Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs

The Three Great American Cultures Central and South America is said to have been first discovered in the late fifteenth century; however, to say that the land before this time was unknown to all of humanity would be a fallacy and a great insult to the three great ancient cultures that ruled before their European conquest. The Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans were three distinct groups of people that thrived in the Americas prior to their â€Å"discovery† and all have a diversely rich background full of people, tradition, and culture. Recorded Aztecan history begins at the start of the twelfth century when the Aztec people first moved out in search of a new homeland. In 1325 they founded their new home with the creation of Tenochtitlan, a large city which is now the location of common-day Mexico City. The life of the Aztec people was multifaceted – filled with school systems, laws, clothing fashions, and traditional food. They had different scholastic buildings in place for children depending on their economic and noble rank among the people. Noble children would attend a school called a calmecac that would teach them history, religion, and the ways to govern. Meanwhile, the common children could go to a telpochacalli where they would learn aspects of war and trade work, but if a child showed enough promise and intelligence he or she could be sent up to one of the calmecacs to prepare for a higher future career. Crime and punishment was a severe topic for Aztecs; the breaking of many of their laws resulted immediately in death, some of which included: adultery, treason, theft, drunkenness, and even cutting down a living tree. Interestingly as well, if a commoner were to wear cotton clothing (something reserved only for nobility) they too would be put to death. Nobles dressed most lavishly among their people, opting for the brightest colors, and often used bird feathers to make headdresses that indicate their high status. The staple food for the Aztecs was corn. They also ate tomatoes, avocadoes, and tamales. Aztecs ruled for hundreds of years up until their peak in 1502 under their ruler Moctezuma II. The Spanish first arrived in 1519 with the conquistador Hernando Cortez, and by 1522 all the Aztecs once celebrated in Tenochtitlan was destroyed. Toward the south during the same time as the Aztecan people, the Incas were also in their peak from 1200 until 1535. They lived in what is now Peru and Chile, and before their fall had massed the largest Native American society. Part of the reasoning behind why the Incas became such a large tribe comes from their dominance in battle and their desire to conquer the neighboring tribes. During their peak, the Incan army had over forty thousand troops, patrolling in their lands. Living in the Andes mountain range also made for some interesting architecture. The Incas made large fortresses on the sides of steep mountains in order to protect their people and also see enemies if they were attacking from afar. Arranged as they were on the sides of mountains, Incan cities lead themselves to be hierarchically and religiously symbolic. The tallest point of their cities were reserved for religious practices, often in adoration for their sun god Along with their buildings, the Incas had advanced drainage systems used for irrigation to grow many of the crops the Aztecs did such as tomatoes, corn, cocoa, and cotton. Sadly the Incans shared more with the Aztecs than just their mutual crops; in 1535 they too were conquered by Spanish forces. While the Aztecs and Incas had much in common, perhaps the most different of the three great American societies were the Mayans found in the southern tip of common day Mexico and Guatemala. Unlike their neighbors to the north and south, the Mayans did not govern its people under a single ruler. Instead, the Mayans were comprised of smaller local city-states that ruled independently of one another. Each had its own ruler that was believed to be a descendant of the gods. But while they were independently ruled, the city-states all shared a common written language, religious beliefs, and a calendar system. The Mayans are the only known Native American culture that developed a written language, of which there are four existing books along with countless murals and wall writings. Much like the Aztecs and Incas, the Mayans practiced human sacrifices. Because they believed that their nobility were decedents of the gods, it was customary for a city-state’s ruler to partake in ritual bloodletting along with sacrificing rival neighboring nobles. They also followed their ritual calendar that was comprised of a thirteen month and twenty day cycle. It marked the passing of planets, stars, and allowed the people to know when the proper time was to plant and harvest. Perhaps these calendars helped them predict other things as well because unlike the Aztecs and Incas, the Mayans were never conquered by Spain because of their mysterious disappearance around the sixteenth century. Works Cited The Ancient Aztecs. Think Quest. 1999. Web. 1 February 2010. Criscenzo, Jeeni. The Maya. Jaguar Sun. 2000. Web. 1 February 2010. Inca. Minnesota State University. Web. 1 February 2010.

