Kimpton Hotels Earthcare Program Essay

What are the benefits of Kimpton’s environmental sustainability initiatives? What are its costs? The benefit of the program is to put back into the earth what is being taken out. Many companies who support Eco friendly establishments will book specifically with the Kimpton hotel in support of their EarthCare program. The costs are greater for not putting back into the environment what is taken out. In the long run being non eco friendly will cost Kimpton hotels more than what they spend on the initiative. How would you justify the EarthCare program to Kimpton’s board of directors and stockholders? That is, what is the business case for the program? The business case for the stockholders would be increased bookings from corporations and individuals that support the EarthCare program. By Kimpton hotels implementing an aggressive eco friendly plan, their hotels will stand out from the rest and be well known for their commitment to put back into the earth what they take. What challenges face the EarthCare program, and how might Kimpton overcome them? A couple of challenges that they face is the increased cost for some of the raw materials, such as sheets. A way to overcome that is to have aggressive buyers that work diligently to get the cost down by bulk buying for all of the hotels and then distributing from one central hub. The second challenge would be the employee’s acceptance to the program. This can be overcome simply by getting all employee’s involved in the initiative and keeping the line of communication open so that every stays informed and feels part of the decision process. What further steps should Kimpton take to institutionalize its environmental commitments? Kimpton should show their commitment by becoming ISO 14000 certified. This would show their commitment to customers, investors, shareholders and stakeholders.

Investigating the effect of different liquid densities on the time taken to release 25 ml of alcohols Essay

