Chemicals and Nanotechnology in Water Purification Essay

Chemicals and Nanotechnology in Water Purification - Essay Example As a result, various industries and other interest groups have hugely invested in nanotechnology researchers as this technology is predicted to be a better alternative to the existing chemical treatments. One of the major issues is that the world has been facing severe water pollution and paucity issues over the last two decades. The existing chemical treatments for water purification have been outdated due to their complexity and higher cost. This paper identifies that nanotechnology is a better alternative to the existing chemical treatments as this technology is more cost efficient and eco-friendly. Contents Abstract Introduction 1 1. Chemical treatments for water purification 2 1.1 Advantages 2 1.2 Disadvantages 3 2. Nanotechnology for water purification 5 2.1 Advantages 6 2.2 Disadvantages 8 3. Discussion 8 Conclusion 10 Reference 11 Introduction Freshwater is essential for human survival and it is a crucial component in many key industries such as electronics, pharmaceuticals, and food. The world is facing potential challenges in meeting the mounting demands of freshwater due to population growth, extended droughts, increased consumption, environmental pollution, and stringent health-based regulations. Hence, in order to meet the growing freshwater needs of a huge global population, new methods of water purification have to be invented. Traditionally, industries have been using a variety of chemical treatments to purify water. Recently, nanotechnology has emerged as an alternative to the traditional way of water purification. To define, â€Å"nanotechnology is the systematic manipulation, production or alteration of structures, systems, materials, or components in the range of atomic or molecular dimensions with/into nanoscale dimensions between 1 nm and 100 nm† (Sepeur 2008, p.14). In addition to water purification, the nanotechnology has a wide variety of applications. Major applications of nanotechnology include diagnostics, drug delivery, cryon ics, reduction of energy consumption, efficient energy production, nuclear accident cleanup, information and communication applications, aerospace technologies, construction, foods, household, optics agriculture, and sports. While evaluating the nanotechnology developments to date, it seems that this technology will be widely used for water purification in the near future as this method has numerous competitive advantages over traditional chemical treatments.This paper will critically compare the efficiency of chemical methods and nanotechnology in water purification with specific reference to advantages and disadvantages of both the techniques. This paper will also explore the future scope of nanotechnology in water purification. 1. Chemical treatments for water purification Various industries have been using different methods with different degrees of effectiveness to purify water. Main chemical treatments for water purification are coagulation and flocculation, sedimentation, slu dge storage and removal, dissolved air flotation, filtration, and disinfection.

Summary of Intervierw Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summary of Intervierw - Assignment Example Riffle, noted that she had to carry out her roles in a certain way. As a coordinator, one has to ensure that they have a Master’s of Science, Development and cognitive disabilities and a Bachelor’s degree in Arts. In addition, it is necessary to have eight years of experience as a teacher teaching special education students. Like most Special Needs Coordinators in campuses, getting one year training as a NISD special Education Coordinator is critical. As a coordinator with such qualification, it is easier to manage special needs students if a coordinator has the skills and the qualifications (Wearmouth, 2013). In addition, parents are more likely to trust experienced professionals with their special needs children (Westwood, 2010). It is not only any special needs children that qualify for the programs, but those who are visually and emotionally impaired. Additionally, those with orthopedic, speech and auditory impairments are also included. Students with traumatic brain injuries and learning and intellectual disabilities are also qual ified. To admit these students into the special needs programs in the school, they have to do tests to check their adaptive behavior, cognitive and language skills (Wearmouth, 2008). Earlier tests used in special education schools were not suitable when it came to testing students with special needs (Frederickson & Cline, 2009). However, today, it is the work of the General Education Teacher to refer the students to the tests, but a Licensed Specialist in School Psychology (LSSP) carries out the testing. For the school district to get the testing process done, they have to follow the Federal timelines. The Full Individual Evaluation (FIE) or The Admission, Review and Dismissal (ARD) meetings where the parents of the students, special and general education teachers are present are a requirement. Without these meetings, it would not be possible to admit students without allowing the Admission, Review and Dismissal (ARDC) to

The Family And Contemporary Society | Analysis

The Family And Contemporary Society | Analysis A family can simply be defined as a group of people connected by blood or marriage. They can either be living together in a household, for example, a couple and their never married children living in one place as a family or are related based on blood but are not immediate family -for example, genetic relationships and this can simply be referred to as kin. According to the American anthropologist George Peter Murdock, The family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults The two most common forms of family are nuclear family and extended family. The nuclear family comprises of a husband and a wife with one or more children, own or adopted. According to Murdock, the nuclear family is a universal social grouping which means, it is found in all societies. The extended family is a family structure which is often made up of three generations e.g. grandparents, parents and children. Basically, it is the extension of the nuclear family and this can be done in various ways. Unlike the western society marriage which is monogamous, that is, one wife and one husband, many other societies practice polygamous marriage where by a person can marry more than one wife or husband. It is found in many small-scale traditional societies, particularly in Africa. A part from that, families can be extended if for example grand parents, brothers and sisters of the married couple live in one household. This is mostly practiced by the Indian communities in the UK. During the pre-industrial period, societies were divided in to kinship groups called lineages, which consist of people descended from a common ancestor. Lineages may contain hundreds or even thousands of members, it is mostly found in traditional societies such as the Nuer of southern Sudan and the Bunyoro of western Uganda. Anyone in that group sees each other as relatives. The only source of livelihood was farming and livestock, for this reason; the most common family structure was extended families because, they work together and to some extent, they share domestic tasks and income. Any member is allowed to farm and graze their livestock in the land owned by the Lineages. People who would be seen as very distant relatives in western societies may be defined as close relatives within a lineage. According to the 19th century historical research by Michael Anderson (1971), the early stages of industrialisation may have encouraged the development of extended families. He found that 23% of working class households in Preston contained kin beyond the nuclear family. This was due to the fact that, there was widespread poverty, high birth and death rates and without welfare support from the government, people had to depend on their kin for care and support. The working class extended family continued well in to the 20th century. Michael Young and Peter Willmott defined an extended family after their study of Bethnal Green in the east end of London (1957) as a combination of families who to some large degree form one domestic unit. The family members does not have to share one household as long as they contact regularly and share services such as caring for children and elderly relatives. The industrial revolution gradually undermined and disrupted the existence of extended family because; men were increasingly drawn out of the home in to industrial employment. Long working hours and movement of individuals between different regions affected family socialisation. Despite that, low income working class areas such as Bethnal Green did not break their extended family ties up until the 20th century. By the 1970s, the family structure changed to home-centred and privatised nuclear family. Family life is focused on the home. Husband and wife depend on each other for companionship. During free time, they silently watch TV at home with less contact of the wider kinship network. According to Talcott Parsons, the isolated nuclear family is the typical form in modern industrial society, on the other hand, Michael Haralambos states in his book, Sociology in focus that, a number of sociologists argue that, the so called modern, self-sufficient and self-centred nuclear family process has been exaggerated and that nuclear family members still contact their extended kin when the need arises though the relationship is not as strong as those in the traditional extended family. According to Janet Finch and Jennifer Mason (1993) in their study of Greater Manchester, they found that, over 90% of the people they approached had given or received financial help from relatives and almost 60% had shared a household with an adult relative(not parents) at some time in their live. Finch and Mason also found that help was subject to negotiation and not a right However, the British Social Attitudes have disputed the above study after they conducted a survey representing adults aged 18 and over during 1986 and 1995. They were looking at frequency of contact with kin. They found out that people are less likely to visit or be visited by anybody at all, be it relative or friends because there was no evidence to show that friends have substituted relatives and a large number of women are working outside their home which resulted in 20% drop of seeing their mother at least once a week (McGlone et al, 1999). People from different backgrounds have different family structure from the indigenous population. For example, the Asian families in Britain have strengthened their ties with their family members more in reaction to lack of value attachment between British family members and their kin. They are worried of losing their values and culture. To help overcome that fear, they maintain links with their villages of origin in Asia. The main sociological theories of the family are functionalist, Marxists and feminists. Functionalists consider the nuclear form of family as the best type. They believe that family is a vital element at the heart of society and a good source of socialisation. However, they only endorse the nuclear family as the norm, idealistic and more home centred, whereas, they consider the other types of family as harmful. Functionalists see family as a social institution which is there for a purpose that is beneficial to both its members and society. According to Murdock (1949), the family is a universal institution with universal functions. Their theories contain strong arguments that are vital for the wellbeing of society. They argue that, the family help to stabilise the social system by monitoring or setting some limits on their members not engage in sexual relationships outside marriage with some societies completely forbidding such acts unless married. This helps to reduce conflict. The functionalists also see family as a unit of production, for example, a farming family produce food while here in the west, the family is a unit of consumption, families buy goods and services for the rest of their family members, therefore contribute to the economy and to the wider society. The most interesting point of the functionalists theory is that, the family is responsible for primary socialisation. The first year of our life is very crucial to the rest of our life and all that is made possible by the immediate family members. Murdock believes that, no society has succeeded in finding an adequate substitute for the nuclear family however, the American sociologist Talcott Parsons argues that, the nuclear family in the modern industrial society have become more specialised and unlike the pre-industrial societies, some family functions like looking after the elderly have been taken over by specialised institutions such as social services but he claims that they still perform the basic function which is, the primary socialisation of children. Despite the strengths of the functionalist theory, there are some weaknesses associated with their views of the family. The first one is that, they ignore the dark side of family life, for example, conflict between husband and wife, child abuse and male dominance etc. They also pay less attention on the harmful effects the family may have on the wider society. Unlike the Marxists, the functionalists never consider variations in family life based on class, ethnicity, religion and locality The second sociological theory of family which is Marxists concentrates on nuclear family as well but they reject the view that the family is there for the benefit of all, instead they see the family as maintaining the position of the ruling class. They believe that nuclear perpetuate capitalism and that the economy shapes the rest of society. In comparison to the functionalists, Marxists dont accept that the family is largely responsible for primary socialisation, instead they argue that, children are socialised in stereotypically predetermined roles. The Marxists strongly argue that, the status of the society is largely determined by the economy and the capitalist economic system will produce a certain type of society. Basically, they see the family as an institution which is twisted by the requirements of capitalism. According to Friedrich Engels, the modern nuclear family developed in capitalist society. They also pointed out the great inequalities of wealth and income in modern societies. A small minority of the population who privately own economic institutions like banks and factories rule the larger population who are workers. The workers produce goods and services and are paid wages. The Marxists argue that, the minority ruling class exploit the majority of the population by gaining at the workers expense through profit making. The fact that they only endorse nuclear form of family, they argue that, this solved inheritance disputes because there is no doubt about the paternity of the children unlike the monogamous nuclear family. Both functionalist and Marxists see the family as a unit of reproduction and socialisation of children. The weaknesses associated with the Marxists view are; they ignore the degree of stability in society, instead they concentrate on the idea of power and domination. They also undermine the role of women in the society. Sociologists agree to some extent that the economic system has some influence in the family. However, majority disagree with the Marxist view that the shape of the family is determined by the economic system. Unlike the Marxists and functionalists, the feminist which is the other sociological theory of the family, criticize the power of men over women. They argue that male dominate the family and that they often control key areas of decision making e.g. moving house. The two main types of feminists which are radical and Marxists have different point of view in regards to unfair treatment of women in the family. The radical feminists see male dominance influence the structure of society and as a result, there is widespread domestic violence of which women suffer most. They promote lesbianism. The Marxists feminists argue that women serve as cushion for the man to release their tension of the day and these inequalities resulted from class variation in capitalist society. The feminists strongly point out that, most of the unpaid domestic work is done by women irrespective of them working full time outside home or not. According to Delphy Leonard, 1992, Women make the main contribution to fa mily life, men receive the main benefits. They also argue that, in most cases, the wife gives up her work to care for the children and economically depend on her husband. Feminists base their view from negative perspective and ignore the positive side of family. It is possible that many women are happy to raise their children and do most of the housework. Feminists are criticised by some people as preaching hatred against men and undermining traditional gender roles. In modern societies, there is greater evidence of equality between partners but feminists are criticised for not acknowledging that progress but instead they still remain determined to address remaining inequalities. Contrary to Murdocks explanation of family which includes at least one adult of each sex, there is significant number of children who were raised by single parents or same sex parents living in a household. A woman with her dependent children, whether adopted or her own is a unit of family. There are a high number of single-parent families in Britain. According to Government statistics, in 1961, 2 percent of the population lived in households consisting of lone parent with dependent children. Lone parenthood can come about through different circumstances eg divorce, separation and death of spouse. In the case of unmarried partners with children break up, one of them will be a lone parent. There are a high number of divorced or separated couples who still keep in touch for the common interest of their children. They share responsibilities of raising their children; In this case they are described as co-parenting or joint parenting. Neal Smart, 1977 see it difficult to describe such s cenarios as lone-parent families. Some Sociologists suggest using the term lone-parent household rather than lone-parent family, this means, one of the parents does not share the same household with the rest but still contributes to the family. Becoming a lone parent is never the first option for both married couples but due to un avoidable circumstances, many choose to be lone parent than living in an unhappy relationship. According to Hantrais and Letablier(1996), Britain has the second highest rate of lone parenthood after Denmark in Europe. Another type of household is the Gay and Lesbian households. Contrary to Murdocks explanation of family, Gay and Lesbian households do not contain adults of both sexes but they can as well care for children from their past heterosexual relationships, adoption or may have been produced using new reproductive technologies. Diversification of family in modern societies was contributed by high divorce rate, decline of marriage rate and increase in the number of stepfamilies.

