Neoliberalism And Urban Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Neoliberalism And Urban Environment - Essay Example It is characterized by freedom and liberty. In a liberalist perspective, they view such concept as letting the people decide of what they want and without any intervention or influence by others or the government itself. It advocates a free market policy and tries to open the economic possibilities of doing business globally. In such time, great thinkers and even ordinary people are hungry for a development, hungry for another structure that would best cater the interests of the public. People want something new in the system that governs them. As a result of hunger, they in turn had given birth to neoliberalism that until now is a living idea that influences the world, a science that helped and continue to help in shaping the world. Neoliberalism is a set of principles and theories governing economics. These are principles and theories that are widely influenced by Adam Smith. These are theories mostly used in dealing with the problems of developing countries and the relationship in trade and commerce of developed and developing countries. Neoliberalism is greatly linked to Frederick von Hayek's theories of economics, the IMF and departments of economics such as the Economics department of the University of Chicago. Neoliberalism became a central concept to critical researchers in the realm of economics in the 1990's. Neoliberalism, a globally pervasive political project with manifestations at a variety of scales, strives to resurrect the classical economic works of Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, and David Ricardo to name some. The context in which classical economists were working in, the 18th Century is marked with ideals of democracy and citizenship in which the theory of liberalism was sculptured and developed. The western political theory of liberalism sought to free a 'natural' market from the unnatural control of government. Few seem to argue the merits of a democratic society and the role of political and economic freedom. Although democracy has room for improvement and development, it is no longer a movement without precedence that is looking for an eloquent theory to act as agent. Neoliberalism suggests there is something new and different about the goals of contemporary liberalism. It is referred to by some liberalist thinkers as an offspring of liberalism. In general terms, the 'new' of neoliberalism is the idea that there are inevitable external market forces that will require structural change; and that structural change is only applied to select institutionalizations of the state (Peck 2004). This idea is 'new' compared to classical liberalism because neoliberals work to diminish the state to a point of near death, whereas classical liberalists recognized the state as a necessary evil to be looked at with skepticism. And, again in general terms, the difference between neoliberalism and its root liberalist ideals is the contextual embedded ness - different times develop different ideas. And, neoliberals are not necessarily fighting a totalitarian state as their liberalist predecessors had. NEOLIBERALISM PROPONENTS AND VIEWS One of the great thinkers that made his name famous in this field was Frederick von Hayek who founded the Mont Pelerin society in 1947. The main objective of the Mont Pelerin society was to establish a free market which is not in control of the government

Cincinnati Subs Essay Example for Free

Cincinnati Subs Essay Cincinnati Super Subs employee makeup is mostly young students in college and in high school; management has indicated that the chain has experienced â€Å"below average profitability over the past 18 months† (McShane Von Glinow, 2013, p. 156). The below average profitability is linked to the increase of food wastage, management has taken steps to address the issue from reduction and elimination of food allowance accounts to the increased visual scrutiny given workers. The changes made by management were only successful for a few months, after the managers reduced their time in daily operations the amount of food wastage began to increase. To reduce food wastage management must have a presence in daily operations at the sub chain, create and enforce punishments for violations, set goals and create rewards for the reduction in food wastage. Indications of Problems at Cincinnati Super Subs ​Food wastage at Cincinnati Super Subs is a huge problem that has resulted in the reduction of monthly bonuses given to management. The staff at the chain complains about the amount or lack of food allowances given, this would prompt employees to â€Å"help themselves to food and drinks when the managers aren’t around† (McShane Von Glinow, 2013, p. 156). The reduction in profitability over the past 18 months at stores has indicated the levels of food wastage have significantly impacted management employee relations and overall costs at the chain. The importance of reducing food wastage is not realized by non-management staff, they feel that the amount of food/drinks given away or eaten isn’t a significant amount of profits. Corrective actions taken against employees have reduced staff levels as some employees have quit and warned others about seeking employment at Cincinnati Super Subs. Management failed to accurately identify and corrects the causes of f ood wastage, and in the process caused employee dissatisfaction.

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While viewing The Conversation I was struck by the quality sound design. As we previously watched Gravity weeks prior it became clear why a movie like that would need many sound engineers to balance all the special effects one would get in an IMAX theatre. However, this feature goes in depth about Harry who is a Bugger, one who records people’s conversations or sounds, such as a private investigator. His job is to record others conversations and not ask questions from his employer. To capture the reality and impact of a story, sound technicians must manipulate the dialogue with any background or source music to flow naturally. As audience members, we do not recognize the complexity and extreme measures sound editors go to in order to capture everyday sounds of background noises and/or to highlight specific aspects of the world the character may be experiencing with more focus. When I think of films with great sound design, I usually think of the action or adventure genres. Al though The Conversation is not an action film, it exudes a powerful sound design that is quite impressive. The sound is greater than you could expect, or maybe even notice, on an initial viewing. The storyline allows its main character, played by Gene Hackman, to act as an on-screen sound mixer. Through the film’s volume changes the sound perspectives within the diegetic space were interesting to follow through listening intently. The dramatic differences are between looking down a street or standing in the street. Such as when Harry is trying to take the bongo drums out of the recording so he can clearly hear the vocals of the two people he is recording with precision. When watching the film I saw that Walter Murch actually did some of the sound design on... ...t within the diegesis we hear music that exemplifies his state of mood. He vigorously searches his apartment in hopes to find the bug that they placed in his apartment that is mentioned in the phone call. The piano starts out slowly then speeds up as he breaks everything in the place to the point he would need to replace it. It then fades off with Harry sitting on the torn up floor with the piano at a medium pace and him playing the saxophone showing his disappoint that he was one upped by someone. Lastly, in today’s world The Conversation still serves as a contemporary cautionary tale. It reminds us how important sound designers are to the world of filmmaking or private investigators that must record sounds. In today’s films we have made a huge breakthrough with sound technologies such as Dolby Atmos, which can only get better with advancement in future updates.

