Proud of Living and Working in Jozi - 1284 Words

Proud of living and working in Jozi We all want to live in cities of which we can be proud. We all want smooth operating public services, less traffic, new roads, attractive and functional buildings, secure public spaces and wealth opportunities that can change lives for the better. So why then do we expect local government and municipalities to do it alone? Isn’t it true that in the 128 year history of Johannesburg, the City reached more milestones than any other city in the country, even more so than some of the bigger cities globally? Isn’t it true that most of the City’s achievements were actioned by government and citizens alike, working together towards a common goal? And yet, we still demand and expect service delivery perfection every single day, notwithstanding how difficult it must be to handle the logistics and mechanics of delivering services to a population of over 8 million people. Granted, we all pay taxes so the City can perform these functions, and sometimes it feels as if our money is being wasted. But surely there is far more to it, like personal reputation, character and pride? It’s human nature to want to live in a well-governed, happy, safe place, our own ‘Peach Blossom Spring’ so to speak. The poem of the Peach Blossom Spring by ancient Chinese poet Tao Yuanming, describes a discovery of an ethereal utopia where its dwellers led an ideal existence in harmony. It was written during a time of political instability and national

Othello, By William Shakespeare - 1856 Words

One of the most interesting qualities of the play Othello are the intricate webs Shakespeare crafts connecting many characters to every event. Although some actions may seem to affect only a select few at first, the webs almost always intertwine more characters over time. When considering all the examples of such, perhaps the most extreme example is Iago’s conspiracy against Othello. What starts out as a conspiracy against Othello transforms into a series of acts that end up hurting many more than just Othello, and involve nearly every character in the play. Although such a result may be hard to believe, Iago’s rapid degradation from a masterful conspirator to an impulsive, helpless, and sloppy killer is one that happens quite often in the†¦show more content†¦When it came to the task, Iago followed the same protocol as necessary for hackers. When Iago first used his connection to Othello for evil, his first goal was to plant his specially crafted virus into Ot hello’s long term memory so it could terrorize him every waking moment. The virus, designed for maximum damage, was the idea that Desdemona was cuckolding Othello. Although the task of getting this idea into Othello’s memory may appear simple, it was far from it, because he first had to get through Othello’s firewall. Like Othello’s primary defense, a computer’s firewall will not let any programs gain access to the hard drive unless they are from a trusted source. Because the play does not reach far enough into the past to where Iago began to create such an image, it is impossible to determine whether Iago did so in order to address this issue. Regardless of the motive, Iago was clearly successful at creating a trustworthy identity, and was able to overcome this obstacle with ease. This is shown when Othello trusts Iago to protect his very wife at the end of act 1, declaring â€Å"my life upon her faith. Honest Iago, my Desdemona must I leave to t hee/ I prythee, let thy wife attend on her,/ and bring them after in the best advantage.† (1.3.295) Although gaining access to the hard drive temporarily is no doubt important, it is pointless without masking the identity of the

Class distinictions in pygmalion Essay Example For Students

Class distinictions in pygmalion Essay ?Class Distinctions in PygmalionPygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw, is a thrilling dramain which a scientist of phonetics tries to transform acockney speaking Covent Garden flower girl into a woman aspoised and well-spoken as a duchess. The play considerssome of the illusions of the class distinctions. This isrepresented by the characters, their situations, and theirEliza Doolittle starts out as a sassy, smart-mouthedflower girl with disgraceful English. See goes to seeProfessor Higgins to see if he will teach her to speakproperly and act more like a lady. This also would requireher to become a high-classed member of society. I want to be a lady in a flower shop stead of sellin atthe corner of Tottenham Court Road. But they wont takeme unless I can talk more genteel. He said he couldteach me. Well, here I am ready to pay himnot askingany favorand he treats me zif I was dirt. (1160)That was the flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, talking toColonel Pickering about how she want to become a la dy andhow Mr. Higgins refused to help her because she belongs tothe lower-classed section of society. Later she finallyconvinces Mr. Higgins to help her, but to him she is just anMr. Higgins is a high-classed professor of phonetics. He believes in concepts like visible speech, and used allmanners of recording and photographic material to documenthis phonetic subjects. This reduces people and theirdialects into what he sees as easily understandable units. However, he is also a very eccentric man. He goes in theopposite direction from the rest of society for mostmatters. He is also very impatient with high society, eventhough he is a member of it. But even more then the highsociety, he treats the lower end of society with even lessrespect. Pickering: shall we ask this baggage to sit down,or shall we throw her out of the window (1160). That wasMr. Higgins talking to Colonel Pickering about ElizaDoolittle. He talks to her with attitude and continuouslymakes rude comments just like that one towards her. He actsvery rudely towards her because he feels that she is just anexperiment of phonetics and sometimes he shows that heEliza Doolittle and Mr. Higgins are in a situation. Eliza wants to become a lady and Mr. Higgins is trying toturn her into one. In order for Higgins to transform Elizainto a lady he must teach her to speak and act properly. They accomplish this after a couple months, but somethingstill wasnt right. She still had that low class attitudeand it was noticeable. In order for her to become a reallady, she had to become a member of high society. Playing! The hardest job I ever tackled: make nomistake about that, mother. But you have no idea howfrightfully interesting it is to take a human being andchange her into a quite different human being bycreating a new speech for her. Its filling up thedeepest gulf that separates class from class and soulThat was Mr. Higgins talking to his mom. What he meant bysaying that was that teaching her to speak properly w ouldend the difference between the classes. However, he alsohas a long while until she is finally and completely a lady. This play also has lots of aphoristic comments. Theseare short, pointed sentences expressing a wise or clever Would the world ever have been made if its maker hadbeen afraid of making trouble? Making life means makingtrouble. Theres only one way of escaping trouble; andthats killing things. Cowards, you notice, are alwaysshrieking to have troublesome people killed (1199). .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7 , .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7 .postImageUrl , .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7 , .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7:hover , .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7:visited , .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7:active { border:0!important; } .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7:active , .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7 .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u9616bffa6db43792b871e77d84a127d7:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: There are a lot many descriptions for the word dialectic EssayThat was Mrs. Higgins talking to Liza. This comment thatshe made was definitely an aphorism. This is because shewas making a wise observation on trouble in life. She issaying that all parts of life including all social classeshave some trouble in them, but that is what makes it life. Without trouble life would be boring and pointless. The fact that Pygmalion contains illusions of classdistinctions is clearly shown through the characters, theirsituations, and their aphoristic comments. In Elizas questto become a lady she had to deal with many social classproblems, however, she overcomes them with the help of Hr. Higgins and becomes a high class lady. Bibliography:

Sonnet 18 Essays (636 words) - Sonnet 18, Couplet,

Sonnet 18 "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?" William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English poet and playwright, recognized in much of the world as the greatest of all dramatists, is perhaps the most famous writer in the history of English literature. By writing plays, Shakespeare earned recognition from his late 16th and early 17th century contemporaries, but he may have looked to poetry for enduring fame. His poetic achievements include a series of 154 sonnets. Many of the sonnets he wrote contain lines as well known as any in his plays. One of the perennial themes of Western literature?the brevity of life?is given poignantly personal and highly original expression in many of these poems. Shakespeare's sonnets are arranged with three quatrains (4 lines) and a couplet (2 lines). This development was sufficiently original for the form to become known as the Shakespearean sonnet, which employs a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. The poet is challenged to express his profound emotions and thoughts on life, death, war, and history in the condensed fourteen lines. Sonnet 18 comes from The Sonnets of Shakespeare printed in 1609: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair form fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed. But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." Shakespeare begins the poem with a question that proposes a comparison between his beloved and a summer season. Summer is chosen because it is the loveliest and the most pleasant season due to England's cold weather. In the second line the comparison embarks to favor his beloved: his beloved is more beautiful and less extreme than summer. The reasons for his adoration are given in the next four lines, which describe the less pleasant aspects of summer: The wind impairs the beauty of summer, and summer is too brief. The splendor of summer is affected by the intensity of the sunlight, and as the season changes, summer becomes less beautiful. Here Shakespeare uses the word fair with a double connotation, the clear and sunny weather and the pleasing appearance of a beautiful woman, indicating that any beauty will fade one day. Starting from the ninth line Shakespeare shifts his tone with a great passion: "Thy eternal summer shall not fade." She, unlike summer, will never deteriorate. Summer has by now become the summer of life and beauty. In the next three lines the poet's assurance becomes even firmer with promises that his beloved will neither become less beautiful nor even die, because she is immortalized through his poetry. Line ten and eleven give an answer in comparison with line six and seven: The summer's fair declines, but the fairness of his beloved will be everlasting. The summer's sun dims, but the life and beauty of his beloved will be eternal. In line twelve the "eternal lines to time" not only refers to lines of poetry but also implies lines of shape, the shape of beauty. Because of the eternal lines of the poem, the life and beauty of his beloved will thrive and flourish. The poem finishes with a triumphant couplet, which explains and summarizes the theme: poetry gives timeless life to beauty. In the poem "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Shakespeare compares the summer's imperfection with his beloved's perfection. The poet employs the step-by- step arguments, to reach the conclusion: poetry is immortal and makes beauty immortal. According to Shakespeare, the grace and effectiveness of the art of poetry is superior to nature, and thus makes it timeless and eternal, just like his beloved.

