Saturday, November 30, 2019

Terror and Terrorism

Every day, so many people wake up with one hope, to live and do everything possible to enjoy this life. Blue sky, fresh air, green trees, clean environment, and good people near – this is what can make this life really worthwhile and interesting. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Terror and Terrorism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, this really captivating life may be spoiled in several hours or even in several minutes, and the reason all this may be two simple words – terror and terrorism. Unfortunately, not many people really comprehend the meaning of these two words, this is why it is crucially important to pay attention to these two issues and develop numerous discussions. The point is that the meaning of terror is not the same of terrorism, so, it is necessary to find out the difference that lies between terror and terrorism, analyze the reasons of terrorism, and evaluate personal posi tion in order to realize whether it is possible to stop terrorists and be sure that terror will not disturb people in near future. Nowadays, terrorism is considered to be a really interesting topic to investigate and analyze; lots of studies, debates, and controversies take place around this issues in order to be able to deal with it and promote safer life (Laqueur 7). Of course, the events of September 11 2001 in New York and Washington made each person on the world remember once again how cruel and unpredictable terroristic acts could be, how many innocent lives may be lost within a really short period of time. That shock, those tears, and those deaths raised considerably the importance to think about human activities and the evil these activities may lead to. Those September attacks served as a bell to start the war on terrorism and the war on terror. Is it possible to stop terrorism in this world? Who can stop all those terroristic acts? Is it real to live in peace for a long period of time? All these questions bother so many people nowadays. However, to start this war, it is necessary to clear up with definitions of terror and terrorism, their reasons, and history. Terror and terrorism cannot be interpreted in one and the same way. There are so many of definitions of the word terrorism can be found, one of them lies in the fact that terrorism is â€Å"the premeditated threat or use of violence by subnational groups or clandestine individuals intended to intimidate and coerce governments, to promote political, religious or ideological outcomes† (Whittaker 10). Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Of course, it is not that difficult to find out one of the possible definitions of the word and learn it by heart. However, such awareness does not help to grasp the main idea of terrorism and does not help to prevent any terroristic act. This is why it is better to think about own interpretation of these two words. Terrorism should be regarded as any kind of practice that leads to pain, suffering, and death. Such kind of practice turns out to be harmful for people and for future. Terror is not the same as terrorism. It should be regarded more as the effect, the results of terrorism, the emotional understanding of the danger and threat. Lots of writers and historians deal with the history of terror and terrorism, offer their own interpretations, and comment on the situations in the world. Each writer has his/her own approach, and, to my mind, the ideas offered by Luisa Valenzuela in her The Verb to Kill deserve certain attention. Two little sisters with their own attitude to life and their places in this world conjugate the verb to kill and shiver with fear. â€Å"He kills – he killed – he will kill† (Valenzuela 147). If such thoughts are already in the minds of these little girls, what can be further? Tho ughts about killing and death, intention to avoid pain, or desire to kill – any of these issues are possible. Michel Wieviorka regards terrorism as a social product, this is why the study of terrorism should start from a deep analysis of society, its problems, and intentions (Wieviorka 589). And Angelo Corlett considers terrorism from another quite interesting perspective. He tells that it is â€Å"an absolute legal obligation to obey the law† (Corlett 10). Each of these ideas has a certain influence on my own interpretation of the words terrorism and terror. They have lots approaches in common, this is why I am sure that terrorism and all those terrible consequences of terroristic attacks are caused by people only. I cannot but wonder how strange people may be: they perfectly realize that usually terroristic actions will be punished, and nevertheless, they continue doing all this in order just to demonstrate their abilities to disobey and kill. Is it a true charact eristic of any person – to create difficulties in order to discover own sense of life? If it is true, then our society is doomed to failure.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Terror and Terrorism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Dues to the above-mentioned words, it is high time to think about possible ways to stop terrorism and provide our children with a chance to live in safe future. Of course, lots of people remain to be quite egoistic, this is why the ideas of safe future may not bother them at all. This is why it is better to say that we should stop terrorism for even our safe and peaceful future. People should just image how wonderful the life can be if stop dividing everything, proving own priority, and feeling sorry for ourselves only. Human beings are powerful enough to control their own lives, smart enough to create proper environment, skillful enough to develop new technologies to improve this world. We should comprehend that terrorism is a social notion, this is why only global actions, collective ideas and desire may save this world. Only together, people can find the necessary way out and start own flourishing; only together, people can remove all those conditions, which encourage terrorism on this planet. And first of all, we should stop thinking about terrorism in order to stop it at all. Maybe, nowadays, it is still impossible to imagine our world without terror and terrorism. People are so afraid to be a victim of another terroristic act or loose relatives or friends. People cannot fight with death, but they can easily stop fighting with each other in order not to cause all these deaths. Of course, comprehension of the words terrorism and terror will not stop terrorism at all, but still, it is a good beginning for those, who have already realized that to live without terror is quite possible. The only thing people should do now is to unite and stop dividing. In t his case, the issues of terrorism and terror will not be as burning as they are right now. Works Cited Corlett, J. Angelo. Terrorism: A Philosophical Analysis. Springer: 2003. Laqueur, Walter. No End to War: Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Continuum International Group, 2004.Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Whittaker, David, J. Terrorism: Understanding the Global Threat. London: Pearson Education, 2007. Valenzuela, Luisa. The Verb to Kill from The International Story: An Anthology with Guidelines for Reading and Writing about Fiction by Spack, Ruth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998: 147-149. Wieviorka, Michael. Terrorism in the Context of Academic Research from Terrorism in Context by Crenshaw, Martha. Penn State Press, 1995: 597-606. This essay on Terror and Terrorism was written and submitted by user Ken Ellis to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Thoreau and Kings ideas essays

