Huffman Trucking Essays - Freight Transport, Transport, Economy

Huffman Trucking BSA 310 Huffman Trucking Huffman Trucking Company was formed with a single tractor-trailer in 1936. Because of World War II as well as the demand for exporter services Huffman Trucking Companies business had growth; this was because plants in the Midwest needing equipment shipped to locations on the East Coast. In 1945, Huffman Trucking enlarged their fleet to 36 trailers, and 16 tractors. The evolution to the company was due to acquiring five Eastern Exporters. This permitted Huffman Trucking to remain to be owned privately. The occupational methods and administrative structure uses the transaction processing system (TPS). The transaction processing system gathers, stores, retrieves, and adjusts all data transactions. A transaction processing system supports the gathering, monitoring, storage, and processing of corporate transactions and also provides the input data for other information systems in the business. Transaction processing means to quickly process transactions and data. That process supports the core operations which lowers the risk of transaction errors and allows for dependable processing of transactions. This paper covers the current system in use and will make recommendations on other systems that could be implemented to improve the total business process at Huffman Trucking. Huffman Trucking is an average-sized transport business in the delivery of merchandises, and functions in a very competitive market. Administration established an approach to improve an advantage by concentrating on the enhancement of quality service in the delivery process. At Huffman Trucking the delivery procedure encompasses receiving merchandises from shippers, organizing packages for transport to destinations, and loading the merchandises for shipping from facilities to the destinations. The shipping of packages from loading docks to destinations is a separate process. An amount of elements affect the delivery process at Huffman Trucking. The two causes that create the greatest difficulties is the method that moves packages from receipt to loading and the level of cooperation between loading dock workers and transport drivers. Many companies use new technology to improve their business, increase revenues, and expand nationally. Businesses need to adjust to new and faster ways t o continue to be competitive by reaching clients and satisfying their needs. Operating a trucking company can guarantee at least one thing: the department of transportation will be going through records with a fine tooth comb. This is why a company needs to use a system of databases to track, calculate, and report every aspect of finance, time, and truck maintenance in the company. They must always have a detailed map of where the drivers have been, where they are, and where they plan ongoing next. The US government is one of Huffman's major businesses and they ship many things while shipping different automotive parts to suppliers and electric consumer products, raw materials for manufacturers and a number of other materials and products. They have facilities in California, St. Louis, Cleveland, Bayonne, Missouri, and New Jersey. This includes 2,100 trailers, 800 road tractors, and 260 "roll-on/roll-off" units. They currently outsource all of their IT needs. BrokerWare is software that is developed to help manage freight companies. It allows the management of operations, dispatch, carrier selection, routing, accounting, billing, tracing, collections, and much more. BrokerWare also has built in support for truckload, less-than-truckload, rail, expedited, and any type of equipment. With a dispatch tool, they could reduce time to enter in orders and shipping documents. Carrier selection could shorten carrier research times and profit margins. Communication can be improved with staff and customers accuracy with billing and relations because of that. There is an accounting entry application that eliminates double accounting entries and administrative reports can be used to analyze profitability and growth. The need to outsource their IT work can be reduced and costs, and also increasing revenue and developing increased efficiency. Integrative Database Tools Using a data mining tool as a database can help companies effectively sort through and immense amount of data. It will take what looks like a mess of figures and statistics and break them down to a formula, which conveys simple logic to business owners and analysts. Information systems are an interconnected set of information resources with direct management controls and shares common functions. Systems include software, hardware, data, applications, information, communication, and people. In the freight transportation industry, to

Summary of the first confession Essays

Summary of the first confession Essays Summary of the first confession Essay Summary of the first confession Essay Essay Topic: Confessions Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Summary of the first confession The First Confession is a short story that talks about the experiences of a young boy, his family and the different events that shape his environment. The story begins with Jackie’s grandmother moving in to live with them at their home. The arrival of their grandmother is welcomed differently by the family members. While his mother was skeptical of her arrival, his father and sister, Nora was particularly fond and supportive of the old woman’s arrival. Jackie, on the other hand, did not like his grandmother’s attitude and behavior. She had a peculiar habit of going about life as if she was still in the countryside that included her unusual diet of potatoes and porter. Jackie was particularly averse to her cooking that landed him in trouble with his father. One event that made Jackie very apprehensive was the confession and communion. It was his first time, therefore; he was rather taken aback by Ryan, the old woman who administered the confessions. Ryan was almost as old as his grandmother was and had a great liking for preparing children for confession by dishing out stories about hell. Some of Ryan’s stories included one that involved a priest who was visited in his sleep by a man who did not confess all his sins. The man was regretfully asking the priest for another chance before he was suddenly sucked into hell before he could do so. Mrs. Ryan also gave the children daunting tasks such as displaying the intensity of the fire in hell by daring the children to hold their fingers over a candle flame. Mrs. Ryan also had a conscience exercise where she subjected all the children to the best ways of examining their inner selves. After this exercise, Jackie felt extremely guilty about all the things she had done to her grandmother. As much as these tactics were horrifying, they were also efficient in changing the children’s attitudes towards being truthful in the confessions. Jackie, therefore, tried to evade confession but Mrs. Ryan was particularly keen on all the children attending it so she sent for Jackie along with all the other children. On the way to the church, Nora tormented and criticized her for her bad behavior. Nora went in for confession before Jackie and soon enough came out in a pretentious holy pose. When it was Jackie’s turn, he entered the confession box and immediately became very confused. Jackie made a mistake and climbed on the shelf above the conversation window. When the priest slid back the window, he caught sight of Jackie dropping from the shelf that made him burst in a fit of angry questions over what Jackie was doing on the shelf. The question startled Jackie, and he fell flat on the church aisle outside the box. Nora then rushed and hit him in full view of the priest and the other church members. The priest stopped Nora from spanking Jackie and sent her away. The priest then told Jackie to wait for the other members to finish their confessions, as it was his first time that made him somewhat happier. Soon enough the priest called Jackie into confession. Jackie started on the issue of his grandmother whom he described as awful and evil. Jackie told the priest how his grandmother had favored his sister over him and how his father sided with the old woman. Jackie also revealed his plot to kill his grandmother and cut her into little pieces, as well as trying to kill his sister Nora by stabbing her with a bread knife. These confessions of murder surprised the priest especially because they were emanating from a very young boy. The priest, after hearing Jackie’s confessions, informed him of his wrongdoing and that if he did those wrong things, he would end up being hanged by the state. After ten minutes, they both left the confession box and walked up to the churchyard where the priest gave Jackie a couple of Bullseyes on which to suck. Nora immediately inquired what Jackie had not confessed to the priest. Jackie replied that he had said everything that he had though of doing o r had done. Jackie then told her than he had only been given three Hail Marys that irked Nora even more. In the end, even Nora regretted trying to pretend she was very well behaved and good.

