Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Family conflict Essays

Family struggle Essays Family struggle Paper Family struggle Paper I never figured my more youthful sibling Tom would engage in drugs. He is just fourteen and he is blending in with an inappropriate group. My name is Phil and I have never really like that I wouldnt dream of it I am seventeen and Id like to think Im develop enough to do nothing even half as inept as medications. Ive disclosed to him a few times that hes squandering his life. What truly gets to me the most is that most ends of the week he stumbles in tranquilized up to the eyeballs in the early hours of the morning. He says its downturn and that I dont see yet one thing I do comprehend is a multi year old kid ought not be on a medications recovery course and staying in bed canals before hes even qualified to leave school. His companions are mostly to fault. They see that hes an obvious objective and effectively lead and they simply use it, to give them amusement and get him to do moronic things that they are to fearful to do which to be straightforward isn't what I call companions. My father must where he is considering leaving the family. : Hes proposed sending Tom away to a military school however my mum idea it was ludicrous and that thought was rejected. It will be Monday tomorrow beginning of the week ideally a new beginning for Tom, however we as a whole uncertainty it. My folks are first floor pausing and trusting that Tom will be back so as to hit the sack. She is so troubled right now she says that on the off chance that he isnt, at that point hes going to be bolted out of the house. She says this most evenings however we as a whole realize that shes trying to say this with the expectation that it will shake him up a piece and conceivably cause him to tune in for once. I woke toward the beginning of the day I heard my folks yelling in the following room I heard my folks state that tom didnt return the previous evening this wouldnt be the first run through this has occurred. Last time this happened my father was driving round the entire evening looking for him. He discovered him resting outside the corner shop like a tramp. He didnt tell my mum this as it wouldve upset her to discover that her child would prefer to rest in the city than rest under his own rooftop. My folks were still grinding away, it was getting stronger and stronger and I heard an entryway hammer. I feel that was my father, this is generally the manner in which they finish their contentions. I was beginning to get somewhat worried about where Tom had got up to this time so I tossed on my garments and surged in to the following space to ask my mum what precisely was going on here. I was shocked to locate my mum clustered up toward the edge of the room. I asked her where father had gone to which she answered with hes gone and hes not returning. I swung the entryway out of my way and ran towards the vehicle in a urgent endeavor to spare my family despite the fact that it presumably wasnt worth sparing. I crushed the entryway of the pivots and ran outside trusting that Id fall over and thump my head and wake up as this being an awful dream yet the truth is never that decent. I was searching for Tom trusting that on the off chance that I discovered him I could make him quit hauling his life down and our own down with it, I had an entirely smart thought of where to look. I never figured this would occur yet I was really satisfied to see my sibling. I looked through a window and I saw him lying on someones couch. I went to confront the entryway and before I needed to thump a kid of generally a similar age as Tom addressed he proclaimed with what do you need I didnt even trouble to answer him. I just pushed past him and hurried towards the room where tom was lying. I immovably got a handle on his neckline and raised him into the air causing him no decision yet to address me. He argued for me to put him down however I revealed to him that what I was doing to him now wouldnt approach what my mum is going to. I grasped on to his coat to ensure he didnt run off and when we returned home I tossed him inside and shut the entryway. He turned upward and saw mum despite everything crouched in the corner. He brought down his head as though to state Im sorry I didnt realize it had resulted in these present circumstances. I mentioned to mum to mention to him what hed caused however she was excessively stung. She couldnt even look at him without flinching I revealed to him straight that father had left. It made me wiped out to state those words and what aggravated it a ton was he really didnt look irritated by everything. I said to him you may not be annoyed yet mum and I are. Mum shouted for him to get out and she additionally said that she abhorred him and didnt need to see him once more. Tom was really influenced by what mum had said and it made him stomp off upstairs I heard the hammer of his entryway and to be straightforward I wasnt anticipating its sound opening once more. I stumbled off upstairs and sat on my bed. I was in despair I rested my head in my lap and shut my eyes trusting it would all leave. I could in any case hear crying originating from first floor I needed to proceed to check on the off chance that she was okay yet I couldnt force myself to prise my head from my lap and go ground floor. Most definitely, my life was finished.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Annotated Bibliography Essay

1.) How would we pick which laws are simply and which ones are most certainly not? †Unjust laws are those that deliberately disallow the person’s common freedoms, as indicated by the articles. 2.) What laws do you see that would fit the model for what ruler would call uncalled for? †Thanks to Dr. Lord and others who have affected the past of social liberties issues I don’t see numerous instances of shameful laws. The utilization of Marijuana is urged to be utilized in certain religions, in spite of the fact that in this nation it is illicit. Think about some out of line things you have seen and neglected to follow up on. 1.) Had you followed up on only it, would your contribution have transformed anything? †No, I would have been out numbered and potentially put myself and my youngsters in hurts way. 2.) What in the event that we as a whole responded too quickly and together to matter of shamefulness? †If most people would respond too quickly in a circumstance they would settle on silly choices and not set aside the effort to thoroughly consider the circumstance. 