Thoreau and Kings ideas essays There are times throughout the history of the United States when its citizens have felt the need to revolt against the government. There were such cases during the time of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau, when there was unfair discrimination against the African American community and Americans refusing to pay poll taxes to support the Mexican War. They used civil disobedience to eventually get legislation to stop the injustice brought against them and their nation. Civil disobedience is defined as the refusal to obey civil laws or decrees, which usually takes the form of passive resistance. People practicing civil disobedience break a law because they consider the law unjust, and want to call attention to its injustice, hoping to bring about its withdrawal. Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience in 1849 after spending a night in the Walden town jail for refusing to pay a poll tax that supported the Mexican War. He recommended passive resistance as a form of tension that could lead to reform of unjust laws practiced by the government. He stated civil disobedience as An expression of the individuals liberty to create change. Thoreau believed that the government had established order that resisted reform and change. Action from principle, the perception and the performance of right, changes things and relations; it is essentially revolutionary. Thoreau refused to pay the poll tax because the money was being used to finance the Mexican War. Not only was he against the war itself but the war was over Texas which was to be used as a slave state. His friend Staples offered to pay the tax for him, but to Thoreau it wasnt the tax he was objected to, it was how the money would be used. He thought strongly against paying money to a war that he did not support, and would rather end up in jail that go against his will. A certain passage shows how ...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Pan the Goat-Footed Greek God

Pan the Goat-Footed Greek God Pan- or Faunus in Roman mythology- is the noisy goat-footed god of the Greeks. He looks after shepherds and woods, is a capable musician, and invented the instrument named after him- panpipes. He leads the nymphs in dances and stirs up panic. He is worshiped in Arcadia and is associated with sexuality. Pan's Family of Origin Pan was born in Arcadia. There are various versions of the birth of Pan. In one, his parents are Zeus and Hybris. In another, the most common version, his father is Hermes; his mother, a nymph. In another version of his birth, Pans parents are Penelope, wife of Odysseus and her mate, Hermes or, possibly, Apollo. In the bucolic Greek poet of the third century B.C. Theocritus, Odysseus is his father. Attributes of Pan The attributes or symbols associated with Pan are woods, pastures, and the syrinx- a flute. He is depicted with goats feet and two horns and wearing a lynx-pelt. In the Pan painters vase, a goat-headed and tailed young Pan pursues a youth. Pan's Death In Plutarchs Moralia, he reports a rumor about the death of Pan, who as a god, couldnt die, at least in principle. Sources Ancient sources for Pan include Apollodorus, Cicero, Euripides, Herodotus, Hyginus, Nonnius, Ovid, Pausanias, Pindar, Plato, Statius, and Theocritus. Timothy Gantz Early Greek Myths itemizes many details about the Pan traditions.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Critical Review and Critique on Rapid Response Team Policies for Acute Essay

Critical Review and Critique on Rapid Response Team Policies for Acute Patients in Riyadh Military Hospital and the UK - Essay Example Moreover, in an article published back in 2007 entitled â€Å"Safer Care for the Acutely Ill Patient†, the National Patient Safety Agency (2007) reported that 576 out of 1,804 hospital deaths were due to diagnostic errors, unrecognized patient deterioration left untreated and problems with resuscitation after a sudden cardiac arrest. It is for this reason that many countries have come up with the idea of forming Rapid Response Teams (RRT) in hospitals to address acute condition cases (Berwick et al., 2006). II. Aim Considering the average waiting time before each patient receives health care intervention, this paper will also focus on discussing rapid response for suddenly ill patients strategies used in the United Kingdom (UK) and Riyadh Military Hospital (RMH) to ensure that its health care professionals are able to deliver quality care and treatment to each patient on a timely basis. III. Critical Review and Critique on Rapid Response Team Policies for Acute Patients in Riy adh Military Hospital and the UK To enable readers to gain better understanding concerning the effectiveness and differences between the ICU RRT in Riyadh Military hospital and NHS hospitals in the UK, this report will first discuss the main purpose of RRTs. Rapid response teams in United Kingdom also referred to as medical emergency teams are multidisciplinary teams that consist of satisfactorily trained clinical personnel. In Riyadh Military hospital, the rapid response team’s core obligation is to examine and evaluate patients who portray symptoms of medical deterioration outside the intensive care unit (Winters, Pham and Pronovost, 2006, p.1647; Nakagawa, 2007, p. 1371; Addington-Hall and McCarthy, 2005, p. 295). Such a team provides early rescue to patients who are in critical health condition in hospital settings. The first team of this kind was created in 1995 as an experiment team in Riyadh Military Hospital before spreading to other hospitals in United Kingdom. The t eam served as a proactive mechanism for reducing unexpected death incidences in hospitals. The core reasons for the introduction of rapid response teams in health care in United Kingdom were to increase patients’ safety and to reduce the rate of inpatients’ deaths in hospitals. InRiyadh Military Hospital, rapid response teams work hand in hand with primary physicians and bedside nurses to resuscitate patients in acute need of medical attention (Sebat, Musthafa and Johnson, 2007, p. 2575). a. Main Purpose of Rapid Response Teams A RRT is a medical emergency team in the intensive care unit that is responsible for assessing and giving initial treatment to deteriorating non-critical care patients (Chan et al., 2008). The purpose of a Rapid Response Team (RRT) is to quickly extract the right cause from the situation of any acute condition. In any case, where the team takes too much time to do this, then their main purpose is unaccomplished (Adams and Failano, 2011). In the UK, the main purpose of Rapid Response to Acute Illness (RRAI) is â€Å"to support clinical teams in the reduction of harm and mortality associated with the acutely deteriorating patient† (1000 Lives, n.d). The policies for the RRT in United Kingdom have recently been addressed by the medical services. It has been suggested in the main protocol of the program that the response team will be selected based on certification. This is similar to the criteria of UK RRTs. The only difference is that the

