Green Tea Essay

Green tea is an essential part of people’s everyday life around the world; it is tasty and healthy but is that all there is to it? Most people in Europe and Asia prefer green tea over other beverages as it is light and energizing. China, where tea came from, is the center of green culture; Chinese people have much higher life expectancy due to living healthy and drinking green tea. As many people know â€Å"the history of green tea began in China† (Learn all about the History of Green Tea). Some sources claim that there are references to green tea as far as 5000 year ago. It can be true because many ancient Chinese artists portrayed wealthy people drinking tea (Painting). Also tea in ancient China was a treat for the wealthy so it could’ve taken some time to develop. There are two legends about where tea came from circulating the world. First one says â€Å"an old man accidently stepped on a fallen tea leaf and tasted its juices, he thought it tasted great and had some special properties† (Learn all about the History of Green Tea). Second one tells that an â€Å"Emperor Shen Nung discovered tea when a blossom fell in his cup† (Learn all about the History of Green Tea). With time tea became more than just a drink but a part of the Chinese culture. Drinking tea wasn’t just about the tea, a whole new â€Å"tea art† was developed. â€Å"Tea and tea wares should match surrounding elements such as breeze, pines, bamboo, plums and snow. All there show harmony of human and nature† (Tea Culture). It is easy to understand why tea is so important once you come across a tea ceremony or read one if the many books about it. In the painting you can see that wealthy people were drinking tea and the peasants were making it. The reason why only people of high class could afford tea is because the ceremony was a very complex practice which required pricy equipment and skilled laborers. A proper tea ceremony requires extensive training and spiritual discipline. Over time many people realized that pure green tea is a great far oxidizer, even too great, drinking pure green tea dangerously burned fat away, Chinese had to find a solution. â€Å"They switched to oolong tea which contained less fat oxidizing agents† (Learn all about the History of Green Tea). Oolong tea was the reasonable solution and now it is the most popular tea in China. All around the world tea is tea but that same tea carries different meaning in each part of the world. For example â€Å"in Japan, the rigorous tea ceremony reflects the nation’s character; in the West tea is made with milk and sugar to create romantic atmosphere and in every different part of China different people all have appeal to their own kind of tea which makes them unique† (Tea Culture). Now we can rule out that people love tea but why? Tea is a worldwide beverage whether it’s green or black, hot or cold, it’s healthy and thirst quenching drink that people around the world consume in numerous amounts to refuel their Becky). Many people replace coffee with tea to avoid crashes and coffee addiction. Antioxidants and flavonoids found only in green tea has shown that tea is very effective in improving mental alertness, reducing cholesterol levels and preventing low blood pressure. To get the full benefit from green tea you have to make your own tea at home, bottled tea isn’t natural and does not come with all the nutrients. As you can see green tea is very good for your body but as with every beverage there are some minor side effects. Green tea contains caffeine, which in excess can cause restlessness, irritability and sleeping problems (Green Tea Side Effects Warnings). It is safe to drink no more than 5 cups of tea a day; furthermore, one should not drink it during mealtime because green tea can reduce absorption of iron and folic acid. With that said, green tea is a healthy drink that came from ancient China. It does have some bad things to it but the benefits shadows them. History of green tea continues on even now, being number two most popular drink after crystal clear water, even more popular than Coca Cola and beer. Works Cited Ancient Chinese drinking tea. Sldinter. 18 Jan 2013. http://sldinter.com/upload_news/tea%20hist.jpg. â€Å"Green Tea Side Effects Warnings!† Amazing-green-tea. 20 Jan 2013. http://www.amazing-green-tea.com/green-tea-side-effects.html. Hand, Becky. â€Å"The Truth About Green Tea.† Sparkpeople. 20 Jan 2013. http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=107. â€Å"Learn all about the History of Green Tea† Green-teas-guide. 20 Jan 2013. http://www.green-teas-guide.com/history-of-green-tea.html. â€Å"Tea Culture.†. Travel china guide. 20 Jan 2013 http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine_drink/tea/culture.htm.

Byzantine and the Impact of Islam

Byzantine is a Roman empire or the empire of Greeks in the Middle East. The history of Byzantine is a continuous line from the latter centuries of Rome to the very beginning of the modern time. It’s about the culture of the Greece and Rome that has a unique cultural history based on synthesis of Roman, European and Islamic elements when it suffered three crisis of external invasion, internal civil war and economy that later made the administrative center less important. (Bury, J. B. 1989).The emperor of Byzantine Empire was Justinian who occupied territories by the Goths and the main occupants of the empire were Christians, but after the fall of Rome; Christians who were horribly persecuted by the Byzantines welcomed the Muslims conquerors with open arms just to tolerate their religion. (Barker, J. W. 1966) By the time justinian resigned Byzantine was in a financial crisis. Later Heraculius succeeded him. When the throne was assumed, a forty-year old Arab named Muhammad swept the streets with messages of Islam across the entire empire.At the end of his regime Muhammad’s message came to pass and Muslims armies emerged and started making raids into Byzantine territory in Syria and began to conquer the Persian territories. (Bury, J. B. 1989) Because of the disaffected populations of Christians and Jews who had been persecuted earlier, the Muslim quickly conquered Byzantine territories in the ninth century. Their victory did not last long because of the Islamic government under Caliph deteriorated and Byzantines started to dominate the Asia Minor and by the tenth century they reconquered most of Syria and became more powerful and influential again.The crusaders The Byzantines however saught help from the Europe against the Muslims conquerors. Europe decided to assist them despite their cultural differences as they shared a common religion with the Byzantines. In 1204 the crusaders attacked the city of Constantinople a goal that the Muslims had been tr ying to conquer for centuries and conquered the Muslims. In 1261 the Byzantine Empire ceased to be an empire and was known as a small kingdom that later in 1453, the Constantinople city was permanently conquered by the Ottoman Turks and was renamed Istanbul.(Diehl, C. (1957) Byzantine Christianity Byzantine Christianity was a different religion from the Latin Christianity, what made it look different was the role of the emperor in matters regarding the faith. While for the Latin Christians the pope in matters of faith was almost solidified. Later the Byzantines inherited the roman idea and practiced a form of Christianity whereby theological authority was vested in the emperor. Through this theological authority it created a permanent breach in the world of Christianity between the west and the east.The breach was to produce iconoclastic controversy that the worship of images and icons was a sign of pagan belief. Only Christ and God should be worshiped this was angulated by Leo the saurian who had turned the tide against the Muslim in 717. The collapse of the Byzantine empire in 1453 saw the Russians believe that they were inheritors of the Byzantine empire and later began the roman empire. (Amis, R1995).Byzantium Empire and impact of IslamThe Byzantine Empire was able to survive for a period of time though not easily achieved through Heraculius some of the empires were kept together despite confrontation on the three sides of empire, and was able to save the empire from the Muslim. (Diehl, C. (1957) His effort worked but his 200,000 troops were killed and a lot of wealth lost during the war with the Persians. After the fight with the Persian he thought of rebuilding the empire but this was not to be as the empire was again attacked by another threat of Islam. The Muslims again got the opportunity to invade Persia and the Byzantine and this surprised both of them.The Persia and the Byzantine Empire did not have strength to fight back the Muslims attacks and th is paved way for Muslims to conquer the eastern provinces of the Byzantines. (Bury, J. B. 1989) The Muslims invasion in the empire weakened the internal division and many Christians wanted to keep their faith and always looked upon religious sects as heretics. Most of them who were persecuted to them life under Islam was good compared to Byzantines because Muslims did not look down upon other religion and this resulted to Muslims being welcomed to Byzantine Empire.Finally when Heraculius died the Muslim got opportunity to conquer the eastern provinces of Byzantine Empire. In the 14th and 15th centuries Islam was already being accepted by the Albanians and later it was in quick acceptance by other nations. . (Diehl, C. (1957) After the death of Mohammed Islam spread very fast and outside Arabia its spread was aided by various political upheavals. The long series of wars between the Byzantine and Persian empires is always credited for this fast spread in the near east especially after the triumph of the Muslims.The Byzantine Empire had the character of imposing Christianity on the population it conquered, for this reason the Syrians and the Egyptians resented and resisted the attempts made by the Byzantine Empire to impose Christianity on them. (Diehl, C 1957) Therefore when the Muslims came to these particular areas they were readily accepted to forestall any attempts that the Byzantine were trying to make, this led to the fall of Syria to the Arab armies to be followed soon by the fall of Iraq and Persia with Egypt falling in 640 AD with very little resistance.With this conquest Islam soon spread to most territories of the Near East and Africa. (Diehl, C. 1957) In the Byzantine Empire there was fierce fanaticism that included interdenominational strife and religious persecution amongst the Christians themselves, compared with the practice and the doctrine of the Islamic faith that tolerated other religions it endeared itself to others. For example the Byzantin es brutally attempted to suppress Christian sects who questioned the established Church.Also there was oppression of the peasants who were heavily taxed. The Empire also suppressed non-orthodox Christian teachings. Opposition to Islam after the conquest was weakened by the fact that under the Muslims, taxes were not very heavy like before and the non-orthodox Christian sects could now operate comfortably. (Diehl, C 1957) The spread of Islam in the better part of Middle East was made possible by Arab victories over Byzantine armies. The Byzantines were the major enemies to be encountered by the Aryans from the Arabian Desert.The encounter with the Byzantines was the first of many major battles between Muslims and Christians. It was Omar who acted as Caliph or head of the Moslem community in 634-44AD that initiated the fast expansion of the Arabs and Islam. Omar achieved the first great successes of Arab armies outside of the Arabian Peninsula when he conquered the Byzantine Empire ru led by the Emperor Heraclius. Omar's armies attacked Syria, seizing large areas. In 636AD at the Battle of Yarmuk the Byzantine Army were greatly humiliated by the Arabs when they defeated them.This saw the Arabs entering Jerusalem and Damascus in 638. It was during these period that it is believed Christianity replaced Christianity in this particular area as a result of the weakness of the Byzantine Empire. Arab rulers imposed a personal tax on all non-Muslims, which encouraged many to convert to the Muslim Faith. In the new Caliphate there was no forced conversions but happened later. At first the Arabs did not consider converting anyone because of the taxes they collected which provided great incomes.(Diehl, C 1957) Cultural and intellectual factor Islam as a religion does not recognize superstitions but is a simple and rational religion that emphasize on knowledge and learning. Through learning as the foremost priority to humankind the Islamic civilization spread through many co untries. The Muslim never destroyed things in middle east as the Christians in Spain what they did was to defend what was positive and eventually embrace it.Political and economic impactIslam was seen as a religion without any political and economic principles. However Islam preached a new concept of human relations avoiding nationalism and class divisions. Islam main concern and interest was humankind’s relations with God. Politically Islam perception was that the supreme power rests with God and equality before the law is a major principle of the political system. (Diehl, C. (1957) In Balkan nations, emergence of Islam was very important compared to the Byzantines Empire.Islam also emphasized on the economic aspect of life and this was clearly shown through justified ways of making profits, possession of property and not overspending and everybody must earn a living in an honest way. Islam came up with obligatory and voluntary laws that have played important roles in the ec onomic system of Islam. Before Islam spread to Balkan nation and Byzantine Empire people who lived there had some kind of social chaos but Muslims brought a new approach to the social lives of the Balkans.For example: Muslim women played a crucial part in the institution of family and were always considered equal in every aspect to her male counterpart. A woman is always the first to show kindness, love, and sincerity and educate. While for Christians, women are seen as devils instrument to harm or hurt people. (Diehl, C. (1957) When they conquered Byzantine Islam played a role in regulating the slavery and sanctioned better conditions for the slaves and even encouraged the prohibition of slavery.Islam also brought together the Middle East and came up with a common language known as Arabic and a common religion known as Islam. After all this positive impact of Islam in Byzantine Empire some of the rules set up are not applicable in the 21st century. At one time there were most power ful, rich and advanced people and today they have created four empires, which include Umayyad, Abbasid, Mogul and Ottoman Empire. Their decline can be traced to about 1700 when the west caught up with the Ottoman the great Muslim empire and started misinterpreting the Koran.(Amin, H. A. 1989).REFERENCESAmin, Hussein Ahmad (1989).The present state of the Muslim umma. Muslim World Amis, Robin (1995).A Different Christianity: Early Christian Esotericism and Modern Thought. Albany: Suny Press, Barker, John W. (1966).Justinian and the Later Roman Empire. The University of Wisconsin Press, Bury, J. B. (1989).â€Å"Roman Emperor from Basil II to Isaac Komnenos,† English Historical Review. 41-64 & 251-286. Diehl, Charles. (1957).Byzantium: Greatness and Decline. Rutgers University Press.

