Jerusalem Art Essay Example for Free

Jerusalem Art Essay Art involving Jerusalem is very controversial. One has to place into context the fact that Jerusalem is a significant city for three major religions—Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Having one city be so significant leads to both the creation of conflict and beauty. There is conflict in the sense of war and destruction, and beauty in the sense of art on the subject. The three pieces of art this writer selected were all twentieth century pieces, but all show significant scenes, buildings or represent significant Psalms in the life of Jerusalem. Because of Jerusalem’s historical significance, this writer has chosen a piece of Islamic art that depicts the old city of Jerusalem, a piece of Jewish art that represents the Psalms, and a piece of Christian art that depicts the triumphal entry and some of the significant events of Holy Week, which is the final week of Christ’s life. The first piece of art is an Arab work that shows the old city of Jerusalem. In the painting, one sees a blue-gray sky that overlooks a sandstone colored city. There is a partial wall surrounding the city, and there appears to be two large prayer towers in the background. There are also some people, men, in the picture, looking towards the city and in a couple of cases walking towards that spiritual city. The city appears to be old, but not ancient, which means this is probably dated somewhere around the Crusades. Though this is a contemporary piece, the artist has chosen to depict Jerusalem at its height in Muslim hands. This painting probably represents Jerusalem during the Crusades. This piece would be very inspiring to Muslims, as it shows the city as theirs. It also gives them an image to look to when contemplating their own religious heritage. This brings us to the point of religious iconography and the Islamic faith. Religious iconography does not play as significant a role in Muslim religious life than in other religions. This is due in part to their trepidation about displaying the human form in a religious setting. This writer feels that this piece could be taken a number of different ways depending on the perspective, whether Muslim, Christian, or Jew. For Muslims if would take them back to a time of Muslim supremacy, when they â€Å"owned† one of the most important cities in their religion. Jerusalem is a significant city for the Muslims. According to various scholars, Jerusalem is significant because it is believed it is the city from which Muhammad rose to heaven. It is also significant because some of Islam’s most significant prophets (Abraham and Jesus) preached and taught. It is also a place to which Muhammad made an historic night pilgrimage. For Christians and Jews, it would be a solemn reminder that there was a time when Christians and Jews lost their most holy city to a people they deemed â€Å"infidels†. It would bring about a profound sense of sadness and loss and might inspire a fighting spirit in Jews and Christians to reclaim their city. Over the years, the passions the Muslims have over Jerusalem have become inflamed to the point of outright violence. The attitudes have only gotten more intense and more inflexible towards the Holy City. This writer feels that the times have only served to strengthen the resolve of Muslims to reclaim the city that they perceive as theirs. Emotionally, the tensions in the region have made Muslims even more determined to control the city completely. As significant as Jerusalem is to Muslims, it also has a supreme significance to Jews. Jews actually fee as if the city belongs to them and was bequeathed to them by God thousands of years ago. It is so significant that dozens of Psalms were written about the city. One of the Psalms is 125, which says in part, â€Å"[a]s the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever (verse 2). † In this painting by Irv Davis, one sees an encapsulated city of Jerusalem surrounded by grey mountains. The city is cream, almost white, and it is implied that the city is made of marble. The sky is blue and the sun is shining, adding to the shine on the city. One can imply that the encapsulation is the spirit of God surrounding the city and protecting it from outsiders and enemies. The contrasts are very sharp, the darkness of the mountains are contrasted with the whiteness and purity of the city. This obviously represents a very young Jerusalem. This also represents a time when the Jews were extremely fervent about their faith and wished to follow the Lord and seek his will. This picture represents a Jerusalem on the rise. It is also a bit on the allegorical side, with the young city representing a young faith. The newness of the city represents the fervency of the believers. They wish to follow the Lord and, as with anything new, the new city represents a new faith. This piece of art could be taken by the three groups in different ways. For Jews, it represents a time in their history when they had a true passion for God and would write songs of praise to the Lord using their most holy city as an inspiration. For Muslims, it would be a dour reminder that a region and city of the world they felt they originally owned had been forcibly removed from their possession and would remain in control of another group for several thousand years. They would also bemoan the fact that a new faith system would be replacing the polytheism that had dominated the region in the years prior to the Jewish takeover. Jews view the city of Jerusalem with as many passions and emotions as the Muslims. They see it as one of the most significant cities of their