Marijuana Should Be Banned Marijuana - 1667 Words

Cannabis, otherwise known as marijuana, is a way of preparing the marijuana plant so that it can be used as medicine or a psychoactive drug. It is the most extensively banned drug in Britain. However, many local societies and organizations advocate a reform of its validity. These include NORML UK, UKCSC Drug Equality Alliance, as well as Cannabis Law Reform. Other societies such as the Centre for Social Justice and Skunk Sense argue in favour of cannabis remaining illegal (UK Government, 2014). There is a widespread belief that Queen Victoria used cannabis to help relieve menstrual pain. It was also used for other purposes: for instance, as food additives, or as clothing material. Cannabis and its products have historically been so popular in Britain that its use remains a problem among the country’s citizens. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom shows that a liberal approach to policy helps to reduce cannabis use in the country. In mid-2003, Britain efficiently changed its rules about cannabis, giving police officers the opportunity, do not use police alarms for criminals who have been caught for the first time of possession of cannabis (for personal use). Earlier, the accused judged in court. But now, police have warned the culprits directly on the street. All the warnings are recorded in the private affair, but it is not for the trial in court (Turnbull, 2009; Warburton, May and Hough, 2005). System to prevent the use of cannabis, representing the liberal approach of theShow MoreRelatedMarijuana Should Not Be Banned Essay1560 Words   |  7 PagesWithin today’s society, Cannabis is seen as a harmful substance of such negative controversy. Marijuana is a very prominent and controversial issue in society today. Despite many malicious allegations have been made regarding marijuana today, the truth of what marijuana’s real dangers are are beginning to come about again. Sadly, these facts have been held under considerable judgement because of what people stereotype a pot smoker as. This has been brought under heavy criticism due to the stereotypicalRead MoreMarijuana Should Be Banned Marijuana944 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout the history of agriculture, the marijuana plant, also known as cannabis or hemp has been extensively used as a source of medicine, fiber, and intoxicant. In the ancient folklore and writings of China and India, the earliest known descrip tions of cannabis are evident. According to historians, marijuana was mostly used a ritual intoxicant and later on, it found significance in folk medicine. The practice of smoking of marijuana has only appeared recently. There has been a lot of literatureRead MoreMarijuana Should Not Be Banned Marijuana1282 Words   |  6 PagesCannabis, also known as marijuana, is largely known for its use as a psychoactive drug and medicine. It’s become a controversial issue as many people are against legalizing it because they believe it is a gateway drug (a drug that isn’t necessarily addictive, but can lead the user to use more addictive drugs) or for other reasons. Others, such as Daniel J. Pfeifer, support the legalization of marijuana for recreational and/or medicinal use. As a law student, Pfeifer argues the federal government’sRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Banned Marijuana?1796 Words   |  8 Pagesseveral ways a person can consume marijuana. The first and most popula r way is by smoking it. Cannabis can be rolled into a joint, or smoked through a pipe. The next is by vaporizing. Vaporizing the marijuana heats it up to the point it becomes a vapor. Vaporizing is a safer alternative to smoking marijuana. Vaporizing the marijuana reduces the amount of harmful smoke that will affect the throat and lungs. Another way is by using topical agents. This means the marijuana is applied directly to the skinRead MoreMarijuana Should Be Banned Marijuana1449 Words   |  6 PagesMarijuana has been used throughout history since before the 1600s and the timeline has continue to today. But it did not become an issue until the 1900s through 1920s after the Mexican Revolution. During this time many Mexicans immigrants arrived in overwhelming amounts into the United States introducing marijuana as a recreational drug to Americans and its culture. As a result, many Mexican immigrants became associated with marijuana and the terror and preconception that they all u sed marijuanaRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Banned? Essay1267 Words   |  6 PagesTo begin with marijuana is a natural plant grown in countries outside of the US. However, marijuana known to naturally grow from the earth, which its natural state is a dry leafy flower stem or in medical terms labeled hemp plant or Cannabis Sativa. Next, the active ingredient in marijuana contains mind altering chemicals called THC (9-tetrahydrocannabinol) and other related compounds made, from the cannabis plant. Not to mention, marijuana is the most widespread illegal drug used, in addition toRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Banned?854 Words   |  4 Pagesalone, tobacco was to blame for an overwhelming 435,000 deaths. In the whole past of humanity, marijuana has never been documented as a reason of death. Not one person in noted history has died due to the consumption of cannabis. (Annual Cause of Death in the United States.). However, marijuana has been connected to short term memory loss and to a fa intly condensed lung volume when habitually inhaled. Marijuana also impairs judgment and motor skills, but its effects are nowhere near as severe as thoseRead MoreShould The Marijuana Be Banned?2782 Words   |  12 Pagescashier. I asked her what she thought the chances were that we would see a store similar in size to the Liquor Barn that sold just cannabis, Doritos, assorted chocolates, and other various ‘munchables’. Such a store might be called Weed World or Marijuana Mart. The cashier looked at me like I was an idiot and I saw my wife give the cashier a look that said â€Å"now you can see why I need the wine.† I spent five minutes explaining myself and as a result, a not so funny joke was turned into something thatRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Banned?951 Words   |  4 Pagesrate of drug consumed. Most times the easy way seems like the best way out, the use of drugs, especially steroids for boosting up performance anywhere should not be encouraged, but whe n people demand for the best from everything, what choice is given? Legalizing Steroids the United States would have a huge effect on everyone, just like marijuana. There are different articles, and documentary of several cases of steroids; their types, their effects and result, the thought of researching, and presentingRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Banned? Essay909 Words   |  4 Pages Marijuana is now partially decriminalized in 24 states including DC and legal for recreational use in 4 states. Due to new medical studies, and the consequences on those convicted from use of the most common illicit drug in the world, the United States is being forced to rethink its stance on the matter. The fundamental argument about Marijuana in this country is: should Marijuana continue to be prohibited to citizens based on its health effects and/or medicinal values? Marijuana is the most commonly

Comparing The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Most...

The purpose of this paper will be the comparing and contrasting of two short stories previously read and interpreted by the writer. The two stories chosen were â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson, and â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game† by Richard Connell. These two stories seem to have nothing in common, as they have two separate meanings in two separate eras. However, the moral of each story draws similarity, the author’s paints a picture to keep the audience open minded therefore connecting them in distinct ways. Explain the era of both stories Year and how the story correlates to the time Settings Show if the settings make the stories believable or credible - Island of most dangerous game/How the island was a course to hunt - The mystery of the†¦show more content†¦Then there is the actually lottery, were the drawings of a ticket by a villager. Just like a lottery this person is responsible to receive there â€Å"winnings†. After everyone, raffles out there sheet of paper, there is a ritual performed were families gather. Then the family members have to draw their numbers. Finally, Tess Hutchinson receives the winnings; a piece of paper with a black dot present. We soon realize that in fact, this is no winning at all; the black dot is a sign of death. To be stoned by the villagers of the town to keep ritual alive. End of story! Some of the audience might be left in a state of mind were they feel incomplete and think the story was poorly told in these fictions. Yet, others left to think about why this ritual even exists, and why Mrs Hutchinson was to be the one chosen. To answer the question about why this lottery even exist the character â€Å"old man warner† can explain. He explains that there is some kind of connection between the ritual and the corn in the village. He stated, â€Å"Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon†. This tells us that this is some sort of fertility ritual, were if someone dies, it brings great fortune to the land. In order to receive life, they take a life. The fiction story â€Å"the most dangerous game† gives you a different aspect. In this story, a man named Rainsford who is a hunter that really does not care about his prey was on a ship where he has fallen out to sea. After being out at sea, he finallyShow MoreRelatedComparing The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell And The Lottery1080 Words   |  5 PagesOutline Eng 102 Thesis: When comparing â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game† by Richard Connell and â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson. Both the authors stress the purity of life. How somethings are done just because, with no true value generation after generation. I. Introduction A. Thesis Statement B. â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game† by Richard Connell C.† The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson II. Main Characters A. â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game† by Richard Connell 1. General Zaroff: Presider of the Game. Highly educated and loves

Food of Askew Vresus Wal-Mart-.com

Question: Discuss about the Askew's Foods Vresus Wal-Mart. Answer: Summary: Askews Foods Inc. located in Canada is facing major business threats due to the evolving of new , powerful and potential competitor, Wal-Mart in the same location. Moreover, Askews is yet to build it other new branch in the downtown of Salmon Arm. David Askew , the CEO, of the Askews is planning to go with the development of new market by providing the local customers with quality goods at fair prices. Moreover, it will maintain the age-old tradition of providing sustainable and environmental friendly product to thrive in the competitive market. Symptoms: The symptoms responsible for the major problems are the expansion of the local markets. The strengths of Askews and Walmart relative to the local market are that both the organization are experienced for more than 70 years in the local market and the products to serve the customer need are affordable and sustainable in nature. The products used by Wal-Marts are healthy and organic foods. On the other hand, Askews produces environmental friendly and sustainable products. Whereas, the weakness are that there are high employees turnover that lead to the declining of employees loyalty (Grant, 2016). Moreover, the limited product differentiation relative to local market is a major problem (Hollensen, 2015). Furthermore, if Salmon Arms Savings and Credit Unions (SASCU) approve Walmart for the financial support, Askews business is going to be affected. Major Problems: If new Wal-Mart store is being opened in Salmon Arm, then Askews have to open its new uptown store in eastern side of Salmon Arm. The major problem or issues the competitor should be addressing in the local business environment are the industry rivalry due to the threat of substitute products (Santos and Laczniak, 2015). Innovative and latest technological upgrade make the business condition more exaggerated. Moreover, the bargaining power of suppliers besides the customers is a greater issue that can influence the productivity of the organization (Dobbs, 2014). The evolving threats due to the potential upcoming and powerful competitor are a matter of great concern. Askews has to develop a new business strategy in order to thrive in the competitive environment. Cause: The cause of the major problem is the entry of Walmart in the market as Askews market condition is going to be affected. Walmart is a giant multi-national company and one of the biggest retailers in the world. However, the product of Askews is sustainable but Walmart products are more cheap and organic in nature. Moreover, Walmart is recently offering online shopping for their customers, which provide the customer the convenience of shopping from their homes. If I were on the Askews Board, I would suggest Davids plan to develop the state of art building at the eastern side of Salmon Arm to be a better option than no new development at all. As, Wal-mart entry in the business market would adversely affect the general merchandise and local supermarket s and would be a serious threat for Askews current downtown location. Moreover, the new proposed building is five kilometer away from the Wal-marts potential new location, thus it is preferable to go with this plan. References: Dobbs, M. (2014). Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates.Competitiveness Review,24(1), 32-45. Grant, R. M. (2016).Contemporary Strategy Analysis Text Only. John Wiley Sons. Hollensen, S. (2015).Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education. Santos, N., Laczniak, G. (2015). Marketing to the poor: A SWOT analysis of the Market Construction Model for engaging impoverished market segments.Social Business,5(2).

