Free Essays on European History Identifications

Identifications 1. Friedrich Nietzsche – (1844-199); German philosopher; challenged the belief in progress and the general faith in the rational human mind; believed that Western civilization had lost its creativity and decayed into mediocrity; condemned political democracy and greater social equality 2. Jean Paul Sartre – (1905-1980); French existentialist; believed that humans simply exist and did not believe in God, reason, and progress 3. existentialism – philosophy that basically said God did not exist and human existence as unexplainable; came of age in France during the years immediately followed World War II; terrible conditions of the war reinforced the existential view of life 4. Albert Schweitzer – (1875-1965); theologian who wrote Quest of the Historical Jesus; argued that Christ while on earth was a completely natural man whose teachings had been only temporary rules to prepare himself and his disciples for the end of the world 5. Soren Kierkegaard - (1813-1855); Danish religious philosopher; ideas were extremely influential, rejected formalistic religious and denounced the worldliness of the Danish Lutheran church; eventually resolved his person anguish over his imperfect nature by making a total religious commitment to a remote and majestic God 6. Karl Barth – (1886-1968); Swish Protestant theologian; similar ideas to Kierkegaard; his influential writings sought to re-create the religious intensity of the reformation; his basic thought of humans was that they are imperfect, sinful creatures, whose reason and will are hopelessly flawed 7. Gabriel Marcel – (1887-1973); French existential Christian thinker; found in the Catholic church and answer to what he called the postwar â€Å"broken world†; Catholicism provided the hope, humanity, honesty, and piety for which he hungered 8. Jacques Maritain – (1882-1973); countryman; w/ Marcel, denounced anti-Semitism and supported closer ties with non-Catholics... Free Essays on European History Identifications Free Essays on European History Identifications Identifications 1. Friedrich Nietzsche – (1844-199); German philosopher; challenged the belief in progress and the general faith in the rational human mind; believed that Western civilization had lost its creativity and decayed into mediocrity; condemned political democracy and greater social equality 2. Jean Paul Sartre – (1905-1980); French existentialist; believed that humans simply exist and did not believe in God, reason, and progress 3. existentialism – philosophy that basically said God did not exist and human existence as unexplainable; came of age in France during the years immediately followed World War II; terrible conditions of the war reinforced the existential view of life 4. Albert Schweitzer – (1875-1965); theologian who wrote Quest of the Historical Jesus; argued that Christ while on earth was a completely natural man whose teachings had been only temporary rules to prepare himself and his disciples for the end of the world 5. Soren Kierkegaard - (1813-1855); Danish religious philosopher; ideas were extremely influential, rejected formalistic religious and denounced the worldliness of the Danish Lutheran church; eventually resolved his person anguish over his imperfect nature by making a total religious commitment to a remote and majestic God 6. Karl Barth – (1886-1968); Swish Protestant theologian; similar ideas to Kierkegaard; his influential writings sought to re-create the religious intensity of the reformation; his basic thought of humans was that they are imperfect, sinful creatures, whose reason and will are hopelessly flawed 7. Gabriel Marcel – (1887-1973); French existential Christian thinker; found in the Catholic church and answer to what he called the postwar â€Å"broken world†; Catholicism provided the hope, humanity, honesty, and piety for which he hungered 8. Jacques Maritain – (1882-1973); countryman; w/ Marcel, denounced anti-Semitism and supported closer ties with non-Catholics...

