Harry Potter and the Prince of Azkaban Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Harry Potter and the Prince of Azkaban - Essay Example Although the school and the village are closely connected, students still need permission to visit the premises. Students usually visit High Street which is filled with plenty of shops, pubs, and other extravagant places. These shops are a great place for students to socialize and discuss recent events. One of the candy shops Honeydukes Sweetshop is owned by a wizard called Flume. According to a student’s description in the Harry Potter and the Prince of Azkaban, â€Å"candy shop is filled with shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable† Moreover, the owner of the candy shop makes his own delicious fudge, which is irresistible and delicious. The candy shop also has a secret passageway and a trap door, known to only a few people. Another shop that popular amongst Hogwarts students is Zonko’s. Zonko’s is a specialty store also which is a heaven for any prankster that carries great products such as Dungbombs, Hiccup Sweets, Frog Spawn Soap, and Nose-Biting Teacups. Clearly, this shop has gained a lot of popularity among students.

How Close The Schlieffen Plan Came To Success

How Close The Schlieffen Plan Came To Success The  Schlieffen Plan was a strategic plan produced by the  German General Staff in the early 20th century. The plan was designed to deal with the threat of encirclement, as Germany had France  to the west and  Russia  to the east. The plan was put into action during the opening of The  First World War  in which Germany had to fight on both a  Western Front  and an  Eastern Front. The plan was designed to take advantage of the difference in time that it would take each of the three countries to mobilise for war. The thinking behind the plan was for Germany to avoid a  two front war  by focusing their armies in the west, quickly defeating the French forces as they had done in the franco-prussian war and then to move its armies using its internal rail network to the east, to deal with the Russian forces before they had time to mobilize fully. The Schlieffen Plan was created by Count  Alfred von Schlieffen  and modified by  Helmuth von Moltke the Younger   after Schlieffens retirement (1). The plan was actually used by Moltke, and, in its modified form, was executed to near victory in the first months of the First World War. However several factors, including the modifications to the original plan; a French counterattack on the outskirts of  Paris  (the  Battle of the Marne); and surprisingly speedy Russian offensives, prevented the plan from reaching its conclusion, thus ending the German offensive, and resulting in prolonged  trench warfare. After the  Franco-Prussian War  of 1870, the province of  Alsace-Lorraine, which had been French and contained a mixed population of French and Germans, had become part of the  German Empire. France was clearly eager to regain its lost territory. However because of  Bismarcks alliances, (2) France was unable to threaten Germany, once  Kaiser Wilhelm II  took the throne in 1888 he began to let the alliances slip and German leaders began to fear encirclement. The first element of the plan involved Germany quickly deploying its forces as well as ignoring the neutrality of  Luxembourg, Belgium  and the Netherlands. The strategic element of the plan was the powerful German right wing moving southwest through Belgium and Northern France, letting the last man on the right, brush the Channel with his sleeve,  in the words of Schlieffen (2), while maintaining only a defensive posture on the central and left wings, in  Lorraine, the  Vosges, and the  Moselle. As previously mentioned, Russian mobilization was thought to take around six weeks, this time was largely due to Russias poor rail network. Therefore after France was defeated within the scheduled forty two days, German high command  would transfer the bulk of the German army to the  Eastern Front. The plan initially deployed 91% of the German troops to France and only 9% to Russia. The goal was to overwhelm France in six weeks, (the time it took for Russia to mobilize its army), and turn back to the Eastern Front before Russia was fully prepared for war. Kaiser Wilhelm II is quoted as having said Paris for lunch, dinner at St. Petersburg.