Sherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight

Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a collection of short stories about the lives of the people who live on the Spokane Indian Reservation. The central protagonist of the story is Victor Joseph who we see in many short stories and thus see the plight Native Americans go through in modern day America. The novel shows us the many trials that the people of the Reservation go through and addresses the many serious problems that modern Native Americans face, such as racism, alcoholism, poverty, limited educational opportunities, and being geographical isolated. Ultimately the state of affairs that the modern Native American race goes through stems from the historical events of European colonialism as well as modern day popular culture. One of the major problems that modern Native Americans face are the Americanization or â€Å"white washing† of their culture. This is caused by technology as well as the isolation of the reservation compared to the outside world. â€Å"Still, Indians have a way of surviving. But it’s almost like Indians can easily survive the big stuff. Mass murder, loss of language and land rights. It’s the small things that hurt the most. The white waitress who wouldn’t take an order, Tonto, the Washington Redskin† (The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven E-Book Chapter 5). This passage gives context to the book’s title. Tonto was a character from the very old and popular 1950s radio and television series The Lone Ranger. In fact TontoShow MoreRelatedSherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight1362 Words   |  6 Pagesbelonging to either. The world they were born into had been taken from them and the new, white-washed world wouldn’t h ave them. Even after the removal of such schools, the effect remained. This is true of the Native Americans in Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. These characters have had their sense of self stripped away by invasive white culture. However, by telling stories they are able to slowly reclaim their Indian identity. Stories conjure up memories of the past, butRead MoreAnalysis Of Sherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight 1233 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout â€Å"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven† the theme of resilience is deliberately presented. Native Americans past and present continue to face stifling issues such as racism, alcoholism, isolation and suicide. Sherman Alexie makes it his obligation in his stories and poems to show Native American resiliency through humor. By using his characters to show resiliency through humor Alexie presents humor as an integral part of Native American survival. In Sherman Alexie’s best workRead MoreAnalysis Of Sherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight 932 Words   |  4 PagesThe short story The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven lets us know that Sherman Alexie is a Native American poet, novelist, and performer. Sherman Alexie s key characteristics to his writing are irony and dark humor. Sherman Alexie’s main focus in his writing is his experience as a Native American. â€Å"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven† is a short story that talks about his relationship with a white woman. There is also a lot of contrast between the way Native Americans are seenRead MoreAnalysis Of Sherman Alexie s Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight Heaven 1598 Words   |  7 Pageshas been shown through Sherman Alexie’s Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. In this novel, he attempts to shed light on the struggles Native American people, specifically on the Spokane Reservation, withstand through multiple stories and perspectives. Some novels, if their perspective of truth has not been taken into account, still affect people in their everyday lives, albeit major or minor. While all novels do have lessons, whether they be good or bad,  an author s obligation to tell theRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of Sherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight 1116 Words   |  5 PagesEdwards Newman 10/26/14 Essay 2 ENC 1102 (Green 2) In his stories Sherman Alexie’s humor, portays a role that helps bring people together,Alexie s sophisticated use of humor unsettles conventional ways of thinking and helps brain growth, which allows Indian characters to connect to their heritage in ways and forces non-Indian readers to reconsider their ideas on them. â€Å"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven† by Sherman Alexie is a humorously told, short story detailing the struggle of an AmericanRead MoreAnalysis Of Sherman Alexie s Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight Heaven 1534 Words   |  7 Pagesthis can be shown through Sherman Alexie’s Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. In this novel, he attempts to shed light of the struggles Native American people, specifically on the Spokane Reservation, withstand through multiple stories and perspectives. Some novels, if their perspective of truth is not taken into account, still affect people in their every day lives, albeit major or minor. While all novels do have lessons, whether they be good or bad,  an author s obligation to tell the truthRead MoreAnalysis Of Sherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight 1242 Words   |  5 Pagesone self-identifies. The dominant culture sets the values and expectations of society ideals. When one tries to silently assimi late into the dominant