Unhealthy Americans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Unhealthy Americans - Essay Example Culture is a bearer of traditions and customs which make the base for the every country. American culture is very interesting because it includes the pieces of the cultures of other countries: everything concerning food, traditions and way of life was brought form the countries of Europe and Southern America. Nowadays all this is combined into one special American culture which determines the way of life of Americans. American culture is known throughout the world and everybody knows the main features of this culture. Now American culture is in the process of occupying the world: American food and way of life are very popular now. Though Americans are very concerned about the result of their unhealthy way of life and their unhealthy food. Nowadays the most important problem of the American people is the problem of weight. It is the most dangerous and progressing problem. People in America gain weight because chief food and immovable way of life. At least two thirds of adult people in America are considered to be stout, or even worse suffer from obesity. The annual sum for treating the diseases which were caused by obesity is more than a hundred million. Now more and more people recognize the problem and the great money are spent for special diet foods, physical exercises, restaurants have the range of dishes with reduced calories. The second problem is the immovable way of life. There level of economical and technological development of the country is very high and the average citizen can have a car to drive. That is why the everyday life does not require walking or some other physical efforts. Along with the problems of obesity and immovable way of life there are some unhealthy problems which exist in every countries of the world. Such problems are drugs, smoking and alcohol drinking. It is a sad fact that mostly it is popular among the young people. So it is a risk that the new generation will have many serious diseases. Especially this problem

Asia Essay Example for Free

Asia Essay 1. Which internal and external factors have helped Reliance group to grow into its current position? Reliance group is an example of a well-managed company that has been able to take advantage of interior competitive advantage possibilities as well as exterior ones. On one hand, Reliance started out with Dhirubai Ambani by borrowing money from the Indian government, shifting towards textiles made out of synthetic plastic fibers and receiving benefits from government incentives and political connections at its origin and middle life cycle. Reliance responded perfectly to the world leading industries at the time and acted as a pioneer in introducing them in the Indian market. As the world’s leading industry shifted from a high demand for plastics and textiles derived from plastics to petrochemicals and fuel production, the Reliance group did likewise by building petrochemical plants in India and tried to make the maximum profit out of what India had to offer to the world and itself at the time and had not been developed to its maximum potential yet. On the other hand, government played a key role in Reliance success as it enabled the company to export worldwide and grow in domestically by reducing quotas and tariffs as well as taxes on the raw materials needed for manufacturing. 2. In which aspects has the management of Reliance group been typical for Indian management? In which aspects has it been atypical? Most of the aspects of the management of the Reliance group can be easily related to the way companies are managed in India. Reliance group is a family run company that depends gravely on the relationship between the siblings that own the company, all siblings had the father and founder as the center of the company and once he passed away the company was divided amongst the brothers and sisters. Another typical Indian attribute is the diversification of the operations of the company, Ranging from petrochemical to eatable products or telecommunications. Each brother took care of a different sector and the gender role with a tendency towards masculinity and seniority was also seen when the company was divided giving the oldest of the brothers 70% of the market share of the company, 20% to the younger brother and only 5% to each one of the sisters. What was very atypical was the monochromic way the company has been run, however it can easily be explained due to the fact that they need to replicate the way the international monochromic market works that emulates the way US firms work. 3. Do you think Reliance Group has to transform its fundamentally to remain successful in the future? Yes, I do believe that Reliance group should find of way of not having to depend on the fluctuations of the global market as much as it does, Thus preventing the company from ever being as impacted as it was by the recent global crisis. I believe they should expand domestically as a way of having a â€Å"safe space† in case there is another crisis in the future and perhaps try to grow deeper ties with other Asian countries like Japan or China that did not suffer from the crisis at the scale that western economies did and that are geographically closer from India than many other western countries.

Life Is Difficult :: essays research papers

Feburary 24th, 2004 two days beffore my first draft is due. For my personal essay. I've chose number 3 for my question but how do i answer...so many people I look up to and so many lessons learned. Walked in the door of my Grandmother's house, it was cold you could feel the chill go down your spine and the goose bumps forming on your arms. My mom had dropped me off. It had only been five mintues and i already missed her. Do I miss her cause she's the only one on my side that knows how I am feeling or is it because she's going away for vacation? Well my mom is gone she had planned for my uncle Dave to pick me up for the next two weeks aand my god mother would pick me up the two following weeks after. But there was a misunderstanding with my aunt obviously. She had asked me who was going to drive me for the first two days of school. She has told me my mother said Dave was, so of course I told her that Dave was. My grandmother had decided for us to call Dave and make sure what was going on. I was like whatever I dont mind because theirs nothing wrong with making sure. Time had passed, dinner had been served. Me and my aunt had already been on bad terms since I was young. Anyways lets get back to what i was saying. Nine o' clock has hit just doing what I have to do in my room by myself. It got closwer and closer...time. The later it got the worse things would get. I could feel it in my heart something bad was going to happend to me. Bump bump bump..BOOM! Someone swings my door open. Already i knew somethings wrong. By the teffifying look on her face. Then she apporached me in a hoarse tone of voice saying "Go to bed". I said to her in a very calm voice and said "Welll its only nine thirty and i dont go to bed until ten thirty". The voice got even more demanding "As long your in this house you sleep at nine thirty". I had said nothing, afarid I would make things worse. She asked has my mother left on the plane yet. I said "No I had jus got of the phone with her".

What Is the Distinction Between Equal Opportunities and Managing Diversity? How Is It Possible to Justify Either in an Organisation?

What is the distinction between equal opportunities and managing diversity? How is it possible to justify either in an organisation? What are the distinctions between equal opportunities and managing diversity? Equal opportunity ensures that all personnel decisions that relate to recruitment, pay and promotion are only based on an individual’s capability to do their job well. Equal Opportunities: The term used to describe ‘policies and practices that tackle inequalities, aiming to ensure that all staff are treated fairly, and that service users do not experience discrimination’Equal opportunity is concerned with keeping within the law; all organisations are required by law not to discriminate an individual by reasons of their colour, marital status, disability, gender, race, nationality or ethnic or national origins. At the very least organisations should abide by the; Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Race Relations Act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Diversity however is a more wide-ranging approach to equal opportunity. Diversity focuses on valuing the varying of qualities that employees bring to their job and organisation. Managing diversity therefore is when a manager creates an environment where the employees feel valued for their individual talents and where the employee’s skills and competencies are fully utilised. Taking advantage of all employees’ full potential will benefit the organisation in many ways; such as it will encourage employees to work to the best of their ability and a wide range of experience, creativity and ideas will be brought to the organisation. Managing diversity can be defined as ‘a planned, systematic and comprehensive managerial process for creating an organisational environment in which all employees can contribute to the strategic and competitive advantage of the organisation, and where no one is excluded on the basis of factors unrelated to production. ’ Equal opportunities within the workforce have many advantages; everyone is treated fairly and without prejudice, removing barriers which impact more harshly on individuals of reasons such as gender, disability, and race, focusing on an individuals abilities rather then who they are. Furthermore the concept of equal opportunities also has its disadvantages; positions such as nurses are mostly seen as a ‘women’s job’ therefore a patient might not be comfortable with having a male nurse and a job that requires heavy lifting is seen as a male position therefore a male is more likely to be recruited. If two candidates both have the qualifications needed for the job description, managers may feel that they should recruit the candidate who fits the equal opportunity policies rather then the candidate who they feel is more suitable to cope better with the dedication that the job requires. Diversity within the workforce has many advantages. These advantages include; a greater access to a wider range of individual strengths, experiences and perspectives, a greater understanding of the diverse groups of potential and existing customers represented within the workforce, better communication with these diverse groups of potential and existing customers and an improved legitimacy and organisational image across a wider audience. Diversity within the workforce also has disadvantages as well as advantages. Some of the disadvantages include; an increase in conflict among the workforce as differences in opinion makes it more difficult to agree on solutions, poorer internal communication because levels of knowledge and comprehension differ between employees, an increase in the management costs that arise from dealing with potential conflict and communication problems. Valuing diversity means that organisations recognise that all individuals have complex identities made up of many strands. These can include, but are not limited to, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation physical and mental aptitudes, nationality, socio-economic status, and religious, political or other beliefs. This means we embrace and celebrate our differences in a positive environment, and are committed to engage with the needs of our diverse staff and users to enable us, both individually and corporately, to achieve our aims. From 1971 to 2001 the rate of female participation in the workplace had increased from 56. % to 72%. This increase is due to equal opportunities; all organisations are required by law not to discriminate an individual by their gender, both men and women are equal. The Sex Discrimination Act meant that both men and women are to be treated equally in the recruitment and selection process therefore resulting to an increase of female participation in the workplace which then resulted to a decrease in male participation rate, now at 84% (Equal Opportunities Review). However equal opportunity is not yet completely equal; for instance pay differentials between men and women have only narrowed down a little since initial improvement after implementation of Equal Pay Act 1970, women still earn 18% less. Racial and ethnic groups’ rate of unemployment is still more compared to white population. Also disabled peoples’ rate of employment is 53% compared to 84% for non disabled. Age discrimination often occurs; both being too young and being too old is discriminated against. Coded language in a job description is used to identify the age range in which they managers are looking for. Managers tend to see young applicants as less worthy and less capable of fulfilling the job position. Managers also see old applicants as unreliable and they are not regarded as long term workers so they are less likely to hire an older applicant. Not all discrimination however is direct discrimination. Indirect discrimination can occur; this is when a requirement is applied equally but it affects one group more negatively then the others. Managers are faced with a number of problems when it comes to equal opportunities and diversity. Firstly they are faced with the problem of how to ensure fairness; it is not always possible to comply with the rules, for instance where a job requires heavy lifting it is more practical to seek a male worker as they are known to be the psychically stronger sex however this is not always the case. Another question managers need to face is should they ignore the differences and treat people equally or acknowledge differences and treat people differently? Everyone is an individual and therefore their differences should be taken into account when a manager makes a decision; for instance an employer has to make reasonable adjustments in respect of a disabled employee. Equality and diversity is vital for both the employees and the success of the organisation. Managers have a moral obligation to treat all individual with the same fairness and equality. It is important for managers to make their decisions without prejudice and stereotype. However it could be argued that a manager’s aim is increase profit not morality. Equality and diversity is also important to the success of a business. Equality and diversity would lead to a positive company image; therefore attracting customers and creating customer loyalty. However it is difficult to find a meaningful measure of equality and diversity. How is it possible to justify equal opportunities and managing diversity in an organisation? Tesco is an example of an organisation that tries to provide diversity for all individuals, no matter their differences. For example Tesco has devoted itself to providing more employment opportunities to disabled people by signing agreements with disability employment providers Remploy and the Shaw Trust. This has lead to 400 disabled people getting recruited. â€Å"The local community is very important to Tesco and these vital agreements ensure we help local disabled people to find employment† announced Claire Peters, head of resources. Another example is that Tesco tries to extend its workforce’s working knowledge of religions operating in the UK. Tesco issues employees with religious toolkits to improve their knowledge and understanding of all religions and their corresponding festivals, daily routines and eating habits. Tesco also provide mangers with a support pack at Ramadan which help them understand how to support staff and customers better during this time of fasting for Muslims. ‘Everyone is welcome’ is the name given to Tesco’s diversity work and it is driven by the value ‘look after our staff so they can look after our customers. Everyone is welcome trains managers so that they will feel more confident in encouraging talent from more under represented groups. Tesco takes part in national benchmarking surveys, giving them an independent assessment of how they perform under each area of diversity. This year they were awarded Gold standard in the Opportunity Now benchmarking survey and they were also recognised as an Age Positive Employer Champion by the Department of Work and Pensions. They ha ve recently completed the Employer's Forum on Disability Survey and the Stonewall Diversity Champions Index. In addition another organisation that aims to provide diversity within the workforce is Toys R Us. Toys â€Å"R† Us is a major retailer of toys and children's merchandise and has stores spread across the world. To ensure the employees are comfortable with discussing differences, Toys R Us chose to begin their workforce diversity with one day of LIFO training. LIFO training has gone beyond the successful, turnover-reducing diversity program to take an important part in the management development curriculum and in training line managers to facilitate performance improvement with store personnel. The workforce diversity program aims to encourage employees to discuss their differences and to ensure they feel comfortable and to provide a great source of insight. It is aimed to enable their participants to open up and share with each other their own styles and how their styles had helped or hindered them in the business setting. Including LIFO training in the diversity workforce program has enabled Toys R Us to achieve a number of key program goals and it has helped participants identify behaviours they want to change and what will motivate them to change. In conclusion the distinction between equal opportunities and managing diversity is; equal opportunities are policies that tackle inequality such as race and gender whereas managing diversity focuses on the varying of qualities whereby managers create an environment where the employees feel valued for their individual talents. The equity and diversity policies are designed to develop equal opportunities policies, provide training, review recruitment, selection, promotion and training procedures, consider the organisations image, set an action plan and draw up a clear and reasonable job criteria. References: Managing diversity (Online) Available at: http://www. ncvo-vol. org. uk/askncvo/index. asp? id=178 Accessed on 23/4/08 Tesco diversity (Online) Available at: http://www. tescocorporate. com/page. aspx? pointerid=7CA5D7226B6E40808B3FFC797B2443D7 Accessed on: 24/4/08 Diversity and equal opportunities (Online) Available at: http://www. nationalarchives. gov. uk/jobs/equalopportunities. htm Accessed on: 25/4/08 Toys R Us (Online) Available at: http://www. bcon-lifo. com/doc_library/ToysRUs_turnover. htm Accessed on: 25/4/08

