British IRA Interrogation

The increase of success of the west cork Brigade, part of the Irish republican Army was the leading factor to a spate of arresting and interrogating the suspects if the IRA volunteers in an effort to identify and ascertain the headquarters of those who were engaging in the guerilla war against the forces of the British. Through interrogation the British managed to break the IRA volunteers through torturing and this lead to discovering that the forces headquarters was in Ballymurphy.After discovering this, British army planned for an operation aimed at capturing the IRA column. This lead to mobilizing of more than 1200 British troops to attack the area from different directions. The operation was done early in the morning to attack the IRA unaware; this was thought to lead British to victory for there were about ten British commanders for one IRA member. As the British tried to encircle the IRA, they were caught by surprise as the IRA was aware of the British plans and they attacked a t the crossbarry roads which lead to having many British casualties.The IRA took British arms and set their vehicles on fire before they were attacked by other British troops but did not succeed even after stiff fire fight and they all retired. Impact of British actions to IRA in bringing peace to Northern Ireland The IRA had structural plans that were governing them through their endeavors. It was evident that the republican were to remain anonymous to every one except the members. No one could talk about the army and this made it hard to uncover the whole truth about the army’s missions and their plans.As their rules had restricted them not to talk about the army in public, not discuss anything concerning the army with anyone, not to go in a company of a known member and not to frequent to the houses of a known member, and the top most issue was not to drink alcohol excessively as this would lead to loose mouth and would reveal the republicans secrets. The army volunteers w ere made to believe that the army was legal and justified. They were taught that that was the only way to proclaim democracy in the whole Ireland.Commitment to the movement was legal and was the only way out to struggle for political justification and is a direct representative of the Dail Eirean parliament and by that was a legal and lawful government of the Irish republic and has right to pass law and to claim jurisdiction over the land, airspace, means of production all its people regardless of creed or loyalty. (Coogan, 1997) This impacted a negative attitude to the IRA members and the people of Ireland in an effort to bring peace.These beliefs made the British have difficulties in trying to restore peace in the country as they were regarded as intruders and were there for their own benefit. This is because the army had claimed to the sovereign government of Ireland and had all the rights to act in any capacity as a government. As the recruits were taught that British army, RUC, UDR and Gardai are occupying forces, were illegal and were completely unacceptable for that was morally wrong, ethnically inexcusable and politically unacceptable.Through the strengthening of these believes, the IRA members were completely resistance to the British armies in their efforts of any form in Ireland. (Hopkinson, 2003) IRA PREPARATION OF RECRUITS The IRA prepares their recruits in a distinctive manner. The recruits are taught on their importance to one another. This helps bonding together the recruits from different back grounds to strengthen the movement bond. As they are recruited they are motivated even they face harsh conditions should persevere for the sake of their nation.The IRA is form of ethnic terrorist seeking to influence the Irish people to reject the British governance. As usual to the ethnic terrorist, according to Byman (1997) they seek to create fear among the rival groups or armies by performing terrorist attacks and moderate movements. The recruitment of the army means entering in your total allegiance in life. This helps the movement to retain the recruited volunteers for they have to obey the commands and the rules set forth for the organization.The IRA recruits are forced to believe whatever allegation is put forward for them and strictly follow the rules. The recruits are trained to persevere any form of hardship they face during their work as armies until they combat the target group. Nationalism is another force that was driving the recruits. They were from all corners of the country and were much concerned over fighting for their nation. This aspect had more power as far as recruits were concerned over the belief system.On the other hand, nationalism can also display the general characteristic of a belief system by providing the recruits with adequate information and equipping their mind with an issue that they are to fight for their nation. (Hopkinson, 2003) Conclusion IRA movement was determined in salvaging the Ireland from the hands of British rule. The British solders effort to combat the IRA guerilla were rendered fruitless for the IRA was always ready for the attack even though they were less in number compared to British solders.The IRA recruits were equipped in their minds that the movement was legal and morally right to fight the intruders whore were settled in the country for their own good. The IRA movement sought to influence to moderators and other ethnic groups to reject the British governance. They were to follow strict rules to ensure the safety and welfare of the movements. Reference: Byman, D. (1997) The logic of Ethnic Terrorism, Washington DC, Rand Coogan, T. (1997) The IRA, New York, Palgrave Macmillan Hopkinson, M. (2003) Irish War of Independence, Journal, Vol

A Poetry Analysis on Modern Love

Modern Love George Meredith â€Å"Modern Love. † The term brings to mind the changing dynamic of today's society. This change has been present for decades and continues on to this day. In George Meredith's poem he illiterates the negative impact of this change in a case that could encompass so many couples; the pain of a loveless marriage. Through his use of diction, and metaphor Meredith show the pain and heartache of two people being so close, yet so emotionally distant. Similar essay: How to be Old Poem AnalysisThe first line of the poem begins the dark theme (By this he knew she wept with waking eyes), showing how the husband has seen his wife's suffering; as well as painting a memorable picture through the use of alteration. The alteration serves another purpose as well. It's smooth deliverance shows just how used to the situation the husband is to his wife's tears. In line 2 we see just how helpless the husband is to help, his hand â€Å"quivers† out of nervousness, and in line 3 we see the extent of the wife's sobs (Shook their common bed).The dark selection of diction continues as metaphors are employed in lines 5&6 (And strangled mute, like little gaping snakes, dreadfully venomous to him). The truly telling word in these lines is â€Å"Strangled,† this extremely active verb implies force. This describes the situation of any willfully married wife during the time the poem was written. They had little choice in not only their husb and, but also in the lifestyle handed to the by that husband, not to mention that divorce during this time period was early unheard of.The next lines hint at the wife's feeling of death, (â€Å"Stone-still†) showing her complete hopelessness at the situation imposed on her. Lines 8-12 have the same dark imagery (â€Å"Pale drug of silence†, â€Å"Sleep's heavy measure†, â€Å"move-less†, â€Å"Dead black years†), but those same images fit into another, larger image. The author uses them to describe her â€Å"Giant heart of memories and tears. † Meredith clearly shows the long lasting nature of the wife's pain, as well as the multitude of sleepless nights that all weigh against her heart.The only relief from the torture is presented in â€Å"Sleep's Heavy Measure. † The choice of the word â€Å"effigies† could possibly be the most significant of the entire work. Effigies are stone representations of a person, normally used only after death. The image of death is repeated in the 15th and 16th lines as well, (Upon their marriage-tomb, the sword between; Each wishing for the sword that severs all) these lines are used to show the reader several things. First, the emotional death of the parties involved, second the death of the marital bond, and third the longing for literal death.Meredith's choice of words and formulation of metaphors steer the reader away from the bright connotations of love and into the darker feelings that society in the Victorian era was happy to ignore. His work was very nearly satirical in nature, it challenged the social conventions of marriage at the time and began to show how both parties in a marriage were both influence by, and responsible for the health of a marriage. The true feeling and innate sadness in the poem comes from not only the lack of love and affection, but also the torture of conforming to the standers of the day.

Fall of the soviet union Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Fall of the soviet union - Research Paper Example b. In 1985, Saudi Arabia refuses to support international oil-price. As a result, oil-production increased high, but oil-price fell. Consequently, the Soviets lost 20 billion dollars annually. c. So, the Soviets were forced to loan heavily from 1985-1988 and finally, soviet economy completely stalled. II. The economic crisis of Soviet Union, one of the main reasons of soviet downfall, began long before the fall of oil-price in international market. a. The agriculture policy, adopted by the Soviet authority in 1920s played a disastrous role in the country’s production sector. b. In international market, the Soviet Union turned into the largest grain-importer from the largest exporter of grains in the 1980s. c. Also the huge expenditure in the Afghan War pushed the country towards bankruptcy. III. Reagan Doctrine also played a crucial role in the downfall of the Soviet Union. The Reagan Government created effective defense against the communist expansionism in different countrie s of the world by providing the anti-communists with military and moral help. a. The Reagan Government provided military-support to the Taliban in Afghanistan. b. Also by creating a successful defense, it rather accelerated the fall of the Soviet Union by increasing the expenditure on the Soviet’s part. ... l of the Soviet Union Name Course Tutor Date Introduction The fall of the Soviet Union was essentially the result of the combined interaction of a number of factors such collapse of domestic economy, defeating situation in Afghanistan, growing resentment against communism at home and abroad, the United States’ confrontation against the communist expansion, etc. During the first half of the 1980s, the soviet economy began to face increasingly the economic crisis which put the soviet leaders in urgent necessity to deploy more troops in Afghanistan in order to reach the shore of the Indian Ocean. But fortunately Reagan Presidency in the White was far-sighted enough to build a line of confrontation in Afghanistan using the Taliban Militants.1 The situation in the 19980s for the Soviet leaders was somewhat like a dilemma. On one hand, they needed more economic resources to survive. The more they fed the gigantic soviet Army at abroad at the expense of domestic development and econo mic growth, the faster the domestic economy collapsed. Moreover, the Reagan Presidency was successful enough to grow a diplomatic defense in the Middle Eastern countries. As a result, around the middle of the 1980s, the Soviet troops gained popularity as an invading force, whereas the United States emerged as a pro-liberation power at home and abroad. Subsequently, in September 13, 1985, Saudi Arabian Government declared that it would, no longer, support the oil-prices. As a result, oil-depended soviet-export sector began to fall head down, losing $20 billion dollars annually, in the beginning of 1986.2 Indeed the subsequent soviet steps to prop up domestic economy were not effective enough to rescue the country from the oncoming bankruptcy, in 1989, made the collapse of the regime inevitable.

