The Meaning of Lives Essay Example for Free

The Meaning of Lives Essay In her article The Meaning of Lives, Susan Wolf, a moral philosopher and philosopher of action, investigates whether meaning can exist in lives without postulating the existance of God. Wolf establishes her position on this philosophical question from an agnostic perspective and rationally argues that such a question can in fact â€Å"fit within a negative or agnostic view about the meaning of life† (Wolf 63). With this paper, I will first summarize the prominent points of Wolf’s article then highlight and expound upon areas of her argument that contradict her line of reason. Lastly, I will introduce the theistic perspective on meaningful lives along with presenting Wolf’s reason and argument as supporting evidence for the theistic view. In the Meaning of Lives, Susan Wolf opens briefly with an evaluation of the philosophically ambiguous question, â€Å"What is the meaning of life? † She argues this particular question is impossible to rationalize because it dependents upon a postulation for the existence of God. Wolf claims it is necessary to postulate the existence of God in order to argue this original question because if God does exist, then He â€Å"may have created us for a reason, with a plan in mind†(Wolf 63). Thus, if God exists then there would be purpose and meaning to human existence dependent upon the creator God. Wolf does not deny the existence of God; she simply suggests that a divine existence is improvable. Therefore the question of a grand purpose and meaning in life is an unnecessary and an improvable argument to find an answer to, due to the improvable nature of God. However, she does believe that meaning in lives is not contingent upon the existence of God stating, â€Å"Meaningfulness is an intelligible feature to be sought in life† and that â€Å"a positive view about the possibility of meaning in lives can fit with a negative or agnostic view about the meaning of life†(Wolf 63). She expounds on this argument in three distinct sections. The first part of Wolf’s argument observes three different examples of meaningless lifestyle. Wolf articulates that learning from three paradigms of meaningless lives, one can construct an understanding for meaningfulness. She begins with a lifestyle she labeled the Blob. The Blob is defined by a lifestyle that â€Å"is lived in hazy passivity†¦ unconnected to anyone or anything, going nowhere, achieving nothing† (Wolf 64). Wolf deduces from the Blobs meaningless lifestyle, that in order to attain a meaningful life one must be engaged in a project, which can include relationships. The second meaningless lifestyle, in contrast to the Blob’s lifestyle of passivity, is regarded as the Useless life; â€Å"a life whose dominant activities seem pointless, useless or empty† (Wolf 65). After reviewing the lifestyle of the Useless life, a life void of worth, to achieve meaning â€Å"one must be engaged in a project or projects that have some positive value† (Wolf 65). The final category of a meaningless life would be the lifestyle of the Bankrupt, â€Å"someone who is engaged or even dedicated, to a project that is ultimately revealed as bankrupt, not because the person’s values are shallow or misguided, but because the project fails†(Wolf 65). Ultimately, Wolf concludes that in order to achieve meaningfulness one must not only be engaged in a project of positive value but that project must be in some way successful. After providing a working definition for a meaningful life, Wolf raises the question as to what constitutes â€Å"positive value† and who has the right to objectively determine value. Similarly to Wolf’s construction of meaningfulness, she argues reasons for why an individual is incapable of objectively determining positive value. This incapability for determining objective value is due to the individual’s subjectivity and â€Å"interest in living a life that feels or seems meaningful†(Wolf 66). Therefore, because an individual is incapable of distinguishing objective positive value from interest, it is unlikely that the individual can distinguish what is required for a meaningful life. She argues that objective value is determined and achieved through observing value in other people’s lives. Wolf clarifies that the objective good she is referring to is not compared to moral goodness, â€Å"benefiting or honoring humanity† (Wolf 67). Wolf claims that meaningfulness is not contingent upon moral value. Instead, Wolf suggests that while there are examples of lives exhibiting great moral value, such as Mother Teresa and Gandhi, that are full of meaning; there are also examples of other lives, such as â€Å"artists, scholars, musicians and athletes†, that possess great meaning, not based upon their moral value. These lives are considered valuable and meaningful due to their ability to â€Å"develop our skills and our understanding of the world† which â€Å"give meaning to our lives- but they do not give moral value to them †(Wolf 67). A greater understanding of our own worth and the Universe is what Wolf constitutes for lives to have meaning. The final stage in Wolf’s argument poses the question â€Å"what is the good, after all, of living a meaningful life†(Wolf 67)? Wolf does not wish to define goodness, but rather discusses the advantages for living a life full of meaning. Wolf makes the final stand, that in order to grasp meaningfulness and understand how one can achieve it in their life; an individual must become enlightened to their status in the world as â€Å"a tiny speck in a vast universe† (Wolf 69). This description of where an individual lies in relation to the vastness of the Universe, provides the reality that meaning in lives cannot logically be contingent upon the desires and benefits for the individual, due to humanities insignificance. It seems illogical to Wolf, that a person who seeks to find meaning in their life could conclude that is dependent upon their independent happiness claiming, â€Å"to devote oneself wholly to one’s own satisfaction seems to me to fly in the face of truth, to act as if one is the only thing that matters, or perhaps, more, that one’s own psychology is the only source of (determining) what matters† (Wolf 70). The truth, to which Wolf refers, is the reality that individuals have very little significance in relation to the value of the vast Universe. It is because of this truth that a self-center and egocentric life goes against of logic after such a truth is realized. Wolf argues that instead of egocentric priorities to achieve meaning, an individual should alternatively be focused on the needs of the Universe and others. She understands that â€Å"you are just one person among others, equally real- is the source of practical reason-in this case, it gives you reason to take the pains of others to constitute reasons for action†¦reason to care about the pain of others that is grounded, not in our own psychologies, but a fact about the world†(Wolf 70). In this section, I will address three areas of Wolf’s reasoning I find to be inconsistent with her argument as a whole. A concern that I have regarding Wolf’s argument is her use of the word â€Å"meaning†, in regards to the meaning of lives. A very different connotation of the word â€Å"meaning† suggested by the philosophical question, â€Å"What is the meaning of life? † Wolf states that the question, â€Å"What is the meaning of life? † requires an individual to postulate the existence of God because it implies their ultimate aim â€Å"to find a purpose or a point to human existence†(Wolf 63). However, Wolf also argues, â€Å"whether or not God exists, the fact remains that some objects, activities and ideas are better than others. Whether or not God exists some ways of living are more worthwhile than others†(Wolf 72). At the beginning of Wolf’s argument about the meaning of lives, suggests that she neither denies nor rejects the existence of God. She argues this as true because she believes the question behind the meaning in lives can be answered as â€Å"an intelligible feature to be sought in life and that it is at least sometimes attainable but not everywhere assured†(Wolf 63). Wolf reduces the meaning of lives to that which can be determined by human reasoning a finite measurement of this transitory world. Thus Wolf, who has neither denied nor rejected the existence of God has unreasonably eliminated the question of origin of lives, as irrelevant to meaning in lives. She focuses how certain types of lives merit significance in existence and consequently refers to the word â€Å"meaning† as synonymous with value. Finally, Wolf argues that there is value in human lives that â€Å"can fit with a negative or agnostic view about the meaning of life†(Wolf 66). This statement is far less controversial than her attempts to argue that meaning in lives is achievable without the postulation of God. Logically, to explore meaning in lives, one must consider the beginning of life, which must have been constructed either by accident or by a creator. Meaning cannot be cited as more or less significant at a particular point in an individual’s life. Thus, the point that one comes into existence must be regarded for defining meaning within an individual’s life. The second problem in Wolf’s argument comes in her evaluation of what is considered a project of positive value. An individual who is engaged in a project of positive value is central to Wolf’s definition of a meaningful life. Although, projects of positive value can add to meaning in an individual’s life, Wolf’s reasoning as to â€Å"who is to decide which projects have positive value† is vague and inconsistent with her earlier positions (Wolf 66). Wolf concludes that individuals are incapable of objectively deciding what has positive value, due to subjective interests, which skew their understanding of objective value. Wolf deduces that in order for an individual to understand projects of positive value, which will eventually adds meaning to heir lives, they must experience an â€Å"epiphany†¦ to the recognition that our life to date has been meaningless† (Wolf 66). This comment is completely inconsistent with Wolf’s fundamental goal to acquire an understanding of meaning in lives from an intelligible process of reason. The understanding for projects of positive value through an epiphany is inconsistent with her pervious arguments because it depends she suggests that understanding meaning comes from an unintelligible source of knowledge. Who is to say that that epiphany is not guided by a supreme higher being? The irony of Wolf’s conclusion about the necessary epiphany, is that her statement â€Å"It is the sort of experience that one might describe in terms of scales falling from ones eyes†, compares closely to the allusion found in Acts 9:18 (Wolf 66). The verse reads â€Å"And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized† (NIV 1000). The language of scales falling from the eyes in order to gain true understanding is regarded in both versions as an act depended upon a supernatural entity enabling the change. This very interesting comment by Wolf, suggests that understanding how an individual recognizes truth through epiphany is beyond the capabilities of human control and intellect. Her attempted arguments about how a meaningful life is realized are sound up until the point about epiphany. Lastly, Wolf’s argument for meaning in lives lacks any discussion of immortality as a necessary property for meaning. Wolf reasons that there are certain lifestyles that are more meaningful than others. This argument for certain lifestyle having greater meaning has limited relevance because as she rationalizes, lives are finite and temporary as are the lives of others whom we must focus in our acknowledgement of the truth that we are just a â€Å"speck in the vast Universe†(Wolf 69). Wolf does a fine job at articulating the insignificance and temporary state of human life. However, she fails to recognize that in her attempts to construct a logical framework for meaning in finite lives she disregards the possibility for immortality to give further meaning to lives. Thus, she reduces the idea of meaning as an avoidance of an egocentric lifestyle and recognizes insignificance and meaning within an individuals’ life alone. Wolf’s claim that meaning is attainable through certain actions only satisfies temporary lives for a finite amount of time. This argument surrounding meaning as dependent upon an inward realization of insignificance manifesting into outward actions, is simply a cycle of meaningless people helping other meaningless people, and causes only a temporary impact. In an argument for the importance of immortality to meaning in lives, Gianluca Di Muzio states, â€Å"If a human being dies and her actions have no lasting effect, because the world itself perished, then her life was meaningless. If, in the end, all comes to nothing, then it does not matter in the first place whether a particular person existed or not† (Di Muzio 2). In order for actions and lives to be meaningful, they must have a lasting impact or something to gain, and provide for others in a way that is not reducible to the finite and temporary world. Thus, achievable immortality must exist for meaning to be possible. Although she attempts to determine the meaning in lives for an agnostic world, I would argue that Wolf’s argument actually supports many theistic views regarding the meaning of lives. Though many of Wolf’s arguments do not adequately provide understanding for meaning in lives from an agnostic perspective, many of her points parallel to the theistic view of â€Å"purpose theory. † Before I expound on these similarities, an understanding of the theistic view regarding the meaning of must be addressed. According to Borchert, the theistic view argues that, â€Å"life is meaningful insofar as one fulfills a purpose that God has assigned† (Borchert 295). In â€Å"Confession†, Leo Tolstoy discusses meaning in life from the theistic perspective and claims â€Å"now I see clearly that my faith-my only real faith-that which apart from my animal instincts gave impulse to my life- was a belief in perfecting myself† (Klemke 2). Tolstoy sought such perfection in artistic achievements and loving his family. In trying to find meaning in family and people, Tolstoy ultimately realizes that â€Å"My family — wife and children — are also human. They are placed just as I am: they must either live in a lie or see the terrible truth† (Klemke 10). In other words, Tolstoy realizes that if meaning resides in the finite and temporary nature of humanity, meaning too will die along with the life. Tolstoy further suggests that meaning cannot reside within artistic modes when he writes Art, poetry? Under the influence of success and the praise of men, I had long assured myself that this was a thing one could do though death was drawing near — death which destroys all things, including my work and its remembrance; but soon I saw that that too was a fraud† (Klemke 10). This declaration further supports Tolstoy’s theistic belief that everything of and in this world cannot be the ultimate source of meaning in lives. Although, the substance of this world may increase value within life, it cannot supply ultimate, enduring meaning. Tolstoy finally declares, â€Å"To know God and to live is one and the same thing. God is life- Live seeking God, and then you will not live without God† (Klemke 11). This passage concludes with his theistic assertion that without a â€Å"divine plan for the world, then all efforts come to nothing, because everything comes to nothing. Hence our lives are meaningless without God† (Metz 293). Though Wolf attempts to support an agnostic view for the question, â€Å"is there meaning in lives? † her central points mirror those of the theistic view and supports many of its claims. This final section will concentrate on central points within Wolf’s argument that support a theistic view for understanding meaning in lives. To begin, she claims that a life has meaning insofar as it is â€Å"engaged in a project or projects that have some positive value† (Wolf 65). Although this statements seems logical, Wolf fails to provide an intelligible source for acquiring knowledge about whether or not a project has positive value and which projects do not. She betrays the agnostic attempt to provide an understanding of meaning in lives through reason, by suggesting that realization of projects with positive value relies upon an epiphany. The concept of an epiphany for realization is inconsistent with her attempts to rationalize. However, when Wolf’s definition is placed against the theistic view, it is logically consistent with theological beliefs. Theists believe that an individual must be actively engaged in positively affecting peoples lives with in the world, while ultimately contributing to God’s divine plan in order for their lives to have meaning. This concept is articulated beautifully in Gianluca Di Muzio’s argument: Theism and the Meaning of Life, in which he states, â€Å"In order to have meaning, our lives must make a difference to a higher scheme. And theism sees human action as doing a sort of double duty. On one hand, they affect other people and events in this world, on the other, they further or hinder God’s ultimate plan† (Di Muzio 2). This statement suggests that humanities actions in projects have the ability to have two different forms of significance, both relative and ultimate. Relative significance refers to the theistic perspective that, â€Å"actions and events have relative significance when they only influence other actions and events†(Di Muzio 3). Ultimate significance is when our actions and events â€Å"contribute to God’s plan† (Di Muzio 3). Both of these forms contribute to theistic view, however Wolf’s argument focuses solely on relative significance. The theistic understanding of relative significance is paralleled to Wolf’s understanding of meaning in lives. She believes that when individuals realize their insignificance and begin to seek beyond themselves for meaning by actively engaging in projects of positive value, they can acquire meaning. Though this insignificance is transient, it supports the theistic belief that, â€Å"human beings have access to value† without having to postulate the existence of God, because â€Å"existence affords the opportunity to attain the kinds of goods that make a human life worthwhile and fulfilling† (Di Muzio 5-6). Wolf’s profound point that human life is just a â€Å"speck in a vast universe† lays the foundation for the theistic belief in ultimate significance (Wolf 71). Theists believe that there is A fundamental disproportion between aspirations and reality is a powerful source of the idea that our lives are absurd and meaningless. We think we matter, and yet we don’t. The world is not intoned with our hope, desires and projects. The possibility of out destruction looms everywhere; and human suffering, however enormous, seems to be nothing but a passing accident, a byproduct of the presence of sentient creatures in a world that merely tolerates them for a short time. (Di Muzio 9) This understanding of human insignificance plays a vital role in the theistic belief that despite human fragility, purpose and significance are achievable within the most tragic circumstances. Wolf’s recognition of our insignificance implies our need to look beyond our own lives for meaning. If a life of meaning depends upon recognizing the truth about our insignificance and continuing to be â€Å"actively engaged in a project of positive value†, and one cannot perform these projects due to tragic circumstances, then within Wolf’s reasoning their life can not have meaning. Wolf’s understanding of meaning depends upon individual human performance. In trying times of suffering, whether great or small, this concept of looking outside of ones own circumstances is hard to accomplish and in some circumstances impossible, thus in such cases meaning cannot be unachieved. The theistic view of ultimate significance provides a hope that a life of suffering can have meaning and purpose too in that, â€Å"the idea of God and hope for immortality can help us look again at the world and our fragile lives as meaningful†(Di Muzio 9). The project of participating in God’s divine plan is the only project that has lasting and unwavering value for meaning in lives. Wolf’s central argument concerning meaning in lives provides many logically convincing and sound points. However, Wolf’s definition of a life of meaning is both disconnected from her original argument and lacks a consistent, authoritative source and process for achieving meaning. She attempts to suggest that meaning is an â€Å"intelligible feature to be sought in life†, then provides the solution for achieving this insight of through the unintelligible source of epiphany. Secondly, Wolf’s argument for the realization of insignificance as the truth, unlocks the need for an individual to look beyond serving his or her own self-centered desires for meaning. However, though her point about insignificance seems valid, Wolf fails to provide examples or an understanding of how an individual can objectively determine how to look outside of themselves. In total, Wolf produces an understanding of meaning that depends upon an individuals abilities to undergo an epiphany and properly manifest their understanding of the need to look outside one’s self and recognize Universal needs. The problem with this stance is that focusing on the Universe provides no lasting impact, or meaning to a particular life because the things of this Universe are finite and temporary. The individual’s life will eventually end along with the actions and events they affected. Though existence can provide an opportunity for value, as understood in Wolf’s argument and the theistic view, meaning is dependent upon a infinite being whose performance can not be temporary. An individual must not be reliant on their personal performances and finite experiences to obtain meaning, but rather is actively engaged in an eternal project of positive value, determined by an infinite and constant authority, God. Works Cited Borchert, Donald M. Theism. Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2nd ed. 10. Detroit: Gale, 2006. Web. 25 Apr 2012. Di Muzio, Gianluca. Theism and the Meaning of Life life’s meaning? Ars Disputandi . 6. (2006): 1-12. Print. Klemke, E. D. â€Å"The Meaning of Life†. 2nd. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print. Metz, Thaddeus. â€Å"Could God’s purpose be the source of life’s meaning? † Cambridge Journals. (2000): 293-311. Print. Wolf, Susan. The Meaning Of Lives. 62-73. Print.