Marriage Analysis

Marriage is one of the major rights of passage in life. It is a change of status that involves all the emotional baggage that comes with such changes. Marriage is one of the few rights of passage that I, myself have chosen to undertake. Once my fianc? and I made the desciscion to get married, the next step was to plan the wedding. The first thing I had to do was to set a date. Choosing a date was not a simple task, considering I had to keep in mind of family commitments, other events, the length that some guests had to travel, and weather conditions. I knew that I wanted to be a summer bride, so I decided the best time would be around labor day. It would be the end of the summer, and a new beginning for me. Next, I went to the library and checked out all the books that I could find on weddings. I read each one carefully and took notes. Also I asked family members and friends about their own weddings. I asked questions about everything from weddings dresses to flower arrangements. The Internet was also is very informative. I logged onto the Internet and read many interesting stories about other people and their weddings. The third problem that I had to face was, â€Å"What kind of wedding do I want? † I had to choose from an ultra-formal, formal, semiformal, or informal. Determining how formal the wedding is to be will is to be would help establish the overall wedding strategy. The level of formality determines, to a great extent, the overall cost of the wedding. I chose the formal layout, which is the most typical wedding format†¦ Then there is finding a ceremony site. Since most of our friends are in North Carolina, we decided to have it here and not in Texas where my fianc? s raised. I decided to have the ceremonies held in the church that I grew up in. Choosing a ceremony site was not that hard, since I also decided that the reception also would be held at the church. The next thing was choosing the participants. I chose my sisters and friends for brides maids. My niece and little cousin would be the flower girls. Next, I went and asked each one to participate in the wedding, at which time they very gladly accepted. Choosing a wedding gown would be the hardest task. I saw so many gowns the were so beautiful. First, I decided how much I wanted to spend on the gown. Then, I had to chose the color that would be the best for me. So after going to one-hundred different shops, and several wedding shows, I picked the gown that most made me feel like Cinderella. Next, came the hiring of the musician, the catering, photographer, and florist. I was fortunate enough to find the One Stop Shop. They were highly recommended. At the One Stop Shop, they do it all. With the combination of services that they provided, I was exhilarated to learn that they had reasonable pricing. Sending out the invitations is the second-to-last event that needed to be planned. The Invitations are to be mailed approximately four to six weeks prior to the wedding. The envelopes are to be hand addressed in ink matching the printed ink on the invitation itself. Finally, the planning of the honeymoon. The key is to plan ahead and make every minute count. I decided on a week in Hawaii would be the means to get much needed rest. After planning a wedding, the only thing I can say is, â€Å"Thank God! I only have to go through this once! †

Lack of Communication in a Relationship Essay Example

Lack of Communication in a Relationship Essay Example Lack of Communication in a Relationship Essay Lack of Communication in a Relationship Essay Name: Course: Instructor: Date: Lack of Communication in a Relationship Every relationship requires fostering in order to facilitate its growth. Various factors contribute to the nurturing of a relationship. For instance, relationships require trust, honesty, commitment, dedication, patience, tolerance, love and above all, communication. Communication is the most important feature that enables relationships to grow. The factor allows couples to convey and express their thoughts and emotions regarding any particular aspect that affects or does not affect them. Lack of communication in a relationship only creates misapprehension among couples. Hence, it is appropriate to assess the causes and effects of lack of communication in a relationship. Causes Various factors lead to lack of communication in relationships. These factors vary from one relationship to another. However, there are common causes that amount to suppressed communication among couples in relationships. One factor that represses communication in relationships is work related stress. Stress is a common factor in the present age that affects most relationships. Usually, people suffering from stress become withdrawn. They decide to reserve their thoughts to themselves. Stress also causes the individual to become reserved. The person is also susceptible to irritation. Such reasons attributed to stress force the affected partner in the relationship to abhor from discussing any matter with their spouses. This is because the partner is too fatigued to talk. Mistrust is also another causal factor leading to lack of communication in relationships. In this instance, a partner may be contemplating doubts about the other spouse. Usually, mistrust is created whereby one partner engaged in a dishonest act such as an affair. Such dishonest acts only compromise trust between couples such that despite resolution, the level of trust exhibited in the relationship decreases. Hence, mistrust in relationships is characterized by a spouse doubting the other partner’s loyalty to the relationship. The doubting partner commences with silent observation of the other spouse’s actions. However, lack of communication becomes evident where the doubting spouse does not convey the doubts he or she contemplates regarding their spouse. This only leads to wrong judgments regarding a partner’s actions that will lead to an unhealthy relationship. Effects The effects of lack of communication in a relationship are considerable. These effects are mainly drawn from the long-term effects of the causes of suppressed communication among couples. One effect of suppressed communication in relationships is misunderstanding. Misunderstanding results from arguments between couples. Such arguments are usually based on lack of communication between the partners. This is because the issues argued on were no discussed foremost. Instead, reserving such thoughts on the given issue without talking about it serves as an ingredient for contentious arguments between couples. The arguments cause partners to become susceptible to negative emotions, which induce to hurt each other and thus do not provide a solution to the issue in question. Another effect arising from repressed communication is lack of intimacy and romance. Usually, intimacy and romance are matters that couples prefer not to communicate about regularly. Failure of lack of communication on such a matter can eventually lead to the destruction of the relationship. The reasons attributed to lack of communication regarding such a determinant issue in relationships are based on differences between men and women. Women usually think that communicating such a need will lead to her being disrespected. On the other hand, men feel that not communicating his wants results from the partner not willing to satisfy the needs. Communication is essential for relationships. It forms the basis for the growth and development of any relationship. Some people are not used to this particular fact since they are not able to express themselves. However, communication can be encouraged by understanding the affected partner since communication does not necessarily border on expression but also on support, respect and understanding of the other partner.

