Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Biography of Emiliano Zapata, Mexican Revolutionary

Emiliano Zapata (August 8, 1879–April 10, 1919) was a village leader, farmer, and horseman who became an important leader in the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). He was instrumental in bringing down the corrupt dictatorship of Porfirio Dà ­az in 1911 and joined forces with other revolutionary generals to defeat Victoriano Huerta in 1914. Zapata commanded an imposing army but rarely sallied forth, preferring to stay on his home turf of Morelos. Zapata was idealistic, and his insistence on land reform became one of the pillars of the Revolution. He was assassinated in 1919. Fast Facts: Emiliano Zapata Known For: One of the leaders of the Mexican RevolutionBorn: August 8, 1879 in Anenecuilco, MexicoParents: Gabriel Zapata, Cleofas Jertrudiz SalazarDied: April 10, 1919 in Chinameca, San Miguel MexicoEducation: Basic education from his teacher Emilio VaraSpouse: Josefa EspejoChildren: Paulina Ana Marà ­a Zapata Portillo (with his wife),Carlota Zapata Sà ¡nchez, Diego Zapata Pià ±eiro, Elena Zapata Alfaro, Felipe Zapata Espejo, Gabriel Zapata Sà ¡enz, Gabriel Zapata Và ¡zquez, Guadalupe Zapata Alfaro, Josefa Zapata Espejo, Juan Zapata Alfaro, Luis Eugenio Zapata Sà ¡enz, Margarita Zapata Sà ¡enz, Marà ­a Luisa Zapata Zà ºÃƒ ±iga, Mateo Zapata, Nicolà ¡s Zapata Alfaro, Ponciano Zapata Alfaro (all illegitimate)Notable Quote: It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees. Early Life Before the Revolution, Zapata was a young peasant like many others in his home state of Morelos. His family was fairly well off in the sense that they had their own land and were not debt peons (slaves, essentially) on one of the large sugarcane plantations. Zapata was a dandy and a well-known horseman and bullfighter. He was elected mayor of the tiny town of Anenecuilco in 1909 and began defending his neighbors’ land from greedy landowners. When the legal system failed him, he rounded up some armed peasants and began taking the stolen land back by force. Revolution to Overthrow Porfirio Dà ­az In 1910, President Porfirio Dà ­az had his hands full with Francisco Madero, who ran against him in a national election. Dà ­az won by rigging the results, and Madero was forced into exile. From safety in the United States, Madero called for a Revolution. In the north, his call was answered by Pascual Orozco and Pancho Villa, who soon put large armies into the field. In the south, Zapata saw this as an opportunity for change. He also raised an army and began fighting federal forces in southern states. When Zapata captured Cuautla in May of 1911, Dà ­az knew his time was up and he went into exile. Opposing Francisco I. Madero The alliance between Zapata and Madero did not last very long. Madero did not really believe in land reform, which was all that Zapata cared about. When Madero’s promises failed to come to fruition, Zapata took to the field against his onetime ally. In November 1911 he wrote his famous Plan of Ayala, which declared Madero a traitor, named Pascual Orozco head of the Revolution, and outlined a plan for true land reform. Zapata fought federal forces in the south and near Mexico City. Before he could overthrow Madero, General Victoriano Huerta beat him to it in February 1913, ordering Madero arrested and executed. Opposing Huerta If there was anyone that Zapata hated more than Dà ­az and Madero, it was Victoriano Huerta—the bitter, violent alcoholic who had been responsible for many atrocities in southern Mexico while trying to end the rebellion. Zapata was not alone. In the north, Pancho Villa, who had supported Madero, immediately took to the field against Huerta. He was joined by two newcomers to the Revolution, Venustiano Carranza, and Alvaro Obregà ³n, who raised large armies in Coahuila and Sonora respectively. Together they made short work of Huerta, who resigned and fled in June 1914 after repeated military losses to the â€Å"Big Four.