* Research question: * Does the change in liquid densities at the same temperature affect the time taken to release 25 ml of the alcohol from a 50 ml burette? * Variables: * Independent variable: The liquid density / g ml-1. * Dependent variable: The time taken to release 25 ml of the alcohol from a burette / s. * Controlled variables: * The volume of alcohol in a burette / ml. * The temperature of the alcohols / oC. * The absence of unnecessary substances or ions. * The same burette for the entire experiment. * Prediction: * The time taken to release 25 ml of the alcohol from a 50 ml burette is, stated by F. Weinberg (1984) [1], dependent on flow velocity and in particular are very sensitive to small changes in the density difference between the two liquids. * My prediction is, the higher the liquid density is, the more time taken for 25 ml of the alcohol to be released from the burette. The time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol increases in order: Methanol, Ethanol, Propan-1-ol, Butan-1-ol and Octan-1-ol. * Method: * Apparatus: * 50 ml burette (Uncertainty: à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.500 ml). * Retort stand. * 125 ml ethanol C2H5OH 95.0%. * 125 ml methanol CH3OH 99.5%. * 125 ml propan-1-ol CH3(CH2)2OH 98%. * 125 ml butan-1-ol CH3(CH2)3OH 99%. * 125 ml octan-1-ol CH3(CH2)7OH 94%. * Thermometer (Uncertainty: à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0500 oC). * 5 x funnels. * 50 ml conical flask. * Casio stop watch (Uncertainty: à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 seconds). * Distilled water. * Risk assessment: * The procedure uses poisonous alcohols. Notably, suggested by Department of Chemistry – Imperial College London (2006) [2], less than 2 teaspoons (2 ml) of methanol can cause blindness, and 2 table spoons (30 ml) can cause death. This toxicity is mainly due to it being converted in the body to formic acid and formaldehyde, which first attack the cells in the retina, then the other vital organs. Plus, propan-1-ol is used as a common solvent and cleaning agent in chemistry laboratories. Also, because it evaporates rapidly, IPA is widely used in astringents to cool the skin and constrict surface blood vessels. * Goggles and lab coat are therefore needed to be worn throughout the experiment. * Procedures: 1. Close the tap and run some distilled water into the top of the burette, then swish the burette up and down to let the water clean all the inside of the burette. Open the tap, let the water drain out. 2. Attach the burette to the retort stand and take care that the burette is upright and stable. 3. Close the tap and use the funnel to put 25 ml of ethanol into the burette. 4. Remove the funnel, make sure that there is no air bubble inside the burette. Measure the temperature of ethanol by the thermometer. 5. Put the conical flask under the burette, adjust the height of the burette so that the tip of the burette is just above the lip of the conical flask. 6. Open the tap and immediately start the stop watch. 7. Stop the watch when 25 ml of ethanol is fully released from the burette. 8. Continue to open the tap and collect the remained ethanol in the burette. 9. Repeat step 1 to 8 four more times. 10. Then change ethanol with methanol, propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol and octan-1-ol. Experiment step 1 – 9 with each alcohol. * Range and repetitions of experiment: * There are 5 different ranges (The lowest value: 0.789 g ml-1 & the highest value: 0.826 g ml-1, Please refer to Data Collection and Processing -> Processed data). * The initial procedure is repeated 5 times and thus 25 results are recorded. * Control of variables: * The volume of each alcohol sample remains constant for every test at 25 ml. Different volumes of the alcohol sample may cause inaccuracies in terms of measuring the time taken to release. For instance, larger volume of the same alcohol sample certainly takes longer time to be released. * The temperature of each alcohol sample need to remain constant for every test at 20 oC (293 K). The analysis, written by Weirauch, D. A., Jr. (1998, December) [3], of the high-temperature spreading kinetics for liquids affecting density shows that they can be modified with a constant shift factor. Therefore, higher temperature of the same alcohol sample may reduce the time taken for the alcohol to be released. * The burettes and funnels are rinsed carefully with distilled water prior to the experiment to ensure that inside the burettes do not contain any unnecessary substances/ions. If present, they may react with the alcohols to form products which have different liquid density, as opposed to original liquid densities of the alcohols at 20 oC (293 K). * The same burette is used for every measurement. This is because burettes from the same manufacturer cannot be guaranteed to have the same radius of the tips (possessing relatively small values). The use of different burettes can result differences in the time taken for the alcohol to be released. DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING * Raw data table: Alcohols Dependent & independent variables Ethanol Methanol Propan-1-ol Butan-1-ol Octan-1-ol Liquid density / g ml-1 at 20 oC (293 K) [4] 0.789 0.791 0.804 0.810 0.826 1st repetition: Time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette / seconds à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 39.0 43.0 67.0 82.0 112 2nd repetition: Time taken / seconds à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 41.0 44.0 69.0 81.0 115 3rd repetition: Time taken / seconds à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 38.0 46.0 70.0 83.0 111 4th repetition: Time taken / seconds à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 39.0 42.0 71.0 80.0 114 5th repetition: Time taken / seconds à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 40.0 45.0 70.0 79.0 110. Table 2.1 shows the collected raw data table. * Processed data: * Calculating the mean time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette: * Mean time taken / s = (1st + 2nd + 3rd + 4th + 5th trial data) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 5. Alcohols Dependent & independent variables Ethanol Methanol Propan-1-ol Butan-1-ol Octan-1-ol Liquid density / g ml-1 at 20 oC (293K). 0.789 0.791 0.804 0.810 0.826 The mean time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette / à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ 0.0100 seconds 39.4 44.0 69.4 81.0 112 Table 2.2 shows the processed mean time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette. * Presentation of processed data: Graph 2.1 shows the relationship between the liquid density and the mean time taken to release 25 ml of each alcohol from a burette. * Treatment of uncertainties: * I try to read off carefully volume of the burette from the bottom of the meniscus with my eye level at the meniscus in order to make sure that the volume of each alcohol sample used is only 25 ml. CONCLUSION AND EVALUATION * Graph analysis: * According to the presented graph of the mean time taken to release 25 ml of different alcohols, there is a very strong positive correlation between the liquid density and the mean time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette as a very good line of best fit can be observed. (Please refer to Data Collection and Processing -> Presentation of processed data -> Image 2.1). * Conclusion: * The results demonstrate that, the higher the liquid density is, the longer time taken for 25 ml of the alcohol to be released from the burette. * The conclusion totally agrees with my hypothesis. * Evaluation of procedures: * Strengths: * Safety in the laboratory is highly maintained (by wearing goggles, lab coat and being careful with glass apparatus to avoid any poisonous alcohols that may splash). * Standard ranges and repetitions are met, a very strong positive correlation between the liquid density and the mean time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette is observed. * Quantitative investigation, with repeats strongly supporting each other, successfully proves that the expectations based on scientific knowledge are totally correct. * Weaknesses: * Several inevitable uncertainties occur throughout the whole experiment which may account for inaccuracies in the collected data. * The concentrations of the alcohols vary from 94.0 % to 99.5 %. The differences in concentration of each alcohol affect the reliability of the data, since 25 ml of pure alcohols (or 5 alcohols with the same concentration) may take different time to be released from the burette. * Although there is a very strong positive correlation between the liquid density and the mean time taken to release 25 ml of alcohol from a burette, the independent variables (liquid density) do not increase constantly due to the limited number of available alcohols (Please refer to Data Collection and Processing -> Presentation of processed data -> Image 2.1). * The entire procedures, although are simple, take a long time to finish because of the 50 ml burette need to take at least 3 times to add 5 alcohol samples (5 repetitions for each alcohol), 25 ml each. Overall there are 15 times to add 25 alcohol samples since I decide to investigate 5 different alcohols. The more time I need to add more alcohols into the burette, the more likely inaccuracies to occur. * Improving the investigation: * The procedures can be partially replaced by computer data logging suggested by Laurence Rogers (1995) [5] to prevent uncertainties from human errors when stopping the watch. The experiment can be programmed to collect the data (Time taken for 25 ml of the alcohol to be released from the burette) automatically. * More alcohols with liquid densities within the ranges (The lowest value: 0.789 g ml-1 & the highest value: 0.826 g ml-1) can be tested to fill the 2 gaps between methanol and propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol and octan-1-ol in the presented graph. For instance, penta-1-ol has the liquid density of 0.815 g ml-1 at 20 oC (293 K) [6]. * Pure alcohols should be bought in the same concentration to ensure the reliability of the collected data. Otherwise, diluting the alcohols to the same concentration can be less expensive, yet time consuming. * A larger burette, for instance, with measuring volume of 75 ml (only 2 times to add 5 alcohol samples, 25 ml each) will reduce the times need to pour more alcohols into the burette to 10. Not only this change in equipment may save time of experimenting, but also minimise the uncertainties. Bibliography [1] Weinberg, F. (1984, December). Fluid flow from a low to a higher density liquid. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, 15(4), 681. Abstract retrieved March 8, 2009, from Springer Link. Web site: http://www.springerlink.com/content/n84726w432072592/ [2] Department of Chemistry. (2006, August 25). Biological effects of Methanol and Larger Alcohols. In Ethanol. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from Imperial College London. Web site: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/mim/environmental/html/ethanol_text.htm [3] Weirauch, D. A., Jr. (1998, December). Predicting the spreading kinetics of high-temperature liquids on solid surfaces (Vol. 12). Alcoa Technical Center. Retrieved March 8, 2009. doi:10.1557/JMR.1998.0478 [4] Process Calculator. (2009). SG. In Liquid Density. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from Radix Business Models Pvt Ltd. Web site: http://www.processcalculator.com/Liquid_Density.aspx [5] Rogers, L. (1995, May). Sensors and The Data-Logger. In Hardware and software. Retrieved March 9, 2009, from School of Education, University of Leicester Web site: http://www.le.ac.uk/se/lto/logging/test1.html [6] Process Calculator. (2009). SG. In Liquid Density. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from Radix Business Models Pvt Ltd. Web site: http://www.processcalculator.com/Liquid_Density.aspx

