was the company’s Governing Director. In addition, Lee worked for the company as its chief pilot. He died in a plane crash while flying the company plane and his wife tried to claim damages via the company’s insurance scheme under the Workers’ Compensation Act. (Lee v Lee’s Air Farming [1961]) The New Zealand Court of Appeal rejected the widow’s claim that Lee was a worker within the meaning of the Workers’ Compensation Act and the case went to the Privy Council. The Privy Council found that Lee’s Air Farming Limited was an entirely different legal entity from Lee and legal relationships between the two were perfectly permissible. Moreover, the Privy Council found that Lee, as Governing Director could indeed give order to himself in his capacity as chief pilot. Therefore a master/servant relationship did exist between the two and Lee was in that respect a ‘worker’ within the meaning of the Act. Indeed, as seen in the cases discussed above the courts aggressively protect the separate legal identity of the corporate citizen. However, there have been legislative intervention whereby specific situations have been defined where it would be appropriate to pierce the corporate veil. For example Sections 213 and 214 of the Insolvency Acts make it possible for the lifting of the corporate veil in cases of fraud and wrongful dealing. (The Insolvency Act 1986 Sections 213 and 214) Section 213 is often referred to as the ‘fraudulent trading’ provision. (Dignam & Lowry 2006 Ch. ) This section arises if the court is satisfied that company carried on any of its business ventures with the intention of defrauding the company’s creditors or the creditors of anyone else. Section 213 will also arise if the court finds that the company acted for any other fraudulent reason and persons involved in those fraudulent ventures can be found liable for the company’s debts. In order to satisfy the court of the existence of fraud Section 213 requires proof of ‘actual dishonesty, involving, according to current notions of fair trading among commercial men, real moral blame’. The . Section 214 does not impose as onerous a burden or standard as does Section 213. It is not necessary to prove an intention to defraud. Section 214 applies to the period just before a company begins winding up procedures. Section 214 arises when the court is satisfied that the directors either knew or ought to have known that the company was becoming insolvent and continued to trade anyway. The director can be liable for the company’s debts in these instances. (The Insolvency Act 1986 Section 214) Section 227 of the Companies Act 1985 makes further provision for lifting the veil of the corporation. This section arises in instances where it is necessary to require the production of group members or group accounts to verify whether or not a subsidiary’s financial activity is that of the holding company. (Companies Act 1985 Section 227) The judiciary has also demonstrated a will to lift the corporate veil whenever the ends of justice desire it to be done. The circumstances in which the court will ignore the corporate veil are ill-defined and the impression is that these circumstances are developed on a case by case basis. Professor Gower said that ‘challenges to the doctrines of separate legal personality and limited liability at common law tend to raise more fundamental challenges to these doctrines, because they are formulated on the basis of general reasons for not applying them, such as fraud, the company being a â€Å"sham† or â€Å"facade†, that the company is the agent of the shareholder, that the companies are part of a â€Å"single economic unit† or even that the â€Å"interests of justice† require this result. ’ (Davies 2003 p 184) Adams v Cape Industries Plc [1990] Ch 433 is viewed by Gower and Davies as the leading case on the exceptions to the corporate veil. In the case the Court of Appeal said that it is not satisfied that the ‘court is entitled to lift the corporate veil as against a defendant company which is a member of a corporate group’ merely on the grounds that the company was used to shield a member of that group from future liabilities of the company. As a matter of fact, the Court of Appeal maintained that this was a legal right by adding ‘whether or not this is desirable, the right to use a corporate structure in this manner is inherent in our corporate law. ’(Adams v Cape Industries Plc [1990] Ch 433) The courts tend to be rather inconsistent with its position on the grounds upon which it will displace the laws protecting the corporate veil. While Adams v Cape Industries Plc was very strict in its position in favor of safeguarding the corporate veil, the House of Lords was rather liberal in DHN Food Distributors Ltd v Tower Hamlets London Borough Council [1976] 1 WLR 852. In the latter case Lord Denning speaking of a parent company and its subsidiary holdings said, ‘these subsidiaries are bound hand and foot to the parent company and must do just what the parent company says’. He went on to say ‘this group is virtually the same as a partnership in which all the three companies are partners. They should not be treated separately so as to be defeated on a technical point’. (DHN Food Distributors Ltd v Tower Hamlets London Borough Council [1976] 1 WLR 852) It wasn’t long before the courts departed from the position taken by Lord Denning. Woolfson v Strathclyde R. C [1978] SLT 159 the House of Lords took issue with Denning’s