Innovative Organisations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Innovative Organisations - Essay Example By virtually every measure, Ryanair has managed to develop positive leadership innovation, process innovation and product/service innovation by creating new business models and business structures designed to bring long-term value to the business. This report identifies Ryanair’s strategies in innovation, an assessment of these innovations, and also a description of how the author of this report could contribute effectively to the long-term future of Ryanair. Innovation is key to any successful enterprise. There are a wide variety of acceptable definitions of innovation, one of which is the successful creation and launch of a new product or service concept which provides significant competitive advantage to today’s firms. Competitive advantage means utilising this new innovative idea or concept and applying it using a market-focused methodology which outperforms competing companies and gains market share in the process. This report highlights the activities of Ryanair, the low-frills, discount airline company, which provide innovation in the airline industry and a stronger business portfolio. Ryanair was established in the 1990s as one of the first no-frills discount airline companies in Europe. The company, with this discount philosophy, has managed to increase its market share against major competitors such as Lufthansa and Air France-KLM (Done, 2009), which is not an easy task to accomplish considering how long these airline companies have been a staple airline carriers in Europe. When the company was first implemented, there did not seem to be a heavy consumer demand for no-frills services, or perhaps the company simply lacked marketing focus, as the business was riddled with heavy losses and an inability to seize a higher volume of market share than that of its competition (Done). However, today, Ryanair has managed to redevelop its previous business model, making it more adaptive to consumer needs, which is bringing the

Should pledge of allegiance be said in US schools Research Paper

Should pledge of allegiance be said in US schools - Research Paper Example In addition, all religious head wear or dresses should be removed. The pledge has often been recited in numerous private organizations, meetings and sometimes in schools. Debates have been carried out arguing about the later and whether or not the place should be compulsory for school pupils to recite. There have been several points made for and against this action. However, the author believes that the pledge should be recited in public schools as it is a historical reminder of what the United States of America is about. The pledge of allegiance helps build patriotism in the young generation in addition to giving them pride about their nationality (Lavcock, 155).America is a very prosperous state which many countries try to emulate and numerous individuals constantly change their citizenship to become American. Therefore, customs of the country should be kept as they keep the heritage of the country alive. If the pledge was to be abolished, the same procedure might occur for other c ustoms in the country which would mean that America would lose some of the traditions and values which it was built upon (Lavcock, 155). However, many people argue against this point as they believe that since the pledge has been altered many times, four to be exact, it no longer possesses its original meaning and value and some of alterations are not entirely patriotic and are concerned with giving grace to God. This religious aspect is very sensitive as the number of non-Christians or nonbelievers is constantly increasing. Therefore, the phrase one nation under God may not be suitable for some citizens as they do not carry this belief and forcing them to repeat these words would be a violation of Basic rights (Donavan, 12-13). In addition, the paper specifies on reciting the pledge in public schools which are mainly comprised of young individual. If these individuals see their rights being violated and are forced to do something which that customs and families not believe in, they are likely to lose faith in the system and doubt that they even have rights to begin with (Lavcock, 155). The argument against making the pledge of allegiance compulsory in public schools is also based on the fact that reciting a few lines or text does not resemble patriotism, one attribute that is mostly associated with the pledge (Monroe, 55). In fact, constant repeating of these lines can make them lose their value and meaning to these pupils, therefore having a reverse effect than their intended purpose. The pledge becomes just a bunch of lyrics coming out of the children’s mouths habitually (Monroe, 55). However, some people still believe many people died for this flag and they should be shown respect for their services to the great American nation. They also believe that the phrase under God should also be compulsory as despite what religion or belief one possesses whether he or she is a Muslim, Buddhist or Christian at the end of the day every individual is American a nd should unite on this basis (Donavan, 12-13). However on the same point, other individuals believe that forcing people to say the pledge is not paying tribute to war heroes and other individuals tied for the country. This is based on the fact that these individuals fought and died for the country to become a free and sovereign state with equal rights and not to become a compulsory and authoritative dictatorship

Electric Cars Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Electric Cars - Research Paper Example The company has completed designing the car but wants to increase its output. A rise in output can only be afforded, if the company makes a commercial plan that would help to market the product and make it a leading vehicle in the current competitive industry. The context of this research paper would capture the various details about the product, industry, potential market applications, challengers, risks and path of commercialization that would be useful for the company to make its product acceptable in the market. Product Description An electric car is an eco friendly car that runs with the help of an electric motor or battery stored electrical energy. The electric motors in such cars help to generate torque, thereby giving smooth and strong acceleration to such modern vehicles. Such cars emit less air impurities because they do not discharge tailpipe pollutants. Some electric cars are also powered by solar energy or gasoline, these cars are known as solar and hybrid cars respectively (Westbrook, 2001). Prototype Status The research paper concentrates on a four seating electric car. The car is produced by a Canadian automobile company and its manufacturing division is in Ontario. The car fully runs with electricity and comprises of all the features that a modern car should contain. However, the car is required to be charged every time its cell energy diminishes. The company manufactures only 75 cars per month at present but the figure is expected to augment up to 200 cars per month by 2014. Intellectual Property Status The intellectual property rights are legal rights that are catered to the automobile firms for discovering a new design of a vehicle. Such rights ensure that the state of technology or blueprint newly invented by a company is not copied by any other firm in the industry. A trademark can only be used by a Canadian company according to the norms of Canada. Thus, it is obvious that the Canadian electric car manufacturing firm will possess a trademark that would protect its product from forgery (WIPO, 2013). Industry Analysis Definition of your industry The automobile industry is an industry that comprises a large pool of organizations and companies. Such companies are engaged in designing, selling, manufacturing, marketing and developing motor cycles, mopeds, towed vehicles and motor vehicles. It is a long established business segment since 1890’s. Working and Prospects of the Industry Automobile industry is considered as one of the most important ind ustry in the current global economic system in terms of revenue. The biggest strength of the industry is its diversity; there are infinite companies that participate in automobile manufacturing. The industry stands 3rd in the Fortune 500 list and

Pharmaceutical Business in Puerto Rico Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Pharmaceutical Business in Puerto Rico - Essay Example Currently, Puerto Rico is experiencing some serious problems in power supply and taxation and hence some experts predict that the region could be on its path to loosing its position as one of the leaders in pharmaceutical manufacturing unless more incentives are initiated and a shift from basic manufacturing to research based production since sophisticated production means are better for the market. The marketing objective of any business firm in to increase sales hence maximizing the profits. This cannot be achieved just like that hence a marketing plan should be put in place to be implemented systematically so that better results are achieved. Since there is a lot of competition of Puerto Rico from existing companies, the entry of a new one would necessitate a thorough and an all inclusive plan or strategy to help achieve the company objectives (Blaisdell 2000). There are three marketing approaches that will be employed and they include; company oriented, product oriented, and disease oriented strategies. The major objectives will include the following; strategic objective which aims to expand the market share and consequently enhance profitability of the firm; the company will entrench a strategic focus in the marketing strategy to help penetrate and expand the markets and to increase its productivity; the company will identify target customers to establish segmentation and product position; the marketing strategy will be implemented to assess competition and establish competitive strategy and positioning and finally the company will establish a unique marketing mix that will address the elements products, promotions, place and prices (Pathak & Escovitz 1996).. Resources The major resources that a business investor should assess before establishing a company are the availability of manpower both skilled and non skilled. Cheaper manpower enhances cost effectiveness. The infrastructure is another basic resource since distribution and transportation of raw materials will greatly rely on the infrastructure (Pathak & Escovitz 1996). For a machine to be operated, there need to be power (i.e. electricity or any other appropriate means) Puerto Rico has established a history of well coordinated distribution lines since the pharmaceutical industry in the region has now been in operation for a while. Infrastructure requirement for new drug dealers in the region will encompass factors such as building, road access, power supply, water availability and better supply and distribution channels (Blaisdell 2000). Puerto Rico is renowned for its highly educated labor force that has also proved to be innovative and very skilled. The country also enjoys extensive regulatory experience fro products and also a well organized delivery system (Pathak & Escovitz 1996). According to market research for marketers in the United States of America, Puerto Rico is has grown rapidly to become one of the largest manufacturers of high technology products in the region. The future of the Island remains bright as there are even more companies involved in research and development of pharmaceutical products, biotechnology hence the region is leading in this drug and device industry (Blaisdell 2000). For a start up business in pharmaceutical pr

The Inquiry Process Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Inquiry Process - Essay Example It is clear that students must understand to enjoy the learning process and to become analytical thinkers. Although student assessment is crucial in any institution that seeks out to evaluate the learning process of its student body, students must enjoy the learning process. In this particular study, a new type of assessment is proposed, which is known as hybrid-problem based learning. This new methodology imposes key concepts of critical thinking that traditional techniques lack in their system. Anderson (2006) They must enjoy the learning process through simulation. For instance, I would highly suggest e-learning software and applications that can be integrated in their learning environment. If a student struggled with an issue, I would hope that they have developed the necessary skillset to rectify that issue. McVicker (2009) One of the teaching methods I found useful for May is known as a project-oriented method in which each crayon represents a facet of the project known as systematic thinking. All these crayons compile to provide a more holistic approach. McVicker (2009) This would allow students to segment their thinking and understand how one attributes accumulates to provide a holistic approach of the bigger picture. This is critical in an educational system so students just do not memorize but integrate these techniques in their education. The role of teacher is to act as a facilitators and resolve any issues that might occur within the dynamics of the classroom. Teachers should not act merely as editors, but to harness the learning curve for students. I find that personally as a focal point in May’s teaching case. For instance, the teacher should teach the importance of word problems using a real-life application such as sales tax rather than ranting off the answers. Undoubtedly, there are no simple solutions but the goal of the teachers is to focus on higher-order concerns which emphasize aspects of holistic

Sex, gender and advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sex, gender and advertising - Essay Example This essay "Sex, gender and advertising" outlines the problem of the inequality and sometimes an irrespective image of some gender of an ethnical group in the advertisement. The role of advertising in portraying the sexual aspects is one of an important one since it makes the distinction as to what comes clearly under its jurisdiction and what is not a part of the fragment that we are touching upon. The role played by the human beings in a sexual mode is one of a taboo kind since it invites for a lot of harsh judgment and bitter thoughts start pouring in left, right and center. The racial and sexual stereotypes are removed before a message is deemed to be appropriate for a certain medium, let alone fit for the consumer to understand and seek some sort of change within the purchasing cycle of which he/she has to become a part of. Apart from the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ factors, it is also quite imperative here to state that the number of times the actual message is going to be run on television or radio or the size of the print ad in the newspapers and magazines or the exact placement of the billboard or shop sign in the outdoor medium reflects the favorable or unfavorable response from the people. So the amount of times the message is hit on the consumer’s mind and the heart reflects his or her positive or otherwise feelings about the product, not to forget the persuasion or repulsion towards this product as well. In the former case when the persuasion has taken place, he or she will now move on to the next step of purchasing the product.

