Conflict between Science and Religion Essay Example for Free

negate between Science and Religion EssayThere pass been numerous dissensions between science and religion. The central belief that the earth was the center of the universe prior to the presentation of the Copernican system was held in the primacy of man in the scheme of things, as designed by the will of beau ideal. The presentation that the earth was not the center of the universe was met with criticisms. The objections were not helped when it was found that our solar system is not even at the center of the universe but rather located in a spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy hotshot in a cluster of some two dozen galaxies, an infinitesimal part of a universe composed of millions of galaxies. One can only view how the religious sector reacted on the principle that our own Milky Way Galaxy is not even close to the center of the vast space of the universe. Conflict between science and religion climaxed when in 1859, Charles Darwin advanced his theory of evolution from natural s election in his work On the Origin of Species which was met with criticisms. The idea that God has not created man and placed him in the Garden of Eden was seen as an insult to Biblical teachings. Even today, evolution is a subject vigorously debated by those who support the theory and antievolutionists, especially those who call themselves creationists.Evidences show, however, that evolution indeed exists and continue to exist. The long evolutionary journey of species has even left its imprints upon the embryo of the individual organism. notwithstanding conflicts between science and religion and an apparent steady movement away from religion, Arnold Toynbee held that man will turn from materialism to technology back to religion and weird values. For some time each religion will maintain its identity and minister to its own adherents, but as they are faced with a shrivel up world, a positive tolerance will replace their traditional fanaticism.

Poseidon Essay Example for Free

Poseidon EssayGod of the sea, protector of all waters. Poseidon is the brother of Zeus. After the overthrow of their Father Cronus he drew lots with Zeus and Hades, some other brother, for shares of the valet. His prize was to become lord of the sea. He was widely worshiped by seamen. He married Amphitrite, a granddaughter of the Titan Oceanus.At one point he desired Demeter. To ascribe him off Demeter asked him to make the most beautiful animal that the world had ever seen. So to impress her Poseidon created the first horse. In some accounts his first attempts were unsuccessful and created a variety of other animals in his quest. By the time the horse was created his passion for Demeter had coo direct.His weapon is a trident, which can shake the earth, and shatter any object. He is stake only to Zeus in power amongst the gods. He has a difficult quarrelsome personality. He was greedy. He had a series of disputes with other gods when he assay to take over their cities.Posei don was the second son of Cronus and Rhea. In most accounts he is swallowed by Cronus at birth but later saved, with his other brothers and sisters, by Zeus. up to now in some versions of the story, he, like his brother Zeus, did not share the fate of his other brother and sisters who were eaten by Cronus. He was saved by his mother Rhea, who obscure him among a flock of lambs and pretended to have given birth to a colt, which she gave to Cronus to devour.3According to John Tzetzes23 the kourotrophos, or nurse of Poseidon was Arne, who denied knowing where he was, when Cronus came searching tally to Diodorus Siculus24 Poseidon was raised by the Telchines on Rhodes, just as Zeus was raised by the Korybantes on Crete.According to a single reference in the Iliad, when the world was divided by lot in three, Zeus received the sky, Hades the underworld and Poseidon the sea. In the Odyssey (v.398), Poseidon has a home in Aegae.The foundation of Athensgenus Athene became the patron goddes s of the city of Athens after a competitionwith Poseidon. Yet Poseidon remained a numinous presence on the Acropolis in the form of his surrogate, Erechtheus.2 At the radioactive decay festival at the end of the year in the Athenian calendar, the Skira, the priests of Athena and the priest of Poseidon would process under canopies to Eleusis.25 They agreed that each would give the Athenians one hand and the Athenians would choose whichever gift they preferred. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a spring sprang up the water was salty and not very useful,26 whereas Athena offered them an olive tree.Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, ca 440 BCThe Athenians or their king, Cecrops, accepted the olive tree and along with it Athena as their patron, for the olive tree brought wood, oil and food. After the fight, exasperate at his loss, Poseidon sent a monstrous flood to the Attic Plain, to punish the Athenians for not choosing him. The depression made by Poseidons trident an d filled with salt water was contact by the northern hall of the Erechtheum, remaining open to the air. In cult, Poseidon was identified with Erechtheus, Walter Burkert noted the myth turns this into a temporal-causal sequence in his anger at losing, Poseidon led his son Eumolpus against Athens and killed Erectheus.27The contest of Athena and Poseidon was the subject of the reliefs on the western pediment of the Parthenon, the first sight that greeted the arriving visitor.This myth is construed by Robert Graves and others as reflecting a collide with between the inhabitants during Mycenaean times and newer immigrants. It is interesting to note that Athens at its height was a significant sea power, at one point defeating the Iranian fleet at Salamis Island in a sea battle.The walls of TroyPoseidon and Apollo, having offended Zeus by their rebellion in Heras scheme, were temporarily stripped of their divine dresser and sent to serve King Laomedon of Troy. He had them build huge wal ls around the city and promised to reward them well, a promise he then refused to fulfill. Invengeance, beforehand the Trojan War, Poseidon sent a sea monster to attack Troy. The monster was later killed by Heracles.Consorts and childrenPoseidon on an Attic kalyx krater (detail), first half of the 5th vitamin C BC. Poseidon was said to have had many lovers of both sexes (see expandable list below). His consort was Amphitrite, a nymph and ancient sea-goddess, daughter of Nereus and Doris.Poseidon was the father of many pigboates. He is sentiment to have fathered the famed Theseus.A mortal woman named Tyro was married to Cretheus (with whom she had one son, Aeson) but loved Enipeus, a river god. She pursued Enipeus, who refused her advances. One day, Poseidon, filled with inclination for Tyro, disguised himself as Enipeus, and from their union were born the heroes Pelias and Neleus, oppose boys. Poseidon also had an affair with Alope, his granddaughter through Cercyon, his son a nd King of Eleusis, begetting the Attic hero Hippothoon. Cercyon had his daughter buried hot but Poseidon turned her into the spring, Alope, near Eleusis.Poseidon rescued Amymone from a lecherous satyr and then fathered a child, Nauplius, by her.After having raped Caeneus, Poseidon fulfilled her request and changed her into a male warrior.A mortal woman named Cleito once lived on an isolated island Poseidon fell in love with the human mortal and created a dwelling sanctuary at the top of a hill near the middle of the island and surrounded the dwelling with rings of water and land to protect her. She gave birth to five sets of twin boys(the firstborn who being named Atlas) became the first rulers of Atlantis.28567Not all of Poseidons children were human. In an archaic myth, Poseidon once pursued Demeter. She spurned his advances, turning herself into a mare so that she could pelt in a herd of horses he saw through the deception and became a stallion and captured her. Their child w as a horse, Arion, which was capable of human speech. Poseidon also had internal intercourse with Medusa on the floor of a temple to Athena.29Medusa was then changed into a monster by Athena. When she was later beheaded by the hero Perseus, Chrysaor and Pegasus emerged from her neck. There is also Triton (the merman), Polyphemus (the cyclops) and, finally, Alebion and Bergion and Otos and Ephialtae (the giants).29

