Welfare Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Welfare Law - Essay Example In order to manage radical reform we should have the understanding of how sickness and disability might affect our ability to work. In affect, a length of time causing delays in the work cycle as a result. This pause must be considered as a delay in fulfilling work obligations, not a cessation of it. Each of us in one way or another would have benefits for sickness and disability, but we first must understand the Pension Act of 2004 to understand what benefits we have. The Pension Act of 2004 assists employers and employees in protecting members' benefits, while the Financial Assistance Scheme provides help to those who might have lost out before the Pension Protection Fund was established. The Pension Protection Fund goes hand in hand with measures in the Act that primarily help employers to provide pensions. This change would, in effect, compliment the radical tax simplification in this year's Finance Act, which from April 2006 will replace today's eight separate tax regimes with one single regime. The third key dimension of the Act would include a set of measures that will empower people to plan, work and save for their retirement. Employers have a significant role to play in the pensions partnership. This role is one of providing access, information and contributions to pensions for their employees. The workplace would be an effective environment through which people have the ability to save. Administration is more efficient and there would in fact be tax advantages for the employer and the employee. The existence of a good pension provision helps staff recruitment, retention and motivation. Another contributor to the pensions partnership is the Pensions Commission. It in effect would set up the publication of the Green Paper to monitor and independently review the private pensions and long-term savings systems. As a result of ensuing consultation, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions published 'Working and Saving for Retirement: Action on Occupational Pensions' [Cm 5835]. This publication focused increasinly on needs such as member protection which rank alongside other similarly significant themes. It presaged primary legislation across the areas consulted. Areas consulted would have included a Pension Protection Fund to compensate members of defined benefit and hybrid schemes whose employers become insolvent leaving the pensions scheme unable to meet its liabilities. The European Directive on the Activities and Supervision of Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision was adopted in September 2003 for implementation by September 2005. The Government wishes for people to make informed choices about how and when to save, and how long to work, so they receive the income they expect in retirement. The Government hopes to empower older people to improve their retirement prospects by keeping them active for longer periods of time. The current state pension age is 65. The age is set here so that no-one is forced to work beyond that unless they want too. But, by tackling age discrimination and freeing people to work part-time while drawing a pension, it hopes to make working longer more attractive. There are plans to: provide a better option for people who choose to draw their State Pension beyond their State Pension age - including a new option to take a lump sum and use it in any manner. ensure that compulsory retirement ages unlawful, unless employers can show that they are objectively justified. allow people to continue working for the same employers while drawing

Human motivation Essay Example for Free

Human motivation Essay

Literature During the Naturalistic Period :: Literature Essays Litarary Analysis

Literature During the Naturalistic Period What is the one struggle that all human beings have in common? It is life itself. As important as humans think they are, in the scheme of reality, the human race is not that significant. During the late eighteenth century and the earlier nineteenth century, authors such as Émile Zola, Jack London, and Stephen Crane and poets such as Robert Frost and Wallace Stevens were struggling with leaving behind traditional attitudes and finding a new philosophy of life. These writers, along with many others, are known for writing during the Naturalistic time period. Literature of Naturalism, just as all literature does, reflects the attitudes and events happening during this time. The world was changing in many more ways than ever before. Traditional unquestioned beliefs had fallen by the wayside because of many factors but especially with the introduction of Darwin's book, On the Origin of Species. Darwin's view that humans evolved and were not created by some Supreme Being startled societ y, especially the religious community. For the first time, society began to question the mainstay of their religious beliefs. In the economic realm, Karl Marx was expounding his view of socialism. Economic factors had a profound effect on the people of this time as well. The industrialization and the urbanization that were occurring were forcing changes on every front of life. Along with the scientific and social advancements of the world at this time, psychology was breaking ground to become an important science of its own. Freud with his view of why people act the way they do and Jung with his thoughts on the collective unconscious were offering new thought and insight about human behavior. However, with the removing of the old beliefs that gave humans a sense of direction and order in their lives, the search, which often included the loss of oneself, needed to be embarked upon so that people of this era could find some sort of direction in the new world of knowledge and confusion. Never before or since this time has there been such a wandering in the desert of uncertainty. Therefore, it is quite natural that the authors of this period reflect all of the turmoil created by the amount of knowledge that was being shared and that was trying to be comprehended. Authors of this time were at the forefront of this investigation. Naturalistic writers tend to write in a somewhat scientific method because their characters are placed in a situation where the forces of nature or the environment are imposed upon them.

Alienation & People

Realist. A word, which would greatly, depicts the ascendancy of Herman Melville’s work – Bartleby, the Scrivener. An oeuvre that depicts and denounces the harsh conditions of workers, particularly of the copyists of laws during his time. As such, the opus serves as an eye-opener for the whole humanity. It embarks upon the exploitation and dehumanization of an individual in a capitalist society wherein accumulation of capital is the primary if not the only goal of the bourgeoisie. As such, this results to the seemingly obliviousness of the bourgeoisie to the real conditions and needs of his employees.This can be evidently seen in the story as the narrator gives only about four cents a folio, that is four cents for one hundred words of every copied document. One may argue that such amount has a great value during that period. Indeed it may be the case. However, if one would analyze the value of the wage given compared to the laborious task of a scrivener, it can be deduce d that the given wage evidently does not equally compensate for the arduous job of a scrivener. The clear manifestation of such is the fact that employees in the story cannot provide for themselves an adequate supply of their basic necessities.In the epoch of industrialization and technological advancements, it is quite paradoxical to see the employees subsisting in an adverse condition. Such order is the contradiction in a capitalist society. The story illustrates how at first an individual would succumb to a system which pledges social and economic change from its success in overthrowing the old form of society, the feudal system. As such he takes a particular wok under a new economic system, the proletariat in his desire to make himself a living and essentially, to make his life better. However, as his work continuous, he realizes that he is being exploited and alienated.First, he is alienated to his products; in this particular case the copies of law that Bartleby produces. As h e continuously produces products for his employer, his labor is being continuously objectified. If such is the case, then the number of things, which he produces in the external world yet does not belong to him continuously increases as he produces more. Hence, he is alienated in his products in two ways: first, by continuously producing products which does not belong to him; secondly, by increasing number of products he produces which he cannot acquire for he does not have the purchasing power to do so.Second, he is estranged from his labor. It is because his labor does not belong to him but to his employer. He works accordingly not from his own willingness to work rather to what his employer wanted him to do. His employer imposes on him what kind of work he should do. And this phenomenon is what Marx called as forced labor. As a result, his labor becomes mechanical and void of progress. Third, he is estranged from his species being. Human beings have the right to self-determinatio n. This feature separates him from other species and can only be carried out thru his life activity.However, his activity under the capitalist economy, his being tied in his work forbids him to exercise his life activity – his self-determination. Fourth, he is alienated to his self. This is due to the alienation he experienced from his product and labor wherein he is not anymore treated as a rational being or even a human being in his Isness rather a commodity needed by the capitalists to procure monopoly of capital. These alienations were clearly depicted in Bartleby, the Scrivener and were eventually realized by Bartleby.He realized that he is a victim of such exploitations. He struggles to reject the prevailing economic system together with its authority structure and exploitative practices. Its manifestations though not much articulated is the refusal of Bartleby to first do trivial tasks and eventually, to stop the demeaning work. Essentially, he stop to become a scriven er. Bartleby represents an â€Å"enlightened man† of his time even if he does not have the ideological grounding Marx and Hegel possessed during the emergence of the socialist ideology.However, such realizations places him in history. Undeniably, in every society where there is a class, there is a class struggle. As such, a bourgeoisie would do anything to neutralize if not to totally obliterate the emergence of an ideology, which challenges the prevailing one. As such, the narrator is the epitome of the bourgeoisie. This was shown by the pseudo-kindness he is offering to Bartleby, seemingly oblivious of the exploitation and alienation his class is causing to the majority.It is because if he indeed wanted to help Bartleby, he would do measures to step by step end such exploitation. Bartleby realizes how oppressed he is in a capitalist society yet he has not yet ponder upon what would topple down this kind of oppressive economic system as well as the manner on how the society can be changed. This can be attributed to his lack of education and knowledge of the basic principles of socialism, which is emerging during his time.Unfortunately, he passed away before he can rationalize on how the existing society can be revolutionized Evidently, Melville is depicting the realities of his society during his time – the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. As such, the struggle between the prevailing yet oppressive ideology during that epoche– capitalism and the ideology which challenges capitalism and aspires to eliminate the oppression within the society – communism. Source: Bartleby, the Scrivener. Herman Melville. http://www. yahoo. com.

Increasing the Age to 25 When Purchasing Alcohol

In today’s society, alcohol consumption has been taken on as a norm. It can be seen in every arena of life from been seen through the media or through our own personal eyes. When consumed in moderation, alcohol consumption can have some positive effects on individuals. One can get livelier, easier and relaxed. One can also talk more easily and feel less tired. According to some researchers, moderate alcohol use protects against cardiovascular diseases (Carlson, 2009). Socially, some people claim that it also has positive effects. It provides a lot of employment in the production, catering and retail of products and services in which alcohol plays a part. Also, people claim that alcoholic beverages help people socialize. However, if consumed when young, alcohol consumption can have a negative effect. Increasing the age limit on alcohol purchasing to 25 can decrease the consumption rate, misuse rate, and addiction rate among individuals. First, increasing the age limit on alcohol purchasing to 25 can decrease the overall consumption rate. By increasing the drinking age to 25, it can reduce consumption amongst young people because it will be harder to buy alcohol. According to U. S. Department of Health and Human Services for the Centers for Disease Control survey, approximately 52% of Americans over the age of 18 are regular drinkers (Sondik, 2010). The percentage of alcohol consumption can decrease with the increase of the age limit. Secondly, increasing the age limit on alcohol purchasing to 25 can decrease the overall misuse rate of alcohol among the younger crowd. By increasing the drinking age to 25, the group of impaired driver accidents and deaths may decrease. According to the U. S. Drunk Driving Car Accident Statistics, approximately 34% of individuals between the age of 21 and 24 did from vehicle accidents each year (NHTSA, 1997). The percentage of death from motor vehicle accidents and alcohol can decrease with the increase of the age limit. Thirdly, increasing the age limit on alcohol purchasing to 25 will decrease the percentage of individuals that become addicted to alcohol at a young age. The younger a person begins using alcohol, the greater the chance of developing alcohol dependence or abuse some time in their life. Of those who begin drinking at age-18, 16. 6% subsequently are classified with alcohol dependence and 7. 8% with alcohol abuse. If a person waits until age-25 before taking his or her first drink, these risks can decrease by over 60% (Grant, 1997). The percentage of individuals that become addicted to alcohol can decrease with the increase of the age limit. In conclusion, by increasing the age limit on alcohol purchasing to 25 can decrease the consumption rate, misuse rate, and addiction rate among individuals. The overall rates decreasing will benefit every individual in every age group. This can also allow individuals to experience the positive effects of alcohol consumption by being livelier, easier and more relaxed. Work Cited Carlson, Neil H. â€Å"Physiology of Behavior†. Allyn & Bacon, Incorporated: New York, New York. 1 Jan 2009. Grant, B. F. & Dawson, D. A. â€Å"Age of Onset of Alcohol Use and Its Association with DSM-IV Alcohol Abuse and Dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Study,† Journal of Substance Abuse, 9:103-110, 1997. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), â€Å"Traffic Safety Facts 1996: Alcohol,† 1997. http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/alcohol/SocialNorms_Strategy/images/SocialNorms .pdf Sondik, Edward J. â€Å"Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: National Health Interview Survey†. Series 10: Data From the National Health Interview Survey No. 249. August 2010. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_249.pdf