Morality and Happiness Essay

Morality has been a term of debate for several years by intellectuals who have not come to the final conclusion of its definition. According to Damon (5), morality is an existing, multifaceted construct that may not be pinned down by any single definitional criteria which is flexible. The moral character has long been associated with happiness which is that state of having achieved one’s desires although there are some disconnections. Several theories have been forwarded in connection to morality and happiness as far as the society is concerned. In this argumentative paper we shall give detailed analysis of morality and happiness and whether or not moral character is a requirement to happiness. Morality and Happiness The concept of morality utilizes the individual’s evaluation of events and actions to separate the good from bad and stipulates behavior consistent with the good. This means that there are socially accepted societal values that are promoted by morality. In addition, morality includes the welfare of others beyond our own selfish desires and responsibility to express the same through caring, kindness and mercy. The morality will also include commitment to honest while dealing with all people coupled with concern for their rights and ensuring justice and fair treatment. The more important fact about morality is that it provokes the emotional responses such as guilty, fear and contempt whenever one goes against the good morals (Damon 5). On the other hand happiness has been described by Kant to mean a constant well-being, enjoyment of life, total fulfillment with one’s condition. The happiness is further extended to include the riches, honor, power, good health coupled with satisfaction. Thus it is notes that happiness is a representation of preservation and welfare which is the total satisfaction of all personal needs and preferences. It is important to realize that happiness is not pleasure but rather it is simply obtaining what you want in life. Therefore happiness is achieved with the fulfillment of any desire of an individual irrespective of its nature (Hughes 61 & 62). We shall base the following arguments on these definitions of happiness and morality. Moral Behavior is a Requirement to Happiness To begin with, the society has closely connected good moral behavior to happiness. This is evidenced by the fact that philosophers, parents and teachers are encouraging good character with the belief that those individuals who are decent live better and happy lives as compared to those behaving badly (Delattre 136 & 137). With their encouragement, the society has been made to belief that a good moral behavior is a requirement to happiness. The children who are growing are being trained that they will be happy if they observe a good moral character. These teachings have been able to convince the society that for an individual to be happy they have to be morally upright. The other fact is that character faults do not make an individual happy. This is because the morally corrupt individual cannot be trusted even by close friends and relatives. They will constantly live in fear of the people that they have wronged. This means that they cannot be happy leaving only the morally upright to be happy. Thus we can arrive at the fact that good moral character is a requirement to happiness since the reverse is not true. This fact is that decent people are happier than unjust individuals (Delattre 137). Moreover, the process of seeking happiness is not immediate and it requires patients and sufficient skills. The Novelist Robertson Davies compared happiness to a cat where if you chase it run away but if you go about your business without disturbing its peace then it will warm up to you and be your friend. Therefore equally happiness cannot be achieved by aggressive actions but rather small random morally upright actions. Thus paying attention to little actions at work and private life will allow happiness to come to you. In the event that you aggressively use any means including immoral behavior to gain happiness then it could elude you. An example is if we go out to have fun with friends we will end up being happy in the long term (Delattre 137). Thus it becomes a requirement that good moral character be observed always in order to gain a long-term happiness without any struggle. Moreover, the morality, good character and happiness cannot be separated from one another. This is because to a huge extent we tend to offer as the best individuals to our families, friend and colleagues who are the source of our happiness. Therefore there is an understanding that we can enjoy their company when we offer our best morals and support. With this understanding, we realize that a good moral character is a requirement to true happiness irrespective of the people we are dealing with. This understanding enables individuals to realize and prevent any moral deviation so as to maintain happiness with all persons (Delattre 137). According to the philosophy of happiness (14, 15, 16 & 17), Aristotle stated the factors that make happiness as good health, money, relationships and good moral behavior. Aristotle pointed out that happiness was the ultimate desire for human being leaving nothing more to be desired. The happiness is sought for its own sake unlike other things which are sought in order to achieve happiness. Aristotle understood that for an individual to be happy one must be of good morals and can suffer to achieve the greater happiness later in the long run. Many individuals believe that happiness is different to each person but Aristotle thinks that there is only a single genuine notion and that it is similar for all human beings. Therefore power does not contribute to happiness since it would exclude some people from being happy whenever they are subjects of power. Thus history and written articles including Aristotle’s have made individuals to believe that the requirement to happiness is a good moral behavior. Moral Behavior is not a Requirement to Happiness On the other hand, it is not a requirement that for one to gain moral happiness they should be able to be morally upright. There are those people who belief that any happiness cannot be achieved by doing the right. They believe that only wrong actions will put them in a position to be happy because their wishes and desires are not limited by moral standing. These individuals believe that by doing the wrong actions they could benefit from their profits which in turn would make them happy. One example is that of buddy boys who deal with drugs which are harmful in the society yet they claim that the money gained from the immoral trading will make them happy (Delattre 137). Therefore we cannot generalize that happiness is achieved out of moral behavior because others have achieved through illegal and wrong actions. Although they feel guilty about their wrongdoings, they tend to concentrate on the pleasure part of their actions which is money for entertainment. The other fact is that of duty where an individual work is in a risk environment. For example a police officer would be doing the moral right to secure citizens. However, they may get killed by the thugs who do not care of their lives but rather their benefits of terrorizing the citizens. This means that even though the police officer was actively doing the right duties under good morals, they end up being killed and as such do not become happy but their families end up unhappy. Thus we can say that happiness does not require a good moral behavior because this example shows that even good actions of duty do not guarantee happiness. Another example is where an officer reports a corrupt colleague in the spirit of doing good morals but ends up being segregated and becomes continuously unhappy (Delattre 137). According to Hughes (64), Kant says that it is not true that doing the right thing leads to happiness in all circumstances as states by the doctrine of happiness. In fact he goes on to explain that morality could often hinder the achievement of one’s desires if they are considered immoral. Thus we cannot generalize that moral behavior is a requirement to happiness. Moreover, Kant continues to say that the process of making somebody happy has nothing to do with moral behavior of that person. This means that it is possible that many people are able to fulfill their desires and become happy without necessarily being moral. In any case somebody could be morally good but fail to be happy in life giving justification to the actions of those people who want happiness at the expense of morality. Moreover, the principle of happiness bases morality as an incentive to happiness which in itself is not moral. This means people will seek to be moral for the sake of happiness and not for the sake of morality (Delattre 137). Therefore if the morality is just an incentive to happiness, it means that others may achieve happiness without the use of incentive. Thus we can conclude that morality is not a requirement to happiness. After a serious consideration, I agree to the fact that morality is a requirement to genuine happiness. This is because individuals just want to be happy and could do anything to achieve desired happiness including good morals. By being genuinely happy, individuals do not have that sense of having done wrong to achieve their happiness and will live with sufficient peace of mind. If a situation where the whole society must practice morality then it would allow everyone the non-competitive search for happiness and the entire society will be happy in the long run.

