Torah Scripture Essays - Book Of Exodus, Covenant,

Torah Scripture Introduction to the Torah Scripture Introduction to Scriptures in general and Hebrew Scriptures in particular The Torah A. Introduction to the Torah B. Begin exploring the Torah's themes and content The Torah in the New Testament and the Book of Common Prayer Part I Introduction Scripture In General Doctrine of Inspiration The Bible is: A single Divine revelation, with two Testaments, better called covenants or agreements between God and his people. Three necessary theological constituents of inspiration: God's causality: The prime mover in inspiration is God. The Bible tells us that "no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (II Peter 1:21). In other words, God revealed and people repeated the revelation orally or in written form. See BCP, p. 236. The Human agency: People play an important role in the overall process of inspiration; they were the means through which God spoke. God used people to convey his propositions. In inspiration, then, God is the original cause, and the human agent is the instrumental cause. Scriptural authority: This is the third and final product of God's causality and the human agency. God not only spoke to the writers of Holy Scripture, but he continues to speak through their God-inspired writing. See BCP, p. 853. A working definition of the doctrine of inspiration might be this: "A process whereby God causes his Word to work through the mind and pen of a human being, without overriding their personality and style, to produce divinely authoritative writings." The Bible has a unifying theme - Redemption: There is a two-fold meaning of the word redemption. it infers deliverance; and it implies a price paid for that deliverance, the ransom. Redemption ultimately is from: the penalty of sin: from the power of Satan and evil, cf, BCP, p. 302; by the price Jesus paid on the cross. How the Books of the Hebrew Bible are Organized (Chart) Part II Introducing The Torah The books of the Bible have not always been numbered or grouped as they are today. The earliest division of the Old Testament was a simple twofold division of Law and Prophets. The first five books were called the Law of Moses and all the other books were called the Prophets. (C.f., the Summary of the Law, BCP, p. 324) The names given to the first five books of the Bible are several: They are called: The Law The Torah The Books of Moses or the Pentateuch. The time covered in the Books of Moses or Torah: Genesis - from the creation to the bondage of Israel in Egypt, about 1860 BC. Exodus - from the sojourn of Israel in Egypt to Mt. Sinai (c. 1860-1447 BC.) Leviticus - one month between Exodus and Numbers Numbers - from Mount Sinai to the end of the forty-years "wandering" (c. 1447-1407 BC) Deuteronomy - from the end of the wandering to after Moses' funeral (about two months). The heart of the Pentateuch is found in the book of Exodus, which deals with the exodus from Egypt and the sojourn at Mount Sinai. All Jewish tradition reaches back to these "root experiences." They constitute the basic understanding of Jewish identity and of the identity and character of God. Covenant and Law Two themes fundamental to the Old Testament: covenant and Law, are closely related. Covenant signifies many things, including an agreement between nations or individuals, but above all it refers to the pact between Yahweh and Israel sealed at Mount Sinai. The language concerning that covenant has much in common with that of ancient Near Eastern treaties; both are sworn agreements sealed by oaths. Yahweh is seen to have taken the initiative in granting the covenant by electing a people. Perhaps the simplest formulation of the covenant is the sentence: ?I will take you for my people, and I will be your God? (Exodus 6:7). The law was understood to have been given as a part of the covenant, the means by which Israel became and remained the people of God. The law contains regulations for behavior in relation to other human beings as well as rules concerning religious practices, but by no means does it give a full set of instructions for life. Rather, it seems to set forth the limits beyond which the people could not go without breaking the covenant. Scholars have recognized in the Hebrew laws two major types of laws, the: apodictic casuistic. Apodictic law is represented Torah Scripture Essays - Book Of Exodus, Covenant, Torah Scripture Introduction to the Torah Scripture Introduction to Scriptures in general and Hebrew Scriptures in particular The Torah A. Introduction to the Torah B. Begin exploring the Torah's themes and content The Torah in the New Testament and the Book of Common Prayer Part I Introduction Scripture In General Doctrine of Inspiration The Bible is: A single Divine revelation, with two Testaments, better called covenants or agreements between God and his people. Three necessary theological constituents of inspiration: God's causality: The prime mover in inspiration is God. The Bible tells us that "no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (II Peter 1:21). In other words, God revealed and people repeated the revelation orally or in written form. See BCP, p. 236. The Human agency: People play an important role in the overall process of inspiration; they were the means through which God spoke. God used people to convey his propositions. In inspiration, then, God is the original cause, and the human agent is the instrumental cause. Scriptural authority: This is the third and final product of God's causality and the human agency. God not only spoke to the writers of Holy Scripture, but he continues to speak through their God-inspired writing. See BCP, p. 853. A working definition of the doctrine of inspiration might be this: "A process whereby God causes his Word to work through the mind and pen of a human being, without overriding their personality and style, to produce divinely authoritative writings." The Bible has a unifying theme - Redemption: There is a two-fold meaning of the word redemption. it infers deliverance; and it implies a price paid for that deliverance, the ransom. Redemption ultimately is from: the penalty of sin: from the power of Satan and evil, cf, BCP, p. 302; by the price Jesus paid on the cross. How the Books of the Hebrew Bible are Organized (Chart) Part II Introducing The Torah The books of the Bible have not