The Anti War Movement Of The Vietnam War Essays - Free Essays

The Anti War Movement Of The Vietnam War Essays - Free Essays The Anti War Movement Of The Vietnam War The Anti-War Movement J,J,J,J, United States participation in the Vietnam War was a subject of much debate among the American public. While many Americans supported the United States involvement in the War, in agreement with the Government that American assistance was needed in order to stop the spread of Communism, other people felt that it was immoral for the United States to involve itself in another country's internal matters. The antiwar movement against Vietnam in the US from 1965-1971 was the most significant movement of its kind in the nation's history. Anti-war protesters were not confined to the young, radicals, intellectuals, and the disaffected. By 1968, [they] included many powerful individuals within the business and financial communities, the media, and the government itself ( McMahon 466). Also by 68, protesters numbered almost seven million, with more than half being white youths in the college. Students for a Democratic Society, (SDS), announced its opposition of the Vietnam War publicly in 1965. In a public announcement, they state their reasons for disagreement. We feel that the war is immoral at its root, that it is fought alongside a regime with no claim to represent its people, and that it is foreclosing the hope of making America a decent and truly democratic society.We are anxious to help and to change our country; we refuse to destroy someone elses country (McMahon 467). The SDS was not alone in their opposition. Civil-Rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr., declared his opposition in 1967. He stated many reasons. it became clear to me that the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. It was sending their sons and brothers and their husbands to fight and dieAs I walked among the desperate, rejected and angry young men, I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problemsBut, they asked, what about VietnamTheir questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today my own government (McMahon 471). One aspect of the anti-war movement were teach-ins. Teach-ins were mass public demonstrations, usually held in the spring and fall seasons. These well-publicized rallies made the antiwar effort more respectable. The White House was plagued by two wars: the war in Vietnam and the war at home. In October 1967, protesters marched on the Pentagon. This was one of the most significant events of the antiwar movement. Although the marchers were unable to get into the Pentagon, this demonstration had a direct influence on the redirection of American policy in Vietnam. The antiwar effort crippled Johnson's presidency. In 1968 he announced that he would not be running for re-election. The antiwar movement inadvertently helped Richard Nixon win the election. Once elected, Nixon was bothered with the antiwar movement. He was convinced that it prolonged the war. He could not understand how the current generation of young people could include brave young marines, hippies and draft-card burners. In May 1970, Nixon ordered an attack on Cambodian sanctuaries to destroy communist command-and-supply buildings. He also tried to contain the protest that he knew his action would provoke. His hopes of controlling the rally failed when poorly trained National Guardsmen killed four students at Kent State University, on May 4. This made the expected protests much worse than anyone in Washington could have foreseen. The wave of demonstrations on hundreds of college campuses paralyzed America's higher-education system. The Kent State tragedy ignited a nationwide campus disaster. Between May 4 and May 8, campuses experienced an average of 100 demonstrations a day, 350 campus strikes, 536 colleges shut down, and 73 colleges reported significant violence in their protests. On that weekend, 100,000 people gathered to protest in Washington. By May 12, over 150 colleges were on strike (Internet source). The overwhelming response to the invasion of Cambodia and the Kent State crisis soon became too much for President Nixon. On December 15, Nixon announced his intention to withdraw fifty thousand troops from Vietnam in 1970 Among the most convincing theories of the movement were that it

How to Write a Good Counteroffer Email

How to Write a Good Counteroffer Email Congrats! You got the job and it’s time for negotiations. You know you have to counter the first offer- that’s just good business sense. But perhaps you’re worried about being too aggressive and possibly losing the opportunity. You shouldn’t be. First, do your homework. Some companies are not willing to consider counteroffers. Maybe they have an established salary range that they’ve already maxed out for you. If you’re pressing forward, here are a few tips and strategies to help you get closer to the compensation you want.1. Think before you write.You’re not happy with the compensation package, and they seem open to negotiation. Do some research- find out what the average salary is for your equivalent position in that area. See what other commensurate companies are offering in the way of benefits and salary. Consider the whole package, including any relocation costs, sick days, vacation, family leave, telecommuting, etc.2. Know your va lue.Do some market research to determine what you should be making, given your skills and experience. Craft your best argument for a higher final offer. You’ll want to sell yourself with clear intel and reasons behind you for why you deserve a bump before signing. Look at local salary surveys, calculators, recruiters, colleagues, mentors, even LinkedIn groups and online research.3. Get time on your side.Buy yourself a couple of days â€Å"to think about the offer.† Don’t forget to emphasize your enthusiasm about the position so they don’t think you’ve lost interest. Show yourself to be thoughtful, not impulsive or anxious.4. Don’t be greedy.Don’t ask for more than is reasonable. If you ask for something within normal range, and you’re prepared to defend your ask, then don’t stand down and cave immediately. Let the process work as it should. And if you’re given what you ask, take it. Don’t try to then ask fo r even more.5. Go for it!Type your counter letter up in a standard business letter format. Put the employer’s information and your contact information in the header. Address the letter to your employer. Write an intro that emphasizes your interest and provides reasons why you’re excited and you think you’d be a good fit. Kill them with kindness. Then, in the body, include a short paragraph for every point of the original offer you wish to counter. Make sure to have done your homework and include appropriate reasons for why this is deserved. Then write a polite conclusion reemphasizing your keenness on the position and your respect for the company and their process. Offer, if you like, to meet in person to discuss. Sign it: â€Å"Respectfully yours.† And wait!6. Be ready to walk away.Don’t bluff. The last thing you want to do is put a number on the table and have them refuse to negotiate at all. If you say â€Å"I can’t work here for any les s than x,† and they don’t offer you x, then you have to be prepared to turn down the opportunity. If they are being completely unreasonable (i.e. they don’t have an established salary policy and are just playing hardball for no reason), then you might want to do this anyway.7. Be professional.Keep it classy and keep your tone measured and professional. Back up all of your asks with good solid reasons. Say ‘no’ nicely and learn to hear ‘no’ without going ballistic. Be as assertive as you need to be without becoming aggressive. Don’t be threatening, and don’t take things personally. It’s business, and a perfectly normal process.8. Listen more than you talk.If your process advances to face-to-face negotiations, pay attention to their body language and yours. Be commanding, but not pugnacious. Keep your mouth shut and be strong. The person who talks first often is the one who walks away from negotiations with the lesser end of the stick. And keep personal sob stories about finances to yourself.9. Get it in writing.If you succeed at getting a higher offer, make sure to get it in writing before you sign anything!

Acute Pancreatits Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Acute Pancreatits - Research Paper Example However, a study made by Thisted, et.al ( 2005 ) concluded that statins do not have a causative affect to pancreatitis, in fact â€Å"may even indicate a mild protective effect†. Pancreatitis also affect the young population but mostly caused by genetic disorders. Children can receive the sickness from the following causes: Kawasaki disease (rare disease in children that inflates red blood cells), Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (the body produces toxic substances that destroy red blood cells), Reye Syndrome (Brain damage as well as intestinal malfunctions linked to children who took aspirin to cure chicken pox and related sicknesses), Mumps, abdominal trauma, certain medications, cystic fibrosis (inherited disease; causes thick mucus to clog lungs and the digestive tract), and viruses. People with acute pancreatitis exhibit symptoms that are very evident in the afflicted patient. According to studies made by Praganov and Foramark ( 2006), the most common sign of acute pancreatitis manifested by 95% of the afflicted is pain which radiates from the back to the shoulder blades. Some of the symptoms include jaundice (skin or eyes turn yellow due to bilirubin left by dead red blood cells), fever, sweating, anxiety, abdominal pains, and nausea. Other possible symptoms of the disease are swelling of the abdomen, abdominal indigestion, hiccups, rashes, and gaseousness. However, it is always advisable to consult a physician since other diseases such as Hepatitis and pancreatic cancer can manifest the same symptoms. In succeeding discussions, this report would also discuss the various tests needed by a doctor to correctly diagnose acute pancreatitis. Technically, the pathophysiology of pancreatitis is not fully understood. It is a common clinical condition with varying severity; it can be mild or lethal to the victim. The earliest

Since the title is too long I will put it into instructions field as a Essay

Since the title is too long I will put it into instructions field as a file - Essay Example pecific aspects of the ECHR which have been violated in the case of her son Abel such that an application may be prepared by her, in order to petition for a court hearing before the European Council. Amy Hart is entitled to apply for such a hearing based on the following: â€Å"Article 34 – Individual applications: The Court may receive applications from any person, non-governmental organization or group of individuals claiming to be the victim of a violation by one of the High Contracting Parties of the rights set forth in the Convention or the protocols thereto. The High Contracting Parties undertake not to hinder in any way the effective exercise of this right†(ECHR, 2007). For thousands of years, kingdoms and governments all over the world, have been involved in information extraction techniques that have served only to degrade, humiliate, harm or kill human beings. As medical knowledge and our understanding of the human body has advanced, so has the human propensity to abuse that knowledge. In an age of heightened terrorism awareness, countries in almost every part of the globe have found themselves the focus of news broadcasts exposing detailed reports and photographs of human degradation in the name of anti-terrorism. The problem of terrorism has single handedly given rise to an equally malignant problem and that is the moral decay of democracies and dictatorships alike to the point of justifying the most heinous of human degradation and humiliation. While admittedly, terrorism is itself a monumental problem on a global scale at this point in time, it is also important to realize that tactics which violate human rights such as acts of torture and a bandon of due process only add to the overall problem at hand. The following is an accurate definition as recognized by international law, on what classifies as terrorism: â€Å"Efforts in the United Nations to achieve by consensus a comprehensive definition of terrorism have been pursued since 1996. (2)

