Political economy of agrarian change The WritePass Journal

Political economy of agrarian change Introduction Political economy of agrarian change IntroductionAre redistributive land reforms possible and if so are they desirable today?BibliographyRelated Introduction Are redistributive land reforms possible and if so are they desirable today? Land reform (LR) is defined as a ‘legislation intended and likely to redistribute ownership of current farmland, and thus benefit the poor by raising their absolute and relative status, power, and/or income, compared with likely situations without the legislation’ (Lipton, 2009:124). Thus, land-based wealth and power are transferred from the monopoly control of private landed class to landless working poor. This, however, is far from being universal. LR has had a rollercoaster ride in the toolbox of development strategies from a panacea that would cure all ills and help replicate the successes of Japan and Korea, to venom that destroys property rights and creates unviable production units that lead to agricultural decline and urban migration as it has purportedly done in Latin America. The issue of LR is indeed complex and nuanced. A deeper understanding of LR, therefore, is imperative. This essay discusses the desirability and possibility of LR. On one spectrum, it will argue for the desirability of land reform in terms of efficiency and poverty reduction. On the other spectrum, it will venture arguments for the possibility of LR. It concludes that LR remains alive, active and acts as a beacon of hope for those with limited or no access to land. This essay begins assessing the possibility of LR in contemporary developing countries. It argues that LR is not only possible but an ongoing battle. It is back on the policy agenda of international development institutions since the 1990s and has not disappeared since then (Borras, 2010). It was in the mid-1990s when land struggles caught the attention of the world. Three of these were the most important, the Chiapas uprising in Mexico, the state-investigated land invasions by black landless poor of white commercial farms in Zimbabwe, and the resurgence of militant peasant land occupations in Brazil reminiscent of the actions by the peasant land of the 1950s but much greater in scale and political sophistication (Akram-Lodhi et al, 2007). While the international development community grappled with the meanings and implications of such complex conflicts, trans-national agrarian movements (TAMs) emerged (Borras, 2010).   La Via Campesina (VC) is to be mentioned, beside the Internati onal Federation of Agricultural Producers and the IPC for Food Sovereignty. VC, for example, is an international movement of poor peasants and small farmers from the global South and North, which was established in 1993 as a critical response to neoliberalism and which is still very much active today (Ibid, 2010). VC validates what Ronald Herring (2003) observed, namely that LR was taken off the ‘policy agenda’ of national and international agencies in the 1980s, but never left the ‘political agendas’ of the peasants and their organisations. Herring explained that ‘even dead LR are not dead; they become nodes around which future peasant mobilisations emerge because promises unkept keep movements alive’ (Ibid, 2003: 123). Today, as in the case 50 years ago, severe poverty remains mainly rural with extreme land inequalities. As the World Bank study in 2003 shows 17.8% of the population in East and South East Asia live under 1.25$. The figure however is much higher for Latin America (38.6%) and drastic in Sub-Saharan Africa (50.3%). Further, though the LR thrust weakened from the mid-1970s, observers (de Janvry and Sadoulet,1989) saw factors tending to revive it. First, form the mid-1980s, spreading democracy and political organisation led to civil-society activism, including land invasions to press for enforcement of unimplemented LR laws (Binswanger-Mkhize, 2009). Second, growth of new markets induced many giant, near-feudal haciendas to become commercial farms; turned tied workers from feudal workers into casual, part-time employees, who are freer to press for LR (Bernstein, 2003). Third, in faster-growing countries, urban growth shifted visible poverty priorities at national levels from farms towards cities (Lipton, 2009). Thus, internal dynamics – urbanisation, unequal land and power distribution, and the expansion of democratic-consciousness among the rural population supported, rather than kill, LR in twenty-first century. Since the Mexican revolution of 1910, internal dynamics decide whether LR slows, pauses, resumes or accelerates. Sometimes it was seen as complete, either having reached its limits or succumbed to limitations, mainly underperformance and unpopularity due to collectivist rather than distributives approaches (Olsen, 1971). But in no country did LR quite die or became impossible rather it has resumed or speeded up. Indeed in some countries LR sputtered on with many stops and starts. The timing of slowdowns or reversals varied, from 1910 in Mexico or 1973 in Chile. The timing of resumption or acceleration also varied, from the early 1990s in Brazil to 2006-08 in Bolivia and Venezuela (Sen, 1997). Many huge farms have partly transformed from haciendas to partly modernised commercial farms but gross, growth-inhibiting, and largely inherited land inequality remains unaddressed – making LR vital and crucial as ever. LR, therefore, is not impossible. Much had happened; some is happening now; more remains relevant and likely. Globally, LR recedes and advances, is fulfilled or abandoned, inspires