Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Arthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman - 1039 Words

Tragedy Characteristics Student’s Name Institution Introduction The three characteristics of tragedy are; a tragic flaw, tragic dilemma, and reversal. The play Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, is about an old salesperson who returns early from a business trip. After crashing multiple times, he realizes he should stop driving. The other book, Oedipus the King narrates the story of Oedipus. He was a man who became the king of Thebes, while unwittingly fulfilling a prophecy that he would murder his father, Laius, and marry his mother, Jocasta. The above characteristics of tragedy are well highlighted. In the play Death of a Salesman, one flow hat contributes to Willy becoming a tragic character is that he found physical things to be more appealing than the basic things he needed for survival. An example of this is when Willy lies to his family and friends saying he was well liked as a salesperson, and he was happy and proud of his job, but in reality, it is entirely the opposite. Another example is the Willy s definition of success as living in the American dream. On the other hand, the book Oedipus the King occasions of tragic flow is evident. The first instance is when he first encounters Teiresias, a seer who declines to divulge the truth he admits to knowing. We see Teiresias begging Oedipus to let her go home. However, Oedipus doesn’t want anything withheld from him, and he gradually becomes more agitated with this wheedling. Furthermore, TeiresiasShow MoreRelatedArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman1144 Words   |  5 Pages Arthur Miller: Death of a Salesman Life for many in America are missing the same elements that â€Å"Death of a Salesman† exposed. Those element are love and direction. Many people face these struggles at some point in their life, but don’t know what to do to progress. Arthur Miller devised a style whereby he could show how your past can continuously impact on your future. Each character highlights the powerlessness of a dream to give meaning and control to human life. I disagree with someRead MoreArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman1027 Words   |  5 PagesAn Analysis of Tragic Heroism of Biff Loman in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller This literary study will define the tragic heroism of Biff Loman in Arthur Miller’s play The Death of a Salesman. Biff is initially a victim of Willy’s continual harassment to make more money and find a better career. In this family unit, Biff must endure the unrealistic and fantasy-based elusions of his father in his fanatical pursuit of the American Dream. However, Biff soon learns of Willy’s extra-marital betrayalRead MoreArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman1061 Words   |  5 PagesIn â€Å"Death of A Salesman,† Arthur Miller takes a view about the usually positive value people put on success. By examining Willy’s downfall, we can see Miller is arguing how the fallacy of success crafts the amiss dreams. Miller displays how the constant mania to maintain the image of success destroys the concept of American Dream for ordinary people like Willy. Miller portrays Willy as a hard-working exhausted man, â€Å"I’m tired to the death† (1557). Willy expends enormous amounts of time and energyRead MoreArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman And The Crucible2615 Words   |  11 Pagesand conflicts have been a constant. As individual people and as a world, there have never been perfect times. Arthur Miller’s writing style focuses on how his characters deal with external and internal problems and how their reactions to these problems reflect their characterization. Arthur Miller uses external conflict, internal conflict, and indirect characterization, in Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, to show how ideas of society do not always agree with the ideas and beliefs of others whichRead MoreArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman1159 Words   |  5 Pagesmarriage, or through one’s own self. Willy Loman, a delusional salesman, in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman; Minnie Wright, an unhappy and lonely housew ife, in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles; and Oedipus, a king with excessive pride and determination, in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King illustrate how people lose their identities over the course of time. Society can cause the loss of a person’s identity, as Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman depicts the American dream as society’s view of success. The AmericanRead MoreArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman1373 Words   |  6 PagesAmerican In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the main character is Willy Loman a lifelong traveling salesman. Willy is in his early sixties and there is no doubt he has had a long life with the occupation he chose for himself some years ago. It seems as if Willy is doing well for himself as well as his family from any outsider, however, what happens behind the scenes is a completely different story. Constantly borrowing from a fellow friend Willy finds himself in a black hole of debt. Arthur Miller’sRead MoreArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman1326 Words   |  6 PagesAs though to recreate the connection in life, literature often shows the relationship between past events and a character’s present actions and values. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy is haunted by memories of his older brother, father, and salesman Dave Singleman. Willy’s character and values are constantly influenced by the memory of the three men, compounding upon his deli ria throughout the play. Willy considers these men the epitome of success, thus explaining his dependency onRead MoreArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman2019 Words   |  9 Pagespersonal growth and forming realistic, healthy relationships. Both Judith Guest and Arthur Miller use their respective literary works ‘Ordinary People’ and ‘Death of a Salesman’ to illustrate that not addressing who we are as individuals and remaining unaware of reality will only lead to unhappiness, dysfunction, and eventual tragedy. The main character and the driving force behind the action of ‘Death of a Salesman’ Willy Loman is both unaware of reality and ignorant to his own need to find himselfRead MoreArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman910 Words   |  4 PagesGuilty Conscience â€Å"Death of a Salesman† by American playwright Arthur Miller is a drama that resonates with the majority of viewers and readers of the play. Miller eloquently illustrates the drama and complex dynamics of the Loman family. The Loman’s consist of Willy and Linda Loman as well as their two sons Biff and Happy. Specifically, â€Å"Death of a Salesman† focusses on Willy and his oldest son Biff. Willy, now an old man has deteriorated into a miserable and senile man. Willy Loman’s characterRead MoreArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman Essay1567 Words   |  7 Pagescharacter with a tragic flaw leading to his downfall. In addition, in traditional tragedy, the main character falls from high authority and often it is predetermined by fate, while the audience experiences catharsis (Irving 247). Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman is considered to be a tragedy because this literary work has some of the main characteristics of the tragedy genre. In this play, the main character Willy Loman possesses such traits and behaviors that lead to his downfall, and the

Monday, December 16, 2019

Bowl Championship Series Free Essays

The controversy surrounding the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in college football has many competing factions. There are those who believe that BCS’ computerized ranking system offers the most objective option based on the available statistics for each team. Opponents to the BCS argue that the computer’s system unfairly weighs certain factors in determining the rankings. We will write a custom essay sample on Bowl Championship Series or any similar topic only for you Order Now No matter where you stand, arguments for any side of the case can be convincingly made. With this research, my goal will be to show how despite the controversy of the ranking system, it appears that the main purpose of the BCS system is to make as much money as possible through the televising and sponsorship of the bowl games themselves which create millions of dollars through advertising revenue. According to their own website, the BCS â€Å"†¦is designed to match the two top-rated teams in a national championship game and to create exciting and competitive matchups between eight other highly regarded teams†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (The BCS). The key words here are, in my opinion, ‘exciting’ and ‘highly regarded’. In other words, the BCS wants teams that translate well to the television due to their popularity and due to the likelihood of creating a high-profile match-up that will draw in millions of viewers as opposed to determining the football programs that deserve to be there based on their play throughout the season. This is understandable from a business point of view, but troubling on the other hand for two major reasons considering the staggering financial numbers. With their new four-year deal with Fox, the BCS is going to rake in $132 million dollars a year to broadcast the four BCS games, or in other words, $33 million a game (Ourand). The first reason is because these are student-athletes that do not reap the financial rewards that the sponsors and colleges are receiving from their labor. Surely these student-athletes do get special treatment and most of them are on scholarship trying to make it into professional football and the increased media exposure can up their stock, but these benefits pale in comparison to the financial windfalls reaped by the colleges and sponsors. The second problem is that this system creates a cycle where high-profile football conferences maintain their dominance due to the disproportionate amount of money they receive from profiting from the BCS system, which in turn offers these conferences more money to pour into scholarships to attract the best athletes (who have seen these teams on TV and know and want to then play for them), more money to spend on better facilities and training programs, and more money to secure additional television broadcasting rights. According to ESPN’s college football expert Gregg Easterbrook, every team in the six ‘football factory’ conferences stands to make $1. 5 million dollars from their BCS television profit sharing strategy. Meanwhile teams from the mid-major conferences will only bring in $200,000 if they are fortunate enough to even have a team earn their way into the BCS (Eastbrook). BCS proponents cite these figures to strengthen their argument by saying that the profit-sharing strategy effectively ‘lifts all boats’ when in reality the ‘exciting’ and ‘highly regarded’ programs and the BCS sponsors profit disproportionately at the cost of creating a structure that truly has the student-athlete’s well-being in mind along with actually determining the best team in the land. Works Cited Eastbrook, Gregg. â€Å"The BCS doesn’t always give us a clear national champ†¦and that’s OK. † ESPN. 4 December 2007. http://sports. espn. go. com/espn/page2/story? page. â€Å"The BCS is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bowl Championship Series in association with Fox Sports. 15 August 2007. http://www. bcsfootball. org/bcsfb/definition. Ourand, John and Michael Smith. â€Å"BCS seeks big bump from Fox. † Sports Business Journal. 3 November 2008. http://www. sportsbusinessjournal. com/article/60463. How to cite Bowl Championship Series, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Communication children/young people and staff free essay sample

