Porter's Five-Force model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Porter's Five-Force model - Essay Example It is crucial for any international business to critically study the competitive environment of the industry. The number of close substitutes, availability of resources, buying power of the consumers, threat of new entrants and the level of rivalry between existing firms must be studied closely to determine whether the industry would present the firm with a favorable and profitable environment. Porter’s Five forces model allows a firm to critically analyze each and every factor in the respective elements of industry competitiveness noted above (Swaan et al, 1999). Porter describes five forces which affect the industry’s competitiveness. The Threat of Substitute Products available in the market determines the power which a business may have in the industry. If the product is a generic one which has high substitutes in the market, the industry will be considered as highly competitive. Similarly, high level of close substitutes means that the buyers’ cost of switching is low and imposes a high threat to the firms. Besides this factor, all the factors are included in Figure 1 (Swaan et al, 1999). Likewise, if the buyers in the industry have a high negotiating power, the firms will be lead to lower their profit margins and the prices. A high negotiating power means that there would be less number of buyers as compared to the number of sellers in the market. Also, switching costs would be low and the products would be common rather than differentiated. Simultaneously, when there are fewer suppliers in the market who sell highly technical or hard to procure raw materials, they would have more negotiating power (Swaan et al, 1999). The ability and the ease of new entrants in the market also say how much competition a firm can expect in the future. With all these specifics, comes rivalry between firms. If one promotional campaign is followed aggressively by competing firms, the rivalry would be high. Similarly, the level of product

Article review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Review - Article Example Both the international comparative and German Cranfield surveys give a clear overview of the current human resource practices in German (Festing, 2012). German faces challenges such as recruitment due to a demographic change, which in addition to low unemployment rates led to inadequately qualified personnel. Hence, most major companies use active employer branding while smaller ones use selected employer branding practices with an aim of attracting candidates. German uses a formal selection of the workforce such as psychological or legal writing less often as compared to other countries. After a semistructured interview of applicants, the required number for the position are picked based on their curricula vitae (Festing, 2012). The elected body representing the interest of employees may be the cause of the lack of formal selection methods. The work council neglects the use of the devices. Although the German companies tend to show a consistency in the use of carefully local selection procedures based on work experience, educational training, and internship report. It clearly brings out the employment system in Germany (Festing, 2012). Most of the companies in German use extensive staff development and long-term career planning which include technical capability and functional proficiency as central values. It influences the retention of most employees resulting in a steady job security making dismissal very carefully. Because of the job security, the company wins most employees who work for many years. Regarding compensations, the amounts vary according to the individual monthly earnings. The wages and salaries of most of the German workers, however, results from tariff agreements from collective bargaining. In the international comparison of HR practices as per the Granfield network in 2011, most of financial participation and performance-related pay are frequently used in United States than in Germany. German mainly majors in the use

Online Media Has Become A Very Useful Tool Media Essay

Online Media Has Become A Very Useful Tool Media Essay The online media or the New Media has also been a consequence of dynamic communications technology developments and the need of a universal platform that emerges traditional media with the interactive power of computers and the participative aspect of the Internet. I strongly believe that online media has indeed become a very useful tool for citizens to play their role in political and social participation. The reasons are various: Internet is very popular and user-friendly, it give people the opportunity of engaging in civic discussion and there is a common lack of time, interest and proximity issues hinder their willingness in participating, As Margaret Scammell also pointed out in her paper The Internet and Civic Engagement: the Age of the Citizen-Consumer, (anul) the Internet, we hear constantly, will change everything. Thus far, however, the evidence for politics is rather small. We see vastly expanded information sources for citizens, new delivery systems for political institutions, greater opportunities for politics at the margins. But mostly we see the same old electoral and institutional politics with no evidence of huge new communities of participating citizens. What is actually emphasized here is the fact that we expect a greater involvement of citizens in political and social aspects on online media platforms, whereas new media online only endows us with brand new instruments of citizenship performance. Internet, as one of the 20th centurys most important developments, facilitates old and new functions of media, by orientating traditional media, like newspapers and television towards more participation, interactivity, flexibility, real time interaction, experiences and information sharing at a low cost. Politics and political participation of citizens is one of the topics of discussion over the Internet. The basic function of media informing people, is clearly seen in the huge World Wide Web community. Politicians have recently started to be aware of the impact that the Internet has, especially on young generations and therefore have moved online, where they have their own blogs, participate in online political forums, and get in direct contact with their electors. A very good example in this sense is Barack Obamas famous online campaign which helped him engage more with his voters and actually gave them the opportunity of integrating and even creating a political campaign. I think it helped us to access a lot of people by giving them to tools to organize, to create events, to connect with each others and giving them everything that they needed, so that when they had talking points to pass onto their families, videos, events in their area that were happening, community outreach pro grams in their state. Everything that we did was to connect people, because it was a movement that was fundamentally about people. (http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/12/04/felesky-rahaf.html Rahaf Harfoush interview) Moreover, even in 2000 American elections, American Online reported that seven of the all-time top ten live online chats were political, suggesting an increase in interest and involvement in the political process (Marlin 1999: 12 in CAROLINE J. TOLBERT AND RAMONA S. MCNEAL, KENT STATE UNIVERSITY). Another essential aspect of online citizenship is the civic engagement. One might argue that civic engagement online is one of the pioneer activities promoted online and which had a tremendous success among both nongovernmental organizations and participants to different online campaigns, petitions, manifestations. Its mobilizing character has had a very good outcome in community volunteer work, environmental causes and protest behavior, as it has engaged people in various discussions on social media platforms or in sharing experiences and thoughts about problems of common interest on YouTube, Blogs, MySpace, Facebook and websites. A very good example of a civic engagement campaign that has attracted many participants is the Greenpeace campaign. Promoting their activities in environmental causes and simultaneously asking for peoples direct involvement online has ensured the success of their campaign. Online medias main advantage that of offering great opportunities of sharing information and experiences to its users can sometimes turn into a disadvantage, because normal people are becoming journalists. This facilitates subjectivism and might sometimes lead to misinforming the other users. Moreover, many organizations, politicians or public figures have sensed the potential impact and success of online campaigns and therefore tend to control certain information flows for their own interest and even manipulate the content of forums, blogging, etc. The Web community facilitates the achievement of different types of citizenship, whether they are political, cultural, social or national. Citizens have often declared themselves dissatisfied with traditional media coverage; due to media concentration, the information and knowledge they get seems most of the times to be influenced by particular view that media moguls try to impose indirectly. Therefore the online media give them the opportunity of expressing themselves without restrictions and engage actively in different knowledge sharing activities and even direct participation to political decisions. Taken all this arguments into consideration, I believe that the new media indeed contribute to a better citizenship by means of more interaction, delivering own experiences and thoughts towards different political topics, being informed and having access to a greater range of knowledge sources. Online media, creates opportunities for all the Internet users to contribute to the main attribute of democracy and that is, being able to take part at political and social decision making process.

The Jungle :: essays research papers

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If you are or you know someone that is an immigrant to this country, then you know the struggles and hardships that one must face. Forget the language barrier, problems such as no money, no food or shelter, even no job are all brutal circumstances. All these problems are tough to surpass, and doing so is a task in itself. In The Jungle Upton Sinclair portrays all the problems that a Lithuanian family must encounter to survive. This novel reflects the time period, the conflicts around the country, and the conflicts of a family struggling to survive. A truly great novel in my opinion, The Jungle should be read by everyone for enjoyment, and even for knowledge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main characters in this novel are a immigrant family from Lithuania. The family consisting of Jurgis and Antanas Rudkus, Ona and Elizabeth Lukoszaite (with all six of her children), and many personal friends and enemies of the family. The Lukoszaite family have come to America to gain wealth after their recent death of their father. Jurgis who is madly in love with Ona comes along with his father to America. A family from the poor roots of Lithuania come oversees to seek great wealth and success in the United States, escaping the slums of their native country. The setting is in Chicago, in the town of Packingtown.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Escaping poverty in their native country, with a heartbreaking loss of a family member, the entire group packs up and heads for the highway so to speak to achieve wealth in America. The novel begins with a lovely wedding between Ona and Jurgis. The reception followed tradition, but the younger generation didn’t participate in the usual customs of a wedding. This just went to show how different the two countries really are. Struggling to pay the cost of the reception, everyone must leave early to go to work the next morning, including the wife and groom. Of all the family members, Jurgis is the most suited for the job because he is physically fit and has a workers attitude. The children are to go to school, and the women would have to find a job. With the help of Jonas, who is the brother of Elizabeth, the family finds a rotten apartment in a rat infested, run down building. Jurgis decides to spend the remaining of their money to buy a house because a

