Migration Project Essay

The Tony’s Chips web site is to be moved from and external hosting solution to an internal solution. In addition, the site will be redesigned to enable customers to place orders. These are two separate work tasks that should be treated separately and performed by different team members. There are many options for hosting the web site internally, including software choices to hardware architecture. This document will review the tasks that need to be performed, document the process of performing those tasks, and justify the software and hardware choices. There are a few different alternatives to how this web site can be hosted. The company could host the web site with an external service that maintains their own servers and services. This method is commonly used by start-up businesses and web sites that do not require a huge amount of customization, monitoring, bandwidth, and storage. When a company wishes to have more control over their site and how it is hosted, they can chose to use a server service. With this kind of service, a company that owns a large server farm leases out one or more servers to the company. This allows the company to have dedicated servers, which they have control over without the need to physically store the server or perform the regular maintenance. Web sites that involve database-driven web applications can eventually require many different servers. This can be a problem for some companies that do not have the logistical capabilities to store these servers on-site. Consider that these servers will take up space, require appropriate cooling, and warrant a sophisticated fire-suppression system. A server farm service will have all of this in place all ready at no additional cost to the client. The first step in migrating the web site from an externally hosted service to an internal system is to get the infrastructure in place. This includes the physical computers that will be used, the software servers that will be installed on these computers, the network configuration, the wide area network connectivity, and the necessary firewall. Once all of this is in place, the content of the external web site should be replicated to the internal system, as it currently is. Then, after testing the internal web site via the IP address that points to the internally-hosted version, the systems administrators can update the DNS record for the web-site’s domain name to point to the internally hosted version. This can take a couple days to fully produce across the major DNS backbone on the internet. During that time, some traffic will go to the internal site and some will go to the external site. There will be no downtime as far as the users of the site are considered. However, some data that is stored as a result of user-interaction may not be record at the new site. This will require that the old site to be left running for a business week. After every day, the old site should be checked for any new data transactions. Any found should be migrated to the new site. While this method will place more work on the staff of the company, it results in zero downtime for users of the site. While this method place more work on the staff of the company, it results in zero downtime for users of the site. The work to be performed in this part of the project can be broken down into: Planning and Analysis, Physical Setup, Software Installation, Code Replication, Data Migration. In the Gantt Chart in the attachment following this paper, a lot of the tasks that are taken during the process of migrating the existing site from an externally hosted service to an internally hosted system can occur concurrently. For instance, installation of the web server and the database server can occur at the same time. This is assuming that the web server and the database server are on two different machines. The system software that will be used is rath er standard for a web site. The paradigm hat is chosen revolves around a Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP) model. The security features available within many distributions of Linux are far better than would be available on Windows. In addition, everything in a LAMP model is freely available. An alternative model would use Windows and IIS. However, Windows and IIS are only available commercially. In contrast, Linux and Apache are free systems that are widely supported and are, by far, the most widely used platform for hosting web sites. In addition, the use of PHP and MySQL is also free. The web site could also be set up with something like Adobe ColdFusion and Microsoft SQL Server. However, both of these items are commercially available for a substantial price. While Microsoft SQL Server is quite popular, it does not come close to the wide spread use of MySQL. Likewise, PHP is an order of magnitude more common than Adobe ColdFusion. There is no reason to spend large quantities of money on application and database servers when the most commonly used, and fully supported systems are freely available. Since Tony’s chips is not currently an extremely large web site that processes millions of transactions a day, the architecture will be rather standard and simple. However, the need for redundancy has been made clear and needs to be taken into consideration. In the interest of making the web site fault tolerant, two web servers, two database servers, and a replication server will be set up for the site. The system administrators must also ensure that wide area network connectivity with a static IP address is set up. This way, the static IP address can be assigned to the domain name in the site’s DNS entry. It is also important that security be taken into consideration. The use of a firewall and a demilitarized zone will be required. The demilitarized zone is in place to ensure that the public can access the web servers. However, the database servers and the replication server will exist behind a firewall that prevents the public from accessing these computers. The only external entities that will be able to access these servers are the web servers themselves. The replication server is exactly what it sounds like. It is in control of the replication of data across the two databases. We want to make certain that if a single database fails, that the other database is still up and running. This requires that we keep two copies of the database running at all times. However, this will not require that the program logic deals with two sets of data. All modern database management systems have the ability to set up a replication service that copies all the data entered into one database into another database. This ensures that if one of the databases fails, we can switch over to the database that is still running. After the failure is resolved, the data between the two servers will need reconciled. However, the users of the web site will not notice an interruption. The same basic concept is used for the web servers. Depending on traffic load or server condition, a web server could crash. To ensure that the system is tolerant of such a fault, two web servers are set up. If one of the computers or web servers crashes, the other one can pick up the traffic. In addition to providing the key benefit of fault tolerance, the additional web server can be set up to use load balancing. Since there will usually be two web servers running at any given time, it is possible to set it ups so that the traffic to the web site is split between the two servers. In a case where the web site is getting a very large amount of traffic in a short amount of time, this can help prevent the web server from getting over-taxed. An illustration of the system architecture is also provided in the attachment following this paper. The requirement to update the web site to facilitate customer orders has been identified. This is a software engineering requirement that is fundamentally separate than the requirement to move from an external host to an internal host. The only major impact that this would have on the migration is in the case that the web site never used a database before this change. This has not been identified. However, even if that were the case, the previously described architecture assumes that a database will be used. Therefore, the architecture that is required for the addition of an ordering system is fully in place. Now that such a system is in place, software engineers and programmers can begin the work of designing and implementing the new ordering system. It would not make sense to roll these processes in with the migration of the web site. Migration of a web site has enough potential pit falls and potential points of failure without adding in the variable of entirely new code. If this were to be done at the same time, a fault in the new ordering code could be mistaken for a fault that occurred with the migration, or vice versa. One of the downsides of hosting a web site internally is that all support will be divested to the company rather than a third-party service. This includes all regular maintenance of the system as well as regular web site support. For maintenance, regular backups of each database should made. This could include nightly backups and weekly backups that are stored off-site. This also involves maintaining network cabling and monitoring the temperature of the server storage area and cleaning dust out of the servers fan vents. This will also require monitoring network activity for malicious attacks such as a port scan or a distributed denial of service. More advanced server solutions that are available as external hosting would include all of this in their service fee. Technologies to detect and prevent things like distributed denial of service takes planning and a non-trivial software investment. Of course, the addition of the ordering system adds new requirements to the web site support. Customers will need a place to email and/or call to inquire about orders or complain about the service they received. There will need to be individual who are responsible for addressing these customer interactions. Evaluation of a web site like the one planned in this document is an ongoing process. At first, the success of the migration is evaluated by the existence and duration of any down time. Then, web site responsiveness and uptime is evaluated. With the measure put into place, the downtime should be zero and the uptime should be close to 100%. Even with redundancy and fault tolerance, it is impossible to guarantee 100% uptime. To evaluate the new order system, the success of orders needs to be taken into consideration. Can customers place the orders that they wish to make? When a product is out of stock, does it state so on the product pages and prevent the customer from placing the order? When the customer places the order, does the financial transaction process successfully? Is the database notified about denied charges? Beyond the mechanics of the order procedures, the number of orders being placed should be evaluated. The success of the web site can partially be evaluated by assessing the conversion rate on the web site. The conversion rate is the number of visitors who proceed to making an order. The goal is to convert as many customers as possible. If the system’s cart and the checkout system is not intuitive, the result could be a very low conversion rate. Conclusion The Tony’s Chips web site will be migrated to an internally hosted system consisting of fault tolerance and redundancy. After this logistical process has been completed and all necessary DNS entries have successfully updated, the system will be modified to include an ordering system so that customer can order chips and any other product that is offered. These two objects are separated to ensure that they do not interfere with one another and to limit the number of variables at any given time. With the proposed architecture and design, it is believed that the new system will be highly efficient and effective. In the attachments following this paper, as some were discussed earlier there will be a gnatt chart, system architecture illustration, and a use case.

How Societies Depend on Computers Essay

In the 21st Century, the society that we live in has become highly dependent upon computers. The computers have increased the efficiency of the human resource by many times. It not only saves the society from a lot of work, but also acts as a source of entertainment. It is not only helping professionals in their office work but also helping children in their initial development. Businesses have reduced their requirements of human resource as they have adopted the computers in their processes. Teachers and professors use computers today to aid in their lectures and activities with the students. The students are highly dependent upon the computers as they study online, word process their assignments, print their documents, study from e-books and search for anything that they do not understand in the lectures. The professionals in the workplace use computers to manage their work, to make schedules, take notes, for accounting practices and for getting assisted in decision making. Many corporations have implemented systems using computers as an alternative to the human resource. Systems such as Enterprise Resource Systems (ERPs), Customer Relationship Systems (CRMs) and Decision Support Systems (DSS) help the top level management as well as the lower level staff to engage in best practices. Through these systems, the corporations reduce their costs, reduce inventory holding and get rid of excessive labor. The use of computers is not limited to the business today as governments have also started to incorporate computer systems in every aspect of public systems. Computers help monitor the traffic and manage the traffic through traffic signal lights and fines system. The computers have made it into the kitchens of households as they control the microwave heaters, fridge, freezers etc. The computers are also now everyone’s pockets these days as smart phones are getting common and cheaper day by day. The traditional mails are replaced 95% by e-mails, which are free, and the access to internet has also enabled many other services. Computers are also replacing televisions in many homes as they include DVD players and are less costly. The general-purpose attribute of the computers are making them everyone’s favorite. Everyone has some or the other use of computer daily. The banks are shifted to computers and internet banking has thrived. Where the computers are helping so much, they are also causing a lot of distress for many people and pain. Internet has made hacking easier for the hackers with the criminal intent. These hackers can erase important data and cause losses over millions. The popularity of computers has also brought with it the popularity of porn over the internet. There is no one who can stop children of illegal age to watch porn over the internet. Some say that the new generation is getting spoiled because of the access to the internet and computers at home and at schools. With the advent of computers, the privacy of the people has been stolen from them as anyone anywhere can take photographs from digital cameras and make videos. However, the society would still have suffered if there were no computers. We would still be living in the middle ages if the use of computers would not have flourished in the society. It would not have been possible to have a video chat with your relative living in another continent for free if the computers would not have been invented.

