Native Son by Richard Wright Essay

Richard Wright was determined to make a profound statement. In his novel, Native Son, he endeavors to present the â€Å"horror of Negro life in the United States† (Wright xxxiii). By addressing such a significant topic, he sought to write a book that â€Å"no one would weep over; that would be so hard and deep that they would have to face it without the consolation of tears† (xxvii). Native Son is a commentary on the poverty and helplessness experienced by blacks in America, and it illustrates the abhorrent ways that blacks were treated, describes their awful living conditions and calls attention to the half-hearted efforts offered by white sympathizers. Told from the perspective of his character Bigger Thomas, Wright crafts a story depicting the oppressive lives endured by Negroes and makes it so despicable that it grabs the attention of the reader and forces him to reevaluate the state of society. There is much in this novel that would cause a reader to cry, but, to W right’s point, the topic is so significant that it resonates more deeply and elicits a deeper response. Bigger Thomas is the protagonist of the novel, but, to Wright, Bigger also exemplifies African Americans of the time. He is barely educated, struggling to find meaningful work and living in an overcrowded slum with his family; just like many others around him. Bigger is frustrated with his place in life and finds it difficult to understand why the opportunities that are available to whites are not available to him. During an exchange with his friend Gus, Bigger exclaims, â€Å"Goddammit, look! We live here and they live there. We black and they white. They got things and we ain’t. They do things and we can’t. It’s like living in jail† (23). Bigger and Gus have no outlet to express their individuality or emotions. Their feelings towards whites are ingrained in them. Bigger states, â€Å"[Whites live] right down here in my stomach†¦Every time I think of ‘em, I feel ‘em†¦It’s like fire†¦That’s when I feel like something awful’s going to happen to me†¦Naw; it ain’t like something going to happen to me. It’s†¦It’s like I was going to do something I can’t help† (24). This statement summarizes how the everyday black man feels about his station in life and the opportunities available to him. Additionally, it foreshadows the heinous events that will unfold later in the novel. A turning point in Wright’s story comes when Bigger is offered a job as a chauffeur for the Dalton family. Mr. Dalton is a white real estate mogul that prides himself for being a member of the NAACP. He employs young black men in an attempt to rehabilitate them. On the surface, this is an ideal opportunity for Bigger because it provides room and board and pays well enough to allow him to take care of his mother and siblings, but Wright is looking to emphasize how the trivial the actions taken by the white sympathizers do not actually address the challenges faced by the African American population. Bigger is not overwhelmed by this opportunity or impressed that the last chauffeur had gone to night school. Moreover, this job ultimately places Bigger in a situation that he cannot control, and he accidentally smothers Dalton’s daughter, Mary. Bigger realizes, â€Å"Though he had killed by accident, not once did he feel the need to tell himself that it had been an accident. He was black and he had been alone in a room where a white girl had been killed; therefore he had killed her† (101). This is the â€Å"awful† event that Bigger alluded to earlier in the story. Killing Mary elicits feelings in Bigger that he had never experienced before. Bigger acknowledges, â€Å"He was more alive than he could ever remember having been; his mind and attention were pointed, focused toward a goal† (141). Bigger embraced these feelings and continued with a scheme to make everyone believe that Mary had been kidnapped. With the assistance of his girlfriend Bessie, he plans to escape with $10,000 in ransom money. Wright uses Bigger’s emotions and his heightened sense of awareness at this point in the novel to comment on society at the time. Wright is stating that the act of murder is one of the only ways for young African American men to express themselves, to exert any independence and to get out from under the oppression of their daily life. When the authorities realize that Bigger is the killer he flees to avoid being captured, but he realizes that â€Å"all his life he had been knowing that sooner or later something like this would come to him† (207). Survival becomes paramount to Bigger, escaping the law is his only priority, and Bessie becomes a liability. While attempting to hide from the police, Bigger realizes that it will be easier to escape without traveling with Bessie. In a tense scene, Bigger first rapes Bessie, lets her fall to sleep and finally bludgeons her. His actions are methodical as  Ã¢â‚¬Å"he lifted the brick again and again, until in falling it struck a sodden mass that gave softly but stoutly to each landing blow. Soon he seemed to be striking a wet wad of cotton, of some damp substance whose only life was the jarring of the brick’s impact† (222). Ultimately this second murder is unnecessary, as Bigger is soon apprehended. Bigger is arrested and indicted for the murder of Mary Dalton, and the character that Wright chooses to defend him is a white, Jewish attorney, named Boris Max. In the novel, Max takes the time to talk to Bigger and understand the actions in his life that have influenced him. For the first time in his life, Bigger has someone interested in his thoughts and feelings, which result in Bigger beginning finding hope. Max does his best to motivate Bigger to fight to save his own life. Max pleads, â€Å"Listen Bigger, you’re facing a sea of hate now that’s no different than what you’ve faced all your life. And, because it’s that way, you’ve got to fight. If they can wipe you out, then they can wipe others out too† (320). Throughout this section of the book Bigger undergoes a transformation. By explaining his actions and feelings to Max, he finally emerges from the shell he has created around himself. Max works hard to understand the issues in Bigger’s life that culminated in his actions and the violence he exerted against Mary and Bessie, and he uses this information to form his defense. Although the crimes that Bigger committed were horrific, the reader begins to sympathize with him as he describes more about himself and his feelings to Max as the story comes to a conclusion. Wright’s goal with this novel was to evoke empathy for Bigger and to make a statement regarding the treatment of blacks at the time. Wright uses Max’s closing statement to the judge to summarize all of the points he wants the reader to contemplate. Max combines everything that he learns about Bigger and weaves it together with the plight of the blacks during the time and eloquently argues that Bigger should be sentenced to life in prison, rather than to execution. Max argues, â€Å"This man is different, even though his crime differs from similar crimes only in degree. The complex forces of society have isolated here for us a symbol, a test symbol† (354). Through Max’s monologue, the reader more clearly understands all of the factors that  have contributed to the creation of Bigger and others like him, and he pleads with the judge to understand that there are larger forces in play, other than the specific crime that Bigger committed. Unfortunately, despite Max’s valiant attempts, the â€Å"sentence of the Court is that you, Bigger Thomas, shall die on or before midnight of Friday, March third, in a manner prescribed by the laws of this state† (381). Initially, it would appear that with Bigger’s execution, Wright fails in his attempt to move people to reevaluate the racial injustice of the times, but the conclusion is actually Wright’s acknowledgement that society was not quite ready to change.

