Events Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Events - Essay Example Often the military or the paramedics would step in and, with the aid of volunteers, deal with the situation on an ad-hoc basis. But the disorganized and unsystematic nature of these efforts would lead to less than satisfactory response to the event. It is only in recent decades that organized and exclusive government agencies were set up to prevent and manage unexpected emergencies. It is with the formation of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) in 1979 that the nation had a separate government body for tackling emergencies. Prior to that, even in the three decades following the Second World War, the approach to emergency events was piecemeal and loosely coordinated. But, despite empowering FEMA with necessary discretionary powers during crisis situations, as well as providing it with sufficient funds for garnering resources, the agency has not lived up to expectations. In more than three decades of FEMA’s existence, the nation has seen a fair share of natural disasters . But often FEMA has been found wanting in its competence and execution of prediction, prevention and relief operations. Two events in particular stand out as great lessons for the agency - Hurricane Andrew of 1992 and Hurricane Katrina of 2005. These two events exposed the state of emergency management in the United States. They played a significant role in shaping the field of Emergency Management subsequent to the event. Remedial measures were taken to restructure related agencies and personnel teams based on the failures experienced during the two events. Hurricane Andrew hit the South Eastern coast of the United States (in particular the states of Florida and Louisiana) in August of 1992. Powerful gale storms above the speed of 170 miles per hour caused havoc in the region. It uprooted hundreds of trees, threw astray public facilities, disrupted telecommunication, made public transportation unviable and most importantly, displaced tens of thousands of people from their homes. I n the aftermath of the hurricane, a quarter of a million citizens were left homeless. Their houses were either destroyed by the hurricane or left inundated by flooding. FEMA was criticized from all angles for failing to anticipate the intensity of the hurricane as well as being able to evacuate vulnerable communities to safer places in advance. It eventually took the arrival of battalions of soldiers from the National Guard to partially bring the situation under control. The National Academy of Public Administration prepared a detailed report on the event titled ‘Coping with Catastrophe’. This report outlined various shortcomings of FEMA and the manner in which it went about its designated work. One of the outcomes of this inquiry is the creation of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate. Yet, these adjustments would prove to be inadequate, as the disasters surrounding Hurricane Katrina of 2005 would show. Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region of the United States in August 2005. FEMA’s anticipation of the onset of the hurricane was fairly accurate, and it positioned response personnel in the vulnerable regions ahead of time. But where FEMA erred is in not empowering the personnel with resources and direct access to the affected population. The inadequacy of the response personnel was proven by the fact that within three days of the onset of the Hurricane, the National Guard troops were once again pressed into service. New Orleans

Analysing Post Apartheid Gender Inequality In South Africa Politics Essay

Analysing Post Apartheid Gender Inequality In South Africa Politics Essay Despite the South African constitutions commitment to equal rights for women, the demand for gender equality is incompatible with the preservation of traditional authority in the post-apartheid era. Discuss. Women in South Africa have the most clearly spelt out legal rights in the whole of Africa and when looking at the newly formed constitution the situation for women in South Africa seems to have made a dramatic move in the right direction. After all the constitution prohibits any form of discrimination on the basis of not only gender but sexual orientation. And although it validates both gender equality and the institutions of traditional authority, if they come into direct conflict it is gender equality that will prevail. The national parliament has also moved from being 141st in the world, in regards to the percentage of women members, pre-1994 to 7th post-1994.  [i]  This signals a new era in South Africa, and is mainly down to the ANCs undoubted dedication to gender equality and the introduction of its quota in national elections. However despite the leaps forward in gender equality the fight for womens rights is far from over and it is in the rural areas that the discrimination is most severely felt by women. The South African constitution may be one of the most gender sensitive in the world but this did not come about uncontested by the traditional authorities,  [ii]  who believed the introduction of gender equality would lead to the end of some African traditions, such as, Lobola,  [1]  and in the long term their very institutions. Traditional authorities are seen to be the biggest obstacle facing the women in rural South Africa. This essay will discuss the history of traditional authorities and how the colonial and apartheid eras have influenced and shaped them, the affect they have had of on the development of womens rights and their relevance to understanding the rural womens position. Also the broader tension felt between the principle of elected representation and the continuation of non-electe d chiefs that has implications for the position of women and the country as a whole. And finally a brief look at the question; why did the ANC make concessions to the chiefs at the time of transition. But ultimately that the ANC-led governments belief that they can recognise the institution of traditional leaders while at same time upholding the constitutions principles of gender equality and representative democracy is completely contradictory. Today in post-1994 South Africa the term traditional authorities is an all-encompassing term in which it refers to chiefs of all different ranks and that have jurisdiction over rural people.  [iii]  But this concept of traditional authority has, over the years, has been reshaped and moulded to not only benefit the white ruling governments that have dominated South Africas history but also the patriarchal systems. The two main institutions that were reconstructed were chieftainship and customary law. In the colonial era they were used as a cheap form of administration, later to ensure the successful use of the migrant labour system. In the apartheid era they were used in the states attempt to divide the African population into their ethnic groups so that they would be easier to control. Customary law may be seen by some as a long African tradition but others, as illustrated by Cherryl Walker, believe that customary law is not only sexually discriminatory in the extreme but also a construct of the past hundred years.  [iv]  The chief was also reinvented to become dependent on approval from the centre, for any chiefs that were perceived to be disloyal to the dominant white state, were removed and replaced by more compliant individuals. During this time the most valuable power the chief possessed was the power to allocate land, and it remains so today. This power was beneficial to the apartheid state but has caused massive complications for the reconstruction of rural areas under the new ANC-led government,  [v]  and has been hugely detrimental to the population of rural women and gender equality. The issue of land allocation was one of the largest issues to be resolved facing the new post-apartheid government, and remains so to this day. For the first ten years the new ANC-led government has been very vague on the issue of traditional authorities and land allocation. Traditional authorities took advantage of this indecisiveness and used to their benefit. Things were further complicated by the fact that the constitution recognised the institution of traditional leaders but failed to specify the roles, functions and powers of said authorities. This resulted in massive confusion for the people on the ground and when elected councillors were introduced in 1995/96, the lack of a clear definition led to tension between the newly elected councillors and the traditional authorities, as neither were clear as to what role they would play and considered the other institution to illegitimate. When the ANC came to power and the new democratic constitution was enforced many South Africans believed that the newly elected councillors would take over the function of land allocation, the government indicated that it would become the responsibility of the Traditional rural councils (TRC) however the old apartheid laws were effectively still in place, government officials still used, with a few adjustments, the apartheid procedure and did not recognise the elected councillors as having power to allocate land, as a result by 2000, (the end of the transition period) the rural people had become dissatisfied with the rural councillors.  [vi]   It wasnt until the combination of the Traditional Leadership and Framework Act  [2]  (framework act) in 2003 and the Communal Land Rights Act  [3]  2004, that the government finally clarified the role of traditional authorities. The combination of these two acts drew criticism from a huge range of civil society organisations, ranging from gender activists to land activists, such as, the programme for Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) and the National Land Committee (NLC) they considered these new traditional councils to be, as Ntsebeza illustrates, a retreat from democracy and the Communal Land Rights Act was an attempt to revive a defunct apartheid institution which was above all extremely discriminatory of women.  [vii]  The reason that the traditional authorities being in control of land allocation is such bad news for women is because of their continuing use of customary law.  [4]  Despite the fact that gender equality should, according to the constitution, prevai l over institutions of traditional authorities, in practice customary law and practice tend to win in matters marriage, divorce and property ownership (with most chiefs still unwilling to allocate land to women) resulting in deeply patriarchal decisions that lessen womens rights to those of their husbands, fathers or even sons.  [viii]  The principle of customary law has even been upheld in the Supreme Court rulings (2000) despite what is clearly stated in the constitution.  [ix]  This elevation of hereditary chieftainship to a privileged and protected position within local government seriously compromises rural womens access to and influence on local governments.  [x]  The framework act has created councils that are dominated by traditional authorities whilst the Communal Land Rights Act has given these structures extraordinary powers, combined they have effectively given the traditional authorities back the powers that they had enjoyed in the apartheid era under the Ba ntu Authorities Act.  [xi]  Through these acts the national government has majorly failed the women in rural areas in relation to land and womens right over its allocation and use, in effect the government has failed to uphold the very principles in the constitution of equality all they have done is further entrench the concept of male-domination in both peoples minds and the institutions in rural South Africa. One of the major reasons behind the increase in dominance in the traditional authorities in rural areas is due to the lack of a significant civil society movement in particular a powerful Womens movement post-1994 to push for equality. Before the first democratic elections in South Africa, the general womens movement was much stronger. Successfully contesting the traditional authorities proposals to have customary law exempt from the gender equality clause  [xii]  and later defeating their bid to have customary law entrenched itself. The womens organisations also managed to successfully mobilise itself after being sidelined in the constitutional negotiation process to form the Womens National Coalition in 1992, with the aim to draft a charter for womens rights, that would be included or at least consulted when the constitution was drawn up. However this coalition didnt last long after the charter was formalised, the ANC womens league become suspicious and believed that other part ies would use the coalition to better themselves and not women as a whole, and as a result dropped out. This left the womens movement in tatters.  [xiii]  There was a further blow to the movement when the ANC was elected to government as many women that were at the forefront of the womens movements became members of parliament on ANC tickets. Leaving the majority of the womens organisations without key players and leaders. The situation was worse in rural areas for these organisations due to the fact they were predominantly urban based and were nowhere near as organised as the traditional authorities. As a result it was far more difficult for rural women to come together against the repressive nature of the Traditional Authorities as they had no organisation or figurehead to unite under. The traditional nature of rural South Africa is also felt within the rural local councils, where the number of women is actually lower than that of the national parliament. This goes against the western norm that women usually do better at the local level.  [xiv]  Gotez and Hassim illustrate two main reasons for this, firstly that traditional patriarchies can be more intense and immediate in their repressive effect on womens engagement at local level compared to the national and secondly that womens movements capacity to support women in local politics and help develop gender equality policy platforms can be fragmented by decentralisation.  [xv]  The lack of an effective womens movement post-1994, has had a negative effect on the development of gender equality. Another problem women face in rural councils is that they are set up to accommodate a male councillors way of life and not a womans who still have to uphold their traditional responsibilities for the home and family, C onnell argues that this holds dangerous potential for fostering exclusivity in political leadership.  [xvi]  Many believe that there are too many meetings that run late and seem to discuss the same issues over and over, which is just not practical for women councillors who have a family and a home to look after alongside their job as councillors. Unfortunately due to the smaller number of women in local councils than in the national parliament they are unable to ensure that matters such as hours of sitting and childcare are addressed, instead their concerns are ridiculed as womens problems by the male-dominated councils.  [xvii]  These issues enforce the perceptions that women are not capable of serving as councillors and damage the potential contribution of women councillors. Problems like this show just how deeply entrenched male-domination still is in South Africa,  [xviii]  and not just in rural areas but on the national scale. The male domination on real power is st ill very evident. The ANCs history towards Traditional Authorities is very important in understanding why the act the way they do towards them. The ANC was formed in 1912 and many of its founding members were traditional authorities who opposed to the Union of South Africa. However as time when on the ANC became a more radical movement and combined with pressure from its youth League and its communist allies the ANC split in two when it came to what to do with Traditional authorities today; the first being pro traditional authorities providing that they were critical of government policy. The second, who were clearly influenced by their communist allies, argued that the institution of traditional authorities belong to a previous feudal era and should be replaced by a more democratic institution.  [xix]   One of the main questions to be looked at is why the ANC has made so many concessions to the traditional authorities at the time of transition at the expense of gender equality, in spite of their obvious commitment to equality, in particular gender equality, both in the constitution and their own party politics (i.e. the election quota). The ANC has always been split and extremely ambiguous in its views and policy towards the institution of traditional authority. It is also widely accepted that tampering with the power of chiefs threatens to create a mass amount of political problems.  [xx]  Because of this most politicians feel the issue is best left alone. There are a number of possible reasons this. The first being that the ANC is fundamentally urban based and has always been considered to be very weak in rural areas, alongside that it has never had a coherent programme to build alternative democratic structures in the rural areas to try and combat this problem.  [xxi]  And as a result the ANC has been and remains depended on traditional authorities to be their main representation in rural areas. This originated when the party was in exile but has continued to the present day, which makes it difficult for the ANC to alienate them. The ANC has to also remember that it has to take peoples commitment to custom, culture and tradition seriously if it wants keep its support in rural areas and if any program of rural construction is to succeed.  [xxii]  The ANC cannot just rush in and dismantle peoples beliefs and way of life as a large number of people still believe in and support traditional authorities and what they stand for, it will be long and slow process that will have to be carried out with the upmost care, Ismail [1999] illustrates this point well that traditional leaders cannot be abolished overnight without causing some political disequilibrium among the indigenous people especially in rural areas.  [xxiii]   The ANC has also faced direct pressure from the traditional authorities themselves, both through the Inkatha freedom Party (IFP), the Congress of Traditional Leaders in South Africa  [5]  (CONTRALESA) and the right-wing Zulu nationalist chief Buthelezi, who is recruiting chiefs who opposed the ANC during the anti-apartheid era.  [xxiv]  The ANC feels it must maintain a good relationship with CONTRALESA so that it wont lose the support of the traditional authorities who are members and their followers, who the ANC consider to be important voter blocks. Ultimately the ANC had a choice to make; to take the Traditional Authorities head on in order for womens rights to not only be written in the constitution but actually be put into practice and be experienced by women throughout south African society, or to appease the Traditional Authorities and allow for gender inequality to continue despite this going against the very constitution they wish to uphold. Unfortunately (for womens rights) the ANC has seemed to favour the latter option. But the very fact that the ANC has need to make a choice between the two is evidence of the incompatibility of Traditional Authorities and the concept of gender equality. One thing that the womens movement must remember is that getting women into parliament is not a guarantee that she will help promote gender equality as not all women have feminist interests and will most likely represent their parties interests not that of women,  [xxv]  this can be partly due to the party-list system used in South Africa, which means if you want to stay high on the list and remain in parliament you have to tow the party line. There is also the problem that women just dont feel comfortable enough to raise the question of the prolonged gender inequality within South African society, this is generally down to the traditional view upheld by many South Africans. Friedman actually argues that by putting women on committees when they are not comfortable with being in a position of authority may actually be counterproductive for and long-term strategy for empowering women.  [xxvi]  This can be down to the inexperience and uncertainty of women councillors which may l ead to them being unable to effectively articulate their opinions and concerns, leading to the reinforcement of not only the opinion that women are not cut out to be involved in politics but also the very concept of inequality. This is shown very clearly by Goetz and Hassim with their study in Temba in 2000, in which women councillors had made no concrete suggestions except to second motions.  [xxvii]  According to the women in Temba this is because they feel intimidated by the men who still hold the traditional values of women being inferior. men in the council laugh and interrupt our contributions.  [xxviii]  This is a problem that is widely known about to the majority of ANC members but still little is being done to address the issue. It is clear that if gender equality is to be a success then it is not just the traditional institutions that need to change, it is the peoples views about gender as well. Men need to accept women as their equals and women need to be empowere d so that they can be confident enough so that they can stand up for their opinions, concerns and rights. Traditional authorities in their current state are most definitely incompatible with the demand for gender equality. However as customs and traditions are never set in stone but a product of a complex and dynamic history of contestation, co-optation, reconstruction and invention,  [xxix]  traditional authorities could, if they learn to incorporate gender equality and accept the legitimate role of the democratically elected local bodies, in theory be a legitimate part of the South African democracy. However if they continue to push of their unelected body to have increased power and refuse to recognise the legitimacy of rural elected bodies and that women have equal status then they should not have a place in a democratic South Africa, as the very nature of traditional authorities is undemocratic. It is up to the government to follow through with their promise of equality, and particularly for this case gender equality by either removing them completely (which will inevitably be u npopular with a large proportion of the population especial in rural areas) or alternatively force them to become more democratic. In the current state it is unlikely that the government will do so as it could very well play into the hands of their opposition. Therefore there is a desperate need for a strong womens movement to not only put pressure on the government but to also mobilise the women of South Africa to stand up for their constitutional right of equality.

