Learn How to Make Invisible Ink With Cornstarch

Learn How to Make Invisible Ink With Cornstarch Do you want to write a secret message? Try making invisible ink! The writing for this invisible ink technique is done using cornstarch. An iodine solution is used to reveal the writing. What You Need CornstarchIodineWaterToothpick or Cotton SwabHot Plate or StovePaper Make the Invisible Ink Essentially you want to make a thin cornstarch gravy. You will write using the gravy, allow the writing to dry, then reveal the message using an iodine solution.If you dont have a pre-made iodine solution, you can make some by adding a teaspoon of iodine to about 10 teaspoons of water. Set the iodine aside for later.Mix about 2 Tbsp cornstarch with 4 tsp water in a pan. Heat, while stirring, until smooth. You can boil the mixture to make a gravy; just be careful not to burn it!Remove the cornstarch gravy from the heat. Dip a toothpick, small paintbrush, or cotton swab into it and use it to write your message on paper.Let the paper air-dry.Brush a small sponge, swab, or paintbrush dipped in the iodine solution over the paper to reveal the hidden message. The message should appear purple. Tips You can use simple cornstarch in water to write the message, but the writing wont be as invisible as it is using cornstarch gravy.If the heat source is a problem, try using very hot tap water to hydrate the cornstarch rather than using a stove or hot plate.Iodine binds to the starch molecules to reveal the message.Try using other starches instead of cornstarch, such as diluted mashed potatoes or  mashed cooked rice with water.Cornstarch slightly alters the surface of the paper, so another way to reveal the secret message is to heat the paper with the message over a flame or with an iron. The message will darken before the rest of the paper, revealing the secret.

