John mackey free essay sample

John Mackey (born August 15, 1953) is an American businessman. He is the current co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, which he co-founded in 1980. Named the Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003, Mackey is a strong supporter of free market economics. He is one of the most influential advocates in the movement for organic food. Early life and education John Mackey was born in Houston, Texas, in 1953 to Bill and Margaret Mackey. He has a sister and a brother. Mackey was a student of philosophy and religion at the University of Texas at Austin and Trinity University in the 1970s, and worked at a vegetarian co-op. [3] Mackey, who was a vegetarian for 30 years, now identifies as a vegan. [4] Career Mackey co-founded his first health food store, SaferWay, with his girlfriend Renee Lawson (Hardy) in Austin in 1978. They met while living in a vegetarian housing co-op. [3] They dropped out of college. They borrowed $10,000 and raised $35,000 more to start a vegetarian grocery store which they named SaferWay. We will write a custom essay sample on John mackey or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page At the time, Austin had several small health food stores. The two ran the market on the first floor, a health food restaurant on the second, and, for a short time, lived in the third story of their building. In two years, they merged SaferWay with Clarksville Natural Grocery run by Mark Skiles and Craig Weller and renamed the business Whole Foods Market. All four (Mackey, Hardy-Lawson, Skiles and Weller) are considered co-founders of the business. [3] Mackey built Whole Foods into an international organization, with outlets in major markets across the country, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom. Along the way he bought out smaller competitors. In 2007 Whole Foods purchased a major natural foods supermarket competitor, Wild Oats Markets, Inc. Animal welfare Whole Foods was the first grocery chain to set standards for humane animal treatment. [2] Mackey was influenced by animal rights activist, Lauren Ornelas, who criticized Whole Foods animal standards regarding ducks at a shareholder meeting in 2003. Mackey gave Ornelas his email address and they corresponded on the issue. He studied issues related to factory farming and decided to switch to a primarily vegan diet that included only eggs from his own chickens. Since 2006, he has followed an entirely plant-based diet. He advocates tougher animal standards. Despite Whole Foods welfare standards, Mackey has been criticized by abolitionist vegans such as Gary L. Francione, who believes the Whole Foods company policies betray the animal rightsposition. [6] By other accounts, Mackey is the driving force behind significant changes in animal welfare. For instance, he started a non-profit foundation, the Animal Compassion Foundation, to address making animal welfare more economically viable. [7] The Animal Compassion Foundation folded in 2008 with the formation of the Global Animal Partnership, a non-profit organization that is independent of Whole Foods Market. Mackey is on the Board of Directors of Global Animal Partnership. He has been a member of the Board of Directors for the Humane Society of the United States since 2009. Letter to employees In 2006, Mackey announced he was reducing his salary to $1 a year, would donate his stock portfolio to charity, and set up a $100,000 emergency fund for staff facing personal problems. He wrote: I am now 53 years old and I have reached a place in my life where I no longer want to work for money, but simply for the joy of the work itself and to better answer the call to service that I feel so clearly in my own heart. He has instituted caps on executive pay at the company. Political views Libertarianism In a debate in Reason magazine among Mackey, economist Milton Friedman, and entrepreneur T. J. Rodgers, Mackey said that he is a free market libertarian. [12] He said that he used to be ademocratic socialist in college. As a beginning businessman he was challenged by workers for not paying adequate wages and by customers for overcharging, during a time when he was hardly breaking even. He began to take a more capitalistic worldview, and discovered the works of Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. [13] Mackey is an admirer of some of authorAyn Rands novels. [14] Mackey co-founded the organization, Freedom Lights Our World (FLOW), to combine his commitments to economic and political freedom as well as personal growth, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship. [15] He supports such changes as green tax shifts, environmental trusts, world legal systems to allow the poor to create legal businesses, and a citizens dividend to help the poor in the developed world. [16] The name and focus of FLOW have since become Conscious Capitalism, Inc. , which was initially created as a program of FLOW and evolved to the point at which it became the organizations principal focus. In 2010 the name of the organization was formally changed. The Conscious Capitalism Institute was chartered in 2009. In 2010 the original FLOW group merged with the Institute group to become one unified organization. [17] In 2013 Mackey was interviewed in Harvard Business Reviews Ideacast podcast about his views on Conscious Capitalism. [18] Mackey said, If you want to be competitive in the long term, your business needs to have discovered its higher purpose and it needs to adopt a stakeholder philosophy. He eschewed the conventional thinking that business has to be sort of ruthless and heartless to be successful. [19] Healthcare reform Mackey opposed the public health insurance option that ultimately did not become part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Mackey thinks a better plan would be allowing consumers to purchase health insurance across state lines and use a combination of health savings accounts and catastrophic insurance, as Whole Foods does. [20] Mackeys statement that Americans do not have an intrinsic right to healthcare led to calls for a boycott of Whole Foods Market from the Progressive Review and from numerous groups on Facebook. [21] Alternatively, Tea Party movement advocates organized a number of buycotts in support of Mackeys suggestions [22] In an NPR interview in 2013, Mackey compared the Obama administrations healthcare law to fascism instead of socialism, stating, [t]echnically speaking, it’s more like fascism. Socialism is where the government owns the means of production. In fascism, the government doesn’t own the means of production, but they do control it — and that’s what’s happening with our health care programs and these reforms. [23][24] The day following the interview, Mackey wrote in a blog post that he regretted having made the remark, stating that he made a poor word choice to describe [the U. S. ] healthcare system. [24][25] Instead, he called it government-controlled health care. Unions Mackey is known for his strong anti-union views, having once compared unions to herpes in that it wont kill you, but its very unpleasant and will make a lot of people not want to be your lover. [4]Whole Foods Market, along with Costco and Starbucks, teamed up in 2008 to create an alternative to the Employee Free Choice Act. The three companies invited other corporations, unions and public interest groups to join them, proposing instead that unions be given more access to meet with workers, stricter penalties for labor violations and a guaranteed right to request secret ballots in all circumstances. [26] Mackey commented in 2005: Its illegal in the United States for there to be company unions — special unions which are formed and controlled by the employees and managers of the company to represent their interests and collectively bargain on their behalf. These type of unions are legal in many countries such as Japan, but are illegal in the United States. Instead the law requires that all unions be outside unions. I believe this law should be repealed and that company unions should be as legal as any other kind of voluntary association. † Environment Mackey does not identify as a skeptic of scientific opinion on climate change; rather, he believes that climate change is perfectly natural and not necessarily bad. [28] In a 2010 discussion of books on his reading stack with journalist Nick Paumgarten, Mackey explained his views on human-caused climate change were similar to those of author Ian Plimer: Mackey told me that he agrees with the book [ Heaven and Earth ]s assertion that, as he put it, no scientific consensus exists regarding the causes of climate change; he added, with a candor you could call bold or reckless, that it would be a pity to allow hysteria about global warming to cause us to raise taxes and increase regulation, and in turn lower our standard of living and lead to an increase in poverty. † Yahoo! Finance postings On July 20, 2007, The Wall Street Journal[30] revealed that Mackey was, for at least seven years, using the pseudonym Rahodeb (an anagram of his wifes name, Deborah) to post to Yahoo Finance forums. He referred to himself in the third person and criticized rival supermarket chain Wild Oats Markets. [31] The Federal Trade Commission[32] approved a complaint challenging Whole Foods Market’s approximately $670 million acquisition of its chief rival, Wild Oats Markets, Inc. It authorized the FTC staff to seek a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in federal district court to halt the deal, pending an administrative trial on the merits. After an extensive regulatory battle with the FTC, a federal appeals court consented to the deal. Whole Foods officially completed their buyout of Wild Oats on August 27, 2007. In May 2008, after an SEC investigation cleared him, Mackey started blogging again. In a 2,037 word post, he wrote about why he began blogging in the first place and how his upbringing drove him to defend himself and Whole Foods. He admitted he made a mistake in judgment, but not in ethics. Resignation as Whole Foods Market Chairman On December 24, 2009, Mackey resigned from the position of Chairman of the Board of Whole Foods Market, a position he held since 1978. On his blog he said, John Elstrott will now take the title of Chairman of the Board, which will accurately reflect the authority and the responsibilities that he has had for many years. Mackey remains a member of the Board of Directors. [34] Legacy and honors 2003, Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year May 2008, he received an honorary bachelors degree from Bentley College. [5] In your new book, â€Å"Conscious Capitalism,† you write thatWhole Foods sees its customers as its â€Å"most important stakeholders† and that the company is obsessed with their happiness. The biggest complaint I hear about Whole Foods is how expensive it is. Why not drop prices to make your customers happier? People always complain about prices being too high. Whole Foods prices have dropped every year as we get to be larger and we have economies of scale. Also, people are not historically well informed about food prices. We’re only spending about 7 percent of our disposable personal income on food. Fifty years ago, it was nearly 16 percent. Matthew Mahon for The New York Times John Mackey A paper from Stanford last year concluded that there is little evidence of greater health benefits from eating organic. If it were ever definitively proved that organic foods offered no health benefits, would you still be a proponent? Oh, absolutely. I’ve always thought the main argument for organic was more environmental than a health argument. I just don’t think spraying a lot of pesticides into the environment on a routine basis is a good thing. As I understand it, you’re on an organic vegan diet, and you don’t eat vegetable oil, sugar or processed food. That is certainly the goal. I travel a lot, so can I always avoid oil and sugar and salt? Not to the degree I would like. Oh, man. Salt too? I don’t completely avoid salt, I’m just trying to minimize it. In America, we’re addicted to sugar, fat and salt, and restaurants put all three of those in in abundance. I’m having a hard time imagining your diet being tasty. Give me an example of a delicious meal. What did I cook for dinner last night? A salad, with my own walnut-cashew-based dressing, a stir-fry that I made without any oil, because you can do that with just water. It had kale and chard, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes in it, and mashed potatoes without salt or dairy, but I added some almond milk. Considering your health consciousness, would you prefer Whole Foods not hire overweight people or smokers? In some cases we don’t hire smokers, but it’s hard not to hire people in America who are overweight, because 69 percent of adults are. We’re not discriminating against workers, but we are incentivizing them. Healthier team members get a bigger food discount. We give our sickest team members an option to go through what we call the Total Health Immersion, where we take them off for a week, and we do intensive diet-and-lifestyle education. Our regional president in the Southwest, Mark Dixon, was overweight. I got Mark to go. One year later he’s lost 95 pounds, and he’s biking over 180 miles a week. How did you get him to go? I nagged him. He didn’t have to go. Any thoughts about those stories in 2007 that you were active on a finance message board, anonymously saying negative things about a Whole Foods’ competitor? People make a big deal that I was hiding my identity. But message boards are like going to a Halloween masquerade party. Everybody has a screen name. I had a screen name too. So what? Now I have to be much more careful in what I say. In 2009, some Whole Foods customers organized boycotts after you wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal expressing opposition to Obama’s health care proposals. Do you wish you hadn’t written it? No, I don’t. I regret that a lot of people didn’t actually read it and it got taken out of context. President Obama asked for ideas about health care reform, and I put my ideas out there. Whole Foods has a good health care plan. It’s not a solution to America’s health care problems, but it’s part of the solution. So did you vote for Romney? I did. I imagine a certain percentage of Whole Foods customers will also boycott because of this. I don’t know what to say except that I’m a capitalist, first. There are many things I don’t like about Romney, but more things I don’t like about Obama. This is America, and people disagree on things.