Jean Piaget

The history of psychology dates back to the ancient Greeks, Callahan and India. There are even some records of psychology dating back to ancient Egypt. Psychology is the study of the human mind and it's functions. It used to be a branch of philosophy, but in the asses it developed into an independent science, when Wilhelm Wound founded the first laboratory dedicated to psychology. In the ancient times, psychology had to do with evil spirits and souls, which remedies were incinerations and curses. Right now, In modern times, we know that psychology has nothing to do with that, but with the rain and the way it works.Jean Pigged was born In Nucleus, Switzerland in 1896. He did his license and PhD on biology at the university of his hometown. It was his background on biology, and his interest on epistemology (the theory of knowledge), that made him want to find out how the mind comes to know knowledge, objects and concepts, which then lead him to study the development of children, especi ally his own. He observed, talked and listen to them, as well as other children, while he performed exercises to test his theories, studies that he then published and helped IM create his theory.Piglet's theory is called Intellectual Development, it is based on the maturation of the human. It was divided into four stages. These stages happen in between the ages of O and 15 years old. The first stage that happens between the age of O and 2, it is called Seismometer Stage. Children start to differentiate themselves from objects and knows more about himself and where he is. Also a key think kids learn Is that if parents or any object Is outside of his sight It will continue to exist.Pre-operational stage comes around 2-7 years of age, the most important thing happening in this stage is that children learn how to use language and by using this skill they represent objects by words or images. Children begin to use symbols to represent objects, also they don't have a sense of time and are influenced by fantasy and think others fantasize like them. Concrete Operational is the stage happening while the child is 7 to 12 years old. During this age children get more comfortable with themselves, and develop an ability to think and make judgment about important things.In this stage It Is common that children ask many questions and would like to explain things to their parents. The last stage of Piglet's theory is called Formal Operational Stage, in this stage teenagers are Individual and know how to make complete Judgment by themselves. Teenagers are capable or reasoning and will be more open and have a wide range of ideas because they can consider many possibilities and see from different perspectives Jean Piglets theory of intellectual development Is very similar but at the same time very different than Erikson theory.Piglet's theory is based on maturation and what children and adults hint and develop while growing up, while Erikson theory is more about what you feel and who you are as a person and the people you interact with. The theories are similar at only the beginning, in the first stage when they talk about tact and how the children develop feelings with the persons they love. And finally another similarity Is that all the stages last till death. In Piglet's theory you stop developing at age 16, childhood, allotted and elderly.The two theories are different in many ways but both have the same base idea, you could say that Jean and Erik had the same Houghton, but then developed a different concept for finishing their theories. Pigged is one of the most important psychologists of the modern times, and with out a doubt, the most important child psychologist. He is very well recognized around the world for his theory on child development as well as the series of books he has written on it. Jean Piglet's theory is more about maturation, rather than Erosion's, that is more about what a person is feeling throughout his or her whole life.His theory has four stages which are: The seismometer stage (0-2 years), the Pre-operational stage (2-7 ears), the concrete operational stage (7-12) and the formal operational stage (12 and above). Teenagers who are 12 and above have a wider range of ideas and they have judgment. Erickson theory has stages begin from the moment in which a person is born, to the moment in which a person dies. He explains how your life can change if a stage in your life isn't satisfactory. Usually, a teenager isn't mature enough until he or she has reached an age above 12. Jean Piaget The history of psychology dates back to the ancient Greeks, Callahan and India. There are even some records of psychology dating back to ancient Egypt. Psychology is the study of the human mind and it's functions. It used to be a branch of philosophy, but in the asses it developed into an independent science, when Wilhelm Wound founded the first laboratory dedicated to psychology. In the ancient times, psychology had to do with evil spirits and souls, which remedies were incinerations and curses. Right now, In modern times, we know that psychology has nothing to do with that, but with the rain and the way it works.Jean Pigged was born In Nucleus, Switzerland in 1896. He did his license and PhD on biology at the university of his hometown. It was his background on biology, and his interest on epistemology (the theory of knowledge), that made him want to find out how the mind comes to know knowledge, objects and concepts, which then lead him to study the development of children, especi ally his own. He observed, talked and listen to them, as well as other children, while he performed exercises to test his theories, studies that he then published and helped IM create his theory.Piglet's theory is called Intellectual Development, it is based on the maturation of the human. It was divided into four stages. These stages happen in between the ages of O and 15 years old. The first stage that happens between the age of O and 2, it is called Seismometer Stage. Children start to differentiate themselves from objects and knows more about himself and where he is. Also a key think kids learn Is that if parents or any object Is outside of his sight It will continue to exist.Pre-operational stage comes around 2-7 years of age, the most important thing happening in this stage is that children learn how to use language and by using this skill they represent objects by words or images. Children begin to use symbols to represent objects, also they don't have a sense of time and are influenced by fantasy and think others fantasize like them. Concrete Operational is the stage happening while the child is 7 to 12 years old. During this age children get more comfortable with themselves, and develop an ability to think and make judgment about important things.In this stage It Is common that children ask many questions and would like to explain things to their parents. The last stage of Piglet's theory is called Formal Operational Stage, in this stage teenagers are Individual and know how to make complete Judgment by themselves. Teenagers are capable or reasoning and will be more open and have a wide range of ideas because they can consider many possibilities and see from different perspectives Jean Piglets theory of intellectual development Is very similar but at the same time very different than Erikson theory.Piglet's theory is based on maturation and what children and adults hint and develop while growing up, while Erikson theory is more about what you feel and who you are as a person and the people you interact with. The theories are similar at only the beginning, in the first stage when they talk about tact and how the children develop feelings with the persons they love. And finally another similarity Is that all the stages last till death. In Piglet's theory you stop developing at age 16, childhood, allotted and elderly.The two theories are different in many ways but both have the same base idea, you could say that Jean and Erik had the same Houghton, but then developed a different concept for finishing their theories. Pigged is one of the most important psychologists of the modern times, and with out a doubt, the most important child psychologist. He is very well recognized around the world for his theory on child development as well as the series of books he has written on it. Jean Piglet's theory is more about maturation, rather than Erosion's, that is more about what a person is feeling throughout his or her whole life.His theory has four stages which are: The seismometer stage (0-2 years), the Pre-operational stage (2-7 ears), the concrete operational stage (7-12) and the formal operational stage (12 and above). Teenagers who are 12 and above have a wider range of ideas and they have judgment. Erickson theory has stages begin from the moment in which a person is born, to the moment in which a person dies. He explains how your life can change if a stage in your life isn't satisfactory. Usually, a teenager isn't mature enough until he or she has reached an age above 12.

A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind Review If you ever wondered and wanted to experience how a person with schizophrenia thinks and acts, A Beautiful Mind is the perfect example. The movie tells the life story of John Nash. You get a point of view of a real person who struggles with schizophrenia in their everyday life. In this movie the phototype of schizophrenia is described as a person who lives their life thinking and believing that theres an actual living person or people they talk to, but in reality its Just delusions and hallucinations they are experiencing. They are the only ones who can see or hear them. Essentially, it is in their heads. Hallucinations may include things a person sees, hears, smells, or feels, that no one else can. Delusions are often false beliefs such as being followed or watched. The movie starts off in Nashs early years at Princeton, where he is not yet aware of he has schizophrenia. After Princeton, Nash married Alicia. When Alicia becomes pregnant with their child, Alicia notices that John is working late and at odd times and is becoming very paranoid. Alicia becomes concerned about him but John only shuts her out. This is when John Nashs world turned upside down. He believed he was secretly working for the government, decoding Russian codes. He comes to realize that the codes in the newspapers, the government spies, and the car chases were all delusions. Later in the movie Nash also learns that his old roommate was Just a hallucination as well. Princeton had no record of his friend Charles. After discovering that he had schizophrenia, Nash struggled with getting better. There were times where he would take his medication faithfully and times where he wouldnt. Alicia showed her love and dedication to her husband by staying with him and helping him through this struggle when both of their realities turned upside down. Thanks to the help of his wife and his friends Nash was able to return to his work. In 1994 John Nash was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on game theory. I think that A Beautiful Mind was an amazing movie showing his story of how he coped with his schizophrenia. A Beautiful Mind By logelaJ

Communications - Case study1 Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Communications - study1 - Case Study Example ii-c) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – There is an old adage stating â€Å"What gets measured gets done.† It helps in the effective management of big and small organisations and provides employees with targets for performance. Review of policies can be done semi-annually, and involvement of every employee/volunteer is encouraged. Since employees/volunteers are the front-liners of the agency and are in constant contact with clients, they can provide vital ideas toward better service. Employees and volunteers should respect the clients right to privacy and protect the confidentiality of obtained information during the performance of professional duty. Clients should be informed of this policy, its extent and limitations, and possible consequences of disclosure. Disclosure of confidential information should be done in and by secured, private places and methods, and for legal proceedings, disclosure can only be done according to what is legal. Disclosure of confidential information with consultants is only permitted under compelling need. In the event of the termination, incapacitation, or death of the employee, protecting clients confidential information should still be done (Government of Western Australia, 2008 & Western Australian Council of Social Service Inc [WACOSS], 2011) The Government of Western Australia website (www.wa.gov.au) is a good place to start research on employer and employee rights. The WACOSS website (www.wacoss.org.au) also has crucial links to legal information regarding not for profit organisations. The right to work in an environment free from harassment and discrimination, and the responsibility to respect social and cultural diversity among clients and colleagues (Government of Western Australia, 2008). iv-b) If the matter is not resolved

Developing security policy (Security, Ethics and Electronic Commerce Essay

Developing security policy (Security, Ethics and Electronic Commerce Systems) - Essay Example A security policy specifically is the imperative foundation on which a valuable and complete security program can be developed. This significant constituent of the overall security architecture is usually ignored. A security policy is the most important way in which management’s decision for security is converted into specific, measurable, and testable goals and objectives. It is essential to take a top down approach (defining the policy and then roles and responsibilities to enact it properly) based on a well-stated policy in order to make an effective security architecture. On the other hand, if there is an absence of a security policy guiding the decision makers, then decisions will be made on ad-hoc bases, by the individuals developing, installing, and maintaining computer systems, and this will result in a disparate and less than optimal security architecture being used or implemented (Weise & Martin, 2001). The structure of this report is as follows: next section describ es the components necessary for developing and defining the policy then a policy is developed to govern the transaction management system of an organization. It characterizes the challenge or issue that management is dealing with. It might include regulatory restrictions, security of highly significant data, or the appropriate utilization of certain technologies. Sometimes, it may be needed to describe terms. It is also vital that everyone involved in the policy, must understands its content. Moreover, the conditions must also be stated under which policy is applicable (Olzak, 2010; Patrick, 2001). Objectives are usually specified within the scope definition and may take in actions and configurations forbidden or restricted. In addition, these are also normally defined outside a policy, conditions and organizational practices may necessitate placing certain standards and

The Man with a Movie Camera (1929) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Man with a Movie Camera (1929) - Essay Example Additionally, film has portrays a higher mathematics montage as Vertov has used unique cinematic techniques to craft a document that have pleasantly joined facts with images hence making the film to consist only of those linkages that will signify a whole organic essential in endorsing self-reflective images. In relation to that, Vertov, believe that the camera is a â€Å"Cine-Eye,† that captures, images reflecting on found reality hence enabling him to create his own cine-truths, apart from preceding art forms and beyond the decayed conventions of traditional narrative and socially created realism. In achieving this, Vertov decided to relate man to machines and in the face of machine, man is abashed for their incapability to engross the world with a reflexive eye. For that reason, Vertov decided to use Cine-eye to organize the shots extracted from real life situation hence crafting a well calculated, and meaningful rhythmic visual order ever seen. Correspondingly, Vertov argues ‘the film is only the sum of the facts recorded on film. Thus, he advocates for film’s freedom from â€Å"the tutelage of literature and the theater â€Å"as literature and the theater promote a notion of perceiving ‘life as it’ hence nurturing imperfect human eye. For that reason, Vertov recommend that cinema vocation is necessary as it capture â€Å"the feel of the world† as this will certify for â€Å"perfectible eye† thus brings us face to face with 100% cinematography. For instance, a series of shots that demonstrate details of a womans bedroom in Moscow give us a clear picture of the lifestyle of Urban Russian in 1929. Subsequently, Vertov has capture everyday life among humans in Russia by using a series of shots that oc cur in the streets Moscow and Odessa demonstrate images of a train moving at extraordinary speed and individuals arriving at industrial unit to begin labor. Another stimulating aspect of Vertovs editing is the way he