Children need positive in their life, so its always nice to greet a child with a smile. It is so good to ask them how they are. Children always have some news to share no matter how important it may be. It is very Important to them to listen to what they would like to share with you. Children/Young People and even Older people always Like to feel that they matter and that they are Important. Many children are learning at deferent levels. Some can take In more Information than others. It Is Important youth adapt to every child/young persons need.You as well as them have to understand what level each person Is at so you can help them reach the best they can. It Is always better to be positive. Body language and attitude Is very Important when speaking to a child/young person or member of staff. We will write a custom essay sample on Communication children/young people and staff or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Speak clearly so all can understand you. Let the children/young people/parents and even staff know that they can come and talk to you. Remember to listen, be polite, friendly and make sure they feel that they are being listened too. All children and young people have to understand that there are rules to follow and they have to behave in the correct manner.Children and young people look up to older people so it is a positive idea for the staff to follow the rules as well. Communication is very necessary when speaking to your colleagues. This way it ensures consistency throughout the staffing team. If staff do not talk to one another situations can get out of hand and could lead to disagreements or even resentment between your colleagues. The best way of preventing this sort of situation is for everyone to know and understand what is happening so we can all work it out together.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

United Phos Set to Buy Cerexagri Essay Example

United Phos Set to Buy Cerexagri Essay United Phosphorus, the country’s largest agrochemical company, is all set to acquire Cerexagri for euro 111 million (nearly Rs 637 crore). |   | The acquisition, fifth in a row this calendar, will make United Phosphorous the third largest generic agrochemical company in the world. This year, the company had acquired Advanta BV, Crop Serve, some products from Bayer Cropscience and Bensulfuron from DuPont. |   | Sources close to the development said both the parties had reached the final stage of agreement.A deal might be announced late this evening or tomorrow morning, they added. United Phosphorus is being represented by YES Bank and Close Brothers for this transaction. |   | United Phosphorus posted consolidate sales of Rs 1,840 crore last year. Cerexagri is the crop-science business unit of Arkema Inc with annual revenue of about euro 200 million (nearly Rs 1,150 crore). |   | It specialises in plant protection products, mainly fungicides, which account for about 75 per cent of its business, and post-harvest treatment products for fruits and vegetables where it is the market leader.   | Cerexagri has over 70 years of experience in the global market. The company has a strong distribution presence in Europe and the US which together account for about 80 per cent of its business. |   | The company has manufacturing sites in Europe with employment of 630 personnel. Industry sources said United Phosphorus’ product offering of insecticides, herbicides and fumigants fits well with the complementary range in fungicides of Cerexagri. | |What makes this acquisition important is that it makes UPL the third largest generic agrochemical company in the world. UPL manufactures insecticides, herbicides and fumigants, and is the world’s largest producer of Aluminium Phosphide. Cerexagri  has annual revenues of about euro 200 mn and specialises in plant protection products, mainly fungicides and post-harvest treatment products for fruits and vegetables where it is market leader. Cerexagri has over 70 years of experience in the global market and has a strong distribution presence in Europe and the US.As for funding the acquisition, UPL plans to dip into internal accruals as well as loans, the company CEO Raju Shroff said. UPL’s group sales for the year ended March 31, 2006 were about $410 mn. The company may close the current financial year with Rs 3,200-3,300 crore. Also what is notable is that Cerexagri will be UPL’s fifth acquisition in this calendar year. It earlier bougt Advanta BV, Crop Serve, products from Bayer Cropscience and Bensulfuron from Dupont. UPL was represented by YES Bank Ltd and Close Brothers in the transaction.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

buy custom Life Balance essay

buy custom Life Balance essay The modern lifestyles are hectic and responsibilities taxing. An individual is taxed by demanding obligations both at work and at home to a point where the body, mind and sensory system is overwhelmed. Yet most of the engagements that an individual has to see through by the end of the day only reinforce the exhaustion of yester days, to a point where everyone is in a constant state of exhaustion, stress and depression. The more one works the more the boss demands. The more one gives to the family, the more is demanded. At the end of it all, leisure becomes something to read about and never to experience (Haworth Veal, 2004). It is funny that technology, which is supposed to have made work easier, has actually made people more occupied with tasks. There is never a day that one sits back and feels that he or she is free, without deadlines to beat, without demands pressing him or her down and without any calling schedules. That means that individuals are today in a constant state of work, at home and at the work place. The consequence of these has been frequent nervous breakdowns, stress, depression and other chronic diseases like heart failure (Iso-Ahola Haworth, 1997). The mantra of modern production at the work place is to give as much as it takes to get the job done, sleepless, break-less, meal-less and illogical spells included. There never seems to be a moment to leave the job behind and devote a moment to one's self. Even when the office hours are done, there will be a carry home assignment and of course, the kids will be waiting for their quality time. Workaholics perpetuate their engagements with family and social responsibilities until there is never a time to relax and calm down the nerves. The body soon burns out and diseases raid in (Trenberth Dewe, 2002). The definition of leisure is an engagement that is not work and which only purpose is self amusement. Leisure is an activity that one enjoys and in which the body, mind and soul rejoices in doing whether or not it is beneficial. Leisure activities demand very little from our bodies and from our mind, Insted of taxing an individual, leisure activities stimulate relaxation and enjoyment (Haworth Veal, 2004). This paper reviews the role of leisure in the day to day life of an individual whether in view of his or her career or in general life. The relevant question is what part does leisure play in our lives? The paper identifies notable schools of thoughts and experts in the contemporary body of knowledge and summarizes what these experts agree on when it comes to the role of leisure to ones career of life. This application of knowledge is used to determine how a leisure facility manager should organize his facility to cater for leisure activities that help individuals to cope better with the stress and strains of daily life and career demands. A final opinion is offered in respect to the arguments developed in the paper, as a conclusion on what role leisure plays in ones life or career. There have been many experts writing on the importance of leisure as a scale on which to balance work and life. Leisure has been deemed important in maintaining the life/work balance today. Kerry Patterson for instance is the co-author of the bestselling book, Crucial Confrontations, This book explores the points at which an individual must put a stop to one engagement and pick the other. He writes about a point at which one should limit the interruption of such technology as the mobile phone and internet and a point at which work must be separated from life. Peterson believes that a work email should never be viewed during leisure hours since if that accrues; work has crossed the borders and domineered on life. In the same way, personal relationships should not be allowed to cross the bridge to the work place. Colleen DeBaise is a world renown columnist in Washington Post and numerous other periodicals both offline and offline. Her column on Washington Post is called Balancing Work and Life. In most of her writing, she stresses on the need for entrepreneurs to balance their lives and their business commitments such that there is a moment in their lives to be themselves and not businesspersons. She is also the Editor in Chief and proprietor of SmartMoney.com, and she therefore knows what it means to be in entrepreneurship Al Gini is among the most prominent authors in the world on the subject of work/life balance. She has written a book titled, The Importance of being Lazy: In Praise of Play, Leisure and Vocation. In this book, she draws heavily on recent research findings about the American vacation habits. Her conclusion is that 'doing nothing' is one of the most fundamental human needs for healthy, happy individuals (Gini, 2003). Ruth Ostrow, a former Australian financial writer of prominent publications as The Finance Review, The Weekend Australian and BRW Magazine attained her prime in the late 1980s and early 1990's only to quit the corporate lifestyle on a near nervous breakdown (Ostrow, 2009). Today, she is a renowned speaker and writer on life/work balance and the need for leisure. She has written bestselling books. Her most thought provoking works are accessible at ruthostrow.com/worklifebalance.htm, where she frequently stresses on the need for a balanced work life. She draws heavily on her personal wreck due to the rat-race of workholism and the new passion she gained when work became part of her life and not her life parse (Ostrow, 2009). Some notable authors who should never miss a mention in a discussion about work and leisure are John Trevor Haworth and Anthony James Veal. They are the co-authors of the acclaimed work/life manual, Work and Leisure. The authors use some though provoking statistics to conclude that the more one works without leisure, the less effective and efficient he or she becomes. The more one works without leisure the more unproductive he or she becomes due to body malfunctions, complications and general fatigue in body and mind. Interestingly, these two authors draws heavily from the works of Joseph Pieper and Romano Guradini who identifies a point in time when America became very productive and yet people had the most amount of time for leisure. The trend observed has been a decrease in leisure allowance over the years and with it a decrease of efficient productivity in employees. Buy custom Life Balance essay

