Research Proposal on Childhood Obesity

Child obesity is a condition characterized by the child having too much fat in the body to an extent of his or her health being in danger. In adults, it could be described as a state of having a body mass index of more than thirty (Paxon, 2006). Parents feeding them with too many calories bring about obesity in children. The excess calories are converted to fats that accumulate in the child’s body. This child will develop a big body because he or she will add weight and become quite fleshy. Obese children are at a risk of getting very adverse health effects, some of which are fatal. The study found that high blood pressure in childhood was only a weak predictor of early death and high cholesterol was not associated with premature death, but experts suggested those factors were easier to control with medication. A rare study that tracked thousands of children through adulthood found the heaviest youngsters were more than twice as likely as the thinnest to die prematurely, before age 55, of illness or a self-inflicted injury. Being overweight during childhood and adolescence increases the risk of developing high cholesterol, hypertension, respiratory ailments, orthopedic problems, depression and type 11 diabetes as a youth. One disease of particular concern is Type 11 diabetes, which has linked to overweight and obesity and has increased dramatically in children and adolescents. Watching television, using the computer, and playing video games occupy a large percentage of children’s leisure time, influencing their physical activity levels. Overweight children and adolescents are more likely to become overweight or obese adults. It is an extremely difficult cycle to break. An unhealthy diet and a sedentary lifestyle are known risk factors for the three leading causes of death in adults: cancer, stroke and cardiovascular disease. Hypertension is the commonest problem facing man at present. Though the understanding of hypertension has improved considerably with an increased awareness of the disorder in the general population, the control of hypertension has been dismally poor. During my research, I personally have found that blood pressure levels often equate with low birth weight, body mass, maternal age, racial factors, childhood obesity, insulin levels, an elevated blood pressure during childhood, and a positive family history. In fact, children from hypertensive families generally tend to have higher blood pressure levels than kids from normotensive families. Besides, there is also a greater association in blood pressure levels between fathers and their children. One of the major causes of obesity to be addressed is eating excess calories from energy rich foods. Eating a variety of healthy foods is necessary for optimal growth and development, Protects against disease and provides energy to play, explore and learn. This is also accompanied by inadequate exercising or working out. This results in fats accumulating in the body. Parents should monitor their children’s feeding habits and take them for regular check-up. There are many ways that parents can help their children on a healthier path. Start early to establish healthy eating practices at home; be a role model, kids love to follow if lead by example. Plan healthier snacks that meet the nutritional needs and kids enjoy eating as well. To determine whether a child is obese or not, his or her body mass index is measured. It is then compared to the child’s height. In case a child is obese, treatment should be sought promptly before more damage is done by this condition. The diet should be balanced and meals should be eaten in a regular schedule. The child should also be assisted to shed the unnecessary weight. This should be done using the safest method. The child should also be encouraged to work out a lot and be very active. The find acquired so far include prevention and the long-term effects that would be brought on by by obesity. To prevent obesity from affecting one’s child, the parent should ensure that he or she eats low-calorie foods. The child should also increase the intake of fruits, vegetables and water. A child should be encouraged to participate in outdoor activities such as sports and games. If a child becomes obese and little or nothing is done, there are long-term effects. These include diseases like coronary issues and problems with respiratory system. Due to poor health, children may not live up to their potential. Parents’ spending a fortune for their child treatments brings non-satisfaction and potential depression (Kazaks & Stern, 2009). Mothers who have jobs do not directly cause weight problems in their children, but families that are busy not really having the time to prepare food that rely on fast food and frozen dinners. Addressing obesity in children is a very vital issue. It is important to understand what causes this condition, how to identify it, treat and prevent it. The health of our children is the most important thing. No parent would like their children to suffer terminal diseases or die at an early age especially because of obesity. Children would also want to live up to their dreams and achieve their best. Obesity has been noted to cause not only body disorders but also mental instability in children. A child who is obese will probably have low self-esteem, suffer depression and be very inactive. It is important to address the problem in order to avoid all the likely consequences caused by obesity.

Of Mice and Men Characters Essay

At the beginning both George & Lennie met at the rench near the river,close to the hill sides. The relationship between George & Lennie is that they are close friends.Acctualy George had promised Lennie’s Aunt Clara that he will take care of Lennie, as she laid on the bed of death. â€Å"Some body’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No you stay with me, your Aunt Clara wouldn’t like it if you were Running off by your self, even if she’s dead.† Although Lennei is mch stronger,taller & muscular than Goerge, he still seems to depend on George. He forgets everything, he can’t cook, he’s got immature adult hood behaviour, he can’t deal with day-to-day life. Where as George happens to be the leader. He cooks for him, takes care of him, & there relationship between them seems to be like father & son. H e does at times get angry & frustrated with him due to his behaviour or the attitude toward him having to forget everything. George & Lennie both carry a dream along themselves, which the want to fulfil, of having a place of there own, â€Å"With us it ain’t like that new got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar-room, blowin’in our jack jack jus because we got no place else to go. If them other guys get in jail then can rot for all anyone gives a damn. But not us.† However Lennie always seem to have a frustrated attitude, â€Å"But not us ! An’ why because †¦because I got you to look after me, & you got me to look after you, & that’s why.† â€Å"Some day where gonna get the jack together & where gonna have a little house & a couple of cows & some pigs.† In this case Lennie had kept control of the money, as he told every thing to Lennie to do, & that this money would help them in buying a place of there own. As the third person helps them so that he could also move out without the others knowing about it. As they had prepared there dream to come true, but as always Lennie had spoilt everything due to his immature attitude. At this stage of agreement with old man, Curley’s wife walks in asking for trouble as usual, well that’s what George thought. After there conversation over there secrete, Lennie fell a sleep on the bunk dreaming, mean while Curley walks in asking George & the bold man if they had seen his wife. During this they end up in a slight argument. As Curley gets furious at the telling of the people, telling him to keep his damn wife a home. On the other hand as Lennie is dreaming, he was smiling & delighted at the memory of ranch. At this stage Curley glaed at him, as he slipped his eyes off the past & lighted on Lennie, as he had become the centre of attraction. At this stage he stepeed towards lennie, as he was half asleep, & replied unknowingly & confusingly â€Å"Huh†?Due to him being so deniable Curley exploded with range. † Come on you big bastard-get up on your feet. No big son-of-a-bitch, is gonna laugh at me. I’ll show ya who’s yella?† Curley’s anger made Lennie look helplessly at George, & at this stage Lennie gets up & tries to retreat Curley, but Curley was balanced & poised . Right now he slashed a thump at Lennie withhis left, & then hit him under his nose. During the pain Lennie felt he cried for George’s help. But unfotanly the beating was at limited for Lennie & was in anger,despite having George stood on his feet yelling above all, to Lennie, telling him to get him (revenge). â€Å"Get him Lennie† Although Lennie was much stronger & muscular than Curley, â€Å"Don’t let him do it† Pain was getting to Lennie & the others in the room. At this stage Lennie covered his face with his huge pones (hand) & felt the beat ness of terror within himself, as then beating, as he again cried for George’s help & the others to make him stop. Then again Curley had attacked him in the stomach & blow of his wind. The scene now was painful & thew feeling of careless struk every one, especially Slim as he stud to his feet to betray Curley. â€Å"The dirty little rat; he cried, I’ll get’ un my self† But George atn this stage grabbed Slim by holding out his hand,asking him to wait, as knew Lennie would get Curley back. He new it was at limited for Lennie & the support of them in the room defiantly want revenge from Curley. † Wait a minute† (George said to him) † Get him Lnnie† The single voice of George Struck Lennie, as he took his hand away ftrom his face & looked around for George. At this point Curley took the advantage of him having to take his hand off his face & slashed him again in his eyes. Lennie’s face was covered with blood & George was again yelling/persuading Lennie to hit him. Again Curley’s fist was snagging when Lennie reached for it fist & seconds layer Curley was flopping all over the place like a fish would. Curley’s closed fist was now lost in Lennie’s big hand, revealing his anger in agony, as this time George ran down the room yelling at him to let go of him, but Lennie did not let go, & slapped him across the face repeatingly, but still he didn’t let go. However Curley was slushing as he fell white in his face & started to shrink,as he became weak.Howeever at last he did let go, as he crouched against the wall. â€Å"you told me to, George† At this stage Slim regarded Lennie with terror, as he statedy then they better get Curley to the doctor, as soon as possible, as they thought that he could be worse than what it look, but he also mentioned to Curley & the other surrounded strictly that his hand got stuck in the machine, if any one hade to ask then Lennies name should nit be mentioned strickly or trouble would occur. ( George said)†Slim, we get canned now? We need the stake. Will Curley’s old man cane us now? (Slim said to Curley)†you got your senses in hand enough to listen? â€Å"I think you got your han’ caught in a machine.† â€Å"If you don’t tell nobody what happened, we aren’t going to. But you jus tell an’try to get this canned & we’ll tell ever’body,an the will you get the laugh.† After this obviously George & Lennie had to stay well clear from cur ley’s wife, especially Lennie in eve at the time,& was specially warned from George, that she’ll cause trouble & that Lennie was in the bad books ofCurley & was better to stay out of his way. The old man was talking to creok ojn his bunk as Lennie arrived, & both Lennie & the old man started telling there story of them 3, haqving there place of there own,with Lennie’s rabbits & other animals/habitats. Again Creok offered to put fowar some money, but as George walked in the room & having a suspicious shocking look on his face as he saw Lennie sitting there. The old man mentioned the thought offered by Creok, but the shock & discomfort of privacy shrook him as he apologised to them all but this place was supposed to be a secrete & a place of there own & no one was to know in case of trouble. During the conversation Curley’s wife had walked in the room & interruptedly every one was shocked to her there especially if she had geard everything then trouble was to come, also her distance close to us would let her know what accually had happened to Curley that night. However later on in the argument with her & the others in the room she accually found out that it was Lennie who hert his hand & not the silly excuse of the machine.As Curley’s wife tried to get on Lennie,George tried to hold Lennie away from her, & tried to get Curley’s wife out of the room as Curley & his old man walked in the room,& suddenly intruptted the argument.

