Ghost Solders Essay Example for Free

Ghost Solders Essay The book â€Å"Ghost Solders: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II’s Most Dramatic Mission† tells the story of the American raid that happened in January 1945 on the Japanese prisoner of war camp at Cabanatuan in the Philippines to rescue allied prisoners. The accounts come from interviews conducted by the author of the participants, both rescuers and prisoners. With these interviews the author was able to give the reader an insight to the concentrations caps and of the prisoners lives as well as the rescue mission with first hand details. There are three points this book was able to show and the first is about the individuals the second is of survival and the human spirit and the third is the success of the mission. It is a compelling work of history on the war with Japan. It focuses on the experiences of a few individuals but never loses sight of the bigger picture, the American war against Japan. Hampton Sides tells the true story of a daring mission to rescue American and Allied soldiers who had been incarcerated for more than three years behind enemy lines. These men roughly 500 were from an army of 100,000 who had surrendered in April 1942 and endured appalling conditions and acts such as the crushing of ailing prisoners with tanks, random decapitations and the use of exhausted troops for bayonet practice. Many of their comrades died during the Death March that followed their surrender. Sides reminds us how shocking it was for the Americans to witness suffering indiscriminate cruelty from the Japanese guards without being able to do anything about it. The story opens in December in the year 1941 with the Japanese invasion of the Philippines Islands, the American retreat to Bataan and Corregidor, and the surrender of the American and Filipino forces to the Japanese in April and May 1942. By January 1945 very few allied prisoners had survived the Bataan Death March and remained in the Philippines. Many died because of the three years of neglect, hunger, disease, and torture from the Japanese. With the summer of 1944, with Americans moving nearer to the Philippines many prisoners were shipped out to the Islands on what were called â€Å"Hell Ships bound for Japan or Formosa. With the allied invasion of the Philippines in October 1944, the fate of the surviving prisoners of war became even more uncertain. This was because of reports of Japanese troops murdering prisoners before retreating and just before American forces was able to save them. To prevent another massacre, a small force of 121 men from the U. S. Army’s 6th Ranger Battalion that slipped through the Japanese lines on January 28th 1945, engaging in one of the most daring rescue mission of the war. The object of the raids was to rescue 513 American and British POW’s in the Japanese camp near Cabanatuan on the Island of Luzon. â€Å"Ghost Story† is the story of the rescuers as well as the rescued. The author details the raid from beginning to end, intertwining the story of the prisoners in the camp with the story of the rescuers that give emotions to the reader on the event. Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci, a West Point Graduate and the commanding officer of the 6th Ranger Battalion, was selected to lead the raid. Mucci could not take all 800 of his Rangers, so he took the C Company commanded by Captain Robert Prince, and a platoon from F Company to undertake the mission. There were 121 men total for the mission. Early in the morning on January 28th the rescuers began a 30 mile march to the camp at Cabanatuan. Sides detail the march through the jungle. He also deals with the concerns when it was discovered that the camp was a major transshipment point for retreating Japanese and almost 8,000 Japanese troops might be in the area. There were also details on the logistical, intelligence and combat contributions of the Filipino guerrillas as well as the planning, reconnaissance and execution of the assault on the camp. The author does an excellent job with these descriptions along with the emotional and gripping withdrawal of the prisoners back to American lines. Sides bring the story to life in a very exciting and very gripping manner and to me he captured the moment. He details the day to day suffering of the prisoners and tells the story of the dangerous work done by the resistance forces before and after the rescues. Many of the Filipino citizens helped the prisoners and the Rangers risking death. They supplied the Rangers with food and carts. They even fought along side of the Rangers. The book is very well written and is a must read for any WW II historian as well as the average reader. It gives a detailed look into human behavior during war and at a time when people are usually at their worst. â€Å"Ghost Soldiers† is a remarkable book, not least because Sidess heroes were ordinary solders and humans who somehow found the resilience to endure unimaginable horrors. The account of the raid itself is the stuff of high adventure, but where Sides excels is in persuading the survivors to recall their experiences in such powerful, candid detail. Reference: Sides, H. Ghost Solders: The Forgotten Epic Story of World War II’s Most Dramatic Mission. New York: Doubleday (2001).