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

A Dolls House Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

A Dolls House - Research Paper Example â€Å"A Doll’s House† which is a scintillating play, was written by Henrik Ibsen during the period of the ‘Naturalism Movement’ and revolved around the women of the 19th century society. The basic premise of the play was the portraying of women in different gender roles and how they looked after their families by staying at home. In sharp contrast to Ibsen’s poem is Larkin’s poem ‘Home is so sad’. In this poem, the poet expresses the dark vision of home and of human solitude. In this essay an attempt is being made to find out how the poem ‘Home is so sad’ relates to the play ‘A Doll’s House.’ Body Most of Ibsen’s plays depict the struggle between individuals for an authentic identity of their own. This struggle rests against the backdrop of a tyrannical society, with the individual on one hand, and their families and society on the other. In ‘A Doll’s House’, Nora is the chief protagonist in the play and represents such struggling women, suppressed by society. Larkin’s poem on ‘Home is so sad’ also has a melancholic atmosphere as he deals with some of the negative aspects of life such as loneliness and disappointment. Both these works though moody and pessimistic in approach never fail to engage its audiences because it helps them to identify themselves with its characters. The playwright and the poet have attempted to express their thoughts and ideas through the eyes of society. Women in the 19th century were expected to be the typical stereotype subservient housewife, but one would be surprised at the turn of events in Henrik Ibsen’s play. Women in those days were hardly educated and hence were very easily relegated into a corner and never came forward to voice their opinion. Nora was one such stereo type who was controlled by her husband Torvald Helmer, who was very controlling and he looked upon Nora as one of his resp onsibilities. In the beginning of the play, Nora accepts her doll-like existence, with no identity to call her own. In fact , Nora seemed to like being treated like a child and used this technique to get what she wanted. According to Shaw "She has learnt to coax her husband into giving her what she asks for, by appealing to his affection for her: that is, by playing all sorts of pretty tricks until he is wheeled into an amorous humor" (Shaw, 226) However, according to Clement Scott "Helmer's attitude towards his child-wife is natural but unreasonable" (Scot, 222).   While pinching her ear he calls her using pet names like squirrel and mouse, but he clearly understands that she is a â€Å"positive hindrance to his ambition† (Scot, 221) This clearly reflects the attitudes of ancient society filled with suppression. In Phillip Larkin’s poem, ‘Home is so sad’ we find the same gloomy atmosphere of existence depicted by the loneliness that is experienced. We s ee this sadness in the following lines of the poem. bereft Of anyone to please, it withers so, Having no heart to put aside the theft (Phillip Larkinn, Home is so sad,) www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16659 The inhabitants of the house have left and all that remained was loneliness and memories that brought remembrance of the times shared there. In the same manner, in the play ‘A Dolls House’ Nora goes about her duties as a good mother despite the emptiness she feels in her existence, and agrees to do whatever Torvald asks her to. â€Å"Yes, whatever you say Torvald† (Ibsen, 872) However, when she finally decided to leave, she bravely confronts him saying, â€Å"I’ve lived by doing the tricks for you Torvald.† (Ibsen, 919) She understands that her life with Torvald was like a dolls house and they had been lying to each other about their love, which was no more than a facade.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Advertisements That Make Women Look Bad Essay Example for Free

Advertisements That Make Women Look Bad Essay Some advertising companies do not see the problem with using women to sell their product and make money. â€Å"In advertising today, women are still dismembered—just parts of them presented to sell a product. Kilbourne says in the imposed American obsession with breasts, uplifted derrieres, etc., women forget things like the sensation they lose when they have plastic surgery on their breasts† (Kilbourne). Advertisements should make sure they do not portray women in a derogatory manner. The roles of women have dramatically changed over the generations. Women have gone from housekeepers and wives to sex symbols. Placing women on advertisements in hardly any clothing draws attention to the product itself, but making women seen vulnerable. Dolce and Gabanna, for example, uses and ad where there is one female wearing a strappy, black dress and some high heels. Dolce and Gabanna has her lying on her back, while a shirtless man is on top of her, as if he were pinning her down. There are also three shirtless men in the scene who are standing around watching. Having an advertisement, such as this one, might work to sell a product because of the impression it places on the consumer. Male viewers would presume that the only way to get a beautiful woman to be submissive is to wear products of Dolce and Gabanna. Advertisements like these make the woman in the ad provocative; therefore, viewers conceive their own opinion about women in general. See more:  The Story of an Hour Literary Analysis Essay There becomes a problem when teenagers and young adults see these women on ads dressing seductive and inviting. Women and young girls alike, start to believe they must dress in this manner because that is what the models are wearing. Women also see ads, such as the one Dolce and Gabanna have published, and they look at the women in the ad that dress tantalizing and getting handsome men, that the female viewers too, think they must dress appealing to capture a man’s attention. These advertisements are ultimately doing more damage and are corrupting our society. Advertising companies need to produce ads that make everyone look at women as beautiful, smart, and self-sufficient human beings and not a body used just to sell a product. Doing this would help society see that women can be beautiful and classy without having to be a sex symbol. It would help women get a better idea of how to be a lady. Also, the viewers of the ads would understand women are not really inferior to men, and buying a certain product does not make a person admirable. Something should be done about these advertisements. It is only putting bad ideas and morals into the consumers heads about the way they should view women. Society should appreciate women. All in all, bashing women in advertisements should be stopped and talked about by the advertising companies. Ads of this sort should not be posted all over the billboards, subways, Walters 3 televisions, and computers. Women-bashing is an ongoing problem, and it will continue to escalate if we do not open the eyes of the businesses selling the product and the viewers who agree that basing women is a sufficient way to sell a product. The ads are slowly getting out-of-control, and if we do not put our foot down now, nothing will ever be fixed, and advertising companies will continue to look for ways to make women seem less than average. Works Cited Dolce and Gabbana Boutique For Men Only 10 May 2010. Web. 21 Sept. 2010. http://www.kibitzhomme.com/?tag=dolce-gabbana. Kilbourne, Jean. Summary of Killing Us Softly 3 Welcome To Journalism Web. 1 Oct. 2010. http://hope.journ.wwu.edu/tpilgrim/j190/Stillkillussoftly3.vidsum.html. Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising’s Image of Women | Watch Free Documentary Online. Web. 19 Sept. 2010. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/killing-us-softly-3/. 10 Worst Woman-Bashing Ads | Business Pundit. Business Pundit: Your Daily Dose of Smart Business Opinion. Web. 19 Sept. 2010. http://www.businesspundit.com/10-worst-woman-bashing-ads/.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Essay --