culture without losing their heritage a Hybrid is created. Sherman Alexie’s combination of short stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, highlights the many struggles Native Americans face within their culture while trying to fit into the White culture. The telling of these stories reveals the Hybridity Native Americans have become;Read MoreAnalysis Of Sherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight 2477 Words   |  10 PagesIn Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven(1993), nearly all of the characters suffer from alcoholism. Those who do not drink, cannot escape the external backlash from an alcoholic environment. Through the stories of the characters in the book, both on and off the reservation, the author is able to distinguish arguments for and against the white people on whether or not they are to blame for the problems Native Americans have faced related to alcoholism. The fate ofRead Mo reAnalysis Of Sherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight Heaven 1435 Words   |  6 Pageslegendary warriors of the past. As times change and the days of Indian and cowboy battles are behind us; how is it possible for a warrior to still be relevant in the modern day? Sherman Alexie expresses this idea of a modern-day warrior in his book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Many times, throughout the book Alexie brings up the idea of warriors and uses their actions to portray them to seem noble. Multiple characters in the book want to change their current outlook on life and breakRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of Sherman Alexie s The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight Heaven 1448 Words   |  6 PagesHumor: Sherman Alexie’s Comic Connections and Disconnections in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,† the author Joseph L. Coulombe, writes about the humor used in Sherman Alexie’s short stories. Coulombe argues that in Sherman Alexieâ⠂¬â„¢s stories that humor is essential for character development and the creation of bonds between these characters. He often makes statements discussing how humor allows Alexie’s characters to show strength and connect to their Indian heritage. â€Å"The Lone Ranger

Luminiferous by High On Fire free essay sample

High On Fire is a sludge or stoner metal band that have formed around the early 2000s. Considering their popularity, they are one of the most respected bands in the metal community with many of their fans seeing as if they have made little to no mistakes in their music and yes, if they have a problem with one thing, its making a bad song or album by any means. But that just leaves for some extra enjoyment for the rest of us. Luminiferous includes a slight change when compared to some of their previous works which is speed. Dont worry however because you can still make sludgy styled thrash metal because youre High On Fire for one, and two because you can basically use some magic voodoo trickery of layering your guitar and bass recordings, and downtuning the heck out of it. With such a beefy sound, its kind of hard not to like this band truthfully. We will write a custom essay sample on Luminiferous by High On Fire or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The inclusion of 10 tracks adding up to about 54 minutes in length means that it has a good amount of time for something special, and they save all the sludge for the end tracks like The Cave and Luminiferous. Not to say the more thrashy songs like Slave The Hive, The Falconist, and Carcosa arent bad, far from that. In fact, I almost guarantee youll like both sides of this album whether or not youre familiar with the thrash/sludge part in the first half. There could be some flaws, there are some small ones actually, but theyre so small its hard to really pinpoint from here. I guess one of them is the transition between the first two tracks, Im almost certain Carcosa starts out the same as the first one, which ultimately confuses me. The writing for these tracks are great, its heavy, its sludgy and hey, most people are high up on this on and for good reason too. I really wasnt hoping it would be as good as it actually is. I give this a 9.5/10. I am the Grim Reaper, signing off.

Todays Male Essays - Gender, Gender Role, Gender Inequality

Today's Male Introduction: Socialization For the most part, societies (a group of people which have common traditions, interests and institutions) have a large impact on the development of gender. Children grow up to learn from their parents, their neighbor, the baker down the road and it is this understanding of the world which constructs their lives. There is socialization in general (the learning that neophytes do in order to become functioning members of society), and [there is] gender socialization in particular (the processes through which people learn to be feminine and masculine) (Mackie, 1987:74). This research paper will deal with men in three fundamental areas of their lives: work, intimate relationships and family. To do this, the paper will only deal with men who have gone through socialization in general and who are in the changing process of gender socialization. An infant or child has a crucial need for experience with other human beings for its survival as a physical being and its development as a social being (Mackie, 1987:77). In most societies, for the large part, males have grown up learning or expected to be a dominant figure, one with the power and independence (Doyle, 1989:108). In today's modern society, males are not only affected by family, friends or neighbors; they