The CBD (the Central Business District)

The typical CBD is in the commercial and cultural activity in a city. In many large cities, it is immediately recognizable by tall skyscrapers, the neon lights at night and the very high density of buildings, traffic and people. The CBD is usually highly accessible. It is the focus of roads, with bus and railway stations near by. The CBD usually has the highest density of bus services and taxis in the whole of the urban area. Although the residential population is only very small, during the day and evening the CBD is crowded with people working, shopping or seeking entertainment. Main functions of the CBD Shops: The CBD is usually at the top of the shopping hierarchy in a city. It has the widest range of shops and the largest department stores. Shops mainly sell comparison or high-order goods and they draw their customers from a wide sphere of influence. The highest land costs are in the centre of the CBD. In the core of the CBD, there are large department stores and branches of many national chains of shops. Smaller shops, often privately owned, are located on the edges of the CBD in the fringe area called the frame. Some shops, such as clothing, shoe and jewellery shops tend to cluster together to take advantage of competition, while others are more dispersed, such as newsagents and chemists. Offices: Banks, building societies, solicitors, company headquarters, insurance companies and government offices occupy high-rise office blocks or the upper floors above shops in the CBD. Culture & entertainment: Parts of the CBD ‘come alive' at night as the theatres, cinemas, clubs, bars and restaurants attract customers. Certain parts of cities have become famous for their nightlife, such as London's West End. The CBD of a city is not static; it is a dynamic area going through phases of growth and decline. You will see some areas in decay in a CBD of a large city, with closed shops and a rundown appearance, and others that appear lively, smart and successful. The CBD also has problems with traffic congestion, parking and pollution, as well as those caused by lack of space and shortage of land. Local planners have implemented a variety of different schemes to attempt to solve the problems of the CBD. Problems and attempted solutions in the CBD: Traffic congestion: Lots of cars and shops, services and employment in the CBD create massive problems of congestion and parking in the city centres. Roads are often narrow, with little pavement space. Some solutions include: * Ring roads and by-passes to divert traffic not going into the city centre * Urban motorways and flyovers * Public transport schemes such as ‘park and ride', the Newcastle metro, trams in Manchester * Multi-storey car parks * Pedestrianization of high streets Lack of space and the high cost of land: Competition for land has led to high prices, and growing firms find it difficult to find space. In some CBDs the smaller retailers have been forced away from the city centre because of the high costs. Some solutions include: * High-rise buildings to increase the floor area available * New retailing areas in out-of-town shopping centres in the suburbs or rural-urban fringe, in a process called decentralization Pollution: Water, land, air and noise pollution are all common in city centres. Pollution is thought to contribute to the stresses of living in urban areas and to some diseases, such as asthma and bronchitis. Some solutions include: * Laws against litter and dumping sewage in rivers * Improved provision of litter bins and road sweeping * Clean Air Acts that allow only the use of smokeless fuels * Clean-fuel technology and vehicles that run on methane gas or electricity * Banning heavy lorries from passing through city centres * Increased planting of trees and shrubs Urban decline: Parts of some CBDs have declined. Shops and offices have closed down and the empty buildings and vandalized. City centres compete with out-of-town shopping centres to cater for the growing demands of shoppers. Some solutions include: * Redevelopment of zones of decline in the CBD such as King's Cross and Covent Garden in London * Expansion of the CBD into areas of the inner city – old factories and substandard terraced housing have been cleared, rehousing the occupants in the suburbs or New Towns and filling the space with new shopping and office developments

Bombing of Hiroshima

The Bombing of Hiroshima Hiroshima, Japan (1945), a city of industrial wealth and military significance, was destroyed by the first nuclear bomb on August 6, 1945. Hiroshima was a city that was mainly untouched by the American nightly bombings. A community that carried about as if the war was elsewhere became the center of attention as a mushroom cloud rose above the city on that unforgettable morning.As an American, I am unsure of my thoughts concerning this matter, but as a human being, the destruction and devastation that the atomic bomb, Little Boy, caused would have been just as devastating on my soul as it was for the individuals who were there if I was able to view it as a â€Å"fly on the wall. † Through the power of the internet and books, I am able to travel back in time and do just that.Curiosity, intrigue, and a thirst to acquire knowledge are the reasons that I have chose the bombing of Hiroshima as an event I would like to have witnessed. I believe that would hav e been a horrific sight, to see buildings collapse, flesh fall from the bones of people, and the aftershocks of the most eventful day in the history of the world. I would like to have seen the destruction first-hand of what a bomb that size could destroy.Although my heart goes out to the individuals of Japan, their emperor, Hirohito, had the opportunity to have stopped the bombing all together; it was his decision to carry on with the war after President Truman had sent The Potsdam Declaration to him outlining the terms of surrender for Japan. Bad as it may have been for the Japanese, a war that lasted any longer than what it did would have killed many more and obliterated the economies of all the world powers including Japan and the United States.

