Saturday, October 26, 2019

Don Pepe :: essays research papers fc

Like Castro, Gueverra, and Sandino, Jose Figueres Ferrer holds a place as one of the most important revolutionary and political forces in Latin American history. This so-called “father of modern Costa Rica'; led his country to revolution and eventual democracy. Known affectionately as “Don Pepe'; by his admirers, Figueres was both an enemy of communist and a thorn in the side of the United States. While putting down a communist regime and allying himself consistently with the U.S., Figueres was also a strong socialist and nationalist and would prove to be an enigma to U.S. policy makers during his terms as president. Despite the praise and admiration that Figueres enjoyed, a much darker side to his administration as well as an unmistakable duality in his dealings with the U.S. and democracy itself is seen in his political history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Following a time of democracy in Costa Rica, in the early 40’s, then president Rafael Calderon allied himself with the Costa Rican communist party, Vanguardia Popular as well as the Nicaraguan dictator Somoza. Figueres would then give a radio speech disdaining Calderon and his actions which would lead to Figueres’ exile to Mexico in 1942. (Cockcroft, 232) Figueres returned in 1944, and an alleged fixing of the 1948 Costa Rican election was the window that he had been waiting for. Supported by the governments of Guatemala, Cuba, and the U.S., Figueres and his Army of National Liberation would force the surrender of President Picado, a puppet of Calderon, and the Vanguardia forces, Figueres would seize control of Costa Rica as the head of the revolutionary junta for eighteen months. Control was then turned over to the rightful winner of the 1948 election, and Figueres would return for three terms as president, the first in 1953 and the final beginning in 1970. (Longley, 3)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During his interim term following the revolution and his subsequent terms as president, Figueres would institute a number of changes that would steamroll Costa Rican democracy. Don Pepe began by extending suffrage and full political rights to blacks and women, a certain democratic move. He then instituted a ten percent tax on the very wealthy, which had no considerable backlash politically in Costa Rica due to the surprisingly large middle class. Figueres also established a presidential term limit and created an independent Electoral Tribunal to oversee future elections. In perhaps his most amazing and debated decree, Figueres disbanded the government army, thus protecting himself from the possibility of an out of hand military. Don Pepe :: essays research papers fc Like Castro, Gueverra, and Sandino, Jose Figueres Ferrer holds a place as one of the most important revolutionary and political forces in Latin American history. This so-called “father of modern Costa Rica'; led his country to revolution and eventual democracy. Known affectionately as “Don Pepe'; by his admirers, Figueres was both an enemy of communist and a thorn in the side of the United States. While putting down a communist regime and allying himself consistently with the U.S., Figueres was also a strong socialist and nationalist and would prove to be an enigma to U.S. policy makers during his terms as president. Despite the praise and admiration that Figueres enjoyed, a much darker side to his administration as well as an unmistakable duality in his dealings with the U.S. and democracy itself is seen in his political history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Following a time of democracy in Costa Rica, in the early 40’s, then president Rafael Calderon allied himself with the Costa Rican communist party, Vanguardia Popular as well as the Nicaraguan dictator Somoza. Figueres would then give a radio speech disdaining Calderon and his actions which would lead to Figueres’ exile to Mexico in 1942. (Cockcroft, 232) Figueres returned in 1944, and an alleged fixing of the 1948 Costa Rican election was the window that he had been waiting for. Supported by the governments of Guatemala, Cuba, and the U.S., Figueres and his Army of National Liberation would force the surrender of President Picado, a puppet of Calderon, and the Vanguardia forces, Figueres would seize control of Costa Rica as the head of the revolutionary junta for eighteen months. Control was then turned over to the rightful winner of the 1948 election, and Figueres would return for three terms as president, the first in 1953 and the final beginning in 1970. (Longley, 3)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During his interim term following the revolution and his subsequent terms as president, Figueres would institute a number of changes that would steamroll Costa Rican democracy. Don Pepe began by extending suffrage and full political rights to blacks and women, a certain democratic move. He then instituted a ten percent tax on the very wealthy, which had no considerable backlash politically in Costa Rica due to the surprisingly large middle class. Figueres also established a presidential term limit and created an independent Electoral Tribunal to oversee future elections. In perhaps his most amazing and debated decree, Figueres disbanded the government army, thus protecting himself from the possibility of an out of hand military.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Prejudice and discrimination Essay

Andrew Cuomo states, â€Å"I believe discrimination still exists in society and we must fight it in every form. † Discrimination and prejudices are negative manifestations, especially when formed without enough thought or knowledge, instead of bringing people together, it pushes them apart. Prejudices can be formed when a person forms its own opinion of another person or group of persons without having knowledge or facts about them. Meanwhile, discrimination is based on treating one particular group of people less favorably than others because of their skin color, gender, age, or socioeconomic status. Racism, sexism, ageism, and socioeconomic discrimination are all prejudices and types of discrimination which should be avoided. Indeed, confrontation may be one of the most effective weapons in the battle to end prejudice and discrimination because if someone forms a prejudicial idea about us, or discriminates against us, our job is to try to change their way of thinking and let them know who we are and how we really are. People should confront this type of discrimination by demonstrating a different picture of what other people have about them. For example, someone who experienced a lot of discrimination and was prejudiced by a lot of people is Melba Patillo Beals. According to Patillo’s book â€Å"Warriors Don’t Cry†, she clearly writes about the importance of being given the chance to get to know people better before judging. Additionally, she wrote about how much she wanted the white people to give her a chance to get to know her better before they judge her and make a decision wether or not she and the other eight black students were allowed to be part of Central High School. Every time in her diary Patillo wrote how painful was to hear everyday bad words and support bad treatment from the white students. All this stereotypes were so painful for Patillo, but she decided to resist them all and keep going to school to show to the white people that black people are not so different from whites. The skin color does not make people worse. Patillo wrote on her book, â€Å" Today is the first time in my life I felt equal to white people. I want more of that feeling. † (Patillo 90). All people can have more of that feeling if we all decide to stop with racism, and all kinds of discrimination. If people confronts discrimination they will show other people that we all have rights and we have to stop being prejudiced. We have to be treated equal. In the same way, Patillo’s friend, Minnijean, insisted to participate in a school event to show her talents to the white students so they might finally accept her, and stop treating her bad. This two examples of Patillo and her friend Minnijean