The Feminist Pro-Woman Line

The Feminist Pro-Woman Line The Pro-Woman Line refers to the idea introduced by 1960s radical feminists that women should not be blamed for their own oppression. The Pro-Woman Line evolved out of consciousness-raising and became a significant part of the Womens Liberation movement. The Pro-Woman Argument The Pro-Woman Line sought to explain contradictory behavior. For example, feminists applied it to makeup and other beauty standards. The anti-woman argument was that women participate in their own oppression by wearing makeup, uncomfortable clothes, girdles, or high-heeled shoes. The Pro-Woman Line said that women are not at fault; they just do what they need to do in a world that creates impossible beauty standards. If women are treated better when they wear makeup, and are told they look sick when not wearing makeup, a woman who wears makeup to work does not create her own oppression. She is doing what society requires of her to succeed. During the 1968 Miss America Protest instigated by New York Radical Women, some protesters criticized the female contestants for participating in the pageant. According to the Pro-Woman Line, the contestants should not be criticized, but the society that put them in that situation should be criticized. However, the Pro-Woman Line also argues that women do resist negative portrayals and oppressive standards. In fact, the Womens Liberation Movement was a way to unite women in a struggle they were already fighting individually. The Pro-Woman Line in Feminist Theory Some radical feminist groups had disagreements about feminist theory. Redstockings, formed in 1969 by Shulamith Firestone and Ellen Willis, took the Pro-Woman stance that women must not be blamed for their oppression. Redstockings members asserted that women did not need to change themselves, but to change men. Other feminist groups criticized the Pro-Woman Line for being too simplistic and not leading to change. If womens behaviors were accepted as a necessary response to oppressive society, how would women ever change those behaviors? The Pro-Woman Line theory criticizes the prevailing myth that women are somehow lesser people than men, or that women are weaker and more emotional. Feminist critical thinker Carol Hanisch wrote that women are messed over, not messed up. Women have to make less-than-ideal choices to survive in an oppressive society. According to the Pro-Woman Line, it is not acceptable to criticize women for their survival strategies.