3.) How does the demonstration of practicing of our first change rights, particularly when we cooperate, help to shape the world we live in? †The issue is such a large number of individuals anticipate that others should fix their issues, so it might be hard to urge a considerable lot of them to utilize their first change rights. In the event that we could arrive at a state of a gathering of individuals cooperating then yes I do feel that we would have the option to settle on a sensible, legitimate end. 4.) How did the Occupy Wall Street Movement (OWS) utilize common defiance toâ further its motivation? †They cooperated and thought of their answer which wouldn’t bring about further circumstances or savagery and antagonistic vibe. 5.) Considering the results related with the OWS Movement, might we be able to guarantee that the times of viable common defiance are finished? †No, as I would like to think most huge occasions that have huge results will in general happen in any event indeed later on with twofold the force. Commented on catalog Essay The brutality depicted in the media will in general make the open increasingly forceful and powerless to savagery by the straightforward factor of impersonation. Additionally, because of the measure of brutality introduction, the open winds up having an adulterated thought of the world where they live. Media viciousness has consistently been a rising theme. We live in a world in which media is available in our regular day to day existences; regardless of whether we are viewing the news, or watching a film, tuning in to a melody, or in any event, playing a computer game. Numerous examinations have demonstrated an away from between the measure of viciousness introduction and the forceful and brutal conduct reflected in someone in particular. Also, in the wake of being continually presented to fierce substance, the open winds up accepting the world is a barbarous and unbound spot. This point is along these lines extremely fascinating to seek after and concentrate so as to have a superio r comprehension of it. The exploration I will follow will help show whether the media is in truth influencing the users’ brains and practices. Before taking on the subject I picked, I chose to go to the library to discover pertinent sources talking about savagery in the media. I made certain to discover believable and precise sources from the AUD database, as all the articles are peer-investigated. In addition, as I am a media understudy in the institute of interchanges and data considers, I am as of now perusing a book accessible at the library, entitled â€Å"Media, Culture and Society† by writer Paul Hodkinson. It was fascinating to discover a segment examining TV brutality. There was likewise an intriguing test driven by Albert Bandura so as to examine the conduct impact that media brutality has on the populace. These sources would be very advantageous and valuable to my examination paper. In addition, I was dazzled by the incredible number of diary articles talking about this particular subject, and they were anything but difficult to track down on the AUD database entitled Expanded Academic ASAP. I additionally figured out how to discover numerous online sources on web search tools, for example, Google. Be that as it may, it was difficult to assess the unwavering quality and believability of the sources as some significant data were missing, for example, the author’s name, and the date the article was distributed. In this manner, I decided to incorporate just a couple of explicit electronic sources, the ones that appeared to be generally exact to me. At long last, I figured it is fascinating to do a short review comprising of inquiries, for example, the measure of TV devoured day by day, the computer games played, the most savage film at any point viewed, on the off chance that they were ever in a battle. Be that as it may, my overview can't be a piece of my paper as the individuals Iâ targeted were schoolmates, and were in larger part exceptionally taught and media educated; along these lines, the media they expended isn't accepted to make them increasingly forceful. Explained list of sources Callahan, Sidney. â€Å"What We See, We Do: Violence and the Media.† Commonweal 123.1 (1996): 6+. Extended Academic ASAP. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Depicts how individuals learn savage conduct by observing it authorized. States that even kids who are not straightforwardly influenced by animosity get familiar with the conduct and recall how it’s done. They wind up having a propensity of copying the demonstration of viciousness. Cases â€Å"people mentally acknowledge and become what they see through the media†. This article would be fascinating for my paper as it features the intensity of media and the intensity of impersonation. Diorio, Geri. â€Å"The Mean World Syndrome: Media Violence and the Cultivation of Fear.† School Library Journal Dec. 2010: 61. Extended Academic ASAP. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. This narrative depicts media researcher George Gerbner who clarifies his hypothesis concerning the impacts of being presented to elevated levels of media brutality. Gerbner accepts that people in general is in steady idea that the world is a savage spot; the open in this way consistently feels uncertain. The narrative examines an investigation giving a few insights on wrongdoings rates and people’s convictions on the quantity of violations happening each year. It is fascinating to talk about this examination in my paper. Gentile, Douglas An., and David A. Walsh. â€Å"A Validity Test of Movie, Television, and Video-Game Ratings.† Pediatrics June 2001: 1302. Extended Academic ASAP. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Talks about film, TV and computer game evaluations. Demonstrates that parent appraisals and industry evaluations vary with respect to the measure of rough substance and depictions of brutality. Suggests that industry evaluations frameworks ought to be modified with the assistance of expert networks to improve their unwavering quality. In light of optional sources. This article would be intriguing for my paper as it shows that the appraisals are not completely solid, and numerous individuals figure out how to trespass them. Hodkinson, Paul. Media, Culture and Society: An Introduction. London: SAGE, 2011. Print. An area in the book, entitled â€Å"Bobo Dolls and transient conduct effects† embraces a test drove by Albert Bandura who is impacted by the social learning hypothesis, â€Å"which centers around the limit of people to learn practices by watching others†. This examination is hence helpful and intriguing for my paper as it takes on a legitimate report. Lemish, Dafna. â€Å"‘Will This Happen to Me?’ Children’s Exposure to Disaster, Violence in the News.† Gateway Journalism Review (2013): 10+. Extended Academic ASAP. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Inspects children’s introduction to viciousness in the news. States that kids and youngsters are crowds as well and are as often as possible presented to news deliberately or accidently. They wind up having an extremely negative picture of the world the live in. The creator talks about her perspective and gives exact models that would be helpful for my paper. Markey, Patrick M., and Kelly Scherer. â€Å"An Examination of Psychoticism and Motion Capture Controls As Moderators of the Effects of Violent Video Games.† Computers in Human Behavior 25.2 (2009): 407+. Extended Academic ASAP. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Looks at the potential directing impacts of movement catch innovation and participants’ own degree of psychoticism on their threatening vibe and forceful considerations in the wake of playing rough computer games. Shows that members with raised degrees of psychoticism are substantially more influenced by savage computer games than different members. Gives accurate data dependent on formal investigations. â€Å"Media Violence.† Pediatrics June 1995: 949+. Extended Academic ASAP. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Portrays the job of pediatricians in media outlets and the media. Recommends that pediatricians work together with TV stations and systems to restrain children’s introduction to fierce substance and guidance guardians to screen their children’s TV seeing propensities by restricting them to a couple of hours. In light of optional sources and gives data from formal examinations. Nikkelen, Sanne W. C., et al. â€Å"Media Violence and Children’s ADHD-Related Behaviors: A Genetic Susceptibility Perspective.† Journal of Communication 64.1 (2014): 42+. Extended Academic ASAP. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Gives understanding into the job of hereditary factors in media impacts. Inspects the connection between media viciousness presentation and consideration shortfall/hyperactivity issue (ADHD) and states hereditary mien as a potential reason for singular contrasts in children’s utilization of and vulnerability to media savagery. It is fascinating to make reference to in my paper how hereditary qualities can likewise be a factor in media impacts. Swani, Kunal, Marc G. Weinberger, and Charles S. Gulas. â€Å"The Impact of Violent Humor on Advertising Success: A Gender Perspective.† Journal of Advertising Oct.- Dec. 2013: 308+. Extended Academic ASAP. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Looks at this assembly of amusingness and physical viciousness in promoting. Gives two investigations of the reactions of people to savagery in clever publicizing. The outcomes propose there may

Monday, August 17, 2020

Best Email Provider

Best Email Provider © Shutterstock.com | Alexey BoldinIn this article, we will look at 1) what to look for when choosing an email provider, 2) free email providers, 3) paid email providers, and 4) most secure email providers.WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN CHOOSING AN EMAIL PROVIDEREmail is increasingly becoming the primary mode of communication in today’s world. Through both paid and free email providers, we are able to maintain personal and professional communication easily. In addition to this, other online platforms and social media websites now require a personal email address for registration.With ever increasing choices in email providers available, it can become very difficult to pick the right one that suits every requirement and provides the best service. There are some basic functionalities that any good email service provider should offer. These functionalities should go beyond just sending and receiving messages. These include:Features: Additional features that a good email provider should offer i nclude calendars, instant messaging options and mobile apps for smartphones and tablets. All features should sync seamlessly between desktop and mobile versionsStorage: An important thing to consider is the amount of storage space an email account offers. Some people prefer to keep detailed archives and have a lot of incoming and outgoing emails. For these people, the need for an email provider that offers extended storage space is extremely necessary.Attachment Limits: Another key considerations these days for email providers is how large an attachment can be sent in a regular email. With the proliferation of high definition photos and videos, it can be a challenge to send media and documents with embedded media over email.Filters and Folders for Organization: In order to maintain a clean inbox, folders and filters are an important feature. A good email host will allow these to be set up with some even allowing auto-sorting of incoming emails based on keywords, past preferences and behaviorEmail Composition Tools: This may not seem like an important feature to some people, but it is a useful tool to have options such as fonts, sizes, spell checks, signature etcSecurity: One key aspect of choosing an email provider is to assess the degree of security it provides. For even a regular user of email, there can be sensitive information to protect such as bank information, passwords, links to other websites and social media websites, tax information and other personal information. The ability to keep hackers and other cyber thieves out of an inbox therefore becomes a key consideration. A good email provider should provide layers of security that include, phishing filters, spam filters, secure login mechanisms, attachment scanning for viruses etcHelp, Support and FAQs: A good email provider should provide basic support for regular smaller problems as well as major issues. Help services can include password recovery, customer service over email or phones and frequentl y asked questionsData Portability: This aspect is often not considered but is a very important factor. This either means that the email provider must support a desktop client such as Outlook or Thunderbird or the service has export and import capabilities. Desktop clients are supported by email addresses in general. The other aspect is trickier since emails are usually easy to transfer back and forth. It is the contact list that creates problems and there is almost certainly some loss of data.Reliability: A reliable email provider should have as few connectivity issues as possible as well as smooth delivery of email, unhindered by things such as overzealous spam filters. This can be an issue in some providers where either emails are not received or do not reach their destination.FREE EMAIL PROVIDERSGmail © Wikimedia commons | GoogleGmail is one of the most popular email providers today. It is known for its simple and user free interface, ample storage space and a myriad of features. At present it offers about 15 GBs of inbox space to its users and this is extended periodically.Benefits of GmailFeaturesGmail provides a large number of features and the option of choosing to use any of 30 different languages. These can be used if required or ignored if not needed. Some of the more interesting and useful features include RSS feeds, labels, auto-saved drafts, auto forwarding, ability to send emails from other accounts owned by the same person.There is a search bar that allows the user to search within the inboxThere is an integrated instant messaging service called GtalkThere is constantly work being done to offer new features and improve existing ones.Organization There are also detailed options to organize conversations and emails into folders and filters allow these emails to directly be sent into relevant, specified folders.Junk email