Benefits and Drawbacks of Divesting Fossil Fuel Company

Benefits and Drawbacks of Divesting Fossil Fuel CompanyThe surroundingsal issues is the principal(prenominal) turn that is concerned by most of the organization worldwide. Those concerns spread through the activist group and are exciseing financial sector as well. By pressurizing universities gift fund to divest the fossil provoke companies, the activists urge for the m whiz and only(a)tary resource to invest responsibly by moving their money out of the non-environmental friendly companies. They aim to indirectly create the new market norms and change the way people perceive those companies which provide stigmatized them if they do non adapt to the more than innovative and more sustainable ship canal of doing business. However, the fiduciary indebtedness of the financial professionals is a big issue to be discussed if the fund manager will consider divesting fossil fuel companies on whether on that point is a conflict on investing responsibly and maximizing profit or no t.By the definition of the fiduciary concern, Boatright (2008) explained that A fiduciary duty whitethorn be defined as the duty of a person in a position of trust to act solely in the touch of the beneficiary, without gaining any material benefit except with the knowledge and consent of this person. We may need to reinterpret its definition in accordance to the ongoing situation in order to see if we plunder add the environmental and sustainable elements to this duty without compromising the sole existing definition of the fiduciary duty itself. I build done research on the topics almost this, and here are the advantages, disadvantages, and some discussion on the fiduciary duty on divesting from fossil fuel firms.Divesting from fossil fuel companies is likely to yield three main advantages. Firstly, it may encourage the change toward more innovative and sustainable form of fuel. There was a dictum stated that The stone age did not end when we ran out of stones this is to say that when we discover a better form of fossil fuel substitution, it will be no longer the main form of fuel for our world. For example, the development of alternative energy source. By divesting from those companies, we notify stimulate them to intensify their research and development in order to move on to more sustainable fuel. After their successful adaptation, those stocks may become amiable for investing responsibly again and we may reinvest in their stocks.Secondly, according to Smith Schools set-apart Assets (2013), we can indirectly influence the market by changing their norms, which is the last stage the activists hope to archive, affecting their ability to finance themselves in both(prenominal) debt and equity. By doing this, all fossil fuel phoner in the sector will be affected by the wave created by norm changing. This will result in the same way as the first advantage, but on a lot bigger scale, because the market itself is the main force that can directly affect the stock price.Thirdly, the research by Hoepner and Schopohl (2016) shows that there are no difference in terms of risk and lapse between the portfolio that excluding some sectors of stocks and the traditional portfolio that does not has any constrains. However, the exclusion portfolio in this research only excludes the securities after they are accused of violating the code of ethics. This findings is a truly solid reason for divesting fossil fuel companies, as many people believe that these firms can generate higher return for their portfolio. By getting immaterial return, people will be motivated to seek for abnormal return opportunities by moving their money to more innovative firms with higher growing potential.These advantages can benefit the university and the students by signaling to the whole nation that our university would like to take the leading role in tackling with global warming and other environmental issues. This can also potentially use for a marketing purpos e of the university, as it may ranked the university up for being seriously concerned about environment and may attract more scholars and faculty members in this particular area to joining the university. The university may also benefit from the new investment perspective of its endowment fund fund, as it can gives higher profit if invest properly. This will enhance the ability to fund any new project which will definitely benefit both university and students, the university can provide better facility for learning and the students will be get a more competitive edge from learning in such(prenominal) environment.There are also three disadvantages for divesting from fossil fuel companies. Firstly, the universitys endowment fund cannot heavily affect the shares price of those firms due to the low proportion of the pecuniary resource holding in this sector. The Stranded Assets by Smith School (2013) shows that the average university endowment fund in the USA hold the fossil fuel com panies stocks for about 2% of their fund, and about 4% in the UKs. This proportion cannot significantly affect the stock price even though the funds liquidate all of their portion. Moreover, there may be some players that are willing to immediately buy these stocks after the fund sold their shares, as the price will be attractive for that period of time. Therefore, the university cannot hope to directly impact the market trend solely on this activity.Secondly, such activity may incur additional transaction speak to generated by this activity to the fund itself, which may decrease its profit for some period, especially for the University of Reading, which 12.7% of the endowment fund is invested in fossil fuel related companies. If the regent of the fund could not find any attractive investment opportunity, this movement will do more harm than good, at least in succinct term, to the fund and the university.Thirdly, to see the significant effect of this divestment, we will have to be patience. The impact on the sector would not be observable within one or two years, the university is likely to suffer from the divestment, again if the fund managers could not find attractive investment alternatives.Moreover, there are no distinct lists of the targeted company that is not environmental responsible to divest, which means that this will increase the marginal cost for the fund