Personal Narrative - A Journey :: Personal Narrative Writing

A Journey I am by myself wearing my blue jeans and an old flannel shirt. It is cool outside but I decided to leave my gloves at home, feeling comfortable with my warm shirt and my sturdy boots. It is just me and the woods. I take nothing with me when I leave, because I know that I won't be gone too long. It is early fall so it is cool outside but not cold. I am back on teh east coast walking through the woods of the Appalachins. The leaves have begun turning colors so there is a beautiful aray of oranges, yellows, greens, and reds. The red colors of the leaves remind me of the maple trees that used to be outside of my house. I remember looking at the red leaves on those trees the evening of our homecoming football game when Paul came over. The floor of the forest is damp but not muddy. There are moss covered stones that litter the path I am walking. Some of them are loose, and others are firmly embedded in the ground. For the most part they are the rocks that you have to watch out for when your are running a cross-country race so that you do not sprain your ankle. They are the type of rocks that are annoying at picnics and camp fires because they are not big enough to sit on and too big to move. I keep walking because I know that ahead of me is a small stream where I can quietly sit and listen to the water. It is small enough that some rocks portrude above the water and I could walk across if I wanted to. As I walk towards the stream I see a bottle that is empty and crushed. At one point it had been a bottle filled with mineral water for someone who had been hiking through the woods on a health trip. When I see it I don't stop to pick it up, but I make a mental note of its locations so I can grab it on my way back. Once I reach the stream I sit on a rock and watch the water tumble over and around the stones in the creek bed. As I sit there a deer appears on the other side of the stream. Not a buck, but just a standard doe.

