Art of Cooking Essay Example for Free

Art of Cooking Essay I have a passion for culinary art. My double culture, and family background was behind this love . I always thought that being half French , half Moroccan is a great mixture , but starting to cook approved it to me . I remember when I used to sneak in my mom’s kitchen, and play with the ingredients. It was a great time where I learned how to mix, and make new dishes by improvising new combinations. For example, I mixed flavors and textures that were usually never combined. Or even add new colors in my dishes that raise their beauty. I was not the only one fascinated by food. My dad a professional chef got me into the world of pastry, and Moroccan traditional food ex: â€Å"Tagine,† which is primarily used to slow-cook savory stews and vegetable dishes. Because the domed or cone-shaped lid of the tagine traps steam and returns the condensed liquid to the pot. Morocco is the culinary star of North Africa; it is the doorway between Europe and Africa. Much imperial and trade influence has been filtered, and blended into this culture. Moroccan cooking is characterized by rich spices that combine anywhere from 10 to 100 spices. French and Moroccan cooking cuisines have been subject to Berber, Moorish, Arab, and European influences. Most French dishes are known for their complex, and rich flavors, we love bread, and wines. Most of people tried some French recipes, or food without knowing that is even French. You may find them all over the world. Ex: * Crepes: a very flat pancake typically stuffed with fruit or cream. * Baguette: a long French bread loaf. * Chocolate mousse: this lighter than air dessert originated in France. * Eclair : a pastry stuffed with cream and topped with icing. * Creme Brulee : Custard topped with hard caramel. â€Å"One cannot think well, love well, and sleep well, if one has not dined well. †

Importance of Informed Consent in Client Decision-making

Importance of Informed Consent in Client Decision-making Informed consent is not only a basic right of all clients, but it also helps to protect the clients privacy and can be utilized to empower them to make their own educated decisions about aspects of their own therapy. Ideally, the goal of the practice of informed consent is to provide patients with the most relevant and accurate information regarding their own treatment, so that they can decide for themselves to become involved and willing participants in their own therapy sessions. One of the best methods for instituting informed consent practices is to establish a protocol for enabling clients to make their own educated decisions. It is important to note that the practice of informed consent carries with it a number of legal implications as well, primarily due to the fact that its purpose is to protect the rights and privacy of the client. From a legal standpoint, there are three aspects of informed consent that are of primary concern: the clients capacity for rational decision-making, the clients comprehension or understanding of the information, and the clients voluntariness, which ensures that decisions made by the client are of their own free will. For the therapist, informed consent governs many aspects of administrative duties as well, such as confidentiality, record-keeping and maintenance, and the transfer and disclosure of client files. While these aspects are more clearly defined in terms of what therapists can and cannot do, therapists are also left with the additional task of ensuring that all clients are properly educated and informed about procedures and the legal implications and also that each individual client has the ability to comprehend such information and make decisions regarding their own treatment. It is this aspect of informed consent that often lacks such clearly defined rules and is often a matter of judgment on the part of the therapist. Adequate informed consent is becoming increasingly important for todays mental health professionals, as more and more people are seeking individual or marital counseling as a means of improving aspects of their own lives or relationships. In all aspects of healthcare, the appropriate procedures for obtaining adequate informed consent are still debatable. Because therapists have the unique opportunity to be able to work with clients in order to improve decision-making skills, this process is even more important. The goal is not to steer clients in any one direction or another, but rather provide each client with all of the information in a manner which they understand, be able to answer questions regarding the policies, and enable each client to make their own educated decision about what is best for them and their particular situation. Informed consent for therapists is often more difficult when faced with clients who may be in danger, under psychological distress, or faced with a domestic violence situation. Often, these clients may lack the ability to make rational decisions or may be fearful of participating in their own therapy due to the risk of confidentiality breaches and concern for their own personal safety. In this instance, it is often the therapists responsibility to not only offer additional reassurance regarding confidentiality, but also accurately represent the legal implications of informed consent and if and when records may be disclosed, along with what kind of information can be shared and under what circumstances. In addition, when there is a great deal of psychological distress present, it may be necessary to reiterate policies at a time when clients are more stable, and also take greater measures to enable the clients to adequately make their own decisions. In cases where a client lacks the capacity to make informed decisions on their own, due to age or disability, a parent or guardian may be necessary in order to provide adequate protection of the clients rights and sign legal documents. In terms of comprehension of the information provided, therapists should frequently have question and answer sessions with the client regarding the goals of treatment, client participation, availability of other services, expectations, and any risks involved. Clear communication and guidelines are the best way to ensure that a client adequately understands not only the purpose of treatment but their roles and responsibilities as well. Informed consent procedures for therapy can be seen as more than just legal practices. The continuously evolving methods of ensuring informed consent for clients also further enable and empower clients to educate themselves, take an active role in ensuring their own well-being, and learn to make more choices regarding their own personal care.