Broken Family

A vast majority of my friends, peers, and coworkers have a relationship with at least one parent. It has really caused me to question a lot about my faith, myself, and the fairness of not being able to choose one’s parents. The idea of a parent is a tough one. What does it take to make a parent? What is a good parent and what is a bad parent? Absentee parents fall somewhere in between because even if they live at the same address as their children, they’re emotionally unavailable. According to dictionary. com,  the definition for parent  is: a mother or a father. I’m no expert on the etymology of words, but I think we should redefine parents a bit. A parent is someone who loves, nurtures, and cares for their young. There are plenty of â€Å"parents† in the world who may not have bore children of their body but have certainly bore children of their heart. As a young Christian, I have been tormented by my relationship with my mother and my other family members. Over the years, my relationship with her and my siblings has deteriorated tremendously. On the one hand, Christians are told to be loving. We are to endure with one another and bare with one another. This is noble philosophy and life doctrine but implementation of it is excruciating. How do we know when to â€Å"endure with one and bare with one another† and when to draw the line to protect ourselves from mistreatment? I have grappled with this concept for years. When I have asked my friends their opinion, most of them shrug their shoulders and insist that I have to accept my family how they are. Obviously, these are individuals with relatively functional families. They have no idea what I’m subjecting myself by toughing it out and â€Å"dealing† with some of my relatives. Only until recently has God really started drawing my attention or I’ve been more attentive, to what His word says about parents and baring with them. A few days ago, I read 1 Kings 19: 20-21. It says: â€Å"Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. Let me kiss my father and mother good-by,† he said, â€Å"and then I will come with you. † â€Å"Go back,† Elijah replied. â€Å"What have I done to you? â€Å"†¦. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant. † In this verse, Elisha does not go back to his parents. Instead, he leaves his farming equipment and speeds to follow Elijah. In Hebrews 11:24, the Bible says â€Å"By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. † In reality, Moses was the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter but here’s where the debate on parents comes in. Pharaoh’s daughter had parented Moses as if he were her own son. But Moses refused this tie to the Pharaoh’s daughter. Similarly, Christians are free to cast down false relationship or ties to people by faith. Being cared for as a child is important but it should not be the sole reason why we keep contact with or relate to people that did so. Parenting is so much more that providing for a child. It is having a relationship with a child. I am sure that there are many people who have family problems. Not everyone needs to disown their parents and siblings to deal with it but sometimes it is necessary and even ordained by God. In Genesis 12:1, the Bible says: â€Å"The Lord had said to Abram, â€Å"Leave your country, your people and your fathers’ household and go to the land I will show you. † The very first book in the Bible contains a story where God ordains a mighty man to leave his father’s household. We are not meant to stay with our parents forever. There are plenty of stories throughout the Bible of people being at odds with family members. The story of Joseph is a prime example of sibling rivalry and dissension that leads to Joseph being betrayed and sold into slavery. His brothers were his blood kin but they did not have his best interest at heart. Maybe one way to analyze the story of Joseph is to say that God recognized the jealousy in the brothers of Joseph. Hence, he decided that it was even better for him to be sold into slavery than to live around a den of jealousy amongst â€Å"family ties†. Mothers, you can’t live with ’em and you can’t live without ’em. But God says that He will not leave us even when our mothers do. In my post:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"In my Darkest Hours†¦ â€Å", I discuss the tension that can exist between family in greater depth. That post also talks about God’s response as a loving Father and how He intervenes in these circumstances. How do you define a parent? Have you ever had a really tumultuous relationship with a parent that you couldn’t over come? If you did overcome it, how so? Do you think that God may be calling you to something greater that will draw you away from conventional family ties? When do you bare with a parent, and when is it time to walk away from emotionally abusive relationships? 1. Isang pamilyang di magkasundo o/at magkahiwalay or divorced. 2. Ang broken family ay ung pamilyang nagkawatak watak kaya ngakakaroon ng broken family ay dahil sa ating mga magulang na hindi nagkakaunawaan. . If the father and the mother decided not to stay with each other because of their difference then that’s what you called broken family. News Print Article  Ã‚  |   Ã‚  Email Friend  Ã‚  |  Ã‚  Reprint Permissions Broken Family Structure Leads to Educational Difficulties for Children By Gudrun Schultz UNITED STATES, January 16, 2006 (LifeSiteNews. com) – The U. S Center for Marria ge and Family released a study in November 2005 that shows broken family structures consistently lead to education difficulties for children. When it comes to educational achievement,† the study says, â€Å"children living with their own married parents do significantly better than other children. † The report found that children from non-intact families (children living in a situation other than with their own married father and mother) have significantly higher rates of difficulty with all levels of education, from pre-kindergarten through to primary, secondary, and college-age levels. Each year a child spends with a single mother or stepparent â€Å"reduces that child’s overall educational attainment by approximately one-half year† suggests the report. The study, a comprehensive review of recent academic research on the relationship between family structures and children’s academic performance, compared education outcomes from children growing up with their own married parents to children in non-intact family structures such as divorced, single, remarried or cohabiting parents. Family structure was consistently found to be the deciding factor in a wide range of child behaviors that directly influence academic performance, including emotional and psychological distress, attention disorders, social misbehavior, substance abuse, sexual activity and teen pregnancy. Children from non-intact homes had higher rates of stress, depression, anxiety and low self-esteem, particularly as teenagers. The study found that preschool children from broken homes were three times more likely to suffer from attention deficit disorders than children from intact homes. Children from single-parent homes suffered from more physical health problems, as well. Pre-school children from single-parent homes were also less likely to be read to or given help with letter-recognition. A During elementary school, children from non-intact families scored consistently lower on reading comprehension and math, and had more difficulty maintaining their grade levels overall. Children from married parents had much lower rates of behavioral problems in the classroom than children who did not live with married parents. In particular, boys from broken marriages showed a higher rate of classroom misbehavior. For teenagers, students from broken homes were 30 percent more likely to miss school, be late, or cut class than students from intact homes, in part because single parents had more difficulty monitoring their children. These children were also at higher risk for smoking, using drugs and consuming alcohol. Teenagers from non-intact families were more likely to be sexually active and had higher rates of pregnancy. Girls from divorced single-mother homes were at greatest risk for teenage pregnancy. The study also found that children who were in a single-parent or step-parent home by the time they were ten were more than twice as likely to be arrested by age 14. A Children who never lived with their own father had the highest likelihood of being arrested. The study reports that a majority of U. S. children will have spent a significant part of their childhood in a one-parent home by the time they reach 18. Single parent homes in the U. S. nearly doubled in the period from 1968-2003. Family Structure and Children’s Educational Outcomes: http://www. americanvalues. org/briefs/edoutcomes. htm broken family is one where the parents (mother and father) of a child or children have split up and no longer share a single family home as a family unit. This is also known as a broken home. Broken Family Broken Family A vast majority of my friends, peers, and coworkers have a relationship with at least one parent. It has really caused me to question a lot about my faith, myself, and the fairness of not being able to choose one’s parents. The idea of a parent is a tough one. What does it take to make a parent? What is a good parent and what is a bad parent? Absentee parents fall somewhere in between because even if they live at the same address as their children, they’re emotionally unavailable. According to dictionary. com,  the definition for parent  is: a mother or a father. I’m no expert on the etymology of words, but I think we should redefine parents a bit. A parent is someone who loves, nurtures, and cares for their young. There are plenty of â€Å"parents† in the world who may not have bore children of their body but have certainly bore children of their heart. As a young Christian, I have been tormented by my relationship with my mother and my other family members. Over the years, my relationship with her and my siblings has deteriorated tremendously. On the one hand, Christians are told to be loving. We are to endure with one another and bare with one another. This is noble philosophy and life doctrine but implementation of it is excruciating. How do we know when to â€Å"endure with one and bare with one another† and when to draw the line to protect ourselves from mistreatment? I have grappled with this concept for years. When I have asked my friends their opinion, most of them shrug their shoulders and insist that I have to accept my family how they are. Obviously, these are individuals with relatively functional families. They have no idea what I’m subjecting myself by toughing it out and â€Å"dealing† with some of my relatives. Only until recently has God really started drawing my attention or I’ve been more attentive, to what His word says about parents and baring with them. A few days ago, I read 1 Kings 19: 20-21. It says: â€Å"Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. Let me kiss my father and mother good-by,† he said, â€Å"and then I will come with you. † â€Å"Go back,† Elijah replied. â€Å"What have I done to you? â€Å"†¦. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant. † In this verse, Elisha does not go back to his parents. Instead, he leaves his farming equipment and speeds to follow Elijah. In Hebrews 11:24, the Bible says â€Å"By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. † In reality, Moses was the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter but here’s where the debate on parents comes in. Pharaoh’s daughter had parented Moses as if he were her own son. But Moses refused this tie to the Pharaoh’s daughter. Similarly, Christians are free to cast down false relationship or ties to people by faith. Being cared for as a child is important but it should not be the sole reason why we keep contact with or relate to people that did so. Parenting is so much more that providing for a child. It is having a relationship with a child. I am sure that there are many people who have family problems. Not everyone needs to disown their parents and siblings to deal with it but sometimes it is necessary and even ordained by God. In Genesis 12:1, the Bible says: â€Å"The Lord had said to Abram, â€Å"Leave your country, your people and your fathers’ household and go to the land I will show you. † The very first book in the Bible contains a story where God ordains a mighty man to leave his father’s household. We are not meant to stay with our parents forever. There are plenty of stories throughout the Bible of people being at odds with family members. The story of Joseph is a prime example of sibling rivalry and dissension that leads to Joseph being betrayed and sold into slavery. His brothers were his blood kin but they did not have his best interest at heart. Maybe one way to analyze the story of Joseph is to say that God recognized the jealousy in the brothers of Joseph. Hence, he decided that it was even better for him to be sold into slavery than to live around a den of jealousy amongst â€Å"family ties†. Mothers, you can’t live with ’em and you can’t live without ’em. But God says that He will not leave us even when our mothers do. In my post:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"In my Darkest Hours†¦ â€Å", I discuss the tension that can exist between family in greater depth. That post also talks about God’s response as a loving Father and how He intervenes in these circumstances. How do you define a parent? Have you ever had a really tumultuous relationship with a parent that you couldn’t over come? If you did overcome it, how so? Do you think that God may be calling you to something greater that will draw you away from conventional family ties? When do you bare with a parent, and when is it time to walk away from emotionally abusive relationships? 1. Isang pamilyang di magkasundo o/at magkahiwalay or divorced. 2. Ang broken family ay ung pamilyang nagkawatak watak kaya ngakakaroon ng broken family ay dahil sa ating mga magulang na hindi nagkakaunawaan. . If the father and the mother decided not to stay with each other because of their difference then that’s what you called broken family. News Print Article  Ã‚  |   Ã‚  Email Friend  Ã‚  |  Ã‚  Reprint Permissions Broken Family Structure Leads to Educational Difficulties for Children By Gudrun Schultz UNITED STATES, January 16, 2006 (LifeSiteNews. com) – The U. S Center for Marria ge and Family released a study in November 2005 that shows broken family structures consistently lead to education difficulties for children. When it comes to educational achievement,† the study says, â€Å"children living with their own married parents do significantly better than other children. † The report found that children from non-intact families (children living in a situation other than with their own married father and mother) have significantly higher rates of difficulty with all levels of education, from pre-kindergarten through to primary, secondary, and college-age levels. Each year a child spends with a single mother or stepparent â€Å"reduces that child’s overall educational attainment by approximately one-half year† suggests the report. The study, a comprehensive review of recent academic research on the relationship between family structures and children’s academic performance, compared education outcomes from children growing up with their own married parents to children in non-intact family structures such as divorced, single, remarried or cohabiting parents. Family structure was consistently found to be the deciding factor in a wide range of child behaviors that directly influence academic performance, including emotional and psychological distress, attention disorders, social misbehavior, substance abuse, sexual activity and teen pregnancy. Children from non-intact homes had higher rates of stress, depression, anxiety and low self-esteem, particularly as teenagers. The study found that preschool children from broken homes were three times more likely to suffer from attention deficit disorders than children from intact homes. Children from single-parent homes suffered from more physical health problems, as well. Pre-school children from single-parent homes were also less likely to be read to or given help with letter-recognition. A During elementary school, children from non-intact families scored consistently lower on reading comprehension and math, and had more difficulty maintaining their grade levels overall. Children from married parents had much lower rates of behavioral problems in the classroom than children who did not live with married parents. In particular, boys from broken marriages showed a higher rate of classroom misbehavior. For teenagers, students from broken homes were 30 percent more likely to miss school, be late, or cut class than students from intact homes, in part because single parents had more difficulty monitoring their children. These children were also at higher risk for smoking, using drugs and consuming alcohol. Teenagers from non-intact families were more likely to be sexually active and had higher rates of pregnancy. Girls from divorced single-mother homes were at greatest risk for teenage pregnancy. The study also found that children who were in a single-parent or step-parent home by the time they were ten were more than twice as likely to be arrested by age 14. A Children who never lived with their own father had the highest likelihood of being arrested. The study reports that a majority of U. S. children will have spent a significant part of their childhood in a one-parent home by the time they reach 18. Single parent homes in the U. S. nearly doubled in the period from 1968-2003. Family Structure and Children’s Educational Outcomes: http://www. americanvalues. org/briefs/edoutcomes. htm broken family is one where the parents (mother and father) of a child or children have split up and no longer share a single family home as a family unit. This is also known as a broken home.

