Solving Problems

In this essay, I will solve two problems from our textbook Elementary and Intermediate Algebra; I will solve problem 56 on page 437 and problem 10 on page 444. For my first problem, I will choose an appropriate variable to help solve the equation, for my second equation I will identify the form of the equation I end up with once it is solved. I will also introduce five math vocabulary words, they are, extraneous, proportion, cross multiply, and extreme-means and the will be in bold.Problem number 56 states: To estimate the size of the bear population on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Conservationists captured, tagged, and released 50 nears. One year later, a random sample of 100 bears included only 2 tagged bears. What is the conservationist’s estimate of the size of the bear population? This is a ratio equation and my variable will be b, b= bear population b =10050 2 2*b= 50*100 cross multiply the extreme-means 2b=5000 b= 5000 2 b= 2500 bears 2500 is the conservationist’s est imation of the bear population. This equation is not an extraneous solution because the denominator does not equal zero.Problem number 10y-1= -3 this problem is a proportion x+3 4 (y-1)*4=(x+3)-(-3) cross multiply the x and y which are the extreme and means 4y-4=-3x-9 distribute the 4 and the -3 4y=-3x-9+4 add 4 to both sides 4y=-3x-5 divide both sides by 4 y= -3 x-5 both of these fractions are in parentheses the x and – are outside the () 4 4The linear equation in the form of y=mx+b with the slope of -3,  4This essay discussed two problems from our textbook Elementary and Intermediate Algebra. It introduced five vocabulary words to help explain the steps in solving the two problems, those vocab words are extraneous, proportion, cross multiply, and extreme-means. This essay identified the variable in problem one, and identified the form of the equation in problem two.Reference Dugopolski, M. (2012). Elementary and intermediate algebra (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Pu blishing.

Intangible Assets †Woolworths limited Essay

Intangible Assets: An intangible asset, despite not having a physical form to it, has great value to a company and is to be disclosed in the financial reports. Some companies only disclose the brand and goodwill as their only intangible assets, while others include more such as software and the company trademarks (Loftus et al. 2012). The Accounting Standard AASB 138 advises businesses on the accounting treatment of these intangible assets, but only if the specific criteria have been met for an asset to be recognized as intangible. An intangible asset must encompass three characteristics: Identifiable: An asset has to meet one of the following in order to be considered identifiable. It has to be separable, so that it is recognizable to be different than goodwill. This means it is capable of being sold, licensed, rented, transferred or exchanged, resulting with separation from the business. Or it has to arise from contractual or other legal rights, whether it is separable or not (AASB 2010). Non-monetary in nature: The asset has to be non-monetary. This characteristic is required so that receivables are not considered as an intangible asset by businesses just because the money has been recognized but not received yet (Loftus et al. 2012). Lack of physical substance: This is required so that tangible assets of property, plant and equipment are not being recognized as an intangible asset (Loftus et al. 2012). Also, an asset is strictly only recognized as intangible if it meets both of the following in the recognition criteria: (a) It is probable that the expected future economic benefits that are attributable to the asset will flow to the entity; and (b) The cost of the asset can be measured reliably (AASB 2010) Classes of intangible assets: A class is a group of intangible assets that are of similar nature. Some examples of classes include Brand names, Computer software or Licenses and Franchises, just to name a few. Compliance with Accounting Standards: There is a set of disclosing rules that has been set out for Woolworths to apply to their reporting of intangible assets. It is stated in AASB 138 that for each class of intangible assets, the following shall be disclosed by a business: If the useful lives of the asset is either indefinite or finite and the useful lives or amortization rates if it is finite; Woolworths have clearly stated in their annual report a description on whether the useful life of each class is indefinite or finite. 4 out of 5 classes (excluding goodwill as it was reported separately from the other intangibles) were stated as assets with an indefinite useful life, so no amortization was charged (Woolworths Limited 2012). The method used for amortization on intangible assets with finite useful lives; The research and development class of intangible assets for Woolworths had stated that any spending on development activities where their research results are applied to a development for a new or improved product is to be capitalized if the plan is deemed to be commercially possible, and the business has sufficient resources to complete it. It is explained that this capitalized expenditure is expressed as cost less accumulated amortization and impairment losses (Woolworths Limited 2012), however no specific amortization rates were defined. The gross carrying amount and any accumulated amortization and impairment losses at the beginning and end of the period; The line item(s) of the statement of comprehensive income in which any amortization of intangible assets is included; A reconciliation of the carrying amount at the beginning  and end of the period (AASB 138); Woolworths Limited provided a reconciliation of movements in Intangibles (Appendix 1) from 2011 to 2012 in their 2012 financial report to shareholders (Woolworths Limited 2012). The report was presented with each class of intangible asset separated into their own headings with their own amounts written under it before the total amount of intangibles. This made the amounts of amortization and impairment more recognizable from where it had arisen. This reconciliation provided a carrying amount at the beginning and end of the period as requested by the Standards. Also included were the additions arising from acquisition of businesses, other acquisitions and disposals that were required to be shown in the reconciliation. 2011 ($M) 2012 ($M) Carrying amount at end of period $5236.6 $5282.0 (Woolworths Limited 2012) Woolworths had applied the relevant Accounting Standards, AASB 138, towards the treatment of their intangible assets and disclosure of them very well. Their intangible assets presented in the reports were separable, non monetary in nature and didn’t have physical substance. Woolworths could have explained the amortization rates used for their intangible assets, but that was the only limited information provided by Woolworths limited. The disclosure rules were applied into their financial reports, showing that Woolworths Limited’s treatment on their intangible assets conformed to the relevant accounting standards. Recommendations: The guidelines in the AASB 138 seem to already make companies scrutinize their intangible assets intensely and reveal every bit of it in their financial reports. An improvement could be to state in the guidelines which type of report and where in the report that this information should be  disclosed so users can have access to all the information in one go without having to search through many files to find certain information about a company’s intangible assets. AASB 2010, AASB 138 – Intangible Assets, Available on: http://www.aasb.gov.au/admin/file/content102/c3/AASB138_07-04_ERDRjun10_07-09.pdf [25 September 2013] Loftus, J, Leo, K, Picker, R, Wise, V, Clark, K 2012, Understanding Australian Accounting Standards, Wiley, QLD Woolworths Limited 2012, 2012 Financial Report for Shareholders http://www.woolworthslimited.com.au/annualreport/2012/pdf/WW_AR12_FinReport.pdf Appendices Appendix 1:

Designing Reward Practices To Influence Employee Behavior Essay

Designing Reward Practices To Influence Employee Behavior - Essay Example The paper tells that managers have grown to understand that setting a strong management system is the main force that helps a company in the achievement of strategic goals. A strong management system is one, which includes such features and processes, which not only benefit the organization but also the employees. Reward practice is one of the most considerable features of a strong management system, which play a vital role in improving employee productivity and performance. Incentives are those benefits that a company offers to its employees as a reward for achieving some particular goals and objectives for the company. Incentive plans also plays a considerable role in achieving maximum sales employees’ productivity. Schwartz found that incentives plan is one of the most important planning activity related to the employees of a company. Ellis-Christensen states, â€Å"They could help encourage members of a company to achieve certain goals or they might jumpstart extra learni ng in a classroom†. The factors that managers should consider while developing an appropriate incentive plan for the employees include type of compensation plan, method of payment calculation, discretion to award, conditions for implementation of the plan, practicalities of the plan, and culture of the company. According to Colt and Perrin, all companies develop incentives schemes that support and communicate the cultural values of those companies. Managers should consider the organizational capabilities, managerial maturity, as well as the culture of the organization while designing a reward/incentive plan for the employees.... 15), all companies develop incentives schemes that support and communicate the cultural values of those companies. Managers should consider the organizational capabilities, managerial maturity, as well as the culture of the organization while designing a reward/incentive plan for the employees. Pay for performance acts as one of the most suitable motivational factors for the employees. It is very important to do a complete study of the organizational culture while designing a reward system in order to ensure alignment of reward system with the achievement of organizational goals. 3.2 Needs and Demands of Employees According to Beardwell (2010), understanding employees’ needs and demands is also very necessary to design an employee-oriented incentive plan. Managers should design an incentive plan by incorporating the basic needs and demands of the employees in the plan. When the employees of a company know that their company has implemented an incentive plan through which it re wards their job productivity and efficiency in terms of both cash rewards and non-cash rewards, they show more commitment to their work, which not only improves their productivity but also increases the overall productivity of the company. 3.3 Statement of Plan’s Objectives The most critical issue, which managers need to consider while developing an incentive plan, is development of a clear statement of the plan’s objectives. The statement includes purpose of the plan, eligibility criteria, and types of incentives. Goal setting and employees’ improved performance are two of the basic advantages of an incentive plan. 3.4 Link Performance to Organizational Goals Alignment of the employees’ performance with the organizational goals is the

