Factors and criteria of choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Factors and criteria of choice - Essay Example It has happened in 14 years that the mobile phone giant Nokia is not toping the annual cell phone sales chart, whereas it is Samsung which has replaced Nokia and has become the world’s number one mobile phone selling brand in the world (LAM). The technology advances on everyday basis. New features are added everyday in mobile phones to make them more attractive. The total revenue generate annually by the mobile company is $100 billion. However the profitably of the mobile phones companies depend on their ability to develop more innovative product, with offering higher quality and affordability to the consumers. This research paper highlights the features that the mobile phones need, in order to maintain their present and future position in the mobile phone market. Explanation The advancements in technology have helped in the development of several significant and useful features in the mobile phones. These features provided by the mobile phone companies’ help in deciding that which phones will occupy the market share. The mobile phone tour guide present in some of the phones help people in finding a place. This can be a useful feature for tourist who visits other places. This phone technology is more appropriate than the paper guide. Near field communication technology allows the mobile phone to connect to other wireless device present at some distance and transfer data, which ranges from pictures and songs to payment and other important information. Phones embedded with NFC chips can be used as electronic identity cards or debit cards. The phones with NFC chips can be quite effective in futures. The NFC devices manufactures must work in collaboration with VISA to come up with technology that would make life easier for customers. Mobiles programmed to allow users to download different application are the one that users prefer the most. These application may consist of Skype which allow users to make call to other people having Skype application in their phones, present anywhere in the world. The phones supporting downloadable application also support large amount of data as the size of the application can be as large as 550 KB (Sen). Camera is the key factor that costumers consider while purchasing a mobile phone. Phone with the ability of capturing pictures; occupy almost 40 percent of the market share. However the camera feature of mobile phone is not enough for customers. They want camera with high definition and several other features that are present in advance digital cameras. The mobile market is now saturated with camera phones, people nowadays prefer to have a picture capturing device in their pockets. The other significant feature that people prefer in camera phones include 3G network. This advance form of network s upport the highly advance feature of mobile phones providing more storage to the customers. The 3G networks not only allow the users to captures memorable moments but it also allow users to share it with their family and friends. Other important characteristics of the 3G networks includes the transmission of data at 38 K bps, improving image quality up to 330,000 pixels and it allows the internal storage of mobile phone to grow so that the users can save a dozen photos at a single time (Garside and Arthur). The major complaints that are faced by the telephone companies are mostly related

Sports and Energy Drink Market Essay Example for Free

Sports and Energy Drink Market Essay Sports and Energy drink market is amazingly growing hence consumers and businessmen have started showing interests in this market. Energy drink market has increased because people are working almost 24 hours in a day just to make a livelihood, so it’s difficult to work hard without sleep, rest or energy source. This is one of the reason people made energy drinks as part of their life relying on energy from energy drinks, ultimately contributing to rising energy drinks market. Market players are concerned in improving their ingredients and contents for extra stamina to work without experiencing fatigue. Sports and Energy drinks entered the market with Striking names, attractive slogans, and expensive marketing campaigns and currently holding a significant portion of beverage industry. They are available everywhere, offered alongside soft drinks in vending machines, convenience stores, and grocery stores. Sports and Energy drinks are meant to supply mental and physical stimulation for a short period of time. Energy drinks are used by end users for a different of reasons such as to boost energy, reduce thirst, mix cocktails, flavoring smoothies. Energy drinks are located on adjacent shelves in stores to traditional sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade reinforces such an assumption of optimistic relationship between their uses. Both sports and Energy drinks have managed to maintain their popularity during economic recession, in spite of their high and negative publicity due to caffeine content. Many end users are still prepared to pay the higher price due to their purposeful reimbursements. Sports and Energy drinks are forecasted to continue smash in the soft drink market Sports drinks provide carbohydrates and electrolytes. The carbohydrates supply the muscles with fuel during exercise. The main electrolyte is sodium, which improves the drive to drink and can assist with fluid replacement. Flavored drinks increase palatability and can assist with fluid consumption. The addition of protein may be beneficial to prevent muscle damage and may improve or maintain subsequent performance over consecutive days.

