La Cosa Nostra Essays - Organized Crime, Crime, Gambino Crime Family

La Cosa Nostra La Cosa Nostra Perhaps one of the most poignant moments in American cinema is the closing scene in the film ?The Godfather? when Don Vito Corleone's son Michael takes over his father's position... and one of the most unforgettable moments, a severed horses's head lies bloody in a man's bed. It is this tradition and brutality that characterizes the Mafia, a secret Sicilian society that lives and functions just as much today on American soil as it did and does still in Italy. To understand this organized crime, one must begin to understand how it came to be organized in the first place. During the medieval times in Sicily, Arabs invaded the land and native Sicilians fled and took refuge in the hills. Some of these refugees formed a secret society that gave protection to the people in exchange for money. This group took their name, ?Mafia? based on the Arabic word for refuge. In America today, one can hear it also be called ?La Cosa Nostra?, or ?This Thing of Ours.? In the 1700s,Wealthy people would receive a card with a black hand drawn on and if they did not pay the money, they could expect murder, theft, and violence. During the time Mussolini was ruling Italy, this secret society was under heavy persecution and many fled to the United States. ?Don (term for the boss or head of a Mafia family) Vito Cascio Ferro fled to the United States in 1901 to escape arrest. He is known as the Father of American Mafia.? (La Cosa Nostra) Many Italian immigrants came to the United States through Ellis Island in New York, which is today the most important center of organized Mafia crime in the United States. The new American Mafia came to power during the Prohibition by organizing the sale of outlawed alcohol, but after Prohibition was revoked, the Mafia needed a new ?racket.? During the war, the Mafia got government issued ration stamps and sold them on the black market. These days the Mafia is involved in running prostitution, unions, construction, and gambling. New York, also called the ?City that never sleeps,? houses the Five Families of New York. These Families are highly influential and powerful crime families and each holds claim to certain ?rackets.? The Five Families are: Gambino, Bonano, Lucchese, Colombo, and Genovese. While all people in the Mafia are required to maintain certain silence about the workings of the Family, a code of silence called ?Omerta,? different families come to be known for different things. The Genovese family, for the most part, is low key, whereas the Gambino family is heard all over the town. Carlo Gambino, the man who is the family namesake, never served a day of jailtime in his life. He liked to keep low key, but many things are attributed to this family. Murder Inc., an infamous group of talented, for-hire hitmen, was started by Albert Anastasia, member of the Gambino family. While this was well publicized and talked about, perhaps the most publicized and talked about Mafia happening recently was the John Gotti case. John Gotti, Don of the Gambino family, was ?ratted out? but one of his underlings, Sammy ?The Bull? Gravano. Sammy, in return for this favor to the police, served only five years in jail for twenty murders. However, this offense, breaking the ?Omerta? is one of the worst possible things any member of the Mafia could ever do. As Michael Corleone says to his wife Kay, ?Don't ask me about my business, Kay.? (Godfather) Everyone in the Mafia must learn many, many rules and live by all of them. Of most importance is Omerta, as stated before, but many guidelines are set for way of life as well. Members cannot show signs of weaknesses. Crying and wearing glasses are two such things. Also, women are looked upon as inferior and a couple that is unable to produce sons is frowned upon. Since power is very influential in how this business is run, members must know their place because ?someone always wants more, that's how wars start.? (Anonymous) Making reference to the movie ?The Godfather? is highly practical as this movie, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, is highly accurate and professionally portrays the American Mafia. In this film, the Five Families ?go to the mattresses? over power, money, and drugs. While wars like this do happen, they aren't very common and the last one