Merger Problems -- No Problem :: essays research papers

I have documented in the previous paper for this class my beef with the authors: that they have a ready-made set of excuses absolving workers of all of the blame for downward spirals in productivity - rather, it’s the cold sterility of computer technology, or mergers, or globalization, or cost-cutting, or reengineering, or outsourcing, or some combination of the above that is to blame for the unraveling of the corporate culture as we know it. In the words of Charlie Brown, â€Å"Good grief.† Perhaps it’s because I’ve never been a part of a strong, warm workplace culture, but I believe that the authors underestimate the value of just coming in, doing your job, and not worrying about having a social life or friends at work, and not carrying on about awful the employment landscape is today. Those things are all nice and might be life-affirming and lend "meaning" to a person's life, but doing the job is paramount to all of the above. (It's not polit ically correct to point this out.) Again, I want to reiterate a point I made in the previous paper: a job is a privilege, not a right. There is no more â€Å"right† to a job than there is a â€Å"right† to win the lottery. I am a terribly lucky, blessed person to have the job that I have, and I work for someone who has the reputation of being an absolute monster at times. But we have gotten so carried away with assigning rights we have no business assigning, rights that the recipients have no business having ascribed to them, that we forget that responsibilities are also involved. The concept of "rights without responsibilities" leads to anarchy, and virtual anarchy is the condition found in many factories and other places of employment today. And the fact that so many people have conspired to legitimize the crap put forth by the two authors - from the publishers to the universities that assign â€Å"The New Corporate Cultures† as a text - makes me wonder if the world has not lost its co llective head. That said, the authors do make some good points about Merger Mania (the topic of Chapter 5) and its effect on organizational cultures, but they don’t offer solutions to the problems; rather, they tend to harp on the fact that the sacred employee is harmed in some way by the merger/ acquisition process.

