Civil War in Sierra Leone

I. IntroductionBetween 1991 and 2002, Sierra Leone was heavily damaged by a tremendously violent civil war. This civil war erupted because of the mounting dissatisfaction of the people, especially the youth that were engrossed by the rebellious Revolutionary United Front (RUF), towards the politics of the country that was set apart by its corruption, negligence and electoral violence. It took the lives of over 50,000 individuals, displaced over two million inhabitants and also heavily ruined their national economy.According to Paul Collier and Marguerite Duponchel (2010), Sierra Leone was at the lowest level of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI) after the civil war came to an end. The aim of this paper is to draw attention on how this civil war was carried out, the efforts made to resolve the conflict as well as the effects the war brought on its economy and civilians.Therefore, section one of this paper will examine how the resourc es of Sierra Leone contributed to the civil war. Section two will demonstrate the demographics of the parties involved in the war. Section three will focus on the repercussions that the civil war brought on Sierra Leone and the final section will show the efforts made to bring peace into Sierra Leone.II. Section one: How have Sierra Leone’s natural resources contributed to the war?Let’s begin with a background history of the political situations that mainly caused the civil war in Sierra Leone. In the years after the death of Sierra Leone’s first Prime Minister Sir Milton Margai in 1964, the politics of the country was progressively distinguished by several negative factors, such as corruption and mismanagement, that led to the weakening of the civil society resulting in the frustration of a large amount of the youth who engrossed themselves in the unruly message of the RUF. This was because of leaders, such as Albert Mergai, who used Sierra Leone for their own selfish interests rather than in the people’s interest.Mergai, unlike his brother Milton Margai, used the country for his own personal gain by even using the  military to curb multi-party elections which threatened to end his rule. When Siaka Stevens succeeded, there was continued destruction of state institutions.His rule was characterized by corruption and pet projects financed by the treasury, which eventually became bankrupt, only benefiting those closest to him. After turning Sierra Leone into a one-party state, Stevens finally stepped down in 1985. Major General Joseph Momoh received the position of Prime Minister and followed in the footsteps of Stevens by welcoming corruption resulting in complete economic disintegration.The fact that the leaders used the abundant resources of Sierra Leone for their own self-aggrandizement made the country one of the poorest countries in the world by the time the civil war took place in 1991. (Gberie, 1998)The Sierra Leone war began on March 23rd, 1991, when the student-led RUF began its revolt against the Serra Leone government, which commenced in Liberia and spread to the border regions of Kailahun and Pijehun. Several members of this insurgent group were jobless dissatisfied young men who were motivated by Charles Taylor’s rebel National Patriotic Front invasion in Liberia.With the backing of Lybia and Charles Taylor, RUF’s goal was to remove from power the government of the All People’s Congress (APC) that was run by the presidencies of Siaka Stevens and Joseph Momoh which prolonged corruption, among other things. (Humphreys and Weinstein, 2008)Several researches indicate that the presence of alluvial diamonds, found in regions such as Kono and Kenema, ushered in a civil war in many ways. Firstly, during the presidency of Stevens, the highly uneven benefits of the diamond mining frustrated everyday Sierra Leoneans.Profits from the National Diamond Mining Corporation (DIMCO) only enrich ed Stevens, government members, and influential business people that were close with Stevens. Subsequently, the government lost direct control of the diamond mining areas when DeBeers, one of the world’s leading diamond companies, ceased doing business with the Sierra Leonean government in 1984.As a result, there was illegal smuggling and trading of Sierra Leone’s diamonds with the proceeds going into the private investor’s pockets. Although the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) seized power in 1992, with the goal of diminishing corruption and restoring the revenues of the diamonds  back to the state, the RUF acquired control of these abundant alluvial diamond areas to finance the purchase of weapons and ammunition obtained from countries like Liberia and Guinea. The simple availability of these diamonds was an incentive for violence. (Harsch, 2007) Although diamonds were a noteworthy commodity, other ways to fund the Sierra Leone Civil war were also present.A mixture of iron, bauxite, coffee and cocoa were in abundance in the country. There was gold mining in some areas of Sierra Leone as well as cash crop farming which were even more common through forced labor. Along with the high demand of diamonds, several of these minerals financed the fighting in Sierra Leone with exports revenues as high as USD 25 million and USD 125 million a year.Sierra Leoneans who joined the rebel group RUF also ransacked cars, livestock and money which helped them in gaining more energy and force. (Lujala, 2005)III. Section two: The demographics of the parties involved in the warWhen the RUF was first founded by Foday Sankoh, it was popular among several Sierra Leoneans because of the resentment they felt towards the corrupt Freetown elites.It had a slogan that read â€Å"No More Slaves, No more Masters. Power and Wealth to the People† that pledged free education, health care and a fair sharing of the diamond proceeds to the people. It did no t claim to fight for a particular ethnic group or district and did not support any Marxist, Socialist or Communist way of thinking. Its only goal was to remove the corrupt government from power although they provided little insight on what kind of government would follow it. (Denov, 2010) However, as time passed, the RUF developed a reputation for being a massively brutal rebel group during its ten year war.Although there is no precise data to verify the number of children that were involved in the war, it has been found that the RUF were the first to recruit children as soldiers. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), over 10,000 children of both sexes were involved in the fighting in one way or another. They were kidnapped in their villages and towns during attacks executed by the RUF.With their allies, the African Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), girls and boys were organized in separate units such as the Small Boys Units (SBUs) and Smal l Girl’s Unit (SGUs) which were commanded by several officers. The difference between how girls and boys were used is that, in addition to being used as fighters, girls were also sex slaves. Younger  girls were primarily used for domestic labor, since they could not properly fight yet, and then became sex slaves as they grew older.The brutality of the war had frozen their senses, which were also damaged by drug abuse. In order to stay alive, they had to frequently become merciless. Most of these children had to either amputate or kill their loved ones to show that they were loyal. (Denov, 2010)An additional feature of the mobilization of children against their will was the â€Å"re-enlistment† of children after the disarmament process took place in 1998. Several children were re-enlisted back into the armed groups. This especially concerned children who did not have families to go back to even before the war started. Children who were let go from centers like the Int erim Care Centre, which was a center created to help displaced children, had no other place to go after demobilization.They eventually got captured by the rebels and were forced to tell them if they had any brothers or sisters that ran away. (Jow, 2004) The Sierra Leone government also followed in enlisting children under Momoh’s rule. Momoh’s government encouraged chiefs and district leaders to arrange civilians into local unofficial groups to add soldiers into the Sierra Leone Army (SLA).When Momoh fled to Guinea, the NPRC government of Valentine Strasser was mainly responsible for the highest recruitment of children into the army to boost the amount of soldiers they previously had. There was an illicit enlistment of children while the income and benefits of the deceased soldiers was stolen by senior officers for whom this war had become a money-making business. (Jow, 2004)When the war was over, many children did not return to their existing families. This was mainly because some of them were abducted so young that they did not even have any recollection of their families. Some were so afraid of being rejected by their families like others have been that they refused to go back home.Girls were especially afraid of rejection for being sex slaves to the rebels especially if they had babies from them. Rather than face shame, a number of these people ended up on the streets with significant health problems since most of them were addicted to the drugs that were initially forcibly administered by the rebels during the civil war. (Kamara, 2004)IV. Section three: Efforts made to stop the civil warIn March 1995, a few years after the war started, a military group known as  Executive Outcomes (EO) entered Sierra Leone. Its mission was to return the diamonds and mineral mines back to the government, obliterate the command centers of the RUF and to organize a program that would persuade ordinary Sierra Leoneans to encourage the Sierra Leone government. EO was a military group that hired Angolans and Namibians that were considerably skillful in operating counter attacks against the RUF.EO joined forced with the Kamajors, another paramilitary group that surfaced against RUF, and the SLA to force the RUF rebels out of the diamonds centers they firmly controlled for several years. After EO took over RUF’s centers of operation near a town called Bo, the RUF had to own up to their losses and sign the Abidjan Peace Accord. This accord, however, demanded that the EO leave the country. EO was told to leave by the Sierra Leone government even before the arrival of another peacekeeping force. (Bellows and Miguel, 2005)The AFRC, supported by members of the RUF, took power after Executive Outcomes left the country causing President Kabbah to flee to Guinea in exile. The AFRC partnered with the RUF rebels naming Foday Sankoh the deputy Chairman of the AFRC. The â€Å"Operation Pay Yourself† introduced a whole new level of violence against the innocent inhabitants who had their limbs chopped off.As a result, many were against the AFRC because their actions violated the civil rights of the people. The AFRC coup of the presiding government was also condemned by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Diplomats were sent back to their countries, missions were cancelled, and the country’s membership in the Commonwealth was put on hold. (Olonisakin, 2008)In October 2007, the involvement of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) brought the AFRC and RUF insurgents to the negotiating table. The rebels agreed to a ceasefire by signing the Conakry Peace Plan. The fighting, however, still continued. Although ECOMOG forces were able to restore the Kabbah government, they had poor training in counter-insurgency attacks from the RUF.Therefore, the rebels went to Freetown to loot neighborhoods and rape ci tizens without discrimination. This battering of citizens is known as â€Å"Operation No Living Thing†. This  led the Kabbah government consider making considerable compromises in the Lome Peace Agreement. (Wright et al., 2010)The conditions of the Lome Peace Accord, signed on July 7th, 1999, were that Sakoh would be allowed to go unpunished. He would also be appointed as Vice-president of the committee that supervised the diamond mines of the country. In return, the RUF agreed to demobilize and disarm its rebels under the custody of peace keeping forces led by ECOMOG and the United Nations.This agreement led to many Sierra Leonean protests along with other human rights activist because of the fact that Sankoh, the leader of the RUF responsible for unspeakable atrocities, got away scot-free and was also given control over Sierra Leone’s diamond mines.However, this accord was very crucial for the government to regain peace through a process known as Disarmament, Demob ilization and Reintegration (DDR). During this disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process, ex-soldiers were trained to use their skills for a peaceful line of work for six weeks. (Williams and Alfred, 1999)The United Nations Mission to Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) also joined to disarm and implement the conditions that were set up by the Lome Peace Agreement and brought along military personnel, who increased over time, to supervise the diamond mines and the RUF who were still undermining their authority.By March 2001, the number of soldiers present through the UN was up to 17,500. In May 2000, RUF detained UNAMSIL peacekeepers to use their weapons and gain control of Freetown once again which made UNAMSIL avoid getting involved in diamond mining areas controlled by the rebels.This re-armament of the RUF by UNAMSIL called for another military involvement that was made to rescue the peacekeepers and the Sierra Leone government known as Operation Palliser. This operation, which c onsisted of British Royal Marines, helped in stabilizing the country. These marines evacuated foreign citizens out of the country and saved UNAMSIL from collapsing. The rebel forces were repelled from regions further than Freetown, under the command of General David Richards, and power was given back to the government. (Anon, 2000)As awareness spread about the diamonds of Sierra Leone, the Kimberly Process  met to assemble in Kimberly, South Africa. The United Nation took notice of the diamonds, also known as conflict diamonds, and its implications. The United States government followed, under the command of President Bill Clinton, by devising a plan to keep the conflict diamonds out of the market legally.With 49 members representing 75 countries, the Kimberly Process has made diamond industries stop exportations to Liberia, Canada and other leaders in the business. Although there are no diamond-fueled wars any longer, the Kimberly Process is still playing an important role by mai ntaining stability.It helps in developing improved trading centers that are licensed as conflict-free and provides ways to promote legal legislative structures that lead to peace treaties helping those in poverty. (Anon, 1998) V. Section four: The aftermath of the civil war on the economy and the Sierra Leonean peopleThe civil war has had devastating effects on the socio-economic order of Sierra Leone. Agriculture was greatly damaged causing high inflation of goods and unemployment. Sierra Leone’s infrastructure was also heavily destroyed. Roads were ruined and the power supply system depreciated due to lack of maintenance. The public health division was also in a terrible condition because of the looting of the hospitals and clinics during the war.The civil war caused a lot of health professionals to leave the country out of fear instigating an acute shortage of qualified staff members present in hospitals. As living standards fell to the ground, hitting the poorest even har der, many citizens moved from rural areas to the cities and towns hoping for better living conditions. However, access to health services depended on how much one could pay. Others were forced to seek refugee status in other countries while they lived in deplorable conditions moving from one area to another. (Kargbo, 2002)As years went by, several Non Governmental Agencies and the Sierra Leonean government have tracked Sierra Leone’s recovery. The country is recovering well from it civil war scars with the help of the international community and its partners. According to the data collected by the government of Sierra Leone Institutional Reform and Capacity Building (IRCBP) in 2004 and 2005, districts that experienced greater violence have had slightly better  results.To some extent, they seemed to be more politically organized then other areas that were less affected by the violence of the civil war. Voter registration was notably higher in these areas. Community meetings were also considerably elevated statistically. When an IRCBP survey asked people how the war affected their ability to work together, 60% of people declared that it had a positive impact to their society. Theoretically, these changes could have improved the public of Sierra Leone. (Mutwol, 2009)Peace remained in the country with the help of the United Nations peace missions. Four years after the war was over, in 2006, the last group of the 17,500 soldiers flew out of Freetown and left the newly trained police in charge. Nowadays, the country is advertised as a tourist attraction with the help of British travel companies. They want sophisticated and adventurous travelers, who usually visit other more established tourist destinations, to come to Sierra Leone and have cocktails by their beautiful beaches.One example is Lakka beach, which was a luxury destination before the war. It is trying to attract tourists by running several restaurants and organizing fishing excursions for Europea ns tourists. Sierra Leone’s goal is to be recognized for its chocolate coconut bars rather than by the awful civil war that occurred. (Desai, 2010)Although there has been considerable progress over the last ten years, there are still plenty of challenges that Sierra Leone must face. Most of the former child soldiers have returned to their former lives without any education or jobs. Children are still found working in the diamond mines. Work still remains in providing jobs for the massively unemployed youths, shelter for the orphans and rehabilitation for children who were forced to commit a number of crimes along with women of all ages who were also abused in many different ways.Since these women have been ostracized by members of their own community for being sex slaves, there is a need for more counseling and support services to help them get back to their communities. The predicaments of these people can also be decreased by increasing the amount of educational and profess ional training. This country also faces great challenges in restructuring its judicial institutions to fairly bring perpetrators of the war to justice. (Collier and Duponchel, 2010) VI.ConclusionThere are many misconceptions as to why the civil war in Sierra Leone occurred. What needs to be understood about the civil war is that it was not based on economic benefits acquired by the alluvial diamond mines. Although these diamonds have significantly contributed to the war, there was more than twenty years of poor governance, poverty, corruption and oppression that helped in forming the RUF as frustrations against the government increased over the years. This civil war has crippled many people for life, in one way or another.Sierra Leone is still sustaining itself through the help of donors although it is very rich in natural resources. Much work needs to be done to further improve the lives of the people in Sierra Leone who are still living in poverty. It is yet to been seen if peace will remain in the country with the amount of unemployed young people wandering in the streets. Any threat to the stability of the country should be dealt with peacefully as soon as possible.

