Thursday, November 28, 2019

Hitler and the Failed Beer putches Essay Example

Hitler and the Failed Beer putches Essay With the failure of the Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler quickly realized, that in order to obtain complete political power, he needed to work peacefully within the Weimar Republic. The Sturmabteilung was a critical part of his path towards power, but once Hitler became dictator with German support, the S.A. was no longer served any purpose in the new fascist government.The success of the revolution, domestic control, and the one political party policy in Hitlers Fascist dictatorship, were all factors that lead to the elimination of the Sturmabteilung. The soldiers of the S.A. were a major factor in the success of the National Socialist Revolution. Despite Hitlers assurance that the S.A. would not compete with the Reichswehr Army of the Weimar Republic in Document A1, the rapid rise in Brownshirts and the enormous size of the S.A. Army compared to the Reichswehr Army, displayed in Document A2, signified the strength of the National Socialist Revolution. In Document A4 Hitler assured that th e single task of the S.A. was to assure the victory of the National Socialist Revolution within Germany. However, Hitlers gratitude towards Roehm is a result of Roehms ability to increase Hitlers power. Once Hitler became Chancellor, the importance of the S.A. diminished. In Document B4, General von Blomberg assured that the Reichswehr Army would back the new national socialists state. With the support of the Reichswehr Army, it was no longer necessary to have a separated S.A. Army. As Chancellor, Hitler slowly integrated the two armies by stressing the importance of loyalty by placing the swastika on the uniforms of the Reichwehr Army, and allowing the minister of war to call upon the S.A., as shown in Documents B1 and B2. Hitler, realizing he was close to obtaining absolute power, began to consolidate various opposing parties, such as Bolshevik Communists and Liberal Capitalists. Although the S.A. was in no way an opposition to Hitler, it was

Sunday, November 24, 2019

The Accounting Scandal at WorldCom Essays

The Accounting Scandal at WorldCom Essays The Accounting Scandal at WorldCom Paper The Accounting Scandal at WorldCom Paper WorldCom is a telecommunication company that evolves from a merger between Long Distance Discount Services, Inc (LDDS) and Advantage Companies in August 1989. Eight years later in 1997, WorldCom announced another multi-billion merger with MCI Communications that was worth US$37 billion. The mega merger became the largest merger in terms of value in the 20th century. Unfortunately, after the acquisition of MCI, telecommunication industry experienced a downturn that forced telecommunication companies to restructure their finance. The situation also occurred at WorldCom in which in 2000, the company’s stock was plummeting and Ebbers as the corporate CEO had responsibility to cover this WorldCom stock margin calls that used to finance other’s Ebbers business. To overcome this problem, Ebbers forced WorldCom’s Board of Directors to give corporate loans that accounted for $400 millions to cover the margin calls that emerge, but this effort has failed. To hide this failed financial condition, Buford Yates as Director of General Accounting under direction of Scott Sullivan as CFO used insincere accounting method by create bogus financial records and profitability to increase the value of WorldCom’s stock. This evil action commenced in 1999 and run until May 2002. Scandal at WorldCom 2. 1. Facts According to several articles discussing the WorldCom scandal, we find that this fraudulent happened due to support from the corporate managements. There are many underlying facts behind the scandals as following (‘How Did’, 2002): WorldCom executives committed accounting fraud that pushed the company to be the largest bankruptcy in the US. The insincerity was hidden from stakeholders and public but disclosed in 2002 Several employments show evidences like hiding bad debt and understating costs that proven the insincerity discovered as early as 2001; however, WorldCom’s Board of Directors did not pay attention to this claim. In June 2001, there were stakeholders that do prosecution against WorldCom but it was elapsing due to lack of evidences. II. 2. Ethical Guidelines WorldCom scandal represents the biggest mistake in American business. WorldCom was proven to violate many ethical guidelines by committing insincerity in providing financial figures to stakeholders and public; some of the violation are as following: Customer commitment Ought to be a big company, WorldCom must hold the trust given by customers by delivering good services. However, customers’ trusts were violated for personal business. Stakeholders’ commitment Public commitment As a public company, WorldCom have responsibility to public to provide true corporate figures. After WorldCom Bankruptcy, stakeholders and investors had low confidence towards financial statement of corporations that caused the slow growth of stock markets. II. 3. Who Was Affected? The bankruptcy of WorldCom presents a domino effect in all of sector, especially at stocks market and telecommunication services. When WorldCom announced their bankruptcy, share price of Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Vodafone, Alcatel and other telecommunication companies experienced a significant downturn. For example, share price of Nokia experienced five-percent decline, Sony Ericsson descended nine percent, and Vodafone descended 17 percent. Meanwhile, Alcatel experienced heaviest blow by descending 17 percent momentary gratuities after announcing of expense amputation meaning employees reduction . II. 4. Avoidance and Preventions in Future Most of accounting scandals involve insiders (85% of scandals). Another 55% of accounting scandals also involve high-level managements and company’s executives. All insincerity will generate bad impact for company and company stakeholders. Therefore, it requires some prevention action so that a coming fraudulent can be avoided. There are some ways to avoid the fraud in a company: (Waymark, 2006) Observe the financial accounting One of important matters is to give more attention to company financial reports. A research finds that companies focus more on asset misappropriations and computer crimes (63%) while deception of financial accounting only 21%. Observing the executives Second way is to observe all company’s executive in the moment of company merger, after promotion, and new market extension. This is because all executives have work and serve company in a long time. However, if we consider facts and results of fraud, we find that executives conduct a lot of fraud in a company. Reference: ‘How Did WorldCom Go Bankrupt? ’ 2002. Retrieved June 19, 2007 from www. securitiesfraudfyi. com/ ‘Is the backbone broken? ’ 2002. Retrieved June 19, 2007 from http://money. cnn. com/ Midleton, James. 2002. ‘WorldCom domino effect begins’ Retrieved June 19, 2007 from vnunet. com/vnunet/news/2119227/worldcom-domino-effect-begins Waymark, Stuart. 2006. ‘Preventing Corporate Fraud: Know and avoid the myths’. Retrieved June 19, 2007 from http://int. sitestat. com/ernst-and-young/south-africa/s? South_Africa_Home. Media. 2006_Press_Releases. 14_Aug_06_Preventing_Corporate_Fraud

