Thursday, December 26, 2019

Gifted Children with Learning Disabilities Free Essay Example, 2500 words

It is evidently clear from the discussion some adults who anyhow managed to pass out their school often come across difficulty in coping with the basic literacy agility and dexterity, they are slow in processing the information, understanding the facts and also find difficulty in reciprocating the facts. Attention intricacies are often faced by such individuals, chronic absentmindedness, poor memory retention, and complexity are also observed in their organizational skills as well as management of things. According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that there are various misnomers persisting in the society about the learning disabilities encompassing- individuals with learning disabilities are have low intelligence and they can never learn appropriately. However, according to Gerber most of the students with learning disabilities possess average to above average intelligence. According to Brody Mills, most of the individuals belonging to the category of learning disability are actually gifted. Timely guidance, supervision and with patience and hard work these individuals are able to cope well to overcome their learning disabilities and can be successful individuals in future. In certain cases, individuals with learning disabilities are marked as the individuals who are lazy and out of their laziness they tend to cut excuse that they are negligent, careless and apathetic or unenthusiastic. We will write a custom essay sample on Gifted Children with Learning Disabilities or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Gradually, with the research being carried out and studies performed it is now established that learning disabilities are the resultant of neurological mutilations and it is not related with the characteristic attributes of the individual. The present research has identified that an individual has no control over such an attitude and therefore by nature, such individuals are not lazy or unenthusiastic but because of their neurological condition they tend to display such characteristics

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Aquinas on the Existence of God - 608 Words

I found Aquinas’ theory to prove the existence of God very interesting one. It is easy to understand and it is logical. Summa Theologiae was one of the best works of Aquinas. St. Thomas was a writer too and wrote many commentaries on Aristotle and other theological and philosophical topics. Aquinas categorized his arguments to prove the existence of god into five ways. The first way is the argument from motion. There are many things which are moving, it is not that all of a sudden everything started moving. The first mover caused the others to move and so on. This motion cannot be infinity because there would be no first mover then. Therefore, the first move is caused by what is said to be god. The second way is argument from efficient cause. The first efficient cause is god which led to other causes. It is not possible that everything exists by itself. In this argument also, efficient causes cannot go to infinity. The third way is the argument from possibility and necessity. Either things exist or they don’t. If they don’t exist, nothing would have existed by now. There must exist something the existence of which is necessary which caused the others to exist that is God. Others beings are dependent on each other while God is independent. The fourth way is argument from gradation of being. The fifth way is argument from design. All natural things act for an end to achieve some goal. It is not possible that they are doing these things by themselves. They are directed byShow MoreRelatedThomas Aquinas And The Existence Of God849 Words   |  4 Pagestimes, the existence of God. Each philosopher has a varyingly different theory on how whether in fact God does exist, or that he does not exist. Evidently, God’s existence has not been settled and will continue to be deliberated until humans no longer exist, however, there are philosophers who are more successful at arguing for God’s existence than other theories do. Thomas Aquinas, a renowned philosopher and regarded as one of the greatest Christian theologians, wrote about God’s existence which isRead MoreThe Existence Of God By Thomas Aquinas2218 Words   |  9 PagesKaitlyn Yinger 10-8-14 Robert Evans Intro to Philosophy The Existence of God Thomas Aquinas was a theologian that was a priest in the 1200’s and wanted to prove that God existed. He created many books and articles in his lifetime about God and things with the catholic religion, but, his more famous book Summa Thelogia gave five arguments that God exists in Articles II and III they are explained in detail. Below is my understanding of what he was saying the works of two other man that hadRead MoreThe Existence Of God Through Aquinas Views1949 Words   |  8 PagesIn this paper I am going to discuss the existence of God through Aquinas’ views, with the the argumentation he presents. Following the process of proving the existence of God through Aquinas’ views, I will present an objection or two to his argument. Aquinas’ views were highly influenced upon Aristotle’s prime mover. The problem that is trying to be solved is the existence of God. Aquinas most famous for proving the actuality of God is his argument, The Five Ways of the Summa Theologiae. HoweverRead MoreEssay on Anselm and Aquinas: on the Existence of God1029 Words   |  5 PagesDoes God exist? That question has been asked by people for centuries. Christians, Jews, and Muslims would all say that God exists. They would claim that He is the creator of all things and is of a higher being than man is. Others would claim either that God does not exist or that God is not what the Christians, Jews, and Muslims say He is. Both Anselm and Aquinas address this question: Anselm in his Proslogion and Aquinas in his Summa Theologica. The opinions of Anselm and Aquinas as toRead MoreSt. Thomas Aquinas On The Existence Of God1338 Words   |  6 Pagesphilosophers shifted their focus primarily to proving the existence of God, as well as other religious tenets they held. Two Saints of the Catholic Church, St. Anselm and St. Thomas Aquinas, developed their own respective proofs for the existence of God. These proofs have gained fame over the s ubsequent centuries and still face debate and comparison today. Although both St. Anselm and St. Thomas Aquinas both offer proofs for the existence of God, the proofs differ drastically due to the distinct argumentativeRead MoreSt. Thomas Aquinas On The Existence Of God1048 Words   |  5 PagesSt. Thomas Aquinas is considered to be one of the greatest minds of the western world as well as one of the greatest theologians. In his work Summa Theologica, which he revised many times over the course of his life, he explored the existence of God, and there are essentially five ways in which St. Thomas Aquinas argues the existence of God. The first way is the argument from change, the second way is the argument from causation, the third argument is the argument from possibility and necessity,Read MoreAquinas Arguments for the Existence of God Essay1274 Words   |  6 PagesAquinas Arguments for the Existence of God In Summa Theologica, Question 2, Article 3, Aquinas attempts to prove the existence of God. He begins with two objections, which will not be addressed here, and continues on to state five arguments for the existence of God. I intend to show that Aquinas first three arguments are unsound from a scientific standpoint, through support of the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe. In the first and second argumentsRead MoreAquinas Five Proofs for the Existence of God1933 Words   |  8 Pagesknowledge. For Saint Thomas Aquinas, his passion involved the scientific reasoning of God. The existence, simplicity and will of God are simply a few topics which Aquinas explores in the Summa Theologica. Through arguments entailing these particular topics, Aquinas forms an argument that God has the ability of knowing and willing this particular world of contingent beings. The contrasting nature of necessary beings and contingent beings is at the heart of this debate. Aquinas sets up this argumentRead MoreComparing Aquinas And Descartes Arguments For The Existence Of God766 Words   |  4 PagesAquinas and Descartes both have arguments for the existence of God, with some similarities and a multitude of differences. Descartes presents two major premises in his argument with his degrees of reality principle and his casual adequacy principle. It is possible for Descartes to be influenced by Aquinas, but the arguments for the same thing differ greatly that even if any inspiration Descartes could have pulled from Aquinas work is minimal, to say the least. Comparing Aquinas and Descartes theyRead MoreThomas Aquinas And His Views On The Existence Of God1527 Words   |  7 PagesThomas Aquinas was a famous philosopher and theologian from the 1200’s who dedicated his life to praising and explaining the existence of a higher being, God. Aquinas presents his evidence for the existence of a higher being through five distinct ways in the Summa Theologica. These ways give reason for God’s existence through the cause, existence and final cause of different events and objects. The two first ways made by Aquinas are the most influential sources I found that provide good evidence

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Properties of Gases free essay sample

Properties of gases and to use these properties to identify these gases when they are encountered. Hypothesis: This experiment was for observational purposes to learn about the physical and chemical properties of gases, no hypothesis was required in order to do this. Data/Results: Questions: 1. Give two reasons why we fill the gas generator test tubes almost to the top with chemicals. Two reasons why the gas generator test tubes are filled almost to the top with chemicals is so there is less space for anything else not involved in the experiment results to get inside of the test tube and contaminate said results and also to make sure that there is enough of the chemical inside of the test tube to make a visible reaction happen. 2. What happens to the zinc in the hydrogen generation experiment? The zinc is dissolved which forms hydrogen and zinc chloride in the hydrogen generation experiment. We will write a custom essay sample on Properties of Gases or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 3. What happens to the manganese in the oxygen generation experiment? The manganese made the reaction happen faster in the oxygen generation experiment. 4. Write a balanced equation for the reaction between O2 and H2. 2H2 + 02 - 2H20 5. What is the function/purpose of the bromothymol blue in the CO2 experiment? The function/purpose of the bromothymol blue in the CO2 experiment was to show that CO2 was present and pure when mixed with the bromothymol blue because of the reaction that occurred. The change in color was a result of the combination of the CO2 and the bomothymol blue combining to form a new substance that is acidic. 6. Bromothymol blue is blue in the presence of basic solutions, and yellow in the presence of acidic solutions. If your solution is a murky green, what might you assume about the solution? If Bromothymol blue is blue in the presence of basic solutions and yellow in the presence of acidic solutions, if a solution that is murky green is observed one might conclude that it was neutral, neither acidic nor basic. Conclusion: The purpose of this lab was to investigate some physical and chemical properties of gases and to use these properties to identify these gases when they are encountered. The hypothesis was neither rejected nor supported because this experiment did not require one. Improper use of new and slightly confusing science equipment and not putting chemicals and substances close enough together for a reaction to happen are two possible sources of error for this experiment. Learning that gases, chemicals, and other substances react to each other in a very large variety of ways was some of the knowledge gained during this experiment.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Principles of Modern Finance Sample Midterm Essay Example Essay Example