Cars today Essay

Cars today are very common but about 200 years ago they were thought to be just some kind of crazy invention. The origin of the automobile can be traced back to Europe, but it became a major form of transportation in the United States. Most European cars were hand made, and they were very expensive so not that many people could afford to buy the cars. Nicolas Joseph Cugnot a French military engineer built the first steam car or a self propelled vehicle in 1769. One was designed to carry passengers, while the other was a three-wheeled steam tractor for hauling very heavy artillery. In 1801 and 1803 another inventor Richard Trevithick of the United Kingdom demonstrated four-wheeled steam propelled vehicles to carry passengers. Unfortunately, he lacked the money to continue his work in the United States. In 1805 an inventor named Oliver Evans demonstrated a steam operated dredge, which was mounted on a boat. He built the dredge to deepen and clean the Philadelphia waterfront. Evans put wheels on the boat and drove it. This machine weighed about 18 tons. During the 1860’s another American inventor Sylvester H. Roper developed a much smaller steam operated vehicle. This vehicle looked similar to present day vehicles. This attracted a lot of public attention and was even displayed in a circus. Steam cars had many disadvantages. In the beginning, it took a very long time for the fire to heat the boiler. This was bad because you would have to wait around a long time and by the time it heated up you could have walked to the place you wanted to go. The inventors solved that problem, but many others remained. The steam engines had to be small to be practical for cars, so they had to be high pressured engines to produce the required power. However, such engines cost much to build and maintain. Numerous attempts in the United Kingdom to promote the use and development of steam cars failed because of the competition from railroad and stagecoach  companies. Early steam cars damaged roads and sometimes even blew up. They also made a terrible noise, dirtied the air, smoked, and frightened horses (which were the main mode of transportation at the time). In 1865 the Red Flag Law ended further development of automobiles in the United Kingdom for about thirty years. Under this law the few steam cars could not go any faster than four miles an hour in the country, and two miles per hour in town. Also to warn of its approach, a signalman had to walk ahead of the vehicle, by swinging a red flag by day and red lantern by night. And the steam powered car gradually disappeared. In 1924, the Stanley brother’s (the brothers who made the famous Stanley Steamer Company) company one of the last steam car manufacturers went bankrupt. The electric car was first invented around 1891. William Morrison built the first successful American electric cars. They were powered by batteries from under. The seat they were quiet and easy to operate thus they quickly became popular. But the batteries limited to how far they could go. Few electric cars could travel faster than twenty miles per hour and the batteries had to be recharged every 50 miles. The gasoline car the automobile as we know it today resulted from the development of the internal combustion engine Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir a Belgian living in France, patented the first commercially successful internal combustion engine in 1860. It burned coke oven gas(a gas that was usually used to heat ovens) and was noisy and inefficient. He still sold several hundred engines, which powered printing presses, lathes, and water pumps. He also installed one in a crude motorcar. In 1885 Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz, two Germans working separately developed the first successful 4 stroke gasoline engine. Their engines led to the development of the engines used in cars today. Many early European manufacturers turned out cars based on Daimler’s and Benz’s work and patents. In 1891 a French company Panhard et Levassor created a basic design  that remained largely unchanged for nearly 100 years. The firm placed a Daimler engine in to the front of the car and used a revolving chain to transfer powers into the rear wheels. Most cars had a front engine and rear wheel drive until the mid 1980’s when the front wheel drive became popular. A French rubber making firm Michelin, introduced the first tires filled with compressed air for use on cars in 1895 Michelin developed such pneumatic tires under license from a British manufacturer of bicycle tires. Many people believe that the automobile became a practical means of transportation because of, first, the invention of the internal combustion engine and, second the development of the pneumatic tire. The birth of the automobile industry occurred in 1885, the year that Dailmer and Benz built their successful gasoline engines, until 1900 Europe led the world in automobile development and production. Many present day European car companies began in the late 1800’s. For example, Peugeot, a French firm started to make automobiles in 1890. Another French company Renault began producing cars in 1898. Fiat of Italy dates from, 1899. France and Germany became the first large production centers. The Duryea brother, Charles E and J Frank, built the first successful gasoline car in the United States. They drove the car on the streets of Springfield, Mass, in the years 1893 and 1894. The brothers founded the Duryea Motor Company, the first U.S firm. The United States took the lead in car making form Europe because it had a larger potential market. In 1910, the United States population was 92 million people, compared, with about 65 million people in Germany, 41 million people in Britain, and 34 million people in France. Americans also enjoyed a higher income, and so more of them could afford to buy cars. The discovery of huge oil fields in eastern Texas in 1901 helped to contribute to the rapid growth of the U.S Auto industry. The discovery caused a sharp drop in the price of gasoline, and plentiful, cheap fuel made cars relatively inexpensive to operate. Another factor aiding the U.S. auto industry was the application of mass-production techniques to the  manufacture of automobiles. Prior to 1900, carmakers had used skilled workers to assemble each automobile, but American manufacturers had been using mass-production techniques since the mid-1800’s to make such products as firearms and farm equipment, and it was inevitable that they would apply this process to car making. Once established, mass production brought the price of U.S. cars down to a level that many people could afford. By the early 1900’s, a buyer in the United States could choose among a variety of cars costing less than $1,000, while elegant European models, most of which were still handcrafted, sold for more than $2,000 in U.S. dollars. Conclusion The history of cars has been through trial and error mostly and now cars are the most used transportation in the world. What at first was thought to be a just a crazy invention but now it is something almost everyone in the world has or uses today. Today the cars that we have pollute the environment around us and many people have noticed that and now the electric cars are making a comeback. We are not sure what the future of cars will be like but we will probably make some kind of car that will be user friendly, safe, reliable, and wont pollute the environment. Personal Response I like cars a lot and I liked doing a research paper on this. I’m surprised that there were so many inventions that were failures had much to do with cars today and that today’s cars were based on these old steam cars that were very bad. I hope to see that the cars in the future will be better than the ones that we have that pollute the environment and also ones that are safer. These problems have been partially solved like using electric cars instead of using gas powered cars. And we have antilock brakes to stop faster but this won’t save you if you drive off a cliff. But in the future I’m positive that we will make some kind of car that doesn’t need tires it will hover above the ground and that way we wont run over small little  animals that are everywhere on the street dead.

