Response Paper on On Being an Atheist, by H. J. McCloskey From a Essay

Response Paper on On Being an Atheist, by H. J. McCloskey From a Christian Viewpoint - Essay Example While to some this position on face value may seem to have credibility, a careful analysis of the theories from a Christian perspective shows his arguments lacking. The first thing that strikes is McCloskey’s choice of beginning his discourse with a usual and chronically pleading argument that would appear to make sense and put the entire onus of â€Å"believing† or of â€Å"faith† on a human need to want to believe, rather than a spiritual analysis of why we do. McCloskey puts forth that many theists take the position that â€Å"atheism is a cold, comfortless position,†1, and quotes one Christian as saying, â€Å"It’s harder if you don’t believe in God.† 2 McCloskey’s argument, which he extracts totally from this position, is a tired one at best, tied to a humanistic era [the 1960s] that overly promoted, at the exclusion of the spiritual founded in the intellectual, the concept of science, be it the science of human psychology or otherwise. â€Å"Proof† is the buzzword, a strange choice since proof of this overriding human need to feel comfortable in an uncomfortable world has neve r been proven, but is itself founded on the â€Å"discoveries† suggested by psychologists and sociologists and hardly based in solid scientific irrefutable fact. Much of McCloskey’s so called scientific approach falls far short of anything resembling proof. Consider McCloskey’s cosmological argument as examined by Privette (2009). â€Å"McCloskey argued that the cosmological argument was an argument from the existence of the world, as we know it.    He stated that believing in an uncaused first cause of the universe is a problem because nothing about our universe forces us to that conclusion.†3 I agree with Privette and would use the following argument, as she has, with a few of my own thoughts added on the concept of contingencies. If

Fields of dreams Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Fields of dreams - Movie Review Example This film’s theme was about a man’s search for his father. He hears heavenly voices, develops a field of baseball on faith and converses with famous dead players who appear to be angels. In the film, Terence Mann tells Ray Kinsella that crowds will come, because they have money and lack peace. He also states that the crowds can even dip themselves, just like a religious rite, in magic waters (Wood et al, 70- 72). Both the Natural and Field of Dreams show how baseball is redemptive. In The Natural, Roy Hobbs, in his journey of becoming the â€Å"best there ever was†, experiences a short fall when his career is ended before he achieves his dream. Through baseball, however, sixteen years later, he comes back and manages to redeem himself by achieving his dreams and being able to fulfill his role as a patriarchal family figure. This is also demonstrated in Field of Dreams, whereby the voice of Ray’s dad drives Ray to generate this illogical field as is brought out through the personification of the Voice. However, it represents a space whereby ghosts from the past can come back from the purgatory of a cornfield to be with the present-day people (Wood et al, 72). 2. Hearing plays a very important role in Field of Dreams. Ray Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner, creates the ball field for Joe, the â€Å"Shoeless Joe†. ... This happens also because a voice had instructed him so. Compared to the role of sound in The Exorcist, while in Field of Dreams hearing is excellently used to build more on the theme of the film, this is not the case in the Exorcist. In the Exorcist, sound is several decibels higher compared to the visuals, which augments the tension of the audience. When for example, Regan is brought in the foreground, as she listens to her mother, the sound of the voice of Chris is shrill and piercing. In Field of Dreams, cause-and-effect is demonstrated by Costner’s clear view of his logic supporting his intuition. Having a clear vision of the cause-effect judgment behind his intuition, Kevin Costner followed his instincts and then went on to take action to ensure things happened to keep the farm. Costner says â€Å"If we build it, then they will come.† This quote is about a principle that is profound for not just Costner but for the film as well. At the time he was saying the words , the farm was in foreclosure, which makes it justifiable to presume that the higher objective was to save the farm. It is this goal of saving the farm that focused his project, and ended up contributing to the objective of using baseball to reconnect with his father (Baltov, p. 40). 3. Imagination plays a very important role in the discussion of God. Imagination answers the question of how people can begin to perceive God. The most appropriate manner of trying to perceive God is using our minds that are limitless; our imagination. Imagination is limitless and beyond the primitive logic of people, which makes it important when discussing God. Worth noting is that coincidentally, God is described in the same way, a limitless way. When forming an image of God, it is important that