“Complete, trusting surrender to God” Essay Example for Free

â€Å"Complete, trusting surrender to God† Essay Although the Qur’an, its sacred text, was only revealed to their Prophet Muhammad more than five centuries after the death of Christ, Muslims trace the beginnings of Islam to the time of Abraham. According to them, the series of revelations of the Qur’an which started in 610 CE in a cave in Mount Hira, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, marked only the renaissance of a religion which sank into insignificance when the people of Mecca rejected the monotheism preached by Abraham. The Islamic claim further states that being the original religion, it provided the foundations for the development of Judaism and Christianity. (Fisher. 2005. Islam) Since the time of the first revelation in Mount Hira, Islam has rapidly grown to become the second-largest religious denomination in the world, next only to Christianity, claiming a following of almost twenty percent of the world’s population. However, its growth has been temporarily slowed down, particularly in the United States, by the effects of the American war against terrorism which is evidently directed against Muslims. This U. S. -orchestrated anti-terrorism war, coupled with the dearth of knowledge about Islam, has severely alienated the Muslims from the rest of the non-Muslim world. (Fisher. 2005. Islam) Yusuf (n. d. ) said that majority of the Muslims are convinced that while the U. S. government has been blaming terrorism on Islam for years, it was the 9/11 incident which dealt the most telling blow on the credibility and reputation of their religion. This was because the international media was able to depict that many Muslims around the world rejoiced after that incident. The truth is, however, that majority of the Muslim world was saddened by that incident and the repercussions it caused. They would like to tell the world that terrorism is not an official policy of Islam and that, in fact, Muslims also consider terrorists as enemies of their religion. He laments the fact that When a crazy Christian does something terrible, everyone in the West knows it is the actions of a mad man because they have some knowledge of the core beliefs and ethics of Christianity. When a mad Muslim does something evil or foolish they assume it is from the religion of Islam, not because they hate us but because they have never been told by a Muslim what the teachings of Islam are all about. Muslims are also complaining about the way non-Muslims always confuse them with Arabs. According to them, while most Arabs are Muslims, less than 20% of Muslims have Arab blood. (Almuslimin. org) Allah is the only authority of this religion. Muhammad was only the messenger and prophet with whom he entrusted the sacred texts called the Qur’an in a series of revelations and who, three years after the first revelation occurred, preached them to the people according to his instruction and his will. However, Muhammad was the role model for all Muslims. His life story and his sayings were saved in the Hadith for every Muslim to learn from and emulate. The central teachings of Islam are oneness of God and of humanity; prophethood and the compass of Islam; human relationship to the divine; belief in the unseen life; and belief in the Last Judgment. (Fisher, 2005. Islam) Islam teaches that there is only one God. This is why the first words spoken to a Muslim infant are the words of the Shahadah – â€Å"la ilaha ill-Allah Muhammad-un Rasulu-llah† (â€Å"There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God†). God may be called by many names, but all the attributes assigned to those different names make up the totality of the One God. They contend that there must be absolute unity among all men of all races because they are all brothers under the one God, and no one race should consider itself the chosen race. Islam teaches that the individual should be one with God, therefore his or her thoughts and deeds should always be inspired by God. This oneness of God and of humanity was very emphatically expressed by Abu Hashim Madami, an Indian Sufi sage, when he said that â€Å"There is only one thing to be gained in life, and that is to remember God with each breath; and there is only one loss in life, and that is the breath drawn without the remembrance of God. † (Fisher. 2005. Islam, p. 373) All the prophets from Abraham to Jesus Christ are honored, but they maintain that Muhammad was the last prophet sent by God with the final message. This means, therefore, that the Qur’an sums up all the messages from God so Islam should include all religions, including Christianity and Judaism which also trace their roots to Abraham. They believe that God created the universe for a purpose and set down laws to govern everything. For this reason, man could live in peace only if he recognizes these laws and abide by them. They accept the existence of the angels, especially Gabriel, whom they credit with bringing the messages of God. They believe that Satan exists just as they believe that there are saints. For them, the Last Judgment means that dead Muslims are allowed some rest before being raised from the grave for the final reckoning, after which the sinners and the unbelievers are sent to hell. (Fisher. 2005. Islam) Their basic practices consist of what they call the Five Pillars of Islam, namely: Beliefs and witness; Daily prayers; Zakat; Fasting; and Hajj. Every Muslim, without resorting to the use of force or intimidation, are obliged to spread the words of Islam so that other people may know about it, understand it, and use the knowledge to guide them in choosing their faith. Prayers should be recited five times a day while facing the direction of Mecca. It is believed that requiring every Muslim to face Mecca symbolizes unity among the devotees of Islam around the world, while the daily prayer emphasizes Islam’s teaching that every Muslim should remember God everyday of his or her life. Zakat, the third pillar, means â€Å"spiritual tithing and almsgiving. † Muslims are enjoined to help the poor by donating part of their annual income to charities of their choice. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for example, channels its contribution through the Islamic Relief Organization which aids people around the world regardless of their religion. Every year, the first Qur’anic revelation is celebrated with a month-long fasting called Ramadan. All able Muslims are required to abstain from â€Å"food, drink, sexual intercourse, and smoking† from dawn to dusk. Although fasting during Ramadan is an obligation, fasting, per se, is advised from time to time because it provides an individual with â€Å"a Transparent Soul to Transcend, a Clear Mind to think and a Light Body to move and act. † The last Pillar – the hajj – is a pilgrimage which is expected of every Muslim who is financially and physically capable even only once during their lifetime. Their pilgrimage destination is Mecca, where their holiest sanctuary, the Ka’bah, is located. (Fisher. 2005. Islam) Muhammad, whose name was taken from the Arabic word hamada which means â€Å"to praise, to glorify,† was born in Mecca, Western Arabia, in 570 CE to Abd bin Al-Muttalib and Amina bint Wahb. (Kikim Media. n. d. ) His parents were believed to be descendants of Abraham and Hagar, the Egyptian slave who mothered Abraham’s son, Ishmael. The story goes that Abraham fled to Mecca with Hagar and Ishmael after his wife, Sarah, also gave birth to a baby boy (Isaac) and became extremely jealous of Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham later built the Ka’bah, Islam’s holiest sanctuary and now the destination of pilgrims during the hajj, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, with the assistance of his son, Ishmael. (Fisher. 2005. Islam) The birth, life, and death of Muhammad impacted the world of Islam differently. His birth in 570 CE also signaled the rebirth of Islam which sank into obscurity for centuries when the people of Mecca rejected Abraham’s monotheistic Qur’an religion. His life as a preacher which began three years after the start of the revelations resulted to a rejuvenated Muslim world. The flight of the Muslims to Medina (or the hijrah) which he orchestrated in order for them to escape persecution from the hands of the Qurayshites of Mecca was what strengthened Islam as soon as they had settled in Medina. This later enabled them to raise a strong army to capture Mecca from the Qurayshites. However, while he re-established Mecca as the holy sanctuary of Islam, Muhammad himself chose to live in Medina. While his birth signaled the rebirth of Islam and his life rejuvenated their religion, his death in 632 CE in Medina caused a split in the Muslim world between what we now call the Shi’a and Sunni Muslims because of the issue of succession. Most of the surviving Muslims believed that although Muhammad was able to tell his followers what to do after his death, he failed to appoint his successor. Thus, the majority decided to settle the issue of succession by election. However, there was a minority group who insisted that it was not true that Muhammad did not name his successor because of a report that some weeks before he died, Muhammad held his son-in-law ‘Ali’s hand and uttered the following words: â€Å"Whoever I protect, ‘Ali is also his protector. O God, be a friend to whoever is his friend and an enemy to whoever is his enemy. † (Fisher. 2005. Islam, p. 380) The issue of succession was ultimately decided according to the wishes of the majority – by election – but the two factions have never reconciled up to this day. The Shi’a Muslims now form the majority faction in Iran, while the Sunnis are the majority in â€Å"Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, northern African countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asian countries of the former Soviet Union, and Indonesia. † (page 378) Their place of worship is called a mosque. When I interviewed Bonsan Go, a student from Indonesia, he described a basic mosque as A square building with a small box-type space in front which serves as an extension. It has a dome on the center-top of the main building and a turret or a small ornamented tower or a tower-shaped projection on another building. Inside, you will fine a division (usually a length of fabric) which separates men from the women. There are no tables, chairs, or figurines inside the mosque. I thought, maybe, Mr. Go described a traditional mosque which used to be an Islamic architecture with a dome and one or two minarets. However, the more recent ones especially those constructed in the United States have chosen to go without the dome and the minarets. The more modern mosques have also done away with the curtain-like division which separates the men from the women. I have located one such mosque in Urbana, Illinois. A photo of this mosque is shown below: This is the Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center at 106 S. Lincoln, Urbana, Illinois. It is unmistakably an Islamic architecture with the arches found in front, but without the dome and minarets of olden mosques. Their website (http://www. prairienet. org/cimic/) announces that the mosque holds congregational prayers five times during the day, the first session being at 5:45 in the morning and the last at 7:30 in the evening. The center also offers Arabic classes and is open to visitors any day. CIMIC Newsletter is published bimonthly. In my interview with Bonsan Go, I was able to gain some insights on how a lay Muslim understands and practices Islam. About the hajj, Mr. Go describes it as the â€Å"symbol of unity between the Muslim Ummah and the Oneness of Mankind. † According to him, this has to be done at least once in a lifetime and is very important because it is one of the five pillars of Islam. He said that the hajj is obligatory for all Muslims who can afford it financially and physically. It is also important that the money spent for the hajj comes from hard work and not from corruption. He also talked about the Sunnis and Shi’ites. He described the Sunnis as following the teachings of Muhammad, imitating his every actions and words while the Shi’ites believe that Hadhrat Ali was the real successor to Muhammad because he belonged to the family of Muhammad. He further said that the Shi’ites call their leader an imam while the Sunnis call their leader a caliph, just like they do in Indonesia where the great majority of the Muslims are Sunnis. On the question of marriage, he said that a Muslim is not obliged to have several wives. However, once a man decides to do so, he can only marry as much as four times and he is required to treat all of them equally and see to it that all his wives maintain harmonious relationships all around. The Muslims, according Mr. Go, have never worshipped Muhammad. It is Allah that they give praise to. He considers it very disturbing that most people tend to equate the position of Muhammad with the one who created him. He said that to worship Muhammad instead of Allah is considered a great sin in Islam. On jihad, this was what he said: â€Å"Jihad is not a declaration of war against the enemies of Islam but a striving and a struggle in the path of God. Commitment to God involves commitment to sacrifice one’s time, energy and wealth to promote the right cause. It may be necessary at times to give one’s life in order to preserve TRUTH. † Before we parted ways, he told me that he is deeply saddened by the war on terror being waged by the United States and is targeted at Muslims. He said that the U. S. government has categorized all Muslims as terrorists and as such, must not be trusted. He said that the claim that Islam, as a religion, supports the activities of terrorists is definitely not true because even a Muslim like him hates terrorists. In the study of the beliefs and teachings of Islam and Christianity, Fisher (2005) has shown us the similarities between the two religions. They are both monotheistic, they have their own prophets (Jesus and Muhammad), and both religions trace their roots to Abraham. Islam and Christianity teach their followers to treat their fellowmen with fairness and both religions profess anti-violence sentiments. The Muslims are making this especially clear at every opportunity, enough reason for them to feel very badly towards the U. S. -led anti-terror war. The central beliefs of Islam are also very identical to the central beliefs of Christianity: they both believe in the brotherhood of men, in the angels, saints, even in Satan, and in the Last Judgment. If a split occurred between the Shi’a and Sunni Muslims after the death of Muhammad, a great schism likewise rocked the Christian world when the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox Church parted ways in 1054. Sadly, however, Fisher has also shown us that both Islam and Christianity have chosen the options of wars of aggression and occupations during the early days for the purpose of spreading their doctrines and widen their spheres of influence. (Fisher. 2005. Christianity; Islam) However, if Fisher (2005) has shown that Islam and Christianity have many similarities, they also differ in some aspects. The first difference is rather basic. While Islam revolves around Allah as its God and only authority, Christianity, as a faith, is based â€Å"on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. † Muslims disagree with Christians in this regard. They do not believe that Jesus is a son of God. To them, Jesus, like Muhammad, was only a prophet and messenger of God. Another glaring difference between the two religions occurred in connection with the death of Jesus and Muhammad. While Muhammad died peacefully in his bed because of some illness, his death divided the Muslim world into the Shi’a and the Sunni Muslims. Jesus, on the other hand, died a violent death (he was tortured and crucified), but his death strengthened and unified his people. (Fisher. 2005. Christianity; Islam). References Almuslimin. org. (n. d. ). Who Is Muhammad? (Retrieved March 9, 2007 from:http://drupalmalaysia. org/Islam/Muhammad) CIMIC. (n. d. ). Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center. (Retrieved March 5, 2007 from: http://www. prairienet. org/cimic/) Fisher, M. P. (2005). Christianity. Living Religions, Sixth Edition (pp. 284-361). Prentice-Hall. Fisher, M. P. (2005). Islam. Living Religions, Sixth Edition (pp, 362-416). Prentice-Hall. Kikim Media. (n. d. ). The Life of Muhammad. (Retrieved March 5, 2007 from: http://www. pbs. org/muhammad/timeline. html. shtml) Yusuf, S. H. (n. d. ). A Time for Introspection. (Retrieved March 9, 2007 from: http://www. masud. co. uk/ISLAM/misc/shhamza_sep11. htm) .