Thursday, November 21, 2019

American History 1584-1783 #3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

American History 1584-1783 #3 - Essay Example They shared their goods like clothes, food and other equipments with them. The natives, in return showered them with expensive gifts like gold etc. Later the Spanish, in their quest for wealth and precious metals like gold and silver, tried to isolate the Native Americans from the other European invaders’ influence. In the early 17th century (1607) the British came to North America to have a strong foothold in the region. Jamestown in Virginia became the first place for British settlement followed by colonies in Massachusetts and eastern seaboard in the later part of the century. The initial friendly relationship with the native Indians turned hostile when the settlers started exploiting natives with respect to labor and sea faring activities. Diseases like tuberculosis, diphtheria were brought by the settlers who passed them on to the natives. The natives then refused to work for them. The settlers then brought Africans to work as bonded labors in the plantations and elsewhere, whom, they were freed after several years. Turn of the century saw the raced based slavery becoming a full fledged tradition with Africans and non whites becoming slaves for life. Control over the blacks became the main concern of the white because of the rebellion from the natives. The British Crown delegated the power to the companies who administered in their behalf with rules and regulations. The natives, on the other hand, did not believe in subjugation and rebelled against any revenue imposed by the settlers. French came to America in search of trading avenues and in 1599 the first serious fur trading was established as Tadaussac that grew into the city of Quebec. They had no desire for colonization. They did their trading with the Native Americans as equal. Though French claimed large area in Canada and north America by coming first to Quebec and later expanding from Louisiana in the south to great lakes in the North which included Montreal, Detroit, New Orleans and