Ethics in the Finance and Investment Industry

Ethics in the Finance and Investment Industry Introduction Ethics can be defined as the study of what institutes of right or wrong behavior in terms of ones principle and integrity expected to be by society. It is the branch of philosophy that focuses on morality and the way in which moral principles are derived or the way in which a given set of moral principles applies to ones conduct in daily life. Different people face different ethical questions in their day to day life and as well as in their business life. Ethics usually assumes people are rational and make free choices correctly. We can also give or take that it has got certain rules to follow in our collaborations and our actions that affect others. There can be ethical questions that have influence in our daily life or in business life like fairness, justness, rightness or wrongness. Both ethics in finance and investing are part of business and business ethics focuses on what constitutes right or wrong behavior in the business world and on how moral and ethical principles are applied by business persons to situations that arise in their daily activities in the workplace and their handling of client asset. Ethics that are faced in personal life is much more different and complex in business life. Social Influences on Ethics When evaluating professional decisions and behavior in the finance and investment industry, high standards of ethics and blatant violations of ethical conventions are difficult to explain solely in terms of individual traits and personality. Situational factors may lead to considerable differences in the ethical standards of behavior of a single individual in different social situations-a fact that has been revealed time and again by media reports. Thus, a true understanding of the psychology of ethics in the world of finance and investment requires awareness of how people interact and influence each other ethically. 1 1. See: Thomas Oberlechner Webster University Vienna The Psychology of Ethics in the Finance and Investment Industry Research Foundation of CFA Institute from http://www.cfapubs.org/doi/pdf/10.2470/rf.v2007.n2.4697 Ethics in Finance When anyone thinks about financial market they think about money, that also trillions of dollar. With that amount of money in greed, which can be defines as excessive desire to posses wealth, mixed with competition can be powerful combination to introduce unethical behavior. This is not solely concerned with the individuals but also with financial markets and financial institutions. Financial ethics is more to do with maintaining trust between the financial industry and client. If we analyze how financial system works, it is easy to see that it is easy for financial fraud and deceit. As almost all the people in United States have a 401K which is invested in financial market through different financial companies. All the people investing their money come from different walk of life and have limited knowledge in financial market. The only way public can believe in an investing firm to invest in their lifetime saving is by trust. This trust is built over the years by these firms by foll owing correct ethical procedure (by the firm and its staffs). Ethics in the Investment Profession Ethical practices by the investment professional benefit all market participants and stakeholders and lead to increased investor confidence in global capital markets. Ethical practices instill a public trust in the fairness of markets, allowing them to function efficiently. In short, we can say that good ethics is a fundamental requirement to the investment profession. The Code of Ethics for Finance and Investment Act with integrity, competence, diligence, respect and in an ethical manner with the public, clients, prospective clients, employers, employees, colleagues in the investment profession, and other participants in the global capital markets. Place the integrity of the investment profession and the interests of clients above their own personal interests. Use reasonable care and exercise independent professional judgment when conducting investment analysis, making investment recommendations, taking investment actions, and engaging in other professional activities. Practice and encourage others to practice in a professional and ethical manner that will reflect credit on themselves and the profession. Promote the integrity of, and uphold the rules governing, capital markets. Maintain and improve their professional competence and strive to maintain and improve the competence of other investment professionals.   See: Ethical and Professional Standards and Quantitative Methods. Level I 2008. Pearson Custom Publishing The Psychology of Ethics in the Finance and Investment Industry Financial and investment professionals are mainly susceptible to ethical misconduct. But what makes some obviously violate ethical standards and even violate the law while others behave highly ethically? Besides in all the courses taught in the entire business program we are taught that the objective of rationale individual is to maximize wealth. The psychology of ethics tries to find out why and when does a person behave (un) ethical way, their motivation, influence and social dynamic behind a certain active. It also tries to analyze individual cognitive and emotional dynamics. This analysis will help figure out the most effective may an ethical code can be written and implemented. Approaches to Ethics When people talk and write about ethics in the finance and investment industry, they approach the topic in variety of ways and address different realms of ethics. Usually, their dealing with ethics takes one of three main directions: (1) what investment professionals should do, (2) what they actually do, or (3) how finance and investment professionals can be helped to get from what they actually do to what they should do. Normative Ethics What should finance and investment professionals do? As the name implies, normative ethics aims at establishing norms and guidelines for professionals regarding how they should behave. This approach to ethics is inherent in, for example, the ethical theories of moral philosophy, theology, and definitions of professional norms, standards, and acceptable behavior for a professional field. Thus, a normative approach to ethics in finance and investments defines what is ethical in this profession. It tells practitioners how investment professionals should act to be ethical, which behavior should be considered ethical, and which behavior should not. Descriptive Ethics What do investment professionals actually do? Descriptive ethics aims at describing not how people should behave but how they actually do behave. And descriptive ethics attempts to explain and predict the unethical behavior of people in real-life situations (OFallon and Butterfield 2005). Psychological research conducted in controlled laboratory studies and real world settings of professional decision makers offers a systematic and comprehensive basis for descriptive ethics in finance and investing. Only this psychological and descriptive approach allows us to understand when and why people and organizations in the investment industry engage in ethical behavior and when and why they do not. Prescriptive Ethics How can finance and investment professionals be helped to get from what they actually do to what they should do? Based on descriptive insights about the factors influencing actual ethical decision making, the Prescriptive approach to ethics aims at helping people and organizations toward ethical decision making by giving advice about how to create environments that foster ethical decisions and how to improve the ethical component of decisions. The two main questions addressed by prescriptive ethics are the following: How can we create organizations that foster ethical behavior? How can we train professionals to readily perceive the ethical dimensions of their own behavior and to act ethically? Thus, prescriptive ethics suggests tools that assist people in making the prescribed decisions. 4 4 See: Thomas Oberlechner Webster University Vienna The Psychology of Ethics in the Finance and Investment Industry Research Foundation of CFA Institute from http://www.cfapubs.org/doi/pdf/10.2470/rf.v2007.n2.4697 Ethics and Investment in Global Perspective As the financial market now is more open globally, investment flows from one country to another more efficiently. With this comes an ethical risk for a financial firm. E.g. A financial firm in US investing in Singapore, but the ethical standard in both this countries financial market are different. Now which ethics standard should the firm or its employee follow? Can a firms employee ignore financial ethics code in US when he travels to Singapore? In this situation a firm should always follow the ethics code which is stricter. If US ethics code is stricter than the one in Singapore, it should still follow the US code of ethics. For individuals, the ethics code will apply globally i.e. if a person travels to jurisdiction outside of United States he is still bound by code of ethics and SEC laws. He is still not supposed to disclose all the protected financial information to any individual or firm. When analyzing investment opportunities in emerging market a financial firm much always check the ethical code of the country he is investing in. Even if the probability of profit is high but there has been high number of cases of ethical violation then the investment might not be a good idea. A good example of this is the amount of investment that went in China during Chinas IPO boom, a lot of companies from that boom is no where to be seen and the financial report present were falsified. Ethical Issues in Finance Industry Ethical issues in the financial services industry affect everyone, because even if you dont work in the field, youre a consumer of the services.  The public seems to have the perception that the financial services sector is more unethical than other areas of business. In the real business scenario there are many positions where we act without considering the ethical implication. Sometime what we think is ethical (because of the way we are brought up in society) might not be an ethical one in the world of finance or business. For example, one can have close friend with whom he share everything in life. Like normal individuals they talk about their work along with other stuff. But for the person who works in financial market there are certain discloser standard he has to follow. Let us say their discussion is related to financial market. So is it ethical for this person who is working with a financial firm to tell his friend all about the things he has information on, that is covered under discloser standard, or is it ethical for him to tell his best friend that he cant talk about this information and then risk his friend feeling that he does not trust him?. Because lets face it if I know something and I dont tell you that means you dont trust me, t hat is the idea implanted in our brain from our childhood. This is an example of social ethics dilemma that intertwines with financial (professional) ethics. Therefore the boundary between ethical and unethical is quite skinny. So, how can do companies ensure that the company and staff follow ethical behavior? Most large firms have implemented their own code of ethics-a set of general professional guidelines to inspire employees to behave ethically and responsibly as an individual or as a group representing the company.  But as in our examples these codes are stringent dos and donts that will cause more harm than good as the employee might be hesitant to even do the right ethical thing. As there is a thin line between ethical and unethical behavior this might give the employees a false notion that anything if it is not specifically prohibited would be acceptable. In addition to the company specific codes of ethics, companies and professionals are also bound by ethical codes of conducts of numerous professional organizations and institutions. Companies should train employees to these organizational code of ethics would be more effective as employee would think that its a global financial society standard. As global financial market is more combined with millions of transactions daily, the chances of business and professions using to more unethical conduct in todays age compared to previous decades. However, in this internet age, business condition and the resulting troubles are more complex. For example, companies and CEOs (for a public company) have to put their shareholders interest first before any other. The shareholder interest is to get maximum profit; CEOs are paid million of dollar in benefit and salary to achieve the goal of maximum profitability. They are under tremendous pressure to keep the company profitable every quarter and also outperform its competition. This might lead to a situation where the companies higher level staff might think they have found a loophole in the system and perform unethical adjustments of financial numbers. Recent example we can find is the collapse of ENRON because of fraud and FANNIE MAE accounting irregularities in start of this decade. It can also be pointed out that that ethical behavior is governed more by the individual rather than the environment. If we can establish a norm on the financial industry that its not only immoral to do unethical activity but its also immoral to not to notify of other peoples unethical activity, then there will be more violations reported. There have few instances where whistleblowers have reproted unethical behavior or violations of the companys code of ethics and brought big corporations down to their knees. But these kind of whistle blowing is rare. Research shows that this rarity is because whistleblowers are scared of getting fired from their jobs, especially if the violators are of higher post. In ones mind question arises is it ethical to whistleblower a violation and risk getting fired or is it ethical to keep quite and not risk putting food on family table? Companies should try to resolve this kind of dilemma , by implementing anonymous whistleblower program and by rewarding a them anonymously. A company code of ethics is useful only when the companys actions are consistent with it. Only then can it be followed consistently within the company. Conclusion Our society is interworking of people built in the pillar of trust. This trust is based on molarity and ethical behavior. For financial market not only Ethics is the pillar, it is also a ladder for success. Lose that trust and the firm or individual is going downhill. So financial firms should not only keep code of ethics in paper but also promote self-regulation. For financial market Ethical integrity is paramount and clients always come first.

Shakespeares Macbeth - The Tragic Hero Essay -- Macbeth essays

Macbeth - The Tragic Hero      Ã‚  Ã‚   Every true Elizabethan Tragedy comes complete with a tragic hero.   The tragedy Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, has a perfect example of a tragic hero, otherwise known as Macbeth.   A tragic hero must be a man who is great and admirable in various ways.   He should be placed in society in such a way that everything he does affects all of the members of his society.   A tragic hero should at some point reach the top of Fortune’s Wheel, but land up at the bottom by the end of the tragedy due to the continual change of fate.   Macbeth fits the description of being a tragic hero, displaying his strengths, his weaknesses, his tragic flaw, and how influential outside influences are on him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Macbeth definitely has a number of strengths that are prevalent throughout the entire play.   At the beginning of the play, Macbeth seems quite noble.   He fights in the battle against Norway, proving his honor (Lowe).   Ambition is another one of these strengths.   Macbeth is so determined that it enables him to become King of Scotland (Lowe).   It facilitates him to be strong, to overcome his hindrances, and to attain goals (Lowe).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Weaknesses are another characteristic of a tragic hero, and Macbeth displays these quite evidently.   Although ambition was one of the aforementioned strengths obtained by Macbeth, it is a weakness of his, as well   (â€Å"Macbeth – Tragic Hero†).   In fact, it is such a substantial weakness that it constitutes as Macbeth’s tragic flaw.   Being so motivated can cause someone to do horrible things to get their way, as one can see by noting that â€Å"ruthless† is a synonym of â€Å"ambitious.†Ã‚   Through the course of the play, Macbeth kills several people in order... ...gic Hero†).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are many traits that make up a tragic hero, and Macbeth displays each of these.   Macbeth definitely completes a cycle in Fortune’s Wheel, starting off as a highly venerable man at the play’s beginning and being the exact opposite by the end.   His actions affect everyone in his society.   He displays strengths, weaknesses, a tragic flaw, and the fact that he is vulnerable to outside persuasions, thus making him a perfect example of a tragic hero. Works Cited Lowe, Lawrence.   â€Å"Macbeth’s Tragic Flaw.†Ã‚   http://server44.hypermart.net/homeworkdatabase/essays/essay11lit.html (10 January 2005). â€Å"Macbeth – Tragic Hero.†Ã‚   http://www.digitalessays.com/essays/eng_plays/eng_plays_0013.html (10 January 2005). Shakespeare, William.   Macbeth.   Ed Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar.   New York:   Washington Square Press, 1959.

