RELG 215 Pagan Essay Essays - Deities, Religion, Wicca, Neopaganism

Pagan Religion: Wicca Pagan Religion: Wicca Background Information There are many religions that are pagan and all of which are those that do not subscribe to Christianity, but they follow other religions instead. Pagan religions arose after the Middle Ages, and unfortunately were referred to in negative, or derogatory, terms. The word wicca is derived directly from the word witch in the male form and wicce was the female form. The founder decided to use Wicca as the Witchcraft religion's formal name (Lewis, 1999). Christians proclaim that those who subscribe to Pagan religions believe in false gods and are inferior to Christians. Wicca is a form of a pagan religion but is most widely known for being associated with Witchcraft. Wiccans take part in witchcraft and can belong to covens, but there is more to this religion. This religion has been rapidly growing in the United States and is, in fact, one of the fastest growing among all religions in the United States (Lewis, 1999). Although Wiccans are closely involved with Witchcraft, there is more to t he religion itself than just the magical and supernatural aspects. Scriptural Canon The most official text that Wiccans follow is that known as the "Charge of the Goddess," by Doreen Valiente. This text was originally written by the person who founded modern Witchcraft, Gerald Gardner, but was redone by Valiente who happened to be one of his closest allies (Lewis, 1999). Wiccans are very nature-based in their religion and as so, it can be seen in their canon. Valiente (1957) wrote "I am the beauty of the green earth, and the white moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters, and the desire of the heart of man" (p. 1). Wiccans take pride in being so close to nature and everything involving the Earth they reside on. The canon itself is written in the form of a poem. The wording, as well, is written in such a way to give the appearance that it is old and authoritative to its followers. There are about eleven stanzas in the "Charge of the Goddess" all with complete thoughts and instructions in each one. There are not any words of negativity among the Wiccan canon because their religion is about power within oneself and their surroundings (Valiente, 1957). In one part, for example, Valiente (1957) says the following: Call unto thy soul, arise, and come unto me. For I am the soul of Nature, who gives life to the Universe. From me all things proceed, and unto me all things must return; and before my face, beloved of gods and of men, let thine innermost divine self be enfolded, in the rapture of the infinite (p. 2). This stanza explains that one must first dig into their own souls in order to give away their spirituality to the rest of the universe. Once that is accomplished, with everything attached, the divine may attained forever. Concept of the Ultimate The Wicca religion is polytheistic, or one that believes in many deities or gods, where their concept of the ultimate is the Triple Goddess (similar in comparison to the Holy Trinity that Christians subscribe to). The Triple Goddess is that of three developmental stages that a woman goes through: The Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone (Becvar, 2005). First, the Maiden is a young woman full of ambition and anticipation. Second, the Mother is a woman that is excited to devote her live to creation and love. Lastly, the Crone is a woman who is feared among the rest because she is full of wisdom from having gone through the previous stages while handling the end of her life. While each of the three parts of the goddess are very different, they are equally important as the ultimate for the Wiccan followers (Becvar, 2005). It is nice to study a religion where there is this Triple Goddess rather than this father figure or a supposed male god. Code of Ethics The "Charge of the Goddess" is full of many mantras, or small philosophies, to live by. All these mantras are included in the stanzas of the Wicca canon, and are inclusive enough for anyone to use in their lives. A few of these stood out as very important

44 phonemes Essay Example

44 phonemes Essay Example 44 phonemes Paper 44 phonemes Paper ______ consonants _______ other consonant sounds 18 consonants 7 other consonant sounds ch chip sh shack zh vision/pleasure th that th other ng king wh what _____ short vowels, ______ long vowels ______ other vowel sounds 5 short vowels, 5 long vowels, 9 other vowel sounds oo food oo hook ? (schwa) comma, apron, circus oi oil ou house ar chair, care, there ur hurt, term, courage a father, heart, taco, plaza o ball, caution, tall List the 7 other consonant sounds ch (chair) sh (share) th (there) th (other) wh (where) zh (vision) ng (Viking) Name 9 other vowel sounds o (ball) oo (book) oo (moon) ou (house) oi (foil) ? (chicken) a (father) ar (fair) ur (her fur)