new pressures and programmes or becomes dormant with old ones. Since LR is still not only possible today but also a burning issue, the question now is whether it is also desirable. Opponents of LR, for example, Lipton (2008) argue that with increased expansion of capitalism, large farms become more suitable than small farms – rendering LR superfluous. Worldwide, rapid technical change and globalisation confront farmers with transformed processing and marketing arrangements, often impinging on production. Larger farms are considered under these circumstances as more efficient, thus advantages of smallness are reversed by economic development, globalisation and supermarkets. Moreover, it is argued that LR is internally inconsistent often due to loopholes inserted by lawmakers under pressure from large landowners (Ibid, 2008). LR, so argued, gives ‘too’ much power to the state so that the goal of putting control of land in the hands of the poor is subverted, and the reform abused to extract enforced surplus from rural people, in cluding the poor. Also argued is that LR is politically infeasible because political and social costs of implementation far exceeds benefits of reform (Rashid and Quibria, 1995). Yet, all these arguments considered are as amiss. There are two different discourses arguing in favour of LR. The one is Marxist, positivist, evolutionist, the other, neo-liberal and technocratic (Borras et al, 2010). The one has developed in Eastern and Central Europe during the late nineteenth century; the other after World War II in the technocratic language of development policy. Both traditions have resonances in today’s LR debate, however with competing political ideologies, reasoning, and conclusions. While it must be acknowledged that the debate about LR also includes institutional economics or livelihood economics, a further inquiry thereof is beyond the scope of this essay (Cousins et al., 2010). The main neo-liberal argument for LR lies in the inverse-relationship paradigm (IR) (Deiniger, 1999). The rationale is that small scale farmers are residual claimants to profits and have an incentive to provide greater efforts in the process of production. The reason for this is the following: small farms have advantages in managing labour, but larger farms in managing capital. Capital and large-farm advantage loom larger as a source of higher land productivity in developed, labour scarce rural areas; labour, and small-farm advantage, count for more in developing, capital scarce countries. Griffin, Khan and Ickowitz (2002) conclude that since the ratio of interest rates to wages is relatively low in large farms with access to credit, they tend to adopt relatively more capital intensive method of production. Small farmers on the other hand, so argued, tend to have worse access to capital and therefore tend to economize on it by adopting relatively more labour intensive technology. Sma ll farmers, therefore, generate more employment. Since the factor proportions are typically skewed in favour of labour as the abundant, small farms utilize resources more efficiently. Following this line of reasoning, there appears to be a clear policy outcome; economic policies should be geared towards reallocating land away from large farm holdings to small family farms since it is the most effective means of boosting efficiency and output. The desirability of LR based on IR, however, is disputable. Today, it is assumed that the connection between size and productivity is fallacious – even among neo-liberal economists. While the World Bank supported the IR in 1975, it now claims that ‘land ownership ceiling have been generally ineffective†¦to facilitate the break-up of big farms, and instead have led to red tapes, spurious subdivisions, and corruption’ (Binswanger-Mkhize, 2009). To argue further, IR paradigm suffers from methodological shortcomings semantic relativism. What is a ‘small’ farm? There is no general consensus on this and it varies with each case study on IR. For example, Van Zyl (1996) conducted a study into South African agriculture in which he stated that, ‘significant efficiency gains can be made if farm sizes in the commercial sector become smaller (in Sender and Johnston, 2004:152). However, the definition of a ‘small farm’ used in this study wa s one with over 500 hectares. To argue that a 500 hectare farm is a ‘small’ scale farm is preposterous when compared to a small farm in Bangladesh which normally counts for 1-2 hectare (Khan, 2004). The term ‘small’ is used ambiguously in many investigations into agriculture and productivity. Therefore, until there is a clear definition of what constitutes a ‘small’ farm, it is difficult to accept evidence about higher productivity on ‘small’ farms without a pinch of salt. Second, IR suffers from theoretical limitations. IR ignores peasant differentiation and differences in land quality (Byres, 2004b). Small peasants are not heterogeneous. In each size group, some farms are run and worked by kin, others by employees; some are remote, others peri-urban; some have favourable land, others not, some are well-managed, others not. Simple measures, which regress annual farm output per hectare against farm size, miss out these factors. In statistics term, the ‘bivariate’ IR hides ‘missing variables’, and thus hides ‘unobserved heterogeneity’ within farm size-groups (Dyer, 2004). Moreover, smaller farms may have higher output per hectare, not because of its smallness, but because of its higher land-water quality (Ibid, 2004). Small farm land with poor soil quality can not be a guarantee for higher agricultural output. The