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 6

Human Resource Management - Essay Example One positive solution is the recruitment of older individuals into the current workforce. This strategy will serve in solving the current shortage in the labor force as well as provide long-term benefits that future generations will be able to reap. The main approach that should be taken when attempting to implement this strategy is the encouragement of the ideal that older employees are still needed within the workforce. Organizations should strive to make their older employees feel wanted and integrate them with younger generation so as to allow them to benefit from their experience. Doing so successfully will solve the problems that are currently being faced by the organizations and attempt at ensuring that they will not have to be faced again in the future. Introduction The labor force has been faced with a problem over the past couple of years as an ageing population has become the near majority of available workers as the society faces a decrease in birth rates in most develope d countries. This issue has meant that organizations have had to come up with a way to ensure that they can gain a steady supply of labor so as to avoid complications with replenishing their workforce when necessary (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2009). The main solution would be a long term objective of adopting strategies that will enhance the transition of employees that go through an organization’s doors. Including the older employees in the workforce can be said to be the first strategy that should be implemented towards achieving this objective. However, methods will have to be developed so as to ensure that the strategy implementation is successful (O'Brien, 2009). To do so one will have to look at the various challenges that may be faced while trying to integrate the older generation into the workforce and the possible solutions that can be found for them. The benefits should also be studied to determine the advantages that will come with the application of this new approach t owards the older workforce (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2009). The strategy will have to include ways of encouraging the older employees to remain with the company as in some case, others could have been tempted with the thought of retirement. There will also be a need to develop ways in which the older generation will work in harmony with the younger employees. Business Case There is a wise business sense in implementing the strategy of involving the older generation within the workforce. The main issue would be to look at the benefits that such an action would bring to an organization and which areas would such a strategy improve (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2009). While looking at the case from a business point of view, the first thing to be considered would be the costs that could be incurred or reduced as a result of recruiting older workers into the labor force. The main issue would be that the action would only prove justifiable if the act of including additional older employees into the w orkforce will result in a reduction of the costs of operations and if possible, provide a means of profitability as well be it marginally or outright accountability (O'Brien, 2009). In order to establish this, there will need to be a number of areas that have to be studied

Mockingbirds and Flies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mockingbirds and Flies - Essay Example The Lord of the Flies name comes from the sow's head and the countless flies buzzing about it, which soon move from the sow's head to swarm around the head of Simon as the Lord of the Flies tells him, "I'm a part of you" (Golding 164). In fact, it is a part of all the boys, who are losing their links with civilization and are all turning savage and evil together and forgetting about civilization. Lee's regional novel deals with universal themes of tolerance, courage, compassion, and justice. In it, the songs of innocents - nave and pure as mockingbirds - are forever silenced by the bitter knowledge of corrupt human nature. The title of To Kill a Mockingbird has very little literal connection to the plot, but it carries a great deal of symbolic weight in the book. In this story of innocents destroyed by evil, the mockingbird represents innocence.Like hunters who kill mockingbirds for sport, people kill innocence, or other people who are innocent, without thinking about what they are doing. Atticus stands firm in his defense of innocence and urges his

The impact of financial crisis on five USA companies Essay

The impact of financial crisis on five USA companies - Essay Example However, subprime mortgage loans given to individuals with less than perfect loan carrying capacity and declining home prices coupled with structural changes in the United States economy that had built up a huge deficit in trading with the rest of the world caused the bubble to burst. This left many with write-offs worth many billions and assets whose real value had declined substantially. Because the mortgages converted into mortgage-based securities sold to many around the world, the financial crisis turned global. Businesses now faced a changed business environment, uncertainty and problems raising funds. This dissertation examines the impact of the financial crisis of 2007 – 2009 on selected businesses headquartered in the United States of America. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the years 2008 – 2009 presented the world with the deepest global recession since the great depression and the most important of all reasons for this economic downturn was a global financial crisis (Berlatsky, 2010, Pp. 16 – 20). In an interlinked world, economic problems in one country were bound to have an impact on the others to threaten global financial stability. According to the previously mentioned author, prominent economists suggest that the United States economy that had been the envy of the world for many years now carried mountains of debt that endangered prosperity and the global economy. A desire on the part of Americans to own their homes had resulted in a massive increase in home prices in the United States of America and irresponsible lending at low rates of interest to many who were bad credit risks created a bubble involving rapidly increasing home prices that were to later collapse. In a market wit h collapsed property values, banks could no longer readily recover the amounts loaned to bad credit risks. Because many banks were involved in arrangements involving credit default swaps, the financial strains were to result in the collapse of

650 questions 11 and 12 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

650 questions 11 and 12 - Assignment Example This provision is made in the marketable bonds so as to attract the investors. If at any point of time the provisions regarding the make whole call are ever invoked then the bondholder is subject to a lump sum payment much earlier than anticipated. Thus investors are usually made whole with the make whole call provision (Capital Advisors Group, Inc., 2004, p.1). The regular bonds of the company bears the interest payment which is usually absent in case of a zero coupon bonds. Again the bond holder of a zero coupon bond receives only the face value of the bond at its maturity. However the regular bondholder receives the coupon paid over the life of the bonds along with the face value of the bond. Thus it is better to opt for the regular bond of the company as the distribution of interest of the bond may change as per the market condition but such a probability is not available in case of the zero coupon bond. Under the typical call option facilitates the issuer to gain advantage through the prepayments of debt with the decline in the market yields. In case of settlement the ordinary call option is usually less than the fair value of the debt. Contrarily, the make-whole call option is obtained through the discounting of the remaining contract of the debt at an appropriate treasury rate. Thus it is always better to opt for the make-whole call than an ordinary call as the advantage at the time of settlement is more for make-whole than ordinary shares. The company should not pursue international sales further because if the financial exposures of the company results in the exchange rate rising from $0.73/â‚ ¬ to $0.80/â‚ ¬ it may tend to be cause of dilemma for the company. With the rise in the exchange rate the cost of the product will also raise leading to the increase in the prices of the product. As per the law of demand, the rise in the prices of the product leads to decrease in its demand. Further

Feeding America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Feeding America - Essay Example Before the process started, a prayer was meditated from one of the group members and immediately we began the sorting. The objective of the event was to finish the process within a period of four hours but what I observed; some colleagues were not working towards the stated goal because they involved in the non-event businesses. The project was evolved and transformed through item end time. The faster the group was done with the assignment, the earlier it left the site. From my group, we worked towards the targeted schedule by focusing all our attention on the allocated task. From the organization, I discovered that there is more need for more organizations to support the needy in the society because I found that the only company is going to satisfy all needs of the people living there. The company that was volunteering had the limited personnel to assist in the package and to distribute the food the interested parties (Corbett, 2013). Again, the shortage of funds from the volunteering company was another challenge I discovered. About the service, the initial undertaking made my thoughts wonder if the learning project would be a successful one. The starting was somehow boring and complicated. Eventually, the event went hand in hand with the content course due to the interactive nature we had in linked with the course of study I take. The structure of the organization stressed more on social aspects and developmental strategies. My contribution to the event motivated many because of my interactive nature the children who were present stated that I will be their future role model. The event impacted positively in that the company had to submit the food earlier compared to the other events when they had less manpower to package and distribute the food. Event communications were through mobile phones but at minimal instances because of the completion objective. As a result this minimal communication, to me I

Information Warfare & Cyberterrorism Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Information Warfare & Cyberterrorism - Case Study Example According to Hollis (2008), international cyber terrorism has made digital form of storage of information become an insignificant advancement. In this paper, three major cyberterrorism cases that have occurred around the globe will be reviewed. In the three cases, the victims, the aggressors and the motives behind the attacks will be highlighted. In this case the victim was Estonia. Major organizations in Estonia including the government were affected by this particular attack. Major websites in the government were disabled. Financial institutions in Estonia were also affected as their websites were jammed with foreign users (Traynor, 2007). The aggressor in this case was Russia. However, Russia did not take responsibility for the attack, but the victims claimed the attacks were traced back to Russia. Analysts also argued the bitter political rivalry between Russia and Estonia was enough to link Russia to this particular attack. NATO investigated the issue and it was accused of double standards since they refused to directly accuse Russia of the attacks (Traynor, 2007). Major websites in the government were hacked and they were accessible to many foreign people. Additionally, there was a viral attack which disabled many government websites which contained crucial information. To curb the cyber attacks, the government of Estonia and all the affected companies disabled all the affected websites. Additionally, the government disabled all foreign access to the country’s websites. It ensured that only domestic subscribers could view these websites. The victim in this case was Georgia. The county was having political confrontations with Russia, which lasted for many years. After a truce agreement was signed to stop military war between the two nations, the war shifted to cyber attacks. The attacks were politically instigated as Russia was directly blamed for the attacks. Unlike

President Barack Obama as a speaker, discussing his content and Essay

President Barack Obama as a speaker, discussing his content and delivery style - Essay Example Ageism is a set of beliefs that enable people to justify prejudices based on age, its use being either casual or systematic. This form of discrimination is increasingly becoming common especially against elderly people. There is an increasing belief that the older people, or the elderly, are past their prime and that they cannot function well in society. In fact, it is said that these people have become useless to society and should therefore, not be shown any form of respect by the younger generation. President Obama has in his speech and in support of universal healthcare indirectly come in support of the elderly. In essence, his belief in universal healthcare has shown that he does not believe in ageism and, in fact, values all the people in society. Racism is the belief that Man is divided into various groups known as races and that such groups bear certain characteristics, which make them either superior or inferior. Racism is one of the most predominant forms of discrimination today, and it is experienced by people in all occupations. President Obama, in many of his speeches on racism, the most notable being the one to the NAACP, states that America has come a long way in fighting against racial discrimination. However, he also states that the fight against it in American society is not over and that it is likely to go on well into the future (Thompson and Thompson). Religious discrimination is the treatment of certain people in a different way because of their spiritual beliefs. This is usually done most especially against those people who belong to either a different religion, or a different denomination. Those who adhere to different religions are usually discriminated against in such cases as legal proceedings, or when attempting to get employment. One of the people who tend to face religious discrimination in the Western world is

