Jessie Pope Poetry Essay Example

Jessie Pope Poetry Paper Studying war poetry from around the 1914 period has given me an insight into the variety of feeling and emotion going on during the war, from writing strictly in propaganda to obscenely crude it seems incredible what the soldiers were tricked into, and went through. Both poems, Whos for the game? and Dulce et Decorum est were written during the First World War, which began in 1914. Whos for the game? Is a war poem based on a rugby game, written as if war is simply something to pass the time. The poet, Jesse Pope, has a crude way of writing: as she hasnt herself experienced war, she simplifies it. In comparison, Dulce et Decorum est was written by Wilfred Owen who had been to war and writes about a tragic gas attack that he personally did experience. The tone in Whos for the game? is persistent and rhetorical; repeating the word who bullies the young boys into making a radical decision about going to war and if they dont want to go, who thinks hed rather sit tight? creates pressure, suggesting not going to war is cowardly. We will write a custom essay sample on Jessie Pope Poetry specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Jessie Pope Poetry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Jessie Pope Poetry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The tone carries on insistently and repetitively putting stress on the question, and on the last word of each line hand? , stand? , gun? , run? . The insistence seems impossible to resist, like a constant drum beat inside the soldiers minds making the soldiers feel like they have no alternative but to go to war. Dulce et Decorum est has an accusatory tone; this tone is directed mockingly at my friend, particularly in the last stanza. The poets anger builds and the use of the direct and accusatory tone excels. The poet gives his description impact by speaking in the present tense guttering, choking, drowning, this gives a sense of immediacy and desperate warning to the soldiers to believe the happy stories of war. The language in Whos for the game? is crude as the poet has never before experienced war: she creates a false image to young, nai ve boys of what war might be like. The poet has a target audience of young men similar to Wilfred Owens poem though he tries to put across to true image of war. Wilfred Owen uses powerful imagery to describe the horror of the war, guttering, giving images of a candle about to flicker out. He uses the image of a devil like a devils sick of sin; the soldiers are sick of sin but ironically devils should never be sick of sin. Similes used near the beginning of the poem such as bent double like old beggars under sacks suggest that the soldiers are now on the fringes of society. In theory the soldiers should be young and brave, but Owen reduces them to old, forgotten about hags. In Whos for the game? Pope uses an enthralling rugby game to describe the war, to her readers. This quite contradicts Owens views that war has made the soldiers old like hags. The two poems have quite different messages. Whos for the game? has a clear propaganda message as it tricks young, nai ve men into thinking war is something its not, whereas Wilfred Owen has a definite anti-war message, conveying the truth to men and soldiers that have been in, or are considering going to war. The town poems are very different in their form. Jesse Pope uses a very regular rhyme and rhythm: a strong beat is felt particularly at the end of each line, emphasising the patronising question words to the soldiers. The last beat falls at the end of the last stanza on you as if the poet is physically pointing their finger at the juvenile solider or reader. This is very personal and direct. In contrast to this simple poem, Wilfred Owens is quite complex. It does have rhyme such as sacks and backs though in between lines 1 and 3, is sludge, slowing the poem right down, these awkward sounding consonants conveying an onomatopoeia effect. In the second stanza lines 1 and 3, and 2 and 4 rhyme, though 5 and 6 dont creating struggle as the poem doesnt flow, again emphasising the struggle and nightmares of the soldiers that are intruding on the present. Both poems had a very strong and powerful though different impact on the reader. In Whos for the game? we feel angry and frustrated at Jesse Pope for giving the soldiers a false illusion of what war was. Being young and nai ve the young men still look for guidance and this sort of poetry we feel is unethical. In comparison, Dulce et De Corum Est makes us feel encouraged that someone was fighting for the truth to be told. The fact that the soldiers were only young and nai ve was clearly recognised and emphasised: children ardent for some desperate glory Wilfred Owen had the true picture of how wrong Jesse Pope was to spread poems full of lies. However, the reader does finish the poem feeling proud that young soldiers were prepared to fight for our country until they were no longer able. Disabled by Wilfred Owen is an anti-war poem, describing in much detail the story of a naive, young man going into war to impress, unaware of the full detail of what he was signing up to, in fact throwing away his life. Does it matter by Siegfried Sassoon, similarly, this is an anti-war poem putting across his views in a very patronising manor making his strong anger against war very clear. Where the poem Disabled is a sad, detailed story, Does it matter? is an angry, but simple poem, filled with sarcasm. Where disabled subtlety portrays the anti-war feeling of the poet, Does is matter? is again anti-war, but filled with the poets anger and fury. Disabled uses heavy, detailed description to gain the audiences attention, though Does it matter? uses simple language in good writing techniques such as the use of clichi s and sarcasm in order to entertain and again get the audience listening. Both poets have a clear anti-war message, and both seem strongly against Jesse Pope, who wrongly, wrote poems about a war which she had never experienced poets such as Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, along with many others, aimed to convince the public that wars were far from sweet and decorous. The mood of Disabled reaches for the sadness and pity of the audience by going into great depth about a young soldier, where Does it matter wastes no time in unmistakably putting across his outrage of trying to trick young, nai ve soldiers to the reader. The poem Disabled changes the tense of the poem frequently, alternating from present to past to future, giving the reader full knowledge of the exciting history, sad situation the young man is in, and what destroyed future the man has ahead of him. He is described presently as legless, sewn short at elbow as if he is now not a whole human, not a real man. Ironically, he was legless when signing up for the war: when hed drunk a peg, He thought hed better join, and on completing the job, he is now permanently disabled, and has lost the admiration he once had for signing up to go to war, before he threw away his knees it ironically seems he intended to through them away, though now he is lonely and in self-pity as he has no legs and foreshortened arms. The young man feels destroyed by the loss of his limbs, the young man that were whole ironically, he feels emasculated due to him loosing his limbs. He will no longer never feel again how slim girls waists are, or how warm their subtle hands; it seems he was extremely nai ve into what he was actually signing up to, which was in fact throwing away his youth and even life. Its almost a lifetime ago, as war has matured him so much, from the quote and that he had a girlfriend his Meg it would seem he was popular with the ladies. This would probably be due to his extremely good looks, there was an artist silly for his face it would now be such a contrast, as all the colour and excitement has drained out of his life, shivered in his ghastly suit of grey, his life has gone from colour quickly to black and white. It would seem ironic, that he signed up to war to impress the girls, though now he is touched like some queer disease by girls, he wanted to impress though he is now only being repulsed at and some are even quite afraid of him. On going to receive admiration, pity they may dole he receives none, only little pity. The young man was tricked into war by people such as Jesse Pope, and it can be easily understood from this why poets such as Siegfried Sassoon wrote with such power, and anger not holding back as they wanted the soldiers to know the real truth. Does it matter? loosing your legs? it seems for the young man in Disabled it did considerably, ruined his life in fact. For people will always be kind Sassoon writes, we have learnt that this is definitely not always the case, as the man from war was felt he was touched like some queer disease even though the simple reason he was in that state was due to him fighting for their country, putting his life on the line. He is described presently as waiting for dark as if there is nothing to do but simply wait for death, drowned in his own sadness and blood, a leap of purple spurted from his thigh when to impress was what he signed up for, what he received is so mething unimaginably different. The insensitiveness and greed of the people left at home is more clearly shown in Does it matter: need not show that you mind others come in after hunting, to gobble their muffins and eggs there is a sense of ignorance and lack of sympathy to the injured coming back from war. When ironically, if the soldiers hadnt of gone, the whole country may have been at risk, and the ones left at home would be unable to go hunting and gobble their muffins and eggs. The poem Disabled ends with repetition on the end of the last two lines, Why dont they come? Why dont they come? Calling out and emphasising to the reader the desperate situation the soldiers have landed themselves into. There is no longer anyone there for him, no one to look at him. This once more, all agrees with Siegfried Sassoons poem Does it matter and people wont say that your mad his strong sarcasm has backed up evidence after reading the story of Disabled. Sassoon writes mockingly at what comfort may be given theres such splendid work for the blind this is platitude, trying to make someone feel better, when really it is simply an empty comfort as how could that make up for losing your sight. Does it matter? also disdains the poem Dulce et Decorum est: Do they matter? those dreams from the pit? for the soldiers being described in this poem their sleep is far from dreams, its nightmares, phantasmagorical, re-living the times of the pit, as they are intruding on the soldiers present lives: before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning having a horrific impact on the soldiers lives. Both poems have a clear anti-war message, though where Sassoons has writes in a youthful idealistic way about war, Owen writes in a very satirical manor though has a serious moral purpose underneath with many other feelings and emotions attached such as bitterness and anger, disillusioning the reader. Where, the young man in disabled is a clear victim of Jesse Popes propaganda Told it was like a game, similar to her poem Whos for the game the young man thought it would be like football, and the injuries were good, a blood smear down his leg carried shoulder-high, it was after football though war is no comparison to a game of football or even rugby as it was likened to by Jesse Pope the young man was robbed of his disillusions. The poem Disabled has regular rhyming; each stanza has a different pace creating different moods for the reader. For example stanza 4 has is quick paced showing the excitement in the young mans life before he went to war: someone said hed look a God in kilts, thats why; he may be, too, to please his Meg; his life was so exhilarating and fast. This then contrasts to the present and future tense stanzas which are slow and dont flow easily for the reader, particularly the last stanza which has no rhyming, this is difficult for the reader to read similar to what a difficult life the young man now leads. Similarly the poem does it matter has a very regular rhyming pattern, lines 1 and 5, 2 and 3 rhyme, the forth line always not. This creates what could seem a very simple poem for the reader to read, though it has a very complex meaning inside quite different to disabled, where most of the poets opinions are detailed, and on the surface. Adding to this, the consistent repetition of Does it matter? at the beginning of each stanza brings obvious sarcasm, and the true effects of war on the soldiers. From reading and analysing these poems I have become open minded about my view of the different poets forms of writing. At first I was extremely against the crude way of writing that Jesse Pope did, though I now release that if the truth had been revealed all along, there is a possibility no one would of wanted to fight and our country would have been quite different from what it is today. I thought the propaganda poetry, especially Wilfred Owens Disabled was particularly emotional as the situation can still be related to today.