to do the research on those fossil fuel companies to divest. I also believe that divestment is not a solution for climate change, as stated in the article Why Fossil Fuel Divestment is a Misguiding tactical maneuver by The Guardian (2015) as this is can be only served as a mean for increasing peoples awareness about the issue and it can be considered only a symbolic act while the real threats to the climate such as deforestation, short-lived greenhouse gas, halocarbon are still exist.These disadvantages will affect the university in terms of the opportunity cost, which comes in the form of les s financial maintains, as the fund may not yield as what it used to provide. This may result in lower scholarship for students and lower capacity to fund the researches. I also believe that by divesting its holding in fossil fuel companies, the university also give up its right as the owner of the companies which means that the university cannot influence the companies to move into a more sustainable way that may in conclusion increase the benefits to the shareholders.For the issues about the fiduciary duty of the trustee, as I stated before, the trustee should aim to provide their beneficiary with highest benefit. Therefore, it should hope to maximize the profit of this endowment fund. I completely agree with Drew Fausts Fossil Fuel Divestment Statement to the members of the Harvard Community (2013) on the topic that the universitys endowment fund has a single purpose, to support the academic mission, and it should not be used for any other purposes. To frame up the fund in any political position is to put the university in a risky position, as the money in the fund are from philanthropists with different view in politics. However, they share the same perspective in funding academic advancement, taking side in this political activity may result in fund withdrawal from the disagreed benefactors. I insist that fossil fuel divestment will breach the fiduciary duty of the endowment funds trustee, the fund must remain politically neutral to secure the risk position of the university and to serve the funds only single purpose. If the fund is going to divest, it should be a strategic adjustment of the portfolio in order to maximizing profit for the university, not for expressing the view on the particular topic in the society.On the other hand, I agree with the activists view about thinking long-term, not through the channel of divesting. Divestment is, in my opinion, vacuous as we still use the fossil fuel in our everyday life, such as our car petrol, our elect ricity which is produced by fossil fuel or even our home heating system powered by gas. We can act with long-term attitude by implementing a more productive ways such as influencing the current fossil fuel firms as a shareholder to move them to the good direction, fueling the breakthrough research about alternative energy and fuel, funding for innovative architecture and engineering. All of these ways can be originated from a good academic institution, their research, and proper funding is crucial for the growth of the academics. Hence, the trustee should put their best effort in the fund to keep advancing the academic goals. The campaigns should not about the fossil fuel alone, it should aim to assume all of the problem stated above to be truly archive the solution to the environmental problems.I believe the conflict in fiduciary duty can be solved by the fund manager try to take part in the fossil fuel company that the fund invested in through voting rights and keep monitor their use of fund through the companys report. The endowment fund should also keep looking for the new investment outline which involve alternative energies and other responsible firm in a case that those companies could give higher yield than the current fossil fuel firm, then that would create a win-win situation for the fund, the university, and the students. The other good way is forming the new committee to keep reviewing if the fund invest sustainably and responsible, This committee may consist of students from the university and specialized fund manager. This method is already implemented by some leading American university such as Harvard.Finally, I recommend the University of Readings endowment fund not to divest for the stated reasons. I would suggest the fund to keep monitor the company, keep being aware of the situation in the market and use the recommendations stated above. While the environment issues are the important concerns for everyone, one should not focus only on the companies, but should focus also the people. People are the one responsible for the climate change and should be educated about the problem properly, in order to change their mind set to make it become more responsible for their selfish actions that caused climate change. I insist that the interest of the beneficiary is still remains an undisputed duty of the trustee and the fund managers must put their full effort to see it happen.References Andreas G. F. Hoepner, L. S. (2016). On the Price of Morals in Markets An Empirical Study of the Swedish AP-funds and the Norwegian Government Pension Fund. http//ssrn.com/abstract=2828040.Atif Ansar, B. C. (2013). Stranded assets. Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford.Faust, D. (2013, October 3). Fossil Fuel Divestment Statement. Retrieved from Harvard University http//www.harvard.edu/president/news/2013/fossil-fuel-divestment-statementHulme, M. (2015, April 17). Why fossil fuel divestment is a misguid ed tactic. Retrieved from The Guardian www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/17/why-fossil-fuel-divestment-is-a-misguided-tactic

Poverty in the Caribbean

Poverty in the CaribbeanPoverty in the Caribbean has been an irritating issue for as long as I stop remember. It is an issue that has take a leakd many governments in the Caribbean and world-wide, grief and steady resulted in their loss at the polls or demise. In truth it is a very cloggy issue to overcome or rectify due to its magnitude of causes both internal and external to the particular country. To obtain an understanding of the psychology of leanness and its cause and effect in the Caribbean one has to examine the fol execrableing.Psychology, what is it? Simply put (according to the book UNDERSTANDING Psychology, 1992, pg.7, 9.) it is the study of human behaviour and mental processes. It covers incessantlyy thing that batch think, feel and do, and come on seeks to describe, explain, predict and control behaviour.Poverty according to the The Concise Oxford Dictionary means indigence, destiny, scarcity, inferiority and poorness. However, I favour to agree with Professor Bournes survey stated in his paper entitled Poverty and its Alleviation in the Caribbean 2005 in that pauperisation is not just defined as those individuals who live off-key less than one sawbuck per day ($1.00/day)(as described as the Millennium Development Goal for poverty reductions target 2000). But that it is a pronounced loss in wellbeing that is to be in poverty or to be poor is to be hungry, lack shelter, clothing, to be sick and lack health commission to be illiterate and not schooled and further relating to the work to Amartya Sen, that states that, the state of being poor extends beyond income aims, but is in like manner affected by un devoiddoms which individuals argon subjected to in verges