always been numbered or grouped as they are today. The earliest division of the Old Testament was a simple twofold division of Law and Prophets. The first five books were called the Law of Moses and all the other books were called the Prophets. (C.f., the Summary of the Law, BCP, p. 324) The names given to the first five books of the Bible are several: They are called: The Law The Torah The Books of Moses or the Pentateuch. The time covered in the Books of Moses or Torah: Genesis - from the creation to the bondage of Israel in Egypt, about 1860 BC. Exodus - from the sojourn of Israel in Egypt to Mt. Sinai (c. 1860-1447 BC.) Leviticus - one month between Exodus and Numbers Numbers - from Mount Sinai to the end of the forty-years "wandering" (c. 1447-1407 BC) Deuteronomy - from the end of the wandering to after Moses' funeral (about two months). The heart of the Pentateuch is found in the book of Exodus, which deals with the exodus from Egypt and the sojourn at Mount Sinai. All Jewish tradition reaches back to these "root experiences." They constitute the basic understanding of Jewish identity and of the identity and character of God. Covenant and Law Two themes fundamental to the Old Testament: covenant and Law, are closely related. Covenant signifies many things, including an agreement between nations or individuals, but above all it refers to the pact between Yahweh and Israel sealed at Mount Sinai. The language concerning that covenant has much in common with that of ancient Near Eastern treaties; both are sworn agreements sealed by oaths. Yahweh is seen to have taken the initiative in granting the covenant by electing a people. Perhaps the simplest formulation of the covenant is the sentence: ?I will take you for my people, and I will be your God? (Exodus 6:7). The law was understood to have been given as a part of the covenant, the means by which Israel became and remained the people of God. The law contains regulations for behavior in relation to other human beings as well as rules concerning religious practices, but by no means does it give a full set of instructions for life. Rather, it seems to set forth the limits beyond which the people could not go without breaking the covenant. Scholars have recognized in the Hebrew laws two major types of laws, the: apodictic casuistic. Apodictic law is represented

Free Essays on Morality In Defending The Guilty

On June 12, 1994, the entire United States was glued to the television. One famous man had been arrested with the brutal stabbing murders of his ex-wife and her estranged lover. This famous man seemed clearly guilty. He was soon enough presumed â€Å"guilty† because he was at the scene of the crime, and because of the evidence gathered, fingers were pointed at him: he had no where to run. The press was in the sky, in his trees, and at his door, hounding him for a statement. He went on to hire the best possible attorneys he could. He knew his case would be a difficult one to prove. The defense lawyers with their lives on hold spent endless hours studying the case and gathering the facts. Many times the defense was labeled â€Å"disturbers of the peace†, due to the belief that they were lying to cover up their client. The testimonies of witnesses took nine months and encompassed almost 120 people, Forty-five thousand pages of evidence and more than one thousand exhibits (CNN, pg 1). a year and half later the defendant, O.J. Simpson, walked away a free man, thanks in part to the legal system that defended him. This is what being a defense lawyer is all about, doing whatever it takes to defend your clients rights set forth by the constitution. Becoming a lawyer is no easy task. It requires years of academic and practical training, devotion and a desire to attain that goal. To become a lawyer in the U.S. you must have graduated from an American Bar Association (ABA) certified college. Then you must take the â€Å"Bar† exam, a six-hour 200 question test. Then comes one of the biggest decisions, to prosecute or to defend. Prosecuting lawyers are generally representing the government in criminal cases, and in civil cases they represent the client bringing the charge. The job of the prosecution is to present the case against the defendant. To inform the jury of the charge they are trying to expound on the defendant, and to convince the j... Free Essays on Morality In Defending The Guilty Free Essays on Morality In Defending The Guilty On June 12, 1994, the entire United States was glued to the television. One famous man had been arrested with the brutal stabbing murders of his ex-wife and her estranged lover. This famous man seemed clearly guilty. He was soon enough presumed â€Å"guilty† because he was at the scene of the crime, and because of the evidence gathered, fingers were pointed at him: he had no where to run. The press was in the sky, in his trees, and at his door, hounding him for a statement. He went on to hire the best possible attorneys he could. He knew his case would be a difficult one to prove. The defense lawyers with their lives on hold spent endless hours studying the case and gathering the facts. Many times the defense was labeled â€Å"disturbers of the peace†, due to the belief that they were lying to cover up their client. The testimonies of witnesses took nine months and encompassed almost 120 people, Forty-five thousand pages of evidence and more than one thousand exhibits (CNN, pg 1). a year and half later the defendant, O.J. Simpson, walked away a free man, thanks in part to the legal system that defended him. This is what being a defense lawyer is all about, doing whatever it takes to defend your clients rights set forth by the constitution. Becoming a lawyer is no easy task. It requires years of academic and practical training, devotion and a desire to attain that goal. To become a lawyer in the U.S. you must have graduated from an American Bar Association (ABA) certified college. Then you must take the â€Å"Bar† exam, a six-hour 200 question test. Then comes one of the biggest decisions, to prosecute or to defend. Prosecuting lawyers are generally representing the government in criminal cases, and in civil cases they represent the client bringing the charge. The job of the prosecution is to present the case against the defendant. To inform the jury of the charge they are trying to expound on the defendant, and to convince the j...

