Friday, November 29, 2019

Sq3R Worksheet Essay Example

Sq3R Worksheet Paper Appendix H SQ3R Worksheet Selected Reading: Chapter 1 p 8-18 SurveyHow did you survey? I surveyed my reading by the chapter title and paragraph titles to get a quick overview of the reading. Then I looked through the chapter and read thru and looked at all tables and figures. QuestionWhat questions did you ask? Mostly I asked questions about how I can personally apply these techniques. A lot of my questions were related to adapting my reading style, such as â€Å"how do I† and â€Å"how will this work with†, which I use some of the techniques mentioned in the reading. ReadHow did you read? First I scanned thru the entire chapter, second I read it thoroughly and marked, highlighted, and wrote down questions. Third and lastly I re-read through the tables and figures. ReciteWhat did you recite? The second time I read the chapter I read most of it out loud quietly to myself, parts that I thought would be particularly helpful I read out loud several times breaking what it said down. ReviewHow did you review? To review I re-read my footnotes, highlighted texts, and the questions I had wrote. I skimmed each page looking for other pop out information and highlighted it. Last I went through my questions broke them down into more specific questions and tried to answer them. Wrap-up Question: How successful was the SQ3R process in helping you grasp the concepts in the section you selected? Will you use SQ3R in the future as a way to master the content in academic readings? I liked the SQ3R setup. We will write a custom essay sample on Sq3R Worksheet specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Sq3R Worksheet specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Sq3R Worksheet specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer I feel that I already use a lot of the techniques it uses, but the SQ3R helped me to organize and orchestrate my reading procedure and technique. I think that the process was very successful and helpful in my absorption of the reading. I feel I will use the SQ3R process in the future and apply it to my future reading whether it is academic or personal. The SQ3R process just basically gave me a visual outline and more in-depth order to the way I read already. Plus it gave me a lot of new tips and techniques to utilize.

Monday, November 25, 2019

The Effect of the Setting On t essays

The Effect of the Setting On t essays The Effect of the Setting On the Characters A bright and sunny day or a dark, cold cave; the setting of a story gives the reader an idea of where the story takes place, but it also shows the affects it has on the characters. Ethan Frome, a novel by Edith Wharton, is a prime example in the usage of setting to affect the characters. The setting for Ethan Frome symbolizes the emotional and the physical isolation, cold, and death that surround Ethan. The cold, harshness of his surroundings affects Ethan in several ways. One of his surroundings is a winter wasteland. He associates winter with many of the woes that are in his life now. For example in the novel it says that with each passing winter Ethan became more elderly looking. The oppressiveness of winter takes its toll on Ethan. The winter is also used to describe those that he feels a hatred for, that being Zeena, who is bitter, ugly and sickly cold just like the winter. He says that if it had been spring and not winter he would never had married Zeena. Mattie is the complete opposite of Zeena, she is associated with spring and summer and a new life. Ethan seeks the warmth of the summer (Mattie) and to leave his winter (Zeena) behind. Seemingly he is unable to do this, just as he is unable to escape winter. Another example of cold is the house. It is in a constant state of chill. Especially when Zeena was about. The coolness of the house was a constant reminder to Etha n of the elements that lurked just outside his door. The town that the Fromes live by is small and isolated and his worn down and shabby house affect Ethan as well. The town of Starkfield is just that- barren, harsh, grim, severe, and hard. It is a miracle that anyone survives such a brutal environment. The ground is not productive, the buildings are falling down, there is barely enough timber to build with let alone be used a ...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

History of Iraq research paper proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History of Iraq research paper proposal - Essay Example The federal government of Iraq defined as an Islamic democratic federal parliamentary republic. It is composed of the executive, legislative and judicial branches plus numerous independent commissions. The legislative composed of the council of representatives, the executive branch composed of the president, prime minister, and the council of ministers. The judiciary is composed of the higher judicial council, the Supreme Court, the court of cassation, the public prosecution department and judiciary oversight commission. Iraq was under the rule of native empires, Assyrian, Babylonian, Akkadian, Sumerian and foreign empires such as Median, Achaemenid, Persian and Sassanian empires. In the 16th century, Iraq fell under the Ottoman rule, which intermittently fell under Iranian Safavid and Mamluk control. After the fall of Saddam Hussein 10 years later, the country is full of lawlessness, autocracy, daily deaths and havoc. The country has rapidly declined economically unlike in the 1970s whereby it was named as the country of positive success, despite destructive groups among them. By marrying the infant of an uncle or a mothers sister, a husband and wife are of the same clan and their property. Their unity and their strength further strengthens the clan they are both from. The most basic and vital tribal structure is an extended family3. The Islamic political state of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is a Sunni extremist, jihadist rebel group controlling territory in Iraq and Syria. This situation is a clear proof of Islamic dominance in Iraq. It is also shown by the use of the Sharia law in the country4. From 1980, the external relations of Iraq were influenced by the Saddam Hussein government. Iraq had good relations with the Soviet Union, France, and Germany, who provided advanced weapons systems. In 2003, the US and its allies invaded Iraq causing insurgency that deepened ethnic, tribal and sectarian divisions in