Religion and Homosexuality in the United States Essay

I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Introduction Religion-led moral crusades are not novelties in American history. The abolitionist movement, for instance, originated from religious teachings about freedom and equality among all human beings. Early education reforms and laws barring commercial business on Sundays also had similar foundations (Walzer 4). In the early 20th century, the temperance movement agitated for a prohibition on sales of alcohol due to religious beliefs about the evils of liquor. In the 1960s, black churches and religious leaders took the lead in the struggle for equality for African-Americans (Walzer 5). Since the late 1960s, however, conservative Christian denominations have increasingly become the voice of religion-based moral fervor in the United States. The 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion, is generally acknowledged as the root cause of this phenomenon. Many right-wing Christian organizations held the aforementioned ruling responsible for the prevalence of premarital sex, easier access to birth control, decriminalized abortion, homosexuality and no-fault divorce laws. They believed that for a sound and healthy society to take place, these social â€Å"evils† must be stopped (Walzer 5). Fundamentalist Christians considered homosexuality to be the most dangerous among the above-mentioned social â€Å"evils.† This is because the sexual orientation and behavior of homosexuals â€Å"(clash) with the moral and religious teachings of the Bible† (Walzer 5). Simply put, homosexuals are â€Å"immoral† for the reason that their gender and lifestyle deviates from the Judeo-Christian principle of sexual relations as a means of procreation. They must therefore be denied any venues in which they could â€Å"spread† their â€Å"immorality,† such as gay civil rights (Walzer 5). The conflict between faith and homosexuality in the US eventually divided Christians between those who regarded homosexuality as a morality issue and those who viewed homosexuality as a social justice issue that both society and organized religion must address instead of ignore (Dawkins 290). This research paper will utilize the Marxist theoretical frameworks of dialectical and historical materialism. Dialectical materialism is based on the argument that history is defined by an endless struggle between different social classes. Historical materialism, meanwhile, asserts that the present state of a given society can be explained and understood by studying its past (Boobbyer 142). These theoretical frameworks are applied to the research paper through the study of the histories of gay civil rights and church-state relations in the US. To prove the thesis, the researcher will conduct a critical analysis of current government statistics or research data that are related to the topic. Qualitative descriptions of relevant government policies or research data will likewise be carried out. II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Data and Data Analysis Conservative Christian denominations often attack homosexuality by warning the public about the increasing number of homosexuals in the US. As they are operating on the premise that homosexuals are â€Å"immoral,† these religious groups would therefore claim that the rise in homosexuality would translate to an increase in social â€Å"evils† such as HIV/AIDS and pedophilia. They would further drive this point home to audiences by bombarding them with related statistics from â€Å"reputable† sources. In the end, bigotry and homophobia are reinforced among the addressees. Recent statistics do show an increase in homosexuality in the US from previous decades. The 1994 National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS) showed that an estimated 4.3 million Americans (2.8 million men and 1.5 million women) identified themselves as â€Å"homosexual or bisexual† (Sprigg 78). In addition, about 1.4 million Americans (0.9% of men and 0.4% of women) were exclusively engaged in same-sex relationships since age 18 (Sprigg 78). By 2000, according to the Washington, D.C.-based gay rights organization Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the gay and lesbian population in the US reached about 10,456,405. Data from the 2000 US Census, meanwhile, revealed that the number of same-sex couples in the country rose to 601,209 from 145,130 in 1990 (Burda 1). But the aforementioned figures are misleading. The institutions that produced these statistics do not have a clear idea of what constitutes â€Å"homosexuality,† â€Å"bisexuality† and â€Å"same-sex relationships.† Numerous studies on human sexual behavior have proven that it is possible for human beings of the same sex to engage in sexual activities regardless of sexual orientation. The term â€Å"homoerotic behavior† refers to same-sex sexual behavior that is performed for reasons that do not include homosexuality. Possible motivations for homoerotic behavior are identity crisis, exploration, same-sex bonding, glorification of maleness or femaleness and lack of opposite-sex partners (Turner 158). Mistaking homoerotic behavior for homosexuality is dangerous, as doing so has detrimental effects to both homosexuals and society in general. Positive qualities that could grow out of same-sex bonding, like caring, intimacy and nurturance, are suppressed and undervalued because such traits are associated with homosexuality (Abramson and Pinkerton 239). Furthermore, negative gender stereotypes are reinforced. â€Å"Masculinity† is linked with emotional detachment and superficial forms of socialization such as drinking, smoking and gambling. â€Å"Femininity,† on the other hand, is connected to submissiveness and lack of initiative. Experts have long debunked the â€Å"connection† between homosexuality, HIV/AIDS and pedophilia. It is true that HIV/AIDS was initially called the â€Å"gay cancer† because majority of its first victims were homosexual men. But this does not mean that HIV/AIDS is a disease that is restricted to homosexuals or that homosexuals alone are responsible for its spread. HIV/AIDS is spread by behavior and not by sexual orientation. A heterosexual who practices unsafe sex is just as prone to the disease as a homosexual who has a similar lifestyle. It is also not true that homosexuals are more prone to pedophilia than heterosexuals. As a matter of fact, about 90% of sexual abuse on children was committed by heterosexual men. A 1994 study that was published in the journal Pediatrics revealed that out of 296 cases of child sexual abuse, there were only two in which the perpetrator was a homosexual. Moreover, a heterosexual partner of a close relative of the child was the alleged offender in about 82% of the said cases (Moe 70). Apart from baseless and damaging myths, another assault that Christian fundamentalists carry out on homosexuality is the elimination of gay civil rights. Proposition 8, passed in California’s general elections on November 4, 2008, was a constitutional amendment that prohibited same-sex marriage in the state. Catholic and Mormon organizations overwhelmingly supported the proposition, arguing that same-sex marriage threatened the sanctity of marriage and the family. These groups were likewise concerned that allowing same-sex marriage to remain legal in California would deprive children of the right to have a â€Å"normal† family – one that was composed of a father and a mother (Kuruvila n. pag.). The enactment of Proposition 8 is ironic, considering that one of the largest and most active homosexual communities is based in San Francisco. There were already about 18,000 same-sex couples who got married in California just four months prior to the passage of Proposition 8 (Garrison, DiMassa and Paddock n. pag.). The proposition would thus force the state’s homosexual couples to get married in one of the five remaining US states where same-sex marriage is legal – Maine, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont (Montanaro n. pag.). Although Proposition 8 won 52% of votes (The Huffington Post n. pag.), some of California’s leaders are questioning its legality. The Democrat-controlled state Legislature, for instance, argued that the Constitution cannot be revised by a mere majority vote – it would strip the minority group of their constitutionally protected right. At present, California’s Supreme Court is dealing with a series of lawsuits that involve the contention of Proposition 8 (Ewers n. pag.). III.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Findings Even if the US Constitution clearly stated that there is an official separation between church and state, American society remains to be a â€Å"deeply religious polity† (Walzer 5). Simply put, American society is a democracy that continues to be heavily based on religious doctrine. This phenomenon is a legacy of the country’s colonial past – the first whites that came to the US were members of spiritual communities fleeing religious persecution in England. Consequently, the Founding Fathers declared that the US would not have an official state religion. All citizens were allowed to worship as they pleased and to openly propagate their faiths (Walzer 5). But this did not mean that the debate about the role of religion in American life has ended. The leaders of the US in its formative years were overwhelmingly of Christian faith. Thus, it became inevitable that the legislative and judicial philosophies of American society were founded on Christian principles. The Founding Fathers, for instance, believed that despite the absence of an official religion, the US should be a â€Å"Christian nation whose morality should be reflective of Christian values† (Walzer 4). It is true that many Christian denominations were responsible for instigating much-needed social changes in various parts of American history. But as American society became increasingly pluralistic in the succeeding centuries, the need for more secularism in its major institutions emerged. This dilemma resulted in a conflict between conservative Christian denominations and a Christian populace that was slowly becoming tolerant of behaviors that were used to be considered as deviant, such as homosexuality. In the process, certain aspects of the societal and legal discussions of gay civil rights were negatively affected (Walzer 6). Although judges are supposed to be neutral interpreters of the law, personal experiences (including religious training and beliefs) still shape their perspectives both consciously and unconsciously (Walzer 6). Indeed, Christian fundamentalist groups are notorious for their attempts to hinder the passage of or weaken laws that promote homosexual rights (Walzer 7). In the name of religion, conservative Christian organizations will not think twice about harassing homosexuals and gay rights associations, as well as interfere with the creation and enactment of gay civil rights laws. It is no longer surprising, therefore, if legal rights for homosexuals such as same-sex marriage, protection from workplace discrimination and adoption by gay parents were attained only in the recent decades. Pastor Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church is an example of how far fundamentalist Christians could go just to prove their homophobic stance. He once organized a picket at the funeral of homosexual rights activist Coretta Scott King, proclaiming that her soul would be punished in hell due to her advocacy. Since 1991, Phelps has reportedly organized 22,000 anti-homosexual demonstrations in the US, Canada, Jordan and Iraq. These protest marches of his often displayed homophobic slogans such as â€Å"THANK GOD FOR AIDS† (Dawkins 291).   IV.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conclusion Conservative Christian denominations in the US were unprepared for the increasingly liberal atmosphere of American society. They therefore harshly criticized everything that was associated with it, particularly homosexuality. For Christian fundamentalists, homosexuals were â€Å"immoral† because they do not comply with the Judeo-Christian principle of sexual relations as a means of procreation. Such a way of thinking eventually spawned all forms of harassment against homosexuals, such as damaging and baseless myths, deceptive statistics and laws that hinder the enactment of gay civil rights. It would be impossible for the US to claim that it is a Christianity-based democracy when homophobia is rampant in its turf. Homophobia can be eliminated from the country by educating people regarding the myths and the facts surrounding homosexuality. Stiffer penalties for and stricter implementation of laws against hate crimes would also help. As long as people are discriminated upon for any reason other than involvement in criminal activity, there can be no such thing as a free or just society.