How Hamlets Behavior in Theater Differed essays

How Hamlet's Behavior in Theater Differed essays William Shakespeares theater differed from ours in several respects, but most notably in the fact that womens parts were played by males, often younger boys. Shakespeare at times uses this fact to make additional double entendres in his comedies, while the convention that men play women has to be accepted and accommodated in a different way in the tragedies. In Hamlet, the two important female parts are Gertrude, Hamlets mother, and Ophelia, the girl everyone assumes is his love interest, though he treats her as if she were not much of the time. The way Laurence Olivier treated these two characters in his 1949 film of Hamlet is in keeping with much critical opinion on the play and the characters. Olivier creates an image of Denmark as a forbidding place pounded by nature and in turmoil because of the death of a king. This is not to say that this film is merely conventional in its approach, for instead, Olivier's version is highly inventive and daring. It makes use of both stage and film conventions at one and the same time. The fabricated sets make the film an interior experience like the set on a stage, and what exteriors there are have been shot on a soundstage where every element is controlled. This means the image that is presented is the image desired, with no necessary bow to reality. The sky is always dark and foreboding. Day or night is dark and gloomy. Hamlet wanders from one stage set to another, taking the audience with him as the camera moves through short hallways that seem painted rather than real. Olivier plays Hamlet himself as a volatile figure, internalized at one moment, leaping from a parapet onto a lower stage in another. Olivier treats the soliloquies as the internalized mental processes of the character they seem to be by having them spoken in voice-over while Hamlet's face and body language mirror his thoughts. Olivier uses the conventions of filmmaking in the way he ...

Compare the Muslim Hajj with the Jewish Yom Kippur Essays - Hajj

Compare the Muslim Hajj with the Jewish Yom Kippur Essays - Hajj Compare the Muslim Hajj with the Jewish Yom Kippur September 08, 2014 Andre Key Module #4 Writing Assignment 3 Question: "Compare the Muslim Hajj with the Jewish Yom Kippur." Once a year, Muslims of every ethnic group, colour, social status, and culture gather together in Mecca and stand before the Kaaba praising Allah together. It is a ritual that is designed to promote the bonds of Islamic brotherhood and sisterhood by showing that everyone is equal in the eyes of Allah. The Hajj makes Muslims feel real importance of life here on earth, and the afterlife, by stripping away all markers of social status, wealth, and pride. In the Hajj all are truly equal. The Hajjis or pilgrims wear simple white clothes called Ihram. During the Hajj the Pilgrims perform acts of worship and they renew their sense of purpose in the world. Mecca is a place that is holy to all Muslims. It is so holy that no non-Muslim is allowed to enter. For Muslims, the Hajj is the fifth and final pillar of Islam. It occurs in the month of Dhul Hijjah which is the twelfth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. It is the journey that every sane adult Muslim must undertake at least once in their lives if they can afford it and are physically able. gathered travel from Makkah to Mina, a small village east of the city. There they spend the day and night in enormous tent cities, praying, reading the Quran, and resting for the next day. On the second day of the pilgrimage, the pilgrims leave Mina just after dawn to travel to the Plain of Arafat for the culminating experience of the Hajj. On what is known as the "Day of Arafat, the pilgrims spend the entire day standing (or sitting) near the Mount of Mercy, asking Allah for forgiveness and making supplications. Muslims around the world who are not at the pilgrimage join them in spirit by fasting for the day. After sunset on the Day of Arafat, the pilgrims leave and travel to a nearby open plain called Muzdalifah, roughly halfway between Arafat and Mina. There they spend the night praying, and collecting small stone pebbles to be used the following day. On the third day, the pilgrims move before sunrise, this time back to Mina. Here they throw their stone pebbles at pillars that represent the temptations of Satan. When throwing the stones, the pilgrims recall the story of Satans attempt to dissuade Prophet Abraham from following Gods command to sacrifice his son. The stones represent Abrahams rejection of Satan and the firmness of his faith.After casting the pebbles, most pilgrims slaughter an animal (often a sheep or a goat) and give away the meat to the poor. This is a symbolic act that shows their willingness to part with something that is precious to them, just as the Prophet Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his son at Gods command. Throughout the world, Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, on this day. This is the second of the two major holidays in Islam each year. The pilgrims then return to Makkah and perform seven tawaf, turns around the Kaaba, the house of worship built by Prophet Abraham and his son. In other rites, the pilgrims pray near a place On the first official day of the pilgrimage, the millions of pilgrims that have now called The Station of Abraham, which is reportedly where Abraham stood while constructing the Kaaba. The pilgrims also walk seven times between two small hills near the Kaaba (and enclosed in the Grand Mosques complex). This is done in remembrance of the plight of Abrahams wife Hajar, who desperately searched in the area for water for herself and her son, before a spring welled up in the desert for her. The pilgrims also drink from this ancient spring, known as Zamzam, which continues to flow today. In the days and weeks after Hajj, many Muslims take advantage of their travel time by visiting the city of Madinah, 270 miles north of Makkah. The people of Madinah provided refuge to the early Muslim community, when they were being persecuted by the powerful Makkan tribes. Madinah became a center for the

Gregorian Calendar - Overview and History

Gregorian Calendar - Overview and History In the year 1572, Ugo Boncompagni became Pope Gregory XIII and there was a crisis of the calendar - one of Christianitys most important dates was falling behind with respect to the seasons. Easter, which is based on the date of the vernal equinox (the first day of Spring), was being celebrated too early in the month of March. The cause of this calendrical confusion was the over 1,600 year-old Julian calendar, established by Julius Caesar in the year 46 BCE. Julius Caesar took control over the chaotic Roman calendar, which was being exploited by politicians and others with the haphazard addition of days or months. It was a calendar horribly out-of-synch with the seasons of the earth, which are the result of the rotation of the earth around the sun. Caesar developed a new calendar of 364 1/4 days, closely approximating the length of the tropical year (the time it takes the earth to go around the sun from the beginning of spring to the beginning of spring). Caesars calendar was normally 365 days long but included an extra day (a leap day) every four years to account for the extra one-quarter of a day. The intercalary (inserted into the calendar) day was added prior to February 25 each year. Unfortunately, while Caesars calendar was almost accurate, it wasnt quite accurate enough because the tropical year is not 365 days and 6 hours (365.25 days), but is approximately 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes, and 46 seconds (365.242199 days). Therefore, the calendar of Julius Caesar was 11 minutes and 14 seconds too slow. This added up to be a full day off every 128 years. While it took from 46 BCE to 8 CE to get Caesars calendar functioning properly (initially leap years were being celebrated every three years instead of every four), by the time of Pope Gregory XIII the one day every 128 years added up to a full ten days of error in the calendar. (Purely by luck did the Julian calendar happen to celebrate leap years on years divisible by four - during Caesars time, the numbered years of today didnt exist). A serious change needed to take place and Pope Gregory XIII decided to repair the calendar. Gregory was aided by astronomers in developing a calendar that would be more accurate than the Julian calendar. The solution they developed was almost perfect. Continue on Page Two. The new Gregorian calendar would continue to be comprised of 365 days with an intercalary added every four years (moved to after February 28 to make things easier) but there would be no leap year in years ending in 00 unless those years were divisible by 400. Therefore, the years 1700, 1800, 1900, and 2100 would not be a leap year but the years 1600 and 2000 would. This change was so accurate that today, scientists need only add leap seconds every few years to the clock in order to keep the calendar matching the tropical year. Pope Gregory XIII issued a papal bull, Inter Gravissimus on February 24, 1582 that established the Gregorian calendar as the new and official calendar of the Catholic world. Since the Julian calendar had fallen ten days behind over the centuries, Pope Gregory XIII designated that October 4, 1582 would be officially followed by October 15, 1582. The news of the calendar change was disseminated across Europe. Not only would the new calendar be utilized but ten days would be lost forever, the new year would now begin on January 1 instead of March 25, and there would be a new method of determining the date of Easter. Only a few countries were ready or willing to change to the new calendar in 1582. It was adopted that year in Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, and France. The Pope was forced to issue a reminder on November 7 to nations that they should change their calendars and many did not heed the call. Had the calendar change been promulgated a century earlier, more countries would have been under Catholic rule and would have heeded the Popes command. By 1582, Protestantism had spread across the continent and politics and religion were in disarray; additionally, the Eastern Orthodox Christian countries would not change for many years. Other countries later joined the fray over the following centuries. Roman Catholic Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands switched by 1584; Hungary changed in 1587; Denmark and Protestant Germany switched by 1704; Great Britain and its colonies changed in 1752; Sweden changed in 1753; Japan changed in 1873 as part of Meijis Westernization; Egypt changed in 1875; Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Turkey all changed between 1912 and 1917; the Soviet Union changed in 1919; Greece switched to the Gregorian calendar in 1928; and finally, China changed to the Gregorian calendar after their revolution of 1949! Change wasnt always easy, however. In Frankfurt as well as London, people rioted over the loss of days in their lives. With each change to the calendar around the world, laws established that people could not be taxed, paid, nor would interest accrue over the missing days. It was decreed that deadlines still had to take place in the correct number of natural days following the transition. In Great Britain, Parliament legislated the change to the Gregorian calendar (by this time simply called the New Style calendar) in 1751 after two unsuccessful attempts at change in 1645 and 1699. They decreed that September 2, 1752 would be followed by September 14, 1752. Britain needed to add eleven days instead of ten because by the time Britain changed, the Julian calendar was eleven days off the Gregorian calendar and tropic year. This 1752 change also applied to the American colonies of Britain so the change was made in the pre-United States and pre-Canada at that time. Alaska didnt change calendars until 1867, when it transferred from a Russian territory to a part of the United States. In the era after the change, dates were written with O.S. (Old Style) or N.S. (New Style) following the day so people examining records could understand whether they were looking at a Julian date or a Gregorian date. While George Washington was born on February 11, 1731 (O.S.), his birthday became February 22, 1732 (N.S.) under the Gregorian calendar. The change in the year of his birth was due to the change of when the change of the new year was acknowledged. Recall that prior to the Gregorian calendar, March 25 was the new year but once the new calendar was implemented, it became January 1. Therefore, since Washington was born between January 1 and March 25, the year of his birth became one year later upon the switch to the Gregorian calendar. (Prior to the 14th century, the new year change took place on December 25.) Today, we rely on the Gregorian calendar to keep us almost perfectly in line with the rotation of the earth around the sun. Imagine the disruption to our daily lives if a new calendar change were required in this most modern era!