response paper 1 PHIL 1010 Essays - Philosophy, Articles, Assumption

Suppressing False Views and Mill's Liberty Principle Santiago Arango ID:0983059 Introduction to Philosophy 1010 Professor Bromhall October 14, 2018 Mill's harm principle states that the only actions that should be prevented are the ones that directly harm other people. The harm could be that it injures them physically, infringes on their natural rights, or sets back important interests that could benefit others. It means that as long you do not directly harm others or their rights-based interests you are free to do whatever it is you like. For example, drug addiction and suicide are things that would merely offend some people without directly harming them. An offense is something Mill would say hurt someone else's feelings' These are less serious, and you should not limit someone's freedoms over it. What may offend one person might not offend another person. A better example of this is saying you are going to kill yourself, only your loved ones and people who know you will be upset and offended but that does not mean every single human on earth will react the same way. I make a clear difference in harm' and offence' to proper ly clarify the principle. Mill justifies his harm principle by pointing out that suppressing people's views can lead to dead dogmas, false claims of infallibility, and the loss of partial truths.According to Mill's formulation of the Liberty Principle, it is morally impermissible to suppress false views because "we lose a way to challenge, reconsider, and perhaps reaffirm, our true views." By suppressing those opinions, you are no longer challenging the views that are held true. "However true it may be, if it is not fully, frequently, and fearlessly discussed, it will be held as a dead dogma, not a living truth." A dead dogma is something that someone believes to be true but does not fully understand why. Censoring false views that would otherwise challenge the true views would cause harm to future generations of people as they would forget why they held those views to be true in the first place. The only argument they might come up with is "that's just how it's always been therefor e it must be true." It stops the view from being a living truth if it is not constantly challenged. Mill says, "we go to sleep at the post as soon as there is no enemy in the field." If the false views themselves are also not constantly challenged there is a chance that it will gain a popularity. A historical example of this is the Nazi party of Germany's racist ideas and antisemitism. If the government or state completely suppressed those views they might gain a following because people do not know why the views are being suppressed in the first place. Without an open discussion to continuously discredit the false views, people would no longer know why the views are false in the first place.As Wolff interprets Mill's view on knowing, "between our being certain of a view, and the view being certain. Not to recognize this is to assume infallibility." Mill is saying it is never ok to suggest that something is for certain. He uses the case of Socrates as examples of infallibility. He p erished in a society where it was assumed that the established traditions and laws could not be wrong. Socrates was tried by an honest Judge who was just doing his duties and acting in good faith. The point of the example is to show that humans can make massive errors and that we have no right to ever claim infallibility. Further examples that show this are how the earth was once thought to be flat or how Pluto was once considered a planet. There are many ideas we would recognize as being absurd today that were considered true in the past. Avoidance of infallibility is something that Mill would advocate because no view or idea can ever truly be for certain.As seen previously there can be false views that are true and the true views that are false. There is also the idea of partial truths which are statements containing some truths together with some falsehoods. There is a chance unpopular ideas and opinions might have some truths to

LAW †English Legal System

LAW – English Legal System Free Online Research Papers ‘The law’ may be used to describe a scientific fact (e.g. the law of gravity), a particular system (e.g. the law of England) or a recognized legal area (e.g. the law of contract). Nevertheless, more generally, it connotes a series of rules (each called ‘a law’) that governs people’s behaviour. These rules may sometimes be supplemented by certain established principles, and common examples in English Law are the maxims ignorantia juris neminem excusat (‘ignorance of the law excuses no man’), likewise ex turpi causa non oritur actio (‘a legal action does not arise from a base cause’ e.g. a contract to commit a crime is unenforceable). Morality and law The value-concepts of right and wrong form the basis of morality and, although this is closely interwoven with religion, a distinction must be drawn between the two – as one concerns the relationship between people, whereas the other establishes it between mankind and some higher power. Nowadays the law regards some kinds of behaviour (e.g. parking offences) as criminal although, in general, they may not be looked upon as morally wrong. Likewise, other forms of conduct (e.g. adultery) may be morally condemned but not legally prohibited. Yet again, some practices considered to be immoral (e.g. lying) are illegal only in certain circumstances (as in the case of perjury or misleading trade descriptions). It has been argued that the law should proscribe all immoral acts, as failure to do so will ultimately cause the disintegration of society. The impracticality of this, however, stems from the plurality of cultures and values in our society (whereby there is a total lack of consensus over particular moral issues, e.g. abortion), as well as from the evolutionary nature of morality (whereby what is immoral and criminal at one moment might not be so shortly afterwards). As deviance (the breaking of rules) can be said to be created by the very framing of those rules one should examine the manner in which any particular moral attitude (as oppose to a competing one) becomes embodied in the law. Often it simply reflects the views of a restricted section of society (politicians, judges, etc.) at one moment. Legislation of morality ‘for its own sake’ is notably exemplified by the so called victimless crimes which involve only the participants themselves (e.g. smoking cannabis). There is thus a school of thought to the effect that, although morality and law are interrelated, there are some aspects of human behaviour w hich may be considered immoral but which should not be legally proscribed so long as they do not harm other people (e.g. homosexual practices between consenting adults in private). The Concept of Justice Justice, the ultimate goal towards which the law should strive, is but one segment of morality because, although unjust acts (e.g. unjustifiably punishing one child more than another) may be considered immoral, the converse is not true and immoral acts (e.g. cruelty to children) cannot be described as just. ‘Fairness’ is the closest synonym to justice, a vital function of which is the attainment of equality. Some lawyers tend only to be concerned with formal justice – i.e. fairness in the application of valid law and the conduct of trials – whereby like cases are treated alike under existing rules which are generally and impartially applied. Laymen, however, are more prone to take entirely subjective views on substantive justice – i.e. fairness in the substance of the law and in the outcome of trials. Research Papers on LAW - English Legal SystemCapital PunishmentComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)Genetic EngineeringThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite Religion

How to Answer the Biggest Challenge Interview Question

How to Answer the Biggest Challenge Interview Question Part of the interview process is taking a frank look at challenges you’ve faced in your previous jobs. The interviewer is trying to figure out how you would approach problem solving in your new role, and see if there are any red flags. (Hint: â€Å"Dealing with the stupid people around me† is never gonna be your ideal answer when asked about previous challenges in your professional life.) If the interviewer does ask you a question like, â€Å"What’s the most difficult part of being a [current job title]?† or â€Å"What was the toughest part of your last job?† here are ways you can frame it to make yourself look awesome.DO think about this beforehand.It’s a common enough question that the interviewer can reasonably expect you to be ready to think on your feet. If you need a review on some of the most common interview questions, head over to this article on the most common interview questions.DON’T pretend your career has been a breeze u p to this point.It can seem tempting to make it look like you handled every issue with the ease of Roger Federer returning a serve–but making it seem like you never had any challenges or struggles won’t make you look like some kind of suave champ. It’ll make the interviewer think you’re a) not taking the question seriously; b) can’t think on your feet; or worse, c) being dishonest.DO tailor your answer to fit the job description of the position for which you’re interviewing.Unless you’re making a big career change or applying for a big stretch position, chances are your previous experiences will work nicely with the needs here. Before the interview, review the tasks and responsibilities associated with this job, and dig back in your mental archive for similar issues you’ve tackled in your current or previous jobs. Try to avoid purely personal anecdotes (about family or friend conflicts). The interviewer isn’t interviewin g a buddy, he or she is looking for a strong employee.DO be specific about why your challenges were challenges.You want to show off your problem-solving process, so offer as much context as possible so that the interviewer can see how you’re connecting your past with your present (and ideally your future) professional self. Also, sum up with what you learned from the experience. (Example: After we got through the event totally shorthanded, I developed a â€Å"Plan B† coverage system that meant we always had backup in case we found ourselves in another crunch.)DO make sure your anecdotes show you in a positive light.You don’t get bonus points for brutal honesty here. If you were facing a challenge because of a mistake or because you dropped a ball, that’s not the one to highlight here. Focus on situations where your actions made you a hero (small h, no kitten rescuing necessary), not situations that featured you digging out of a hole you made yourself. Tho ugh even heroics aren’t necessary- if you were part of a team that had to solve an issue, and you took charge of any part of the process, that’s fine too. You want to demonstrate strong leadership and problem solving, whatever you choose to highlight.DON’T panic if you don’t have a very long work history.If you’re just out of school or are otherwise just starting out, this question can be daunting- how would you have had work challenges if you haven’t really worked yet? In this case, it’s totally fine to use an example from your education, or your volunteer work, or other activities (sports, extracurriculars, etc.). Again, though, make sure you tie it to your professional life, and especially the job description. Make sure it demonstrates your leadership skills, not your failures.