How to practice effectively...for just about anything - Annie Bosler a

How to practice effectively...for just about anything - Annie Bosler a Mastering any physical skill, be it performing a pirouette, playing an instrument, or throwing a baseball, takes practice. Practice is the repetition of an action with the goal of improvement, and it helps us perform with more ease, speed, and confidence. So what does practice do in our brains to make us better at things? Our brains have two kinds of neural tissue: grey matter and white matter. The grey matter processes information in the brain, directing signals and sensory stimuli to nerve cells, while white matter is mostly made up of fatty tissue and nerve fibers. In order for our bodies to move, information needs to travel from the brain's grey matter, down the spinal cord, through a chain of nerve fibers called axons to our muscles. So how does practice or repetition affect the inner workings of our brains? The axons that exist in the white matter are wrapped with a fatty substance called myelin. And it's this myelin covering, or sheath, that seems to change with practice. Myelin is similar to insulation on electrical cables. It prevents energy loss from electrical signals that the brain uses, moving them more efficiently along neural pathways. Some recent studies in mice suggest that the repetition of a physical motion increases the layers of myelin sheath that insulates the axons. And the more layers, the greater the insulation around the axon chains, forming a sort of superhighway for information connecting your brain to your muscles. So while many athletes and performers attribute their successes to muscle memory, muscles themselves don't really have memory. Rather, it may be the myelination of neural pathways that gives these athletes and performers their edge with faster and more efficient neural pathways. There are many theories that attempt to quantify the number of hours, days, and even years of practice that it takes to master a skill. While we don't yet have a magic number, we do know that mastery isn't simply about the amount of hours of practice. It's also the quality and effectiveness of that practice. Effective practice is consistent, intensely focused, and targets content or weaknesses that lie at the edge of one's current abilities. So if effective practice is the key, how can we get the most out of our practice time? Try these tips. Focus on the task at hand. Minimize potential distractions by turning off the computer or TV and putting your cell phone on airplane mode. In one study, researchers observed 260 students studying. On average, those students were able to stay on task for only six minutes at a time. Laptops, smartphones, and particularly Facebook were the root of most distractions. Start out slowly or in slow-motion. Coordination is built with repetitions, whether correct or incorrect. If you gradually increase the speed of the quality repetitons, you have a better chance of doing them correctly. Next, frequent repetitions with allotted breaks are common practice habits of elite performers. Studies have shown that many top athletes, musicians, and dancers spend 50-60 hours per week on activities related to their craft. Many divide their time used for effective practice into multiple daily practice sessions of limited duration. And finally, practice in your brain in vivid detail. It's a bit surprising, but a number of studies suggest that once a physical motion has been established, it can be reinforced just by imagining it. In one study, 144 basketball players were divided into two groups. Group A physically practiced one-handed free throws while Group B only mentally practiced them. When they were tested at the end of the two week experiment, the intermediate and experienced players in both groups had improved by nearly the same amount. As scientists get closer to unraveling the secrets of our brains, our understanding of effective practice will only improve. In the meantime, effective practice is the best way we have of pushing our individual limits, achieving new heights, and maximizing our potential.

Business Ethical Values Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Ethical Values - Essay Example Values of both employers and employees, therefore, significantly determine success of a business. By designing suitable ethical expectations and codes of conduct, businesses ensure that ethical principles are upheld. While exploring significance of business ethics, Fisher & Lovell (2009) concludes that there is a strong correlation between individual values and business ethics. This paper explores specific values that make business leaders ethical. Choosing Best Values While choosing best values, it is important to select values and ethics that you not only believe in, but also define your character. After the selection procedure, Glass (1981) advises that an individual must visibly live by the values every day. Living one’s values is a powerful tool for leading and influencing others. In business, values of employees and employers are dependent on one another. Thus, freedom of a business leader to choose ethical values depends on set of values defined by employees. Neverthele ss, an ethical business leader, according to Guth (1999), is described by the following five traits: willingly chooses to lead, good role model to others, provides feasible future vision, provides inspiration, and makes other people feel appreciated and important. Values that Make Business Leaders Ethical Honestly is the first and foremost value that business leaders must practice to become ethical (MSG, 2012). The value determines commitment of business leaders to observance of business principles in both favorable and unfavorable conditions. Mollie (2011) asserts that several corporations have different manuals with slogans encouraging commitment of workers to honesty. Integrity is another vale that makes business leaders ethical. Mollie (2011) defines integrity as possession of strong adherence to professional standards and/or moral principles. Integrity, therefore, connotes stability, consistency, and strength of a leader. In other words, integrity implies that a leader is readi ly willing to take a high road by applying the most valuable ethical standards. Rhode (2006), however, defines integrity as a state of completeness and wholeness. Thus, based on Rhode’s definition (2006), demonstrating integrity indicates soundness and completeness in a leader’s character and in his/her organization. Responsibility, as another value, is an integral part of business ethics. A responsible leader is accountable for his/her actions and decisions. He/she carries the entire liability of any judgment made in his/her organization. Irresponsibility, on the other hand, erodes cohesion and respect in any organization. That is, irresponsibility increases blame games and wrongful victimization in an organization. Rhode (2006), nonetheless, perceives actions and responsibility as both a cause and a result of the other. That is, actions or decisions a leader makes determine whether he/she is a responsible individual or not. Conversely, being responsible in small acti ons or making sound judgment determines weight of tasks a leader is allocated. Responsibility is closely related to quality, which is another important value in business ethics. Quality measures output of a leader. Quality should not only focus on production of best products, but should also extend to every facet of a leader. A leader who appraises quality and struggles for it daily develops a deep sense of