Economic Factors Essays

Economic Factors Essays Economic Factors Essay Economic Factors Essay Turkey has many market drivers that make it an ideal location currently for property investment. Here we look at some of the reasons why Turkey is one of the world’s hottest investment property locations. * Excellent capital growth projections of around 25% per annum Land prices in Turkey have risen in recent years and, in many cases, doubled. In 2005 to 2006, property prices have risen by 25–40%. Recent research shows that by comparison investments made since 1994 have yielded the following average returns: * Stock market 18% (gross) * Turkish property 568% (net) * Pension plans significant loss (net) (Source: invest-in-turkey. co. uk) * In the opinion of ‘A place in the Sun’ in the October 2004 edition of their magazine, price increases in beach areas are expected to rise initially by 50% and then over the next two to three years by 100%. Taking an average of 25% capital growth, a property purchased at GBP 60,000 with sustained g rowth over five years will have a market value of GBP 183,105, entailing a huge 305% return on investment. Turkey is just entering the EU process Turkey is currently at the very start of the long road to possible EU inclusion, meaning there are still another 5-10 years before prices rise substantially. Prior to EU membership, there are many factors yet to be discussed and many of Turkey’s issues that need to be corrected before incorporation will be seriously considered. However Turkey has some strong backers for its entry and when it does get accepted into the EU, it is reasonable to expect the price of property to rise greatly in line with a huge surge in tourism. Many investors are purchasing in Turkey with EU inclusion as a major driving force, while looking to take advantage of the current low property prices and growing rental market. Turkey is at the brink of a property boom With so many indicators, many of which are outlined on this page, its clear to see that Turkey is at the beginning of a property boom. A boom period generally indicates a time when demand for property outstrips supply. This is currently the situation in Turkey especially in the major investment areas such as Bodrum, Istanbul and Dalaman. Turkish economy is very strong with 5. 5% GDP growth in 2005 The Turkish economy is currently very strong and undergoing much growth. After an average growth of only 2. 8 % for ten years from 1993 to 2002, Turkey was able to achieve a growth rate of 5. % in 2003 and a substantially higher rate in 2004. Turkey now has the 22nd largest economy in the world. Excellent value front line properties with high capital growth potential What is really attracting interest from international property investors is the current value for money of properties in Turkey. The Turkish market still offers excellent quality properties at prices that most other locations o f a similar calibre could not offer 10 years ago. These prices, combined with the outstanding expected growth and powered by strong market drivers, offer property investors a unique opportunity. Over 25 million tourists visit Turkey each year and boost the property market A major indication of the current state of any property market is the tourist trade. In Turkey the tourist market is expanding massively as the country gains more exposure in the international press. The possibility of it becoming an EU member country is slowly beginning to take hold. Current demand for Turkey is reflected in the 25 million tourists it attracts per annum. This translates into solid rental yields by buy-to-let investors who purchase in the best tourist locations. Golf tourism evolving in Antalya, making golf investments more valuable Golf has been a strong market driver in many successful property markets around the world for many years. Spain has used golf to generate a very strong secondary season with thousands of golfers flocking to its shores to play golf during a time when they can’t play their sport at home. With golf being so popular around the world many developments are now being constructed around or near golfing facilities. Turkey and namely Antalya is no different. Turkey offers a modern infrastructure Many emerging markets have limited infrastructure and this is always a roblem that can stunt development. However Turkey has a solid and modern infrastructure that is rapidly growing in line with its economy, tourism and property markets. Turkey is considered to be a highly dynamic country by the World Trade Organisation Turkey is a dynamic and emerging country equipped with a network of well-developed infrastructure and a g lobally competitive work force. Its unique position at the crossroads of the world trade routes and its proximity to the developing energy producing areas in the Caspian and Central Asia are factors that further raise its economic potential for the coming years. Turkey is also home to a thriving tourist industry and a fast growing property market, attracting huge international interest. Property prices are on the increase Land prices in Turkey are said to have doubled over the last 2 years. â€Å"A property that cost ? 35,000 in 2004 but starts from about ? 60,000 shows that prices have increased by as much as 30% in some areas but the build quality is of a high standard and, relatively speaking,  property in Turkey  remains a bargain. † (The Times Online February 2005). No capital gains tax Turkey also offers some tax incentives that are of high interest to property investors, such as its regulations regarding capital gains tax. If you sell your property after four years, there is no capital gains tax. Property that is sold before the period is over will be charged at the standard rate of income tax (between 15% and 35%), calculated on the difference between the buying and selling price. General economic overview The Turkish economy is composed of a mix of industry and commerce. Along with a traditional agriculture sector that still accounts for more than 35% of employment, it has a strong and rapidly growing private sector. However, the State still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport, and communication. The largest industrial sector is textiles and clothing, which accounts for one-third of industrial employment; it faces stiff competition in international markets with the end of the global quota system. However, other sectors, notably the automotive and electronics industries, are rising in importance within Turkeys export mix. In 2004 GDP growth reached 9%. Inflation fell to 7. 7% in 2005 a 30-year low. Turkey offers a very competitive cost of living. This is another driving factor for tourists and those looking to re-locate. Money still goes much further in the warmer Turkish environment. A beer will cost you about â‚ ¬0. 60 and a meal in a restaurant starts at about â‚ ¬8. 00. (2005 Turkish Embassy information). INFORMATION ON TURKEY Turkish economy which is the 17th largest economy in the world, according to World Bank rankings with a GDP of US$800 billion. Turkeys dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that still accounts for about 25% of employment. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, and while the state remains a major participant in basic industry, banking, transport and communication, this role has been diminishing as Turkeys privatization program continues. Turkey is becoming increasingly appealing to foreign investors backed by positive macroeconomic trends and successive rounds of structural reforms realized in the past few years. General facts about Turkey Economy After a deep economic crisis in 2001, the Turkish economy entered into a rapid recovery period and grew 6. % annually on average and almost 50% cumulatively, from 2002 to 2007. Structural reforms, prudent macroeconomic policies, political stabilization and favourable conditions in international markets played an important role in this high growth performance. With the starting of the EU membership negotiation process on 3rd  of October, the EU perspective has strengthened and this contributed a more positive economic and political environment i n Turkey. This process also meant more harmonization with the EU laws and regulations that could boost further FDI flows to Turkey in the following years. The growth was expected to continue as long as Turkey remained strictly tied to the IMF-backed economic program but after twenty-seven straight quarters of positive growth, the Turkish economy contracted in Q4 2008. In September 2009, the Turkish government revised down its economic growth forecast to a 6% contraction for 2009 and 3. 5% growth in 2010. As of 2008, GDP amounted to roughly US$800 billion, making Turkey the 17th  largest economy in the world, according to World Bank rankings. The stock value of FDI stood at more than $180 billion at year-end 2009. Privatization sales are currently approaching $39 billion. Oil began to flow through the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline in May 2006, marking a major milestone that will bring up to 1 million barrels per day from the Caspian to market. Several gas pipelines also are being planned to help move Central Asian gas to Europe via Turkey. Financial markets and banking system also weathered the 2009 global financial crisis and did not suffer significant declines due to banking and structural reforms implemented during the countrys own financial crisis in 2001. Economic fundamentals are sound, but the Turkish economy has been facing more negative economic indicators in 2010 as the global economic slowdown continues to curb demand for Turkish exports. On the 1st  of January 2005, 6 digits (zeros) were dropped from the Turkish Lira (TL) denominations. Together with the TL, Kurus (Kr), which is a hundredth of TL 1, has become in use again. Income Distribution of income is relatively skewed with more than half of all income earned by the richest 20% of Turkish households. This distribution is more uneven in urban areas than in rural areas. One of the reasons for this inequality is the unemployment problem. As in many countries, creating jobs for a fast growing population is a major problem. Demography The population of Turkey is 72 million. Compared to other countries, Turkeys population is relatively young where about 37 million people are under the age of 35 and 40% are under the age of fifteen. The household number is around 17 million and the local civilian work force is about 25 million. The birth rate and the rate of population increase are high compared to many European countries. These factors make Turkey a promising market for many product and service sectors. Istanbul As Turkey’s major commercial center, Istanbul is home to half of Turkey’s top 500 companies and all of the country’s major media and advertising groups. It’s logistic and business links to the Black Sea and Central Asia, easy international access via air, sea, rail and road which make it easier to roll out a product from Istanbul to other parts of Turkey, are among the factors which make Istanbul one of the most promising cities in the world. Turkey Trade, Exports and Imports After experiencing an  economic  boom during 2002-2007, Turkey’s economy took a beating in 2008, following the global financial meltdown. One of the major issues that the country is facing is the declining exports to European countries. Turkey’s trade, exports and imports  were hit badly in the year 2008, when the trade deficit stood at -31%. Turkey has diversified its  economy  in the 2000s, following an active participation in exports to Europe and other Asian countries. The Turkish industry of late has started looking beyond the Middle East, but still lags behind its European counterparts. The industrial share of the Gross National Product (GNP) stood at 30% as of 2Q2009. Turkey’s major export products include clothes, electronics, automobiles and agricultural products. Other major products exported from Turkey include iron and steel, mineral fuels and oil, precious stones and tobacco. On the other hand, the major import  commodities  for Turkey include electrical equipment, mechanical appliances, optical instruments, iron and steel, and pharmaceutical products. Turkey’s major import partners are the USA, Russia, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland and the UK. Oil exports from Turkey in 2008 stood at 141,700 b/d, with oil imports at 783,800 b/d in the same period. The total exports amounted to $111 billion in 2009, which fell from its 2008 estimates of $140. 7 billion. The total  importsamounted to $134. 2 billion, according to the 2009 estimates, which again fell from the 2008 estimates of $193. 9 billion. Turkey Trade, Exports and Imports: Alternatives Turkey has started to explore alternative markets to counter the effects of the  financial  crisis. Exports to countries in Africa and Central Asia have increased tremendously. Trade with the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) has jumped by more than 50% in 2008. FDI from the Middle East countries increased to almost $2 billion in 2008. Exports to Iraq increased by 75% in 1Q2009, and  trade  relations with Africa are expected to strengthen in 2010. Turkey  (Turkish:  Turkiye), known officially as the  Republic of Turkey  (  Turkiye Cumhuriyeti  (help ·info)), is a  Eurasian  country  that stretches across the  Anatolian  peninsula in  western Asia  and  Thrace  in the  Balkan  region of  southeastern Europe. Turkey is one of the six independent  Turkic states. Turkey is bordered by eight countries:  Bulgaria  to the northwest;  Greece  to the west;  Georgia  to the northeast;Armenia,  Azerbaijan  (the  exclave  of  Nakhchivan) and  Iran  to the east; and  Iraq  and  Syria  to the southeast. The  Mediterranean Sea  andCyprus  are to the south; the  Aegean Sea  to the west; and the  Black Sea  is to the north. The  Sea of Marmara, the  Bosphorus  and theDardanelles  (which together form the  Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between  Eastern Thrace  and  Anatolia; they also separateEurope  and  Asia. [6]  Turkeys location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia makes it a country of significant geostrategic importance. [7][8] The predominant religion by number of people is  Islamabout 97% of the population, the second by number of people is  Christianity0,6%, according to the  World Christian Encyclopedia. 9]  The countrys official language is  Turkish, whereas  Kurdish  and  Zazaki  languages are spoken by  Kurds  and  Zazas, who comprise 18% of the population. [10] Turks  began migrating into the area now called Turkey (land of the Turks) in the eleventh century. The process was greatly accelerated by the Seljuk victory over the  Byzantine Empire  at the  Battle of Manzikert[11]. Several small  beyliks  and the  Seljuk Sultanate of Rum  ruled Anatolia until the  Mongol Empires invasion. Starting from the thirteenth century, the  Ottoman beylik  united Anatolia and created an empire encompassing much of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. After the  Ottoman Empire  collapsed following its defeat inWorld War I, parts of it were occupied by the victorious  Allies. A cadre of young military officers, led by  Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, organized a successful resistance to the Allies; in 1923, they would establish the modern Republic of Turkey with Ataturk as its first president. Turkey is a  democratic,  secular,  unitary,  constitutional republic, with an ancient cultural heritage. Turkey has become increasingly integrated with the  West  through membership in organizations such as the  Council of Europe,  NATO,  OECD,  OSCE  and the  G-20 major economies. Turkey began  full membership negotiations  with the  European Union  in 2005, having been an  associate member  of theEuropean Economic Community  since 1963 and having reached a  customs union agreement  in 1995. Turkey has also fostered close cultural, political, economic and industrial relations with the  Middle East, the  Turkic states  of  Central Asia  and the  African  countries through membership in organizations such as the  Organisation of the Islamic Conference  and the  Economic Cooperation Organization. Given its strategic location, large economy and army, Turkey is classified as a  regional power. [12][13]