Is Globalization the Main Culprit for the 2008 Global Financial Crisis

Is Globalization the Main Culprit for the 2008 Global Financial Crisis The global financial crisis that began in late 2007 but erupted in 2008 was considered one of the worst threats to the global economy. The global financial crisis was characterized by credit crunch and the collapse of stock markets.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Is Globalization the Main Culprit for the 2008 Global Financial Crisis? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The results of the crisis were massive since it led to the evaporation of investment decisions by firms, loss of jobs and loss of income. There was generally an economic recession in majority of the developed world and hence it slowed economy in the developing world. It is true that globalization is linked to the global financial crises. I agree that globalization is the main culprit of the financial crises; this is largely because the agents of globalization are largely associated with the emergence of global financial crises as will be explain ed below: Main Analysis Globalization can be defined as the intensification of trade and other economic activities between countries of the globe in terms goods, services and also investment. After the cold war, majority of the countries embraced the basic principles of globalization like free trade. The plain understanding of globalization is in the perspective of free trade, the function of foreign company and trade. Globalization as a phenomenon is often linked with financial de regulation and the neo liberal economic revolution; but the Asian financial crisis, the Enron scandal and the growing inequalities together with the financial crisis have lead to more concerns on the neo-liberal strategy. The negative effects of globalization on a national economy can be so disastrous according to the works of Joseph Stiglitz. There has been a lot of opposition to globalization since it is associated with the volatility of commodity prices and its impact on the distant economies. The ever spiraling increase in the global prices of food and fuel is considered a result of globalization. In the 2008, for example, the surge in the prices of fuel and food commodities which are the fundamental commodities in the global market negatively impacted on the world economy. The main reason why there was an increased volatility in the global market during the 2008 financial crisis as opposed to other crisis is due to the globalized economy (Turner and Khondkar 42).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Globalization has eroded the powers and the sovereignty of the state, the role of the state to regulate and to steer forward the economy has been largely ignored at the expense of the market, these are the problems and the vulnerabilities that often emerge as a result of the globalization of the world economy. Financial liberalization involves the elimination o f tariffs, and duties have resulted in an unrestricted cross border transaction. The 2008 economic crisis was largely associated to the collapse of the Lehman bothers, which was the largest American investment bank; this brought to fore the function and the capacity of state institutions and revived the debate that despite the growth of globalization forces, there should always an efficient state structure (Turner and Khondkar 58). The trend of globalization had been increasing after the end of the cold war when America was declared the world superpower following the collapse of the USSR. This trend of globalization had been characterized by the increasing levels of trade, intensified movement of people and the advancement of technology that has brought the people and the entire world into a closer economic, political and cultural unit. It is this increasing independence that led to the 2008 global financial crises due to the fact that the monumental accumulation of global debt in t he American financial institutions was unsound. The 2008 economic crisis had roots in the 1997 financial crisis in the Asian region; after the collapse of the Asian markets, people opted for the USA as a favorite investment destination. This led to the increase in the value of stock market and the rise in the price of housing. This movement of capital from one location to another like for example the Asian Region to the US was made possible by globalization and hence globalization is directly linked to the global financial crisis of 2008 (Bulliet et al 824). The institutionalization of global phenomenon like the financial globalization has contributed to the increase in the inequality gap between the developed and the developing countries; this is largely associated with international capital flows. Financial globalization was touted as the best mode of enhancing savings, relax the credit stress, and improve the income of the developing countries and to stimulate economic growth.Adv ertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Is Globalization the Main Culprit for the 2008 Global Financial Crisis? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This was never to be the case as financial globalization could not meet these expectations but instead it helped intensify economic instability. Trade liberalization together with its expected impact like prospect of economic growth, employment and income inequality came under close scrutiny. The emergence of financial globalization and wealth inequality has resulted in the unequal flows of capital and also uneven progress in the opening of capital accounts; unlike in Asia and Western countries, those of Africa and the Latin America have lagged behind in opening their capital accounts. The world has witnessed uneven financial globalization which is linked to the global financial crises (ILO report 39). Emmerich and the group in their book titled Globalization 2.0: roadmap to the future from leading minds have identified seven virtues of globalization and in these virtues, one has been linked to the global financial crisis, and this is the thrift; Emmerich, Ijioui and Ceyp related this virtue with 2008 global financial crisis and the increasing opulence in some parts of the world. They argued that in the western world, people had socialized themselves with the period of cheap money and hence they considered it primitive to save money leading to the decline in savings in Anglo-Saxon countries like the Britain, Canada and the US. These countries were paragon of economic and financial culture and hence they adopted the culture of non-saving. When the global recession hit, commercial banks had run out of savings, the population had little to spend and hence generally low liquidity level which resulted in the collapse of commercial banks (Emmerich, Ijioui and Ceyp 80). When the global financial crisis is analyzed in the context of globalization, then the ins tability that is created by the speculation about trade is worth mentioning.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The global financial crises did not only concern the financial markets but also the international institutions and its productive structure since globalization is controlled at the core and its effects will only be triggered at the center and will be felt across the globe as exemplified by the 2008 crisis that was triggered by the financial markets in the USA and was felt all over the globe. Due to the forces of globalization, financial crisis can be mad-made; the realization that the global world desperately needs oil and the fact the Washington consensus legalized trade liberalization makes the world vulnerable to the whims of cartels, especially if they have the knowledge and the ability to determine the timelines of the speculative course and the subsequent collapse of the speculation who can take advantage of speculative trade to push the prices of crude oil upwards (Chodussudovsky 1). Conclusion The occurrence of the global financial crisis in the year 2008 was considered glob alization at its death-bed; there was an imminent dissolution of the globalized world. This was further exacerbated by the fact that the global financial crisis was followed by the world economic crisis, which was a reflection of how the global chain reaction can be triggered and can interact to pull a destructive fashion. There have been some demands that the goals of globalization should be redefined that is; world leaders should consider other ways of cooperation and also they should create institutions that should be used in solving international disputes. With the current developments with regard to the three forms of globalization; global markets, infrastructural development and global corporations, then the future appear bleak since these forms of globalization are man-made and hence volatile and prone to suffering from the vagaries of nature. Globalization has led to simultaneous impoverishment of individuals from different nations largely due to the global market mechanism factor. The several global financial crises are not only due to the volatility of the financial markets but also due to the collapse of state institutions and the development of rapid profit ventures. Bulliet et al. The Earth and Its Peoples, Volume 2, 5th Ed. New York: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print. Chodussudovsky, Michel. Global financial meltdown. Global Research, 2011. Web. https://www.globalresearch.ca/global-financial-meltdown/10268 Emmerich, Heike., Ijioui, Raschid and Ceyp, Michael. Globalization 2.0: A Roadmap to the Future from Leading Minds. New York: Springer, 2009. Print. ILO report. world of work report; income inequalities in the age of globalization. ILO Report, 2008. Web. ilo.org/inst/langen/index.htm Turner, Bryan and Khondker Habibul. Globalization East and West. New York: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2009. Print.

Mutimedia System - Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mutimedia System - Discussion - Essay Example The productivity aspects center on the premise of bringing out more reasons for interactivity with the users so that the end goal would be to derive a benefit on the part of the people who make the best use of the very same. The aspects that are deemed as the good ones make use of the positives that are outlined as the significant ones from the aesthetics and user interaction perspectives. These aspects bring to light the notion of sound interactivity as well as maximum stay on the part of the users, which is also a very important yardstick for measuring the efficiency of the multimedia systems. The multimedia systems require hard work and proper planning by the designers who are usually doing their best to come out with a future looking outlook of the multimedia system. The bad aspects of multimedia systems depend a great deal on the way people perceive the very multimedia systems (Carroll 1996). Hence in order to understand what kind of multimedia systems would be seen as the effective ones, there is a need to comprehend what kind of solutions they are deriving for the sake of the users. If the solutions are tangible and the users feel stuck on to the designs for a long period of time, it is essential that aesthetics are kept a proper place within the mind of the designer when he is actually designing the very multimedia system. In essence it would be important to understand that the good use of the multimedia systems is essential as these offer maximum productivity and sound results, which is always taken in a very positive way. The bad use of the multimedia systems would mean that the product (the design itself) is not appreciated by the users and hence they would avoid such multimedia systems in the first place (Draper 1986). There is a proper need to adjust the time which a user would devote towards the multimedia systems so that the efficiency and effectiveness results could be achieved in a sound manner. Having said that it is also important that the