view on the nature of holding companies and the groups under them. The Lords maintained that the corporate veil would not be displaced unless it was shown that the company was a facade. (Woolfson v Strathclyde R. C [1978] SLT 159) In Trustor AB v Smallbone (No. 2) [2001] 1 WLR 1177 the court was adamant that the corporate veil would only be lifted in three circumstances. They were, 1) if the court was satisfied on the evidence that the company was a mere sham or facade, 2) the company itself was involved in some impropriety or 3) where the interest of justice required it. (Trustor AB v Smallbone (No. ) [2001] 1 WLR 1177) Earlier cases identified appropriate circumstances where the court might find that a company was indeed a facade. In Gilford Motor Company Ltd. v Horne [1933] Ch 985 the court found that the company was a facade. In this case an employee bound by a covenant not to solicit the business of his employers, left his employment and set up a company which he used to breach the covenant. The employee argued that while he was bound by the covenant, the company was not. (Gilford Motor Company Ltd. v Horne [1933] Ch 985) In another case the defendant signed an estate contract with the plaintiff for the sale of realty to him. The defendant changed his mind and formed a company, transferring the realty to the company. He claimed that he was no longer the owner of realty and therefore no bound to the terms of the estate contract. The court found that the company was a mere facade for the defendant and he was ordered to sell the realty as per the estate contract. (Jones v Lipman [1962] 1 WLR 832) The Court of Appeal identified three instances in which it would be appropriate for the corporate veil to be lifted. The court said, ‘save in cases which turn on the wording of particular statutes or contracts, the court is not free to disregard the principle of Salomon v A. Salomon & Co Ltd [1897] AC 22 merely because it considers that justice so requires. Our law, for better or worse, recognises the creation of subsidiary companies, which though in one sense the creatures of their parent companies, will nevertheless under the general law fall to be treated as separate legal entities with all the rights and liabilities which would normally attach to separate legal entities. (Adams v Cape Industries Plc [1990] Ch 433) Adams has effectively narrowed the circumstances in which the courts will intervene and lift the corporate veil. This is unfortunate since changing times together with the complex development of both the corporate structure and company law, the Salomon v Salomon & Co. rule is in reality perhaps out of place today. (Gallagher & Zeigler 1990) Although there have been times when the courts have shifted away from this ruling it remains the poster child for the criteria to be met when determining whether or not to life the veil of the corporation. The prevailing attitude is to safeguard against lifting the corporate veil. Question 2b) The doctrine of majority rule has been a long established principle of Company Law within the English Legal System and makes it difficult for minority shareholders to take legal action in respect of majority shareholder improprieties. That said, Rebecca as a minority shareholder is protected to a limited extent by the provisions of Section 459(1) of the Companies Act 1985. The development of the common law doctrine of majority rule was enunciated in Foss v Harbottle. The rationale behind Foss was that any difficulties within the structure of the company ought to be dealt in the general meetings of the company by ratification by the majority shareholders. The prevailing attitude of the courts was one of nonintervention. It would only step in if it was for the purpose of dissolving the business. The facts of Foss v Harbottle reveal that in 1835 a company, Victoria Park Company purchased land in the Manchester primarily for residential purposes. Thomas Harbottle, a director of Victoria Park Company had purchased the property and resold it to Victoria Park Company who eventually developed the property. Richard Foss and Edward Turton, shareholders of Victoria Park Company brought an action against Thomas Harbottle alleging breach of fiduciary duties in that he sold the property to the company at an inflated price. Turton and Foss also claimed that, acting outside of their powers as directors the directors had burrowed funds in the name of the company. The court held that plaintiffs had no locus standi, and that they were required to have obtained the company’s approval to commence legal action. This approval is properly obtained by virtue of a general meeting. In Foss v Harbottle, Wigram VC explained that ‘the corporation should sue in its own name and in its corporate character, or in the name of someone whom the law has appointed to be its representative. ’ It would therefore only be permissible in exceptional cases of serious abuse that minority shareholders could sue the company as a defendant. This explains the relatively strict approach adopted by the courts in deciding representative forms of actions in the guise of minority shareholder oppression. Jenkins LJ in Edwards v Halliwell explained the justification of the majority rule doctrine in Foss v Harbottle when he said ‘the rule in Foss v Harbottle, as I understand it, comes to no more than this. First, the proper plaintiff in an action in respect of a wrong alleged to be done to a company or