are now heavily influenced by other mediums, such as, TV, music, movies, sports, books (fairy tales), and magazines. These are but a few influences which help shape the modern male. Men in the Workplace: Work occupies on average 40 hours a week, it therefore plays a considerably large role in peoples' lives. The Feminist movement showed, along with other issues, that it was the environment and structure of the workplace, which affected society a great deal. The Feminist movement highlighted the harsh reality of gender inequality in our society. Consequently, there seems to be an overwhelming consensus that males dominate, and have always dominated in the workplace. The reason for this unbalanced structure, as James Doyle suggests, seems to have validity when one looks at male's extreme sense of competitiveness. Competition and winning are considered masculine characteristics in our society (Doyle, 1989:168). However, competition allows for only one winner. This competitive spirit forces men to think that everything of value and worth in the world is limited or comes in fixed quantities (Doyle, 1989:169). If men grow up learning that competition and independence (as mentioned earlier) is masculine, then having a job and providing, validates men. Men will compete at all costs to provide the best for his family. Being a good provider stipulates that the more goods a male provides for his family's material well-being, the more successful (that is, masculine) he is (Doyle, 1989:173). Perhaps males assertion of masculinity through their job is a defense, a way of insisting on the exclusion of women to protect specific jobs and more general job skills from increased competition (women) (Nelson & Robinson, 1995:183). Men not only have to compete with other males, but now have to compete with women at the workplace, this in turn applies tremendous pressure on today's male. Because of this pressure, politics, sexuality, family responsibilities, and intimate relationships between the two genders have become more tenuous. Males in Intimate Relationships: Men do not want to lose at their job and they bring this mentality into their intimate relationships. This makes men less likely to express their feelings; he would be weak or unmanly if he did so. If men view themselves as independent, then he is less practised at recognizing others', and consequently his own emotions (Buchbinder, 1987:55). For many men, sex focuses these feelings and becomes the only manner of expressing them (Buchbinder, 1987:55). Relationships today are demanding, they are to be equal in all aspects; men are asked to be more expressive, have more involvement in childcare (as we will see later), and equality in domestic work (Buchbinder, 1987:60). In fact, husbands generally have more power and influence in a marriage than wives do (Doyle, 1989:246). Although men have more power, many men feel compelled to 'bad mouth' marriage, often with fellow married friends (Doyle, 1989:248). Despite this apparent inconsistency, men seem to benefit from relationships more than do women (Doyle, 1989:248). According to Doyle, there are several benefits from

3 Easy Ways to Write More Concisely

3 Easy Ways to Write More Concisely 3 Easy Ways to Write More Concisely 3 Easy Ways to Write More Concisely By Mark Nichol Writers can employ various categorical strategies to make their writing more active and concise. Here are three simple types of unnecessary wording to keep in mind (and out of one’s writing). 1. Extinguish Expletives An expletive is an indirect phrase that only delays a reader’s acquaintance with the writer’s point. Expletives include â€Å"There is,† â€Å"there are,† â€Å"there was,† and â€Å"there were,† as well as any of these phrases with it substituting for there. It is not necessary to always delete expletives, as the current sentence demonstrates, but they should be employed judiciously. In most cases, simply sweep the expletive away and begin with a subject, as in revision of â€Å"There are other steps a company can take before an economic downturn to protect against its impact† to â€Å"A company can take other steps before an economic downturn to protect against its impact.† 2. Adjust Adjectives to Adverbs Business-speak, when rendered as text, is often notoriously stilted and verbose. One class of wordy wording often found in business writing is represented by such adjective-noun phrases as â€Å"on a daily basis,† which is easily replaced by the adverbial form of the adjective (which in this case is identical: daily). Regarding similar usage, â€Å"This issue will be resolved on a case-by-case basis† is easily converted to â€Å"This issue will be resolved case by case.† (Again, the replacement is identical, though the hyphens are now superfluous.) Sometimes, the writer must replace the adjective, as in the case of timely, which is seldom used as an adverb and does not stand as such on its own: To render â€Å"in a timely manner† more concise, for example, simply substitute promptly. 3. Avoid Adjectives Some adjectives and adverbs themselves are extraneous. Such qualifiers as currently and different almost never contribute to comprehension. For example, in â€Å"We are currently accepting applications,† the verb are clearly represents that acceptance of application is a current state, meaning that currently serves no useful purpose, and â€Å"These shirts come in seven different colors† provides no more information than â€Å"These shirts come in seven colors,† and different can therefore be omitted without negative consequences. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Bare or Bear With Me?Italicizing Foreign WordsPhrasal Verbs and Phrasal Nouns