Stolen Generation Facts Term Paper Essay Example for Free

Stolen Generation Facts Term Paper Essay â€Å"Indigenous children have been forcibly separated from their families and communities since the very first days of the European occupation of Australia† obtained from the Bringing Them Home Report Who are the Stolen Generations The term ‘stolen generations† is in reference to those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed, as children, from their families and communities by government, welfare and affiliated church organisations. These children were systematically placed into institutional care or with non-Indigenous foster families. Although it can be argued that the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children began as early as the very first days of European occupation in Australia, the forced removal policies and legislation began in the mid 1800s and continued until the 1970s. There is current discourse in Aboriginal communities supporting the notion that the removal of Aboriginal children from their families and communities continues to exist today in the form of complexities associated with current government policies and legislation and the over representation of Aboriginal children in out of home care. How and why do we know the forcible removal of Aboriginal children occurred in NSW? New South Wales, along with other Australian state and territory governments have acknowledged past practices and policies of forced removal of Indigenous children on the basis of race. The Bringing Them Home Report, commissioned by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and presented to the Australian government in 1997 came out of the HREOC National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. This report was central to documenting evidence relating to the forcible removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in NSW and Australia wide. This report contains extensive evidence of past practices and policies which resulted in the removal of children. It also details the conditions into which many of the children were placed and discusses the negative impact this has had on individuals, their families and the broader Indigenous community. The Bringing Them Home Report (1997, p. 651) extensively suggested 53 detailed recommendations to the Council of Australian Governments. For further information on the Bringing Them Home Report and the recommendations that were put forward to the Australian government, please go to http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_Justice/bth_report/report/index.html Link-Up NSW a Koori organisation founded in 1980 was established to assist the Stolen Generations in finding their way home as well as support families of people who were separated from their children. This removal occurred as the result of official laws and policies aimed at assimilating the Indigenous population into the wider community. What is a Koori? â€Å"There are many terms in use around Australia for the word â€Å"Aborigine†. In most areas of NSW the term â€Å"Koori† is used. There are several other words which are used around Australia such as – â€Å"Goori† (northern NSW/QLD), â€Å"Murri† (northern NSW/QLD), â€Å"Nunga† (SA) and â€Å"Nyoongah† (WA). There are many areas/regions that have retained their cultural language and have different terms to describe themselves† Link Up NSW. Timeline of government legislation The below synopsis can be identified as proof of an extensive history of legislative frameworks provided for the removal of Aboriginal children from their families, clans and communities, through an english common law regime in NSW. Under the guise of protection, Aboriginal people were subject to near total control. This systematic approach to the forcible removal of Aboriginal children in NSW can be identified by many government Acts including: 1810s – Governor Macquarie: Proclamation 4 May 1816, Aborigines declared subject to the protection of British law, but any crimes may render them outlawed and lead to loss of privileges 1849 – Act to provide for the Care and Education of Infants who may be convicted of Felony or Misdemeanour – whereby a child under the age of 19 is convicted, court may assign care and custody of the child to such persons as make application where the court is satisfied it is for the benefit of the child. 1881 – State Children Relief Act State Children’s Relief Board established. ‘Boarding out’ officers may remove children from charitable institutions and arrange for them to be boarded out in licensed homes. 1908 Establishment of Bomaderry United Aborigines Mission Home Consequently, the Aborigines Protection Board set-up in 1909 contributed to the United Aborigines Mission home at Bomaderry on the NSW south coast where younger children and babies were placed. 1909 – Aborigines Protection Act – Established the Aborigines Protection Board (APB) for the Protection of Aborigines. The duration of this Act was for 60 years until its replacement in 1969. A key provision of this Act was to provide for the custody, maintenance and education of the children of ‘Aborigines’. 1911 – Establishement of Cootamundra Girls Home Cootamundra was the first of the homes for Aboriginal children set up by the APB. The main aim of the Board was to rescue Aboriginal children from their families and assimilate them into the white community. Girls were the main target of the Board, especially so-called half-caste or mixed blood girls. The girls were trained as domestic servants and sent out to work for middle class white families. 1915 – Aboriginal Protection Amending Act – Removed the requirement that an Aboriginal child had to be found to be neglected before the Board could remove him/her. The discourse associated with the presumption of ‘neglect’, a requirement initially implemented by the Act was disempowering for Aboriginal mothers, fathers and families as there was no recourse for Aboriginal people who challenged the notion of ‘neglect’ that was often decided at the whim of a government inspectors own beliefs and values – these officials held the sole power in determining neglect. This practice was further exacerbated by views of assimilation of Aboriginal people into mainstream white society to ease the pillow of Aboriginal people as a dying race. 1918 – Establishment of Kinchela Boys Home The Board established Kinchela Training Institution in northern NSW for boys. The APB opened the Kinchela Boys Home with the official purpose of providing training for Aboriginal boys between the ages of five and fifteen. These boys were taken from their families by the State from all over New South Wales. 1940 Aborigines Protection (Amendment) Act– Aborigines Protection Board replaced by the Aborigines Welfare Board (AWB). This Board took responsibility for Aboriginal ‘wards’ removed under the Child Welfare Act 1939. This Board had the power to establish ‘homes for the reception, maintenance, education and training’ of wards. This included the administration of the major institutions already established in NSW including Kinchela, Cootamundra, and the Bomaderry Children’s Home. The Board administered ‘apprenticeships’ and young Aboriginal children were ‘indentured’ to work (farm hands/domestics). Wages of the children were to be paid to the board and kept in a trust account for use by the Board for the ward’s benefit until the ward turned 21. 1943 Aborigines Protection (Amendment) Act –The Board is the authority in relation to children admitted to its control with power over removal and transfer of wards, apprenticing wards and approving custody of wards. 1969 Repealed by the Aborigines Act – Aborigines Welfare Board abolished. Aboriginal children under the care of the AWB to become wards of the state. Aboriginal childrens institutions deemed to be depots under the Child Welfare Act 1939 and subsequent child welfare legislation. The apology Why was it important to apologise to the Stolen Generations? Recommendation 5a (2) from the Bringing Them Home Report suggests that all Australian parliaments â€Å"negotiate with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission a form of words for official apologies to Indigenous individuals, families and communities and extend those apologies with wide and culturally appropriate publicity†. â€Å"This issue is a ‘blank spot’ in the history of Australia. The damage and trauma these policies caused are felt everyday by Aboriginal people. They internalise their grief, guilt and confusion, inflicting further pain on themselves and others around them. It is about time the Australian Government openly accepted responsibility for their actions† (Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter in Buti A, Bringng Them Home the ALSA Way). In essence, formal government apologies provided a way for Australian governments to recognise the damning effects of removal policies of the past. The lifelong profoundly disabling consequences of those taken, meant that they lost all connection to family, traditional land, culture and language. On 14 November 1996, the Premier of NSW, Bob Carr, became the first head of an Australian government to respond to the call from the Governor General, Sir William Deane, for all Parliaments to reaffirm their commitment to reconciliation. The Premier’s resolution was passed unanimously. The NSW Premier was also the first state leader to offer a formal apology to the Aboriginal people for the Stolen Generations. On 13th February 2008, in a historic speech, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formally apology to the Stolen Generations in his first official parliamentary sitting which was the commencement of the 42nd parliament of the commonwealth. Receving a formal apology by the Prime Minsiter of Australia has allowed the start of the healing process In a response to the National apology to the Stolen Generations, Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, HREOC stated â€Å"Through one direct act, Parliament has acknowledged the existence and the impacts of the past policies and practices of forcibly removing Indigenous children from their families. And by doing so, has paid respect to the Stolen Generations for their suffering and loss. For their resilience. And ultimately, for their dignity†.