Ducati & Texas Pacific Group †a ”Wild Ride” Leveraged Buyout

Ducati & Texas Pacific Group – A †Wild Ride† Leveraged Buyout 1. What is the nature of the opportunity? Could the Ducati brand be expanded beyond motorcycles? Why or why not? TPG strategy is to invest in undervalued firms’ that usually have been poorly managed. The investments are made in privately hold firms that are either unlisted from the beginning or that is being delisted from the stock exchange under the LBO process. TPG wants to invest in firms with a â€Å"healthy† basis but that are experience some problems that TPG believes’ that they can fix. Does Ducati live up to this? TGP has the opportunity, if the deal goes through, to purchase a controlling stake in Ducati Meccanico, producer of the best motorcycles in the world. The article describes that Ducati was in a great position of becoming for street bikes as what Harley-Davidson was for cruisers. They have a recognized brand, in spite of limited marketing, associated with high performance, i. e. high quality and high technology. Their bikes crushed the competition and won the World Superbike championships for several years in a row; 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1995. Their racing performance indicated on technical brilliance which is just what street bike customers’ prefer and therefore they had customers on the wait lists to buy their bikes. The core business possible growth was considered as high when comparing their number of sales to Harley-Davidson sales. In addition, to this the market didn’t foresee any new entrants of street bikes which also work in their favor. The manufacturing fundamentals were strong with low fixed costs due to high levels of outsourcing, 85 %. They offered the customers 15 models of bikes in four families founded on seven various engines. Furthermore, the most expensive part of an engine is the crank cases and cylinders but Ducati can keep these costs low since they have high levels of standardization of their engines and therefore only need two crank cases and three cylinders because. All these factors’ make Ducati look like an attractive brand that should have a prosperous economy. But they were under great financial pressure and faced severe problems in both manufacturing and financing. They had no money and weren’t allowed to borrow any either which caused extreme delays on payments to key suppliers. Therefore their factor was full of unfinished/almost-finished bikes. This affected their sales and extended their customer wait lists but it also affected suppliers and some of them went bankrupt. Ducati were short on working capital and the business was so entangled with Cagiva Group, which Ducati was a part of, that the detail’s on Ducati’s performance was not transparent at all. In the time span from 1993 to 1995 there was only a reliable balance sheet from 1995. TPG managed to assemble the profit and losses for the other years. All this together indicates a really poorly handled management. The forecasted EBIT for 1996 was negative and there was an imminent chance that Ducati went bankrupt since they couldn’t meet there payments. This lack of transparency has made it hard to find financing. TPG can succeed if they manage to build a model that captures their payback goal times three in three to five years. They need to find out what the Ducati should be earning and around these assets construct an international company. TPG can expect to take over a mismanaged company under financial pressure/distress but that have great potential in their strong brand and manufacturing fundamentals. To make this work they need to use a capable management team that can build up both the brand and the company. They need arrange the financing to be able to recover from the distress and to start making some money. But as they state in the article they will have to write at least a thousands of checks on their first day. Ducati brand could and should probably be extended beyond motorcycles even though a first step is to close the deal, take control over and built up the company. There for it might not be a good idea, at least not the first thing to start with. As I already pointed out Ducati is in a great position to imitate, for street bikes, what cruisers are for Harley-Davidson. Harley-Davidson has succeeded in creating a life-style brand with as much as 15% of its sales, with a growth potential, coming from just clothing and mechanical accessories. Ducati could look at the products Harley-Davidson is selling and how their selling them. They could also compare with a car company, like Ferrari, that has a lot of clothing and accessories that they sell. Ducati has a great potential to extend beyond motorcycles with motorcycle clothing and accessories and mechanical accessories. There are probably a lot of motorcycle stores that would want to sell their products and they could also sell them through their own shops and from online shops. It is just the imagination, costs and the combination of a balanced brand expansion that sets the limits. 2. How does this deal differ from a typical deal in the US? In terms of deal flow generation, due diligence process, negotiations and context? Deal flow generation The deal flow is the ability used by equity firms to identify attractive potential investment candidates, i. e. the ability to generate deal flow. This flow is generated from a wide range sources’, from for instance the experience and network built up by working in specific businesses to the network of senior corporate executives and it is this flow that discover opportunities that otherwise would have gone by unnoticed. Now days’ investment banks generally works as agents that sells the opportunity to invest for a fee paid by the seller in a sale process akin to an auction. To help Cagiva through its financial distress the Castiglioni brothers wanted to get a bridge loan from DMG so they contacted Razzano but he wasn’t interested in signing them a loan agreement. Instead he saw the potential of an investment and contacted Halpern since they were looking for a joint investment. Due diligence Due diligence is the valuation process undertaken before the parties sign the deal to identify the future of the potential investment but also to estimate the proper price for the investment. Equity firms’ usually creates a model on several hypotheses that captures the payback of the investment. Due diligence is a vital process in investigating the financial health, technology, the market, and the current management. A lot of different sources are used and in connection to this the investing firm usually signs a confidential agreement. The due diligence process generally starts after the parties have signed a Letter of Intent and paves the path to further negotiations between them. TPG have signed a Letter of Intent with the Castiglioni brothers and are trying to build a model that captures their payback. The problem for them is to separate the intertwined Ducati from Cagiva to find out what the Ducati should be earning to be able construct an international company around these assets. Negotiation If the sale is conducted through an auction by an investment bank intermediate the due diligence process often leads to a final proposal by the bidders’ and this is where the negotiation phase starts with chosen bidders. The negotiations then lead to an agreement between the parties. According to the article the negotiations in the US are done more in a linear path but the negotiations with Cagiva can best be described as a circular path. TPG has been negotiated with Ducati for almost a year. This is probably were the cultural difference is most prominent. Americans chose to discuss every issue separately step by step and after every discussion they want to include this in the contract between the parties. Italians see the whole picture in every discussion so when the Americans have decided something new in the next step of the precoess the Italians want to go back to the previous steps and re discuss them. Furthermore, Italians don’t like do business if they can’t trust the other part in America you don’t have to feel the trust since you include every little detail in the arrangement otherwise you can get sued. Maybe that is why the Castiglioni brothers might not trust TPG if they are not willing to re discuss everything again. Maybe that is why they are trying to shop the deal to others even though they have signed a Letter of Intent with TPG. This would never happen in America. But they have not participated in any meetings and in America it would probably not be hard to sign a contract under an LBO situation. TPG believed that their behavior replicated an act of trying to back out of the deal. Context LBO’s in U. S. eems much more organized than in Italy but at the same time this might make it harder to find interesting targets that have the same growth potential or at least the competition of acquire them might be harder. The development of the high-yield markets in Europe compared to US differ since the markets in Europe was not as developed as the US market. This made it harder for TPG to accomplish the same level of leverage as in the US. Halpern compare the debt-to-equity rat io as 2:1 in Italy compared to 3:1 in the U. S. On the other hand TGP were looking for companies that had grown hastily but still was arranged as small company and in Italy companies aspired to be small because of the fact that they then paid less tax. In order to pay even less tax it wasn’t uncommon, according to Halpern, to find relatively small companies with as much as 50 subsidiaries. This is usually not the case in the U. S. To overcome the aim to stay small and to not go public â€Å"Tremonti Law† allowed companies that went public in 1996 a two years tax relief. 3. What is the value of Ducati at the time of the deal? How much should TPG be willing to pay for 51 percent of the equity? Please assume that the target return is 35 percent (annualized). Observe that you are required to value the firm. For the valuation of Ducati, observe that since this is a leveraged buyout, the debt-to-equity ratio will change drastically, and you need to handle this in the appraisal model you use. Furthermore, you need to think about the inputs you shall use in the valuation. How do you determine return on assets? Which risk free rate of interest should be used? Which risk premium should be used? Etc. To value Ducati we can use the APV-model. APV treats the firm as it is all equity financed. A suitable unleveraged beta for the estimation is a beta in the same industry that is all equity financed and the article states that Harley-Davidson don’t have any long-term debt which means that their beta is unleveraged. I will therefore use their beta of 1. 09. We will use CAPM to discount the cash flows and a rule of thumb to know which rate to use is to match the risk free rate with the country that we are going to invest in. The 10-year government bond is 6. 4% in both the US and Italy so this wouldn’t have caused any trouble here. Since the 10-year bond is 6. 74% in both countries we will not add any extra country risk for the investment. The risk premium that we are going to use is 7. 5%. TABEL 119961997199819992000200120022003 EBIT-5. 4+58. 2+79. 4+96. 3+111+123. 3+146 -Taxes(53. 5%)0-31. 1-42. 5-51. 5-59. 4-6. 6-72. 3-78. 1 +Depreciation+6+7. 3+9. 1+11. 1+13. 5+15 . 7+18. 1+20. 7 +Amortization+24. 7+24. 7+24. 7+28. 5+28. 5+28. 5+28. 5+28. 5 -Capex-12. 9-15. 5-20-24-22-24-24-25 Change in Working Capital (see TABEL 2)-0. 9-1. -32. 9-17. 3-2. 9-11. 2-10. 5-10. 3 Total cash flow 13. 342. 317. 843. 168. 766. 37580. 8 +1229. 8 TABEL â€Å"199519961997199819992000200120022003 Cash9. 411. 322. 689. 837. 279. 987. 2132. 2 6%6%6%6%6%6%6% Transaction cash required 9. 411. 322. 628. 532. 636. 2138. 841. 344 Accounting receivables 8084. 583. 2124. 5139. 9141. 6152161. 4170. 6 Inventory5537. 249. 265. 461. 768. 172. 676. 380. 2 Other3. 32. 22. 73. 21516. 81819. 120. 2 Current assets147. 7135. 2157. 7221. 6249. 2262. 7281. 4298. 1315 Accounting payable4030. 350. 478. 794. 4104. 1110. 9116. 6122. 6 Other11. 39. 410. 13. 27. 88. 79. 49. 910. 5 Current Liabilities 51. 339. 760. 991. 9102. 2112. 8130. 3126. 5133. 1 Working Capital 96. 495. 596. 8129. 7147149. 9161. 1171. 6181. 9 Change in Working Capital 0. 9 1. 3 32. 9 17. 3 2. 9 11. 2 10. 5 10. 3 CAPM: Re= R f+? (Rm-Rf) = 0. 0674 + 1. 09 x 7. 5 = 14. 92% Terminal value by with a multiple: TPG is willing to pay 400-500 billion lire for 100% of Ducati. Enterprise value: 280+140=420-40=380 Earnings multiple: (Enterprise value)/(EBITA for 1995)=380/60. 4=6. 3 (how many times this year’s profit is TPG willing to pay for Ducati) We use the multiple on EBITA for 2003 ? 195. 2 x 6. 3 = 1229. 8 (this have to be discounted to present value we will therefore add it to 2003) Value of Ducati if it was all equity financed: 13/1. 1492 + 42. 3/1. 14922 + 17. 8/1. 14923 + 43. 1/1. 14924 + 68. 7/1. 14925 + 66. 3/1. 14926 + 75/1. 14927 + 1310. 6/1. 14928=602. 3 billion lire But Ducati has liabilities so we need to value that as well. TABEL 319961997199819992000200120022003 Net interest expenses1131. 128. 928. 123. 117. 912. 36. 3 Tax shields(53. 5%) 5. 916. 615. 51512. 49. 66. 6 The tax shields illustrate how much less taxes’ Ducati needs to pay because of the interest expenses and that is what we need to discount in order to value Ducati. 5. 9/1. 1125 + 16. 6/1. 11252 + 15. 5/1. 11253 + 15/1. 11254 + 12. 4/1. 11255 + 9. 6/1. 11256 + 6. 6/1. 11257 = 56. 7 billion lire Value of Ducati: 602. 3+56. 7=659 billion lire Value of equity= 659-280=379 billion 4. Should Halpern consider applying a country risk premium in determining the appropriate discount rate for Ducati? They should not consider applying a country risk premium since the Italian the long government bond of Italy and the US are the same, i.. . 6. 74%. 5. Should Halpern walk away from this deal? Why or why not? Ducati has a lot of problems that I already covered under the first question. But as a summery are under great financial pressure and have faced severe problems in both manufacturing and financing. The reporting of their financial performance is not transparent at all instead it is entan gled with the Cagiva Group. This has made it hard for TPG to hunt financing to the LBO. It is perhaps not a surprise but they have a problem with their working capital and the payment delays leave them with a lot of unfinished bikes. This has lead to a decrease of their sales and enlarged wait lists. Then we have a badly manage management by the Castiglioni brothers who continues to shop around for other deals even though they signed the Letter of Intent. There is also the risk of insolvency of Ducati and bankruptcy of Cagiva which have made TPG worried about the Italian legacy. A bankruptcy of Cagiva after a closed deal could lead to a delay of the deal for up to four years and this would be cost them a lot of money. The deal also has a lot of benefits. Ducati is the world leading manufacturer of motorcycles and if managed well they could probably be profitable very soon. They already believe that this want be a problem with Minoli as CEO. The brand is well-known and easy for investors to understand. This opens up the opportunity for IPO which could in fact obtain higher sales compared to trading. TPG has worked with the deal for one year so they have really had time have to plan for the changes in the Ducati. 6. If TPG pursues the deal and purchases a stake in Ducati, what are the critical steps that TPG needs to take in order to make the deal successful? Please be specific in your answer! First of all they need to get the Castiglioni brothers to stop shopping around for other deals. They have â€Å"signed† the deal through the Letter of Intent and it is the brothers and Cagiva responsibility to follow the contract. Maybe easier said than done be the negotiations must continue in order to get a deal. TPG also need to finish their due diligence model so to that they can identify the future of the potential investment but also to estimate the proper price for the investment. It is hard to close a deal otherwise. The due diligence is also important in investigating the financial health, technology, the market, and the current management. If they sign the deal TPG can expect to take over a mismanaged company under financial distress that has great potential through its strong brand and manufacturing fundamentals. To make this work they need to use a capable management team that can build up both the brand and the company. They also need to start up and arrange the NewCO establishment, the senior debt and write at least thousands of checks on their first day.