Analysis Of Kill A Mockingbird Essay -- To Kill a Mockingbird, Famil

Southern Belles embody the eccentric ideals of the South, yet represent the epitome of respectable manners and morals for women nationwide, including most of the women characters in To Kill a Mockingbird. The cornerstone of the idea of a Southern Belle is based on stringent gender, class, and race guidelines, but underneath those divisions are the common attributes of charm, respectability, and intense passion for the well being of others (Oklopcic). True Southern Belles abide by the unwritten rules specific to their population, which include proper etiquette, manners, volunteerism, and grace. Characters such as Aunt Alexandra and Miss Maudie demonstrate these principles and attempt to instill their good graces and feminine qualities in Scout, who is the opposite of a Southern Belle. Similar to Scout, Mayella is contrary to the Southern Belle persona, but she does not choose to be the reverse of a Southern Belle. Instead, she is forced to by the challenging economic times and her fam ily’s low status on the social hierarchy. The Southern Belle is a woman of impeccable manners and morals, much of which can be contradicted by Scout and Mayella’s mannerisms, but emphasized by the beliefs of Aunt Alexandra and Miss Maudie (Lynch). The history of Southern Belles rests upon â€Å"a description, a code, a stereotype - which legitimizes and authorizes the interpretation of culture and nature, masculinity and femininity, superiority and inferiority, power and subordination† (Oklopcic). The whole idea revolves around a fear that women might rebel against the traditional system of government, in which the man holds the highest authority. If the dividing lines between superior and inferior people were to be reject... ... middle of paper ... ...y, Miss Maudie Atkinson resembles a Southern Belle with her hospitality and commitment to Jem, Scout, and Dill. In addition, she is optimistic, which is a positive feeling she inflicts on others, and is sensitive to everyone’s feeling, no matter their race. Works Cited Hakala, Laura. "Scouting for a Tomboy: Gender-Bending Behaviors in Harper Lee 's To Kill A Mockingbird." 2010. Electronic Theses Dissertations. Paper 176. 17 Dec. 2015. . Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Grand Central, 1960. Print. Lynch, Sally. "Any True Southern Belle Knows the Unwritten Rules of the South." Elon Pendulum. 11 Apr. 2002. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. . Oklopcic, Biljana. "Southern Bellehood (De)Constructed: A Case Study of Blanche Dubois." Americana. 2008. Web. 22 Dec. 2015. . Spears, Kate. "Anatomy of a Southern Belle." Deep South Magazine. 2 June 2011. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. .

History 101 Constitution Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

History 101 Constitution Assignment - Essay Example Before the approval and implementation of the new US Constitution, the existing 13 member colonies used the Articles of Confederation established and ratified in 1787, by Second Continental Congress as a guide in governing the union (Bederman 89). The national government that operated under the Articles of Confederation proved too weak and therefore could not effectively handle and regulate the numerous conflicts emerging between the states. Therefore, some of the leaders proposed for a new instrument of government to replace the weak one. Due to the emergent weaknesses, the purpose of the Philadelphia Convention was to rectify the weaknesses witnessed in the Articles that had existed even before the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War. Even though the aim of the Convention was to rectify the Articles, some of the leaders in attendance, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, coming from New York and Virginia respectively, intended to create a new government rather than rectify the existing one (Whittington 119). The two leaders came together and vigorously campaigned for the new Constitution. According to them, improved stability of the Union government was necessary in order to protect commerce and property. Being federalist, they vigorously campaigned for a very powerful central government with a large republic to control factions. According to Hamilton, the common people are ignorant and thus, incapable of rul ing themselves (Education Portal 1). Therefore, he asserted that the only people to rule should be the elites. Consequently, since the common people cannot rule, Hamilton proposed of unequal voting qualifications between the elites and common people. Thus, elites need to be accorded higher voting qualifications compared to the common people. However, Thomason Jefferson championed for states? rights as well as the trueness of democratic principles. Unlike Hamilton and his group, Jefferson believed in the capacity of the common man to rule or self-govern (Education Portal 1). Due to this, he supported lowering of voting qualifications of the elite in order to march those of the elite in society. It is therefore true that some leaders wanted a new system of government in order to address several issues related to governing. 2.Using citations from the Constitution, identify and explain the structure and function of the three Branches of government. Is this more in line with â€Å"Hamil tonian† or â€Å"Jeffersonian† political philosophy? The American Constitution is considered the oldest constitution in the world, and which exists in the contemporary world. Since its adoption and inception on September 17, 1787, it has guided and created governmental institutions within America as well as contributed to the political stability, economic freedom, social progress, and individual freedom in USA for over 200 years (Amar 70). It forms the main instrument of the U.S government as well as the supreme law within America. Its simplicity and flexibility has made it a model for other constitutions in the world. Constitution was established in the 18 century to guide 4 million people. However, after undergoing 27 amendments, the constitution currently serves over 260 million people in 50 different states within the U.S. Since the U.S Constitution forms the central instrument of the government, it provides direction on how the country is governed. It outlines the structure and functions of the three branches of the U.S Government; The Executive Branch; The Judicial

Finance Essay on risk management and investment

Finance on risk management and investment - Essay Example Different methods of analysis, reconstruction will be used. The process will involve majorly looking at the different kind of risks inherent in the portfolio and determining ways on how to reduce the risk. Executive Summary The investor seeks to come up with a well-structured portfolio that will serve him the purpose of better returns in the future. The investor has identified seven stocks namely: Barclays, BP, Lloyd Banking, European FTS, ISHARES CHINA, EFTS CMOD SECS, MSCI BRAZIL, and TUI TRAVEL. The investor intends on investing in stock shares as his major line of returns. The portfolio seems diverse as it entails stocks from different regions. The shares are all have a fair volatility ranging from a minimum of 4% -13%.This is a major strength in the portfolio as the investor will be least faced by shares that are quite elastic. However, in my view, the investor poses as one who is a traditional investor. He selects only share stocks and avoids investing in other securities such as bonds. There arises a risk in investing shares; one can never tell the exact time to sell them off as predicting when such shares will appreciate becomes a hustle. At the same time, all these companies issue out dividends. For investor companies, investors prefer that they maintain their levels of dividends so that such monies can be used in investing in other opportunities that would profit the company. In reconstructing the portfolio, I t will involve looking at the risk levels associated with the different kind of stocks and look into eliminating the least favourable ones either through statistical analysis or by going by what the market proposes. While analysing the portfolios past performance, it will entail looking at how the individual stocks performed. Our portfolio is composed of equity based investments. This will entail looking at how the individual shares performed in the industry and across other stocks. In our case, our cut-off date will be on January 1 ,2020 for th e purpose of buying stocks. Barclays With Barclay’s stock, the return on equity has decreased significantly over the years from 23.41% to 5.65% in year 2009 through to year 2011.This means that the company has been making low returns over the years or has very high operational costs. At the same time, the company could be having very high equity levels. The price per share for the company is quite low at 2.51, meaning that it is not a very favourite stock among investors or alternatively, the investors foresee a likelihood of the prices going up. It’s good to note that the company’s volatility is a bit high at 10%.This means that the stock is likely to affect a large investor upon any change in the market conditions. The earnings per share has also increased over the years from 25.1 to 35.9 from year 2010 to 2012.This is a very positive remark for the investor as over the years they experience value for their money. The stock also pays out dividends to its share holders at the end of every financial year. This would be a good indication to a normal investor who looks into trading with shares. However, for the investor’s portfolio this would not be a positive move as the investor would view the company as failing in investment decisions. Usually, investors prefer companies that look to invest their funds in the most profitable investments, companies that can manage to increase their asset base too. The company floats only 87% of its shares and has an

Utilitarian Theories of Punishment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Utilitarian Theories of Punishment - Essay Example This theory relies on some intrinsic value being installed within a person initially in order for these decisions and distinction to be made. The tern utilitarianism was established or became from philosopher Bentham’s test question; ‘What is the use of it,’. Bentham’s’ theory suggests that all pleasures are qualitatively alike; grading them based on values such as intensity, certainty, purity, fruitfulness, length and temporal closeness. While Bentham and Mills were philosophers they were also known as economists and Mills theory expanded on utilitarianism. Mills suggested that pleasure is something that can be quantified and qualified and that those who are aquatinted with both prefer that pleasures are quantified. Explaining this preference involves assuming that humans have a sense of decency within their higher faculties and that this dignity is necessary for happiness and those pleasures which conflict with maintaining this dignity is rejected. Theory’s regarding punishment is usually either retributive or utilitarian (Rawls). Those that are retributive emphasize past actions in consideration of the consequence that much must be paid. Theories that are utilitarian are frequently seen as the opposing position and are often used in consideration of the future. Utilitarian theories of punishment will serve as the focus of this discussion.

