Wave Theories and Their Applicability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Wave Theories and Their Applicability - Essay Example This disturbance carries the energy and travels through the water from one location to another without or temporarily transporting the water on which the wind acts. It is like transfer of power or energy from one thing to another. The wind exerts the force on water to form the wave to carry its energy. Then where the wind energy comes from It's again recursive. It's not the topic of discussion in this coursework. Very high waves with long overhanging crests. The resulting foam is in great patches and is blown in dense white streaks along the direction of the wind. On the whole, the surface of the sea takes a white appearance. The rolling of the sea becomes heavy and shock like. Visibility is affected. Exceptionally high waves (small and medium sized ships might for a long time be lost to view behind the waves). The sea is completely covered with white patches of foam lying along the direction of the wind. Visibility is affected. After many years of experience and deep observations with water waves lead to the development of different wave theories. And Stokes Wave Theory is the one among them. In this theory Stokes uses the common approach of generation of waves due to the wind. The three major parameters involved in the theory and they are the waves, which are subjected to certain boundary conditions, the equations of motion and the fluid (ideal or perfect or frictionless) on which the wind acts to form the wave. ... The sea is completely covered with white patches of foam lying along the direction of the wind. Visibility is affected. 35 20 12 64-71 Hurricane Air filled with foam and spray. Sea completely white with driving spray. Visibility is very seriously affected. 40 22 WAVE THEORIES After many years of experience and deep observations with water waves lead to the development of different wave theories. And Stokes Wave Theory is the one among them. In this theory Stokes uses the common approach of generation of waves due to the wind. The three major parameters involved in the theory and they are the waves, which are subjected to certain boundary conditions, the equations of motion and the fluid (ideal or perfect or frictionless) on which the wind acts to form the wave. Nowadays there are several variations of Stokes Theory developed using the computer implementations and are called the Extension of the Stokes theory to higher orders. For example, Stokes 2nd order, 3rd order and so on. Dean's (1965) stream function theory is the theory, which uses the stream function in place of the velocity potential to develop it. Dean (1974) did a limited comparison of measured horizontal particle velocity in a wave tank with the tenth-order stream function theory and several o ther theories. Again the variations of the stream function theory developed using different numerical methods by Dalrymple 1974, Chaplin 1980, Reinecker and Fenton 1981. Stokes finite amplitude wave theory is a non-linear shallow-water wave theory and is applicable when the depth to wavelength ratio d/L is greater than about 1/8 or kd > 0.78 or Ur < 79. As waves move into shallow water, portions of the wave travel faster because of amplitude dispersion

Summary for two articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summary for two articles - Essay Example The general increase in the temperatures has had significant effects to the environment. The increase in temperatures has had several effects, which the report has outlined and discussed. The rise in sea level has been due to increasing global temperatures, with the level rising at the rate of 1.8 mm/yr since 1968. This is a result of thermal expansion, melting of glacier and ice caps and polar ice sheets, creating a worrying trend to the world. Increased warming has also been the cause of decrease in snow and ice cover in both northern and southern hemispheres. Increased temperatures have also led to increase in precipitation especially in eastern parts of North and South America, northern parts of Europe and northern and central parts of Asia. However, there has been a report of decrease in precipitation in Sahel, Mediterranean, southern Africa, and parts of Asia. Another indicator of changing climatic conditions is the increase in warm days, warm nights, and a decrease in cold day s and cold nights. Intense tropical cyclone activities have also significantly increased in the north Atlantic since the 1970s, although there is no substantial of such increase elsewhere (Metz 22-24). Causes of Climatic Changes Greenhouse gas and aerosols concentration, changes in land cover and solar radiations are responsible for alterations in the energy balance of the climate system. Greenhouse gas emissions have increased significantly in the last few decades and especially from 1970s. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important greenhouse gas emitted by human activities, with the biggest contributor being burning of fossil fuels. Methane (CH4) is another greenhouse gas that which comes from agricultural activities and use of fossil fuels. Both carbon dioxide and methane gases contribute significantly to increase in global temperatures significantly. The last 50 years have witnessed increase global temperatures due to increased greenhouse gas emissions (Metz 198). Impact of Pro jected Climate Change Evidence highly supports mitigation policies on climatic change and related sustainable development practices on greenhouse gases will keep an upward increase over the next few decades. This emission, the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios, has projected to 90% in the 2000 to 2030 period. The report points out that fossil fuels will contribute the largest amount of the greenhouse gases. If the emission of these gases remain at the current rate or increase even with a minute percentage are likely to cause more damages and higher temperatures than those witnessed in the 20th century. This means that forest cover, snow and ice cover will reduce significantly, while the sea level will keep rising until the point when these trends will change. The acidity of the ocean is likely to increase, posing a threat to the aquatic life, and these changes are likely to affect human life more than they will affect other systems for example reduced agricultural productio n increasing areas affected by hunger. Adaptations and Options of Mitigation A variety of options to curb the increasing climatic change is available, but the only best way to change this is the reduction of the vulnerability of the climatic change. However, a number of barriers, costs, and limitations, that has yet to be evaluated. Societies have been on the front in trying to manage the impact of climate changes. Additional measures to reduce these