2 Questions about The Road Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

2 Questions about The Road - Essay Example The sun is permanently hidden behind the clouds, as are the moon and stars. Everything, everywhere has been burned, turning the world into black and grey underneath a ‘sullen’ light that casts only feeble shadows at its peak. There are no animals, no plants and very few people. What life does survive is scarce and desperate, willing to commit atrocities upon one another for the simple necessity of food or clean water. â€Å"The world shrinking down about a raw core of parsible entities. The names of things slowly following those things into oblivion. Colors. The names of birds. Things to eat. Finally the names of things one believed to be true. More fragile than he would have thought† (McCarthy 75). The bond between the father and son is thus predicated on surviving in this very harsh environment where all they have is each other and the knowledge still stored in the father’s mind from the time before the disaster. The man is forced to adapt to an entirely foreign world despite all his conceptions of a better place while his son is enlightened by his father’s confusion. The man’s reluctance to accept the reality before him forces him to feel pity for the young son. This is obvious in the touching scene when he finds the can of Coke. â€Å"[H]e put his thumbnail under the aluminum clip on the top of the can and opened it. He leaned his nose to the slight fizz coming from the can and then handed it to the boy. †¦ You drink it †¦ It’s because I won’t ever get to drink another one, isn’t it?† (McCarthy 20). As the man comes to realize, the world he remembers will never be anything more than a fantasy world to his son, a place of unrealizable possibilities for which the son must ultimately pity the father for having lost. Although the man and the boy consider themselves the good guys, defenders of the old knowledge and the bonds of enlightenment, there are also

Discuss the ethical issues related to information technology Essay - 1

Discuss the ethical issues related to information technology - Essay Example As such, IT has received high acceptance with each organization focusing on incorporation and further development of IT to attain even greater outcome. However, amid the relatively numerous benefits accompanying IT, there has emerged a number of challenges associated with use of IT hence raising concerns. Major concerns of IT are however connected to ethical issues such as security, privacy, and copyright infringement among others. Massive use and incorporation of IT in organizations has sparked concerns relating to the levels of security. Security concerns mainly target protection of organizations’ resources such as data from access by unauthorized people. The recent years have seen increased IT related crimes to the extent total data loss or manipulation thereby tarnishing the corporate image (Chon and Scannell, 2015). Security flaws have further been increased by efforts to control and get hold of encrypted information. For example, just recently America’s National Security Agency (NSA) introduced flaws to enable access to encrypted traffic (The Economist, 2013) thereby increasing security challenges in IT further. Additionally, due to increased competition levels security is a major concern due to access of organizational secrets such as production blue prints by unauthorized persons. Nonetheless, security challenges mainly affect firms whose systems have internet connections. This is because the internet exposes IT systems to a large pool of persons some with ulterior motives. Other security challenges highly reported computer crimes include embezzlement, financial fraud, and online harassment. Considering the numerous number of security concerns raised, it is evident that security is a major ethical issue in the use of IT. Additionally, increased use of IT has raised some privacy issue with major the major line of argument touching on use of the internet and cookies. Basically, cookies are relatively small data pieces running from

Consumer Buyer Behaviour and Organisational Buyer Behaviour Essay

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Quality Management in the Hotel Escargo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Quality Management in the Hotel Escargo - Essay Example The essay "Quality Management in the Hotel Escargo" talks about the management strategy of the Hotel Escargo and how the hotel manages with prevention and appraisal costs. The writer argues that prevention costs should be ranked first before appraisal costs. This statement is true because business enterprises are required to first institute mechanisms to keep defects from occurring during the production process. Appraisal costs will arise when striving to detect defects through inspections, tests, and audits. I agree with the fact that most companies allow 10-15 percent to the prevent costs in typical situations; however, prevention costs should be maintained above 70 percent of total costs of quality. Olson argues that the in the ideal situation, the proportion of prevention is highest among the total costs of quality. Prevention costs that the management need to consider include quality planning, check-in and check-out system development and management, workforce training and employee development. Appraisal costs relevant to Hotel Escargo include room cleaning and inspection expenses, administering customer feedback survey, and room service audits. I agree with the writer of the assessment appraisal costs should be ranked second after prevention costs. The problem statement clarifies that there are aspects in check-in and check-out systems that need to undergo improvement. The management intends to develop a new process that is characterized by efficient and convenient in serving customers.