Principles of Modern Finance Sample Midterm Essay Example Paper Principles of Modern Finance Sample Midterm Essay Introduction Principles of Modern Finance Spring 2013 Sample Midterm February 22, 2012 Instructions †¢ You have 1 hour and 40 minutes. †¢ The exam is out of 25 points. †¢ There are 22 multiple-choice questions. 19 questions are worth one point, 3 questions are worth two points and are marked as such. †¢ If you get stuck, move on and come back later. 1 1. A stock is expected to pay a dividend of $10 next year, and this dividend is expected to grow by 5% each year thereafter. What should the price of the stock be if instruments of similar risk are paying 12%? (a) $83. 33 (b) $142. 86 (c) $150 (d) $200 2. A project has the following cash? ows: Year 0 1 2 Cash? w +12000? 7080? 6654 The IRR of these cash? ows is 9%. Assets of similar risk pay 5%. Should you accept this project? (a) Yes (b) No 3. I am considering buying a Greek government bond that promises to pay $1210 in two years’ time. However, there is a possibility that the Greek government will default between now and the promised payment. If the government does default, the bond will only pay $500. The probability of default is 0. 5. What should the price of the bond be if instruments of similar risk are paying 10%? (a) $1000 (b) $706. 62 (c) $413. 22 (d) $303. 68 4. I am enrolled in a 2-year MBA program, and have just started classes. To pay the tuition and living expenses, I borrow $50,000 per year (paid at the start of the year). The interest rate on the loan is 5%. I am certain to get a job at the end of the two years of study. That job will be guaranteed for ten years (from the date I start work), at a constant salary which will be paid at the end of each year of work. There are no taxes. I estimate that I will be able to save 1/4 of my income, whatever my income is. What is the minimum salary the job must have to allow me to pay o? my loans within ten years? (2pts) 2 (a) $43,050 (b) $50,000 (c) $55,752 (d) $61,339 5. A credit card company o? rs me a card with 20% APR, compounded daily. I m ake purchases of $3,000 on the card, and allow interest to accrue on those purchases for a year. Assuming each year has 365 days, the amount I will have to pay back is: (a) $3,315 (b) $3,600 (c) $3,664 (d) $3,901. 30 Answer the next two questions with reference to this information: Analysts argue that two things can happen over the next year: the economy can continue as it is or it can go into recession. The returns of two stocks: General Electric (GE) and Cisco (CSCO) in each possible state are given below: State Return on GE Continue as-is 15 Recession? 5 Return on CSCO 5 -1 The analysts estimate the probability of continuing as-is to be 0. 8 , and the probability of a recession to be 0. 2. 6. What is the expected return on a portfolio which is 120% in GE and? 20% in CSCO? (a) 10. 04% (b) 8% (c) 2. 55% (d) 0% 7. What is the variance of CSCO? (a) 1. 96%2 (b) 5. 76%2 (c) 13%2 (d) 23. 04%2 3 8. Alice can get a one-year loan at 5% at her bank, while no bank is willing to give Brad a o ne-year loan for less than 10%. Brad has just had surgery, and must pay the hospital $10,000 immediately, but he has no money today, though he will have money in one year. So Alice o? rs Brad a proposal: she will borrow $10,000 from her bank for one year on her own account, and Brad will repay this loan. In addition, he will pay Alice a sum of money today. What is the maximum amount that Brad should be willing to pay Alice up-front under this arrangement? Alice is not willing to consider borrowing more than $10,000. (2pts) (a) $454. 54 (b) $377. 18 (c) $476. 19 (d) $500 9. The risk-free interest rate today is 7%. One year ago, you bought an asset which is risk-free and would pay $100 two years from the date of purchase. The risk-free interest rate on the date of purchase was 10%. You sell the asset today. Principles of Modern Finance Sample Midterm Essay Body Paragraphs What is the rate of return (HPR) that you made? (a) 13% (b) 10% (c) 7% (d) 15% 10. The correlation between Alcoa (AA) and American Express (AXP) is 0. 3. You want to form a portfolio, investing 50% in each stock. What is the variance of your portfolio’s return? You have the following information: AA AXP 10 12 8 16 Expected return Standard deviation of return (a) 85. 76%2 (b) 99. 2%2 (c) 121%2 (d) 144%2 11. If you can get an 8% return (annual e? ective) on a ten year CD from your local bank, would it be wise to invest in a 10 year bond which promises to make a single payment of $1000 at the end of its life? Assume both are equally risky). This bond costs $475 now and will pay $1000 in ten years. 4 (a) Yes, the bond is better. (b) No, the bond is worse. (c) Can’t tell from information given 12. You are given the following information about portfolios of two risky assets, A and B: Weight in A Weight in B Std. dev. of portfolio 0 1 12 0. 5 0. 5 14 1 0 16 What is the covaria nce between A and B? (a) 192%2 (b) 168%2 (c) 224%2 (d) Cannot be determined 13. A? rm in a well-functioning capital market has the following projects available. The risk-free rate is 10%. Which should it invest in? NPV IRR X 10 15% Y 0. 3% Z -5 22% OCC 22% 5% 6% (a) X only (b) Z only (c) X and Y (d) X and Z (e) All three 5 14. You are considering investing in a bond. This bond costs $300 now and pays $550 in ten years. What is the IRR of this investment? (a) 1. 06% (b) 6. 25% (c) 8. 33% (d) 9. 01% Answer the next two questions using the following information: A project has the following expected cash? ows. Year 0 1 2 Expected cash? ow? 370 814? 447. 7 The IRR of these cash? ows is 10%. 15. Which of the NPV functions on the following page best describes this project? (2pts) (a) Graph A (b) Graph B (c) Graph C (d) Graph D 16. Given your answer to the previous question, what is the range of discount rates for which you should accept this project? (a) 10% only (b) Greater than 10% (c) L ess than 10% (d) Always accept, except at 10% (e) Always reject 6 NPV NPV 10% Discount rate 10% Discount rate Graph A Graph B NPV NPV 10% Discount rate 10% Discount rate Graph C Graph D 7 Answer the next six questions using the following information: Boeing is a very pro? table aeroplane manufacturer. It is considering building a facility to manufacture 747s on 10,000 acres in the Nevada desert. It is not considering any other sites. To encourage Boeing to set up the facility, the local chamber of commerce has bought the land and has o? ered to rent it to Boeing at a rent of zero dollars per year. Assume that this â€Å"gift† has no tax implications for Boeing. If Boeing were to try to rent the land in the open market, the rent would be $1,500 per acre per year, payable at the end of each year. Building the factory will cost Boeing $800M (800 million dollars), of which $200M is payable today and $600M will be need to be paid as soon as the factory begins production. It will t ake one year to build the factory and start production. The IRS says that the $800M cost can be depreciated (straight-line to zero) over the? rst twenty years in which the factory produces aeroplanes. However, Boeing expects that the demand for the 747 will eventually dry up, and so they plan to scrap the plant after the? rst ten years of production. They expect the scrap will be sold for $100M. Boeing expects the facility to produce and sell three Boeing 747 aeroplanes a year, with the? rst batch ready by the end of year 2. Raw materials cost $100M per plane, and labour costs will be $120M a year. Labour costs will be paid at the end of the year in which they are incurred. Raw material will be paid for one year late (i. e. , raw material costs incurred in year 2 will be paid at the end of year 3). Sales will be paid for two years late. Inventory is always 0. The price Boeing will receive for each plane is uncertain. It might be as high as $500M, or as low as $200M. Most likely, the price will be $400M. On average, the price they expect to receive is $350M. Boeing’s corporate o? ce is located in Chicago. Currently the CEO and his sta? make 120? ights a year in the corporate jet. Each? ight costs $200,000. If the Nevada facility is built, the CEO will have to make ten more? ghts a year, starting in the? rst year of production, with the cost per? ight being the same. The cost of the? ights is incurred at the end of year in which the? ights are made. The salary of the CEO will remain? xed at $12m per year. However, the corporate o? ce has decided to allocate $1m per year of this cost to the Nevada project, should it be built, starting at the end of year 2. This allocation has no tax implications. Boeing has another project which they wanted to start today. This project has a single after-tax cash in? ow of $20 million one year after it is started (and no other in? ws or out? ows). Building the factory in Nevada will occupy executive time, and mean that Boe ing will have to delay starting this project until the Nevada factory begins production. Taxes are expected to be 30%. The discount rate is 8%. 8 17. When calculating cash? ows for NPV, the revenue in the income statement at the end of each year of production will be (a) $600M (b) $1050M (c) $1200M (d) $1500M 18. The expected cash? ow the? rm obtains from scrapping the plant after ten years of production is (a) $70M (b) $90M (c) $100M (d) $190M (e) $280M 19. The cost that you will show in the income statement for each year of production will be: (a) $420M (b) $422M (c) $423M (d) $438M 20. What is the working capital at the end of the second year of production? (a)? $300M (b) $750M (c) $1050M (d) $1800M 21. What is your net cash? ow two years after the plant has stopped producing, that is, at the end of year 13? (a) $0 (b) $735M (c) $750M (d) $1050M (e) $1800M 9 22. The PV today of the opportunity cost from delaying the other project is: (a) $20M (b) $18. 52M (c) $17. 15M (d) $1. 37M 10 We will write a custom essay sample on Principles of Modern Finance Sample Midterm Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Principles of Modern Finance Sample Midterm Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Principles of Modern Finance Sample Midterm Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Find Out What the Word Punic Means

Find Out What the Word Punic Means Basically, Punic refers to the Punic people, i.e., the Phoenicians. It is an ethnic label. The English term Punic comes from the Latin Poenus. Should we be using the term Carthaginian (a civic label referring to the city of North Africa the Romans called ​Carthago) or Punic when referring to the people of northern Africa fighting in the wars with Rome known as the Punic Wars, since Punic can refer to cities elsewhere, like Utica? Here are two articles that elaborate this confusion and may help you, too: Poenus Plane Est - But Who Were the Punickes?Jonathan R. W. PragPapers of the British School at Rome, Vol. 74, (2006), pp. 1-37The Use of Poenus and Carthaginiensis in Early Latin Literature,George Fredric FrankoClassical Philology, Vol. 89, No. 2 (Apr., 1994), pp. 153-158 The Greek term for Punic is ÃŽ ¦ÃŽ ¿ÃŽ ¹ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ¯ÃŽ ºÃŽ µÃâ€š Phoenikes (Phoenix); whence, Poenus. The Greeks did not distinguish between western and eastern Phoenicians, but the Romans did once those western Phoenicians in Carthage started to compete with the Romans. Phoenicians in the period from 1200 (dates, as on most pages of this site, are B.C./B.C.E.) until the conquest by Alexander the Great in 333, lived along the Levantine coastline (and so, they would be considered eastern Phoenicians). The Greek term for all the Semitic Levantine peoples was ÃŽ ¦ÃŽ ¿ÃŽ ¹ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ¯ÃŽ ºÃŽ µÃâ€š Phoenikes. After the Phoenician diaspora, Phoenician was used to refer to Phoenician people living west of Greece. Phoenician was not, in general, users of the western area until the Carthaginians came to power (mid-6th century). The term Phoenicio-Punic is sometimes used for the areas of Spain, Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, and Italy, where there was a Phoenician presence (this would be the western Phoenicians). Carthaginian is used specifically for Phoenicians who lived in Carthage. The Latin designation, without value-added content, is Carthaginiensis or Afer since Carthage was in northern Africa. Carthage and African are the geographic or civic designations. Prag writes: The basis of the terminological problem is that, if Punic replaces Phoenician as the general term for the western Mediterranean subsequent to the mid-sixth century, then that which is Carthaginian is Punic, but that which is Punic is not necessarily Carthaginian (and ultimately all is still Phoenician). In the ancient world, the Phoenicians were notorious for their trickiness, as is shown in the expression from Livy 21.4.9 about Hannibal: perfidia plus quam punica (treachery more than Punic).