desirability of LR from a Marxist perspective, however takes a different stance. According to political economists, LR’s desirability lies in its contribution to the resolution of the agrarian question (AQ). The AQ constitutes the continued existence in the countryside, in a substantive sense, of obstacles to an unleashing of accumulation in both the countryside itself and more generally - in particular, the accumulation associated with capitalist industrialisation (Byres, 2004a).Byres’ definition demonstrates the historical contribution of LR to develop capitalist economies. It was LR that unleashed the forces of production necessary for a ‘primitive accumulation’ by eroding feudal and semi-feudal relations of production and replacing them with a class of capitalist farmers and one of wage labourers. The resolution of the AQ was achieved in a variety of ways, ‘from above’, as in the case of nineteenth century Prussia, where a land owning class metamorphosed into an agrarian capitalist class, or ‘from below’ in America, where peasants differentiate themselves over time into classes of agrarian capital (Ibid, 2004a). To destroy the power of pre-capitalist property class, LR is required. The function of LR in this context, therefore, lies in its contribution as the promoter of capitalism in pre-capitalist areas. Contemporary AQ, however, is centred on the crisis of the reproduction of increasingly fragmented classes of labour within a capitalist system (Bernstein, 2009). Here, the desirability of LR is argued on the basis of securing the livelihood of peasants. Land is seen as ‘a basic livelihood asset, the principal form of natural capital from which people produce food and earn a living’ (Cousins et al 2010:32). Land also ‘provides a supplementary source of livelihoods for rural workers and the urban poor’ and ‘as a heritable asset, land is the basis for the wealth and livelihood security of future rural generations’ (Ibid, 2010:33). Moreover, Kay (1988) buttresses LR by arguing that small-scale farming is multiplier-rich. LR enhances growth for the overall economy because family farmers spend more of their incomes in the locally produced goods than do larger farms, creating a positive relationship between family farms and non-farm incomes in the loca l economy. In China, for instance, access to land enabled peasants to take increased risk and move into non-farm activities which produced the boom in small-scale entrepreneurship (Bramall, 2004). From a Marxist perspective henceforth, desirability of LR not only results in capital accumulation but in improved prospects for the livelihood security of differentiated classes of labour, for whom farming may be only one source of income. So far we have considered the desirability of LR entirely from an economic perspective. Leaving this aside, LR has also major socio-political implications – buttressing the desirability argument. Advocates of political LR, appreciate, for instance, the dissolution of feudal relationships of production and excessively concentrated and exploitative à ©lite power structures (Bhaduri, 1973). While the main goal of land reformers is to enhance the rural poor’s access to land, it is also to reduce poverty, inequality, and to increase liberty (Sen, 2001). Having land on their own, the poor rely less on non-farm employment, emergency loans, or trade with local ‘rural tyrants’ (Hall, 2004) who are almost always major land controllers, but often also employers, landlords, lenders with interlocking market power over things that the local poor can neither live without nor, in many cases readily get elsewhere. Political LR, also include the creation of political stabil ity and peace. In post-conflict situations, this would suggest a focus on provision of land to war-veterans and people displaced by war. In Zimbabwe, for instance, LR focused on white-owned farms and exempted black owners from expropriation (Jacobs, 2000). In post-colonial situations, the political LR also included correcting the racial imbalance in land ownership (Algeria, East-Southern Africa) and empowering members of the new elite (Kenya and Zimbabwe) (Lipton, 2004). Therefore LR, apart from having economic benefits, contributes to unlock many of today’s rural societies from quasi-feudalism. LR – its desirability and possibility – has been hotly debated among various economic ideologies. Yet, in a world of continuing poverty and inequality, slow agricultural growth, changing economic structures, rapid urbanisation, profound challenges of climate structures, and rapid urbanisation, institutions, policies and pressures concerning access to and use of land are as important as ever. In the past century, LR played a central role in the time-paths of rural and national poverty, progress, freedom, conflict, and suffering. Arguing that LR is ‘passà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢- is therefore erroneous. And such thinking underrates the reach of LR. LR, like education or tax reform, is a thrust towards more equitable and efficient distribution. The thrust weakens or strengthens with economic situations and power balances, but does not become impossible. For the next half-century at least, where agriculture continues central to the lives of the poor, the role of LR will not declin e. Indeed growing populations, scarcer land, and the low and falling employment intensity of non-farm growth may well increase pressures for and resistance to LR. Although, it carries the potential for severe land conflicts, it nevertheless permits huge gains, in terms of liberty and peace as well as growth and reduced inequality. Bibliography Akram-Lodhi, A.H., Borras, M. Jr, Kay,C., and McKinley, T. (2007), Land, poverty and livelihoods in an era of globalization.London: Routledge. Bernstein, H. (2009), ‘Agrarian questions from transition to globalization’, in A Haroon Akram Lodhi and C Kay (eds), Peasants and Globalization. Political economy, rural transformation and the agrarian question, London: Routledge. Bernstein, H. (2003), ‘Land Reform in Southern Africa in World-Historical Perspective’, Review of African Political Economy, vol.30, no.96. Bhaduri, A. (1973), ‘A study in economic backwardness under semi-feudalism’. Economic Journal vol.5, no.83. Binswanger-Mkhize, H. P (2009), Agricultural Land Redistribution. Towards a Greater Consensus. Washington, D.C: World Bank. Bloch, M. (1964), Feudal Society: The growth of ties of dependence. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Borras, S., Kay C., and Lahiff E. (2007), ‘Market-Led Agrarian Reform: Policies, Performance and Prospects’, Third World Quarterly, vol.28, no.8. Borras, S., and Franco, J. (2010), ‘Contemporary Discourses and Contestations around Pro-poor Land Policies and Land Governance’, Journal of Agrarian Change, vol. 10, no.1. Borras, S. (2010), ‘The Politics of Transnational Agrarian Movements’, Development and Change, vol. 41, no.5. Bramall, C. (2004), ‘Chinese Land Reform in Long-Run Perspective and in the Wider East Asian Context’, Journal of Agrarian Change, vol.4, no 12. Byres, T.J. (2004a), ‘Neo-Classical Neo-populism 25 Years On: Dà ©j vu and Dà ©j Passà ©. Towards a Critique ’, Journal of Agrarian Change, vol. 4, no.12. Byres, T.J. (2004b), ‘Introduction: Contextualizing and Interrogating the GKI Case for Redistributive Land Reform’, Journal of Agrarian Change, vol. 4, no 12. Chimhowu, A. and Woodhouse, A. (2006), ‘Customary vs. Private Property Rights? Dynamics and Trajectories of Vernacular Land Markets in Sub-Saharan Africa’, Journal of Agrarian Change, vol.6, no.3. Cousins, B. and Scoones I. (2010), ‘Contested paradigms of ‘viability’ in redistributive land reform: perspectives from Southern Africa’. Journalof Peasant Studies, vol. 37, no. 1. Deininger, K. (1999), ‘Making Negotiated Land Reform Work: Initial Experience from Columbia, Brazil and South Africa’, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, Washington D.C: World Bank. Deininger, K. (2003), Land Policies for Growth and Poverty Reduction. Washington, D.C: World Bank. Dyer, G. (2004), ‘Redistributive Land Reform: No April Rose.   The Poverty of Berry and Cline and GKI on the Inverse Relationship’, Journal of Agrarian Change, vol.4., no12. De Janvry, A. and Sadoulet, E. (1989), ‘Path dependent policy reforms: from land reform to rural development in Columbia’, in Hoff et al., 2003, the Economics of Rural organisation: Theory, practise, and Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Griffin, K., Khan, R., and Ickowitz, A.(2002), ‘Poverty and the Distribution of Land’, Journal of Agrarian Change, vol. 2, no.3 Griffin, K., Khan, A.R., and Ickowitz, A. (2004), ‘In Defence of Neo-Classical Neo-Populism’, Journal of Agrarian Change, vol. 4, no 3. Hall, R. (2004), ‘A Political Economy of Land Reform in South Africa’, Review of African Political Economy, vol.100, Herring, R. (2003) Carrots, Sticks and Ethnic Conflict: Rethinking Development Assistance. Michigan: University of Michigan Press. Jacobs, S. (2000), ‘Zimbabwe: Why Land Reform is a Gender Issue’, Sociological Research Online, vol. 5, no.2. Johnston, D. and Le Roux, H. (2007), ‘Leaving the Household out of Family Labour: The Implications for the Size-Efficiency Debate’, European Journal of Development Research. Kay, C. (1998), ‘Latin Americas agrarian reform: lights and shadows’. Land reform, Land Settlement and Co-operatives, vol.2, no.7. Kevane, M. and Gray, L.C. (1999), ‘A Womans Field is Made at Night: Gendered Land Rights and Norms in Burkina Faso’, Feminist Economics, vol. 5, no.1. Khan, M.H. (2004), ‘Power, Property Rights and the Issue of Land Reform: A General Case Illustrated with Reference to Bangladesh’, Journal of Agrarian Change, vol.4, no 12. Lipton M. (2009), Land Reform in Developing Countries. Property rights and property wrongs. London: Routledge. Manji, A. (2003), ‘Capital, Labour and Land Relations in Africa: A Gender Analysis of the World Banks Policy Research Report on Land Institutions and Land Policy’, Third World Quarterly, vol. 24, no.1. Olsen, M. (1971), The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Peters, P. (2004), ‘Inequality and Social Conflict Over Land in Africa’, Journal of Agrarian Change, vol.4, no.3. Rashid, S. and Quibria, M. (1995), Critical Issues in Asia Development: Theories, Experiences and Policies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Schultz, T. (1964) Transforming Traditional Agriculture. New Haven: Yale University Press. Sen, A. K. (1997), ‘Radical Needs and Moderate Reforms’, in J. Dreze and A.K Sen (eds), Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sen, A. K. (2001), Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sender, J. and Johnston, D. (2004), ‘Searching for a Weapon of Mass Production in Rural Africa: Unconvincing Arguments for Land Reform’, Journal of Agrarian Change, vol. 4, no.12. Vergera-Camus, L. (2009), ‘The MST and the EZLN struggle for land: new forms of peasant rebellions’, Journal of Agrarian Change, vol. 9, no.3. Walker, C. (2002). ‘Agrarian Change, Gender And Land Reform: A South African Case Study’, UNRISD Social Policy Development Programme, Paper no 10. Woodhouse, P. (2003), ‘African Enclosures: A Default Mode of Development’, World Development vol.31, no.10.

