The Successes And Failures Of The Obama Presidency Politics Essay

The Successes And Failures Of The Obama Presidency Politics Essay President Obama is seen as a successful President according to the website Politifact.com, out of the 502 promises he made during the 2008 election campaign he has so far kept 134, compromised on 41, broken 40, stalled on 69 and still has 220 in the works. He may, therefore, be seen to be a successful President. However, this was not reflected in the mid-term elections where the Democrats lost a considerable number of seats within the Senate and lost their majority within the House. In this essay I will assess the successes and failures of the Obama presidency against what he promised during his election campaign of 2008 and during his subsequent State of the Union address. I will also judge some of his successes and failures by reference to opinion polls from various news outlets, particularly whether the public approved of his handling of certain situations such as unemployment and the BP oil disaster. I will first assess his domestic successes and failures then his foreign policy successes and failures, while assessing what it means to his presidency specifically and the American political system. President Obama knew when he came into office that his first priority was to fix the economy after the recession of 2008-2009. He introduced the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which provided a stimulus to the country; it was split into three parts at a cost of $787 billion. One-third in tax cuts and tax credits to help overcome the hardships of the recession, such as an increase in food stamp benefits and unemployment benefits; one-third on the infrastructure of the country, which included projects on transport and highway and bridge construction and repair. Finally, one-third on state stabilization to stop the states cutting essential services that the public need, such as teachers.  [2]  President Obama also bailed out the car industry, specifically Chrysler and GM, at a cost of $17.4 billion.  [3]  The necessity to save the car industry was evident as it could have led to a double dip recession. GM alone employed 300,000 workers within the United States, an d if it was to fall into insolvent administration it would have had a large impact on the economy. President Obama also initiated Cash for Clunkers scheme in which owners of cars could trade them in for more fuel efficient cars. This was very popular as the initial $1 billion in subsidies for this program was supposed to last for 90 days but actually only lasted for 9.  [4]  He also brought in measures to help nine million homeowners facing foreclosure on their homes and who could not afford to repay their mortgages. The purpose was to offer mortgage companies subsidies and incentives to help troubled home owners.  [5]   Obama also brought in regulation to control the banks after they started making profits again. He stated: We are not going to let Wall Street take the money and run  [6]  and imposed conditions before the banks could escape George W Bushs Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP) in which money was given to the banks in total costing $700 billion.  [7]  Even though the stimulus was intended to create jobs, they were not planned to be created until 2010-2011. In 2009 unemployment was 10% of the workforce and as of March 2011 the unemployment rate still hovers around the 10% mark.  [8]   Overall Obama has kept most of his promises regarding the economy, with very few promises broken.  [9]  However, in a poll of how he handled the economy his approval rating is only at 45% (January 2011) with 54% disapproving.  [10]  This shows that the public thinks he is handling the economy quite badly. Critics have pointed out that he has done well on the economy with Nouriel Roubini in an article in the Financial Times pointing out that he has inherited the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and that the stimulus did the right thing early and avoided another depression  [11]  Without the stimulus Jonathan Alter makes the point that 8.5 million workers would have lost their jobs. He has done well in regulating the banks and TARP with the loans with added interest that were made having now been paid back. The figures are seen as impressive as instead of $700 billion being owed to the Government, the Government is owed just under $100 billion. The Clash for Clunkers programme is estimated to have saved 120,000 jobs.  [12]  The auto industry has also been greatly improved creating 55,000 new jobs and GM paying back its bailout money five years ahead of schedule.  [13]  Obama recalls that It wasnt an easy callà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦But we decided that while providing additional assistance was a risk, the far greater risk to families and communities across our country was to do nothing.    I knew this wasnt a popular decision. But it was the right one.  [14]   The way he dealt with the housing crisis was seen to go not quite so smoothly as of the 9 million homeowners the plan hoped to assist, only 3 million were actually helped. This was due to the fact that the legislation was directed at people who the Obama administration saw as having a good reason to stay in their homes; these people often worked full time and had received sub prime mortgages. The legislation helped stop house prices falling by the predicted 20% and instead increased them by 5% although house prices are still of considerable concern to the US economy.  [15]   Where Obama has failed is in job creation. It is at its worst since 1982. Newt Gingrich of the Republican Party commented If were still at 9 or 10 percent unemployment in 2012, this is a one term president no matter how articulate he is. The unemployment rate is furthermore one of the factors why the Democrats failed in the mid-term elections losing control of the House.  [16]  As Alter states, for Obama even to be considered a success he must bring down unemployment.  [17]  Obama has been able to pass all of his economic legislation quite easily due to his previous super majorities within the House and the Senate after the election of 2008. However, as he has now reached the mid-terms and the Republican party have a majority hold within the House, he will have a much difficult time as the Republican party are likely to resist his legislative proposals. This is becoming apparent in the differences in Congress over this years budget proposals and points to the difficulty when any president is faced with his party being in a minority within Congress. One of Obamas major pledges was to reform the ailing healthcare system, as it would greatly increase the countrys debt. Healthcare spending has grown to such an extent that it is predicted to rise from one-sixth of GDP in 2009 to one-third in 2035, and by 2080 nearly half of U.S. GDP would be spent on healthcare according to the Congressional Budget Office.  [18]  Healthcare premiums had also doubled and the numbers of uninsured Americans would surpass 50 million. Families have told of being bankrupted by paying for the medical care, and of the bad treatment from insurance companies.  [19]  Obama and a Democrat Congress implemented a healthcare plan which contained new federal regulation of insurance, help for states on Medicaid, an increase in the affordability of healthcare and higher fees on employers who do not provide insurance.  [20]  This was met with fierce opposition from some on the right of the political spectrum such that no Republican congressmen voted for it , mainly encouraged by those from the extreme right of the political spectrum, such as the Tea Party movement. The healthcare plan was seen as a success as it was one of Obamas key campaign promises to ensure that some sort of healthcare plan became law, and he again mentioned in his 2010 State of the Union Address that he wanted to implement some healthcare reform.  [21]  He got his wish with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Although seen as a success in that he got the Democratic Congress to pass the necessary legislation, it proved unpopular with the public with one poll giving 38% approving of the healthcare plan and 53% opposing it.  [22]  However, different news organisations reported different numbers at separate times. President Obama had to rely on his presidential powers of persuasion and bargaining to get this legislation through Congress, as he influenced Senators, House members and even tried unsuccessfully to get Republicans on his side. At various times he tried to influence public opinion that such legislation was necessary. The legislation is also subject to numerous court challenges with Judge Roger Vinson in the Federal District of Pensalcola, Florida ruling that the whole legislation was void, not just the provisions for compulsory insurance.  [23]  It is likely that the Supreme Court will eventually be called upon to rule on the legislation. The importance of a president leading on controversial legislation and using all of his powers of persuasion to carry Congress and the public with him is demonstrated by the healthcare legislation. President Obamas other domestic policy initiatives include bringing in legislation on the repeal of dont ask dont tell, which stops the military from infringing on the rights of homosexual citizens if they choose to join the military; his education reforms which gave the power to close poor performing schools (which Bill Gates rated him a A for); and the equal pay legislation which promises equal pay for jobs that have equal standing. Obamas biggest domestic disaster came with the BP oil spill. Obama could be said to have handled the BP oil spill poorly as he was slow to respond and criticised for not being more emotive on the issue, saying in an interview that This is not a theatre.  [24]  Polls at the time showed a low approval rating of just 41%.  [25]  Nevertheless once the issue was resolved, it was quickly forgotten about by the media and the Government. President Obamas foreign policy is one of both successes and failures. One of Obamas main campaign promises was to withdraw from Iraq which he successfully completed on the 31 August 2010 with only a handful of troops staying in Iraq to advise Iraqi forces.  [26]  Afghanistan was the most controversial foreign policy decision during his presidency with Dick Cheney accusing him of dithering. Obama after much deliberation sent 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan with the decision to withdraw some troops in summer 2011. The President of Afghanistan accepted cash bribes from Iran which caused embarrassment to the Obama administration and General McChrystal and his staff criticised the Commander in Chief in a magazine article, calling him unimpressive and uncomfortable and intimidated. He was dismissed and replaced by General David Petraeus. Obama has made positive steps to improve U.S.-Russia relations which saw a dispute with the Bush administration over the missile defence system i n Eastern Europe which Russia strongly opposed. Obama scrapped this idea and began talks with the Russians and these resulted in good levels of cooperation with Russia over issues such as Iran and North Korea, and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) which was approved by the Senate and became effective on the 5 February 2011.  [27]  28He made the aid funding to Pakistan conditional on its controlling terrorist activities. Obama has been successful in banning torture as an interrogation technique. He has been criticised from the right as being slow in supporting the Iranian uprisings in 2009. However, he was said to have exercised restraint on the issue as he did not want the Iranian government claiming that it was an American sponsored uprising.  [29]  Again he was criticised over his handling of the popular uprisings for democracy in 2011 in the Arab nations, such as Egypt and Tunisia, with Christopher Hitchens calling the slow response to these uprisings as a dithering responseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦[which has] been both cynical and naive.  [30]  The same too could be said about Obamas response to the Libyan rebellion. However, it is clear that Obama wanted a multilateral response, particularly from the Arab League, and UN approval before rushing into another war.  [31]   Obama has tried to enhance relations with other countries, unsuccessfully in the case of Iran and North Korea, but successfully with Europe, China and more particularly with Russia. His meeting with the Russian President in June, 2010 at the White House was said to mark the highest point of Russian-U.S. relations since Bill Clinton went to Moscow to mark Victory Day.  [32]   Obama is said to be badly at odds with Israel with the Financial Times stating: Mr. Obama initially played tough with Mr. Netanyahu but then backed downSettlement expansion puts out of reach an agreement on borders The US veto at the UN badly damaged Mr. Obamas credibility. The resolution, after all, reflected the White Houses own stated position..Mr. Obama must choose between prevarication and the chance to sustain US influence in the worlds most troubled and strategically vital region.  [33]   His biggest failures to date are Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. Obama acknowledges that progress in Afghanistan is limited and fragile although there has been success in resisting the Taliban and Al-Qaida.  [34]  It is still unpopular with the American public with just 31% of the American public thinking Afghanistan is worth fighting for.  [35]  Obamas most problematic issue comes with Guantanamo Bay with the website Politifact.com listing it as a broken promise. Congress and the President remaining at odds over where to put the prisoners due to the refusal of Congress to allow detainees to be imprisoned within the United States . On the 7 March 2011 Obama signed an executive order making a number of changes to his policies, with a number of news outlets noting that it is an acknowledgement that he could not keep his campaign promise of closing Guantanamo Bay.  [36]   President Obama has overall seen far more successes than failures during his Presidency although he has yet to convince the American people. Although this could all change with the losses during the mid-term elections as he will find it a lot harder to pass his legislation. His recent reforms are under threat from the Republicans, such as Healthcare and environmental legislation which they want to scrap.  [37]  The President has been nicknamed no drama Obama but as the Financial Times states this is often perceived as him having a sense of aloofness and on the national and international stage a sense of unwillingness to lead.  [38]  At the end of last week 64 senators, 32 Republican and 32 democrats, asked the President to lead on a comprehensive plan to deal with fiscal policy. As the Financial Times points out in a leader, Mr Obama should be embarrassed that the Senate finds it necessary to ask him to do his job.  [39]  The importance of a president providing leadership is again emphasised. His priorities should be to deal with the issues facing Afghanistan, the US debt burden and the unemployment crisis, because as Newt Gingrich stated he will have a hard time becoming re-elected in 2012 if he does not solve these issues. These issues will no doubt have to be grappled with by any president elected in 2012.