The Solutions to Note-Taking Problems for Students By: Timothy Cooks 12/3/2013 Learning Challenge/Solution Project Dr. Samuelson Note taking is a process that involves the writing down of information that has been received from another source such as a professor or boss. Note taking provides the user with reference material to use for future use. Note taking is one of the most important and useful study skills to have while in college. Students must expect to take a lot of notes in college. Professors will expect their students to take notes during lectures in order to go back and review at home alone or with other classmates. Note taking is a skill, so in order to make this skill efficient, we must develop multiple techniques in order to make note taking more profitable. Chapter 6 in our textbooks gives us plenty of techniques of note taking to improve our note taking skills. But before that lets point out that note taking has two basic functions that note taking serves. Note taking serves as a way to help you store or encode the material and a way to keep the information in written form until you need it for later reference (Pintrich & VanderStoep, 137). Chapter 6 serves as a good guide in presenting students with strategies for effective note taking. The chapter focus is on strategies instead of style in order to help us think about the process of note taking while we are in class. Before we begin note taking we should ask ourselves these questions: What should I pay attention to? What should I write down? How should I organize my notes? We are now at the beginning stages of improving the process of taking notes (Pintrich & VanderStoep, 137). This will help being organized while taking notes. Remember that good note ... ...es. In result, my quiz and exam scores dramatically increased. When I enter anatomy I used the more the same method but I needed to incorporate more techniques such as comparing notes with other students in my class because we had less instruction from the professor. Exchanging notes with other students helped me not fall behind or miss out on important information. In my current semester, I have learned more techniques and methods to include with what I already know. The results are fulfilling allowing me to potentially have straight A’s. I learned that it’s beneficial for every student to become a stronger note taker because it’s necessary for successful studying and researching. I recommend anyone who read this to become proficient in note taking for one main reason which is, to remember important information such as dates, times, key points or facts.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Libyan Tourism and Rescuing Strategy Essay

Early in 2011, a wave of political protests against Libya’s leader Muammar Gaddafi took a violent turn, leading to the outbreak of a civil war between Gaddafi-controlled forces and rebel forces. As the conflict stretched on, Libya’s nascent travel and tourism industry came to standstill. A no-fly zone was imposed over Libya and external forces participated in the conflict; airport runways at Benghazi Airport were destroyed, Tripoli’s port was targeted by NATO forces, and there was significant damage to the country’s infrastructure, the extent of which is yet to be revealed. This brought more than five years of consecutive growth to a halt, as Libya started to emerge from its isolation after the lifting of UN and US sanctions in 2003. The future remains unclear, with the possible opening up of Libya to yet more growth in a post-Gaddafi era. The future is uncertain, and Libya’s travel and tourism industry is expected to suffer losses for at least another two years, even if the conflict comes to an end by the end of 2011. There is a great deal of reconstruction needed, and efforts will be geared towards getting the country back on its feetbefore engaging in more tourism developments. That said, the longer-term prospect may end up proving more encouraging if any reminiscence and residue of the Gaddafi regime is forever scrapped, and a new government aims to truly improve the lives of Libyans and the image of Libya abroad, in an effort to boost the economy, and, ultimately, the travel and tourism industry need urgent recovery strategy however, Libya’s political and economic weaknesses resulted in uprising and Political instability in the whole country starting from 2011. Consequently the destination image of Libya which is a vital component of the decision making of a potential tourist was significantly damaged. In addition the reports on newspapers and other mass media, have frightened potential tourists and significantly weakened the tourism industry during and after the Libyan civil war. after almost two years Libyan authorities have perfected their official efforts to rescue the country from the consequences of the conflict but the main problem is the broken trust in Libya as safe and comfortable area to be visited. The non organized coordination between the government departments created more obstacles with the absence of smart policies and modern strategic planning of using the public media and the multimedia. Literature View Tourism  is  travel  for  recreationalor  business  purposesthe  WorldTourismOrganization  defines  tourists  as people â€Å"travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity, In 2011, there were over 983 million international tourist arrivals worldwide, representing a growth of 4. 6% when compared to US$ 940 billion in 2010. International tourism receipts (the travel item of the balance of payments) grew to  US$1. 3  trillion (â‚ ¬740 billion) in 2011, corresponding to an increase in  real terms  of 3. 8% from 2010. In 2011, international  travel demand  continued to recover from the losses resulting from the  late-2000s recession, where tourism suffered a strong slowdown from the second half of 2008 through the end of 2009. After a 5% increase in the first half of 2008, growth in international tourist arrivals moved into negative territory in the second half of 2008, and ended up only 2% for the year, compared to a 7% increase in 2007. 4]  The negative trend intensified during 2009, exacerbated in some countries due to the outbreak of the  H1N1 influenza virus, resulting in a worldwide decline of 4. 2% in 2009 to 880 million international tourists arrivals, and a 5. 7% decline in international tourism receipts. Tourism is important, and in some cases, vital for many  countries. It was recognized in the  Manila Declaration on World Tourism of 1980as â€Å"an activity essential to the life of nations because of its direct effects on the social, cultural, educational, and economic sectors of national societies and on their international relations. Tourism brings in large amounts of income in payment for  goods and services available, accounting for 30% of the world’s  exports  of services, and 6% of overall exports of goods and services. It also creates opportunities for  employment  in the  service sector of the economy, associated with tourism, these service industries include transportation services, such as  airlines,  cruise ships, and  taxicabs;  hospitality services, such as  accommodations including  hotels  and resorts; and entertainment venues, such as  amusement parks,  casinos,  shopping malls,  music venues, and  theatres. Libya, with its recent embrace of tourism, is not alone among developing nations. Since the early 1970s, an increasing number of developing nations have listed tourism into their economic plans . It was in the 1970s that international tourism became a global phenomenon. Improvements in international transportation like the jumbo jets, which entered service in 1970, improvements in communication networks and a growing affluence among Western nations made the world both accessible and affordable. growing list of nations have tried to provide western travellers with convenience. THE IMPORTANCE OF IMAGE 1 Media Impact Introduction It has been estimated that a remarkable 25% of all news stories involve disasters or crises of some sort, disasters attract the media in very large numbers, and it’s not hard to see why disasters are spectacular, action-orientated, dramatic events which routinely feature human suffering and feats of durance and bravery. From a media perspective they are relatively easy to cover, provide ample opportunity for dramatic photographs, and are guaranteed to attract an audience or sell newspapers, disaster and crisis events inevitably prove an irresistible combination for the media, and for the general public who will be avid consumers of what the media produces. News will normally be reported as soon as it becomes available, and this is the case regardless of how inadequate the initial information is, or how uncertain the source. The advances in modern technology mean that news stories and pictures can be transmitted around the world within minutes even if the media isn’t present in the initial stage of a disaster or crisis, members of the public will be, with mobile telephones and video cameras in hand, and their pictures will be accessed by the media and transmitted. Passengers in the London Underground rail system following the bombings in July 2005, were transmitting pictures to the media from their wrecked carriages and as they evacuated through tunnels to safety. Media personnel usually have little understanding of the fact that in the confused aftermath of a disaster, information may be difficult or impossible to obtain. This can make them suspect that authorities are hiding information from them when the truth is that it just isn’t availableJournalists are usually generalists, not specialists this means that they are unlikely to have any depth of understanding of a disaster or crisis event, the cause, effects or the necessary response and recovery processes. They can, therefore, easily misunderstand what they see and hear in the case of a tourism crisis, it is essential that local tourism operators only comment to the media on matters which are within the scope of their responsibilities and that they do not comment on operational matters which are the responsibility of emergency services or disaster management agencies. The Media and Human Development In Libya the civil war has destroyed the truth in the region as touristic destination and that added more presser on the tourism industry which already was suffering of the ignorance of the previous regime, not all is about the media affect also there are many other factors control the declining of the performance, the main element in the tourism business