Analysis and forecasting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis and forecasting - Essay Example Within these markets they have been able to develop segments and market effectively to them. They are also making steady progress into the educational market. Dell's primary competitor in the PC and peripheral market is Hewlett-Packard; HP #1 in the peripheral market and #2 in the PC market (Davis, 2001). Other rising competitors are Sony, Microsoft and E-Machines. Dell still has a prominent place in the marketplace, but will need to leverage peripherals to stay ahead f the pack. Products are Dell's forte and are targeted at very specific markets. Their placement is based on their direct sales model and more recently through non-traditional efforts like kiosks. Dell's promotional efforts have been effective through the use f traditional advertising on TV and direct mail, while also maximizing the effectiveness f email and the Dell web site. Price is a key differentiator for Dell and the use f state f the art production facilities has enabled Dell to keep their prices very competitive. Dell has been carried through the wave f technology the last 20 years without really contributing any new technology. There is very little spent on research and development, both viewed as crucial for the livelihood f major tech firms. A recent threat is the emphasis on non-traditional competitors, notably Sony and Microsoft, entering the fray and innovatively integrating various digital components together (PDAs, digital cameras, computers, video, etc). To maintain its competitive advantage, Dell must enhance and diversify its line f products offered to consumers and corporations. This will enable Dell to differentiate their offerings from the competition could give Dell a fresh look and enhance their reputation f providing cutting edge technology first. The initial stages f research questioning are key as they set the tone and focus for the final objective and/or opportunity. Clearly determining the end goal is crucial, otherwise the study may be a waste f precious resources (time and money) - or worse, the data analyzed may be misconstrued in such a manner that it would lead to poor business decisions. How do organizations avoid making these costly mistakes By employing the practice f research design to properly structure the study to achieve the desired objectives. Good research is derived, in part, from the following characteristics: clearly defined purpose, detailed research process, thoroughly planned research design, and maintaining high ethical standards. One f the final stages f research questions is deriving the research problem statement. This can be done by generally brainstorming ideas for organizational improvement, such indicating known problem areas f concern, and outlining goals for the organization. For example, Dell has the following goals: (1) conduct research to gather and analyze research new markets, and (2) make new products available to customers who are already intent on purchasing a base computer system. Combining these goals into a problem statement, "What (new) ancillary products could be sold to drive revenue, when combined with (existing) product lines" Dell

Delta Synthetics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Delta Synthetics - Essay Example Both the three plant produce a capacity of 5.5 million kilogram's per year but when the annual closure and maintenance take place, the company's capacity of production is 5 million kilogram's per year. The company wants to introduce a new product and so it has to improve the capacity of its production. Within six years, it is expected that the production capacity will increase and so the forecast and planning has to be done. The forecasted result show that the result for the britelene demand is falling but it is not likely to go to zero but it is going to reach a residual demand level .From the year 1996 to 1998, it is only the britelene that was produced. There is a reduction in the demand of the product due to some resources which could have been used to promote the sales was diverted in the production of the new substance. In the year 1999, the company started producing Briton. The production of this product led to the decrease in the demand of brutlene while the Briton continued to increase in its demand as the years go by. In the year 2002, the demand of bretlene is 10 million kilograms while that of Briton is 29 million kilograms. The total sales of both the products remain the same from the year 2002 to 2002 whereby in 2000, 39 million kilograms were sold, in 2001; 38 million kilogram's were sold while in 2002 the total was 2002 million kilograms. The results are reflected in the table below. Year Brutlene in million kilogram's Difference in million kilograms between successive years Briton in million kilograms Difference in million kilograms between successive years Total of the products in million kilograms. 1999 17 3 30 2000 13 (4) 16 13 39 2001 11 (2) 27 9 38 2002 10 (1) 29 2 39 The total remains the same and so the likely trend of total sales is likely to remain the same or show a negligible difference. Since the sales of brutlene are reducing and it should have a reserve level of sales, the focus for the reduction in sales is likely to be at a level of one million kilograms per annum. .Due to this, the value of sales of brutelene for the next six years from 2002 is as follow. In 2003, the sales are likely to be 9 million kilogram's. In 2004,the likely sales is 8 million kilograms .In 2005,the likely sales is 7million kilogram's. In the year2006,the likely sales is 6 million kilograms. in the year 2007,the likely sales is 5 million kilograms while in 2008,the likely sales is going to be 4million kilogram's. For the Briton, the sales in the next six years are obtained by the difference in total sales which is constant for each year from the predicted sales of each year. In the year 2003, the likely sale of Briton is 30 million kilograms. In the year 2004, the likely sales are 31 million kilograms. In the year 2005, the sales are likely to be 32 million kilograms. In the year 2006, the likely sales is33 million kilogram's.. In the year 2007, the likely sales is 34 million kilograms .In the year 2008, the predicted sales is likely to be 35 million kilograms. To obtain the required capacity, several plans have to be considered. These are the financial plan, marketing plan, operations plan, risk management plan and the management plan. Eric Versuh, John Wiley and sons (1999). In the financial plan they should look for more capital which can be obtained from borrowing from banks, ploughing back of the profit obtained from the