Energy Deregulation :: essays research papers

As we have witnessed the rolling blackouts and emergency alerts throughout many parts of our state of California within the past 12 months, there is a question waiting to be answered. Why do we have an energy crisis when there are other states that are doing just fine? Before we come to any hasty conclusion, let us ask ourselves what happened to the energy policy during the mid 90s? During that period the electric utilities went from being highly regulated to being deregulated following the trend in successful deregulation of many industries such as airline and telecommunication industries. The concept that deregulation will bring more competitive prices and better services to the public, undermined the negative potentials of the free market system. Deregulation bill must be abolished because it brings higher electricity prices, lower reliabilities of electricity, and also it threatens to drag down our economy along with it. First, we have seen a nation-wide increase in both wholesale and retail electricity prices. In California as an example, the wholesale prices increased seven times last year compared to 1999 (Kahn and Lynch 13). The average residential electric bill almost doubled from $40 to $80 in San Diego when the SDG & E’s retail price freeze ended in June 2000.1 According to Washington Governor Gray Locke, â€Å"the whole energy prices have gone up from ten to twenty times the prices of a year ago (1). In New York, more specifically in New York City and parts of Westchester County which are one of the first areas in the country to deregulate retail prices entirely, the retail rates have increased almost 30% (Eisenberg 47). This is bad when you consider that ones that are going to be most hurt from these unreasonably high electricity prices will be the individuals and families that are in the low-income bracket. Second, the reliability of electricity was compromised throughout many parts of our state, affecting both residential and business sectors. On June 14, 2000, about 100,000 customers were blacked out in San Francisco Bay Area (Kahn and Lynch 9-10). According to Lorenco Goncalves, the CEO of California steel industries, â€Å"We were interrupted 14 times this month [January] compared to not once from 1987 to 1998. So many other industries depend on what we send them†¦If they can’t depend on my products, they will [buy them] elsewhere† (Wood and Sherer). These uncertain interruptions are causing a lot of damage in our economy.