Physics lab report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Physics - Lab Report Example The experiment made use of a glider placed in an air track and suspended on two springs. The setup is at rest and remains at rest because the springs subject an equal force on the glider; they cancel each other; it is at a stable equilibrium position. The force applied on the setup in particular direction results a net force that acts on the glider and tries to return to the equilibrium state. The combined forces pull in a manner that the resultant force takes It to the original position; determined as restoring force. When the glider is brought to the original position, it is still under the influence of velocity and therefore goes beyond the default position by overshoot moving to the opposite direction from the earlier force. The overshoot results in the whole drag to equilibrium starting all over again. The back and forth motion is referred to as an oscillation. Mathematically known as sine and cosine function; simple harmonic motion. To analyze the problem let x be an instantaneous position of the glider while x0 is the equilibrium position. When the glider moves from the equilibrium position, the restoring force is F. without applying too much force resultant forces are linear hence force equation is; It implies that when the glider moves away from the equilibrium, restoring force becomes bigger. F is proportional to x. k is the spring constant. The sign (-) represents the restoration character of the force in the setup. A positive different in (x-x0) indicates that the force is negative x direction. A negative (x-x0) implies a positive force direction. Given a displacement initially A = x-x0, F = -kA, and accelerates towards the negative x-axis towards equilibrium; x = x0 where the restoring force is zero. It passes beyond x0 to the opposite direction and arrives with x-x0 = -A at zero velocity and it is pulled back. This forth and back motion goes on and results to oscillations. Without friction, kinetic energy and potential energy remain the

Are cell phones dangerous Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Are cell phones dangerous - Essay Example This is the main reason why the wireless industry dismisses the idea that cell phones are dangerous. This paper argues that the public should not easily overlook the possible harms of long-term cell phone use. Using cell phones can lead to cancer and critically harm children, especially since independent studies indicate potential biological effects of cell phone use. Extensive cell phone use can change or heat biological tissues enough to possibly cause cancer or other cellular changes. Walsh highlights the 1995 study of Lai, who co-wrote a study demonstrating that a â€Å"single two-hour exposure of RF radiation,† which are the levels deemed as safe by U.S. standards, had genetically damaged rats’ brain cells enough that they developed cancer (48). Other studies could not replicate the same findings, but they are funded by the wireless industry, stresses Walsh (48). ... Graham-Rowe stresses that William Stewart, the leader of the British government's â€Å"independent expert group† on mobile phones has taken these findings on a serious note. Graham-Rowe interviews Stewart who states: â€Å"These results are very important and potentially far-reaching. Independent confirmation is crucial and we need this quickly† (4). Graham-Rowe explains that microwaves normally do not have enough energy to damage even weak chemical bonds in human cells, so scientists think that they cannot make enough damage, unless they can heat up the cells (4). Heating up cells may be an effect of cell phones that come from the long-term human use of these gadgets. These studies provide some evidence that it is possible that cell phones, however weak their radio-frequency (RF) radiation may be, can introduce changes at cellular levels, especially at the present prevalence of cell phone use. Other studies provide findings that the same energies and heat from cell ph ones can result to changes in biological tissues. Graham-Rowe reports on another scientific research done by David de Pomerai at the University of Nottingham. De Pomerai affirms that cell phone radiation can impact nematode worms, though heating is not enough to explain it (5). Based on Graham-Rowe’s interview, De Pomerai's team discovered that nematode worms that are exposed to microwaves at frequencies comparable to those released by a cell phone, â€Å"increased the number of worms that go on to produce eggs† (5). The same energy and heat emitted by cell phones have caused these animals to become more fertile. This study suggests that it is possible that cell phone has radiation levels that are high enough to warming cells or to induce some cellular level of changes.

Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

Of Mice and Men Essay Explain how Steinbeck presents the character of crooks in of mice and men. What is the significance of his role? Explain how Steinbeck presents the character of crooks in of mice and men. What is the significance of his role? In the novel Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck, the author, uses the character of Crooks to represent racism and show the marginalization of the black community occurring at the time in which the novel is set (1930’s). Crook provides the reality of the Jim Crow law and the feelings of all the ranchers: their loneliness and need for company. We first hear of the Name Crooks when Candy calls him a nigger, this is meant as a white insult, in 2013 this would of be seen as racism and unacceptable. Candy also mentions Christmas when crooks had a fight with smitty. ‘So he took after the nigger, done pretty good too. The guys wouldn’t let him use his feet, so the nigger got him’ this implies that the term nigger is acceptable at the time period is in the 1930s during the Depression era and is what they would. The term nigger is used by most of the ranchers, Steinbeck proves that the term is used originally and black people were seen as unworthy. Crooks got his name from his crooked back,† this was from when he had a horse kicking him in the back. John Steinbeck describes Crooks room as a â€Å"little shed that leaned of the wall of the barn† Steinbeck uses the phrase ‘’leaned’’ this is explaining the conditions or his room and how he had to live even the fact that he has to live with horses when the other men have a bunk house and get to play cards and sleep in appropriate beds show that crooks was treated differently. Steinbeck also uses the description of ‘Crooks bunk was a long box filled with straw, Steinbeck uses this to show that he had a completely different way of living unlike the white men in the bunkhouse as they slept in proper beds on the other hand he also tells us about crooks possessions, â€Å"battered magazines and a few dirty books’’, ‘’tattered dictionary’’ this Is another way of showing how passionate he is about his rights and how much he reads. ] He mentions to lennie after their argument about George that when he was a kid he lived on a farm with chickens and had a strawberry patch and fed them alfalfa it looked almost like George and lennies real American dream. Crooks gets judged by the whites at the ranch. As he says â€Å"If I say something, why its just a nigger sayin it and this shows his anger at being pushed to the side. Being judged has made him look cruel, but also has turned him into a man who needs sympathy. Crooks confront Lennie and say You got no right to come in my room.. You go on get outa my room. I aint wanted in the bunkhouse and you aint wanted in my room. He’s trying to show Lennie that black people are segregated to white people and treated completely different he owns ‘Californian civil code ‘he is desperate to knows his rights as it says the verb ‘mauled copy’ this also shows when he uses mauled it’s the state of the book that its ripped and in a state because he has spent so much time to read the book. Steinbeck uses crooks in a full chapter to show to the reads how important the character crooks was to him and the significance of his roll we can tell by reading this chapter how much he wanted to get his point across about racism in his time, This gives us a feeling of sympathy for crooks because he was on his own in the barn, This is because of the other ranchers was racist and segregated. In a section in the book Steinbeck mentions were Curleys wife comes in and argues with crooks because crooks lashed out she threatened to get crooks lynched Steinbeck uses this part to show even the hated of them all can get a black person

Being My Own Advocate :: English Literature Essays

Being My Own Advocate â€Å"Oh my, Lauren, I can’t believe my eyes!† This is all I could hear ringing in my ears when my parents opened my report card. You see, growing up dyslexic, I always needed to work harder, and I did so successfully until I began high school. I never really knew how to be my own advocate; my parents were always there for me. I grew up with private tutors and learning programs throughout my whole life. Being gifted, I was able to compensate until high school. I know we were both overwhelmed when I received my first C on a report card. I kept asking myself over and over again, how could this happen? I knew I learned differently, but for some reason, now things were not going well for me academically. Being accepted into the four year, signature Honors Magnet Global Ecology Program was quite an accomplishment. I thought my strengths in both math and science would help carry me through this rigorous academic curriculum. I was wrong! I hit a brick wall and I hit it hard. Having a parent who was a special educator and dyslexic as well kept me afloat; however, I needed to use the resources available both inside and outside of the school to begin my journey to academic success. It took me until my junior year of high school to understand just how and what I needed to do to be all I could. I learned this the hard way on my own; it cost me admission in to the National Honor Society, being recommended to AP Biology and AP US History. I needed to begin to take charge of my life and set the goals necessary to get back on my feet. I needed to prove to myself that wanting to go on to a pre-med major in college was a possible dream. Junior year, I began listening to those who loved and cared about me first by getting organized, communicating with my teachers, using all the accommodations I was entitled to and, for the first time, attending a resource class. The last step was the hardest for me, I just did not know what to think; what would the other kids say, â€Å"Oh you’re in the stupid class.† â€Å" Why are you in there?† After being in resource class, I realized that it would help become more organized, both in school and out it would help me to find the needed balance between all my classes and all my extra curricular activities. Being My Own Advocate :: English Literature Essays Being My Own Advocate â€Å"Oh my, Lauren, I can’t believe my eyes!† This is all I could hear ringing in my ears when my parents opened my report card. You see, growing up dyslexic, I always needed to work harder, and I did so successfully until I began high school. I never really knew how to be my own advocate; my parents were always there for me. I grew up with private tutors and learning programs throughout my whole life. Being gifted, I was able to compensate until high school. I know we were both overwhelmed when I received my first C on a report card. I kept asking myself over and over again, how could this happen? I knew I learned differently, but for some reason, now things were not going well for me academically. Being accepted into the four year, signature Honors Magnet Global Ecology Program was quite an accomplishment. I thought my strengths in both math and science would help carry me through this rigorous academic curriculum. I was wrong! I hit a brick wall and I hit it hard. Having a parent who was a special educator and dyslexic as well kept me afloat; however, I needed to use the resources available both inside and outside of the school to begin my journey to academic success. It took me until my junior year of high school to understand just how and what I needed to do to be all I could. I learned this the hard way on my own; it cost me admission in to the National Honor Society, being recommended to AP Biology and AP US History. I needed to begin to take charge of my life and set the goals necessary to get back on my feet. I needed to prove to myself that wanting to go on to a pre-med major in college was a possible dream. Junior year, I began listening to those who loved and cared about me first by getting organized, communicating with my teachers, using all the accommodations I was entitled to and, for the first time, attending a resource class. The last step was the hardest for me, I just did not know what to think; what would the other kids say, â€Å"Oh you’re in the stupid class.† â€Å" Why are you in there?† After being in resource class, I realized that it would help become more organized, both in school and out it would help me to find the needed balance between all my classes and all my extra curricular activities.