Speaker Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Speaker - Essay Example his could be attributed to the cause he took in the civil rights movement of ending segregation as well as the effective use of rhetorical tools of ethos, pathos, and logos that made his speeches very powerful. He combined emotional appeal with his integrity of character being a minister and then delivered with an impeccable logic that made his speeches very persuasive. The speech that I saw begun by agitating the audience through the use of ethos or emotion by first mentioning the broken promise of the Emancipation Proclamation which should have freed the Negro slaves and yet the Negro is still enslaved. He elaborated the plight of the Negro as he languished in poverty and misery which his audience could relate. Further, he fanned this flamed emotion (ethos) by appealing to their desires to be free and equal by the speech’s main theme of his dream which is also the dream of every Negro. This to the audience, including me, is very compelling that if I were born during his time, I may have also heeded his call to end the segregation. Praetorius, Dean. "MLK Jr. "I Have A Dream" Speech (VIDEO)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Jan. 2011. Web. 4 Jan. 2014.

Critical Issues in Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Critical Issues in Marketing - Essay Example (BRASSINGTON, Frances, 2006) Each one of the "four P's" is a variable that is managed in creation of the marketing blend that draws customers towards company. (CANT, M. C., 2009) This paper hereby emphasizes on the five critical issues in the modern marketing practices that are widely acknowledged as culture jamming, self-help, super markets, counter culture and selling of celebrity. The term "Culture jamming" refers to a cultural backtalk by switching to the language of ascertained power. (GOODMAN, Jennifer, 2006) The process comprises of playing with memorable structures of communiqu and interfaces like "posters, billboards, official language, protocol, spaces and imagery" (GOODMAN, Jennifer, 2006) and spiraling them back against its creator. An undermined note could contain critique of the original or might ally with a novel political message for instance "Class War: Just Do It." (GOODMAN, Jennifer, 2006) Usually, culture jamming is considered as time saving as it is a quick job on an existing advertisement with need of merely a marker. It evenly involves the design of professional media, necessitating the superiority of intricate graphical design and copywriting. Culture jamming had brought an up to date twirl to an elongated legacy of court jesting, opinionated satire and jokey commotions of the society. (KOTLER, Philip, 2005) Unlike its antecedents, although, this modern dissident game is participated principally with signs and symbols in the community that has already approached to be pervade by them. (SOLOMON, Michael R., 2003) The phase for the materialization of culture jamming was laid in the early 20th century as mass fabrication; mass utilization and mass haulage set its foot in Europe and North America. (KOTLER, Philip, 2005) The pace conveyed with these innovative growths shaped a flood of information leading way for industrialized civilizations to search for and grow extra competent codes of message to cope with it all making symbolic lingos more imperative than ever and gave birth to countless novel symbolic code from street map emblems to commercial logos, all intended to craft swift sense of gradually more multifaceted information. (KOTLER, Philip, 2005) In the precedent two decades, culture jamming has caught on far-off and broad range, credit to

Models of Policy Making

Models of Policy Making I think the whether policy process is incremental or non-incremental depends on different situation. (I think the reality is much more complicated than any theory, in order to reduce the complexity of this question we can use different theory models.) Before we discuss whether the nature of the policy process is incremental or non-incremental, we should first think what is an incremental model of policy and what is a non-incremental model of policy process, and we should also think about both the advantages and disadvantages of these models. There are three different models here: the rationality (bounded rationality) model, the incrementalism model and the garbage can model. Bounded Rationality Model In Simons bounded rationality model, the rationality is conditioned. The actual process of social activities is affected by intuition, experience, accuracy of information and value judgments. Pure objective and rational decision-making model is only a hypothesis model, it doesnt exist in reality. In the bounded rationality model, the decision maker should distinguish fact from value and preferences; and he shouldnt replace the value with the fact; also, the decision maker should distinguish method from goal In fact, the government has only limited policy options and decision-maker can only do limited cost-benefit analysis. The information, material resources, political support and time of the policy are all limited; therefore, the policy choice has been limited. According to this situation, the assessment criteria of the policy are not whether this policy is optimal or not, the criteria of the policy are whether it is satisfying and second best or not. Simons theory doesnt say that t he decision makers cant make any non-incremental progress, however it tells us that the decision making process are limited by information and power. If the policy maker can have enough material support, political support, information and enough time then they can make some non-incremental process; if all these factors are very limited then it is highly unlikely for them to make a very no-incremental policy process. Incrementalism model Lindbloms incrementalism model emphasizes that the policy process is an ongoing process. Decision-making process is largely based on decision-makers past experience with some slight modifications of existing policy. This is an incremental process, and the changes within this process seemed to be slow, but the small changes may lead into some great changes, the actual speed of changing is often greater than we thought. However, a drastic policy change from policy A to the next policy A1 is not only unfeasible but also undesirable; a drastic change may threat social stability and will cause policy disruptions. In his view, the