are ways to confront prejudice and discrimination. They tried to show people that by giving others a chance to know them better, people can realize the image they had about others or the prejudice towards that person is not true. Regarding this, many things can be done in order to get to know others; reading more about different ethnicities can open the mind of a lot of people who have so close mind and who only know about their culture. This could be a good way to get to know other people, and they will have the chance to demonstrate how they really are. For example, in the essay â€Å"Don’t Misread My Signals†, by Judith Ortiz Cofer, she explains how people can stereotype others just because of their heritage, in her case, the Puerto Rican heritage. After reading her essay, people can understand better the Puerto Rican Culture and why Puerto Rican girls chose a certain type of clothes which are not necessarily sexual signals like American people think. Moreover, just because of â€Å"the myth of the Latina as a whore, domestic worker or criminal† (Ortiz), doesn’t mean that all Latinas are the same. That is only a stereotype, and discrimination toward Latinas. However, Ortiz confronts this prejudice and discrimination by writing books of poetry and novels in which she tries to change the way of thinking of her audience. She explains to the audience that the skin color, the accent, or the clothes are not good reasons to prejudice or discriminate against others. Similarly, the essay â€Å"Of My Friend Hector and My Achilles Heel† by Michael T. Kaufman, explains the same issue as the essay â€Å"Don’t Misread My Signals† (Ortiz). That it is bad to stereotype people without having a fact that the stereotype is correct. Kaufman started writing â€Å"This story is about prejudice and stupidity. My own. † By having a epiphany, Kaufman realized that he was stereotyping his friend Hector Elizondo just because he is Puerto Rican and because Hector was not in the same special class in school as Kaufman. Also, Kaufman stereotyped Hector because he always saw Hector wearing a knitted watch cap, so he deduced that Hector was probably working as a longshoreman. Kaufman stereotyped Hector just by his appearance, nationality and education level, but he didn’t try to ask Hector what was really happening in his life. Finally, Kaufman saw in the newspaper that Hector was performing in a play on Broadway, so Kaufman realized that he stereotyped his friend and prejudice him. When people realizes that they are wrong about their prejudice, is exactly the moment when they start to confront prejudice. Is the moment when they change their way of thinking. They realize that sometimes the appearances do not show the real identity of the person. That is the reason of why we need to know people better before we start judging them. People say that the first impression is very important, but they can’t rely only on their first impression because that is the moment when they start to discriminate against others. They need to know that it is important to know someone better before they start judging or stereotyping. After all, we all are human beings and we are not perfect. We all have made prejudices, or have made discriminations towards others sometime. However, this is not so dangerous if we learned the lesson from the past, and realized that discriminating is not the best way to get along with people and live peacefully. If we want to end this, we need to stop transmitting this way of thinking to the next generations. With this change, people will create a world without prejudice and with equal rights for everybody.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Succubus Shadows Chapter 10

I woke to blackness. Blackness and suffocation. I was in a small room, a box really, crammed in so tightly that my arms wrapped around me and my knees were drawn to my chest. Weirdly, my limbs seemed too long. My whole body did, actually. My body changed all the time with shape-shifting, but this wasn't what I'd been wearing with Roman. This was different. For a moment, that horrible space seemed to close in around me. I couldn't breathe. With great effort, I tried to calm myself down. There was enough air. I could breathe. And even if I couldn't have, it wouldn't have mattered. The fear of suffocation was a human instinct. Where was I? I didn't remember anything after the bedroom. I recalled the light and the music and Roman bursting in too late. I'd felt his power build up, like he was about to take action, but I hadn't seen the conclusion. And now, here I was. Before my eyes, two identical luminescent forms suddenly appeared, like torches being lit in the darkness. They were tall and thin, with willowy, androgynous features. Black cloth wrapped around their bodies, seeming to glow with a light of its own, and long black hair flowed from their heads, blending in and losing itself in the cloth. Their eyes were a startling radioactive blue, too blue for any human, and seemed to bug out of those long, pale faces that were neither male nor female. It was weird too because it was like they stood before me in a large room, as though they were ten or so feet away from me. Yet, I was still crammed into the confines of my box and its unseen walls, barely able to move. Aside from them, everything else was pure, unfathomable blackness. I couldn't even see my own body or any other features of the room. My brain couldn't get a grip on this spatial hypocrisy. It was all too surreal. â€Å"Who are you?† I demanded. â€Å"What am I doing here?† I saw no point in wasting time. The duo didn't answer right away. Their eyes were cold and unreadable, but I saw a bit of smugness in their lips. â€Å"Our succubus,† one said. His – my brain decided to assign them a gender – voice was low and raspy, with a lisp that reminded me of a snake. â€Å"Our succubus at last.† â€Å"Harder to catch than we thought,† added the other, voice identical. â€Å"We thought you would have succumbed long ago.† â€Å"Who are you?† I repeated, anger kindling. I squirmed in a futile attempt at escape. My confines were so tight that I didn't even have the space to beat my fists against the nonexistent walls. â€Å"Mother will be pleased,† the first one said. â€Å"Very pleased,† confirmed the other. The way they alternated phrases reminded me of how Grace – Jerome's former lieutenant demoness – and Mei used to interact. That had had a charming, moderately creepy The Shining feel to it. This†¦this was something else. Something terrible and icy, burning my senses like nails on a chalkboard. â€Å"Mother will reward us,† the first said. I decided to call them One and Two for the ease of mental processing. â€Å"She will reward us when she is free, when she escapes the angels.† â€Å"Who's your mother?† I asked. A troubling suspicion was beginning to form. â€Å"We will avenge her until she can do it herself,† said Two. â€Å"You will suffer for betraying her.† â€Å"Nyx,† I murmured. â€Å"Nyx is your mother. And you're†¦you're Oneroi.† They said nothing, which I took as affirmation. My head reeled. Oneroi? How had this happened? Oneroi were a type of dream demon – but not demons like the ones I interacted with. Heaven and Hell were forces in the universe, but there were others, others that mingled with and often ran parallel to the system I existed in. Nyx was one such force, an entity of chaos from the beginning of time, when the world had been created from disorder. And the Oneroi were her children. I knew a few things about them but had never seen them – or ever expected to. They visited dreams, feeding on them. Nyx had done this too, but the manner had been a little different. She had manipulated people into seeing the future in their dreams – a twisted version that didn't unfold the way the dreamer expected. It had led to crazy actions that spawned chaos in the world, allowing her to grow stronger. She'd also fed on my energy directly, taking it in its purest form and distracting me with dreams of my own. But Oneroi fed on the dreams themselves, deriving their power from the emotions and realities fueled by the dreamer. My understanding was that they also had the power to manipulate dreams but rarely had reason to. Humans provided plenty of hopes, dreams, and fears on their own. They needed no outside help. That was the extent of my Oneroi knowledge, but it was enough. Feeling even a little informed about the situation empowered me. â€Å"That's what this is about? You took me because of Nyx? I wasn't the one who caught her. The angels did.