Tesco And The Uk Oligopolistic Market Economics Essay

Tesco And The Uk Oligopolistic Market Economics Essay In the UK, supermarkets are the main places for customers to buy food and daily articles for use. The scales of these supermarkets are very big and they also provide customers with diverse and wide selection goods such as vegetables, fruit, meat, stationery, televisions and computers (Somucheasier, 2010). Chain supermarkets can be easily found all over the country and big scales of supermarkets also spread in every city (Baidu, 2010). Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda are three main companies in the UK supermarket industry (Somucheasier, 2010). For example, Tesco is the largest retailer in UK by both global sales and domestic market share (Baidu, 2010). At the end of 2006, the turnover of Tesco had reached to  ¿Ã‚ ¡3.83 billion(Baidu, 2010). Tesco is the third largest global retailer in the world which just behind Wal-Mart and Carrefour (Baidu, 2010). Oligopoly is one kind of market structure (Anderton. et al, 2008:298). There may be a large number of firms, but most are small and relative ly unimportant, while a small number of large firms produce most of the outputs of the industry (Anderton. et al, 2008:298). The supermarket industry in the UK could be described as an oligopoly market because it accords with three key characteristics of an oligopolistic market. Firstly, in an oligopolistic market, there are only a few major competitors in the market, so they control the supply in the industry (Anderton. et al, 2008:322). Secondly, firms should be interdependent, because firms collaborate to charge the same price as each other (Anderton. et al, 2008:322). Thirdly, there are barriers to entry to the industry, so they can prevent other firms from taking advantage of the abnormal profits characteristic of oligopolies (Anderton. etal, 2008:322). Customers can benefit from this kind of market structure because of the advantages of oligopolistic market; however, they may also lose their benefits because of the disadvantages of oligopolistic market. This essay will explain the advantages and disadvantages of an oligopoly structure and the appropriateness of that structure to the British supermarket industry. Body It is widely believed that there are many advantages of oligopolistic market, thus customers can benefit from this kind of market structure, for the following reasons. Firstly, in an oligopolistic market, price is often not the most essential factor in the competition, which means non-price competition (Anderton. et al, 2008:322). For marketing their products effectively, firms should think of their market mix which is known as 4ps (Anderton. et al, 2008:323). First, firms should pay close attention to the features of products to make sure their products are meeting the needs of their customers. Second, the price of products must not only fit in with the nature of products themselves, but also fit the way in which they are being promoted and distributed to customers. Third, promotion should take account of products and help firms gain new customers or retain existing ones. Fourth, products need to be available to customers in the right place (Anderton. et al, 2008:323). Secondly, according to Anderton et al (2008), many markets are dominated by brands. A branded good which has a unique formulation and unique design can appear thousands of customers, because a successful branded good can give buyers the imagined characteristics of the product in their minds (Anderton. et al, 2008:323). For example, the Tesco originally specializing in food and drink, but now, it has diversified into areas such as clothing, financial services, telecoms, car insurance and so on, because it can follow consumers different demands to enlarge its scale (Tescoplc, 2010). Thirdly, in the oligopoly market, price seems to be rigid. As Anderton et al (2008) points out, in the kinked demand curve (Figure 1), there will be an asymmetrical reaction to a change in price by one firm. For instance, if one firm increase its price in order to make much more profit, however, other firms disregard it, thus, the firm which has increase its price will lose its market share. On the contrary, if one firm decreases its price, other firms will also reduce its price in order to prevent the erosion of market share (Anderton. et al, 2008:328). Because of the price rigidity, firms would like to improve their profit; therefore they need to make a development and innovation in their services. The key to this process is gaining information about their customers and constantly communicating new products to them. Figure 1 Therefore, based on these three reasons, customers can benefit from oligopolistic market. However, not all the things come well; there are also some disadvantages of oligopoly. Firstly, Anderton et al (2008) argues that collusion is very common in oligopoly market. There is a very strong incentive for collusion firms-restrict competition and maximize their own benefit(Anderton. et al, 2008:323).The prices charge by oligopolistic firms is always higher .There will be potential buyers who would like to use the oligopolistic firms products but cannot afford the profit maximizing price set by oligopolistic firms. Secondly, there are only a few competitors in the market (Anderton. et al, 2008:322). Thus, the degrees of competition ability arent big, which means oligopolistic firms can hardly target diverse customers and provide them with differentiated products. Therefore, customers may lose their benefits from this kind of market structure. Conclusion In summary, oligopolistic market has both advantages and disadvantages, therefore firms should make good use of the advantages of oligopolistic market to guarantee consumers interest and avoid its disadvantages. Despite the disadvantages of oligopolistic market, firms can use the market mix to product goods effectively and take advantage of their brands to attract thousands of devoted customers; moreover, they can also make a development and innovation in service. However, if the firms in oligopolistic market can avoid their disadvantages, they can do better. They should not always charge higher price for customers and target diverse customers to provide them with differentiated goods. By doing these, consumers can benefit from this kind of market structure.

Basic Structure Of The Chinese Beer Industry

Basic Structure Of The Chinese Beer Industry To understand the current situation in the Chinese beer industry, knowledge about past events is necessary. Todays structure is a result of developments which took place during the last 50 years. Only decades ago, the total amount of beer consumed in China was very low, but steadily on the rise. When growth rates started to increase during the late 1990s, international breweries became interested in this new market, because international competition was very high, but the local competition in China was rather weak, and almost simultaneously international companies tried to set foot in China. In a very short time, nearly 50 joint ventures with local breweries were founded and everybody tried to get a piece of the cake. Yet, as China is a vast and geographically diverse country and infrastructure is poorly developed, the market for breweries is highly fragmented. The sales were all localized and as it was very difficult to ship across regional borders due to protected regional markets, big scale breweries were hard to maintain. Additionally, the price of beer was very low, especially in the rural areas of China and therefore costs could hardly be passed onto the consumer. Only a small group of richer Chinese were willing to spend more money on beer and would prefer international brands to national ones. Due to that, international beer was only available through on-premises sales in bars or hotels, while the majority of beer was sold through retail outlets. All this limited most brands geographical reach, only the Chinese Tsingtao beer was available almost nationwide. In 1995 there were over 800 breweries in China and the largest producer, the Yanjing Brewery, only accounted for 3.4% of the market in 1996. Even the top 10 could only claim 14% of the national production. As the Chinese population became richer, international companies could generate more revenues from the high end and premium sector which was difficult for the local breweries. The Chinese government began to fear foreign domination in the beer market and tried to push local breweries. Even though transportation is improving, the poor infrastructure and the inability to reap the economies of scale still hamper the bigger breweries. Trade barriers and the Chinese government which prefers national breweries further hinder international companies. It is necessary to view China not as a country, but to divide it into distinct areas in which breweries can operate. Competition in rural areas requires different competencies than in metropolitan areas. High fixed costs make it necessary to achieve a high degree of product and process standardization. Which competitors have the strongest (or at least the most viable) positions in the industry, and why? Does any competitor have a sustainable advantage? In 1997, the strongest competitors in China by volume were: 1. Yanjing Brewery, 2. China Strategic Investment, 3. Tsingtao Brewery, 4. Zhujiang Brewery (Interbrew), 5. China Resources (Shenyang) Snowflake Brewery (SAB), 6. Chongquing Brewer, 7. Dongxihu Brewery (Danone), 8. Qianjiang Brewery, 9. Harbin Brewery, 10. Pabst Blue Ribbon Brewery. In 2008, the key competitors in this industry were: Tsingtao Brewery, China Resources Snow Breweries, Beijing Yanjing Beer Group Company and Fujian Sedrin Brewery Company. The market shares of these key competitors are unknown. These companies can hold their positions due to joint ventures and co-operations. The largest producer Beijing Yanjing Brewery accounted for just 3.4% of the total market, but could increase its market share in Beijing from 55% in 1994 to 85% by 1997. Small breweries power to compete will increase during the next years and they will eventually become a strong competitor in the beer industry in China. Chinas market is geographically fragmented and the major domestic brands generally dominate in their local area. A sustainable advantage for competitors in the beer industry in China is the geographic position, because distribution is a major problem. Breweries which are located on the coast or near rivers have advantages due to the fact that shipping was the most reliable way of transporting beer. Foreign brewers realized that nationwide distribution was unrealistic and instead tried to focus on key areas. Another important aspect of the beer market is that the Chinese government favour s larger companies, making it tough for smaller ones. This also puts pressure on companies which lack economies of scale. Furthermore the major breweries invested heavily in increasing output and quality and in packaging. They also spent a lot of money on marketing and distribution, further strengthening their positions on top. Tsingtao and Yanjing Brewery both decided to boost their production capacity and invest in the development of their technologies to get a competitive advantage compared to their competitors. The few companies which will get out on top will use their advantages of capital and scales to further strengthen their positions in the market. The main Chinese breweries will not only be competiing in price and market regions, but also in distribution.  [1]   Is this a profitable industry? What is your prediction for its future profitability? In the 1980s and in the 1990s the beer industry in China was not profitable, but China became a large beer production and consumption country and after 2008 the output of Chinese beer ranked first in the world. Chinas beer market has one of the fastest growths worldwide. The world top ten breweries invest in China because of this growing market.  [2]   The competition between the breweries is a very fierce one, they are fighting for market shares, brands and regional distribution. In China the market is divided in beer areas and each region is occupied by certain beer companies. For its future profitability it will be necessary to increase quality and efficiency, to improve infrastructure for making distribution easier and brand building for high competitive advantage. Furthermore some key factors and data have to be taken into consideration to be able to tell if theres a profitable future for the Chinese beer industry: Key statistics provide the key indicators for the industry for at least the last three years. The statistics include industry revenue, industry gross product, employment, establishments, exports, imports, domestic demand and total wages. These statistics are important for research on how to enter the market. Segmentation covers products and service segmentation like key products. The major market segmentation provides data about key client industries and groups, giving an indication which of these are the most important ones in the industry. Industry concentration can tell us how much industry revenue is accounted for by the top four players and the geographic spread provides a guide to the regional share of the industry revenue or gross product. Market Characteristics deal with market size (size of domestic market and size of export market), linkages (lists the industryà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s major suppliers and the major customer industries), demand determinants, domestic and international markets, basis of competition and life cycle. Industry Conditions: Barriers to entry, taxation, regulation and deregulation, cost structure, capital and labor intensity, technology and systems, industry volatility and globalization. Key Factors and Key Competitors: Industryà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s Key Sensitivities and Key Success Factors. Key Competitors lists the major players in the industry and their activities. Industry Performance: Analyses the current performance and the historical performance of the Industry.  [3]   All these factors heavily influence the future profitability of the Chinese beer industry and keeping them under surveillance would therefore be advised. How is this industry likely to evolve? What are the key forces that will influence this evolution? The Chinese beer industry is still in the mid and late integration phase today. Competition remains fierce, but it can be estimated that in the future the Chinese beer industry will form a domestic market which will be monopolized by the 10 largest Chinese breweries. The market is most probably headed towards monopolistic and oligarch competition.  [4]   The number of enterprises will decline as the number of competitors which affiliate with the major players will increase. The capacities of the 10 largest breweries will rise, they will most likely expand rapidly and expand their scales. The industry will become more and more concentrated. An estimated 50% of the increase amount of beer worldwide will come from the Chinese market in the next 10 years.4

