Sunday, December 29, 2019

Who Was the First Woman Nominated for Vice President

Question:  Who was the first woman nominated as a vice presidential candidate by a major American political party? Answer: In 1984, Walter Mondale, Democratic nominee for president, selected Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, and his choice was confirmed by the Democratic National Convention. The only other woman nominated for vice president by a major party was  Sarah Palin in 2008. The Nomination At the time of the Democratic National Convention of 1984, Geraldine Ferraro was serving her sixth year in Congress. An Italian-American from Queens, New York, since she moved there in 1950, she was an active Roman Catholic. She kept her birth name when she married John Zaccaro. She had been a public school teacher and a prosecuting attorney. Already, there was speculation that the popular Congresswoman would run for the Senate in New York in 1986.  She asked the Democratic party to make her the head of the platform committee for its 1984 convention. As early as 1983, an op-ed in the New York Times by Jane Perletz urged that Ferraro be given the vice president slot on the Democratic ticket. She was appointed to chair the platform committee. Candidates for the presidential slot in 1984 included  Walter F. Mondale, Senator Gary Hart and the Rev. Jesse Jackson all had delegates, though it was clear that Mondale would win the nomination.   There was still talk in the months before the convention of placing Ferraros name in nomination at the convention, whether Mondale chose her as his running mate or not. Ferraro finally clarified in June that she would not permit her name to be put in nomination if it would be counterposed to Mondales choice. A number of powerful women Democrats, including Marylands Representative Barbara Mikulski, were pressuring Mondale to pick Ferraro or face a floor fight. In her acceptance speech to the convention, memorable words included If we can do this, we can do anything.† A Reagan landslide defeated the Mondale-Ferraro ticket.  She was only the fourth member of the House to that point in the 20th century to run as a major party candidate for vice president. Conservatives including William Safire criticized her for use of the honorific Ms. and for using the term gender instead of sex.  The New York Times, refusing by its style guide to use Ms. with her name, settled at her request on calling her Mrs. Ferraro. During the campaign, Ferraro tried to bring issues that were about womens lives to the forefront.  A poll right after the nomination showed Mondale/Ferraro winning the womens vote while men favored the Republican ticket. Her casual approach at appearances, coupled with her quick responses to questions and her clear competence, endeared her to supporters.  She was not afraid to publicly say that her counterpart on the Republican ticket, George H. W. Bush, was patronizing. Questions about Ferraros finances dominated the news for quite a while during the campaign. Many believed that there was more focus on her familys finances because she was a woman, and some thought it was because she and her husband were Italian-Americans. In particular, the investigations looked at loans made from her husbands finances to her first Congressional campaign, an error on 1978 income taxes resulting in back taxes owed of $60,000, and her disclosure of her own finances but refusal to disclose her husbands detailed tax filings. She was reported to have won support among Italian-Americans, particularly because of her heritage, and because some Italian-Americans suspected that the harsh attacks on her husbands finances reflected stereotypes about Italian-Americans. But for a variety of reasons, including facing an incumbent in an improving economy and Mondales statement that a tax increase was inevitable, Mondale/Ferraro lost in November.  About 55 percent of women, and more men, voted for the Republicans. The Aftermath For many women, breaking the glass ceiling with that nomination was inspiring.  It would be another 24 years before another woman was nominated for the vice presidency by a major party. 1984 was called the Year of the Woman for womens activity in working in and running in campaigns. (1992 was later also called Year of the Woman for the number of women who won Senate and House seats.) Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kansas) won reelection to the Senate. Three women, two Republicans and one Democrat, won their elections to become first-term Representatives in the House.  Many women challenged incumbents, though few won.   A House Ethics committee in 1984 decided that Ferraro should have reported details of her husbands finances as part of her financial disclosures as a member of Congress. They took no action to sanction her, finding that she had omitted the information unintentionally. She remained a spokesperson for feminist causes, though largely as an independent voice.  