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Stock Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Stock Analysis - Research Paper Example Furthermore, advanced approaches include open transaction values or volume in the analysis (Timo, 2009). This approach supports that a commodity’s present price exhibits all related information regarding the commodity comprehensively. Thus, the price stands for the good’s fair worth, and, as a result, is capable of acting as the foundation for analysis and study. This approach exploits all information contained in the price to exhibit market forecasts of its subsequent fluctuation. The Fundamental Evaluation approach This approach refers to a tactic of analyzing securities and commodities with the purpose of trying to determine their intrinsic worth. In doing this, it heavily depends on the thorough scrutiny of inter-related fiscal, economic, and other various quantitative and qualitative aspects (Timo, 2009). This approach supports comprehensive analysis of all features that possess the potential to influence the final commodity’s worth. These aspects include ma croeconomic effects that include the overall fiscal situation of the market, and company-based aspects that include management systems and the company’s present fiscal standing. The main purpose of embarking on this kind of analysis is to offer a certain value to investors, which they can then rely on when comparing the commodity with market climates, and thus determine the move to make. Numerous investors utilize this method, either alone or in combination with other evaluation equipment when analyzing stocks. In this approach, the chief factor is the final earnings from investments. This directly refers to the net profits that a company is raking in, both currently and in the future. When a venture’s profits decrease, the market worth of its stocks tends... This research paper seeks to analyze the stock price fluctuations of a given venture in the previous sixty months in order to find out its actual stock trend from accumulated data. In addition, it concludes the venture’s market breadth for the last year, its 200-day moving average for its stock, index, and all trends of its stock. This is in pursuit of determining its relative strength for the last sixty months, and thus advise on the right move to make regarding the selling or the buying of its stock. The technical evaluation approach comprises of the prospecting of the future fiscal price fluctuations of a business. This approach bases on a comprehensive study of its previous price motions. The Fundamental Evaluation approach refers to a tactic of analyzing securities and commodities with the purpose of trying to determine their intrinsic worth. In doing this, it heavily depends on the thorough scrutiny of inter-related fiscal, economic, and other various aspects. Market Bre adth describes a technical analysis skill that helps in predicting the future course of the general market. It is summed up, that the company’s relative strength is obviously high and very healthy. In addition, its market breadth has managed an upward improvement for the previous sixty months. Technical evaluation exhibits that the company is healthy and market-relevant. To investors, it would be a good idea to buy more stakes in the company as research has concluded that its stocks will continue to gain overall worth.

Monday, November 18, 2019

People Resourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

People Resourcing - Essay Example Planning and better management of human resources is an issue that cannot be ignored in a country’s development strategies. Human resource planning is the critical evaluation as well as identification of labor requirements for planed projects to meet the social and economic targets in the society. The most efficient approach to good human resource planning starts with attaining information on a particular human resource function, the selection or recruitment of workers, training, motivations, work place diversity, and compensations when need rise. Human resource planning is indicated by sufficient man power, comprising of all categories of workers and diverse skill and talents. The workers should be available in specific locations and perform their duties when required. This discourse is about the importance of attaining labor market prevailing conditions before human resource planning. There is need to observe the labor market trends to correct the in balance between its dema nd and supply. Labor market can be categorized as either internal or external. Internal labor market refers to a pool of workers within a certain organization. It could also mean a mechanism through which employees are assigned to certain roles within the organization. The number of employees is determined by the human resource policy put in place like job security, investment levels, sophistication levels in the organization departments, and the business approach adopted. Available internal labor market information can assist the human resource planning team in greater ways (Pilbeam, 2010). Prior to annual recruitments, the company may decide to retain the existing workers and offer trainings to meet the current demands. The retained employees can be motivated further by developments, creation of better employment terms, and salary reviews. This would increase their productivity hence increase turn over to the company. This would be cheaper than hiring new employees who may require time to adjust to the company’s environment and working policies. Classical model of internal labor market is associated with sophisticated and structured pool of workers. Such employees have established experiences and complex technological skills that are ideal to the daily operations of a certain organizations’ department. Such pool of workers have limited interactions with the out side stake holders due to fears that they could be lured to join other organizations at higher salary hence they are motivated by annual incentives, job promotions, and securities so that they stick to their companies. Having full knowledge of such workers is a great deal to the human resource planning team to assist in their retention within the company. Having full knowledge of existing employees may determine who to be out sourced to external companies and generate more income to the company. A company may cut the annual expenses by reducing the existing labor. It will be wise for the human resource planning team to evaluate the existing employees before the retrenchment operations. It would be a great loss to the company to lose a vital team member due lack of internal labor market information. Internal labor market information is much easier and cheaper to be obtained than the external labor pool. External labor market represents the pool of workers available outside (externally) a certain organizations. The type of workers required by a firm is determined by