Confucianism and Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee Essay

Celebrated cases of Judge Dee, a detective novel which describes crime cases which happened in China during the Tang Dynasty, in the 7th Century. In the book Judge Dee is a well known magistrate of Chang Ping, whom and is famous for solving crime and maintaining justice, particularly amongst common the Chinese People. In the book, Judge Dee is faced with three murders. As Judge Dee begins solving the crimes, the story unfolds slowly and presents historical, social, legal, philosophical and even religious pictures of ancient China. Tang Dynasty China was a period in which society was strongly influenced by Confucianism, due strongly to the previous influence of the Han Dynasty. These Confucian standards within Tang society strongly guide interpersonal relationships throughout the story in the form of right relationships; in particular, the relationships between father and son, ruler and subject, husband and wife, elder brother and younger brother, and the relationship between friends. These standards of interpersonal relationship strongly emphasized in Confucian belief played major roles throughout the three trials which Judge Dee faced. In order to examine the stories, the Confucius principal should first be discussed in great depth. Confucius sees social order as a series of status groups and graded roles, from the ruler at the top through officials, scholars, gentleman, all the way to the father of the family; all with authority over, as well as a responsibility to set a good example to those below them. The key element of these interpersonal relationships is right relationships (also known as five relationships). These relationships refer to the ties between father and son, ruler and subject, husband and wife, elder brother and younger brother, and those between friends. [1] The relationship between father and son, according to Confucius, is that children always respect their parents and parents always are a moral model for their children. Between ruler and subject, the rulers are responsible for taking care of his people, trust his subject and be a good model, while the subjects should remain loyal and faithful to their rulers. The husband should treat his wife respectfully, while the wife should support the  husband. The elder brother should be a good role model and take good care of and younger one, while the younger one should respect the older brother (brothers being fraternal to each other). Finally, friends should be honest and trustworthy toward one another. From the five relationship principle, every person has many roles to play in this life , or in this society, and must obey these five relationships so that the world and the universe can improve toward perfection. These relationships are also interchangeable and relative. For example, a father in family can also be a subject to the rulers, a friend to other people and meanwhile a son to his mother. It s therefore believed that every person has a duty to follow through with their role within society, a concept which is clearly upheld by Judge Dee throughout the book. In Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, there are many cases follow the Confucius guide previously mentioned. For example, one of Confucius’ Analects says, â€Å"In order to increase the peace and harmony in society, appoint the honest and empathetic to office.†Ã¥â€œâ‚¬Ã¥â€¦ ¬Ã¥â€¢ Ã¦â€º °:ã€Å'ä ½â€¢Ã§â€š ºÃ¥â€°â€¡Ã¦ °â€˜Ã¦Å" ?〠Ã¥ ­â€Ã¥ ­ Ã¥ ° Ã¦â€º °: ã€Å'舉ç› ´Ã©Å' ¯Ã¨ « ¸Ã¦Å¾â€°,則æ °â€˜Ã¦Å" ;舉枉éÅ' ¯Ã¨ « ¸Ã§â€º ´,則æ °â€˜Ã¤ ¸ Ã¦Å" Ã£â‚¬â€š 〠[2]. Similarly, the Judge Dee story follows this Confucian principle, as evidenced by the original introduction: â€Å"If, therefore, a judge is honest, then the people in his districts will be at peace.†[3]. If a judge, as a ruler to the people in the lower level, can be honest to the people, then the people will obey and the society can remain in order, as portrayed within the right relationship principle between ruler and subject. Readers can also see this principle applies in the cases which face Judge Dee. The story begins with the murder of a travelling silk merchant, whom was traveling with another merchant. The merchants were travelling together for safety, when one of them murdered the other, sold the victim’s possessions, and ran away to live a wealthy life. When caught, the merchant placed all blame on someone else. The relationship portrayed between these two merchants, according to Confucianism, is one between friends (Confucius states that friends should be straight, honest, trustworthy and well informed in order to benefit in life). However, the merchant Shao thought  differently. Instead of being a trustworthy and honest friend, he ruins the relationship between friends, and commits the murder, thus creating chaos in society. Another murder case n the story takes place in Huanghua village. A woman, Mrs Djou, had an affair with Mr. Hsu. Later Mrs Djou murdered her husband Bee Husn in order to have Mr. Hsu marry her. Mrs. Djou even gives her little daughter drugs so that her daughter cannot tell on her. Mrs. Bee, Mr.s Djou’s mother in law, had been ill since the time of her son’s death, though Mrs. Djou neglected this fact and did not try to take care of her. These behaviors broke three principles of the right relationships. First, Mrs. Djou committed a severe crime of killing her husband, and broke the relationship between a husband and a wife. Also, she gave drugs to her own daughter, ruining the relationship between the parent and the child. A mother should be a good model and take care of her child, but she failed to do that. Moreover, she ignored Mrs. Bee’s illness instead of trying to cure her, once again breaking the relationship between parents and children. Mrs. Djou failed to be a mother and here, failed to be a daughter in law. At the end of the case, Judge Dee sentences Mrs. Djou to a painful execution for murdering her husband and having an affair with another man. Mr. Hsu is sentenced to strangulation because he took part in the crime of having a affair with Mrs. Djou. However, there is another person who gets punished, Doctor Tang, Mr. Hsu’s teacher. Dr. Tang is the host teacher of the private school, and lives with all his students, taking charge in the supervision of his pupils. During the tribunal, Judge Dee told Doctor Tang, â€Å"You, a man of wide learning and many years experience, have failed miserably in your duties as a tutor. The crime of adultery took place in your house, and, as it were, under your very eyes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.you are strictly forbidden ever again to engage in the teaching of students.† [4]The Judge then proclaims to Mrs. Bee(though does not in fact punish her), â€Å"You failed in your duty of supervising the conduct of your daughter-in-law, and consequently two heinous crimes were committed in your house.†[5] This relates again to the Confucian theory of right relationships. The elderly should play his/her role as an older person  in the Chinese society, or else the society will go without order, a nd though Mrs. Bee doesn’t get punishment, the words Judge Dee says clearly portray interpersonal relationships in Chinese society. Throughout the story the concept of right relationships is so important that people get punished, or scolded when they fail their Confucian duty. Doctor Tang was both elderly and a teacher, and is therefore responsible as a teacher, mentor, and supervisor in the lives of his students. However, he fails his duty as a teacher. According to the story, because Mrs. Bee and Dr. Tang did not do their duty of watching and guiding the younger ones (daughter in law and students), they indirectly let the crime take place and caused the tragedy. Throughout Celebrated Cases of Jude Dee, the relationship between ruler and ruled, between friends, husband and wife, parents and sons/daughters, the elderly and the younger remains incredibly significant, and continuously guides interpersonal relationships. Those whom did not follow the standards of the right relationships were met with punishment from Judge Dee, strongly exemplifying Confucian morality as a whole, and in many ways portraying a large aspect of Tang era society. Bibliography Gulik, Robert Van. Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1976 Murphey, Rhoads. A History of Asia Sixth Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc., 2009 ———————– [1] Rhoads Murphey, A History of Asia Sixth Edition, (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Person Education Inc., 2009),32 [2] Confucius and his students, Analects 2:19(ç‚ ºÃ¦â€ ¿Ã§ ¬ ¬Ã¤ ºÅ'ç ¬ ¬Ã¥  Ã¤ ¹ Ã¦ ¢ ) [3] Robert Van Gulik, Celebrated Cases of Judge Dà  â‚¬Ã   Å'à  Å½Ã   â€˜Ã   Å"à   Ã    ¥Ã    ¦Ã    «Ã    ¬Ã    ®Ã    ¯Ã    ´Ã  ¡Ë†Ã  ¡â€°Ã  ¡Å½Ã  ¡ Ã  ¡â€˜Ã  ¡â€¢Ã  ¡ ¥Ã  ¢ ºÃ  ¢ ¼Ã  £â€ Ã  £â€¡ee, (Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, Inc., 1976),5 [4] Robert Van Gulik, Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, (Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, Inc., 1976),208 [5] Robert Van Gulik, Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, (Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, Inc., 1976),208