The Use of Creatine in Sports Essay -- Athletics Steroids Drugs Sports

The Use of Creatine in Sports The first weeks of my senior season of football were the toughest times I had ever had in my life. We had two practices a day. We had one practice early in the morning, and one late in the afternoon. Physically, I wasn't at a level like most of my teammates. I felt like I couldn't do anything on the high school level; plus I was being thrown around like a rag doll. I needed something that would help me reach my potential. That's when I tried creatine. I started out taking small doses of creatine as an energy booster before practice, noticing that I wasn't getting tired and out of breath like I once was. I continued to use the supplement before I did any type of exercising activity, although I never exceeded the daily amount. I used the supplement for about three weeks, noticing muscle development and body fat loss all over my body. Gradually, I started reducing my dose each day until my supply was gone. In my short three weeks of taking creatine, I gained about 4-5 pounds of lean muscle. I was being noticed in practice and was getting more playing time in games. I was still unsure about what consequences I would have to face if I continued to use the substance. I needed to know more. Everything has a price; l wanted to figure out what mine could be.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It's been called the drug that separates the great from the greatest. It has helped athletes all over the world reach their potential. Creatine is an all natural food and supplement drug that works like anabolic steroids without the side effects. It has the capability to help produce muscle mass, energy, and speed all in one pill. Over the past few years, creatine has become a controversial issue in the athletic world. A lot of research has been put into creatine although long-term effects are left unknown, leaving the controversial question of whether creatine should be legal or illegal. Being a former user of creatine showed me how I could maximize my potential athletic ability, although leaving me cynical about harm to my body. I wanted to know more specifically how it works on the chemical level and major side effects and precautions I should take if I were going to continue using the supplement. The only way for my to find the answers to my questions was with research. I began interviewing people who knew more about creatine while at the same time I began my own rese... ...arch 12, 1999 Bernards, Neal. War on Drugs. San Diego: Greenhaven Books, 1990. Creatine and Muscle Building. [Online] Available   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/askdiet/na/get960901.htm, April 14, 1999. Creatine FAQ’s. [Online] Available   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.nutrasense.com/nutrasense/creatine.html, March 13, 1999. Dreyfuss, Ira. [Online] Available   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.nando.net/newsroom/aploth/1996/mor/feat/archive/091596/mar/75430.html, March 15, 1999. High Power Creatine. [Online] Available   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.whole-salecreatine.com/1013/faq.htm Jalloh, Ali. Telephone interview. 27 April. 2000. Klein, Scott. Creatine. [Online] Available   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://nimbus.ocis.temple.edu/~sklein/#ABOUT, May 6, 1998 London, David. Creatine Concerns in England. [Online] Available   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/wc98/full/wc98.htm, April 5, 1999. Marks, Alexandra. â€Å"Schools Wrestle with ‘Bulk in a Bottle’†. The Christian Science Monitor. September 30, 1998. Mumby, Chris. Personal interview. 2 Mar. 1999. Potratz, Adam. Personal interview. 3 Mar. 1999. Sahelian, Ray. Creatine Nature’s Muscle Builder. [Online] Available   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.raysahelian.com/creatine.html, March 12, 1999.

Barilla SpA Case Study Essay

Barilla SpA, the world’s biggest pasta manufacturer, has continuously experienced problems with increased costs and inefficiencies in their operation. The fluctuations in demand have caused Barilla SpA’s manufacturing costs, inventory costs, and distribution costs to go up. Issues that influenced the demand fluctuations are the discounts Barilla SpA offers on both price and transportation, the compensations for sales representatives that is based on the volume of goods they sell to the distributors, and long lead times between time of order and time of delivery – just to name a few. The idea of JITD is to allow sales and inventory data to be shared along the supply chain. By doing so, Barilla SpA can use that data from its distributors to better understand the demand of its products and perform better forecasting. The results would be lower transportation costs due to better shipment planning, increase manufacturing efficiency, reduce inventory costs, and less stock outs for its distributors. This will benefit both Barilla SpA and its distributors, but resistance from the distributors and Barilla SpA’s internal opposition makes it difficult to implement such strategy. Barilla SpA’s sales representatives were afraid of losing their jobs because they felt with the JITD in place; they will no longer be needed. Also, it would essentially eliminate the current compensation system, meaning they would make less money. As for the distributors, the idea of providing sales data to others was unheard of at the time. The distributors did not trust Barilla SpA with their private information, and felt that they would lose control of their own operations if they had agreed with Barilla SpA. Despite of all the internal and external resistances and doubts, I still think JITD is feasible for Barilla SpA, and they should continue to try and implement it due to the large savings and increased efficiency that JITD will bring to both Barilla SpA and its distributors. In order to succeed, Barilla SpA must convince its distributors that the JITD strategy will work, and that it is also beneficial to everyone. Before trying to convince the distributors, I believe Barilla SpA must convince its sales representatives first because they are the ones the distributors talk to the most, and can have an influence in a distributor’s decision. An example of that is the Macaroni GD in the case, where its sales representative had some influence on Macaroni’s decision. Barilla SpA must communicate to its sale representatives that even with JITD in place, they will still be needed. Their responsibilities will be changed from trying to sell high volumes to selling the JITD idea and to maintain a good relationship with the distributors. The sales representatives will be the first ones to help solve any problems that the distributors has, and they will be involved in other logistic responsibilities that the JITD will require. Also, convince them that the more money the company saves, the more the company will profit; therefore a higher bonus can be given to employees. This may change Barilla SpA’s sales representatives’ perception to Pro-JITD. As for the distributors, there are a few ways that will help Barilla SpA convince them that JITD will be beneficial for everyone. Instead of trying to convince the distributors just by talking to them and telling them about JITD, Barilla SpA should develop some kind of an analysis that they can show the distributors just how it can benefit them. Show them the high costs and cons of the current strategy, and compare it to the costs savings that JITD will bring across the supply chain. Next, Barilla should implement JITD in a number of the Barilla-owned regional warehouses first. Since they own the warehouses, they will be able to test JITD with them. After a period of time, Barilla can use the information gathered to show the distributors (only if it was successful), that the implementation of JITD is a good thing. Showing the distributors the improved efficiency and cost savings that resulted from it may help win them over. One other thing that Barilla SpA can do to gain its distributors’ confidence to agree to the JITD program is signing some kind of a contract. It will be an agreement between Barilla SpA and its distributors that Barilla SpA will  basically guarantee the positive results of the JITD program. If the JITD does not work, and in turn cause the distributors to lose money due to increased costs incurred by the distributors or increased stock outs (which leads to lost of sales), then Barilla SpA will be responsible to pay them that amount. This will show the distributors that Barilla SpA is confident that this JITD program will benefit the distributors, and will help convince the distributors to sign up for JITD. The JITD strategy will result in less fluctuation in demand, and allow Barilla SpA to reduce costs and become more efficient. It will also benefit others in the supply chain as well and not just Barilla SpA. Barilla SpA must be able to convince both its internal sales representatives as well as the distributors. Once JITD is implemented, it will improve communication, cooperation, and relationship between Barilla SpA and its distributors. It will allow Barilla SpA to become more competitive and grow bigger than it already is, and its growth will benefit the distributors that trusted Barilla SpA and agreed to the JITD.