Inception Critique Essay

Inception Critique Essay Inception Critique Essay Critique of Film Score from ‘Inception’ Without a doubt, Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan, is a very well done film. Its highly complex plot and dynamic characters create a story that is not easily forgotten. But one thing that may go unnoticed by movie-goers that played a huge role in the meaning of the film is the films score. The music conveys so much meaning, that it’s even a core element in the plot itself. The score for ‘Inception’ was written by Hans Zimmer, also known for his musical score in ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘Gladiator’, who is a very experienced cinematic composer. He worked directly with Christopher Nolan so that he could best express the movies themes through his music. The reason why I chose ‘Inception’ as opposed to some other movie is because of the very unique plot element in which the characters are warned they are about to be woken up by placing earphones on their ears and playing music. They hear this music inside the dream and this allows them to gauge if they have time to complete the mission at hand. Even more interesting, as they go deeper into the dreams, the music that is heard by the dreamers becomes slower and slower because time passes faster in the outside world. By the time they are four dream levels deep, all that can be heard of the music is the deep booming bass and brass notes that makes this score so recognizable. So, not only did Hans Zimmer manage to fill the entire film with music and score to compliment what the

The Bill Of Rights

The Bill Of Rights Bill of RightsHow many rights do you have? You should check, because it might not be as many todayas it was a few years ago, or even a few months ago. Some people I talk to are notconcerned that police will execute a search warrant without knocking or that they set uproadblocks and stop and interrogate innocent citizens. They do not regard these as greatinfringements on their rights. But when you put current events together, there is informationthat may be surprising to people who have not yet been concerned: The amount of the Billof Rights that is under attack is alarming.Let's take a look at the Bill of Rights and see which aspects are being pushed on orthreatened. The point here is not the degree of each attack or its rightness or wrongness,but the sheer number of rights that are under attack.Andrew Jacobs / 20070811.10D.44747 / SML SkydiveAmendment ICongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the freeexercise thereof; or abridging the freedo m of speech, or of the press; or the right of thepeople peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.ESTABLISHING RELIGION: While campaigning for his first term, George Bush said 'Idon't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be consideredpatriots.' Bush has not retracted, commented on, or clarified this statement, in spite ofrequests to do so. According to Bush, this is one nation under God. And apparently if youare not within Bush's religious beliefs, you are not a citizen. Federal, state, and localgovernments also promote a particular religion (or, occasionally, religions) by spendingpublic money on religious displays.FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION: Robert Newmeyer and Glenn Braunstein were jailedin 1988 for refusing to stand in respect for a judge. Braunstein says the tradition of rising incourt started decades ago when judges entered carrying Bibles. Since judges no longercarry Bibles, Braunstein says there is no rea son to stand and his Bible tells him to honorno other God. For this religious practice, Newmeyer and Braunstein were jailed and arenow suing.FREE SPEECH: We find that technology has given the government an excuse to interferewith free speech. Claiming that radio frequencies are a limited resource, the governmenttells broadcasters what to say (such as news and public and local service programming) andwhat not to say (obscenity, as defined by the Federal Communications Commission[FCC]). The FCC is investigating Boston PBS station WGBH-TV for broadcastingphotographs from the Mapplethorpe exhibit.FREE SPEECH: There are also laws to limit political statements and contributions topolitical activities. In 1985, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce wanted to take out anadvertisement supporting a candidate in the state house of representatives. But a 1976Michigan law prohibits a corporation from using its general treasury funds to makeindependent expenditures in a political campaign. In March, the Supreme Court upheld thatlaw. According to dissenting Justice Kennedy, it is now a felony in Michigan for the SierraClub, the American Civil Liberties Union, or the Chamber of Commerce to advise thepublic how a candidate voted on issues of urgent concern to their members.FREE PRESS: As in speech, technology has provided another excuse for governmentintrusion in the press. If you distribute a magazine electronically and do not print copies, thegovernment doesn't consider you a press and does not give you the same protections courtshave extended to printed news. The equipment used to publish Phrack, a worldwideelectronic magazine about phones and hacking, was confiscated after publishing a documentcopied from a Bell South computer entitled 'A Bell South Standard Practice (BSP)660-225-104SV Control Office Administration of Enhanced 911 Services for SpecialServices and Major Account Centers, March, 1988.' All of the information in thisdocument was publicly available from Bell South in other documents. The government hasnot alleged that the publisher of Phrack, Craig Neidorf, was involved with or participated inthe copying of the document. Also, the person who copied this document from telephonecompany computers placed a copy on a bulletin board run by Rich Andrews. Andrewsforwarded a copy to ATT officials and cooperated with authorities fully. In return, theSecret Service (SS) confiscated Andrews' computer along with all the mail and data thatwere on it. Andrews was not charged with any crime.FREE PRESS: In another incident that would be comical if it were not true, on March 1 theSS ransacked the offices of Steve Jackson Games (SJG); irreparably damaged property;and confiscated three computers, two laser printers, several hard disks, and many boxes ofpaper and floppy disks. The target of the SS operation was to seize all copies of a game offiction called GURPS Cyberpunk. The Cyberpunk game contains fictitious break-ins in afuturistic world, with no technical i nformation of actual use with real computers, nor is itplayed on computers. The SS never filed any charges against SJG but still refused to returnconfiscated property.PEACEABLE ASSEMBLY: The right to assemble peaceably is no longer free you haveto get a permit. Even that is not enough; some officials have to be sued before they realizetheir reasons for denying a permit are not Constitutional.PEACEABLE ASSEMBLY: In Alexandria, Virginia, there is a law that prohibits peoplefrom loitering for more than seven minutes and exchanging small objects. Punishment is twoyears in jail. Consider the scene in jail: 'What'd you do?' 'I was waiting at a bus stop andgave a guy a cigarette.' This is not an impossible occurrence: In Pittsburgh, Eugene Tyler,15, has been ordered away from bus stops by police officers. Sherman Jones, also 15, wasaccosted with a police officer's hands around his neck after putting the last bit of pizza crustinto his mouth. The police suspected him of hiding drugs.PETITI ON FOR REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES: Rounding out the attacks on the firstamendment, there is a sword hanging over the right to petition for redress of grievances.House Resolution 4079, the National Drug and Crime Emergency Act, tries to 'modify' theright to habeas corpus. It sets time limits on the right of people in custody to petition forredress and also limits the courts in which such an appeal may be heard.Amendment IIA well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of thepeople to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS: This amendment is so commonly challenged that the movementhas its own name: gun control. Legislation banning various types of weapons is supportedwith the claim that the weapons are not for 'legitimate' sporting purposes. This is aperversion of the right to bear arms for two reasons. First, the basis of freedom is not thatpermission to do legitimate things is granted to the people, but rather that the governme nt isempowered to do a limited number of legitimate things everything else people are free todo; they do not need to justify their choices. Second, should the need for defense arise, itwill not be hordes of deer that the security of a free state needs to be defended from.Defense would be needed against humans, whether external invaders or internaloppressors. It is an unfortunate fact of life that the guns that would be needed to defend thesecurity of a state are guns to attack people, not guns for sporting purposes.Firearms regulations also empower local officials, such as police chiefs, to grant or denypermits. This results in towns where only friends of people in the right places are grantedpermits, or towns where women are generally denied the right to carry a weapon forself-defense.Amendment IIINo Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of theOwner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.QUARTERING SOLDIERS: This amend ment is fairly clean so far, but it is not entirelysafe. Recently, 200 troops in camouflage dress with M-16s and helicopters swept throughKings Ridge National Forest in Humboldt County, California. In the process of searchingfor marijuana plants for four days, soldiers assaulted people on private land with M-16sand barred them from their own property. This might not be a direct hit on the thirdamendment, but the disregard for private property is uncomfortably close.Amendment IVThe right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, againstunreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, butupon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing theplace to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.RIGHT TO BE SECURE IN PERSONS, HOUSES, PAPERS AND EFFECTSAGAINST UNREASONABLE SEARCHES AND SEIZURES: The RICO law is makinga mockery of the right to be secure from seizure. Entire stores of books or videotapes havebeen confiscated based upon the presence of some sexually explicit items. Bars,restaurants, or houses are taken from the owners because employees or tenants sold drugs.In Volusia County, Florida, Sheriff Robert Vogel and his officers stop automobiles forcontrived violations. If large amounts of cash are found, the police confiscate it on thePRESUMPTION that it is drug money even if there is no other evidence and no chargesare filed against the car's occupants. The victims can get their money back only if theyprove the money was obtained legally. One couple got their money back by proving it wasan insurance settlement. Two other men who tried to get their two thousand dollars backwere denied by the Florida courts.RIGHT TO BE SECURE IN PERSONS, HOUSES, PAPERS AND EFFECTSAGAINST UNREASONABLE SEARCHES AND SEIZURES: A new law goes intoeffect in Oklahoma on January 1, 1991. All property, real and personal, is taxable, andcitizens are required to list all their personal property for tax assessors, including householdfurniture, gold and silver plate, musical instruments, watches, jewelry, and personal, private,or professional libraries. If a citizen refuses to list their property or is suspected of not listingsomething, the law directs the assessor to visit and enter the premises, getting a searchwarrant if necessary. Being required to tell the state everything you own is not being securein one's home and effects.NO WARRANTS SHALL ISSUE, BUT UPON PROBABLE CAUSE, SUPPORTEDBY OATH OR AFFIRMATION:As a supporting oath or affirmation, reports of anonymous informants are accepted. Thispractice has been condoned by the Supreme Court.PARTICULARLY DESCRIBING THE PLACE TO BE SEARCHED AND PERSONSOR THINGS TO BE SEIZED: Today's warrants do not particularly describe the things tobe seized they list things that might be present. For example, if police are making a drugraid, they will list weapons as things to be searched for and seized. This is done not becausethe police know of any weapons and can particularly describe them, but because theyallege people with drugs often have weapons.Both of the above apply to the warrant the Hudson, New Hampshire, police used whenthey broke down Bruce Lavoie's door at 5 a.m. with guns drawn and shot and killed him.The warrant claimed information from an anonymous informant, and it said, among otherthings, that guns were to be seized. The mention of guns in the warrant was used as reasonto enter with guns drawn. Bruce Lavoie had no guns. Bruce Lavoie was not secure fromunreasonable search and seizure nor is anybody else.Other infringements on the fourth amendment include roadblocks and the Boston Policedetention of people based on colors they are wearing (supposedly indicating gangmembership). And in Pittsburgh again, Eugene Tyler was once searched because he waswearing sweat pants and a plaid shirt police told him