COMPARE THE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A UK ADULT CITIZEN AND A Essay

COMPARE THE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A UK ADULT CITIZEN AND A REFUGEE OR ASYLUM SEEKER BOTH LIVING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM IN TERMS OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SECURITY - Essay Example This essay compares the rights and responsibilities of Asylum seekers and adult U.K citizens in terms of health and social security. The United Kingdom adult citizens exercise their rights and responsibility of contributing to the issues of health and social securities by voting and raising public opinions to the government. In contrast, the contribution of asylum seekers in these issues is minimal due to language barriers. The government tries to involve them by providing them with channels to communicate and give their decisions regarding the issues affecting them (NRIF, 2006: CRC, 2004). For instance, the ‘English for Speaker of other Languages’ program aimed at teaching English to this group of people (ISE, 2005: Ragu, 2008). This effort aims at improving their communication abilities so that they can be able to take up their rights and responsibilities. All adult citizens of U.K. have an absolute right to the National Hospital Services (NHS), which includes free medical treatment and care. On the other hand, not all Refugees and Asylum seekers receive this facility (Aspinall & Watters, 2010, p.23). Those asylum seekers who have not received permanent residence confirmation from the government cannot access this facility. They have access to the medical services but at their own cost (Palmer & Ward, 2007). Those who have received confirmation enjoy national health services (NHS) without any payment (Crawley & Crimes, 2009). All adult citizens in U.K. have the right to register with a general practitioner of their choice free of charge. If a general practitioner cannot register them, he or she should give a substantial reason in writing to explain the cause (CIC, 2007). Contrary, refugees and asylum seekers may apply with general practitioners (Lee, 2006: Refugee Council, 2005). However, the general practitioners have the right to consider such applications and decide whether to accept them or

Research Methodology and Methods Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research Methodology and Methods - Dissertation Example Different tools of research and data sources in relevance with qualitative methodology are discussed in the chapter. Sample size, selection of sample, and target population are also explained in this research methodology along with the limitations of the methodology used in this study. Research philosophies/methodologies: The research is mainly based on the determining the effects of applying the Efficient Customer Response (ECR) in different convenient stores on customer value. As previous researches have indicated that the consumer value is based on the interest of the consumer therefore, it is argued that Positivist Research is not completely applicable and implemented in this research and limitation on this type of research cannot be ignored or avoided. Therefore, the use of Interpretative Research is given consideration, which is helpful to analyze the customer value with help of surveys, questionnaires, and interviews. The dimension of customer perception shifted from independe nt store to major multiples has the ability to make use of ECR method resulted from this change. Qualitative data is more appropriate to explore in this topic therefore, Interpretative Research is suitable to conduct this research. ... Different people have different experiences because they have experienced different parts of reality in their life. The analysis of interview data is a rational method in understanding the difference between the experiences of people (Fade 2004). In this research, different managers are working for different convenient stores and they have experienced different behaviors and attitudes of customers coming in their stores. Through analyzing and combining their views on customer value and effective implementation of ECR, a new paradigm is achieved through this research work. The researcher has used qualitative approach to make sure that all the goals and objectives are met to reach a conclusive result. The reason to use qualitative approach is that manipulation of data is made easy in this approach and information utilized in such a way that researcher comes to the desire result. This approach presents the result of study in subjective manner and help to make hypothesis so that it becom es easy for researcher to evaluate the reliability and validity of the problems and questions of research (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill 1997). By looking at the nature of the study, qualitative approach is appropriate of this research as it focuses on extending and evaluating the findings and theories of studies conducted in past and presents new dimension of subject under research. The study provide in depth understanding on the concept of efficient consumer response and customer value of different convenience stores. Kurnia, Swatman and Schauder (1998) conducted a comprehensive research on Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) in which they have

Book summary of Montana 1948 Essay Example for Free

Book summary of Montana 1948 Essay Race, social status and gender are three factors, in which society uses to judge people. Although many people do not agree with this aspect, our society embraces it by categorizing all people under theses three factors. Those who consider themselves to be better then others, attempt to belittle those whom they consider to be weaker. These people are often known, as the Fringe of society. Montana 1948 is an excellent example of this struggle between the weak and the strong. Montana 1948 is a very good example of what it was like to be part of the fringe of society. The author does an extraordinary job at depicting certain struggles of power between the characters in the book. The reason these struggles are so easy to pick up on is because the narrator describes the characters to full detail. This allows for a further enhancement of the book to which you can become more acquainted with the characters. There for you can predict the struggles between characters. One of the main struggles in this story is between the Fringes of society and those who have power. By power I mean those who are able to speak for themselves and defend themselves. Good examples of power, in the society of Montana 1948, are the white men. Those who would be considered a fringe would be the Native Americans, women, and children. It is obvious, in the story, that men had the power. The male characters in the book prove this; such as Wes, his father, and Frank. Each character has a certain overpowering attitude over the other. Wes being the character, which most frequently shows up in all the scenes, is able to take over the scene with his overpowering attitude. This is true because several occasions in the book demonstrate the wifes reluctant ness to make decisions on her own there for always seeking Wess approval; If my mother said it, it was so, yet my fathers confirmation was still necessary page 43. This demonstrates the superiority that Wes had over the family, hence putting the wife on the fringe of the household. Frank on the other hand is more of an easy going character, but since he was a doctor and was his fathers favorite, he is given more liability and credit over Wes. Frank was witty, charming, at smiling ease with his life and every thing in it. Along side his brother my father soon seemed somewhat prosaic. Oh, stolid, surely, and  steady and dependable. But inevitably, inescapably dull. Nothing glittered in my fathers wake the way it did in Uncle Franks, page36. In this case Wes has always had to struggle with Frank over favoritism over their father. This favoritism is apparent when their father gets up in front of a large crowd to address his son Frank as a war hero, Now Id like to bring my son up here. Page 37. The favoritism is also imminent in the way the father addressed the speech, He simply said my son. And why wouldnt the county sheriff be called on to make a small speech? page37. The last character, which is considered to be the most powerful in the book, and a scene-stealer, is Grandpa. Obviously as the head of the family he has power over his sons, but his high social status and wealth also puts him above and beyond most people. This power to which he attains allows him to do most anything he pleases, without having any confrontations from the towns people. He didnt call for silence. That wasnt his way. He simply stood there; his feet planted wide, his hands on his hipspage37. He assumed that once people saw him, they would give him their attention. And they did page37. This example clearly demonstrates the Grandpas superiority over all the people. These where the main characters, in the story, and they demonstrated what it was like to be above the Fringe. Being part of a fringe, means that you do not have much say around others. Native Americans are a common example of what a fringe is like. They isolate themselves from the town, because white people put down Native Americans due to their race. Native Americans are not the only people part of the Fringe. At times women may be considered that also. For they are not described by the narrator as much as men, hence showing favoritism of men over women by the author. It is true that Native Americans and women are not as socially high as men.

