O great god-king Xerxes Essay Example for Free

O great god-king Xerxes Essay O great god-king Xerxes, I have heard that you are planning to launch a full-scale invasion of the Greek nations following on the steps of your father, Darius. I come here before you to attempt to dissuade you of your plans for Greece. As I am once a prominent citizen of one of the many city-states in the nation, it would do you well to listen to my advice as it contains extensive knowledge of what you are about to face if you push through with your plans. O King, barely ten years ago, your father Darius launched a similar invasion against the Greek city-states in retaliation to the Athenians’ aiding the Ionians in their revolt against his rule. Although it had been initially successful, the invasion was ultimately put to an end by his defeat during the Battle of Marathon. It could be worth noting that, despite the battle being a victory, it was a desperate attack by the Athenian army that caused the defeat of your father’s armed forces. Sparta, perhaps the state with the most powerful military in all of Greece, was absent from the battle and even then the Greeks scored a victory. Each city-state in Greece acts independently from each other. They are each governed by their respective rulers and are not influenced by the affairs of the other city-states. However, it is not impossible for each of them to call for aid to one another as evidenced by the Ionian call for aid during the previous war. Sartus was taken thanks to the aid provided by Athens, who had the major contribution in the allied army, and by Eretria. Sparta had chosen delay sending military aid as it had decided a full moon needed to pass before they do anything and were thus absent from the Battle of Marathon, where your father’s army was defeated utterly. Had Sparta’s forces been present, its superior military might compared to Athens would likely contribute to utter decimation of the Persian forces under your father’s command. However, even then, your father’s soldiers lost under the Greeks. If you attack now, O King, you risk provoking an even greater alliance that can now include Sparta, which is your most formidable enemy on the plains of Greece. The Spartans are a race that places utmost emphasis on military training and raising superior soldiers that have been tested in war. Furthermore, the Spartans will never participate and are not interested in any alliance that will not mean leadership to them. They can be a vain and arrogant nation but with the strength to back their vanity up. If you threaten the entire Greek country now, your Majesty, the major powers of the nation will definitely ally themselves with Sparta at the helm. With Spartan tactics and warriors at the vanguard, your army – no matter how great – will run into serious opposition which can result into an even greater demise than what has happened to your father’s forces in Marathon. As could be expected from any nation, the Greeks have devised battle tactics that are best suited to their terrain. They know their land; you can expect them to take advantage of that and lure your forces into a disadvantage in battle. With a possible alliance under Spartan leadership, the Greek can have a tactical and strategic advantage even if your army is greater in number. O Wise King, great wisdom it would be not to rely on the greater numbers of your armed host. The Greeks, especially the Spartans, will not be easily daunted. They have tactics that can be quite effective when employed in terrain which they know well. For example, your father Darius in Marathon faced a tactic called the phalanx. By definition, a Greek battle line deployed in a phalanx means there is equal strength in all sides of the battle formation. However, in Marathon, the Greek commander faced superior numbers but was able to modify the phalanx into an effective variant: he strengthened the wings of his battle formation while weakening the center. At first you would think that the Greeks were committing suicide and, indeed, the Greeks seemed to be at the point of desperation. However, stronger wings meant that the Greeks managed to hold off the wings of your father’s formations, holding them back and disabling them from reinforcing the center of King Darius’ battle lines. Thus, it was then that the Persian armies were surrounded and routed by the Greek army in Marathon. The results of the battle were horrific. Your father lost a sizable portion of his soldiers, sixty times more than what the Greeks lost in that same battle. A second Marathon is not the only thing that you should worry about in the conduct of battle in this planned invasion. A worse battle awaits your forces if you push through. In Greece, there is a place which we call the â€Å"Hot Gates† or Thermopylae. This place is a narrow pass bordered by a sheer cliff wall on one side, and the sea on the other side. This is a battleground ideal for the phalanx. In such a narrow pass, the phalanx will serve as a wedge that will drive through your attacking forces. The Greeks need only to strengthen their front lines with the rear guard merely pushing the front soldiers forward. In here, the superior numbers of your