Life in the Mesopelagic Zone of the Ocean

Life in the Mesopelagic Zone of the Ocean The ocean is a vast habitat that is divided into several regions inclusive of the open water (pelagic zone), water near the ocean floor (demersal zone), and the ocean floor (benthic zone). The pelagic zone consists of the open ocean excluding areas near the coasts and sea floor. This zone is divided into five major layers marked by depth. The mesopelagic zone extends from 200 to 1,000 meters (660-3,300 feet) below the surface of the ocean. This area is known as the twilight zone, as it sits between the epipelagic zone, which receives the most light, and the bathypelagic zone, which receives no light. The light that reaches the mesopelagic zone is dim and does not allow for photosynthesis. However, distinctions between day and night can be made in the upper regions of this zone. Key Takeaways Known as the twilight zone, the mesopelagic zone extends from 660s include fish, shrimp, squid, snipe eels, jellyfish, and zooplankton. The mesopelagic zone experiences significant temperature changes which decrease with depth. This zone also plays an important role in the cycling of carbon and maintenance of the oceans food chain. Many of the mesopelagic animals help to control the numbers of upper ocean surface organisms and in turn serve as sources of food for other marine animals. Conditions in the Mesopelagic Zone The conditions in the mesopelagic zone are more harsh than those of the upper epipelagic zone. The low levels of light in this zone make in impossible for photosynthetic organisms to survive in this ocean region. Light, oxygen, and temperature decrease with depth, while salinity and pressure increase. Due to these conditions, little resources for food are available in the mesopelagic zone, requiring the animals that inhabit this area to migrate to the epipelagic zone to find food.   The red line in this illustration shows a typical seawater temperature profile. In the thermocline, temperature decreases rapidly from the mixed upper layer of the ocean to much colder deep water in the thermocline (mesopelagic zone). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The mesopelagic zone also contains the thermocline layer. This is a transition layer where temperatures change rapidly from the base of the epipelagic zone through the mesopelagic zone. Water in the epipelagic zone is exposed to sunlight and rapid currents that distribute warm water throughout the zone. In the thermocline, the warmer water from the epipelagic zone mixes with the cooler water of the deeper mesopelagic zone. The thermocline depth varies yearly depending on global region and season. In tropical regions, thermocline depth is semi-permanent. In polar regions, it is shallow, and in temperate regions, it varies, usually becoming deeper in summer. Animals That Live in the Mesopelagic Zone Anglerfish (Melanocetus murrayi) Mid-Atlantic Ridge, North Atlantic Ocean. Anglerfish have sharp teeth and a luminescent bulb that is used to attract prey. David Shale/Nature Picture Library/Getty Images There are a number of marine animals that live in  the mesopelagic zone. These animals include fish, shrimp, squid, snipe eels, jellyfish, and zooplankton. Mesopelagic animals play an important role in the global carbon cycle and oceans food chain. These organisms migrate in massive number to the oceans surface at dusk in search of food. Doing so under the cover of dark helps them to avoid daytime predators. Many of the mesopelagic animals, like zooplankton, feed on phytoplankton found abundantly in the upper epipelagic zone. Other predators follow zooplankton in search of food creating a vast ocean food web. When dawn arises, the mesopelagic animals retreat back to the cover of the dark mesopelagic zone. In the process, atmospheric carbon obtained by consumed surface animals is transferred to the ocean depths. Additionally, mesopelagic marine bacteria also play an important role in global carbon cycling by capturing carbon dioxide and converting it to organic materials, such as pr oteins and carbohydrates, that can be used to support marine life. The animals in the mesopelagic zone have adaptations to life in this dimly lit zone. Many of the animals are capable of generating light by a process called bioluminescence. Among such animals are jellyfish-like creatures known as salps. They use bioluminescence for communication and to attract prey. Anglerfish are another example of bioluminescent deep-sea mesopelagic animals. These strange looking fish have sharp teeth and a glowing bulb of flesh that extends from their dorsal spine. This glowing light attracts prey directly into the mouth of the anglerfish. Other animal adaptations to life in the mesopelagic zone include silvery scales that reflect light to help fish blend in with their environment and  well developed large eyes that are directed upward. This helps fish and crustaceans to locate predators or prey. Sources DallOlmo, Giorgio, et al. Substantial Energy Input to the Mesopelagic Ecosystem from the Seasonal Mixed-Layer Pump. Nature Geoscience, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Nov. 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5108409/.  New Research Reveals Sound of Deep-Water Animal Migration. Phys.org, 19 Feb. 2016, phys.org/news/2016-02-reveals-deep-water-animal-migration.html.  Pachiadaki, Maria G., et al. Major Role of Nitrite-Oxidizing Bacteria in Dark Ocean Carbon Fixation. Science, vol. 358, no. 6366, 2017, pp. 1046–1051., doi:10.1126/science.aan8260.  Pelagic Zone V. Nekton Assemblages (Crustacea, Squid, Sharks, and Bony Fishes). MBNMS, montereybay.noaa.gov/sitechar/pelagic5.html.  What Is a Thermocline?† NOAAs National Ocean Service, 27 July 2015, oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/thermocline.html.

The history and importance of swimming Research Proposal

The history and importance of swimming - Research Proposal Example Swimming evolution throughout time reflects a spirit of creative and significant renewal from the technical and sportive points of view. Everything changes in life so it is not unusual that swimming has undergone many changes along the passage of time. Nevertheless, these changes haven’t affected the benefits that anybody can experience with the practice of swimming. To have a clearer idea of those changes it is helpful to study the history of swimming.Swimming have been practiced since prehistoric times. There are accounts of this activity in the Bible (Isaiah 25:11; Ezekiel 47:5; Acts 25:42) and the Greek poems â€Å"The Iliad† and â€Å"The Odyssey† by Homer. There have been found â€Å"Egyptian clay seals from 4000 BC showing four swimmers doing a version of the crawl (Weil, 1996-2008a). But â€Å"the most famous swimming drawings were apparently found in the Kebir desert† (Weil, 1996-2008a). They are dated around 4000 BC. These facts show that swimmi ng has been around since ancient times.Some archeological findings have discovered mosaics and drags from early Middle Easter cities and Pompeii that show men swimming with the dog stroke. Even though the ancient Olympic Games didn’t include swimming, â€Å"the Greeks practiced the sport, holding it in high regard, as they did all athletic endeavors. In fact, one of the most biting insults one Greek could unleash on another was to discuss him as a man who "neither knew how to run nor swim." Plato considered a man who didn't know how to swim uneducated. (†¦) ) There are frequent representations of swimmers in the Vatican, Borgian and Bourbon codices, and the murals of the Tepantitla House at Teotihuacan (near Mexico City) showed men splashing about the waters of "Tlalocan," paradise of Tlaloc, the god of water. () Both Julius Caesar and Charlemagne were known as great swimmers, and Louis XI frequently took swims in the Seine (USS Swim Fact Pact, n.d.). The Encyclopedia of Tradicional British Rural Sports contains books related to swimming from the Middle Ages. Some scholars believe that the first book about swimming was Colymbetes authored by Nicolas Wynman in 1538. The widely-recognized book entitled De Arte Nantandi by Everard Digby was published in Latin in 1587. That encyclopeidia records the fact that swimming was a requisite for knights and that Romans were used to building bathhouses and pools as they conquered new lands in order to use them as social clubs and exercise places (Weil, 1996-2008a). Moreover, organized swimming had its beginning in the 1800s and 1990s when swimming associations and clubs were founded. The Amateur Swimming Association was established in 1886. So these kinds of clubs spread in England, France, Germany, and the United States. Some North American Indians (Flying Gull and Tobacco) invited to participate in the Swimming Society in England had a strong impact on Londoners due to their innovative swimming technique. But their technique was not copied at that time. After 40 years the Europeans adopted it and revolutionized the world of swimming with the newly-born crawl. Indeed, the crawl was not new at all since the old inhabitants of the Ameritas, West Africa and some Pacific islands were used to swimming that way for generations (USS Swim Fact Pact, n.d.) Another cause for the growing popularity of swimming was the high-profile events that took place during that period such as the feat accomplished by Matthew Webb when he swam across the English Channel (Weil, 1996-2008). "On August 24, 1875, Captain Matthew Webb slipped into the water at Dover, England, and 21 hours and 45 minutes later touched land at Cape Gris Nez, France, becoming the first man to conquer the English Channel. Relying mainly on the breaststroke, he swam some 38 miles in covering a straightline distance of about 20 miles. It wasn't an uneventful trip. Along the way, Captain Webb sang, sipped coffee and beer, ate steaks, was stung by a jellyfish and had to fight his way through a nasty