Magazine Article: Romeo and Juliet Essay

Aya Temimi, does this name ring a bell ? Of course ! The most amazing director of all time, billions of fans and directed one of the most famous love stories: The Titanic. Aya Temimi has already sold out, not a million but a BILLION copies of The Titanic. Not only that was a highlight in her amazing career but also being the best director at such a young age (20 years) is very rare, especially, in this new generation. Who would have thought ? That this small girl from the smallest country on Earth would become THIS big? (not me) but a lesson is learned: don’t judge a book by it’s cover or in this case (by it’s surrounding). The amazing Aya took a break for a couple of years, but now she’s back and better than ever. She is willing to win our hearts back by redirecting the famous romantic movie: Romeo&Juliet, we will experience it on whole different level, with new actors and a new director (Aya Temimi). The movie is expected in June 2013, a bit too much wai ting for us but you know what they say: haste makes waste, so we have to hold our horses (even though we can’t). Readers, pick up your ears (or may I say eyes?) because we have a very exclusive interview with the one and only: Aya Temimi ! Hello love, we’ve heard everything about your new movie coming out and we, seriously, can’t wait ! So, would you like to tell us who’s lucky enough to cast the roll of Romeo and why you chose him? Good morning darling, the lucky young man has to be Justin Bieber (of course). I chose him because he has the whole package: the personality, the looks, the fame and the fans and that can work in our advance. Justin is a very wise young man who’s head over heels in love with his beautiful girlfriend (Selena Gomez, who by the way will play the role of Juliet) , that’s really an icing on the cake because Justin wouldn’t have to â€Å"act† in love and it will look more realistic. Justin is also down to earth and really passionate about his music, and Romeo is also passionate but in this case not about music, but about love. Another treat that they both have in common is the fearlessness, they aren’t afraid to do what they want and what they love. Justin isn’t afraid to get critic on what he does, because it wouldn’t stop him from doing it and that’s something that many people admire. As you (obviously) already have seen on the news : Bieber is a hopeless romantic just as Romeo, I mean, seriously, renting the whole strapless center to watch The Titanic with his lovely girlfriend? Awesome. Wow, that’s quiet an explanation you gave. So, you already spilled the secret about who’s gonna play Juliet. But, my question for you this time is; why did you chose her? First of all, Selena is a very determined and strong women who loves Justin to death and she did go through a painful period, full of heartbreaking comments and rumors but the love she has for Justin conquers them all. She also showed her loyalty just as Juliet by staying with him even though he was rumored to be the father of the child of Maria Yeater (a fan of Justin) , and even when people really doubted them to last due to the age difference between Justin (18) and Selena (20) (big deal) they are still going strong. Juliet’s love for Romeo was infinite and she would (literally) take the bullet for him, It’s actually just how Selena is loyal towards Justin but then in a more dramatic and difficult way. Oh I think they will be going strong for a long time, without a doubt. But sweetheart, we are really eager to know who’s going to play the courageous Mercutio ? Well, that was a difficult choice, it took me a whole lifetime to chose that one. As we all know Mercutio wasn’t just a very loyal and courageous friend, he was more than that. He was the brother Romeo never had, so I needed someone really close to Romeo, in this case( Justin ), to play the role. That has a reason, because Justin needed to experience the pain Romeo was feeling when his best friend was lying lifeless and vulnerable on the ground while Romeo was watching him bleed to death, believe me, that wasn’t just a slap on the wrist. To cut a long story short; we needed someone who was emotionally involved with Justin. Ryan Butler, Justin’s brother from another mother. He’s a very charismatic young fella who has the ladies dropping themselves at his feet (he sure loves that), he loves the attention and is very energetic, just as Mercutio he has a very strong bond with Justin and would do anything for him. Ryan is really fun-loving, he likes to go out a nd just have the time of his life but he can be very serious and protective when it comes down to Justin. The funny part is that he has the same personality as Mercutio, he’s one of those persons that can joke and make you laugh all the time even if he’s in serious pain or in a wrong situation and that, perfectly, resembles Mercutio. You talk so passionate about your characters, it must have taken a while before making a definite choice because it sure doesn’t sound as a piece of cake. Love, let’s continue: who’s playing the lovely Nurse? And why? The Nurse is played by someone who’s very special to me, the apple to my eye: my lovely mother. It did take a little effort but after a few crocodile tears and my dramatic begs, I really had to bend over backwards, but it was worth it. I chose my mom because I believe that no one would play the role of The Nurse better than a mother. The Nurse represented someone who’s very talkative and caring,surprisingly, so is my mom. I could go on and tell a billion things about my lovely mother, but she does resemble The Nurse: because The Nurse was there for Juliet when she wanted to vent to someone about her love life , just like a mother should be (shame on you, Lady Capulet). She helped her through everything: giving her advice, marrying to Romeo, sneak out, cover up for her and simply support her and didn’t make her feel like she’s on her own. Wow, you do have a way with words ! So, lets move one to the last person: Benvolio. Who’s going to play his character? And why? Hmmpff, I feel like a radio, repeating the same songs. Thank you, Benvolio is going to be played by (I have to cross my fingers on this one) my dad. My dad is an amazing person and, obviously, father. He’s really peaceful and doesn’t like fights or any violence but he does know how to have fun, he’s a real fuddy duddy. My dad is a very loyal family man and would do everything to keep his family together and live in a peaceful atmosphere. He’s the type of person who keeps his chin up no matter what situation he’s in, that’s why he’s good at giving advice and that also resembles one of Benvolio’s treats. Benvolio also gave Romeo advice to keep looking at other women and forget about Rosaline, he showed Romeo that there are plenty fish in the sea. Another treat of my dad is that he’s very thoughtful, unfortunately, sometimes he thinks too much but after all he’s a men who’s practical: he doesn’t just say, he does. One other similarity of my dad and Benvolio is that they both are, clearly, honest as you might know Benvolio was utterly honest when he was asked by the Prince to explain what happened that day between Romeo, Tybalt and Mercutio. You keep amazing me, Aya ! Unfortunately, this interview has come to an end but before we say goodbye, I would like to ask if you wanted to add anything? First of all, thank you for everything, I really liked the interview and I would surely do it all over again (if I had time). Most important is that I wanted you to know why I chose those characters who never, actually, acted before. I chose specifically those persons because I have faith in them, I believe that they would amaze the public because each one of them has something,clearly, doozy. The other reason is because I wanted them to experience something new, something they would have to work hard (harder than they do) for and I wanted them to believe that a house divided against Itself can not stand, that they needed to work together and learn from each other to work this out. After all they were all in the same boat , they will all face the same things, the same critics that back seat drivers will have. To conclude everything: we had the time of our lifes, we nearly died laughing at each other after filming the same scenes countless times over and over again and the most import ant thing is that at the end of this roller coaster, we became one big family. That was deep, girlie ! I can see that it came deep from your heart, I wish you the best and I will, surely, see you ! Elvis left the building, everyone ! To the last: Romeo&Juliet is coming out in June 2013 ! Specific data will be announced on the 15th of May.

Jacqueline Kennedy

All throughout the history of mankind, through the generations, decades, centuries, and millenniums, humans have shared one quality despite the rapid change and obvious differences between us all. We have always been capable of speech. Of course, this expression has evolved over time and originated as simple indications of emotion.However, has evolved into one of the most important functions of the human body, providing not only communication amongst other people, but an essential factor in creating a character, and one of the only factors separating man rom any other living organism. Though voice is so essential to life, women only obtained complete freedom of speech and expression of opinion in the last century. Women had the same capabilities and ideas as men, however were unjust to use their voice and share them. A key part of the evolution of women's expression was one of America's own women, Jacqueline Kennedy.Jackie was the wife of a well- known American president, and played a key role in his presidency by restoring the white house, establishing fame and recognition, and being a legend for American omanhood.. She was one of the only first ladies to leave such a mark on the country, and continues to be one of America's most memorable and important woman fgureheads OFK Museum). Jacqueline, originally born into the Bouvier family on July 28, 1989, was an inspiration from the day she was introduced to the world. She grew up in a wealthy home and was always encouraged to use her talents of art and creativity throughout her childhood.She was raised feeling important, and always knew she was destined to make a change in the world (Taylor 27). However, hen her parents got divorced when she was only ten, she began to keep her thoughts to herself due to her extreme pain (nettrekker. com). She then attended a boarding school throughout her primary school years, and later graduated from Washington University in 1951, dedicated to start a life as a reporter (Cardi). Little did she know that Just two years later, she would be married to a senator and begin a journey to becoming one of America's youngest and most remembered first ladies.Jackie began her Journey to fame once John F. Kennedy was running for president, ut all women's eyes were on his beautiful wife. Housewives and mothers began to see Jackie as their leader, and loved how easily they could relate to her feelings and thoughts, helping their presidential vote in JFK's favor. This helped lead John Kennedy to win the election and become president with Jacqueline on his side. Jackie's young and creative mind quickly went to work once moved into the White House, and she was determined to make her mark in her time as first lady.She began this by starting a benefit to modernize and restore the White House atmosphere as ell as promote the arts (Spoto 124). This created a lot of fans and positive publicity, and added to her popularity with young women striving for hope. She spoke out to Clif ford said, â€Å"Once in a great while, an individual will capture the imagination of people all over the world. You have done this; and more important, through your graciousness and tact, you have transformed this rare accomplishment to an incredibly important asset to this nation. † (nettrekker. com).She became an American icon and was commonly referred to as â€Å"America's Queen†, which was ironic for the ime because women had only recently begun to be fully respected and set equal to men and she was the face of it. Jacqueline can easily be compared to another hero of his time, Odysseus. This is because they were both seen as famous and respected individuals in their community, and used this power to make their voice important to the common civilian. They were both deadest on a goal or result of their Journey, and used their intelligence and bravery to make it possible.It was then that their efforts were recognized and their fame became even greater. Though Odysseu s pursued an ctual quest to reaping his reward, Jackie hypothetically took a large quest as well. She overcame her stereotype of being the unnoticed president's wife, and made a huge impact on the voice of women in the end. The two both used their voice in an similarly impactful way. Jacqueline Kennedy definitely made her mark on the world. With her pride of American Women, passion for creativity, and young flair, she spoke out to women of her time. She has become one of the most remembered women in the white house and respected women of all time.She gave hope and guidance to the average ousewife, and became an icon to the world. Jackie used her voice in a unique way and her voice is important.

