Thursday, October 31, 2019

To what extent has a Human Rights Act transformed the protection of Essay

To what extent has a Human Rights Act transformed the protection of the idividual rights in the UK - Essay Example The European Convention on Human Rights which was formed in the year 1950 has been an international agreement, which has kept the UK bound by the ECHR. The UK adopted and integrated the ECHR in its national legislation, and operates in compliance with the provisions of the ECHR. As such, the ECHR protects the fundamental civil and political rights of all citizens of the European Union1. The UK enacted the Human Rights Act in the year 2000 and adapted the provisions of the ECHR in it. The courts in the UK have to respect the human rights laid down by the act. In the absence of a written constitution, the Human Rights Act protects the fundamental rights and civil liberties. The underlying objective of this Act is to comply with the rights provided by the ECHR, wherever possible. Therefore, the Human Rights Act strengthens the scope of the ECHR rights. The Human Rights Act strives hard to protect the fundamental rights of all citizens of the UK. The act ensures that an individual’s rights do not interfere with the rights of other individuals. On the other hand, the interests of the community should be treated as a whole. The ECHR also considered this aspect while drafting the Convention rights. Articles 8 to 11 of the ECHR provide that the community’s interests are protected. The first part of these Articles established the rights and the second part dea ls with the limitations of these rights2. The English courts have to follow the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and interpret them in the cases coming before them. The Human Rights Act ensures that the Parliament invariably takes into account, while proposing legislation, that balance is maintained between individual’s rights and the interests of the community. Furthermore, the Human Rights Act also requires the English courts to comply with the legislation enacted by Parliament. It permits the High Courts or the Supreme Court to disallow any law that is in

Monday, October 28, 2019

Satisfying All Stakeholders Is Difficult When the Business Is Competing in Mature Product Markets Essay Example for Free

Satisfying All Stakeholders Is Difficult When the Business Is Competing in Mature Product Markets Essay A stakeholder is defined as an independent party with an interest or concern in something. Stakeholder groups are not all alike and therefore will want different things from a business. As each stakeholder deals with the business in different ways these needs are likely to conflict. With all of these differing needs it will be difficult for the business to satisfy all stakeholders at the same time as it is likely that acting to satisfy one stakeholders needs will end up conflicting with anothers meaning that the second stakeholder will not be satisfied. Examples of stakeholders include the shareholders, employees, suppliers and customers of a business. The Product Life Cycle is a theory used by management to understand where one of its products is in terms of its eventual life expectancy. It involves identifying if the product is in one of four phases: the introduction, growth, mature or decline stage. By identifying which stage of the cycle a product is in management can change its strategies to realise the potential success of a product. It is however, often difficult for management to see where the product is in the cycle as a rise or fall in sales most of the time will not necessarily mean that a product is growing or beginning to decline. It is also very hard, if not impossible, to accurately predict when the product will go into the next part of its life cycle. A business will find it very hard to tell when a market will reach saturation and will only know it while it is happening or in, some cases, after it has happened. While using the product life cycle model it is assumed that all products have a limit to how long they will be used, in practise this may not be the case. The mature stage of the product life cycle is when a product market has finished growing, sales start to slow down and there is no more significant growth. At some point the market will reach saturation at which point the product enters the decline stage. Sales will start to decline slowly and eventually product will become obsolete and not sold anymore. When a product market reaches the mature stage it will usually mean various things. As the mature stage of a product is when there are the most sales it usually means that the costs of producing each product are at the lowest as a result of economies of scale. This means that there is potentially more profit to be made per product if the price stays the same. However, often this is not the case as when a market reaches maturity more competitors emerge. As a result of this a business is likely to decrease the price of its product, eating into the profit margin per product sold, so that customers are more likely to buy its product. By selling more products the business will gain a healthy market share. Market share is what is mostly sought after by a business in a mature market. With little growth to expand into in the market a business must aim to gain the biggest slice of the market as possible to increase profit. The stakeholder that is likely to be one of the most important to a business is the owner or shareholders. They have a say in how the business is run and if they do not feel that the business is doing well will remove their investment and the business will lose finance. Shareholders will want two main things: increase in the size of the business and a good dividend. Therefore it is of great importance that the business keeps the shareholders happy. To do this the business must at the very least turn a profit. This will make the investing shareholder see that their investment is being put to some use. However if the business really wants to make the shareholder feel satisfied it must make a large profit. In a mature market this means that it must have a large share of the market. To do this it must differentiate its product to make its product more attractive to buy than a competitors model. The customer must have an incentive to buy this product over another one such as a lower price or differentiate the product in other ways such as highlighting the products supposed better quality or more impressive features. Differentiating the product can, however, have an effect on the profit taken per sale. Obviously by lowering the price of a product there will be less profit margin as the cost to the business of producing the item will remain the same. Also if the business decides to increase the quality or add extra features the cost of manufacturing the product will increase. While these may eat into the profit margin per product, if the business has marketed correctly and increased market share in the mature market by increasing sales the overall profit of the business may have increased. Management would hope that this would be the case given that this was the whole aim of the product differentiation in the first place. However by actually achieving an increase in the size of the business the shareholder would be satisfied with their investment. Added to this a good dividend could be given out because of the increased profits and the shareholders should be pleased. However another stakeholder that the business will want to satisfy is the customer. As the customer is the way the business will make a profit, by selling to them, it is very important that the business satisfies the needs of the customer and make them want to buy its products. The customer will want a good quality product at a preferably low price at which he feels that he is getting good value for money. In a mature market generally a consumer will get the best value for money with all of the competing businesses producing a large amount of alternative products and vying for market share. As such in a mature market a customer is likely to be most happy. The customer has conflicting needs with the shareholder in that the customer wants a low price whereas the shareholder wants a high profit. As these needs conflict a median must be found where both stakeholders feel that they are getting a good deal. While it may be tempting to favour one group, it is in the interest of the business to find a point where both sides feel happy because if one side feels unhappy the business will either lose the support and investment of the stakeholders or the custom and income from the customer and this will lead to a loss in market share. This is the same as all of the stakeholders. As all of the stakeholders will want different things from the business and some of them will completely contradict each other it must deal with them as best they can and try to find a solution where all stakeholders are satisfied. Keeping all stakeholders satisfied is critical to keeping the business going strongly and losing the faith of one of them could lead to dire consequences and none of the stakeholders being satisfied. For example if, in a bid to cut the cost to the business of producing the product so the shareholders could be given a bigger dividend out of a larger gross profit, the business told the supplier of raw materials that make the product that it must cut its price the supplier would not be happy. This could lead to the supplier refusing to sell the raw materials to the business and this would mean that until an agreement was made or a substitute supplier could be found the business could not produce anything to sell. This would lead to the customer not being able to buy the product that it desires and going to a competitor and the business losing potential profit which would upset the shareholders. In some situations the same groups of stakeholders may not ven have the same sets of ideas of what they want from a business making it even harder for the business to keep everyone satisfied. For example, in the group of shareholders a young businessman who has shares in a company is likely to prefer the profit made to be invested back into the business to expand and increase potential future earnings and increase the share price as opposed to a large dividend as he has less need for the money now and has long term plans for the shares. However an older retired man is more likely to prefer a large dividend to be taken out of the profit so that he can have the money now. In conclusion, it is difficult for a business to satisfy all stakeholders at any time regardless of what stage of its cycle the product is in. The demands of a each stakeholders are different and likely to contradict each other. However, in a mature market where there is fierce competition there is tension between the arguably the business two biggest stakeholder: the shareholders and customers. While the customers want a quality, low priced product, shareholders require a good profit be made. The business must satisfy the customer to compete in the market but also the shareholders to have the backing it needs to carry on functioning. Sometimes even groups of shareholders are fragmented which makes it even harder but it is critical for the business to find a point where all shareholders are content as this is when the business runs the smoothest.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Hamlets Revenge Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Revenge of Hamlet Hamlet’s sixth soliloquy is full of irony, philosophy, and with the familiar subject of revenge. It reflects themes of the entire play, and it helped further my understanding of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Hamlet. The main character, in his second-to-last monologue reflects Claudius’ regret which is an obstacle to revenge. This barrier creates frustration for Hamlet, but also is a reason for further procrastination, which is usually Hamlet’s way out of a situation. The subject of the soliloquy is essentially that if Claudius is killed by Hamlet while praying, he will go to heaven. This situation is ironic because of Claudius’ secret inability to pray, and the irony is unknowingly reflected throughout Hamlet’s viewpoint of the situation. Hamlet’s philosophy is educated, but very ironic, as are many of the words and images that Hamlet uses. The characteristics of this soliloquy, the subject, irony, Hamlet’s procrastination and his philosophy are true reflections of the entire play, and that is why my understanding of the play developed and improved by examining the sixth soliloquy. The subject of Hamlet’s sixth aside is very similar to his other six because of his inability to act upon his conviction. Hamlet is told to avenge his father’s unnatural murder knowing fully that this is his duty.â€Å" †Revenge tragedy has long been recognized, on the one hand, for the speed with which it becomes virtually synonymous with stage misogyny and, on the other, for its generic and sometimes profound investment in recognizably Renaissance process of mourning- revenge, after all, is the private response to socially unaccommodated grief- but typically mourning and misogyny have been considered in isolation from one another, in separate studies and only insofar as the duplicate Renaissance habits of thought articulated elsewhere in medical or philosophical discourse.†(Mullaney) However, throughout the play we discover his soft heart and often his inability to act. By this he is betraying his father’s command. This betrayal is more than evident in this soliloquy. His mind is tainted by the thought that if he were to avenge while Claudius is â€Å"praying†, Claudius would go to heaven. Essentially in this soliloquy, William Shakespeare reveals the moral problems associated with committing revenge in a corrupt world. Again, Hamlet finds a way to excuse himself fro... ... not to be’ speech. Each of the characteristics of Hamlet’s sixth soliloquy reflected the principle elements of Hamlet and because of that my understanding of the play improved. I was pushed to read more closely into the play and in doing so found many similarities between this particular speech and the thoughts and actions of Hamlet. My understanding of Shakespeare’s individual craft was also improved. Many characteristics of his writings shone through in Hamlet, particularly his creativity and questioning philosophies, his use of the procrastinating lead character, and his interesting use of irony. The basic principles of Hamlet were also revealed in the sixth soliloquy. The nature of revenge in a corrupt world and my understanding of these were improved through closer examination of the play. Works Cited DiYanni, Robert. â€Å"Literature: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark/ William Shakespeare.† 5th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2002. Gottschalk, Paul. â€Å"Shakespeare Quarterly: Hamlet and the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scanning of Revenge.† Vol. 24 No. 2. p.155-170 Mullaney, Steven. â€Å"Shakespeare Quarterly: Mourning an   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Misogyny.† Vol. 45. No. 2.(Summer, 1994) p. 139-164