Andrew Cunningham - Admiral Andrew Cunningham - World War II - Royal Navy

Andrew Cunningham - Admiral Andrew Cunningham - World War II - Royal Navy Andrew Cunningham - Early Life Career: Andrew Browne Cunningham was born January 7, 1883, outside Dublin, Ireland. The son of anatomy professor Daniel Cunningham and his wife Elizabeth, the Cunninghams family was of Scottish extraction. Largely raised by his mother, he began schooling in Ireland before being sent to Scotland to attend the Edinburgh Academy. At the age of ten, he accepted his fathers offer of pursuing a naval career and left Edinburgh to enter the Naval Preparatory School at Stubbington House. In 1897, Cunningham was accepted as a cadet in the Royal Navy and assigned to the training school aboard HMS Britannia at Dartmouth. Highly interested in seamanship, he proved a strong student and graduated 10th in a class of 68 the following April. Ordered to HMS Doris as a midshipman, Cunningham traveled to the Cape of Good Hope. While there, the Second Boer War began ashore. Believing there to be opportunity for advancement on land, he transferred to the Naval Brigade and saw action in Pretoria and Diamond Hill. Returning to sea, Cunningham moved through several ships before commencing sub-lieutenants courses at Portsmouth and Greenwich. Passing, he was promoted and assigned to HMS Implacable. Andrew Cunningham - World War I: Promoted to lieutenant in 1904, Cunningham passed through several peacetime postings before receiving his first command, HM Torpedo Boat #14 four years later. In 1911, Cunningham was placed in command of the destroyer HMS Scorpion. Aboard at the outbreak of World War I, he took part in the failed pursuit of the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and cruiser SMS Breslau. Remaining in the Mediterranean, Scorpion participated in the early 1915 attack on the Dardanelles at the beginning of the Gallipoli Campaign. For his performance, Cunningham was promoted to commander and received the Distinguished Service Order. Over the next two years, Cunningham took part in routine patrol and convoy duty in the Mediterranean. Seeking action, he requested a transfer and returned to Britain in January 1918. Given command of HMS Termagent in Vice Admiral Roger Keyes Dover Patrol, he performed well and earned a bar for his DSO. With the end of the war, Cunningham moved to HMS Seafire and in 1919 received orders to sail for the Baltic. Serving under Rear Admiral Walter Cowan, he worked to keep the sea lanes open to newly independent Estonia and Latvia. For this service he was awarded a second bar for his DSO. Andrew Cunningham - Interwar Years: Promoted to captain in 1920, Cunningham moved through a number of senior destroyer commands and later served as Fleet Captain and Chief of Staff to Cowan in the North America and West Indies Squadron. He also attended the Army Senior Officers School and the Imperial Defense College. Upon completing the latter, he received his first major command, the battleship HMS Rodney. In September 1932, Cunningham was elevated to rear admiral and made Aide-de-Camp to King George V. Returning to the Mediterranean Fleet the following year, he oversaw its destroyers which relentlessly trained in ship handling. Raised to vice admiral in 1936, he was made second in command of the Mediterranean Fleet and placed in charge of its battlecruisers. Highly regarded by the Admiralty, Cunningham received orders to return to Britain in 1938 to assume the post of Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. Taking this position in December, he was knighted the following month. Performing well in London, Cunningham received his dream posting on June 6, 1939, when he was made commander of the Mediterranean Fleet. Hoisting his flag aboard HMS Warspite, he began planning for operations against the Italian Navy in case of war. Andrew Cunningham - World War II: With the beginning of World War II in September 1939, Cunninghams primary focus became protecting the convoys that supplied British forces in Malta and Egypt. With the defeat of France in June 1940, Cunningham was forced to enter into tense negotiations with Admiral Rene-Emile Godfroy regarding the status of the French squadron at Alexandria. These talks were complicated when the French admiral learned of the British attack on Mers-el-Kebir. Through skillful diplomacy, Cunningham succeeded in convincing the French to allow their ships to be interned and their men repatriated. Though his fleet had won several engagements against the Italians, Cunningham sought to dramatically alter the strategic situation and reduce the threat to Allied convoys. Working with the Admiralty, a daring plan was conceived which called for a nighttime air strike against the Italian fleets anchorage at Taranto. Moving forward on November 11-12, 1940, Cunninghams fleet approached the Italian base and launched torpedo planes from HMS Illustrious. A success, the Taranto Raid sank one battleship and badly damaged two more. The raid was extensively studied by the Japanese when planning their attack on Pearl Harbor. In late March 1941, under heavy pressure from Germany to halt the Allied convoys, the Italian fleet sortied under the command of Admiral Angelo Iachino. Informed of enemy movements by Ultra radio intercepts, Cunningham met the Italians and won a decisive victory at the Battle of Cape Matapan on March 27-29. In the battle, three Italian heavy cruisers were sunk and a battleship damaged in exchange for three British killed. That May, following the Allied defeat on Crete, Cunningham successfully rescued over 16,000 men from the island despite taking heavy losses from Axis aircraft. Andrew Cunningham - Later War: In April 1942, with the United States now in the war, Cunningham was appointed to the naval staff mission to Washington, DC and built a strong relationship with the Commander-in-Chief of the US Fleet, Admiral Ernest King. As a result of these meetings, he was given command of the Allied Expeditionary Force, under General Dwight D. Eisenhower, for the Operation Torch landings in North Africa late that fall. Promoted to admiral of the fleet, he returned to the Mediterranean Fleet in February 1943, and worked tirelessly to ensure that no Axis forces would escape from North Africa. With the conclusion of the campaign, he again served under Eisenhower in commanding the naval elements of the invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and the landings in Italy that September. With the collapse of Italy, he was present at Malta on September 10 to witness the formal surrender of the Italian fleet. Following the death of the First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound, Cunningham was appointed to the post on October 21. Returning to London, he served as a member of the Chiefs of Staff committee and provided overall strategic direction for the Royal Navy. In this role, Cunningham attended the major conferences at Cairo, Tehran, Quebec, Yalta and Potsdam during which plans for the invasion of Normandy and defeat of Japan were formulated. Cunningham remained First Sea Lord through the end of the war until his retirement in May 1946. Andrew Cunningham - Later Life: For his wartime service, Cunningham was created Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope. Retiring to Bishops Waltham in Hampshire, he lived in a house that he and his wife, Nona Byatt (m. 1929), had purchased before the war. During his retirement, he held several ceremonial titles including Lord High Steward at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Cunningham died at London on June 12, 1963, and was buried at sea off Portsmouth. A bust was unveiled in Trafalgar Square in London on April 2, 1967 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in his honor. Selected Sources History of War: Admiral Andrew Cunningham Royal Navy Museum: Andrew Cunningham

Ethics Term Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethics Term Paper - Essay Example Dellatre points the culpability to poor recruitment methods why many men who are not suited to become public servants enters into public service. In plain language, it meant that some people are just bad to the core that when they get into public service such as law enforcement, they will most likely be involved in illegal activities because they are morally weak (2003). A typical example of this ethical challenge is the politicization of hiring process in a police force where recruitment accommodates the endorsement of political patrons of certain individuals even if the applicant is not qualified. The set standard of qualifications are not imposed nor did any background checks were done. Most likely, rotten apples would be able to get into the organization and when they do, will be engaged in illegal activities or the organization’s bad apple. Another common challenge to police ethics is the kind of value system which leadership will provide to the organization. Dellatareâ⠂¬â„¢s structural or affiliation hypothesis posits that value system of an organization begins from the top of the organization which will eventually trickle down to the organization as a whole. It is the leaders of that organization that set the standard of ethics among its subordinates. If the top brass of an organization is corrupt, it is said by the structural or affiliation hypothesis that their corrupt behavior will eventually cascade to the rank and file. This hypothesis also classified leaders as corrupt when they do not have control over its subordinates who are engaged in its corrupt behavior. It posits that such inefficacy promotes the culture of corruption. Dellatre defines structural or affiliation hypothesis of corruption among police officers as not the exclusive deviance of the men in uniform but rather to the organization they belong to. For example, if the organization is corrupt, it is inadvertent that the individual members will also become corrupt (2002). A typi cal example of this hypothesis is a police organization whose top brass are accepting protection money from syndicate to turn a blind eye to their illegal activities. This corrupt value will eventually trickle down to the whole organization that will eventually make the entire police force as corrupt. Another most common challenge to law enforcement ethics is the â€Å"slippery slope† or moral career hypothesis that â€Å"corruption [that] begins with apparently harmless and well intentioned practices and leads over time – either in individuals or in departments as a whole-to all crimes for profit (2002). Lode hypothesized that once an individual is on top of a slippery slope, it would be inevitable for the individual to slide to the bottom (1999). For Wilson, this practice usually starts with the small tokens and seemingly innocuous acts until it progresses to corruption (Dellatre, 2002). The future of the ethical practice of police force is determined largely by the public that it serves. If the society at large demands and practice a high ethical standard among its police force, it follows that the law enforcement agency will conform to the public that it intends to serve. But if society has a norm of corruption, it

