Washington Mutual Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Washington Mutual - Essay Example The conditions are analyzed in the paper and some recommendations have been suggested to improve the performance of the company and thereby determine their accountability. Washington Mutual Inc. is a Seattle based consumer and small business banking company operating in the markets of the United States. It is a savings and loan holding company with two banking subsidiaries namely Washington Mutual Bank (WMB) and Washington Mutual Bank fsb (WMBfsb), as well as numerous non-bank subsidiaries. The Washington Mutual is one of the largest savings and loan associations in the United States. The main business operations of the company include retail banking network of 2,257 stores in California, Florida, Texas, New York, Washington, Illinois, Oregon, New Jersey, Georgia, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Connecticut; card services operating throughout the country with credit card lending business; the commercial operations conducting multi-family and commercial real estate lending business in selected markets and the home loans group, which engages in nationwide single-family residential real estate lending, servicing and capital markets activities (Mouawad, 2007). It is the sole survivor as a major Seattle based bank after the overwhelming trend of merger in the country between 1980 and 1990 which ended the independence of Rainier Bank, Seafirst Bank and Peoples National Bank among others. The Washington Mutual has taken up aggressive business strategies to expand its business. It went on to acquire a huge number of financial and banking institutions since 1930 and rapidly increased its assets to become a giant in banking and finance sector. It showed great performance in customer service since its foundation as a savior of the economy of Seattle after the great fire destruction. It pioneered facilities like cash machine networks and telephone banking for customer satisfaction. The home loan sector of the

Achieving Morality Essay Example for Free

Achieving Morality Essay The external factors play a huge role in shaping one’s decisions. One may think that his genetic and background history has the most influence on his actions, but in reality, the intensity of a given situation has greater impact in the choices of the individual. The surroundings one lives in ultimately influences his perception, decision, and morality. In his essay, â€Å"The Power of Context,† Malcolm Gladwell states how it is the little things in life that makes the bigger difference and in many aspects this is true. In Daniel Gilbert’s essay, â€Å"Immune to Reality† he talks about how human perception about reality is not always accurate. In Oliver Sacks’s essay, â€Å"The Mind’s Eye† he shows how there are many different perceptions to view the world. So at the same time, is it possible to dictate what is right and wrong in one’s life if all the decisions are a result of his given situation and surroundings? Also the morality for each person varies depending on their circumstances and perception of their world. Ultimately, an absolute form of right and wrong does not exist because the context of the situation always changes, but still it is possible to achieve an applicable standard of morality in society. Each individual has his own way of looking at the world that is completely unique when compared to the way another person does. This is perception of reality and this form is always open to discussion because the person generates this viewpoint. Each individual makes his decisions based on his perception of the world. â€Å"The processes by which we generate positive views are many: we pay more attention to favorable information, we surround ourselves with those who provide it, and we accept it uncritically (Gilbert 134). In many instance one creates his own perception to suit his way of thinking, so the individual could be in the center of his world. â€Å"He seemed to regard this loss of visual imagery as a prerequisite for the full development, the heightening, of his other senses† (Sacks 304). Most people see becoming blind as unfortunate event, but according to this person it helped him to improve his other senses. â€Å"The tabloids dubbed Goetz the subway vigilante an d the death wish shooter† (Gladwell 153). Rather than seeing Goetz as a lunatic the newspapers depicted him as a hero. So this shows the difference in perception between people and how it varies from individuals. Importantly since each person’s perception varies it is hard to claim whose perception is right or wrong because ultimately is there a â€Å"right† perception of the world that everybody should be following? Even when viewing a painting everybody has their own interpretation of the art. No one claims there is only one â€Å"right† perception; rather the different perceptions are simply different approaches towards looking at the world. â€Å"It was simply inconceivable that someone could pull a gun on someone else on the subway and be called a hero for it.