great army will definitely count for nothing. The Greeks, especially the Spartans and the Athenians, are aware of this pass; they will definitely use this to their advantage to hold off your army while a greater force amasses for retaliation. A Spartan-led phalanx could be as devastating as any phalanx, which had been proven by the Athenian tactics in Marathon. As you could see, Great King Xerxes, the sheer size of your army is both your strength and your liability. To support such a large host, you need a sizable navy to carry supplies back and forth. Your navy will be stretched thin supporting your great army; it will also have to endure against whatever naval counterattacks and offensives that the Greeks may launch against you. You could face a naval situation similar to Thermopylae in Salamis. It is a narrow channel, one which can reduce your navy into a bottleneck and reduce their effectiveness. The Greeks can pick your ships off one by one even if they may be smaller in size. Consider my wisdom in this matter, King Xerxes. I daresay that, even if you hold the greater number of forces, you would find it hard to manage them effectively at smaller levels. The Greeks, my former countrymen, are geniuses both in scholarship and in battle; your father Darius learnt that the hard way in the fields of Marathon under the Athenians alone. With a possible pan-Greek alliance – with the mighty Spartans leading – your forces face yet another humiliating defeat similar to Marathon, only this time you will be facing the combined might of all the city-states of Greece. Abandon this plan now, before this results to destruction of your mighty host. Sources: Wheeler, Kevin. (2001). â€Å"Ancient Greek Battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, Artemisium and Salamis. † Retrieved November 30, 2008, from Ancient World Battles website: http://www. geocities. com/caesarkevin/battles/Greekbattles1. html Lendering, Jona. (2005). â€Å"Phalanx and Hoplites. † Retrieved November 30, 2008 from Livius. org website: http://www. livius. org/pha-phd/phalanx/phalanx. html Lopez, Vincent. (2008) â€Å"Shock Tactics on the Ancient Battlefield. † Retrieved November 30, 2008 from Armchair General website: http://www. armchairgeneral. com/shock-tactics-on-the-ancient-battlefield. htm/5 Stewart, Michael. People, Places Things: Xerxes I, Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant. Retrieved November 30, 2008 from Messagenet website: http://messagenet. com/myths/ppt/Xerxes_I_1. html Freedom44. (2004). â€Å"The First Persian War Greek Wars. † Retrieved from Free Republic website: http://freerepublic. com/focus/f-news/1196577/posts

Neuropathology of AIDS :: Health Medicine Medical Diseases Essays

Neuropathology of AIDS Since its discovery in 1981, AIDS has mainly been characterized as a disease effecting the bodying immune system. It has been recognized, however, that there are distinct neurological pathologies associated with the disease. AIDS neuropathology can be characterized by the existence of subcortical dementia, motor difficulties, and affective disorders. Most AIDS patients experience dementia of one form or another. It has been observed that approximately 95% of AIDS patients brain’s show signs of damage, and 60% of patients develop dementia of one degree or another. The AIDS virus is an RNA retrovirus which attaches to and infects T helper cells and other cells of the immune system. The virus normally goes through a typical lytic life cycle which is seen in the pathology of most viruses. Originally the HIV virus was associated wilt the CD4 receptor found on the immune cells, but it has been discovered that the OKT4 receptor is also a site of entry for the virus. This receptor is not only present in macrophages, but it is also found in glial cells of the CNS. There are basically three sites of entry where the HIV virus and infected macrophages can invade the CNS. The first is the blood brain barrier. If there is damage to the integrity of this barrier, the virus can easily pass into the brain tissue and proliferate. The second barrier is the blood CSF barrier. The choroid plexus males up this particular barrier, and the barrier is maintained by the existence of tight junctions. If there is a breakdown of these tight junctions, infected macrophages can pass from the blood into the CSF where they can pass to nearly any area of the CNS. The final site of entry, and perhaps the most likely' are the cicumventricular organs. This is the only site in the CNS where there is an absence of a barrier, and the macrophages carrying the virus are free to pass through these. From here the virus can spread almost anywhere in the CNS, but they intend to infect areas near their site of entry. The most common initial symptom seen in neurological disorders related to AIDS is subcortical dementia. The cardinal feature of subcortical dementia include slowing of mental processes, progressive impairment of memory, and deficits in manipulating or using spontaneously acquired information (i.e., poor problem solving). However, unlike the cortical dementias, higher-order associative function is preserved' and intellectual impairment is milder in the subcortical dementias.