Night World : Witchlight Chapter 4

Winnie's jaw dropped. â€Å"You-you-keep away from me!† Iliana said, and then she got another breath and started shrieking again. She had good lungs, Keller thought The shrieks were not only loud, they were piercing and pitched high enough to shatter glass. Keller's sensitive eardrums felt as if somebody were driving ice picks through them. â€Å"All of you!† Iliana said. She was holding out both hands to fend them off. â€Å"Just let me go! I want to go home!† Winnie's face cleared a little. â€Å"Yeah, I'll bet you do. But, you see, that place is dangerous. We're going to take you somewhere safe-â€Å" â€Å"You kidnapped me! Oh, God, I've been kidnapped. My parents aren't rich. What do you want?† Winnie looked at Keller for help. Keller was watching their prize Wild Power grimly. She was getting a bad feeling about this girl. ‘It's nothing like that.† She kept her voice quiet and level, trying to cut through the hysteria. â€Å"You-don't you even talk to me!† Iliana waved a hand at Keller desperately. â€Å"I saw. You changed. You were a monster! There was blood all over- you killed that man.† She buried her face in her hands and began to sob. â€Å"No, she didn't.† Winnie tried to put a hand on the girl's shoulder. â€Å"And anyway, he attacked me first.† â€Å"He did not. He didn't touch you.† The words were muffled and jerky. â€Å"He didn't touch me, no, but-† Winnie broke off, looking puzzled. She tried again. â€Å"Not with his hands, but-â€Å" In the front seat, Nissa shook her head slightly, amused. â€Å"Boss-â€Å" Tm way ahead of you,† Keller said grimly. This was going to be difficult. Iliana didn't even know that the dragon was the bad guy. All she had seen was a boy trying to talk with her, a girl inexplicably flying against a wall, and a panther that attacked unprovoked. Keller's head hurt. â€Å"I want to go home,† Iliana repeated. All at once, with surprising speed, she lunged for the door handle. It took Keller's animal reflexes to block her, and the movement sent another pang through her injured shoulder. Strangely, as it happened, pain seemed to flicker across Galen's face. He reached out and gently pulled Iliana back. â€Å"Please don't,† he said. â€Å"I know this is all really strange, but you've got it backwards. That guy who was talking to you-he was going to kill you. And Keller saved you. Now they want to take you somewhere safe and explain everything.† Diana raised her head and looked at him. She looked for a long time. Finally, she said, still almost whispering, â€Å"You're all right. I can tell.† Can she? Keller wondered. Does she see something in his eyes? Or does she just see that he's a handsome blond guy with long lashes? â€Å"So you'll go with her?† Galen asked. Iliana gulped, sniffed, and finally nodded. â€Å"Only if you go, too. And only for a little while. After that, I want to go home.† Winfrith's face cleared-at least slightly. Keller stopped guarding the door, but she wasn't happy. â€Å"Straight to the safe house, Boss?† Nissa asked, swinging the car back toward the freeway. Keller nodded grimly. She glanced at Galen. â€Å"You win.† She didn't have to say the rest. The girl would only go if he went. Which made him a member of the team. For the present. He smiled, very faintly. There was nothing smug in it, but Keller looked again. Nothing was going the way she'd planned. And Winnie might still have faith in her Witch Child, but Keller's doubts had crystallized. We are all, she thought, in very big trouble. And there was a dragon that might start looking for them at any minute. How fast did dragons recover, anyway? Big trouble, Keller thought. The safe house was a nondescript brick bungalow. Circle Daybreak owned it, and nobody in the Night World knew about it. That was the theory, anyway. The truth was that no place was safe. As soon as they had hidden the limo in an ivy-covered carport in back and Keller had made a phone call to Circle Daybreak headquarters, she told Winnie to set up wards around the house. â€Å"They won't be all that strong,† Winnie said. â€Å"But they'll warn us if something tries to get in.† She bustled around, doing witch things to the doors and windows. Nissa stopped Keller on her own trip of inspection. â€Å"We'd better look at your arm.† â€Å"It's all right.† â€Å"You can barely move it.† Til manage. Go look at Winnie; she hit that wall pretty hard.† â€Å"Winnie's okay; I already checked her. And, Keller, just because you're the team leader doesn't mean you have to be invulnerable. It's all right to accept help sometimes.† â€Å"We don't have time to waste on me!† Keller went back to the living room. She'd left Iliana in the care of Galen. She hadn't actually told him that, but she'd left them alone together, and now she found he'd gotten a root beer from the refrigerator and some tissues from the bathroom. Diana was sitting huddled on the couch, holding the drink and blotting her eyes. She jumped at every noise. â€Å"Okay, now I'm going to try to explain,† Keller said, pulling up an ottoman. Winnie and Nissa quietly took seats behind her. â€Å"I guess the first thing I should tell you about is the Night World. You don't know what that is, do you?† Iliana shook her head. â€Å"Most humans don't. It's an organization, the biggest underground organization in the world. It's made up of vampires and shapeshifters and witches-well, not witches now. Only a few of the darkest witches from Circle Midnight are still part of it. The rest of them have seceded.† â€Å"Vampires†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Iliana whispered. â€Å"like Nissa,† Keller said. Nissa smiled, a rare full smile that showed sharp teeth. â€Å"And Winnie is a witch. And you saw what I am. But we're all part of Circle Daybreak, which is an organization for everybody who wants to try to live together in peace.† â€Å"Most of the Night People hate humans,† Winnie said. â€Å"Their only laws are that you can't tell humans about the Night World and that you can't fall in love with them.† â€Å"But even humans can join Circle Daybreak,† Keller said. â€Å"And that's why you want me?† Iliana looked bewildered. â€Å"Well, not exactly.† Keller ran a hand over her forehead. â€Å"Look, the main thing you need to know about Circle Daybreak is what it's trying to do right now. What it's trying to keep from happening.† Keller paused, but there was no easy way to say it â€Å"The end of the world.† â€Å"The end of the world?† Keller didn't smile, didn't blink, just waited it out while Iliana sputtered, gasped, and looked at Galen for some kind of sanity. When she finally ran down, Keller went on. â€Å"The millennium is coming. When it gets here, a time of darkness is going to begin. The vampires want it to happen; they want the darkness to wipe out the human race. They figure that then they'll be in charge.† â€Å"The end of the world,† Iliana said. â€Å"Yes. I can show you the evidence if you want There are all sorts of things happening right now that prove it The world is falling into disorder, and pretty soon it's going to fall apart. But the reason we need you is because of the prophecies.† â€Å"I want to go home.† I bet you do, Keller thought. For a moment, she felt complete sympathy for the girl. â€Å"Like this.† She quoted: â€Å"Four to stand between the light and the shadow, Four of blue fire, power in their blood. Born in the year of the bund Maiden's vision; Four less one and darkness triumphs.† â€Å"I really don't know what you're talking about-â€Å" â€Å"Four Wild Powers,† Keller went on relentlessly. â€Å"Four people with a special gift, something nobody else has. Each one of them born seventeen years ago.If Circle Daybreak can get all four of them to work together-and only if Circle Daybreak can get them to work together-then we can hold off the darkness.† Iliana was shaking her head, edging away even from Galen. Behind Keller, Winnie and Nissa stood up, closing in. They faced her in a solid block, unified. â€Å"I'm sorry,† Keller said. â€Å"You can't escape it. You're part of it. You're a Wild Power.† â€Å"And you should be happy,† Winnie burst out, unable to contain herself any longer. â€Å"You're going to help save the world. You know that thing I did back in the Hallmark shop? With the orange fire?† She cupped her hands. â€Å"Well, you're full of blue fire. And that's so much stronger-nobody even knows what it can do.† Iliana put out her hands. â€Å"I'm sorry. I really am. But you guys are nuts, and you've got the wrong person. I mean, I don't know, maybe you're not completely nuts. The things that happened back at that store†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She stopped and gulped. â€Å"But I don't have anything to do with it.† She shut her eyes, as if that would bring the real world into focus. â€Å"I'm not any Wild Power,† she said more firmly. â€Å"I'm just a human kid-â€Å" â€Å"Actually, no,† Nissa said. â€Å"You're a lost witch,† Winnie cut in. â€Å"You're a Harmon. A Hearth-Woman. That's the most famous family of witches; they're like-they're royalty. And you're the most famous of all of them. You're the Witch Child. We've been waiting for you.† Keller shifted. â€Å"Winnie, maybe we don't need to tell her all of this right now.† But Winnie was racing on. â€Å"You're the one who's going to unite the shapeshifters and the witches. You're going to marry a prince of the shapeshifters, and then we're all going to be like this.† She held up two intertwined fingers. Iliana stared at her. â€Å"I'm only seventeen. I'm not marrying anybody.† â€Å"Well, you can do a promise ceremony; that's binding. The witches would accept it, and I think the shapeshifters would.† She glanced at Keller for confirmation. Keller pinched the bridge of her nose. â€Å"I'm just a grunt; I can't speak for the ‘shifters.† Winnie was already turning back to Iliana, her curls shaking with earnestness. â€Å"Really, you know,† she said, â€Å"it's incredibly important. Right now, the Night World is split. Vampires on one side, witches on the other. And the shapeshifters-well, they could go either way. And that's what could determine the battle.† â€Å"Look-â€Å" â€Å"The witches and the shapeshifters haven't been allies for thirty thousand-â€Å" â€Å"I don't care!† Full-blown hysteria. It was about as scary as a six-week-old kitten hissing, but it was the best raving Iliana could manage. Both her small fists were clenched, and her face and throat were flushed. â€Å"I don't care about the shapeshifters or the witches. I'm just a normal kid with a normal life, and I want to go home! I don't know anything about fighting. Even if I believed all this stuff, I couldn't help you. I hate PE; I'm totally uncoordinated. I get sick when I see blood. And-† She looked around and made an inarticulate sound of exasperation. â€Å"And I lost my purse.† Keller stood up. â€Å"Forget your purse.† â€Å"It had my mom's credit card in it. She's going to kill me if I come home without that. I just- where's my purse?† â€Å"Look, you little idiot,† Keller said. â€Å"Worry about your mother, not about her credit card.† Diana backed up a step. Even in the middle of a hysterical fit, she was beautiful beyond words. Strands of angel-fine hair stuck to her flushed, wet cheeks. Her eyes were dark as twilight, shadowed by heavy lashes-and they wouldn't quite meet Keller's. â€Å"I don't know what you mean.† â€Å"Yes, you do. Where's your mom going to be when the end of the world comes? Is a credit card going to save her then?† Iliana was in a corner now. Keller could hear both Nissa and Winnie making warning noises. She knew herself that this was the wrong way to get someone on their side. But patience wasn't one of Keller's great virtues. Neither was keeping her temper. â€Å"Let's see,† Galen said, and his voice was like cool water flowing through the room. â€Å"Maybe we could take a little break-â€Å" â€Å"I don't need advice from you,† Keller snapped. â€Å"And if this little idiot is too stupid to understand that she can't turn her back on this, we have to show her.† â€Å"I'm not an idiot!† â€Å"Then you're just a big baby? Scared?† Iliana sputtered again. But there was unexpected fire in her violet eyes as she did it. She was looking right at Keller now, and for a moment Keller thought that there might be a breakthrough. Then she heard a noise. Her ears picked it up before either Winnie's or Nissa's. A car on the street outside. â€Å"Company,† Keller said. She noticed that Galen had stiffened. Had he heard it? Winnie was moving to stand behind the door; Nissa slipped as quietly as a shadow to the window. It was dark outside now, and vampire eyes were good at night. â€Å"Blue car,† Nissa said softly. â€Å"Looks like them inside.† â€Å"Who?† Diana said. Keller gestured at her to be quiet. â€Å"Winnie?† â€Å"I have to wait until they cross the wards.† A pause, then she broke into a smile. â€Å"It's her!† â€Å"Who?† Iliana said. â€Å"I thought nobody was supposed to know we were here.† Good thinking. Logical, Keller thought. â€Å"This is someone I called. Someone who came all the way fromNevada and has been waiting to see you.† She went to the door. It took a few minutes for the people in the car to get out-they moved slowly. Keller could hear the crunch of footsteps and the sound of a cane. She opened the door. There was no light outside; the figures approaching were in shadow until they actually reached the threshold. The woman who stepped in was old. So old that anyone's first thought on first seeing her was How can she still be alive? Her skin was creased into what seemed like hundreds of translucent folds. Her hair was pure white and almost as fine as Diana's, but there wasn't much of it. Her already tiny figure was stooped almost double. She walked with a cane in one hand and the other tucked into the arm of a nondescript young man. But the eyes that met Keller's were anything but senile. They were bright and almost steely, gray with just the faintest touch of lavender. â€Å"The Goddess's bright blessings on you all,† she said, and smiled around the room. It was Winnie who answered. â€Å"We're honored by your presence-Grandma Harman.† In the background, Diana demanded plaintively for the third time, â€Å"Who?† â€Å"She's your great-great-aunt,† Winnie said, her voice quiet with awe. â€Å"And the oldest of the Harmans. She's the Crone of all the Witches.† Diana muttered something that might have been, â€Å"She looks like it.† Keller stepped in before Winnie could attack her. She introduced everyone. Grandma Harman's keen eyes flickered when Galen's turn came, but she merely nodded. â€Å"This is my apprentice and driver, Toby,† she told them. â€Å"He goes everywhere with me, so you can speak freely in front of him.† Toby helped her to the couch, and everyone else sat, too-except Diana, who stubbornly stayed in her corner. â€Å"How much have you told her?† Grandma Harman asked. â€Å"Almost everything,† Keller said. â€Å"And?† â€Å"She-isn't quite certain.† â€Å"I am certain,† Diana piped up. â€Å"I want to go home.† Grandma Harman extended a knobby hand toward her. â€Å"Come here, child. I want to take a look at my great-great-niece.† Tm not your great-great-niece,† Diana said. But with those steely-but-soft eyes fixed on her, she took one step forward. â€Å"Of course you are; you just don't know it. Do you realize, you're the image of my mother when she was your age? And I'll bet your great-grandmother looked like her, too.† Grandma Harman patted the couch beside her. â€Å"Come here. I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Edgith, and your great-grandmother was my little sister, Elspeth.† Diana blinked slowly. â€Å"Great-grandmother Elspeth?† â€Å"It was almost ninety years ago that I last saw her. It was just before the First World War. She and our baby brother, Emmeth, were separated from the rest of the family. We all thought they were dead, but they were being raised inEngland . They grew up and had children there, and eventually some of those children came toAmerica . Without ever suspecting their real heritage, of course. It's taken us a long time to track down their descendants.† Iliana had taken another involuntary step. She seemed fascinated by what the old woman was saying. â€Å"Mom always talked about Great-grandmother Elspeth. She was supposed to be so beautiful that a prince fell in love with her.† â€Å"Beauty has always run in our family,† Grandma Harman said carelessly. â€Å"Beauty beyond comparison, ever since the days of Hellewise Hearth-Woman, our foremother. But that isn't the important thing about being a Harman.† ‘It isn't?† Iliana said doubtfully. â€Å"No.† The old woman banged her cane. â€Å"The important thing, child, is the art Witchcraft. You are a itch, Iliana; it's in your blood. It always will be. And you're the gift of the Harmans in this last fight Now, listen carefully.† Staring at the far wall, she recited slowly and deliberately: â€Å"One from the land of kings long forgotten; One from the hearth which still holds the spark; One from the Day World where two eyes are watching; One from the twilight to be one with the dark.† Even when she had finished, the words seemed to hang in the air of the room. No one spoke. Diana's eyes had changed. She seemed to be looking inside herself, at something only she could see. It was as if deeply buried memories were stirring. â€Å"That's right,† Grandma Harman said softly. â€Å"You can feel the truth of what I'm telling you. It's all there, the instinct, the art, if you just let it come out. Even the courage is there.† Suddenly, the old woman's voice was ringing. â€Å"You're the spark in the poem, Iliana. The hope of the witches. Now, what do you say? Are you going to help us beat the darkness or not?†