Human Trafficking Human Smuggling

Human Trafficking Human Smuggling Nearly all countries in the world face the challenge of human trafficking and human smuggling whether as a country of transit, origin or destinations for the victims (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). Human trafficking and human smuggling have become a global problem of recent. The investigative agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) approximated that 600000 to 800000 people are trafficked and smuggled annually across the international borders (Department of State, 2006). Additionally; the estimation shows that a significant number of people are trafficked and smuggled within the boundaries of their country. The United States is the final destination country for the trafficked, according to the US Department of State (Department of State, 2006). There are various reasons why people carry out human trafficking and human smuggling. Some of the reasons include labor and sexual exploitation among others (Tena, 2010). Most of the victims are enticed with false promises from their homes and instead enforced into activities such as prostitution, forced labor and domestic servitude to name but a few (Jac- Kucharski, 2012). Additionally, politicians have become part and parcel in the discussion of such activities as a result of the nature of the phenomenon (Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 2013). The non-profit organization and government agencies have had the responsibility to deal with the victims of such actions. Due to the similarities between the two crimes, both have been confused by the public. What are the differences between human trafficking and human smuggling? What are the measures taken by DHS to stop or mitigate both crimes? Differences between human trafficking and human smuggling Human trafficking and human smuggling are different activities in the United States, and these terms cannot be interchanged. Human trafficking is a grave human rights violation and a serious crime that revolves around exploitation of people. Human trafficking can be defined as sex trafficking in the sense that commercial sex activities are forcefully induced, coercion, fraud or rather a state in which the victims who are forcibly persuaded in such acts are below 18-years old (Jakobsson Kotsadam, 2013). Additionally, it can be defined as harboring, recruiting, transporting, providing or obtaining an individual for hard labor activities forcefully, or through fraud or coercion for objection to involuntary slavery, debt bondage or peonage (Tripp Mcmahon, 2016). On the other hand, human smuggling revolves around the transportation of people and can be defined as the act of importing individuals into a country through careful avoidance of immigration laws (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). Such activities include importing illegal aliens into the country and harboring unlawful aliens illegally in the country. Moreover, in some situations, smuggling may involve rape, murder or assault either sexually of physically (Department of State, 2006). Measures established by the Department of Homeland Security to stop or mitigate both crimes The investigative agencies in the Department of Homeland Security in the United States which are responsible for curbing human smuggling and human trafficking include the Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Immigration (Tena, 2010). The ICE cooperates within its law implementation partners in fighting the global infrastructure that is involved in human trafficking and smuggling (ICE, 2013). The ICE achieves this mission by using its experts and authorities, disrobing away profit incentives and assets, cooperating with foreign partners and the United States for the purpose of attacking worldwide network as well as working with global non-governmental organizations for the identification, rescuing and providing assistance to the smuggling victims. The ICE agency has embarked on the determined strategy in fighting human smuggling and trafficking. For instance, the ICE is pursuing investigations which are intelligence-driven for the purpose of targeting large-scale human smuggling organizations irrespective of their location of operations (ICE, 2013). There is specifically located emphasis on the smuggling rings that helps in posing the risk of the national security, threaten lives and engage in violence, extortion, hostage-taking, and abuse. Additionally, there is proper coordination between the ICE and partners at U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the purpose of ensuring hostile investigations and prosecution of the smuggling cases along the country borders. Moreover, the ICE is targeting all the links that are associated with smuggling activities past the direct smugglers (ICE, 2014). Precisely, the ICE aims at targeting the foreign organizers and recruiters, the fake document dealers and transportation, and employment networks who gain from the alien smuggling in the United States. Besides, the ICE aims at pursuing the legislation to raise the penalties beside organized smugglers and offer further criminal offenses to ensure enhancement of discoursing spotters who help criminals in smuggling aliens and contraband (ICE, 2014). The ICE discovered that for successful investigations and prosecuting traffickers, the victims must be steady and free from intimidation and fear to be real witnesses (Tena, 2010). There is equality in the placement of value on the identification and the salvage of victims and the traffickers prosecution. The ICE has many security duty victims or witnesss coordinators who cooperate with the NGOs for the purpose of providing victim services (Tripp Mcmahon, 2016). Moreover, the short-term immigration relief is given to the certified trafficking victims in continued presence status form. The ICE has developed practical initiatives that aim at criticizing the infrastructure that provides support to the smuggling organizations and the assets acquired from the criminal activities. Such activities include snatching vehicles, goods, currency and armaments among others (ICE, 2014). This initiative has played a significant role in fighting human trafficking and smuggling. The ICE has issued the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act, which is one of the tools used in fighting human trafficking and smuggling, a notice to the owners of properties that have been recognized to be used in facilitating the human trafficking and smuggling aliens (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). This tool is very significant in the sense that various managers do not take into account the acceleration of criminal acts on their personal properties or the companys resources. The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security made an announcement about the proposals to the Customs Enforcement and immigration during the annual meeting. The annual meeting was held at the White House by the Presidents Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking (ICE, 2013). Some of the proposals made included the extension of the period of the significant immigration description for the people who are not citizens of the United States. Additionally, they would give vital constancy as well as better support to the victims of human trafficking and smuggling as they carry out further investigations of the traffickers. This is part of the victim-centered approach of the department in fighting against human trafficking. In 2010, The Department Homeland Security came up with the Blue Campaign to act as the voice of the unified Department in fighting human trafficking and smuggling (DHS, n.d). The Blue Campaign came up with a resolution that there be human trafficking awareness training in cooperated into the major training courses at the institutions such as the Federal Law Enforcing Training Centers (DHS, n.d). This could be substantial because a greater percentage of federal law enforcement agencies who participate in Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) acquire skills and tools that help in curbing the human trafficking and smuggling and respond accordingly (DHS, n.d). On a daily basis, the employees of the DHS search for the pointers and causes of human trafficking during their line of duty. Also, the employees of the ICE carry out investigations on human trafficking cases as well as providing support to the victims through the victim awareness programs (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). Besides, the employees in the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency cooperate with the airline workers to curb human trafficking through the use of the Blue Lightning Initiative (CBP, n.d). Additionally, the airline personnel together with the support of the agencies make sure that products and properties acquired through forced labor from foreign countries do not find their way in the United States supply chain. The citizenship and the Immigration agencies perform their duty of ensuring that the qualified victims of trafficking who are not citizens of the United States have accessibility to needed immigration qualifications for the trafficking victims (Jac-Kucharski, 2012). Moreover, the Blue Campaign ensures there is the empowerment of communities for the purpose of curbing human trafficking and smuggling through the formation of partnerships, coming up with public awareness, creation, and dissemination of resources and free tool which are used countrywide in curbing human trafficking and smuggling (DHS, n.d). In conclusion, human trafficking, and human smuggling is a global issue which calls for every country to participate in the fighting process. The countries should come up with more measures that can be used to do away with human trafficking and smuggling completely. For that reason, different agencies and tools should be put in place worldwide to be used in fighting human trafficking and smuggling. References Jac-Kucharski, A. (2012). The Determinants of Human Trafficking: A US Case Study. International Migration, 50(6), 150-165. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2435.2012.00777.x Jakobsson, N., Kotsadam, A. (2013). The law and economics of international sex slavery: Prostitution laws and trafficking for sexual exploitation. European Journal of Law and Economics, 35(1), 87-107. doi:10.1007/s10657-011-9232-0 United States Customs Border Protection Agency, (n.d). Blue Lightning Initiative. Retrieved January 24, 2017, from https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/human-trafficking/blue-lightning United States Department of Homeland Security. (n.d.). Blue Campaign. Retrieved January 18, 2017, from https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign United States Department of State, (2006). Factsheet: Distinctions between human smuggling and human trafficking. Retrieved December 16, 2016, from http://www.state.gov/m/ds/hstcenter/90434.htm United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (2013). Human trafficking and smuggling. Retrieved January 16, 2017, from https://www.ice.gov/factsheets/human-trafficking United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (2014). ERO Annual Report: FY 2013 ICE immigration removals. Retrieved January 23, 2017, from https://www.ice.gov/doclib/about/offices/ero/pdf/2013-ice-immigration-removals.pdf Tena, M. (2010, September 30). Modern day slavery in the U.S.-Mexican territory: Human trafficking at the border. Retrieved January 18, 2017, from http://catcher.sandiego.edu/items/peacestudies/Border_Brief_FINAL_BW_oct4_10.pdf Tripp, T. M., Mcmahon-howard, J. (2016). Perception vs. reality: The relationship between organized crime and human trafficking in metropolitan Atlanta. American Journal of Criminal Justice: AJCJ, 41(4), 732-764. doi:10.1007/s12103-015-9315-5

The Perception of African Americans in the Media and How it Affects The

The Perception of African Americans in the Media and How it Affects Their Self-Identity There has been much debate over the perception of African Americans in the media and how it affects their self-identity. It is easy to find examples of bias in portraying African Americans, but not a lot of causal research to prove that it causes problems with self-identity. A case can even be made that the amount of media presence by African Americans, whether biased or un-biased, has greatly helped to unify and give voice to a small minority group. The role of the media in the social identity of African Americans According to the United States Census Bureau (2001), 12.3% of all people reporting as one race reported they were â€Å"Black or African American†. This ethnic identity is now the second biggest minority in the United States. It also refers to a group of people who have been in this country for as long as it has existed. However, through the persecution of slavery, the rigors of segregation, and the continuing latent prejudice; African Americans are still searching for their true identity. African American Identity Just as children that were adopted tend to long for a true identity most of their lives, so is the plight of the African American. Stolen from their homeland and forced into enslavement in a new country, African Americans were basically victims of identity theft. Although much progress has been made in the way of an American identity for African Americans, a true identity has not yet been found. According to W.E.B DuBois (1903) â€Å"The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife—this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self†. (p. 68) Many African Americans feel the same as Kali Tal (1996) when she says, â€Å"After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world – a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world.† She also states, â€Å"One ever feels his twoness – an American, a Negro, two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled arrives; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.† A quick look at American histor... ...ly 25, 2004 from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/timeline/early_01.html Tal, K. (1996) The Unbearable Whiteness of Being: African American Critical Theory and Cyberculture The Kali Tal Homepage Retrieved July 25 fromhttp://www.freshmonsters.com/kalital/Text/Articles/whiteness.html U.S. Census Bureau (2001) Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin. Census 2000 Website Retrieved July 25, 2004 from http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01cn61.html Woods, K. M. (1995) An Essay on a Wickedly Powerful Word Poynter Online Retrieved July 25, 2004 from http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=5603 Afro-phobic or Afro-publicist 15 Worthy, D. (2004) Cosby’s Rant Reverberates Through the Black Press NCM Retrieved July 25, 2004 from http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id= c3a1cf5b268909dfee0db53722131aee Young African-Americans Against Media Stereotypes (2004) Black Athletes and the Media. YAAMS WEBSITE Retrieved July 25, 2004 from http://www.yaaams.org/blackathletes.shtml Young African-Americans Against Media Stereotypes (2004) The NBA and White Wives. YAAAMS Website Retrieved July 25, 2004 from http://www.yaaams.org/whitewives.shtml