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Is fundamental analysis redundant Essay

Introduction Shortly after the stock market crash in 1929, as the first batch of financial experts in the Great Wall, Benjamin Graham and David Dodd firstly mentioned the concept in a book called security analysis: Based on public information that intelligent investors are able to analyse securities and determine whether the current price of stocks and bonds is over or below their intrinsic value. The Critical thinking and strong logic make this theory become the foundation of nearly all investments theories in Wall Street. Warren Buffett, John Neff, Peter Lynch and other famous investors become the  best practitioners in fundamental analysis. This essay will firstly introduce the related theories of fundamental analysis. Secondly, the essay will explain free cash flow model to equity valuation and the qualitative and quantitative factors of fundamental analysis. Thirdly, choosing a particular company analyses the relationships between the leading financial ratios and its stock price. Finally, indicating why financial ratios and free cash flow model cannot explain Berkshire Hathaway cooperation’s stock price changed during global financial crisis. Theory Aasuumption & Metholody Theory Fundamental analysis which is based on analyzing the intrinsic value of securities, focuses on factors affecting the stock price and its trend and lets investors determine what type of securities they choose to buy and when to buy. (Lee and Swaminathan 1999, 8 )The basic assumption of fundamental analysis is that value investors believe that the market price is determined by its intrinsic value and the stock price can reflect its intrinsic value in the long term. Cash flow model Fundamental analysts use cash flow model, dividend model to roughly estimate a company’s intrinsic value. They assume that the stock price of the intrinsic value is its present value of the stream of expected cash flows and the selected reference values are based on generating the cash flow data. For example, using free cash flow model to measure intrinsic value, investors firstly assume the observed company can increase at constant rate and then choose the reference value based on a constant growth rate (g)to estimate free cash flow the next 10 years. Secondly, they calculate the present value of the 10-year cash flow based on the constantly discounted rate (k). Secondly, they estimate the terminal value P10=free cash flow*(1+g)/(k-g) and calculate its present value. Thirdly, they get the present value of the company and calculate pre- share value: equity value/numbers of shares. Rational investors can make well-informed investment decisions according to the relationship betw een market price and intrinsic value. Qualitative factors On the company level, fundamental analysis focused on two factors: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative and quantitative analyses have a dialectical relationship. Both analyses should join together to analysis and inspect on a particular company. Although qualitative analysis is used for physical areas, with the usage to tackle non-financial information, it can be widely useful in business and finance fields.(kesh and Raja 2005, 167) The qualitative analysis of the company level is concerned with products and services, competitive advantage, management efficiency, corporate culture. Advanced products can get increasing cash inflows and improve company value (Carter and Demissew 2008, 63) because booming demand for products and services can lead to a high reinvestment rate of the company, this creates additional wealth.( Madden 2007, 125) Competitive advantage can includes producing capacity and the efficiency of a company’s design and cost controlling better than the industry’s competitors. Generating a competitive advantage for a company will creates stakeholder value. (Vilanova, Lozano and Arenas 2009, 63) The improvement of management efficiency can lower operating costs and company culture can enhance corporate image, leading to improvement of company value. Quantitative factors The quantitative factors in fundamental analysis are based on a deep understanding of financial reports which is the process of identifying opportunities and threats from the company, so investors must be concerned with the balance sheet, cash flow statement and income statement analysis. Financial statements consist of all important historical information about the company’s operation management during a specific time period (quarterly, annually). All these information provide an overview of a company’s business activities and can help managers assess the company’s wellbeing. (Dayanandan 2010, 116) Financial statement Different users are interested in different areas of the financial statements. For example, investors and equity holders are concerned with  expected earnings and dividends of the observed companies. Company’s executives usually focus on the company’s capacity. Therefore, based on historical reports, different users can get valuable information about what they concentrate on. Financial statement analysis includes selected data from financial statements to predict the company’s financial health.( Hagos and Pal 2010, 441) Applying these data from financial reports, such as profitability ratio, liquidity ratio, management efficiency ratio, debt ratio, market performance ratio analyses year by year to determine whether to buy or sell observed companies. Based on analyzing financial statements, financial analysts are able to use profitability ratio, including gross margin, ROE to indicate how efficiently revenue is generated. The liquidity ratio such as current ratio, net working capital can be used to prove the firm’s ability to generate sufficient liquidity when needed and to meet short term obligations. For example, current ratio is an indicator as a rate of current assets to current liabilities. It measures the liquidity status of a company. With a higher current ratio over time, this company will be able to meet its current obligations and experience less financial risk.