Friday, November 22, 2019

PC Vitals for Every Freelance Writer

PC Vitals for Every Freelance Writer PC Vitals for Every Freelance Writer PC Vitals for Every Freelance Writer By Colin If you’ve never experienced the horror of a computer screen turning stark blue and displaying garbled characters while you are working on it, then lucky you. My advice is to never take things for granted. Computers have a nasty habit of hiding their internal illnesses until it’s too late, by telling you one thing when they mean another, or by playing tricks on your mind. If, however, you have experienced this scenario, you won’t need me to remind you of the blood curdling scream that came from your throat, or the moment of rapid pleading with a metal box, or the red mist of anger that followed very soon after. You’ll already know what it’s like to have your PC, something you came to think of as a friend, get up and desert you just like that. It’s every writer’s worst nightmare. But it is avoidable. Here are a few tips to help keep your PC in tip-top shape, and to spot those all important warning signs that not everything is as it should be. Only Install What You Need Don’t install software you will probably never use. It only takes up room, and makes unnecessary entries into the computer’s registry, which over time, slows it down considerably. When you do install software, always keep a copy of the installation executable, and always keep this updated at regular intervals. If you ever find you have to start again and rebuild your PC, or even get a new one, you will be able to get back to where you were relatively easily. Make a regular point of going through the installed programs list in the Control Panel and removing what you rarely use. Hard Drive Maintenance Your PC comes with a disk defragmenter and surface scanner – use them regularly. The disk defragmenter will reorganize the data on your hard drive, to ensure faulty sectors are either repaired or removed. This process also optimizes your system to run software faster. The surface scanner checks for physical errors that can then be repaired, or give you warning that something more serious might be on the cards, and that action should be taken. Keep Your Anti-Virus Software Updated There’s a multitude of subscription and free anti-virus software products on the market, so the modern freelance writer can have no reason for not having some form or protection on his PC. Scan For Malware And Adware Regularly Along with anti virus software, these utilities keep your system free from the full spectrum of ware’isms, to the risk of data theft. There are several free products available in the Internet that do this job wonderfully, which no serious freelance writer should be without. Remove All Crap CCleaner is a highly recommended tool to remove the crap that builds up in a PC over time. It quickly and easily rids your machine of unwanted cookies, temporary files, logs, and installation garbage, clearing up space, and ensuring integrity. CCleaner is also excellent at keeping your system registry in tip-top shape, by scanning for obsolete entries, missing links and files, and removing them after taking a backup. Keep Regular Backups Perhaps the most important thing a writer can, and should, do regularly. If you take nothing else from this article, you should at least take heed of this section, the importance of which cannot be stressed enough. Should you lose your PC to internal failure, you can always buy another one. But if that failure means the loss of the directory called â€Å"All My Writing,† and you have taken no backups, your life is over. There’s no excuse for not backing up regularly. Once per month is not enough – it should be done at least once per week minimum, and daily if you have works in progress. Whether you back the whole lot up onto a DVD in one go, or do it file by file because your system still uses 4.5† floppy disks DO IT! You will never forgive yourself if the worst happens. Watch for Warning Signs PCs often give off subtle warnings that a failure is impending, so it would be useful to be able to recognize them. Should you spot any of the following, take immediate backups of everything, and start running checks. At Boot Up Watch for any difference in the start-up messages as your PC boots up, such as hardware not being located, registry information missing, control, or system file errors, etc. Listen for strange noises coming from the hard drive as it gets going. Squeaks, groans, or moans can indicate something is wrong. Keep an eye on the boot-up time. Is it getting slower or does it appear to be struggling? If so, do a back up and run your checks. While In Use Have you noticed applications taking a while to load up, or when in use, are they running slower, hanging for no reason, or closing down unexpectedly? Don’t leave it until it dies before doing something about it. Does your hard drive go through periods of seemingly intense use when nothing is happening? Watch the CPU and make sure it’s not being over-used – a larger issue could be unfolding. At Shutdown Does the machine take a while to shut down? Does it hang while closing down, leaving you to pull the plug to shut it down for the night? Are there any spurious messages on the screen? Any of these things could indicate there is a problem. The rule of thumb if you spot a potential problem is to take a backup, then get it checked out. When To Do All Of This Daily – Incremental backups on all WIPs, checks on PC running stability. Weekly – AV quick scan, ad/malware quick scan, crap clean, full backup of all data. Monthly – AV deep scan, ad/malware deep scan, full backup of the entire system (data and applications). Staying on top of your PC’s integrity can save a freelance writer much embarrassment, time, and money – even his career. Don’t be a fool and fall into the â€Å"it will never happen to me† trap, because when you start thinking like that, the chances are you’re next. 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 Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Slang Terms for Money40 Fish Idioms7 Sound Techniques for Effective Writing

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Compare and contracts between USA $ Saudi Arabia Essay

Compare and contracts between USA $ Saudi Arabia - Essay Example All differences aside, The United States of American and Saudi Arabia are both a geographic location that contains people. People are no different and need the same things in order to survive. The United States of America is home to many different seasons and has many different weather issues. The weather in the United States of America is made of hot days that reach one hundred and twenty degrees and cold days that are forty degrees below zero. The rapid changes of weather create seasons. The seasons produce rain, snow, wind and drought. These weather conditions make for a soil that is rich in produce and livestock. These pleasant but sometimes harsh weather conditions are quite different then weather in Saudi Arabia. Weather in Saudi Arabia is unlike the United States. In Saudi Arabia the temperatures get above one hundred and forty degrees at times. The harsh temperatures make for an unpleasant environment (LonelyPlanet2011). Most of the area is made of sand and large sand dunes. The heat makes it hard for produce to grow and water is not as abundant as the United States. There are sand storms that are comparable to a tornado in the United States. These sand storms are deadly and powerful. Saudi Arabia has seasons like the United States but not winter conditions. While the average temperature of the United States in the winter is twenty below zero, the temperature in Saudi Arabia would typically be seventy five degrees. The weather of the United States and Saudi Arabia shows many differences. Religious views are a huge topic of discussion when comparing and contrasting the United States and Saudi Arabia. In order to discuss the two religious views it is important to explore the history of the two nations. The United States of America was originally inhabited by Native American Indians. An explorer by the name of Christopher Columbus arrived in The United States and took over. He and the rest of his European explorers had a Catholic/Christian religious backgr ound. This religious background mainstreamed Christianity into The United States. Although Christianity is popular in the United States it is not the only religion. The freedom of The United States allows for the freedom to accept any religion. Many are Christian, Muslim and even Atheist. Some accept no religion. The ability to practice any religion without fear makes the United States a desirable location for immigrants. Saudi Arabia is completely different in the sense of religion. Saudi Arabia is the birthplace to Islam (MidEastWeb2003). Saudi Arabia, before becoming captivated by the Islam religion was mainly pagan. Those who were pagan likely converted to Christianity or Judaism. After the birth and teachings of Mohammed, about ninety percent of the Saudi Arabian population converted to Islam. The Islam religion is highly looked upon in Saudi Arabia. The popularity of the Muslim religion creates a barrier and the denial of other religions like Christianity and Judaism. Religion in the United States and Saudi Arabia has been the cause of many disputes in the past. To this day and since the beginning of history there has been war because of the religious differences. Religion and cultural differences is one of the number one factors for disputes between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Many influences like geographic location and religion play a role in the differences of the two cultures. The culture of the United States is very diverse. The United States culture consist of many different cultures put together. There are

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

CIS333 Week 8 Assignment 2 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

CIS333 Week 8 Assignment 2 - Coursework Example It is also vital to bridge protocol in the organisation in case of an extreme emergency that would otherwise cost the groups dearly. The organization should have a means to prevent such attacks when they occur, for example, having a backup plan. Rooms with sensitive information like the server rooms should have steel doors and enabled biometric system to authenticate users to the room. They should also be locked with huge padlocks to avoid physical attacks by insiders. It is also necessary to have alert systems when there is any bridge being noticed in the organization. Implement as software that informs the administration in case power, for example, goes below the required amount. Failing systems are set with warning systems such as an imminent failure in the hard drives of the organization. It is also necessary to have corrective means to bring back a damaged or altered system back into its original course of action. For instance, the organization should have data recovery mechanisms in case of vital data disappearing. The history of any organization depends on facts gathered over time. Every process of the society is documented and stored as data. Such information is vital to knowing the organization’s current state, compare it to its past and to make correct future predictions. Data faces physical security threat where somebody walks into an office and transfers the information they want. Others break rooms to get these resources while others just need to be on the internet to access them. To maintain such data, we need physically to protect their locations. It includes the use of steel doors, heavy hinges and padlocks.It is also necessary to employ new means of identifying persons who have permission into these offices. We need to use biometrics to identify bonafide members (Bosworth & Kabay, 2002). Also, employ the use of encrypted passwords to unlock such doors. For instance using MD5, which is a very useful