Effects of Olfaction and Pheromones | Literature Review

Effects of Olfaction and Pheromones | Literature Review Abstract: A favorable scent goes a long way. An odor or fragrance (commonly referred to as a smell) is caused by one or more volatilized  chemical compounds, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the  sense  of  olfaction. Odors are also commonly called scents, which can refer to both pleasant and unpleasant odors. Scent plays a very important role in our lives. A pheromone is a secreted or excreted  chemical  factor that triggers a social response in members of the same  species. A survey of sample size 30 college students was conducted to find out if scent did attract attention or not. Keywords: Olfaction, human pheromones, MHC genes Introduction: Want to boost your mood or stir up old memories? Just use your nose. And, most important, scent can even drive one to romantic distraction. Think of your partners pajamas. Indeed, the nose can suss out something as complex as sexual compatibility. The terms fragrance and aroma are used primarily by the food and cosmetic industry to describe a pleasant odor, and are sometimes used to refer to  perfumes. In contrast, malodor, stench, reek, and stink are used specifically to describe unpleasant odor. In the  United Kingdom, odour refers to scents in general. In the United States, odor has a more negative connotation, such as smell, stench or stink, while scent or aromas are used for pleasant smells. Research has shown that certain human body odors are connected to human sexual attraction. Both fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) are connected to scent. Review of literature: OLFACTION Olfaction or olfactory perception is the  sense  of smell. Many vertebrates, including most mammals and reptiles, have two distinct olfactory systems—the main olfactory system, and the accessory olfactory system which is mainly used to detect pheromones. In female humans, the sense of olfaction is strongest around the time of ovulation, significantly stronger than during other phases of the menstrual cycle and also stronger than the sense in males. The MHC genes (known as HLA in humans) are a group of genes present in many animals and important for the immune system; in general, offspring from parents with differing MHC genes have a stronger immune system. Fish, mice and female humans are able to smell some aspect of the MHC genes of potential sex partners and prefer partners with MHC genes different from their own. Humans can detect individuals that are blood-related kin (mothers/fathers and children but not husbands and wives) from olfaction. The ability to identify odors varies among people and decreases with age. Studies show there are sex differences in odor discrimination; women usually outperform males. Pregnant women also have increased smell sensitivity, sometimes resulting in abnormal taste and smell perceptions, leading to food cravings or aversions. Olfactory Reference Syndrome (ORS) is a condition in which those affected have an excessive preoccupation with the concern that body odor may be foul or, on a good day, unpleasant. HUMAN PHEROMONES A pheromone is a secreted or excreted  chemical  factor that triggers a social response in members of the same  species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual. While humans are highly dependent upon visual cues, when in close proximity smells also play a big role in sociosexual behaviors. There is an inherent difficulty in studying human pheromones because of the need for cleanliness and odorlessness in human participants. The focus of the experiments on human pheromones has been on three classes of putative pheromones: axillary steroids, vaginal aliphatic acids, and stimulators of the  vomeronasal organ. Pheromones have been demonstrated clearly in other species, but their existence and ability to affect humans is still under debate. Several studies have been conducted that have reached different conclusions, but some pheromone effects seen in other mammals are definitely present in humans. Most studies have found that human sweat or putative pheromones increase physiological arousal, one way or another. This idea that something we cant even consciously smell is affecting our behavior is horrifying to some people, but in reality we are controlled by the combination of all our senses! Gustav Jà ¤ger (1832-1917), a German doctor and hygienist is thought to be the first scientist to put forward the idea of human pheromones. He called the manthropines. He said they were lipophilic compounds associated with skin and follicles that mark the individual signature of human odors. Lipophilic compounds are those that tend to combine with, or are capable of dissolving in lipids. Researchers in the University of Chicago claimed that they managed to link the synchronization of womens menstrual cycles to unconscious odor cues. The head researcher was called Martha McClintock, hence the coined termthe McClintock effect. When exposing a group of women to a whiff of sweat from other women, their menstrual cycles either accelerated or slowed down; depending on when during the menstrual cycle the sweat was collected before, during or after ovulation. The scientists said that the pheromone collected before ovulation shortened the ovarian cycle, while the pheromone collected during ovulation lengthened it. Even so, recent analyses of McClintocks study and methodology have questioned its validity. There are four principal kinds of pheromones: Releaser pheromones they elicit an immediate response, the response is rapid and reliable. They are usually linked to sexual attraction. Primer pheromones these take longer to get a response. They can, for example, influence the development or reproduction  physiology, including menstrual cycles in females,  puberty, and the success or failure of pregnancy. Signaler pheromones these provide information. They may help the mother to recognize her newborn by scent (fathers cannot usually do this). Modulator pheromones they can either alter or synchronize bodily functions. Usually found in sweat. There are differences between men and women in the types of glands, secretions and even microbial flora present in the axillary environment, suggesting a sex-specific role. Most of these glands do not become active until after puberty, suggesting a role in sexual communication. (Hays, 2003) Pheromone-like compounds are also found in salivary, seminal and urine secretions, but studies tend to focus on the most accessible: axillary sweat. Jacob (2000, 2001) found increased physiological effects, only noticed a positive increase in mood and increased arousal in women when the test administrator present was male. Men were unaffected by the sex of the tester, but had slightly less effects than females overall. They concluded that pheromones are incredibly context dependent. Humans must integrate many different brain functions to affect arousal and mood. Psychologists Rachel Herz and Estelle Campenni were just getting to know each other, swapping stories about their lives over coffee, when Campenni confided something unexpected: She was living proof, she said, of love at first smell. I knew I would marry my husband the minute I smelled him, she told Herz. Ive always been into smell, but this was different; he really smelled good to me. His scent made me feel safe and at the same time turned on—and Im talking about his real body smell, not cologne or soap. Id never felt like that from a mans smell before. Weve been married for eight years now and have three kids, and his smell is always very sexy to me. RESEARCH In the now famous T-shirt experiments it was shown that specific women chose as most sexy and pleasant smelling T-shirts belonging to men who had immune systems that were different from their own. Because we all possess different MHC genes (and body-odor), for every woman a different set of men will be delicious smelling and others wont be. Theres no Brad Pitt of body odor! A womans nose not only responds to a mans body-odor in terms of his biological suitability, women actually find how a man smells to be the most important factor in their sexual attraction. In two large studies were conducted to examine how important various physical and social status factors were for men and women when choosing a sexual partner, we discovered that above all other physical characteristics, women ranked a mans scent as the most important feature for determining whether she would be sexually interested in him. How a man smelled was also more much important than any social status factor. And of all physical characteristics women preferred a man to be better than average in his body-odor than anything else. Women also found men who smelled great due to the fragrance they wore irresistible. In the words of one respondent: If Im with a guy who smells really good, nothing else about him seems to matter. Among heterosexual couples, similar MHC profiles spell relational difficulty, Christine Garver-Apgar, a psychologist at the University of New Mexico, has found. As the proportion of MHC alleles increased, womens sexual responsiveness to their partners decreased, and their number of sex partners outside the relationship increased, Garver-Apgar reports. The number of MHC genes couples shared corresponded directly with the likelihood that they would cheat on one another; if a man and woman had 50 percent of their MHC alleles in common, the woman had a 50 percent chance of sleeping with another man behind her partners back. You encounter a particular smell, and it immediately transports you back to an earlier time and to a pleasant memory. A recent feature in the Association of Psychological Sciences’ Observer discusses the connection. Researchers have discovered that there is a strong connection between smells, emotions and early life experiences. In fact, there is a strong relationship between certain smells experienced very early in life, typically before age 5, that will trigger pleasant feelings and memories. This is particularly true for odors that we don’t smell every day. The reason for these associations is that the brain’s olfactory bulb is connected to both the amygdala (an emotion center) and to the hippocampus, which is involved in memory. And, because smells serve a survival function (odors can keep us from eating spoiled or poisonous foods), some of these associations are made very quickly, and may even involve a one-time association. But even in adulthood, we can easily make associations between smells and memories. You might draw a connection between a certain perfume or cologne and a first encounter with a friend or lover, or the scent of a certain food may transport you back to the first time you ate it. Among heterosexual couples, similar MHC profiles spell relational difficulty, Christine Garver-Apgar, a psychologist at the University of New Mexico, has found. As the proportion of MHC alleles increased, womens sexual responsiveness to their partners decreased, and their number of sex partners outside the relationship increased, Garver-Apgar reports. The number of MHC genes couples shared corresponded directly with the likelihood that they would cheat on one another; if a man and woman had 50 percent of their MHC alleles in common, the woman had a 50 percent chance of sleeping with another man behind her partners back. SURVEY A survey was conducted. The hypothesis was â€Å"Scent Attracts Attention†. A sample of 30 teenagers from the age 17-21 out of which 15 were females and 15 were males. Each one of them a questionnaire consisting of 17 questions. Some questions were ranged from 1- 5 and some were yes, no or may be. All the questions were given a score and accordingly the score was found out. The following were the questions given to the subjects. QUESTIONNAIRE Q1. How likely are you to initiate a conversation with a stranger on the basis of good fragrance that he/she is wearing? Very unlikely Very likely 1 2 3 4 5 Q2. How likely are you to avoid having a conversation if the other person has a bad breath? Very unlikely Very likely 1 2 3 4 5 Q3. Is good fragrance an important factor in framing first impression? Yes No Q4. Would you consider going for an aroma therapy? Yes No Q5. Do advertisements about perfumes or deodorants urge you to buy them? Yes No Q6. Have you ever been attracted to a person because of the way they smell? Yes No May be Q7. Do you feel that putting an external fragrance affects your self-esteem? Yes No May be Q8. What do you prefer, natural body odour or external fragrance? Natural odour or External fragrance Q9. Do you feel men and women have different body odours? Yes No May be Q10. Have you ever purchased body fragrances in order to improve your interpersonal relationship? Yes No Q11. How conscious are you about your body odour and its impact? Very unconscious Very conscious 1 2 3 4 5 Q12. Does deodorant/perfume attract people? Yes No Q13. How frequently do you use deodorants/perfume in a day? Never Once twice every few hours Q14. While travelling, can you tolerate other people’s body odour? Yes No Q15. Would you ever use external fragrances as a substitute to showering? Yes No Sometimes Q16. Do you buy soaps, body wash or talcum powder to help you enhance your body odour? Yes No May be Q17. Would you use gender specific deodorants/perfumes? Yes No QUESTIONNAIRE SCORING Q1. How likely are you to initiate a conversation with a stranger on the basis of good fragrance that he/she is wearing? Very unlikely Very likely 1 2 3 4 5 Q2. How likely are you to avoid having a conversation if the other person has a bad breath? Very unlikely Very likely 1 2 3 4 5 Q3. Is good fragrance an important factor in framing first impression? Yes (5) No (1) Q4. Would you consider going for an aroma therapy? Yes (5) No (1) Q5. Do advertisements about perfumes or deodorants urge you to buy them? Yes (5) No (1) Q6. Have you ever been attracted to a person because of the way they smell? Yes (5) No (1) May be (3) Q7. Do you feel that putting an external fragrance affects your self-esteem? Yes (5) No (1) May be (3) Q8. What do you prefer, natural body odour or external fragrance? Natural odour (1) or External fragrance (5) Q9. Do you feel men and women have different body odours? Yes (5) No (1) May be (3) Q10. Have you ever purchased body fragrances in order to improve your interpersonal relationship? Yes (5) No (1) Q11. How conscious are you about your body odour and its impact? Very unconscious Very conscious 1 2 3 4 5 Q12. Does deodorant/perfume attract people? Yes (5) No (1) Q13. How frequently do you use deodorants/perfume in a day? Never (1) Once (2) twice (3) every few hours (5) Q14. While travelling, can you tolerate other people’s body odour? Yes (1) No (5) Q15. Would you ever use external fragrances as a substitute to showering? Yes (5) No (1) Sometimes (3) Q16. Do you buy soaps, body wash or talcum powder to help you enhance your body odour? Yes (5) No (1) May be (3) Q17. Would you use gender specific deodorants/perfumes? Yes (5) No (1) Classification done according to the scores is the following: 17-34: Not attracted to scent at all 35-52: A little attracted towards scent 53-70: Moderate attraction towards to scent 71-85: High attraction towards scent The total score of females was 767. The total score of males was 792. The total score was 1559. The highest score one could get was 85. The lowest score one could get was 17. The highest total score could be 2550. The lowest total score could be 510. TOTAL No attraction towards scent: 0 A little attracted towards scent: 16 Moderate attraction towards to scent: 12 High attraction towards scent: 2 The conclusion of the survey was that there is little or moderate attraction towards scent. The hypothesis was proved correct, scent does attract attention. Males are attracted to scent more than females. References: www.psychology today.com www.wikipedia.com

What Is Truth? Essay examples -- Definition Philosophical Philosophy E

What is Truth? Truth exists and is an absolute. Contrary to the mush-minded meanderings of modern educators, truth is not relative. If my truth differs from your truth that can only be because either one or both of us is unaware of the truth and has called something true which is not. Truth must have not the slightest touch of maybe to it. Maybe is dishonesty to truth and if it touches truth, then truth becomes maybe. Truth is more and beyond that which is true. Truth is a concept in philosophy that treats the meaning of true and the criteria by which we judge the truth or falsity in written and spoken statements. For thousands of years, Philosophers have attempted to answer the question â€Å"What is Truth?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Truth is the quality of being true, and anything that is true is a truth, the concept of truth is uncommonly complex and variable. Thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and opinions are said to be true or false. An idea makes a truth claim and is true when the character of what is thought about upholds its claim. Forms of words or statements are also said to be true or false. This can be explained by saying a set of words is true when it expresses a true thought. â€Å"Truth† should be replaced by the â€Å"facts†, â€Å"reality† or the â€Å"way things are.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Truth is often imagined as consisting in a speaker’s honesty with respect to what he believes. Occasionally truth is rehashed, as in the doctrines of the German philosopher Gottlob Frege. Mohandas Gandhi spoke of â€Å"The Absolute Truth, the Eternal Principle, that is God† and said, â€Å" I worship God as Truth only.† Jesus said, â€Å" I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  God is truth and the essence of it. All of his ways are truth and all truth stands or falls as it is measured against Him. If we love truth and seek after it, we cannot help but run into the outstretched arms of God. He wants us to know the truth, which is to know him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  God places the truth before us and gives us complete freedom to choose how to respond to the truth. If we turn to God and ask him to instruct us in the truth and to lead us to salvation, we will surely receive that which we ask because our prayer will be in line with God’s desire for us. The word truth is mentioned in the bible 235 times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Philosopher’s proposed four main theories to answer the â€Å"What is Truth?† question. They are correspondence, pragmatic,... ...he environment, nature, ethnical duties and ideas, or the relation to the divine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It has been doubted whether knowledge, or known truth, is humanly attainable. The truth is often disagreeable, because it fails to support prejudice or myth. The pursuit of truth tends to be suppressed as a dangerously revolutionary force.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some philosophers reject the question â€Å"What is truth?† with the observation that attaching the claim â€Å"it is true that† to a sentence adds no meaning. The use of the word true is essential when making a general claim about everything, nothing, or something, as in the statement â€Å"most of what he says is true.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Truth is a very simple and handy concept. It is correspondence of a pictorial or symbolic representation to the thing being represented. In the case of a symbolic representation, the correspondence may be massively complicated, but it is nonetheless similar in kind to a simple pictorial representation. Works Cited â€Å"Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 98† on disk. 1993-1997 â€Å"Encyclopedia Americana†, 1986 by Grolier Incorporated â€Å"Philosophy: History and Problems. Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Fifth Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Inc., 1994

