Biography Of James Joseph Bulger Jr. - 1708 Words

James â€Å"Whitey† Bulger I think we would all agree sixteen years is quite a long time. What if I were to tell you someone had been on the run from the law enforcement for that long before being caught? The name is James Joseph Bulger Jr. also known as Whitey Bulger. Whitey was one of the most notorious mob bosses in American history for his criminal reign in South Boston, Massachusetts. Whitey was a very violent criminal that had a rap sheet a mile long that included: murder, extortion, racketeering, and the list goes on. I am here to talk with you about the story of Whitey in his early years, his criminal reign in South Boston, and his life on the run from law enforcement for over a decade. On September 3, 1929, Whitey was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Whitey was one of six children born in a Roman Catholic family. He got his nickname for his whitish-blonde colored hair. Whitey grew up in the project of South Boston where he would find his criminal ways. Whiteyâ€℠¢s first crime came just at the early age of 14 years old for stealing. However, Whitey would not learn from his mistake and his criminal record would continue to get worse from there. Whitey was arrested multiple times as a juvenile for things such as theft, fraud, assault and robbery. He would end up serving five years in a juvenile detention school for his delinquent acts. Once released from detention at the age of eighteen years old, Whitey would join the air force where his trouble still seemed to followShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesState University Jane Crabtree, Benedictine University Suzanne Crampton, Grand Valley State University Douglas Crawford, Wilson College Michael Cruz, San Jose State University Robert Cyr, Northwestern University Evelyn Dadzie, Clark Atlanta University Joseph Daly, Appalachian State University Denise Daniels, Seattle Pacific Uni versity Marie Dasborough, Oklahoma State University Nancy Da Silva, San Jose State University Christine Day, Eastern Michigan University Emmeline de Pillis, University of Hawaii

Child Development And Development Of Children, Japan,...

Across the varying regions of Namibia, Japan, Mongolia, and the United States, Babies portrays the different settings in which babies are raised. Through alternating scenes, the film provides a side-by-side comparison of each infant’s development specifically related to their interaction with the environment. The film displays how each baby meets specific milestones through the first months of life, and exemplifies the role that culture and location plays in the stages of their maturation. Despite the socioeconomic disparities among the varying environments, the developmental stages of each of the infants remain relatively similar. In Namibia and Mongolia, Ponijao and Bayar grow up in rural settings in which resources are relatively limited, however the basic needs of these infants are met. On the contrary, in Japan and the United States, Mari and Hattie begin life in an urban area where there are a variety of resources available to aid and track their development, such as health care services. Nevertheless, the infants mature at relatively the same time. This can be attributed to their genetic predisposition to certain developmental milestones, regardless of their environment. For instance, each of the babies gain control of their heads and appendages and then begin to crawl, all at a rate that is congruent with their age. Although each of the distinct regions provide a unique environment for development, the babies interact with their surroundings in very similar way s.Show MoreRelatedBabies ( Balmes, 2010 ) Is An Unusual Documentary Film1366 Words   |  6 PagesBayar from Mongolia, Mari from Japan, and Hattie from the United States. The film takes viewers to these four babies’ development from their birth to roughly around age one. These four babies are different starting from when they are born. While Namibian parents gets no help from hospital, American parents does not even think of giving birth to the children without going to the hospital. When the baby is born, Hattie meets the world with bunch of medical equipment whereas Namibian child gets no suchRead MoreA Brief History of Buddhism1417 Words   |  6 Pages Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia. Mahayana, the greater vehicle, refers to the Theravada as Hinayana, the lesser vehicle. It is dominant in India, Tibet, Japan, Nepal, Taiwan, China, Korea, Vietnam, and Mongolia. Siddhartha Guatama was born in Kapilivastu. His father was the ruler of the small kingdom near the Indian/Nepal border. As a child, his future was foretold by sages. They believed that he would someday be a fellow sage or leader of a great empire. He led a very pampered and shelteredRead MoreWorld Regional Geography: Exam Questions Essay3379 Words   |  14 Pages$660 B worth of goods in 2005 – and increase of 18% from the past year o Total foreign trade in 2005 was $1.4 M – this makes China the third-highest ranking country, preceded by only the United States and Germany – precedes Japan now; this is the first time that China has grossed more than Japan o A decade ago they made only $289 B o Many of our goods are now labeled â€Å"Made in China† o China’s autocratic government and limited constraints on the military willRead MoreA Research On Weird Populations2014 Words   |  9 Pagesones out; this article writes that WEIRD samples are continuously the outliers. In the documentary called Babies, we are introduced to four different babies, from different parts of the world in separate societies including Japan, The United States, Namibia, and Mongolia. The film documents how each