Binge Drinking essays

Binge Drinking essays Objective: Reduction in students engaging in binge drinking during the past two to four weeks. Binge drinking has long been associated with the American High School senior as well as early college students. Reasons for this association have been diagnosed as everything from a newfound sense of freedom to the inability to consistently attain alcohol, which increases the desire to consume alcohol in mass quantities when available. However, studies show that there are many more factors, which can contribute to this well documented problem. Some possible reasons are the overall view of alcohol by most Americans as an acceptable way to socialize. American youths are exposed to it in movies, television, music, and by many of their parents. It may be fair to even go as far as saying that Americans view alcohol as a stepping stone into adulthood, that perhaps it enables students to react to the problems of the world in much the same way millions of adults do. In theory adult America is undoubtedly responsible for all ideas directly or indirectly related to the ideals that American y outh represents which includes their views on alcohol and how they interpret acceptable consumption of it. This in conclusion to this topic, leads the writer to believe that the only way in which student binge drinking can cease or at least decline in number is for the adult world of the United States to eliminate their blatant hypocrisy towards massive alcohol consumption. American adults must accept their obvious responsibility for the lackadaisical attitude towards alcohol by the youth. They must face the reality of the situation, which is that early on, kids are blasted with billboards, commercials, and their own parents social activity which all points to alcohol as an accepted form of American behavior. Only to be contradicted by inaccurate portrayals of drinking by D.A.R.E programs and deceiving 21 means 21 ...

Meniscus Definition and Examples (Science)

Meniscus Definition and Examples (Science) A meniscus is a phase boundary that has been curved because of  surface tension.  In the case of water and most  liquids, the meniscus is concave. Mercury produces a convex meniscus. Meniscus in Chemistry A concave meniscus forms when the liquid molecules are more attracted to the container via adhesion than to each other via cohesion. A convex meniscus occurs when the liquid particles are more attracted to each other than to the walls of the container. Measure the meniscus at eye level from the center of the meniscus. For a concave meniscus, this it the lowest point or bottom of the meniscus. For a convex meniscus, this is the uppermost or top point of the liquid. A meniscus is seen between the air and water in a glass of water. The water is seen to curve up the edge of the glass. Meniscus in Physics In physics, the term meniscus can either apply to the boundary between a liquid and its container or to a type of lens used in optics. A meniscus lens is a convex-concave lens in which one face curves outward, while the other face curves inward. The outward curve is greater than the inward curve, the lens acts as a magnifier and has a positive focal length. Meniscus in Anatomy In anatomy and medicine, a meniscus is a crescents in humans are found in the wrist, knee, temporomandibular, and sternoclavicular joints. In contrast, an articular disk is a structure that completely divides a joint cavity.

Risk management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Risk management - Coursework Example It is for this reason that many organisations, especially corporate, have embraced the concept of risk management and are consequently developing capabilities to address it. A capable risk management structure is able to provide and maintain an organisation’s internal control and improve corporate governance. The commonwealth of Australia agrees that governance can be improved by managing risks effectively (Australian agency for international development [AusAID], 2005). Development of risk management capability also results in formulation of comprehensive enterprise risk management systems, which has been realised over time, contributes to the achievement of organisational goals (Casualty Actuarial Society [CAS], 2003). However, many organisations face various challenges in developing risk management capability, some of which will be discussed here. Since risks are inherent in all corporations in today’s dynamic world, the management has the mandate to overcome these c hallenges and ensure capable risk management structures are put in place to address organisational risks. Reasons for developing risk management capability Risk management capability is a means of providing internal control. Internal control and risk management are largely symbiotic concepts. ... In the context of ensuring an organisation meets its objectives, effective internal control utilizes risk management to cushions the organisation against external risks as well as protects it against risks generated from within the organisation that, if uncontrolled, would lead to the downfall of the organisation. According to the AusAID (2005), the benefits of risk management are manifold and traverse strategic, operational and technical levels of management. The AusAID (2005) notes that risk management systems inform and communicate the risks that a firm faces to the strategic management thereby enabling it to make effective plans to deal with potential risks and in so doing, avoid the huge expenses associated with tackling risk consequences and ultimately ensure better organisational performance. Similarly, technical operations utilize risk management knowledge to put in place measures to mitigate against risks and therefore activities run smoother and more effectively produce des ired outcomes. The AusAID (2005) further states that the internal control afforded by risk management capability helps the organisation minimize unwanted surprises (risks) by ensuring effective and efficient operations, proper financial accountability and reporting, and compliance with laws and regulations. This review therefore shows that risk management is crucial in the attainment of internal control’s goals. The continued existence of an organisation demands that it balances its external and internal environments. Gupta (2009) explains that the external environment comprises of entities that can affect the operations of an organisation yet are not