Influence of Race in 2014 Senator Elections

Influence of Race in 2014 Senator Elections Introduction: Most people who have been disadvantaged because of racial issues are the blacks. For example, in the 18th and 19th century, they were not allowed to vote or engage in any political activity. This is mostly contributed to the perception that the whites had regarding the black people during the slave age. During the period of slavery, black people were viewed as properties, and they did not have any legal and political rights[1]. By 1869, following the end of the civil war, there were numerous debates concerning the rights of slaves, in the American political process[2]. This led to the enactment of the Fifteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1870. This amendment made it illegal for the state or federal government to prevent anybody from voting or participating in the political process, based on their color, race, or condition of servitude[3]. By carefully analyzing this law, it is possible to denote that the intention of the congress was to promote equal political participation, amongst the various communities, residing in United States. The greatest breakthrough, in preventing racism in political process came with the enactment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act[4]. This act prohibited the state or federal government from preventing an individual from participating in the political process, based on their race, gender, or even religion. Furthermore, it created institutions that could oversee elections, in areas where there is discrimination, and it banned the language screening tests that candidates had to pass, before being allowed to participate in the political process[5]. This paper seeks to analyze whether race played a crucial factor, in determining the results of the senatorial elections of 2014. York. In this election, John Liu an Asian ran against Tony Avella, a Caucasian. The two were both democrats; however, Avella was part of the Independent Democratic Conference Party. This paper takes a stand that the elections that pitted John Liu and Tony Avella were not influenced by race. Background Information: John Chun Liu was born in the year 1967, in Taiwan. At the age of five years, John Chun Liu, together with his parents migrated to United States, and they lived in the city of New York. He was enrolled in the public schools governed and managed by the State Government. John Chun Liu attended his primary education at Queens School, and secondary education at Bronx High School[6]. This was in the year 1985. Mr. Liu attended Binghamton University, and he did a course in mathematical physics. He was also a student’s activists, believing in the advancement of students rights. This included the right to getting quality education, and fair fees[7]. This made him rise to the position of the vice president for the school’s student association[8]. Mr. John Chun Liu worked as a manager, for the auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and he was also the President of North Flushing Civic Association[9]. This is before he was elected to the city council of New York. Liu managed to se rve the New York City Council, and he represented district 20. He was elected to the council in the year 2001, to represent the region of Northeast Queens. He was subsequently re-elected, in the elections of 2003, and that of 2005. Between the periods of January 2010, to December 2013, John Chun Liu served as the comptroller of the city of New York. He also unsuccessfully viewed for the position of the mayor of New York, in the elections of 2013[10]. In 2014, Mr. Liu contested for a senatorial position against Tony Avella. Tony Avella was born in the year 1951, and he is currently a Democratic State Senator. He comes from the 11th Senate district of New York. Tony Avella served as a member of the city council of New York, between the periods of 2002, to the periods of 2009. He managed to represents the 19th council district, which served the districts of Whitestone, Floral Park, Douglaston, Little Neck, College Point, etc. At the city council of New York, Avella served at six subcommittees, and this includes committee on building and housing, higher education, veterans, land use, fire and criminal justice, and zoning and franchises. He is an Italian-American, and he is the founder of the Italian-American Caucus. For purposes of contesting for the mayoral elections of 2009, Mr. Avella did not defend his municipal seat in 2009. His campaigning platform was on animal rights, and against over-development. However, he was not successful in these mayoral elections, and he was defeated by Bill Thompson. Avell a is a graduate of the Hunter College, and a resident of the Queens region. He