Best Fit Vs Best Practice Essay

Amazon.com In 1994, with a handful of programmers and a few thousand dollars in workstations and servers, Jeff Bezos set out to change the retail world when he created Amazon.com (ticker: AMZN). Shel Kaphan, Amazon’s first programmer, assisted by others, including Paul Barton-Davis, used a collection of tools to create Web pages based on a database of 1 million book titles compiled from the Library of Congress and Books in Print databases. Kaphan notes that â€Å"Amazon was dependent on commercial and free database systems, as well as HTTP server software from commercial and free sources. Many of the programming tools were free software† [Collett 2002]. In July 1995, Amazon opened its Web site for sales. Using heavily discounted book prices (20 to 30 percent below common retail prices); Amazon advertised heavily and became the leading celebrity of the Internet and e-commerce. Sales and Relationships Amazon made its initial mark selling books, and many people still think of the company in terms of books. However, almost from the start, the company has worked to expand into additional areas—striving to become a global retailer of almost anything. Some of the main events include: 1995 books, 1998 music and DVD/video, 1999 auctions, electronics, toys, zShops/MarketPlace, home improvement, software, and video games [1999 annual report]. By the end of 1999, the company had forged partnerships with several other online stores, including Ashford.com, Audible, Della.com, drugstore.com, Gear.com, Greenlight.com, HomeGrocer.com, Kozmo.com, living.com, NextCard.com, Pets.com, and Sothebys. Of course, most of those firms and Web sites later died in the dot-com crash of 2000/2001. Amazon also established partnerships with several large retailers, including Target, Toys ‘R’ Us, Babies ‘R’ Us, and Circuit City. Effectively, Amazon became a service organization to manage the online presence of these large retailers. However, it also uses its distribution system to deliver the products. The Circuit City arrangement was slightly different from the others—customers could pick up their items directly from their local stores [Heun August 2001]. After Circuit City went under, the relationship ended. By mid-2003, the Web sales and fulfillment services amounted to 20 percent  of Amazon’s sales. Bezos points out that most companies realize that only a small fraction of their total sales (5 to 10 percent) will come from online systems, so it makes sense to have Amazon run those portions [Murphy 2003]. In 2001, Amazon took over the Web site run by its bricks-and-mortar rival Borders. In 2000, Borders lost $18.4 million on total onli ne sales of $27.4 million [Heun April 2001]. Also in 2001, Amazon partnered with Expedia to offer travel services directly from the Amazon site. However, in this case, the Amazon portion consists of little more than an advertising link to the Expedia services [Kontzer 2001]. The deals in 2001 continued with a twist when Amazon licensed its search technology to AOL. AOL invested $100 million in Amazon and payed an undisclosed license fee to use the search-and-personalization service on Shop@AOL [Heun July 2001]. In 2003, Amazon launched a subsidiary just to sell its Websales and fulfillment technology to other firms. Bezos noted that Amazon spends about $200 million a year on information technology (a total of $900 million to mid-2003). The purpose of the subsidiary is to help recover some of those costs—although Bezos believes they were critically necessary expenditures [Murphy 2003]. With so many diverse products, and relationships, it might be tempting to keep everything separate. However, Amazon perceives advantages from showing the entire site to customers as a single, broad entity. Yes, customers click to the various stores to find individual items. But, run a search and you will quickly see that it identifies products from any division. Additionally, the company is experimenting with cross sales. In 2002, the Project Ruby test site began selling name-brand clothing and accessories. Customers who spent $50 or more on apparel received a $30 gift certificate for use anywhere else on Amazon [Hayes 2002]. By 2004, 25 percent of Amazon’s sales were for its partners. But, one of Amazon’s major relationships took a really bad turn in 2004 when Toys ‘R’ Us sued Amazon and Amazon countersued. The complaint by Toys ‘R’ Us alleges that it had signed a ten-year exclusivity contract with Amazon and had so far paid Amazon $200 million for the right to be the exclusive supplier of  toys at Amazon.com. David Schwartz, senior VP and general counsel for Toys ‘R’ Us stated that â€Å"We don’t intend to pay for exclusivity we’re not getting† [Claburn May 2004]. Amazon’s initial response was that â€Å"We believe we can have multiple sellers in the toy category, increase selection, and offer products that (Toys ‘R’ Us) doesn’t have† [Claburn May 2004]. The lawsuit counters that at least one product (a Monopoly game) appears to be for sale by third-party suppliers as well as Toys ‘R’ Us. A month later, Amazon countersued, alleging that Toys ‘R’ Us experienced â€Å"chronic failure† to maintain sufficient stock to meet demand. The court documents noted that Toys ‘R’ Us had been out of stock on 20 percent of its most popular products [Claburn June 2004]. Although the dispute sounds damaging, it is conceivable that both parties are using the courts as a means to renegotiate the base contract. Small merchants accelerated a shift to Amazon’s marketplace technology. By 2007, Amazon was simply the largest marketplace on the Web. For example, John Wieber was selling $1 million a year in refurbished computers through eBay. But increased competition and eBay’s rising prices convinced him to switch to direct sales through Amazon. Similar small merchants noted that although the fees on Amazon are hefty, they do not have to pay a listing fee. Plus, eBay shoppers only want to buy things at bargain-basement prices (Mangalindan 2005). In 2010, Target ended its contract with Amazon and launched its own Web servers. Amazon does not report sales separately for its partners such as Target, so it is difficult to determine what impact the change might have on Amazon. However, Amazon has many other sellers who offer similar products. Digital Content Amazon has been expanding its offerings in digital content—in many ways extending competition against Apple, but also leading the way in digital books. Although it was not the first manufacturer, Amazon is reportedly the largest seller of e-readers with the Kindle. Amazon does not report sales separately for the Kindle. Amazon also noted in 2011 that ebooks for its Kindle reader have overtaken sales of paperback books as the most popular  format. The e-books had already exceeded hard-cover books the year before [Wu 2011]. For many of these reasons, Borders, a bricks-and-mortar competitor to Amazon went under in 2011. Amazon is also working to expand sales of music. The Web site has relatively standard pricing on current songs, but often offers discounts on older albums. By 2011, Amazon was also trying to expand into video streaming. Customers who pay $79 a year to join the  Prime program gain faster shipping, and also access to a library of digital movies and TV shows. Unfortunately, with limited ties to the movie studios, the offerings initially were relatively thin. However, other video streaming sites, including Netflix and Hulu, were also struggling to develop long-term contracts with studios. In September 2011, Amazon announced a deal with Fox to offer movies and TV shows owned by the studio. At the same time, Netflix announced a similar deal with the Dreamworks studio. It will take time for studios to determine strategies on streaming video services and for consumers to make choices [Woo and Kung 2011]. In late 2011, Amazon released its own version of a tablet computer. The company continued to sell the Kindle e-book reader, but the tablet focused on audio and video, using a color LCD display screen with a touch interface. Although it lacked features available on the market-leading Applet iPad, the Kindle table carried a price that was about half that of the iPad and other competitors ($200). The obvious goal was to provide a device that encourages customers to purchase more digital content directly from Amazon [Peers 2011]. Sales Taxes Sales taxes have been a long-term issue with Amazon. The Annual Report notes that several states filed formal complaints with the company in March 2003. The basis for the individual suits is not detailed, but the basic legal position is that any company that has