† â€Å"You helped them,† said One. â€Å"Led them to her.† â€Å"And then refused to save her,† added Two. With a pang, I remembered that horrible night, when Carter and his cronies had recaptured Nyx after her devastating free-for-all in Seattle. An angel had died that night. Another had fallen. And Nyx had promised to show me a future and family with a man I could love, if only I would give her the rest of my energy and let her break free. â€Å"She was lying,† I said. â€Å"She was trying to make a deal when she had nothing to offer.† â€Å"Mother always shows the truth,† said One. â€Å"Dreams can be lies, but truth is truth.† I decided pointing out the redundancy of that statement was useless. â€Å"Well, I'm sure she'll appreciate the Mother's Day gift, but you're wasting your time. Jerome will come for me. My archdemon. He won't let me stay here.† â€Å"He won't find you,† said Two. This time, I could definitely see smugness. â€Å"He can't find you. You no longer exist for him.† â€Å"You're wrong,† I replied, with a bit of my own smugness. â€Å"There's no place in this world you can take me where he can't find me.† That was, of course, assuming they hadn't managed to hide my immortal aura. To my knowledge, only greater immortals could do that. I wasn't sure where Oneroi fell in. One actually smiled. It was not attractive. â€Å"You aren't in the world. Not the mortal world. This is the dream world.† â€Å"You're one of many dreams,† Two said. â€Å"One dream among all the dreams of humanity. Your essence is here. Your soul. Lost in a sea of countless others.† My fear stopped me from offering commentary on his sudden shift into metaphor. The metaphysics of the universe and its layers and creation were beyond me. Even if someone had explained them to me, it was something past the comprehension of a mortal, lesser immortal, or any other being who was made-not-born. I had enough understanding, though, to recognize some truth in their words. There was a world of dreams, a world without form with nearly as much power as the physical one I lived in. Was it possible to trap my essence in it and hide me from Jerome? I was unsure enough that I couldn't write it off. â€Å"So, what?† I asked, attempting haughtiness but mostly sounding as uneasy as I felt. â€Å"You'll just keep me in this mime box and feel better about yourselves?† â€Å"No,† said One. â€Å"You're in the world of dreams. You will dream.† The world dissolved again. It was my wedding day. I was fifteen years old, jailbait in the twenty-first century but more than old enough to be a wife in fourth-century Cyprus. And more than tall enough too. The Oneroi had sent me into a memory or a dream of a memory or something like that. It was a lot like the dreams Nyx had put me in. I was watching myself like a movie†¦yet at the same time, I was in myself, experiencing everything quite naturally. It was a disorienting feeling, made worse by the fact that I had never wanted to see my human self again. Selling my soul had come with obvious downsides, but there had been perks too: the ability to shape-shift and never again have to wear the body that had committed such grievous sins in my mortal life. Yet, there I was, and I was unable to look away. It was like being in A Clockwork Orange. My younger self had been about five feet ten inches tall by today's standards and a giant of a woman in an era where people had been shorter. When dancing, I'd been able to put that long body and all those limbs to good use, moving gracefully and effortlessly. In everyday life, though, I'd always been painfully conscious of my height, feeling awkward and unnatural. Watching my old self walk now, from the outside, I was astonished to see I didn't appear as clumsy as I'd always believed. That didn't negate the revulsion I felt at seeing the thick, waist-long black hair or passably pretty face. Still, it was kind of a surprise to watch reality (if this was reality) and memory meshed. It was just after dawn, and I was carrying a large amphora of oil out to a storage house beyond my family's home. My steps were light, careful not to spill any of it, and I again marveled at the way I moved. I set the vessel down beside others inside the shed and started to head back toward the house. I'd barely taken two steps outside when Kyriakos, my husband-to-be, appeared. There was a covert expression on his face, one that instantly told me he had sneaked over here to find me and knew perfectly well that he shouldn't have. It was an uncharacteristically bold move for him, and I chastised him for the indiscretion. â€Å"What are you doing? You're going to see me this afternoon†¦and then every day after that!† â€Å"I had to give you these before the wedding.† He held up a string of wooden beads, small and perfectly formed with tiny ankhs engraved on them. â€Å"They were my mother's. I want you to have them, to wear them today.† He leaned forward, placing the beads around my neck. As his fingers brushed my skin, I felt something warm and tingly run through my body. At the tender age of fifteen, I hadn't exactly understood such sensations, though I was eager to explore them. My wiser self today recognized them as the early stirrings of lust, and†¦well, there had been something else there too. Something else that I still didn't quite comprehend. An electric connection, a feeling that we were bound into something bigger than ourselves. That our being together was inevitable. â€Å"There,† he said, once the beads were secure and my hair brushed back into place. â€Å"Perfect.† He said nothing else after that. He didn't need to. His eyes told me all I needed to know, and I shivered. Until Kyriakos, no man had ever given me a second glance. I was Marthanes' too-tall daughter after all, the one with the sharp tongue who didn't think before speaking. But Kyriakos had always listened to me and watched me like I was someone more, someone tempting and desirable, like the beautiful priestesses of Aphrodite who still carried on their rituals away from the Christian priests. I wanted him to touch me then, not realizing just how much until I caught his hand suddenly and unexpectedly. Taking it, I placed it around my waist and pulled him to me. His eyes widened in surprise but he didn't pull back. We were almost the same height, making it easy for his mouth to seek mine out in a crushing kiss. I leaned against the warm stone wall behind me so that I was pressed between it and him. I could feel every part of his body against mine, but we still weren't close enough. Not nearly enough. Our kissing grew more ardent, as though our lips alone might close whatever aching distance lay between us. I moved his hand again, this time to push up my skirt along the side of one leg. His hand stroked the smooth flesh there and, without further urging, slid over to my inner thigh. I arched my lower body toward his, nearly writhing against him now, needing him to touch me everywhere. â€Å"Letha? Where are you at?† My sister's voice carried over the wind; she wasn't nearby but could no doubt show up if she sought me. Kyriakos and I broke apart, both gasping, pulses racing. He was looking at me like he'd never seen me before. Heat burned in his gaze. â€Å"Have you ever been with anyone before?† he asked wonderingly. I shook my head. â€Å"How did you†¦I never imagined you doing that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I learn fast.