C-myc Monocular Antibody (McAb) on Gastric Cancer Cells

C-myc Monocular Antibody (McAb) on Gastric Cancer Cells Introduction Gastric cancer (GC) is estimated to be one of the most common and frequent malignant tumor of the digestive system. The incidence and mortality of GC have ranked the second among all tumor diseases worldwide [1-5]. However, it ranks in first place in China[6]. Complete surgical resection is still the standard for all patients with resectable GC. It remains highly problematic for the regional and less common systemic recurrences[7]. Recent improvement in surgical technique, adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy has increased the survival rate of patients with early-stage, but the patients who have advanced GC are difficult to cure. With more and more research of molecular biological mechanisms known by us, molecular targeted therapies including cell growth, cell cycle, apoptosis and invasion have become a popular tumor comprehensive therapy[8]. Some of single-targeted spots are mainly Human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER-1, HER-2), Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Human epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI), Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (CDKI), Human proto-oncogene (c-MET)[9, 10]. However, it needs a huge space to develop the targeted anticancer drugs. An elegant way to accumulate therapeutic agents at the tumor site is their specific antibodies[11]. Oncogenes are well documented to be involved in mediating apoptosis and cell cycle resulting in cancers[12, 13], its activation can play an important role in the progress of cancer. C-myc is an important member of the c-myc family and a master regulator of genes involved in diverse cellular processes in GC[14]. The c-myc is a nuclear transcription factor which centrally regulates cell proliferation, differentiation, cell cycle and apoptosis, once c-myc is activated in vivo or in vitro, it is easy to make the cells far from the normal growth and promote cell malignant transformation to cancer finally[15-17]. It was reported that the expression of c-myc is an important consideration in the biological characteristic of GC [18-20]. The previous studies also have proved that c-myc has tight relation with Brest cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, hematopoietic cancer [21-24]. Currently few da ta exist on the occurrence of the c-myc McAb targeting against GC. In this study, we assessed the effects of c-mycMcAb on the Balb/e2nu/2nunude mice model of GC and the human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells, and tried to investigate the function of c-myc McAbfor targeting against GC. Materials and Methods Preparation of c-myc monocular antibody (McAb) All experiments involving animals were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University of Medicine. Mice were used in this study from Animal Science Laboratory of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and all effects were made to minimize distress.Thec-myc proteins prepared in E.coliBL21 were used as immunogens.[U1] Before McAb preparation, the c-myc proteins were mixed withequal volume of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). Female Balb/c mice aging from 6-8 weeks [U2]were immunized intraperitoneally with 50 ÃŽ ¼g c-myc proteins (1v:1v) in CFA. The immunization was repeated with the same amount of immunogens[U3] in incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA) at 14d. A final immunization was performed with 100ÃŽ ¼g mixture of c-myc proteinsand IFA at 28 d. Then, the blood was drawn from the caudal vein and serum titers were measured by ELISA at 35 d. A booster injection was given intraperitoneally at the antibody titers of 640,000[U4] tested by ELISA at 35 d. Five days after boost, spleen cells were isolated and mixed[U5] with SP2/0 myeloma cells. When the Hybrid cells grew to 50%, the positive clones were collected by ELISA. The hybridomas processed by Silica gel H was inoculated intraperitoneally into unsexed Balb/c mice. Then, the mice were scarified and the ascetic fluid was collected. The McAb was purified and the concentration was determined by bicinchoninic acid assay (BCA) Protein Assay Reagent Kit. Characteristic Identification of c-myc McAb The subtype of purified McAb was determined by antibody chips according to the manufacturer's instructions (Raybitech Company, USA) and antibody titers were measured by ELISA kit (Cistron Biotechnology, Pine Brook, NJ)[25]. The assay was carried out in 96-well polystyrene plates according to the standard procedures [26]. Briefly, c-myc protein (10ÃŽ ¼g) were loaded onto plate in 0.1 M carbonate buffer (PH 9.6) and reacted with McAb at 37oC for 2 h. After washed, the mixture was monitored with horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated rabbit-anti-mouse IgG (diluted 1:100; Sigma) at 37oC for 1 h. Nonspecific antibody binding sites wereblocked with 2% FCS in blocking reagent for 15min.The OD450vaule was read with a 96-well plate reader. The antigenic specificity of McAb was determined by Western blot. Purified c-myc protein was transferred into E.coil DH5ÃŽ ± and Cells were lysed inice-cold radioimmunoprecipitation buffer (RIPA) for 30 min and centrifuged to collect the supermanant[27]. Cell lysates were blent with 3Ãâ€" loading buffer (6 % SDS, 15 % 2-mercaptoethanol, 30 % glycerol, and 0.3 mg/mL bromphenol blue in 188 Tris-HCl, pH 6.8), heated at 90oC for 10 min, and then separated by 16 % SDS-PAGE. Separated proteins in the gels were electrophoreticaly transferred onto nitrocellulose membrane, boiled in phosphate buffered saline for 4 min, and blocked with 5 % nonfat dry milk for 20 min[28]. After several rinses, the membranes were incubated with c-myc McAb overnight at 4 oC. McAb were detected by HRP-conjugated goat-anti-mouse IgG (50 ÃŽ ¼g/mL) at 22 oC for 1 h. The establishment and treatment of nude mice model of GC Four-to-five-weeks old Balb/c nu/nu mice (body weight was 18 ±1.5g) were purchased for the establishment of nude mice model of GC . The human gastric cancer cell line (SGC-7901) was grown in 10% DMEM (Gibco) supplemented with FCS (100 mL/L), penicillin sodium (100 U/mL) and streptomycin sulfate (100 ÃŽ ¼g/mL), and cultured at a 5% CO2 incubator at 37 oC. Exponentially growing SGC-7901 cells were trypsinized resuspended to make a cell suspension of 2Ãâ€"107 cellls/mL. The nude mouse was injected subcutaneously with the suspension (0.2 mL) into the right and left root. Tumor masses were obvious at 10 d. Mice were randomized into 4 groups including low-dose group, middle-dose group, high-dose group and saline group (10 mice/group). Mice of each treatment group were inoculated intraperitoneally with c-myc McAb weekly (10 mg/kg, 20 mg/kg, 30 mg/kg, respectively), and mice of saline groups were injected with normal saline (0.2 mL) instead. Four weeks after injection, the mice were sacrificed and tumors were examined to calculate the tumor inhibition rates (). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) The procedures of SP immunohistochemical kit (SP kit, Maxim Biotech) were as follows: The tissue of tumors was fixed in 10 % phosphate-buffered Formalin, embedded in paraffin, and sectioned at a thickness of 4ÃŽ ¼m. Tissue sections were deparaffnized, hydrated and washed in PBS. Antigen retrieval was performed by combining the tissue with 10mM citrate buffer (pH 6.0) in a microwave for 10 min. Nonspecific protein bindings of tissues was blocked with 5 % normal sheep serum (NSS) for 10 min. after rinsing in PBS, sections were incubated with c-myc McAb at 4 oC overnight at a dilution of 1:100. Secondary antibody (Carpinteria, goat anti-mouse biotenylated, 1:50 in PBS) was applied at room temperature for 30min after washed, and then HRP-conjugated streptavidin were added. The slides were visualized by diaminobenzidine (DAB) (Dako, Carpinteria, CA, USA) for 5 min and counterstained with hematoxylin for 2 min, terminated, dehydrated, transparentized, sealed and photographed step by step. Negative controls were prepared by replacing primary antibody with PBS. Western blot analysis C-myc McAb (1 ÃŽ ¼g/mL, 2 ÃŽ ¼g/mL, 4 ÃŽ ¼g/mL, respectively) were added into SGC-7901cells andcultured for 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, for blank controls, the SGC-7901cells were omitted and HFE-145 cells were used instead. Cells were collected and lysed in ice-cold RIPA,and then following sections were mainlysimilar with the procedures of the Characteristic Identification of c-myc McAb. MTT (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay Cells were seeded into 96-well plates (10, 000 cells/well) and cultured at 37 oC in a 5% CO2 incubator after HGC-7901cells and normal gastric cell line HFE-145 were trypsinized. The culture medium was washed with PBS 3 times, and thenc-myc McAb (1 ÃŽ ¼g/mL, 2 ÃŽ ¼g/mL, 4 ÃŽ ¼g/mL,) were added respectively, 20 mL (5 mg/mL) At the indicated time points (1 d, 2 d, 3 d, 4 d, 5 d), each well were added with 20 mL MTT cultured at 37 oC for 4 h. Then 150 ÃŽ ¼L DMSO was added again to stop the reaction after the supernate were dropped, The plate was read on multiwall plate reader (Thermo Fisher, Basingstoke, United Kingdom) at 570nm. . A dose-response curve was plotted for the HGC-7901cells and HFE-145 cells. Cell adhesion assay Before cell adhesion and migration assays, SGC-7901 cells and HFE-145 cells were serum starved in bascal culture medium overnight. In brief,6-well tissue culture plates were coated with 10ÃŽ ¼g/mL fibronectin and 10 ÃŽ ¼g/mL poly-L-lysine overnight, the wells were washed with PBS-T and blocked with 5 % BSA in PBS-T[29]. SGC-7901cells and HFE-145 cells were released with trypsin to prepare of single cell suspensions. The cells were applied to 6-well tissue culture plates (50 ÃŽ ¼L/well) and incubated at 37oC for 12 h. When cells were grown to approximately 90 % confluence, the c-myc McAb(1 ÃŽ ¼g/mL, 2 ÃŽ ¼g/mL, 4 ÃŽ ¼g/mL,) were added respectively. Cells were allowed to attach for 2 h, and the culture medium were discarded. Before released with trypsin, cells were washed twice with PBS and 1mM Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid (EDTA). The formula of was used to calculate the adhesion rates. Cell migration assay Cell migration assays were performed in transwell bicameral chambers as described[30]. Matrigel (Becton Dickinson Company, Bedford) at a dilution of 1:100 were coated with culture medium without serum at 37oC for 30 min in the apical chamber. Cells were released with trypsin, washed ,and resuspended at a final concentration of 5Ãâ€"105 cell/mL in serum-free bascal culture medium (EBM) containing 0.1 % BSA. The suspension (100 ÃŽ ¼L), which were seeded on the upper chamber, were mixed with c-myc McAb (1 ÃŽ ¼g/mL, 2 ÃŽ ¼g/mL, 4 ÃŽ ¼g/mL, respectively). The lower chamber was filled with 500ÃŽ ¼L mouse embryonic fibroblasts (NIH3T3) which were cultured with RPMI (10mM Hepes, 0.5% BSA, pH 7.4). Migration chambers were incubated at 37oC in 5% CO2 incubator for 72h. After removing stationary cells from the upper side of the membrane with a cotton-tipped swab, migrated cells were fixed and stained with 1% crystal violet. Cells were counted in three fields at a magnification of Ãâ€" 400. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle assays HGC-7901cells and HFE-145 cells were seeded into 6-well plates containing Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM) with 10% FCS and cultured at 37 oC in a 5% CO2 incubator overnight. Supernatants were discarded, before c-myc McAb (1 ÃŽ ¼g/mL, 2 ÃŽ ¼g/mL, 4 ÃŽ ¼g/mL,) were added respectively and attached for 72 h. cells were fixed with pre-cooled ethanol (75%) and stained with Propidium Iodide (PI, Sigma) in the dark at room temperature for 15 min , after centrifuged at 1,000 rpm and rinses in PBS several times. The cell cycle and apoptosis rates were analyzed by FACS (Elite ESP, Beckman Coulter, Brea, CA). Statistical analyses Statistical analysis was performed using Software version SPSS11.0. All data was expressed as mean  ± SD (standard deviation). Comparisons were made by Student's t-test and comparisons of parameters were made using one-way analysis of variance among 4 groups. A value of P