(7) However the German offensive was not successful and we can identify seven major reasons that the Schlieffen Plan failed these are: The effectiveness of the  British Expeditionary Force: The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was small compared to the vast armies being mobilised by France and German the total number of Tommys was only 75,000 at the beginning of the war. The French amassed millions of troops, and their aim was to use this number to push the German invasion back quickly and retake  Alsace. To this end, the French commander-in-chief  Joseph Joffre  deployed the small but highly professional BEF on the left flank, where it was thought that there would be no combat. However because of the spped at which the German forces advanced through Belgium, the British were nearly routed several times (3), but they managed to hold-up the Germans long enough for French and British reinforcements to arrive. While the BEF was forced to draw back throughout the month of August, it provided enough resistance against the  German First Army  under  Alexander von Kluck  to help encourage the German general to break off the Plan. Instead, von Kluck turned south- east towards  Compià ¨gne, showing his flank to the Garrison of Paris under  Gallieni, making possible the Miracle of the Marne. (5) The speed of Russian mobilization: The Russians moved faster than anyone expected, taking ground in  Eastern Germany  far quicker than the Germans had thought possible. While the initial Russian invasion was little more than harassment, had the Germans not moved forces to check them they would have come dangerously close to  Berlin. To prevent this Germans moved more troops from the western front to the east. This However was unnecessary and counterproductive as while the forces moved away from the Western Front were still being transported the  German forces in the east won the victory at Tannenberg in early September 1914, while at the same time battles on the Western front were going badly for Germany.(6) The French railway system: Because the Germans had been held up by the British and Belgians, the French had more time to organise and transport troops from the border to Alsace-Lorraine. The Germans had not accounted for how quickly the French would be able to do this, This resulted in the Germans encountering a very differently organised French deployment than the one they were expecting The French moved most of their troops by train, although there are reports of the French using taxis and marching large numbers of troops to get them into position in time. All of this meant that by the time the Germans got into France, the French were there waiting for them. Logistical shortcomings: van Creveld says that (7) Schlieffen does not appear to have devoted much attention to logistics when he evolved his great Plan. He well understood the difficulties likely to be encountered, but made no systematic effort to solve them. Had he done so, he might well have reached the conclusion that the operation was impracticable. Moltke did much to improve the logistic side of the plan. Under his direction, the problem was seriously studied for the first time and officers trained in the techniques of warfare Moltke did indeed make a number of alternations to the plan. From a simply logistical perspective, some of these changes were for the better, but most were detrimental to the cohesiveness of the plan was a complete stratagy. Creveld concludes that, overall, the logistical shortcomings of the plan did not contribute to the German defeat on the Marne.However had the  battle  gone in Germanys favour there is every reason to believe that the advance would have petered out. The prime factors would have b een the inability of the railheads to keep up with the advance, the lack of fodder, and sheer exhaustion. In this sense, but no other, it is true to say that the Schlieffen Plan was logistically impracticable. In van Crevelds view(7) the layout of the plan was did not have the necessary standard of thoroughness and detailed planning that was thought to be the hallmark of the German General Staff, but by  an ostrich-like refusal on Schlieffens part to face even those problems which, after forty years of peace, could be foreseen.  Although Moltke did improve the logistical elements of the plan to take into account modern communications technology., it was not the execution of carefully laid plans which allowed the German advance to enjoy the successes that it did, but  furious improvisation (7) That the German Army performed as well as it did when the orders they were receiving were so contradictory and unclear is testament as to what a formidable military force they really were. Moltkes changes to the plan: Chief of the General Staff Helmuth von Moltke altered several elements of the Schlieffen Plan, firstly he reinforced the east with 180,000 men from the right-wing armies to defend against Russia this watered down the invasion force in favour of a more secure eastern border. Moltke was also opposed to the idea of invading the neutral Netherlands in order to provide his armies with a route through to France. The result of this was that his forces were held up in Belgium and this resulted in the breakdown of the whole schedule that the plan was meant to follow. Moltke also moved more troops from his right wing to his left as he was worried that Allied troops could threaten Germany. In the original plan Schlieffen wanted to provide the opportunity for invading armies to threaten Germany before they were enveloped, as this would provide a political victory as well as a military one. This shift of man power became a problem, because the German left flank was now pushing the French back rat her than luring them away from Paris. This meant that the