decision-making and policy-making process are bounded to political factor, technical factor, and they are also constrained by existing policies. And all these constrain have determined that the decision-making process is incremental. Garbage can model Garbage can model is carried out by Marche and Olsen. They believe there is inherently irrational factor within in the decision-making process, and sometime there is limited rationality in the incremental process. They argue that policymakers policy targets and solutions are often not very clear. In the policy process, the policy making organizations are facing lots of potential policy solutions, policy programs, policy participants and policy opportunities. And these factors were thrown into a policy garbage can and they are mixed together. The policy is what the policy maker finally picks out from the can. The garbage can model tried to expand organizational decision theory into the then uncharted field of organizational anarchy which is characterized by problematic preferences, unclear technology and fluid participation. There are four of those streams were identified in the model: Problem (requires attention), Solutions (has it own life.), Opportunities, Participants (not stable). They are independent of each other and there is no causal link. The theoretical breakthrough of the garbage can model is that it disconnects problems, solutions and decision makers from each other, unlike traditional decision theory. Some opportunities may cycle and some may never return. When o pportunities arise, problems, solutions and participants will across and the four streams may converge. If problems and solutions are matched during this period then the problem is resolved. If they dont match, then they will wait for another decision-making opportunity. Specific decisions do not follow an orderly process from problem to solution, but are outcomes of several relatively independent streams of events within the organization. Under normal circumstances, policy makers are using his default preference with his to discovered the right questions. Garbage can model has some advantages: on the one hand, it can explain why the bureaucracy is often inefficient. Using this model, we can understand that bureaucrats often lack the incentive to push reform; therefore, public policy process tends to change slowly. On the other hand this model shows that opportunities, human creativity and choice still have some space in policy process and some dramatic change can happened through a non-incremental random way. Kingdon creates the multiple stream models from the garbage can model to explain why there are major shifts in the agenda, and why these changes could be non- incremental change to existing policy. Kingdons model identifies three streams in the system: problems, policies, and politics. Each stream is flowing during the policy process. And each is stream is independent from others, and each stream has its own dynamics and rules. However, in a critical time point all these streams will merge into one single package. Usually, a focusing issue will bring this critical time point, also the change of political structure will also bring the critical time point to the policy entrepreneurs. And the policy entrepreneur will use this package to promote their policy solution. If the solution of the issue has been received by the policy makers, then there will be even a dramatic change within the policy process. As I discussed above, Lindbloms incrementalism model can work goo in a stable situation. However, it has some limitations and inadequacies. Firstly, it is a conservative approach; it is generally suitable for relatively stable environment. In order to make the policy process work well, the former policy should be good. However, once the social conditions and the environment changed dramatically, the incremental decision-making model may not work well. History has shown that certain moment in social development requires substantial policy adjustments, and sometimes it is even necessary for the policy makers to abandon former policy. In these situations, the incremental method could be useless or even has some negative effects. In these cases, I think the bounded rationality policy model can work better. Because in this model, policy maker can make new policy by using limited information through careful calculations. Although in the bounded rationality model, the first trial of new pol icy is not perfect, but it can provide a useful base for further improvement for next incremental process or at least it can provide a potential policy alternative for the garbage can. At some degree, I think the incrementalism approach and the garbage can approach are method directed which means these two policy process dont require a certain policy goal; while the bounded rationality approach is goal directed which means there is a certain goal. In conclusion, I think whether policy process is incremental or non-incremental should depend on different situations. Also, in order to discuss whether a policy process is incremental or non-incremental we should limit the time span of the policy process. The incremental process works better in a stable environment and it does not require a clear policy goal; if the policy process is theoretically limited within a short policy period, then there will be no major changes. The non-incremental process may work better in a rapid changing situation. The bounded rationality model shows that the policy makers could make useful policy with limited information and resources. 