The Fifth Element: A Critical Analysis

The Fifth Element: A Critical Analysis The Fifth Element is one of the best science fiction movies ever made. What is science fiction? Stories that often tell about science and technology of the future is considered a trademark of science fiction. Science fiction films are also known to include a human element and are often set in the future, in space, on a different world, or in a different universe or dimension altogether. They often will depict dangerous or sinister natures of knowledge and vital issues about the nature of mankind and our place in the whole scheme of things. Science fiction displays the possibility to destroy mankind with Armageddon-like events through technology as well. In the film, The Fifth Element, the Earth is threatened by an evil force every 5000 years. An alien race, the Mondoshawan, have created a weapon to defeat the evil force and safeguard it on Earth in Egypt. The Mondoshawan look like gigantic upright beetles with metal skin and tiny heads. The weapon is four sacred stones representing the elements of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind with a fifth element that is used in combination with the stones. With the imminent arrival of World War I in 1914, they no longer feel the weapon is safe on Earth and come to take it away, promising to return when the evil force comes back during the course of the 5000-year cycle. In the year 2259, as the Mondoshawan are returning to bring the weapon back to Earth, their ship is shot down on the orders of an agent of the evil force, Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg. The Mondoshawan never fully trusted the human race and it was determined that the sacred stones were never on that ship, as it was a decoy. The Earths military was able to gather some cells from the wreckage of the ship, and by using the genetic makeup of those cells, reconstructed a life form. The life form, which is in the shape of a young female human, is the fifth element. Her name is Leeloo. She becomes frightened and escapes from the reconstruction chamber. She runs into Korben Dallas, a recently retired Commander of Earths military, and currently a New York City cab driver. Leeloos undertaking was to find the priest, Vito Cornelius, as he knows of the ancient ritual to set off the weapon against the evil force. President Lister was given this information regarding Cornelius earlier. President Lister recruits Dallas to go and retrieve the sacred stones from the Diva PlavaLaguna who is on another planet. Leeloo and Cornelius have their own plans. Dallas, Leeloo, and Cornelius travel to the other planet. Dallas retrieves the stones with the help of DJ Ruby Rhod. With help of Cornelius and Leeloo, the four of them beat Zorg at his own game for control of the sacred stones. They flee back to Egypt and with only minutes to spare, Korben tells Leeloo what she needs to hear and the love she feels enables her to destroy the evil force from annihilating Earth. The plot may be a standard one; good versus evil with a love story intertwined, but it is a good solid one. The film is based on a story by Luc Besson and he wrote it when he was sixteen years old. Roger Ebert agrees that the plot does sound like something conjured up by a teenager but still remains positive. In his review in the Chicago Sun-Times, he states, The Star Wars movies look deep, even philosophical, in comparison, but never mind: We are watching The Fifth Element not to think, but to be delighted (Ebert). This movie is exciting and catches your attention very quickly. The introduction of characters goes seamlessly from one to another. It does, however, have many stereotypes of what one might expect from a science fiction film. Mick LaSalle said in his review of the film in the San Francisco Chronicle, Its an amalgam of every science fiction clichà © about flying cars, evil forces and benevolent outer-space creatures most of them dusted off and made new (LaSalle). Many science fiction films show things in them that may be unbelievable. The beauty is that these things