Investment Banking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Investment Banking - Essay Example In UK the investment banking scenario has undergone radical transformation in the two decades covering the period 1985-2005.In the following paragraphs we probe available literature in order to outline main drivers of this transformation and emerging scenario. There have been very many drivers determining the landscape of investment banking activities in UK.Principal among them are new paradigms in regulation and supervision over investment banking activities and changed due to high risk assumption by agents as traders and investment banking failures, US influence through take over, merger and acquisitions of British investment banking activities, increasing importance of relationship banking and radically altered scale of FDI activity in UK area since late 1980s reflective of hastening pace of globalization and relationship relocations. The trading theory in finance exclusive reliance is placed on expected utility theory (Bernstein, 1996). Even agency theory of trading like expected utility theory, has, since Williamson (1963), assumed consistent risk aversion of agents acting for risk neutral principals. Principals, are assumed to be risk neutral as they can diversify their share holding across firms, are forced to either incur opportunity costs in monitoring agent activities or give agents bonuses/ incentives to equal agents' and their risk appetites. (Eisenhardt, 1989;Tosi and Gomez-Meija, 1989; Beatty and Zajac, 1994; Jensen and Meckling, 1976).Similarly both expected utility and Agency theories assume perfect rationality .However Agency theory has defined aggregate irrationality in the form of Noise trading. Dow and Gorton (1997) state that traders have problems taking rational decisions between 'simply doing nothing', 'actively doing nothing' and the need to avoid contracts which give incentives for inactivit y. In dilemma, agents may get in ex ante unprofitable trades that have some chance of being profitable ex post' (Dow and Gorton ,1997).Market turns more liquid and trades entered in far exceed principals' requirements. In case ex-post profit expectations come untrue-widespread trading losses are experienced. Sociological and psychological approaches have also explained irrational trading behavior and unnecessary risk assumption and realized trading losses leading to malfeasance charges. Among them important are irrationality causing factors such as trading on the basis of personal familiarity (Baker, 1986),herding (Adler and Adler, 1984), and decision making affected by stress (Kahn and Cooper, 1993), prospect theory defined as a preference for the avoidance of loss, even at higher risk (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979, Tversky and Kahneman, 1986), judgmental biases in decision making (Bazerman, 1998) , imputed rather than measured - decision making bias by individual traders(Thaler, 1991, 1993; Shefrin, 2000).This sets the theoretical foundation for high risk assumption and losses in trading activities by investment bankers agents. High bonus payments

Macbeth, The Odyssey, Beowulf and Gulliver's travels Essay

Macbeth, The Odyssey, Beowulf and Gulliver's travels - Essay Example To spur Macbeth into action, Lady Macbeth indicates she is the stronger character because â€Å"I have given suck, and know / How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me: / I would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have plucked the nipple from his boneless gums / And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn† (I, vii, 54-58). Although guilt forces him to go through with the murder of the king, Macbeth becomes a victim to a new kind of guilt following the murder that far surpasses anything he had experienced before it. When Macbeth willingly participates in murder, this quickly escalates to massacres of perceived enemies and the propagation of lies and deceits as a means of maintaining the perception others have of him. As Macbeth confesses to his wife his fears regarding his inability to say ‘Amen’ (II, ii) following his first murder, she consoles him and warns him against the future both share, â€Å"These deeds must not be thought / After these ways; so, it will make us mad† (II, ii, 32-33). Despite this warning, though, neither character seems capable of escaping the inevitable deterioration of the soul that their actions have brought upon them. Because of this guilt, Macbeth begins seeing ghosts of friends he has murdered on the suspicion that they might accuse him of Duncan’s murder and Lady Macbeth goes insane in an attempt to cleanse herself of the guilt that has infected her soul. Like Macbeth, a great portion of Odysseus’ tale is brought about as a response to guilt. He has fought well and bravely before Troy and, at the beginning of his story, is preparing to return home to his wife Penelope and the young son he has yet to meet. However, in willingly joining in battle on Troy, which was strongly associated with ideas of family and home, Odysseus has committed a crime that must be atoned for. Zeus makes this clear in

Video game addiction Essay Example for Free

Video game addiction Essay A. Rationale: Development in technology brings many things that change human’s life. One of these things is online gaming that is provided by Internet. Online gaming is one of widely used leisure activities by many people, especially, young people. They think they are playing just for fun or just like a past-time without knowing a lot of effects of playing these games are more than they think. In Vietnam, there are more and more people who play online games and even are addicted to it. Playing online games, according to some research is beneficial. It stimulates the mind of the players to be more active, especially, puzzle games. It helps people relax after a hard-working day. Playing these games makes the players experienced different feelings because it is as if the players are really taking part in the challenges and so on. Despite those benefits, playing online games also causes negative effects. It takes much time and money of players, keeps them away from school and social activities, maybe make them more violent. The situation has been very popular with the young and become a concerning issue in our society. Many children and teenagers aren’t fond of any activities but be keen on online games. The Online-Game addiction seems like addiction drugs which causes a lot of serious consequences for themselves, for their families and for the society they live in. It is high time for all of us to do something to limit this urgent situation. Therefore, the study is conducted to investigate the effects of the Online-Game addiction and suggest some effective solutions to help young people