Analysis of the Marketing Communications Campaign of your favourite Assignment

Analysis of the Marketing Communications Campaign of your favourite athletic shoe brand - Assignment Example Herein, the decision makers attempt to serve their customers in a way better than its competitors (Payne, p57). In these respect, communication is a vital factor. Communication plays a fundamental role in facilitating the entire marketing plan. Therefore, an organisation must develop ‘two way communications’ with its employees and customers. Proper communication channel helps a company to spread awareness regarding its product among the customers. ‘Integrated Marketing Communication’ is the latest and the most effective way of developing proper planning marketing. This primary objective of this paper is to explain and analyse integrated marketing communication in the context of a shoe brand company. In this respect, it will attempt to deal with various aspects of integrated marketing communication (IMC) and its formulation. At first, a brief description about the concept of IMC will be discussed followed by its implementation process. In order to study the effects of implementing integrated marketing communication, an athlete shoe making company is chosen and is briefly introduced. It will be followed by a comprehensive analysis of Integrated Marketing Communication Model. Finally, the conclusion will present the important findings of this paper. Among the four Ps of marketing, ‘promotion’ is very necessary for spreading awareness and for convincing the customers about the product. The promotional activities deal with adverting, communication and public relation. The integrated marketing communication (IMC) is a concept that helps to formulate the entire promotional planning for a company. Specifically, it can be defined as the ‘marketing mix for communication’. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the role of communication in developing effective and efficient marketing strategies. Marketing communication is important to attract new consumers for new product categories. Consumers’ perception regarding