Lymphatics Webquest

Lymphatics web quest Suggested site- www. cdc. gov, feel free to use other reliable sites as well. 1. What animal can transmit Cryptococcus? Wild birds like pigeons. 2. Can dogs and cats get Cryptococcus? Yes 3. What is the infectious agent for Bubonic Plague? Yersinia pestis 4. By how much was the world population reduced during the Plague pandemic? About 450 million to between 350 and 375 million. 5. What year (within the past 100 years) did the world experience a flu pandemic? 1918 6.What are 3 symptoms of chikungunya fever? Fever, vomiting, nausea, head ache, and joint pain. 7. What bacterium causes Lyme’s disease? Borrelia 8. What is ‘erythema migrans? ’ A rash often seen in the early stage of Lyme disease 9. Find a disease transmitted by rabbits and list 2 symptoms. Tularemia it gives you sweats and fever. 10. What are symptoms of guinea worm disease? There are usually no symptoms until about a year after infection. Before the worm comes out the person may d evelop a fever, swelling, and pain in the area. 1. How long can a guinea worm grow? Adults are about 2-3 feet long. 12. Describe lymphocytic filariasis. A parasitic disease caused by the African eye worm. The adult worm can only live in the human lymph system. 13. On what day of the year does world TB day occur? March 24th 14. How do seasonal, avian, and pandemic flu outbreaks differ? Seasonal flu follows predictable patterns. Pandemic flu is very rare. Avian flu is a virus with the potential to become a pandemic. 5. What childhood diseases does the CDC recommend children to be vaccinated against? Chickenpox, Flu, and measles 16. Find one type of cancer caused by a virus. Cervical cancer 17. What is the cause of rheumatic fever? Rheumatic fever can occur after an infection of the throat with a bacterium called streptococcus phogenes. 18. List 1 disease caused by a fungus. Histoplasmosis 19. What is a telltale symptom of whooping cough? Coughing making a whooping sound. Lymphatics Webquest Lymphatics web quest Suggested site- www. cdc. gov, feel free to use other reliable sites as well. 1. What animal can transmit Cryptococcus? Wild birds like pigeons. 2. Can dogs and cats get Cryptococcus? Yes 3. What is the infectious agent for Bubonic Plague? Yersinia pestis 4. By how much was the world population reduced during the Plague pandemic? About 450 million to between 350 and 375 million. 5. What year (within the past 100 years) did the world experience a flu pandemic? 1918 6.What are 3 symptoms of chikungunya fever? Fever, vomiting, nausea, head ache, and joint pain. 7. What bacterium causes Lyme’s disease? Borrelia 8. What is ‘erythema migrans? ’ A rash often seen in the early stage of Lyme disease 9. Find a disease transmitted by rabbits and list 2 symptoms. Tularemia it gives you sweats and fever. 10. What are symptoms of guinea worm disease? There are usually no symptoms until about a year after infection. Before the worm comes out the person may d evelop a fever, swelling, and pain in the area. 1. How long can a guinea worm grow? Adults are about 2-3 feet long. 12. Describe lymphocytic filariasis. A parasitic disease caused by the African eye worm. The adult worm can only live in the human lymph system. 13. On what day of the year does world TB day occur? March 24th 14. How do seasonal, avian, and pandemic flu outbreaks differ? Seasonal flu follows predictable patterns. Pandemic flu is very rare. Avian flu is a virus with the potential to become a pandemic. 5. What childhood diseases does the CDC recommend children to be vaccinated against? Chickenpox, Flu, and measles 16. Find one type of cancer caused by a virus. Cervical cancer 17. What is the cause of rheumatic fever? Rheumatic fever can occur after an infection of the throat with a bacterium called streptococcus phogenes. 18. List 1 disease caused by a fungus. Histoplasmosis 19. What is a telltale symptom of whooping cough? Coughing making a whooping sound.

