The Fall of Both Mubarak’s Regime and the Legal Opposition Essay

Introduction : By the end of Mubarak’s rule, the legalised political opposition in Egypt was already a mirror to the regime it was presumed to challenge: discreditable, central, aging and undemocratic. Systematic state repression and internal divisions fragmented the opposition and deviated it from the role assumed by its counterparts in liberal democracies. Instead of competitive interaction with the regime, the legal opposition stationed itself as an integral part of the authoritarian polity. Years of regime-opposition dynamics ended with the latter’s alignment with the regime and becoming more of a domesticated opposition. This clientelist relationship was necessary for the survival of the semi-authoritarian regime. It enabled it to claim legitimacy by presenting cosmetic democracy/pluralism measures while at the same time keeping the dominance of its ruling party. It also lured the weak fragmented legalised opposition into competing to gain the regime’s support. Overview: Egypt moved from full-scale authoritarianism under Nasser to liberalized autocracy under Sadat and Mubarak. During its early rule in the 1980s, Mubarak’s regime showed relative political tolerance and moderation (stacher 2004), giving hope to legal opposition that the break up of the single-party system was the beginning of a transition phase that will lead to democratization and the possibility to compete on even terms with the ruling NDP. During this period it was the Neo-Wafd which had the most comprehensive organizational capacities and was designated to lead the legalized opposition camp from which Islamist movements were excluded (Shehata, 2009). However, those expectations proved to be naive as the regime soon made clear that it was not inte... ...e, E. (1998), More than a Response to Islamism: The Political Deliberalization of Egypt in the 1990s’ Middle East Journal, Vol. 52, No. 2, p. 219. 3- Stacher, J. (2004), Parties Over: The Demise of Egypt’s Opposition Parties , British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, pp 215–23. 4- Albrecht, H. (2005) How can opposition support authoritarianism? Lessons from Egypt, Democratization, pp 378-397. 5- Shehata, D. (2009), Islamists and Secularists in Egypt: Opposition, Conflict & Cooperation, London, Routledge. 6- Arafat, A. (2009), The Mubarak Leadership and Future of Democracy in Egypt, New York, Palgrave Macmillan. 7- Kassem, M. (2004), Egyptian Politics: The Dynamics of Authoritarian Rule, Colorado, Lynne Rienner publishers. 8- Kienle, E. (1998), More than a Response to Islamism: The Political Deliberalization of Egypt, Middle East Journal, Vol. 52, p. 219.

Singapore Essay example -- Politics, Social Control

Can Singapore be described in terms of a Foucauldian ‘disciplinary society’ or a Deleuzian ‘control society’? Deleuze proposed that we are in the midst of shift from Foucault’s ‘society of discipline’ to a ‘society of control’ (1992: 3). Unlike the ‘disciplinary society’ where subjects progress from one ‘moulding’ institution to another (schools, college, factories, offices, etc.), a ‘control society’ is typified by constant modulation (Wise, 2002: 32). According to Rose, control operates by affiliating subjects to a variety of practices which by design encourage adherence to certain norms in modern liberal societies (2000: 325). This is what Deleuze meant by a ‘society of control’. Best believes we need to adopt the Deleuzian concept of a ‘control society’ to explain the societies emerging in the context of the increased surveillance and network capacity perm itted by new ICTs (2010: 9). On the other hand, Hardt and Negri propose this ‘society of control’ is simply an 'intensification and generalisation of the normalising apparatuses of disciplinarity', that now reaching beyond the institutions that initiated them and into fluctuating networks (2000: 23). Likewise, Munro believes Foucault’s disciplinary mechanism need updating to bring it in-line with the capacities of modern technologies, not replacing (2000: 693). It is necessary to distinguish between unconscious social control and social control in relation to the institution, the latter being the planned management of a socialised human activity (Lianos, 2003: 415). Institutional control is integral to the specific activities, is usually bureaucratic, and 'is part both of the rationale and the outcome of these activities' (Lianos, 2003: 415). Lianos uses the example of... ... Google offers 'free' storage space, along with other privileges and useful tools, in exchange for personal information that it might use to market targeted goods to its users (Andrejevic, 2007: 296). People submitted their details to Google and Facebook not out of fear or a sense of duty, but so they may enjoy the benefits offered. Although Singaporeans do value their privacy, they are willing to submit that privacy in exchange for financial rewards or convenience (Hui et al., 2007: 27). These authors also report a growing disgruntlement at the increasing amounts of information that websites are demanding. However, it was the quantity of information requested, rather than the sensitivity of the information that had any significant influence on compliance (Hui et al., 2007: 27). This certainly aligns with the ‘enticement model’ proposed by Whitaker (1999: 141).