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Quarks essays

Quarks essays Quarks, as of right now, are the smallest known particles of matter. These particles never or it is believed that they never exist by themselves. These particles combine together to form protons and neutrons in an atom. Without quarks, there would be no atoms and we would cease to exist. There are six known flavors of quarks. They are up, down, top, bottom, strange, and charm. Each of these six quarks has their own specific mass and electrical charge. The most common of these quarks are up and down. They are the lightest and they make up all the matter around us. The next two lightest of the quarks, strange and charm, are found in cosmic rays that originate in space. The two heaviest of the quarks, top and bottom, have not yet been found in nature. Scientist are only able to produce them in the lab. It is believed that the heavier quarks decay to the lighter quarks and that is why we dont see the heaviest in nature. Each quark has an opposite particle known as an antiquark. These antiquarks combine to form antimatter. This antimatter does not exist in nature on Earth and it is believed that it is very rare in the universe. We know that it does exist for physicists have produced antimatter in laboratories. Antiquarks have some of the same properties but some of the properties are opposite of that of their counterparts. Each quark has been divided into one of three categories called generations. The first generation is the lightest two quarks, second is the next heaviest two, and the third are the heaviest of the quarks. Quarks are different from other elementary particles for they each have a specific electrical charge that is a fraction of the standard charge of charge (e) of one proton. Most other particles have multiples of that charge. Of all the quarks the heaviest of them is the top quark. It is over 30,000 times larger than the up quark. This large mass made it very difficult for sc...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Internal Control System. The Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) Essay

Internal Control System. The Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) - Essay Example I believe that one of the most important aspects of a control system is the risk assessment. If a company does not assess a particular risk adequately the firm will not establish adequate internal controls because the problem was never identified. Risk assessment serves as a preventive measure that can be used to create an adequate plan of attack to deal with a problem. In the famous Enron scandal the lack an internal control system allowed Fay, Skilling, and Fastow to collude and steal millions of dollars. 2. When an internal control mechanism is evaluated in phases the accountants can better segment the problematic areas of the system. If for instance deficiencies are found in the monitoring phase; the company can inject money and resources to attempt to fix the problem. It is easier to perform micro evaluations than to evaluate a system as a whole. Clearly identifiable phases create added reliability in the system. Looking at the end results of the accounting cycle or at the finan cial statements is not the best way to detect fraud. About 10 years ago the Enron Corporation got away with accounting murder when they inflated their earnings by one billion in 2000 when in reality the firm did not have any profits. A good internal control system could have prevented this scandal from ever occurring. I agree with you that some companies do not have well defined activities. One of the reasons that this occurs is due to budgetary constraints. Implementing control mechanisms is quite expensive. It is estimated that Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act costs between $1 to 3 million to implement yearly. I think that despite the fact that internal control mechanism can be expensive sometimes it is better to assume the expenses than to pay the consequences. Employee theft can be prevented by placing cameras in the warehouse where inventory is kept. Another technological innovation that can be used to protect inventory is the use of RFID tags. RFID tags allow a company to track the movement of merchandise. These systems are the long term solution to substitute the current scanner system used at the majority of retail stores. 4. I agree with you that the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) requires that companies implement all the components of an internal control mechanism. The Sarbanes Oxley Act goes a step further in its requirement of internal controls. All public companies must include within the annual report a section dedicated to reporting the internal controls of the firm. I think that SOX was a tremendous idea, despite the high implementation costs. Nobody wants to go back to a business environment in which record bankruptcies were occurring largely due to accounting misbehavior. 5. I tend to agree with you that the five components of internal control are universal. As you mentioned the environment is key to the effectiveness of an internal control. As you mentioned in your response the environment of a company is largely controlled by the managerial staff. Companies that are corrupt often have leaders that allow that type of unethical behavior. I have heard of companies that have been turn into unethical companies because they let external factors such as foreign cultures cloud their judgment. If for a company it is unethical to accept a bribe in the United States, the rules should not change just because you are doing business in China. 6. I think that the lack of any of the five components automatically makes a system weaker from the perspective of how good the system could be. Just because one component of the internal control is missing does not mean that that system is weaker than another company’s system that includes all five components. For instance a company may not have a necessity to monitor due to the fact that the firm has few

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Using Your Manager Skills Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Using Your Manager Skills - Research Paper Example Most companies are using sustainability as a key component in their business strategies. Consumers have also increased their demand for companies to be attentive to their environment of operation. The price of petroleum-based packaging plastics has continued to rise leading to a decline of its competitive advantage over biodegradable packaging material. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) foresees a continued increase in the prices of the plastics in the coming year (Pekhtasheva, & Neverov, 2012). This will boost the marketability of the biodegradable material. Simply Green Products Company has capitalized this market trend and established product chain of biodegradable packing materials. Valued at $10 million, the company produces packing material for pears, apples and peaches that orchards use in the Shenandoah Valley. For its marketing, Simply Green Products has adopted the name SafePack to imply the biodegradability of the material. The eco-friendly agricultural that is e mphasized by lobby groups has contributed to the market advantage of SafePack over the non-biodegradable packing material. However, there have been recent internet campaigns that argued that SafePack is not biodegradable. The environmental group, SafePack Materials Pollute, which is behind the campaign, argues that SafePack materials cause environment pollution due to seepage into surface waters. The group campaign is done on the internet where fruit producers are discouraged from buying SafePack materials. The issues raised by the group touch on the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA). It is necessary to assess the environmental concerns raised by the environmental group against the relevant laws so that the company can devise strategies to safeguard its market. The claims made by the lobby are critical to the reputation of Simply Green Products. However, for such claims to be considered valid under the law, they

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Wine Industry Essay Example for Free