Financial Reporting Systems and Economic Development Essay

Financial Reporting Systems and Economic Development - Essay Example The role of the financial reporting system, as supported by accounting standards, the law and the ethics, in economic development is reviewed and analyzed in this paper. Particular emphasis is given on faithful representation, as an indicator of the reliability of financial statements. Also, the circumstances under which true and fair override apply are identified and explained. It is proved that faithful representation, in its current form, is something more than simple a compliance with accounting standards. One of the most critical issues when having to evaluate the quality of financial statements is that these statements should achieve faithful representation. In order to understand the role of ‘faithful representation’, as an element of the financial reporting systems, it would be necessary to refer to these systems, as the basis on which a firm’s financial practices are usually based. In accordance with Uddin et al., two major financial reporting systems are considered as the most credible for businesses in all sectors: the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) and the IFRS.1 The use of one of these systems, which have been appropriately tested as of the effectiveness in financial reporting, results to the increase of credibility of the local economy. From this point of view, it has been proved that the use of these systems within a particular country leads to the increase of the foreign direct investment (FDI) to the above country. Thus, accounting standards and financial reporting are closely related to the performance of the local economy, of course under the terms that global financial markets are stabilized, i.e. that these markets do not suffer from delays in the implementation of financial and other projects. In the literature the term ‘faithful representation’ has been given various explanations, which are all similar. For example, in the study of Hussey reference is made to the use of the term fait hful representation in order to show the reliability of the financial statements involved.2 In other words, the specific term is used in order to indicate the fact that the information included in the financial statements is accurate and responds to the actual financial status of the organization. Apart from reliability, the term ‘faithful representation’ also reflects the completeness of information included in the financial statements.3 The financial statements are considered as complete when they include all necessary information.4 A similar approach in the description of faithful representation is included in the study of Needles et al. In accordance with the above researcher, the term ‘faithful representation’ means that the financial statement involved is ‘complete, neutral and free from error’.5 It is further explained that the phrase ‘free from error’ does not imply the full accuracy of the particular financial statement, a s such requirement is quite difficult, almost impossible, to be achieved since financial statements are highly based on estimations.6 At this point, the following problem appears: how the reliability of financial statements is proved? The fact that there are some transactions that cannot be measured, at least not precisely, is highlighted in the study of Hussey.7 On the other hand, the availability of the data involved is an issue that needs to be carefully considered when having to

Work Unemployment And Poverty Essay Example for Free

Work Unemployment And Poverty Essay Introduction The decline of the traditional industries and the emerging of new industries brought changes which resulted in unemployment and poverty. The world wide slump also contributed to the problems of unemployment to the working class individuals. The national government responded to unemployment in positive and negative ways. The growth of poverty had social and political impacts on the individuals. The essay will conclude on the government’s attempts, churches, organisations and other individual’s ways to alleviate the problems associated with poverty. Analyse the occupations and industries of the 1930’s in Britain The occupation and industries of Britain in the 1930’s was heavily industrialised and traditional industries that were available in the 1930s were iron, coal and steel industries. These industries were the most important source of employment for the individual especially in South Wales and Northern England. These industries provided jobs for individuals( individuals were employed as coal miners, peddlers’, iron workers, labours, ship builders etc,) and created the working class and this enabled them to earn incomes to buy goods and pay bills like rent , and a better standard of living. (Tiratsoo, 1997) Upper class and middle class people also invested money and started new businesses and this boosted the economy and increase the number of working class people. At the end of the 19th century the industries started to decline for a number of reasons. Ross 1995 points that the worldwide slump was one of the reason industries closed, wages were cut and millions of individuals were made redundant. Minchton (1969) points that the welsh economy suffered because of the lack of demand for iron and coal because the wars had ended and there was less demand for coal to smelt iron and iron to make iron ammunitions. This resulted in industries getting less orders for exports, making less profit and in addition, coal miners, puddlers, iron workers were made redundant and their wages were reduced . The coal fields and iron ore deposits of South Wales and Northern England were no longer the main source of employment for the individuals. According to Williams (1988), Wales overspecialised and heavily relied with the manufacture of primary industry and this lead to the welsh economy to its decline. Baber and Williams (1986) supports that  the regions primary industry had over –concentrated on coal, steel tin plate and iron and has lead to the downturn of the business cycle. The closure of Dowlais Company in 1931 and the collapse of Palmer’s shipyard in 1931 and the emerging of public services or( white –collar jobs) and electric industries saw the beginning of structural unemployment. (Smith, 1998, 31) Evaluate the changes in industry and their effects upon the individual. However this had negative effects to the individual s during the decline period workers were made redundant and this resulted in high employment rates, their wages were lowered and all this resulted in workers struggling and unable to pay their bills and buying other commodities especially food. Since most of the people had no wage and could not afford to buy things, this resulted in most businesses to go bankrupt and creation of continuous unemployment. (Egan 1987: 15, 20, 26) The emerging of new industries meant that the workforce no longer possessed the skills needed to work in these new industries. The new industries The coal miners from the declined industries were faced with an effect of being unable to get employment in the new industries because their skills were not matching with the new technology skills needed in the new industries e.g. as electric technicians , nursing , teaching and administration. Smith 1998 supports this by pointing out that there was a problem in matching the new jobs to the jobless in the consumer industries and public services . The changes of the old industries to new industries came with more unemployment because the majority of the workforce jobless and could not easily transfer skills, e.g coal miner could not easily adapt to the work of an electrical engineer. Summarise the problems of unemployment and implications for the individual(Lower class, middle class and upper class) In summary the problems of unemployment and implications it had on individuals they were problems associated with unemployment and implications it had on the individuals. The problems of unemployment during the 1930’s were that individuals or the working class were not earning a wage to be able to maintain a good standard of living. This resulted in the unemployed not able to pay their rent and a a result they were evicted from their homes leading homelessness The working class fell on the lower class category . According to Ross 1995, the lower class was 68 per cent of the population  and had to do manual labouring jobs a nd earned between  £50 to  £150 a year and did not own their own homes and they lived in homes that were small poorly built , crowded no bathrooms or electricity. The problems the working class was that there were unemployed and could not get jobs in the new industries because they were unskilled. (Smith 1998) The working class was not able to buy food and this resulted in them eating unhealthy diets and leading to malnutrition. ) . The other problem was that the unemployed the new industries were not located in areas where there was high unemployment for example in old traditional industries, industries like in Methyr Tydfil were located close to raw materials whereas the new industries were located in London, south east and West midlands and they were powered by electricity not coal and goods were transported by road not rail. (Rowe 2004) But however Smith 1998 pointed that most unemployed individuals found themselves better off on the dole than earning a wage. Because, the dole was given , taking the family size into consideration whereas, the wage did not consider the size of the family. The upper and middle classes did not have the same p roblems and implications compared to the working class (lower class). According to Ross 1995, the upper class did not have to work to earn a living they had enough money to live on and were about seven percent of population. The middle classes were about twenty-five percent in population and were the individuals who got employed and had the skills to work in the new industries and they were educated and did not have to manual labouring work. The types of jobs they worked were doctors, lawyers , nurses electricians, brigadier general shop assistants’ administrators and teachers just to mention a few the jobs that the lower class were unskilled in. The middle classes, owned homes, bought cars, new technological goods, such as washing machines, irons and had some savings. However even though some of them lost their jobs during the slump but they were able to survive. (Rowe, 2004) (Ced , 1985) points a good comparison between the lower class and upper class that . A retired Brigadier general who had inherited an ancestral home five years before had already sold half his land , he was also earning  £800 per annum in pension . he owned properties which he collected rent from even though he had lost half of his land he lost  £6000 on Haltry crash and his wife had an income as well. Whereas there was lower class individual who lost his job as a labourer and  with twenty children living in a three bed rented house. This two scenario’s points that it was an unjust society and there was a huge difference between the middle classes and the poor. Even though the rich lost some of their wealth during the slump but they were able to continue with their normal life ate well and lived in a good home and even had extra but for the labourer he lost his job , had twenty children a a wife to feed. He also needed money for rent otherwise him and his family face eviction and homelessness. Explain the impact of unemployment and briefly evaluate the national Government‘s response to unemployment Unemployment caused further implications; the more the workers stayed at home unemployed the more they lost their skills. Also the fact that most women continued in employment after men came back from war meant that some of the jobs that were available to men before war were taken by women. (Smith, 1998) This increase in unemployment led The National Government to respond to unemployment by introducing The Unemployment Act of 1934 which gave family means tested benefits for unemployed individuals. It also helped the unemployed workers to retrain this was good because the individuals however had a basic standard of living however some of the unemployed coal miners and steel workers were no longer interested in looking for work to relying on benefits this resulted in government spending more on benefits . (Smith, 1998) The National Government also introduced the Industrial Transference scheme which meant to that workers were being moved from areas without employment to areas where there was employment. This left older people and young children in areas where there was no employment leaving the areas under populated and areas of employment populated Minchiton (1969) The government also introduced the Special areas act of 1935 which attracted new industries to invest in areas where there was no employment. This was beneficial to South Wales and parts of Scotland (Rowe 2004) The national government also came off the gold standard and the effect of this was that it devalued the pound against the US dollar and resulted in boosting the British economy. The National Government did cut unemployment benefits by ten percent and this lasted till 1934 had an impact on the individual it meant that they had to cut back on things including food.( Rowe 2004) However , Rowe (2004), points that the unemployed benefited during this  period the managed to earn a suburban life, managed to buy car , the new technological gadgets including washing machines, electric cookers irons etc. Explain the growth of poverty and assess its social and political impact. The growth of poverty during this period had social and political impacts. The poverty was caused by unemployment and low wages due to the closure of the old traditional industries, the world wide slump (great Depression), and benefit cuts. The working class (lower class) suffer poverty because the Socially the unemployed were not able to earn a good standard of living. They had no money to pay rent and they lived in appalling conditions, and they were not able to buy the new technological gadgets that had just entered the market. This resulted in some of the unemployed being evicted from their homes or having to rely on family means tested benefits. It also resulted in some of them being opting to relocate to areas where there was employment leaving their families and children behind. According to Tiratsoo (1997), the growth of poverty socially had an impact to the unemployed that were unable to eat a healthy diet and they lacked food and this resulted in malnutrition and physical stresses. Smith 1998 points that, The wives of the unemployed men fund themselves constantly cutting their own diets, medical needs, and clothing in order to keep men in the family ‘ready for work’ Source: Democracy in a depression According to Tiratsoo (1997), the middle classes had bags of disposable incomes; they had private health care, pensions, private education for their children, and lots of leisure time. Whereas the lower classes had no disposable incomes instead there were on benefits. The impact of poverty was that the working classes organised a general strikes of 1926 and it was unsuccessful the government said it was illegal and the middle classes opposed it saying that violence frightened them .The Jarrow crusade of 1936 was sparked by mass unemployment and poverty the march was not successful the government dismissed the marchers and there was no success on this march. (Ross , 1995) Evaluate the attempts at solving the problems associated with poverty The government, charities, churches and other individual tried to solve the problems associated with poverty. The government introduced benefits the mean tested to the unemployed. Charities  like Joseph Rowntree Trust they helped with their writing and research with the wage increases and a pension scheme for the poor. (Ross, 1995) , According to Smith ( 1998) other individuals helped with food parcels and clothes for the poor . The government’s welfare system during the 1930’s was helpful because it brought a relief to the unemployed and reduced poverty even though it was not enough. This essay concludes that the disappearance of the traditional industries and the emerging of new industries brought changes which resulted in unemployment and poverty. The world wide slump also contributed to the problems of unemployment to the working class individuals. The national government responded to unemployment in positive and negative ways. The growth of poverty had social and political impacts on the individuals. The government, churches, organisations and other individuals attempted to alleviate the problems associated with poverty. References, Baber, Colin Williams L, J , ( 1986)- modern South Wales, Cardiff University of Wales Press. Ced , N Gray (1985) ,The worst times: An oral History of the Great Depression in Britain, Scholar Press. Egan, David, ( 1987)- People Protest and Politics: Case Studies in Nineteenth Century Wales (Paperback) , Gomer press Minchinton, W, E (1969), – Industrial south Wales 1750 -1914, Frank Cass and Company Limited, London. Rowe, C, (2004), Britain 1929- 1998, Harcourt Education, Oxford. Ross, S (1995), Britain through the Ages. Britain Since 1930, Evans Brothers limited, London Smith , M, (1998) Democracy and Depression , University of Wales press. Tiratsoo,N (1997),Blitz to Blair , A new History of Britain since 1939, London .