When many Senators defended Clarence Thomas and attacked the character of his accuser, Anita Hill, she said that men still dont get it. She refused an offer to run for the Senate against Republican incumbent Alfonse M. DAmato in the 1986 race. In 1992, in the next election to seek to unseat DAmato, there was talk of Ferraro running, and also stories about Elizabeth Holtzman  (Brooklyn District Attorney) showing ads that implied a connection of Ferraros husband to organized crime figures. In 1993, President Clinton appointed Ferraro as an ambassador, appointed to be a representative to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. In 1998 Ferraro decided to pursue a race against the same incumbent.  The likely Democratic primary field included Rep. Charles Schumer (Brooklyn), Elizabeth Holtzman  and Mark Green, New York City Public Advocate.  Ferraro had the support of Gov. Cuomo.  She dropped out of the race over an investigation into whether her husband had made illegal large contributions to her 1978 Congressional campaign. Schumer won the primary and the election. Supporting Hillary Clinton in 2008 The same year, 2008, that the next woman was nominated for vice president by a major party, Hillary Clinton had nearly won the Democratic nomination for the top of the ticket, the presidency. Ferraro supported the campaign strongly, and said quite publicly was marked by sexism. Political Career In 1978, Ferraro ran for Congress, advertising herself as a tough Democrat. She was re-elected in 1980 and again in 1982. The district was known for being somewhat conservative, ethnic, and blue-collar. In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro served as chair of the Democratic Party Platform Committee, and the presidential nominee, Walter Mondale, selected her as his running mate after an extensive vetting process, and after a good deal of public pressure to pick a woman. The Republican campaign focused on her husbands finances and his business ethics and she faced charges of her familys ties to organized crime. The Catholic church openly criticized her for her pro-choice position on reproductive rights.  Gloria Steinem  later commented, What has the womens movement learned from her candidacy for vice president? Never get married. The Mondale-Ferraro ticket lost to the very popular Republican ticket, headed by Ronald Reagan, winning only one state and the District of Columbia for 13 electoral votes. Books by Geraldine Ferraro: Changing History: Women, Power and Politics (1993; reprint 1998)My Story (1996; Reprint 2004)Framing a Life: A Family Memoir (1998) Selected Geraldine Ferraro Quotations †¢ Tonight, the daughter of an immigrant from Italy has been chosen to run for vice president in the new land my father came to love. †¢ We fought hard. We gave it our best. We did what was right and we made a difference. †¢ Weve chosen the path to equality; dont let them turn us around. †¢ Unlike the American revolution, which began with the shot heard round the world, the rebellion of Seneca Falls -- steeped in moral conviction and rooted in the abolitionist movement -- dropped like a stone in the middle of a placid lake, causing ripples of change.  No governments were overthrown, no lives were lost in bloody battles, no single enemy was identified and vanquished. The disputed territory was the human heart and the contest played itself out in every American institution: our homes, our churches, our schools, and ultimately in the provinces of power.  -- from the forward to A History of the American Suffragist Movement †¢ Id call it a new version of voodoo economics, but Im afraid that would give witch doctors a bad name. †¢ It was not so very long ago that people thought that semiconductors were part-time orchestra leaders and microchips were very, very small snack foods. †¢ Vice president - it has such a nice ring to it! †¢ Modern life is confusing - no Ms. take about it. †¢Ã‚  Barbara Bush, about vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro: I cant say it, but it rhymes with rich.  (Barbara Bush later apologized for calling Ferraro a witch -- October 15, 1984, New York Times)

Friday, December 20, 2019

The Tragedy Of Antigone By William Shakespeare - 2023 Words