† (Gladwell 154) shows how different viewpoints affect the verdicts of a situation. A hero to some people might be a villain to others and it is hard to claim who is the â€Å"right† hero. The difference in subjectivity among people will always create a discrepancy of opinions among people. Since a variety of perception exists, then is it possible to have a perfect set and stone â€Å"right and wrong† rules in life? The context of a given matter plays a huge role in deciding the morality of the event. Morality is very much depended on the background information of the event. It is very hard to dictate the morality of an issue without seeing the bigger picture. Most people might see stealing as a wrong act, but what if someone stole a piece of bread in order to make sure he does not die from starvation, is that still a wrong act? In a situation like that one might feel sympathetic to that poor fellow and probably will see stealing as reasonable in that given situation. â€Å"We do not realize that our views will change† (Gilbert 135), the idea of morality varies on the situation because the context of the event directly affects morality. â€Å"Blindness now becomes for him a dark paradoxical gift. This is not just compensation, but a whole new order, a new mode of human being† (Sacks 305), in many aspects blind people do not see their condition as a curse or burden rather a different approach towards living and for most sighted people it might be hard to understand and accept this approach. â€Å"That there are instances where you can take normal people from good schools and happy families and good neighborhoods and powerfully affect their behavior merely by changing the immediate details of their situation† (Gladwell 162) this shows how the little details of an event plays huge role in the outcomes of an event. Essentially, context of a situation is what dictates morality and it is going to be almost impossible to label morality as set and stone as something like the Ten Commandments because the context always changes. Even though the standards of morality vary according to the situation there are some aspects of morality that one subconsciously accepts. Some ethics are universally considered wrong and one’s mind without even one knowing already knows that some choices are not right. That is why the mind tends to usually question the choices one makes. â€Å"When we cook facts, we are similarly unaware of why we are doing it, and this turns out to be a good thing, because deliberate attempts to generate positive views† (Gilbert 134), subconsciously to some extend individuals are aware of the morality behind an action and this will help individuals to make their decisions wisely. â€Å"To what extent are we our experiences, our reactions shaped, predetermined, by our brains, and to what extend do we shape our own brains† (Sacks 303), There are some emotions and judgments that are simply preinstalled in one’s mind which aids an individual in making choices that are difficult. â€Å"After a while the bad guys wised up and began to leave their weapons home and pay their fares† (Gladwell 157) this shows how there is a consciousness inside individuals that helps in guiding with decision making. When making a choice that might inflict pain to us or others one’s mind will usually try to suggest against that decision. That is why the idea of taking an innocent person’s life is universally seen as a wrongful act in societies. Therefore, there is a sense of unconscious morality that lies within the hearts of most individuals. Achieving a complete form of morality is a very idealistic thought because practically it’s not possible. There are infinitely many ways of perceiving morality and it would be impossible to set a standard that would suit all the time. â€Å"Too often people with sight don’t see anything† (Sacks 310). There are parts that even one’s eye sometimes cannot capture meaning that sometimes it’s simply not possible to account for all the possibilities. â€Å"The benefit of all this unconscious cookery is that it works, but the cost is that it makes us strangers to ourselves† (Gilbert 135). People sometime engage in activities without being aware of the magnitude of the situation. †They are both based on the premise that an epidemic can be reversed, can be tipped, by tinkering with the smallest details of the immediate environment† (Gladwell 157) the intensity of the situation has a huge influence on the decision of the individual. Due to all this, perceiving morality completely would be very difficult. Also having a perfect morality would require infinite knowledge which humans do not possess. As an individual one is limited at what he observes at a given time and there are limitations for each individual in this world. However, through the perceptions of many individuals, people will be able to come up with a better understanding of morality. Even with the limitations each individual has a small understanding of morality in the back of his head. Essentially, when all these understanding that are possessed by individuals are combined then a suitable set of standards will be formed that can accompany most situations. The collective effort of people will help to generate a better set of morality that will help in creating a peaceful environment for people to live in. That is why it is important to have many different perceptions of morality because they all eventually lead to creating appropriate rules that will be suitable for the well-being of a society. Despite not being able to have an absolute morality with infallible accuracy and with infinite knowledge, an applicable method of sensing morality is still practical. Individuals lack the ability to have a perfect morality because for one to acquire it in completion one needs to possess infinite amount of knowledge. Despite this back drop each individual innately has the ability to know morality in small parts and therefore combining the small parts of every individual will help to achieve a suitable set of codes. The differences in perception between people only aids to benefit humans in portraying a better understanding of morality. That is why it is important that there are different types of perceptions because if there was only one view then a very limited and narrow minded principle would be prevalent in the world. The different pathways of thinking done by people finally leads to achieving a suitable mode of morality. An absolute form of morality will never be possible in this imperfect world, however, that does not mean accomplishing a reasonable standard is impossible.