Resopnse To Revolution Essay example -- essays research papers

Book Review Response to Revolution Response to Revolution, by Richard E. Welch Jr., is an honest and unbiased look at America’s policy towards Cuba during the Cuban Revolution. It covers the general history of and preconceived notions about the revolution in depth and gives ample attention to both sides of the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba. In addition to this Welch analyzes the reactions of America’s various factions during the early years of the revolution. Upon taking this into a change of the status quo, and of one that only played the international game of politics on its own terms. The general idea underlying Response to Revolution is the evolution of the U.S.’s opinion of the Cuban revolution from good to bad. Yet to understand this, the author shows that it is first important to understand the events and attitudes that took place between the U.S. and Cuba in the years between 1958-1961. At the onset of the Cuban revolution we find that the U.S. government supported the Batista regime and that while it was technically a democracy it reinforced bitter class differences. Eventually various factions united under Castro and the Batista government was overthrown. While the United States for the most part stayed out of this war and even cut off arm sales to Batista before his overthrow, Welch shows that by then it was to late for the U.S. to ever create a good relationship with Cuba. The reason for this is that the years of and U.S. dominated Cuban economy, combined with the troublesome Platt Amendment, fueled the fire of class differences and created in Cast ro’s mind a distrust of U.S. involvement in Cuba. However, while Castro’s anti-American stance no doubt hindered relations with the U.S., it was more the fault of the Eisenhower and Kennedy presidencies reluctance to offer aid outright to Castro and accept change in Cuba. This unwillingness of Castro to adhere to the U.S. standard or democracy in turn led to unwarranted economic sanctions, which later led to Cuba’s need for Soviet economic support. â€Å"The U.S. government measures went beyond the retaliation warranted by the injuries American citizens and interests had up to that time suffered at Castro’s hands† (Welch 58). The author further contests that the problem was only furthered when Kennedy took the matter to be personal and put into act Eisenhower’s counterrevolution inva... ...nited States’ policy towards Cuba in the years between 1958-1961 correct and well thought out? According to the book’s evidence and my personal observation of our current relationship with Cuba I would say no. The U.S. failed to see that its ideals and values were not shared by the entire world, and in Cuba’s case our values and economy lead to more social oppression that Communism would have. We as a nation were one of mixed emotions and our leaders who made decisions concerning Cuba were largely uneducated on the history and politics of Cuba, leading to a trend of bad relations. This in effect showed the U.S. to be a nation only concerned with its own interests, rather than the heroic liberator and protector of democracy. If I got anything out of all this I must say it was the realization that the U.S. as a nation was in fact no better than some of the nations I sought to ward off. In conclusion Response to revolution is an honest book that takes no sides a nd simply exposes the fact that the U.S. Policy towards Cuba during the Cuban Revolution was one that was not well though out, and ultimately ended any chance of reverting to favorable economic relations with Castro’s Cuba.

Cybercrime and its impact on International Business

Cyber crime can be referred to any illegal activity that is executed with the help of a computer. Such kinds of crimes have always been executed ever since the computer technology was introduced (Cross, F 2007). With the advent of Internet, these crimes have gained an even faster pace. These thefts are not limited to enclosed vicinity. Accessing to data of an organization while sitting in another part of the world through internet has now become extremely effortless. This has drastic affects on organizations.Stealing sensitive information such as data of the stock exchange, profits of a financial institution and even identities of individuals (Cross, F 2007) to access into their personal accounts are crimes that are increasing rapidly. This has led to many connotations for businesses worldwide; taking better security measures. Cyber crimes committed are unique in such a way that no physical existence of material or equipment is needed. Everything is done through the use of a computer (Nag, D & Bajaj, K 2005). This has made these crimes even more dangerous and difficult to control. Opportunities for cyber criminalsThe increasing globalization has led to the merger of activities all over the world. Banks, stock markets, multi nationals all have become connected with each other and technology has become the life and blood for all organizations. Used for various purposes such as enhanced communication mediums and information sharing, technological advancements have also made businesses worldwide more susceptible to frauds and misuse of information (Grabosky, P 2005). Amongst all technological developments of the 20th century the internet is a widely used instrument for information sharing all over the world.Between the year 2001 and 2002 there has been an increase of $6501 billion revenue being generated from business executed online (Grabosky, P2005). This means there are greater chances for individuals to commit cyber crimes that are both dangerous and risky to t he business and also illegal in nature (ibid). Businesses worldwide make use of electronic communication means particularly those in the Western World and hence computer and cyber crimes have exploded after the 1990’s (Chamely, H 2003).The use of internet has fuelled the globalization process and hence the world has become smaller. People across the globe can now connect to each other easily though electronic means. However this advantage also carries perils to security. Issues such as fraud over the internet and piracy have been facilitated with the internet development (ibid). Multinationals have offices all over the world that are connected providing cyber criminals with the opportunity to act. It could be someone from within the employees or even a third party criminal.With the