† We stood there, locked in time for a moment. Then, he pulled me back to him, his lips crushing mine once more. His hand returned to my dress, hiking it up over my waist. He held my bare hips firmly and pressed himself to my body. I felt him hard against me, felt my body respond to something that seemed both new and natural at the same time. The fingers of one hand slid over, feeling the wetness between my thighs. His touch felt like fire, and I moaned, wanting him to stroke me there more and more. Instead, he turned me around so that I faced the wall. With one hand, he kept the skirt of my dress up, and with his other, I had the vague impression of him fumbling with his clothes. Then, a moment later, he pushed himself into me. It was a shock, like nothing I'd experienced before. I'd meant what I'd said earlier: that I'd never been with another man. And even wet with desire, it still hurt to have him inside me that first time. He seemed too big and me too small. I cried out at the pain, an odd sort of pain that didn't diminish the fire that had been building within me. His thrusts were hard and urgent, no doubt fueled by feelings he'd long been holding back on. And after a while, the initial pain seemed irrelevant. Pleasure began to grow as he moved into me over and over, and I adjusted myself so that I bent over more and let him take me more deeply. He thrust more forcefully, and I again exclaimed in surprise and blissful pain. I heard a muffled groan, and then his body shuddered as he spent himself, his movements at last slowing down. When he was done, he pulled out and turned me around. It was the first time I'd seen him naked in all of this. There was blood and semen on both of us, which I tried to clean off my thighs before finally just letting my dress fall back over me. I'd be bathing before the wedding anyway. Kyriakos had just finished putting his clothes back on when we heard my name again. This time, it was my mother. He and I stared at each other in wonder, scarcely believing we'd just done what we had. I was aglow with love and the joy of sex and a whole host of new feelings I wanted to explore in more detail. Fear of my mother drove us apart. Stepping back, he grinned and pressed my hand to his lips. â€Å"Tonight,† he breathed. â€Å"Tonight we†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Tonight,† I agreed. â€Å"We'll do it again. I love you.† He smiled at me, eyes smoldering, and then hurried off before we were caught. I watched him go, my heart filled with joy. The rest of the day went by in a dreamy haze, partially because of the flurry of wedding activity and partially because of what had happened with Kyriakos. I'd had a vague idea of what would occur on our wedding night, but my imaginings had never come close to the real thing. I practically danced my way through the rest of the day, impatient to truly be Kyriakos' wife and make love again and again. The wedding was taking place at our home, so there was enough work (along with my own preparation) to almost keep me distracted. As the ceremony time grew nearer, I was bathed and dressed in my wedding gown: an ivory tunic of fine material, wrapped with a flame-red veil. I had to kneel a little for my mother to adequately adjust the veil, earning a number of jokes about my height from my sister. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered except me and Kyriakos being together forever. Soon, guests began arriving, and my heart rate increased. Anticipation and the day's heat made me sweat, and I fretted about ruining the dress. Someone called out that Kyriakos and his family were approaching. The excitement in the air grew palpable, shared by everyone now. Yet, when Kyriakos arrived, he barged right into the house, going against the traditional procession and stately ceremony that should have taken place. For half a second, some girlish part of me thought that Kyriakos – in his burning love for me – couldn't wait through the drawn out process of a ceremony. I was quickly enlightened. With a face flushed with fury, he marched up to my father. â€Å"Marthanes,† Kyriakos growled, finger in my father's face. â€Å"You insult me if you think I'm going through with this wedding.† My father was clearly taken aback – not an easy thing to accomplish. People chastised me for my sharp tongue, but that was largely because I was a woman. I wasn't half as bad as my father, and he'd intimidated a lot of men twice his size. (It was a sad irony that while I was tall for a woman, my father was short for a man.) A few moments later, my father recovered his usual bluster. â€Å"Of course you are!† he exclaimed. â€Å"We've made the betrothal. We paid the dowry.† Kyriakos' father was there, and judging from his fine clothes and surprised expression, this was all news to him too. He set a hand on his son's shoulder. â€Å"Kyriakos, what's this all about?† â€Å"Her,† said Kyriakos, pointing his finger at me. His gaze swung to my face, and I flinched from its force, as though I'd been slapped. â€Å"I will not marry Marthanes' whore of a daughter!† There were gasps and murmurs from those around us. My father's face turned bright red. â€Å"You're insulting me! All of my daughters are chaste. They're all virgins.† â€Å"Are they?† Kyriakos turned back to me. â€Å"Are you?† All eyes turned to me, and I blanched. My tongue felt dry. I couldn't muster any words. My father threw up his hands, clearly exasperated by this nonsense. â€Å"Tell them, Letha. Tell them so that we can end this and get our dowry back.† Kyriakos had a dangerous glint in his eyes as he studied me. â€Å"Yes, tell them so that we can end this. Are you a virgin?† â€Å"No, but – â€Å" Chaos erupted. Men shouted. My mother wailed. The guests were a mix of stunned shock and delight over a new scandal. Desperately, I tried to find my voice and shout above the din. â€Å"It was only with Kyriakos!† I cried. â€Å"Today was the first time!† Kyriakos turned away from where he'd been telling my father the dowry would not be returned. He glanced over at me. â€Å"It's true,† he said. â€Å"We did it today. She spread herself as easily and knowingly as any whore, begging me to take her. There's no telling how many men she's offered her body up to – or how many she would even when married.† â€Å"No!† I exclaimed. â€Å"It's not true!† But no one heard me. There was too much arguing now. Kyriakos' family was raging over the insult. My family was bristling against the name-calling, and my father was trying his best to do damage control, though he knew perfectly well that my own admission had damned us. Premarital sex was not so out of the ordinary for lower classes, but as a tradesman's family, we modeled a lot of our customs on our betters among the nobility – or pretended to. A girl's virtue was a sacred thing, one that reflected on her father and family as a whole. This disgraced all of them – and had serious repercussions for me. As Kyriakos well knew. He had moved toward me so that I could hear him through the noise. â€Å"Now they all know,† he said in a low voice. â€Å"They all know you for what you are.† â€Å"It's not true,† I said through my tears. â€Å"You know it isn't.† â€Å"No one will have you now,† he continued. â€Å"No one worth having. You'll spend the rest of your life on your back, spreading your legs for whoever comes along. And ultimately, you'll be alone. No one will have you.† I squeezed my eyes shut to try to stop the tears, and when I opened them again, I was surrounded in blackness. Well, not entirely in blackness. Before me, the Oneroi glowed more brightly than before, lit from within by that eerie light. â€Å"An interesting dream,† said Two, with what I think passed for a smile. â€Å"One that gave us much to feed on.† â€Å"It's not true,† I said. There were tears on my cheeks in waking, just as there had been in sleep. â€Å"That wasn't true. It was a lie. That wasn't how things happened.† The dream was muddling my brain, almost making me question myself, but my own memories soon won out. I remembered that day. I remembered kissing Kyriakos by the building and how we'd then gone separate ways, strengthened by the knowledge that we would soon be man and wife, making our wedding night that much sweeter. And it had been. It hadn't been rushed against a wall. We'd taken time to learn and explore each other's bodies. He'd been on top of me, staring into my eyes – not my back. He'd told me I was his life. He'd told me I was his world. â€Å"It was a lie,† I repeated more firmly, fixing the Oneroi with a glare. â€Å"That's not how it happened. That's not how it happened.† I knew I was right, yet I felt the need to keep repeating it, to make sure the words were true. One gave a small shrug, unconcerned. â€Å"It doesn't matter. I told you: Mother shows the truth. But dreams? Dreams are dreams. They can be truth or lies, and all provide food for us. And you?† He smiled a smile that was the mirror of his twin's. â€Å"You will dream†¦and dream†¦and dream†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Quiet Achiever Essays - Finch, Free Essays, Term Papers