Tourism and terrorism in egypt

Tourism and terrorism in egypt Introduction The tremendous historical sites and sights and rich cultural heritage has made Egypt a unique tourism destination. The prominence of tourism industry has had such undeniable impact on the overall Egyptian economy that it has been regarded by many observers as the life blood of Egyptian economy. The crucial significant of tourism industry have not been overlooked by Egyptian political dissents. Although unsuccessful, they at time attempted to make their political demands by carrying out terrorism attacks on this vulnerable industry. This chapter attempted to offer some general insights on tourism industry and terrorism accidents in the contemporary Egypt. The chapter begins with a cursory review of the Egyptian context proceeding with discussion on the fluctuation of the tourism industry in Egypt in the past three decades. The analysis is largely based upon the official data taken from Egypt Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) and the annual analysis of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). On occasions, the complementary aggregated data has been adapted from other resources like Business Source Premier and Regional Surveys of the World, the Middle East and North America (2008). The analysis is spilt into three periods, comparing the international tourists arrivals and receipts. Finally the results are represented in a graph tracing the trends in past three decades. The next section deals with the main tourism stakeholders playing role in the tourism in the Egypt. The final section di scusses the emergence, evolution and challenges of terrorism groups in Egypt and their engagement in terrorist attacks targeted tourism destinations. In this section counter-terrorism strategies oscillating between carrot and stick policies will be reviewed and discussed the degree to which each has been successful. Egypt at a glance The Arab Republic of Egypt located in the northeastern of the African continent and the Sinai Peninsula. It has land borders with Sudan in the south and with Libya in the west and shoreline extending along the Mediterranean Sea in the north and Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba in the East. Since the most of the country is desert, the population is distributed very unevenly in Cairo and Alexandria and around the Nile and Suez Canal. These areas are among the worlds most densely populated regions. (Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook, 2008) Egypts geographic arrangement and distribution of population, and especially the sole reliance on the Nile River for irrigation has been resulted in central administration and allowed the government to extend well its authority to the peripheries. (Goldschmidt, Arthur, 1988) In 2008, the total population of Egypt was 81,713,520 which make the Egypt one of the most populous countries in the region. A large proportion this population is young; half of them are under twenty years of age and two-thirds are under thirty a situation that severely strains the economy. (CAPMAS, 2008) Egypts government is hardly able to meet the demands for food, shelter, education, and jobs. Around three million Egyptians have migrated to other Arab countries, particularly the oil-rich states, in search of work. Their payments to their families constitute a major source of Egypts income. Much like elsewhere in the world economy have come to play a crucial role in Egyptian lives. The long history of colonial exploitation and the legacy of enduring authoritarian rulers forestalled the industrial development of Egypt in nineteen century. At the turn of twentieth century, the industrialization began to take root by a rapid growth in textile industry. The growth was comparatively satisfactory before socialist government of Abdel Nasser (1956-1970) took the power. Abdel Nasser eighteen years era is characterized by militarization of politics and concentration of power through the supremacy of the executive branch. Under Nasser the state took the control of the economy to ensure equitable development, a policy known later as Arab Socialism. Nasser was a charismatic leader and earned reputation as champion of Arab interest, however, his economic policies brought the country on the verge of bankruptcy. Nassers death in 1970 ushered in a massive political and economic change i n Egypt. By initiating the economic policy of Enfetah (openness), which means liberalization of economic, Sadat his successor began a series of fundamental reforms in the economy. In addition, Sadats regional foreign policy including peace initiative and rapprochement with Israel enhanced the international image of the Egypt. Under President Hosni Mubarak (1981 until now) Egypt paved the same routes and strove for the same goals, however, there was along way to go as the country still was grappling with chronic problems emanated from inside and abroad. (Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook, 2008) Flow and ebb of Tourism Industry in Egypt Between 1982 and 1990, the number of international tourist arrivals went up from 1,423,251 to 2,600,117 which indicate an increase of 182 per cent. Coupled with the numbers of arrivals, revenue from tourism was about 2.5 billion US dollars by 1990, ranked tourism sector as one of the most lucrative sectors of the Egyptian economy. (Table. 5.1) Such great advancement was mainly because of the Egypt government economic initiatives of liberalization I indicated before. (Wahab, 1997) However, the tourism industry proved to be one of the most susceptible sectors to instability in the region. The triggering of terrorist activity in the Middle East after mid-1980s and the anti-American sentiment in the region, intensified by the US air-strikes on targets in Libya in 1986, resulted in tourists reduction, particularly US citizens, in traveling to Egypt. The 90s started with one of the most dramatic event of region caused by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 and the following international dispatching of troops to the region. Not surprisingly the tourism industry in Egypt was affected considerably by the consequences of this event. (Conrad, 2005) In February 1991 tourist arrivals fallen off to 57,000, compared with 208,000 in February 1990. Following the end of the Persian Gulf conflict, tourist numbers recovered quickly, reaching to 2214277 on average in 1991 and account for the record figure of around 3 millions in the 12 months to June 1992. (Table. 