5) Some criticize policy theories for being better at explaining policy stability than policy change. Evaluate this claim with respect to some leading thinkers from our course. No, I think there are some theories can explain policy change as well as policy stability. Here are some theories which can be used to explain policy changes: Punctuated Equilibrium Theory and Policy Change Punctuated Equilibrium Theory attempts to describe the progressive policy changes and significant change. When the policy issues are addressed by the political sub-system, we usually can observe the existence of incremental changes; conversely, when dealing with policy issues to be raised to the macro political system, there may be a significant policy change, and we often observe a major policy change (True, Jones, and Baumgartner, 1999:102). In the process of policy change, the policy entrepreneur is trying to change recognized/accepted ideas of the public (Baumgartner and Jones, 1993:42). Although the Punctuated Equilibrium Theory has pointed out when the image of the existing policy is challenged the opportunities will be created, but the theory hasnt tell why policies will be challenged. We can observe a policy change when there are new way of policy thinking, a mobilization of new policy supporters and a institutional change within the policy structure. Whether these factors appear together or they appear alone will make policy maker change their former incremental and stable policy process at different degrees. These factors will punctuate the equilibrium of policy stable developing process; and these factors will bring turbulent and unstable policy process. The definitions of policy issue, the boundary of policy problem, the agenda setting of policy are the key factors in policy process. Different interpretation of policy issue will also reinforce policy supports or bring doubts to existing policy. The model emphasizes policy change is punctuated equilibrium, the change is motivated by a complex combination of internal and external factors. Advocacy Coalition Framework and Policy Change Advocacy Coalition Framework was first proposed by Sabatier (1988). Sabatier suggests that we should focus on the interaction of the policy advocacy. Sabatier suggests that within the coalition those members share the mutual belief in a set of policy beliefs. Based on this hypothesis, policy change can be understood as a function of the relationship between the competing advocacy coalition and outside factors (Sabatier, 1999:9; Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith, 1993:5). The policy change is a result of advocacy coalitions competition, interaction of beliefs and outside factors. Advocacy Coalition Framework shows that belief system can be divided into three levels, deep core, policy core beliefs and secondary aspects. Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith (1999:147) pointed out that major changes in a policy actually is a change of core beliefs, while a smaller change of policy reflects changes in the policy beliefs or the secondary beliefs . Basically, deep core values are fixed, and it is more like an exogenous variables; policy core beliefs are formed and it serve as advocacys adhesives, it often take a decade or more time to change, and it can be considered as part of the endogenous variable. Substantial policy change is the result of the changes in policy beliefs. And the changes in secondary level will lead to small, incremental policy change (Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith, 1999: 131). Also policy Change is divided into two types: incremental policy changes and significant policy changes. Incremental change can be the result of policy learning. Because the goal of policy learning is not to shake the foundation of core beliefs, therefore there will not be major policy changes (Sabatier, 1988:149; Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith, 1999:123). And the leaning process is often used to reinforce and support the policy belief and core belief. Another way to think of the learning process Subject of Learning Object of Learning Consequence Governmental Govt Officials Intelligent policy process Institutional Change Experimental Policy Network Methodology New Policy Solution Societal Policy Community Idea and Concept Shifting Paradigm However, if the core belief is shaken, then the advocacy coalition may collapse. Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith (1999:147-49) pointed out that the cause for major policy changes include: changes in socio-economic conditions, changes in governance system, etc Multiple Streams Model and Policy Change Multiple Streams Model is developed based on the garbage can mode (Cohen, March and Olsen (1972). Multiple Streams Model is proposed in 1984 by Kingdon. According to this model, when policy maker are facing uncertainty and time pressure, the most concerned issue for them is the time point rather than rational or optimal output. From this perspective, the key point for policy change is the right time point. If policy maker can grasp the key time point, then he can make some policy changes. Multiple Streams Model indicates that the policy process consists three processes/streams; and these processes are made by different actors: the first problem streams includes different information and solutions proposed by their supporters; the second policy streams includes government officials concern of policy alternatives and policy formation; the third politics stream includes political consideration by the elected officials and elected representatives (Sabatier, 1999:9). These three processes flow inside and outside the federal government, and each is an individual process operation for most of the time, they are unrelated to each other (Kingdon, 1994:216). In a crucial time point, policy entrepreneur will combine the various processes (coupling into a single package, and it will greatly enhance a policy issue attention and even create a policy opportunity) (Zahariadis, 1999:73). And in this critical point, policy window will be opened. Kingdon (1994:216) has described, when the policy window open, a policy issue will come out. Some policy solutions which can be used to address the policy issues have already existed, and the time for this policy is correct. Policy window is an opportunity to promote a particular policy program, they will appear by themselves, but it is a very short time for people to notice and use this opportunity (Kingdon, 2003:166). Kingdon (2003:168) further pointed out that under the Multiple Streams Model, policy window may flow from the political stream or problems stream. If the policy window is opened for political reasons, it is because of president changed, there are changes of the administrating party, there is change in congress, etc If the policy window is opened from the policy stream, it is mostly because some issues have caught the attention of government officials. Whether policy makers are seeking solutions to promote existing policies or seeking alternatives to replace existing policies, the policy maker will always provide some opportunities for policy advocators to sell their policies. This means that as long as those policy advocators can make policy makers believe that their program is a feasible option to address policy issues or their solutions can help to accumulate political prestige and