Case study p565 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Case study p565 - Essay Example The risk associated with oral health includes xerostomia, sipping coffee, and minor diabetes. On the next appointment, the selected patient brought back the 24-hour recall food diary without mentioning specific foods so as not to create a bias. â€Å"The caries promotion potential of diet â€Å"calculated was eight, which considered a moderated risk for caries. For xerostomia patients, this understanding could be significant if it comes from intake of drugs and undergoing treatment. If a patient has a mouth that is dry, they would be prone to damages of the tongue and a risk of dental caries infection. Base on the dental charting, the patient has an obligation to ensure that she maintains good health for her dental structure. More so, the O’Leary score was low. Another health concern in dental caries was using of hard brush wrongly. Application of much energy when brushing using hard brush may result to fractures in the gums and teeth. The doctor instructed the patient to switch to chewing sugar free gum and take water that has fluoride. Fluoridated water does not only maintain the health of a patient’s teeth but can also ensure that the patient does not suffer from having a dry mouth. The doctor recommended â€Å"Nutrition and your Oral Health† and â€Å"Caries Risk† pamphlets for the patient to get more information about dental health. On the third appointment, the patient acknowledged the doctor’s recommendation during the previous appointments. She had started chewing sugar free gum and enhanced on the intake of water every day. This nutritional counseling project is essential to me as a learner because I realized that every case is different. The recommendation resulted from what the patient needed and was a modified base on scientific evidence. It motivated the patient and enhanced her dental

Identifying Key Community Success Factors Essay

Identifying Key Community Success Factors - Essay Example To clarify, the ideal community can be loosely defined by a few factors that almost every person, living or dead and despite cultural differences, as a functional place where people reside, occupy themselves, socialize and have all of their basic needs met. Although further factors will undeniably be added to this list both by individuals and groups, the fact is that the ideal community will consist of a group of people who all contribute in some way to the well-being and contentment of others within the group while enjoying simultaneous support. Every basic need of a human being must be met within the Utopian society without putting any one citizen or subset of people at a disadvantage. There are three crucial factors that will directly affect the creation and preservation of the basic ideal community: an accepted set of ideals and morals on which to base major decisions and any type of government, the opportunity for growth and stability. The first important factor in the success of any community setting is moral homogeneity; this is the most crucial aspect of a Utopian society however it is also the most difficult to establish and maintain simply because of human nature. Without a set guideline - for example something like a Constitution or religious doctrine that dictates acceptable and expected behavior as well as a moral framework from which to base future unforeseen decisions - it is impossible for any group of people to agree on any aspect of their lives that involves conscious thought. The establishment of such a set of lifestyle guidelines is by no means a new idea; it has been done by virtually every religious group, every political group and even by fami ly units to ensure that members are acting in a way befitting of the group's creators. The issue with indoctrinated morality is the fact that people will very rarely agree on such delicate ideals and any fully consented document could therefore only include generalized guidelines instead of specific ways of dealing with the various issues of any given community. As with individuals, communities also require the ability to grow and to change as time wears on; this is the nature of people and groups alike; the problem with growth of course is the pressure it puts on any community doctrine or tradition. As a community ages, its citizens realize better which methods or morals are actually useful and which have been more of a hindrance than a help to the community morale and success. As a citizen within any community, one will want to visualize him or herself as an integral part of society in some way or form; this might mean to advance into government levels (if indeed a formal government exists in said community) or by providing basic maintenance for public buildings. In whatever small or large way, people need to feel that their life will have an impact on the community that has nurtured them; without this reciprocity any occupation can feel dull, meaningless and lead to many issues from mental health considerations to disparity to crime. For an ideal community to flourish, each member must realize their own potential to contribute and feel validated by receiving all they need from the community in return. The third important factor in building and maintaining a

How Settlement Occurs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

How Settlement Occurs - Essay Example Singapore’s CDP operates in an almost similar manner.The first stage of the clearing process is trading matching. This takes place immediately trade is initiated in the SGX-ST trade engine. Its trading platform is the Quotation and execution system for trading.When trade matching occurs, the CDP becomes the CCP on either side of the transaction by Novation. As a result, brokers from either side are guaranteed efficient performance. In situations of T+1, the CDP goes a step further to notify each individual of their obligations when it comes to security and money.With securities settlement, CDP effects the brokers clearing accounts by crediting the buyer and debiting the seller. The CDP apart from having an account with the clearing bank also has an account with each settling bank. The CDP also has a clearing fund to be used in situations where members are unable to clear their financial obligations.In Germany, the platform used is the Xetra.This is an order driven trading syst em.The transactions matching system is automatic. The orders are kept in a central order book free for all Xetra participants to inspect.All clearing takes place in the stock exchange. This occurs either electronically or on the floor.These are forwarded to the Clearstream system.Clearstream under the safe custody Act is charged with the responsibility of keeping and administering securities.The transactions are settled on the second day of trading(T+2).We have examined the clearing systems for the three nations.

Informative speech - continuation career path Essay

Informative speech - continuation career path - Essay Example We have different units for dyeing, woodworking and enveloping. Taken together these different units contribute to the overall success of the business and adding to the bottom-line of the company. We supply furniture to universities, offices and hotels among others on a contract basis. We ensure good quality and reliability in our delivery that ensures repeat business from many of our clients. To come to my career plans in this business, I want to use my education as an IT major to contribute to the success of the company. I believe that with the use of IT in business, it would be possible to manage inventory and sales and purchases in a better way. To start with, we could have an integrated solution that has the components of sales and finance along with inventory. Each of these components would cater to one particular business area and would be integrated as a whole with the net result that there would be a systemic approach to the whole concept of doing business in total. I want to use my training in IT to design the system and implement it across the business. Thus, my career path would be that of an entrepreneur who uses his education to the advantage of the family’s business. To focus on the likely rewards that may accrue to me, first, I would be happy with the fact that I am helping my family along with taking care of the entire business in the future. At another level, it would also mean that I would be giving back to the country of my nationality from which I have gained substantial benefits and privileges. Taken together, these would constitute my motivation in serving my family and country. In monetary terms, I would have the satisfaction of growing the business and ensuring an augmented income stream for me and my family. The flip side of my career plan is that I may not be able to realize my earlier goals of a career in the IT industry. However, I have started taking