The Ethics Of Outsourcing At Mattel

In addition, this article will address how corporate culture played a role in the decision to outsource the manufacturing process to facilities, which were not following legal standards. Keywords Matter, corporate culture, ethics, Fraud, product safety. JELL Classification MIM. BRB / BRB / Introduction / Corporate culture is defined as the shared values and / beliefs of individuals within an organization (Statistics / and Satanist, 2009). Corporate culture is an important / span classmate/acceptances to examine when researchers attempt to explain unethical behavior within an organization.Previous research in the area has primarily focused on the positive aspects culture that is related to firm performance (Deal and Kennedy, 1982 Peters and Waterman, 1982 Dimension, 990). It is also important to considerer/ BRB / that the corporate culture can have negative impact knob / a firestorms operations if the culture supports unethical and / illegal activities. This study examines how one com pany, Matter, developed a culture which allowed the unethical and illegal actions of its suppliers to negatively affect its operations. R / BRB / fixated only on the low price of production of the Chinese suppliers. By allowing the quality standards to drop to potentially dangerous levels, Matter manageress / focused only on their own self-interests since their / pan classmate/spermatozoon was directly linked to the financial performance of Matter. Therefore, Matter managers ignored potential safety issues with the production of the toys in China since lower levels of production orb / BRB / higher costs per unit would have a direct impact knob / their total level of income for the year.As a result, Tiber / does not matter whether the lack of quality controls / were deliberate or not. Since Amateurism's name goes knob / the final product, its managers were accountable forbs / the actions of their suppliers (Hegiras and Sims, bribe / Shanghaiing and Vital, 1990 Granite, 2003). BRB / 1 . The first recall of toys / In 2006, 75 percent of all toys manufactured worldwide came from China. Within China, one province, Gudgeon, is the location of 5,000 of Chinaware's 8,BRB / span classmate/Spartan manufacturing plants.It is estimated that 1. 5 million workers are employed in Gudgeon toys manufacture (McLeod, 2006). Matter makes approximately 65 percent of its toys there. The corporation states tabor / BRB / it demands that the toys that are outsourced to other / manufacturers must comply with the safety standards / established by Matter. Raw materials that would beer / used by an outsourced manufacturer are first sent Toby / the Matter control facility in order to verify they matter / all safety standards.Matter has been manufacturing inborn / China since the first Barbie was made there in 1 959. BRB / The corporation has developed a number of longer / standing relationships with China manufacturers,BRB / which may have lead to more relaxed monitoring and / control of it s operations (Story, 2007). Furthermore,BRB / Matter was a major customer for these suppliers, so Tiber / should have absolute control over the manufacturing / recess as it relates to the level of quality and compliance with government regulations and standards.However, Amateurism's top level managers appeared to beer / BRB / On August 1, 2007, Matter had to recall almost 1. BRB / million toys that were made in China. Over 80 toys / contained potentially dangerous levels of lead in thebe / paint on the toys. A long time supplier of Matter had / span classmate/spanked non-approved paint pigment which violated Amateurism's and the toy industriously standards (Bugaboos, 2007). On August 2, 2007, Matter issued a press release in which it explained its course f action to correct the problem.Matter worked with the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies around the world to pull the toys off the shelves and halt the distribution of any toy that contained the unacceptable levels of lead. Robert Cocker, Chairman and CEO stated that liquored apologize to everyone affected by this recall, especially those who bought the toys in questioningly realize that parents / BRB / trust us with what is most precious to atmospherically / children. And we also recognize that trust is earned. R / Our goal is to correct this problem, improve orb / yester and maintain the trust of the families tabor / have allowed us to be part of their lives by acting / responsibly and quickly to address their conquistadors / (Matter, 2007). BRB / Sarah D. Satanist, Peter A Satanist, 2010. BRB / This recall was despite the fact that Matter was rabbet / of the potential lead hazard at least a month earlier,BRB / BRB / Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 8, Issue 4, 201 For / BRB / when one of the European retailers that sold Matter / products in early July discovered lead in some of its / toys.On July 6, 2007 Matter stopped production inborn / he factory, which they believe was the origin of thebe / lead paint. Commenting on the supplier using thebe / lead paint, CEO Chart stated that this was a supplier which had worked for Matter for 1 5 years and lectureships question somebody that just started making toys/ span classmate/sponsor slithered understand our regulations, they understand our program, and something went wrong. That Herodotus. It is a requirement established by Matter that those outsourced factories making Matter toys must use paint and other material from certified suppliers.As a result, Matter was not sure whether the manufacturer bustiest paint from bar / BRB / supplier who was not certified or whether the leader / paint came from a certified supplier. In 2007, BRB / percent of Amateurism's total revenues were based knob / the toys that were manufactured in their 11 factories in China which they owned and operated (Story, AAA). BRB/ 2. Why lead painter / Lead is added to paint in order to increase thebe / span classmate/sp anked in which the paint dries, to increase the durability of the paint and to enhance the ability of the paint to resist moisture which could cause corrosion (Wisped).Lead paint is also easier to apply on hard reface and can produce a richer / BRB / color than paint without lead. The net result is tabor / lead enhances how the paint is used in the production process, but the lead is not allowed to be added to the paints. Therefore, paint in which leader / has been added is sold ATA Custodianship's price of ennobler / third of the cost of paint that does not include leader / (Barbara, 2007). BRB / Matter had allowed the local suppliers to implement their own safety testing which resulted in the shipping of tainted toys from the factories in China / to children around the world.The suppliers had / darted to use cheaper paint which contained leader / to reduce manufacturing costs. The supplier tabor / made the toy Lee Deer Industrial Company was / investigated by the Chinese Governmen t for its / role in the use of tainted paint. The supplier stated / that it was cheated by its own paint supplier, whoop / sold Lee Deer Industrial the paint which included / the lead. Lee Deer Industrial claimed that they were / not aware that the paint was contaminated wither / span classmate/spangled (Zamias and Casey, 2007).The Chinese government banned Lee Deer Industrial from exporting any more toys until a full investigation was completed. The net result was that Lee Deer Industrial had to stop its operations, which led to the suicide offer / BRB / its founder Ghana Shogun. Amateurism's response in bar / press release to the suicide was that liquored were / BRB / troubled to hear about this tragic encephalitis is bar / personal misfortune not a corporate event. Any losses / of life is a tragedy and we feel for the family during / this difficult timorous (Cody and Joe, 2007). BRB / 3.The second recall / On August 14, 2007, Matter issued a second major / recall of toys manufact ured in China. The seconded / call include additional toys made with paint contaminated with lead as well as millions of other toys which have magnets which could become loose and / could be swallowed by children. An estimated / 436,000 toys were being recalled due to lead painter / An additional 18. 2 million magnetic toys were being / recalled after reported injuries and death of children / span classmate/Spanish had swallowed the magnets after they had become loose from the toy.Matter stated that the magnetic toy recall included 63 different varies of toys including such well known brand names as Pillory / Pocket, Batman, and Barbie. The lead paint recalled / toys included brand names such as the characters offer / Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer and Disingenuous Carobs / (Story and Barbara, 2007). The senior vice-president of worldwide quality assurance at Matter, Jim Walter, stated that Matter had ldquostrengthenedrdquo its / three-point check quality system to ensure that toy s / with lead would not enter the marketplace.Thebe / three point system includes verifying that only certified suppliers of paint will be used to manufacture the toys, a mandatory testing of every batch of toys / produced, the tightening of quality controls including random inspections during the manufacturing process and the testing of every production run offer / completed toys (Barbara and Story, 2007). As was / the case with the first recall, a subcontractor was / used to supply the paint to Amateurism's contractor inborn / China.Hong Lie Dad supplied the paint to Early / Light Industrial which was not aware that the painter / had been contaminated with lead. Early Light had / been a contractor for Matter for 20 years. Matter / had used between 30 and 50 contractors in China / and many subcontracted out part of the production / process to a subcontractor. Lee Deer, the contractor / of the original Matter recall lost its license to export and subsequently went out of business (S tory and Barbara, 2007). Lee Deer had been a Matter / contractor for 15 years. R / Matter executive vice-president for worldwide operations, Thomas Deflowers, stated that Matter realized that there were continuing rising costs offer / production in China which was squeezing the profit / margins of the Chinese manufacturers. He stated / that Solution the last three to five years, yourselves seen / labor prices more than double, raw materials prices / bubble or transplanted think that thereabouts a lot offer / pressure on guys that are working at the margin Toby / try and save moneywort.However, Deflowers stated / that Matter does not take the blame for putting / downward pressure on the pricing of the toys despite the rising manufacturing costs. Quoin, absolutely endothelial insist that they continue to use certified / paint from certified vendors, and we pay for that,BRB / and horsepower perfectly willing to pay for deathward (Story,BRB / 2007). It was during this time period that t he Consumer Product Safety Commission (COPS) excused Matter of not following the mandated requirement / to notify the COPS within 24 hours after the company has made a decision to recall any products.Amateurism's CEO, Robert Cocker, admitted that Matter / did not follow the COPS requirement because thebe / should have the right to discuss the problems on BRB / their timetable because the 24 hour time limit sibs / unreasonable. The COPS had already fined Matter / twice since 2001 for knowingly withholding information regarding products that could create loquaciousness risk of serious injury or deathtraps (Casey and Passport, 2007). . The third recall / span classmate/Spanish following day, September 4, 2007, Matter announced their third major recall.It was recalling approximately 775,000 toys with lead paint which included a number of Barbie accessories. Amateurism's CEO, Robert Cocker, stated that Sequoia apologize again Toby / BRB / everyone affected and promise that we will contin ue Toby / focus on ensuring the safety and quality of our distributors / (Casey, 2007). In a letter to The New York Times,BRB / Cocker commented that liquors a father of four, I amber / intimately aware of the expectations of parents. Thebe / ant safe toys, and they want assurances that those / toys have been tested to make sure that threescore safe. R / Currently lead paint is topmost on apparentness minds. Birr / want parents to be assured that we are taking action heliport toys are overwhelmingly safe. To date, our lead-related recalls of toys produced in the past BRB/ span classmate/ expansions represent less than half of 1 of our production. Iroquois rather the number was chroniclers was a young man growing up in suburban Chicago, my father encouraged me to earn his trust through my actions rather than just talk about what I was going to do.Today, tell my children locoweeds, not wordbooks. And it sibs / BRB / on this principle that Matter will move forward. Weber / will earn ba ck your trust with our deeds, entrust wither / our wordbooks (Cocker, 2007). BRB / On September 1 8, 2007 a subcommittee of thebe / United States Congress announced that some of thebe / toys Matter had recalled contained 180 times thebe / allowable levels of lead in the paint. Therefore, upper / to 1 1 percent Of the paint was lead or 110,000 parts / per million.The federal law in the United States / allows only 0. 06 lead or 600 parts per million inborn / paint (Resoundingly, 2007). R / span classmate/spoon September 21, 2007, Amateurism's executive vicissitude for worldwide operations, Thomas Deflowers, apologized to China for harming the reputation of the toy manufacturers in China for the 17 million toys Matter recalled in 2007 not because of lead paint but because of flaws in the design of some offer / BRB / their magnetic toys.Deflowers commented tabor / liquated does not hold Chinese manufacturers responsible for the design in relation to the recalled magnet destroyed (Story Bibb). By admitting to a design flaw,BRB / Matter could face numerous product liability lawsuits / y biblically announcing a product defect.Debonairness's apology included taking full responsibility for the problem with the magnetic toys liquated takes / span classmate/spoonful responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the dessertspoonful's important for everyone to understand that the vast majority of those products that we recalled Were the result of a designer / BRB / flaw in Amateurism's design, not through a manufacturing / flaw in Chinese infrastructure's (Casey, Zamias and / Passport, 2007).The Chinese product safety chief, Libra / Changing, reminded Matter that liquidation large part offer / your annual profitableness from your factories inborn / Chancellorship shows that our cooperation is in thebe / interests of Matter, and both parties should value orb / cooperation. I really hope that Matt er can learn lessons and gain experience from these incidents and that Matter should improve their control masqueraders / (Olsen, 2007). BRB / 5.The consequences of the recall / In October 2007, shareholders filed a lawsuit against / span classmate/supplemental for withholding timely announcements of recalled products. The lawsuit alleged that top management at Matter produced misleading financial statements since they were PRI; to potential recall notices and yet did not make them known biblically until / BRB / months later. The lawsuit claimed that this has been bar / general practice at Matter for years.In addition, thebe / lawsuit charged Matter with breaching its fiduciary / duties by not abiding by the consumer protection laws / including the 24 hour notice statue. In addition, thebe / lawsuit claimed that executives at Matter were involved in insider trading by selling 33 million of Matter stock before the announcement Of the recalls / came public (Tab, 2007). In October 2009 , Matter / settled a consumer class action lawsuit for over BRB / million to pay to consumers, who had purchased thebe / toys containing the lead paint.The settlement willow / resolve 22 lawsuits that were filed against Matter and / its subsidiary Fisher Price and major retailers on behalf / of the millions of families who had bought Matter / products that had been recalled (Anderson, 2009). BRB / Therefore, it appears that the quality issue was deliberately avoided by many employees within Matter. This 181 BRB / BRB / supports the view of Miller and Thomas (2005),BRB / ho state that peer pressure of colleagues would / support and reinforce unethical behavior even if Tiber / is in violation of the individualism own personal / code of ethics.The net result of a corporate culture / that support unethical actions was that the employees, which developed, maintained and supported this type of culture would not be penalized for their / actions. The top level executives at Matter were / on ly indirectly Goddaughter's for their actions since thebe / continued to assign blame to the suppliers. It was / only after extreme pressure from stakeholders suburb / s the United States government, the customers and / the media that Matter finally Idquoadmittedrdquo that thebe / would take some responsibility for the unsafe toys. R / Bass and Streamside (1999) propose that top leveler / executives can manipulate the beliefs of their subordinates into believing their own altered state of reality. This could explain, in part, why it took sobs / long for Matter to react to the claims made by its / stakeholders. BRB / Conclusions / This case highlights a number of important concepts / related to unethical behavior within corporations. BRB / The actions by the top executives at Matter supporter / span classmate/Spanish belief that unethical actions influence the corporate culture of the firm.Through, the use of group norms at Matter, unethical behavior was not discouraged by top level managers and was actually / BRB / supported by the actions of the managers and their / lack of action with their suppliers. As Terrine,BRB / span classmate/sportsman and Brown (2000) state, top level executives must be both a moral person and a moral manager in order to develop an ethical leadership role within the firm.

Media Stereotypes essays

Media Stereotypes essays Today, every one of us is spending more of his leisure time watching TV. The shows on the TV influence our decision process According to the established sense in the society, femininity and masculinity are tightly bound to gender. Men are supposed to be masculine. They are expected to be strong, rough, to have high stamina. They are not supposed to wear skirts (the Scots are an exception) but trousers, and should avoid colors like pink and violet. These are "feminine" colors. The man in the family is usually the person who should provide money and build a career. On the other hand, women are supposed to be tender and loving mothers and wives, to wear skirts and to walk on high eels. They are should not have a career, but should take care of the kids and the house. It seems that these perceptions have been existing forever. That is because from early childhood, we are thought by our parents that pink is for girls, and blue is for boys. The trucks and weaponry toys are for boys and the dolls are for girls. Than, it is not surprising that we accept gender stereotyping and try to fit in the rigid models of feminine and masculine. For example, women athletes and especially tennis players and basketball players are afraid of losing their femininity. These sports are famous for the large number of gay players that are involved. Because of that, the hetero athletes are a subject of suspicion of being gays. To avoid this they are trying to look more feminine. A basketball coach even had developed a term for this phenomenon"hetero-sexy." America has determined that there are just two kinds of people; men and women.Our society has decided that all people fit into these two groups, and has set forth rules that members of each group must follow. It has been dictated that all women are soft, caring, weak, and sensitive. They must care about others, be open and communicative, be emotional, and submit to men. However, what our society has...