Mary Ainsworth Attachment Theory

Ahmad Stevens Charlene Holm General Phycology 1 November 2012 Mary Ainsworth Attachment Theory Mary Ainsworth the psychologists who provide the most detailed analyst research on an individual attachment offering explanations. Like for instants we has adults teenagers know enough how we feel when the person leaves or apart from us and we are able to explain in it words. That does not go so well for young babies such has infants.In doing so Mary Ainsworth devised an experiment to discover and identify attachment styles. She called the technique used called Strange Situation Classification she also stated that results may vary from between children. The result from the experiment Strange Situation Classification identified security attachment. In order to determine the attachment behavior in children 1 to 2 years of age and also attachment styles.So Ainsworth Four categories of behaviors are measured and observed: (1) separation anxiety: the unease the infant shows when left by the care giver, (2) the infant’s willingness to explore, (3) stranger anxiety: the infant’s response to the presence of a stranger, and (4) reunion behavior: the way the caregiver was greeted on return. The observer notes down the behavior displayed and scores the behavior for intensity on a scale 1 to 7. McLeod, S. A. (2008). Mary Ainsworth | Attachment Styles. Retrieved from http://www. simplypsychoAinswPatterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. ogy. org/mary-ainsworth. html Her set of observational studies using the ‘Strange Situation’ paradigm (see above) revealed three distinct forms of attachment (‘attachment styles’). One secure attachment style and two types of insecure attachments. Ainsworth (1970) identified three main attachment styles, secure, avoidant and resistant/ambivalent. She concluded that these attachment styles were the result of early interactions with the mother. A forth attach ment style known as disorganized was later identified (Main, & Solomon, 1990). | Secure Attachment| Resistant Attachment| Avoidant Attachment| SeparationAnxiety| Distressed when mother leaves. | Infant shows signs of intense distress when mother leaves. | Infant shows no sign of distress when mother leaves. | Stranger Anxiety| Avoidant of stranger when alone but friendly when mother present. | Infant avoids the stranger – shows fear of stranger. | Infant is okay with the stranger and plays normally when stranger is present. | Reunion behavior| Positive and happy when mother returns. | Child approaches mother but resists contact, may even push her away. | Infant shows little interest when mother returns. | Other| Will use the mother as a safe base to explore their environment. Infant cries more and explores less than the other 2 types. | Mother and stranger are able to comfort infant equally well. | % of infants| 70| 15| 15| Ainsworth, M. D. S. , Blehar, M. C. , Waters, E. , & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Ainsworth & Bell suggested that behavior in the strange situation classification was determined by the behavior of the primary carer in this case the mother. She identified many attachment behaviors which gives us a detailed report on attachment theory .Insecure Resistant attached infants are associated with inconsistent primary care. Insecure Avoidant infants are associated with unresponsive primary care. Avoidant children think themselves unworthy and unacceptable, caused by a rejecting primary caregiver(Larose & Bernier, 2001). Resistant children have negative self image and exaggerate their emotional responses as a way to gain attention (Kobak et al. , 1993). Reference Ainsworth, M. D. S. , Blehar, M. C. , Waters, E. , & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Ainsworth, M. D. S. , Blehar, M. C. , Waters, E. , & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Kobak, R. R. , Cole, H. E. , Ferenz-Gillies, R. , Flemming, W. S. , & Gamble, W. (1993). Attachment and emotional regulation during mother-teen problem-solving. A control theory analysis. Child Development, 64, 231-245. Larose, S. , & Bernier, A. (2001). Social support processes: Mediators of attachment state of mind and adjustment in later late adolescence. Attachment and Human Development, 3, 96-120.

Rate Equation and Order Reaction

Top of Form 1. For the overall hypothetical reaction A + 5B —> 4C the rate of appearance of C given by may also be expressed as: A. B. C. D. 2. For the reaction 4 NH3(g) + 5 O2(g) —> 4 NO(g) + 6 H2O(g), the value of -[NH3]/t = 2. 6 x 10-3 M/s at a particular time. What is the value of -[O2]/t at the same instant? A. 1. 3 x 10-2 M/s B. 2. 08 x 10-3 M/s C. 2. 6 x 10-3 M/s D. 3. 25 x 10-3 M/s E. 520 M/s 3. What is the overall order for the following reaction between acetone and iodine? The experimental rate law is rate = k [CH3COCH3] [H3O+] ) CH3COCH3(aq) + I2(aq) +H2O —> CH3COCH2I(aq) + H3O+(aq) + I-(aq) A. 0 B. 1 C. 2 D. 3 E. 4 4. Nitric oxide (NO) reacts with hydrogen (H2) according to the equation: 2 NO(g) + 2 H2(g) —> N2(g) + 2 H2O(g) The following initial rates of reaction have been measured for the given reactant concentrations. Expt. # | NO | H2 | Rate (M/hr)| 1 | 0. 010 | 0. 020 | 0. 020| 2 | 0. 015 | 0. 020 | 0. 030| 3 | 0. 010 | 0. 010 | 0. 005| Which of the following is the rate law (rate equation) for this reaction? A. rate = k[NO]2 [H2] B. rate = k[NO] [H2]2 C. rate = k[NO] [H2]4 D. ate = k[NO] [H2] E. rate = k[NO]1/2 [H2]1/4 5. A certain first order reaction A —> B is 46 % complete in 68 min at 25Â °C. What is its rate constant? A. 9. 06 x 10-3 min-1 B. 1. 14 x 10-2 min-1 C. 31 min-1 D. -1. 14 x 10-2 min-1 E. 51 min-1 6. What is the value of the rate constant for a first order reaction for which the half-life is 26. 7 min? A. 18. 5 min-1 B. 38. 5 min-1 C. 9. 25 min-1D. 19. 3 min-1 E. 0. 026 min-1 7. A reaction which is second order has a rate constant of 1. 0 x 10-3 LÂ · mol-1 Â ° sec-1. If the initial concentration of the reactant is 0. 200 M, how long will it take for the concentration to become 0. 250 M? A. 4. 0 x 104 s B. 3. 5 x 104 min C. 3. 5 x 104 s D. 8000 s E. 3. 5 x 10-2 s 8. What is the half life of the previous second order reaction? A. 200 s B. 5000 s C. 0. 005 s D. 2 x 10-4 s E. none of the above 9. For the chemical reaction A —> C, a plot of ln[A] versus time is found to give a straight line with a negative slope. What is the order of the reaction? A. third B. second C. first D. zero E. such a plot cannot reveal the order of reaction 10. What is the slope of an Arrhenius plot for the following reaction? CH3CHO(g) —> CH4(g) + CO(g) Temp (K); k (LÂ ·mol-1Â ·s-1) 700; 0. 11 730; 0. 035 790; 0. 343 A. 7. 86 x 10-2 L mol-1 s-1/K B. 2. 89 x 10-3 K C. -2. 87 x 103 K D. 3. 23 x 10-4 K E. -2. 32 x 104 K 11. The rate constant of a first order reaction is 3. 68 x 10-2 s-1 at 150Â °C. What is the rate constant at 170Â °C if the activation energy for the reaction is 71 kJ/mol? A. 9. 16 x 10-2 s-1 B. 3. 68 x 10-2 s-1 C. 10. 92 s-1 D. -4. 04 x 10-2 s-1 E. 2. 46 x 101 s-1 12. A catalyst increases the rate of a reaction by A. increasing the enthalpy of the reaction B. lowering the activation energy C. raising the activation energy D. decreasing the enth alpy of the reaction 13.For the following exothermic reaction, the rate law at 298 K is: Rate = k [H2] [I2] ———– H2(g) + I2(g) –> 2 HI(g) Addition of a catalyst would effect the initial rate of the reaction by: A. increasing the rate of the forward reaction B. increasing the rate of both forward and reverse reactions C. increasing the rate of the reverse reaction D. causing no increase or decrease in the rate of reaction E. none of the above 14. If the rate of the reaction PCl5 —> PCl3 + Cl2 is increased a factor of four by doubling the concentration of PCl5, the rate law: A. depends on the concentrations of PCl3 and Cl2B. is first order with respect to PCl5 C. is second order with respect to PCl5 D. is fourth order with respect to PCl5 15.. Consider the reaction of CH3Cl with hydroxide ion CH3Cl + OH- –> CH3OH + Cl- At some temperature the following data are collected: Initial conc| rate after 1 min| [CH3Cl]| [OH-| | 0. 1 M| 0. 1 M| 1 x 10-4 mole/L| 0. 2 M| 0. 1 M| 2 x 10-4 mole/L| 0. 1 M| 0. 2 M| 2 x 10-4 mole/L| A. The reaction is first order with respect to methyl chloride B. The reaction is first order with respect to hydroxide ion C. The reaction is second order overall D. All of the above

Writing a Personal Journal

Writing a Personal Journal A journal is a written record of incidents, experiences, and ideas. Also known as a  personal journal,  notebook, diary, and log. Writers often keep journals to record observations and explore ideas that may eventually be developed into more formal essays, articles, and stories. The  personal journal is  a very private document, says  Brian Alleyne, a place where the author records and reflects on lifes events. Knowledge of the self in the  personal journal is  retrospective knowledge and therefore potentially narrative self-knowledge (Narrative Networks, 2015). Observations The writers journal is a record of and workbook for your writing life. It is your repository for bits of experience, observation and thought destined for eventual use in one writing project or another. The entries in a personal journal tend to be abstract, but the entries in a writers journal should be concrete. (Alice Orr, No More Rejections. Writers Digest Books, 2004)All of us who keep journals do so for different reasons, I suppose, but we must have in common a fascination with the surprising patterns that emerge over the years- a sort of arabesque in which certain elements appear and reappear, like the designs in a well-wrought novel. (Joyce Carol Oates, interviewed by Robert Phillips. The Paris Review, Fall-Winter 1978)Think nothing too trifling to write down, so it be in the smallest degree characteristic. You will be surprised to find on reperusing your journal what an importance and graphic power these little particulars assume. (Nathaniel Hawthorne, letter to Horatio Bridge , May 3, 1843) Poet Stephen Spender: Write Anything I feel as though I could not write again. Words seem to break in my mind like sticks when I put them down on paper. . . . I must put out my hands and grasp the handfuls of facts. How extraordinary they are! The aluminum balloons seem nailed into the sky like those bolts which hold together the irradiating struts between the wings of a biplane. The streets become more and more deserted, and the West End is full of shops to let. Sandbags are laid above the glass pavements over basements along the sidewalk. . . . The best thing is to write anything, anything that comes into my mind until there is a calm and creative day. It is essential to be patient and to remember that nothing one feels is the last word. (Stephen Spender, Journal, London, September 1939) Orwells Notebook Entry Curious effect, here in the sanatorium, on Easter Sunday, when people in this (the most expensive) block of chalets mostly have visitors, of hearing large numbers of upper-class English voices. . . . And what voices! A sort of over-fedness, a fatuous self-confidence, a constant bah-bahing of laughter abt nothing, above all a sort of heaviness and richness combined with a fundamental ill will. (George Orwell, notebook entry for April 17, 1949, Collected Essays 1945-1950) Functions of a Journal Many professional writers use journals, and the habit is a good one for anybody interested in writing, even if he or she has no literary ambitions. Journals store perceptions, ideas, emotions, actions- all future material for essays or stories. The Journals of Henry Thoreau are a famous example, as are A Writers Diary by Virginia Woolf, the Notebooks of the French novelist Albert Camus, and A War-time Diary by the English writer George Orwell. If a journal is really to help you develop as a writer, youve got to do more than compose trite commonplaces or mechanically list what happens each day. You have to look honestly and freshly at the world around you and at the self within. (Thomas S. Kane, The New Oxford Guide to Writing. Oxford University Press, 1988) Thoreaus Journals As repositories of facts, Thoreaus journals act like a writers warehouse in which he indexes his stored observations. Here is a typical list: It occurs to me that these phenomena occur simultaneously, say June 12, viz:Heat about 85 at 2P.M. True summer. Hylodes cease to peep. Purring frogs ( Rana palustris) cease. Lightning bugs first seen. Bullfrogs trump generally. Mosquitoes begin to be really troublesome. Afternoon thunder-showers almost regular. Sleep with open window (10th), and wear thin coat and ribbon neck. Turtles fairly and generally begun to lay. [15 June 1860] In addition to their function as storage, the journals constitute a complex of processing plants as well, where the notations become descriptions, meditations, ruminations, judgments, and other types of studies: From all points of the compass, from the earth beneath and the heavens above, have come these inspirations and been entered duly in the order of arrival in the journal. Thereafter, when the time arrived, they were winnowed into lectures, and again, in due time, from lectures into essays (1845-1847). In short, in the journals, Thoreau negotiates the transformation of facts into forms of written expressions that have entirely different orders of resonance . . .. (Robert E. Belknap, The List: The Uses and Pleasures of Cataloguing. Yale University  Press, 2004) A Contrarians View People ask whether I use a notebook, and the answer is no. I think a writers notebook is the best way there is to immortalize really bad ideas, whereas the Darwinian process takes place if you dont write anything down. The bad ones float away, and the good ones stay. (Stephen King, quoted in Whats on Stephen Kings Dark Side? by Brian Truitt. USA Weekend, October  29-31, 2010) Are Journal-Keepers Introspective or Self-Absorbed? Some people like to keep a journal. Some people think it’s a bad idea. People who keep a journal often see it as part of the process of self-understanding and personal growth. They don’t want insights and events to slip through their minds. They think with their fingers and have to write to process experiences and become aware of their feelings. People who oppose journal-keeping fear it contributes to self-absorption and narcissism. C.S. Lewis, who kept a journal at times, feared that it just aggravated sadness and reinforced neurosis. Gen. George Marshall did not keep a diary during World War II because he thought it would lead to self-deception or hesitation in reaching decisions. The question is: How do you succeed in being introspective without being self-absorbed? (David Brooks, Introspective or Narcissistic? The New York Times, August 7, 2014)