Saturday, November 16, 2019

The story of Everyman Essay Example for Free

The story of Everyman Essay Every human being is destined to have something in their lives, as a matter of fact, there were great expectations in everyone’s existence here on earth and it is absolutely in the hands of an individual to excel in his own abilities. Doing what is good and what is bad is an unending chronicle as we grasp the path of life. Accordingly, the life that has been given by us should be well taken good care of and it is imperative to not waste time just juggling with the fuzz of life and that is just proliferating ourselves in material things alone. Uplifting a certain persona cannot quantify by having luxurious things at hand or achieving a great award or even have the position everyone else is dreaming of, it is about enlightenment of our inner self. To be able to make our lives lavish, we must coordinate with what our creator thought and expected of us. Indeed, it is not easy to perfectly follow his will but practically, in our own way, we can meet what is essential in our lives. In the story of Everyman, it was very open how life should be dealt. Parallel to this, the presence of challenges that God has given us was truly an eye opener to each and every one of us. Given death as the primary element of the challenges, it truly adds spice to the sleeping conscience that we have, â€Å"Death: Lord, I will in the world go run over all, and currently out search both great and small. Everyman will I beset that liveth beastly, out of God’s laws and dreadeth not folly†. The journey that we have to come across was not that easy but in everyman, it tremendously makes available all the possible outcomes of a person’s decision. The choices that he’ll wish to bear would reflect on what kind of future in store for him. It was also exemplified in the story of Everyman how our present life may change instantly and at the same all the things that we possess could easily flushed away, â€Å"God: I perceive here in my majesty, how that all the creatures be to me unkind. Living without dread in worldly prosperity, of ghostly sight the people so blind, drowned in sin, they know me not for their God, and in worldly riches are all in mind†. In one way or another, we fail to comprehend the very essence of prioritizing things and we come to the point wherein we value the most the goods that we have and what we possess at the moment. In this particular scenario, what was elucidated in Everyman was the central issue of choosing what is essential in our character. It is so important to value the life that God has given us. In addition to this, the very heartrending part of all this was the thought that when we are in our deepest part of hopelessness and despair, those we dearly expect to be with us would also be blown away by the unfortunate circumstance in our lives. What we perceived to be our friends would turn out to be just our acquaintances that in any moment they will perish. This was another note on Everyman, that every one should have the conviction to defend what we truly believed in as well as to stand with what we have despite the challenges that comes our way. These are the real essence of the story and this was what Everyman wanted to embark within us. On the other hand, Dante’s Inferno gives us the picture of what life after death may be if we did not convey the real meaning of living on earth, â€Å"Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself within a forest dark, for the straightforward pathway had been lost† (Dante). The detrimental factors in a person’s life would actually have an effect to the life after death. The presence of the evil forces would take effect in dealing with death and this was truly what Inferno put into words. The relation between the story of Everyman and Inferno truly depicts the essentiality of life. Differentiate what is good and evil is ultimately the focal point of both echelons. The journey of death helps us to visualize the very nature of living life to the fullest and acquiring all important facet of being good. The upshot of what we do will absolutely continue to our life after death. The presence of the core ideas of the circle of hell would enlighten us on the threats that it could bring in a person’s personality. The central values of medieval people revolve in the religion where they are being brought up to. The norms that they posses were truly in accordance to what they believed in. The centeredness in the church was intensely practiced in this age. It was very evident on how they adhere to what their creator bequeath on them. Thus, in this way, doing the good possible way was strictly their very nature. As regards to the creative manner of the medieval people, they still adhere to their religion. The music, the arts and even literature was purely intended to serve the church. We could clearly grasp the devotion that they have in their personalities which is extremely a positive note. The determination will be put into account as well given that they have strong adherence with their religion. On another note, The Roman Republic focuses on their Gods which have the most powerful element. Their ultimate role is to stipulate and protect. The uncompromising set of standards that they put into account truly creates discipline to its people. Since they were not focused on a church enthusiasm, there is no formal priesthood but there is a role for the aristocrats, thus, these are the ones who set the ground for policies. Without a doubt, the exaltation of intangible moral qualities rests a demarcation line apart from the medieval set of values.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Perspective And The Purpose Of History :: Expository Essays Research Papers

The Perspective And The Purpose Of History History is a story told over time. It is a way of recreating the past so it can be studied in the present and re-interpreted for future generations. Since humans are the sole beneficiaries of history, it is important for us to know what the purpose of history is and how historians include their own perspective concerning historical events. The purpose and perspective of history is vital in order for individuals to realise how it would be almost impossible for us to live out our lives effectively if we had no knowledge of the past. Also, in order to gain a sound knowledge of the past, we have to understand the political, social and cultural aspects of the times we are studying. In What is History, Alan Bullock believes that history is an attempt to explain the sequence and connections of events. He believes that "History is to explain why...it is not to explain why they had to follow, but why they did in fact follow." It is believed by Bullock that history is taken apart and is put together by an historian, so that it may yield new evidence, that will teach us a lesson from the past in order to become more aware of the future. This connective account helps us "get inside the skin of this man or group of men." Russel B. Nye also shares similarities with McPhee in History, Meaning and Method, saying that "History is a response to the eternal desire of human beings to know about themselves." Nye believes that history is concerned with societies and the individuals who live in these societies. He emphasises the importance of people, their individual choices, the values they hold and the angles of vision by which they have looked at themselves and the world. It is important to look at history if one is to understand how and why men and women have acted together in society. Nye also shares the same view as Bullock in suggesting that "History has the special obligation to recall, reassess and re-interpret the past, bringing it to bear on the present and translating it into a form each new generation can use." Nye believes that history is a social science which requires hypotheses and observations. If we are to make proper use of history, historians have to arrange it in a way that makes it easy for us to identify the facts.

Monday, November 11, 2019

The Family Nurse

â€Å"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times . . . † Charles Dickens penned this famous opening statement in one of his popular books which spoke about the changing times during his day. Much has not changed either, if people interpret these same words into today’s context. Families however, are encountering the constant and ever increasing bombardment of myriad pressures or more commonly now known as stressors. Spouses assume a variety of roles never before imagined during Dickens’ days. In most first world countries women live alone with children to support which made single parenting commonplace. In other words, every person’s choice has significant effects upon his own world and that of the rest of his immediate reach of influence. Another example is when women who used to stay at home prior to the industrial age started to assume multiple roles: homemaking plus other jobs aside from tending to children and husband. This has complicated the family set-up or when the husband is left at home with no work, most conflicts arise. Husbands rarely accept willingly the tasks that wives used to do such as cleaning, laundry and baby-sitting. Husbands start to become hostile and relationships take the downturn in scenarios such as when a husband perceives that the wife makes him feel she has become superior in the arrangement. The nursing profession has made great strides primarily towards the intervention aspects when nurses work as part of a team of health providers (as he/she takes on different roles) who address homelessness, facilities geared to aid the ageing; assess, care and administer prescribed therapeutic remedies to the mentally disturbed, spouses and families in crises and especially those physically undergoing the effects of various kinds of emotional, physical (including chemical), mental and sexual abuse (Alexander et al., 2000). Specifically, the family nurse can respond in many ways. Basically his/her role is in counseling. Knowledge not only in therapeutic techniques, medical or chemical drug application is not the only side to it. Counseling may come in the form of eliciting information on the issues or concerns of the family but it also has to do with the skills involved in both verbal and non-verbal communications such as active listening. The family nurse must be able to build rapport and establish credibility for the helping relationship to be effective. However, the family nurse must be knowledgeable as well on ethics that are expected to guide that relationship (Alexander et al., 2000). Reference: 1. Alexander, Margaret et al. THE FAMILY HEALTH NURSE CONTEXT, CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND CURRICULUM: World Health Organization (WHO). http://www.see-educoop.net/education_in/pdf/family_health_nurse-oth-enl-t06.pdf   

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Tips for Pam and Sue

Multiple Regression Project The is the only deliverable in Week Four. It is the case study titled â€Å"Locating New Pam and Susan’s Stores,† described at the end of Chapter 12 of your textbook. The case involves the decision to locate a new store at one of two candidate sites. The decision will be based on estimates of sales potential, and for this purpose, you will need to develop a multiple regression model to predict sales. Specific case questions are given in the textbook, and the necessary data is in the file named pamsue. ls. Assuming that you are reasonably comfortable with using Excel and its Analysis ToolPak add-in, you should expect to spend approximately 2-3 hours on computer work, and another 3-4 hours on writing the report. It is a good idea not to wait until the last day to do the entire project and write the report. Content of the report consists of your answers to the case questions, plus computer output(s) to support your answers. Please keep the entir e report – including computer outputs – under 8 printed pages.Thus, your write up should be concise, and you need to be selective in deciding which computer outputs to include. You can use your discretion in formatting your write up, but use good writing practices and try to make it look professional (more on the report format below). Project Hints and Guidelines It is assumed that you have access to 1. Microsoft Excel with Analysis ToolPak (do NOT use stepwise regression for this project even if it runs on your computer). 2. Data file named pamsue. xls in the DataSets. zip folder.Basic Excel skills you need are the ability to construct histograms and scatterplots, to create dummy variables, copying or moving columns of data in a spreadsheet, and the ability to use the Correlation and Regression facilities under Data Analysis (available when Analysis ToolPak has been added in). Remember that Analysis ToolPak requires contiguous ranges of data for correlation or regress ion. 1. Open the file pamsue. xls. First, move the column for sales so that it is the rightmost column (it is now to the right of comtype).If the old sales column remains but appears empty, delete that column. 2. Obtain a scatterplot of the sales on the vertical axis against comtype on the horizontal axis. This will give you a good idea of whether different categories of comtype appear to differ in sales. In the scatterplot, you should see that sales in the middle categories 3 – 6 are in similar ranges on the vertical axis, but 1 and 2 have somewhat higher sales, and category 7 appears to have somewhat lower sales.This implies that, when you create dummy variables for comtype, dummy variables for categories 1, 2, 7 are likely to be statistically significant in the multiple regression model (and dummy variables for categories 3 – 6 are likely to be not significant). Although it would be desirable to also obtain the scatterplot of sales against every other X variable, yo u can omit these if you do not have time, and use the correlation coefficients instead (see step 4 below). 3. Insert seven new columns immediately to the left of comtype, and in these columns, create seven dummy variables to represent the seven categories of site types.Name them comtype1, comtype2, †¦ , comtype7. At this point, you have 40 columns of data in the spreadsheet with comtype and sales in the last two columns. 4. Use the Correlation facility under Data Analysis to obtain the correlation coefficients between sales and all of the other variables except store and comtype (why exclude comtype? ). This will produce a matrix of correlation coefficients between sales and every X variable, as well as between every pair of X variables. To make them easy to read, you may want to format the cells to show numbers with 2 or 3 decimal places. . Write down the names of 10 quantitative X variables having the highest correlations with sales. From the correlations worksheet, move to t he data worksheet. Select the following columns: sales, plus the 10 quantitative X variables you wrote down, plus comtype1, comptype2, comptype7 (here, you could include up to three more dummy variables, but they are likely to be statistically not significant, so you can save some work – see 2. above). Copy these onto a blank worksheet. Make sure there are no blank columns in within the data range in the new worksheet.Note: To prevent unexpected changes in copying data when formulas are involved, use Paste Special with Values selected when pasting data into a new worksheet. 6. Use Regression under Data Analysis to obtain the regression output table for sales using the variables in the columns you had selected, making sure that Labels and New Worksheet Ply checkboxes are checked, and leave the other boxes unchecked. On the name tab of the output sheet (at the bottom), change the name of the worksheet to Model1. 7. Using appropriate statistics in the regression output table, se e if any of the X variables is statistically not significant.If there is at least one insignificant X variable, write down the most insignificant variable, move to the data sheet and delete that column, and re-run Regression without that variable. Repeat until there are no insignificant X variables. Name each output sheet Model2, Model3, and so on for easy identification. 8. When you get to a model in which all remaining X variables are statistically significant, you will have found the final regression equation for predicting sales. Re-run the last model, but this time checking the Residuals checkbox.This will reproduce the last regression table, but below it, you will see columns for Predicted sales and Residuals. Obtain a scatterplot of Residuals against Predicted sales. Also obtain a histogram of Residuals. 9. Use the final regression equation you found in the last step to predict sales at the two sites under consideration. You have just completed all necessary computer work for your project report. Now you have to write a report to present your answers to the case questions (see pages 388-389 of your textbook), and the reasons for those answers.In terms of physical organization, a reasonable format for the report is described below. Content and Format of the Project Report Cover page Include the report title, your name, course, section, facilitator, and date. Go to a new page, and use the following subsection headings for the report. Introduction One paragraph (two at most) describing the subject and context of the project. Data One or two paragraphs describing the data in plain English (number of variables, number of observations, units for data values, etc. ) Results and Discussion This is the main body of the report.It is where you will describe what you have done, what you found, and answer the case questions with the reasons for your answers. These reasons should be based on the analytical work you have done using Excel. Depending on how concisely yo u write and how many tables and graphs you include, this page could be 3-4 pages long. Conclusion One or two paragraphs discussing any remaining issues (e. g. shortcomings and possible improvements of the analyses in the report). In the Results and Discussion section, you should include a few informative tables or graphs derived from your computer analyses.DO NOT include anything that is not absolutely necessary. DO NOT include entire worksheets form Excel, but only the parts you need. For example, do not include the entire correlation matrix found in step 4 above, but you can make a small table to show the 10 variables having the highest correlations with sales. You should include the scatterplot of sales against comtype, relevant portion of the final regression output table, the final regression equation, and the two residual graphs you obtained in step 8. Please keep the total length of the report under 8 printed pages (5 to 6 pages should be sufficient in most cases).