Alternatives to Incarceration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Alternatives to Incarceration - Essay Example ama’s administration demanded about $10.7 billion in the support of programs for substance abuse and the increase of control and prevention programs. This came in the way of an increase of 1 percent for treatment and increase of 15 percent for prevention. This increase however, resulted in arguments and debates based on different assumptions regarding substance abuse programs (www.hsdl.org). One of the major complaints of many who are researching substance abuse is the fact that governments spend a much greater amount of money on enforcement, but not nearly enough on prevention and treatment options that should theoretically be much more effective at stopping drug problems. "Half the world to arrest" is a myth that is associated within this type of control policy on drugs, thereby filling the prisons with petty offenders who violate the laws established regarding drugs. The Presidents request in its budget against drugs for 2011 is to invest a large portion on the treatment and prevention of substance abuse, including new funds to support the Presidents commitment to increase the spending on treatment. This new budget divides 55 percent of the allocated funds between law enforcement, programs for international intelligence activities relating to drugs, and prohibition activities. This program, however, could fail to provide necessary funds for law enforcement officers w ho need to protect communities from drug users. While this legislation may be excellent at preventing the government from causing undue harm to its citizens by imprisoning them, it ignores the idea that enforcement is a necessary part of combating drug problems, to keep communities safe. These advocates ultimately believe that, the costs for substance abuse treatment and programs overwhelmingly affect spouses, parents, society and the taxpayer (Miller, 2004). Since private and public insurers do not cover drug treatment programs, governments must fill gaps in coverage. Changes make it so that

To do activity on arrow network plus a chart and small questions Essay

To do activity on arrow network plus a chart and small questions - Essay Example The rest remain unchanged. Where staff are not interchangeable or the project involves more than one type of resources, resource scheduling becomes complex. It becomes necessary to smooth, within the same schedule, each category of resources separately. Leveling would be very difficult and the decision on the optimum would depend on the judgment of the project manager. The minimum completion time for this project is 45 weeks. The critical paths involve activities BCE and BCG. Any delay on any of these activities would lead to a delay in the overall project. Activities A, D and F have float. There may be delays or expansions on the activities, to the extent of the floats, without affecting the finish time for the project. Apart from the finish-to-start dependencies, an activity-on-node also represents other dependencies. The dependencies include Start-to-Start dependencies, Finish-to-Finish dependencies as well as Start-to-Finish dependencies (Field and Keller, 2007, p.199). A Finish-to-Finish dependency requires that one activity has to finish for the second activity to finish. The two activities may finish simultaneously. The Start-to-Finish dependency requires that the first activity should start before the second activity can finish (Field and Keller, 2007, p.200). In a Start-to-Start dependency, the start of one activity depends on the start of another activity. The second activity cannot start is the first is yet to start. For example, painting a wall would require the cleaning of the wall first. Applying a first coat of paint on the wall cannot therefore start unless cleaning of the wall has taken place. The two activities may run simultaneously but after the cleaning has

Sports Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Sports Advertising - Essay Example In spite of the extensive use of athletes as product or brand endorsers, there is a relative be short of published research that examine the power these athletes may have on a objective market. Further, it remains questionable as to whether or not celebrity endorsers really make a difference on the bottom line for advertisers. According to the experts those reported that only one out of five profitable that built-in celebrity endorsers met advertisers' planned prospect. Researchers have finished that celebrity endorsers may not have "linked" or recognized with the intended target market. One can quarrel that this may occur since the celebrity endorser lacked recognition and perceived knowledge with the target market (SLACK, 1996, 48-69). Perhaps one of the mainly significant and sought after target markets for advertisers today is one that represents huge possible yet substantial challenges teenagers. At present, teenagers have been confidential as a part of age group Y those persons born among 1977 and 1994. A current subject of the Journal of Advertising Research tinted and identified the possible and yet confrontation of Generation Y to marketing labors. Authors in this particular subject discussed this require with a call for additional research to recognize the incentive and behaviors of this significant group. This require for research may be chiefly obvious in sports and sports marketing. For years, expert sports such as main league baseball have effort to attract a younger audience to its moribund fan base (CORNWELL, B. 1995, 13-24). Additional lately experts discussed be short of research on the female market for sports marketers. As the passage of Title 9 in 1972, a federal permission to give equal athletic opportunities for men and women, these women, of whom a big group belong to Generation Y, represent an enormous market for sports, sports marketers, and sports celebrities. Though, this main market may be the least investigate section by sports organizations and sports marketers. Do sports celebrity endorsers act as role models to females plus, if so, can they power this segment's purpose and behaviors (CORNWELL, T. B., 2001, 1-52) Hence, the objectives of this reading are to: (1) travel around the notion of sports celebrities as character models for Generation Y, (2) look into whether or not sports celebrity role models pressure this generation's meaning and behaviors, and (3) explore the power of sports celebrity role models (DASGUPTA, P. 1989). Background According to the expert analysis which emphasized that the youth market is one of the mainly coveted of all section due to their: (1) spending power, (2) ability to be trendsetters, (3) receptivity to new products, and (4) tremendous possible for becoming life span customers. On the other hand, others highlight that Generation Y is one who is opposed to advertising efforts, unusual, and anti-corporate. Despite these apparently opposite perspectives, researchers and practitioners argue that this group is an easier aim to market to since they have grown up in a customer oriented society. According to Rob Frankel, writer of The Revenge of Brand X (2000), "... Gen Y is less entrenched in customary social

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 29

Research Paper Example However, the case was dismissed since Ali sued the human resource director rather than United States; therefore, the complaint was dismissed based on the deficiency of jurisdiction. Comparing the case of Ali v Rogers and Jack’s case both cases base complications on nationality issues. However, Jacks case base more ideas on employees rather than states. The case between Ali v Rogers base legal ideas on public vessels Act and Admiralty Act should have developed a case against United States rather than the human resource director. Therefore, both cases are dismissed because of insufficient jurisdictions in the two cases (Ali v. Rogers, 2015). Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued Peabody 2001, alleging Peabody implementation of tribal hiring was illegal (EEOC v. Peabody, 2010). It was alleged that Peabody violated Title VII of Civil rights Act 1964. Additionally, Peabody had violated Title VII of record keeping requirements. In jack’s case, Jack was accused of violating the company’s records on laws touching policies of the Grocery just as EEOC case v Peabody. According to Zeinali v Raytheon business case, the court of appeal reversed the district court judgment (The Recorder, 2011). The court maintained federal precedent in excluding judicial evaluation of security authorization verdicts had no interest on employees’ and, therefore, discriminating against a private employer. Comparing, the case with Jacks, security issues have been addressed in Zeinali case by developing critical security issues for employees while Jacks case, security of employees is not taken into consideration. In July 2011, a black employee from South Africa called Jack secured recruitment as a chief security officer in a California grocery store. In the second week of work at the store, Jack spotted a white female customer robbing items from the store. Jack alerted Chris to assist her in stopping the theft at

Commemorative speech on Princess Diana or Presentation

Commemorative on Princess Diana - Speech or Presentation Example The outrageous, unusual and fascinating life styles of princesses have always been under limelight. But it’s not at all easy to spend a life of legend. One such example is Princess Diana. She was a kind hearted, devoted and loving woman. As I overview her life, I realize the importance of her role as a magnificent Princess and an icon. She was a perfect mother of Prince William and Prince Harry and a devoted Princess of Whales. As I go through the kaleidoscope of her life, the most prominent feature of her personality which enhances our emotional attachment with her is the heighted sense of serving. Although the kind lady had an iconic presence on the world’s stage still she never ignored her routine of visiting schools, nurseries, hospitals and other public places. She soon became the lovely lady of her people who was involved in charity work. The charismatic and donated lady’s efforts for land mining were appreciated worldwide. Her role for the AIDS sufferers w as highly admired by the public. It was her biggest achievement. She succeeded in realizing people that contact with the patients was risk-free by shaking hand with them. Whenever you need a compassionate buddy, she was there to help and console. She said: â€Å"Nothing brings me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society. It is a goal and an essential part of my life - a kind of destiny.

Politics and Administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Politics and Administration - Essay Example All of these states were once colonies and had gained their independences through hard struggle, though they decided to converge together and form a central government or confederacy, named the United States of America (McGraw-Hill, 1999). The states were colonies which decided to converge for a better security status and strength against their enemies and colonizers, forming the central government for the signing of treaties, declaration of war or the raising of arms (McGraw-Hill, 1999). However, due to the security and independence of individual states, the central government was given a limitation on the regulation of trade and the imposition of taxes (McGraw-Hill, 1999). The social contract theory had many restrictions in both sociality and movements, which delivered the Articles of Confederation that was seeking remedies for the loop holes in the social contract theory. The social contract theory was a brainchild of John Locke, David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, which is a de scription of how people converge together and establish agreements or contracts on living harmoniously together for mutual benefit (Wilson, 2011). As a strategy to defeating their colonizers and enemies, the states converged and entered into a strong relationship league for stronger common defense and security of their liberties (McGraw-Hill, 1999). ... ates was closely guided by common ideologies amongst the states, and the formation of common guiding legal frameworks and policies in the Central Government. The Central Government was designed to serve as a common secure ground for all the member states, which had created perpetually mutual relations, with enhanced contacts and social interactions within the states (McGraw-Hill, 1999). The Articles of Confederation set a common equal ground for social interaction and free movements within all the member states, with an exception of law fugitives and paupers, where the internal immigrants who originate from either of the member states were bound to enjoy the same privileges and immunities as the resident citizens (McGraw-Hill, 1999). It enhanced the free ingress and regress within the states for citizens of any of the states, as opposed to the restricted movement of people as dictated by the existence of the social contract theory. The formation of the Articles of Confederation, that delivered the United States of America, was greatly beneficial to the citizens of the member states (McGraw-Hill, 1999). All the citizens from within any of the states enjoy common and unbiased privileges of trade and commerce in any of the states, and a common tax and duty imposition. This is an improvement and amendment due to the social contract theory that only allowed equity in privileges for citizens of a specific state, which were bound to be denied or adjusted in of the other states (Wilson, 2011). The Articles of Confederation allowed for the free movement of citizens within the states, with no taxation or duty imposition on imported property or habitation restrictions for inter-state migrants. On the contrary, the social contract theory dictated tax and duty imposition on the