Trends in Sustainable Travel and Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Trends in Sustainable Travel and Tourism - Essay Example The major directions in the development of sustainable tourism are discussed here in detail. It was the widespread realization of the need for preserving natural resources and natural assets that led to sustainable tourism. People are now keener to use eco-friendly products and processes eliminating the least chance of harming the nature. As Mullis (2012) points out, fifty percent of the American youngsters in a survey were of the opinion that they would only use an airline if and only if the authorities take initiatives to make up for carbon emissions. The same opinion was predominant among tourists travelling across tourist spots. They only use things that can be recycled and reprocessed. It eliminates the careless throw out of plastic, carry bags and other non-biodegradable things. According to Mullis (2012), tourism industry is paying more attention to introducing carbon offset facilities to tackle greenhouse gas emissions; and tour operators are now offering carbon offsets to th eir customers as they are well aware of it. Sustainable tourism does not require too much initial capital investment. So, the small-scale industries in the tourist sites are adopting various means of protecting the environment in order to satisfy their customers. As stated in the United Nations’ Managing sustainable tourism development (2001) principles, in order to nourish tourism in a particular locality; beaches, mountains, rivers, and all the flora and fauna are to be protected and preserved with fondness: and in the light of these observations made by the policy makers, various laws have been made to protect the indigenous characteristics of the tourist sites and for the protection of the environment. With the enactment of local laws pertaining to resource exploitation, consumption and waste dumping, issues relating to tourism could be tackled to a large extend. Another notable feature in the area of sustainable tourism is the developments made by the Thai people in the area of mass tourism with the help of their affluent historical, cultural and natural assets. They made small-scale tourism projects which are community based and implemented sustainable tourism in their ethnic village of Karen. The reason for such an allocation was that the indigenous people knew the terrain and the pulse of the environment better than the outsiders. The aims of this program were to improve the all round quality of the village population, preserve the unique culture of Karen village, allow the indigenous population to make decisions about their way of life and to contribute to the preservation and protection of the natural resources and assets of the region (Managing sustainable tourism development, 2001). They implemented this idea with the help of Nongovernmental Organizations. Thus, Thailand was one of the pioneers to teach the world the new trend of dividing sites between native people and giving them complete freedom to promote it to the fullest.

Criminal law in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Criminal law in UK - Essay Example Center of discussion in this paper is criminal law, a branch of law that deals with crimes committed against the public authority. Criminal code covers the crimes punishable by criminal law while procedural law deals with the prosecution process and the recommendations for punishments and sentencing under the criminal law. Historically, the three broad categories of crimes covered by the criminal law included felonies, treason and misdemeanors. Criminal code has being extended to cover new forms of crime like organized crime, terrorism and money laundering which have been occasioned by the convergence of global economies and changes in both the global political and social structure. Several legal scholars have identified numerous salient features which distinguish criminal law from civil and commercial law. Criminal law has been identified as a worthwhile in achieving a certain level of societal morality as well as an efficient mechanism of responding to wrongful acts. Criminal law m ainly is legislated around the harm principle and the public order rather than private wrongs. Several aspects of criminal law whether from the crime committed point of view or the prosecution procedure are able to distinguish criminal law from other types of law from both non-legal perspective and legal perspective. Crimes punishable under the criminal law are based on the actus resus that simply means a bad act and mens rea which simply is the bad mental state of an individual. Criminal law is irrelevant when other laws exist to punish the crime like the tort liability laws or when in the act of committing the crime there was no immoral intent like in the strict liability crimes that are punishable by other laws4. Purpose of criminal law Generally, the main purpose of criminal law is to regulate the behavior of the citizens of a particular country. Criminal law seeks to punish individuals who go against the limits and boundaries of societal morals through legal action against the offenders5. Criminal law includes statutory laws that are legislated by the federal, State or local governments and case laws also refereed as common laws and which exist from one generation to the other. Criminal law is also aimed at protecting the offender. The victims of the crime will usually desire some revenge hence they will have methods of preventing such harms to them in the future6. Usually, the law takes in to consideration their genuine concerns about the possibility of future injury to them from the same source. Historically, before many nations established organized judicial systems, the avenge of the injury or harm was left to the victim or other powerful persons who could protect the injured hence in modern economies and societies, the state has the duty to protect the offender from revenge as well as bring justice to the victim and protect the injured from any possible future harm from the same source7. Criminal law has a restoration function. In some criminal justi ce system, the position of the victim is usually considered during the trial hence the defendant may be required to pay fines as well as serve a period of time in prison or community service8. Every country has to have a justice system which is ideal to prohibit criminal acts which violate the public interests hence one of the purpose of the criminal law is deterrence of criminal acts through the punishments contained in the criminal code. The most effective mechanism to achieve deterrence is immediate punishment for offenders who are found guilty of criminal acts after the legal action9. Criminal law also can create general deterrence which many legal scholars have pointed out as a cost-benefit way of deterring people from creating crimes. General deterrence may require the population to be educated hence the public must be aware of what is criminal like parking in prohibited places or driving while drunk hence the principle of malum prohibito should be applied. According to malum in se, the public are deemed to

Leader that I admire ( Jesus Christ ) Scholarship Essay

Leader that I admire ( Jesus Christ ) - Scholarship Essay Example Thus everything, Jesus ever did or said is valuable today just as it was that time. This is something that cannot be said of any other being; dead or alive. This therefore is to say that every word and act of Jesus is valuable to all humanity no matter their location or walk in life. Jesus simply became the much needed Light of the World. Jesus was and still is the epitome of love. Jesus loved others so much and He would listen to them without being patronising. The loving nature of Jesus was demonstrated by not only the caring for the people more than the regulations and rules but also by eventually giving His life away so that mankind can be redeemed from sin. This is one of the habits of a great leader; listening and loving others without measure. He taught his disciples as well as His followers to have faith not only in Himself but also God. He emphasised the importance of faith so much that He gave an analogy of the mustard seed, demonstrating that all what is needed is a little amount of faith for one to move mountains. Jesus was a wonderful listener and He listened to all and sundry, without discriminating against anybody. There is nothing as important as lending someone an ear and giving them your time. A great leader anywhere listens not only to his subjects, but also to his own conscience as well as promptings from God. Jesus also saw great potential in people and was willing to make an investment of individuals other people would have easily dismissed, the early followers of Jesus (disciples) were not religious at all, yet Jesus was willing to use them to begin His church. Jesus was also an amazing leader in that He handled criticism positively. When criticised for allowing a prostitute to sit down crying and anointing his feet, Jesus gave them a story which gave more honour to the woman. Jesus thus, handled criticism graciously. It is the story, deeds and love of this Greatest Teacher who ever lived that inspires

Introduction to the World Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Introduction to the World Politics - Essay Example As highlighted before, owing to the nature of distinctively existing international entities (nations), there is bound to arise ethical debates that arise from each entity wanting to further their own agenda. Such ethical debates have existed from time memorial, and there is one normative position that is taken on key ethical debates, democracy is the fairest and just system of governance and relations. This is because involved parties can arrive to an acceptable compromise. Democracy employs the CAPI (coalesced authority, power and influence) model which assists all parties highlight the actual underlying areas of conflict so as to adequately align authority, power and influence to realize optimal production, output, trade and economic growth. Democracy also employs RDSM (Revised Decision-Square model) (Connolly, 2013). RDSM can be employed to enhance process efficiency through categorizing the numerous important decisions and help in monitoring conflict areas and triggers. Nations c an realize a creative and goal oriented decision making process by engraining conflict management into team leadership. Furthermore, nations can categorize conflict into two main groups; functional conflict and dysfunctional conflict. The type of conflict determines how the involved parties will respond to or manage the conflict.The balance of trade is the difference obtained from the monetary value of exports and imports. This is an important economic indicator as to how the country can sustain itself.

Youth and Anti-Social Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Youth and Anti-Social Behaviour - Essay Example Alcoholism, drug abuse or substance abuse, sexual abuse, violence, cybercrimes etc are growing among the youths which are a matter of concern for the sociologists and the government. Morality and ethics are rapidly diminishing subjects in our society at present which encourage the youths to engage in all sorts of antisocial activities without a second thought. The life philosophies of the youths in the 1980’s or 70’s and that of the youths of the 2010 are entirely different. Because of the changing perceptions about life, youths create lot of social problems in different forms which is discussed briefly in this paper. What is social problem? â€Å"A social problem is a condition that at least some people in a community view as being undesirable† (What is a social problem?, n. d). It is difficult to define social problem accurately or comprehensively because of the various dimensions associated with it. Murder, violence, theft etc are accepted by everybody as soci al problems. However, teenagers who play loud music in a public places may not view it as a problem, even if it causes disturbances to the public. Smoking is also a personal matter; but if it performed in a public place, it can cause immense damages to the health of the people around the smoker. Same way, drug and alcohol abuses are personal matters; but these things can lead the abuser towards antisocial activities. ... Anti-social behaviour doesn't just make life unpleasant. It holds back the regeneration of disadvantaged areas and creates an environment where more serious crime can take hold (What is ASB? n. d.) Man is a social animal and hence it is difficult for him to lead an isolated life. Since we are living in a society, it is necessary for us to satisfy the needs of the society along with satisfying our own needs. At the same time, individual needs should never cause any problems to others in the society. In other words, an individual need become a socially accepted need only if it does not cause any physical or psychological problems to others. For example, sex is a biological or psychological need for all the living things. Sexual engagements are socially accepted, only when both the parties did perform it based on mutual consent. However, rape cannot be justified under any circumstances because of the absence of mutual consent in such cases. Moreover, sexual activities of minors are unac ceptable to the society even if it performed with mutual consent. In short, same activity can become a socially accepted or rejected one based on the circumstances or the nature of the activity. Alcoholism and drug abuse are some other major antisocial activity undertaken by youths. These things are considered as personal matters by many of the youths. However they are forgetting the fact that alcoholism or drug addiction may result in severe mental, physical and social problems which may affect others as well. Alcoholism and drug abuse can create lot of social problems such as Divorce, loss of employment; domestic violence, drunk driving etc. All these problems will affect a society one