Psychological effects on women victims of domestic violence Essay

Campbell, Jacquelyn el â€Å"Intimate Partner Violence and Physical health Consequences†. Archives of Internal Medicine 162i 10 Article 7 (2002) The research was: â€Å"Intimate Partner Violence and Physical Health Consequence† where researchers were examining how violence affects a woman’s short term as well long term physical wellbeing. This study explored the area of abused and non abused women assessed the two groups for physical problems. Abused cases, either physically and or sexually were 201. This research employed Abuse Assessment Screen in its measurements (Wisner, 1999). Measures of physical abuse was done via use of Miller physical symptom and injury scale, that requires a woman to ascertain whether she has been to a doctor or nurse due to any of the 25 conditions related to domestic violence (Wisner, 1999). The results showed that women suffered more physical disorders as a result of abuse (Wisner, 1999). Such disorders were found to include headaches, back pain, STD s, vaginal bleeding, vaginal infections, pelvic pain, painful intercourse, urinary tract infections, appetite loss, abdominal pain as well as digestive problems, long terms effects were found to occur due to recurring central nervous system signals such as headaches, back pain, fading and hallucinations (Wisner, 1999). Domestic violence is associated with problems of the cardiovascular system, high blood pressure among others The importance of this study is that it offers clue on how women are fatally threatened by domestic violence (Wisner, 1999). Diseases such as cardiovascular and blood pressure are among the serial killer diseases within the society (women). This study relates to this topic in that psychological effects are secondary to physical effects. For instance, where a woman gets her back broken as a result of domestic violence, even if the back heals she remains psychologically affected by the memories of this ordeal for the rest of her life (Wisner, 1999). Future implications of the study are that it is important for the public to be educated on matters relating to domestic violence. There is also the need to provide better medical attention to women of domestic violence, that is, there should be well trained physicians to deal with female patients involved in domestic violence (Wisner, 1999). This would mean increased costs on health planners (Wisner, 1999). Reference Wisner, C. , Gilmer, T. , Saltzman, L. , Zinc. T (1999). Intimate Partner Violence Against Women. Do victims cost health plans more? Journal of Family Practice, June.

Are Technology Advances Bad for Society?

Steven Thai Ms. Katie English 110 Feb 28th, 2013 Are Technology Advances Bad For Society? Over the past 30 years, humans always tried to create something that helps us reduce the amount of work we have to do. Games were created to help human release our stress while mobile phones help us to call and access the internet anywhere we want. Technologies really help us in every task of our life. However, technological advances are bad for our society because of addiction, censorship, and they may lead us into another technological weapons war between countries around the world.First consider how addictive technology has become. According to Sherry Turkle from TED Talk, her daughter spent time with her friends together looking at their mobile phones devices (Ted. com). These kids had so much fun on their mobile phones that they didn’t even look at their friends. On the other hand, technology became an essential part of our lives right now. Most of us spend time with our electronic d evices that we forget where we were standing, what we were doing, or what is the purpose and objective of our life. What makes us addicted to mobile phones?Nowadays, we can do almost everything with our cellphones, such as playing videos games, accessing social networks, and watching videos online. These things have become too addictive to us, and we have spent so much time on such devices. Look back to 20 years ago, back when the time technologies were not very common compared to today. Eventually, we spent more time with each other; we hung out with friends. Technologies are advancing so rapidly that we have become addicted and have forgotten what surrounds us. Some people might argue that there is also a good side of technology advances.According to Dr. Rick Nauert, a Senior Editor of Psych Central, there was an unexpected discovery that playing video games helped human-beings reduce the production of the stress-related hormone cortisol (Psychcentral. com). In order to prove this , Dr. Nauert recorded a group of 23 newly recruited employees of a Montreal-based call center to play games. Later on, he found an amazing result that the games showed an average 17 percent reduction in cortisol production compared to the group who did not play games (Psychcentral. com). This showed that echnology advances can be applied for good purposes to our life. Although technologies help us to reduce the stress related hormone, it brings to us many health problems. Dr. Ripudaman, a master in science and a frequent computer user, claimed that there are heaths concerned when you sit and work in front of the computer for a long time, such as eyes problems from bright screen, and wrist ache after working at the computer all day (Ripudaman). In addition, if we keep using the computer for a long time, these problems grow bigger.We might have joint problems, and our eyes have to work a lot so they get worse, in which case it costs us a lot of money for eyes and back surgery (Ripudam an). Another thing to be concerned about when we use technology is government censorship. You would feel bad if you lost your own privacy when the government tracked down your phone record, and eavesdropped on your phone call. This is the world when you need your own privacy, but most of our technological devices such as cellphones and laptops are tracked down by our own government every minute.According to Jennifer Valentino, the FBI was concerned by the citizens when they had the rights to access people’s phone record after the attack of September 11th, 2001 (Devries). Additionally, Professor Stephen Vladeck from American University Washington College of Law had put a good question to all of us; â€Å"How can you protect the First Amendment rights at the same time as you protect the government’s interest in secrecy? † (Vladeck). More importantly, no one among us would have see that our record had been tracked down, which should be a concern for an individualâ €™s freedom.Others might claim that the government is doing the right thing in order to protect national security. By tracking down citizens’ record the government can easily find terrorists, who are trying to attack their country. After the incident on September 11th, the concerns over the government keeping track of people’s technological devices who they suspected as terrorists and a threat to the country (Vladeck). To answer for that, we should take China as an example; where the presses have been ranked as â€Å"not free† by Freedom House (Wikipedia. rg). In China, everything is monitored by the government mostly technological devices. We feel bad when our privacy are managed by the government. Therefore, these technology advances are not helping our life get better. Furthermore, technological advances help the government to access our privacy easily compared to our past 50 years. It leads us to a question, should we continue to use devices like cellpho nes, laptops or smartphone when the government is monitoring our activities through those devices?Lastly, technological advances can lead us to a world war. Countries with strong economies like the United States, China, and Russia always compete to have the strongest technologies for weapons in their hands. The rapid changes in technology help many countries in the world to create their own weapons, tanks, aircrafts, and nuclear bombs. Why are these countries are competing for war technology advances? Take a look at it this way, when a weapon or a bomb is created, it will be tested in Iraq or Afghanistan.There will be more deaths and bigger destruction as the technology of those weapons further advanced. The founder and leader of the Muttahida Quami Movement, Altaf Hussain, has brought us great attention to a possibility of a third world war, where these imperial powers continued to act in a presumptuous manner in world affairs (mqm. org). In fact, world powers countries should stop competing for war technologies advances with each other in the present world to make a better world, to bring peace to those countries whose need it.However, there are others who oppose that the United States and Russia are creating nuclear bombs and missiles defenses to protect their own national security. In reality, they are creating these defense systems to make other countries to be afraid of them. The more weapons and bombs created, the more deaths and destruction the world has to suffer. Instead of using billions and billions of dollars to make technological advances that kill people, we should use that huge amount of money to improve education, health care, and reduce the amount of starvation.There will be more people will feel happy as the government will use money to solve social and political problems. In general, by not using money to develop war technological advances, we can save a lot of lives, rather than killing them by weapons, bombs, and missiles and so on. In co nclusion, technological advancement has seen many negative impacts on our society; it causes unhealthy addiction, encourages government censorship, and might lead to another destructive world war. We must stop using technology devices, we should stand together to stop these bad problems from our life.For the great future of our young generation, for the better living of our life, we must stop the bad effect of technologies on our life. Work Cited â€Å"A Third World War May Start If Countries Continued to Compete with Each Other for Superiority: Altaf Hussain. † A Third World War May Start If Countries Continued to Compete with Each Other for Superiority: Altaf Hussain. Mutahida Quami Movement, 7 Jan. 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. . â€Å"Censorship in China. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Jan. 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2013 . Devries, Jennifer V. â€Å"Covert FBI Power to Obtain Phone Data Faces Rare Test. † Online. wsj. com. The Wall Street Journal, n. d. Web. 23 Feb. 2013 . . Hall, Canseco. â€Å"Texas A&M International University – Laredo, Texas. † Violent Video Games Help Relieve Stress, Depression, Says TAMIU Professor. N. p. , 17 June 2010.Web. 21 Feb. 2013. . Nauert, Rick. â€Å"Video Game Lowers Stress Hormone | Psych Central News. † Psych Central. com. N. p. , 24 Oct. 2007. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. . Singh, Ripudaman. â€Å"Health Problems Caused by Computer. † Articlesbase. com. Articlesbase, 21 Mar. 2009. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. .

Free Online Public Schools for Kentucky Students, K-12

Free Online Public Schools for Kentucky Students, K-12 Kentucky offers resident students the opportunity to take online public school courses for free. Below is a list of no-cost online schools currently serving elementary and high school students in Kentucky. In order to qualify for the list, schools must meet the following qualifications: classes must be available completely online, they must offer services to state residents, and they must be funded by the government. Virtual schools listed may be charter schools, state-wide public programs, or private programs that receive government funding. List of Kentucky Online Charter Schools and Online Public Schools Kentucky Virtual High School - Now Defunct Online Charter Schools and Online Public Schools Many states now offer tuition-free online schools for resident students under a certain age (often 21). Most virtual schools are charter schools; they receive government funding and are run by a private organization. Online charter schools are subject to fewer restrictions than traditional schools. However, they are reviewed regularly and must continue to meet state standards. Some states also offer their own online public schools. These virtual programs generally operate from a state office or a school district. State-wide public school programs vary. Some online public schools offer a limited number of remedial or advanced courses not available in brick-and-mortar public school campuses. Others offer full online diploma programs. A few states choose to fund seats for students in private online schools. The number of available seats for online high schools may be limited and students are usually asked to apply through their public school guidance counselor. Choosing a Kentucky Online Public School When choosing an online public school, look for an established program that is regionally accredited and has a track record of success. Be wary of new schools that are disorganized, are unaccredited, or have been the subject of public scrutiny.