Stroke Warning Signs Seen Hours or Days Before Attack

Stroke Warning Signs Seen Hours or Days Before Attack Warning signs of a stroke may appear as early as seven days before an attack and require urgent treatment to prevent serious damage to the brain, according to a study of stroke patients published in the March 8, 2005 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. A total of 80 percent of strokes are ischemic, caused by the narrowing of the large or small arteries of the brain, or by clots that block blood flow to the brain. They are often preceded by a transient ischemic attack (TIA), a â€Å"warning stroke† or â€Å"mini-stroke† that shows symptoms similar to a stroke, typically lasts less than five minutes and does not injure the brain. The study examined 2,416 people who had experienced an ischemic stroke. In 549 patients, TIAs were experienced prior to the ischemic stroke and in most cases occurred within the preceding seven days: 17 percent occurring on the day of the stroke, 9 percent on the previous day, and 43 percent at some point during the seven days prior to the stroke. â€Å"We have known for some time that TIAs are often a precursor to a major stroke,† said study author Peter M. Rothwell, MD, Ph.D., FRCP, of the Department of Clinical Neurology at Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, England. â€Å"What we haven’t been able to determine is how urgently patients must be assessed following a TIA in order to receive the most effective preventive treatment. This study indicates that the timing of a TIA is critical, and the most effective treatments should be initiated within hours of a TIA in order to prevent a major attack.† The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 18,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous systems such as stroke, Alzheimers disease, epilepsy, Parkinsons disease, autism, and multiple sclerosis. Common Symptoms of a TIA While similar to those of a stroke, the symptoms of a TIA are temporary, and include: Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body.Sudden confusion or problems understanding.Sudden difficulty speaking.Sudden vision difficulty in one or both eyes.Sudden dizziness, loss of balance or coordination, or difficulty walking.Sudden, severe headache with no apparent cause.

Various organizational police functions (local, state, federal) Essay

Various organizational police functions (local, state, federal) - Essay Example Local police officers: apprehend violators; preserve peace; prevent crime; enforce the law; protect human life and property; and serve the public (Johnson and Cox III, 2004). According to Shane (2010), the functions above differ from one another hierarchically [roles and powers are assigned to these levels hierarchically]. Federal police agencies enforce particular types of federal laws, state officers enforce state laws, and local police officers operate at the county level. In respect to the foregoing, a federal agent has jurisdiction over the entire country, while a local police agent has his jurisdiction limited to his town, city or county. A state police agent has jurisdiction over an entire state. There is no better solution to the way the present law enforcement system operates at each level because the hierarchical arrangement of the security systems allows for systematic distribution of roles and duties, and thereby helping extirpate confusion and superimposition of roles. Likewise, with this current system, law and order can be effectively and efficiently discharged, since there is flow of hierarchy. For instance, federal agencies such as the FBI can easily apprehend a criminal by acting on reports from state

Case study - holden australia - Marketing and Survey Research

- holden australia - Marketing and Survey Research - Case Study Example ative technologies to their car models or introduce a completely different product range so as to attract more of the Australian consumers towards their brand? Rationale: The major managerial problem was rapid failures in the new product development. Holden should have tried to determine the reason behind the failures of its new product developments. The company did not aim to understand the changing needs of the consumer market but focused only on profit growth which led to such an erroneous managerial decision. The new product development is a strategy that is adopted by a company when it intends to enter into new market with existing products. Customers nowadays focus on more on quality and new technology based products. The problem that resulted from the management’s decision was quitting the Australian market which somewhere was coincided with Holden’s failure in the local market. The flagship product of Holden was Commodore whose sales fell down by 9%. The vehicle manufacturing company was producing those cars that were not demanded by the consumers anymore. Commodore which had hit high sales three years ago was declini ng on the sales growth. Though the vehicle market was booming the locally made cars by Holden was failing miserable. The traditional small cars had hit high sales in the financial year but the locally made cars by Holden had seen a slump down in sales. The company was manufacturing different kind of products without being concerned of what was actually the demand of the Australian market. Then because of the problem faced by Holden the management decided to leave the Australian market. Holden’s key goals were to be the market leader of the vehicle manufacturing industry through the range of products it offered. Its aim was to acquire more of market share than to really understand what kind of modifications its product line required so as to support the changing consumer demand. The new product development strategy is adopted to sustain

