Saturday, August 31, 2019

Glaser Health Products Essay

Glaser Health Products of Ranier Falls, Georgia needs assistance in evaluating and classifying costs in order to implement an activity-based costing system. As stated in the case, these costs will be used for planning and control decisions rather than inventory valuation. The activity-based costing system will provide better allocation of Glaser’s overhead costs rather than a system to look at the cost drivers or the activities that their overhead costs comprise. Glaser’s general structure of an activity-based costing model should consist of cost objects, activities, consumption of resources, and cost. Activity-based costing changes â€Å"the rules of the game† since it changes some of the key measures that manager’s use for their decision making and for evaluating individuals’ performance (Accounting4management.com). In order for Glaser to implement a successful activity-based costing system management must take a look at their overhead costs and j ustify whether or not they have enough overhead to be worrying about. While we do not know Glaser’s monetary value of their overhead costs, it seems that they have several divisions with a large amount of cost categories management must consider. The three main divisions of Glaser Health Products are Operations, Sales, and Administrative. Under each division are costs categories that have been divided up to help management determine where they belong. (Appendix A identifies each of the costs with the appropriate division). Next, management must identify the big overhead cost in order to determine whether or not they want to allocate some or a bunch of overhead using the activity-based costing system. I suggest that Glaser creates an activity-based costing system that allocates, with a minimal amount of effort, a large portion of their overhead. For instance, management is correct in identifying each of the costs using four different activities. These include unit-level activities, batch-level activities, product-level activities, and facility-level activities. This is a great system because the fewer activities Glaser can use to do this, the easier the accounting will be for management. These four activities will allow  Glaser to fairly and accurately allocate overhead to product lines. (Appendix B illustrates each of the costs under one of the four activities and also classifies the four activities under one of the three divisions). After Glaser management has identified the handful of the activities that connect overhead expenses to products, they must use the appropriate measure (the cost driver) to tie the overhead expenses to the product lines or service lines. To achieve this management must specify an appropriate cost driver for tracing costs associated with the various levels of activities to the next cost objective or products. The cost drivers can include a number of things such as direct labor hours, number of batches, or number of employees. (Appendix C shows the appropriate cost driver with the various levels of activities). Under the Activity-based costing system, Glaser will use preliminary stage cost drivers to link costs of resources consumed in one activity center to other activity centers. Some costs, such as batch-level activity center costs are initially assigned to a primary stage activity center and only need a single assignment process, and are traceable to specific products but often use a cost driver. Product-level activity center costs may be related to a specific product or grouped by activities before being assigned to products at the primary stage. Facility-level activity center costs may go through multiple preliminary stages before being assigned to products (Schneider, 2012). It is necessary to use a preliminary stage cost driver because this system assigns costs from activities to other activities. On the other hand, primary stage cost drivers is used to assign costs from activities to the cost objectives. This process eliminates distortions in cost allocations to products that result from production complexity (Schneider, 2012). Actually sitting down and laying out an activity-based costing system for a real company is much more difficult than a typical textbook ABC problem. Determining what causes a cost to occur is much more difficult than it originally might seem (Krupnicki & Tyson, 1997). Overall, I think that management’s decision to implement an activity-based costing system is going to work in their favor. The decision to implement ABC is often driven by the need to improve customer profitability analysis, to gain more accurate cost information for pricing or to prepare relevant budgets (Cohen, Venieris, & Kaimenaki, 2005). In this case, Glaser wants to identify costs used for planning and control  decisions rather than for inventory valuation. Glaser is likely to see many benefits from implementing an activity-based costing system such as better profitability measures, better decision-making, process improvement, cost estimation, and cost of unused capacity. The activity-based costing system will provide better allocation of Glaser’s overhead costs rather than a system to look at the cost drivers or the activities that their overhead costs comprise. References http://www.accounting4management.com/implementing_activity_based_costing.htm Schneider, A. (Ed.). (2012). Managerial Accounting: Decision Making for the Service And Manufacturing Sectors. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education. Krupnicki, M., & Tyson, T. (1997). Using ABC to Determine the Cost of Servicing Customers. Management Accounting, 79(6), 40-46. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/229739140?accountid=32521 Cohen, S., Venieris, G., & Kaimenaki, E. (2005). ABC: Adopters, Supporters, and Deniers And Unawares. Managerial Auditing Journal, 20(8), 981-1000. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/27453714?accountid=32521

Marie Antoinette: History as a problem in film

When one thinks of the Coppola, one inevitably thinks of the great Francis Ford, whose striking Godfather movies have set the bar for dramatic storytelling and cinematography for generations of filmmakers to come.   However, recently, the younger Coppola, Sofia, has taken over the moviemaking role, and has sought to reinvent the historical story of Marie Antoinette, the infamous French queen beheaded at the start of the French Revolution.   However, for those expecting a serious, dour, and historically play by play rendering of the tragic (some say scandalous) life of the queen, they are in for somewhat of a surprise.Indeed, the intentionally contemporary, visually stunning twist on the well-known tale is jarring in its departures from traditional historical thought.   So, too the visual liberties do much to literally force the audience to see the young queen from a different perspective.   The problem is, however, although Coppola can assert that her attempt is an artistic o ne, it is also one of manipulation.That is because in the end, the audience is fully aware of the juxtaposition of their new, interpretation of Antoinette as delivered by the film, with the overwhelming force of historical fact (in as much as we are aware).   This departure from reality eventually leaves the audience feeling a bit cheated, as if the visual, auditory, and even literary ministrations of Coppola on the story have been nothing but a cheap trick—a meandering of whimsy intentionally downplaying the legitimate tragedy of Antoinette’s death and the serious principles behind the French Revolution.To be sure, Coppola’s Marie Antoinette is beautiful.   Released in 2006, the film is set and filmed in Versailles.   The audience meets the young queen as a new bride, delivered from her native Austria to the bosom of the French court.   From the beginning, Antoinette is presented as gentle, almost simple, and kind hearted—concerned with leaving h er family and her beloved pet dog behind to start a new life of duty and service at the behest of her family.Almost as striking as the gentleness of the queen, the visual imagery of the film is without par.   The colors are as vibrant as any 50’s Technicolor dream, and the screen is consistently resplendent with bright pinks, blues and pastel wonders beyond imagination.   This is particularly true of the costuming, which is rendered in striking richness both in color and texture—helping to evoke the extravagant luxury of the French Court and the life of the queen.In addition to the visually descriptive nature of the film, Antoinette’s relationship with her husband is portrayed as amazingly genteel, with her displaying endless patience for her husband’s quirky ways and obvious lack of sexual prowess.   Further, her important role as a mother and bearer of heirs is portrayed convincingly, with visual (only) mention of the death of one of her children in infancy.However, apart from this reflection of historical trivia, the film does little to delve deeply into any of the issues of the time, or of Antoinette’s life.   Further, even the casting of American’s Kirsten Dunst and Jason Shwartzman seems to function as a way to move the film away from historical accuracy, if only in the audience’s mind.   