Airplanes Designs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Airplanes Designs - Essay Example However, the major concern of the aircrafts that were designed in the early 20th century, starting with the breakthrough that was made by the Wright brothers who developed the first full operational aircraft in 1903, was to develop an aircraft that was lighter than air (Anderson, 12). Therefore, the ancient designs focused on making lighter aircrafts, and therefore entailed the changes in the materials used to make the aircrafts. Further, the aircraft design influences the performance of the aircrafts by further introducing new performance requirements, especially during the first world war, when it became apparent that there was no way the war could have been won without air combat. As a result, the war crafts were designed to consist greater maneuverability, coupled with high speed and ability to fly high altitudes (Stokes, 147). Later, the design influenced the size of aircrafts, towards making large aircrafts to fly, while also allowing heavy loads to be flown in their air, witho ut the impact of the weight of the aircraft brining the air craft down (Wragg, 31). Thus, simply put, the design of the aircraft affect the performance of the airplane through determining the speed, maneuverability, load and weight capacity, usage for example in wars and he safety of the aircraft while taking off, flying and landing. How designs changed over the time The ancient Airplane Designs entailed the use of twin tractor propellers as their engine, and a fitted horizontal tail, while the aircraft was powered by compressed air, with the aircraft being fitted with an air tank that acted as a fuselage (Anderson, 7). This was later advanced to a single flight engine that was developed by the Wright brothers for their aircraft, which was fitted with 2 hp water-cooled four-cylinder, with a fuel injection (Wragg, 56). Further, in 1926, more advancement was made in the engine modification and an air-cooled radial engine, which was lighter, was introduced, marking the beginning of tra nsformation of the Airplanes Designs from engine-focused into size modification, considering that the lighter, air-cooled radial engine made it possible for the aircrafts to fly for longer and carry more weight (Stokes, 153). The Airplanes engine designs advancement was further achieved courtesy of a V-8 engine that was an improvement on the previous four-cylinder engine, which then introduced the aspect of direct fuel injection in aircraft engines, as well as the evaporative water cooling concept that allowed the water cooling the engine to evaporate, thus making the aircrafts even lighter, making it possible for the engine to generate a high power of 50 hp (Anderson, 44). The advancement in the Airplane Design saw the rise of the 3-cylinder semi radial fan-engine, which forthwith introduced the concept of aircraft engine using a fan, as opposed to the previous cooling of the engine using water, in 1909 (Wragg, 51). Consequently, it was now possible to fly an aircraft that was much heavier than the air, and the design aspect of the aircraft changed focus from the engine to the body of the aircrafts, with the transformation of the wings to make them thinner and more efficient, while the safety concerns were further addressed through interior designs that incorporated seat designs that were able to remain in place

Strategic Management Plan for Sear's Holding Company Term Paper

Strategic Management Plan for Sear's Holding Company - Term Paper Example Sears Roebuck & Company was planned to enter into a merger with Kmart by Edward Lampert who worked as a hedge-fund manager. The merger was initiated with the aim to intensify the existence of Sears and create Sears Holding Corporation. However, the financial position of Sears Holding Corporation seemed to be worsening post merger along with a drop in their share prices. The company was learnt to be over burdened with debt. A drop was also experienced in the volume of sales of the company. Owing to all these reasons, the company was facing a huge dip in its share prices. To add more, the adjusted earnings of the company were predicted to drop considerably along with a cash crisis. The company had also failed to make payments for its respective credit lines (Laing, 2011). The waning sales, over expending on restructuring the stores, poor merchandising and unwise micromanaging was suffered by the company due to which the share price of the company was estimated to witness a decline by around 50%. As per the Fitch ratings, the company was ranked in the junk territory in terms of its debt. Furthermore, the liquidity of the company was expected to remain insufficient in the year 2012, in case the company fails to exploit the markets for fresh cash. On the other hand, the company was stated to hold a considerable share of inventory along with a significant portfolio of the possessed real estate which ranged from $8 billion to $10 billion. However, the worth of the real estate which was chiefly situated at the Borders was required to be ascertained. Therefore, with the aim to avoid such insufficiency of funds, the company is required to set an appropriate strategic management plan which would assist the company to a significant extent to overcome its seriou s financial crunch by bringing in fresh funds (Laing, 2011). The fresh strategic management plan for the company should entail few considerable alterations in its stores by getting rid of the entire soft-line inventories for the