Does Robert Bruce deserve to be remembered as a great Scottish king Essay

Does Robert Bruce deserve to be remembered as a great Scottish king - Essay Example The reality is that Scotland was in need of the cunningness and patience of Robert Bruce rather than the William Wallace’s impetuousness, particularly during the encounters with enemies like the English under the command of Edward I and then Edward II. Robert Bruce approached the matter strategically and bided his time, so he established himself as the King of Scotland first, so that he would be ready by the time of Bannockburn. Two years before Robert Bruce was born in 1274, Edward Plantagenet had been made England’s King Edward I. Edward Plantagenet was titled as â€Å"The Hammer of the Scots† because of his ruthlessness, which helped bring forth Robert Bruce’s greatness. Robert Bruce got an astonishing victory in the year 1314 at Bannockburn while fighting with Edward II who had much better-equipped and larger forces. This victory earned Scotland independence from the control of the English. As his power dawned upon the people, the parliament declared h im the King. A brief history The struggle to achieve control over Scotland commenced with the death of Alexander III in the year 1286. Alexander III left Margaret, his grandchild as the heir who was the King of Norway’s infant daughter. ... Norwegian princess passed away on her way to Scotland, thus exposing the succession to a number of claimants, the most prominent of whom were Robert Bruce and John Balliol. â€Å"King Edward, while reserving his own rights as one of the competitors, promised the rest that within two months of awarding the Crown he would restore kingdom and castles to the rightful king, and that in future on the death of a king he would demand nothing but homage and the rights incidental to it† (Barrow, 2005, p. 44). Robert Bruce never gave up What really makes Robert Bruce the greatest hero of Scotland is that fact that he never lost hope or gave up despite all the challenges and difficulties that came his way (Bartell and William, 2006, p. 103). It was on 27 March 1306, when Robert Bruce declared himself to be the Scots’ King. As could be predicted, Edward sent a huge army toward north for the Battle of Methven and happened to defeat Robert Bruce. Edward executed many supporters of Rob ert Bruce and made him a hunted outlaw from the Scottish king. The indefatigable king of Scotland had bided his time. For a whole year, he was demoralized while the terror of the English spread far and wide in Scotland. In this period, two brothers of Robert Bruce were assassinated. Robert Bruce finally resolved to show up. â€Å"When, looking up with wistful eye, The Bruce beheld a spider try His filmy thread to fling From beam to beam of that rude cot-- And well the insect's toilsome lot Taught Scotland's future king.† (Barton cited in Poetry-Archive.com, 2003). With the support of Sir James Douglas, Robert Bruce’s chief lieutenant, he gained his first victory in 1307 on Palm Sunday. The call was answered by the clans from all over Scotland and the forces of Robert Bruce accumulated to fight the

Natural Rights of Human Beings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Natural Rights of Human Beings - Essay Example The countries have their own regulations and the people have a certain level of freedom to do things. Every human has the liberty to do whatever he wants, as long as it does not lead to any problem. The basic human rights have gone through a development phase since a country's independence. Human rights were not given much importance in the initial years before a gained its independence. (Locke 1980).The concept of natural rights has definitely expanded over the years. During the initial stages of the formation of government, the humans did not have the rights to express their opinion and they were not given due respect. After some years, public had the liberty to enter into politics. This was a well received change in the history of human rights. Since then, there has been a drastic improvement in the natural rights of human beings. The government permitted people to lead a life with utmost freedom. At the same time, the government imposed certain laws, and failing to follow them will result in remitting a fine to the government. The British government followed this procedure and this was the first phase of development in the human rights. (British Constitution 1689). The government passed various amendments to help the people and a separate department to address the grievances of the public. These improvements in human rights paved way to a better living for the people around the world. Natural human rights further developed and people were granted the rights beyond the political and social levels. People had the freedom and liberty to enter into various fields like education, business and politics. This clearly depicts the development and improvement in the natural rights of the human beings as they earned rights of which they were deprived before. Though there has been a drastic improvement in the human rights, people must have a clear understanding of their rights. Without proper understanding and knowledge, people cannot experience the benefit of their rights. People must realize their responsibilities in building a better world and should come forward to utilize these rights in order to lead a better life. The Bill of Rights includes the various laws and amendments passed by the government of United States. This Bill of Rights contains the existing laws and it is updated each time a new amendment of human rights is passed. The public must follow the existing rules and must also adhere to the new regulation passed by the government. The Bill of Rights must include even the minor rights of the public. The bill must be prepared keeping in mind the welfare of the public instead of merely thinking about the benefits to the government. (United Nations 1948). The rights should be favorable to the public and they must not feel difficulty in following the regulations. The amendments passed by the government have to be according to the current development of the country. The existing human rights have to be modified to suit the public and the current situation. The rules and regulations are meant to help the people and not to make the situation worse. The rights can be lenient in a way to help the public in performing their duties without any problems. They must enable

Private Finance Initiative and UKs Construction Industry Essay

Private Finance Initiative and UKs Construction Industry - Essay Example Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is a device employed by United Kingdom’s government to arguably to make the construction industry more competitive and more profitable. This does not come as a surprise since the UK construction industry provides a tenth of the UK's gross domestic product, employs 1.4 million people and is worth around  £65 billion per annum. With an output of  £81.9bn in 2006, the UK construction industry is ranked in the global top ten. Thus, it is only then logical to support the industry. PFI is a way of funding major new public building projects such as hospitals, schools, prisons and roads. Private consortiums, usually involving large construction firms, are contracted to both design and build a new project, and also to manage it. The contracts typically last for 30 years. The building is not publicly owned but leased by a public authority, such as a council or health trust, from the private consortium. The private consortium raises the cash to build the project. It is then paid back with interest by the government through regular payments over the period of the contract. PFI projects could be viewed as a means of enabling government services to be "outsourced" to private sector suppliers. PFI is not the same as privatization as the Government retains ultimate responsibility to the public for the service concerned. Outside the UK, PFI is more commonly known as Public Private Partnerships (PPP). The policy has not been without its critics. As with any form of hire purchase, buying something on tick is more expensive than paying for it up front. The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary is often cited as an example of how expensive the PFI can be. It cost  £180m to build and will cost  £900m to pay for. ... Use of PFI in the Construction Industry Since the advent of PFI, the construction industry has found itself on much more stable ground. Between 2001 and 2002, its output is estimated to have increased by 9.7%. According to the Major Contractors Group (MCG), a major construction trade association which represents UK firms such as Carillion (formerly part of Tarmac), Costain and Amec, construction companies engaged in the private finance initiative expect to make between three and ten times as much money as they do on traditional contracts. (Research and Markets Online, 2003) Bill Tallis, the director of MCG, said construction firms traditionally received rates of return of 1.5% to 2% on contracts but were now expecting margins of 7.5% to 15% on PFI building schemes. The high profit available to investors in PFI schemes explains why John Laing PLC has sold off its basic construction company and bought up stakes held in such projects by hard-pressed Amey PLC. (Macalister, 2003) This strategy is reinforced by figures from the European Construction Industry Federation (ECIF), which show that the UK construction sector grew by over 8% last year while its counterpart in Germany and France slumped by 2.5% and 0.7% respectively. (UK DTI Online, 2007) The UK government defends PFI by its use of something called the 'public sector comparator'. This shows whether or not privately financed schemes offer better value for money than conventional funding. The main problem with this is that the government has provided an accounting device called 'risk costing' which has meant that private firms generally emerge as winners. When a consortium of private companies agrees to build something for a public

The Battle of Somme Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Battle of Somme - Research Paper Example Anglo-French in nature, the Somme offensive aimed at shattering the powers of Germany. The British army led the allied forces consisting of a major part of British and French army. The German army which awaited them retaliated harshly. The first day of the battle proved the most fatal for the British army. At the end of the day, the British army had lost 60000 of its men (Gilbert, pp65-78). Despite the heavy human loss of almost 1 million from both sides, the British Generals of the time have been criticized for the battle. At the end of the battle, the British army had succeeded in capturing only 12 kilometers from the Germans. The allied forces were still 5 kilometers away from Bapaume which had been termed as a major objective of the battle while Germany was still maintaining much of its frontline. One view however favors the offensive that the battle caused a severe blow to the Germany ultimately bringing its defeat in 1918. At the start of battle, the balance in composition amon g the British and French was 20 British and 13 French divisions. Though majority of the composition was British, it had earlier been decided that the attack on German army would be primarily a French offensive. The German onslaught at Verdun forced the French to depute a huge manpower of its army. The Somme offensive aimed at draining the German forces of reserves and the territorial target was the secondary objective. The Verdun onslaught changed the nature of the Somme offensive completely. The aim had then become to shift German resources from Verdun to the defense of Somme (Doughty, p291). The heavy bombardment was planned to precede the attack which began on June 24. It was believed that the fierce bombardment would destroy the German front line. After the destruction of the front line, the allied forces would become able to walk into the no man’s land and take edge over the Germans. Both the British and French artillery had an equal share in the 3000 guns for bombardmen t. After the bombardment, it was planned that a creeping barrage would lead the advancing infantry towards the front line of the Germans then consecutively towards the second and third trench lines. In addition, Rawlinson’s Fourth army was heavily loaded with arms and ammunitions which had the task of consolidation. During the course, the whole Fourth army would attempt a sudden breakthrough by using the cavalry to catch the gap in the German defense lines. After the possession of the German front line, the plan was that the British army would break through to Cambrai and Douai which meant the breakup of German line into two. 750000 soldiers from 27 divisions went into the offensive. About eighty percent of the army was from the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The figures comparison favored the attacking allied forces as only 16 Divisions German army defended the battlefield of Somme (Keegan, pp290-292). What Happened? The bombardment began and continued for eight consecut ive days. The allied forces of British and France had however looked down upon the strengths of the German army and its strong arrangements. The bombardment had failed to destroy either of the German front line’s barbed wire or the strongly built concrete bunkers. It was evident that the Germans were alert for all of the enemy’s onslaughts. Besides, the munitions and explosives used by the British were defective. Many of them did not explode.