Wine Industry Essay The analysis provides information on the two international wine brands (Banrock Station and Bordeaux) that from different kinds of world wine producers, New World and Old World, enter into the same market of the United Kingdom. Also, this report analysis why these wine corporations go to oversea, why choose England, and how achieve success in England applying Global-Local Model to judge which strategy the companies adopt. In addition, this report focusing on marketing. Banrock Station expands global market because of the saturate Australian wine market. The report apply the product lifecycle to explain this, and apply the object, strategy and tactic model to analysis why Bordeaux wine export internationally and why expand wine market in England in order to improve the consumption by volume and value terms and increase profits. Then, this report also explain the reasons why Banrock Station choose British market by PESTEL model, and analysis political, economic and law aspects in detail. Banrock Station Company focuses on the innovation which involves conservation projects and Eco-mate packaging to sustain its competitive advantages. Nevertheless, Bordeaux wine choose standardize more than adapt in two specific areas: promotion and product. 1. Introduction . The worldwide wine industry is divided into two parts: Old world and new world. Old world wineries are Characterised by long-established and relatively unchanging methods and location of wine production mentioned by Glenn and John (2009). France, England, Italy, Germany belong to Old World wineries. On the contrary, the New World wineries appreciate new technology and non-natural chemicals. Australia, New Zealand, North America, South Africa, Chile and Argentina are named New World wine makers (Anderson, 2003). Banrock Station is located in Kingston-on Murray, in South Australia. Banrock Station was set up in 1994, as one part of Hardy Wine Company (Natures a big winner at the station, 2005). The property of the company includes approximately 1,068 hectares of floodplain and wetland, as well as 307 hectares of woodland buffer. Today, Banrock Station, not only is one of the most well-liked brands in Australia, but also is the label which is growing fast in the United Kingdom. In addition, this company exports wines to more than 50 countries in the world, such as the United States of America, Italy, Canada, Japan, France, Spain and China. Bordeaux wine is a global brand from France. In the Bordeaux vineyard, there are 60 Appellation dOrigine Controlee (AOC), which is judged the largest French A. O. C wine region. Bordeaux wine comprises numerous popular wine brand, for instance, Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Semillion. Each Bordeaux wine has its own character. Blending drives persistent flavour and overall quality. In the case of aromas, hundreds of active molecules in the wine interact during the blending process to create a new wine with a complexity, delicacy, and richness that surpass by far the simple addition of the characteristics of each of the assembled wines (http://www. bordeaux.com). 2. The Reason for going oversea and entering British wine market Now, Australia has been the fourth largest nation exporting wine, followed by France, Italy, Spain, and the UK is the biggest nation where Australian wine export (Australian wines in the British Wine Market, 2004). As seen from the graph 1 of the Product Lifecycle, in 2007, the Australian wine market go into maturity stage. Consequently, the Australian wine corporations are all face this problem, of course, including Banrock Station. First of all, it confronts fierce competition in domestic market, because there are over 60 regions producing wine, for instance, Barossa Valley and Eden Valley in South Australia, Hunter Valley and Cowra in New South Wales, Granite Belt and South Burnett in Queensland, Derent Valley and Coal River Valley in Tasmania, Goulburn Valley and Geelong in Victoria, and Blackwood Valley and Peel in Western Australia (A+ Australian Wine, 2011). In addition, the competitors come from other countries also effect the Banrock Stations sales, such as Constellation Brands from America, Malivoire Wine Company from Canada, Bordeaux Wine from France, Tenuta Monte Rosola from Italy, and Esteban Martin from Span. France is a well-known wine country in the world. According to the report named Wine in France (2010, 2007), in 2006, The French wine market grow by 1. 6% to reach a value of $35. 1 billion, in contrast, this market just grow by 0. 2% in 2009, these statistics show the growth of French wine market is very slow. Therefore, for the local companies, the space of development is small and it is also difficult to increase the companies consumption and income. In addition, both domestic and global market, New World wineries have pounded the French wine (Superleague bouquet, 2003). Because of this and France is considered to the empire of wine by the consumers worldwide, the competition in France is very intensive. In terms of global wine trade, the percentage of New World wine has increased from nearly 5% to exceed 28% during last 2 decades (Rothfield and Wittwer, 2008; IWSR, 2008). This paragraph apply PESTEL model to explain why Banrock Station Company and Bordeaux wine entry to Great Britain. For Australia and France, England, as one of the largest wine market, is keeping stable developing. In 2003, the Great British wine market went up by 2. 9%, reaching a value of about $10 billion, and this raised by 3. 1%, achieving a value of nearly $11 billion(wine in the United Kingdom, 2004 2010). The industry profile of wine in the United Kingdom (2010, May) reports that thanks to the undesirable climate for planting grapes, although there are few vineyards in the country, the United Kingdom imports the mass majority of wine from foreign wine makers. In 2003, the wineries in the UK produced only 10. 20% of the market share in their own country (Wine in the United Kingdom, 2004). By comparison, there is few things agitating by French and Australian wine makers toward nature climate and soil where grows vine (Unleash the war on terroir, 2007). Also, the stable economic and political regulatory environment and the government policy of generally opening to the trade and investment contribute to building a really low risk environment to do business and low barriers to entry this wine market throughout England. In France, however, the government has imposed a ban on oversea takeover bid for the companies. Besides, the Risks to Realization of Potential Returns rating refers to how risky an investment in the food and drink industry of the country is, according to Business Environment illustrated. The Risks to Realization of Potential Returns rating of the UK is higher than France (United Kingdom Food Drink Report, 2009). As a result, it is much easier and more safe to enter British market than in France for Australian companies. In the 1970s, the new laws give the local England supermarkets the rights to sell wine; this increase the consumption of oversea wines in Great Britain, especially the New World wines (Anderson, 2003). For example, it is legendary that, since 1960, the per capital wine consumption of Australia has grown up twice every decade in the British wine market (Rothfield and Wittwer, 2008). 3. Strategy analysis. 3. 1 Innovation of Banrock Station in Great Britain Compare to other wine companies, like Jacobs Creek and Nottage Hill, Banrock Station is a special one, because it not only is a wine maker, but also has a responsibility for ecological conservation. The Good Earth, Fine Wine is Banrock Station slogan (www. banrockstation. com), and this perfectly contains this companys two essential commitments: one is the contribution to the sustainable environment, for example, one of the conversation projects is named Eden project cooperated with the UK tell everyone how people can make contribution to protecting environment everydady (www.edenproject. com), the other one is the production of good quality wines. The core of companys promotion activity is donating conservation works. According to Pritchard Chris, the company announced Banrock Station has contributed A$1 million (C$880,000) to preserving and rehabilitating the wetlands all over the world, recently, and supporting a information centre for the Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia to organize and manage the data of avian, which is a perfect evidence. According to the journal article of Charity alliances reap rewards, Banrocks ? 125,000 sponsorship has financed wetland rehabilitation and exhibits at WWT Centres, as well as 10% of the costs of monitoring and maintaining 1700 hectares of wetlands in the UK. These help Banrock Station to reap the reward and enhance the image of the brand from both old consumers and potential consumers, for instance, as a grocery brand, Banrock Station has become the sixth fastest expending in the Great British (Charity alliances reap rewards, 2002). Rebecca Hopkins who is a spokesperson of Banrock Station, states We have successfully positioned ourselves as a brand that cares about the environment, and it is obvious that people like that. The corporation has involved in nearly 100 conservation projects throughout the world, this is real evidence, not just talking (Pritchard, 2002). To be an environmentally friendly business is wise means to increasing the reputation of the company. Moreover, Banrock Station Company focuses on the high-technology, as a New World winery. Today, Banrock Station uses Eco-Mate which is a new environmental package. There is an increasing number of customers concentrating on convenience. Therefore, the predominant character of EcoMate is convenient means it is easily to squeeze out the air and retain wines or other things (such as fruits and vegetables) fresh, lighter as well as, because of its weight is only 1033 grams, compare to a liter of bottled wine, is 60% lighter. Because of this, it is helpful to reduce the cost of package and transport cost. When the cost is down, Banrock Station can easier to maintain competitiveness. In addition, it is 100 percent recyclable and is totally made of renewable materials. According to Miriam Leenders, who is the Global Marketing Manager of Banrock Station, the company is focus on the environmental conservation projects. As well as he claims, It was a natural progression to give our customers the choice to buy our wine in an enviro-pack(Ecomate makes Banrock Station even leaner and greener). 3. 2 Standardization of Bordeaux wine in Great Britain From the graph 2, it can be know that Bordeaux wine adopt cost leadership strategy, and standardize more than adapt in th UK. This part discuss why Bordeaux wine like to standardization in British market, particularly in two parts of marketing mix: promotion and product. Firstly, looking at the promotion. As Bordeaux wine is positioned internationally a luxury wine brand, it is considered an expensive wine by both French and British customers. What is more, there are three main distribution channels in France, which are supermarket and hypermarkets (with 49. 10% of market share by volume in 2009), on-trade channel (with 32. 70% of market share by volume in 2009), and specialist retailers, at 14. 3% (Wine in France, 2010). The story of distribution channel in British wine market is similar to the Frances. Meanwhile, the leader of distribution channel of that is also supermarket and hypermarkets, presenting 48. 10% of market volume. On-trade channel accounts for 18. 70% share of total volume, which followed by the specialist retailers, with 23. 60% share (Wine in the United Kingdom, 2010). Thanks to the similar product position and distribution channel between France and Great Britain, it can save cost of promoting products if standardize the promotion strategy, although there is a few of difference between them. Move to product of marketing mix, Old World constraints of strictly controlled appellations and wine making practices, Anderson (2003) says, in comparison, New world producer are free from this (like Banrock Station). As a consequence, it is more difficult to meet customer need for Bordeaux wine. Standardization of product is the direct and good way to save cost because the company can use same machines and employ same kind of works. These reasons contributing to Bordeaux wine export same wine products to the UK market. 4. Recommendation Facing lots of competitor, for Banrock Station, it is wise to make whites and reds go green which means the company focuses on environmental achievement and corporation social responsibility, this influenced by the Australian business guide which is Green is gold and has succeeded far beyond expectations for the brand, especially ture in Australia. Innovating EcoMate package is a good example. Because of this, the company sets up an environmentally friendly example among consumers, which will also add value the products and increase the brand reputation. A simple SWOT analysis gives the information that one of the strengths of Bordeaux wine is its brand (Stuart and Smith). Being an Old World wine producer, Bordeaux wine has a long history of making wine and has a good reputation. Therefore, Bordeaux wine can maximum the strength, such as in the package, make the brand name bright to attract consumers, then achieve more profit. In order to counter the growth of Old World, it is the time to give up the age -old production methods (Carol, 2010). References: Anderson, K. (2003). Wines New World. Foreign Policy, 136, 46-54. Australian wines in the British Wine Market: A Hedonic Price Analysis. (2004). Retrieved from http://0-web. ebscohost. com. library. newcastle. edu. au/ehost/resultsadvanced? sid=79c09e98-6add-4a64-ab77-252566211746%40sessionmgr4vid=5hid=15bquery=(UK)+and+(wine)+and+(supermarket)bdata=JmRiPWJ0aCZ0eXBlPTEmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl A+ Australian Wine. (2011). Wine Regions. Retrieved from http://www. apluswines. com/en/wine-regions. aspx Charity alliances reap rewards. (2002,July 18). Marketing (00253650). Carol, M. (2007, April, 9). Bordeaux goes to the lab. Business Week (00077135) Ecomate makes Banrock Station even leaner and greener. (2008, Apirl). Food Magazine, p. 18. Glenn, B. John, O. (2009). Old World, New World, Third World? Reconceptualising the Worlds of Wine. Journal of Wine Research, 2010, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 57-75. Natures a big winner at the station. (2005, September 18). Sunday Mail, p. 103. Retrieved from http://0-web. ebscohost. com. library. newcastle. edu. au/ehost/detail? vid=36hid=113sid=1c156dcb-29d5-435c-ad42-1c5c046f5289%40sessionmgr114bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=n5hAN=200509181103212317. Pritchard, C. (2002 September). Making whites and reds go green. Marketing Magazine. p. 8. Rothfield, J. Wittwer, G. (2008). The Global Wine Statistical Compendium: 1961-2006, 4th ed, Australian Wine and Brand Corporation, Adelaide. Superleague bouquet (2003, July, 5). Economist, Vol. 368. Stuar, L. Smith,C. E. The Use of Quality and Reputation Indicators by Consumers: The Case of Bordeaux Wine. Unleash the war on terroir. (2007). Location: Economist Newspaper Limited Retrieved from http://0-web. ebscohost. com. library.newcastle. edu. au/ehost/detail? vid=11hid=11sid=412a3b9c-0ef9-4af5-9cf1-e84a85269894%40sessionmgr12bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bthAN=28033497 United Kingdom Food Drink Report. (2009). Location: Business Monitor International Ltd. Wine in the United Kingdom. (2004, October). Datamoniter: Wine Industry Profile. Wine in the United Kingdom. (2010, May). Datamoniter: Wine Industry Profile. Wine in France. (2010, May). Datamoniter: Wine Industry Profile.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Love and Hate :: Essays Papers