5.2) Yet, the tourism sector in Egypt went bust again, when a tourism destination were targeted by Islamist militants terrorists. The number of tourists visiting Egypt dropped off about 22% in 1993, while revenue fell by 38%. (Table 5.2) Having failed to eradicate the problem of terrorism through its campaign against militant Islamists, the Government allocated 25 million US dollars for a venture to promote tourism in 1994, with the aim of restoring revenue from this sector to its 1992 level. (Wahab, 1997) However, the number of visitors in the first three months of 1994 was 15% lower than the 1993 level. In January 1993 the World Bank had approved a 130 million US dollars loan for the development of new tourism infrastructure, within the frame ­work of a program, valued at some 805 billion US dollars (EIU, 2004) Realizing that tourism is one of the main cornerstones of the national economy, a com ­prehensive plan was prepared for the fiscal year 1994/1995 to enhance the efforts in three main tourism fields: (a) development; (b) promotion; and (c) public awareness (El Beltagui 1995). The Ministry of Tourism was among the pioneer to put into action the policy of privatization. In addition, an overall national tourism development strategy drawing on marketing techniques was adopted. This strategy laid out the priority zones and determined the detailed rules for investors while taking into account a sustainable development strategy by protecting the natural and cultural resources. The Ministry of Tourism also undertook practical measures in the promotion of tourist industry through an ambitious plan. One important element of this promotional plan was to strengthen Egypts image on the international tourism map as a place for convention tourism. Furthermore, it attempted to raise public awarenes s of the significance of tourism through the mass media. Ten TV spots were produced in 1993-94 and repeatedly shown on main Egyptian TV channels. Also, an agreement was made between the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Education to incorporate tourism issues in the curricula of primary and secondary schools. (El Beltagui 1995). By mid-1995 several developmental plan with the aim of enhancing tourism infrastructures were implemented in the Abu Soma and the Red Sea coast at Sahl Hashish. According to the Tourism Development Authority report during these years some 27 new projects also were taken into consideration on the south Sinai coast. (EIU, 1998) the consequences of such measures was obvious, in 1995 tourist arrivals increased a quarter further compared to last year culminating to 3.13 millions, a pattern repeated in the following year with some 3.9 million tourist arrivals and estimated revenue of 3.7 billion US dollars. (Table 5.2) Source: Egypt Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) Flourishing of the tourism industry was halted by a dramatic setback in late 1997. Constant fears of the safety and security of travelers followed a terrorist attack on a German tour bus in Cairo in September, which nine German tourists and one Egyptian lost their lives, were aggravated the next month by the massacre of 58 tourists and four Egyptians in Luxor. Many tourist agencies cancelled their travels and similarly many potential tourists withdraw their application for travelling to these destinations. Immediately the Government took extensive recovery measures including compensation of loss of tourism by internal tourism in the region. (Conrad, 2005) Egypt Air, which lost many foreign tourists, offered a half priced fares tickets for domestic tourists. Key among the recovery measures taken in these years is a numerous discounts on several goods and services to urge the potential travelers to come back to the region. The official statistics estimated 1.2 billion US dollars result ed from decrease of tourists numbers from 3.9 to 3.7 and other recovery expenses. Since 1999 the tourism industry undergone recovery and the former construction plans in tourism industry accelerated. The statistics in this year confirm such rapid recovery as around 4.8million tourists visited Egypt and brought about revenue of about 3.9 million US dollars. (CAPMAS, 2008) The investing in tourism industry in the following years was unprecedented. For instance, the value of only one contract for development of luxury accommodation in Port Ghaleb on the Red Sea was around 2,000 million US. These investments proved to be effective as tourist arrivals increased to 5.5 million in 2000, bringing around 4.345 billion US dollar income. (EIU, 2000) The regional crisis including conflict between Palestinians and Israelis in second intifada in September 2000 and the September 11th attacks of 2001 put the sector once again into decline, a number of projects put on hold and many travellers cancel their flights as a result. By November 2001 tourist numbers had fallen off 54.5% compared with the same month the previous year. Since then tourist arrivals have steadily risen and by August 2002 arrivals were a remarkable 15% up on the previous year. However, revenues were taking longer to return to pre-September 11th levels as a result of increased discounting. (Table 5.3) Once again the Government took into consideration the recovery measures in 2002 to make up for the tremendous losses of tourist revenues. Due to global values of Egypt heritages the prestigious international organization showed willingness to make investment in tourism industry in Egypt. A prime example is UNESCO which supported a 350 million dollar project to reconstr uct the Great Egyptian Museum near the Pyramids at Giza. The second Gulf War in 2003 affected the tourism industry in Egypt in some extent. The same year Egypt was host of an international conference on promotion of sustainable tourism following which contribute immensely in offering a positive image of Egypt tourism industry. In 2004 tourist income reached 6.1 billion US dollar which was the Egypts most important current-account credit in the economy history of the country. Tourist arrivals increased by 35% in 2004 to 8.1 million arrivals and a second successive record. (EIU, 2004) The Egyptian government since kept supporting the industry by targeting the markets in European and Arab countries and removing the existing barriers for foreign investing. A successful measure taken by Egypt government was