Strategic planning and control Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Strategic planning and control - Assignment Example Secondly, you need to realise how to purchases technology and design license. Finally, you must understand how to compare the results between our team and other teams, how to post the final decisions to the CESIM as well. After listening to the teachers explanations, I began to find a way to use CESIM. At the same time, I started to write down some notes about the steps to use the CESIM. After this lecture, I had a preliminary understanding on CESIM. I had a simple plan about how I should do in the first round in the game as well. Combined with the teacher said and I learned before, I thought the most important thing were to increase the production and adjusted the price to the appropriate areas. Although this game is virtualï ¼Å'on the one hand, it helped to practice our skills to use a suitable strategy and control our company. On the other hand, let us know much more about the accounting knowledge, for example we had known the relationship between the demand and supply through the game. The teacher explored growth strategies for businesses, focusing on what a business can do when a market has reached the maturity stage, in order to stay competitive. I learned about the different models that can be used in order to understand what factors would pose risks or opportunities for a business operating in a mature market. At first, the teacher proposed the TOWS Matrix which seemed to be a very simplistic method of examining the firm’s position. I assumed that a competent strategic manager would already understand the firm’s basic competencies and infrastructure without having to conduct such an analysis. However, to build better acceptance of this model, I tried applying it to a real-world organisation, Sony, which was struggling against competition in such a market. Through building a thorough TOWS Matrix for this company, I discovered some issues that I would not have originally considered. I conducted small-scale marketing