Racial Discrimination in US Employment

The United States has been long considered as a nation defined by diversity. An article from the website Mesriani Law Group mentioned that this country is a point where in culture and faces meet. It is the union of languages into one word, and images of many people into one name. However, it cannot be helped that cultures would clash, and the array of disagreements could be far and wide. It cannot be helped that some minds could remain closed even after all the decades different people co-existed. There remains biases and stereotypes, which label so many people with negative names.Although there has been actions and campaigns to counter this unjust behavior in society, it cannot be helped that the ideal one nation is still under construction. Racial discrimination is also most evident in the workplace, where the battle for the better color continues. It could be the pressure from the norms constructed then construed by society. It could be the tradition they never outgrew. It could b e the close-mindedness of people developed by years of inclusion from the many realities of life.Whatever caused this unjust treatment in the workplace, it persists to be a problem in an individuals professional life. This paper aimed to give light to the basic laws that protect the employees from the different forms of discrimination in the workplace. Finding the basic information one should know about this unjust activities is essential in finding conclusions regarding the matter. Furthermore, this paper aims to relate cases into the deliberation to have a firmer grasp about the issue at hand. This is to re-establish the reality of this issue in the country.Discussion Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 With the rise in statistics regarding racial discrimination in the country, laws were also raised and deliberated upon to protect those who experience this kind of injustice. According to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, there is a law that aimed to protect the individuals who are discriminated against due to their race and place of origin, as well as their sexual orientation and religion. The law also aimed to protect those who are discriminated due to the color of their hair and eyes.This category also includes individuals who are in anyway associated with any particular culture that is different from the host country. This law is the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Employment cannot be denied of any person due to the color of their skins. This law also mentioned that it is applicable to any organization. The local and state government organizations are not exempted from this law and should abide by it. Under this law, it is also prohibited to make organizational decisions based on the stereotypes and general assumptions of different cultures.They cannot point specifically the different races, even those multi-racial individuals, when regarding the total functioning of the organization. In this light, it is considered unlawfu l to evaluate an individual for recruitment, hiring promotion and termination based on the color of their skin. Their wages and other privileges in their employment should not be affected by this factor as well. Organizations should be very particular that they do not have policies that may spite or render a culture discriminated against. Instead, they should be able to adapt a one culture that discourages racial slurs and prejudices.Kinds of Racial Discrimination in the Workplace According to the aforementioned website Mesriani, there are two kinds of situations wherein racial discrimination occurs. This needs to be re-established so find certain solutions to remedy the predicament. The first kind of racial discrimination is the Disparate Treatment. This is the basic form of racial discrimination where the individual is judged by his or her ethnic background and other similar characteristics that may bring about a similar impact on the individual. The second kind is called Disparat e Impact.This, on the other hand, is discrimination brought about by the policies rendered by management, which had a negative effect on an individual based on the color of his or her skin. Website Making Sense also mentioned these kinds of racial discrimination. But they called these as Direct and Indirect discrimination respectively. Those Who Need Protection These people who are being discriminated against need all the protection they could get. They are the people of color, and there exists a certain spite in between. As much as anyone would need, an individual needs to make a living to survive this fast paced society.If they would be discriminated against in employment, then these individuals are only offered the kind of jobs that were stereotyped to fit them. They will not be able to grow, not have any professional advancement, regardless of their capabilities and educational attainment. Furthermore, a lot of individuals of color have superior knowledge and skills. But because of discrimination, they cannot surpass judgmental eyes and their own aspirations. They are unable to make a career and a life because certain people think that they are not capable of doing anything except for menial and routine jobs.Should not one look far beyond, and go deeper than the color of one's skin? Those Who are Liable On the other hand, who are liable for this kind of unjust treatment in the workplace? Website the New Black Magazine wrote that those who ultimately are liable in such situations are the employers. They are in charge and are responsible for the welfare of every employee, regardless of race and certain physical features of an individual. When an employee is involved in the case of discrimination, both he and the employers are taken during the deliberation.It is a rare case though, as the magazine mentioned, for the employer to win against a case of racial discrimination in their office. In the cases when they do, the case continues against the employee invol ved. Race Relations Act of 1976 Simultaneously, there is another act that aims to protect different races. This is called the Race Relations Act of 1976. This, on the other hand, also aims to protect individuals not only in employment but also in housing, education, and the availing of other products and services.On top of daunting discrimination, as the earlier law entailed, this law is aimed to encourage race equality. It takes the issue of equal rights across cultures to a higher level. A Council under this Act is conjured for three reasons. They should eradicate discrimination against different racial groups, promote opportunities across the culture, as well as to reinforce the importance of having good relations between racial groups. Growing Statistics Despite the Improvements According to USA Today, there is a 24% increase in the number of cases about racial discrimination in the workplace.This was reported by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. There are 6, 977 case s reported in the year 2007, in comparison to the 5, 646 of the previous year. The article also mentioned that the number