This is particularly true when one hears the somewhat jarring sound of Dunst’s and Shwartzman’s flat American accents against the stylized French-accented comments of the Mistress of the Court.Although one could say that Coppola’s portrayal of Antoinette in such a candy-pink, innocent and accommodating fashion (perhaps more devoid of malice due to her â€Å"straight forward† and simple American twang) could be authentic in that some of it describes the queen’s relative youth and innocence as she entered the court.  Ã‚   However, this does not progress to increased complexity, and the audience does not see her increased politicialization that by all historical accounts marks the last years of her life.Indeed, as historians point out, Marie Antoinette was political, some say a bit of an activist, determined to resist the changes brewing in the midst of the growing revolutionary fervor in the country.   In fact, the movie seems to curiously, if perhaps, intentionally stay away from any true politicalization, â€Å"ugliness,† unrest or upheaval.   Apart from one or two references to the â€Å"people† being hungry and their not being enough bread, one simply does not see the common people or their plight at all.â€Å"What revolution?,†the audience may wonder (perhaps more so amongst today’s less educated tween moviegoers).   Indeed, as the film closes, we are left with nary a glimpse in to the tragic fate of the queen.   Further, one would not imagine too horrible a fate, after all, according to Coppola’s portrayal, Antoinette would never have been so callous as to have said, â€Å"Let them eat cake!†Ã‚   Certainly she was too good for that!   After all, didn’t she give up getting new diamonds so that the people may eat?In addition to the creative storytelling that Coppola entertains throughout the film, the music, itself sets the soundtrack as a kind of point-making device to further help the audience to identify with the kind queen.   Strains of largely upbeat popular music (Bow Wow, Cindy Lauper) make everything seem more innocent, and heck, can’t the audience see they are â€Å"just like us,† not so foreign, not so historic!Yes, it could have been any wealthy American or European girl in her shoes.   One can even see Paris Hilton in Versailles.   Under this treatment, Antoinette seems less distant, complex, serious, and significant in history.   Indeed, all of the messages gleaned from her experiences and narrative seem to melt away to the tune.   Ye s, some classical music is incorporated into the film, but only after the jarring point of the modern has been thoroughly made.Although the cinematic techniques utilized by Coppola definitely lead the audience to reinterpret history, several of the references to historical fact are accurate.   After all, the French did help the young America against Great Britain, and they did deplete sizable financial stores from France (exacerbating the plight of the poor) (Brinton, 1963).   However, by the time these historical points are made in the film, the other visual, dialogue, and tonal points have been made. Historical errors and downright tragedies of perception seem insignificant, just another point of verbal backdrop rather than pivotal junction.In addition to the twisting of the audience’s perception of Antoinette as a function of tone (visual, dialogue, etc), Coppola also departs from historical fact to presumably make the movie â€Å"more interesting† to its audien ce—who are perhaps used to a â€Å"Dangerous Liaisons† kind of film.   Indeed, in departing from established historical fact and blithely embracing a supposed extramarital affair between Antoinette and the Count von Ferson, Coppila goes out of her way to add to history, simply for the entertainment value.Although one cannot defiantly prove that such an affair did not occur in reality, historical sources do not indicate that it did.   This is hardly a trivial point in that it further contemporizes Antoinette, implying that such matters were commonplace (as they are today), and carried little consequences.   The historical and religious reality of Antoinette’s times were all to different, with serious consequences for both royal and common wives who strayed from the marriage bed. Of course none of these issues are dealt with and the whole â€Å"affair† is portrayed as just one more pleasant visual interlude among many, without meaning or serious inter pretation.Given all this, if one were to accept that Coppola did in fact deliberately attempt to use cinematic devices and storytelling in order to create a new version of the story, is this problematic?   If such a film were simple entertainment the answer would be no.   However, the difficulty that comes along with dealing with a historical subject is that there is some expectation from the audience that an attempt toward accuracy be made.   Yes, costumes in the Antoinette court were probably very pretty.The queen might have been innocent, kind, sweet even.   Perhaps she never did say â€Å"let them eat cake.†Ã‚   Such an assertion would not be new (1963).   However, using technique to reframe the events of the movie, be it through music, cinematography or dialogue creates either a problem with history itself—in essence changing it for the audience if they are impressionable, or though creating frustration or even anger in those who know better—and p erhaps feel more than a bit cheated that the association of the character with the defining event of her times (the Revolution) was all but overlooked in film.Although Coppola, herself has stated that it was not her intention to deal with politics or the political reality of her subject (Dudec, 2006), she does—if by omission.   In fact, her infamous statement, â€Å"Marie Antoinette was not interested in politics, so why should I be?† (2006) is problematic on many levels.   First, in its erroneous assumption that Antoinette was not interested in politics, she indicates a real unfamiliarity with her protagonist which is troubling.   Second, by â€Å"not being interested in politics,† one has to wonder at the appropriateness of Coppola dealing with the subject matter at all.   Can one imagine, for instance, Frances Ford Coppola asserting, â€Å"I am not interested in organized crime.†?Coppola’s troubling attitude and treatment of the subject matter was so striking when the movie was screened in Cannes that the audience actually booed the film.   This may be in part due to the fact that Coppila did not take her information from respected historical sources.   Instead, she almost exclusively drew from Antonia Fraser’s contemporary biography, which itself is rife with similar flaws and omissions to the movie.In the end, the audience is never privy to the â€Å"meat† of the Antoinette story—a story that the young female audience members that Coppila obviously targets could only learn from.   For example, she never showcases her strength, intelligence, or real power.   She does not take time to fully draw the immense political opinion and pressures against her as a â€Å"foreign queen,† nor does she deal with the complex nature of her death, the differences between rumor and political reality.Of course, this is not to say that the film does not have its fans.   In fact, even among French audiences some appreciated the way in which Marie Antoinette was played outside of the norm.   Although some might argue that some French critics may be pleased that a large Hollywood producer would deal with the subject at all, one can assume that some found genuine satisfaction in the portrayal—puzzling or no.Thus, the problems with the film hinge directly on the historical material.   Given any other non-historical subject matter, the same story might be just fine.   An afternoon of entertainment and â€Å"lavish visual effects.†Ã‚   However, by choosing a historical subject—and an emotional one at that, Coppila evokes much more than she may intend.   Further, the reactions of audiences must be interpreted in the context of the subject matter, not simply on the basis of film quality, direction, art or sensibility.Audiences either like the film or hate it—and each opinion carries with it serious implications.   After all, if one likes the fil m what does that say about one’s view or knowledge of history?   Has the â€Å"magic† of film influenced that opinion, and by continuation, one’s historical view?   Conversely, should one hate the film, would that person lack the ability to appreciate the â€Å"beauty† of the visual art in the film?   Or, instead, does one’s consciousness of the subject matter as history prohibit any such appreciation?In the end, Coppola’s decision to use history as her muse may be the downfall of the film.   This because history demands a certain treatment in order to be molded into entertainment.   One cannot mould entertainment into history—it simply smacks of hollowness and superficiality—two of the most common criticisms of the film.Worse, one can see that (as in the case with this film), even in the presence of some truly spectacular cinematography and visual beauty—not to mention some pretty significant financial investm ents, it is not enough to overcome the historical liberties taken with the film.   It is as if her subject matter has become her stumbling block.   To be sure, one can assert that the film is great in part.   However, in part is not enough for true greatness.   No, Marie Antoinette will be no Lawrence of Arabia, enjoyed for generations to come—and isn’t that the true test of a film’s merit?Works CitedBrinton, Crane. A Decade of Revolution 1789-1799. Harper and Row, 1963. Dudec, A.   Cannes reality check. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 25, May 2006.   Retrieved on April 23, 2007, from, http://findarticles.com/?noadc=1