of tyranny or bad treatment by the state and exclusion from participating in decisions and also being vulner equal to(p) to economic and inborn hazardsPOVERTY IN THE CARIBBEANWhen one looks at the islands of the Caribbean, in terms of their governmental and economic struc ture, take aims of education, health care and income levels they are all different. With this in soul the term poor might fit into different categories. Countries such(prenominal) as the Bahamas and the U S Virgin Island with their close affiliation to the U.S. and its almighty dollar might pitch a higher standard of living and poor in their country might mean middle class in anformer(a). To further emphasize their differences I quote from Professor Bournes paper (according to the Surveys of Living Conditions conducted between 1996 and 2002), that countries such as Haiti and Suriname whose poverty line was 65% and 63% were on the high end of the poverty spectrum, while Belize, Dominica and St Kitts were between 30-40% and Anguilla, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos Island were between 20-29%, while Barbados had 14% and Jamaica had 20% concluding that at that point in time Barbados had the lowest poverty level in the Caribbean.CAUSES OF POVERTYIn discussing this i ssue, due to my being Jamai gage by birth and living here all my life (with hardly a(prenominal) exceptions of travel) and my familiarity with the intricacies of the country and the discovery that on that point are varied levels of poverty or being poor that exist in this little island . I move over chosen to use Jamaica as my standard and direct most of my discussion using this island for I believe that Jamaica is indeed the melting pot of the Caribbean. If one looks widely one bequeath be able to catch a native of every Caribbean island living here just look at our Psychology class In this class of 21 students, we have Nigerians, (Africa) Guyanese, (South America) and Jamai erects. Quite a mixture indeedThe causes of poverty in my opinion are varied and I would like to start with that ofSlavery, (defined as the condition of a slave, which further means to be a helpless victim to or of just about dominating influence according to The Oxford Concise Dictionary) is still very workman in our Jamaican society and that of the Caribbean today. Although we boast of having one of the greatest Reggae singers of all time we have still not fully understood the meaning of shilling Marleys song which states EMANCIPATE YOUR SELF FROM MENTAL SLAVERY In my opinion we as a Caribbean sight although we have been made free for a twist of years and in Jamaica it has been from 1838 over one hundred and seventy one years ago. Although physically we have been freed, we still possess a type of prospect that causes us to want hand-outs, and the bring to be taken care of still exist.(just like when the slaves were on the plantation and looked to their slave masters for their total existence). The word independency or the need to be independent has still not been cemented in our minds in order to ca-ca a change in behaviour that causes us to obtain a sense of determination that says that I will obtain or achieve any thing I put my mind, heart and abilities to.( in respect to the elements of time and opportunities)Unemployment and low income levels. I must agree with professor Bourne in his paper mentioned above that the governments of the Caribbean including Jamaica have not been able to create an adequate amount of jobs for its people as he states that unemployment is between 7 and 20% which is relatively high . Incidentally in Jamaica this has given rise to the slut expectation. i has but to go to Down-Town Kingston, especially on a market day, that is on a Saturday and sees the amount of individuals who hustle for a living day by day. Hustling ranges from the buying and selling of legitimate goods, to dealing in drugs such as ganja, to that of the gambling of the now famous cash-pot which believe it or not puts food on many a table daily. As for low income levels, for example, one has but to look at the difference in s practically of Registered Nurses in Barbados whose basic pay is approximately $77,0000 per month compared to the same categor y of nurses in Jamaica who earn $48,000 per month. This difference one might agree would affect the individuals ability to save for a wet day, or to make investments, to maintain an acceptable standard of living or to even further ones self academically. Also the inequality of pay scales within a given country can affect its peoples poverty levels. Take for instance in Jamaica at this time of world wide financial depression when Nurses and other workers are negotiating for a better pay scale and who are just able to scoop out a meager existence from their meager salaries exactly to be informed of individuals earning $1.9 million per month for negotiating services. Look at the gross differenceVolatility of our economy and susceptibility to Natural disasters. I must harmonise with professor Bourne, when he states that the Caribbean economy is volatile and this volatility is a contributory factor to poverty. He further sates that economic volatility arises from several sources, all of which are not necessarily operative at the same time. The sources include economic dislocation caused by major adverse changes in international markets for Caribbean exports of goods and services. One has merely to look at the issue of the decline in the export our bananas where the European and U.S. markets have now started to import Chiquita bananas instead of bananas from the Caribbean. This has impacted negatively on our economies (especially Dominica) in terms of job losses and loss of investments by the governing bodies of these countries involved. Professor Bourne also states that we are also affected by the acute pecuniary difficulties arising from changes in flows of foreign and international debt. In Jamaica one has still to remember the harsh demands that the International Monetary Fund made on us in the past such as gross job cuts and can only pray that the new intended demands may not be as harsh. (One can only Hope) As for Natural Disasters, we are quite suscepti ble in that we are at the mercy of hurricanes and floods. I remember Gilbert as if it was yesterday when the roof of my house was lost. If it were not for the quick actions of the government of the day in issuing free zinc of which I was a grateful recipient. I would have remained roof-less until December of that year when the Insurance representative got around to evaluating the damages and ended up issuing a third of the estimated cost of repairs because he persuasion that it wasnt that great a damage To think, I had Insurance What about those who could not afford insurance because their low income levels? To further examine these hazards effects, just look at what hurricane Ivan did to Grenada Ivan practically flattened Grenada in a few hours and destroyed infrastructures that took years to develop. It literally changed Grenadas means of existence for long time.Lack of kosher Health carefulness and Educational facilities. Poor people in the Caribbean may be working but might s till remain poor. This causes them to be unable to access proper heath care which might result in a rise in chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension and even psychotic illnesses such as