one hundred years of solitude :: essays research papers

31.03.2005  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are times when surreal is so naturally expressed that it becomes real. In One Hundred Years of Solitude, Garcia Marquez perfectly combines extraordinary events with everyday life. The magic realism in Marquez’s novel transforms the extraordinary into reality by the use of religion, myth and belief systems. Although these themes make the novel magical, the story is a representation of the reality of Latin America before industrialism with a Civil War going on and the reactions of the people to modernization. The novel also clearly expresses how magic and religion overcome the realities of life – magic becomes more real than reality itself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theme of religion and different perspectives on issue are introduced by different characters. The indigenous members of the Buendia family are very flexible toward religion. For example, Jose Arcadio Buendia teases the priest. Most of the Buendias have incestuous relationships. Most of the Buendia men have affairs with prostitutes. These examples do not prove that the Buendias are nonreligious but on the contrary they believe that religion is an institution between God and man itself and no mediators are needed. As a counter-example on the issue of flexibility on religion in the Buendia family is the newcomer member, Fernanda del Carpio, is strictly religious and an inflexible follower of Catholism. She gains the control of the Buendia house by imposing her vain religious discipline. Fernanda’s nonflexible religious side reaches its climax where she forces her daughter Amaranta Ursula to become a nun because of her relationship with Mauricio Babilonia wh ich Fernanda disapproves and Mauricio is shot and becomes paralyzed in Fernanda’s command and their illegitimate son Aureliano is locked into a room. Remedios the Beauty, the daughter of Santa Sofia and Arcadio, floats to heaven and Amaranta, the daughter of Ursula Iguaran and Jose Arcadio Buendia, dies as a virgin. These characters can be also counted as biblical symbols of heaven and Mary the Virgin.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One Hundred Years of Solitude can be perceived as the Bible of Macondo since it outlines the genesis and apocalypse of Macondo in which the biblical myths are fulfilled. Initially, Macondo is an uncivilized, innocent settlement and Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Iguaran populates Macondo as Adam and Eve did the world. Besides, Jose Arcadio Buendia surely represents Adam since he is tied up to a tree because of insanity caused by his quest for knowledge similar to Adam and Eve being exiled from Eden after eating from the Tree of Knowledge.

Rhetorical Analysis of a Manual :: essays research papers

Rhetorical Analysis: Quick Start Guide of an MP10 MP3 Player Audience The audience of the Quick Start Guide (QSG) is going to be composed of men and women who have purchased the mp3 player or received it as a gift. The owners of an MP10 mp3 player may or may not have experience using an mp3 player, and even if they do, the experience may not be with this exact model. One way the designers of the QSG allow for a wider audience is by providing a Spanish alternative to the English side. The reader of this guide needs thorough instructions and diagrams in order to begin operating the MP10 as quickly as possible. For this reason, the instructions are laid out in numerical order to introduce the user to the different features and options that are available. These instructions correlate with diagrams of the MP10. Callout boxes point out the buttons and their functions to allow the user of the QSG to use as much or as little of the guide as they desire. One can assume that because of varying levels of technological knowledge, a user of the guide would want to be informed on all of the capabilities the MP10 possesses. The reader may ask a question like; What is possible with this expensive mp3 player? In turn, the designers of the QSG have to display the functions of the MP10 without turning the guide into a complete owner’s manual. The user of the guide wants to use a feature of the MP10 as quick as possible, and probably doesn’t want to read that much in order to do so. Therefore, the readers’ design preferences include solid diagrams, distinct headings, and comprehensive directions without being overly long. Purpose The overall purpose of the QSG is to inform the reader how to use the MP10. The designer of the guide had to display each of the potential functions of the player and provide the short, yet complete instructions associated to performing each task. A QSG is exactly what the title suggests, a brief way of introducing the MP10 to a user. It is not an all-inclusive owner’s manual, but a guide with the intent of allowing the user to find their specific function in one of the bolded headings and follow the instructions to perform the task. Knowing that most buyers of electronic equipment want to get their purchase home as soon as possible and put it to use is the issue that generated the QSG. Rhetorical Analysis of a Manual :: essays research papers Rhetorical Analysis: Quick Start Guide of an MP10 MP3 Player Audience The audience of the Quick Start Guide (QSG) is going to be composed of men and women who have purchased the mp3 player or received it as a gift. The owners of an MP10 mp3 player may or may not have experience using an mp3 player, and even if they do, the experience may not be with this exact model. One way the designers of the QSG allow for a wider audience is by providing a Spanish alternative to the English side. The reader of this guide needs thorough instructions and diagrams in order to begin operating the MP10 as quickly as possible. For this reason, the instructions are laid out in numerical order to introduce the user to the different features and options that are available. These instructions correlate with diagrams of the MP10. Callout boxes point out the buttons and their functions to allow the user of the QSG to use as much or as little of the guide as they desire. One can assume that because of varying levels of technological knowledge, a user of the guide would want to be informed on all of the capabilities the MP10 possesses. The reader may ask a question like; What is possible with this expensive mp3 player? In turn, the designers of the QSG have to display the functions of the MP10 without turning the guide into a complete owner’s manual. The user of the guide wants to use a feature of the MP10 as quick as possible, and probably doesn’t want to read that much in order to do so. Therefore, the readers’ design preferences include solid diagrams, distinct headings, and comprehensive directions without being overly long. Purpose The overall purpose of the QSG is to inform the reader how to use the MP10. The designer of the guide had to display each of the potential functions of the player and provide the short, yet complete instructions associated to performing each task. A QSG is exactly what the title suggests, a brief way of introducing the MP10 to a user. It is not an all-inclusive owner’s manual, but a guide with the intent of allowing the user to find their specific function in one of the bolded headings and follow the instructions to perform the task. Knowing that most buyers of electronic equipment want to get their purchase home as soon as possible and put it to use is the issue that generated the QSG.

Trafficking Essay -- Legal Issues, Human Trafficking

Human trafficking has become a major problem worldwide which affects many people. An estimated 600-800 thousand people are moved unwillingly between international borders each year (Kristof, et al, pg. 10). There is an even larger number of 12.3 million people who are estimated to be forced to work in agriculture, manufacturing, and the sex trade (Shepherd, pg. 94). A majority of the people forced into labor, especially into the sex trade, are children, most of which are women, at an estimated 1 million children per year (Kristof, pg. 9). There is a large amount of violence and abuse involved in sex slavery, many times leading to death. Globalization seems to have played a major role in the rise of sex slavery and the sex trade but has also played major roles in efforts to stop it. There has been speculation that the way that human trafficking has been constructed over time is a major problem in the scheme of trafficking. Barbara Sullivan writes that as the debate over trafficking evolved â€Å"women were seen to have a 'vulnerable sexuality' that was readily exploited by men; trafficking always involved prostitution and women's consent was irrelevant† (Shepherd, pg. 91). She argues that this shaping of the issue has also â€Å"erased the possibility of women being active agents in their own lives, for example by migrating to undertake lucrative paid work in the sex trade.† She continues in her writing to attribute these same problems to the way that anti-trafficking agencies present the issue as well. This viewpoint and argument is irrelevant to the issue and the construction of trafficking has much less of an effect on women's rights than the problem itself. Prostitution in itself, even if willing, involves a person sell... ...any have a hard time once released (Kristof, pg. 35-45). If girls in regions like Cambodia become educated they are more likely to be employed and are more likely to eventually be able to escape the lower status of being a poor woman. Since poor people have fewer chances at income and education in poor countries and are less likely to fight back against oppressive conditions, they are preyed upon by human traffickers (Shepherd, pg. 95). Since both of these things are true of women as well they have a double strike against them and are even more likely to be preyed upon. Even though globalization played a major role in the increase of human trafficking by making it easier for people to move from one place to another it also has played a role in allowing people who are more well off to assist those who do not have the resources or the freedoms to help themselves.