Amazon SWOT Analysis of Inc

Amazon.com, Inc. or www.amazon.com has a mission statement to be the most customer-centric or customer-oriented retailer on this planet, where people can browse and buy anything they want to buy online with prices as low as possible on the market. (About Amazon) They are one of the world’s most important online retailers and providers of web service. (Amazon.com Inc.) They offer a large-scale of products such as clothing, merchandises for car and industrial uses, beauty and health products, books, games, electronic devices, grocery, food, jewelry, merchandises for kids and babies, movies, music, toys, sports goods, and etc. (Amazon.com Inc.)They also offer delivery and shipping, web hosting services and some other related services. (Amazon.com Inc.) They also make Kindle devices, and provide their products via company-owned online retailer websites. (Amazon.com Inc.) Not only they sell brand new unused merchandise, they also sell refurbished and second-hand used goods online. (About Amazon) Internal analysis – Strengths (their business model is their strength) In strategy, Amazon has improved the operations of their business by diversifying it from online bookstore to online merchandising with a wide variety of different kinds of products. (Amazon.com Inc.)Their dealing with costumers online without reseller model increased their inventory turnover with better returns. (Amazon.com Inc.) With their business models they also run warehouses that are not huge and large, but small and lean in many different places in the world. (Amazon.com Inc.) Their direct-to-customers with no resellers strategy makes it easier for them to handle their capital investments in their warehouses and lower possible inventory risks. (Amazon.com Inc.) By that strategy of dealing with customers directly also have increased the volume of their sales. (Amazon.com Inc.)Their business model offers everyday low prices for their products online. (Amazon.com Inc.) They have expande d their presence to many different countries globally by offering websites modified specifically according to different countries’ needs and wants like languages and taste with fulfillment networks. (Amazon.com Inc.) They learned and copied the most successful business  ventures from any other countries in the world internationally, and tested new features for their business strategy within the US market. (Amazon.com Inc.)Their product offerings are expanding by making agreements with third-party sellers around the world. Moreover, they let other retailers use their e-commerce online retailing platform technology for a price. (Amazon.com Inc.) They also offer bundle services to consumers for bringing in greater efficiency and lowering their prices in the market. (Amazon.com Inc.) And their bundled services later on diversified itself in the e-commerce markets to other platform services within the industry of cloud computing. (Amazon.com Inc.) Amazon has a broad product port folio allowing them to provide various products to serve a market of diversified customers. (Amazon.com Inc.)Customers of Amazon.com are offered a one-stop shopping experience to shop from clothing to smartphones to food. (Amazon.com Inc) Their efficient customer service and wide choice of goods and products putting their business focus on product selection, product prices, and the convenience to shop them. (Amazon.com Inc) Their product offerings include clothing, auto and industrial items, beauty and health products, books, computers, digital downloads, electronics, grocery, games, home goods, jewelry, kids and baby items, movies, music, office supplies, outdoor goods, shoes, sport goods, toys, and other kinds of tools. (Amazon.com Inc)Their strategy also emphasizes on selling their products at the lowest possible price by everyday low product pricing and free shipping such as the package Amazon Prime offering for free two-day-delivery on millions of items plus other features. (Am azon.com, Inc.) More and a greater number of customers shopping online are drawn to shop on Amazon.com because of Amazon’s broad and diverse product assortment with low prices. (Amazon.com, Inc.) And lately, Amazon just introduced their newly invented product, Kindle Fire, the most-advanced tablet providing a fully-integrated and end-to-end service for customers. (Amazon.com Inc.)They also started renting thousands of college textbooks to college students with a recently launched service called Amazon Textbook Rental. (Amazon.com Inc.) Amazon’s wide range of product offerings gives them a good chance of future financial growth. (Amazon.com Inc.) Amazon has adopted different technologies that make their website more customer-friendly. (Amazon.com Inc) With key features such as editorial and customer reviews written on their website,  manufacturer product information, gift guides, web pages customized to individual preferences like recommendations and notifications, 1- Click technology, secure payment systems, digital content and the Search Inside the Book technology. (Amazon.com Inc) And shoppers can track their orders on the website with â€Å"Your Account† features. (Amazon.com Inc)Amazon provides customer service all around the world easily with their customer service centers located on different parts in the world globally. (Amazon.com Inc) Moreover, their delivery is free with other options for shipping available worldwide around the globe. (Amazon.com Inc) With all those satisfactory shopping features available on their website, in return they have also gained high customer loyalty. (Amazon.com Inc) But they are still expanding not stopping with their customer serving coverage across the world, lately, they have just launched their Amazon Appstore in Western Europe including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain providing access to their wide range of various Android apps which give convenience to customers using Andro id phones and tablets to shop. (Amazon.com Inc)Debt, for the fiscal year 2012, Amazon recorded a total of $3,830 million in debt, and compare to their debt in the fiscal year 2011 that was an increase of 170% in one year! (Amazon.com Inc) Amazon’s total long-term debt was almost $3,084 million. (Amazon.com Inc) Their debt could make them less likely to borrow more money to finance their working capital, capital expenditure, or other kinds of investments, particularly if rating organizations downgraded Amazon’s debt securities’ ratings. (Amazon.com Inc)This weakness would be unfavorable for Amazon especially during tough times in the economy with unstable market conditions to respond to. (Amazon.com Inc) Another very obvious unfavorable effect that Amazon’s huge debt has on them is that they need to pay back what they owe in principal plus accumulated interest which is a substantial amount of their cash flow from their business operations, which then reduc ed the amount of funds available for them to expand their business via activities like acquisitions and create more product offerings and to spend on their marketing. (Amazon.com Inc) Legal proceedings, Amazon has many lawsuits filed against them both in actual terms and those haven’t yet but have the possibility to do  so. (Amazon.com Inc)And majority of those cases suing Amazon are concerned with the issues of patent violations, the relations between Amazon and their employees, contract issues, liability of products, environmental issues, antitrust issues, and other kinds of issues, etc. (Amazon.com Inc) The companies that filed and On-Demand Publishing LLC dba CreateSpace claiming that Amazon has infringed US patents in the number of 7,392,283 and patent number 7,174,362. (Amazon.com Inc) And another case filed against Amazon was in September 2012 by B.E. Technology, LLC claiming that Amazon Digital Services, Inc. has again infringed people’s US patents in the num ber of 6,771,290. (Amazon.com Inc)An Australian quasi-government entity, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, filed a lawsuit against Amazon for their infringement of US Patent number five-four-eight-seven-zero-six-nine. (Amazon.com Inc) Not only did Amazon face the lawsuits filed against them mentioned above, they have been also sued for patent infringement, violation of copyrights and etc. (Amazon.com Inc) Regardless if the companies filed lawsuits against Amazon won or lost, any legal proceeding could have a negative impact on Amazon’s cash flow and waste management’s time and effort. (Amazon.com Inc) External Analysis, uncontrollably good opportunities for Amazon Strategic acquisitions have continued to be considered as an important way by Amazon as a strategy for business growth. (Amazon.com Inc)Although merely viewed as supplements to their core business growth, acquisition is one way for them to expand their business including adopting n ew technologies of newly acquired companies, introducing new products, and expand their business reach in geography. (Amazon.com Inc) Examples such as their recent March 2013 acquisition of the company Goodreads a website providing customers a place for sharing books online. (Amazon.com Inc) Another example of their acquisition is with a company called IVONA Software in January this year 2013, which did text-to-speech technology. (Amazon.com Inc)And Amazon’s company which mainly works for their publishing, Amazon Publishing, bought another company, Avalon Book’s publication rights, of over three thousands backlist titles, and mostly in the romance, mystery and western book categories in the June of 2012. (Amazon.com Inc) And they have also made an agreement in March 2012 to acquire another company called Kiva Systems, Inc. or Kiva that focused on working with and inventing innovative technology forhandling material. (Amazon.com Inc)Amazon intended to raise the level of productivity via the acquisition of this innovative material handling company, making the employees able to pick, pack and stow their products in their fulfillment centers. (Amazon.com Inc) And this particular strategy is called â€Å"inorganic growth strategy†, as organic stands for â€Å"characterized by continuous or natural development†, might be able to help expand their market share in a significant extent. (Amazon.com Inc) Amazon’s opportunities for growth are also driven by their initiatives in strategy to make their product assortment better in the market. (Amazon.com Inc)For example, they have expanded their multi-year licensing agreement with PBS Distribution in order to offer free-of-charge online streaming of past seasons PBS programs to registered members of their Amazon Prime package in June 2013. (Amazon.com Inc) And in May of 2013, Amazon introduced their invented Kindle Worlds, a platform product made for publishing commercially and available for the first time in the market. (Amazon.com Inc) Then in January 2013, they made an agreement regarding the licensing of the content of A+E Networks, in order to add earlier seasons of A&E, bio, HISTORY and Lifetime channel into the prime instant video service on their Amazon.com website. (Amazon.com Inc)And earlier in November 2012, they started to provide a service called Amazon Redshift, which is a fully managed and powerful warehouse in the cloud for petabyte-scale data storage. (Amazon.com Inc) In the meantime, Amazon also introduced a marketplace called the Amazon wine in the market, where customers are offered more than a thousand wines. (Amazon.com Inc) And in earlier in August 2012 in the UK, Germany, France and Italy and Spain in Western Europe, Amazon launched their Amazon Appstore providing an access for European customers to download and use their wide range of high quality Android smartphone apps conveniently to shop on their website when the European customers are u sing their Android electronic devices such as cellphone and tablet computer to shop. (Amazon.com Inc)And then earlier in the March of 2012, Amazon made an announcement to the world that they were going to make a $150 million USD investment to open a new Jeffersonville, Indian fulfillment center in the US. (Amazon.com Inc) Their initiatives to make themselves able to provide customers with more product offerings with a new fulfillment center in the US could give them a better chance in business growth. (Amazon.com Inc) Another area of  opportunity for Amazon to potentially expand their presence in the market is in the E-Commerce business. (Amazon.com Inc) There is a good chance of potential for Amazon to grow their business and raise their profitability with direct marketing along with e-commerce business’ rising trend. (Amazon.com Inc)Due to the recent scenario that a growing number of consumers these days rather shop online than visit the retail stores physically to save t heir time and money in one stop. (Amazon.com Inc) According to professionals in the industry, traffic of the IP data in the globe is forecasted to go up to six point six zettabytes annually by the year 2016, and also traffic of the cloud storage is forecasted to rise from 2011’s 39% of total data centre traffic up to 64% in the year 2016. (Amazon.com Inc) The growth of E-commerce market is driven by smart phones, tablets and other internet enabled electronic devices’ uses. (Amazon.com Inc)Along with this growth of online shopping using internet enabled electronic devices, this trend pushes and changes other retailers to invest more into serving the new format of electronic device online shopping customer segment. (Amazon.com Inc) And Amazon could increase their cost savings and expand their share in the retailing market with an already well established position in the e-retailing. (Amazon.com Inc)The fact that Amazon is subject to the government and the law’s re gulation and intervention is considered an external threat. (Amazon.com Inc) The government and the law could pose external threats to Amazon’s business in aspects such as taxation, privacy, data protection, pricing, content, copyrights, electronic device certification, electronic waste, consumer protection, the provision of online payment services, the design and operation of websites, and the characteristics and quality of Amazon’s products and their services. (Amazon.com Inc)Today, the US Supreme Court does not allow collecting state and local taxes for Internet sales. (Amazon.com Inc) However, some states in the US and the Congress have been thinking of initiatives that could restrict the Supreme Court’s place and voice in matters regarding issues of Internet sales’ taxation. (Amazon.com Inc) And if those states and Congress succeed, Amazon might will be required to either collect a certain tax called â€Å"sales and use taxes† in some states  or alter the ways of how they practice their business for the law. (Amazon.com Inc) Imposing taxes by the local government and by state could create a burden on the company’s administration. (Amazon.com Inc)Moreover, those taxes if imposed on the bills of Amazon’s customers could less their demand and make their products and services less attractive in the market with increased cost. (Amazon.com Inc) The online shopping market is a very competitive one to do business in, including for Amazon. (Amazon.com Inc) The kind of competitors they have such as any other online e-commerce and mobile e-commerce sites, publishers, media companies and other companies designing, manufacturing, marketing digital media devices. (Amazon.com Inc)They compete in terms of price, product selection, how convenient is it to shop, product quality, how much time it takes/speed, and their services and tools’ reliability. (Amazon.com Inc) The list of names of Amazon’s online shopp ing competitors would be eBay, Yahoo, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, ValueVision Media, and Netflix. (Amazon.com Inc) Their competitors could possess more resources with more customers and better recognitions than Amazon. (Amazon.com Inc)Along with the competition getting fiercer Amazon needs to maintain their stock while adapting to an unstable environment of changing needs and wants in order to survive. (Amazon.com Inc) In international finance, there is a risk called foreign currency exchange risk, and that’s the kind of external threat that Amazon is exposed to as a global company doing business internationally. (Amazon.com Inc) Last year in 2012, Amazon’s revenue in total has a 43% stake outside the US in the international segment. (Amazon.com Inc) And for that year their business profit went down dramatically in the figure of $853 million compare to their 2011 revenue due to the ups and downs of the values of foreign currencies, in other words they lost a lot o f money because of their vulnerable and high exposure to exchange rate risk. (Amazon.com Inc)As they have revenue denominated internationally in the continents of Asia, Europe and North America. (Amazon.com Inc) They also have things in value other than revenue such as assets, liabilities denominated in many different foreign currencies. (Amazon.com Inc) Those currencies for example such as they do business transactions with the European Euro, British Pound, Japanese Yen, Chinese Yuan and Korean Won and etc. (Amazon.com Inc) Yet they still have the USD as their main functional currency. (Amazon.com Inc) If the foreign  currencies devalue against the USD then they would lose money when they convert their foreign revenue back to the US, but if the US dollar exchange rate weakens against all other major foreign currencies, then Amazon would face potentially greater long-term liabilities. (Amazon.com Inc)