overcome it. Particularly, our study is carried out with the students of two secondary schools and two high schools in Danang city. B. Literature review: In recent years, online games have been affecting a lot of people, especially the young. The number of young people attracted by online games is increasing. Online gaming has a great influence on health and study of the young. Therefore, there are more and more people pay attention to this state. The purpose of this section is to provide a solid background overall information for the research by reviewing previous studies, researches and other materials relating to the research. They are organized in a thematic review. According to a research of Chalton and Danforth of the American. Medical Association –The AMA concluded that online game addict may be emotionally or socially isolated and lonely. Besides, Anderson, Gentile and Buckley also have view-points about the effects of online games especially violent games. In their reports in January, 2007, they claimed that those who engaged in games that are more violent also engaged in more behaviors that are violent. Besides, they emphasized that the children who were witnessed to have increased their aggression were the same children who played more violent video and online games over the course of the school year. In Vietnam, there are also a few conferences discussing this problem. Dr. Trinh Hoa Binh –Vietnam Institute of Sociology claimed that younger gamers tend to imitate the actions they have shown in the game, it creates the increase in violent acts of aggression in some children and make them lose feeling when they see violence. In Dongnai Internet and Online Game Addiction Conference (6/8/2009) Mr. Nguyen Minh Tien presented the speech on â€Å"How are addicted to games† stated that bad games can make litigants face to many difficulties and obstacles in their studying activities, work, communication and social relations. In summary, the researches, articles and statistics above are worth mentioning as they have studied on the topic relating to this study. They all aim at the purpose of alerting the online game addiction. However, different from the researches above, this study investigates negative effects, outside expressions of it and propose some solutions to reduce the problem. C. Aims, objectives, research questions: 1. Aims: This study aims at investigation into the Online – Game addiction in the young in Danang. 2. Objectives: The research is intended to: To find out some information on the effects of the addiction online games on young people’s health, studies and personalities. To suggest the effective ways including the management of the Government and responsibilities of their family in dealing with the problem. 3. Research questions: How does the problem affect the young’s studies, health and personalities (characteristics)? What must the Government do in order to manage Game programs? What are the responsibilities of their parents in this problem? D. Scope of the study: The study is confined to the effects of the issue on the young aging 12-18 in Danang city on their study, health and personalities. Exactly, the study is conducted with the students in 2 secondary schools and 2 high schools in Danang city. II. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: A. Research design: This is a qualitative and quantitative research. B. Research methods : 1. Sampling : a. Subjects: We are going to work with 300 students at 4 schools in Danang city: 2 secondary schools (Trung Vuong,Tr? n Hung D? o) and 2 high schools (Quang Trung, Phan Chau Trinh). The fact that, people whose age from 12 to 18 years old play online games more than ones at other ages. b. Instruments: We will survey with questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire allows us collect a wide a mount of data in a relatively short amount of time and data can be also controlled and analyzed easily. The interview helps us get more in-depth information, obtain personal behaviors and attitudes of the populations. The questionnaire will be delivered to the students on the first week of the study. The participants will be asked to answer 18 questions including: 4 open questions and 14 close questions. With close questions, they will write up their answers to the topic of the research. There are 4 parts in the questionnaire: Part I: The effects of online gaming on students’ studying (questions 1-6) Part II: The reasons why young people play online games (questions 7,8) Part III: The effects of online gaming on students’ personalities (questions 9-13) Part IV: Awareness of students about the state and the effects of the online game addiction (questions 14-18) Besides, a short interview is going to be continued after we collect the questionnaires. We will have direct conversations with 20 respondents among 300 ones in order to observer their attitudes towards the online-game addiction. The information of the interviews is record with cassette recorder and then transcribed. 2. Data collection: a. Phase 1: The purpose of phase 1 is to collect data which will be used for the survey in phase 2 that will in turn be used to test in phase 3. In this research our group will spend 3 week to have meetings with some of student groups in the high schools and the secondary schools above. The purpose of the meeting is to know whether they may be willing to participate in later stages of data collection One-week close monitoring of time addict game: Our group will schedule 30 minute -periods of daily continuous monitoring with 10 participants in every week. During the first week of the project, our group will meet them after they finish their lessons in their school. We will work closely with participants to talk about any thought during the whole conversation. We will ask them to provide two kinds of background information. b. Phase 2: Survey design and test Data collection in this phase will be limited to 20 surveys to identify the weakness in the survey design + Personal information including: gender, age and current studying result. + Kinds of entertainment including : reading, playing online games, doing a sport†¦ and how much time they spend on each kind. c. Phase 3: Survey data The purpose of phase 3 is to test the hypotheses. The surveys will check these answers from the questionnaire to find out how much time students spend on game, and the difference in gender and age in people playing in game. 3. Research hypotheses: a. It is hypothesized that addicting to Online Games could lead young people to get bad results in their studying. b. It is supposed that maybe addicting to Online Games makes the young unsociable III. TIME LINE: Reading materials and collecting data: from 10 September to 30 September Analyzing data: from 8 November to 10 November Writing the report: from 10 November to 13 November IV. PROPOSED OUTLINE: Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION Resonale Literature review Aims, objectives, research questions Scope of the study Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Chapter 3: METHODS AND PROCEDURES 1. Research design 2. Research methods 1. Sampling 1. Subjects 2. Instruments 2. Data collection 1. Phase 1 2. Phase2 3. Phase3 3. Data analysis 1. Qualitative analysis 2. Quantitative analysis 3. 