Road Safety Rules Essay Example for Free

Road Safety Rules Essay Road traffic safety refers to methods and measures for reducing the risk of a person using the road network being killed or seriously injured. The users of a road include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, their passengers, and passengers of on-road public transport, mainly buses and trams. Best-practice road safety strategies focus upon the prevention of serious injury and death crashes in spite of human fallibility[1] (which is contrasted with the old road safety paradigm of simply reducing crashes assuming road user compliance with traffic regulations). Safe road design is now about providing a road environment which ensures vehicle speeds will be within the human tolerances for serious injury and death wherever conflict points exist. The basic strategy of a Safe System approach is to ensure that in the event of a crash, the impact energies remain below the threshold likely to produce either death or serious injury. This threshold will vary from crash scenario to crash scenario, depending upon the level of protection offered to the road users involved. For example, the chances of survival for an unprotected pedestrian hit by a vehicle diminish rapidly at speeds greater than 30 km/h, whereas for a properly restrained motor vehicle occupant the critical impact speed is 50 km/h (for side impact crashes) and 70 km/h (for head-on crashes). —International Transport Forum, Towards Zero, Ambitious Road Safety Targets and the Safe System Approach, Executive Summary page 19[1] As sustainable solutions for all classes of road have not been identified, particularly lowly trafficked rural and remote roads, a hierarchy of control should be applied, similar to best practice Occupational Safety and Health. At the highest level is sustainable prevention of serious injury and death crashes, with sustainable requiring all key result areas to be considered. At the second level is real time risk reduction, which involves providing users at severe risk with a specific warning to enable them to take mitigating action. The third level is about reducing the crash risk which involves applying the road design standards and guidelines (such as from AASHTO), improving driver behaviour and enforcement. Road traffic crashes are one of the world’s largest public health and injury prevention problems. The problem is all the more acute because the victims are overwhelmingly healthy prior to their crashes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than a million people are killed on the world’s roads each year.[3] A report published by the WHO  in 2004 estimated that some 1.2m people were killed and 50m injured in traffic collisions on the roads around the world each year[4] and was the leading cause of death among children 10 – 19 years of age. The report also noted that the problem was most severe in developing co untries and that simple prevention measures could halve the number of deaths.[5] The standard measures used in assessing road safety interventions are fatalities and Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) rates, usually per billion (109) passenger kilometres. Countries caught in the old road safety paradigm,[6] replace KSI rates with crash rates for example, crashes per million vehicle miles. Vehicle speed within the human tolerances for serious injury and death is a key goal of modern road design because impact speed affects the severity of injury to both occupants and pedestrians. For occupants, Joksch (1993) found the probability of death for drivers in multi-vehicle accidents increased as the fourth power of impact speed (often referred to by the mathematical term ÃŽ ´v (delta V), meaning change in velocity). Injuries are caused by sudden, severe acceleration (or deceleration), this is difficult to measure. However, crash reconstruction techniques can be used to estimate vehicle speeds before a crash. Therefore, the change in speed is used as a surrogate for acceleration. This enabled the Swedish Road Administration to identify the KSI risk curves using actual crash reconstruction data which lead to the human tolerances for serious injury and death referenced above. Interventions are generally much easier to identify in the modern road safety paradigm, whose focus is on the human tolerances for serious injury and death. For example, the elimination of head on KSI crashes simply required the installation of an appropriate median crash barrier. For example, roundabouts, with speed reducing approaches, encounter very few KSI crashes. The old road safety paradigm of purely crash risk is a far more complex matter. Contributing factors to highway crashes may be related to the driver (such as driver error, illness or fatigue), the vehicle (brake, steering, or throttle failures) or the road itself (lack of sight distance, poor roadside clear zones, etc.). Interventions may seek to reduce or compensate for these factors, or reduce the severity of crashes that do occur. A comprehensive outline of interventions areas can be seen in Management systems for road safety. In addition to management systems, which apply predominantly to existing networks in built-up areas, another class of  interventions relates to the design of roadway networks for new districts. Such interventions explore the configurations of a network that will inherently reduce the probability of collisions.[7] Interventions for the prevention of road traffic injuries are often evaluated; the Cochrane Library has published a wide variety of reviews of interventions for the prevention of road traffic injuries.[8][9] For road traffic safety purposes it can be helpful to classify roads into ones in built-up area, non built-up areas and then major highways (Motorways/Freeways etc.) Most casualties occur on roads in built-up areas and major highways are the safest in relation to vehicle mileage. Reported Road Casualties Great Britain for 2008 show that the vast majority of injuries occur in built-up areas but that most fatalities occur on non built-up roads.[10]

Mitzi Myers Criticism of Wollstonecrafts Maria Essay -- Literary Cri

Mitzi Myers' Criticism of Wollstonecraft's Maria In her article about Mary Wollstonecraft Mitzi Myers examines Maria in contrast to her other works, especially Mary and Vindication of the Rights of Woman, in an effort to better understand the author and her purpose in writing. She refers to arguments posed by several critics in order to build her conclusions. She also seeks the insights provided by William Godwin's notes about Wollstonecraft. Myers calls her an "individualist and innovator in her fiction and aesthetic theory as well as in her polemical tracts," and admits that "Wollstonecraft confronts, though she does not solve, the problem of integrating a rational feminist program with one woman's subjective feminine vision (107). Mitzi Myers acknowledges that it was William Godwin's respect for Mary Wollstonecraft's work and his belief that her work of fiction might " 'have given a new impulse to the manners of a world' had the sketch equaled the conception" (107). Myers believes that Wollstonecraft kept her pledge to "finish the continuation [of The Rights of Women as] promised in the Advertisement" (107). Taken from Memoirs of Mary Wollstonecraft: ed. W. Clark Durant ( l 927), p.111, Myers cites "William's account of Wollstonecraft's protracted labors (more than twelve months for Maria versus six weeks for the Rights of Woman) . . ." Godwin relates, " . . . When she had finished what she intended for the first part [of Maria], she felt herself more urgently stimulated to revise and improve . . . than to proceed" (107). Just as "anti-Jacobin critics promptly attacked the novel as an apologia for a philosopher's wanton conduct" (l07), Myers feels that many modern biographers treat her attempt at a novel similarly, a... ...oes seem a fair assumption based on what seem to be her goals. Suggesting that we are left with a "mingling despair and hope, Wollstonecraft's hints for the ending comprise an oddly apposite do-it-yourself kit for the reader" (113). Myers seems to be suggesting that the story is stronger without an ending; from Wollstonecraft's vantage, allowing the reader the option of completing the story, provides her the advantage of making her statement while avoiding public criticism regarding the lesson, or even failure of achieving the optimum conclusion. For the modern reader, the unfinished story provides a glimpse of the society which produced Wollstonecraft and her 'feminist' ideas, but it also makes for interesting writing assignments and/or discussions. Works Cited Myers, Mitzi. "Unfinished Business: Wollstonecraft's Maria." The Wordsworth Circle 11 (1980) 107-14.