Could The Cold War Have been Avoided

A medical doctor had assisted a lady in labour The Later facts revealed that a few months In of the Childs growth the parents discovered a problem which was very worrying They later learnt from a professional that there child had deficiencies which capped his mobility on the left arm and the left leg Duty of Care: Breach of Duty: The first issue is the standard of care in which the doctor will be Judged on and it is going to be Judged on the reasonable standards of a component doctor. The question arises! How do you test whether an act or failure Is negligent? https://donemyessay.com/end-of-the-cold-war/The doctor Is to be Judged on the state of knowledge at the time of the Incident. In this case there Is special skill required In this filed and It would be Judged by the conduct of a competent doctor exercising that particular art. There many Issues In the case arguments for and against:- Assuming the doctor who was present at the time was a junior Doctor:- If at the time of childbirth the doctor successfully was able to assist in the birth of the child and request the advice and help ofa superior doctor then it is mostly likely that he has atisfied the Bolem test even though he/she may have made a mistake.Therefore we could draw the line that if the doctor had their work checked by a reasonably competent doctor believed that the action of this doctor were reasonable then the Judge may find the doctor had not been negligent. However If the doctor had properly accepted his post In a hospital In order to gain necessary experience then he sho uld only be held liable for acts or omissions which a careful doctor with his qualifications and experience would not have done. Causation: Causation would have to show that a health care professional has been negligent in ome form or another.It must also show that the doctor at the time of the labour has caused the patient or victims any injuries. The test used here would be the, ‘but for', test which simply asks whether the patient would have suffered any Injuries. the child by making the mistake by wrongfully applying pressure on the Childs arm or leg. If it had been possible that the doctor would have removed the child without complication then he may have acted negligently and caused the Childs condition. Damages When the defendant has succeeded to prove that there was A duty of careA Breach of the that duty Which caused the patient's condition, the patient is entitled to damages Basic Principle in Tort: The claimant should be put back in the position he was in before the negligent act was omitted The aim of damages: not to punish the defendant, ‘BUT', to compensate the claimant The patient can claim for damages for: Pain and suffering (Relatively small) Loss of amenity Extra Costs (for Example Private care) Loss of Earning Future loses Compensation can be reduced when: Contributory negligence ex: patients does not disclose information Could The Cold War Have Been Avoided Could the Cold War have been avoided? Discuss with reference to the key schools of thought on the origins of the Cold War. The cold war is the product of confrontation between US and USSR, reflected by conflicts of interests in political, ideological, military sphere and so on (Baylis et al. 2010, p51), and it lasted nearly half century and ended up with dissolution of Soviet Union. There are so many debates about its origin and some people argue that cold war might be avoided.However this essay will indicate that cold war is inevitable with discussion of orthodox view, revisionist view of origins of cold ward and focus on the third view—post revisionist. Orthodox or the traditional view refers to that Soviet Union aggressive expansion created American insecurity, and it is dominant among historians in US until 1960s. They argued that Stalin went against the principles agreed at Yalta, and employed the policy of â€Å"expansionism† in Eastern Europe and tried to spread communism all over the world.While the loss of China to communism, Korean War and rise of McCarthyism created a strong anti-communism sentiment in the West (Bastian, 2003). Therefore, this brought an image that US hoped to maintain the peace and cooperation with the Soviets, but with the expansion of press and radio controlled, personal freedom suppressed and even evil Soviet Union, America had no choice but to react in defense of its own security and freedom principle.After 1960s, when US get involved in Vietnam War, some other historians began to challenge the orthodox view and question the motives of US capitalism. The so called revisionist or left leaning historians argued that US capitalism expansion created insecurity to Soviet Union. The representative is William Appleman Williams (1972) who saw US capitalism as aggressive requirements for huge foreign market, investment and resource of raw materials and US foreign policies were to ensure there was an â€Å"Open Door† for American trade and build an US-dominated international capital market.By contrast, Soviet Union just did the same things to protect its national interests as other countries did and reacted defensively to the fear of American global capital expansion. However, the third view—post-revisionist did not simply blame cold war on either one side, but showed that the causes of cold war lied on both countries. The post-revisionist ideas could be more convincing to explain the inevitability to cold war. Post-revisionists tended to believe revisionists’ idea that Soviet Union tried to maintain its own security and  create its influential sphere in Eastern and Central Europe for safety concern.While John Lewis Gaddis (2005) one of the most important post-revisionists argued that Western countries cannot make sure what Soviet Union was up to do, and actions of protecting Soviet security could still be regarded as threats to Western interests, so the worries about Soviet were legitimate and understandable. Therefore, the mutual misunderstanding and reactivity reinforced the conflicts step by step which refer to Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ speech, Marshall Plans, followed by Berlin blockade and so on.Moreover, article of Whelan (2011) adopted theory of Thucydides Trap to further explain this situation. The Thucydides Trap illustrates that growth of Athenian power and the fear it inspired in Sparta made the war inevitable. Whelan suggested that the cold war could not have been avoided since US carried out atomic bomb successfully, and when it was used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It sent a strong signal or fear to Soviet Union that United States had the means and intention to use nuclear bombs again if necessary.The fear caused Soviet Union to develop its own nuclear weapons, and explosion of Soviet atomic bomb again exposed a threat to US to take more aggressive military actions. It became a cycle that never ended which dragged Soviet an d US into endless arm race. In addition, the conflict of ideology has made the negotiation even more difficult. According to Gaddis (2005), historians underestimated the clash of ideology which played an essential role in cold war. After October 1917, a new ideology—Marxism and Leninism was born with Russian revolution.Marxist-Leninists believed that history was contradictions of classes, and capitalism was exploitation of working class. But eventually with the consciousness of working class, the revolution would rise up and bring capitalism to its end. Therefore, this ideology was rivalry to US capitalism in the nature and seemed to be a threat to liberal democracies in the West. (Bastian, 2003) Although the ideological rivalry became less important in the 1920s and 1930s because Soviet Union and US were dealing with Fascism, the rivalry increased dramatically by 1945.For instance, in 1946 George Kennan’s famous â€Å"Long Telegram† suggested that Sovietâ€℠¢s ideology was greatly hostile to US interests and had to be contained. Furthermore, Whelan’s article (2011) indicated that the fear, paranoia and propaganda created by ideologically conflicts made it very difficult to see points of view from opposing side, which almost left no room for communication and negotiation to stop arm race. He directly suggested that cold war was inevitable because â€Å"the Cold war had already commenced in October 1917 the start of the Russian revolution†.In conclusion, this essay has briefly introduced the orthodox and revisionist reviews of origins of cold war, and concentrated on analysis of post-revisionist thoughts. From the perspective of post-revisionists, misunderstanding and reactivity caused insecurity of both Soviet Union and US, while nuclear weapons reinforced the insecurity to inevitable cold war. At the same time the huge rivalry in natures of two nations’ ideologies nearly eliminated communication and made cold war e ven more not avoidable.