French forces were much closer to the action than was intended and they were condensed rather than spread out. Moltke also sent 80,000 troops to the east to defend against the Russian invasion. In the end Moltke had shifted 250,000 men away from the right wing invasion force watering the assault down to such a point that he had no choice but to abandon the Schlieffen Plan. The French were beaten back by the strongly reinforced left German armies of close to  Sarrebourg; the French forces pulled back and took up defensive positions in the hills near the city of Nancy(5). Instead of avoiding them and enveloping the French armies and Paris as the plan dictated. German high command chose to assault their heavily defended positions around Nancy. This offensive was a total failure. Belgian resistance: Even though the forces defending Belgium were only ten percent of the size of the invading German army, they still managed to hold the German forces up for almost a month, the Belgians quickly lost their forts and military strongholds but they continued to fight in an almost guerrilla style, constantly threatening German supply lines in the North. Also the fact the Germany had invaded Belgium turned European public opinion against them. German underestimation of the British-Belgian alliance: Britain and Belgium were in an alliance because of the  London Treaty that was signed in 1839.(3) Germany did not believe that Britain would keep to the treaty and defend Belgium. The British did keep to their word and surprised Germany by entering the war. This meant that Germany would have to contend with the royal navy and the highly effective BEF in the war. What actually happened was the opposite of what the plan intended (1) because Russia fell before France. The Russian army was defeated with very little cost to the Germans and Russia was forced out of the war before the western front was resolved. Meanwhile the Western front had huge amounts of manpower poured into it feeding the war of attrition that was taking place. The stalemate began to break in the summer of 1918 when Italy finally managed to defeat  Austria-Hungary, and forced them to withdraw from the war. This meant that Germanys southern flank was exposed. The defeat and withdrawal of  Bulgaria  also made Germany venerable to an Allied advance up the  Danube. In 1917 the United States entered the war and brought with it a substantial amount of troops, this meant that Germanys final push in 1918 was defeated and the allies were able to push the Germans out of France and into Belgium and then back towards the German border. Once it became clear that western front was lost, Germany requested terms and the First World War came to a close. There is no denying that the plan came close to success but with so many factors weighted against it and the poor decisions made German high command in regards to the plans execution. the Schlieffen Plan was never going to win the war for Germany. Moltkes fear of Russia proved unfounded and his changes in deployment unnecessary. If these changes had not been made then the plan may have enjoyed more successes as it was the Germans did not have the man power to build on their initial gains and therefore had to retreat. The plan itself however has merit and I think that its fair to say if the execution of the plan had not been watered down so much by Moltke and Schlieffens original plan was stuck to then France may well have fallen and the thin line that separated defeat from victory would have been crossed by the Germans.

marriages Essay -- essays research papers

Everyone knows how hard it is to find a mate for marriage. Having said that, each person is free to decide how the mate selection will take place. Some people would rather conduct this selection by themselves, without any help, while others prefer to get help from someone else, like their parents or a matchmaker. Before continuing it is wise to make a distinction between the traditional arranged marriage and the modern definition of an arranged marriage. The arranged marriages that happen by tradition in parts of Africa, most of Asia and a good portion of Eastern Europe are determined by the parents without the consent of the future couple. The modern view is very different from traditional view. Today's definition makes a distinct emphasis on choice, courtship and convenience. In most instances it is a service, provided by an agency, or a good friend. The purpose is to find a compatible mate, with the greatest number of similarities and the same primary objective: marriage. This te xt will compare and contrast some of the advantages and disadvantages of today's version of the arranged marriage. It is clear that the concept itself is controversial. Some people find it cold and little romantic to choose your lifelong partner using this method. Most young people tend to believe that the only way to choose a mate is to date until you fall in love plan a wedding and get married. This point of view is not very realistic if we define marriage as a lifelong commitment. If the young...