faith, and as such, wish to reclaim it as a purely Judeo-Christian city. The emotions of the Jews towards the city have always been strong, but over time, have waxed and waned, leading to the times that we have now where the Jews are fighting as passionately for the city as their Muslim counterparts. Both groups have legitimate religious and traditional claims to the city, yet either refuses to give in and relent towards their passions for the city. They each want the city, and are willing to do just about anything to get and maintain control over it. Christians have a whole other unique perspective on the city of Jerusalem. Before we can discuss the artistic expression of the selected artwork, it bears discussing the cultural ties that bind Christians to the city of Jerusalem. Christians view the city as very important because not only did Jesus make his triumphal entry into the city during Holy Week, but also taught in the region. Additionally, the apostles taught in the region and it was from the city of Jerusalem that Christianity was established in the form of Christ’s death and resurrection. The piece of art that was selected was some hand painted tiles from Jerusalem that show scenes from the triumphal entry and major scenes from Holy Week. The tiles are well-painted and detailed. Though they are also twentieth century, the story they tell condenses the entire story of Christianity in four small tiles. They are done in yellows, blues, white, black, and red. These tiles show an older, wiser Jerusalem. There is an overall sadness to the scenes, when one places the tiles in the context of the Bible, one can find that there is indeed a sadness, but at the same time a joy in the scene being depicted. It is ironic that death represents life and birth, but that is indeed what this scene and this depiction of Jerusalem shows. For Christians, Jerusalem represents the birth of their religion and the new life that is promised from the rising from the dead of Christ. Though there may be other cities that are significant in Christendom, for Christians, the events that transpired the week of Holy Week in Jerusalem are what assured the promises made in all the other cities. This piece of art could be taken by the three religions in different ways. For Christians, obviously, there is an association with the outright birth of the religion. The death that occurred outside Jerusalem represented the birth of a whole new belief system. For Jews, while the beliefs of Christian might be unusual, would see Christians as having as legitimate a claim to the city as they do, since they feel that the two groups worship the same God. For Muslims, the scenes simply show significant scenes in the life of a major prophet of their faith. They may view the Christian’s claims towards the city as interesting, but not as significant nor as important as their own claim towards the city. Christian attitudes towards the city have always been passionate, and they actually fought seven crusades that were specifically designed to take back the city from the Muslims. While they were not successful for long in keeping the Muslims out, they were able to develop a life of â€Å"peaceful coexistence† with the Muslims. Christians traditionally have supported the Jewish claim towards the city, as evidenced in the fact that we actively support the mission of Israel today. Christian passions have always been high for the city, but they have cooled over time, and we no longer actively seek to crusade against those we perceive as infidels. Christians now instead seek peaceful coexistence with other groups, but especially the Muslims. Christians are a pragmatic people that see the realities of the situation and only seek to have the best possible outcomes for all the parties. As one can see from the above statements, Jerusalem holds a special place in the hearts of all three religions. While it has inflamed passions, it has also inspired Psalmists and believers for centuries. We should seek understanding of the situations that create the passions and instead of seeming to remain in a state of constant conflict. We should view Jerusalem as a source of inspiration and not as a source of contention. The world’s three largest religions each have legitimate claims to the city and each needs to give up something in order to get access to the one city that they all deem to be the most important in their religion. The city is a true test of negotiation and faith, and as such should remain a source of inspiration. Bibliography about. com, Painting of Jerusalem Psalms. Judaism. 2000. 19 Apr 2009 http://www. judaism. about. com/library/2_artlit/bl_artpsalms_ff. htm. (picture URL) about. com, Painting of Jerusalem Psalms. Judaism. 2000. 26 Apr 2009 http://www. judaism. about. com/library/2_artlit/bl_artpsalms_f. htm. Arab Art Gallery. Arab Art Gallery. 2004. 19 Apr 2009 http://arabartgallery. com/qud115. htm. Easter Gift-Holy Easter Week. Jerusalem Pottery. 2009. 19 Apr 2009 http://www. jerusalempottery. biz/products/Tiles/christian/easter_gift. htm. Importance of Jerusalem in Judaism and Israeli History. 2005. zionism-israel. com. 23 Apr 2009 http://www. zionism-israel. com/his/Jerusalem_history. htm. Memorandum of their Beatitudes the Patriarchs and of the Heads of the Christian Communities in Jerusalem on the Significance of Jerusalem for Christians. al-bushra. org. 14, Nov 1994. 23 Apr 2009 http://www. al-bushra. org/hedchrch/memorandum. htm. Procon. org, What is the Significance of Jerusalem for Muslims. 21 May 2008. procon. org. 26 Apr 2009 http://www. israelipalestinian. procon. org/viewanswers. asp? questionID=521.