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Search for national identity Essay -- essays research papers

The Search For National Identity Nationalism is the attitude members of a nation have when they care about their national identity. Nationalism can also be the love of a country and the willingness to make sacrifices for it. Just as a person’s identity is affected by other people and the events in their life, a nation is affected the same way. There have been many people and events that have affected the national identity of America. There were two Awakenings that spread different aspects of American thought. The first Awakening brought a change in the style of preaching. The new style that took hold was passionate and fiery, characterized by preachers giving detailed descriptions of the fate of those headed to eternal punishment in hell. Jonathan Edwards was one of the leaders of the first Awakening. Edward’s involvement in the Awakening started when he delivered a series of fiery sermons against Arminianism. Those sermons told of eternal damnation of the people if they kept to their rebellious ways. ( Berkin pg.76), (RRAL pg 19) Charles Chauncy was the biggest opponent of the first Awakening. Chauncy’s writings denounced Edwards and the awakening. (RRAL pg. 26) The Awakening was a counter to the Age of Enlightenment, in that it reaffirmed the thinking that the heart is greater than the mind, and that intellect cannot be relied upon. (Berkin pg. 75) Emotional revival meetings characterized the second Great Awakening in American. Those revival meetings would last for five days at a time. Revival attendees would listen to preachers in the evening and study during the daytime. The meetings would draw up to twenty-five thousand people. (Berkin pg. 76) People didn’t only come to here the preaching, they also came for social purposes. People got a chance to talk and trade with other people. This Awakening called for a return to God and Godly living. Church attendance increased during the Awakening. Attempts to limit alcohol and abolish slavery also came as a result of the second Awakening, as did the rise of the American Bible Society. The Society sent out missionaries to spread the Word of God, and increase the distribution of Bibles. (RRAL pg. 60) In combination, these Awakenings increased the recognition of God’s presence and the direction of individual lives, as well as the life of the Nation. Westward expansion has also dramatically influenced the shape of ... ...bolition of slavery. He wrote and spoke out against the institution of slavery. (RRAL pg. 101) Inventions like the cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney, helped lessen the need for slaves, but did not completely end the practice. When slavery was prohibited, it caused a dramatic change in America. America’s identity was then enhanced with the notion that everyone is equal. The equality of people is prevalent in today’s society. While the first and second Great Awakenings increased America’s recognition of God’s role in our Nation, Manifest Destiny motivated Americans to pursue their dreams and seek adventure, and the abolition of slavery enhanced the national belief in equality -- reminding us that no one person is better than any other person, the times that we are going through right now may be changing the way people, in one hundred years, will view America’s identity. America’s decisions do not only affect us in the here and now, but wi ll affect the future citizens of America. That is why it is so important for Christians to vote and express their opinions. If we are to maintain our national Identity, we need leaders who value it, honor it, and have the integrity to protect it.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Defining Race and Ethnicity Essay

What do the terms race and ethnicity mean to you? Why are these concepts important to United States society? Race is usually defined by the color of a person’s skin such as black, or white. These words are used very frequently. Ethnicity is a more proper way to define us as people and usually refers to our cultural background/ancestry. For example: Africans, African Americans, Caucasians, and Hispanics. These concepts are important to the United States because of the diversity, and all walks of life, census plays a big role. Our ethnicity/race is what distinctively separates us from one another by groups. Also according to (Office Of Management and budget August 28,1995) In 1977, OMB issued the Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting that are set forth in Statistical Policy Directive No. 15. The standards in this Directive have been used for almost two decades throughout the Federal government for recordkeeping, collection, and presentation of data on race and Hispanic origin. The standards have been used in two decennial censuses and in surveys of the population, data collections necessary for meeting statutory requirements associated with civil rights monitoring and enforcement, and in other administrative program reporting. Data collection agencies have legislative authority to collect racial and ethnic data needed for Federal programs and in the case of the decennial census, for redistricting. They also use racial and ethnic data for analyses of social, economic, and health trends for population groups. Basically it is important for them to collect this info for federal, business, and statistical reasons. References: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg_race-ethnicity

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

An Analysis on Confirmation by Charlie Parker essays

An Analysis on Confirmation by Charlie Parker essays The only child of Charles and Addie Parker, Charlie Parker was one of the most important and influential saxophonists and jazz players of the 1940's. Charlie Parker, also named "Bird", was born on August 29, 1920 in Kansas City, Kansas. He was one of the major forces in the creation of modern jazz known as Bebop, a form of jazz which was created as a revolt against the restrictions on creative freedom - typical of the big bands of the era. Parker's tone and approach on the alto saxophone, as well as his musical ideas have been followed, understood, adopted, and imitated by performers of all jazz instruments. During this time, two other individuals, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk, began following Parker in a similar approach to the new form of music. Basically, they began playing the form of A-A-B-A, or the 12-bar blues pattern. The piece of music that I chose to analyze is the Confirmation, by Charlie Parker (1953). In addition to Parker's alto sax, there are three other instruments being played in this piece: piano, upright bass, and drums. Each of these accompaniments plays an important role in the piece since they provide a harmonic foundation which provides the alto saxophone a richer, more distinguished, and tangible sound. This piece begins in a G major with a 5 second introduction by the piano, while right after the first measure, it leaves the G major and goes to relative minors such as E minor, D minor and C minor. Finally, at the end of the piece, it returns to G major again. In general, the signature of the piece keeps changing which makes it hard for the audience to predict how the music will go. As a result of this the audience is made to focus their attention all the way to the end. For the first 5 seconds, it sounds like the texture of the piece is homophony, but it changes when Parker starts to play to polyphony. Although it is obvious that at most times more than two instruments are being played, eac...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Abstinence vs Condom Distributiom essays

Abstinence vs Condom Distributiom essays Sexual education was introduced to the American public school system in 1913. The superintendent of schools, Ella Flagg Young promoted the teaching of sexual education and implemented sex hygiene lectures in the Chicago, IL School system (Allen 17). The goal then was to reduce social problems such as venereal disease and prostitution by educating the public about sex. Now, in the beginning of the twenty- first century, goals are different, but the conflicting opinions on sexual education are still going on strong. Health promotion goals for teenagers include postponement of sexual activity until psycho social maturity and consistent use of condoms by those who do engage in sexual intercourse (Dillion 35). Most people agree with these goals to a certain degree. However, the tension arises when methods of meeting these goals are discussed. The following report explains some of the biggest issues dwelling around how the public schools should teach sexual education. The two ma! in options discussed are teaching abstinence and condom distribution. Throughout the US, school districts and states are basing their policies around these two ideas. The importance of this issue is very significant. Over last century, our statistics for teen health and sexuality problems have been getting worse and worse. The decision that we make now will decide if we: 1.educate and inspire our youth and the sexual health status of our youth improves for generations to come, 2. Overexpose the youth, and they get out of control, or 3. Suppress the youth, denying them knowledge and resources, and our situation continually worsens for the next generation of our youth (Blair 55). Our youth today face horrible odds in the area of health, and almost everyone, regardless of political positions or religious standing, agrees that the problem needs to be addressed. As of 1992, 54% of all US high school students were sexually experienced, and since then that rate...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