Friday, August 30, 2019

Bill Clinton’s Doctrine of Enlargement of Foreign Policies

Bill Clinton’s Doctrine of Enlargement of Foreign Policies Tommy Wong American History Mr. McCarthy May 2, 2011 During his inauguration from 1993 to 2001, United States President William Jefferson Clinton, also known as Bill Clinton, promoted democracy and improved foreign relationships by using non-aggressive policies. These policies were based on Clinton’s belief and principle, which was also known as the Doctrine of Enlargement. The Doctrine of Enlargement asked for a free competition in global trade and promoting democracy with minimum intervention in foreign political affairs while America to be remaining as the global leader.Clinton had planned and created this doctrine of enlargement before he inaugurated as the President of United States. His education at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service also marked his specialty in dealing with foreign affairs. In a speech he made before the congress on February 17, 1993, only a month since his inauguration, Clinton gav e his view on global economy: Standing as we are on the edge of a new century, we know that economic growth depends as never before on opening up new markets overseas and expanding the volume of world trade.And so, we will insist on fair trade rules in international markets as a part of a national economic strategy to expand trade, including the successful completion of the latest round of world trade talks and the successful completion of a North American Free Trade Agreement with appropriate safeguards for our workers and for the environment. In his speech, Clinton implied that a free global economy is the key to American’s economical growth. During his presidency, Clinton will follow his doctrine and reform the American financial system and foreign relationships.When he first became President in 1993, Bill Clinton had made decisions in foreign affairs that damaged his reputation, although he did not cause the problem in the first place. One of which was the humanitarian mi ssion in Somalia sent by the previous President George W. Bush a few weeks before Clinton’s inauguration. Since the American troops showed little effect on solving the situation in Somalia, Clinton withdrew the entire force next year, which the embarrassment led to the resignation of the Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and damaged Clinton’s reputation.Yet Clinton had only withdrew the troops in order to decrease deficiency and unnecessary deficit. His action is also based on his beliefs of minimizing intervention in foreign affairs. Despite of some missteps in issues in Somalia early on in his presidency, Clinton did bring some exceptional accomplishments in foreign affairs. In 1994, he successfully persuaded Russia to withdraw its troops from Baltic Republic of Estonia and Latvia. In dealing with Russia, Clinton help created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.It restricted the number of troops and nuclear weapons all owed into the Russian regions. Together with the Nunn-Lugar Act, which reduced Russia’s nuclear weapons, Clinton helped unbuilt the tension developing between Europe’s greater powers, thus decreasing the possibility of a devastating world war of nuclear weapons in the near future. Clinton’s Doctrine of Enlargement also planed to keep peace in the world by international alliances and intervene foreign affairs only if necessary. An organization that represents such qualities is the United Nations.In his remarks to the U. N. general assembly in the White House on October 22, 1995, Clinton gave a speech of his thoughts about the United Nations: The U. N. helps the peacemakers, the care providers, the defenders of freedom and human rights, the architects of economic prosperity, and the protectors of our planet to spread the risk, share the burden and increase the impact of our common efforts . . . the United Nations has not ended war, but it has made it less likely, and helped many nations to turn from war to peace.The United Nations has not stopped human suffering, but it has healed the wounds and lengthened the lives of millions of human beings. The United Nations has not banished repression or poverty from the Earth, but it has advanced the cause of freedom and prosperity on every continent. The United Nations has not been all that we wished it would be, but it has been a force for good and a bulwark against evil. From his speech Clinton explained the importance of the United Nations is and what effects it has brought and can bring to the world.Clinton actively participated in the United Nations during his presidency as a fulfillment of his doctrine. He believed that reforming the United Nations is an efficient way to make the world a better and safer place. William Clinton, as a part of his Doctrine of Enlargement, encouraged free global trade, which America has always not been able to do. He promoted several plans to allow free trade with other countries. One of which was the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in December 1993, which removed the trading barriers with Mexico and Canada.The NAFTA was an extended version of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement, and the purpose was to foster trade between the three countries by lowering the tariffs, and thus creating American jobs over the borders. While the agreement sounded beneficial to the American economy, some argued that it would lead to moving American jobs to Mexico, where the wages and working conditions were lower than that of United States. Some also argued that the lack of antipollution laws in Mexico would also damage the environment.President Clinton made his remarks to such arguments in the White House: So when people say that this trade agreement is just about how to move jobs to Mexico so nobody can make a living, how do they explain the fact that Mexicans keep buying more products made in America every year? Go out and tell the Americ an people that. Mexican citizens with lower incomes spend more money — real dollars, not percentage of their income — more money on American products than Germans, Japanese, and Canadians. That is a fact. And there will be more if they have more money to spend. That is what expanding trade is all about.His response to the anti free-trade argument explained how the NAFTA would bring more financial benefit to the American economy, and losing some jobs is inevitable. The trading deficit of United States with Mexico has decreased from 5. 7 billion dollars in 1987 to 5. 4 billion surplus in 1993 after efforts lowering the tariff by the President Salinas of Mexico, even though they had lower wages than many other nations. Mexico was also the largest consumer of US products per capita. Clinton also believed that the first five years of NAFTA would create a millions jobs by looking at previous trends.The side agreement of the NAFTA would also sanction countries that did not en force the environmental laws. The establishment of NAFTA was America’s attempt to prosper from the global economy by lowering tariffs, thus creating jobs. While the NAFTA promoted trading with Mexico and Canada, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) focused on promoting trade with Asia-Pacific countries. President Clinton was also actively involved in the cooperation. Currently the Member Economies consisted of United States, Australia, China, Canada, Japan, Russia, and other countries to a total of twenty-one countries.The three pillars of the APEC were trade liberty, business facilitation, and economic cooperation, which were the also the goals of the Doctrine of Enlargement. Clinton started the trend of annual APEC Economic Leaders’ Meetings, which increased the significance of the APEC. The meetings generated ideas to reduce trading barrier among the country members. The APEC had reduced the average trade barrier from 16. 9% at the beginning of establishment to only 5. 5% in 2004. Clinton’s contribution to APEC helped promoted global trade, which was a part of his doctrine.Clinton’s administration also changed the relationship between America and China. American government has been reluctant to trade freely with China because of its human right violations and its influence on local industries. In 1999, however, Clinton signed an agreement with China to lower trade barriers. Although both democrats and republicans hesitated to support free trade with China, the congress voted in 2000 to share permanent normal trading with China and support China’s World Trade Organization membership. This soon became beneficial to the America’s economy as it opened a billion people market.Aside from promoting global trade, Bill Clinton also improved foreign relations by offering financial aid. During his presidency, Clinton organized several loans to help out countries in trouble. In the January of 1995, he organized a 50 bil lion loan to the Mexican government to overcome a financial crisis, which the price Mexican currency peso drops significantly. The Mexican government repaid all the money in 1995, three years before the proposed schedule. The International Monetary Fund together with the World Bank and Japan organized a 17. 1 billion dollar loan despite the unpopularity.In 1997 to 1998 Clinton helped also a currency crisis in Thailand, South Korea, and several other Asian countries by giving more power to the International Monetary Fund, assisting developing economies to build regulations, and asking private sectors to assist the situation. Clinton helped other countries that were financially struggling by organizing loans, thus improving the global economy and relations. Clinton’s administration proved to be a success in globalization by promoting free trade, reducing mass destructive weapons, and offering assistance to countries in financial crisis.These achievements were based on the belie fs of Clinton’s Doctrine of Enlargement. Bill Clinton was the first democratic president for over thirty years to be reelected for the second term of office. Footnotes Clinton, William Jefferson. â€Å"Address Before a Joint Session of Congress. †   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Speech, U. S. Congress, February 17, 1993 2 William Jefferson Clinton â€Å"Remarks by the President to the U. N. General Assembly † (speech, United Nations, General Assembly Hall United Nations Headquarters, October 22, 1995). William Jefferson Clinton â€Å"Remarks by the President Clinton, President Bush, President Carter, and Vice President Gore in signing of NAFTA Side Agreements† (speech, United States, White House, September 14, 1993). Bibliography 1. â€Å"REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT TO THE U. N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY . †   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Speech, United Nations, General Assembly Hall United Nations Headquarters, October 22, 1995. 2. Issues and Controversies. â€Å"Key Events in Cli nton's First Term, 1993-96   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (sidebar). † Issues and Controversies. Last modified February 2, 2001. http://www. 2facts. com/icof_story. aspx? PIN=ib600110&term=clinton. 3.Issues and Controversies on File. â€Å"The Clinton Presidency. † Issues and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Controversies. Last modified February 2, 2001. http://www. 2facts. com/   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  icof_story. aspx? PIN=i0600100&term=clinton. 4. Melanson, Richard A. â€Å"Post-cold War Policy. † Encyclopedia of American Foreign   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Policy. Last modified 2002. http://ic. galegroup. com/ic/uhic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow? displayGroupName=Reference&prodId=UHIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE|CX3402300118&mode=view. 5. NEUMANN, CARYN. â€Å"Clinton Administration (1993–2001), United States National Security Policy. In Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security, edited by Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and Lee Lerner. Vol. 1. Detr oit: Gale, 2004, 3 Mar. 2011. http://ic. galegroup. com/ic/uhic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow? displayGroupName=Reference;prodId=UHIC;action=e;windowstate=normal;catId=;documentId=GALE%7CCX3403300152;mode=view;userGroupName=s0965;jsid =3436a7b1e80c61f11c08c92784b65d74. 6. University of Virginia. â€Å"Bill Clinton: Foreign Affairs. † Miller Center Public Affairs. http://millercenter. org/president/clinton/essays/biography/5. 7. CNN Politics. â€Å"Clinton to sign China trade bill Tuesday. CNN. http://articles. cnn. com/2000-10-10/politics/clinton. pntr_1_wto-membership-china-global-trade-regime? _s=PM:ALLPOLITICS 8. Deng, Yong. â€Å"Promoting Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Perspectives from East Asia†. Gale U. S. History In Context. http://ic. galegroup. com/ic/uhic/AcademicJournalsDetailsPage/AcademicJournalsDetailsWindow? displayGroupName=Journals;disableHighlighting=false;prodId=UHIC;action=e;windowstate=normal;catId=;documentId=GALE|A21135725;mo de=view ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Clinton, William Jefferson. â€Å"Address Before a Joint Session of

Thursday, August 29, 2019

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

Swot analysis - Essay Example 3. Although AFVs save costs and enhance economy, â€Å"hybrid† is a relatively new technology which is not "tried and true" and only little is known about its potential development. This may also lead to disapproval from potential consumers. (Wasko, 2006) 4. Petrol and diesel vehicles have been around for decades and have been proven reliable time and time again. Solar and electric powered vehicles are new to the market and consumers might be reluctant to swap to the new technology. 5. A design that is â€Å"petrol-free† means that the â€Å"Synergy† loses some acceleration as a trade-off for economy and being environmentally friendly. People might still prefer petrol/diesel vehicles for performance. (Wasko, 2006) 1. Petrol prices are rising day by day due to the huge increase in crude oil prices. This provides a perfect opportunity to the Toyota Corp. to make cars that do not require petrol to enter the market. (Wasko, 2006) 2. The Toyota CS&S concept car puts Toyotas popular hybrid technology inside a sportier and futuristic design, with speeds up to 127 miles/hr. The CS&S incorporates the Toyotas Hybrid Synergy Drive system, the same gas-electric technology (Fuller, 2009). Toyota can work on this model to develop a hybrid car that saves fuel and is made for performance. This can be targeted towards the urban youth market. 3. Toyota has planned to build about 400 demonstration plug-in hybrids by the year 2010. The batteries in these cars can be charged from wall sockets which further cuts gasoline usage. (Woodyard, 2008) 1. In 2010, Toyota declared the callback of about 436,000  hybrid vehicles  worldwide, including its latest make, the Prius, to fix the  brake problems. The total includes more than 200,000 Prius cars sold in Japan. (Prius Call Back Worldwide By Toyota 2008) Lack of quality control can severely damage

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

IT Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

IT Project management - Essay Example Nevertheless, additional software projects normally lacks of calendar time. Increasing work force to a late software project results to sequential constraints. Moreover, it is costly which has immediate negative impact that cannot be recompensed within the prevailing weeks. Additional software projects also lacks of calendar time. Strategy of making up schedule slippage is increasing the productivity of the individuals working on tasks. Nevertheless, the strategy has the disadvantage of not solving the delays due lack of the information, support and resources. Increasing the productivity of the data modeling teams demands extensive training and replacement of the underlying outsourced staff, which would demand escalated expenditures of time and money (Taylor, pp. 123-189). Thus, managers and corresponding planners ought to carry out re-planning in order to adjust the schedule, staffing and budgetary plans to be utilized in process of guiding the entire process of completion duration. Another approach is adding more workers to the underlying project tasks. This approach has a risk since the managers and the corresponding planners argue that adding more workers can never solve the problem due to lack of the enough information, support and resources. Moreover, computation of the increase in productivity due to the increase in the number of workers especially for the underlying data modeling tasks to catch up is normally unrealistic. This schedule slippage offer re-planning opportunities that entail utilizing slack time of the non-critical path tasks and corresponding overlapping more of the tasks. MOOS-Maintenance and Ongoing Operations Support affect IT project estimates in numerous ways. It will offer standard recurrent procedure to monitor on the collaboration amidst the IT regarding the project demands. They will be allotted by the SDLC phase by identification of the preliminary assessment of the underlying work request,