of reported unjust activities to the commission was raised to more than half since the year 1991. It was also written that the Commission is yet to study the sudden rise in numbers. However, their speculations are that the spike began with the case about six black teenagers and their white classmate. This injustice also stretched to the offices no one would have found unethical in this sense.On the other hand, an article from the New York Times also mentioned that there is an obvious increase in the number of racial discrimination cases in the workplace. Author Linda Greenhouse mentioned that the Supreme Court has been rather active regarding this kind of cases. One of the cases newly reported then is concerned about the protection of one employee who retaliated against a discriminating supervisor. The other was based on age. Although Title VII also included prot ection individuals against retaliation, the article mentioned that certain courts do not take this as serious as they should.Moreover, this kind of protection was only given to those employees who instigated the complaint against their employers, or those who formally approached the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In this regard, an article from the website Human Rights Watch implied that despite the growing number of cases about racial discrimination in the US workplace, those in government still failed to find an answer to completely annihilate the problem. They have been battling with the issue for so many years, and yet the statistics continue to rise. They have signed and implemented many of these laws, but there are more unhappy employees.The laws they created looked very promising. Actually, it promised a lot of things. It promised protection and be on equal footing in regards to employment. Yet the stereotypes remain to be eradicated. The color of the individual's s kin is assumed to be tied with a certain kind of job, despite the achievement and credibility he or she carries. The above mentioned article said that there was little progress, even during the time of Clinton. The public officials each have an obligation to the advancement regarding the human rights of each individual in their country. Yet many did not fulfill them, or chose to ignore the rising issue.The article mentioned that thousand of workers are discriminated against, harassed and threatened each year because these individuals persisted that they practice their rights to employment. Moreover, in certain states, there were campaigns against migrant workers. The research studies done my many organizations about the issue should be a signal loud enough for the politicians to move. Unfortunately, little effort was made on their part. Small Scale Beginning With this problem, the solution should start at a small scale. That is for the individual to have the initiative to make that change.By beginning from where the case occurred, the government might be further called that the people are doing something about it, and that they need the full support of the people the citizens voted into those positions. The victim should first know his or her rights as an employee. He should be educated about the laws by the government and the policies and regulations of the company regarding their welfare in the workplace. Being educated is their biggest defense. With this knowledge, they would know when employers are being discriminatory of their employment. They could be discriminated against for many reasons.However, it is racial discrimination in the workplace that is most prominent in the a diverse country such as the United States. Backed with this basic tool, an individual will be able to recognize when an employer or co-employee is being discriminative of his person as a man of color. When this situation rise, he or she should immediately report this to the authoritie s. In the recent years, authorities have been more strict about these situations, and protection can definitely be attained. In this light, there remains the question why, despite the laws for protection, these kinds of problems continue to rise.They have become more strict, yet there were no significant changes. Responsibility of the Employer On the other hand, the employers should also do something about this kind of injustice in the organizations they own or manage. The Race Relations Act gave suggestions to what employers should do especially when they are held liable to every name listed in their payrolls. According to the act, the employer should take charge in monitoring their staff, including the applicants for hiring and candidates for promotion and further training. On top of this, they should be able to monitor the grievances by these employees.It should be well documented. No matter how minimal the complaint is, they should always give just attention to it. In line with this, they should also monitor the cases wherein disciplinary actions were implemented. This is also to see if their part as an employer is doing what they can in their level. They should also be able to monitor the outcomes of performance assessment of the employees. While they are taking care of the welfare of each employee, they should still be able to keep the performance of the employees in line with the objectives of the company.This is to keep the employee's end of the bargain intact and active. As the nature of business is, it is a give and take relationship. It is also important for the employers to monitor the type of training they have for their employees, and who are taking these trainings. Training has a huge effect on the kind of work life existing in the workplace. If their training have any effect on the behavior of their employees, then there are also effects on the output of each employee. Lastly, the Race Relations Act also suggests that employers should take note of the people who were dismissed or have resigned from the organization.The statistics from these numbers could lead to how the organization should change, if necessary, or if there are some improvements that could utilize for both their benefit as well as that of the employees. Conclusion Racial discrimination in the US work environment is a reality one will eventually have to face. When one thought that this kind of prejudice only happens in the the community, it also stretch in the offices both small and broad across the country. Many are affected as there are a wide array of cultures that clash against each other. It cannot be helped that there are cultures that will ultimately contradict the next.However, when dealing with professionalism, these biases and prejudices should be put aside for the progress of both the individual and the organization. There is progress on the laws being implemented for the protection of these individuals. Unfortunately, it is not yet enough to cov er all grounds. There is politics where there should not be. There is already injustice to those who are in charge of doing justice. In the end, the people help themselves until they are given full support. Racial discrimination should not exist in the office or the community. It should not exist at all.