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Zarathustra the Teacher of the Soul

Zarathustra the Teacher of the Soul Introduction Zarathustra becomes a teacher of the soul after spending ten years of solitude in the mountains. In the mountains, Zarathustra is very grateful for the sun and the company of eagle and the serpent as he describes them as â€Å"the proudest animal under the sun, and the wisest animal under the sun, they have come out to reconnoiter.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Zarathustra the Teacher of the Soul specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More They want to know whether Zarathustra still lives† (Kaufmann 10). He prefers to have company of animals than men because men are very dangerous and surpassed. He despises men’s wisdom saying that, â€Å"even the wisest among you is only a disharmony and hybrid of the plant and phantom† (Kaufmann 3). Zarathustra sought to correct and transform the last man’s understanding of the three notions of the soul: the body, the power of virtue and the spirit, so that he could have the real meaning and values of life. Zarathustra Teachings to the Last Man When he came out the forest, he taught people who were assembled at the market place saying to them that Superman is the real meaning of the Earth and blaspheming it by rating mysterious wisdom greater than the meaning of the Earth is a horrific sin. Zarathustra teaches that there is a conflict between the body and the soul due to contempt. â€Å"Once the soul looked contemptuously on the body, and that contempt was the supreme thing: †¦ it thought to escape from the body and the earth† (Kaufmann 3). He argues that the soul of a man is polluted with poverty and self-complacency like a polluted stream, unlike Superman who is like the sea and can withstand pollution. â€Å"Alas! There cometh the time when a man will no longer give birth to any star †¦ the time of the most despicable man, who no longer despise himself† (Kaufmann 5). He is imagining a situation where the last man will be a Superman and overcome the life’s challenges that are impairing their abilities. The last man asked about love, creation, and star and when he got the true meaning of them, he responded that, â€Å"we have discovered happiness† (Kaufmann 5). Zarathustra transformed the last man soul, body and spirit from a state of just a man into Superman as the last man exclaims he has discovered happiness. The last man had despised his body, so Zarathustra is teaching him why he should not despise his body. He argues that, despise of the body is due to esteem as â€Å"the creating Self created for itself esteeming and despising, it created for itself joy and woe. The creating body created for itself spirit, as a hand to its will† (Kaufmann 10). He warns the last man that in his folly and despising of the body will cause his Self to die. He is quite against the despisers of the body bidding them farewell by saying â€Å"I go not your way, ye despisers o f the body! Ye are no bridges for me to the Superman† (Kaufmann 10). Zarathustra wants to correct and transform the last man from despising the body so that he can create a better life for himself and see the real meaning of life.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Zarathustra describes the virtue of gift giving as the highest virtue but it is insatiable to the soul. He explains that the virtue of gift giving is greedy because â€Å"you force all things to and into yourself that they may flow back out of your well as the gifts of your love† (Kaufmann 187). He teaches the last man to use the power of virtue in attaining the meaning and remaining faithful to the earth. â€Å"Lead back to the earth the virtue that flew away, as I do- back to the body, back to life, that it may give the earth a meaning, a human meaning† (Kaufmann 188). The spirit and the virtue have flown away leaving errors within our bodies. Zarathustra further emphasizes to his disciples to dedicate the spirit and virtue in seeking the meaning of the earth because â€Å"with knowledge, the body purifies itself; making experiments with knowledge, it elevates itself; in the lover of knowledge all instincts become holy; in the elevated, the soul becomes gay†(Kaufmann 189). The attainment of knowledge of the power of virtue will make the last man be a Superman when a great noontime comes. Overcoming the Self is a step of achieving the meaning and reality of life.Zarathustra perceived that the unwise people devote their precious time in seeking will to truth for they doubt everything in life. The unwise people too have extended their will to truth in doing both good and evil thus transforming their will to truth into selfish will to power. He wanted the last man to achieve the right will to truth and will to power for his power to will override both. He has realized that, â€Å"with your values and words of good and evil you do violence when you value; and this is your hidden love and splendor and trembling and overflowing of your soul† (Kaufmann 288). Thus, the creator of good and evil is as well an annihilator of both. To overcome will to power requires the spirit of overcoming as he claims that life has revealed to him that, â€Å"I am that which must always overcome itself† (Kaufmann 227). The spirit is the means of attaining the meaning of life to the last man for he has failed to achieve the right will to truth and will to power. The struggles of the will to power are insatiable to both the weak and the strong resulting into dangerous sacrifices making the last man not to achieve the meaning of life. Redemption is the hope of the last man.When Zarathustra met beggars and cripples, they questioned him on how they can get their redemption and healing. He defined redemption as â€Å"to redeem what is past, and to transform eve ry ‘it was’ into ‘thus would I have it’ (Kaufmann 250).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Zarathustra the Teacher of the Soul specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Although the Will is the emancipator, it is still a prisoner of time because time cannot be reverted. Since the Will has become a prisoner of time due to its irreversibility, it turned into will to revenge as â€Å"it became a curse unto all humanity, that this folly acquired spirit† (Kaufmann 258). The will to revenge caused a lot of suffering to the humanity as the last man is seeking the reality of life. Until when the Will unlearn the spirit of revenge and the past become reversible, then, the last man will achieve the real meaning of life through emancipation, but this is literally impossible. Zarathustra taught that will to power has ability to revert and save the last man from the anguish and attain the reality and true me aning of life. Conclusion At last, Zarathustra got the vision and the riddle about the real meaning and values of life showing that the there are two paths in life, which contradict each other eternally. As Zarathustra was sailing with a number of sailors and he admired their courage in the sea and he them told a vision. He addressed them saying â€Å"to you bold searchers, researchers, and whoever embarks with cunning sails on terrible seas, whose soul flutes lure astray to every whirlpool, because you do not want to grope along a thread with cowardly hand† (Kaufmann 268). He related their courage with his vision where he dreamed and thought until he became so weary. He acknowledges that man experiences the deepest pain although he is has a lot of courage. The hope of the last man lies in the two paths that contradict each other eternally and the spirit of gravity complicate the situation. Therefore it is very difficult for the last man to attain reality of life when the two paths are contradicting each other as â€Å"†¦whatever can walk in this long lane out there too, it must walk once more† (Kaufmann 270). The two ways that leads to the reality of life complicates the future of the last man, hence he cannot realize the meaning and values of things. Work Cited Kaufmann, Walter. The Portable Nietzsche. New York: Viking Press, 1977. Print.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