Private Finance Initiative and UKs Construction Industry Essay

Private Finance Initiative and UKs Construction Industry - Essay Example Private Finance Initiative (PFI) is a device employed by United Kingdom’s government to arguably to make the construction industry more competitive and more profitable. This does not come as a surprise since the UK construction industry provides a tenth of the UK's gross domestic product, employs 1.4 million people and is worth around  £65 billion per annum. With an output of  £81.9bn in 2006, the UK construction industry is ranked in the global top ten. Thus, it is only then logical to support the industry. PFI is a way of funding major new public building projects such as hospitals, schools, prisons and roads. Private consortiums, usually involving large construction firms, are contracted to both design and build a new project, and also to manage it. The contracts typically last for 30 years. The building is not publicly owned but leased by a public authority, such as a council or health trust, from the private consortium. The private consortium raises the cash to build the project. It is then paid back with interest by the government through regular payments over the period of the contract. PFI projects could be viewed as a means of enabling government services to be "outsourced" to private sector suppliers. PFI is not the same as privatization as the Government retains ultimate responsibility to the public for the service concerned. Outside the UK, PFI is more commonly known as Public Private Partnerships (PPP). The policy has not been without its critics. As with any form of hire purchase, buying something on tick is more expensive than paying for it up front. The Edinburgh Royal Infirmary is often cited as an example of how expensive the PFI can be. It cost  £180m to build and will cost  £900m to pay for. ... Use of PFI in the Construction Industry Since the advent of PFI, the construction industry has found itself on much more stable ground. Between 2001 and 2002, its output is estimated to have increased by 9.7%. According to the Major Contractors Group (MCG), a major construction trade association which represents UK firms such as Carillion (formerly part of Tarmac), Costain and Amec, construction companies engaged in the private finance initiative expect to make between three and ten times as much money as they do on traditional contracts. (Research and Markets Online, 2003) Bill Tallis, the director of MCG, said construction firms traditionally received rates of return of 1.5% to 2% on contracts but were now expecting margins of 7.5% to 15% on PFI building schemes. The high profit available to investors in PFI schemes explains why John Laing PLC has sold off its basic construction company and bought up stakes held in such projects by hard-pressed Amey PLC. (Macalister, 2003) This strategy is reinforced by figures from the European Construction Industry Federation (ECIF), which show that the UK construction sector grew by over 8% last year while its counterpart in Germany and France slumped by 2.5% and 0.7% respectively. (UK DTI Online, 2007) The UK government defends PFI by its use of something called the 'public sector comparator'. This shows whether or not privately financed schemes offer better value for money than conventional funding. The main problem with this is that the government has provided an accounting device called 'risk costing' which has meant that private firms generally emerge as winners. When a consortium of private companies agrees to build something for a public

Directive analysis of what to do in the evnt of a disatser that is Essay

Directive analysis of what to do in the evnt of a disatser that is possibly due to global warming, such as a hurricane - Essay Example Preparing for a hurricane before it arrives involves making an emergency plan and getting together the important supplies. The first step is to see what your insurance covers and see if any adjustments are needed in the policy. Many valuables, like cars, are damaged so it is best to make sure that all costly belongings are insured. Also, have an evacuation plan and map out the closest escape routes that will take you and your family away from the danger zone. Have emergency family or friend contact numbers and decide beforehand where to go in case of an evacuation. This also involves organizing a list of the absolute necessary items to take along to avoid confusion and panic when a storm does hit. It is also important to locate the safest room or area of the house, preferably on the lower level, if the need arises to stay inside rather than evacuating. After a plan has been set up, it is now important to get the supplies and disaster kit ready. Make a list of the items needed such as a first aid kit, non-perishable food items, water, blankets, medication, hand crank powered radio, batteries and flashlights (Henthorn 2011). It is essential to secure all the important documents in water proof bags or containers. Make sure to have a sufficient amount of cash at home and do not wait till the last minute to fill up your vehicle with gas. Also get together plywood or shutters and the required tools to board up windows and doors if hurricane warnings are close. If your budget allows, have a back up generator in case of power outages and electricity failure. Be knowledgeable about any weather changes and continue to listen to the news about updates. This will help you and your family make any necessary adjustments to the plan and gathered supplies. Knowing what to do during a hurricane is just as important as planning for it. If staying inside, seek protection in the safest area of the house and keep yourself and your family away from windows and glass doors. Make sure to turn off all heavy duty appliances, like refrigerators and microwaves, to minimize damage. Do not go out to check on the hurricane even if it seems calm, because there can still be flying debris and rapidly increasing winds (Henthorn 2011). Through out the storm continue to communicate with your family in order to engage in a normal activity and help with any feelings of fear and panic. Also, keep on listening to the radio to be informed of any changes taking place. If the need arises to evacuate, try to turn off all utilities and appliances, gather only the necessary items and follow the proper evacuation routes. Remember that during a hurricane it is important to stay calm and ensure the safety of your loved ones. It is equally critical to be precautious after a hurricane because injuries can still be sustained even if the storm has passed. Do not leave the house in order to check on the damage done until a clear sign is given by the authorities. Avoid coming into contact with puddles, loose wires and smashed trees (Henthorn 2011). Try to use your phones for emergency purposes only, reporting broken gas or water pipes, and unstable power lines. If power had to be restored, carefully go about the house checking on food and other items, staying clear of electrical appliances and wires. In the

Reaping the Whirlwind Essay Example for Free

Reaping the Whirlwind Essay Fighting human rights is a long and complicated process and â€Å"Reaping the Whirlwind† by Robert J. Norwell is a classical work, in which the author traces the development of human rights movement in one of the cities of American South Tuskegee, Alabama, specially concentrating on the rights of black-skinned community. The book gathers unique aspects of this region, as well as attempts to link them to national and global human rights development. Norwell is perhaps the best person to write such a book as he is a native of Alabama and holds a PhD degree on history. Norwell takes the reader from 1880-s to 1960-s, telling the story of Tuskegee Institute and it’s principal Booker T. Washington (1856-1915). Tuskegee appeared to be an outstanding example of human rights development. The local Afro-American community appeared to be educated and professional enough to promote their interests, including the ones in education, to overcome the position of conservative white officials. Norwell pays attention to both successes and disappointments of human rights movement in Tuskegee. The key idea of the book, is that in Tuskegee the black population managed to realize their own idea of harmony with the white Americans. In the later chapters Norwell concentrates on further development of the situation and describes how reality stepped away from accommodationalist views of Washington. Those ideas, which have been created in a small closed society were adapted by the rest and became essential for the whole nation. Human rights were won not only by legal and judicial means but also by persuasion, harsh disputes and even fighting opened violence. The book demonstrates how declared rights of African Americans gradually became factual and true. The first edition of the book ended in 1960, however in later editions Norwell updated the last chapter and briefly told of the latest development of human rights on the South from 1960-s until now. Norwell supposes, that Washington’s care of Afro-American activists created a base for human rights to flourish after World War II, because he managed to prepare enough leaders for the movement. Finally he concludes, that Washington should be more likely called a father of human rights movement than DuBois. In total the book is well written and quite easy to read. It is written for both those, who are interested in the subject and those, who require professional knowledge in the field of human rights development of the South. The book gives a picture of real struggles around human rights, which are often different from romantism of martin Luther.