PALETIVE CARE FOR LUNGS CANSER PATIENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

PALETIVE CARE FOR LUNGS CANSER PATIENT - Essay Example â€Å"Bronchogenic carcinoma is a major cause of mortality world-wide and the survival rate has not improved significantly in the last 20 years. Over 150000 new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed in Europe every year but less than 10 percent are cured†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Doyle, Hanks , Cherny, and Calman, K., 2005) The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage. (Morrow, 2009). It is an experience and assessment is difficult. There is no simple definition for palliative care also, and the definition based on the World Health Organization states â€Å"A Palliative care is care that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing life-threatening illness. With palliative care particular attention is given to the prevention, assessment, and treatment of pain and other symptoms, and to the provision of psychological, spiritual and  emotional support.† (Avert, 2010) Due to lack of effective surgical and medical cure especially for the lung tumors, the importance of palliative cure in this area has significantly increased. In the disease management of lung cancer major surgery is rarely justified for palliation. â€Å"The National Council for Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Services (1997) has defined psychosocial care as concerned with the psychological and emotional well being of the patient and their family/carers, including issues of self-esteem, insight into an adaptation to the illness and its consequences, communication, social functioning and relationships.† (Jeffrey, 2003, p.1) Palliative care for the patients who are at the verge of death has several dimensions to it apart from the pain associated with the disease. Understanding these following factors is very important as the entire gamut of the care hinges on appreciating the complexities of these factors, as the issue is not

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

CAPM - Essay Example The CAPM presents partial equilibrium model where agents consider the risk free returns and the probability distributions of the future returns on risky assets as being exogenous. In this paper, I seek to give an in-depth understanding of this model by delving into the logic behind it, exploring critiques levelled against it, and explaining why it is still the model of choice in financial analysis. Finally, I give practical examples of its practical application that show evidence of its usefulness and continued use to date. The CAPM is built on the portfolio model that Harry Markowitz (1959) developed. In the model, a portfolio is selected by an investor at time t-1 which at t produces a stochastic return. Investors are assumed to be risk averse and, in their choosing among portfolios, care is only taken on the mean and the variance of their single-period investment return. This results in investors choosing â€Å"mean-variance-efficient† portfolios, the portfolios in this case 1) given variance, maximizes returns and 2) given expected returns, minimize portfolio return variance. For this, the approach is referred to as mean-variance model. An algebraic condition is provided by the model on asset weights in portfolios that are mean-variant-efficient. This algebraic statement is turned by the CAPM into a prediction that is testable about the connection between expected returns and risk through identification of an efficient portfolio if asset prices should clear all the assets off the market. To identify a mean-variant-efficient portfolio, Sharpe and Lintner added two crucial assumptions. The first one is complete agreement: taking asset prices to clear the market at t-1, it is agreed by investors that asset joint distribution returns from t-1 to t. This distribution is taken to be the true distribution, i.e. it provides the distribution giving returns that we employ in testing the model. Secondly, there is risk-free rate

Research paper on nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Research paper on nursing - Essay Example Nursing profession contributes in promotion of well being of a person by prevention of illness, helping doctors in treatment procedures, and taking patients care of ill, disabled and dying people. According to International College of Nursing (ICN), nursing also aids in various other aspects of health care setting including promotion of a safe environment, research and development, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and preparation of educational materials. This profession is regarded as the backbone of our healthcare system. As the global environment is changing at fast pace, the types of disorders, and the paths of disease transmission are also varying and therefore, offering more diverse challenges. The nurses ensure promising future to all the people who are victims of bad health. Cohesive efforts and collaborative knowledge of nurse and physician brings clinical success in terms of patient’s positive outcome. The nursing profession has undergone many transformations over human history with different stages of development. Nursing in ancient times was restricted to mother caring for their off springs and relatives. It was believed that sickness and disorders arise due to evil spirits and only magical treatments were given. Nursing activities were taken care of by females in the early Christian era in the Churches and homes without formal education. Over the time these nurses learnt the skills with the use of herbal medicines and drugs. Some nurses even got treatment like physicians. However, this was followed by dark period of nursing where illiterate and ignorant women were delivering crude and unsatisfactory nursing services to sick and needy people. In this period, St. Vincent de Paul, religious leader motivated ladies for nurse training without actual clinical education. Then the developmental era in nursing began from 1846 with Florence

Post Conflict Reconstruction and the Resurgence of Supposedly Resolved Territorial Conflicts Essay Example for Free

Post Conflict Reconstruction and the Resurgence of Supposedly Resolved Territorial Conflicts Essay Beyond the rhetoric of traditional causes of conflicts which intermittently are also at the root cause of African territorial civil conflicts, this paper examines the question as to why conflict resurges in states where conflict has previously been resolved. From the perspective of two major theoretical frameworks in International Relations: Liberalism and Realism, this paper argues that mechanisms for conflict resolution are often short-termed and often not home-groomed to accommodate the needs of citizens emanating from a civil war. Liberals argue that this is primarily a failure of cooperation between external and internal actors or stakeholders in the peace process. To them, this lack of cooperation generates economic problems and inhibits mistrust which is the embryo for conflict resurgence. In contrast conflict resolution fails primarily as a result of factors emphasized by Realism. The conflict may not have been ripe for resolution because the practical meaning of recognition revealed large gaps between the ways that the parties defined their core interests. Against this background and given the depth of antagonism between the DRC government and MONUC on the one hand and rebel movements on the other, economic wealth of the Congo has failed to generate support for the peace process. Instead, it increased friction and placed additional political obstacles in the way of compromise. The paper also examines the potency of peacekeeping as a vehicle for conflict resolution. It argues that the design and conceptualization of peacekeeping albeit structural challenges like inadequate resources, ill-equipped personnel and lack of a clearly defined and sustainable vision are at the bedrock of cyclical conflicts. In examining the role of MONUC and other interveners in the Congolese peace process, the paper engages a conceptual thesis which seeks to clarify the difference between peacekeeping as a mediator, meddler and interventionist in African civil conflicts. This clarification will inform conceptual thinking on the potency of peacekeeping as a vehicle for the resolution of civil conflicts. The conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one demonstration of the fragile nature of post conflict reconstruction and speaks to the need to step-up conflict prevention strategies to meet current challenges which have given rise to new trajectories to territorial conflicts in Africa. Despite deploying a Peace Mission to the Congo (ONUC)[1] in the 1960s, and despite currently harboring the largest and highest funded United Nations Peace Operation (MONUC);[2] the United Nations (UN) is still finding it difficult to bring an end to the territorial conflict in what is regarded as the site for the world’s worst humanitarian conflict. The conflict, therefore, seems to protract with each renewed effort to resolve it. Following field visits, extensive reading on the Congo and interviews with conflict analysts and residents of the DRC, this paper assesses the viability of peacekeeping as a measure for preventing the resurgence of new territorial conflict. While most interviewed are of the view that the challenges of the DRC peace process are enormous and complex, this paper interrogates the role of MONUC as a conflict prevention mechanism, and its effectiveness in sustainable peacebuilding in the Great Lakes region. The paper enriches conceptual thinking with the view that peacekeeping as a form of external intervention has the capacity to support fragile states in their peace building process, and to check prospective territorial conflicts if certain requirements are met. Preliminary investigations indicate that, contrary to previous research which posited political, natural resource and cultural underpinnings as causes of the current DRC conflict, the lack of a clearly defined plan to stop hostilities in the East can largely be accountable for the cyclical violence. Contrary to expectation that following the 2006 DRC election, the fragile Congolese state had attained sovereign maturity to govern itself with limited external support, this paper posits the need for dedicated and timely funding to a new mediator who will engage a five-phased peacebuilding process which will re-orientate existent theoretical and pragmatic processes of conflict prevention, and define succinctly, through policy recommendations, a new direction for the prevention of territorial conflicts. Following this introduction, the next section will explore the causes of territorial conflicts in Africa and elsewhere. This section engages a brief differentiation between causes of conflicts and causes of conflict resurgence with the view of demonstrating that if one cannot prima facie understand the causes of conflict, its resolution attempts will be flawed and such attempts will serve as the corner stone on which prospective conflicts will be erected. Section two will engage a theoretical overview of causes of conflict resurgence. This section will examine causes of conflict resurgence as propounded by two main schools of thought of International Relations: Realism and Liberalism. Following this, tools of conflict resolution will reviewed with principal focus on peacekeeping. The Section will trickle down to a case specific analysis of whether peacekeeping as a tool for conflict resolution is a byproduct of intervention or mediation, and whether in the exercise of their craft, peacekeepers qualify to be called mediators or would be considered meddlers. This section argues that, between 1999 to 2006 when the first democratic election in the Congo was organized, MONUC could well be considered as a mediator, but following that period, MONUC till date (July 2006 to 2010) she is a meddler in the peace process which is largely driven by the rapprochement that was reached between the DRC and Uganda on the one hand, and the DRC and Rwanda on the other. Causes of territorial Conflicts in Africa There are contending theories as to the causes of territorial conflicts. Conflicts seem to have a litany of literature compared to other subsidiary topics of International Affairs and African studies. Scholars have thus far not been able to see the divide between causes of territorial conflicts and conflicts which ensue from the impotency of mechanisms tailored to resolve them. As a result, there is no dearth of literature on the causes of conflicts but one hardly finds any one who has contended that an ineffective resolution strategy could spark new trajectories to conflict. Existing literature on causes of conflict is sometimes limited in scope to address on causes in particular. Adekeye Adebajo has articulated political and cultural underpinnings to be responsible for conflicts. 3] This could hold true for the Sierra Leone conflict but in the face of global adversities, his speculations stand to be criticized because other conflicts like the Rwandan genocide emanate from imbalances in the distribution of economic, political and social resources. Moreover, the ongoing Sudanese conflicts have religious/and or ethnic undertones with no element of cultural or political formulations which equally go along way to excavate the lacunae in Adekeye’s speculations. Paul Collier holds the view that conflicts are fuelled by economic considerations. He posits that most rebel organizations cling onto the idea of grievances in order to elicit more public support for their cause. In his hypothesis, he contemplates that a state with superfluous resources, increasing working-age population, and high unemployment rate is most likely to harbor conflict. His hypothesis, though true for many conflicts that have plagued Africa does not explain other cases in Africa. For instance, former British trusteeship of Cameroon fondly known as Anglophone Cameroon has been wailing for a fair share of economic, political, social and natural resources of the country. Despite this, discontentment has not resulted to war or any from of concrete violence as has occurred in other countries. This phenomenon consequently makes Collier’s assertions fluid. Summarily, Collier, Eboe Hutchful and Kwesi Aning argue that there are countries that have experienced conflict where natural resources were not articulated as the source of the conflict. They cited the examples of Chad and Ethiopia. [5] They acknowledged that some conflicts have been fueled by purely non-resource driven motives resulted. This is true with the cases of Angola, Afghanistan and Sudan. They, however, conceded to the fact that in the conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) resources were one of the stimulants among other elements. They tried to strike a balance by postulating that the end of the Cold War culminated in the proliferation of arms, and ineffective post conflict demilitarization, demobilization, and reintegration of ex-combatants which culminated in an outburst of wary and distressed combatants resulting several coup detat putsch attempts. While one may agree with the grievance theory, the million dollar question is what are people aggrieved about as to resort to conflicts, destruction of property, murder and assassinations? Is it about Governance? Is it distribution of resources? The answer is definitely far from the propositions of the aforementioned scholars. Because some countries have resource crisis and mismanagement, repressive regimes, and poor governance, but know no conflict. This therefore suggests that there is yet an unknown cause of conflict, and this cause is probably one that cuts across all conflicts. The present paper contemplates that inefficacies in the mechanisms for resolving these conflicts could be the brain-child behind the cyclical resurgence of conflicts in states previously hit by territorial civil wars. William Reno on his part contends that internal warfare is motivated by economic considerations especially with regard to the intensification of transitional commerce. He argues that there is a relationship between corruption and politics. According to Reno, conflict is bound to rise where a ruler makes life uncomfortable for his citizens by encouraging the search of his espionage as a means of escaping from squalid conditions. Reno in his postulations contemplates that the absence of good governance engenders politics as a cause of conflict. [8] William Zartman on his part contemplates that the increase in conflict is orchestrated by the collapse of state structure. [9] While one may agree with the collapse of state theory, the lotto question is: What drives the leaders to run the state aground? Keith Somerville, in his view tries to locate the source of conflict within the geopolitical map of Africa, which was bequeathed to it by the colonial powers. He contends that the colonial boundaries and state lines have led to the potpourri of people who hitherto had never before mixed as a group. [10] This articulation is paradoxical. While it means that even if the boundaries that existed in the pre-colonial time were maintained, there could still exist though at different levels, and with different target. [11] The diverse schools of thought examined above have attempted an investigation into the causes of conflict. They have posited economic underpinnings, lack of good governance, and disintegration of state institutions, religious and ethnic differences, corruption and colonial imprints. The opinions are not quite erroneous but fail to see ultimately that conflicts emanate because the global village appears to be in consonance with the fact that peacekeeping is the first port of resort for conflict resolution. Moreover, the fact that the problems postulated by the above authors have engendered conflicts in some areas and not in some despite the presence of similar factors suggest that there is more to conflict than has been articulated by contemporary research on the subject matter. The present paper contemplates that inefficacies in the dispute resolution machinery incubate further conflicts. This paper contemplates that if peacekeeping tools are tailored to empower stakeholders to a peace process, conflicts will be resolved before they escalate. On the contrast between causes of conflicts and causes of conflict resurgence, it should be noted that if conflicts are not prima facie mastered, it will be difficult to seamstress right solutions to them. As a result conflicts tend to hatch new and probably even more complicated dimensions to it.