12 Terms for Tests and Related Expressions

12 Terms for Tests and Related Expressions 12 Terms for Tests and Related Expressions 12 Terms for Tests and Related Expressions By Mark Nichol What’s the difference between an acid test and a litmus test? Can you test-drive something that can’t be driven, or test-fire something that can’t be fired? Here are literal and figurative definitions of some phrases that include the word test. 1. Acid test: a chemical test used to distinguish gold from other metals; by analogy, a very important or intense test of character or performance 2. Alpha test: a test of an early version of a company’s software or hardware by company employees or by consultants 3. Beta test: a test of a beta, or revised, version of a company’s software or hardware by people outside the company (often, a sample of prospective customers) before it is finalized and generally released for sale 4. Litmus test: a test for acidity using litmus, an organic dye absorbed onto a medium called litmus paper that changes color when exposed to chemicals; by analogy, a test in which one component or factor determines the outcome, or the posing of a question whose answer indicates the respondent’s suitability, or lack thereof, for a position, or an action whose result determines whether one or more other actions should be taken 5. Test ban: a self-imposed prohibition of nuclear weapons testing by mutual agreement between two or more countries 6. Test bed: a vehicle used to test equipment; by analogy, any thing, place, or method for testing a product or an idea 7. Test board: a sample piece of cardboard or other packing material for testing strength or resistance to damage, or a console for testing electronics (also, an organization that administers academic examinations) 8. Test case: a legal or similar case pursued with the intent of establishing a precedent for similar decisions; by analogy, an action undertaken to determine the likely outcome for such actions 9. Test check: auditing of sample data (also, as a verb, test-check, to audit sample data) 10. Test drive: use of a vehicle to evaluate its performance; by analogy, evaluation of any device or of implementation of a policy or procedure (also, as a verb, test-drive, to test a vehicle or other device, or a policy or procedure) 11. Test fire: testing of a weapon to evaluate its performance (also called a firing test); by analogy, to introduce or launch a policy or product to determine how it will be received (as a verb, test-fire, to test a weapon or launch a policy or product) 12. Test market: a region or group selected for limited release of a product (also, as a verb, test-market, to make a product available on a limited basis to evaluate its appeal) 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:Cost-Effective vs. Cost-EfficientEnglish Grammar 101: Verb Mood20 Slang Terms for Law Enforcement Personnel

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Are Sweatshops Good or Bad Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Are Sweatshops Good or Bad - Essay Example Some of the benefits include generating an added income for the family, discourages children from engaging in drug and substance abuse and enables production of low priced goods. There are positive and negative impacts of sweat shops and the essay concentrates on the disadvantages. The major argument against sweat shops in the US and world over is related to the working policies. It has been observed that the working conditions in these factories are poor. The environment is most sweat shops is damp, cold and dark and it may have negative health implications on the workers such as respiratory and sight problems. Secondly, the employees in sweat shops work for long hours and this can lead to fatigue or even depression (Kristof 114). In some situations the employees work for sixteen hours in a day and throughout the weak. Unfortunately, these employees do not get paid for working overtime. To make matters worse, these individuals work for low wages that is barely enough to buy food or cater for their basic needs. The second most important argument against sweatshops is that they make use of child labor. This is owing to the fact that sweat shops are focused towards maximizing their profits and children offer cheap labor thus minimizing the cost of production (Kristof 115). This is seen as a violation of the children’ rights as they should be given the opportunity to play and study. It is wrong to contract children to work in sweat shops as they are exposed to poor working conditions and for prolonged hours and at little pay. The final argument against sweat shops is that they take away jobs from the US citizens. Owing the current economic conditions in the US it has become increasingly difficult to find work (Kristof 115). It has been observed that most of the employees working in these factories are immigrants. Additionally, factories are

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 82

Assignment - Essay Example In addition, Lorcaserin is used by patients exhibiting at least one weight-related health problem such as hypertension and type-2 diabetes. In 2006, Phase III of the lorcaserin development program was started, and this involved three main trials: Behavioral Modification and Lorcaserin for Overweight and Obesity Management (BLOOM) trial, Behavioral Modification and Lorcaserin Second Study for Obesity Management (BLOSSOM) trial and the Behavioral Modification and Lorcaserin for Overweight and Obesity Management in Diabetes Mellitus (BLOOM-DM) trial (Bays, 2011). In general, all these trials showed that the participants showed weight reduction of between 5 and 10%. In all these trials, weight loss was observed after 52 weeks from the period of administering the drug. Overall, this drug has been found to be effective in reducing weigh in patients with and without the type-2 diabetes (Bays, 2011). In addition, the three trials also revealed that most of the patients involved in the study were satisfied with the performance of the drug. Since lorcaserin appears to be ell received by both patients and clinicians, it does offer an alternative to surgery. Despite the impressive results noted in the trials, a number of side-effects are associated with the use of lorcaserin. These include headache, nausea, dizziness, upper respiratory tract infections and nasopharyngitis (DiNicolantonio, et al 2014). In addition, there is concern that the use of lorcaserin is associated with increased incidences of depression. There is need for further analysis and understanding of the degree to which lorcaserin contributes to these side effects and how they can be minimized. Obesity is a big issue across the world. It is a major health concern because of the chronic illnesses associated with it. This brochure is therefore intended to enlighten adults, mainly between the ages of 18 and 65 years, on this new development in the treatment of

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Author's description of The Constitutional Convention 0f 1787 Essay

Author's description of The Constitutional Convention 0f 1787 - Essay Example On cannot say whether the members of the Constitution drafting committee function as per their free will or under duress. What did the framers of the American Constitution hope for? The Constitution evolved beyond the expected lines of the individuals who drafted it. They believed that the Office of the President would be the ceremonial one; but the President has emerged as the â€Å"all-powerful† individual, and the centre around which the important policies are made and unmade. They discredited then political parties, but that observation also has proved without any merit. Both Republicans and Democrats have served the Nation well by carrying out their constitutional responsibilities. After the Revolution, the newly independent United States, raveled in that newfound political arena, at the same time, it was the trying and testing time for the country. The birth pangs of the newly born Nation were not unexpected, but facing problems and finding solutions to the grim issues w as a tough option. Freedom brought forth to the surface an avalanche of issues. Firstly, a strong federal structure to bind all the states was not there. In the period 1776-1787, interstate conflicts of a severe dimension surfaced forth, besides the usual weakness of the armed forces and economic ills. The country’s unity was in peril. ... The issues that rattled the minds of the delegates before they reached Philadelphia: Independence is the most welcome development in the life of an individual and the nation to which one belongs. America too readied to bask in the glorious sunshine of the newfound freedom but had to tackle the thickening dark clouds over its horizon. The issues before the Nation in 1786 were without a parallel in the history of America. The withdrawal of protection by the British Navy crippled America’s foreign trade avenues. The defense forces withdrew support to the settlers and this endangered their life and property as the native population would not let go the opportunity to attack the white settlements and reclaim which was theirs not very long ago. Once the military campaigns were over, they left the trial of devastation and the population in those areas was without any means of survival. Their homes stood destroyed and they had no financial means to reconstruct them. A pall of gloom en veloped everywhere. Government treasuries were empty with no immediate scope to replenish it; no authority was willing to take the responsibility of rebuilding the finances in such a grim situation. Elucidating it further Berkin writes to remind, â€Å"Thus if an uprising such as Shays’s Rebellion happened again, or if a slave rebellion began, no state would be left to handle it alone.†(p.155) The problems with the framers of the American Constitution, according to Carol Berkin, were i) the deep distrust of the states and their sharply differing views as for demarcation of power sharing between individual states and the national government. ii) Strong pessimism as for the intrinsic capacity of the constitutional provisions to forestall tyranny; the states feared that they may have to

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Skills And Competencies To Be A Change Leader Management Essay