( Zaki, Bah and Rao 2011, 315) Table1 Sourced by Berkshire Year ROE Total asset turnover Debt/equity P/E P/B closed Price 2003 0.105 0.588 1.32 12.7 1.34 $84280 2004 0.085 0.394 1.20 18.8 1.6 $87900 2005 0.093 0.412 1.16 15.5 1.45 $88620 2006 0.102 0.397 1.27 12.5 1.27 $109990 Table 1 above shows the some figures provided by Berkshire corporation’s annual report from 2003 to 2006. During this period, the stock price has a significant increase from $67600 in Jan 2rd, 2003 to $109990 in Dec 1st, 2006. And from 2003 to 2006, Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s net worth is $13.6billion, $8.3billion, $5.6billion and 16.9billion respectively. Graph1: Berkshire Hathaway(BRK) Inc’s stock price between 2003 and 2006 Sourced by yahoo finance The increase of Net worth can indicate the stock price’s change during this period. The gain in net worth during 2003 was $13.6billion, which increased the per-share book value of its stock by 21% from $41727 to $50498. Because of good quarterly reports and an annual report, the stock price reflected the company’s performance, rising from $67600 to $89490. However, between 2004 and 2005, the gain in net worth increased $8.3billion and $5.6billion. Although in 2004 Berkshire’s book-value gain of 10.5% fell short of the index’s 10.9% return, the net worth fell from $13.6billion to $8.3billion, leading to fluctuation of the stock price during 2004. In 2005, the net worth fell to $5.6 billion because hurricane caused loss worth of $34billion. And in the stock market, the price fluctuated and even slightly increased. However, the price reflected the company’s performance. As a multi-business company, its main business-insurance company called GEICO improved its management efficiency at nearly 32% and warranty numbers increased by 26%. On the other hand, insurance float of BRK’s insurance company increased from 46 billion to 49 billion. Due to the capital cost rate of mostly 0% and improving competitiveness, its stock price rose sharply. Financial ratios (price to book ratio and earnings per share ratio) measure share price compared to earnings, book value per share and indicate whether the market overvalues, undervalues and appropriately values the firm’ shares. Managers use to assess investors’ perceptions of future prospects. Some investors invest in stock market based on analyzing financial statements. Table2 Table2 shows mainly the relationship between the book value and stock price. Financial analysts are willing to use book value to measure the stock price. From the table 2 above, the book value of the Berkshire Hathaway increases from $14426 in 1995to $70281 in 2006 and the company’s stock movements, rising from $31900 in 1995 to $110050 in 2006. In addition to particular years, these two charts reflect clearly whether a short term or a long term, the trend of the book value and stock price is roughly the same. In the long term, the growth rate of the net worth is a useful indicator to justify intrinsic value. From 1995 to 2006, the net worth of Berkshire Hathaway’s  net worth increased from $5.3billion to $16.9billion, more than 3.18 times growth during the period. Stock price had increased 3.44 times with book value 4.87 times. Although 1n 1999, the net worth fell to 0.358billion, in the long term, this company still had a significant increase in its stock market per formance. Analysts also can apply activity ratios such as total asset turnover ratio and average payment ratio period to measure management effectiveness in managing its assets and to determine whether the investment in particular asset categories is too high or too low and also find out the efficiency or speed in converting accounts to sales or cash. (Dayanandan 2010, 114)Debt ratios such as debt to equity ratio and debt ratio can indicate financial leverage and the apparent financial risk assumed by the firm’s equity holders. Application Dow Jones Graph2 Dow Jones industrial index Sourced by yahoo finance Graph2 shows the change of Dow Jones industrial index before, during and after global financial crisis. The global financial crisis started in 2007 because the burst of housing bubble caused credit crisis especially in the debt markets.( McCarthy, Solomonand Mihalekl 2012, 1277 ) the stock market highly violated between 2007 and 2009. For example, in United States, the stock market increased to the peak in October 2007 with the Dow Jones Industrial Average about 14,000. After that duration, the Dow Jones dropped sharply from 12,000 in August 2008 to 6,600 in March 2009. After 2009, there is significant increase until now, rising to 14,929. Company- Berkshire Hatchaways Berkshire’s core business for insurance business includes the property casualty reinsurance and special class insurance company. For the past 25 years, this company has increasingly strong capital and little debt, for shareholders to create the value of more than 25% growth on average every  year. Table 3 shows analysis ratios and stock price from 2006 to 2012. Table3 Year ROE Total asset turnover Debt/equity P/E P/B closed Price 2006 0.102 0.40 1.27 12.5 1.27 $109990 2007 0.109 0.43 1.24 13.8 1.51 $141600 2008 0.046 0.40 1.41 38.16 1.71 $96600 2009 0.059 0.38 1.19 18.1 1.11 $99200 2010 0.08 0.37 1.29 14.9 1.24 $120450 2011 0.06 0.37 1.32 19 1.18 $114755 2012 0.077 0.38 1.23 14 1.1 $133000 Sourced by Berkshire Graph3 Berkshire’s stock price between 2006 and 2012 Sourced by yahoo finance The gain in net worth during 2006 was $13.6billion, which increased the per-share book value of its stock by 18.4% to $109990. In 2007, the net worth is 12.3billion, which increased the per-share book value of its stock by 11% to $141600. However, in 2008, the stock price fell to $96600, and then there is an increasing trend from 2009 to 2012. Total assets turnover ratio Total assets turnover ratio measures the management efficiency of the firm in managing its total assets to generate sales. A high ratio suggests greater efficiency. Figures shown in table3, the total assets turnover ratio during global crisis had slight change between 0.37 and 0.40. However, the stock price changed sharply, so the stock price can not reflect the stability of this ratio. ROE indicates the rate of return realized by a firm’s shareholders