Ethics And Politics In Early Childhood Education Essay

Ethics have been universally and particularly the most argued about and on assessment in the worldwide community ever and even since and when globalization occurred around the world in the past five years and it had become such a strongly argued about subject that most people could not by be opinionated around since there is no agreeable standard of what ethics are, could be and should be done about to unify worldwide as the world is becoming more than a small village (mostly becoming one small street with the speed of airplanes and crafts traveling from one part of the world to the other). Such as ethics, is the idea of morals, then, what are morals? It is the number of beliefs resonated into the heart which allow most of the world of ideas which occupy the brain to be able to make sense of what the world of behavioral activities of the person who is in hold of it to be. Morals turn to, or are named, ethics whenever the ethics are the number of ideas which occur in the universal subject matter of thoughts and ideas, which control over the heart such as the idea of emotional intelligence, and is its system of how it occurs and makes thoughts in the mind stream in the consciousness. So, what is the consciousness? It is the effect of the left side of the brain upon the right side of the brain which controls the heart with its influential hormones and emotions upon the mind and the heart. This is the return of the influence of the left side of the brain on the right side as the left brain side is the side responsible for our verbal and physical actions being under the activity of the right brain’s emotions. Thus, morals are ethics when the intelligence is the more effective side on the mind and thus the body, but, is emotionally more influential when the right side of the brain occurs to be using that idea which occurs in the left side as being its moderator and as its idea of what the methodological idea of the brain should be and according to what it means to be in the physical world of the brain (what is real from what is imaginative). Such thoughts and perspectives manualize what we mean as moral and what we mean as ethical. What has politics got to mean this for? To re-phrase: what does politics mean to ethics? Politics could be grammatized as being meaning : many ticks ( poly= many, tics=ticks) which occur in how we act whenever we try to make sense of the works of art that make up our ideas of what is the meaning of what we take from decisions. Thus, the opportunities that present to us the factual beliefs of taking a step into using our politicalized decisions makes us believe what we could and are able to make sense of whenever we try to make such a belief as being correct. This is very valuable as it poses us to ourselves as believing that such understanding could make thought as being valuable in the image of me and us inside ourselves, our ego, id and egoism. What has a child’s ethics got to do with political understanding of the world at such a young age? Any child, briefly has the understanding of a grown up even if they do not understand that in the complicated lexicon of our lives as grown ups and as to how we make decisions when we try to make sense of our minds when we try to be able to do an act, unlike a child, we consume much thinking but a child takes immediate action according and based on how much self-consciousness and self-confidence according to the much gratitude it has surrounding it on the self-reliance bounty which is its capital to making right or wrong decisions. Thus, when a child has more ego pleasure the more they go right and vice versa. A child leaves the adult sphere of supervision and consent when it grows among people who only criticize it as being thoughtless and unable to make its own decisions whenever they try to take bigger steps. Teaching politics could be a very dangerous thing to such a child who has had his mind functioning according to the number of pleasures in the mind it gets alongside its heart pleasure whenever it is pleased with the amount of ideas it has from the goodness it has in its mind from what it receives from gratitude, any mistake in political decisions could lead it to far larger consequences it was unable to take as a child among people in its own sphere. The sphere grows more whenever it tries to find out that the big home it lives in is the actual fate of the large globe it lives in, especially if it comes from a home where its resources for living depend mostly on small percentages of gratification which will allow it more to be an enemy of the state of the environment it grown in. he other way of turning this down is to have the minds of those surrounding it to elevate to the mind the child it has created ( elevated as in making sense of the free willing child that goes against them, regarded as being someone who is unable to make decisions and being an â€Å"outlaw† just because such a child is unable to grow with the law of the family system). Thus, when the child is spoken to its reasoning has not to be questioned than to be scrutinized. This scrutiny has two effects: 1- the ability to make sense of the small details which lead to the bigger effects of the chain of decisions taken, 2- the idea which the decisions strung from and throughout have become and how they entangled the decision making part of the mind and how such a child could make the ideas right and why that part of the brain has become so tangible to the decisions made that any other mistake will pass by automatically unthought about, mostly because any new and strange or odd thing passed by will remind the emotional part of the brain to have such ideas eliminated that the child has fought against a lot that such an idea is the fact that such beliefs have been anchored simply because such ideas have been in the mind on pulsating basis and not on the factual idealistic basis of what is the proper look and structure of what is correct. To teach a child ethics in early childhood is to teach them not to rely on their parents as being the first and most trusted source of education and informative asset of the mind because such education will rely on what the heart will feel whenever seeking any homage in anywhere or place whenever there are ideas and minds surrounding his or her environment whenever it goes outside home, especially that childhood stage involves a lot of emotions for other children and relying on parents as being those who are the most supportive source of what goes on in the world of decision taking and opinion making and judgmental sources of what is right and what is wrong in the world around them. The fact starts to discarnate whenever there is an idea that there are other ideas in the world which are popularly and unanimously appreciated and accepted unlike those of the parents and the family. Thus, free education at a young age allows a higher and broader base of children with different intelligences to make such an idea of the unanimosity of the ideas which are privilege accepted to be sought-after beds for better ideas and intelligences which exist around the world, especially in an open sourced media and idealistic behavioral in the community of the child, thus, the idea of the freedom of speech and idealism of the dutifulness of serving the country it belongs to as being thoughtful as allowing the child to think freely and adopt what it feels like in the heart of its consciousness being left to do so as equally at any age of 15 for male or female whenever there are ideas and thoughts which will not interfere with the working firmness of the society, being seen as sacred, not regarding the thinking background so long as it will not interfere with the mentality of the mind and heart whenever there is any idea that will progress the working system which has nothing to do with the ethics or morals of the mind. Thus, what is the effect of the ethics of the heart and mind on what is seen in the mind or the work which every worker has to have and make sense of to be able to be â€Å"applicable† to the job? The question allows us the justification of an open community to have such ideas to be separable as ethical work and ethics outside the system of work (after-working-hours-ethics and during-working-hours-ethics). This allows the schizophrenic mentality of the worker, growing up since childhood to be something as familiar and as rightful to obtain whether ethically, psychologically (forcefully or not) as the environment has besought in differing between the working environment and the not working environment (home, friends, etc. ). hus, the idea of such ideas being split into halves are what is taught to the child since childhood, such as when answering the phone they are told not to tell X of the presence of Y so they wouldn’t have to speak to them, while, if the child asks Y to do that with Z, they are punished and are explained to as being â€Å"children who do not understand the way of the grown up living†. What hatches this problem is the child’s growing into teenage and having to make decisions based on what it imbued emotionally in its childhood age, now having to conflict with them seriously at an age which has to have them ready before entering the field of work they would like to fit themselves in, mostly listening to rock and metal and all sorts of music which have words which agree with that content in their brain which occurs in the heart of the mind of the emotional intelligence of the brain. Thus, the child is a victim of the idealism of what is right and wrong, according to what the society has them understand. Thus, whenever such a child goes to think of serious matters, the mind will immediately go to a singer who will choose words to rap (basically0 according to what that child feels especially that that child has something inside them leaning to have someone say that â€Å"they are correct†. Thus, if a superstar works in the political ideas field, most of the fans with ethical and political issues based o what their environment has put them through will have them speak of truly. Which brings the question up: is it true that ethics and politics is taught through music or is it reinforced through music? Both ideas and suppositions are perfectly correct for two reasons: first, the musical background sets as a pacemaker of the rhythmic pulsation of the heart while the brain works on enumerating the ideas which it accepts ( the idea that the heart is the pacemaker of the body while the mind is the intelligence headquarters which is allowed to work properly without any problematic functioning of discussions from the memory of the heart which is hypnotized by the repetitive beat of the song ( or the – with too many similarly sounding rhythms of many songs nowadays- beat of the song which is unchangeable while the song is spoken out) that helps the mind and heart to think what is the idea that is conveyed with the beat. Yet, it also supports the theory that idea actually are effective and affected by the type of beat the song rhymes the words through and into the listener’s heart. This is to say that not because a beat is repetitive that the music is properly conveying the idea of the song, but actually it depends on what each heart temperately tempers the temperament of the music words sung according to the mood of the song reflected through the beat of the rhyme. What happens then is the frequency of the understanding of ideas similar in beat or in word formation and phrasal idomacy † related to idomatics of the words spoken, especially when the music industry tends to use words out of context when they try to trun around meanings† which leads to the child’s understanding that the idea is not under-estimated as the parents and social background says it is, but, that certain ages also agree, expanded to races, ethnicities and etc. which allow the accumulation and culmination of thoughts into the prospectively up growing child who will become the political behaviorist of certain other ages (family wise, work wise, school wise, etc. which will only allow much more degeneration of ideas and language linguistically especially, alongside lexically, which will allow the mind and heart to think that these ideas are opinionatedly discoursed over and around which means that anybody could be right and anybody could be wrong and they b oth are correct and convincingly proper in how they handle their agreements or disagreements of the ideas spoken about depending on how the environment is and how they support themselves with or against it. It becomes the fight of life whenever such a child grows up to understand the belief of what such understanding is whenever there are ideas which grown into unanimity that these ideas are actually correct as equally as their possibility of being regarded and believed to be incorrect. Thus, what is the solution?  Solutions vary according to what is respected from emotional beliefs in children who could not speak properly of what is inside of them and those who speak out openly and vastly and ferociously 9 at times) based on their own capacities and capabilities as well as abilities which exist in the child. Thus, egoism of ethics and political teachings grow with the child according to who they see themselves as wrong, right and equals and unequals to them. This is to say that the more the child thinks they are able imaginatively to make their experiences their own guidelines for the security of ethics they have and their intellect then they will be no more than they could when they are speaking with others who are unable or will not be willing to show themselves as agreeing to them or that they actually are incorrect. This is to say that ethics grow according to what the child sees from experiences, such as the idea of gangs and bands and single MCs in the music industry, such are the expansions of teaching ethics and politics to children who are in environments where there are no â€Å"plan B’s† since plan b is actually a sophisticated understanding of where I agree to find myself to be after standing up moralistically to what my mind is, even though I am called crazy and unable to get my dreams , being better a † dreamer off of my dreams†. Thus, teaching ethics and political thinking to children is to give them the broadest lines possible for what is common in people’s changing ethics around them in a rapidly changing Mindy World. This in respect to the ethics which emotionally people go through, especially with the fact that they store their emotions as strong and powerful for the one goal in their life which is the idea of such understanding which exists in the thought of the world which makes sense of what is the idea of the world as being understood as being behaviorally immoralistic seeing that child as always incorrect and seeking relinquishment through their making their ideas dormant and working via the subconscious, a darker moodier way of working out the emotional intelligence which is the idea of the thought of what is true and what is false in the mind of the universe in whole, growing to believe that the world is a sick world where morals are left to scatter around and either disorder, misorder or destruct or re-build or build according to what such an idea is (moral-ethical-behavior-turned-through-politics). These reasons are what make the idea of such beliefs true, thus, teaching politics and how to handle political thoughts in the work of the sequence of people has the idea of what is the real world like, which is, obviously, not allowing me to grow and be true whenever there are ideas which support my theories of ethics and politics from home. Ideas are for everyone, especially when these ideas are commonly found in all theories of the world philosophically. Such philosophy is the idea of what goes on in everything, ever child grows to find there are common theories in the operations of everything and that they, whenever they try to make sense of the idea as changeable to correct in the mind of the others, thus, the ideas die away because simply that influential id in me has no place in the theory of the world if I am not of an influential position and with a strong political view. Thus, even politically regarding of the theologies of religions and theories which deal in the Creator’s existence grow up to be resolved under what I need in life which could not be afford to me except with the supernatural power of the creator’s being 9 however they may be like or be in existence as character, etc). Thus, the idea of teaching ethics to children as well as childhood political making decisions could be variating and unable to make sense in the child who will grow up mostly having them shattered in his or her mind as being invaluable at all, since such unity of the ideas does not disperse to form refractions of rainbows from a glass or crystal prism of ideas, which to the child is invisible and non-existent as there is o proof that colorlessness of a material could reflect colorful ideas and beliefs and practices, etc, since the belief that anything is colorless that refracts and disperses colors, actually is a fake Descartian thought of the secondary characteristics of objects which have to be proven with the theory † I think, therefore, I am† which needs to make me believe that I actually exist first to prove that I could think, since my thoughts are invaluable in my environment (community, society, school, etc) until some source which could provide me materialism wor th having anf fighting for in the world which is not massively produced for everyone unable (such as the comparison between plastic beads and golden jewelry for example), could be provided, thus, and only thus, I could believe that the Descartian theory of existence could be powerfully applied upon, to and by me and that Anatole France was correct to say : † Knowledge is Power†.

Essay 2 - see attachment for topic and readings

2 - see attachment for topic and readings - Essay Example This view divides cities by class into areas occupied by those who control the means of production i.e. the bourgeoisie as well as the proletariat who works for a living. The Marxist view of the development of cities certainly takes class very seriously as there are rich neighborhoods and poor areas which are demarcated quite strongly by the developments taking place in a city. With time, the changes in the development of the city took factories out of the city centers and moved them to the outer edges of the city limits. Gary, Indiana is used as an example of that occurrence and the cause given for this change is that the factory owners wanted to avoid the presence of unions on their factory floors. Unions were difficult to form and maintain outside the city limits therefore unions could be avoided in this manner and control over the workers could be maintained with a capitalist agenda (Gordon, 1978). The same ideas are supported by Harris & Lewis (2001) but they given other economic reasons for the changes in the cityscapes of North America. They suggest that polynucleation was the reason for these changes and this was caused by the diversification of population and the lack of availability of workers of one type or another in a given location. Low prices for land as well as labor also helped the cause of those manufacturers that were ready to offset the cost of moving their production units by gaining access to cheaper tools for producing their goods. Thus the reasons for the development of our cities as they have are not based on social theory, but rather an economic agenda. Perhaps the most important point made in the both the essays is the idea that technology will affect the development of cities in the future as it has done so in the past. For example, the advent of the automobile meant that people could easily cover a lot of distance on their own without the use of trains or other transport and that meant that they