US company Global Marketing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

US company Global Marketing - Research Paper Example Global operation of the companies has not only created new avenues to earn more revenue, but also played major role in ensuring companies sustain for a longer period of time. In addition, a company with global operation also has competitive advantage over its competitors, as it allows the company to cater to variety of customers and gain their loyalty (Cherunilam, 2010, p.24). Apart from that, the brand value of the company also increases greatly. In the context of USA, there are several companies which have considered international expansion such as Starbucks, Walmart, McDonalds and Apple among many others. However, this project will shed light on how Apple, the US technology giant is managing their global marketing and operation. The paper will emphasize on the marketing and operation strategy of Apple in the international market. Along with that the paper will carry out in-depth analysis of the business environment of the chosen location. The industry in which the company belongs will be also analysed thoroughly. Once the analysis potion is covered, the issues faced by the company in the chosen market will be highlight and how the company should deal with it will be recommended. Finally, on the basis of the findings a conclusion will be drawn. The study will now provide a brief introduction of ‘Apple’. Apple Inc., commonly known as Apple is a US based company involved in manufacturing and marketing of technology products. The company was founded by Ronald Wayne, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and in the year 1976. It is currently headquartered at Apple Campus, 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California, U.S (LÃ ¼sted, 2012, p.9). The company is known for its wide range of innovative products. Some of the bestsellers of the company include iPhone, iPad, and iPod among others. Apart from manufacturing and marketing electronic gadgets, the company

Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Islam - Essay Example These are the five most fundamental requirements every body has to fulfill in the capacity of being a Muslim. In order to express faith in Allah and Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.), or in other words, in order to be a Muslim, one has to say the Kalma. After saying the Kalma, one becomes a Muslim. As a Muslim, one is obliged to say Salaat five times a day. One is obliged to fast in the month of Ramadan, though one may fast off and on or on a regular basis in addition to Ramadan. One should give Zakat to people and perform Hajj if one has enough money or if one can make it anyway. Shi’as and Sunnis both have same beliefs. Both believe in the five pillars of Islam and have Quran as the Holy Book, though the two differ in their understanding of the way things happened in the Islamic history. The fundamental cause of division was the choice of the leader for the Muslim community after the last Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.). Sunnis believe that Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) had chosen Abu B akr as the leader whereas Shi’as argue that Ali should have been elected as the leader (BBC). Quran is the Holy Book written by Allah, the creator of universe and everything in it. Each and every word in Quran comes straight from Allah through Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.).

Closed Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Closed Economy - Essay Example The question here is that why it is not concerned with the threats of United States. Let us not answer this question now and move a little further before answering this question. Official Statistics show that North Korea had an average annual growth rate of around 1.6 percent for the period of 2002-2007 (Walters, pp. 55-57, 2008). However, it shocked the world when it posted a growth rate of more than 3.7 percent in the year 2008 (Library of Congress, pp. 15-19, 2009). Not only had this shock came because this growth is the highest for North Korea for at least the past two decades but also because many neighboring countries of North Korea and even many other countries had either showed negative growth rates for the year 2008 due to the global financial recession. The second question is that what magic lamp North Korea had to show this comparatively unusual and high growth rate during the period of global financial recession and why there was no effect of the recession on its growth. The answers to both these questions lie in the economic structure of North Korea. North Korea is the country, which is the nearest of being called as a closed economy or autarky. It is one of the five remaining socialist states of the world with an entire government planned, state-owned and commands economy where the government intervenes largely. Interestingly, North Korea is a completely nationalized state and the state owns all the assets of the country. Moreover, the citizens do not have to pay any taxes.

Writing Styles Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Writing Styles Issues - Essay Example Knowledge of the subject helps me bring out my points clearly, and I can state my facts well. The knowledge also helps me know whether my opinion relates to the topic or whether it is off topic. I have also learned that I can know more about the theme of discussion by reading on it prior to writing and taking notes. If I had read and understood well what Weiner discusses in his book, I would have chosen a more suitable topic. When writing my argumentative essay, I need to be more persuasive. My instructor noted in my E1FD essay that a few paragraphs needed to be clearer and more convincing. I learned that to be more persuasive, I must ensure my thesis has two sides to make it debatable. I will then go ahead to convince my readers why my stand is a better pick by disapproving the opposing argument. I can do this by finding the mistakes in logic in the opposite argument or by giving evidence to oppose. In writing a proper essay, I must ensure that my work has no plagiarism. In my E1FD essay, my instructor says I should introduce all quotations correctly and to quote correctly to avoid plagiarism. Quoting what Weiner says in his book without acknowledging it as his words makes my work plagiarized. I have learned that I can ensure there is no plagiarism of my work by having in-text citations. I also have to have a works-cited page with the correct format at the end of my work to help the reader understand where my in-text citations originate. I need to use a hanging indent on my works-cited.

Business strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business strategy - Essay Example According to Kaplan and Norton (2001), it is important for new business to actually make new and effective business strategies that both tackle internal and external environments, which includes the prevailing business environments. In this case, whenever formulating new strategies, especially in the corporate sector, it is important to look at several key indicators such as inflation, the position of competitors, the rate if employment and unemployment, the willingness of consumers to spend, as well as the overall rate of economic growth in the country (Kaplan & Norton, 2001). In this case, such factors will surely help business formulate their specific strategies, whether to focus on offering new products that would fit current consumer spending trends, or on building a more competitive and productive labor force, or even looking at potential competitive advantage over other competitors. However, looking into the external general business environment would not be enough, given that it is also important for a business organization to look into internal factors, such as the productivity of the current labor force, efficiency rates, and even the SWOT analysis.

Writing Styles Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Writing Styles Issues - Essay Example Knowledge of the subject helps me bring out my points clearly, and I can state my facts well. The knowledge also helps me know whether my opinion relates to the topic or whether it is off topic. I have also learned that I can know more about the theme of discussion by reading on it prior to writing and taking notes. If I had read and understood well what Weiner discusses in his book, I would have chosen a more suitable topic. When writing my argumentative essay, I need to be more persuasive. My instructor noted in my E1FD essay that a few paragraphs needed to be clearer and more convincing. I learned that to be more persuasive, I must ensure my thesis has two sides to make it debatable. I will then go ahead to convince my readers why my stand is a better pick by disapproving the opposing argument. I can do this by finding the mistakes in logic in the opposite argument or by giving evidence to oppose. In writing a proper essay, I must ensure that my work has no plagiarism. In my E1FD essay, my instructor says I should introduce all quotations correctly and to quote correctly to avoid plagiarism. Quoting what Weiner says in his book without acknowledging it as his words makes my work plagiarized. I have learned that I can ensure there is no plagiarism of my work by having in-text citations. I also have to have a works-cited page with the correct format at the end of my work to help the reader understand where my in-text citations originate. I need to use a hanging indent on my works-cited.

Specific ways in which the internet has changed the way businesses Essay

Specific ways in which the internet has changed the way businesses operate in the global marketplace - Essay Example This invention is no more a plot for researchers to communicate and exchange information within their own selves, but also seeks access from the innumerous chunks of available data online or from the ever-accessible super-computers placed at offshore sites. Within the global marketplace, Internet has provided a lot of incentives in the present times. Internet has brought about a lot of interest for the different segments of the society and we just cannot pinpoint any single one that represents and manifests its true purpose. In order to find out what the world of Internet, i.e. the World Wide Web (WWW) is all about, we have to examine where it all started, though in a very brief manner and the advantages and disadvantages that it gives to the different users. The same is also seen from the perspective of its news provision and the related contexts. In the global context of current affairs and news reports, the Internet has come out as an agent that has brought a change by providing t imely and up to the mark news. In the academic world, there has been a lot of help and facilitation which credits itself solely on the basis of the Internet and it is because of the Internet that we see programs like distance learning and e-studies coming up and having their rise with each passing day.

William Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

William Shakespeare Essay William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born in Startford-on-Avon, in the country of Warwick. The third child and first son, William was christened on 26th April, 1564 in the parish chruch. His father, John Shakespeare, was a prosperous businessman. William got his education in a good grammer school. His father’s business failed due to neglect so William could not attend the University. At the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of an old family friend and they had three children. The date of his arrival in London is not known but he was said to have been arrived there around 1592. A theatre company, ‘Lord Chamberlain’s Men’, refounded in 1594, developed into London’s leading company. Shakespeare became an important member in it and this group later got the name, ‘King’s Men’. From 1599, this occupied the Globe Theatre and later in 1608 took over the Blackfriar’s monestry. Shakespearean plays performed here show the change in the stage conditions, having more scenery and lighting effects. Shakespeare, by his Venus and Adonis and Rape of Lucerce, had earned considerable fame in 1594. The revival of classical drama brought about a change in the attitude of noblemen of that time. The theatre began to be attended by and the quality of the plays improved. In 1597, Shakespeare purchased ‘New Place’, an outstanding residential property. After acquiring a lot of property in Stratford, he retired to his house ih New Place. His career as a dramatist was over and The Tempest was his last play, written in 1611. On 23rd April, 1616, Shakespeare died and was buried in the altar of Stratford Church. As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the First Folio, 1623. The plays first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility. The play remains a favourite among audiences and has been adapted for radio, film, and musical theatre. Plot Development The plot of As You Like It is complex and comprises of a number of interweaving plots. The inter-linking of plots has been done beautifully by Shakespeare. The characters have been fashioned and fit into incidents. ‘ As You Like It’ follows its heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncles court, accompanied by her cousin Celia and Touchstone the court jester, to find safety and eventually, love, in the Forest of Arden. The play features one of Shakespeares most famous and oft-quoted speeches, All the worlds a stage, and is the origin of the phrase too much of a good thing. Themes Envy, Hatered,Jealousy,Conceit The theme of envy, hatred, jealousy and conceit has been brought by Shakespeare with the help of Oliver and Duke Frederick. Oliver is envoius of his brother Orlando because although he treats him like a rustic he has all the good qualties in him which eclipse the qualities of Oliver. It is because he is jealous of Orlando, he hates him and tries to kill him. In the same way Duke Frederick is jealous of the popularity of Duke Senior and Rosalind. When he comes to know that it is because of Rosalind that the qualities of Celia are hidden, he decides to banish her as well. He had only kept Rosalind back because Celia could not stay without her. Loyalty,Love,Devotion Adam is loyal to Orlando and loves him because he reminds him of Sir Rowland de Boys. He saves Orlando’s life by helping him escape from the trap laid by Oliver to take his life. Adam also offers Orlando his life savings and his service although he is very old. Duke Senior also has some followers who willingly follow the Duke to banishment. Love and devotion is also seen in Celia for Roslind as they ecape to the forest of Arden together. They are inseperable like the Juno’s swans. Rosalind is in love with Orlando when he bravely defeats Charles the prized wrestler of the Duke. She gives him her necklace. A shepard named Silivius has also fallen in love with Phebe. Another love-story of Touchstone and Audrey is also taking place. It is anti-romantic story and although Touchstone wants to marry Audrey, he does not want it to be a life-long bond. Background of the Poet Vikram Seth is an Indian novelist and poet. He has written several novel and poetry books. He has also received several awards including Padma Shri, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, WH Smith Literary Award and Crossword Book Award. Seth was born on 20 June 1952 in a Punjabi family to Leila and Prem Seth in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Seth spent part of his youth in London but returned to his homeland in 1957. He received primary education at Welham Boys School and then moved to The Doon School. After commencing secondary education at The Doon School in India, Seth returned to England to Tonbridge School. Having lived in London for many years, Seth now maintains residences near Salisbury, England, where he is a participant in local literary and cultural events, having bought and renovated the house of the Anglican poet George Herbert in 1996 and in Delhi, where he lives with his parents and keeps his extensive library and papers. Structure of the Poem The Frog and the Nightingale is a fable in the form of a poem. A fable is narrative, not longer than a short story and has a moral. This poem has animals as its main characters. In this poem the poet has adapted features of modern poetry in following the pattern mixed metre and free verse. However to add the flavor of a ballad, a conscious effort has been made to keep it close to the common speech. The poem follows the iambic meter and regular rhyme immediately following the lines rhyming together. The last word of each line rhymes with the last word of the next line. Mostly the lines are hexasyllabic with variations of one syllable. Theme and Summary of the Poem The poem, The Frog and the Nightingale is a powerful example of how people are deceived by others because of the wrong self-image and the lack of moral courage. Generally, people build their self-image on what others think of them. They do not have the moral courage to see through their strengths and weaknesses, and thus they fall into traps of selfish people. There are many people who use other people to fullfil their selfish motives. The poet wants to convey the message that we need to realise our potential, have self-confidence and judgement of character so that we do not become victims of the crafty and hypocritical world. The poem begins with the frog croaking all day long at the Bingle Bog, under the sumac tree. Although the other creatures hated his singing, they had no choice because the frog was to determined to display his hearts elation. One night a nightingale arrived and enchanted everyone withher melodious voice. Everyone cheered the nightingale and she sang all night long. The following night when the nightingale was getting ready to sing the frog came to her and criticised the song as if he was a very good singer. The frog promised to train the nightingale but would charge a reasonable fee. He made nightingale sing continuously for six hours, not caring whether it is raining or not. He charged fee to everyone who came to sing the nightingale sing and thus she became very famous. The frog used to watch all the audience with joy both sweet and bitter. The frog used to scold her and she grew more morose. Her voice was losing its charm and thus people stopped to listen to her singing. Once, during a performance, the frog began to shout on her asked her to puff up and sing properly. Th nightingale puffed up ,burst a vein and died on the spot. The frog got back his position and continued to sing and display his hearta elation.

Implications of Chinese Capital Account Liberalisation

Implications of Chinese Capital Account Liberalisation If China does liberalise, few other events over the next decade are likely to have more impact on the shape of the global financial system. This also sets out a conceptual framework, identifying three separate factors which help explain why the scale of the subsequent movements in capital flows — both into and out of China — could be very large relative to the size of the world economy: (i) ‘Closing the openness gap’- There is a large gap between China’s current level of openness and that of advanced economies. Liberalisation will lead this gap to close, generating large flows in the process. (ii) ‘Catch-up growth’- China’s economic growth is expected to be relatively high over the next decade. So even if China’s capital flows do not increase relative to its own economy, they will relative to the world economy. (iii)‘Declining home bias’- Prior to the recent crisis, the global financial system became increasingly integrated. A resumption of these trends over coming decades would lead capital flows to increase both in China and globally. Summary chart Potential impact of capital account liberalisation on China’s international investment position Based on these three factors and some simple but plausible assumptions, the summary chart shows a hypothetical scenario for China’s global financial integration in 2025. It shows that China’s gross international investment position could increase from around 5% to over 30% of world GDP. The global financial integration of China has the potential to be a force for economic growth and financial stability not just in China but also globally. Global implications of Chinese capital account liberalisation The potential changes in both the magnitude and composition of capital flows outlined in the previous section would dramatically alter the financial landscape both in China and globally. In principle, capital account liberalisation in China could be a powerful force that enables the Chinese and global Implications for China For China, there are several potential benefits of liberalisation which can all be viewed through the broader lens of contributing to economic rebalancing. The Chinese economy is now starting to transition to a new model of growth, away from reliance on exports and investment as the key sources of demand. The new model of growth will therefore place a greater emphasis on consumption as a source of demand and an increase in the production of services relative to exportable manufactures. This is a challenging task and will require an ambitious agenda of structural reforms. Among these reforms, capital account liberalisation will play a key role. A removal of restrictions on outflows, for example, will allow Chinese companies and households to diversify their large pools of savings by investing in overseas assets. This should help to spread risk, reducing the need for precautionary saving and hence free up income for current spending. And it may also boost household income if returns earned on overseas assets are higher than on domestic assets (which is likely given that real deposit rates in China are currently negative due to  regulatory caps). China has the biggest banking system in the world by total assets but it is very domestically focused. If China’s banks were to diversify their balance sheets by expanding abroad — either directly through cross-border bank lending, or indirectly through lending to foreign affiliates — they may become more resilient to an adverse shock in their home market and so be better able to maintain lending to domestic companies and households in China. Allowing more channels for inflows, on the other hand, will help to deepen and diversify China’s financial system, providing alternative sources of capital for Chinese borrowers. Should liberalisation also lead to lower reserve accumulation, it could lead to an improvement in China’s fiscal balance since the return on its FX reserves is lower than the cost of sterilising those purchases. And if it were accompanied by a more flexible exchange rate regime (as was suggested by the Third Plenum), it could allow China to operate a more effective monetary policy, increasing its ability to respond to domestic shocks. All of these factors should promote China’s rebalancing and its transition towards a new model of growth. But there are also risks. There are several notable examples where capital account liberalisation has resulted in instability. The most recent, perhaps, was the Eastern European countries where large capital inflows contributed to unsustainably rapid cr edit growth that ultimately culminated in economic and financial crisis in 2008 (Bakker and Gulde (2010)). Chinese policymakers will need to ensure they have sufficient scope to set policy to offset shocks that could pose risks to economic and financial stability. It will be particularly important to sequence carefully external liberalisation with appropriate domestic macroprudential and microprudential policies to mitigate risks from excessive credit growth and asset price volatility. One concern is that by opening the financial gates, some banks and, ultimately, borrowers in the Chinese real economy may find themselves faced with a shortage of liquidity. China’s banking system is heavily reliant on domestic deposits for its funding, which account for around two thirds of total liabilities. A reallocation overseas of even a small share of these deposits could therefore cause funding difficulties. By  enabling higher real returns for Chinese domestic savers, however, domest ic interest rate liberalisation could help to reduce these risks. Another set of risks are related to inflows. In the short run, there could be indigestion in China’s asset markets, which are still small relative to potentially large inflows of capital. And over a longer time period, inflows could lead to an unsustainable build-up of maturity and currency mismatches in national balance sheets (for example, long-term domestic investment funded by short-term overseas FX-denominated borrowing). Large mismatches are susceptible to unwind in a disorderly way, as was the case for some Asian economies in 1997–98. Finally, the risks arising from a more flexible — and potentially more volatile — exchange rate would need to be effectively managed. Which of these outcomes — more sustainable growth or a rise in instability — would dominate will depend on the accompanying policy framework. The empirical evidence on the costs and benefits of financial openness tends to suggest that countries benefit most when certain threshold conditions — such as a well-developed and supervised financial sector and sound institutions and macroeconomic policies — are in place before opening up to large-scale flows of capital (Kose et al (2006)). This underscores the importance in China of careful sequencing of capital account liberalisation alongside other domestic reforms such as domestic interest rate liberalisation, development of effective hedging instruments and enhancing the microprudential and macroprudential regimes. Implications for the rest of the world From the perspective of policymakers outside of China, it is important to understand how capital account liberalisation might ‘spill over’ to affect other economies. Four such channels are discussed below, although there are undoubtedly others. Greater exposure to the Chinese financial system If liberalisation has a large impact on the Chinese economy or financial system, it is also likely to have a significant impact in other countries as well. Although China’s economy is already considered able to generate material spillovers onto other economies (International Monetary Fund (2011b)), the process of capital account liberalisation will likely increase its systemic importance even further, by magnifying existing transmission channels, while also creating new ones. Foreign households, businesses and financial institutions will increase the amount and the number of their claims on China, while those in China will do the same with respect to the outside world, thereb y deepening the complex web of financial interconnectedness. If China does hard-wire itself into the global financial system, it will bring important benefits in terms of risk-sharing. Households that purchase Chinese assets whose returns are not perfectly correlated with their own income would be better able to smooth consumption. And foreign banks that  expand in China would diversify their earnings base and potentially enhance their resilience. The flipside of increased interconnectedness, however, is that the global financial system will be more sensitive to shocks originating in China. Increased holdings of Chinese assets, for example, would imply greater exposure to fluctuations in their price. Greater reliance of global banks on Chinese banks for  funding, in turn, would bring about the possibility of a liquidity shortage if those banks were to repatriate funds in response to balance sheet pressures back home.(1) Increase in global liquidity If China’s financial walls are lifted, some of its vast pool of domestic savings will migrate into global capital markets, providing a significant boost to liquidity. The illustrative scenario in Chart 5 suggests that these flows could amount to a substantial share of world GDP. A new source of global liquidity from China could lead to several beneficial effects, particularly during a period where the world’s financial system is becoming increasingly fragmented and retreating into national borders (Carney (2013b)). As well as providing a new source of finance for borrowers, it could lead to a more diversified and more stable global investor base. At the same time, however, a rapid increase in liquidity from China could lead to absorption pressures in some asset markets in the short run, which could lead to a mispricing of risk with adverse consequences for financial stability. Increased global role of the renminbi Greater international use of the renminbi would add another dimension to the global impact of capital account liberalisation. Potential benefits include lower transaction costs and a reduced risk of currency mismatches. But it may also amplify the international transmission of Chinese policy and domestic shocks, of which policymakers around the world will need to take into account. Take the following hypothetical case: a country purchases a large proportion of its imports from China and its currency depreciates against the renminbi. If the prices of those imports are set and invoiced in the domestic currency of that country, the depreciation would not automatically lead to an increase in their price and hence no response in domestic monetary and fiscal policy would be needed.(2) If, however, the imports were invoiced in RMB, then their price would increase in line with the exchange rate depreciation, leading to domestic inflation. Moreover, a country that had no trade with China but whose imports were set and invoiced in RMB — such that the RMB would be a ‘vehicle currency’ — would need to respond to macroeconomic or policy fluctuations in China that affect the exchange rate and feed through into domestic prices of that country. There is a body of literature which finds evidence of these invoicing effects for the US dollar, as the world’s most international currency. Goldberg (2010) finds that for non-US economies, large use of the US dollar in reserves and in international transactions is typically associated with greater sensitivity of trade, inflation and asset values to movements in the value of the dollar relative to the domestic currency. However, as discussed above, it would likely take much longer than a decade for the renminbi to take on a similar role to that of the US dollar today. Global imbalances The literature on the causes and consequences of global imbalances is as vast as it is inconclusive. According to one influential perspective, the large imbalances in current account positions that accumulated over the past decade partly originated in high net saving rates in developing Asian countries (Bernanke (2005). If true, capital account liberalisation in China could potentially help to alleviate these imbalances to the extent that it leads to a reduction in China’s net savings and correspondingly its current account surplus (although clearly the impact of this on overall imbalances would depend on the corresponding adjustment in other countries). This may occur either because liberalisation lowers the incentives for precautionary saving or because it leads to a more flexible and higher exchange rate. But even if Chinese capital account liberalisation were to lead to no reduction in global imbalances, it could still help to lessen some of the adverse consequences relating to these imbalances. There is evidence that reserve accumulation by foreign governments can materially depress the risk-free interest rate in the United States (Warnock and Warnock (2009)) which, in turn, may encourage excessive risk-taking behaviour globally. So to the extent that Chinese capital account liberalisation were to result in a switch in the composition of outflows, away from reserve accumulation by the central bank and towards overseas investment in riskier assets by other Chinese residents, this may reduce some of the downward pressure on government bond yields and related rates i n the United States and globally. Of course, this would bring other challenges. But in the longer term, it could be beneficial for the stability of the international monetary and financial system as a whole. Conclusion If China continues to liberalize its capital account over the next decade or so, it is likely to be a force for development and constancy not just in China but also for the international monetary and financial system. While this process will be companied by new and important risks, it falls to international bodies and national authorities to monitor and take appropriate policy actions to mitigate such risks. This will not be a petty task. As we already know Chinese capital account liberalisation could lead to striking changes in the global financial landscape, policymakers will be facing uncharted territory. In order to succeed, policy cooperation between national authorities is necessary, both to increase understanding of the risks and to develop common policy approaches. Currently the Bank of England is working intimately with the People’s Bank of China regarding the development of offshore renminbi activity in the United Kingdom and will continue to seek other ways to suppo rt a successful integration of China into the global financial system.