The Advantages of Web-Based Businesses for Entrepreneurs Essay

Starting and maintaining a successful business is the dream of all entrepreneurs. Today’s advancements in technology have created new opportunities for business owners to get closer to this dream. The Web has been the most effective tool in creating new opportunities for business owners. An entrepreneur should be more successful by starting, marketing, and operating a Web-based business. The first reason an entrepreneur should be more successful starting a Web-based business is because it’s simple and inexpensive to set up. Once an entrepreneur has the proper licensing and permits and creates a website, Business is can began operating. A Web-based business decreases start-up cost by not having to acquire a physical location. Obtaining financing to purchase or develop a physical location can be difficult and expensive. Banks are highly sensitive to risk and are often reluctant to lend money to businesses. The greater the risk a lender takes in making a loan, the higher the rate of interest a lender requires (McHugh, J., McHugh, S., & Nickel, 2008). Another reason an entrepreneur s...

Barilla’s manufacturing Essay

Manufacturing: Barilla has 25 plants, including large flour mills, pasta plants, and fresh bread, as well as plants producing specialty products. Raw materials, in the manufacturing process, were transformed to packaged pasta on fully-automated 120 meter long production lines. The plants were specialized by the type of pasta they would produce, with the primary distinction based on the composition of the pasta, e.g. dry or fresh pasta, pasta with or without eggs and spinach. Also, even within the same family of pasta products, individual products were assigned to plants based on the size and shape of the pasta. The manufacturing process at Barilla was very precise, and required tight heat and humidity specifications in the pasta dry process, so as to keep the changeover cost low and quality high. Distribution: Barilla divided its products into â€Å"dry† and â€Å"fresh† product categories and maintained a different distribution system for the two categories. The dry products category includes dry pasta and longer shelf-life bakery products, whereas, the fresh products category includes fresh pasta products (with 21-day shelf life) and fresh bread (with one-day shelf life). Barilla had two central distribution centers (CDC) to which the products shipped from the plants. The fresh products were then purchased from these CDC’s by independent agents who then channeled the products through 70 regional warehouses located throughout Italy. From the CDC’s approximately 65% of the dry products went to the supermarkets, 70% of these (65% of dry products) went to super market chains, whereas, the remaining 30% went to independent super markets. The remaining 35% of dry products were distributed from the CDC’s to Barilla’s internally owned regional warehouses, which then distributed them to small  independent shops – Signora Maria Shops. Dry products destined for supermarket chains were distributed from the CDC to the chain’s own distribution organization, known as Grande Distribuzione (GD). While those destined for independent supermarkets were distributed from the CDC to a distributor known as Distribuzione Organizzata (DO), which acted as a centralized buying organization for a large number of independent supermarkets. The CDCs held a month’s inventory for dry products, and 3 days for fresh products. The GD, DO and the internally owned regional warehouses (for Signora Maria shops) held a two-week supply for Barilla’s dry products. The following figure (Figure 1) shows an illustration of Barilla’s distribution system for dry products: Figure 1: Barillas Distribution Network for Dry Products What is the problem faced by Barilla? What do you think are the factors causing this problem? Barilla’s pasta supply chain suffers from classic bullwhip-effect problem. It has been experiencing large amounts of variability in demand resulting in operational inefficiency and increased manufacturing, inventory, and distribution costs. The underlying factors of the fluctuating demand include Barilla’s sales strategy relying heavily on the use of promotions in the form of price, transportation and volume discounts; sales representatives being rewarded based on the amount of product sold to distributors, which led to sales representatives trying to push product to the distributors during promotions, decreasing the ability to accurately forecast sales; the distributors having full control over their orders leading to gaming behaviors; and the lack of a computer forecasting system at the distributor level. Describe the solution proposed by Brando Vitali. Why do you think this would help alleviate the problem? Brando Vitali suggested the implementation of a Just-In-Time Distribution  (JITD) strategy, which is essentially the Vendor Management Inventory (VMI) strategy. Barilla will be in charge of the channel between the CDCs and the distributor and decide on the timing and size of shipments to its distributors. Thus, unlike traditional supply