Astronomy Final

The age of the cluster can be estimated by viewing a cluster of stars on the HR diagram in reference to where they end on the main sequence. 2. Seasonal variation of a planet depends on the frequency with which any given side of the planet changes it's position with respect to the star. For a planet like Uranus, which has a high tilt (73 deg), the same side always faces the sun and hence it's always summer on one side and winter on the other. Thus we can conclude that seasonal variation is directly related to the tilt of the planet. 3. a.Among the given planets, D has the minimum tilt – So the answer is D, which shows max seasonal variation. b. A planet will be geologically active if it has a high density, since that would assure wide vvariety of rocks and minerals and ores and less amount of hot gases; so among the planets, A has the highest density and is the most geologically active. 3. The younger surface would go to Moon A due to the fact that Moon B possesses many crater s, which are clearly visible as the picture represents (this is clearly shown by the illuminated spots).Genesis shows that the craters were developed over time. Since moon A has far less craters, this mearns it was recently formed thus making it the younger moon. 4. a. The Hubble Expansion: As the distance increases, the apparen't brightness of the object decreases meaning it becomes darker the farther away it gets. This technique determines the relative distances of ssimilar objects. In addition, a phenomenon called the Doppler effect can be used to determine the velocity of an object.The sonic Doppler effect is caused by compression of sonic wave fronts, which can be generalized to electromagnetic radiation and other wavelike phenomena. The magnitude of an object's Doppler shift is a function of its radial velocity relative to the observer. Velocities of various objects, such as stars and galaxies, have been tabulated in our vicinity. An almost straight line with positive slope wa s obtained when the distance was plotted for various galaxies against their velocities. This shows us that the farther away an object is, the greater the velocity.This lends support to the Big Bang theory–if the universe does indeed expand in a manner consistent with the Big Bang model, then two objects that are close to each other should have smaller relative velocities than in comparison with distant objects. b. Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB): This is the result of theorized energetics, which was discovered in 1965 by Penzias and Wilson. Their discovery showed microwave radiation emanating from all directions in our observable locality of the universe. As predicted by the Big Bang Model, the universe is filled with plasma at high temperatures.As a result, hydrogen can only exit as plasma with an ambient temperature of about 3000K. c. Primordial abundance of light elements: This is the observed abundance of elements in the universe. Examinations through the spectra of var ious objects shows us that helium makes up about 23% of observable mass in the universe, which is entirely too large to be accounted for by stellar fusion. Since stellar nucleosynthesis makes the abundance of lighter nuclei hard to explain, the Big Bang model theorizes that the nuclei were created during the fierce explosion. . Due to the numerous negative effects on the body, human space travel remains physiologically difficult. Many of these affects are due to long-term weightlessness. Examples include: muscle atrophy, skeletal deterioration, slowing of cardiovascular functions, red blood cell production decrease, balance disorders, and weakening of the immune system. In addition, without the appropriate protection, space exposure becomes a sever threat due to the environmental differences between space and earth – especially the lack of oxygen and pressure.Interstellar space travel consists of many problems, which makes human travel extremely difficult – even in the future. One problem is the amount of fuel needed for long-duration flights. In addition, we have to worry about the damaging effects of galactic radiation. Also consider the loneliness and boredom of generations of humans spending their entire lives aboard a spacecraft. In order to get to the nearest star system beyond our Solar System (Alpha Centauri), we would have to travel 4. 3 ly with a constant flight velocity of 50 km/s; which is roughly about 25,000 years.Although that velocity would allow us to escape the Solar System, it would still take 250 centuries to reach our closest star system. It is very unlikely that humans will be able to equip themselves with the technology, at least anytime soon, to make contact with extraterrestrial life. Even if we took into account the many factors in the Drake equation, galactic civilizations are probably spread out like small islands tthroughout space. Even if the average lifetime of extraterrestrial civilizations is 1 million years, our most optimistic estimates suggest that each is separated by ~300 ly.Additionally, thousands of sorties would have to be launched toward candidate star systems for any hope of successful extraterrestrial contact. In summary, although it may never become feasible, interstellar space flight is both uneconomical and impractical now and anytime in the foreseeable future. 6. Galileo Galilei was a very influential astronomer because he defended his beliefs in a time when the Roman Inquisition was in power. Galileo defended his idea of heliocentrism against the Inquisition and was put on house arrest. This did not stop him from doing what he loved.While on house arrest, he made observations and continued his work. His contributions to astronomy include the discovery of three moons of Jupiter, the idea that the nature of each planet is unique, identification of sunspots, and his continued examinations of the Milky Way and sea tides. 7. As of March 23, 2012, 763 exoplanets (extrasolar) within our Milky Way have been discovered by satellites such as the Kepler. Consequently, these satellites have been flying through space, uncovering hundreds of new planets within our galaxy.Recently, two planets (Kepler 62e and 62f) have been discovered, which orbit a sun ssimilar to ours but cooler. These planets are at just the right distance that allows water to remain liquid – an essential must for a planet to support life. In addition, these planets are very ssimilar to the size of Earth. Because of their size and orbits, it is highly likely that they are either rocky or watery. The two planets are located 1,200 light-years away in a five-planet system orbiting a star dubbed Kepler-62. 8. The milky is a flat disk surrounded by a halo with a bulge at the center.Within the disk, lay clouds of gas and dust that amount to around 15% of the mass of stars. Although we cannot see the nucleus due to all the scattered dust – radio, infrared, and x-ray telescopes allow us to se e through the dust and show us that the core contains a dense swarm of gas and stars and a massive black hole. A majority of the gas and dust clouds lie within the disk. In addition, bright stars gather into spiral arms winding in an outward direction. The location of our solar system is about 26,000 ly from the center, lying on the inner edge of the spiral arm. 9. D C B A