Empowerment of Local Communities for Sustainable Tourism Essay

Tourism, recognized as one of the most economically significant industries in the world has recently perceived emerging needs for forming sustainable planning for tourism management and development. According to Murphy (1985) and Perez – Salom (2001) in order to achieving desired sustainability certain alternations via better planning and management in the tourism activity patterns and pertaining products are necessary to decrease the environmental and social impacts. Thus researchers have emphasized the significance of stakeholder collaboration and participation in the decision making process and their involvement in each stage of tourism management to achieve long lasting sustainability (Teo 2002, Garrod 2003, Azman 1999). According to Branwell and Lane (2000) the dynamic, diffuse and fragmented manner of tourism development was identified long time ago. However the diversified ways to solve problems associated with fragmentation was not achieved despite such identification (Hall 2003). Some of the challenges faced in implementing these strategies lie in the conflicting public policies enacted by respective governments which are engaged in tourism planning, management and development. Many tourism related public policies are ensnared in an energetic continuation processes with governments struggling to perceive the multitude of implications in tourism and their arbitration ways ( Caffyn & Jobbins 2003). As declared by Scheyvens in 2003 to achieve voluntary participation in desired levels for the planning processes one important precursor should be the empowerment of stakeholders in the community by involving them in the tourism development process. In the absence of empowerment in community and local levels, predictably national endeavors to develop specific identified destinations will not meet with successful results says Sofield (2003). According to Burns in 2004 it has also been established that a top to down attitude in strategic tourism planning will not stimulate or encourage stake holder participation and local commitment. Additionally according to Timothy (2000) the individual and state relationship has conventionally presented key level policy predicaments as many interest groups continue to seek government backing and funding in tourism development process. Therefore in this study major focus will be in determining the effectiveness of the statement made by Henkel & Stirrat (2001:168) to the effect of: â€Å"It is now difficult to find a development project that does not†¦claim to adopt a ‘participatory’ approach involving ‘bottom-up’ planning, acknowledging the importance of ‘indigenous’ knowledge and claiming to ‘empower’ local people† 2. Challenges of local participation in tourism planning In 2000 Hall advocated and emphasized the need in utilizing and developing a network thinking to critically analyze the involvement of public sector partnership and collaboration in tourism to develop sustainability and social capital. However, despite the many attractions of establishing a local community approach in tourism planning there are many challenges existing in the way such a process would be implemented and operated (Murphy 1988). These challenges include the manner in which to foster local participation for tourism planning and management, initiating and maintaining cooperation between public and private sectors and identifying implementation ways for local participation in tourism planning. Therefore it is vital to enhance the assimilation of management approaches in tourism planning. 3. Effective tourism planning for a sustainable development According to Hall (2003), tourism is an important concern for industry and governments as well as communities in terms of augmenting number of travelers, enhancing revenues and impacts for the communities in the tourist destinations. Tourism has the ability of impacting on both micro and macro environments and thus has been recognized as a paradoxical practice situation when adverse reactions occur where tourism can destroy tourism (Mihalic 2003). When ever tourism is not planned or managed efficiently it contains the capacity to destroy its own platform on which the tourism is based. In 1997, McVetty identified different tourism planning traditions and approaches which are commonly referred to day as following: Booster approach – concentrates on motivating and enhancing the tourist frequency. Commercial approach – concentrates on profit maximization Economic approach – focus on the resulting economic values generated via tourism related employment. Environmental approach – focus on the ecological conservation for tourist destinations Community based approach – concentrates on minimum impact and encouragement of involvement and control by local participation in tourism Integrated approach – the social development factor in tourism which takes in to account social mobilization and local participation to maximize tourism contribution towards local communities. In an integrated tourism planning approach it will take in to account a process that endeavor to bring together each individual stakeholder with their variety of experiences and attitudes. Within such a planning process, there is an opportunity for stakeholders to cooperate in arriving at temporary agreements in matters of environmental conservation, biodiversity and social welfare (Burns 2004). It has been established that this approach will be particularly beneficial for developing countries as it provides an alternative tourism approach with a people centered attitude. A variety of tourism management models were developed in the past with the rapid growth in recreation and tourism in natural destinations ( Hall 2003, Gunn & Turgut 2002). However according to McArthur (2000) the TOMM, Tourism Optimization and Management Model developed in Australia is the most successful tool introduced so far as other models failed to establish adequate stakeholder support for implementing and operating plans on a sustainable period to confirm their merits. The problem with these models was their inability to adjust to the diverse stakeholder participants and the absence of cooperative partnership for identifying standards and indicators. 