Which Is More Effective In Reducing Arm Lymphoedema For Breast Cancer Patients

Breast cancer treatment involves different aspects like through surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, bone marrow transplant, oophorectomy, and adrenalectomy. With this kind of treatments, the patient may develop arm lymphoedema due to the surgery to remove lymph nodes or radiotherapy to the lymph nodes in the armpit. If lymphoedema is not treated, it will get worse. It can be painful and make it difficult to move the arm. This complication can lead to systemic infections and localized swelling that will be very hard to bear. But today, lymphoedema is becoming less common. This is because specialists now try to avoid giving women both surgery and radiotherapy to the armpit. Having surgery and radiotherapy to the armpit greatly increases the risk of damaging the lymph nodes and causing lymphoedema. It is important that the patient know about his or her disease and the risk of developing lymphoedema. Poor drainage of the lymphatic system due to surgical removal of the lymph nodes or to radiation therapy may make the affected arm or leg more susceptible to serious infection. Even a small infection may lead to serious lymphoedema. Patients should be taught about arm care after surgery and/or radiation. It is important that patients take precautions to prevent injury and infection in the affected arm because lymphoedema can occur 30 or more years after surgery. Breast cancer patients who follow instructions about skin care and proper exercise after mastectomy are less likely to experience lymphoedema. As management of lymphoedema, compression bandages and manual lymphatic drainage are the mostly used care for such patients. Statement Of Fact After treatment, some things can increase fluid collection in your arm and increase your risk of lymphoedema. These include Infection in a cut or graze, insect bites, severe sunburn, putting too much strain on your arm too early. But this can be prevented by not using your arm for anything heavy until you are told you can, not letting anyone take blood, give injections or take your blood pressure from the treated arm, unless it is an emergency and there is no alternative, wearing gloves when gardening or doing housework, taking care when playing with pets, using insect repellent and high factor sunscreen, using nail clippers rather than scissors and not pushing your cuticles back, using an electric razor rather than a manual one if you shave under your arms, avoiding anything that will increase the temperature of your skin, like very hot baths or showers, sitting too close to a heater, saunas, steam rooms and sun beds, using a non scented moisturizer or oil on your skin each day to help it stay moist and supple, using a thimble when sewing, continuing to do the arm and shoulder exercises you were taught after your surgery. If you do get a cut or scratch on your arm, however small, wash it well and cover it un til healed. If you see any redness or swelling around the cut, see your GP straight away. You may need antibiotic. Lymphoedema can start at any time after there have been treated for breast cancer. It is important to take these precautions for the rest of life. If lymphoedema has occurred already, it can be managed by exercises that help the fluid to drain from your arm, compression bandages or by manual lymphatic drainage. Definition of Terms: 1. Lymph – a pale coagulable fluid that bathes the tissues, passes into the lymphatic channels and ducts, is discharged into the blood by way of the thoracic duct, and consists of a liquid portion resembling blood plasma and containing white blood cells but normally no red blood cells. 2. Lymphatic – a vessel that contains or conveys lymph, that originates as an interfibrillar or intracellular cleft or space in a tissue or organ. 3. Lymph node – any of the rounded masses of lymphoid tissue that are surrounded by a capsule of connective tissue , are distributed along the lymphatic vessels, and contain numerous lymphocytes which filter the flow of lymph passing through the node. 4. Arm Lymphoedema – swelling of the arm and armpit due to the treatment of breast cancer by surgery or radiation. 5. Lymphoedema – edema due to faulty lymphatic drainage. 6. Breast cancer – a carcinoma in the breast 7. Axillary lymph clearance – operative management for disease control in invasive breast cancer, obtaining prognostic information and influencing postoperative therapy including the choice of breast cancer trials. Main Body The management of lymphoedema consists of compression bandages, manual lymphatic drainage, or by exercises but shou ld be done by trained or specialist person. Mostly used now are the compression bandages and the manual lymphatic drainage. In using the management of lymphoedema, the patient should have passed the axillary lymph clearance. Axillary node clearance is the established operative management for disease control in invasive breast cancer, obtaining prognostic information and influencing postoperative therapy including the choice of breast cancer trials.Dying of Breast Cancer in the 1800s Axillary node clearance can be defined as clearing the axillary contents bounded by the axillary skin laterally, latissimus dorsi, teres major and subscapularis posteriorly, the lower border of the axillary vein superiorly, pectoralis muscles anteriorly, and the chest wall medially. The levels of axillary nodes are anatomically defined as level one (inferolateral to pectoralis minor), level two (posterior to pectoralis minor) and level three (superomedial to pectoralis minor). There are alternatives to level one, two and three axillary node clearance for breast cancer. Some surgeons simply excise the lower axillary nodes (level one), others believe, particularly for small or impalpable cancers, that an axillary node sample taking a minimum of 4 nodes is a satisfactory alternative. Most recently the concept of sentinel node biopsy (reviewed by McIntosh and Purushotham in 1998) has been exciting great interest. Current recommendations, by a range of surgical and oncological groups, are that some form of axillary surgery, and hence axillary staging, should be performed in all patients who undergo operative treatment for breast cancer. It is no longer acceptable to ignore the axilla if performing surgery for breast cancer. The axilla is one of the area with lymph nodes mostly affected by breast cancer and the patient who finished the axillary lymph clearance will then be undergoing the management of compression bandages or the manual lymphatic drainage. There is no cure for lymphoedema, which makes proper care and treatment of the affected arm even more important. Compression bandaging, also called wrapping, is the application of several layers of padding and short-stretch bandages to the involved areas. Short-stretch bandages are preferred over long-stretch bandages (such as those normally used to treat sprains), as the long-stretch bandages cannot produce the higher tension necessary to safely reduce Lymphoedema and may in fact end up producing a tourniquet effect. During activity, whether exercise or daily activities, the short-stretch bandages enhance the pumping action of the lymph vessels by providing increased resistance for them to push against. This encourages lymphatic flow and helps to soften fluid-swollen areas. Compression bandages gives comfort to the patient through giving pressure and compression in the affected area specifically in the arm and armpits. It serves as a support in the said area preventing further swelling and redness. Practitioners may want to encourage long-term and consistent use of compression bandages by women with lymphoedema. Its advantage is in terms of support and comfort to the patient and less invasive. Compression bandages may also protect the extremity from injuries such as burns, lacerations and insect bites. The compression bandage has its benefits such as it is less costly and patient does not need further effort to use it because it is for support and pressure in the specified area. In contrast to compression bandages, another management to lymphoedema is through manual lymphatic drainage. One of the main treatments for lymphoedema is a massage-like technique called manual lymphatic drainage that helps to stimulate the lymphatic vessels. However, massage, the way people generally think of massage, is a vigorous technique that can cause an increase in fluid production. The type of massage that is used to treat lymphoedema is a very gentle technique. Lymphatic massage is directed towards the heart from the fingertips, up the arm, towards the shoulder, and there are very specific directions and strokes that are used in this particular massage. A very specialized type of massage called manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) is an important part of the treatment of lymphoedema. To be effective in treating lymphoedema, it is important to use the correct technique. The aim of the massage is to stimulate or move the excess fluid away from the swollen area so that it can drain away normally. Massage also encourages and improves drainage in the healthy lymphatics (which helps keep fluid away from swollen areas). Manual lymphatic drainage differs from ordinary massage – it is very gentle and aims to encourage movement of lymph away from swollen areas. MLD is particularly useful if there is swelling in the face, breast, abdomen, genitals or elsewhere on the trunk. As this is a specialized form of massage, it should be given only by a trained therapist. There are some other different techniques including the Vodder, Foldi, Leduc or Casley-Smith methods. Therapists should be trained in at least one of these. The aim of this massage is to stimulate the lymph channels on the trunk to clear the way ahead so excess fluid can drain away. The skin is always moved away from the swollen side. You will find it easier to start with one hand, and then swap to the other as you move across the body. Before and after MLD, breathing exercises can help to stimulate lymphatic drainage. This can be done by letting the patient sit upright in a comfortable chair or lie on your bed with your knees slightly bent. Rest his hands on ribs and let patient take deep breaths to relax. This exercise should be done 5 times and there should be short rests before getting up to avoid dizziness. Manual lymphatic drainage is improved during exercise; therefore, exercise is important in preventing lymphoedema. Breast cancer patients should do hand and arm exercises as instructed after mastectomy. Patients who have surgery that affects pelvic lymph node drainage should do leg and foot exercises as instructed. The doctor decides how soon after surgery the patient should start exercising. Physiatrists (doctors who specialize in physical medicine and rehabilitation) or physical therapists should develop an individualized exercise program for the patient. The advantage of the manual lymphatic drainage as management of lymphoedema is that it gives opportunity for open wounds to drain with gentle massage and excess exudates to drain freely without pressure. In terms of the disadvantage side of the management of lymphoedema, it differs also. In compression bandages, there is an exemption in placing it especially if the affected area has an open wound or has an ample amount of drainage in the area or with pus. The pressure given by the compression bandage can even more contribute to the entry of microorganisms or infection to occur. This may cause another disease process to start and give greater complications to the patient. Compression bandages are probably the most difficult problem is in the maintenance and control of lymphoedema before, during and after treatment. Patients may be noncompliant with using compression garments because the garments are unsightly, uncomfortable, difficult to put on and expensive. Customized, lightweight and colourful garments may be an option for comfort and wear. As for the manual lymph drainage, its disadvantage is in terms of the inaccurate use of the MLD of the one giving care which can also rupture other lymph nodes in the area and also as well as the hygienic process in giving the manual lymphatic drainage. Some patients also experience some discomfort on such procedure as the drainage is in its process. The preference in such procedures is by the patient by giving proper education and explanation on each management. Conclusion Both compression bandages and manual lymphatic drainage as management of arm lymphoedema gives comfort and benefit to the patient giving different of care to the patient in relieving such discomfort. Both have advantages and disadvantages to consider but what matters most is the greater care and comfort the patient gets in being free of pain and swelling in such areas which would be very difficult for the patient to do the activities of daily living with an arm that cannot be moved and with great amount of pain being experienced. It also is extremely important to remember that a certified lymphoedema therapist needs to either perform the treatment or educate the patient and/or family members in self-care techniques, once the patient has gone through an intensive treatment program. The therapist will design the treatment plan based on the severity of the lymphoedema. It can also depend on the type of reimbursement patients can get from their health plans. In my practice, for example, we would treat a patient with a mild upper extremity lymphoedema for a five-day period, including of manual lymphatic drainage (MLD), bandaging, exercise, and also education in self-care. So by the end of the five days, usually the patient is able to manually drain the limb and follow a home program. There is no greater comparison on both management, the physician orders such management for the patient’s welfare and fast recovery yet this lymphoedema does not have the accurate cure but just the rehabilitation to the pain and swelling to the arms and its surrounding areas. It may be done by compression bandage or manual lymph drainage, it all points out to the care of the patient that lessens the access of infection, occurrence of pain and swelling.