sponsoring the travel of tourism journalists and allowing German and Italian visitors to show any identification cards rather than passport. Key among these measures has also been investing in human resources. The latest measure in this respect was signing a contract with Cornell University to offer training course for Egyptians in the hospitality and tourism industry. The similar educational contract has also been signed with countries with high experiences in the tourism industry such as Greece and France. In addition a five-year campaign with the aim of raising the awareness of public was undertaken in April 2006. Within these programs Egyptians are given training about significant of tourism industry in their life and how to communicate in a hospitable manner. Such training has also incorporated in the primary school curriculum. The campaign also makes best use of televised and printed media to meet its mission. Another campaign has been undertaken to enhance tourism at international level. UK-based DDB International has been hired for this purpose. Marwa Fayed, senior account manager notes â€Å"The campaign borrows some of the same concepts used by Malaysia and India .We are trying to make Egypt into a brand.† (Cited in Meed, 2007) These measures resulted in the renewal of attacks on tourist facilities in 2004 and 2005 and a victory for authorities. Finally according to most recent statistics, in 2006 tourism revenue reached 7.6 billion dollars, Egypt largest source of export earnings. Tourists arrivals rose by 5 percent to 9.1 million, a third successive record. (EIU, 2008) Source: Egypt Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) Tourism stakeholders in Egypt Central and Local government Due to centralized system of governance, appointed authorities in Egypt at local and central level has taken major roles in tourism industry. In particular in recent years they have drawn considerable attention to the industry. Egypt is organized into 27 governorates, each headed by an appointed governor. The local government system act in 1960, stipulated a diverse responsibility for governorates ranging from social, health, welfare, and educational services to the social and economic development of their region. They are monitoring on the measures and plans of the city and village councils. The actual authority however rest with top officials in Cairo in a highly centralized manner through a heavily burdened bureaucracy. The village mayors who were only elected local authorities are now selected by the Ministry of the Interior. (Fahmi, 2002) The ministry of tourism The Ministry of Tourism has come to play destination management organization (DMO) role in Egypt albeit with more and more limited power compared to its Western counterparts. The Ministry is organized into four major sections: (a) Planning and Development; (b) Regulation of Tourist Services; (c) Administration; and (d) Financial and Legal Affairs. Like most other ministries, the Min ­istry of Tourism suffers from overstaffing and inadequate technical capa ­bility. The Ministry in recent years has taken many proactive steps to ensure the private sector dependency tourism. The initial step was establishment of the Tourism Development Authority in 1991 with the aim of enhancing the relationship of private sector with the Ministry in guiding and promoting touristic investments. (Wahab 1997). The Ministry also supervises a number of public sector organizations: (a) Egypt ­ian General Authority for Promotion of Tourism; (b) Public Authority for Conference Centres; and (c) Tourism Dev elopment Authority. A crisis management unit has been established in the Ministry of Tourism to coordinate the stakeholders activities during and after crisis. Key to the recent changes in the Ministry is the new position of the public sector Tourism Authority, as an umbrella company consists of five associated companies including Egyptian General Organization for Tourism and Hotels, Misr Travel Company, Egyptian Hotels Company, Misr Hotels, and Grand Hotels of Egypt (Wahab 1997).The new appointments in the top managerial body of the Ministry of Tourism 2004 is also represents fundamental positive changes for the tourism sector in Egypt. (American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, 2008) Ministry of Interior and Police There are two major branches of the police in Egypt. The State Security Investigations Sector (SSIS) dealing with crime and investigation, and the Central Security Force (CSF) dealing with internal security issues like public protests and combat with oppositions. As a whole, the force maintains law and order, detects and prevents crime, collects evidence, processes passports, controls traffic, and screens immigrants. In each governorate, a director of police oversees law enforcement in the district. The director reports to the governor. Both the governor and director are overseen by the Ministry of the Interior. Police ranks reflect the gradations within the army, with the higher ranking police officers being major generals down to first lieutenants. Below this are lieutenant-chief warrant officers. Enlisted officers hold the ranks of master sergeant, sergeant, corporal, and private. There is a special tourist police, who wear an armband with an insignia in Arabic and English and are able to speak in English. It was established in 1997 after the massacre of 60 tourists at the Hatsheptsut temple in Luxor. According to one report, a large body of tourist police has been deployed to guard tourist sites. (Fielding, D. and Shortland, A. 2005) Egyptian Tourism Federation (ETF) The tourism private sector in Egypt is represented by Egyptian Federation of Tourist Chambers (EFTC) which was established in 1968 when the first law for tourism was enacted. With new demands for more and more enhancing the tourism industry its official title was changed to Egyptian Tourism Federation (ETF) in 2002. The main ETF task as mentioned in its constitution is to ensure the common interests of the tourism industry by developing strategic cooperation and joint planning between the five Affiliate Associations. This is accomplished through close relationship with the five affiliate business associations: Egyptian Hotels Association (EHA) Egyptian Travel Agents Association (ETAA) Egyptian Chamber of Tourist Establishments (ECTE) Egyptian Chamber of Tourist Commodities (ECTC) Egyptian Chamber of Diving and Water Sports (CDWS). The ETF is