a physical presence in a state (â€Å"nexus† by the terms of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling), is subject to that state’s laws and must then collect the required sales taxes and remit them to the state. The challenge is that the level of presence has never been  clearly defined. Amazon argues that it has no physical presence in most states and is therefore not required to collect taxes. The most recent challenges are based on Amazon’s â€Å"affiliate† program. Amazon pays a small commission to people who run Web sites and redirect traffic to the Amazon site. For instance, a site might mention a book and then include a link to the book on the Amazon site. Several states have passed laws claiming that these relationships constitute a â€Å"sales force† and open up Amazon to taxation within any state where these affiliates reside. In response, Amazon dropped the affiliate program in several states, has initiated a legal challenge in the state of New York, and in 2011, negotiated a new deal signed into law in California [Letzing 2011]. In the California deal, Amazon obtained a delay in collecting taxes for at least a year, in exchange for locating a new distribution center in the state and creating at least 10,000 full-time jobs. Amazon is also asking the U.S. Congress to create a new federal law to deal with the sales-tax issue. However, because the state sales tax issue is driven by the interstate commerce clause in the U.S. Constitution, a simple law will not alter the underlying principles. However, if Congress desired, it might create a Federal Sales tax law with some method of apportioning the money to states. But, do not be t on any major tax laws during a Presidential election year. Information Technology In the first years, Amazon intentionally kept its Web site systems separate from its orderfulfillment system. The separation was partly due to the fact that the programmers did not have the technical ability to connect them, and partly because the company wanted to improve security by keeping the order systems off the Web. By 1997, Amazon’s sales had reached $148 million for the year. The big book database was being run on Digital Alpha servers. Applications were still custom written in house. By early 2000, the company had over 100 separate database instances running on a variety of servers—handling terabytes of data. In 2000, Amazon decided to overhaul its entire system. The company spent $200 million on new applications, including analysis software from E.piphany, logistics from Manugistics, and a new DBMS from Oracle. The company also  signed deals with SAS for data mining and analysis [Collett 2002]. But, one of its biggest deals was with Excelon for business-to-business integration systems. The system enables suppliers to communicate in real time, even if they do not have sophisticated IT departments. It provides a direct connection to Amazon’s ERP system either through programming connections or through a Web browser [Konicki 2000]. About the same time (May 2000), Amazon inked a deal with HP to supply new servers and IT services [Goodridge and Nelson 2000]. The new systems ran the open-source Linux operating system. Already by the third quarter of 2001, Amazon was able to reduce its IT costs by 24 percent from the same quarter in 2000 [Collett 2002]. By 2004, the supply chain system at Amazon was a critical factor in its success. Jeffrey Wilke, Senior VP of worldwide operations, observed that â€Å"When we think about how we’re going to grow our company, we focus on price, selection, and availability. All three depend critically on the supply chain† [Bacheldor 2004]. Almost the entire system was built from scratch, customized to Amazon’s needs. When a customer places an order, the system immediately connects to the distribution centers, determines the best way to ship the product, and provides the details to the customer in under two minutes. The entire process is automatic. Dr. Russell Allgor moved from Bayer Chemical to Amazon and built an 800,000equation computer model of the company’s sprawling operation. When implemented, the goal of the model was to help accomplish almost everything from scheduling Christmas overtime to rerouting trucks in a snowstorm. Allgor’s preliminary work focused on one of Amazon’s most vexing problems: How to keep inventory at a minimum, while ensuring that when someone orders several products, they can be shipped in a single box, preferably from the warehouse — the company had six — that is nearest the customer [Hansell, 2001]. Dr. Allgor’s analysis is simple, but heretical to Amazon veterans. Amazon should increase its holdings of best sellers and stop holding slow-selling titles. It would still sell these titles but order them after the customer does. Lyn Blake, a vice president who previously ran Amazon’s book department and now oversees company relations with manufacturers, disagrees with this perspective. â€Å"I worry about the customer’s perspective  if we suddenly have a lot of items that are not available for quick delivery.† Amazon’s merchant and MarketPlace systems are powerful tools that enable smaller stores to sell their products through Amazon’s system. Amazon continually works to improve the connections on those systems. This system caused problems in 2001—the main issue was that the data on the merchant Web sites was being updated only once every eight hours. The merchant’s link to Amazon’s main database servers, and internal applications transfer the data onto the displayed page as requested. As customers purchased items, the inventory quantities were altered in the main servers, but the current totals were not transferred to the display pages until several hours later. Consequently, customers would be told that an item was in stock, even it had sold out several hours ago. To solve the problem, Amazon installed Excelon’s ObjectStore database in 2002. The system functions as a cache management server, reducing the update times from eight hours down to twoà ‚  minutes. Paul Kotas, engineering director for the Merchants@Group noted that â€Å"with the growth of this business, we needed a zero-latency solution† [Whiting 2002]. In 2003, Amazon added a simple object access protocol (SOAP) gateway so that retailers could easily build automated connections to the system. Data is passed as XML documents and automatically converted to Amazon’s format [Babcock 2003]. One of the most successful technologies introduced by Amazon is the affinity list. When someone purchases an item, system makes recommendations based on similar items purchased by other customers. The system uses basic data mining and statistical tools to quickly run correlations and display the suggested products. Kaphan notes that â€Å"There was always a vision to make the service as useful as possible to each user and to take advantage of the ability of the computer to help analyze a lot of data to show people things they were most likely to be interested in† [Collett 2002]. The system also remembers every purchase made by a customer. So, the Amazon programmers created the Instant Order Update feature, that reminds customers if they have already purchased an item in their cart. Bezo notes that â€Å"Customers lead busy lives and cannot always remember if they’ve already purchased a particular item.† He also observed  that â€Å"When we launched Instant Order Update, we were able to measure with statistical significance that the feature slightly reduced sales. Good for customers? Definitely. Good for shareowners? Yes, in the long run† [2003 annual report]. Capital expenditures for software and Web site development are not cheap: $176 million, $146 million, and $128 million for 2010, 2009, and 2008 respectively (2010 Annual Report). But, in comparison, in 2010, net income tax provisions were $352 million. New Services Amazon requires huge data centers and high-speed Internet connections to run its systems. Through vast economies of scale, Amazon is able to achieve incredibly low prices for data storage and bandwidth. Around 2005, the company decided that it could leverage those low costs into a new business selling Internet-based services. The company offers an online data storage service called S3. For a monthly fee of about 15 cents per gigabyte stored plus 15 cents per gigabyte of data transferred, any person or company can transfer and store data on Amazon servers [Markoff 2006]. Through a similar service (EC2), any company can use the company’s Web servers to deliver digital content to customers. The company essentially serves as a Web host, but instead of paying fixed costs, you pay 10 cents per virtual