ICT Educational Tour Narrative Report Essay

Learning is not only gained in school but also from the exposure outside the school premises, according to the tour committee on its rationale. Through this, they convince us to join the tour, The B.S. Information Technology Educational Tour 2013 in Manila. With the effort of everybody especially the faculty it happened last December 2-5, 2013.The purpose of it is not just for self-satisfaction but for the improvement of one’s mind in terms of learning knowledge, actual experience both in IT and form good camaraderie between fourth and third year students. Furthermore, it let the students to have an actual observation on how the different technological industries operate. Topics Learned As we visited different industries, somehow we learned from them. Like in TOEI Animation and Cutting Edge Productions, they taught us step by step processes on how to make an animation from lay outing to finishing .Although, there’s no multimedia subject in our curriculum but atleast they gave us an idea on how it works. In addition in UP-Diliman, we also benefited in the seminar in Android Apps, using Ubuntu an open source operating system and their students guided us to their different IT laboratories. Ma’am Christy told us the projects of their students focus in security problem to address, enterprise network and some information about AI or the Artificial Intelligence. Though, it is not already reach beyond my knowledge. Then on our third day, I learned from one of our tour how technology works in a factory. Imagine a fully automated and computer controlled manufacturing facility untouched by human hands. Industry Visited Our first destination is the Makati City Traffic Management System which is located at the Makati City Hall. This command control and communication  center was started in 2007.It is composed of 8 big and 48 small monitor screens that is open 24/7.They have installed CCTV’s in different streets and vicinity along Makati. In addition, each camera has a 30 times zooming capacity and can capture objects within 800 through this; they can monitor accidents or the flow of traffic in Makati. We’ve also tour around the Makati City Hall itself including the conference room, Mayor’s Office and session hall etc. After this, we continued to Sir Boy’s Republic for our lunch. Exactly 2:31 pm, we are now in TOEI Animation located in Eastwood.They are behind the famous animes like One Piece, Sailormoon, Digimon and etc†¦ This Company was started in 1986 and a 100% subsidiary Japan Animation and the first 2D animation to use system. After TOEI Animation, our next stop was the Cutting Edge Productions. Just like TOEI, it is also an Animation company. Some of their works are Dayo, shampoo commercials and etc.. We’ve ended our day by eating our dinner at Star City. Eventually, after eating breakfast in Wendy’s, we proceeded to ABS-CBN for studio tour. The acronym stands for Auto Broadcasting Network-Chronicle Broadcasting Network, one of the largest TV stations in the country. Then again eat our lunch at Sir Boy’s Republic. In the afternoon, we attended a seminar in UP-Diliman Campus. After that, we transferred to Engineering Building to make rounds. We had seen their highly modernized library and IT laboratories. On the third day of our tour, we dropped by at Somethin’ Fishy at Eastwood to take or breakfast. Then our instructors let us took a walk. After that, we continued to our next destination. The Gardenia Bakeries Phil which is located in Gardenia Centre, Star Avenue LIPP, Mamplasan Laguna. They gave us free sample of their products then we took our lunch in Tagaytay City. Then, we continued our tour to Enchanted Kingdom. There we enjoyed the different rides and returned to Hotel happy and satisfied. According to our tour guide being a tourist in Metro Manila, we need to visit Intramuros so we dropped by and took a long walk. After this, we ended  to University of Sto. Tomas which is located in Espaà ±a.Then for the last time, we returned to Sir Boy’s for our lunch. As follows, we proceeded to MOA, owned by Henry Sy.Some of the students met their relatives while others bought Pasalubong and the rest took window shopping. And the saddest part was to say goodbye and we continued to our last bus stop, the NAIA. Application on your Course After the tour, I have acquired new realizations, knowledge that I may use in my course. I can apply that self-realization in my motivation to pursue my degree. Though I can’t say that I can be an App developer or Animator someday but I was unable to realize the importance of technology, the possible jobs,the importance of being a skilled IT worker and many more. Therefore ,the educational tour is not only for the enhancement of theoretical learning but rather giving a student a complete idea of what the course may offer to his or her life and for the preparation in the future job. Personal Experience Most of my first times happened during our tour. It may be terrifying or death-defying experiences but I don’t have any regrets in joining the said tour. Although my aunt wasted a huge amount of money just to send me to this tour. It’s okay at least we learned, we experienced and feel motivated. It’s my first time to ride in a plane. I feel a little bit of nervous at first because I have a fear in height but I’m happy that I’ve conquered my fear. Then after going back to Manila it’s a De javu feeling. I was there not for any reason but to enjoy all the proceedings and being a tourist. It is a privilege because all you have to do was to eat, listen, learn, observe, unwind and sleep. I have been there a long time ago but it’s my first time to go to ABS-CBN which is one of my dreams. Eversince, I have been an avid fan of Kapamilya Stars. Although I feel disappointed because I hadn’t seen my favorite stars but knowing that they also reside there it’s a pleasure to me. The Eastwood City was also amazing because of its high structured buildings, it is also considered as one of the business center of  Metro Manila. Opportunities can be seen anywhere since that there’s a lot of jobs. They say there’s a lot of job but the question is the skills of applicants. I’ve realized that in order to succeed you need to strive hard ,be patient and the most important is study hard to acquired proper skills that may use in the future. Next first time is going to Tagaytay City; it’s a relaxing ambiance with cool weather. After that was the Enchanted Kingdom experience. The fun really never stops. Aside from bonding with my classmates and friend it’s a full package experience. The ride on Space shuttle and Rio Grande was all my first time and according to Christian if he will be given a chance he’ll go back there or shall I say we will if there’s a chance. On our last day, the Intramuros and UST experiences are also amazing. Intramuros being one of the most important historical place and unique events in the country happened there. While UST is also nice because of its place which is awesome. Aside from the cute faces of their students, they are also kind and hospitable and they entertained and answered all our questions in mind. I’m so blessed and thankful that I was able to join the tour. My deepest gratitude to the tour committee for their patience in asking for our balances and letting this to happened. And also to Sir Nemz, our tour guide for guiding us during the tour. Though, he is not a certified teacher but he is more than that. He told a lot of trivia’s, knowledge about the place and he made us laugh.