Analysis of the Security Management Market in Hong Kong

Analysis of the Security Management Market in Hong Kong The Security Management Industry INTRODUCTION Security management is the combination of hardware, software, and services that normalizes, aggregates, correlates, and visualizes data from disparate security products. Security management is a broad term that encompasses several currently distinct market segments. With the presence of the Internet, spam is becoming increasingly costly and dangerous as spammers deliver more virulent payloads through email attachments. According to a recent IDC (2004) study, the volume of spam messages sent daily worldwide jumped from 7 billion in 2002 to 23 billion in 2004. The Hong Kong Population has increasingly Internet users. This boom in the electronic commerce creates ease in communication and on business transactions however this has also compromised the internal data security with the presence of hackers. Industry analysts believe that increased spending on internet security products and the establishment of a corporate data security policy is equally important in avoiding information leakage. Estimated information security spending in Hong Kong will reach USD 231 million in 2003 and will maintain a stable growth to reach USD 252 million in 2004. U.S. security products enjoy an excellent reputation in Hong Kong and should continue to dominate the market. According to Braunberg (2004), a major early driver for security management products is the need to get a handle on event data emanating from intrusion detection systems. Many security management products are chiefly concerned with the consolidation, correlation and prioritization of this type of data. These event management and correlation products address the volume of data and its heterogeneous origin, both in terms of devices and vendors. SECURITY MANAGEMENT MARKET IN HONG KONG Market Highlights The continuous increase in demand for communication internationally, internet has been increasingly in demand. With the Internet in business transactions, companies expanded sales opportunities through e-commerce and reduce business costs. With the presence of Internet, companies can broadly expand customer base. However, in spite of all these benefits that companies experienced with Internet, it has also brought some costs to companies. Internet opens up network and servers to external and internal attacks. In order to guard against these attacks, Hong Kong companies have increasingly felt the need to purchase Internet security. According to the report of HKCERT (2004), the number of PCs installed in Hong Kong has skewed to the low end. In the survey conducted, it shows that 63.5% of the surveyed companies had installed 1-9 PCs and only 1.3% had installed 100 PCs or above. Consumer Analysis In the report of HKCERT (2002), industry players estimated that the Hong Kong market for internet security products and services in 2001 was USD 231 million and will reach USD 252 million in 2004. Generally U.S. internet security products are the major players and are enjoying an excellent reputation in Hong Kong and are continually dominating the market. Industry Estimates The survey of HKCERT in 2004 showed that Hong Kong companies adopted security technologies to secure their computer form attacks. The survey includes 3,000 companies from different industry sectors in Hong Kong. According to the survey anti-virus software was the most popular security measure, being used by 90.9% of the companies interviewed in 2004. Physical security (65.5%), Firewall (65.4%) and Password (60.6%) were the next three common security measures adopted (HKCERT, 2004). The information security awareness of the companies in Hong Kong has increased considerably as the percentage of companies without any security measures in place dropped from 10.1% in 2003 to 3.6% in 2004 (HKCERT, 2004) As the survey shows, the use of firewall has significantly increased in 2004. This is due to the increasing awareness of a number of companies that the basic security tools can not completely stop virus and because software vendors pay great effort in promoting their products. From the table above, US rank number one in the list showing that US is the major host of malware in 2006. On the other hand, Hong Kong only is on the 9th place however it is still a major contributor of malware in the world. Sophos notes that up to 90% of all spam is now relayed from zombie computers, hi-jacked by Trojan horses, worms and viruses under the control of hackers. This means that they do not need to be based in the same country as the computers being used to send the spam (IET, 2007). Sophos found that the most prolific email threats during 2006 were the Mytob, Netsky, Sober and Zafi families of worms, which together accounted for more than 75% of all infected email (IET, 2007). According to the report, email will continue to be an important vector for malware authors, though the increasing adoption of email gateway security is making hackers turn to other routes for infection (IET, 2007). Malware infection will continue to affect many websites. SophosLabs is uncovering an average of 5,000 new URLs hosting malicious code each day (IET, 2007). In 2006, it has been discovered that there is a decrease in use of spyware due to multiple Trojan downloaders. Statistics reveal that in January 2006 spyware accounted for 50.43% of all infected email, while 40.32% were emails linking to websites containing Trojan downloaders. By December 2006 the figures had been reversed, with the latter now accounting for 51.24%, and spyware-infected emails reduced to 41.87%.(IET, 2007) Market Channels In Hong Kong, consumer-oriented products such as anti-virus, overseas companies usually market their products via local distributors who will then channel the products to resellers and in some cases directly to retailers. For enterprise-oriented products, which require value-added services such as system integration and after-sales support, overseas companies can go through local distributors and/or resellers. (Chau, 2003) Competitive Analysis The internet security market has four segments: anti-virus, firewall, encryption software, and Security Authentication, Authorization Administration. Anti-virus Software Anti-virus software identifies and/or eliminates harmful software and macros. Anti-virus are mostly software based. The major players in Hong Kong for the consumer market includes Symantec/Norton which possesses 50% of the market share in Hong Kong, Norman, Nai/McAfee, and Trend Micro which are basically US origin (Chau, 2003). According to Chau (2003), consumers of Anti-virus are generally price sensitive and usually seek for products with established brand name. In the enterprise market of anti-virus, the major players include Trend Micro, NAI/McAfee, Norman and Symantec (Chau, 2003). According to the analysis, enterprise users will usually seek professional opinions from their I.T. service provider and are more likely to focus on brand reputation and offered features and pricing is not the main concern, although with the downturn in the economy, companies are becoming more price-sensitive (Chau, 2003) Firewall Firewall software/hardware identifies and blocks access to certain applications and data. There are two categories of firewall products: software and hardware. The players in Hong Kongs software firewall market are Check Point Software which dominates the market of 60% market share, Computer Associates, Symantec and Secure Computing (Chau, 2003). In the hardware firewall market, the major players are Netscreen with 50% market share, Cisco (PIX) with 20% market share, Sonic Wall, Watchguard and Nokie of Finland (Chau, 2003). According to the report, the price for software firewalls averages USD 20 per user. On the hardware firewalls side, the number of users and the kinds of features determine the price. A low-end firewall server costs USD 600 to USD 700, a mid-range server costs USD 2,000 to USD 4,000, and a high-end server costs USD 10,000 and above. Netscreen and Sonic Wall are quite common in small to medium-sized enterprises. Cisco targets large corporations. Brand reputation and price are the prime concerns for buyers. According to industry players, there is an increasing preference for hardware firewalls over software firewalls because the hardware firewall has a speed advantage and is easier to maintain. (Chau, 2003) Encryption Encryption software is a security product that uses crypto-graphical algorithms to protect the confidentiality of data, applications, and user identities. According to the study, the most commonly-used standards in Hong Kong are SSH, SSL, PGP, RSA, and DES. Different standards are used for different objectives. SSH is mostly used to secure TCP connections between remote sites. SSL is commonly used in web browsers to secure web traffic. PGP is used for email encryption. RSA is for PKI system authentication and authorization. DES or 3DES are commonly used in the banking sector. (Chau, 2003) According to the report of Chau (2003), the major players in encryption in Hong are PGP, Utimaco, F-Secure, SSH (Security Shell), and RSA. Security 3A Software Security 3A (administration, authorization, and authentication) software is used for administering security on computer systems and includes the processes of defining, creating, changing, deleting, and auditing users. Authentication software is used for verifying users identities and avoiding repudiation. Authorization software determines data access according to corporate policy. Administrative software includes internet access control, email scanning, intrusion detection and vulnerability assessment, and security management. The major players in PKI system in Hong Kong are Baltimore of UK, Verisign, and Entrust (Chau, 2003). Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) An intrusion detection system (IDS) examines system or network activity to find possible intrusions or attacks. Intrusion detection systems are either network-based or host-based. Network-based IDS are more common. According to the report of Chau (2003), the major players of IDS in Hong Kong are ISS (Real Secure) which dominate in the market of 65% market share, Enterasys (Dragon), Symantec (Intruder Alert), Tripwire (Tripwire), Computer Associates (Entrust Intrusion Protection) and Cisco (Secure IDS). In the analysis it has been known that IDS end-users are mostly medium to large enterprises and the most significant purchasing criteria for end users are reliability and compatibility and price is not a key factor (Chau, 2003). Content Security Products The major players of content security products includes Clearswift which has 50% market share, Websense which has 25% market share, Trend Micro and Serve Control (Chau, 2003). Market Trends According to the report, on corporate side, the demand for network-based anti-virus would likely to increase than the demand for desktop-based anti-virus products since mostly viruses attacks are usually via internet (Chau, 2003). On the other hand, in the consumer side, consumer market would likely to fade away since consumers are downloading free anti-virus from the Internet. It is expected that ISPs will increasingly provide AV protection as a value-added service to the users (Chau, 2003). In the firewall software, it has been expected that the demand for hardware-based appliance products would likely to increase for small and medium-sized companies. (Chau, 2003) For Intrusion detection and vulnerability assessment, it is predicted that it will become very popular as enterprises will shift to a balance between internal and external threats. In addition, the distinction between host-based and network-based IDS is becoming blurry with the creation of IDS consoles that receive data from both the network sensors and host agents. Integrated solutions will become the trend. (Chau, 2003) Market Driver There are several market drivers of security management market. Chau (2003) identified some of these market drivers. In his report, he enumerated three of these market drivers which includes the Internet growth, telecommuting trend, and government generated awareness of Internet security. Internet Growth In Hong Kong, the Internet has become the prevalent communication means between business transaction and even between employees with the increasing trend of globalization. According to Hong Kong Government survey in 2001, 1.25 million households or 61% of all households in Hong Kong has PCs of which 80% are connected to the Internet compared to 50% households with PCs in 2000 of which only 36% are connected to the Internet in 2000 (Chau, 2003). Generally, consumers are making use of the internet to send emails, surf the web, carry out research, conduct on line banking transactions, and make low-value purchases. The survey estimated that around 6% of all persons over 14 had used one or more types of online purchasing services for personal matters in the 12 months before the survey (Chau, 2003). On the other hand, on the business side, more than one third of businesses in Hong Kong have internet connections. In 2001, about 12% of businesses had delivered their goods, services or information through electronic means which is 4% higher than that in 2000. The estimated amount of business receipts received from selling goods, services or information through electronic means in 2000 was USD 1 billion. Increased connectivity to the internet creates higher chances of hacker attacks, especially if the users have a constant live connection, such as through a DSL line. (Chau, 2003) According to the Hong Kong Commercial Crimes Bureau, reports of computer-related offenses increased from 235 incidents in 2001 to 210 in the first nine months in 2002. Computer attacks had affected 5,460 computers in the past 12 months. Financial loss caused by computer-related crimes rose from USD 195,000 in 2001 to USD 236,000 in 2002. The Computer Crime Section of the Hong Kong Commercial Crimes Bureau believes that only 0.3% of the victims reported hacking incidents, fearing that doing so would damage their reputation. Facing increasing internal and external hacking threats, companies are seeking security tools to protect their network and to maintain public confidence. (Chau, 2003) Telecommuting Trend Another major driver of security products, according to Chau (2003), is the increasing decentralization of the work force, such as mobile sales teams in the insurance industry who need to access corporate networks via PDAs. There is an increasing trend of businesses and organizations which benefit from employees ability to dial into corporate networks via the internet, however, this often creates information security risks within the organization, resulting in increased dependence on, and greater deployment of, security products (Chau, 2003). Government-generated awareness of internet security Another major driver of security products is the government awareness on the importance of Internet security. With this awareness, government organizations are formed. Like for example the SAR Government. The SAR Government is committed to providing a safe and secure environment to foster the development of e-commerce in Hong Kong in which has built a public key infrastructure (PKI) through the establishment of a public certification authority and a voluntary CA recognition scheme in Hong Kong (Chau, 2003). Currently, there are four recognized certification authorities operating in Hong Kong which includes JETCO, Digi-Sign Certification