Security Metrics Maturity Model for Operational Security

Security Metrics Maturity Model for Operational Security CHAPTER ONE: Introduction In this chapter, the key concepts and definitions by well known security authorities on security metrics is introduced and discussed. Then the issues and motivation that brings about this research topic is explained. Thereafter, the end result which is the objectives is put forth. To achieve these objectives, the goals are briefly outlined. There is also a section that explains the scope of the research and limitations for this work. Finally, the research flow on the chapters is explained. 1.1 Introduction Information Technology (IT) is continuously evolving at faster rate and enterprises are always trying to keep pace with the changes. So does the threats. As the complexity of IT increase, the unprecedented threat environment and security challenges also have increased multi fold over the years. Security Managers and CSOs with the blessings of top management keep investing and on security solutions to protect from ever increasing adversaries. But getting the blessings is not always an easy task for them as management normally does not see the direct benefit. Convincing on security investment is also part of challenges for Security Managers and CSOs. As part of the convincing process, the Security Metrics (SM) plays a vital role in any organization. It helps the management to have a close to comprehensive view of their organizational security posture. SM provides some measurement on how secure the organization is. However, how accurate is the information provided by the SM? Can the management take the SM as a final view of their respective organizational security posture? Can SM ensure the investment made for security is worth? A good SM should be able to answer accurately or provide some qualified response for the questions that management have. SM receiving many attention lately as IT Security is no more an option. With multitude of attacks from adversaries and many regulatory requirements, organizations are spending on security investment to ensure they are protected and stay competitive in markets. The greatest push factors for the metrics awareness are the recent amplified regulatory requirement, greater demand for transparency and accountability. Additionally there are many internal factors that driving organization to justify security investments, security and business objectives alignment and finally to fine-tune effectiveness and efficiency of organizational security programs. Much has been written and researched on SM on various aspects from data collection, analysis to measurement method etc. A considerable number of research efforts have been emerging in best practices, methodologies, framework, tool and techniques are being recommended and adopted to mature the security metrics. However, relatively little has been reported and proven on quality and matured metrics one has to follow and put in practice. Moreover security cannot be measured as a universal concept due to the complexity, uncertainty, non-stationary, limited observability of operational systems, and malice of attackers [VERENDEL V, 2010]. More has to be researched in the area of security metrics. Many interpretations and meanings of Security Metrics have been found on the Internet. Some examples taken from well know publications and researchers are as follows: According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), â€Å"Metrics are tools designed to facilitate decision-making and improve performance and accountability through collection, analysis and reporting of relevant performance-related data† [NIST-SP, 2001]. Whereas SANS in its â€Å"A Guide to Security Metrics, SANS Security Essentials GSEC Practical Assignment†, Shirley C. Payne says that â€Å"Measurements provide single point-in-time views of specific, discrete factors, while metrics are derived by comparing to a predetermined baseline two or more measurements taken over time. Measurements are generated by counting: metrics are generated from analysis. In other words, measurements are objective raw data and metrics are either objective or subjective human interpretations of those data†. [SHIRLEY C. PAYNE, 2006] She also further describes what would be considered a â€Å"useful† metric: â€Å"Truly useful metrics indicate the degree to which security goals, such as data confidentiality, are being met and they drive actions taken to improve an organization’s overall security program.