they heard many drug dealers atthat time were wearing sweat pants and plaid shir ts.Amendment VNo person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on apresentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or navalforces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall anyperson be subject to the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shallbe compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life,liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken forpublic use without just compensation.INDICTMENT OF A GRAND JURY: Kevin Bjornson has been proprietor ofHydro-Tech for nearly a decade and is a leading authority on hydroponic technology andcultivation. On October 26, 1989, both locations of Hydro-Tech were raided by the DrugEnforcement Administration. National Drug Control Policy Director William Bennett hasdeclared that some indoor lighting and hydroponic equipment is purchased by mari juanagrowers, so retailers and wholesalers of such equipment are drug profiteers andco-conspirators. Bjornson was not charged with any crime, nor subpoenaed, issued awarrant, or arrested. No illegal substances were found on his premises. Federal officialswere unable to convince grand juries to indict Bjornson. By February, they had calledscores of witnesses and recalled many two or three times, but none of the grand juries theyconvened decided there was reason to criminally prosecute Bjornson. In spite of that, as ofMarch, his bank accounts were still frozen and none of the inventories or records had beenreturned. Grand juries refused to indict Bjornson, but the government is still penalizing him.TWICE PUT IN JEOPARDY OF LIFE OR LIMB: Members of the McMartin family inCalifornia have been tried two or three times for child abuse. Anthony Barnaby was triedfor murder (without evidence linking him to the crime) three times before New Hampshirelet him go.COMPELLED TO BE A WITNESS AGAINST HIMSELF: Oliver North was forced totestify against himself. Congress granted him immunity from having anything he said to thembeing used as evidence against him, and then they required him to talk. After he did so,what he said was used to find other evidence which was used against him. The courts alsoplay games where you can be required to testify against yourself if you testify at all.COMPELLED TO BE A WITNESS AGAINST HIMSELF: In the New York CentralPark assault case, three people were found guilty of assault. But there was no physicalevidence linking them to the crime; semen did not match any of the defendants. The onlyevidence the state had was confessions. To obtain these confessions, the police questioneda 15-year old without a parent present which is illegal under New York state law. Policealso refused to let the subject's Big Brother, an attorney for the Federal government, seehim during questioning. Police screamed 'You better tell us what we want to hear andcooperate or y ou are going to jail,' at 14-year-old Antron McCray, according to BobbyMcCray, his father. Antron McCray 'confessed' after his father told him to, so that policewould release him. These people were coerced into bearing witness against themselves, andthose confessions were used to convict them.COMPELLED TO BE A WITNESS AGAINST HIMSELF: Your answers to Censusquestions are required by law, with a $100 penalty for each question not answered. Butpeople have been evicted for giving honest Census answers. According to the GeneralAccounting Office, one of the most frequent ways city governments use census informationis to detect illegal two-family dwellings. This has happened in Montgomery County,Maryland; Pullman, Washington; and Long Island, New York. The August 8, 1989, WallStreet Journal reports this and other ways Census answers have been used against theanswerers.COMPELLED TO BE A WITNESS AGAINST HIMSELF: Drug tests are beingrequired from more and more people, even when there is no pr obable cause, no accident,and no suspicion of drug use. Requiring people to take drug tests compels them to provideevidence against themselves.DEPRIVED OF LIFE, LIBERTY, OR PROPERTY WITHOUT DUE PROCESS OFLAW: This clause is violated on each of the items life, liberty, and property. Incidentsincluding such violations are described elsewhere in this article. Here are two more: OnMarch 26, 1987, in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, Jeffrey Miles was killed by police officerJohn Rucker, who was looking for a suspected drug dealer. Rucker had been sent to thewrong house; Miles was not wanted by police. He received no due process. In Detroit,$4,834 was seized from a grocery store after dogs detected traces of cocaine on threeone-dollar bills in a cash register.PRIVATE PROPERTY TAKEN FOR PUBLIC USE WITHOUT JUSTCOMPENSATION: RICO is shredding this aspect of the Bill of Rights. The moneyconfiscated by Sheriff Vogel goes directly into Vogel's budget; it is not regulated by thelegislature. Federal and local governments seize and auction boats, buildings, and otherproperty. Under RICO, the government is seizing property without due process. Thevictims are required to prove not only that they are not guilty of a crime, but that they areentitled to their property. Otherwise, the government auctions off the property and keepsthe proceeds.Amendment VIIn all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, byan impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed,which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of thenature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to havecompulsory process for obtaining Witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance ofcounsel for his defence.THE RIGHT TO A SPEEDY AND PUBLIC TRIAL: Surprisingly, the right to a publictrial is under attack. When Marion Barry was being tried, the prosecution attempted to barLouis Fa rrakhan and George Stallings from the gallery. This request was based on anallegation that they would send silent and 'impermissible messages' to the jurors. The judgeinitially granted this request. One might argue that the whole point of a public trial is to senda message to all the participants: The message is that the public is watching; the trial hadbetter be fair.BY AN IMPARTIAL JURY: The government does not even honor the right to trial by animpartial jury. US District Judge Edward Rafeedie is investigating improper influence onjurors by US marshals in the Enrique Camarena case. US marshals apparently illegallycommunicated with jurors during deliberations.OF THE STATE AND DISTRICT WHEREIN THE CRIME SHALL HAVE BEENCOMMITTED: This is incredible, but Manuel Noriega is being tried so far away from theplace where he is alleged to have committed crimes that the United States had to invadeanother country and overturn a government to get him. Nor is this a unique occurrence; in amatte r separate from the Camarena case, Judge Rafeedie was asked to dismiss chargesagainst Mexican gynecologist Dr. Humberto Alvarez Machain on the grounds that thedoctor was illegally abducted from his Guadalajara office in April and turned over to USauthorities.TO BE INFORMED OF THE NATURE AND CAUSE OF THE ACCUSATION:Steve Jackson Games, nearly put out of business by the raid described previously, has beenstonewalled by the SS. 'For the past month or so these guys have been insisting the bookwasn't the target of the raid, but they don't say what the target was, or why they werecritical of the book, or why they won't give it back,' Steve Jackson says. 'They haverepeatedly denied we're targets but don't explain why we've been made victims.' Attorneysfor SJG tried to find out the basis for the search warrant that led to the raid on SJG. But theapplication for that warrant was sealed by order of the court and remained sealed at lastreport, in July. Not only has the SS taken property and ne arly destroyed a publisher, it willnot even explain the nature and cause of the accusations that led to the raid.TO BE CONFRONTED WITH THE WITNESSES AGAINST HIM: The courts arebeginning to play fast and loose with the right to confront witnesses. Watch out foranonymous witnesses and videotaped testimony.TO HAVE COMPULSORY PROCESS FOR OBTAINING WITNESSES: RonaldReagan resisted submitting to subpoena and answering questions about Irangate, claimingmatters of national security and executive privilege. A judge had to dismiss some chargesagainst Irangate participants because the government refused to provide informationsubpoenaed by the defendants. And one wonders if the government would go to the samelengths to obtain witnesses for Manuel Noriega as it did to capture him.TO HAVE THE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL: The right to assistance of counsel took ahit recently. Connecticut Judge Joseph Sylvester is refusing to assign public defenders topeople ACCUSED of drug-related crimes, including drun k driving.TO HAVE THE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL: RICO is also affecting the right to havethe assistance of counsel. The government confiscates the money of an accused person,which leaves them unable to hire attorneys. The IRS has served summonses nationwide todefense attorneys, demanding the names of clients who paid cash for fees exceeding$10,000.Amendment VIIIn Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, theright of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwisereexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of common law.RIGHT OF TRIAL BY JURY IN SUITS AT COMMON LAW: This is a simple right; sofar the government has not felt threatened by it and has not made attacks on it that I amaware of. This is our only remaining safe haven in the Bill of Rights.Amendment VIIIExcessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusualpunishments inflicted.EXCESSIVE BAIL AN D FINES: Tallahatchie County in Mississippi charges ten dollars aday to each person who spends time in the jail, regardless of the length of stay or theoutcome of their trial. This means innocent people are forced to pay. Marvin Willis wasstuck in jail for 90 days trying to raise $2,500 bail on an assault charge. But after he madethat bail, he was kept imprisoned because he could not pay the $900 rent Tallahatchiedemanded. Nine former inmates are suing the county for this practice.CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS: House Resolution 4079 sticks its nose inhere too: '... a Federal court shall not hold prison or jail crowding unconstitutional under theeighth amendment except to the extent that an individual plaintiff inmate proves that thecrowding causes the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment of that inmate.'CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS: A life sentence for selling a quarter of agram of cocaine for $20 that is what Ricky Isom was sentenced to in February in CobbCounty, Georgia. I t was Isom's second conviction in two years, and state law imposes amandatory sentence. Even the judge pronouncing the sentence thinks it is cruel; Judge TomCauthorn expressed grave reservations before sentencing Isom and Douglas Rucks(convicted of selling 3.5 grams of cocaine in a separate but similar case). Judge Cauthorncalled the sentences 'Draconian.'Amendment IXThe enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny ordisparage others retained by the people.OTHER RIGHTS RETAINED BY THE PEOPLE: This amendment is so weak today thatI will ask not what infringements there are on it but rather what exercise of it exists at all?What law can you appeal to a court to find you not guilty of violating because the lawdenies a right retained by you?Amendment XThe powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it tothe States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.POWERS RESERVED TO THE STATES OR THE PEOPL E: This amendment is alsoweak, although it is not so nonexistent as the ninth amendment. But few states set their ownspeed limits or drinking age limits. Today, we mostly think of this country as the singular United States, rather than a collection of states. This concentration of power detacheslaws from the desires of people and even of states. House Resolution 4079 crops upagain here it uses financial incentives to get states to set specific penalties for certaincrimes. Making their own laws certainly must be considered a right of the states, and thisright is being infringed upon.Out of ten amendments, nine are under attack, most of them under multiple attacks ofdifferent natures, and some of them under a barrage. If this much of the Bill of Rights isthreatened, how can you be sure your rights are safe? A right has to be there when youneed it. Like insurance, you cannot afford to wait until you need it and then set aboutprocuring it or ensuring it is available. Assurance must b e made in advance.The bottom line here is that your rights are not safe. You do not know when one of yourrights will be violated. A number of rights protect accused persons, and you may think it isnot important to protect the rights of criminals. But if a right is not there for people accusedof crimes, it will not be there when you need it. With the Bill of Rights in the sad conditiondescribed above, nobody can be confident they will be able to exercise the rights to whichthey are justly entitled. To preserve our rights for ourselves in the future, we must defendthem for everybody today.