Goals of Competiton Law Essay

According to Barry Rodger and Angus Macculoch,competition law concerns intervention in the market place, when there is some problem with the competitive process or when there is market failure. This includes public authority intervention and is based on different concerns of the principal legal systems. They go on to state that monopolies, cartels and mergers are the three principal issues of interest for most competition law systems, the major concern with cartels and mergers being that, eventually they will achieve a monopoly position, dominate the market and exploit their position. Generally, the fundamental purpose of competition law is to ensure that markets for producing and selling products are effectively contestable.Competition law therefore exists to regulate the conduct of businesses, by preventing them from entering into anticompetitive agreements and abusing a dominant position, to ensure open and fair competition for both consumers and businesses. Nations adopt competition laws for various reasons hence it is important to state expressly if possible, in the legislation the goal that it seeks to achieve for easier implementation. Various goals have been put across to justify the existence of competition law which are discussed in the ensuing discussion at length. DISCUSSION: The consumer interest and protection from anticompetitive behaviours by cartels and firms with market power, has been stressed as the primary goal of competition law. In any economy there are competing interests between industry and consumers hence the former wish to amass wealth at the expense of the latter. It is therefore necessary for competition law to protect the ignorant consumer from the gluttony competitive tendencies of firms. Under the UK Enterprise Act 2002, section 11, the importance of the consumer is seen where super complaints are made to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) by designated consumer bodies. Also, the OFT fined Manchester United, and other football clubs for their role in harming the consumer by resale price maintenance, of replica football strips. Another goal is to ensure preservation of liberty and prevention of the concentration of economic power. R. Whishcharacterized this as â€Å"the promotion of economic equity rather than economic efficiency†. It is a political ideal that relates to the pure competition objective, that economic power should be fairly distributed and is based on the idea that economic corporations should not become more influential than elected democratic governments.Jones and Suffrin therefore argue that competition law may serve the purpose of upholding the foundation of liberal democracy, by precluding the creation of excessive private power and that it decentralizes and disperses private power and protects individual freedoms, in a competitive market structure, where individual sellers and buyers are insignificant in relation to the si ze of the market. Competition law also aims at protecting competitors and ensuring fair competition. The argument behind this goal is based on the premise that, competition law should be applied to foster the ability of smaller companies to compete more directly with established larger companies. R.Whish argues that the competiton authorities should, ‘hold the ring and ensure that the â€Å"small guy† is given a fair chance to succeed’. That competition law should be concerned with both competitors and the process of competition. This is also known as the â€Å"populist goal† and has been heavily criticized by the Chicago school of antitrust analysis, who argue that antitrust intervention to protect competitors from their more efficient rivals is harmful to consumer welfare, since small inefficient firms may take wealth from consumers. I subscribe to the view that where a smaller firm is equally or more efficient than a rival but because of its financial resources it cannot survive a price war, competition law should protect it. Creation of unified markets and prevention of artificial barriers to trade is another goal of competition law. This is also called market integration, which led to the birth of the European Union (EU). Its overall aim was to integrate the member states, to create more united Europe, with a common; market, economic and monetary union, to achieve sustainable economic growth and economic development, to compete favourably in the world market. Indeed this resulted into the eventual birth of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which regulates a total of 27 European country markets and protects the regional economy of the EU. Competition law may also service social, economical or industrial, environmental and regional goals. For instance, before approval of a merger competition au thorities may look at other issues outside competition like job creation or job losses. Such goals should however be accommodated in other governmental arrangements to allow for meaningful competition. On analyzing the above goals, it can be concluded that there is need for competition law in a poor country like Kenya or Tanzania, to attain economic development. G.R Bhatiai stresses that the absence of fair competition eludes stakeholders the benefits of competition, persuading countries to either enact competition law or to modernize their existing legislation and to revamp Competition Authorities. In the discussion below I majorly focus on Tanzania as per the question, considering her past socio-economic stages, the most fundamental being, the Arusha Declaration 1967 which led to nationalization of all major means of production, then liberalization of the economy in the mid 80s, leading to a dominant role of the private sector in commerce, though ‘state owned monopolies in the provision of social services, education and health still do exist. According to Louise du Pleiss et al, the challenges faced by developing countries Like Tanzania justify the need for competition law. That the general challenge faced by developing countries is high barriers to entry, yet for effective participation