also work in association with the following institutions: Travel and tourism enterprises Ministry of Tourism and public authorities in general Supply structure of the tourism industry According to its official site the areas of activity of the ETF is to enhance and support following sectors: Resources development Transportation Infrastructure and superstructure of tourism destinations Human resources development International and regional organizations concerned with tourism development (ETF website) Egypt Airline EgyptAir is a major Egypt state-owned airline established in 1932 and headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. Beginning in 1980, EgyptAir embarked on a modernization and marketing plan. Accordingly, EgyptAir planned its network to maximize its traffic and scope, reaching main cities in all five continents. To carry out its marketing plan, EgyptAir purchased several new aircraft and then developed an autonomous infrastructure to support and serve its fleet in order to operate in a safe and efficient manner. As a result of its market research, EgyptAir was reinvented in a stepped-pyramid form. The base of the pyramid was EgyptAirs most profitable markets. This was a significant step toward establishing the airlines financial credibility, which can be very challenging for an airline from an underdeveloped region of the world such as Egypt. EgyptAir owns shares in many tourism companies and hotel chains, such as Cairo Airport Mà ¶venpick, Tut Amon, and Nefertari in Aswan and Abu Simbel, and Taba Hilton resorts in Sinai. EgyptAir also owns shares in many charter companies, such as Shorouk Air and Air Cairo. Such investments have increased EgyptAirs assets tenfold since the implementation of the airlines modernization and expansion plan in 1980. EgyptAirs network has also expanded to reach major cities and capitals in all five continents. (Groenewege, Adrianus, 2003) Terrorism in Egypt There is little debt that the main challenge to the Tourism Industry comes from a major anti-government extremist movement, the Islamic Group (IG, known in Arabic as Al-Gamaat al-Islamiya).[7] IG emerged in the late 1970s with the principle objective of removing the current Egyptian government from power and replacing it with an Islamic regime. Affiliated with al-Qaida, it has also developed an absolute anti- United States (U.S.) pledge. From 1992 until 1999, IG militants carried out several attacks against tourist destinations in Egypt, most notably a November 1997 attack at Luxor that claimed the lives of 58 foreign visitors. (Graph, 2) Since 1992 Egyptian police and security centres embarked massive attacks on Islamic groups. Coupled with these counter terrorism measures Egyptian parliament passed new anti-terrorism law stipulating death penalty for some crimes and consequently and the Egyptian martial judiciary convicted a number of terrorist to death on accusation of overthrowing the regime. The Islamic groups fought back through terrorism attacks mainly toward the tourism destinations. Such attacks continued constantly over 1993, and proved to be a suitable target for terrorists to gain their goals and at the same the tourism industry suffered considerably from the attacks. These left an intensively negative image of Egypt as a tourism choice and were resulted in withdrawal of many international tourism operators from Egypt. This time the government accelerated its counter-terrorism measures by deployment a massive number of security forces. Those accused of terrorist act were received very severe punishments by military courts. In 1993 these courts in an unprecedented action convicted a record number of 38 Islamists to death and 29 were executed. (Tal, 2005) Not surprisingly, such measures run in contrast with human right principles and triggered an extensive international criticism. Such opposition slowed down a little aggressive measure. The Egyptian government also tried to carry out the policy of carrot instead of stick by allowing the oppositions to occupy some minor public posts. (Kepel, 2005) The tug of war between government and Islamic dissents carried out till after 1997 when in massive trial 98 oppositions were sentenced charges of subversion, four of whom were convicted to death penalty and eight to imprisonment for life. This triggered a new wave of terrorism fight back marked by terrorism attack to tourist bus in Cairo which lead to killing nine German tourists and injuring 11 others. This attack is still remained unclear as the government claimed that terrorist had no link with IG but evidences all support the strong connection IG members with the event, following this event two suspects of conducting the attack were executed. This severe reaction led to the tragedy of Luxor in which 70 people, including 58 foreign tourists, wore massacred by members of IG. This over reaction learnt the Government to emphasis more on carrot policies. As such, they opened up a dialogue with moderate oppositions as part of a national reform. (Kassem, 2004) As a result, Muslim Brotherhood condemned the attack. Other political measures taken into account to combat terrorism was secret agreement between Egypt and the West for the identifying and extraditing IG leaders in exile. Since the public opinion no longer supporting the aggressive actions of terrorist, IG showed the signs of ceasefire in 1999. In 2000 Al-Jihad also paved the same way and declared the halt in terrorism attacks. The ceasefire was short-lived when in October 2004, 34 people were killed in bomb attacks at Taba. These were followed by terrorists attacks in Sharm al-Sheikh in 2005, which led to 64 lose of life, and a series of bombings exploded in Dahab in April 2006, which killed 20 people. Yet, the government has linked these attacks to terror cells of local Bedouin from North Sinai, which have connections to al-Qaida. Conclusion The progress in tourism industry in Egypt was maddeningly slow in Nasser era; however, aftermath of Nassers death the country drew attention back to tourism industry and since as the official statistics indicates it has thrived and dramatically developed. The industry proved to be very vulnerable to the security incidents. In respond, the Egyptian government has undertaken a plethora of counter terrorism techniques. The balance sheet of their measures demonstrated a capacity of for rebounding strongly from such incidents, but a sustained campaign would be far more difficult.