Fort Mims Massacre in the Creek War

Fort Mims Massacre in the Creek War Fort Mims Massacre - Conflict Date: The Fort Mims Massacre took place on August 30, 1813, during the Creek War (1813-1814). Armies Commander United States Major Daniel BeasleyCaptain Dixon Bailey265 men Creeks Peter McQueenWilliam Weatherford750-1,000 men Fort Mims Massacre - Background: With the United States and Britain engaged in the War of 1812, the Upper Creek elected to join with the British in 1813 and began attacks on American settlements in the southeast. This decision was based on the actions of the Shawnee leader Tecumseh who had visited the area in 1811 calling for a Native American confederacy, intrigues from the Spanish in Florida, as well as resentment about encroaching American settlers. Known as the Red Sticks, mostly likely due to the their red-painted war clubs, the Upper Creeks were led by notable chiefs such as Peter McQueen and William Weatherford (Red Eagle). Fort Mims Massacre - Defeat at Burnt Corn: In July 1813, McQueen led a band of Red Sticks to Pensacola, FL where they obtained arms from the Spanish. Learning of this, Colonel James Caller and Captain Dixon Bailey departed Fort Mims, AL with the goal of intercepting McQueens force. On July 27, Caller successfully ambushed the Creek warriors at the Battle of Burnt Corn. As the Red Sticks fled into the swamps around Burnt Corn Creek, the Americans paused to loot the enemys camp. Seeing this, McQueen rallied his warriors and counterattacked. Overwhelmed, Callers men were forced to retreat. Fort Mims Massacre - The American Defenses: Angered by the attack at Burnt Corn Creek, McQueen began planning an operation against Fort Mims. Constructed on high ground near Lake Tensaw, Fort Mims was situated on the east bank of the Alabama River north of Mobile. Consisting of a stockade, blockhouse, and sixteen other buildings, Fort Mims provided protection for over 500 people including a militia force numbering approximately 265 men. Commanded by Major Daniel Beasley, a lawyer by trade, many of the forts inhabitants, including Dixon Bailey, were mixed-race and part Creek. Fort Mims Massacre - Warnings Ignored: Though encouraged to improve Fort Mims defenses by Brigadier General Ferdinand L. Claiborne, Beasley was slow to act. Advancing west, McQueen was joined by the noted chief William Weatherford (Red Eagle). Possessing around 750-1,000 warriors, they moved towards the American outpost and reached a point six miles away on August 29. Taking cover in tall grass, the Creek force was spotted by two slaves who were tending cattle. Racing back to the fort, they informed Beasley of the enemys approach. Though Beasley dispatched mounted scouts, they failed to find any trace of the Red Sticks. Angered, Beasley ordered the slaves punished for providing false information. Moving closer through the afternoon, the Creek force was nearly in place by nightfall. After dark, Weatherford and two warriors approached the forts walls and scouted the interior by looking through the loopholes in the stockade. Finding that the guard was lax, they also noticed that the main gate was open as it was blocked from completely closing by a bank of sand. Returning to the main Red Stick force, Weatherford planned the attack for the next day. Fort Mims Massacre - Blood in the Stockade: The next morning, Beasley was again alerted to the approach of a Creek force by local scout James Cornells. Disregarding this report, he attempted to have Cornells arrested, but the scout rapidly departed the fort. Around noon, the forts drummer summoned the garrison for the midday meal. This was used as the attack signal by the Creek. Surging forward, they rapidly advanced on the fort with many of the warriors taking control of the loopholes in the stockade and opening fire. This provided cover for others who successfully breached the open gate. The first Creeks to enter the fort were four warriors who had been blessed to become invincible to bullets. Though they were struck down, they briefly delayed the garrison while their comrades poured into the fort. Though some later claimed he had been drinking, Beasley attempted to rally a defense at the gate and was struck down early in the fighting. Taking command, Bailey and the forts garrison occupied its inner defenses and buildings. Mounting a stubborn defense, they slowed the Red Stick onslaught. Unable to force the Red Sticks out of the fort, Bailey found his men gradually being pushed back. As the militia fought for control of the fort, many of the settlers were struck down by the Red Sticks including women and children. Using flaming arrows, the Red Sticks were able to force the defenders from forts buildings. Sometime after 3:00 PM, Bailey and his remaining men were driven from two buildings along the forts north wall and killed. Elsewhere, some of the garrison was able to break through the stockade and escape. With the collapse of organized resistance, the Red Sticks began a wholesale massacre of the surviving settlers and militia. Fort Mims Massacre: Aftermath: Some reports indicate that Weatherford attempted to halt the killing but was unable to bring the warriors under control. The Red Sticks blood lust may have been partially fueled by a false rumor which stated that the British would pay five dollars for each white scalp delivered to Pensacola. When the killing ended, as many as 517 settlers and soldiers had been struck down. Red Stick losses are not known with any precision and estimates vary from as low as 50 killed to as high as 400. While the whites at Fort Mims were largely killed, the Red Sticks spared the forts slaves and took them as their own. The Fort Mims Massacre stunned the American public and Claiborne was criticized for his handling of the frontier defenses. Beginning that fall, an organized campaign to defeat the Red Sticks commenced using a mix of US regulars and militia. These efforts culminated in March 1814 when Major General Andrew Jackson decisively defeated the Red Sticks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. In the wake of the defeat, Weatherford approached Jackson seeking peace. After brief negotiations, the two concluded the Treaty of Fort Jackson which ended the war in August 1814. Selected Sources Fort Mims Massacre Fort Mims Restoration Association

How to Bend and Draw Glass Tubing

How to Bend and Draw Glass Tubing Bending and drawing glass tubing is a handy skill for managing laboratory glassware. Here is how to do it. Note About Glass There are two main types of glass using in a lab: flint glass and borosilicate glass. Borosilicate glass may carry a label (e.g., Pyrex). Flint glass typically is not labeled. You can bend and draw flint glass using just about any flame. Borosilicate glass, on the other hand, requires higher heat in order to soften so that you can manipulate it. If you have flint glass, try to use an alcohol burner, since too high of heat may cause your glass to melt too quickly to work it. If you have borosilicate glass, youll need a gas flame in order to work the glass. The glass wont bend or else will be very hard to bend in an alcohol flame. Bending Glass Tubing Hold the tubing horizontally in the hottest part of the flame. This is the blue part of a gas flame or just above the top of the inner cone of an alcohol flame. Your goal is to heat the section of glass you want to bend, plus about a centimeter on either side of this point. A flame spreader is helpful for a gas flame, but not absolutely necessary.Rotate the tubing to make certain it is heated evenly.​​As you heat and rotate the tubing, apply gentle and continuous pressure where you want it bent. Once you feel the glass start to yield, release the pressure.Heat the tubing a few seconds longer. It starts to bend under its own weight, you have overheated it!Remove the tubing from the heat and allow it to cool a couple of seconds.In a single motion, bend the slightly cooled glass to the desired angle. Hold it in that position until it hardens.Set the glass on a heat-resistant surface to allow it to completely cool. Do not set it on a cold, un-insulated surface, such as a st one lab bench, since this likely will cause it to crack or break! An oven mitt or hot pad works great. Drawing Glass Tubing Heat the tubing as if you were going to bend it. Place the section of glass to be drawn in the hottest part of the flame and rotate the glass to heat it evenly.Once the glass becomes pliable, remove it from heat and pull the two ends straight away from each other until the tubing reaches the desired thickness. One trick to avoid getting a bow or curve in the glass is to let gravity help you out. Hold the glass tubing vertical to draw it, either pulling up on it or else letting gravity pull it down for you.Allow the tubing to cool, then cut it and fire polish the sharp edges. Among other uses, this is a handy technique for making your own pipettes, especially if you find the ones you have on hand are either too big or too small to deliver the desired volume. Troubleshooting Here are some causes and fixes for common problems: Glass Wont Get Soft - This happens if the flame temperature is too low to heat the glass. The solution is to use a hotter fuel, such as gas.Glass Gets Too Soft, Too Fast - This is caused by using too high of heat. Back off on the length of time you put the glass in the heat, hold it further from the hottest part of the flame, or use a fuel source that burns with a cooler flame.Glass Has Bumps or Crimps - This can happen by bending the glass more than once or by letting it get too soft so that its weight starts to pull it down. The solution to this problem is experience and practice since there is a certain amount of art to knowing when to remove the glass from the flame to bend it or pull it. Just know that once you decide to bend/pull, its a one-time deal. If it doesnt work, its unlikely you can reheat the glass and get a better outcome.Glass Tubing Seals - If the inside of the tube seals, its because the glass got too hot. If you are bending the glass, remove it from the heat soone r. If you are pulling glass, let it cool a bit more before drawing it. Note that you may wish to purposely seal the glass. If you do, just heat the tubing in the flame, rotating it, until it seals shut.