2. 4. Research hypothesis Chapter 4: DISCUSSION OF FINFINGS 4. 1. The effects of online – game addiction in the young 4. 2. The responsibilities of families and society 4. 3. Some solutions for the problem Chapter 5: IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 5. 1. A summary of the development of the study 5. 2. Implications 5. 3. Limitations 5. 4. Suggestions on restricting of the online gaming V. REFERENCES: 1. Anderson C. A. , Gentile D. A. , Buckley K. E. (2007). Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents. USA: Oxfort University Press. 2. Brady, Sonya S. , Matthews, K. A. (2006). â€Å"Effects of media violence on health-related outcomes among young men†. Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine. 160. 341-347. Retrieved 18/12/2009 from http://archpedi. ama-assn. org/cgi/content/abstract/160/4/341. 3. Charlton Danforth. (2007). â€Å"Distinguishing addiction and high engagement in the context of online game playing†. Computers in Human Behavior. Vol 23(3). 1531-1548. 4. Gershoff, E. T. (2002). â€Å"Corporal punishment by Parent and Associated Child Behaviours and Experiences†: A metal analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 128(4), 539-579. 5. Grusser, S. M. , Thalemann, R. , Griffiths, M. D. (2007). â€Å"Excessive computer game playing†: Evidence for addiction and aggression? Cyber Psychology Behavior. 10. 290-292. Retrieved 18/12/2009 from http://www. liebertonline. com/doi/abs/10. 1089/cpb. 2006. 9956 6. Kinh Luan. (2009). â€Å"Struggling to find solutions to manage Game Online†.retrieved 18/11/2009 from http://antg. cand. com. vn/News/PrintView. aspx? ID=68787nd. 7. Nguyen Tran, Huong Le. (2009). â€Å"Young internet addicts return to real life†. Vietnamnews. 8. Tien Nguyen. (2009). Tam ly tri lieu. Retrieved 18/11/2009 from http://tamlytrilieu. com/nghien-gameonline. htm. 9. Wood, Richard (April 2008). â€Å"Problems with the concept of video game addiction: Some case study examples. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction. 6. Retrieved 18/11/2009 from http://www. ijma-journal. com/content/abstracts/6/2/00001 VI. APPENDIX: A. QUESTIONNAIRES This questionnaire is just a survey to find out information about the current online-game addiction of young people. The data you provide will be used for this purpose only. Your honest responses to the questions are a great help to our research. Please, circle your choices or write up your answers frankly as you will not be identified in any discussion of the data. I. The effects of online gaming on your studying: 1. Do you think online games are interesting? a. No, I just play for fun when I have nothing to do b. So so c. Yes, really interesting 2. How many hours do you spend on online games a day? a. 2 hoursb. 3 hoursc. 5 hoursd. Others, please specify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3. Have you ever put your homework aside to play online games? a. Usuallyb. Sometimesc. Seldomd. Never 4. How does online gaming affect your studying? a. Motivateb. Do not relate c. Deteriorated. Do not know 5. What do you like to do if you own a computer which is linked Internet? a. Search for information for my studying b. Listen to music c. Play online games d. Others, please specify. 6. Do your learning results get worse since you play online games? a. Not at allb. A littlec. Muchd. Seriously II. The reasons why young people play online games? 7. Why do you play online games? a. Just play for fun b. Appealed by your friends c. Bored with my current world and want a new world d. Have no friends to play with e. Others, please specify†¦ 8. What do you think about when you are free? a. The way to solve a difficult mathematic exercise b. The performance to show in the activity of my class next time c. The plan for weekends with your family or your friends d. The level you must achieve in a online game III. The effects of online gaming in your personality 9. Do you often take part in school or social activities? a. Very oftenb. Sometimesc. Seldomd. Never 10. Do you think playing online games is more interesting than any other kind of activities? a. Strongly agreeb. Agreec. Disagreed. Strongly disagree 11. Have you ever been angry with others because you lost an online-game competition? a. Usuallyb. Sometimesc. Seldomd. Never 12. What do you feel about a day without playing online games? a. I have a lot of things to do which are more important than it b. It is not a matter, I will play it in other time c. It is so pity, if only I could play it today d. I can’t stand a day without online games 13. What do you often do at weekends? a. Help my parents with housework b. Go out with my friends c. Play online games whole day d. Others, please specify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. IV. Awareness of students about the state and the effects of the online-game addiction 14. Do you think the online-game addiction in the young should be concerned profoundly? a. Yesb. Noc. Do not know 15. Do you know any person around you who addicted to online games? If yes, who? a. Nob. Yes- myself my friends my relatives. 16. Can you control yourself in playing online games? a. Yesb. No 17. Do you think that addicting to online games affect the player’s life seriously? a. Strongly agreeb. Agreec. Disagreed. Strongly disagree 18. If you could, what would you do to avoid addicting to online games? †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. THE END†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Thank you for your cooperation! B. INTERVIEWS I would like to invite you to participate in this interview to gather in-depth information about your views, experience and attitudes towards the online-game addiction. Your sincere and accurate answers will be a great contribution to our survey. Thank you for your kind attention! You will be asked to answer these 5 following questions: 1. How do you think about that the government prohibit people from playing online games? 2. What do people, especially the young do in their spare-time without playing online games? 3. Do you think playing online games too much can cause some problems in the player’s health such as: obesity, short-sighted eyes, mental disorder and so on? 4. According to you, who will have to be responsible for the online-game addiction in the young? 5. Can you propose any solutions for this issue?