Greece's solution on its national debt crisis Essay

Greece's solution on its national debt crisis - Essay Example This European debt crisis witnessed in Greece is believed by various economists to have been caused by the structural flaws that came about after a period of great recession that the country had plunged into (Margaronis, 12). The economy of Greece has had deficits for quite a long time that has escalated its borrowing index to a figure the government cannot afford to pay. The 2009 Greece recession is arguably a major reason the country piled this huge European debt that is currently puzzling it (Spiegel). The government is expected to settle a debt of over seven hundred million Euros to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), something that is likely to hurt more the Greece economy. There have been several arguments and discussions from different perspectives with some admitting the situation that is witnessed in Greece currently could not have been avoided given they joined the Eurozone because of the change in currency as well as the policy and regulations that govern member economies (Nelson, Belkin and Derek). Others refute this and blame the economic policy makers for the woes the country is facing. All in all, the nation is in a crisis and a remedy is needed as fast as possible. Numerous actions are being taken to remedy the dire situation that is currently experienced in Greece and bring a solution that could free the nation from the hooks of European debt. First, the move made by Finland to bail out Greece should be lauded. As a matter of fact, Finland government was driven by good motives of saving this country from the global humiliation it is currently exposed to. The most challenging thing about this assistance Finland is offering is the rules that come with it. The IMF and other institutions have all reportedly attempted to find a solution to Greece but nothing much have been achieved. The Finland’s conflict of interest and the mistrust it has on Greece has

Uranium Mining in Western United States and its Effects Research Paper

Uranium Mining in Western United States and its Effects - Research Paper Example The element, uranium, occurred in ores mined for extraction of other minerals, especially carnonite. After the First World War and during the second war, uranium received a lot interest as an element. This write up follows the development of uranium mining as a by-product, to the exhaustive processing of uranium containing ores in search of uranium in later years. Uranium received such great interest because of its properties. Uranium decays with the release of energy and other particles; this makes it useful in nuclear weaponry and in production of electricity. Uranium was pursued for both reasons to a varied degree. This research paper investigates the circumstances that led to the uranium rush. The mining of uranium has numerous effects to both human beings and the environment. The writer of this paper reviews the chronological but enduring effects of uranium mining in the western United States. It investigates the ecological, social-cultural and health effects of uranium mining i n the western states. The importance of uranium and the role it has played in the development of the US cannot be belittled. Nevertheless, the lack of due care in the mining and processing of uranium ore resulted to varied adverse effects. Some of these effects have been around for several decades and are not yet over. Due to the long half-life of uranium, thorium and radon, their deposits take millions of years to reduce to safe levels. Additionally, the presence of a water-soluble uranium isotope made it easy for the spread of radionuclides from the mining districts to other states. Geography of western United States Western US covers the greater half of the country. It is divided into pacific states, west coast, mountain states, western Texas, and the mid west. The first group includes Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington while the west coast refers to California, Oregon, and Washington. The mountain states include Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. T he Midwest includes Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota among others. (Energy-net) The western region features a wealthy but intricate tectonic history. This includes volcanoes, extension and compression. The Colorado flat terrain is at the centre of this region. The deformed Rocky Mountains (north), southern Rocky Mountains (northeast), Rio Grande rift (east), and the basin and range (south and west) surround the plateau. The plateau consists of gently tilted blocks of monoclines (Fagbola 2007, p. 1-8). The Colorado plateau extends to about 130,000 square miles. It is in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. Precambrian and metamorphic rocks form the basement of the plateau. Colorado’s basic topography can be demarcated threefold. The eastern part consisting of plains, the