infant is raised in their own culture and society. The beginning of the film depicts medical practices amongst the different cultures. The American and Namibian babies were the two that differed theRead MoreEthics of Information Communication Technology (Ict)27618 Words   |  111 Pagesguidelines for action to combat the incidence of malicious attacks on the confidentiality, integrity and availability of electronic data and systems, computer-related crimes, such as forgery and fraud, content related offenses, such as those related to child pornography, and violations of intellectual property rights (IPRs). Further, threats to critical infrastructure and national interests arising from the use of the internet for criminal and terrorist activities are of growing conc ern after the SeptemberRead MoreFamily Dynamics And Social Values2554 Words   |  11 PagesRace-Religion as Factors of Domestic Violence Much of the ethnic and religious ideologies existent in numerous communities today are the result of history’s shaping the societies into what they are today, particularly during the earlier stages of the development of a religion or the peak of an era. The principles and ideals formed then have gone through alterations with time, as cultures have merged since their foundations. While some views and philosophies have been virtually discarded, common beliefsRead MoreChina Research Paper6220 Words   |  25 Pagesbillion people. Since there were so many people in China they had to think about a way to control population so this is where the one-child policy was made.  It officially restricts married, urban couples to having only one child, while allowing exemptions for several cases, including twins. This policy was introduced in 1978 and initially applied to first-born children from 1979. The policy is enforced at the local level through  fines  that are imposed based o n the  income  of the family and other factorsRead Morecan india become a superpower Essay4304 Words   |  18 Pagescharacteristics of superpowers are firstly, the state or nation should have sizable presence in terms of area and population. Secondly, the state should have high levels of domestic cohesion, a clear sense of national identify and stable administration based on strong legal and institutional arrangements. Thirdly, the state should be economically strong and should be endowed with natural resources, particularly energy resources, minerals and metals. Such a state should have a strong industrial base backedRead MorePepsi Grows potatoes in China Essay5896 Words   |  24 Pagesagricultural products. With the country producing almost half the world’s vegetables and 16% of the world’s fruits, the agribusiness industry in China was a burgeoning one.2 During the first quarter of 2007, China’s export of fresh food to the United States grew 279% to US$7.4 million, with fresh vegetables growing 66% to US$32 million.3 In the early 2000s, China dedicated an additional 5.7 million acres of land to the cultivation of vegetables, equivalent to more than half the land used for vegetable Read MoreCountry Note Book of China17054 Words   |  69 Pagesbecame the great country we have today. It is recorded that Yuanmou man is the oldest hominoid in China and the oldest dynasty is Xia Dynasty. From the long history of China, there emerge many eminent people that have contributed a lot to the development of the whole country and to the enrichment of her history. Among them, there are emperors like Li Shimin (emperor Taizong of the Tang), philosophers like Confucius, great patriotic poets like Qu Yuan and so on. Chinese society has progressed through

Storytelling and its contribution to organizational theory Free Essays

string(209) " Mentoring and Storytelling to transfer knowledge in the Workplace† explains that the knowledge with rich tacit dimensions is transferred informally through processes of colonization and naturalization\." The storytelling approach towards the knowledge sharing is explored in detail. The story telling can be used to elicit tacit knowledge and can be used to flow the knowledge about previous events in the organization and any other work related knowledge in an interesting and effective manner. Since emotions are attached to the stories, they narrate the much value to the listeners and the listeners tend to keep what they have heard. We will write a custom essay sample on Storytelling and its contribution to organizational theory or any similar topic only for you Order Now In this sense, organization memory is created by the anecdotes of the stories being told. The lessons learnt from the past experiences are label to the employees working now. It is also studied the negative stories have much impact on the listeners. The story telling has the potential to capture tacit knowledge and how it is done in the context of IBM is explained. Moreover, the story telling in the organizations can be enhanced by the use of IT tools like intranet, emails and other knowledge management systems which helps employees to create platform to share their stories and communicate the values of the organization. This values and the knowledge base of the organization helps to form the organization memory. Table of Contents Introduction Storytelling is one of the approaches towards knowledge capture and codification, the first phase of KM cycle. This is used to elicit tacit knowledge, towards creation of new knowledge and to organize the content in systematic manner. In knowledge capture phase, the distinction between the capture of existing knowledge and the creation of new knowledge has to be made. Mostly, only existing knowledge is set into the pattern, which only forms the explicit knowledge. There is huge pool of