DUI Essay Essays

DUI Essay Essays DUI Essay Essay DUI Essay Essay Driving drunk is the act of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, and a DUI is driving under the influence of other mind altering drugs. This doesnt only apply to cars and trucks but also planes, boats, farming vehicles, and even a horse buggy. Driving while intoxicated, also known as DWI is illegal almost everywhere in the united states. It is a crime in the state of New York, and can include penalties of losing your license, getting fines, and even Jail time. To determine how drunk you are, cops use a method called measuring someones BAC. BAC stands for blood alcohol content and any BAC reading . and higher is legally drunk in the state of New York. Nationally, 12. 8% of all drivers involved in fatal accidents during 2001 are known to have been intoxicated according to the BAC laws of their state. This number is based on a examination of the official records of each and every accident involving a fatality during that year in the US. It is based on factual evidence ra ther than on estimates or even guesses. The higher number (about 39%) commonly reported in the press refers to accidents in which there was believed to have been some alcohol consumed by anyone associated with the accident. For example, if a person who was believed to ave consumed any alcohol is stopped at a red light and is rear-ended by an inattentive completely sober driver, that accident is considered to be alcohol-related. Many factors contribute to blood alcohol content; such as the amount of alcohol you drink, how much you weigh, what youVe eaten since you drank, and how much time has passed. The best way to get sober before you drive is to wait. Your body absorbs alcohol at the rate of one drink per hour, so depending on how much you drink youll be waiting a long time. When a person drinks their reaction times are slowed and even doing simple tasks are challenging. That is why its dangerous for a erson under the influence to operate a car or truck. Every year thousands of people die due to drunk drivers, its a horrible statistic that leaves many familys sad, confused, and lost without their loved ones. Drinking and driving is something that should be taken very seriously. The BAC is different for drivers above and below 21 . If you are under aged then you should not be drinking alcohol in the first place. The BAC for a person under 21 is anything more than . 02. This is also referred to as the Zero Tolerance Law, anyone under 21 who drives with a . 02-. 07 BAC violates the law and can be fined with their icense suspended for 6 months. The penalties are in fact different depending on your age. When youre under 21 , you do not face Jail time and the fines are only around $100-$125. People 21 and older face prison and fines between $500 and $1000. Both people under 21 and over 21 face their license being suspended or revoked (below 21 suspended. Above 21- revoked. . Teens have many reasons for drinking and driving, like peer pressure, a lot of pressure is exerted on the non-drinker to drink with the group of friends. Most teenagers want to be accepted, but they make the wrong choices even thought they re familiar with D. W. I. Also like many adult drinkers, teens like to get together with a group and drink to relax and unwind. The teen years are an emotional time for many people because of situations at home, school, and dating for example. A lot of them feel alcohol offers a chance to unwind and get away from reality. Teenagers and pre- teenagers are very impressionable. If alcohol use and excessive drinking is treated lightly in the house, the teen can develop positive attitudes toward drinking. The constant barrage of ads in the newspapers, magazines and on T. V. portray drinking o be cool and a lot of fun for all those who are doing it. A lot of teens like to drink because it allows them to rebel against the law and their parents because its illegal. Its estimated that a dwi accident occurs every 32 minutes. An alcohol-related, fatal crash is one that was reported by a law enforcer and involved a driver or a non driver like a pedestrian with a blood alcohol concentration of 0. 01 grams per deciliter or greater. In 1997, 16,189 alcohol-related fatalities occurred, 38. 6% of the total fatalities for the year. Nearly one-third of the pedestrians 16 years or older who were killed by utomobiles were intoxicated, (had a BAC of 0. 01 g/dl). In 1997, of all fatal crashes that took place on weekdays involved alcohol; This percentage increased to 52% on weekends. For all crashes, the alcohol involvement on weekends was 12% and on weekdays, 5%. In 1996 and 1997, approximately 1. 5 million individuals were arrested for drunk or drugged driving. This is a ratio of one out of every 122 licensed vehicle operators. I agree with the laws, They are not too harsh, but at the same time they get the point across. If you are caught drunk driving you should pay the full price because ou are putting your own life and countless other lives on the line by making one bad decision. I think that if you are under 21 and have even a BAC of . 01, you should still get fined and your license revoked, because you shouldnt be drinking anyway. If your too immature to make the right decision and not drive drunk then your arent mature enough to operate a vehicle. I also think that you should go to Jail if your under 21 and get caught a 2nd time drunk driving. Drinking and driving again Just shows that you did not learn your lesson the first time, and now your going to pay the price.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Project Management - Essay Example The Belgian biscuit launch shall be used as the take-off point for revitaliseing sales and marketing efforts, in order to help assure a business turnaround for BIX-FIX. Determine the final version of the new product through product development processes, including test marketing, in terms of standardisation of ingredients, product shape, packaging, and packaged quantities Several mechanisms need to be in place to successfully manage the project and help ensure its success. Project management needs careful planning and organising in order to achieve objectives. Aside from defining goals and objectives, there is a need to identify the various tasks needed to be accomplished to achieve the goals, quantifying the resources needed, determining the budget, and defining the schedule for completion. Upon completion of the plan, implementation, evaluation and maintenance follow (Free Mgt Lib 2009). In the area of Product Development, the proposed new Belgian biscuit will need to undergo a series of trial production runs to be able to standardise quality and quantity of ingredients, biscuit shape and other considerations for packaged food products. In coordination with Marketing, trial production with different specifications for packaging and size also need to be tested. The final product version that will pass the test will also need to be tested to confirm that the design of the new product is compatible with mass production. In the area of Production, as was decided by the board of directors, a new production machine shall be installed to handle increased production arising from the introduction of the new product. The ordering, delivery and installation time of this new equipment should be considered in the Project Schedule, as this is projected to be needed from Year 2 onwards after launch. A new 2-shift working system will need to be adopted compared with the current day only working pattern. This

Friday, October 18, 2019

European Satellite System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

European Satellite System - Essay Example But this programme needed financial help and contributions from the private communities to enhance the order ensuring the programme to be financially stable. (Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council) The European satellite radio navigation system puts forth a major public infrastructure which provides enormous advantages for the European Union. This will make it probable for the system to avoid the involvement, dependence and the domination of a third part system where crucial application areas are increasing rapidly every day. This programme will possess a control over the technology. This system is designed for the civilian users and will suit the requirements of the users that the present system cannot provide. It also is present in the European space policy described in the White Paper presented by the European Commission on 11 November 2003. But all these factors justify that a grip of the public authorities in funding the programme's deployment and operation is very essential. (Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council) Space science plays a vital and significant role in Europe's space programme

You decide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

You decide - Essay Example Life is really complicated and we need to understand our aim and to do that we need to sit down and introspect. Many a time we come across situations in life where we have to make difficult choices and these difficult choices also decide our future, this poem is all about choosing the road which is less travelled, it also goes to show the courage of the poet who decides to take a path which is less travelled and there is a possibility of him getting lost but he is brave enough to try something different from others. This is what life is all about, we must be brave enough to trot a path less travelled, it may prove to be a wrong decision or it may prove to be a right decision, it is all about making choices when you are at the crossroads, this is what the poem is all about. At the very end the poet ponders over his choice, his life would have been much different had he taken the other road and this is very true. Our life would also be different had we made different decisions and had we taken the road less travelled, life is all about making the right, the most successful people often make the right choices. The poem has hidden meaning in it; the literal meaning of the poem is very easy to understand. A traveler reaches a fork in the road and is discombobulated because the road shows the traveler two choices, the traveler after much thinking, chooses the road less travelled by people. The figurative meaning of the poem reflects upon the choices that we make in our lives. We can either choose a road which is very frequently chosen by other people or we can choose to walk on a road which is hardly chosen by other people. After making our choice, we would always have regrets because the road not taken would always force us to think about the endless possibilities. This is what the poem is all about and this poem is really popular, Robert Frost became a household name because of this poem. Antithesis is quite conspicuous in the poem, the traveler has to

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Role and Functions of Law Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Role and Functions of Law Paper - Essay Example This paper outlines the roles and functions of law in the well-being of a venture in the corporate sector. It also outlines the necessity of business law professionals in a global perspective. In many occasions, law takes a significant role in regulating social behavior and supplying ethical standards in the society. This is evident from the rules of conduct, measures to enforce the rules and an effective channel of settling disputes. In the current society, laws play a vital role in peace keeping, promoting the freedom of business persons and checking power of the government. The laws are bound together by constitutions, statutes and treaties. In this case, constitutions establish the fundamental principles of government in regulating the commercial activities of a given venture. At the same time, the statutes and common law involve elected representatives of the legislative branch of the state in implementing the rules at hand. On the other hand, the treaties and executive laws are laws enacted between states and countries or president and governors. Such laws regulate the economic and political well-being of a given state in running its commercial activities. That is why they are classified in different categories in regard to their necessities in commercial activities in the society. ... These rules benefit the society in various ways and must be uphold in governing a business venture. It entails maintaining order and letting business partners and customers understand the ethics of the business. At the same time, criminal law assists in resolving disputes and conflict between quarrelling individuals. Over the years, the laws have been used in identifying conduct and protecting individuals and property. This secures the wellbeing of business people and facilitates their survival probability in the market. That is why the government reinforces criminal laws that safeguard civil liberties and ensure a smooth functioning of the business (Clarkson, 2005, p, 253). Substantive law in investments is not an exceptional in regulating the rules and ethics of the business. In a free market, substantive laws are used as statutory laws that define the rights and duties of every individual in the commercial set up. The rules confer legal and social rights to the business persons th rough guidelines enforced by government bodies. In most cases, it encompasses principles of right and wrong before outlining the conviction of the case. Commercial entities use substantive law in resolving issues related to the rights and freedom of citizens. The law establishes a basis for the extent of freedom of individuals to own property or run business at a given place. In return, all the members of a populous business set up are obligated to respect the business and property of commercial entities. When carrying out substantive law, the court plays an upper hand in examining the situation and determining the conduct of the parties alleged. In either way, the court resolves the issues at hand based on the values of business surrounding the commercial