server per hour plus bandwidth costs. Amazon’s network can handle bursts up to 1 gigabit per second. The system creates virtual servers, running the Linux kernel, and you can run any software you want [Gralla 2006]. By 2011, the company had several locations providing S3 and EC2 Web services. It also offered online relational database services using either MySQL or the Oracle DBMS. Anyone can pay to store data in the DBMS, with charges being levied per hour, per data stored, and per data transferred. The point is that Amazon handles all of the maintenance and other companies avoid fixed costs. Even government agencies are adopting the benefits of storing data in these cloud services—including those run by Amazon. For example, the U.S. Treasury Department moved is public Web sites to the Amazon cloud. [Pratt 2011]. Perhaps the most unusual service is Mturk. The name derives from an  18-century joke where a â€Å"mechanical† chess-playing machine surprised European leaders and royalty by beating many expert players. The trick was that a human was hidden under the board and moved the pieces with magnets. Amazon’s trick is to use human power to solve problems. Companies post projects on the Mturk site and offer to pay a price for piecemeal work. Any individual can sign up and perform a task and get paid based on the amount of work completed. Amazon takes a 10 percent commission above the fee. For example, the company Casting Words places audio files on the site and pays people 42 cents to transcribe one minute of audio files into text [Markoff 2006]. The Amazon EC2 and S3 services suffered some problems in the summer of 2011. A configuration error during an upgrade in the East Coast facility triggered a cascade that delayed all services in the facility. Internet services including Foursquare and Reddit that used the facility were impacted by the problems for almost a week [Tibken 2011]. Amazon engineers learned a lot from the problems and the same issue is unlikely to occur again [http://aws.amazon.com/message/65648/]. But, the outage points out the risks involved in any centralized system. Ironically, the main problems were caused by algorithms designed to copy data to multiple servers to reduce risks. On the other hand, with multiple facilities, Amazon provides the ability to spread content and risk across multiple locations. Adam Selipsky, vice president of product management and developer relations at Amazon Web Services observed that â€Å"†Amazon is fundamentally a technology company; we’ve spent more than one and a half billion dollars investing in technology and content. We began by retailing books, but it was never in our business plan to stay with that† [Gralla 2006]. Financial Performance When Amazon started, it spent huge amounts of money not only building infrastructure, but also buying market share. It took Amazon nine years to achieve profitability. And the profits started to arrive only after the company changed its pricing model—focusing on retail prices for popular items and smaller discounts for all books. In the process, the company lost almost $3 billion. It was not until 2009 that Amazon had generated enough profits to cover all of its prior losses (ignoring interest rates and debt). The company’s financial position has improved since 2000. Most of the improvement is due to increases in sales—which is good. But, those sales increased largely by selling products for other firms, and from one more twist. Amazon no longer discounts most of the books that it sells. In fact, it is generally more expensive to purchase books from Amazon than to buy them from your local bookstore. For competitive online pricing, check www.campusi.com, which searches multiple Web sites for the best price, but the selection might not be as large. Another source of increased sales is the international market (largely Britain, Europe and Japan). Notice in the table that media sales (books, audio, and movies) are higher in the International market than in North America. More products are sold in North America, but clearly the growth path is the international market. Out of curiosity, where did all of that money go? In 2003, Bezos noted that $900 million went to business technology; $300 million was spent on the fulfillment centers; and $700 million on marketing and customer acquisition [Murphy 2003]. That last part largely represents selling books at a loss or offering free shipping while trying to attract customers. Those numbers add up to the $1.9 billion debt, but what happened to the other $1 billion in net losses? Interestingly, according to the 2010 Annual Report, Amazon still runs a loss on shipping. In 2010, the company declared shipping revenue of $1.2 billion, against outbound shipping costs of $2.6 billion, for a net loss of $1.4 billion! Amazon continues to expand aggressively. In 2011, Amazon estimated revenue increases of 28-39 percent but increased operating expenses by about 38 percent. Tom Szkutak, Amazon’s finance chief noted that â€Å"When you add something to the magnitude of 23 fulfillment centers, mostly in the course of the second half of last year, you have added costs and you’re not as productive on those assets for some time,† [Wu 2011]. For the longer term, Amazon’s leaders clearly indicate that they are aware of the stiff competition—both from bricks-and-mortar retailers and from online rivals including small start-ups and established rivals including Apple and Google. Case Questions 1. Who are Amazon’s competitors? 2. Why would customers shop at Amazon if they can find better prices elsewhere? 3. Why did Amazon create most of its own technology from scratch? 4. If Amazon buys products from other firms and simply ships them to customers, why does it need so many of its own distribution centers? 5. Will other retailers buy or lease the Web software and services from Amazon? Can Amazon make enough money from selling these services? 6. Write a report to management that describes the primary cause of the problems, a detailed plan to solve them, and show how the plan solves the problems and describe any other benefits it will provide. Additional Reading Babcock, Charles, â€Å"Amazon Makes Online Merchandising Easier,† Information Week, September 15, 2003. Bacheldor, Beth, â€Å"From Scratch: Amazon Keeps Supply Chain Close To Home,† Information Week, March 5, 2004. Claburn, Thomas, â€Å"Amazon.com And Toys ‘R’ Us Are On The Outs,† Information Week, May 31, 2004. Claburn, Thomas, â€Å"Why Amazon Is Suing Toys ‘R’ Us,† Information Week, June 29, 2004. Collett, Stacy, â€Å"The Web’s Best-seller,† Computerworld, September 30, 2002. Goodridge, Elisabeth and Matthew G. Nelson, â€Å"Update: Amazon Drops Sun, Compaq For HP,† Information Week, May 31, 2000. Gralla, Preston, â€Å"Computing in the Cloud,† Computerworld, December 21, 2006. Hansell, Saul. â€Å"A Front-Row Seat as Amazon Gets Serious,† The New York Times, May 20, 2001, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/20/technology/20AMAZ.html. Hayes, Mary, â€Å"CDs, High Heels, Flannel Shirts,† Information Week, November 4, 2002. Heun, Christopher T., â€Å"Amazon, Borders Team For Superior Customer Service,† Information Week, April 16, 2001. Heun, Christopher T., â€Å"Amazon Loss Shrinks; AOL Buys Amazon Search Service,† Information Week, July 24, 2001. Heun, Christopher T., â€Å"Amazon Plugs Into Circuit City In Profitability Drive,† Information Week, August 27, 2001. Konicki, Steve, â€Å"Amazon Taps Excelon To Redo Supply-Chain System,† Information Week, October 30, 2000. Kontzer, Tony, â€Å"Amazon Teams With Expedia On Online Travel Store,† Information Week, September 26, 2001. Letzing, John, â€Å"Amazon Wins Reprieve on California Tax in Exchange for Jobs,† The Wall Street Journal, September 23, 2011. Mangalindan, Mylene, â€Å"Threatening eBay’s Dominance, More Online Sellers Go It Alone,† The Wall Street Journal, June 22, 2005. Markoff, John, â€Å"Software Out There,† The New York Times, April 5, 2006. Murphy, Chris, â€Å"Amazon, The Services Firm,† Information Week, June 10, 2003. Peers, Martin, â€Å"Launching New Tablet, Amazon Plays With Fire,† The Wall Street Journal, September 29, 2011. Pratt, Mary K., â€Å"Feds Race to the Cloud,† Computerworld, July 13, 2011. Tibken, Shara, â€Å"Amazon Cloud Snafu Disrupts Websites,† The Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2011. Whiting, Rick, â€Å"System Overhaul Boosts Amazon’s Inventory Update Time,† Information Week, February 19, 2002. Stu Woo, â€Å"Expenses Eat at Amazon’s Profit,† The Wall Street Journal, January 28, 2011. Stu Woo and Michelle Kung, â€Å"Netflix, Amazon Add to Movies,† The Wall Street Journal, September 27, 2011.