Economic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Economic - Essay Example For instance, oil products in global market are becoming scarce and volatile because of the continuing crisis in the Middle East, the primary suppliers of oil products. In lieu of this, oil prices rose to its highest point in just a very short period of time while demand is getting faster. Conversely, if this oil producing countries return in their normal business term, then the production of oil products will increase, thereby bringing a stability of price. This environment is one of the current examples of inflation and deflation that is happening in reality. The main thrust of this paper is to discuss the causes of inflation and deflation, and how these affect corporate decision-making. To have a better understanding on this anomaly, it is a requirement to study the complex movements of prices and their effects through current situations and events. Inflation and Its Causes Inflation is described by Mukherjee (2002, p.26) â€Å"as a process in which the price level is rising and money is losing its value.† As you can see in figure 1, if the aggregate demand (AD) is increasing faster than the rate of the aggregate supply (AS), the general price level also increases, and this phenomenon is known as inflation. Nowadays, many countries are suffering from higher rates of inflation and sometimes government had to compromise by paying the cost of the reduced productivity. However, many economists have argued that pouring too much money into the economy as a solution would only lead to a more serious inflation (McNeese, 2000, p.22). The main causes of this phenomenon include: Too much demand in the economy. If the demand is high and the available supply cannot meet the demand, general price level would eventually move upward, thereby bringing in inflation or particularly known as demand-pull inflation. This is a situation wherein the rate of demand is faster than the rate of supply leading to a shortage of supply which means that â€Å"an increase in demand will affect prices more than output because firms may not be able to recruit staff more easily or produce more...† (Gillespie, 2007, p.381). Cost-push, monetary, and supply shock inflation. This type of inflation occurred when the supply of money in the circulation is high, causing the purchasing power of people to increase and eventually lead to a demand-pull inflation. On the other hand, cost-push inflation happened when the level of productivity among workers is increasing, labour expenses are also increased and the rate will be added up to the general price level (Grant & Vidler, 2003, p.132). Lastly, supply shock is more or less interrelated with demand-pull inflation; however, this time the supply is generally scarce. For example, the steady increase in prices of oil products in the world market brought by subsequent events particularly in Libya have also contributed to the increase of prices in almost all of the basic commodities. Deflation and Its Causes â€Å"Deflati on is a sustained decrease in the average price level of the entire economy† (Saunders & Gilliard, 2000, p.32). The steady and continuous fall of prices sound interesting to those who are not fully aware of deflation, but this term is not good for the monetary economy because falling prices would adversely affect income that eventually to bankruptcy. As sale, profit and investment fall together, producers are forced to cut

Marketing plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 7

Marketing plan - Essay Example The strength of this product is that it is waterproof, has a display styled with dots, it is waterproof and comes in a variety of colours. Other strengths include the capability to mute cell phone calls and vibration alerts. The weakness is that it is only compatible with Android smart phones using the Android 4.4 software and above. The wristband also operates only with Bluetooth 4.4 and above only (Mcdannald, 2015). According to market researchers, the competitions strengths is that almost all wearable devices emanate from the same idea. Hence, customers are only easily swayed by the brand name. The weakness of the competition is its inability to work with other software like IOS or older versions of the software it is compatible with. This has a big impact on the sale of the wristband (Boxall, 2014). According to market analysts, the Sony wristband has lived up to 75% of its real ability. Thus the market sale trends and forecasts are doing well. A price history of the product on amazon shows the fluctuations it has gone through from $77 to $49. Perhaps, it is an indication of the demand pattern for the product, which has affected the pricing. However, in spite of the volatile nature of wearable technology, the forecast remains strong as the field is still green with opportunities for better products (Trew,

THE MATRIX AND SKEPTICISM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

THE MATRIX AND SKEPTICISM - Essay Example For, we cannot tell the difference as to whether we are dreaming or not. Nevertheless, he thought that his beliefs in mathematics could never err. So he invents this malevolent demon that deceives him in falling into error and into thinking that there is a physical world. Furthermore, Unger advanced his own skeptical thought experiment by claiming that an evil scientist may deceive us, and that we cannot know if there is none. Putnam also puts forth his brain in a vat theory by claiming that our brains are stored in vats filled with nourishing liquids, wherein a computer programs our brains, giving rise to what we think of as reality. However, the authors argue that all these skeptical thoughts are groundless. For, radical doubt of reality is only useful, given a philosophical framework of seeking absolute knowledge. However, we do not deal with such in reality, i.e. in creating meaning in our lives. So it follows that we have good reasons for believing in a physical reality. Finally , the article explores Cipher’s decision and deems it as immoral, for it only serves a hedonistic purpose and end in life, thus avoiding genuine experience. In the end, we are told that we need not sympathize with the skeptic, and that in reality; these doubts are groundless if not entirely meaningless. Hence, we ought to just face the world and live, just like we always have done so.

International comunications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International comunications - Essay Example Communication is also systematic. This means it occurs in within a set of interrelated parts and each of these parts affect one another (Wood 2011. p 3-4). In a family communication situation, for example, each member of the family constitutes part of the system. The physical environment and time also form parts of the system that affect their interaction. This is because people interact differently depending on the existing environment. Therefore, to analyze any communication situation, it is necessary to consider the system in which communication occurs (Wood 2011, p 3-4). The definition also emphasizes on symbols. Symbols include all language, non-verbal behaviors as well as music and art. A symbol is anything that signifies something else in an abstract manner. All human communication and interaction involve the use of symbols. Lastly, the definition of communication emphasizes on meanings. Meanings take a center stage in a communication process. Meanings are the significance people give to phenomena and are based on people’s interpretation of phenomena. Meanings are obtained from continued interaction with symbols but not from phenomena. This entirely depends on how people interpret words and non-verbal communication (Wood 2011, p 3-4). Culture, on the other hand, constitutes beliefs, objects, behaviors, and characteristics that can be regarded as common to all members of a given societal group. It is through culture that individuals and groups are able to conform to society’s shared values, define themselves and contribute positively in society. In general, culture includes many society aspects such as language, values, customs, norms, rules, tools, technology, products, institution and organization (Maude 2011, p. 3-10). Communication involves the use of language to communicate messages. Language can be said to influences culture. Conversely, culture can be said to influence language. Language influences people’s perception

Stem Cell Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Stem Cell Research - Essay Example History of Stem Cell Research Because of their unique properties, much attention has been dedicated to the study of stem cells. In 1998, scientists had found a way to obtain and grow stem cells from the products of in vitro fertilization. Because stem cells are important especially among developing embryos, harvesting stem cells from them unavoidably cause their unviability. Not surprisingly, ethical issues aroused from this development, as discussed below, prompting researchers to identify and to harvest adult stem cells, as well as develop induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) by reprogramming specialized adult cells. However, embryonic stem cells have been described as the most pluripotent (National Institutes of Health, 2009). Benefits of Stem Cell Research Stem cell research (SCR) has been supported because it paves the way for more discoveries. Knowing the distinct characteristics of stem cells, specifically its prolonged mitosis, its undifferentiated state and production of s pecialized progenies, leads to experiments on the possible reasons for increased proliferation of embryonic stem cells relative to adult stem cells and the regulating factors behind stem cell proliferation and self-renewal. These factors, in the future, may be used in the regeneration of destroyed tissues, such as that in myocardial infarction, one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. In addition, these pluripotent cells can provide a better observation of human development from embryo to infancy. This then may lead to researches on the abnormal cellular development, as seen in birth defects, genetic abnormalities and cancer. Large amount of cells grown in vivo from stem cells may also be used in easier and safer testing of drug safety and effectiveness. (Johnson and Williams, 2006). Claimed Disadvantages of Stem Cell Research Which Lives to Save Despite the many scientific advancements contributed by stem cell research, many still argue against it. One argument reasons that the fertilized eggs used in SCR are already alive, and thus it is not right to take someone else’s life, it does not matter for what purpose. Partly causing such conflict stems from the fact that until now, there is no specific age of gestation at which life starts has been pinpointed to start at. However, it is in my opinion that whether or not the embryos used in SCR are alive or not, there is no price that can be put on the countless number of lives that can be saved through the products of SCR. The Health Risk of Stem Cell Therapy Another argument against SCR claims that the chemical and biological factors used to manipulate the cells in vivo can cause adverse effects once the resulting specialized cells from them are transplanted to humans for therapy. For example, viruses from the mouse embryonic skin cells that are used to provide nutrients to the replicating human embryonic stem cells (HESC) may cause inflammation or infection on the recipie nt. The transcription factors Oct4 and Nanog added to prevent differentiation of stem cells can possibly cause cancer among the stem cell recipients. As well, cell culture of HESC may also cause genetic mutations and chromosomal abnormalities, with the former easily missed because of they are undetectable in karyotyping (National Institutes of Health). Absurd as it may sound, but I believe that they have a valid point. There is indeed a big possibility of in vivo-