The Quiet Achiever Essays - Finch, Free Essays, Term Papers The Quiet Achiever Max sat in class gazing at Clare Jones. He watched as she leaned over to her friend Julie and passed her a note. Her small school blouse and shorter-than-normal skirt defined her curvaceous body. Julie saw Max watching her friend. She giggled and motioned to Clare to look behind her. Clare turned and looked back at Max. Max was caught out. His elbow slipped on the desk and dislodged his small tin pencil box. It crashed to the floor making a loud noise. The entire class turned and laughed at Max. He felt the heat of a crimson blush as a rush of prickles ran up his back from embarrassment. He glanced back at Clare and Julie who were still looking at him, giggling. A quiet fury surged inside him. He hated it when people laughed at him. It was worse when Clare did though. She seemed to know he liked her. Humiliated, Max slumped in his chair. He lowered his gaze to his desk. Surely no more ridicule would eventuate if he lay low for the rest of the lesson. Max Faulkner! shouted the Legal Studies teacher, Mr Finch. Would you stop daydreaming and concentrate! I dont like your attitude young man. Im trying to inform the class about the Queensland court system and all you can do is stare at your desk? Please pay attention. Im sure if your attitude does not improve youll learn more about the courts first hand! Max could hear muffled laughter around the classroom. The other students were careful not to exacerbate Mr Finchs aggravation. Sorry siiUGHr. The class erupted in laughter when Maxs voice faltered. He had been keeping quiet in the last few weeks because he knew that he couldnt trust his changing voice. The class struggled to regain composure. Max sank back in his chair and looked straight ahead at the white board. Finch chuckled to himself seemingly pleased at the humiliation he caused Max. As the class settled down a little, Mr Finch extracted a pile of papers from his briefcase. Ive marked your mid term research essays on the Constitutional Rights of Australians and I was generally pleased with the effort. Some of you, however, have let your own opinions get in the way and have been marked down in that respect. If you are unhappy with your marks come and tell me. Ill see if I can help you understand where you went wrong. Max knew hed included some of his own opinions in his essay. He hoped that it wouldnt be too obvious. He remembered how Finch didnt like it when people did things differently. Surely he should get a reasonable mark. He put a lot of work into this essay. He needed better marks in Legal Studies so he had done his best to submit a very good paper. He only hoped Finch would recognise his effort and mark it accordingly. Finch walked around distributing the papers amongst the class. Max watched the expression of the students as they discovered what mark Finch had given them. Most showed some degree of disappointment. Finch handed Clare her paper. She immediately turned to Julie to tell her that she got an A. Finch tossed Maxs paper in front of him. Yet another unsound piece of work from you Max. I wish you had a better attitude towards this subject. Max blushed. Again he felt a rush of prickles run up his back. Some of the students looked at him with smirks on their faces. Others had more sympathetic looks. Max read his mark. He felt nauseous when he learned Finch had given him a D for his paper. He swallowed hard, managing to contain his disappointment, dejection and anger. The bell rang for the end of class. There was no time to see Finch about his mark. He knew there was no point in seeing him anyway as it was unlikely the mark would be altered. Max hated Finch for all the humiliation and frustration he caused him. He hoped tomorrow would be better. The following day Mr Finch was not there to take Legal Studies. The school Principal, Mr Sampson, took the class instead. He addressed the class. Mr

Monday, October 21, 2019

The Socio Economic Impacts Of Gambling Tourism Essays

The Socio Economic Impacts Of Gambling Tourism Essays The Socio Economic Impacts Of Gambling Tourism Essay The Socio Economic Impacts Of Gambling Tourism Essay The purpose of this survey is to look into the degree of impacts the integrated resorts would hold on Singapore in footings of societal and economic. Due to altering tendencies in touristry, Singapore needed a new development in 2005 to revamp the slowly stagnating touristry industry. There are surveies that have shown many states are heading towards integrated resort development to hike their economic system. As development of incorporate resort would make occupations for its citizens, but there is a drawback on the societal factor as incorporate resorts looks towards holding a gaming constituent ( e.g. Casino ) as their chief gross beginning. In 18th April 2005, the Singapore authorities announced that they would let two casino Integrated Resort ( IR ) undertakings to be developed. Prior to this proclamation, the Singapore authorities had in topographic point 4 Acts of the Apostless ; the Betting Act ( Chapter 21 ) , Betting and Sweepstake Duties Act ( Chapter 22 ) , Common Gambling Houses Act ( Chapter 49 ) and Private Lotteries Act ( Chapter 250 ) which deemed all chancing activities to be illegal except charity draws, Toto, Singapore Sweep lotteries and the betting of Equus caballus races at the Singapore Turf Club. Background An overview of what is an Integrated Resort First with respects to the survey, a clear apprehension of what is an Integrated Resort has to be distinguished. Integrated Resorts could really good be defined as Wall ( 1997, cited in Nunkoo A ; Ramkissoon, 2010 ) mentioned an effort to supply a carefully planned, controlled and good defined touristry merchandise. In an integrated resort a broad scope and a good assorted list of installations for invitee and tourer can be found within the belongings. This can include diggingss, recreational installations, event installations and even bet oning installations. Andriotis ( 2008 ) discussed in his academic diary with respects to the development of incorporate resort and mentioned that Many authoritiess have encouraged integrated resort development in an effort to better the wellbeing of the local population by bring forthing occupations and increasing income. With this point being mentioned, it shows that determination in development of the integrated resort would be good to the economic system and the societal standings within the state. So what contributes to the economic system and societal standings of a state? The economic system standings of a state could be measured by the employment rate of the citizens and the mean disbursement power of the person, as for the degree of the societal standings of a state, it would be measured by the literacy rate, equality intervention of races and An overview of what is socio-economic impact In pre World War 2 period, the survey of economic sciences and sociology has neer crossed. There were clear differentiations between both constructs and it was mentioned by Keizer ( 2005 ) that it was merely in the period after World War 2 that economic science constructs has been used to turn to traditionally non-economic countries which was defined by some as Economic Imperialism . However Keizer ( 2005 ) besides did mentioned that there was a transition from Economic Imperialism to Sociological Imperialism which was the application of sociological attack to the economic system and market behavior in the past 15 old ages. But Keizer ( 2005 ) concluded that Discernible action so is the consequence of the coincident working of the economic and the societal force. These forces are intertwined and can non be observed individually. There was besides indication by de Sismondi ( 1996, cited in Lutz, 2002 ) which mentioned a sort of economic