association of persons is prima facie the company or the association of persons itself. Secondly, where the alleged wrong is a transaction which might be made binding on the company or association and on all its members by a simple majority of the members, no individual member of the company is allowed to maintain an action in respect of that matter for the simple reason that, if a mere majority of the members of the company or association is in favour of what has been done, then cadit quaestio’. This is where Section 459(1) of the Companies Act 1985 is important to Rebecca in respect of what appears to be ‘insider dealing’, mismanagement and perhaps even fraud. Section 459(1) of the Companies Act 1985 provides as follows:- Any member of a company may apply to the Court by petition for an order under this section on the grounds that the affairs of the company are being or have been conducted in a manner which is unfairly prejudicial to some part of the members (including at least himself) or that any actual or proposed act of omission of the company (including an act of omission on its behalf) is or would be so prejudicial. ’ David Partington, notes rather bluntly, that the discretion contained in Section 459 is very broad and perhaps infinite. ‘The breadth of s. 459 means that there must be an infinite range of situations in which it may be employed. Partington goes on to say that the courts have been extremely flexible in their application of the term ‘unfairly prejudicial. ’ The test for ascertaining whether or not conduct is ‘unfairly prejudicial’ is an objective test rather than a subjective one. The defendant’s motives are often times not of paramount importance to the courts. In Re Bovey Hotel Ventures Ltd. it was held that ‘the test †¦. is whether a reasonable bystander observing the consequences of (the defendant’s) conduct would regard it as having unfairly prejudiced the petitioner’s interests. The remedies are no longer limited to ‘winding up’ procedures and this of course explains the wider discretion for commencing an action by minority shareholders. Among the remedies available are, rectification, injunctive or ‘buyout relief. ’ By virtue of ‘buyout’ relief, the court makes an order requiring the company to purchase the shares of the petitioning minority shareholders. This is perhaps the best course for Rebecca to follow. She might not wish to remain a part of a company in which she has all but lost faith in. Re Sam Weller & Sons Ltd. rovides some useful guidance as to the kind of conduct that might amount to ‘unfairly prejudicial’ within the meaning of the 1985 Act as amended. For example, failing to pay a dividend in the absence of a sound commercial explanation for such a failure amounts to ‘unfairly prejudicial’ conduct’. In Sam Weller’s case the dividend had already been covered 14 times with the company declaring it for the past consecutive 37 years. In interlocutory proceedings, Gibson LJ denied the company’s application to strike out the petitioner’s claim noting that the company had a case to answer.

A Complicated Kindness

â€Å"Fire and Rain† by James Taylor is a song mentioned in A Complicated Kindness that Nomi can relate to easily. James Taylor was born March, 12th 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts, although he was mainly raised in North Carolina. By age 14, Taylor was writing songs, singing, and had learned to play the guitar and cello. In 1966, he moved to New York City to form a band with some of his friends and by the end of the year they were performing regularly at cafes. Unfortunately, while in New York, Taylor lost himself in drug abuse for a time, but would later lead to the inspiration of some of his songs, including â€Å"Fire and Rain†. After he was back on track with his life, he recorded a few demos and had them sent to Paul McCartney, whose label signed Taylor immediately. A few weeks later, he fell back into his old habits of drug abuse, and was hospitalized in Massachusetts. After his recovery, in 1970, Taylor released his single â€Å"Fire and Rain† which was inspired by his experiences with drug abuse, depression, the suicide of his friend Suzanne, and the institutional psychiatric treatments he received. â€Å"James Taylor Biography†). While Travis is playing this song for Nomi, she is thinking about herself and her family. Nomi can relate this song to her life, because just like Taylor, she has lost loved ones, her mother, (who likely committed suicide like Taylor’s friend mentioned in the song) and her sister, abuses drugs, and has no faith in life. The song connects to both the themes of endings and loss which are present in the novel. The line, â€Å"I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end,† connects to the theme of endings, which Nomi has problems with due to the incomplete ending of her own life. The part about sunny days probably made Nomi recall all the good days and memories she has of when her family was whole. She even begins to cry in the novel, during this line. Nomi can relate, â€Å"But I always thought that I’d see you again,† to how she always thought that Tash and Trudie might come back to see her, which also ties into the theme of loss, because Nomi lost two of the most important people in her life. Another line that Nomi can connect to is, â€Å"You’ve just got to see me through another day,† which simply reflects on Nomi’s discontent with her life and the struggle she has just to get through