depression. In Jamaica at that place is now free health care, but just how effective it has been is another matter. Take for instance my aunt of 82 years, she has a cataract in her eye and needs for it to be repaired surgically. She went to the Kingston Public Hospital to in October 2009, of this year where she got an appointment to return in December, 2009 where another appointment will be given for her to return some time in 2010 I could not believe it when I was told. Can you imagine, by the time December comes, much(prenominal) less 2010 my aunt may be home with the Almighty God (dead) As for the ability of poor to access education it can be taxing, with the ever rising cost of school fees, books and uniforms the low income earners and even those of middle income can just barely get b y. In Jamaica there is the PATH programme which is of some help to the poor in that it give ears with school fees, uniforms etc. thus taking off some of the financial gain from the parents.EFFECTS OF PROVERTYBased on the definition given above that states that being poor or living poverty does not only rely on low income or the lack there of , but also on the lack of proper health care ,proper infrastructure( such as roads, water), educational facilities, tyranny etc. In my opinion, when one looks at the lack or unavailability of these facets in the rural communities of the islands of the Caribbean, one realizes that people who think that the urban communities are a better place will want to migrate to these areas. This can be seen in my country Jamaica where the Government offices, best hospitals and schools are located in the two main urban cities that is Kingston and Montego Bay. This migration oftentimes result in over-crowding, further leading to a rise in squatter settlemen ts which leads to an increase of tin the spread of disease thus putting a further strain on the health care system. This type of migration not only happens with in a country, but can also be seen when the Haitians take for dead at sea to come to Jamaica seeking a better life thus putting further strain of the Jamaican economy. Although its not the only reason for the rise in crime and drug abuse this is still a contributing factor, as can be seen in the rise in the crime rate in these two cities. There is also a brain drain from the rural areas to the urban areas of a particular country and even between countries of the Caribbean and to countries such as the U.S. and Europe in order to obtain a better income, thus enhancing or providing for a perceived improved management of life. This results in the loss of valuable resources that in my opinion is not easily replaced, and if it is replaced costs these countries practically an arm and a leg to do so.One can also examine the effect s of the lack of availability of proper health care and in this case especially to the elderly, who either have very low income gained from their meager pensions or none at all. This makes them vulnerable and easier to succumb to diseases. For the remainder of the population, ill health (mental and physical) often results in low production levels and decreases the internal private road or motivation to succeed, thus increasing the levels of poverty.The negative effects of international markets on the economies of the Caribbean can be devastating. As was mentioned above as in Jamaica our dollar is linked strongly to that of the U.S. and if the U.S. dollar falls , our dollar falls resulting in tremendous losses on the stock market among other investment entities, further resulting in loss of jobs and the demise of companies especially the small businesses. Also if these international countries taste change as was also mentioned above, in terms of the bananas they consume past there goes the banana industries in a down-ward spiral in these countries also.The inability of our countries to protect ourselves from natural disasters results in a negative effect in that these disasters often destroy factory farm, (which is the main stay of most of these Caribbean islands) infrastructure,(roads, water mains, gullies, electricity) government buildings and private homes. They indeed destroy what it has taken years of hard work, sacrifice, and determination to build. This puts a strain on economies emotionally, physically, and financially to rebuild every time such an occurrence takes place.ALLEVIATION OF PROVERTYI believe that in the Caribbean, in the same behavior that to each one island is unique in nature, so do the individual people and governments of each island have to identify unique ways in solving this problem of poverty. As seen in the report on the Cost of Poverty in the Caribbean by The International Institute for Social Political and Economic Change(IISP EC) and co-sponsored by UNESCO. (March 17-19, 2008). Grenada whose poverty level was 32% in 1998 has implemented Safety Net Programme allocation of computer storages, and established Food Basket programmes, and St. Lucia has implemented a Poverty Reduction Fund. I also agree with their list of initiative programmes that have been mentioned, such as. Focus on education training Provide scholarships to encourage more than research, Make CDB/CTCS more national in focusDe-politicization of poverty reduction/eradication programmes, Needs national consensusHowever I will endeavor to add a few other suggestions to both Jamaica and other islands of the Caribbean, Focus on education training, Provide scholarships to encourage more research Make Caribbean Development Banks a national focus, De-politicization of poverty reduction/eradication programmes, i.e. to take political agendas out of programmes designed to assist the poor and the need for a national census in order to find out the peoples opinion on the matters brought forward to solve the problem of poverty.In Jamaica, at this time the governing bodies have implemented the Path Programme, which assists needy (poor) people in a financial way to be able to send their children to school to obtain an education, by way of cash payments.There is also the readiness of free health care. In my opinion it is a good thought but I do not think that it can be aright maintained especially in this time of financial depression. If one will take the time to examine the following scenario, one might agree with me on point. Take a healthy young man who doesnt feel that he should work because hes comfortable hustling probably via cash-pot. He gets a girl pregnant and she gets al together free health care to have this child the child goes home, grows , starts going to school and gets on the Path programme, where society sends this child to school free of cost. One could argue that this is a way of reducing the levels of both maternal and infant deaths by providing free health care or that by assisting the child to go to school might reduce the probability that this child being uneducated might be a part of our crime problem in the future. uncover all this in mind I might agree but I still contend that this might help to promote a freeness mentality that is so prevalent in our society which we need to stomp out of our society, in order for us to improve our way of thinking and thus conjure up ourselves from poverty. To think even in the large industrial countries health care is not totally free, some one must pay for it I prefer that my hard earn tax dollars be used to pay for free health