Smart Sensors And Controllers Information Technology Essay

Smart Sensors And Controllers Information Technology Essay Smart sensors are sensors with integrated electronics that can do one or move following functions:- Logic functions, two-way communication, make decisions. It consists of transduction element, signal conditioning electronic and controller or processor that supports some intelligence in a single package. This paper introduces concept of smart sensors and controllers systematically. The progress in the integrated circuits become possible because of the tremendous progress in semiconductor technology, resulted in the low cost microprocessor. By designing a low cost sensor which is silicon based the overall cost of the control system can be reduced. The usefulness of silicon technology as a smart sensor, physical phenomena of conversion to electrical output using silicon sensors, characteristics of smart sensors. The silicon sensor can produce output, as voltage, current, resistance or capacitances, output format can be analog or digital. Suitable signal conditioning circuits along with processor can easily designed using silicon technology. The presence of controller or processor in smart sensor has lead to corrections for different undesirable sensor characteristics which include input offset and span variations, non-linearity and cross sensitivity. As these are carried in software, no additional hardware is required and thus calibration becomes an electronic process. Reduced cost of bulk cables and connectors, cost improvement and remote diagnostics are the qualities of smart sensors. In this paper specifically laser based smart displaced sensor is explained, how smart sensors help anesthesiologist in Anaesthesia supervision is elaborated. An effort is made to demonstrate a prototype Sensor system. Smart dishwasher controller. Features of smart valve controller ends this paper. INDEX SR. NO. CONTENTS 1 Introduction (Smart Sensors) 2 Usefulness of silicon technology in smart sensor 3 General architecture of smart sensor 4 Importance and Adoption of smart sensor 5 Distributed smart sensor system 6 Application in Anaesthesia supervision 7 Smart Controller(Smart Dishwasher Controller) 8 Smart Valve Controller 9 Conclusion 10 References 1. INTRODUCTION: We can have integrated a sensor, which has electronics and the transduction element together on one silicon chip. This complete system can be called as system-on-chip .The main aim of integrating the electronics and the sensor is to make an intelligent sensor, which can be called as smart sensor. Smart sensors then have the ability to make some decision. Physically a smart sensor consists of transduction element, signal conditioning electronic and controller/processor that support some intelligence in a single package. Definition: -Smart sensors are sensors with integrated electronics that can perform one or more function, a) logic functions b) two-way communication c) make decisions. 2. USEFULNESS OF SILICON TECHNOLOGY IN SMART SENSOR: There are very convincing advantages of using silicon technology in the construction of smart sensor. All integrated circuits employ silicon technology. A smart sensor is made with the same technology as integrated circuits. A smart sensor utilizes the transduction properties of one class of materials and electronic properties of silicon (GaAs). A transduction element either includes thin metal films, zinc oxide and polymeric films. Integrating electronics circuits on the sensor chip makes it possible to have single chip solution. Integrated sensors provide significant advantages in terms of overall size and the ability to use small signals from the transduction element. Different silicon sensors can be obtained by employing above effects. The silicon sensor can produce output as voltage, current, resistance or capacitance. Output format can be analog or digital. Suitable signal conditioning circuits along with processor can easily be designed using silicon technology. The presence of controller or processor in smart sensor has lead to corrections for different undesirable sensor characteristics, which include input, offset and span variations, on linearity and cross sensitivity. As these are carried out in software, no additional hardware is required and thus calibration becomes an electronic process. Signal conversion effects: Signal Domain Examples (Measured) Examples(Physical Effects in silicon) Radiant Signals Light Intensity, polarization Photovoltaic-effect, photoelectric effect Mechanical Signals Force, pressure, flow, vaccum Piezo-resistivity Thermal Signals Temp, Temp. gradient Seebeck effect Chemical Signals Concentration, pH, toxicity Ion sensitive field effect Magnetic Signals Field intensity, flux density Hall effect 3. General Architecture of Smart Sensor: It is similar to a data acquisition system, the only difference being the presence of complete system on a single silicon chip. In addition to this it has on-chip offset and temperature compensation. BLOCK LEVEL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR SMART SENSOR: Design choice of smart sensor depends on the specific application for which the sensor is required and also related to specific industry. 4. Importance and Adoption of Smart Sensor: Following are qualities of smart sensor: a) Reduced cost of bulk cables and connectors, b) Remote Diagnostics 4.1 Enhancement of Application:- Smart sensor also enhances the following applications a) Self calibration b) Computation c) Communication d) Multisensing. 4.2 System Reliability: System reliability is significantly improved due to the utilization of smart sensors. One is due to the reduction in system wiring and second is the ability of the sensor to diagnose its own faults and their effect. 4.3 Improvement in Characteristics: There is improvement in following characteristics: Non-linearity, Cross-sensitivity, Offset, Parameter drift and component values. 4.4 Summary of Different Smart Sensors: Some of the smart sensors developed at different research institutes are as follow: Optical Sensor: Optical sensor is one of the examples of smart sensor, which are used for measuring exposure in cameras, optical angle encoders and optical arrays. Similar examples are load cells silicon based pressure sensors. Accelerometer: Accelerometer fabricated at the IBM Research laboratory at San Jose California, which consists of the sensing element and electronics on silicon. The accelerometer itself is a metal-coated SiO2 cantilever beam that is fabricated on silicon chip Integrated Multi-Sensor: Integrated multi-sensor chip developed at the electronics research Laboratory University of California. This chip contains MOS devices for signal conditioning with on chip sensor, a gas flow sensor, an infrared sensing array, a chemical reaction sensor, a cantilever beam, accelerometer, surface acoustic wave vapor sensor, a tactile sensor array and an infrared charge coupled device imager. 5. Distributed Smart Sensor System: A distributed smart sensor system consists of a network backbone, on which reside many nodes. Nodes may be loosely classified as either sensor nodes or controller nodes. Sensor nodes are those, which tend to send data to the network, and controller nodes are those, which tend to gather data from the network. A prototypical smart sensor node consists of three elements: a physical transducer, a network interface, and a processor/memory core. The transducer senses the physical quantity being measured and converts it into an electrical signal. Then the signal is fed to an A/D converter, and is now ready for use by the processor. The processor will perform some signal processing on the data, and depending on how it is programmed, may send the resulting information out to the network. Network transactions are handled by the network interface block. Note that these are only functional definitions and that MEMS technology potentially allows all three blocks to be implemented on a single die. A prototypical controller node consists of processor/memory, a network interface, and input/output devices for communicating with human users. It is used to collect information from the sensor nodes, to program the sensor nodes, and to provide feedback to the user. Placing all the sensors on a common network bus enables plug and play ease of installation. That is, no new wires have to be routed to accommodate new nodes. Fig.No.5 Smart Sensor System Fig.No.6Prototype Smart Sensor Node 6. Specific Application Of Smart Sensor In Medical Field : The Anaesthesia Supervision: Actually, the essential difficulty of anaesthesia supervision results of the fact that, each characteristic signal (adequate ventilation of lungs, adequate circulation, and intra cranial pressure) is assessed separately. Consequently, it is difficult for the anesthesiologist to evaluate the patients conditions. Moreover, he should able to distinguish equipments dysfunction of a real variation of the patient state. So propose a new architecture for anaesthesia supervision, based on concept of smart sensor. The Contribution of This System Are As Follows:- 1. The elaboration of a rate order from the trend curve of pressure measure and precedent rate.2. The supervision of the difference between the intracranial pressure and mean arterial pressure. Validation data processing Patient CARDIOCAP CAPNOMAC ANEMONE Validated data bare Rough Data Base Elaborated Information and newservices Anesthesiologist Patient Sensor N Central Supervision Unit Communication medium of field bus type Sensor 2 Sensor 1 Fig.No.7Central Data Processing Unit Fig.No.8.uture Architecture of Anaesthesia Supervision 7.Smart Controller: Smart controller is the latest inventory mode of controller. Smart Dishwasher Controller:Current dishwashers enable the user to choose cycle selection, heat selection, and a start delay. Our Smart Controller will remove the cycle options by utilizing a turbidity sensor. The Smart Controller will interface with two modules: the control panel and the dishwasher hardware. Based on user inputs of heat and delay, the controller will send control signals to the proper dishwasher components. The addition of new sensors allows a more accurate pre-wash cycle that can rinse the dishes as long as necessary to remove the loose grit before starting the main cycle. This saves time, energy, and waterafter all, even if the pre-wash cycle actually takes LONGER to run, the user will not have to rewash dishes!It will have inputs both from the user and from onboard sensors; the micro controller that will process the information and provide the appropriate instructions to operate the dishwasher; an amplification circuit to provide the correct signal voltage level to operate the various loads. With the use of a turbidity sensor and a microprocessor, we can take advantage of knowing that the dishes are clean. This will allow us to change the dishwasher operation from static cycles to dynamic cycles. This will undoubtedly result in more efficient wash cycles. 8. Smart Valve Controller: Fig. No. 9 Smart Valve Controller The Smart Valve Controller mounts to a valve solenoid quickly and easily- without screws, drills or additional wires. This rugged product is fully submersible and resists all moisture intrusion in water, mud and debris as deep as 12 feet. Operating off a single 9-volt battery thats guaranteed to provide power through a full season. Its also a breeze to program, with an easy to read and understand LCD display instead of cumbersome buttons and knobs. For isolated sites or power-restricted areas, and for the special needs of drip zones, the new Hunter Smart Valve Controller is your single-station solution. 9. CONCLUSION Smart sensors are becoming a considerable part of various fields such as industries, medical, defense. Silicon plays an important role in development of smart sensors. Still a lot of research is required to get benefits of smart sensors. We recognize that Home Automation is the wave of future. Smart Dishwasher controller gives future vision of Automatic Smart control system. Smooth advantage of smart controller can be sensed by practical example of smart valve controller.

The Strengths and Weaknesses of the DSM-IV Classification System for Di

The Strengths and Weaknesses of the DSM-IV Classification System for Diagnosing Psychopathology Introduction: DSM-IV as a system of diagnosis has been criticised on its very foundation that far from improving the clinical practice it claims to have prioritised. To assess its strengths and weaknesses, the essay critically examined the purpose of DSM-IV and how its practice and techniques have been practically found useful. As in the definition offered by Allen (1998) the concept stands for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition. As a system, Allen (1998) added that, it ‘details the diagnostic criteria for nearly 300 mental disorders and nearly 100 other psychological conditions’. Stressing its strengths, many studies highlighted on its research focus that its authors have over-concentrated on its reliability which further led to its criticism. This criticism among other thing include the neglect some of the issues concerning clinicians, lack of precision in of its criteria, and bias that emanate from the technique that predetermine the patients di sorders. The essay, however, have survey literature based on the various issues raised as to its weakness and how these weakness to be overcome. Given the last points, comparative studies conducted on improvement measures to the clinical practices are examined. There are considerable issues to highlight in evaluating strengths and limitations of using DSM-IV as a method for diagnosing psychopathology. These are its emphasis on reliability and validity of it diagnostic criteria and classification methods and techniques. The strengths and limitations in the application of DSM-IV, as could be observed, depend on the technique and the purposes th... ...tent/full/156/11/1677 [accessed on 24th/11/2010] Ronald, C (2006), ‘Clinical calibrations of DSM-IV Diagnoses in the World Mental Health (WMH) Version of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI)’. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, Vol. 13/2. Samuel, D. B. and Widiger, T. A. (2006), ‘Clinicians’ Judgements of Clinical Utility: A Comparison of the DSM-IV and Five-Factor Models’. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Vol. 115/5. [Accessed on: 25/11/2010] Semiz UB, Basoglu C, Oner O, Munir KM, Ates A, Algul A, Ebrinc S, Cetin M. (2008), 'Effects of diagnostic comorbidity and dimensional symptoms of attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder in men with antisocial personality disorder'. Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 42(5):405-13. Online: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18473259 [accessed on: 24/11/2010]