Florida Healthcare System

Florida Healthcare System Abstract Revenue management in any organization involves four basic elements, which are very vital. These include policy planning, assessment, evaluation and corrective measures. For any organization to run successfully it must have a planning method for its revenues that is concise and meets the organizational needs. In fact, technical expertise is needed in carrying out the plan for implementation.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Florida Healthcare System specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More After the planning process, the organizations need to set achievable goals and objectives within the scope of its work. The goals and objectives should be measurable and specific to maintain focus of the workforce. The stakeholders need to come up with an action plan that they follow to meet their set limits. The action plan set must denote time and give clear responsibilities to the entire stakeholder. Evaluation and cont rol measures are the final part in policy management that gauge the achievements against the goals set. Corrective measures also need to be followed when deviations are detected. A study in Florida revenue structure reveals several issues of concern, especially in the health care sector. The revenue collected by the local government and redistributors among the population majorly runs the public health care system. This calls for a proper revenue management by local government to reduce losses and revenue mismanagement. The revenue alone cannot help in solving the health care needs in Florida health. Therefore, other sources of financing enable them carry out their activities. However, the local government faces several economic challenges in meeting the health care demands. Introduction The need to satisfy healthcare demand using the scarce local government resources has led to cost maximization and proper utilization of these scarce resources. This led to the study of how local go vernment revenue can be effectively and efficiently collected and utilized. The study also involves assessment of various factors affecting the local government revenues and the implication of policy system in revenue management. Government Revenue Assessment Florida has a well-structured health system. This includes the Government and the public sector. Funding policies have undergone several re-adjustments to create equity, affordability and accessibility of health care to all people.Advertising Looking for research paper on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The rates of revenue historically show drastic changes due dynamic nature of health care investment. The changes in government revenue pattern and rates are majorly attributed to economic patterns, which affect the stability and financial power of the government and the changes in health care system as well as its provision (Cropf, 2008). These factors include the disease patterns, which have led to more expensive health lifestyle problems. As a result, the government revenue polices are always run to meet these demands. Several government revenue systems are identified in this local government acting at various levels include, taxes, fees, grants, fines, gambling revenue, and aids (Starling, 2010). Taxes Taxation is as the major revenue contributor to many local governments. Taxes collected by government are of different types namely; income tax, property taxes, sales tax, payroll tax and property tax. Government needs include raising revenue for the local authorities operation in different sectors, redistribution of national wealth and price adjustment on externalities such as alcohol and tobacco, which are some of the signs of citizen representation to the government. Income tax is levied by the government from individual person’s earning, either in business, employment or cooperation sector. In the personal inve stment, the tax levied is based on profits and net gains. The tax computation is based on national tax law principles. The income tax can be regressive or progressive in nature depending on the government tax polices and laws. For instance, Pay as You Earn (P.A.Y.E) mode is mostly applied by many jurisdictions on personal taxes. Capital gain tax on capital assets is another revenue source under the government income tax (Lee Wayne, 1998). Social security fund revenue is usually found in the health sector of the government. It is a compulsory fund on health, often based on an individual income. Some governments use earning rates to determine the amount paid by an individual while in some cases it is a constant rate according to an individual’s health needs. In some government systems there are upper and lower limits of payments made by an individual (Starling, 2010).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Florida Healthcare System specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are also value added taxes and sales taxes. Value added tax (VAT) is imposed on the manufactured goods and services. The manufacturers sell their products and services at higher prices to the retailers since they need to settle the value added tax paid to the government. On the other hand, Sale tax is levied on consumers when they purchase any product. It is among the major contributors to the government’s revenue collections (Lee Wayne, 1998). Moreover, the government gets a lot of revenue from tariffs, excise duty, ad valorem tax, occupation tax from licenses and inheritance taxes. Public facilities such as sports and recreation centres also contribute immensely to the government revenue. Some of the major sources of revenue to the local government include fees, permits, and licenses. Besides, there are revenues from transport, health care and education sector. Various government businesses and foreign transac tions also greatly contribute to its revenues (Usa, 2011). The Chart below shows the United States Total Revenue This shows the general Federal States revenue, as a major contributor to the local Government Health Care Program. The USA total revenue is also an indicator of the local government capacity in revenue collection. In turn, they receive the federal government aids.Advertising Looking for research paper on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Health Care Funding in Florida Health care sector needs a lot of financing since it is wide and very dynamic. To come up with a proper solution to the funding, policies have been drawn in the local government. The policy systems also ensure equitable and quality health distribution that is accessible to all the social classes. Although efficient and effective financing system is hard to achieve in health care, many health programs implementation in Oregon have been met through the financing systems (Wallace, 2010). The federal government funding towards health care is a great contributor in the country’s health care system. This has been undertaken through direct injection of funds or indirectly through the acquisition of facility aid and health personnel from the federal government. Government funds are state’s risk pool revenues arrangement aimed at all the population extensive health care provision. In addition to government funding, the government offers support to this health care through the social health policy (Wallace, 2010). Social insurance source of financing is mainly from the employers’ contribution and salaried employees. It also provides a cover to the unemployed in this government through the social funds. The program is associated with benefit package to the health care contributors. Notably, this is a non-profit program. In Florida, social funds have created minimal dependence on negations of budget other than on the state funded health care system and it is the most strongly supported health funding system by the citizens (Lee Wayne, 1998). The local government of Florida authorities have also injected indirectly in community-based health insurance. This health insurance seeks assistance of the government policy makers to help those that are unable to purchase healthcare insurance from the formal sector. It achieved a better health care access to the people in many parts of this local authority (Usa, 2011). The Chart B elow shows Florida local Government Financial Contribution toward Health Care in the Local Authority From the chart, it can be noted that the user fees and out of pocket take the largest share of the health payment system. The lowest contributor to healthcare is the insurance that ranks lowest as a result of high charges they offer. The government contributes 22 percent of the finances in health care (Lee Wayne, 1998). The governments also provide Medicaid services to enable the low-income groups to access health care. Medicaid is aimed at all the population despite the ages of the people who cannot afford personal insurance. In Florida, Medicare takes the basic health needs burden from the low-income group. Medicaid services are also available for the elderly and disabled group. To supplement their out-pocket medical use, the local government has promoted the provision medigap method by private insurers. This mostly aimed at the poor who are unable to purchase their health insura nce security (Wallace, 2010). Some of national budgeting data for the government are tabulated. The data were taken from some of the priorities set by the government in health care provision and amount in dollar used. The table shows the major government priorities in health care budget across the years, including medical services to seniors, venders’ medical users and public health service provision. It is noticed that health cost is constantly rising across the years. This has been attributed to rise in health care diseases among the population (Lee Wayne, 1998). The below shows Health Care Financial Budget by the Local Authority from the Year 2005-20010Â  (m.s) is the medical service rendered to the seniors. Financial Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Health Care Cost 882.0 866.1 920.0 1,042.2 1,129.9 1,233.0 [+] M. S (sn) 494.3 492.3 534.4 563.8 589.2 638.4 [+] Medical Service 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 [+] Public H S. 4.5 4.7 4.9 4.8 4.8 4.8 [+] RD Health 36 .1 36.0 33.6 32.4 32.1 32.0 [+] Health n.e.c. 0.0 0.0 0. 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 [+] Vendor Payments 347.0 333.0 347.1 441.2 503.9 557.8 Restrictions in Government Revenues on health Budgeting Government spending in health care is determined by the economic status of the state and the federal government. During hard economic times, the government spending on health is reduced drastically to compensate for other sectors of the economy. This comes up with several challenges to the users who are insured under the government like in Medicaid and Medicare provision. At times the cost of health is so high that proper provision needs extra funds, which the local government cannot easily allocate successfully. Therefore, the local government is restricted to the most basic primary health care (Federal Reserve Bank, 1997). Operation of many local authorities gets a lot of influence from the state government. The local authority finds itself at a cross road at times when undertaking its programs due to regulatory measures by the government providers on the revenue use and application. The local authority’s policies and health care priorities sometimes do not run with the government priorities, and are often forced to abandon their priorities to meet the financiers’ needs. Due to these, the government restricts the local authorities budgeting (Wallace, 2010). Dynamics nature of health care and span make its budgeting policies very complex to amend every budgeting period to meet the new challenges. The increase on life style diseases has made it difficult for the health care planners to carry out adequate budgeting. This can be depicted from financial short falls which normally occur in many planning periods. Budgeting for health generally has become very unpredictable, including the insurance coverage needs (Wallace, 2010). Effect of Public Decision Policy on Revenue Policies decisions are vital in revenue collection and creation of a harmonized environment to the revenue users and collectors. Policies enable people to appreciate the need and usefulness of collecting taxes. Every government has a distinct and proper policy set up for collection and use of its revenues. The decision is vital in various ways for the local government, especially in safeguarding government resources. The decisions taken into consideration include revenue recognition in line with the general accounting principles