Nba – a New Digital Entertainment Model in China

Entertainment and Media Industries Professor Sam Craig NBA – A New Digital Entertainment Model in China Name : Ted Mui Executive Summary The National Basketball Association’s expansion into the Chinese market has been met with great success. The company’s China operation currently generates over UDS$150 million in annual sales, and is one of the most recognized international brands in the country. To further focus on the growth of this unique market, a subsidiary was established in 2008, with former head of Microsoft China Tim Chen serving as the first CEO. The NBA has had great success in developing strategic partnerships in China. Over 290 games are broadcasted on Chinese TV per year, and NBA-related content can be readily found online on Chinese websites. However, NBA China has thus far generated little revenue directly from its end consumers, especially with its digital offerings. In reviewing its target market, we find that the NBA is in direct competition with other online entertainment products for the time and money spent by this market. Popular online entertainment options for China youths share the following traits: simple to learn and use, ability to interact with other users, a high (and almost addicting) replay value, and contain many customizable features for its users. Based on these ideas, it is suggested that NBA China pursue the development of a brand new web portal combining the components of gaming, social networking, and video streaming, which currently all exist as separate components. Using a concept based on an old video game idea, the web portal will aim to move consumers down the marketing funnel, eventually expanding the fan base and leading to end-user generated revenue. The cliche of the China market is well known to everyone by now. With its population of 1. 3 billion steadily increasing its purchasing power, China has become the focal point of just about every multinational company. Despite its potential, many multinational corporations’ attempt in entering the China market ends in failure, with millions of dollars of investment vanishing without producing any returns. The National Basketball Association is one of the rare success stories in China. Since opening its first office in Hong Kong in 1992, the NBA’s Greater China operation has grown to four offices with over 100 employees, generating over USD$150 million in annual sales. According to a survey, nearly 90% of Chinese people aged 15-54 in 11 urban markets had some awareness of the brand. 1 Despite this initial success, there remain many opportunities for growth in this market, especially in the digital sector. Facing increasing pressure from competition wishing to emulate its success and from shareholders seeking greater returns from the market, the NBA must look for new ways to build on its success in China. Company Background The National Basketball Association, founded in 1946, is a global sports and entertainment brand that features 30 teams in the United States and Canada. It is currently the third largest sports league in North America, with an estimated league revenue of $3. 2 billion for the 2008-09 season. Looking to expand the association’s presence outside of North America, the NBA occasionally hosts exhibition games around the world. 1 The NBA first made its presence in China in 1979, when the Samantha Marshall, â€Å"NBA’s China Strategy a Slam Dunk,† Crain’s New York Business. com, May 29, 2008. 2 Source: Plunkett Research, Ltd Washington Bullets traveled to China to play two exhibition games against the Chinese National Team. Seeing the potential for the Greater China market, the NBA sent its first Asia-based employee to Hong Kong in 1990. The association’s operations in China have grown substantial since, leading up to the formation of NBA China in 2008. As a subsidiary of the association, NBA China is responsible for conducting all of the league’s business in Greater China. While the NBA remains as the majority shareholder of the new entity, 5 other strategic partners invested $253 million to acquire 11% of the company in preferred equity. The 5 partners are ESPN (a division of Walt Disney), Bank of China Group Investment, Legend Holdings Ltd. Li Ka Shing Foundation, and China Merchants Investment. 4 Timothy Chen, former CEO of Microsoft China, was appointed as the new entity’s first CEO. NBA’s Digital Strategy in China Since Yao Ming’s entry into the league, NBA coverage has grown substantially along all lines of Chinese media. The country’s national television network, CCTV, has Each season, the CCTV established a long-term partnership with the association. sports channel televises over 90 regular season games, including the NBA All-Star Game, NBA Playoff games and The Finals. In addition to CCTV, the NBA is also covered by 50 other broadcasters around China, covering all but 2 provinces in the country. In total, about 290 NBA games are broadcasted on TV in China each year. 5 3 Pete Thamal, â€Å"The NBA and China Are Fans of Each Other,† New York Times, August 9, 2008. Source: nba. com 5 Source: hket. com 4 The NBA has also been able to capitalize on the rapidly increasing population of internet users in China. The association has partnered with Tom. com to revamp its localized websites in Greater China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan). Among the new features, the sites will include online webcasts allowing viewers to watch live games and Chinese-language talk shows daily, and provide gaming and fantasy basketball options and networking capabilities. 6 Moving towards high definition media, the NBA has recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement to allow BesTV, Shanghai Media Group's (SMG) Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) subsidiary, to offer pay-perview broadcasts of up to 14 high-definition NBA games daily over a four-year period. 7 Through a partnership with KongZhong Corporation, the NBA has also launched a China WAP site in 2007. The site will allow mobile users to access a broad range of content options including news, scores, editorial content, player interviews, TV schedules, wallpapers, ring tones, video clips and live NBA games. The NBA hopes to generate revenue from the site through offering advertising options to corporations and premium downloadable content to end-users. 8 The NBA’s media blitz in China appears to have produced great results. Currently, more than 30% of nba. com traffic comes from China, and this number can be expected to increase over the years. NBA† was ranked 7th in the hottest search keywords in 2008 for Baidu, China’s leading search engine. Similarly, â€Å"NBA† was ranked 10th for Google China’s most popular search words. Other than the NBA, only Xunlei and QQ, 6 7 Anita Davis, NBA Inks Tom. com Online Deal, CEI, August 20, 2008 st Source: 21 Century Business Herald 8 Source: nba. com two of China’s largest web portals, appear in the top 10 of both those lists. However, it is unknown how effective this web traffic has been in generating actual revenue for NBA China. Market Overview In 2008, China overtook America as the country with the largest number of internet users. As of the second quarter of 2009, the country now has over 330 million users, with a growth rate of over 50% annually (see exhibit A). The demographic groups growing comparatively faster than this average are people living in rural areas (with over 100% annual growth), young â€Å"netizens† aged 18 and under, and adults aged 30 and up. Exhibit B shows a breakdown of the age demography of internet users in China. There are also an increasing number of users accessing the internet through mobile devices. Currently, over 29% of internet users use mobile phones to get online, with a growth rate far exceeding that of laptop users. 9 The high growth rate indicates that more and more of the country’s 600 million mobile-phone subscribers now own mobile devices capable of accessing internet information. With next generation mobile technologies such as the iPhone and Google Android yet to reach the mass market in China, there remains great potential for significant growth in this market for years to come. The Meek Shall Inherit the Web, Economist, September 6, 2008 Exhibit A 100 million Total Internet users in China: 2005-2009 3. 5 3 2. 5 2 1. 5 1 0. 5 0 1. 23 1. 03 1. 62 2. 50 3. 38 Total Internet Users 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Exhibit B Age structure of Internet users in China Source: Statistical Survey Report on the Internet Development in China, CNNIC, January 2008 Competition Many sports a nd entertainment companies have tried to emulate the NBA’s success in China and have invested heavily in its digital marketing efforts. The National Football League has launched a Chinese website (nflchina. com) providing up-to-date news and score, discussion boards and mini-games. Manchester United, the richest sports club in the world, also has an all-Chinese website with online media and shopping to capture on its Chinese fan base. But as the earlier search rankings would suggest, the NBA is by far the leading sports entertainment company in China. Leading infotainment web portals such as sina. com and sohu. com have pages dedicated to the NBA linked from their front page. Already in a dominant position in the sports entertainment sector in China, the NBA should perhaps look at its competitive landscape from another perspective. At present, the NBA generates the majority of its revenue in China through broadcast rights, branding partnerships and ad sales through its media channels. However, it has thus far been able to generate relatively little income from its actual fan base with its digital content. In comparison, end-user Internet Value Added Services (IVAS) made up for the majority of the revenue for Tencent Holdings Ltd. another digital media partner of NBA China. Tencent Holdings Ltd. is the largest and most used internet service portal in China. The company’s strategic goal is to provide users with a â€Å"one-stop online life service†10 While its product offerings are similar to that of MSN Messenger, Facebook, World of Warcraft, 10 Source: tencent. com and other leading instant messaging, social networking, and online gaming com panies, Tencent is unique in its ability to generate revenue directly from the end users of its products. Most of Tencent’s products are interconnected through its QQ Network, ncouraging its free users to upgrade in order to access its value-added services such as ringtone downloading, SMS sending/receiving, and online gaming. QQ Coin was later introduced to allow users greater ease in making purchases in the â€Å"virtual world†, and incentivizing video gamers with rewards for performance. With a retail value of 1 yuan (about 14 cents) per coin, users are able to use the coins to purchase â€Å"virtual goods† such as avatars, virtual gifts for friends, and even items for use in games. Due to its ease of use and low denomination in value, the QQ Coin took off with the company’s young user base. It is estimated that nearly $2 billion in virtual currency was traded in 2008, even leading the Chinese government to implement restrictions to the trade. 11 Exhibit C Tencent Holdings Ltd. Quarterly Revenue by Sector Source: Tencent Holdings Ltd. Investor Fact Sheet 11 David Barboza, In China, New Limits of Virtual Currency, New York Times, June 30, 2009 Strategic Analysis While NBA China has succeeded in building brand awareness with its target demographic market, its digital strategy has thus far only focused on only the active fan base of this market. Its licensed product with Tencent and EA Sports, NBA Street Online, targets only the segment of gamers who are passionate about NBA basketball. Likewise, services on the NBA China website such as video games and news updates are mainly targeted to already converted basketball fans. A recently initiative called NBAiD was launched exclusively for the NBA China website. Looking to capitalize on the growing popularity of social networking and blogging, NBAiD acts as a personal page for NBA fans, allowing fans to connect with one another and express opinions through blogs. However, at this point, the product itself has very little added value for active or casual fans. Segmenting user categories using the concept of the marketing funnel, we see that NBA China has succeeded in both capturing awareness in the mass market and driving loyalty from its core fan base through its digital strategy, but have done little to drive â€Å"aware† consumers down the funnel (see Exhibit D). There remains great potential for the NBA to generate greater interest and desire for its product through a revision of its digital strategy. Exhibit D The Marketing Funnel Applied to NBA China Target Market Awareness Casual internet users who are aware of the NBA brand, but have no intent to spend money on its products Internet users who are interested in learning more about the NBA, and look to utilize free products and services made available to them Interest Desire Internet users who are attracted by the entertainment value of the NBA and may take action upon receiving an attractive offer Action Individuals who are engaged to the NBA and are most likely to purchase new products and services offered to them Repeat Purchases The digital age has changed the landscape of sports marketing. Martin Sorell, chief executive of WPP, recently advised the International Committee on the importance of meeting the needs of the new generation of young and tech-savvy consumers: There are 1. 6 billion people online today and 4 billion mobile phones. The key audience with whom these digital opportunities resonate is of course young people. They are a valuable and massive audience. Globally they impact over $600 billion in consumer spending. The young people take their media habits with them, so if you are ot part of their habit now – you most definitely will not be in the future. Let the children play. You have to let them play with your content, your assets in their own way. 12 12 Karolos Grohmann, Don’t Restrict Games Media Access, Sorrell urges IOC, Reuters, October 5, 2009 While referring to a different context, Sorrell’s remarks can also be addressed to NBA China’s current situation. Ther e is indeed a huge market of internet and mobile users, and the majority of them belong to the young demographic group that NBA China is targeting. The media habits of youths in China also differ greatly than that of the United States (see Exhibit E for comparison). On average, Chinese youths spend about 18 hours on the internet a week, compared to 12 hours in the US. 13 Social networking sites such as renren. com and kaixin001. com, streaming video sites such as youku. com and todou. com, and online games make up for the majority of these hours spent online. NBA China should now look to capture a bigger share of the â€Å"entertainment hours† spent by youths online. To accomplish this, NBA China must understand and tap into the media habits of these users, as Sorrell suggests. Exhibit E Comparison of Internet Activities Used by US and China Internet Users Source: China Internet Network Information Center & Pew Research Center 13 Shaun Rein, Blogging Down in China, BusinessWeek, July 27, 2006 Popular online entertainment options for China youths share the following traits: simple to learn and use, ability to interact with other users, a high (and almost addicting) replay value, and contain many customizable features for its users. One such example is the recent phenomenon of the Happy Farm game (see Exhibit F for screenshots). The concept of the game is not a breakthrough in any way: In the game, players act as owners of a farm, and are responsible for cultivating, irrigating, fertilizing, spraying, harvesting and selling crops. Each action will add points to the player’s level. However, a player can not only take action on his own farm, but also on his friends’ farms. Thus, people can either help their friends manage their farms, or steal crops from other players. The accumulation of all these actions will eventually help the players get bigger farms. Made available for users in social networking sites such as kaixin001. com and renren. com, the success of the simple game has been phenomenal, with reportedly 23 million users now playing the game. 14 Tencent has since created its own version of the farming game, and is expected to generate RMB50 million (USD $7 million) from the game each month. 15 Exhibit F Screenshots of â€Å"Happy Farm† Game 14 15 Source: duowan. com Source: tradingmarkets. com Recommendation Currently, the NBA China already has components of gaming, social networking, and video streaming. The idea is to combine all these components into one entertainment web portal targeted to youths that will drive interest and desire, leading to generation of revenue from end users. In 2005-06, video game developer 2K Sports added a new feature to its yearly NBA and NFL games called â€Å"The Crib†. The feature awards players as they accomplish feats and milestones within the game. With crib credits, players are then able to decorate their crib (slang for home), buy music, or play mini-games (see Exhibit G for screenshots of Cribs). While this feature was innovative in adding replay value to the game, its customizable options were limited and the feature was eventually removed in future renditions of the sports games. However, such a concept may be much better utilized in an online environment where crib owners can interact in real time, new videos and games are readily accessible, and virtual items are plenty to satisfy the customization appetite of its users. Exhibit F Screenshots of â€Å"The Crib† from video game NFL 2K5 Source: ign. com The possibilities stemming from such an idea are endless. Having already an established network of corporate partners, â€Å"The NBA Crib† can serve as a media channel for product placement. Already showing an appetite for spend virtual dollars, users in return can earn or buy credits to purchase branded virtual products for their cribs (ie. a Coca Cola machine) or even themselves (ie. the latest basketball shoes from Adidas). Other uses for crib credits can include purchasing coupons for use at the online NBA store and video clips and music exclusive to the NBA. Most importantly, interaction between crib owners should be encouraged through games within the crib system. Basketball-themed games can take place within the assigned neighborhoods of owners, and friends can â€Å"visit† each other’s crib with their custom avatar. With the right combination of attractive gaming options, customizable features, and interactive capabilities, this concept will substantially increase the interaction between the NBA and its fans, and eventually lead to a sustainable model for generating revenue from its target market of Chinese youths. NBA China has successfully developed a unique and dominant position in the sports entertainment sector in China. However, the NBA can not simply rely on its popularity and brand recognition to succeed. With Yao Ming injured this season, there are worries that NBA viewership rates in China will significantly drop this coming season. It is therefore crucial for NBA China to connect with its target market and provide supportive product offerings to satisfy their entertainment needs. In this market of technologydriven consumers, NBA China must strive to not only become the leader in sports entertainment in China, but also a leader in digital entertainment.