Native American Heritage Essay Example for Free

Native American Heritage Essay I have re-read this book in a relatively new edition. It is a mixture of Kiowa myths, family stories, history sketches, and personal experiences. For me it evokes a sense of community unknown in modern U. S. society. It also conveys, however dimly to the modern scientific mind, a deep sense of a peoples experience of the sacred where that term is entirely outside of modern theology and is steeped in the land and the memory of a people. It one opens ones mind and emotions the book can connect in a powerful way. However, a modern can never penetrate to the full depth of Kiowa sensibility. This was harshly expressed in an art object in the IAIA in Santa Fe, New Mexico some years ago. The object included the words: Just because you stick a feather in your hat doent make you a Indian. of another edition It seems enough to alert the reader this book exists, in case anybody is tired of consumer infatuation. These 90 page wonders full of meditation and forethought. It has to be his best, meaning simplest, clearest, but it is probably anthropology too. It ought to be read before or after viewing his http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=rbqzm6 but to take it on its own it is about the alien and the unknown as feet in old age and death, that is to say that even though he calls himself Rock Tree Boy he i moreIt seems enough to alert the reader this book exists, in case anybody is tired of consumer infatuation. These 90 page wonders full of meditation and forethought. It has to be his best, meaning simplest, clearest, but it is probably anthropology too. It ought to be read before or after viewing his http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=rbqzm6 but to take it on its own it is about the alien and the unknown as feet in old age and death, that is to say that even though he calls himself Rock Tree Boy he is A Man Without Fantasy. Thats the difference between being a bear and wearing a Jordan t-shirt with Hanes underwear. Nobody is Jordaned or Meadow Lark Lemoned from a laying on of their hands, but bear will move you. Dress in any of these masks or be naked as yourself as He Who Wears Only His Name. Either you stand naked in The Name or you hide in a mask. Groups function as masks to prevent nakedness, as if there were something other than The Name to stand in, but for the human there isnt. It might be the landscape and the racial memory of landscape that my parents and grandparents knew (Schubnell, Conversations, 46). I feel deeply about the landscape and I mean that literally. I think it is important for a person to come to terms with landscape. I think thats important; it is a means to knowing oneself (45). So it comes down to the meaning of landscape too, but this is intellectualized. The real question is, what is the meaning of wilderness? Superficial Existence in the Modern World Much of this is foreign today, Bear, landscape, even ancestry have been substituted with identities of no purpose to examine. The annihilation of the traditional in tribal societies and every assimilated subgroup is a negative. Assimilation is never good, although to say it that bald is offensive. This is also the point in that First Convocation of Indian Scholars (Ed.by Rupert Costo, 1970). In answering Hopi Charles Loloma about how to assume the traditional identity Momaday says, I think that each of us who realizes that the native traditional values are important has a great obligation to convince the young of that, who may be wavering with alternatives [of] the dominant society which is destroying the world in which it lives (9). Its really up to the older people(10) to identify the danger of superficial existence in the modern world (10). To counter superficial existence he says they have a primary obligation to tell their children and grandchildren about the traditional world, and try to show them by example and tell them explicitly that there is an option available to them, and that theyre damn fools if they dont avail themselves of it (10). Acculturation Thus acculturation is a kind of one-way process in which the Indian ceases to be an Indian and becomes white man (10). It is broader than that too, the PA German ceased to be himself and became an English-American. Acculturation to the modern translated means to steal the birth rite identity of the traditional, its language and customs and make the native a mascot of the modern. There is a continual excavation of the Caucasoid in every subgroup that assimilates, whether Pennsylvania German, Hispanic, black, Indian. The anthropologists should excavate themselves to give them something to do, since they otherwise are the inventors and stalking horse for the modern against the traditional, looking for power by stealing it. Modern here is not the pejorative it seems if the native takes his tradition into it to return what is stolen, or as Momaday says, that it is good to go into the enemys camp (12). Steal his horses! But he has stolen the children! Pull Out the Light Poles That said, it remains to learn tradition from the elder. In the face of radical destruction this takes more than effort, it takes surrender. Without surrender the traditional dies. Take your pick, you can think like Katie Couric and all the like spokespersons for the modern on Charlie Rose, or like grandfather. Momaday says it is a duty to teach the young. He addresses the elders reluctance: I wonder if you have any idea of why they shut up at a certain point like that, why they wont talk to you (15)? Charles Loloma, the Hopi, had said that when the power company installed electric poles by force the people came out and pulled the poles all back out. These people didnt want the electricity'(15). This is symbolic of the whole transmission of culture of the modern against the traditional. When the enemy enters the native camp it is called deliverance, but is really theft of the child. It is destruction of the tradition, which is obvious when white missionaries go to New Guinea but apparently not when the Internet sells social network. You have to live it, not be curious of it. Fight Against Electricity! Ben Barney, a Navajo, says he had a grandfather who taught him until the age of eight, but when he died he couldnt find a replacement. Another says, my grandfather died, and he was one of the last men in the village who knew the whole ritual cycle of songs. He died without letting me or my father, or any of us record any of it. I think he felt that this thing that he had was too precious to just give out, and have it exposed to someone whom he never knew well. And hed rather die with it than have that happen to it. It seems to me he was saying, youre not going to to live it. Youre one of these people thats fighting for the electricity. (I am not, in fact) (17). So the ticket to the traditional, the universal (! ) is that you have to live it, not be curious of it. Surrender to the traditional! If you will not surrender, and the elders have any pride, they take it to the grave in sorrow. But it is not to be studied by post docs. It is to be lived. How many young think their elders outweigh the modern? Lifeway That you have to live it goes a long way toward knowing both wilderness and identity. Living is not an intellectual function. But he was saying, youre one of these people who are fighting for this. My people never had electricity. We never lived that way. And if I give you my lifeway, if I tell you my lifeway, youre going to sit and laugh at me, because youre laughing anyhow just by your behavior (17). Only among the remnants of American tribes does anyone dare thus to challenge the modern. Other subgroups embrace it like a drug. The life way is an iPhone. The elders wont speak to this, naturally they are not going to tell you. I mean, they cant. I can see why he felt there is no way to communicate experience; the essence of it, the reality of it. I believe he was saying: I could give you words, and you could put them down, but that wouldnt mean the same thing (17). Is this reality versus the virtual? The track of a bear versus a video game? These things are important if you want to have anything left on the earth that isnt homogeneous and interchangeable. Like babies. Everything said here of the American tribes transfers to every family and subculture. 2. Momaday avoids the satiric in his work, but it is a satiric haunt like a ghost river in every meadow, grove and stream the summer nights after the predators came. Then a foam appeared at the exit pipes of plants along the upper Allegheny. It is hard enough to name Bear and Wilderness when those subsequent masks upon masks cover up naked being. Surrender. Stand up and strip, confess, then kneel! Wilderness trees, canyons, streams and things under and in them, screeches in the night, wheat, bear, porcupine are symbols to show what they are standing for, something else, life mirrors that open doors and close the way we live. Only the sun has escaped our dominion. The sun escaped the nano tales that seine the atmosphere in a net, to take earth away. How To Know and Recognize the Alien These image masks are the ultimate reality that deny we are predators or aliens. If you want to know the alien go and be one. Sit in the Mogollon. Do you belong? Find a bear. Is he your friend? People wander out all the time, light fires to be found, but the ones that arent found bone up. Coyote Wound Dresser had a talk with Walt Whitman, Wound Dresser, but things did not turn out well for Whitman. The alien cannot be modeled, but it is knowable if Unknown. Im going to tell you what it is. Talking to the Unknown we try to understand synergies of it in the anthropology of Edward Dorn http://osnapper. typepad. com/snappersj He says the alien is a crucifying self-consciousness of doubt at the root of his own being when he sees the Shoshone. Does he, Dorn, belong? His doubts serve against the Unknown. They are a mirror of loss and lack. The filth on the chair that gets on his pants is an image of it I had a great desire to be off, to not take any more, or give any morefor I will say it, at the risk of blunder: It is impossible for myself and my people to offer themselves in any but the standard senses (14). At least he knows of the surrender, that you have to live it. In some freak of Methodism he wants to wash this old mans feet to tame him, this 102 year old who stands for all of Idaho, Utah, Nevada and the Great Basin before electricity, a volume of Yaa-Aaa-Aaa (14). I was aware of the presumption of my thinking he would be relieved or made happy by having his feet washed (13). Now Here is the Alien: If you want to confront the Unknown you must to do it in the feet of your old age and death. If we want to confront the Unknown we must to do it in the feet of our old age and death. The place was intensely neglected, I gradually saw, and not just filthy as it looked to be at first glance. It was simply the remains of a life (12). The comfort of the Unknown in Dorns account is that there are two that serve each other in it, but we dont know why. One Unknown is the wife, ust like all our mothers and wives, who should have died, by the rules of our biology, thirty years ago. But it was evident that she would stay on, the weaker of the two, until he smelled the summary message in his nostrils, then she would be free (12). Is death that freedom? The alien doesnt think in known terms, but makes Dorn harbor such thoughts as, this man and woman were the most profoundly beautiful ancestors Ive witnessed go before me (12,13). He is the spirit that lies at the bottom, where we have our feet. The feet which step between the domains, the visible sign, the real evidence of the coming event where this mans low, incantatory verbs spill down across the plateau and basin (13)not more Indian than man, still as much the flower as the fruit. Wash his feet! Wash his hands, heart and head! Lay in the dust like a penitent Barry Lopez, close to the flagellate, and weep for the human lost. This Shoshones name is Willie Dorsey. We dont get his real name, Alien. I saw, the heat, the vociferous mosquitoes in the buildings shade, the slightly moist filth at the back door. Alien old age and death look like very old animals [that] have such coats over the eyes, a privacy impenetrable from the outside (11). Cataracts, the blind, the lame, the sick, the living I know treated by some Doctor of the Alien. She operates her office practically as a charity, complete with science, intuition and healing to the grim weight of bad condition, not especially outlined, more heavy with despair than one could possibly arrange with rubble (11). This is not Ed Dorn. He is a spectator. This Doctor holds the hand, cuts the hair, absorbs the breast, the tear, weeping and praying within, but praising and thanking for the chance that comes out of the wooden clapboard structures (10) of lives that they could be so treated and revived. So thats the alien, its human and knowable even if Unknown. Poetry Analysis Sherman Alexie is Spokane/Coeur dAlene Indian. Alexie wrote a poem called â€Å"The Reservation Cab Driver†. The title contributes to understand the poem and understand who the cab driver was. In this poem, Alexie uses a symbolism he also uses some metaphor, irony and imagery. By examining the life portrayal in the reservation, the poem’s casual diction, the magic appearance of Crazy Horse, I will show how Alexie’s critique of the status of Indians on the reservation. The life in the reservation was hard. When anyone wanted to get out of the reservation the only choice the reservation had was hiring the cab driver who drives a ’65 Malibu with no windshield. The description of this cab driver car is an example of Imagery taking place you can see the car all beat up with no windshield. This particular cab driver waits outside the breakaway bar. He charges his costumers a beer a mile with no exception. This cab driver is not looking for money. The other people have to get this cab to take them places especially during the powwow. Also in stanza 8 during powwow, some imagery takes place. The imagery you see is people paying him with quilts, beads and fry bread and firewood. Imagery in this section is important because you can see what’s going on. In this stanza the imagery is very clear that it seems as if you are there in person watching everything. Also in stanza 7 you see use of metaphor also irony but the cab driver did not understand Seymour because the cab driver answers â€Å"Ain’t no pony, it’s a car†. Alexie shows us how hard it is for the reservation to have to take the cab and pay in a form that you do not see in other places of America. Alexie shows us an example of two different economies. Within the same country but how life in the reservation is completely different to the rest of the life outside the reservation. The reservation has many problems like having only one cab driver who charges a beer and a cigarette a mile. Another problem â€Å"The Man to Send Rain Clouds† The theme of Leslie Marmon Silko’s The Man to Send Rain Clouds revolves around the idea of maintaining your culture in the opposition of the â€Å"religious right. † Leon is faced with strong opposition about his tribe’s rituals in regard to the burying of one of their dead. That opposition comes from the Christian priest and his ideas of what is sacred. Cultures around the world embrace death in different ways. Some mourn and fear death; others accept it and find hope when the time comes. Unfortunately not all of those cultures are able to be open to the idea that they could be wrong, or that different methods could lead to the same ends. The Christian church of coarse has a history of killing, burning, and condemning things that disagree with their ideologies. Even today we see extremists in many religions that fight wars over their beliefs. In this story a man had to fight with himself regarding the decision. He has to wrestle with the pleas of the priest and the idea that his culture taught him regarding death. He believed as his tribe did that the ritual would bring rain and new life to the crops. The battle between cultures moves on when the priest is actually asked to be a part of the ritual and bless the body. At this point the priest enters his own battle with the things that he was taught and the opposition that he faces. He had to decide what would be the Christian thing to do. When all these battle are over both men learn a little about each other’s world as the wind starts to come in, it is a wind of change. They wait to see if the storm will come to begin the circle of life anew. The Man to Send Rain Clouds Readers Reaction This was quite an interesting story. There were three sections to the story which broke the story in three different times in one day. The characters were all very nonchalant except for the priest who showed some emotion when he found out that old Teofilo died. The story kept our interest, however, it did not lead a very clear trail to the end, and there was no real climax where we felt there was a good peak. The story needs to be read more than once to really be appreciated. Plot Summary One ? Teofilo is at the sheep camp in the arroyo when he rests in the shade under a cotton tree and dies. ? After Teofilo missing for a few days, Leon and Ken come looking for him and find that he had been dead for a day or more, and the sheep had wandered and scattered up and down the arroyo. ? They gather the sheep and then come back to wrap Teofilo up in a red blanket. ? They paint his face with different colors and ask him to send them rain. ? On Leon and Kens way back into pueblow (town) they see Father Paul, who asked if they found their missing grandfather yet, and they tell him where they found him, but not that hes dead. Good Morning, father. We were just out to the sheep camp. Everything is o. k. now. Two ? Louise and Teresa are waiting for them to get back with any news about Teofilo. ? Leon tells the girls that they found Teofilo died near a cottonwood tree in the big arroyo near sheep camp. ? Leon and Ken carry in red blanket with teofilos body, dress him in new clothes to be buried in. ? After a quiet lunch, Ken went to see when the gravediggers could have the grave ready, I think it can be ready before dark. ? Neighbors and clans people come by their house to console Teofilos family and leave food for the gravediggers. Three ? After the funeral, Louise tells her brother Leon that she wants the priest to sprinkle holy water for grandpa. So he wont be thirsty. ? Leon gets in the truck Burial Rituals of Native American Culture At some point in our lives, we all come to realize that death is a part of life. Cultural diversity provides a wide variety of lifestyles and traditions for each of the unique groups of people in our world. Within these different cultures, the rituals associated with death and burial can also be uniquely diverse. Many consider ritualistic traditions that differ from their own to be somewhat strange and often perceive them as unnatural. A prime example would be the burial rituals of the Native American people. Leslie Marmon Silko’s story entitled The Man to Send Rain Clouds describes a funeral service carried out by a Native American Pueblo family. Though many perceive the funeral service narrated in this story to be lacking in emotion and also lacking respect for the passing of their loved one, it portrays a ceremony that is quite common for the Native American communities. There is also a hint of conflict occurring between the characters in the story that are carrying out their traditions while including an outside religious figure in the ceremony. The death of an old man sets the stage for this story and tells of the way his family goes about preparing him for his journey into the afterlife. A feather is tied into the old man’s hair, his face was painted with blue, yellow, green and white paint, pinches of corn meal and pollen were tossed into the wind and finally his body was wrapped in a red blanket prior to being transported. According to Releasing the Spirit: A Lesson in Native American Funeral Rituals by Gary F. Santillanes, â€Å"Pueblo Indians care for their own dead with no funeral director involved. The family will take the deceased, usually in their truck, back to the home of the deceased and place him or her on the floor facing east to west, on a native blanket. Depending on the deceaseds stature in the tribe, his face may be painted in the traditional nature. A powdery substance is placed AK English 217 – Reading Journal (The Way To Rainy Mountain) Scott Momaday uses nature to dictate the passage of life. He personifies the landscape as a person, he says the there is ‘perfect in the mountains but it belongs to the eagle and the elk, the badger and the bear. ’ To me, this tells me the mountains have a feeling of openness, but it is the home of many – not just humans. The mountain holds importance to the Kiowa’s because it is pure wilderness. The landscape that is described helps the reader recognize what the Kiowa’s were thinking upon reaching rainy mountain. The beautiful sights of the land made the Kiowa’s recognize a new passage of life. Their curiosity of the land’s landscape created legends in their tribe. The legends helped them escape through the wilderness by becoming part of it – through kinsmen in the sky and a boy turned into a bear at Devil’s Tower. Momaday describes the curiosity of the wilderness throughout the landscape. In order to build the larger idea of the tribe, the curiosity makes the landscape act as a character. The writer, Scott Momaday, describes the grandmother through details of her life. My favorite line was at the end when he wrote, â€Å"There, we it ought to be at the end of a long and legendary way, was my grandmother’sgrave. † This line sums up her entire life in a single sentence. She lived a long life and saw many things, her life was filled of legends that the tribe created. She had a reverence for the sun because she saw the Sun Dances when she was younger. In 1887, the grandmother was at the last sun dance; she bore a vision of deicide without any bitterness. At an old age, she began praying frequently. Momaday could not understand what she was saying but describes the tone of her voice as ‘sad in sound, some merest hesitation upon the syllables of sorrow. ’ No matter what the language, people inherently understand the sounds of sadness. It really brought the grandmother to life. Then finally, at the end, he Many Americans today believe that all students –no matter what race or ethnicity- have an easy path with our education and that all students are able to get a higher education without any problems. Yet this belief is not true for all students. However it’s a whole different story for the working class students. The working class student that goes for a higher education in life, in search for a better life and, a brighter future are faced with many obstacles and challenges on their path to achieve their goals and dreams. The working class students are put with many different challenges. As they the working class students goes forward with their education, there maybe people that will try to put them down in many forms. But you should know that you will survive and at the end you be a stronger, prepare student with the tools to overcome any obstacles in life. In the article â€Å"Indian Education† by Sherman Alexie, we read how being working class students we have obstacles to overcome. Some of this obstacles come from the people we less expected just like the example in Alexie Sherman Article â€Å"Indian Education†, how his own second grade teacher Miss Betty Towle try to put him down as many times as possible. She the teacher tries to put him down for being Indian, and for having working class parents. The Teacher Miss. Betty seems to not care for Alexie at all. The teacher ask Alexie to give a letter to his parents in which she ask for his parents to come to school so that they could have a conversation on what she calls his bad behavior in class. The teacher seems to not want to talk about his bad behavior. Instead, she wanted to insult Alexie in front of his parents by calling him Indian without any compassion or respect. â€Å"Indians, indians, indians, she said it without capitalization, she called me Indian, indian, Indian† (p. 1). Base on this citation we see that the teacher was trying to put him down for being Indian and for having parents that weren’t educated. By