pace of technological development, e-commerce has come into existence and businesses are shifting not only their single operations online but transferring their complete business processes online ( Edin, M 2002). Bank for instances have started to offer international fund transfers from branches in two different parts of the worlds through internet which provides criminal opportunity for fund embezzlement which could mean loss of huge amounts of money for the banks. Online businesses such as Amazon. com deal in online shopping and purchasing of goods without dealing in any brick and mortar business.All such organizations function globally and hence are at a greater chance of cyber fraud then a business that only has one office in a single country and hence a smaller network and system. Impact of cyber crimes on business activities All businesses internationally have started to rely on electronic means of doing work and hence dependence on internet and technological sources has gained immense importance. Break down or illegal access to business information system and data base can have severe repercussions:†¢ Hindrance in day to day operations of a business like communicat ion with employees across the borders. Some companies function internationally with employees connected through means of video conferencing or emails etc (Grabosky, P 2005). †¢ A complete shutdown of business for instance organizations such as Wal-Mart function on a real time inventory management system and illegal access gained by a competitor means sharing of sensitive inventory data and customer preferences. †¢ E commerce business entails developing of relation online with suppliers as well.This affect is multiplied when cyber crimes not only gives access to financial data of the targeted organization but even its suppliers who may be functioning in another part of the world (Grabosky, P 2005). †¢ Another great loss that the company might face is the declining confidence level of customers. Consumer have less trust in the business functions especially online retailing like online shopping, purchases and electronic banking. And with the increasing rate of such crime s companies might lose on their customers.Thus companies must ensure that they do not loose on any important customers due lack of trust in the company’s system (Smith, A 2004). †¢ Economic losses to business resultant of frauds have also increased. These are measured in terms of declining profits or fraudulent transactions. An example could be the Russian TOC efforts to steal $10 million dollars from Citi Bank in the USA through forty unlawful fund usage (Jones, DM 2004). Another institution which has had to face the impact of cyber crimes in terms of economic losses is the stock market where traders trade online.Company information (functioning in L. A. ) available to individuals has been misused where wrong information was posted onto the internet leading to stock price increase and hence investors all over the world were affected (ibid). Types of cyber crimes and their impacts According to David Carter’s research (Grabosky, P 2005), there are three acts which can be labeled as cyber crime; entering into some one’s computer through illegal means and mishandling or damaging data, doing something illegal through means of the net or computer like piracy and thirdly, usage of computers to store some illegal information.Cyber crimes that generally take place within an organization take place through emails, viruses transferred through email or through software being used by the company, access to company database for employee or customer information (Nag, D & Bajaj, K 2005). Further detailed classifications of cyber crimes and how they affect organizations is explained below: Fraud in telecom services: Such a crime is committed by gaining access to the organizations switchboard and making use of call time.Not only does this cause the organization to be expensed with the bill worth the talk time used, is also a hassle for the individual subscribers using that particular service for instance an engineer in India was caught thieving hundre d Internet hours from a particular customer (Grabosky, P 2005). Criminals of such sort also gain access to calling card data for customers and hence they can make their calls on the expense of the customers who then have to pay larger bills and in return blame the company for poor device (ibid).Hacking into computers to gain access to data: Hacking into company data which is password protected is another form of cyber crime that is very common. This has caused the most extensive damage to organizations especially organizations which mostly deal in financial data example banks. For instance, the accountant of a bank who is computer literate can gain access to finances of the bank and transfer funds in his name causing economic losses to the his organization (Cross, F 2007)Cyber Terrorists: There work is very much similar to the terrorists that are a threat to national and international security of an individual nation and global relations. Cyber terrorists pose a threat to the nation al security of organizations by accessing into the central processing system (Cross, F 2007). This is particularly useful for business competitors to gain access to their competitors’ financial or future plans and monitor their activities to gain competitive edge (ibid).Piracy issues and counterfeiting: Reproducing products or services of various businesses without legal rights is another classic case of cyber crime. This is most extensively found in the media industry where movies are pirated without any legal rights and sold at even lower prices This has served as a problem for media producers example the movie â€Å"The world is not enough† starring James Bond was distributed over the internet even before it was available for public by the officials (Grabosky, P 2005). Implications for businesses: what businesses need to do?Cyber crime activities have caused losses of millions of dollars for companies however many companies do not prefer to report such incidents due to protection of their reputation and hence the data on cyber crimes is still incomplete (Grabosky, P 2005). The massive exploitation of these crimes has led businesses to take action. Global organization are making use of further technology to strengthen their systems of information sharing such as their data bases which contains customer information and financial data.Focus is now on IT