Course Project – Walt Disney

Walt Disney Company Adriana Arroyo Course Project ACCT 307 August 19, 2012 Professor Stuart Thomas TABLE OF CONTENTS Fiscal Year 2011 Annual Financial Report consolidated statements of income4 consolidated balance sheets5 consolidated statements of cash flows6 consolidated statements of shareholders’ equity7 Required Questions [1] What is the amount of property and equipment on the balance sheet for the two most recent years? What is the amount of depreciation expense?What amounts are on the cash flow statement for the most recent year that relate to depreciation, gains and sales of property and equipment, and purchases and sale of property of equipment? What amounts are permitted  for inclusion in the capitalized cost of property and equipment? 8 [2] Looking at the footnote disclosures of the company, what are the individual components of property and equipment? For example, what are the amounts for land, building, equipment, accumulated depreciation, and so forth? How do c ompanies account for nonmonetary exchange and dispositions of property and equipment? [3] Does the company have intangible assets? If so what are the types of intangible assets (patent, copyrights, etc. ) and their amounts? What is the amount of amortization expense? What amounts on the most recent cash flow statement relate to the purchase and sale of intangible assets? How do intangible assets differ from property and equipment? What costs do we include in intangible assets? 9 [4] Goes the company have goodwill? What are the footnote disclosures relating to goodwill and the related acquisition?Please also describe the calculation of goodwill and how we account for differences between fair value and book value of assets acquired. 10 [5] What are the company's depreciation methods? What is the range of estimated useful lives used for depreciating their assets? Does the company use the same depreciation methods for financial statements and tax returns? If not, please describe the met hods used for tax purposes. 11 [6] What are the company's footnote disclosures relating to impairment? Please also describe how to determine if an impairment exists and how to calculate the impairment loss. 1 [7] What are the amounts and descriptions for the company's current liabilities for the most recent year? Does the company have any contingent liabilities? If yes, please describe. What are the three categories of contingent liabilities and the treatment for each type? Does the company have any subsequent events disclosed in their footnotes? If so, please describe them. 12 [8] What are the amounts and descriptions for all of the company's long-term liabilities on their balance sheet for the most recent two years? What is the interest expense for the two most recent years?What amounts are included in the cash flow statements for proceeds from issuance of debt and repayment of debt for the most recent year? For each note payable discussed in the footnotes disclosures, what is the interest rate, total amount borrowed, and maturity date? 12 [9] Does the company have bonds payable? If so, what are the amounts? Please also describe how bonds payable differ from notes payable and how to account for the issuance of bonds at par, at a discount, and at a premium. How is the discount and premium amortized? What is the effective interest method? 14 [10] Does the company have capital leases?If so, what are the amounts and terms of the leases? What are the four criteria for a lease to be considered a capital lease? What are the additional criteria for the lessor? What is the difference between a sales-type lease and a direct financing lease? 15 Bibliography 18 The Walt Disney Company financial analysis details the finances of the company. The analysis includes a brief summary of the company’s history and important financial information to determine the value of the company. Walt Disney Company was founded on October 16, 1923 by Walt and Roy Disney as Disney Bros . Studios which was then incorporated.Their headquarters are located in Burbank, California. Walt Disney Company has five business segments which are Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, Consumer Products, and Interactive Media. These segments were created to support and enhance the original business model as a studio producing animated shorts and full length films. Each segment adds new and additional paths to market that together ensure the company fulfills its mission. What is the amount of property and equipment on the balance sheet for the two most recent years? What is the amount of depreciation expense?What amounts are on the cash flow statement for the most recent year that relate to depreciation, gains and sales of property and equipment, and purchases and sale of property of equipment? Parks, resorts, and other property are tangible assets that are held by an entity for the use in production or supply of goods and services, for rental to others, or for administrative purposes which are expected to provide economic benefit for more than a year. Walt Disney Company’s parks, resorts, and other property amount for the fiscal year of 2011 was $35,515,000 with an accumulated depreciation of $19,572,000.This is an increase from 2010 where parks, resorts, and other property was $32,875,000 and the accumulated depreciation was $18,373,000. The Statement of Cash Flows provides information about a company’s cash receipts and cash payments during an accounting period which shows how these cash flaws link the ending cash balance to the beginning balance shown on the company’s statement of financial position. The depreciation and amortization for the fiscal year of 2011 was $1,841,000. The gains on dispositions are $75,000 for 2011. Looking at the footnote disclosures of the company, what are the individual components of property and equipment?For example, what are the amounts for land, building, equipment, accumulated depr eciation, and so forth? How do companies account for nonmonetary exchange and dispositions of property and equipment? According to the footnotes, the individual components of property are attractions, which are located in the Parks, Resorts, and Other Property, buildings and improvements, leasehold improvements, land improvements, and furniture, fixtures, and equipment. The cost for each of them for the past two years are as followed: Name| 2011| 2010| Attractions, buildings, and improvements| $17,662,000| $15,998,000| Leasehold improvements| 650,000| 644,000|Furniture, fixtures, and equipment| 13,746,000| 12,575,000| Land improvements| 3,727,000| 3,658,000| Total| $35,515,000| $32,875,000| The accumulated depreciation for 2011 was $19,572,000 where in 2010 it was $18,373,000. Does the company have intangible assets? If so what are the types of intangible assets (patent, copyrights, etc. ) and their amounts? What is the amount of amortization expense? What amounts on the most recent cash flow statement relate to the purchase and sale of intangible assets? How do intangible assets differ from property and equipment?What costs do we include in intangible assets? Walt Disney Company is required to test goodwill and other indefinite lived intangible assets for damage on an annual basis. The Statement of Financial Accounting Standards Number 142 requires that goodwill is allocated to various reporting units. At the end of each fiscal year, the company performs an annual damage test for goodwill and other indefinite lived intangible assets which include FCC license and trademarks. Amortizable intangible assets are usually amortized using the straight line method and the useful life is up to forty years.The costs to periodically renew Walt Disney’s intangible assets are expensed as incurred. The company also determined that there are currently no legal, competitive or economic factors that will materially limit the useful life of FCC licenses and trademark. Th e total amount of goodwill is $29,266,000. The goodwill and intangible assets by segment are as followed: Name| 2011| 2010| Media Networks| $17,421,000| $17,442,000| Parks and Resorts| 172,000| 171,000| Studio Entertainment| 6,498,000| 6,416,000| Consumer Products| 3,715,000| 3,699,000| Interactive Media| 1,330,000| 1,323,000|Corporate| 130,000| 130,000| Total| $29,266,000| $29,181,000| The net amortizable intangible assets total is $3,161,000. Intangible assets are assets that are not physical but intellectual property. For example, patents, trademarks, and copyrights are examples of intangible assets. It can be classified as either indefinite or definite depending on the specifics of the asset. However, property and equipment is a physical asset that is important to business operations but cannot easily be liquidated. The value of this asset is depreciated over an estimated life.What are the footnote disclosures relating to goodwill and the related acquisition? Please also describ e the calculation of goodwill and how we account for differences between fair value and book value of assets acquired. The footnote disclosures relating to goodwill are under Acquisitions. Marvel Entertainment, Inc. , a character-based entertainment company, is required to allocate the purchase price to tangible and identifiable intangible assets obtained and liabilities assumed based on their fair values. The excess of the purchase price over those fair values is recorded as goodwill.This reflects the value to Disney from leveraging Marvel intangible asset. The goodwill recorded as part of this acquisition is not amortizable for tax purposes. Goodwill can be calculated by using one of the three methods which are average profit method, super profits method, and capitalization method. By using the average profit method, goodwill is calculated on the basis of the average profit of previous years. The formula is Goodwill = Average Profit x Number of Years Purchase. The next method, sup er profits method, is a method which tries to measure the capital needed for earning a super profit.There are three steps to this method which are as followed: [1] Normal Profits = Capital Invested x Normal Rate of Return / 100 [2] Super Profits = Actual Profits – Normal Profits [3] Goodwill = Super Profit x Number of Years Purchased The final method to calculate goodwill is capitalization method which is the whole value of the company is calculated by capitalization of the average or actual profits. The formula is Goodwill = [Actual Profits / Normal Rate of Return] x 100 (Study Test Time). What are the company's depreciation methods?What is the range of estimated useful lives used for depreciating their assets? Walt Disney Company uses the straight line method for depreciation. According to Stock Analysis on Net, the estimated useful lives for attractions: 25-40 years, buildings and improvements: 20-40 years, leasehold improvements: life of lease or asset life if less, land improvements: 20-40 years, and furniture, fixtures, and equipment: 3-25 years. What are the company's footnote disclosures relating to impairment? Please also describe how to determine if impairment exists and how to calculate the impairment loss.Walt Disney Company recorded $33 million for Studio Entertainment