Sexuality and the Grotesque in Toni Morrisons Beloved Essay -- essays

Sexuality and the Grotesque in Toni Morrison's Beloved Grotesque images of rape, murder, and sexual abuse are recurring throughout Toni Morrison's novel Beloved. The ideals of the white oppressor, be it murder, rape, or sexual abuse were powerful forces that shaped the lives of many of the characters, especially the character Sethe. Rape and sexual abuse are two grotesque instances expressed throughout the novel. The most often referred to is the incident when Schoolteacher?s nephews stole Sethe?s breast milk but many other incidents included Paul D was forced to felicitate prison Guards on the chain gang every morning. Ella is locked up and repeatedly raped by a father and son she calls ?the worst yet?. Stamp Paid?s wife Yashti is forced to have sex by her enslaver. Baby Suggs is compelled to have sex with ?a straw? boss who later breaks his coercive promise not to sell her children. Sethe?s mother is ?taken up my many in the crew? and Sethe is put in the position where she must endure ten minutes of sex with the tombstone engraver so the tombstone could read ?Beloved.? ?This act is a key note for the whole book: in the world of slavery and poverty, where human beings are merchandise, everything has its price and the price is tyrannical.? (Atwood 39-40) With all the sexual abuse throughout the novel, the most referred to and seemingly most atrocious was when Schoolteacher. ?The schoolteacher, he?s a sort of master-race proponent who measures the heads of the slaves and tabulates the results to demonstrate that they are more like animals than people.? (Atwood 40) ordered his nephews to steal Sethe?s breast milk. ?They used a cowhide on you?? ?And they took my milk.? ?They beat you when... ...owards the oppressive slave owners. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. "Haunted by Their Nightmares." Bloom's Guides Toni Morrison's Beloved. Ed. Amy Sickels. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House, 2004. 39-42. Atwood, Margaret. "Margaret Atwood on the Practical Uses of the Supernatural in Beloved." Critical Essays on Toni Morrison's Beloved. Ed. Barbara H. Solomon. New York: G.K. Hall & Co., 1998. 29-32. Barnette, Pamela E. "Pamela E. Barnette on Images of Rape and the Supernatural in Beloved." Bloom's Guides Toni Morrison's Beloved. Ed. Amy Sickels. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House, 2004. 67-69. Corey, Susan. "Susan Corey on the Grotesque in Beloved." Critical Essays on Toni Morrison's Beloved. Ed. Barbara H. Solomon. New York: G.K. Hall & Co., 1998. 106-115. Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Alfred a. Knopf, 1987.

America’s Failure at the Bay of Pigs

Cuba was a US-controlled isand since 1898 when it won Cuba from Spain after the Spanish-American war. While itofficially controlled Cuba only until 1902, it established itself on the island with a long-term lease on Guantanamo Bay for a naval base. Up to the time before Castro was seated in power, the US ambassador to Cuba was the second most pwoerful officail after the President. (Lafeber, 19 Aril 1986, p. 537). President Truman inn March 12, 1947 called the Truman Doctrine recomended to Congress to halt the Russian aggression in Europe.â€Å"I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting atempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. † (cited in Ismael, 1965, p. 3212). Regular battles with the threat of communism and in 1948, the Belrin blockade where the Russian tries to starve out the Western sector but the US responded by airlifting a tremendous amount of food and other supplies. The US assistd the Na tionalistas versus the Communista in the civil war in China which the Communists eventually won in 1949.In 1950, the US gladly responed to the call to end the Communists North America aggression towards South Korea by sending troops under Gen. Douglas McArthur. While the Korean war became inetnsely unpopular aong many Americans as casualties were heavy and the Truman administration was blamed for not foreseeing the attack. There was a general agreement nevertheless that the cuommunist leders had to be shown that the US would, if necessary, use force to stop the expansionist plans. In 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president.Anti-cmmunist sentiment was still going strong as McCarthy continued his unproven charges â€Å"that the government payrll included communists†. Through his charges, teh Sneator speread fear and dissension throughout the countyr. In 1954, Cimmunist China threatened the islands held by the Nationalist government. The US announced that it would defen d Taiwan against any atack and pledged itself to aid any fellow Sout East Asian Trety Organizaton member in fighting communist advances. Communist influence in Latin America became more and more apparent especially in Cuba. In 1959, Fidel Castro ended the island’s totalitarian governemnt.Soon, Caro was displaying dictatorial tendencies and strong leanings towards communism. By 1960, it was evident that Cuba was trying to implant communism in other Latin American nations. (Book of Knowledge) Castro first attracted international attention and national history when he led an unsuccessful attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago, Cuba on July 24th 1953 hoping to overthrwo the dictatorship of then President Fulgencio Batista. Castro was pardoned in 1955 and sailed to Mexico but returned in 1956 and instigated a guerila wafare against Batista’s regime.In the early hours of 1st January 1959, Batista and the former Prime Minisster and newly–elected President Dr. Andre s Rivero Aguero fled Cuba (Telzrow, 2006). On Jan. 6th, an official note proclaiming â€Å"the sincere goodwill of the government of the United States towards the new government† was sent to Castro (Welch, 1982, p. 29). Career diplomat Philip Bonsal was then appointed as the new US Ambassador to Havana with the hope that Bonsal will be able develop good raltions with Castro replicating his sucess in Bolivia where he was able to establisg good relationships with the left-leaning incumbent