Impact of the Writers of Antiquity on Modern Times Essay -- History Li

Impact of the Writers of Antiquity on Modern Times History is riddled with the names of various intellectuals and descriptions of their theories. Born of brilliant men like Marx and Machiavelli, to name a few, these theories are preserved in books, illustrated in day-to-day domestic and international affairs, and immortalized in modern theories and documents. They are the predecessors of present theories that have been reinterpreted for a different era and reapplied in a new context. In his most famous work, The Prince, Niccolà ³ Machiavelli discusses the ways in which to not only attain, but also retain, political power. His works deal heavily with methods for creating and maintaining a defensive state—one that is capable of withstanding attack—and the ways in which a ruler can rule. According to Machiavelli, a ruler may violate the moral norm—throw away the ethical rulebook, so to speak—so long as it benefits his state. These theories still resound in many modern policies. Cruel birth control practices, like those of Indira Gandhi in the 1970’s and those of China much more...

Resemblence Between Christ and Aslan Essay

In the first two books, Aslan is a clear-cut figure. Aslan is what Jesus would be like in Narnia. He acts as a parallel and inspires fear in his enemies and love and devotion in his friends. He makes the four children high kings and queens, and banishes evil from his kingdom. It is like a fairy tale. He undergoes development through the sequence of seven books though, becoming more distanced and formal. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Aslan seems more distant; he appears in other forms, such as a lamb. In the New Testament, Christ is depicted as a lamb. Lewis deepens the spiritual experience of his characters by making Aslan harder to find. Faith now enters into the equation, belief without seeing. An example is the mouse Reepicheep, who is determined to find Aslan’s Country (symbolizing Heaven), even if he has to swim to the end of the world to do so. The last two Chronicles address the beginning and end of Narnia. The Magician’s Nephew gives us Narnia’s Genesis account. Here Aslan is established as the Creator and he sings Narnia into existence. It is very similar to the story in Genesis of God creating the world. Aslan tells the creatures, â€Å"I give to you forever this land of Narnia. I give you the woods, the fruits, the rivers†¦The Dumb Beasts whom I have not chosen are yours also†. Other examples of the similarities between Christ and Aslan include when Aslan says â€Å"I am the great Bridge-builder†. Christ in the New Testament too says, â€Å"I am the Way, the Door†: In The Horse and His Boy Aslan tells â€Å"‘Touch me. Smell me. Here are my paws, here is my tail, these are my whiskers'† which is like Jesus telling John to touch his hands and side when he doubts Him. Another resemblance is that the blood of both Jesus and Aslan can bring the dead to life. A drop of blood from Aslan’s pierced paw revives the dead Prince Caspian and brings him to a younger version of himself in The Silver Chair. Christ’s shed blood has the power to resurrect believers into new life too. In the same book, Aslan replies â€Å"I am† which parallels the reply God gave Moses, â€Å" I Am Who I Am†. There is a Stone Table in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe that is where the Witch slew Aslan. However, the Witch did not know of magic even older than the stone table â€Å"that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward†. This mimics the resurrection of Jesus after He dies on the cross. After the resurrection of both Christ and Aslan, it is first discovered by the female followers. In this case it being Susan and Lucy for Aslan and Mary Magdalene along with the other women for Christ. After Aslan returns to life, he goes to the White Witch’s castle and breaths life back into the creatures she had once turned into stone. Jesus creates life after death after he resurrects and holds the keys of death and Hell. The Bible and The Chronicles of Narnia have a shared likeness.

Language and memory Essay

Limitations with the study included the sample range being too small. This means that it is difficult to make generalisations because 20 undergraduate students cannot possibly be representative of the sample population. In order to improve the experiment, a wider sample range could be used, including people from different age groups and ethnic backgrounds. Another limitation was gender bias. The driver in the vignette was male which could have meant that male participants may have been more sympathetic to him when giving an estimation. If a female character had been used, the results may have been different. This could be improved by using two sample groups, both with female characters, but again with either the ‘smashed into’ condition or ‘bumped into’ condition. The results of this and previous studies have a number of implications in today’s society. Loftus and Palmer’s work (1974), showed how changing a verb in a sentence, can alter eyewitness recall of a car accident. These findings have major implications for the Legal Justice Systems. In a study by Rattner (1988), a review of 205 cases of wrongful arrest showed that 52% of the cases were associated with mistaken eyewitness testimonies. These results highlighted the unreliability of eyewitness testimony. Other studies have demonstrated that witnesses sometimes cannot attribute memory to its appropriate sources, or that they make source attribution errors. When witnesses get information from other witnesses and from the police, then their own recollection is likely to be contaminated (Fisher, 1995). This is yet further evidence suggesting that there should be less dependence on eyewitness testimony, and with the arrival of advanced gene technology, it is now possible to use alternative sources of evidence. References Carlson, N. R., Buskist, W., Martin, G. N. (2000). Psychology The Science of Behaviour, 266-267 Loftus, E. F. and Palmer, J. E. (1974). Reconstruction of automobile destruction: an example of the interaction between language and memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour, 13, 585-589. Fisher, R. P., (1995). Interviewing victims and witnesses of crime. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 1(4), 732-764.  Nisha Ghei Eyewitness Practical