Friday, November 15, 2019

Consequences of Celebrity Obsession

Consequences of Celebrity Obsession Sewon Chu Celebrity/Media Addiction In this world we live in, there are over seven billion people with many different dreams and ambitions. Some are satisfied with living in a small village with close relationship with just about everyone living in that village. Some are content to live the fast-paced life of the metropolis, where millions of people carry on their daily lives. Then there are some people who seek fame through acting, singing, beauty or their hard work and have their faces all over the media: celebrities. Celebrity is defined as not only those who sing, dance, and act but just famous or well-known person according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary.[1] Celebrities exist in all parts of the globe because they are essential needs to human life called entertainment. Entertainment is a necessity to human life because it brings joy, happiness and different sorts of positive feelings. However, it has expanded from just pure entertainment into something more serious recently. Now, the public is starting to become he avily interested in the daily personal lives of these celebrities because of the media, which has led to many people becoming obsessed with the lives of celebrities. People are obsessed with celebrities now more than ever because the obsession has become an integral part of our daily lives that results from psychological and social reasons. According to the Daily Banter, one of the reasons why people are obsessed with celebrities is because our brains think that the leaders or creative innovators should be respected.[2] Celebrities can become inspirations to the future generations who aim to become acknowledged for their hard work one day in fields that may be very difficult to become successful in. People are able to form a bond in their minds with their favorite public figure through the assimilation of the celebrity’s characteristics and have positive emotions when they think about that celebrity.[3] Granted, some of the actions by celebrities are not the actions leaders or innovators should be doing, such as drug usage, but the public is interested in all aspects of a celebrity’s life because of the media coverage. When a celebrity couple like for an example artists Beyoncà © Knowles and Jay-Z has a child, the news of the birth was all over social networks, newspapers, T.V., and internet news. However , if someone who was just an ordinary couple were to give birth to a child, only their friends and families will know about the good news. As a result, because the celebrity couple will have media exposure of their child’s birth, they are considered â€Å"more special† than the ordinary couple even though they are doing the same thing: giving birth to a child, which leads to other ordinary people to pay attention to the news of the celebrity couple. The fact that media is exposing these news about celebrities makes ordinary people have this notion that the celebrity is special which leads to the feeling of envy and the need to make those celebrities their personal role models. Also, when the media shows the celebrities, the celebrity tends to live the luxurious life. They wear nice and fashionable clothes that are sometimes custom-made, wear exquisite jewelry, drive or hire a driver that drives their exotic cars, drink expensive alcohol. This result in people wanting c elebrities as their role models because with their talent and fortune they were able to make these purchases. Having a celebrity for a role model can be positive because role models help people aspire to become better and grow as a human being. Celebrity admiration can have an influence on other people. For an example, when celebrities donate money to charity and be philanthropic to others or win awards for their hard work, it aspire people to become the same better person. One good example was how many well-known people such as Bill Gates, Whoopi Goldberg, Matt Damon, Will Smith, Kevin Hart, Anne Hathaway and Benedict Cumberbatch took part in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge which served as a cause to raise awareness of Lou Gehrig’s disease. Consequently, this led to many people to participate as well. But certainly celebrity influence can’t only be positive. While the ALS Bucket Challenge may have succeeded in raising awareness to people and it was for a good cause, many people did it without knowing what ALS even is, also they forget the fact that there are parts of the world th at has little to no access to fresh/clean water. So while the ALS Bucket Challenge has raised awareness for a disease, in a sense, it has left people less aware of the water shortage issue in other countries. Also, this shows just how much celebrities can influence ordinary people in a negative way. They forget that they’re wasting water because famous people were doing it which means that in some cases people will be blinded and wouldn’t be able to differentiate whether what their role model celebrity is doing is the right thing or not. For an example, celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus both have a massive fan base. When they were younger than they were now, they had an innocent image as well as their talent that attracted so many fans. However, now that some years have passed since they debuted, it seems as though their image has become rather negative. There are YouTube videos that show Justin Bieber trying to fight a reporter and also he was charged with DUI (driving under the influence) in Florida, and Miley Cyrus has made some controversial music videos and statements. The reason why this is a major problem is that media exposure to these negative characteristics mixed with obsession about these celebrities will make people think that what they are doing is reasonable and in turn, result in people imitating those celebrities. Celebrities have so much influence now that even the governor of California from 2003 to 2011 was none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger[4], who is an immigrant from Austria. Before Schwarzenegger, Ronald Reagan was also a celebrity turned governor, and he went further as to become a U.S. president. The point is not if these two men were the right choice but the point is that it seems as though celebrity influence has a greater power than people realize. Psychologist James Houran has conducted a survey of more than 600 people and has discovered a psychiatric condition: celebrity worship syndrome.