and management of the receivable accounts by the government. Finally, the decisions are important in creating a negotiation on matters related to the revenue systems (Starling, 2010). The policy structure describes the local government revenue is in the different parts. There are policies on collection and utilization of the government fees from the local health institutions. Grants and aids have systematic methods of handling them as well. Medical services income and investment income are also handled according to specific policies to make sure ther e is a proper and transparent health care delivery. In addition, the government has laid regulations and policies on management of contributions and other forms of sources, which are normally channeled to specific programs (Cropf, 2008). The management and formulation of the policies are under specific management bodies, each charged with different responsibility. The work of the teams is to monitor and start the implementation under their jurisdiction. This is done according to the need and demand priorities in health care provision to the people. Managers in charge of the policies also ensure accountability, billing and collection of revenue in accordance with decisions on the ground. At times, the revenue management circle follows a given benchmarks to produce targeted goals (Starling, 2010). When wrong decision on revenue management is made, the collection processes might be impaired from the first instance. This comes as a result of the people’s failure to understand the revenue system. Pressure groups might go against the policies makers as well. In many places, poor accountability and transparency have led to loss of revenue, thus it becomes necessary that proper handling polices are drawn to ensure efficient collection and use of the resources (Wallace, 2010). Choosing programs to run the health care requires the managers who have proper understanding of health care structure. The government must come up with proper recruitment policies which ensure that the health system is properly managed by responsible managers and planners. Revenue collection from other sources such as aids needs proper negotiators who can draw and clearly come up with the requirements of the negotiators. Generally, the decisions made in these stages mark the success or failure of revenue management (Cropf, 2008). Economic Conditions that Affect Revenue Projections Revenue projection by the government depends on several economical factors, and any changes in these either po sitively or negatively affect the revenue. When the consumption pattern changes due to economic cycles, the health care revenue pattern also changes. This results from economic factors such as inflation, decline in asset values, geopolitical factors, cost of credit and its nature, solvency and the stability of financial institutions, the financial market, and internal and external business pattern. Projecting revenue in any sector also becomes hard as a result of economic uncertainty that affects the financial market (Wallace, 2010). The demand for health services and the availability of its revenue on the government overlie on the capacity of its purchase. When employment issues arise, the national insurance fund gets affected proportionately. When unemployment looms the contributors to health reduces while the consumers increase in number. This poses a great challenge to the government (Federal Reserve Bank, 1997). At the same time economical problems like recessions normally resu lt in poor trade pattern, the government might end up making losses in businesses as well as expecting limited revenue from the business sector. Consumers of healthcare at this time find it hard to purchase health products and opt to basic primary health strategy. Fees charged on the health premises reduce drastically, forming part of the affected revenue system. Many people normally opt for promotion health pattern that do not require much financial investment to reduce their spending (Wallace, 2010). Taxation patterns change with economic system when economical cycle is low; many people reduce their investment in the capital market. Consequently, manufacturing firms reduce their purchases since the consumption rate becomes low. This directly affects the VAT and other trade related taxes. The government revenue also falls despite the need for the government to cushion most of its people from the economic challenges. Tariffs and customs also normally get affected by these changes ma king the revenue projection difficult (Wallace, 2010). Pension deficits are also major hindrance to revenue projection. Many people under pension who fail to receive their pension become a challenge in projection of revenue since the groups are normally included in the revenue calculation. On the other hand, the government uses a lot of money every year to cover these pensions that in turn cut back into the projection estimates. Calculation of pension to derive clear projection of revenue is also very difficult due to changes in pattern of employment and unemployment rates. Clear projections of revenues become rather hard or inaccurate for the planners at the national and local level (Federal Reserve Bank, 1997). Public Debt always forms another challenge facing the revenue projection, both domestic and foreign. The accruing debts come with the expenses, which normally are being carried from one generation to another. The debt repayments normally affect the revenue sectors significa ntly. This is because the projected revenues are utilized in non-profit generating programs. Thus, the planning becomes significantly challenging because of the debts. In turn, several public sectors including health get hugely affected due low net revenue (Usa, 2011). Furthermore, there are economical losses in natural disasters, hurricanes and earthquakes affecting Florida. In as much as they are not anticipated. A lot of investments get destroyed when these disasters occur. At the same time, the government invests a lot to restore these structures in place. A lot of expected revenue is these areas are not met while more is used to restore the situation on the ground. This has made projection of revenue in Florida generally hard and always results in the failures. It is beyond the control of the government since some of these points mark lucrative investment zones by the local government the tourism industry. Health investment meets these challenges as its funds are utilized in mi tigation measures (Federal Reserve Bank, 1997). Major revenue challenge in projection comes from the management of social security fund and retirement. This comes with failure to many people in Florid to take their own saving measures. Many people reach retirement age with little or no saving for both livelihood and health care. The government hence spends a lot in social security funds and other revenue sources to cater for the basic needs of these groups, mostly in Medicare and Medicaid insurances. Projection of the revenue is a challenge since it is never accurate in calculation of the amounts invested in health (Usa, 2011). In the technological advancement, the states spend a lot in to cope with technology in various fields like in business, security and science. Projection of yearly spending on these sectors is very hard since each year comes with a new challenge, often at a higher cost. The state hence is unable to accurately determine the revenue amount it spends in these sec tors. These make revenue projection generally hard and most unachievable (Usa, 2011). Revenue Policy For an effectively management of health care system in Florida, there is a need for concrete management and control of the revenue system. This calls for a properly diagnosed health revenue procedure and policies. In Florida, the local government came with a revenue control and management policies in all it sectors to ensure accountability, transparency and efficiency in running the program (Cropf, 2008). The policy system runs as shown: Internal Control Measures In order to manage revenue effectively, a proper organization of input, process and out put resources are put into place. Proper coordination in communication and technological application is enhanced. A chain of hierarchy is drawn from managers to lower level work force (Wallace, 2010). The aspects of internal control are; Work organization and delegation of duties Process of payment recording from various accounts Efficie nt fund deposits to respective areas Reconciliation of major accounting books Creation of security measures Application of automated systems for accurate processing and harmonization Creation of control and fraud detection procedures with efficient reporting process Checking on compliance and non compliance measures by internal audit Accounting Records from different health department need to be kept according the standards accounting procedures. At the accounting stage; Proper general ledger must be used in recording Fiscal accounting period must be given consideration Billing There must be a properly established account of receivable for the advanced health care services (Wallace, 2010). The bills need; To be properly dated except when stated by resolution or ordinance On going account is necessary for service taken prior to payments The bills need to be handled from central account then transferred to central ledger. Fund Deposits Proper depositing criteria need to be follow ed any time funds are to be deposited. In the health care deposits are; Numerically controlled tied to official document from that department Mode of payment should be indicated Receivers identity need to be noted Transfer of receipts to the accounting books Posting the changes to the supervisor Remote site These are areas away from the treasury. These collection points need to; Have a cash threshold that they deposit early the following day All collections need no surpass five working days before deposit Non deposited funds securely locked in safes Keeping of shortage account for differences No application of change drawer for personal work Escrow Funds When funds are sent to the system before the recognition of the revenue to remitted back they should be deposited in Escrow liability account that earns interest. Interested will only remitted in Escrow under agreement When they have gone proper identification they are hence transferred as revenue Can only be returned under com pliance payee on transferring for non-compliance Collection Collection will be done under each department with procedural and within specified period. Receivable accounts needs to be recorded to permit analysis by the entity Notice must be given to past due accounts and restrictions provided as possible Returns It the duty of each department to monitor and control returned cheques. They shall; Unless specified, be handled by treasury Fees charged on these cheques Bad Debt For these be dealt with, it need to be considered under receivable account. The computation should be annually based on write offs and aging of the receivables. Budgetary Review The monitoring of the accounts shall be within a specified time by the supervisors. Considerations shall be on; Oversight from the departments Revenue budget presented with documented evidence Monitoring shall be carried out across the year The policy system is aligned a specific checklist that evaluates the performance standard at e ach level (Wallace, 2010). Conclusion Despite challenges faced in Florida health care system, the government has high potential of helping the population as long as better measures of revenue collection and utilization are in place. This calls for identification of challenges in revenue management and development of mitigation measures, which are supportive. After the identification process, the revenue structure should be assessment and re-drawn to meet the local government demands. This way, health and other sectors in Florida stand high chances of success. References Cropf, R. (2008). American Public Administration: Public Service Administration for the 21st Century. New York, NY: Pearson Longman. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. (1997). Economic Review (Vols. 33-34). New York, NY: New York Press. Lee, R, D., Wayne, R. J. (1998). Public Budgeting System. Canada: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Starling, G. (2010). Managing Public Sector. Boston: Wordsworth Publishers. Usa, I. ( 2011). Samoa, American Country Study Guide: Strategic Information and Developments. Washington, DC: International Business Publishers. Wallace, S. (2010). State and Local Fiscal Policy: Thinking outside the Box. Massachusetts: Edward Elga Publishers.