† Yet another one practical definition by Andrew Jaquith, states that â€Å"Metrics is a term used to denote a measure based on a reference and involves at least two points, the measure and the reference. Security in its most basic meaning is the protection from or absences of danger. Literally, security metrics should tell us about the state or degree of safety relative to a reference point and what to do to avoid danger†. [JAQUITH (1), 2007] [M. SWANSON, 2003] highlights some of the key uses of security metrics in an organization. They are (not limited to):- Enabling organizations to verify compliance level against internal and external institutions. (e.g. laws, regulations, standards, contractual obligations) and internal ones (e.g. organizational policies and procedures Provide visibility and increasing transparency on accountability with regards to specific security controls and facilitating detection. Provide effectiveness and efficiency of security management by providing better visibility on security posture at high and granular level, helping in security strategies and display trends. Helping management to decide better on security investments in terms of allocating resources, product and services. Having a right security metrics is a paramount in gauging a security posture of an organization. Most of the SM concerns coins from the correctness and effectiveness. Correctness denotes assurance that the security-enforcing mechanisms have been rightly implemented (i.e. they do exactly what they intended to do, such as performing some calculation). Effectiveness denotes assurance that the security-enforcing mechanisms of the systems meet the stated security objectives (i.e. they do not do anything other than what is intended for them to do, while satisfying expectation or resiliency).[BARABANOV et al, 2011] Organizations faced with many security metrics options to be used. The security managers and CSOs bombarded with large set of related, unrelated, heterogeneous security metrics by different source or assets within the organization. How will they make these metrics to be more meaningful and eventually reduce risks and support strategic security decisions? Therefore, the decision makers should be furnished a proper security metrics guidelines that encompass the right type of measurement / data to choose, correct way of analyzing and interpreting and any other recommendations. This research, therefore will explore further on the existing security metrics recommendations currently in practice. In order to improve the current security metrics, more research efforts are needed and focused in the area of good estimators, human element reduction, obtaining more systematic and speedy means to obtain meaningful measurements and better understanding of composition of security mechanisms. [LUNDHOLM et al, 2011] Therefore, this research will explore the identification of quality security elements to determine matured security metrics as there are many areas within IT security that contributes to an organizational security posture. This mainly involves providing weight-age for each and every element. Thereafter the elements are then prioritized and finally sum up to provide a final security posture of an organization. Some of the key domains within security are cryptography, operational security, physical security, application security, telecommunication security and many more. The research will identify elements within these domains that play a vital role in an organization to produce a security metrics report for management. These elements are further scrutinized and qualified to be part of the security metrics. The scrutinization and qualification is done through various researches done by previous researchers. The systematic techniques will provide a guided recommendation for near optimal security metrics for an organization. The key questions for this research will be what is acceptable security metrics element or measurement for a domain? How accurately these parameters are obtained? How effective are they? As a whole how matured are the metrics? How these various elements and parameters can be used to provide an accurate and convincing security posture report for an organization in a practical manner? To go further explaining this research, imagine this scenario: A key security personnel of an organization presenting a finding of the company’s security posture. She/he talking about how good the security in place, how good is the security fortress, how impenetrable the security perimeter and so on. To support his claims he throws some PowerPoint slides with security metrics. The management was like awed and feeling comfortable with the presentation and they felt secure doing their business. But then there are few questions from the floor on the accuracy, quality, completeness and maturity of the metrics. How confidence is the security metrics presented? Hence a proper model that supports the claim is needed. The model will substantiate the claims of the security personnel on her/ his findings. Therefore this research will look into the ways of substantiating by proposing a maturity model. The end result of this research will be guiding principles that leads Security Managers to produce a convincing and close to accurate report for C Level management of an organization. This research will look into various studies done on existing measurements and security elements for Security Metrics and produce a method that will portray the maturity of security metrics used in an organization. 