Internet Privacy in the Modern World Essay

The internet’s debut in 1988 which had revolutionized commercial transactions all around the globe had grown exponentially over the past decade. In fact, the world internet users and population statistics by the Miniwatts Marketing Group (2009) showed that 23.5% of the world’s population are internet users and that the growth of internet users from 2000-2008 is 336.1 %. This rapid increase in internet users paved the way for the development of electronic commerce or E-commerce. E-commerce, the exchange of information, goods or services online, had also gained popularity over time as more and more people discover the expediency of online transactions. However, the internet, which is a huge storage room of information, poses risks to one’s privacy through these E-commerce transactions. The privacy risks faced by internet users is one of the biggest threats in E-commerce, thus, this paper’s purpose is to provide information regarding internet privacy and the dangers associated with the loss of that privacy through the discussion of the following topics: the definition of internet privacy, the means through which one’s privacy can be compromised through the internet and the reason why internet privacy had become a major public concern. I. What is Internet Privacy? Internet privacy, which is another branch of privacy, is a basic human right. It refers to an individual’s ability to protect information about himself (Gadberg, Wagner & Brewer, n.d.). Privacy is protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and by various laws in different countries around the world. According to the initial results of the data privacy survey conducted by the director of the Philippine Internet Commerce Society, Atty. Lalen Parlade, almost all respondents in the private sector believed that data privacy is part of every person’s right to privacy, and that this right imposes limitations on the use by the government of citizens’ personal data (including name, personal circumstances, contact information), and limitations on the collection and use by private individuals of an individual’s personal data (including name, personal circumstances, contact information, credit card) . On the internet, privacy can be divided into personal information privacy, privacy of communications and anonymity. Personal information privacy deals with the amount of personal information shared with anyone else on the internet without permission. Privacy communications or message privacy is concerned with the security of information sent through communication channels, that is, the information sent would not be intercepted and leaked en route. Finally, anonymity deals with keeping one’s identity confidential (â€Å"Privacy,† n.d.). Among the three aspects of privacy, internet privacy is closely linked to anonymity which is the privacy of identity. Anonymity can refer to either persistent anonymity or one-time. Persistent anonymity refers to an online persona different from the personality created. On the other hand, one-time anonymity refers to an online persona that lasts for one use (Gadberg, Wagner & Brewer, n.d.). II. In what ways can one’s privacy be compromised through the Internet? One’s internet privacy can be compromised due to various data mining devices which store an individual’s personal information usually without that person’s consent. Some of the most common devices that collect a person’s data are search engines, spywares and cookies. Almost every individual who uses the internet is familiar with search engines such as Yahoo, MSN and Google. Search engines are the tools one uses when looking for information in the World Wide Web, the results of the search which are called hits are presented in a list. It is widely used for data gathering in the internet. In fact, the word google, the name of the leading search engine today, is starting to become a verb which is synonymous to look up or search. However, using search engines also has its costs, one of which was explained by Rushe (2007) in his statement, â€Å" A lot of people don’t realize that search engines save everything for you, everything you’ve searched for†¦the more these issues get into press, the more people realize that when they sit down at their keyboard, they’re being watched.† Many companies, including Internet Service Providers, search engine firms, and web-based businesses, monitor users as they travel across the Internet, collecting information on what sites they visit, the time and length of these visits, search terms they enter, purchases they make, or even â€Å"click-through† responses to banner ads. In the off-line world this would be comparable to, for example, having someone follow you through a shopping mall, scanning each page of every magazine you browse though, every pair of shoes that you looked at and every menu entry you read at the restaurant. When collected and combined with other data such as demographic or â€Å"psychographic† data, these diffuse pieces of information create highly detailed profiles of net users. These profiles have become a major currency in electronic commerce where they are used by advertisers and marketers to predict a user’s preferences, interests, needs and possible future purchases. Most of these profiles are currently stored in anonymous form. However, there is a distinct likelihood that they will soon be linked with information, such as names and addresses, gathered from other sources, making them personally identifiable (â€Å"Privacy and Human Rights 2003: Threats to Privacy,† n.d.). Due to these reasons, the public started to doubt the credibility of search engine companies. Google, which is the most popular search engine today, is feared by many. As expressed by Jesdanun (2001), â€Å"Although many internet users eagerly await technology from Google, Inc., it’s rapid expansion is also promoting concerns that the company may know too much: what you read, where you surf and travel and whom you write.† According to Chris Hoofnagle, senior counsel of the Electric Privacy Information Center,† This is a lot of information in a single basket. Google is becoming one of the largest privacy risks on the internet† (as cited by Jesdanu n,2001). In, addition to search engines there are spywares whose existence places computer users under constant surveillance by strangers. Spyware may be described as any software that uses a person’s internet connection as a backdoor approach intended to access personal or business information, without the knowledge or consent of the computer user. Spyware is often introduced into computers when people download files off the internet. File sharing can pose risks of spyware download, when people download music, movie or other types of p2p file sharing programs. Marketing and promotional companies use spyware as an effective tool, to access and collect information from computers. Spyware enables them to observe sites being visited, products being bought, chat line discussions, topics of interest, online searches by the user and the information obtained, allows the marketing company to direct targeted products or services. Spyware revolves around information going out to promotional companies and related advertisements coming in via the internet by way of email or pop-ups ads. Needless to say that spyware poses an immense threat to any computer user and can lead to the loss of privacy, stolen identity and financial risks. Spyware is a comprehensive term that includes adware,a trojan horse, a browser hijacker, keyloggers, and dataminers all of which affect online privacy. (â€Å"Are Your Computer Activities under Surveillance by Strangers,† n.d.). Finally, there are cookies. Almost every media site on the net uses cookies. Popular blogs have embraced them, Google and Yahoo! dispatch them to better target ads, retailers like Amazon rely on them to fulfill orders and even Sesame Street deploys them on its Web site. Cookies are simply text files sent by a Web site to your computer to track your movements within its pages. They’re something like virtual license plates, assigned to your browser so a site can spot you in a sea of millions of visitors. Cookies remember your login and password, the products you’ve just bought, or your preferred color scheme. Cookies make navigating the Web profoundly easier; however, there are third-party cookies which are also known as â€Å"tracking cookies† that are placed by an entity that’s interested in tagging visitors. Often they make sure a user won’t be hit with the same ad twice; others guarantee that someone who says they have an interest in sports gets different ads than someone who likes gadgets. But third-party cookies could also be used to compile a dossier of surfing habits, that means that it could track you over dozens of sites, logging every article you read, every ad you click on, and every gadget and gizmo you buy without your knowledge or approval (Penenberg, 2005). III. Why is Internet Privacy a major public concern? The great innovation that has led to the e-commerce revolution over the past decade has been the result of an open and flexible network environment with ever increasing connectivity and functionality. Unfortunately, this has also created many security vulnerabilities which represent a threat to users of the internet and to e-commerce merchants. Due to the glitch in the internet’s security system, privacy has become a major concern on the internet. The extraordinary growth of the Internet has created a number of privacy issues that society has never encountered before and therefore has been slow to address. Privacy issues on the Internet relate to two major concerns. The first concern is to control the rate, type and sequence of the information one views. A second concern relates to the ability of users to address and understand how organizations collect and use personal information on the Internet (â€Å"Internet Privacy,† n.d.). The first concern which is a control concern is the category to which spam belongs. Spam refers to a huge number of unwanted mails which are usually for commercial purposes. This is applicable to e-mails which convey the same message but sent repeatedly by the sender. This violates one’s privacy because it intrudes upon an individual’s private space and it results from the circulation of one’s e-mail address in the internet. The second concerns the various methods through which data privacy can be violated online through the use of information collected by commercial organizations. As Givens (2001) pointed out,† News stories of internet privacy threats are common place these days. The internet was designed as an inherently insecure communications vehicle. Hackers easily penetrate the most secure facilities of the military and financial institutions. Internet companies have designed numerous ways to track web users as they travel and shop throughout cyberspace. â€Å"Cookie† is no longer a word associated solely with sweets. It now refers to cyber-snooping. Identity thieves are able to shop online anonymously using credit-identities of others. Web-based information brokers sell sensitive personal data, including social security numbers, relatively cheaply. â€Å" One of the concerns raised by a number of individuals is the use of one’s stored information which refers to the fact that one’s online actions could be monitored by unauthorized parties, logged and preserved for future access many years later. One might not realize that one’s personal information has been monitored, logged and subsequently disclosed; those who would compromise one’s privacy have no incentive to give a warning (Gadberg, Wagner& Brewer, n.d.). Thereby, the accrued information about an individual’s transactions can incriminate or cause damage to the person from whom that information was collected. Another public concern is identity theft. Puno pointed out that the advent of the internet had provided â€Å" a new field of battle† in the right to privacy, saying that it may deprive individuals of the right to control the flow of information about themselves (as cited by Uy, March 13, 2008). The huge amount of information flowing freely on the internet makes an individual vulnerable to identity theft. Identity theft is a major problem and a vexing threat. It takes diverse forms and degrees ranging from simple unauthorized use of a credit card to complete takeover of a person’s identity. Furthermore, law enforcement officers find it difficult to identify and apprehend online Identity thieves. This may be due to the fact that they can use technology to conceal their identities and physical location, thereby frustrating law enforcement efforts to locate them. Accordingly, identifying an electronic crime scene can be a daunting task when the perpetrator may have routed his communications with the victim through computers in three or four countries, with obscure networks that are inaccessible to investigators. Additionally, perpetrators could make things much more difficult and complicated by using technology and encryption techniques that provide a high level of anonymity or assuming the identity of an innocent person. Moreover, the scale of online identity theft can exceed that of real-world crime in terms of the degree of harm inflicted by a single crime (Chawki & Wahab, 2006). Going further, another concern is being stalked and bullied online. Bullying and stalking are not only applicable in the real world but in the virtual world as well. Cyberbullying refers to the new, and growing, practice of using technology to harass, or bully, someone else. Bullies used to be restricted to methods such as physical intimidation, postal mail, or the telephone. Now, developments in electronic media offer forums such as email, instant messaging, web pages, and digital photos to add to the arsenal. Computers, cell phones, and Personal Digital Assistants are new tools that can be applied to an old practice. Cyber stalking on the other hand is almost always characterized by the stalker relentlessly pursuing hisher victim online and is much more likely to include some form of offline attack, as well. This offline aspect makes it a more serious situation as it can easily lead to dangerous physical contact, if the victim’s location is known (McDowell, 2008). Due to the nature of the above-mentioned concerns, internet privacy, specifically personal information privacy is very important. If one’s real identity is known in the cyber world one would be very vulnerable to the attacks of cyberbullies and cyberstalkers. Conclusion The increasing use of the internet in conducting E-commerce transactions totally changed the way of life. Today, with a click of a button one can get in touch with the rest of the world, one can get the latest lotto results online and one can pay our bills directly from our homes. However, while an individual is enjoying the features of the internet, that person is also faced with huge threats to privacy. These threats could be risky to an individual’s personal information privacy, privacy in communications and anonymity. But these trade-offs are necessary in order to utilize the functionality of the internet. It would be impossible to stop the use of internet especially at this age where different organizations from around the world are use the internet in conducting different transactions. Also, the internet is a huge information pool that provides large amounts of information to its users everyday. Of the 6,710,029,070 people in the world 1,574,313,184 for varying reasons. The internet also provides employment for a number of individuals so abolishing it is not an option. Internet Privacy is a very essential issue regarding E-commerce because it is one of the reasons why a number of individuals are still hesitant about going online. Getting rid of various data mining devices in the World Wide Web is also impossible because even if there are costs associated with those tools they also have their benefits. And so, the best course of action involves taking precautions in safeguarding one’s identity and staying informed. Gaining knowledge about internet privacy is very important because through this we will be aware of the amount of personal data that we reveal online.