Diffusion and Osmosis Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Diffusion and Osmosis - Lab Report Example The cell and its extracellular environments are fluid in that concentrations of substances dissolved in it vary. Depending on varying concentration of the substances dissolved in water, be it extracellular or intracellular, dissolved substances or water move from one compartment to another directed by physical principles of gradients. To accomplish this, the cell utilizes the processes of osmosis and diffusion as appropriate. These phenomena can be visualized outside the cell by simulating these in vitro. Since cell membrane is a semipermeable membrane and exchanges occur through this, these experiments must utilize a construct of the semipermeable membrane that can be made with a commercially available dialysis tubing and bag. These membranes have microscopic pores through which small molecules like water can pass, but larger molecules, such as sugar cannot pass through them. Thus through this molecular net, solutions of different solute concentrations can be observed to pass in a m easurable fashion. This experiment has been designed to prove the hypothesis of the mechanisms of osmosis and diffusion through such a semipermeable membrane. Diffusion is defined as the movement of molecules from a site of higher concentration to that of a lower concentration. Technically speaking, this difference in concentration creates a concentration gradient, and the steepness of the gradient determines the rate of diffusion. In an attempt to find out the reason as to why it occurs, it can be attributed to a great deal of space between the molecules of all substances that are candidates for diffusion. Liquids have moderate intermolecular space. Moreover, all molecules are in a state of constant random movement so that they collide and intermingle. It is expected that in solids diffusion would occur slowly for tight packing of the molecules. Liquids and gases would diffuse freely because their molecules are spaced widely. Thus, it can be stated that any solute will tend to uniformly occupy the entire space available to it. This movement, known as diffusion, is due to the spontaneous Brownian random movement that all molecules experie nce. The net result of diffusion is the movement of substances according to their difference in concentrations, from regions of high concentration to regions of low concentration. Diffusion is an effective way for substances to move short distances. Diffusion across a membrane has no preferential direction; it can occur from the outside of the cell toward the inside or from the inside of the cell toward the outside. It is however determined the extend of permeability through a membrane, which in the case of a living cell is the protein-lipid-protein plasma membrane, and therefore, diffusion across the membrane usually implies that the diffusing solute enters the lipid bilayer to cross it, the solute's solubility in a lipid solvent compared with its solubility in water is important in determining its permeability through it. Hydrophilic substances, such as ions and sugars, do not interact well with the lipid component of the membrane, hence would diffuse across the membrane more slow ly. This is, however, not applicable in physical membrane such as a dialysis membrane (Campbell NA, Reece JB, Mitchell LG., 1999). If equal volumes of pure water and a strong sugar solution are taken, the pure water will have more water molecules and would have higher water concentration that a sugar

Soy Whipped Topping Business Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Soy Whipped Topping Business Plan - Assignment Example Soy foods and products include several whipped toppings that are basically made from rice, soy and even coconut. Both rice and soy whips in the market are either in spray cans or boxes. These products normally have a lifespan of a year and are supposed to be refrigerated. The soy whipped topping are good when used with cakes, fruits, desserts, pies, cappuccinos and even beverages such as chocolate tea. The most popular soy whipped toppings currently in the market belong to two brands; Soyatoo and Viana. Soyatoo soy whip brands include: blue-rice whip, brown-cocoa whip and the red-soy whip which are normally in boxes or spray cans of three hundred milliliters (ML). Despite the different colors the three products are made from similar inputs. Over the recent past, different individuals in United States and Europe have continued to develop interest in soy foods and products. This has further increased the demand of these products in the American market. This industry is basically made of various key players. Some of these players in this industry are developing while others have quite established their brands in different markets of the world. This is the reason why some consumers in America have in the past raised concerns regarding some existing soy whip products in the market and more specifically on issues of lactose presence as well as the functioning of the whip spray cans. As true entrepreneurs, we considered this as a good opportunity that required intervention and we decided to start a business of making soy whipped toppings and target lactose intolerant people in the market amongst other. Our soy whipped topping products will be in line with the respective customer’s needs and also of substantially high q uality. When starting a business, it is normally important for one to start by deciding on the particular form of business to operate since each form of business develops a different legal operating structure different from the others. In

Oryx and Crake literacy argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Oryx and Crake literacy argument - Essay Example In the novel, genetic mutations and the creation of a new beings (hybrids of the human race), love and humanity slowly is growing extinct. The novel bases off of a realistic society in the future, despite the genetic transitions, flashing back to Snowman’s life, when he was still Jimmy, when he had morals and love in his life then flashing back to the present to a completely different dynamic in the world. Slowly, love is depleting; people giving themselves away to the opposite sex, families getting broken apart by divorce, young adults not fitting in and ending their lives. With the growing technology and advancement of science, soon the world might be a loveless, compassionless, and lifeless place. Snowman, previously known as Jimmy in his former life, has flashbacks to the compounds, the reader can see the way Jimmy lived and learned. There are several factors showing the reader that morality is not an interest. They have television shows showing aided suicides and live executions; the schools also cater prostitutes to the students regularly (Atwood 11). Snowman can see the new world and remember fragments of the past; he remembers love and the aspect of being in love. The new world consists of women giving themselves away to multiple men with no feelings or strings attached. Although Snowman still has these memories, he still has several habits that are very vulgar such as using woman for sexual intercourse by saying he â€Å"loves† them. The memories compound one of the major attributes that is to degrade the feminine gender completely and use them as objects to use at the will of the men. From the flashbacks it is evident that although Snowman has had some experienc e of love that does not seem to deter him from practicing the uncouth and immoral behaviors practiced by other men making the relationships that she has had with the other women baseless (Atwood

The Dawes Act and the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act Essay

The Dawes Act and the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act - Essay Example The early colonists believed that it was part of their destiny to conquer the west and the northern American wilderness but the Indians stood along the way and its God-given destiny (Kline 2000,p.24). At first, US treated the Indians as sovereign and independent people by negotiating treaties with them but the treaties only ended up with the Indians ceding their lands in return for desolate, barren lands elsewhere. This ended with President James Monroe's declaration that Indians be removed and resettled beyond the Mississippi River for their own best interests (American Philosophical Society 2000,p.65) Thus the Cherokees from Georgia appealed to the Supreme Court to prevent the seizure of their lands.However, Chief Justice John Marshall declared all Indians as without sovereignty and people who "reside within the acknowledged boundaries of the United States" and are "in a state of pupilage"(Cherokee Nation v Georgia). But he later on declared the Cherokees as a distinct political community "in which the laws of Georgia can have no force" and into which Georgians are prohibited to enter without treaty permission (Worcester v Georgia). The Supreme Court then declared all Indians to be under the complete control of the US government but ironically, they cannot be citizens as contemplated by the 14th Amendment because they belonged to 'alien nations'(Elk v Wilkins, 1884). As such, all Indians were impounded in assigned reservations to their consternation on the basis of national security and military necessity after they ceded their ancestral lands and were not allowed to leave without a permit. But in one case, the court adjudicated that Indians are entitled to the same legal protection and freedom as the Americans (Standing Bear v Crook, 1879). The Dawes Act of 1887 or The General Allotment Act The first idea of Indian citizenship was broached by Thomas Jefferson but he laid down an extensive list of prerequisites prior to giving them citizenship (American Philosophical Society 2000, p.63). He also voiced out his plans to civilize the Indians and slowly assimilate them to the mainstream of American society. He also revealed his plans to give the Indians parcels of land to farm. All these served as impetus for Congress to enact the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Act on February 8,1887. The rationale behind the statute was to civilize and assimilate the Indians

Democracy in Israel and France Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Democracy in Israel and France - Research Paper Example Free, Fair, Competitive Elections Democracy is a system that guarantees the freedom of expression and human rights in a country, as well as free and fair elections without discrimination, and as a result, protecting civil and political rights of citizens. In December 2011, Israeli vice president, Moshe Yaalon, declared that majority of the Arab countries were not ready for democracy. This is because of the previous deaths, which occurred in an attempt to fight dictatorship in these countries. The Israel vice president argued that democracy could be achieved through fair and free elections. However, the Palestinians argue that Israel call for democracy is hypocritical, mainly because the Israel government refused to accept the 2006 election results, which were perceived to be free and fair (dawn.com Para 5). As a result, Israel is hypocritical when it claims that it is democratic, in the election process. France is a Western European country, having a population of approximately 61million and is among the successful countries globally. It is a republic compromising of both presidential and parliamentary systems of government. It is considered democratic, with the parliament system being common; however, it has constitutional limits, which include the legislature’s power to bring down a government among others. Needless to say, France is democratic on how it conducts its elections. Freedom of the Press According to the world audit, Israel is rated as number 36, whilst France is at number 24 (World Audit 2011). France has an independent media, where freedom of communication and speech is valued as a human right. As a result, the French are allowed to speak, write, or print any article; however, they are held responsible for abuse of this freedom. France guarantees freedom of the press, which is supported by the 1881 Act on freedom of the press; however, it contains restrictions, which are aimed at balancing freedom of expression, citizen protection, and maintaining law and order (French embassy Para 2). The France law also punishes any acts of defamation and slander, as well as offensive speeches or contemptuous; therefore, the freedom of the press in France is conditional, and as a result, her democracy is flawed. Israel’s drop in press freedom was because of its press regulations on international media early in 2009. Journalists were arrested and even imprisoned, with

Paper and Dumas Book Essay Example for Free

Paper and Dumas Book Essay What does Dumas’ decision to take an American name suggest about her feelings toward her adopted country? How does her dual identity enable her to see how Americans really feel about Iran? Dumas’ husband, Franà §ois, experiences life as an American immigrant much differently than does Dumas. What do you think accounts for Americans’ biases in their attitudes toward immigrants from different countries? To what extent are these biases grounded in stereotypes about the immigrants’ native countries? Evaluation: You will be graded on: Organization- Does the paper have an introduction, body, and conclusion? Does the paper have a central argument (thesis) that appears in the introduction and conclusion? Grammar, punctuation, and style- For example, does the writer use the past tense consistently? See â€Å"additional considerations† below. Use of the text- Does the paper successfully incorporate specific examples from the book? Do the examples support the paper’s thesis? Since this is still a relatively short paper, avoid long block quotes. Be succinct. In addition, avoid long summaries of the book. Your paper should be built around examples that support your thesis. You must, however, cite the books to support your claims. In each instance that you draw specific information from the book, you should insert the page number from which the idea or quote originated at the end of the sentence. Plagiarism: See description on syllabus Format: All papers should be double spaced and written in Times New Roman 12 Late Papers: Papers are due in class on the given due date. Computer related problems are not an excuse. Be prepared for a hard drive/ printer disaster. Back up your work often. Papers turned in after class on the due date (unexcused) will be docked 5 points (out of 100). Papers will be docked 3 points for every day they are late with the weekend counting as 1 day. Additional considerations: 1. Use the past tense consistently when discussing historical events. 2. Do not use first or second person in your paper. In other words, don’t use the pronouns: I, me, my, you, your, our, ours, us, etc. So, instead of: â€Å"I think Dumas considered herself to be†¦.† Just write, â€Å"Dumas considered herself to be†¦.† 3. Proof-read carefully. Even if your paper has no misspellings, that does not satisfy your need to proofread. Spell checker will occasionally correct your spelling, but insert a different word than you intended. 4. Do not use contractions. (didn’t should be did not, etc). 5. Your paper should adopt a more formal, authoritative tone. Do not use slang, clichà ©s, or profanity. 6. Use active, not passive voice. 7. Staple the paper 8. Do not use outside sources except lectures from this course (internet, other books etc.).