Analysis of Anselm’s Ontological Argument Essay

This premise does not state that God’s strengths as this argument is to prove his existence, not whether or not God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-good. The second premise means this greatest possible being is either an imaginary being that one has thought of or, a being that we not only is not only thought of but also exists. The third premise and its sub premises states because existing in reality is greater than existing in thought, then the God we have thought of exists in reality or there must be a greater, or more perfect, being that does exist and that being is God. This leads to the conclusion, if you accept the premises then you accept the existence of the greatest being possible, God. This concept of God’s existence is also led with the idea that God is a necessary being, a being that is not dependent of something greater in order to exist. If God relied on another being, like how a children rely on parents to conceive them, then this being called God is not God because it would be imperfect. Therefore, there must be another to call God that meets all the requirements for perfection. One of the first popular objections was created by Gaunilo of Marmoutiers. The premise and conclusion to Gaunilo’s argument is identical to Anselm’s argument except with the replacement of the word â€Å"God† with â€Å"the Lost island† and the word â€Å"being† with â€Å"island†. As simple as that, though Gaunilo’s argument is completely absurd, Gaunilo’s reductio ad absurdum also proves to be as deductively valid as Anselm’s argument. However, this â€Å"Lost Island† could in no way exist. The absurdity and validity of â€Å"the lost island† quickly brought up questions as to how Anselm’s Argument cannot be absurd. Anselm’s argument was not proven invalid until Immanuel Kant, a german philosopher during the 18th century, proposed an objection that would be the decisive blow to the Ontological argument (Immanuel Kant. Wiki). Kant’s objection is how existence is not a predicate (Mike, screen 25). A predicate is used to describe something the subject (this being God in Anselm’s Argument) is doing. In Aselm’s Argument, Anselm premise rely on that being conceived and existing in reality is something that describes God. This rationality does not follow because to exist or conceive does not describe the subject, it only tells us whether it exist or not. Much like how fictional characters do not exist, describing cartoon for example would tell us details of what this cartoon looks like, what its habits are and common antics it goes through, but not whether it exists or not. The question of existence must fall in a separate argument that does not define the character. As there are Arguments to prove God, there are debatable arguments to disprove the God. The First version of â€Å"The Argument from Evil† goes as follow: 1. If God were to exist, then that being would be all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good. 2. If an all-PKG existed, then there would be no evil. . There is evil. [Conclusion] Hence, there is no God (Sober, 109) The first premise is the definition of what God would be if he were to exist. That is a being that has the power to do anything, had knowledge of everything throughout the span of time and is in all ways good. The second premise is created with the first premise in mind. To expand on the second premise i t states, if God were all-powerful he could stop any form of evil from happening, if he is all knowing then he has knowledge of when evil will occur and if he is all-good then God would stop all evil from happening. If god cannot stop all evil from happening then the definition of God must be incorrect. He then must not be powerful enough to stop all evil, and/or he doesn’t know when evil until it has already occurred and/or good is not all good in that God does not wish to stop all evils. The third premise is stating the fact that there is evil in the world. The conclusion derived since that there is evil, then is what may be defined as God must be lacking in one or two of his qualities and therefore God, by definition, does not exist at all. In order for God to be compatible with evil, God must only allow the evils that would, in turn, lead to a greater amount of good and must take the route that leads to the least amount of evil to gain the greatest amount of good. The soul building defense was created in mind that evil and God co-exist in our world. The defense is that without any evil in the world, our souls would not nurture, or, understand the concept of evil. This defense does not hold true because there has been many evils in the world that seem unacceptable, even though it may have been for the purpose of soul building. God, and all-good being, would then only allow the evils that are essential in soul-building. This would only mean that evil that man commits against man. The reason for this is because anything that happens in nature exceeds soul-building essentials. Another defense is God having given us free will, humans ultimately are the causes of this evil. That is true but the common objection to this is that human do more than enough evil to ourselves, it is going too far to have God throw tornados, volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes at us too. At what point do human have such control over nature. The last defense is that God simply works in mysterious ways. Who can explain why natural events take so many lives and injure many others or why some children have to go through great deals of suffering and live through it? It is God’s way and ultimately, no matter how incomprehensible the evil is, it is for the greater good. Certainly the question to God’s existence has been pondered upon by philosophers for over a very long period of time with no progress as whether God exists or not. The ontological argument created by Anselm withstood a great deal of criticism until it was disproved by Kant over 600 years after the fact.