and $22 million for Interactive Media creating a total of $55 million in restricting and impairment charges during 2011 for compensation and amenities costs. While in 2010, they recorded $151 million for Studio Entertainment, $95 million for Media Networks, and impairment charges of $132 million generating a total of $270 million in restricting and impairment charges. What are the amounts and descriptions for the company's current liabilities for the most recent year?Does the company have any contingent liabilities? If yes, please describe. What are the three categories of contingent liabilities and the treatment for each type? Does the company have any subsequent events disc losed in their footnotes? If so, please describe them. Walt Disney’s current liabilities are the total obligations incurred as part of normal operations that are expected to be paid during the financial period. The current liabilities are accounts payable and other accrued liabilities, current portion of borrowings, unearned royalties and other advances.The company is involved with legal proceedings and has accrued estimates of the probable and estimable losses for the resolution of these claims. They are also certain contractual arrangements that would require the company to make payments or provide funding if specific situations occur. On May 19, 2004, Celador International Ltd. , an associate of the television program â€Å"Who Wants to be a Millionaire,† filed a lawsuit against Walt Disney Company and some of its branches, which included the American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. nd Buena Vista Television, LLC, stated that Walt Disney Company did not pay the their s hare of the profits. On July 7, 2010, the jury announced their verdict for breaching the contract against certain branches of the Walt Disney Company and awarding $269. 4 for the plaintiff in damages. Walt Disney Company believed the jury’s verdict is wrong and is trying to pursue an appeal. What are the amounts and descriptions for all of the company's long-term liabilities on their balance sheet for the most recent two years? What is the interest expense for the two most recent years?What amounts are included in the cash flow statements for proceeds from issuance of debt and repayment of debt for the most recent year? For each note payable discussed in the footnotes disclosures, what is the interest rate, total amount borrowed, and maturity date? In the section of Liabilities in the Balance Sheet provides creditors, investors, and analysts with information on company’s resources and its sources of capital. It also provides information about the future earnings amount of a company’s assets along with cash flows that may come from receivables and inventories.The long term liabilities are the total obligations incurred as part of normal operations that is expected to be repaid beyond one year or business cycle. Walt Disney Company’s long term liabilities increased from 2010 to 2011. The total long term debt for 2011 was $12,454,000 and deferred income taxes were $3,150,000. For 2010, the total long term debt was $12,582,000 and deferred income taxes were $3,206,000. The income statement provides information on the financial results of the company’s business activities over a period of time.It also communicates how much revenue the company generates during a period and what cost it has incurred that connects with generating that revenue. The interest expense for the fiscal year of 2011 was $343 million and for 2010 was $409 million. The amounts that are included in the cash flow statements for proceeds from issuance of debt and repayment of debt for the fiscal year of 2011 are commercial paper borrowings was $393 million, borrowings was $2,350 million, and reduction of borrowings was $1,096 million. Under Note 9: Borrowings, there is an outline for each of the notes ayables. Commercial paper debt outstanding, which is a short term unsecured promissory notes issued by companies, was at $1. 6 billion by October 1, 2011. In February 2011, the company agreed to another four-year $2. 25 billion bank facility with a group of leaders which will mature by 2013. At the end of the fiscal year, the company has a shelf registration statement which allows the Walt Disney Company to issue various types of debt, for example fixed or floating rate notes, US dollar or foreign currency, redeemable notes, global notes, and dual currency.Another note payable is U. S. Medium Term Note Program where the total debt outstanding was $8. 4 billion. The maturities of current outstanding borrowings rang between one to eight two year s and the interest rate ranges from 0% to 7. 55%. European Medium Term Note Program is another note for the issuance of various types of debt that include fixed or floating rate notes, U. S. dollar or foreign currency denominated notes, redeemable notes, or dual currency notes. It matures in 2013 and has an interest rate of 1. 65%.Next, is Other Foreign Currency Denominated Debt where the company has a credit agreement in Canadian dollars which matures in 2013 and has an interest rate of 1. 42%. Lastly, Capital Cities/ABC Debt has an outstanding balance of $114 million, matures in 2021, and has an interest rate of 8. 75%. Does the company have bonds payable? If so, what are the amounts? Please also describe how bonds payable differ from notes payable and how to account for the issuance of bonds at par, at a discount, and at a premium. How is the discount and premium amortized?What is the effective interest method? Walt Disney Company issued corporate 30 year bonds in this fiscal yea r. These bonds are high quality long term and are worth $600 million. A note payable is a written agreement between a lender and a borrower to pay stated sums of money at future dates, classified a current or non-current of the balance sheet date. Bonds payable are a long term liability account containing the face amount, par amount, or maturity amount of the bonds issued by a company that are outstanding as of the balance sheet date.If the coupon rate of a bond matches with the market rate of interest when the bonds are actually sold to investors, then the bonds will sell at par value. Bonds are issued at a discount when the coupon interest rate is below the market interest rate which leads to the company receiving less cash than the face value of the bonds. A bond will trade at a premium when it offers a coupon rate that is higher than current interest rates. When bonds are sold at a discount or premium, the interest rate is adjusted from the face rate to an effective that is clos e to the market rate when the bonds were issued.It is important to amortize the discount or premium bonds over the life of the bonds by using the straight line method which allocated a fixed portion of the bond discount or premium each interest period to adjust the interest payment to interest expense. When a bond is sold at a discount, the amount of the bond discount is amortized to interest expense over the life of the bond. According to Investopedia, the effective interest method is the practice of accounting for the discount at which a bond is sold as an interest expense to be amortized over the life of bond (Investopedia, 2012).In other words, the effective interest method is a technique for calculating the actual interest rate in a period based on the book value at the beginning of the accounting period. Does the company have capital leases? If so, what are the amounts and terms of the leases? What are the four criteria for a lease to be considered a capital lease? What are th e additional criteria for the lessor? What is the difference between a sales-type lease and a direct financing lease? Walt Disney Company carries a capital lease obligations of $288 million in the fiscal year of 2011 and $224 million in the fiscal year of 2010.They have non-cancelable capital lease which is mainly for land and broadcast equipment. The future payments for the leases are as followed: 2012 $70 2013 $59 2014 $51 2015 $60 2016 $27 Thereafter $519 Total minimum obligations $786Less amount representing interest ($480) Present value of net minimum obligations $306 Less current portion ($18) Long-term portion $288 (The Walt Disney Company, 2012)In order for a lease to be considered a capital lease the four criteria are [1] title of the asset passes automatically from the lessor to the lessee at the end of the lease term, [2] lease contains a bargain purchase option under which the lessee may acquire the leased-asset at less than its fair market value of the end of the lease terms, [3] lease term is for a period longer than 75% of the estimated economic life of the asset, or [4] the present value of the lease payments is greater than 90% of the fair market value of the asset at the beginning of the lease term.The additional conditions for the lessor are [1] the collectability of minimum lease payments is assured and (2) no important uncertainties surround the amount of un-reimbursable costs yet to be incurred. Sales-type lease is a lease where a company rents its own assets that it needs to run its business. This lease is used when a manufacturer is leasing a property or the usage of property.Because the lessee receives the use of property in exchange for payments and assumes the liability for the asset, the lease looks like the purchase of an item. However, the lessor expects the lessee to return the equipment or provide payment for its purchase when the expiration of the lease is up. On the other hand, direct financing lease is a lease agreement where the lessor obtains equipment for the purpose of leasing it and generating revenue through interest payments.The lessor is not a manufacturer or dealer and the lessor purchases the property only for the purpose of leasing it. The main difference between sales-type leases and direct financing lease is the value of the lease in relation to the property. In a sales-type lease, the lessor records a profit or loss on a property based on the amount of payments received. On the contrary in the direct financing lease, the lessor only earns profit on the interest from sending out payment amounts.Today, Walt Disney Company operates under a new and reengineered model that has worked to increase revenues by creating and exploring original across their five business segments. The company is developed on tradition with a well-defined vision for the future and continues to distinguish itself among other companies. As the company moves forward, they have a solid financial profile which will provide the company constant financial flexibility. Bibliography Investopedia. (2012).Retrieved August 2012, from Effective Interest Method: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/e/effective-interest-method. asp#axzz23eVWKTSl The Walt Disney Company. (2012, January). Retrieved August 2012, from Fiscal Year 2011 Annual Financial Report and Shareholder Letter: http://cdn. media. ir. thewaltdisneycompany. com/2011/annual/WDC-10kwrap-2011. pdf Study Test Time. (n. d. ). Retrieved August 2012, from Methods of Valuation of Goodwill: http://www. studytesttime. com/about-goodwill/10-methods-of-valuation-of-goodwill