Minimum Wage Essay

American workers will have a 1.75$ increase in their hourly wage by the end of 2015, as President Barack Obama recently called to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour $9.00 an hour. This increase in the minimum wage of American citizen aims to help people with a low annual wage: cooks, employees of the janitorial industry and many others working these necessary menial occupations are set to benefit. The white house estimates that this measure will boost the wage of approximately 15 millions low-income workers. Raising the minimum wage, according to the White House press, will have some positive effect for low-income families; however, many companies are opposed to raising the minimum wage. A higher wage will have a direct impact on the cost of business. Some economists argue that higher minimum wage will result in an increased unemployment percentage. Although minimum wage laws can fix hourly pay, they cannot guarantee jobs. Employers are not willing to pay a worker more than the value of the additional product that he produces. For example, if a worker produces 4$ worth of goods per hour and because of the minimum wage he has to be paid 5.15$. Since he cost more than what he produces it makes it hard for him to find a job. At one point in the article, the President said that one of the best ways to get the economy going again is to put money in the pockets of people who work. (Lowrey)It is true that families with low income will earn more money: it is projected that a family that is earning $20,000 to $30,000 a year will see an additional $3,500 in their income. (Lowrey) This general positive outcome of increasing the minimum wage has led many law makers to wrongly assume that increasing the minimum wage is an effective way to fight  poverty. From the point of view of an economist, raising the minimum wage may increases the probability that a poor family will escape poverty through higher wages, but it does increase the probability of another family with average income will become poor as a result of minimum wage giving rise to inflation. It also decreases the proportion of families with income near the poverty line, suggesting that it more will be more difficult to escape poverty. We all know that if the minimum wage increases then the cost of living will inevitably increase as well as a result of inflation. Economists are against minimum wage laws because they create a price floor. In this case, a price floor is not the price that products can be sold for, but what price employers can spend on their employees. For non-economists, legislating a minimum wage is commonly seen as an effective way of giving raises to low-wage workers. Unfortunately it, like any other price floor, creates a surplus. In this case, the surplus is a larger than expected number of workers more of are willing to work in minimum-wage jobs than there are employers willing to hire at that wage. Economists think that there should not be any policies concerning wages: an employee should be paid what the employer thinks he/she deserves. Minimum wage increases make unskilled workers more expensive and therefore undesirable relative to all other factors of production. (Mankiw) For example, if skilled workers make 15$/hour and unskilled workers make three dollars an hour, skilled workers are five times as expensive as the unskilled. Imposing a minimum wage of five dollars an hour makes skilled workers relatively more attractive by making them only three times as expensive as unskilled workers. Another important characteristic of the policy to increase minimum wage that was not discussing in the article is that it may also negatively impact workers by changing how they are compensated. Benefits such as paid vacation, free room and board; inexpensive insurance and subsidized childcare are an important part of the total compensation for many low wageworkers. (Mankiw) When minimum wages rise, employers can control total compensation costs by cutting benefits; such is the case for the United States today. The employer always had to follow the minimum wage in order to pay their employee. The minimum wage should not be existent nowadays; the employer should have the choice to pay their employee based on their knowledge. An employee that knows more and produces more should have an higher hourly range. Sources: Textbook Mankiw, N. Gregory. Principles of Economics. 6th. Mason, OH, USA: 2012. Print. Website: Lowrey, Annie. â€Å"Raising Minimum Wage Would Ease Income Gap but Carries Political Risks.† New York Times. N.p., 13-02-2013. Web. 5 Oct 2013. .

The HipHop Rock Phenomenon essays

The HipHop Rock Phenomenon essays It seems as though you can barely read a magazine or flip on the television without hearing about one of these new hip-hop/rock groups. Media outlets such as Rolling Stone and MTV treat these bands as though miraculously created this new genre of music. Acts such as Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock and Sugar Ray are treated though they are creative geniuses when in reality they are only doing things that have already been done before. True some of these new bands are very talented, but bands such Run DMC, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine, blended the seemingly mismatched flavors of rap and rock with brilliant results long before any of these bands had ever even seen a The earliest recorded example of this fusion of hip-hop and hard rock, came in 1985 with the release of Run DMCs Rock Box. The song featured a beat which sounded more like an AC/DC instrumental than what your average hip-hop consumer had grown accustomed to, nevertheless underneath the vocals of Run DMC the song was their first bonafied crossover hit. The single even landed them onto heavy rotation on MTV, making Run DMC the first hip-hop group to ever have their video played with the station. The song was only the first of a long string of hits for the group to feature hard rock beats, of course with pumped up bass and the prerequisite turntable scratch. Their success carried over to their remake of Aerosmiths classic Walk This Way, which too became an instant classic. The record also marked the first direct collaboration between a rap group and a rock band. However while Run DMC was a hip-hop group with heavy rock influence, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are a perfect example of the exact opposite, a rock band with distinct hip-hop overtones. From as early back to the mid-eighties the Chili Peppers were trendsetters, they were regularly sharing headline in Los A ...

Definition and Examples of Confirmation in Rhetoric

Definition and Examples of Confirmation in Rhetoric Definition In classical rhetoric, the confirmation is the main part of a speech or text in which logical arguments in support of a position (or claim) are elaborated. Also called confirmatio. Etymology:  From the Latin verb confirmare, meaning strengthen or establish. Pronunciation: kon-fur-MAY-shun Confirmation is one of the classical rhetorical exercises known as the  progymnasmata. These exercises, originating in ancient Greece with the rhetorician Aphthonius of Antioch, were designed to teach rhetoric by providing exercises in increasing difficulty, beginning with simple storytelling and increasing to complex arguments. In the confirmation exercise, a student would be asked to logically reason in favor of some topic or argument found in myth or literature. The rhetorical opposite of confirmation is refutation, which involves arguing against something instead of in its favor. Both require logical and/or moral arguments to be marshaled in similar ways, simply with opposite goals. See Examples and Observations below. Also see: The Parts of a SpeechWhat Are the Progymnasmata? Examples of Confirmation The few bright meteors in mans intellectual horizon could well be matched by woman, were she allowed to occupy the same elevated position. There is no need of naming the De Staels, the Rolands, the Somervilles, the Wollstonecrafts, the Wrights, the Fullers, the Martineaus, the Hemanses, the Sigourneys, the Jagiellos, and the many more of modern as well as ancient times, to prove her mental powers, her patriotism, her heroism, her self-sacrificing devotion to the cause of humanitythe eloquence that gushes from her pen or from her tongue. These things are too well known to require repetition. And do you ask for fortitude of mind, energy, and perseverance? Then look at woman under suffering, reverse of fortune, and affliction, when the strength and power of man has sunk to the lowest ebb, when his mind is overwhelmed by the dark waters of despair. She, like the tender plant, bent but not broken by the storms of life, now only upholds her own hopeful courage, but, like the tender shoots of the ivy, clings around the tempest-fallen oak, to bind up the wounds, peak hope to his faltering spirit, and shelter him from the returning blast of the storm.(Ernestine Rose, An Address on Womens Rights, 1851) This food would likewise bring great custom to taverns; where the vintners will certainly be so prudent as to procure the best receipts for dressing it to perfection, and consequently have their houses frequented by all the fine gentlemen.(Jonathan Swift,  A Modest Proposal) Explanations of Confirmation Cicero on ConfirmationThe confirmation is that part of a narration that, by marshaling arguments, lends force, authority, and support to our case. . . .All argumentation is to be carried on either by analogy or by the enthymeme. Analogy is a form of argument that moves from assent on certain undisputed facts through approval of a doubtful proposition due to the resemblance between what is granted and what is doubtful. This style of argument is threefold: the first part consists of one or more similar instances, the second part is the point we wish to have conceded, and the third is the conclusion that reinforces the concessions or shows the consequences of the argument.Enthymematic reasoning is a form of argument that draws a probable conclusion from the facts under consideration.(Cicero, De Inventione)Aphthonius on Confirmation in the ProgymnasmataConfirmation is showing proof for any matter at hand. But one must confirm neither those things clearly manifest nor those utterly imposs ible, but those that hold an intermediate position. And it is necessary for those engaged in confirmation to treat it in a manner that is exactly the opposite of refutation. First, one must speak of the good reputation of the proponent; then, in turn, to make the exposition and to make use of the opposite headings: the clear instead of the unclear, the probable for the improbable, the possible in place of the impossible, the logical instead of the illogical, the suitable for the unsuitable, and the expedient in place of the inexpedient.This exercise encompasses all the power of the art.(Aphthonius of Antioch, Progymnasmata, late fourth century. Readings from Classical Rhetoric, ed. by Patricia P. Matsen, Philip B. Rollinson, and Marion Sousa. Southern Illinois University Press, 1990)

Pre Calculus Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Pre Calculus Questions - Assignment Example However, I later discovered that integration is the easier of the two concepts through practice. Using numerical data, differentiation proved to be the most difficult concept to use and in some case, I realized when doing trial questions that it was difficult to use differentiation. I realized that differentiation was only nice when using explicit formulae to solve functions. Integration seemed impossible explicitly but it was comfortable numerically. Natural exponential function can be used to estimate the size of a population with a constant relative growth rate. In estimating population growth, the formula P (t) = P (0) e kt where P is population after a period t, k denotes constant relative growth rate, and P (0) denotes the initial population size at t = 0. The measurement of time used in the formula is in most cases proportional to the life of the organisms under study. In the case of bacteria, hours or days are utilized while for human beings, t is normally in