Scent of Apples by Bienvenido Santos

The air within Celestial Bias's secluded home was perfumed with the foreign scent of apples. The immigrant had been living in Kalamazoo for more than 20 years when he met a speaker from his native land who had come to the US to lecture; he drove out to the city hear this man. The crowd's questions during the open forum centered on Bias's home country. To this AIBO stands and asks if the women now were the same 20 years ago and the lecturer responds that they were. Thereafter AIBO invites the lecturer to dinner with his American wife, Ruth, and his son, Roger.The next day AIBO picks the speaker up from the hotel and drives him to a farm east of the city into a rugged road that led into an isolated farm. It held a crumbling and shanty home. AIBO reminisces about his time in the Philippines and the speaker has dinner with the hospitable family. As the dinner ends, so does the Bias's time with his only link back home. The lecturer bids goodbye and offers to pass on Bias's sentiments to h is family in the Philippines, which AIBO politely declines saying that nobody would remember him anyway and lets the lecturer go.Ovenbird Canton's â€Å"The Scent of Apples† centers on the absence of the familiarity of home or the characteristics of what makes a place so, for example: for a Filipino Collections AIBO there is abundance of apple trees, while for the American men who went out to war there is the absence of great icy winds and the promise of winter; additionally the way Santos describes the setting further exemplifies this nostalgia and isolation from home. The absence of home is introduced by Canton's description of the, which creates a somber tone by describing the memory their son who had gone away to war.He uses that setting, the boy being away for war, to establish exile or loneliness; additionally he adds the boys absence from the familiar icy winds, changing golden leaves, and the fragrance of apples to further isolate the parent's from their son. This des cription when Juxtaposed to Bias's situation, being an immigrant surrounded by apple trees in an isolated farm in the US, intensifies the concept of exile in a foreign place. During the lecture, the narrator receives a lot of questions about his home country, which he describes had become a lost country to his American audience.Here his audience was composed of mostly women who had lost contact with the men deployed in the Philippines. Their situation is parallel to Bias's, with his family closing their gates after him and his loss of contact with any Filipino for the past years, which emphasizes his isolation. Juxtaposing Ruth with the narrator's commentary on the differences of Filipino and American women, and Bias's description of Filipino women entails that there may be no differences between these groups of women at all.To emphasize Remarking on Ruth being described like a Filipino, she stays with AIBO even on the brink of death, while she herself was pregnant. The she maybe ho me that he finds in the US. In relation to the setting, his link to the Philippines no longer persists and the dinner with narrator was the Bias's soiree with his old home, but his being released back into the cold and dark at the end implies that AIBO still Bias's shanty home emphasizes this isolation in exile as well, since the house is located alone amidst an apple orchard miles away from the city.The narrator described the trip from Kalamazoo to the farm to be interminable; they disappeared wrought thickets, passed narrow lanes with unattractive, barren land covered in weeds, dead leaves and dry earth. Santos meaner to represent Bias's distance from home through the interminable trip; furthermore the barren land, narrow lanes and weeds represent Bias's affiliations in the Philippines – he no longer had any contact with his family and he has not talked to other Filipinos in years.The apple trees in the distance emphasize his being in a foreign place. The reader is reminded of this when AIBO comments on the beauty of autumn to which the narrator replies, â€Å"No such thing in our own country' and the narrator reflects on the unkind comment and how AIBO must have avoided this fact for fear of being reminded of his exile. Once they arrive at the house the narrator notices how the house was ready to crumble.The inside was barren and decked with second-hand furniture and, the scent of apples pervaded he air – describing how even in his own home there is the reminder that he is a foreigner. In contrast to his home in the Philippine, biggest one in the Visalia town, which shunned him. Santos also uses autumn to influence the tone of the story. He opens the first paragraph with the old couple; he uses the description of icy winds, ghostly feet of fallen leaves and coming of down of the cold to nuance the theme of loneliness and abandonment.The autumn, being a season of fallen leaves and cold weather imposes transitory feeling brought by being away f rom someone. He also this when AIBO brings the narrator home for dinner the setting is described to be ineffectual and not too cold, which implicates a more positive mood in the text. Santos uses the coming winter, the cold and the dark to further highlight the feeling of abandonment hen the narrator finally says goodbye to AIBO, remarking that they would probably never see each other again.Ovenbird Santos brings to his audience the sentiments of nostalgia. The well-crafted short, â€Å"the Scent of Apples† very well articulates the loneliness of an immigrant. He does this through how he establishes the setting, through how he sets up the stage for the characters to move around and for the audience to get better feel of what Santos intended to impart. The loneliness is palpable in the setting and his use of it gives subtlety to the theme isolation in exile.