knowledge, which needs to be captured towards generating the new knowledge and that knowledge is mostly tacit in nature, which resides within the heads of knower. Every organization also has a memory. The embodiment of the organizational memory is the experience of its employees, tangible data and knowledge stores in the organization (Walsh and Unison, 1991). The value of knowledge is increased when it is transferred otherwise the uncultured knowledge is devalued and ignored with time. In today’s fast-paced economy, an organization’s knowledge base is quickly becoming its only sustainable competitive advantage. This competitive advantage is owned by utilizing the organizational knowledge, the individual skills, thoughts and ideas. So Tacit knowledge management is must to capture the experience and expertise of the individual in an organization and making it available to anyone who needs it. Once the tacit knowledge becomes explicit, it needs to be organized in a structured document that will enable multipurpose use. The KM tools help to create knowledge and then leverage it across multiple channels, including phone, email, discussion forums, Internet and any new channel that come online. Story telling is one of the best KM tools to capture tacit knowledge. Organizational story can be defined as past management actions, employee interactions or other key events that have occurred and that have been communicated informally (Swap et al, 2001). The stories provide a rich context making it interesting for the listeners and also remains in the conscious memory longer. Stories reinforce organizational learning and communicate common values. The core capabilities of an organization are built by critical skills of employees, management systems and organizational values. This capability can be transferred in formal and explicit way. However much knowledge articulacy knowledge with rich tacit dimensions is transferred internally through processes of colonization and initialization. Story telling is one such transfer mechanisms that can leverage the tacit knowledge of the organization. Literature Review The use of the stories and storytelling may provide a powerful practice as a part of efforts by individuals, groups or organizations to share what they know. It breaks away from the traditional means of communication and adds new dimension to the knowledge management tools. Deeding, in his article â€Å"Telling Tales† tries to convey hat the age-old practice of storytelling is an effective method to be used as knowledge management tools but the stories told should match the situation and conditions in the organization. Storyteller as a leader should influence the listeners and the story should have enough detail to be intelligible and credible. Different narrative patterns like Sparking Action, Communicating who you are, Transmitting value, Fostering collaboration and Taming the grapevine can be used. Snowman’s article titled â€Å"The new simplicity-context, Narrative and Content† focuses on the need f knowledge management to go beyond the boundaries of using best practices into the realms of uncertainty. Since both the human behavior and system are complex, the cause and effect of the system and the interacting agents can’t be separated; the contextual stimulation is needed to capture the knowledge. The decision making pattern is important. Narrative is emerging as one of the most exciting approaches to knowledge management. It involves going and finding a person to ask questions whenever faced with the new task or encounter a problem and get context-sensitive answers. In short, stories allow the communication of complex ideas in a simple, memorable form. Karakul Shaffer B Kali in his research on â€Å"Transfer knowledge Using Stories: A Malaysian University Case Study † attempts to explore the usage of knowledge-embedded stories in a Malaysian institute of higher learning and will consider the understanding of organization members concerning storytelling in the organization. It provides insights on the culture of storytelling as a method of knowledge transfer medium and explores the practicality of using stories in the organization and the employee’s perception of the usage of stories to transfer knowledge. This case reveals that story telling is regarded as an acceptable approach in knowledge transfer. Mostly gathering sessions in the university stimulated storytelling. The case also presented the factors that influence the KM storytelling. The factors are an extension of the existing knowledge transfer factors mentioned in literatures, which do influence KM storytelling. Walter Swap, Dorothy Leonard, Mimi Shields and Lisa Abram in their research â€Å"Using Mentoring and Storytelling to transfer knowledge in the Workplace† explains that the knowledge with rich tacit dimensions is transferred informally through processes of colonization and naturalization. You read "Storytelling and its contribution to organizational theory" in category "Papers" They have focuses on two transfer mechanisms mentoring and storytelling. Most stories told informally in organizations are negative. Therefore managers interested in how knowledge accrues in the organization cannot ignore these important transmitters. Stories that dramatist or illustrate managerial systems, values, norms are more likely to be believed and acted upon than mere statements of policies and norms. Finally, the use of information technologies can enhance the story telling. The effect of verbal storytelling can be enhanced through the use of multimedia. Consistent with the elaboration effect, seeing and hearing the storyteller can add weight and detail to the story as can visual about the environment in which the story