Economic (OPEC Research Project) Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Contractual terms and conditions Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Contractual terms and conditions - Case Study Example There existed a breach of this legal duty and that he sustained personal or property injury ( Rush & Ottley, 2006, p. 79). The standard of care determines whether an individual is guilty or not guilty of negligence. However, the degree of care varies according to a case. According to the case of Thorton v Shoe Lane Parking (1971) relates to the above case. Despite the numeral notices around the premises where the plaintiff was parking his car, held that the defendant was guilty. Even though the plaintiff contributed partly to the happening of the accident he relied on the exemption clause that he was not aware of the notices put by the defendant. Thus, the plaintiff should be paid damages as he suffers personal injury. The defendant contributed to the negligence by breaching the duty of care ( Rush & Ottley, 2006, p. 80). In addition, following the case of Interfoto Picture Library Limited v Steletto Visual Programmes Limited (1988), the court held that nothing had been done to attra ct attention of third party. Therefore, the company ought to have extended its responsibility by creating notices in strategic places and clearly pointing out of the underlying risks if any. Through this, firm will be able to avoid liabilities should an accident occur ( Rush & Ottley, 2006, p. 80). ... The effect of breach of contract always gives the plaintiff the right to file a legal suit to claim for damages. For example, in the case of Poussard v Spier the court held that Poussard breached the contract as she was needed to perform from day one. Similarly, in this case the defendant failed to honor his part of the promise causing injuries to the plaintiff. The court will then determine the amount that should be paid to the plaintiff since it is not a liquidated contract. The defendant though not a fault of his own to fail to deliver the machine inflicted injury to the plaintiff making him to loss business (Stone, 2013, p. 254). Very Clean Laundry made their intention to the Commercial Machine Industry stating that it urgently required a new boiler. This could enable it to serve its firm and growing market. Therefore, Commercial Machine Industry had a legal duty to supply the machine within a reasonable time. This did not happen until it was five months later. As a result, the c ompany becomes liable for breach of contract. Very Clean Laundry were justified to request for compensation, and relied on this fact, to go ahead to assume more contracts. As a result, it suffered loss because it could not secure a larger dyeing contract. In addition, the business incurred daily business as customer contract could not be executed. Under the law of contract, it provides that when a person breaches a contract the injured party should seek legal compensation in a court of law (Stone, 2013, p. 256). Reference Stone, R. (2013), The Modern Law of Contract,New York: Routledge. Case Study 3 Under the law of contract, there are two terms that ought to be

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Essay Example for Free

Sarbanes-Oxley Act Essay The Big Apple Strategy, an article by Mortimer Zuckerman, editor-in-chief at U. S News World Report, summarizes the down turn businesses in New York have suffered due to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Since 1950, New York has claimed to be the financial capital of the world; claiming the broadest liquid capital markets and highest concentration of the world’s financial firms. Yet in 2005, only two of the 25 largest international initial public offerings were issued using American capital markets. Mr. Zuckerman posits that this is due to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Sarbanes-Oxley was initially enacted in the wake of the Enron and Tyco scandals to provide investor protection, transparency, and accountability. Unfortunately, in order to comply with the provisions of the Act, companies have doubled budgets for outside audits that the law requires. While large companies are able to absorb increased costs of compliance, small and mid-cap companies have suffered under enormous increased costs. Sarbanes-Oxley has strained the relationship between corporate boards and management with the boards focusing more on compliance than competitive strategies. Class action lawsuits as a result of Sarbanes-Oxley have sky-rocketed with frivolous lawsuits. Mr. Zuckerman posits that the future trend is for companies to either remain private or go back to private status, or move operations overseas away from the American system of regulations. Ticket Master is one such company that has spent millions complying with Sarbanes-Oxley. For example, employees must account for every 15 minutes of their time spent on different work projects in a computerized data-base (Cimino, 2006). This allows Ticket Master to correctly identify for shareholders and board members where costs are being generated to be compliant with Sarbanes-Oxley. This time accounting is time consuming and keeping employees from focusing on projects to further company strategy. While regulation is necessary for sound corporate governance, when the regulations reach a tipping point that drives businesses out of the public sector and into more inviting environments, the United States business community loses. A revised version of Sarbanes-Oxley is needed in order to lower costs for smaller companies in the public markets.