each day. There are many poetic techniques incorporated into the song as well. Obviously, there is a lot of repetition due to the repeating chorus and the line â€Å"I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain. † This line is also a metaphor for the different emotions Taylor, and Nomi, have felt. Fire could be seen as anger, passion, or possibly rage while rain is probably referring to sadness and despair. There is also a lot of rhyming in the song such as â€Å"I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end/ I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend,† and â€Å"You’ve just got to see me through another day/ And I won’t make it any other way,† as well as others, which makes the song flow more smoothly. The sound device of assonance is used in the line, â€Å"Sweet dreams and flying machines,† because sweet, dreams, and machines, (although machines is not neighbouring) all have similar vowel sounds. Works Cited â€Å"James Taylor Biography.† Bandbiographies.com. Retrieved 16 January 2013. http://www.bandbiographies.com/james_taylor/biography.htm

Events and Mistakes That Led to the Revolutionary War Essays

Events and Mistakes That Led to the Revolutionary War Essays Events and Mistakes That Led to the Revolutionary War Essay Events and Mistakes That Led to the Revolutionary War Essay Essay Topic: Revolutionary Road post university| Events and Mistakes that led to the Revolutionary War| | | By. Bryan J. Korec| 9/25/2011| | The American Revolution displayed certain stages throughout that matched with the broad general pattern. As a prelude before the Revolution itself, there were already preliminary symptoms of unrest within America that followed the first step in the general pattern of revolutions. Prior to the initial shots in 1775, growing discontent against the British Government who were passing certain acts that the Americans thought as very unfair had already risen to a high degree. With the majority of acts incurring economic and financial costs, by 1767, the Townshend Acts had been passed, putting further taxes on paper, glass and tea. Upon the taxes that the Stamp Act of 1965 incurred on such items as newspapers, official documents and almanacs, the American people became highly agitated and a feeling of resentment quickly spilled over the masses, ‘several person were for dying rather than submitting to it ’ [pg52 Maier, P. ] Additionally, the Colonialist became increasingly violent, ‘Almost immediately after the Acts [implementation], outbreak of mob activity. By 1770, the preliminary symptom of unrest displayed through protest and discontent was evident. The Colonialist did not feel that they were obligated to be subject to these taxes without representation in British Parliament. Additionally, the psychological pre-condition associated with the cause of war was present in the Colonialist discontent regarding the numerous Acts bearing economic consequences. Not only had the events up till 1770 displayed active protests and early mob activity, it also hinted at the potential oncoming violence the growing mob could inflict which was the next step in the general broad pattern of revolutions. Following on from active demonstrations and protests, the American Revolution followed the general pathology through to the advanced symptoms of unrest which was characterized by the creation of a violent mob during the Boston Massacre in 1770. Taking place on the March 5th 1770, the massacre found its backdrop against a dispute between a colonialist and British soldier. After a misunderstanding between Edward Gerrish and Captain Lieutenant John Goldfinch, Private White mishandled the dispute by striking Gerrish on the head. Resulting from this a growing crowd of American colonialist gathered taunting White. Being relieved, Captain Preston went down to relieve the crowd. Amongst the crowd, one of Preston’s men was struck down. Immediately after this, Preston’s men fired on the crowd killing five and injuring a further six men. The response to the ‘massacre’ was self-evident, with numerous artists drawing upon this incident for numerous pieces of anti-British propaganda. The massacre was the final straw for both radical politicians and simple American colonialists in Boston. The word ‘massacre’ used by the Americans was not describing those killed; it was instead referring to the current mood held by many of the colonialists. The colonialists had been ‘massacred’ in a sense that they were no longer going to tolerate British government’s power. Upon the previous acts that implied economic sanctions, the blood of American lives was indeed the last straw. The display of violence acted as both a political pre-condition and characteristic that identified a successful revolution. As a political pre-condition, the murder of five Americans displayed the conflict between the Colonialists and their Imperial masters. Under characteristics, the violence witnessed in Boston fulfilled one of the four characteristics of revolution. With the Colonialist all but effectively severing ties with Britain, the next step of the pathology was met, overthrowing the incumbent government in the form of the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Written by Tomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence proclaimed that the thirteen colonies of America were no longer a part of the British Empire. Distributed to the public, the Declaration of Independence was signed