† Zapata in the Carranza/Villa Conflict With Huerta gone, the Big Four almost immediately began fighting among themselves. Villa and Carranza, who despised one another, nearly began shooting before Huerta was even removed. Obregà ³n, who considered Villa a loose cannon, reluctantly backed Carranza, who named himself the provisional president of Mexico. Zapata didn’t like Carranza, so he sided with Villa (to an extent). He mainly stayed on the sidelines of the Villa/Carranza conflict, attacking anyone who came onto his turf in the south but rarely sallying forth. Obregà ³n defeated Villa over the course of 1915, allowing Carranza to turn his attention to Zapata. The Soldaderas Zapata’s army was unique in that he allowed women to join the ranks and serve as combatants. Although other revolutionary armies had many women followers, they generally did not fight (with some exceptions). Only in Zapata’s army were there large numbers of women combatants: some were even officers. Some modern Mexican feminists point to the historical importance of these â€Å"soldaderas† as a milestone in women’s rights. Death In early 1916, Carranza sent Pablo Gonzà ¡lez, his most ruthless general, to track down and stamp out Zapata once and for all. Gonzà ¡lez employed a no-tolerance, scorched-earth policy. He destroyed villages, executing all those he suspected of supporting Zapata. Although Zapata was able to drive the federales out for a while in 1917-1918, they returned to continue the fight. Carranza soon told Gonzà ¡lez to finish Zapata by any means necessary. On April 10, 1919, Zapata was double-crossed, ambushed, and killed by Colonel Jesà ºs Guajardo, one of Gonzà ¡lez’ officers who had pretended to want to switch sides. Legacy Zapata’s supporters were stunned by his sudden death and many refused to believe it, preferring to think he had gotten away—perhaps by sending a double in his place. Without him, however, the rebellion in the south soon fizzled. In the short run, Zapata’s death put an end to his ideas of land reform and fair treatment for Mexico’s poor farmers. In the long run, however, he has done more for his ideas in death than he did in life. Like many charismatic idealists, Zapata became a martyr after his treacherous murder. Even though Mexico still has not implemented the sort of land reform he wanted, he is remembered as a visionary who fought for his countrymen. In early 1994, a group of armed guerrillas attacked several towns in southern Mexico. The rebels call themselves the EZLN, or Ejà ©rcito Zapatista de Liberacià ³n Nacional (National Zapatist Liberation Army). They chose the name, they say, because even though the Revolution â€Å"triumphed,† Zapata’s vision had not yet come to pass. This was a major slap in the face to the ruling PRI party, which traces its roots to the Revolution and supposedly is the guardian of the Revolution’s ideals. The EZLN, after making its initial statement with weapons and violence, almost immediately switched to modern battlefields of the internet and world media. These cyber-guerrillas picked up where Zapata left off 75 years before: the Tiger of Morelos would have approved. Sources â€Å"Emiliano Zapata.†Ã‚  Biography.com, AE Networks Television, 4 Feb. 2019, McLynn, Frank. Villa and Zapata: A History of the Mexican Revolution. Basic Books, August 15, 2002. â€Å"Who Was Emiliano Zapata? Everything You Need to Know.†Ã‚  Facts, Childhood, Family Life Achievements of Revolutionary Leader.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Nine By Jeffrey Toobin - 916 Words

In Jeffrey Toobin’s novel, The Nine, he promises in his subtitle to delve â€Å"Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court.† And throughout his 340 page novel, Toobin accurately accomplishes this promise. To Toobin, the secret world of the Supreme Court focuses around the areas of the Court that are not often seen by the public eye, the information that often goes unnoticed or overlooked. To accomplish this goal of expanding the common man’s knowledge of the Supreme Court, Toobin not only narrates in detail the proceedings and cases of the court, but he also expands upon the complexities of the court as he describes the major themes, relationships, and intertwined connections that occur throughout the history of the Supreme Court. Furthermore, many of these major themes and relationships focus around main ideas and specific aspects of the court. In order to further illustrate the Supreme Court’s relationship and complexities, Jeffrey Toobin details the w ay the Court is shaped by the outside factors, the evolution of values, recurrent cases and constitutional requirements, and even misconceptions. Throughout The Nine, Toobin illustrates the fact that many of the Supreme Court cases are not necessarily determined on a case by case basis or simply by the hearings occurring inside the courtroom. In fact, many of the cases and decisions of the court are affected and shaped by outside forces, both internally in the nation and externally in the world. For example, during the case ofShow MoreRelatedHistory And Personality Of The Supreme Court1155 Words   |  5 PagesAccording to Toobin, the history and personality of the Supreme Court has also been affected by continual topics in recurrent cases as well as recurring constitutional themes. These continually topics are seen in previous cases that have made reappearances in other cases