reason of enhancing the sales. The soft-line inventories would entail the poorly performing shoes, jewelry and apparel which have been believed and observed to lack the ability of appealing to the customers in the arena of soft-lines. Hence, it is required for the company to amalgamate few of the outstanding part of the inventory with the offerings of Kmart (Albrecht, Brainard, Fadgen, Jackson & Sengbusch, 2009). The company should also focus on expanding few of its product lines such as the kitchen appliances and dining furnitures. The company should also undertake necessary steps to intensify the advertising activities related to the electronic products that are offered. The mentioned alterations along with the additions would prove to be sufficient to rep lace the soft-lines products to a significant extent. The company should also try and shift its concentration on catalogue & internet retail, automotive repair, consumer appliances as well as electronics retail and supply of building material in order to diversify and attain competitive advantage. In order to strengthen the defensive walls of the company, it needs to consider the options of entering into a few selected partnerships with certain companies, particularly in the field of automotive care (Albrecht, Brainard, Fadgen, Jackson & Sengbusch, 2009). To augment the demand of the amended platform or array of products as well as services, the company requires shifting its degree of emphasis to the adults of the middle class varying from 25 years to 64 years as this particular age group is considered to hold the

Factors Involved in the Tanker Contract Essay Example for Free

Factors Involved in the Tanker Contract Essay Issues that relate to security are of key concern to all nations (Meyer, 2007). The national security and internal defense are some of the sectors that are allocated lump sums of resources in the budgetary allocation (Meyer, 2007). Such allocations are in line with the perceived importance that the area of defense has. The united states as a country is no stranger to conflict and is one of the country that has been involved in external conflict for long periods of time both in the 20th and 21st century (Meyer, 2007). The politics involved in the security are some of the most interesting and widely covered happenings in the US press. Financial power is seen to go in line with military power in that countries that have the financial ability tend to develop their military capabilities and the same can be said of countries that have military abilities. National security is an area of key concern and therefore there is lots of secrecy involved in its dealings (Meyer, 2007). The nature of the deals often require utmost confidentiality from the parties involved and therefore many transactions happen in well defined and approved channels. The military association are developed with time and may be extended to association in other areas since its better to develop good relations with persons with security details that could be detrimental to the country if leaked (Meyer, 2007). The military world has been developing with technological improvements and the military equipments currently being used are characterized by more accuracy and considerable throughput (Verkuil, 2007). These two factors are but a few of the considerations in choosing a partner or a contractor that will help in developing certain aspects of the security system (Verkuil, 2007). It therefore does not come as a surprise that military procurement procedures and processes have considerable controversy since people have varied views on efficiency and security implications (Verkuil, 2007). This research paper analyses the issues involved in the airforce contract tender to build tankers between Boeing and Northrop Grumman with the aim of highlighting key issues involved in addressing security critical details. Background Boeing KC-767 is one of the military aerial refueling strategy that had been developed by Boeing 767-200 (CBS News, 2008). The tanker was designated KC-767 after it was selected by the US airforce to replace the KC-135s. However, in December of 2003, the contract was frozen after corruption allegation on the bidding process were forwarded. The development of the project is said to have cost Boeing over $ 1 Billion as the project was based on the assumption that the US airforce will be the chief consumer. Ever since the freezing of the project the Italian and the Chinese government have each ordered a number of these tankers. To address the KC-X competition the Boeing offered the 7627-200 Long range freighter which is based on the KC-767 (Online News Hour, 2008). However, the Department of defense selected KC-30 which was developed by Northrop Grumman (CBS News, 2008). The Boeing company on the 11th March 2008 submitted a protest on the decisions made by the airforce, the United States accountability office upheld their protests and in so doing the status of the KC-45A was placed in doubt and therefore the Boeing company was again in position to bid for the contract (CBS News, 2008). This was no to be since the US government in September 2008 terminated all bids on the KC-X (CBS News, 2008). In March 2002, the US airforce selected Boeings KC-767 on the grounds that it had clearly demonstrated the abilities to meet their requirements. The United States Airforce (USAF) in their acceptance statement brought out four points that they cited as being behind their decision (CBS News, 2008). The Boeings design was designated KC-767A and was included in DODs 2004 model designation report. Approximately 100 