The English Heritage New Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The English Heritage New Model - Essay Example There is a risk of losing the fabric of historic assets if no measures are taken. In an effort to introduce a long-term sustainability program, the English Heritage has developed a business plan that will be implemented to address the emerging issues. The new model has the capacity to address some of the problems affecting the national heritage collection. However, a close analysis of the business plan reveals that it has some weaknesses that require immediate addressing if it is to be successful.   The government and the English Heritage have focused on the benefits associated with the new business plan, especially the aspect of reversing the current condition of the national heritage collection. The government has committed itself to allocate a total sum of  £80 million. Moreover, the English Heritage will rely on third parties who will contribute towards the conservation of the national heritage collection. However, a close analysis reveals that the government support of providing  £80 million will not be sufficient to support the business plan. Notably, the viability of the business plan determines whether the English Heritage will register remarkable outcomes.1 Any successful business plan must have realistic financial planning. If the budget allocation and financial planning are inappropriate or insufficient, the viability of any business plan is limited. Evidently, the  £80 million set aside by the government do not surface to address all the conservation costs that are likely to result effectively. There is a possibility that the project may fail because of insufficient funds. Although the government believes that the business plan is self-sufficient and realistic, there is a need for concern because financing the projects sufficiently will determine the expected outcomes.

Ancient Egypt Essay Example for Free

Ancient Egypt Essay Egypt is a country that is situated within the North Africa mainly. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Sudan to the south, Israel and Gaza strip to the northeast and Libya to the west and red Sea to the east. It is one among the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The best monuments in Egypt are the Giza pyramid complex and it Great Sphinx were built by the ancient civilization of Egypt. The best tourism spot in Egypt is the Red Sea Riviera. When talking about the economy, it has one among the most diversified in the Middle East. To have a better understanding of Egypt, we shall go into the history of Egypt. Around 3150 BC, a unified kingdom was formed by King Menes that led to a series of empire that ruled Egypt for about the next three millennia. The Egyptian culture was flourished during this period and it remained distinct in all aspects like religion, arts, customs and language. The first two dynasties constituted the Old kingdom and they have constructed most of the pyramids in Egypt. The daily life in Egypt revolved around the river Nile and due to the yearly flooding, it several rulers. There was the Roman and Ptolemaic Egypt and the last ruler of that era were enriched the land and thus made it very fertile for cultivation and this bought good wealth to the land. The heights of prosperity were during the reign of the Pharaoh Amenemhat III. A Pharaoh is considered as the most powerful person who was both a political and religious leader of the Egyptian people. Before being a republic, Egypt was ruled by the Cleopatra VII. Then there was the Arab and Ottoman Egypt where Egypt was conquered by the Arabs and Muslims and they ruled for another six centuries in Egypt bringing Muslim religion in the country. In 1517, the Ottoman Turks conquered Egypt which leads a major devastation of the country. With the French invasion by the Napoleon and later Commander of the Albanian regiment, Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman reign came to an end and it led to the British rule. By 1953, the Egyptian Republic was declared with General Muhammad Naguib being the first President. Later by the year 2011, revolutions took place in Egypt and the Mubarak government was stepped down and the first parliamentary elections were conducted. The economy of Egypt mainly depends on agriculture, petroleum exports, media, tourism, and exports of natural gas. Egypt has developed an energy market based on oil, coal, hydro power and natural gas. The FDI (Foreign Direct Investments) have risen considerably in Egypt over the last few years. When being in Egypt, there are tourist locations that should never be missed. A few places are listed here: In Cairo – Pyramids of Giza, Pyramids of Sakkara, Ancient Memphis, The Egyptian Museum, The hanging Church, Santa Barbara are a few to name here. In Luxor – Luxor temple, Valley of the Kings, Ramses III, are a few to mention. At the Red Sea Coast – Red Sea Coast, Marsa Alam, Monastry of St.Paul, are a few to be mentioned. The pyramids are the well known trade marks in Egypt. The culture allowed them to burry bodies of their pharaohs in great tombs called as pyramids and Egypt is ‘The Country’ that has great number of Pyramids which is great to see in this modern era. Egypt celebrates many festivals and carnivals, which is also known as mulid. Ramadan has a great flavour in Egypt and is celebrated with lights and music. An ancient spring festival of Egypt known as the Sham en Nisim has  been celebrated for more than thousand of years. The culture of Egypt dates back to about six thousand years which is a recorded history. Egypt maintained a striking complex that influenced the later cultures of Middle East, Europe and African Countries. Egypt is also recognized as a cultural trend setter of the Arab-speaking world. A beautiful country with a great civilization and a great place to be visited with its beauty and to be seen and understood in all aspects.

Bushs War On Terror and the Erosion of Civil Liberties Essay -- Polit

Bush's War On Terror and the Erosion of Civil Liberties Nearly all the amendments in the Bill of Rights have been reduced since the beginning of the war. The fourth through eighth amendments have been especially hit hard by this â€Å"war.† Search & seizure, due process, a speedy and public trial with a jury, and cruel & unusual punishment have all been disregarded as part of the current administration’s policy. The â€Å"War On Terror† has effectively eroded the civil liberties that Americans fought centuries for. Through the passing of the USA PATRIOT Act, the government can now search a â€Å"suspected† terrorist’s property without their knowledge and even without a warrant. Although this could be a well-needed exception to warrants, as it is the same way drug dealers and organized crime offenders have been investigated, identifying a â€Å"suspected† terrorist is not nearly as easy as an active criminal. As shown by the events of September 11, the terrorists that hijacked the planes were part of a â€Å"sleeper cell† which stays dormant until tipped off by somebody above them in the organization....