Douglas SBD Dauntless Divebomber in World War II

Douglas SBD Dauntless Divebomber in World War II The Douglas SBD Dauntless was the mainstay of the US Navys dive bomber fleet for much of World War II (1939-1945). Produced between 1940 and 1944, the aircraft was adored by its flight crews which praised its ruggedness, dive performance, maneuverability, and heavy armament. Flown from both carriers and land bases, the Slow but Deadly Dauntless played key roles at the decisive Battle of Midway and during the campaign to capture Guadalcanal. Also an excellent scout aircraft, the Dauntless remained in frontline use until 1944 when most US Navy squadrons began transitioning to the more powerful, but less popular Curtiss SB2C Helldiver.      Design Development: Following the US Navys introduction of the Northrop BT-1 dive bomber in 1938, designers at Douglas began working on an improved version of the aircraft. Using the BT-1 as a template, the Douglas team, led by designer Ed Heinemann, produced a prototype which was dubbed the XBT-2. Centered on the 1,000 hp Wright Cyclone engine, the new aircraft featured a 2,250 lb. bomb load and a speed of 255 mph. Two forward firing .30 cal. machine guns and one rear-facing .30 cal. were provided for defense.   Featuring all metal construction (except for fabric covered control surfaces), the XBT-2 utilized a low-wing cantilever configuration and included  hydraulically actuated, perforated split dive-brakes. Another change from the BT-1 saw the landing gear shift from retracting backwards to closing laterally into recessed wheel wells in the wing. Re-designated the SBD (Scout Bomber Douglas) following Douglas purchase of Northrop, the Dauntless was selected by the US Navy and Marine Corps to replace their existing dive bomber fleets. Production and Variants: In April 1939, the first orders were placed with the USMC opting for the SBD-1 and the Navy selecting the SBD-2. While similar, the SBD-2 possessed a greater fuel capacity and a slightly different armament. The first generation of Dauntlesses reached operational units in late 1940 and early 1941. As the sea services were transitioning to the SBD, the US Army placed an order for the aircraft in 1941, designating it the A-24 Banshee. In March 1941, the Navy took possession of the improved SBD-3 which featured self-sealing fuel tanks, enhanced armor protection, and an expanded array of weapons including an upgrade to two forward-firing .50 cal. machine guns in the cowling and twin .30 cal. machine guns on a flexible mount for the rear gunner. The SBD-3 also saw a switch to the more powerful Wright R-1820-52 engine. Subsequent variants included the SBD-4, with an enhanced 24-volt electrical system, and the definitive SBD-5. The most produced of all SBD types, the SBD-5 was powered by a 1,200 hp R-1820-60 engine and had a larger ammunition capacity than its predecessors. Over 2,900 SBD-5s were built, mostly at Douglas Tulsa, OK plant. A SBD-6 was designed, but it was not produced in large numbers (450 total) as Dauntless production was ended in 1944, in favor of the new Curtiss SB2C Helldiver. A total of 5,936 SBDs were built during its production run. Specifications (SBD-5) General Length: 33 ft. 1 in.Wingspan: 41 ft. 6 in.Height: 13 ft. 7 in.Wing Area: 325 sq. ft.Empty Weight: 6,404 lbs.Loaded Weight: 10,676 lbs.Crew: 2 Performance Power Plant: 1 Ãâ€" Wright R-1820-60 radial engine, 1,200 hpRange: 773 milesMax Speed: 255 mphCeiling: 25,530 ft. Armament Guns: 2 x .50 cal. machine guns (mounted in cowling), 1 x (later 2 x) flexible-mounted .30 cal. machine gun(s) in rearBombs/Rockets: 2,250 lbs. of bombs Operational History The backbone of the US Navys dive bomber fleet at the outbreak of World War II, the SBD Dauntless saw immediate action around the Pacific. Flying from American carriers, SBDs aided in sinking the Japanese carrier Shoho at the Battle of the Coral Sea (May 4-8, 1942). A month later, the Dauntless proved vital in turning the tide of the war at the Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942). Launching from the carriers USS Yorktown (CV-5), USS Enterprise (CV-6), and USS Hornet (CV-8), SBDs successfully attacked and sank four Japanese carriers. The aircraft next saw service during the battles for Guadalcanal. Flying from carriers and Guadalcanals Henderson Field, SBDs provided support for the Marines on the island as well as flew strike missions against the Imperial Japanese Navy.  Though slow by the standards of the day, the SBD proved a rugged aircraft and was beloved by its pilots. Due to its relatively heavy armament for a dive bomber (2 forward .50 cal. machine guns, 1-2 flex-mounted, rear-facing .30 cal. machine guns) the SBD proved surprisingly effective in dealing with Japanese fighters such as the A6M Zero. Some authors have even argued that the SBD finished the conflict with a plus score against enemy aircraft. The Dauntless last major action came in June 1944, at the Battle of Philippine Sea (June 19-20, 1944). Following the battle, most SBD squadrons were transitioned to the new SB2C Helldiver, though several US Marine Corps units continued to fly the Dauntless for the remainder of the war. Many SBD flight crews made the transition to the new SB2C Helldiver with great reluctance. Though bigger and faster than the SBD, the Helldiver was plagued by production and electrical problems that made it unpopular with its crews. Many reflected that they wanted to continue flying the Slow but Deadly Dauntless rather than the new Son of a Bitch 2nd Class Helldiver. The SBD was fully retired at the end of the war. A-24 Banshee in Army Service While the aircraft proved highly effective for the US Navy, it was less so for the US Army Air Forces. Though it saw combat over Bali, Java, and New Guinea during the early days of the war, it was not well received and squadrons suffered heavy casualties. Relegated to non-combat missions, the aircraft did not see action again until an improved version, the A-24B, entered service later in the war. The USAAFs complaints about the aircraft tended to cite its short range (by their standards) and slow speed.

On the Chesapeake Colonists Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

On the Chesapeake Colonists - Essay Example On the Chesapeake Colonists On an angle, this could be true, considering the English colonists were not as experienced as their Spanish counterparts. They were just beginning their conquest to the New World years after hearing about the success of the Spanish government in sending colonizers to the famed nation rich in gold. They are so ignorant they sent very few people on such an important mission who have been exposed to atrocities and calamities. They probably have not been prepared physically, emotionally and socially. Their inspiration for the trip was the famous stories of the successes of their Spanish brothers so that they probably were just driven by the thought that what their neighbor was able to do, they could also succeed in. They knew pretty well the possible harsh relations they can get from the earlier colonists of other American soils so they prepared themselves for attacks from them. However, they did not seem to have been well-prepared for the attack of the Indians who claimed the lives of a part of the company. In addition, the ills brought about by diseases rampant during that time that killed most of the small company shows how unprepared they are for what should have been expected and prepared for. Such circumstances are pointed out to show the ignorance of the English settlers. Coming from one of the most civilized nations during that time, the English colonists are well-informed about the latest technological discoveries, modern inventions that made life easier and other information that shaped the English civilization.