first contested for the state senate in 2010, defeating Frank Padavan. In 2014, Tony Avella and John Liu contested for a democratic nomination for the state senatorial seat of State Senate District II. There were no republicans seeking this seat[11]. Methodology: The 2014 New York Senatorial elections in the District II were tightly contested by John Liu and Tony Avella. This election was very tight, and there were a variety of issues that affected the outcome of the elections. It is important to explain that these two people were both democrats, and hence the competition was a primary, in which the Democratic Party was seeking a candidate to sponsor for this senatorial seat. Furthermore, there wasn’t any republican challenger. This means that the bearer of the democratic flag, as the representative of the party, was sure to win the elections. It is based on this fact, that the race was tightly contested between Mr. Liu and Mr. Avella. During the primary campaigns, Mr. Avella leveled a series of accusations against Mr. Liu. Some of these accusations touched on his activities, when he served as the Comptroller of the City of New York[12]. For example, one of the criticisms, leveled against Mr. Liu, was based on the fact that he owed the city of New York, some 500,000 dollars in fines. This is in respect to hanging campaign posters, during the time when he was running for the seat of the New York City Comptroller. These campaign posters were illegally placed. Furthermore, two of the campaign workers of Mr. John Liu were convicted in 2013, for purposes of illegally funneling campaign money, through straw donors. Investigations into the financial activities of Mr. Liu began in August of 2013, when he was accused of illegally raising campaign funds. These investigations were able to find some irregularities on the sources of funding, for Mr. Liu, and this included undisclosed funding, and straw donors. These revelations concerning the fundraising activities of Mr. Liu began in October 2011, when the media began publishing articles, which revealed several inconsistencies, regarding the campaign funds, after interviewing approximately 100 households that were identified as having donated to the campaign funds, for Mr. Liu’s candidacy. Furthermore, 24 irregulariti es were found, and this includes donations from people who claimed that they did not donate. However, their employers claimed that they donated this money on behalf of their employees. Most of the irregularities found in the campaign money donated to Mr. Liu were connected to the business people of Asian origin. On a specific note, the money was connected to the Chinese business personalities. Political scandals are one of the major issues that politicians normally use to discrete the candidacy of their rivals[13]. By highlighting the political scandals facing their rivals, politicians normally hope that voters will no longer favor their rivals, and hence they would vote for them. Under this senatorial election, Mr. Avella hoped that by identifying the political scandals and Mr. Liu had, then voters would reject his candidacy[14]. However, Mr. Liu was able to capitalize on the fact that Avella was collaborating with the Republicans, for purposes of frustrating the democrats in the senate house. This means that Mr. Tony Avella was the sitting senator, and his position was assured, if he could not collaborate with the Republicans. In politics, collaboration with rival parties is an indication that an individual is not faithful, and loyal to the party[15]. Mr. John Liu capitalized on this weakness, and continuously identified it to the voters. However, in his defense, Mr. Avella denoted that through his collaboration, he managed to raise over 300,000 dollars, for funding the North Flushing Center[16]. This is an institution responsible for providing academic training to the students who are in New York. Mr. Avella was therefore saying that through his collaboration with the Republicans, he was able to improve the educational industry in New York. This is a key factor for the economic growth of the state of New York. This is because the institution would play a role in training medical practitioners, economists, bankers, etc[17]. Through this defense, Tony Avella was justifying his decision to work with the Republicans, despite being aligned to the Democrats. This means that Avella was separating himself from the support of the Queens Democrat, which was crucial for him to gain the nomination of the Democratic Party. Furthermore, Mr. Jo hn Lui was able to gain the support of Joseph Crowley. He was the chairman of the Queens Democratic supporters, who rallied behind him, for purposes of dethroning Mr. Tony Avella[18]. This was a crucial support base that