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Company analysis - Sears Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Company analysis - Sears - Term Paper Example Henceforth, the study attempts to determine the recent corporate governance issues that are currently affecting the company's decisions and to report how the company is or should be handling the issues. Mission, vision, and primary stakeholders: The most important mission of the company is to build customer relationships by providing better qualities of wide ranges of goods and services, like clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, appliances, housewares, tools, and electronics. Profitability or the policy of making more money is another important mission of the company. The final mission of the company is to make improvements in each and every day in the business domain and also in the market and to the customer through achievement of greater customer satisfaction. The most important vision of the company is explained by the company itself which is: â€Å"Sears is committed to improving the lives of our customers by providing quality services, products, an d solutions that earn their trust and build lifetime relationships† (Vision, mission, values, 2012, p. 1). The company was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in 1886. From its beginning, the primary stakeholders of the company were Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck. In 2005, the company was merged with Kmart and created Sears Holdings Corporation. Since then, the owners of Kmart also become the primary stakeholder of the company (Corporate History: A retailing legend is born, 2012, p. 1). Five forces of competition and its impacts on the company: Threat of new entrants: The large size of the company, the large size of the market share of the company, the high level of customer satisfaction, cost-effective business strategies, as well as high level of profit making ability are creating potential threats for new entrants to enter into competition with the company. This is in effect raising the level of profit and market share of the company. Thr eat of Substitute Products: Since the company is only a departmental store of various goods and services which are products or services of other production houses, therefore, the theory of substitute is not directly related to the company. However, the company faces competition from other departmental store like WalMart. In this case, the company takes strategies like lowering prices of various products and/or increasing the quality of these products to create treats to substitute companies and their products. These strategies are helping the company to increase the share of the market and also to make more profits. Bargaining power of suppliers: The bargaining power of the suppliers of various goods and services supplied to the company depends upon the markets for those products and services. Since the markets for various products sold by the company are very large, therefore, these suppliers are also gaining little bargaining power in the market and, hence, the amount of earned pr ofits of the company is very high. Between 1950s and 1970s the high quality of products sold by Sears and greater volume of profits gave the company’s suppliers negligible amount of bargaining power. Bargaining power of customers: The greater level of customer satisfaction is the most important part of the success story of the company. In this regard, the level of bargaining power of the customers of the company is also low. However, this does not mean that the company implements whatever policies it wants to

Monday, August 26, 2019

Biomedicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Biomedicine - Essay Example First, it is necessary to examine the sociocultural values which have lead to our own de-habilitating illnesses. We live in a fast, paced society in which there is little room to stop for a breather. This has been influenced by the internet and the ability to access information at the speed of light. Many jobs are now conducted straight out of the office and usually involve sitting behind a desk at the computer. Due to declining economic conditions around the world, many jobs are requiring longer hours to work as well as increasing layoffs causing stress in the local population. These increasing hours along with the stress associated with the fear of layoff and daily stresses such as traffic, family dynamics and other interpersonal problems has lead to an enhanced sedentary lifestyles as well as poor dieting and use of alcohol/tobacco which has lead to inherent chronic disorders and diseases. Poor dieting has lead to an increase in obesity across most of the western countries. This c an be due to multiple things. First, it is important to recognize that the onset of fast food restaurants has made it easier for the population to have access to high calorie and high fattening foods at a low cost. This is based on the 80/20 principle in human reasoning in that the decision to eat fast food over is influenced by the ease of access and quickness over the fact that it is not nutritionally sound (Gardner, 2006). Another important aspect is that G20 populations have an increased sedentary lifestyle. Due to the stress and fatigue associated with working a job, it is a de-motivational aspect which leads to a lack of physical fitness. It is also seen at the early childhood level as there has been a detrimental increase in childhood obesity. There has been a greater emphasis on academics and children spending more time in the classroom learning which has cut time which has usually been allotted for physical activity (Buckmaster, & Brownell, 1988). This is all a result of ou r progressive lifestyle which has led to obesity. In order to meet the classification for obesity, a person must meet a BMI, body mass index, of 27 which correlates to 120% of the desirable weight in comparison to height. As a result, this excess weight has added physiological and psychological illnesses. Metabolic associated diseases associated with obesity can be insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, hyperuricemia, and hyper tension (Dwyer, 1994). In insulin resistance, insulin becomes less effective at lowering blood sugars. Certain cells in muscles and fat become affected due to the disruption of glucose and insulin. The decrease in the amount of insulin being secreted by the pancreas associated with insulin resistance can lead to type II diabetes. Hyperglycemia occurs when there is too much sugar in the blood (Myers, 2004). This can be caused by a lack of exercise, consuming too many daily calories, etc. There are many debilitating factors associated with hyperglycemia such as kid ney, neurological, and cardiovascular conditions. Hyperuricemia is a condition which is associated with an abnormal increase in uric acid. Lastly,

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Marketing strategy of a mobile industry Assignment

Marketing strategy of a mobile industry - Assignment Example Samsung Electronics is a South Korean based multinational electronic products manufacturing and marketing company (Casali, 2008). It is the flagship subsidiary of Samsung Group and has been the world’s larges technology company in terms of revenue since the year 2009. The Samsung group was incorporated in the year 1969 and Samsung Electronics was founded in the year 1988. However the history of the company dates back to 1938, when it was founded by Lee Byung-chull as a trading company. It is presently headquartered at Suwon, South Korea and is headed by Gee-Sung Choi. The company has presence all over the world and employs around 221,726 people. Some of the major products of the company include LCD and LED panels, mobile phones, semiconductors, televisions, digital cameras, tablet PCs, and home appliances among others (Samsung, 2013a). According to reports, the net revenue of the company is â‚ ©201.103 trillion and the net profit was â‚ ©23.845 trillion in the year 2012. Some of the key competitors of the company are Apple Inc., Nokia, HTC, Research in Motion (Blackberry), and Motorola among others (Yahoo Finance, 2013). The USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of the company lie in its service quality, quality products at affordable pricing. The company is also the world’s largest vendor of smart phones since the year 2011. In the context of its mobile phone division, the company has been witnessing colossal growths since the mid of 2000. According to industry experts, the major reasons behind the growth is the introduction of low and mid ranged phones and providing Android operating system with the high range phones. Another driving factor was the introduction of several phones at the same which allowed the company to make the availability of wide range of options for the customers. In addition, promotional technique, strong distribution network, and superior after

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Biochemistry - Cystic Fibrosis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Biochemistry - Cystic Fibrosis - Essay Example In some cases, the CFTR protein is prevented entirely to take place at all and in some cases, CFTR protein does produce and get its way into the cell membrane but cannot operate properly. One way of treatment method is to supply a different class of chloride channel to compensate for the loss of the CFTR chloride channel. Gene therapy could be a better solution in future in which a normal copy of the CFTR gene to the cells is delivered. In this way, direct synthesis of the normal CFTR protein will be possible to treat the biochemical abnormality leading to cystic fibrosis. Introducing healthy gene will take over all functions of the CFTR protein that are necessary including those which are yet not known. And the best way of gene therapy is to exploit the ability of viruses bringing their DNA to enter into cells. Adenoviruses are suitable for this purpose due to their natural tendency to infect human

Friday, August 23, 2019

Book Report on No More Mondays by Dan Miller Essay

Book Report on No More Mondays by Dan Miller - Essay Example In the work of Dan Miller entitled No More Mondays, he discussed the ways and means to be able to improve the performance at work by changing the attitude toward the performance of the job. No more Mondays can then be translated as the dismissal of the attitude of a worker to dread Mondays. By the development of the positive mind-set towards work, a person can look forward to a new week of work instead of having a feeling of resentment towards it. For that matter, the Monday feeling can be eliminated. Miller proposed positive attitude towards work to be able to discard the negative feelings toward work. But prior to the said notion, the need to evaluate the work being performed by the person is of primary importance. This can be attributed to the fact that being dedicated in a certain job requires passion toward it. This can only be achieved if the person really loves the job that he/she has. This is where the importance of choosing a career and being in the career that one is passionate about comes in. Based on the book, it is more important to prioritize the job a person wants than choose the job on the basis of the salary. This can lead to a possible disappointment because of the high level of instability in the economic aspect of work and business. In addition, if the said attitude is undertaken there is great possibility that the person can feel the need to perform a particular work while considering the paycheck. This can be translated as being a slave to the salary and the money that can be received. Another important notion is the feeling of being stupid in the repetitive task that a person performs. This can only be translated as the feeling of being required and pushed through certain tasks without the feeling of innovativeness and creativeness. The said feelings can only be initiated if the worker can continuously improve himself/herself in the performance of the job. Also, such attitudes can

Performance Management System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Performance Management System - Essay Example This especially most applies on the part of the sales person and among installers. The sales personnel under the marketing department and installers under the technical department are mostly the ones who usually undergo special performance evaluation activities. Although, the performance evaluation activities applies to all, sales personnel and installers are mostly receiving special treatment most particularly in product knowledge activities, as they are the ones who should know more about the company’s product in great detail. This paper focuses on the prevailing performance management system at XYZ Company including the description of the said organization’s performance management system, the type of performance appraisal used, and suggestion and evaluation of the effectiveness of its appraisal and performance management process. Description of XYZ’s performance management system At XYZ, it is all the function of the Human Resource Department to create a produ ctive design and training to initiate appraisal and corrective measures as integral components of its overall performance management system. Shown in the following figure is an illustration of the overall working performance management system at XYZ. Figure 1. XYZ’s performance management system model. ... Thus, the training is appropriate for the Human Resource Department so that the right method of appraisal and corrective measures if necessary should be implemented, accordingly. With this, they could substantially make use of whatever information they obtain at an optimum level. After this, the Human Resource Department will try to delegate the actual appraisal process to the department heads and supervisors in every department. They will then analyze the results and implement corrective actions and measures if necessary. Type of performance appraisal used The XYZ Company uses graphic rating scale to evaluate the performance of the employees. Graphic rating is one of the oldest ways in the evaluation of employees’ performance that involves listing the desirable qualities that the person being evaluated should posses and be rated with from certain range of quantitative or qualitative value (Mathis & Jackson 2011). The effectiveness of the performance appraisal process XYZ eval uates performance mainly for increase of salary and other benefits. Thus, employees have this common notion that performance appraisal is tantamount to having increase in salaries and obtaining additional benefits. On the part of the company, performance appraisal is a motivating factor because only those who receive salary increase will be evaluated in their performance. Performance appraisal should be a form of self-rating in order that employees should know how well they perform and on what ground the company should guide development (Daft & Marcic 2008). Based on this concept, the effectiveness of the performance appraisal process at XYZ at some point will not be remarkable as this would not

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Montana 1948 Dream Analysis Essay Example for Free