filters are very strong and work quite well to keep unwanted email out.Emails are organized into conversations rather than separately. This makes it much easier to keep track of them.There are also preset tabs and email is sorted into these automatically. These are the primary, social and promotional tabs.Interface There are no advertisements banners at any point on the screen. Some relevant text based advertisements are shown on one side.The interface is simple and easy to navigate though still displaying many of the features on offer. The email page loads faster than most other providers.Storage and AttachmentsGmail allows users to send emails with up to 20mb of attachments within.SupportThere is an extensive section for help and FAQs in addition to the option of emailing for a solution.Accessibility and SecurityGmail is smoothly integrated for mobile access with the Android operating system.Gmail also offers a two-step authenti cation making it a very safe service.ConcernsThere have been some privacy concerns with Gmail pertaining to the Google ads algorithm that reads emails. This is used to pick and display relevant text ads. This is a primary concern regarding Gmail.OutlookOutlook, the free online email provider and not the Microsoft desktop client, is one of the first free email services launched. It is the updated version of Hotmail.Benefits of OutlookFeaturesSince Microsoft owns Skype and is a part of the Facebook board, it is able to offer access to instant messaging and Facebook seamlessly.The account can be setup according to personal preferences. This customization includes filters, tabs and importance classification options for emails.InterfaceIn contrast to Hotmail’s slow and somewhat clunky interface, outlook is sleek and minimalist in appearance. The interface is both functional and visually appealing.AccessibilityThe account offers access to SkyDrive and other Windows Live tools and applic ations. It is also integrated with Windows phones and Windows 8.ConcernsThough vastly improved, the service still does not manage to create a strong enough motive for people to want to switch over from Gmail or chose Outlook over Gmail.Yahoo! Mail © Wikimedia commons | Yahoo!Also one of the initial email service providers, Yahoo! has made several improvements to its product.Benefits of Yahoo! MailInterfaceThe latest upgrade to the user interface by Yahoo! has brought it much closer to Gmail and even Outlook. The difference is that the email provider has kept its three pane screen model with the right pane being divided into sections. One of these offers email previews.FeaturesAmong the features offered is the Yahoo! Messenger, an integrated calendar and a contact list.OrganizationAs is the norm, there are options to apply filters, star important emails and sort the rest into tabs. The service allows attachments such as photos and videos to be viewed inside the inbox without the need for a separate tab.ConcernsOne major point of concern is that the service does not allow the email account to be accessed from different locations simultaneously.Another annoyance for many users is that the Yahoo! Mail page still sports banner adv ertisements.PAID EMAIL PROVIDERSOpting for a Domain NameThough free email providers are a good option for more people, it is tricky when the long term value of email accounts is considered. With Gmail overthrowing established players such as Hotmail and Yahoo, it may be a matter of time before another option comes along to dethrone Gmail. To prevent such an occurrence, business owners may find it a good idea to use a unique domain name for email service. This will ensure that no matter what the service being used, the email address will remain constant over time.The first step then is to invest in purchasing a domain name. The next step is to pick the right paid client to host this domain name.Examples of Paid Email ProvidersThexyz PremiumOne paid email provider is Thexyz, which offers more features to a professional, enterprise audience. All emails are automatically backedup, to ensure that no data is ever lost. This includes all sent and received emails and is an attractive featur e for businesses. he service allows more space in the inbox as well as up to 50MB of attachments per email. Other features include integrated group calendars and sync to smartphones. The service allows all data to be transferred seamlessly from another account.The appearance of the service is not as streamlined and attractive as other services such as Outlook or Gmail. But this is usually not a concern to the target audience for Thexyz. There is not much integration or plugins with other applications such as Skype or Facebook with Outlook.GoogleGoogle is one of the most popular choices for domain hosting. The service costs $5 per month per user on the hosted domain. For that subscription, the user will receive 25GB of storage and strong support from Gmail along with all the usual features and benefits.OutlookThe updated Outlook is another strong option for a paid email service. The major benefit of outlook is that it remains free for people looking to host their own domain. As many as 500 email addresses can be hosted for no charge and there is the option of upgrading to Outlook Plus to remove ads for a few of $19.95 per month. The services on offer include integration with Office Web Apps and Skype powered video chat. There is also a 2 step verification process which adds an important layer of security.The service does not support IMAP sync which means it cannot be used simultaneously in different locations unless the desktop email app Outlook is used.Office 365 Small BusinessAnother service by Micrsoft, a monthly subscription of $4 will allow access to Exchange in Microsoft’s Cloud. This means access to Exchange push email (IMAP or POP3 sync) among other features. For the $5 per month subscription, users also get access to Sharepoint which allows collaboration with teams. An additional fee of $7 means access to the complete Office 2013 for a PC and Office 2011 for a MAC.Atmail CloudAtmail offers an attractive user interface despite a few bumps here and the re. There are many of the same features as Gmail on offer and every kind of sync that is needed. There are tools available to manage an entire team. All this is available for a small subscription of $2 a month. The service does require a minimum of five users for a domain to be hosted.FastMailFastMail is a popular alternative to Gmail for hosting a domain name based email address. The service is an economical option that begins from $39.99 per year for a single email address hosted on a unique domain. There has been some improvement in the web apps but there is still a long way to go. The service does offer an IMAP and POP3 sync and there are options to increase the number of users on a domain.Rackspace EmailRackspace offers two options for users. A $2 subscription per user will give access to the providers own service while a $10 per month subscription will allow a user to access their