Merger Between Sprint And T-Mobile Research Paper

Merger Between Sprint And T-Mobile - Research Paper Example because the two carriers have been struggling with the churn which has resulted to the two companies losing grounds to the Verizon Wireless and AT&T carriers. The merger will help in finding a spectrum path in succeeding. For the purposes of Deutsche Telekom to grow T-mobile, the best strategy may be to merge because as it was seen, the strategy worked for Verizon when it took over Alltel. This merger will offer T-mobile an opportunity to offer new services, gain new customers, and also present an opportunity for expansion. The financial position of Sprint reported a Q4 net loss and an operating revenues drop of 14 percent over the past years period. This issue of finance is mostly important to T-mobile parent which is Deutsche Telekom DT and thus a merger with a US carrier is the best strategy. T-mobile suffers from a lack of compelling products and services and thus it is hindered from competing in an effective manner. A merge possibly with an existing carrier is therefore the fast est way that will help T-mobile to penetrate today’s market and grow. Based on the current size, the combination of Sprint and T-mobile will accumulate a close of a total number of 82 million subscribers and annual service revenues of $11 million. There are 11 million more subscribers in Verizon wireless and 5 million more subscribers in AT&T carrier (Butcher, 2011) Due to slightly lower ARPUs, there will be much work that needs to be done on the merger so as to catch up with the carriers that are on the top two because both Sprint and T-mobile are running above twice the churn in monthly estimates of the two leading carriers. This means the carriers are operating at above 3 percent against 1.5 percent. Deutsche Telekom AG was holding talks to Sprint Nextel Corporation to sell its T-mobile USA, a major stake in the entity that is combined as the consideration. A deal might as well not be agreed upon because these negotiations have been on and off for a sometime. The T-mobile USA valuations haven’t been agreed upon by the companies because the company reported a decline in its reported profits. The merger involving Sprint and T-mobile of USA brings together, a third and fourth largest wireless provider in U.S. These companies are behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. The net worth of T-Mobile of U.S was between $ 15 and $ 20 billion. The sprint net worth was $13.6 billion. The price of Sprint, the acquirer may disappoint Deutsche Telekom because the buyer may pay less reason being customer losses. Basing on the unit’s earnings, the company may expect about $25 billion (Saitto et al, 2011) Considering Verizon wireless has 93 million subscribers, AT&T has 85 million subscribers, a combined sprint and T-mobile will put them behind a third placed carrier which is very strong with about 82 million. This puts them in a very competitive position of becoming the second positioned carrier. T-mobile has a sales price of $39 billion which is three tim es its net worth of $13 billion. This means that it would result to Sprint having more debts of worth billions which will increase its total leverage. Market capitalisation of sprint has ranged between $13 billion to around 16 billion since the merger was announced. Sprint will thus be required to borrow billion of dollars to fund the merger which will double its current leverage of $20 billion of long term debts. By year 2010, sprint had 138 percent debt to equity ratio meaning purchase of T-mobile would

Program Budget Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Program Budget - Coursework Example The mission of the waste recycling unit is to be the leader in reducing the amount of waste that is disposed of in our landfill and other waste disposal facilities and to ensure that the environmental effects of waste disposal, treatment and storage are minimized. The mission of the waste treatment unit is to treat hazardous industrial and chemical waste in a way that is not harmful to the environment and in accordance with regulations. The waste treatment unit also seeks to ensure that employees are properly trained and compensated to carry out their functions efficiently and effectively. The mission of the waste disposal unit is to be a leader in ensuring the safe disposal of solid and liquid industrial and domestic waste in such a way that the all environmental laws and regulations are adhered to. The budget for the three service units is presented in a tabular format below in the Appendix. It shows the amount spent on employing people to carry out the duties mentioned. The budget shows that of the total projected expenditure of $1,922,000 budgeted, 23.52% will be spent on waste recycling service, 29.04% on waste treatment service and 47.44% on waste disposal service. In order to ensure quality service it is important to have measures for assessing performance. In assessing performance measures for each service, it is necessary to consideration the achievement of their goals. Therefore, the measures will be based on measurable goals and objectives. Performance measures for each department are as follows. The measurable goals of the recycling unit are to realize a profit margin of 40% and to increase revenue by 20% per year. These measures will determine if the service unit has achieved its measurable goals. Repeat customers can also be used to determine service quality as well as prompt request for service. The achievement of the units vision of reducing GHG’s from recyclable waste is possible. The measurable goals of the waste

Early Childhood Education Program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Early Childhood Education Program - Essay Example Creative Care Preschool is the ideal place for beginning learners. Armed with a sound philosophy, an efficient program and caring and efficient teachers and a conducive learning environment, this is where their bright future begins. Creative Care Preschool aims to reach the highest standards of quality for an early childhood center. It will provide the best developmentally appropriate programs for children aged 1.5 to 6.5 that will help develop children who are confident, others-oriented, creative and competent. The will have honed their skills to enable them to succeed in a globally competitive world. Creative Care Preschool advocates high quality care and education for very young children. It provides children several opportunities to experience learning first hand by themselves, with capable mentors and with their peers. Creative Care Preschool believes that God created each child in a unique and special way thus deserving LOVE and RESPECT. Each child is endowed with gifts, abilities and innately full of potentials, but in the process of â€Å"becoming† according to his own pace, interests and needs. A child learns best when he finds enjoyment in what he is doing, thus learning should be fun. PLAY is the world of children. Learning through play has value and is an effective method of teaching. Through play, a child develops his mental functions as he learns varied concepts, and at the same time he develops body coordination, he learns how to handle emotions, acquires social skills and values as he interacts with other children. All learning acquired by the child is an outcome of interactions between him and his environment (people, ideas and materials). A child is able to learn in an environment where there is freedom of movement and choice; this enables him to be an active participant in his learning as he initiates activities, asks questions, explores, observes, and socializes

Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Memo - Essay Example The insurer has a duty to defense before a court of law. Insurance companies lose the right to defense only when there is conflict of interest. Insurance companies do not compensate the insured automatically before thorough analysis of the real cause of the losses which call for compensation. According to Devine (2006), the insurance company has a duty and a right to defend itself basing this on the principles governing the insurance contracts as stipulated in insurance law. Mr. and Mrs. Turner entered into an insurance contract with Youngston Company when they took a cover against any liability that arises other than injuries resulting from discharge, release, dispersal or escape from pollutants. These clauses specified the kind and extent of losses to be compensated whenever such specific liability arises. The policy language excluded losses suffered due to discharge, dispersal, release, or escape of pollutants. From the excerpt, we noted that the child became ill because of too mu ch lead in the body system. Insurance company should defend itself basing this on the language of the cover i.e. the cover would not cover any liabilities resulting from losses suffered due to escape of pollutants. In addition, the company is not liable for the losses suffered by a third party. During inception of the insurance contract, neither Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh nor any other person who rented the apartment, was mention in the contract. Since, the child belongs to the third party; the insurance company has a duty to defense based on this. However, the insurance policy issued by the company did not specify exactly the boundaries of compensation. The exclusion language did not mention the specific pollutants which will be covered by the policy. In addition, the policy cover did not specify whether the company should compensate any damages suffered by the third party. It is therefore the decision of the court to

Microsoft and Nokia Merged Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Microsoft and Nokia Merged - Research Paper Example Microsoft and Nokia are both renowned and well-known ICT companies, where the former specializes in user convenient communication software systems and the latter holds a distinct position amid its customers in the mobile communication industry. As per analysts’ reviews, the merger between Microsoft and Nokia also served the purpose of meeting the needs of their customers and further expanding their business size, along with bringing success in their own respective fields2. In order to gain an in-depth understanding about the merger process between these two ICT giants, i.e. Microsoft and Nokia, it is necessary to overview the background of the companies and to understand their needs of entering into the contract. Microsoft, founded in the year 1975 in State of Washington, operates its business through the development, manufacturing and licensing of variety of software products and also computer hardware devices3. Apart from this business, the company has recently expanded in t he fields of manufacturing telephonic devices such as tablets, which can also be considered as one of their recent expansion strategies that required a beneficial market penetration strategy. Due to its huge turnover and advanced technology innovation capacity, Microsoft has emerged as one of the successful technology companies in the entire world in the current decade4. Correspondingly, Nokia is a Finnish company, which placed itself in a remarkable position in the history, by creating the first radio phone in 1963. Since then, the company has been successful in manufacturing more of the modern and advanced technological communication appliances in the international market. Nokia became more popular in the entire world with the production of small and comfortable mobile phones and following the introduction of the integrated technology. It is also considered as one of the fastest growing companies in the present competitive environment and also as a responsible company, which accep ts the suggestions of its customers as well as believes in equal treatment to all its employees5. THESIS STATEMENT This research paper has been prepared with an intention of gaining knowledge on the incident of the merger that has recently taken place between Microsoft and Nokia in the year 2012. Correspondingly, the major sections that have been described in this research paper are the reasons for the merger, advantages that both the companies have derived and also the possible drawbacks of the incident to critically assess the worthiness of the strategy. REASONS FOR MERGER BETWEEN MICROSOFT AND NOKIA In recent news article named â€Å"Why Microsoft really bought Nokia† one of the journalists named Robert X. Cringely remarked that the incident of the merger between Microsoft and Nokia was somewhat like â€Å"two stones clinging together trying to stay afloat†6. The reason for quoting these words implies that the incident was really a matter of interest for all the gia nt companies around the world. In the process, Microsoft acquired Nokia at a compensation price of 7.2 billion US dollars in 20127. A tender offer was considered as the major mode of acquisition in case of merger between Microsoft and Nokia. Subsequently, Microsoft made a proposal to the majority of the shareholders of Nokia with an intention to buy the