by fifty-six signatories from all thirteen American colonies. Differing to the pathology, the Declaration of Independence was a passive but firm way of legally and officially severing ties with Britain. Unlike other revolutions, the American Revolution did not physically overthrow the Britain as British parliament still resided in London, ‘We have not raised armies with the ambitious design of separating from Great Britain ’[Weintraub, S. Pg 67] Nevertheless, the Declaration of Independence was a significant milestone in the American Revolution. The Declaration of Independence displayed two of the characteristics of revolution; ideology and leadership. Foundational to the Declaration were two philosophical themes- individual rights and the right of revolution- derived from the English philosopher John Locke. Locke advocated that an individual’s rights rose above the power of any group or government, ‘The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges everyone ’ [Locke, J. PgN/a]. That individual was entitled to his or her own course of action, not bound to a third party. As part of his social contract theory, Locke expounded that according to natural law, people had a right to life, liberty and estate. He maintained that people could instigate a revolution if a government acted against the interests of its people and replace it with one it deemed fit. Additionally, the importance of leadership is seen within the implementation of the Declaration. Without the brains ‘Committee of Five’ which drafted the original declaration, the American Revolution would not have taken the next step in its successful progression. The Declaration of Independence was indeed an important part of America’s Revolution. Not only did it fulfill the ‘overthrow of existing government’ step within the revolution pathology, it also displayed two of the four integral characteristics associated with revolution. In response to the Declaration of Independence, King Henry dispatched a significant British force to put down the perceived colonial problem within America. This marked the next step within the board pattern of revolutions which was the clash between the Revolutionaries and Counter-Revolutionaries in a ‘Civil War’. For the majority of the time from 1775 to 1781, the British enjoyed success in both the Northern and Southern theatres of war. Throughout the New York and Jersey Campaign General Howe pursued a battered patriot army led by George Washington, ‘With remnants of his army in tents, Washington had already disconsolately on December 18th 1776, ‘the game is nearly up’’ [Weintraub, S. Pg84]. If not for a few strategic victories at Trenton and Moore’s Creek Bridge, Washington’s army may well have surrendered to Howe’s British troop. The turning points and ultimate demise of Britain’s objective to put down the rebellion came during the Battle of Saratoga in 1777 and the Siege of Yorktown in 1781. General Burgoyne, coming from the north was meant to meet up with Howe’s army based in Philadelphia. The objective was to cut and divide the American colonies with the two armies meeting up at Albany. However Burgoyne was met by a Continental Army led by Gates. This ended in British defeat and the surrender of Burgoyne’s army. The American’s victory at Saratoga was a turning point because it renewed revolutionary confidence and determination after Howe’s successful campaign in New York and New Jersey. Additionally, it also encouraged France to actively and openly support the Americans cause. Yorktown Virginia was the next vital turning point, resulting in a American victory. After several demoralizing defeats and the toll the war had taken on the British merchants and economy, Britain withdrew effectively ending the war and handing the Americans a successful revolution. Although not a ‘civil war’ in nature, America’s ongoing conflict with Britain from 1775 till 1781 marks its own distinct deviation from the general pathology of revolutions. Though they were a series of battles that pitched Revolutionaries against Counter-revolutionaries, the conflict between America and Britain does not match the definition of a ‘civil war’. Furthermore, America totally bypassed the next two steps within the pattern of revolutions. It did not encounter or experience a rise of extremists or reign of terror. Rather, after the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 America went into a seemingly prosperous period, an immediate post revolutionary society. The extent to which the American Revolution followed the broad pattern of revolutions is at best difficult to totally assess. Though the first two stages of the broad pattern align almost perfectly, from there on, the American Revolution seemed to take its own course. Though somewhat resembling the stages of the board pattern, the success of the American Revolution took a different and at times ‘short-cut’ path to post-revolutionary America. The whole entirety of the revolution however did exhibit characteristics and causes of revolution at all times. Through the Acts passed by British parliament, it is safe to assume that the catalyst to the American Revolution was significantly economic in nature. Though hazy, there is one concrete fact known about the American Revolution. It was the result of a mature preference for freedom, not a vague ill-defined craving for independence onset by economic circumstances that ultimately brought about the succesion of America.