Skills And Competencies To Be A Change Leader Management Essay For the past two decades, the amount of significant change that the organizations faced in order to survive has tremendously increased, and many of the researchers argued that this situation will continue and demand more of future leaders (Wren Dulewicz, 2005; Senge et al., 2002). Leadership is such a crucial component for undergoing these changes, and identifying the key components of leadership is important for the success of these transformation efforts (Beer Nohria, 2000). Kotter (1996) considered that, leadership is the key to creating and sustaining the successful organization, because it helps the organization to shape its future and sustain its growth. To succeed consistently, good leaders need to be skilled not just in evaluating people but also in evaluating the abilities and disabilities of their firm as a whole. In addition, leadership competencies are also essential to lead the change processes in an effective way (Christensen Overdorf, 2000). According to Sanchez et al., (1996), leadership competencies have a cognitive aspect, with regard to knowledge and skills the leader possesses, and an action aspect that enables a leader to deploy their competencies in a coordinated manner. Leaders competencies and skills will influence the actions, structures and processes that enhance the change and it further strengthen the effectiveness in implementing change (Gilley et al., 2009). This essay will critically analyse whether anyone can adapt these leadership skills and competencies which is necessary to be a successful change leader. The analysis will be done based on the references of academic research that has been already conducted in this field. Necessary Skills and Competencies to be a change leader Leadership is different from management; leadership complements management but it does not replace it. Because management is about coping with complexity but the leadership is about coping with change (Kotter, 1990). The leadership-skill requirements will vary based on the leaders positions and their levels. The most important skills where the leaders need to be possessed are cognitive skills, business skills, strategic skills and interpersonal skills. Across all the leadership levels cognitive skills are founded to be more important. In addition, interpersonal skills are required for a leader in greater degree than business or strategic skills (Sparks Gentry, 2008). For example) during the group work on simulation game, the leaders of the successful teams had contributed a great part by understanding the views of the team members and through the organization of team meeting. This helped the team to bring out fruitful ideas and plans uniquely and also it helped the group leaders to emphasize their cognitive and interpersonal skills effectively. Compared to other skills, the significance of business and strategic skills is more required for the leaders in managerial level (Sparks Gentry, 2008). Possessing these leadership skills in change management has been linked to bringing about effective and successful organization change. Although, some of the factors are considered as the barriers for the success of the change, they are lack of understanding of change implementation techniques and the inability to alter ones leadership style or organization functions (Bossidy Charan, 2002; Gilley, 2005). The other barriers identified by the analysis include the inability of the leaders to motivate others to change, poor communication skills, and failure to reward or recognize the individuals who make the effort to change (Kotter, 1996). Hence the ability to understand and manage the change processes is valued as a necessary capability of change leaders. Many of the scholars defined this ability as a social intelligence skill, which is the ability to understand ones own and others feelings, behaviours and thoughts in interpersonal situations and to respond appropriately, which includ es emotional ability (Burke, 2002). Finally, leaders thoughts and skills are manifested through the actions of implementing change across the organization. In this stage, the leaders need to be aware about avoiding coordination issues when the different functional groups in an organization work on a common task. Because lack of coordination will raise conflicts in implementing change and it reduce its success (Kuhl et al., 2005). For example, while working for the multi-product task, the lack of coordination across the leaders from different departments affected the implementation of change. There were lot of conflicts aroused in allocating the budget across each department of the organization and hence it led to the ineffective change implementation. As per Zaccaro (2002), effective leadership requires social reasoning skills to understand, judge and diagnose social situations accurately, and relational competencies to respond to the change and manage them successfully. Since change implementation involves the understanding of multiple level of people (i.e., individual, group and organizational), social-emotional competency is regarded to have a direct impact on the capacity to lead change. It acts as a greater predictor of leading change than managing complexity. Social-emotional competency includes observing the employees views, providing constructive feedback, encouraging the cooperation among team members, maintaining effective interpersonal relationships with others and treating others with respect regardless of their position or rank (Mathew, 2009). For example) while working for the simulation game, in some of the groups, there was a long debate happened among the team members about the implementation of change strategies with different views and hence conflicts aroused. The leaders of those teams were also failed to maintain cooperation within the team. This led them to choose inappropriate change strategies and directed towards failure to reach their target. But while enquiring the teams who reached the target, I came to knew that the team leader had delegated the roles to each team members based on their knowledge about the game and by providing constructive feedback on their views. This helped them to maintain a good cooperation within the team without giving the ways for any conflicts and also it provided a way to reach their target within the time limit and budget. Within a change specific context Higgs and Rowland (2000, 2001) indicated a cluster of change leadership competencies associated with coaching and developing others. In addition Giglio et al. (1998) also emphasized the importance of leaders coaching role in the change process. Because a good leader should motivate their employees in order to make them aware of the change process. This will be done by providing appropriate coaching to them. According to Hudson (1999), coaching skills enable leaders to approach situations from new perspectives and to question the status quo. Moreover, the leaders who coach their employees can enhance their renewal capacity and resilience, which has significant influence on organizational success. Finally and more importantly it allows others to make and learn from mistakes. Huq (2006) argued that the leadership competencies can help to create the six sigma cadre in an organization. He argued that the personal and corporate competencies play a vital role in creating this six sigma cadre. Personal competencies include the technical knowledge and charisma of the leader. Whilst the corporate competencies include the combinations of skills and knowledge or experience that enable a leader to implement the change program successfully. But the available evidence shows that, even the experienced leaders were deviated from these competencies in some circumstances. The most recent examples of sudden corporate implosions (Enron, Lehman Brothers) have apparently raised concerns about the nature and influence of bad leadership. Higgs (2009) have identified that the causes of this leadership failure were due to combination of personal flaws and performance shortfalls. While exploring this concept, he also identified a range of causal factors for these implosions which are skill deficiencies, being insensitive to others, betraying trust, arrogance and being overly ambitious. He argued that the personal flaws were more vital than skill deficiencies as drivers of derailment.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Loosening Up in Southern Spain Essay -- Descriptive Writing Examples

Loosening Up in Southern Spain Our group and I were looking out towards the unfamiliar landscape waiting for our arrival at our hotel. As our tour bus traveled through the rolling hills and the city towards the coast, we were looking out towards the unfamiliar. The scenery was heightened by the late afternoon and the seemingly picture perfect shadows everything evidently cast. The Spanish countryside was a beautiful place. As we traveled closer to our hotel and the Mediterranean Sea, our tour guide rambled on about the history and other things that only the older people cared about, while we teenagers talked and looked out at the new world before us. All of the non-adults were really bummed about there being so many adults in the group, and old ones at that. I felt somewhat estranged because of my noticeably younger age. I was at least two years younger than everyone else there and was in a way not fully welcome into their world. I was not specifically excluded from anything, but it was noticeable in the way they spoke to me. As we drew closer to the coast, the roads became more active and the pathways not on the main streets began to grow smaller. Soon it was as one would imagine if they have ever seen a movie with a setting in Spain. A lively environment, plants and trees growing wherever possible gave the place a natural, laid back look. All over Spain the houses and buildings were made up of a white substance that gave an old but clean feeling. There was a good mood in the air that made the short trip seem even shorter. We were all happy to be on the bus, but even happier when we finally did arrive at the hotel. We all grabbed our luggage and slowly worked our way off the bus. The place was beautiful; at least... ...and took my first drink. The taste was bitter, just as I suspected it would be from the smell. I didn't like it but tried to hide my displeasure. I didn't fool any of the others; they told me after a while I'd get used to it and love it. I finished the rest of it ounce by ounce throughout the rest of the night. It felt good doing something that had been strictly outlawed my entire life. I think that after that night the guys looked at me differently and gave me a newfound respect. For the rest of the trip, I was one of them, an equal. I look back on that day and think of how much that night changed me. More importantly, I attribute my change to being in southern Spain and the Mediterranean. I still believe that if I had not been able to make this trip I would still be the up-tight person I used to be. I learned to relax and enjoy life, 5000 miles away from home. Loosening Up in Southern Spain Essay -- Descriptive Writing Examples Loosening Up in Southern Spain Our group and I were looking out towards the unfamiliar landscape waiting for our arrival at our hotel. As our tour bus traveled through the rolling hills and the city towards the coast, we were looking out towards the unfamiliar. The scenery was heightened by the late afternoon and the seemingly picture perfect shadows everything evidently cast. The Spanish countryside was a beautiful place. As we traveled closer to our hotel and the Mediterranean Sea, our tour guide rambled on about the history and other things that only the older people cared about, while we teenagers talked and looked out at the new world before us. All of the non-adults were really bummed about there being so many adults in the group, and old ones at that. I felt somewhat estranged because of my noticeably younger age. I was at least two years younger than everyone else there and was in a way not fully welcome into their world. I was not specifically excluded from anything, but it was noticeable in the way they spoke to me. As we drew closer to the coast, the roads became more active and the pathways not on the main streets began to grow smaller. Soon it was as one would imagine if they have ever seen a movie with a setting in Spain. A lively environment, plants and trees growing wherever possible gave the place a natural, laid back look. All over Spain the houses and buildings were made up of a white substance that gave an old but clean feeling. There was a good mood in the air that made the short trip seem even shorter. We were all happy to be on the bus, but even happier when we finally did arrive at the hotel. We all grabbed our luggage and slowly worked our way off the bus. The place was beautiful; at least... ...and took my first drink. The taste was bitter, just as I suspected it would be from the smell. I didn't like it but tried to hide my displeasure. I didn't fool any of the others; they told me after a while I'd get used to it and love it. I finished the rest of it ounce by ounce throughout the rest of the night. It felt good doing something that had been strictly outlawed my entire life. I think that after that night the guys looked at me differently and gave me a newfound respect. For the rest of the trip, I was one of them, an equal. I look back on that day and think of how much that night changed me. More importantly, I attribute my change to being in southern Spain and the Mediterranean. I still believe that if I had not been able to make this trip I would still be the up-tight person I used to be. I learned to relax and enjoy life, 5000 miles away from home.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

I Spy

To compare these three short stories, â€Å"l Spy' by Graham Greene, â€Å"The Mark on the Wall† by Virginia Woolf and â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† by Kurt Vonnegut, we have to take into consideration aspects like plot, points of view, conflicts, theme and also, if occurs, symbolism. â€Å"l Spy' takes place during the first World War. The main character is Charlie Stowe, 2 years old kid. The story shows the idea of fear coming from both Charlie and his father.Charlie is afraid that he will get caught when he leaves home in the middle of the night and hides in his father's tobacconist's shop. His father is afraid that he will be arrested for being a spy. The story is told by an third-person narrator. Author used central consciousness in narration, so he takes a reader inside a character's ind to reveal perceptions, thoughts, and feelings on a conscious or unconscious level, suggesting the flow of thought as well as content.Complete sentences may give way to fragments as t he character's mind makes rapid associations free of conventional logic or transitions. The reader can feel what the character feels. â€Å"l Spy', â€Å"The Mark on the Wall† and â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† – Comparison conventional logic or transitions. The reader can feel what the character feels. I Spy By chonio

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Accounting Regulation Essay Essay