7 things nurses should never do in front of patients

7 things nurses should never do in front of patients Nursing is a job that does not just require a good deal of medical training- it also calls for a bedside manner that will put patients’ minds at ease in the most harrowing circumstances. Good nurses know what to do and say no matter what the situation. The very best nurses also know  what they should never, ever do under any circumstances. Read on to find out what types of behavior nursing veterans know to avoid. Never lose it.Okay, you’re having a lousy day. We all have them. But you must put your own personal problems aside when dealing with people who have concerns about their health. So you must always maintain self-control and never, ever lose it when interacting with even the most obnoxious patients. Be understanding when your patients get a bit short-tempered. Be patient with them, even when you feel like your patience is at its end. Never forget that it is your job to make people feel better.Never bad mouth staff members to patients.Patients always want to fee l like they are in expert hands. Once you start bad mouthing fellow staff members to patients, those patients will start doubting the expertise of the doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals responsible for taking care of them. It is both worrying to the patient and unprofessional.Never get too personal.Revealing too much about yourself can also undermine your professionalism. That’s why it is best to save personal conversations with your coworkers for break periods. Patients have their own concerns and do not want to hear your life story. You also do not want to get into your personal political or religious beliefs, because if they clash with a patient’s, that patient may become uncomfortable or even resist your care.Never miss a break.Nursing is a stressful job. You need to take a break from it every so often to refresh yourself. Therefore, you should never miss any of the breaks you are allotted during the day. If you work through your breaks, you will tire out faster and not perform your job to the best of your abilities.Never get too specific about when you’ll return.Nurses know that a new task is always waiting for them around every corner- there’s always a patient or colleague who requires their time. However, each patient only cares about the attention you will give to her or him. So, never get too specific about when you will return to provide that care. If you say, â€Å"I’ll be back in five minutes,† your patient will really expect you to be back in five minutes on the dot and not be too understanding if you get pulled away to help someone else.Never give false hope.Saying something like â€Å"You’re going to be just fine† may seem like the right thing to do when a patient is excessively concerned, but it might not be medically accurate. Never give easy answers or false hopes when it comes to someone’s health. Leave the diagnoses to the doctors. The same thing goes for how m uch a procedure will hurt. Everyone has different pain thresholds, and telling a patient that a shot â€Å"won’t hurt a bit† might give a sensitive one false hopes.Never act surprised.No patient wants to hear a nurse say, â€Å"I’ve never seen that before!† Surprised comments like that will make patients feel as though they’re suffering from some sort of rare, incurable condition. Act like you’ve seen it all before. It will help keep a patient’s mind at ease.

Reinforcement of Dental Composites by Electrospun Nanofibers Research Proposal

Reinforcement of Dental Composites by Electrospun Nanofibers - Research Proposal Example Our work draws support from the background researches concerned with the application of nanoscaled reinforcing materials and organic-inorganic hybrid nanocomposites synthesized by conventional soft chemistry procedures on various innovative industrial products. The principal look out of the following investigation is also based on the previous studies conducted to understand the intricate mechanisms behind the phenomenon of dissipation of energy that is hypothesized to be one of the definitive factors for hiking the index of fracture toughness in solid composites. (Composites Science and Technology, 2008) Past researches show that this energy dissipating phenomenon implicating increase in the fracture toughness is far more definitive and effect enticing for nanocomposites compared to ordinary composites having micron scaled fibers. In the following investigation we attempt to understand and interpret the reasons associated with mimicking such kind of mechanical strength and structure d toughness after reinforcing the resinous polyacrylate matrices of the dental composites with hyperbranched polymeric nanofibers. ... (Saudi Dental Journal, 2006) Though such research is always critical and is undoubtedly clouded by several other unaccountable factors, like, the inherent clinical design of the prosthesis, deformations of the dental base, climatic wear and tear of the metal supports, conditions leading to accidental damages along with the gender, age and total span of usage of the wearer; the plausible causes arising from the discrepancies in the mechanical index of the denture material itself, was the only object of our interest for pursuing further investigations along relevant lines. Therefore, it is undoubtedly clear that the primary objective of this research is to record and understand the effects of the covalently bonded nanoscaled organic reinforcements on the performance and durability index of the recently used dental composites. By designing composites of polyacrylate resin matrices modified with commercial dendritic polymers, like polyesteramide and polyester, we need to create a variati on from the previous investigations by incorporating electrospun polyamide nanofibers into the system and test their effect on the overall mechanical strength of these composites. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The nanofibers will be synthesized by electrospinning three different polymers that are Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVOH), Poly-L-Lactide Acid (PLLA) and Nylon 6 (Polycaprolactam or Polyamide or PA6) and they are to be used with the Hybrane modified acrylate resin matrix of the composites at different weight percents and particle diameters. The compressive strength, diametric tensile strength, linear shrinkage index and flexural strength will be measured at different concentrations and diameters. The morphology of the

Stock analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Stock analysis - Essay Example The management of the company consists of some of the best professionals in the field; this is under the management of Larry Page who is not only the Chief Executive Officer but also the founder. This is a guarantee that he has faith in his company and he understands the importance of the products and the services that the company offers. Having built the company from scratch it is expected that he will lead the company to further growth which will have a direct impact on shareholders wealth The company runs the most popular search website in the world and provides advertising technology to clients on a global scale (Koller, 54). It has technology that enables the users to get better information in regards to search results. There is a clear representation of pictures, videos and text that has made it very popular with users. Its programs such as AdSense and Ad words are easy to use and make it possible for clients to post their advertisements, uptake of these products is expected to increase by 23% in this financial year. Google is in the technology industry and success in this industry is dependent on the ability of an organisation to come up with innovative products and services on a regular basis. Google has been active in the research end and as a result has been able to regularly come up with products that suit the needs of the consumers. Google has an experimentation culture and this ensures that the company always produces new products that keep potential competitors at bay. Therefore this makes a good investment due to the fact that it will always have products that will keep consumers interested. The operational strategy adopted by Google has proven effective. It produces products that are user specific and are targeted towards a certain group of people or companies. This ensures that these products are tailor made for them at a low cost that

Direct Marketing Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Direct Marketing Plan - Assignment Example At the present, Fears and Robinson family get bigger and they have more than 200 stores countrywide by the end of 2005. F&R quality goods are distinctive and elite and they have an unparalleled status for value and service (Block, 1992). By this verity, the organization anticipates to magnetize public that value the artistic quality of transporting flowers, offerings and further materials. As F&R creations are generally flowers and fashion accessories, they deem themselves to be in the trade gift market, though a quantity of customers buy the product for themselves. F&R's mission is to develop into a renowned name of value flora, chocolates and gift items delivery service in the United Kingdom. Fears & Robinson intention is to increase customer positive reception of these products and to furnish regulars with attractive unique arty beautifications. When we look using the marketing terminology, ... Raise repeat customers by 7%. Build an effectual pull operation and bringing in new consumers that are supportive in generating more orders. Erect customer trustworthiness by granting incomparable delivery services and a client-centric strategy. Targeting When we look using the marketing terminology, the advantage of target marketing is simple-effectiveness. Firm target advertising is a technique to more efficiently arrive at clientele. Target marketing is a healthier utilization of company most precious possessions, i.e. time and wealth, to produce supplementary profits. The target market procedure lets us to chop down these factions of people so one can better recognize how to get to consumers. One approach to carry out this is to form a target market outline. Fears and Robinson is focusing on flowers and gift accomplices, targeting females with middle-end and upper-end revenue as the end users (Larkin, 1992). The side view of the F&R buyer contains in the following topographic, demographic, psychographic, and protocol factors: Topographies The abrupt geographic target is the municipality of London, with inhabitants of 7,465,100 A 60 mile geographic region is in need of F&R's stuffs and services The overall targeted area resident is projected at 485,000 Demographics Womanly Matrimonial Have kids, but not essentially at house Age limit is between 21 to 35 years, with an average age of 27 Learning expertise further than high school Earning a collective yearly family earnings of 50,000 or greater Condominium or home possessor Psychographics: The manifestation of her home is a main concern Entertaining and demonstrating her habitat is imperative She makes out herself as ingenious, elegant and talented, but seeks justification

Business Proposal for a new international SME Assignment

Business Proposal for a new international SME - Assignment Example The competitive advantages and disadvantages of the proposed business are also highlighted. In the subsequent section, operation of the proposed business is provided along with recommendations. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 4 Analysis of the International Business Opportunity 9 Operation of the Proposed Business 15 Conclusion 18 Recommendations 19 References 23 Bibliography 28 Introduction Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have started to play significant role in global trade. Statistics gathered by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other sources have indicated that SMEs have at present account for substantial part of exports from industrialized nations throughout the world (Knight, 2001). According to the statistics of OECD (1997), SMEs account for around 25% - 35% of the global manufactured exports and around 4% - 6% of the exports of OECD countries. These statistics have indeed established facts and support the internationaliza tion activities of SMEs. In recent times, ever increasing contribution of technological advancements and continuous easing out of regulatory advances have led to easier flow of transport, goods/services, information as well as finance in and around national borders. These factors have made SMEs a major contributor towards growth in the global economy (Fletcher, 2004). Recent growth of globalization has resulted in subsequent increase in the internationalization of SMEs. Along with globalization, advancement in transportation and increase in computerization have contributed towards the SMEs looking beyond their own country for business growth and opportunity (Suh & Et. Al., 2008). International Entrepreneurship In the growth and development of business, an SME and their management need to interrelate their expansion venture keeping in view the crucial aspects related to international entrepreneurship. International entrepreneurship assumes that becoming entrepreneurial and acting ent repreneurially is a dual process. This process generally gets integrated in practice. SMEs before looking towards international expansion generally looks towards building market, financial as well as entrepreneurial resources in their own country of origin. Later, they look to build on their existing capabilities by venturing towards global domain (Fletcher, 2004). The study intends to prepare a business proposal for an international SME i.e. Practicus. The SME is situated in the UK. It is primarily a recruitment company which provides value to their esteemed clients by offering their services in various fields related to human resource such as interim management, outcome risk &reward, project & programme management, capability & skills transfer, outcome healthcheck, project media & communications. The organization renders their services related to international change delivery business along with a distinctive approach in order to assist clients with various value added support. Th e organization’s major aim is to deliver as well as embed sustainable change (Practicus, 2011). Practicus, around six years ago, was only seen as an idea. However, through sustained effort it has at present grown to possess four offices in the UK and has opened new offices in Australia and the Netherlands. The firm in the year 2010 was listed at the 13th position by Sunday Times in terms of