Same Year, Same Author How to Reference Sources Correctly

Same Year, Same Author How to Reference Sources Correctly Same Year, Same Author? How to Reference Sources Correctly Many referencing systems use the author’s surname and year of publication in citations, with full source information given in a reference list. However, if you are citing multiple sources by the same author from the same year, the name and year alone won’t be enough to cite a text clearly. What do you do if you need to cite two sources from one author that were published in the same year in a paper, then? In this post, we look at how this works with author–date citations. Two Sources from the Same Year in Author–Date Citations To show how this works with author–date citations, we’ll use the APA referencing system. However, the same rules described here apply to other similar systems (e.g., Chicago and Harvard). The basic rule when citing two sources from the same year is to add a letter after the year: Pellow (1994b) originally claimed that love is all around. However, later the same year he claimed to have located it specifically in a wishing well (Pellow, 1994a). Here, for example, we have two sources by â€Å"Pellow† from 1994. Without adding â€Å"a† and â€Å"b† after the year of publication in these citations, we would not be able to tell the sources apart. Pellow is perhaps better known for his pop career than his time in academia.(Photo: Andwhatsnext, aka Nancy J Price) You may be wondering why we used â€Å"b† instead of â€Å"a† for the first citation above. This is because the correct letter to use for each source depends on its position in the reference list. With APA referencing, you would usually list multiple sources by the same author chronologically. However, when multiple sources are published in the same year, you organize them by title: Pellow, M. (1994a). Goodnight Girl: Finding Love in a Wet Place. Glasgow: WWW Inc. Pellow, M. (1994b). Love Is All Around: A Geolocational Study. London: Troggs Publishing. In this case, then, Goodnight Girl is assigned the letter â€Å"a† because â€Å"Goodnight† comes before â€Å"Love† alphabetically. It is vital that the same letters are used in the reference list as in citations, as otherwise your reader will have no way of knowing which source you are citing in each case.

The watergate story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The watergate story - Essay Example During the re-election campaign he got incredible number of votes and won. However, he was brought down by the scandals he got involved in. There were many smaller dealings he was involved in that went undetected by the public and FBI or CIA. Nevertheless, in his fight to assure victory on the elections, he committed more serious crimes. It started with break-in to the headquarter office of the Democrat Party. Then the long and drawn-out court hearings followed, many high officials lost their positions, a power struggle and, finally, the first in the history of USA resignation of the President. WATERGATE COMPLEX BREAK-IN In June 1972 five people were arrested inside the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate office complex in Washington. They were carrying wiretapping equipment, thus they were not just an ordinary robbers or burglars. The men were wearing surgical gloves and carried thousands of dollars in cash. The whole operation was carefully and professiona lly planned and was not an ordinary case of robbery. The press got right into investigating this case and Nixon had to make to make a claim that White House had nothing to do with this break into the headquarters of the Democratic Party. As was found later, the bugging was a part of the President’s Nixon’s re-election campaign. ... Two masterminds of the break-in were G.Gordon Liddy (who was fired from the committee only few days before the accident) and E. Howard Hunt, a White House consultant (who did not want to give his testimonies during the investigations, he was paid to keep silence). Both of them were former FBI and CIA agents. Other suspects were also agents of either FBI or CIA. Democrats have tried to bring this incident up in the White House and at Nixon’s re-election committee. The five men arrested, or so it seemed, had something to do with Cuba, and most of them were connected to CIA or FBI in some way. The Police confiscated the spying equipment these men carried with them as well as cash, total amount of which was $2,300. During the case of investigation it was determined that prior to the incident a check for a large sum of money was deposited to the banking account of one of the people, who participated and were arrested for the break-in, namely, to Bernard Baker. The finance chairman of the President’s re-election campaign could not provide any substantial explanation as to where the check came from, why and how it got to Mr. Baker or what was the purpose of it. Mr. Baker was trying to pretend the money got to him by accident, however, it was determined that he was well aware of this financial operation and withdrew large amount of money from his account. Some of that money was found on men who were arrested for break-in. All these evidence and more led former Democratic National Chairman Lawrence O’ Brien to file a civil suit against Nixon and his committee as well as five suspects on the ground of violation of constitutional rights of all Democrats. Mr. O’Brien stated that a special counsel to the President, Charles

Character evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Character evaluation - Essay Example It is concluded that Sara as a film character is well-developed and not one-dimensional like other film heros and villains are.    The main theme of the film, faith, is embodied by the character of Sara Crewe. Growing up  to a rich family in India, Sara believes that all girls are princesses. As a young girl, she was encouraged by her father to believe in such things as magic. As a result, Sara became more in touch with the fantasy world than in the banal realities of life. She enjoys reliving and retelling the story of Ramayana, takes pleasure in reading books and playing with expensive dolls, and most importantly, appreciates a world of make-believe that is driven by fantasy. Her being open to the arts, emotions, unconventional ideas, and adventure is what brings life to the movie. Saras open nature has influenced the way she was perceived and treated by the schools headmistress, Miss Minchin, the students, and the servant girl, Becky. During her fist week at school, Sara became an instant favorite among the students because of her ability to tell the story of Ramayana in such a creative and  engaging manner. By imagining that she could talk to her dead mother in heaven, Sara was able to remove the tantrums of Lottie who also lost her mother as a young child. In one of the most  memorable scenes  in the film, a flower vendor offers Sara a bright yellow flower and utters the phrase "For the princess." Sara received the flower with a smile and then, like a princess, took a bow. A turning point in the film, this scene established that all girls are, indeed, princesses regardless of their social and economic status. Saras being open led her to acknowledge and believe what her father has been telling her all along, and which was re-affirmed by the flower vend or.    Sara also acted with a sense of duty, self-discipline, and achievement. Because Sara knew the French language by heart, she felt it was her duty to teach the other students on her free time.

Barn Burning by William Faulkner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Barn Burning by William Faulkner - Essay Example However, equally powerful is Faulkner’s use of character to define, explain, and develop the conflicts that take place throughout the short story. As such, this author will work to examine these two specific aspects and draw inference on their interrelation and use within the story. The story itself opens amidst a trial that is set in the epitome of the rural dust-bowl of the mid-west. Abner Snopes stand accused of purposefully and intentionally burning the barn of his former employer. The reader is quickly made aware that the true nature of the crime is known by young Sartoris and it is soon incumbent upon him to lie to the court, as instructed by his father, in order to wrongfully acquit the accused. Unlike most stories where the denouement comes at the end, Faulkner uses this as a mechanism to provide a life-altering impression on the young Sartoris; an impression that categorically affects the way that the rest of the story progresses and has implications for how Abner Sno pes will eventually be undone (Swann 132). In a way, Faulkner’s development shows the reader that the story can essentially be broken in to three distinct components. Firstly, the reader is made aware of Abner Snopes treachery and his moral deviance. Secondly, Faulkner wanders about describing each scene to the fullest while alluding back to the effect that Sartoris has come to experience as a result of the lies that have been told and the type of life that is being led. Lastly, the tension is released by Sartoris making the difficult choice to right the wrong that he had previously done. Although few might consider this story a tale of redemption, for Sartoris, it is precisely this. Haunted by the wrongs that the father continues to perpetrate and fearful of what the future consequences of these might be, Sartoris has to make the most difficult of decisions and quickly pursue honesty in order that the opening sequence of the short story will not repeat itself with respect to Abner’s short employment with de Spain. Although this conflict exists early in the story, it is the feeling and sense of conscience that troubles the young boy and makes it difficult for him to accept the result of the trial as well as to accept his role in the acquittal and to a greater extent his role within such a family. Faulkner presents a young boy who even at the tender age of 10 is uniquely aware of what is right and what is wrong (Comprone 18). Masterfully fabricated elements within the story help to develop the fact that Abner Snopes is an absolute tyrant. These include but are not limited to the beating that Sartoris faces as the family is in the process of relocating, the fact that Abner curses at his wife and instructs her not to tend to Sartoris wounds, the incident with the rug in de Spain’s house, and the final incident concerning the lantern oil. Although these can be understood as elements of conflict, they are at the same time elements of character development with relation to the way that Sartoris views his surrounds, his role in the family, and the level to which he will allow these things to continue before making a stand based on his own convictions. What is intriguing about the development of both of these themes is the fact that they are so inexorably linked. Without Sartoris clearly defined conscience, there would be little if any of a conflict between Sartoris and Abner. Without a broken family suffering under the dictatorial rule of a maniacal father, there would be little room to development on the emotions of frustration, rage, anger, regret,