The story of Antigone begins with Polyneices and Eteocles, two brothers with two distinct ideologies which resulted in a civil war, both in opposite sides. They both wanted to take over the throne of Thebes and they would not back down and as a consequence, it led to both of their self-destructions, as they killed each other in a skirmish for power. Soon after Creon, the new monarch of Thebes declared that Eteocles will be honored because he fought against the opposition led by his brother Polyneices. Creon first decree after taking the throne would be leaving Polyneices body on the battlefield, left unburied to become the food of wild creatures. Antigone and Ismene are the sisters of the deceased brothers, as well as the last children of Oedipus. Antigone will not stand by the new rules of Creon, and she is not willing to allow her brother to be dishonored, no matter the consequences her beliefs might bring upon herself. Antigone is flawed in various different ways and her excessiv e pride and self-confidence are two major characteristics rooted in her. Creon can be viewed as a tragic hero because his excessive pride prevents him from listening to any advice and other ideas which cause his own downfall. At the beginning of the story, Antigone expresses her idea, to violate Creon’s rules in which prohibited people to mourn and burying his corpse which was left on the battlefield to rot and be eaten by wild animals. Ismene, Antigone’s sister did not approve of her plan andShow MoreRelatedThe Tragedy Of Antigone By William Shakespeare1001 Words   |  5 PagesHowever, there is often a gray area that goes unexplored. Antigone manages to venture into this gray area through a complicated conflict of values. Kreon, the ruler of Thebes, has declared the leader of a rebellion against the state must not be buried. This conflicts with the leaders’ sister, Antigone, as she feels compelled to bury him. This conflict of values was expressed by German p hilosopher Hegel when he said â€Å"At the center of Antigone we find not a tragic hero but a tragic collision. HoweverRead MoreThe Tragic Tragedy Of Antigone By William Shakespeare977 Words   |  4 PagesIn the play, Antigone, one of the main characters made some life-changing decisions that would end up leading to sacrificing her own life. This main character being Antigone. In this tragic play, it evidently seems as if she is portrayed as someone who is different from everyone else. Unlike the rest of the characters, she is an independent woman and is beautiful in her own unique way, however, she has made some costly mistakes, which is always found to be startling; although she utilizes herselfRead MoreTragedy in The Merchant of Venice1472 Words   |  6 PagesAccording to dictionary.com, a tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering; furthermore, it is a dramatic composition, dealing with a serious or somber theme, typically that of a great person destined through a fl aw of character or conflict with some overpowering force, as fate or society, to downfall or destruction. Tragedy elements are that in which a protagonist agonizes disconnection from society and also, he or she makes an error or shows awful decision making. There are typically deathsRead MoreComparing and Contrasting Sophocles Antigone and Shakespeares Othello964 Words   |  4 PagesThe tragedies of Antigone and Othello were written with great depth and are structured in such a way that both characters are victims, in spite of their crimes. Antigone and Othello are tragedy plays created by using many techniques to create the feelings of fear and pity. There are differences and similarities in characters, action, and themes between Antigone and Othello. First, the major characters in both of the plays are suffering through great pain and end up with death. The drama AntigoneRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Macbeth And Antigone 1022 Words   |  5 Pages03/03/16 Macbeth and Antigone Essay A tragedy is a story which is centered on a character who does something terrible, and as they realize what they have done, the world around them crumbles. Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, is about how Macbeth and Banquo are met by three witches bearing prophetic greetings. Macbeth is told that he will become king. The rest of the play follows Macbeth into the depths of darkness as he seeks the crown not caring about the consequences. Antigone, by Sophocles, is aRead MoreEssay on Sophocles Antigone923 Words   |  4 PagesThebian play of Antigone has excited many debates over the years. The most prevalent being who exactly could be characterized as the tragic hero in the story. The argument that Antigone is the hero is deffinatly a strong one. There are many critics who believe that Creon, however, is the true protagonist of the play. In order to determine whether or not Creon is the tragic hero one must first examine what a tragic hero is. Aristotle states that a hero is neither pu rely innocent nor purely malevolentRead MoreIs One Crime Holier Than Another?584 Words   |  2 Pagescrime be justified? A reader should have their answer in mind when analyzing the two crimes of