Nineteenth Century: the Beginning of Modern Europe

Modern Europe started at the opening of the nineteenth century which brought a lot of changes to Europe. The ambition to colonize territory grew stronger in order to support the increasing needs for raw materials. Capitalism abolished feudalism and many Europeans ventured to make a living in the New World. These unrests was the result of the industrial advancements like the introduction of big steam ships and the opening of two major canals that bridged oceans and made traveling efficient. However, unrest was not just felt in Europe but also in the colonies. The opening of the two major canals opened up the colonies to the ideas of the social contract philosophers and these triggered the colonies to seek independence from the mother country. However, the old view of racial superiority and manifest destiny seemed to decline. The slave trade was abolished. However, in nineteenth century Europe, major imperialist still did not desire to get loose of their colonies and the competition to discover and colonize seemed renew. Many battles were fought between countries specifically Britain, France, Spain, Portugal and Germany regarding disputes between territories. Yet, many European statesmen in the nineteenth century had already expressed unwillingness to support further expansion and agreed to ultimately grant liberty to the colony. Moreover, the nineteenth century was also the start where women asserted their right s to suffrage and many privileges that only men held in the past. Nineteenth century was the stage where meaningful transformations in women occurred. Society started to acknowledge the contributions that women brought to the society. Women started to unraveled themselves and freely spoke their ideas unlike in the sixteenth century where women used to employ male names in order to persuade the society to hear their ideas just like the case of the Bronte sister. Moreover, in the nineteenth century, the church became less and less powerful. Church -derived morality were already unpopular. Morality in the nineteenth century appeared to be no longer derived from religious affiliations but to social groups where a person belongs. Science had also improved a lot. Many discoveries further improved the lives of many European. Standardizations of measures were also instituted. The British had claimed the suppose position of the prime meridian were standard time will be calculated. The start of the nineteenth century was also the start of modern Europe. This is the time where totally deviant ideas were observed to have begun, flourished and grew. This is also the time where Europe started to take on new identities and became open to the view of other races.