as they are applied to modern times and cases. As seen in the provision of the historic rulings in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education and the 1964 Reynolds v. Sims that established the rule of â€Å"one person, one vote† and equal protectionRea d MoreO.J. Simpson and the Trial of the Century Essay examples2621 Words   |  11 PagesCotton, laboratory director at Cellmark Diagnostics Inc. and Gary Sims, senior criminalist with the California Department of Justice DNA laboratory (Toobin). At the Bundy crime scene police found the bodies, Browns, amassed in a pool of blood bigger than her body, and Goldmans, his shirt pulled over his head as if to keep him from helping Brown. Of the nine blood samples found on the property six were a match to Simpson. Many found near the victims and others found on the walk, leading out to whereRead MoreMartha Stewart and the Imclone Scandal3198 Words   |  13 Pages1-0083 Martha Stewart and the ImClone Scandal On January 20, 2004, jury selection launched the trial of Martha Stewart, Chief Creative Officer and former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO). Nine charges filed by the Federal Grand Jury in New York and the SEC relate to Stewart’s personal sale of $228,000 in ImClone Systems, Inc. stock on December 27, 2001, one day before regulators rejected the biotech company’s cancer drug (Erbitux) and sent

Analysis of SPMS and Competitive Advantage

Question: Discuss about the Analysis of SPMS and Competitive Advantage. Answer: Introduction The organizations functioning in the current competitive economy try to implement innovative strategies like the strategic performance measurement systems to critically analyse their business process. These methods of evaluation provides significant knowledge to the stakeholders about the performance and sustainability of the organization. The most common Strategic Performance Management System variant also known as Balance Score Card was introduced in the business to upgrade the business model of an organization. This system enhances the paraphrasing of the strategies, missions and objectives of the firm (Elijido-Ten 2013). These measures are created from the set of objectives derived from the customer, financial, learning and internal process of business perspective. The current paper tries to analyze the SPMS process of two Australian companies namely QBE Insurance Group and Santos Ltd. A comparison of the annual reports for two years of each organization will be undertaken to evaluate the SPMS process and a comparison of two years. The paper even tries to find out whether this process is in line with the annual reports and any compensations and rewards paid for it. QBE Insurance Group QBE Insurance Group is one of the most renowned general insurance and reinsurance organization functioning in all the significant insurance market. QBE is enlisted in the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The organization has its headquartered located in Sydney and is currently employing around fourteen thousand people over different countries. The strategy of the firm concentrates on transporting the prospective that arises with being one of worlds true insurers. The firm was established in the year 1886 and currently has a market capitalization of $ 18 billion and has around 2.3% share of the ASX index ("QBE.COM" 2017). In the current scenario, it is seen that the sustainability reporting and environmental market-driven forces analysis is undertaken by the organization. The risk section of the annual report of the organization addresses the climate change risks of the business organization. It is seen that after analyzing the annual reports and sustainability report of two years, a general idea about the Strategic Performance and Measurement System process for the organization can be determined. The analysis of the annual report for the year 2015 for QBE Insurance show that there are no precise explanation of the effect of climate change on the business have been discussed but only a indication to an increased number appalling claims in the earlier years and Superstorm in 2012, which had an adverse effect on the monetary condition of a wholly acclaimed captive reinsurer of QBE (Equator Re). It was inclusive of the deductibles and savings made divisionally on various divisional tragedies and unit risk increase of the loss program, which raised further in the next year leading to a decrease in the excess income loss (Calace, 2014). The annual report of the previous year show that the section of environmental management of risk is in alignment to the Corporate Governance Council principles of ASX (Rodrigue, Magnan and Boulianne 2013). It includes