Softlifting Music and Other Software Essay Example for Free

Softlifting Music and Other Software Essay Ethics are moral standards that arise form the freedom to choose between right and wrong. Major features of ethics are responsibility, accountability and liability. (Laudon and Laudon 2008) Being a free moral agent Allison faces an ethical dilemma: ‘duplicate her background music at negligible cost for use in her other restaurant or buying the same music again from the music company at full cost. ’ The conflict is occasioned by copyright law on one side and the temptation to just copy due to the ease to copy brought about by technology. Copying this proprietary piece of software will violate the legal rights of the owner. This is the nature of property rights-it is individualistic, exclusionary and selfish. The general direction pointed by Article 1 Section 8, of the US Constitution, with regard to copyright matters, implies that the composer of the background music owns exclusive rights to it and Allison cannot: reproduce the music or lyrics, distribute the music or lyrics either for free, for no profit, or for profit, perform the music or lyrics in public play a recording of the music or lyrics in public-even if she owns the CD, or make a derivative work or arrangement for public use in any form. If Allison goes ahead and uses the recorded music in her second joint, she will have committed ‘piracy’, which Bidgoli defines as â€Å"any copying of software in contravention of its license. † (pg. 297) or â€Å"the illegal act of copying software for any reason, other than backup, without explicit permission from and compensation to the copyright holder. † (Gopal and Sanders 1998) If law enforcement officers come calling, the recorded music would be destroyed and Allison would be penalized according to the law. Socially, softlifting is regarded as a lesser crime. Especially after considering the inconveniences and costs incurred by users when software companies decide to control how they software is to be used. Someone opined that knowledge is not knowledge until it is shared. With piracy on the rise musicians are looking at the internet as their gateway to a wider market. The only ethical option would be for Allison to buy a new copy or pay a royalty to the composer for permission to play the music in her restaurant. Alternatively she can schedule days in a way that each of her joints can play the music. The ethical ‘no free lunch’ rule encourages people to assume that â€Å"virtually all tangible objects are owned by some one else unless there is a specific declaration otherwise. †(Laudon and Laudon 2008) Scenario 2: Allison is still concerned about the costs of operating her business. She currently uses a computer based point of sales system to process orders and billing (when a customer places an order, the system prints the bill like a cash register, but also displays the order—and recipe if appropriate—on a monitor in the prep area). The system has proven extremely helpful over the years, especially for new employees. Allison wants to continue using the same system in her new location. Rather than paying the company to install the system in the new location, Allison has hired a local IS student. This student, Bill, has agreed to install the hardware and copy the software and data from the original location for her. It is clear in this case that there are no ownership or license issues. Once Allison bought the software, it became hers and she can use it as she pleases. Such a program would fall under the ‘free software’ category which as described by Madey, Freeh, and Tynan, users have access to the source code and is distributed at no cost. (Par. 2) The issue here has to do with paying the company to install the system in the new location. Having separated ‘copyright issues’ from ‘installation services’ it is now easy to identify her ethical dilemma: choose between the company and the local IS student. Assuming that they have no service contract, the company has no legal grounds to sue her if she decides not to use their services. Like any rational business person, high operation costs would constrain her to using the cheaper services of the local IS student. In any case, if the company, due to one reason or another was not in a position to offer installation services who would service her program? She would of course look for other knowledgeable sources to service the program. Actually those advocating for free software as opposed to proprietary software advance the point that it is possible to make money out of free software through services such as installing, upgrading, modifying and teaching about the software. If the program was still owned by the company, to install the hardware and copy the software and data from the original location to the new location would make Bill a hacker. This mild form of hacking is described as to â€Å"roughly force a program to work, generally inelegantly†. (Forester and Morison pr 77) Hacking is a crime. However for open source software Bill is free to even modify the program’s features to add further functionality. This is the future trend. To solve this ethical dilemma, Allison needs to assure her conscience that is not obligated to the company that first sold the software to her. If she has doubts she may seek for formal communication from the software company freeing her to do whatever she wants with her software. In any case technological advancement has created a legal grey area where the existing property law has been overtaken by events and can not clearly tell whether it is wrong to listen to music from an IPod. It has been the trend for companies in the IS industry to overlook petty issues especially at the individual level because the costs of litigation would be phenomenal not forgetting that in the technology world, what is illegal today may become legal tomorrow. Works Cited Bidgoli, H. , The Internet Encyclopedia Volume 3, New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc. USA 2004. Forester, T and Morrison P. , Computer Ethics: Cautionary Tales and Ethical Dilemmas in computing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. 2001 Gopal, R. D. , and Sanders, G. L. , â€Å"International Software Piracy: Analysis on Key Issues and Impacts,† Information Systems Research Vol. 9, No. 2, December 1998. Laudon, K. C. and Laudon, J. P. Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA, 2008. Maday, G. , Freeh, V. , Tynnan, R. , â€Å"The Open Source Software Development Phenomenon: An Analysis Based on Social Network Theory,† Eighth Americas Conference on Information Systems, University of Notre Dame (2002): 1807