Hamlet - the Character of Ophelia :: Essays on Shakespeare Hamlet

Hamlet - the Character of Ophelia      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ophelia is in love with Hamlet, but like so many women, she is at the beck and call of her family first and foremost. Ophelia is not unintelligent, she is simply weak-willed. She doesn't know what she wants, so she lets other people decide for her, namely her father and brother. Hamlet's love letters are at odds with her father's wishes, and, because she is not able to form individual thoughts and opinions, she becomes confused as to what she really wants. Ophelia's weakness of mind and will, which catalyzes her obedience to her father and thus destroys her hope for Hamlet's love, finally results in her insanity and eventual death.    When her father had challenged the honor of Hamlet's intentions, Ophelia could only reply "I do not know, my lord, what I should think" (III, iii). Used to relying upon her father's direction and brought up to be obedient, she can only accept her father's belief, seconded by that of her brother, that Hamlet's "holy vows" of love were simply designed for her seduction. She was to obey her father's orders not to permit Hamlet to see her again. Her father also wanted to prove Hamlet's madness to the king. He used Ophelia as bait so he and the king could listen to Hamlet's words. Ophelia willingly obliged to her father's desires. By not thinking for herself and only doing as her father wished, she ruined her chances of love with Hamlet.    Hamlet put pressure on Ophelia by expecting her to surpass his mother's shortcomings and be an epitome of womankind. He searched her innocent face for some sign of loving truth that might restore his faith in her. He took her mute terror for a sign of her guilt and found her to be a false person, like his mother. In his letter to her, he addressed the letter to "the most beautified Ophelia" and he terminated the letter with "I love thee best, O most best, believe it" (II, ii). He used the word "beautified" to display a sincere tribute, and it is apparent he still loves her. His attempts to win her affection are not triumphant. Ophelia is still too much under the influence of her father to question his wisdom or authority, and she has no mind of her own to understand how much she has made her lover suffer.