[5] According to the survey, one out of three Americans and British has it to a certain degree that the groups were divided into three different categories: entertainment social, casual stargazing; intense personal, feeling a connection with a celebrity; borderline pathological, similar to a stalker. He believes that the numbers will intensify with the advancement of technology such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media which allows easier access to information worldwide. People will â€Å"share†, â€Å"like†, â€Å"tag†, â€Å"retweet† videos or articles about celebrities and whoever is their social network friend or follower will have access to that celebrity news. Technology has indeed become an important factor as to why people are becoming more and more obsessed with celebrities. Today, the ac cess to media is easier than ever before; there are magazines solely dedicated to stories about the latest celebrity gossip, known as tabloids. Other than that, there are various social network sources as mentioned before such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media that can provide the latest update on celebrity news. Also, TV news channels cover celebrity gossip when there are other important news stories to be discussed. It has become a trend nowadays to know the basic knowledge of celebrity gossip as Daniel Kruger, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Michigan points out, â€Å"Knowing what is going on with high-status individuals, you’d be better able to navigate the social scene.†[6] If a person does not know the latest news of a certain celebrity, that person can possibly be socially excluded from a conversation or a group because they lack the information. They do not want to feel like an outcast from their group of people so even if they do not care about celebrity gossip, some are forced to know all of the juicy gossip. Socially, people want to be fit in and have a sense of belonging in a community. As a result, people will spend more time watching the latest celebrity gossip instead of learning something new or better their lives in some way because they might believe that knowing the latest gossip is in fact bettering them because of the social benefits of fitting in. Today’s social standards of beauty has also become a poisonous because every year it seems as though those standards are becoming higher as more and more beautiful and handsome models become the faces of the entertainment industry. This leads to many young people to resort to plastic surgery because they believe that their natural face is unfit for the standard of society as Anisha Abraham and Diana Zuckerman points out in their article, Adolescents, Celebrity Worship, and Cosmetic Surgery: â€Å"Cosmetic procedures have become pervasive, advertised in the mass media, and the subject of countless TV programs, such as Dr. 90210 (created in the United States but internationally known). The American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery estimates that the number of children less than 18 years of age undergoing cosmetic surgery procedures by their members has ranged from 33,000 to 65,000 annually in the past 10 years, with nonsurgical cosmetic procedures ranging from 91,000 to 190,000 per year[7]† As bad as celebrity obsession might sound, it can actually be helpful for people with social difficulties. Celebrities now can interact with their fans via social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and have a one-sided relationship with them. While it does sound like an unhealthy relationship, studies show that it is quite the opposite. There was a study conducted in 2008 by University of Buffalo researchers who discovered that â€Å"celebrity worship† helps people with self-esteem issues or fears or rejections by allowing them to have one-sided bond with a celebrity. Another study involved 348 undergraduate students completing a self-esteem questionnaire, writing an open-ended essay about their favorite celebrity, and then completing the questionnaire again. The results showed that people who initially scored low on the self-esteem, after completing the essay scored much higher the second time.[8] This shows that one-sided relationships with these celebrities fi ll the void of loneliness to those who have low self-esteem, and to those who do not have many real friends. These one-sided relationships can possibly help them become more social to other people as well. Celebrity obsession should not be dismissed completely because the celebrities can become positive role models for the growth of people and the obsession can also assist people with social difficulties. However, it is evident that people are becoming more and more obsessed with media now than ever before and it is becoming a major problem. With the advancement of media technology, the accessibility of celebrity news is easier than ever before. Psychologically, our brains are programmed to instinctively respect or idolize someone who seems to be of a higher class and since celebrities attract attention we unconsciously believe they are of a higher class, which leads to celebrities having a major influence in people as well as people following the way celebrities act in their personal life. The fact that nowadays celebrity gossip is a necessity to be fit in is also another negative aspect of celebrity obsession, which leads to using cosmetic surgeries as an option. Bibliography Abraham, Anisha and Diana Zuckerman, â€Å"Adolescents, Celebrity Worship, and Cosmetic Surgery† Journal of Adolescent Health, November 2011,  www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X11003028 Furst, Jessica. â€Å"Why Are We Obsessed With Celebrities? Our DNA Provides a Clue.† Daily Banter, June 27th 2013,  http://thedailybanter.com/2013/06/why-are-we-obsessed-with-celebrities-our-dna-provides-a-clue/ Gray, Keturah. â€Å"Celebrity Worship Syndrome Abounds.† ABC News, September 23rd, http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=101029 Park, Alice. â€Å"Celebrity Worship: Good for Your Health?† TIME Health Family, September 15th 2008, http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1841093,00.html Sifferlin, Alexandra. â€Å"Oscar Fixation: Why Are We Obsessed With Celebrities?† TIME Health Family, February 27th 2012, http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/27/oscar-fixation-why-are-we-obsessed-with-celebrities/ Wikipedia Contributors, â€Å"List of Governors of California.† Wikipedia, November 6th 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Governors_of_California [1] Merriam-webster.com. Celebrity Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. N. p., 2014 [2] Jessica Furst, â€Å"Why Are We Obsessed With Celebrities? Our DNA Provides a Clue,† Daily Banter, June 27th 2013 [3] Alexandra Sifferlin, â€Å"Oscar Fixation: Why Are We Obsessed With Celebrities?,† TIME Health Family, February 27th 2012 [4] Wikipedia Contributors, â€Å"List of Governors of California.† Wikipedia, November 6th 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Governors_of_California [5] Keturah Gray, â€Å"Celebrity Worship Syndrome Abounds†, ABC News, September 23rd, http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=101029 [6] Alexandra Sifferlin, â€Å"Oscar Fixation: Why Are We Obsessed With Celebrities?† TIME Health Family, February 27th 2012, http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/27/oscar-fixation-why-are-we-obsessed-with-celebrities/ [7] Anisha Abraham and Diana Zuckerman, â€Å"Adolescents, Celebrity Worship, and Cosmetic Surgery† Journal of Adolescent Health, November 2011, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X11003028 [8] Alice Park, â€Å"Celebrity Worship: Good for Your Health?† TIME Health Family, September 15th 2008, http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1841093,00.html