Love and Hate Setting This story was about 2 boys (Bryon and Mark). Bryon was the oldest. He was sixteen and Mark was 15. They both got into alot of trouble. They enjoyed fighting, and they were pool hustlers. Mark had moved in with Bryon and his mother when he was little. His parents had gotten into a fight and shot each other. Plot Structure I believe this story was a man versus himself, because all through the book Bryon was constantly changing. He and Mark started to grow apart. He started to fall in love with a girl. He also had to deal with turning his best friend/brother into the police. He had to learn to forgive himself. Towards the end Bryon turned Mark into the police. He had found drugs under Mark's mattress. Mark had been bringing home money and Bryon finally found out where it was coming from. Mark had been selling drugs. Bryon did not know what to do thus, he called the police. When Mark came home and Bryon told him, Mark was shocked. In court Mark would not even look at Bryon and when Bryon went to see him Mark said that he hated him. Plot Summary Bryon and Mark were friends/brothers. Mark moved in with them when he was 9. His parents had gotten into a fight and ended up shooting each other. Mark and Bryon did everything together. They were big pool hustlers. They would go into Charlie's bar and find someone to play pool with. Then they would end up with all his money. Bryon was friends with Charlie. That's how they were able to go into the bar. Bryon was 16 and Mark was 15. They both loved getting into fights. One day they were walking with M&M,a thirteen year old who loved M&M's. When three guys tried to jump M&M. M&M did not like to fight thus, Mark and Bryon stopped it. Bryon and Mark went to visit Bryon's mother in the hospital. She told them about a boy, Mike, across the hall who never had any visitors. Thus she asked them to go see him. bryon did not want to thus, he went to the snack bar and he saw a girl he knew.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

The dotcom bubble and the stock market fall in 2000-2001

Summary of the main points covered in my essay. How did the dotcom bubble burst contribute to the economic crisis of the 2008? Could we expect the similar crisis and how can it be prevented? What are the lessons that should have been learned from the dotcom crisis? When the global financial crisis occurred in 2008, both experts and general public started heated discussion as everyone was eager to identify the reasons for such a calamity. It is clear that nothing happens with no reason at all. Let's consider the famous speech1 of Ben Bernanke, who is the Chairman of the Federal Reserve System. In that testimony he tried to explain the causes of the recent financial and economic crisis to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, highlighting the vulnerabilities in different sectors of economics. The idea of inadequate risk-measurement that he focused on is very important for us, as this particular issue makes the recent crisis akin to the dotcom bubble we are about to examine in detail. (The same idea is one of the major issues of the next Ben Bernanke's speeches, where he underlines the importance of reasonable risk management and possible destructive effects of being too optimistic about the future of the economic system). To sum up, experts claim that flaws in evaluating the perspectives of new technologies in the 90ies caused the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, while the inadequate risk-measurement of the financial instruments connected to mortgages led to the global financial and economic crisis in 2008. Could we have predicted the economic disaster coming in 2008 and which lessons could have been gathered from the dotcom crisis? These are the questions that make the topic urgent and exciting to examine. To begin with, let's define the key term. What is a dotcom? Dotcom is a firm conducting its business mainly over the Internet. They usually possess a Web site intended for business use. The term is based on the â€Å"com† that forms the last part of the address for most commercial Web-sites. Now, what were the reasons for the dotcom bubble burst and what actually happened? (We should mention that this phenomenon is also referred as the Internet bubble and the Information Technology Bubble in many articles). It all started during the mid 1990is. The Internet was extremely popular those days and the Stock Market soared on technology and Internet stocks. Stock prices were rising and it seemed there was to limit for their value to expand. The masses believed there was a new world coming and the Internet was for sure to become the future of business. The steady confidence took place that the e-companies would turn future profits and there is no limit for technologies development. These expectations were reflected in the NASDAQ composite index. The NASDAQ composite is a stock market index of the common stocks and similar securities, which are listed on the NASDAQ stock market. The index reflects the performance of stocks of technology companies and growth companies. From January 1994 to February 2000, the it rose from 776. 80 to 4,696. 69, a 605% increase, and was influenced mainly by prices of high-technology stocks. But these expectations turned out to be far too positive. The market became overvalued. The Stock Market crashed. The culmination happened on March 10, 2000, with the NASDAQ peaking at 5132. 52 in intraday trading before closing at 5048. 62. (see the graph 1) Graph 1. NASDAQ composite dynamics2 The period when the bubble expanded rapidly was marked by the founding of many new small Internet-based companies commonly referred to as dotcoms. Many of them failed in 2000. A very specific phenomenon could be noticed at that time – the way for a new unknown company to become prosperous was just to add an â€Å"e-† prefix to their name or a â€Å". com† to the end. One of the authors called it â€Å"prefix investing†3, as the result of this simple renaming was the incredible growth of stock prices. I suppose that was one of the first indicators that something was wrong and the calamity was coming. But everyone considered it the steady development of the market that has big future. Alan Greenspan (an American economist, the Chairman of the Fed in 1987-2006) in 2005 said, that â€Å"this vast increase in the market value of asset claims is in part the indirect result of investors accepting lower compensation for risk. Such an increase in market value is too often viewed by market participants as structural and permanent†4. However, the situation isn't unique and appeared to happen again. When in 2003 nanotechnology became the â€Å"hot† thing, everyone started to add a â€Å"nano† prefix in their name. It seems that the lessons that should have been learned from the dotcom bubble burst were forgotten. Let's turn to the term itself in its theoretical sense. What is the bubble in financial markets? In a word, we say that a stock market bubble occurs when there is a rise or boom in the share prices of stocks of a particular industry. Meanwhile, the rise in prices usually bears little relation to the intrinsic value of the asset. The term â€Å"bubble† may be used with certainty only in retrospect when share prices have since crashed, as it happened in our case. An important basic characteristic of a bubble is the suspension of disbelief by most market participants during the â€Å"bubble phase. They fail to recognize that all of them are engaged in a speculative activity. That characteristic describes the dotcom crisis as well, as we already found out. It would be interesting to mention that financial bubbles have existed for centuries and one of the earliest crises of the type in known as the Dutch tulip mania. In the 17th century prices for tulip bulbs rose and finally reached extraordinarily high levels and then collapsed in the blink of an eye. The same happened to the stock of e-companies in the late 90ies. I suppose we can refer to this case as to â€Å"the dotcom mania†. The speculators who represent all the people in the economy that what to get high profits very fast, note the fast increase in value and decide to buy stock in anticipation of further rises, not taking into account that the shares are overvalued. Consequently the rise happens responding to the high demand for stock and many companies thus become grossly overvalued. When the bubble â€Å"bursts†, the share prices fall dramatically, and many companies are forced to leave the business. In order to be more precise, we can name five stages of any financial bubble5: First. Displacement. When people, especially investors, get enamored by a new paradigm, such as an innovative new technology or dotcom companies, as in our case, displacement occurs. That is the first stage of a financial bubble. Second. Boom. At this stage prices rise slowly at first, following a displacement, but then they gain momentum. More and more participants enter the market. All of them are determined to get prosperous as soon as possible. In case of dotcoms, a huge amount of small companies appeared on the market. The low interest rates in 1998-99 helped to increase the start-up capital amounts. Not all of them possessed innovative ideas, but they were sure that in the wave of e-companies they must succeed. No wonder they all had the same business plan of monopolizing their respective sectors through network effects. However it was clear that all of them wouldn't become successful as the competition was tough. For many of them the â€Å"get big fast† plan would fail. During this phase, investors become even more enamored by the asset, considering it once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that increases speculation even more. Mass media also played its role. American respected business publications such as Forbes and the Wall Street Journal, encouraged the public to invest in risky companies in the wave of the wide-spread euphoria. As the result, many â€Å"ordinary† people became investors, some of them even gave up their job to become fill-time traders. Third. Euphoria. During this phase investors as well as the whole financial system forgets about prudence and asset prices skyrocket. During the dotcom bubble, the euphoria stage took place in the beginning of March 2000, when NASDAQ composite reached its top at 5132. 2 in intraday trading before closing at 5048. 62. This and the previous stages can be clearly revealed from the NASDAQ dynamics (see graph 1). Fourth. Profit taking. By this time the warning signs of coming debacle can be seen. This is the point when smart investors can make fortunes by selling out positions and taking profits. However, it is obvious that it's very difficult to estimate the exact time when a bubble is due to collapse. John Maynard Keynes once mentioned that â€Å"the markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent. As for the dotcoms founders, few of them made vast fortunes when their companies were bought out before the collapse. Fifth. Panic. In the panic stage, asset prices change direction and descend as rapidly as they had ascended. Investors and speculators are faced with margin calls, which are â€Å"demands on an investor using margin to deposit additional money or securities so that the margin account is brought up to the minimum maintenance margin†6, and the value of their holding plunge. Consequently, they want to liquidate them at any price. The supply overwhelms demand, and asset prices slide sharply. In 2000 the market index fell by almost 11% and NASDAQ fell by about 41%7. To explain the bubble applying the tools of mathematics, we'll apply the most common concept that shows the existence of bubbles8. Considering the most simple case of price of a single share, the mathematical definition of an asset price bubble uses the fair price of a financial asset as its starting point. The price of an asset is the present value of the future cash flows, generated by the asset. pt =Et(dt+1+pt+1)/(1+r), here dt is dividend, pt is the price of the asset at a certain time t, and Et(i) is the expected value of the expression in the brackets based on the information available at t time. If the interest rate (r) is held constant during the whole period, then share price at t time (pt) in a general form can be given as follows: The first part of the sum on the right, which is the discounted present value of dividends, is the fundamental value of the share (pt * ). The remainder (bt) is a deterministic or the stochastic component satisfying the condition bt = Et(bt+1) /(1 + r), which is the asset price bubble itself. So, if the price of an asset is formed as following: pt =p t*+bt, and if p =? p*, then in the mathematical sense an asset price the bubble is formed. To continue our analysis, let's describe the consequences of the dotcom bubble burst in 2000. Many small companies and some of the largest ones were forced to file for bankruptcy. Some of them ran out of capital, some of them were acquired, some were convicted of fraud in their financial statements. WorldCom, which was one of the leaders in the market was found practicing fraudulent accounting practices to exaggerate its profits every year. As it was revealed, it's stock price fell dramatically, and finally the company filed for bankruptcy. Other examples include NorthPoint Communications, Global Crossing, JDS Uniphase and many others. However, some of the e-companies managed to survive the calamity. Large companies, for example, Amazon. com and eBay, are quite successful nowadays. Google also survived the turmoil and became one of the market leaders. As many economists predicted, harsh recession began from 2001. The crash on the stock market of 2000-2002 caused the loss of $5 trillion in the market value of companies from March 2000 to October 2002: the market value of NASDAQ companies peaked at $6. 7 trillion in March 2000 and bottomed out at $1. 6 trillion in October 20029. The economic bottom was the followed by 9/11 terrorist attacks of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. CONCLUSION After the case of dotcom crisis the word â€Å"dotcom† started to be used with unfavourable inflecton. It is frequently used to refer to a poorly thought-out unsuccessful businesses. Experts claim that dotcom crisis was one of the events that preceded the global financial crisis in 2008. It was kind of a â€Å"rehearsal†, as the global crisis also contained a speculative bubble, though it embraced a much wider variety of securities. Luckily, the recession following the bubble burst of 2000-2001 was not as deep as it could have been thanks to very aggressive interest rates lowering. However, a deeper downturn in the financial activity is much harder to overcome. The Internet bubble is also similar to the recent downturn because they were both preceded by inadequate risk-measurement and agents' overconfidence. The financial and economic crisis of 2008 could have been predicted, if everyone was more prudent and learned a lesson from the 2000 dotcom case. In conclusion, I'd like to address the issue of a new Internet crisis that is predicted by some economists. Nowadays World Web companies place their stock at unbelievably high prices. Can a successful Internet project cost more than a huge transnational oil company? The common sense says definitely no, but investors have their own specific point of view. For example, the shares of Groupon, a famous discount service, we evaluated at $12,7 trillions, despite the company's loss of $400 trillions the previous year and gross debt equal to $420 millions. This estimation is not reasonable and very far from reality. Meanwhile, the expected IPO of social network Facebook is evaluated at $100 trillions. It can be the beginning of the Dotcom Crisis 2. 0. On the other hand investors are optimistic about e-companies, as they survived the recent global crisis, unlike huge interconnected firms in other fields, such as financial, machinery and so on. However, if the case of Groupon is not unique (which is so, judging by the investors' optimistic mood) the crisis can occur once again. The most important thing in preventing the possible debacle is being prudent. Investors shouldn't be too optimistic and should be sensible when acquiring assets. PR and advertising can be astonishing, however being reasonable means evaluating the real business indicators to make rational decisions. Risk-management is the field that shouldn't be ignored if we want to avoid new crises.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Internet Addicition Essay