Body Piercing Essays - Fashion, Body Modification

Tattooing/Body Piercing Essays - Fashion, Body Modification Tattooing/Body Piercing There are various aspects through which people, especially youth, identify themselves. People are always sending some sort of communication out at all times, whether it is subconscious or not. Images and styles are adopted which communicate meanings about the individual to his/her peers and to society. Styles of dress, language, music, and dance are some of the ways that portray one's own unique symbols, values, and meanings. One other such signifier of identity is through body modification, particularly tattooing and body piercing. In today's society people have adopted the new style or trend of body modification. There are many reasons in which people obtain piercings and tattoos. Those who modify, manipulate and mutilate their bodies do so for many reasons. Some say it's simply exciting and pleasurable, or part of the latest fad. Others place it in the context of art, ritual or self-expression-they say it's an act with cultural and social significance. In contrast, many people can 't understand why someone would choose to put so many holes in their body or cut their skin. They see body modification as self-destructive, much like anorexia or bulimia. Below I will talk about why, what, where, and how people modify their body and how people look upon them. Youth and adolescence is one of, if not the most, significant and influential moments in one's life, when youth are seeking their identity of who they are. Tattooing and piercing are one of the many ways through which youth may express their identity, for they are symbolic representations of how the self is conceived or understood. People may also want themselves to be portrayed as someone who they are not. For example, someone gets a tattoo or earrings just to look tough or cool. Getting a piercing or tattoo symbolises a certain change in ones life. These changes, no matter how minuscule they may seem, have a huge impact on a person's identity. Usually when a youth gets a tattoo or earring, they are symbolising their maturity by finally being able to make a decision on their own and taking matters into their own hands. Body modification is clearly a means by which youth seek to displace authority and etiquette. Most youth don't think about the lasting affect it has on there later life when they begin to modify their body. Yes, piercings you can take out but tattoos will always be there, especially in the business world, tattoos are nothing to be desired and that you could possibly risk a job because of it. Body piercing is believed to be a self-imposed rite of passage. By this I mean that people, in general, feel an instinctive drive to undergo some sort of a rite of passage. If society denies them this, they may create one for themselves in order to feel as though they have a place in society. Almost everyone has been tempted to get a tattoo or piercing, but did you ever ask your self why you wanted one? This theory tries to explain that it is natural and instinctive and possibly even necessary in order to find your place in society. Along with this idea, there is a concept that deals with the issue of pain. Because culture in Western society only allows for pain in instances of accidents and pregnancy, people find other ways of experiencing such pain. This pain cannot help but change one's outlook on life in some way. Everyone will experience some sort of pain in his or her life, whether it is physical or emotional. After any such experience, you are bound to look at life in a differ ent, and possibly better way. Tattooing and piercing can also be blamed on the idea of hopping on the bandwagon. The media plays the number one role in the influence of this. Look at our role models: Dennis Rodman, successful basketball play; most of the music industry, professional skateboarders and snowboarders. All of these people have some sort of body modification. What does a kid think when their favorite basketball player or music group are pierced and tattooed from head to foot? He wants to be just like them and all the talk from their elders about not being

buy custom The Effects of Culture on Gender Equality essay

buy custom The Effects of Culture on Gender Equality essay The construction of gender in an individual depends very much on the interactions of the individual which are gendered with other people and also other roles and identities that a person may have. Race, class and gender are considered to be oppressions although they are not identically salient in all the social relationships where there is inequality. Culture is believed to condition gender roles and the meaning of feminine and masculine which determines what really determines what it really means to be a woman or a man because gender is made up of a complex mixture of behaviors, characteristics, and beliefs which explains how a person acts, behaves, or talks like a man or a woman. Many researchers have put in many efforts to make the general public on gender equality where culture has been a great obstacle to attain gender equity (Lorber, 2010). The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge because sex and gender are believed to be social constructs because this gender social constructionism often tends to move away from socialization where many people still do not internalise gender roles in their lifespan but they tend very much to adapt and respond to the norms of the society which are changing at a very fast rate due to globalization and industrialization which have made many cultures abandon the malicious and wicked practices which oppressed women and especially the African woman. There are many factors which are considered to affect the development of gender like the environment and the culture in which children are brought up in and the society that they live in. Gender is considered to be a social construct where the construction of gender is believed to be a social construction of the biological sex which is the feminist and the masculinity where it is defined as being the male or female state of being or the sex of an individual. Gender equality which is commonly termed as the gender equity is the equal distribution of gender roles. Gender roles are the social and behaviour norms which are considered to be appropriate for all the individuals of a certain sex and are believed to differ greatly between different cultures (Lorber, 2010). This brings in different opinions on the differences which have been observed on personality and behaviour between genders which are as a result of cultural and social factors. Gender is believed to be the distinction between the male and the female, however, in the modern western societies, men and women share the same occupations, jobs, roles and responsibilities which show that sex is not the determinant of a persons abilities. This is because it is believed that what men can do women can also do better. The differences which were there between the two sexes is of the physical strength where you get that there are certain tasks and jobs which can only be handled by the men because of the physical strength which also leads to the neglect of the women gender. According to sociological researches, the feminine gender roles which were used in the traditional setting are no longer used in the modern western society because of the emergence of globalization and industrialization. This is very evident when modern women take on the roles which in the traditional setting were reserved only for the men including the fashion and behaviour which has put the men under pressure thus leading them to be confined to a smaller gender role. This is very evident when men are seen to grow hair to a length which in the traditional setting was considered to be a womans fashion, while the women, on the other hand, were also noted to cut off their hair to a length that was considered to be the hairdo of the men. The issue of globalization has enhanced interaction and helped people to understand each other in a better way. It has been necessary in enhancing quick access to other parts of the globe regardless of the distance separating these countries. Some barri ers separated people and maintained peoples natural heritage as well as identities. It has become an important issue, but the impacts are not limited to only the economic field of countries, it also reflects all aspects of life like the psychological, cultural, social and political issues. Laqueur (1994) in his exploration of the biological sex illustrated all the ways that culture had affected science where he claimed that the society was what defined what was biologically natural. He believed that science was a oppressor tool which was used in rationalizing and legitimizing all the sex, religion and class distinctions. He brought up the one-sex model and the two-sex model which continued to be discriminatory to the women and also those who had anatomical oddities like a person who possessed both the male and the sexual organs. Laqueur pointed out that womens inferiority was only assumed until the scientific knowledge came to be accepted and widely used. Laqueur was able to conclude that the females body can be defined by its comparison to the body of the male in terms of what it lacked thus making the body of the female to be inferior. Freud in this case put the women in an opposition to men by assigning the women social roles. Science has been believed to have developed very many ways of defining the female species where it portrayed the female as the weaker sex as compared to the male which was considered to be the stronger sex. Fausto-Sterling (1992) analysed the female species in the terms of the actual size, the brains that they possessed, and the physical strength. Sperms and ovum are believed to be done in terms of power and passivity language. It is in this case that all the boys who are abnormal are surgically turned and made into females. It was scientifically found out that the female chromosomes (xx) are biologically stronger as infants than the male chromosomes since they suffer fewer illnesses showing a reduced and lower infant mortality rate and they also are less prone to abnormalities which affect infants like the Aspergers syndrome and autism. Despite the much strength that the female chromosome has over the male chromosome, it is still ranked the second sex (Fausto-Sterling, 1992). Franz Boas (1996) was the first anthropologist who was able to problematize the culture notion. He was able to introduce cultural relativism idea when he was trying to challenge the modern culture hegemony very much. Based on his extensive work in British Columbia and the northwestern United States, he was able to discuss culture separately from the physical environment, biology, and discarded evolutionary models which had been known to represent civilization as being a progressive entity due to its chronological development. According to Boas, cultural boundaries were not supposed to be termed as being obstacles to multi-culturism because he strongly believed that boundaries were supposed to be seen as being porous and also being permeable. He criticized the modern culture and race concept as to whether they had any implications on racial politics in the Unites States in the 1920s where he tried to separate the social sciences from the natural sciences very much and he also tried to set up some genuine space for race relations and political solutions. The Effects of Culture on Gender Equality Culture has been considered as a great hindrance to gender equity which could be expressed as the womens inferiority where some cultures and practices are considered to be oppressive to the women where the female gender is termed as the weaker sex since the female sex is assumed to be problematic, abnormal and, ultimately, weaker of the species; while the male is constructed as straightforward, able to just be, the norm and powerful. And when things go wrong with men, we always blame the mother. Meillassoux (1992) saw that the African women in the African society were oppressed while they were very young and unmarried since they formed a part of the political life since their marriage or exchange as it was commonly termed in the African tradition was considered to be very essential and fundamental towards the shaping and the continuation of the society and yet the women had very little power over these marriages or exchanges. This is because they were forced to marry men who were wealthy to be able to pay their dowry or the bride price. This did not guarantee that a young girl was married off to a young man but it even went to the extremes that many young girls who were very innocent were married off or exchanged to old men who could even be their fathers and they had no say to it. They were just supposed to accept what their kinsmen could offer when it came to the accepting of the price for the woman and if the women were asked why they had to be exchanged, they only said t hat it was the tradition which was the way that they did it and had always been doing it for generation. This leaves the woman to be traded in the name of marriage without haaving a say but just following the malicious and wicked traditions which has led to the oppression of the women since they should also be allowed to have a choice when it comes to the person that they wish to get married to or even have the freedom like the men to make their own choices when it came to relationships. This made the women be at the mercy of the men since after they were exchanged, they were supposed to give continuity to the society by giving birth to a lot of children while the work of the African man was to go on marrying as many wives as possible. This made the woman be the caretaker of the household since the women had to do the donkey work while the men were relaxing taking the African traditional brews and blowing their whistles on how many wives and children they have without even bothering about the woman who is getting killed by tasks back in the homestead. In the African society, the young men were also disadvantaged in the system of descent and alliance like the warfare but they had more means at their disposal since they could improve their social and economic statuses by working for societies which see the articulation of different production modes. This gave them a very big advantage over the young girls who were forced to marry at a very young age without being allow ed to even a basic education or even the chance to work. Some cultures in many countries have put the female gender in a subordinate position which has posed a very great challenge to many community leaders who have been on the fight against gender inequality. Dressing mode Some cultures like the Muslim culture puts in dressing modes for the women where they are forced to put on clothes like the wearing of the burqas by the Kashmir women where they are forced to put on head to toe clothes which cover all their clothes where if they fail to wear the garments, they risk being attacked by the men who may throw acid to the uncovered women which is very malicious and brutal since it causes physical harm to the women.. Driving In some cultures, like in the United Arab Emirates, gender inequality has been highly prevailing in countries like Saudi Arabia where women are not allowed to drive cars or even ride bikes where the women were supposed to only be driven by the men who are related to them directly. Divorce rights Women had no right over divorce in some cultures which showed that only the men could decide as to whether they wanted the divorce or not. The women who were mistreated by the men or even battered by their husbands did not have any say and they could not opt for a divorce in the countries which allowed divorce as a culture. This showed that the woman could suffer much in the hands of the men in the name of culture. Education Some cultures have made the female gender lack the access of basic education of women in the society. This is because these cultures strongly believe that if the women are allowed to access education, they would be able to get the various opportunities which are only available to the men which could make them be able to realize their worth in the society which the culture does not allow the women to be a challenge to the women. This makes the men have all the education and other opportunities which have been denied to the women. This is because the male gender is considered to be more superior to the women in so many ways which is evident in a majority of the countries like Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and India among other countries which have high cases of gender inequality. Victims of violence In a majority of the cultures, they believe that the women should obey all their husbands since their husbands were considered to be the breadwinners of the family and they had all the rights over their wives where their wives had to attend to all their needs without questioning. This in most cases has led to domestic violence which has made the women be the victims where the men like in the African culture where the culture allows the African man to have all rights over the wife including forcing the woman to obey him in all ways like beating and disciplining of the wife. Domestic violence has been a problem which has been believed to have spread widely in many countries all over the world. Buy custom The Effects of Culture on Gender Equality essay