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Case Study Stage 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stage 2 - Case Study Example At first, e-commerce can simply minimise the cost of gym activities that are conducted in traditional manner such as automation of business transactions. Online transactions and registration processes can basically minimise human efforts for performing such business activities effectively and also minimising the time required for completing the activities by the organisational members and the employees. E-commerce in UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre can also minimise the transaction expenses by making the marketplace more effective. On the other hand, UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre can also reach more potential customers at low expenses through the use of internet. The medium of internet would assist the members in terms of providing them with valuable information regarding the product or service characteristics such as fee and accessibility of facilities (Kaplan & Garicano, n.d.). Clearly, use of e-commerce in business process can result in accessing valuable information regarding the futur e demand of products or services of UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre more effectively. Furthermore, it will help UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre to better balance the demand of products and services with the requirements of the customers. The following figure will show the AS IS process of e-commerce for UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre. Part 2 Technology Solution Proposal The idea of e-commerce fundamentally comprise three key aspects namely hardware, software and communication network. These aspects would certainly reflect the ability of e-commerce for enhancing the business process of UR UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre by a certain degree. The aforesaid aspects have been described hereunder. Hardware: The key hardware aspects associated with e-commerce are server, input as well as output tools and database management system. In the e-commerce business process, UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre should follow the client server model, wherein a central computer system will act as server. This server will c ontain certain important information and will act as backup for information preservation system. Concerning input systems, keyboard and mouse are regarded as effective tools in e-commerce system. The output systems within e-commerce business process can appear in the form of billing information, member usage statistics and images among others (Carter, 2008). Software: Software is the other vital aspect of e-commerce business process. The key software for e-commerce is database management system. Database is able to store vital information in the form of text and images. The modern database management system can save billions of data items and is also able to manage huge figure of transactions. The database for UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre can be located in central server or in multiple workstations (Carter, 2008). Apart from the aforementioned aspect, maintaining security is also important for an e-commerce system to operate successfully. The key software applications that are useful for an e-commerce business process relating to UMUC Healthy Fitness Centre include user authentication, firewall and antivirus (Carter, 2008). Communication: There are several networking tools that possess the capability of ensuring the deliverance of proper communication in the entire business process through e-commerce. These tools comprise Local Area Network, Wireless network and internet. Utilisation

Monday, November 18, 2019

Why do I think that movies produced from books (Anna Karenina,Dorian Essay

Why do I think that movies produced from books (Anna Karenina,Dorian Grey) are bad - Essay Example The process of converting a textual piece of art into some kind of motion picture requires a great deal of creativity and tedious conceptualization. Novels and films use different mediums in conveying the message to the readers for the novel, and to the viewers for the film adaptation. Nevertheless, and sometimes, the whole idea of film adaptation compromises several things. Movies that are produced from books have more downside in so far as pure art is concerned. First, novels are typically lengthy and requires considerable amount of time to finish reading the whole text. Condensing it into a film would mean an exclusion of some possibly crucial parts of the story, which, as a result, could twist its overall thought. Normally, films last an hour and a half, or about 90 minutes for most Hollywood blockbuster films; hence, in an effort to fit the complete theme and the idea of the novel, scenes that do not really appeal so much to the audience will be omitted. Second, the inspiration of every film adaptation is definitely not merely for art’s sake but ultimately for financial success’ sake. This is the sad truth about film adaptations in that before producers get started to invest in the adaptation rights of a novel, it is a given that the novel is viewed as something with a â€Å"bankable† story. Of course, producers would always look at the economic side of things. Nevertheless, talking about pure art and art alone, film adaptation is not the best option there is for a real artist. Both cannot be consolidated at any point as both have very different afters: films would always go for profit; novels would always go for artistry. Because of the availability of both artworks – novels and film adaptations à ¢â‚¬â€œ people are also able to compare the quality and content of each piece of artwork. Oftentimes, because film adaptations use lavish graphic arts and visual effects, plus the inevitable tweak

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Rapid development and popularization of the Internet