Human Computer Interaction and User Interface Design Essay

The two interfaces chosen for this project are two book selling sites – LinkedIn. com and Orkut. com. The two websites are social networking sites. While Orkut. com brings together friends and is more personal in nature, LinkedIn. com is more professional. Social networking sites being highly popular, I chose to select these interfaces for comparison. LinkedIn has over 40 million professionals using it to: †¢ â€Å"Exchange information, ideas and opportunities† †¢ Connect or re-connect with and stay informed about their contacts and industry †¢ Find inside connections to find a new job or business opportunity †¢ Find the people and knowledge required †¢ Have a controlled online professional identity Orkut, on the other hand, lets you connect with people you already know in your personal life (friends and family) while at the same time allowing you to make new friends through friends of friends and communities. It allows sharing of videos, pictures as well as your passions with friends and communities. 2. Norman’s principles for good design Norman has suggested the following principles to ensure that a website has a good design: †¢ Visibility–The designer should ensure that the state of the possible actions can be easily understood by the user. †¢ Conceptual model–All operations should be consistent in nature and the user should be able to easily understand how the site works and what options are available to the user. †¢ Mappings–The user should be able to easily map actions with their results such as between controls and possible actions that can be taken on a control or between the system state and visible indicators like change of color or image. †¢ Feedback–Users should continuously get feedback on the results of their actions helping them understand whether they have taken the right step or not. 3. User Interface overview 3. 1. LinkedIn LinkedIn requires your name and email address to open an account post which you need to provide your current employment details. These two pages are simple, similar to the Google search page look. Once the registration is completed, LinkedIn takes you to your LinkedIn page. The homepage is divided into two sections – the top section that consists of main links to search people, jobs, answers and companies with comparatively big bold letters and is separated from the bottom section by a blue line. On the right corner, quick links to the account and its settings, help language and the option to sign out are available. The top section has blue font with a white background all through. This section also consists of a search option to search people, job, companies, etc. using a drop down box. The search option automatically changes to reflect the section it is in i. e. it says â€Å"Search People† when in the Contacts page and â€Å"Search Groups† when in the Groups page. The bottom section has a grey background and is divided into three parts. Each section individually has a white background and the sections are floating in the grey background. The bottom section represents the main work area consisting of the details regarding the user profile, contacts and groups. The left hand side frame provides options personal to the user which includes viewing various lists such as groups joined, profile, contacts, inbox, and applications that help improve user experience with LinkedIn. These links are provided with images as well. These links further provide links to options available such as My Groups, Groups Directory and Create a Group for the Groups menu. The submenus are not visible but can be seen on clicking the menu item or clicking on the + symbol on the right side. The submenus can be collapsed by clicking the – symbol that now appears instead of the + symbol. The link for the current page is highlighted with a blue background. In Home page, the words Home have a blue background unlike the others with white background. At the end of the menu, there is a button to add new connections. The button is of green color and attracts the attention towards it. Below this section is another small section that is an assessment of profile completeness along with a photo and name. The profile completeness is expressed in words as well as a status bar is shown that reflects the actual status. The name draws the attention with its bold font along with the status bar. The right side section consists of several modules – the main module being the â€Å"Build your network† in a green colored box that provides different options to find your contacts. The options include searching using web email contacts, address book contacts, or using email addresses. For web email contacts, again several options are provided as radio buttons. Since each of these options require different inputs, selecting one shows a box with an arrow pointing towards the option selected and the inputs required are within this box. All buttons on the page have a light orange color which changes to blue on moving the mouse over it. All links within this module also have an icon associated with it. In the extreme right, there are several modules one below the other starting with ads by LinkedIn Members. The remaining modules include featured application on LinkedIn, Reading List by Amazon, Events, Answers and Jobs. The headings in these modules are in white color on blue background. Text within these modules is in black color whereas links have blue color. Important words like subheadings, Member names, event names, etc. are appropriate made bold to highlight them. The events are represented with the date put in a box with grey background and the month above it in smaller font with orange background. Each module heading also consists of an edit link and an ‘X’ to remove the module. At the end of these modules is the option to add other applications as required. Here again a plus symbol is used to indicate the adding of a new application. The arrow at the end can be clicked to show a list of applications available to be added but the arrow is too small and can be easily missed. These modules can be customized as required, adding, editing or moving them around to suit an individual’s preferences and needs. At the bottom, there is a tip available in a box. More tips can be seen with the help of arrows. Here arrows that are commonly used to move to next or previous tip are used. Clicking on Profile or Edit My Profile or + symbol next to Profile brings one to the Edit My Profile page. The Profile text in the menu now has a blue background indicating the current page. The centre module that consisted of Build your Network is now replaced with the profile details with a heading Profile in navy blue background and two tabs – Edit My Profile and View My Profile. The current tab is in white background whereas the inactive tabs are in grey background with text in blue. The module background is now blue with different subsections in white background. At the top the main details about the user is provided i. e. name, current position and company, location and industry. The last two details are shown in grey color. The links are maintained in blue color, headings and subheadings in bold blue and a + symbol to indicate adding detail in any subsection. An Edit link within square brackets follows all text that can be edited. On the extreme right, a profile completeness status bar is shown but also lists tips on how one could complete the profile along with how much percentage difference it makes to the profile completeness status bar. This module is very helpful, especially for someone new to social networking sites. Clicking on View My Profile tab shows the profile with the same details except that there are no Edit links or + symbols to add further details. The status bar is not seen in this view. Clicking on Contacts section leads to three tabbed page – Connections, Imported Contacts and Network Statistics. The connections are shown listed alphabetically. On the left side, the alphabets are listed and can be clicked to jump to the connections with names starting with that alphabet. Brief details about each connection is provided including email, current position and company and also includes a circle that indicates the number of connections that person has, indicating the network you could be having. The Groups link leads you to the Groups page with four tabs – My Groups, Following, Groups Directory and Create a Group. The list of Groups is presented in a clean manner with an icon representing the group, quick links to discussions, news, updates, members, settings, etc. At the bottom of the list, there is an option to change the order of the groups and how many groups can be displayed at any one time. The order can be changed by writing the numbers or using arrows. On the right side of the list, two blue-colored boxes provide you information on Groups Directory along with a button to find a group as well as option to create your own group. The buttons change color when a mouse moves over. While there are many more functionalities available, the user interface remains the same: 1. Blue color for all links 2. Bold for all headings and subheadings 3. Icons/images to represent major menus or data 4. Tabs for sub menu information 5. Links provided to ease selection 6. Provision to add, remove, edit, or move extra modules around to ease access and utility. 7. Feedback to the user in terms of background color change for links and button color change for buttons 3. 2. Orkut To log into Orkut, one needs to have a Google Account. The page for creating Google Account is simple – a form with a blue border requesting for information like name, email and password with a line marking the end of this subsection. The next subsection begins with a word verification and terms of services provided in a blue scrollable box with grey background. The button for accepting the terms is simple and consists of full text â€Å"I accept. Create my account. † rather than simply saying â€Å"Accept† which makes it clear for new-to-internet users. The login page is simple with two main sections – the top section consisting of all the details and the empty bottom section with bluish grey background. The major left part of the top section consists of orkut selling points with magenta color highlighting the main words. The empty white space surrounding the text gives it a simple, non-cluttered and pleasing look. The top menu bar in dark blue color remains accessible across all pages. Below this is a section with various modules in white background floating in a light blue background. On the extreme left is the menu starting with photo, name, status and other details of the user. Below it is the menu leading to various pages such as profile, scrapbook, etc. Each of these menu items also have an associated icon that is easy to relate to the name of the menu. This is followed by Apps and other menu items. The profile, menus, apps and other menus are separated by a blue line. All text is also in blue. It is noteworthy that all the menu names are in lower caps. Below this module, there is a module to invite friends using their email address or more. All through the page, all links are in blue and when a mouse moves over a link, there is no change in background color or image except an underline below the text. Friend suggestions is another good option since it not only provides you potential friend list, but also shows photos so that one can confirm if he/she is the same person one knows. It also provides quick links to view the profile or add as a friend. An X at the top of the photo can be used to remove it from the list quickly and arrows can be used to navigate through the list. The arrows change to light grey color when one can’t go further on either side. Below this is Updates from my friends section that provides a list of updates on the friend profile. On the extreme right is the â€Å"my friends† section with a count of total friends. It lists around 9 friends along with their photos and there is a link to view all friends, manage them, or find more friends. It also allows for searching friends. To meet the space crunch issue, the text box for searching itself has the caption rather than placing it outside. On clicking inside the text box, the caption clears and the user can add their text to search. Once the profile is filled up and many friends added, the home page can seem cluttered with a lot of information. This is followed by advertisement which is followed by â€Å"my communities†. The layout of this is similar to â€Å"my friends†. Clicking the profile link shows the profile details. Three tabs – social, professional, and personal are provided to add details about different areas of the user. The social tab is further divided into sections separated by a broad white area which also consists of an edit button. Alternate coloring pattern is used to make it easy to read each line and each detail of the profile. â€Å"My scrapbook† page provides all scraps from friends. By default, one can view 10 scraps on one page but a drop down box provides other options as well. Navigation links to move to first, last, next and previous pages are also provided as links. Each scrap is in its own blue box with photo of friend provided along with friend’s name and message. Options to reply and delete the message are also available. Once a conversation has been done through more than one response exchanged, there is a new link â€Å"View this conversation†. Clicking this link grays out the page and opens a new box consisting of the conversation details along with provision to delete. Again, the background is white with each scrap in a light blue colored box. To close the conversation box, an image with an X is provided as well as a close link. A new scrap can be typed in easily through a text box. Again there is no title or caption for the box but the same is seen as content in grey color within the text box. The scrap can also be written in different languages which can be conveniently chosen from the drop down list. Adding a community and managing it is similar in working to adding and managing friends in Orkut. 4. User survey 4. 1. Task description The users are required to do the following: 1. Register themselves 2. Sign In 3. Enter their profile details 4. Search for a friend/professional known to them 5. Add to friend list 6. Search for a community 7. Add themselves to that community 8. Sign out 4. 2. Success criteria The user should be able to create a profile, add contact(s) and join a community/group. 4. 3. User Profile User 1 is an active internet user and has prior online social networking experience. User 2 is new to computers and internet, this being amongst his first experience with social networking. User 3 uses internet mostly for surfing and finding information and has not been a member of any social networking site yet although understands the common functionalities of such websites such as registering, logging in to the site, searching, etc. 4. 4. User experience Due to his prior experience using social networking sites, user 1 had no problem registering for either of them, adding contacts, searching and registering for a group. User 1 found both sites equally easy to register, add contacts and join community; however, he was impressed by the ability to add, remove, edit and move modules in LinkedIn and was looking for similar options in Orkut. Also, searching friends in Orkut listed several names and finding the right one was difficult. While user 2 was able to create the profile and add contacts, the user sometimes felt lost in Orkut once the contacts were added and found it difficult to get back to home page. User 2 also found it difficult to easily search the friend and wished there was an easy way like LinkedIn. User 3 was also able to register easily, add contacts and join communities/groups. User 3 was not concerned about the difficulties in searching friends or professionals and looked at this as an opportunity to make new friends. 5. Suggestions Once a user becomes an active user or has many friends/professional contacts, the information shown on home page can be too much. Suggestion is to show the information partly and provide a link to further information or simply provide links to go to information. By making certain information like school or college details mandatory, orkut can help ease the search process that currently requires searching a friend from a list of hundreds with the same name.

Stationery, Cemetery, and Shepherd

Stationery, Cemetery, and Shepherd Stationery, Cemetery, and Shepherd Stationery, Cemetery, and Shepherd By Maeve Maddox Stationery Both stationery (n.), meaning writing paper, and stationary (adj.), meaning not moving, go back to the same source that gives us the noun station (a stopping place; a place where someone or something stands). In the Middle Ages a stationer was a tradesman who had a shop, as opposed to one who carried his stock around with him. Originally the word was used in a general sense to denote any shopkeeper, but came to be associated with booksellers in particular. Finally, stationer came to mean someone who sells writing materials, i.e., stationery. TIP: Stationery, like paper, is spelled with er. A parked car is stationary. Like park, the adjective stationary is spelled with ar. Cemetery This seems to be an especially endangered spelling. I have a local real estate map that spells cemetery incorrectly dozens of times. Ive even seen an official cemetery sign with the incorrect spelling. TIP: Knowing that cemetery comes into English from French cimetià ¨re may help writers recall the correct er spelling. German Shepherd Browse the pets for sale in any classified section and you will see the word for the dog spelled sheperd, shepard, and shephard. At least two of these misspellings for the dogs name are common spellings for family names. For the dog, however, the spelling is shepherd. TIP: The dog was originally bred to help in the herding of sheep or cattle. The word shepherd comes from sheepherd. A shepherd herds sheep. Think herd. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Good At, Good In, and Good With35 Genres and Other Varieties of FictionComma Before Too?

Analysis of Sonnet 146 by Shakespeare Essays

Analysis of Sonnet 146 by Shakespeare Essays Analysis of Sonnet 146 by Shakespeare Essay Analysis of Sonnet 146 by Shakespeare Essay Sonnet 146 is well known for its deeply intriguing religious aspect, as it is one of Shakespeare’s religious sonnets and almost the only religious one. It is religious as its tone mentions its concern with heaven, asceticism and also the progress of the soul all through out the sonnet. The idea that the poet was trying to convey to his audience is that the body exists at the expense of the soul, so that adorning or worrying about its beauty can only be accomplished at the souls expense. The poem is an internal monologue, which makes it first person point of view. This helps the audience understand that he is talking to himself and whom he is talking about. This sonnet can also be referred to as mediation between the soul and the body relationship. The imagery in the first line ‘my sinful earth’ stands out as it has a stronger tone with iambic pentameter, which causes ‘my’ to have an emphasised tone. The sentence then reflects the image of us, as it is our responsibility to keep this earth well. With the use of Shakespears imagery throughout the sonnet, he did a good job on structuring the poem so that we can understand the basis of our life and then moves onto more religious aspects of the sonnet. Sound is also a technique used in the poem to slow down the pace. In line 11 ‘buy terms divine in selling hours of dross’, sounds smooth because of the slight consonance sound of ‘s’ and makes this line sound serious and gloomy. Throughout the sonnet the speaker is continuously asking himself questions. This affected myself as when I was reading the poem it started to make me think about all the rhetorical questions. Is this really life? The poets use of rhetorical questions through out the sonnet is quite redeeming as he asks his soul why it allows itself to suffer for the sake of its ‘sinful earth’. In line 7 of the sonnet the poet questions his soul’s expenditure on bodily ‘excess’ knowing that it will all go to the worms in the end anyway. The most important metaphor in this poem is the beginning line ‘poor soul the centre of my sinful earth’, where earth represents the place we live in. The words poor and sinful are both negative. We can understand through this negative tone that the poet or the ‘earth’ in this sonnet is a bad place and we then link ‘sinful’ to ungodliness, which is what the whole poem is about. Another example of metaphor used in this poem is found in the second quatrain; ‘fading mansion’ which is used the represent our body. This metaphor explains that our souls are slowly dying and becoming very dull and fading as we do not live our lives like we are suppose to, according to the poet. In line 13 ‘so shalt thou feed on death’, gives us the audience a thought that we must constantly be thinking about death and also as a part of human nature we ponder about life. In other words, for this metaphor, we as humans feed on death, which in turns feeds on us. ‘Why so large a cost, having so short a lease’ this ‘lease’ refers to life, which is short as we as humans are not immortal. This metaphor asks why we as humans put so much effort into life when death comes so quickly. Closing couplet: The metaphor from the 3rd quatrain is continued and expanded in the closing couplet. It finishes from the 1st quatrain of the starving person within the mansion and then turns into irony of the idea that death feeds on humans. And in the last lines, ‘death’ and ‘dying’ are words used as imagery to describe and give us the final image of eternal life. Shakespeare, with the use of vivid imagery, makes us understand that we as humans cannot live forever. What we do to ourselves will also not last forever and eventually it will become dull. The metaphors in this sonnet helps how we think about ourselves as humans, though we are civilised we still tend to neglect morals and we will always have flaws in life. When I read through this, I cant help but question myself about my existence here in the world and what will happen when we eventually do pass on. With the use of these rhetorical questions it does get the audience questioning themselves and really interacts with the reader and Shakespeare has done this very well. He shows us that we make the best use of our time and work on our soul instead of our external self and with the use of his language techniques; Shakespeare can clearly demonstrate this point to the readers.