Menesetueng Alice Munro Essay Example

Menesetueng Alice Munro Essay Example Menesetueng Alice Munro Essay Menesetueng Alice Munro Essay The beginning of the story starts fifth a short piece of poetry by Alameda Joint Roth -The narrator is introduced as wanting to reconstruct Lambdas life, he/she introduces Alameda and her book of poetry Offerings to the reader The narrator provides a description of Lambdas appearance , and talks about the death of Lambdas family and her love of poetry The narrator describes how life was In the 19th century In Canada West (Ontario) The narrator then gives a list of some of Lambdas poem and speaks of what they may mean The narrator reveals he/she ivies in the same area as Alameda The Evident is introduced, which is the town newspaper, the narrator uses this to learn more about Alameda Pearl Street (poor community) is introduced, along with Queen Aggie a drunken women who is harassed by boys from Pearl SST. Much of the same way Alameda Is later on 2. Rising Action: At this point the narrator has faded into the background and we feel as if Alameda is speaking to us Jarvis Polluter is introduced, the widower and a wealthy business man who lives two lots down from Alameda, he Is the initial love interest of Alameda Jarvis and Alameda are seen talking, in the Palette, this Is mentioned In The Evident, and rumors spread that they may be a couple The narrator talks about how Alameda would like to marry Jarvis, but because of the time she must wait for him to indicate his interest The narrator introduces the doctor, who prescribes sedatives and nerve medicine to Alameda for her sleeplessness ( Alameda avoids the nerve medicine as it gives her vivid dreams) The doctor believes that if Alameda were to get married her problems would be over, despite the fact that nerve medicine Is commonly given to aired women 3. Climax: Alameda decides to make grape jelly one day, but falls asleep.. He wakes up when she hears a women being beaten and chased from Pearl Street, but soon renders back Into unconscious In her half-awake state she hears an Imaginary bird tell her to go move that wheelbarrow, and when Alameda looks outside she discovers a women against her fence ( perhaps Queen Aggie) Thinking the wome n is dead, she runs to Jarvis Polluters house to help her with the women, he discovers the women is simply drunk and behaves callously towards her. Alameda is sickened by his behavior ND the womens Jarvis who thought of Alameda as independent and confident lady, sees the desperation and vulnerability in her and finally shows his Interest and asks her to accompany him to church When Alameda returns to her home, she realizes 4. Falling Action: She feels she is too sick to go to Church with Jarvis, and writes a note for him and sticks it to her door She makes herself some tea and puts a few drops of nerve medicine inside it The medicine starts to affect Alameda and the room comes to life , she is so caught up in her hallucination nothing seems real anymore Her grape Jelly begins to fall over the dove and her blood starts to drip, but she decides to let go of her sanity, because now she is free (from society) She has an epiphany in her delusional state She realizes she does not want Jarvis or to conform to societies expectations, and the only way to escape is to lose touch with reality She decides to write a poem of all her experiences and names it Messenger 5. Denouement: The ending is told entirely through two clippings from The Evident and some present day commentary from the narrator The first clipping describes the decline f Lambdas mental health and the circumstances of her death, she had been chased by boys and men from Pearl Street, and Jumped into a river and caught pneumonia The second newspaper clipping mentions Jarvis death exactly a year after Lambdas death The narrator describes going to Lambdas grave and how people make connections with historical clues such as The Evident The story ends of with the narrator confessing that he/she is not sure if anything in Lambdas life happened the way they had described , as all the evidence had come from historical sources Character There are only five characters in this short story The protagonist of the story is Alameda Joint Roth, a 19th century woman, she is a poet There is Jarvis Polluter, this character helps Alameda develop and reach a realization There is the doctor, he is a minor character , a foil character since he adds irony to Lambdas situation There is Queen Aggie, also another minor character but she foreshadows Lambdas death at the end of the story There is the narrator, whose perspective the story is told through, their identity and gender remains a mystery There is also society who is not a character, but society is the root of Lambdas conflicts making society the antagonist We only know that Alameda is a developing and dynamic character because she changes throughout the story, but we do not know this about any of the other characters since we are not given the opportunity to glimpse into their thoughts and feelings Setting remains the same but time changes Alameda exists in the 19th century, while the narrator in present time about a century later in looking back at Lambdas life Despite the fact that the place remains the same, there is a large difference in how society is .. The narrator speaks of this on many accounts Even though the story bounces back and forth among two different periods, the place stays the same. The use of the same physical setting helps to add accuracy to the narrators story since the narrator can say specific details about the town in Lambdas time and compare them to details that can be seen in the narrators own time. Ex: The house is still there today; the manager of the liquo r store lives in it. 2. Time: -story bounces back and forth between two time periods, the sass, when the narrator is talking and the sass, mainly 1879 when the main action of the story egging 3. Weather Conditions: summer, really hot, heat brings anger Quote: Hot weather brings accidents too. More horses run wild then, upsetting buggies. Hands caught in the wringer while doing the washing, a man lopped in two at the sawmill, a leaping boy killed in a fall of lumber at the lumber yard. Nobody sleeps well -weather later on adds to Lambdas illusions 4. Social Conditions: Alameda: lives alone -writes poetry to occupy her time -a respectable woman around town Local Color: Lambdas house faces two streets The population is young 5. Mood or Atmosphere: In the beginning, narrator tells us about Lambdas family and how they moved into the new town -Narrator then speaks about the death of her family, which gives a depressing atmosphere Point of View The narrative process in this story is very complex There is Third Person Omniscient Limited ( limited to the protagonist) . The author only chooses to reveal Lambdas thoughts and feelings to the reader. There is First person, we find out later that this story may not truly be what had happened in Lambdas life but that the narrator was attempting to recreate Lambdas life and s it is told in the perspective of the narrator. Often the narrator fades into the background, and it seems as if we are truly watching Alameda speak, feel and experience her life. Conflicts: Alameda faces both internal and external conflicts Person VS. Society: Her biggest struggle is against society and her place in society as a woman. She does not want to conform to societys expectations, this is external Person Vs. Herself: She has to battle against herself in order to break free, she realizes the only way to do this is to let go of her sanity, this is internal Person Vs. Fate: Alameda loses her entire family, and lives in isolation, this is external Themes: There are three large themes in the short story Messenger 1) Womens Role in Society Alameda does not meet the expectations of a typical 19th century women, she is not married, lives alone, and works. Women are portrayed as the more inferior sex , EX. He first time Jarvis shows interest in Alameda is when he can see sense her vulnerability 2) Isolation She is isolated from society since she does not meet the expectation that society has for women She has no close friends and has lost all her fam ily ) Illusion VS. Reality The narrator is not reliable in piecing together Lambdas life, he/she guessed things on many accounts After taking her medicine Alameda is unsure what is real or not The reader is never sure what is true or not Literary Criticism- Feminist: -This method of literary criticism uses feminism as primary method to criticize, it allows for readers to describe and analyze the ways in which literature reinforces male domination, and how women view themselves. -This story cannot be analyzed without looking at the time period it takes place in, this story has two different time roods, one in the 19th century and another in the 20th century. Takes place in a time when first-wave feminism had begun, it was the notion that women were people Traditionally women were mothers, wives, daughters.. Not an unmarried poet Jarvis Polluter first shows interest in Alameda when he is able to view her body and when she seems vulnerable Lambdas experiences were not significant because she was not a typical woman of the 19th century. Alameda allows herself to lose touch with reality in order to escape from society Has the plot structure that a tragedy would follow In a tragedy usually the main character has a fatal flaw which will lead to his/her downfall, what makes the story a tragedy is that usually the character themselves have good intentions and are trying to bring about good or reach a goal, but either through unusual circumstances or a direct result of their flaw the character will fail or die. In Lambdas case , her flaw was that she did not conform to societies expectations, which led her to letting go of her sanity Right from the beginning the story takes a tragic turn, the protagonist has no friend or family Each section of the Tory begins with a poem by Alameda, this w ay despite the story being told by the narrator the reader feels more connected to Alameda and her thoughts The way the narrator describe Alameda and her life, is tragic she is never happy She does not succeed in marrying Jarvis Polluter, she is isolated from society, She finally finds happiness in her insanity, which is also tragic -She dies tragically, it starts with her mental health declining and she is chased by men/boys From Pearl SST and Jumps into a river; this is where she catches pneumonia and eventually dies.