What is the role and impact of trade in developing countries

What is the role and impact of trade in developing countries Subject: How realistic is free trade in the real world? Critically examine the competing perspectives about the role and impact of trade in developing countries. Explain why you might be pessimistic about the prospect for global growth and development in the future?. The history of free trade is a history of international trade focusing on the developments of open markets and it is common to hear that todays world economic system as being free trade or globalization. Theoretical rationalization as to why a policy of free trade would be beneficial to nations developed over time. Free trade agreements are established to enhance free trade of goods and services, in the belief that they will bring beneficial for all parties involves and lead to further economic develop and growth. But in realistic in real world it is not benefits for developing countries. That make many recession and pessimistic for growth of global in the future. Free trade is a system in which goods, capital, and labor move freely between nations, without barriers hinder the trade process. Many countries have free trade agreements, and many international organizations promote free trade between their members. A number of barriers to trade are removed in a free trade agreement (taxes, tariffs, and import quotas, subsidies and other forms of support to domestic producers), restrictions on the flow of currency are also lifted. Put simply, free trade help foreign companies to trade efficiently, easily, and effectively as domestic producers. There are many free trade agreements around the world, some of which have come into being after much controversy, protest and debate such as: WTO- The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. NAFTA -The North American Free Trade Agreement. The goal of NAFTA was to eliminate barriers of trade and investment between the US, Canada and Mexico. APEC- The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries (styled Member Economies) that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region. AFTA- ASEAN Free Trade Area is a trade bloc agreement by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations supporting local manufacturing in all ASEAN countries. CAFTA- The China- Asean Free trade area. Touted as the worlds biggest Free Trade Area. In realistic, free trade between equal partners may be mutual benefits. But between a strong country and weaker or between a developed country and a developing country, the developed country tend to get more benefit as they have the capacity to sell whereas the developing country in unable to make use of the increased market access. This is so even in agriculture, where developing countries have comparative advantage. After the North American free trade agreement (NAFTA) was signed, Mexico increased exports fruits and vegetables by 50% to the US. But Mexico also increased imports tripled for corn and over 500% for soybean, wheat, poultry and beef from the US. It can see that Mexicos agricultural imports increased more than its exports, so 1.7 million rural jobs have been lost. The reason is very simple, after NAFTAs signing, Mexico reduced its tariffs to zero but the US still did not reduced its subsidies and many agriculture product of the US could sell at lower prices than the production cost. Thus the USs agriculture product swamped the Mexico market. Similar, Australia could not get extra sugar quota in free trade agreement with the US (AUSFTA- The Australia- United States free trade agreement). On beef, it only obtained 18.5% increased in its quota, confined to manufacturing grade beef spread over 18 years or extra half a cow/farm/year. And, in free trade agreement with china (CAFTA- China- Asean free trade area), from 2005 to 2008, Indonesia increased imports by over 150% from china and exports to China increased by around 77%. Moreover, the growth of Indonesians exports to China was mainly driven by raw materials, such as mineral fuels and ores, while the growth of Indonesian imports from China was due to increasing Chinese manufactured goods, ranging from electronics/electrical products and iron/steel products to furniture and textile items. Besides, between the developing countries and developed countries, explicit barriers especially Tariffs have come down but countries find other ways to block goods from other countries, if they are trying to protect domestic jobs or something like that. Or if there is some industry group that has political power and can get special protections for their business. Developed nations tend to do this for labor intensive goods which is exactly what many developing nations are trying to export. Recently Vietnam has faced barriers for selling shoes to the EU, and catfish to the United States. Anti-dumping taxes have been imposed by the US Department of Commerce on Vietnamese frozen catfish exports to the US since August 2003. Vietnamese exporters will be charged at the rate of 63,88 per cent on catfish exports to the US. The decision was made on the basis that American catfish producers claim that Tra and Basa fish imported from Viet Nam were being sold below market rates. Vietnam has prove n that it was not dumping catfish, and the tariff will lift for Vietnam on March 21, 2011. But Vietnam has to face with the new tariff for selling shrimp to US until 2016. For developing countries, instability of domestic economy increases from international trade and economies depends on global trade. Economic of America and EU go down, it would be very hard for developing countries to recover. For instance, recession in the USA led to the increase in unemployment in USA and decrease demand for Australian exports, leading to falling export incomes, lower GDP, lower incomes which leads to lower domestic demand and increased unemployment in this country. From the financial crisis in USA in 2008 which was caused by real estate bubble and under-standard lending operation with the consequence of high inflation and unemployment, lower growth. Massive action in money in the US creates pressure on US dollar, this makes US dollar depreciate against other strong currencies (EUR and Yen), which reduces competitiveness of exports of these countries, forcing the government of these countries to depreciate the domestic currencies by expanding money supply. This lea ds the currency war, causing turbulence in the currency markets and international trade, increasing inflation and restricting the consumption, lower production, lower income and decreasing growth rate of the economy, pushing back the process of the global economy recovery. As a result of the financial crisis in 2008 (the credit crunch for poor households and a decline in housing price), unemployment in USA increases strongly (8.9%) and is predicted not to improve in 2011. According to FED, the growth rate of USA is forecast about 3.4%-3.9% while the prediction of unemployment rate is from 8.8%-8.9%. Economists calculate the growth rate gains 5%, which reduces the unemployment by 1%. This means that its difficult for America to reduce the unemployment rate in the near future. This is also the main reason causing personal consumption declined. Consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of the US economy, will be hampered by unemployment when the need to save more. Moreover, deficit sit uation is estimated to gain 1,480 billion USD in 2011, equivalent with 9.8% GDP of this country (Financial Times), the highest deficit level in the history. However, the USA government still has no action to improve this situation but keep easing monetary policy. In Europe, public debt crisis is the most serious problem in these countries. As a result of global financial crisis, nations fell into deficit state due to borrowing to cover for their spending so much. But the main cause is still the excessive spending and inappropriate financial policies that lead to this situation. Firstly is the rescued package of IMF and EU of 110 billion EUR to save Greece from default threat, next is 85 billion EUR for Ireland and accompanied with tight monetary policy as increasing tax which Ireland has advantage to gain strong growth over past years, reducing spending and saving 15 billion EUR in 4 years to lessen the budget deficit rate from 32% to 3% with GDP. This threat of public debt crisis c an spread Spanish, Portugal and even Italy. Unemployment increases highly in these countries. But one question is raised that when rescued packages expire, whether the effort of IMF, EU and the government can prevent default of many nations and banks. With the total public debt can increase about 100% in the early of year 2014 in Europe, economic growth only gained 2% in 2010 and 1.5% in 2011 and unemployment rate can rise up to 8.3% (Vietnam Plus). The ability of collapse of common currency in this area may occur if this state is not improved. With the approximate rate of 20% global GDP from now to 2014, EU plays an important role in the world, if there is any breakdown in EU, it will be a detrimental consequence for global economy. In Asia, excessive growth in China leads to strong increase of inflation with predicted CPI is 10% and inflation rate is 5% in 2011 (Chinese Statistic Department). Real estate market developed excessively, landing price went up strongly, the landing pri ce in some places increased more than 20 times, even 100 times from the original price. Furthermore, the ease of fiscal and monetary policy with excess in issuing money leads to depreciation and high inflation, which raises the primary commodity price. Not for China, inflation tends to increase in other Asian countries. In the next year, to prevent inflation, the governments need to have tight monetary policies. If the money supply is tightened so much, it can lead to slow growth. But if keeping ease monetary policy, it can cause more inflation and leads the economy to overheat growth. One problem in developing countries is that fluctuations in the currency market is also creating macroeconomic instability threat even more detrimental to recovery process global economy So it is easy to see that economics of some developing countries may fall into recession and growth of developing countries will slow in 2011 and in the next few years. And the growth of global economy will growth very slow, according to World Bank predicts growth of global economy is at 3.3% in 2011 and 3.6% in 2012. Moreover, the recent Japans disasters (Earthquake and Tsunami) cause a big loss for the world economy in the short term. Japan is the place attracting the majority of FDI to some regions in Asia. Japan is the most important trade partner in Asia. Therefore, trade between Japan and other countries in the region will decrease strongly in the short term, accompanying with high inflation, the growth rate of Asia will slow down. Moreover, the economy of America will also be affected by Japans disaster. Export occupies by 10% GDP of America in which exports to Japan occupy by 5%, so this detriment on the USA economy is not small (Info TV). This calamity also affects the count ries which have big export turnover to Japanese market. One threat of the global inflation is that the increased oil price due to instability of Middle East and Africa, anxious psychology of violent prospect spreading out everywhere, the oil supply cant meet the recovery of the world economy, big demand of imported fuel of China and India (CNN, Foxnews). Economists worry about the possibility of the oil price increasing in some years, which causes a big pressure of increased price for most commodities in the world, decreasing the global growth, increasing inflation. That is reason why might be pessimistic about the prospects for growth and development in the future.