Corporate Finance Nautilus Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate Finance Nautilus - Research Paper Example The appropriate discount rate is 6.04%, which is the weighted average cost of capital. The present value of the firm with this discount factor and the predicted cash flows is $12,885,000. Introduction Nautilus Inc. is a Consumer Fitness Products Company founded in 1986 and headquartered in Vancouver, Washington. The company was incorporated in 1993 in the state of Washington. The company targets individuals and enthusiasts who wish to enjoy the benefits of regular exercise and thereby improve their health. The company sells its products through two channels – direct and retail. The main objective of corporate finance is to maximize the value of shareholders by making proper investment and financing decisions. This paper examines the extent to which Nautilus has been successful in meeting this objective, and whether the stocks of the company represent a safe and worthwhile investment. Observations In order to evaluate the performance and financial status of the company, some of the important financial ratios, trends and market information were collected and analyzed. Some of the important financial figures for a period of five years between 2007 and 2011 are shown in Appendix-1. Relevant ratios have been calculated and are shown in Appendix-2. Sales The growth in sales for the year ended December 31, 2011 was 7.1% over the figures of 2010. However, for the three preceding years the growth has been negative. The trend has been good, and in each year the negative growth has been reduced, and the growth rate has become positive in 2011. The company operates in two segments, namely direct sales and retail sales. The segment wise sales figures for the years 2010 and 2011 are shown in Table-1. It can be seen that direct sales constituted almost 60% of the total sales, while retail sales made up the remaining 40%. A small portion of the total income has come from royalty. A look at the distribution of the sales shows that cardio products accounted for the major portion of the sales accounting for 42% of the direct sales in 2011 and 32% in 2010. Overall, cardio products accounted for 66.35% in 2011. Cardio products have also shown a healthy growth in direct sales but a small decline in retail sales. Strength products accounted for 31.02% in 2011. Percentage of Total Year Ended December 31, 2011 2010 Change % Change 2011 2010 Direct net sales: Cardio products (1) $75,982 $54,409 $21,573 39.60% 42.12% 32.30% Strength products (2) 31,079 42,259 -11,180 -26.50% 17.23% 25.09% Total Direct net sales 107,061 96,668 10,393 10.80% 59.34% 57.39% Retail net sales: Cardio products (1) 43,718 43,628 90 0.20% 24.23% 25.90% Strength products (2) 24,873 24,161 712 2.90% 13.79% 14.34% Total Retail net sales 68,591 67,789 802 1.20% 38.02% 40.24% Royalty income 4,760 3,993 767 19.20% 2.64% 2.37% Total net sales $180,412 $168,450 $11,962 7.10% 100.00% 100.00% Table-1 Distribution and Growth of Sales1 Equity Growth and Profitability Equity investors are concern ed primarily with the return on their investment and the growth of their wealth. Various profitability ratios and equity growth are showninTable-2 Profitability 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 Return on

All in a Days Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

All in a Days Work - Essay Example I feel that Ann did not handle these issues effectively. She could have set committees to discuss these issues and give her a response about what needs to be done as soon as possible. Ann is a highly involving manager. This is can be seen through the number of tasks that awaits her to accomplish just in a single day. From the case, it is clear that Ann is directly responsible for employee’s salaries, technologies applied to accomplish work in the company as well as training and development of the employees. She also has various meetings with the executive and other meetings with the lower level employees. She likes accomplishing tasks on the order of priority and ensures she delivers on her duties. Ann usually has busy days at work and still creates time to attend meetings and even respond to emails sent by employees. She, therefore, meets almost all employees’ requirement. The only problem with her management system is that Ann tends to react more to issues instead of applying the proactive measures to curb them. It can be seen from the case that theirs is a high employee turnover in the company. This should be the first evidence that the employees are a source of competitive advantage. There should be a higher employee motivation though high starting salaries and other benefits to retain them (Roy, Donald, Bowen, & Hall, 1988). This way, the company will have best workers and spend less on training new employees. Secondly, there is a requirement for training and developing the employees. This is another source of competitive advantage that the company can exploit. The issue will make the company have employees who are knowledgeable about the new technological advancement so that increase efficiency and effectiveness while accomplishing their tasks.

Keeping the Lights On the Tanks Full Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Keeping the Lights On the Tanks Full - Essay Example This value shows that the current generation highly depends on crude oil and that life would be almost impossible if the use of crude oil products is stopped. Is this the case? This paper looks at a variety of options that we can use as a substitute to the use of oil. Before we take a look into this topic it is good to ask a very simple question, â€Å"can there be any positive effect on the alternative change of using crude oil products as our main source of energy or can it just worsen the situation?† Taking a walk around my neighborhood, I noticed that there are so many oil refineries. The one question that I asked myself is the cost that it takes the oil manufactures to erect and maintain such large industries. From the information that I collected, it is estimated that it cost over $20 million to erect an oil refinery site and even more to maintain it. Is it not an obvious fact that all these are transferred to the consumer and not the oil manufactures? It means that all these costs are incorporated into the prices of the oil and the consumer is forced to pay for it. This is just a simple example of how expensive oil is to the common man (Cothran 54). If an alternative could be made such that the source of energy does not have to depend on large refineries such as the ones set aside for the oil refinery then in turn we would reduce the prices of energy tremendously. For example let’s take a look at someone using a generator to provide electric energy to his family and another using solar energy. The one using solar energy will have to use just a few dollars for installation while the other would have to be buying diesel like every day. This shows that crude oil products are expensive and there are other sources of energy such as solar energy that are less expensive and that can provide us with more energy as compared to the crude oil energy (Behrens 78). Never has it ever been recorded that people fright for cooking oil that is made from natu ral vegetables. However from the movie it is also evident that oil cost us a lot of lives to import and export. Take a look at the bombing of the twin towers (Fuel). This is just an example of how much pain we aver to go in order to maintain the oil energy that flows into our market. We have to do a lot of things in order to get oil, we have to create enemies and at the same time use force and even soldiers in order to get and maintain the oil that we use. If we didn’t depend on oil then there would be no enmity between the US and Iraq or any Arabian country. However due to our dependency on oil we have to get exposed to terrorists and at the same time have our people killed as we kill others as well so that we can maintain our energy at all times. If we used bio diesel instead of the regular diesel, then there would be no fight for energy as every nation would be able to produce its energy. This means that bio-diesel apart from being cheap and readily available will bring mo re peace to the world as compared to the fights that are seen by oil and the lots of lives that we have to lose because of the fights for oil energy (Behrens 78). If we used clean coal as our source of energy then there would be less pollution to our environment. Before the world was a better place to live in. people could swim anywhere, and eat most of the fish that comes from almost all the waters.

Bronze Age in Ireland Essay Example for Free

Bronze Age in Ireland Essay The arrival of the Bronze Age in Ireland was a gradual process, as there is no sharp division between the last Stone Age and the early Bronze Age. The Bronze Age is broken up into three groups including the Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, and Late Bronze Age. Nevertheless there is a general agreement that the Bronze Age started around 2000 B. C. and lasted until about 500 B. C.  As the era suggests, it was the new metal work technology practiced most effectively by the Beaker people in the north-eastern part of the country that caught the attention and imagination of those with artistic talents. As well as that it was the transition of the use of a different harder heavier metal from stone. Armor, weapons, daggers, and awls area few of the new items produced. The Bronze Age cannot be denied as a time of development. Gold items were also produced however there were mainly for ceremonial or decorative purposes. Silver, copper, and gold of which were the raw materials were all found around Ireland including West Cork, Tipperary, and Wicklow. The knowledge of how to make bronze came to Ireland from Europe. It is made from an alloy of tin and copper. The copper was mined in Ireland, chiefly in county Kerry at Ross Island; however the tin was imported from Britain, which is believed to have been obtained by a trading of gold already available in Ireland. Due to the richness of copper and gold in the country, Ireland had developed great trading power which was most definitely used to its greatest advantage. This is evident because Irish Bronze and gold objects are found in many parts of Western Europe. (Appreciation and history of Art). There are a mass quantity of many spectacular pieces of gold jewelry from this era that has been found over the years however many have been known to been lost or destroyed. The majority being found in bog land. The beginning of this time was more considered a Copper age as it was the main use. But later on, the introduction of tin made it possible to forge better and more sophisticated tools and weapons from the new alloy. However these tools and weapons would have been available to just a few sections of society and this brought about social changes which saw hierarchies established with the ownership and access to the new metal being the overriding factor in where one ranked in this hierarchy.