Effects of Globalization on Regional Security Essay

Effects of Globalization on Regional Security - Essay Example Communication and transportation have acted as a catalyst for globalization. Communication has enabled increased connectivity among the global communities. Transportation has facilitated physical movement of people and merchandise. This has resulted in a globe connected in a dynamic manner (McGrew ND). Therefore, an event that occurs in one part of the globe will have repercussion on other countries. A terrorist attack will lead to global panic since it may lead to closure of many airports internationally. Similarly, the plummeting of the value of stocks in one of the key security market may culminate in similar occurrences in other markets. This write up will evaluate the impact of globalization on the regional security across the globe (Bardhan 2005, p. 50). Southern Sudan conflict Globalization has numerous consequences, which include an increase in international trade, weapons proliferation and cultural exchange. Some of these impacts of this phenomenon have affected regional sec urity in some regions globally (McGrew ND). This write up will highlight some of those examples across the globe. The discovery of crude oil in Southern Sudan brought excitement to that nation. Consequently, leading nations across the globe wanted to partake in the exploitation of this resource. However, the Southern Sudanese community felt short-changed in the sharing of the resultant funds. This resulted in a 21-year conflict in the southern part of Sudan. The conflict required constant supply of weapons to sustain the conflict. Globalization has culminated in the proliferation of weaponry globally. Consequently, there are unscrupulous individuals who trade in this kind of arsenal. Rebels do not buy weaponry legally consequently; they seek black-market traders. These traders denote proliferation of weapons since they work under no regulations hence; they sell to any client that pays the right price for such artillery. Therefore, the proliferation of weapons was a factor, which fue lled the Southern Sudan conflict, which lasted over two decades with massive human casualty. The proliferation of weapon resulted directly from globalization. Consequently, this conflict was a directly related to globalization. This conflict had a massive impact on regional peace in East Africa and resulted in instability in other parts of the region such as northern Uganda. Weapon acquired from the black market were vital since they ensured that the rebels could sustain the conflict (Stiglitz 2002, p. 90). Niger delta conflict Nigeria has massive oil reserve in the Niger delta, which is a mangrove. The oil generates massive foreign currency, which has contributed massively to that nation’s wealth. Foreign companies are involved in the exploitation of oil in that nation which resulted in rebels attacks in the areas. The rebels claim that the central government is not apportioning the resultant resources appropriately. Globalization has allowed international companies to inves t in various nations across the globe. This kind of investment denotes the impacts of globalization on the economic front. However, this has culminated in the rise of a conflict. The rebels claim that the companies, which exploit oil, fail to invest the massive returns in the delta region. Globalization has resulted in the elite global companies being the chief beneficiary of the

Stem Cell Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Stem Cell Research - Essay Example History of Stem Cell Research Because of their unique properties, much attention has been dedicated to the study of stem cells. In 1998, scientists had found a way to obtain and grow stem cells from the products of in vitro fertilization. Because stem cells are important especially among developing embryos, harvesting stem cells from them unavoidably cause their unviability. Not surprisingly, ethical issues aroused from this development, as discussed below, prompting researchers to identify and to harvest adult stem cells, as well as develop induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) by reprogramming specialized adult cells. However, embryonic stem cells have been described as the most pluripotent (National Institutes of Health, 2009). Benefits of Stem Cell Research Stem cell research (SCR) has been supported because it paves the way for more discoveries. Knowing the distinct characteristics of stem cells, specifically its prolonged mitosis, its undifferentiated state and production of s pecialized progenies, leads to experiments on the possible reasons for increased proliferation of embryonic stem cells relative to adult stem cells and the regulating factors behind stem cell proliferation and self-renewal. These factors, in the future, may be used in the regeneration of destroyed tissues, such as that in myocardial infarction, one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. In addition, these pluripotent cells can provide a better observation of human development from embryo to infancy. This then may lead to researches on the abnormal cellular development, as seen in birth defects, genetic abnormalities and cancer. Large amount of cells grown in vivo from stem cells may also be used in easier and safer testing of drug safety and effectiveness. (Johnson and Williams, 2006). Claimed Disadvantages of Stem Cell Research Which Lives to Save Despite the many scientific advancements contributed by stem cell research, many still argue against it. One argument reasons that the fertilized eggs used in SCR are already alive, and thus it is not right to take someone else’s life, it does not matter for what purpose. Partly causing such conflict stems from the fact that until now, there is no specific age of gestation at which life starts has been pinpointed to start at. However, it is in my opinion that whether or not the embryos used in SCR are alive or not, there is no price that can be put on the countless number of lives that can be saved through the products of SCR. The Health Risk of Stem Cell Therapy Another argument against SCR claims that the chemical and biological factors used to manipulate the cells in vivo can cause adverse effects once the resulting specialized cells from them are transplanted to humans for therapy. For example, viruses from the mouse embryonic skin cells that are used to provide nutrients to the replicating human embryonic stem cells (HESC) may cause inflammation or infection on the recipie nt. The transcription factors Oct4 and Nanog added to prevent differentiation of stem cells can possibly cause cancer among the stem cell recipients. As well, cell culture of HESC may also cause genetic mutations and chromosomal abnormalities, with the former easily missed because of they are undetectable in karyotyping (National Institutes of Health). Absurd as it may sound, but I believe that they have a valid point. There is indeed a big possibility of in vivo-

A Proposal for the Richmond Hill Fundraising Activity Essay

A Proposal for the Richmond Hill Fundraising Activity - Essay Example The expenses for these kinds of special program include setting up of the venue, arrangement of furniture and fixtures, arrangements for car wash and beauty therapy, printing of brochures and banners as an advertisement material.The fund raising activity requires adequate planning and there is a need for careful organizing and staffing. Planning needs to be made at least 4 weeks prior to the event. There is a need for a number of resources which are very essential in carrying out the fund raising program. The fund raising program calls for excellent entrepreneurship skills and characteristics for the success of the desired venture. For this event, the aimed target market is one and therefore special programs like car wash and beauty therapy have been arranged in order to generate more funds than that has been estimated at Richmond Hill. There is requirement for materials, financial and human resources for the conduction of this fund raising program. All these resources need to be coo rdinated accordingly for the success of this program and for this, entrepreneurship skill is a must in the project manager. ‘Raising fund for providing clothing to Tsunami victims.’Present Source of capital – annual fund, low priced car washes and beauty therapy.Richmond Hill has been well recognized for raising funds for the community and this demonstrates its commitment to the community. The name of this event is ‘Raising fund for providing clothing to those affected.

Analysing The Novel Elegy For My Father English Literature Essay

Analysing The Novel Elegy For My Father English Literature Essay Elegy for my Father is a melancholy piece of poetry which uses descriptive imagery in order to describe a fathers last hours. The original definition of an elegy was a dedication to a persons life, either in mourning or sorrow. This example is written in six separate eight line stanzas, each flowing from the next. The poem could also be described as a form of lyric poetry because of the deep thoughts and feelings expressed in it, and the story it is telling. The sombre metre of the poem uses dactylic tetrameter, which creates a kind of rapid effect, and also with the unrhymed lines creating a less flowing rhythm, with a more jagged like tone throughout the poem. The variations of the chosen dactylic meter illustrated in the first stanza, range from the trochee in lines 1 and 7, the cretic in the first foot of line 2, the bacchic in the third foot of line 2 and the running start or extra syllable beginning in the first foot of line 4. The different mix of the poetic forms shows how the author, Annie Finch, illustrates freedom and expression in her writing. In his review of Annie Finchs poetry, Michael Parker states, Finch is simply a master of meter, displaying a distinct, complex yet highly readable metrical system, most unique for contemporary poets. The main subject, the father, has little of his life left to live and Finch wants the reader, to journey through this particular time in great detail. The images of vigil evoked in this poe m allow the reader to develop a feel of the pagan ritual of mourning the death of a loved one. The spiritual views which Finch follows so boldly and weaves into her works beautifully are very vivid in the imagery used in Elegy for my Father. Ted Richards wrote in Jacket Magazine that Finch, who has described her work process as including the whispering or muttering, shouting or chanting or singing her words aloud as she writes, has brought that song into the words in a way that we associate with poets of an earlier era, like Tennyson or Kipling. Throughout the poem, the repetitive use of you and he for the father is significant because it creates that close personal feeling of a father and his daughter, and how death can change it all. It also creates empathy in the reader towards the subject. In the later part with lines like Night, take his hand and He has given his body we can feel the distance which is created by death. This creates that feeling of transition and distance which one goes through in the ritual of mourning the death of a loved one. In the transition from you to he Finch has created that feeling of departure just like creating the most moving moments in an elegyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. when a poet juxtaposes the mourners address to the dead person with a sympathetic but sceptical testing of that convention: If the dead are forever deaf and inert, how can they hear what we say? (Shaw, 1994) The two epigraphs presented in quote form at the beginning of the poem act as a preface to the subject of the poem: death as part of the natural circle of life. No earthly shore until is answered in the vortex of our grave. The word grave mentioned early on in the poem reveals ideas about death and earthly shore about the earth bound physical part of our life before we move on to the spiritual life beyond. In the next line, the seals wide spindrift gaze towards paradise, the seal and paradise emphasise that once dead in the physical sense, you are passed on to paradise. Similarly with the lion in the second epigraph, it is as if we the readers are to believe that humans can be compared to an animal as large and triumphant as a lion or a seal perhaps. The reason for the epigraphs at the beginning of the poem is to create a strong indication of the poems theme that is to follow. Finch uses two quotes from a poet (Crane) and a philosopher (Wittgenstein, in whose work her father was a pa rticular expert) to inform her poems content. In comparison, T.S. Eliots poem Gerontion uses an epigraph taken from Shakespeares Measure for Measure: Thou has nor youth nor age/ But as it were an after dinner sleep/ dreaming of both. A popular choice among literary writers, the epigraph sets the scene for what is to follow and enables the reader to form their own ideas about the theme chosen. In the deep room where candles burn soundlessly and peace pours at last through the cells of our bodies. Lines 1 and 2 of the second stanza echo line 1 of the first. The repetition of both adverbs soundlessly and wordlessly is an example of where Finch has attempted to use rhyme but in a completely different way. The family of the dying father is watchful by his side, Three of us are watching, one of us is staring. It is almost as if they know what is going to happen, but they want to stay in the moment forever and not see him die. With the wide gaze of a wild, wave-fed seal. Incense and sage speak in smoke loud as waves. The descriptive imagery Finch uses, particularly the alliterative w sound in line 12 and the sibilant s sound in line 13 in the second stanza shows that she is using sound to illustrate how she is feeling. The repetition of these consonants and the use of the nature theme help to create an image of happiness, and not sadness. Crickets sing sand towards the edge of t he hourglass. The hourglass signifies an end point in time, but if crickets are singing then there could be an element of joy too. It is the difference between our imaginations and reality that the focus of this poem is illustrating. It is showing the balance of light and dark and death alongside life. Overall, the description of the room and the imagery used suggest aspects of Pagan ritual the references to incense, candles and circles and to animals. There are roughly three sections of this poem; the first being the descriptive tribute to a father most loved, the second being the father losing grip on his life, with his family close by, we will stay with you, keeping the silence we all came here for, and the last involving the moment in which he dies, Silence is here. In the fifth stanza, lines 34, 35 and 36 all begin with the word spin. This is the first noticeable pattern of words chosen by Finch. The effect of repeating each line with the same word affects the outlook on the situation. It is as if the death which is happening is such a blur that it spins impatiently, waiting for an outcome. Lines 38 and 29 of the same stanza also begin with the repeated word flying. The similarity between spin and flying, both of which suggest adventurous actions demonstrate that at this point, that the father is nearing a dignified death, His breath slows, lending its edges out to the night. Ending with the last stanza, where the father dies, it is important to point out that with the authors pagan religious beliefs, the theme throughout has been that death is much more than just death alone. It is likened to nature, and the soul; He has given his body; his hand lies above the sheets in a symbol of wholeness. This powerful imagery and religious (albeit Pagan) input infuses a feeling of warmth and strength for the ending of the poem. We the readers are left to our own imaginations, words such as gold, flame, temple, and prayer paint the scene of the mourning and passage of a person into the realm of death with ritualistic and religious sanctity. Edain McCoy has said that, when one defines oneself as Pagan, it means she or he follows an earth or nature religion, one that sees the divine manifest in all creation. The cycles of nature are our holy days, the earth is our temple. Annie Finch in Elegy for my Father creates a personal outlook on her fathers death framed by her own Pagan beliefs. 1,492 words Endnote 1. The writer of the poem was identified by typing the first two lines of the first stanza into Googles search bar, and following the first link to: http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/annie_finch/poems/22499