Mr. Lui relied on, for purposes of getting support to dethrone Tony Avella. This group comprised of all races that is African Americans, Caucasians, and Asian Americans. Mr. Crowley played a crucial role in coming up with an anti-Avella campaign mechanism that was aimed at defeating Avella, and installing Mr. Liu as the new Democratic Senator of District II, of New York. However, it is important to explain that Mr. Liu was not motivated by any ideological issue, in campaigning against Mr. Avella. This was the candidate whom he supported during the last senatorial elections of the state of New York. However, his argument was that he was not loyal enough, to the ideals and principles of the Democratic Party. Furthermore, for purposes of winning the elections, there was a need of choosing an experienced and capable politician to contest against Avella in the democratic primaries. Based on this fact, race was not an issue in the choice of Mr. John Liu , by chairman Crowley. Furthermore, Mr. Liu was able to garner the support of the major trade unions in New York City, against Tony Avella. Trade Unions are very powerful political actors, and they play a significant role in ensuring the success or defeat of a candidate[19]. For example, DC 37, the largest Union of Employees in New York was able to endorse the candidacy of John Liu. The major reason for this endorsement was on the belief and attitudes of John Liu, regarding families, and issues that affect the public service employees. The executive director of the Union believed that John Liu was a strong supporter, and a true friend of working families, because he supported policies aimed at making workers to be comfortable. This means that in making their decision, DC 37 was not motivated by race, but by the issues and values that John Liu stood for[20]. He was an active supporter of the rights of workers, and working families, and this is the reason the labor union was able to endorse his candidacy. It is important to understand that DC 37 has huge members, with approximately 121,000 active members, and over 50,000 retirees. This is a huge number of voters that can affect the outcome of an election. Despite the support of the trade Unions and the Que ens Group of Democrats, Mr. Liu was still unable to win the Democratic primaries[21]. This is because Mr. Avella was still popular amongst the people of District II. This is mainly because of the social issues that the senator was advancing. These social issues touched on education, health care, employment, etc. Furthermore, the main support base of Mr. Avella was in the 26th assembly district. This included the neighborhoods of Bayside, Little Neck, Whitestone, Bay Terrace, etc. Under this region, Mr. Avella was able to lead Mr. Liu by over 1000 votes. This is a huge number of votes, considering the fact that Mr. Avella won the elections by a margin of approximately 568 votes. Furthermore, this was a district that was represented by Ed Braunstein, a congressman who was a firm supporter of Mr. Liu. This is an indication that on the ground, Mr. Avella was very popular, and the democratic leaders were unable to influence their voters, to vote for Mr. Liu. Furthermore, by looking at the ethnicity of the people who voted for Mr. Liu and Mr. Avella, it is important to deno te that race did not play a role in determining the results of the election. Majority of votes, garnered by Mr. Avella came from District 27 and 26[22]. These are districts that form a portion of the majority of the former area that Avella came from. This is an indication that Avella managed to garner votes from his loyal supporters, who were with him even when he served in the council[23]. It is important to understand that votes from these two districts comprised of 46% of the total votes, during this primaries. On the other hand, Mr. Liu won all the Districts that he represented, and the ones which neither of them represented. This also includes District 25 and 40. Through this analysis, it is important to explain that Mr. Avella main support base was district 26 and 27, of which he had represented, while serving at the council[24]. These two districts formed the largest portion of voters, and hence they contributed to the victory of Mr. Avella. Race was therefore not a factor in this election. Furthermore, it is important to understand that this was a close race, that Tony Avella won by a margin of 52.2%, against Mr. Liu who won by a margin of 47.8%[25]. Potential Contacts: For further information, on this campaign, there is a need of contacting Mr. Liu and Mr. Avella for purposes of finding their own views regarding this election. The contact address of Mr. Liu is, [emailprotected]. On the other hand, the contact address of Mr. Avella