A Quiz About Parenthetical Punctuation

A Quiz About Parenthetical Punctuation A Quiz About Parenthetical Punctuation A Quiz About Parenthetical Punctuation By Mark Nichol Em dashes are woefully underused and misused. Here are five sentences that would be much improved by their proper use, or by proper use of other punctuation in cooperation with them. Determine how each sentence would benefit from changes in punctuation and compare your revisions with my suggested solutions at the bottom of the page: 1. â€Å"Not in years, like more than ten years, have I seen someone so committed to owning the stage.† 2. â€Å"Such pioneers trigger and indeed hope for gentrification leading to more and more middle-class home buyers being willing to take a chance on the neighborhood.† 3. â€Å"You, yes you, can say you were there for the advent of the Apple iPod.† 4. â€Å"It’ll take years to know if it works in humans but in mice the tumors almost completely disappeared.† 5. â€Å"Consumer-oriented businesses are trying to find the words, logo, image and, of course, products that will indelibly brand themselves as environmentally friendly.† Answers and Explanations 1. The phrase â€Å"like more than ten years† (with like, as an interjection, separated from the rest of the phrase with a comma), is more emphatic than one that would merely be parenthesized between commas: â€Å"Not in years like, more than ten years have I seen someone so committed to owning the stage.† 2. The clause beginning with leading does not merit being set off from the rest of the sentence with an em dash, but the phrase â€Å"and indeed hope for,† with the interjection indeed bracketed by commas, should be emphasized by being framed by a pair of em dashes: â€Å"Such pioneers trigger and, indeed, hope for gentrification, leading to more and more middle-class home buyers being willing to take a chance on the neighborhood.† 3. â€Å"Yes you,† with a necessary comma between the words, is such an interruptive element that bracketing by a pair of em dashes is necessary: â€Å"You- yes, you- can say you were there for the advent of the Apple iPod.† 4. Just as you’d do in the case of a pair of commas in a sentence that doesn’t sound quite right, diagnostically remove a parenthetical phrase framed by em dashes from an awkward sentence. In this case, â€Å"but in mice† is an essential dependent clause for the second half of the sentence, and the em dash following it is incorrect. The first em dash can be replaced by a comma, or the single dash can be retained: â€Å"It’ll take years to know if it works in humans but in mice, the tumors almost completely disappeared.† 5. Parentheticals are just that interjections, short or long, that are parenthetical to the main sentence, and any parts of speech within them are integral to the interjection alone. Therefore, without the parenthesis set off by em dashes, this sentence lacks a conjunction in the list of three elements preceding the first dash. Here’s the corrected version: â€Å"Consumer-oriented businesses are trying to find the words, logo, and image- and, of course, products- that will indelibly brand themselves as environmentally friendly.† 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 Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:45 Synonyms for â€Å"Food†5 Brainstorming Strategies for WritersList of Prefixes and Suffixes and their Meanings

Protagonist vs. Antagonist Understanding a Storys Main Characters

Protagonist vs. Antagonist Understanding a Storys Main Characters Protagonist vs. Antagonist: Understanding a Story's Main Characters If there’s one thing every story needs, it’s conflict. And while conflict can take many forms (Self vs. Nature, Technology vs. Humanity, Character vs. Self, etc.), some of literature’s most beloved stories include conflict in the classic form of the protagonist and antagonist.Without the white whale, Moby Dick is just a book about a guy who goes sailing and then returns home. If there were no Harry Potter, then J.K. Rowling would have written a series about Voldemort taking over the world, unopposed. Without Sauron and the Ring, the Fellowship would have merely been an odd sight-seeing group touring Middle-earth. And as enjoyable as that may have been for  them,  it wouldn't have made a very good story for the rest of us.In this article, we will look at what protagonists and antagonists are, how these age-old character archetypes can help you craft memorable stories, and what famous rivalries look like in both literature and film.With that in mind, let's firs t go back to basics to figure out what exactly protagonists and antagonists are.What is a Protagonist?The protagonist is the main character whose story is being told. The term derives from classical Greek drama and literally means â€Å"first actor.† Though often referred to as the hero of the story, the main character isn’t necessarily virtuous, and also may be just one of many protagonists in the narrative.Because protagonists can take many forms, let's take a look at four common types of protagonists in action.4 Types of Protagonists1. The Lonely HeroThe Lonely Hero is the standard strain of protagonist, probably because it's seen as the most "heroic" type. As the name implies, the Lonely Hero is the one and only person who can stop evil from triumphing and save the day. Though they’re almost always helped by a team of supporting characters, the ultimate burden of the quest falls squarely on the shoulders of the Lonely Hero. They are the one who must sacrific e the most in order to accomplish their goal.Examples of Lonely Hero protagonists:Harry from  Harry PotterKatniss Everdeen from  The Hunger GamesFrodo Baggins from  Lord of the RingsMatilda from MatildaCooper from Interstellar So evil that all the heroes in the galaxy have to band together against him. (Image: Walt Disney Studios)Whether you have the traditional hero-villain character dynamic, or a non-traditional character rivalry, remember to make full use of the conflict their interactions generate in order to move your story along. By creating complex characters, you will find it much easier to develop an interesting plot and bring your story to life.SummaryIn any story, how can you tell if someone is a protagonist or an antagonist? They are both significant characters, but the easy distinction is that:The protagonist is always the main character, regardless of they are heroic.The antagonist isn't always evil or a villain, simply the character who is in opposition to the protagonist.With that distinction in mind, why not go ahead and create your own characters who are worthy of joining Frodo and Thanos in the pantheon of great protagonists and antagonists?Do you have a favorite protagonist? A favorite antagonist? What are your favorite protagonist vs. antagonist rivalries? Let us know in the comments below!

Financial management analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Financial management analysis - Essay Example The loan taken by the company is paid back at some future specified date. The interest at which the debt financing is done is called the cost of debt Emmanuel (2012). In debt financing full ownership is retained by the company but the company has to repay the sum due on bonds issued or loan taken before repaying the equity investors. A company with high debt-equity ratio means a company which is highly leveraged or highly reared. According to Chandra (2011) the debt-equity ratio or leverage of a business firm influences the cost of capital and simultaneously the value of the firm. In order to form the desired capital structure a business should be based on minimum cost of capital and maximum value possible of the firm. The portion of capital which is raised by sale of shares or stock is known as equity capital. This capital is owned by the shareholders and involves certain level of shareholders expectation on the investment made. In order to retain the shareholder investment it is ve ry important to ensure return in the form of dividend and appreciation in share price. According to Wiley (2007) the risk of the shareholders is comparatively more than the debt-holders; however, in equity financing a distribution in ownership takes place. A company has two primary sources to raise its capital: debt and equity. According to Graham (2012) to measure the cost of capital of a firm, WACC technique is used. This technique allows the company to determine the accurate cost of financing of any project by allocating suitable weightage to the different sources of finance available . Walmart Stores Inc. is one of the old and renowned names in the retail industry that has been serving the nation with different retail structures like cash and carry stores, supercenters, apparel stores, bodegas, small discount stores, food and drugs, general merchandise stores and restaurants. The company is committed to serve the

Financial Accounting Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Financial Accounting Theory - Essay Example One of the prominent implementations of accounting theory is in terms of developing normative standards. In these regards, accounting theory functions as a means of legitimizing the discipline of accounting in that articulates standards and regulations that establish public faith in the process (Deegan & Unerman 2011). Specific instances such prescriptive theories are implemented can be witnessed in terms of assets, wherein normative theories explore how these elements should be recorded (Deegan & Unerman 2011). Another such instance is prescriptive standards regarding the amount of accounting information that should be supplied to various stakeholders. In addition to normative accounting theories, there is also predictive or positivist accounting theories. Positivist theory seeks to develop predictive insights based on objective occurrences. There is an array of positivist perspectives. For instance, it’s noted that positivist theory seeks to make predications regarding the n ature of managerial compensation and accounting practices (Deegan & Unerman 2011). In these ways positivist accounting theories function both to allow investors or stakeholders increased insight into accounting motivations, as well as a means of gaining a broader understanding of financial markets as a means of contributing to more accurate normative structures. There are a number of concerns related to positivist accounting theory. To an extent I would say that I am a positivist. The notion of positivist accounting is linked to philosophical notions of theory. While one of the central tenants of positivist accounting theory is that markets are efficient, clearly this constitutes a weak version of the EMH as contained within it is the notion that corporations and accountants will act in self-interest contingent upon at times a partial understanding that accounting procedures will affect market conditions (Tinker, Merino, and Neimark 1982). I accept the notion this weak notion of EMH , with markets responding to all available information, but also recognize that in many situations human behavior plays a highly important role in security valuations. Not simply in investor behavior, but also in the self-interested behavior of accounting professionals. Considering that markets are oftentimes driven by external and internal behavioral elements the propensity of a positivist approach to accounting theory, while to a great degree fallible, nonetheless holds the propensity towards tangible and functional insight (Chua 1986). In these regards I believe that positivist theoretical explanations of accounting practices and market conditions are essential to a progressive understanding of both human behavior and market impact. Ultimately, a furthered understanding, while understandable imperfect, can still contribute to more equitable and transparent accounting practices. In these regards, I while I would not entirely refer to myself as positivist; I recognize the importanc e and effectiveness of positivist theory to the accounting profession. 2. Explain why you think regulation of financial accounting is needed or not needed. Recent occurrences in financial markets have brought to light the tremendous need for regulation of financial accounting. From an overarching qualitative perspective, one considers erroneous accounting procedures in organizations such as Enron, or the recent MF Global scandal wherein customer funds were inappropriately