Case study based upon on a hypothetical legal situation

Based upon on a hypothetical legal situation - Case Study Example ed improper tactics to pick an all-white jury for a black defendant’s murder trial, [and subsequently] overturned the conviction of a man who has been on death row for 12 years.†1 Application/Analysis: Prosecutors should be allowed to consider race as a factor in the jury selection, as well as gender and age, which could also be problematic for the defense. Since Mr. Woodson was Black, he definitely should have been able to at least have one or two jurors be Black as well so the jury would constitute a reflection of more of a jury of his peers. Alan M. Dershowitz—a lawyer for O.J. Simpson—wrote eloquently in his book, â€Å"We were pleased that we had a largely [B]lack jury, which might be more open to arguments about police perjury, evidence tampering, and so on—arguments we believed were correct. If that is playing the race card, then the race card should be played—because†¦police [often make

Give Me a Free

Give Me a Free Essay Essay When composing the Constitution in 1789, the Founding Fathers were anxious to stress that the executive branch of the new republic was to be subordinate to the peoples’ representation, the Congress. They achieved this through the Separation of Powers, a theory of government thought up by the French philosopher Montesquieu to prevent over-mighty or tyrannical government. The elaborate system of ‘checks and balances’ introduced greatly reduced the traditional authority of the executive, leaving some to argue that U.  S. presidents have been left with very little power, if only the power of persuasion. However to what extent is this true? Theodore Roosevelt famously stated that he was both â€Å"king and prime minister†, even though other presidents, such as Johnson and Truman have stressed the weakness of the presidency. The argument that presidents have only the power to persuade can be seen in many of the formal powers of the president laid out in Article II of the Constitution. This can perhaps best be seen in his powers of nomination, both for federal judges and executive branch officials. The president has only the power to suggest appointments to these positions; the final confirmation of the president’s choice lies with Congress. This will sometimes mean lengthy negotiations between the branches of government, with the president using his ‘pork barrel’ in an attempt to win over Senators. In 1987, Reagan’s nomination of Robert Bork was rejected by a Senate vote of 42 to 58, resulting in embarrassment for both the president and his nominee. Reagan was unable to do anything about this, other than to suggest a new nominee in the hope that they would be accepted instead. The president’s power of persuasion is also illustrated by his role as chief diplomat for the United States. In this position, he negotiates major treaties with foreign countries, such Carter’s Panama Canal Treaty or Bush Snr. ’s Chemical Weapons Ban. Even so, it is the job of the Congress to ratify the treaty; it has no legal authority until it has been accepted by the Senate with a two-thirds majority. As such, the president can only persuade the Senate to accept it, arguing for its merits or using his limited access to patronage. For instance, the Treaty of Versailles drawn up President Wilson in the aftermath of the First World War was rejected by the Senate, resulting in America being unable to join the League of Nations, a ‘pet-project’ of the President. Later in the C20th, the Senate refused to ratify a further six treaties, which presidents such as Eisenhower (1960) and Clinton (1999) had worked hard on the international stage to achieve. Similarly, the president’s powers to submit the annual budget and propose legislation both require Congressional action if they are to have any authority. The president’s State of the Union address comprises key pieces of legislation which the president would like to be introduced (such as more green jobs and banking regulations seen in Obama’s 2010 address). However, this is meaningless unless they are introduced to and accepted by Congress, a process that requires the president to act tactfully using bipartisanship to persuade Congressmen and Senators to follow his proposals.

Role of the Midwife in Care Interventions

Role of the Midwife in Care Interventions Title: Discuss the following statement in relation to birth. Midwifery expertise is as much about knowing when not to interfere in the physiological process of pregnancy and birth as it is about recognising when and how to intervene in a way that will facilitate and enhance the womans ability to give birth. Essay Women have been giving birth throughout the ages. On the one hand this can be regarded as a normal physiological process which has evolved over the millennia to be a successful method of perpetuating the species and like most evolutionary honed processes, is likely to work well most of the time. On the other hand, as any experienced clinician knows well, any physiological process has the ability to malfunction. A large proportion of professional medical care in any field of medicine is to be able to recognise the normal variations and differentiate them from the abnormal. As a general rule it is only the abnormal that requires treatment or intervention. (Hunt T 1994) Hippocrates is reputed to have said that it is the first rule for a physician that â€Å"one should do no harm†. (Carrick P 2000). In a modern context, this often means â€Å"leave the normal alone† as the ability to produce iatrogenic complications is well known. (Halpern S D 2005) If we restrict ourselves to the consideration of the field of midwifery, the preceding statement can be well illustrated in the writings of Dr Ignaz Semmelweis who was horrified by the levels of puerperal fever that was killing nearly 40% of the pregnant women on his wards. (Semmelweis I P. 1861). Although he discovered the concept of asepsis from his observations, we note that on a simple level, the vast majority of the morbidity and mortality in this case was caused directly by the intervention of the healthcare professionals in what were otherwise normal pregnancies. On a matter of more immediate concern we can consider the issues relating to stress incontinence as being an excellent illustrative example of how midwives can elect to intervene during pregnancy and the birth process in order to facilitate not only the birth process but the whole area of potential morbidity surrounding maternity in general. Pregnancy itself is an independent variable risk factor for stress incontinence (Rortveit et al 2003). Although the midwife is not generally involved in the very early stages of pregnancy, there is good evidence that prenatal involvement in terms of preparation of the woman for the process of childbirth will reduce the incidence of stress incontinence post partum. (Reilly E T C et al. 2002). Instruction in the practice of antenatal pelvic floor exercises has been shown to reduce both the incidence and severity of pelvic floor damage during parturition (Salvesen et al. 2004) At the time of the delivery the midwife can make a number of interventions which will help to reduce the eventual morbidity including having the knowledge that a large birth weight baby is more likely to produce pelvic floor damage and will therefore be more likely to consider doing a prophylactic episiotomy to minimise the potential for pelvic floor damage. Equally, in the time prior to the actual delivery, her intervention to establish the lie and orientation of the baby will help to prevent malpresentations and the associated possibility of instrumentally assisted deliveries with the attendant possibility of resulting morbidity.(Norton C. 1996) Part of the acquisition of professional skill during training is to gain the knowledge which allows the ability not to intervene if the pregnancy and delivery are proceeding smoothly. Unnecessary intervention also has a more subtle downside in that it encourages dependence by the mother on the midwife. On an ethical dimension one can argue that this unnecessary dependence erodes the patient’s autonomy. (Coulter A. 2002). During pregnancy and birth, many women will find it all to easy to be subsumed by the medicalisation of the birth process. The professional midwife should be aware of this phenomenon and try to reduce its effect as far as possible. For many women, the midwife becomes the foremost trusted healthcare professional for the majority of her pregnancy and is the first point of contact with the medical establishment. The woman implicitly comes to trust the midwife’s professional status and believes that the midwife will do what is necessary but not what is unnecessary. The midwife’s professional status is therefore based ultimately on this premise, and a sound professional judgement based on a firm evidence base, is central to her abi lity to produce benefit when she decides that intervention is necessary. (Paine L L et al. 1999). An area where non-intervention is actively practiced is during the third stage of labour where the experienced midwife will observe and allow the fundus to contract rather than immediately intervene to deliver the placenta. There is a delicate line to be drawn between actively delivering the placenta too soon and thereby increasing the risk of uterine haemorrhage or uterine inversion, and not intervening at all and allowing the placenta to become entrapped in the contracting uterus with the implications of having to do a manual removal of the placenta possibly under a general anaesthetic. (Romero R et al. 1999). In conclusion we can consider that the role of the midwife is primarily to assist the pregnant woman through her pregnancy, her delivery and in the immediate post partum period. As we observed at the beginning of this essay, it is quite possible to intervene at virtually every stage of this process, but we would suggest that it is inherent within the role of the professional midwife that she should be able to draw a distinction between those occasions where intervention is mandatory, those when intervention is prudent and those occasions where it is perfectly appropriate to do nothing. References Carrick P (2000) Medical Ethics in the Ancient World. Georgetown University press 2000 ISBN: 0878408495 Coulter A. (2002) The autonomous patient. London : The Nuffield Trust, 2002. Halpern S D (2005) Towards evidence based bioethics. BMJ, Oct 2005 ; 331 : 901 903 Hunt T (1994) Ethical issues in Nursing. London : Routledge 1994 Norton C. (1996) Commissioning comprehensive continence services, Guidance for purchasers. London : Continence Foundation, 1996. Paine L L, J M Lang, D M Strobino, T R Johnson, J F DeJoseph, E R Declercq, D R Gagnon, A Scupholme and A Ross (1999) Characteristics of nurse-midwife patients and visits, American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 89, Issue 6 906 909, Reilly E T C, Freeman R M, Waterfield M R, Waterfield A E, Steggles P, Pedlar F. (2002) Prevention of postpartum stress incontinence in primigravidae with increased bladder neck mobility: a randomised controlled trial of antenatal pelvic floor exercises. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 2002 ;109 : 68 76. Romero R, Y C Hsu, A P Athanassiadis, Z Hagay, et al. (1999) Preterm delivery : a risk factor for retained placenta. Am J Obstet Gynecol, 1999 Rortveit G, Daltveit A K, Hannestad Y S, Hunskaar S. (2003) Urinary incontinence after vaginal delivery or cesarean section. N Engl J Med 2003 ; 348 : 900 – 907. Ryan G L , Quinn T J ,. Syrop C H , Hansen W F, (2002) Placenta Accreta Postpartum Obstetrics Gynecology 2002 ; 100 : 1069 1072 Salvesen, Kjell, Mà ¸rkved, Siv (2004) Randomised controlled trial of pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy. BMJ Volume 329 (7462)14 August 2004pp 378 380 Semmelweis IP. (1861) Die aetiologie, der begriff und die prophylaxis des kindbettfiebers. Pest, Wien und Leipzig : CA Hartlebens Verlags-Expedition 1861.