The Production Of An Alternative Construction Material Economics Essay

The Production Of An Alternative Construction Material Economics Essay To prepare an industry study of all the construction materials currently being used in housing and commercial developments. To review the waste management system in the Philippines and look for areas that are sustainable sources of PET materials. To identify the current drivers and trends of the real estate and construction industry, as well as the Non-government Organizations (NGOs) in order to explore the viability of introducing the EHB products for their construction needs. To prepare a business model for each market segment, namely: (1) Non-government Organizations (NGOs) and (2) Real Estate Developers and Contractors. This MRR is focused on the following market segments: real estate developers, construction companies and NGOs. The study is limited to the Philippines specifically the National Capital Region (NCR) and provinces within a 130 km radius. Other construction materials that have the potential to be used with PET flakes aside from the concrete hollow block are excluded from this study. This MRR focuses on the Ecoblock venture into the Philippine market through the NGOs specifically on housing and development programs; and eventually cater to the local real-estate developers and contractors. Hence the desired outcome of this MRR would be a venture strategy considering the economic conditions, market outlook, competitive analysis, risks analysis and capital sourcing. President Aquinos State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 2010 highlighted the importance of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).  [1]  The PPP was seen as an important strategy for infrastructure development. It has also been estimated that the pipeline of PPP projects (infrastructure projects for transportation, water, power, health, and agriculture) for the year 2012 will amount to USD 5.49B. Another factor that can have an effect on these projects is the upcoming election in the year 2013 that can increase government spending on infrastructure developments. Lastly, the issue of corruption (specifically in government infrastructure projects) is seen as an important political factor in the construction industry of the Philippines. The corruption issues of the Philippines regarding infrastructure was discussed during Finance Secretary Cesar Purisimas meeting with Ernie Bower, the senior adviser and director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC.  [2]  In this meeting, it was cited that the PPPs program of the Philippines will be able to address the current issues on corruption. According to Purisima, the right infrastructures should be accompanied by forward-looking policies for the Philippines to be competitive through highly-viable and promising ventures. It was also made clear that corruption is a major factor that will hinder the gov ernment to increase spending for infrastructure projects. As shown in Figure 1, the Philippines gross domestic product (GDP) decreased from 7.6% in 2010 to 3.7% in 2011. This is due to the negative export growth rates in 2011 that was influenced by the global economic conditions particularly the economic and financial crises in US and Euro countries  [3]  . The domestic factors on the other hand include the decreasing demand and negative growth rate in agricultural production and the under spending of the government in infrastructure projects. Based on the GDP projections of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank, the Philippine economy will slightly improve in 2012 due to the support of growth in private consumption (higher OFW remittances), investment, and government spending  [4]  . However, if the debt woes in Europe will worsen and the recovery of the US economy will not be sustained, the Philippines will experience lower exports and foreign investment that may lead to lower GDP growt h. Considering these factors the Philippine government must be able to increase government spending on infrastructure projects to prevent the economy to slow down further. As shown in Figure 2, even if demand in the economy is lower in 2011 due to the lower GDP growth rate, overall prices still increased which was brought about by the increase in prices of petroleum in the global market.  [5]  Looking at the disposable income of Filipinos, if the overall prices increase, the purchasing power will tend to decrease. This might affect the amount of disposable income that might be allocated for house purchase. Based on Figure 2, inflation is lower in the 1st quarter of year 2012. Meanwhile, the 91-day Treasury bill interest rate decreased when the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) attempted to stimulate economic growth. The peso-dollar rate remained stable due to the increase in inflow of remittances. The stability of the peso-dollar rate is very important in the construction industry due to the fact that some of the materials being used in construction are imported. The instability of the peso-dollar rate will affect the price of these materials. As shown in Figure 3, construction output in 2011 went down. This is due to the under spending of the government in infrastructure projects.  [6]  The construction-to-GDP ratio decreased from 5.7% to 5.2%. The increase in government spending can increase the GDP for the coming years. Growth of other industries will also open opportunities for the construction industry. As shown in Table 1, the tourism industry, the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), and the mining industry are continuously experiencing growth which may lead to more construction projects. For the tourism industry alone, 47 hotels with 14,000 rooms will be constructed by the year 2013.  [7]   Due to the Philippines stronger financial position, the Standard and Poor raised the Philippines international debt rating to one notch below investment grade (BB+).  [8]  According to the DBS Group, the Philippines can achieve investment-grade credit rating with a year or two. Once this is achieved, more investments will flow to the country. The social factors that we will be considering in this study will give emphasis on the population growth rate, age profile, and housing backlog in the Philippines and try to correlate them with the construction industry in the country. As of July 2011 the Philippines has an estimated total population of 103.775 million and out of this, 11.86 million reside in the National Capital Region (NCR). The Philippines has an average population growth rate of 1.9% and the NCR has an average population growth rate of 1.78%. The majority of the population in the Philippines belongs to the working class (15-64 years: 61.1% or 62,201,170 as of 2010). This is the portion of society who are about to start their own families until those who are about to retire from their respective careers. People in this segment are also the ones who have the capacity to invest in residential developments. As of 28 December 2011 Philippines housing backlog is currently 3.6 million.  [9]  The government will tap shelter agencies like the Housing and Urban Development Coordination Council (HUDCC), the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), the Pag-ibig Fund, the Social Housing Finance Corporation, the National Housing Authority, the Home Guaranty Corporation, and the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation to reduce the housing backlog by 50% with an annual target of 350,000 housing units. To achieve this, the Aquino administration highlighted the need for more PPP programs to use the underutilized government lands. The insufficiency of available funding resulted to this housing backlog. The government needs Php 1.7 trillion to address the Philippines housing needs. In 2011, several typhoons and flash floods occurred in the Philippines between May and September. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will develop recovery and rehabilitation projects for victims of flash floods in NCR and other provinces with a total of 187,008 families. Also, projects will be developed for the victims of typhoons that entered the country, which affected 1.4 million families  [10]  . Last June 28, 2012, the general membership meeting of the Philippine Constructors Association (PCA) was held to discuss the current issues that the industry currently faces. In this meeting, innovation was considered as a driver of productivity. According to Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao, the players of the industry must be able to re-evaluate their resources and processes to make it more efficient, responsive and relevant to the present stringent requirements of the industry.  [11]  Regarding PPP for infrastructure projects, the government must demand from its private partners new technologies that will accelerate delivery time while ensuring public safety. However, Canilao also recognized the fear of being the first to try something different. With this, he emphasized that those players who will not invest in technological innovation might be left behind at bidding time. According to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Philippines may adopt new construction trends in Japan, particularly on the latest technology on roads and bridge construction.  [12]  The construction and engineering technologies from Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will help the Philippines build disaster-resilient infrastructures that would mitigate the effects of climate change. Technological innovation in the Philippines doesnt only happen with government projects, private manufacturers of construction materials also try to innovate the products and processes to improve the product offering. Cement manufacturers like the Holcim Group created a green sustainable solution for cement.  [13]  The company is trying to minimize the impact of cement manufacturing in the environment. The company focuses on bringing down carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by reducing the clinker factor by using mineral components as alternative materials.  [14]  Innovation on the use of raw materials was accompanied by improvement in the process namely: (1) use of alternative fuels; (2) co-processing; and (3) quarry habilitation policy. Co-processing is considered as a globally accepted technology that helps the company process water streams in the cement kilns to properly dispose hazardous industrial wastes.  [15]  The quarry habilitation policy would ensure that the quarry sites can be used productively by the community before they are completely mined out. Holcim Philippines was the first company to submit a Final Mine Decommissioning and Rehabilitation Plan to the Department of Natural Resources (DENR), which will serve as a blueprint in restoring quarry sites. Land development and construction have a direct impact on the environment wherein land conversion from agricultural to urban and residential greatly reduces bio-capacity (ability of the land to produce food and other resources for the society).  [16]  Because of this, sustainable land development is becoming more important in the construction industry. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) developed an ALI Sustainability Framework to chart, monitor, and report the companys progress in sustainable land development. The increasing awareness about environmental impact of construction activities will eventually affect the way residential and commercial developments are built. In 2006, the Philippine Green Building Council (PHILGBC) was formed as a national non-profit organization through the alliance of building and construction industry leaders from the private and public sector.  [17]  This organization was formed to ensure an ecologically and economically sustainable industry. This resulted to a local green building rating system that is now called Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence (BERDE). The BERDE scheme will serve as a benchmark for all property developers in the country. Last August 17-19, 2011, the first Philippine International Total Green Movement Exhibition and Conference was held at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex in Manila. The joint venture of the Philippine Constructors Association, Inc. (PCA), Global-Link Exhibitions Specialist, Inc. (GESI), Philippine Society of Ventilating, Air-conditioning, Refrigerating Engineers, Inc. (PSVARE), Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI), and Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Manila, created the Green Philippines 2011.  [18]  This event featured four exhibit segments on construction (Green Construct), manufacturing (Green Manufacturing), lifestyle (Green lifestyle), and energy (Green Energy). Also, last August 16-17, 2011, the 2nd Sustainable Building Technology Conference was held that invited international sustainability experts to discuss the best practices for a green industry. These events would show that the players in the c onstruction industry are already leaning towards environment friendly development projects. The construction industry is one of the most hazardous and risky occupations in the country. With this, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWG), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) signed a Memorandum of Agreement last May 4, 2011 to strengthen the campaign to minimize accidents in construction activities. This MOA aims to promote the welfare of construction workers and prevent the recurrence of construction-related incidents, notably the ones that recently killed or severely injured workers early 2012.  [19]  Also, this MOA is an off-shoot of DOLE Department Order No. 13 (which provides the Guidelines Governing Occupational Safety and Health in the Construction Industry) and aims to intensify the holistic and extensive execution of the policies and programs set forth in D.O. No. 13 in construction sites. The construction industry in the Philippines is currently leaning toward ecological friendly materials due to the global campaign to save the environment. The materials that are available range from pre fabricated walls and blocks to bricks that is considered to be the oldest building material used. The pre-fabricated walls and blocks use polystyrene as an aggregate that is added to the concrete mixture to produce a lighter and insulating product. Reinforced fire bricks are also one of the common construction materials that are used in construction of homes. Reinforced bricks are made of industrial wastes such as rice hull, coal ash, silt, mud and clay. The existing market for pre-fabricated walls and blocks are the contractors for commercial buildings and high-rise residential buildings. There are also some contractors that use pre-fabricated materials for home construction but the homeowners still prefer to use concrete hollow blocks (CHB) because of the high cost of the pre-fabricated material. The walls are pre-ordered by the contractor and are sometimes manufactured on site to avoid delivery expenses. On the other hand, the reinforced firebricks are used in home construction. This material is usually specified by the people who belong to the higher class of society mainly because of the price of this construction material. Pre-fabricated walls are used in exterior and interior applications in building construction. The lighter wall means that the foundations of a building project could be smaller due to the reduction in weight that the foundation needs to support. Installation time for the pre-fabricated wall is shorter compared to using conventional materials in wall construction. The product is smoother and does not need additional plastering (only the joints require additional concrete) because of the smooth finish that these walls generally have. The pre-fabricated walls also serve as good insulators that result to less energy consumption. A notable disadvantage of using this product, aside from the cost, is that the sizes that are available are only limited and could not be cut to size. The advantages of using reinforced fire brick in construction is that it uses less cement and is stronger than concrete. Bricks are also weather resistant and are considered to be ideal in tropical countries like t he Philippines because it slowly absorbs heat to keep the inside of the house cooler. Bricks do not need cement plastering and the walls do not need to be painted. The disadvantage of using this material is the high cost. Even if it requires less cement and no paint the cost of the material is still higher compared to common construction materials used. In the Philippines, CHB remains as a backyard industry because it is easy to produce, especially the non-load bearing CHB. The CHB can be produced manually by using an improvised mold. In producing a non-load bearing CHB, a mixture of sand, gravel, cement, and water can be manually compressed using the improvised mold. There are three reasons why CHB is still being used in construction, namely: (1) cost; (2) availability; and (3) ease of installation and handling. CHB still remains as the a cheaper choice in construction of a concrete house. As a backyard industry, CHB is available nationwide with similar product specifications. Lastly, CHB is a traditional product. With this, majority of the laborers or construction workers are familiar with CHB in construction. The familiarity of the laborers with a product is the main reason why CHB is still being used. The demand for quality, economy, and completion time are the major considerations for all construction projects that usually dictate the choice of technology  [20]  . The traditional construction material currently being used for construction projects is the CHB. Based on the interview with key players in the real estate industry, another alternative is the pre-fabricated walls. For fabricated walls, the entire wall is built off- site or on-site before installation as compared to CHB that are stacked one on top of another. In the Philippines, only 5% are using prefabricated building material in housing construction  [21]  . Over the years, different types of construction materials have been offered containing recycled plastic, such as PVC pipes. Recycling is especially important for thermoset polymers since this form of plastic cannot be reheated and melted back to liquid form. In the Philippines and in other countries, shredded plastic has been used as aggregates for bricks and construction blocks. Most of these, however, are not widely offered commercially and are not load bearing. The demand for this product is readily accessible in most areas and the market is sensitive only to the price relative to the quality of the product they receive. At present the 4-6inchconcrete hollow blocks prices are standard for all and vary only between the volume suppliers and the backyard suppliers because of their respective approach to the business. The buyers of the product favor the suppliers who are nearer to them (because of transportation costs) and if satisfied with the quality they retain their suppliers. However there are instances where the buyer changes suppliers in lieu of quality issues for this reason, industry rivalry will be considered medium. The technical skill and labor required isnt advanced nor does it require highly specialized machines to deliver the product, the only obstacle is the cash required to: 1) purchase the hollow block maker and; 2) to secure working capital requirements. The cost of a concrete block mixer is between Php30,000-P40,000, and a mold container would be approximately Php5,000 per piece. Normally a block maker can start a small-time business with 6 molds which is equivalent to Php30,000 therefore a backyard business can start at a Php60,000 investment excluding working capital. The disadvantage of this practice is it sacrifices the quality/durability of the blocks due to the lack of compression of the block being formed thereby resulting in a lower PSI rating. The difficulty in securing funding for this particular business is high because the business is not unique while the returns in this type of business do not instantly translate to high growth profits. The local venture capitalists who provide seed capital to startups look to sunrise industries such as the BPO sector and IT services delivery, or the next big website investment. The prospects of a potential participant to capture market share will primarily be on their ability to reduce the cost of their concrete hollow block while maintaining a reasonable quality and service. In order to achieve this, the potential participant must have a large base of clients in order to achieve economies of scale in their production of quality products and a person who will provide assistance to the client to ensure proper delivery and satisfaction, a backyard hollow block maker will not be able to be competitive and for this reason the threat of new entrants is rated as medium taking into consideration these factors. Some projects outsource their hollow block while others make it onsite. While it is preferred to buy the product in order to avoid the cost of investment and taking into consideration that there is abundant supply for this product (but at varying prices depending on which type of supplier: backyard supplier, volume supplier or a wholesaler, and depending on the volume purchase of the buyer the bargaining power of buyer is medium given the availability of a quality product in the market. The demand for reasonably priced hollow blocks are assumed to be growing at 10.5% and construction materials 5.4% which supports the argument that demand is good. Another consideration is that the real-estate residential development is in the form of condominiums and they make use other products such as pre-fabricated walls instead of hollow blocks. The construction boom doesnt directly translate to increased hollow block use and the prices of hollow block are generally stable therefore for these reasons the suppliers bargaining power is low. The bargaining power of cement and sand suppliers remain low since there are abundant sources for these suppliers. The PET flakes suppliers have a medium bargaining power since they are less abundant than the cement and sand suppliers. Moreover, the local PET suppliers have different methods in shredding and cutting the plastic such that those suppliers that have the ability to shred PET flakes at a certain size have a stronger bargaining power than others. For the low cost housing sector and other housing projects hollow blocks are still preferred. The emerging sector of high-rise residential projects make use of pre-fabricated products and gypsum boards however the market share of these products is only 5% for construction materials, therefore the threat of substitutes are rated medium. The success in this industry will be in the costing of the product and the quality. In order to reduce the overall cost of the product there is a need to meet operation efficiency and effective marketing in order to achieve economies of scale that will bring down overall costs for our firm while producing a good quality product. Opportunities Emphasis on PPP programs for government infrastructure projects Good forecast for the tourism, BPO, and mining industry Movement towards sustainable community development The use of plastic as an aggregate is not yet widely introduced in the Philippines The high amount of investment on PPP programs is seen as a good opportunity for the construction materials industry. For year 2012, several PPP projects are in the pipeline, namely: (1)14 projects on transportation; (2) 2 projects on utilities-water (3) 2 projects on power; 1 project on health; and (4) 2 projects on agriculture that amounted to USD 5.49B will increase the demand for construction materials. These PPP programs will also serve as an opportunity for private companies to increase their annual construction projects. The growth of three industries, namely: (1) tourism industry; (2) BPO; and (3) mining industry will also contribute to the growth of the construction materials industry. The increasing annual foreign tourist arrivals and domestic travelers opted for the increased in resorts, hotels, and condominiums. The increase in number of accommodation facilities was accompanied by the Republic Act of 9593 or Tourism Act of 2009 wherein the roads that are not initially classified as national but lead to tourism sites, airports, and seaports will be improved which will be included in the DPWH budget for 2012.  [22]  For the BPO, construction of commercial buildings is also expected to increase to meet the demand of the industry. The investment of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) would show that the mining still remains as a promising industry (Table 1). Investment on mining would result to more office sites and barracks for mining companies. The movement towards building more sustainable developments is seen as an improvement for the construction industry. New technologies for products and processes will help improve the viability of construction projects in the Philippines. By focusing on the impact of construction of the environment, the need for environment-friendly products may increase as the industry try to include the societys welfare in planning construction projects. The use of plastic as an aggregate is currently being used in Germany. However, this new aggregate is not yet widely introduced in the Philippines. This is seen as an opportunity for the company to introduce a product with more benefits than the existing products in the market. Threats Competition (large companies) Emergence of new products Competition especially against large competitors is seen as a major threat because these companies are already established in the industry. New companies that may introduce new products in the market may face difficulties especially if these products are not patented. Large companies can simply launch the same product at a larger scale. The availability of funding for these large companies will give them an advantage to produce more products. The more products a company manufactures, the opportunity to capture a larger market is bigger. Also, large companies can be seen as good suppliers for developers and contractors who want a steady supply of materials. Even if CHB currently remains as the primary choice for wall construction, emergence of new products as a substitute may pose as a threat for the CHB market. Even if only 5% in Philippines uses prefabricated building components in housing construction, the boom in the construction industry may increase the market for pre-fabricated walls. Across time, if more housing developments will be built using pre-fabricated walls, the demand for CHB may decrease. The cost of the EHB is at P5.90 per unit. The cost of direct labor is the largest at P2.52 per unit, followed by raw materials at P2.12 and factory overhead at P1.26. The key assumptions for these figures are assuming that 2,991,150 units of hollow blocks will be manufactured for the year. The hollow blocks will be used for 5,175 houses which represent only a conservative 5% of Gawad Kalingas projected housing projects. The cost of EHB at the end of the third year of operations will be at P4.94 assuming that quantity manufactured has grown to 4,307,206 units. The cost savings is achieved mostly on the labor side at P1.91 per unit (24% savings from P2.52per unit) brought about by more productivity. The hollow block machines full capacity for one year is 9,000,000 of hollow blocks, therefore as long as quantity improves to no greater than this amount, economies of scale can be achieved since there is little reason for labor and overhead costs to increase. Currently the market price for concrete hollow blocks is at P13.30 per unit which is 56% more than the cost of our EHB, the EHB is projected to sell at the CHB market price therefore we feel this cost is competitive enough to be in business. The pricing of EHB will not be lower since the EHB is a superior product compared to the CHB nor will be priced higher since the market may still be critical of the product in its launching phase therefore the best entry strategy is to price it aggressively at par with the CHB market price There is a 21% cost savings per square meter with the use of EHB versus CHB. This is based on Table 2. The addition of PET flakes lessens the requirement for both cement (27% less cost) and sand (32.7% less cost). Additional savings is realized from the labor cost on painting, layering and plastering in hollow block aggregate components, which lead to an overall reduction in cost per square meter. The Filipino construction materials market experienced an annual growth of 6.54% but is expected to witness a more sustainable growth of 5.36% until year 2015  [23]  . Being a supply-driven industry, supply of construction materials come from local suppliers based on the location of the project. However, with the boom in the construction industry (10.5% average annual growth rate), smaller projects like GK projects experience sh