Recruitment Selection of Internally Motivated Employees

Recruitment Selection of Internally Motivated Employees Growth in Global companies today demands the increasing need of recruitment and selection process. The number of expatriates has increased over the last 30 years due to increase in the number of mergers and acquisitions. Recruiting an expatriate is mostly associated with increase in the salary range, improvement in hierarchal levels. But the facts that there will be drastic change in the culture change in social life, career risks, are all very important aspects to consider when planning a recruitment process in an organization. The role of a HR manager is to enable individuals to achieve organizational goals and objectives. To ensure a successful gain, they need to know who these people are, where they are from, how they can be developed for personal fulfillment and to achieve organizational goals, and the impact of external constraints. All these come together and demand the need of formulation of HR functions in an organization. They are involved in the development and implementation of HR strategies and policies and various people management activities like human resource planning, talent management, knowledge management, recruitment selection, learning and development, reward management, employee relations, health and safety, welfare and any other matters related to employment relationship. Ulrich (1998) pints out that: The activities of HR appear to be and often are disconnected from the real work of the organization. He believes that HR should not be defined by what is does but by what it delivers. It is often a face there are a limited number of employees willing to travel within the organization. Considering other specifications like their past work experience, technical skills, ability to be flexible with teams, job requirements and period of expatriation as well. In many cases, Human resources team tends to select a candidate who is willing to take the overseas opportunity. Lack of effective selection process and emphasized technical requirements listed out are the major reasons for failure in the process. To handle successful HR operations an organization need to consider both internal and external contexts that has great influence on the business. External contexts could be including Political, Economic Social Technological contexts. However many organizations today operation in a global context, that direct HR managers to develop an international strategy considering the cultures and values. One of the key concerns that often lead to failure in recruiting an employee in cross cultural context is related to family concerns. According to Tung (1987) and Forster (2000) the inability of the spouse in adopting foreign environment and language issues are the general causes of a failed expatriate. Bonache Brewster (2001) illustrated the survey conducted by Windham International and the National Foreign Trade Council (1999) is mentioned that a large number of international assignments are turned down in between the time due to personal family and spouse issues. It is also important to understand that a successful domestic operation with well framed policies and procedures leads to improvement in handling international operations. Companies need to show strong need for a proper recruitment and selection processes. Briscoe, Schuler (2004) believe that it is definitely important to understand that the HR in International context is different from its domestic counterpart in many ways. This includes Multifunctional IHR department Expanding the areas of expertise Having to face much greater challenge in recruiting and selection international employees and many more. Role of well developed Cross Cultural HR practice in Recruitment and selection processes of internal motivated employees: Recruitment of candidates plays a very important role of the major HR function and this becomes specific in an international cross cultural context. Bratton and Gold (2003) illustrates recruitment as: the process of generating a pool of capable people to apply for employment to an organization. Selection is a discrete and subsequent process, by which managers and other use specific instruments to choose from a pool of applicants a person or persons most likely to succeed in the job(s), given management goals and legal requirements. A close look at the importance of managing employees with various cultures explains the need of strategic and planned process of choosing employees in an international organization. Ghemawat (2001) describes that there can be significant impact in employees relations, that further explained and clarified the importance of right recruitment and selection process in organizations. Within the narrow description of recruitment it is typically seen as occurring in two main stages: the formative basic work and recruitment practices such as sources and methods that end with the arrival of applications. The most important consideration before the process understands the kind of need: whether an organization is considering new staff of replacing existing staff members. The traditional recruitment cycle: Recruitment Job Description Job Analysis Person Specification Person Analysis: Flexibility to relocate, Family, prior expatriation. Selection (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005) Job analysis: Job analysis is often referred as the information on which two significant recruitment documents are based: job and person specifications. It involves in collecting systematic information about the job from current incumbents and/or their colleagues (Newell and Shackleton, 2000). Analysis on the particular positions need would rather is the first appropriate for a HR manager. This enables him to take decision on designing a better description and specifications. The specifications play a very keen role when the need of recruitment techniques becomes important. This importances becomes challenge when facing a job analysis in a cross cultural context. Wanous (1992) referred the recruitment technique is a theoretically derived from an individual need of an organization culture matching process is the realistic job preview that presents the candidate with negative and positive aspects about a particular job. This allows the candidate to match the organizational climates and individual wants. Mac Bartine (2007) illustrates five important steps in analyzing a job basing on the cultural demands of the job. The steps help HR team in gathering more information about the job, about what qualifications for the right candidate should have. Asking yourself: The needs of accomplishment of the new employee that are expected to take the position on periodic basis. A detailed list out will help the HR team in furnishing better Job Analysis process. Implementing the best cross cultural HR practice would result in success in recruitment and selection process. Identifying basic roles and responsibilities of the job and conducting a critical evaluation basing on the cultural demands. Day to day activities of the employee? Resources that the employee is expected to be use in the job? Is the employee expected to handle any team under his supervision? If so will there be any conflicts basing on the team past behavior? Will the employee be allocated any tasks that are important to handle basing on the cultural demands on the country other than typical roles to be performed? The next step in job Analysis is measuring the need of tasks of the employee. Comparison of the present roles of the employee to the tasks expected to handle and measure them using Key Resolution Areas (KRAs). Measuring the abilities of the employee: Stress management, flexibility etc. Discussing with the team if there will be any differences between the roles of the job comparing with the past and expected to be in future. Discussion with subject matter experts locally and also with the experts placed abroad. Job Descriptions: A well written Job Descriptions plays a very important in a cross-cultural context. They are understood as written statement that describes the duties, responsibilities, required qualifications, and reporting relationships of a particular job. Job Descriptions are the further steps of Job Analysis and allows the organizations to perform better. There are various important aspects that should be taken into consideration when writing a job description for any international assignment. A poorly framed description can result in the failure of an international assignment. Other than the general important aspects of describing a job on the roles, skills base, vision base, objectives and goals base that are set with complete expectations from the candidate, offering and expectations on the relocation should also be listed accordingly. Susam.M (2000) describes that a well-written job descriptions organization employees, who must work with the person hired, understand the boundaries of the persons responsibilities. Person Specification: Crafting persons specifications gives the HR team a chance to understand on what the organization really need from the job. Most often employers rush to hire person to fill in the position but misses to find the need. (Adelà ¨ Bird) While the job description describes the job, persons specification describes the skills, experience, knowledge and aptitudes of the desired candidate he/she should have to fill the position appropriately. Applicant will have clear understanding of those details only if the above listed specifications are listed. Unfair discrimination attracts widest range of potential employees internally within the organization and externally. The need for closer look at the persons specification is critical when hiring for an international assignment. HR management demands high amount of cross cultural knowledge in handling these assignments. Person Analysis is the most important aspect of person specification, when hiring for an international assignment. 1) Knowing the flexibility of the employee in adjusting towards the cultural changes and adoption to new work atmosphere. 2) Knowing the family background of the employee make it necessary in taking the decision. It is studied that majority of the international assignment fail due to spouse unable to adopt the culture. 