How is goodwill impairment driven by relative firm performance Research Proposal

How is goodwill impairment driven by relative firm performance Evidence from Germany - Research Proposal Example Hence, they are obtained as excess cost of the acquired entities over the fair value of liabilities and assets (Ding, Richard and Stolowy, 2008). The concept â€Å"goodwill† was first introduced by Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) during June 2001 with the help of statement of Financial Accounting Standards (141 and 142) under the rules and regulations of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) of the United States (i.e. US GAAP) (Wiese, 2005). However, there was modification in the issuance of the concept during 2004. It was revised for international convergence, which actually took place after four years. Churky (2005) had studied the relevance and appropriateness of new standards related to goodwill impairment with the help of test market valuation, which discovered that there is evidence for weak impermanent of the goodwill. Further, research was done by Devalle and Rizzato (2012) focussing on the quality of mandatory disclosure that is related to the goodwill impairment. Their research identified that there was low disclosure index and huge difference between stock market performances. Vichitsar awong (2007) had also studied the relevance of goodwill impairment by examining relative efficiency of the companies in the US. His study revealed that goodwill impairment identifies decrease in comparative efficiency of the companies. The study aims at deciphering the relationship that is developed by Vichitsarawong (2007) with respect to goodwill impairment; however, in this research, emphasis has been given on European realities Germany. The main reason for selecting Germany for the research lies in the fact that it is the largest economy in the European nation. It also presents the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nation over the past years. The commercial and accounting policies of

Apple Case Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Apple Case Analysis - Essay Example There was no surprise to see people standing in long queues eagerly anticipating the launch of ipad3, almost everyone wanted to get their hands on the newest gadget launched by Apple again underlining their dominance and global reach. Apple is arguably the best brand in the world because they have spent a lot of money on innovation and they have achieved their objectives in the recent past of making their gadgets better than other similar gadgets available in the market. Steve Jobs always wanted to make a computer which was easy to use and he managed to do it, Apple II was launched in the year 1978. It was an easy to use computer, it is said that the launch of Apple II completely revolutionized the computing industry. Apple also became a leader after the launch of Apple II in 1978. Competitive Position Apple’s dominance was challenged by IBM, IBM entered the fray in the year 1981, Apple found their newest rivals in IBM. There was a major difference between the systems produced by the two companies, Apple’s computer was a prototype and could not be cloned on the contrary IBM’s system could be cloned by others very easily. IBM heavily relied on Intel to supply processors but that was not the case with Apple. IBM’s entry into the market did not affect Apple’s revenue but IBM took away the market share from Apple to a certain extent and Apple had their eyes set on winning the market share once again and restoring normalcy. A significant changed occurred in the year 1984; a very young Steve Jobs presented Macintosh to the whole world in an endeavor to win back their lost market share. The technical elegance and the design of the new Macintosh, was captivating beyond imagination but when it came to performance the Macintosh disappointed its users. It was really slow and because of these lags it did not sell as expected by the honchos at Apple. Between 1983 and 1984 Apple had a torrid time, net income of the company fell by 17% and s uddenly the company was in crisis. Steve Jobs was removed from his post after these series of setbacks, John Sculley was at the helm back them. He was the same man who reinvigorated Pepsi and fought successfully against Coca Cola to gain dominance. Sculley worked on graphics and designs and knew that these were the two key elements that could take Apple to where it originally belongs. Desktop publishing was another key area which Sculley targeted and Apple all of a sudden started producing systems which were best when it came to desktop publishing. Major Competitive Advantages As discussed earlier Apple’s design and elegance were two factors which gave it an edge over other companies but these two factors were anything but enough to propel the company to the very top. Several other competitive changes were made by Sculley during his time at the helm, his tie-up with Aldus which is now known as Adobe was a great move for Apple and it restored much needed stability in the compa ny, products designed by Aldus were used for desktop publishing and the same made Apple one of the best in the world once again post the Steve Jobs era. The Macintosh started selling like hotcakes once the products made by Aldus were used in the Macintosh, Apple recorded record sales of the Macintosh and that was when Apple regained its prominence. Accessories like laser printers were also sold by Apple and the same had unmatched capabilities and this is why