could happen. Flying cars? Sure, that might be possible some day. Aliens coming to destroy the planet? It could happen. The Fifth Element has all of these things. This movie creates a sense of wonder in the viewer. Not only is the viewer wondering what is going to happen next, like any other enjoyable film, the viewer will be anticipating what outrageous thing they are going to show you. In this world, you do believe it and it is true to the life portrayed in the film. This film is well told and the viewers will find themselves rooting for Leeloo, the fifth element. This is high-voltage excitement in a pop culture world. Its big on commercialism and there is a lot of product placement. The film is a bit predictable, by the end, evil is destroyed and the boy gets the girl. But the viewer will have a good journey to the end. The characters themselves are phenomenal. Bruce Willis plays Korben Dallas, the recently retired war hero who now drives a cab in New York City. Korben just cannot get a break. After being plagued with nightmares, he gets mugged on his way to work. He gets into an accident, where the viewer is first introduced to the beautiful Leeloo. Hes involved in a high-speed police chase and after returning home, he is notified that he has been fired. The military comes back into his life to send him on a dangerous mission. He travels with Leeloo to retrieve the sacred stones and must fight the ugly, killer-for-hire Mangalores. He must constantly put up with Ruby Rhod, an annoying DJ. After getting the stones and saving Leeloo from certain death, he must race against the evil force to set up the ancient weapon. In the end, he helps to save Earth and also gets the girl but his trials seem long and by the end, you are cheering that finally, something has gone his way. Leeloo is played by actress Milla Jovovich. Her role in all of this is that she is the fifth element. She tells Korben on their way to meet the Diva to get the sacred stones, Me fifth element supreme being. Me protect you (The Fifth Element). She has regenerated from cells alone to a perfect modelesque being that has flaming red hair with blonde roots. She learns the history of humans from a computer to bring her up to speed on Earths history. She can fight with the best of them, kicking the kung-fu out of some Mangalores. By the time they recover the stones and have made their way to Egypt to set the weapon in place, Leeloo is exhausted and is disillusioned as to why she must help the humans as she has seen the destruction they have done in history. She whimpers of not knowing love and does not realise that Korben has fallen in love with her. Korben must tell her how he really feels and kisses her with passion and she feels the love from him. She is able to make the ancient weapon work and defeats the evil force trying to demolish Earth by blasting it with white light derived from all that is pure and good. Priest Vito Cornelius, played by Ian Holm, is Leeloos contact on Earth. Cornelius takes this role very seriously. When Korben wins two tickets to Fhloston Paradise, his cover to retrieve the sacred stones from the Diva, Cornelius knocks Korben unconscious to steal the tickets for Leeloo and himself to go. When Korben shows up at the airport in time to make the flight, Cornelius stows aboard the plane in a maintenance compartment in order to reach Fhloston. He is a supporting character in this film but really is necessary for the story as he holds a plethora of knowledge that has been passed down to him from the last 5000 years. Under Korbens cover of winning the radio contest, he is bombarded by DJ Ruby Rhod, played fabulously by Chris Tucker. Ruby is simply a combination of Dennis Rodman and Pee-wee Herman, on crack. He speaks in a falsetto voice and gets irritated with Korben because his responses on air are not super green, his favourite catch phrase. Dressed flamboyantly in a leopard print body suit, he is all about using his popularity to his advantage with the ladies. He ends up with Korben in battle with the Mangalores and screams like a little girl every chance he gets. He also flies with Korben, Leeloo, and Cornelius to set up the weapon in the temple. Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg is the bad guy in all of this. Played by Gary Oldman, Zorg is an egotistical munitions dealer who is also the agent of the evil force that threatens Earth. He is relentless in pursuing the sacred stones, hiring the Mangalores to shoot down the Mandoshawan ship before it ever reaches Earth. He bullies Cornelius to try to give him the location of the stones. He puts a bomb on the pleasure cruiser to Fhloston Paradise which eventually kills him in the quest for the sacred stones. The makeup effects were not extraordinary by any measure but the visual effects in The Fifth Element are absolutely breath-taking. In the 23rd century, New York City is crammed full of people and the buildings seemingly shoot up from out of nowhere for miles. But the place they originate from is the garbage. As the author of The Fifth Element, Terry Bisson states, The deepening haze and smog that clung to the ground level of the city mercifully obscured the generations of litter and debris the urban midden that covered the streets to a depth of between twenty and forty feet (Bisson 78). The depth of the garbage problem is shown quite well. During the police chase scene, Korben and Leeloo hide the taxicab in the garbage down by the street level. Theres even a sign from an old company called IBM. In the airport scene, there is garbage piling up against all the walls due to a sanitation strike. It is heaped so high that it covers exits as a Mangalore jumped into a pile and escaped from police. The visual effects are model based as well as computer generated. The flying traffic depicted in this film is amazingly meticulous in detail. The cars are rounder at the edges and somewhat flatter than the cars of today. In the police chase scene, the details of flying the can in between cars, avoiding traffic jams, and even escaping through a train tunnel are wonderfully done. According to filmsite.org, the films most celebrated sequence was, the cab chase with flying cars (filmsite.org). Everything is brightly coloured and moves fast so the viewers attention is caught and remains focused on where the film is going. The costumes for most of the characters are all a little strange and what the film would portray as futuristic. Korben wears normal looking pants but his shirt is fluorescent orange with cut out strips in the back. Leeloos first outfit after regeneration is nothing more than strategically placed white surgical tape. Her second outfit of the film consists of gold pants and a white half-shirt which would look tame enough with the exception of the orange thong suspenders. DJ Ruby Rhods costumes are by far the best. He is originally dressed in a leopard print bodysuit with a huge flared collar with pointy brown boots. His microphone is covered in the same leopard material, the end lights up red when someone speaks into it, and it is about three feet long. His hair is a short blond afro with a cylinder of blond hair sticking out of his forehead. His second outfit is again a body suit; however, this time is completely black and wrapped around the flared collar is a wreath of red roses. The pants are flared out into bellbottoms and completely with black boots. The microphone is the same length but covered in black fabric with a silver tip. His hair is black this time and wrapped up in several little buns all over his head. Jean-Paul Gaultier was the costume designer and he was nominated for a Saturn award in 1998 in the category of Best Costumes (Internet Movie Database). This is absolutely one of the best science fiction movies ever made. The Fifth Element was nominated for an Oscar award in 1998 for Best Effects and Sound Effects Editing and also won a BAFTA award in the category of Best Special Effects (Internet Movie Database). It is a fantastic tale of good versus evil in the far away future. The viewer will enjoy the fabulous special effects and colourful characters as they root on the good guys in the destruction of evil.