Does Crime And Violence Affect The Tourism Industry Tourism Essay

Does Crime And Violence Affect The Tourism Industry Tourism Essay This group assignment will discuss the impact of crime and violence on the tourism industry in Jamaica using statistical data such as graphs, charts and figures to support our factual findings. The purpose of this report is to show whether crime and violence will affect Jamaica potential investments in the near future or in the present, also if this factor affects the different sectors of tourism which include entertainment, sports, health, and food amongst others. These facts and statistics are taken from a variety of sites, which include the Gleaner, Statinja and other sites stated in the reference of the report. What is Crime and Violence? There are many definitions for both Crime and Violence. What is crime? Crime is a harmful action, omission or an activity considered to be evil shameful or wrong which is against a person or a country. It is also an illegal act which or can be punished by law. What is Violence? Violence is a behaviour that involves the use of physical force which unlawfully exercised towards property and or persons, situations like these; may cause intentions which may lend to the killing or hurting of someone. What is Tourism? Tourism is an activity which an individual or a group of individuals, that leads to the movement from one place to another within a country, or from one country to another. This happens due to the performing of specific tasks or the awareness that the particular place have to offer like its civilization and culture and also the increase of knowledge about the country and its culture and history. The different types of Crime and Violence When it comes on to Crime and Violence there are many different types because every day there is something new that doesnt falls under the previous types of crime and violence. Lets starts off with the different types of Crime. There are many but just to name a few: Crime against Persons -includes rape, robbery and murder etc. Crime against Property- this is self-explanatory, theft of home without harm such as body burglary larceny and etc. Crime against Morality- may include illegal gambling, illegal use of drugs. White-Collar Crime- committed by people in high social status against people of the same status like embezzling (stealing money from employees) The type of Violence: Physical Violence- is the intention with the use of physical force which in the ended injury, harm, death or even disability may occur. Sexual Violence- takes place without consent or understanding. Psychological/Emotion Violence- may involve trauma of a victim cause by threats of acts. Domestic Violence- is this self-explanatory violence within the home, family or between spouses. Types of Tourism and if Crime and Violence has an Impact on them There are a lot of different types of tourism in Jamaica, just to name a few we have: Eco tourism/ Nature Sports Heritage/ Cultural Adventure Leisure Business The ones that crime and violence will most likely to affect is Adventure tourism and Leisure tourism. Visitors who come here for adventure are more likely to go out on their own without any form of trained tour guide, trying to learn about the country and its history and sometimes fall prey to those out there looking for trouble and trying to cause problem for other people. The ones, who come for leisure, relax and party. Especially when they go out o party they might hook up with people that they dont know, just wanting to have a good time and end up being robbed or taken advantage of or worst. Does Crime and Violence have an Impact on the Tourism Industry? Tourism in Jamaica is seen as the primary foreign exchange industry. This industry has a few negative impacts attached to it, such as theft, murder, scams, harassment amongst others. Since the Norman Manley International Airport is a form of entrance and exit point for visitors and it is located near some of the volatile areas of Kingston such as Bull Bay, Rock fort and others; it puts them at risk for violence to be perpetrated against them. According to the Jamaica 2012 crime and safety report, these are the following set of crime and violence that impact tourism, they include: Theft (robbery -jewellery, money, credit cards etc) Murder Rape/ Sexual Violence Fraud (Lottery scam, credit card fraud) Extortion Kidnapping Harassment (Craft Vendors, Street Sellers or Rent-A-Dreads) The report states that there is no evidentiary support that criminals are targeting U.S. citizens directly, but it further states that skimming which is a type of fraud is becoming popular among the Jamaican employees in restaurants, hotels, resorts and villas. These persons are capturing visitors credit card information and utilizing it for their benefit by stealing money out of the visitors accounts. The report also states that tourists are becoming a target for pick pocketing and petty cash crimes. To support these findings, below is table and graph to illustrate. Table showing crimes reported over the last seven years against U.S. citizens Type of Crimes Reported Amount Murders 7 Rape/ Sexual Assault 12 Aggravated Assault 9 Robbery 37 Kidnapping 1 Domestic Violence 5 Child Abuse 3 Also, the report states that the hotels and resorts employees have brought sexual violence towards the visitors in a number of hotels not named which are located on the north coast. On the other hand lottery scam as become prevalent on the Jamaican north coast (Mobay, Trelawney and Hanover) concerning the U.S. citizens. The criminals set up legitimate companies to defraud these Americans, the criminal element convince these persons to send large amount of money to specific account or fraudulent name here in Jamaica. They do this by telling them that they either won some bogus prize or a all expensive paid trip to Jamaica. This resulted in the closing of Grace remittent service areas which further cause a decrease in remittance in those areas. However these problems are been recognized by the government of Jamaica and they are taken steps to prevent these crimes from happening. These steps include more policing by foot and bicycle patrols in cruise ports and tourist areas, also an upgrade in training on how to deal with these types of crimes. For example the state has taken serious measures to clamp down on the lottery scam on the north coast; there has been numerous arrest and seizures of high end vehicles over the past year. Therefore, all of these factors mentioned above prove that crime has an impact on Jamaicas tourism industry. Facts and figures derived from the Jamaican Constabulary Force about the latest crime figures in Jamaica. J.C.F. latest homicides figures of 2012 January-February Type of Crime Places/Parishes No. of Deaths Murders St. Catherine North (Spanish Town, Bog Walk) 25 St. Catherine South (Portmore, Old Harbour, Central Village) 13 St. James 22 Clarendon 13 St. Andrew South 10 NB: a comparison of murders/ homicide cases for 2011 and 2012 In the period of February 11, 2011 murder cases stood at 114 compared to the same time period for 2012 it has risen to 137. J.C.F statistics show there was 536 murders between January 1 and June 23 of 2012, 32 more than last year. Statistics for the hot spot parishes of Jamaica according to the Gleaner news paper and the Jamaica Constabulary Force Hanover: 22 murders, a 267 per cent increase when compared to last year St. James: with the lottery scam 79 murders, the highest of all 19 divisions Kingston Central: 117 per cent increase when compared to last year St. Andrew North: 76 per cent increase compared to last year Kingston Eastern: 42 per cent increases compared to last year St. Andrew Central: 33 per cent compared to last year Other graphs to show that crime has an impact on the tourism industry in Jamaica Bar  chart showing  total number of  drug  crimes  between1995 to1999http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQePxuzlRIHxO6746D_DvaHX9KrcVMO4XNuadeDVdZ8tN5yXnsdUA Crimes committed over the Period of 2003 to 2012 in Jamaicas North Coast Area Montego Bay Year Type of Crime 2003 Murder 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Fig 1 Table showing the crime figures from 2003 to 2012 for Montego bay Trelawney Year Type of Crimes 2012 Carnal Abuse Rapes Shooting Robberies Larceny Fig 2 Graph showing crime figures for Trelawney in 2012 St. Ann Year Type of Crimes 2010 Murders Rapes Shooting Larceny Recommendations to Improve Crime and Violence in Jamaica tourism Industry 1. Develop special legislation to address acts of terrorism. 2. The political leadership in the country must recommit to a set of values and a code of conduct consistent with the vision of a safe, peaceful and prosperous Jamaica so that tourist can feel safe. 3. To encourage visitors not to wonder into unknown territories unless they are being accompanied by a tour guide or someone recommended by the hotel or by the JTB. 4. When travelling to other areas in Jamaica it is better to drive or get a shuttle than walk on the road so that they wont be harassed by some of the locals. 5. Since 1956 the tourist industry has been regulated by the Jamaican Tourist Board (JTB) which greeted tourists, provided courtesy police, trained workers to help keep our visitors safe and happy and from being harassed. Most harassment stemmed from frequent peddling of goods to tourists, at times incessantly; this peddling most likely reflected the high unemployment rates. Tourists were also approached to purchase drugs, primarily marijuana, colloquially called ganja.   Conclusion It has been concluded that crime and violence has its tool on tourism. Due to the crime and violence such as scamming, theft etc. But it still hasnt stop visitor from to Jamaica, because at the end day crime and violence happen all over the world but its just up to the government to control the crime rate. Hence the crime and violence will have a lesser impact on tourism.

Fallacy Summary and Application Essay -- essays research papers

Abstract An argument is fallacious when it contains one or more logical fallacies. A logical fallacy is an argument that contains a mistake in reasoning (2002). When using critical thinking to make decisions, an individual or group needs to be aware of logical fallacies and how they relate to decision-making. Logical fallacies can be used to manipulate a situation and if a person or group does not recognize logical fallacies, the person or group can be manipulated during the decision-making process. This paper will discuss three common logical fallacies and how they can be used in the decision-making process between management and subordinates in a business setting.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Management Guru website states that, in logic, a fallacy is more than a mistaken belief; it is a flaw in the argument. Fallacies can be created intentionally because a person has an agenda or can be created by simple error. Because a fallacy is not a sound argument, critical thinking requires that we be cautious of arguments that attempt to persuade us to an action or belief that intuitively is uncomfortable (www.mgmtguru.com). At a small local company when the problem of excessive use of Internet access on company servers arose, managers and their subordinates used fallacious arguments to express their concerns during the problem solving and decision-making process.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During a discussion group meeting that wa...

Teaching Philosophy :: Philosophy of Education Statement Teachers Essays

Teaching Philosophy I believe that teaching is a profession in which the educator has many opportunities to apply her knowledge of content area, personal strengths and creativity, and her life skills to the tasks at hand on a day to day basis. For example, when working in cooperation with other teachers, handling difficult situations with students and even just enjoying the satisfaction of a job well done, all three of the above mentioned qualities come into play. In order to keep all of these in balance, however, it is imperative that the teacher, or teacher in training, has a clear idea of what may be defined as her philosophies of teaching. First and foremost, I have a firm conviction that the teacher and school environment must actively promote, incorporate and develop diversity in the classroom. In today’s classroom it is inevitable that many types of diversity will be present and I believe it is the teacher’s innate responsibility to recognize and support it. Diversity comes in many forms including learning styles and abilities, race, religion and sexual orientation. Any diversity encountered in the classroom should be embraced as a chance to grow and learn for the teacher, the student who is deemed as ‘different’ and the total student body. This personal philosophy has developed within me as a result of my own experiences in a diverse public school system as a student. I intend to both support my diverse classrooms and to help other educators and students to promote, incorporate and develop diversity in their own classrooms. A second dimension in my teaching philosophy is based around the term ‘enthusiasm’. Enthusiasm implies energy, vivacity, creativity and consistent effort and in relation to my philosophy, these qualities are exhibited in a three dimensional model in the classroom. Two of the dimensions depend on the teacher. First, the teacher must be enthusiastic about the most important aspect of her job, that is, the students themselves! She must demonstrate consistent effort and energy when interacting and engaging with her students both inside and out of the classroom.

Comparison of the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid

The ancient world literature is filled with epic tales of heroes and gods who go on perilous adventures to foreign lands and encounter many mythical beings along the way. These adventures usually teach a lesson or give insight as to the culture of the area and time period in which it was written. The Iliad, the Odyssey and the Aeneid are all similar epics in their adventures and their lessons. Throughout the literary works of the ancient world there are many reoccurring motifs such as: the role of the gods, the role of suffering, and the roll of fate.The role of the gods shows heavily in the literary works of this era through the god’s direct interference in mortal events. Within the Iliad Athena, who hates the Trojans, does not directly kill Hector but tricks him into facing Achilles which ultimately leads to his death. Thetis, the mother of Achilles, helps her son and the Greeks throughout their adventures in any way possible. Similarly in the Odyssey gods interfere with the mortals to show their own will over their lives. Although he could not kill Odysseys, Poseidon sent storms to delay him after he disrespected him and blinded his son.Hermes, however, actually assisted Odysseus on Circe’s island by warning him about her potions and giving him a means to protect himself. After Odysseus’ men slaughter the sun god Helios’ prized cattle, Zeus is asked to bring about a storm which destroys all Odysseus’ ships and kills all his men. In the Aeneid, Juno convinces Aeolus to unless a storm on Aeneas as he searches for a friendly harbor, because of her strong hatred for Trojans (Aeneas and his men are destined to destroy her beloved city of Carthage). Neptune senses this storm within his realm so he immediately calms the storm and essentially saves Aeneas.Another ally to Aeneas is his mother Venus who helps her son whenever she can. Although Venus and Juno are on completely different sides in the matter of the Trojans they both mak e sure Aeneas and Dido fall in love, for very different reasons. The reoccurring role of the gods essentially choosing sides in each battle shows that the people of this time very much competed in some respects to obtain the gods attention and bring them to be their allies. The role of suffering is also an obvious motif in the epics of the ancient era.In the Iliad, Achilles suffers the loss of his friend/cousin Patroclus which is the cause of his rage in battle. King Priam also mourns the loss of his son Hector, by the hand of great Achilles in battle, as well as not immediately having his body to provide him with a proper funeral. This motif unifies the Iliad and Odyssey as Odysseus suffers throughout the entire epic because he is being kept from his home, his wife Penelope, and his son Telemecus. Penelope is also suffering because she is without her husband, raising her son alone, and having to deal with suitors pursing her to remarry.Telemecus also suffers without his father. Aga in, the idea is reflected as Aeneas suffers initially because he lost in wife Creusa as they were fleeing Troy, as well as losing his home. Aeneas and Dido both suffer in their love story as they live together happily as lovers, but he is reminded by the gods that he has another purpose and must leave. To which such anguish is caused that Dido kills herself. Aeneas also suffers in that he is not ever able to see the fruits of his labors throughout his life.Each characters suffering serves a purpose whether it is to teach them a lesson or to change how they are living it ultimately presents them with some greater knowledge. Each account of suffering is because of family and love, so the role of suffering in these epics ties together the concept of how important family was to the ancient people. The role of fate is another extremely frequent motif appearing in this time period’s literature. For the Iliad, this appears when Achilles was destined to kill Hector in the Trojan War as was Hector destined to be killed by Achilles.The gods could not interfere with that final outcome. Achilles death had also been destined since he was born. The Odyssey follows in that Odysseus was destined to wander for 10 more years before returning home for his actions. Along the way, it was also destined that Odysseus would lose all his ships and men before he would return home. A third set of examples in fate lie within the Aeneid as fate destines that the Trojans will destroy the city of Carthage. The Trojans who fled will find their promised home land in Italy as designed by fate.Aeneas also lived after he faces the mighty Achilles because he is destined for another purpose, such as fulfilling the previous prophecies. In the end, fate is the ultimate authority and shows how the people of the time believed that not even the mightiest of their world could not compete with the predestination idea they also believed in. The reoccurring motifs of the role of the gods, the role o f suffering, and the roll of fate all give a strong insight as to what was important to the people of the culture and religion that were popular during the ancient era.The people were deeply superstitious in their polytheistic religion and their epics reflect these beliefs. Their heroes are all extremely similar in their character traits and their stories themes alike. All of the heroes go on adventures away from their families and encounter suffering because of their decisions. Each work acknowledges that the gods are mighty and do control their suffering to an extent, but cannot control fate. The Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid are all unified in that they possess some of the same motifs, as well as reflect the culture of the time period.