Types of Volcano Erruption

Volcanic eruptions have caused some of the worst disasters in the world. They can wipe out entire cities and kill thousands of people. The name of volcano comes from Roman term. It derives from Vulcan which is the name of Roman fire god. Romans believed that Vulcan lived on a volcanic Italian coast. Romans called the island Vulcano. According to scientists, volcanic eruptions are divided in to four basic groups. They are commonly known as Hawaiian, Strombolian, Vulcanian, and Peleean. The term of Hawaiian eruptions are named after the volcanoes in Hawaii. These volcanic eruptions are the least violent type.They produce highly fluid lava which flows quietly. This gradually builds up a shield volcano. Strombolian eruptions are named after Stromboli. These result from the constant release of gas from the magma. As the gas escapes, it produces tephra that piles up, turning into a cinder cone. Strombolian eruptions happen when sticky magma plugs the central vent. This makes the magmatic g as build up pressure until it blasts. The magma is turned into volcanic dust and bombs. Vulcanian eruption which comes from the ancient Roman belief, are more violent than the strombolian eruption.Vulcanian eruption happens and brings magma which is more viscous. Vulcanian explosions are usually larger and noisier than the Strombolian eruptions. Paleean eruptions are famous as the most violent kind of volcanic eruptions. The name of Paleean comes from the eruption of Mount Pelee, Martinique in 1902. It killed almost 38 thousands people. A Peleean eruption occurs when the magmatic gas build up tremendous pressure. This causes violent explosions with glowing clouds of hot ash and dust. Tornadoes are known as one of the most damaging disasters.A tornado is a very powerful column of winds which spirals around a center of low atmospheric pressure. A tornado will look like a large black funnel which hangs down from a storm cloud. The name â€Å"tornado† derives from the Latin †Å"tonare†. It means â€Å"to thunder. † While the Spanish developed the word into â€Å"tornear† which means â€Å"to turn or twist†. T his is why a tornado is sometimes called twister or cyclone. The winds inside a twister can spin around at speeds up to 500 miles an hour, but it usually travels at roughly 300 miles an hour.This speed twisting makes a tornado the most dangerous storm. The average tornado has a diameter of about 200 to 300 yards. The smaller tornadoes are known as satellite tornadoes. These small offspring, about 50 yards acro ss, can be very fierce and do lots of damage. The forming of a tornado can be very quick. Sometimes it can form in a minute or less. A tornado can travel across the ground at high speeds, then it can sudden ly vanish. Most tornadoes last less than twenty minutes and travel less than 15 miles. However, the super storms sometimes travel over 100 miles before they are exhausted.

Case study 3 whole foods Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

3 whole foods - Case Study Example Whole Food Market Inc. operations are fully supported by its headquarters, distribution centers, commissary kitchens, regional offices, meat and produce procurement centers, bake-house facilities, as well as specialized tea and coffee procurement and roasting facilities (Whole Foods Market, Inc.). Whole Food Market Inc. deals in a variety of products that include meat, sea food, grocery, catering and prepared foods, cheese, tea, beer, coffee, body care, nutritional supplements, as well as lifestyle products such as pet and household products. Whole Food Market Inc. 365 and 365 Organic Every Day Value trademarks account for more than half of its trademark products. Other trademark brands include the Whole family trademark brands such as Whole Catch, Whole Foods Market, Whole Living, Whole Paws, Whole Pantry and Whole Fields, Engine 2, Nature’s Rancher, Allegro Coffee and Well-shire Farms (Whole Foods Market, Inc.). Whole Food Market Inc. also has a specialized health approach known as Health Starts Here. This approach is based on four simple facets aimed at building better meals. These facets entail Healthy Fats, Plant Strong, Whole Food, and Nutrient Dense. All in all, Whole Food Market Inc. is devoted towards promoting a healthy living by offering products that are free from artificial preservatives, color, flavor, and chemicals (Whole Foods Market,

Develop arguments pro and con with respect to customized pricing. What Essay

Develop arguments pro and con with respect to customized pricing. What are the differences in implementing the policy across dif - Essay Example This causes lots of competition between other stores. Many other stores will drop the product's price in order to gain revenue from it. Sometimes other stores will drop their product price so low they lose revenue. A good example would be B-to-B magazine. If the retail store calculated the revenue from other stores in the area, the retail store could come up with a lower price to attract customers. The cons of opening up two stores in two different towns may cause the retail store to lose money. Customized pricing is determined by the location in the town. Considering the two retail stores will be in two different towns they will have to go by the customized pricing terms. Many of the prices seen at one retail store may not be seen at the other retail store. Depending on what product the customer is looking for, he or she may have to drive from town to town to get the cheaper price for the product. Sooner or later it will be like the two thrift stores from different towns will be com peting. Another good example would be B-to-B magazine. If the retail store sold the magazine for a really cheap price, the store may not get a big enough revenue. The pros and cons of using customized pricing are equal. It just depends on what type of retail store that person wants to open up, or whether or not he wants to open up more than one store.

Convergence the use of bothTechnology and Physical Security Research Paper

Convergence the use of bothTechnology and Physical Security - Research Paper Example Unlike in the past, corporate assets are now information-based. This has prompted corporations to integrate both physical and information security measures to prevent unauthorized access to the corporate assets. In addition, the rapid advancements in the technology sector has brought into question the effectiveness of security functions in preventing criminal attacks in organizations. Explored in the research are the implications of adopting security convergence within an organization, analysis of trends affecting security and loss prevention, and evaluation of non-traditional approaches to crime prevention from a multi-disciplinary approach. As mentioned, physical security deters unauthorized individuals from accessing facilities. There are several types of deterrence methods, which function by convincing attackers that imminent attacks on a facility are futile due to the presence of strong defenses. They include physical barriers, security lighting, natural surveillance, intrusion detectors/ electronic surveillance, access control among others. Physical barriers represent the outermost layers of security measures, which include fences, warning signs, and vehicle barriers. Their sole purpose is to delay attacks by acting as psychological deterrents. Security lighting installed at entrance points such as gates and doors deter unauthorized entrants, as guards can clearly see the well-lit areas. Natural surveillance entails altering the design or architecture of a facility’s perimeter to prevent unauthorized entry; for example, the vegetative cover between the fence and the facility’s walls is less dense givi ng guards a clear line of sight. Intrusion detectors/ electronic surveillance comprise of alarm systems, which function by alerting security personnel when unauthorized entrants attempt to trespass a secured area. Without prompt response from security personnel, alarm systems prove futile in preventing unauthorized

A deeper look on the reincarnation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A deeper look on the reincarnation - Essay Example Hinduism is known to be one of the largest religions in the world. It offers a system of beliefs that not only Indians have embraced but are also perceived to be true by some people from all walks of life and racesOne of the famous beliefs of Hinduism that this writer knows about through lessons in school and readings of books is reincarnation. Hindus believe that when a person dies, s/he will be reincarnated to some animal or another human being depending on how a person lived. If a person lives a good life, he will be rewarded in the form of a second life as a person of a higher status in the Caste System. However, when one is not good, he can be demoted to a lower level of person or an animal. For instance, a member of the royal family has been doing bad things in his life as a prince, princess, king or queen; s/he can become a slave in the next life. If a common man or a slave does not behave well, he will be punished and become an animal in his next life. But if that common man or slave does good things in his present life, his next life can be that of a rich person. Reincarnation is a common belief in Hinduism but it is known to have been found among many primitive people in Ancient Greece and Egypt as well (Jones, Whitney and Nault, 8118). According to Enroth, the belief had its origin in Northern India, around 1,000-800 B.C. (2012). Tracing the history of Hinduism, it is said to have emerged from several people of different generations that no one is acknowledged as the sole originator of the religion. There are three periods of the Hinduism wherein beliefs have been acquired and put together to become the modern Hindu religion. The pre-Vedic period, around 3,000-1500 B.C., reflects the animism while the Vedic period introduced polytheism and the caste system, a social scale that was to be incorporated in the belief in reincarnation. The third period in Hinduism is called the Upanishadic period where reincarnation was birthed (Mather and Nichols, 116-11 7). In the process, it is believed that reincarnation takes a lot of times until a person is purified. Only then could a person be able to return to the dwelling place of its god known by Buddhists as Nirvana and for the Brahmanic Hindus, the purified person will be reunited with Brahma or the Universal Power (Jones et al., 8118). According to the World Book Encyclopedia, superstition literally means â€Å"that which stands above, or survives† and further goes on to consider that the opposite of superstition is science, based on observations and reason (Jones et al., 7810). As a belief that cannot be scientifically proven, reincarnation is considered a superstitious belief. It is argued that no one can really prove that a person is a reincarnation of someone who lived in the past however Kevin Williams claims that he was able to prove the validity of reincarnation. In his research, he was able to have twenty children describe spontaneously their past lives by the time they we re able to talk. He even challenges skeptics to do the same experiments themselves. However, on the scientific point of view, this is not enough evidence to claim the fact of reincarnation. John Von Ward claims that, â€Å"A theoretical model or reincarnation based on behavioral evidence will be much more credible than one based on dreams, hypnotic information or extra-dimensional material. People will find the theory much more persuasive if it is based on tangible evidence like physical skills, creative talents, habits, postures, etc than on easily fabricated products of mind.† The belief on reincarnation can be detrimental. The idea of having another life after the present life can make an individual go to the extreme of acting badly with the thought that there will be another life where one could redeem him/herself anyway. People are given the tendency to rely on dreams, hypnotic regressions and other manners of acquiring information about a person’s life. This enco urages them to concentrate on the quest to

A Comparasion of Rack Supprted Warehouse vs. Conventional Steel Frame Research Paper - 1

A Comparasion of Rack Supprted Warehouse vs. Conventional Steel Frame Buildings - Research Paper Example The easy analyzes or compares two structural styles, that is rack supported warehouse and conventional buildings. In conventional building or steel frame design, the building utilizes the skeleton frame of the horizontal trusses or beams and vertical column of steel (Fischer, 2009, p.78). Usually the building is constructed in the rectangular grid so that it supports the walls and roof, which is well attached to the frame. Then the building is later equipped with freestanding or agonistic racks for the material storage. The building is comprised of total storage rack system; the rack system are the basic structural support for both roof and walls of the building, sometimes the roof and the walls of the building are referred as skin (Goetsch, 2004, p.34). The building design for steel frame can be classified into two different designs; the first design is called hot rolled steel industrial building design and the other is cold form steel building design. The conventional steel frame designs are expensive to construct, therefore, it not to be economical (Goodno, 2010, p.12). Rack supported wareho use are found to be economical due to their simple design and structure. The structure offer highest height, which increases its storage capacity (Hiatt, 2002, p.34). For conventional steel buildings, it is someway not quick and efficient in construction. The main reason for it not to be quick, the building are designed from the beginning or are designed from scratch as it is the consultant who designs with fewer designing aid available for an engineer (Koontz, 2012,p.12). In adition conventional steel building, the main steel are chosen from typical hot rolled â€Å"I† parts that are in numerous segments of the constituents which are heavier than what is usually required for a design (Yudelson, 2006, p.13). These constituents