Accounting: Accounts Receivable

The note payable to Rent-lt is good for one year. $100,000 and the accumulated interest are due on November 30, 2012. The account payable for office supplies is due in thirty days, or January 2, 2012. The account payable to Universal Utilities is due in thirty days, or January 30, 2012.The company declared a dividend of 10 cents per share, payable on January 1 5, 2012. Income taxes are payable in 2012. 3. Susquehanna Equipment Rentals was named as a co-defendant in a $25,000 lawsuit filed on behalf of Kevin Davenport. The extent of the companys legal and financial responsibility for this accident cannot be determined at this time. f) It does appear that the company is headed for insolvency. It has $100,000 is notes payable that are due January 2, 2012, and it only has $65,000 cash.The company is expecting $9,900 in accounts receivable, but that s still not enough to cover the notes payable. A majority of the company's assets are tied up in rental equipment, which is not a liquid asse t. Thus, the company will not be able to meet its financial obligations to its lenders. g) It would be unethical for Patty Driver to maintain the accounting records for this company since she is one of the owners of the corporation. The accounting records must be maintained by someone independent of the organization in order for the reports to be fair and ethical.

Abortion According to Aristotle Essay

Do you believe that abortion is morally correct? That taking away someone else’s life is an option? That abortion is following the Golden Mean according to Aristotle? Currently, many people believe that it can be an option, because the baby hasn’t been born yet. But others, including Aristotle will disagree. First of all, who is Aristotle? Aristotle was a philosopher who thought that an act is morally correct if it follows the Golden Mean. This is an action or a feeling responding to a particular situation at the right time, the right way, the right amount or/and the right reason. See more: Ethnic groups and racism essay Not too much and not too little. The key to the Golden Mean is in moderation. I picked Aristotle because I believe that he has the best ethical philosophy. I agree with Aristotle’s ideas about the Golden Mean because I believe that if you are a moderate person, you will not take anything to an extreme and you’ll make good decisions. He also believes in the Sofia Virtue which is that you have to think straight, learn well and act accordingly. This idea mostly settles in the consequences of actions and how you may respond on them. The Golden Mean also tell us that you need to require virtue because it shows how moral a person is, but what I don’t agree that if a person is virtues, they will know exactly when to stop on their own. I don’t agree with that idea because sometimes virtuous people are forced to do something they don’t like to do so they try to stop it, but they are unable. Currently, abortion is a major issue facing the world, especially for teens. Abortion is when there is a conscious or intentional termination in human pregnancy. There are two types of it: therapeutic and elective. Therapeutic is when the mother needs to abort because of health issues while elective, is when the mother wants to abort because she doesn’t want the baby. The two ways to abort are: medical and surgical. Medical is when the doctor gives the patient some drugs to terminate the pregnancy. The only problem with medical abortion is that it can only function for the first nine weeks after conception and the patient will receive strong cramps. The other way, the surgical is when the doctor removes the fetus by manual vacuum aspiration/dilatation/evacuation. These three different ways are by absorbing the organs or pulling the fetus part by part. This can only be practice for 15 to 24 weeks after conception. According to Aristotle’s thought, abortion is not following the Golden Mean because it is an action that doesn’t respond at the right time by making a decision at a wrong time, in the right way and the right amount of reason, by choosing an excess. Also, abortion is not following the Sofia Virtue because when you are making the decision to abort, you are not thinking straight, acting accordingly, and learning well because you are choosing an option that is an excess. Another idea that abortion is not following Aristotle’s beliefs is that people who are choosing to abort are choosing an excess instead the mean. In this case, the