As Good as It Gets Summary

As Good As It Gets, a movie about a man with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), has many interesting aspects to an abnormal psychology student. â€Å"Obsessive-compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder in which people have unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensations (obsessions), or behaviors that make them feel driven to do something (compulsions). † (Berger, 2012) There have been several unproven propositions as to what causes OCD including head injuries and infections.Those who have obsessive-compulsive disorder have been know to obtain certain signs and symptoms. This including excessive counting, disturbance from germs, excessive validity checking of actions such as turning off the stove, and of course obsessions and compulsions that result in major distress of their life. (Berger) In the movie, As Good As It Gets, Melvin experiences all the above symptoms in addition to many more. Not only did Melvin turn the lock on the door five plus times every time he came in the door, he also flipped the light switch five plus times.As far as Melvin’s fear of germs, he was not at all fond of being touched by anyone and also did not trust to use silverware in restaurants. He would bring packaged plastic ware to use. When Melvin would wash his hands, he would use only hot water and only use a bar of soap for about 5 to 10 seconds. He would then throw the bar of soap away and retrieve a new one from his overly stocked medicine cabinet. His home was untouchably organized and he for the majority of the movie he wouldn’t allow anyone other than himself to enter his home. Melvin did not take being interrupted lightly, especially while working.He has no tolerance for people and didn’t hide that aspect in any way. He said what was on his mind without hesitation or worry of upsetting anyone or hurting his or her feelings. Melvin ate at the same restaurant at the same time every day. He would then sit at the exact same table and de mand to have the same waitress. If someone happened to be sitting at â€Å"his† table, he would, without a second thought, speak rudely to them until they left. He would position his plastic ware very specifically and had no patience towards the restaurant employees.Some other obsessions/compulsions Melvin faced were that he avoided stepping on any cracks in his path including brick walkways and also while putting on his shoes he would tap each side of his shoes with each foot before putting them on. It’s hard to say how Melvin â€Å"dealt with† his disorder. It was clear that he avoided socializing with those around him assuming because he did not want them to throw off his routine of interfere with his life and how he lived it. It could be that this is how he dealt with OCD.Another possibility is that he simply followed his day-to-day routine to avoid change and that’s what made his life easier. In fact, this is a major possibility as Melvin was receivi ng therapy but could not remain persistent in his appointments due to the fact that his therapy appointments messed up his daily routine. Melvin seemed to get by on the simple aspect of seeing his waitress everyday at the restaurant. Towards the end of the movie when Melvin had other people in his apartment it seemed to have set something off in him that caused him to act differently.An example being: when he forgot to lock the door when he brought someone else into his apartment. When he went to leave his apartment and noticed he had forgotten to lock the door, he was shocked. OCD has been linked biologically to â€Å"abnormal functioning by specific regions of the brain. † (Comer, 2013) The orbitofrontal cortex and the caudate nuclei are part of a brain circuit that takes sensory information beginning in the orbitofrontal cortex and where simple impulses derive and those impulses are sent to the caudate nuclei where they are filtered by importance (based on how powerful the impulse is).If the impulses seem to be â€Å"important† they are sent to the thalamus to be acted upon. (Comer) It is obvious that if the filter (the caudate nuclei) is not functioning properly then unnecessary impulses will be sent to the thalamus for further thinking and unnecessary actions will be made. Some antidepressant medications that increase serotonin activity have been found to improve cases of OCD. (Comer) People who develop OCD have been known to blame themselves for their compulsions, obsessions, and antagonizing thoughts.They have anxiety caused by thinking something bad will happen if they don’t perform these actions. People with OCD also experience depression brought on by the constant thoughts and needing perfection. One form of treatment for this cognitive problem would be to attempt to neutralize the thoughts. Neutralizing is â€Å"a person’s attempt to eliminate unwanted thoughts by thinking or behaving in ways that put matters right inter nally, making up for the unacceptable thoughts. (Comer)Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a very common anxiety disorder, which causes people to have repetitive unwanted thoughts and actions. It varies in its severity but in most cases it is treatable. The most popular forms and most effective forms of treatment are medication and therapy. There are many theories on causal factors but none to be proven yet. References Berger, F. K. (2012, March 03). Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Retrieved from www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov Comer, R. J. (2013). Abnormal psychology. (8th ed. ). New York, NY: Worth Publishers