Answers to Questions About Commas

Answers to Questions About Commas Answers to Questions About Commas Answers to Questions About Commas By Mark Nichol In this post, I’ve reproduced some questions posed in e-mail or comments to Daily Writing Tips about commas, followed by my responses. 1. Which comma-style-in-a-series do you prefer, Oxford/Chicago Manual or AP? Why? I prefer employing the serial comma because doing so rarely introduces ambiguity, which is more likely when the serial comma is omitted. (See this section in the Wikipedia entry on the serial comma, which explains why because serial commas are sometimes necessary for clarity and should therefore, for the sake of consistency, always be employed.) 2. I keep finding commas placed after but, as in this sample from a Bloomsbury novel: â€Å"She is not yet that committed but, determined not to be ridiculous, she makes herself bite into the Bakewell slice.† I was raised to put a comma before the but. Is this another matter of American versus British usage, or is there a grammatical nicety here that I am missing? The comma after but is necessary because it signals that what follows it and precedes the next comma is an interjection, and the insertion of another comma is also recommended: The correct punctuation is â€Å"She is not yet that committed, but, determined not to be ridiculous, she makes herself bite into the Bakewell slice.† 3. I have read books where authors neglect using the comma in phrases like â€Å"me too.† I don’t know whether my being irked when I see this is completely wrong, but I would like more information about it. In the usages you describe, the tag too should indeed be preceded by a comma, but the punctuation mark is often omitted in informal or conversational contexts or simply out of ignorance. 4. I refer to my stylebooks all the time in an effort to get [appositive epithets] right. Do you know of an easy mnemonic device that can help me remember this rule? I don’t have any mnemonic for this matter, but think of an epithet as an adjective: â€Å"Daily Writing Tips contributor Mark Nichol† describes which particular type of Mark Nichol is being identified. Just as you wouldn’t punctuate â€Å"blue car† with a comma between the adjective and the noun and another following the noun, you don’t insert commas before and after your name. Or consider the subject in â€Å"Planet Earth is our home.† Planet is an epithet, and Earth is not bracketed by commas. 5. In â€Å"Strange and surely intentional was the omission of her name in the credits,† should â€Å"and surely intentional† be set off with commas? And would you please expand on such when the second is not clearly subordinate e.g., an aside. This type of phrasing is highly flexible in terms of punctuation, and what the writer does depends not on construction but on connotation. If a pairing of adjectives or other parts of speech is straightforward and sensible lithe and graceful, hale and hearty, cheap and shoddy the second element need not be set off, but when it is extraordinary, emphatic treatment is effective. Grammatically speaking, no punctuation is necessary in the sentence you provided, but the force of delivery of the additional information is heightened by setting it off from the main clause: â€Å"Strange, and surely intentional, was the omission of her name in the credits† ensures that the reader momentarily ponders the import of the deliberate omission. â€Å"Strange (and surely intentional) was the omission of her name in the credits† does the same while suggesting a conspiratorial whisper between the writer and the reader on the topic. â€Å"Strange and surely intentional was the omission of her name in the credits† intensifies the impact by pushing the surmise onto center stage. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Writing Prompts 101Difference between "Pressing" and "Ironing"Grammar Review #1: Particles and Phrasal Verbs

Management and Control of Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Management and Control of Corporation - Essay Example Moreover, Romano (1998, 2359) states that although ‘both the states and the federal government regulate securities transactions, the current regulatory arrangements are a far cry from competitive federalism; the federal securities regime, consisting of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, applies to all publicly traded firms and is a mandatory system of disclosure regulation, bolstered by antifraud provisions; while the federal laws do not preempt all state regulation, states cannot lower the regulatory standards applicable to firms covered by the federal regime because its requirements are mandatory; they have also been prevented from raising regulatory standards on some occasions’. Moreover, in the summer of 2002, Congress ‘passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2) in response to a barrage of corporate governance crises and flagging investor confidence in the securities markets’ (Song, 2003, 257). Â  The historical background of the Securities legislation in the U.S. (included the proxy rules) can be rooted in 1929. To a more analytical description of the main events related with their establishment, Burk (1992, 23) stated that ‘investment bankers in the 1920 s were driven by a desire to gain influence over others and to make huge fortunes off their influence; all of them were not, of course, but enough was to set the tone; they took advantage of the mass market for securities, created to sell war bonds during the First World War, by peddling corporate securities of questionable value at artifically high prices; The result was not a permanent prosperity, as some predicted, but a crash, which saw stock prices lose ninety percent of their value over the course of three years, and an economic depression, which lasted for the better part of a decade’. Â  

Critically examine the effect of organisational structure and Essay

Critically examine the effect of organisational structure and operating techniques on the competitiveness of an organisation - Essay Example that an organization can either be formally aligned in its ways and means of doing things and different processes or the same might just be in a way informal in quite a few of its activities and tasks. The manner in which it runs across this paradigm is something that needs to be studied in depth before we reach further consensus on their purposes and the kind of achievements that they have had. As we talk about an organization, we see that within it the communication can flow in one of three ways or in all the three directions. This means that these three directions pave the way for the ease of communication and there are as such no barriers to arise from the whole equation. The first communication flow is from top to bottom, which means that the communication starts from the top management and goes down towards the middle and lower management. It ensures that the instructions are easily made comprehensible for all and sundry who are within the middle and lower cadres and there are as such no discrepancies arising from this form of communication flow. The second form could be the one that starts from the lower or middle management and goes up towards the top management. A common example of this kind of communication flow is in the type of protests and rallies that arise at the lower level and the lower management wants to make sure that their voice gets heard courtesy the top cadre of the organization. The third communication flow could be in the kind of peer to peer communication and interaction. This means that the employees and the workers at the same level communicate within their own capacities and as such there are no hindrances arising from the whole communication matrix. Apart from this, within an organization the communication also flows in a formal as well as an informal manner. Where the communication is more formal and sophisticated, the interaction is usually done through paper and written requests whereas the informal talk is also called

Global Awareness and Modern Business Survival Term Paper

Global Awareness and Modern Business Survival - Term Paper Example Basically, in order for an organization to remain relevant in the market for long-term basis, it is critical for the organization to find ways of developing and maintaining competitive advantage. This can only be learned from contemplation of how different markets around the world behaves and what is required to create a strategy that would keep the organization relevant even in the long run. Although the primary goal of every organization is to make profits, it is essential to study other areas relevant to keep the organization relevant in the market. The global business operation requires organizations to consider strategic areas that the customer and community are equally focusing on and define as practices of a successful organization. For instance, although definition of organizations focusing on long-term goals tends to or revolves around sustainability, other areas are critical focusing on or that foster the sustainability. Notably, issues of corporate social responsibility ha ve been highly prioritized globally as to having played a key role in strategically placing organizations in a position to thrive in a highly competitive market. Specifically, customers and the community through which businesses operates are looking beyond what the business offers. This is critical because issues such as environmental and social are considered ideal in any business operations. In addition, governance issues have also been prioritized globally. Studies have documented that organizations that have good practices of governance tends to win the favor of investors and employees. This means that such organizations recognize employees as part of the primary assets of the organization thus according them the treatment they deserve. In this regard, global awareness means that the organization learns different ways through which such matters other than profit gaining can positively contribute to the organization. Incentives such as different and new ways of attracting and ret aining competent workforce are contemplated upon. In another dimension, due to globalization, different ideas, innovations, and new ways of conducting business are learned. In fact, these issues can easily be learned by subjecting not only the organization leaders, but also the workforce in training and development programs. The idea behind such a move is to produce or develop people who can formulate and integrate multinational strategies in the organization. Globalization has effects both for local businesses as well as well as the international businesses. In a global business environment, every business in the world is competing with another business in the world, as long as they are in the same sector. For instance, a dairy farmer in America is in competition with a dairy farmer in Africa. In this regard, if a dairy farmer does fails to gain the competition which makes a dairy farmer in the Africa has, the farmer will have issues. This phenomenon can be exemplified in the trade relations between the China and the United States (China Briefing Media, 2006). Because Chinese manufacturers can achieve the highest competencies as compared to US firms, Chinese producers have taken over the US economy. If a firm in one market in the world is unable to meet the competencies in the global economy, the firm will be pushed out of the market by a firm that is far away in the world. This has been seen in numerous situations. For instance, South African farmers have been able to find way to produce low price and high quality agricultural products. The cost of production and expert for these firms have been so low that they are able to produce and exported products around the work and sell the so cheaply in the export market at they are able to

Excerpt from Declaration of Independence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Excerpt from Declaration of Independence - Essay Example In a dramatic presentation of the American plight against the backdrop of the abuse that they were exposed to, this excerpt captures the origin of the right of the American people to send the government packing. Additionally, the mandate on the civilian American to form a new government in the instance was triggered by the explanation of the incapacitation of the colonial leadership. The ultimate explanation of the American Cause was incompetence of the government, right of the people and the mandate to deliver happiness and safety to the American people. Apparently, the founders of the American nation had deep conviction of provision of a democratic environment as a partial responsibility of the government of the day and the civilian force. To this end, the leadership of the American nationalism behind the call for independence from Britain had their best feet forward with a complete case having overwhelming evidence on the incompetence of the colonial government (Armitage, 2007). Ostensibly, the case was sandwiched between the mandate of a model American government formed to cater for the plight of the American citizenry and the clear incompetence of King in several accounts where his discretion was called to question. The creation of such a perfect case to the American people was enough to obtain the most appropriate backing in form of a revolution that would overthrow the colonial government in case the grievances fell on deaf ears. Declaration of Independence meant that the American people had come to the end of the road for a difficult era in the hands of the insensitive government. A litany of the incompetence of the leader of the colonial government claimed in this excerpt follows making the case a strong weapon against the authority of the government. Such an attack on the mandate of the government to protect the unalienable and self-evident rights of the American people was a well protracted move to

Marketing Plan Final evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing Plan Final evaluation - Essay Example Joseph High School2, Toronto). Carnival is defined as the period of merrymaking and feasting celebrated just before Lent3. It is also referred to a traveling amusement show usually including rides, games, and sideshows. In simple words it is nothing but a festival of games and entertainment events in any place of common activity. It is also defined as the festival marked by merrymaking and processions and organized series of Different carnival games like Water Shooters, Fishing game, wack a Mole, Basketball, Potato sack, legged race, egg toss, drunken sailor, dress up races, obstacle course, Ball/ ring Toss and dunk tank are regularly conducted as part of wet stock. In addition, Trivial pursuit, American idol, dance events, and video games like wrestling, madden However relay races were not liked by considerable sample (60). Once the relay race is conducted the preference is mainly given to obstacle course (29), potato sack (21), 3 legged race (13) and drunken sailor (11) (Graph 2). Similarly the higher number of candidates (109) who participated in this survey opined that they would appreciate the communication of video games. The maximum choice was given to guitar hero (13), DRR (12), madden NFL (8), and WII (8) (Graph 3). Video games like MANU, sports, car racing, pacman, NBA, wrestling, diddy kong, rugby, baseball, tetris, NHL, GTA and hockey are also preferred but in lesser number. Majority of the candidates liked the dunk tank (152) and interestingly they have given choice for teachers compared to that of students. Some students have given consent (44) for raffles and majority of the participants are ready to 2-3 $. Majority students (122) preferred out side catering. The preferred items for lunch are pizza (68), hamburgers (57), hot dogs (51), and deli (10) (Graph 4). Similarly the reasonably good number of children showed liking for ice cream (69), cotton candy (55),

Essenital skills for an excellent career Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Essenital skills for an excellent career - Essay Example Poor conflict resolution skills may lead to team work breakdown, self dislike, wasting of talent and lack of motivation among others. However, conflicts are not a curse; they are a blessing if harnessed by skilled handling and solving. When conflict is handled and solved effectively, it is a promising tool in enhancing professional growth. For example, effective conflict resolution leads to increased understanding, group cohesion, and self-knowledge. The way conflict is handled differentiates between positive and negative outcomes. The article analyzes five styles proposed by Kenneth Thomas and Ralph Kilmann in the 1970s, from which they developed Thomas-Kilmann conflict model instrument (TKI). The KTI model styles are based on the intensity of the conflict. They include; competitive, collaborative, compromising, accommodating, and avoiding. The article teaches readers to take positive approaches to conflict resolution. For this to succeed in workplace, courteous and non-confrontational discussions where no individual is attacked should be employed. This way, conflict will become an event for growth rather than an attack. Manktelow, James and Amy Carlson. â€Å"Conflict Resolution: Resolving Conflict Rationally and Effectively.† Mind Tools. 1996-2013. 23 March, 2013.