the pigman essays

the pigman essays In the novel, The Pigman, writing by Paul Zindel the main characters are Mr.Pignati, John and Lorraine. They all meet by chance and each becomes a trespasser on another's life. However, John and Lorraine each gain something from their experience with the Mr.Pignati. Mr.Pignati, John and Lorraine all have their own individual reasons and desires for wanting to be with each character. John had many reasons for wanted to be with the Pigman. John benefited greatly on getting money for L Loraine trespassed on Mr.Pignati just as much as John did. She received things like stockings and food from him and also in the phone marathon she cheated and looked up his number. Mr.Pignati's house was basically a hang out to Lorraine and John, like when Lorraine couldn't take being at home she just went to Mr.Pignati's house. Towards the end of the novel Lorraine became a better person because she started to become more honest with her mother and start to under stand he mother better. Lorraine and John both have trespassed but both learned for their wrong doings. The novel The Pigman, focuses on the growth of individual characters. Each character has their reasons for wanting to be with the other character but being with the other characters changes their perspective on life. Mr.Pignati, John and Lorraine all trespass on eachother, but benefit on becoming better people. ...

Ma Practice Question Essays

Ma Practice Question Essays Ma Practice Question Paper Ma Practice Question Paper Practice Questions: Time Value of Money (TVM) Its Applications in Investments 1. Jose now has $500. How much would he have after 6 years if he leaves it invested at 5. 5% with annual compounding? a. $591. 09 b. $622. 20 c. $654. 95 d. $689. 42 e. $723. 89 N6 I/YR5. 5% PV$500 PMT$0 FV$689. 42 2. How much would $5,000 due in 25 years be worth today if the discount rate were 5. 5%? a. $1,067. 95 b. $1,124. 16 c. $1,183. 33 d. $1,245. 61 e. $1,311. 17 N25 I/YR5. 5% PMT$0 FV$5,000 PV$1,311. 17 3. Suppose the U. S. Treasury offers to sell you a bond for $747. 5. No payments will be made until the bond matures 5 years from now, at which time it will be redeemed for $1,000. What interest rate would you earn if you bought this bond at the offer price? a. 4. 37% b. 4. 86% c. 5. 40% d. 6. 00% e. 6. 60% N5 PV$747. 25 PMT$0 FV$1,000. 00 I/YR6. 00% 4. You sold a car and accepted a note with the following cash flow stream as your payment. What was the effective price you re ceived for the car assuming an interest rate of 6. 0%? Years:01234 ||||| CFs:$0$1,000$2,000$2,000$2,000 a. $5,987 b. $6,286 c. $6,600 d. $6,930 e. $7,277 I/YR = 6. 0% 01234 CFs:$0$1,000$2,000$2,000$2,000 PV of CFs:$0$943$1,780$1,679$1,584 PV = $5,987Found using the Excel NPV function. PV = $5,987Found by summing individual PVs. PV = $5,987Found using the calculator NPV key. 5. At a rate of 6. 5%, what is the future value of the following cash flow stream? Years:01234 ||||| CFs:$0$75$225$0$300 a. $526. 01 b. $553. 69 c. $582. 83 d. $613. 51 e. $645. 80 I/YR = 6. 5% 01234 CFs:$0$75$225$0$300 FV of CFs:$0$91$255$0$300 FV = $645. 80Found by summing individual FVs. FV = $645. 80Found with the NFV key in some calculators. FV = $645. 80Found with a calculator by first finding the PV of the stream, then finding the FV of that PV. PV of the stream:$501. 99 FV of the PV:$645. 80 6. What’s the future value of $1,500 after 5 years if the appropriate interest rate is 6%, compounded semiannually? a. $1,819 b. $1,915 c. $2,016 d. $2,117 e. $2,223 Years5 Periods/Yr2 Nom. I/YR6. 0% N = Periods10 PMT$0 I = I/Period3. 0% PV = $1,500 Could be found using a calculator, an equation, or Excel. FV = $2,016 Note that we must first convert to periods and rate per period 7. An investor plans to buy a common stock and hold it for two years. The investor expects to receive $1. 5 in dividend a year and $26 from the sales of the stock at the end of year 2. If the investor wants a 15% return (compound annually), the maximum price the investor should pay for the stock today is roughly: A). $24 B). $28 C). $22 D). $32 E). $26 C). $22 (n=2, pmt = 1. 5, fv = 26, I = 15%, PV = ? ) 8. Morin Companys bonds mature in 8 years, have a par value of $1,000, and make an annual coupon interest payment of $65. The market requires an interest rate of 8. % on these bonds. What is the bonds price? a. $903. 04 b. $925. 62 c. $948. 76 d. $972. 48 e. $996. 79 N8 I/YR8. 2% PMT$65 FV$1,000 PV$903. 04 9. Sadik Inc. s bonds currently sell for $1,180 and have a par value of $1,000. They pay a $105 annual coupon and have a 15-year maturity, but they can be called in 5 years at $1,100. What is their yield to call (YTC)? a. 6. 63% b. 6. 98% c. 7. 35% d. 7. 74% e. 8. 12% N5 PV$1,180 PMT$105 FV$1,100 I/YR = YTC7. 74% 10. Assume that you are considering the purchase of a 20-year, noncallable bond with an annual coupon rate of 9. %. The bond has a face value of $1,000, and it makes semiannual interest payments. If you require an 8. 4% nominal yield to maturity on this investment, what is the maximum price you should be willing to pay for the bond? a. $1,105. 69 b. $1,133. 34 c. $1,161. 67 d. $1,190. 71 e. $1,220. 48 Par value$1,000 Coupon rate9. 5% Periods/year2 Yrs to maturity20 Periods = Yrs to maturity ? Periods/year40 Required rate8. 4% Periodic rate = Required rate/2 = I/YR4. 20% PMT per period = Coupon rate/2 ? Par value$47. 50 Maturity value = FV$1,000 PV$1,105. 69

The Reactions of Hoover and Roosevelt to the Great Depression Assignment

The Reactions of Hoover and Roosevelt to the Great Depression - Assignment Example The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act (1930) however has been seen by historians and economists today though as something that actually made the problems associated with the Great Depression worse, not better. Those economists that believe that the economy can only benefit from lowering prices point to tariffs as a way of increasing prices rather than dropping them. Roosevelt, on the other hand, campaigned on a balanced budget and a promise not to intervene with the economy. However, once he was elected he went ahead and expanded some of Hoover’s programs and created some of his own. The minimum wage act and the Davis-Beacon Act (1931) meant a reduction is price flexibility which slowed the economy even further. The New Deal which was a program implemented under Roosevelt’s reign was actually two different deals. The first one which ran from 1933 – 1935 was aimed at inputting money at the top of the economy so that the people at the bottom benefitted from the trickle-down effect. The Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933) for example paid farmers to reduce their production. No one was actually able to explain why that would help children in the poverty end of the scale who were going without food or the countless numbers of tenants and sharecroppers who were evicted and left without a job but it did make the larger (wealthier) farmers happy. As far as helping alleviate the impact of the Depression however, it was a non-starter – consumer demand fell because of course there were fewer people with money to spend. The National Industry Recovery Act (1933) was instrumental in setting up a centralized planning scheme that would encourage businesses to set prices that would drive weaker and smaller businesses out of the marketplace completely. Again this might have benefitted larger businesses but the smaller ones were still forced to close and unemployment figures still continued to rise, meaning there was less money being spent in the economy.  

Havisham Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Havisham - Assignment Example Her beautiful mansion of love collapsed and that betrayal led her to make some desperate decisions. When the news struck her like a lightning that her man was gone forever from her life she was wearing only one shoe, and she continued to remain in that condition. She wished to conquer time in her own style by stopping all the clocks in Satis House at twenty minutes to nine, and that was the moment when she received the news of treachery of Compeyson. She literally turned mad and yearned for vendetta. Her adoption of Estella was not an act of love, not to recoup her original mental poise, but to seek revenge on men. She imparted her training to break men’s hearts. She was raised as a weapon, a destructive tool. She failed to grasp the essence of life that in societal terms one lived not only for self but for the sake of near and dear ones in the family and well-wishers. All noble thoughts and ethical standards were swept under the carpet by her in the pursuit of destructivity. She failed to appreciate the intensity of hurt that she was causing to Pip and Estella. Havisham discounts the possibility that there is always scope for advancement in life, notwithstanding the cruel stroke of destiny. One incident, good or bad, does not constitute life. Trials and tribulations are part of life and the world cannot run on happiness alone. With a rigid approach, she shuns societal contacts and prefers self-imposed prison of solitude and speaks in the words of condemnation about the man who betrays her and men in general. Her condition evokes deep sympathy. Words generate from her tongue like the blows of hammer. Havisham has suppressed the tender feelings of love and her heart is filled with poisonous thoughts of negativities. But, after all, she is a woman and her sexual feelings torment her, sadism overtakes her and she lashes out at the male fraternity, Miss Havisham is certainly not responsible for her own misery. The