Piracy in Somalia and Its International Implications

PIRACY IN SOMALIA AND ITS INTERNATIONAL IMPLICATIONS In the past few years, pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia have received a great deal of public attention. According to the London-based International Maritime Bureau, there has been an â€Å"unprecedented increase† in Somali pirate activity in the first 9 months of 2009. Until September this year 147 incidents were reported off the Somali coast and in the Gulf of Aden (separating Somalia and Yemen), compared with 63 for the same period last year. A total of 533 crew members have been taken hostage in 2009, out of which about 200 hostages are still being held by Somali pirates. I have chosen the topic of piracy for my essay as I think that in the context of the present world economy crisis it is a current problem which might affect all the participants of the global economy and it needs an urgent solution. In the first part of my essay I am going to present some data to demonstrate the importance of the problem, then I will focus on the background of the issue and present the different factors which have led to the appearance of piracy. After a detailed description of the pirates and their way of operation I will move on to presenting of the interests of the international community and the policies, strategies and instruments they have used to deal with the issue. At the end of my paper I will draw some conclusions and make a few suggestions for the future. Piracy has been a problem in Somali waters for at least ten years. However, the number of attempted and successful attacks has risen over the last three years. As the hijackings have increased in number, they have also become more sophisticated. The pirates are now able to capture larger targets as well. On September 25 2008, Somali pirates captured the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship transporting weapons to Kenya. This was followed one month later by the hijacking of the MV Sirius Star, the largest ship ever captured by pirates. The Saudi-owned supertanker was carrying about 2 billion barrels of crude oil, worth about $100 million. The ship was finally released on January 9 for a $3 million ransom. The series of hijackings has continued in 2009 too. It seems that this year the pirates have shifted from the Gulf of Aden, where dozens of ships were attacked in 2008 but which is now heavily patrolled, to the ocean between the African mainland and the Seychelles islands. In October 2009 Somali pirates captured a Chinese bulk carrier, carrying 25 Chinese crew members. In November they have seized a US tanker carrying $20 million of crude oil, which is considered the second-largest ship ever hijacked by pirates. The tankers 30-member crew was also kidnapped. In the same month, 9 pirates hijacked the Greek-owned tanker Maran Centaurus carrying 275,000 metric tons of Saudi Arabian crude oil and have taken it to a pirate port along the coast, where they typically hold the boats for ransom. The 300,000-tonne ship was hijacked about 1,300 km from the coast of Somalia and there were 28 crew members on board which are all held hostages. According to the IBM, in October and November alone, 38 ships have been attacked and 10 hijacked. There are several factors which have made Somalia the perfect environment for piracy, which I am going to present below. First of all, if we want understand why piracy works in Somalia, we have to know something about the geography and history of the country. Officially called the Republic of Somalia, Somalia is a country situated in the Horn of Africa, bordered by  Djibouti  to the northwest,  Kenya  to the southwest, the  Gulf of Aden  with  Yemen  to the north, the  Indian Ocean  to the east, and Ethiopia  to the west. Due to its strategic location, in the past the country was an important centre of commerce. Even today, about 16,000 ships pass through the Gulf of Aden each year, carrying oil from the Middle East and goods from Asia to Europe and North America, so we can say that one of the most important trade routes of the world can be found in this area. In addition, the long, isolated, sandy beaches of the country are also advantageous for pirates to operate. Another factor which helps piracy to flourish is the political anarchy which still rules in Somalia. For almost 20 years, the country has endured political chaos and bloodshed. The  Somali Civil, which began in 1991 as a revolution against the repressive regime of Siad Barre, has caused instability throughout the country. The northern parts of the country declared their independence, although it was neither recognized by the central government, nor by the United Nations. Subsequent fighting among rival warlords resulted in the killing, dislocation, and starvation of thousands of Somalis. Since 1991, 350,000-1,000,000 Somalis have died because of the conflict. Hatred and lack of trust among the landlords and their clans has prevented the organisation of a functioning central government. From  2006-2009 Ethiopia  was also involved in the conflict. In January 2009, Ethiopian soldiers withdrew from Somalia, leaving behind an  African Union  contingent of peacekeepers to help the fragile coalition government and its troops enforce their authority. Following Ethiopia's withdrawal from Somalia, the southern half of the country fell into the hands of radical Islamist   rebels, who still control a big part of the country. The political situation is still chaotic in Somalia. The present government, led by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is the 16th administration to „govern† the country since the collapse of the Barre regime. Order still hasn’t been restored, Somalia is governed by anarchy. Because of the lack of an effective central government and national economy, Somalia is still one of the world’s poorest countries, where the estimated GDP is around $600 per year. According to the World Bank, in 2008 73% of the country’s population lived on a daily income below $2. The country’s 10 million people are starving, and they would hardly survive without the food aid provided by the developed countries. In a country where survival is at stake, it is no surprise that piracy has become a fast and easy way to make money and it could develop into a frightening business. To sum up, we can say that Somalia’s chaotic political situation, the lack of an effective central government, the poor state of the economy and poverty have all created an environment which was perfect for piracy to appear. But who are these â€Å"heroes† and how do they operate? In most people’s minds, the image of piracy is associated with characters like Jack Sparrow or Captain Cook. Pirates are often seen as rebellious young men who are victims of the society, but have the courage to stand up for themselves and create a different way of working on the seas. Actually, there is some truth in this kind of perception. According to Eric Hobsbawm, a British historian, â€Å"social bandits† are â€Å"outlaws, drawing on community support, using criminal methods to challenge the present hierarchy of power and wealth. † Most of the Somali pirates are 20-35 years old and come from the region of Puntland, a semi-autonomous region in northeastern Somalia. It is estimated that there are at least five pirate gangs and more thousands armed men. A BBC report divided them into three main categories: local Somali fishermen (the â€Å"brains† of the operations because of their skills and knowledge of the sea); ex-militiamen (used as the â€Å"muscle†) and technical experts who are able to use electrical equipment, such as GPS devices at a professional level. It is a fact that since the country’s collapse in 1991, there has been a great amount of illegal fishing practised by a lot of countries along the Somali coast. During the regime of Siad Barre (1986-1992) Somalia received aid from several countries to develop its fishing industry. Local fishermen had fixed prices for their catch and the fish was exported because of low demand for seafood in Somalia. However, after the fall of the Barre regime, due to the Somali Civil War the income from fishing decreased. Traditional coastal fishing became difficult, because foreign trawlers started fishing illegally along the Somali coast and depleted the fish stocks. Local fishermen became desperate. They started to band together and were determined to protect their resources. They started attacking foreign trawlers, the crew of which soon fought back with heavy weapons. As a result, fishermen turned to other types of commercial ships and soon discovered that piracy was an easy way to make money. At the moment, piracy is Somalia’s most â€Å"lucrative business†: ship owners are willing to pay huge amounts of money for the release of their hijacked vessels. In addition to this, starting with the early 1990s, Somalia’s long, remote coastline has been used as a dump site for dangerous toxic waste from a lot of European and Asian companies. The European Green party presented before the press and the European Parliament copies of contracts signed by two European companies – an Italian-Swiss and an Italian firm – and representatives of warlords, to accept 10 million tones of toxic waste in exchange for $80 million. For European companies this is a very cheap way of getting rid of their waste: while waste disposal costs in Europe are about $1,000 a tonne, this way it only costs them $2,50 a tonne. The effects of this dumping are already visible in Somalia. According to a report by the UN Environment Programme, there is an extremely high number of cases of respiratory infections, mouth ulcers and bleeding and unusual skin infections among the inhabitants of the area – diseases related to radiation sickness. It is clear that this situation represents a very serious environmental risk not only to Somalia, but to the whole eastern Africa region. Many of the pirates call themselves the Somali â€Å"coast guard†, claiming that their aim is to defend their communities from overfishing and to protect the coastline from toxic dumping of nuclear waste by foreign ships. In an interview one of the pirate leaders explained: â€Å"We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish and dump in our seas†. The problem of overfishing is still a very serious problem is Somalia. It is estimated that Europeans and Asians poach around $300 million worth fish from Somali waters. On the other hand, Somali pirates collect about $100 million yearly from ransoms. This, according to Peter Lehr, a Somalia piracy expert, can be seen as a â€Å"resource swap†. Of course, a great number of pirates are only taking part in these operations for the money, and their families which they can feed this way. As one of them, nicknamed Milk Sucker says: â€Å"Sometimes doing a bad thing is the only way to improve the situation for yourself and the people you love†. Some of the pirates can’t even swim, their only task is to shoot straight. A lot of young Somalis take part only in a couple of operations, hoping to make enough money to move to the West or maybe to persuade an ethnic Somali woman with a EU passport to marry them and move to the UK. As for the techniques used by the pirates, we can notice that they are getting more sophisticated and more effective. They are using the latest high-tech equipment, like GPS, MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defence Systems), RPGs and satellite phones and they are well-armed with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s. They usually operate using small skiffs with powerful outboard engines, but now they regularly use â€Å"mother ships† to increase their range. These â€Å"mother ships† take them into the shipping lanes, several hundred miles offshore. Then they launch small speedboats to haul themselves up onto the deck of a ship. They can often seize a ship without firing a shot. After capturing it, they sail the hijacked ship to the Somali pirate hub town, Eyl and take the hostages ashore where they are well-looked after until ransom is paid. It is reported that the pirates never harm their prisoners; they behave like â€Å"perfect gentlemen† with them. They even hire caterers on the Somali coast to cook pasta, grilled fish and roasted meat, which western hostages might like. Once ransom is paid, they release ships good humour. According to the Kenyan foreign minister, in 2008 pirates have received about $150 million in ransom, which is used to fund future operations. In a recent startling Reuters report we can read that the pirates have started to make the money to work for them, setting up a stock exchange â€Å"that has drawn financiers from the Somali Diaspora and other nations. † The bandits' bourse is a small building in the once-small fishing village of Haradheere, about 250 miles northeast of Mogadishu, which has developed into a luxury town by now. As a former pirate named Mohammed puts it, â€Å"The shares are open to all and everybody can take part, whether personally at sea or on land by providing cash, weapons or useful materials †¦ we've made piracy a community activity. â€Å" Unfortunately, it has become clear that the activity of pirates is linked to warlords on shore. After seeing the profitability of the business, these leaders started to facilitate pirate activities, sharing the profit with the pirates. These â€Å"Godfathers† and clan leaders are closely related to Somalia’s president in Mogadishu, Abdullahi Yusuf, who also originates from Puntland. Estimates are that at least six ministers in the Puntland government are involved with the pirates. The only group which is publicly against piracy is the militant Al-Shabaab, a Salafist group founded this decade as a militia attached to the Islamic Court. They say that such crimes are forbidden under the Islamic law. However, according some reports, militant Islamist groups also get their share of the profit. The pirates involvement with these organisations is making the situation even more alarming, because all the financial help given by the West to the Somali authorities to put an end to piracy might just help it to flourish. All in all, it is clear that piracy is not a problem that the fragile Somali government can solve alone and international help is needed. How does all this affect the international community? Besides enforcing international law, there are several other reasons to stop pirate activities. The first is Somalia itself. The country needs about 200 tonnes of food aid a year which is mostly delivered by sea. Without the naval escorts and the regular delivery of aid, Somalia’s food stocks are seriously threatened, so ensuring the safe delivery of food aid should be a number one priority for the international community. Stopping piracy may also reduce the money available for weapons, so indirectly it can lead to the end of the internal war. Piracy has a very distressing effect on international trade as well. In addition to the growing ransom, companies whose cargos do not reach their destinations, lose money. As a result, there is a growth of insurance for all ships which need to pass through the Gulf of Aden. The constant danger of pirate attacks has already made some shipping companies to choose a longer, but safer route, around the Cape of Good Hope, as it happened in the case of AP Moller-Maersk, one of Europe’s largest shipping companies after the hijacking of Sirius Star. The extra weeks of travel and fuel can lead to the cost of transporting goods, which is a really serious concern now, at the time of a global economic crisis. Another reason is related to the environment. Pirate attacks can cause major oil spills in a very sensitive ecosystem. As pirates become bolder and use more powerful weapons, tankers could be set on fire or sunk, which can result in an environmental catastrophe, destroying marine and bird life for many years to come. Last, but not least, there is a risk that the pirates themselves can become agents of terrorism. There are assumptions according to which pirates are connected to the Al-Shabaab movement, which is believed to have links to Al-Qa’eda. According to some reports, Al-Qa’eda militants from Iraq have chosen Somalia as a new base from which to launch attacks. Terrorism at sea can take many forms, for example direct attacks on ships, hostage dramas, but also hijacked ships used as potential weapons. Terrorist networks can use the financial funds from piracy to fund their operations worldwide. It is obvious, that even if there is little chance for the worst scenario, it is best to prevent it while we can. The international community has recognized that enhanced international efforts are necessary in order to reduce the number of attacks. The growing cases of piracy have focused the world's attention on Somalia and have shown that the crisis going on in a fragmented state is spilling out of its borders. The military response to piracy has shown that countries which haven’t been able to cooperate with each other can unite their forces for a common cause. A maritime conference was also held in Mombassa, where they discussed the problem of piracy and tried to give regional and world governments recommendations to deal with the danger. In January 2009, an important regional agreement was adopted in Djibouti by States in the region, at a meeting organised by IMO. The Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden recognized the extent of the problem of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the region and the states signing it declared their intention to co-operate, in a way consistent with international law, in the repression of piracy and armed robbery against ships. Most countries have preferred prevention: various navies have sent war-ships into the area to escort commercial vessels. At the beginning, this way of defense was more individual than collective, but the persistence of the attacks has led to the development of a collective security system. NATO got the task of escorting convoys transporting the humanitarian aid of the World Food Programme towards Somalia. Once they were in the Gulf of Aden, they also protected other merchants ships, by their presence. Later NATO handed the job to Operation Atlanta, the first common maritime mission by the European Union. Military counter-piracy operations are performed by vessels from the Combined Task Force 150, a multinational coalition  naval  task force   in charge of monitoring and inspecting a range of security issues, such as drug smuggling and weapons trafficking, as well as piracy. Several countries, including India, Russia, China, Norway, Australia, France, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, South Korea, Malaysia and even Japan chose to join the coalition and send warships to the Gulf of Aden. In January 2009 the US navy established a new multi-national naval force to confront piracy off the Somali coast. The new unit was called Combined Task Force 151and it was a spinoff of the existing Task Force 150 in the region. This section of the coalition forces was aimed at focusing exclusively on pirate groups (leaving Combined Task Force 150 to focus on other destabilizing activities, such as drug smuggling and weapons trafficking). It was hoped that by designating a new unit to combating piracy in Somalia, anti-piracy efforts would be more successful. Unfortunately, this effort is having only a limited impact. Although some pirates are scared off by the sight of military ships and helicopters, coalition warships are often in the wrong place at the wrong time. In addition, pirates are flexible and change their tactics easily: data from the Maritime Bureau shows that at present they are conducting their operations further out in the Indian Ocean. Besides, this is a very costly solution which is difficult to support in the long term. After the hijacking of an Egyptian ship and a huge Saudi supertanker, the Arab League organized a summit for countries overlooking the Red Sea, with the participation of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Jordan, Djibouti and Yemen. At the summit the participant states discussed several solutions for the problem of piracy, suggesting different routes and looking for a safer passageway for ships. They might also assist the current NATO anti-piracy efforts together with other nations. However, we shouldn’t forget that the Arab League has long tried to draw Somalia more closely to the Arab world. It has made a financial support for the Transitional Federal Government, conditional on its entering negotiations with Al-Shabaab, intending to spread Islamist influence in the area. In June 2008 the United Nations Security Council passed a declaration authorizing nations that have the agreement of the Transitional Federal Government to enter Somali territorial waters to hunt pirates. In 2008 the Security Council adopted two resolutions, 1846 and 1851 allowing for the first time international land and sea occupations of Somali territories in the pursuit of pirates. These resolutions extended the power of the states and lead to greater coordination of their efforts. After the Council resolution 1851, the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia was established on 14 January 2009 to facilitate and coordinate actions among states and organizations to deal with piracy. At the moment 46 States and seven international organizations take part in the Contact Group. Through its four working groups, the Contact Group addresses specific issues related to military and operational coordination, legal issues, shipping industry awareness and public and diplomatic information. UNODC (the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) participates in the Contact Group and its Working Group on Military and Operational Coordination, Information Sharing and Capability-Building. UNODC acts as secretariat to Working Group on Judicial Issues, to which it has provided various forms of support. UNODC has prepared an analysis of the legal and practical challenges involved in prosecuting suspected pirates and is gathering nformation on relevant national legal systems, including those of coastal States. In spite of the fact that laws to combat piracy at sea exist, a lot of states do not seem to use them in practice. Only France has chosen to combat piracy directly. The first case was the seizing of a yacht in April 2008, which started with negotiations for the release of 30 hostages and followed by the capture of six pirates in Somali territory. The second case took place in September 2008 to free a couple taken hostages. This action also led to the arrest of six pirates, who are awaiting trial before a French court. Britain and some other countries have found a superficial and convenient way of treating the pirates: they have negotiated a treaty with Kenya, according to which all those suspected of piracy are handed over to that country. A few months later other countries followed Britain’s example, negotiating similar agreements. These agreements are a useful step, but they do not solve the problem. The Kenyan prison system is in terrible condition, corruption is high, there are strong delays in the call of trials and legal aid is very limited. It is a paradox indeed that states which are entitled to prosecute the arrested pirates delegate this right to a country which is unable to assure a fair trial to these criminals. In spite of the united efforts of different nations, it has become clear that the piracy problem cannot be solved at sea, because it is rooted on the shore, in the ongoing conflict and political instability of the country. As Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations expressed at an international donors’ conference: â€Å"Piracy is a symptom of anarchy and insecurity on the ground. (†¦) More security on the ground will make less piracy on the seas† Any lasting solution to the problem has to involve ensuring stability, development and an effective criminal justice system in Somalia. If the states had invested the time and resources they now spend to stop piracy in reconstructing the Somali society and economy, they probably wouldn’t have to cope with these problems. However, there are always new opportunities that shouldn’t be wasted. Martin Murphy in his article â€Å"Somali Piracy: not just a Naval Problem† claims that the highest costs of piracy to Somalia and the international community are not economic, but political. As I mentioned earlier, it seems that almost all layers of political life in Somalia are involved in piracy, including the Islamist groups. Islamism is getting stronger and stronger in Somalia and it can soon get hold of the entire country. The Al-Shabaab movement has a clear intention to use Somalia as a base for spreading Islamist influence in the region. If this tendency continues, a worst possible outcome would be an Islamist government, which is strong enough to control piracy, but also strong enough to make Somalia safe for violent Islamist groups. So, what can be done to stop, or at least to decrease piracy in the Horn of Africa? Somalia is a clan-based society. Therefore, a possible solution would be to deal with the sub-state entities in order to create a unitary state in the future. In these negotiations the coalition should clearly commit itself to repress piracy in return for allied political and economic support. This way it would be possible to cut off all the political players in Somalia from their external sources of weapons and thus pirates would be trapped between more effective land-base policy by the Somalis and maritime policy by coalition member navies and soon they would have no place to hide. Recent efforts have shown that there is a will to act together. We can only hope that the states will find a way to deal effectively with the problem before it is too late. Links, references: Roger Middleton: Piracy in Somalia. Africa Programme, October 2008 http://www. chathamhouse. org. uk/files/12203_1008piracysomalia. df Marina Chiarugi  and  Daniele Archibugi: Piracy challenges global governance. Open Democracy,  9 April 2009 http://www. opendemocracy. net/article/piracy-challenges-global-governance George Grant: Somali pirates can't be beaten at sea. The Guardian, 18 November 2009 http://www. guardian. co. uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/18/somali-pirates-ransom-puntland Galrahn: Somalia Piracy – A Backgrounder April 8, 2009 http://www. informationdissemination. net/2009/04/somalia-piracy-backgrounder. html Rubrick Biegon: Somali Piracy and the International Response. FPIF (Foreign Policy in Focus) January 29, 2009 http://www. pif. org/fpiftxt/5827 Georg-Sebastian Holzer: Somalia: piracy and politics. Open Democracy, 24 November 2008 http://www. opendemocracy. net/article/somalia-piracy-and-politics Johann Hari: You Are Being Lied to About Pirates. The Huffington Post, December 2009 http://www. huffingtonpost. com/johann-hari/you-are-being-lied-to-abo_b_155147. html Can Somali pirates be defeated? BBC News, 20 November 2009 http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/8371139. stm Sam Gustin: Bandit Bourse? Somali pirates hijack oil tanker, organize ‘stock market' Daily Finance, December 1 2009 http://www. dailyfinance. om/2009/12/01/bandit-bourse-somali-pirates-hijack-oil-tanker-organize-stock/ Martin Murphy: Somali Piracy : not just a naval problem . Centre for Str ategic and Bugetary Assessments, April 16, 2009 http://www. csbaonline. org/4Publications/PubLibrary/B. 20090417. Somali_Piracy/B. 20090417. Somali_Piracy. pdf Piracy in Somalia: Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Piracy_in_Somalia Aiden Hartley: What I learned from the  Somali pirates. The Spectator, 6 December 2008 http://www. spectator. co. uk/essays/all/3061246/what-i-learned-from-the-somali-pirates. thtml