Ltd., HiTRUST.Com and the Hong Kong Postmaster General. In addition to the establishment of the PKI systems, the Hong Kong Government has also engaged substantial resources to educate the public regarding the importance of information security. For instance, the Crime Prevention Unit of the Technology Crime Division of the Hong Kong Police is responsible for providing advice on all aspects of computer security. It also produces educational materials on raising computer security awareness and makes presentations on technology crime prevention topics. (Chau, 2003) In addition to the market drivers in which Chau has enumerated, there are still other market drivers of security management market. Braunberg (2004) identified two major groups of market drivers which are the near-tern market drivers and long-term market drivers. Under the near-term market drivers are manage or prevent, perimeter management, vulnerability assessment, embracing standards and the brains of the operation. Long-term market drivers include complexity and cost, device and security integration, knowledge database resources, lack of trust, on demand of computing and social engineering. Near-Term Market Drivers Manage or Prevent. In the analysis of Braunberg (2004), the chief driver of event management solutions is the continuing and hugely annoying number of false positives pouring out of intrusion detection systems. According to him, a counter driver to growth in the managed security segment is the emergence of intrusion prevention systems, particularly in-line solutions that can perform real-time data blocking (Braunberg, 2004). The adoption of intrusion prevention system could inhibit spending on event management systems and security management vendors should consider these products competitive to their own (Braunberg, 2004) Perimeter Management. Security management products has evolve due tot to the demand of securing the perimeter. According to Braunberg (2004), security management solutions are evolving to integrate data from a host of perimeter products in which event management systems often evolved along separate lines with products for firewall, antivirus, and IDS. Vulnerability Assessments. According to Braunberg (2004), one of the near- term drivers for which end-users are of concern is understanding what the security risks are. Generally, clients are looking to leverage vulnerability assessments to help prioritize emerging threats. Increasingly vulnerability data is being leveraged in event management systems (Braunberg, 2004). Embracing Standards. According to Braunberg (2004), the industry is a long way from embracing standards for sharing event information but some progress has been made over the last year. The Internet Engineering Task Forces Incident Object Description and Exchange Format (IODEF) draft specification is gaining some traction and its adoption would be a significant step forward for the market (Braunberg, 2004) The Brains of this Operation. According to Braunbergs analysis (2004), the infatuation with IPS will be short-lived unless significant improvements can be made in reducing false positives in events however security management products will increasingly play a major role in providing the analytic smarts behind IPS solutions. Long-Term Market Drivers: Complexity and Cost. With the increasingly complexity in the web-based business models, the more tangled is the security solutions for the end-users. According to Braunberg (2004), businesses building online strategies from scratch can be overwhelmed by the initial investment of security solutions, while those trying to adapt existing solutions to evolving security concerns are besieged by maintenance costs. Device and Security Integration. According to Braunberg (2004), equipment makers are paying much closer attention to imbedded security functionality in devices and are actively attempting to integrate security as a value-added service in order to change the thinking of the end users of security products as an â€Å"add-on† or an extraneous component of infrastructure. In addition, vendors are looking to unite service providers with standards programs that simplify client understanding and reduce the complexity of product buying (Braunberg, 2004). Knowledge Database Resources. Another market driver for security products is to actively secure the knowledge database from attack patterns and other descriptions of the enemies. The security products vendors should reinvent a faster response to the known threats. According to Braunberg (2004), multi-product vendors particularly will look to evolve from real-time monitoring to broader real-time management. Lack of Trust: According to Braunberg (2004), end users, whether they are corporate users putting a business plan on a server or a consumer buying a CD, have ingrained habits that they are not necessarily willing to give up. For example, no matter how good an online banks security system is, a consumer will have to be convinced that its services are not only as good as a brick and mortar banks services, but better (Braunberg, 2004). On demand Computing: According to Braunberg (2004), the availability of ubiquitous computing resources on demand will further drive the need for sophisticated, highly flexible security management solutions that combine both identity management and event management. According to him, the demand for more esoteric offerings such as GRID computing is the major long-term driver for security management solutions (Braunberg, 2004). Social Engineering. According to Braunberg (2004), clients are still facing risks in security that employees represent just through the human desire to be helpful, and hackers exploit this through â€Å"social engineering.† According to him, a component of managed security will need elements of employee training to build awareness of outside threats (Braunberg, 2004). According to the analysis of Braunberg (2004), the security segment will continually be strong in which the diversity of interest ranges from an array of different types of companies which indicates a leverage of controlling security function. In addition, since end users demand has also evolve in which they demand for more in-depth defensive strategies ad best of breed approaches to purchasing decisions, security solution in turn has become more complex. Case Study: Trend Micro Enterprise History In 1988, Trend Micro Incorporated was founded by Steve Chang and his wife in California. Trend Micro Incorporated is a global leader in network antivirus and Internet content security software and services. The company led the migration of virus protection from the desktop to the network server and the Internet gateway—gaining a reputation for vision and technological innovation along the way. Trend Micro focuses on outbreak prevention and on providing customers with a comprehensive approach to managing the outbreak lifecycle and the impact of network worms and virus threats to productivity and information, through initiatives such as Trend Micro Enterprise Protection Strategy. Trend Micro ha grown into a transnational organization with more than 2,500 employees representing more than 30 countries around the globe. Many of the leading high-tech and security industry analysts have tracked Trend Micros growth and performance for the last several years, hailing the company as â€Å"visionary†, citing its leadership and innovation in the security industry. According to Brian Burke, IDC Research Manager, â€Å"Trend Micro has consistently demonstrated a strong position in the Secure Content Management market. To remain successful Trend Micro has adapted quickly to market challenges and the evolution of security threats such as spyware, phishing and spam, in which financial gain has become the number one driving force. Given Trend Micros track record and its strong upward momentum, we expect the company to continue delivering innovative solutions that provide customers with timely protection against unpredictable threats.† Trend Micro has earned a reputation for turning great ideas into cutting-edge technology. In recognition of the antivirus companys strategy and vision, the analyst firm Gartner has hailed Trend Micro as a visionary malicious code management supplier for four consecutive years. Citing its flexible and efficient transnational management model, BusinessWeek acknowledged Trend Micro as one ofa new breed of high-tech companies that are defying conventional wisdom. According to IDC, Trend Micro has held the top global market share in internet gateway antivirus for six consecutive years. A history of innovation In 1995 Trend Micro became an industry pioneer in the migration of virus protection from the desktop to the server level, with the launch of Trend Microâ„ ¢ ServerProtec. In 1997 it launched the industrys first virus protection for the Internet gateway with InterScan VirusWall. Since then, it has demonstrated a history of innovation in server-based antivirus products that has contributed to the leadership position it holds today in this market (according to the recent IDC report Worldwide Antivirus 2004-2008 Forecast and 2003 Competitive Vendor Shares. Trend Micro continues to shift the paradigms of antivirus security with cutting-edge products, services and strategies like Trend Micro Network VirusWall, Outbreak Prevention Services, and its Enterprise Protection Strategy. Trend Micro is committed to following its path of innovation to help companies manage todays ever-increasingly complex, fast-spreading malware threats. SWOT Analysis Strengths Business and security knowledge Trend Micro has been a pioneer and innovator in the antivirus software market since 1988, anticipating trends and developing products and services to protect information as new computing standards have been adopted around the world. Service and support excellence, that is, Trend Micro products and services are backed by TrendLabs a global network of antivirus research and support centers. TrendLabs monitors potential security threats worldwide and develops the means to help customers prevent the spread of outbreaks, minimize the impact of new threats, and restore their networks. Flexible workforce through contingent workers for seasonal/cyclical projects Loyal, hardworking, and diverse workforce who, in addition to good compensation, have an opportunity to do well Multinational corporation operating through regional subsidiaries to minimize cultural differences Low employee turnover Relatively rapid product development processes that allow for timely updating and release of new products Revenues and profits rising at 30% a year with merger/acquisition or investment in 92 companies over past five years Software products have high name recognition, broad-based corporate and consumer acceptance and numerous powerful features that are in use worldwide, thereby promoting standardization and competitive advantage through their ease of integration and cost-effectiveness Top rating from Fortune for best company to work at and most admired company Worlds largest software company with global name recognition and strong reputation for innovative products Weaknesses Perceived by many as a cut-throat competitor that uses its dominant market position to marginalize competition by stealing/destroying the competitions products, stifling product innovation, and decreasing the availability of competitor products Products have a single application focus and do not work well with or on-top of other products Reputation has suffered because of entanglement in antitrust and â€Å"permatemps† Vizcaino litigation Misperceptions of securitys value or purpose Opportunities Cheaper global telecommunication costs open new markets as people connect to the Internet in which in turn increases the need for security products Mobile phone applications and exploitation of personal digital assistants represent a growth industry so that strategic alliances could provide the company with opportunity in a market where it currently has little or no significant presence Business Continuity Reduced Costs Potential Revenue Opportunities Trend Micro holds the top market share for both worldwide Internet gateway and email-server based antivirus sales. Threats Currency exchange rates affect demand for application/operation software and hardware, and fluctuating currencies can negatively impact revenues in the global marketplace Recession or economic slowdown in the global market impacts personal computer equipment sales and their need for an operating systems which in turn would slowdown the need for security systems Software piracy of commercial and consumer applications software on a global scale threatens revenue streams Technology life cycle is shorter and shorter Inconsistency across the enterprise Loss of sponsorship or visibility Current Strategy The continuous success of Trend Micro is guided by its strategies. Innovation was always been the strategy of a technological company however in Trend Micro, innovation was not the only strategy implemented. There are many essentials that are to be considered. The current strategy of Trend Micro are the following. â€Å"Focus On the Essentials and Sacrifice the Rest† It is known that focus is important and essential for the success of any business. According to Steve Chang, strategy is about focusing on essential and sacrificing the rest. (Chang, 2002) in addition, according to Peter Firstbrook, program director, security risk strategies, META Group, Trend Micro has done just that, having an amazing laser-like focus on their business. And the authors of a Harvard Business School case study commented: â€Å"Although very entrepreneurial, Steve Chang held fast to a single strategic focus for over a decade. Rather than attempt to provide all security products to all customers, Trend Micro concentrated on developing ‘best-of-breed antivirus solutions.† (Pain and Bettcher, 2003) Trend micros consistent and persistent focus allowed the company to build their strengths and consistently leading the market. Innovation Isnt Just About Your Software Products Trend Micro has many product firsts under its belt: the first antivirus product for a server in 1993; the first Internet gateway protection antivirus software in 1996; the first e-mail anti-virus software product in 1998; the first Internet content security service in 1999. However, for the Trend Micro innovation applies to more than just the products. It is a pervasive notion that applies to other areas of your business as well. Innovation should be seen new type of global organization and in a new service offering. According to Steve Hamm in a 2003 Business Week article, Borders are So 20th Century, Trend Micro is an example of a new form of global organization, transnational organization in which aimed to transcend nationality altogether. Hamm quotes C. K. Prahalad, a professor at the University of Michigan Business School, who says â€Å"Theres a fundamental rethinking about what is a multinational companyDoes it have a home country? What does headquarters mean? Can you fragment your corporate functions globally?† (Hamm, 2003) According to Hamm (2003) Trend micro was one of the first responder to viruses which can deliver services in 30 minutes before the market leader Symantec. He commented that â€Å"Trend Micro is able to respond so quickly because its not organized like most companies. (Hamm, 2003) The strategy of Trend Micro is to spread its top executives, engineers, and support staff around the world. The main virus response center is in the Philippines,