Essay --

WikiLeaks: It’s Effect on the American and World Society By: Sam Karnan WikiLeaks has created an enormous effect on American society and the world in terms of national security and government transparency. WikiLeaks was created as a not-for-profit media organization whose main goal is to bring important news and information to the public. Much of the information that WikiLeaks has published would be considered sensitive material and extremely classified by the US Government and many other governments across the world. Background WikiLeaks.org was officially founded on October 4th, 2006 (Wall Street Journal). It operates from servers based in Sweden where it is illegal to reveal anonymous sources, whether they are one’s own or someone else’s. WikiLeaks was created with a goal of â€Å"promoting truth† (Wikileaks.org) in order to fight against government and corporation corruption. The main face of WikiLeaks is Julian Assange. He is an Australian journalist, editor, publisher and activist. Assange was described by his father (Brett Assange) as â€Å"a sharp kid that always fought for this underdog.† (The secret life of Julian Assange, 2010). Assange had a talent for hacking computers and has faced over 30 charges of hacking in Australia. Another high-profile face of WikiLeaks was Daniel Domscheit-Berg. He is most famous for the falling out he had with Assange and subsequently opening the curtains on the organization that opened the curtains on many other governments and corporations. Domscheit-Berg is a German technology activist that best became known for deleting at least 3000 unreleased documents, including a complete US No-Fly list, from WikiLeaks when he left the organization. After leaving the organization Domscheit-Berg state... ...N, 2013) Most recently, Edward Snowden who is a former CIA employee and NSA contactor released over 200,000 documents to the press. These documents contained information about the mass NSA surveillance program in the US as well as US surveillance on other countries. Snowden is considered a fugitive by the American government and is living in Russia under temporary asylum. (NSA Releases Some Files On Electronic Surveillance, NPR, 2013) WikiLeaks has changed the way governments operate. Due to the release of all these high profile documents, both the American people and people in other countries expect their governments’ to show a higher level of transparency. In this age where anything can be posted online or released to the press, whistleblowing has become much more common. This can be attributed to the effect WikiLeaks had on both the American and world society.

Has The De Beer Diamond Lost I :: essays research papers

"And while the law [of competition] may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department." -Andrew Carnegie Since the 1930’s when Sir Ernest Oppenheimer established the Central Selling Organisation, De Beers Consolidated Mines have controlled the selling and marketing of approximately 80% of the world’s rough diamond production (Capon, 1998). However, in 1996, Australian company, Argyle, stunned the world by announcing that they would no longer market diamonds through De Beers C.S.O. Many economists predicted that Argyle wouldn’t be able to compete against the mammoth De Beers. Yet in the year to December 31, Argyle recorded a profit of $142.5 million, an increase of 76% (Treadgold, 1999). De Beers is currently looking like losing the monopoly it has had on the diamond industry for almost seventy years. A monopoly is an industry in which there is only one organisation that supplies a particular good, service or resource which has no other similar alternatives. Monopolies are created by barriers which restrict the entry of new organisations (McTaggart et al, 1999). In a perfect monopoly, the seller has total control over the quantity of goods or services available for sale and the price at which the items are sold (Butterworths Business .. Dictionary, 1997). De Beers Consolidated Mines Central Selling Organisation has had a monopoly on the selling of rough diamonds since the 1930’s. A monopoly industry is characterised by having no close substitutes. Although there are substitutes for diamonds such as rubies, emeralds and cubic zirconias, many believe that there are no other gems that exhibit the same beauty of the diamond. Perhaps this belief was created out of De Beers advertising campaign, â€Å"A Diamond is Forever† (Capon, 1998, pg 6) which began in 1947. Whatever the reason that consumers want diamonds, and diamonds only, doesn’t matter. Consumers demand the real thing and will pay for the luxury. The second factor which creates a monopoly market are barriers to enter the market. Common barriers to entry include licenses, patents, entry lags, economics of scale and control of inputs (Browning & Browning, 1989). Control of inputs is the factor that constricts entry into the diamond industry. â€Å"De Beers Consolidated Mines of South Africa, through its ownership of mines and its central sales organisation, controls 85 percent of the world’s diamond output† (Browning & Browning, 1989, pg 330).