Hersey Blanchard Theory a case study application Coursework

Hersey Blanchard Theory a case study application - Coursework Example Alex and Stephanie are students who work in a supermarket (part-time) to supplement their income. Alex is stuck in the produce department (as per his boss, Dan’s style and approach), while Stephanie is assigned to different tasks by her boss Jonathan. Moreover, one of Alex’s colleagues gets paid more (for the same task) because she pleases her boss by saying complimentary comments to him. Jonathan is friendly, relaxed and easy to work with. Stephanie is highly excited to work in the culinary centre where she (and her colleagues) helps customers to create new and innovative recipes for their customers. The end result is that Alex is bored with his job while on the other hand Stephanie looks forward to her work. The Hersey Blanchard Theory: The Hersey Blanchard Theory is a situational approach to leadership. It is indicative of the psychological and job maturity levels of employees. (Muralidharan, 2009, 63). Situational leadership in management circles means, adjusting approach to employees according to their maturity or readiness levels. The Theory categorizes four types of employees termed as R1, R2, R3, and R4 according to their attitudes and approach to work (Robbins, & Coulter, 2009, 63). R1 level of maturity indicates low maturity. In this instance, the employee is unwilling or unable to follow orders, or even due to insecurity and lack of confidence in their abilities. In case an employee is categorized as R2, he or she will be willing to follow the leader and have a high level of personal confidence. But they may lack the ability or skill to do a job allotted to them. They will be confident about any task or job they have already mastered, but lack the sufficient skills and ability to perform new ones. R3 indica tes a situation that is directly opposite to R2. In this instance the employee has the ability, skill and confidence to undertake a specific job or task, but is unwilling to follow orders. R4 level employees are confident, willing, and ready to take up responsibility. They have high levels of job and psychological maturity. These are the four situations that managers (and supervisors) face in the work place regarding employee attitudes, and the reason why the Hersey Blanchard Theory is referred to as situational. It is up the manager to identify these traits and manage according to the situation at hand. The theory then provides four leadership approaches that will be suitable to handle each of these situations referred to as S1, S2, S3, and S4 (DuBrin, 2005, 144). S1 – Telling: As the term indicates, the manager simply tells or orders (autocratic) the employee to do a certain job or task. S2 – Selling: This is similar to S1, but here the manager uses a persuasive (or selling) approach. S3 – Participating: There is a high degree of participation and interaction between the manager and the employee. Employees are free to voice their opinions and suggestions which will be seriously considered by the manager. S4 – Delegating: Here the manager delegates employees to undertake their duties and will not interfere in their activities unless absolutely necessary. All that is required is that the manger be kept informed about the progress or completion of the duties (tasks/jobs) assigned. Hersey Blanchard Theory applied to the case study: With regard to Dan it can be said that he can be categorized as an R3 employee. He appears confident, but not happy in his current position. It could be out of boredom and the difference in pay scales (mentioned in case study). But there is no mention about

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Role and Functions of Law Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Role and Functions of Law Paper - Essay Example This paper outlines the roles and functions of law in the well-being of a venture in the corporate sector. It also outlines the necessity of business law professionals in a global perspective. In many occasions, law takes a significant role in regulating social behavior and supplying ethical standards in the society. This is evident from the rules of conduct, measures to enforce the rules and an effective channel of settling disputes. In the current society, laws play a vital role in peace keeping, promoting the freedom of business persons and checking power of the government. The laws are bound together by constitutions, statutes and treaties. In this case, constitutions establish the fundamental principles of government in regulating the commercial activities of a given venture. At the same time, the statutes and common law involve elected representatives of the legislative branch of the state in implementing the rules at hand. On the other hand, the treaties and executive laws are laws enacted between states and countries or president and governors. Such laws regulate the economic and political well-being of a given state in running its commercial activities. That is why they are classified in different categories in regard to their necessities in commercial activities in the society. ... These rules benefit the society in various ways and must be uphold in governing a business venture. It entails maintaining order and letting business partners and customers understand the ethics of the business. At the same time, criminal law assists in resolving disputes and conflict between quarrelling individuals. Over the years, the laws have been used in identifying conduct and protecting individuals and property. This secures the wellbeing of business people and facilitates their survival probability in the market. That is why the government reinforces criminal laws that safeguard civil liberties and ensure a smooth functioning of the business (Clarkson, 2005, p, 253). Substantive law in investments is not an exceptional in regulating the rules and ethics of the business. In a free market, substantive laws are used as statutory laws that define the rights and duties of every individual in the commercial set up. The rules confer legal and social rights to the business persons th rough guidelines enforced by government bodies. In most cases, it encompasses principles of right and wrong before outlining the conviction of the case. Commercial entities use substantive law in resolving issues related to the rights and freedom of citizens. The law establishes a basis for the extent of freedom of individuals to own property or run business at a given place. In return, all the members of a populous business set up are obligated to respect the business and property of commercial entities. When carrying out substantive law, the court plays an upper hand in examining the situation and determining the conduct of the parties alleged. In either way, the court resolves the issues at hand based on the values of business surrounding the commercial

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Question 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Question 2 - Assignment Example While there are reported some positive trends during the recent years including enhancement of the entrepreneurial environment in the country (Roberts 2012), there still are some critical zones that make business environment less attractive. Thus, for example, based on the infrastructure, red tape, corporate governance, corruption and crime criteria, Philippines is ranked in the last position comparing with Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand (Escribano et al, 2009). Moreover, Philippines fail to protect the investors and there are more difficulties in obtaining credits than in its Asian neighbor countries. In terms of attraction of foreign direct investment to the economics of Philippines, there also exist some formal and informal barriers imposed by government combined with weak judicial system and corruption (Roberts, 2012). All these factors make Philippines less desired destination for multinational corporations and foreign direct investments. Based on the recent World Bankâ€℠¢ survey results, Philippines fall toward the bottom of the ranking of business-friendly environment (Lesher, & Plummer 2011). However, despite even its unfavorable investment climate, according to the UNCTAD, in the first half of 2013 there was recorded the second biggest FDI inflow to the Philippines among ASEAN countries (Malinao, 2013). Escribano, A., Guasch, J., de Orte, M., & Pena, J. (2009). Investment Climate Assessment in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand: Results from Pooling Firm-Level Data.  Singapore Economic Review,  54(3),

White Rose Centre Essay Example for Free

White Rose Centre Essay When we are promoting our product and business while we are at the trade fair in White Rose we will put up posters around the White Rose building and also have members of our business to hand out pamphlets to people who are there. This is to make sure that the shoppers at White Rose are aware of our business as posters can be easily ignored if there are a lot of people about or even deliberately. White rose also has an indoor radio for the shoppers. We may ask them if they could tell the customers at White Rose about us being there and what we are selling. This will also be promoting the White Rose itself. The market size will be different from that at school because people come from all different locations in and around Leeds to shop at White Rose so we will not know who and where are customers are from. But in order to promote our product and business for the White Rose Centre we could put up posters in school and around where each of us live, like in shop windows, door to door leaflets and lampposts. The posters will tell people that we are at White Rose on a certain date and what we are going to be selling. We will tell our friends and families about the trade fair at White Rose, they will tell their friends and therefore many people will come to see what we are doing. Our time-scale for the promotion of the White Rose trade fair is getting limited. We have to make sure that all our products are made a week before the trade fair. If some are damaged we will have to make more. The leaflets, posters, lettering and the questionnaires are also to be ready a week before. It will take time to do all these but if every member in the group takes a few candles home to make as well as making some in class, then the product deadline can be easily met. The lettering is something that we have already produced from the last trade fair so these will not need doing. The leaflets might take some time to do, as they will have information about our product and business. The posters and questionnaires are to be simple. These can be done easily. The budget for our promotional activities wont cost us much as we are going to be printing the leaflets and posters at home. If it does cost us then we will budget for it to cost us no more than 10. Maybe at school it wont cost us anything but if we want eye-catching posters for the White Rose then we will have them made professionally, this will probably be expensive. We are also thinking about having an advert in the Batley News in the week we are going to be at the White Rose. But if the price is more than we have budgeted then we will have to forget about promoting our business and product in the newspaper. The main resources needed for the promotional activities for our business is access to loads of paper, a computer and printer. Most people in our group have access to all 3 at home so it will not be a problem when making the poster or leaflet. We will use the special offer promotion when we have come to the end of the trading season for our business but we will not use it before then, as this is another way of promoting our business. The promotional activities that we will use in our business, to promote our product as well as our business do have advantages that are good for our business but also disadvantages which we will need to work on. The advantages and disadvantages for our promotional activities are:In June last year after a lot of group discussions and possible constraints on products that we were going to make, we decided to make candles as our chosen products. We made our first prototypes in July. We had a long candle on a base with flowers round it, a tea light holder with a tea light and a diamond candle on a base as our prototypes. In September we started making our candles for our first trade fair which was at Granary Warf on the 14th December. We had about 10 weeks to make all the products and the lettering for the trade fair. During this period, we started getting customers wanting to buy our products. We did not want to sell them at the beginning but then we saw that many students from school may not be able to attend the Granary Warf trade fair. We decided to sell some of our candles but we did not tell many people about it, as we did not want to run out of stock for our first trade fair. Our first proper sales were at granary Warf, but we did not do well as we hoped. In order to sell our products off before Christmas we had a sale in school on Tuesday 17th December in the main hall at lunch. We did quite good and made about 40. We still had some stock left but on January 29th and 30th we had another sale in school. At all these sales we were promoting our business and telling customers where we will be selling next and when. After this we have our last trade fair, which is at the White Rose on Sunday 9th march. We want to do as well as possible and then hope to have a clearance sale at school to sell everything off, as we will then have stopped trading. To do well we are going to promote our product and business in school and the White Rose as much as we can, telling people where we are selling and when. We are also going to make our product to the best standard as we have 5 weeks to make them along with our promotion materials such as posters, pamphlets and leaflets and questionnaires for the stall. We are spending lesson time, which is 2 hours per week, lunch times and also taking our products home to make. The resources that are needed for our promotional campaign along with the materials for our products are people, skills, computers and printers, flowers, metal bases, glue gun and glue, long candles, tea light candles, tea light holders, cellophane, acetate, scissors, sellotape, double sided sticky tape, ribbon, iron nails, glitter, sequins, beads, ready made candles, paper and time. All these will help us make our product and also promote our business as fully as we can. Two examples of the materials that we are going to use as part of our promotional campaign are leaflets and handouts. The posters will be distributed around our school and the White Rose when we are there and the handouts will be given to as many people at the White Rose as we can. We need to make sure that our promotional materials follow the things below. If it doesnt then our promotion campaign will not be that successful.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Global Climate Change as a Socially Relevant Scientific Issue