is, [emailprotected]. Conclusion: In conclusion, this election was not determined by race, but by issues that affected the community. This is because by looking at the votes cast, it was possible to denote that the candidates gained majority of votes in areas that they represented, while serving at the council. Furthermore, most of the supporters of Mr. Liu were white men, who were loyal to the Democratic Party. While Mr. Avella relied on his home support base, Mr. Liu was able to garner votes from all areas, that he represented, and other areas that neither of them represented while serving at the municipal council. The only major issue that the Queens Way democratic supporters had against Mr. Avella was based on his decision to work with the Republicans. This means that he was working against the interests of thee democrats in the house of senate. The solution was therefore to oust him, and place a Democrat who would be loyal to the party. This further is proved in the concession speech of Mr. Liu, who did not comp lain against racism in this primary election. Instead, Mr. Liu denotes that there is a need of electing true democrats, in the senatorial seats, to advance the interests of the party. By these allegations, Mr. Liu was denoting that Mr. Avella was not a true democrat, and he would not represent the interests of the party. Works Cited: Bredderman, Will. Avella Declares Victory as Liu Refuses to Concede. New York Observer. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. http://observer.com/2014/09/avella-declares-victory-as-liu- refuses-to-concede/>. Top of Form Bottom of Form Chan, Melissa, and Lisa Colangelo. John Liu Has Yet to Concede to State Sen. Tony Avella in Queens Democratic Primary Battle. NY Daily News. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/john-liu-concede-state-sen-tony- avella-queens-democratic-primary-battle-article-1.1935360>. Top of Form Bottom of Form Cheney, Brendan, and Josefa Velasquez. Mapping a Victory Pattern in the Avella District | Capital New York. Mapping a Victory Pattern in the Avella District | Capital New York. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/09/8552365/mapping-victory- pattern-avella-district>. Top of Form Bottom of Form Lovett, Kenneth. Queens Pol Joins Albany Rebel Democrats. NY Daily News. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/queens-pol-joins-albany-rebel- democrats-article-1.1701930>. Top of Form Bottom of Form Meriwether, Kristen. John Liu Scandal: John Liu May Lose $3 Million Over Campaign Fraud. The Epoch Times John Liu Campaign May Lose 3 Million Over Fraud Comments. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/38598-john-liu-may-lose-3-million- over-campaign-fraud/>. Top of Form Bottom of Form Remy, Richard C., and Inc Quarterly. United States Government: Democracy in Action. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2003. Print. Top of Form Bottom of Form Rhoades, Liz. John Liu Concedes to Incumbent Tony Avella in Queens State Senate Race. Queens Chronicle. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. http://www.qchron.com/editions/north/john- liu-concedes-to-incumbent-tony-avella-in-queens-state/article_e84c1462-3dae-11e4- 9648-1fc3fc84de5f.html>. Top of Form Bottom of Form Robinson, Alex. Avella Declared Winner of Tight Senate Race but Liu Won’t Concede. TimesLedger. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2014/37/avella_web_2014_09_12_q.html>. Sutherland, Adam. Political Leaders. New York: PowerKids, 2012. Print. Top of Form Bottom of Form Tilly, Charles. Democracy. Cambridge [England: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print. [1] Sutherland, 7 [2] Remy, 4 [3] Sutherland, 21 [4] Sutherland, 33 [5] Remy, 9 [6] [7] Rhoades, 5 [8] Meriwether, 1 [9] Meriwether, 3 [10] Meriwether, 4 [11] Lovett, 6 [12] Chan and Lisa, 3 [13] Chan and Lisa, 4 [14] Lovett, 7 [15] Lovett, 9 [16] Meriwether, 6 [17] Bredderman, 5 [18] Bredderman, 6 [19] Tilly, 11 [20] Bredderman, 6 [21] Robinson, 4 [22] Cheney and Josefa, 5 [23] Cheney and Josefa, 6 [24] Cheney and Josefa, 6 [25] Cheney and Josefa, 7