4. Empowerment of local participants for effective tourism planning In 1997 France defined empowerment as a process in which households, local groups, individuals, communities, nations and regions all shape their lives along with the type of society in which they habitat. According to Boog in 2003 the recent past has used this term as a sense of group and collective empowerment. Empowerment contain diverse concepts such as facilitating relationships between individuals, contribution of power between social cultural, political domains says O’Neal & O’Neal (2003). For tourism planning the terms empowerment is regarded as a social development process encouraging and facilitating a respondent to responsive tourism attitude (Ritchie 1993). According to Sofield a vital component embedded in the process of empowerment is the application of decisions making model. Empowerment of local participants in the tourism industry represents multidimensional characteristics according to Scheyvens in 2002 who detailed them as following: Economic empowerment with lasting financial awards for the local participants Physiological empowerment for improving self esteem, pride within the local culture for their knowledge and respective resources. Social empowerment where a community’s integrity is enhanced and sustained via the tourism development process Political empowerment is a platform of democracy where people from all walks of life are invited in the participatory process and allowed to voice opinions and concerns. In 1993 Jenkins argued that local participants would express difficulties in perceiving the complicated aspects related to planning and managing representativeness in the tourism development process. He further stated that the decision making process which would need considerable time and cost may result in a lack of interest within the local communities. Therefore in order to overcome this situation and encourage local community participation in tourism management the issue of collaboration is regarded as a suitable management strategy to encourage participation. 5. Collaboration management between stakeholders and community As declared by Bramwell & Lane in 2000, it is widely acknowledge the importance in involving the many stakeholders in the process of tourism planning and management. The concept has led to the use of many collaborative partnerships and arrangements as a tool or technique with the intention of combining a range of interests to implement and develop pertaining tourism policies. To achieve successfully inclusive tourism development an accomplishment of cooperation within all planning sectors in each scale is an important concept. A significant advantage of such collaboration management is that relevant tourist destinations and respective organizations have the ability of gaining competitive advantages via a process of combining expertise, knowledge, knowhow, capital and various other resources belonging to the multi stakeholders says Kotler, Haider, & Rein (1993). Such a collaboration attempt within stakeholders can result in effective negotiations, dialogues and formulation of a community acceptable proposal in which sustainable tourism can be developed. According to Murphy (1988) the broadly based tourism policies resulting from such management policy integrations can create democratic empowerment, operational advantages, impartiality and finally a greatly enhanced tourism product to the world. Therefore it is vital to regard the entire planning process from a social phenomenon perspective where empowerment of local participants in the decision making process is given high priority. Moreover, collaboration and participation should be considered as important components of social capital that can be enriched via community complexity. 6. Recent Examples of stakeholder participation in tourism In the past clear evidence were seen of a range of individuals and organizations operating on innovative local participation led approaches in tourism management and development. Some of these examples are the Indonesian Andaman Discoveries, the North Andaman Tsunami relief flagship project which has initiated more than 120 projects in identified Tsunami affected communities. This flagship project was instrumental for aiding a large number of local communities to develop a local participatory tourism process successfully and as a result have also developed many supporting resources such as local crafts, traditional music promotions etc. The community tourism project initiated in Scotland Inverclyde tourism group has secured their funding through many resources including the national lottery. The project has achieved tremendous success through a capacity building process as a result of community involvement and partnership working. There are also visible examples to indicate the drawbacks of this concept. As declared by Manyara et al (2006) there are many obstacles in the process of developing indigenous SMTE, small and medium tourism enterprises due to constraints such as accessibility to global markets, deficiency in numeracy and literacy, access to capital and other resources, sector specific skills and insufficient government backing. Their report which concentrated in the local community participation of Kenya tourism also states that through proper legislative frameworks and policies a community based enterprise stand to benefit with better development potential and also benefit the SMTE in the longer term. Solutions cited in this report to make the Kenya tourism project successful was to integrate the requirements of allowing initiatives to be community owned, make communities fully involved in the process of tourism development and management and that these local communities should remain as the main beneficiaries of such initiatives. 