Marketing Plan Final evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing Plan Final evaluation - Essay Example Joseph High School2, Toronto). Carnival is defined as the period of merrymaking and feasting celebrated just before Lent3. It is also referred to a traveling amusement show usually including rides, games, and sideshows. In simple words it is nothing but a festival of games and entertainment events in any place of common activity. It is also defined as the festival marked by merrymaking and processions and organized series of Different carnival games like Water Shooters, Fishing game, wack a Mole, Basketball, Potato sack, legged race, egg toss, drunken sailor, dress up races, obstacle course, Ball/ ring Toss and dunk tank are regularly conducted as part of wet stock. In addition, Trivial pursuit, American idol, dance events, and video games like wrestling, madden However relay races were not liked by considerable sample (60). Once the relay race is conducted the preference is mainly given to obstacle course (29), potato sack (21), 3 legged race (13) and drunken sailor (11) (Graph 2). Similarly the higher number of candidates (109) who participated in this survey opined that they would appreciate the communication of video games. The maximum choice was given to guitar hero (13), DRR (12), madden NFL (8), and WII (8) (Graph 3). Video games like MANU, sports, car racing, pacman, NBA, wrestling, diddy kong, rugby, baseball, tetris, NHL, GTA and hockey are also preferred but in lesser number. Majority of the candidates liked the dunk tank (152) and interestingly they have given choice for teachers compared to that of students. Some students have given consent (44) for raffles and majority of the participants are ready to 2-3 $. Majority students (122) preferred out side catering. The preferred items for lunch are pizza (68), hamburgers (57), hot dogs (51), and deli (10) (Graph 4). Similarly the reasonably good number of children showed liking for ice cream (69), cotton candy (55),

Regulatory and legislative issues paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Regulatory and legislative issues paper - Essay Example â€Å"Thousands of US organizations must comply with the†¦ Security Rule. The Security Rule is a key part of HIPAA -- federal legislation that was passed into law in August 1996. The overall purpose of the act is to enable better access to health insurance, reduce fraud and abuse, and lower the overall cost of health care in the United States† (HIPAA, 2010). The overall common estimation is that the Security Rule has affected healthcare positively, leading to greater client confidentiality and better information access for healthcare facilities. However, cost is a major issue in implementing new technology covered by the rule, such as the establishment of electronic health records. It is important to provide a general overview of the HIPAA Security Rule, its strengths and drawbacks, and how it is being implemented, and reacted against, in the present. databases, and communications. Patients are expected, and have been shown to, have a greater quality of healthcare because of the rule, because due to it, information and healthcare data is delivered faster, better, and more conveniently. Although some state that the rule is excessive, because the government would have to provide for client confidentiality with or without the law, others state that, â€Å"The real value of HIPAAs transaction standards is the reduction of operational expenses and fragmentation in the health care industry† (Zimmerman, 2010). This shows the law to be cost effective, and it is also gathered to be cost-effective from the standpoint of government costs for social welfare programs like Medicare. Although cost effectiveness and better, safer, faster patient information seem to be key advantages to the HIPAA Security Rule, there are also possible drawbacks as this law extends over time. For example, although ultimately the new technology covered by the rule is designed to make facilities more

Realism and the Future of World Politics Essay Example for Free

Realism and the Future of World Politics Essay First and foremost it is important to remember that state interest or state preference operates in an anarchic environment. The international system is inherently unstable and is aptly characterized by widespread anarchy. Due to the absence of a suprastate or overarching Leviathan authority, states are placed in inevitable and perpetual competition, described as the security dilemma. This has been evidenced by the state of European affairs since 1789. Because of the anarchic nature of international affairs, states are perpetually concerned with their survival. For realists, the international system is a â€Å"dog-eat-dog world† and ensuring survival is paramount for any and all states. According to Hans Morgenthau, pioneering German political scientist and an early proponent of realist thought, due to the inherent instability of the international system, the fundamental national interest of all states is to â€Å"protect [its] physical, political, and cultural identity against encroachments by other nations† (Morgenthau, 1952). Specifically, threats to states are determined by their relative power vis-a-vis one others in the international system. The structure of the system – the distribution of power and capabilities state wide is important because threats or challenges facing a state which affront the national interest should be â€Å"calculated according to the situation in which the state finds itself† (Waltz, 1979). Thus, power and security requirements are paramount in attempting to define state interest and what motivates states to act. Furthermore, Power and wealth supply the means for states to survive, to meet their security requirements, and thus to continue to compete in a system in which other states are necessarily either actual or potential threats. State officials ad policy analysts are therefore advised realistically to asses the distribution of power; they should overcome their ‘aversion to seeing problems of international politics as they are’ in order to objectively asses the national interest in light of the distribution of power. Every state, that is, must pursue its national interest â€Å"defined in terms of power† (Morgenthau 1952) because this is the surest road to security and survival (Weldes, 1999). If we apply the realist conception of states power and apply it to the future of the international world, conflict over resources and war will be a defining feature of the international system. Europe has been plagued by conflict since the late 18th century and despite global interdependence and the existence of multilateral organizations in the form of the UN and the European Union, there is little evidence to suggest that armed conflict is not the future of international affairs. Nationalism, a concept created in Europe, has been responsible for much armed conflict over the past three centuries. Nationalism in International Affairs Nationalism is an important force in international relations and has been so for centuries. As a basic principle of the international order, concepts of state sovereignty are intrinsic to our understanding of the world system. Accordingly, the international system is predicated upon the existence of nation-states and nationalism is a belief or sense of identity within the nation. The Treaty of Westphalia established the principle of state sovereignty, another fundamental principle of the international order which established the nation-state as an autonomous political entity. Similar to tribalism or a sense of social kinship, nationalism as a potent political force began in Europe in the late eightieth century and was connected with a decline in overall religiosity, the development of industrialization, Enlightenment thoughts and a concerted effort by political elites to â€Å"build states†. By inculcating a sense of nationalist fervor in the citizens of their respective countries, elites have been able to manipulate nationalism for political purposes. Mass mobilization towards a variety of specific causes through an appeal to nationalist sentiment has been used as a political tool for centuries. Although not exclusively a negative force, nationalism remains an important ordering principle of the international system and a force to be reckoned with (Waltz 2000). Concluding Remarks Keeping in mind our realist conception of state interest, conflict will be an inevitable feature of the international system in the next 50 years. Europe has descended into bloodshed and armed conflict and has been the feature of the European continent for centuries. When global war broke out in 1914 dreams of world peace and prosperity were shattered. Accordingly, the First World War was arguably one of the most traumatic episodes in the history of international affairs. Geopolitically speaking, the First World War (also described as WWI in this essay) was unprecedented in both scale and sheer loss of human life. Never before had the world witnessed such carnage and violence perpetuated through the use of modern technology. The First World War touched much of the world the implications of this conflict reverberated across the globe. In addition to WWI, Europeans states fought dozens of wars and were home to countless revolutions aimed at changing the political order. From the French Revolution to the Spanish Civil War and the â€Å"War to End All Wars†, World War II, the history of Europe since 1789 has been wrought with conflict with nationalism playing an important role in the outbreak of violence.

An Artist in her Way: Representations of the Woman Artist in Margaret Oliphants Kirsteen :: Margaret Oliphant Kirsteen Essays

Representations of the Woman Artist in Margaret Oliphant's Kirsteen Margaret Oliphant (1828-97) was a prolific writer. She published almost 100 novels as well as biographies, art criticism, travel writing, historical sketches, and over two hundred articlesfor periodicals like Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine andThe Cornhill Magazine, yet her ambivalence about representing herself as a serious artist in her Autobiography provides Oliphant aficionados with grist for speculation and conjecture: did Oliphant even think of herself as an artist? While I will answer this question with are sounding yes, still there is enough equivocation in the Autobiography to give scholars room to play. And although Oliphant herself once wrote that "scholarship is a sort of poison tree, and kills everything" (279), the recent scholarship on Oliphant's Autobiography has enlivened rather than killed debate by calling attention to Oliphant's struggle with self-representation. When it came to writing about her particular experience as both mother and writer, Oliphant found the contemporary discourse, with its rigidly discrete ideologies of motherhood and authorhood, stifling. Thus the Autobiography can be read as Oliphant's poignant effort to extend the meaning of the term `artist' to one flexible enough to include a woman who wrote not only because it came as naturally to her as "talking or breathing" (4), but also because her children needed to eat. In this paper I will argue that Oliphant's preoccupation with what it means to be or call herself an artist can be mapped in her novel, Kirsteen, which was written in 1890--roughly the same period as the Autobiography--and chronicles the life of a Scottish woman in the early part of the 19th century. Although Kirsteen Douglas is a dressmaker rather than a writer, Oliphant takes care early in the novel to encourage the idea (through theScottish dressmaker Miss Macnab) "that a dressmaker `is an artist in her way' and that ... dressmaking is `just like a' the airts'"(Jay 260). I will thus read dressmaking as a trope for writing, Kirsteen as an artist figure, and the novel as Oliphant's portrait of the artist as a young dressmaker. Reading dressmaking as a metaphor for writing, I hope to demonstrate that this late novel presents a self-consciousness and humor about artistic production the analysis of which will clarify what Oliphant means by the term`artist.' First to contextualize Oliphant's portrayal of Kirsteen. Here I will argue that not merely personal but also larger cultural associations with needlework made dressmaking Oliphant's inevitable choice of metaphor for writing.