Economics for Business Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economics for Business Assignment - Essay Example This product differentiation gives the players in the monopolistic competition pricing power (A.Koutsoyiannis, 2010). The ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel believes that the fuel market is characterized by a comfortable oligopoly. I agree with Mr. Samuel’s opinion. At the retail stage of the fuel market, Woolworths and Wesfarmers Coals each have 22% of the market share. BP has 19%. Caltex has 16% and Exxon-Mobil has 6%. This totals to 85% of the total market share. Therefore these five players definitely dominate the industry at the retail stage. The situation at the refining stage is also similar with Caltex supplying as much as 55% of the wholesale supply in some states like New South Wales. The oligopolistic structure in the fuel industry in Australia arises from the barriers to entry because of intensive capital and technological requirements for operating in the industry. 2) The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is the competition regulator of Australia. The ACCC promotes competition and fair trade in the Australian marketplace to benefit consumers, business and the community ( ACCC, 2011). In the year 2007, the ACCC undertook a detailed investigation in the Australian fuel industry to determine if there was ‘collusive oligopoly’ marked by price-fixing. The investigation found no â€Å"obvious† investigation of price-fixing, but it said that there were operational concerns because of the oligopolistic nature of the industry (ACCC, 2011). The ACCC opposed the acquisition by Caltex on the ground that it would substantially lessen competition across a range of fuel markets in Australia. The ACCC believed that this acquisition would have an adverse impact on competition in the petrol, diesel and automotive LPG markets. During a six month investigation of the proposed deal the ACCC identified 53 Mobil sites that, if they were acquired by Caltex, would result in

Company Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Company Law - Essay Example had shares with a nominal value of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds which were divided equally among the four founders. XYZ Ltd. was to own all the copyrights for band’s songs which were given to the company as a consideration for the allotted shares. The four shareholders also were the directors of XYZ Ltd. Employment of Xavier as the managing director of the company followed where he was to receive an annual salary of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. Distributable yearly profits by the company were to be paid to the shareholders as dividends but the shareholders never received a single payment in dividends. Personal issues arose amongst the band members and this brought about differences between some XYZ Ltd.’s shareholders and directors causing the band members to split and form a new band. XYZ Ltd.’s existence had led to the formation of another company XYZ Concerts Ltd. to manage and run a performance tour that was to be TUVW band in the UK in 201 0. All issued shares of XYZ Concerts Ltd were held by the mother company, XYZ Ltd. The responsibilities of XYZ Concerts Ltd. ... Xavier hired Cold Chocolate PR Consultants to help improve the band’s image in May 2011. This was after Mitt pressed Xavier to improve the bands image before the release of a new album that TUVW was working on. Cold Chocolate PR Consultants spent a hundred thousand pounds for their work and the hired consultants continued working till the end of 2011 even though the bands reputation remained extremely bad and appalling. Xavier employed Yvonne as the production manager in July 2011 and they both subsequently entered into a contract with Jump Records to produce the next five albums for the band. A payment of twenty five thousand pounds was made to XYZ Ltd. by Jump records as an advance to the total payment for the five records. Due to the bad blood between the bad members, the band never met in a single occasion since March of 2011 and two of the band members had already formed another band. In January 2012, XYZ Ltd. was pronounced insolvent though its books of account showed th at the company had been insolvent since the beginning of the previous year, January 2011. At that time, the company owed the shareholders an equivalent of all dividends due to them since its incorporation, The Wyatt Hotel an equivalent of all bills incurred during their UK tour, Cold Chocolate PR Consultants an equivalent of their contracted amount as well as the amount paid by Jump Records as an advance totalling to twenty five thousand pounds. The liquidator deduced that the worth of the company as at January 2012 which was solely in the form of song copyrights was five hundred thousand pounds. Some of the issues arising in this case are discussed hereafter. First and foremost, no dividends were paid to any of the shareholders of XYZ Ltd. since its incorporation in