Campus BikeShare Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Campus BikeShare - Assignment Example This previous participation within such activities is the driving force for the entrepreneurs who seek to ensure other individuals also gain the same benefits through participation in the business (Jeston & Nelis, 2014). The knowledge gained while participating in cycling activities will be essential in the procurement and maintenance of the equipment used by the venture. The business will procure relatively lightweight bicycles which will be leased to customers to ensure they get the maximum benefit from riding. The riding skills of the management will be essential as they will have to conduct a testing for the bicycles before leasing them out to clients. The operations manager will be charged with the responsibility of ensuring the equipment remains in good working conditions. He/she will also be the person responsible for the procurement of new bicycles and spare parts when required. Safety personnel will be involved in ensuring that the best equipment is availed to the organisation, for the clients to attain maximum benefits of physical fitness. The equipment will be assessed and analysed in terms of the physical attributes to ensure that limited bodily strains are experienced. The safety personnel will assess the aesthetics of the bicycles to ensure they meet the minimum requirements stipulated by the organisation. The following activities will be involved in the process of developing the bike share venture into a business programme. The activities will be undertaken in the order listed below. Completion of each activity will mark the beginning of the next activity in the process of implementing the venture. The source of funding will be from personal savings of the entrepreneurs to about 30% of the total capital required by the business. The rest of the funds will be procured through grants from sponsor organisations and even other organisations which will support the programme. These