deficit will be keeping the baby and the mean will be giving the baby for adoption. Adoption will actually be a mean because it is what is morally correct and is the best for the baby because he/she will be with a family that will love them instead of a place where they won’t be loved. While keeping the baby will be a deficit because they might know that they weren’t wanted and that will harm the baby. Aristotle also thought that if someone was virtuous, they would know when exactly to stop on their own or begin. When we relate this thought with an example of rape and adoption, many people disagree because many girls want to stop the rape, but they can’t. Later, their consequences are that they are expecting a baby from someone who rapes them. According to Michael Smith, rape is the reason for 13,000 of 1. 3 million annual abortions (Smith, â€Å"Women’s Health†). It may not be too many people but you can ask yourself about how many babies are being aborted. 13,000 have been killed because of it, and I believe that it is morally incorrect, that the safest thing to do is give it to adoption. Instead of going to an excess, these girls should use the Sofia Virtue and think straight and make an appropriate decision that will not affect anybody. Based on the moral reasoning of Aristotle, the correct ethical response to abortion is abstinence. To have sex at the right time, in the right way by protecting yourself, and with the right amount of reason so that if there is an unexpected baby, you will be prepare for it. So when, you are in a situation that you’ll need to choose between an excess, mean, and deficit, you should consider the Golden Mean because it will make you think straight and act accordingly while making the decision and learning the consequences that it may bring. Work Cited 1. Aspiration. †08 Feb. 1009. Web. 05 Apr. 2012 http://www. rhtp. org/abortion/mva/. 2. Hill, Peter. â€Å"Contact Medical News Today. †Medical News Today. MedLexicon International, 27 Feb 2004. Web. 23. May. 2013 http://www. medicalnewstoday. com/contactus. php. 3. â€Å"What is Abortion? † What is Abortion? N. p. , 08 June 2010. Web. 22. May. 2013 http://www. bpas. org/bpasyoungpeople/what-is-abortion 4. Smith, Michael, W. â€Å"Woman’s Health. †Abortion- Reasons Women Choose Abortion. Healthwise 22, Feb. 2011. May 23, 2013 http://women. webmd. com/tc/abortion-reasons-women-choose-abortion.

Choose a favorite piece of music Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Choose a favorite piece of music - Term Paper Example However, the harmony that generates from the two music forms is almost similar since they both have same chords those progresses at the same rate due to the nature of tone that comes from each of their rhythmic beats. Though the two types of music may show variation in their consonance and dissonance, their texture but may either be monophonic, polyphonic or homophonic. In this instance, blues and classic music present difference in their forms such as binary, ternary, and the strophic (Handy, W.C et al, 43) Nevertheless, rhythm in all these two music forms is just but their element of the item. For instance, in any case there is tapping of one’s foot to the music, there is the act of â€Å"keeping the beat’’ or following the structural rhythmic pulse of the music. Other aspects of rhythm are the duration that defines the tone when music plays. For instance, blues do take longer than classic music in most of the occasions. Tempo that is the beat rate of any particular music also falls into the rhythm. When compared, classic music does have a high tempo than blues since their beat rates are always faster (Handy, W.C et al, 52). On the other hand, meter defines the pattern of organization of beats recurring in music. Meters are either, duplex that occurs in two pulses per group, triples occurring in three pulses per group or quadruple that takes place in four pulses per group. In relation to blues and classic music, blues do have well-defined meters than classical types. The reason is that their beats are more organized in a systematic pattern of play that goes slowly and soothes the mind. The classic types look more disorganized in their beat rates and also are rough and noisy in their nature. The beat rates are so faster such that they don’t even facilitate the relaxation of an individual’s mind in most of the occasions (Handy, W.C et al, 66) Blues types of music trace their way back from the spirituals. Initially, spirituals formed the