ideas which is affected by the factors o f societal well-being, the distribution of incomes and the advisability of province intercession into the market mechanism. An overview of the Singapore Government s attack to Integrated Resorts In December 2004, the Singapore Government issued a Request for Concept ( RFC ) to interested investors for the development of an Integrated Resort ( IR ) with casino gambling. The chief consideration of the Singapore Government was to spread out the leisure and amusement options to heighten Singapore s repute as a high-end tourer s finish for both leisure and concern visitants as tourer figures had been on a diminution over the old ages. Along with the RFC there were footings and conditions that were in placed to safeguard the Singapore society. The chief purpose of the societal precautions is to undertake job gaming and to ease the possible impact on the Singapore households, societal values and work values. The Government developed a Casino and Gaming Regulatory Board with a set of rigorous international regulative criterions as a step against money laundering, illegal money-lending, licensing and the showing of operators and employees. With such steps in placed the Government hav e decided to let the development of the IR. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reference in his statement on the 18th of April 2005 at the parliament house: The issue is non whether we should let a casino to run in Singapore. If that was all, the authorities response is obvious. The existent issue is whether an economic investing consisting an overall tourer integrated investing undertaking running into one million millions of dollars should be disallowed because of a gaming constituent. With the completion of the IRs, there is a demand to research whether the economic factors are met and whether the societal precautions are able to soften the societal impact of the IRs. Purpose This survey will discourse the development of Integrated Resorts with a bet oning constituent in Singapore and besides a item analysis of societal reactions to the debut of chancing and the economic benefits through gross watercourses and employment in the Integrated Resorts in Singapore. Aim To analyze societal reactions to the debut of chancing To analyze the economic benefits through gross watercourses and employment To analyze the political argument in Singapore sing chancing Recommendation to the touristry industry of Singapore and for future research. Methodology For this survey an academic attack is used to beginning the societal impacts and the economic impacts that have been faced by the gambling industry precursors. The survey would include secondary resources that cover the beginning of the gambling industry which is in the Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America, what is faced by the authorities of the State of Nevada. The survey would be farther strengthened by a secondary survey on the issues of the gambling industry in the Asia Pacific part, which includes Macau and Australia. After the analysis of the secondary resources, there would be a comparing made towards the primary resources which consist of steps set by the Singaporean authorities prior to the development of the Integrated Resorts, the degree of investing to be made by the operators of the Integrated Resorts and the sum of employment to be created with such a development Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW Chapter OUTLINE In this chapter, the writer would wish to discourse the growing of bet oning touristry, the societal deductions of presenting bet oning touristry into a community or country. The writer would be discoursing the factors that could hold been a accelerator to the societal issues faced by Australia after the authorities introduced bet oning touristry. Another treatment would be how the policies of the authorities should be alteration on touristry after presenting gaming, mentioning illustrations from the instance of Australia. The writer would besides wish to discourse the economic impacts that the gaming touristry would convey to the community or country it is introduced to. Last the writer would wish to discourse the demand for authorities to alter their touristry policy when presenting bet oning constituents. Tourism AND THE SOCIAL IMPACTS OF GAMBLING Tourism can be classified into many signifier, one that has been faced with plentifulness of persecution from a societal point of view is Bet oning Tourism. Ever since 1931 the province of Nevada legalised chancing in a manner that it is synonymous with mass touristry, it had transformed the whole gambling industry. Till this twenty-four hours the growing of bet oning touristry has be phenomenal. But legalizing chancing surely has its costs. It has been noted that offense and pathological chancing tend to be higher in countries with casinos. In America the National Council for Problem Gambling estimates that 1 % of American grownups are pathological gamblers and another 2-3 % has jobs commanding their wont. Over in Britain an estimation 0.6 % of the population are believed to be job gamblers. A job gambler is a position associated with being in hapless wellness, individual, separated or divorced and holding fewer educational makings than others. Problem gamblers tend to be more likel y to be unemployed and have the inclination of commit offenses. Gambling has ever drawn resistance on moral evidences. One such resistance is Mr Taylor Branch a good known writer and historiographer is a acute protagonist of the Stop Predatory Gambling group. He argues that state-sponsored chancing such as lotteries and slot suites is a corruptness of democracy because it confuses citizens into believing they are traveling to acquire rich, but in existent fact they are traveling to be paying revenue enhancements. Other resistance positions besides mention that it encourages dependence. A high sum of gross from the slots and lotteries is contributed by frequent participants whom invariably dreams of acquiring something for nil. Resistance statements of the authorities actions like legalising, taxing and modulating chancing fuels dependence is similar to stating that the authorities encourage alcohol addiction where they besides legalise, apply revenue enhancements and modulate intoxicant ingestion. But it boils down to the persons involved, most persons are able to make things in moderateness but there are certain persons either wager excessively much or imbibe excessively much as it is the pick of the persons the authorities does non necessitate to do alterations to the policies with respects to the ordinances for chancing. Social Issues in Australia Another illustration of the rapid turning gambling industry would be from Australia, in the past two decades the growing of the industry has been unexpected and rapid. But along with the growing, it brought along a scope of impacts which affects both the societal and economic spectrum. Chiefly the impact could be seen within the societal impact spectrum, and the bulk of political arguments in Australia revolve around the chief point of job gaming within the society. A proper definition for job gaming that has be widely accepted within Australia would be the state of affairs when a individual s gaming activity gives rise to harm to the single participant, and/or to his or her household, and may widen into the community ( Australian Institute for Gambling Research, 1997 ) . In Australia, the Productivity Commission ( 1999 ) records that there is an about 2.1 per centum of Australian grownups are job gamblers which constitutes to a pool of about 290,000 grownups. But it was further categorised into either gamblers with moderate jobs in chancing or gamblers with terrible jobs in chancing. Gamblers with moderate jobs constitute about 1.1 per centum which stands for 160,000 Australian grownups and the gamblers with terrible jobs in chancing bases at 1 per centum which is tantamount to about 130,000 Australian grownups. As mentioned the impacts of job gaming could be widely dispersed, but if the impacts is focused on to the persons the effects faced by the person as stated by Lesieur ( 1996 ) are