Concept of Randomness in Statistics

Concept of Randomness in Statistics Part I Introduction Introduction on Freshman Seminar Freshman seminar 1205M offers great opportunities for students to work intimately with professors from the Science faculty on various areas of mathematics. The seminar was targeted to encourage us to open our minds to creative ideas and develop curiosity of influential mathematical theories and various subgroups of contemporary mathematics. In addition to exposure to selected subtopics in contemporary mathematics, we had valuable opportunities to develop our presentation and academic essay writing skills. 1.2 Important roles of Analogy and Intuition The historical development of mathematics is significantly influenced by intuition acquired from real life experience and analogy quoted from various other areas (Harrison Treagust, 1993). Analogy is an extraordinary method in developing new concepts in the history of science. In this module, famous topics in the contemporary mathematics, including geometry, number theory, set theory, randomness and game theory have been discussed. Among all topics, our team worked on Analogy and Intuition of Randomness. In this seminar, various creative analogy ideas and intuition/counter-intuition thinking have been presented based on specific cases in modern mathematics. 1.3 Method on Research and Presentation Our team collected relevant source materials on the randomness, including books, journals, and websites on the Internet. As for presenting applications of randomness, in particular, we focused on the historical development of randomness theory, the simplified key concepts in randomness, the counter-intuitive stories happened, overlapping with other fields in nature, and some significant and influential applications of randomness theory in our daily life. We omitted complicated theories, technical formulas and rigorous proofs. Throughout the whole semester, our team has conducted two informal presentations on randomness. In order to illustrate randomness clearly and intuitively, we adopted various methods: problem solving, in-class quizzes, presentations and attractive stories. Subtopics included: Biology, quantum physics, finance, audio engineering, statistics and so on. Part II Report on Randomness 2.1 Randomness on Communication Theory 2.1.1 Introduction of Noise in Communication Theory In statistics, irrelevant or meaningless data is considered noise (random error). Whereas in communication theory, random disturbance in a signal is called noise. In essence, noise consists of a large number of disturbances with a statistically randomized time distribution. It is assumed that noise signals have power spectral density that is proportional to 1/f^ÃŽ ², where f stands for frequencies of noise. For example, the spectral density of white noise is ÃŽ ² = 0, while pink noise has ÃŽ ² = 1. This special character is widely used for distinguishing among colors of noise. 2.1.2 Laws and Criterions Used to Distinguish Colors and Characteristics of Noise The color names for noise are derived from an analogy between the spectrum of noise and the equivalent spectrum of lights with different visible colors. For instance, if we translate the sound wave of white noise into light waves, the resulting light will be viewed as white color. In electronics, physics, and many other areas, the color of a noise signal is usually understood as some characteristics of its power spectrum. As different colors of noise have significantly different properties. Therefore, each kind of noise requires a specific color to match with it. Start with the most well-known one: White noise, people name different noise after colors. This is in analogy with white color light, which has a flat spectrum of power on its frequency range. Other colors, such as violet, blue, red, pink, are then given to different noises with extremely similar spectrum characteristics. Although most of them have standardized noise patterns with specific disciplines, there are also plenty of noise spectrums with imprecise and informal definitions, like black noise, green noise, brown noise and so on. These below parts were summarized from Wikipedia terms: Noise (electronics) Sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_%28electronics%29 2.1.3 Inner Sources of Noise Thermal noise is generated from the random thermal motion of charges (usually electrons) inside electrical conductors. The amplitude of the signal has a probability density function similar to the Gaussian (Normal) distribution. The amplitude of thermal noise depends on the temperature of the circuit. Shot noise results from unavoidable random fluctuations when the charges (such as electrons) jump over a gap inside the electric circuits. It sounds rather similar to the noise created by rain falling on a tin roof. Flicker noise has a frequency spectrum that falls down into the higher frequencies areas steadily. Burst noise consists of sudden step-like transitions between two or more levels at random and unpredictable times. It sounds like eating popcorn. 2.1.4 Outer sources of Noise Atmospheric noise is the natural disturbance caused by electricity discharges in thunderstorm and other natural disturbances occurring in nature, like disruptions of high-voltage wires. Industrial noises are produced by automobiles, aircrafts and so on. The disturbances are produced by the discharge processes in these operations as well, which is similar to the atmospheric noise. Extraterrestrial noises come from the universe. These noises include: Solar Noise, which is a radiation from the sun due to its intense nuclear reactions and the consequent high temperature, and Cosmic Noise, which are able to transmit its radiation and cosmic rays to almost everywhere. 2.1.5 Classification of Different Colors of Noise This part was adapted and summarized from an online introductory article: â€Å"White, pink, blue and violet: The colors of noise† from the Wired Magazine Science Column, Author: Duncan Geere, Date: Apr. 07, 2011 White noise White noise has a constant power distribution density on its spectrum. It is named after the white color light, which has a flatten frequency everywhere on the spectrum. The term is widely applied in many scientific and technical areas, including physics, audio engineering, telecommunications, statistical forecasting and many other areas. Specifically, White noise is used as a generator for random numbers. In addition, weather forecasting websites also use white noise to generate random digit patterns and simulate real weather.   Pink noise The power density of pink noise decreases proportionally to 1/f. In the past, the term of flicker noise sometimes refers to pink noise, but it will be more appropriate if we strictly apply it only to electronic circuits. Moreover, Pink noise is also used in analysis of meteorological data and output radiation power of some astronomical bodies. Brown noise According to the precise definition, the term Brown noise refers to a noise whose power density decreases inversely proportional to f^2. The density function can be generated from integrating white noise or via an algorithm of Brownian motion simulation. Brown noise is not named after the color brown spectrum, which is distinct from other noises. It can be used in climatology to describe climate shifts. However, within the scientific community, scientists have been arguing about its value for such purposes for a long time.   Blue noise The power density of Blue noise is proportional to frequency. Blue noise has an increasing frequency over a finite frequency range. Blue noise is similar to pink noise, but instead of a decreasing spectrum, we observe an increasing one. Sometimes it is mixed up with Violet noise in informal discussion. Violet noise Violet noise is also known as the Purple noise. The power density of Violet noise is proportional to f^2, which means it increases in quadratic form. Violet noise is like another version of Brownian noise. Moreover, as Violet noise is the result of differentiating the white noise signal density, so people also call it the â€Å"Differentiated White noise†. Grey noise Grey noise is a special kind of white noise process with characteristic equal loudness curve. However, it has a higher power density at both ends of the frequency spectrum but very little power near the center. Apparently, this is different from the standard white noise which is equal loud across its power density. However, actually this phenomenon is due to the humans hearing illusion. 2.2 Randomness on Finance 2.2.1 Brief Introduction to Efficient Market Hypothesis This part was summarized based on an online informal introductory article: â€Å"The Efficient Markets Hypothesis†, Authors: Jonathan Clarks, Tomas Jandik, Gershon Mandelker, Website: www.e-m-h.org In financial fields, the efficient-market hypothesis asserts that stock market prices will evolve with respect to to a random walk. They have the same probability distribution and independent of each other. Random walk states that stocks take a random and unpredictable path. The probability of a stocks future price going up is equal to going down. Therefore, the past movement (or trend) of a specific stock price or the overall market performance cannot be used as the basis to predict future movements. In addition, it is impossible to outperform the entire market without taking additional risk or putting extra efforts. However, EMH proves that a long-term buy-and-hold strategy is the most efficient, because long term prices will approximately reflect performance of the company very well, whereas short term movements in prices can be only described as a random walk. 2.2.2 Historical Backgrounds of Efficient Market Hypothesis This part was summarized based on an online nonprofit educational website: www.e-m-h.org and a research paper: History of the Efficient Market Hypothesis, Nov.2004, Author: Martin, Sewell, Publisher: University College London. Historically, the randomness of stock market prices was firstly modelled by a French broker, Jules Regnault, in 1863. Shortly after, a French mathematician, Louis Bachelier, developed the mathematics of Brownian motion in 1900. In 1923, the famous economist, Keynes clearly stated that investors in financial markets would be rewarded not for knowing better than other participants in the market, but rather for risk taking. After the WWII, the efficient-market hypothesis emerged as an outstanding theory in the mid-1960s. In the 1960s, Mandelbrot proposed a randomness model for stock pricing. Fama discussed about Mandelbrot’s hypothesis and concluded that the market data confirmed his model. In addition, he defined the so-called â€Å"efficient market† for the first time, in his paper â€Å"Random Walks in Stock Market Prices†. He explained how random walks in stock market significantly influence individual stock prices. Later, he introduced definitions for three forms of financial market efficiency: weak, semi-strong and strong. The term was eventually popularized when Burton Malkiel, a Professor of Economics at Princeton University, published his classic and prominent book: â€Å"A Random Walk Down Wall Street.† 2.2.3 Three Major Types of Markets: Weak, Semi-Strong and Strong The three types of EMH were summarized based on an online technical blog: â€Å"The Efficient Markets Hypothesis†, Author: Jodi Beggs, Website: About.com   Weak Form of Efficiency We cannot predict future prices through analyzing prices from the past. And we cannot earn excessive returns by using information based on historical data. In this level, technical analysis is always profitable, as share prices exhibit no dependencies on their past. This implies that future prices depend entirely on performance of companies. Semi-Strong Form of Efficiency Information other than market data is released, such as instant news, companies’ management, financial accounting reports, companies’ latest products. Under such condition, share prices will reflect the new information very rapidly. Therefore, investors cannot gain any excess returns by trading on the public information. Semi-strong-form efficiency market implies that neither technical analysis nor fundamental analysis can produce excess returns. Strong Form of Efficiency   Under such condition, information typically held by corporate insiders is released. Therefore, share prices reflect not only previously public information, but all private information as well. Theoretically, no one can earn excess returns. However, even before major changes are exposed to the public, corporate insiders are able to trade their company’s stocks from abnormal profits. Fortunately, such insider trading is banned by surveillance authorities, like the Securities and Exchange Commission. 2.2.4 Arguments and Critics on Efficiency Market Hypothesis However, critics blame that the theory’s applications in markets results in financial crisis. In response, proponents of the hypothesis state that the theory is only a simplification model of the world, which means that it may not always hold true under every conditions. Hence, the market is only practically efficient for merely investment purposes in the real world rather than other aims. 2.2.5 Interesting Counter-intuitive Stories on Monkeys   The story was adapted from the Forbes Magazine, Personal Finance Column, Author: Rick Ferri, Date: Dec, 20, 2012 In order to verify the Efficient Market Hypothesis and illustrate the theories explicitly to the public, a group of researchers conducted a monkey experiment. They randomly picked up thirty stocks from a one thousand stocks poll and then let a hundred monkeys throw darts at the stocks printing on newspaper. They kept repeating this experiment for five decades, and tracked the results. In the end, to their surprise, monkeys’ performance beat the index by 1.7% per year, which indicates that, there is certain situation where traditional technical analysis cannot even beat randomly-selected portfolios. The results have shocked the whole world by how greatly randomness affects the market stock prices. 2.3 Randomness in Physics and Biology 2.3.1 Application of Randomness in Modern Physics In the early 19th century, physicists use the philosophy of randomness to study motions and behaviors of molecules, and they build models in thermodynamics to explain phenomenon in gas experiments. In the 20th century, when the era comes for quantum mechanics, microscopic phenomena are considered as completely random. Randomness of things like radioactive decay, photons passing through polarizers, and other bizarre quantum effects cannot be explained and predicted with classical theories in the usual way (Scott, 2009). Therefore, physicists propose a new theory, which claims that in a microscopic world, some of the outcomes appear casual and random. For example, when we describe a radioactive atom, we cannot predict when the atom will decay. What only left for us is the probability of decay during a specific given period. In order to solve this mystery, Einstein postulates the Hidden Variable theory, which states that nature contains irreducible randomness: properties and variables work beyond our scope somehow, but they actually determine the outcomes appear in our world. 2.3.2 Application of Randomness in Biology The modern evolutionary states that the diversity of life is due to natural selection. Randomness, an essential component of biological diversity, is associated with the growth of biological organization during evolution (Longo Montevil, 2012). It plays important roles in determining genetic mutation, and the significance of randomness effects appear at different sizes, from microorganisms to large mammals (Bonner, 2013). During this process, a number of random genetic mutations appear in the gene library under both inner and other influences. Although this process is purely random, it indeed systematically leads to a higher chance for survival and reproduction of those individuals who possess these mutations than those without them. This mechanism plays crucial roles in the survivals of animals. Surprisingly, randomness in biology has remarkable relations to quantum physics. Schrodinger proposes his notion of negative entropy as a form of Gibbs free energy, which also behaves similarly to randomness properties in abstract quantum world (Schrodinger, 1944). Part III References Beggs, J. (2014). The Efficient Markets Hypothesis. About. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://economics.about.com/od/Financial-Markets-Category/a/The-Efficient-Markets-Hypothesis.htm Bonner, J. (2013). Randomness in Evolution. Princeton University Press. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9958.html Clarke, J. Jandik, T. (2012). The Efficient Markets Hypothesis. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://ww.e-m-h.org/ClJM.pdf Ferri, R. (2012). Any Monkey Can Beat The Market. Forbes. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2012/12/20/any-monkey-can-beat-the-market/ Geere, D. (2011). White, pink, blue and violet: The colors of noise. Wired. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-04/7/colours-of-noise/viewall Harrison, A. G., Treagust, D. F. (1994). Science analogies. The Science Teacher, 61, 40-43. Longo, G Montevil, M. (2012). Randomness Increases Order in Biological Evolution. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Giuseppe_Longo2/publication/221350338_Randomness_Increases_Order_in_Biological_Evolution/file/60b7d51544f17cb8d8.pdf Schrodinger, E.: What Is Life? Cambridge U.P. (1944) Scoot, J. (2009). Do physicists really believe in true randomness? Ask a Mathematician. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://www.askamathematician.com/2009/12/q-do-physicists-really-believe-in-true-randomness/ Sewell, M. (2004). History of the efficient market hypothesis. Retrieved Mar 30, 2014 from http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/fileadmin/UCL-CS/images/Research_Student_Information/RN_11_04.pdf