Rapid development and popularization of the Internet In recent two decades, with the rapid development and popularization of world internet and computer technology, internet has been an integral part of both human daily life and financial market. Based on the World Internet Stats (2010), the number of internet users around the world totaled 1.97 billion by June 2010, increased 444.8 percent over the last decade (Figure 1). Gilmore et al (2007) stated that adopting internet and e-marketing strategy within business provide small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) an opportunity to reduce cost, improve competiveness and expand businesses. With a growing number of SMEs are combining internet and web site with business, it has become the mainstream for SMEs in the world to adapt internet technologies to expand business and grow themselves. In simple terms, e-marketing refers to achieving business goals by using world wide web (WWW), instant messaging, emails, online payment and other forms of internet related technologies (Gilmore et al., 2007). An e-marketing strategy includes the actions taken in order to promote a brand via the internet and a good e-marketing strategy plays a most significant role in the success of a business (Rampur, 2010). Figure1 Internet Users in the World by Geographic Region Source: World Internet Stats (2010) It is widely believed that large enterprises contribute a lot to the economy. However, SMEs also play an important role in both world and local economy. SMEs are not only an important revenue contributor, but also a great job opportunities provider. To be precise, SMEs account for 98.9 percent of total number of businesses, 77.3 percent of employed people, 65.6 percent of gross industrial output value, 63.3 percent of sales revenues and 54 percent of total profits in China (Singh and Garg, 2010).   With Chinas entry into World Trade Organization (WTO), China government has shown the ambitious to encourage both state-owned enterprises and SMEs to walk with worlds pace. In 2002, SME Promotion Law of the Peoples Republic of China was carried out to support and encourage the development of SMEs in China. According to Hong (2010), Jiangsu province has strong competitiveness not only in per-capital GDP, but also in internet penetration. As a representative of Chinas SMEs, Jiangsu province also carried out policies to promote the development of SMEs and improve international competitiveness such as Promotion Rules of SMES in Jiangsu Province. Though the development of SMEs is booming and some of the SMEs in Jiangsu are considering marketing strategies via Internet, a number of SMEs are still implementing marketing strategies in traditional ways. They prefer to focus on the products and services from the supplier perspective instead of customer perspective (Sheth and Sharma, 2005). The fact is that SMEs who are adopting new advanced technologies have enjoyed benefits of e-marketing and achieved advantageous position (Chong et al., 2009). For example, some SMEs are using email as an important medium to communicate with customers, to share products and services information with customers and enhance customer loyalty (Merisavo and Raulas, 2004). In the meanwhile, some SMEs are thinking highly of online platform such as the third-party website Alibaba.com. Suppliers and buyers prefer to transact through Alibaba.com for low requirement, reliable online payment and large market share (Zhao et al., 2008).It is the time for all SM Es to reconsider the traditional way of doing business and think more of e-related marketing strategies. Under this situation, it is a great opportunity for SMEs in Jiangsu to follow the world trend and do business with new e-marketing strategies. Literature Review With the popularization of the Internet and website, there appear a trend that more SMEs prefer to marketing their brands via Internet. A large quantity of researchers and authors has done researches on e-marketing strategy. Drivers and barriers to e-marketing adoption amongst SMEs were stated by Gilmore et al. in 2007. Chong et al. in 2009 carried out a questionnaire about the seasons, problems and benefits of e-marketing. The most frequency answer tends to be competition in the marketplace, security and better relationship with customers, respectively. Singh et al. in 2010 concluded promotional policies for SMEs by the Chinese Government, which gave us a comprehensive understanding of the contribution that the government made for the sustained, steady and fast development of SMEs in China. Stephen Rampur in 2010 pointed out several components of e-marketing strategy, which are search engine optimization (SEO), email marketing strategy, online advertising, online newsletters and media news rooms. To conclude, a large quantity of previous researches and studies have been made to explore e-marketing and SMEs and e-marketplace, of which some studies may based on the Chinese economy. Nevertheless, merely a few studies focused on B2B e-marketing strategy for SMEs. As a consequence, this paper will provide a deeper study on the topic relating to B2B e-marketing strategy for SMEs especially in Jiangsu province. Research questions What is the current situation of the development of the e-marketing technology in Jiangsu province? What is the B2B e-marketing adoption amongst SMEs in Jiangsu province? What are the components of B2B e-marketing strategy for SMEs in Jiangsu? Research Objectives This paper has following objectives: Provide an overall understanding of the development of e-marketing technology in China and Jiangsu province. Understand the current situation of the B2B e-marketing adoption amongst SMEs in Jiangsu province. Highlight the role that internet plays in B2B e-marketing strategy. Find out the components of B2B e-marketing strategy for SMEs in Jiangsu province. Research Methodology Both quantitative analysis techniques and qualitative analysis techniques will be applied in this research, which consist of several steps: questionnaire design, data collection and data analysis. Online questionnaire will be carried out to collect original data from 200 managers of SMEs in Jiangsu province. The current situation of e-marketing adoption amongst SMEs will be analyzed through these data. For example, for a question Have you ever used Internet technology to develop your business?, if 60 managers answered yes, one basic conclusion can be made that three tenth of the SMEs in Jiangsu have adopt e-marketing strategy. The reasons why online questionnaire method was used are that the cost is low, the result is more precise and the respondents have little hesitation (Saunders, et al., 2009). Moreover, interview with 20 information management and information system (IMS) students will collect data for open-ended questions. Research Plan Research Resources Resources needed for this research include a book called > and other book resources borrowed from the Library of Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU). Eight months will be taken in the research from September 2010 to May 2011. Furthermore, a computer linked to the internet with Microsoft Project installed will be used. It should be emphasized that in order to obtain academic research papers and articles online, the computer should be used within the boundaries of the XJTLU campus.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

What September 11, 2001 Has Meant To Me :: September 11 Terrorism Essays

On September 11, 2001 our Nation sat and watched in fear and horror as unknown assailants attacked the American people on our own soil, a feat that has not been seen since World War II. The atrocities of this day have evoked an abundance of overwhelming emotions that have spread throughout the world like wild fire. The diversity of my emotions is still pulling me in several different directions, making it difficult for me to place a meaning to September 11, 2001. I like the rest of America watch as countries throughout the world lend support and aid to our country. I watch these events unfold with great pride and relief as foreign nations bond together and aid us in order to fight a common foe. If nothing else good comes out of this atrocity at least we have proved that the majority of this world can come together and work as one. My pride at watching this world come together is not totally felt as I observe our home front. I have spent my entire life traveling this world and for the past ten years have continued that travel as a member of the U.S. Navy. My one regret is the fact that at times I am embarrassed to call myself an American, for in no other country does it take over four thousand deaths and mass destruction for a people to find pride in their Nation. I am disgusted with our Nations sudden patriotic values and ashamed. What have we been teaching our children for the past twenty years? As with so many others my strongest emotion is fear. Fear for what we are getting into and fear that our â€Å"newly found Americans† will prove history right. This is a war to the likes that no one has ever seen and I don’t think Americans, to no fault of their own, realize the true extent of what we are dealing with. I have learned and experienced so many things as a member of the Armed forces. It is this knowledge that every sailor and soldier alike has that allows me to see just how horrific this war could be.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Price Elasticity Essay