Problems with Solutions for Practice in Factoring – by Rahul Krishna

FACTORING – PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS 1. [pic] [pic] 2. A company is considering engaging a factor, the following information is available: i) The current average collection period for the Company’s debtors is 80 days and ? % of debtors default. The factor has agreed o pay money due after 60 days and will take the responsibility of any loss on account of bad debts. ii) The annual charge for the factoring is 2% of turnover payable annually in arrears. Administration cost saving is likely to be Rs. 1,00,000 per annum. iii) Annual sales, all on credit, are Rs. ,00,00,000. Variable cost is 80% of sales price. The Company’s cost of borrowing is 15% per annum. Assume the year is consisting of 365 days. Should the Company enter into a factoring agreement? [pic] 3. MSN Ltd. has total sales of Rs. 4. 50 crores and its average collection period is 120 days. The past experience indicates that bad debt losses are 2 percent on sales. The expenditure incurred by the company in admi nistering its receivable collection efforts are Rs. 6,00,000. A Factor is prepared to buy the company’s receivables by charging 2 percent commission. The factor will pay advance on receivables to the company at an interest rate of 18 percent per annum after withholding 10 percent as reserve. You are required to calculate effective cost of factoring to the company. [pic] [pic] 4. The turnover of PQR Ltd. is Rs. 120 lakhs of which 75 per cent is on credit. The variable cost ratio is 80 per cent. The credit terms are 2/10, net 30. On the current level of sales, the bad debts are 1 per cent. The company spends Rs. 1,20,000 per annum on administering its credit sales. The cost includes salaries of staff who handle credit checking, collection etc. These are avoidable costs. The past experience indicates that 60 per cent of the customers avail of the cash discount, the remaining customers pay on an average 60 days after the date of sale. The Book debts (receivable) of the company are presently being financed in the ratio of 1 : 1 by a mix of bank borrowings and owned funds which cost per annum 15 per cent and 14 per cent respectively. A factoring firm has offered to buy the firm’s receivables. The main elements of such deal structured by the factor are: (i) Factor reserve, 12 per cent (ii) Guaranteed payment, 25 days (iii) Interest charges, 15 per cent, and (iv) Commission 4 per cent of the value of receivables. Assume 360 days in a year. What advise would you give to PQR Ltd. – whether to continue with the in house management of receivables or accept the factoring firm’s offer? [pic][pic] 5. A firm has a total sales of Rs. 12,00,000 and its average collection period is 90 days. The past experience indicates that bad debt losses are 1. 5% on sales. The expenditure incurred by the firm in administering receivable collection efforts are Rs. 50,000. A factor is prepared to buy the firm’s receivables by charging 2% commission. The factor will pay advance on receivables to the firm at an interest rate of 16% p. a. after withholding 10% as reserve. Calculate effective cost of factoring to the firm. Assume 360 days in a year. [pic][pic] 6. The credit sales and receivables of M/s M Ltd. at the end of the year are estimated at Rs. 3,74,00,000 and Rs. 46,00,000 respectively. The average variable overdraft interest rate is 5%. M Ltd. is considering a proposal for factoring its debts on a non-recourse basis at an annual fee of 3% on credit sales. As a result, M Ltd. will save Rs. 1,00,000 per year in administrative cost and Rs. 3,50,000 as bad debts. The factor will maintain a receivables collection period of 30 days and advance 80% of the face value thereof at an annual interest rate of 7%. Evaluate the viability of the proposal. Note: 365 days are to be taken in a year for the purpose of calculation of receivables[pic][pic] 7. Junio Limited is a small manufacturing company which is suffering cash flow problems. The company already utilizes its maximum overdraft facility. Junio Limited sells an average of Rs. 4,00,000 of goods per month at invoice value, and customers are allowed 40 days to pay from the date of invoice. Two possible solutions to the company’s cash flow problems have been suggested. They are as follows: †¢ Option 1: Junio Limited would factor its trade debts. A factor has been found who would advance Junio Limited’s 75 percent of the value of the invoices immediately on receipt of the invoices, at an interest rate of 10 percent per annum. The factor would also charge a service fee amounting to 2 percent of the total invoices. As a result of using the factor, Junio Limited would save administration costs estimated at Rs. 5,000 per month. †¢ Option 2: The company could offer a cash discount to customers for prompt payment. It has been suggested that customers could be offered a 2% discount for payments made within ten days of invoicing. You are required to: (a) Discuss the issues that should be considered by management when a policy for credit control is formulated. (b) Identify the services that may be provided by factoring organizations. (c) Calculate the annual net cost (in Rs. ) of the proposed factoring agreement. (d) Compute the annualized cost (in percentage terms) of offering a cash discount to customers. (e) Discuss the merits and demerits of the two proposals. (a) Policy for Credit Control for Junio Limited (a) When a policy is being formulated, management should consider the following issues: i) The average period of credit to be given. Whether this should be longer than average to encourage sales or less than average, to speed up sales. (ii) Policy for making decisions on granting credit to individual customers: †¢ How customers are to be investigated for creditworthiness? (e. g. by direct assessment by the company, or indirect assessment using credit references from banks, or other assessment agenc ies) †¢ How the amount and timing of credit is to be decided? (e. g. whether credit is to be increased progressively). (iii) Debt collection policies: Whether to employ specific people for this work. Issue of debtors’ statements, reminder letters, whether and when to make use of professional debt collectors and when to consider legal action. (iv) Accounting reports required: Aged debtors lists etc. (v) Polices on persuading debtors to pay promptly: Discount schemes. (vi) Whether to make use of factoring services. For all the above, it will be necessary to consider the costs and benefits of the alternative course of action. This will include considerations on how credit is to be financed. (b) A factor normally manages the debts owed to a client on the client’s behalf. Services Provided by Factoring Organisations i) Administration of the client’s invoicing, sales accounting and debt collection service. (ii) Credit protection for the client’s debts, whereby the factor takes over the risk of loss from bad debts and so ‘insures’ the client against such losses. The factor may purchase these debts ‘without recourse’ to the client, wh ich means that if the client’s debtors do not pay what they owe, the factor will not ask for the money back from the client. (iii) ‘Factor finance’ may be provided, the factor advancing cash to the client against outstanding debts. The factor may advance up to 85 percent of approved debts from the date of invoice. iv) A confidentiality agreement may be offered to conceal the existence of the arrangement from customers. (c) Calculation of Annual Cost of Factoring It is assumed that the factor finance will not replace any existing credit lines, and therefore, the full interest cost of the agreement will be relevant when determining the cost of factoring. Annual Sales = Rs. 4,00,000 ? 12 = Rs. 48,00,000 Daily Sales = Rs. 48,00,000/365 = Rs. 13,151 The annual cost of factoring can now be found: [pic] [pic] (e) Key Issues in the Discounting Option (i) The proposal is expensive. The company should be able to get cheaper overdraft finance than this, and longer-term debt should cost even less. (ii) The company may need to offer a discount in order to make its terms competitive with other firms in the industry. (i) The level of take-up among customers is uncertain, and will affect the cash flow position. (ii) Problems may arise when customers take both the discount and the full forty day credit period. This will increase administrative costs in seeking repayment. Key Issues in the Factoring Option (i) The factor may be able to exercise better credit control than is possible in a small company. ii) The amount of finance that will be received is much more certain than for the discounting option as 75 percent of the value of the invoices will be provided immediately. (iii) The relationship with the customers may deteriorate partly due to the reduction in the level of contract with the company, and partly due to the historical view of the factor as the lender of la st resort. Thus, the final decision must take into consideration all the above issues. However, the most important points to consider are the ability of each proposal to meet the financing requirements, and the relative costs of the different sources of finance.