Cat Food Industry In The UK

Cat Food Industry In The UK By using environmental analysis, it is possible for organizations to recognize existing opportunities and threats for companies, define strategies to best utilizing opportunities and also to minimize the bad consequences of threats (Arabi & Parsaeian, 2001). And the most important, the analysis can provide a rational future prediction as a base for future strategy adjustment. The company can forecast the consumer tends in next decade and rearrange its products in order to capture the volatile market share in a long-term perspective. The remote environment has the origin of factors that influencing operating environment. In industry-level analysis, it is necessary to analyze a macro environment of a company and access its performance of competitors responding to external elements. The object of this paper is to analyze remote environment and operating environment of cat food industry at United Kingdom. Part Two will be industry definitions. The industry background will be introduced in Part three at three levels, global market, Western Europe market and UK market. Part Four will be remote environment analysis by using PEST model, followed by operating environment analysis in Part Five by using Porter’s Five Forces Model. 2. Industry and Product definition200 211 Wikipedia defines Pet food as plant or animal material intended for consumption by pets. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_food) Mintel defines pet food as any foods that are specifically formulated and marketed for pets, including treats (Mintel, 2009). In legislation, â€Å"pet food† means a feeding stuff for pet animals. To achieve the appropriate balance of nutrients pet food, manufacturers blend mixtures of ingredients including meat and fish, with vegetables, cereals, vitamins and minerals to produce foods that will satisfy the nutritional requirements of a pet(PFMA). It is typically sold in pet stores or supermarkets. And pet food is divided into three categories (Figure 2): dog foo d, cat food and other pet food (i.e. fish food, bird food). Pet Food sells in the form that either prepared or non-prepared. Figure 2 Pet Food Segment In this paper, cat food intends to be defined as food product specifically formulated for feeding of cats. For the purposes of this paper, some further definitions used by Mintel reports are as follows: Wet cat food ‘C including wet canned cat food with a moisture content of 60-85% and semi-moist food with a moisture content of 25-30% and includes complete foods. Dry cat food ‘C has a moisture content of around 10% and includes complete foods Treats and Mixers’C food supplement for cat. 3. Cat food industry Background 200 475 3.1 Global Cat Food Market Figure 3 (Source: Euromonitor International) According to data from Euromonitor, in 2009, the Global retail value sales of cat food reach US19.6 billion dollars, at a growth rate of 4%. Although Dog food continues to occupy nearly half of pet food and pet care market, cat food market ‘posted a comparable CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 5 % during the period 2004-2008’. This indicates that the economic downturn had slight impact on this industry. However, the rising rates of house repossessions contribute to the decline in the pet populations, especially in western economies. The recession caused the lack of consumer confidence which lead to backward sales of the whole cat food market at 2008, but the global market is still growing in 2009 as the ongoing trend of pet humanization that ‘consumers want value-added products that extend both the quality and length of the pet’s life’.

Commercialization of organ transplants Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Commercialization of organ transplants - Essay Example The commercialisation of this medical procedure has been largely promoted through the constant need for organs because in general, the supply of organs is often lower than demand. In most cases, individuals tend to shy away from donating their organs to total strangers and this has influenced those who really need the organs to offer financial incentives to encourage reluctant individuals to donate. The proponents of the commercialisation of transplants state that it makes it possible to satisfy the demand for organs in the healthcare system because individuals are often more than willing to donate their organs if they believe that they or their next of kin will likely gain some financial benefits from the procedure. Moreover, there are individuals who are often reluctant to donate their organs because of the fear of risking their health but with commercialisation; this fear tends to be put in the background because of the benefits that they are likely to receive (Budiani-Saberi and Delmonico 925). Those who are against the commercialisation of organ transplants believe that it cheapens the worth of human beings because individuals come to look upon their organs as commodities which can be used for the sake of gaining money rather than as basic parts of their bodies. Moreover, might make it possible for there to be a rise in organ trafficking because cartels will get involved i n the business which will mean that certain individuals will donate their kidneys whether they like it or not. Therefore, the commercialisation of organ transplants is a new area in the medical field whose consequences have to be carefully studied by governments all over the world so that laws regulating it can be passed to ensure accountability in the procedure. The sale of organs is an inevitable part of the medical procedures of the future and it is because of this inevitability that it should be allowed as early as possible. Allowing the sale of organs at such an early stage

The Impact of Roman Catholic Church on Capitalism Essay

The Impact of Roman Catholic Church on Capitalism - Essay Example The church helped the society to counter the vices by making moral values prevalent in their course of life. This indicates that the democratic society that has no accountability to god will finally degenerates. Thus Roman Catholic Church helped in the growth of capitalism and democracy by inculcating moral values in the Christian societies. The church and capitalism did not support the common property administered by state that is against the democracy. According to church and capitalism the socialism is against the natural justice and threatens the family life. Pius XI explained the above mentioned ideas in Quadragesimo Anno published in 1931. The personal responsibility, institutional changes are considered by Roman Catholic Church and capitalism against the socialism. Church helped in developing the institutions that constituted the society. This made the people to understand the reality in the capitalism according to catholic ideas. The Church supported the creative subjectivity of the human person in supporting the capitalism. This can be seen from two perspectives; philosophically and theologically. 1 The impact of Church on capitalism is due to its support to the free market economy that supports capitalism. In Centesimus Annus #32 John Paul wrote that the decisive factor has changed from land to man and knowledge. According to him this came from understanding the needs of others and ability to satisfy them. As a result the freedom will be a means of harmony between personal and societal interests. Capitalism enabled the greatest opportunity to engage creatively in economic sphere. This creativity in the capitalism is due to the church and it is the one of the ways the Church affected the capitalism. The diligence, industriousness, prudence, reliability and fidelity are the values that had shown impact on capitalism by Roman Catholic Church. The catholic ethic supports the capitalism as the human imperative that is creative and endeavor of the society to encourage the public virtue. The Roman Catholic Church as a supporter of free enterprise rejected the government's too much intervention. This is the 2nd aspect that has shown impact on capitalism from the side of Church. Catholicism contained the afore mentioned opposition for government intervention when it is extreme. Thus Catholicism rejected too much personalism in the economy. This thought has begun with Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum in 1891. The catholic society supported capitalism in the form of having right to private property with the presence of trade unions and wages. This resulted in distributist economic system. The Roman Catholic Church defended this economic system. This resulted in widespread owner ship of land. As small scale craft production obeys natural law and catholic tradition, there is some sort of opposition from the church for large scale craft production. As the economy has grown though effected by Catholicism, the large scale production

Myths, Misconceptions, and Fears Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Myths, Misconceptions, and Fears - Assignment Example That is, many are those who have had the fear that using hypnosis will lead to permanent criminal and immoral conduct in patients. But this is a fear that can clearly not be substantiated because hypnosis is known to be a therapy that has a moderation of service, compassing its implementation for only temporary situations and not permanent basis (Husky, 2011). In the application and usage of hypnosis as a complementary and alternative medicine, there are some biases that are often complained of by researchers. This bias has to do with the kind of revelations that people undergoing hypnosis are made to reveal about their lives. The commonest form of argument has been that people are made only to reveal the deepest darkest secrets of their lives, exposing them to public ridicule. But this situation has been explained by Cuellar (2006), explaining that hypnosis that is done as showbiz must be differentiated from those that are done on a clinical medicinal basis. Finally, the use of hypnosis would be contraindicated in patients who show excess aggression and characteristic chaos when exposed to the method. The reason for this is that such people have wrong reactions toward the process and if not withdrawn from may bring about unexpected consequences and side