The Lilies of the Field :: essays papers

Vocabulary From â€Å"The Lilies of the Field† Amiable- to be friendly and noble. â€Å"A sculptor would have interpreted the features in terms of character, but Homer Smith’s mother had once said of him that he was two parts amiable and one part plain devil.†Antagonism- to be angry; hostile.â€Å"Homer felt antagonism stir in him, but it was a fine day and he was carrying the day in his spirit.† Pantomime- a routine â€Å"She went through the pantomime of shaking hands with one of the nuns and he told her what she was doing, pointing out the â€Å"you† and the â€Å"her.† â€Å"Segregated- to be set separated from others.â€Å"â€Å"If you learn English from me,† he said apologetically, â€Å"you’re sure enough going to get yourselves segregated some places.†Ã¢â‚¬Å" Dilemma- a problem that has multiple solutions but all having a downfall. â€Å"She did not have the authority to except gifts, but she lacked the vocabulary necessary to refuse acceptance or to explain her dilemma.†Debris- Left over wreckage.â€Å"The warmth of the day touched his skin and he was looking toward the debis in the foundation. Alternative- another way or idea. â€Å"He created a refuse pile that would have to be leveled off some day but he had no alternative and it did not worry him.† Ultimately- above all else â€Å"She wants a place ultimately for poor boys from the city; Spanish-speaking boys who get in trouble.† Exultation- rejoice â€Å"Loneliness had long since dropped away from him and he felt exultation.† Elude- escaped â€Å"He wanted to mingle his voice with these others but the words eluded him so long as he regarded them as words; when he thought of them merely as sounds, they made a pattern in his mind.† Reverence- purity.â€Å" When he walked to the station wagon, he was empty of thought but was filled with the throbbing sound, a happy feeling of reverence.† Dismay- to be afraid.â€Å" The expenditure dismayed him but he assured himself that he would pay the money back to his fund out of his pay on Friday.†Voracious- hungry He turned to his right on a rutted road and the nuns were in the field, working on their variegated crop, fighting for their growing stuff against weeds and voracious insects and the parched dryness of the soil.† Reluctant- unwilling. â€Å"He did not know whether he would still have a job with Livingston Construction Company and he was reluctant to leave his own job unguarded.

The ultimate relationship :: essays research papers

Doing good? We’ve been here since sept. and people always ask what have you been doing. WE’ve been trying to fit in. We’ve stopped saying yall. Plural. We’ve started using utensils. Potholes, you have obstacle courses In cincy we drive the speed limit. I’m thinking we vote to have ish printed on the speed limit signs. Accent. People ask us how its going? How are things for the new church coming along. Let me tell you. We learned a few weeks ago that the financial support we would receive from our sponsoring organizations was a little bit less than we’d expected. 10’s of thousands of dollars less. The day I found out I began furiously running numbers. How can I make this work. How can I make this work? Do I call my mommy? I’m 31 years old and my mother still gives me lunch money. I know I’m spoiled, but its true, if I’m at home in Cincinnati, my mother will just slip me a twenty. Mom, I wonder if I could get a 50 year advance on my lunch money. I wanted to fix it but I couldn’t. We were just plain short ten’s of thousands of dollars. I prayed. God, I’m not sure what to do here. I prayed and prayed but I didn’t really feel any better. I read my Bible. All the verses I could remember about God providing for his people and God being faithful, but honestly it didn’t really provide much comfort. And then I did something I’m almost embarrassed to tell you. I was desperate to hear from God and so I flipped through my Bible and asked God to speak to me. I landed on John 6. â€Å"Jesus Saw a large crowd coming and asked phillip where will we find enough food to feed all of these people. Hah-I thought kind of like us launching this church. WE’ve got this crowd coming on launch day, and we don’t have enough money to buy the equipment we need to resource these people spiritually. John 6:? â€Å"Jesus asked this only to test him, because he already knew what he was going to do.† I wondered. â€Å"Is this verse for me?† Jesus has allowed this lack of funds to happen to test us, and he already has in mind what he’s going to do.† I started to feel a little better. A little more confident and I read on.

Achieving Visibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man :: Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

Ralph Ellison’s â€Å"Invisible Man,† as told by the â€Å"invisible man† himself, is the story of a man’s quest to separate his beliefs and values from those being pressed upon him. The narrator never gives his name in the story, which is shown later to have great significance. The narrator is a well-educated black man who has been kicked out of his college, and lied to by the school officials. While wandering around Harlem searching for some sort of closure, he encounters a black couple, unjustly evicted from their home. A crowd has gathered, also upset by the injustice, and seems to be ready to riot. Instead, the narrator speaks to them, and they rush the house systematically. This is his first true display of independent thinking and action in the story. He speaks his honest feelings to a crowd, and is backed by them. The narrator’s actions, however, don’t remain so uninhibited throughout the story. The narrator is later approached by a representative of a group called the Brotherhood, who wish for the narrator to join them as a black leader. In the beginning his ideas are respected, but in time his superiors order him to follow their instructions, placing aside his own ideas and feelings. For a while, the narrator regresses from his independence, simply content following orders. He comes to realize, however, that he is being stifled by the Brotherhood, desiring free action once again. The narrator’s will suddenly conflicts with the will of the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood essentially wants to act more pacifistically, taking a less dangerous approach to the raging will of the black people. Rather than rectifying the changed Brotherhood, the narrator decides to sabotage it from the inside. His actions doing this once again represent those of a strong-willed individual, rather than his previous conformist following. The effect on the Brotherhood is shown when many of their members begin to leave, empowered now to stand against the corrupted Brotherhood. The end result is a huge riot in the streets of Harlem, between different affiliations, races, and communities. The narrator, along with his briefcase containing items of his past, is chased into a sewer during the riot. He looks through his items and realizes he has been deceived