Sachin – the God of Cricket

Sachin Tendulkar is perhaps the best thing to happen to not just INDIA and INDIAN Cricket, but the sport in general. He is easily the most worshipped Cricketer across the globe. More than 34,000 runs scored on all kinds of home and away turfs at an unbelievable 48. 74 is testimony enough of the astounding consistency he has shown during the breath-taking 23-year International Career. He is pretty obviously the most prolific run-getter of all times. Technically too, He is the most complete batsman of modern era. Be it hooks, pulls, cuts, punches, drives, sweeps, slogs or lofts, He can play it all. Be it spin, swing or pace, He can tackle it all with seamless audacity and grace. Sachin Tendulkar is probably the greatest exponent of the game. While scoring the astonishing number of runs He has, Tendulkar has invented millions of ways of piercing the field and coaxing the ball towards the patrolled rope; at times using the bat like a sword used to slash enemies; and at times carefully using it like a surgeon’s knife used to pierce the deepest of tissues. Adaptation, accumulation and consolidation have seemed synonymous with Sachin Tendulkar, evidence of which is the big-hundreds He scored against Australia, South Africa and New Zealand after 2009, when He was in His late-30s, in a format presumed to be a youngster’s paradise. Apart from the staggering achievements and brilliant technique, what puts Tendulkar in a league of His own is the kind of impact and influence He has had on modern-day Cricket. Time and again, He has demolished and pulverized top-notch bowling attacks into instant submissions; something no one else has managed to do so effortlessly and so consistently. What elevates Tendulkar’s greatness is the fact that He has achieved all these records and laurels while constantly being under tremendous pressure from a billion people and while being under constant scrutiny of the national media. The greatness lies in the fact that Tendulkar has still never crumbled under this constant pressure and has on most of the occasions stood up, lead the pack and delivered. The humility and modesty He has displayed during the enthralling journey has ensured that He is not just followed and loved, but worshipped by the Nation from the bottom of the heart. Fames, riches, mansions, fast-cars, limelight and anything else that comes His way as a perk for being the greatest Cricketer He is seem to have left Him absolutely unfazed. His moorings have always remained on firm ground and remain so till date. Sachin Tendulkar has spell-bound the nation like no one else. There might be a couple of personalities whose exploits in their respective professions have enthralled the nation, but even they have not been able to sustain it for as long as Tendulkar has. He is diminutive, yet the tallest INDIAN alive.