Personal Narrative †Atheist Essay -- Personal Narrative Writing

Personal Narrative – Atheist I didn't ask for the pastor to come over. I would have much rather been left alone to watch daytime TV. True, I was beginning to feel I little isolated, but some sissy-voiced holy man I hardly knew wasn't going to make me feel any better. But it was standard policy to notify the church when one of its fold has been hospitalized, for prayer requests and all that mush, and when the pastor heard that I was already home, he felt obligated to visit, as if seeing my swollen, drooling face was somehow doing me a favor. If only I could have had the surgery a year ago, when I still believed in God, but the surgeon made me wear these braces first, buying me plenty of time to attend my freshman year of college. The first class I took was a religion course, Literature of the Old and New Testament. Although I'd always considered myself a Christian, I had never taken time to read the Bible, partly out of apathy and partly out of fear, until that class. During the semester, with my bliss of ignorance lifted, I discovered how barbaric the Christian faith was. I learned of the scores of men sent to die by David's hand so he could learn a lesson about lechery, of the Egyptian corpses floating in the Red Sea. There was also the famous "sacrifice Issac" prank God pulled on Abraham, and the office pool between God and His Accuser to see how long Job could be toyed with before he snapped. Worst of all, a brief tour of Revelations revealed that the Devil might have been the product of a fever dream taken too serio usly and that the only real Evil in the world sprang from the hands of an arrogant, pissy God. Mom was busy tidying up the room, dusting this and that so the church didn't think we were total slobs. She s... ...dren's Motrin. God may have crushed Jacob's nuts, but a warrior God was still the only god worth praying to. The prayer began with a brief request for the Lord to watch over me, which turned my thoughts once again to the little brass Jesus in the recovery room. I had secretly missed the little Jesus since the day I checked out, but as the pastor was praying the same old Christian rhetoric, I realized that I didn't need him anymore. The real Jesus was watching over me. Don't ask me how I knew, but I knew. Jesus was watching over the entire world, protecting it as if it were His younger brother. Protecting it from an abusive Father. As the pastor left I flicked on the TV, more to have something to stare at than something to watch, and to the low, lulling drone of newscasters covering a political scandal, I silently wondered about the last time I attended church.

Creating Hyperlinks :: Computer Science

Creating Hyperlinks To insert the button I clicked on insert-interactive images-flash button when the options screen came up I entered information such as; style, background color, button text, font, link, target screen and then name of the button. I then clicked OK. Creating Hyperlinks To link between pages I needed to create hyperlinks, to do this I first wrote the text that I wished the hyperlink to display I then highlighted it and entered the link into the box that appeared I then pressed enter Entering text To enter the text on my site I simply clicked where I wanted it to go and typed it in, I also changed the properties of the text i.e. alignment, color, size, bold, format, etc by highlighting the text and using the toolbar. Accuracy To check the accuracy of my work, e.g. all of my links worked and that there were no spelling errors in the pages I got my friend to read through the page for spelling errors and dead links. Here is a spelling error that was found. and here is the correction Back-up saving To ensure that I dint lose any work if the computer crashed I regularly saved my work, I did this by clicking on the file menu and then "save all frames" or "save" button depending on which file page I was working on. I have provided screenshots below of the buttons I used. I also saved it onto a cd incase the computer was damaged and the work was lost. Spelling and grammar checking To make sure that there were no spelling or grammatical errors on my site I copied the text into word and spell checked it. Changing the HTML code This is the HTML coding for the above table: href="hardFrameset.htm">Hardware href="sofinFrameset.htm">Software href="laptopFrameset.htm">Laptops Computer Systems I will demonstrate how changing the HTML coding can affect the look of a webpage. For example if I change the value of the table background color (highlighted above) I can change the way the table looks. I have changed the value from #000000 (black) to #FFFFFF (white) this changes the table background color href="hardFrameset.htm">Hardware href="sofinFrameset.htm">Software href="laptopFrameset.htm">Laptops Computer Systems This is what the table looked like after I had edited the html coding. Evaluation Plan I followed the plan I made almost exactly as I made sure that the plan was accurate and would work so that I wouldn't need to think about the design of the site while I was making it therefore allowing me to concentrate on making the site. Problems I only had one problem really and that was that some of the flash

Radio Documentary

RET potash a series called Documentaries on 1, these touch on may subjects and might be suitable for the longer version of this programmer. However, I would like to think that other stations will be willing to look at the subject matter and consider it as a stand-alone piece. The independent radio stations, Nearer – or LOAM, regularly do these kind of projects. Radio Techniques Voice, passion, and the stark contrast will play the main element of my documentary. Music will be important, but not the main factor. I intend, at this time, to use a cut in as my intro.This will be a combination of low bass slow beat Music, overlapped by a girl crying, fading out to a door closing, heavy rain falling, and then introduction. Here I will come in and introduce my if rest guest†¦ Don't have any plans to intermittently use sound effects through the programmer, however, that may change when look at post production; I'm not ruling it out at this time. Troubleshooting refer to take the a pproach of trying to see of any problems before bring my project to paper, think this is why it takes me longer settle on my assignment, and I know this is something I need to address.I do worry a bit that the voices of the two people I know may not be as strong within the programmer itself, but I plan to walk them through it a few times on a ‘Dry run' before the actual show itself, and I hope this will make them more relaxed. REPORT Last year I was very lucky to meet a young Irish woman called Rosemary, she is homeless, she IS identity less, and she is clinically blind. Rosemary is one of fife's very hard luck stories, but she is always smiling and she makes the most of life.The statistics for the homeless of Dublin, say an average of 1 60 people without permanent home or shelter, sleep on the streets of the capital city every night. This figure could be off by as much as 50/60 people per night however, as a lot of homeless people walk around during the night and then sleep o n a park bench by day, so they aren't included in the list. Every system that should have been in place to protect Rosemary, has failed her. She comes from a traveler background. Her mother left her when she was very nouns, and she was used and abused by a succession of supposed relatives.The department of social protection classify her as non-existent; she has no passport, no identity card, and no UPS number. She lives in a shed, when she can, and when that is not available, she sleeps in doorways, or relies on the kindness of homeless shelters to help her out. I met Rosier, on a bitterly cold night in Dublin city during a drive to bring clothes and food to the homeless, she was wearing sandals and her feet were purple with cold. It shocked me to the core that a young blind woman, could be homeless, feel her story serves airtime.I wanted this to be part of a bigger documentary, something that looks at the diversity Of life, initially just about Women, but ultimately across a wide d ivide. Shawn, is the proprietor of Sex Soap, a health based, body safe, sex toy distributor for both men and women. She could not be more different than Rosier. That said, the fact that they are female, both very close in age, both live in Ireland, and neither of them thought they would be doing what they do now, is the thread of my programmer. My show plans to look at the diverse lives of these two women, who, but for fate, could be so efferent.My guest Shawn, came about simply from following her on twitter. Her tweets, which one might expect to be lewd and disingenuous, are in fact very amusing, her ability to speak freely, and also her accomplished style of writing intrigued me. Couple that with the fact that she has won the Realer awards, and been asked to speak about safe sex and body conscious products, was enough for me to know I wanted to include her in this project. Originally wanted my show to be three voices, however, I felt time constraints would limit what each would ge t a chance to say, and I wanted the entrant to be relatively stark.I found that my time could have been put to better use, by not dithering over the little things, like who to put first on the running order, or how much information to include from research rather than letting their voices be the show. Did struggle with wanting the show to be purely their voices, and realizing that if I'm to market a brand, then I have to be a part of that branding. Women in business do have a harder time Of it than men that is a proven fact. Young women in business harder again, the sex industry business is just rife for negative connotations.However, engaged to find a young woman, filled to the brim with positivist, who speaks regularly at events to not only promote her business, but also to promote safe sex, and healthy lifestyles. Homeless people are generally branded as junkies, or alcoholics, trouble makers, or down and outs, with little if anything to offer to the world. My experience has taug ht me that is not true, and no more so than now when families are being made homeless against their will. I hope that the choices I have made with regard to imagery through music, different voices, and with the content of the programmer, shows a well- leaned out process.