4 Problems With the Goals Youre Setting

4 Problems With the Goals Youre Setting We all set goals. Some are big and juicy and inspiring. (I want to be an astronaut when I grow up!) Others are more mundane. (I want to floss!) But regardless of the size and scope, our goals will never be anything more than a source of guilt if we can’t make them happen. Whether you’re dreaming big or just trying to make steady progress, if you don’t set the right goals you’ll never get to the place you want to be. In order to do this, sometimes you have to admit that what you’re doing isn’t working and tackle the source of the issue. That being said, here are 4 problems with the goals you’re setting:1. Your motivation sucksDon’t just set a goal because you think it makes you look good on social media or because you’re trying to impress someone. Set goals that are meaningful to you and achievable with the right balance of sacrifice so you make sure to complete them.We all want to be cool, and we all struggle with wanting to do things we see other people do. But goals ought to be personal. Make sure you know why you’re doing what you’re doing and it will make your goal that much easier to achieve.2. You’re all talk and no actionIt doesn’t matter how good your goals look on paper if you never manage to reach  them. Don’t be one of those people who declares your intention and then doesn’t follow through. Nothing is more annoying or transparent. Everyone can tell if you’d rather get the credit than actually do the work. Set your goal, take steps to complete it, and then don’t solicit too much praise.3. You quit too oftenIf you’ve set your goals correctly- and you have the passion to persevere- then you should have a pretty clear idea what your goal is going to require. You’re prepared to struggle and to stare down doubt. You’ve seen the hard parts coming. Part of this means setting goals that matter to you enough to keep up your devotion to them when the going gets toughest.4. You’re intimidatedMaybe your goals aren’t grand enough. Are you too scared to try for what you really want? Does fear of failure (or success) hold you back from what you truly want to do? If so, take a lesson from the most fearless entrepreneurs and set off boldly into the unknown. Don’t let yourself get caught up in the what-ifs. Steer into the dizzying direction of your wildest dreams. Do what scares you most- it’s often exactly what you should be doing.

A case study report- POLYSUBSTANCE ABUSE Term Paper

A case study report- POLYSUBSTANCE ABUSE - Term Paper Example Furthermore, although it is not known which factors actually contribute to the polysubstance abuse, perhaps, a mix of many factors actually precipitates it. Chaotic home environment, parental substance abuse, parental mental illness, ineffective parenting, and lack of parental involvement, all of which seem to arise from a family environment are factors that need to be considered in this case. It is considered that family factors are most crucial in promoting drug abuse by the youth. Even the mentally healthy youth demonstrates high risk of abusing when the parents abuse. Poor parental attachment, nurturing, and monitoring, increase the risks of developing substance abuse. It is evident from Antonios case that he was in the middle of a dysfunctional family life. His fathers alcohol abuse and constant domestic fight between his parents leading to marital disruption can be functionally responsible for Antonios abuse behaviors. These led to substantial amount of stress at home and is definitely causative of little or no cohesion, organization, expressiveness, consistency, all leading to absence of communication between family members. More over, in Antonios case, there had been marital disruption between his parents over alcohol abuse, and this could have led to the belief that substance abuse is a normal part of the life. Cohesion among family members prevents delinquency, depression and low self-esteem and fosters self-control and absence of all of these increases the level of social estrangement that strongly predisposes to substance abuse (Dinges & Oetting, 1993). Sudden change in environment occurred in Antonios life due to their relocation from Huntington Beach to Redlands. It created pressure on him, and the factor of ineffective coping came into play. This led to his association with conduct-disordered peers, which was another precipitating factor. Lack of