Where Are You Going, Where have You Been Essay Example for Free

Where Are You Going, Where have You Been Essay Vanity can be exposed as ones greatest weakness. Where Are You Going, Where have You Been, a short story written by Joyce Carol Oates, describes Connies misconception of beauty as her only value, and also the ways in which Arnold Friend, a potential rapist and murderer, manipulates and takes advantage of Connies vanity. Connie is a fifteen year old girl who knows the extent to which her beauty can be used to her advantage. Connie knew she was pretty and that was everything. However, beauty causes Connie to become vain, and thus gives Connie the misconception that she is more powerful than the boys that are attracted to her. This proves that Connie believes her beauty allows her to transcend above other people, especially boys. As a result, although her beauteous physique can be seen as a benefit to Connie, her vanity proves to become her ultimate weakness and it leads to her demise as seen when Arnold Friend states I took a special interest in you, such a pretty girl. Connie becomes powerless in Arnold Friends presence because he manipulates and takes advantage of her vanity and desire for attention. Connies newly found sexuality as a teen gives her control over the boys she encounters at places such as the fly-infested drive in, which she describes as a haven and blessing they yearned for. The drive- in, which is fly-infested in reality, is the sacred building where Connie believes that her beauty can be truly appreciated, whereas at her home, beauty is not acknowledged at all. As a result, Connie further embraces her beauty in order to satiate her need for attention. In her trashy daydreams, Connie describes boys as dissolved into a single face that was not even a face but an idea. Connie is more enticed by the idea of having a boyfriend, which shows that she does not care much for the actual boy. This allows Connie to be more easily overpowered by Arnold Friends disguise when he first comes over to her house to take her away. This is evident when Connie states that for a moment [Arnold] wasnt even in focus but was just a blur standing there against his gold car This shows that Arnold becomes the concept of a  boyfriend to Connie, which is not even a face but an idea. Arnold eventually uses his opportunity as a potential boyfriend to flatter and ultimately overpower Connie in the end. A desire can undermine ones ability to guard ones self from tempting factors. Connies lack of attention from her family, especially her father, engenders her desire to be wanted by a man. Her desire for attention is noticed by Arnold Friend, and thus he uses that desire to his advantage. By turning Connies desire into her weakness, he uses manipulative tactics to overpower her vain personality. As a teenager, Connie is not able to truly identify herself. Connie is both a daughter and a sister to her family. However, her vanity and superficiality causes her to become a sexual object to boys as well, and thus she is flustered as to which role she can truly identify herself with. As a result of Connies identity crisis, Arnold Friend uses this to his advantage and overpowers Connie by further disorienting her with mixed feelings of both violence and passion. This is evident when Arnold threatens to hurt Connies family while attempting to seduce her with flattery, such as I like them the way you are, honey, as well. Arnold Friend psychologically manipulates Connie by acting both loving and violent, and this causes Connie to become powerless in Arnolds presence because she is not accustomed to a males who are so bipolar in emotions towards her. However, there is no rush or urgency as Arnold Friend casually speaks with Connie. This builds up to the suspense up until Connie finally realizes the danger she is in and all she could do is scream into the phone. Although Connie is caught up between the identities of being a daughter, sister, and an object of sexuality, Connies basis for these different roles is fixed upon physical appearance. Connie compares her beauty to her mother and sister, and she is always checking other peoples faces to make sure her own was all right. This shows that Connie fundamentally values physical beauty over all other factors. Although a grotesque encounter is foreshadowed when Arnold warns Connie gonna get you, babe, Connie allows Arnold to converse with her because she liked the way he was dressed. This further proves that Connie is immersed with only the superficial, and this  gives Arnold the chance to overpower Connie by becoming what she desires. Arnold is aware that Connie is primarily concerned with outer appearances, and this allows him to present himself in a desirable manner towards Connie. Connies inability to disregard the superficial in time resulted in her failure to recognize Arnolds disguise, and thus he was able to overpower her. Although Connie thinks of herself as a skilled flirt, she is soon stereotyped as nothing more than the pretty girl. Arnold Friend says, What else is there for a girl like you but to be sweet and pretty and give in? This proves that Connie, a girl who values beauty as the greatest worth, will be inevitably overpowered by a man who values and desires beauty as well. Music is both a shelter and exposure to Connie. Whenever Connie hears music, she feels a glow of slow pulsed joy that seemed to rise mysteriously out of the music itself. Connie was all about the the music that made everything so good. Music is made into such an important entity that it is almost given its own character. Music symbolizes security and safety, and she even describes the music at the drive- in as music at a church service; it was something to depend upon. By comparing it to church, she indicates that music is a form of religion to her. However, music as a religion does not bring Connie salvation. Although music is seen as Connies refuge, it leads to her powerlessness in front of Arnold Friend. One way in which Arnold is able to gain Connies trust is through his disguise and poor attempt to become like the man in the popular teenage songs. However, music is also a factor manipulated by Arnold and he uses it against her. Music is a refuge for Connie and Arnold is aware of that. The same song that was playing both Connies home and Ellies car seemed to blend together. The music, car, and outfit is all used by Arnold Friend as a way to become the type of lover described in the teen songs, and Connie falls for this guise and accepts his facade. Arnolds speech was spoken with a slight rhythmic lilt and Connie somehow recognized them Connie believes that she recognizes Arnold only because he seems to have come out from the teen songs she always listens to. As Connie realizes Arnold is not the idealized man in the songs, she loses recognition of everything that she is familiar with. She says that the kitchen looked like a place she had never seen before. This shows that  Arnold takes away more than Connies music; he takes away Connies life and everything else she is familiar with. Connie misinterprets that everything is the way it was in movies and promised in songs. She believes that her life will replicate the exact lover and life that is promised in the songs, which is just a mere fantasy and delusion in Connies case. As a result, Arnold seduces Connie by appearing to be what was promised in the songs, and overpowers Connie by using music as a tool. Arnold Friend is further able to overpower Connie because she is unsure of her identity that she has at home and everywhere else that is not home. Teenagers often are troubled by the fact that they are no longer children, but they are still not yet adults. As a result, Connie embraces the only thing she is certain of; her beauty. By overemphasizing the value of beauty, she becomes vain and self centered. Although she is troubled by her teenage turmoil, her family does not provide her with any moral support or guidance. Like Arnold Friend, her family is not what they seem. Arnold puts on a guise in order to become the idealized man in popular teen songs. In similarity, her parents appear to be typical parents, but they prove to be partly detached from Connies need. Connies father was away at work most of the time, and didnt bother talking much to them. As a result, Connie needed to seek for male attention elsewhere, such as from the boys at the drive in. Arnold Friend was aware of Connies desire for attention, especially from males, and thus used it to his advantage to overpower her. Even her mother seems to not be concerned about Connies desire for attention. Although at times Connie and her mother are almost friends over coffee, an issue arises that causes the two to argue over something of little value to either of them. Connie indicates that her mother had been pretty once too and as a result, Connie believes that her mother prefers her over June, who is plain and chunky and steady. This encourages Connie to believe that real value lies in beauty, and thus she makes the mistake of embracing vanity. This leads to Arnolds manipulation of Connies beauty and desire, which leads to his empowerment over Connie. As a result of her parents lack of concern and guidance, Connie is powerless when confronted by Arnold Friend. She does not know how to defend herself,  and only relies on her flirting, her beauty, and the fantasy that music represents. Connie was not taught by her parents how to act towards strangers. This is evident because Connies parents would not even ask her obvious parental questions such as Where are you going? or Where have you been? Due to the parents lack of concern, Connie takes advantage of her parents apathetic trust and goes out to places where parents would usually disapprove of. However, Connie feels guilty about deceiving her mom, who is simple and kind enough But the temptations of the drive- in and the boys overpower that guilt. This foreshadows Connies inability to overpower the temptations that Arnold Friend represents. Connie and her mom still manages to share a bond, as seen when Connie thinks to herself Im not going to see my mother again. Connies powerless ness is inevitable because her family did not emphasize true moral values, and as a result Connie embraced her beauty as her only value, which ultimately leads to her end by Arnolds hands. It is evident that Connie was overpowered by Arnold Friend because she embraced vanity as her only value, and also that Arnold took advantage of Connies desire for attention from men. Where are you Going, Where have you Been describes the eventual self awareness of Connie. Throughout the story, Connie has disregarded everything but her beauty. As a result, she only had her vanity as protection from Arnold Friend. This was clearly ineffective because it was obvious that it was Connies beauty and vanity that Arnold had desired since he first saw her. Arnolds desire for Connie overpowered Connies desire for attention, and thus Connie had no choice but to follow Arnold in the end. Although it music was something that made everything good and was something to depend on, Arnold manipulated music as well, and as a result he took away everything that provided joy and a sense of certainty to Connie. Connie had neither moral support nor guidance from her parents, and therefore she overemphasiz ed beauty as a value to the point where it blinded her from viewing Arnold Friend as an old fiend. Arnold Friend was able to disguise himself as an old friend by attempting to be the idealized man portrayed in the songs. He succeeded as a result of Connies misconception that everything is the way it was in movies and promised in songs. When Connie first sees Arnold, she cannot see anything  but her reflection in Arnolds sunglasses. This indicates that Arnold gives Connie the opportunity to see what herself as the stereotypical pretty girl, which Arnold replies what else is there for a girl like you but to be sweet and pretty and give in By manipulating her vanity, her desires, and her music, Arnold is able to take away her identity as a teenager, and thus Connie becomes powerless in the presence of Arnold. However, Connie matures when she casts aside her vanity by sacrificing herself for her familys safety. She eventually overcomes her own vanity in order to protect her family from Arnold, but only after she was completely overpowered by Arnold Friend. Although she was caught be tween the role of being a daughter, sister, and an object of sexual desire, she takes on the role of a hero at the end by giving her life for her family. Despite the fact that Connie became powerless in Arnolds presence, she was still able to overcome her vanity and selfishness for her familys sake, and this proves that Connie became powerful by the end of the story. Works Cited Oates, Joyce Carol. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?. Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing, Compact. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner., and Stephen R. Mandell.. New York: Heinle, 2006. 579-591 Quirk, Tom. A SOURCE FOR WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?. Studies in Short Fiction 18.4 (Fall 1981): 413. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Santa Monica College Library, Santa Monica, CA. 4 Apr. 2008 http://libdb.smc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=aphAN=7133354site=ehost-live Hurley, C. Harold. CRACKING THE SECRET CODE IN OATESS WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?. Studies in Short Fiction 24.1 (Winter 1987): 62. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Santa Monica College Library, Santa Monica, CA. 4 Apr. 2008 http://libdb.smc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=aphAN=7151290site=ehost-live