occurred. Story-telling-a technique to capture tacit knowledge In KM, the knowledge capture and creation may be done by the individuals who work for the organization or a group within that organization, by all members of a community of practice (COP), or by a dedicated COP individual. So the creation, capture and the codification of the information is done at the personal level while performing activities at Job. Within the firm, individuals share perceptions and Jointly interpret information events and experiences (Cohen and Leviathan, 1990) and at some point, knowledge acquisition extends beyond the individuals and is coded into corporate memory (Napkin, 1995; Spencer, 1996; Monika and Takeouts, 1995). Unless knowledge is embedded into corporate memory, the firm cannot leverage the knowledge held by individual members of the organization. Knowledge acquisition from individuals or groups can be characterized as the transfer and transformation of valuable expertise from a knowledge source (human expert, documents) to a knowledge repository (organizational memory, facts and rules). Explicit knowledge is already well described but we need to abstract and summarize this content. Tacit knowledge capturing needs various techniques of which story telling is the one. Stories involve the detailed narrative of management actions and decision-making styles, employee activities and interaction and other events within the division that are communicated informally within the organization. A story can be defined as telling of a happening or a connected series of happenings whether true or fictitious (Deeding, 2001). This involved the group interaction and collaboration for story telling. The SEC’ model developed by Knock and Takeouts also supports that story telling or narratives can be used to bring out tacit knowledge. Fig 1 :SEC Model by Monika and Takeouts Here, colonization process is involve which emphasizes the tacit knowledge exchange through Joint activities such as gathering, spending time together, informal talks and living and working in the same environment rather than through written or verbal instructions. The process of transferring one’s ideas or images directly to colleagues or subordinates means to share personal knowledge and create commonplace or Baa. During extrapolation process, an individual commits to the group and thus becomes one with the group. The individuals’ intentions and ideas merge and become integrated with the group’s mental world. This involves the expressing of ideas or images as communicable manner such as metaphors, analogies, event description or narratives. A number of conditions must be in place, however, in order to ensure that storytelling in its various enacted forms creates value in a particular organization. Sole and Wilson (2002) argue that although all stories are narratives, not all narratives are good knowledge-sharing stories. As an example, they cite movies, which tell stories designed primarily to entertain and therefore need not necessarily be authentic-?or even believable. In contrast, in organizational storytelling, stories are often used to promote knowledge sharing, inform, and/or prompt a change in behavior, as well as communicate the organizational culture and create a sense of belonging. In order to achieve these organizational objectives, knowledge-sharing stories need to be authentic, believable, and compelling. Stories need to evoke some type of response, and, above all, they need to be concise Deeding, 2001), so that the moral of the story or the organizational lesson to be learned can be easily understood, remembered, and acted upon. In other words, organizational stories should have an impact: they should prevent similar mistakes from being repeated, or they should promote organizational learning and adoption of best practices stemming from the collective organizational memory. Deeding (2001) describes the power of a springboard story, knowledge that has been captured in the form of a brief story that has the ability to create a strong impact on its audience. He outlines a number of key elements required to use stories to encapsulate valuable knowledge, such as: The explicit story should be relatively brief and detailed Just enough that the audience can understand it. The story must be intelligible to the specific audience so that they are â€Å"hooked. The story should be inherently interesting. The story should spring the listener to a new level of understanding. The story should have a happy ending. The story should embody the change message. The change message should be implicit. The listeners should be encouraged to identify with the protagonist. The story should ell with a specific individual or organization. The protagonist should be prototypical of the organization’s main business. Other things being equal, true is better than invented. One should test, test, and test again Story telling and KM processes involved in context of MM. IBM has leverage on the power of story telling at the daily work place to enhance the employees’ performance. IBM has a four-stage storytelling approach. 