depression, insomnia, enteric upsets, anxiousness onslaughts, cardiac jobs, high blood force per unit area, megrims, self-destructive inclinations and other stress-related upsets as typical jobs in the more beforehand phases. He besides did mentioned that a gambler s household could besides bear the effects of job gaming, chiefly with the fiscal loads which may take to fewer household outgos, delinquent measures, public-service corporations cut off, properties repossessed or sold, in drastic instances household are left homeless. The partner of such persons would frequently be harassed by measure aggregators which may do them to see insomnia, stress-related jobs and suicide inclinations. Such injury and matching with the changeless prevarications and misrepresentation made by the job gambler would stack up and do matrimonial jobs, dysfunctional of the household and to the extent of kid maltreatment and disregard. But the job does non stop here ; it would besides take to impacting the persons workplace by invariably seeking progresss on wage cheque or even loans from work co-workers to fuel their gaming demands and desires. It may even take to condemnable degrees by perpetrating workss such as peculation from the company they work at or recognition fraud and many other white-collar offenses. Such affairs would take to condemnable justness or even bankruptcy costs ( Lesieur, 1996 ) . The authorities might present steps to assist the job gamblers and their affected households, but any steps introduced would be a cost incurred for the community. Taking in to account the Domino consequence of the impacts of such an industry, the Productivity Commission of Australia estimations that for each citizen with a gaming job there would be a lower limit of five other citizens that would be affected. Factors Influencing Social Impacts After sing the societal issues faced by the Australian authorities, the beginning of the issues can be categorised into four major driving forces. First there is a alteration in construing the term job gaming. Pathological, compulsive, habit-forming, inordinate and job gaming are footings used to depict frequent, uncontrolled chancing doing injury ( Caldwell, Young, Dickerson, A ; McMillen, 1988 ) . Although historically the behavior has been viewed chiefly as an single affliction related to a mental upset, an dependence, or inordinate behavior, more late it has been conceptualized as a behavior that leads to societal and single injury ( Australian Institute for Gambling Research, 1997 ) . This led to the community in Australia to foster develop a public wellness attack towards job gaming. Second would be the alteration in the authorities policy with respects to chancing. For the instance of Australia, the policy, ordinances and revenue enhancements for chancing are all the duties of the province authorities. Even though the general consensus of the authoritiess on chancing policy aims is to maximize gross and to understate the degree of societal impacts, guaranting merchandise unity and discouraging condemnable engagement ( Productivity Commission, 1999 ) . It is due to the prioritising of conflicting aims that influenced the surfacing of job gaming as a societal issue. For Australia the prioritization of maximising of economic returns over the minimising of societal impact has allowed market stimulation, enlargement and competition have characterized authorities policy on chancing since the 1970s ( McMillen, 1996 ) Third with the addition in enlargement and commercialisation of gaming, has caused the escalation of the gaming outgo in Australia, supplying strong returns to the gaming suppliers, such as casinos, hotels and nines ( Tasmanian Gaming Commission, 2002 ; Productivity Commission, 1999 ) . This has caused the suppliers to hold the expansionist mentality due to the nature of the gambling industry to be unfazed by the fluctuation of the economic system and the authorities policies. This causes the addition in the easiness of entree to chancing. With the increased in Numberss of chancing operations and the hardline selling deployed by the operators, it causes public concerns for chancing related jobs and there would be calls for the province authorities to step in to regulate the gaming suppliers to give a more socially responsible image to the populace. Last the force per unit area from the Economic Impact of Bet oning Tourism The phenomenon of the rapid growing of the Australian gambling industry, showed that there is a displacement in the authorities s gaming policy from community benefits to a more realistic economic focal point. Even though the casinos were deemed to be solutions to a deteriorating economic system, a shriveling revenue enhancement base and a hard unemployment quandary, though there are evident benefits to the Australian economic system, there were still really strong resistances from the members of the communities to the gap and enlargement of the gambling industry in a figure of legal powers, the resistance positions are chiefly based on the possible economic and societal cost that would be incurred by the gap of bet oning industry. In 2001, the entire outgo in Australian casinos was recorded at $ 2,543.3 million with the largest part of it, $ 945.7 million being spent in the province of Victoria ( Tasmanian Gaming Commission, 2002 ) . The mean net income border for a casino is about 3.4 per centum or equivalent to $ 93 million ( Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2000 ) . In add-on, casinos contribute to about $ 500.8 million in province and district revenue enhancements in 2001-2002 ( ACIL Consulting, 2002 ) . The foremost of the 13 legal casinos were established in the early 1970s in Tasmania and the Northern Territory. The economic systems of these two parts were developing and their authoritiess were trusting the constitutions of the casinos would assist regenerate them ( Australian Institute for Gaming Research, 1999 ; McMillen, 1995 ) . Both casinos can be considered subdued developments in a finish that can be considered as a distant location made to pull tourers and better the local economic activity. When the recession in Australia continued and sing the success of the two casinos, it prompted the other provinces of Australia to see developing casinos to excite the economic system. It sparked the following moving ridge of development within the Australian gambling industry in provinces such as Perth, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Canberra, Townsville and Christmas Island. The mentioned provinces were happening agencies to interrupt away from the primary sectors of production and fabric ation and into the service and touristry sector for a encouragement in their economic growing. Revision of Tourism Policy Taking into considerations of the Chapter III: Primary Literature Chinese Culture and Gambling Abel ( 1997 ) stated that the popularity of chancing among the Chinese immigrants to North America and the laterality of Chinese at nightlong chancing operations shows that gambling is a interest for Chinese people in all parts of the universe. There besides have been surveies that indicated in the late 1800s, people in China and Hong Kong would chance for everything ( Galletti, 2002 ) . Further surveies have besides proven that the Chinese are a state of gamblers ( Abel, 1997 ; Nepstad, 2000 ) , who are of course higher hazard takers, quicker to follow new engineerings and more money focused ( Cullen, 2000 ) . Chinese participants has been indispensable been important to the gambling industry, there has even been an full gambling industry that has been created to provide merely the Chinese participants ( Casino City, 2002 ) because the gambling industry is witting of the importance of Chinese clients to the industry. Therefore, understanding elements of Chinese civilization can assist bring forth repetition visits for the casinos, Galletti ( 2002 ) even suggested that bet oning operators should put clip in set uping long-run relationships with such clients as a manner to maintain their concern. Among the Chinese communities, it is during the gay periods when the gaming activities are common. Therefore casinos