The Unforgiven Essay Example for Free

The Unforgiven Essay For the final essay, the movie I will be writing about is based on the Clint Eastwood’s movie â€Å"Unforgiven.† Clint Eastwood portrays a story of William Munny, a killer and aging outlaw who has taken up one more job after years of external and internal peace. In the movie, the plot begins as to why William does decide to come back for one last rendez-vous with death. Taking place in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, a group of prostitutes, led by Strawberry Alice, offer a $1,000 reward to whoever can kill â€Å"Davey-Boy† Bunting and Quick Mike. The reason that these bounties were places is because these two individuals disfigured Delilah Fitgerald, a prostitute who is one of their own. An important factor to keep in mind in this situation is that the prostitutes greatly exaggerated the factual events that transpired, and the story that was sent out to the public â€Å"bounty hunters† was based on a major over exaggeration and so much to that point that it was not factually based. However, the idea of these bounty that was sent out by the prostitutes upsets Little Bill Daggett, the local sheriff, who himself was a former gunfighter but is not a converted keepers of peace who has taken the law upon himself and has dis-allowed guns and criminals in his town. What Little Bill does in this town is take the law into his own hands. While there is some sort of legal system in place in this town, the prostitutes have no rights under the system and according to Little Bill, it is up to him to decide what should be done in this situation. He is always taking the laws in his own hands. In this specific case, Little Bill gives these two men leniency despite the crime that they have committed. Will, hearing the over exaggerated version of the factual events, decides to come to this town and hunt and kill these two men not only for retribution for the prostitutes but to also collect the reward money. Using the reasoning of Kant, Mill, and Aristotle, I will analyze this entire current situation in the movie and using these different thinkers then compare and contrast who would agree with each other and who would disagree with each other. The first thinker I will bring up is Kant. The first issue that comes up in the state situation is justice which then leads into the rest of the problems presented in the beginning of the story. What the prostitutes did  to Will is actually manipulate him because what the factual events was greatly differed that the story that was presented to him. As a result, Mill was manipulated into making his decision to help solve the prostitute’s problem, and by him being manipulated into making this decision the prostitutes took away his free choice. Immanuel Kant is against taking away people’s free choice. There are three imperatives that are used by Kant to determine if a certain deed should be done. The three imperatives include the universal law based on principle, the means end formula (never treat anyone as a means but always as an end), autonomy formula (act in accordance to the maxim of a member that legislates the law)or the people who make the law are moral and thus the laws must be followed. When taking in consideration the universal law, what Kant is saying is that the acts act according only to maxim and thus must be applied to everybody. In this situation, the following maxim could be read as â€Å"if a prostitute is attacked, then it is ok to pay for someone to come in and seek vengeance.† The maxim for the prostitutes is to pay for justice and if applied to everyone this maxim would definitely not work and the world would become more chaotic and dangerous if this were a true maxim. The second part of the imperative deals with the means end formula. This states that one should never treat anyone as a mean but always as an end. In other words, do not use someone just for your benefit at the expense of another person’s but at the same time the other person should be getting something back in return that they need. All information needs to be presented in a factual way to help the person make a decision that they really want. With this being said, the prostitutes are using Will merely as a mean because what they did was lie to him. By exaggerating the truth, the prostitutes manipulated Will and use him as a mean to get justice among themselves. While there was indeed a reward for him, his decision to do this for the money was based on a wrong assumption because he was told a lie. His free will was taken away to make this decision because he was told the truth about what happened and if he did know the actual true events he may not have made the decision that he made. The last part of Kant’s three imperative is the autonomy formula. The autonomy formula talks about how acts should be followed according to the maxim that regulates law because the people that make the law are moral thus they should be followed because moral acts will help build a moral society.  However, the prostitutes would not have to follow the law based from Little Billy because this certain law was made from an immoral person and thus since it comes from an immoral person that only means that the law will be immoral. The next thinker that we will use to examine the following situation is the great mind of Mill. Mill says that a right is an expectation that society will help protect other people’s rights. Just can vary from each person and that the difference that does exist in society means that there is a different kind of equality. Utilitarianism is what brings the ideas all together. This states that if the majority of the people are happy then the act or deed should be done. The idea presented my Mill in utilitarianism is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. In the following situation from Clint Eastwood’s movie, Mill would don’t condone what has occurred because it is unjust to deprive anyone of anything that is legally their liberty or property. It is unjust to kill the two cowboys because he was never convicted of the crime that he did commit. The prostitutes should have had rights, and the two cowboys should have their voice heard in a trial. Mill would say that there is a bad law in place towards these prostitutes and the sheriff has rights in this town that he should not have. According to utilitarianism, it is wrong to harm certain individuals in order to make other people happy. In this instance, Will is killing these two individuals because this will make the prostitutes happy. John Stuart mill would be against this and so for Will to go and kill these two men is wrong in the eyes of the great philosopher Mill. The final thinker that will be used to examine the following situation is the great Greek philosopher Aristotle. To Aristotle, the law should be respected and if you do not respect the law then what you are doing is rejecting the government. The sheriff in town has placed un-just laws to the people. However, if these laws are not followed then what the people are doing is doing un-just to the community. To Aristotle, in order to have properly fixed the problem is that there needs to a mediator, one whom is un-biased and will look at each individual case down the middle and determine whether or not a disciplinarian action needs to occur. There needs  to be the right to a trial for a person to be properly convicted. This directly relates to the two cowboys who were punished without the mediator and â€Å"their day in court.† Aristotle would also say that the prostitutes should have right and the males who committed the crime should be trialed by law and a proper punishment, if any, would be warranted by an un-biased mediator of who would not include Little Bill. He is a very biased individual and Aristotle would be very against him and the actions that he is placing on society. To Aristotle, it will be no surprise to have heard that Will would take this job and to go back to killing. To Aristotle, it is very hard to break a habit that one did for so many years. Aristotle would not say that Will does an evil behavior, but instead Will has bad character traits. The habits he grew up with were not very good with the constant killings he did. As he killed more and more he got into the habit of killing, and for him to break this bad habit of killing is only going to get harder and harder as he not only kills but gets older continuing to kill. Deep down he already knew how to kill, and when the situation presented him his old habits came out and decided to go back and kill again. Aristotle would be against Will’s killing because it is not adding to his own happiness . These acts are immoral and his happiness is not reaching his full potential with the action that Will has done to these two other cowboys. After going over what the three great philosophers have said about the same situation, in my opinion Aristotle and Mill agree with each other the most because they both say how you need the community to be happy. They both correlate with each other. Aristotle is about the action itself and this directly disagrees with as to what Kant believes. This is why Aristotle and Kant both disagree with each other the most. As Aristotle is more about the action itself, Kant is all about the intent of the action. Aristotle and Mill would again agree because he says that the prostitutes should have rights and that the males should have been held on a fair trial. This eliminated the sheriffs and what he feels right according to himself and instead there would be a non-biased individual who will not already be prone to one side or the other like Little Billy was evident by his actions in the movie. In conclusion, Mill, Aristotle, and Kant all have some similar but different points about how the same situation should have been handled. Some were similar, and others were very different. It is my opinion that I agree most with Aristotle. He talks about having a non-biased individual (the judge in today’s society) and how everyone deserves rights including the prostitutes who had no rights in the movie. He is against Will going to kill for vengeance and also agrees with how people who have too much power and make immoral laws should lose that power for the benefit of the community. Ultimately, I agree with all of them because they bring up different but valid point. In the end, I agree the most with Aristotle because what he says is very similar in what steps would be taken in modern society today. With this being said, justice is still very unfair in today’s society. There are still these bounty killings and many of them do get away because of a lack of evidence or some other cause that prevents a judge from getting a conviction. Nevertheless, justice is many times unfair in today’s modern world, but improvements are being made and the judicial systems are doing the absolute best job they can do to bring justice to criminals and to get modern bounty hunters off the streets to make society a better and nicer place to live in.