1 . Anecdotal elicitation through interviews, observation and story circles 2. Anecdotal deconstruction to analyses cultural issues, ways of working, values, rules and beliefs to lied the story’s key messages 3. Intervention / communication design with a story constructed or enhanced 4. Story deployment Story telling workshops can be run to elicit the knowledge and cultural values of an organization as well as both its best and inhibitors to sharing and identifies business issues. Values, rules and beliefs of organization were identified. Storytelling provides the platform to the employees to share experiences and build social capital and networks and most importantly it achieves agreement among the participants The knowledge management framework developed by Olivia and Lieder (2001 a) is based n the view of organizations as â€Å"knowledge systems†. According to this view, organization consists of four knowledge processes Creation Storage / Retrieval Transfer Application Here in case of MM, knowledge creation process takes place by the creation of anecdotes, which are captured as tacit knowledge, and they are stored in a repository and aligned with communities, processes and subject areas. This shows the knowledge storage process. Then the knowledge transfer takes place through support discussion forums (lunch and learn), databases, intellectual capital, management systems (training), document management systems, bulletin boards, inline chats, portals (community kick-off days) and intranets. Ultimately, the people who make communities do the knowledge application process. The effective communities have valuable stories. Practice of dedicated Story Telling Sessions The practice of dedicated story telling sessions in some organizations have proved the increased level of knowledge exchange among employees. For example, NASA, Deducted and Malaysian university have Km initiative in form of story telling sessions. The ITEMS (Information Services and Media Services) Department has its own storytelling sessions. There are two storytelling session ITEMS Sharing Session- It involves the staffs from whole ITEMS department and it is conducted once a week to share the stories on the problems encountered and the solutions. Toolbox Session-alt only involves the units in ITEMS department. It gathers the support unit employees to share their stories on the problems raised. They have one program to stimulate KM storytelling called Buddy program. In Buddy program, two employees from different department are paired together to work as a single department. Junior staff is paired with senior academic acting as mentor. Conclusion Stories are powerful conveyors of meaning and tacit knowledge and been in use from ancient times. It helps to share knowledge with context and emotion. It triggers the listeners to respond with other stories building new understanding. Stories can capture and hold the attention increasing the likelihood of hearing and listening. Story telling is very valuable in story telling network. Any organization has a set of its memories embedded from the time of its inception. These memories are the skills and knowledge of its employees while in an organization over the years of operation. So, the organizational memory has its role on forming the knowledge base of the organization. Employees can use the organization memory to learn and improve the effectiveness of their work. Employee’s knowledge can be stored and then information and knowledge can be shared by KM. Organizational memory is one of intangible assets of one organization; it stores past experiences and knowledge, supports organization strategy and improves organization effectiveness. Accordingly, it is important to establishment and development of organizational memory for KM. Organizational culture can be stored by story, and it is one of retention facilities of organizational memory. The idea, spirit, and culture of organizations can be passed down by storytelling. Through storytelling, organization members emotionally connect to their organization and then identify their organization. Storytelling can store organizational culture, convey experience and knowledge, and improve acquisition, retention, and maintenance of process of organizational memory management. Organization value and spirit can be conveyed effectively by storytelling. 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Dolphin Hunting free essay sample

The Japanese public has developed a mischievous reputation with the rest of the world over the past 100 years. They are notorious for going against the grain of modern society and tend to be rather impulsive during international disputes. There are many neighboring countries of Japan that oppose the actions of these â€Å"whalers†. The tension that the Japanese have created within the fishing trade by slaughtering dolphins is leading them into a downward spiral. This seems to be the current path that the United States are headed down as well in regards to the illegal hunting, slaughtering, and production of dolphins for their meat and fins. The Japanese people who are involved in this trade believe that hunting dolphins is a significant aspect of their culture. They see their brutal actions as an ancient tradition that must be carried on, even at the cost of diminishing the already struggling dolphin populations. Obviously, the Japanese have resentment issues contingent to outsiders attempting facilitation of their actions. This is completely understandable; however, the Japanese must realize the magnitude of the compulsory repercussions that correlate with committing genocide of an almost endangered mammal species. Essentially 100 percent of Japan’s dolphin slaughter is carried out in tiny coves off the coast in a town called Taiji, in Japan’s Higashimuro District. According to Justin McCurry of The Guardian, â€Å"the fisherman of Taiji successfully lure up to 100 bottlenose dolphins into these coves daily, harpoon, shoot, and stab them to death†. It is a problem that has ultimately become an immense burden on the Japanese public as a whole. Without taking proper affirmative action to address this problem in the near future, there will arise serious repercussions not only for the dwindling dolphin populations and the Japanese public, but also the rest of the world’s population. The distribution of illegally acquired