Montana 1948 Dream Analysis Essay David, after reviewing your dream, I have concluded that you care deeply for the Sioux that live in your area. I know this because you didn’t imagine them as the stereotypical Native American, such as the ones depicted in the movies. You imagined them as normal people in normal clothes. They are dressed in jeans, cowboy boots, cotton print dresses, and flannel shirts. As they congregated on top of Circle Hill, they talked low and mourned the death of Marie. They weren’t in battle formation, seeking for revenge on whoever was responsible for Marie’s death, they were paying their respects. You know that Native Americans are no different than any other person in Bentrock and don’t deserve to be treated any differently. I believe that you are dreaming this because you want Native Americans to be considered equal amongst other people in Bentrock and throughout the country. After over hearing your parents talking about the horrific acts that Frank committed against Marie, I’m sure your care for the Native American people greatly increased. If you expressed your feelings of Native Americans, they would be extremely grateful to you. In conclusion, your dream shows that you know the truth about the Native Americans in the Bentrock area. They are normal people that live normal lives. They are no different than the white majority. They wear jeans, cowboy boots, cotton print dresses, and flannel shirts just like normal people. The fact that you view them as normal people and not the stereotypical Native American shows that you respect the culture and people of the Sioux tribe in Bentrock while other people in the area, such as Frank, don’t respect them as much.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Impact Of Climate Change On Insurance Companies Commerce Essay

Impact Of Climate Change On Insurance Companies Commerce Essay Change in climate is emerging up as a new type of issue in the security aspect because of the way it affects both the life and the well-being of humans in a highly interconnected and fragile world. (Evans, 1994, 107-128) Changing climate is becoming a threat to the basic welfare and survival needs of humans across the globe, including the production of food, health, access to water and the utilization of land. Environmental deprivation rising from different kinds of economical activities of humans has increased the intensity and frequency of natural disasters throughout the world. Around the world, there has always been natural development in the weather and climate events. In fact, the insurers have become experts in modelling the disastrous risks which has now become an incorporated instrument in the insurance industry. This has helped a number of businesses to digest the losses from unexpected natural disasters without important defaults. This has now led to the fact that insurance companies have become more refined in analyzing, managing and understanding their recent risks because of their natural disasters around the world. Many of the companies in United Kingdom are observed to be improving in managing and assessing their ways of dealing with the future trends and risks of the industry. As a number of UK insurance companies have started to note it, depending on their previous weather conditions and patterns for planning out strategies for future. For this, they must identify the probability of losses and gains related to weather conditions. The impact of climate change is on a very wide range from increased amount of hurricanes, fires and floods to health and life getting affected by changing patterns of hot and cold weather. (Evans, 1994, 107-128) Physical impacts effect on insurers: Companies of insurance and reinsurance are likely to face the strong impact of the changes in climate more than other parts of the financial businesses. There are a number of examples where it is seen that that how extremely weather condition can affect the insurance companies, the government and the sectors at backstops. Whilst there are examples of how the weather changes are affecting the insurance industry because of the flexibility of the insurance sector, in other ways it is quite well positioned in adapting the changes in weather events and patterns. (David, 2007, 28-38) Threat of climate change for insurance industry: The main threat that is facing the insurance industry is climate change. This threat affects both property and casualty insurance that the insurance people. Another concern: the two sectors will have to adapt to demographic change that is looming. This emerges from a study by Ernst Young, in collaboration with Oxford Analytica. Ernst Young has compiled a top ten list of threats that will confront insurers after interviewing twenty industry leaders worldwide. According to Ernst Young, climate change tops the list because global warming is changing the climate and increases the likelihood of claims arising from floods, hurricanes and other natural phenomena. Im not sure the industry is poised to cope with climate change, warned Tom Kornya, a partner at Ernst Young, in an interview with Insurance Journal. Five years ago, this risk was not even on the list. Mr. Kornya adds that not only the sector of damage insurance that will be affected by climate change, life insurance should also deal with it sooner or later. Damage will come to insurance when climate change will result in wind storms and floods. In life insurance, the consequences will be gradual. With temperatures that may change, life insurers will face new problems in health and mortality. So there could be different types of losses. The underwriting of these products is booming and no one has yet measured that cause climate change. The success of the industry will go through the development of innovative products, which will face great uncertainty, such as typing speed and severity of climate change, he said. The second risk that the industry faces is the demographic change with the arrival of the baby boomers retire, resulting in new needs. Insurers would be under great pressure, they will need to replace governments. (Rober, 2010, 34-33) In addition to the pressure generated by this new role, insurers will also deal than their competitors. Banks, mutual fund companies and all financial institutions will struggle to get the same dollar. There is a risk there too. Insurance companies must remain innovative with their products to keep the advantage, says Kornya. (Rober, 2010, 34-33) The environment in which insurers and practice is constantly changing quickly, said Tom Kornya. We find that consumers are looking for simple, low cost products and others who want more complex products that are also more expensive. A company that will not have a multichannel access could fall into the background if it does not use Internet, media and telephone. The last two threats on the list of the top ten risks of Ernst Young are the legal uncertainties and the possibility of geopolitical or macroeconomic disturbances. In the first case, accountability and reform in terms of crime could lead to financial losses. For the second, the firm says that the threat of a severe financial crisis due to derivatives and hedge funds could be damaging to the industry. Opportunities for insurance: Climate change presents risks but also opportunities. The possible opportunities created by the effects of a changing climate may require nurturing through the dedication of attention and resources. Too often, news coverage portrays climate change as a doom-and-gloom story of impending disaster. Certainly, many of the possible impacts of climate change are likely to negatively affect us, and we must address them, but we should not ignore the possible opportunities that a changing climate could create in part by proactively adapting to them. Some economic sectors and businesses may do better because of the effects of climate change, and they should seek to identify those new economic opportunities and invest in pursuing them. Turning back to the example the reduced reliance on winter roads due to warmer average temperatures disrupts supply chains and increases costs for the mining companies operating in the region. (David, 2007, 28-38). It is a risk for insurers, but also a great opportunity, says Tom Kornya. There will be a great demand for pension products. Baby boomers look for low-cost products that generate revenue. By cons, debate the role of government in the pension is not very advanced. Insurers will be required to take this place and this is a new risk to which they are unaccustomed. Financing and advisory Companies in carbon-intensive sectors are already seeking finance to help them decrease greenhouse gas emissions. In the public sphere, large sums of capital will be needed in the coming decades to develop, modify and renew key energy, transportation and flood defense infrastructure across the world. Climate change may appear to be a slow burn issue for the financial sector, but companies would be wise to give it significant attention, as much for the emerging upsides of changing demand as for protecting themselves against the erosion of value in the long term. Hedging and trading The demand from the industry is increasing for a number of risk transfer instruments in order to protect the companies against the increase in the prices of energy, the changing patterns of weather and the probable failure of current newly introduced technologies. The occurrence of carbon among the commodities that are tradable has grown higher to complex products that are starting to pull a large number of financial organizations and allow some further violation and exploitation of the products. Consumer revenues The awareness spread about the green issues encourages growth in socially responsible investments by the consumers and organizations alike. Even though, the market for mortgages, insurance and loans that give reward to low carbon behaviour is right now less, it may increase quickly. Similarly, the increased awareness of windstorms and floods has started to increase the desire of customers who are at risk for the property and casualty insurance. Implications: There are a number of activities that the insurance industry can do in order to improve their understanding of the impact and affects of change in climate, help the society and government to understand in a better way and prepare for the risks involved in the development in fire-prone or coastal areas and make items that could protect their clients from the damage induced by the climatic change. Following are some of the implications in order to reduce the negative impact of the climate change on the insurance industry: (Evans, 1994, 107-128) Most of the climatic scientists agree that the weather conditions in future are most likely to differ that the previous weather conditions. Thus, it will be sensible for the insurers to understand in a better way, what will be the future if the predictions of the scientists are true. Risk models can be developed on the basis of these predictions with the help of expertise. We can also put more potential for the research and studies as they will provide more knowledge and analytical capacity. It will also help in enabling the insurance companies to find the hidden markets and new opportunities for their products along with the risk management and educating consumers. (Rober, 2010, 34-33) Work with the scientists in order to raise the economic relevancy and accurateness for the climatic change modeling. Disclose and acknowledge the risks of climatic change in annual security filings and by other business communications. Should take a practical approach in order to influence the planning and development of land use, in fraction as most of the expected rise in the losses are stemming out from the disastrous events that could be prevented by good spatial planning. There are a number of steps that could be taken: 1) keep the valuable property out of the risk regions and 2) grant both the economic and environmental benefits. Reference Rober, D., (2010), NAICs Climate Dogma Is Putting Insurers at Risk, National Underwriter / Property Casualty Risk Benefits Management, Pp. 34-33 Evans, S., (1994), Recent climatic change and catastrophic geomorphic processes in mountain environments, Geomorphology, Pp. 107-128 David, P., (2007), Impact of Climate, Bests Review, Pp. 28-38 the unpredictability of future climate brings significant threats for insurance companies.The unpredictability of future climate brings significant opportunities for insurance companiesConsider the arguments for and against the above statements. W $Content$ References Authors Last Name, First Initial. (Date of Publication). Title of publication. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