consider the Chinese New Year as the best chancing weekend of the twelvemonth and it has been recorded that 1000s of Chinese travel to Las Vegas to observe and chance ( Galletti, 2002 ) Among the bet oning touristry finishs, Las Vegas and Australia are the precedence finishs for most of the Chinese gamblers. It was besides recorded that in Las Vegas 85 per centum of the high rollers comes from states like China, Taiwan and Japan ( ABC News, 2002 ) . Although the sum of visitants from Japan outnumbers the visitants from China, nevertheless the sum of money the Chinese visitants are willing to chance are pathetic greater than the mean outgo of the Nipponese at the casino. However in China, the authorities seems to be satisfied in directing its gamblers off to Macau alternatively of making a gaming industry within mainland China to protect the bulk of its citizens. It seems like the thought of doing the activity less accessible has been widely approved from the other states in Asia. , either it is by puting casinos in remote topographic points which is the instance in Cambodia, or the authorities charges their citizens an entry levy but allows aliens to come in free as the instance of Singapore. Chapter IV: Discussion A ; Conclusion Restrictions Recommendations Contemplations

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Writing Dialogue for Scripts

Writing Dialogue for Scripts In order to write effective dialogue for scripts one needs to break away from writing in a storytelling fashion. Script writing is much more basic. In writing dialogue for scripts one needs to understand how people truly speak to one another. Much of what we see and hear is actually unspoken. It’s in the body language; the way people react to situations and in their emotions. A good scriptwriter will listen to the words that are actually spoken and use those only so that the director and actors can fill in the rest with their actions and movements. Some writers want to inject keys into the dialogue to show the actors how it should be said. Common examples of this would be telling the actor that this line is said in an angry manner or another is spoken while crying. This can get offensive to the actors for you are implying that they cannot do their job without being told of every detail. If you include strong, precise words and phrases when writing dialogue for scripts the emotion will come out and the actor will know exactly what needs to be done. A common mistake writers make, especially those who are used to writing novels, is that they want to explain every little detail while writing dialogue for scripts. They forget that they are writing dialogue to be used in a movie and all the little nuances will be shown to the viewers. Anything more than that will come off as forced and unnatural. Scriptwriters also needs to remember that they’re sharing their creative ideas along with other people. Directors as well as actors need to be able to inject their vision into the making of the movie also. Just make sure that when writing dialogue for scripts you make your vision clear and precise so that the essence of your story comes through. Writing dialogue for scripts requires the writer to know and understand how people speak. Know the characters that you are writing about and have them speak appropriately. You cannot give the same words to someone that is portrayed as being from the streets as another who is a college graduate. They both speak differently and as a good scriptwriter, you’ll know that difference. Having everyone speak in the same way makes for a very boring and uninteresting story. Give your characters distinctive speech patterns and words, you’ll make them much more believable. In doing this, you’ll give the movie director and actors a good feel for the character you are writing about and they’ll naturally follow much more closely to your original idea for the script without you having to point out all the little details. Be visual when writing dialogue for scripts. Always tell the story from a visual point of view. As you are writing this dialogue try to run the movie in your head at the same time. A good exercise would be to watch a movie or a television show and write the dialogue from the show. Then turn off the TV and read the dialogue alone. Does it evoke images that you just saw on the show? If so, ask yourself how the writer was able to get his emotion out in just that way. It’s in the words, study them and learn how the writer was able to get the strong points in the story. Spend time around people, just observing and learning how they interact with one another. Watch more movies, television shows and plays, and see how the professionals go about writing dialogue for scripts. The more time you spend doing this, the better you will get at writing dialogue for scripts.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Globalization and sport especially world cup in Qatar 2022 Research Paper

Globalization and sport especially world cup in Qatar 2022 - Research Paper Example It would not be wrong to say that with the intensive mediatization of sports and the technology facilitated broadcast of sports across nations and cultures, sports has emerged to be a common platform of interest and a vehicle for the exchange of values and political influences (Grundy 71). In the light of this fact, one simple can not underestimate the links existent between sports and the facilitation of democracy in today’s globalized world (Jay 51). Qatar being a Gulf nation, the impact of sports and globalization on the nation needs to be considered in the light of the emerging global network of interdependencies and influences and the still fresh Arab Spring. This approach gets even more imperative when one accommodates the fact that Qatar happens to be the host of 2022 FIFA World Cup. Globalization, Sports and Democracy- A Literature Review Globalization is a process that happens to be complex and controversial in its ramifications. Globalization has not only enhanced in terstate interdependencies, but also given way to a range of changes in the world (Mott IV 119). There is no denying the fact that democracy and globalization happen to be two of the most profound developments of the contemporary age. Globalization has led to the advent of democracy in many nations. Thereby one is many a time tempted to believe in the premise that globalization and democracy happen to be interrelated and symbiotic and one favors and promotes the other (Kuper 116). It could certainly be believed if one takes into consideration the opening up of economies and the commensurate democratization of the nations of Eastern and Central Europe after the fall of communism (Volten 66). One may readily believe in the veracity of this premise if one considers the opening up of the Latin American nations with the unraveling of the wave of democratization in the 70s (Harrison 166). The international transactions that define globalization do tend to benefit the societies as a whole, it is logical to assume that democracy that makes the political class more accountable to people is a sure shot way to remove the impediments that hinder such transactions. Also, one simply could not shy away from the fact that there exists a positive correlation between the eventual objectives of globalization and the socio-political environment facilitated by democracy (Ringen 262). The exchange of goods and services stimulated by globalization is invariably accompanied by the exchange and sharing of ideas and a sharing of ideas does make the societies politically more comparative and competitive (Henry & Springborg 16). Thereby globalization is indeed poised to pose much of a challenge to the nations that are traditionally non-democratic or autocratic (Archibugi 159). When one considers the political unrest unraveling in the Gulf in the wake of the Arab Spring, one is bound to assume that the influx of ideas in the hitherto closed societies and political systems has indeed motiv ated people to be politically more aspiring and has facilitated them with the courage to stand against autocratic regimes (Laqueur 175). Thereby such political developments inspire one to acknowledge that