resources of the new policies; sooner or later, their policy proposals will have the chance to enter the policy agenda. It is possible for these proposals to be legitimized and carried out as the governments policy (Kingdon, 2003:172). Zahariadis (1999:82) argues that, if the policy window is opened in the political stream, then the combination of the various processes are more likely to be doctrinal. It is an existing policy to help find solutions to solve policy issues. If the policy window is opened in the problem stream, then the combination of th e various processes are more likely to be consequential, that is a process for finding a viable solution. Kingdon (2003:94-95) also pointed out that the policy problems may not seem obvious to every person. Sometimes a problem is noticed because there is a focusing event which has provided it with a policy window. Kingdon (2003:97) the focus of the event will be made as symbol in political world; and a symbol will draw attention and strengthen the role for certain issues. In conclusion, I think from a philosophic aspect the theories of policy stability and theories of policy changes are the two sides of the same coin. Also, I think the relationship between different theories is not only completive but sometime different theories are complementary to each others. I think the problem for some policy scholars is that they often focused on one theory instead of looking for different explanations from different theories 4) Deborah Stone calls the struggle over ideas the essence of policy making. Discuss this claim with respect to leading theories of the policy process. I name my answer to question as Idea and Deborah Stone, I want go through her book and explain why ideas are so important. According to Deborah Stone, idea will help people to define alliance, strategic considerations also idea will help people to get the legitimacy and draw policy boundaries. (Deborah, P 34). According to Deborah Stone, idea will decide who will be affected, how will they be affected and will they be affected legitimately (Deborah, P.34). In the first Chapter, Stone starts her analysis at the city-state (the Greek term polis) level. The public policy is considered as an attempt to achieve a certain community goals (Deborah, P 21). However, due to the fact that everyone has his own understanding of ideas, therefore the political community has become a place for internal debates over who will be affected, how will they be affected and will they be affected legitimately(Deborah, P 34) . The policy-making process has thus become a continuous interaction between the conflict and cooperation. In Stones model, individuals may pursue their goals through collective action. The motivation is not only based on self-interests but also based on public concerns. This is because the public interest is be related to the goal of survival (Deborah, P 33). However, when there is a contradiction between self-interest and public interest, the policy process will be more complicated (Deborah, P 33). When the group is motivated under common ideas, the group will get more strength, and there will be a balance between private interests and public interests in the conflict. Stone directly uses the idea as the core concept of this book. In her construction of polis community vs market individual(Deborah P 33) model, ideas have become the focus. Stone tries to use struggle of idea to explain all stages of policy-making process. Policy-making is followed by a continuous constantly struggle to fight for the classification of standards, types of boundaries, and guide people to conduct the ideal typical definition. The struggle of idea can be seen in several policy levels. According to Stones theory, idea defines what people want from the policy; it is the foundation for people to cognize and understands what the policy is. Idea provides a relationship between advocators and advocacy coalitions; Idea provides causal relationship for these people and groups, and ideas will be reflected to their policy objectives through their actions of obtaining support. And these people with the shared idea will persuade decision-makers to meet their preferences. As mentioned above, Stone sees idea as a constantly changing dynamic and resources of construction. And by given different interpretations of ideas, the concept of the ideas will also change. She points out that the politics of policy is to choose the interpretation (Deborah P 75). Stone argues that the authority to interpret idea is the key factor in the policy-making process. Only legitimated idea can be transformed into policy. And using the legiti macy, peoples knowledge or behavior can be changed. And policy change can also be made through this interaction of ideas. Ideas affects how people cognized politics, and the change of politics will also feedback on ideas. To Stone, idea is not static; idea is an ongoing of constructing and reconstructing process of concepts. Now I will try to exam whether Deborah Stones idea theory can fits with other policy process theory. In the punctuated equilibrium theory, Baumgartner and Jones also argue that idea is a potential power in the policy making process. According to their book Agendas and Instability in American Politics, a powerful supporting idea is associated with the institution (Baumgartner and Jones, P 7); In page 16, they also writethe tight connection between institution and idea provides powerful support for prevailing distribution of political advantage. These statements mean that idea will help people understand what is at stake and how will they be affected (Stone, 2002), policy advocators will use institution arrangement to make their idea be legitimate. Also, in order to gain more power those policy actors will manipulate images and ideas. To Baumgartner and Jones, ideas are important because they provide some potential undergirding institutional arrangements; and the struggle of idea is the struggle over legitimate institution arrangements. In the book Agendas, alternatives and public policies, Kingdon also discusses the importance. In order to make useful policy suggestions, participants in the policy process are competing to develop new ideas; and they are trying to provide their ideas in the form of potential solutions to policy makers. According to Kingdon, policy entrepreneurs lie in wait in and around government with their solutions [already] in hand, waiting for problems to float by to which they can attach