A History of Rome and Julius Caesar

A History of Rome and Julius Caesar Report Plan Introduce: Caesar Battle at Alesia Gallia/Europe Report Important Caesar to Rome o Caesars army Vercingetorix o Tribe/prince Gaul history The siege at Alesia and army strategy The Gaul attack Picture of army attack strategy Final battle Map Conclusion New territory of Rome Culture change in Europe Pacere svbjectis, debellare svperbos To show mercy to the conquered and subdue the proud (Aeneid 6.847-853- Virgil.) 1. Introduction This report deals with the historical events that happened during the time of the Roman Consul Caius Julius Caesar (Caesar). It will first look at the important battle at a town called Alesia. It will then describe the battle that took place under the command of Caesar and his opponent Vercingetorix. It will describe some of the unique military strategy used. Finally some conclusions will be drawn about how this historical event had influenced how Europe looks today. 2. Methodology Information in this report is taken from both books and from three websites. The websites were found using Google searches. Websites were checked to guarantee the information was reliable. Books 1. Title: De Bellum Gallicum (in English it is called Commentaries on the Gallic War) It is a collection of 7 books written by Caius Julius Caesar, Roman General, politician and author (12 Jul. 100 BC, 15 Mar. 44 BC). There is an additional one, number 8, written by Aulus Hirtius, soldier, historian, Roman Consul (90 BC 43 BC). Websites Livius.org Livius is a website on ancient history written and maintained since 1996 by the Dutch historian Jona Lendering. It started on a different URL; the present one has been in use since 2000. The website is not for profit; with a couple of exceptions that have been indicated, you can use every photo and text, provided that you refer back to Livius and do not make profit either. Arsbellica.it ArsBellica is an Italian website, also translated in English to permit foreign students to draw from these precious studies, it belongs to Marco and Luca Maurino. These authors document historys battles for their own website and they collaborate with few of the most important universities in Italy. ThoughtCo.com Is a famous international website owned by Neil Vogel. The website debates about several topics like politics, history, maths, religion, sports and much more. It is run by a staff of experts who give the chance to freelance writers to send in their own articles, and after a meticulous review, these articles can be published. 3. The two Generals: Caius Julius Caesar ( July 12/13, 100 B.C. March 15, 44 B.C.) Was one of the most important men of all time. He was known as a brilliant military General, and he took part to form the first triumvirate. The first triumvirate was a political alliance between three consuls in the late Roman Republic: Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, and Marcus Licinius Crassus. Caesar was the first Roman to land in Britain, and he unified the Gaul after its insurrection. During the siege of Alesia, Caesar had ten legions available (V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV), for a total of 60,000 soldiers (ThoughtCo.com, 2017). Picture of Caesar (Ancient History et cetera, 2015) Vercingetorix (82 BC 46 BC)   Ã‚   Vercingetorix is the name that meanswho won 100 battles. He was the Gallic Prince of the Arvernis tribe. During the Gallic war he was   able to gather most of the Gallic tribes in one single impressive army, with himself leading as the General. During the siege of Alesia he had 70,000 soldiers in the citys walls and 240,000 as relief army, situated outside the Roman camp (Thought.com, 2017). Picture of Vercingetorix (Ancient History Encyclopedia, 2014) 4. 58-51 BC, Gallia Cisalpina In 58-51 BC, in territory Gallia Cisalpina (commonly known today as France and part of Belgium), the Roman Consul Caius Julius Caesar (Caesar), ran an intensive military campaign in the region of Gaul. The nature of Caesars tactics, and the style of his battlefront during this period was one of the most bloody during Caesars military career. Within the hill town of Alesia, Caesar and his legions were getting closer to the battlefield that would eventually mark the event as one of the most remarkable military victories in history. This is because the battle that was fought in Alesia involved military strategies which tested Caesars abilities as a leader. He had to find ways to manage numerous traitor-tribes, revolts, and small rebellions. Managing these were important because Caesar knew that if the Gallic tribes formed an alliance against him, the Roman legion may not continue to maintain their rule in the region. (GreatMilitaryBattles.com, 2009) 5. The siege In 52 BC., Vercingetorix, after the battle of Gergovia, thought that it wasnt the right moment to engage in a royal battle against the Caesars army, so therefore he withdrew to the walled Mandubii town of Alesia. Placed on a hill and encircled by river valleys, Alesia was in a strong defensive position. Once nearby Alesia Caesar had to decide the best way to make his attack. Instead of launching a frontal assault, he decided the better strategy was to lay siege to the town, by surrounding the town and waiting for them to surrender. To make sure that Alesia was away from any sort of rescue, Caesars army built a circumvallation wall. Provided with ditches, watchtowers, and traps (such as stimuli, lilies, and tombstones) the wall ran for roughly 15 km. During the endeavor to build the wall by the Romans, Vercingetorix was sending small groups of cavalry with the aim to disturb the Romans work and also to try to kill as many Roman soldiers as possible. Wondering if a possible relief army in Vercingetorix could help, Caesar decided to erect a second wall, in slang contravallation, that was long about 21 km (ThoughtCo.com, 2017). Picture of the circumvallation and contravallation walls at Alesia (Ancient World, 2015) After three weeks of siege, at the end of September, the people in the town were starting to starve. Because of this, Vercingetorix decided to try to assault the Roman camp from the city, with the assistance of the relief army that arrived the day before under the lead of Commius (one of Vercingetorixs army generals), attacking from outside the Roman camp. Both attacks were contained by the Romans, so the Gauls attacked again in the next day, this time with the help of the darkness. When Commius thought that it was the right moment to break through the Roman lines, Mark Anthony and Gaius Trebonius cavalry gave a great proof of their valour keeping the position assigned to them by Caesar. From inside, Vercingetorix was also attacking, but the surprises element was lost due to the need to fill in the Roman trenches before moving onward (ThoughtCo.com, 2017). 6. The final battle The Gauls attack. After one month and a half of the siege, the Gauls decided to concentrate their forces in one last attack. The target was the Roman camp of Mount Rea, the farther from Alesia but even the more difficult to defend, because the landscape of the territory had poor visibility. Inside the citys wall, the remains of the army of Vercingetorix   decided to support the final attack from inside the lines. After 7 hours marching and 5 hours rest, the Gauls launched a devastating charge beginning a bloody hand-to-hand fight. Right away the Roman Tribunes needed reinforcements, so Caesar decided to send 6 military units (cohorts) from the south camp, next to the Mount Flavigny. Vercingetorix saw this move, and he sent quickly a charge to the camp that had just been deprived of a relevant number of troopers. After Caesar gave the order to get the 6 cohorts back to defend the camp from the assault of Vercingetorix, Caesars situation was getting dramatic and he decided to dismount his horse and start to fight with   his comrades. Once the legions of Caius Fabius and Decimus Brutus had recognized the General by his red cloak fighting on their side, they found new energies starting to fight harder (Arsbellica.it, 2015). Picture of army camps and attack directions (arsebellica.it, 2015) Caesars last move. After the 6 cohorts were arrived back to the camp of Mount Flavigny, south of Alesia, Caesar had to rush to the north, to Mount Rea, where the outside army of Vercassivellauno (Vercingetorixs army general) was charging the Roman camp with about 60,000 men. In his way up to the north encampment, Ceasar collected as many horsemen as possible (the Germanic auxiliary cavalry were the best knights of that time), and 4 reserve cohorts. Caesar knew it was his last chance, so he gave his last order: he sent the Germanic cavalry ahead following the entire perimeter to reach Mount Rea, run around it and take the attacking Gauls with surprise by their back. It was a pretty dangerous move because he had to deprive himself of the horsemen for at least two hours, the time to run to the north of Alesia and run around the enemy. In the meantime, Commander Labienus was holding the situation difficultly, waiting for Caesar and relief forces. When the Roman General arrived, he became conscious of the situation. The factions were so mixed that wasnt even possible to thrown an arrow without the risk of hit their own comrades. The legions were in great suffering, but fortunately, as Caesar expected, the Germanic   auxiliary horsemen arrived at the right moment to slaughter the Gauls from rear. Caesar wrote in his book like below: Nostri, omissis pilis, gladiis rem gerunt. Repente post tergum equitatus cernitur. Cohortes aliae adpropinquabant: hostes terga vertunt. Fugientibus equites occurrunt. Fit magna caedes (Ours, renouncing javelins and held the gladii. Suddenly appears behind (of the enemy) our Cavalry. The other cohorts are pressuring, enemies extend their backs. The riders chasing the fugitives. There is a great slaughter ). (CAESAR, De Bello Gallico LXXXVIII, 5-7; arsbellica.it, 2015) Picture of army camps and fleeing directions (arsebellica.it, 2015) The effect of the Caesars last move did not kill the biggest part of the enemy army, but the withdrawal of 60,000 men had increased the fear of the other Gauls who collapsed in panic. After 50 days of siege and their last card played, the Gauls did not manage to break through the Roman defenses. Later on, Vercingetorix yielded to Caesar (arsbellica.it, 2015). 7. Historical results With the repression of the Vercingetorix riot, Rome would finally annex the region of Gaul as Republic Province. This was a significant victory which changed the culture in Gaul. This victory may have other several results. The Romans, after this victory and the following conquest of Britain (England), increased their possession, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, until the North Sea. This property began the fusion of the Celtic people with the Latin ones and the merger of their cultures was be the beginning of the Romance culture of Provence, the courtly poetry and the Carolingian cycle poems. Despite the rising of a new culture, another one was dying out: The Celts. A thriving and old civilization that survived only in the farther and beautiful Island of Ireland.   (arsbellica.it, 2015). 8. References Caesar C.J. (2009). De Bellum Gallicum. Newburyport MA: Focus Publishing. Livius.org. (2014). Alesia (52 BCE).   Retrieved from http://www.livius.org/articles/battle/alesia-52-bce/ Ars bellica. (2015). Assedio di Alesia. Retrieved from http://www.arsbellica.it/pagine/antica/Alesia/alesia.html Kennedy Hickman for ThoughtCo. (2017). Gallic Wars: Battle of Alesia. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/gallic-wars-battle-of-alesia-2360869 Ancient World. (2015). The siege of Alesia 52 BC. Retrieved from http://www.antickysvet.cz/25994n-oblehani-alesie-52-pred-n.l. Ancient History et cetera. (2015). Barry Strauss on the Assassination of Caesar. Retrieved from  http://etc.ancient.eu/interviews/barry-strauss-on-the-assassination-of-caesar/ Ancient History Encyclopedia. (2014). Vercingetorix. Retrieved from http://www.ancient.eu/image/2399/