the managing and supervising of the current risks and the opportunities in relation to the climate change in order to diminish any unfavourable impacts on the business of QBE and even secure the funds of the shareholders. There are no definite reference to the risks involved with climate change in the section of risk in the annual report. The indication towards man-made and natural calamities are the drivers of Insurance risk and the improvement process comprising of recording the historical pricing and claim evaluation and setting a patience to focus risk, reinsurance among the others. QBE even responses to the Carbon Disclosure Project to easily recognise the risks in the operations of the business, expenditure or revenue due to transformation in the physical climate parameters, the drivers of risk being unsure of the physical risks with an unknown timeframe, magnitude of the effect being low likelihood evaluated about the likeliness or not. The evaluation of the insinuation of the climate change belongs to a larger part of a risk management network. The problem of climate change is incorporated into the business strategy of QBE. The organization has a Group Committee, which supervises, monitors and provides report on sustainability problems on the basis of the data from the individual divisions. There are employees of QBE in the division that concentrates on evaluating and managing the operational costs and recognizing opportunities to raise the efficiencies (Carraro, Kolstad and Stavins 2015). Contemplation of the financial insinuation of climate change challenges and opportunities is created into our reassessment of the business process management. In every six months, every division undertakes a list related to climate change and takes initiatives within the specified zones and an appointed senior manager provides a report to the Group Chief Officer in a paper, which is forwarded to the QBE Group board. It is even se en that the one of the most vital risks is the prospect under the prediction of the effect of destructive events which are related to transform in the pattern of weather on the organization and on the insurance industry in general (Klovien? and Speziale 2015). There even exist operational risk of claim cost rise due to the effect of the climate change scenarios. The performance of the company links with the compensation plans and rewards so that the employees are motivated to give out their best. The SPMS evaluation is done by studying the financial performance and the financial measures of the targeted year. Conclusion The report on sustainability and climate change risks has been increasing in the ASX listed organizations. Though, it is seen that the data published in the annual report and in an annual sustainability report is only significant to the stakeholders if it is combined with the firms results and strategies. It is seen that the two companies QBE Insurance Group and Santos Ltd fail to make a decisive link the SPMS measures, targets with executive rewards and compensation plans. It is seen that there have been minimum changes in the financial performance of both the companies and both the firms have been able to succeed to tighten their competitive advantage over the two years that have been analyzed. Reference List "QBE.COM". in , , 2017, https://www.group.qbe.com [accessed 19 January 2017]. Calace, D., 2014, April. Disclosure in Non-Financial Reports as Strategic Leverage: can it Increase Firms' Value?. In International OFEL Conference on Governance, Management and Entrepreneurship (p. 84). Centar za istrazivanje i razvoj upravljanja doo. Carraro, C., Kolstad, C. and Stavins, R., 2015, February. Assessment and communication of the social science of climate change: Bridging research and policy. In Memorandum from Workshop conducted (pp. 18-20). Elijido-Ten, E.O., 2013. Determinants of strategic performance measurement system disclosures in Australia's Top 100 publicly listed firms. Journal of General Management, 38(4). Klovien?, L. and Speziale, M.T., 2015. Sustainability reporting as a challenge for performance measurement: literature review. Economics and Business, 26, pp.44-53. Parisi, C., 2013. The impact of organisational alignment on the effectiveness of firms sustainability strategic performance measurement systems: an empirical analysis. Journal of Management Governance, 17(1), pp.71-97. Rodrigue, M., Magnan, M. and Boulianne, E., 2013. Stakeholders influence on environmental strategy and performance indicators: A managerial perspective. Management Accounting Research, 24(4), pp.301-316. Songini, L., Pistoni, A. and Herzig, C. eds., 2013. Accounting and control for sustainability. Emerald Group Publishing.