Developing Early Warning System for Peace and Security in Nigeria Essay

1. Brief Demographic Background of Nigeria: The demographic characteristics of Nigeria set the platform for an understanding of the case for conflict based National early warning system. A historical analysis of major conflicts in Nigeria since independence points to strong linkages to its demographic composition. It has been unarguably regarded as the most populous country in the Africa and also accounts for half of the entire population of West Africa. The last census exercise in 2007 conducted by the Nigeria Population Commision (NPC) put the country’s population at over 140 million.(NPC, 2006). Politically, it practices a three tier federal system of government comprising the Federal, State and Local Government Councils which implies relative levels of autonomy in governance as well as oversight and control which many political analyst has attributed as a mixture of British Parliamentary and U.S Presidential system of governance. It has 36 states with a Federal Capital Territory at Abuja. These are further sub-divided into 774 semi-autonomous local government councils. For political and economic exigencies of governance and development, it is segregated into what is referred to as six geo political zones which include the North Central, North East, North West, South East, South South and South West. With over 240 ethnic groups spread across the country, the challenges of representation, equity in political representation as well as economic accessibility has been the bedrock of many diverse conflicts in the country. This is further complicated by the heterogeneous mixture of Christian and Muslim religion greatly polarised between the Christian south and Muslim Northern region. (op cit.)The population of traditional religion is sparsely located across the six geo-political zones of the country. Despite the immense rich natural resources in the country, crude oil located at the south south, south east and south west geo political zones of the country remain the major revenue source for the country and also the major source of various causative factors of conflict in Nigeria which has led to its reference in many social science research cycles as the ‘resource curse’ to the extent that the country is now considered one of the 20 poorest countries in the world. Over 70% of the population is classified as poor, with 35 percent living in absolute poverty. This is especially severe in rural areas, where social services are limited or non existent. 2. The Peace and Security Dimension in Nigeria: In contrast, Nigeria’s complex political, socio-cultural and economic diversity has been a source of varied and multiple levels of conflicts and humanitarian crises with implication to sustainable peace, security and development within the country and the West Africa sub region. A retrospection of these conflicts highlights six basic conflict types that have pervaded the country in the last two decades. These include communal conflicts, chieftaincy conflicts, ethno-religious conflicts, oil related conflicts, election related conflicts and agro-pastoralist conflicts. These conflicts are the outcome of the deep rooted causal factors of poverty, poor/bad governance and inequitable distribution of resources and development across the country. Between 1999 to 2010 for instance there has been an estimated death of 14,000 people from various levels of these conflicts across the country and about 750,000 – 850,000 Internally displaced persons.(Internal Displacement Monitoring, 2007†¦) Based on the lack of mechanisms to address the root cause of these conflicts, it has continued to reoccur, intensify and impact negatively in Nigerian societies to the extent of creating viscious cycles of violence and complex humanitarian crises. Communities experiencing these conflicts have remained vulnerable and usually face the risks of further conflicts and distablity. Based on the recurrence of these conflicts,the communities have been tagged, ‘flashpoints of conflict’, unusually disaggregated across geo political lines or constellations. 3. The concept of Early Warning for Peace and Security: Based on the negative impact of conflicts to development and human security, there is increasing paradigm shift from conflict resolution mechanisms regarded as reactive to conflict prevention mechanisms which is seen as more proactive and has the capacity to prevent or mitigate destructive conflict or humanitarian crises globally. As core element of conflict prevention, early warning has increasingly gained prominence, credibility and efficiency as a preventive mechanism and solution to conflicts in societies. By definition, Early Warning has been described as a process of communicating judgements about threats early enough for decision-makers to take action to deter whatever outcome is threatened; or failing that, to manage events in such a way that the worst consequences are mitigated† (WANEP: 2008). Dmitrichev Andrei defined it as organizational procedure or mechanism for the structures and systemic collection and analysis of information, and the subsequent communication of results of this analysis to policy makers in a form that would be easily recognized and understood. The recognition and appreciation of the opportunities inherent in this system resulted in the first organised platform for the systematic development of the early warning system led by the Forum on Early Warning and Early Response (F.E.W.E.R.) in 1997 in response to the Rwandan genocide of 1994. It blossomed to become the largest global network of over thirty five (35) organisations across the world that catalysed the creation of the early warning and response networks in the Caucasus (led by EAWARN/Russian Academy of Sciences), Great Lakes Region of Africa (led by the Africa Peace Forum) and West Africa(led the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding) WANEP. Further impetus to the adoption and institutionalisation of the early warning system was boosted by the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan when he stated that, â€Å"For the United Nations, there is no larger goal, no deeper commitment and no greater ambition than preventing armed conflict. The prevention of conflict begins and ends with the protection of human life and the promotion of human development. Ensuring human security is, in the broadest sense, the United Nations’ cardinal mission. Genuine and lasting prevention is the means to achieve that mission. (Koffi Annan: 2001) This further gave rise to the UN Security Council Resolution 1624 of 2005 with the following core declarations: 1. Reaffirms the need to adopt a broad strategy of conflict prevention, which addresses the root causes of armed conflict and political social crises in a comprehensive manner, including by promoting sustainable development, poverty eradication, national reconciliation, good governance, democracy, gender equality, the rule of law and respect for and protection of human rights; 2. Recognises the need to strengthen the important role of the United Nations in the prevention of violent conflicts, and to develop effective partnerships between the Council and regional organisations, in particular the African Union and its sub regional organisations, in order to enable early responses to disputes and emerging crises; 3. Affirms the UN commitment in â€Å"supporting regional and sub regional capacities for early warning to help them in working out appropriate mechanisms to enable prompt action in reaction to early warning indicators; 4. Recognises the important supporting roles played by civil society, men and women, in conflict prevention and the need to take into account all possible contributions from civil society; 5. Supporting regional and sub regional capacities for early warning to help them in working out appropriate mechanisms to enable prompt action in reaction to early warning indicators; 6. Promote coordination with regional conflict management machinery in Africa which provide the Security Council with additional reliable and timely information to facilitate rapid decision-making; 7. Strengthen the capacities of civil society groups, including women’s groups, working to promote a culture of peace, and to mobilise donors to support these efforts (UN: 2005) 4. Developing Institutional Platform for conflict Early Warning System: Reflecting on WANEP-Nigeria’s Experience: The participation and commitment of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) to the FEWER platform strengthened its capacity and hands on skill for civil society based analysis and response mechanisms towards the prevention or mitigation of conflict especially within the great lake region following the post Sierra Leone and Liberian Conflicts of 90’s. This deepened its regional expertise as the reference point for early warning system in the West Africa sub region and subsequently the network of choice for the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) in the implementation of the regional based ECOWAS Early Warning and Response Network (ECOWARN). The system principally works through three basic components of reporting/data gathering, analysis and information dissemination utilised to facilitate response to issues of peace and security within the ECOWAS sub region. WANEP became the civil society partner with ECOWAS in the implementation ECOWARN since 2006. As part of the WANEP regional network, WANEP-Nigeria was mandated as the national civil society focal point to report into the online ECOWARN system. Its task was to provide weekly and daily reports to the incidence and situation reporting template as designed into the online system. This was to give ECOWARN an up to date civil society perspective of the peace and human security threats and opportunities in Nigeria. With the participation of Nigeria in this process came ominous challenges. 1. The first was the pressure from the focal points at Lagos secretariat of WANEP-Nigeria to deliver credible reports in relation to the size of Nigeria 2. With the size of Nigeria, the focal point concentrated in getting information from national newspapers, television and radio For the focal points who were staff of WANEP, it was included as part of their job responsibility. They relied on making phone calls to members of WANEP at the state levels for local or peculiar peace and security information that was not reported in the national media. However, these information were reluctantly or half-hazardly given and also cost intensive to the staff as they often bore liability for these calls. This challenge was partially cushioned when ECOWAS resolved to pay reporters communication allowance in 2007/2008. Inspite of this, the feedback from member organizations providing information at the state level was still half hazard and questionable. To redress this challenge, the program team at the national secretariat organized a brainstorm meeting to develop a framework for a workable national early warning system that not only ensures commitment of member organizations to support the system but also is both functional and cost effective. The first trial system was developed for the Nigeria 2007 elections. An Information, Communication and Technology (I.C.T.) consultant was engaged that worked directly with the program team to capture specific indicators to monitor election related conflicts in what was referred to as the ‘election barometer’. The cost of developing the barometer was wholly borne by the secretariat while the election monitoring was performed by staf f who volunteered to report into the system as an experiential learning process to enhance their understanding of the EW system. The experience motivated the secretariat to consciously plan for a conflict intervention proposal which includes an aspect of a sustainable/operational national early warning system. The submission and approval of the proposal by international partners led WANEP-Nigeria to develop the first locally designed and operated conflict focused National Early Warning system.