Vestibular System :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Vestibular System Athletes must accomplish amazing feats of balance and coordination of the body. As scientist, Mikhail Tsaytin discovered in the 1970s, acrobats can successfully make a two person human tower in the dark, but after adding a third acrobat, not even the most talented can maintain the balance required to keep the tower intact while in the dark (1). What does darkness have to do with it? The point is that balance relies on at least three signals coming from the body, and one of those is sight. Once you eliminate one of these signals, the body cannot accomplish the required task. In addition to sight, signals coming from muscles and joints, called proprioceptors are sensitive to changes in position. The third contributor to the human tower and the topic of discussion of this paper is the vestibular system. A three-person human tower in the dark must not have enough information coming from the vestibular and proprioceptive systems to function without vision, whereas the two-person tower did have enough information. The ear houses some of the most sensitive organs in the body. The physics of sound is well understood, while the mechanics of how the inner ear translates sound waves into neurotransmitters that then communicate to the brain is still incomplete. Because the vestibular labyrinth and the auditory structure are formed very early in the development of the fetus and the fluid pressure contained within both of them is mutually dependant, a disorder in one of the two reciprocating structures affects the (2). The vestibular system accomplishes three tasks. First, it contributes to an individualà ­s sense of equilibrium in relation to the force of gravity and thus adds to the subjective sense of motion and spatial orientation. Second, inputs coming from the vestibular system convey information to the bodyà ­s muscles and posture. Third, while head and body are in motion, the vestibular system controls eye movements so that images remain steady and in focus. This is called the vestibular-ocular reflex. These tasks are accomplished through the mechnoreceptors of the three semicircular canals, the utricle and the saccule (3). Like the neighboring auditory system, each canal has hair cells that detect minute changes in fluid displacement, but unlike the auditory system, the utricle and the saccule send information to the brain regarding linear acceleration and head tilt. Shaking your head à «noà ­ employs one of these canals. Likewise, there is a canal that detects head movement in the à «yesà ­ position, and there is yet another semicircular canal that detects motion from moving your head from shoulder to shoulder (4).

The Fuel Behind the Rapid Spread of Islam During

The religion of Islam is the second largest belief system in the world with over one billion believers. As of 2009, almost one quarter of the world's population follow after Islam, second only to Christianity. But roughly 15 centuries ago, this was not true at all concerning Islam. The populations that now embrace Islam have roots in a polytheistic society where Islam did not yet exist. Christianity was clearly the dominant religion of that time period and the wide influence of the Byzantine Empire ensured the continued influence of the Church. Some historians have noted that nothing substantial seemed to stand out culturally or militarily concerning the emerging Muslim population when compared with Europe. Simon Barton of the University of Exeter writes in his book review concerning the work, The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In: â€Å"Why did Islam prove so conspicuously successful in galvanizing the energies of its adherents? Why was it, given that the Muslims achieved no significant breakthrough in military technology that the well-established great powers with which they came into conflict – notably the Byzantine and Persian empires in the east – or the Visigothic kingdom in the west proved unable to halt their advance? † (Sidelko 2009, 466) The fact that the emerging Muslim society didn't appear to have an overwhelming advantage in the years leading up to the seventh century growth explosion of Islam begs the very question that Simon Barton just asked. In this paper, I will attempt to discuss some of the conditions that help account for the rapid spread of Islam during the 7th century, such as the political conditions surrounding the Byzantine Empire, conditions surrounding Orthodoxy and Catholicism, and conditions surrounding the introduction of Islam as a religion. From the 6th century leading into the 7th century, the Byzantine Empire became locked in a series of wars with the Persian Empire. These conflicts began around 500 A. D. , and lasted nto the first decades of the 7th century. These disputes brought about a great strain upon resources for both empires. Both lands were diminished and did not have enough time to lick their wounds before raids from Muslim groups started becoming more and more frequent. Although the Byzantine Empire seemed to have some form of victory over the Persian Empire, that notion became meaningless when Persian Empire under the rule of the Sasanian dynasty began to fall to the Arabs raiders who were becoming more organized as time progressed. Eventually, the Persian Empire was completely absorbed– just as the Oxford Islamic Studies Online article states, â€Å"The surprising speed at