Olay

history Olay is an American skin care line. It is one of Procter & Gamble's multi-billion dollar brands. For the 2009 fiscal year ended June 30, Olay accounted for an estimated $2. 8 billion of P's $79 billion in revenue. Olay originated in South Africa as Oil of Olay. Graham Wulff (1916-2008),[1] an ex-Unilever chemist from Durban, started it in 1949. The name â€Å"Oil of Olay† was chosen by Wulff as a spin on the word â€Å"lanolin†, a key ingredient. It was unique in the early days because it was a pink fluid rather than a cream, packaged in a heavy glass bottle.Wulff and his marketing partner, Jack Lowe, a former copywriter, had tested the product on their wives and friends and were confident in its uniqueness and quality. Olay's marketing was also unique, since it was never described as a moisturizer, nor even as beauty fluid. Nowhere on the packaging did it say what the product actually did. Print adverts used copy such as â€Å"Share the secret of a younger loo king you† and talked about the ‘beauty secret’ of oil of Olay. Other adverts were written as personal messages to the reader from a fictitious advice columnist named Margaret Merril.They ran in Readers’ Digest and newspapers and often looked like editorials. Wulff and Lowe, who ran the company under the banner of Adams National Industries (ANI), did not sell the product to the trade, but waited for pharmacies to ask for it based on consumer requests. As the company began to market the product internationally, it was decided to modify the name of the product in each country so it would sound pleasing and realistic to consumers. This led to the introduction of Oil of Ulay (UK and Ireland), Oil of Ulan (Australia) and Oil of Olaz (France, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany).In 1970, ANI opened a test market in USA (Chicago), and was expanding into northern Germany. Today The Olay brand has expanded into a range of other products grouped in â€Å"boutiquesâ₠¬  including Complete, Total Effects, Professional, Regenerist, Quench (North America), White Radiance (Asia) and Olay Vitamins (USA). Olay is the market leader in many countries including USA, UK, and China. [2] Olay has extended its heritage as a moisturizer to stay looking young, to formally creating the â€Å"anti-aging† category in mass stores with the launch of Total Effects in 1999.Active Hydrating Formula, generally the least expensive variety, bears the closest resemblance to the pink â€Å"Oil of Olay† marketed in the US before the P acquisition. The launch was almost double the typical price of a mass market moisturizer at the time. Today, there are numerous products in market more expensive than Olay. Olay Regenerist was the best performing anti-aging cream in a 2006 test done by a consumer association, outperforming some much more expensive brands. [3] This report also stated: But the U. S. onsumer union said none of the creams tested produced a dramatic improvement. : It advised that staying out of the sun or using skin products with a high sun protection factor was the best option. The consumer union said: ‘We found that after 12 weeks our toprated products did smooth out some fine lines and wrinkles. ‘ However, it added: ‘Even the best performers reduced the average depth of wrinkles by less than 10 per cent, a magnitude of change was, alas, barely visible to the naked eye. In August 2007, Olay was launched in India.Olay’s current slogan is â€Å"Challenge what's possible†, which was changed from â€Å"Love the skin you're in†. Since 2010, â€Å"Oil of OLAZ† is called only â€Å"OLAZ† in German-speaking countries. Slogan : â€Å"Olaz la? t Sie strahlen. † (lit: â€Å"Olaz lets you shine. â€Å") The Olay/Olaz brand is known for animal testing, according to a list published by PETA. [4] Marketing strategy Olay : Love the Skin You are In Brand : Olay Company : P&G Agency : Saatchi & Saatchi Brand Analysis Count : 277 This July P&G launched its premium skin care brand Olay in India.Olay is a $2 Bn global brand has met with phenomenal success in all the markets it entered. Olay was born in the lab of a chemist Mr Graham Wulff in the early 1950's. At that time the brand was named Oil of Olay. Later when P acquired it, the brand was renamed Olay. Olay was available in India as an imported product. Now P directly markets this brand with all the relevant marketing mixes in place. Olay is tapping the premium slice of the Rs 2100 crore Indian skin care market. Olay has launched its first product in the anti-ageing segment with its Total Effects subbrand.Anti-ageing segment is still a niche with a market size of Rs 60 crore. The segment is but growing very fast. Olay has launched its Total Effects anti ageing solution after much consumer research. It had conducted research on over 6000 ladies of age between 30-69 years from three continents and identified 7 signs of ageing. 1. Fine lines and Wrinkles 2. Sagging skin 3. Uneven skin tones. 4. Age spots 5. Appearance of pores 6. Dull skin 7. Dryness Total Effects is differentiating itself through the presence of the ingredient VitaNiacin.VitaNiacin is a pa tented formulation that contains Niacinamide Vitamin B3 ,Vitamin E and Provitamin B5 Pathenol + sunscreen protection. Olay true to the concept of Global Brand and Local strategy has launched itself with a series of promotional campaigns. The brand has the bollywood diva Sushmita Sen as the brand ambassador. Currently Olay is running two campaigns in the visual media. One campaign is th Olay brand building campaign featuring Sushmita Sen and another is for the Total Effects moisturizing lotion. Watch the Tvc : Total EffectsFor the Total Effects range, the company uses a testimonial type of campaign featuring a Model/TV Anchor. The focus is more on the functional benefits of the product rather than harping on any emotional benefits. The brand is positioned as a brand that celebrates beauty within and outside. The brand worldwide uses the tagline † Love the skin you are in â€Å". The brand believes that Looking Good and Feeling Good are inseparable. Loving the skin we are in is the most beautiful feeling of all. Olay Total Effects is priced at Rs 599 for a 50 gm bottle.By Indian standards, this accounts for a premium category. Olay Total Effects is targeting ladies between the age 30 – 60. Besides this anti-ageing product, Olay has introduced cleansers, facepack and moisturizing lotions. The brand is expected to introduce its blockbuster range of products in India in a phased manner. The premium skincare segment was in a vacuum ever since HUL decided to cater to the masstige segment by repositioning Lakme and Ponds. Now with P and ITC seriously looking at premium segment, the market is going to witness a marketing war in days to come.

Different Kinds of Bacteria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Different Kinds of Bacteria - Essay Example Despite the fact that it is normally hard to investigate in situ, important biological traits are characterized to these assemblages, encompassing co-operative behavior, defense against predators, competitive advantage, antibiotics, physical disturbance and immune system (Sutherland 2001b). These assemblages vary from the hugely random aggregation of bacteria developing on surfaces, in semi-solid surroundings or in limited volumes, to complicated structures integrating considerable amount of extracellular medium material. This latter kind of assemblages symbolizes biofilms in strio senso, and the existence of structural matrix material issues biofilms with a unified physical identity that may be lacking both in a settlements and in glop (Davey & O'Toole 2000). It is evident that the physical resilience of biofilms is the outcome of multiple interactions between matrix elements (usually exopolysacharides, EPS), bacterial surface additios (flagella, fimbriae and aggreagation concepts) and coverings (lipopolysacharide, LPS) and the surface settled by the bacteria. In the case of the biofims generated by salmonella typhimurium enteritidis rdar mutants, and the pseudomonas fluoresccens SBW25 wrinkly spreader, the expression of a cellulose matrix and a fimbrial-like attachment issues are the main elements adding to biofilm strength and integrity (Lappin-Scott et al. 1995). In each case, biofilms generate at their-liquid (A-L) interface and are substantially bigger and more robust than the archetypical submerged biofilm generated by several other bacteria, for instance, pseudomonas aeruginosa. The wrinkly spreader (WS) refers to a niche-specialist genotype that colonizes the A-L border of liquid cultures, developing an A-L biofilm, and develops badly in the liquid discourse (Donlan 2002). Background on Pseudomonas fluorescens It occurs by spontaneous mutation from the ancestral (smooth; SM), non-biofilm-forming P. fluorescens SBW25 strain, in spatially configured micr ocosms, and displays massive negative frequency-advantage is attributable to cooperation among personal WS cells: overproduction of attachment factors, whereas costly personal cells, outcomes in the interests of individuals aligning with those of the group and permits migration of the oxygen-replete A-L boundary. According to some research conducted concerning these genes needed for biofilm generation through P. fluorescens WS (using one specific WS isolate, PR1200, mini-Tn5 mutagenesis recognized two main loci – the wsp chemosensory operon programming the response regulator WspR, and the wss cellulose biosynthesis operon that encompasses genes engrossed in the partial acetylation of the cellulose matrix (Dunne 2002). WspR is needed for the expression of cellulose and a supposed curli or thin aggregate fimbriae (Tafi)-like attachment factor, both of which are needed for ordinary WS biofilm establishment and colony formation (Al-Tahhan, Sandrin, Bodour & Maier 2000). Moreover, the cellulose acetylation-defective mutant WS-18 (WS wssF; mini-Tn5) was discovered to generate weak biofilms. These discoveries propose that the physical incorporation of the WS biofilm outcomes from the mingles between cellulose fibres and attachment factor, and between attachment factor and the ramparts of the microcosm vial. This latter interaction is needed during the initial phase of biofilm establishment when bacteria attach in the meniscus area of the loquid to the glass vials (Gaspar, Marolda & Valvano 2000). Successive development out over the A-L interface outcomes in the characteristic WS biofilm. One of the prior recognized WS

Regal Movie Theaters (marketing research) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Regal Movie Theaters (marketing research) - Essay Example There are people who finish late, go home for dinner and catch a late night movie. Hence post 6pm the theatres are crowded as compared to any other time of the day. There can be many strategies based on price strategy (giving discounts), privacy (giving priority seats with no body near you) or even family attraction deals (a form of discounting like 3 for 2 or 4 for 2). Privacy: Give couple seats which are not surrounded by people. And don’t allocate seats near them to anyone allowing letting them have a sense of privacy. Through this may lead to issues of nuisance that might happen with dodgy couples which remains to be tackled. Family deals: there are grand parents who might want to take their grand children out for a movie. Couples sometimes take leave from work for half a day work and can spend the rest of the half in a movie theatre taking benefit of this scheme. Tickets of Regal movie theatres are fairly priced as compared to its competitors. It’s slightly cheaper in few and slightly dearer in few. Regal movies do not believe in giving differential pricing between weekends and weekdays which they can try to create a market pull for weekdays. Regal is trying to give almost everything right form discounts, family schemes, cheap pop corns and candies to card points at a reasonable price. This is hitting their bottom line hard and there seems to be a scope of either increasing the prices or modifying the scheme to get more benefit out of it. It does not need any numbers or expert comments when it comes to gauge the success IMAX and 3D movies have had in recent time. Attendance and ticket sales are two major factors with which the industry measures its success or failures. In 2010 the attendance was down by 5.25% which might be considered as a devastating drop but thanks to the revenue from 3D films that gave the industry $10.5 Billion dollar ticket sales. The extra prices for 3D movies charged by