Terrorism Prevention Program for Homeland Security

Terrorism Prevention Program for Homeland Security Jacob Malone The Department of Homeland Securitys vision is a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards, where American interests, aspirations, and way of life can thrive. In order to accomplish this, according to Chip Fulghum (2016), DHS employs over 225,000 people in jobs from border security to cybersecurity analysis and must work together to combat a wide range of threats. With a wide array of job duties it is clear that their main goal is to keep America safe. According to Roger Kemp (2012), The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formally came into being as a standalone, Gabinet-level, department to further coordinate the unify national homeland security efforts, opening its doors on March 1,2003 (p. 28). DHS primary mission is to prevent terrorism and enhance security. Stopping and preventing terrorism is the keystone of DHS. The threat of terrorism to the nation has advanced over the years since the last quadrennial review in 2010. It remains real and even harder to detect. An example of this evolution is the Boston Marathon bombing. We are facing more lone wolf attackers that are inspired and encouraged by fanatical ideologies to radicalize to violence and commit deadly terrorist acts towards Americans. These independent acts are the hardest to detect and DHS will remain vigilant in identifying and countering these threats. DHS Priorities to Secure Against the Evolving Terrorism Threat Identify, Investigate, and Interdict Threats as Early as Possible Shrink the Haystack: Expand Risk Based Security Focus on Countering Violent Extremism and Helping to Prevent Complex Mass Casualty Attacks Reduce Vulnerabilities: Deny Resources, Deny Targets Uncover Patterns and Faint Signals: Enhance Data Integration and Analysis Table 1 Identify, Investigate, and Interdict Threats as Early as Possible Due to the present and development of potential attacks and threats, a prime concern is that these vicious fanatical can move undetected across boarders within conflict zones. An example would be the conflicts in Syria and Yemen where they can train other like-minded people in tactics, skills, and weapons for the use of terrorism. In addition to, many other nations are incapable of securing their own borders and prevent illegitimate movement of people and goods and the inability to collect customs revenues to support governance. As a result, they are on the verge of state failure. DHS and the Departments of State, Defense, and Justice will address the vulnerabilities and improve the safe and protected movement of people and goods by prioritizing support to foreign partners to increase their border supervision, customs integrity, and the capacities and capabilities of their law enforcement. In addition, it is vital to use the information we receive in advance to screen abroad based on risk instead of waiting to screen upon the arrival of the United States. Shrink the Haystack: Expand Risk-Based Security Due to the decentralized nature of the present threat makes it important that we migrate away from a one-size-fits-all type of security approach and move in the direction of risk informed and intelligence-driven. With this new mindset, DHS will focus more on identifying lower risk travelers and cargo in order to spend more time and resources on the people we know less about or pose a higher threat. According to DHS, Trusted traveler and shipper programs such as Global Entry, TSA Preà ¢Ã…“â€Å"à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢, and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism advance these objectives and show that effective security and the expedited flow of goods and people can be achieved together (DHS, 2017). They will use several ways to identify lower risk travelers. For example, they will use background check and recognize foreign partner trusted traveler programs. Focus On Countering Violent Extremism and Helping to Prevent Complex Mass Casualty Attacks DHS does not focus on just one form of one particular ideology or protected First Amendment activities, but rather all forms all forms of fanaticism when it comes to countering violent extremism within the U.S. Their efforts to opposing vicious extremism highlight the power of local communities and the premise that well-informed and well-equipped families and communities represent the best defense against these violent acts. DHS supports community based problem solving and local law enforcement programs in order to disrupt and deter recruitment to radicalized violence. According to DHS, DHS jointly develops with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners training for frontline law enforcement officers on behaviors that may be indicative of violent extremist activity (DHS, 2017). Comparable research into non-ideologically motivated violence provides enhanced understanding into pre-incident behavioral indicators that are linked to mass violence. This give DHS the ability to equip partners with the best tools to identify and mitigate an array of violent attacks. Reduce Vulnerabilities: Deny Resources, Deny Targets Violent extremists will tend to seek out and attack symbolic venues, mass gathering, and critical infrastructure. The best way to protect against these targets is to adopt approaches that are intelligence-led, analytical driven, and pursued in close collaboration with federal, state, local, and private sector partners in addition to the public. The DHS Security Strategy for Mass Transit and Passenger Rail dives further into detail into how they have employed this approach to improve the security of our infrastructure. According to DHS, They will continue to increase an emphasis on deterrence, including enhancing efforts to publicly communicate tailored descriptions of homeland security capabilities to influence the perception, risk calculations, and behaviors of adversaries (DHS, 2017). Uncover Patterns and Faint Signals: Enhance Data Integration and Analysis DHS and its partners must continue and constantly maintain situational awareness. In addition, DHS is dedicated to integrating its data sources, including federating vetting operations. Homeland Security will adopt big data management solutions that will give the investigators and analysts the ability to identify relationships that were once difficult to distinguish. It allows them to identify harmful activity earlier and to intervene or stop these attacks from ever happening. A vital source of data is the Suspicious Activity Reporting from stat, local, and private sector partners that are members of the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative. Another source with a critical role is the If You See Something, Say Something campaign. This campaign encourages citizens to report any suspicious activity to local law enforcement. These efforts will help protect our privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights and allow the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force to quickly view information and share with other FBI Field Intelligence Groups for further analysis. DHS will prioritize and swiftly distribute local or regional joint products through the National Network of Fusion Center and other mechanisms. According to DHS, These joint products, produced collaboratively by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners, support operations and provide detailed insight on emerging community or region-specific threats (DHS, 2017). In conclusion, DHS has an enormous responsibility in keeping our nation safe, secure, and resilient against all enemies and other hazards. In order to accomplish this DHS employs over 240,000 people in jobs from border security to cybersecurity analysis. In order to protect us they came up with five priorities in order to secure against the evolving terrorism threat: identify, investigate, and interdict threats as early as possible, shrink the haystack: expand risk based security, focus on countering violent extremism and helping to prevent complex mass casualty attacks, reduce vulnerabilities: deny resources, deny targets, and uncover patterns and faint signals by enhancing data integration and analysis. References DHS. (2014). Fiscal Years 2014-2018 Strategic Plan . Retrieved March 21, 2017, from https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/FY14-18%20Strategic%20Plan_0_0.PDF DHS. (2014). The 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review. Retrieved March 21, 2017, from https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/2014-qhsr-final-508.pdf Fulghum, C. (2016). Securing the resources that secure the homeland. Armed Forces Comptroller, 61(3), 6-9. Kahan, J. H. (2013). Whats in a name? the meaning of homeland security. Journal of Homeland Security Education, 2(1), 18. Kemp, R. L. (2012). Homeland security in america past, present, and future. World Future Review, 4(1), 28-33.