by any producer in the market, degree of accessibility to the market is important. These take the form of unrestrained business legalities such as licensing procedures, high taxes that limit imports of raw materials and a high degree of state intervention in the form of state owned enter prises. Her market like any other developing country is also generally smaller compared to their developed counterparts, making a limited number of firms to realize equitable distribution of resources and economies of scale. High production costs also act as a barrier to entry. Electricity for example costs US$ 1.11kwh, in Tanzania. In Uganda the same unit costs US$ 0.075 and KenyaUS$0.035, making it easier for investors to access the latter markets. However, competition law can serve to improve, infrastructure for instance, which if underdeveloped limits competitiveness in the domestic market by barring entry. In Tanzania export Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined the period between 1995-1999 and so did the import GDP, one of the causes being closure in manufacturing firms due to rising costs of production, hence making the market small ,with few or no substitutable goods. Also, the structure of the economy of Tanzania is such that a bulk of the wealth is held by a disproportionate minori ty of its population. Competition law serves as a solution by which these inequalities can be addressed.Major industries according to Louise du Pleiss such as water, electricity, transportation tend to be dominated by the ‘state owned monopolies’ who in turn abuse their positions by charging excessive prices and tying goods and services. In Tanzania the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO), monopolises distribution of electricity and takes advantage of this to charge high prices. It is argued that such monopolies discourage innovation, but through the promulgation and enforcement of a well-designed competition law, attainment of equality is possible since provisions to curb abuses by dominant firms will have a positive impact on the proper functioning of markets and equitable distribution of wealth. For instance, Section 59 (2) of the The Botswana Competition Act, 2009 permits the Competition Authority to assess whether a proposed merger may interalia, enhance competitiveness of a citizen owned small and medium size enterprise, to encourage fair competition in the market. Competition law however, serves as a tool in the alleviation of poverty, through the regulation of firms by ensuring that they do not charge high prices, which directly affects the consumer. It has been stated that due to Cartel conduct, countries such as Tanzania, Chile and Malawi have suffered a rise in food prices hence more than 100 million people have been pushed to deeper poverty. However in South Africa, two pharmaceutical giants accused of engaging in excessive pricing of branded antiretroviral had to engage in a settlement agreement hence medication fell between 58% and 88% in South Africa. It has been argued however that due to interalia lack of resources, skill and capacity to implement competition law, other concerns like poverty, illiteracy, and health should be attended to. The severe shortage of trained professionals to assess the complex competition law concepts also questions the need for competition law in poor country like Tanzania.Also competition law perse cannot achieve the goals stated above for it to be beneficial to Tanzania. Furthermore, the Fair Competition Act needs to be amended, to deal with the challenges discussed above to instill confidence in investors in the market and to protect consumers. CONCLUSION: Though arguments for and against the need for competition law have been advanced, it remains relevant to a greater extent and it must go hand in hand with the goals it aims to achieve. The question however which must be addressed is, whether competition law based on US or European models is relevant for an immature market like Tanzania’s which, like any other African country has virtually no culture of consumer advocacy and its small market can only accommodate a few suppliers. The answer should be in the negative but in this era of globalization, neocolonialism is evident which has made it a challenge to effectively implement competition law.

The Social and Economic Hardships of Women and Blacks

The 19th century was a difficult time for many women and blacks because of the domination of white men over them. The social and economic hardships they faced in day to day life was a constant reminder of this domination. The social ideology in the story â€Å"Desiree†s Baby† was powerful and dangerous and held no escape for any character. A woman with small children who lost her husband would face extreme hardships without the support of close family members. One who happened to be down on their luck would not find much sympathy among their peers even with children. Kate Chopin was one of these individuals who was down on her luck with six children. But fortunately had the support and comfort of her mother for a short period before her mother passed away. A friend advised this mother of six children that writing was a way to solve her problems concerning money and help deal with her grief. Maternal love and all the grief from losing loved ones were to be an attribute to the writing proficiency of this literary artist. This period in Louisiana was not tolerant for mixed ancestry and one found to be non-white would be ostracized from the white community. There were some whites in Louisiana who was not racist but they would still have to follow a strict code of segregation and social guidelines or risk social or bodily death. Kate Chopin was born fourteen years before slavery was abolished so must have had strong feeling on the subject. She no doubt saw mixed ancestry in the black communities and realized the cause of it. This story crosses the line into the covert world of mixed ancestry and the problems it produced. The racism in the story is not discussed openly but is prudently mixed in with Armand†s