Does marketing create or satisfy needs? Essay

When we talk about marketing, there are lot things that we should know first. Marketing is activities of creating value that desired by the potential buyers and receiving value from the potential buyers for the value that they have received. When marketers want to create something that has value to the potential buyers, marketers must know first, what do the potential buyers need or want. As a marketer, it does not make any sense if we sell something that does not have value, or if the marketers want people to purchase something that they do not need of even want. Marketers can not force anyone to do something. They can only ask them to buy their product or service. Some people might not care about what they are asking for. So, in the business of selling product or service, we know word â€Å"marketing†. Marketing is an art of identifying and meeting the people’s needs and wants. It is all about communication between two parties that profitable for the both sides by exc hanging value. Marketing is not that easy to do. As we know, we can not mess with the â€Å"free will† of the people around us or people that we see as the potential buyers. It is up to them if they are willing to buy the marketers’ products or service. In this case, the marketers have to do their marketing activities. Their job is to tell people that their product or service is suit with the people’s need or want. Therefore, the marketers have to know what do people need or want. How can the marketers find out about what the people need or want? They analyze the potential buyers. They have to collect data about the potential buyers. The data is all about their behavior and so on. Anything that can help the marketers to make the potential buyers recognize their product or service and tell them that they should buy it because it is something that they need or want. Products and services can not be created or even sold if people do not need or even want them. So, the data about t he potential buyers’ behavior is important. When the marketers analyze the data, they can tell if their product or service is desirable or not. In the marketing, we know â€Å"4p’s†. 4p’s are product, place, price, and promotion. First is product. It means that in order to make the potential buyers purchase the marketers’ product or service, they have to create a product or service that has desirable value. In another word, a useful product must be created for the potential buyers. Second is place. When the marketers want to sell their product or service, they have to consider the place also. Place that geographically potential to sell the product or service. Selling product or service at a wrong place can bring the marketers to the misery of loss. It can happen because place or environment can affect the ways of thinking or the behavior of the people in it. Different place means different need and want. Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) recognize the need of Indonesia people for chicken that being eaten with rice. So, unlike in the other countries, they sell not only fried chicken, but also rice in In donesia. So, it is an important thing to consider the place to sell the product or service. Third is price. When the marketers sell their product or service, they have to set price that suit with their product or service. For example, we can not sell T-shirt at a price of $10,000. It will make sense if what we sell is car. So, the marketers have to set the price based on the value they are offering to the potential buyers. Nowadays, discounts can make the product or service being purchased. Setting the lowest price to pull the potential buyers is becoming trend to many companies. The last one is promotion. Talking about promotion is all about sending message to the potential buyers. The message tells the potential buyers that they need or want the product or service. That is why they have to buy it to fulfill their need or want. Promotion can be in any forms. The product or service can be promoted in commercials, banners, and any other media. The message must reach the way of thinking of the potential buyers or even their heart. Whatever it takes to make them desire and purchase the product or service. To sell the product or service, any marketers have to really consider about the 4 p’s. As we know, nowadays, people are independent and have their own thought. So, marketers have to think hard in order to reach a lot of people. But only reach people, but they also have to pull people to recognize and purchase the product or service. We can not avoid the fact, different  person, different personality, different thought, and different perception. What the marketers think is not the same as the people think. The way people think is influenced by the environment or the society around them. Places with different cultures must have different kind of people. Culture influences people time after time. So, it is something that can not be easily erased or changed by any marketers. And people with different kind of family backgrounds and different kind of friends must have different perception or way of thinking. People or group around the potential buyer influence their way of thinkin g and sometimes help them to decide what do they need or want. So, any marketers can not underestimate the 4 p’s. The needs and wants of the customers are differently created because of factors, such as cultural factors, social factors, and personal factors. First, cultural factors like the cultures around the customers create several certain needs and wants. Mostly, the culture in a country is different from the other countries. In a culture of a country, people have a different perception and way of thinking than people in the other country. It is a fundamental determinant of the marketers’ opportunities to enter the market. The second is social factors, such as reference group, family, role, and status. As we know, people around the customers are influence the way of thinking or perception and the behavior of the customers. We also know that people with different roles and status must have different needs and wants. For example, a person with a role as a governor needs a security. Unlike the common people who do not need any added security need. High status people usually purchase more than low status people. The high status people might need an expensive brand like Armani to show other people that they have a high status and power. Unlike the common people with middle to low status. They do not need more than a well known brand like Zara or something like that. As long as they are wearing an outfit that looks good on them. The third one is personal factors, such as gender, age and life cycle, economic circumstances, and lifestyle. Gender is really matter to create needs and wants. Women and men have different perception and circumstances. Women routinely need cosmetic to make them look good. But men do not need any cosmetics. Age and life cycle of the customers determine their need. A person in age 1 up to 2 or in ‘baby’ life cycle needs nappies. But a girl in  age 16 or in ‘teenager’ life cycle needs tampons. Economic circumstances of people are also determining what do they purchase. People with a good economic circumstance can recognize more needs and wants and purchase more than the other people. Next is lifestyle. It is obviously that lifestyles of the customer influence their behavior and they can also recognize their need and want. Because of their lifestyle, people purchase different thing with the other people. Lifestyle is a person’s pattern of living in the world as expressed in activities, interests, and opinion. For example, mostly of the people with a healthy lifestyle do not purchase junk foods. They only purchase fresh foods. So, they basically create their need based on the way they are thinking and their own perceptions. We can think of marketing as a way of making sure the customers have the right types of product and service experiences to create the right brand knowledge structures and maintain them in the customers’ memory. In practice, marketing is following the logical. First, marketers have to analyzing their opportunities, and then they have to select their target market. Market is a group of consumers or potential buyers. Marketers select the market which is desire their product or service, because they need or want it. Targeting market is about targeting people who do you think want to buy your product or experience your service. In practicing marketing in the target market, marketers also have to consider the four dimension of SIVA. SIVA contains of solution, information, value, and access. These are the questions of the customers that are designed to be answered in order to make the benefit exchange between the customers and the marketers. Solution : How can I solve this problem? Information : Where can I learn more about it? Value : What is my total sacrifice to get this solution? Access : Where can I find it? The dimensions above are the basic questions that must be answered by the marketers. So, to attract the customers, marketers must tell them that they can solve their problem. Somehow, the marketers must communicate with the  customers and make them sure that the marketers are really care about their problem and also care to solve it. In communication, marketers not only make the customers recognize their care, but also recognize the capability of the marketers to help the customers. The marketing process cans not being processed without any push by any means from the customers. Marketers are developing the marketing plan by analyzing the customers’ behavior or customers’ environment first. Any strategies that created are basically reflected by the data of the customers and their environment. Marketers communicate with customers in order to find out what do they need or what is their problem and tell them that marketers can fulfill it and also solve their problem. So, we can say that Marketing is reflect the needs and wants of the customers and happening in order to satisfy customers’ needs and wants. There is no way a company creates a useless product or service. There must be reasons and goal to reach when a company creates product or service. The marketing plan that developed by the marketers simply reflected by needs and wants of the customers. Marketing exist in order to satisfy the needs and wants of the customers. There is another thought that say ‘Marketing shapes or create the need of the customers’. Some people might be agreed with the statement. There are a lot of marketers that have innovative and creative thinking who usually ‘think outside the box’. They make a new product and service. An unusual product or service that launched by the marketers. They promote them and tell the market that they should buy this for goodness sake. Because they need it. So, people simply think that marketing might shapes or even create the need of the customers. But there is something that we have to consider. They are creative and innovative marketers who basically just like the other marketers. They collect data from the customers and the environment around them and then transform it into useful information. But, they who think outside the box can recognize the ‘new need’ of the customer. So they create product or service based on their recognition. Product or servic e that the customers might do not think to need it but in the end, the customers hold on that product or service. All we can say is that the marketers just recognize the ‘new need’ of the  customers, but not create them. Who creates them are the customers themselves. For example, when they need communication, they have cable telephone. But, the marketers recognize that the cable telephone might not appropriate for people nowadays. So now there are cell phones. Portable phones are now become a basic need. People can not live without communicate with the other people by cell phones. The marketers found the ‘new need’ just by analyzing the customers and the environment. But, the customers are basically creating them time after time. Marketing is about recognize the existing problem or even the new problem of the customers and tell the customers that they can solve it by their product or service. It is all about satisfying the customers’ need and want to gain value from them too.