Business Placement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Business Placement - Essay Example For the purpose of this assignment, the fields selected are energy, FMCG and Information Technology. The reason for selecting FMCG and energy is their extensive nature and opportunities of having employments on global scale. There are many companies in these sectors that are operating on global scale e.g. Nestle, Unilever, P&G, 3M, Philip Moris, British American Tobacco, Colgate-Palmolive, Kellog etc. On the other hand, companies operating in these industries at small and medium level are also using e-commerce and other techniques to expand their operations beyond borders through imports and exports. If American industry is explored alone, the market is quite extensive and there is still a room for new entrants to exploit opportunities offered by this industry. My third choice would be IT sector. The reason for selecting IT industry is its robust and highly creative nature. Everyday new applications and products are coming into market and there is a never-ending need for innovative p roducts and services. In order to understand dynamics of each industry, it is important to explore how they operate individually, what kind of career prospects and remuneration they offer along with skills required by each of them. For this purpose, an extensive industry analysis is performed with reference to FMCG, energy and IT sector in United States. This analysis will further help in analyzing career opportunities available in respective fields of employment. The research regarding best employers was performed with the help of various online sources and periodicals such as business insiders, Forbes, CNN Money. With the help of this research, it was found that Google Inc was one of the best employers which not only provided better and growing career prospects but also a suitable working environment as well. Since work environment is one of the most important factor affecting employees’ satisfaction and their retention with their employers, therefore Google Inc would be my future prospective employer from IT sector (CNN Money, 2013). Another top employer is 3M from FMCG sector. Lastly, Devon Energy company would be a preferred employer from energy sector. 2.0 Energy Sector in United States The United States is named as the market leader when it comes to global energy sector. Similarly, with increase in commercial and domestic consumers, it is also the biggest user of energy resources. The industry itself has various kinds of sub-fields such as renewable energy and fuel, oil and gas, coal and nuclear energy, industrial energy efficiency, smart grid etc. The energy sector of United States alone contributes $ 6billion in global energy market (SelectUSA-Energy, 2013). The employers in this field mainly perform integrated process, exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, marine businesses, and service and supply. According to American Petroleum Institute (2013), â€Å" The industry also supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.3 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested over $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.†

The obstacles to work at home and telecommuting programs Essay

The obstacles to work at home and telecommuting programs - Essay Example Most employees would of course want to hire people they see in person to make sure they are capable for the job and that, they are trustworthy. Trust is an issue in telecommuting programs. In relation to the aforementioned problem, employers are also concerned about collaboration among employees. Since they are not able to see the employees, employers are worried that in times of troubles, as it is a natural thing that arise in companies, the employees could collaborate against the company. This is a difficult situation for telecommuting in contrast to the traditional work programs wherein employers can easily settle issues that arise and control further damage to the company because they can easily determine the cause of the problems and the solutions to them. Whereas, in telecommuting, the resolution can prove to be difficult because the employees who caused troubles are difficult to determine and deal with. Despite these obstacles, the modern world demands more telecommuters so that most employers can do nothing but take the risks and find out more remedies to at least limit the negative consequences of

MIMA-123 evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

MIMA-123 evaluation - Essay Example Dombrock defined an unrecognized red cell antigen, which was ultimately named Doa (Swanson et al.1965). Eight years later, the antithetical antigen to Doa was identified and appropriately named Dob (Molthan et al 1973). The two antigens were put in the Dombrock blood group system (DO) and assigned IBST 014 by the International Society for Blood Transfusion (Lewis et al.1985). The Dombrock blood group started as a polymorphic system comprised of the two alleles, DOA and DOB. The antigens Doa and Dob are found on a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-linked glycoprotein belonging to the ADP-ribosyltransferases (ARTs) family. ARTs catalyze the transfer of ADP-ribose from ÃŽ ²-NAD+ to certain amino acid residues of target proteins (Ueda & Hayaishi, 1985). ADP-ribosylation is physiologically important because the process leads to protein inactivation, and in some cases pathogenecity; because this action has been related to that of bacterial toxins (Corda & Di Girolamo, 2003). In 1992, it was discovered that the Gregory (Gya) negative phenotype RBCs were also Do (a-b-) in addition to being Holley (Hy) and Joseph (Joa) negative as previously described (Banks et al.1992). Gya and Hy are high prevalence antigens which were first described in 1967, while the Joa antigen was described in 1972 (Reid 2003). Through immunoblotting analysis, Gya, Hy, and Joa antigens we re found on the same glycoprotein where the Do antigens reside (Spring et al.1994). The Gy (a-) phenotype was determined to be the null Dombrock (Donull) phenotype (Reid, 2003). Consequently, Gya, Hy, and Joa antigens were included in the Dombrock blood group system. In 2009, a new Do-related high-prevalence antigen named DOYA was discovered and added to the Dombrock group (Warke et al.2008; Daniels et al.2009), bringing the total to six distinct antigens in the Dombrock blood group. The current ISBT terminology for the Dombrock blood group system is shown in

The life of Thomas Alva Edison a Historical Look Research Paper

The life of Thomas Alva Edison a Historical Look - Research Paper Example This happened after he was credit with the creation of the first research laboratory for industrial use in Menlo Park (Melosi, 2008). Some of his contribution included the phonograph, electric bulb, telegraph, kinetograph and alkaline storage batteries (Stross, 2007). His work has been remembered since his death in the year 1931. Early life Thomas was born on February 11 the year 1847 in Milan, Ohio. He was the youngest child in his family after his mother had lost two children in their early life. After being one of the first elites in the United States, he has had tremendous contribution to both technical and theoretical works. His life career was a business and inventor (Stout, 2008). He used his inventions to make money since at the time most of the Elites in the United States had started accumulating wealth. Due to their education, they had been respect in the society and most took this advantage to come up with new ideas of wealth creation. His hometown was a very busy one and contributed to his early works as a youth. However, after the railway bypassed Milan, it led to the fading of trade in the area. Trade was the main social activity and source of income. After trade had faded, Thomas and his family moved to Port Huron where they started a new life with hopes of better sources of income. In this new location, Thomas gained most of his early education from his mother who by then was a schoolteacher. Since it was her son’s life, she took great care of him and provided extensive education program. She was highly motivated by his son’s interest in science and external matters. He wanted to know how life was outside the Huron town. Early Career: a historical look At the age of 12, Thomas had some much interest in locomotives and especially due to reason that the railway had passed through his previous hometown. To learn more about the systems, he secured a job with a newspaper company to sell newspapers, novels, and magazines. This also motiv ated him in his reading during his free time. He visited the library several times to read books on science. After a short time selling newspapers, he started publishing his own newspaper known as the Weekly Herald. Due to his focus on railways, the paper featured railroad matters and hence attracted a large number of subscriptions from Grand Trunk. Profits from his newspaper publishing company were used to start a laboratory, which was to be used in science experiments. Unfortunately, he started losing his hearing caused by ear infections while he was a child. On scrutiny, he claimed that it was an asset since he did not have to hear what people told him as he slept. It also helped him during his reading sessions since there were no distractions for the outside. Profits from his newspaper publishing company were used to start a laboratory, which was to be used in science experiments. At the age of 24, he had already started a laboratory and factory across the Hudson River in Newark , New Jersey. He had carried out a research and noted that the people of Newark needed telegraph machines for their businesses to run well. His telegraph business started picking up after he added installations that made relaying of two messages to different lines at the same time possible. To increase the capital base, he made partnerships with the highest available bidders. His company became of Western Union’

MIMA-123 evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

MIMA-123 evaluation - Essay Example Dombrock defined an unrecognized red cell antigen, which was ultimately named Doa (Swanson et al.1965). Eight years later, the antithetical antigen to Doa was identified and appropriately named Dob (Molthan et al 1973). The two antigens were put in the Dombrock blood group system (DO) and assigned IBST 014 by the International Society for Blood Transfusion (Lewis et al.1985). The Dombrock blood group started as a polymorphic system comprised of the two alleles, DOA and DOB. The antigens Doa and Dob are found on a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-linked glycoprotein belonging to the ADP-ribosyltransferases (ARTs) family. ARTs catalyze the transfer of ADP-ribose from ÃŽ ²-NAD+ to certain amino acid residues of target proteins (Ueda & Hayaishi, 1985). ADP-ribosylation is physiologically important because the process leads to protein inactivation, and in some cases pathogenecity; because this action has been related to that of bacterial toxins (Corda & Di Girolamo, 2003). In 1992, it was discovered that the Gregory (Gya) negative phenotype RBCs were also Do (a-b-) in addition to being Holley (Hy) and Joseph (Joa) negative as previously described (Banks et al.1992). Gya and Hy are high prevalence antigens which were first described in 1967, while the Joa antigen was described in 1972 (Reid 2003). Through immunoblotting analysis, Gya, Hy, and Joa antigens we re found on the same glycoprotein where the Do antigens reside (Spring et al.1994). The Gy (a-) phenotype was determined to be the null Dombrock (Donull) phenotype (Reid, 2003). Consequently, Gya, Hy, and Joa antigens were included in the Dombrock blood group system. In 2009, a new Do-related high-prevalence antigen named DOYA was discovered and added to the Dombrock group (Warke et al.2008; Daniels et al.2009), bringing the total to six distinct antigens in the Dombrock blood group. The current ISBT terminology for the Dombrock blood group system is shown in

An Analysis of Space and Place in Cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

An Analysis of Space and Place in Cinema - Essay Example The essay "An Analysis of Space and Place in Cinema" presents an overview of film space and place definitions considering their role in the aesthetic perfection of a film. Space and place in cinema is a topic worth on the go discussion. Film space is not a topic that can be glanced at untailored. Space in cinema is determined by the director, who is the first viewer when the angles which are not relevant for creating the space are screened out by him. Film space is a term that can be interpreted in various perspectives. In a film, space is used in a set design that is both literal and metaphorical. As an extension to this particular point, it can be stated that when conceptions of space are re-orientated it is not simply within a particular scene, but its significance is extended through the entire film. More specifically, an object on the wall shown in the first scene may not be brought into the film again; in spite of this, its significance stays behind. Actor’s body in space is the next level of significance. This idea can be expanded, the actor’s dimensions and negotiations of space and filmmaker’s skill to represent a movement through space. The concept space can be comprehended only by moving through spaces. In such an outlook the acting body is recognized as the site of transference between the viewer and the actual site of the film. Apart from this, the manipulation and creation of the space are by the camera eye. And in cinema, dissimilar pieces are put into place.