Over the years there has been a continual debate over the necessity of accounting regulations. Some people have many reasons favouring accounting regulations such as the belief that accounting conventions are needed in order to allocate and control the economic outcomes of resource allocation and information stipulation in the market. However, others have arguments against the use of accounting regulations, such as regulation leading to oversupply of information as users who don’t bare any cost tend to overstate their needs. Accounting regulation arose shortly after the 1920s, where researchers wanted to classify commonly accepted accounting regulations. Examples of these include the entity assumption and the matching principle. It was in 1946 that the institute of charted accountants in Australia released five recommendations on accounting principles. Then in 1956 following the great depression, numerous recommendations were issued by the Australian society of accountants. Ac counting regulations in financial reporting are seen as â€Å"the imposition of constraints upon the preparation, content and form of external financial reports by bodies (governments, regulatory agencies established by governments, trade and other associations in the private sector, loose industrial groups which pursue collusive activities) other than the preparers of the reports, on the organisations and individuals for which the reports are prepared† (Taylor and Turley, 1986: 1). There are many benefits associated with the implementation of regulations within the market. According to some, accounting regulation is necessary to ensure market efficiency. Market efficiency allows accounting information to be available at just costs. However, in reality markets are imperfect due to factors such as information asymmetry. Without these regulations which permit efficiency, it is believed that markets may fall into disorder. Regulation allows for comparison of reports and accounti ng information, along with a fair control on prices and appropriate resource allocation. See more: Examples of satire in adventures of huckfinn essay Regulation is also seen as an imperative device which encourages accountability and allows for the provision of a wide range and greater amount of data in corporate reports. In the presence of windfall profits, regulations are also considered highly desirable. An example of this would be when a situation occurs where there is an immediate demand and suppliers charger higher than normal and thus generate greater profit. Because of the central aim of accounting standards is to uphold comparability, consistency  and simplicity in the best interests and welfare of users of financial reports and information. Though the years it has been seen that in the absence of accounting regulation, financial statements may not convey the information that people require to make informed decisions in company actions. Because of this, the role of regulation in rasing the quality of information conveyed in financial reports is imperative. This is highlighted by Baxter (1978: 25). He stated that â€Å" standards raise the quality of accounts, make company reports more intelligible and foster comparability; they dispel doubts and – we hope – soon bring harmony of principle. In a world made safe enough by standards, accounting will be plagued by few scandals and our noisy defamers will have to hunt elsewhere for quarry†. The pro regulation perspective considers accounting information as a public good. Once it’s becomes available, there is no cost involved with it use and it can be distributed freely among people. Great emphasis is also placed upon accounting regulations when it comes to the security of information and users of financial information. Regulations allow for less accounting to be inundated with fraudulent organisations producing misleading information. This need for regulations to ensure the business world is a secure place was emphasised by the scandals of the 19th and 20th century. Some believe that regulation is not needed, as they argue th at the markets can choose which accounting principles to demand. They advocate that regulation is unproductive in achieving its main aim of accurate, consistent, reliable and comparable financial reporting, Bromwich (1985). Regulation is sometimes deemed unnecessary using the free market perspective. This perspective considers that â€Å"accounting information should be treated like other goods, and demand and supply forces being allowed to operate to generate an optimal supply of information about an entity. â€Å" Jensen and Meckling, Watts and Zimmerman, Smith and Watts are supporters of this perspective. This perspective considers the absence of regulation to create private incentives to produce accounting information and organisations which do not generate information will be penalised by a higher capital cost. The arguments main concern is that regulation will lead to oversupply of information leading to an optimal supply of information by individuals. It is apparent that there are many views when it comes to the necessity of accounting regulations. There are strong arguments both for and against and all people are entitled  to their own opinions. Although many see regulation as more of a hind rance compared to a beneficial tool, the arguments in support of regulations vastly outweigh the negative outlooks.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

LAND LAW ASSIGNMENT 2015 Essays - English Property Law, Free Essays

LAND LAW ASSIGNMENT 2015 Essays - English Property Law, Free Essays Before the raft of property legislation brought into force in 1926 all land was unregistered and title to the land had to be deduced from the deeds and documents and from inspection of the land. The Land Registration Act 1925 was introduced in order to simplify conveyancing and show a mirror of the title to a purchaser in one single document called a Title Information Document. The LRA 1925 has now been repealed and replaced by the LRA 2002. LRA 2002 is designed to further simplify the process of conveyancing. The Land Registration Act 2002 was introduced in response to the Law Commission and HM Land Registry report, Land Registration for the Twenty-first Century (2001). The act simplified and modernised the law of land registration; made the register reflect a more accurate picture of a title to land, showing more fully the rights and subsidiary interests that affect it; and was intended to facilitate the introduction of e-conveyancing. Although the LRA 2002 replaces the LRA 1925 i n its entirety, it stands on the same structure and differs only in detail . This system was intended to advance the efficiency of conveyancing by making it easier and hassle-free to conduct transactions with the land. Certain interests can be protected as minor interest by means of notice or restrictions under LRA2002. According to the report by the Law Commission , Land Registration for the Twenty First Century : A Conveyancing Revolution : (Law Com No 254) , one of the reasons for reform was that overriding interest was calling for too much litigation which should be reduced. Plus, it is only common sense that the very concept of overriding interest contradicts the principle behind land registration. The legislation was too complex, which affected the registration of interests. Also there was a gap between the act of transfer and subsequently registration which should be reduced with the use of technology. It was also agreed that in age of computing, there werent provisions in th e earlier act which supports electronic conveyancing. The Commission was also of the opinion that the laws regarding adverse possession needed a transformation. So basically, the LRA 2002 wishes to achieve the original intentions of the LRA 1925. As illustrated in Overseas Investment Services Ltd v Sim Co build Construction Ltd judicial opinion was also one for change. In this case Peter Gibson LJ stated, as overriding interests constitute an exception to the mirror of title principle, the court should in my opinion, bet be astute to give a wide meaning to any item constituting an overriding interest. The Register is supposed to be a perfect mirror of a title to a registered property but it is not due to category called overriding interests which binds registered proprietor regardless of his state of knowledge as to their existence. These overriding interests are governed by Schedule 3 of the Land Registration Act. There are quite a number of interests of which the main ones include short legal leases for less than 7 years found in paragraph 1, interest of persons in actual occupation found in paragraph 2 and easements and profits a prendre found in paragraph 3. LRA 1925, s.70(1)(g) protects an interest in land where its owne r is in actual occupation on the land. The justification for having overidding interest which exits outside the register is that they will be discoverable on inspection. The balance between the interest of purchaser and the objective of 1925 act and the interest of person who for some social or technical reason require the additional protection of an overidding interest. Balance should therefore be struck. Difficulty with this theory is that is pre-supposes that all overidding interests are discoverable on inspection. For instance, the right of an adverse possessor were protected under s70(1)(f) LRA 1925 but there was no requirement that he should be in actual possession . His rights might not, therefore , have been discoverable on inspection and indeed they might not even have known to the vendor , as in Red house Farms (Thordon) Ltd v Catchpole where the owner was unaware that defendant was shooting fowl on his land and looking at the case of Prudential Assurance Company Limited v Waterloo

Monday, October 21, 2019

The Growth of Government in the United States

The Growth of Government in the United States The U.S. government grew substantially beginning with President Franklin Roosevelts administration. In an attempt to end the unemployment and misery of the Great Depression, Roosevelts New Deal created many new federal programs and expanded many existing ones. The rise of the United States as the worlds major military power during and after World War II also fueled government growth. The growth of urban and suburban areas in the postwar period made expanded public services more feasible. Greater educational expectations led to significant government investment in schools and colleges. An enormous national push for scientific and technological advances spawned new agencies and substantial public investment in fields ranging from space exploration to health care in the 1960s. And the growing dependence of many Americans on medical and retirement programs that had not existed at the dawn of the 20th century swelled federal spending further. How Government Has Affected Employment While many Americans think that the federal government in Washington has ballooned out of hand, employment figures indicate that this has not been the case. There has been significant growth in government employment, but most of this has been at the state and local levels. From 1960 to 1990, the number of state and local government employees increased from 6.4 million to 15.2 million, while the number of civilian federal employees rose only slightly, from 2.4 million to 3 million. Cutbacks at the federal level saw the federal labor force drop to 2.7 million by 1998, but employment by state and local governments more than offset that decline, reaching almost 16 million in 1998. (The number of Americans in the military declined from almost 3.6 million in 1968, when the United States was embroiled in the war in Vietnam, to 1.4 million in 1998.) The Privatization of Services The rising costs of taxes to pay for expanded government services, as well as the general American distaste for big government and increasingly powerful public employee unions, led many policy-makers in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s to question whether government is the most efficient provider of needed services. A new word - privatization - was coined and quickly gained acceptance worldwide to describe the practice of turning certain government functions over to the private sector. In the United States, privatization has occurred primarily at the municipal and regional levels. Major U.S. cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Phoenix began to employ private companies or nonprofit organizations to perform a wide variety of activities previously performed by the municipalities themselves, ranging from streetlight repair to solid-waste disposal and from data processing to management of prisons. Some federal agencies, meanwhile, sought to operate more like private enterprises; the United States Postal Service, for instance, largely supports itself from its own revenues rather than relying on general tax dollars. Privatization of public services remains controversial, however. While advocates insist that it reduces costs and increases productivity, others argue the opposite, noting that private contractors need to make a profit and asserting that they are not necessarily being more productive. Public sector unions, not surprisingly, adamantly oppose most privatization proposals. They contend that private contractors in some cases have submitted very low bids in order to win contracts, but later raised prices substantially. Advocates counter that privatization can be effective if it introduces competition. Sometimes the spur of threatened privatization may even encourage local government workers to become more efficient. As debates over regulation, government spending, and welfare reform all demonstrate, the proper role of government in the nations economy remains a hot topic for debate more than 200 years after the United States became an independent nation. - This article is adapted from the book Outline of the U.S. Economy by Conte and Carr and has been adapted with permission from the U.S. Department of State.