Financial Analysis of BLD Plantation Bhd

Financial Analysis of BLD Plantation Bhd 1.1 Sime Darby Plantation Bhd According to Sime Darby (2013), the Sime Darby Plantation is the plantation and agribusiness arm of Sime Darby Berhad, at which has incorporated over 15 countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and so on. It was founded in 1910 and growth to become the largest conglomerate in Malaysia. However, it is the one of largest palm oil producer in the world which produce 2.47 million tones of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) output annually. Bloomberg (n.d) states that Sime Darby Plantation Bhd was mainly engages in upstream activities such as oil palm and rubber plantation development, cultivation, and downstream activities. The company was involved in the manufacturing of oils and fats products, and other fast moving consumer goods. The company was incorporated in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia during 2004 with other offices in Indonesia and India (Bloomberg, n.d). Besides, its downstream operations are divided into 2 sectors, that is food and nonfood. For food sector, CPO was manufactured into different types of oils and fat products such as cooking oil, margarine and cooking fats. The company also produces the customized products to meet their customers need and satisfaction. In nonfood sector, it was involved in the manufacturing of oleochemicals and biodiesel. In 2016, the company has commenced the first large scale planting of Genome Select high yielding oil palms, which allow themselves to produce mire oil in existing land. 1.2 BLD Plantation Bhd The BLD Plantation Bhd (BLDP) was incorporated in Malaysia as a public limited company under the Companies Act 1965 in October 2001. It was listed on main market of Bursa Malaysia under plantation sector on 2003 and served as parent company to Bintulu Lumber Development Sdn Bhd, Grand Mutual Sdn Bhd, and so on. According to Worldwide Company Profile (2011), the company was principally engaged in investing holding and provision of management services whereas the principal activities of group are cultivation of oil palm, processing of fresh fruit bunches and sales of related products. The Sarawak based BLD Plantation Group was mainly involved in cultivation of oil palm, processing of fresh fruit bunches into CPO and related products. The company was also involved in cattle farming and timber business but it has gradually declined and phased out in 2004. However, the company has produces the CPO and palm kernel (PK) and only sold to Bintulu Edible Oils Sdn Bhd (BEO), which is the major palm oil refinery in Sarawak. 1.3 Riverview Rubber Estates Bhd Riverview Rubber Estates Bhd is a publicly traded company which operates in the agricultural sector in Malaysia (Worldwide Company Profile, 2012). It was mainly involved in the cultivation of oil palm. However, it was incorporated in 1936 and has registered Headquarter in Ipoh, Malaysia. In 2006, the company had produced approximately 43,651 tons of fresh fruit bunches. Moreover, it was interested in two associated companies, that is Narborough Plantations company which is interests in the operation of oil palm plantations and Rivaknar Holdings Sdn Bhd which principally involved in investment holding. Riverview Rubber Estates is listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad and London Stock Exchange (Worldwide Company Profile, 2012). 1.4 IJM Plantation Bhd IJM is one of Malaysias leading conglomerates which was listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad. The company has embraced the theme Nurturing Sustainability for its long-term success in agribusiness that are related to oil palm supply chain. However, they have their own vision and mission statements. Their vision statement is To be a leading regional plantation group while the mission statements is To uphold the highest standards of performance in our plantation and agribusiness. The companys theme Nurturing sustainability remain their long term success in oil palm business venture. As the group progresses, it has adopted and implemented strategies to embrace the pillar of performance, the productivity and innovations, and the care for environment. IJM Plantation Berhad was also listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2003. However, it represents one of the 5 main division of IJM group. 1.5 Innoprise Plantation Berhad The Innoprise Plantation Berhad is a Sabah based company listed on main board of Bursa Malaysia (RSPO, n.d). The company was undertaking planting and development at which have approximately 22,763 hectares of forest reserves land in Tawau, Sabah. However, the company has disposed the downstream wood product assets and start to refocus on oil palm. The company was planning to complete planting at which estimated 13,929 hectares of planted oil palm in 2013. In 2006, the company was entered into contract with its major shareholder, Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd to log over 30,000 hectares of Kuamut Forest Reserve over 10 years. This operation is to provide medium term revenue and partial funding for companys oil palm development project. Besides, Innoprise Group was highly emphasized on Corporate Social Responsibility as it recognizes the community, employees and the environment as stakeholders. With the limited resources, the company will continue to make contribution towards development of t he community especially education, sports and poverty alleviation. No. Company Name Data 1 Sime Darby Plantation 0.00221000 2 BLD Plantation 0.00893000 3 Riverview Rubber Estate 0.00599135 4 IJM Plantation 0.00552490 5 Innoprise Plantation BHD 0.01047740 6 KLCI 0.00289210 3.1 Expected Return Based on the expected return table above, we can know that the highest expected return among few companies from 2007 to 2016 is Innoprise Plantation Bhd. On the other hand, the lowest expected return among few companies from 2007 to 2016 is Sime Darby Plantation. Expected return is the amount of profit or loss that an investor expected on the investment that has various known or called as expected rates of return. Expected return is important to be calculate. This is because it can predict the future value of a portfolio and provide guidance from which to measure actual returns. Expected return is always calculate based on the historical data and is not guaranteed. (Investopedia, 2017) Expected return is also known as a process of determining the average expected probability of different types of rates of return that are possible on a given assets. There are some factors to determine the expected return which are different market conditions and an assets beta. (BusinessDictionary.com, 2017). The most important factor that affect the expected return is the stock price. The formula that calculate expected return is as below: Expected return, E(r)= 1/ TÆ ©t=1 r(i,j) Innoprise Plantation Bhd has a highest expected return from 2007 to 2016 compared to these companies. High expected return indicates that the higher risk, the higher the volatility and return potential. (Chirantan Basu, 1995). Based on the historical data, we can know that the highest price among these few year was RM1.85546 on July 2012 while the lowest was RM0.28545 on Dec 2008. Moreover, we can know that the stock price for each month has changed drastically especially the stock price has increased from RM0.46624 per share to RM0.942 per share on April 2010 according to the historical data. It increased by RM0.47576 per share on that time. On 12 April 2010, according to the Capital Reconstruction Exercise, the existing issued and paid-up share capital of the company of RM112,500,000 comprising 112,500,000 ordinary shares which are RM1 per share was reduced to RM 56,250,000 comprising 112,500,000 ordinary share of the company. Therefore, the entire paid-up share capital of 112,500,000 ordinary shares of RM0.50 per share were consolidated into 56,250,000 ordinary shares which are RM1 per share. (Annual Report of Innoprise Plantation Bhd, 2010) Subsequent to the Capital Reconstruction Exercise, the issued and paid up ordinary share capital of the company was increased from RM56,250,000 to RM188,611,300 by the way of the issuance of 132,361,300 ordinary shares which are RM1 per share for cash based on the Rights Issue Exercies for working capital purposes. The new ordinary shares have the same right in all respects with the existing shares of the company. (Annual Report of Innoprise Plantation Bhd, 2010) On the other hand, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd has lowest expected return from 2007 to 2016 compared to these few companies. Based on the historical data, we can know that the highest price among these few year was RM11.90 on January 2016 while the lowest price was RM5.20 on January 2015. Based on the graph of stock price from 2007 to 2016 in Sime Darby Plantation Bhd in appendix, we can know that the stock price among these few year were moved stability from 2007 to 2014. Start from 2015 to 2016, it was dramatically changed. The highest expected return in Sime Darby was 0.24064 on November 2015. The stock price was increased from RM9.35 per share to RM11.60 per share suddenly at that period. During the financial year 2015, the company increased its issued and paid-up ordinary share capital from RM3,032,053,404 to RM3,105,579,143 by the way of issuance of 147,051,477 new ordinary shares of RM0.50 per share at an issue price of RM8.94 per share amounting to RM1,314.6 million, according to the Dividend Reinvestment Plan of the company. The new ordinary shares have the same right in all respects with the existing shares of the company. (Annual Report of Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, 2015) No. Company Name Data 1 Sime Darby Plantation 0.05695000 2 BLD Plantation 0.06363000 3 Riverview Rubber Estate 0.00709225 4 IJM Plantation 0.00681400 5 Innoprise Plantation BHD 0.00938350 6 KLCI 0.03652390 3.2 Standard Deviation In finance, standard deviation is commonly explained as the annual rate of return of an investment to measure the investments volatility. We calculate the standard deviation of different company by using the formula below.    Standard Deviation = [1/n * (ri rave)2] ½   Ã‚   Where:ri = actual rate of returnrave = average rate of returnn = number of time periods Standard deviation is important for an investor to make investment decision. Why do we say so? Because standard deviation measure the dispersion about an average, illustrating how widely a return may varied over time. Therefore, investor tend to predict the range of rate of return by using the standard deviation of historical performance. For an example, a fund or stock with high standard deviation of rate of return, the predicted range of performance is vast, resulting in higher volatility. Without standard deviation, you cannot define or evaluate whether a data given is to the average or the data is spread out over a wide range. On the other hand, by using standard deviation, investor can have a much clear expectation of an investment before doing any investment decision. If a funds return follow the normal distribution, approximately 68% of the time will fall within one standard deviation of the mean return and approximately 98% of the time within two standard deviation. (Morningstar Investing Glossary) Lets say if fund A have an expected annual return of 20% and its standard deviation is 4%, then investor would expect a return between 16% and 24% about 68% of the time and between 12% and 28% about 98% of the time. From the table above, we can see that BLD Plantation has the highest standard deviation compare to the other four company. As we know that, higher standard deviation means that the investment will differ a lot from the average return. In other word, you can make high return from the investment but also make big loss in the investment as the return is high the risk is also high. BLD Plantation have the highest standard deviation, therefore the company may provide higher return but the level of variation is high which mean the investment return is not consistent. Investment in this company may have higher risk compare to the other 4 company. With a standard deviation of 6.36%, which mean the investment return may differ from the mean about 6.36% lower or higher. In the other hand, we can see that IJM Plantation has the lowest standard deviation compare to the other four company. It means that IJM Plantation may be generating lower investment return but the volatility is low which large variation are unlikely to occur. An investor who do not want to take higher risk will invest in this company as the lower standard deviation can prevent the investor to lose too much as it doesnt deviate from the mean value too much. Although BLD Plantation has the highest standard deviation, but looking at the standard deviation as a whole, these five companies still consider as company with low standard deviation in generating investment return. No. Company Name Data 1 SD vs BLD -0.000166 2 SD vs RV -0.000272 3 SD vs IJM -0.000168 4 SD vs Inno -0.000533 5 SD vs KLCI -0.000201 6 BLD vs RV 0.001854 7 BLD vs IJM 0.002451 8 BLD vs Inno 0.003689 9 BLD vs KLCI 0.001275 10 RV vs IJM 0.001862 11 RV vs Inno 0.001465 12 RV vs KLCI 0.000785 13 IJM vs Inno 0.001725 14 IJM vs KLCI 0.001340 15 Inno vs KLCI 0.002270 3.3 Covariance SD Sime Darby BLD BLD RV Riverview IJM IJM Inno Innoprise KLCI KLCI Based on the covariance table above, we can know that the highest covariance from 2007 to 2016 among these few companies is BLD Plantation Bhd versus Innoprise Plantation Bhd. On the other hand, the lowest covariance from 2007 to 2016 among these few companies is Sime Darby Plantation Bhd versus Innoprise Plantation Bhd. Covariance is a measurement of how much two random variables vary together. It is almost like variance but variance only give the information about the single variable varies while covariance give the information about the two variables vary together. A large covariance indicates that a strong relationship between variables while a weak covariance indicates that a strong relationship between variables in a different data set with different scales. (Statistics How To, 2017) We calculate the covariance to measure the linear relationship between two variables and understand the direction of the relationship between variables. Covariance figures are not standardized. Hence, the covariance figure can range from negative figure until infinity to positive figure until infinity. (Minitab Express, 2016). In a simply words, the positive covariance indicate that the two variables are moving together or varying directly while the negative covariance indicate that the two variables are moving in the opposite direction or varying inversely. (BusinessDictionary.com, 2017) Based on the table above, we can know that BLD plantation Bhd and Innoprise Plantation Bhd have positive covariance which is 0.003689. It indicates that both companies tend to increase together. By looking the graph of stock price from 2007 to 2016 in BLD Plantation Bhd and Innoprise Plantation Bhd in appendix, we can see that both companies has increased and decreased at the same direction. When BLD Plantation Bhd has increased the stock price which from RM8.38 per share to RM8.64 per share on July 2012, Innoprise Plantation Bhd has also increased the stock price which from RM1.42728 per share to RM1.85546 per share on July 2012. This shows that both companies had moving together and grow at the same direction. By the calculation of covariance among these two companies, we can know that these companies have strong relationship between each other. In contrast, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and Innoprise Plantation Bhd have negative covariance which is -0.000533. It indicates that one of these companies tend to increase as the other companies decrease. By looking the graph of stock price from 2007 to 2016 among Sime Darby Plantation and Innoprise Plantation Bhd, we can know that Sime Darbys stock price remained slightly from 2007 to 2014 and had fluctuated from 2015 to 2016. On the other hand, stock price in Innoprise Plantation Bhd has fluctuated from 2007 to 2016. This indicates that both of the companies did not have increase or decrease at the same direction. Hence, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and Innoprise Plantation Bhd have negative covariance. When Sime Darby Plantation Bhd has increased from RM9.35 per share to RM11.60 per share on November 2015, Innoprise Plantation Bhd has decreased from RM1.40824 per share to RM1.3226 per share on November 2015. This shows that both companies had moving in the opposite direction. No. Company Name Data 1 Sime Darby Plantation -0.15067000 2 BLD Plantation 0.95540000 3 Riverview Rubber Estate 0.58830585 4 IJM Plantation 1.00599700 5 Innoprise Plantation BHD 1.70142429 3.4 Beta Beta is commonly defined as a measure of the volatility or the systematic risk of a portfolio or securities comparing with the market as a whole. In other word, beta values are also considering as a tool used to compare each individual stock to the market performance by evaluating the relationship of a stock movement with the market itself. Beta values are one of the several values that investor use to analyse the companys risk profile. Different companies have different beta value due to different industry, different customer or different function. All these may affect the beta values of a company. Company with beta value close to 1 or equal to one are commonly found in the large companies with numerous operating segment. The demand of the product of these companies usually increase and decrease proportional to the aggregate to the economic expansion or contraction. However, companies that are related to pharmaceutical or healthcare usually have beta value less than 1. The demand of suck companys products is inelastic. This causes people hard to stop buying them or find a substitute for such product. This makes the company always have a steadily earnings and lead to low volatility in stock price. Companies with beta value have the highest volatility in stock price. These companies tend to react better than the market or worse than the market. We can take companies in cyclical industries such as airline company as an example with high beta values. When the economy contract or slow down, people will have no money to demand for travel and stock price will decrease dramatically, an d vice versa. This result in higher volatile earnings and the movement of share price. According to the data above, we can say that the beta is categorized in three groups which are higher than 1, between 0 and 1, and below 0. Beta is known as a measurement of a stocks volatility in relation to the market. There are two company that come with beta higher than 1 which are the IJM Plantation and Innoprise Plantation BHD. Innoprise Plantation has the highest beta value which is 1.70 follow by IJM Plantation with beta value of 1.006. Based on this value, we can say that Innoprise Plantation BHD stock is theoretically 70.14% more volatile than the market and IJM Plantation stocks is 0.6% more volatile than the market. This indicate that when there is a 10% increase in the stock market, stocks price for Innoprise Plantation BHD will increase by approximately 17% and also approximately 10.06% for IJM Plantation. This concept applies to the condition when market goes down too. These two company with beta value higher than 1 tends to perform better than the market when the mark et goes up and when the market slow down, the company will perform even worse compare to the market. With the beta value between 0 and 1 is BLD Plantation and Riverview Rubber Estate. Beta value for BLD plantation is 0.96 and 0.59 for Riverview Rubber Estate. These two companies are the companies with volatilities lower than the market, which means that BLD Plantation and Riverview Rubber Estate are theoretically less volatile than the market. If the market increase by 10%, BLD Plantation stocks price will increase only 9.6% and for Riverview Rubber Estate, the stock price will only increase by 5.9%. This also means that the company have a steadily earnings stream and lower volatility of the stock. The last company is the Sime Darby Plantation with a beta value lower than 0 which is a negative beta value. The beta value for Sime Darby Plantation is -0.15. A negative beta correlation indicates that the stock price will go in the opposite direction with the market situation. When the market rise about 10%, the stock price for Sime Darby will decrease about 1.5%, and vice versa. Conservative or safe playing investor will consider about BLD Plantation and Riverview Rubber Estate as the lower betas limit the volatility. Beta value of companies are one of the important element in the formula of capital asset pricing model which is known as CAPM. As how much diversify our investment is, there will be still some risk within it. So, as an investor, they claim that by taking the risk there must deserve a rate of return. By using CAPM, we can calculate the investment risk and what rate of return are we expecting from the investment. 3.5 Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is a model that describes the relationship between systematic risk and expected return for assets, particularly stocks. (Investopedia, 2017) CAPM is used to calculate the required rate of return for any risky assets. Required rate of return is a rate of total return needed to be compensated for the risk taken which is made up of a risk-free rate and risk premium. (Finance, 2009) The required rate of return is also an increase in value that should be expect to see based on the risk level of the assets. (InvestingAnswer, 2017) CAPM is an idealized portrayal of how financial markets fix the price of the securities and determine expected returns on capital investments. By using CAPM, it provides a methodology for quantifying risk and translating the risk into the estimated of expected return on equity. (David W.Muslim,Jr, 1982). The model says that the only reason that an investor should earn more on average by investing in one stock rather than another stock is that the stock is riskier. By the CAPM calculation, we can know that the required rate of return among these five companies is 0.0235305. We have use the beta information to calculate the required rate of return. The weight of these five companies are the same which are 0.1. According the CAPM, the beta is the only relevant measurement of a stocks risk. By knowing the beta, then we can get the required rate of return. In this case, required rate of return which is 2.35% is greater than risk-free which is 2.33% that stated. Hence, we should not invest in this portfolio. This is because we need to have higher rate to get back the return. To conclude all the information and analysis, the highest expected return among the few companies from 2007 to 2016 is Innoprise Plantation Bhd and the lowest expected return among few companies from 2007 to 2016 is Sime Darby Plantation. With the higher expected return, higher risk, the higher the volatility and return potential. Means Innoprise Plantation Bhd has the highest risk and highest volatility and return potential and Sime Darby Plantation has the lowest risk and lowest volatility and return potential. The highest Standard deviation among the few companies from 2007 to 2016 is BLD Plantation and the lowest standard deviation is IJM Plantation. The higher standard deviation means that the investment will differ a lot from the average return. Which means the BLD Plantation can provide higher return but the level of variation and risk is higher compare to other 4 companies. The IJM Plantation has lowest standard deviation means the company generating lower return but the level of variation and risk is lower to prevent too much loss. The highest covariance from 2007 to 2016 among these few companies is BLD Plantation Bhd versus Innoprise Plantation Bhd. On the other hand, the lowest covariance from 2007 to 2016 among these few companies is Sime Darby Plantation Bhd versus Innoprise Plantation Bhd. . A large covariance indicates that a strong relationship between variables while a weak covariance indicates that a strong relationship between variables in a different data set with different scales. Beta values are considering as a tool used to compare each individual stock to the market performance by evaluating the relationship of a stock movement with the market itself. Beta values are one of the several values that investor use to analyse the companys risk profile. The beta value can be categorized into three group, higher than 1, between 0 and 1, and less than 1. There are two company that come with beta higher than 1 which are the IJM Plantation and Innoprise Plantation BHD. Innoprise Plantation has the highest beta value which is 1.70 follow by IJM Plantation with beta value of 1.0. With the beta value between 0 and 1 is BLD Plantation and Riverview Rubber Estate. Beta value for BLD plantation is 0.96 and 0.59 for Riverview Rubber Estate The last company is the Sime Darby Plantation with a beta value lower than 0 which is a negative beta value and the beta value is -0.15. Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is a model that describes the relationship between systematic risk and expected return for assets, particularly stocks. By using the CAPM calculation, we can know that the required rate of return among these five companies is 0.0235305. Based on the evaluation of each company from (c), the lowest expected rate of return was Sime Darby Plantation, given by 0.00221000. The highest expected rate of return was Innoprise Plantation BHD, 0.01047740. The average expected rate of return of these five companies was 0.00662673 whereas the required rate of return was 0.0235305. For a good investment, the expected rate of return has to be higher than the required rate of return. To improve the situation, there are a few strategies taken by each of the companies to drive their operational efficiency, seek out investment while maintaining their capital discipline. Sime Darby Plantation planned to extend sustainable supply chain to include small producers since year 2016. Under the partnership, the supply of small producers will be secured. Sime Darby Plantation collaborate with Wild Asia to assist the rest of the small producers to achieve RSPO certification. As one of the worlds largest plantation company, Sime Darby manufactures, sales and marketing activities of oils and fats products, oleochemicals, palm oil-based biodiesel and other palm oil derivatives (Sime Darby News, 2016). The variety involvement of Sime Darby Plantation helps to improve the companys performance whether in short-term or long-term. Besides that, BLD Plantation had entered into a share sale agreement in year 2016 to acquire the entire 1.1 million shares of RM 1.00 each in the share capital of Pekan for RM 155.22 million. Since the agreement, BLD Plantation has conducted due diligence and it is still