Salary Discrimination in National Basketball Association Essay

Salary Discrimination in National Basketball Association - Essay Example The paper tells that sports statistics create a great opportunity to measure the relationship between productivity and income. Since its integration in the 1940s, professional basketball has achieved the highest level of African American representation of the major professional sports in the United States. Labor market discrimination is defined as unequal treatment of equally qualified workers. A great deal of research on labor market discrimination has focused on the racial pay differences of NBA athletes. Now, in existing national basket ball literature on pay discrimination, it is now well documented that Blacks earn less than their White counterpart. For example, using statistics drawn from the national basketball league of 1986, Khan & Sherer found a ceteris paribus black salary short fall of about 20%. Consumers (NBA FANS) may have discriminatory preferences for white stars but no real preference among black and white athletes of average ability. Found out that, whiter teams te nded to be located in whiter metropolitan areas. Given their results, these authors concluded that their observed salary shortfalls were due primarily, to customer discrimination by white basketball fans. However, several recent studies have cast doubt on these results. Bodvarsson and Brastow performed a salary regression similar to the Kahn and Sherer specification and found no evidence of racial discrimination. Their methodology, however, was based on the assumption that consumer discrimination is pervasive throughout the ability distribution.

Paleolithic Paint Job Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Paleolithic Paint Job - Essay Example He states that cave art archaeologists have used objective inquiry to understand the meaning of the paintings and have also used statistical analysis in testing their hypothesis of the art. He describes Lorblanchets approach as subjective and experimental who thinks that preliminary theory is not essential when experimenting. Lorblanchet does not know what he will by becoming a paleolithic painter but believes that there is something to learn from it. He states that Lorblanchet wants to understand how early artists did their paintings and his work fits a new trend of the cave art archaeology. He describes the paintings of both Lorblanchet and another French archaeologist as having little variations from each other. French prehistorian Abbà © Henri Breuil started the scholarly study of the Ice Age art in the 1920s. Abbà © Henri Breuil saw the Ice Age as a way of hunting magic and his conclusions were inspired by the Arunta aborigines in central Australia. The Arunta painted images k angaroos and other prey on rock faces as a symbol of plenty supply of prey. He states that archaeologists slowly began doubting the credibility of the hunting magic theory in explaining prehistoric cave art and the hypothesis was later thrown in the 1960s Andrà © Leroi-Gourhan who was a French prehistorian. Leroi-Gourhan saw that the distribution of the images showed a division of the world and separated males from females. The distribution of images included Stags appearing in doorways, ibex on the cave periphery and bison, horses, oxen, and mammoths appeared in the main chambers. Leroi-Gourhan saw the male-female duality as suffusing the myth of the upper Paleolithic people. Roger lewin states that archaeologists use diverse approaches and are paying attention to the context of the art. He quotes Margaret Conkey, an archaeologist from the University of California in Berkeley who argues that one has to understand the social context of art for them to understand its meaning.

Three Questions Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Three Questions - Case Study Example As the paper stresses there are certain HR. principles that have materialized into strategic practices at the organization. One of them is the principle of training human resources continuously to save on financial resources of the firm. This tenet has been implemented as a strategy in that the firm sends various heads of departments to benchmark or attend training conferences with discussions for instance, about improved methods of technical and scientific revolution. The firm also employs the services of a company psychologist to assist employees cope with their different stressing issues.  From this case study it is clear that in line with the principle of employee motivation, differentiation and establishment of remuneration according to the weight or intensity of work coupled with qualitative and quantitative performance, the firm ensures that hardworking employees are acknowledged and rewarded. For instance, the firm has a policy of recognizing the employee of the month. This is usually the worker who has successfully completed most projects and has done them well. The corporation has also made an effort to provide its workers with health insurance coverage in case of any medical emergencies that they and/or their families may encounter. This is in accordance to the fundamental principle of human resource management or labour protection if employees are faced with the risk of accidents or illnesses in the line of work.

Paleolithic Paint Job Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Paleolithic Paint Job - Essay Example He states that cave art archaeologists have used objective inquiry to understand the meaning of the paintings and have also used statistical analysis in testing their hypothesis of the art. He describes Lorblanchets approach as subjective and experimental who thinks that preliminary theory is not essential when experimenting. Lorblanchet does not know what he will by becoming a paleolithic painter but believes that there is something to learn from it. He states that Lorblanchet wants to understand how early artists did their paintings and his work fits a new trend of the cave art archaeology. He describes the paintings of both Lorblanchet and another French archaeologist as having little variations from each other. French prehistorian Abbà © Henri Breuil started the scholarly study of the Ice Age art in the 1920s. Abbà © Henri Breuil saw the Ice Age as a way of hunting magic and his conclusions were inspired by the Arunta aborigines in central Australia. The Arunta painted images k angaroos and other prey on rock faces as a symbol of plenty supply of prey. He states that archaeologists slowly began doubting the credibility of the hunting magic theory in explaining prehistoric cave art and the hypothesis was later thrown in the 1960s Andrà © Leroi-Gourhan who was a French prehistorian. Leroi-Gourhan saw that the distribution of the images showed a division of the world and separated males from females. The distribution of images included Stags appearing in doorways, ibex on the cave periphery and bison, horses, oxen, and mammoths appeared in the main chambers. Leroi-Gourhan saw the male-female duality as suffusing the myth of the upper Paleolithic people. Roger lewin states that archaeologists use diverse approaches and are paying attention to the context of the art. He quotes Margaret Conkey, an archaeologist from the University of California in Berkeley who argues that one has to understand the social context of art for them to understand its meaning.

How to become a good manager Essay Example for Free

How to become a good manager Essay 1- What are the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear family? A main advantage of the nuclear family is that a couple has ultimate privacy. Nuclear families incur less stress and trouble when moving into a new home. There is a specific sense of freedom that gives a nuclear family the ability to live life as they wish. It is also easier to avoid stress. A disadvantage is that children are left to take care of themselves. Another disadvantage is that the feeling of safety and security is lacking. There is also not much of a support system. 2- What are the advantages and disadvantages of extended family? Extended families are families where three or more generations are living in the same house. Usually, that means that the grandparents are living with their children and grandchildren. Research has shown that there are several advantages to living in extended families. Extended families are very important in countries where there is no social security net. Extended families help prevent elderly people from becoming poor. Another advantage is that the grandparents can look after the children. During the day, the grandparents watch the children to make sure that they are ok. And they also talk to the children when the parents are busy. This helps the children learn their language. And since the children are well taken care of, both of the parents are free to work on the farm or earn money in jobs. Disadvantages. Sometimes you have no privacy because there are so many members. They can also cause conflict and problems, meddling in other family members problems. While it is advantageous when you have a problem to have other members around to help, sharing other family members problems can also become burdensome on other members so that you not only have your own problems to worry about, but those of your extended family. 3- What are the advantages and disadvantages of polygamous family? Advantages of polygamy can be that stereotypical female roles can be shared. That means that children get more attention, house work is done quicker and also  that if a woman in a polygamous relationship wants to work outside the home, she can without worrying whether or not strangers are raising her child. Disadvantages can occur when people start to think they have ownership over each other and get jealous. Other disadvantages may be that as a wife gets older she can be replaced with a better younger woman. She may feel neglected as her time has passed, but monetarily she should still be taken care of and she still has her place in the family. 4- What are the advantages and disadvantages of arranged marriage? Advantages: Your parents know you personally from birth to raising you your whole life so they best know your dispositions and personality and how you cope with others and all that good stuff. When they look for someone for you, they look out for people who best fit your mold and not someone whom you might be enticed by from some few qualities that turn out to be not so great later on. Also, usually arranged marriages occur w/in close communities so people will know each other well from childhood and in that case, people really do know each other, including those getting married and they are strangers. In Islam also, parents not only look for good personal qualities but also good spiritual qualities in how good they are with their religion and so forth. The person getting married also can refuse any person their parent chooses as he/she has no compulsion to marry anyone he/she doesnt like or doesnt think he/she will like. Finally, although a non-Muslim wouldnt consider it anything, Muslim stress a lot on prayer and that Allah leads them in the right direction to the right match and steer them away from a bad choice. Disadvantages: You dont necessarily know the person so love attraction may take some time. Something which is really bad not b/c of the institution itself but more b/c of various cultural influences on peoples personal agendas or essentially, when parents arent looking out for their children but their own needs. They may have personal prejudices against people who look some way or against people of a certain status and while Islam states that a true Muslim looks  past these things and only spirituality matters, not all parents are good Muslims and some are better South Asians than Muslims and are quite superficial. These kind of parents also dont give much thought to spirituality either so it could be a woman who wears tight clothing or a man who drinks and womanizes. 5- What are the advantages and disadvantages of love marriage? Advantages of Love Marriage One of the most important advantage of love marriage is that it gives you the freedom to choose your own life partner and love marriage offers more independence and freedom to live your life. In love marriage both individuals feel more secured and comfortable as they know each other well and are also aware of strengths and weakness of each other. And they do not find any difficulty or anything new in their life after their marriage. Love marriage has a bright chances of success because it occurs from mutual attraction, love and understanding of individuals. It is not an artificially created union as in an arranged marriage. Love marriage gives your life excitement and peace of mind. You have a life partner of your choice with whom you can go to different places, enjoy your vacations, watch sports events and you’ll see all these things will look more lovely when you have your love with you Disadvantages of Love Marriage In spite of advantages there are certain disadvantages of love marriage. Those individuals who go for love marriages usually don’t get family support and even in some cases their relatives do not approve of their marriage. In love marriage both bride and groom have more expectations from each which can ruin their happiness in coming future as unmet expectations are a major cause of conflict in love marriages. The worst drawback of love marriage is an early break up, as both individuals who were in love with each other before the marriage feel lack of freedom from their families. Love marriages are successful only if a person is chosen wisely but man such marriages are not a result of any careful deliberation or insight but raging hormones. So, as a result there is mismatch between life’s goals and aspirations of the two individuals, which after some time becomes a cause of friction and eventually leads to divorce. Thus it is most important to decide to get married to a person who loves you more than you love that person 8- Why do  we need to study about Asian Culture? If you look at the countries that form the Asian continent, they are as diverse and fascinating as you can get. The continent includes giant nations like China, India and Turkey and is home to historically-rich countries like Japan, Korea and the Philippines. The Middle East is an area rich in culture and natural resources, and is the theological homeland for all three of the worlds largest religions, which are found in this area. In fact, Asia is the birthplace of most of the worlds religious and philosophical thought. As far as culture is concerned, there is nowhere more fascinating and diverse on earth. From the mountain-tops of Tibet to the sand dunes of Saudi Arabia, Asia is home to a host of really important cultures. 9-What are the advantages and disadvantages of city living? There are many advantages living in a city. Living in a city is very convenient. There ara many important things for life such as cloths, furniture and health care here. There are better choices because there are more shops. We can also choose an expensive or cheap things that suit to our budget. Living in a city can makes chances of getting a proper education because we can go to a better school, colleges or universities. Most of the good and famous universities are situated in big cities. It is also easier to find chances of getting a good job and of course a good salary if you choose to live in a big city. A big city has more opportunity to find job with good salary as there are many companies, corporations and businesses. The facilities are also good. During emergency, we do not have to be transferred to other hospital as we need only short time to get to the hospital. In addition, living in city, we can enjoy the best entertainment. There are many entertainment for our family. Furthermore, we can also enjoy many kinds of food as there are many restaurants in city. The public transportations in city are always better than the one that we have in the rural area. We can choose transport like busses, LRT or monorail which the rural area does not have. These will reduce our expenses.