Much evidence has been alleged that social pathologies are beginning to surface in cyberspace (i.e., internet addictions). A lot of controversy is surrounding the question, is there proof that the internet is being abused and misused by individuals on an everyday basis and should we consider this to be a major mental health problem? Key Arguments: * Why do people have attachment insecurity and dissociation with their lives to make them choose to be disorganized, and allow a fantasy world to take over resulting in problematic internet abuse. * How information and communication technologies changing our way of interacting with reality. * What are the psychological symptoms involving disturbed relationships with technologies emerging, how some are more affected than others. * How different forms of related dependence behaviours, such as an addiction to social networking, cybersex, online gambling, or web-based role-playing games are affecting our need to be on the internet. * How some games reward â€Å"achievements† and â€Å"goals† making the cyber game goals more important of that than reality goals. * Does social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and other forms of cyber communication have detrimental effects related to internet addiction. * Internet Gambling, main reasons for internet addiction, however not just costing their health but impacting finances and crippling family relationships. Critical Analysis Article 1: Reference (2) Researchers have begun to examine the personal and social consequences associated with excessive online involvement. The present study examined college students’ problematic Internet use (PIU) behaviors Its specific aim was to investigate the links between PIU with both internalizing (depression, social anxiety) and externalizing (substance use and other risky behaviors) problems. Article 2: Reference (4) There are many psychological factors surrounding the present issue of internet addiction, using evidence such as Social Networking Sites (SNS)e.g., facebook , twitter etc, Massive Multiplayer Online games and Internet Gambling as my three key topics. The aim is to provide a clear and concise method about how individuals who consistently spend their time on the internet are having detrimental effects on their physical, social and psychological life. Article 3: Reference (5) There is an increasing need for the provision of both internet addiction prevention and care for any sufferers, psychologist should be weary of the dangers of internet abuse when youth present with anti-social, aggressive behaviours. Socialization in girls may be warped towards online contact and the user may beneï ¬ t from providing alternatives. The aim is to focus on internet-related addictive behaviours and how to include the use of suitable diagnostic tools, a detailed personal interview, a mental health status examination and information regarding the overt behaviours gathered by the surroundings. I want to engage the reader to believe that internet addiction is a real mental health issue, that effects youth all the way to late adolescent, whether it be an addiction though games, gambling, social media etc, there is evidence to say that individuals influenced by this addiction are not progressing in life, because excess use of a cyber world has become a major part of their li ves or taken over their lives. Structure: – Evidence addiction in Video Games (Kuss, Daria J; Griffiths, Mark D. Studies): Main conclusions stemming from this source – Psychological Evidence to Addiction (Griffiths, M Study & Gencer, S L & Koc, M Study): Main conclusions stemming from this source – Evidence addiction to Social Networking Systems (Kittinger, R., Correia, C J., & Irons J G Article): Main conclusions stemming from this source References Bozkurt, H; Coskun, M; Ayaydin, H; Adak, I; Zoroglu, S S (2013). Prevalence and patterns of psychiatric disorders in referred adolescents with Internet addiction. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 67(5), pp. 352-359. De, L., & Josepth, A. (2013). Problematic Internet Use and Other Risky Behaviours in College Students: An Applicationof Problem-Behaviour Theory. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 27(1), pp. 133-141. DOI: 10.1037/a0030823. Gencer, S L & Koc, M. (2012) Internet abuse among teenagers and Its relations to internet usage patterns and demographics. Journal of Educational Technology & Society. 15(2), pp. 25-36. Griffiths, M. (2010). Internet abuse and Internet addiction in the workplace. Journal of Workplace Learning, 22(7), 2010, pp. 463-472. Kittinger, R., Correia, C J., & Irons J G (2012) Relationship Between Facebook Use and Problematic Internet Use Among College Student. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 15(6), pp. 324-327. Kuss, D J; Griffiths, M D. , Internet video game addiction: A systematic review of empirical research in the literature. Revue Adolescence. 30(1), 2012, pp. 17-49.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Top French Romance Films

Top French Romance Films Well, they say French is the language of love, so what better language to watch romantic movies in? Cyrano de Bergerac   A beautiful, touching, and humorous love story. Cyrano loves Roxanne but fears rejection due to his overly-large nose. Roxanne loves Christian, and he, in turn, loves her but does not have the ability to express his love. Cyrano helps Christian by expressing his love to Roxanne via Christian. This is the original film, made in 1950 in black and white. It has been remade a few times, including in the US as  Roxanne, with Steve Martin. Le Retour de Martin Guerre (The Return of Martin Guerre) Gerard Depardieu plays a soldier who returns to his wife after many years and has changed so much (in more than just personality) that his wife and neighbors are not sure its the same person. A beautiful love story as well as an interesting look at medieval France. Remade in the US as  Sommersby, with Jodie Foster and Richard Gere. Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) A classic French romantic movie, by Marcel Carne. A mime falls in love with a theater troupe actress but faces a lot of competition for her affections. Shot in black and white in 1946 (while Paris was under German occupation), but set in the 19th century. Its a must see! La Belle et la bà ªte (Beauty and the Beast) Youve probably seen some version of this classic French romance, but the original- in black and white- is by far the best. This beautiful, sensual film by Jean Cocteau is about love, inner beauty, and obsession, and is nothing short of a magical fairy tale. Baisers volà ©s (Stolen Kisses) This sequel to 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cent Coups) couldnt be more different to its predecessor. Antoine loves Christine, who is indifferent until her admirer falls for another women. Christine then realizes (decides?) that she does want him after all, and tries to woo him back. A very sweet movie by Franà §ois Truffaut and Jean-Pierre Là ©aud. Les Roseaux savages (Wild Reeds) Andrà © Tà ©chinà ©s 1994 film, set in 1964, is a beautiful coming-of-age story about four teenagers and their experiences with relationships and the effects of Frances war in Algeria. Beautiful cinematography and a great soundtrack, to boot. This film won 4 Cà ©sar awards. Les Nuits de la pleine lune (Full Moon in Paris) A wonderful romantic comedy and the fourth installment in director Eric Rohmers Comedies and Proverbs series. Louise (played by the talented Pascale Ogier, who tragically died the year the film was released) grows bored with her lover and decides to spice up her (love) life. Humor and tragedy ensue. LAmi de mon amie (Boyfriends and Girlfriends) Another from the Comedies and Proverbs series, this film looks at love and friendship. Which is more important: passion or companionship? Is boyfriend-swapping really such a good idea after all? Find out with this movie. Une Liaison pornographique (An Affair of Love) Dont let the ironic French title put you off; this is a beautiful, erotic love story about two people who meet looking for anonymous sex but end up finding much more. A beautiful and mysterious tale of love. LHistoire dAdà ¨le H (The Story of Adele H) The true story of Victor Hugos daughter and her obsession with a French lieutenant. Not a happy story, but certainly a beautiful and intriguing movie.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Conjugate the French Verb Accueillir (to Welcome)