Global Climate Change as a Socially Relevant Scientific Issue The climate of planet Earth has been subjected to significant changes, particularly in seasonal temperature and weather patterns, since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, around the year 1750. Since that time, the climate has been increasingly impacted by anthropogenic drivers, such as carbon dioxide and methane production. Increasing concentrations of these gases have led to changes in available habitat for many organisms, extreme weather patterns and sea level rise, as well as effects on the health and economy of the human population. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, changes in global climate can have dramatic effects on where species can live, how they interact, and the timing of key life events, all of which can have profound effects on ecosystems. For example, one study shows that Northeastern birds that normally spend the winter in the southern United States have been returning north in the spring 13 days earlier than they did 100 years ago (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2017). Shifts in migration like this can result in limited food availability and changes to breeding cycles. Some species have been shifting their habitable range due to changes in their normal environmental range, causing ecosystem changes along the way. For example, as boreal forests invade the tundra, the habitats of caribou, arctic foxes, and snowy owls become greatly reduced, as they depend on the tundra environment for their habitat (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2017). Another comm on example of this negative effect is the shift in habitat for the polar bear. The polar bear depends on sea ice for its habitat, as well as its hunting grounds, where it uses holes in the ice to hunt for seals. As the global temperature increases, the mount of sea ice coverage decreases, which reduces the ability for the polar bear to access its traditional food supply. The loss of habitat is dramatic for the polar bear, as it cannot simply move farther north as other species can, since it already lives in the northernmost area of the planet. For this reason, the polar bear is an endangered species due to the continued effects of global climate change. The topic of global sea level rise has been a part of global climate change research for some time, but recent findings show that the change is accelerating rather than increasing at a constant rate. The new study is based on 25 years of NASA and European satellite data and shows that the acceleration has the potential to double the sea level rise by 2100 that had once been projected based on a steady increase in sea level. If the rate continues to increase at its current pace, sea level could be 65 cm higher than it is today by the year 2100 (Weeman, 2018). The rise of sea surface levels are due to increases in global temperature, which results in two types of changes. First, the increasing temperature melts the ice sheets, releasing more water into the ocean. Second, the addition of this warmer water and the overall increase in ocean temperature causes thermal expansion (due to hydrogen bonding) of the ocean waters, meaning the volume of the water increases as a direct effect of th e temperature increase. Around the world, even small increases in sea level can cause catastrophic changes in habitats, for humans and wildlife alike. Coastal populations, especially those that exist closer to current sea-level will lose use of the land, including homes, businesses and other infrastructure in the area. Populations will need to move further inland, further stressing the already dense human population, particularly in countries like the U.S. and China. Changes in sea level will also affect land dwelling animals and vegetation, which can cause disruptions to coastal ecosystems and eventually inland ecosystems, as species that are able to migrate inland encroach on other established ecosystems. Global climate change also has potential health effects on humans. According to the Executive Summary of the Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States, climate change affects food and water sources, the air that people breathe, the weather, and interactions with both the natural and built environments. Increased temperatures can lead to locally extreme heat events, increasing the frequency of heat-related illnesses and deaths, especially for the elderly, young children, and those with chronic illnesses. Weather patterns and sea level rise will disrupt infrastructure and cause coast flooding, which will negatively impact access to essential services like power, clean water, and emergency services  (Crimmins, 2016). The changes in seasonal weather patterns will also affect food and water quality as well as changes in infectious agents, which will increase the likelihood of food, water and vector-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease (Crimmins, 2016).   Although there is an abundance of evidence supporting the issue of global climate change, naysayers still exist, using disinformation strategies to confuse the public and delay action on remediation efforts. Many of these large organizations receive most of their funding from large oil companies, whose businesses will not benefit from legislative action for remediating climate change. However, the currently most noteworthy stakeholder group that opposes climate change is the Trump administration. It is difficult to summarize the major stances against climate change of this administration, since most of the arguments have long since been negated by many scientific reports. For example, Scott Pruitt, the current EPA administrator questions â€Å"whether we can measure ‘with precision’ the role of humans on the climate,† and he proposed, based on this, that humans may not be the major driver of global warming (Mooney, 2017). As a reflection of this stance, the curren t administration has revisited the fuel efficiency standards previously put in place by the Obama administration, a beginning step towards reversing the effort to lower carbon emissions. Based on the unsubstantiated argument that climate change is not definitively caused by humans, the Trump administration has moved toward lowering air pollution regulation standards, defunding major climate research projects, omitting climate change as a national security threat, and even taken down the climate change pages of the Environmental Protection Agency website (Greshko, 2018). The list of stakeholders and organizations that back the issue of climate change is long and substantial. One such organization is the U.S. Global Change Research Program. In the 2017 Executive Summary, it is stated that the global average surface air temperature has increased 1.8 °F over the last 115 years, which is the warmest in the history of modern civilization (Wuebbles, 2017). The report concludes that the dramatic changes are extremely likely to be due to the changes in human activities, based on extensive evidence. The most important point that is made in the executive summary is the positive correlation between the increase in anthropogenic production of greenhouse gas emissions and the many adverse effects on the global climate and the Earth systems, including sea surface temperature, ocean acidification, sea level rise, air pollution, and melting glaciers. The amount of scientific evidence supporting global climate change is substantial and there are many different sources that can be discussed. The most commonly discussed anthropogenic driver of the current changes to the climate is carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a major pollutant produced by various processes in human industry, such as the exhaust from combustion engines in vehicles. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, meaning that it traps heat that is radiating back from the Earth’s surface, which initially arrived as solar radiation. Due to its ability to increase the average global temperature of the atmosphere, it becomes part of several strong positive feedback loops, which amplify its effect. For example, the increasing temperature of the atmosphere allows more sea ice and snow to melt, reducing the planet’s albedo, or ability to reflect solar radiation, which allows more radiation to be absorbed at the surface, further increasing surface temperature. Melting of this snow and ice can also accelerate the breakdown of organic matter from below the permafrost, releasing more carbon from the long-term cycle into the short-term cycle, which will further contribute to the positive feedback loop  (Schuur, 2015). The relationship between the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide and surface temperature is strongly correlated, as shown below in the figure from Climate Central: The figure shows the strong positive correlation between the temperature anomaly, which is compared to the temperature baseline from the early industrial time period, and the rising carbon dioxide concentration in parts per million (ppm) (Climate Central, 2017). The next figure from NASA shows the historical trend of carbon dioxide over a much longer time period, as far back as 650,000 years. The figure clearly demonstrates how dramatically the carbon dioxide concentrations have increased since the rise of industry. Although those that are against climate change will point out the clear repeating trend of low and high carbon dioxide concentration, there is only one clear cause for the steep increase that began in the time period of the industrial revolution (Graphic: The relentless rise of carbon dioxide). Climate scientists have obtained accurate records of historical carbon dioxide levels from glacial ice. The air is locked in layers over time, which forms bubbles in the ice. Scientists are able to run tests on these samples to determine the amount of carbon dioxide that was present in the atmosphere in the corresponding time period. They can then compare this level to the temperature determined from proxy data from tree rings and water vapor oxygen ratios in other samples from the time period. One of the possible solutions for mitigating the effects of climate change would require the foregoing of the use of fossil fuels. Since the primary driver of global climate change is the increase in carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, and the carbon dioxide comes mainly from emissions from fossil fuel usage, the fossil fuel usage is a significant problem. Fossil fuels are also removed from the deep carbon reservoirs, and by removing them for human use, carbon is being rapidly moved from a long-term sequestered cycle to a short to term cycle in the surface and climate system. Eliminating, or even reducing, the use of fossil fuels, particularly in developed countries, comes with significant costs. The leading mode of travel by the average working citizen is their privately owned vehicle, which normally runs on traditional gasoline, a major source of carbon emissions. Many people have a significant daily drive to their workplace. The start-up costs for people in this econo my make it difficult to switch to more eco-friendly options for travel. There are also not yet many incentives to alter their travel habits. The need to switch from fossil fuels is also a risky move for the economy since many of the largest industry leaders are the oil companies. The movement for climate change legislation has been battling against oil companies for a long time since oil companies are believed to provide funding for many political campaigns, thus ensuring that their businesses will continue to flourish. Coal is estimated to provide about half of the electricity in the U.S., and a similar percentage worldwide. If the coal and oil companies were to endure far stricter regulations in order to reduce carbon emissions, there would likely be great risk to the global economy. If fossil fuels were to be used less or not at all, and alternative energy sources were used in their place, it should be possible to cease the increase of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosph ere and allow the global climate to eventually recover to a more normal state. Reducing the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere will positively affect many aspects of the climate. Global average temperatures will eventually return to more normal ranges, the sea level should no longer continue to rise, and air pollution will be reduced, saving people from heat related death and sickness, as well as food and water-borne diseases. Another benefit to decreasing the carbon dioxide concentration will allow for the acidification of the ocean waters to slow and possible decrease. Another key solution for mitigating climate change would be to reduce the deforestation of the planet. Trees and other vegetation are an important piece of the carbon cycle. When vegetation dies, it eventually becomes part of the long-term carbon cycle, which means that it will eventually be turned back into rock and sequestered in the Earth, but this process occurs over a much longer time scale. When humans purposely destroy forests for various reasons, a substantial amount of carbon is released into the system as biological carbon, into the ground, the ocean and the atmosphere. Not only does deforestation increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which increases global surface temperature, it also decreases the Earth’s albedo. Tree cover has a higher albedo value than agricultured land and black pavement, so when they are torn down, the ability of the Earth’s surface to reflect radiation back to space is decreased. This results in more heat becoming abs orbed at the surface, which causes more melting of ice and snow, further amplifying the warming and melting effects. The cost of reducing the amount of deforestation means losses for the agricultural industry, since this is one of the primary reasons lands are cleared. Reducing deforestation means that farmers will have less land to use for growing crops and less pasture space for grazing animals. Agriculture is a major source of sustainable food for many countries and the need for land in the industry is growing. It could also mean losses for the construction industry, as new regulations would prevent unnecessary clearing of land for new building projects. There are some risks to reducing deforestation. Deforestation helps to reduce likelihood of fast-spreading forest fires. Areas that are prone to forest fires often perform preemptive cutting. Forest fires negatively affect the atmosphere, as they rapidly inject carbon dioxide into the air. If certain areas were not permitted to c ut trees as they need to, it could put them at risk for more forest fires, which could be more dangerous in the short-term. However, reducing deforestation would be beneficial because it would no longer decrease the planet’s albedo and would reduce the amount of extra carbon dioxide being injected into the atmosphere. The best recommendation for mitigating, and hopefully reversing, the effects of global climate change would be to cease the use of fossil fuels. Since the anthropogenic removal of carbon from the Earth for fossil fuels has been determined to be the source of the leading cause of global climate change, it would make sense for it to be the most important solution for reversing the adverse effects that it has had on the planet. Humans removing various carbon-based fuels from their long-term sequestration in the Earth has led to an over-dependence on its various forms of energy production. The burning of these fuels produces the carbon dioxide that has been building up in the atmosphere, which is the leading greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. Along with the direct effect that carbon dioxide has on atmospheric temperature, its increased concentration in the air allows for more to be dissolved and temporarily sequestered in the oceans, which causes ocean acidification. Ocean acidification has negative effects on coral reefs and ocean life. As the temperature of the ocean increases alongside the atmosphere, the ocean also holds less carbon dioxide, lessening the ocean’s ability to assist in cooling the surface temperature. The addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere via the burning of fossil fuels moves the carbon to the short-term carbon cycle. It takes much longer for carbon to move back into a long-term cycle once it has been removed because it takes several hundreds or thousands of years for the carbon material to decay and compact into the rock sediment once again. Although there are other greenhouse gases and other long-term factors contributing to global climate change, the use of carbon-based fossil fuels is the most significant, as the changes to the atmosphere began at the same point in history when fossil fuels drove the industrial revolution. The most logical recommendation for reversing the negative effects which have been worse ning since this time period is to reverse the most significant shift in the use of fossil fuels for energy that began over 250 years ago. Works Cited Climate Central. (2017, April 19). Rising Global Temperatures and CO2. Retrieved from Climate Central: http://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/co2-and-rising-global-temperatures Crimmins, A. J. (2016). Executive Summary. Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Global Change Research Program. Retrieved from U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, Graphic: The relentless rise of carbon dioxide. (n.d.). Retrieved from NASA: Global Climate Change: https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/24/graphic-the-relentless-rise-of-carbon-dioxide/ Greshko, M. P. (2018, Apri 6). A Running List of How Trump Is Changing the Environment. National Geographic. Mooney, C. (2017, December 29). What position does the Trump administration take on climate change? All of them. The Washington Post. Schuur, E. A. (2015). Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback. Nature, 171-179. United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2017, January 19). Climate Impacts on Ecosystems. Retrieved from Environmental Protection Agency: 19 January 2017 Snapshot: https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-ecosystems_.html Weeman, K. L. (2018, February 13). New study finds sea level rise accelerating. Retrieved from NASA: Global Climate Change: https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2680/new-study-finds-sea-level-rise-accelerating/ Wuebbles, D. D. (2017). Executive summary. In: Climate Science Special Report: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume I. Washington, DC, USA: U.S. Global Change Research Program.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Home :: essays research papers