on their investments and uses as an indicator for the company’s operation. Return on equity (ROE) Return on equity (ROE) is the best indicator to learn how much money a company is making for its investors and measurement of the company’s operations. (Dayanandan 2010, 117) However, ROE is also sensitive to leverage. Assuming that proceeds from debt financing can be invested at a return greater than the borrowing rate, ROE will increase with greater amounts of leverage. From 2007 to 2008, the debt to equity ratio increased by 13.7%, from 1.24 to 1.41. However, ROE rate fell sharply from 10.9% to 4.6%. Although ROE overreact to debt change, Berkshire’s fundamental did not change in 2008. Most of Berkshire’s business is affected by the economic significant downward in 2009. However, its manufacturing services and retail generated a lot of cash flow and continued to consolidate their market competitive advantage. Berkshire’s two most important businesses: business insurance and utilities also had a good growth rate. These businesses produced a large amount of business profits in 2008. P/E ratio P/E ratio is a common approach used by security analysts. In practice, investors usually use expected P/E ratio for the following year and analyse whether the stock price is overvalued or undervalued on the basis. P/E ratio indicates that a stock of its P/E rate over 30 is more likely to be overpriced. The P/E ratio in 2007 and 2008 is 13.8 and 38 respectively and the stock price during the period time of 2007 and 2008 is $141600 and $96600. The change of stock price is overreact to the pre-share earnings. P/B ratio P/B ratio gives some idea of whether an investor is paying too much for what would be left if the company went bankrupt immediately. From 2006 to 2009, P/B ratio increased or decreased had no direct correspondence with the stock price. However, to most companies, the book value is always lower than the stock price. Because most companies have intangible assets such as brand name, specialized skillsï ¼Å'product pricing power. These factors can not reflect in the balance sheet, but the long term trend of the market value is similar with book value. It seems that when P/B ratio increases, the gap between book value and stock price increases. On the other hand, the gap shows investors are willing to hold the stock due to its intangible assets. Cash flow model All these financial ratios cannot explain what happened in 2008 and using cash flow model to estimate the stock price also cannot explain this situation. Because investors assume the company can increase at constant rate. Although they use long-term GDP growth rate to reduce the risk of assessing value, this growth rate cannot explain and predict what happened during the investing period. They also use CAPM to measure discounted rate given by the risk-free interest rate plus a risk premium. The formula is ki=Rf+(Rm-Rf)ÃŽ ²i. However, ÃŽ ²sometimes cannot estimate risk between the market and stock. For example, a company’s market value increases from 10billion t0 20billion is less than market value of the company from 10billion to 3billion. If the company still operate well, from the market side, the risk of buying a company of the market value of 20billion is less than buying the same company of its market value of 3billion. Conclusion Therefore, during global financial crisis, fundamental analysis was useless. It is clear that during some periods the stock price is overvalued or undervalued significantly from its intrinsic value, leading to highly volatility of market price. Any market volatility is considered as irrational performances, so these market valuations caused by behavioral finance which do not have impacts on the company’s assets valuations and  operations. (Adams, Armitage and FitzGerald 2012, 157). In the long term, the trend of the stock price is similar to the trend of its intrinsic value. On the other hand, in the short term, market price is influenced and fluctuated by political, economic, psychological factors, so market price is always undervalued or overvalued, but it is fluctuating around the intrinsic value. Some research show that sometimes earnings information cannot react to the stock market simultaneously and all the public financial information pose a gradual influence on the stock market for a while. During global financial crisis, the stock price sharply fluctuated because of financial behavior. Debt crisis caused by housing loan had a significant impact on people’s confidence. Trader’s low confidence let them make decisions irrationally. Reference list 1. Lee, C.M.C. and Swaminathan, B. 1999. â€Å"Valuing the Dow: A bottom-up approach.† Financial Analysts Journal 55 (5): 4-23. 2. Kesh, Someswar. and Raja, M. K. 2005. â€Å"Development of a qualitative reasoning model for financial forecasting.† Information Management & Computer Security 13 (2): 167-179. 3. Carter, T. and Demissew, D.E. 2008. â€Å"Value innovation management and discounted cash flow.† Management Decision 46(1): 58-76. 4. Madden, B.J. 2007. â€Å"Guidepost to Wealth Creation: Value-Relevant Track Records.† Journal of Applied Finance 17 (2): 119-130. 5. Vilanova, M., Lozano, J.M. and Arenas, D. 2009. â€Å"Exploring the Nature of the Relationship Between CSR and Competitiveness.†Journal of Business Ethics 87: 57-69. 6. Dayanandan, R. 2010. â€Å"Working Capital Management for Sustainable Cooperatives.† Global Business and Management Research 2(1): 102-124. 7. Hagos, T.M. and Pal, G. 2010. â€Å"The means of analysis and evaluation for corporate performances. â€Å"Annales Universitatis Apulensis : Series Oeconomica 12 (1): 438-449. 8. Zaki, E., Bah, R. and Rao, A. 2011. â€Å"Assessing probabilities of financial distress of banks in UAE.† International Journal of Managerial Finance 7 (3): 304-320. 9. McCarthy, Mary., Solomon, P., and Mihalek, Paul. 2012. â€Å"Financial Crisis During 2007 And 2008: Efficient Markets Or Human Behavior?† Journal of Applied Business Research 28 (6): 1275-1281. 10. Adams, A., Armitage, S. and FitzGerald, A. 2012. â€Å"An analysis of stock market volatility.† Annals of Actuarial Science 6ï ¼Ë†1ï ¼â€°Ã¯ ¼Å¡153-170.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