Shakespeare’s Richard II Essay: The Rape of a Nation -- Richard II Ric

Richard II   - The Rape of a Nation      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By bowing down to the needs of his subjects, a king allows others to dictate his actions and hence compromises the essence of his power. Paradoxically, failing to heed the desires of his subjects transforms a king into a self-indulgent tyrant and propels his kingdom towards ruin and decay. Can a sovereign rule his subjects without considering their general welfare? If a king rules unconscionably, do his subjects have the right to replace him? William Shakespeare's Richard II considers this authoritarian quandary at great length. In particular, John of Gaunt's "other Eden" monologue (2.1.31-68) delves into the perilous nature of unfettered autocracy. Gaunt proclaims that King Richard should relinquish his crown, because he has figuratively raped "mother" England by exploiting the loyalty of his subjects and debasing the grandeur of "this blessed plot" (2.1.50) for his own personal glory. John of Gaunt's speech takes place from his deathbed. This setting heightens the resonance of his denouncement of Richard, for as Gaunt says, "Where words are scarce they are seldom spent in vain / For they breathe truth that breathe their words in pain" (2.1.8-9). By referring to himself as "a prophet new-inspired," (2.1.31) Gaunt realizes his opportunity to speak with immunity, since there is no physical harm Richard can do him. Every disparaging truth he utters is a lethal arrow aimed directly at Richard's overblown sense of power. The first section of his monologue deals explicitly with identifying the nature of Richard's vices. Gaunt alludes to Richard's character by employing several brief end-stopped aphorisms that rely heavily on metaphors of self-destruction. This staccato like ... ...se very problems not only signified a fundamental change in the concept of autocratic rule in England, it also paved the way for the development of a more socially equitable system of parliamentary democracy, for once the will of the people is finally recognized, kings are reduced to mere anachronisms.    When kings the sword of justice first lay down, They are no kings, though they possess the crown. Titles are shadows, crowns are empty things, The good of subjects is the end of kings. --Daniel Defoe    Works Cited Defoe, Daniel. The True-Born Englishman 2.313. From Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. 15th ed. Ed. Emily Morrison Beck. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1980, 318. Shakespeare, William. Richard II. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997, 943-1014.   

Michael C. C. Adams Book, The Best War Ever: America and World War II :: Adams Best War Ever World War II Essays

Michael C. C. Adams' Book, The Best War Ever: America and World War II Michael C. C. Adams' book, The Best War Ever: America and World War II, attempts to dispel the numerous misconceptions of the Second World War. As the title suggests, Americans came out of the war with a positive view of the preceding five turbulent years. This myth was born from several factors. Due to the overseas setting of both theaters of the war, intense government propaganda, Hollywood's glamorization, and widespread economic prosperity, Americans were largely sheltered form the brutal truth of World War II. Even to this day, the generation of World War II is viewed as being superior in morality and unity. The popular illusion held that 'there were no ethnic or gender problems, families were happy and united, and children worked hard in school and read a great number of books.' (115) It was a golden era when all Americans set aside their differences and united for a common cause which everyone put above all other priorities. The United States Army was thought of as more advanced in fighting ability, weapons, and supposedly held to a higher standard of ethics on the front. Americans that did die, died in ?an antiseptic, clean, neat way . . . gloriously.? (100) Soldiers weren?t blown apart into pieces, they died honorably and nobly. Many factors had to be in place for such a distorted myth to come about. The central one being that the entire war was fought on foreign land with the exception of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. With the conflicts on the other sides of the oceans, Americans would not witness the brutality, destruction, and suffering of civilians and soldiers alike. ?Only the United States was not both a destroyer and a victim of the destruction in the war.? (73) The civilians of the United States, therefore, relied on other sources to shape their view of World War II. ?Ads implied that if you bought a war bond your sacrifice was on par with that of the man in the front lines.? (74) The US government and industry played on Americans? sense of patriotism in order to get them to support the war or buy their products. However, ?it [advertising] is by nature emotional, rather than intellectual; it sells feelings rather than ideas.? (73) Government propaganda and business advertising were not the only factors in forming the inaccurate myth of the Second World War.

Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori means it is a sweet and glorious E

Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori means it is a sweet and glorious thing to die for your country. It is a poem written by an officer Connotations Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori means it is a sweet and glorious thing to die for your country. It is a poem written by an officer in the army in the world war one. The poem contains four stanza’s which all vary in their lengths. The first stanza is a description of a group of young soldiers retreating from the frontline. The lines are long which show how slow they are walking. The stanza focuses on the physical and psychological aspects of what it must be like to be in a war. The words that are used emphasise on this, haunting flares and also a sinister feeling. On the first line a simile is used as the poet refers to the young men to be ‘like’ old men. He also emasculates the men on the second line by calling them ‘hags’ which is a noun that compares them to old aged women who are in a very bad state. On the third line the adjective ‘haunting’ is used which adds a supernatural feeling to the poem. Following there is the word ‘flares’ which is ambiguous is it could symbolise an attack or it could mean flares as in the flames of fire. The word ‘backs’ is used also on that line as the soldiers maybe trying to get away from the bad that was happening behind them or maybe it was a war that was spreading as quick as a fire that is why the word ‘flares’ is used. The men marched asleep on the fifth line as they were exhausted and this exhaustion seemed to be trudging around with them while they’re in battle. Also on the same line, it says ‘many had lost their boots’, I think boots are a symbol of a man, this also could mean the men were emasculated an... ...eaks directly to the reader, showing they are both the same and they are both to blame. ‘Children’ is used on the next line as it shows they are still young, innocent, vulnerable and need protecting. On line 27 the word ‘Lie’ is used, the uppercase letter reinforces that the lie is not just a lie it is a large one. The words that come next in Italics is the actual title of the poem ‘Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori’, these words are written in Italics to they stand out. They also conclude the irony of the poem, as irony has built up to this point during the poem by using horrific images and language. The last stanza is one which is contemplative and reflective. The poem has a universal message as it can be related to situations all over the world. The situations could be in the past, present or the future however the moral will always stay the same.

No to same-sex marriage Essay

â€Å"Everything is permissible, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permissible, but not everything builds up.† I Corinthians 10:23 Against Same Sex Marriage – The Six Point Case Each of these six points against same sex marriage will be explained in detail in the following articles. Click on each link for more explanation. Natural marriage is the foundation of a civilized society. Homosexual behavior is inherently destructive. The law is a great teacher, and it encourages or discourages behavior. Government-backed same-sex marriage would encourage and normalize homosexual behavior, and it would harm natural marriage, children, adults, and homosexuals themselves. The law should promote behaviors that are beneficial and prohibit (or at least not endorse) those that are destructive. Therefore, the law should promote natural marriage, and it should provide no option for government-backed same-sex marriage or civil unions. Against Same Sex Marriage – The Executive Summary Same-sex marriage is a very emotional issue for many people. However, when one separates emotions from facts, it is clear that the state has compelling reasons to endorse natural marriage and not same-sex marriage or civil unions. Natural marriage is the immune system of civilization. When our marriages are strong, our civilization is strong; when they are weak, individuals and communities suffer. Legal endorsement of same-sex marriage would destroy the institution of marriage, resulting in negative effects on children, crime rates, health and health-care costs, tax rates, and religious freedom. Same-sex marriage activists want to redefine marriage as simply a personal relationship between two committed parties, but marriage is much larger than the two parties involved in a marriage. Marriage is a social institution of long-established rules (based on the natural design of the human body) that provides society with the very foundation of civilization—the procreating family unit. That is, marriage is fundamentally about children and the civilization of society both now and for the future. Only natural marriage can procreate and consistently provide a nurturing and stable environment for the growth and maturation of children. In this sense, the most basic and effective â€Å"form of government† is the natural two-parent family. Statistically, children and adults inside of natural marriage are much better off socially, physically, financially, mentally, and emotionally than those outside of natural marriage. Those outside of natural marriage are not only worse off personally by those measures, but they cost society billions of dollars in social welfare and law-enforcement expenses. The law is a great teacher—it encourages or discourages behavior. Since the law is a great teacher, government-backed same-sex marriage or civil unions would put society’s stamp of approval on same-sex relationships and behavior. This endorsement would fundamentally change the institution of marriage to our detriment. It would do the following: Equate same-sex marriage with natural marriage, thereby teaching citizens the socially disastrous ideas that natural marriage is no better than any other relationship and that marriage is not a prerequisite for children. Disconnect marriage from childbearing by making marriage just about coupling. This will result in soaring cohabitation and illegitimacy and painful costs to children and society. Encourage more homosexual behavior, which is medically destructive to those who engage in it and financially burdensome to the public in general. Result in higher medical, health insurance, and tax costs to the general public. Provide legal grounds to  restrict or prohibit religious freedom and free speech. Much of this is already happening in countries that have government-backed same-sex marriage. Natural marriage is weakest and illegitimacy strongest where same-sex marriage is legal. Most homosexuals are not interested in marriage—approximately 96 percent of homosexuals in countries with same-sex marriage do not get married. They want government-backed same-sex marriage because it would validate and normalize homosexuality throughout society. (Homosexuals can already marry privately and many of them do—what they want is government endorsement.) Some homosexual activists admit that they would like to destroy natural marriage by legalizing same-sex marriage. Since they refuse to live by society’s standards, they will only feel validated if they beat down those standards to the level of their own behavior. If they succeed, everyone in our country will be harmed in some way. This House Bill may seem to be very good in its outward appearance but it will simply gave way to the Promotion and Acceptance of Homosexual Lifestyle in the Philippines. If this bill will be approve in Congress who knows what’s next. Let’s Fight Against this Bill to protect the Divine and Natural Institution that God himself Pre-ordained ever since the beginning of time. Let’s make sure that the Philippines will be secure from any danger of accepting a Culture that will go against the Balance of Nature and propagate a lifestyle that will be harmful both today and the Generation to come. A Culture that will be a potential Treat to the â€Å"Divine Institution of Marriage and the Family†. Let’s be vigilant and make sure this Bill will not be approved by participating in this Signature Campaign.

Employee Discipline Essay

In keeping with the Mission of the Sisters of Providence, which requires respect, honesty, and justice in dealings with employees, PSJMC directs its disciplinary and corrective action efforts towards developing and coaching employees to achieve and maintain satisfactory conduct and performance. Although PSJMC may terminate the employment relationship at will without following any formal system of discipline or warnings, PSJMC exercises its discretion to use a progressive discipline to ensure a fair method of disciplining employees. The progressive discipline process is intended to give employees advance notice, when appropriate, in order to provide them an opportunity to correct any deficiencies in job performance or conduct. PSJMC is committed to providing a workplace that is free of harassment and discrimination (PROV-HR-4036 Policy). PSJMC does not tolerate any kind of unlawful discrimination or harassment, including sexual harassment, or harassment based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, pregnancy, citizenship, ancestry, gender, marital status, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. Unlawful harassment, in any form including verbal, physical, or visual harassment will not be tolerated. The policy defines the procedure for reporting any occurrence of sexual or other unlawful harassment and applies to all employees and agents of the company as well as to nonemployees , including physicians, vendors, contractors, and others doing business with the company. Any employee or agent of the company who is found to have violated this policy will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including the possibility of immediate termination. This is an HR policy and is enforced by HR. PSJMC is committed to maintain a safe and productive work environment and expects employees to be reliable and punctual in reporting for scheduled work (PROV –HR 4687 Policy). Absenteeism and tardiness place a burden on the hospital and on other employees. In the rare circumstances when employees cannot avoid being late to work or are unable to work as scheduled, they should notify thei r supervisor as soon as possible in advance of the anticipated tardiness or absence as required by policy. Excessive absenteeism and tardiness is disruptive and may lead to corrective action, up to and including termination of employment. The policy does not apply to employees on an authorized FMLA leave, including intermittent FMLA leave, or other leaves protected by state or federal law including verified occupational injury or illness. This is an HR policy and is enforced by HR. PSJMC ensures and maintains a work environment that promotes the interests of employee safety, efficiency, health, and productivity. It also recognizes that employee involvement with drugs and alcohol can be extremely disruptive and harmful to employees, patients, and the public. It adversely affects the quality of work and the performance of employees, poses serious safety and health risks to the user and others, and has a negative impact on work efficiency and productivity. All job applicants receiving offers of employment shall be required to submit a drug-screening test as a condition of employment. Further, any employee observed with perceived impairment will be subject to a drug screening test when reasonable suspicion has been determined. The purpose of the policy is to provide a safe, healthy, productive and efficient working environment for employees, patients and the public. This is an Occupational Health and Safety policy and is enforced by HR (PROV-HR-4065 Policy). PSJMC complies with its ethical and legal obligations surrounding the appropriate use of social media. The policy aims to clarify what constitutes official Providence use of social media, to establish guidelines for the official use of electronic social networking, and to clarify the personal responsibilities and legal implications of personal use of electronic social networking while at work or while posting information about Providence (PROV-CE-1098 Policy). Social media may be used by Providence for business-related purposes and its employees for business and other purposes subject to the restrictions set forth in the policy. The policy is established to assure compliance with legal and regulatory restrictions and privacy and confidentiality agreements. This policy was created by the Office of the CEO and enforced by HR. Based off my research, PSJMC does an excellent job of ensuring that it has the appropriate policies in place to avoid legal litigation. That said, it is important that PSJMC look for more effective measures to educate employees about new or revised policies. The medical center relies on their intranet policy library as the policy depository and expects all employees to self educate. Most leaders and all of the employees I spoke to were not aware of several policies and did not know where to find them—resulting in a huge liability for the hospital as a result of poor implementation. When policies are violated or a manager needs to modify undesirable conduct after attempts of coaching, progressive discipline may need to be applied. The type of disciplinary action depends upon the nature and history of the employee’s misconduct. These disciplinary actions often include verbal warnings, written warnings, suspensions without pay, and demotions. Progressive discipline does no t mean that PSJMC does not fire an employee for a first offense; some misconduct is of such a serious nature that no second chance is warranted. Most undesirable behavior, however, does not result in immediate discharge, but rather in imposition of some lesser sanction. If the behavior is repeated, progressively more severe disciplinary action is taken, ultimately leading to termination. Managerial coaching is a growing alternative to formal discipline that attempts to get the employee actively involved in addressing performance slippage. Using company disciplinary procedures to address employee issues puts the ownership of the issue on the manager and human resources department. The employee will be asked to react to whatever course of action the manager and human resources group decides to take. A coaching approach puts ownership of the problem with the manager and employee. Any process of resolution is created between the manager and employee and it becomes the employee’s responsibility to find ways to solve the issue under the guidance of the manager. The manager-employee relationship is important in creating a productive workplace. Coaches try to work with their employees to improve employee performance and find the deep-seated reasons as to why conflict exists. This kind of interactive process can work to improve the manager-employee relationship. If a manager turns to official disciplinary action without attempting to interact with the employee, then that can damage the manager-employee dynamic and create a division that results in a decline in morale, loss of productivity and an increase in employee turnover. Union representation protects union employees from unfair discipline, wrongful discharge and preserves workplace rights. Unless circumstances warrant severe actions, PSJMC utilizes progressive discipline to address union employee disciplinary issues also. The progressive steps are specified in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and include, verbal counseling, written counseling, disciplinary suspensions without pay , and termination of employment. Union employees may request to have a union representative or steward present at any meeting if the employee believes that the meeting may result in disciplinary action. Copies of all written counseling(s) and all documentation are kept in the employee’s personnel file along with rebuttals. Corrective action or any reference to disciplinary action cannot be used against the employee for any purpose after twelve months—so, in essence progressive discipline has a twelve month window. If, the disciplinary action is grieved or arbitrated and the charges of the offense are determined to be without merit, all records are placed in a confidential envelope in the personnel file and cannot be used for progressive disciplinary action purposes. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is a processes used for the purpose of resolving conflict or disputes informally and confidentially. The ADR Office at PSJMC offers all employees a resource that is informal, non-escalating and impartial . The goal is to identify possible strategies to resolve concerns before utilizing the traditional processes such as grievances and arbitrations. Although ADR does not displace those traditional processes it does reduce the number of grievances and formal complaints received by human resource and legal departments. Some of the ADR activities include serving as a sounding board, providing and explaining policies and rules, how to address or report unacceptable or illegal behavior from a coworker or supervisor, offering referrals to other resources, helping people help themselves around communication styles, help collect and analyze information, helping to draft a letter about their issues, coaching and role-playing. The activities handled by the ADR Office are vast and diverse. Overall, employees see this service as a benefit and the hospital executives view the ADR as a proactive measure to protect and mitigate risk. In addition to the ADR, PSJMC offers Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to assist employees with personal challenges that may affect their on the job performance. These challenges may fall into many categories including: drug and alcohol abuse, legal, marital, relocation, grief, abusive households, financial, childcare, eldercare, and outplacement services. Since all employees face serious problems at one time or another in their lives, and it is important to provide help during those times. EAP is structured to provide access to quality service providers. Participation in this plan is voluntary, and does not use information that impacts the employee’s chances of future employment or promotion. All contact, participation, and treatment remain confidential. All EAP services provided are available to employees free of charge. The cost of long-term treatment or rehabilitation services is provided as defined under the health care plans. To reduce liability requires that employers have solid policies in place, utilize coaching and progressive discipline consistently and know how to properly document disciplinary actions. The importance of effective documentation of disciplinary actions cannot be overstressed. Apply disciplinary actions is at times uncomfortable but is absolutely necessary in order to help defeat frivolous claims of discrimination and promote a healthy workplace. References Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center. (2012). Mission. Retrieved from https://california.providence.org/Saint-Joseph/pages/About-Mission.aspx Providence Health & Services. (2009). Attendance and Punctuality, PROV –HR 4687 Policy| Providence Health & Services. (2012). Counseling and Corrective Action, PROV-HR-4053 Policy Providence Health & Services. (2012). Sexual and Unlawful Harassment, PROV-HR-4036 Policy Providence Health & Services. (2012). Drug Free Workplace, PROV-HR-4065 Policy Providence Health & Services. (2012). Social Media, PROV-CE-1098 Policy