The competitive advantage of Honda Corporation

The competitive advantage of Honda Corporation There are several factors that can contribute to a firms ability to be competitive in its industry. Building blocks of a competitive advantage include efficiency, quality, innovation, and responsiveness to customers. A firm with a competitive advantage may experience higher profits than the average profit in the industry while competing for the same customers. In the case of Honda, this is true. Honda has many distinctive competencies based on its resource and capabilities that allow it to have a competitive advantage in the auto manufacturing industry. Three areas that give Honda a competitive advantage in the auto industry include Hondas engineering and design, research and development, and brand equity. In order to determine whether Hondas competitive advantage in these three areas is sustainable, we analyze and apply each one to the VRIO framework. Honda is unique in that its corporate structure is made of three companies. Honda Research and Development is in charge of research and development of innovative products for the company. Honda Motor produces, sells, and services the all Honda products. Honda Engineering develops manufacturing processes, systems and equipment used to build all Honda products. Hondas superior design capability has enabled it to build high-quality reliable products and has also added value to the Honda brand. Hondas efficient manufacturing processes have also kept production costs low relative to other automakers in the industry (Snipes 2008). In terms of value, Honda excels at using its engineering expertise and design skills to build reliable cars that simply work. This ability is quite valuable to the company and its industry. Although valuable, Hondas engineering and design is not rare, because there are other car manufactures with excellent engineering and design capabilities. For car manufacturer s who are not already competitive with Honda in its engineering and design ability, it would be very difficult to bridge the gap to competitiveness by imitating Hondas success. Therefore, Hondas engineering and design is inimitable. The final question to ask is whether Honda is organized, ready and able to take advantage of opportunities via its engineering and design. Hondas organization is unique in its management structure in that it differs from most public U.S corporations. A board consisting of 21 directors runs the company, which allows for faster decision-making and execution in new product design (Whiston 2010). All of the companys business units are aligned to take advantage of design breakthroughs, which leads to a conclusion that its engineering and design are a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Hondas focus on research and development is highly valuable and places it at the forefront of technology. This allows the company to incorporate technological breakthroughs and advancements into its wide line of vehicles. Honda also has a very high level of investment in research and development, which is not common in the auto industry. Hondas level of commitment to research and development is also very rare compared to its industry peers. Honda possesses a strong first mover advantage over many competitors in this area because of the advanced nature of its research. Competitors not actively pursuing their own research find it very difficult to catch up to Honda, therefore the companys RD is considered inimitable. Organizationally, Honda keeps the RD group separate from other divisions within the company giving its teams freedom to develop new technologies for the company across the board. Hondas unique structure and its level of commitment to advanced quality research make its rese arch and development a sustainable source of competitive advantage in its industry. Hondas brand equity is an extremely valuable source of its competitive advantage since consumers are willing to pay a premium for Hondas vehicles because of the power of its brand and its association with quality and value. As a result, it has led Honda to have best-in-class repeat purchase rates. Honda has repeatedly been placed among the worlds top 20 most valuable brands according to a research conducted by Business Week Magazine (Ferret 2006). The Honda brand ranked 19th on the international list of one hundred most valuable brands in 2005, having a brand value of $15.8 billion. Honda has very strong brand loyalty as evidenced by the strong repurchase rate for Honda automobiles relative to the industry norms. 65% of Honda customers purchase another Honda automobile compared to only 48% for the industry (Ferret 2006. While it is highly valuable, Hondas brand equity is not rare. Toyota also has strong brand equity in the same industry, but recent recalls may have deteriorated its v alue. Because Hondas brand equity has been built over a long period of time, it would be very difficult for competitors to imitate. Hondas reputation for reliable cars was not earned over night, making it highly inimitable. Honda takes advantages of the benefits given by its strong brand by using it as the flagship brand for the company. By supporting its brand value with superior engineering, design, and research and development, Honda is able to rely on its brand equity as a source of sustained competitive advantage.

The Reign Of Edward Vi :: essays research papers fc

The Reign of Edward VI The reign of Edward VI saw great religious upheaval from a Protestant religion that was Catholic in nature to a more clearly defined and radical quasi-Calvinism. In that sense religious policy hardened. But the policies and ideal never became deeply entrenched and accepted throughout the country and often only existed to serve the interests of those who enacted them, and not the future stance of the church. Under Somerset the changes involved merely creating a Protestant facelift, and only under Northumberland did sweeping radical changes emerge. However, policy never hardened enough, or became accepted enough, to prevent it being disintegrated when Mary came to power in 1553.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The religious situation was highly unstable at the time of Edward's ascendance. Although Henry had allowed Protestant leaning clerics to predominate in the later year of his reign, most religious statutes remained orthodox, and conservative. But under Somerset Protestants who had previously fled to Europe after the six articles, such as Hooper, Becon, and Turner, all returned. Many were writers banned under Henry VIII, along with Luther and other European Protestants. Guy points out that 159 out of 394 new books printed during the Protectorate were written by Protestant reformers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reformers predominated the Privy council under Somerset, and reform was popular amongst the gentry of the time. But outside London and East Anglia Protestantism was not a major force. In terms of religious hardening, it is unlikely that the surge of Protestantism had any particular long term impact outside these areas. It was only in these areas that violent iconoclasm took place. Elsewhere far more moderate reforms such as vernacular Bibles and services were introduced.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The legislation of the Somerset era also did little to aid a definite hardening of religious policy. The Privy council remained reluctant to make any radical moves. The Council, parliament, and the convocation all wanted reform, but not of the type that would firmly thrust the country into radical Protestantism. Moderate leanings were all that was desired, and this was reflected in the two major pieces of legislation, the Chantries Act and the Treason Act, which both did little to resolve doctrinal uncertainties. The new book of common prayer also trod a careful path between Protestantism and Catholicism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jordan states that â€Å"These years ... were characterised by patience with the bishops, almost half of whom were conservative in their views and Catholic in their doctrinal sympathies, though all, trained as they were in the reign of Henry VIII, lent complete support to the Act Supremacy in all its constitutional and political implications ... the lesser clergy and the laity were with few

Lust and pleasure as a theme. To His Coy Mistress, The Lover A Ballad,

Lust and pleasure as a theme. To His Coy Mistress, The Lover A Ballad, The Passionate Shepherd How have poets presented women and how are gender issues explained Having studied a range of poems regarding gender issues and how women are treated in society, I have chosen to focus on two main poems To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell and The Lover A Ballad by Lady Mary Wortly Montagu. In addition to this I will deal with The Passionate Shepherded to His Love by Christopher Marlowe and The Nymph’s Reply by Sir Walter Raleigh. The Proud Layde by Spencer Wallace Cone. All these poems explore women and gender issues in their own way. The Lover A Ballad was written as a reply to the poem To His Coy Mistress. Both these poem have connections of love and sexuality. To His Coy Mistress is written in a way of persuading the girl to sleep with him. The poet has written in such a way that people can think that women don’t mean anything and they just want pleasure. Pleasure and lust are also are aspects which include in the themes of this two poems. The Lover A Ballad as a re...

A Night with Alberta Essay -- Personal Narrative Descriptive Essays

A Night with Alberta On a cold winter Saturday night, a wind whips across Washington Square into the canyons of Manhattan. Near New York University’s main dormitory is a small jazz club. The large tinted front windows at street level and the subdued lighting might make a visitor think of an abandoned storefront. However, this small place is where magic can happen. The Cookery is a portal between the present and the past. Entering the club, the host finds my new wife and me a seat. This is both polite and practical for the fresh snow renders the newest patrons blind at first. Once seated at the postage stamped sized tables, the eyes begin to adjust. The cold weather and the premium for space has made it very cramped. Fur coats, down parkas, wool trench coats and the occasional sweatshirt battle for space between chairs. The jazz lovers here run the gamut of New York’s elite to the students of NYU, with all stops in between. Businessmen in two-piece double-breasted business suits sit next to students in neat flannel shirts and jeans. The bodies of the lucky front row patrons shield the stage area from the arctic blast from the door. The stage area lies vacant. An acoustic bass, upright piano and a set of speakers stand as sentinels guarding the stage area. The lighting bathing these silent talismans seems more appropriate to a museum than that of a performance. As we all wait for the music to begin, the room fills with that subdued buzz of countless private conversations. My wife and I order a seemingly appropriate micro-brewed beer, Brooklyn Beer. The mild bitterness and light sparkle of the beer fits the time just right. The beers come in two bottles, each with a complimentary tall glass. The beer and glasses produ... ...hint of a sweet wine. To my pleasant surprise, I find the coffee is a Martini. A sip of the tea reveals Brandy, orange and lemon. The tea is a Sidecar. We sip our contraband beverages as the singer segues into a blues song that is beyond her years. She sings it though with a feeling that only familiarity should provide. The song finishes, and the band takes a break. I take a last sip of my beer as the tobacco aroma seems to fade from my nostrils. I am asked what I would like for my next drink. I open my eyes. The table is again small. Alberta is walking by me to get back to her stairs. I change my drink to a Martini and my wife’s drink to a Sidecar. Somehow, I know it is best to have a drink from the correct era. Alberta stops when she hears my order. She looks at me and says, â€Å"I thought I saw you with us. We’ll be back in ten minutes sonny. I’ll see you there.†