Political Assassination of JFK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Political Assassination of JFK - Essay Example They greeted them with happiness and joy, and not a soul suspected a thing. At 12:30 pm on Friday 22 November 1963, the crowd suddenly grew wild as a sniper rifle fired through the air, making the atmosphere even more petulant than before and causing upheaval in the surroundings. As the smoke cleared and the Presidential motorcade was surrounded by the mob by scared townspeople, their emotions running amok, it was discovered that Governor Connally and James Tague, travelling suit were injured heavily trying to protect the one man sitting in the vehicle, on which everyone had their eyes upon. Jacqueline Kennedy, the First Lady was shell shocked as she heard the noise and on her right quietly fallen, lay her husband, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, fatally shot and wounded, in the heart of Dealey Plaza, in Dallas, Texas. The political assassination of JFK, the thirty fifth President of the United States of America was a shocker to the entire global community that regarded him as one of the sm artest and most influential people of all time. After many enquiries into the political situation, it has been marked as the offshoot of a criminal conspiracy possibly involving a number of groups and communities such as the CIA, the KGB, the American mafia, the Israeli government, and people like the President of the FBI at the time, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Cuban President, Fidel Castro. The official story was that Kennedy was killed at the hand of Lee Harvey Oswald who fired a shot from the corner window of the Book Depository, and was a U.S Marine who had defected to the Soviet Union. In order to understand the political motives and happenings of the events leading up to and during the assassination of President Kennedy, it is vital to first understand the terms that are being used to describe the situation. The entire event has been passed off as a political conspiracy; a conspiracy may thus be defined as â€Å"An agreement between two or more persons to combine for unlawful o r subversive purpose involving plots schemes, intrigues and collusion. The group of conspirators are united in the aim of usurping or overthrowing established political power often, but not always, in secret.† Under the same, Kennedy’s death was the cause of a political assassination which may be defined as ‘a sudden or secretive attack to murder someone who holds a prominent position for political reasons’ (Knoepfler 2010). It is important also to comprehend the kind of motives that each assassin might have in order for him to be convinced enough to kill someone of such great stature. Most assassins in history have been stirred by religious, political, ideological or military motives in order to kill someone who they feel do not deserve the right to live because their pleas and needs were not being heard by them. The motive or incentive for Lee Oswald Harvey being behind Kennedy’s killing was not portrayed as something that involved some sort of fin ancial or personal gain. Despite heavy interrogation by the police, the assassin denied all the alleged accusations against him for being charged for the murder of Kennedy as well as police officer, J.D Tippit. However, it is felt by some that enough evidence exists against him. However, even before the man could be tried, he was killed by a club owner by the name of Jack Ruby. People further believed that Ruby himself was part of the same conspiracy leading to Kennedy’s death; however he denied any such allegation and further insisted on saying that he was only trying to give

Multimedia System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Multimedia System - Research Paper Example So we can say that multimedia is exhibition of some form of information in any format. This can also be taken as the presenting information by means of numerous dissimilar techniques to obtain across those ideas (Multimedia Product development, 2009). Some years ago, purchasing a multimedia product for a computer was a pretty complex task, on the other hand for the reason that of the marvelous enlargement of multimedia applications, the majority of computers that we purchase nowadays are previously intended to execute and run multimedia products and applications. If we want to develop a multimedia sample or applications then we need a more powerful computer system. If we do not have such machine then its productivity will be lost, but now the majority of people having more powerful machines as compared to 10 years ago computers (Henke et al, 2000). The practice of development of a multimodal product encompasses a comprehensive planning for the over development process. In this circumstances we have to pay more attention regarding the way and tools we have, and which we adopt for the development of the system (Multimedia Product development, 2009). This research is aimed at discussing this development process and its main aspects. This section will discuss about the main aspect of multimedia planning process and events. Successfully developing as well as delivering a multimedia product or applications necessitates an additional powerful PC, very good designing qualities, effective programming knowledge and most important a creative mind. Though, if formation of high-end multimedia product is our objective, then we definitely need to consider positive circumstance that has been recognized particularly for multimedia product development (Henke et al, 2000). Storyboard is the basic step in every type of multimedia product development. In this first phase of the multimedia product development we build up and design a

Michelangelo Essay Example for Free

Michelangelo Essay The artist has painted a portrait of his friends and colleagues. Each one of them is in the prime of their youth, with seemingly no worries. They are all seen having a relaxed time oblivious to their surroundings. There are thirteen people featured in the painting, including two children. The colors in the painting are charming, bringing out the best of the painter and his art. The boat is full of young people having an enjoyable time, drinking and making merry. Life seems to be full of meaning for the people on the boat. The boat seems to be their cup of life overflowing with energy and youth. None of them are worried about the future. Each of the people depicted on the boat are living life to its fullest in the present. They do not seem to be thinking of either the past or the future. Life for them seems to be songs with unending lyrics, going on and on, eternally like the water lapping against the sides of their boat. Michelangelo has not have used color to define his sculptural form. He might have used the different hues of the marble itself to define the sculptural form. In fact, if he had used colors, the sculptures would have lost their natural sheen. It would have made the sculptures look artificial. The sculptures look so magnificent in their natural colors that there is an aura surrounding them that would have been lost with the use of any artificial colors. Color would have faded over time, but the statues have lost none of their sheen, making us believe that there were no colors used anywhere in the statues. The natural glory of the statues has been retained in the centuries gone by because of the natural elements. Their glory remains a testament to the resilience of nature.

Social Cognitive Perspective and Phenomenological Perspective

Social Cognitive Perspective and Phenomenological Perspective The quoted text is taken from Social Psychology (Hollway et al 2007, p.35). It challenges the accountability of certain methods in their ability to accurately reflect the reality of social phenomena. Implicitly understood in this statement is that qualitative methods are better suited than quantitative methods. Qualitative methods are better able to reflect richness and complexity of lived experience than quantitative methods which are capable of limiting, constraining and distorting it. This is a polemical stance that has accompanied the growth in qualitative methods since the 1980s. The Social Cognitive Perspective (SCP) and Phenomenological Perspective (PP) demonstrate how strikingly different methods can be. They have different epistemological stances and make different ontological claims. The nature of being (ontology) is understood differently in social psychology, such as the information-processing individual in a social context (SCP) or the experiencing, embodied individual in relation with  others (PP). Limitations and benefits of the SCP and the PP are illustrated by a critical review of Milgrams 1970s experiment on obedience to authority and the works of Eatough and Smith (2006) on feelings of anger in the context of the lives of individual women. Gregen, K.J. (1973) in his account of social psychology as History gave voice to a debate about the relative merits of social psychology methods. In particular whether social psychology as a discipline was scientific in nature or should be considered as contemporary history. Gregen argued that social psychology was a product of historical and cultural climates which constantly changed, producing theories and knowledge that did not prove to be consistent. In this light it was suggested that the prevailing quantitative scientific methods should give way to more descriptive accounts with appreciation for how knowledge is situated within a social-cultural-historic context. These themes of situated knowledge are highlighted by Milgrams findings on obedience to authority. Milgram demonstrated through his experimental conditions the potential for acts of cruelty to be committed by a stranger (research participant and executant) to another stranger (researcher assistant and victim) because they were following orders (researcher and authority figure). His findings have been widely cited and used in psychological text books as factual scientific accounts. They have however been criticised on a number of ethical and substantive terms (Holloway et al 2007, p.53). For example Milgram recorded that participants were observed to sweat, tremble, stutter, bite their lips, and groan as they found themselves implicated (Milgram, 1977, p. 112; in Holloway et al 2007, p.54). The use of deception and unnecessary stress to research participants is seen by many as being unjustifiable. Milgram himself was less concerned with the immediate distress caused and was satisfied that questionnaires sent after one year showed participants felt positively towards the experiment (Milgram, 1974, p.195 within Hollway et al 2007, p.52). In Milgrams time research ethics were not as developed as they are today. Arguably the overall benefit of the research was deemed more important than any minor stress caused. This insight is perhaps justifiable given Milgrams interest in trying to understand how hatred and persecution of Jews under Hitlers Nazi Germany could have happened. Milgrams experimental conditions in which one agent commands another to hurt a third reflected his underlying theory that elements of authority, executant and victim were central to obedience and hostility (Milligram, 1977, p.102; in Holloway et al 2007, p.53). Apart from ethics critics such as Harre 1979, p.105 argues that there are substantive problems with his study. Harre notes that the issue of trust was overlooked; trust as a possible response to power was likely key to participants behaviour as an executants. In fact 40% of participants did not follow the instruction to inflict pain on the victim, however these accounts are given little attention. Similarly the research setting was changed because of a perceived influence of Yale University on giving authority to the instruction to the executant. It was moved from the universitys laboratory to the basement and then to a nearby town called Bridgeport. But, Milgram, 1977, p. 116 believed that the level of obedience in Bridgeport, although somewhat reduced, was not significantly lower than that obtained at Yale with 48% vs. 65% opposed. 17% between sites can be interpreted as statistically significant (Holloway et al 2007, p.53). Ultimately the reliability and validity of Milgrams findings can be questioned on a number of points. Although Milgram sort scientific objectivity he failed to consider ethical questions fully, did not explore the relevance of the research settings or participants personal experiences. PP provides an interesting perspective to juxtapose with traditional scientific methods. It has in its own right a long established history dating back to the C18th from philosophical works by Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre, et al (Smith Woodruff 2009). As an approach to social psychology it became popular alongside a humanistic perspective in USA during the second half of the C20th. It seeks detailed descriptions instead of explanations for human behaviour, addressing all aspects of a topic, and suspending judgements and assumptions that may be held by the researcher (Hollway et al 2007, p131). Linda Finlay (2009) in Debating Phenomenological Research Methods acknowledges that variations in methodology have flourished within PP. The competing visions of how to practice phenomenology stem from different philosophical values, theoretical preferences, and methodological procedures. Smiths Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is however one that has become popular. Smith argues that his idiographic and inductive method, which seeks to explore participants personal lived experiences, is phenomenological in its concern for individuals perceptions. He also, however, identifies more strongly with hermeneutic traditions which recognize the central role played by the researcher, and does not advocate the use of bracketing (Smith, 2004). The competing visions of how to practice phenomenology stem from different philosophical values, theoretical preferences, and methodological procedures. Eatough and Smith (2006) used interpretative phenomenological analysis of feelings of anger in the context of the lives of individual women. Specifically they used descriptive tools to explore three analytic themes the subjective experience of anger, forms and contexts of aggression, and anger as moral judgment. They concluded that mean making is a fundamental process in how the participants formed emotions. The descriptive accounts from the interviews with Marilyn (one of the research participants) were given as a case in point. Eatough and Smith (2006) believed that Marilyns anger towards her mother was changed by her self-reflections and counselling. It can be argued that richness and complexity provided by PP in its account of womens anger by Eatough and Smith (2006) far outreaches that by its SCP counterparts. The SCP remains however the dominant perspective in social psychology and has been helped by innovations in research methods. For example, Fazio et al (1995) work that has built on the concepts of cognitive errors and biases implicated in prejudice thinking (Fiske and Taylor, 1991). Their research has suggested that subtle forms of prejudice are now more pervasive than blatant forms. Their experiment measured response times of white undergraduates when classifying stimulus words as either being positive or negative meaning; after viewing random photos of black and white faces. They found evidence of inhibition and facilitation effects which were largely automatic, unconscious associations, between the colour of faces and positive or negative evaluations. In conclusion, the quoted text implicitly suggests that methods such as those used by SCP can be limiting, constraining and distorting but perhaps this is only half the story. Although quantification can be accused of being myopic, failing to appreciate richness and complexity in the account of the social phenomena under question they often do so knowingly. The scientific tradition of looking for cause and effect relationships in social psychology continues to be dominant over other methodologies. This reflects the willingness of the discipline to continue to strive for objectivism, statistical reliability and validity, and ultimately for the advancement of practical application. Moreover, as Gregen, K.J. (1973) noted social psychology methods are constantly adapting and evolving the work of Fazio et al (1995) on subtle forms of prejudice being testament to this. In contrast richness and complexity of qualitative methods such as PP often comes at a cost as the research is time-consu ming may have limited practical application.