Emergent Strategy Development and Resource Allocation Process

Emergent Strategy Development and Resource Allocation Process The business environment is subjected to rapid changes and in such scenarios organizations must change incrementally and adapt strategy on the basis of organizational learning rather than planning ahead (Campbell et al., 2002). Emergent strategy emerges over time. Barney Hesterley 2010 suggest that emergent strategy is very important for entrepreneurial firms due to the high uncertainty and high unpredictably of the business conditions. According to Johnson et al., 2008, emergent strategy can be developed through four ways. Logical Incrementalism: According to Quinn, Logical incrementalism is the development of strategy by experimentation and learning from partial commitments rather than through global formulation of total strategies. Dynamic changes are required to respond to the unexpected changes in the environment rather than planning the strategic direction well ahead (Johnson et al., 2005). Resource Allocation routines: Resource allocation and management has become a vital component of the firms, since effective allocation of resources eases the operations of the firm and also helps in completing their projects within the specified deadline. According to Barney Hesterley 2010, the organizational culture and ritual in a firm that would direct all the employees in the organization to define their jobs in competitive and fiscal terms leads to gain sustainable competitive advantage. As an example, Honda was able to sell their Supercub motorcycles in the American market through their effective resource allocation process. Cultural Processes: The culture within the organization plays an imperative role in the incremental strategy development if it is harmonized with the environmental changes. Incompetent organizational culture may act as a barrier for a firm to keep their strategic directions in line with the environmental changes (Johnson et al., 2005). According to Pearce Robinson 2009, the entity of todays global firms is that organizational culture should be acquainted with cultural diversity. Managing the relationship between strategy and culture in the firm is significant for the successful implementation of the strategy. Organizational politics: The Political observation of strategy development is that strategies develop as a result of processes of haggling and negotiation among the influential stakeholders of the firm. Political action is often perceived as an inevitable part of the strategy development process in an organization (Johnson et al., 2005). To conclude, although the process of emergent strategy development lags sufficient planning since it arises over time, it could be significant for organizations operating in a changing business environment. Using the website of a large organization find its organizational chart. Explain why the organization is structured in the way illustrated. Procter and Gamble (PG) is the worlds biggest maker of consumer products and is well known for their innovation. Over the years PG has considered organizational structure as an essential part of their growth. The brand portfolio is immense (Appendix 1). The decision making at the top management level is made by the board of directors. Each functional operations of the PG group are discretely controlled by their relevant management. In the early 90s, PG was structured in the forms of global matrix structure to meet the consumer demands in each region as shown in Figure 1. This structure allowed the company to create global technical units in distinct regions each with a core competency in a particular category of products. The global category Presidents, RD department and VPs developed the product category stage technologies that could be functional for global branding strategies. The creation of influential and self-governing global functions endorsed the improvement in knowledge levels, transfer of best practices and eradication of intraregional redundancies. The matrix structure proved to be a massive advantage for PG since it combined the manufacturing, purchasing, trading and distributing into a single global supply chain (Piskorski Spadini, 2007). Figure1: Procter Gamble Organizational Structure in 1990s (Source: Grant, 2010, pp.616) Although strong regional functions provided enormous competitive advantages, the matrix structure was never symmetrical in PG. Each function focused more on their own strategic program and development in the company rather than combining with other functional units to develop the companys position in the market place. With problems in their structure and plans for further diversification, PG carried out a six year restructuring plan through which they restructured from global matrix structure to global business units (GBU). The current organizational structure of PG is shown below in Figure 2. Figure 2: Current Organizational Structure of PG (Source: Procter Gamble) The purpose of each level in the current structure is given in Appendix 2. The primary focus of the global business units is on the product and market development and the focus of the Presidents in GBUs is to standardize the manufacturing process and to simplify the brand portfolio. For example GBU for Baby care division proposed a plan to reduce the several numbers of diaper-manufacturing processes into a single standard process (Grant, 2010). This structure increased dexterity and decreased costs through accelerated standards of manufacturing processes and better coordination of promotional movements across countries (Piskorski Spadini, 2007). The organization is huge and they are diversified across the globe with a massive brand portfolio. With product specialization and marketing being their main focus and being successful in the followed structure for more than a decade, global business units proves to be the suitable structure for PG. Four Tenets of Organizational Learning: Learning is an integral part of an organization and it can lead to strategic directions and decisions. Organizational learning is closely related to the logical approach of strategy and firms must persistently learn about themselves and their operating environment (Campbell et al., 2002). According to Johnson et al., 2008, structure and culture of an organization contributes widely towards organizational learning; formal structures might stifle the organizational learning. Managers would be playing a less directive and a more facilitative role. Each individual in the organization might specialize in certain skills. Organizational performance will improve only when the individual knowledge gets transferred into organizational knowledge. Managers are completely responsible for the sharing of knowledge in the organization through knowledge management skills (Campbell et al., 2002). Managers can arrange knowledge transfer sessions on a customary basis in order to improve the core competencies of employees and thereby contributing to organizational learning. They can also emphasize the importance of knowledge sharing and how it might impact on the performance of organizations among the employees. Information flows and relationships between people should happen both horizontally and vertically. Organizations should posses a culture in which the communication and sharing of knowledge between the employees among all the levels is encouraged. The management should persuade sharing of information and knowledge among the organization, so that all employees become susceptible to the changes happening around them and contribute towards organizational objectives (Johnson et al., 2008). Organizations are pluralistic, in which even distinct and divergent ideas are welcomed and surfaced. In pluralistic settings different ideas emerges from different level of people in the organization. Although being pluralistic might provide an advantage in learning for some organizations, it is very risky for an organization to be pluralistic since it might deceive knowledge. Experimentation is the norm, trying out new ideas might become an important part of the learning process. For example; Wipro Technologies, one of the leading software companies in India tried developing a corporate extensive knowledge management system called KNET through which employees can track, access, exploit and produce knowledge. Although they were not using KNET widely in the initial years, it proved to be very valuable in the recent years of their success. Following the success of KNET, Wipro has developed the same portal system for Microsoft, one of the major clients of Wipro (Wipro, 2010). Organizational learning could be a crucial factor for the companies in gaining advantage in the near future. All the four tenets could be critical in organizations where emergent strategy is considered as a primary source of strategy development. Does structure follow strategy or does strategy follow structure? Organizations seek new strategies for the reason that they offer new opportunities and potential advantages. Before implementing the strategy, a variety of factors needs to be considered because it involves change and risk. The link between structure and strategy is an important aspect to be considered before implementing the strategy. Structure of an organization is a vital factor since the change in corporate strategy might require some sort of change in the manner a firm is structured and in the type of proficiency required in specific positions of the firm (Wheelen Hunger, 2008). According to Thomson Martin 2008, although structures are designed primarily and changed later to fit the intended strategies of an organization, the daily activities and behaviors of people within the structure might lead to significant emergent strategies. A traditional study conducted by Chandler concludes that structure follows strategy after he analyzed the changes in some large U.S. corporations. For example, in the periods of First World War DuPont an explosive company diversified its product range. Research shows that their business failed since they followed the same centralized organizational structure even after diversifying their product range. When they realized the problem, they shifted to decentralized structure since it was congruent with their chosen diversification strategy (Chandler, 1962). In the case of DuPont, the problem was with the structure and if their structure was congruent with their strategy, they would not have faced the problem. Similarly General Motors (GM) also shifted from centralized to decentralized multidivisional structure in 1920s and they found it to be intensely effective in permitting the freedom for product development to each division. Strategy can also follow structure. Although there is no empirical research conducted on structure directing to strategy, many authors support this fact. Although Chandler inscribes that structure follows strategy he has also told that due to the structural changes in GM, brilliant strategies were framed in the making and selling of their products (Hall and Saias, 1980). To conclude, although it is not erroneous to say that structure follows strategy since it is true in most of the cases, proficient organizational structure may also lead to the formation of new strategies. It might depend upon the type of the industry, markets and environments the firms are operating with. Give an example of an organization where resource allocation process (RAP) form part of strategy development. Resource Allocation Process (RAP): RAP is a composite and subtle process which occurs on a daily basis in all organizations. If RAP is not prioritized and linked with the intended strategy of an organization, it might create a disparity between the intended and actual strategy of the organization. In large diversified organizations, the centre plays a vital role in allocating the resources among the diverse strategies proposed by their divisional units. Even small companies operate in the same mechanism but on an informal basis (Lynch, 2009). Both emergent and intended strategic ideas can be filtered through RAP as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: (Source: Christensen Donovan, 2000) Honda at American Markets: During the post world war era, Honda was the supplier of small Supercub motorcycles in the Japanese market. Following the success in the Japanese market, Honda thought of entering the North American market by manufacturing large over the road bikes, since it was suited for American markets. It sent three of its employees to LosAngels to launch the endeavor. But Hondas large bikes were unsuccessful in American markets. After experiencing the market conditions in America, the three employees proposed a plan to sell their small Supercub motorcycles in the American market since they received an informal order for sport bikes from the buyer for the sports equipment of Sears. But the top management filtered their ideas since their strategy in American market were to sell large over the road bikes. After further failure in selling the large bikes, the management considered the plan and the results were surprising. Honda became a successful company in selling its Supercub in the American mar ket (Henry, 2008). RAP in Honda: After this experience Honda approached things in a different manner. As manufacturing volume increased, they planned for some price reduction strategies through appropriate RAP. They became the market leader and competitors were unable to compete with Honda. In terms of the Figure 1, Honda entered American market with an intended strategy and immediately after that although it got emergent inputs such as Sears buyers request of their Supercub, companys RAP filtered out those inputs, since it was not matching with its strategy. Once they persuaded corporate management to change the filter in the RAP, the constituents of winning strategy emerged. Thus, RAP played a vital role in the formation of emergent strategies and in achieving the intended strategies for Hondas success in the US motorcycle industry.

Southern Innfluences In A ROSE For Emily :: essays research papers

William Faulkner’s classic short story, â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† has been noted as an excellent example of Southern literature. Southern literature can be defined as literature about the South, written by authors who were reared in the South. Characteristics of southern literature are the importance of family, sense of community, importance of religion, importance of time, of place, and of the past, and use of Southern voice and dialect. Most of the novels are written as a Southerner actually speaks. Many books also describe the historical importance of the Southern town. William Faulkner was a twentieth century American author who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Most famous for his novel The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner defines Southern literature. In his mythical county of Yaknapatawpha, Faulkner contrasted the past with the present era. The past was represented in Emily Grierson, Colonel Sartoris, the Board of Alderman, and the Negro servant. Homer Barron, the new Board of Alderman, and the new sheriff represented the present. Homer was the main representative of Yankee views towards the Griersons and the entire South, a situation of the present. Emily held the view of the past as if it were a rose-tinted place where nothing would ever die. Her world was already the past. Whenever the modern times were about to take hold of her, she retreated to that world of the past, and took Homer with her. Her room upstairs was that place, a place where Emily could stay with dead Homer forever as though no death nor disease could separate them. Homer had lived in the present, and Emily eventually conquered that. Emily’s family was a monument of the past; Emily herself was referred to as a â€Å"fallen monument.† She was a relic of Southern gentility and past values. She had been considered fallen because she had been proven susceptible to death and decay like the rest of the world. As for the importance of family, Emily was really close to her father. He was very protective of her and extremely dominating. The entire town had a tableau of the two of them, Miss Emily was a slender figure in white in the background, and her father was a sprawled figure in the foreground, his back defensively turned to her and clutching a horsewhip with the dark boundary of the door framing them. The town also believed the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were.