Micro and macro theories in political science focus

INTRODUCTION Countries exist to interact with other nations and states in the international arena. Thus, no country or nation is an island unto itself. As a result of this, isolation from international activities becomes very impossible. In the course of interaction countries tries to gain advantage over other countries, and this has been the basis of conflict and disagreement. Sometimes, if this is not properly handled it will lead to war.Scholars from different academic disciplines have posited many causes of war. Thus, the great debate over why war occurs has been approached from different dimension. For the historians, scholars like A.J. P. Taylor famously described wars as being like traffic accidents. But this approach has been criticized in the view that some leaders of states make conscious decision in embarking in war and this is not accidental.   For the Psychologist, human beings, especially men are inherently violent.This violence displacement where a person transfers t heir grievances into bias and hatred against other ethnic groups, nations, or ideologies â€Å"(Wikibooks: 2005).   Other psychologists argue that the mental unbalanced state of men who rule and control a nation, combine with their human temperament has been the basis of the occurrence of war. â€Å"This school argues leaders that seek war such as Napoleon, Hitler, and Stalin were mentally abnormal; screening process, such as election, could prevent these types from coming to power, war would end†.   (ibid.).The Anthropologists see the occurrence of war as a fundamentally cultural, learnt by nurture rather than nature. The Sociologists have Plethora of perspective in seeing the occurrence of war. Some see war as the product of domestic conditions, with only the target of aggression being determined by international realities. Others that differ from the traditional approach argue that it is the decision of statesmen and the geopolitical situation that leads to war.   T he Economist argues war can be seen as an outgrowth of economic competition in a chaotic and competitive international system.Having looked at the diverse and divergent viewpoint from which these scholars from different discipline has posited as the cause of war, this write up tend to look at the political aspect of why war occurs. As a result of this, various theories in the political science field would be applied to enumerate the reason behind the occurrence of war.DEFINITION OF TERMS Political science has been described as a hospitable umbrella for many disciplines all connected somehow with the operations of government or people acting in relation to government.According to Alfred Cobban, as quoted in Oyediran (1998:3), Political Science is a devise invented by university teachers for avoiding that dangerous subject politics without achieving Sciences†.Thus, political science is that social science discipline that seek to study government and how politics that has to do w ith the use of power, rule and authority in any human relationship is being conducted.The study of political science, the normative and the positive approach is adopted while scholars, such as Plato and Aristotle sought to identify the characteristics of politics, their causes and effects, leaving aside moral judgements about their goodness or badness. Therefore, it is seen that modern political scientists adopt a positive theory to issues that pertain to the field of study, hence, †what ought to be†. (Robert Dahl cited by Gerring, 2005:2).THEORY: Theory is defined as abstraction from the real world in order to give explanation to phenomenon. Thus, theories give explanation to the relationship that exists between variables. Theories are tested hypotheses that are generally accepted it is used through known facts to give an explanation to the unknown.WAR: War can be defined as conflict that arises from disagreement, which result into military combat and the end results wh ich is destruction of lives and properties.War can be classified into civil wars and foreign wars. Civil wars, are those wars that occur within a nation or a state as a result of the emergence of factions that are loyal to an identified group. A typical example of civil war in contemporary time is the civil war in Liberia in the 1990s, between late Samuel Deo faction and Charles Taylor faction. Another typical example of civil war is the 1967 to 1970 civil war in Nigeria, between the Federal troop and the Biafra faction that seek to secede from the Nigeria Federation.Foreign war is war that involves combat between or among sovereign nation or states. Example of this is World War 1 and World War II.In recent times the war between Iraq and Kuwait, and the US Allied Forces in the 1990s.Another version of war in contemporary political world is the cold war that had existed after the world war associated with the bipolar bloc i.e. the eastern bloc and the western bloc. This cold war is u nlike the real combat war where physical and military combat is carried out, but it has to do with war in international arena, that pertains to foreign policies and international pacts and agreement, that tend to be contended for:This cold war has made many countries to support either of the two factions. But, some countries, like in Africa adopt a different stand, the Non Aligned Movement is pursued as the foreign policies in these black nation. The cold war suddenly collapse in 1989, this brought an end to the bipolar structure of the international system.POLITICAL THEORIES ON THE OCCURRENCE OF WAR Political theories on the emergence of state can be utilized to explain the occurrence of war. Here, the Hobbessian theory of state and the force theory are readily applicable to why nation engage in war.The Hobbissian theory postulated by Thomas Hobbes, explain the human state of existence in what he called the â€Å"state of nature†. According to him, â€Å"nature has made man so equal in faculties of the body and mind and though there be found one man sometimes manifestly stronger in body or of quicker mind than another is not considerable as that one man can claim to himself any benefit to which another may not possess as well as he† (Hobbes, 1946).The equality of man here means they tend to nurse the same aspirations and desires, ends and the same hope. But the uniformity of aspiration tend to be evoke problem since the resources e.g. power, political influence, is a scarce resource that can not go round every body. Thus, it become problematic when two persons desire the same thing, which they cannot both obtain, they are likely to become enemies and always will seek to destroy one another.In applying this scenario to sovereign states, the scarce resources that each state seeks to obtain for itself, this brings about competition and invariably lead to the emergence of war, if such competition gets to the extreme and the level of tolerance become s unbearable. According to Ighadola (2000: 12), â€Å"human competitiveness for status symbols are always characterized by fighting where this happens outside the preview of any settled and civilized state, the picture of the â€Å"state of nature† comes to the fore boldly†.The state of nature as stipulated by Thomas Hobbes, is the time when men lived without a common power to keep them in check; i.e. every man is a government and law unto himself, there is no formal contract to the establishment of state and government. In state of nature, war of every man against every man was the perceptual condition of human relations. Thus, man is brutal and exhibited a hostile tendency towards those around him. It is also argued that, â€Å"War, as Hobbes used the concept, did not necessarily denote actual fighting, rather it meant the disposition to fight† (ibid)Man in the state of nature did not engage in perpetual warfare, he was only perpetually inclined to fight to ac quire what he desired and to protect what he already possessed. The inclination in man to be aggressive in competition and fight is moderated by the fear of death. Thus, the disposition to fight to is further heightened by the absence of centralized authority. In the international political arena before the emergence of international organization like the United Nation, the broke out of World War I and the emergence of World War II, is as a result of absence of a strong centralized International authority. The League of Nations collapsed as a result of the Second World War. This led to the emergence of the United Nations; that is acting as a centralized authority in the international arena, in preventing the outbreak of conflicts among nations or states.Another angle of the Hobbessains theory sees Man’s selfishness and self- seeking nature ensures, without a superior restraining force, the condition of the state of nature that would remain permanent. This results in a threat to the condusive actualization of human potentials and insecurity. In applying this to the emergence of wars among nations, it is seen that the selfishness and self-seeking nature of some nation has prompted them into encroaching into the rightful possession of other nation. In order to defend their possession, these other nation would recourse to protect itself by engaging in war. Most times, this has been the base of war among nations.Thus, Hobbes has proffered a centralized authority that is imposed in one individual as a solution to avert this state of nature, so as to prevent the brutish and aggressive nature in man, and thus, reducing the outbreak of war.Critics have pointed out that Hobbes advocacy of absolute power puts a hole in his argument. The central authority or sovereign should operate the law made, fairly and equitably among the people not absolute authority in one man. Thus, central power is advocated that is democratic, in place of the sovereign ruler of Hobbes. Th is is because the sovereign ruler is taken from society and has its own selfish desire, which could lead to autocratic rule, i.e., he cannot be outside society and therefore cannot be above the law. (ibid:15).Another political theory that can be use to advocate for the emergence of war is the Marxist theory. Karl Marx theory concentrates both on political and economic perspective of the state.   In his view, the society is divided into two main classes, i.e. the bourgeoisie and the proletariats, and this has always been the driving force behind conflict in society and its attendant social change.Marxist theory of war argues that all war grows out of the class war. It sees wars as imperial ventures to enhance the power of the ruling class and divide the proletariat of the world by pitting them against each other for contrived ideals such as nationalism or religion. ( Wikibooks, 2005).Marx and Engels posited in The German ideology that with all the mischief’s contradictions a nd crisis inherent in the capitalist mode of production, the proletariat bears the entire burden without enjoying its advantages, they become isolated from society. Having been driven to the wall, they are forced into the most decided antagonism to the other class because an alienated man is a revolutionary man. (Marx, et al, 1977).Hence, Karl Marx see wars as a natural outgro9wth of the free market and class system, and will not disappear until a world revolution occurs. According to Ighodalo (2000:20), â€Å"the expectation of Marx is that the destruction of the capitalist system would lead to the end of class antagonism, since the basis of it property ownership would have been eliminated thereby creating a classless society where all give according to his/ her ability and receive according to his/ her needs.†Another theory of the evolution of state that can be applied to the reason why war occurs is the Force theory. This school of thought holds that the state is a creatio n of conquest and coercion of the weak by the strong. The state was seen as evil because it was a way of oppressing the poor. However, German writers of the 19th century, contended that force was an essential attribute of a state. (Oyediran, 1998:19). The   Force theory can really be adduce as a basis why war emerge between nation.Countries that are strong and have mighty military force had in the past annexed weak countries to themselves. They succeeded in doing this by embarking on war with them. In 1939, Finland’s decision to resist the invasions and annexation aggression of Soviet led to the Winter War. â€Å" Though cases of invasion and annexations that did not lead to a war abound; such as the U.S. led invasion of Haiti in 1994, the Nazi invasions of Austria and Czechoslovakia preceding the Second World War, and the annexation of the Baltic States by the Soviet Union in 1940.CONCLUSION The different Political Theorist has directed their argument on the reason why wa r occurs, even though not in the same tone and direction, the fact that the selfish interest and self- seeking nature of man and government, has been identified as a major reason why war has been a recurrent factor in the international arena. Even internally, where civil war occurs within the boundary of a country this has retained the same causal factor. The fact is traceable down line immemorial of historical war among nations.Furthermore, the scarce resource, such as power has been a basis for the eruption of conflicts among nations, since these resource cannot go round, it tend to be conflictual.REFERENCESAkhakpe, Ighodalo, (2000), Leading Issues in Political Thought. Lagos: A- Triad Associates Publishers & Printers.Gerring, John (2005), A Normative Turn in Political Science? Boston University Department of Political Science.Hobbes, Thomas (1946), Leviathan Oxford: Basil Blackwill Ltd.  Oyediran, Oyeleye (1998), Introduction to Political Science. Lagos:——-Wikiboo ks (2005), â€Å" International relations: The Causes of War† https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/International_Relations:The_Causes_of_war. (3rd August, 2005)