adminsitration.On April 19, 1959 after a 3 ? hour meeting with Vice President Richard Nixon in Washington D. C. , Nixon was convinced that Castro was indeed a communist. Castro was determined to transform Cuba led to radical reforms and other economic changes that brought him closer to the Cuba communist party and put him on a collisison course with the Eisenhower Adminsrtration. When in early 1960, the US tried to strangle Castro with tough economic sanctions, he turned to the Soviet bloc fo r help. (Lafeber) Free lections were suspended, private business was socialized, US property was confiscated, On Oct.12, the Cuban government nationalizes 382 big businesses including manufacturers of sugar, liquor, beer, perfume, soap, textiles and milk products as well as bank. (Blight & Kornbluh, 1999, p. 161). As early as Oct. 1959, programs had been proposed by the Department of State in agreement with the CIA to support elements opposed to the Cuban government while making Castro’s downfall seem to be the result of his own mistakes. In Dec. 1959, J. C. King, the CIA’s head of its Western Hemisphere division outlines a series of covert and propaganda operations to overthrow Castro.On March 17, Preseident Eisenhower approves a CIA policy paper title â€Å"A Program of Covert Action Against the Castro Regime†. (Blight & Kornbluh, 1999, p. 159). In the History of Cuba as compiled and written by J. A. Sierra (2007, par. 14), the plan was siad to have included: 1) the creation of a responsible and unified Cuabn opposition to the Castro regime located outside of Cuba, 2) the development of a means for mass communication to the Cuban people as part of a powerful propaganda offesnive,3) the creations and development of a covert intelligence and action organization within Cuba whioch would respond to the orders and directions o the exile opposition, and 4) the development of a paramilitray force otuside of Cuba for future guerilla action. These goals were to be achieved ‘in sucg a manner as to avoid the appearance of U. S. intervention. ’ In July 1960, Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khruschev openly declared its support for Castro by speaking of â€Å"figurative rockets that would protect Cuba from teh U. S. † to which Pres.Eisenhower announced that the US would no â€Å"tolrate the establishment of a regime dominated by international communism in the Western hemisphere. (cited in Sierra, 2007, par. 7). On Oct. 28, Amb. Bons al was permanently recalled to Washington. On Jan. 3, 1961, all diplomtic relations were broken off with Cuba. The year 1960 was also the year for the campaign period for the the presidential elections. Vice President Richard Nixon was running against SenatorJohn F. Kennedy. The Kennedy campiagn rode on the American voters anti-Castro sentiment and their restlessness towards the resolution of the Castro issue.On the eve of a candidate’s debate, Kennedy attacked Eisenhower’s Cuba policy. He called for U. S. support for the â€Å"non-Batista anti-Castro forces in exile, and in Cuba itself, who offer eventual hope for overthrowing Castro. † Stated further, â€Å"thus far these fighers for freedom have had no support from our government. † Nixon attacks Kennedy’s position on Cuba as irresponsible and reckless since he knew that CIA Director Allan Dulles himslef briefed Kennedy some months back on intelligence amtters including the training of Cuban exi les for operations against the Castro government.(Blight & Kornbluh, 1999, pp. 160-162). Meanwhile, the program for covert action was being put in place. Radio Swan goes on the air in May 1960. The programs were taped in Miami and routed throught the Swan transmitter, An airport was built in Guatemala, a cuntry whose president was beholden to the CIA-led U. S. support in overthrowing the reformist government in 1954. The Cuban exiled forces called Brigade 2506 who were being trained in Useppa Island off the coast of Florida were transferred to a camp in Guatemala.Eventually, the size of the brigade grew to about 1,500 soldiers and were called Brigade 2506. A few months later, Castro charged â€Å"that the U. S. has taken over Swan Island and has setup a very powerful broadcasting station there, â€Å" during an address to the UN General Assembly which the US refuted claiming that there is a private commercial broadcasting station in Swan Island . Foreigh Minsiter Raul Roa addresse d the UN a month later providing details on the recruitment and training of the Cuban exiles wherein he referred to them as mercenaries and counter-revolutionaries.The CIA recruits were paid USD400 per month to train and an additional USD175. 00 for their wives and more for their children. (Sierra, 2007, par. 19) NOTE: In a historic meeting of the participants of both sides in 2001, Castro himself pointedly referred to them as brigadistas. President Eisenhower approves a budget of USD13 million for the covert antCastro operation as well as the use of the Department of Defense personnel and equipment. However, it was specified that no US military personnel are to be used in combat status. 2ND PLAN The CIA changes the conception of the plan in Nov.8-9, 1960 from a guerilla infiltraion to an amphibious invasion Blight & Kornbluh, 1999, p. 162). Why? – Cuban accustaion of propaganda via Radio Swan – First attempt at droping weapons and supplies to the internal Cuban resist ance was a failure having missed the drop zone by seven miles, lands on a dam, picked up by Castro forces and the gound agent caught and shot – Young officers revolt in Guatemala due to the presence of the Cuba expeditionary force which the US helped to quell – The operation is no longer a secret as it is known all over Latin America and was being discussed in UN circles.The Joint Chief of Staff were consulted for the first time on Jan. 11th 1961. A working committee including representatives from the CIA, Defense and the JCS resulted which the Pentagon code names Operation Bumpy Road. On Jan. 28th, newly-elected President John F. Kennedy receives his first CIA briefing on the Cuban operation. The concept of the plan as outlined in the memorandum prepared by