Romanticisms Sublime Style in Rip Van Winkle, Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Romanticism's Sublime Style in Rip Van Winkle, Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Billy Budd      Ã‚  Ã‚   "Sublime refers to an aesthetic value in which the primary factor is the presence or suggestion of transcendent vastness or greatness, as of power, heroism, extent in space or time"(Internet Encyclopedia).   This essay will explore different levels of Romanticism's sublime style in Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Herman Melville's Billy Budd. The essay will particularly focus on how the writers incorporate the spiritual and the terror aspects of the sublime into their work. American romanticism requires the wilds of nature to be the setting for the sublime. It is in this setting that the protagonist senses a conflict of good and evil. Even though the beautiful surroundings would suggests a pure serenity, the shadows in the beautiful setting reminds one that there is a dark side to nature. In each story there is an antagonist lurking about requiring the protagonist to choose his thinking - and ultimately his destiny. The antagonist in Billy Budd is Claggart, in The Legend of Sleepy Hallow, Brom Bones, and in Rip Van Winkle it could be a toss up between his nagging wife or the "company of odd-looking personages" he meets in the mountains. Essentially it is Longinus, a first century philosopher, who is first credited with introducing the idea of the sublime into the arts (Weiskel 8). Longinus suggests five sources of sublimity in literature: "(1) the ability to conceive great thoughts, (2) intense emotion, (3) powerful figures of speech, (4) the choice of noble words, and (5) harmonious composition of sentences" (Kennedy, vol. 12). Each of Longinus? foundational sources for sublimity suggests an... ...n Boulton 40).    Works Cited Boulton, J. T. Burke?s Enquiry Into The Sublime And The Beautiful. New York: Columbia University, 1958. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 1997. University of Tennessee at Martin. 4 April 2001. http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/s/sublime.htm. Kennedy, George. "Longinus." The World Book Encyclopedia. 1985. Vol. 12:399. Melville, Herman. "Billy Budd." Ed. Paul Lauther. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. New York: Houghton 1998. 2512-2570. Washington, Irving. "The Legend of Sleep Hallow." Ed. Paul Lauther. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. New York: Houghton 1998. 1354-1373. -------- "Rip Van Winkle." Ed. Paul Lauther. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. New York: Houghton 1998. 1342-1354. Weiskel, Thomas. Romantic Sublime. Baltimore: John Hopkins University, 1976.   

Chinese philosophy Essay

The pair lived in a time of immense social disorder and religious skepticism. They developed the notion of the Dao (way, or path) as the origin of all creation and the force (unknowable in its essence but observable in its manifestations) that lies behind the functions and changes of the natural world. Daoism Chinese religion â€Å"mirrors the social landscape of its adherents. There are as many meanings as there are vantage points.† This can be very confusing to outsiders†¦ Daoism and Confucianism existed together. At various points in one life, you might follow either. (There are many who only practice one) Due to the social disorder of the time, the question was: what is the basis of a stable, unified, and enduring social order? Their answer was the Dao. Nature, after all, was much more stable than anything humans can create. Healthy human life could flourish only in accordance with Dao. Nature, simplicity, a free-and-easy approach to life. Daoism  To be skillful and creative, they had to have inner spiritual concentration and put aside concern with externals, such as monetary rewards, fame, and praise. Artisans were typically very good at this idea. When stressed, or seeking an escape, the Daoist might retire to the countryside, or mountains and write a poem or paint a picture. This was an attempt to capture the simplicity of nature in their own lives. Daoism In Chinese society, Daoism created the Chinese love of nature It also inspired an intense affirmation of life: physical life: health, well-being, vitality, longevity, and even immortality. Some Chinese sought the fountain of youth, or herbs and plants that would extend life. This lead to the wealth of knowledge in Chinese medicine. Daoism There were kind of gods†¦ The gods and Jade Emperor could be seen as the supreme rulers. Obeying the rulers on earth would prepare you to follow him later on. The demons and ghosts of hell acted like and were treated like the bullies, outlaws, and strangers in the real world. All things were the manifestation of the one Dao.

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 11

Filled with Molten Lava The picture I have of Nikki is a head shot, and I wish I had told her how much I liked it. She paid a professional photographer to take the photo, and she actually had her hair and makeup done at the local salon before going to the shoot; plus she also went to the tanning booths the week before the picture was taken, since my birthday is in late December and the picture was my twenty-eighth-birthday present. Nikki's head is turned so you see more of her left cheek than you do her right, which is outlined by her strawberry blond curly hair. You can see her left ear, and she is wearing the dangling diamond earrings I gave her for our first wedding anniversary. She had gone to the tanning booths just to bring out the freckles on her nose, which I love and miss every winter. You can see the little freckles clearly in the shot, and Nikki said this was the main idea and she even told the photographer to make the freckles the focal point because I love her seasonal freckles best. Her face is sort of like an upside-down triangle, as her chin is sort of pointy. Her nose is like the nose of a lioness, long and regal-looking, and her eyes are the color of grass. In the picture she is making that pouting face I love – not quite a smile, not quite a smirk – and her lips are so glossy that I can't resist kissing the picture every time I look at it. So I kiss the picture again, feeling the cold flatness of the glass, leaving a kiss-shaped smudge, which I wipe away with my shirt. â€Å"God, I miss you so much, Nikki,† I say, but the picture is silent, like always. â€Å"I'm sorry that I did not originally like this picture, because you would not believe how much I like it now. I know that I told you this was not such a great present, back before I started practicing being kind rather than right. Yes, I had specifically asked for a new barbecue, but I'm glad that I have the picture now, because it helped me get through all that time in the bad place and made me want to be a better person, and I'm changed now, so I not only realize but appreciate that you put a lot of thought and effort into this present. It's the only likeness I have of you since some bad person stole all the pictures of us that were in my mother's house – because the pictures were in expensive frames, and – â€Å" Suddenly, for some reason, I remember that there's a video of our wedding, and in this video Nikki is walking and dancing and speaking, and there's even this one part where Nikki talks directly into the camera as if she were talking to me, and she says, â€Å"I love you, Pat Peoples, you sexy stud muffin,† which made me laugh so hard the first time we watched the video with her parents. I knock on my parents' bedroom door, and then I knock again. â€Å"Pat?† my mom says. â€Å"I have to work in the morning, you know?† my father says, but I ignore him. â€Å"Mom?† I say to the door. â€Å"What is it?† â€Å"Where's my wedding video?† There is a silence. â€Å"You remember my wedding video, right?† Still, she does not say anything. â€Å"Is it in the cardboard box in the family-room closet with all the other videos?† Through the door I hear her and my father whispering, and then my mother says, â€Å"I think we gave you our copy of the video, honey. It must be in your old house. Sorry.† â€Å"What? No, it's downstairs in the family-room closet. Never mind, I'll find it myself. Good night,† I say, but when I get to the family-room closet and go through the box of videos, it's not there. I turn around and see that my mother has followed me down into the family room. She is in her nightgown. She is biting her nails. â€Å"Where is it?† â€Å"We gave it to – â€Å" â€Å"Don't lie to me!† â€Å"We must have misplaced it, but it's sure to turn up sooner or later.† â€Å"Misplaced it? It's irreplaceable!† It's just a videocassette, but I can't help feeling angry, which I realize is one of my problems. â€Å"How could you lose it when you know how important it is to me? How?† â€Å"Calm down, Pat.† My mother raises her palms so they are both in front of her chest and then takes a careful step toward me, as if she is trying to sneak up on a rabid dog. â€Å"Relax, Pat. Just relax.† But I can feel myself getting more and more angry, so before I say or do anything dumb, I remember that I am close to being sent back to the bad place, where Nikki will never find me. I storm past my mother, go down into the basement, and do five hundred sit-ups on the Stomach Master 6000. When I finish, I am still angry, so I ride the stationary bike for forty-five minutes and then do shots of water until I feel hydrated enough to attempt five hundred push-ups. Only when my pecs feel like they are filled with molten lava do I deem myself calm enough to sleep. When I go upstairs, all is quiet and no light is leaking out from under my parents' bedroom door, so I grab my framed picture of Nikki, take her upstairs to the attic, turn off the ventilation fan, slip into my sleeping bag, set up Nikki next to my head, kiss her good night – and then begin to sweat away some more pounds. I haven't been up in the attic since the last time Kenny G visited me. I am afraid he will come back, but I also feel sort of fat. I close my eyes, hum a single note, silently count to ten over and over again, and the next morning I wake up unscathed.