care to be available to the elderly, the very young (12 years and under), the destitute, and the mentally and physically challenged the most vulnerable in our society.I think safety nets can be put in place where a disaster fund is implemented to provide for hurricane and flood victims. Also in terms of providing empl oyment I think the provisions of entities such as the HEART ACADEMY and free primary education are a GOD sent to poor people. However I think that the provision of more scholarships should be made to assist with further tertiary education.In terms of enhancing employment I think that the apprenticeship programme should be reimplementation where one can learn while they work and earn. We could also try to re-educate our people in terms of self reliance, to think that the soil is good in order to attract an increased interest in agriculture and along with this to allocate lands to these individuals in order for them to grow and produce more thus providing more jobs.SUMMARYI conclude that the Caribbean (including Jamaica) has a difficult delegate in ridding our region of poverty, but not insurmountable I think that this matter has to be solved with each member state coming together as one. Take for instances at this time, if one looks at our super market shelves, one can see snacks or iginating from Trinidad and Tobago. But when Jamaica tried to export our patties to them it was barred. Although the states of the Caribbean have discrete to be apart of the Caribbean Common Market, some states have not held up to their end the agreement.This results in discontent among member states and ultimately the loss of jobs and the increase in poverty due to their inability to allow free trade in the area.The states in the Caribbean need to realize that individually, compared to the international arena are small and relatively insignificant. But joining together and being one in mind set, we could be a force to be reckoned with. As a people we need to assist each other in terms of the transference of education, science and technology in order to boost each others economies. Thus providing an improved way of thinking and reasoning which will result in a motivated, determined move by the people of this region to rid ourselves of poverty. If not, then to a level that permits an acceptable standard of living.As the clich states together we stand, divided we fall we as people of the Caribbean need to learn and understand this. To allow this statement to change their mind set from one of individuality and selfishness to one of togetherness and fruitfulness which will ultimately raise the standard of life for our people and in time reduce the levels of poverty in order to maintain an acceptable standard of living free from hungry tyranny and illness. What do you think? This is just a wish or fantasy I should hope not. As I choose to think that it can be a reality IF WE WORK HARD AND KEEP focused

The Effects of Globalization

The Effects of GlobalizationThis paper will discuss and evaluate the effects of worldwideization inside a planetary economy. It will discuss the undeni qualified positive externalities of globalization weighted against the accepted negative effects of a more correlated commercializeplace place. Deregulation, decreased regulatory oversight, technical progress and human innovation has facilitated increased connectivity and stinting interdependence, resulting in the effective development of a spider web of interlinked, market participants, wrapped in a shroud of business bring opacity. Globalization and the changing economic modalities of part with trade principles, coupled with inadequate risk moderateness strategies will be analyzed as a catalyst and precursor to the pick of capital markets worldwide and the subsequent demise and bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers operations globally. A frame determine will be examined where internationalization has cultivated an environment of in creased profit exploitation opportunities, but has also through in hurlation asymmetry created eye mask network of infectious system comp whiznts whose individual misery compromise the wellbeing of the entire system.Keywords Globalization, Lehman Brothers, Externalities, Economy, System, Strategy.An acute analysis on the effects of the positive and negative externalities of regular globalization within the development of a one world market composite global economic personalityGLOBALIZATION is defined as the process by which geographic boundaries have been transcended by increased technical progress. It is the development of a one world market place, or worldwide economic ecosystem governed by the interconnectivity of individual component economic units. Globalization is a set of processes, rather than an end situation representing the unrelenting erosion of all barriers to free trade, increasing worldwide economic integration. (Kaarbo Lee, 2005).Business expansion through intern ationalization is a positively correlated function of globalization. Globalization has created a singular, unified worldwide economic collective, direct as a dynamic composite personality, permeating all market verticals, industry sectors and political covenants (LeBon, 1973) The increasingly homogenized and ever flattening operational landscape created as a globalization collective unconscious side effect, has facilitated numerous undisputed benefits to all market participants, including the emancipation of women, increased routes to market for business, lowered production costs, bettered bestow grasp networks, a deeper global labor pool, an increase in aggregate consumer sovereignty and countless others.(Jung, 1934) The process of globalization through all methods has resulted in a more liberated free market economic archetype. The creation of the Internet in the earlier 1990s and the technological progress enjoyed since has facilitated a convergence and homogenisation of comp etitive advantages. Businesses have increased access to a more educated, culturally diverse talent pool, allowing for and assisting in the development of sustainable competitive advantage. Supply chain networks that transcend tradition geographic boundaries have lowered the costs of production, improving the organizational bottom line. Improved profits through cost saving has produced a shift in the demand curve for labor. Standardized product offerings thorough certified global manufacturing best practice methodologies have afforded the consumer the luxury of being able to take quality for granted. As the world becomes smaller with easier access to information, substantial improvements in education and healthcare have been possible originally thought incurable diseases now have therapy lowering infant mortality rates and improving life expectancies. Between 1950 the worldwide infant mortality rate was 174 deaths per 1000, in 1990 this mannequin had fallen to 64 deaths per 1000 (CI A Fact Book, 2006) Furthermore once culturally suppressive states are now waking and accepting the possibility of women in the work force with the rational that by limiting the economic participants available in their respective economies a said country will lower its ability to repugn against more gender accommodating and accepting countries. Globalization has rudimentaryly altered the way organizations compete, the way they market and their intrinsic value