KC-767 tankers were leased from Boeing for the air refueling program. Even though the refueling program was in place in many countries in the US, many had questions about its effectiveness and cost implications especially the idea of leasing crafts which may never have any buyer once the lease period was over. This argument brought forward by senator McCain was however countered by the number of US allies who were more than willing to buy their used crafts (CBS News, 2008). The congressional budget office was next in line as they criticized the budget stressing on its fiscal irresponsibility (United States Government Accountability Office, 2008). This led to the striking of a deal where the state would buy 80 KC-767 and lease twenty (United States Government Accountability Office, 2008). However, in December of 2003, the pentagon announced that the project had to be frozen due to a corruption allegation brought against one of its former staffer (CBS News, 2008). Furthermore, documentations that proved that the A330 based tankers were more suited to the task specifications of the airforce were more cost effective relative to Boeing tankers were found (CBS News, 2008). The scandal led to the sentencing of the culprit who pleaded guilty to corruptions and led to the resignation of Boeings CEO. Donald Rumsfeld in 2006 announced the cancellation of the KC-767A leases as a measure aimed at cutting the costs and a redefinition of the USAF mission (United States Government Accountability Office, 2008). The defense secretary further stated that the move will not in any way affects the mission of the KC-767A as the upgrade of the KC-135s fleets will help in moving towards the goals (United States Government Accountability Office, 2008). However, the development did no affect the relationships between Boeing and its other customers. The development were however short lived and Boeing and Northrop were soon back in the ring fighting for a big defense contract. The basis of Boeings arguments was that the KC-30 was more versatile and had a large furl capacity than the KC-135 that were being used by the airforce. The KC-135 was developed by Boeing who were bidding for an airforce contract against their nemesis Northrop Grumman . The latter won this round of battle as the departments of defense announced that it has won the tender to procure 179 new KC-45A tankers (Online News Hour, 2008). The Boeing company almost immediately took to the Government Accountability Office and filed a protests claiming the evaluation of its KC-30 was unfair (Online News Hour, 2008). Boeing further claimed that its refueling tanker could easily be reconverted to a passenger plane compared to Northrops version as shown in the Air forces post decision briefing. According to Boeings vice president they had more strengths than their competitors was all he heard from the post decision briefing. Boeings protests led to a review of the selection process by the accountability office which forced Northrop to freeze the project which it had already allocated $ 35 billion (Online News Hour, 2008). Northrop Grumman executives are on the other hand highlighting the irresponsibility involved in freezing a critical project to the development of the military for expensive lobbying in the congress that will inevitably lead to a change of the decisions made by the airforce (Online News Hour, 2008). Northrop Grumman executives further claim the decision is ironic since they put their best efforts in ensuring that the airforce receives a products that they consider the best in consideration of the design (Online News Hour, 2008). They are pushing for the public knowledge of the facts of what they represents and what they are not. The congress was divided sharply on this issue and so was the general public. Boeing supporters claim that the Northrop Grumman design was a basic passenger airbus plane (Online News Hour, 2008). A Kansas congress man was cited claiming that the decisions made by the airforce was a bad one as the airforce as it has bend backwards to deal with a French company (Online News Hour, 2008). Boeings die hards near its main production facility claimed that it is the only true tanker manufacturers and a mistake had been made (Online News Hour, 2008). A Washington senator supported this point of view and claimed that offering a military contract to a foreign company was suicidal and would incapacitate Americas ability to develop their own fleet if they should ever pull out of the deal (Online News Hour, 2008). An Alabama state senators is of a different view and approached the subject from a resource allocations view point (Online News Hour, 2008). People near Northrop are bound to benefit more that those near the Boeing plants and therefore there senators have opinions that display their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the resource allocations (Online News Hour, 2008). She further states that there have to be losers and winner either way (Online News Hour, 2008). The Boeing group further accuse the airforce of a change in parameter in order to accommodate the design put up by Northrop Grumman so as to ensure two bidders are present (Online News Hour, 2008). Even though many are of the view that the airforce was trying to lock out Boeing due to the scandals it previously had, Boeing executives were of the view that was not the case as the specifications that were asked by the airforce were changed considerably to ensure Northrop was in the race (Online News Hour, 2008). They further claim that the large sized tanker proposed by the Northrop was a liability and