their solutions, waiting for a development in the political stream they can use to their advantage (Kingdon, P 165). Shared ideas make policy entrepreneurs into alliance; and these alliances are trying to make their ideas become legitimate. Kingdons primal policy soup (Kingdon, P 139-143) model provides us a picture of how decision makers accept idea through coherent narrative process (ideas are flowing in the streams just as molecules flowing in the soup). According to Kingdon, a policy community creates a sh ort list of ideas. If the ideas can go through the selecting process, softening up process and if they can pass the exam by specialists and policy makers, they may finally become policies. The whole process can be viewed as a continuing struggle of ideas. In this case, ideas are not only competing with other ideas, they are also struggling to survive in this primal soup. I also think Kingdons policy window model is another improvement to Deborah Stones arguments. People are now struggling to make their idea in front of the policy window at the correct time. This model discovers that the during the policy process, critical time is also important for ideas struggling. However, I think there are also some theories which do not fully support Deborah Stones argument. In the garbage can model, because the nature of unclear, policy is not necessarily to be the consequence of the ideas struggling. In Kingdons Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, he describes that as garbage can into which various kinds of problems and solutions are dumped by participantsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ removed from the scene (Kingdon, P 85). In some sense, Deborah Stones Struggling of ideas assumption is more based on a goal-oriented policy making process, in order to make it work, there should be a clear policy goal from all participants; while the classical garbage can model is more like a method-oriented policy making process, it doesnt require a clear goal or solution at the beginning. In the garbage can model, people are not fighting with each other over ideas in the final solution selecting stage, however it is still correct to say that each solution in the garbage can is a result of deliberative idea thinking. I think there is a slight difference between Deborah Stones theory and the garbage can model. Another policy theory which doesnt fully consistent with Deborah Stones theory is the incrementalism theory. According to Lindblom, the incremental policy process is more relied on former existing policies. According to this model, the policy environment generally remains stable. Because the incremental nature of the policy, the new policy will inherent the policy environment from previous policy, if the former policy has resolved the struggling of idea, then there will be less struggling of ideas in the new policies. Since the policy environment is stable, it will be unlikely for us to speculate a violently struggle over ideas. The last policy process theory I want discuss in the context of struggling over idea is the advocacy coalition framework (ACF) theory. The central idea of this theory is that people or groups with the same beliefs (core/policy/secondary) will form a coalition. I think Sabatiers concept of belief is similar to Deborah Stones concept of idea. Especially, I think the concept of policy belief is playing the role of idea in the policy process. I think his core belief is rooted even deeper than idea. The core belief will sometimes become unnoticeable. And using the ACF model, we can find out that the policy process is a competition among different policy beliefs, and I think this observation is close to Deborahs struggle over ideas the essence of policy making.'. But it does not mean that the change in the secondary belief level is also a result of struggling, according to Sabatiers theory, such change is more like the result of an incremental learning process. In conclusion, I think Deborah Stones argument is useful for us to understand some policy process. However, by using different theories we should also notice whether policy processes are struggle over ideas should be analyzed in situations. The Punctuated-Equilibrium model, ACF model and Multiple Stream model indicate that Deborahs argument is valid. In the P-E model, the change of existing idea or appearance of new idea will bring turbulence to the policy process; in the ACF model, the learning process can change beliefs at different level, and these changes will bring feedbacks to the policy process; in the M-S model, policy entrepreneurs will using the opportunity to propose their ideas, and when critical time is come, the coupled stream will become policy. Incremental Model suggests that policy process is not necessarily linked to struggling when the time span of the policy is very short. There could be no struggle when the whole policy process is already fixed. However, I think the origin/first policy in the incremental model is a result of idea struggling. The Garbage Can model suggests that the choosing process within the policy process may appear as a random process, it is not necessarily to be the consequence of the idea struggling. Reference: Sabatier, Paul A. 1988. An Advocacy Coalition Framework of Policy Change and the Role of Policy-Oriented Learning Therein, Policy Sciences, 21:129-168. Sabatier, Paul A. (ed.) 1999. Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Sabatier, Paul A. and Hank C. Jenkins-Smith. 1993. Policy Change and Learning: An Advocacy Coalition Approach. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Sabatier, Paul A. and Hank C. Jenkins-Smith. 1999. The Advocacy Coalition Framework: An Assessment, In Sabatier, Paul A. (ed.) Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Kingdon, John W. 1995. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. 2nd ed., New York: HarperCollins. Zahariadis, Nikolaos. 1999. Ambiguity, Time, and Multiple Streams, In Sabatier, Paul A. (ed.), Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. True, James L., Bryan D.Jones, and Frank R. Baumgartner. 1999. Punctuated- Equilibrium Theory: Explaining Stability and Change in American Policymaking, In Sabatier, Paul A. (ed.), Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Jones, Bryan D., Frank R. Baumgartner, and James L. True 1998. Policy Punctuations: U.S. Budget Authority, 1947-1995, The Journal of Politics, 60(1):1-33. Baumgartner, Frank R. and Bryan D. Jones. 1993. Agendas and Instability in American Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Reference: Kingdon, J. W. (1984) Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies . U. S. A.: Harper Collins. Lindblom, C. E. (1959) The science of muddling through. Public Administration Review, 14, pp. 79-88. Cohen, M., March, J., Olson, J. (1972) A garbage can model of organizational choice. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17, pp. 1-25. March, James and Olsen. (1984) The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factor in Political Life. American Political Science Review 78. 734-749