two senior CIA official in charge of the brigade, Jacob Esteline and Jack Hawkins is as follows: The initial mission of the invasion force will be to seize and defend a small area.There will be no attempt to break out of lodgment for further offensive operations unless and until there is a general uprising against the Castro regime or overt military intervention by the US forces has taken place. (Blight & Kornbluh, 1999, p. 164). The landing would be in the vicinity of the old colonial city of Trinida, Cuba in the southern coast of Cuba. This is approximately 400 km. Southeast of Havana at the foothills of Escambray mountains. The Trinidad site provided a number of options that the exile brigade could exploit during the invasion.The popiltaion of Trinidad was generally opposed to Castro and the rugged mountains outside the city provided an area into which the invasion force could retreat and establish a guerilla campaign were the landing to falter. Throughout the 1960, the growing ranks of Briagde 2560 rained throughout for the beach landing and possible mountain retreat (Wikipedia). Richard Bissell, CIA Director of Plans, assessed the plans as having â€Å"a fair chance of success – success meaning ability to survive, hold ground and attarct groing support for Cubans and get a ful-fledged civil war in which the US could then back the anti-Castro forces openly.At worst, the invaders should be able to fight their way to the Escabray and go into guerilla action. (Bight & Kornbluh, 1999, p. 164). The military plan for d-day of Macrh 5 is put back until April after examination of all possible alternatives. Why? – State Department point out grave effects on US position in Latin America – No way to disgusie US complicity However, Bissell argued for the invasion on the grounds of â€Å"disposal† problem if the mission is aborted: â€Å"brigade members will be angry, disillusioned and aggressive† (in fact a revolt did occur in late Jan.1961 among the Cuban exiles in Guatemala and almost half of the more than 500 en in camp resigned. ) (Blight & Kornbluh, 1999, p. 164). Bissell concludes that this is the last opportunity for the US to bring do wn Castro without overt US military intervention or a full embargo. National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy recommended to institute a trade embargo first and let internal oppositon build for several months and then launch â€Å"Bissells’s battalion†. Ther Trinida plan is rejected as the President prepfers a quiet landing, prefereably at night with no basis for American military intervention.CIA presented three alternatives. The first is a modification of the Trinidad plan, the second targets an area on the northeast coast of Cuba and the thrid is an invasion at the Bay of Pigs codenamed â€Å"Opertion Zapata†. The pPresident orders modifcations of the Zapata Plan to mak it appear more like an inside, guerilla-type operation. It was modified to a night landing (instead of a dawn landing) and air drops a t first light. Kennedy questions the necessity of the air strikes, A compromise is agreed upon limited air strikes two days pror to d-day simultanoeus with a di versionary landing of 160 men in Eastern Cuba.These strikes will give the impression of being the action of Cuban pilots defecting from teh Cuban air force and thus supproting the fiction that air support for the invasion force is coming from within Cuba. Bissell also reassures Kennedy that the Cubans on the island will join in an uprising. Sen. William Fulbright, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations describes the venture as ill-considered and predicts that it will be impossible to conceal the US hand. After polling a dozen advisers, all vote in favor of moving ahead ecept for Sec.Of State Dean Rusk who remained noncommittal. Defense Sec. Requested the JCS to reconsider the rules of engagement to ensure that the US would not become oertly engaged with Castro forces. Seven days before d-day, Esterline and Hawkins, two of the leaders of the invasion call on Bissell to tell him that they want to quit. They say that the project is out of control. Bissell asks them to stay and they d o. Three days before the invsion, â€Å"Kennedy rules outm under any condition, an intervention in Cuba by the US Armed Forces.One day before the invasion, the number of plane were reduced from 16 to 6 planes as ordered by Kennedy in order to keep it minimal. On April 16, Kennedy formally approved the landing plan. However, fearing international condemnation, Kennedy cancels the dawn air strikes until the beachhead airfiled is in the hands of the aldning force and completely operational and capale of supporting the raids. Bissel argued that the ships as well as the landings will be seriously endangered without the dawn strikes,In early morning, aboard the Blagar, CIA agent Grayston Lynch receives a message from Washington: â€Å"Castro still has operational aircraft. Expect you to be hit at dawn. Unload all troops and supplies and take ships to sea as soon as possible. † On learning that the invading troops will meet resistance in the landing area, due to failure to destroy all of the Cuban air force, the Blagar moves in close to shore and delivers gunfire support. Brigade troops commence landing at 0100 hours. Later that morning, the Houston comes under air attack and is hit.It goes aground with about 180 men on the west side of the Bay of Pigs—about five miles from the landing beach. At 9:30 AM, the freighter Rio Escondido is sunk by a direct rocket hit from a Sea Fury—with ten day's reserves of ammunition on board, as well as food, hospital equipment, and gasoline. All crew members are rescued and transferred to the Blagar. Fighting rages throughout the day, with the brigade freighters withdrawing 50 miles out to sea. That evening, President Kennedy discusses the deteriorating situation with his advisers.