only countries not interested in their taxi ways would allow for such aircrafts. The Northrop group however counter this argument by stating that their design is more sophisticated and has advantages that are yet to be seen (Online News Hour, 2008). Issues Boeing is one of the worlds best known manufactures of aircrafts and so is Northrop Grumman who are the manufacturers of the airbus (Online News Hour, 2008). These are two top brands who are obviously competing in other areas of business and therefore any decision that involve them is bound to raise considerable heat. It should b noted that both are American companies though Northrop Grumman is partly owned by a French company. The nature of the contract which involves the security of America as a nation is a matter of national concern as it involves the development of structures that could ensure the growth of security systems. Boeing and Grumman being business structures, such a big contract will obviously attract the interest of stakeholders from both sides. There are a number of key issues that have been brought out by the airforce contracts which include: i. Politics Military contracts are a matter of public concern since it is in place to protect the public, the resources used in the military contracts are derived from taxpayers and therefore the failure of such projects will be a waste of taxpayers money (Meyer, 2007). When McCain questioned the cost effectiveness in leasing planes that would otherwise have no values when their lease period was over his motive as the senator of Alabama was to ensure that the taxpayers money is channeled to useful projects. Furthermore, it is quite clear that the politicians have the ability to shoot down potentially useful deals due to what Northrop Grumman executives refer to as expensive lobbying. Politics is not always objective for there are situations where the stakes involved are shielded from the public and though the politics and viewpoints will be developed to suit the public, the real reasons are often personal (Meyer, 2007). The inclusion of politics in such cases therefore has both advantages and disadvantages and should be weighed carefully. Military procurement just like any other public procurement scheme is prone to corruption, this was the case in the original contract that was brought to an end by Rumsfeld in 2006. Moreover, the big money involved in military procurement processes act as a natural catalysts for corruption, therefore there is need to come up with a robust self regulated systems that will ensure that such unethical practices are not in anyway included in the procurement process, the congress thus comes into the picture (Meyer, 2007). However, the political system is not known for its objectivity. In the cases, some of the reasons brought out against Northrop Grumman are flimsy and lack in objectivity. The fact that there will be lobbying is a clear sign that there will be loss in objectivity thus the decision will tend to favor groups that are be able to garner enough political support in the congress. Furthermore, the political system is one of the most corrupt system there is and the rationale in placing such a system to guard against corruption is questionable. ii. Security Military procurement is a security critical matter (Meyer, 2007). The military is in place to ensure that the US is protected against its external enemies (Meyer, 2007). The seriousness with which the equipment tendering process is treated and the keen eye that the media watches the unfolding of such events relay the importance placed on the military by the American people. The US is traditionally a fighting nation and the effectiveness of its military and equipments is one of the factors that has cemented its place as a world power. Military activities require high levels of secrecy (Meyer, 2007). There is need to come up with effective equipments that can be used in varied situations. It should be noted that the arguments brought forward by the executives from both sides are centered around the superiority of their products or the weaknesses of their opposite. The need for accuracy and well developed products that have the required reputation are some of the considerations that led to the two big companies making it to the final stage. The two companies are multinationals that have developed their brands all over the globe. It is noteworthy that when the US defense secretary cancels Boeings leases other nations still seek their products and are continues seeking the products that have been labeled cost ineffective due to the reputation associated with their brand name. The importance of the security system is seen in the number of avenues and legislative systems that have been put in place to ensure that the process is done in a just manner (Krishnan, 2008). When the airforce declares that Northrop Grumman had won the bid for the airforce tankers, Boeing seeks redress through a different avenue: Public accountability office. The office looks at their complaints and decides to freeze the process. It should be noted that it was the same office that had early in the decades frozen a billion dollar Boeing contract due to corruption charges. Even though there are systems put in place to ensure proper procedures in procurement of services and services, they can be outdone easily (Krishnan, 2008). The corruption allegations made in the initial Boeing contracts are a clear case where the protocols were overridden and it only came to realization a couple of months after the contracts had been signed. Furthermore, the fact that is was later found out