Letter to editor

After reading the article written by Christopher Stevens about educating Yorkshire I felt I should respond because, although Mr. Stevens clearly reflected upon the real life situations of the school, he still managed to draw attention to the negatives and form Ignorant conclusions whilst Including his Inconsiderate views. He sits back and crestless when It can be said that he must have gone to school what 20 years ago and that times have changed, teachers must know what they're doing otherwise they wouldn't have been given the job with such immense responsibility.While he continues to point fingers he ignores how incredible Mr. Burton and Mustards touching Journey has been as well as other uplifting moments in the show. Thrill Community Academy has several different types of characters that attend but in your article you have stereotyped all teenagers. You take some of the scenes from the show and blow them out of proportion and then use that to make assumptions about all teens.Don't you go out on the street and see ‘Ignorant' and ‘swaggered' out kids? Rather than generalizing you should pay close attention to the fact that schools are diverse, that the students and have their own little world, some would even call It their very own bubble. The first thing I'm going to talk about will be base. I think to achieve the perfect base you must go through some important steps prior to applying any makeup to ensure you get a flawless finish.Making sure your skin is clean, exfoliated and moisturizer is key, this will allow the foundation to actually sink in into the skin and make it look like your actual skin. But there's a step before that, and that's applying primer, it'll provide oil free hydration, minimize the appearance of pores and make sure your makeup lasts all day long. When applying foundation, the most Important thing to remember s that less Is more, this'll even out your skin tone and let your natural skin show through, this'll leave you looking luminous and Like your skin has a healthy glow.The next step Is concealed, the purpose Is already In the name and that's to conceal, It'll make dark circles and imperfections virtually disappear, as well as highlighting under the eyes and making you look more radiant and awake. Next go on to apply powder, this will leave you shine free and make sure your makeup doesn't slip and slide throughout the day.Brows I think brows are so important, they frame your face and add structure , there's arioso ways to fill in your brows, pencils, wax, powder and gel, my personal favorite is the had' brows kit, had stands for high definition , you get four powders in the kit, the colors range from light medium and dark, you should gravitate towards buying the kit according to the color of your hair, you get four powders, they are pigmented and creamy, this allows the shadow to glide through your eyebrows Eyes I think out of all makeup, eye makeup must be my most favorite, one because Its such a cre ative part and you can get really artistic In looks you can create. Negative apposed to the positives.

The Two Paths essays

The Two Paths essays Within John Ruskins Book The Two Paths he discusses many of his ideas, concerns and theories on art and art culture. I will cover but four of what I think to be the more interesting concepts. Balancing true representation of form and abstract human expression in an artwork. The effect art has on a cultures behaviour and vice versa. The idea that the human hand will never be surpassed in its ability to create true art. And finally, I will discuss Ruskins position on the distinction between art for arts sake, or art for self-recognition and wealth. Born in London, February 8, 1819, John Ruskin was destined to be either a man of God or a man of art and literature. His mother Margaret Cox was a devoted Christian who had dedicated her only child to God before Ruskin was even born. His first education was to be that of the bible, and due to his mothers strict policy of being a Christian, he would end up learning it well. His father, though no less strict, was a highly cultured man. He was not only a collector of art, but also a lover and writer of poetry. This mix of strictness and culture, caused Ruskins upbringing to be a very successful one in which he learnt to write verse by the age of eight, began taking lessons from a drawing master at age ten, and had his first works published by the age of fifteen. It was his strict upbringing, his educated outlook on the world and a copy of Rogers Italy by which was partly illustrated by J.M.W. Turner that influenced his stance on the world of art, architecture and poetry all around hi m. Although Ruskin suffered from a lot of mental illness throughout his life he was still able to write the most profound statements that often seem to encapsulate what I think to be the truth about art. Of all writers on art, Ruskin is the most difficult to evaluate today (Fishman,1963, 14). This statement is certainly powerful, and ...

Death penalty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Death penalty - Research Paper Example People have the natural fear of death, even if one is not thinking consciously about it. Criminologists have been studying on the matter to see whether the death penalty can influence the murder rates. In the early 20th century the results were inconclusive. Later in 1973, Isaac Ehrlich put forward a new method of analysis through which he displayed more reliable results. From his studies he describes that for every inmate who was executed, seven lives were spared because others were pulled back from committing murder (â€Å"Arguments†). The death penalty can also become a deterrent to crime. The early societies had always used punishments to discourage the would-be criminals from committing any crime. As it is a matter of great importance to prevent crimes, we should use the strongest method of punishment available to deter crime, and the death penalty suits to that. If the execution of the prosecuted criminals are carried out at pace, the soon-to-be murderers will be forced to think twice before killing somebody. The legal system of Singapore can be an example for how death penalty becomes a deterrent to crime. Singapore has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. In Singapore, â€Å"carrying over 30 grams of heroin† will result in the same punishment as murdering a human being (â€Å"Singapore†) so criminals will have to think before breaking the law, whether it is really worth their lives. There is a wide gap between the legal policies of Singapore and the United States. The US system of justice is very lenient to the criminals. â€Å"A murderer even with physically powerful evidence against him has the chance to appeal† against the death penalty. Contrary to the United States, in Singapore there will be no twenty year old trials or governors scooping into for supporting the convicted and the execution will be carried out swiftly (â€Å"Singapore†). It is advisable for all nations to adopt this policy. When compared to other forms of punishment such as â€Å"incapacitation†, a form of lobotomy or punishing a criminal to solitary imprisonment for 30-50 years, the death penalty is more humane. A person sentenced to life without any parole will never again see the daylight. He has to ponder over the consequences of his crime until his death. Looking through an emotional perspective, this type of lengthened, extreme level of suffering for a prisoner could be avoided. A widely spread definition of justice describes, â€Å"Let the punishment fit the crime† perhaps the best one ever existed and ever will. All the human beings have the innate tendency of craving for justice. It is the justice that prevents the society from falling into a tyrannical confusion where a normal person is always subjected to anger, violence, and stupidity of criminals. The law and the justice of a society secure the lives of its citizens. The Death penalty and justice are bilaterally connected. For the solidity o f the society, fair and fleet justice must always exist. The people who would obliterate the society through crimes should be completely detached. No other punishment serves this purpose better than death punishment. Looking through the perspective of justice, death penalty, in a society performs the function of wiping away its worst subject; the criminal one. As the governments change as do their policies too. A person imprisoned for life without the possibility of getting parole does not always mean that

Same Sex Marriage Revelation through Media Assignment

Same Sex Marriage Revelation through Media - Assignment Example From the discussion it is clear that  while Murray dwells upon both sides of the truth, he is also capable to striking at the empathy of the audience by appealing to equality as well as religion for the religious fanatics. Although majority of republicans conform to the norm that states should have the right to formulate their laws themselves, but Congress approves of the Defense of Marriage Act which indicates that marriages performed in other states shall be ignored and the federal denies the recognition of legal gay marriages. Using relevant quotes of scholarly critics, the Murray shows how the law and the politics meet at the flash point, which is the same sex marriage.  This essay highlights that  quite skillfully, both the authors here have avoided laying too much emphasis on the case for same sex marriage and never give any personal opinion of theirs throughout the article. They merely highlight the reality and incidence of same sex marriages.   At the same time they i dentify the legal and political dimensions which support the case in favor of the issue rather than supporting the issue themselves. At the same time they project the opposing opinions of critics and finally by highlighting the legal court cases, they try to prove that same sex marriages are being accepted by the law at a stage where ‘equality’ demands of utmost attention.  Murray is liberal in his outlook and also point out another reality that this is such an issue regarding which different states differ in their judgments.