Exchange powered email. A user can switch between these two options on one domain. The downside i s that there needs to be a minimum spend of $10 each month which translates to at least 5 users.HushmailHushmail is designed to offer great privacy to its users. This is achieved through HiPPA-compliant privacy, built in OpenPGP encryption, unlimited email aliases and other features. The subscription is $5.24 for each user every month along with a one-time $9.99 setup fee.ZohomailZoho is a little known office suit company that provides a lot more to its users. The company has an impressive array of web applications that range from office to CRM together with professional email hosting. There is a free option while the paid options allows extended storage and features. There are also no ads, push email and full sync support. The subscription is $2.5 for each user every month.MOST SECURE EMAIL PROVIDERSThere are increasing concerns about email services not being private and fears of surveillance and intrusive data mining. For users concerned with these issues, there are several servic es that provide a more secure environment for their users. A few of these services include:S-Mail: Though the interface appears outdated, the service uses up-to-date technology to ensure security of online communication. The service ensures that documents and files sent are not stored on any servers through a process where unlock keys are used for any email address. The messages sent are unlocked through the receiver’s unique address and electronic signature.Hushmail: This service encodes all messages automatically using an encryption technology. A special key code is required to decrypt and read messages. The service is free initially with the option to upgrade to access more storage and features.Lockbin: Messages on Lockbin are sent using an AES-256 bit encryption method. An unlock key needs to be provided to the receiver after the email is sent. This is a bit cumbersome but also a guarantee that the intended recipient is the only one who can access the email. Once viewed, the m essages are deleted from servers.NeoMailBox: Another secure and reliable service, NeoMailBox also provides IP anonymity and SSL protected internet surfing. These services are hosted in Switzerland which is a country supportive of privacy issues. There are also disposable email addresses available among other features.Proton Mail: Created out of concern by a group of CERN scientists, Proton mail is protected from any efforts to read emails intended for someone else. The service uses end to end encryption. Data is encrypted before it reaches the server and the encryption key is separated from the encrypted message to provide the necessary security. Servers are hosted in Switzerland for additional layers of security. The service is free with the option to upgrade for additional storage space.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

The Movie Exhibition Industry 2011 Essay - 1196 Words

MGMT-780-623 - Week 3 Assignment The Movie Exhibition Industry: 2011 SWOT Analysis Strengths Internal – new digital technology with 3D optional feature, buildings (whether rented or owned) are large (most are multi and megaplex style) External – leverage in both the concession industry and the distribution industry Weaknesses Internal – rely on concessions and advertisements, concession pricing, experience largely the same as every competitor External – content, consumer income, marketing of movies relies on studio production companies, split sales with distributors Opportunities Internal – content choices, experience, concession options External – growing middle class, rebound from recession Threats Internal –†¦show more content†¦Strategically choosing content that people can identify with or that tells a particularly interesting or horrific true story can do just as well as the big Hollywood productions. Independent films are becoming increasingly more popular and often rival mainstream movies at the box office when they are coupled with decent funding and distribution.1 The Indie Film Movement of the 1990’s is still strong and many artists seek to escape from the control of studio production. This means more content is available than ever before and this means more choices for the exhibitor. A second way for a company to create a competitive advantage in the movie exhibition business is to offer an outstanding customer experience. Customer experience is something that is intangible and cannot be easily duplicated by competitors. Let’s examine the current experience for a customer in a movie theater. The ticket price is high, the concession offerings are few and over-priced, the seats are uncomfortable, the advertisements before a movie can sometimes last 15 or 20 minutes, the other patrons as well as the staff are often rude, the glow of cell phones is almost impossible to ignore, and most movies are all special effects with nearly no substance. Why on earth would anyone pay to go to the movies? I have not paid to go to the movie theater in several years. Not because I can’t afford to go, but because of the terrible experience I have while I’m there. For me, spendingShow MoreRelatedThe Movie Exhibition Industry 20111172 Words   |  5 PagesBusiness Strategy 491BMAL November 10, 2013 The Movie Exhibition Industry: 2011 What can exhibitors do to improve their performance? To reverse the downward trends in attendance? To improve their profitability at a time when the studios, relying on the box office more than ever, are increasingly looking internationally? Let’s start with a SWOT analysis of the local exhibitor: SWOT Analysis Strengths * Offer a product that is still relatively affordable for families and patrons * ProductRead MoreFilm and Movie Industry1612 Words   |  7 Pages2013 The Movie Industry in 2008 (Case A amp; B) MBA Student: Waseem Hasan Ismail Submit to: TAGSB Administration 27 February 2013 Table of Contents Introduction 3 The Movie Industry in 2008 (Case A) 4 PESTEL Analysis – External Environmental 4 Porter’s five Analysis 4 Profitability Model for movie theaters 4 Key strategic issues facing movie theaters 4 Strategic actions that exhibitions might consider 4 The Movie Industry in 2008 (Case B) 4 Outlook for the movie industry improvedRead MoreCase Study Movie Exhibition Industry Essay1529 Words   |  7 PagesStrategic Analysis of Movie Exhibition Industry By: Kim Saline February 24, 2010 Objective: To provide an analysis and make recommendations to increase revenue in the movie exhibition industry. 