When One Parent Loses a Job

Melissa McAfee Mrs. Bastian Dev022 April 11, 2013 First draft The Impact when one parent loses a Job When one parent loses a job it impacts the whole family. My household went from two incomes to one, in a matter of months. There was no time to prepare. My husband Bucky works for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad; therefore his pay was never the same. So, my income was very important. I got paid the same amount every two weeks. We could budget our expenses off that amount. We always had extra money, a savings account and a Christmas fund in place.We had the luxuries of two incomes. Lucky for us we didn’t live outside our budget. I was employed with US Cable for eight years. I succeed well in my job making a good income. I took several related courses to achieve the most in my pay. Taking every cable, internet, and telephone course offered. For very passing test we got a raise, this was something we were offered to do in our own time. We could even work Saturdays for overti me, and there was always someone who would give up there day to work.Julie would always give up her Saturday. Mcafee-2 My husband Bucky doesn’t worry about me working. It will work out, it always does he would say. Easy for him to say I liked having my own money! I didn’t really worry much until the day after Jan. 23, 2013. Then it hit me I will no longer have a paycheck, or a job to go too. I have worked at the same place just shy over eight years. What would I do when all I am use to is being extremely busy all day: between work and family. Well you see that didn’t change.I gained more family time. My two oldest daughters didn’t live at home anymore. So, we got too hang out more together. I got to spend more time with my new grandson Lane. My daughter Donna had just started college. My title became grandma-sitter. My daughter Deana liked to come over and spoil her nephew, when she wasn’t working. My youngest daughter Shelby also enjoyed me being home. I picked her up from school and most days she would get a sweet tea from McDonalds. That was a treat.My husband Bucky also enjoyed me home during the day. You see there were many days we would go without seeing each other; because of our schedules. In the conclusion we gained more family time and more family meals. We would actually dine out two to three times a week: before my job ended. Now it’s maybe that a month. The effect of losing my job became a blessing really. As of today I am a full time student at college and have made more memories with my family. The effect was well worth the impact.

Animal Farm †Book Report Essay

Animal Farm talks not only about the corruption of rebellion and revolt by its leaders but also how wickedness, indifference, ignorance and greed influence it. It illustrates immoral leadership, a flaw of revolution. It also depicts how ignorance and indifference to problems within a rebellion allows terrible things to happen if a smooth transition to the people’s government is unsuccessful. Old Major, the old boar on the Manor Farm, summons all the animals on the farm to a meeting, where he compares the humans to parasites and teaches the animals a revolutionary song, ‘Beasts of England’. When Major dies three days later, two young pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, assume command and turn his dream into a philosophy. The animals revolt and drive the drunken and irresponsible farmer Mr. Jones from his farm, renaming it â€Å"Animal Farm†. Animal Farm symbolizes Russia under the Communist Party rule. But more generally, Animal Farm stands for any human society- capitalist, socialist, fascist, or communist. It possesses the structure of a nation with a government (the pigs), a police force (the dogs), a working class (all the other animals), along with state holidays and rituals. Its location in the middle of a number of hostile, neighboring farms supports its symbolism as a political system with diplomatic concerns. Overall, Animal Farm was an amazing book with an incredible sense of morality and had several important themes. The author, George Orwell, displayed his theme in an interesting and entertaining way. I learned that one person’s (or pig’s-in this situation) greed and ignorance can lead to disastrous consequences.

LGBT High School Students Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

LGBT High School Students - Research Paper Example Basically, there are several factors behind support groups working for LGBT. To start with, such groups enhance comfort to the students through the provision of the necessary help in terms of guidance and counseling. To some extent, this promotes self-confidence and in that manner creating an atmosphere through which the learners do not feel discriminated by their fellow colleagues as well as teachers (Baur, 2008). Through guidance and counseling, the support groups ensure that students understand more in relation to LGBT and the way forward towards achieving success in life. A comparable reason as to why support group work for LGBT is to develop a sense of equality among all people. From a broad perception, it is agreeable that different support groups aim at helping LGBT in order to ensure that the standards of life are raised accordingly. In that case, working for the LGBT considerably determines the manner through which the lives of those people will be in future (Ramified & Deicer, 2003). Through encouraging them on their significance in life as human beings, support groups endorse approaches through which they establish a benchmark critical for learning and living. With the different support groups that exist in the present day, each has a role to play towards enhancing safety and equality in terms of the provision of education and other essentials in life (Hurst, 2001). A comparable reason as to why support group works for the LGBT is to in order to mingle with other youths and in that way making sure they share their secrets and emotions. On the whole, this considerably helps to avoid being isolated from the straight humans. Support groups as well deal with discrimination and recognition of LGBT students. Based on the support groups, an emphasis based on the fact that people should recognize LGBT as people with the human rights is enhanced accordingly.