Implications of Collaborative Consumption

Implications of Collaborative Consumption Table of Contents (Jump to) Abstract: Introduction Literature Review Short term Implications The Zero Marginal Cost Theory Long term Implication of Collaborative Consumption: Case Peer to Peer Ride Sharing Implication of Hyper-Consumption on Environmental Sustainability and GDP: Discussion of Result Conclusion Reference Abstract: Collaborative consumption also known as â€Å"Sharing economy† is disrupting long-held ideas about ownership, generating extra revenue streams for people while reducing demand for materials through lending, trading, renting, gifting, bartering, swapping and sharing through technology and peer to peer communities. With the leadership of innovators like Kickstarter and Airbnb, we are finally realizing that there is no real advantage to possessing more things, when we can still have access to stuff that we need or the experiences we crave. Most economists believe that collaborative consumption is the zeitgeist of future, and an innovative socio-economic approach to transforming the way we live. While all these initiatives have led to several multibillion dollar successes and brought community back into fashion in Europe and US, but then it certainly has its share of critics. The question remains whether the sharing economy model that materialized in the current recessive market e nvironment can sustain in the future market. This paper attempts to analyze the implications of collaborative consumption based on collaborative car sharing model to determine if collaborative consumption represents a viable and sustainable alternative to the ongoing hyper consumption economy. Keywords: Collaborative consumption, hyper consumption, sharing economy. Introduction Sharing has always been a common practice among friends, families, neighbors and members of the society. In recent years this concept of sharing has materialized from community practice to a disruptive business model widely popular as Collaborative Consumption (CC) or the Sharing Economy. This model is based on the very foundation of resource sharing and allows people to access resource without having to own them with in a short span of time (Gansky, 2010). Collaborative consumption is form of consumption developed on the premise of peer-to-peer exchange that facilitate lending, trading, renting, gifting, bartering, swapping and sharing of services and goods without having to procure them outright. Instead of paying the full amount to own a product that will probably be go unused; people can have shared ownership of the service or product by paying a small amount. This not only saves consumers expenses but in long run servers the economy and the environment as well (Botsman Rogers, 2010). Several factors have contributed to the rise of collaborative consumption. Venture capitalist Mark Suster at LeWeb conference, London pointed them as debt, demographics, un/under-employment, scarce resources, demographics and globalization (Suster, 2014). Such factors have shifted consumers from 20th century’s consumption behavior of hyper-consumption towards new socio-economic phenomenon. (Botsman Rogers, 2010)In their book â€Å"Whats mine is yours† have identified the key drivers of collaborative consumption as: â€Å"A global recession that has fundamentally shocked consumer behaviors†. â€Å"A renewed belief in the importance of community†; â€Å"A surge of peer-to-peer social networks and real-time technologies†; and â€Å"Pressing unresolved environmental concerns†; The resurgence of the collaborative economy the aroused many questions surrounding the implication and associated risks. One of the major questions is what will be the impact in the economy and can it really sustain in the future and succeed in enhancing economy while addressing the environmental concerns. These questions will be explored in the following sections. Literature Review The consumer market in developed market is going through remarkable changes right now. This phenomenon of collaboration and sharing has disrupted the hotels (Airbnb, Couch Surfing), transportation( Uber, Lyft, ZipCar) and rapidly extending to other sectors such as financing (LendingClub, Kickstarter) and even staffing (Taskrabbit, Odesk). Implication of such disruption to the overall environment and economy is analyzed in the following sections. Short term Implications The traditional market place is undergoing huge disruption due to Collaborative consumption as it is the new model completely redefines the buyer-seller relationship. Here we look at the Auto Industry, where research show that ownership of 9-13 vehicles can be easily replaced by a single car sharing vehicle. To an average car manufacturer this is creates a direct revenue loss of at least $270,000. Further the impact on the eco system cascades from auto parts to car insurance, auto loans, fuels and other services (Owyang, 2013). From this perspective sharing of service and products between customers can lead to a colossal loss of tax revenue to the government. The Zero Marginal Cost Theory Sharing economy can dramatically reduce the production cost of services and goods. The power of the community vastly improves previously inefficient base process (such as taxi regulations) and creates a forcing function for business to generate profit based on products and services that appeal directly to users (Rifkin, 2014). In economic terms, the cost of a product – or a â€Å"good† – can be divided into two parts. The first part is a â€Å"setup cost† which is the cost of assembling the team and tools needed to make the first unit. The second part is called the â€Å"marginal cost† or the cost of producing a single, additional unit (Rifkin, 2014). Traditional manufactured goods like cars and smartphones are in green. As you ramp up output past the pain point, constraints on factory infrastructure, overtime pay and the supply chain eventually make widgets more expensive per unit to produce. Contrast this to digital goods like eBooks and smartphone apps in red. They just get cheaper and cheaper as you scale (Rifkin, 2014) (Cowen, 2013). The ownership of a core process is surrendered to community collaboration. Competitive markets have focused on driving productivity up and marginal costs down, enabling businesses to reduce the price of their goods and services to compete against each other and win customers. (Cowen, 2013) Within service industries likehospitality and transportation, new entrants are succeeding not by optimizing production, but by eliminating production cost altogether. Consider Uber vs. traditional taxi companies. For a traditional taxi company to add another taxi to its fleet, a car and license need to be acquired at significant cost. Instead of shouldering that setup cost, Uber can add another taxi to its inventory at almost no cost by enabling people to share their existing cars, all coordinated via the internet. Airbnb does the same for renting properties vs. acquiring more physical space (Rifkin, 2014). Within the next decade, businesses will need to become much more open and collaborative to survive in an increasingly zero marginal cost economy. The sharing economy and collaborative development will further streamline capitalism, and organizations that figure out how to master this dynamic will succeed. Long term Implication of Collaborative Consumption According to Nielsen’s global online survey of automotive purchase intent, 65 percent of respondents across 60 countries plan to buy a new or used car in the next two years. New car purchase intent is strongest in Asia-Pacific, where 65 percent of respondents say they will buy new, compared with only 7 percent that plan to buy used. In the region, this new car demand will be driven by consumers in India (77%), China (76%), Thailand (68%) and Indonesia (63%), where the expectation to buy is highest. The peer-to-peer rental and sharing economy could lead to more efficient allocation of scarce resources and a cleaner economy. The University of California at Berkeley’s Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) recently published theresults of a nationwide survey of over 6,200 car sharing memberswhich shows between 9-13 vehicles shed for every car sharing vehicle in the fleet. Of those, 4-6 vehicles were eliminated as a direct result of joining car sharing and the remainders were avoided/not purchased as a result of membership (Shaheen Cohen, 2013). If we compare such level of consumption to Zip Car every driver who gives up their cars and switch to Zipcar say they save an average of $600 per month. Car sharers report reducing their vehicle miles traveled by 44%, according to Susan Shaheen of the University of California at Berkeley, and surveys in Europe show CO2 emissions are being cut by up to 50% per user (Shaheen Cohen, 2013). On average, Zipcar members drive 2,500 fewer miles per year, saving 219 gallons of gasoline annually. It is expected that at current membership levels, Zipcar will save 16 million gallons of gasoline and 150 million pounds of CO2 annually (The Economist, 2012). Implication of Hyper-Consumption on Environmental Sustainability and GDP: From an economic point of view one can argue that high consumption is good for global economy as the worldwide private consumption expense (household level expense on services and goods) exceeded $20 trillion by year 2000 which is a four old increase from year 1960. Yet on the long run, if we view this from a broad perspective such level of consumption risks ecological degradation which holds back the global economy (Worldwatch Institute, 2011). A report based on research conducted by economists, policy experts and scientist show that current climate change and carbon emission have lowered the global economy by lowered global output by 1.6% of world GDP or by around 1.2 trillion dollars (2010 PPP). Losses are expected to increase rapidly, reaching 3.2% of GDP in net average global losses by 2030. If emissions continue to increase unabated in a business-as-usual fashion (similar to the new IPCC RCP8.5 scenario), yearly average global losses to world output could exceed 10% of global GDP before the end of the century, with damages accelerating throughout the century. The costs of climate change and the carbon economy are already significantly higher than the estimated costs of shifting the world economy to a low-carbon footing – around 0.5% of GDP for the current decade, although increasing for subsequent decades (DARA and the Climate Vulnerable Forum, 2012). Peer-to-peer activity is making waves by harnessing the power of local communities to build a more financially and ecologically sustainable future in ways and on a scale never before possible. From an economic perspective, it could also be argued that organizations such as Zip Car are adding to the output, if in a small way (Buczynski, 2013). GDP