Fairy Tales Essay

Fairy tales are often considered to be for children. However an analysis of the collection of stories by the Brothers Grimm shows that they all have message to deliver, even to young adults. In today’s rat race, young adults often forget the importance of little things that we learnt as children. Everyone knows what morals are, however theoretically. People today, are always in a great hurry. More often than not when someone’s in trouble, they would do anything to get out of the situation. Under such circumstances people make false promises. The story of the Frog King touches upon this aspect of human behavior. The princess promises the frog that all his demands will be met if he retrieves her golden ball. However on receiving the ball, she blissfully forgets her promise and runs away without the frog. However, when the frog turns up at her door, she has to fulfill her promise at her father’s insistence. This story highlights the fact that promises are meant to be kept and not broken. It emphasizes the point that people should learn to honor their word, for a promise breeds trust and trust should never be broken. Young adults also put too much by store on the appearance of things. This many a times proves to be a booby trap, as expectations are rarely met in such circumstances. This aspect is touched upon in both the stories, the Frog King and Hansel and Gretel. In the latter, the brother and sister are in awe of the candy house and trust the old woman to be nice. It’s only a little later that they realize the witch’s wicked intentions. Their false judgment of the witch on the basis of the house she lived in put their life in danger. In the Frog King the princess was reluctant to fulfill her promises because she found the frog repulsive, who later turned out to be a handsome prince. The stories teach us that not everything thing that glitters is gold and that we should never judge a book by its cover. Fairy tales enthrall not only ones imagination, they also serve the purpose of delivering important messages. The subtlety with which the message is delivered is plausible. The use of metaphors is most common in the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. The style in which the message is delivered is both entertaining and instructive. In the story of Little   Red Cap, the message that people who commit evil deeds can never escape their fate is beautifully stated by the following statement –‘They filled the wolf’s body with them, and when he woke up and tried to run away, the stones were so heavy that he fell down dead.’ This states that one’s evil deeds weigh down upon him/her and become the cause of their death in the end. This line uses a beautiful metaphorical sentence to convey the message, where the stones are the evil deeds committed. In the story flowers and emotional attachment are shown as distractions that steer people away from their path. The wolf realizes that Little Red Cap greatly lover her grandmother and in order to delay her distracted her with the beautiful flowers she could take for her grandmother. Greed can never be satiated and always leads to something unwanted are stated in the story of Rapunzel. The object of greed in the story is the rampion that Rapunzel’s mother craves for. Despite her husband satisfying her cravings once she wants more. This ultimately leads to her losing her daughter in a bargain to the wicked witch. To summarize, the stories of the Brother Grimm use beautiful imagery and metaphors to deliver yet important messages that many seem to forget in a hurry.