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As we entered into the modern era, the cinema industry had to adhere withRead MoreHistory of Film Exhibition Prior to 19272673 Words   |  11 Pagesstage), movie exhibition in the United States was still growing into the massive industry it represents today, and it reflected in the films being produced. By examining the history of film exhibition prior to 1927 in general, and the experiences of Denver and New York in particular, it will be possible to understand how the mediums nearly thirty-year existence prior to sound was characterized by a chaotic, open-ended exhibition system that nevertheless predicts the gradual takeover of exhibition byRead MoreImpact Of Digital Media On Cinema1690 Words   |  7 Pagesand distribution (Bolin 2007; Tryon 2009; Dixon Foster 2011). These changes can be observed through the ways films are promoted and exhibited have also been affected by the use of digital media. The following sections will provide a detail analysis of these changes. 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India is currently the world’s largest producer of films producing more than a 1000 films annually in 52 languages, selling more than 3.7 billion tickets worldwide and having over 400 production houses situated locally. 1288 films were released in India in 2009 (Central Board of Film Certification 6), compared to the USA, which released slightly more than half of India’s figure at 677 films (EuropeanRead MoreOverview of the Australian Film Industry1403 Words   |  6 PagesAustralian Film Industry 1 Era before World War I Australian film industry had good and bad times or boom and bust (Stratton, 1990) in period of last 100 years and that is why it can be called a fragile industry. If we look at the history, era before 1914, we find out that Australia was counted as one of the biggest film making countries of the world. This Australian film industry took the honor of being first to produce worlds first feature film in 1906, The Story of the Kelly Gang. TheRead MoreMovie Exhibition 2013 Avengers6511 Words   |  27 Pagesposition in this industry? Support your answer by conducting PESTEL and Five-Forces Analyses. †¢ How could a company operating in this industry react to the identified challenges? †¢ How does the structure of the industry affects profits? The Movie Exhibition Industry 2013 IT IS APT that 2012’s top-grossing ï ¬ lm was The Avengers, because movie studios and exhibitors sought to avenge a dismal prior year at the box ofï ¬ ce. Domestic box ofï ¬ ce receipts climbed 6 percent from 2011 to a record—setting

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Essay on Smoking Risks - 1748 Words

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;One of the most popular habits in today’s society is smoking. Yet each year, cigarette smoking kills more Americans than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, homicides, suicides, illegal drugs and fires combined. Smoking is an extremely bad pastime, practiced for centuries, for an individual’s health and those surrounding him/her. People start for many different reasons and get addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes. Smoking cause many fatal diseases, but help is available to those who seek it. Cigarette smoking is a disgusting and unhealthy habit. History of Smoking nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Smoking is defined as the action of inhaling tobacco from a pipe, cigar or cigarette. It has been practiced for 100’s of†¦show more content†¦In recent years it has been proven that the only thing smoking does is threaten a person’s life. There are many hazardous ingredients in cigarette tobacco. Some of the ingredients are poisonous and addictive. Cigarette smoke produces thousands of chemicals that are hazardous to a smoker’s health. There are over 4000 chemicals produced by a burning cigarette. At least 200 chemicals are known to be poisonous to people health. Filters help to block and reduce some of the chemicals, but they will not stop them completely. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Nicotine is the most addictive ingredient and also one of the most dangerous ingredients in cigarette tobacco. Cigarette smokers are addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes as a drug-addict is addicted to heroin or cocaine. When a person smokes a cigarette the body reacts immediately to the chemical nicotine. It requires less than 10 seconds for inhaled nicotine to reach the brain. Nicotine begins to effect a smoker’s blood pressure, the flow of blood from their heart, the heartbeat and breathing rate. Cigarette smoke also contains carbon monoxide, the same poisonous gases released from a car exhaust pipe. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless highly toxic gas that reduces the amount of oxygen the blood can carry. Combined with the effects produced by the nicotine, it creates an imbalance in the demand for oxygen by the cells and the amount of oxygen the blood is able to supply. In this case, carbonShow MoreRelatedThe Risks And Disadvantages Of Smoking1485 Words   |  6 PagesThere are too many people in society who decide to pick up smoking because it looks cool. They haven’t done any research as to the negative effects of such a habit. I’m here to provide them with all the information they need to make an informed decision. For my IB project I decided to do a presentation full of information about the risks and disadvantages of smoking. The information ranges from the cost of smoking, to the effects it can have on finding a significant other. The presentation i s brokenRead More The Health Risks of Smoking Essay658 Words   |  3 PagesThe Health Risks of Smoking Every year nearly one in every five US deaths are related to cigarette smoking, that means that every year 440,000 people alone die from cigarettes. Deaths caused by alcohol, car accidents, suicide, AIDS, homicide, and illegal drugs combined are actually less than the number of deaths caused by cigarette smoking. Being the grandchild of a grandpa who died of lung cancer from smoking, I know and understand what cigarette smoking can do. Tobacco smoke is a mixtureRead MoreShould Smoking Be A Health Risk?1819 Words   |  8 PagesResearch Paper Have people told you, smoking is bad for you or bad for the environment, but just left you there and did not explain why? Cigarettes have been a major problem ever since they were created and have caused harm to everywhere the wind takes it. The smoke from that cigarette can cause very bad damage to perSonal objects like walls or electronics over time. That little white stick of tobacco has caused billions of dollars in damage and health costs, which does not help the state sRead MoreSmoking Is The Risks To Teenagers Essay1626 Words   |  7 PagesSmoking: The Risks to Teens Millions of Americans all over the world make the hasty decision to try their first cigarette before the legal age. Many kids think smoking looks like a cool and exciting new experience to try, but they do not realize how smoking takes a toll on not only the body, but everyone and everything around them. Unfortunately, the choice to smoke as teens impacts the rest of their life. Many adolescents start smoking before the legal age. In high school, teens feel like theyRead MoreThe Risk Factor Of Cigarette Smoking983 Words   |  4 Pages The extent of correlation concerning an individual conduct and wellbeing is daunting. I chose to address behavioral risk factor of cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of mortality that is responsible for nearly six million deaths worldwide and over 400,000 deaths annually in the United States (World Health Organization, 2011; Chandora, Whitney, Weaver, Eriksen, 2015). I reside in state of Georgia. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC,Read MoreHealth Risks of Smoking Essay678 Words   |  3 PagesHealth Risks of Smoking According to the American Cancer Society, one in five deaths in the United States is a result of tobacco use. This statistic translates into over 400,000 smoking related deaths in the United States each year. From these two statistics alone it is obvious that smoking is bad. It is an epidemic that has been plaguing the United States since early settlers began growing the â€Å"stinking weed.† Earlier in the century people weren’t aware of the effects of tobacco, but nowRead More The Health Risks of Smoking Cigarettes Essay1400 Words   |  6 PagesHealth Risks of Smoking According to Global Smoking Statistics, 80,000 and 100,000 youths start smoking everyday. Smoking is everywhere, in shops, restaurants and malls. Smoking can be controlled if the right steps are taken. If you walked around downtown Fort Collins, the odds are good that you will encounter a smoker. The negative effects of smoking outweigh the positive effects of smoking yet people still do it. There are ways to quit that can make your life better if you smoke. Smoking goesRead MoreHealth Risks Between The Smoking Of Cigarettes And Hookahs1122 Words   |  5 PagesThe purpose behind this paper is to analyze the major differences and health risks between the smoking of cigarettes and hookahs. There are a plethora of research documents regarding the similarities and differences between the hookah and conventional tobacco products such as cigars or cigarettes. This paper will simply display research regarding each of the previously mentioned smoking mediums, and strive to determine fact from perceived fact. The hookah (water pipe figure 1) originated inRead MoreThe Relationship Between Cigarette Smoking And Novel Risk Factors For Cardiovascular Disease704 Words   |  3 PagesRelationship Between Cigarette Smoking and Novel Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease In The United States In a study of the general population of the United States, over 17,000 individuals were examined on the relationship between cigarette smoking and the levels of homocysteine, fibrinogen, and serum C-reactive protein. Cigarette smoking and cardiovascular disease have been linked and the topic has not been studied much. Cardiovascular disease was the cause of death in 40% of the United StatesRead MoreCigarette Smoking Among Adolescent Australians And The Risks That Come Along With It1808 Words   |  8 PagesIn this investigation I have explored cigarette smoking among adolescent Australians and the risks that come along with it. To help highlight the impacts and the consequences that can come later, I have acquired the latest statistics and data to raise the concerns that can come from the use of tobacco. With my findings I will display the key factors that often sway an adolescent into smoking cigarettes along with the impacts that cigarette smoking can have on friends, family, the community and finally

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Indian Beer Industry †Oligopoly Free Essays

Economies of scale: The increase in  efficiency of production  as the number of goods  being produced increases. Government policies: restrictions on advertising leading to surrogate ADVT. , polic ies which make it difficult for expansion of companies. We will write a custom essay sample on Indian Beer Industry – Oligopoly or any similar topic only for you Order Now Access to distribution channels: cost of distribution in this industry needs to be looked at logically. If firms in this industry carries significant costs from distribution which are then reflected in their prices to customers, the customers will choose the competition. Suppliers product differentiation/ SWITCHING COSTS OF BUYERS: the development of new products that may create a new demand or create repeat customers is always a key success when in a competition. Exit barriers: Typical barriers to exit include highly specialized assets, which may be difficult to sell or relocate, huge exit costs, such as asset write-offs and closure costs, and inter-related businesses, making it infeasible to sell a part of it. Another common barrier to exit is loss of customer goodwill. Buyers switching costs: n order to remain competitive, companies in this sector must make their products readily available and accessible to their customers or they will go with the competition. Advertising: when everyone’s advertising in the industry is d same, its easy for companies to get lost in the mix. However by staying on top wid interesting and new ways to promote a product, people remember that product better. Importance of a specific product to a customer: An imp c ompetitive advantage that ensures that customers will be less likely to switch to another company for a similar product. BUYERS USE OF MULTIPLE SOURCES: urchasers regarding the selection of suppliers (sources), e. g. the use of a single or two or more (multiple) sources. {Considers the justification of either method in the context of reducing the uncertainty (risk) of a particular purchase. Illustrates the marketers view of sourcing and the differing sales tactics employed according to the suppliers’ preferences. Concludes that purchasers should examine uncertainty buying-selling situations (UBSS) objectively with regard to their own organizations’ need criteria, e. g. cost and timeliness, this determining the relevant sourcing policy}. Demand and supply curve: demand for beer increases at all prices 1. Initially in equilibrium with P1 and Q1. 2. A non-price determinant of demand (availability of complement goods) has changed: the demand curve shifts out from D0 to D1 At the initial price level there is excess demand with quantity demanded rising above the quantity suppliers are willing to supply at price P1 (? 2. 50) 3. The market price responds to excess demand by increasing. This causes demand to contract again (movement back up the demand curve), but also supply to expand (movement down the supply curve) 4. The new equilibrium is reached where supply and demand are equal at the higher price P2 (? 3) and Q2 (50 bottles) One of the reasons for higher sales of beer in South-India is the hot and humid climate for around 10 months. Due to this people consume beer all throughout the year increasing the volumes. As the figures suggest, thehot states contribute most to the revenues generated from the beer sales. (See Exhibit 15) . Hence we conclude that the overall market in India is highly diverse and for each region different strategy needs to be employed. How to cite Indian Beer Industry – Oligopoly, Essay examples

Monday, May 4, 2020

The Potential merchandising opportunities Samples for Students.