1.2 Problem Statement The lack of clear guidance on security measurements that represent a security posture of an organization has been always a problem despite many researches done in the area. Despite many methods and definition in the area of security metrics were introduced, nothing is strikingly clear that enable organization to adopt and implement in their respective organization particularly in operational security. There are many theoretical and more to academia texts available in this area [JAQUITH, 2007, M. SWANSON, 2003, CIS-SECMET, 2012]. Organizations still lack of precise knowledge of practicable and effective security metrics in the operational security settings. 1.3 Motivation There is an obvious need in guiding organization to the right direction in implementing their respective organizational security program. There is paucity exist in the mode of guiding process for organization to implement security program with the right metrics to monitor their operational activities. The main incentive behind proposing a matured security metrics for operational security is a workable solution and guide for matured security metrics for any organization. Organizations need a model to look into the type of metrics used in their security program and a model to chart their metrics improvement program. Hence the solution will be an asset for organizations in implementing reliable and practical security metrics. This paper will answer question like â€Å"Are incidents declining and improving security over time? If yes or no, how reliable are the answers?† Is my metrics are correct and reliable if not how can I improve it? Further, the paper will provide some practic al top down approach in approaching security metrics in an operational environment. Another motivation for this paper is the findings from the [PONEMON, 2010], who claims many researches lack of guidance, impractical in operational environment and purely formal treatment as no empirical support as a whole. In the end, through some findings of this paper, organizations will be able to gauge the return on investment on security investments. They should be able to measure successes and failures of past and current security investments and well informed on future investments. 1.4 Objectives The problem statement and motivations bring the objective for this work. The objectives for this project will be: a. To provide security metric quality taxonomy for operational security b. To devise methods for matured security metrics for operational security To achieve these objectives, the methodology and goals used for this work would be: Conduct a literature review on existing research works and state of the art Identify the key operational areas based industry expert inputs Develop a taxonomy based on the key operational areas Identify the key criteria or parameters that make a good quality metrics Identify on how to categorize or rank the metrics to represent the maturity of a metric Develop a method to guide for a quality security metrics Develop a metric score card to represent maturity level Develop a Security Metrics Maturity Index (SM-Mi) 1.5 Scope of Work For the purpose of this research only a certain area of operational security is identified. Also to be more focused, to give a better view and example, we will choose few important and popular metrics among security practitioners. The research is aim to provide a very practical approach in operational security metrics for an organization, but is not meant to be treated as an exhaustive guide or resource. Metrics prioritization is out of the scope of this research as organizations have various different business objectives and goals. These decide and dictate the type of metrics to be used and emphasized as such metrics will not be discussed [BARABANOV, 2011]. 1.7 Thesis Layout The research consists of 6 chapters; the first chapter will describe some security concepts and motivation for this topic. The second chapter will delve into the related works done in this area. This chapter will identify some key research findings and what is lacking in them and how some of the information will help for this thesis. As for the research methodology and proposed framework, chapter 3 will explain this. Chapter 4 will identify and explain in detail the formulation of proposed metrics and taxonomy for operational security in the form of techniques. Meanwhile Chapter 5 will discuss a case study based on the solution proposed. Chapter 6 will be a brief chapter that summarize the research and will discuss on future direction of this research.