Brazil’s Political Factor in Business

Political factor by ashraful islam Trade Policies in political factor Brazil's economic history has been influenced remarkably by foreign trade trends and policies. Successive cycles of export booms in such commodities as sugar, gold and diamonds, rubber, and coffee played major roles in Brazilian development before World War II. In the 1930s, the collapse of coffee prices signaled a turn inward, resulting in a nascent industrialization. In succeeding decades, industrial development was fostered deliberately through restrictive trade policies, making Brazil a relatively closed economy by the mid-1960s.Only in the early 1990s did Brazil begin significant liberalization of its trade policies, and even these reforms were modest by comparison with those in a number of other Latin American nations. Government intervention in foreign trade has a long history in Brazil, reaching back to the colonial period when Portugal forbade Brazilian trade with other nations. Following independence in 1 822, Brazil opened its ports and expanded its trade with other nations, particularly Britain. Extensive government regulation of trade continued, however, with tariffs providing over half of the government's revenue before World War I.Other forms of intervention in trade included the 1906 coffee price support plan, which was a sophisticated attempt to exploit Brazil's monopolistic position in the world coffee market. Before World War II, trade policies were used mostly as a source of revenue or as a response to specific groups such as the coffee producers, rather than as a means of achieving national economic goals. In the early 1950s, Brazil began to use trade policy in a more deliberate way to promote industrialization. The forced reduction in Brazilian imports after 1929 had resulted in the first major industrial growth in Brazil, centered in Sao Paulo.Heeding this apparent lesson, policy makers in the 1950s argued that measures that deliberately reduced imports would stimulate d omestic production, thereby encouraging technological development and increasing employment in activities that were regarded as more â€Å"modern† than Brazil's traditional agricultural and extractive activities. The steep rise in world oil prices that began in late 1973 soon ended Brazil's move toward greater trade openness. The approximate balance between imports and exports in the early 1970s became an unprecedented US$4. billion deficit in 1974. Although record levels of external capital flows financed this deficit, Brazilian policy makers responded by restricting imports. In June 1974, import financing for many products was suspended, while tariff rates on more than 900 items were doubled. Over the year, restrictions were increased further, and in 1975 the government required that imports be paid for in advance with deposits that did not earn interest or any correction for inflation. On the export side, further measures were taken to promote exports, especially for manuf actures.Despite these measures, Brazil's trade balance remained in deficit for most of the 1970s. The combination of tightened import controls, real depreciation, and the fall in domestic demand induced by the restrictive macroeconomic policies of the early 1980s resulted in a sharp adjustment in Brazil's external accounts. The magnitude of the adjustment appears to have surprised even many of its proponents, both in the Brazilian government and among creditors. After 1983 the massive trade surpluses averaged more than 3 percent of GDP, compared with negative or negligible levels through most of the 1968-82 period.In 1984, as the full effects of the adjustment program were felt, exports were about double imports, and Brazil's trade surplus reached an unprecedented 6. 1 percent of GDP, far exceeding the comparable shares in other important economies such as Japan (3. 5 percent of GDP) and West Germany (3. 8 percent). By 1984 it was clear that the successful external adjustment had a domestic price, as inflation accelerated to more than 200 percent at annual rates. Trade policy consequently began to be viewed as a potential instrument for internal stabilization, with some import liberalization viewed as a potential contributor to reduced inflation.In late 1984, a number of the direct controls on imports were cut back, and the number of products on the negative list was reduced substantially. Import financing requirements were also relaxed through exemptions, and tariff surcharges were replaced by smaller additions to the legal tariff. On the administrative side, the Cacex policy of import restrictions for balance of payments purposes was reduced. Although import licenses were not abolished, their approval became a relatively routine operation, and by 1991 most licenses were being issued within five working days.The CTIC became primarily a reporting and registration agency, which had little of the discretionary power formerly exercised by Cacex. The former CPA, w hich had been far overshadowed by Cacex, was replaced by an agency coequal with the CTIC, the Technical Coordinating Office for Tariffs (Coordenadoria Tecnica de Tarifas–CTT). With the shift in emphasis in trade policy from discretionary administrative control to the automaticity of published tariffs, many of them limited by Brazil's treaty commitments, the CTT's role in formulating import policy became significantly greater than the CPA's had been.Early in 1991, the Collor de Mello government announced a series of tariff reductions to be phased in over the 1991-94 period. These were among the most far-reaching and significant reductions in Brazilian trade protection in several decades. Earlier tariff reductions often had been largely cosmetic, only reducing rates that were prohibitive to high levels that still barred many imports. The 1991 reforms went much further, and in many sectors reduced rates to about a third of their level in the early 1980s.Equally important, the re forms reduced the wide variability or dispersion of tariff rates that were once characteristic of Brazilian trade policy. The overall trend in Brazilian trade policy is clear. By the mid-1990s, Brazil had become a much more open economy than it had been a decade earlier. priorities in terms of business support Market Overview The Federative Republic of Brazil is Latin America's biggest economy and is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of land mass and population with about 192 million people.Brazil’s economy, the 6th largest in the world, grew 2. 7% in 2011. Growth slowed due to reduced demand for Brazilian exports in Europe and Asia, despite solid domestic demand and a growing middle class. During the past decade, the country has maintained macroeconomic policies that controlled inflation and promoted economic growth. Inflation was at 6. 5% in 2011, and urban unemployment reached a historic low of 6. 0%. Interest rates, though high compared to the rest of the wo rld, remained historically low at the Central Bank benchmark rate of 8. 0% as of July 2012. In 2011, the U. S. as Brazil’s largest source of imports followed by China, Argentina, Germany, and South Korea. U. S. merchandise exports to Brazil in 2011 were US$42. 9 billion, and U. S. imports from Brazil were US$31. 3 billion. Market Challenges Brazil has a large and diversified economy that offers U. S. companies many opportunities to export their goods and services, and U. S. exports are increasing rapidly. Doing business in Brazil requires intimate knowledge of the local environment, including both the explicit as well as implicit costs of doing business (referred to as the â€Å"Custo Brasil†).Such costs are often related to distribution, government procedures, employee benefits, environmental laws, and a complex tax structure. Logistics pose a particular challenge, given infrastructure limitations posed by nearly a decade of economic expansion. In addition to tariffs, U. S. companies will find a complex customs and legal system. Market Opportunities There are few, if any, sectors in Brazil that do not have excellent short term opportunities. Certain sectors of the Brazilian market have experienced higher than average growth, such as air transportation, telecoms, oil and gas, and mining.Under the second phase of the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC II), the Government of Brazil will spend R$955 billion (the equivalent of around US$470 billion) in development of the country’s energy generation and distribution system, roads, railroads, ports, and airports as well as stadiums as it prepares for the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. Other promising areas for U. S. exports and investment include agriculture, agricultural equipment, building and construction, aerospace and aviation, electrical power, safety and security devices, environmental technologies, retail, and transportation.The Brazilian national oil company Petrobras' expans ion may represent the largest global business opportunity in the oil & gas sector until 2020. The offshore pre-salt oil deposits discovered in 2006 and 2007 are estimated to exceed 60 billion barrels in probable or recoverable reserves, and could place Brazil among the world’s top ten oil-producing countries. Petrobras anticipates that it will invest $224 billion in exploration and development through 2015. Brazil is one of the largest IT markets within the emerging economies. IT end-user spending in Brazil is expected to grow to $134 billion in 2014.The largest share of spending will be on telecom equipment, representing 72% of the market, followed by IT services at 13. 3% and computing hardware at 11. 9%. In the years leading up to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will host several international mega-events. In 2011, Brazil hosted the World Military Games and the Pan-American Maccabi Games and in 2012, Rio de Janeiro hosted the Rio+20 global environmental su stainability conference. In 2013, Brazil will host a papal visit and the World Youth Day event as well as the soccer Confederations Cup.In 2014, twelve Brazilian cities will host the soccer World Cup. The Government of Brazil expects to invest $106 billion in the preparations for these events. These investments, which will include outlays for infrastructure, construction, transportation systems, port improvements, public security, and airport infrastructure upgrades, will present significant commercial opportunities for U. S. companies. Most of the major infrastructure upgrades will be carried out through Public-Private Partnerships under Brazil’s Growth Acceleration Program. Market Entry StrategyBrazil’s business culture relies heavily on the development of strong personal relationships. Companies need a local presence and must invest time in developing relationships in Brazil. The U. S. Commercial Service encourages U. S. companies visiting Brazil to meet one-on-one with potential partners. One of the best ways for U. S. companies to enter the Brazilian market is by participating in local trade shows or using the U. S. Commercial Service’s Gold Key Service (GKS), through which they can meet with pre-screened potential clients or partners.It is essential to work through a qualified representative or distributor when developing the Brazilian market. Some firms establish an office or joint venture in Brazil. Further discussion of these alternatives can be found in the â€Å"Marketing Products & Services† chapter. It is very difficult for U. S. companies to get involved in public sector procurement without a local Brazilian partner. Education of the workforce Despite being one of the world's most populous countries, Brazil does not have a single university ranked in the top 100 internationally.Of its college graduates, 5 percent are engineers, far below the rates of countries such as China and South Korea, according to Brazilian busin esses. Since Brazil's education system is falling short, Vale, like several other Brazilian companies, has decided to build its own. â€Å"For years, technical education was not the main focus of the government,† said Marco Dalpozzo, Vale's global human resources director. â€Å"Mining was not seen for the last 20 years as a great opportunity or a vocational business opportunity for the country. So you have professions for which Vale had to create their own entire system of education. Over the past few years, several Latin American countries have enjoyed soaring growth rates as they exported oil, minerals and agricultural products around the world. In Brazil, gross domestic product more than doubled, to $1. 3 trillion, in the five years ending in 2007, while inflation dropped to 3. 6 percent, a quarter of the 2003 level. Yet recent studies have shown that workers in Latin America have less education than those in East Asia and Eastern Europe and that the percentage of studen ts enrolled in high school is far lower than in developed countries.In Colombia, one out of every 700,000 people receive PhDs, compared with one in 5,000 in developed countries, wrote Jeffrey M. Puryear and Tamara Ortega Goodspeed in a contribution to a book published this year titled â€Å"Can Latin America Compete? † â€Å"The region's limited number of scientists and advanced degree recipients weakens the region's competitiveness by limiting countries' ability to use and generate knowledge, and to carry out research,† they wrote.For younger students, Latin American countries have focused in recent years on building schools and expanding access to public education, rather than improving the quality of that education, said Emiliana Vegas, a senior education economist at the World Bank. Teachers' pay raises are based on longevity rather than performance, and few parents are used to demanding more rigorous standards. â€Å"Most Latin American parents have less educatio n than their kids. They feel their kids are already receiving an advantage they didn't get,† said Vegas, who co-authored the book â€Å"Raising Student Learning in Latin America. In the most recent results of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's triennial tests of 15-year-olds from 57 countries, the Latin American countries that participated, including Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, consistently scored near the bottom. â€Å"It's not just that kids need to go to school, they need to learn in school,† Vegas said. Brazil – quality of port infrastructure Quality of port infrastructure, WEF (1=extremely underdeveloped to 7=well developed and efficient by international standards)Definition: Quality of Port Infrastructure measures business executives' perceptions of their country's port facilities. The rating ranges from 1 to 7, with a higher score indicating better development of port infrastructure. Source: World Economic Forum, Global Compet iveness Report |Year |Value | |2007 |2. 63 | |2008 |2. 52 | |2009 |2. 65 | |2010 |2. 94 | |2011 |2. 70 | Airports The Brazilian airport network has long been lamented as underdeveloped and poorly maintained. The network is run almost exclusively by Infraero, an authority that reports to the country? s defense ministry.In operation for 37 years, Infraero has more than 28,000 employees and contractors assisting in the management of 67 airports throughout the country. These airports handle 97 percent of all air traffic in the country, with more than 2 million takeoffs and landings and over 113 million passengers annually. 11 The company? s charge is quite difficult, considering that the airports are spread across a country the size of the contiguous United States Roadways Like the United States, Brazil is heavily dependent on its road system for transportation. However, there is great disparity in the quality of these road networks.Despite constituting 68 percent of Brazil? s transport needs, only 12 percent of the country? s 1. 6 million kilometers of roads are paved. 20 The consequence of these infrastructure deficiencies is slower and more expensive transport – costs can be up to 35 percent greater on unpaved roads. 21 This affects the booming agricultural sector greatly, as many of the goods are produced in remote locations with poor road conditions. Rail Brazil? s national rail network consists of approximately 28,000 kilometers of track, and most of it is operated by private concessionaires.These concessions have been utilized for 12 years, and the government is reviewing its concession model to make better use of the rail network. â€Å"One of the main objectives of the changes is to put abandoned or low-capacity stretches back into operation. †29 As part of the Ministry of Transport? s National Plan, Brazil will consolidate a new rail network, developing almost 12,000 additional kilometers of track. 30 These rail lines will serve areas of ag ricultural and mineral productivity and enable the increased transfer of cargo between transportation modes.Additionally, the rail lines will be implemented in planned corridors that are specifically designed to link production and consumption regions, as well as production and shipment areas (like ports). The MOT is also studying the feasibility of a corridor that will link railways from Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. Economic factors by ashraful islam Economy – overview: Characterized by large and well-developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors, Brazil's economy outweighs that of all other South American countries, and Brazil is expanding its presence in world markets.Since 2003, Brazil has steadily improved its macroeconomic stability, building up foreign reserves, and reducing its debt profile by shifting its debt burden toward real denominated and domestically held instruments. In 2008, Brazil became a net external creditor and tw o ratings agencies awarded investment grade status to its debt. After strong growth in 2007 and 2008, the onset of the global financial crisis hit Brazil in 2008. Brazil experienced two quarters of recession, as global demand for Brazil's commodity-based exports dwindled and external credit dried up.However, Brazil was one of the first emerging markets to begin a recovery. In 2010, consumer and investor confidence revived and GDP growth reached 7. 5%, the highest growth rate in the past 25 years. Rising inflation led the authorities to take measures to cool the economy; these actions and the deteriorating international economic situation slowed growth to 2. 7% for 2011 as a whole, though forecasts for 2012 growth are somewhat higher. Despite slower growth in 2011, Brazil overtook the United Kingdom as the world's seventh largest economy in terms of GDP.Urban unemployment is at the historic low of 4. 7% (December 2011), and Brazil's traditionally high level of income equality has dec lined for each of the last 12 years. Brazil's high interest rates make it an attractive destination for foreign investors. Large capital inflows over the past several years have contributed to the appreciation of the currency, hurting the competitiveness of Brazilian manufacturing and leading the government to intervene in foreign exchanges markets and raise taxes on some foreign capital inflows.President Dilma ROUSSEFF has retained the previous administration's commitment to inflation targeting by the central bank, a floating exchange rate, and fiscal restraint. | | | | |Brazil Interest Rate | | |The benchmark interest rate in Brazil was last reported at 7. 25 percent. Historically, from 1999 until 2012, Brazil Interest | | |Rate averaged 16. 6 Percent reaching an all time high of 45. 00 Percent in March of 1999 and a record low of 7. 25 Percent in | | |October of 2012. In Brazil, interest rate decisions are taken by The Central Bank of Brazil's Monetary Policy Committee | | |(CO POM). The official interest rate is the Special System of Clearance and Custody rate (SELIC) which is the overnight lending | | |rate. This page includes a chart with historical data for Brazil Interest Rate. | [pic] Brazil Income Taxes 2012 Last partial update, May 2012Individual Income Tax: Brazil's individual income tax rates for 2012 are progressive, from 7. 5% to 27. 5%. Personal annual tax rates 2012 (BRL) |Income (BRL) |% | |1-18,799 |- | |18,799-28,174 |7. 5 | |28,174-37,566 |15 | |37,566-46,939 |22. 5 | |over 46,939 |27. 5 |Note: Nonresidents pay a flat 27. 5% tax on income earned in Brazil Corporate Tax: Brazil's combined corporate tax rate for 2012 is 34%. The tax consists of a basic tax of 15%. There is also a surtax of 10% for annual income of over BRL 240,000, about $ 110,000. Additonal 9% are added for social contribution on net profits. Capital Gains: Capital gains of companies are added to the regular income. Individuals: Pay 15% tax on capital gains, dividend incom e from local companies is tax exempt. Residence A foreign company is resident if incorporated in Brazil.An individual is resident when holding a permanent visa, or a temporary visa with an employment agreement, or even without an employment agreement, when staying in Brazil for more than 183 days within 12 months. Brazil Tax Deductions †¢ Losses are carried forward indefinitely. In future years only 30% of the current year taxable income can be set off against the loss. †¢ Depreciation is deducted using the straight line method. Companies working in 2 shifts can claim 150% of the standard rates, while companies working in 3 shifts are entitled to 200% of the standard rates. Companies involved in development of technical research can use accelerated depreciation for tax purpose. †¢ There is no company consolidation for tax purpose. †¢ Thin capitalisation rules relating to interest expenses are in effect in Brazil from 1. 1. 2010. Brazil Personal Credits and Deduct ions For Brazilian residents, the first annual income of BRL 18,799 is tax exempt. There is a standard monthly deduction for each dependant. Education expenses are deductible, up to a limit. Deductions are also permitted for social security payments by an employee, payments to private Brazilian pension plans, up tp a limit, and for alimony payments.Deduction of Tax at Source In Brazil tax is deducted at source from the following payments to non residents: Dividend- 0%. Interest- 15%/25%. Royalties- 15%. Services -15%/25%. Social Security The contributions by the employer and the employee are subject to to ceiling defined by law. Employer: 37. 3% of the gross salary, 28. 8% social security and 8. 5% for severance fund. Employee: 7. 65%-11% of the gross salary. The employee's payment, which is capped, is based on a â€Å"contribution salary table†, provided by the government.