Research Building a World-Class Information Security Department Paper

Building a World-Class Information Security Department - Research Paper Example As soon as the corporate security and risk framework has been established, it will be mapped into lower-level procedures for the implementation teams. The policies and architecture team will be required to not only construct the architecture but also help in managing and monitoring compliance with architecture and system policies. This area will be focused on the management of projects and resources for the information security group. It will be harnessed to ensure that necessary resources are assigned to projects and that timelines, service levels, and commitments from the security team are met. It will also be used to ensure that personnel are well-equipped and trained to execute their duties. The security team and its programs must be aligned to business requirements and needs; this will help in ensuring that oversight and governance are complied with (Dhillon 24). Many organizations have special security liaisons in the business, but their responsibilities are usually not a formal component of their job descriptions, or if they are, other operational duties take precedence over this bit part role. I will have a designated business liaison for every significant business segment or at least make it a significant part of the job responsibility so that these people are able to spend enough time knowing and responding to business requirements and needs. This area will be focused on and emphasized in order to ensure that security technologies and tools are employed in the current environment in accordance with architectural needs. In addition to this, this area will ensure that IT operations management tools and custom applications being deployed, such as log management and network management, have appropriate and adequate security built into them. For instance, there may be applications where access control is very important to guarantee network management tools that

TOBACCO COMPANIES AND PRODUCT SAFETY Assignment

TOBACCO COMPANIES AND PRODUCT SAFETY - Assignment Example Thus it is very important to set a strict code of business or marketing ethics for every company in order to avoid the existence of unethical behavior within the business operations. This is also applicable in the selling of the products or services involving the behavior of the salesman (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2009). Deregulation within various industries has raised the scope of committing unethical activities which in turn have resulted in intense competition between all the companies within the industry. It is the competitive pressure mixed with the uncertainty in the existence which has resulted in compromising with the business ethics by the organizations (Barnett, 2007). There are a large number of evidences claiming that many organizations have violated the ethical rules and regulations within last few years. As the buyers cannot identify or evaluate the purchasing variables or purchasing criteria, it results in giving possible chances for the markets to conduct various unethi cal activities at an increasing rate (Carroll and Shabana, 2010). Because of the unethical activities the organizations seek to achieve short term profits but in a broader aspect it negatively impacts the image, goodwill or reputation of the organization. The organizations that were suspected of performing various unethical activities had also to suffer from the legal terms. The businesses generally perform these sorts of unethical activities for achieving their short term goals or objectives, but there are evidences which claim that it declines their reputation in each and every sphere. The unethical activities might be conducted by the marketers in different manner. They might be providing misleading information to the customers in order to persuade them in their purchasing decisions (Curwen and Whalley, 2005). Another example of performance of unethical activities includes charging higher prices for lower quality of products or services. Thus it can be said that one organization conducts its business performance by unethical means in order to achieve short term profits and they face the consequences hampering their reputation in the latter part (Friedman, 2004). The case study deals with the unethical activities conducted by the tobacco producing companies in United States. It represents how the companies neglected the standards set by the department of justice i.e. DOJ in United States. According to the district judge, if DOJ could prove that the big tobacco producing companies are performing deceptive activities for their short term profit seeking purpose, then they would be penalized strictly and have to pay a heavy amount of money. This paper would be highlighting the moral or ethical issues related to the selling of products or services in the market. The responsibilities or duties of an organization towards its organization are very significant. Theories or literatures would be reviewed for strengthening the entire arguments made in this paper. The pa per would be finding the key issues that might be taken into consideration while solving the case study. It would be starting with an introduction about the duties and responsibilities of an organization towards its consumers. Duties of the Companies There is a big procedure involved in the offering of products or services to the consumers. An organization has to handle a large number of duties for dealing with