Business contract Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Business contract Law - Essay Example In case of a material change in a proposed contract, it must accompany a counteroffer, which has to be acceptable by the other party (Emerson, 2009: p87). A contract cannot only subsist on the basis that their exist agreement between two parties. However, the parties to the stated agreement must intend to form a legally binding agreement (Emerson, 2009: p82). Consideration refers to the price paid for the promise of the other party. The price mentioned must be of value although it may not necessarily refer to money. It may consist of some right, interest, profit of benefit to one party or, on the other hand, loss or responsibility incurred by the other party (Adams, 2012: p65). Parties to a contract must be competent and authorized to enter into a contract, and therefore, not all individuals are fully free to enter into a valid contract. The following group of people involves problematic consent: people with mental impairment, minors, bankrupts, corporations and prisoners (Adams, 2012, 65). Refers to the parties mutual understanding and assent to the expression of their agreement. The consent of each of the parties in a contract must be genuine in the sense that they must agree to the same thing, in the same sense and at the sense time (Gillies, 2006: p143). Annabel Constructions Ltd. only made a contract with Murray & Co. regarding supplying and fixing double-glazed windows. The issues relating to the additional amount of $20,000 bases only on a promise made between Annabel Smith and John Murray, which creates neither a contractual obligation nor a legal right between them. A promise differentiates from a contract in the sense that a valid contract creates an obligation to the parties and is enforceable in the court of law, whereas a promise without any consideration creates no legal obligation to be enforced in a court of laws (Kelly et. al. 2013: p231). Therefore, due to the absence of essential terms of consideration, the

Define tolerance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Define tolerance - Essay Example Thus, this paper helps to provide an insight into the meaning of tolerance with respect to recent events that have taken place in history where people have been shunned by society on the grounds of limits of tolerance. America has a diverse society full of individuals who need to be respected for who they are. In the recent past, the Muslim community was barred from constructing a Mosque near Ground Zero where the Twin Towers had once stood only because of the allegation that it was their religion that had brought about harm on the rest of American society by the bombings. However, this is a false accusation because people need to be tolerated no matter what religion they follow; others need to understand that just because they follow the same religion as the terrorists did, they are not part of the same way of thinking or way of life. Americans as such are losing out on their tolerance levels towards accepting other people within their society. They fear losing out on their individual identities. However, they need to understand that accepting and tolerating other people will only expand their culture and further give others a chance to experience the same. At the end of the day, everyone is a human being and thus there arises no question of a superiority complex that many people live with. It is imperative for every man to be tolerant towards another’s dreams and ideas as well because everyone has certain desires that they want to fulfil. Tolerance should stop stepping in only when one’s needs and wants conflict and do not coincide with another’s to a reserved extent; this means that when people start hampering each other’s lives then others should stop being tolerant towards them. It is obvious that one will not be tolerant towards terrorists, however, other Muslims around the world have not done any harm to anyone in a personal or derogatory manner and thus it does not make sense to bar

Deal of the day group buying website affect the young customers in Dissertation

Deal of the day group buying website affect the young customers in China - Dissertation Example Qualitative and quantitative research design was used. The research philosophy used was positivism or interpretive and the research approach used was deductive or inductive. The population of the study was based in Beijing China where a sample of 1,000 people was taken to represent the whole population.The SPSS statistical tool was used to analyze the data. Table of Contents Title page†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.1 Abstract†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...2 Table of content†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦......3 Chapter One:Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦...4-8 Chapter Two:Literature review†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.9-24 Chapter Three:Research Methodology†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦25-26 Chapter Four:Data Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦27-51 Chapter Five:Conclusion and Limitations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦..52-53 Appendix; Questionnaire†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...†¦54-57 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...58-62 Chapter One Introduction Group-buying sites started in Chinese suppliers in the year 2010 March and instantly joined into competitive competitors for the business. At the optimizing of the trend, 5,058 such sites were in the marketplace, but there are only 943 left, generally due to a lack of financing, reviews news website Xkb.com.cn.Last year, a total of 1,514 groups-buying sites shut down or withdrew from the industry, a normal of four shutdowns per day, according to research from the Chinese suppliers Electronic Business Re search Center. It is agreed that in the present year, household internet leaders may also start to re-evaluate the value of their group-buying sites, and organizations may look to combine or negotiate considering the new customer pattern of buying on cell phone applications.In this summer, reviews appeared in China's Twitter and SinaWebat Juqi.com, one of the nation's top 10 group-buying sites, was near to bankruptcy, with several of its providers allegedly challenging to be compensated and starting to eliminate computer systems for the organization's head office after their demands were ignored. On August, 2, Juqi declined the rumors’ on its website, saying the organization is still in function. However, it is considered that the organization has already revoked its functions due to deficiency of financing;Juqistepped out for business in July 2010 and commenced websites in 15 places providing cafe, enjoyment and resort group-buying offers. It rated among the top 10 group-buy ing websites last season, the review said. Wang Qiheng, CEO of Lingtuan.com, linked the failing of Juqi to its problems in establishing the route of its growth and cost control, thus leading to a financing absence and problems from clients. According to numbers collected by Tuan800.com, in the first 50 percent of the season the top five group-buying websites, such as Dianping.com and Meituan.com, included 90.09% of the complete household industry. Meanwhile, there are now only 943 group-buying websites remaining in the marketplace — a rate of success of just 18.6%. Contrary to the reducing number of the sites, the

Discussions about sex gender and society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discussions about sex gender and society - Essay Example drag queens giving a very conscious illustration of glamorous women that shows security and a sense of belonging within the gay community, showing a type of power relationship that defies femininity. What is interesting is that Paris is Burning tends to show that queers’ bodies have become instruments that elicit hatred and contempt. Gay drag queens appear more comfortable in their skin when exemplifying the ideal of severe femininity and a sense of self-hatred when forced to engage in social activities without costume. It is perhaps because society has constructed norms that applaud heterosexual ideals (the ultra-feminine woman persona), but chastise when gay men give off femininity in their inherent male form. The documentary is an interesting case study of how established social norms regarding gender determine self-esteem for a queer out of costume and when in costume in terms of their perspective on social belonging. When Ru Paul is discussing the drag transformation that the jocks will be undertaking, he says, â€Å"so put some muscle into it†, as though making appeals toward masculinity that underpins the typical jock. He wants the jocks to be comfortable and excited about being turned into a drag queen, using discourse associated with gender stereotypes of masculinity. It is as if the jocks might be shamed or less motivated if he were to use the same feminine mannerisms he uses with other drag queens. This is an interesting idea for representing how gender roles are socially constructed. He must appeal to the stereotypical construction of masculine attitude and behavior to affect a genuine desire to participate in this transformation. Sharon Osbourne, the judge, states that one drag queen looks very vulnerable, yet comments that the male in costume is doing the best he can. In other episodes, judges are very critical of poor femininity and glamour in performance, but here there is a type of social sensitivity for the straight drag queens in order to

Implementation, Strategic Controls and Contingency Plans Essay

Implementation, Strategic Controls and Contingency Plans - Essay Example As a result, the company’s management aim at enhancing the company’s portfolio assets making it dominant in the real estates and other investments made in United States of America and around the globe (Wolff Urban Development LLC n.d ). In addition, the management intends to formulate strategies by branding the company’s image resulting to positioning of the company in the global market. More than that, the Human Resources of Wolff Urban Development, LLC plays a decisive role in the development of investments decisions and managing the company’s human resource thus, it makes it easier for them to have knowledge on what the company wants. Given that, World Urban Development, LLC has been in business from 1968, it is crucial to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the processes that will make the company be vibrant in the global market. More significantly, it is essential to establish solutions based on the challenges that the company faces both internally and externally while undertake investments decisions whether by acquisition or construction. More considerably, Wolff Urban Development LLC sets plans that are intended to benefit the company in achieving the set goals. More significantly, it is imperative to establish on how the investment are being undertaken thus, it is important to develop the strategic controls and contingency plans that will be used in implementation of the company’s decision (Barney, 2007). Objectives 1. To ensure employees involvement in the successful implementation of the company plans. 2. To make sure that the company’s brand maintains a strong image and market position. 3. To oversee the expansion of the company’s investment within United States of America (USA) and around markets in the world. Wolff Urban Development, LLC, is guided by the strategic and contingency plans that are clearly set to meet the investment projects. The company’s management outlines their objectives t hat are focused on utilizing the investment opportunities in making it successful in the industry. Wolff Urban Development LLC, is involved in a clearly set devising strategy focused on achievement of its objectives and goals that are set before carrying out the plan. Functional Tactics Wolff Urban Development LLC, uses it reliable network established over the years of existence to achieve its investments decision. It remains essential for the company’s employee to internalize and be more conscious towards the organization’s investment decisions. More significantly, the company invests a large amount of funds in projects that require human resource personnel of the company to utilize the resource allocated in order to ensure that the company attains the highest possible return for the organization as the focus on achieving objectives that the management sets. In addition, Wolff Urban Development LLC, employees are putting the company in a competitive position by settin g investment projects that are beneficial to the company. In addition, the experience company’s employees have acquired over the period makes it easier for them to understand the needs of the company (Wolff Urban Development LLC, n.d). More significantly, the employees of the organization develop new policies by bring new ideas and opportunity that are benefici