that a different design could meet the specifications made by the airforce with reduced costs clearly show that even though the guidelines are put in place they are rarely followed thus the need for a system or authority that will follow up on the recommendations and processes to ensure that they conform to the laid out guidelines. Some politicians have argued that the French affiliation of the airbus manufacturer is in itself a security risk and therefore a purely American company should be contracted. However, such a contracting systems will obviously lock out other capable companies and therefore bring about questions on the integrity of the bidding process. America has prided itself as being a liberalized nation, putting up measures that will lock out other qualified members on the basis of the compositions of its investors is contrary to the spirit of liberalization. Furthermore, being involved with a company that has partnered with a success story in Europe shields the tanker project from American economic downtimes though it effectively ensures that the project is affected by the happening in Europe. It is unrealistic to lobby for Boeing on the basis of confidentiality; a company that has already shown traces of corruption cannot be trusted and neither can a company that is yet to prove its worth in the military sector. Therefore, system should be put in place to ensure that the projects are monitored and compared to some given standards if either is to be awarded the contract. iii. Stability The US is the father of capitalism and is therefore a country that is characterized by intense competition between industry players who will always be on the look for additional finances that will ensure their development into the future (Verkuil, 2007). On the day it was reported that Northrop Grumman had won the military contracts its share prices rose by over 20 cents and Boeings shares fell by a couple of cents (CBS News, 2008). Note, the development in the contract procurement were being watched by investors who will then make their decisions on which company to invest in. Even though the large money involved in the transactions may be enough to lure investors into channeling their resources to a particular company, the reputation involved in being a company contracted with one of the worlds best airforce to develop its aircraft tankers is enough to cause significant changes in the companys share index. Being a capitalistic economy where entities gain at the expense of others, Boeing is bound to feel the pinch. The situation is made worse by the consideration that Boeing has a well developed reputation and therefore failure to win a contract from a partner that it has associated with for a long time may be taken by the investors and its consumers in the wrong light. It may imply that the partner does not trust its capacity to develop superiors products or has doubts on its potential to remain productive. To bring the idea of reputation into perspective, many are of the notion that the corruptions charges brought against Boeing may have affected its chances of successfully bidding for the contract (Verkuil, 2007). This holds considerable weight in that the military is not all about facilities but also reputation. The American people and its enemies will always keep a keen eye on the military and any transactions conducted with a partner who is proved to be corrupt will dent on its integrity thus its reputation. Conclusion Awarding a contract to a company to deliver services that are of public interest is a complex process and will always involve the media and many other systems that have been put in place to ensure the safety of the public. Individual good and interest will always be central in the arguments brought forward by most people, this is more pronounced if the contract will significantly affect many people. It is therefore upon the government and the social systems to ensure that the systems put in place to ensure effectiveness of the bidding process are functioning properly and are robust enough to deal with the dynamism associated with such processes. If need be, changes must be instituted to ensure that the system are functioning. The products delivered must measure up to some predetermined standards to ensure quality and accountability. These measures and other quality management measures if well integrated into the bidding and implementation of contracts that are of public interest will ensure that the public benefits in the best possible way. Word Count: 3271 Reference List CBS News (2008). Boeing Spurned On Huge Air Force Contract. Retrieved 13 October 2008 from http://www. cbsnews. com/stories/2008/02/29/business/main3894669. shtml? source=RSSattr=Business_3894669 Krishnan, A. (2008). War as Business: Technological Change and Military Service Contracting. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Meyer, J. (2007). Working in a War Zone: Military Contractors. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group. Online News Hour (2008). Boeing, Northrop Grumman Clash Over Tanker Contract. Retrieved 13 October 2008 from http://www. pbs. org/newshour/bb/military/jan-june08/tanker_05-06. html. United States Government Accountability Office (2008). Statement Regarding the Bid Protest Decision Resolving the Aerial Refueling Tanker Protest by The Boeing Company. Retrieved 13 October 2008 from http://www. governmentexecutive. com/pdfs/061808cd1. pdf Verkuil, R. (2007). Outsourcing Sovereignty: Why Privatization of Government Functions Threatens Democracy and what We Can Do about it. New York: Cambridge University Press.