and made some poor choices in the past. He burns the items, saying goodbye to his past and embracing a new desire to understand himself, as well as his place in the world. Achieving Visibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man :: Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man Ralph Ellison’s â€Å"Invisible Man,† as told by the â€Å"invisible man† himself, is the story of a man’s quest to separate his beliefs and values from those being pressed upon him. The narrator never gives his name in the story, which is shown later to have great significance. The narrator is a well-educated black man who has been kicked out of his college, and lied to by the school officials. While wandering around Harlem searching for some sort of closure, he encounters a black couple, unjustly evicted from their home. A crowd has gathered, also upset by the injustice, and seems to be ready to riot. Instead, the narrator speaks to them, and they rush the house systematically. This is his first true display of independent thinking and action in the story. He speaks his honest feelings to a crowd, and is backed by them. The narrator’s actions, however, don’t remain so uninhibited throughout the story. The narrator is later approached by a representative of a group called the Brotherhood, who wish for the narrator to join them as a black leader. In the beginning his ideas are respected, but in time his superiors order him to follow their instructions, placing aside his own ideas and feelings. For a while, the narrator regresses from his independence, simply content following orders. He comes to realize, however, that he is being stifled by the Brotherhood, desiring free action once again. The narrator’s will suddenly conflicts with the will of the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood essentially wants to act more pacifistically, taking a less dangerous approach to the raging will of the black people. Rather than rectifying the changed Brotherhood, the narrator decides to sabotage it from the inside. His actions doing this once again represent those of a strong-willed individual, rather than his previous conformist following. The effect on the Brotherhood is shown when many of their members begin to leave, empowered now to stand against the corrupted Brotherhood. The end result is a huge riot in the streets of Harlem, between different affiliations, races, and communities. The narrator, along with his briefcase containing items of his past, is chased into a sewer during the riot. He looks through his items and realizes he has been deceived and made some poor choices in the past. He burns the items, saying goodbye to his past and embracing a new desire to understand himself, as well as his place in the world.

History of French Cinema Essay

The art of cinematography is supposed to be born in France. On December 28, 1885, in one of the cafe-saloons at Boulevard des Capucines in Paris a screening by Louis and Auguste Lumiere, L’Arrivee d’un train en gare de la Ciotat, was presented to general public’s attention. Along with some other early movies, including Le Voyage dans la Lune, it marked the birth of a new epoch in arts. Since those times French cinema was never on the decline. Currently, it is considered to be very developed and the next best after Hollywood. Early French movies were mostly filmed with the help of the techniques of stop-tricks, multiple exposures, substitutions and other simple special effects. At that, an important role was played by Georges Melies, an influential French movie-maker, who used to promote cinematography and involve in it many talented composers, actors and screenwriters of those times. During the 1910s numerous comedies with Max Linder gained a huge popularity worldwide. Before the World War I, overwhelming majority of cinema movie products was made in France, mainly at Pathe Freres and Gaumont Pictures. After the war, the era of poetic realism and classicism started in French cinema. Such movies as La Grande Illusion, Les Enfants du Paradis and others were reflecting post-war realities and social life. Another direction of French cinema development within the 1930s was comedy, where the contribution of Rene Clair (Le Salaire de la Peur, etc. ) was the most substantial. The movies L’Atlante and Zero de Conduite directed by Jean Vigo were the examples of further experimentations with cinema production techniques. Modern image of French cinema art started its formation after the World War II and recognition of its aftereffects. Following a series of anti-Nazi movies, during the late 1940s French directors started addressing to the problems of humanism, as well as producing a number of high-quality entertaining movies. Besides, the screenings of French literature classics, including La Charterhouse at Parma and Le Rouge et le Noir, gained a rapid worldwide popularity. But one of the central cinema works of that period of time is the movie Hiroshima Mon Amour directed by Alain Resnais. In 1946 the first International Movie Festival took place in Cannes and received the status of annual. Nowadays it is one of the most prestigious movie festivals, which give opportunity to discover new talents in cinema industry. In the beginning of the 1950s a number of gifted actors of various genres appeared in France: Brigitte Bardot, Jean Marais, Bourvil, Maria Casares, Antoine Doinel, Louis de Funes, Serge Reggiani and many others. French cinema was becoming more and more thematic and experimental. On the peak of the â€Å"new wave† in the 1950s, a lot of new directors, such as Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Yves Robert, Francis Veber, Claude Lelouch and Louis Malle made themselves known. The developments of that epoch are regarded to emphasizing conceptual forms of the plot. The movies of Jacques Demy, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg featuring a brilliant French actress Catherine Deneuve and Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, marked a new direction of French cinema art: cinema-musical. Within the 1960s-70s a new series of talented actors dominated in French cinema: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon, Annie Girardot, just to name a few. Such styles as melodrama, historical movies, classical dramatic repertoire and absurdist experimentations were developing. Also, French comedies regained their worldwide popularity due to outstanding performances of Michel Colucci, Pierre Richard and Gerard Depardieu. During the 1980s about 140 French movies became popular on global level. Modern French cinema is a very sophisticated art, in which human psychology and dramatics of the plot are always united with a little piquancy and artistic beauty. Modern directors like Luc Besson and Francois Ozon are leading the fashion. Popular actors are Jean Reno, Sophie Marceau, Audrey Tautou, and Christian Clavier. French government broadly supports the development and popularization of national cinema products.