*** 1st November 2012 Examine whether the price elasticity of demand for rice is likely to be elastic or inelastic. Price elasticity of demand is the measure of how much of the quantity demanded changes in regards to a change in price. The PED is measured by the following formula: % Change in Quantity Demanded of the product/% Change in Price. If the PED is less than 1, the good is inelastic- indicating that there is a smaller change in quantity demand compared to the price change. When the PED is greater than 1, the good is elastic- meaning the quantity demanded will change significantly compared to a small price change.The price elasticity for rice could vary throughout several regions- but it can be argued that it is mainly inelastic because of the necessity of the product and the value the product holds in many households. However, in many regions, rice has proved to be elastic because of the number of close substitutes it has. The percentage change in price is greater than the p ercentage change in quantity demanded The percentage change in price is greater than the percentage change in quantity demanded To begin with, the price elasticity of demand for rice can be deemed inelastic.Clearly, various households consume rice on a regular basis. Research shows that rice is a staple good, or a main element in one’s diet, in â€Å"34 of the world’s countries. † With such a culture and mindset, households would unwilling to alter their demand for rice. Since rice is so commonly consumed, it is considered a necessity amongst households. Families of East-Asian descent, especially, are the largest consumers of rice- and eat rice in every meal. For instance, the price of a rice pack could be increased to $2. 50 from $2. 00; the change in price will be 25%.For a necessity product, the low reluctance of changing to another product would result in a smaller percentage change in demand- forcing the PED to be less than 1 and for rice to be inelastic. A lthough the necessity of rice does change from consumer to consumer and nation to nation, in a growing population in the East, rice has become more of a necessity than any other staple food. Since rice is engrained into cultural roots so deeply, a long-term substitute cannot be found- making the good inelastic in the short run and long run.In addition, the price elasticity can directly depend on the development of a nation. If the country is developed, and per capita incomes are high, rice will be inelastic. Since the price of rice takes up a very small proportion of the family income, the household is unlikely to change to an alternative- enforcing a lower percentage change in quantity demanded than percentage change in price. On the other hand, if the country’s economic development is low, or a low GDP per capita, the price of rice may have a significant portion of the average man’s income.As a consequence of a price change, then, the consumer will look for substitut es and alternatives for rice, as he or she will not be willing to pay that extra amount. In Bangladesh, for example, where rice is considered a staple food, the per capita income is $750USD. A bag of rice costing $24USD would be 3. 2% of an average Bangladeshi man’s salary- in contrast to an American who earns $48,450USD would spend 0. 05% of his salary in purchasing the same bag of rice. To summarize, a nation’s per capita income has a direct impact on whether or not a good such as rice is elastic or inelastic.As the price may decrease for rice, the quantity demanded might increase more significantly as buyers of the substitutes may start buying the product that has cut of its price. As the price may decrease for rice, the quantity demanded might increase more significantly as buyers of the substitutes may start buying the product that has cut of its price. However, rice can be considered elastic due to several reasons. Firstly, one particular brand of rice would have countless substitutes. There are bags of rice that are different in quality, different in quantity, different in flavor, different in place of growth, etc.When exposed to a change of price, a consumer will inevitably gain the inclination to substitute his or her initial product with an alternative that is priced lower to what the new price is of the previous good. Since the substitutes of rice are very similar to rice itself, if not the same product itself, people will be willing to change from one brand to another. The more substitutes there are for rice, in other words, the more elastic the PED will be, as the percentage change in quantity demanded will be greater than the percentage change in price.Quantity demanded, in other words, will decrease drastically if there are many substitutes, as consumers will shift from rice to the substitute product there is. If the price reduces, as well, many consumers will shift from the substitutes and consume the product that has cut of its p rice. In conclusion, although many substitutes can be found for rice, populations around the world eat rice incessantly. Since this continuous consumption has led to rice becoming a necessity, in most parts of the world a change in price will not affect the change in quantity demanded- making rice mostly inelastic.