The Great Gatsby as a social critique. essays

The Great Gatsby as a social critique. essays The Great Gatsby, a novel that illustrates society in the 1920s, should definitely be considered as a social critique. Scott Fitzgerald wrote this novel to demonstrate the social flaws and the social attitudes in the 1920s and 1930s or the Jazz Age, which is a time of prosperity and a booming economy. In this novel, Fitzgerald is criticizing the corruption of the American Dream, the immorality of the 1920s and injustice in society. The most criticized issue in this novel, is the one of the corruption of the American Dream. The American Dream was based on the assumption that anyone, no matter what their social class is, could have prosperity if the have effort and skill. This novel is about what happened to this American Dream and how the pursuit of wealth corrupted it. The characters in this novel are in constant pursuit of money, glamour, success and excitement to feel complete about themselves. For example, Tom and Daisy are very materialistic, they want a big house, expensive items and everything that seems valuable. Scott Fitzgerald wasnt criticizing the American Dream itself, but the death of it. He wanted to show how the immoral people, who havent put in hard work and cheated, have all the money. For instance, Jay Gatsby got his fortune through his dealings with organized crime, which was a empty form of success. Gatsby needed his enormous mansion, his money and his fame before he could feel confident ab out winning Daisy back. His transformation from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby shows how people can change themselves according to their ambition for wealth and prosperity, even if it has to do with criminal activities. This showed how the American Dream pushed people who were crazy about money into crime or any immoral behaviors. Jordan is another character in the novel the shows immoral traits, such has cheating during one of her golf tournaments or encouraging Daisy to have an affai ...