Current operations-based 'customer' issue of a SME in Southern England Essay

Current operations-based 'customer' issue of a SME in Southern England region - Essay Example In the year 2002, the company had launched the brand O2 for the betterment of the business. The organization operates in more than 25 countries employing 264000 employees and serving almost 287 million customers. It helps in developing the client’s business by means of international advertising or telecommunication solutions. Ronan Dunne is the existing CEO of the organization. He has managed all his responsibilities in an efficient manner from his very first day of taking over the responsibilities from the previous CEO. He has succeeded in generating as well as maintaining consistency in earning high revenues. The company offers 2G, 3G and 4G services to the customers all over the country and also, in some parts of Europe. Along with its telecommunication services, the company is also known for providing fixed line services. The organization uses its name in its logo and portrays an image of an oxygen provider to its customers. O2 is also known for its charity purpose and has a tie up with a large number of charity groups. One of the examples is its tie up with Academy Music Group. Their partnership had resulted in the establishment of O2 academy. Current Research Operational Activity Digital communication serves as one of the fundamental parts for almost all the individuals in the world. In the developing as well as developed countries, the communication facility is developing at a fast rate along with the advancement of technology. In the present scenario, the cell phones are almost indispensible for all the individuals involved in mainstream activities. It has become one of the most important reasons for increasing the value of O2 from the global perspective. In 2012, there were approximately 82 million users who had subscribed to various mobile service providers. It has also been seen that the number of internet users have increased rapidly along with increasing mobile phone subscribers. The data traffic almost doubled itself in 2013 as compared to the previous year. In United Kingdom, there are a large number of players operating in this particular segment, O2 being one among them. The international market of the telecommunication services tends to be highly competitive with passage of time. It is mainly because of the rapid technological advancements, thereby resulting in the development of modern channels of communication. Xavier and Ypsilanti (2008) have argued that in this period of varying communication tools, implemented by the consumers as well as the marketers, the consumers reflect various motivational factors behind their purchasing services from a definite mobile service provider. Therefore, the companies operating in this industry are highly engaged in the diversified process of attracting the customers and retaining them by implementation of various effective business strategies. O2 uses the benefits of its global reach for standardizing the business all across the world by improving the cost efficiency and reduc ing the time involvement in launching new products and services for the customers. It has recently collaborated with Vodafone for operating as well as managing one single network grid in United Kingdom, which would be run by two most competing mobile internet networks. The joint collaboration of both the companies would offer indoor 2G and 3G, thereby covering 98 percent of the UK population within 2015 (Vodafone Group, 2013). Service Differentiation The customers as well as the

Misconceptions Among Muslim Essay Example for Free

Misconceptions Among Muslim Essay This is the biggest misconception about Islam, no doubt resulting from the constant stereotyping and bashing the media gives Islam. When a gunman attacks a mosque in the name of Judaism, a Catholic IRA guerrilla sets off a bomb in an urban area, or Serbian Orthodox militiamen rape and kill innocent Muslim civilians, these acts are not used to stereotype an entire faith. Never are these acts attributed to the religion of the perpetrators. Yet how many times have we heard the words Islamic, Muslim fundamentalist, etc. linked with violence. Many people use the name of religions for their own purposes. One should consult the source of Islam and separate what the true religion of Islam says from what is portrayed in the media. Islam literally means submission to Allah and is derived from a root word meaning peace. Islam may seem exotic or even extreme in the modern world. Perhaps this is because religion doesnt dominate everyday life in the West, whereas Islam is considered a way of life for Muslims and they make no division between secular and sacred in their lives. Like Christianity, Islam permits fighting in self-defence, in defence of religion, or on the part of those who have been expelled forcibly from their homes. It lays down strict rules of combat, which include prohibitions against harming civilians and against destroying crops, trees and livestock. Nowhere does Islam enjoin the killing of innocents. The Quran says: {Fight in the cause of Allah against those who fight you, but do not transgress limits. Allah does not love transgressors} (Quran 2:190), {If they seek peace, then seek you peace. And trust in Allah for He is the One that heareth and knoweth all things} (Quran 8:61) War, therefore, is the last resort, and is subject to the rigorous conditions laid down by the sacred law. The term jihad literally means struggle. Muslims believe that there are two kinds of jihad. The other jihad is the inner struggle of the soul, which everyone wages against egotistic desires for the sake of attaining inner peace.

Music Appreciation Early Period :: essays research papers

In order to understand how Aquinas affected both Hildegard and Guillaume, one must look at a bit of background of each. To start, Aquinas believed â€Å"everything is arranged in ascending order to God, the only necessary, self-sufficient being.† Aquinas also believed that faith and reason constitute two harmonious realms. They are not the same. Hildegard was born before Aquinas and therefore could not have been directly affected by his modernization of western thought. However, Hildegard was brought up very religious and held God’s will in highest regard. She was also taught outside of the church in what was called learned studies of natural science, medicine, and other matters. Hildegard experienced visions, one of which led her to fully understand the meaning of the Scriptures, and she was moved to write religious poetry with music because of this. Her music reflects her religious upbringing and religious thought. Hildegard’s musical style was more so monophonic, like the Gregorian chant, and reflected the visions she had. Hildegard believed that her visions came directly from God and were God’s will. Hence the fact that she composed music based more on faith. Guillaume, on the other hand, wrote his music based more on reason than faith. Following the philosophy of Aquinas, that only in acquisition of knowledge could one find God, Guillaume pushed to gain that knowledge and in doing so he felt rewarded. His secular music developed from this knowledge. In turn, Guillaume grew with his understanding to the point where he developed a romantic as well as literary relationship with a young woman, breaking the bonds of his religious vows. The drive behind his secular music was emotions and understanding of those emotions. Getting more specific as to the styles of both of these composers, Hildegard had no formal schooling in music, and used an improvisational style. Hildegard had a more individual style that was improvisational, non-linear, and included "dramatic leaps". On the other hand, Guillaume used "complex structures based on the repetition and manipulation of borrowed melodies". Guillaume used strict formatting that follows a logical flow, which he borrowed from other composers Therefore, you hear large differences between Guillaume and Hildegard. Aquinas had thought that knowledge gets one closer to God. Granted, there was no need for knowledge before the time of Aquinas, but there was still that desire to be closer to God.