propositions. Businesses are no thirster defining strategy with a local bias, but are competing within a global business ecosystem, where decisions can only be made by understanding all of the inputs and outputs of that system. Businesses can no longer operate as independent components of an economic collective but rather act as unified component parts of an overall system (Von Bertalanffy, 1976) Open markets are the best engine for lifting living standards and building shared collective prosperity. (Clinton, 2000) Only coun tries that remove the shackles to free trade, capital movement and international competition will realize socioeconomic progress.In weighing the benefits of continuous globalization it is evident that for every positive on that point is often a negative. Some economists argue that globalization has a debilitating effect on acclivitous markets and infantile industry, destroying rather that incubating competition by allowing first gear world economic powers through ambiguous and fine print riddled trade agreements to exploit the status quo, underpaying developing nations for all processes of consumption satisfaction. The interconnectivity of rich and sorry nations is a zero sum game, that exists outside the framework of pareto criterion. It is not possible for one economic unit (Country) to benefit without making another economic entity worse off. Someone has to win and someone has to lose. It is still however acceptable and beneficial if the alternative of not engaging in trade is less savory than the detriment that any such trade would incur. (Pareto, 1970) It is clear that there are significant in-equity problems as a result of globalization. It is argued that globalization has increased sovereign wealth income inequalities with repeated divergence resulting in more polarization of incomes worldwide. Greater access to labor markets has on one handed facilitated increased employment, and on the other hand the unneeded supply has created a producer sovereign labor market and hence lowered global wage rates. Lower disposable income particularly in emerging economies, lowers aggregate demand within the national economy. (Keynes, 1970) The lowered demand for internal labor as a result of decreased money supply is the precursor to a vicious cycle of unemployment due to cyclical demand, and continuously lowered central bank interest rates in an attempt to inject pulsation into economic growth. This means that rather than leveraging the opportunities created by the fruits of globalization, poorer nations are struggling with internal economic strife, and falling even further behind their Western counterparts. The here and now cost of globalization stems from the resource and economic interdependencies that it creates. When economies and the businesses within those economies are so closely linked and correlated, there is a systemic risk to the whole economic ecosystem that if one of the parts of that system were to fail, there would be a domino effect knocking over all other elements of that system. (Lowenstein, 2002) This is evidenced in the collapse of the subprime housing market in the United States in late 2007. As financial institutions began to falter in the US as a result of mingled structured products understood by few, the problems inevitably began to spread to firms in Europe and the United Kingdom. The sheer density and number of unknown correlations between firms meant that no one organization had a complete picture of its exposure to it counterparties. This lack of knowledge prevented firms from being able to implement any risk mitigating strategies and was the ultimate cause of the failure of Lehman Brothers, a century old Wall Street investment banking giant. Lehman Brothers International, as an organization build itself on the foundation laid by economic globalization, from a scrappy tier two investment bank with seventeen billion dollars of revenue in 2003 to fifty seven billion dollars in 2007.(Ishikawa, 2009) With the benefit of hindsight, globalization was the greatest Lehman Brothers change champion and simultaneously its Achilles heel. As the financial serve world joined hands in holy matrimony in early 1990s, agreeing to ever more lenient repurchase financing terms for fellow members, the church bells were ringing marking the beginning of the end. Complex financial alchemy was employ to develop highly structured, highly profitable instruments of speculation with Lehman Brothers and compa triots leading the charge. Easier access to overseas markets and clientele created by globalization had allowed the firm on offer its services on an ever widening foreign audience. Lehman Brothers believing that it was operating in non correlated markets and essentially hedging its bets continued to create and sell financial derivatives. When the symphony stopped and the market began to sink in 2007, Lehman Brothers immediately found itself in an unfamiliar situation. Not only were US markets falling, but it seemed that world markets were acting in unison and collapsing together. Lehman Brothers as a function of globalization experient a black swan event, an event so statistically implausible that it was unlikely to hap in a million years. A harsh lesson on the black swan principal, The observation of one thousand white swans is not enough to popularise that all swans are white, but the sighting of a single black swan is enough to refute the conclusion(Taleb, 2007) A worldwide r ecession as experienced in 2010 caused in part by globalization could result in a desire by government and market participants to break the economic bonds built by and through the globalization process, as was observed in the Great Depression of the 1930s and as is currently happening with the financial debacle in Greece. The upshot of which is severe economic dissatisfaction, followed by be economic disagreement, culminating in economic warfare and possibly to military conflict. (Intriligator, 2001) All of the above highlighted by a strengthening agreement in the belief that globalization through all of it incarnations is intrinsically undermining the value of the sovereign state. Increasingly it is seen that globalization is allowing foreign powers in the form of external political influencers as well as Multi National Corporations to govern the resources of a nation as they see most beneficial to their own motivations.The fundamental aim of this paper was to discuss the positive and negative externalities of globalization and the effect that they have on the business playing field. Whether globalization by opinion is viewed as negative or an inherently positive force for continued economic progress, it is unmistakable that it produces massive opportunities and frightening challenges. It must also be accepted that the conclave of variables, known and unknown that has lead society to a globalised one world economic system are still abundantly active. The trend is still bullish and is likely to accelerate with economic resources diminishing, increasing technical progress happening daily and barriers to progress falling as fast, globalization is a journey to be embraced rather than feared. It is the key that will remove the chains of impoverishment from third world economic powers, and it is the lock that will bind a composite global economic collective into achieving sustainable socioeconomic progress.