The Debate Over Reparations for Slavery

The Debate Over Reparations for Slavery The effects of both the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism continue to reverberate today, leading activists, human rights groups and the descendants of victims to demand reparations. The debate over reparations for slavery in the United States dates back  generations, in fact, all the way to the Civil War. Then, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman recommended that all freedmen should receive 40 acres and a mule. The idea came after talks with African American themselves. However, President Andrew Johnson and the U.S. Congress did not approve of the plan. In the 21st century, not much has changed. The U.S. government and other nations where slavery thrived have yet to compensate the descendants of people in bondage. Still, the call for governments to take action has recently grown louder. In September 2016, a United Nations panel wrote a report that concluded African Americans deserve reparations for enduring centuries of â€Å"racial terrorism.† Made up of human rights lawyers and other experts, the U.N.’s Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent shared its findings with the U.N. Human Rights Council. â€Å"In particular, the legacy of colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial inequality in the United States remains a serious challenge, as there has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent,† the report determined. â€Å"Contemporary police killings and the trauma that they create are reminiscent of the past racial terror of lynching.† The panel does not have authority to legislate its findings, but its conclusions certainly give weight to the reparations movement. With this review, get a better idea of what reparations are, why supporters believe they’re needed  and why opponents object to them. Learn how private institutions, such as colleges and corporations, are owning up to their role in slavery, even as the federal government remains silent on the issue. What Are Reparations? When some people hear the term â€Å"reparations,† they think it means that descendants of slaves will receive a large cash payout. While reparations can be distributed in the form of cash, that’s hardly the only form in which they come. The U.N. panel said that reparations can amount to â€Å"a formal apology, health initiatives, educational opportunities ... psychological rehabilitation, technology transfer and financial support, and debt cancellation.† The human rights organization Redress defines reparations as a centuries-long principle of international law â€Å"referring to the obligation of a wrongdoing party to redress the damage caused to the injured party.† In other words, the guilty party must work to eradicate the effects of the wrongdoing as much as possible. In doing so, the party aims to restore a situation to how it likely would have played out had no wrongdoing occurred. Germany has provided restitution to Holocaust victims, but there’s simply no way to compensate for the lives of the six million Jews slaughtering during the genocide. Redress points out that in 2005, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Violations of International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. These principles serve as a guideline for how reparations can be distributed.  One can also look to history for  examples. Although the descendants of enslaved African Americans have not received reparations, Japanese Americans forced into internment camps by the federal government during World War II have. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 allowed the U.S. government to pay former internees $20,000. More than 82,000 survivors received restitution. President Ronald Reagan formally apologized to the internees as well. People who oppose reparations for slave descendants argue that African Americans and Japanese American internees differ. While actual survivors of internment were still alive to receive restitution, enslaved blacks are not.    Proponents and Opponents of Reparations The African American community includes both opponents and proponents of reparations. Ta-Nehisi Coates, a journalist for The Atlantic, has surfaced as one of the leading advocates for redress for African Americans. In 2014, he wrote a compelling argument in favor of reparations that catapulted him to international stardom. Walter Williams, an economic professor at George Mason University, is one of the leading foes of reparations. Both men are black. Williams argues that reparations are unnecessary because he contends that African Americans actually benefitted from slavery. Almost every black American’s income is higher as a result of being born in the United States than any country in Africa, Williams told ABC News. Most black Americans are middle-class. But this statement overlooks the fact that African Americans have higher poverty, unemployment and health disparities than other groups. It also overlooks that blacks have far less wealth on average than whites, a disparity that has continued over generations. Moreover, Williams ignores the psychological scars left by slavery and racism, which researchers have linked to higher rates of hypertension and infant mortality for blacks than whites. Reparations advocates argue that redress goes beyond a check. The government can compensate African Americans by investing in their schooling, training and economic empowerment. But Williams asserts that the federal government has already invested trillions to fight poverty. â€Å"We’ve had all kinds of programs trying to address the problems of discrimination,† he said. â€Å"America has gone a long way.† Coates, in contrast, argues that reparations are needed because after the Civil War, African Americans endured a second slavery due to debt peonage, predatory housing practices, Jim Crow and state-sanctioned violence. He also cited an Associated Press investigation about how racism resulted in blacks systematically losing their land since the antebellum period. â€Å"The series documented some 406 victims and 24,000 acres of land valued at tens of millions of dollars,† Coates explained of the investigation. â€Å"The land was taken through means ranging from legal chicanery to terrorism. ‘Some of the land taken from black families has become a country club in Virginia,’ the AP reported, as well as ‘oil fields in Mississippi’ and ‘a baseball spring training facility in Florida.’† Coates also pointed out how those who owned the land black tenant farmers worked often proved unscrupulous and refused to give sharecroppers the money owed to them. To boot, the federal government deprived African Americans of a chance to build up wealth by homeownership due to racist practices.    â€Å"Redlining went beyond FHA-backed loans and spread to the entire mortgage industry, which was already rife with racism, excluding black people from most legitimate means of obtaining a mortgage,† Coates wrote. Most compellingly, Coates notes how enslaved blacks and slavers themselves thought reparations necessary. He describes how in 1783, freedwoman Belinda Royall successfully petitioned the commonwealth of Massachusetts for reparations. In addition, Quakers demanded new converts to make reparations to slaves, and Thomas Jefferson protà ©gà © Edward Coles granted his slaves a plot of land after inheriting them. Similarly, Jefferson’s cousin John Randolph wrote in his will that his older slaves be freed and given 10 acres of land. The reparations blacks received then paled in comparison to how much the South, and by extension  the United States, profited from human trafficking. According to Coates, a third of all white income in the seven cotton states stemmed from slavery. Cotton became one of the country’s top exports, and by 1860, more millionaires per capita called the Mississippi Valley home than any other region in the nation. While Coates is the American most associated with the reparations movement today, he certainly did not start it. In the 20th century, a hodgepodge of Americans backed reparations. They include veteran Walter R. Vaughan, black-nationalist Audley Moore, civil rights activist James Forman and black activist Callie House. In 1987, the group National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America formed. And since 1989, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) has repeatedly introduced a bill, HR 40, known as the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act. But the bill has never cleared the House, just as Harvard Law School Professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr. has not won any of the reparations claims he’s pursued in court. Aetna, Lehman Brothers, J.P. Morgan Chase, FleetBoston Financial and Brown Williamson Tobacco are among the companies that have been sued for their ties to slavery. But Walter Williams said that corporations aren’t culpable. â€Å"Do corporations have social responsibility?† Williams asked in an opinion column. â€Å"Yes. Nobel laureate professor Milton Friedman put it best in 1970 when he said that in a free society ‘there is one and only one social responsibility of business- to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.’† Some corporations have a different take. How Institutions Have Addressed Slavery Ties Companies such as Aetna have acknowledged profiting from slavery. In 2000, the company apologized for reimbursing slaveholders for the financial losses incurred when their chattel, enslaved men and women, died. Aetna has long acknowledged that for several years shortly after its founding in 1853 that the company may have insured the lives of slaves, the company said in a statement. We express our deep regret over any participation at all in this deplorable practice. Aetna admitted to writing up to a dozen policies insuring the lives of the enslaved. But it said it would not offer reparations. The insurance industry and slavery were extensively entangled. After Aetna apologized for its role in the institution, the California State Legislature required all insurance companies doing business there to search their archives for policies that reimbursed slaveholders. Not long afterward, eight companies provided such records, with three submitting records of having insured slave ships. In 1781, slavers on the ship Zong  threw more than  130 sick slaves overboard to collect insurance money. But Tom Baker, then director of the Insurance Law Center at the University of Connecticut School of Law, told the New York Times in 2002 that he disagreed that insurance companies should be sued for their slavery ties. â€Å"I just have a sense that it’s unfair that a few companies have been singled out when the slave economy was something that the whole society bears some responsibility for,† he said. â€Å"My concern is more that to the extent that there is some moral responsibility, it should not be targeted to just a few people.† Some institutions with ties to the slave trade have tried to make amends for their past. A number of the nation’s oldest universities, among them Princeton, Brown, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Dartmouth, the University of Pennsylvania and the College of William and Mary, had ties to slavery. Brown University’s Committee on Slavery and Justice found that the school’s founders, the Brown family, owned slaves and participated in the slave trade. Additionally, 30 members of Brown’s governing board owned slaves or helmed slave ships. In response to this finding, Brown said it would expand its Africana studies program, continue to provide technical assistance to historically black colleges and universities, support local public schools and more. Georgetown University is also taking action. The university owned slaves and announced plans to offer reparations. In 1838, the university sold 272 enslaved blacks to eliminate its debt. As a result, it is offering admissions preference to the descendants of those it sold. â€Å"Having this opportunity would be amazing but I also feel as if it’s owed to me and to my family and to others that want that opportunity,† Elizabeth Thomas, a slave descendant, told NPR in 2017. Her mother, Sandra Thomas, said she didn’t think Georgetown’s reparations plan goes far enough, as not every descendant is in a position to attend university. â€Å"What about me?† she asked. â€Å"I dont want to go to school. Im an old lady. What if you don’t have the capacity? You have one student lucky enough to have decent family support system, got the foundation. He can go to Georgetown and he can thrive. He has that ambition. You’ve got this kid over here. He’ll never go to Georgetown or any other school on this planet beyond a certain level. Now, what you going to do for him? Did his ancestors suffer any less? No.† Thomas raises a point on which  both supporters and foes of reparations can agree. No amount of restitution can make up for the injustices suffered.