Conjugate the French Verb Accueillir (to Welcome) As you are learning to speak French, you will find that you need to learn how to conjugate many verbs. The verb  accueillir  means to welcome. This is one of the irregular verbs that is a little more difficult to remember, but with practice, you should have no problems.   Conjugating the French Verb  Accueillir Why do we have to conjugate verbs in French? Put simply, to conjugate simply means to match the verb form to the subject you are speaking about. We do so in English as well, though not to such extremes as languages such as French. For instance, we use a different form of  accueillir  when speaking about ourselves. I welcome becomes jaccueille in French. Likewise, we welcome becomes nous accueillons. Its actually quite simple. However, the problem with irregular verbs like  accueillir  is that there is no defined pattern. This is a rare exception to the French grammar rules for verbs ending in -ir. This means that you need to memorize each conjugation rather than rely on patterns and rules. Dont worry, though. With a little study, you  will  find that there is some pattern to this verb and will be using it to form proper sentences before you know it. This chart shows all of the forms of  accueillir  in present, future, imperfect, and present participle tense. Subject Present Future Imperfect j accueille accueillerai accueillais tu accueilles accueilleras accueillais il accueille accueillera accueillait nous accueillons accueillerons accueillions vous accueillez accueillerez accueilliez ils accueillent accueilleront accueillaient The Present Participle of  Accuellir The  present participle  of  accueillir  is  accueillant. It can be used as a verb or as an adjective, gerund, or noun, depending on the circumstance. Accueillir  in Past Tense You may have noticed that the imperfect is the only past tense of  accueillir  in the chart. In many cases, we can simply use the  passà © composà ©Ã‚  to express a phrase such as I welcomed. There are two elements that need to be added in order to do so. One is the  auxiliary verb, which is always either  Ãƒ ªtre  or  avoir.  For  accueillir, we use  avoir.  The second element is the  past participle  of the verb, which in this case is  accueilli.  This is used no matter the subject. Putting all of this together, to say I welcomed in French, it would be jai accueilli. To say we welcomed, you would say nous avons accueilli. In these cases, ai and avons are conjugates of the verb  avoir. More Conjugations for  Accueillir There are more conjugations for  accueillir  that you may use in some instances, though your focus should be on those above. The subjunctive verb mood is used when something is uncertain. The conditional verb mood is used when the action is dependent on certain conditions. Both the passà © simple and imperfect subjunctive are used in formal writing. While you may never use these especially the last two in the chart it is good to be aware of their existence and when they might be used. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive j accueille accueillerais accueillis accueillisse tu accueilles accueillerais accueillis accueillisses il accueille accueillerait accueillit accueillt nous accueillions accueillerions accueillmes accueillissions vous accueilliez accueilleriez accueilltes accueillissiez ils accueillent accueilleraient accueillirent accueillissent The final form of the verb  accueillir  is the imperative form, which also expresses mood. In this form, you will not use the subject pronoun. Instead, it is implied within the verb itself and you will notice that they have the same endings as the present tense and subjunctive forms. Rather than say tu accueille, you will simply use the word  accueille. Imperative (tu) accueille (nous) accueillons (vous) accueillez Similar Irregular Verbs Just because it is an irregular verb does not mean that  accueillir  is not similar to other verbs. While you are studying to welcome include  cueillir  in your lessons. This verb means to gather or to pick and uses similar endings to those you see above.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

The 21 st Century Public Company Audit Summary Essay

The 21 st Century Public Company Audit Summary - Essay Example Thus the government authorities passed under the Bush administration to have a strict watch over all the companies and auditing firms formed new standards. These standards require all the auditing firms to abide by the standard procedures defined within their scriptures and have also expanded the horizon of the minimum requirement for an auditor about having the knowledge of operation of its clients and /or companies. These standards include ; The bill passed by president bush is known as the corporate and auditing accountability and transparency act of 2002 also known as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) act. SOX is an effective measure taken towards restoring investors interest in the public limited companies. SOX also made another governing body known as public company accounting oversight board. Within two years this body PCAOB placed three major auditing standards. The question that how well these standards can clear the overall view is still unanswered. However, the introduction of these new standards and policies will surely increase the quality of auditing performed. The one additional thing that matters to the auditors now is the identification of the methodology of implementing these standards in their auditing practices in a foolproof and transparent manner. The introduction chapter gives a brief over view of the concerns of the government and its new policies regarding them. However, to what extent will the policies and standard be successful in making sure that every thing goes legal and legitimate is yet to be determined Chapter 2: Auditing standards have been facing many changes due to the changing business environment. Right from the time of simple book keeping till the time the financial statements are made, the techniques of auditing were being required to adapt to certain changes for the sake of such events. Companies had been growing large; large enough to stop any auditing firm from doing the detailed evaluation of the entire book keeping stuff. Thus, now the emphasis is on monitoring the internal controls of a company. As per the SOX section 404, internal auditing by public limited companies is a common standard procedure carried out by all within as well as outside U.S. The auditing now also includes checking on the inventories declared and the accounts receivables identified in the balance sheet(s). The most significant step was the introduction of audit risk model (ARM). The risk auditing includes completeness, obligations, correct valuation, presentation and disclosure of certain elements. If any de viation is found by the risk test, the internal auditor is supposed to take the required corrective action to bring the level of risk to the tolerable level or considerable range. While performing disclosure of certain events, a couple of evidences are acquired to support each n' every element. EBS is the minimum requirement set to act as a source of evidence. Auditors need to base their assessments on a couple of evidence and standards. Feedback: This chapter is about controlling the risk factor by internal auditing practices and controls. This requires a honest internal auditing department to implement policies avoiding any risks, as implied by regulations. Thus this is easier for the auditing firms to have a

Friday, November 1, 2019

Sports Products Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sports Products - Assignment Example Through the commercial that run during designated times, Fitbit advertisement intend to convince the consumers that the product offers real-time feedback, and thus suitable for tracking steps and vital statistics such as the calorie consumption (Salah, MacIntosh, & Rajakulendran, 2014). Notably, the FuelBand and Fitbit Flex advertisement compete to attract consumers to purchase the products. The FuelBand and Fitbit Flex target the both male and females who are health oriented and interested in tracking their vital statistics. The company segments the market according to none and sports participants. The marketers position the products as the replacement to physical trainers, workout logs, and other sports accessories (Guarda, 2013). Notably, the competing goal of the two companies is to create loyalty to the consumers through the focused-differentiation strategy. Nike’s advertisement depicts the company as the market leader in the sports product and technology, and it will always strive to reach the consumers through social media, families, and friends in order to increase the Nile community. On the other hand, the Fitbit adverts employ the geographic and behavioral segmentation. Salah, MacIntosh, and Rajakulendran (2014) contend that company targets the technologically savvy consumers in the middle and upper-classes. Guarda, D. (2013). Nike Takes Digital Data and Social Media Marketing Seriously. Retrieved 21 Apr. 2015, from http://www.intelligenthq.com/social-media-business/nike-takes-digital-data-and-social-media-marketing-seriously/ Salah, H., MacIntosh, E., & Rajakulendran, N. (2014). Wearable tech: Leveraging Canadian innovation to improve health. Retrieved 23 Apr. 2015, from

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Law of Digital Evidence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Law of Digital Evidence - Essay Example Additionally, computers are known to save some files irrespective of the user having deleted them or considered them eliminated from the device. Such observations allow for the complicating the entire process of promoting a search warrant on these devices. It further suggests that computer devices may not be classified along the regards or presentation of general warrants. It also implies that the interest of attributing computer searches to a different set of warrants acknowledges their unique qualities (Jarrett and Bailie, 100-114). Computers are general hubs of extremely personal information. They are considered to host information that defines individuals in a wholesome manner. They, further, have customized safety measures to allow for the protection of the contained information. Such attributes allow for the reflection of the personal nature of the information hosted or stored in these devices. Additionally, computers are utilized extensively in the expression of their users. Such is achieved via the extensive programs that are installed in these devices. The observations map these devices as rather unique to be subjected to the plain view of a search warrant (Jarrett and Bailie, 112). The decision over the approach that is considered to affect the respective computer devices remain advised by the nature of the information that aspires to be extracted. Apparently, search warrants are developed to in anticipation of the information to be established. Such observations regarding the particulars of these searches allows them to be regarded as rather exceptional from routine searches. The concern is further complicated by the elemental superiority associated to computers, especially on user security. Additionally, computers remain regarded as the best exemplification of personal space. The implication of these thoughts proposes the enforcement of a search warrant on these devices. However, the warrant should not be regarded or spelt under the

Monday, October 28, 2019

Features of bluetooth technology Essay Example for Free

Features of bluetooth technology Essay The logo for Bluetooth is based on Runes surrounding the legend of Harald Bluetooth. Bluetooth the technology is based on communications central to man’s own personal space. Fundamentally Bluetooth operates within the Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band at 2. 4 GHz. It is a short-range wireless communication standard defined as cable replacement for a Personal Area Network (PAN) (see â€Å"Bluetooth†. Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge, pp. 87-94). Figure 1 is the Bluetooth Logo. A cable replacement standard has been defined because cables limit mobility of the consumer; they are cumbersome to carry around, are easily lost or broken. Often connectors are prone to difficult to diagnose failures; or are proprietary. To counteract these limitations Bluetooth is designed to be light and portable. It can be embedded to take the riggers of physical knocks and shocks. It includes standards and protocols to make it mobile, robust, reliable and not limited to one manufacturer (see â€Å"Bluetooth†. Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge, pp. 87-94). The operating band also fits the goals of Bluetooth, imposing requirements as a cable replacement. The cost needs to be comparable with cable. Reductions can be achieved by operating in the licence free 2. 4 GHz ISM band, keeping backward compatibility wherever possible lowers the cost of ownership by avoiding upgrades and having a relaxed radio specification enables single chip integrated circuit solutions. It also needs to be as reliable and resilient as cable and cope with errors and degradation caused by interference. For mobile devices it must be compact, lightweight, low power and easy to use (see â€Å"Bluetooth†. Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge, pp. 87-94). A. 1 Frequency Hopping We have addressed the reasons for the Bluetooth without delving into the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the technology to discover how it operates. For the majority of countries the ISM band used by Bluetooth is available from 2. 40-2. 4835 GHz, although some countries impose restrictions. In this band Bluetooth uses Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) techniques in order to improve its immunity from interference (see J. Bray and C. F. Sturman, Bluetooth: Connect Without Cables†, Prentice Hall). In unrestricted countries the radios hop in pseudo random sequences around all available channels, this equates to 79 RF channels with a channel spacing of 1 MHz. Starting at a base frequency of 2402 MHz then the frequency of the channels, f, can be expressed as: f =2402 + n MHz where, n, is the channel number with an integer value in the range of 0 to 78. In restricted countries a limited frequency hopping schemes with just 23 channels is used and is catered for in the Bluetooth specification. Both hopping schemes have a 1 MHz channel spacing making it possible to design a simple radio interface whereby the baseband only has to specify a channel number and the radio multiplies this up to the appropriate frequency offset (see J. Bray and C. F. Sturman, Bluetooth: Connect Without Cables†, Prentice Hall). In this FHSS scheme there are 1600 hops per second, which is a hop every 625  µs. Part of this hop timing is taken up by the guard time of 220  µs allowing the synthesizer time to settle. The frequency hopping implements time division multiplexing as shown in Figure 2. The basis of the scheme has the Master device transmitting in the first 625 us slot, k, and here the Slave receives. In the next slot k = 1 the Slave is permitted to transmit and the master listens (see J.Bray and C. F. Sturman, Bluetooth: Connect Without Cables†, Prentice Hall). Figure 2: Frequency Hopping, master and slave interact on corresponding slots The radio must be able to retune and stabilise on a new frequency within tight time constraints. This is pushed further when establishing a connection; the hop rate can be shortened to every 312. 5 us. As the radios are constantly hopping to different radio channels, this ensures that packets affected by interference on one channel can be retransmitted on a different frequency channel. To further enhance resilience both ARQ (Automatic Repeat reQuest) and FEC (Forward Error Correction) form part of the specification (see J. Bray and C. F. Sturman, Bluetooth: Connect Without Cables†, Prentice Hall). One drawback with the normal hop sequence is the time taken for production testing. Bluetooth ensures adequate frequency coverage with a test sequence allowing the radios to be tested at a faster rate (see J. Bray and C. F. Sturman, Bluetooth: Connect Without Cables†, Prentice Hall).