Wind - A Renewable Energy Source Essay example -- Alternative Energy R

Wind - A Renewable Energy Source Wind is called a renewable energy source because wind will continually be produced as long as the sun shines on the earth. The sun’s contribution to wind energy deals with converting air into heat or cool wind. Wind is produced by the irregular heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. On land, the warm air spreads and goes up in the sky, in the water, heavier and cooler air moves in to take the warm air’s place, thus providing local winds. This power source should be used more often in the United States for its safer standards regarding the environment and finance. To capture this wind, turbines are used to convert the renewable resource into electricity. The energy in motion or kinetic energy is then mechanically processed. Windmills are used in the United States amongst other countries in the world. They are used to heat water, refrigerate produce, dry crops, irrigate crops, heat buildings, and charge batteries for tractors on farms, etc. Most of today's windmills extract about 30 % of the wind's energy (www.earthsci.org). Windmills are just as efficient as coal; the difference between them is that air is less polluting than coal. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a 100 percent efficient power source. â€Å"For a completely efficient source of energy, the power plants have to run all day and all year without interruption† (www.eia.doe.gov). To do the fact that in order to convert electricity, windmills depend ...

How do composers use distinctively visual techniques Essay

How do composers use distinctively visual techniques to shape our interpretations of the world? Composers use distinctively visual techniques to shape the audiences interpretations of the world. John Misto’s play ‘The Shoe-horn Sonata and the RTA advertisement ‘Notes’ uses distinctively visual techniques such as dialogue, photographic images, and music to effectively shape the audiences interpretations of the world. Firstly Misto uses dialogue as a distinctively visual technique in his play ‘The Shoe Horn Sonata to shape the audiences interpretations of the world. Misto uses juxtaposition as the dialogue consists of both private and public conversations which create powerful links between the two characters. The first scene shows Bridie re-enacting the kowtow, a tribute to the emperor of Japan. This kowtow was done when a Japanese guard would cry out ‘Keirei’. Stage directions allow the readers to visualise exactly how the composer wants i t to be performed. The audience is able relate in some way and feels engaged with Bridie at this point. Misto then uses photographic images, projected on a screen behind Bridie to support the dialogue. These images consist of several 1940 posters for the womens army, as well as photographs of the Australian army nurses disembarking in Singapore. Not even halfway through scene 1 the use of dialogue and photographic images have raised a concern to the audience of the pain and suffering that many women endured at the hands of the Japanese, yet their stories were not widely known. This has shaped their interpretations of war vastly, as there is much more horror, truth and death involved then just men on the front line. In the RTA advertisement ‘Notes’ the use of no dialogue is so the importance of photographic images is essential for conveying the point of view of the advertisement, which is ‘slow down’. The photographic images show the last message left by each young person and the rush they are in. The images are shown in a slow motion effect which gives the audience time think of the situations and then evokes an emotional response. The images show the surroundings of where how the message was left, this shows that these people come from all different family backgrounds and have a relationship with members of their family. Therefore we realize that these rushing deaths can happen to anyone, regardless of who you are. This shapes the viewer’s interpretation of the world showing that rushing is not worth the consequences of speeding and therefore reinforces the importance of slowing  down. Lastly in ‘Shoe Horn Sonata’ Misto uses music from the period to go with images projected. The use of music adds emotion to the play and It places the audience in the historical context and in some parts it suggests the irony of the situations the women went through. An example is when Bridie criticises the British, the song ‘Rule Britannia’ is played. This song is very patriotic and helps us understand the irony of the situation. The use of music creates emotion within the audience helps shape their interpretation of war, as there is much more horror, truth and death involved then just men on the front line. In the RTA advertisement ‘Notes’ the slow solemn music is used to arouse emotion within the audience. This shapes the audiences interpretations of the world because the slow musical beat actually relaxes the audience therefore causing them to slow down and think about the consequences of speeding and the importance of not rushing. John Misto’s play ‘The Shoe-horn Sonata and the RTA advertisement ‘Notes’ uses distinctively visual techniques to effectively shape the audiences interpretations of the world. This is done brilliantly by an impressive use of dialogue, photographic images, and musi c.