Monday, August 19, 2019

Measuring Progress in the Technological Transformation of Writing Instruction :: Technology

Measuring Progress in the Technological Transformation of Writing Instruction The most provocative rhetorical moment for any new enterprise is the moment in which someone opines what the enterprise will do, will cause, or will enable. Inventor Dean Kamen claims that the Segway will revolutionize personal transportation. But we must wait and see, with varying degrees of anticipation, whether this comes true. In any popular cultural innovation one cares to name, there is an explicit or implicit claim about the way that the innovation will â€Å"change† or â€Å"transform† life, its quality, or its effect. And one of the most prolific generators of pronouncements of future effect has been that enterprise commonly called the â€Å"computer revolution.† Given that the technologized nature of composition renders it just as prone to pronouncements as to how â€Å"things will be†, and given that it’s important to assess any major enterprise by comparing outcomes to original claims, it makes sense that techno-compositionists have been making reflective and summative assertions about the state of technological writing instruction. Cynthia Selfe, Christina Haas, Barbara Blakely Duffelmeyer, and others have recently and specifically called us to look carefully and critically at the implications of what we are doing as teachers of technologized literacy. On a larger scale, It makes sense to look at the claims made in and by the profession of writing teachers about what will happen to the future of writing in a technological age. Here, we review claims made over the last ten years about the transformation of literacy, writing, and its instruction in the pages of College Composition and Communication, College English, and C omputers and Composition. We then assert how far the profession has really come, as opposed to "how far we thought we'd be," and suggest some ways of overcoming the blocks to reaching these goals. We surveyed CE, CCC, and C&C from 1992 through 2002. We looked exclusively for what we call â€Å"will† claims—that is, direct or obviously implied specific predictive claims of what technology will do to teaching, writing, and literacy, or what will happen in these environments. We focused on these strong statements, not on statements of what â€Å"ought† to happen, what â€Å"we need† or â€Å"will need† to do or â€Å"must† or â€Å"should† do. We focused on statements made directly by the authors of the articles or reviews, rather than recapitulation of other authors unless the author or reviewer used it as part of her or his own larger assertion about what â€Å"will be.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Bahrain Essay -- essays papers

Bahrain History of Bahrain Bahrain was once part of the ancient civilization of Dilmun and served as an important link in trade routes between Sumeria and the Indus Valley as much as 5000 years ago. Since the late 18th century Bahrain has been governed by the Al-Khalifa family, which created close ties to Britain by signing the General Treaty of Peace in 1820. A binding treaty of protection, known as the Perpetual Truce of Peace and Friendship, was concluded in 1861 and further revised in 1892 and 1951. This treaty was similar to those entered into by the British Government with the other Persian Gulp principalities. It specified that the ruler could not dispose of any of his territory except to the United Kingdom and could not enter into relationships with any foreign government other than the United Kingdom without British consent. The British promise to protect Bahrain from all aggression by sea and to lend support in case of land attack. After World War II, Bahrain became the center for British administration of treaty obligations in the lower Persian Gulf. In 1968, when the British Government announced its decision (reaffirmed in March 1971) to end the treaty relationships with the Persian Gulf sheikdoms, Bahrain joined the other eight states (Qatar and the seven Trucial Sheikhdoms, which are now called the United Arab Emirates) under British protection in an effort to form a union of Arab emirates. By mid-1971, however, the nine sheikhdoms still had not agreed on terms of union. Accordingly, Bahrain sought independence as a separate entity and became fully independent on August 15, 1971, as the State of Bahrain. Cultural and Societal To truly understand the society and culture of Bahrain it is necessary to know what it is based on. Society and culture in Bahrain is based on Islamic religious beliefs. These beliefs are not only the moral standards for the country, but they are also the legal standards for all commerce, criminal, civil, and political codes. From a western standpoint this can be very confusing and different to comprehend. To alleviate some confusion the following is a small summary of Islamic beliefs. The following is by no means a complete summary and many beliefs, laws, and other religious criteria has been left out for expediencies sake. Islam One of Islam’s literal meanings is the â€Å"True Religion†. An Islamic fo... ...Force. A male is eligible for the military at the age of 15-49. The availability of military manpower is 220,670. Bahrain spends $276.9 million on military forces annually, which is 4.5% of the GDP. Bibliography: ArabNet, 1-3. Retrieved February 10, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.arab.net/bahrain/bn_financial.html Bahrain, 1. Retrieved February 10, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.countries.com/countries/bahrain Bahrain: The Pearl of the Arabian Gulf. (Dilmun), 1-3. Retrieved February 10, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://members.tripod.com/~thottungal/Bahrain.html CIA -- The World Factbook 1999:Bahrain, 1-8. Retrieved February 10, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ba.html Country Reports on Economic Policy & Trade Practices, 1-7. Retrieved February 10, 2000 from the World Wide Web: gopher://gopher.umsl.edu/oo/library/govdocs/crpt/crpt0008 Lands and People, 1. Retrieved February 10, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://infoplease/lycos.com/ce5/CE004132.html Solman Al-khalifa, 1997, State of Bahrain: Central Statistical Organisation Directorate of Statistics, State of Bahrain (publisher).

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Long Live The Infoperneur Essay