Critical Analysis of Peter Singer’s Famine Affluence and Morality Essay

In his article â€Å"Famine, Affluence and Morality† Peter Singer gives a seemingly devastating critique of our ordinary ways of thinking about famine relief, charity, and morality in general. In spite of that very few people have accepted, or at any rate acted on, the conclusions he reaches. In light of these facts one might say of Singer’s arguments, as Hume said of Berkeley’s arguments for immaterialism, that â€Å"†¦ they admit of no answer and produce no conviction.†[1] While I do think that Singer’s considerations show that people should do considerably more than most people actually do, they do not establish his conclusions in their full strength or generality. So his arguments admit of a partial answer, and once properly qualified may produce some conviction. In â€Å"Famine. Affluence, and Morality,† Peter Singer stresses the possible revisionary implications of accepting utilitarianism as a guide to conduct. He does not actuall y espouse utilitarianism in this essay, rather a cousin of utilitarianism. He observes, in the world today, there are many people suffering a lot, leading miserable lives, on the margin, prone to calamity whenever natural disasters or wars or other cataclysmic events strike. Many millions of people live on an income equivalent to one dollar a day or less. What, if anything, does morality say one should do about this? Singer proposes two principles—a stronger one he favors, a weaker one he offers as a fallback. The Strong Singer Principle: â€Å"If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it.† The Weak Singer Principle: â€Å"If it is in our power to prevent something very bad from happening, without sacrificing anything morally significant, we ought, morally, to do it.† Consider the Strong Singer Principle. He explains that â€Å"by without sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance† I mean without causing anything else comparably bad to happen, or doing something that is wrong in itself, or failing to promote some moral good, comparable in significance to the bad thing that we can prevent.† From the first principle it follows that whether one should help those who are suffering or dying doesn’t depend on how close one is to them, unles s that makes helping them more difficult, because their distance from one does nothing to lessen their suffering. From both principles together, it follows that one’s obligation to help those who are suffering or dying doesn’t go away if other people who are also in a position to help them aren’t doing anything, because the presence of other people who do nothing is, in moral terms, no different from the absence of people who do something. Singer comments on this argument by adding that he could get by with a weaker version of the second principle, which would have â€Å"something of moral significance† in place of â€Å"something of roughly equal moral importance† (506). He also gives a hypothetical example of the second principle in action: If one is in a position to save a child drowning in a pond, one should rescue the child even though that means dirtying one’s clothes, because that is not a morally significant cost and the child’s death would be an extremely morally bad state of affairs (506).