Rubber Band Marketing Plan for Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Rubber Band Marketing Plan for Australia - Essay Example Australian’s market is open for investors. Role of immigrants has been important to the growth of economy of Australia. Immigration also has impacted the cultural and social set up of Australia. Rubber band is a very common product. It is a household product as well as having industrial utility. Demand of rubber band is steady and has little growth. Rubber is an agricultural product. Elasticity is the property for which rubber band is used for various purposes. The market has steady demand for rubber. First part of the paper discusses various facts about the Australia and its markets. In the discussion section researcher analyzes various factors of Australia and its economy and on the basis of the same it offers a marketing plan for Australia market. Australia is a continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. Australia is the only continent which has a single country. It has no neighboring countries. It is all surrounded by ocean. It is a large continent which has variations in climate, population, vegetation and markets. Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession in the name of Great Britain. During 18th and 19th centuries six colonies were created. In 1901 these colonies federated to become the Commonwealth of Australia. This new country could utilize its resources. Australia is rich in its natural recourses and has been utilizing its resources in various agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Its contributions to the British during World War II have been considerable. Proper investments and other strategies, proper utilization of various natural resources, encouraging immigration for the sectors of growths and other strategies has helped Australia to grow in a global market place and position itself internationally. The main concern for

Globalization on Chinese Society Essay Example for Free

Globalization on Chinese Society Essay Our research aims to discover peculiarities of ideology in China. It’s going to highlight integrating values, legitimating the government’s policies and continued authority. The study is a review of articles by David Lynch, Gordon White and Feng Chen. From the recent past years up to this point of time, China has been taking part in extensive economic globalization activities like facilitating free trade policy. China’s new economic openness has resulted to remarkable growth trends. It has been practicing its â€Å"go out policy† by participating in the international market competitions. Observers have also noted some major changes in the Chinese media in coping up with globalization. With China’s entry to the World Trade Organization, structural reforms have taken place and more and more researchers have focused their interest on the interaction between Chinese media particularly television and the world at large. Currently, China is still in a whirl and sways with various ideologies such as a waning communist ideology, an increasing conservatism, as well as liberalism. Various ideological trends such as globalism, nationalism, individualism and pragmatism are likewise alive and under further exploration especially by Chinese youths. The pursuit of the leftists who adhere to the theory of socialism, elect to preserve the fundamental purity of the socialist economy and state authority. Meanwhile, reformists have argued that China should rather enrich its market economy and the rights to property. Besides, reformists want to recognize private entrepreneurship to join the Party. There exists some few numbers of youths having true belief in communism. Most of them, however, want membership to the Party as a stepping ladder in gaining their individual objectives. In some of the researches, David Lynch (2000 (Lynch, 1999, p173) has focused his objects on what expectations the intellectual and political elites expect leading to same changes in China for the years ahead. The objects include linked issues on some domestic and political affairs, the power capability of China as a nation, how the party state would defend its national identity as well as its cultural heritage and integrity in the face of the raging and deepening effects of globalization. Besides, Lynch assesses on how China aligns its new development and technology in directing its society’s future. With the continued transformation of the media including print, TV, the Internet, the entry of some foreign TV programming and the likes now depends mostly on the supply and demand and the behavior of the controlling party. The improvements of local or domestic contents have rivalled foreign counterparts. Lynch also assessed the trends in censorship and found some possible means by which media could possibly find ways of overcoming or avoiding rules, laws, problems, or difficulty to government restrictions of imported as well as local media contents. Briefly, Lynch tries to arrive at a point when the communist government’s hold on China’s domestic affairs would become loose due to the use of new technology. â€Å"Dilemmas of Thought Work in Fin-de-Siecle China† reports that in May 1997 was established special organ of the Party Central Committee Central Guidance Committee on Spiritual Civilization Construction. This fact indicates the seriousness of intentions in pursuing the spiritual civilization line. â€Å"Thought work† refers to Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to transmit socialist ideology and to control ideas of the masses so that they will comply to the demands of the national development plan. In his article Lynch argued that the governments efforts to build a socialist spiritual civilization in China failed. He concluded that government’s attempts to limit access to global media and control political discourse turn out to be ineffective. Lynch reports the Chinese Ministry of Public Securitys estimate that as many as 620,000 Chinese had access to the internet in 1997, with a rise to 4 million expected by 2000 (Lynch, 1999, p. 193). The propaganda state is indeed crumbling. The author reports that Chinese children play cops and robbers who require the cops to inform the robbers of their rights before taking them into detention, as they have seen in American movies (Lynch, 1999). Other political writers like Feng Chen and Gordon White agree that China’s Chinese Communist Party is capable of adapting itself to the changing political climate. Moreover, China’s leaders could strengthen its position like having political legitimacy by re-inventing itself and continue some evolutionary tuning to reinforce the CCP’s legitimacy. Nevertheless, evolutionary refining is a hit and miss system that nobody can guaranty its success. Gordon White primarily focused on the politically engaged society in China. According to White politically-engaged society proved to be a durable theme in Chinese politics. Riding the Tiger concludes that societys political engagement with the state will shape future of the state. For example, There may be a form of Chinese Brezhnevism to see out the millennium as the current leadership tries to stay in power. If this is indeed the case, then the political contradictions and trends which I have identified will intensify and make it more likely that the transition, when it comes, will be sudden, radical and possibly violent. (White, 1993, p. 255) Even if the market becomes predominant through radical reform and even if it takes a capitalist form, which is very probable, there is a continuing need for a new form of developmental state to tackle†¦social and economic problems [such as market failure and its consequences for the poor]. In the short term, moreover, the role of the state is even more crucial because of the need to break through the hard policy constraint and manage the transition from a planned to a market economy. This is a process†¦which is fraught with instability and tensions arising from the opposition of vested interests, threats to economic security, inflation and growing inequality. A strong state is needed to provide the political order and direction necessary to underpin this transition and regulate an emergent market economy in a huge and increasingly complex country. (White, 1993, pp. 238-9) As Gordon White has observed in Riding the Tiger, an attempt to establish a political system that can serve as an alternative to both capitalist economics and liberal politics has not appeared to be possible in China: Marxist-Leninist socialism has been incapable of reforming itself and that market socialism rather than saving its bacon, cooks its goose (White, 1993, p. 12). White was writing at the start of the 1990s. Civil society-like forms emerged in China in the 1990s. That process the result collapse of the state structure, as it was in Soviet Union. But for the time being the Party-state still remains in command. As it was noted in Riding the Tiger, to the extent the economic reforms were the spearhead of an attempt to resuscitate the political fortunes of Chinese state socialism, they can be judged to be a dismal failure(White, 1993, p. 233). By the millennium China was certainly the most successful of the socialist states in adjusting to capitalism. Yet at the same time socialism remains in place in China and power is monopolized by the Communist Party. White denoted this combination as market Stalinism (White, 1993, p. 256). White suggests that the increasing prevalence of the elements of a civil society does not point toward an evolution into more liberal regime with market-oriented economy and multiparty political system. The author also noted that in Chinese society there are some groups that didn’t make benefits from the reforms. These would include state officials and state workers, women and the unemployed and floating populations: Fear of threats to status, power or income; disappointment because the reforms were delivering less than they had promised; disgruntlement arising from the red-eye disease; concerns that gains already achieved were in danger of erosion (through inflation and leadership mismanagement); contrarily, impatience at a deceleration of the reforms and anxiety at an acceleration. (White, 1993, p. 217) Some observers have concluded that the efforts of the Central Party in building some thought works on socialism in China has been not effective. Moreover, they gravitate to some extent. Formerly, China firmly opposed globalization as it disrupts some global institutions. Today, China is one of the firm advocates of liberalization and globalization, opening its trading system to the world. Slowly but surely, the Chinese system has now been updating itself on the rule of law, adapting many foreign laws to transform its civilization. China’s success through globalization, which happened in a short time, has indeed uplifted the standards of living of many workers. With such economic success arising from the impact of globalization, China has learned some stressful and painful lessons adjusting itself. Some of the effects include the decline of state employment from 110 million in 1995 to 66 million in March 2005, the lost of 25 million jobs in the manufacturing establishments, and the consolidation of some 125 car companies to just six firms. Its recent economic growth has revived and revved up the economy of Japan and kept safe its neighboring countries from recession, which otherwise could have led to a risky global downturn. With the prevailing trend of globalization, the process has deeply influenced the study habits, culture, and consumption styles of the youth (ACYF). They now believe that English is a basic skill and reference for one to acquire a degree. As more and more Chinese youths go out to study abroad, more and more of them have returned home, which benefits their culture. The youths now could avail some entertainments made in the USA, Europe, and elsewhere via television, films, videos, and the internet. Even internet games or serial TV programs from Japan or Korea have become the favorite of young students. Young people now in China are learning more the facts of life, society, and world affairs through the said media. When educators, scholars, officials, and artists speak of culture, this includes both the physical and non-physical aspects. The physical or material aspects include sites, landscapes, monuments, buildings, and like objects whereas non-physical aspects include music dance, language, poetry, and the like, which have been associated with China’s social practices. The non-physical culture is China’s living heritage is passed from one generation to the other. In reality, one should accept the fact that culture cannot be easily isolated from the influence or effects of globalization (UICIFD). To conclude the work we should note that ideology is still alive in China. The Chinese communist regime didn’t decline its ideological absolutism. The Communist Party alone that possesses the universal truth and represents the fundamental interest of the people (Guo, 1995, p. 84). In fact, Mao Zedong thought or Deng Xiaoping theory was adapted by the post-Mao party leadership in accordance with the changes of the Chinas specific conditions. But this modification does not suggest discarding the fundamental principles and norms, but renovation within the same basic framework of development of Marxism. But post-Mao regime has cautiously modified some of Maos doctrines through the official interpretation of the sacred text (Guo, 1995, p. 84-85). As Feng Chen asserted, agricultural decollectivization in China was not an equivalent of â€Å"privatization,† but only the transformation of the rural economy into â€Å"a new type of collective economy, characterized by combining public ownership of the land with totally individualized operations of production† (Feng Chen, 1998, p. 82). To the post- Mao leadership, such an arrangement is defined as the separation of land ownership rights and land use rights (Feng Chen, 1998, p. 88). Land in China remains under public ownership. Reference List White, G. (1993). Riding the Tiger: The Politics of Economic Reform in Post-Mao China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press; London: Macmillan. Lynch, D. (1999). Dilemmas of Thought Work in Fin-de-Siecle China. China Quarterly, 157. Guo, S. (1995). Totalitarianism: An Outdated Paradigm for Post-Mao China? Journal of Northeast Asian Studies, 14 (2). Chen, F. (1998). Rebuilding the Party’s Normative Authority: China’s Socialist Spiritual Civilization Campaign. Problems of Post-Communism, 45 (6).