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Hinduism Origins :: essays research papers

The origins of the Hindu religion can be traced back to the year 5000 BCE. The word Hindu is a very old word. In ancient times, the river Indus was called â€Å"Hindu† by the Persians who had migrated there. They also called the land Hindustan and it’s inhabitants, Hindus. After that, the religion that followed was called Hinduism. Hinduism is also referred to by practitioners as Sanatana Dharma. This means â€Å"the eternal faith†. Hinduism is not strictly a religion. More than a religion, it is a way of life. Hinduism has no founder, Anyone who practices Dharma can call himself a Hindu. Hinduism is based on the practice of Dharma, which is the code of life. Hinduism has been their way of life for many years. Scholars are confused, it seems to be that Hinduism has no founder. Has been traced to about the year 5000 BCE to the Indus Valley civilization. Development of Hinduism influenced throughout the years by many invasions. Biggest invasion is believed to be the Aryan invasion, circa 1500 BCE. Aryans were light-skinned nomadic people from the steppes of Russia and Central Asia. When they invaded India, they brought with them religion of Vedism. Beliefs mixed with more advanced beliefs of the Indians, creating Hinduism. Early Vedism was the early earth and life changing belief that the battle loving tribes needed. lso believed that Hinduism is derived from Animism. Animism is the belief that every thing and person has a powerful spirit in them or a soul. This spirit is supposed to be capable of helping or harming human beings. This faith is very popular. In fact, if an animist were to want to cut down a tree, he would first explain to the tree how it will be used and then asks for permission to cut it down. That is why many people like the North American Indians used every part of the animal that they killed. During the tTime of the invasions many things changed. The Rig-Veda was composed during the early beginnings of the Hindu religion. The Rig-Veda is a collection of 1, 280 hymns to the gods. There are also three other collections, which were added later. They are called the Samaveda, the Yajurveda and the Atharvaveda. Between the years 800 and 600 BC, a body of style writings called the Brahmanans was attached the Vedas. These writings contain explanations of the ceremonies mentioned in the Vedas.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Beowulf: Movie or Poem? Essay

Before watching the Beowulf movie, I had the opportunity to read the poem along with ghthe class. I thought the movie was going to be a slight different from the epic poem, but that it was still going to stick to the message that the poem had given us. As we started to watch the movie, I noticed that I as completely wrong because the movie is almost completely different from the epic poem. The movie kept very few elements from the original epic poem. In the poem, Grendel attacks Heorot because he is a descendent of Cain that has been exiled into darkness. The movie let us know that Grendel was the son of Hrothgar, the king. Grendel could not attack or go against God himself, so he took it against God’s followers. In the movie, Grendel attacked Heorot because he cannot stand music and singing. Noise really bothered his head and ears. In both the movie and poem, Beowulf fights Grendel without any kind of weapons or armor because Grendel isn’t using any of that either. Beowulf wants it to be a fair fight. Beowulf tears Grendel’s arm off and hangs it up; I think to symbolize the victory. Another major difference to me, is that in the poem, Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother as soon as possible, while in the movie somehow Beowulf is seduced by her. Beowulf never kills Grendel’s mother. I think the movie producers took a really big leap in this part, it went completely different from the epic poem. Grendel’s mother is also described as a lizard-type of creature that was unappealing and unattractive. Completely opposite to the epic poem, Grendel’s mother was provocative and seductive in the movie, maybe this is the reason why Beowulf gives in to her. As a result of this matter, Beowulf becomes the father of a dragon. The epic poem never mentions about Beowulf becoming a father, he was always loyal and faithful to his wife. Finally in the poem, Beowulf returns to his homeland, where he became old  and became king. Beowulf had to fight the dragon along with his knights working as a team, but instead, the knights had given up and weren’t helping him at all. Wiglaf is the only person who reaches out and helps him fight the dragon. This signifies that the Anglo-Saxon Era was coming to an end. Despite all of this, Beowulf never gives up, he fights to the end. In the movie, Beowulf never returns to his homeland, instead he becomes king of the Danes as a result of Hrothgar’s suicide. Beowulf ends up killing the dragon in both versions, but in the movie, Beowulf seemed to have lost the heroic, fearless, and courageous values. Beowulf just seemed like he had given up. Maybe it was culpability about all his lies that had finally got to him. I enjoyed reading the poem much better than watching the movie. I think the movie- producers shouldn’t have taken so much out of the original poem. They made Beowulf seem like a completely different person. The original Beowulf poem portrayed many of the Anglo-Saxon values, while in the movie, it just seemed like they didn’t portray any of them at all. I wanted to see Beowulf just like they portrayed him in the poem. I wanted to see Beowulf being an honorable and heroic figure that never gave up on it’s people.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Problem Analysis Contract Law

An offer must be firm and demonstrate clear intent, whereas an acceptance must accept the term of the offer unqualifiedly. It should be noted that in the usual case, communication of acceptance and consideration are also essential to constitute a valid acceptance. If all elements are found to exist, the contract will be complete, and Lain will be bound to fulfill his promise. Offer The first issue to address is whether an offer exists. Lain would presumably argue that his statement was merely a puff and lacked intention to be acted upon as he announced it impulsively under the influence of alcohol, and the offer does not give him any benefit.This is, however, a weak argument. The general rule is that the intention of the parties should be assessed objectively, as in Smith v Hughes (1871) LORD 6 CB 597 where Blackburn] stated that the promises conduct should be considered in a way that appears to a reasonable man. The phrase â€Å"would pay El 0,000† exhibits both certainty and intention, because it has stated the exact amount of reward and the wordings shows immediate readiness to be bound. His claim is particularly convincing given his wealth. A reasonable man would therefore believe that Lain did intend to pay the reward if the stated condition was fulfilled.Similar to Williams v Cowardice (1833) 5 Car & P 566, there is only a promise made by one party. Lanai's statement appears to represent a unilateral offer that would be converted into a binding contract once the required act has been performed. This would be further discussed in the following. Acceptance In unilateral contracts, performance of the stipulated act constitutes the acceptance of offer (Cargill v carbonic smoke gall co. [1893] 1 CB 256 (CA)). Both crews have performed the act of â€Å"crossing the finish line† ahead of Lanai's yacht.However, it is highlighted that the current case differs from Cargill v Carbonic Smoke Ball Co. In that it is arguable whether or not anyone who has completed the performance can claim the reward. On one hand, it can be said that since Lanai's offer does not state any conditions, crossing the finishing line is sufficient in itself. This argument is, however, suggesting that any random yacht that happens to cross the finish line by incident is also entitled to the reward, which makes little sense. The court is more likely to accept that only qualified competitors who crossed the knish line ahead of Lanai's yacht should be considered.This is indeed supported by the fact that the crew of † Moon Amour† joined the competition upon knowing the offer. It shows that the offered also understands that being a qualified competitor is a prerequisite. By entering the race, both crews have agreed to the Race Rules and therefore, they should be bound by such rules. In Clarke v Dungaree [1 897] AC 59, the court stated that when the party understands that the race is to be run under a particular set of regulations, and that he delibe rately enter for the race upon those terms, he is bound by such rules.Whilst the crew of â€Å"Bell Raider', being a qualified competitor, had fulfilled the conditions of Lanai's offer, since the French crew was not officially recognized by the race officials due to a breach of the Race Rules, it can hardly be said that the latter has validly accepted Lanai's offer. Communication of acceptance Whilst communication of acceptance is needed in the usual case, in unilateral contract, the offer showed by his language and from the nature of the contract that he waived the need to communicate (Cargill v Carbonic Smoke Ball Co. ).Whether Lain received notice of the performance is irrelevant to the matter at hand. Consideration The agreement has to be supported by consideration in a legally enforceable contract. To determine if there is consideration, it brings up the debate of whether reliance is essential. Lord Dunedin, in Dunlop Pneumatic Tree Co. Ltd v Selfridges & Co. Ltd [191 5] AC 84 7, 855 defined consideration as â€Å"an act or forbearance of one party, or the promise thereof, is the price for which the promise of the other is brought, and the promise thus given for value is enforceable†.Following his definition, obviously, both crews' act Of crossing the finish line, in return for the reward, is treated as good consideration. The answer would be less certain if reliance is required. In the book The Law of Contract, Triple asserts that an act or forbearance would not be consideration â€Å"where the promises would have accomplished the act or forbearance anyway†. This view was supported by R v Clarke (1927) 40 CLC 227, where the court held that the claimant could not recover the reward because his concern was not the reward when he gave the information.In other words, the claimant had not â€Å"act in reliance upon† the offer. It is a matter of debate if this prevailing view is in fact erroneous, as argued by Paul Mitchell and John Philip s in â€Å"Is reliance essential? † , but this is not the current concern. Assuming that this general view is still correct, the French crew's acceptance was clearly motivated by the offer as they did not intend to participate in the race until Lain ‘s announcement. But in the case of â€Å"Bell Raider†, there is insufficient information to tell if their crew did act in reliance to the offer.There may be three different situations depends on the facts. Firstly, if the situation is identical to that of the French crew, they act in reliance to the offer for the same reason. Secondly, if evidence shows that â€Å"Bell Raider will join and win the match even without Lanai's offer, their performance cannot be regarded as consideration as there is no reliance. Thirdly, if â€Å"Bell Raider† will join the match but not necessarily reach the destination ahead of Lanai's yacht, it can still be argued that the reward motivated the crew to outperform themselves and thus, there is reliance.