itself to develop such products, services and solutions that do not promote the risk of cyber thefts and frauds (Edin, M 2002) Along with the governments of various nations coupled with investments from individual organizations in the corporate world, efforts are being made create more secure systems that could prevent cyber crimes (ibid). Venture in IT infrastructure and security According to a report of the Internet association Industry in Australia, on an average thirty five different cyber crime attempts are made on an individual organization’s system (Grabosky, P 2005).One of the great est actions that companies have now started to take is focus on their IT teams in order to build a strong and secure network and data base. This team must not only focus on building an internal secure system but also focus on cross border security as most businesses now function globally (ibid). Investing money in infrastructure and training related to IT development against cybercrime protection is becoming a necessity for all organizations and this investment is no longer considered to be an expense (Edin, M 2002).Such work was once and still is considered by some organizations as a function of purely IT engineers however this is not the case. As discussed how threatening the consequences of cyber frauds can be for any business, whether functioning online in a physical environment, it is important that a collaborative effort of all members of the organization is made to avoid these risks (Edin, M 2002).With this, development of a new concept has emerged; â€Å"cyber space securit y† (Smith, A 2004) which focuses on protecting not only business systems but also consumer information. Access to consumer information like their pin number and account information in a bank means risk of losing their money if their personal information is lost. Assessing financial impact of cyber frauds Another important analysis being conducted by companies across the world is the cost of security frauds being carried out within their organizations (Cashell, B et.Al. 2004). Such an analysis provides the companies with the facts of how risky such crime attacks can be for them in terms of risks of information sharing with competitors, risk of alteration of consumer perceptions (Smith, A 2004) and risk of economic losses (Miller, R 2007) being incurred by the firm I case of the system being damaged and information extracted. The fact that these frauds and thefts have led to losses in monetary terms has generated the focus of the organizations in this regard.According to survey conducted by a computer science institute, there has been an increase in financial losses reported by organizations due to cyber fraud in US in the past three consecutive years. Every year the percentage increase in frauds rises. According to that survey, corporations are not able to comprehend the danger that such frauds expose the organizations to and hence they misjudge the consequences (â€Å"Cyber crime bleeds US corporations: Financial losses from attacks climb for three years in a row† as reported in Koletar, J 2003).The increase in such acts has not only forced businesses but also government of individual nations to act to promote business especially that of e-commerce. The IT Act introduced in India in the year 2000, also incorporated certain activities related to cyber crime in e-commerce business and activities such as hacking into computer systems, affecting privacy of consumer information and disrupting computer system encryptions and codes (Nag, D & Bajaj, K 200 5). The basic reason was to instill trust amongst customers of e-commerce.The use of Internet is a two way tunnel for organizations. They must it to enhance relations with business partners, suppliers and customers. At the same time, it has given a chance to hackers for committing crimes of mass scale that require the attention of policymakers in the organization and individual employees too (Salifu, A 2008). Thus internet frauds have become a problem not only for the developing nations who face a shortage of technological skills but en the developed world (ibid). ConclusionSumming up the former discussion leads us to a conclusion that cyber frauds and risks have increased with the level of globalization and thus pose major threats to international business in the form of information loss, access of grave information by the wrong hands, threats to intellectual property right and to business operations, financial losses and wrong information being leaked out regarding a certain compa ny (Edin, M 2002). With the development of global business, more data is transferred and shared online through electronic means and hence cyber fraud has been motivated to a dangerous level.The threat of such risks has lead businesses and even governments to develop solutions ensuring that customer and company information I not leaked out and does not reach the wrong hands. Companies are focusing on developing risk management solutions and are â€Å"digitizing† (Edin, M, 2002, p. 17) their systems introducing stronger security checks and encryptions to protect the company against cyber frauds. Bibliography Cashell, B, Jackson, WD & Jickling, M, Webel, B 2004, Economic Impact of Cyber attacks, Congressional Research Service, Retrieved from scholar.google. com, Retrieved on 8th April 2010 Chamely, H 2003, Cybercrime and Society, Geo-Sciences, Environment and Man, Retrieved from books. google. com, Retrieved on 8th April 2010 Cross, F & Miller, R 2007, West’s legal enviro nment of business, 6th edition, Cengage Learning, Thomson West, USA Edin, M, Smith, B & Chiozza, E 2002, Challenges and Achievements in E-business and E-work, IOS Press, Netherlands Gobrasky, P & Broadhurst, R 2005 (eds), Cyber Crime: The challenge in Asia, Hong Kong University Press Jones, DM 2004 (ed.), Globalization and the new terror, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, UK Koletar, J 2003, Fraud exposed, John Wiley and Sons Inc , New Jersey. Miller, R and Jentz, G 2007, Fundamentals of business law, 2nd edition, South Western Cengage Learning, USA Nag, D & Kamlesh, B 2005, E-commerce, the cutting edge of business, Tata McGraw Hill, India Salifu, A, 2008, The impact of internet crime on development, Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 432-443. Smith, A 2004, Cybercriminal impacts on online business and consumer confidence, Online Information Review, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 224-234.