7. Conclusion As declared by Mitchell and Reid in 2000 it could be stated in summary that local participation involvement in tourism management and development can be regarded as a simple categorical term defining ‘citizen power’. Within the stage of planning the research and study of social capital and social sensitivity in relation to tourism can provide great insights to the level of social impact alleviation arising from tourism on a local community through a process of relevant and strategic planning (Hall 2003). An important aspect is to consider is integrative planning to ensure minimal adverse impacts, environmental conservation, acceptance of tourism in general and overall community growth (Burns 2004). Equally it is important to consider planning with least amount of conflicts and to foster participation of local communities via controlling resources and tourism planning related decision making. The streamlining of a local community as a tourism product will aid the diversification of tourism offerings and also facilitate a meaningful economic participation in the tourism sector by the local communities. It will also generate many tourism related benefits that exceeds the primary tourism areas within a country. The research study concludes that while there is much written on this subject mainly at a conceptual level, it is vital that proper frameworks and guidelines are established for those communities searching for optimum practices and perceiving the associated benefits of tourism within the community body. It is also evident that establishing a strictly rigid guideline set will not do much to advance a sustainable tourism within the local community agenda. References Azman, A. (1999). Local participation of ecotourism the case of Bruinei ‘ Merinbum Heritage Park. Borneo Review, 10(1), 51-69. Bramwell, B. , & Lane, B. (Eds. ). (2000). Collaboration and partnerships in tourism planning. U. K: Channel View Publications. Burns, P. M. (2004). Tourism planning: A third way? Annals of Tourism Research, 31(1), 24- 43. France, L. (Ed. ). (1997). The role of government. London: Earthscan. Garrod, B. (2003). Local participation in the planning and management of ecotourism: A revised model approach. Journal of Ecotourism, 2(1), 33-52. Gunn, C. A. , & Turgut, V. (2002). Tourism planning: Basic, concepts, cases. New York: Routledge. Hall, C. M. (2000). Rethinking collaboration and partnership: A public policy perspective. In B. Bramwell & B. Lane (Eds. ), Tourism collaboration and partnerships: Politics, practice and sustainability. U. K: Channel View Publications. Hall, C. M. (2003). Politics and place: An analysis of power in tourism communities. In S. Singh, D. J. Timothy & R. K. Dowling (Eds. ), Tourism in destination communities. U. K: CABI Publishing. Jenkins, J. (1993). Tourism policy in rural New South Wales – Policy and research priorities. Geo Journal, 29(3), 281-290. Jones, E & Manyara G (2007). Community? based Tourism Enterprises Development in Kenya: An Exploration of Their Potential as Avenues of Poverty Reduction. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Vol. 15, No. 6, 2007. Welsh School of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Management, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, UK Kotler, P. , Haider, D. H. , & Rein, I. (1993). Marketing places: Attracting investment, industry, and tourism to cities, states, and nations. New York: Free Press. McArthur, S. (Ed. ). (2000). Beyond carrying capacity – Introducing A model to monitor and manage visitor activities in forests. Wellingford, U. K: CABI Publishing. McVetty, D. (1997). Segmenting heritage tourism party – Visits on Dunedin’s Otago Peninsula: A strategic approach. Unpublished Master of Tourism thesis, University of Otago, Dunlin, New Zealand. Mitchell, R. E. , & Reid, D. G. (2000). Community integration: Island tourism in Peru. Annals of Tourism Research, 28(1), 113-139. Mihalic, T. (2003). Economic instruments of environmental tourism policy derived from environmental theories. In R. K. Dowling & D. A. Fennel (Eds. ), Ecotourism policy and planning. London: CABI International. Murphy, P. E. (1988). Community driven tourism planning. Tourism Management, 9(2), 96- 104. O’Neal, G. S. , & O’Neal, R. A. (2003). Community development in the USA: An empowerment zone example. Community Development Journal, 38(2), 120-129. Perez-Salom, J. (2001). Sustainable tourism: Emerging global and regional regulation. Georgetown International Environment Law Review, 13(4), 801-837. Ritchie, J. R. (1993). Tourism research: Policy and managerial priorities for the 1990s and beyond. In D. G. Pearce & R. W. Butler (Eds. ), Tourism research and critiques and challenges. London: Routledge. Scheyvens, R. (2002). Tourism for development: Empowering communities. Singapore: Pearson Education Asia Pte. Ltd. Scheyvens, R. (2003). Local involvement in managing tourism. In S. Singh, D. J. Timothy & R. K. Dowling (Eds.), Tourism in destination communities. U. K: CABI Publishing. Sofield, T. H. B. (2003). Empowerment for sustainable tourism development (Vol. Tourism Social Science Series). London: Pergamon. Teo, P. (2002). Striking a balance for sustainable tourism: Implication of the discourse on globalization. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 10(6), 459-474. Timothy, D. J. (2000). Cross-border partnership in tourism resource management: International parks along the US-Canada border. In B. Bramwell & B. Lane (Eds. ), Tourism collaboration and partnerships: Politics, practice and sustainability. U. K: Channel View Publications.