Production Criticism of Oedipus the King Essay Example for Free

Production Criticism of Oedipus the King Essay The directorial concept of the play started with an overall picture of melancholy and a suggestion that the story is indeed a tragedy. The stage, as the foundation of the entire scene, has been designed to differentiate the levels of society, thus, it has different levels of platforms and steps, but leaving the center of the stage flattest, where most of the characters will be performing. The materials used for the platforms are of different types. The higher steps leading to the outskirts of the stage look like they were made with ordinary flat rocks, much like the ones we see in the old Jerusalem. The steps were made simply for the purpose of being pathways men can walk on. Nothing fashionable. The center of the stage has a different design, because I noticed that the flooring is much more modern than the flat rocks around it. The material of the floor of the center stage has a much smoother quality, although it was carved like bricks, like the ones on the streets of Paris, France. The floor carvings are designed like segmented rings that all leads to one focal point, much like the bytes in a compact disc. The most prominent part of the stage is the palace of Oedipus, the King. It stands so proud with its walls extending all the way to the top that it scares you of its command of authority and power. It stood so high and proud that it looked like it reached the heavens and looks infinite. The material of it was the smoothest of all. It has the most modern design in the stage. The cement has a slate gray color mixed with white streaks that suggested it must be made of marble†¦the strongest among the rocks on stage. That’s how powerful Oedipus, as a king, is. He is believed to be the savior of Thebes when he defeated the Sphinx by answering the most difficult riddle. The play is an obvious â€Å"non-dramatic pageantry,† because the elements of it were present and done in the stage. There is an â€Å"icon† or focal point, which usually is a â€Å"religious artifact or a saint. † (Theatrical Production, Encyclop? dia Britannica. ). There was a huge cross with a white cloth resting on its arm at the middle of the highest outstkirt platform. This is its focal point because it looks religious enough to suggest it’s the cross of Jesus Christ. Overall, the environment of the stage is melancholic. The color of the stage’s floor to the very tall palace is in the neutral shade. Again, nothing special. This just suggests the hue of sorrow, which is the shade of gray. The sorrowful environment was coupled with the stage lights, which made the scene look softer and mellower. The lights come from under the outskirts’ platforms, which gave a lot of shadow on the stage. The second light will be coming from directly above the stage, which gives all little bit of glow on the heads of the characters, but not enough light to brighten the faces of every actor. The poor lighting made it felt like the characters are speaking to me personally, in my deepest thoughts. It dawned to me that whenever I am depressed or whenever I wanted to be alone, I tend to hate bright lights. Such is the feeling of someone in wakes, especially those wakes inside chapels. The serene, soothing look of a funeral scene in a chapel is the aimed environment here. The background lights on the outskirts of the stage changes as the mood of the scene changes too. Even though the shadow was effective enough to suggest sorrow, the light blue hue of the background defined the mood. When the ugly truth of Oedipus’ character was nearly revealed, the background light turned into a reddish hue, as if the sun was setting. It gave a red glow that suggested the horrible feeling of the moment. It also made the blood coming out from Oedipus’ eyes look thick and black, which made the suffering grievous enough to die. Sounds make the hearts beat rapidly and loses one’s breath. From beginning until the end, the background music created the feeling that it is tragic. When Tiresius, the seer, showed up, there was annoying background music created by a type of violin, which made it felt like there was great irony and perversity in the scene. The horting sound of the violin made my heart twist and my throat a bit choked because I felt the tension due to the sound. It is interesting though, how the director was able to coordinate all aspects of production to make the playscript fit his directorial concept. Of course, the playscript was changed to make it more dramatic and the words appealing to the audience. The playscript was â€Å"Bowdlerized,† or words were changed to fit the lingo of the modern audience. (Dr. Eric W. Trumbull. ). Although there weren’t any fancy or colorful props on the stage, the characters are the ones that still mattered the most. Though the faces of the characters generally remained stiff throughout, their voices are full of color. Loudness and softness of the voices stated the mood. There was also a striking difference on the characters’ costumes, each has it’s own different era to represent; a group will be wearing costumes of Sophocle’s generation, another wearing the fashion of the early twentieth century, while another wearing the fashion of the latest trend. Still, the colors of the costumes were nothing fancier than red, white and gold. The colors of the cloths are in plain solid colors too. The characters’ spotlight are their white costumes, or something white in their costumes. For example, the choruses were all dressed in black except the ribbon on the neck, which is pure white. This gives the picture that their heads are floating and the rest of the body is invisible. The director’s aim to present a non-dramatical pageant play that won’t bore the modern audience so far caught my attention. He may have aimed to make the production profit a lot more by involving â€Å"famous† actors to play the role, as part of his marketing strategy. (Dr. Eric W. Trumbull. ). The production is an art in itself, and Don Taylor would’ve still passed as very good theatrical director. The play is directed gearing away from the Shakespearean concept of production, which made it quite different to the taste of theatrical fans, and thus, worth watching and recommending.

cognitive models and theories

cognitive models and theories

Circus-circus Summary :: essays research papers

Circus-Circus was an unprofitable business and a small time casino when William Bennett and William Pennington purchased it in 1974 for $50,000. With a new marketing program in place and a stock offering in October of 1983, the company was rejuvenated. What it has become is a hotel/casino that is targeted mainly towards middle income gamblers as well as family oriented vacationers, but has not strayed away from the high rollers that are found in most casinos. With the focus being on many market segments, along with it's amusement park type atmosphere, this company can be categorized as a broad differentiator. Most recently, to go along with their amusement park atmosphere, Circus-Circus has broke ground into developing an aquatic environment that has beaches, snorkeling reef, and a swim-up shark exhibit. 2. ww 1. Financial Ratio Analysis 1997  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1996  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1995 A. Current Ratio 151,849/129,768 124,380/95,532  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   110,923/82,000   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1.17 times 1.3 times 1.35 times B. Total Debt to 1,694,739/ 968,161/ 826,424/ Total Assets 2,729,111  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2,213,503 1,512,548   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   62%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  43%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  55% C. Asset Turnover 1,170,182/  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1,299,596/  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1,334,250/ 2,729,111  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2,213,503  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1,512,548   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   43%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   59%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   88%   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The results for current ratio are favorable. It states that Circus-Circus can pay off their short run debt with money to spare. Total debt to total asset is also favorable showing that they do not borrow much money that is listed as an asset. Asset turnover, however, is unfavorable. It was not as bad in 1995, but they are only making back about half of what they are spending. This is most likely due to the new aquatic addition they are putting adding. 4.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Circus-Circus' stock has been in somewhat of a slump since mid-March when the stock was at 26, but in June of 1998, had plummeted to 16. One of the main reasons for the drop is the rumor that Hilton Hotels has planned a takeover of the business.

Happy people make people happy Essay

Like yawning, many recent studies have proved that laughter is contagious. Does this necessarily imply that when you smile to a complete stranger, he will smile back to you? Or on the other hand, when you frown at a complete stranger, he will frown at you as well? To find out the answer, we designed an experiment to test will happy people make people happy. Independent variables are the factors we manipulated. There are two independent variables in this test. The first one is our emotion conditions when having eye contact with the strangers, i.e. smile condition, frown condition and control condition. We define smile condition as smiling without teeth, frown condition as knitting our brows, and control condition as having a neutral facial expression. The second one is gender. To understand if gender matching matters, we will test the three conditions with strangers with the same gender and the opposite gender. Dependent variables are the variables being tested in the experiment. In this test, the dependent variables are the responses from the participants. We will rate their responded expression in 5 categories: clear frown, small frown, neutral, small smile, and clear smile. However, there are confounding factors that may affect the results of the experiment. Confounds are the extraneous variables in an experimental design that correlates with both the independent and dependent variables. Possible confound is the original facial expression of participants. Randomly choosing participants is a way to prevent confounds. To further eliminate confounds, we will choose complete strangers as participants and will not tell them about our test beforehand as they may confound the result by giving us what they believe we want to see. The last thing we do is to execute this test in a consistent way. We have strict control over our facial expression to make sure that our expressions will not defer a lot among participants. This is not a simple test as what we originally consider. The first obstacle we encounter is not having enough confidence to frown at people. It is not difficult to smile at strangers, but frowning at strangers is somewhat weird  that we hesitate for a long time before having confidence to complete the test. The second obstacle we encounter is there are possible biases in choosing participants. For example, we tend to choose participants with the same race or at similar ages with us. This may create possible confounding factors to the test. The last obstacle we encounter is finding suitable participants. Since we want to choose participants that are walking alone and not distracted by phones or music, surprisingly there are only a few can be found around campus. It takes us quite a lot of effort and time in finding suitable participants for the test. Before conducting the test, we state our hypothesis as when we smile to people, people will smile back to us; whereas when we frown at people, people will frown at us as well. We come out with this hypothesis because we believe ones emotion can influence others, that is when there are optimistic and happy people in a group, other members in the group will become happy more easily; whereas when people in a group are generally in a pessimistic and unhappy mood, other members in the group will be influenced and become unhappy as well.