which the conquests took place can be attributed to the weakness of countries debilitated by long external conflicts (the Sasanian Empire) or by the fragility of internal structure (The Spread of Islam). † The Byzantine Empire lost much of their territory that they had claimed from the Persians. They simply were not ready for a fresh, new challenger after dealing with a century long war. This is one of the conditions that accounts for the rapid growth of Islam. Many Arabs had become fervent followers of Islam at this point and Muslims had gained established, strong leadership which was directing their growing forces despite Mohammad's death. With the gaining of new territory, the message of Islam would no doubt follow along. Without successes from the likes of Charles Martel, the Byzantine Empire could have ended up like the Persians. Again, the Oxford Islamic Studies Online article writes, â€Å"The eighth century saw further expansions eastwards as far as the river Indus and the Sind region and westwards through northern Africa to Spain and France where the over-stretched army was stopped at the battle of Poitiers by Charles Martel†. (The Spread of Islam) The Byzantine Empire was greatly diminished, but still managed, however, to stay intact enough to prevent total assimilation of the Arab conquest. During the time of the 7th century, Christianity was largely split into two main groups– Orthodoxy and Catholicism. These two counterparts of Christianity often times were at odds because of discrepancies over where the true source of Church authority actually resided within the Byzantine Empire. As a result, Christian fringe groups in countries such as Egypt or Palestine would be easily labeled as heretics and would find themselves disassociated from the Church. When the Arab conquest claimed these lands, they tended to show more tolerance for non Muslims in exchange for good citizenship within he new Islamic environment. Also, Islam was fresh and hadn't begun to suffer from its own power struggles from within the belief system. As Shenk writes, â€Å"One wonders what parallels to Muslim Spain might be found in the rise of an Islamic presence in the heart of the European Balkans. Bosnia's capital Sarajevo adds the intrigue of its location along the historic fault line between the two major branches of the Christian heritage in the region, Orthodox and Catholic. In any number of centuries since the arrival of Slavic peoples in migrations dating from the sixth and seventh centuries (C. E. ), recruitment efforts based both in Rome and in Constantinople (Istanbul today) were zealous to secure the allegiance of the newly arriving tribes for their respective church orbits. † (Shenk et al 2006) This tolerance is described as a sort of legacy that some regions of the Muslim world have left behind. Many oppressed throughout history after the seventh century could flee to certain parts of the Muslim world for refuge. Muslims believed in one true God, and they determined that the rule of the land and Islam should be the same– one people, one government, and one religion without any distinctions. This characteristic, along with Muslims early tolerance of fringe Christian groups seems to have given Islam a subtle, but unique advantage over the appeal that Orthodoxy and Catholicism had towards other Christians. As a result of this, Islam was better able to retain more territories and perhaps even convert more people over to their faith. These conditions also help account for the rapid spread of Islam during the 7th century. Paul Sidelko s remarks in his review of Hugh Kennedy's book, â€Å"Whether it was demographic decline and internal political divisions that sapped the morale of many of Islam’s rivals, or the motivation, leadership and mobility that characterized the Muslim military machine, Kennedy wisely concludes that in the final analysis timing was everything. If Muhammad had been born a generation earlier, it is unlikely that he or his successors would have achieved what they did. (Sidelko 2009, 466) One cannot know for certain what would have happened if Muhammad started spreading Islam a generation earlier. But, I would tend to agree with Sidelko (and Kennedy's) notion that if Muhammad had lived to spread Islam in 300 A. D. rather than in 500 A. D. , Islam may not have spread so well. Also, nothing really stood out about early Muslim culture or technology during the times leading up to their conquest. â€Å"The main reason the early presence of Muslims is difficult to find in the archaeological record is not because we don't know where or how to look for it; it is because it isn't there. Outside of Arabia, Muslims have been a minority of immigrants at first and have tended to assimilate to the local material culture. Local