Friday, November 8, 2019

U.S. Economy and Student Debts Review Essay

U.S. Economy and Student Debts Review Essay U.S. Economy and Student Debts Review Essay Example U.S. Economy and Student Debts Review Essay Example American economy is undeniably the most successful in the world. However, it continues to face diverse problems that need to be urgently addressed before escalating into an uncontrollable crisis that would be difficult to handle. The Obama administration has been trying to solve the matters such as the growing inequalities between wealthy individuals and those who do not have access to the financial and wealth resources. Migrants, such as Latinos, had an opportunity to be integrated into the employment systems in order to solve the widening inequalities. The continuously expanding gap between the rich and the poor will affect the economy in different ways, including changes in the derivatives market and in proprietary trading, the fall in financial regulatory mechanisms, and the decrease of democracy in the country. Moreover, increasing long-term employment for fulltime positions could lead to the increase of family incomes by 2016, improvement of the economy wage bill, and increase of the demand for goods and services. The rising student debt would raise the cost of living for most families, the borrowing of the government, reduced other sectors’ development, and budgetary problems in the state and the entire country. This paper explicates the long-term implications on the U.S. economy of the increasing income and wealth gap, raised employment for fulltime jobs, and growing student debts. The Long-Term Implications for the U.S. Economy of Increasing Income and Wealth Inequality (Gap) The American working culture provides that individuals work for a living as well as feel that it is their moral obligation. Therefore, many Americans regardless of their financial status are employed or working for themselves. According to Steinberg, Porro and Goldberg (2012), the 2007 financial crisis caused a reverse in employment leading to increased poverty and wealth inequalities in the country. Notably, the 2007 economic crisis caused many problems that must be resolved. For example, such events as the housing bubble burst dwindled the financial sector. Therefore, the banks could not afford to lend. The construction workers and their contracting companies lost their jobs. Consequently, tax revenue decreased, which provided the government with less profit to foster development. Shapiro, Meschede and Osoro (2013) assert that most citizens in the U.S. have become affluent over the years since President Lyndon Johnson declared the fight against poverty in 1964. However, the poverty rate in the country amount to 25%, and the declining efforts to fight poverty have continued expanding the gap between the wealthy and the poor in the entire country. As the wealth and income gaps continue to widen, the poor and the middle income workers are forced to work more to pay the elite. Such self-interest contributes to an unprecedented growth in the wealth division since homeowners begin to default on their loans, and shareholders’ securities become worthless. While the elite prosper, a large part of the poorest families will continue suffering in the future. Some of the notable long-term implications of the increasing wealth and income inequality gaps are discussed below. Future changes in the derivatives market From the financial perspective, derivatives comprise the largest part of the unregulated financial sector. The International Monetary Fund (2011) affirms that derivatives offer traders and sellers the opportunity to engage in their transactions at a further date, hence avoiding any complications in their operations. Elliot and Lewis (2013) inform that derivatives have been in use since the 17th century, and most traders have continued relying on them for successful activities in the market. An expanding unregulated sector raises various concerns because it is solely responsible for the growth of institutions and the assurance of a balance between the financially challenged citizens and the wealthy class. Riccards (2012) considers that the elite set of financially able individuals have developed businesses that are mainly focused on the generation of profit,s hence affecting the growth of the entire country. Consequently, the future of the American wealth gap situation is faced by unr eliable housing bubble as well as financial derivatives. It will be difficult to trade in derivatives in the future because only a few individuals will have the capacity to work in such conditions, hence derailing the market. Their success depends on the ability of many people to participate in the market freely. It will not be easy for the poor to get the opportunity to contribute to the growth of such markets because they do not have the resources to engage in them. Apart from their poverty, they will not have the opportunity to visit school and learn about the significance of derivatives in the process of economic growth. Future changes in proprietary trading Sexton (2013) affirms that the income and wealth gaps continue to widen proprietary trading, which is unregulated. Proprietary trading provides banks with the opportunity to trade commercial money in the capacity of investment budget. Therefore, the banks have ability to speculate against derivatives made of sub-prime mortgages that they had lent due to their customers’ commercial money. Shapiro, Meschede and Osoro (2013) agree that in 1929, proprietary trading played a tremendous role in causing the Great Depression, and in 1933, the Congress passed the Glass-Steagall Act to prevent the future use of proprietary trading and help prevent financial crisis. However, the increase of wealth gap gives power to wealthy people who require such actions to safeguard their interest. The passing of proprietary trading legislation will further contribute to the growth of the housing bubble and its subsequent collapse, but will leave the financial sector if the earnings partially decrease due to the effects of the proprietary trading practice. Future fall in democracy Due to the growing division of wealth and incomes witnessed during the financial crisis, it could be noted that the federal government’s ability to work democratically is deteriorating where financial elites are rising to power. Due to its inability to withstand powerful interests from the financial sector, the federal government is losing its ability to govern democratically. According to Schneirov and Fernandez (2013), the citizens consider the government legitimate if it is able to maintain control and stability of its society. In tandem with the growing housing bubble and the Great Recession, the government demonstrated its inability to manage the financial sector and subsequently the entire American economy. The nation’s second worst financial crisis was triggered by deregulating financial sector, which was encouraged by its interests in politics. Doogan (2013) states that the result of the government’s inability to protect the economic well-being of American citizens indicates its fading ability to secure the future of the entire country. According to the definition of democracy as a government that is able to listen to its people objectively and protect their interests adequately, the federal government is unable to represent and protect the best interest of taxpayers from the financial sector interests. This reason should challenge the U.S. government to continue working on decreasing the wealth and income disparities among its citizens. Riccards (2012) insists that the wealthy class will replace the government and will be in a sole position to make economic decisions that favor their trading activities. In this case, fiscal policies that are usually undertaken by the go vernment will be skewed and focused on protecting the interests of the wealthiest and financially powerful individuals, hence impairing democracy of the economy. Fall of the financial regulatory enforcement The financial regulatory enforcement is struggling to follow the increase in wealth and income inequality gap. Therefore, many organizations that it relies on appear to be losing track because they cannot correspond to the financial sector’s growing pace. The financial market has been growing at exorbitant rates. The amount of outstanding credit that sustains the growing financial sector has increased during the past twenty years, and the highest growth occurred in the past decade. Doogan (2013) indicates that much of this increase can be attributed to the expanding derivatives market, which is, as stated earlier, increased by 100% from 1998 to 2008. It is worth noting that the financial sector regulation has continued to lag behind the growing institutions, and the divergence has grown since the escalation of anti-regulatory ideology in politics in the 1980s. Nevertheless, the efforts have been made towards strengthening the regulatory system since the 1980s through adequate financing and support by the government. According to Krueger, Cramer, and Cho (2013), this causes concerns regarding the regulators’ ability to oversee effectively the financial sector and provides insight how the regulators allowed the occurrence of the financial crisis. In the nearest future, the organizations will lack a place to lean the credits in order to boost their business leading to losses or eventually closure. The influence of the wealthy class will overpower the financially challenged citizens, hence making it tough for the financial regulatory mechanism to restore its required efficiency in operations. The Long-Term Effects for the U.S. Economy of Increasing Long-Term Employment for Fulltime Positions Baker and Bernstein (2012) affirm that one of the key long-term effects of increasing employment for full time positions is that the families whose income is below the poverty line will increase triple by 2016. Most families that are currently living in poverty will have an increase of their incomes in the future since parents get the opportunity to work as fulltime employees with a stable salary every month. This implies that the level of poverty could be alleviated, since most families will have access to the decent housing, shelter, and food. The increase in fulltime employment will also mean that these families engage in other business activities due to their financial power and income availability. Kritikos (2014) states that the family businesses will start to emerge in order to increase their income base and meet other rising family needs. The prosperity of families due to the increase in incomes will cause the U.S. economy grow at a desirable level and remain in the dominant position. Continuous dependency of the government and its different projects will gradually reduce, hence leading to stability of the country’s economy. In tandem with the conventional economic analysis, an increase in the minimum wage would have two significant effects on the employment. First, the employers would have to deal with the high costs of producing goods and services. Krueger, Cramer and Cho (2013) confirm that these costs would be passed to consumers, hence affecting their consumption level of different products and services in the economy. For example, they will be required to pay more to cater for the increasing minimum wages paid to fulltime employees in various organizations. Most employers will deal with this effect by producing fewer goods and services using lesser human resources. Baker and Bernstein (2012) agree that this issue is commonly referred to as a scale effect, and it could deny other people the opportunity of getting these jobs in the future. The second way is that the increase in the minimum wage follow the increased costs for additional fulltime employees compared to using other production strategies such as machines and more productive higher-wage workers. It is crucial to note that some employees will continue focusing on the profit motive trying to save on their low-wage workers to accommodate high-wage workers. Riccards (2012) agrees that this is a substitution effect, which plays an instrumental role in boosting the level of the employment among high-wage employees compared to low-wage ones. However, it is imperative to understand that the conventional economic analysis would not be directly efficient in all situations. For example, when the firms plan to acquire new human resources on a fulltime basis and intend to maintain the current staff, they will have to incur more maintenance costs for them. This implies that increasing the number of fulltime jobs will escalate the overall costs of retaining existing employees and motivate them to realize the economic goals of the company. There are cases when searching requires much time and high costs among the workers. Kritikos (2014) indicates that increasing the minimum wage means that the businesses have to pay the existing workers more in any given case. This is beneficial because it leads to the overall reduction of costs for hiring and retaining new employees within the organization. Most low-wage workers who experience a change in their wages due to minimum wage increases work in the public sector and the government tries to protect their interest all the time. After a little increase of the minimum wage, some employers try to maintain different system of payment for their employees as it was before. Baker and Bernstein (2012) confirm that collective bargaining is used in the determination of some salaries. These usually depend on the costs incurred by the state government in relation to the