The Introduction Of Asean Politics Essay

The Introduction Of Asean Politics Essay The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok by the five original Member Countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined on 8 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999. The institutions and processes in ASEAN have evolved gradually, building upon member countries great diversity in size, levels of development, natural and human resources, histories, cultures, values and traditions, languages, religions, races, economic and social institutions, and political systems. Taking into account this diversity, ASEAN cooperates voluntarily and on a consensus basis for the common good, with peace and economic, social and cultural development as its primary purposes. This is reflected in the ASEAN Declaration of 8 August 1967: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations represents the collective will of the nations of Southeast Asia to bind themselves together in friendship and cooperation and, through joint efforts and sacrifices, secure for their peoples and for posterity the blessings of peace, freedom and prosperity. It was a short, simply-worded document containing just five articles. It declared the establishment of an Association for Regional Cooperation among the Countries of Southeast Asia to be known as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and spelled out the aims and purposes of that Association. These aims and purposes were about cooperation in the economic, social, cultural, technical, educational and other fields, and in the promotion of regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter. It stipulated that the Association would be open for participation by all States in the Southeast Asian region subscribing to its aims, principles and purposes. It proclaimed ASEAN as representing the collective will of the nations of Southeast Asia to bind themselves together in friendship and cooperation and, through joint efforts and sacrifices, secure for their peoples and for posterity the blessings of peace, freedom and prosperity. ASEAN continues to be a dynamic region despite the economic setbacks caused by the financial crisis of 1997-1998. As ASEAN faces the challenge of achieving sustainable development in the context of todays increasingly globalized world, it has recognized the need for greater integration and cooperation among member countries. No longer does ASEAN separate financial from commercial and investment concerns, nor the environment and social concerns or science and technology from the demands of economic growth. http://www.asean.org/asean/about-asean/history http://www.asean-community.au.edu/images/asean-map1-1.jpg Picture from AU ASEAN Community, http://www.asean-community.au.edu/ In 2006, the ASEAN region had a population of about 560 million, a combined gross domestic product of almost US$ 1,100 billion, and a total trade of about US$ 1,400 billion. The diversity of the region is apparent in the fact that the largest country in terms of land area is 2700 times larger than the smallest country; the country with the largest population has 580 times more people than the smallest country; and the richest country has a GDP per capita that is 145 times the poorest country. AIMS AND PURPOSES As set out in the ASEAN Declaration, the aims and purposes of ASEAN are: To accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region through joint endeavours in the spirit of equality and partnership in order to strengthen the foundation for a prosperous and peaceful community of Southeast Asian Nations; To promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries of the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter; To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative fields; To provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities in the educational, professional, technical and administrative spheres; To collaborate more effectively for the greater utilisation of their agriculture and industries, the expansion of their trade, including the study of the problems of international commodity trade, the improvement of their transportation and communications facilities and the raising of the living standards of their peoples; To promote Southeast Asian studies; and To maintain close and beneficial cooperation with existing international and regional organisations with similar aims and purposes, and explore all avenues for even closer cooperation among themselves. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES In their relations with one another, the ASEAN Member States have adopted the following fundamental principles, as contained in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) of 1976: Mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and national identity of all nations; The right of every State to lead its national existence free from external interference, subversion or coercion; Non-interference in the internal affairs of one another; Settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful manner; Renunciation of the threat or use of force; and Effective cooperation among themselves. http://www.aseansec.org/about_ASEAN.html ASEAN And Sustainable Development Facing the challenges of achieving sustainable development in the context of todays increasing globalized world, the ASEAN has recognized the need for greater integration and cooperation among member countries. ASEAN no longer separates financial from commercial and investment concerns, nor the environment and social concerns or science and technology with the demands of economic growth. In 1997, the Heads of State and Government of ASEAN reaffirmed their commitments to the aims and purposes of the Association through ASEAN Vision 2020, which reflects the desire of ASEAN to pursue a more sustainable path to development as: a clean and green ASEAN with fully established mechanisms for sustainable development to ensure the protection of the regions environment, the sustainability of its natural resources and the high quality of life of its people This vision will be achieved through a series of action plans, which will set strategies and specific activities with measurable targets, outputs, means of implementation and mid-term review mechanisms. The first of such action plans is the Hanoi Plan of Action (HPA) for 1999-2004, adopted during the ASEAN Summit in 1998. The Hanoi Plan of Action (1999-2004) aims to achieve the following objectives: 1. Strengthen macroeconomic and financial cooperation 2. Enhance greater economic and integration 3. Promote science and technology development and develop information technology infrastructure 4. Promote social development and address the social impact of the financial and economic crisis 5. Promote human resource development 6. Protect the environment and promote sustainable development 7. Strengthen regional peace and security 8. Enhance ASEANs role as an effective force for peace, justice and moderation in Asia-Pacific and in the world 9. Promote ASEAN awareness and its standing in the international community 10. Improve ASEANs structures and mechanisms ASEAN Vision 2020 forms the sustainable development framework for the ASEAN member countries to collectively pursue ASEANs goals, as set forth in the Vision, by the year 2020. The ASEAN Summit in adopting this Vision decided that the goals of Vision 2020 will be achieved through a series of medium-term action plans, which will set strategies and specific activities with measurable targets and outputs, including means of implementation and mid-term review mechanisms. The first of such action plans, known as the Hanoi Plan of Action (HPA) for the years 1999 to 2004, was adopted by the ASEAN Summit in 1998. ASEAN shares and believes in the global vision for sustainable development and has the commitment and political will for integrating environmental considerations into development planning. ASEAN Vision 2020 and the HPA reflect ASEANs responsive integrated policy framework, which weaves together demographic dynamics, social development, economic growth, natural resource use and enviro nmental protection, and other development initiatives. ASEAN considers its Vision 2020 and the series of medium-term action plans, starting with the Hanoi Plan of Action, as part and parcel of the global effort to plan and implement national and regional sustainable development activities in the Southeast Asian region. It draws heavily upon, and ensures complementarity and synergy with, the Rio Resolutions, Agenda 21 and the various multilateral instruments agreed upon. ASEAN believes that in setting the future sustainable development framework, WSSD should draw upon the lessons, experiences, institutional settings, mechanisms, realities and dynamics of regional inter-governmental frameworks. This report offers that for the Southeast Asian region. It is within this framework that the report highlights ASEANs challenges in realizing sustainable development, its efforts in addressing these challenges and its future commitments towards a sustainable Southeast Asia that is able to meet the needs of the present without compromising the abilit y of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). ASEAN Initiatives on Sustainable Development Economic Development Sustained economic growth is key to sustainable development. It provides the means for nations and people to uplift their living standards and have a decent and healthy lifestyle, with adequate housing and education. More importantly, it allows measures to be taken to promote the conservation of natural resources and protection of the environment, which in turn fuels economic growth and sustains life. Since Rio 1992, ASEAN has experienced rapid economic growth through industrialization and export-led growth. This enabled ASEAN to move away from resource-based industries to manufacturing and service industries. Since rural communities were able to find jobs in these sectors, this eased the pressure on natural resources and member countries were able to devote more resources to environmental protection. The financial crisis of 1997-1998 set back all that. Poverty and social unrest increased. Member countries inevitably increased the exploitation of their natural resources to sustain their level of income. Despite the setbacks and turmoil brought about by the financial crisis, the ASEAN is committed more than ever to pursue economic liberalization, promote trade and investment regimes that are increasingly integrated in ASEAN, and open to the rest of the world. Measures undertaken by ASEAN in this direction include the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), the ASEAN Investment Area (AIA) and the ASEAN Industrial Cooperation (AICO) Scheme. ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) The 1992 AFTA agreement required the elimination of tariff barriers among the ASEAN member countries with a view to integrating the ASEAN economy into a single production base and creating a regional market of 500 million people. By lowering tariff rates, ASEAN hopes to enhance economic competitiveness and promote cross-border trade and investment in the region.Partly as a result of the implementation of the Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Scheme for the AFTA, trade between ASEAN countries has grown from $44.2 billion in 1993 to $95.2 billion in 2000, representing an average annual increase of 11.6%. One of the desired outcomes of AFTA is the rationalization of industrial production in the region, which is expected to allow for product specialization and thus avoid duplication of expensive production facilities. AFTA was substantially realised in January 2002 with six original member countries cutting their tariff barrier on almost all manufactured and ag ricultural products between zero and five per cent. ASEANs Integrated Infrastructure Network Economic integration requires good infrastructure facilities in the region such as regional networks of highways, railways, telecommunications, power grids and water and gas pipelines. ASEAN Vision 2020 calls for the establishment of interconnecting arrangements in the field of energy and utilities for electricity, natural gas and water within ASEAN through the ASEAN Power Grid and a Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline and Water Pipeline and the promotion of cooperation in energy efficiency and conservation, as well as the development of new and renewable energy resources. 1. Social Development ASEAN recognizes that sustainable development is not only about generating wealth but also ensuring its equitable distribution. A decent quality of life for its people requires a high quality environment. The activities of the poor are not the main causes of environmental degradation and yet they are the most affected by it in terms of quality of life and health. A number of factors, including declining productivity, pollution, erosion, natural calamities (such as floods and droughts), depressed commodity prices and the influx of cheap imports, impose formidable challenges to their livelihood. These challenges lead them to exploit natural resources unsustainably. As a result, it has been necessary for the ASEAN to address two key social development issues, poverty and health and their interrelationships with the environment. Poverty Although poverty levels in the ASEAN have been declining, poverty levels in some of the newer member countries are still considerably high. To address poverty issues, ASEAN Vision 2020 hopes for an ASEAN where hunger, malnutrition, deprivation and poverty are no longer basic problems. A number of measures under the Hanoi Plan of Action are meant to see this vision through, including the Plan of Action on ASEAN Rural Development and Poverty and the ASEAN Plan of Action on Social Safety Nets. The Framework Plan of Action on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication was adopted in 1997 and defined the following key actions: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ building and/or enhancing capacities for research, assessment and monitoring of poverty in ASEAN countries; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ training of facilitators on rural development and poverty eradication; and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ developing a campaign for enhancing national and regional public awareness on rural develop ment and poverty eradication. The social impacts of the financial crisis were then addressed by the 1998 ASEAN Action Plan on Social Safety Nets. Priorities in the action plan include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ targeting and rapid impact assessment methodologies for social programs; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ service delivery and related operational issues; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ role of central and local governments in social safety nets; and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ partnerships in social policy. 2. Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection ASEANs environment and natural resource endowments are unique and diverse. Forest cover in ASEAN is over 48%, compared to the world average of below 30%. Three of the 17 mega biodiversity countries are in ASEAN. Terrestrial protected areas in the region number 1,014 sites, protecting 418, 000 km2. The regions aquatic and marine ecosystems are highly productive and species rich. Half a billion people in ASEAN depend on these resources for their livelihood, causing increasing stress on the natural environment. A number of factors have led to natural resource degradation, such as rapid population rise, conversion of forested and ecologically-sensitive areas for agricultural purposes, poverty and damage caused by forest fires and natural disasters. ASEAN member countries are actively engaged in addressing global environmental issues. Almost all member countries are parties to the relevant major multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). Burdened with the onerous obligations of these MEAs without the promised substantial financial and technical support to implement them, ASEAN is taking a lead in promoting synergy and coordination among these MEAs to overcome institutional and human resources constraints, and at the same time to ensure a holistic and synergistic approach to the issues. Forest Ecosystems and Biological Diversity The ASEAN region has a total land area of 4.4 million sq km, most of which were once covered with forests. In the mid-1990s, regional land use patterns were detailed as: Forest cover and deforestation vary widely across the region. From 1970 to 1990, ASEAN lost 31.4 million hectares of forest, a rate of about 15,700 km2 per year. Deforestation increased by 1990 to 2000, with annual loss estimated at 23,260 km2 a year. Forest certification has been employed to encourage sustainable forest management by promoting trade in forest products from sustainably managed forests. The ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) endorsed the Framework for ASEAN Regional Criteria and Indicators (CI) for Sustainable Management of Natural Tropical Forests in October 2000. The regional CI is a guide to developing nation-specific criteria, indicators and standards, which could be used to assess sustainable forest management practices or for timber certification. 3. ASEANs Governance and Cooperative Mechanism ASEANs governance mechanism, which has evolved gradually over the years, is now very much institutionalized and cover major sectors such as political, security, economic, social, environment and other functional areas. The highest decision-making body of ASEAN is the Meeting of the Heads of State and Government or ASEAN Summit held every year. The Annual Meeting of Foreign Ministers, better known as the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) is responsible for the formulation of policy guidelines. The AMM is supported by the ASEAN Standing Committee (ASC) and the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM), while the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) is supported by the Senior Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM) and several working groups. Overall coordination at the national level in each of the ASEAN member countries is undertaken by a dedicated ASEAN department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 4. ASEAN Environmental Management Framework ASEAN cooperation on the environment started in 1978 with the establishment of an ASEAN Experts Group on the Environment (AEGE), which has since been elevated as the ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN). The ASOEN is composed of the heads of environmental ministries/departments/agencies that are responsible for environmental matters in their respective countries. The cooperative programmes and projects of ASOEN are guided by the ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action on the Environment (SPAE)1999-2004. The ASOEN reports to the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (AMME), which is primarily responsible for policy matters related to the environment. At the national level on the other hand, ASEAN member countries have designated specific institutions to implement Agenda 21. Pro- Arguments 1. ASEAN serves as a regional-cooperation organization between the country members. 1.1 ASEAN has a well-established governance structure for the Southeast Asian region to effectively develop, coordinate and implement regional programs. 1.2 ASEAN also provides the forum to facilitate the development and implementation of integrated regional sustainable development policies, strategies and action plans consistent with the global framework and the needs of member countries. 2. ASEAN has the ability to advance its sustainable development goals and ambitions. 2.1 ASEAN emphasized that existing frameworks for regional inter-governmental governance such as ASEAN should be fully utilized as part of the international governance structure to promote coordinated sustainable development initiatives for that region. 2.2 ASEAN also called upon the Global Environment Facility to enhance its effectiveness by improving its operational procedures and be more responsive to the identified needs of developing countries; and accord priority to regional policies developed within the ASEAN institutional framework. 3. ASEAN has been successful in coordinating its member countries to plan a sustainable development framework in its agenda. 3.1 ASEAN called for declarations and commitments such as those contained in the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, Millenium Declaration and the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development to be implemented expeditiously. 3.2 ASEAN called for developed countries to fulfill their commitments in financial assistance, technology transfer and capacity building in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. 3.3 ASEAN also provides the forum to facilitate the development and implementation of integrated regional sustainable development policies, strategies and action plans consistent with the global framework and the needs of member countries. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ ASEAN called for the further enhancement of the international economic and trading systems to complement the ASEANs efforts to open trade and investment in the region, in particular, to improve market access for developing countries exports, eliminate trade-distorting subsidies and barriers to trade for agricultural products, and provides special and differential treatment to developing countries. ASEAN expressed its opposition to the use of environmental measures for protectionist purposes. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ ASEAN also called for the strengthening of the international financial architecture, which includes a review of the roles of the international financial institutions as well as international regulatory bodies in order to enhance their capacity to contain and resolve financial crises. Priority should be accorded to measures to protect the poor and most vulnerable segments of society. ASEAN also welcomed efforts to deal comprehensively and effectively with the debt problems of developing countries and to make the management of debt sustainable in the long term.