Data Mining Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Data Mining - Essay Example Data mining has different components, but the most significant is defining the problem, evaluating the available data and developing predictive models. (b). Associations discovery for the commodities sold to consumers helps the retailer or other business to capture the unique identifier of a given product. Through capturing this information, the seller is able to analyze the data, so that they can learn the purchasing behavior of their customers. The information derived is used to support business-related strategies and applications like inventory management, marketing promotions and customer relations management. (c). Mining information on web usage is very important to the effective management of websites, planning the development of adaptive websites, administering business and support services, increasing personalization as well as analyzing the flow of network traffic. Further, fast business growth of businesses forces businesses and customers to face a different situation, wher e competition plays a major role in determining the strategies adopted by businesses (Greene, 2012). On the other hand, the customer is exposed to more options to choose from, therefore, will need to follow the businesses that depict more value. For example, through discovering that many customers of a given business come from teen customers, may help the company to adjust their targeting outlook, to ensure that it targets the focus group better. (d). Clustering analysis traces groups of data entities or objects that are similar in certain aspects. The members of the different groups are supposed to be more similar to other members, and different from the members of other clusters. The target of clustering is the discovery of high-quality groups, where inter-cluster similarity is lowest but intra-cluster similarity is highest. Through establishing the highest inter-cluster similarity, the characteristics of the members are used or viewed as the customer information that can be track ed or targeted to increase the impact of the business, among the given high-quality cluster. 2. The reliability of data mining algorithms can be done through the validation of data mining modes. The process involves the assessment of the performance of the mining models against real data. This is done through understanding the characteristics and the quality of the algorithms before deploying them into the production environment (Chung, & Gray, 1999). To determine the reliability of data mining algorithms, the deployment of different statistical validity measures is checked, towards determining whether there are issues in the model or the data. The reliability of data mining algorithms is determined through the scalability of the clustering techniques. This is particularly true, in the case of large data sets, where space and speed are high. For example – in the case that the algorithm –in the case of a database that contains millions of records, shows linear or close to linear time complexity, which demonstrates that the reliability of the algorithm is high. The reliability of the algorithm can be determined throug

Discuss the different levels of irony in the story Essay

Discuss the different levels of irony in the story - Essay Example It is his journey from stardom to decline. However, A Hunger Artist is not only about changing trends of society, but, actually, it portrays various tabooed issues with its ironic theme, hidden symbols, and metaphors. Irony is a dominating aspect to this story, and its different levels are evident throughout the narrative. This paper is an attempt to understand the hidden irony, and allegory in A Hunger Artist. Irony could be understood as the conceptual contrast between outwardly appearance and the actuality behind personal motives, experiences, and situations of life (Colebrook 5). Irony has different levels: it could be verbal, situational, and dramatic. In a story, irony should be assessed on both personal and communal grounds. Presence of verbal irony in this tale is evident by the hurtful dialogues directed towards the artist. Kafka has very clearly expressed the suspicion, public indifference and dejection experienced by the artist through the narrative. The artist is compared to an animal at several occasions, and by the end of the story, his cage is habited by a panther which is not only insulting, but also ironic to a much greater extent. The quote â€Å"Starvation artist might respond with an outbreak of rage and, to everyone's horror, begin to rattle the bars of his cage like an animal† proves this point (Kafka 61). ... The verbal irony worsens in the last part, where the artist dies due to the unjustified ignorance from his employers but says, â€Å"And forgive me, all of you† (Give It Up! And Other Short Stories 33). This is not just absurd but also ironic because the artist is the receiver of cruelty, negligence, and indifference from the world, but he is asking others to forgive him for his sins. However, this has a lesson which Kafka has conveyed to the reader through a conversation between the artist and the overseer. The artist says, â€Å"I always wanted you to admire my fasting, but you shouldn't admire it† (Give It Up! And Other Short Stories 33). In this story, hunger is used as an element of irony, depicting constraint, isolation, and self-denial which, when imposed, crushes a person spiritually and physically. That is why Kafka clearly stated that such an act must not be admired. Situational irony occurs at numerous points in A Hunger Artist. The aspect that the artist has acknowledged his fading art is an example of situational irony. "In recent decades interest in hunger artists has greatly diminished" (Kafka 56). It is true that entertainment is necessary, but allowing such an odious act for enjoyment sake, and then suddenly rejecting it shows the society’s disrespect for art. The manner in which fasting act was conducted provides sufficient evidence for situational irony. The artist was confined in a cage, and guards kept a constant check on him. â€Å"There were also permanent watchmen, usually butchers – whose job it was, always three at a time, to watch the starvation artist day and night† (Kafka 57). Such a situation is ironic because it depicts the indifferent attitude of the public and employers towards a

Russia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Russia - Essay Example Russia's transition from communism to capitalism has been a slow, albeit a positive, step. And while Russia is experiencing the pains of creating a new economic system, some progresses are already underway. It was in 1991 that the communist Soviet Union was dismantled and the Russian government proposed numerous radical reforms designed to transform the economy from one that was centrally planned and controlled to one based on capitalist principles. The Encyclopdia Britannica (2007) summed up that the major components of the reforms included establishing privately owned industrial and commercial ventures (using both foreign and Russian investment) and privatizing state-owned enterprises. Furthermore, the Russian government issued vouchers to citizens that enabled them to purchase of shares in privatized firms to promote privatization, though in practice these vouchers frequently were sold for cash and were accumulated by entrepreneurs. Moreover, a commodity- and stock-exchange system was also established to uplift the economic transition of a country fraught in political instability. Dolinskaya (2002) maintained that Russia's growth performance had already worsened before the beginning of economic transformation. The fundamental reason for the slowdown was the nature of Soviet economic growth, which was based on mobilization of resources rather than increases in productivity. However, at present, is Russia still struggling to get its economy on the right track How does Russia cope with the onset of globalization Does Russia deserve the attention of international investors This paper will attempt to find answers to these questions by sifting through current economic data and analyzing the potentials of the Russian market. II. Environmental Overview A. Economic Factors During the 1990s, the Russian economy experienced severe disruption as it moved from a centrally-plannedmodel to a free market system. Difficulties in implementing fiscal reforms aimed at raising government revenues and a dependence on short-term borrowing to finance budget deficits led to a serious financial crisis in 1998. In addition, lower prices for Russia's major export earners (oil and minerals) and a loss of investor confidence exacerbated the financial problems (Spulber, 2003, p. 206). The result was a rapid and steep decline in the value of the ruble, the flight of foreign investment, a breakdown of commercial transactionsvia the banking system, and the threat of runaway inflation. Nevertheless, Russia weathered the crisis well. Russia's economic performance has been strong in recent years, reflected in robust Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, strong external and fiscal positions, and growth in productivity and consumption. These achievements are attributed not only to favorable commodity prices, especially high oil prices, but also to generally prudent macroeconomic policies. In fact, Russia is presently in its eighth year of strong growth and now has the world's fifth largest foreign exchange reserves (Euromonitor International, 25

Migrant Workers to Qatar Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Migrant Workers to Qatar - Article Example At the start of the century, Qatar resolved its disputes border disputes with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Owing to enormous revenues from oil and natural gas, Qatar attained the highest per capita GDP in the world as of 2007. Partly because of vast wealth, Qatar was not affected by the uprising that affected the Arab world in the 2010-2011. Doha has however supported many of these revolutions specifically in Libya and Syria. In 2013, Hamad stepped down and left power to Tamim bin Hamad his son aged 33 in a peaceful transfer of power which is uncommon in the Gulf States. Tamim has embarked on improving the welfare of Qataris in terms of healthcare, education, and infrastructure. Qatar is also on a massive expansion of infrastructure particularly in anticipation of the 2022 World Cup that it’s hosting. The economy of Qatar is a vibrant one. Because of the vast energy reserves, Qatar boasts the highest income per capita in the world. The country also has the lowest unemployment in the world. During the financial crisis that hit the world, the government focused on protecting the domestic banking sector. This was through direct investments into the local banks. The GDP of Qatar is mostly driven by the oil and gas sector. The government policy is however focused on improving the investment in the non-energy sector although oil and gas still contribute more than fifty percent of GDP, around 85% of earnings from exports and half of government revenues (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). Qatar has proven oil reserves in the range of twenty five billion barrels which at the current extraction rate should last another 57 years (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). Qatar has proven natural gas reserves in the excess of twenty five trillion cubic metres; this is the third largest in the entire world and 13% of the world’s total. Qatar was successful in winning the 2022 world cup bid

Brand analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Brand analysis - Essay Example One of the major advantages of Leatherman’s products is the 25-year guarantee (Hoovers). The Argentum, a tool designed by an Argentine silversmith called Adrian Pallarols is manufactured by the company specifically to attract the luxurious community while the younger generation is targeted via the manufacturing of the compact Juice tool. The Company has its principal strength in the duration of the guarantee offered for its products (25 years). Not many organizations offer such a warranty thus making its products the best. The organization provides its customers with sufficient support or back up and awareness of the products they sale hence keeping the customers coming back for more products. The organization has a dedicated staff that adds up to its minimized price offers for their products. In addition, all parts of the tools made by the company are replaceable (SHOT). In respect to the Company’s weaknesses, it manufactures customized tools (SHOT). These tools demand increased payment as compared to normal products hence their low production due to inability to stabilize/moderate the prices of the same. The large range of tools produced by the company accompanied by a list of styles in which to fold pocket tools and the long warranty offered by the company provides the organization with a huge opportunity of capturing or reaching a larger market (Davis). Furthermore, Davis believes that the use of websites for presentation of company products presents an opportunity to expand their market share due to the augmenting use of the internet. Manufacturing of the compact Juice tool for the younger generation as well as the Argentum for the rich/luxury creates room for increased sales thus more profit. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. is not the only company in the industry; hence, stiff competition from companies like Victorinox Swiss Army, Inc poses a huge threat to the company. Another threat is infringement especially incases of retaliatory damages inv olving the use of these products (Davis). One of the competitors is Victorinox Swiss Army, Inc. Just until 2007, the company was called Swiss Army Brands boasting a monopoly in the marketing of the Victorinox Swiss Army knife in the Caribbean, USA and Canada (Hoovers). In addition, the company distributes Victorinox wear for men, consumer and professional Victorinox Cutlery, Swiss Air Force watches as well as products of Swiss Army Brand like writing materials, watches and sunglasses. The company runs a flagship retail store in SoHo district of New York City as well as distributing these products in retail and wholesale prices. The other is Wenger North America or simply Wenger N.A. distributes Swiss Army knives, footwear, watches, luggage, business accoutrements, and outdoor gear to the US and the Caribbean. Hoovers affirms that the Swiss Army knives distributed by Wenger N.A. are not associated in any way with Victorinox Swiss Army knives. The company provides these products on th eir website but at a discounted rate as well as providing customers with videos and manuals as guidelines to the use of their products. Most of these products are sold in chains and a host of specialty sports retailers (Hoovers). Buck Knives Inc. as the third largest competitor boasts skills that comprise four generations in the knife-making business. The company manufactures hunting, pocket and