(Blight & Kornbluh, 1999, p. 168). On April 18, the Brigade Commander refused a call for evacuation. While at the UN on the same day, Ambassador Adlai Stevenson continued to deny that the United States had intervened militarily in Cuba . Bissell, in direct violation of Kennedy’s instructions, authorized American pilots to fly combat missions when a number of the Cuban pilots at Pueto Cabezos refused to fly. On April 19, two planes flown by U. S. pilots were shot down and the pilots killed. The invasion force were captured.About 130 were killed and 1,189 were taken prisoners. Cuba’s casualties were about 157. Mass trial were held and each was sentenced to 30 years in prison. After 20 months of negotations, most were released in echange for USD53 million in baby food and medical supplies. (Sierra, 2007). Lymann Kirkpatrick, the CIA Inspector General, issued a report that pointed to Bissell and his aide Tracy Barnes as not having firm plans for the invasion and failed to advise Kennedy that a covert action is not at all possible.Bissell rebutted by issuing a memorandum of his own and putting the blame on Kennedy’s withdrawal of the air strikes. On June 13, 1961, General Taylor, head of the Taylor Commitee composed on Gen. Maxwell taylor, Atty. General Robert Kennedy, Adm. Arleigh Burke and Dir. Gen. Of CIA Allen Dulles to investigate why the operation failed submits their report to President Kennedy: A paramilitary operation of the magnitude of Zapata could not be prepared and conducted in such a way that all U. S.support of it and connection with it could be plausibly disclaimed†¦. By about November 1960, the impossibility of running Zapata as a covert operation under CIA should have been recognized and the situation reviewed. If a reorientation of the operation had not been possible, the project should have been abandoned. (Blight & Kornbluh, 1999, p. 169). Apart from the reports of Kirkpatrick of the CIA and the Taylor Committee, and after more documents relating to the Bay of Pigs invasion surfaced and were declassified, the following can be concluded:– the CIA made decisions on mere assumptions that the people would spontaneously assist in overthrowing Cast ro (Lafeber, 1986). – they failed to see that the exiles and the supporters were the loud minority while the majority were straddling the fence in a wait-and-see attitude inasmuch as Castro’s government was still at its inception and already seemed to have eben serious about its reforms in distributing the wealth concentrated on the few during the previous regime which was openly supported by the U.S. – the United States could have lost sympathy from the locals since from 1898, they have exerted great influence over Cuba’s internal affairs seemingly to the point of meddling in order to favor American businessees and the invasion was undeniably a US-backed operation – the US did not trust its own invading force, not even telling the Cuban exiles the actual day of the invason. One aganet admitted that, â€Å"I don’t trsut any goddamn Cuban.† (Lafeber, 1986) – aside from being trapped by his own campaign statements, the ongoing co ld war forced Kennedy to take immediate if undecisive action in battling Cuba’s Castro and ultimately the USSR’s Nikita Kruschev for the Western hemisphere – there were tactical errors such as mistaking the coral reefs in the Bay of Pigs for seaweed which ran the exile craft aground and made easy targets – the US underestimated the Castro’s security and defenses.In a historic meeting in 2001 between the antagonists and the protagonists in the invasion which was held in Cuba, it was divulged that â€Å"a vast security network had been established and about 20,000 suspected dissidents were rounded up† which effectively squelched US expectations of a mass rebellion. Moreover, the Cuban air forces’ better planes were camouflaged and the ones that were destroyed by teh pre-d-day strike were decoys. (Dinges, 2001, p. 6).– the CIA strategy is rooted on another assumption that no president, Kennedy included despite his statements again st overt operations, will allow the United States to â€Å"go down in ignominous defeat† and will send in the Marines (as related by Whote House adviser Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. In Dinges, 2001). – There were no CIA broadcasts to announce the invasion (Telzrow, 2006). It would seem highly improbable that the world’s greatest superpower would be defeated by a revolutionary government barely over a year in power. However, that is exactly what Cuba did did under Fidel Castro’s leadership.On April 19, 1961 Cuba was able to repulse an invasion led by 1,400 commandos of Brigade 2506 who arrived at Playa Giron (Giron Beach) from Bahia de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) Brigade 2506 was US-backed all the way. The planning and training was done by the CIA. They were armed and supplied by the US. It was not a failure of the men of the invasion force who fought valiantly and refused to be evacuated. Given the circumstances surrounding the invasion, it was a â€Å"perfect fai lure† as it has now been dubbed for the spectacular defeat of the US.Overall, this is mainly due to the arrogance displayed by America and has now been immortalized in the Bay of Pigs. ? References Blight, J. G. & Kornbluh, P. (Eds. ) (1999). Politics of illusion: The Bay of Pigs invasion re-examined. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. Dinges, J. (2001, April 23). Back to the Bay of Pigs. The Nation, 272, 6. Ismael, F. L. (1965). The United States as a world leader. The Book of Knowledge, vol. 9, pp. 3206-3224. New York: Grolier Incorporated. Lafeber, W. (1986, April 19). Lest we forget the Bay of Pigs; the unlearned lessons. The Nation, 242, 537-539. Sierra, J. A. (2007).History of Cuba. Retrieved August 15, 2007, from http://www. historyofcuba. com/cuba/htm. Telzrow, M. E. (2006, August 21). Bay of Pigs betrayal: The batrayal of the Cuba people by the CIA, State Department and staff members of the New York Times ranks as one of the America’s darkest foreign-policy moments. T he New American, 22, 37-39. Welch. R. E. (1985). Response to revolution: The United States and the Cuban revolution, 1959-1961. Chappel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. WIKIPEDIA. 2007. Bay of Pigs invasion. Retrieved August 15, 2007, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs_Invasion.