Brutus, in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, and Antigone, in Antigone by Sophocles. These two crimes are different in many ways but they both had good intentions behind their actions. As the reader, there will be a personal opinion formed about which crime is holier. Antigone is truly justified in her actions and her crime is holier than Brutus’s, even though he had good intentions. Read MoreThe Origins Of Drama And Theatre2001 Words   |  9 Pagesaccredited to inventing theatre and drama. In Greece during that time, at the height of popularity, were the stories of the well known flawed heroes and their journeys. Ancient Greece Comedy was a popular type of play in Ancient Greece, only second to Tragedy. These types were described in many details in Poetics, by Aristotle. He expressed that a comedy is â€Å"an imitation of inferior people - not, however, with respect to every kind of defect: the laughable is a species of what is disgraceful. The laughableRead MoreFeminism : A Multi Disciplinary Approach For Sexual Characteristics And Sex Parity Essay1648 Words   |  7 Pagesbuilding. Antigone is a play that was written by Sophocles and tends to depict a number of characteristics of feminist literature due to Antigone’s belief in the manner in which she is treated, together with her actions. The protagonist has deep concern for her family with the core disagreement of the play being the fact that she ends up burying her brother against the traditions of her community, since her brother was considered to be a traitor. Another feminist feature can be seen where Antigone is havingRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s King Lear1852 Words   |  8 Pagessemester, the class was assigned a large sum of works to read. These works varied between different time periods and writer style. Each book, had multiple themes to them, some had a little in common. The books, â€Å"King Lear† by William Shakespeare, â€Å"Oedipus The King† and â€Å"Antigone† both by Sophocles, have many themes throughout the books. While some themes are more prominent than oth ers, it’s not difficult to find the other themes that linger within the texts. In â€Å"King Lear† the king, wants to divide

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Deman and Supply of Product and Factors

Question: Describe about the Demand And Supply Of A Product And Factors That Affect The Demand And Supply Sides Of The Market. Answer: Introduction Demand and supply are factors that determine pricing for a commodity in a free market. While the pricing for goods tend to be determined by the demand and supply, the cross elasticity tends to have a significant bearing on the final pricing of the commodity (Mth, 1961). Interestingly, companies like Uber also use the demand-supply analysis for price determination of their service, often creating a sudden surge in pricing as demand moves up. The analysis of demand and supply is useful for both individuals as well as small businesses as it helps them in everyday decision making by accessing market situations in a better manner. The product that is being considered is airfares. This commodity is a classic example of the demand-supply model of price determination in a competitive market and exhibits a clear cross elasticity of demand due to the various options available for travellers, making it an apt example for consideration. Demand Supply Model Of Price Determination The four scenarios to be considered in this model are An increase in demand and no change in supply results in a higher price and quantity for the commodity or service. A decrease in demand and no change in supply- results in a lower price and quantity for the commodity or service. An increase in supply and no change in demand - results in a lower price and higher quantity for the commodity or service. A decrease in supply and no change in demand- results in a higher price and lower quantity for the commodity or service. Assuming that the consumer uses accurate information and makes rational decisions, it can be seen that the pricing for the commodity would vary depending on the demand and supply conditions prevalent in the market. The fair market scenario tends to move towards an equilibrium, wherein the equilibrium price is determined by the balance between the supply and demand. Unfortunately, the real word situation tends to be different with a significant change in free availability of accurate information (Grossman Stiglitz, 1980). The Cross Elasticity Of Demand And Its Impact On Pricing This pricing model is seen in commodities that can be easily substituted by competing products. Price discrimination is directly proportional to competition in this industry (Stavins, 2001). In such a scenario, when the price for a chosen product increases, consumers look at similar