Explain the extent to which Ge essays

Explain the extent to which Ge essays Explain the extent to which Germany was transformed into a totalitarian state between 1933-1945. The rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and their eventual accession to power marked the beginnings of a totalitarian state from 1933 to 1945. Under the rule of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party, Germany was transformed from one of the most democratic nations in the world to a state with one man at the helm. This radical and continual change, and the realisation and formation of a totalitarian state were not complete for many years after 1933. The Nazi Party under Hitlers directive authority cemented into Germany an ideology that accepted the actions of their leader as if it was the very will of a supreme being. The period of change, and its continuity is attributed to a number of factors. By looking at how Hitler created the new Nazi State, and by understanding how it was maintained helps to evaluate the extent to which a totalitarian state was established. Certain events that further established and cemented the Nazi rule, and also show the extent of their total power include the passing of specific legislation, the Night of Long knives, and the Night of Broken glass. The reasons for these events, the fact that they were staged and the effects they had gives a view of how extreme the Totalitarian regime was. Also to supplement this passage of research, it is essential to target the prominent groups that existed in Germany, before Nazi rule and during Nazi rule. These include the different class groups, the army, the treatment of Jews and the structure, actions, aims and plans of the actual Nazi Party (including the SA and SS). When these core elements are combined the explanation for the transformation of Germany during the period 1933 to 1945 can be obtained. Total Nazi power was established in Germany between 1933-1945. However this does not automatically earn Nazi Germany the branding of a totalitarian state. To what ext...

Definition of Luddites

Definition of Luddites The Luddites were weavers in England in the early 19th century who were being put out of work by the introduction of machinery. They responded in dramatic fashion by organizing to attack and smash the new machines. The term Luddite is generally used today to describe someone who does not like, or does not comprehend, new technology, especially computers. But the actual Luddites, while they did attack machines, were not mindlessly opposed to any and all progress. The Luddites were actually rebelling against a profound change in their way of life and their economic circumstances. One could argue that the Luddites have gotten a bad rap. They were not stupidly attacking the future. And even when they did physically attack machinery, they showed a skill for effective organization.   And their crusade against the introduction of machinery was based on a reverence for traditional work. That may seem quaint, but the reality is that early machines used the textile industries produced work that was inferior to the traditional hand-crafted fabrics and garments. So some Luddite objections were based on a concern for quality workmanship. The outbreaks of Luddite violence in England began in late 1811 and escalated throughout the following months. By the spring of 1812, in some regions of England, attacks on machinery were occurring nearly every night. Parliament reacted by making destruction of machinery a capital crime and by the end of 1812 a number of Luddites had been arrested and executed. The Name Luddite Has Mysterious Roots The most common explanation of the name Luddite is that it is based on a boy named Ned Ludd who broke a machine, either on purpose or through clumsiness, in the 1790s. The story of Ned Ludd was told so often that to break a machine became known, in some English villages, to behave like Ned Ludd, or to do like Ludd. When the weavers who were being put out of work began to strike back by smashing machines, they said they were following the orders of General Ludd. As the movement spread they became known as Luddites. At times the Luddites sent letters or posted proclamations signed by the mythical leader General Ludd. The Introduction of Machines Outraged the Luddites Skilled workers, living and working in their own cottages, had been producing woolen cloth for generations. And the introduction of shearing frames in the 1790s began to industrialize the work. The frames were essentially several pairs of hand shears placed onto a machine which was operated by one man turning a crank. A single man at a shearing frame could do the work that had previously been done by a number of men cutting fabric with hand shears. Other devices to process wool came into use in the first decade of the 19th century. And by 1811 many textile workers realized that their very way of life was being threatened by the machines which could do the work faster. The Origins of the Luddite Movement The beginning of organized Luddite activity is often traced to an event in November 1811, when a group of weavers armed themselves with improvised weapons. Using hammers and axes, the men broke into a workshop in the village of Bulwell determined to smash frames, the machines used to shear wool. The incident turned violent when men guarding the workshop fired at the attackers, and the Luddites fired back. One of the Luddites was killed. Machines used in the emerging wool industry had been smashed before, but the incident at Bulwell raised the stakes considerably. And actions against machines began to accelerate. In December 1811, and into the early months of 1812, late-night attacks on machines continued in parts of the English countryside. Parliaments Reaction to the Luddites In January 1812 the British government sent 3,000 troops into the English Midlands in an effort to suppress Luddite attacks on machinery. The Luddites were being taken very seriously. In February 1812 the British Parliament took up the issue and began debating whether to make machine breaking an offense punishable by capital punishment. During the Parliamentary debates, one member of the House of Lords, Lord Byron, the young poet, spoke out against making frame breaking a capital crime. Lord Byron was sympathetic to the poverty which faced unemployed weavers, but his arguments did not change many minds. In early March 1812 frame breaking was made a capital offense. In other words, the destruction of machinery, specifically the machines that turned wool into cloth, was declared a crime on the same level as murder and could be punished by hanging. The British Militarys Response to the Luddites An improvised army of about 300 Luddites attacked a mill in the village of Dumb Steeple, England, in early April 1811. The mill had been fortified, and two Luddites were shot dead in a short battle in which the barricaded doors of the mill could not be forced open. The size of the attacking force led to rumors about a widespread uprising. By some reports there were guns and other weapons being smuggled in from Ireland, and there was a genuine fear that the entire countryside would rise up in rebellion against the government. Against that backdrop, a large military force commanded by General Thomas Maitland, who had previously put down rebellions in British colonies in India and the West Indies, was directed to end the Luddite violence. Informers and spies led to arrests of a number of Luddites throughout the summer of 1812. Trials were held at York in late 1812, and 14 Luddites were publicly hanged. Luddites convicted of lesser offenses were sentenced to punishment by transportation, and were sent to British penal colonies in Tasmania. The widespread Luddite violence came to an end by 1813, though there would be other outbreaks of machine breaking. And for several years public unrest, including riots, were linked to the Luddite cause. And, of course, the Luddites were not able to stop the influx of machinery. By the 1820s mechanization had essentially taken over the woolen trade, and later in the 1800s manufacture of cotton cloth, using very complex machinery, would be a major British industry. Indeed, by the 1850s machines were lauded. At the Great Exhibition of 1851 millions of excited spectators came to the Crystal Palace to watch new machines turn raw cotton into finished fabric.

Flexibility for 421 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Flexibility for 421 - Essay Example Changes in organisational, economic and employment conditions have brought about innovations in work systems, including flexible work policies and practises. Employees have been experiencing conflict among demands from personal, family, and social responsibilities; such conflict can significantly reduce workers’ well-being which, in turn, may influence organisational outcomes including absenteeism, performance, productivity, and turnover. Companies can effectively improve work-life balance among employees through the provision of flexible work arrangements (Schmidt and Duenas 2002). UK employees continue to feel increased stress and tension in their work environments, due to work intensification and increased work pace. These have created the need for flexible work to achieve balance between work and non-work demands (Green 2006). The application of flexible working practises enables employees to manage their workload, as well as when and where they can carry out such tasks fo r them to effectively attain stability between professional and personal activities (Lewis 2003). Flexible work practises can bring about a wide range of positive outcomes for employees. When employees are given the freedom of choice with regards to their work patterns, job satisfaction can be increased (Hyman and Summers 2004). In remote working, for instance, aside from increased employee satisfaction, there has also been an increase in worker autonomy and independence. Moreover, the use of flexible work arrangements has led to reduced levels of stress and pressure among employees. Although remote workers, such as those who work at home or make use of telecommuting, experience a decrease in stress levels, others on the contrary assert that flexible work practises can bring about further stress and ill mental health. This is in comparison with those who work onsite (Tietze and Musson 2005). Nonetheless, work flexibility has caused positive outcomes such as improvements in achieving work-life balance. Organisations have also benefited from such practises through increased productivity, enhancement of work quality, and improvement of financial performance. Decreases in absenteeism and increased employee loyalty, commitment, and retention rates are also apparent outcomes of flexible work practises (Branine 2003; Greenhaus and Powell 2006). However, it is important to understand that although work flexibility may allow employees to manage their work patterns, positive outcomes have not always been achieved. Critics assert that focusing on choice and balance suggests having control over one’s life decisions, although these have to be considered in relation to the constraints brought about by gender, norms, and organisational culture. Flexible work practises should not merely focus on achieving balance between work and family, as flexible workers may experience certain challenges due to other factors outside the work-family context (Ransome 2007). 1.1.1 Flex ible Work Practises: An Overview Flexible working arrangements have served as a means for attracting, retaining, and motivating employees. This is especially true as work environments become more demanding and intense in terms of work pace and intensity. These practises also serve to align individual goals with organisational objectives (Lambert, Kass, Piotrowski, and Vodanovich 2006). Flexible work pr

Oprah Winfrey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Oprah Winfrey - Essay Example In spite of a vacuum of formal business plans, she has mostly been successful in all of her endeavors. One of the reasons for her consistent success in the business field is the vision of her business- humanitarian services for the less fortunate. She is considered to be a transformational leader, who has a clear vision and direction for her business. Modern businesses cannot be run without the presence of formal strategic plans and business models since there exists an extensive degree of competition in the prevailing markets. Companies need to formulate effective strategies from analysis of relevant data to survive in the modern markets. Oprah has been able to achieve success without any formal structural planning because her fame and humanitarian attitude have been some of the major drivers of her business. Her successes reaffirm her decision to adopt risk-taking entrepreneurship approach. Her personality and spirit could not have been better reflected in her business if any other approach would have been adopted. Decisions based on gut-feelings suit her unique business needs and vision.