The positive and negative effects of globalisation in China The WritePass Journal

The positive and negative effects of globalisation in China The positive and negative effects of globalisation in China IntroductionConclusionReferencesRelated Introduction This essay will explain what globalisation is and then it will carry on explaining and identifying the positive and negative effects of Globalisation in China. It has been over a few decades that many economists have wondered about what precisely globalisation is all about in the world and particularly in China. Globalisation is the integration of the economies of the world not only in terms of goods and services but ideas of information technology as well. The western culture is seen to have its negative effect in China this way of lifestyle is seen to drastically infiltrate into the local people’s lifestyle through mediums such as the influence of the television and particularly the media and because of this, it has caused a huge impact on the society in China. Their cultures and traditions are seen to change as they slowly try to adapt to the lifestyle of the foreigners. In addition, half-true information is spread through the internet. At this present day and age, these kinds of messages turn out to be ambigous to the locals and the society and it spread’s extremely fast in China because China is an overpopulated country and hence all this was just a falserumour spreaded. Moreover, the citizens of china are over inhabited and as a result human trafficking and pollution increases in the country and because of this reason, the population in china are likely and expected to fall sick and get infected. (PILLAI: 2000-2010)Furthermore, tourists pay a visit to china as they would normally come for tourism reasons or they would like to enjoy their holidays with their families hence when these tourists advance to china they are easily getting caught with diseases like hiv/aids or they are likely to fall ill and these kinds of diseases sprea ds very fast between them. Nevertheless if the diseases are spreaded between the tourists’s, it will cause them not to go again and this can cause a huge impact on the tourism field in china.However the health of the nation is also getting effected. Reason being the residents of china tend to eat outside as the fast food restaurants like Kfc and Mc Donald’s are easily accessible when they go for shopping, trips, outings and also when they are on the main roads. This automatically attracts the locals and it causes them to eat outside and for this reason their food cycle would change and hence they would have to adjust to their new lifestyle and it could cause an unpleasant impact on their health and also in their balanced diet. It is also a trend in china that the locals would prefer junk food rather than a good proper balanced food which is good and beneficial for their bodies. Furthermore they always ignore the fact that junk food is not proper food, which is bad for their health and is not good for them for the societies and cultures that leave in china.However, the citizens in china are also affected by their low wage rate earning because they don’t have enough money to provide for their families and as they are unable to satisfy their needs and wants because of their low income salaries and this causes a massive impact on their loved ones if there isn’t any cash flowing to their families. Nevertheless, the rich and wealthy families always grow and be prosperous time and again they always enjoy the luxurious items and their life to the maximum because of their high income and salaries which enabled them to get control over the nation which helps them get easy cash flow in their pockets which is later shared in their families. However, these kind of people are always expected earn illegal cash. In addition they are always inclined towards corruption and they will never be content with what they have as they will always demand more. Another negative effect of globalisation in china is when people move from developed to developing countries they would be faced with a low wage income and the working conditions and standard of living would not be the same with that of the developed countries. (NASH, 2008). Nevertheless some business’s who don’t have any might or will not be able to do business better because not behind all the businesses they are Politian’s who look after them so some of the businesses want be able to compete on a global scale so those businesses who aren’t doing well will tend to close down be bankrupt. There are other positive effects of globalisation which are very helpful and useful for china. Some of them are that china has changed immensely and grown and has become more prosperous and become successful as well, the standard of living has also increased. This country which did not have any sources of luxurious items and cars before can now enjoy all the resources and hence they are now very comfortable and relaxed in their lives and they are slowly starting to cherish in becoming more satisfied because they could now buy good clothes and new cars whenever they want and this is really helping the people of china a great deal and all this has happened because of globalisation. (NASH, 2008).Over the recent years there has been an increase in the media coverage in china because of the improvement in human privileges as they are now many reporters within the locals and also around the world and this has really helped the people of china and also the foreigners who would like to know what is happening in china they can now watch and enjoy any channel and broadcast in china of their choice as this creates room for the world’s attention.In addition the other positive effect of globalisation is that when they are many cultures who come to china to visit their relatives or their friends or for those people who have already settled, it’s because of the reason stated it will create unity and togetherness on their cultures when several people of different backgrounds come together as it will cause them to become together and their societies could increase and become expand when everyone from different traditions and customs are seen to be together and this would be really beneficial for the same cultures or other cultures because they would probably share the same or different languages with familiar or not mutual habits,morals,traditions and this really helps the people of china and all this is because of globalization.However many businesses in china ar e protected by Politian’s and they are also given some financial help as well and they also secure and protect the organisation and by this motivated boost they are enable to compete with the foreign businesses and which lead them to perform better. The other most powerful effect of globalisation in china is education, now days after you have completed high school and you would like to study abroad to pursue further education these days you can look for the best universities and colleges without even any problem. You would probably go to another country or stay in your home country to study further or study abroad the reason why people would want to pursue their studies internationally is because of the better facilities and proper courses, education and good lecturers. In addition this would create a whole new experience in their life for the international students when they meet different people with different cultures and traditions, When you come together you would share each other’s experiences, skills you have achieved in your life and you could start bonding with each other and hence this would create a whole new understanding for you. Furthermore after you have completed your studies abroad and specialised in a particular field of your interest or choice you could come back to your home country and spread the knowledge, Nevertheless some people would rather study locally because of the financial reasons if you would like to study abroad you would probably have to use more than you would if you would study locally. The other most positive effect of globalisation is the means of resources is in the Information Technology field these days you can do everything with a click of a mouse and you would get a lot of information and it would help you and could be really beneficial for you hence all this is again because of globalisation. Moreover the other positive effect of globalisation is that when they are many companies globally it would automatically increase competition because all the organisation and companies would like to gain a place in the market and all the organisation would have to produce better or high quality products which have a value and they would have to decrease their prices and in the end the consumers benefit because of the high quality goods and services offered to them hence it’s all because of competition.Moreover the other positive reasons are because of free trade it’s supporting the developing world to raise the standard of living and also increase in the developed world. A place like china where they are many business’s and all of them want to gain the customers advantage it will increase competition between the companies and it will force prices to decrease and in the end the consumers will gain as they could save a lot of money because of the cheaper prices and this would help them to use it on other things or save it for future. In addition the another positive effect of globalisation in china is, these days Foreign trade has improved because before people would have to do unfair and not proper means so that they would get whatever they demanded and all that which used to happened before has been vanished. However, these days’ things are done in a more civilized way it’s because of the humans and the mutual relationships between them which has helped them do it in a civilized way hence for those who do it the illegal way they would have to face the World trade organisation as they are the ones who control the trade in other countries.On the other hand when developed countries leads by outsourcing to developing countries this could lead people from getting jobs as they could refrain from child labour, prostitution, and begging hence all this is because of globalisation. Conclusion In conclusion, globalisation has both advantages and disadvantages which i have stated earlier and how it can affect the country and how it can contribute to china. References chinese-embassy.org.uk/eng/dsjh/t27161.htmhttp://ezinearticles.com/?The-Positive-Effects-of-Globalizationid=1126427buzzle.com/articles/negative-effects-of-globalization.htmlhttp://wiki.answers.com/Q/List_the_positive_and_negative_effects_of_globalizationbuzzle.com/editorials/8-17-2004-57988.asphttp://wiki.answers.com/Q/List_the_positive_and_negative_effects_of_globalization#ixzz1FwXARloHbuzzle.com/articles/positive-effects-of-globalization.htmlbukisa.com/articles/92710_economic-impact-of-globalization-on-chinas-economydocshare.com/doc/163166/The-effects-of-globalisation-on-ChinaChina and Globalisation 2003/10/10/ speech by H.E Ambassador Zha Peixin At Chinese Economic Association Annual Reference (14 April, 2003) [Accessed: 15/4/2011]