film analysis :: essays research papers

Theme of Bodies, Rest and Motion This is a story about searching and trying to find home. Four people are looking for their place in life. It’s about belonging. They are at the beginning of the film living a superficial temporary existence. We have a character Nick who is a man lost, he is looking for a purpose, a sense of belonging and direction. He is disconnected from his family and even from society, from his job, from his girlfriend. He seeking and wanting and does not know what that is but he knows he is missing something or someone. Next we have Sid who at the beginning of the film is just the opposite of Nick. He is a body at rest. He belongs. His is happy with where he is and who he is and is not wanting. He is self-aware, comfortable with his life. He is happy just exactly where he is doing what he does and sure of his place in life. His character is unconventional. He doesn’t know to feel inferior that he is a painter, that he’s never been out of Enfield. When Carol asks him which is his career, the painting or the lawn mowing, her condescension is lost on him. He is free of want until he meets Beth. Beth is in a sort of a lull. She too is searching but not in the way that Nick is. She is not pained by it. Beth is the one that nudges Sid into motion. Beth is living with Nick and senses his chaos but is less pained and less needy. The film opens with everything already in transition, in motion. We first see an escalator moving up and down. People are going places and the escalator tells us that nothing is going to remain as they are. Nick works as a TV salesman but he’s been fired and it’s his last day, he lives with Beth but that soon changes, he lives in Enfield, Arizona but he plans to move tomorrow to Butte, Montana. Nothing is concrete nothing is working, not even the toaster. The next image we see is the desert, vast, endless and un-chartered desert, again the idea of being lost, searching and of course being nowhere. Next, we see Beth at a left turn lane of an intersection, lost in thought, staring into space, she neither knows where she is nor does she know where she is heading.

history :: essays research papers

Abstract This paper focuses on the history and science of hypnosis. The introduction discusses the origins of hypnosis that date back to pre-historic times and the first people to employ hypnotic-like methods to alter or change human behavior using the power of suggestion. A background and study of Franz Anton Mesmer, the man who most people associate with the beginning of hypnosis, is elaborated on throughout this paper. I will also discuss what hypnosis is, how it is used to explain human experiences, and how research does or does not support the theory of hypnosis. I will also give examples of how hypnosis is applied, why it’s used, and how it has been viewed in the past and present times. The History and Science of Hypnosis Introduction a brief history of the concept of hypnosis The science of hypnosis, remote from being a practice of modern times, is one that has been studied and pondered over since pre-historic times. The employment of hypnotic-like methods to alter human behavio r using the power of suggestion and repetitious incentives to rouse the mind or the spirits were used by numerous ancient civilizations (Baker, 1990, p. 51). These methods were usually associated with a confidence in magic and the occult, and the belief that these procedures were beyond human understanding. According to Baker (1990), priest-physicians of ancient Egypt induced sleep-like states in other people. This practice was also prominent in the sleep temples of classical Greece. In this case, worshippers attempted to conjure Hypnos, the god of sleep, who it was believed brought them prophetic dreams. Another example of the use of hypnotic-like methods dates back to 2600 BC in China, where Wang Tai, the father of Chinese Medicine, wrote of a â€Å"medical procedure that involved using incantations and mysterious passes of the hands over the patient that leaves no doubt about its hypnotic nature (Baker, 1990, p. 51). According to Baker (1990), the use of hypnotic-like techniques and procedures were mentioned in the Hindu Vera, written about 1500 BC, and the Ebers papyrus, which is known to be over 3,000 years old, narrates an expressive method extremely similar to the techniques modern hypnotherapists practice today. Although the practice of hypnosis appears to have begun during these pre-historic times, and there are many more accounts similar to the latter, the fact is that these people of different lands, thousands of years ago, may have known about the strange powers of hypnosis; that it appeared to be magic and it helped cure the sick, but these ancient people knew little about what hypnosis really was (Kennedy, 1979, p.