Worldcom Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Worldcom - Article Example He managed his company indirectly and took the firm’s money to spend it on personal purchases which were extravagant in nature. The extravagant lifestyle left him in debt when the company started posting losses. The stock that he took a loan with from the company was the same stock he had used as security for the startup fee of the firm. This is one thing that he kept from the board of directors. He had taken a loan of $415 million and yet he had promised a $1 billion to the creditors, this became a major problem when he failed to meet the financial targets the following year. With the company losing its grip on the share of the market, the 2002 economic downfall of communication companies served as a major blow to the entity. On March of the same year, the SEC investigated the financials of WorldCom which was an economic giant at the time. They found improprieties that led to a 7% drop in the share of the market. This was attributed to the $415 million loan to Ebbers. The firm survived on merger reserves from there on, more inconsistencies were discovered on the reporting of revenues and altering of financial

How asian american are changing the face of america Research Paper

How asian american are changing the face of america - Research Paper Example 125-189) are just few of the many ethnic, ancestral and racial groups spread all over the United States. This paper tries to focus over the Asian Americans part with three prominent examples and dynamics involved with their lives and lifestyles. In addition, this paper also tries to understand the concepts of globalization, Trans-nationalism and multiracialism. Popular historian Yuji Ichioka deserves all the credit for inventing the term of Asian Americans. Before this term, people usually referred Asian Americans with the name of Orientals meaning the people from the east (Lott, pp. 46-192). It is not unusual to know that these were the social activists of the 1970’s that made this term popular within and outside America and all this was happening because of the social rights movement of that time for this community in the United states. According to the basic definition, â€Å"Asian Americans are those Americans who have an Asian origin at least from the side of one parent† (Min, pp. 11-29). The most common groups in Asian Americans are of â€Å"Chinese Americans, Indian Americans, Pakistani Americans, Japanese Americans, Cambodian Americans, Korean Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Filipino Americans† (Kitano, & Daniels, pp. 85-129) and other groups. â€Å"The demographics and data reveal that Asian Americans form the third largest racial minority group in the United States after the white Americans and African Americans† (Hune, pp. 256-387). In addition, studies have also revealed that Asian Americans are the ones with the highest levels of educational attainment and lowest poverty rate (Kitano, & Daniels, pp. 85-129). They also perform well when compared with others on the scales of household incomes and savings and personal incomes. Chinese Americans make the largest ethnic sub group followed by Filipino

Reflective Autobiography Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflective Autobiography - Assignment Example At a very young, when I had just started school, I was taught about the family and here the subject of diversity first emerged. My teachers and my parents taught me on how diversity played a significant role in the family make-up. Not only were roles played by each individual in my family were diverse, but I also came to learn having different families leaving in the same community and in harmony despite their many differences represented a significant role of diversity to the community. Just like a family, the community is linked to a more complex state of diversity as there are so many factors involved in distinguishing not only families but individuals as well. It is at this stage that I was able to learn factors such as ‘nuclear,’ ‘single’, ‘extended’ and many other terms that were used to describe families (Harris). Then while interacting with my peers and the community as a whole I was able to notice how we all looked different. Growing up reflected many incidences of diversity, and I grew to understand its meaning in-depth. Later into life as my education advanced is when I started understanding the meaning of diversity under more complex subjects and contexts such as its role in communication, business, sociological, political, and technological. I came to realize that diversity is the uniqueness in every aspect of our life, the differences that define each of us as a person. These aspects include race, age, religion, political ideology, ethnicity, sexuality, physical appearance and abilities, preferences, as well as cultural practices (Unzueta, Knowles, and Ho). As I grow older, I realized that diversity is what determines every step in my life including the diversity in the choices I made for my lifestyle. Having been born and raised in China and later moving to the US where I have been studying the English language for the last ten years has been a great step for me as far as diversity is concerned. Not only have I

Internet Retailing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Internet Retailing - Essay Example In particular, its ability to provide information, facilitate two-way communication with customers, collect market research data, promote goods and services and ultimately to support the online ordering of merchandise, provides an extremely rich and flexible new retail channel (Doherty and Ellis-Chadwick, 2003). Indeed, online shopping is now estimated to be the fastest growing area of internet usage (Forsythe and Shi, 2003). Given the internet's potential to radically re-configure the underlying processes of retailing, and because of the highly dynamic and innovative nature of the electronic marketplace, there has been an explosion of academic interest in the application of this new electronic phenomenon, in the retail context. It is not, perhaps, surprising that from such a highly dynamic organizational phenomenon, an equally dynamic body of literature should emerge. Moreover, because the commercial exploitation of the internet has technical, logistical, commercial, strategic, behavioral, social and legal implications, the emergent body of literature is both extremely large and highly diverse. ... A small number of researchers have already risen to the challenge of reviewing the internet literature, and three reviews, in particular (Reynolds, 2000, Ngai, 2003) have been influential in shaping this study. However, all three have their limitations. Reynold (2000) and Ngai (2003) have both addressed the related field of internet marketing, but have chosen not to adopt an explicit retail focus, whilst the Reynold's (2000) review, which does have an internet retailing focus, is now rather dated. Consequently, the primary aim of this paper is to present a review and critique of the internet retailing literature, which seeks to highlight key themes, emerging patterns and perhaps most importantly gaps that are still to be filled. Given the growing recognition that the internet has the potential (Porter, 2001) to significantly affect an organization's strategic positioning, we were particularly interested to explore the extent to which strategic issues have been explicitly tackled in t he internet retailing literature. Al-Hadaayah Bookstores Al-Hidaayah is predominantly a books retailer, with interests in books retailing as well as publishing. Its principal business is the retail sale of "trade books" (generally hardcover and paperback consumer titles, excluding educational textbooks and religious titles), mass market paperbacks (such as mystery, romance, science fiction and other popular fiction), children's books, bargain books and magazines. Al-Hidaayah is the pioneer and still the leading operator of book superstores in the UK. Its flagship store on central London has been widely recognised as the most authoritative bookstore in the country, and perhaps, the world. Al-Hidaayah has a private label strategy,

Reflective Autobiography Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflective Autobiography - Assignment Example At a very young, when I had just started school, I was taught about the family and here the subject of diversity first emerged. My teachers and my parents taught me on how diversity played a significant role in the family make-up. Not only were roles played by each individual in my family were diverse, but I also came to learn having different families leaving in the same community and in harmony despite their many differences represented a significant role of diversity to the community. Just like a family, the community is linked to a more complex state of diversity as there are so many factors involved in distinguishing not only families but individuals as well. It is at this stage that I was able to learn factors such as ‘nuclear,’ ‘single’, ‘extended’ and many other terms that were used to describe families (Harris). Then while interacting with my peers and the community as a whole I was able to notice how we all looked different. Growing up reflected many incidences of diversity, and I grew to understand its meaning in-depth. Later into life as my education advanced is when I started understanding the meaning of diversity under more complex subjects and contexts such as its role in communication, business, sociological, political, and technological. I came to realize that diversity is the uniqueness in every aspect of our life, the differences that define each of us as a person. These aspects include race, age, religion, political ideology, ethnicity, sexuality, physical appearance and abilities, preferences, as well as cultural practices (Unzueta, Knowles, and Ho). As I grow older, I realized that diversity is what determines every step in my life including the diversity in the choices I made for my lifestyle. Having been born and raised in China and later moving to the US where I have been studying the English language for the last ten years has been a great step for me as far as diversity is concerned. Not only have I

Southwest Airline Co and Cost Accounting Essay Example for Free

Southwest Airline Co and Cost Accounting Essay Southwest Airline Co. is a major passenger airline that provides scheduled air transportation in the United States. Southwest provides point-to-point service which allows the use of key assets, including aircrafts, gates, employees, and the ability to provide frequent, conveniently- timed flights and low fares. Southwest Airlines has built its culture from the inside out and believes that the satisfied employees will keep customers coming back. Southwest Airlines operates with a low-cost structure that is designed to allow it to charge low airfares. With that said, cost accounting can have a pervasive influence in this and other organizations. From the company’s 2006 annual report-Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Information, Item 1A. Risk Factors; fuel price volatility presents one of the company’s most significant challenges. Southwest for the past five years of this annual report, has hedged its fuel risk as part of its lost cost strategy. While this also demonstrates the use of cost accounting, the company entered into fuel derivatives contracts to protect against rising fuel costs. Southwest Airlines uses cost accountants in contributing to the external financial reports such as inventory valuation as noted on page 55, under Notes Consolidated Financial Statements – (Continued) – Inventories, which consists of flight equipment expendable parts, materials, aircraft fuel, and supplies. The cost accountant determines the valuation method that is in the best interest of the company and favorable to the stockholder. There is an advantage to having cost accountants, they create reports used strictly for internal use and are not restricted to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). A cost accountant is free is use any costing paradigm that will result in an informative report for management. Such reports may consist of, but limited to job costing, direct costing, activity-based costing, process costing and more. Unlike internal reports, external reports are formatted and defined by GAAP Cost accountants focus on providing information for management decision making. The cost accountant can contribute several types of costing information to the planning process that are of assistance in making strategy alterations that will result in enhanced levels of profitability or the avoidance of low-profit strategy alternatives.