Le Silence De La Mer Analysis

Le Silence De La Mer Analysis Analyse the depiction of Franco-German collaboration in the short story ‘Le Silence de la mer. How effective is it in contesting the imagery and ideals of collaboration? The imagery and ideals (and indeed questions on their authenticity) regarding Franco-German collaboration are perceived and presented through means of a German soldiers transition from ignorance to knowledge. At the beginning of the story Werner von Ebrennac is idealistic, almost delusional, in his perspective on the German occupation. Towards the final ‘episodes of the story, however, an austere sense of darkness and truth pervades as he undergoes a transformation in his outlook which directly results from the revelations he faces in Paris. Vercors is highly effective in illustrating the fundamental flaws in idealising such a notion because by presenting the reader with an optimistic character and one whose naivety is flagrantly exaggerated to the point of being implausible he succeeds in juxtaposing the ideal and the actuality of Franco-German collaboration, thus inviting readers to witness their stark contrast. This question cannot be answered without incorporating an analysis of one of the short storys most significant images. Ubiquitous within it is the concept of a ‘marriage between France and Germany. As von Ebrennac himself says of Briand, ‘â€Å"Il va nous unir, comme mari et femme†. France, as is usual in her traditional guise of ‘Marianne, is the feminised party; the ‘femme of the metaphor, whilst Germany is portrayed as the husband; the ‘mari. Written at a time when women could not, particularly in the context of Nazi and Vichy ideals, expect the same rights as their husband, this pervasive symbol can be interpreted as one which casts France in a role of subjugated female to Germanys dominant male rather than a collaborator on an equal footing with her invader. This device is deployed in more detail on pages 29 and 30, when von Ebrennac tacitly compares France and Germanys relationship and on a lesser scale the unfeasible liaison between himse lf and the narrators niece – to the fairytale ‘The Beauty and the Beast. On a superficial level Vercors is suggesting that the so-called ‘collaboration between the two countries exists solely in the realm of myth and legend; that the ‘polite invasion of the early years of German occupation was a fantastic smokescreen designed to disguise its true tyrannical nature. On a deeper level it becomes clear that von Ebrennacs idealisations conceal an underlying recognition of Nazi values in spite of his seemingly personable demeanour. With the fairytales protagonists evidently serving as symbols of the two countries, the soldier inverts the emotional dynamics of the story by focusing on the torment of the Beast (Germany) rather than the capture of Beauty (France), creating an unusually positive portrayal of the former. Much like Nazi propaganda, the true train of events is glossed over and undermined. Furthermore, there lies a sinister undercurrent beneath the ‘bonheur sublime that this union is supposed to give rise to, namely ‘â€Å"leu rs enfants, qui additionnent et mà ªlent les dons de leurs parents, sont les plus beaux que la terre ait portes.† In this sentence von Ebrennac, whether he realises it or not, is indirectly referring to the Nazi aspiration to create a ‘Herrenvolk, or ‘master race, of Aryan people to improve their breeding stock. Finally, the very act of translating a traditional French story into German (La Belle et la bà ªte becomes Das Tier und die Schà ¶ne) represents far more than a linguistic practicality; it is symbolic of translating French culture, society and politics into German as well. From this we can glean that Franco-German ‘collaboration isnt the ideal which the Nazi propaganda machine, and of course the German soldier in this story, would have us believe. It is by no means a symbiotic relationship, but an invasion in which only one country will prevail; that of the invader. Although the complicity of France in advocating Nazi ideology during the war years has been brought into question in decades since, Vercors French characters are unquestionably resisters. ‘Le Silence de la mer is most easily interpreted as an allegory of passive resistance; the narrator and his nieces refusal to speak to the soldier who lives in their home uninvited is an act of great self-sacrifice and patriotism; an imprisonment of the mind which serves to protect the values of the culture and country they hold so dearly. In the nieces case, her silence and failure to make eye-contact with von Ebrennac is also a complex denial of her blossoming feelings for him. She forfeits what might, in other historic circumstances, have been a happy and suitable union in order to serve the best interests of her country. An analysis of the narrators library reveals how incompatible a ‘marriage France and Nazi Germany would be. For gracing its shelves (as observed on page 28) is a long list of classic authors, mainly French, with two things in common: they all uphold the Republican emphasis on intellectualism and individualism, and most would have been banned under the occupation. Although the two characters never verbalise their beliefs, the titles contained in this library are the literary manifestation of their convictions; the value they place on civil liberties and democracy. The inclusion of great writers of other nationalities, for example Shakespeare, is no doubt intended to symbolise resistance on a wider, European level. In short, the protagonists interests lie in resistance, not collaboration. The closing line of ‘Le Silence de la mer – ‘Dehors luisait au travers de la brume un pà ¢le soleil. Il me sembla quil faisait trà ¨s froid – epitomises, through means of pathetic fallacy, the deception of the early years of the German occupation. The relationship between France and Germany is not ‘un amour partagà ©, but, as the references to Shakespearean plays Macbeth and Othello imply, a tragedy, as one seeks to erase the spirit of the other. Von Ebrennacs compatriots words expose the true nature of Franco-German collaboration: ‘â€Å"Nous ne sommes pas des fous ni des niais: nous avons loccasion de dà ©truire la France, elle le sera. Pas seulement sa puissance: son à ¢me aussi. Son à ¢me surtout. Son à ¢me est le plus grand danger.† Not a collaboration at all, but a conquest.

How Do The Attitudes To Love E :: essays research papers

How Do The Attitudes To Love Expressed In The Following Poems Differ From One Another? The following three poems “To His Coy Mistress';, by Marvell, “The Good Morrow';, by Donne, and “Sonnet 116';, by Shakespeare all tackle the theme of love. Although they are all written about the same subject, they show remarkably different approaches. Two are written from the narrator to his lover to persuade her into commitment into a sexual or loving relationship. The third gives a neutral definition of true love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marvell’s is concerned with seizing the moment and living life to the full, and satisfying his need for sexual intercourse in his relationship. The narrator is more concerned about lust than love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Donne’s point of view comes after sex and he discusses the love between him and his lover and puts lust in his past.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116'; is slightly different as it provides the reader with a definition of ideal and ‘true’ love which gives the effect of a conclusion to Donne’s and Marvell’s poems.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In “To His Coy Mistress';, the speaker, created by Marvell, is trying to get his girlfriend into bed by saying that if they had all the time in the world they could spend a lot of time together and he would really take his time over her, worshipping her as if she were sacred:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   “An hundred years should go to praise thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze. Two hundred to adore each Breast: but thirty thousand to the rest.'; Marvell clearly exaggerates the time into years, which adds to the full effect of this idea of her being worshipped upon and praised almost like a God or a priceless work of art. At the beginning of the first section, the narrator tries to flatter her by saying: “Thou by the Indian Ganges side should’st Rubies find:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I by the Tide of Humber would complain.'; Picturing her by the Indian Ganges looking for Rubies makes her sound oriental and possessing exotic beauty. He makes it sound as if he is not worthy of her exotic beauties, he being a complaining commoner. In the second section, it is stated that the couple in fact, does not have all the time in the world: “But at my back I always hear   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Times winged chariot hurrying near.'; This gives the reader a dramatic image of a graceful, winged chariot coming out of the sky where clouds have partitioned to allow it through. “Thy beauty shall no more be found;

Brittney Spears Is a Dumb Media Loving Whore :: essays research papers

â€Å"Holy Shit I was so drunk that I did not even know I was married† Those exact words were uttered by Mrs. Spears just hours after she was joined in matrimony to her child hood friend. What the fuck, who in gods name gets married, especially when there drunk. At what point would the normal person say Wha, Wha, What the god-damn shit loving hell, what am I doing? No you ass hole priest I don’t, you hear me? I fucking don’t. Her spokes woman came out and said they were two kids who were having a fun time in Las Vegas. That’s NOT a reasonable reason, that’s not even close to reasonable! Nobody and I mean NOBODY gets married for fun; I don’t care how drunk you are. The truth is that there are two possibilities as to why this would happen. The first is that Miss. Spears may not fucking normal. Don’t even dare ask me who normal is. Anyway this would be a stretch for anyone other than her and Madonna, so it’s obviously not the reas on that she was wed. The other and more probable reason is that she was looking for a quick pick-me-up for her career. Ok she was hot in seventh grade, before she was rammed by Justin. Once we learned she lost her virginity her career was over. Every guy in this country said â€Å"son of a bitch† when they learned she had her cherry popped. With her latest release of â€Å"toxic† she has effectively stuck the stake in to the coffin of her career. You know the backlash that would have occurred if she and Janet Jackson had switched places during the Super Bowl. It would have been great for her media whorie-ness she could have grabbed everyone’s attention for at least 5 minuets which is longer than anyone in there right mind would listen to one of her albums.

Sport Psychology Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To fully understand sport psychology, we must ask ourselves two very important questions, first, what is sport psychology and second, who is it for? Put in the most sim-ple way, sport psychology can be an example of psychological knowledge, principles, or methods applied to the world of sport. "Two psychologists, Bunker and Maguire, say sport psychology is not for psychologists, but is for sport and its participants." (Murphy & White, 1978:2) However, it can be argued that sport psychology, can be for psycho-logy, just as it can be for sports scientists, managers, teachers, administrators, coaches and last but by no means least, the athletes themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is sport psychology that has stood apart from the discipline of psychology as a whole. "Its history is different, its concerns are often different, its centres of learning and teaching are often different, and its professional training is different." (Garfield, 1984:34) Yet despite this, sport psychology remains permanently bonded to psychology through its common interest in the fundamental principles of psychology, human behavior, and experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  No one can deny the significant role which sport and recreation plays in every cul-ture and society across the globe. In the western and eastern worlds alike, sport and lei-sure continue to support huge industries and take up massive amounts of individual time, effort, money, energy, and emotion. Within the media, competitive sport has gotten enor-mous attention and despite this, the public's appetite for more sport never is stated. "It has been estimated that around two thirds of all newspaper readers in Great Britain first turn to the sports pages when they pick up their daily paper." (Butt, 1987:65) When one con-siders the number of people who actually engage in sport or even take regular exercise, then the significance of sport to all our lives cannot be denied.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A common problem with sport psychology research lies in its somewhat myopic or short-sighted appreciation of present day accumulated psychological knowledge. As we look into sport psychology, we are confronted by a landscape of knowledge which rises and falls often suddenly and dramatically. "At certain times, massive peaks of understand-ing rise up before out eyes yet at other times, huge tracts of psychology remain untouched to the horizon." (Garfie... ...d of sport, something that cannot be ignored with the growing number in athletic participation by young people. "With each new year comes an increase in new developments dealing with sport psychology." (Murphy & White, 1978:9) However, there is still much work to be done in sport psychology. There are still many unresolved questions and even some new questions and even some new questions that have arisen over the years dealing with sport psychology. Take anxiety for instance. Psychologists have found ways to reduce anxiety but not eliminate it. Maybe there is no way to eliminate it since everyone has it. Another example is aggression. Wherever there are sports, there is aggression. Psychologists have stated that sports are a way for people to release their aggression. However, they still have not been able to fully eliminate the violence in sports. Psychologists are also working on new methods for motivating athletes because some athletes are harder to motivate that others. Even though there are these unresolved issues in sport psychology, the future of psychology in sports, especially youth sports, looks to be on a very progressive track with many new discoveries.