Great Expectations: A Synopsis Essay

â€Å"The worst prisons are those we create for ourselves. † To what extent do you agree? Set in the 19th Century Victorian England, many of the main characters in Great Expectations’ are imprisoned either virtually or metaphorically. Magwich is an actual prisoner of the English penal system, and is also a prisoner of his own desire to revenge Compeyson and the class system. Miss Havisham ad Pip create prisons for themselves out of their own fixations and obsessions. It could also be argued that Pip and Estella are both metaphorically imprisoned by Miss Havisham and Magwitch’s need to revenge. Although the description of Newgate is ghastly, and the effects of the prisons imposed upon Pip and Estella are difficult to overcome- the detrimental lite and psychological effects on Pip, Miss Havisham and Magwitch resultant of their self imposed prisons are the worst prisons of all, because they are so illusive and deceptive, that the characters often dont know of their existence until the damage is done. Through his exposure to Satis House and Estella’s taunting malice, Pip becomes aware of his social inferiority, and thus sprouts the first seeds of discontent with his class. Like a distant yet alluring star, Pip is tantalised by Estella’s wealth and beauty, and out of his exposure to her his all consuming obsession with becoming a gentelman emerges. Ironically, when this idea first emerged, Pip really had very little understanding of what a gentleman was. Although he cannot articulate whether he has this desire â€Å"to spite her or to gain her over,† this fervent urge dictates the direction of his life. He becomes imprisoned into a superficial and narrow be. cf that a gentleman is someone with wealth, status and learning, and will go to any lengths to achieve this aim, albeit rejecting Joe and Biddy. Pip gains his great expectations frorn Magwitch, and although he was metaphorically imprisoned by Magwitch’s exploitation of him to revenge the class system- Pip had already begun to laud the false values of gentilify. Pip could have used Magwitch’s money to become a member of the upper class, but still retain qualities of kindne ss and compassion (like Herbert. Instead, Pip becomes locked into the world of lavish expenditure, greed and corruption. Despite his unhappiness, shown clearly the Finch Club â€Å"there was a gay fiction that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a keleton of truth that we never did†, it takes him many years and trials to free himself from this elusive self imposed prison. Despite the guilt that he feels, he still manages to Justify his treatment of Joe because the prison he has created for himself is so difficult to break out of. Miss Havisham is the epitome of the devastating consequences of creating ones own prison. After being swindled and left at the alter, Miss Havisham is so emotionally ruined that she creates her own virtual and rnetaphorical prison. She confines herself to her mansion, which â€Å"had a great many iron confines bars to it’? and tells Pip that she had â€Å"never seen the sun since you were born. † But she also confines her and raising her purely as an instrument to â€Å"wreak havoc† in the hearts of men. Miss Havisham creates her own prison to revenge all males, and this prison envelops her existence. So consumed by hatred, Miss Havisham’s heart begins to decay, as is symbolic in her surroundings â€Å"covered in dust and mould and dropping to peices†, as well as her spider infested rotten wedding cake. Like Pip, it takes Miss Havisham many yearsand much suffering to understand that she was actually imprisoned. The urning point for her came when she realised that Estella could not lover her because â€Å"l stole her heart away and put ice in its place. Pip acknowledges that Miss Havisham’s imprisonment of Estella was a â€Å"greivous thing† but recognised that her own seclusion from the world and from the healing influcences to her mind and broken heart were infinitely worse. Conversly, Magwitch is a prisoner of the penal system. Although he committed a crime that saw him placed in a Jail, Magwitch did not create this prison because he was forced into imp risonment by the authorities, and was basically forced to commit rime in order to survive. His imprisonment was not a conscious choice, as was Pip and Miss Havisham’s, and unlike the others, Magwitch was well aware of this imprisonment. Despite his loss of freedom and years immersed in sub-human conditions, his mental imprisonment in the need to revenge Compeyson and class system, which he creates for himself, has the most damaging effect on his life. After escaping from the prison ship, Magwitch could have been free had it not been for his revenge upon Compeyson. Because of these acitons, Magwitch finds himself again imprisoned and sent for life to Australia. Again, it was his self-imposed imprisonment that caused the most damage. Magwitch spends most of his time in Australia working to convert Pip into a gentleman to revenge the class system, instead of Just forgetting his past and moving on with his life. He even goes so far as to come back to Englas to see â€Å"my gentleman†, and is consequently sentenced to death for returning. Through the stories of Pip, Miss Havisham and Magwitch, Dickens is clearly expressing that the worst prisons are those we create for ourselves, as their damage is subtle to the victim who may be unaware of their existence.

Facebook Porter’s Five

Porter’s five forces analysis has become a pervasively adopted framework for industry analysis, which can be used to examine the competitive intensity and attractiveness of a market or a company. The social networking companies gradually come into the spotlight of the business world in recent years, which was especially featured by the significant event of Facebook’s IPO on May 18, 2012. In such circumstances, it will be extremely interesting to apply the five forces analysis to gauge this giant and even unfold some hints that why this star company has been struggling in the stock market since it went public.Although it has been a tough time period for Mark Zuckerberg, the more transparency and disclosure of the company’s financial as well as operational information available for the capital market provide us much more useful resources to put Facebook under our microscope of five forces analysis. The Bargaining Power of Customers (Strong) With regard to customer aspect, it might be taken for granted that we are referring to billions of active users on this website.But when we look further into this company and its product, the surprising truth is that the users and their personal information are actually the product rather than the customer, at least from the financial standpoint. Advertising composes 84% of the company’s total revenue, which was $1. 18 billion for the second quarter of 2012 according to its official financial reports. Then we found out that the advertisers are Facebook’s real customers, and what confronts this company is a fiercely competitive market.Although Facebook declared that 70% of its advertising campaigns resulted in a return on ad spend of 3x or better, and 49% of campaigns showed 5x or better, Facebook adverting is still generally undervalued by the marketers given the factor of being the last ad viewed or clicked before a conversion outweighs all other criteria, and Facebook advertising usually co mes into play earlier in the conversion funnel. In addition to the low cost to switch to other advertising media, there’s no wonder that the advertisers have gained relatively strong, if not dominant, bargain power with continuously debating the value of Facebook advertising.The Bargaining Power of Suppliers(Medium) Compared to the customers’ bargain power, Facebook is standing at a regnant position with thousands of common-sense suppliers playing in its arena. It may be noticed that I use common-sense to categorize such kinds of suppliers providing hardware, software, and services Facebook need to run their business, like Zynga. On the other side, it might be interesting to scrutinize another set of suppliers in terms of Facebook’s product, that is, the users of the website.Yes, those are the users who establish their social network and feed in their personal information, which make up of Facebook’s product and determine its success. In accordance with F acebook’s operational highlights of second quarter 2012, monthly active users on its website have notched 955 million as of June 30, 2012, which was an increase of 29% year-over-year. But taking the whole social networking market and even the internet into consideration, it will be difficult for Facebook to maintain such steady increase of its user base.Actually, the increase pace has gradually slowed down in recent quarters, observed by multiple sources. Additionally, the users with more education and experience have been reluctant to share excessive personal information on the website to protect privacy and prevent from possible solicitation. After all, Facebook still serves as the mostly visited social networking website and is therefore in demand of diversified supplies, so we could regard the bargaining power of suppliers as medium level. The Threat of Established Rivals(Strong)As discussed, the social networking companies are facing a fully competitive market. Besides F acebook, there are several other main players, including LinkedIn, Google, Yammer, Myspace, etc, as well as hundreds of small websites focusing on specific segment or providing general social networking services. For example, LinkedIn has built up a professional network into a can’t-miss destination with millions of member professional. The year-over-year revenue growth for LinkedIn was very remarkable at over 80% for the last two years, and it has continued to see strong revenue growth beating analyst estimates.LinkedIn has shown an even more robust business model compared with Facebook. Rather than solely relaying on advertising income, LinkedIn also has considerable revenue from job postings and subscriptions, which help the company to grow its revenue at a notable rate and avoid stagnancy. In this sense, Facebook may have more struggles to improve its user experience and spur revenue growth especially compared with its competitors, and the threat of established rivals is absolutely strong. The Threat of New Entrants(Strong)For new entrants to social networking market, the technical barriers are barely insignificant and Facebook’s most advantage might be its current huge user base. But such advantage is also easy to be mimicked by other Internet giants who already have stable visitor stickiness like Google. Google launched its social networking and identity service, Google+, in June 2011. As of September 2012, it already has a total of 400 million registered users of whom 100 million are active on a monthly basis.Instead of presenting as a social player consisting of not just a single site, Google has been able to provide an overarching layer integrating many of its current online properties. Illustrated by Google’s story, the threat of new entrants to social networking market for Facebook is quite strong and even thrilling if we recall the ever-changing world of internet business. The Threat of Substitute Products(Weak) Finally, the th reat of substitute products to social network website including Facebook is not obvious yet.Facebook’s current user base still shows a strong stickiness and its continuous innovation also help it satisfy the user’s social networking needs well. But considering Facebook is essentially a social network that allows users to stay in touch with their friends, there are so many products or services could potentially address it. Especially if we observed the booming market of mobile networks, services like Buzzd, Twango and Dada may grow up to be a real threat in the near future. Overall, the threat of substitute products is medium based on the analysis above.