Richard Feynman: Theres Plenty of Room at the Bottom

Richard Feynman: Theres Plenty of Room at the Bottom Describe his perspectives, its major points and its implications. The physicist Richard Feynman given a lecture at American Physical Society on December 29, 1959 named Theres Plenty of Room at the Bottom. This article was very different from the other commonly written topics on physics at that time. These days this lecture is commonly mentioned due to its extraordinary imaginative power. In this article Feynman predicted nanotechnology as an entire innovative field and explained the prosperity of innovatory technology advancements and applications such as very high density data storage media and very tiny mechanical devices would be practicable, with many improvements until ultimately essential physical limits at the atomic scale become applicable (Breitfelder). Feynman asked in his lecture to envisage a smallness contest in which we manage to write on a pinhead. Also he stated the techniques to read and write on pinhead. Feynman also talked about miniaturization of computers which is what exactly happening today; at the time of his lecture compute rs were very big. Feynman measured the opportunity of direct management of individualatomsas an extra powerful form of artificialchemistrythan those used at the time. Feynman considered very interesting implications of a general ability to control substance on an atomic scale. He was mainly concerned in the potential of smallcomputers andmicroscopeswhich could see things very small than is likely withscanning electron microscopes. Before Feynman given this speech there was very limited information of nanotechnology exists as he stated there is lot more research and experiments need to be done. However, he described various aspects of this technology and some practical examples of how to achieve large things at small scale. It includes writing very small text (for example the complete 24 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica on the top of a pin), small computers (such as wire) and swallow the surgeon (very tiny robot which can go inside a person and examine him internally). In this article, Feynman asked some questions (like how do wewritesmall?) and he presented the answers for these questions in very significant manner. As he described there was no standard technique to write on such a small scale but it is not impossible. The article also explained the solution of small scale writing using techniques available to engineers in 1959.It was to turn round the lenses of the electron microscope in order to shrink and to enlarge the particular text. If the source of ions sent through the reverse microscope lenses it could focus to a very tiny dot. He further stated that it’s possible to write with that spot such as we write in a TV cathode ray oscilloscope by leaving diagonally in lines, and doing an adjustment which decides the quantity of material we are going to put as we scan in lines. He further assumed that every bit of the information in all books in a library could hypothetically be transformed to digital information and can be stored like bi ts consisting of elements which can have only a few atoms each. These can be two different shapes to represent 0s and 1s. This would bundle much more information into a smaller space, and according to Feynman the complete contents of the worlds large libraries could fit in somewhat the size of a dust nit. The author also presented the very different opportunity (which is the idea of his friend and graduate studentAlbert Hibbs) of swallowing the doctor,†. This idea involved building a little, swallow able surgical robot. This tiny robot goes inside the blood vessel of a person and can examine the internal problem and do the surgery by itself. One tinier machine can be designed to put permanently inside the body which can assist the poorly functioning of organs. Feynman further discussed how to design such a tiny robot with giving the example of atomic energy plants. The author’s imagination about the computers is very interesting as on one side he wanted to add more functionality to the existing computers, on another point he wanted them to be very small. Feynman stated that if we want to add more abilities to these existing large computers (which are of the size of the room) those new computers could be bigger than the pentagon’s building and some other disadvantages includes power consumption, heat generation, slow speed and too much material required. If speed of computers has to be faster, computers have to be smaller. The author recommended that very small computers could be prepared by fabricating all the required wires and components using chemical techniques, to form a little block consisting all the compulsory electronics. Feynman also said that building useful things could be done at the atomic level, by manipulating individual atoms to arrange them however the engineer or scientist wanted .However, he discussed the problems associated with these changes such as the gravity for these little things is not appreciable. If the sizes go smaller, some of the tools would also require redesigning due to the change in the relative strength of various forces. Even ifgravitywould become inconsequential, surface tension would turn out to be more important. At the end of this article, Feynman gave two challenges and offered a prize of $1000 for the person who can accept and solve it first. These challenges involved the construction of atiny electric motor no larger than 1/64th of an inch square and the second challenge involved the opportunity of making size of letters adequately small so that the entireEncyclopaedia Britannica can be written on the top of a pin. The information from a book page could be written on a surface 1/25,000 smaller in linear scale. In November 1960 William McLellan of Caltech, a meticulous craftsman, achieved the solution of first challenge with a device made by hand using conventional tools and claimed the prize. These days this tiny motor is placed in the corridors of Caltech. The book challenge took longer time; it was achieved just three years before Feynmans death in 1985 by Tom Newman, a graduate student at Stanford University, US, using electron-beam lithography. He scaled down the first paragraph ofâ€Å"A Tale of Two Cities†by 1/25,000, and calmed the second prize from Feynman (Feynman’s fancy†). The field has seen remarkable achievements since then, indeed, most notably the reduction of the area of transistors in microelectronic circuits by more than a factor of 107, or of the space required to store 1 bit of information on a magnetic surface by ≈108. Nanomechanical devices have seen tremendous progress, too, through impressive advances in scanning probe microscopy (Feynman’s fancy†). Works Cited Breitfelder, Kim. Theres Plenty of Room at the Bottom: Richard Feynmans Big Dream for Small Things. IEEE-USA Todays Engineer Online(2006): n. pag. Web. 17Jan.2014. Feynman, RichardP. Theres Plenty of Room at the Bottom. Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems 1.1(1992): 60-66. Print. Feynman’s fancy. Chemistry WorldJan.2009: 58-62. Web. 17Jan.2014.