employee protection. Therefore, an increase in the minimum wage would cause some workers become jobless in cases where they are not producing according to the required levels. New fulltime employees will replace them to ensure that the efficiency of the firm is increased at all levels. Additionally, some firms, especially those that do not engage in the employment of many low-wage workers, but that compete with firms that do, would witness a rise in demand for the different goods and services since the costs of their competitors gradually increase. Such firms would hire more low-wage workers as a result. The variation in employment of low-wage workers changes with the course of time. First, when the minimum wage increases, some firms could prefer accommodating fewer low-wage workers on a fulltime basis while others continue to follow their system. Sexton (2013) asserts that the rise in the demand for their goods and services will also be attributed to the increasing incomes among different individuals. Moreover, the production level will increase, hence leading to the mass production of various goods and services within the economy. The increasing levels of demand will mean that businesses make profits from their activities not depending on a small consumer base. M ost families and individuals will have the power to purchase and consume all categories of products, including the luxurious ones in the economy. For example, increasing full time employment could drastically lead to the growth of the products purchase such as cars and other luxurious goods required by the individuals. Employers might approach minimum wage increases in other modified ways that do not necessarily involve increasing prices or substituting low-wage workers with other appropriate inputs such as machines. For example, they might decide to offset increase of the minimum wage through reducing other costs such as fringe benefits with respect to health insurance or pensions as well as job rewards such as free meals. Employers will be willing to reduce the overall costs of production and increase their profitability. Doogan (2013) considers it is obvious that increasing employment for fulltime jobs will require them to incur more costs for sustaining their staff members. Thus, most of them will establish new strategies such as reducing total employee benefits. This will force the U.S. economy to take different direction where most employees are only paid their basic salaries without any form of additionally benefits. However, the reduction of these benefits will take a moderate approach due to the understanding that most of these workers do not have much profit. In addition, Riccards (2012) clarifies that most employers will take a moderate approach because they fear to face unfavorable tax treatment, as provided in the tax policy of the country. They will also reduce the training costs for their employees to ensure they deal with the rising costs of human resources within their organizations. The Long Term Implications for the U.S. Economy of Rising Student Debts Elliot and Lewis (2013) affirm that a consumer finances survey conducted in 2010 indicated that 45% of all American families are burdened with outstanding student loan debts. This rate rose by 33% in 2007. Most of the student debt in America is held by people who are under the age of 35 years. Nevertheless, the economic and financial effects of these debts are felt beyond this age bracket. Currently, most of the people in the United States own a job and receive wages. FICO (2013) reveals that most of the individuals from the age of 18 to 60 receive some form of basic payment for their work and are forced to bear the burden of repaying part of the students’ debts, especially defaulters. The increasing students’ debts emanating from defaulters mean that everyone deducted some amount from their salaries to provide these costs. Therefore, it is difficult for some people to receive the required amount of wages since they have to participate in the repayment of the accumulati ng student loans. The rates at which student debts are being taken and repaid in the American society has a continuously largely fluctuated since 2007. While more students are taking largest student loans, those who have graduated are now paying at a slower rate. The International Monetary Fund (2011) shows that the enrollment level has increased in the past years due to the encouragement for education among the youth. Governmental programs to aid in promoting higher education, such as the GED program amongst others, have also greatly influenced people’s decisions to enhance their education towards higher levels. Consequently, the population of people at schools in the United States is growing, thus increasing the level of student debts owed to the state. Moreover, the states have to compensate on the amount owed to them by the students through borrowings from other sectors. The rising expenses for living in the United States witnessed through high costs of housing, reducing incomes and increasing student debts, merge and lead to severe economic effects in the entire country. Nautet and Meensel (2010) emphasize that the high student debts in the United States is affecting the economy negatively and may increase the living costs of every citizen in the country. This will continue happening if effective measures are not adopted to regulate these debts. In the past, student loan debts did not threaten the economy of the state through balancing effects of income and potential. The accumulation of debts was not so high since the students who completed their studies in universities and colleges could procure jobs immediately and start repaying their loans. Such large percentage was accompanied by high and rising income levels. In fact, most of the students could afford to spare a percentage every month in order to pay their student debts. Therefore, there was a balancing effect in the economy since the borrowed amount was equaled by the amount repaid. The state had to bear the burden of giving loans without necessarily getting them reimbursed at the required time for its activities. The increasing burden will continue in a foreseable future and will lower economic activities in different states in the U.S. The amount that the state is investing in giving students loans is currently higher than the amount being repaid. O’Shea (2013) insists that there will be a deficit every year, hence necessitating the government to borrow funds from the other sectors of the government to meet their need. Borrowing finances from the other sectors of the budget will continue to have economic effect on the state. The government will have to save on its expenditure foreseen for some developmental projects to meet the increasing loans of students in the economy. Thus, other sectors and functions of the state’s budget will suffer due to increased student debts. With the current trend in rise of student debts and costs of living in the state, the projected future threatens the state where the government budget will be stalled. A large percentage of the state’s finances will be delayed due the student debts. The costs of living will increase resulting in lower repayment rates. Moreover, the unfavorable costs of living would raise the debt by forcing students to borrow in order to meet the high fee demands in their respective colleges and universities. Nautet and Meensel (2010) reveals that it is threatening that the population will not be in a position to pay their school fees without assistance of student loans. It will result in high rates of the student loans. The state’s responsibility for this process will force sourcing money from its reserve of the budget. When the budget becomes completely strained beyond the stage for more manipulation, the government will have to surplus its financial deficit through increased taxes fo r its citizens. Moreover, it will be necessary to increase the rate of taxes for its citizens in order to increase the revenue rates and provide the increased budget needs due to the higher rates of student borrowing and lowered repayment rates. Increased tax rates for the citizens could lead to the higher cost of living in the country. Consequently, the effect of high student loans and debts on the economy of the United States has a cyclical effect that influences all sectors of the economy and all levels of individuals. The high rate of student loans is also a threat to the future state of retirement security and insurance programs for the retired and the elderly population. The International Monetary Fund (2011) indicates that a study conducted by the Boston College Center for Retirement indicated that 62% of the American working population aged between 30 to 39 is projected to have insufficient resources to cater for their later retirement ages. Mishory and O’Sullivan (2013) opine that more than 20% of the population at this level has the current debts of more than $50,000. This amount is also at an increasing rate over the years. At the same time, the population ages expected for future retirement is also increased at a large rate. This means that the financial strength and planning required to cater for these individuals when they retire is currently impossible. The inadequacy of retirement savings and planning for the society together with the generally rising costs of living would cause more debts to the citizens, hence leading the country into a financial crisis. Mishory and O’Sullivan (2013) state that families with parents aged between 65 and 74 years with a housing debt carry an average median debt load of $70,000. In addition to the student loan debts, these debts amounts to huge sums that cannot be repaid from the retirement benefits, pensions, and insurance payoffs. Considering the current situation, most families will not be able to receive adequate retirement benefits, hence leading to the persistence of debts in the economy. The trend at which the state is heading in terms of loans is one that threatens the ability of the government to support effectively its citizens and ensure the modest standards of living to its citizens. It is vital that the state and trend of student loans as well as their effects on the economy are mitigated to save on the potential terminal future. According to Elliot and Lewis (2013), the state needs to invest hastily in programs and initiatives that will lower the cost of educational tuition. This is especially common in institutions of higher learning. The beginning of the challenge of high student loans and its effects on the economy of the state is the fact that student’s education in these institutions of education is high. The programs, such as offering incentives to the institutions and building more educational establishments, will reduce the costs at which they price their education. The cheaper university education in the country will be more affordable for students and their families. Nautet and Meensel (2010) observe that this step will be instrumental in reducing the number of people who require students’ loans to get higher education. Therefore, this will reduce its effect on the economy and large population of the country since there will be small amounts of unpaid student loans. The burden on the government to provide fees for the students’ tuition would be also alleviated, hence eliminating the need for the government to continuously engage in educational support programs for the students. It is imperative to continue ensuring that students meet their debt obligations to eliminate uncertainties about government finances. In conclusion, the U.S. government has the responsibility of ensuring that its citizens fulfill their lives in the economy. The government has the duty to ensure that the economy is performing for the benefit of everyone in the country. Increasing the wealth and income inequality gap will harm the economy in the future due to the reduced activities in the derivative markets that require participation of everyone in the entire country. Moreover, it will be difficult for the government to have the democracy of protecting its citizens through fiscal policies due the domination of the economy by the wealthy individuals who use their financial power to rule over others. Institutional regulatory systems in the financial sector will also be weakened due to the control of wealthy individuals. Additionally, increasing opportunities for fulltime employment will have both positive and negative long-term consequences. Concerning its positive side, there will be increased incomes for families, he nce improving their living standards and ability to purchase different products. In addition, there will be situations where firms will have to deal with high costs of labor in the economy and might regulate it by reducing the benefits and allowances that these employees get from the provision of their services. Increasing student loans would overburden other citizens through higher taxation to meet these costs. The effect exceeds the defaulters or those who require more time to settle their loans. Moreover, the government might be forced to stall some of its projects to meet the student loans in the best possible manner. With these events, the government should work in cooperation with economists to ensure that the future of the U.S economy is secured through sound economic policies that capture each of these ideas. Overlooking any of these issues could plunge the economy into a crisis that would need more time to be solved, hence missing other developmental opportunities for the U.S. economy.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Land mines essays