Piracy at sea, past and present

Piracy at sea, past and present Summary The purpose of this report is to educate readers of the piracy at sea comparing piracy in the past and present. The earliest record of piracy at sea was in the year 69 in the Mediterranean Sea, however piracy is suspected to have dated back to the time where humans started using the sea as their trade routes the exact date is not known. The Medias used to gather and compile to put this report together was mainly found on search engines like Google or yahoo and online encyclopaedias also contributed, minimal information was taken from newspaper articles. The history of piracy, infamous pirates, background of pirates and also modern day pirates are just a few of the points on piracy that will be covered in this report. The act of piracy is mainly carried out for gold or money that the pirates will demand for certain goods that they have taken from a ship or the entire ship itself. The only punishment for pirates in the past was hanging if they were caught however the navy was occasiona lly called in to capture these pirates and in some cases large numbers of pirates were wiped out. The creator of the Jolly Roger was by 18th century pirate Captain Jack Calico Rackham. The bodies of the hanged pirates were sometimes left alone to scare the civilians preventing them from wanting to become pirates to avoid the grisly fate of death by hanging. There are numerous causes for the unusually large number of pirates in Somalia however the same cannot be said for pirates in other parts of the world as the government lacking Somalia can do little to prevent ships from other countries from overfishing and dumping of toxic waste in their waters destroying their marine life. In the past wooden ships with sails and occasionally oars were used by pirates and a reinforced hull would often be added to ram ships. Modern day pirates however use small speed boats that are able to chase down large tankers on shipping lanes and they are also equipped with semi-automatic rifles. Some shipp ing companies have equipped their ships with radar and a sonic weapon that creates a high frequency sound wave bursting the ear drums of pirates preventing from hijacking vessels, the radar helps to locate nearby vessels that are unknown allowing the captain to steer the ship away from them before they are spotted. Some companies also reroute their ships to take a longer more expensive routes in order to avoid places like Somalia where there are many pirates. The only thing that is being done by government is the prosecution of anyone who commits an act of piracy. I do not agree with this as in my opinion the root of the problem should be first addressed before the secondary one can be overcome. For example the root of the problem of piracy in Somalia would be the lack of government so that should be solved first however nothing is done to solve it. Pirates have long been used in Medias such as the movies and television where the pirates are portrayed as people who wear the same thi ng all the time and carry weapons. The media also show pirates with weird accents and they use weird combination of words that will be later revealed in shows or books what they mean. 1. Introduction 1.1 Purpose This report will be used to educate people and allow them to further understand piracy at sea and to allow introduction of certain methods that could be used to prevent piracy, precautions that can be taken by both the government and the shipping industry. It will consist of the definition, the causes, history of piracy at sea to date and also statistics on the subject. 1.2 Background Piracy dates back to the time when people started using the sea as trade routes. It is an act of robbing or cause violence to the sailors on another vessel. Piracy can occur on shore or at sea, the numerous definitions of modern day piracy includes kidnapping where one holds a prisoner for ransom. Seizing of valuable items carried on the ship while on route to a port for example oil, cars, weapons. The sinking of ships is also considered an act of piracy. 1.3 Method of Research Most of the information in this report was attained by collecting information from multiple online databases and compiling them. Other sources include newspaper articles also biographies of hostages and pirates that decided to pen down their experiences, documentaries also contributed to the production of this report as many interviews were done on both pirates and their victims. 1.4 Scope of Research This report will mainly cover the history of pirates and their origins, well known pirates and the things they did to become infamous, pirates in present day their causes and ways to help or prevent them from successfully commandeering ships and kidnapping hostages for ransom. 2.1 Early beginnings The oldest records tell us that the earliest known pirate went by the name of Anicetus born in Rome and died in Georgia. He was a captain in the Mediterranean Sea during the year 69. However it is believed that piracy started from as early as when men started using oceans as trade routes. 2.2 Aims The main aims of pirates are believed to plunder and loot from other vessels or kidnapping for ransoms. Most pirates truly had to resort to piracy in order to survive while some did it for the adrenaline rush or an act of rebellion. 2.3 Steps taken in the past Capture of pirates for bounty was common in the past as it was used as a way to discourage them from continuing in their line of work. That tactic hardly worked and some nations raised fleets in order to fight back against the pirates and provide some security on trade routes where pirates are known to roam. 2.4 Infamous Pirates The 18th century pirate Calico Jack Rackham was famous for the use of the Jolly Roger which become a symbol for pirates and is still used in entertainment purposes. The Vikings were also made famous by story books and films that portrayed them as pirates with round shields that wielded axes and wore their infamous helmets with antlers or horns mounted on top. 2.5 Hangings Pirates in the past were sentenced to hang and their bodies were often left to hang for a certain period of time in order to instil fear into people preventing them from approaching the life of a pirate. Many infamous pirates that were hanged include William Kidd, Charles Vane, Jack Calico Rackham, and William Fly. 3. Causes of piracy 3.1 Somalia The main reason why Somalia fishermen have begun to turn to piracy as their occupation would be because of the collapse of the Somalia government in 1991 which led to the lack of law enforced on the sea around Somalia allowing fishing vessels from other nations to carry out large scale pollution and fishing of the rich seas surrounding Somalia. This eventually led to the depletion of fish around the area that forced fishermen to look for other means to survive in the already economically unstable country. Many of which were too old to change and take the time to learn new skills as their families were starving hence they eventually resorted to piracy. They believe that the true criminals are in fact those that depleted their natural resources and polluted it. Their act of piracy is merely a mean of communicating with the world telling them that they require help and people need to stop dumping waste and overfishing in their waters. Before the people resorted to piracy they attempted to chase away illegal fishing trawlers from their waters by approaching them with speedboats and attempting to collect a fee from them but this was futile as. It is a known fact that over 300 million dollars worth of fishes and other goods are illegally caught and smuggled from there by these fishermen. Their attempts to continue fishing in their own waters have also failed as they claimed foreign fishing vessels attempt to ram them and have cut their net which makes the problem even worst. Their lack of government prevents them from communicating to the world as there is no appointed leader. Many of the current pirates in Somalia started of as a group that wanted to give some sense of security to fishermen but eventually became pirates. Hence the main problem can be said to be their lack of government an issue that has to be solved eventually to stabilize the country that is currently falling apart. Certain international unions however back the Somali pirates and even support them as they believe it is a way of telling the world that they need help and people need to stop illegally fishing and dumping waste in their waters. Picture of a Somali pirate 3.2 Other parts of the world Pirates are also known to roam around the straits of Malacca, Singapore, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. These pirates commit piracy with different reasons compared to the Somali pirates as they do it because they can, compared to most Somali pirates that do not have a choice. Some of these pirates are just gangsters that do it because it is a crime. 4.1 Methods used in the past by pirates Pirates in the past used fast boats in order to chase down merchant vessels or outrun navies. When attempting to loot a merchant vessel they would go close enough to use grappling hook and board the ship looting and killing everyone aboard, they would then either bury the treasure or bring it back to their strongholds where the loot will be split among them with the captain dividing the loot up evenly while he took a larger share, for other vessels such as fishing or navy vessels they would either attempt to outrun them or ram them with their reinforced hulls sinking ships. Later pirates also used cannons to disable ships for easier plunder. Many of the crew would carry weapons such as swords or guns to fight. 4.2 Methods used by pirates in the modern age Modern day pirates similar to their older counterparts make use of small speed boats to chase after merchant vessels heavily armed with modern day semi-automatic weapons they would then board the ship and capture the crew as hostage for a ransom that the shipping company will have to pay in order to get the goods, ship and crew back to continue the journey. These ransoms can be large sums of money which is why many shipping companies nowadays resort to taking a longer more expensive trip rather than risking the chance of their ships getting taken by pirates. 4.3 Current piracy statistics Piracy at sea has an estimated loss of 13 to 16 billion dollars each year, with the current surge of pirates in Somalia these numbers are believed to increase. The money compiles from mainly ransom collected by pirates and also belongings of the crew member. 5.1 Current methods to prevent piracy The methods currently used at sea are the patrolling of coast guards around straits that provide a false sense of security to vessels as these coast guards are not able to escort every ship in and out of their country hence piracy occurs quite frequently at places with little or no coast guards where the guards will be out of site or have just past the area. Ships are also equipped with radar so it is up to the crew members to defend themselves from pirates as regularly checking the radar will help them avoid areas where unknown vessels are in the area. Some ships are also equipped with a sonic weapon that emits a high frequency sound wave which is able to burst ear drums preventing pirates from boarding the ship. 5.2 Steps taken by the government The current laws enforced by the government against pirates is that action will be taken against anyone that puts a life in danger or is a threat to communication at sea 5.3 Steps taken by shipping companies There are a few precautions that shipping companies can take against pirates. However the few steps that are being taken by shipping companies include the rerouting of routes around areas that have a high rate of being attacked by pirates, routing their ships to follow a safer path by staying close to coast guard patrol routes and also helping their crew prepare against pirate attacks or they could also completely avoid these areas. 5.4 Steps that should be taken in my opinion Firstly the main problem that is causing people to becoming pirates should be addressed, for example the lack of a government in Somalia could be said to be the main problem in the high pirate population in the country. Hence the United Nations ought to seek away to solve it for example colonizing it to a country with more economic stability or take some responsibility and help to lead the country out of poverty. Government of countries close to Somalia should also take action and ensure that their fishing vessels do not illegally enter into Somalia to fish, allowing Somalis to return to their way of life. 6. Pirates portrayed by the media Movies on pirates usually include them dressed in a long coat with a few layers of clothes inside and the captain usually wears a triangular hat and carries a blade by his side. The captain is usually a formidably fighter that has certain values like leadership, rough edged voice, fierce look and a quick mind that is able to think clearly through battle. The term walk the plank was popularized by the film peter pan. Many movies also showed pirates talking in their unique accent and the many uncommon words used. Pirates were also portrayed as people that held many secrets and talked frequently in code words where viewers would not know the meaning until the actions were carried out Picture from the film Pirates of the Caribbean 7. Conclusion With this report i conclude that piracy is a crime that has been around for an extremely long time and this will not change. The only thing that we can change will be the number of pirates at sea by rooting out the problems we will be able to help some of the pirates who have been forced into a life of piracy for example the Somali pirates. It can also be concluded that if governments from every country in the world take some responsibility the current rate of piracy can be lowered.