atrocious character and his evil soul. Armand†s evil was deep as he forsakes his loving wife, infant son, and God. The story some proclaim contributed to Chopin†s early success was â€Å"Desiree†s Baby† in this story she mixed many feminist emotions from maternal love, to a wife†s love and devotion to her estranged husband. During this period, some found it tolerable to leave a baby on the doorsteps of a family to provide a chance at a better life. This was an important point in the story when the Monsieur found the baby Desiree near the front gate, it would mean that Desiree would probably never be aware of her biological parents ancestry. The chance a baby with both parents would be dropped off is not logical but was probably a single mother. A single mother knew there was little help to be found and the child would be hard pressed for a descent upbringing socially and economically speaking. Desiree grew into a beautiful and gentle-hearted young woman and soon found a wealthy suitor asking for her hand. This young suitor had known of Desiree†s past but was in love and did not care of this seemingly innocent unknown factor of her past. This suitor, Armand Aubigny was racist and wretched but the young bride was in love and looked past his flawed character. The concept of young Armand falling instantly in love after seeing Desiree standing by the gate is a bit suspicious and sounds more like infatuation. The evil in Armand did not come from his parents and the black employees were cheerful when he was growing up so it is an open question concerning his acquired hatred. The blacks were cheerful while his father was alive but was not during Armand†s strict management of the L†Abri. Armand had changed to a kinder man after his marriage and the birth of his son and it may have been the only time in his life he was truly happy. The death of his mother while living in France when he was eight years old may have had a precarious effect on his character. The way Madame Valmonde described the L†Abri as â€Å"a sad looking place, which for many years had not known the gentle presence of a mistress†(1), may have been a hint at Armands evil nature being tied to having no maternal influence during most of his boyhood. Madame Valmonde noticed the baby†s mixed ancestry immediately when she went for a visit, exclaiming out loud at first sight of him â€Å"this is not the baby†(2), Desiree thought she was referring to how big the baby had grown. Madame Valmonde looked closely at the baby and new that it was indeed of mixed ancestry but did not mention it to her daughter, this I believe was her way of hoping for the best. Madame Valmonde was wealthy but knew her influence would not be enough to help if anyone found out the baby was black. This would also mean certain social destruction for Desiree having given birth to a black child. The environment changed quickly on the L† Abri and Desiree was not aware of the circumstances that had changed it. Her husband had recognized that the baby was not white and had turned into his old malicious self and was ignoring his family in vain. One of La Blanche†s quadroon boys was near the baby when Desiree noticed the resemblance of the skin color between the boy and her baby. Desiree confronted Armand and asked him to explain what the baby†s color meant and how it happened, Armand immediately and harshly accuses Desiree of not being white like the baby. The quadroon boy is one quarter Negro ancestry and so his mother La Blanch is also of mixed ancestry. This is important to know because Armand compares Desiree with that of La Blanch when he tells her she is not white. Armand was quoted as hearing the baby crying from â€Å"as far away as La Blanch†s cabin†(2), the reason he was at the cabin could be he was using La Blanch sexually. This would explain the quadroon boys. The practice of raping a slave or employee in those days was not uncommon. Desiree compares her skin color to that of Armand who is much darker than she is but he is not bothered by this inconsistency in his reasoning. Desiree begged her mother Valmonde for help in explaining to everyone that she is indeed white. Valmonde did not respond to Desiree†s cry for help but just offered a place to stay for Desiree and the baby. This was a strong blow for Desiree who felt she was now isolated in her fight for justice against Armands unjust allegations. The struggle Desiree was trying to overcome was a losing one and mainly because of the dominance of men over women at the time. Armand did not relent in his persecution of Desiree and the baby. This demented individuals main goal was to crush the soul of Desiree and to punish God for what he feels was his unjust treatment. Desiree finally went to Armand one last time hoping that his psychotic episode would be over but Armand did not deviate telling her he wanted her and the baby to leave. The Crushed and broken Desiree finally made the fateful decision that there was no other life for her and the baby. This decision led to Desiree†s suicide and the baby†s infanticide alone in the bayou. There would be no social life or chance of a second family for a white woman with a black child during this time period. Armand†s psychotic episode continued and he burnt everything belonging to Desiree and the baby or that reminded him of them. Fear was something Armand did not know because he always had domination over everything around him, but with the baby being black he had social rejection to fear. It was during this episode that he discovered a letter from his mother to his father that revealed that it was indeed he who was black. God did enact the final revenge with the appearance of the letter. The story touches on several social issues that would not be talked about in specific places and times. The interracial conceiving of children, mans dominance over his wife, and whites dominance over blacks were all depicted in the story. In conclusion, the struggle for women and blacks continue and with changing social attitudes some things are improving for them but hatred and bias will be around for a long time.