Land mines essays There are many different types of land mines that still exist today,that were planted to kill soilders back in Vietnam and other wars. There are five types of antipersonal mines. Blast mines are the most common. When someone steps on them they explode. Because it has a very large charge it often kills people rather than just injuring them. Fragmentation mines have tripwires which lie a few centimeters above the ground. When someone walks into them, the mine shoots out hundreds of metal fragments at twice the speed of an ordinary bullet. Bounding framentation mine jump into the air when activated, to about the hight of a persons chest before they explode . They kill the person who sets them off and can kill over a wide area. Directional Fragmentation mines shoot out steel balls in one direction at high speed. They are set off by tripwires or remote. Also Scatterable mines do not have to be laid by hand they can be droped by an airplain or by artillery. They land on the ground without exploding and some even set their own tripwires. There are around 110 million land mines in 64 countries still lodged in the ground. Just like today and in Vietnam children pick up or step on the devices while herding animals, or working in the fields or just playing. Since many of the explosives look just like toys, tops, pineapples or butterflies, children are drawn to them. In some areas, children scavenge mines for scrap metal. Limbless and blind children around the world bear witness to the land mines path of destruction. Since 1975, the devices have killed more than one million people. They continue to kill more than 800 victims each month and disable more than 1,000 others. Women and children in Angola account for more than 20,000 amputees. Many of todays land mines, which can remain active for decades, were planted before their youngest victims were born. ...