dolphin meat throughout the Japanese population will only add to the terrible effects of the initial wrongdoing of the Japanese fishermen. Whaling originated in Japanese waters as early as the 12th century. However, the commercial hunting of dolphins superseded with little warning by the beginning of the 20th century. The switch was most likely due to the elevating demand for the fins of certain species of dolphins, as well as the meat they provide to the people of Japan. The Japanese fishermen of modern day are a product of many generations, realizing that there was a larger possibility for profit involved in selling the fins of dolphins’ to locations such as museums along with distributing the meat to markets throughout the population of Taiji. This small town has become the processing center for all illegal acts related to the slaughter of dolphins. It has always been a community that relied heavily on fishing but in recent years, there have been countless underground operations taken on. Where there is conflict there is also usually some kind of judicial system in place. Hence, the United States was quick to establish the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in August 1946 to address the expanding ethical conflicts that large numbers of Americans had with the actions of the Japanese whalers. According to Mark Palmer of Earth Island Journal, â€Å"In September, for the first time, fishermen in Taiji released 70 bottlenose dolphins after catching and retaining around 10 to 15 for aquariums† (21-22). This was ultimately a huge step for the American-run IWC and Richard O’Barry, the organization’s front man. The IWC and O’Barry have been directly involved in the conflict with Japanese whaling industries since the commercial ban on whaling and dolphin hunting was passed in 1986. This seems to be the major reason why the IWC is handling the Taiji dolphin situation so stubbornly. Following the ban, the Japanese stated that they would comply with the new laws and regulations passed, however, continued to covertly manage new operations without the public’s knowledge. In 2005, just before the apex of the Taiji dolphin situation, O’Barry interviewed multiple Japanese fishermen, reporting one of his findings: The fishers who hunt and kill dolphins agree with us [IWC]. When they asked us why we had come to Taiji, we told them we wanted to document the methods used to conduct the dolphin massacres and let the Japanese people know the truth about their hunt. The fisher’s reply was, â€Å"The Japanese people have no right to know about the dolphin slaughter. It is none of their business. Not all of the fishermen involved in the Taiji slaughter are pro-dolphin hunting. This poses a few questions such as why these fishermen are involved in the trade when they don’t personally believe in the act, what’s keeping them around, and who it is that facilitates the actions of fishermen in The Cove. The Japanese reasoning for the continuation of dolphin slaughter in Taiji seems unreasonable at best. The Japanese government and the men in The Cove that commit the murders don’t share a consistent explanation for why hunting dolphins is beneficial for the Japanese community. The fact that the Japanese public is completely oblivious to the actions performed by their government in The Cove is abhorrent and distasteful. The Japanese government is continuously adding to the already massive burden over the heads of every Japanese citizen by deceiving, committing murder, and failing to cooperate with any outsider humanitarian organization so as to meet a compromise on the situation. This mass genocide can’t be deemed a tradition if the Japanese people don’t even know of its existence. Palmer also states in a 2010 article similar findings to O’Barry: Although the slaughter of dolphins continues, Earth Island International (EII) efforts have led to fewer dolphins being killed this year. More importantly, news stories are being published in Japan, for the first time, about the dolphin slaughter and about the dangers posed by the Mercury contamination of dolphin meat (23). The first breakthrough for EII and the IWC came in the form of this confession by the Japanese government. This would lead to further speculation about all the happenings within The Cove. The Japanese public immediately started showing signs of distress and discomfort about the news. Mercury poses a serious threat to the human body when ingested. It is the most toxic non-radioactive element on Earth. When high-levels of mercury become present in the body, it can cause hearing and vision loss, psychosis, and even death. The most terrifying aspect of mercury poisoning, however, is that once it is present within the body, it will always be there because it never degrades (Nevada Division of Environmental Protection). In The Cove, a documentary on the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Joe Chisholm argues that the first serious threat of mercury poisoning actually occurred in Japan back in 1956, in a town called Minamata. It was a stressful time for all mammals living around the coast because factories in Minamata began dumping exorbitant amounts of mercury waste product into the waters outside of town. This became the illicit beginning for the dolphin slaughter. The efforts of the IWC in the past have been essentially futile because of the Japanese unwillingness to cooperate with any outsider organizations. IWC headquarters has been located in the United Kingdom since its establishment in 1946. This distance between the UK and Japan may be a contributing factor to why the Japanese continue to disobey IWC regulations and laws. Ultimately, they may feel unthreatened by an opposition with a locale so far