Attitudes Towards Technology: Han China and Roman Empire Essay

Han and Roman attitudes towards technology in the late BCE and early CE pointed towards two main categories, positive and negative. The Majority of the documents had positive attitudes towards technology because of its obvious benefits to the author’s cities. Documents 1 and 8 show government officials in charge of water technology. Both show obvious support for the technology they are associated with, preventing floods or creating aqueducts for their cities. Also, their jobs require them to use technology so they must have an appreciation for it. Documents 3 and 4 describe times when the technology used to help citizens direct their water to help productivity. It is shown that both government and philosophers see a benefit of technology in society, clearly improving productivity for their whole country. Lastly, Document 6 shows Plutarch, a high government official, writing of the creation of roads that helped the mobility of horses, the organization of cities, and beauty of the land. On the other hand, few documents show points of view seeing technology in a negative light. Document 2 shows a govt. official describing the bad quality of technology because of lack of workers and quality labor. He also states that the lack of quality technology causes an increase in the iron and salt prices, resulting in lack of seasoning for the peasants’ food and lack of strong tools for farming. Documents 5 and 7 show two Roman upper classman opposed to technology because they believe inventors and craftsment lack wisdom and enlightenment. Their were two main point of view that could have affected the bias of the documents’ position on the matter. The first is shown in documents 1 and 8 where the sources are men with an occupation in technological work. This means they must have started with an appreciation for it. Also, the more they advertised the ideas of their technologies, the better the business was for them, making them more wealthy and important, thus more powerful. The second point of view comes from positions of very high power and little knowledge of the use of technology. Shown in documents 5 and 7 are two sources that have very high positions in their society where they lack experience and knowledge of the uses of technology. Had they known more and had first hand experience with tools and different crafts, they might have a  better appreciation for such â€Å"vulgar† jobs. Looking over the documents, it is made obvious that all the document come from high class citizens fiving us no perspective from the less wealthy. Had we gotten a document from a lower class citizen, we would then be able to draw info on how technology affected the larger part of societies. Also, all the sources come from male citizens fiving us no knowledge of the effect it technology had on the women. Perhaps their household lives were affected greatly by the creation of tools, an area of daily lives men of the upper class would have no knowledge of. The majority of attitude towards technology during the Han dynasty and Roman Empire reasonably was positive, but the portion of negative responses lay mostly in areas of lack of knowledge on the subject.

A Good Life Does Not Have to Be Complex.

Arsh Atwal A Good Life does not have to be Complex April 6/2013 A good life is defined differently for everyone. Our parents, friends, and the media all comprise a vision that we see as the best way of experiencing our lives. Hen determining what is a good life, there are many evident things that come to mind that would be a part of a good life for everyone. Having an active healthy existence, feeling safe and secure in your life, and being happy are the most likely answers to the question of a good life. Health is an essential part to a good life, as is morals and beliefs.A good life is defined by how people interpret the term happiness. Most peoples lives are based on their morals and beliefs. People believe money is the root of all evil, allowing things of lesser value make them feel they are living the good life. An example of this would be when people purchase an apartment and being just as content as if they would have gotten a big spacious house. However, some also believe wea lth is needed to effectively live a good life when you are seeking happiness through things that make you individually well off.An example of this would be buying the newest car rather than a cheaper car. Pursuing happiness through morals can sometimes be dreadful. Happiness can be found in daily life. However, as peoples living standard rises, many people don’t content simple life, they always will want more. Having happiness does not mean how wonderful the house you live in is. While people are looking for something that they think can make them happy, their life becomes too complex. People will never be happy for what they have now.Although material things can make life more interesting, they will not make you feel the real happiness and have good life. Being simple everyday is what makes people happy. A happy family is a healthy and loving family. Having support of each other during good and bad times, is very important because it relives stress. Less stress means better health. Loving your family brings and keeps happiness inside the home. No support or love in a family leads to meaningless household, this can divide family members into not caring.Keeping family close by eating meals and going on trips together makes a great loving family, which is part of a good life. A good life is not a specific way of life for every person. For each person, the meaning of a good life is different. Whatever way of life a person is comfortable and happy with counts as a good life for that person. It is hard to say that only one way of life is a good way of life because each person prefers different things and wants different things