Answering the US Census Is Required by Law

Many people consider the questions from the  U.S. Census Bureau  either too time-consuming or too invasive and fail to respond. But responding to all census questionnaires is required by federal law. While it rarely happens, the Census Bureau can impose fines for failing to answer the census or the American Community Survey or for intentionally providing false information. According to Title 13, Section 221 (Census, Refusal or neglect to answer questions; false answers) of the United States Code, persons who fail or refuse to respond to the mail-back census form, or refuse to respond to a follow-up census taker, could be fined up to $100. Persons who knowingly provided false information to the census can be fined up to $500. But those fines have significantly increased as of 1984. The Census Bureau points out that under  Section 3571 of Title 18, the fine for refusing to answer a bureau survey can be as much as $5,000, and up to $10,000 for knowingly providing false information. Before imposing a fine, the Census Bureau typically attempts to personally contact and interview persons who fail to respond to census questionnaires. Follow-up Visits In the months following each census—which occurs every 10 years—more than 1.5 million census takers make door-to-door visits to all households that failed to respond to mail-back census questionnaires. The Census worker will assist a member of the household—who must be at least 15-years old—in completing the census survey form. Census workers can be identified by a badge and Census Bureau bag. Privacy Persons concerned about  the privacy of their answers should know that, under federal law, all employees and officials of the Census Bureau are prohibited from sharing a persons personal information with anyone else, including welfare agencies, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service, courts, police, and the military. Violation of this law carries penalties of $5,000 in fines and up to five years in prison. American Communities Survey Unlike the census, which is conducted every 10 years (as required by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution), the American Communities Survey (ACS) is now sent annually to more than 3 million U.S. households. Those selected to participate in the ACS first receive a letter in the mail stating, â€Å"In a few days you will receive an American Community Survey questionnaire in the mail.† The letter will go on to state, â€Å"Because you are living in the United States, you are required by law to respond to this survey.† The envelope will boldly remind you that, â€Å"Your response is required by law.† The information requested by the ACS is more extensive and detailed than  the handful of questions on the regular decennial census. The information gathered in the annual ACS focuses mainly on population and housing and is used to update the information gathered by the decennial census. Federal, state and community planners and policymakers find the more recently updated data provided by the ACS more helpful than the often 10-year-old data from the decennial census. The ACS survey includes about 50 questions applying to each person in the household and takes about 40 minutes to complete, according to the Census Bureau, which states: â€Å"Estimates from the ACS contribute to providing an important picture of America, and an accurate response to the ACS questionnaire is important. When used in conjunction with the most recently available decennial census counts, information from the ACS documents how we live as a nation, including our education, housing, jobs, and many other issues.† Online Census While the Government Accountability Office has questioned the cost, the Census Bureau is expected to offer an online response option for the 2020 decennial census. Under this option, people could respond to their census questionnaires by visiting a secure  website. Census officials hope the convenience of the online response option will increase the census response rate, and thus the accuracy of the census. Purpose The census is used to apportion members of the U.S. House of Representatives and for allocating funds for programs to help the needy, elderly, veterans, and more. The statistics also might be used by local governments to decide where infrastructure projects are needed.