Views of stereotypes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

During the early 1800's, racism was still rampant among citizens in America, especially those in the south. Minorities were generalized as a member of a certain racial group and stereotyped with degrading qualities that implied that they were less than human. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain creates a character with all of the African-American stereotypes, and throughout the novel, develops him into a character that everyone can relate to, showing that he is human. At that time, African-Americans were seen as animals that did not care for anyone, but Twain shows that Jim has feelings, despite what society thinks. Another aspect of the African-American stereotype was that all African-Americans were stupid, but Jim, although uneducated, is not portrayed as stupid. A common belief among racists at the time was that African-Americans were less than human, but throughout the novel, Jim shows feelings of despair, regret and compassion, all of which are humanlike. In contrast to the typical stereotype that African-Americans care for no one but theirselves, Jim is depicted as an extremely caring person. When describing his daughter to Huck, Jim says, â€Å"En wid dat I fetch' her a slap side de head dat sont her a-spawlin'†¦Oh, Huck, I bust out a-cryin' en grab her up in my arms, en say, ‘Oh, de po' little thing! De Lord God Amighty fogive po' Jim, kaze he never gwyne to forgive hisself as lon's he live!†(156). In this quotation, Jim expresses extreme regrete and sorrow for his daughter whom he has realized is deaf and couldn't hear anything he was saying to her. When Huck and Jim have been separated and Huck is staying at the Grangerfords, Jim shows another instance of caring. When Huck saw Jim for the first time again he wrote, † I waked him up, and I reckoned it was going to be a grand surprise to him to see me again, but it warn't. He nearly cried he was so glad, but he warn't surprised†(114). In this quotation, Twain illustrates Jim's concern for not only his own family, but for his Huck, whom he has formed a unique friendship with. Twain successfully develops Jim into a character that cares not only for his family, but for his friends. African-Americans and slaves especially, were stereotyped as ignorant in the early 1800's. Jim, like most other slaves, has no formal education and talks in a dialect that makes him appear to be less educated. However Jim has a unique kind of intelligence. When Huck was trying to trick Jim into thinking that he had dreamt up their separation in the fog, Jim notices the debris on Huck, â€Å"Jim looked at the trash, and then looked at me, and back at the trash again. He had got the dream fixed so strong in his head that he couldn't seem to shake it loose and get the facts back into its place again right away. But when he did get the thing straightened around he looked at me steady without ever smiling† (54). Jim shows his common sense smarts by figuring out when Huck is lying to him. The fact that Huck, an educated white boy, couldn't fool Jim, an uneducated slave, with his scheme shows that although Jim is uneducated, he is intelligent in his own way. When the Duke and the King come on board the raft, Jim knows that since the King claims he is from France, that he should be able to speak French. â€Å"I found Jim had been trying to get him to talk French, so he could hear what it was like; but he said he had been in this country so long, and had so much trouble, he'd forgot it†(179). This shows the reasoning ability that Jim has. He knows that since the King is from France he should be able to speak French. Huck interprets this as Jim wanting to hear French, but what Jim is actually trying to do is to verify the King's story and keep themselves safe. Perhaps the worst stereotype about African-Americans at that time was that they were less than human, unable to feel humanlike emotions or act like normal humans do. Jim is portrayed as exactly the opposite, routinely risking his own life and freedom for the welfare of others. When Tom has been shot and Huck is consulting with Jim on what they should do, Jim says, â€Å"Well, den, is Jim gwyne to say it? No, sah-I doan'budge a step out'n this place ‘dout a doctor; not if it's forty year! (266)†. Jim has decided to risk being caught again to make sure that Tom Sawyer sees a doctor. He knows very well that he could easily be caught doing this and set back into slavery, but he does it anyway. This shows that Jim is a very humanlike character who experiences humanlike emotions, compassion in this instance, and acts in selfless ways. Twain again demonstrates Jim's equality and humanlike characteristics when Huck and Jim and eating on the raft. Huck writes, â€Å"so Jim he go t out some corn-dodgers and buttermilk, and pork and cabbage and greens†¦ and whilst I eat my supper we talked and had a good time† (126). This quotation illustrates Jim as an equal to Huck who can experience the same easy-going and fun emotions that Huck can. No where in the book is Jim unable to understand an emotion Huck or any other person is feeling, showing his humanity. Jim is a representation of how all people can feel emotions for others, be intelligent no matter how uneducated they are, and experience emotions of the human race. Mark Twain has succeeded in creating a character who although is a minority, embodies characteristics that people can relate to. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was an important statement against racism and the values taught can still be applies to the American culture today.