Animal Cruelty effects and relating laws

Animal Cruelty effects and relating laws Different types of animal cruelty have ee around for many years. Laws relating to animal cruelty vary from state to state. As of 2009, about forty-six states  have some felony provisions in their anti-cruelty and/or animal fighting laws (Wisch, 2005). As time passes and new things are being invented, people seem to loose interest in their pets. Even though people use animals for their testing/experiments, there are other ways to get a solution to something. Scientist and many others, find it easier and safer to test on animals than to test on other possible sources. They test products such as makeup, and cologne. They also use animal fur for designer clothing other types of fashion. Innocent animals are being used for useless products that we can live without. Many animals die due to different types of crucial testing. They suffer by going through several procedures. The goal is not to patch up ailing people but to use the human tissues in place of mice, dogs or other lab animals for testing new drugs, cosmetics and other products (New York Times, nd). With the donation of human cells, animal testing will be reduced. This way is safer can be both suited for animals and humans. If the animal- rights movement had a bible, it is Singers 1975 book, Animal Liberation  (New York Times, Jan. 15, pg 30).  Singer calls many of the attitudes human beings have toward other animals speciesism, a concept which can be found throughout history ( Gargaro, 1991). Humans are just like animals as far as feeling pain. Eight billion animals are killed each year in this country for food. More than a thousand animals are killed and shipped to groceries stores to be bought. Slaughtering of cows, pigs, and other animals, happen everyday because consumers keep purchasing meat. Animals on todays factory farms are kept in crowded, filthy enclosures and denied everything natural and enjoyable to them. Most of them have no legal protection from cruelty that would be illegal if it were inflicted on  dogs  or  cats. There are some fruits or vegetables that can give the same protein as meat. The  Humane Slaughter Act  requires that animals be rendered unconscious with one swift application of a stunning device before slaughter.  Animals in slaughterhouses can smell the stench, hear the sounds and often see the slaughter of those before them. As the animals struggle from fright, the human workers who are pressured to keep the lines moving quickly often react with impatience towards the animals.   Numerous cases of deliberate cruelty have been reported including workers who took sadistic pleasure from shooting the eyes out of cattle, striking them in the head, and electrically shocking them in sensitive areas of their bodies. As for the chemistry of the central nervous and endocrine systems, there is no difference between humans and other animals. All free-range, factory-farmed, egg-laying, dairy-producing, or wool-bearing animals that dont first die from disease are trucked to the slaughterhouse.   To minimize costs, animals are crowded and must live in each others excrement.   They are exposed to extreme weather conditions in the open trucks.   Shipping fever, which can be fatal, is common in cattle transported long distances to the feedlots, the stockyards and then the slaughterhouse (Compassionate Action Institute, nd). Animal cruelty can be either deliberate abuse or simply the failure to take care of an animal. Either way, and whether the animal is a pet, a farm animal, or wildlife, the victim can suffer terribly. People with emotional problems may beat, shoot, or stab animals or set them on fire. Neglect is not giving an animal the right food, water, shelter or vet care. Their misery goes on for so long; animals who die of neglect can suffer just as much as animals who are harmed on purpose. All U.S. states have animal cruelty laws, and 47 states treat some forms of abuse as felonies.  Farmers  and  researchers  can do cruel things to animals that other people cant do legally, but all states have some protection for pets like dogs and cats. There are different cases in animal cruelty, for example cockfighting and dog fighting. Animal cruelty has not gone away. In Brea, California, 85 children, ages ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade, witnessed a cow being slaughtered at Carbon Canyon Christian School, according to PETA Action Alerts. The rational for having the students witness this cruel act was that they could see this act, instead of only experiencing it through the books they had read during the year. Chances are if an animal is being abused and there is a child in that household, then the child is also being abused. Chances are that a child abus ing an animal can grow up to be someone who commits other violent crimes. Studies also found that a history of animal abuse was found in 25% of male criminals, 30% of convicted child molesters, 36% of domestic violence cases and 46% of homicide cases (The National Animal Abuse Registry, nd). While prosecution of animal cruelty cases is generally considered the exclusive purview of law enforcement, veterinarians who routinely examine and treat sick and injured animals occupy a unique role in the legal process of identifying cruelty and bringing its perpetrators to justice. People engage in animal cruelty, otherwise known as animal abuse, in every city throughout the world. There are many reasons why people mistreat animals some individuals act on sadistic desires others act unintentionally, harming animals with their carelessness. But the true abuse is systemic, involving the choices we make as a collective. Animals are used as dummies because people think they arent harming anyone by doing so. In the past few years, organizations and individuals have been using the power of the internet to spread awareness of animal cruelty facts a great sign considering animal abuse will only continue on a massive scale until enough people come face-to-face with the statistics. To fight this abomination, activists, scientists, authors, lawyers, and politicians have sacrificed their valuable time and money, occasionally their lives, to save suffering animals. With gratitude to those who accumulate animal cruelty facts and educate the populace, people are finally ta king notice of suffering animals and the mistreatment they undergo.

Who Owns Whom? A Puzzling Animal, the Cat :: Essays Papers

Who Owns Whom? A Puzzling Animal, the Cat "Meow meow, hi there!" Almost every morning, I talk to a furry, cute, white and gray loveable animal, a cat, my neighbor, walking around our apartment’s porch. In spite of my paying "great regards" to the cat every time, it deals with me so capriciously, which disappoints me most of the time while a person passes by me with a dog wagging its tail and showing its love to the owner. Nearly every time, the cat glances at me and goes back to its "work" almost ignoring me. But I cannot give up talking to it every time I see it. Its look, voice, and appearance are enough to carry away me. Once in a while, it replies to me, or comes to rub against my legs, which satisfies me a lot. At such times, I feel that the cat likes me as much as I like it. Its furry soft feeling and power of rubbing against me are just so comfortable. But, what a mistaken idea this was! According to Fogle, cats often rub against humans to put cat scent for their territorial marking, or to let other cats know that they visited the place (78). Nevertheless, this puzzling animal is becoming the most popular pet among humans all over the world, or perhaps because of its puzzling character, humans have been enslaved by this furry little animal for a long time. In spite of the popularity of having a cat as a pet, its mode of life is still a very riddle, while most kinds of the domesticated animals are already documented. Bradshaw mentions that domestication of a cat is unusual compared to other domestic animals. Cats are not domestic species "made" by man such as dogs, and also they are not an animal trained for the purpose of helping man’s work, such as an elephant. It is more likely that cats themselves accept humans as part of their lives (6). Perhaps this is the reason why a cat’s mode of life is still behind a veil in spite of its important place among humans. "Cats are domesticated, but it was the cats that domesticated themselves." It is obvious that cats are nearly perfectly domesticated, or at least they look as if that they are having perfect relationships living with humans, but it was not humans that domesticated cats.