Privatization Study Essay

Privatisation can be defined as ‘the partial or total transfer of property of responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private sector (business) or private persons. Privatization can include the transfer of responsibilities and not solely change of ownership. Privatisation consists of simply ‘the transfer of all or any of three kinds of property rights from the state to the private sector; ownership rights, operating rights and development rights since these constitute the most common type of privatisation. In general privatisation has been undertaken as one of the reform measures to reduce government role in the economy and broaden the role of the private sector. Privatization can also be said to be a process of asset divesture. It is seldom asked, what does privatization seeks to accomplish in the Caribbean? It must be understood that privatization is seen as an instrument working towards supply side improvement by the promotion and allocation of more e fficient resources and short term stabilization through expenditure reduction. Privatization initiatives are now a current occurrence in most Caribbean countries such as Belize, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Guyana to name a few. It has shown that most privatization activities took place in Latin America & the Caribbean; between the period 1988 and 1993 this region accounted for more than half the total privatizations in the Third World. Most privatization initiatives take place in the utility companies of the Caribbean. In case of Belize (electricity, water, port authority and the sugar cane factory). Government in many of these Lesser Developed Countries embraces privatization as an attachment to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. These institutions stress and maintain that privatization is the main driving force towards economic liberalization and self-sustained growth. The objectives of Privatisation can happen either directly or indirectly. The main objective of privatization is placing emphasis on improving the efficiency of government owned/ semi-owned establishments, whether retained or divested. Some objectives are to Improve the operational efficiency of enterprises that are currently owned or semi owned by government, and their contribution to the national economy in terms of reliability of delivery,  quality and price; introduce competition in areas under monopoly; Reduce the burden of semi/owned government enterprises on the Government budget (direct) an example is stated in the re- privatization of Air Jamaica by the Government. (The Government of Jamaica initiated re-privatization process due to the airline’s increasing financial losses and the restructuring needed to face the challenges of new market conditions. The privatization of the airline was a top priority and engaged the International Finance Corporation as its Lead Adv isor)(The KED Group Research); raise revenue opposing to increase taxes on citizens (direct);Expand the private sector’s role in the economy, permitting the Government to concentrate more on its public resources and roles; Encourage wider public population in the ownership and management of business; encourage industrial growth; attract foreign investments Some other objectives can be classifies as secondary objectives such as creating a more market-oriented economy; to gain access to the foreign markets and technology while promoting the development of the capital market; and preserving self-reliance. There are said to be three major areas which privatization is expected to impact. Firstly there’s Efficiency, secondly there’s reduction of financial burden of the government and thirdly the ability to enhance private sector growth and activity to promote economic democracy through the participation of national assets ownership. In the Caribbean, privatization is expected to have a positive impact on productive efficiency. This is a result of the in-efficiencies that have plagued the public enterprises. It is said that as a result of non-competitiveness these enterprises misuse production inputs, they enjoy privileges of subsidiary capital and some social welfare. Shareholders do not scrutinize management performance so there is no incentives to maximize profit and minimize cost. Some problems that leads to privatization of government enterprises being in-efficient are over- staffing, management incompetence and low employee productivity. These are made into undesirable situation due to the intervening of government’s non-economic ends such as non-competitive pricing and employment maximization. When privatized efficiency is expected to yield better management operations. In order to meet the other area of maximizing revenue and reducing the financial burden on government enterprises; Privatization is considered one of the most directive and effective ways whereas government sells public enterprises. Not all asset sales is indeed a reduction in budget deficit, it is a short term measure of correction. It was in the early 1980’s in the Caribbean that revealed most countries found it difficult to provide counterpart funding for projects. Due to governments commitment to provide funding for these projects resulted in the economy to fluctuate and cause a burden on government resources. The growth of the expenditure exceeded the growth of revenue resulting in some countries to privatize. Privatization stimulates private sector growth. It seems to be beneficial as the private sector is constantly evolving. Privatization also sparks development of entrepreneurship by promoting economic democracy by participation of ownership of national assets. This can be seen in Belize with the telecommunication provider BTL. This company was bought and shares were sold to the public, giving them some ownership in the company. In the Caribbean, public enterprises were established because the pr ivate sector fell short to supply and demand because they weren’t willing to take the risk of high investment. Privatization of these public assets took place to attract foreign investment, government had to remove the restrictions of market access and the protection of state owned enterprises so that private investors would have been encourage to invest and avoid monopoly. This increased the foreign investment in the Caribbean. In Belize a similar situation of taking a risk and some monopoly to an extent can be seen in the privatization of the water company. CASCAL the foreign investor had problems when government had already invested in the utility company but was said to have not express the overvaluing of the company which yielded a more long term debt. Nevertheless CASCAL invested over $70 million USD into the company. Privatization of an enterprise or government own entity can be done in many ways. Some organizations use not only one method both sometimes several means for privatization. These methods of privatization are adopted based on the objectives of the enterprise such as financial position or the structure of the market. Some forms or methods of privatization can be stated as Sale of Equity, Sale of Assets, Concession/ Lease Agreement, Management Contracts, Franchising. In Belize the most common form is Sales of Equity and Sale of Assets. Sale of Equity refers to the transfer of equity usually done by the selling of shares. The government usually decides on what percentage to keep and what to sell. Once government decides on the  issue, the form of public offering or private placement of these shares can take place. Usually in large financially sound enterprises the public offering method is more attractive to government. The Belize Telecommunication privation is a great example of how g overnment took the public offering method and offered the Belizean public to buy shares into the company. Belize Telecommunication Ltd was the first privatization in Belize 1989 when British Telecom bought 25% of the shares. In 2001 Carlisle Holdings committed and increase BTL shareholdings to 52% with a $50 million investment. In 2004 Carlisle Holdings sold its shares back to the Government, which then resulted in the government to sell its shares plus the shares acquired from Carlisle to Innovative Communication Cooperation. Innovative communication Cooperation couldn’t pay for its share in 2005 which caused the government to take back 52% majority shares and sold it to private entities. In 2007 all rights and assets were transferred to Belize Telemedia Limited and the Government became the owner of majority of shares, the remaining shares were offered to the public which builds up 908 small shareholders. This is one company that basically use the sale of equity method. When using method of sales of assets, the basic concept is the direct sale of a public enterprise’s assets to a private investor or a group of investors. This would occur in a very competitive manner where government would try to receive the best price through an auction or tender process. Belize’s only sugar cane processing facility Belize Sugar Industries Limited was under negotiations for privatization due to BSI running into financial problems following allegations of mismanagement and bad investments in an allied electrical generation project BELCOGEN Ltd. The government first attempted to promote the sale of BSI to Honduras’ Banco Atlà ¡ntida but this failed. A purchase offer was made by the Belize cane farmers, who is the major suppliers of the factory’s sugar cane, was not entertained with much interest by the government. The sale was offered to the U.S. Company American Sugar Refin ery. This privatization was solely the sale of asset; no shares were offered to public and the factory is solely managed by a foreign company but still retains the employees being Belizeans. American Sugar Refinery, assuming the entire debt of BSI, will become the beneficiary of additional shares issued by BSI so that at the end of the day there will be something like 78 to 22 per cent ownership. ASR will in fact hold the  majority shares and the other 22% representing the actual workers of BSI. This act of privatization in Belize was a direct result, as BSI was in debt of 30 million and couldn’t repay. The government was forced to privatize at the same time act in best interest for the 90% of cane farmers that is the driving force for the sugar industry in Belize. There are other methods such as contracting/ franchising. This mostly happens when the government cannot take on the responsibility in services such as road construction and maintenance, machinery repair garbage collection (Belize Waste Control) and health services (such as Belize Dry Cleaners contract to heat wash all hospitals bedding etc.) this relinquishes all duties and services from the public sector to the private sector. This was also evident in The Jamaican privatisation programme which began in the early 1980s with the divestment of public services; which were burdening on fiscal resources of the government. These services were garbage collection services, parks and markets, and public cleansing. There is also the management contract method which solely involves hiring private sector to manage government enterpr ises for a special fee. This method entails the management responsibility only and does not involve the transfer of personnel. The final method is concessions and lease agreement; this method is used when government does not want to transfer complete ownership of an entity. Privatization of enterprises would be mostly natural resources or infrastructural. While government retains ownership, the private operator is responsible for desired improvement and management. Private investors may have an option to purchase the company after the agreements end. Privatization in the Caribbean countries was said to be influenced by the deteriorating financial state of the countries except for Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago which privatized their enterprises to undergo a structural adjustment program with the International lending Institutions. As in example with Grenada and Dominica which privatized for their own structural reform to reverse the deteriorating financial state. In Grenada their reform was organized by the Caribbean Development bank and aim was to privatised state owned enterprises to reduce the arrears of debts and contributions and focus on fiscal reform. In Dominica privatization was through the public sector enterprise reform that was based on the privatization of the Dominica electricity Services. In Jamaica privatization came into act in the 1980’s when the government at  that time, wanted to reduce their role in the economy. On board with privatization efforts were the International Monetary Fund and The World bank which disbursed several loans to the government of Jamaica divestment agenda. Some divestments included cleaning public facilities, operations of public markets which was done through the lease agreement and management contract method which gave private entities control. Privatizati on took flight in 1985 when shares offering was done by the National Commercial Bank acquiring 51 percent of the government’s equity. Privatization in a whole is said to have both positive and negative impacts depending on the way it is carried out and for the purpose the governments seems deemed. Advantages or potential benefits of Privatisation are that it improves efficiency. Private companies have a profit incentive to cut costs and be more efficient. When working for an industry that is managed or run by government, managers do not usually share profits. However, a private firm is interested in making profit and so it is more likely to cut costs and be efficient. A simple example of this is the British Airways have shown degrees of improved efficiency and higher profitability. Privatization also allows for the lack of political interference. It is said that most governments are motivated by political pressures rather than sound economic and business sense. They may employ too many workers which is inefficient and might be government may be reluctant to get rid of the workers because of the negative publicity involved in job losses. Therefore, state owned enterprises often employ too many workers increasing inefficiency. There may be instances when it’s beneficial for government when there just thinking in terms of until the next election. This is called the short term view. Government may be unwilling to invest in infrastr ucture improvements which will benefit the firm in the long term because they are more concerned about projects that give a benefit before the election. Shareholders apply pressure to private entities if they are inefficient. These companies could be threatened by a takeover. Another beneficial aspect is increased competition; privatisation of state owned monopolies allow more firms to enter the industry and increase the competitiveness of the market. One of the major competitions in the Caribbean would be telecommunication. In Belize, the Belize Telecommunication Limited was under monopoly which gave rise to a new competitor namely Speednet (SMART). However, privatisation doesn’t  necessarily increase competition, it depends on the nature of the market. The last advantage is that government will raise revenue from the sale. This could be seen in the water and sewerage authority in Trinidad & Tobago, the flour mills, the steel company and assets of PETROTRIN which raised over $542.4 million USD for the Trinidadian Government in 1999. Also in Trinidad the British West Indian Airline under privatization had a profit of 2.04 million USD as compared to the previous loss of 25.6 million USD. In Jamaica about 50% of public enterprises has gained overall benefits of privatization. According to the National Investment Bank of Jamaica from since the privatization process from 1981, the government proceeds have been over $300 million USD. Privatization also increased the employment in the agricultural field, hotels which have increased by 85% due to aggressive market strategies and telecommunications as a result job losses were le ssened. Also public cleaning and garbage collection has improved. (Stone 1992). This also shown that by 150% employment was increased. In Guyana, the privatization of the Telephone & Telegraph Company Ltd. Has increased the number of subscribers from 21,000 to 53,600 and have improved services and quality. (Tyndall 1995) Privatization may also have its disadvantages which can mostly occur when there is a monopoly in an industrial firm. It is better to have a public monopoly rather than a private monopoly which can exploit the consumer. Some disadvantages are when privatization happens for public interest. Many industries which perform an important public service such as health care, education and public transport is not profit driven. In these industries, the profit motive shouldn’t be the primary objective of firms and the industry. In the case of health care, it is feared privatising health care would mean a greater priority is given to profit rather than patient care. The Problem of regulating private monopolies, such as the water companies and rail companies (as in Jamaica) is another disadvantage of privatization. Regulation is needed to prevent abuse of monopoly power. Therefore, the government still need to have regulatory power or state ownership. As in the advantage of short term view when government is looking only towards the next election and trying to minimize public investment; the private entity can swing this around and do the same. This would be called short termism of firms which would be also a disadvantage. Private owned entities would or may seek to increas e short term profits to shareholders  and avoid long term investment. In privatization of a company it’s not always in the best favour of the public citizens. In some case privatization of a utility company have caused price increase in the service they provide. It is always hard for government to reacquire these companies after privatization. A typical example in Belize of a privatization went wrong was under the PUP government. They privatized the Port of Belize to a so call crony of the party. This was clearly not in best interest of the people or country. Under government ownership the port was serving Belize as well as Southern Mexico. Today not even Belizeans are fund of using the port due to the lower prices and services offered by neighbouring ports as Honduras and Guatemala. Privatization was been around in the Caribbean from the early 1980’s and has gain over ten years solid experience and now evolving as the learning process continues. What is clear is that government has been more interested in the economy rather than letting the private sector take over. Is has shown that through studies in Jamaica and proper consultation, privatization has caused a very beneficial change in the country. A consensus must be must be initiated with the society at large for any privatization program to be successful or beneficial. Privatization has its pros and cons and any government in the Caribbean should consider if privatization is the best option, not just for political gain; but for the benefit of its people. Although sometimes some countries are driven or force into privatization to help the rescue them from the ir financial burdens, there must be a privatization structure and team in place so as to have the government not selling out and causing its people to suffer. With the proper assessment and consulting privatization can be a way forward for developing Caribbean countries. REFERENCES siteresources.worldbank.org richardbernal.net/Privatization_in_the_English-Speaking_Caribbean dbankjm.com/privatisation pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNABL654 ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent. economictimes.indiatimes.com westernbelizehappenings.blogspot.com https://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/geography www.guardian.bz/index www.belizetelemedia.net www.internationallawoffice.com/newsletters www.caricom.org/jsp/community/donor_conference†¦/preferences.pdf