How Walmart is becoming a monopoly Research Paper

How Walmart is becoming a monopoly - Research Paper Example The company operates each store from the products it stocks to front end equipment in order to speed check out. Wal-Mart invested heavily on cross docking inventory technique in order to achieve and fully realize economies of scale in cost. Wal-Mart Company was launched in 1962 by Cornerstone Walton. Walton had a strategy on the business to expand its stores in order to achieve higher sales volume at prices in comparison with other competitors. Due to discounts gained from department stores Walton initiated chains in Rogers, Arkansas in that year. By the year 1967, the company opened 24 stores across the state of Arkansas and recorded a high volume of sales. The company has continued to expand to major parts of the world in its quest for new markets. By 1978, Wal-Mart expanded into Illinois. It penetrated new markets such as pharmacy, auto service and jewellery divisions. Currently, it is arguably the most emulated retailer. Economies of scale: Currently, Wal-Mart enjoys many monopolies. Everywhere in the county there’s a Wal-Mart. Based on the economic concept it has a large size as well as a huge market share in their existing market. The economic theory of monopoly arises through the smaller the number of firms in the industry and large share Wal-Mart has; therefore, monopoly is deemed to exist. Monopolies arise due to free market (Rand, 1982). Economist considers that monopoly existed due to the existence of one supplier of a good. Its net sales increased by 5 % to 466.1 Billion (Rand, 1982). It has no close substitute within a given geographical location. In most regions, Wal-Mart has created a monopoly up to an extent that no small business can survive alone. Wal-Mart has acquired its dominant position in the retail sector by being relentlessly competitive. It has done everything to keep its cost price as low as possible. It utilises extremely efficient inventory

The difference between Realism and Neorealism Essay

The difference between Realism and Neorealism - Essay Example The neorealism ideology is an advanced link to the classic realism and this has been duly highlighted within the length of this paper. This will give an idea on how realism and neorealism are understood within a global context and how their differences have facilitated the political settings in this day and age. It will tackle the debate regarding how realism has shaped up the neorealism nuances and how neorealism differs from classic realism from the outset of such analyses. Introduction Realists are frequently faced with the consequence of being intellectually smart with Thucydides’ classic saga of the Peloponnesian War which occurred in the fifth century BC. It would date back to about 2500 years when the study of world politics started to take place as an institutionalized field of academics as well as for the initial classical realists to come about within this newly inaugurated discipline. It is important to focus on the classical form of realism as compared to neorealis m which is a necessary element of the mainstream literature available today. Even though realism is different from neorealism, it would be significant to understand which of the two is an advanced form of the other one? (Waltz, 1979). Since realism is involved with the world as it essentially is as compared to how it should be, neorealism is more commonly associated with international politics as a whole. The two forms in effect suggest the distinction towards human nature (classic realism) and emphasis on international politics (neorealism). This paper highlights the two forms have their marked differences and weighs the pros and cons that come along with the same (Keohane, 1986). When this has been done, the study will find out which one is an advanced form of the other, and how the two can co-exist alongside one another to achieve a solid basis for the people who believe in such ideologies and have a comprehension regarding these from time to time. In the following paragraphs, bo th realism and neorealism will be explained in detail and then their differences will be highlighted upon (Wendt, 1999). Focus on Realism In order to understand what realism is, it is necessary to know what it stands for. Realism is related to some form of reality in every form of context that one studies it. When one sees realism from the domains of philosophy, it is a documentation of philosophical realism which suggests for the perspective of reality existing in freedom of some observers. Similarly, realism in arts and scientific realism is a couple of other distinctive realism’s basis which takes place in separate disciplines. It is indeed a philosophy of mind which is deeply rooted within the common sense philosophy related with perception and at times is remarked as naive realism (Mutch, 2009). This naive realism has been a manifestation of direct realism which when differentiated from representative realism gives out a perspective that human beings cannot perceive and analyze the external world in a direct fashion. Realism at times is pessimistic and concentrates upon the repeating patterns of politics backed up by power as demonstrated by recurring conflicts and rifts, the tussles and rivalries. Since this seems like a world full of negativity and immense gloom, realism is a concept that is linked in close resemblance with the balance of power as well as the security question which essentially gain essence as the chief analytical tools within the aegis of realism (Crawford, 2002). Realists give enough importance on the premise of the state within the discussions that emanate from the domains of international politics. Also they believe that the national interest gains more impressions. This is their regional ego