An Introduction to Puritanism

Puritanism was a religious  reformation movement  that began in England in the late 1500s. Its initial goal was removing any remaining links to Catholicism within the  Church of England after its separation from the Catholic Church. To do this, Puritans sought to change the structure and ceremonies of the church. They also wanted broader lifestyle changes in England to align with their strong moral beliefs. Some Puritans emigrated to the New World and established colonies built around churches that fit those beliefs.  Puritanism had a broad impact on England’s religious laws and the founding and development of the colonies in America. Beliefs Some Puritans believed in total separation from the Anglican Church, while others simply sought reform and wished to remain a part of the church. The belief that the church should not have any rituals or ceremonies not found in the Bible united the two factions. They believed that the government should enforce morals and punish behavior such as drunkenness and swearing. However, Puritans did believe in religious freedom and generally respected the differences in belief systems of those outside the Church of England.   Some of the major disputes between the Puritans and the Anglican Church regarded the beliefs that priests should not wear vestments (clerical clothing), that ministers should actively spread the word of God, and that the church hierarchy (of bishops, archbishops, etc.) should be replaced with a committee of elders.   Regarding their relationships with God, Puritans believed that salvation was entirely up to God and that God had chosen only a select few to be saved, yet no one could know if they were among this group. They also believed that each person should have a personal covenant with God. The Puritans were influenced by  Calvinism and adopted its beliefs in predestination and the sinful nature of man. Puritans believed that all people must live by the Bible and should have a deep familiarity with the text. To achieve this, Puritans placed a strong emphasis on literacy and education.   Puritans in England Puritanism first emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries in England as a movement to remove all vestiges of Catholicism from the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church first separated from Catholicism in 1534, but when Queen Mary took the throne in 1553, she reverted it to Catholicism. Under Mary, many Puritans faced exile. This threat and the increasing prevalence of Calvinism—which provided support for their viewpoint—further strengthened Puritan beliefs. In 1558, Queen Elizabeth took the throne and reestablished the separation from Catholicism, but not thoroughly enough for the Puritans. The group rebelled and, as a result, were prosecuted for refusing to abide by laws that required specific religious practices. This factor contributed to the eruption of the English civil war between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists, who fought in part over religious freedom in 1642.   Puritans in America   In 1608, some Puritans moved from England to Holland. In 1620, they boarded the Mayflower to Massachusetts, where they established Plymouth Colony. In 1628, another group of Puritans founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Puritans eventually spread throughout New England, establishing new self-governing churches. To become a full member of the church, seekers had to testify of their personal relationship with God. Only those who could demonstrate a godly lifestyle were permitted to join.   The witch trials of the late 1600s in places like Salem were run by the Puritans religious and moral beliefs. But as the 17th century wore on, the cultural strength of the Puritans gradually waned. As the first generation of immigrants died out, their children and grandchildren became less connected with the church. By 1689, the majority of New Englanders thought of themselves as Protestants rather than Puritans, though many of them were just as sharply opposed to Catholicism. As the religious movement in America eventually fractured into many groups (such as Quakers, Baptists, Methodists, and more), Puritanism became more of an underlying philosophy than a religion. It evolved into a way of life focused on self-reliance, moral sturdiness, tenacity, political isolationism, and austere living. These beliefs gradually evolved into a secular lifestyle that was (and sometimes is) thought of as a distinctly New England mentality.