products that are available at a lower price, to satisfy their needs. Thus, the demand for a lower priced commodity would increase and a higher priced commodity would decree if they are substitutable. Sellers try and insulate themselves this situation by creating goods and services that cannot be easily substituted. For instance, airfare for budget airlines and premium airlines cannot be substituted. However, if there is a significant price variation between airfares in the budget class then cross elasticity would apply. Airfares And Pricing Based On Demand-Supply And Cross Elasticity By applying these theories to air fares, it can be seen that the higher disposable income as well as the comfort and convenience offered by flights have increased the demand for flight tickets. This is however regulated by the availability of alternative flights, thus ensuring a balanced pricing for air fare. This reflects the cross elasticity of demand, wherein a commodity is substituted by an alternative commodity available at a lower price. It is further observed that any spike in airfare tends to result in a drop in the demand for the same as travellers look at alternative modes of travel like road or rail. In the real world, the airfares tend to be high on weekends and lower on weekdays from Tuesday to Thursday. The exception to this rule is seen on extended weekends, wherein airfares tend to spike due to the sudden influx of persons looking forward to a mini-vacation. This reflects the classic case of pricing (of air tickets) being determined by the forces of demand and supply (Wei Grubesic, 2016). However, governments do insist on a cap in pricing or ceiling price to ensure that consumers are not fleeced by airlines and the supply to genuine consumers continues within a certain price band (Posner, 1974). It is further seen that airlines tend to offer exorbitant price discounts during lean seasons or in conjunction with special days (Lohatepanont Barnhart, 2002). While the latter is a publicity gimmick; the former is an attempt to influence buyer behaviour by lowering prices. As the seller changes prices to lower levels, the commodity starts to look more attractive and often influences buyers to shift the purchase from competitors (Cattaneo, et al., 2016). It is important to remember that the nature of the demand curve is influenced by the industry in which the firm operates (Rosen, 1974). For instance, commodities that cater to a particular niche tend to be more rigid and do not exhibit any significant elasticity due to pricing. In case of airfares, the business class pricing tends to remain virtually unchanged over the shorter time frame as persons travelling for business continue to do so regardless of minor fluctuations in pricing. Conclusion Considered the backbone of any economy; the correlation between price, demand and supply help in the efficient allocations of resources to ensure maximum profits for organizations. In the real market, price equilibrium is mere theory as prices are constantly affected by fluctuations in supply and demand (Knittel Pindyck, 2016). While, the consumer is able to regulate prices by influencing the demand, the seller controls the supply. In a free market, the seller tries to reduce supply to maintain prices at desired levels, the consumer works at reducing demand for the commodity to drive prices downwards. References Cattaneo, M., Malighetti, P., Morlotti, C. Redondi, R., 2016. Quantity price discrimination in the air transport industry: The easyJet case. Journal of Air Transport Management, 54(1), pp. 1-8. Grossman, S. J. Stiglitz, J. E., 1980. On the Impossibility of Informationally Efficient Markets. The American Economic Review, 70(3), pp. 393-408. Knittel, C. R. Pindyck, R. S., 2016. The Simple Economics of Commodity Price Speculation. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 8(2), pp. 85-110. Lohatepanont, M. Barnhart, C., 2002. Airline Schedule Planning: Integrated Models and Algorithms for Schedule Design and Fleet Assignment. Transportation Science, 38(1), pp. 19-32. Mth, J. F., 1961. Rational Expectations and the Theory of Price Movements. Econometrica , 29(3), pp. 315-335. Posner, R. A., 1974. Theories of Economic Regulation. Bell Journal of Economics, 5(2), pp. 335-358. Rosen, S., 1974. Hedonic Prices and Implicit Markets: Product Differentiation in Pure Competition. Journal of Political Economy , 82(1), pp. 34-55. Stavins, J., 2001. Price Discrimination in the Airline Market: The Effect of Market Concentration. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 83(1), pp. 200-202. Wei, F. Grubesic, T. H., 2016. The pain persists: Exploring the spatiotemporal trends in air fares and itinerary pricing in the United States, 20022013. Journal of Air Transport Management, 57(1), pp. 107-121.