Matallgesellschafts Hedging Debacle Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Matallgesellschafts Hedging Debacle - Case Study Example This discussion highlights that the action taken by the board was a clear sign of panic from their side; the board replaced MG’s top management and liquidating the firm’s derivative position and forward supply contracts. These actions clearly portray a board on panic since it did not take time to reconsider other options available. It was not the fault of the top management that oil prices fell thus sacking them would not change a thing. The new top managers appointed did nothing to reverse the situation; instead, they declared the speculative oil prices as the cause of the huge losses incurred by the firm. The case ends with an end to the firm’s involvement in the oil market but not a solution that would improve the firm’s position in the oil market.This study discusses that there is a high possibility that the firm’s board did not understand the full implication of the hedging strategy. The strategy was to hedge against rise in prices of oil produ cts in the market. Incase prices went up; the firm stood a chance of making a good profit. However, loss was an inevitable part of the strategy that was not considered early in advance. If the board understood the whole hedging strategy, it would have reconsidered before ending the firm’s involvement in the oil market. Possibly, it would have found ways to minimize losses as they await oil prices to pick in future to enable the firm recover the loss and possibly make profits.

Innovation in nursing IP phase 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Innovation in nursing IP phase 2 - Assignment Example Answers for Appendix A are: 1) 7, 2) 6, 3) 7, 4) 8, 5) 6, 6) 7, 8) 6, 9) 7, 10) 8, 11) 7, 12) 7, 13) 8, 14) 8, 15) 7, 16) 8, and 17) 8. After computing for the score, the mean for the exercise is 6.35. It is just a few points above half the scale. There is still room for improvements towards innovation in medical nursing care. The result may not be as impressive as initially expected but theoretical assessment does not literally translate to actual assessment which matters the most (Endsley, 2010). Strong points would be willingness to learn and open-mindedness. One would strongly consider those characteristics in a person who is working in the medical field as one would take in instructions from physicians. A single mistake into executing the instruction may put a patient’s life in jeopardy. Willingness to learn is somewhat associated with the fact that though one is knowledgeable in the field, there would be breakthroughs and changes which are needed to be executed. Learning, especially in the medical field, does not end upon graduation. There would be changes in the way medications would be administered to patients which are very crucial. Learning is not just the important thing at this aspect but also being properly informed. The two goes hand in hand. As for open-mindedness, there would be come a time that a nurse would be getting orders from interns and/or specialists who could be not just younger in age but also younger in exposure to the actual hospital or clini c. At this point, though the idea and concept of respect should always be present at a working environment, it is not always those who are employed longer who would get the final decision. This characteristic is truly crucial in the nursing world. As for weakness, one could point out lack of confidence and occasional stubbornness. Methods of expanding and enhancing innovations should be more inclined towards hand-on learning. It would give nurses

Matallgesellschafts Hedging Debacle Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Matallgesellschafts Hedging Debacle - Case Study Example This discussion highlights that the action taken by the board was a clear sign of panic from their side; the board replaced MG’s top management and liquidating the firm’s derivative position and forward supply contracts. These actions clearly portray a board on panic since it did not take time to reconsider other options available. It was not the fault of the top management that oil prices fell thus sacking them would not change a thing. The new top managers appointed did nothing to reverse the situation; instead, they declared the speculative oil prices as the cause of the huge losses incurred by the firm. The case ends with an end to the firm’s involvement in the oil market but not a solution that would improve the firm’s position in the oil market.This study discusses that there is a high possibility that the firm’s board did not understand the full implication of the hedging strategy. The strategy was to hedge against rise in prices of oil produ cts in the market. Incase prices went up; the firm stood a chance of making a good profit. However, loss was an inevitable part of the strategy that was not considered early in advance. If the board understood the whole hedging strategy, it would have reconsidered before ending the firm’s involvement in the oil market. Possibly, it would have found ways to minimize losses as they await oil prices to pick in future to enable the firm recover the loss and possibly make profits.

Ethics and Morality Essay Example for Free

Ethics and Morality Essay Environmental ethics is the study of the moral relationship between human beings to the value and moral status of the environment and its inhabitants. It is morally wrong for human beings to destroy the natural environment and other resources in the planet. The future generation will require living in an environmentally hospitable, favorable and hygienic condition that is being determined by the present generation. These conditions wholly depend on the way we treat the environment today. If we take care of all components of the universe such as the air, the soils and forests and other resources the earth shall be a favorable and friendly place for the future generations (Nash 1989). Although the question of ethics and morality is very complex, it is always important to explore environmental issues from a diverse point of view since what may seem right to an individual may be very immoral and unethical to another. The issue of dumping toxic waste and other forms of hazardous waste need no debate due to the adverse effects of the toxic to the well being of plants and animals living within the affected region. It is for this reason that Alabama act to damp the waste was environmentally unethical since he only considered the completion of his work and ignored the fate of other inhabitants within the location where the dumping was taking place. The sentence though seemed harsh, but I would consider it very light considering the impacts of his action both in the present as well as in the future (Enger Smith 2002). Alabama Man Sentenced For Dumping Hazardous Waste Alabama decision to dump hazardous waste at the abandoned industrial sites draws mixed criticism from different philosophers. Although to the majority of the people Alabama’s decision to damp such toxic waste on an open region was wrong and showed disrespect to the environment as well as to the inhabitants currently living and those to live after. From an ethical perspective, Alabama’s decision was an ethical. Because he was not considerate on the wellbeing of the people and other inhabitants living within the region he chose to damp the toxic waste. From a moral point of view, may be Alabama perceived his action as correct since his newly discovered dump site had been abandoned and no one lived around. For this reason, he might have considered on the time and money he was bound to save by transporting the waste to a nearby site than to the far designated region (Enger Smith 2002). The fine set upon him was very fair considering the impacts both directly and indirectly the hazardous waste would cause to the environment, both to the present generation as well as to the future generation. The fine should be made harsher with steeper penalties for any unethical injustices done to the environment. According to the anthropocentric theory of moral responsibility regarding the environment, Alabama action was environmentally unethical because he considered the human interests only with the assumption that human beings are the only significant creatures and that the rest of the inhabitants such as the plants and animals are not significant and can be overlooked while making certain decisions regarding the environment. This line of thought is wrong because all the inhabitants of the earth are depended on each other and the destruction of one result to failure of another. In his critic Naturalist Philosopher Emerson, blames commerce for the environment injustices taking place. In his argument, man’s actions threaten to upset the balance between men and nature. Emerson disagrees with Alabama’s action which is financially driven in that he chose to locate a secret dump site for his toxic waste so as to clear with his assignment within a short period of time and save on the transport cost as well being paid for the completed assignment. Alabama’s decision is thus unethical, because he did not put into consideration all the components of the environment but chose to be driven by the moral urge to work within a short period of time and save on other costs he was bound to incur (Enger Smith 2002). The biocentrism theory towards the moral responsibility to the environment suggests that all forms life have a right to exist. According to some biocentrism animals are more valued than plants and greater responsibility is placed on them. According to Alabama, his responsibility to the environment had some biogenetic traits whereby his concern was more to people than the plants species that where being affected directly by the toxic and hazardous waste dumped at the industrial site. Henry David Thoreau in his naturalist campaign describes Alabama’s act as a â€Å"do not care altitude† whereby few people do not care for the things they need to protect but instead vandalizes them. According to John Muir, Alabama demonstrated a high level or irresponsibility and went against the ethics of divinity. He believes that the wilderness mirrors divinity, nourishes humanity and vivifies the spirit and by dumping the toxic waste in an authorized place threatened the existence of the wilderness. As philosopher Aldo Leopold describes in his thinking, no man will ever see the beauty of the wilderness such as the long grass prairie, the beautiful flowers that stirrups the fields if men in their unethical deeds as Alabama demonstrated continue destroying the fields through illegal dumping of wastes and other toxic substances whose effect is being felt by both plants and animals living within the region the dumping takes place (Enger Smith 2002). The ecocentrism approach to environmental responsibility maintains that the environment deserves direct moral consideration in whatever we do, although the environment is considered to be at moral par with humans. Aldo Leopold had advocated that land is the basic concept of ecology that is to be loved and respected but Alabama failed to demonstrate this love by dumping waste illegally, to him anything is ethically and morally right if it preserves the integrity and stability of the community otherwise it is wrong. According to Leopolds idea, the land is an object of moral concern that needs protection from everyone and all its inhabitants. He maintained that it is morally wrong to eliminate any species from the land with a simple reason of increasing the monetary value of any activity being undertaken knowingly. It is this very act Alabama went against by illegally dumping toxic in a designated area which posed serious threat to all the inhabitants within the region (Nash 1989). . Conclusion In conclusion, ethical issues concerning the environment can be viewed in various ways and at different levels depending on the prevailing priorities within the society, but this does not mean that the environment should be abused by few for their personal gain but must be the responsibility of everyone to take care of the environment for the sake of the future generations and its overall stability. References Enger, E. D Smith, B. F. (2002). Environmental Science: A study of Interrelationships. Tenth Edition. McGraw Hill Higher Education. Boston, MA (USA). Nash, R. (1989). The Rights of Nature: A History of Environmental Ethics, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.