from their operations. There seems to be an outrageous sense of Nationalistic pride within the fishing community; the fishing trade in Japan is an industry that is massively subsidized by Japanese taxpayers. When these types of subsidies are put in place, there’s room for corruption, which has certainly taken place in the past. David Phillips, director of the International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP), in the Earth Island Journal states: IMMP recently joined the Elsa Nature Conservancy (ENC) of Japan and One Voice, a leading French animal protection organization, to warn that dolphin meat sold to the Japanese people is highly contaminated with mercury, methyl mercury, cadmium, DDT, and PCBs. Despite evidence of dangerous contamination, the Japanese government provides no warning to its people that eating dolphin meat often mislabeled in Japanese markets as whale meat is a serious health hazard (14-15). There is no way for the Japanese to hide these factors in their secret operations. Eventually the truth will be heard and the citizens of Japan will cause uproar of the situation. The Japanese government has been knowingly poisoning the public with mercury since the commercial ban on whaling in 1986. They have shown no signs of remorse or sympathy for their actions in the past 25 years. The act of disguising this dolphin meat in Japanese markets as â€Å"whale meat† is dubious and shows how corrupt this government really is. It seems as though not even the Japanese government knows the actual reason why these kinds of operations are carried out. Children throughout the school systems of Japan were being poisoned with mercury by school lunchmeat on a daily basis until 2005 when two schoolteachers realized what was going on behind the scenes and acted to remove the â€Å"whale meat† school menus. This meat was essentially being given out to public schools free of charge as a form of propaganda by the Japanese government. More of the Japanese people are being made aware of this situation every day. However, the profit made on each hunt is only about 50% of how many animals they pull in. The tumultuous behavior of the Japanese government only produces further questions on the situation. The Japanese fishermen and their supporters have exercised unorthodox methods of hiding their operations since the IWC banned commercial whaling in 1986. In the past 25 years there have been many unimaginably horrific events that have taken place around Japanese waters. This was exactly the case with Jane Tipson, a British dolphin activist. According to Michael Horsnell of CDNN (UK) in 2003, while involved in a midnight operation to free some of the bottlenose dolphins being held captive overnight in one of the Taiji coves, a Japanese fisherman shot Tipson in the neck, killing her instantly. This was reportedly the 22nd killing associated with the Taiji coves. Instead of attempting to refine the laws in Japan in regards to dolphin hunting, the Japanese government is shielding their actions, which is only creating more, exponentially severe problems. Even though the culprits in this situation are the Japanese government along with the fishermen in the coves, it is only fair to assess the situation from the perspective of the dolphins as well. Dolphins have evolved to be some of the most social and self-aware creatures on the planet. The fact that the Japanese hunt these creatures is cruel and outrageous. They are one of the only mammal species in the world that can comprehend language to the extent that humans do. Richard Connor, professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth states, â€Å"Males mediate alliance relationships with gentle contact behaviors such as petting, but synchrony also plays an important role in facilitative interactions† (587-602). Denise Herzing, Professor of Biological and Psychological Sciences at Florida Atlantic University, claims that dolphins also crave social interaction with mammals of other species, not only between social clicks. Herzing states, â€Å"To engage humans in interaction, the dolphins often initiate spontaneous displays, mimicry, imitation, and ynchrony† (1452). These instances relate to how dolphins not only have their own distinctly unique language, but how interactions between other mammal species are an important aspect to consider when discussing the social competence of dolphins. These creatures have proven to be excessively intelligent and possess the ability to interact with humans on many levels. Committing mass murder of dolphins in the secretive Taiji coves seems outrageously similar to The Final Solution exhibited by Hitler during the beginning of World War II. The Japanese have no intentions of stopping until all of the dolphins in Japan are gone. With time, these types of hidden and illegal operations always meet their downfall. According to Tadamichi Morisaka, a dolphin psychologist at Kyoto University in Japan, â€Å"No comparative cognitive studies of dolphins were conducted in Japan until the mid-1990s, but several pioneering works on dolphin comparative brain studies in Japan had already implied the higher cognitive ability of dolphins by the 1940s† (168-176). Data has shown that dolphins have possessed a higher cognitive ability since the 1940s. With this type of information being known for 70+ years, one would assume that further, more extensive research would be conducted on such an amazing creature. However, the Japanese continue their daily slaughter of these intelligent creatures solely for financial profit without concern for the potential scientific benefits. The Japanese government and fishing committees have been attempting to explain their actions since the beginning of this