In the wildly popular 1960’s American television series Star Trek, Captain James T. Kirk would often turn to his engineer, Officer ‘Scotty’ Montgomery and direct him to take the spaceship into a fascinating new realm called ‘warp speed’. With commanding confidence he would turn to Scotty and say â€Å"Warp speed ahead†. â€Å"Aye Aye Captain† the Scottish officer would reply, at which point millions of ‘Trekie’ fans around the world would simply gasp with unparalleled excitement as the international crew was suddenly thrown back against their seats, as the spacecraft instantly hurled itself at an unprecedented speed through an unknown galaxy. Over just the last few years, we have witnessed a moment when art in a sense, has shown itself to imitate life, as tomorrow’s future has been rapidly hurled into the lap of our present; so to speak. The entrepreneurial spirit of old has been overtaken by a new spirit of innovative ‘inforperneural’ dynamism. At the very same time the â€Å"technology of yesterday†, as the Black Eye Pea’s will. i. am says, has been replaced by the â€Å"technology of tomorrow† (Huffington, 2008). The actual technology favoring this dynamic â€Å"exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth† (Williams 2008) has been casually lounging on the desktops of tech savvy innovators for years now. However, over just the last few years we have seen how the motive forces of Globalism have actually worked to push this insipient new reality into the forefront of technological advance. In just the past year alone, the exponential growth of social networking and SMS technology with websites like Twitter, Delicious, Digg, and a host of others, which have seen an amazing growth in popularity, has simply leveled the playing field between the mulit-national corporation and the individual; in the delivery of news and information. For the first time, in a large way the internet, has trumped the corporate media in determining just what the content of the new 24 hour news cycle should contain. Often throughout this process of evolution we have seen independent internet news sites that have gathered first hand information well before the networks were ever aware its existence. Then, all of a sudden, there emerged a whole new group of independent reporters; information consultants if you will: â€Å"[The] [T]echie-types †¦ began to discover the power of the power of the Internet to amplify a single voice †¦ suddenly [they] gave this voice substance †¦ authority †¦ reach †¦ and influence like never before. In fact †¦ we have witnessed the rise of a whole new class of video journalists †¦ armed only with mobile phones †¦ who are changing the way we see the world †¦ from the violence in Tibet †¦ to gaffs on the [American] campaign trail †¦ Seemingly overnight †¦ [BBC] †¦ CNN †¦ Fox News and others †¦ have hundreds †¦ if not thousands †¦ of would-be colleagues and competitors across the globe. † (Sansalone, 2008) Completely independent of political tradition, it has suddenly become the internet that has often had the last word. The Beijing Olympics and the Presidential campaign overseas can now be seen as significant milestones that have helped to bridge the gap from the old to the new. Gone is the old school entrepreneur, pushing their way into the forefront of innovation, begging for a seat at table, the Infoperneur had come of age. If ever there was a time when you were not quite sure that you were actually living in The Information Age, today there should be little doubt in your mind. Make no mistake about it; this is the mega high-speed information world that they were telling us about. Thirty eight years after anthropologist Alvin Toffler prophesized the rapid insurgency of what was ultimately to become, a kind of post / super-industrial world, that was sure to leave most Western nations disconnected and suffering from a kind of â€Å"shattering stress and disorientation†, namely from something he called â€Å"future shock†, his vision of the world is now somewhat front and center and once again on full blast (Toffler, 1970). Toffler feared that we would not be able to adapt to the enormous mega-trends that were coming in the wake of an entirely New Age. He seemed to think that we would all somehow break down under the pressure of a kind of dystopian totalitarian rule, just like the characters in the James McTeigue political thriller V for Vendetta. Unable to reconcile the fascinating pace of the New Age, while we all wandered about Westminster Abbey in a daze, shuttering simply at the thought of having those dammed black bags thrown over our faces if we did not behave as the government wanted us to; this was a world that he believed was rapidly coming towards us. It was to present us with far too many choices than the average individual or family could ever withstand. Although he may have missed the mark a little on just how well the West would adapt, one thing is sure to have a potentially damaging effect upon us in the not too distant future. The foods that we are now consuming are not as fresh as they were back when Toffler wrote Future Shock nearly forty years ago. As a consequence, at some point, with the ever-increasing corporatization of the British diet, and with food standards growing more and more lax everyday, we are sure to pay a heavy price. Perhaps the time is at hand when the masses will seek out qualified ‘Infoperneurs’ online to help provide them with the knowledge of how to maintain a healthy diet; while living in an increasingly unhealthy environment. Nevertheless, Toffler was aware way back then that computers would have an enormous, if not ubiquitous impact upon shaping all of our lives. Even as he watched these trends develop, still he maintained an uncanny awareness that we had only touched upon what was the tip of a nearly unfathomable iceberg, â€Å"We have scarcely touche the computer revolu-tion and the far-ramifying changes that must follow churning in its wake† (Toffler, 1970). It is almost impossible to believe that anyone would have thought way back then that the number one currency for more than one billion people currently wired to the internet everyday, would simply be ‘information’. Twelve years after Toffler, another futurist published a book called Mega-Trends. This book by John Naisbitt remained on the Best Seller list for more than two years. Naisbitt was able to point his vision sharply into the future, and what he saw was a world of great transformation. He displayed a far greater sense than Toffler that the Western world would not only be able to weather the winds of change; but that we would for the most part welcome and embrace them. In 1982, Naisbitt predicted Ten Mega-Trends that he saw looming on the horizon. You tell me just how accurate he was. 1) He believed that we were becoming an information society after having been largely an industrial one. Looking at where we are today, it’s hard to believe that anybody could dispute that. 2) He believed that we were moving from technology being forced into use, to technology being pulled into use where it is appealing to people. Back then one could only imagine that the burden of having to use a computer at all was indeed challenging to some people; as I am sure it still is today. 3) Nesbitt predicted that globalization was quickly coming upon the horizon more than ten years before the word even came in vogue. He believed in 1982, that nations would evolve from predominantly national economies into a global marketplace. All of these changes would indeed develop shortly thereafter, and we must remember still, that this was relatively a short time ago. 4) He believed that we would move from short term to long term perspectives, and 5) from centralization in business and governance to decentralization. 6) Now this is where Nesbit predicted the emergence of Infopreneurship. He believed back then, that we would move away from getting help through institutions like government to self-help; and actually, 7) From representative to participative democracies. 8) Nesbit said that we would move from hierarchies to networking. He obviously saw the enormous trend towards social networking long before anyone seems to have thought about its full potential. 9) He said that our biases would dissipate. 10) Lastly, he predicted that we would evolve from seeing things as â€Å"either / or† to having a variety of choices. Now, who would have thought as much? The decade of the eighties would become a rich fertile ground for the emergence of a new intrapreneural boom that would begin to take shape by the mid 1990’s. However, the roots of many of the trends that both Toffler and Naisbitt wrote about actually began to take shape during the waning years of the Cold War. As Japan quietly began to re-emerge as a burgeoning economic powerhouse coming back upon the world scene more than 35years ago, they would carry with them a model of workplace innovation. It was common back then for Americans to comment that the Cold War was indeed over, and that it was actually the Japanese who had won it. In 1980, one out of every four cars in the U. S. market was Japanese. Japan started making better and cheaper cars than their American counterparts. They broke the back of the great American export leviathan and suddenly American businesses were forced to take a long hard look eastward at Japan. The world would take notice. This was to become an era that would give rise to a new emphasis upon developing a spirit of creative innovation within the workplace. Intrapreneurship was all of a sudden being greatly encouraged in the workplace. Gone was the marshal attitude of strict unquestionable control. The creative spirit was let loose to the point that a man named Art Fry at the 3M Company could gain inspiration from a co-worker, who invented an adhesive, yet could not find a thing to do with it. Fry had an epiphany after noticing that the book marks kept falling out of his church hymnals during choir practice. Lo and behold, Post-its stickers were born (Business Strategy 1988). During the same year that John Naisbitt was predicting the trends of the future, Norman Macrae was also speculating upon corporations discovering stimulating ways to develop creative ‘intrapreneurs’ within their firms. He believed that intrapreneural competition should be aggressively encouraged. Suddenly, in the face of declining sales in manufacturing, automobiles and electronics, due to the great efficiently of the burgeoning Japanese market (Japan is now the second largest economy in the world); other Western nations began to loosen their ties in the workplace. It was during that period as well that Gifford and Elizabeth Pinchot would first begin to coin the term ‘intra-peneur. ’ Together they wrote passionately about the workplace and their concept of the emerging future of Infopreneurship would become a prominent aspect of the lexicon of their work for years to come. [â€Å"We will begin facing the challenges caused by expanding technological power and growing population when we change what we are striving for. We need a new definition of success† (Pinchot, 1995)]. Together they took pains to give full credit for their ideas to the earlier work of Norman Macrae. In 1985 after developing their methods in Sweden, they actually started a school for Intrapreneurship. One year later, John Naisbitt was speaking of Intrapreneurship and a means for American firms to find new markets. The development of the Macintosh computer was described by Steve Jobs as an ‘intrapreneural’ venture. India would also re-emerge upon the world stage over just the last decade and a half largely as a result of their embrace of the concept of intrapreneurship. Later, in 1990, Rosabeth Moss Kanter of Harvard Business School spoke of ‘intrapreneurship’ in her book â€Å"When Giants Learn to Dance. â€Å" [â€Å"†¦. coaching to stimulate and guide the creation of new ventures from within. These strategies [that] [come] from the core of the post-entrepreneurial take entrepreneurial to the next step. †] (Kanter, 1990) While the concept of intrapreneurship was helping to develop the leaders of the near future internet technology boom in Silicon Valley; this would become yet another golden age of entrepreneurialship around the world. Within a relatively short period of time, Desktop Publishing had come into its own. In time, the home office, tele-commuting, Fed X Kinko’s Business Services, and private mailboxes would help to transform the face of small businesses all across the globe; making it more cost effective for ambitious individuals to strike out on their own as independent entrepreneurs. This era of innovation and enterprise roughly from the mid 1980’s to the turn of the New Century, would in turn help to plant the fertile seedlings for the Inforperneural Age of today. However first, the foundation of one great industry would appear on its way to becoming unhinged. While governments act to bail out banks during the economic downturn, and public sector funds are siphoned away from the till for the 2012 Olympics, Google is reporting a more than 25% third quarter jump in profit. Why, because the average Brit now gets their news at least three times a day from the internet. Those who are now taking advantage of the Web 2. 0 infrastructure, even while Web 3. 0 is on the launching pad, have become the new Infoperneurs. One might easily doubt that it could have been foreseen that the internet would actually force the worldwide restructuring of the newspaper industry. Job cuts are now being reported at the Cambridge News and The Independent, and overseas in just the last few years, a number of the most popular newspapers have been forced to cut their staffs, and many have eliminated whole sections from their papers altogether. In the wake of massive job cuts, the New York Times recently announced that its circulation was down 3. 9%. If that was not bad enough, on the heels of a deepening economic recession its advertising market has recently reported precipitous decline. Many other newspapers throughout the world are currently in the midst of perilous financial times. (The Economist, September 20, 2008) In March of this year the Newspaper Association of America admitted that the decline of newspapers across the country was actually happening more rapidly than it had been previously reported. At the same time online revenues for some papers were beginning to skyrocket. Total print revenues plummeted in 2007 down 9. 4% to $42 billion compared to the previous year. This reflects the single biggest drop in revenue since the year 1950, when the organization first started tracking quarterly revenue (Riley 2008). At the same time, we discover that: â€Å"Online [ traffic] [offered] some solace for the dead-tree business, with internet ad revenue growing 18. 8% to $3. 2 billion compared to 2006, but a rate significantly lower than the 31. 4% growth the year before, and not even close to replacing the losses from print. Online revenue now represents 7. 5% of total newspaper ad revenues† (Riley 2008). What is actually hidden behind the numbers is a totally new reality in the way that we view our world. The internet is now the single greatest marketplace for information. It is where people go the plug into any thought, concept, or idea that they may wish to learn more about. They press a button, and ‘poof’ there it is! Someone has to do all that research, post and retrieve all of those articles, and simply broker the non-stop flow of billions and billions of tiny little bits of information traveling across a seemingly endless world wide web. Gone are the days when a trusted source is a viable information consultant simply because he has graying hair (notice I said he! ) and sits behind a large oak desk. The internet is history’s greatest experiment in democratization; and that became evermore evident during the previous year than ever before. Recently, Google came out with a new browser named Chrome, which acts in direct competition with Microsoft’s internet browser, allowing for more individual manipulation and input of what amounts to an open source operating system (The Economist, September 6, 2008). The Universe is starting to bend towards individual will more and more each and everyday. No, the entrepreneur is not dead, nor will that great spirit of British ingenuity and drive ever disappear upon this planet as long as this nation survives. It is something that has always been ingrained within the spirit of the U. K. We could have never survived for so many centuries without it. Infoperneurs are just the latest breed of pioneers that’s all. They are not suffering during this economic downturn; you can believe that! They provide an invaluable service, because they are able to make use of the databases that make up the internet, as a way to actually leverage information by surveying and manipulating it in order to repackage and deliver it tailor-made towards the specificity of a variety of clients and or situations (Bouchard, 2000). This is what they do. It is the wave of the future. As the internet grows, the job of an Infoperneur promises to become evermore valuable; and oddly enough they will not even have to walk beyond their front door. Bibliography Author (s) Journal of Business Strategy (1988) Lessons From a Successful Intrapreneur: An Interview With Post-it Notes Inventor Art Fry:. MCB UP Ltd. Volume 9: Issue 2 Page: 20-24. Retrieved from: http://www. emeraldinsight. com/10. 1108/eb039208 Du Toit, Adeline (2000). Teaching Infopreneurship: Students’ Perspectives. Aslib Proceedings. Bradford: Feb 2000, vol. 52, Issue 2; pp. 83-91. The Economist. (September 20, 2008) Slim Hopes: Newspapers in America. A Billionaire Makes A Surprising Investment In the New York Times. Volume 388 Number 8598 78-79 The Economist. (September 6, 2008) Google’s New Web browser: The Second Browser War: Google’s New Web Browser is its most direct attack on Microsoft yet. Volume 388 Number 8596 72-73