measures items bought rather than the use of the items/activity purchased. Take a simple example:the average drill is used for just 15 minutes in its lifetime. GDP measures the number of drills bought but in the case of a drill, this is a poor measure of a nation’s output when its usage is so low. While Government and policy makers obsess over GDP data, any serious economist should agree that an efficient economy is one in which the resources are deployed well, and where output is useful. To put it inRachel Botsman’sterms – pioneer of the collaborative consumption movement – we need to be taking into account numbe r of holes drilled rather than number of drills sold (Bostsman Rogers, 2011). The sharing economy is becoming an increasingly accepted feature of the business landscape. We estimate that the five main sharing sectors (peer-to-peer finance, online staffing, peer-to-peer accommodation, car sharing and music video streaming) have the potential to increase global revenues from around $15 billion now to $335 billion by 2025 (PwC, 2014). Sharing economy firms are disrupting traditional industries across the globe. For proof, look no further than Airbnb which, at $10 billion, can boast a higher valuation than the Hyatt hotel chain (Botsman Rogers, 2010). Uber is currentlyvalued at $18.2 billion relative toHertz at $12.5 billionandAvis at $5.2 billion. Beyond individual firms, there are now more than 1,000 cities across four continents where people can share cars. The global sharing economy market wasvalued at $26 billionin 2013 and some predict it will grow to become a $110 billion revenue market in the coming years, making it larger than the U.S.chain restaurant industry (PwC, 2014). The revenue flowing through the sharing economy directly into people’s wallets will surpass$3.5 billion this year, with growth exceeding 25%, according to Forbes. The business model – where peers can offer and purchase goods and services from each other through an online platform – continues to be applied to new ind ustries from car sharing to peer-to-peer fashion, among many others (Cannon Summers, 2014). Discussion of Result Collaborative consumption provides the platform to connect demand to the spare assets or space capacity. Growth of information and communication technology has eased access and research of all manners of information resulting development of numerous businesses through ground-breaking online applications. Such applications have found innovative ways to meet the demands by maximizing utility through efficient allocation of resource. New Collaborative Economy The new model enables peers offer complimentary revenues for listing their idle resources. This not only reduces the cost of the service or goods offered but acts as the substitutes of the market products. Hence the supply curve shifts rightwards and consumers are left with more choice and better price. The current consumption trend produces huge amount of waste as the most of the current economy is based on â€Å"take, make, dispose† processes. In such context collaborative consumption is the opportunity that tracks the idle capacities and transforms the maximum wastes into value resources. Not only this phenomenon provides financial gains as well as long term economic gains without pushing people to buy new products it also provides affordable way to act for the environmental sustainability. Many traditional business and labor markets have questioned the implication of completely switching to the collaborative economy. In this scenario what business needs to understand is that Collaborative Consumption is not a zero sum game (Gansky, 2010). Rather than viewing this as a competition, it shows the need to adapt them into more efficient, inclusive and better system. In fact traditional big companies have already entered the game such as the rental company Avis entered the market by purchasing Zip-car, BMW has invested in Park-at-my-house and GM has partnered with Relay-Rides (Hamari, Sjà ¶klint, Ukkonen, 2013). Collaborative consumption is socially and economically sustainable because it fundamentally adapts to the needs of the consumer in order to be successful, instead of the other way around. In other words, the consumer is not obligated to sacrifice their individual lifestyle or personal freedom. Because fewer products are needed to satisfy the same amount of people, less waste is created. In this way, collaborative consumption is also environmentally-sustainable. These firms bring significant economic, environmental, and entrepreneurial benefits including an increase in employment and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions (in the case of car sharing services). Conclusion This research shows how a collaborative consumption facilitates easier access to capital goods without owning them and further free up resources and reduce pollution from reduced usage. A limit of this study is the assessment of political and social implications of the collaborative consumption. This could be a logical following work to this research. Through this study, we saw the environmental and economic prospects of collaborative consumption and opportunity it brings to consumers (peers) and businesses to be a part of global phenomenon towards efficiency and sustainability. Even though collaborative consumption is increasingly being valued in billions, it is still a nascent movement in the developing world. Awareness should be raised as it’s the decisions that organizations make today which determines how for the collaborative consumption can live up to its potential. Reference Bostsman, R., Rogers, R. (2011). Whats mine is yours: How collaborative consumption is changing the way we live. London: Collins. Botsman, R., Rogers, R. (2010). Whats mine is yours: The rise of collaborative consumption. New York: Harper Business. Buczynski, B. (2013). Sharing is good: How to save money, time and resources through collaborative consumption. British Columbia : New Society Publishers. Buytaert, D. (2014, September 6). The end of ownership: The zero-marginal-cost economy. Retrieved 11 15, 2014, from The Next Web: http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2014/09/06/end-ownership-zero-marginal-cost-economy/ Cannon, S., Summers, L. H. (2014, October 13). How Uber and the Sharing Economy Can Win Over Regulators. Retrieved from Havard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2014/10/how-uber-and-the-sharing-economy-can-win-over-regulators/ Cowen, T. (2013). Average is Over: Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation. New York: Dutton Adult. DARA and the Climate Vulnerable Forum. (2012). Climate Vulnerability Monitor: A Guide to the Cold Calculus of a Hot Planet. Madrid: Estudios Grà ¡icos Europeos. European Commission, Business Innovation Observatory. (2013). The sharing economy accessibility based business models for peer-to-peer markets. European Commission, Business Innovation Observatory. European Commission. Gansky, L. (2010). The mesh: Why the future of business is sharing . New York: Portfolio Penguin. Goucher. (2013). Zipcar Program. Retrieved 11 18, 2014, from Goucher College: http://www.goucher.edu/about/environmental-sustainability/what-you-can-do/transportation-initiatives/zipcar-program Hamari, J., Sjà ¶klint, M., Ukkonen, A. (2013, May 30). The Sharing Economy: Why People Participate in Collaborative Consumption. SSRN, 27. Owyang, J. (2013). The Collaborative Economy. San Mateo: Altimeter Group. PwC. (2014). The Sharing Economy: How will it disrupt your business ? PwC. Rifkin, J. (2014). The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Trade. Shaheen, S., Cohen, A. (2013). â€Å"Innovative Mobility Carsharing Outlook: Carsharing Market Overview, Analysis, and Trends. Berkeley: Transportation Sustainability Research Center, University of California, Berkeley. Suster, M. (2014). The Sharing Economy. Le Web (p. 46). London: Le Web. The Economist. (2012, September 22). The future of driving. Retrieved 11 2, 2014, from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/node/21563280/ Worldwatch Institute. (2011). State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet today. Washington: Worldwatch Institute. Page 1 of 19

Alienation in The Catcher in the Rye and The Grapes of Wrath :: essays research papers

The theme of alienation is relevant in both â€Å"The Catcher in the Rye† and â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath. It is an idea presented very prominently in both books, expressed through characters, actions, and events. The Catcher in the Rye focuses on Holden Caulfield, a socially inadequate, sixteen year old boy who distances himself from others as a display of mental superiority driven by the idea he possesses that everyone is a phony, while he appears to be the only one who has remained genuine and authentic in today’s society. Like The Catcher in the Rye, a significant subject of The Grapes of Wrath is isolation from modern culture. The Joad family, upon their arrival in California, are estranged and avoided because they are labeled as â€Å"Oakies† on account of their origination from Oklahoma. They are regarded as dirty, unwanted people, on a quest to take advantage of prospering California. They are treated as though inferior mainly because of their socioeconomic status, which is considerably lower than the farmers of California. Though Holden Caulfield’s alienation from others is intentional, while the Joad family is inadvertently segregated, the motif of isolation is still pertinent in both novels. Holden’s dissociation from his few friends and anyone else he encounters is based on his belief that everyone is a phony and he is above them on some level because he is capable of observing this phoniness and avoiding it, and the Joad family is discriminated against because of their being from Oklahoma. The motives of the Joad family and Holden, however, are completely opposite. The Joad’s strive for acceptance in California from anyone who thinks poorly of them, when Holden ‘s intentions are to be cynical and to disregard the phonies with his eccentric personality. Another significant difference in both The Grapes of Wrath and The Catcher in the Rye with regard to isolation are the forms of isolation, which are presented. Holden is mentally isolated, avoiding social situations and even when in them, distancing himself from people with the conviction that whomever he may be associating with is not worth his time, while the Joad family is physically outcast. The police force in the area turn them away when they ask for assistance and burn their camps as a display of superiority and as a way of physically secluding them from California natives. Again this presents the point that Holden chooses to estrange himself as the Joad’s would much rather be received by people without hostility and the intention of driving them away.