Guidance and Counseling Essay

1. Five terms in counseling with their definitions and why you chose them? a. Individualization – A client is unique and sine the client is different techniques in helping him should be different. I chose this term because it is pretty obvious that it is very important to know the differences of each client to help them more effectively. b. Controlled Emotional Involvement – the client also need to receive appropriate response to his feelings. The counsellors response must be must be based on the thorough knowledge and understanding of the client’s feelings, guided by purpose and not by emotion. While I was reading the hand-outs I was amazed with the principles of the counseling. This is my first time to know that trained counsellors are guided by principles and not by emotions. c. Acceptance – The counsellor views the client as a whole person with strength and weaknesses, positive and negative feelings, congenial and non-congenial qualities. I agree with this principle because a counsellor must not choose whom he want to give counsel and must welcome anyone who needs it. d. Nonjudgmental attitude – A client should not be judged. The counsellor’s role is to objectively evaluate and understand the client and his situation. A counsellor must not be subjective in evaluating a client and must leave a compassionate and understanding attitude to a client. e. Follow up – It is very important to make a client feel the concern of a counsellor to help him not just as a client but as a person or more as a friend. 2. Five terms in excellence and discuss why they are important to you. a. Never! Never! Never! Give up! I always believe that in journey to excellence will never be complete without disappointments and failures. The greatest glory is not in ever falling but in still standing despite all the obstacles that life may bring. Those people who do not commit mistakes are those who do not do anything at all. b. Attitude – Talent may bring us up in the heights of success but our attitude will make us stay there. Â  c. Dream! Excellent people are dreamers. They have their own invisible blueprints written in their hearts and minds that only them can see and they live each day believing and doing it. d. Afflicted. How can one claim victory without fighting a war? We should accept afflictions as though we are body builders who treat the burdens of weights as something that can build them not hurt them. e. Continued on. Quitters never win and winners never quit. No one can limit us. It is us who are limiting ourselves. Let not trials stop us! The earth is experiencing a lot of destructions each day but it never stopped.

The Female Economy: Article Review

Citation Silverstein, M. J. , and Sayre, K. (2009, September). The Female Economy. Harvard Business Review. Summary The article begins by stating that â€Å"women now drive the world economy. † It goes on to discuss how women now represent a large portion of consumer spending, and that portion is expected to grow. Silverstein and Sayre discuss how companies are not taking seriously the fact that they may not have the best strategy when it comes to marketing towards the female market. They underestimate or flat out ignore the female consumer. Dell is used as an example of such companies. The article discusses Dell’s failed attempt market laptops specifically to women. In May of 2009, it launched Della website, complete with a â€Å"make it pink† motto and topics based on female stereotypes. Instead of appealing to the women, it actually caused an uproar among them. Women felt the site was condescending. They posted blogs everywhere expressing their disgust towards the site. Even though Dell was quick to react to making the necessary corrections, Silverstein and Sayre question why their marketers failed to see the potential problems before the site went up. The authors then discuss a 2008 study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group. More than 12,000 different women in all areas of life were asked 120 questions about their finances, education, careers, relationships, activities and hobbies, fears, and also their spending patterns and shopping behavior. The study revealed that women were grossly underserved and there was lots of room for improvement. They continue to be undervalued even though they have great market power and social position. Women have many demands on them juggling work, family, and home, and few companies have taken action on their need for products and services designed specifically for women and for time saving solutions. Reaction Companies need to realize and understand the buying power that females possess. They represent one of the largest market opportunities ever. Until recently, companies believed their marketing strategies were equally effective to women and men. That proved to be an incorrect assumption. Women approach big ticket purchasing completely differently than men do. They base their decisions on a different set of perceptions, priorities and preferences. Companies should be combining insight on female gender culture with solid marketing know-how and develop strategies that attract women’s business. Effectively targeting women leads to higher customer satisfaction among both men and women. Companies like BMW, Wyndham Hotels and Merrill Lynch have found that improvements designed to enhance brand appeal among women actually deliver greater customer satisfaction among men, too. When you meet the expectations of women, companies  exceed the expectations of men. Marketing to women delivers a better return on the marketing dollar through both greater opportunity and greater impact. While in many categories the traditional male targets are saturated, the corresponding women’s segments are untapped and virtually uncontested by competition. The authors effectively bring to light the wrong approach that companies are taking when it comes to marketing to women. Simply adding pink to the campaign, which many companies erroneously do, will not suffice. They need to go back to the drawing boards. Services and products need to fill the gap. Companies need to aim their marketing efforts to women by seeing them as employees, managers, investors, and buyers.