Ready to Eat Cereal Industry Essay Example

Ready to Eat Cereal Industry Essay Example Ready to Eat Cereal Industry Paper Ready to Eat Cereal Industry Paper Also these companies usually use promotions such as discount in order to Increase the demand. At the beginning this type of product was more inelastic because Just a few companies with less differentiated products were playing in the market. Despite still this market Is highly concentrated, through the time new companies enter to the market and actually there are private labels that are obtaining more participation in it. And not Just the increase in competitors, also the wide variety of brands have helped to increase the elasticity of its. Market Growth Since the beginning this market showed an Interesting and steadily annual volume Roth rate of 3% between 1950 and 1993, and It made this market extremely profitable. But after experiencing decades of continue growth, the demand Is slowing its growth; industry sales growth had slowed to under 2%, and it is threatened to the biggest companies. Supply Technology plays two important roles in the supply side: Differentiation and Innovation: despite the production process Is general, the differentiation between brands Is very Important. Capacity: technology is crucial to achieve the market share targeted for every single firm, because the demand is big and if one company does not have the opacity to satisfy the demand soon could be out of the market. Cost: more efficient technology helps to the deferent firm to have lower costs and obtain higher profits. Considering that this Is a highly concentrated market, where the biggest companies had been able to set the price; maintain lower costs allow them to increase their profitability, and invest more in order to obtain a higher market share. The technology needed to enter to the market is not too complex, but to do it is necessary to begin with big capacity and innovative products; conditions that Just can be achieve through technology. MARKET TYPE Truckee It begun we fewer competitors, but through the time it has been changing. Still there are few firms with the highest market share; three have more than fifty percent of the total market share. Actually there are new players that are obtaining more market share, such as private labels. Also there are a lot of buyers that are still growing, at a smaller rate than before. Due to the big and widespread demand there are a lot of channel of distribution. Major RET cereal manufacturers owned national distributions systems in each region; those distribute the product to supermarkets and other stores. At the beginning the main distributors were the supermarkets but then along the time stores such as drug stores, convenience stores and discount retailers became more important. The cost structure was low for the general process, but to achieve a competitive advantage through differentiation also means a higher cost. The biggest companies have higher costs than the small and private label, because to differentiate their products the use special package or new ingredients, that also improve quality; but it means higher costs. Is absolutely necessary in this market to add or create new value to differentiate the products, wrought the time it allow to the biggest companies to acquired higher market share, because they were always innovating and creating different brands. The biggest firm in this market is Kellogg and it has 40 brands, and this allow it to reach different market segments. Conduct The three biggest companies had been able to increase the price when they want and the amount that they want, increasing the gap with private labels. At the beginning they were able to do it because there were few competitors in the market; but then to continue setting the price they had to invest a lot in promotions, RD and genealogy in order to differentiate their products. Also they use some promotion strategies such as discount to retailers and cash payments for especial in-store promotions, cooperative advertising, large sales staff, and these firms also encouraged supermarkets and other retailers to adopt a shelf space plan that ensure that their products will obtain the better position. Media expenditure in RET cereals had been always among the most advertising intensive of all industries. Through these actions those companies achieved high awareness in the demand, but loyalty is official to have because of the diversity of brands and the intensive promotion. Other action that has been common in this market is Co-branded, some of the biggest companies are producing and distributing new products but with another company brand name in order to achieve distinctiveness. All these tactics are necessary in order to achieve differentiation, because there are huge amounts of brands. This is one of the most important reason why is difficult to enter to this market, because fewer companies with the highest market share have so many brands that are almost covering all the segments. Innovate and create new products is a real challenge because the amount of different products. Another barrier is the relationship that these firms have with the distributors; obviously the distributors prefer give preferential treat to those firms that during years have had big volume sales. Finally other important barrier is the capacity of these companies to increase tenet marketing Ana promotions techniques. When a new company wants to enter to the market, will have to invest a lot if it want to achieve the market share wished. All the market power that those few companies have allowed them to practices illusion. Over time when one of them increases the price the others firms increase the price; and they used it practice to set other strategies such as promotion too. It has been change in the last year, and due to the new conditions of the market: slowing demand and enter of private labels, the biggest companies will have to change their strategies. Performance The largest cereal manufacturer were extremely profitable, their obtain ROARS between 15 and 30%. The high prices that were charge to consumers, and the increasing demand over years help to this companies to achieve such profitability. Generally to satisfy the demand and reduce cost a single plant produce many brands of cereal and the production process is relatively similar for all cereals; so the main source of scale economies was bagging. But due to the necessity of differentiate the products, new products had been developed and by the way new technology. Because the keys to success in this market are differentiation and it Just could be achieve through improvements in technology, and satisfy the demanded volume that also is related to the technology that is used. That is the reason why progressiveness s important and Justifies the 1% of gross sales that is spending on RD; percentage that is high compared with the 0,7% that is invested in the industry. Continuously development of new products with better characteristics increases the quality of the products that is usually used to segment the market. 1. What can you say about the market concentration of the companies in this industry? Few companies have the higher market share that gives them the market power to set prices; and it is persistent through the time, for example Kellogg continue being the firm with the higher market power. It situation was generated cause since the beginning they invest a lot in marketing, promotions strategies and RD compare with other companies. Also they created strong relationship with some important actors in this market such as the retailers and distributors that ensure the better shelf space for their products. The increasing demand and the low cost of the general process, allow them to accumulate big profits and be able to offer huge discounts or implement aggressive campaigns. With all this things in favor of these companies they were able to create high awareness in the market and control the market between them. Such as the demand was huge and increasing, one company was not able to satisfy all the volume demanded and that is one reason why they used collusion as a strategy. 2. Why has RET cereal been such a profitable business? What changes have led to the current industry crisis? There are three main reasons why this business is so profitable: 1. These companies are highly profitable because the process to produce cereals is simple and required high costs. The higher cost in which this companies incurred were in those characteristic that differentiate their products such as the package or an additional ingredient for example. . Also the ability to allude and set high prices allowed them to increase their marginal contribution. When one company increase the price the others companies also do this. 3. The nudge anemia Tanat was Increasing over time. I en volume anemia allowed to tense companies to recover fast some investment such as RD, increase in capacity, new technology. Also these companies were always innovating and satisfying new segments market. That diversification of brands permitted them to obtain the high market share and by the way obtain high profits.   But with the current crisis they will need to differentiated more their products in order to maintain their market power; ND if the sales continue falling down then they will have to reduce the price in some brands in order to maintain the volume sold. Other aspect that could be affected is the relationship between these big companies (collusion), because with the reduction in sales due to the decrease in demand and the entry of new competitors (private labels) could do more difficult move together in the same direction. 3. Why have private labels been able to enter this industry successfully? How do the cost structure of private label and branded cereal manufacturers differ? They were able to enter in his market because the process is simple, the basic technology needed is also available, and by the way this process is easy to be copy for others firms; also cost were low (in the general process). These characteristics allowed them to begin operation and enter to the market in a pacific way; for example, they compete with the biggest companies directly because they are oriented to different market segments, and their products are simple and cheaper with low quality raw materials. These private label has lower cost than the biggest companies because invest huge amount of money in RD, they are Just copying what once he bigger companies did. The unit cost is lower not Just because of the low quality raw material but also because they use simple package, they produce in less quantities, they invest a lot in marketing and promotion; and all these things make their cost structure totally different. It means that they were able to satisfy low end segment market, that before satisfy for big companies due to the higher prices that these were charging. And this passive strategy allowed them to capture slowly that market share. 4. What does General Mills hope to accomplish with its April 1994 reduction in trade promotion and prices? They know that the demand is been decreasing and it will represent for them less sales revenues, so in order to maintain or improve the profitability they need to reduce cost. Over years they had been investing a lot in promotion and marketing, and its brands have certain level of awareness in the market, so the reduction in the budget for strategy promotion in the short term could not affect its demand. Also the reduction in prices will allow them to attract new customers and preserve its actual costumers. In this way they can ensure the sales volume. With all these action they can expect an increase in market share that at the ND means increase in profits. 5. What are the risks associated with these actions? How do you expect General Mill? competitors to respond? The main risk associated with this action is a price war, because considering the reduction in sales growth rate and the entry of competitor such as private labor, the other companies will try to reduce their prices too. And the problem for General is that the other competitors can make a Digger reaction In prices, Ana In tans way ten price can Tall down until a level that they will not be able to achieve its objective of improve profits. Decrease a lot the ricers represent a hazard for it because a big company as Kellogg can implement an aggressive strategy to respond to it, and can have negative results for General Mills. In this situation the demand will be beneficial because of the reduction in prices, but at the same time a high reduction in price could pressure some firms to get out of the markets, or the companies could lose the incentives to invest high amounts in RD. 6. What should General Mills do? If they want to pull some firms out of the market they can reduce the price, but due to the risk associated is better continue with the reduction because in he future will be more difficult to increase the prices again. Reduce cost is also important, but to maintain that policy with those promotion strategies could represent lose in awareness and by the end in market share too; so they need to balance it and try to be out of the standard of the industry. Another important point is continuing innovating and differentiating its products because that characteristic that defines the market competition over time is not going to change, at least in the short term. Despite the demand is decreasing, those companies who will be able to maintain competitive advantage will remain in the market.