Financial Sector Development Essay

ABSTRACT This paper is an attempt to examine the relationship between financial development and income inequality. In doing so, we have used Bangladeshi data for the period 1985-2006. We have employed auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) methodology for cointegration. We have also carried out sensitivity analysis and stability tests. Our findings suggest that financial development increases income inequality. Economic growth seems to equalize income distribution. Inflation and trade openness also worsen income inequality. Finally, income inequality is being increased by social spending in the country over long run. This study provides new directions for policy makers to reduce income inequality to share the fruits of economic development among the wider spectrum of the society. Keywords: Financial sector, development, trade openness, income inequality, Bangladesh JEL Classifications: D14, D33, F1 INTRODUCTION Economic growth and its correlates have been the focus of a large number of studies over the recent past. These studies primarily put emphasis on various aspects or sources of growth. One of the important correlates of economic growth that has been studied prominently is the extent of financial sector development. The positive and robust relationship between well-functioning financial system and economic growth is empirically a well established fact. Higher levels of financial development are significantly and robustly correlated with current and future rates of economic growth, physical capital accumulation, and improvements in economic efficiency (see, Khan, 2000; Goldsmith, 1969; McKinnon, 1973; Roubini and Sala-i-Martin, 1992; King and Levine, 1993; Easterly, 1993; Pagano and Volpin, 2001; Beck, Levine and Loayza, 2000; Khan and Senhadji, 2000; Christopoulos and Tsionas, 2004; Iqbal, et al., 2006; Khan, Qayyum and Skiekh, 2005 and Shahbaz, 2009). It is argued that capital market improvements benefit the rich more than the poor and hence contribute to increase income inequality. The main reason is that rich individuals have more potential than the poor ones to exploit new opportunities. It is also believed that the access of the poor to bank credits may be impeded because of the high cost involved therein, and, as such, financial development may be regressive for the poor, particularly at the initial stages of development (Greenwood and Jovanovic, 1990). The financial sector charges high set up cost against financial services during early periods of development to gain advantages from the screening and risk pooling. This cost is beyond the affordability of the poor people. As they are not in a position to use their savings for this outlay which pushes them further below in the income inequality trap (Clarke et al., 2003; Dollar and Kraay, 2003; Beck, Demirguc-Kunt and Levine, 2004). Financial market imperfections such as financial asymmetries, transaction costs, and contract enforcement costs may be especially binding for poor entrepreneurs who lack collateral, credit histories, and connections. These credit constraints will impede the flow of capital to poor individuals with high-return projects (Banerjee and Newman, 1993; Galor and Zeira, 1993), thereby reducing the efficiency of capital allocation and intensifying income distribution (Greenwood and Jovanovic, 1990; Banerjee and Newman, 1993 and, Aghion and Bolton, 1998). The relationship between financial development and reductions in income inequality is not only a correlation, but also a causal relationship. The positive relationship between private credit and economic growth for the poor might be driven by higher demand for financial services as the poor constitute a larger share in national income. Similarly, reduction in income inequality might lead to political pressure to create a more efficient financial system that allocates the funds to the projects based on market criteria, not on political considerations. No particular study has determined whether financial sector development benefits the whole population, primarily benefits the rich, or disproportionately helps the poor (Honohan, 2004; Beck et al. 2004; Claessens and Perotti, 2007 and Bittencourt, 2006). But in the case of Pakistan, Shahbaz (2009) documents that financial development, improves agriculture and manufacturing sectors and investment activities improve the incomes of bottom 20% of the population. The rest variables such as economic growth, financial instability, increase in prices, and overall high income inequality lower the income share of the poor from national income. The issue on the nature of relationship between financial development and income inequality has been discussed in many studies using few control variables with traditional estimation techniques such as Ordinary Least Squares (OLS). For instance, Dollar and Kraay, (2003) found that more trade would lead to improve income distribution, whereas higher inflation, higher government consumption and financial development would lead to higher income inequality. The specification of Li and Zou, (2002) is similar to the one in Barro, (2000) with the level of the gini coefficient as a dependant variable and control variables including inflation, financial development, government spending and openness. Their results suggest that higher inflation leads to lower income inequality, whereas higher government spending, an improved financial sector and better education abate it. Calderà ³n and Serven, (2003) find that financial depth increases income inequality while better education decreases it. Finally, the findings of Lopez, (2004) are based on the estimation of a dynamic panel with fixed effects for the change in the gini coefficient. The results suggest that improvements in education and lower inflation rates reduces the levels of income inequality, while financial development, trade openness, and reduction in government size will be associated with an increase in income inequality. Lopez also finds that economic policies are likely to be pro-poor in the long-run (i.e., the growth effects offset the increase in inequality) but might also lead to a temporary short-run increase in income inequality in the absence of compensatory measures. The effect of financial development is, however, not very large and is dominated by agricultural factors and other sectoral factors (Kakwani and Pernia, 2000; Khan and Senhadji, 2000; Christopoulos and Tsionas, 2004). With the development of a financial system, the capacity to bear the high costs of small credits (Rajan and Zingales 2003) increases. Moreover, the growth of a formal financial system makes poor people more accessible to informal credit that offers opportunities for profitable investments. Finally, in a framework of competitive markets of goods and production factors, credit may improve the well-being of the poor, even if they do not directly receive the loans from financial institutions (Beck et al. 2004)[1].. Finally, Ang (2008, 2009) scrutinizes the link between growth in financial sector and income distribution for the case of India. This paper indicates the important role of financial sector to decrease income disparity. It is documented that connection between financial development and income inequality exists and is significant. The results of this study show that financial development and increased banking density seem to improve income distribution by raising the income of the bottom 20 percent or the poor segments of the population. This study again provides support for linear relationship between finance and inequality. There is no space to validate Greenwood and Jovanovic (1990) hypothesis. Moreover, Ang (2009) probes an active link between financial liberalization and income disparity over the period of 1951 upto 2004 for the case of India. It may be noted on the basis of empirical evidence that financial reforms do not seem to provide any equal access to financial services and hence income discrimination has intensified in India. For the case of Brazil, Bittencourt (2006, 2009), has checked the effects of financial development on income disparity for the periods of 1980s and 1990s. The study uses time series and panel data approaches to examine the said nexus. The econometrical exercise indicates that financial development declines income inequality because easy access to financial services seems to increase income share of the bottom 20 percent of the population. Shahbaz (2009) also seems to investigate the impact of financial development, financial instability on the income of poor segments of population with the battery of other control variables such as economic growth, inflation, agriculture, and manufacturing shares to GDP for the case of a small emerging economy like Pakistan. The evidence proves the validation of McKinnon Conduit Effect in Pakistan. But, financial instability weakens the beneficial impact financial development on income share of the bottom 20 percent of the population. The main reason is that financial crisis seems to increase credit constraints for poor individuals. Furthermore, developments in agriculture and manufacturing sectors enhance the welfare of poor people by raising their incomes. Finally, study conducted by Shahbaz, (2010) indicates that financial development is associated significantly with equal income distribution. The estimate of economic growth is linked with high income inequality. The trade openness worsens income distribution and this provides the support to accept the Leontief Paradox for Pakistan. The income inequality is positively correlated with financial instability. The main objective of this endeavour is to investigate the relationship between financial development and income inequality in an Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) framework for Bangladesh utilising data over the period of 1985-2006. This attempt is the first of its kind for Bangladesh.

Ending to Lamb to the salughter

1 year after Mrs. Maloney had murdered her husband. The cell of Mrs. Maloney was dark and cold covered with cobwebs and dust from the years of the past. Mrs. Maloney sat on her bed awaiting the first light of dawn through the small window of her cell. She shared this cell with another called Fran. Fran had been put into to jail for stealing two vans and à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5,000,000. Suddenly the bell for breakfast rung. â€Å"Come on Fran wake up! Come on!† Fran sat up on here bed rubbing her eyes. â€Å"What's the time?† asked Fran, in her cockney slang voice. â€Å"Half eight exactly† replied Mrs. Maloney. â€Å"Here you go girls. The usual.† said the guard. â€Å"Don't forget what day it is today Fran!† as the guard shouted back to their cell. â€Å"I can't wait until I am out of this place for good. I have promised myself that I will never steal again.† â€Å"Good on you Fran. I am so pleased you are nearly a free women. Is there anyone you are expecting to see you?† â€Å"Yes. Now you mention it I wonder if Tony will be here this afternoon.† â€Å"Who is Tony?† â€Å"My husband. Well, if he will forgive me for stealing two vans and à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5,000,000.† â€Å"I'm sure he will. Anyway let's dig in. We don't want to have cold food.† When Mrs. Maloney and Fran had finally eaten all of their breakfast, Fran started to pack and get ready for the outside world. As she was packing her mind was racing. What will the world look like after ten years in prison? Will it have changed? A few hours later Fran was called to go to the checking out desk. Fran had to fill out several forms and tell them where exactly she was planning to stay and a telephone number she had to call once in the morning and once in the evening. Fran started to get extremely excited. When Fran got outside there was Tony in a brand new silver Peugeot. Fran was so happy to see him after all these years. She thought he had forgotten her, but no she was wrong. Meanwhile Mrs. Maloney was to see her new cell mate. She was starting to get nervous. â€Å"Here is your cell Sheila. Now dinner will be in a few hours and there will be a bell rung. I am sure you two will get on well together.† Said the guard as he pointed towards Mrs. Maloney's cell. There was silence for some time and neither of the spoke. After some time Mrs. Maloney spoke â€Å"Hello, I am Sandra. Why are you here?† â€Å"I am here because I murdered my husband. I kept it a secret at first, but I felt as if I was haunted. I then owned up because I couldn't stop myself from going mad.† â€Å"Hey, that is what happened to me. I feel so much better here.† There was a long discussion for several hours and then the dinner bell rung. â€Å"Dinner time.† Said Mrs. Maloney. â€Å"Great I am starving. I thought that jail would be horrid and I would have this horrible cell mate, but I think you are the nicest person I have ever met.†