Papers

1. Make some readings about the human person and it's nature. Then create an essay guided by the following questions: (a) What is the Human Person? (b) What is the nature of the human person; and (c) How does a person attain his highest potential that can create a possitive result towards society?. Your essay must be composed of at least 150 words 2. Utang na Loob and Bahala na are two of the most familiar characteristics of most filipinos. Choose one of these two characteristic and discuss your own opinion about it. 3. In your own observation, describe the feature of the Filipino Family nowadays. 4. Give what values are being pointed out by the following quotations: a. â€Å"treat life with respect and life itself will reveal its beauty to you. † b. â€Å"We can get so involved in what we are doing that we forget why we are doing it. We are so involved in living that we forget the purpose of living. We get so involved in pursuing the things money can buy that we forget the things that money can't buy. † c. â€Å"Justice is giving every man his due. † d. Each man may differ in worldly stature, but each one bears the same amount of dignity as another and all share one common destiny. † e. â€Å"There is no truth and no good in lies† f. † The real heroes among us are those who live their lives daily in genuine concern for the welfare of the others. g. â€Å"Let every individual and institution now think and act as a responsible trustee of Earth, seeking choices in ecology, economics and ethics that will provide a sustainable future, eliminate pollution, poverty and violence, awaken the wonder of life and foster peaceful progress in the human adventure. â€Å"

Impact of Job satisfaction on employees Essay

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of motivation on job satisfaction (dissatisfaction) of journalistic employees employed by the national public broadcaster. The idea was to profile factors causing high motivation and job satisfaction and also to profile those factors that contribute low motivation and dissatisfaction at work. The rationale for the study was simply an observation that some employees seem better adjusted and happy at work and are able to cope well with the demands of the working environment while others are not. Another observation is that management seem not to be aware of what motivates their subordinates and to strategically utilize those motivational tools to maintain high levels of job satisfaction (or at least low levels of job dissatisfaction), high productivity and morale. The target sample was all journalistic staff working in the television and radio news rooms of the national public broadcaster in South Africa. The profile of the respondents included a variety of ages, gender, races, educational backgrounds, different work locations, different marital statuses and managers and non-managers. Data was collected using a questionnaire that was randomly distributed at Head Office in Auckland Park and to all the nine regional offices of the SABC. The major findings of this investigation was that three motivational factors, namely achievement, recognition and work itself cause 88% job satisfaction; while hygiene factors cause 12% job satisfaction. At the same time the research also found that three hygiene factors, namely supervision,  company policy and administration and  interpersonal relations with supervisors cause 60% job dissatisfaction; while motivational factors, namely achievement and recognition cause 40% job dissatisfaction. These results reflect the work attitudes of employees at the time of this research. The study illustrates that when employees are happy and satisfied in their  jobs, their level of motivation is high and they perform at peak all the time. On the other hand, when employees are unhappy and dissatisfied at work, their level of motivation is low and they don’t perform at peak level. The study recommends strategies of how management can utilize achievement, recognition and work itself as a tool to keep employees motivated and satisfied in their jobs. It also recommends ways by which management can eliminate low motivation and job dissatisfaction amongst employees by improving management skills, knowledge and competencies of managers, building relations between managers and subordinates and also improving the quality of internal communication with employees especially on policy and administrative matters. Lawler (1973) in Dipboye, Smith and Howell (2000) incorporated the concepts of attained versus desired needs in his model of facet satisfaction. This model is an extension of the Porter-Lawler (1968) of motivation explained above. It is a facet satisfaction model because satisfaction with various components or facets of a job, such as supervision, pay, or the work itself, is considered. Lawler’s model specifies that workers compare what their jobs should provide in terms of job facets, such as promotions and pay, to what they currently receive from their jobs. However, simple need comparison theory is extended by also weighing the influence of certain worker characteristics (such as skills, training, and age) and job characteristics (such as degree of responsibility and difficulty). In addition, the model draws concepts from the equity theory of motivation by assuming that workers ultimately determine their job satisfaction by comparing their relevant job inputs and outputs to referent (comparison) others (Dipboye, Smith and Howell, 2000:149-150). Adapted: Figure 2.2

Without the Economic Assistance of the U.S., Great Britain would of Essay

Without the Economic Assistance of the U.S., Great Britain would of Industrially Collapsed during World War II - Essay Example It also depicted some interesting facts about the Allied Victory and the different phases that Britain and America experienced. It was by the end of this very devastating war that America emerged as a new, popular and powerful nation in the world. Often the World War II is referred to as the â€Å"Good War† representing that in the war the good forces triumphed over the evil. Since every war has its aftermaths especially when it’s a widespread conflict and is quite destructive as was the World War II. The role of United States during the outbreak of World War II in 1939 had been quite neutral. However, when the Germany victories began to rise in Europe it was then that president Roosevelt considered being the ally of Britain and started seeking ways through which they can aid Britain while not indulging themselves in the war. Under its Neutrality Act initially by which only some cash and carry purchases were made by the belligerents, in the mid of 1940s it was declared by president Roosevelt to send US weapons to Britain in surplus amounts (Hickman n.d.).1. The support provided to Britain was increased in view of the devastating setbacks in the war when the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Luxemburg and France fell to Nazis. Although America had taken a stance on providing a split two-to-one favor and to remain out of the war at every cost even at the stake of Britain’s loss. However by the end of 1940 in November, America decided to aid Britain and to take the risk of a war (Cole 1983)2. This was even declared by the candidates running for the Presidential elections in America 1940 just three days before the elections that: â€Å"Our policy is to give all possible material aid to the nations which still resist aggression across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans† (Roosevelt) and â€Å"All of us – Republicans, Democrats and Independents – believe in giving aid to the heroic British people. We must make available to them the products of our industry† (Willkie). Thus, showing America’s utmost interest in providing aid to Britain (Churchill 1949)3 By March, 1941 America had maintained its stance of staying away from war and kept its isolationist sentiment, while Britain kept on fighting the war alone. The effects of war on the financial standing of Britain were apparent, its financial assets were ending, the Commonwealth assets from overseas were also dried up, and it had no aid coming from anyplace. At that time it was only the Cash and Carry option provided by America that was available to Britain for buying the war supplies and under this it was using American destroyers to protect the shipments. It was quite evident from the conditions that Britain was reaching the stage of Bankruptcy. This soon led to the Lend-Lease Act of March, 1941 that made America an ally for Britain. Under this Act, Britain was given the privilege to buy the war good without having to pay America upfront for the go ods. Hence, Britain was given over $1 billion as aid at the end of the year believing it to be sufficient amount to keep Britain standing during the war time. It has been stated in the UK’s Guardian Unlimited that, under the American Lend-Lease Act, it transferred nearly $48 billion worth of war good to different nations during the period March 1941 to September 1945, out of which the aid send to Britain amounted to nearly $21 billion which nearly equaled to UKs entire years gross national product. The major good under the Lend-Lease included

Danger to Bees is Danger to Us Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Danger to Bees is Danger to Us - Research Paper Example Besides, when bees feel threatened, depending on their strain they can sting once and in some cases respond to threats in great numbers and even can pursue intruders with more persistence. Bees remain the significant commercial pollinators of crops that rely on animal pollination which account for 35% of world food production (Genersch 87). Therefore, bees are vital for economic and sustainable agriculture as well as food security; hence, their threat translates to human threat. For instance, honeybees and their health has been a major topic in the recent past considering their significant role in pollination and food production. Although some exaggerated suggestions claim that humankind would not survive long if bees disappear, production of many fruits and crops that contribute to healthy diet rely on animal pollination. Therefore, a consideration that goes beyond caloric to consider a balanced and nationally valuable diet animal pollinators remain to be essential, which signifies the importance of honey bees in crop production. Independent crop pollination that never rely on animal pollination account for about 65% and 90% of the remaining 35% is carried out by honeybees. Hence, although demise of bees may not spell the end of human kind, the human diet if honeybees become extinct will be greatly impoverished with the decline of bees. Therefore, the decrease of honeybees and their connection to worldwide food security make the decrease of bees an increasing concern for people because of the declining numbers of bees. Since pollination of crops in North America as well as Europe heavily relies on honeybees, the prevailing development of loss of honeybees is alarming though different nations are affected differently. The decline in number of honeybees in the 1990s within Europe attributed to political as well as economic upheaval caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Several countries in the soviet used honey as form of currency, which motivated people t o keep bees but after the economic system changed, honey lost its economic relevance, which forced people to give up beekeeping. These economic links imply sustainable economic benefits for beekeepers in nations with declining bees and beehive management can contribute to stabilization or increase of bees or increase of managed beehives (Genersch 88). The prevailing bee losses are not sustainable and the trend is down as is the case with the quality of bees, which if not handled would lead to lose of many bees. The gravity of the threat to bees was acknowledged when the European commission signified its intention of imposing a ban on class of pesticides often referred to as neonicotinoids, which are widely used in the world (Grossman). This class of pesticides is considered a leading cause of colony collapse in bees; hence, the European commission had to announce the controversial decision following the conclusion by the European Food Safety Agency that pesticides represent acute ri sk to bees. The action by the European commission came as scientists and regulators showed their increased concern regarding the impact of colony collapse on the world’s food supply since many of the planet’s significant food crops rely on insect pollination. According to Grossman, a study regarding crop systems in 6 continents indicated