Flaxseed to reduce plasma cholesterol and the formation of atherosclero

Regarding the study â€Å"Flaxseed reduces plasma cholesterol and atherosclerotic lesion formation in ovariectomized Golden Syrian hamsters†, the research question for Lucas et al. (2004) study is: Can flaxseed reduce plasma cholesterol and the formation of atherosclerotic lesion in women who are deficient in ovarian hormones or menopausal women? According to the study, in menopausal women, the deficiency of ovarian hormones will increase the level of plasma cholesterol and the risk of plaque formation which lead to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Previously, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was used to solve this problem. However, it is related to an increased risk of some serious diseases such as ovarian cancer and breast cancer; therefore, a lot of women are turning to a safer way to deal with this problem. Recently, functional foods, foods which have the potential for health protection, are considered alternatives to use for reducing CVD risks, and flaxseed is one of those which is used to lower factors that cause CVD. Since it is rich in lignans, ÃŽ ±-linolenic acid (ALA) and soluble fiber which can lower cholesterol level, flaxseed would be beneficial for decreasing CVD risks in postmenopausal women. From previous animal and human studies, we know that flaxseed has the potential to reduce concentrations of cholesterol. Moreover, it can also prevent atherosclerosis by interacting with the vessel wall. However, the effect of flaxseed in reducing plasma cholesterol and atherosclerotic lesion formation associated with ovarian hormone deficiency has not been investigated (Lucas et al., 2004). For these reasons, this study focused on the dose-dependent effect of flaxseed on cholesterol concentrations and atherosclerotic lesion formation. S... ...study and methods to measure and analyze data. Ovariectomized hamsters were proper representatives of postmenopausal women, since after ovariectomy, their plasma cholesterol and the formation of lesions were also increased. Moreover, the authors referred to related studies to develop the experiments and this also provides information about the importance of the project. However, samples collected during the study had to be kept and analyzed later; therefore, this may affect their condition and an accuracy of the results. Works Cited Lucas, A. E., Lightfoot, A. S., Hammond, J. L., Devareddy, L., Khalil, A. D., Daggy, P. B., Smith, J. B., Westcott, N., Mocanu, V., Soung, Y. D., Arjmandi, H. B. (2004). Flaxseed reduces plasma cholesterol and atherosclerotic lesion formation in ovariectomized Golden Syrian hamsters. Atherosclerosis, 173, 223-229.

Will robots take your job

In a world of technological advancements we ask a simple question. Will robots take our Jobs? In my personal opinion I believe they will and sort of already have in a small way. Judging by the readings in the book we can certainly see many ways robots have already started to take over Jobs by replacing people with self-check kiosk, Tam's and pay at the pump self-service stations.As stated in the book the employer can cut jack cost by purchasing â€Å"humanoids† to do Jobs more proficiently than humans. So with that being said you can see how it's possible that with advances in technology robots will take our Jobs. Check your daily routines and see how fast and easy it is for you to effectively use some sort of robotic to simplify your life in the public setting. Let's go to the store and all we need is gas.Simply slide your debit card at the island pumps and then you pump and go. K we need some quick cash so to avoid waiting on a bank teller we stop by an ATM grab the cash an d go. Now its break time at work and you have to be back in a hurry, you have a few options here. Again you can insert money into a vending machine or go to a restaurant and use the express kiosk. Just when you thought you were done you got to stop by the grocery store and pick up something to cook for supper.These lines are looking pretty long and backed up because the store is very busy, so you opt to use the U-Scan. Looking back at this daily routine we can see how robots have already taken the place of certain human jobs. Don't get me wrong you can always go into these business's and have that interaction with the associate if you would like but, when most people are in a hurry they can use the slide your card and go method as I call it Just as effectively.Let's take an adventure to the employers' point of view when it comes to robots or â€Å"humanoids† taking Jobs. One of the biggest reasons they will consider this option instead of hiring someone is that the humanoids will be able to save them money. Costing around $10,000 dollars to purchase a humanoid the employer can save on average $5,080 a year to employ them versus an actually human, based on paying someone to come in and do the Job at a minimum wage rate.Another reason is that you can expect the humanoids to happily do the Job and do it so proficiently. Now only will they be able to do your Job but they will do it better. Cooking, cleaning, placing orders, building houses, driving cars and even flying planes are some of the jobs at risk. We certainly have the technology now to replace workers the only reason we haven't implemented robots into these position is because they don't have senses such as sight, hearing and ways of expressing emotion to the customer.Furthermore we can conclude that in the future robots will and such be expected to take our Jobs. You can say no this can't be possible, but look at how technology is ever changing. Just as computers have changed over time from fittin g one in an entire room to now we can wear them on our wrist and drop them into our pockets. The market for robots to take over will be the future. By 2050 they will be perfected to proficiently