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

On Euthyphro: Notes by Sidney Fein :: Euthyphro

On Euthyphro: Notes by Sidney Fein They say that, in his youth, Rabbi Israel studied eight hundred books of the Kabbalah. But the first time he saw the maggid of Mezritch face to face, he instantly knew that he knew nothing at all. I have on my desk one of my daughter's college textbooks, the Mentor edition of Great Dialogues of Plato as translated by W. H. D. Rouse. It cost $4.95. It is a good book with helpful footnotes and a minimum of scholarly obstruction. The editor has included half a dozen dialogues: Ion, Meno, Symposium, Republic, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. With a little bit of searching I've dug out my old high school text of Plato, a $.35 Pocket Library edition of the Jowett translation, its edges yellow as the molars of a lifelong Latakia smoker, its brittle pages as loose as if he never brushed. It includes Symposium, ample selections from Republic, and of course the indispensable threeact tragedy of Socrates' trial and death. Plato, however, left us a fouract play, or at least three acts with a very curious prelude. The dialogue that both textbooks leave out is the short, hilarious, perplexing Euthyphro. In the edition I have in front of me this work is described as "a conversation on the nature of piety," myopically in my opinion. Euthyphro is seldom included in introductory texts and so only rarely taught to undergraduates. When it is included in the curriculum Euthyphro is usually assigned in upperlevel courses where it is not discussed in connection with Socrates' trial. It's easy to see why Euthyphro gets dumped. Who wants to read a conversation on the definition of piety, especially one that fails to tell you what the definition of piety is? For that matter, who would want to teach such a thing? While Euthyphro has the pedagogical virtue of brevity (under 20 pages complete) it appears to be little more than a circular argument that ends in bafflement. Worse, though Socrates and his young interlocutor are both facing capital cases and speak on the very porch of the King Archon, and though their topic is an undeniably lofty one, the tone of the dialogue is barely serious. Here Socrates' irony is transparently sarcastic and even the most sympathetic reader is bound to feel that he ought to pick on somebody his own size. There is no obvious connection between tying Euthyphro up in dialectic knots and the solemn proceedings to follow.