Product Launch Report: Fast Food

Product Launch Report: Fast Food EXECUTIVE SUMMERY This project is about super deluxe burger combo developed by BURGER FUEL named as  Ã¢â‚¬Å"RICHIE FREAKOUT â€Å"as Richie is New Zealand rugby team captain and is well known personality all over. When we heard his name Words like passion, energy, power, effectiveness strike in our mind. This combo meal include flat bread bun having different variety of meat. Will be given with energy drink rather than soft drink. The need to introduce this is as young generation intake energy drink a lot and consumption of healthy energy giving product is more so by providing this combo we will likely to target the young teen which play crucial role in our store as more than 50% of sale is dependent on them. The need to introduce this burger is as customer are more demanding and need innovation in product by introducing new flat bread bun this deluxe combo with energy drink make customer attracted. INTRODUCTION Burger Fuel is a New Zealand owned chain of burger restaurants with 52 locations around the world including 46 locations in New Zealand.it is high energy burger brand that experience huge success in Middle East and now exposing growing market in New Zealand. Burger fuel is leading top brand in food market now a days. Burger fuel is well known KIWI brand as it known for its specialaiolisauce, freshness, taste. As it is very interesting to know that 31 March 2013 resulted in a profit of $1,098,294. This was a 55% increase in the profit from that of previous year of the $708,360. Which result in total sale of $ 49.3M in current year. Making it compare with last year there is increase of 29.2% in total sale of burger fuel which is huge achievement. (annual report burger fuel 2013, 2013) IDEA OF THE SUPER DELUXE COMBO New burger fuel super deluxe burger combo name as â€Å"RICHIE FREAKOUT† is going to be introduced in young market era where people are mainly concern with intake of energy, healthy and nutritious diet. This deluxe combo will be provided with ENERGY DRINK and also the combo will have flat bread. Burger fuel try to focus on each and every people in market now a days youngster have more intake of energy drink. As now all people are concern with health issue new flat bread bun in introduced which is oil free with no fat. We try to focus young generation as in past few years are sale likely to increase due to variety we provide to them. COMPETITOR As we have new super deluxe combo which is different from offering of different competitor but still we have competitor in market: Subway Burger King McDonalds But since we having number of competitor but idea to introduce flat bread bun and energy drink with combo meal is likely to be new. MARKET SHARE TARGET MARKET By introducing this super deluxe burger combo burger fuel try to target young generation as they play crucial role for each and every company. As we look profits of burger fuel from past few years. According to annual report of burger fuel up to financial year 31 March 2013 has again demonstrated a significant improvement in his performance. The small chain of business continue to grow and is becoming stronger both in local and international market As at 31 March 2013 there were 44  Burger Fuel outlets operating and the Group has  Considerable Young generation like the different combo meals offer by burger fuel. SEGEMENT PROFITABILITY As our product price are generally high as we offer quality product. But keeping in mind combo is designed for young generation price is likely to be moderate will be provided with addition deal on Weekends. Increasing sale by giving additional sale make sale to go high and will increase profit margin. POSITIONING OF THE PRODUCT As most of business can’t afford investing of thousands of dollars in advertising and promotion every month as it is going to increase price of product as we are introducing new super deluxe combo meal at reasonable price. By spending more on advertisement will likely to increase combo price so by making new pamphlets of store different combo highlighting super deluxe deal in beginning will make people to know about product and also we will able to introduce our other combo through it. MARKETING MIX PRODUCT The product involves all its particular features and benefits. It can be seen from the Salad Cream campaign that a decision was taken not to alter the taste of salad cream and only to change the bottle shape and packaging. Hence, the product aspect of the marketing mix was left relatively unchanged. In the case of Salad Cream the price aspects of the mix were altered: price was increased, because focus group research supported the view that a price increase in Salad Cream would be acceptable to consumers. Promotion aspects were considerably changed. The advertising and promotional campaigns described above were extensive. Finally, place within the marketing mix was also unchanged in terms of the places where consumers could buy Salad Cream. No new sales outlets or distribution points were suggested by the campaign team. PRICE Price is one of most important element which create sales revenue, price of product is important determinant of value of sale made. Price is determined by market forces in accordance with time and circumstances. Deluxe combo must be introduced keeping in mind the total cost and market trend prevailing in market. PROMOTION Promotion is business communication it will provide information that will assist customer to buy. However successful promotion will result in increase in sales. By making well designed pamphlet highlighting super deluxe combo will likely to attract the people which is good for company. Other method which can be used for introducing are: Radio and television Poster and media Internet sites Promotion campaigns PLACE Product placement also known as product brand by which product is integrated in marketing practises. Marketing practise such as advertising, promotion brand name, package and other. In product placement The audience involve get to know about the product. By advertising super deluxe combo in television in between movies interval people will do come to know we must have to pay attention toward our combo layout DIFFERENTIATION Richie freakout is different from that of other combo deal which is being provided in store as combo come up with: Flat bread bun Energy drink BUSINESS STRATEGY Launching a new thing requires addressing the four marketing pillars of price, product, promotion and place of sale. To analyse each of these areas, we need to examine strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to help minimizing our risks and maximize our resources before we run our promotion activities. STRENGTHS The combo we introducing it satisfy the need and demand of young generation as combo is designed according to their preferences and recommendation given by them. We manage to provide this combo with basic price out profitability will be quite less in accordance with out combo we provide but this deluxe combo will attract wide range of people which is good for us. WEAKNESSES A weakness is related with unnecessary things that happen. We must be prepare with the any short coming arise or any problem face during the process. We had to pay attention toward cost involve as we specialise in providing fresh. OPPORTUNITIES As we introducing new deluxe combo it will give great opportunities. As we coming up with new upcoming this will create great opportunities as they will attract number of youth which will create demand not for this but for overall combo. As we having lower overhead costs than a mature competitor, we might be able to price our self more competitively. THREATS Once we enter the market place, our competitors will likely to react. One of the biggest threats we face is our competition prevailing in market. We must have our backup plans for your pricing, promotion and distribution channels so that we can respond to competitor changes taking place. CONCLUSION This case study has examined burger fuel ability to use innovation in developed market place. There is need to innovate efforts in expanding market. The case study include some elements like Demand and preferences of customer to identify market opportunity Product innovation Introducing this super deluxe combo will create great opportunity this will not only give company a competitive advantage but will give sustained advantage to increase profitability. Hence if super deluxe combo is introduced it will build a strong relationship with our young generation. RECOMMEDATIONS First of all there must be proper stock of raw material as we deal in serving fresh meals Manager must forecast sale of store and must have estimated stock As we know providing energy drink there must proper set up of machinery to serve it. Ntec Concordia institute Internet Television: History and Future Internet Television: History and Future Internet Television: The Present and the Future Introduction The emergence of the Internet has revolutionized the way people conduct their life and activities, without them being aware of it. Conventional activities like going to the library, reading books, and shopping have converged to a single activity of sitting at the personal computer. Not only these, technology-based activities like watching television, listening to music and communicating on the telephone etc., which had previously been considered developed beyond expectations, have radically changed even more. One no longer gets mesmerized by watching videos on the Internet or streaming news items from web sites such as www.mtv.com or www.bbc.co.uk, respectively. There is virtually no difference in carrying out activities, like the above, through a single PC or through the designated equipments like radio, television or video recorders. For technologists, convergence of the media has been a revolution that has changed the world and the way we live, partly because it opens new avenues for exploration and partly because technologists believe they can improve the quality of these technology-based activities. In particular, the convergence of the Internet with broadcasting technology has altered not only the consumers perception of watching television but also related technologies and industries. Today, media companies are investing heavily in broadcast research and development (RD) and in Internet technology with the view to capture both types of consumer markets. What is more important in this race for changing the face of media is how technologists are developing even more complex media technologies to seamlessly converge broadcast and the Internet to offer a highly integrated environment for the future consumers. In the following discussion, the researcher shall explore how this historical revolution has come about, current development and future challenges. History of Television Broadcast and Internet Television Perhaps the most important development of television technology had been the vision of communications satellites in 1945 by Sir Arthur Clarke. The author used his knowledge of British Radar Establishment to outline the future of satellites. He wrote an article about using â€Å"extraterrestrial radio relays† for developing a global communications system to establish radio stations. What Clarke had not realized was that the relays he mentioned were illustrations of television signals, which has the same application today (Ippolito and Pelton 2004). Satellite communication system has become the foundation for television and radio broadcast, during the 1950s to date. Direct broadcast was introduced in 1960s and 1970s, also known as Direct to Home (DTH) or Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) or, in official terms, Broadcast Satellite Services (BSS). These initial BSS were dependent on the international route telecommunication backbone used for telephone and telex, and later for TV an d radio program distribution. This period witnessed a slowdown in satellite revolution as the governments, organizations and public interest groups were concerned about developments of satellite transmission power to the homes and beyond geographical boundaries. They were of the view that such technology could cause cultural, political and social damage (Sachdev and Swearingen 2004). Despite their objections, TV channel frequency developed high satellite transmission frequency through Effective Radiated Power, which could transmit analogue signals to even small antennas. The first operational Direct Broadcast or DTH system was developed in Europe by the German and French, which was known as TV-Sat in Germany and TeleDiffusion Francais in France. During the 1980s, the International Telecommunications Union was adopted by the US and European countries to broadcast programs across the Atlantic (Sachdev and Swearingen 2004). Clay Whitehead, an American, was a pioneer in developing Ku-ba nd frequencies, which altered the medium for â€Å"fixed service† satellite to broadcast TV directly to low receive-only dishes. The concept was furthered