3) Knowing the employee about his/her past experiences of international travel will help the HR team in judging the flexibility of the candidate. Selection of future expatriates is the further challenge of HR team in across cultural context. Measuring technical and professional education is possible all the time, but skills like interpersonal communication is also required to be assessed when refereeing current and previous colleagues or superiors. However there are various factors that that are difficult to be measure when selecting an employee to go abroad (J. Kline Harrison, 1994) Profile of expatriates qualification: According to Harrison there are certain traits and characteristics that are identified as predictors for expatriate assignment successful. It is not that without these traits are guaranteed to achieve successful expatriation but without them the chances of failure is higher. They include technical ability, managerial skills, cultural empathy, adaptability, diplomacy, language ability, positive attitude, emotional stability and maturity, and adaptability of family. This summarizes that besides technical ability, professional skills and role discrimination, behavioral components have to be taken into account during the selection process. Otherwise the assignment results in unexpected culture shock to the employee. The dual career problem importance of spouse and family As a part of selection process it is identified that spouse and family plays a very vital role. The family situation of the expatriate has great importance in successful expatriation assignments. It is often noticed that an unhappy family or spouse of the employees assignment is terminated before the mentioned period. Duel career problem happens when the spouse leave his/her present job and travels along with expatriate and finally found no job matching his/her education, often get isolated and irritated. An assessment of the family members makes it important during the process of recruitment and selection which can avoid the damage up to an extent. Most of the global companys still lack effective methods of selecting managers for international assignments. If a company is very successful in domestic movements, it does not mean that the knowledge of selecting managers for international assignments is completely accumulated. An integrated screening and selection system to determine the aptitudes of the candidates make it more important in the selection process. Kealey (2006) suggested components consisting of aspects that play vital role in selection process in a cross-culture atmosphere. Developing skills and knowledge profile- qualifications of the employee need to me matching with the job requirements, cultural constraints and the host organization environment. Procedures for planning and implementing of selection process- regular personality tests during the selection process, biographical data questionnaires, structured interviews and behavioral assessment techniques; Monitoring the past overseas performance. One of the leading ideas that organizations follow is that they were preferring couples working in organizations specially in senior management team, so that the plan of expatriation have very few chances of failure. The family will remain expatriates together with clear understandings. The results of the above study show that there are various issues in handling Human Resources at a view of recruitment and selection processes at a globalised organization. According to Tung (1987) one of the key causes for the premature return of expatriates from overseas assignment was related to concerns of family. This supports previous studies on expatriate failure indicating the inability of the spouse to adapt to the foreign environment as the frequent cause of the early return of the expatriates back to their home country. A carefull understanding of the recruitment and selection process can reduce the failures in international assignment. A major challenge of Hr team is to develop strategies in improving the processes better. The Recruitment and Selection process is the key in the human resources department as its so effective to the businesses it credits by taking in people that want to benefit the business. The recruiting and selecting has so many responsibilities to go thorough from a vacancy arising to planning and preparing a job to selecting the right candidate. One of the main issues of this process is the selecting as it does not show much expertise. These are all the aspects of having a fair treatment in the employability, this is what brings in the public view of the organisation of being a well structured company.

Dave Matthews Band †The Sons of Crash :: Music

Dave Matthews Band – The Sons of Crash    All I want is for a voice to come out of the wilderness and the stereo to crackle in flames like the burning bush. I don’t want to have to ask, "Are you talking to me?" I want to know. -Ariel Swartley "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle" Music is a funny thing. I’ve listened to music all my life, thousands of songs, hundreds of artists. But only a few stick out; like my first real album (Tiffany’s self titled release. What ever happened to her?), or my first alternative album (the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik: I bought it on tape when I was 14 and listened to it so much that it wore out). Only one has become a part of who I am, the Dave Matthews Band’s Crash. Somewhere between its "So Much To Say" and "Proudest Monkey" my indifferent hearing turned into awareness, and I stopped listening with just my ears and started listening with my heart. When I went to my first class at Mary Washington College, my English professor- an interesting man, but temporarily an agent of authority- posed a question to us, one that at the time had as much meaning as "What did you do this summer?" He asked us to pick a Desert Island Disc. It really wasn’t a hard decision; I was listening to the Dave Matthews Band’s Crash more than the rest of my CDs and I was pretty sure I could write the four papers on it required by the class. I really didn’t understand then the decision I had made. But out of respect and insecurity, I headed off to my desert island with Crash (cf. Mark 18). Most rock records aren’t hard to understand. They draw on commonplaces of community and adolescence: easy listening, good dancing, simple emotions, and sharp images†¦ But [Beggar’s Banquet’s] cleverness makes the difference.    -Simon Firth, "Beggars Banquet" Simon Firth "changed [his] usual habits" in 1968, choosing The Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet over "The Beatles’ more comfortable music," and was rewarded with "the most interesting rock record [he had] ever heard" (30). My musical snobbery ended in my junior year of high school, when my typical (and boring) choice of anything ‘alternative’: Metallica, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, was replaced with Garth Brooks, Blackstreet or my mom’s favorite, the Dave Matthews Band. Dave Matthews Band – The Sons of Crash :: Music Dave Matthews Band – The Sons of Crash    All I want is for a voice to come out of the wilderness and the stereo to crackle in flames like the burning bush. I don’t want to have to ask, "Are you talking to me?" I want to know. -Ariel Swartley "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle" Music is a funny thing. I’ve listened to music all my life, thousands of songs, hundreds of artists. But only a few stick out; like my first real album (Tiffany’s self titled release. What ever happened to her?), or my first alternative album (the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik: I bought it on tape when I was 14 and listened to it so much that it wore out). Only one has become a part of who I am, the Dave Matthews Band’s Crash. Somewhere between its "So Much To Say" and "Proudest Monkey" my indifferent hearing turned into awareness, and I stopped listening with just my ears and started listening with my heart. When I went to my first class at Mary Washington College, my English professor- an interesting man, but temporarily an agent of authority- posed a question to us, one that at the time had as much meaning as "What did you do this summer?" He asked us to pick a Desert Island Disc. It really wasn’t a hard decision; I was listening to the Dave Matthews Band’s Crash more than the rest of my CDs and I was pretty sure I could write the four papers on it required by the class. I really didn’t understand then the decision I had made. But out of respect and insecurity, I headed off to my desert island with Crash (cf. Mark 18). Most rock records aren’t hard to understand. They draw on commonplaces of community and adolescence: easy listening, good dancing, simple emotions, and sharp images†¦ But [Beggar’s Banquet’s] cleverness makes the difference.    -Simon Firth, "Beggars Banquet" Simon Firth "changed [his] usual habits" in 1968, choosing The Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet over "The Beatles’ more comfortable music," and was rewarded with "the most interesting rock record [he had] ever heard" (30). My musical snobbery ended in my junior year of high school, when my typical (and boring) choice of anything ‘alternative’: Metallica, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, was replaced with Garth Brooks, Blackstreet or my mom’s favorite, the Dave Matthews Band.

Of Mice And Men :: essays research papers

Of Mice and Men is one of Steinbeck’s best novels. John Steinbeck, born in Salinas, CA he goes back to that setting for this novel. There are five to six characters that Steinbeck develops and opens up to the reader through the novel. Although George, Lennie, Crooks, Candy, and Curly’s wife all seek a place to belong and someone to love as a cure to there loneliness, all their dreams for a better future are destroyed in the novel. George and Lennie are an unlikely pair of friends who are introduced in the beginning. George is â€Å"small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features.†(2) Lennie contradicts George because he is a â€Å"huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders, and he walked heavily.†(2) George is the more dominant of the two because Lennie is slow in the head. George and Lennie are different from the rest of the people in the same occupation because as Lennie said to George, â€Å"because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.†(14) They are also different because as George said, â€Å"We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.†(14) They also share a common goal for their future together. They want to be able to live on there own and have a couple of acres so they can plant things and have animals. They are going to â€Å"live off the fatta the lan’.†(14) This single dream makes George and Lennie different from everyone else. Candy is a nice, old, handicapped man on the ranch. He lost his hand four years earlier in a farm machine while working. Candy overheard George and Lennie discussing about a small piece of land they would like to buy. Candy was compensated $250 for the lost of his hand and has a total of $350 he is willing to invest into the place with George and Lennie. Candy wants to get the place soon because he knows they are going to fire him sometime in the near future. When they fire him he will not have anyone or anything at all. Candy says, â€Å"When they can me here I just wisht somebody’d shoot me. But they won’t do nothing like that. I won’t have no place to go.†(60) So, Candy just wants to be needed and to always have a place to work at and George and Lennie are his way to achieve that goal.