Thirty Years War Battle of Rocroi

Thirty Years' War Battle of Rocroi In early 1643, the Spanish launched an invasion of northern France with the goal of relieving pressure on Catalonia and Franche-Comtà ©. Led by General Francisco de Melo, the mixed army of Spanish and Imperial troops crossed the border from Flanders and moved through the Ardennes. Arriving at the fortified town of Rocroi, de Melo laid siege. In an effort to block the Spanish advance, the 21-year old Duc de dEnghien (later the Prince of Conde), moved north with 23,000 men. Receiving word that de Melo was at Rocroi, dEnghien moved to attack before the Spanish could be reinforced. Summary Approaching Rocroi, dEnghien was surprised to find that the roads to the town were not defended. Moving through a narrow defile flanked by woods and marsh, he deployed his army on a ridge overlooking the town with his infantry in the center and cavalry on the flanks. Seeing the French nearing, de Melo formed up his army in a similar fashion between the ridge and Rocroi. After camping overnight in their positions, the battle began early on the morning of May 19, 1643. Moving to strike the first blow, dEnghien advanced his infantry and the cavalry on his right. As the fighting began, the Spanish infantry, fighting in their traditional tercio (square) formations gained the upper hand. On the French left, the cavalry, despite dEnghiens orders to hold their position charged forward. Slowed by soft, marshy ground, the French cavalrys charge was defeated by the German cavalry of Grafen von Isenburg. Counterattacking, Isenburg was able to drive the French horsemen from the field and then moved to assault the French infantry. This strike was blunted by the French infantry reserve which moved forward to meet the Germans. While the battle was going poorly on the left and center, dEnghien was able to achieve success on the right. Pushing Jean de Gassions cavalry forward, with support from musketeers, dEnghien was able to rout the opposing Spanish cavalry. With the Spanish horsemen swept from the field, dEnghien wheeled Gassions cavalry around and had them strike the flank and rear of de Melos infantry. Charging into the ranks of German and Walloon infantry, Gassions men were able to force them to retreat. As Gassion was attacking, the infantry reserve was able to break Isenburgs assault, compelling him to retire. Having gained the upper hand, by 8:00 AM dEnghien was able to reduce de Melos army to its vaunted Spanish tercios. Surrounding the Spanish, dEnghien pummeled them with artillery and launched four cavalry charges but was unable to break their formation. Two hours later, dEnghien offered the remaining Spanish terms of surrender similar to those given to a besieged garrison. These were accepted and the Spanish were permitted to depart the field with their colors and weapons. Aftermath The Battle of Rocroi cost dEnghien around 4,000 dead and wounded. Spanish losses were much higher with 7,000 dead and wounded as well as 8,000 captured. The French victory at Rocroi marked the first time the Spanish had been defeated in a major land battle in nearly a century. Though they had failed to crack, the battle also marked the beginning of the end for the Spanish tercio as a favored fighting formation. After Rocroi and the Battle of the Dunes (1658), armies began shifting to more linear formations. Selected Sources: The French Phase of the Thirty Years WarFrance and the Thirty Years War

Language and communication research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Language and communication - Research Paper Example Their definition of engagement describes perceptions, academic and leisure reading, as well as the number and type(s) of text that are read and how many hours are typically spent reading. The facts and results presented by this study are realistic and place a cruel indictment of failure upon American schools with the promise that addressing the problem of American students’ general lack of engagement in reading would make much progress in the overall level of reading competency. It is dry but provides an invaluable peek at the international perspective. The information is easily verified by internet search, accurately represents a balanced international perspective, and was published by a credible journal. Cassidy, J., Valadez, C., Garrett, S., & Barrera, I. (2010). Adolescent and Adult Literacy: Whats Hot, Whats Not. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(6), 448-456. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database. Although hardly an objective title or study, the material provides some interesting figures and a history of public opinion on issues of educational attainment. The research is brief but stark in its use of shock value. It assumes that the respondents were familiar with terms such as â€Å"striving readers†. The practical applications of this essay and its usefulness to an understanding of the generalized perspectives of instructors and parents in the last ten years are demonstrable. Even the â€Å"What’s Not† [hot] items were telling indicators of current public opinion and theories of education. There are a multitude of facts in a disjointed presentation, and some excellent points were buried in a large wall of text rather than broken up to emphasize their poignancy. The citation of facts was dull and lacking, and, as a result, gave the impression that the information should be taken with a grain of salt. Du Boulay, D. (1999). Argument in Reading: what does it involve and how can