Home is more than just a word in the dictionary. First, and most basic, a house is a roof over people’s heads. Second, a residence is a place to go and truly relax. Third, and most important, a household is a place to laugh and cry with loved ones. A home’s most basic trait is its ability to provide shelter from weather. Rain or snow, a house will always be there. In the cold times of the year, the heater will be there to warm the house. The heat of the summer is no problem for a good home. The ideal dwelling definitely must have a dependable central air conditioner. When located in an area abundant with tornadoes and hurricanes, a home must have a safe place. A storm shelter or a basement is an excellent place to hide. Besides shelter from weather, a home will also provide shelter from the storms of life. When work or school is just too much to take, folks can go home, kick back, and reflect on the good things they might have. Kids can go home to hide from the bullies or the kids with cooties. No matter what the problem is, going home and relaxing can provide some relief from them. The most important thing about home is that it is where loved ones will be. On a good day, they will be there to share. A household is a place to share a funny joke or a good story. A haven is a place where people who care about each other can share a quiet night. More important than providing a place to share good times, a home also provides a gathering place for people who care during bad times. A family residence is a good place to get support for the bad happenings in life. The bad times can range from the death of a family member or friend to just a simple bad

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Nature: A Tool of Society Essay examples -- Natural Advertising Essays

Nature: A Tool of Society William Cronon says in the Epilogue of Natureà ­s Metropolis, à ¬Much as I say I love à ¬natureà ® that word usually remains an abstraction in my daily lifeà ³a non-urban quality of aesthetic or sacred beauty to be looked at and à ¬appreciated,à ® not the gritty web of material connections that feed, clothe, shelter, and cleanse me and my community.à ® (Cronon 384). This can be said for most of the population of urban areas. It is this ambiguous view of nature that makes us susceptible to otherà ­s interpretations of nature. This susceptibility makes nature a powerful force in society. This is especially evident in advertisements, which mold nature into the image that is favorable to portray the product being advertised. The Sony advertisement from Esquire magazine is for the Wega flat screen television, and is a good example of how advertisements use nature to sell a product. This ad shows two very contrasting images, one of the black and white desert, and the other of the television set showing pictures of children playing in the water of a fire hydrant. The use of the television to frame the picture of the children shows very distinctly that these are two very separate and different images, because as Leonardo da Vinci said à ¬There are no lines in natureà ®. In this ad through the use of colors, or the lack there of, this cultural icon is shown to be more favorable than the image of nature. The ad offers the viewer a sense of escape from the dull, monotone world outside by offering a more vibrant, playful world experienced through television. While the link between the images shown in the ad and the offer made by the advertisement seems very surreal, it is a natural link. The reasoning behind this link as being ... ...rural hinterland. We fool ourselves if we think we can choose between them, for the green lake and the orange cloud are creatures of the same landscape. We can only take tehm together and in making the journey between them, find a way that does justice to them bothà ® (Cronon 385). According to Cronon the nature-culture dichotomy that we believe in is incorrect, because nature is just as much a part of culture as culture is a part of nature. Works Cited Cronon, William - short selection from Epilogue, Nature's Metropolis Norton 1991 pp. 384-5. Marlboro Lights. à ¬Esquireà ® January 2001. back cover. Nash, Roderick - 'Old World Roots of Opinion,' Ch 1 from Wilderness and the American Mind 1982 Yale Univ Press pp. 8-22. Sony Wega. à ¬Esquireà ® December 2000. pgs. 17-18. Timberland. à ¬Maximà ® December 2000. pg. Yahoo! Email. à ¬Esquireà ® January 2001.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Jeffersonian Republicanism vs. Jacksonian Democracy Essay

Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were two influential political figures in two very different eras, ranging from 1800-1808 and 1808-1840 respectively, that established two very different political philosophies. Each formed their own system that helped shape the way people think about American government. Liberalism is a political philosophy that goes against the established status quo at the time in order for change, where as a conservative is one which adheres to principles established by that same status quo. The Jeffersonian Republicans image of the common man was one vested in the educated and independent farmer, who by no stretch of the imagine had the capabilities to serve in government. The Jacksonian Democracies image of the common man expanded from farmers to include laborers, planters, and mechanics. Jackson saw these people as the true representatives of the Government, and thus its true servers. The image of the common man for each the Jeffersonians and the Jacksonians differed in the fundamental principle of the true chosen class, and its real role in Government. Although Jeffersonian Republicanism established a more liberal status quo in comparison with the old Federalist policies, Jacksonian Democracies conservative maintenance of Jeffersons status quo did more to assist the common man in regards to the political, social, and economic aspects of his era. In contrast to the Jeffersonian era, Jacksonian democracy promoted the strength of the executive branch and the Presidency at the expense of Congressional power, while also sought to broaden the public’s participation in government. The belief in a weak national government was held by the Jeffersonians; they contended that government officials who used their powers too much were in fact abusing them (Ambiguous Democracy in America, 1800-1848). In Jeffersons time the two highest voted candidates became the President and the Vice-President of the United States. Jeffersonians believed more in the power of legislature, because it was a type of power given to the educated masses. Jacksonians however, believed in universal white manhood suffrage, rather than just the propertied class being able to vote, and supported the patronage system that enabled politicians to appoint their supporters into administrative offices, arguing it would reduce the power of elites and prevent aristocra cies from emerging. In the age of  Jackson, a candidate was chosen by a nominating convention and the President and Vice-President ran for their offices separately. The people demanded elected (not appointed) judges and rewrote many state constitutions to reflect the new values. Jackson saw no reason not to use force to achieve his goals exemplified in his handling of the Nullification Crisis of 1832, with the passing of the force act to force any law necessary (Brinkley, Alan, and Davis Dyer). Jacksonians believed in a stronger government, but it was a type of self government. In this system of beliefs, the president was considered to be a representative of the people, and thus he found no reason in his mind not to veto a law which he did not see fit. Jackson used Jeffersons policies to bring into fruition the ideals of the true common man in government. While Jeffersons ideas of social mobility reflected a growing sense of equality for all classes, Jackson established his idea of the true chosen class, and specifically geared his policies of social mobility towards this. Jefferson doubted that white civilization and Indian savagery could coexist and although he said that men were born to freedom, not to slavery, he still held many slaves. He felt strongly that women had a single purpose in life: marriage and subordination to a husband. Jefferson saw no reason to let them vote since women were never called upon to discuss politics. One of the many bills Jefferson proposed was the Bill for General Education, which allowed everyone to have as much free education as each person was fitted for (Cunningham, Noble E.). Jefferson believed education would be the cure of all evils. In the same manner, Jackson veered away from extending equality to slaves and women received little betterment, although many reforms were taking place in the time of the Jacksonian Democracy. Jackson forced thousands of Native Americans to march from Georgia to Oklahoma on the infamous Trail of Tears with his Indian Removal Act, thus showing his hatred for the Native Americans (Brands, H. W.). Jacksonians opposed programs such as educational reform and the establishment of public education. They believed that schools restricted individual liberty by interfering with parental responsibility. The importance of the Jacksonian Era was not that the gap between rich and poor had narrowed, but that there were now few barriers that prevented people from gaining wealth and power. Because  Jackson eradicated the Indian threat (a major concern for common people), and belittled the importance education, his party symbolized that a man could come from nothing, and become president, which was a source of inspiration and hope for the common man. Both Jefferson and Jackson did what they felt would economically benefit the common man however Jeffersons maintenance of the Hamiltonian economic system, which benefited the upper class, did less for the common man then Jackson, who advocated for the ideals of economic success for all. Jefferson encouraged State banks and was originally opposed to the national bank, however once in office he saw the true benefits of such a bank. Jefferson feared the consequences of industrialization, and thus didnt support it. In Jeffersons government corporate charters were granted to favorites of state legislators & often implied monopoly rights to a business, thus the common man had no chance for economic success. Jackson won the Bank War by having federal income deposited in state banks, while he continued to draw money out of the national bank by putting it into his state (Wildcat) Banks, because he saw the bank as a tyrannical source for the wealthy (Feldmeth, Greg D). Jacksonians accepted industry as essential to American economy, and thus further supported the common man. Jacksonians believed that corporate charters should be available to all who chose to risk starting a business, and thus anyone could make money (Jeffersonian & Jacksonian Democracy Comparison). This idea was exemplified in the Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge decision on corporate monopolies. Both mens ideas cause a state of relative economic turmoil, however each was generally looking out for the common man. Jeffersons policies however were still partially geared towards the elite, and thus do not help the common man as much as Jacksons economic system, which was entirely geared towards the common man. Both Jefferson and Jackson advocated for the common man, but it was Jackson that is seen as the true champion for the rights of the common man, and he was thus their true server. Jeffersonian Republicanism is characterized as liberal because from the Federalists to the Jeffersonians they changed the basic political ideology. The Jacksonians however are considered to be conservative because from the Jeffersonians to the Jacksonians the basic  political ideology didnt change, that is, advocating for the common man. Jeffersons ideas had the common man rooted in its intentions. Jefferson when in office however didnt act on these policies and Jeffersonian Republicanism was thus characterized as a system that advocated for the common man but didnt fully act for the common man. The Jacksonians embodied the American spirit, and so perfectly displayed the ability to climb from the very bottom to the very top. Jacksonians personified hope in a nation where hope was desperately needed. The growing lower and middle classes fought endlessly for their rights, which were continually denied by those in power. Jackson knew the plight of the poor, and during his administration, he made many efforts to return the country to the people. Both Jeffersonian Republicanism and Jacksonian Democracy were based on the beliefs in the freedom and equal rights of all men. However, Jacksonians acted more thoroughly on these ideas. While these two men essentially shared many of the same beliefs and ideas, there was a noticeable difference to how they acted on them and spoke out about them. Thus it can be seen that Jacksonian Democracy advocated more for the common man than Jeffersonian Republicanism. Works Cited â€Å"Ambiguous Democracy in America, 1800-1848.† 9 Nov. 2008 . Brands, H. W. Andrew Jackson : His Life and Times. New York: Doubleday, 2005. Brinkley, Alan, and Davis Dyer, eds. The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company Trade & Reference Division, 2000. Cunningham, Noble E. In Pursuit of Reason : The Life of Thomas Jefferson. New York: Louisiana State UP, 1987. Feldmeth, Greg D. â€Å"U.S. History Resources.† Jacksonian Democracy. 31 March 1998. 9 Nov. 2008 . Jeffersonian & Jacksonian Democracy Comparison. 9 Nov. 2008 .