Alcohol Composition Analysis

Alcohol Composition Analysis ALCOHOL Chemical Composition (ingredients) of 4 types of alcoholic beverages: The ingredients differ according to each beverage but there are a couple that are available in all of them, these are water and ethanol. These two ingredients are essential in every alcoholic beverage. Champagne can only be made from white Chardonnay grapes and red Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes. It’s usually a blend of two or three of the grapes, but is sometimes just made from one (though rarely is Champagne made from just Pinot Meunier). Champagne made entirely from Chardonnay is called â€Å"blanc de blancs† (meaning white wine from white grapes), and Champagne made entirely from Pinot Noir is called â€Å"blanc de noirs† (meaning white wine from black grapes). Even though black grapes are used, the wine itself is never red. The skins (where the pigment resides) are removed immediately after the grapes are pressed, which keeps the juice clear. The only exception is with rosà © Champagne. Rosà © can be produced by leaving the skins in the juice just long enough to tint it, or by producers adding red Pinot Noir wine directly to the blend. This second method allows them to create the same color each year. Carbon dioxide is added in the process which cre ates the fizzy bubbles. Vodka is usually made from rye or potatoes if it is from Eastern Europe and molasses from other parts of the world. It contains flavors derived from wheat, grain or starch. Apart from the main raw material, the other major constituent of your bottle of Vodka is water. Over 60% of your bottle is composed of water, so its purity is of utmost importance to the taste of your vodka. Quite an elaborate purification process is undertaken. Tequila is made with the fermented sap of the blue agave plant; tequila is produced in and around the town of Tequila in Mexico’s Jalisco province. Many superior brands of tequila are made entirely from Blue Agave, and will say so on the label. Tequila can also be made with a mixture of agave and other ingredients, like sugarcane—these products are called mixto tequilas. Malt whisky must contain no grain other than malted barley and is traditionally distilled in pot stills. Grain whisky may contain unmalted barley or other malted or unmalted grains such as wheat and maize (corn) and is typically distilled in a continuous column still. Color and flavoring chemicals are added to create that unique color and taste Methods and Procedures used in the production of alcoholic beverages: If the sparkling wine is produced outside of Champagne, France, but is made by the French Method, it is usually labeled Mà ©thode Champenoise. This is true of most American sparkling wines. Mà ©thode Champenoise, which is the method used in Champagne, involves several distinct steps. The key reaction of winemaking is alcoholic fermentation, the conversion of sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeast. The maximum amount of alcohol attained through alcoholic fermentation is about 15% because the yeast cells are killed by high alcohol concentration. The maximum alcohol content can be determined by multiplying 0.55 times the percent sugar initially present in the grape juice before fermentation. For example, if 24% sugar is initially present, about 13% (0.55 x 24) alcohol will be realized. Most still wines (i.e., table wines) contain 12 to 14% alcohol. The key process in producing Champagne is a SECOND fermentation that occurs in a sealed bottle. Theoretically, vodka can be made from almost any fermentable organic material from whey to molasses. Absolut Vodka, however, is made solely from grain, which more than 400 years of tradition has proven to produce the best and purest vodka possible. Absolut Vodka uses a special method of distillation that retains a smooth grain character and is extremely low in unwanted by-products. A few thousand years ago, someone made the bright discovery that when deprived of oxygen, the yeast cell turns sugar into carbon dioxide and ethanol. Fermented beverages are born. These beverages were eventually distilled, giving us dozens of different spirits, one of which is vodka. Fermentation is an extremely delicate and complicated process where the yeast cell converts the sugar in the mash to ethanol. The result is a mixture with an 8% alcohol content and a hundred or so by-products, some unpleasant tasting, some harmful. A concern for quality from the very beginning of the production process minimizes these impurities using only high quality grain, preparing the grain, safeguarding against bacteria and carefully controlling the fermentation process. Virtually all remaining impurities are removed in the distillation and rectification. Turning the fermented grain mash to vodka takes distillation. The principle has remained unchanged ever since it was discovered over a thousand years ago. There are two kinds of distillation: batch distillation and continuous distillation. Batch distillation is an age-old method used for many types of spirits. Refined to a high degree of sophistication, this method is still used in areas like Cognac and the Scottish highlands to make cognac and whisky. Absolut Vodka, however, is distilled using the second method, continuous distillation. This type of distillation builds on the same laws of physics as batch distillation. The essential difference is that the spirit is cycled back and forth producing a very pure final product. Continuous distillation turns the 8% fermented mash into crude spirit with an alcohol concentration by volume of 85-90% (170-180 proof). The last step is rectification, a method of removing unwanted by-products introduced over a century ago by the man on the bottles medallion Lars Olsson Smith. The crude spirit passes through a number of columns, each designed to remove a different set of impurities. One column extracts unpleasant tasting solvent compounds; another removes fusel oil; a third methanol; a fourth concentrates the spirit 96% pure alcohol by volume and extremely low in impurities. It is here we are faced with the dilemma of vodka production distillation and rectificati on technology have advanced so far towards producing absolutely pure vodka that it has also succeeded in removing trace elements that give vodka the character of the raw material from which it is made. Absolut Vodka has solved this dilemma by, parallel to the main distillation, producing a spirit where the goal is to retain the fine character of the grain. The final composite spirit, produced at or above 95% alcohol by volume (190 proof), has that unique smooth and fine character. Exactly how this is done is a well-kept secret. The process of making tequila begins with the jima, the harvest, and the jimadores, those responsible for growing and eventually harvesting the agave plant. The plant will be weighed, cut up in halves or quarters, and cooked. The modern method involves using steel pressure cookers called autoclaves. The latter approach cooks the plant faster. Fortunately, flavor doesnt vary with either process. Agave is cooked to transform starches into sugars, which will then become transformed into alcohol. To extract the agua miel, or honey water, the cooked fruit passes through grinding blades. Fibers are sprayed with water, ensuring all sugars are released. Leftover fibers, known as bagazo, are generally used as fertilizer for agave fields. The juices are now ready to be fermented. This is each tequila starts to acquire its unique taste and classification. If the producer wants 100% agave tequila, then the juice passes straight to fermentation vessels. However, if he wants mixto tequila (not 100 % agave tequila), then the agua miel (honey water) must be placed in formulation tanks. Sugarcane or molasses sugar are then added to the juice. Only then can the mixto be placed in fermentation vessels. Now’s the time alcohol begins to appear. Producers will introduce yeasts. These can either be chemical catalysts or natural ingredients. The tanks are lightly heated and carbon dioxide is released, giving the agave juice 5% alcohol content per volume. The mosto, or fermented agave juice, is finally ready for distillation. The juice will be heated to alcohol’s vaporization point and then cooled and condensed to create ordinario (ordinary in English). Tequila is distilled to increase its alcohol content. Becomes tequila blanco. You could try to drink this ordinario, but chances are you’d be blinded and intoxicated afterwards! That is why Mexican law requires all tequila to be distilled twice. The mosto can be distilled three or even four times for top-shelf tequil a. The first distillation will remove all â€Å"heads† and â€Å"tails†, the first and last portions of the distilled product. These contain bad alcohols and other impurities, which is why they must be discarded in favor of a quality (and safe) drink. A second distillation determines the percent of alcohol the tequila will have. Premium tequila will aim for 40% alcohol per volume. A bulk, mixto, or lower quality spirit instead aims for 55% alcohol per volume, which will be later diluted with purified water. Tequila then will be aged depending of the final product that is wanted. There are five stages in the production of whiskey, malting, mashing, fermentation, distillation and maturation. Barley contains starch and it is this starch which needs to be converted into soluble sugars to make alcohol. For this to occur, the barley must undergo germination and this first part of the process is called malting. Each distiller needs a type that produces high yields of soluble sugar. The barley is soaked for 2-3 days in warm water and then spread on the floor of a building called a malting house. When the barley has started to shoot, the germination has to be stopped by drying it. The barley is now called malt and this is ground down in a mill, with any husks and other debris being removed. Now we begin the â€Å"mashing† step. The ground down malt, grist, is now added to warm water to begin the extraction of the sugars. The liquid combination of malt and water is called the mash. It is put into a large vessel called a mash turn and stirred for several hours. The liquid that comes out of that is called wort. This process is normally carried out three times with the water temperature being increased each time to extract the maximum amount of sugar. Only wort from the first two times is used. The third lot is put back into the next batch of new grist. Any residue, such as husks, is called draff. This is collected and used in the production of farm feed. â€Å"Fermentation† begins when the wort is cooled and passed into large tanks called washbacks. These are traditionally made of wood, but now a number of distilleries use stainless steel. Here the yeast is added and the fermentation begins. The yeast turns the sugars that are present into alcohol. As with the barley and water, the distiller will carefully select the strain of yeast that they use and it can also have a small effect on the final flavor of the spirit. The fermentation normally takes around 48 hours to run its natural course, although some distilleries will let it go fo r longer so as to create further characteristics that they require. The liquid at this stage is called wash and is low in alcohol strength (between 5-10% ABV), like beer or ale. Alcohols from the beginning of the distillation (called foreshots) are very high in alcohol level and very pungent. Alcohols from the end (called feints) are weak but also pungent. It is only the alcohol from the middle or heart of the distillation that is used and this is skillfully removed by a stillman and collected through the spirit safe. The foreshots and feints are then mixed with the next batch of low wines and re-distilled. The heart is the spirit that is then taken to be matured and that will become whisky. This heart has an alcoholic strength of 65-70% ABV. The final step is â€Å"maturation†. The spirit is put into oak casks and stored. The most common types of oak casks are those that have previously been used in the American bourbon and Spanish sherry industries. The spirit must mature i n casks for a minimum of three years before it is legally allowed to be called whisky in Scotland. During maturation, the flavors of the spirit combine with natural compounds in the wood cask and this gives the whisky its own characteristic flavor and aroma. Why do people drink? People resort to alcohol for many reasons. Some people drink it because they like the taste and feeling that alcohol gives them