The Science Of Superstitions :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites The debate between realism and anti-realism is, at least, a century old. Does Science describe the real world – or are its theories true only within a certain conceptual framework? Is science only instrumental or empirically adequate or is there more to it than that? Jose Ortega y Gasset said (in an unrelated exchange) that all ideas stem from pre-rational beliefs. William James concurred by saying that accepting a truth often requires an act of will which goes beyond facts and into the realm of feelings. Maybe so, but is there is little doubt today that beliefs are somehow involved in the formation of many scientific ideas, if not of the very endeavour of Science. After all, Science is a human activity and humans always believe that things exist (=are true) or could be true. A distinction is traditionally made between believing in something’s existence, truth, value of appropriateness (this is the way that it ought to be) – and believing that something. The latter is a propositional attitude: we think that something, we wish that something, we feel that something and we believe that something. Believing in A and believing that A - are different. It is reasonable to assume that belief is a limited affair. Few of us would tend to believe in contradictions and falsehoods. Catholic theologians talk about explicit belief (in something which is known to the believer to be true) versus implicit one (in the known consequences of something whose truth cannot be known). Truly, we believe in the probability of something (we, thus, express an opinion) – or in its certain existence (truth). All humans believe in the existence of connections or relationships between things. This is not something which can be proven or proven false (to use Popper’s test). That things consistently follow each other does not prove they are related in any objective, â€Å"real†, manner – except in our minds. This belief in some order (if we define order as permanent relations between separate physical or abstract entities) permeates both Science and Superstition. They both believe that there must be – and is – a connection between things out there. Science limits itself and believes that only certain entities inter-relate within well defined conceptual frames (called theories). Not everything has the potential to connect to everything else. Entities are discriminated, differentiated, classified and assimilated in worldviews in accordance with the types of connections that they forge with each other.

Of Mice and Men Second Chapter Analysis Essay

Steinbeck introduced many new characters over the course of the second chapter, most of which are not set at the ranch in Soledad, and met in the bunk house. This new living space, known as the bunk house, provides proof of a very simplistic lifestyle. The small boxes given to each worker for their possessions shows in depth the limited amount of items they have. Each character have attributes and characteristics that differed from one another. Among these new characters is the old swamper, Curley, Curley’s wife, Carlson, Slim, and Crooks. Crooks, who is â€Å"a nigger† (Steinbeck,), acquired the role to be â€Å"the stable buck† where â€Å"the boss [gives him] hell† when he gets angry. As far as social hierarchy the boss, who â€Å"gets pretty mad sometimes, but [is a] pretty nice† (22) guy, holds the most power throughout the ranch, and is closely followed by a character named Slim. This is an extremely interesting insight on how race is approached and dealt with on the ranch. Although Crook’s is a â€Å"nice fella† many take it for granted that he should be treated badly since he is black. This notion seems to be imprinted in the minds of the ranchers, even when people such as the old man are full of compliments for Crook’s. George and Lennie have a very strange relationship. The guys that â€Å"work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in they world. They got no family† (13-14) which is the main reason why Lennie and George have stuck together. Nobody wants to be apart from family in hard times like these. Times have significantly changed in George and Lennie’s life. Therefore, they â€Å"better start swimmin’, or [they will] sink like a stone† (Bob Dylan) in terms of success and hard work. Some believe in a time where hard work runs parallel with achievement. This is not the case, as Steinbeck portrays a time and place where social hierarchy controls the ranch. Curly, who is a fairly powerful figure among the men, â€Å"hates big guys† and often â€Å"picks scraps with big guys. Kind of like he’s mad at ’em because he ain’t a big guy†. He also has a wife in which he is far too proud of, to the point where he shows off to the workers by wearing a glove on one of his hands. This is unusual but is a symbol of their sexual relationship shown off to make himself seem  superior and greater than. With the power that Curly holds, thoughts are given off that his wife holds the same level of power because she is Curly’s husband. This is a wrongly noted thought since she is among a farm full of male workers. Therefore, her sex acquires no power in terms of work and ideas on the ranch. By bringing Curly’s wife into the picture in such a flashy and ‘slutty’ type of fashion, he is possibly giving foreshadowing in the sense that she could be a dangerous force throughout the story and a real â€Å"piece of jail bait† (31) towards the men on the ranch. Curly’s power causes â€Å"most of the other men to avoid her eyes, but Lennie stares with fascination at this beautiful woman†. Steinbeck possibly gives off this foreshadowing hinting that something special will happen between the two. Steinbeck’s use of dialogue is very powerful and assuring. It brings a slight authenticity to the setting in which creates an easier scenario to paint pictures in the minds of his readers. Another theme that is introduced in the second chapter is the idea of social isolation. The story deeply thrives on the notion that everyone is isolated, and that everyone appears to get along well with one another by talking about their isolation. Apart from obvious reasons associated with race, Crook’s is also isolated when he becomes disabled when â€Å"a horse kicked him in the back† causing him to be slower and unable to accomplish certain tasks. Another important symbol that has been introduced is Candy’s dog, which symbolizes the fate that is waiting for the people who have ‘overstayed their welcome’ and who have outlived what they are able to accomplish. More times than not, a new pair of fresh legs beats and old pair. Although, when the old pair still has experience and skill to bring to the table he can still be used effectively. The relation between Candy and his dog are very close because when Carlson suggests that Candy should take one of Slim’s puppies it signifies that the same idea could be drawn up about Candy.