The Fundamental Challenges of Resource Allocation :: Essays Papers

The Fundamental Challenges of Resource Allocation The budget is a essential factor in depository library management. Automation, continuing education, randomness technology, materials acquisition, power salaries, and public relations necessitate funding. Each of these resources is important for any library that wishes to provide gauzy services to its employees and patrons. Unfortunately because of poor resource allocation, many library services are phased out or severely cut back. This directly affects the efficiency of the library and also lowers the satisfaction level of the user. There are many ways of how budgets affect a library. A prime example is in the area of personnel salaries. Oftentimes committees have been established to study and implement salary setting policies. However, it can be difficult to gauge the many factors that fill to be considered when determine salary issues. Examples of these factors include experience, education qualifications such as an MLS degree or beyond, and the economic situation in the country at the time coupled with the mark of salaries based upon other library institutions (Williams, D.E.. and Garten E.D. 1999). Additionally, the budget can affect twain materials acquisition and information technology in the library. The cost effectiveness of certain collections of materials should be considered. For example, government documents are often inexpensive to purchase in contrast to some journals or periodical subscriptions (Smith, D.H. 1993). One must also consider realistic sources for the acquisition of materials. Budgeting needs to be taken into consideration when considering how much funding should be allocated for purchasing the material and how much reliance should be placed on donations. The efficiency and cost effectiveness of new technology must also be examined. For example one must consider automatic checkout as compared to circulation checkout. Another consideration that affects IT technology is what opera ting system the server will utilize to host the World Wide Web. Many libraries use UNIX based information systems to operate their client server network. Continuing education for library employees is another factor that is dependent upon the budget. Different education programs bring with them different costs. These include both money and time. When creating the budget its important to evaluate the cost and effectiveness of each program. Public relations also are related to the budget. Certain allocations of funds need to be made by the library to market its services to the public. Visibility is important for the library so that people know where it is and what materials it has.

A Story About Seeing Nofx :: essays research papers

On November 26th I went to the Stone Pony in New York to imagine another of my favorite bands, NOFX. NOFX is a punk-ska band. Punk meaning fast paced drumbeats and quick singing and ska meaning a song played with motor horns. The band members are plunk Mike (vocals, bass), El Hefe (guitar, trumpet, vocals), Eric Melvin (guitar, vocals), and Erik Sandin (drums). The one thing I found out there was that El Hefe sings a lot. I thought he only sings in a few songs but when I heard them play, I noticed that he sang about half of the songs. NOFX music has considerable groove for a punk band and is sparked by the two lead guitarists, Eric Melvin and El Hefe. Tight play between the bands four members, and short, fast, punchy songs, with a laid back approach would rase have non-punk fans entertained.Their songs talk about racism, politics, social problems, sex, drugs, lesbians, bums, alcohol, animal freedom... and many other strange subjects. In their music you will find punk, of course, but also rock, hardcore, ska, nonetheless reggae and jazz. If you ask me they are a just a punk-ska band. Their songs are interesting and different from one another. Each song has its own characteristics. The lyrics are very interesting, sometimes strange, and sometimes incomprehensible. You basically just have to understand them in your own way.The club was packed, or more accurately, stuffed. After much anticipation the punk gods, NOFX do the stage and the crowd surged with excitement even before they opened the set with one of my favorite songs, "Reagan Sucks." The next song they played was "Bob". They played songs from the record album "Flossing a Dead Horse" - which is one massive trumpet solo presented by El Hefe. The next song they played was "Eat the Meek" with trumpet and lead vocals by El Hefe. The mosh pit was monstrous and seemed to gain in size as it rotated in circles and swallowed innocent bystanders into the craziness. People were macrocosm knocked over everywhere and smashed by the surging waves of dancers. People were body surfing and there seemed to be chaos going on everywhere. After that, the one-seventh song they played was "Hobophobic" (Scared of bums not just because they stink bad. Not just because theyre crackers. From drinking too much lysol. Let them be.) Then they played "Six direct Girls".