by Coronet, and then later acquired in 1984 by SES Astra. Astra became the true DBS satellites that were successful in transmitting high-frequency power to and from satellites, thus, providing a large number of TV channels to the users (Sachdev and Swearingen 2004). However, academics believe that true broadcast challenges came about with the introduction of terrestrial and digital broadcasting during the 1990s when television content was funded by advertising, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch monopolised television rights. During this period, Sky offered customers channel broadcast at premium subscription, which other television channels, like ITV, took the first offensive to launch ON Digital in 1998, which was followed by the BBC’s Freeview, and other channels. (The Future of Internet Television 2006). Parallel to these attacks on broadcast satellite had been the revolution in personal video recorders (PVRs), during the 1970s. The PVRs allowed users to tape TV content indefinitely without copyright issues. When the PVRs gave way to DVDs, the demand for at home entertainment did not diminish but, in fact, increased manifolds as users could now use electronic programming guides (EPG) to record television programs in high-quality broadcast that was made possible by digital television (The Future of Internet Television 2006). Digital television was an equipment revolution rather than broadcast, as it allowed higher quality content to be transmitted from the standard definition television (SDTV or Digital Video Broadcast) to high definition television (HDTV or ATSC or ISDB), as it gradually has eaten up mainstream analogue signal broadcast and replaced it with high-definition channel broadcast. Although currently ATSC and ISDB standards are being used at high cost of implementation, nevertheless, it has become the trend as HD-DVD and Blue Ray have become part of this mainstream broadcast technology. These new technologies of the 1990s and 2000s have made digital transformation from broadcast satellite to digital networks, and the Internet, possible (The Future of Internet Television 2006). Current Internet Television Today, there is no limitation to watching television anywhere one can imagine on the plane, in the kitchen, on the mobile phone, on walkways and even in the car, all made possible by the convergence of the Internet media and television broadcast technologies. Media convergence and interactivity have not only changed the cultural trend of television experience but also its functionality. The main emphasis is on viewer accessibility and near-video-on-demand (NVOD), which offers users the choice to watch broadcast content without the physical limitation of broadcast transmission to designated equipments or timing. Hence, the experience of watching television is no longer regarded as broadcast as it has changed its features from static to interactive, with different converged media functions. The computer furthered this technology of interactivity, while the Internet revolutionized the challenge of meeting user demand for a different type of experience (Crisell 2002). High-speed peer-to-peer sharing systems have enabled users to share files of TV shows, PVRs, VOD, and made watching TV on mobile devices possible. For these reasons, ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have also geared their networks to facilitate high-speed downloads through BitTorrent or such systems as they realized they need to capitalize on the shifting trend of watching television during primetime to all the time. Users prefer to watch TV at their ease and access it whenever their lifestyle allows them. With PVRs they are able to queue programs to be recorded, skip advertisements and watch ongoing broadcasts. The need to have an interactive medium has become more pronounced as technologists vie the Internet as the ideal medium for users to download compressed VODs and broadcast television programs. In the UK, this trend has gained popularity as users indicated their desire to watch popular programs and, at the same time, browse the Internet resources for new TV content and films (Brown and Barkhuus 2006). Delivering quality Internet TV service has become possible with a combination of two key developments: high-speed internet and compression technology. TV programs, when converted from analogue through Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) to digitized information files, they become extremely large, especially if they are high in resolution of pictures. Distribution of these audiovisual files over the Internet has become difficult, as the file would be too heavy for it to be transferred through the network. Even though digitization of TV, PVRs and DVDs reduced the size of such video streams, nevertheless, they still pose a challenge for ISPs. JPEG, MPEG (Motion Pictures Expert Group) and AVC (advanced video coding) video compression technologies, which were introduced by Microsoft to be integrated with Windows Media Video (WMV) to facilitate computer users to share high definition programming, emerged as the new format for audiovisual file interchange (Keen 2006). These files use Discrete Cosin e Transform (DCT), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) in Dirac codec and Fractual Compression compression processes for streaming. Unlike conventional broadcasting transmission, streaming involves progressive downloading of audiovisual files without having to wait for its complete download for playback. Audiovisual files can be streamed on the Internet on-demand (stored on server, available on request) or live (available at particular time such as life events). Streaming requires a high-speed Internet connection without traffic jams because the content cannot be streamed if the end user is carrying other traffic with the stream. Currently, only shorter TV content is offered for streaming (YouTube, Google Video), while longer and high quality contents such as shows and films are offered for download on request (MovieLink, CinemaNow, Sky By Broadband) (Keen 2006). Previously, Internet audiovisual media content used dedicated software applications such as Microsoft Windows Media, RealVideo and QuickTime for playback that was separate from web browsers. Later applications, like Flash Players, allowed integrated streaming within the web browser, which makes it cost effective, as well as relatively easier for users to access broadcast content through Internet distribution (Keen 2006). Television content streaming uses the same applications with added features. Applications like Apples iTunes, Chinese program PPLive and BBCs MyBBCPlayer allows television broadcasters to select programs for online streaming. As more and more television companies are transitioning online with new contents for streaming, users prefer to watch Internet TV than conventional television. To facilitate even more efficient peer-to-peer connections, the Internet architecture has been revolutionized for data transfer (The Future of Internet Television 2006). This has been ach ieved by specialist bandwidth providers called Content Distribution Networks (CDNs), which ensure streamlined and optimal content distribution through remote servers to client PCs without the hindrance of traffic jams. Companies like CacheLogic, Kontiki, and Grid Networks have been responsible for revolutionizing the commercial deployment of high-quality streaming services for Internet Television (Keen 2006). Future of Internet TV Broadcasting Broadcasting companies and TV operators in the last decade, according to Arino and Marsden (Brown and Picard 2005), have capitalized tremendously on the growth of the Internet to draw audiences away from traditional television broadcast. For some, the Internet may have been the reason for the demise of the conventional broadcast TV, while for others this new media is the new platform for digital TV. Internet TV is no longer about watching streamed programs from broadcast TV web sites. In fact, according to Noll (qt in Gerbarg, Groebel and Noam 2004), Internet TV has come to be defined as a television interface based on an interactive Internet platform for storage and transmission of audiovisual content streaming, as well as web activities. Thus, the future of the Internet TV involves Internet-enhanced TV that delivers both TV content, as well as web-based content. Convergence will no longer be limited to listening radio and watching downloaded content, but will also encompass chattin g, messaging, conversing with hosts and participants of TV programs, and programming of content through complex transmissional services, consultational services and interactive television links (Arino and Marsden qt. Brown and Picard 2005). With the increase in broadband usage in the UK, it is expected that Internet TV services shall increase manifolds, which will make high quality digital movie file streaming available from various websites with lesser costs. New technologies like webified video are expected to revolutionize next generation storage TV, to convert web content as well as TV programs to integrated information retrieval media for interface and interactivity (Miyamori and Tanaka 2005). Similarly SURFs (Simple UI to Retrieve Favourites) systems are being explored for transforming TV content into information portals which will allow users to interact with electronic devices within the household. The idea is to integrate TV with Internet content by allowing users to use unconventional remote controls to interact with the Internet TV platform (Halverson and Voutsas 2000). Contents may range from watching VODs, or news content or browsing the Internet. Not only this, but it is expected that the future holds new dimensions for the meaning of interactivity. Speech recognition and interactivity, according to Wittenburg et al (2006), is the next revolutionary interface for current prototype PVRs. These shall be used in conjunction with Internet TV to change the whole experience of interacting with TV and the Internet. Conclusion From the above discussion, one can conclude that the process of Internet and television convergence has revolutionized the experience of watching television. Convergence of these individual technologies has been possible with the developments of technologies in compression, streaming, digitization, and playback applications. However, to think that the revolution has stopped there is a mistake. As one reads in the above section, the development of Internet TV is not complete. The mix of Internet television services through chats, browsing, downloads and networking have yet to become even more revolutionized in the future as new technologies related to interface devices, broadband networks, and television content conversions become more common for all to be used. There is no doubt that Internet TV has affected the lives of its users as well as those who developed it. What makes this revolutionary unique is the fact that it has also influenced other dimensions of entertainment and infor mation interactivity. For example, companies are exploring broadcasting dimensions using mobile phones, voice-activated interface, and information interchange technologies for viewing and interacting, not on conventional tube TV or PCs but on small mobile devices. Indeed, the future of Internet TV is not limited to its conventional infrastructure but rather shall reside in new ones. References Arino, M. and Marsden, C. (2005) From Analogue to Digital in Digital Terrestrial Television in Europe by Allan Brown and Robert G. Picard (eds) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. Brown, B. and Barkhuus, L. (2006) The Television Will Be Revolutionized: Effects of PVRs and Filesharing on Television Watching. CHI April 22-27 ACM 2006. Combat One. (2006) The Future of Internet Television Combat One. Online accessed on 4-12-2006 from: http://www.combatone.com/fullreport.php Crisell, A. (2002) An Introductory History of British Broadcasting. Routledge: London pp.275. Halverson, C. and Voutsas, D. (2000) SURFing the Home with Your TV. ACM Multimedia Copyright. Ippolito, L. and Pelton, J. N. (2004) Satellites Technology: The Evolution of Satellite Systems and Fixed Satellite Services in Communications Satellites: Global Change Agents by Peter Marshall, Robert J. Oslund and Joseph N. Pelton (eds). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. pp. 33 Keen, B. (2006) Broadband delivery of film and TV content over the open internet. 09 October. The British Screen Advisory Council. Miyamori, H. and Tanaka, K. (2005) Webified Video: Media Conversion from TV Program to Web Content and their Integrated Viewing Method. ACM Copyright May 10-14, Chiba, Japan. Noll, A. M. (2004) Internet Television: Definition and Prospects in Internet Television by Darcy Gerbarg, Jo Groebel and Eli Noam (eds) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. Wittenburg, K. et al (2006) The Prospects for Unrestricted Speech Input for TV Content Search. AVI 06, May 23-26, 2006, Venezia, Italy. ACM Copyright.