Nigerian Economy: Macroeconomic Analysis

sisNigeria – Country Report 2012 61310039 Indian School of Business 7/6/2012 Contents Economic Overview3 Gross Domestic Product (GDP)3 GDP Composition4 Inflation4 Shadow Economy5 Trade Overview5 Foreign Debt7 Labor Market & Human Capital7 Population and Income Inequality8 Unemployment9 Currency10 Money Supply and Monetary Control10 Fiscal policy12 Exchange rates12 Interest Rates13 Foreign Direct Investment14 Globalization and Comparative Advantage14 Conclusion15 References16 Economic Overview Nigeria's economy is estimated to be worth about $262bn, making it one of the largest economies in Africa.The estimates and analysis of various indicators is discussed in the later sections. The country has fared better than many other countries during the global economic downturn, but systemic problems in infrastructure and the labor market mean that its position in the Economist Intelligence Unit's global rankings remains towards the bottom during the forecast period, at 75th out of 82 countries. Efforts to create a significantly more attractive business environment are likely to produce only modest results owing to the slow pace of more fundamental reforms. Nigeria has taken steps to simplify trade by working on its tariff structure.However, there is still a protectionist sentiment in the country. Cross border smuggling is still a major concern and is liable to remain an important feature of the Nigerian economy. The capacity and efficiency of Nigerian ports (Trade) have improved following the implementation of an ambitious concessioning program that transferred management of terminals to private operators. However, although the reforms have improved port operations and ship turnaround times, there remains the problem of corruption in the customs service, which can complicate and delay the clearance of goods. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)The latest GDP projection data as brought out by World Bank is $ 268. 5 billion (2013 F) and the country population is projected at 175 million translating into a GDP/Capita to 2,213. The Real GDP Growth for Nigeria has been at 6. 8 %. However, considering the disparity in the country’s infrastructure viz-a-viz other Asian developing nations the growth rate is not enough for substantial improvement. Nominal GDP| 2007| 2008| 2009| 2010| 2011| 2012(F)| 2013(F)| US$ bn| 166. 5| 208. 1| 169. 4| 196. 3| 244. 2| 262. 4| 268. 5| N bn| 20,941| 24,665| 25,225| 29,498| 37,590| 42,877| 46,720| Real GDP growth %| 6. | 6| 7| 7. 8| 7. 4| 6. 4| 6. 9| Source: Economic Intelligence Unit| GDP Composition In Nigeria, the Investment component of the GDP as compared to the private consumption and government is very low, hovering at 17 % approximately. A developing market is required to invest around 40 to 50% of GDP in capital investment for successive number of years. However that is not seen with Nigeria. Hence, the prospect of Nigeria as an investment destination appears to be grim in the near future. | 2007| 2008| 200 9| 2010| 2011| 2012 F| 2013 F| Private consumption| 6. 6| -34. 3| 6. 4| -26. 7| 11. 8| 9. | 10. 4| Government consumption| 90. 8| 4. 4| -8. 1| 17. 8| 12| 8. 5| 8| Gross fixed investment| 24. 5| -6. 8| 9. 1| -3. 6| 6. 5| 6| 6. 5| Exports of goods & services| -11. 7| 43. 4| -30| 11. 4| 11. 9| 10. 4| 12. 4| Source: Economic Intelligence Unit| The graph below gives the GDP contribution – Industry wise for Nigeria. Crude is one of the major contributors to the GDP. Hence, and rate fluctuations in the price of crude oil have added volatility in the Nigerian GDP. Inflation Despite monetary tightening carried out by the CBN in 2011, the forecast for inflation remains negative.Inflation is expected to increase to 12. 7% in 2012. Fiscal laxity by the states is one of the main reasons for this. In addition, the payment of the newly instituted minimum wages and the injection of funds into the bailed out banks, inflationary pressure is bound to continue for the rest of the year. It is exp ected moderate only in 2014 as a result of moderation in commodity prices. The April 2012 inflation data as obtained shows a Month-on-month inflation to be (0. 13%), Year-on-Year (12. 9%), 12-Month Avg. Chg. (11. 1%). The inflation rate is exceedingly high and is detrimental towards investment in the country.The Consumer Price Index and Nigerian Inflation rate is shown below. Source: Economic Intelligence Unit Shadow Economy The untaxed and unregulated revenues – by some estimates – account for between 40% and 45% of gross domestic product (GDP). Nigerians make most of their living, as street hawkers, minibus drivers, money changers or market traders. In spite of the abysmal performance of the country’s economy, poor infrastructure and unfriendly business environment Nigeria has huge potentials to be tapped because of its huge deposits of Natural Resources nd population that can be gainfully employed. The black economy accounts for a large part of the Nigerian e conomy. Trade Overview Nigeria has considerable natural resources such as oils, and the revenue from oil exports forms a major chunk of the Government fund. Nigeria has recently started a sovereign wealth fund and the excess returns from oil exports viz-a-viz projected returns is directed to this sovereign fund. This fund is building up at a slower pace as the revenue is being directed towards meeting government excess spending to meet the countries capital requirement.The country has been putting efforts to tighten the fiscal policy and the same has been reflected in their medium-term expenditure framework. The country has projected a year-on-year budget deficit of 1% of GDP. However, from the recent trends it appears that Nigeria will be able to sustain a year-on-year budget deficit of 2% given the prices of oil remain stable even though the current European turmoil and a slowdown in china can push oil prices down and lead to further increase in Nigeria’s Fiscal deficit.Nig eria intends borrowing from the international capital market for meeting its capital expenditure requirement in the near future. The total value of Nigeria's exports in the first quarter of 2012 is at about USD 30 billion, the exports to India has reached USD 4. 2 billion, compared to USD 3. 7 billion credited to the US in the period under review. Nigeria's export to India is mostly crude oil and cashew nuts while India exports pharmaceutical goods, machinery, electronics and rice. The US was trailed by the Netherlands with USD 2. billion, followed by Spain with USD 2. 4 billion and Brazil which recorded USD 2 billion. Nigeria is a member of the WTO and does not impose permanent import restrictions however it has a huge banned list of import goods which coupled with ad valorem tariffs have given rise to increase in smuggled goods. As such the restrictions do not seem to have benefited the local industries. There are specially designated export processing zones which provide benefits from tax, duties, foreign exchange restrictions and import-export restrictions.The Nigerian Export Credit Guarantee and insurance corporation (Nexim) provides insurance under the government’s export guarantee scheme. This has helped exporters in raising funds at subsidized rates for refinancing. Nigeria figures 133rd on the Doing Business in Index among 183 world economies and 15th among the 46 sub Saharan African economies. The trade balance of Nigeria for period 2007 to 2011 and forecasted data for 2012 and 2013 is given below. | 2007| 2008| 2009| 2010| 2011| 2012(F)| 2013(F)|Trade balance| 37,748| 45,885| 25,342| 20,237| 34,528| 34,131| 28,778| Goods: exports fob| 66,040| 85,729| 56,121| 73,698| 103,847| 114,068| 111,836| Goods: imports fob| -28,291| -39,844| -30,779| -53,461| -69,319| -79,937| -83,058| Services balance| -16,902| -22,113| -16,479| -19,231| -24,761| -24,278| -25,914| Income balance| -11,747| -15,059| -14,404| -18,623| -22,905| -20,913| -24,624| Current tra nsfers balance| 18,545| 19,366| 18,694| 20,092| 25,004| 27,387| 28,562| Current-account balance| 27,643| 28,079| 13,153| 2,476| 11,867| 16,327| 6,802| Source: Economic Intelligence Unit|Nigeria and its neighboring African nations have imposed strong continental Trade Barriers which is depriving the continent of new sources of economic growth, new jobs and leading to a sharp fall in poverty and other factors. However, many African countries are losing several billions of dollars in potential trade earnings every year, because of high trade barriers with neighboring countries. It is easier for Africa to trade with the rest of the world than with itself.The Policy progress in the nation has been restricted due to political instability and tussle between the presidency and senior economic team. Policies towards changes in exploiting the proceeds from fuel exports are always the concern restricting policy improvements. The country has huge limitation in the power sector and the governmen t has initiated privatization program focused mainly on the power sector, However the progress has been slow as a result of private-sector reluctance, the various vested interests involved and strong union opposition.This is limiting foreign investments in Nigeria. Nigeria urgently requires Tax reform for attracting investments in the country and this policy reform is high on the political agenda. However due to conflicting interests and the fragile nature of the Nigerian administration reforms are expected to be slow. Foreign Debt Due to the economic slowdown public sector revenue and expenditure has contracted in the past 3 years. As a result of the budget deficit, infrastructure is facing acute shortage which is mostly financed by internal public borrowing while also seeking access to external funding.The Nigerian government has set on the path of prudent reforms to reduce total spending while improving funding for capital requirements for efficient spending that will translate t o long term economic growth. The government also launched a Euro denominated bond in 2011 and expects to return to the international debt capital markets again in the next few years. Labor Market & Human Capital The education system of Nigeria is in a poor state unable to meet the educational requirement of the country. There are currently only 46 tertiary institutions in Nigeria providing education covering all functional areas.Out of the 42m Nigerian children who ought to be in primary school, less than 24m are in school. Out of the 33. 9m children of secondary school age, only 6. 4m are in secondary schools. The pass rate for JAMB examinations is about 20% – indicates poor quality of secondary school graduates. The educational system has not been tailored to meet developmental needs of the nation. Any foreign investment has to transfer both funds and human capital to the country. There are no improvements visible in the near vicinity.The Nigerian Labor market is marred wit h constraints and there appears little prospect in the near future of resolving many of the key constraints to improving the labor market in Nigeria. Most of the talented Nigerians prefer to move out of the country and the country is suffering from a ‘brain drain’. Nigeria has a large number of very capable professional and highly skilled workers in a range of sectors. Unfortunately for the country, large numbers, particularly in the medical profession, live and work overseas, and the restoration of civilian rule in 1999 has failed to bring an end to the brain drain’. Although labor law reform in 2005 weakened the capacity of the unions to organize political or sympathy strikes, the labor movement remains powerful, capable of organizing paralyzing national strikes. Value of indexa| | Global rankb| | Regional rankc| | 2006-10| 2011-15| 2006-10| 2011-15| 2006-10| 2011-15| 4. 4| 4. 6| 80| 80| 16| 15| a Out of 10. b  Out of 82 countries. c  Out of 17 countries: A lgeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE, Angola, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Source: Economic Intelligence Unit| Population and Income Inequality The population in Nigeria is growing at a very fast pace, but given the poor state of the countries health care and educational system, this is only constraining the already dismal state of the country the growth rate is presented below, the high rate of population growth and the deteriorating state of infrastructure is not conducive enough for enticing foreign investment. Population (Million)| 2006| 2010| 2015| Total| 140. 4| 152. 2| 166. 7|Period averages (%)|   | 2006-10| 2011-15| Population growth|   | 2. 1| 1. 8| Labor force growth|   | 2. 4| 1. 9| Source: Economic Intelligence Unit| Poverty in Nigeria remains significant despite high economic growth. Nigeria retains a high level of poverty, with 63% living on below $1 daily, implying a decline in equity. There have been attempts at poverty alleviation, but the inequality has been rising. Income inequality worsened from 0. 43 to 0. 49 between 2004 and 2009. This is correlated with differential access to infrastructure and amenities.In particular, there are more rural poor than urban poor. This primarily results from the composition of Nigeria's economy. Oil exports contribute significantly to government revenues and about 15% of GDP, despite employing only a fraction of the population. Agriculture, however, contributes to about 45% of GDP, and employs close to 90% of the rural population. This incongruence is compounded by the fact that oil revenue is poorly distributed among the population, with higher government spending in urban areas than rurally.High unemployment rates have rendered personal incomes even more divergent. The graph below gives a comparison of the population below poverty line in relation to the total  Nigerian population. Data Source: Economic Intelligence Unit Unemp loyment According to the ‘2011 Annual Socio-Economic Report' released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, the total number of unemployed people have increased from approximately 7 million in 2006 to 16 million in 2011. In 2011, approximately 2. 1 million people were newly unemployed.The report has also predicted the new entrants into the unemployed pool to be around 8. 5 million in 2015. The increase is also interestingly explained by the tendency of Nigerian university graduates to stay away from labor intensive work. They are now ready to wait for a white collar job thus resulting in the entry of new university graduates into the unemployment pool. The total number of employed labor force has remained fairly constant from 2006 to 2011 at around 51 million. However, 10 million new people have been added to the labor force during 2006-2011.The increase in labor force could be explained by the steady increase in the number of universities, polytechnics and colleges of educati on. While the enrollment in universities and polytechnics has decreased from around 460,000 in 2006 to 340,000 to 2011, enrollment in colleges of education has increased during the same period. Whereas the enrollment in state and federal institutions has decreased during 2006-2011, enrollment in private institutions has increased steadily. According to the report, the increase in unemployment rate has been kept in check by Nigerian government's employment policies.The unemployment rate in rural areas was 25. 