converts to Islam have tended to keep their own material culture. † (Morony 2006, 437) Early Muslims simply didn't stand out even with the archaeological record. To me, this suggests that Byzantine Empire would have been stronger, and far more equipped to handle a growing adversary who was still a minority if Islam's rise happened earlier in history. The Persian Empire may not have yielded so readily, perhaps keeping Islam contained even further. And the conditions in Arab society may not have been quite so receptive to Muhammad's new religion. Muhammad faced opposition for many years before he was successful at gaining any traction for his Islamic teachings among the Arab people. One hundred years earlier may have been even more difficult to do– especially since the Arabs were polytheistic well before Muhammad started to spread Islam. There is also something to be said about how fervent the Muslims became about Islam once it finally started to become popular after Muhammad's death. The Arabs took with them a fresh faith with a fresh sense of fervency that was not equally matched the war torn Byzantine and Persian Empires. â€Å"For the first five centuries or so since the earliest, and most traumatic, encounter between Christendom and Islam in the second quarter of the seventh century, Christian attitudes to Islam had been compounded of ignorance, misperception, hostility and fear. † (Fletcher et al 2003). Such hostility and fear may not have been aroused by a younger, stronger Byzantine Empire. So then, the mere timing of the introduction of Islam seems to account for why this faith spread so rapidly during the 7th century. When one considers how the present is interwoven with the past, it is amazing to consider how the teachings of one man could spread so quickly across the world hundreds of years ago, and yet still maintain a quarter of the world's population as followers in present times. It is amazing to think that Islam perhaps wouldn't be prevalent at all if Muhammad or his successors were born too early or too late for the Muslim message to catch on due to unforeseen cultural influences. What if Muhammad had been born elsewhere? And to think– what if somehow the Byzantine Empire had found a way to better manage their constant fighting with Persia, or if the Catholic Church had exercised more tolerance like the Muslims first did after acquiring new lands that had a noticeable Christian population? A change in these factors could have certainly changed the course of history. But as things are, these conditions of the past are the reasons why Islam spread so rapidly centuries again, and is still one of the largest religions in the world today.

Eponymous Revisited

Eponymous Revisited Eponymous Revisited Eponymous Revisited By Maeve Maddox A reader asks, What is it with eponymous? I never understand its use. Eponymous is the adjective form of the noun eponym. It derives from the Greek combination epi (upon) + onyma (name). eponym noun: one who gives, or is supposed to give, his name to a people, place, or institution. The earliest application of eponymous was in the context of the names of countries, tribes, and nations. For example: Brutus, or  Brute of Troy, is a legendary descendant of the Trojan hero Aeneas, known in medieval British legend as the eponymous founder and first king of Britain.   Consider the case of  Pelops, the  eponymous  hero of the  Peloponnese. First, at this stage Jacob is not yet  the eponymous hero of  a united Israel, but only of the Northern Kingdom. [Jacob was given the name Israel when he wrestled the angel.]    In current usage, the phrase â€Å"eponymous hero† usually applies to the character for which a literary work is named. For example: Hot-Blooded Paolo is  the eponymous hero of  the novel Paolo  il Caldo (1964) by Vitaliano Brancati. On the universality of the westerner, exemplified by  the eponymous hero of  George Stevens’s Shane (1953), see Warshow, 150-151. The eponymous hero of  Goncharovs Oblomov (1858), who is unable to motivate himself to leave his bed, is the epitome of the passive hero.   American actress Betty Bronson starred as  the eponymous hero of  the film Peter Pan (1924). Eponymous can apply to anything that takes its name from a person. For example: Tesla  invented his  eponymous  coil in 1891.   Website of New York City designer Nancy Rose and her  eponymous designer sportswear. As for  John Birch, well never know what he would have thought of his  eponymous society. Note: I found several examples of the misspelling epynonymous. Related posts: The Eponymy Family 30 Words Inspired by 29 People and An Elephant Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Signs and Symbols You Should KnowThat vs. Which10 Tips to Improve Your Writing Skills