The Combining Form -pod

The Combining Form -pod The Combining Form -pod The Combining Form -pod By Maeve Maddox The Greek and Latin words for leg and foot have given English the combining form -pod. Some words formed with -pod entered English earlier, but a great many were coined in the nineteenth century as the study of entomology and paleontology expanded. Here are a few, with their literal meanings and the date of their earliest citation in the OED. arthropod 1861 (arthro=joint) Insects, spiders, and crustaceans are arthropods. cephalopod 1826 (cephal=head) Cephalopods are creatures like octopus and squid whose â€Å"legs† are attached directly to their heads. diplopod 1864 (diplo=double) Diplopods have numerous legs, attached in pairs on each segment of the body. Thousand-leggers (millipedes) are diplopods. gastropod 1826 (gastro=stomach) A snail is a gastropod. It moves along with a single muscular â€Å"foot† attached to its abdomen. hexapod 1668 (hex=six) Insects are hexapods. isopod 1835 (iso=equal) An isopod has seven pairs of equal and similarly placed thoracic legs. A familiar isopod is the roly-poly (aka woodlouse/pillbug). myriapod (myria=10,000) Some of these pod words overlap. A myriapod, like a diplopod, has a lot of legs attached in pairs to the segments of their bodies. octopod 1817 (octo=eight) Literally â€Å"eight-legged,† an octopod is a cephalopod with eight tentacles. ornithopod 1886 (ornith=bird) This name attaches to plant-eating dinosaurs with bird-shaped hips, three- or four-toed feet, powerful teeth and jaws and lack of such features as armor plating. polypod 1612 (poly=many) Any animal with several feet is a polypod. pseudopod 1874 (pseudo=false) The one-celled amoeba moves by extending bits of its central blob and using them as feet. pteropod 1833 (ptero=wing) These are sea mollusks whose â€Å"feet† have side projections that look like wings. Some pteropods have the lovely common names of â€Å"sea butterflies† and â€Å"sea angels.† sauropod 1884 (sauro=lizard) Literally â€Å"lizard-footed,† the sauropods were the really big dinosaurs, like Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, and Brontosaurus. Note: The Diplodocus got its name from a peculiarity of its tail bones. The word combines diplo, double+ dokos, beam. theropod 1891 (ther=beast) Theropods are the carnivorous dinosaurs whose feet resembled those of quadrupeds rather than birds. Other English words contain the element pod as a prefix or suffix, but this post focuses on animals. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Rules for Writing Numbers and NumeralsUsing the Active Voice to Strengthen Your Writing12 Misunderstood and Misquoted Shakespearean Expressions

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

The Real Shape of Raindrops

The Real Shape of Raindrops Much like the snowflake symbolizes all things winter, a teardrop is a symbol of water and rain. We see them in illustrations and even on weather maps on TV. The truth is, a raindrop assumes several shapes as it falls from a cloud- none of which resemble teardrops. What is the true shape of a raindrop? Lets follow it along its journey from cloud to ground and find out! Droplets Raindrops, which are collections of millions of tiny cloud droplets, start out as small and round spheres. But as raindrops fall, they lose their rounded shape thanks to the tug-of-war between two forces: surface tension (the waters outer surface film which acts to hold the drop together) and the air flow which pushes up against the raindrops bottom as it falls.   Sphere to Hamburger Bun When the drop is small (under 1 mm across), surface tension wins out and pulls it into a spherical shape. But as the drop falls, colliding with other drops as it does so, it grows in size and it falls faster which increases the pressure on its bottom. This added pressure causes the raindrop to flatten on the bottom. Since the air flow on the bottom of the water drop is greater than the airflow at its top, the raindrop  remains curved on top, the raindrop resembles a hamburger bun. Thats right, raindrops have more in common with hamburger buns than falling on them and ruining your cookout- they are shaped like  them! Jelly Bean to Umbrella As the raindrop grows even bigger, the pressure along its bottom increases further and presses a dimple into it, making the raindrop look jelly-bean-shaped. When the raindrop grows to a large size (around 4 mm across or larger) the air flow has pressed so deeply into the water drop that it now resembles a parachute or an  umbrella. Soon after, the air flow presses through the raindrops top and breaks it apart into smaller drops.       To help visualize this process, watch the video, Anatomy of a Raindrop, courtesy of NASA.    Visualizing the Shape Due to the high speeds at which water droplets fall through the atmosphere, it is very difficult to see the variety of shapes it takes in nature without the use of high-speed photography. However, there is a way to model this in the lab, the classroom, or at home. An experiment you can do at home represents an analysis of raindrop shape through experimentation. Now that you know about raindrop shape and size, continue your raindrop exploration by learning why some rainshowers feel warm and others are cool to the touch.   SourcesAre Raindrops Tear-Shaped?  The USGS Water Science School

Saturday, November 2, 2019

What is Culture Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

What is Culture - Assignment Example Culture is shared by a certain and specific group. It is shared through social interaction. For example, the parenting style of my parents may impact my own parent style. Culture changes over time, it is dynamic and diverse. Culture is an important part of anthropological research as it provides the basis of understanding the development of human life. As an integral part of one’s life, culture can help researchers explain the impact of the different changes in the society over time. Generalized, balanced, and negative reciprocity – Reciprocity is the mode of exchange. Generalized reciprocity involves exchanges between closely related people and it functions to establish personal relationships (Haviland, 2008). The return of the exchange is not immediate and there is less expectation that a return will happen. Example, my friend treats me dinner for my birthday, there may be expectation that I will treat her on her birthday too. Balanced reciprocity is an exchange of eq ual values (Haviland, 2008).. Example, I will give you 3 books and you will give me 3 books that I don’t have but with the same author. The transaction is immediate. Negative reciprocity involves profit, meaning one party gets more than the other (Haviland, 2008).. This is like barter. ... Usually, the difference between both families depends on how they live or associate together. Our family consists of both nuclear and extended families. We have an aunt living with her husband and children alone, away from everyone else. We have an uncle who lives with his wife’s parents and siblings. Understanding the family structure is important in anthropological research because it sheds light to its influence in the development of the society. Kinship – Kinship is the relationship between people through shared characteristics or through cultural arrangements (Ferraro & Andreatta, 2008). It is the basis for forming social groups and for classifying the different roles and categories of individuals. Through kinship, there are different things that can be transferred or transmitted. It may be goods, values or behavior. Kinship may be by blood or by law. The study of kinship is important for anthropological research because it helps researchers understand how it affec ts culture. It is also important because it affects social relationships, such as friendship and marriage. How a kinship works can be seen through inheritance. Most often, the closest kin, such as the spouse or children, gets all or more inheritance compared to distant relatives, such as the children of the cousin. Example, understanding the relationship between my parents and my grandparents may explain my parents’ parenting style. Norms vs. transgressions – Norms and transgressions differentiate the different behaviors in the society. A norm is the expected action or behavior. Example, as a child I am expected to respect my parents, such as say thank you, ask for permission to go out with my friends and not lie to them. Most norms are usually implicit or