6% and 17. 1% in urban areas. The total national unemployment rate was 23. 9% in 2011. Total unemployment rate amongst males was 23. 5% in 2011 while the same rate amongst females was 24. 3%. The report explains that married women who previously stayed out of the labor force have now started entering the market for jobs due to a raise in claim for financial independence. More women are also now forced to enter the labor market because of the need to supplement the income of male s in families.The unemployment rate has been consistently growing in Nigeria due to lack of industries, political stability and a myriad of other reasons. Unemployment is leading to crime and shadow economy which is further hindering investments in the country. Data Source: Economic Intelligence Unit Currency The Legal Tender followed in Nigeria is the Naira (sign:  ? ;  code:  NGN). The Central Bank of Nigeria referred as CBN is the sole authority responsible for issuing and maintaining the volume of the currency in the Nigerian economy.The currency was adopted by Nigeria on 1st Jan 1973 replacing the pound that was being followed since the colonial days. Money Supply and Monetary Control The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the central bank of Nigeria. Since the global financial crisis of 2008-09, maintaining adequate liquidity and averting a total collapse of the banking system has been the main focus of the CBN. The CBN uses the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to anchor short t erm money market rates and other interest rates in the economy.Open market operations conducted through the Treasury Bills auction is the major instrument of monetary policy. The CBN also uses discount window operations (including standing lending and deposit facilities, repo and reverse repo operations) and Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) in monetary management. The banking crisis of 2009 and the subsequent reform initiated in the banking sector has complicated the monetary policy. The central bank also ensures that there is sufficient lending in key sectors such as agriculture.Since 1977, Nigeria has had an Agric Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS) under the management of the central bank. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is responsible for maintaining a balance between its objective of managing inflation and the government's aim of reducing the cost of borrowing by the private sector to encourage investment in productive activities. The CBN is currently pursuing the former objective, having increased its prime interest rate six times during 2011: the Central Bank is attempting to counter what it sees as high inflationary expectations embedded in the system.As the forecast period progresses and the inflation outlook improves, the focus of the CBN will return to easing monetary policy and boosting lending to productive sectors. Nevertheless, this has been complicated by the banking crisis of 2009 and the subsequent reform program put in place by the Central Bank, which is likely to mean that risk aversion among the banks persists into the first part of the forecast period at least. Below is the summary of the key Monetary Indicators for Nigeria. Monetary indicators| 2007a| 2008a| 2009a| 2010a| 2011a| 2012b| 2013b| 2014b| 2015b| 2016b| |Exchange rate N:US$ (av)| 125. 8| 118. 5| 148. 9| 150. 3| 153. 9| 160. 7| 174. 0| 172. 0| 174. 0| 176. 0| Exchange rate N:US$ (year-end)| 118. 0| 132. 6| 149. 6| 150. 7| 158. 3| 170. 8| 173. 0| 173. 0| 175. 0| 177. 0| Exchange rate N:↚ ¬ (av)| 172. 44| 174. 33| 207. 46| 199. 42| 214. 19| 209. 71| 224. 46| 217. 58| 215. 33| 221. 76| Exchange rate N:â‚ ¬ (year-end)| 173. 66| 184. 49| 215. 49| 201. 31| 210. 42| 221. 23| 222. 31| 215. 39| 219. 63| 223. 02| Real effective exchange rate, CPI-based (av)| 38. 05| 42. 32| 38. 59| 42. 11| 42. 74c| 46. 39| 46. 44| 50. 42| 53. 60| 56. 5| Purchasing power parity N:US$ (av)| 71. 31| 80. 30| 88. 60| 99. 68| 115. 8c| 120. 9| 121. 0| 123. 9| 129. 2| 136. 3| Money supply (M2) growth (%)| 58. 1| 53. 6| 20. 6| 3. 7| -0. 5| 8. 7| 20. 5| 19. 6| 17. 5| 18. 5| Domestic credit growth (%)| 358. 3| 55. 9| 41. 1| 14. 1| 28. 1| 7. 9| 21. 5| 20. 7| 18. 2| 17. 7| Commercial banks' prime rate (av; %)| 16. 9| 15. 5| 18. 4| 17. 6| 16. 0| 16. 0| 14. 0| 13. 0| 13. 5| 13. 8| Deposit rate (av; %)| 10. 3| 12. 0| 13. 3| 6. 5| 5. 7| 6. 0| 5. 8| 5. 8| 5. 8| 5. 5| Money-market rate (av; %)| 6. 9| 8. 2| 3. 8| 3. 8| 8. 5c| 8. 8| 7. 0| 6. 5| 6. | 6. 0| a  Actual. b  Economist Intelligence Unit foreca sts. c  Economist Intelligence Unit estimates. Source: EIU| Fiscal policy While Nigeria’s fiscal policy during the last half of the decade has been favoring expansive expenditure in the productive sectors, there is growing pressure to introduce tough, unpopular market reforms to tighten the fiscal policy. However it will be difficult to do so considering the different interest groups that the government needs to placate and wider legislature that favors greater government expenditure to counter the crippling infrastructure deficit.Even as investment in infrastructure remains critical, how the government manages to bring down the share of recurrent expenditures while improving the quality of capital expenditure is the key challenge. Another challenge for the government will be how it manages its dependence on oil prices, the key component of its revenue. A return to recession in Europe or a less than expected growth in China could bring down the oil prices. Exchange rates Th e Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been responsible for managing the exchange rate and this was being done by auctioning of foreign currencies.The CBN sets the exchange rate. However, Nigeria’s currency fluctuations is correlated to fluctuations in the oil prices. In 2007, the Naira saw significant appreciation viz-a-viz the dollar due to increase in Global crude prices. Nigeria’s central Bank intends making the Naira exchange rates floating and policy decisions are being formulated towards this objective. The CBN also intends to make the exchange rate independent to the extent possible and aims at intervening only to meet defined policy objectives.The country has seen a huge depreciation of the Naira in the past 3 Decades, presently owing to the stable and strong crude prices the currency is considerably stable but is forecasted to slip further if the Global Economic crisis continues to deter. Source: http://www. exchangerates. org. uk/ Interest Rates The CBN kept it s benchmark interest rate at 12%. The CBN will find it hard to balance its objective of managing inflation and the government’s aim of reducing the cost of borrowing by the private sector to boost investment.Nigeria has seen a slowdown in economic growth in its economy as a result of slackening in global economic activities. As the tight liquidity condition persists, short term interest rates have been rising for the past couple of years. Another cause of concern for the CBN was the slowdown in interbank lending, which prompted the CBN to guarantee placements in the interbank market. This also helped bring down the interest rates in the short term money markets, such as the interbank call rates.The above table indicates the Monetary Aggregates and Interest Rates as obtained in 2010. Foreign Direct Investment Although the government will continue to welcome foreign direct investment (FDI), the level of FDI outside the oil and gas sector will remain low in relation to the poten tial size of the market. This reflects the complexities of the local business environment, together with the bureaucracy, corruption, low productivity, poor infrastructure and low income levels that restrict the potential market.The salient feature of the policy is enumerated. Full foreign ownership is allowed in all sectors apart from banking, although the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been more relaxed on the issue since the 2009 crisis in the sector and the subsequent need to recapitalize the affected banks. A new bill proposes to outlaw discretionary awards of oil and gas contracts, and stipulates that licenses must be given through â€Å"open, transparent and competitive† bidding processes.Nevertheless, a number of Asian investors, from China, India and South Korea in particular, who have shown keen interest in entering Nigeria on the basis that they concurrently develop local infrastructure, may still find themselves the preferred bidder on new acreage. There is als o likely to be a continued bias towards policy favoring local business, as evidenced by the recent local content bill for the oil industry that gives indigenous firms priority in the awarding of oil concessions and requires foreign companies to employ more local staff.As a result, and with other countries set to improve more rapidly, Nigeria will slip in the global rankings from 67th to 71st out of 82  countries, and from 12th to 13th in the Middle East and Africa region. Value of indexa| | Global rankb| | Regional rankc| | 2006-10| 2011-15| 2006-10| 2011-15| 2006-10| 2011-15| 5. 1| 4. 6| 67| 71| 12| 13| a Out of 10. b  Out of 82 countries. c  Out of 17 countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE, Angola, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.Source: Economic Intelligence Unit| Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) in Nigeria was 2. 99 as of 2010. Its highest value over the past 40 years was 8. 28 in 1994, while its lowest value was -1. 15 in 1980. The below outlines the Annual inflows of FDI along with its percentage composition of the gross fixed investment. (US$ m)| 2006| 2007| 2008| 2009| 2010| 2011| 2012| 2013| 2014| 2015| Annual inflows of FDI| 4,854| 6,035| 5,487| 5,787| 3,000| 3,500| 6,000| 7,500| 7,250| 7,250| % of gross fixed investment| 40. 4| 39. 7| 32. 1| 35. 3| 13. 7| 14. | 20. 5| 20. 9| 16. 8| 14. 2| Source: Economic Intelligence Unit| Globalization and Comparative Advantage Nigeria has not benefited considerably from globalization due to mono-cultural export, inability to attract increased foreign investments and huge indebtedness. And the way forward for Nigeria is to focus towards diversification of exports, debt reduction and expand developmental cooperation. Nigeria got connected to the rest of the world with the arrival of British in the Year 1539 and by the 1800’s Nigeria was under complete control of the British Empire.And since then Nigeriaâ€℠¢s trade has been heavily dependent on British trade. Nigeria has been a country rich in natural resources and traded these resources for weapons and tools. This asymmetric trade is the reason for the wide variance in the distribution of the nation’s wealth. The country received its independence in 1960 and during that time the Farm products was its major export. Post-independence, farm products constituted the major portion of Nigeria’s Trade. The six major agricultural products then were cocoa, rubber, palm oil, groundnut, cotton and palm kernel.And this constituted 69. 4% of its total GDP for the year 1963/64. The other contributor to exports was oil. However, during that period oil was priced low at $3. 8 per barrel and thus was not much lucrative. The 1970’s saw Nigeria’s fortune turn with the jump in fuel price by almost 4 times. Nigeria had high grade petroleum reserves and these reserves were easier to extract. The petroleum price rose to $14. 7 p er barrel by January 1974 and rates continued to soar reaching a high of $38. 77 per barrel in 1981.Within the same period, total revenue from oil rose correspondingly. By 1978, oil contributed 89. 1% of Nigeria’s export and in the same year contribution from agriculture plummeted to 6. 8% of exports. The overdependence of the country’s economy on oil exports has seriously hindered the development in other spheres. Globalization poses a multitude of challenges on Nigeria. The countries very poorly on education, health, agriculture and industrial development and therefore it is imperative that Nigeria focuses on these area to fundamentally transform the nation.The country requires focusing on technological development and science and Technology are required to be central theme of their Developmental Strategy. The Country also requires focusing on basic Infrastructure such as power supply and telecommunications and these must exist regularly and uninterruptedly. Also, in dustrialization, including manufacturing and fabrication must be brought in at the center place. There is a need to revitalize agriculture by utilizing the technologies in the field and shifting to mechanized farming. ConclusionThere is an element of risk of doing business in Nigeria even though the debt of the country is in a manageable state. A prolonged European crisis and a slowdown in China will lead to dip in oil prices and Nigeria will face difficulties in meeting its deficit requirements. The currency of Nigeria-Naira is currently seen stable and after depreciating by an average of 6. 3% per year in 2012-13 to N174:US$1, the naira is expected to moderate more gently in subsequent years, to N176:US$1 in 2016, though the currency has seen a continuous downslide when data is compared for the last three decades.After the Banking crisis of 2009, the banking sector is skeptical on lending to private sector, however the confidence is returning. The political risk of the country is seen as high due to factions in the government and the rise in Islamist fundamentalism. Piracy is also a major phenomenon in the Gulf of Guinea which makes Nigeria’s coastline a risky shipping port. Nigeria declared a state of emergency in January 2012 in the northern parts due to a recent spate of terror attacks; however no civil war or major instability is expected in the short run.The government has been accused of largely ignoring public grievances like unemployment, poverty, inequality in wealth and corruption. Unless the government steps up to address these issues and establish credibility there is risk of escalation. The President Mr. Good luck Jonathan has recently commissioned investigations into allegations of corruptions in the oil subsidies and replaced the Chief of the Police for failing to root out infiltration by the insurgents into the government offices.However the effectiveness of these measures will depend on their enforcement. The future of the Nigerian ec onomy therefore depends on stabilizing governance and enabling the parliament to unlock major reforms in the Oil and Gas sector. References 1. Economic Intelligence Unit – (http://country. eiu. com/Nigeria) 2. CBN Monetary Survey 3. Exchange Rates – (http://www. exchangerates. org. uk/) 4. Shadow Economy Reference – (http://news. bbc. co. uk/) 5. Currency Reference – (http://www. cenbank. org/)