chains in which distributors place orders and manufacturers try to satisfy these orders as much as possible, in JITD Barillas own logistics organization would specify the appropriate delivery quantities – those that will more effectively meet the end customer’s needs yet would also more evenly distribute the workload on Barilla’s manufacturing and logistics system. If implemented, Barilla can make better delivery decisions and improve its demand forecasts, be more effective in meeting end-customers needs, and more evenly distribute the workload on its manufacturing and logistics systems. Also, the inventory levels at CDCs will a lso be reduced. What conflicts or barriers internal to Barilla does the JITD program create? What causes these conflicts? How should Giorgio Maggiali deal with these internal conflicts? The main resistance internal to Barilla was from the sales and marketing functions, which Barilla, until now, has relied upon for its success. The sales representatives feared reduction in both their responsibilities and bonuses due to a flatted sales level. The marketing people also feared a reduction in responsibilities as trade promotions would be difficult to run with a JITD strategy. There were also concerns about inability to adjust shipments quickly to stock outs, lack of infrastructure to handle JITD, vague cost benefits, and increased competitor shelf space at distributors. I think Maggiali should demonstrate that JITD benefits not just Barilla, but also the distributors. He should run experiments at one or more distributor sites and prove his case. Also, Maggiali should encourage the marketing and sales people to look at the overall benefit to the supply chain. By getting the top management involved, by effectively advocating the benefits for the entire supply chain, and by removing the obstacles of sales incentives and reduced responsibility, Maggiali can effectively deal with this problem and get JITD implemented. How do you think a typical Barilla customer would respond to JITD? Why? How would you convince the customer that the JITD program was worth trying? If you are not able to sway the customer, what alternatives would you suggest to combat some of the difficulties that Barilla’s operating system faces? I think a typical Barilla customer, if explained to properly, should be able to comprehend the benefits associated with JITD for the entire supply chain. I would convince the customer by mentioning the benefits of the JITD in removing the bullwhip effect. I would point out the fact that they would actually be reducing their costs significantly because Barilla would be responsible for monitoring and replenishing their inventories when levels are low. Moreover, the reduced inventory levels would also save them the cost for both inventories and space. If however, I am not able to convince the customers, I will try other modes, in my capability, to effectively respond to the fluctuating demand. For this purposes, I would either reduce the varieties of products being offered which will reduce the need to have so many different inventories and SKU for both customers and Barilla. I could also try implementing the Just-In-Time (lean production) approach for Barillas manufacturing processes – processes which are internal and Barilla has full control over.

Corruption in Government - 4697 Words

Corruption in Leadership: Public Service and Government Cynthia Klecha Abstract Corruption throughout the world is extensive. Corruption is defined as the twisting of integrity. A corrupt individual is an opponent of the truth; their virtues and ethics are deficient. In the United States, people in all positions of private district, public assistance, and government bureaus have been entangled in varieties of corruption. Corruption crimes include bribes, insider trading, patronage, embezzlement, electoral fraud, kickbacks, unholy alliances, conflicts of interest and several others. Corruption is a weapon that demoralizes the credibility of public†¦show more content†¦This corruption affects the trust of the public and threatens the safety of the nation. Each act of corruption from a public servant can have extenuating results reaching far beyond those initially involved in the offense. Most officials who serve the public strive to enhance the lives of Americans, but several make choices to go against the law because of unethical motives. These reasons u sually include assembling a larger bank account for themselves or their families. Public officials involved in corruption offenses have come from employees who work at city hall, police departments, schools, courts, transportation, zoning or health departments, and governmental offices. Politicians in all sectors of politics are not immune to public corruption either. The FBI, in 2005 made public corruption number four on their top ten orders of investigative priorities. The FBI began a national program around the country, putting trained agents in strategic positions to detect public corruption. They use skills in surveillance in both the cyber world and undercover operations. 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