Monday, November 4, 2019

Catcher in the Rye Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Catcher in the Rye - Essay Example But while they are too busy fooling around with each other, the ship is heading towards a disaster that the world will never forget. The story kind of reminds me of Jane. She and I used to always hang out. We were not in love, but there was something there. Then she had to go and date Stradlater. I am the Jack to Jane’s Rose – the lowly one that deserves her more. The movie was too long and too phony. The director would have done everyone some good if he had cut the pointless stuff from it. The modern storyline was too bizarre for my own taste. All of the flashbacks, and the scenes jumping from the past to the present and back again irritated me a bit, to tell ya the truth. It became confusing after a while. Have an over-the-hill Rose retell her phony story of love and lies while a treasure seeker explores the wreckage of the ship is a nice touch, but only distracted me from the actual plot of the movie. And how Jack’s chalk drawing would last almost a year a century under water is beyond me. I swear to God that is should have been washed into pieces years ago; clearly water was able to get into the safe, but it does not make sense that the only damage was by a few drops of water, ya know? The last few scenes seemed to drag on a little too long. No kidding. It had nothing to do with the amount of detail, but with the amount of goddam stupidity between Rose and Jack. I think it is stupid when they make a scene longer than it has to be when they could just cut out all of the pointless stuff. It would have made me less bored. The special effects were the best part of the goddam movie, to tell ya the truth, and the music was pretty damn good. It was not a great movie - good, but not the best thing around. The romance between Cal, Rose, and Jack was phony; Rose did not seem to know what she was doing and Cal seemed more interested in beating the crap out of Jack than actually saving his pathetic relationship with

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Narratives of Difference and Belonging Assignment

Narratives of Difference and Belonging - Assignment Example Interesting fact, illuminating statement, personal connection: An interesting fact mentioned in the article is that of the presence of the same set of things, starting from consumer products, to eateries, groceries, and shopping malls, which are seen everywhere in today’s globalized world. So there is a definite loss of individualism or uniqueness of a certain place, and one always ends up getting the same thing anywhere they go. This is something we are evidencing today in all parts of the world. There is always a McDonalds, a Cafà © Coffee Day or a Barista, and somehow the local flavor is slowly disappearing under the burgeoning pressure from these huge multinationals. I can personally connect to this observation, as wherever I have traveled looking for new things, I have always met these giants standing tall, dishing out the same set of standardized products. Author’s perspective/value position: The author feels that in this changed scenario of globalization and high-tech communication era, the youth needs to be first acknowledged as a source of power. Accordingly, their education should be offered in a different manner, inculcated with new values that would be more fitting in this hybridized world. To make this effective, the educators have to change their mindset or else as the author comments â€Å"We need new ways of thinking of and working with kids, otherwise we will become irrelevant as we produce education for categories of kids that no longer exist in the postmodern world† (Besley, 74). Validity/usefulness of the article for thinking about issues of cultural diversity: This article is very important in today’s context, as it speaks of the new age culture that we can see all around us.