Cultural and Cross Cultural Psychology Essay

Cultural psychology and cross-cultural psychology is no more new, as it has had its momentum picked up for the past few decades. Developmental psychology is something of the same kind and it was a buzzword in between at the turn of the century. The question is how is it possible to study human’s development though we intend to study. Human development is also reflected from the repeated efforts and interests on culture analysis in getting to know the interpretation of signals, code words and gestures. When it comes to testing, research and analysis in psychology related subjects it is quite difficult to understand the significant relation between the test samples and the findings. As there is never a reliable empirical formula. Cross cultural psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes, including both their variability and invariance, under diverse cultural condition. It’s primary aims are to investigate a) systematic relations between behavioral variables and ethnic-cultural variables, and generalizations of psychological principles. Cross cultural psychology is the science by virtue of the scientific principles and methods it employs. Cross cultural psychology is not primarily concerned with the comparative study of culture, that si the enduring characteristics that mark a culture apart from other countries. (Leonore Loeb Adler, Uwe P. Gieglen, Florence L. Denmark. Cross cultural topics in psychology – Second edition) â€Å"Cross-cultural psychology is the empirical study of members of various culture groups who have had different experience that lead to predictable and significant differences in behavior. In the majority of such studies, the groups under study speak different languages and are governed by different political units† (British, Lonner, Thorndike, 1973, p. 5 – John W. Berry, Ype H. Pootinga, Marshall H. Segall, Pierre R. Dasen. Cross cultural psychology Research and Applications – Second edition, p. 1) â€Å"Cultural Psycology is the study of the culture’s role in the mental life of human beings† (Cole, 1996, p. 1- John W. Berry, Ype H. Pootinga, Marshall H. Segall, Pierre R. Dasen. Cross cultural psychology Research and Applications – Second edition, p. 1) Cultural psychology is the study to examine ethnic and cultural sources of psychological diversity in emotional, social cognition and human development. (Richard A. Shweder, Maria A. Sullivan. Cultural Psychology: Who needs it? 1993 – Internet edition Cultural psychology is nothing but the practices, customs and beliefs we follow differs from place to place and ethnicity to ethnicity. It is the study of various cultural practices, customary traditions and beliefs that influence a particular sector of people, who decides to improve their society by improvising the existing practices and trying to reason few satisfactory logic to get convinced with the practices. The degree of variance is sometimes measurable and sometimes not. The most interesting part is to analyze how and to what extent the traditions, customs, practices and beliefs developed in a region based on something are made use in favor of personal purposes. Whereas cross-cultural psychology is the effort to establish a connection between psychology that is being framed on the basis of the customs and traditions practiced. It simply deals with the different set of experiences and different set of environment which shows a significant influence on the behavior of the person in a place. The cultural psychology stops with the traditions, customs, beliefs and practices in a system whereas cross-cultural psychology is deep about analyzing the effect of these cultural practices in the behavior and thought process of an individual in the system. For eg, the traditional practice of Sati (burning a woman alive after her husband’s death) was followed in India. Learning the practice and the origin of Sati and analyzing its logic, superstitious beliefs is the cultural psychology. Cross cultural psychology tends to explain why women in India are able to accept the practice and get convinced when it is not possible with the other women in the rest of the world. Critical thinking in the cross cultural psychology Cross cultural psychology is interesting to deal with, but actually speaking is highly uninteresting when it comes to experiment and research. It is difficult to format a methodology and bring it in practice, even if brought into practice it is not all that easy to interpret the results of the psychological tests and tasks. How can researchers make out the differences between the results obtained for the same tests from different groups though the questions are same and the groups are different based on the brought up and experience. Is it possible to exhibit a connection between the psychology and the culture with just the interpretation of the results of the tests conducted, and the fact being no one knows to what extent the interpretation falls right. The difference in the thinking may occur due to the difference in the culture influenced thought process, still it is difficult as there is no concrete or empirical formula formulated to decide on it. There is no assurance that the difference in thought process is because of the cultural difference, as there could also be reasons such as bewildered nature of the question, the puzzling nature of the tests, the mood and ignorance of the people and the literacy rate and understanding power of an individual. It does not stop with cross cultural psychology as developmental psychology also faced the similar kind of problem in formatting the research to get to know the exact demand of the scientists and the researchers from the test samples. In addition to that few man made minor errors in the research and process leads to an unexpected and unwanted finding and the errors are sometimes left undetected too. The methodology associated with cross cultural research When it comes to methodology of cross cultural psychology, it involves the qualitative methodology to analyze the practices, customs and habits of different cultures, on the other hand it requires quantitative methodology to compare, analyze and juxtapose the difference in psychology of different individuals influenced by the cultures and practices they follow. Psychological and cultural psychology experiments always require the need of qualitative analysis, as the cross cultural psychology is all about analyzing a huge mass of test sample quantitative analysis also comes into picture, perhaps the problem is sometimes the methods are treated mutually exclusive and the results are not compatible all the time. In addition to this, there is a report that researchers employ artificial and unfamiliar methods leading to ambiguous results. The issue is research is done based on the questions answered by individuals in a society rather than the collective answer from a society, that makes the major difference and inconvenience. Conclusion Though the subject is interesting, it is poignant to know the investigation methods have not taken the right direction. Conventional methods and sampling techniques are most desired all the times, perhaps when it comes to bringing out the difference between two cultures and the influence on the thought process of an individual because of the culture, it is advisable not to stop with these conventional techniques, as even previous literature works, media interviews, assumptions can be taken into significant consideration. Apart from all these standard quantitative techniques should be given the appropriate attention too, the results from the conventional sampling techniques and the standard quantitative techniques can be compared and related. This way a convincing analysis can be expected. Reference: Richard A Shweder. Thinking through cultures – Expeditions in cultural psychology John W. Berry, Ype H. Pootinga, Marshall H. Segall, Pierre R. Dasen . Cross cultural psychology Research and Applications – Second edition James W. Stigler, Richard A. Shweder, Gilbert Herdt. Cultural Psychology- Essays on comparative human development. Lumei Hui. (2003)Theoretical and Methodological Problems in Cross-Cultural Psychology. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior John W. Berry, Ype H. Pootinga, Marshall H. Segall, Pierre R. Dasen. Cross cultural psychology Research and Applications – Second edition

Globalisation VS regionalisation Essay

Discuss with the Introduction to part III (pp. 289-293) and Chapter 20 in Stubbs & Underhill as a starting point the relationship between globalisation and regionalisation. Characterise in continuation of this the differences between regional integration in Europe and The Far East. For instance, you may reflect upon whether the recent financial crisis has set a new agenda for regional integration (Stubbs & Underhill, Chapters 21 and 24) In the past decades, numerous trading blocs have been created throughout the world, playing a significant role in the world economy and trade. However, as regionalization became of an increasing interest, there has been much discussion on its effects on globalisation and their relationship, as it is the other important trend in the world economy development next to regionalization. Discussion on the relationship between these two trends has been filled with ambiguity and will be clarified through the following pages. Furthermore I will take a look at differences between regional integration in Europe and Far East in regards to globalization. Additionally the impact of the recent financial crisis on regional integration will be discussed incorporating my own understanding of the subjects. Historically, before 1980, globalization was perceived rather negatively, leading to efforts of governments to protect their markets from the global competition by encouraging regional developments. Accordingly, regionalism was their response to the need for stressing their independence from global economy, caused by the growing force of globalization. 1 After the end of Cold War, globalization started to be perceived not as the ? enemy? , but more as a phenomenon of the age that has the capacity to bring advantages of a significant scale to those who can keep up with the flow and adapt to the changing enviroment, shifting the emphasis of the philosophy of regionalism into „ positioning a region so as to strenghten its participation in the global economy in terms both trade and capital flows. â€Å" 2 Furthermore the economic globalization affects the state also in political terms, creating a need for transformation of nation-state into competition-state as the nation-state can no longer protect its market in the same way as before, due to political globalization. Due to increasing global competition changes are made. These changes affect the states in a way that reduces their domestic political effectiveness and autonomy in order to enhance international competiveness. 3 In that sense, one of the crucial factors that triggered expansion of regionalism after 1980 was the political globalization. More specifically, the speeding globalization has led to increase in sense of regional identity, resulting in greater perception of common economic political and cultural interests of neighbouring countries that distingiush them from the rest of the world, enabling these countries to realize the benefits emerging from being a part of a region,4 and consequently the fast development of the European Union encouraged the need to counteract its increasing collective economic power. 5 „ The comparative advantage of the regional project is that it may be more effective in governing globalization than the nation-state while at the same time potentially offering more legitimacy and collective identity than globalization itself. â€Å" 6 Throughout the literature, scholars argue that the trends of regionalization and globalization reflect counterproductive relationship, as they stand in opposition to one another. Such tighter connections, as provided by regionalization, can lead to greater preference for trade with countries within the region, rather than in a global scale, which can be perceived as a concerning fact in relation to globalization. However, as I perceive it , these two trends do not compete, on the contrary, they complement each other. Regional developments strive to put states on fair trading terms, resulting in stronger regional economies. Stronger regional economies enable states to participate in world trade more effectively and therefore, regionalization contributes to the overall expansion of globalization. Similarly, in order to diminish the growing regional competition, states will form regional trading blocs and therefore, globalization contributes to the deepened regional trade. „New regionalism†¦ rather than being constructed in opposition to globalisation, it is, on the contrary, buttressed by a growing enmeshment while at the same time creating an institutional and political capacity to ? modify the conditions of globalisation. â€Å" 7 Regional integration of European Union (UN) has a comparatively longer and more intensive tradition compared to East Asia. Europe was the first one to realize, after WW2, the interdependence between its own welfare and stability of the region they were located in, expanding the European regional organizations, which they managed to reboost after the end of Cold War. After the period of euro-scepticism and euro-sclerosis, the goal of relaunching of Europe became of an increasing importance. This was intented to be managed through the unification of european market. Deepening globalization led to strenghtening neo-liberal forces, which meant the commitment to global free trade, i. e. internal and external market globalisation, with the aim „ to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. â€Å"8 Different reasons for the formation of regional groupings reflect different circumstances surrounding the actors. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), for instance, represents smaller or economically weaker countries that may seek for the regional integration in order to resist the emergence of a regionally dominant state. Conversely, as with the candidates for EU, they may choose to link themselves as closely as possible with the regional leaders. In case of EU, the regionalization is a result of political, institutional, and cultural factors as well as those related to transformation in corporate organization. This can be explained through the link between the region and the identity, that is most advanced in Europe. Inspite of representing the most advanced form of integration, the member states of the EU, especially the larger ones, do not appear ready to give up the role that they play individually in the regional and global settings, but still, to a large extent are involved in â€Å"steering† both regionalization and globalization collectively, that is, through the EU and its institutions. The East Asian crises emerging in 1997-98 had two main implications for the political economy of the region. Firstly, the increase in discussions about regional integration as a more intensive regional co-operation became desirable, leading to expansion of ASEAN by the participation of China, Japan and South Korea. 9 Secondly, the crisis enhanced the prospects for the continued development of an â€Å"East Asian† , as opposed to a â€Å"Pacific†, understanding of the region. 10 At the same time, two significant trends arised including the growing interest in monetary co-operation and bilateralism. Regarding the monetary integration, in contrast to EU, East Asia has failed to attempt to establish an Asian Monetary Fund, continuing in search for new monetary regionalism. Secondly, the growth in bilateral trading agreements can be partially explained through the growth in interregional agreements, such as between EU and MERCOSUR. EU gaining competitive advantage in the field of political agreements on market access in other regions leaves other actors in position of cathcing up with EU in this circle of bilateral competition : „ The more Europe and other regions integrate, the more will East Asia, not the least China, turn from its traditional bilateralism towards increased emphasis on regional co-opertain as a political instrument. â€Å" 11