Indus River Essay

The Indus and Ganges river valleys are ideal locations for early settlements. Some of the reasons are good water supply, good farmland, and rivers for trade. And those are just some of the reasons people choose to live there. Why were the Indus and Ganges river valleys ideal locations for early settlement? They were ideal because they were ideal because they were by rivers so you would always have drinking water. The valleys also had some of the best farmland. The farmland was so fertile because, the snow on the mountains would melt and flood the rivers, so the silt would make the soil fertile. They were also ideal because you could use the rivers for trading. How were the Indus and Ganges river valleys affected by the land nearby? They were affected by the mountains because, the melted ice carried down from the mountains to provide a good supply of water. The mountains affected the Indus and Ganges river valleys in bad ways also. In the fall they got their heaviest rains so the rivers flooded destroying the crops on the banks of the rivers. Another physical feature that is UNSUITABLE is the Thar Desert. It is unsuitable because the only time there is water is during monsoon season. Well, actually there is water but you might have to walk for days to find it. You also would be at risk of no food because the only animals that live in the Thar Desert are lizards, snakes, gazelles, quail, ducks, and geese. Another UNSUITABLE physical feature is the Himalaya Mountains. The Himalayas are unsuitable because fierce storms can dump ten feet of snow at a time on one area. Another reason is you have no food because nothing wants to live in the cold mountains. You also have no water, and when you get to the timberline you will need an oxygen tank. The Indus and Ganges river valleys are ideal locations for early settlements. Some of the reasons are good water supply, good farmland, and rivers for trade. And those are just some of the reasons people choose to live there. If I had to choose somewhere to live in ancient India I would choose the Indus and Ganges river valleys.

The Life and Inventions of Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison was born in 1847 on February 11th in Milan, Ohio to middle class parents and died on October 18, 1931, in West Orange, New Jersey. In 1854, his family moved to the vibrant city of Port Huron, Michigan, which ultimately exceeded the commercial excellence of both Milan and Odessa which were the two places Edison had lived. One of the many inventions established by Edison was the tin foil phonograph. When Edison was working on his invention he noticed that the tape of the machine sprang off a noise resembling spoken words when worked at a high speed.The machine had 2 needles in it one was used for recordings and the other for playbacks, the machine plays cylinders rather than disks. At around the age of 12, Edison started to lose his hearing. What caused this to happen was a train conductor smacked him in the ears when he started a fire in a boxcar whilst doing experiments. Edison was an inquisitive child but also a poor student as his mind often wandered. Edison was the y oungest of 7 siblings.One day when Edison was at school his school teacher screamed at him and said that he was rather addled. When his mother found out that someone had discovered him as a scientist his mother was very furious and pulled him out of school and she hmoe schooled him instead. * THOMAS EDISON'S INVENTIONS. 2013. THOMAS EDISON'S INVENTIONS. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. thomasedison. com/Inventions. htm. [Accessed 17 March 2013]. * Thomas Edison Biography – Facts, Birthday, Life Story – Biography. com . 2013.Thomas Edison Biography – Facts, Birthday, Life Story – Biography. com . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. biography. com/people/thomas-edison-9284349. [Accessed 17 March 2013]. * Thomas Edison – The Inventions of Thomas Edison. 2013. Thomas Edison – The Inventions of Thomas Edison. [ONLINE] Available at: http://inventors. about. com/library/inventors/bledison. htm. [Accessed 18 March 2013]. * Edison Biography. 2013. E dison Biography. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. thomasedison. com/biography. html. [Accessed 21 March 2013].

Working Style of Microsoft essays

Working Style of Microsoft essays In this article How Microsoft Builds Software the author has tried to draw our attention towards the style of designing software by Microsoft. Microsoft is regarded as one of the pioneers in the development of various software applications like WinNT, Microsoft Office etc. The author is trying to show how Microsoft drifted from the general notion of writing software or designing applications and how they reaped success through their effort and making a niche for themselves in the software industry. Microsofts key practices in product development may initially look like they are following the methods used by hackers in the early stages of the software programming to design application, this may be true in some way as Microsoft uses the same concept of small teams in designing applications and making changes as and when necessary thereby improving these products by incrementally evolving their features. This small teams interact with each other almost on daily basis with common development languages, common coding styles, standardized development tools, bringing in customers off the street to try prototypes in their lab, delivering the software on the due date that are good enough and improving the product thorough further development and releasing more versions of the product. The approach used by Microsoft called Synch-and-Stabilize, without this approach it would have never been able to capture the software industry and continue to do so in the future. In this rapidly changing world of software Spiral Model of software engineering in designing applications; it has same t...