Competitive advantages

Competitive Advantages Competitive advantage exist when an organization acquires or develops a combination of attributes that allows it to outstrip Its rivals. These properties can Include access to natural resources, such as Inexpensive power or high grade ores, or skilled personnel human resources and admission to highly developed. Competitive advantage can occur using new technologies such as robotics and information technology can provide, whether increase the percentage of the merchandise itself, as an advantage to the fashioning of the product, or as a competitive aid in the equines process.Tests is the market leader in the grocery retail market. Tests have reached this status by base on their competitive advantage to compete on grounds of pricing and distribution schemes. Tests also sustains and maintain its competitive advantage through product portfolio expansion and strategic competitive pricing to get and hold its status. The best reasons for the great competitive advantag e of Tests can be found from the way it reacted to the increase of the internet.The patient and dynamic approach enabled them to build and construct a sound long-term volts of hat the Internet meant for the core client of the company and to what kinds of actions that would take from the Tests. As a consequence of the early launch, when the expectations towards the Internet based commercial enterprises began to develop, Tests already been evolving the online help for a twosome of years. Tests is a purely online grocery retailer Scads 10 year Journey has been a noteworthy good story, as it has been able to exist in the very competitive online grocery market.It stays to be determined whether the Coda way with only warehouses becomes the sustainable or the good way to operate in the online grocery market. But, Tests and its competitions are well matched to make a motion to that model should the enough demand pick up. After that happens, they are well equipped by using the stores for bot h the rapidly growing click & collect and home delivery. Teaches foresight and clarity around the selected vision has rendered It almost 50% market share In a swiftly growing the market.Carefully emerging competitors or evaluate established In the crestless Industry to Identify their strong suits. Look at their weaknesses and opportunities creates for a new society to make a footing in the securities industry by addressing those gaps. It also evaluate companies that have create a leadership spot in other market places for lessons and ideas on how competitive advantages can effectively be built up. Review what is known about the competitive landscape to understand reason in the outside environment that may be a source by the competitive advantage.Then, the name of the competitive advantages for these companies have developed as well as the business strategies they have put into place for capitalize on them. With the continuous innovation and improvement companies are capable to suppl y customized products to Increase the number of clients. At the same time, clients are getting the benefit of the competitive marketplace environment, The exertion to provide best possible services to customers enables a company to make It In the rolled competition. At the same times, that company reaches an edge over its contenders and can glean the benefits (I. . The current business environment the companies with maximum number of customers and market share will have a competitive edge over others. For this company are striving to offer the best retailing services and ease the process of shopping. Competitive advantages that companies receive from online ordering services include: . Increased market share: more and more customers find it easy to buy online. A user friendly web site and app will attract more people. 2. Companies can get the â€Å"economies of scale† advantage.By this way companies are capable to provide discounted prices on products with attractive promotio n schemes. 3. Client Database: One of the best advantages that supermarkets can get from online ordering services is to maintain a customer database. This database keeps the track of customers' purchases, their picks and shopping trends. Companies using market intelligence can apply this data in several ways in order to provide best revises to their clients. Analysis Existing Competitor And Global Strategies Tests introduced the latest superstore concept in Britain.After a few years from the appearance superstore became very famous for its full range of products at competitive cost. After that, Tests introduced its first gas station, which had the lowest price for petrol but was adjacent to Tests superstore. Tests overtook from Ginsburg and became a I-J largest supermarket. Entering foreign markets in the beginning half of the ass were built primarily by buying existing stores or Joining the domestic retail leader. In year 1997 expansion in Asia market began from acquiring 13 shops from the CAP Group in Thailand and formed Tests Lotus.In 1999 market was reached by Joining with Samsung entrance to the South Korea. After that, loyalty card was introduced by Tests, branded ‘Club card', in year 1995. This card was given discount to customer but what is more important is this card gave an opportunity or chance to keep a hand on a pulse of customers need and to collect all data for future planning. New goals were set for expansion of the foreign market and developing of a non-food products. Every little helps† is the main advertising slogan appeared from Deco's.This advertisements in print and on television mainly include of product shots or an appropriate image against a white ground, and also include a price or appropriate text, for example â€Å"Tests Value†. On video, voiceless are provided by recognizable actors and sponsors, such as James Newsiest, Jane. Next, Deco's famous loyalty card. Club card still can be identified as the most successf ul strategy that makes for a huge role in financial profitability upkeep for Tests. Brand Tests can increase and hold its customer base because of its fixed tendency to attics client demands, customizing service to maintain lower prices.Masses tend to fill more of their needs in one topographic point and in shorter time, it indicates a requirement for large chains to extend their services into new markets as banking, Fairly traded products as tea, deep brown and cocoa are viable, and such merchandise is nowadays widely available on the majority of big chains. In 2005 Tests had the biggest range of fair-trade products in the I-J, it was represented by 91 fair-trade product line. However, distinguishing with the overall context of the 0,000 product lines it looks rather tiny (0. 2%) achievement by supporting third-world countries.In addition, there are prove that supermarkets exploiting customer goods will by overcharging for fair trade merchandise. â€Å"The supermarkets know that p eople do not work for the most inexpensive product when buying fair trade because they believe the surplus money is helping someone in the training world. † John McCabe. In international expansion Tests took to attention difference in preferences between different countries. It also very big attention was devoted to customers' needs usually t was implement in the product line. For example in the Czech Republic, Tests most focus on providing Czech products in retail stores.But in China, the locals opted to buy live fish, meat and other famous products such as instant noodles, unlike in European nations. Similarly in Thailand, the customers spent a vast balance of their salary or income for fresh foods. To adapt to the shopping habits of the Thai customers, Tests build a new market hall with is an area contiguous to the main store, where in 14 local vendors sold a range of meat, fresh fruits, veggies and other local food. This arena was planned to supply the Thai customers with traditional and local ambiance.On 1997, Tests announced the purchase of the retail branch of Associated British Foods, which consisted of the Crazy Prices chains in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as associated businesses for IEEE Meg. This acquisition made it both a major presence in the bigger presence in Northern Ireland than Sunburst's and a Republic of Ireland. Deco's non-food marked faced a biggest competition level in KGB from such giants like Marks&Spenser and USDA. In the beginning of the entrance to the Hungarian market main competition was presented by little family-run stores, which served immediate needs to customers.The strategy against it was introduced more than 1000 its own label products at 20% cheaper price compare with branded ones. Deco's international expansion strategy in Asia was primarily represented as Joint ventures with the domestic partner firms like Charger Backhand in Thailand and Samsung Group in South Korea due to sensitivity of domestic market for foreigners and a bit more complicated than the rest of the others. In these mergers local personnel have an assured quantitative domination in low and middle management posts. It also formulates not big acquisitions an important part of its expansion strategy.In 2005, Tests announced that it was selling its operations in Taiwan in Careful and purchasing Carouser's stores in the Slovakia and Czech Republic. This both companies said that they were concentrate on their efforts in rural areas where they experienced good market positions. In 2007 Tests decided to run its online operations head office in Switzerland because of tax reasons. This can allows it to sell CDC, DVD's and electronic games through its website. This chance or opportunity was decide by the government in June 2008.Tests has done a devotion to corporate social obligation, by contributing about 1. 87% of its pre-tax earnings to schools scheme†, offer the computers in return for hospitals and schools getting vouchers from people who shopping at Tests. Until year 2004, Meme of equipment belonged to these establishments. The schema has been also implemented in Poland. â€Å"BIT – Tests Computers for Schools† started during the 2005/2006 association football season the company now sponsors the Tests Cup. The cup now runs a boy's competition at Under 13 year old and two girl's cups at Under 14 year old and Under 16 year old.Over 40,000 boys alone Joining the 2007/2008 competitions. Tests was accused by the I-J Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for being a part of a price cartel among the top five I-J supermarkets such as Safely, Morrison, Tests, USDA, and Kingsbury. The investigation started in 2007 and in the same year USDA, Kingsbury and Safely adjudged them mistake of working against consumer or customer interest by covering of 5000 farmers support in recovering after the foot-and-mouth disease. On the other hand, Tests were maintain after deny any activity in th is cartel.

Global warming exists Essay

The debate over whether global warming is a reality has received contradictory arguments from the various fronts on the global community. Opponents of the phenomenon assert that climate changes from time to time are natural occurrences. On the other side, proponents claim that the world has been experiencing trend of increase in temperatures of the earths near surface atmosphere since early twentieth century. This has particularly been attributed with the onset and increasing industrialization in the global community. Such have the implication that activities by mankind are to be blamed for the issue of climate change in the world. Given the available evidence that the world is experiencing unpredictable climate and weather patterns, global warming is no doubt a reality in the modern society. Causes of global warming According to scientific research findings, global warming is defined as the gradual increase in the temperatures of the earth’s atmosphere near the surface (Johansen, 2002). This has been closely associated with increased emission and accumulation of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (Revkin, 2008). These gases are responsible for trapping heat emitted from the earth’s surface and thus increasing the atmospheric temperatures. It is worth noting that greenhouse gases are commonly a byproduct of the production process by industries. As an example to emphasis this claims, mankind activities are estimated to be producing carbon dioxide (which is the major greenhouse gas) at a rate of over 25 billion metric tons annually (Revkin, 2008). In addition, deforestation, which entails cutting down of trees by man has contributed to the increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Therefore, although some natural processes such as fossil decay and volcanic eruptions can lead to greenhouse gas emission, mankind kind activities remain the main cause of global warming given the huge amounts of greenhouse gases produced by industries across the globe (Kluger, 2006). Evidence supporting the existence of global warming There are numerous evidences indicating the existence of global warming in the globe. First, the world is evidently witnessing a decline in its mountain ice and glaciers reserves (Kluger, 2006). According to available research findings, the rate Arctic shrinkage is higher than any other time in the history of mankind. Still, the world is experiencing a gradual but real rise in sea levels, a factor which is threatening the submergence of some low laying islands (Johansen, 2002). Such increases are evidently blamed for the increase in the rate of melting of mountain ice and glaciers. Global warming has been blamed for the occurrence of extreme weather conditions. Such include floods, droughts as well as heat waves, which are evident in the world today (Revkin, 2008). It is also claimed that due to global warming, expansion and evaporation of sea waters are high. Just to be appreciated is the fact that such high rates of evaporation of water into the atmosphere leads to increased rate of rain formation along the coastal regions. Such are indeed, the reason behind the frequent flooding witnessed in our coastal regions (Kluger, 2006). Therefore, since no one can refute the evidence of global warming on sea water expansion and increased flooding in the coastal regions, then global warming is a real threat to the sustainable social and economic development of the global community. The world is marked with the problem of unpredictable climate changes. As by the available statistics, the globe is witnessing a changing trend in its wind patterns (Johansen, 2002). It is worth noting that the process of wind formation is dependent on earth surface temperatures which lead to expansion of air. In addition, wind is a crucial factor in influencing the rain patterns across the globe. This is because it acts to carry water vapor from its source to other regions. Based on this reasoning, since wind and rain storms are no doubt a direct result of earth surface temperatures, then global warming must be a real phenomenon. Just to be emphasized here is the fact that such unpredictable wind patterns are responsible for the eminent failure by weather forecasting scientists in giving reliable region specific weather predictions. Therefore, the global temperature swings are responsible for the increasing formation of unpredictable weather patterns across the globe. Another proof in support that global warming is a real phenomenon is the trend of increased incidences of disease outbreaks across the globe (Johansen, 2002). True to the letter, traditionally, diseases were categorized by regions. However, due to climate changes, it is not uncommon it experience traditionally tropical diseases in other regions of the world (Johansen, 2002). According to available evidence, the human community is witnessing an increase in the number of skin cancer diseases. Such have been closely attributed to an increase in the amount of ultraviolet rays reaching the earth surface. It is worth noting here that such increases are a direct result of the evident shrinking of the ozone layer, a phenomenon that is termed as global warming. Conclusion It is clearly established that the world is increasingly witnessing an ever changing trend on its climate. Such are evident from the ever increasing mountain ice and glaciers reserves which lead to expansion of sea waters. This threatens the livelihood of those settled in the low coastal regions. The phenomenon is also blamed for unpredictable wind and rain patterns as well as increased spreading of diseases across the global. Therefore, global warming is a real phenomenon threatening the sustainable existence of the human community. References Johansen, B. (2002). The Global Warming Desk Reference. New York: Greenwood Press. Kluger, J. (2006). Global Warming Heats Up. Retrieved May 17, 2010, from http://www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1176980,00. html Revkin, A. (2008). A Shift in the Debate over Global Warming. Retrieved May 17, 2010, from http://www. nytimes. com/2008/04/06/weekinreview/06revkin. html