Notes on Do - 10 Things You Can Do With the Verb Do

Notes on Do - 10 Things You Can Do With the Verb Do Think of the word do as the utility infielder in the game of grammar: it can be called on to play any one of several different positions in a sentence. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary offers 36 definitions of the verb do (not counting  its uses in countless phrases) and seven definitions of the noun. Both a lexical verb and one of the three primary auxiliaries, do (along with the forms does, did, and done) is the third most frequently used verb in English. As an auxiliary (or helping verb), do is sometimes called an empty verb or a dummy operator because it has no meaning of its own. But do have some respect for this dummy. As well see, do stays busy, and wed have a tough time communicating without it. Idioms and CollocationsAs a lexical verb, do indicates action of some kind and often hooks up with nouns denoting more specific activities. Here are some common do and done expressions: do an about-face, do any good, do as I say, do away with, do blindfolded, do the dishes, do a double take, do homework, do the honors, do in, do a job on, do justice to, do no good, do or die, do out of, do over, do tell, do time, do the trick, do up, do well, do withoutdone deal, done for, done in, done to death, done to a turn, easier said than done, good as done, over and done with, whats done is done, when all is said and doneSubstitutionsDo also functions as a pro-verb, filling in for any number of other verbs. The expressions do so, do it, and do that commonly refer to actions that have previously been identified: If you want to fire me, please do so.I had put off mailing the application and finally decided just to do it.She thought Id left without telling anyone, but I would never do that. All three expressions serve as substitutes for other verbs (in these examples, go, mail, and leave). Do so tends to be a tad more formal than do it and do that. Multiple DosIts not unusual for more than one do to show up in a sentence. How do you do?What do you do for a living?How do you find time to do all that you do? (Without resorting to doo doo jokes or the chorus to Lou Reeds Walk On The Wild Side, see if you can outdo that last example.)Wh- QuestionsIn many questions that begin with a wh- word (who, what, when, where, why, and- oops- how), a form of do comes before the main verb: What do you want?Where did Cheeta put the bananas? When did follows a wh- word, its often contracted to /d/ in informal speech and written as d: Whered Cheeta put the bananas?Yes-No QuestionsWe can fashion a yes-no question by placing a form of do in front of the subject: Do you enjoy listening to lectures?Does anybody know what time it is?Did your sister go out this morning? The use of do in questions is called do-support or do-insertion.NegativesBy adding not (or the contraction nt) to do, does, or did, we can create a negative sentence: Many workaholics do not enjoy their jobs.Casper doesnt believe in ghosts.Nyla didnt like the cold weather. In a negative imperative with the copula be, do not (or dont) appears in front of be: Do not be afraid.Dont be so self conscious. As you can see, present and past endings become part of do and not part of the main verb that follows it. Tag QuestionsA question added to a declarative sentence to check or clarify information is called a tag question. Customarily, a negative declarative takes a positive tag question, while a positive declarative takes a negative tag: You dont trust me, do you?You do miss me, dont you? When theres no auxiliary verb in the main clause, a form of the dummy operator do is used in the tag: Your sister loves to play pranks, doesnt she?EmphasisIn declarative sentences, do, does, and did can be used for emphasis: You do need to be honest with your child.Despite what you think, I did enjoy the play. In speech, emphatic do is usually stressed.ImperativesThe emphatic do can show up at the beginning of an imperative sentence, usually to make it sound less abrupt: Do stop by when youre in the neighborhood. But notice that this do isnt always so friendly: Do shut up, Hyacinth. Truth be told, this version of the emphatic do probably occurs more often in 19th-century novels than in actual conversation s.In some cases, do can also replace the whole imperative: Ill see to it this evening, the lawyer said.Yes, please do, I said. Omissions in Comparative ClausesIn a comparative clause, we can use a form of do to avoid repeating part of the main clause: The Pritchetts work much harder than we do.Gloria drives much faster than Jay does. In these examples, do is considered a stranded operatoran auxiliary that stands alone without a main verb alongside it. Is this the final word on do? Hardly. For one thing, theres the extraordinarily vague do in the Nike slogan  Just do it. For another theres the do in Frank Sinatras scat line Do-be do-be do. Then theres Fred Flintstones memorable  exclamation, Yabba Dabba Do! But before things get too silly, this will simply have to do.

Consumption and Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Consumption and Environment - Essay Example Human habitats are being plundered of their natural resources base. Air and water pollution is rampant in all industrialized cities of the world. PPM (particulate matter per cubic meter of air) is alarmingly high, and is no more fit for human breathing. The COD, BOD levels in fresh water streams are quite low for survival of plant and animal life in waters. The soils are being badly damaged by excessive cropping. The precious animal and plants species are endangered. The CO2 level in the atmosphere is alarmingly high. Results are the global warming and climate change. Therefore unnecessary lust of a few people for consumption of food, clothes, fuel, energy and other scarcest resources has been resulting into poverty disease and death for many other fellow human beings. The rivers are gutted with filth, the air is laden with poisonous gases and soils are boiling with toxic materials. This situation is only due to greedily exploitation of forest, fossil fuels and food-based resources. The solution lies in finding the alternate resources that are cleaner in production, cheaper and efficient. Recycling projects are one of the solutions. Recycling Project: The sea beaches are always littered with different foodstuffs and their containers. This is called garbage or solid waste. This waste can be collected, separated and recycled for further use. The recycling project includes three main activities. Collection of organic wastes like wood, paper, food remains, plastic bottles, metal cans, glass, and bones. The collection needs proper gloves and storage containers. The separation includes, segregation of metal, glass, bones and food/paper stuff in separate containers. In this way you separate organic from inorganic waste. The organic waste is put in an airtight container and mixed with yeast. After 90 days the stuff converts into manure (natural fertilizer) and the liquid part of this can be used as a pesticide. The organic wastes are crushed and used in the factories for recycling.How is it connected to me I live an oil rich economy of a gulf state. Oil has become scarce fossil sources for exploitation. War on terror imposed by America on Iraq is in fact a desperate war for the oil resources in the gulf. This war has been doing more harm to the environment than any other factor. A lot of fossil oil has been burnt. Seas are filled with the oil spillage and fish have been dead. This is very cruel. I feel sorry to see the vast exploitation of these resources. A recycling project can save the environment. Vast beaches on the red sea are suitable for the recycling project. How is it connected to my culture Bahrain is an oil rich economy, a small gulf state surrounded by red sea. People per capita income are quite high. Therefore their consumption patterns are also quite unreasonable People do not care about wastage of energy. The use cars and fuel base appliances excessively. This situation irks me a lot. I want to give the better shape to mother earth. Since child hood I see that people are spendthrift. This is causing degeneration to our water resources. This situation must be reversed. Recycling project can help this situation. This alternate solution of energy production is strange to my people. They can become used to it as they experience these windmills by themselves. What specific

World History I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

World History I - Essay Example However as we very well know, that situation is not true and Diamond (1997) presents some very interesting insights into how and why the development of societies took place as it did. The explanations given by him are quite interesting since they are logical and appear to make perfect sense. For instance, the argument about technology appeals considerably because today we live in a world which is very technology oriented and it is clear that countries which have taken modern technology to be an integral part of their economies have gained a lot from it. For example, in recent years both India and China have become economic giants mainly due to the investment in technology made by their respective governments and due to the technological contacts they have had with western powers like America and Europe. Of course the development of America is simply a result of the development of the European powers and their ability to create a food surplus from agriculture and domestication of animals. Diamond (1997) is correct when he says that African armies on rhinos and hippos could have decimated European cavalry charges but horses were domesticated while rhinos and hippos still remain wild and dangerous animals. The food surplus created by effective management and agriculture caused populations to expand which often meant that the chances of a region producing a thinker, inventor or discoverer were also increased. Additionally, the argument about human contact improving societies is very true since the contact between the Europeans, the Arabs, the Indians and the Chinese eventually took technologies like cartography, paper, numbers, and many other developments from one end of the globe to the other. The example of Australia in its relative isolation is quite correct since Australia did not know about these developments there was little chance of them developing these technologies on the same lines as the Eurasians. So the two fundamental

Apple Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Apple - Case Study Example free sharing and downloading found application in the way P2P services functioned. This raised the popularity of such services where it was possible for users to share their favorite albums free of cost. When compared to subscription services that charged a fee for their services, the P2P services provided the users with flexibility as well as a range of choice. Q3) I feel that P2P services would grow in popularity though companies like Apple can minimize the impact using iTunes by flexible licensing, stricter control over sharing by encoding the iTunes music etc. My prediction for iTunes is that it is better equipped to deal with the threat of piracy and free downloads because of the way it is marketed as well as the concept itself. Q4) The greatest threat to Apple is from the â€Å"me-too† clones that can usurp its market share and derail its sales in the way it is marketed. As happened in its software venture, Apple faces the real possibility of its unique approach towards its products being copied by rivals and marketed at a lower price as well as in a generic manner (as opposed to the niche way in which Apple markets its

Should the Drinking Age be 18 Years Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Should the Drinking Age be 18 Years - Essay Example The push would even be more for an adult, at 18, who would be allowed all other privileges of an adult apart from alcohol consumption. It would cause a feeling of being unjustly targeted resulting in resistance to the implied injustice in an attempt to regain control. (2012). Therefore, such persons would be driven more to drinking, referred to as reactance motivation by Hanson (2012). Since these persons are already adults, they should be allowed to drink to avoid such eventualities. Such a viewpoint is useful to examine due to the fact that as long as the crimes associated with alcohol are limited to the actual age of consumption; very little positive effects to society are instigated. On the flip side, if the bulk of the crime that is a function of alcohol consumption can be linked to those crimes committed under its influence (which has been proven to be the case), then such crimes should be treated distinctly separately from those associated with merely imbibing alcohol while un derage. Moreover, due to the fact that research indicates that reducing the drinking age would have minimal behavioral change, it is not really a contributing factor to modifying the behavior of the target demographic. Such a change would only be achieved through proper training, giving responsibilities and holding one accountable for whatever actions. Therefore, with all these benefits attached to the raised drinking age, it would be beneficial to reduce the drinking age to 18. Hanson, D. J. (2012).