The Story Of Isaak :: essays research papers

The story of Isaac . In telling the story of Isaac it is very important to tell about his father Abram . Once Lord ordered Abram to leave his country , his people and his father's household and to go to the land that God was going to show him . After that God made promises which were fulfilled inthe rest of the Genesis. The first was making Abram into a great nation . Naturally question arises : how can man be made into a great nation ? The answer is that through one's heir that in it's term will give more and more heirs (children) one can be made into nation . Than God promised that he would bless Abram , making his name great, that he would bless those who bless him , that he wold curse those who curse him and finally that through Abram all nations would be blessed. At that time Abram was seventy five years old , so he followed the Lord's will and took his wife Sarai , nephew Lot and moved to Canaan. While Abram was travelling at the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shehem , God appeared to him and told that through his offspring he would receive that land . Because there was a famine in that land Abram went to Egypt. But there was a problem . Abram knew how beautiful his wife Sarai was, also he knew what would happen to her if Egyptians saw her ; moreover he knew what would happen to him if they would have learned that Abraham was her husband- he would be dead . So they decided to pretend as if she was his sister . But once Pharaoh's officials saw her so they took her to the palace . Sarai became Pharaoh's wife , Pharaoh in his term treated well to Abraham(he gave cattle, sheep, different servants).But the Lord inficted serious deseases on Egypt , Pharaoh understood that that was all because of Sarai and he gave back her to Abram . Then he made orders about them to his men and they sent him on his way . All that time Lot was with them . They came to Negev , after that they moved to Bethel, there Abraham called on the name of the Lord . Land could not support allof them while they stayed together , for their posessions where so great .