Northern NGOs

In this research paper we look at the involvement of Northern NGOs with the developing countries. They are prime donors of most developing countries programs which are geared towards alleviating the welfare of the masses such as improve health and living condition.Local NGOs have been involved as intermediaries between government and the people.The northern NGOs serve their specific agenda and mandate contrary to what the poor rural urban expect.NORTHERN NGOSNorthern NGOs represented international organizations who are donors to developing countries that are are donors such as World Bank and private agencies. Their relation with the south makes it the subject of this research paper. The relationship with governments and nongovernmental organization with them plays a critical role in understanding their mandates and objectives in helping the population in the rural and urban regions.The urban and rural populace has diverse needs ranging from health, unemployment, education, poverty an d access to other services. In this respect governments have been unable to provide these services to their community in an effective and wider coverage manner. For instance, in South Africa, 30 % of the population are unemployed and for the 20% of the poorest households, 53% ere unemployed (Adato & Haddad 2001, p.1).It is also reported that there is need for job creation in all regions inhabited by the poorest households i.e. urban, metropolitan and rural. Based on these facts the governments of countries in the developing world have focused their programs to alleviate these problems e.g. the welfare of the masses, improve living condition, health and service provision (Li 2005).The programs have achieved different success margins and limitations. Most of government programs are constrained in reaching the people because of bureaucracy, authoritarian rule and high cost of implementation. Since most of the programs are financed by international community (Northern NGOs) and governme nts.For instance, in Indonesia the World Bank has developed social development programs to help them achieve their mandate and objectives. In order to do these, they have used analysis of the needs of the regions to come up with the plan. Due to constraints in working with the government directly they have supported and strengthened the local NGOs and civil society organizations (CSOs) to advance their objectives (Li 2005).The rationale use includes improving transparency in village planning level, conflict resolution and step sponsorship of NGOs. However NGOs have their own limitations such as the leaders use as a vehicle for reformation of social and political life. The World Bank has used neo-liberal system to ensure ‘good governance’ by instituting a competitive process based on administrative and decentralized structures (Li 2005).More so in order for the region to be eligible for support from World Bank it had to proof that it is pro-poor and is supervised by the World Bank team. According to Arya (1999) he explains the role in which NGOs have worked with their government under the funding of donors (government agencies, private agencies and governments). The common objectives for the collaboration include; access to technical resources, gain legitimacy or recognition from the people, obtain appropriate solution and developmental problems, enhance people’s participation and provide   better accountability, transparency and public reform system (Arya   1999).Donors view NGOs as intermediaries or transitory to government links to people and use them to as instruments of improved service delivery and outreach to the government. The donors see their task as completed when NGOs are involved in the project programs with the government. Most private donors do not support or supervise the selection criterion even when there is resistance from the government. However, they can play a key role in establishing mechanism to bring NGOs so that they have a beneficial effect on service delivery, participation and decentralization (Arya 1999).Northern NGOs for the past decade have increased funding to southern NGOs with due to limitation effectiveness of delivery, reforms, cost efficiency, sustainability and participation from the government. DeGabriele (2002), when studying about improvement of community based management projects. He previewed the World Health Organization commitment to provide access to safe and clean water.But from the experiences gathered two challenges emerged; water accessibility could not be achieved with the rate of population growth and the intended improvements to health were not realized within 1980 – 1990 decade. This becomes the redefinition of the concept of community management within water sector. It was realized that water accessibility could only be achieved with participatory role implemented (DeGabriele 2002).AED (1998) elaborates on the participatory approach used to i.e. the par ticipatory learning and Action approach which involves communities to analyze their needs, identify possible solutions and develop, implement and evaluate the plan of action. In contrast NGOs can have negative implication to the poor because they can use them to legitimize their existence, solicit funds and raise their profile for the disadvantage of the poor. Changes in their positive attitude will go way to bring positive results (AED 1998, Kaiser 2000, p. 6).CONCLUSIONNorthern NGOs play critical role in financing development programs to developing countries. They have been involved directly or indirectly with government depending on the nature and intensity of the resources used and the origin of the donor. Most private agencies finance the local NGOs who are viewed as intermediaries or transitory link between the government and people. The donors have used them to enhance their agenda and mandate to ensure good governance of project- programs they agree with the government. REFE RENCEAdato, M.; Haddad, L, 2001, Poverty targets, community-based public works programs: a cross-disciplinary assessment in South Africa, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Available from: http://www.ifpri.org/divs/fcnd/dp/papers/fcndp121.pdf> [8 April 2008]AED, 1998, Empowering communities: participatory techniques for community-based programme development, Academy for Educational Development, Washington DC, AvailableArya, V, 1999, Towards a relationship of significance: lessons from a decade ofcollaboration between government and NGOs in Rajasthan, India,   Agricultural Research and Extension Network (AgREN), Available from: [8April 2008]DeGabriele, J, 2002, Improving community based management of boreholes† a case study from Malawi Land Tenure Centre, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Available from [8April 2008]Kaiser, T, 2000, Participatory & beneficiary-based approaches in evaluation ofhumanitarian programmes, Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit (EPA U), UNHCR, Available from :< http://www.unhcr.org/research/RESEARCH/3c7527f91.pdf> [8April 2008]Li, T, 2005, The government through community; the World Bank in Indonesia, University of Toronto, Available from: [8April 2008]