Health Essays Childhood Obesity Overweight

Health Essays Childhood Obesity Overweight Childhood Obesity Overweight Introduction Childhood obesity in the United States is proving to be a topic of major concern. Throughout the past decades, this issue has been overlooked and simply unattended to. Other health issues such as second-hand smoke and cancer have indeed been the more popular topics addressed. However, people are starting to notice a change in the leaders of tomorrow. Quite frankly, these children are becoming extremely unhealthy and overweight. In the past, it was out of the ordinary to see a child that was obese. However, overweight children in the United States are actually starting to become a norm (Koplan, Liverman Kraak, 2005). This is where the problem begins to unfold. Parents are becoming increasingly concerned about their children’s health due to the fact that obesity hinders a wide range of factors. Imagine a child that cannot participate in any extracurricular activities such as baseball, soccer, or basketball due to his or her weight. Then, try to explain to that child that due to being overweight, he or she might have an increased chance of heart disease, strokes, and high blood pressure (Vessey MacKenzie, 2000). Above all, imagine being a child and learning that one of their peers has just died due to the fact that he or she was obese. One must begin to realize that the lives of children in the United States are at stake. Science in the past has told the public that each generation is living longer than its precedent. The tide has turned sadly enough as scientists are predicting that this verity is now untrue (Kimm Obarzanek, 2002). With that being said, if lives are beginning to shorten, one might conclude that it is now time to take some action. In an attempt to explore the idea of childhood obesity one must result to an interdisciplinary analysis. The topic involves a wide range of disciplines such as biology, sociology, psychology, and business, which should all be taken into consideration to avoid an oversimplification. There is not one single discipline that can fully address the entire scope of childhood obesity (Repko, 2005). By narrowing down the research, a large amount of data will be looked at using numerous perspectives to try to avoid a biased outcome. The extent of obesity in children is an extremely multifaceted topic and desperately needs to be approached this way to fully grasp and comprehend the issue. Also, for a complete understanding and resolution to be formulated, every discipline needed to investigate the issue must be used. Childhood obesity contains a vast range of disciplines to help in its characterization. With that being said, these disciplines tend to all be interlocked with one another. Looking at childhood obesity through the discipline of biology for instance would constantly be leading the researcher to a psychological standpoint every time a page is turned. Simply ignoring certain disciplines would be an extreme mistake in trying to come to a conclusive solution of the issue addressed and would most likely lead to a biased opinion. Disciplines The following is a compilation of all the disciplines used along with each of their contributions in the process of addressing the issue of childhood obesity. There is indeed a vast range of disciplines that are included. Chemistry, economics, law, and history all bring important insights to the table when addressing childhood obesity. Chemistry will look at various experimental data to try to assess the various structures of fats and sugars that are involved in a child’s diet. Economics could be used to try to understand the possible effects that production and distribution of certain foods has when placed in front of children. Why are these extremely unhealthy foods being put on the shelf for kids to buy? Economics would try to investigate this issue and bring forth a decisive explanation. In addition, law would be utilized to help to understand what governmental efforts have been made towards the issue of childhood obesity. Are the steps being taken by are government in the right direction or are they simply dancing around the heart of the issue? Finally, history is a very helpful discipline in referencing statistical data taken about obese children. Has this problem always been around or is it just now becoming an issue? History with the help of statistics will also illustrate past successes and failures of strategies that were put in action to help to aid the issue being discussed. Throughout the course of the investigation of childhood obesity all the preceding disciplines listed will be taken into consideration. However, biology, sociology, and business will be most relevant and crucial to the process of defining the issue at hand. Biology Biology will be used to try to understand the needs of the human body to progress and function. Each person has a minimum amount of calories that must be consumed to properly run its processes. Likewise, each person has a unique rate of consuming these calories and converting them to energy. The researcher can use biology to place an actually measurement of health of an individual. Attaining a proper measurement or gauge of health has proven to be a very difficult task. Height, sex, genetics, bone structure, and even ethnicity are all very important factors that determine a child’s proper weight. Biology will help to place a gauge on each of these factors and formulate a proper medium for each person. This discipline will be examined first in the following writing because one needs to understand what obesity is before he or she can begin to examine the problem. Biology will basically lay a foundation for the rest of the disciplines as to how they are to be used to assess obesity in children. Sociology Next, a viewpoint based on sociology must be addressed. Demographics of families, along with their ethnicities will be looked at to try to explain the effects of obesity on certain specific populations. Society will be investigated to try to expose the viewpoints of obese children and their parents. Does society really understand the issue? Do children place any concern with health and fitness? These are both very important questions that sociology will help to address through the aid of statistical data. Also, every child does have the right to choose what he or she consumes on a day-to-day basis. Hence, each child must face all of the problems that arise if he or she becomes obese. Obesity is not purely a biological problem. If the previous statement was true, a child could then simply consume less calories and loose weight. However, a child has to make cognitive choices and observations about what is acceptable. Sociology will step in and try to uncover any problems that may be resulting in a population of obese children that simply are misguided by the viewpoints of society. This discipline will be used after biology in hopes to build upon the new understanding of the problem. Once a person understands the physical aspects of childhood obesity using biology, then he or she can delve into the societal traits. Business Finally, obesity has become such a large issue that it has effectively created an entire new industry to take care of itself. Business is a discipline that will be used to help explain the way industries portray children and how they affect what populations recognize and understand. Business will try to assess ethical issues as to whether the food industry for example is making an effort to help. There are obviously many businesses in the United States that are trying to educate children about obesity. However, for every positive product formed, there is another marketing scheme that is made to try to take advantage of a very helpless situation. As a result, the structure and function of the food industry needs to be addressed and scanned for possible pitfalls and shortcomings. Lastly, the discipline of business will be used in the final part of this paper in hopes to illustrate how it relates back to the obese children. The reader will then furthermore understand the extremity of this issue and how it is rooted in almost every aspect of life. In summation, childhood obesity is an extremely sophisticated problem involving the ethics and morals or our society. Children cannot be expected to solve their own problem and desperately need help from all ends of the spectrum. The purpose of this paper is to lay the foundation for a better understanding and new perspective of childhood obesity. This perspective will hopefully stem new possible outcomes that are constructed by the synthesis of each of the discipline’s contributions. Furthermore, the following writing will attempt to educate society of the dangers of childhood obesity and show that this is not a problem caused by one situation. Hopefully the reader will realize that through an interdisciplinary understanding, bringing an end to obesity in children is not an unattainable goal. Background How is childhood obesity defined? Has this issue been around for a long time or is it merely just beginning to cause trouble for the United States? These are two very important questions that every individual needs to be aware of. One cannot expect to be able to successfully tackle an issue without knowing its history beforehand. First, childhood obesity is basically defined as a person that has a body mass index that is above the 95th percentile. That is, the individual exceeds his or her natural weight by approximately 20%. Body mass index is the most widely accepted procedure for sampling obesity in large populations. Basically, it is a numerical measurement composed of a person’s height and weight. Although this particular test does not take a persons bone structure into consideration, the average of an overall population remains very accurate (Vessey MacKenzie, 2000). The people involved in this issue are individuals between the ages of 6 and 17. Male and female children including every ethnicity that resides in the United States are included in this problem. Although obesity rates are increasing almost exponentially in all age groups, children seem to be of the most concern to health experts today. These children are in the most important stage of their growth. An overweight child is putting his or her entire lifespan in jeopardy (Green Reese, 2006). Adolescent obesity has not been around as long as other problems such as cancer, leukemia, or the flu. Yet, it is unique due to the fact that childhood obesity is growing at such an alarming rate. The first signs of childhood obesity began to appear in the 1960’s (Schwartz Puhl, 2003). What caused this sudden weight gain in children during this time? There are several possible explanations however there does not seem to be one clearly defined culprit. The fast food industry is just one of the possible causes that is often looked at. Critics believe that during the 1960’s fast food was starting to embed in American culture. McDonalds restaurants were popping up all around the United States offering a quick and effortless meal. Before fast food, most families were dependant upon time consuming home cooked meals. However, for the first time, people were starting to realize that a ready-to-eat meal was just a few dollars away. Consequently, people started putting the healthy meal aside and began to grab a quick sandwich from a fast food restaurant. Hence, in the 1960’s children’s calorie intake began to rise as their eating habits were basically being altered by society. Statistics showed during this time that the percentage of obese children was approximately 4.5%. As calorie intake began to rise, physical activities began to decrease. Approximately 33% of students in high school do not expose themselves to any strenuous physical activity. Present day schools are so involved in standardized testing that extracurricular activities have been in some ways taken out of the daily lesson plan. Even technology, which usually always aids in the advancement of society, has played a role in increasing rates of childhood obesity. Computer based games, and highly sophisticated cell phones are a few examples that have placed negative outcomes on beneficial cardiovascular events (Harper, 2006). Heath experts began to see a problem by the 1970’s. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was one of the first efforts in addressing the issue of childhood obesity. A study was done in three parts during a 25-year span starting in the late 1960’s. The test studied the body mass index of children and adjusted the results as age, sex, and ethnicity of the population of children changed through time. The results were anything but subtle. There was a 40% increase of overweight children in the ten-year span of the first and second studies. No other illness at this time was even close to growing at such an astounding rate (Rosenbaum Leibel, 1998). With that being said, the third study that was completed in 1994 delivered a divesting knockout punch. The National Health and Nutrition Survey revealed that the number of obese children in the United States had grown a monstrous 100% in the past 10 years (Dietz Gortmaker, 2001). Obesity in children was now considered an epidemic. In the past decade, the percentage of obese adolescents in the 95th percentile has once again doubled. Obese children between the ages of 6 and 11 seemed to have the highest grow rates of any other subgroup. Estimates were now showing that almost 15% of the children in the United States are obese or extremely overweight. Obesity does not seem to be biased towards any particular age, race, or gender. However, African American girls, Hispanics, and American Indians were shown to have the largest overweight populations (Koplan, Liverman Kraak, 2005). Why are obese children the population that is drawing the most attention? First, biologists studying this epidemic have noted that fact that the gene pool in the United States has basically remained the same over the past 15 years. This tends to rule out any possible explanations dealing with actual evolutionary changes or modifications in the human body. As a result, scientists tend to believe that the causes of the increase in children’s weight are a product of environmental effects on metabolism. At any rate, it is shown that individuals who are obese as children are most likely beginning a lifelong fight (Dietz Gortmaker, 2001). Present studies have shown that approximately 95% of obese individuals who succeed in loosing weight tend to gain almost all of it back over time (Koplan, Liverman Kraak, 2005). This statement is supported by our ever-increasing percentage of obese adults. In 2001, statistics show that there were 29 states containing a percentage of obese adults of 20% or greater. Hence, prevention at the earliest possible age is said to be the only hope for success in stopping this seemingly out of control problem. It is shown that the younger the child is, the less likely he or she will have developed bad eating habits. Also, younger children tend to be much easier to work with as oppose to stubborn teenagers who may not accept parental influence. All in all, childhood obesity tends to result in numerous mental, physical and social health disorders for the growing individual. Without immediate intervention at a young age, obesity in children may continue to grow (Kimm Obarzanek, 2002). The following writing will continue to decipher the issue of adolescent obesity and will expose crucial concepts, theories and assumptions dealing with each discipline involved. Biology will first be discussed with the goal of further defining the physical and biological effects of childhood obesity. One must understand how the child physically becomes obese and what biological factors are involved. Next, sociology will be addressed with the goal of educating the reader of the impacts that society has on obese children. Are there any direct causes of obesity that society may have initiated? Finally, business will be mined for possible ways that large companies and organizations have affected the issue. Are these interventions effective or are they merely ways to mask the problem? In conclusion, each discipline involved offers its own understanding of childhood obesity. One must take each possible approach into consideration in hopes of forming a new more comprehensive explanation. An interdisciplinary approach is used in this situation to help organize the inputs of the disciplines and then synthesize them into a new holistic picture. This process helps to avoid a biased opinion, which is likely formed by increasing specialization of the disciplines. Furthermore it attacks the issue from every angle within the reach of the disciplines used (Repko, 2005). References Biology Dietz, W., Gortmaker, S. (2001). PREVENTING OBESITY IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS. Annual Review of Public Health, 22(1), 337. Retrieved February 29, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database. Kimm, S., Obarzanek, E. (2002, November). Childhood Obesity: A New Pandemic of the New Millennium. Pediatrics, 110(5), 1003. Retrieved February 8, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database. Rosenbaum, M., Leibel, R. (1998, March). The physiology of body weight regulation: Relevance to the Pediatrics, 101(3), 525. Retrieved February 29, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database. Vessey, J., MacKenzie, N. (2000, September). Childhood Obesity: Strategies for Prevention. Pediatric Nursing, 26(5), 527. Retrieved February 8, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database. Sociology Green, G., Reese, S. (2006, Fall). CHILDHOOD OBESITY: A GROWING PHENOMENON FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATORS. Education, 127(1), 121-124. Retrieved February 29, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database. Koplan, J., Liverman, C., Kraak, V. (2005, Spring). Preventing Childhood Obesity. Issues in Science Technology, 21(3), 57-64. Retrieved February 4, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database. Schwartz, M., Puhl, R. (2003, February). Childhood obesity: a societal problem to solve. Obesity Reviews, 4(1), 57-71. Retrieved February 29, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database. Business Harper, M. (2006, October). Childhood Obesity. Family Community Health, 29(4), 288-298. Retrieved February 29, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database. Other disciplines Repko, A (2005). Interdisciplinary practice a student guide to research and writing. Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing.