Platonic Forms :: essays research papers

One Example of a Platonic Form other than what the book suggests is the Form of a book. The idea to write this paper on the Form of book came to me while I was sitting in the library perusing the reference books, trying to decide on an answer to question 2. You could say that the answer was staring me right in the face. I believe that the Form of a book exists but I have to agree with Aristotle's idea that the Form is created when the object is created. I also think that Forms are eternal, but from the moment that they are first thought of and then brought into the physical world. At one point in time someone decided to put information together in the form of words written on pages put between two bindings. Before the first person who thought of and created this "book", I believe one must ask themselves if the Form existed. How could a Form exist if the object didn't yet exist? A Form for a thing such as a book exists once the object is created because it is a new idea. Therefore, everything participates in a Form because everything tangible exists. The idea of a perfect book can exist only in our minds through thought. Since books range in topic and in content , what might be the topic and content of this perfect book? A book contains ideas, characters, etc., so would the Form of a book then contain perfect ideas, characters, etc.? To define what a book is is to define what the Form must be a perfect version(idea) of. My philosophy textbook differs very much from a children's book such as "Where The Wild Things Are", but they both still participate in the Form of a book, being that the Form of a book only dictates the shape and not the content. It is when the thought of a book is represented in the physical world that content and topic come into play. Suppose that I make photocopies of every page out of "Where The Wild Things Are", and staple them together at the corner. We could still call that stapled together group of papers the book "Where The Wild Things Are", yet could we still state that it participates in the Form since it doesn't look like a book? This is where are senses deceive us.

Why Stalin Emerrged as the Leader of the USSR in 1929 rather than Trotsky :: essays research papers

Why did Stalin rather than Trotsky emerge as the leader of the USSR in 1929? A power struggle for control of the Bolshevik party began after Vladimir Lenin's death in 1924. Among the several contenders, two of the most important names in this struggle were Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Ultimately, Stalin was able to secure power and vote out Trotsky. In the following essay I will discuss the reasons why Stalin rather than Trotsky emerged as the leader of the USSR in 1929. First of all, Stalin was lucky. Trotsky remained ill for most of the power struggle and Lenin died at an opportune time. Indeed, had Lenin lived, Stalin would probably have been sent to the provinces to work for the party. Dzerzhinsky, the head of the Cheka and political adversary to Stalin, also died fortuitously in 1926. His death facilitated the infiltration of Stalin?s supporters into the political police which Stalin eventually used against his opponents. It was also fortunate for Stalin that Lenin?s testament was not publicized. If Lenin?s negative views on Stalin succeeding him had been aired, there would have been no possibility for Stalin?s victory. Another reason for Stalin?s victory was his influence over the party machine through his key positions in the Politburo and Orgburo and as General Secretary. This power allowed Stalin to appoint his supporters to key positions in the party. He also controlled the membership of the party by admitting members likely to support him and expelling those members likely to support Trotsky. Stalin?s control of appointments and membership also made him a valuable ally to other contenders who needed his ability to deliver votes in the congresses. Stalin was also politically skillful and cunning. In the Politburo, when matters of high policy were being discussed, Stalin never imposed his views on his colleagues. He carefully followed the course of the debate and invariably voted with the majority. To the party audiences he appeared devoid of personal grudge and rancour and even seemed to be a detached Leninist, a guardian of the doctrine who criticized others only for the sake of the cause. Stalin always adopted policies that were broadly approved by the majority of the Communist party. Hence, using his political dexterity, he maintained a good reputation within the party. Stalin also made full use of Lenin?s funeral to advance his position. He tricked Trotsky into not attending the funeral by letting him know that he would never make it on time (of course this was not true).

Eco 372 Week 2 Individual Paper

Week 2 Fundamental Macroeconomics October 22, 2012 ECO/372 There are several factors that affect our economy, gross domestic product (GDP), real GDP, nominal GDP, unemployment rate, inflation rate, and interest rates. All of these factors have influences over how we purchase groceries, weather there will be massive layoffs of employees, and decrease in taxes. Gross domestic product is the market value of final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. Which this is commonly considered an indicator of the standard of living within a country.Real GDP on the other hand is measure of the value of economic output that adjust for price changes. Nominal GDP is a gross domestic product figure that has not been adjusted for inflation. Unemployment rate is the measure of the prevalence of unemployment and is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed people by the individuals that are currently in the labor force. Inflation rate is the percentage rate of change in price levels over time, usually one year. An interest rate is the rate which interest is paid by a borrower for the use of money that they borrow from a lender.All of these factors are related to our everyday lives and how we manager our money, what we spend our money on, and when we spend our money. Buying groceries sounds like a simple task but when you are on a budget it can be pretty stressful. The cost of groceries affects the government because this is a good that is produced and sold within our country; which affects GDP, real GDP, and nominal GDP. This is directly related to consumer spending and in times of a recession consumers pull back on their spending and go into savings mode.When consumers go into savings mode this affect every type of business because production is down and this could cause layoffs. Buying groceries affects households because thousands of people struggle everyday to provide for their families and when the cost of goods constantly goes u p but wages don't this makes it really difficult to live. Massive layoffs affect people's standard of living and that is what the GDP is centered around; as it measures the standard of living in that country.Massive layoffs will definitely affect the unemployment rate and a higher unemployment affects the economy because this means more people are on unemployment so there salaries are down so what they are spending is down. Massive layoffs has a vicious cycle and globally in 2012, 200 million people are without employment and this shows the slowdown in employment growth, which means companies aren't hiring and people aren't spending like the where. Massive layoffs affect the economy dramatically because it has a huge impact on consumer spending which in my opinion makes the world go around.If no one is buying then production is down and that's how layoffs happen, and this affects households, businesses, and the government. Tax decreases can stimulate economic growth because if peopl e are paying less in taxes, they have more money to spend. It has been proven over the years that tax decreases generate economic growth and federal revenue will always rise. From a personal standpoint I always spend more during tax season because I usually get a good return; since I am a single parent and full-time student, therefore, I qualify for various tax breaks.These obviously affect my household because I am more disposable income. Tax decreases can help a business if their taxes are decreased the organization will payout less and have more income. As we compare GDP, nominal GDP, real GDP, unemployment rates, inflation, and interest rates, it is obvious that all of these factors affect us everyday. They show how we spend our money and these factors give indications of recession. Buying groceries, layoffs, and tax decreases are all a reflection of these factors.Daily acts, such as, buying groceries has huge impact on our economy because it is directly related to consumer spen ding, which is a driving force. Massive layoffs affect our households, business, and government because this causes consumer spending to go down. Tax decreases on the other hand has a positive influence on all six factors. Plus it will benefit your household, business, and the government. References Colander, D. C. (2010). Macroeconomics (8th ed. ). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin http://www. forbes. com