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Kayte Clark (case) Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Kayte Clark ( ) - Case Study Example To successfully bring a case of discrimination against her employer under ADEA, there are certain things that Kayte Clarke must prove. In the case of Palasota v Haggar Clothing Co., 342 F.3d 569 (5th Cir. 2003), the Court outlined what the plaintiff must prove to show that indeed there was discrimination that is actionable under ADEA. Citing the earlier case of Bodenheimer v PPG Indus., Inc., 5 F.3d 955, 957 (5th Cir. 1993), the Court enumerated the following: the plaintiff was discharged; he was qualified for the position; he belongs to the protected class at the time of the termination; the employer did any of the following to him (a) replaced him with another who is not within the protected class, or (b) replaced him with a younger person, or (c) simply discharged on account of his age. Applying the aforesaid in Kayte’s case, she must provide proof that she is 40 years old or above at the time of her termination and therefore within the protected class under s. 631(a) of th e 29 USC Chapter 14 (or ADEA), proof of her termination and her qualifications to the position and the fact that she was discharged on account of her age. Moreover, ADEA requires that the employer must have at least 20 employees to bring the case within its ambit under s. 630(b). An act of employment discrimination may be proved either directly or indirectly. Indirect proof is conducted using the â€Å"pretext† method prescribed in the case of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v Green, 411 US 792 (1973). In that case, which involves discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Court held that prima facie evidence from which it can be inferred that there was discrimination may be offered in lieu of direct proof. The employer is then given an opportunity to rebut it with contrary evidence, to which the plaintiff must counter-prove as a mere â€Å"pretext,† because the real reason was actually discrimination-based. On the other hand, if Kayte is to bring a suit under the ADA, she must prove the threshold requirements of the law, which are: she has a disability within the ADA context; she is a qualified individual under ADA, and; she has suffered an adverse employment action because of such disability (Huber 267). Section 12102(1) of Title 42 of the USC (known as ADA) defines disability as: physical or mental impairment significant enough to interfere with major life activities; is recorded, and; seen or regarded by others as such. Legal blindness is defined by the American Medical Association as an eye condition in which a person can see details only at a distance of 20 feet or less using the best conventional correction as opposed to the normal 200 feet vision reach of persons with 20/20 vision or can detect objects only at a field of 20 ° degrees or less (Corn & Koenig 6). In the case of Sutton v United Airlines 527 US 471 (1999), the Court ruled that a person who is legally blind, but whose vision impairment is correctable, is not disabled under the ADA. Under the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, the mitigating factor established in Sutton and similar cases was specifically rejected under s. b(2) thereof, but not the use of eyeglasses or contacts that â€Å"correct visual acuity or eliminate refractive error† which is now incorporated as s 12102(4)(E)(ii) and (iii)(I) of ADA. The implication of this is that Kayte may not qualify if her vision impairment is correctable by eyeglasses or contacts, but may qualify if instead of eyeglasses and contacts, the impairment is cor

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 21

History - Essay Example Stephen Kinzer in book â€Å"Overthrow† argues that America could have avoided most of these violent military confrontations spending billions of dollars and causing bloodshed and pain by more patient and effective use of diplomacy and its tools of persuasion. â€Å"Modern history makes it eminently clear that when United States engages with oppressive and threatening regimes, using combinations of incentives, threats, punishments and rewards, those regimes slowly becomes less dangerous† (p.320). This statement sums up what the US has to understand if they truly want peace on earth rather than using the military might to overthrow the other countries governments. The author cites the examples of China, the former Soviet Union, South Korea, South Africa as the success stories of effective diplomatic strategy. At the same time one look at the countries that US militarily intervened like, Philippines, Afghanistan, North Korea, Vietnam, Iran and Iraq the results were terribly wrong. In Iran for example in the early 1951, US at the request of the British, removed a fully functional democratic government only to install a dictator. And in Iraq several decades later they did exactly opposite. Both have not worked. Iran became a completely anti-american country with religious leaders as head of state that looks to oppose any American ideas at the world level. Iraq is still smoldering from the chaos of war with violent reactions every now and then. The resentment against US is ever increasing with strong Anti-US propaganda. The author argues that in most of these cases diplomatic and political approaches would have been far more effective. More often than not, the think tank of the US gets impatient and jumps to the conclusion that a â€Å"regime change† is the only answer. What do they do?. They forcefully invade the country with their military might and advanced weaponry, remove the leader of that country and hand its power to someone who will dance to their tunes.

Monday, October 7, 2019

The Role Of Morality In Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Role Of Morality In Society - Essay Example Among the theories used include normative or rather ethical theories while deciding on how an action is likely to implicate a society such as utilitarianism. This refers to the application of reasoning while taking use of the senses. One thus makes his own judgment based on how he’s likely to benefit from his action. Some may however be driven by greed thus implying their action may never replicate positivity to the society. The society however has its own view owing to believe that actions done ought to as well be meaningful to the wider society (Gray, 2010). Discrimination is thus rarely championed during its application. Philosophers however tried to justify their own ideologies regarding this issue rarely agreeing at some point. One would agree with this point moral decision made rarely equated or rather meant the action implemented was right. Thus the outcome realized mattered as it too had the ability to signify its intensity whether it was of merit. A lot can be derived from this theory; owing to its ability to bar men from resulting to, bad tendencies such as killing, stealing and other evil. In order to curb the vice leaders ought to be courageous while educating people on their rightful place in society on their rite thus acting as a form of empowerment. While doing so any activity likely to harm their well being is discouraged and could be useful when cautioning societies from practicing immoral behavior rarely adding value to the society (Gert, 1988). Aristotelian Ethical Virtues A cording to Aristotelian ethical virtues was likely to be made up of two distinct parts. In one of his perception he argued that the ultimate thing was to attain happiness at an individual level. This thus compelled people to embrace good behavior likely to lead to its materialization. One however needed to keep observing certain habits. People’s attitudes were also likely to dictate their behavior. During certain situations some are likely to be compelled to act differently than it could be the norm; while experiencing peace it’s unlikely to see a nation result to attacking another but could be compelled in a situation of war. Such an action is simply due to the need for security. His perception was however limited now that it rarely had the big picture of the other population in mind; rather it was based on self gratification thus leading to selfishness now that their interest were never captured (Nussbaum, 1987). Pleasure was central in his light but rarely does it add value to life owing to the plight of pleasure lovers at times dying poor while pursuing their ambition. Rules were thus rarely used while arriving at morally accepted norms when such a theory is applied. He however also spearheaded a notion on the importance of balance which in this case avoided extremes thus making it a general rule. Unrelenting effort demonstrated by players while striving at development have aided in bringing about a transformation. As a resu lt amenities are set and given a high priority while the solo aim is to ensure value addition to the surrounding communities some of which may have been disadvantaged. Factors leading to such development could be due to there being little resources yet they too ought to be well managed to facilitate a transformation. This calls for both government and the private sector cooperation while coming up with formidable policies to aid in attaining such an objective. While may be

Sunday, October 6, 2019

The Founding Docs of the U.S. Governmen Assignment

The Founding Docs of the U.S. Governmen - Assignment Example merican Enlightenment through its postulates which emphasize social justice with regards to financial independence, citizenship rights, paid employment and social welfare (Hofstader, 1989). It laid the foundation for emancipation of slaves and blacks to bring them into the mainstream of American society facilitating equal rights and equal opportunities in all areas for everyone, including blacks and ethnic minority. The sovereignty of state and powers of the government was embedded in the constitution of America. Representative republican governance indicated democratic framework of the constitution. The republic structure of governance was considered as the American experiment mainly because it helped test the moral implications of the principles of the constitution and its flexibility in incorporating the changes. The Bill of Rights was important legal document fulfills principles of American enlightenment while satisfying views of both federalists and non federalists. It paved way for reforms in constitution through amendments. It empowered Americans to make decisions about their political and social equity. The federal structure of governance with its dual nature, it was able to focus on development of people and region while wider policies of national interest like defense etc. remained the responsibility of the federal Union of America. Thus, it promotes responsible use of power in implementing the democratic rights of individuals while judiciously executing its rights to power. (words:

Saturday, October 5, 2019

Company Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Company Law - Essay Example gment passed also stated that that for the assumption of responsibility to be effective some form of direct or indirect conveyance is needed from the behalf of the director and also requires that the claimant should have relied on the information provided by the director. The judgment provided also included the fact that the company or the organization is a separate entity from the directors and the shareholders. Williams aimed at imposing the personal liability to the organization under the principle of Hedley Byrne. But that did not held true for the case. The principle states that it requires a special relation to exist between the plaintiff and the tortfeasor3 Mr. Mistlin claimed that he had no special dealings with the Williams and he never took the responsibility of Mr. Williams in behalf of the company. The judgment passed made it clear that the director of a company runs no risk of his personal liability by taking the charge of a private limited company unless and until he ha s expressed or taken any sort of personal liability. The judge of the case, Lord Steyn commented on his final verdict that there was no personal dealing with the Williams and the managing of the company and the exchange of ideas between them never crossed the line which could create a feeling among the Williams that he had taken the personal responsibility for them. It was held as a case of negligent representation by the company.4 Standard Chartered Vs Pakistan National Shipping Corporation Limited: The case involved three main organizations which are Standard Chartered, Oak Prime, and The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation. In the particular case Pakistan National shipping Corporation was the shipping agent of the delivery of Iranian Bitumen sold by Oakprime. Incombank issued a letter... This research have discussed the two cases and their judgment cited had some similarity and differences. In both the case, the convict accused was the part of the organization, and in both case both of them belonged to the managerial levels. The accused was held guilty on matters of misrepresentation of certain scenario. In the case of the Williams and the Natural life heath foods limited the Williams carried out their legal case as because they suffered loses based on the financial projections provided to them by the director, similarly in the case of the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation and the Standard Chartered bank, the director of the Oakprime was held as accused on behalf of the false representation of the bills. The judgment in the identical cases was completely different from each other. In the case of the Williams, the director of the concerned organization was let free and the case was represented as scenario of unintentional misrepresentation. The judgment stated th at the director cannot be held responsible for any personal loses of the franchisee based on the dealings between them until he had shown his personal liability for the matter and he has any personal relationship with the party. Whereas in the other case the judgment showed that the director or the management person concerned cannot hide his fault behind the liability of his company. Mr Mehra deliberately made the false statement so that he may attain the payment for the letter of credit. The law cited strictness in matters of fraud cases than in general matters concerned.