The Role Immigration Plays in Drug Trafficiking Research Paper

The Role Immigration Plays in Drug Trafficiking - Research Paper Example Production, operation and use of unlawful drugs are the ultimate danger towards the well being of the global community worldwide. In this connection, drug trafficking has became one of the major concerns that is being faced by many countries around the world. The most probable reason for this major concern of drug trafficking is recognized as unlawful immigration (Olario, n.d.). In the paper, the role that immigration generally plays in drug trafficking is taken into concern. Various aspects such as the link between unlawful immigration and crime, origin of drug dealers in the United States, various effects of drug trafficking and necessary policies along with a summative conclusion is taken into concern in the discussion of this paper. It has been recognized that most of the unlawful immigrants who are coming transversely from the southern border are usually involved in practicing the unlawful offense of drug smuggling. In lieu of this, the unlawful immigrants are not complying with the lawful considerations and they are regarded as criminals as they carry unlawful drugs on their backs. A few of the unlawful immigrants often come to the United States to look for work but are detained and they become a subject of the drug interest groups or associations (CNN, 2010). The United States /Mexico boundary is the principal spot of entrance especially for the drugs such as cocaine that are prevailed into the US. According to the latest evaluation that is made by interagency intelligence, it has been notified that an unlawful business operation of cocaine is practiced in the US and is accessible in all chief cities of the US (US Drug Enforcement Agency, 2004). Apart from the market of cocaine in the United States, the market of heroin is also firm in many US cities. Most of the heroine is produced in Mexico. In the previous years, the US has undertaken quite a few steps against the market of heroin (US Drug

Gender Reassignment Surgey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gender Reassignment Surgey - Essay Example The first one is that newborns may be born with sex deformities and must then be assigned to either the male or the female sex at the earliest possible time (Encyclopedia of Surgery, 4). The second reason is that some men or women may believe that they were physically born of a sex different from their mental and emotional make-up. This belief is powerful enough to trigger their desire to have the surgery (Encyclopedia of Surgery, 4). Some considerations for the surgery affect the sex change and often dictate its progress. Many of these surgeries are being performed in the US and are estimated to number about 100 to 500 on an annual basis (Encyclopedia of Surgery, 6). The conversion from male to female involves the removal of the penis, the reshaping of the tissue to make them appear more female, and the construction of a vagina; the vagina is often constructed through skin grafting and through an isolated loop of the intestine (Encyclopedia of Surgery, 7). Female hormones are taken by the patient in order to reshape the contours of the body and stimulate breast enlargement. The other side of the coin – female to male sex change – has not had as much success as male to female sex change, primarily because of the difficulty in creating a functioning penis from the small clitoral tissue in the female genitalia (Devor, p. 51). Penis construction is often carried out after a year from the primary surgery to remove the female organs. The breasts are also modified in order to give them a more masculine appearance. Before sex change operations are carried out, patients are often asked to undergo an in-depth psychological counseling in order to determine what their intentions are and whether or not they are prepared to meet the consequences and the implications of their choice. It is after all an irreversible procedure; therefore, the patient must not have any second thoughts or doubts about the surgery (Encyclopedia of Surgery, 15). It

The Role Immigration Plays in Drug Trafficiking Research Paper

The Role Immigration Plays in Drug Trafficiking - Research Paper Example Production, operation and use of unlawful drugs are the ultimate danger towards the well being of the global community worldwide. In this connection, drug trafficking has became one of the major concerns that is being faced by many countries around the world. The most probable reason for this major concern of drug trafficking is recognized as unlawful immigration (Olario, n.d.). In the paper, the role that immigration generally plays in drug trafficking is taken into concern. Various aspects such as the link between unlawful immigration and crime, origin of drug dealers in the United States, various effects of drug trafficking and necessary policies along with a summative conclusion is taken into concern in the discussion of this paper. It has been recognized that most of the unlawful immigrants who are coming transversely from the southern border are usually involved in practicing the unlawful offense of drug smuggling. In lieu of this, the unlawful immigrants are not complying with the lawful considerations and they are regarded as criminals as they carry unlawful drugs on their backs. A few of the unlawful immigrants often come to the United States to look for work but are detained and they become a subject of the drug interest groups or associations (CNN, 2010). The United States /Mexico boundary is the principal spot of entrance especially for the drugs such as cocaine that are prevailed into the US. According to the latest evaluation that is made by interagency intelligence, it has been notified that an unlawful business operation of cocaine is practiced in the US and is accessible in all chief cities of the US (US Drug Enforcement Agency, 2004). Apart from the market of cocaine in the United States, the market of heroin is also firm in many US cities. Most of the heroine is produced in Mexico. In the previous years, the US has undertaken quite a few steps against the market of heroin (US Drug

The Formation Of Gender Identity Essay Example for Free

The Formation Of Gender Identity Essay The debate over the factors affecting the formation of gender identity has more than a 100-year history, whereas the professional evidence-based level of the debate has been represented since the 1950s. In the Western sociology and psychology, gender identification is composed of a number of aspects, including perception of one’s gender roles, social identity and self-perception in general. The present paper is designed to address the role of biological, social and psychological factors in gender identity-shaping. In fact (Ellison, 2000), human behavior greatly depends upon hormonal secretion, as it is widely known that adrenaline is released when the brain receives a message about certain environmental threats and results in anxious and uneasy behavior, whereas   endorphins are released during exercise and result in a positive inspiration and sociability. Female sex hormones derive from ovaries and include progesterone and estrogens (mainly 17-beta-estradioll), whereas the major male hormone, testosterone, is produced by the testes. These chemicals are responsible for the formation of secondary sex characteristics and determine behaviors, attributed to the specific gender role. Masculinity in terms of gender identity is normally associated with assertiveness, self-control and aggression, provided by testosterone (Ellison, 2000), whereas femininity is conceptualized as compliance to dependence, interest in care about others and comfort creation. Byne and Parsons (1993), the followers of the classic model, indicate in their theoretical research of biological and neurobiological conditioning of   gender identification that a person’s gender is determined during conception, but the fetus begins to develop sex organs only at the 6th week of pregnancy.   Therefore, the developing testes or ovaries might begin hormonal secretion â€Å"off schedule†, which affects the development of the neural network of the brain and results in the person’s inability to accept their biological sex and the sense of gender dysphoria. Dittmann (1990) states that girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, the disease that refers to the overproduction of androgens, are more committed to the masculine roles like violent games, inclination to leadership in peer groups, willingness to increase physical strength, and are more likely to fell to certain degree uncomfortable in their female body, as the scholar notes that a number of teenage girls are unwilling to accept their physical development and differentiation. Similarly, boys with the Turner syndrome that refers to the excessive release of female hormones tend to de-valuate their biological sex (Tiefer, 1992). It needs to be noted that the evolution of sexuality in childhood is associated mostly with sex role games and self-observation:   â€Å"Children this age are very curious about bodies – their own and other peoples. They are trying on roles and behaviors† (Haffner and Needleman, 2001, p.41). At this stage, children experience a gradual transition from unconsciousness to awareness of their sexuality, so Dittmann holds that parents, aware of the child’s hormonal disease, can diplomatically interfere then and assist children in developing a superstructure of gender roles over their biological sex. One of the most interesting approaches to gender identity is biological psychology. On the one hand, Sharpe (2003) writes that the brain structures, which refer to communication (listening and speech) and emotions or empathy are notably better developed in females , whereas the male brain is hard-wired for system construction and perception/analysis of visual information. However, Haffner and Needleman (2001) write that infancy is characterized by the active synaptogenesis, or the strengthening of neural connections, to great extent dependent upon the environment. As the researchers write, â€Å"the development is on the one hand genetically determined, but the formation and pruning of synapses are controlled by the environment† (Haffner and Needleman, 2001, p.46). As a result, parental taboos upon sex role games and the lack of gender-sensitive childrearing (neutral treatment of infants and pre-school boys and girls as sexless) that stabilize the synaptic connections between neurons in the specific brain structures (e.g. the growth of hippocampus in boys playing spatial memory games) might   bring in the future a misperception of one’s biological sex up to the manifestation of androgyny   in the later adolescence (sporadic display of male and female behavioral patterns). Furthermore, it is important to take into consideration the cognitive and moral development of 3-5-year-old children as discussed by Paiget (Haffner and Needleman, 2001) who alleges that this period is characterized by the first sparkles of self-awareness and the reflex-based belief in the relationship between â€Å"naughtiness† and punishment. Hence it is quite easy to cause an imbalance in the child’s sex and gender awareness through imposing excessively stringent moral restrictions upon the child’s behavior. The dominant social psychological approach to gender role taking is Bem’s comprehensive gender schema theory that stresses the meaning of environmental factors. In 1971, I created the Bem Sex Role Inventory to measure how well the person fits into their traditional gender role by characterizing their personality as masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated† (Bem, 1981, p. 355). The scholar believes that under the ever-lasting influence of the environment and broader cultural context the person carefully sorts all behaviors into the categories of masculinity and femininity and then employs them with relation to the cultural and social context. However, a substantial gender identity collapse might occur when professional values and desire for equality in career opportunities begin to interfere with gender beliefs; for instance, female leaders and executives recognize they are â€Å"tomboyish† and excessively committed to the masculine behaviors in non-wo rkplace settings (Bem, 1981, p. 356). To sum up, gender identity is rather a social construct than a set of biological, namely hormonal determinants. As a result, increasingly more specialists in neuroscience consent to the fact that the degree of consistency between biological sex and upbringing determine the formation of gender identity in the future (Dittmann, 1990; Haffner and Needleman, 2001) . For instance, the paper has incorporated the article showing the effect of parental guidance and the degree of progress in the cognitive and moral areas on the stability of synaptic connections in young children. Similarly, hormonal secretion is not pre-planned before the birth, but might occur under the specific social and psychological conditions (e.g. girls with anorexia nervosa are rather androgynous in demeanor than feminine and suffer from the deficiency of estrogens). Thus, the environmental factors might reinforce the inborn somatic substrates referring to the aspects of gender identity or result in their alteration, increasing or decreasing the person’s responsiveness to the neural impulses, which drive sex-related behaviors. Reference list Bem, S. (1981). Gender schema theory: A cognitive account of sex typing. Psychological Review, 88, 354-364. Byne, W. and Parsons, B. (1993). Human Sexual Orientation: the Biologic Theories Reappraised.   Archives of General Psychiatry, 50 (3), 228-239. Dittmann, B. (1990). Congenital adrenal hyperplasia. I: Gender-related behavior and attitudes in female patients and sisters. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 15, 401-420. Ellison, C. (2000). Human Sexual Response. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger. Haffner, D. and   Needleman, R. (2001).   Childhood sex play and synaptogenesis. The Family Journal, 11: 39-50. Sharpe, R. (2003). Adult Sexuality. The Family Journal, 11: 420-426. Tiefer, L. (1992). Historical, scientific, clinical and feminist criticisms of â€Å"the Human Sexual Response Cycle† mode. Annual Review of Sex Research, 2: 1-23.