Historical Awareness and the Interpretation of the Bible Essay

Christianity holds the largest followers worldwide and holds its authority through what they claim as actual events in history. However, the study of the historicity of the Bible has made liberal critics question the authenticity and the validity of the events and teachings that are found in the Scriptures. Liberal critics claim that the Scripture is full of historical errors, human biases, religious prejudices and fictional stories. Everything from the Virgin Birth to the resurrection of Christ, and from papacy to priesthood, are being rejected, based on the â€Å"historical critical† approach to Scripture. The interpretation of the Bible has therefore developed from its literal sense to a symbolic interpretation of its passages. Interpretations of the Bible The Bible is interpreted in different ways but could be categorized into two methods: the conservative and liberal interpretation. Conservatives hold the Bible as God’s divine words from which they interpret it by the letter unless the passage is clearly intended as an allegory, poetry or some other genre. Interpreting the Bible by the letter encompasses a strict interpretation of the passages—that is to say conservatives interpret the Bible literally. The International Council on Biblical Inerrancy (1978), a group of conservative Christians hold that â€Å"the literal sense is the†¦ meaning which the writer expressed† and â€Å"deny the legitimacy of any approach to Scripture that attributes to it meaning which the literal sense does not support.† On the other hand, liberal critics interpret the Bible symbolically or allegorically—that is they treat the Bible as a collection of fictional stories. They use the historical-grammatical approach to uncover the meaning of the text by taking into account cultural and historical background and the literary genre. Problems Relating to the Literal Interpretation of the Bible There is little doubt that the Bible has been interpreted in its literal sense before science has explored and discovered concepts that are in relation with some Biblical passages. The story of creation, as a basic example, could no longer be accepted in its literal sense, which would otherwise contradict with scientifically proven principles and generally accepted theories. The knowledge that scientific discoveries and research has provided over the past millennium reveals that God could not have made the world as it is in seven earth days. Human logic and reason would dictate that there must be some other explanation why the Bible, as God’s inspired words, are written in such a manner. God, as the creator of all things and who has knowledge all things, could not have erred and must have intended something else in specifying that the world was created in seven days. Hence, it is not only evident but also necessary to say that literally interpreting at least some portions of the Bible are no longer sufficient. Historical Criticism Historical criticism is the art of analyzing the factuality of written documents and the supposed facts handed down. It makes use of written documents, unwritten evidence and tradition as the source of information. The historical critic must also be guided chiefly by an ardent love of truth and must be free of any prejudice—religious, national or domestic—that may otherwise affect the historian’s judgment. The authenticity and integrity of a written document is investigated before it could be passed as a genuine source of evidence. Authenticity includes verifying whether or not it was from the author who claims it to be, whether such individual existed, and whether or not the document or individual belonged to the specific time of history in question. Integrity, on the other hand, verifies whether or not the document is in the shape or form from which the author has produced it—that is, whether or not the document is complete, free of corruption and the complexities of translation. It is generally suffice to determine the approximate age of a document using the nature of the material, i.e. papyrus, parchment, cotton, etc., and the character of the writing. It is often very rare that a document that is purported to be an original or an autograph leaves room for reasonable doubt when it passed a series of tests regarding its authenticity. However, it is also generally held that to translate a word correctly does not necessarily give its meaning in the context of the particular era to which the manuscript belongs. The investigator must then be careful with interpreting the meaning of the document. The difficulty in analyzing Biblical documents is that they survive only in form of copies, or copies of copies. In these cases, manuscripts of similar content or subject are often compared to each other, sometimes revealing variations in the readings. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls while providing some of the oldest and the only known copies of Biblical documents have challenged the theories of the development of the modern Biblical text—specifically those of textual criticism. There are a few of the Biblical manuscripts in the Dead Sea Scrolls that differ with Masoretic texts, and most of them differ only slightly. The fact that Biblical documents have slightly changed over the course of at least three centuries provide confidence on the content of the modern Bible. However, the real question arises not in the actual content of the Bible but on the meaning of its content. Another problem regarding authenticity and integrity of the Biblical manuscripts is the question regarding the knowledge of the author concerning his work: Does the author have proper, first-hand knowledge of the purported fact? Is he altogether sincere in his disposition concerning the purported fact? As an example, the integrity of the Gospels is raised as it has become apparent that the earliest writings of this type dates 65 years after Jesus’ resurrection. Historicity of the Bible There are basically two main schools of thought regarding the historicity of the Bible: the fundamentalists who believe that everything that is written in the Bible actually happened as it is stated; and the liberals who believe that the Bible had no historical value—that is, historical events purported in the Bible did not really happen. There are two schools of thought on giving weight to the historical accounts presented in the Bible: Biblical maximalism assumes that Biblical narratives are accurate unless proven otherwise; and Biblical minimalism. Biblical maximalists tend to interpret the Bible literally. They view accounts specified in the Bible as a starting point for constructing history and correct and reinterpret it when archaeological evidences prove contradicts their viewpoint. On the other hand, Biblical minimalists start from archaeological findings and only consider Biblical accounts of value only when they are consistent with these findings. In relation to Jesus, there are but few historical manuscripts that provide evidence that he is an actual historical figure. His name is briefly mentioned in the works of Josephus, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus and Suetonius, but aside from a brief mention and description of the early Christians, only the accounts specified in the New Testament gives a basis for the existence of a man named Jesus. The Gospels are the only sources of information about the life and works of Jesus and even those are criticized for its historical accuracy. There exists what is known today as the Synoptic Problem which revealed the diversity in the Biblical texts. What catches the interest of critics, however, is not the differences in the versions of the accounts in the life of Jesus, but the striking similarity of the texts itself. Considering that the Gospels had been written during different times at different locations, questions such as whether the authors of the Synoptic Gospels were using a common source, perhaps written or from oral tradition, or not. If there exists an earlier source from which the authors of the Synoptic Gospels based their work, then why where the new Gospels written? Furthermore, if indeed the authors share a common source, why where there differences? Did the authors feel free to interpret and apply the Jesus tradition as they wrote? Most theologians would answer that each Gospel writers have their own purpose and interpretations of Jesus from which the differences in similar accounts are attributed. Nevertheless, there is no one solution that offers sufficient enough explanation on the Synoptic Problem. While resolving this issue would not verify the existence of the historical Jesus, questions regarding the authority of the accounts, particularly that of Jesus and his teachings, will be eliminated. Effects of Historical Criticism on the Interpretation of the Bible Today, Christianity holds the largest followers worldwide. If Christianity derives its authority from actual historical events, then that claim must be investigated by the most austere standards of historical judgments. The advent of scientific research, particularly that of historical criticism, has put the historicity, as well as the authority and interpretation of the Bible in serious question. Samuel George Brandon (1955) explained that â€Å"the historical character of Christianity, which was once proclaimed apologetically as the greatest argument for the validity of that faith, has gradually been found to be a source of great perplexity if not of weakness† (156). Raymond Brown (1975) explained that â€Å"physical, historical and linguistic methods, known to us in only approximately the last one hundred years, has produced a scientifically critical study of the Bible, a study that has revolutionalized views held in the past about the authorship, origin and dating of the biblical books, about how they were composed, and what the authors meant†¦ No longer did they (Catholic exegetes) hold that Moses was the substantial author of the Pentateuch, that the first chapters of Genesis were really historical†¦, that Matthew was the first Gospel written by an eyewitness†¦ etc.† Robert Sungenis held that â€Å"The historical critic will try to convince you that, since Scripture contains â€Å"historical errors, human biases, religious prejudices and fictional stories,† and since Scripture is only free from error when it deals with â€Å"matters of salvation,† then in non-salvific matters (e.g., women priests and homosexuality), the Bible is nothing more than an expression of the religious preferences and cultural biases active during the time of the biblical author’s writing. Since we in modern times have come of age, as it were, and know that such biases are unecumenical and judgmental, then it is high time we change our interpretation of Scripture. Historical criticism is just the needed tool to do the job.† Resolving the Conflict Previously, culture was understood to static and unchanging. However, historical data reveal culture to be more guided by human experience that creates changing values and meanings as predicted by the way of life. It must only be necessary therefore that faith is expressed and understood in terms of our particular setting. It is in contrast to the sola scriptura principle of conservative Protestants. They claim that faith is to be based on the Bible alone. However, interpreting the Bible in relation to present events does not necessarily imply the interpreter to be a liberal critic. Progressive interpretation look upon the Bible as historically shaped and culturally conditioned. It analyzes the culture from which the authors lived, interpret what is stated in relation to the circumstances of the time it was written, and apply the meaning of the passage in relation to the present circumstances. After all, Lonergan held that â€Å"theology mediates between a cultural matrix and the significance and role of a religion in that matrix.† While it is apparent that some passages in the Bible are clearly not intended to be interpreted in its literal sense, there is still the question whether some of the passages must be taken in its literal meaning or if any passage is to be taken in its literal sense at all. However, taking into consideration the accounts in the Synoptic Gospels which appear to be similar have different versions. Theologians justify these differences through specifying the intents of the authors. In this case, it is only plausible to dismiss the particular event as an accurate version in history. Nevertheless, it does not necessarily imply that the event had not taken place at all. Lonergan (1971, 179) held that â€Å"experience is individual while the data for history lie in the experiences of many.† Furthermore, the same event is sometimes interpreted by different individual who have experienced that particular event depending on their perception. The fact that the event is related to us on different accounts, probably by different individuals, may prove that such an event may have occurred. Regardless of the factual historicity of the event specified in the Synoptic Gospels, the justifications made by theologians on the different accounts on Jesus’ life make it clear that the accounts are not to be interpreted in its literal sense. Lonergan held that â€Å"the discoveries of the historian are expressed in narratives and descriptions that regard particular persons, places and times. They have no claim to universality: they could, of course, be relevant to the understanding of other persons, places and times; but whether in fact they are relevant, and just how relevant they are, can be settled only by a historical investigation of the other persons, places and times† (180). Furthermore, Lonergan explained that â€Å"because they have no claim to universality, the discoveries of the historians are not verifiable in the fashion proper to the natural sciences; in history verification is parallel to the procedures by which interpretation is judged correct† (180). On the other hand, faith has nothing to do with history. Regardless of whether Christian traditions gain its authority from its historicity or not, what matters is the belief that Christians hold. Faith is a product of the fulfillment that â€Å"brings a radical peace, the peace that the world cannot give† without which â€Å"opens the way to the trivialization of human life† (Lonergan, 1971, 105). That fulfillment, according to Lonergan (1971, 106), â€Å"is not the product of our knowledge or choice.† There is therefore always room to interpret the Scriptures that is not entirely based on historical criticism. Relying on faith alone, the Scriptures should be interpreted basing on the experience of mystery to develop a type of consciousness that deliberates, makes judgments of value, decides, and acts responsibly and freely. Works Cited Brandon, Samuel George Frederick, â€Å"The historical element in primitive Christianity.† Numen vol. 2, no. 1, 156-167 Brown, Raymond E. Biblical Reflections on Crises Facing the Church. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1975 International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. â€Å"The Chicago statement on Biblical inerrancy.† 1978. The Spurgeon Archive. 17 March 2009 Lonergan, Bernard. Method in Theology. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1971 Sungenis, Robert. â€Å"Fr. Raymond Brown and the demise of the Catholic Scripture Scholarship.† Catholic Apologetics International. 17 March 2009.