crisis. Their argument is that the traditions of their culture outweigh what PETA or any other American-based animal rights organization believes. They simply will not stop their thousand-year-old traditions for what a few Americans believe is morally wrong. There is obviously a larger, more significant point of debate that lies beneath these ethical quarrels between governments. Americans breed their domesticated animals such as chickens, cows, and pigs for purposes of consumption. The Japanese use this argument as a justification for their wrong doings and state that Americans have been committing these same actions for virtually the same length of time. With this in mind, there are also serious considerations made in regards to the number of animals slaughtered for purposes of human consumption. The Japanese have no such system devoted to regulating the number of dolphins remaining off the coast of Taiji or the number of dolphins being killed. The outstanding problem in Taiji is that these dolphins are simply being picked off one-by-one without the Japanese following any regulations set in place by the IWC. The active problem that the Japanese seem to have with the United States is that Americans domesticate all types of animals for purposes of consumption as well as financial gain. The Japanese see this mindset as hypocritical. Chickens, for example, are constantly being mistreated and slaughtered on farms throughout the Southwest in order to feed the families that raise them. The problem with the Japanese using this as a counter argument is that it is completely irrelevant due to the animals’ cognitive intelligence. Beatrix Eklund, professor of Avian Behavioral Genomics and Physiology at Linkoping University in Sweden states, â€Å"Chickens are known to adjust synchronization and inter-individual distances depending on behavior† (251-252). Influence on behavior is essentially the only way that chickens know how to react to the domestication process. The chickens that are domesticated in the United States are simple-minded animals with very limited cognitive abilities and are also copious in numbers, nowhere near endangerment like the dolphins in Taiji. This does not necessarily make it ethically right to slaughter these chickens for human consumption; however, it’s much more acceptable than how the Japanese carry out their dolphin operations simply based on the sheer number of animals available. There are many aspects of the dolphin situation that the Japanese believe are major problems when in reality, these problems are either miniscule or completely fabricated. Either way, these are all excuses formulated by the Japanese to buy themselves more time to make a profit and defend themselves against the inevitable downfall of these operations. In The Cove, animal activist Roger Payne states, â€Å"The Japanese fishermen are being told by their government that the dolphins are eating too much of the ocean’s fish population, therefore they must provide pest control in regards to the situation. An outrageous claim indeed, however, some would argue that these fishermen are being brainwashed by their own government solely for profit, with no regards for dwindling dolphin numbers. The formulation of this claim by the Japanese is not so surprising. They are a culture that is heavily reliant on the fish market and any attribution that threatens the oceans’ fish population will get them heated. Ultimately, they are hurting themselves by over fishing dolphin. The reason this dolphin meat in markets throughout Taiji were not easily detectable is because the process that is utilized to identify these chemicals within the products requires a proper science lab setup along with tremendous amounts of work and testing. The Japanese government simply denied that there was dolphin meat present in the markets knowing that there would be no affirmative action taken against them. There have been many conflicts between Japan and the United States within the past century. The Taiji dolphin situation has ultimately proven to be the most heated in recent years. Japan has become the pinnacle of dolphin slaughter and trade. Nothing that the Japanese government has done in the past 25 years regarding distribution of dolphin meat has been a sincere act of progressiveness. Countless operations have been conducted behind closed doors in the past that were relentless and destructive in nature. It was only until a select few Americans unveiled the truth on this situation that the Japanese public was finally debriefed about their corrupt government. Japanese news teams are now aware of what has been occurring within their towns and are reporting their findings every day. An acceptable ethical reason for slaughtering dolphins is virtually non-existent. The Japanese government continued to deceive its citizens solely for profit. Not only were these actions disguised for 25 years, but they also resulted in an epidemic of mercury and lead poisoning within almost every Japanese family in the Higashimuro district. There is no obvious reason what would cause the Japanese to decide on slaughtering one of the most self-aware, and intelligent mammals on planet Earth. Ultimately, their priority was making a profit on these horrific and deceitful acts they were committing. The only way the Taiji dolphin slaughter can possibly be steered back in the right direction is if the Japanese government bans the sale of all dolphin meat in markets and publicly admits their mistakes. This would not dismiss the government’s past decisions immediately; however, it is an honorable start to a grueling process that must be completed in order for Japan to start fresh. All social change will come from the passion of individuals.