10 Types of Numerical Terms

10 Types of Numerical Terms 10 Types of Numerical Terms 10 Types of Numerical Terms By Mark Nichol How many categories of numerals are there, and what are their functions? No, you haven’t stumbled onto DailyMathTips.com by mistake; this post helps sort out the ways you can refer to numbers and under which circumstances, with nary a digit or operational sign in sight. Ready? One, two, three . . . 1. Cardinal Numbers Cardinal numbers one, two, three, or the numeric equivalents, and so on represent simple quantity (though, as shown in the previous paragraph, they can also be employed in a countdown or, in that case, a countup). The names of English numerals are all derived from Old English, as are the suffixes -teen, which derives from a form of ten and means â€Å"ten more than,† and -ty, which means â€Å"ten.† Hundred and thousand are also derived from old English, but million and other terms for orders of magnitude come from Latin by way of French. 2. Collective Numerals Collective numerals represent sets. There are various subcategories kinship terms such as twin and triplet, and musical terms like duo and trio – and, well, singletons, like that word, pair, dozen, and so on. Language origin varies among these assorted words. 3. Composite Numbers Composite numbers unary, binary, ternary, and so on represent composition (what something is composed of). Binary is the only one of these Latin-derived terms commonly used, though quaternary was applied to a geological age. 4. Distributive Numerals Distributive numerals represent alternating patterns. In some languages (like Latin, which has singuli and bini, for example, to mean â€Å"one by one† or â€Å"two by two† respectively), these numerals are represented by a single term, are usually described in English in phrases such as â€Å"each day,† â€Å"every other week,† and â€Å"every third month.† However, English also has one-word examples such as centennial and its multiplied variants, descended from Latin terms. 5. Multiplicative Numbers Multiplicative numbers once, twice, thrice represent repetition. The ancestors of these words are variations on the Old English words for one, two, and three. Among the categories listed in this post, the multiplicative group is the only one that does not represent any value higher than three. (The reason for this lack is unknown, though perhaps it’s because it’s rarely necessary to describe an attempt or action beyond several previous efforts.) 6. Ordinal Numbers Ordinal numbers first, second, third, and so on represent sequential order. Second is anomalous in that it alone comes from Latin rather than Old English; it supplanted the ambiguous English word other (still used in this sense in the phrase â€Å"every other†). There was never a twoth or a onth, for that matter; that latter vacancy was filled by a form of fore, while third and so on are derived from the cardinal numbers.) This is a good place to remind writers to deactivate the function on their computer that, by default, creates superscript ordinal indicators (miniature renditions of st, nd, rd, and th perched on the right shoulders of numerals). The perverse persistence of this Victorian affectation in state-of-the-art word-processing programs is a puzzler and an annoyance to editors, who have to convert such aberrant symbols into baseline indicators before production. 7. Partitive Numbers Partitive numbers half, thirds, fourths, and so on represent fractions. Half, which is from Old English, originally meant merely â€Å"part.† (Behalf, meaning â€Å"on the part of,† retains this imprecise meaning.) The others are just variations on Old English terms for the associated numbers. 8. Ranking Numerals Ranking numerals – primary, secondary, tertiary, and so on (this class shares quaternary and higher values with the composite-numbers category) represent degrees of importance or relevance. These terms are ultimately Latin in origin. 9. Reproductive Numbers Reproductive numbers single, double, triple, and so on, plus the generic multiple represent replication. Single and double are from Latin by way of French; the higher values are all directly from Latin. 10. Miscellaneous Terms Deuce, from the similarly pronounced precursor to French deux, is an old-fashioned synonym for two that persists in sports and gambling references. The mild oath â€Å"What the deuce,† a euphemism for â€Å"What the devil?† probably comes from association with deuce as a low score and therefore the outcome of bad luck. Trinity, from Latin through French, and triad, directly from Latin, both mean â€Å"a group or set of three.† Triplicate, meaning â€Å"threefold,† is from Latin; -fold is from the Old English cognate of -plus, which is where we got the element -ple and its extension -plicate. Treble is the French form of triple; both come from the Latin triplus. Trice, used in the phrase â€Å"in a trice,† meaning â€Å"quickly,† is unrelated to thrice (â€Å"three times†); it’s of nautical origin, from a Middle English word borrowed from a Dutch term meaning â€Å"pull, hoist.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! 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Organization Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organization Culture - Essay Example The culture of a utility organization is reasonably well suited to forms of regulated monopoly. The maintenance of consistent performance in a utility organization is more important than continued innovation, because any mistakes in any organization's innovation process can be very costly. The culture of a software organization is reasonably well suited to its contextual and environmental realities. It is vital for a software firm to develop continuously, and strive for consistent innovation by utilizing the skills and creativity of its employees to a maximum. It is misguided to try to find a one-size-fits-all cultural profile for an organization's internal and external realities. The popular assumption that an ideal culture can be found by carefully examining the is a misguided one, and "it is not clear that any particular culture will be effective for any specific organization at a particular point in time" Greene, R. J. It is imperative that respondents to the survey understand that there are no standard or superior answers, and that "the critical goal is to ensure that an appropriate balance of viewpoints is arrived at" Greene, R. J. In order to promote a focus on customer satisfaction, it might be necessary to hire professionals who have had experience in organizations where the survival of the organization is dependent on customer satisfaction. In software organizations, managers shou... J. In order to promote a focus on customer satisfaction, it might be necessary to hire professionals who have had experience in organizations where the survival of the organization is dependent on customer satisfaction. In software organizations, managers should be encouraged to have a broader perspective, and incentives could be developed to increase recognition of the importance of support functions in the overall success of the firm. Management critique The definition and evaluation of an organization's culture can used to ensure that human resource strategies employed by an organization, are compatible with its common shared basic beliefs and assumptions. This involves conducting a survey to ascertain from the parties involved, the level of compatibility with the existing culture, and ensuring that their actual values or voices are represented in the survey questionnaire. In software organizations, the culture should be defined with a lot of flexibility, with staff roles that are temporary and can be frequently changed, so as to allow for success in a wide variety of future endeavors. References. Greene, R. J. Culturally compatible HR strategies. HR