The Black Jacobins Essay examples -- Essays Papers

The Black Jacobins The San Domingo revolution led to the abolition of slavery, independence of Haiti from France and the proclamation of a black republic. However, unlike many historians, CLR James in his work, The Black Jacobins, does not depict the struggle for independence as merely a slave revolt which happened to come after the French Revolution. He goes beyond providing only a recount of historical events and offers an intimate look at those who primarily precipitated the fall of French rule, namely the black slaves themselves. In doing so, James offers a perspective of black history which empowers the black people, for they are shown to actually have done something, and not merely be the subject of actions and attitudes of others. Even before the actual revolt, the slaves were not men who merely resisted; they were not passive objects. James offers graphic detail of the random and frequent beatings, killings and tortures in order to show the immense brutality of San Domingo's slavery. The severity and harshness of the slavery was due primarily to the fact that the colonists understood that "To cow [the slaves] into the necessary docility and acceptance necessitated a regime of calculated brutality and terrorism" (12) Throughout his account of San Domingos' slavery, James maintains the perseverance of the humanity of the slave population. The slaves did not succumb to their conditions by becoming inanimate objects devoid of any human qualities. Although the "majority of the slaves accommodated themselves to [the] brutality by a profound fatalism and a wooden stupidity before their masters", the slaves still maintained their intelligence and creativity. "The difficulty was that though one could trap them like animals, transport them in pens, work them alongside an ass or a horse and beat both with the same stick, stable them and starve them, they remained, despite their black skins and curly hair, quite invincibly human beings; with the intelligence and resentments of human beings" (11-12). Moreover, it "was this intelligence which refused to be crushed, these latent possibilities, that frightened the colonists, as it frightens the whites in Africa to-day" (18). Throughout The Black Jacobins, James emphasizes the struggle, the tension between the demands made by the society and the human need for expression. Although, "Many s... ...er the revolution, the mentality of the people of San Domingo was foreover changed. Slavery would never be accepted again by the inhabitants. "Any regime which tolerated such practices was doomed, for the revolution had created a new race of men" (242). This new race of men were aware of their self-importance. "There was no need to be ashamed of being a black. The revolution had awakened them, had given them the possibility of achievement, confidence and pride. That psychological weakness, that feeling of inferiority with which the imperialists poison colonial peoples everywhere, these were gone" (244). Thus, in The Black Jacobins, James does much more than retell the story of the San Domingo revolution. He shows the slave revolt to be an empowering example for all liberation movements. Thus, James hopes to stimulate the coming emancipation of Africa as well. James concludes The Black Jacobins by noting that "Imperialism vaunts its exploitation of the wealth of Africa for the benefit of civilisation. In reality, from the very nature of its system of production for profit it strangles the real wealth of the continent-the creative capacity of the African people" (377).