Demarcation Of Science And Pseudo Science Philosophy Essay

Demarcation Of Science And Pseudo Science Philosophy Essay introduction Please give a short summary of all three articles [1-3] taken together as a discussion of the difference between science and pseudo-science in general, and particularly astrology as example pseudo-science. The pseudoscience comes from a Greek prefix pseudo which means false. Pseudoscience pretends to believe in practice of methods which are not scientifically proven but appears with high probability. Pseudoscience obligation on some figures and facts are not appropriate evidence, proofs and practical tests. Science is making life of people easy and eliminates sophistication. Some people with little knowledge of science try to convince their idea without proper scientific methods in scientific domain. The following are some characteristics of pseudoscience Use of vague, exaggerated or untestable claims Over-reliance on confirmation rather than refutation Lack of openness to testing by other experts Absence of progress Personalization of issues Use of misleading language Astrology pretends to justify their work to scientist, astrologer and clients. Experiments of astrologers never be predicted and what kind of facts they will accept. Astrology tends to rely on client satisfaction arguing that if their clients are satisfied because astrology is accurate. Astrologers try to escape themselves from procedures and methods of science by saying that they can only help and guide people about their personal and hidden abilities, points that can have positive effect on their life and they can lead a better life by choosing right paths in their destination. However, science requires scientific evidence. Pseudoscience is a methodology, belief or practice that is claimed to be scientific or that is made to appear to be scientific, but it does not adhere to an appropriate scientific methodology. The word pseudo means false. The good way to find false predictions is to check it properly with best practices of scientist and researchers. Demarcation of science from pseudoscience is quite necessary. Due to high status of science, people try include their non scientific and pseudoscientific claims into scientific domain. Therefore demarcation issue is always on the pressing. Demarcation issue is important in many practical applications such as: Healthcare, Expert testimony, Environmental policies, science education etc. According to many authors, pseudoscience is a non-science claiming to be science. They also believe that to be pseudoscientific, an activity or claim has to satisfy following criteria: it is not scientific, and its major proponents try to create the impression that it is scientific. According to Popper, the theory be falsifiable, or more precisely that statements or systems of statements, in order to be ranked as scientific, must be capable of conflicting with possible, or conceivable observations. Kuhn disapproved Poppers theory of demarcation he criticized Popper for characterizing the entire scientific enterprise in terms that apply only to its occasional revolutionary parts. Paul states a two points criterion for a theory or claim to be pseudo scientific. One of these is that the theory fails to progress, and the other that the community of practitioners makes little attempt to develop the theory towards solutions of the problems, shows no concern for attempts to evaluate the theory in relation to others, and is selective in considering confirmations and disconfirmations (Thagard 1978, 228). Many authors have put forward a list of criteria as a demarcation criterion. One such list is as under: Belief in authority. Nonrepeatable experiments. Handpicked examples. Unwillingness to test. Disregard of refuting information. Built-in subterfuge. Explanations are abandoned without replacement. Why is it important to distinguish science from non-science? Describe the problem of demarcation and its significance for science according to Sven Ove Hanssons article [1] It is in general discussion that pseudoscience is non-science as brain Baigrie says what is objectionable about these beliefs is that they masquerade as genuinely scientific ones. Authors and researchers predict about two criteria. It is not scientific, and Its major proponents try to create the impression that is scientific. It is quite inevitable to distinguish between science and non science in many ways. For example, in Healthcare, Expert testimony, Environmental policies, Science Education etc. In Healthcare Pseudoscience activities can be dangerous for patients health and life. Accurate facts and figures are required in court cases. Judges decision should be based on best available knowledge. Sometimes litigants try to present non-science claims as solid science. Therefore, justice should be able to distinguish between science and pseudoscience. Environmental experts also need to differentiate between science and pseudoscience. Best available knowledge will help them to make decisions when there are valid but yet insufficient evidence of environmental hazard. State and school authorities should take measures to protect curricula from unreliable and disapproved teachings. Sconce is our most reliable source of knowledge in daily life, its quiet inevident to differentiate science from pseudo-science. Due to importance of science, some people attempt to exaggerate the scientific status of various claims, teachings, and products. In order to tackle this issue, demarcation of science is necessary. What are the characteristics of pseudoscience according to [2] Pseudoscience has following characteristics as mentioned in article. Use of vague, exaggerated or untestable claims Over-reliance on confirmation rather than refutation Lack of openness to testing by other experts Absence of progress Personalization of issues Use of misleading language Give a short account of astrotest [3] and its results. The Article was intended to proof weather astrologers can predict or not. Author invited astrologers to take part in an astrotest. He gave the astrologers the birth data of 7 anonymous test subjects and they also receive 7 questioner filled by the test subjects. They have to match each birth chart with the corresponding questionnaire. Author offered 2500 dollars for the astrologer who matched all 7 birth chart with the corresponding questionnaire. Then he looked for suitable test subjects that are not between two ascendent or if the subject was born 5 minutes late or before the registered birth date they would have been on different sign. So he rejected such subjects to avoid ambiguity for the astrologers. The astrologers sent 10 questions each and he made 25 questions and added 24 multiple questions to it and he gave the questions to 10 experienced astrologers to give their opinion on it and none of them had a big objection to it. All 50 participants were given 10 weeks to complete the astrotest and 44 participants completed the test. Many of the participants had experience in astrology. And they were asked about their expectations and half of the 36 participants who responded the questions said they expected that they have matched all correct. But the result was very different from their expectation the most successful participant only manages 3 correct matches and half of the participants didnt score a single hit. And there were a lack of similarities between the answers of the participants. There was also a difference in response to the results between the astrologers some were surprised by the lack of agreement and others admitted that the possibilities of astrology were more limited then they had thought and others say astrology only works in actual practice and sixteen still believe science can still prove astrology right. And they gave reasons like horoscopes are too much alike, the answers of the subjects were often similar, the questions were not always answered truthfully and some said about incomplete information of subjects. Astrology and science are in conflict since astrology says its methods are testable and science focuses on astrology where as astrology focuses on client satisfaction and use words that cannot be falsified What are your conclusions on science contra pseudo-science discussion? Pseudoscience is extremely dangerous for our society. Science on other side is supported by proper methods, proofs and logics. Mankind is relying more and more on scientific methods and practices in routine life. Therefore, work should be done on emergency basis to eradicate and prevent pseudoscience entrance in the demarcation of science. In my opinion, people try to take pseudoscience too easy or as a source of amusement or fun. This can at certain times be very dangerous and Quakers are encouraged by this attitude. For example: Our political system can be sabotaged by the pseudoscience. Our education system can also become a victim of pseudoscience, and can be disastrous for our youth. Hundreds of people lives can be lost if not provided appropriate treatment in time, healthcare department should be prevented from pseudoscience. Instability can be introduced in our routine life by asserting pseudoscience in the religion A very important responsibility lies on media as electronic and other kinds of medias influence are increasing day by day in our routine life.