Question: Discuss about the Social Networking with Electronic Commerce ? Answer : Introduction In present scenario, the users of internet look for, communicate and share data by the means of various social networking websites for example, Facebook, Twitter, You Tube etc. By sharing information over these sites there is development of trust based relationship among the individuals. Number of theorists believes that expanding the aspects of social networking with electronic commerce will help in improving the trust among the various online transaction partners and it will allow attainment of higher economic value (Liang and Turban, 2011). The expression social commerce (SC) has been derived from the definitions of ecommerce and social networking. Social electronic commerce can be understood as the accomplishment of the e-commerce transactions and activities by the use of web software and social media. Thus, Social electronic commerce can be regarded as a subset of social networking and e-commerce which enhances the use of social media for assisting the customers in their commerc e related activities and transactions. Though, the social electronic commerce is regarded as a new phenomenon and it so keep on emerging day after day as well as has fetched the attention of the researchers across the globe. The purpose of this paper is to analyses the current stature of social electronic commerce and the associated opportunities and challenges of the social e-commerce (Pavlou, 2003). Literature review With increased diffusion of social e-commerce in the lives of people and the business organisations, there has been offered numerous research opportunities both from a practical as well as theoretical point of view. In such an innovative form of business facilitated by the use of social media, both the organisations and the consumers take advantages. The customers are empowered with more know ledged and informed buying by the other consumers (Turban, et al., 2003). The organisations achieve higher earnings by the positive recommendations made by the existing customers for attracting the new and potential customers. In particular, the primary attention will be on the various studies, researches and articles describing the various aspects of social electronic commerce and the associated opportunities and challenges of the social e-commerce in an organisation. In this manner, it will be possible to probable to summarize the present evidences considering the social e-commerce and outlini ng some of the open challenges (Yang, et al., 2012). With the rise of various so vial media channels, there is spending of more time over the use of the social media. Because of the strong advent of the social media and networking sites, the voice of the customers has raised and became much stronger than earlier. In the past, the sales were used to be a result of the vast messages spread by the means of advertisements; they are now more reliant upon the customer relationship building. But in the world of social e-commerce, fetching and impressing new and potential customers have become less significant as the organisations emphasis more upon the longtime customer value, customer relationship and ongoing engagement (Wu, et al., 2015). In numerous studies, the researchers have focused upon the numerous opportunities present in the social e-commerce. These opportunities include the Potential merchandising opportunities. The social e-commerce allows the vendors or the organisations to develop their pool of the potential buyers by up surging the volume of various e-commerce transactions and activities (Wang and Zhang, 2012). It is usually recognized that withy the increase in the customer loyalty there is enhancement in the growth and profits of the organisation. The researchers also emphasizes upon the other opportunities of social e-commerce which includes Improved external and internal advertising and communication. The effective advertising is one of the major sources of revenue and profit generation and it is used as a vital part of number of social e-commerce sites. The potential of the market is amplified by the various social networking sites which allow the organisations to rapidly reach extended pool of pote ntial buyers and several product sites. In concern with the internal advertising process, the customized and tailored advertisements appear to the users are generally based on their particular likes and interests by the profiling done with the help of the social e-commerce (Vajapeyajula, Radhakrishnan and Varma, 2015). The next opportunity discussed by the theorists is the Robust consumer influence by the recognized individuals. The influence of one consumer on another consumer is much higher than the influence of the sellers. In certain cases, the online buyers usually wait for the responses and the opinions of the early users before making a buying decision for reducing the risk of purchasing new and unknown merchandise (Seedorf, et al., 2014). The next opportunity is, Increased trust, intention to purchase and social presence. The social presence is of vital significance and importance to the e-commerce websites because of the impersonal and cold nature of the simulated and virtual environment of the social world (Frutos, Giones and Miralles, 2014). Furthermore, the presence of trust shows a positive impact on an individuals intention of engagement with the social e-commerce. In practice, there must be integration of the social plugins with the e-commerce platform which can enhance the perceived trust, purchasing intention and social presence of the online customers. The next opportunity is, Economic development of the already present social e-commerce. The services of social e-commerce are booming across the globe. It has practiced extended growth, fascinating a large number of the customers and the organisations. As a result, there is achievement of increased and continuous economic development (Salvatori and Marcantoni, 2015). Another opportunity is, reduced initial fixed costs. The features of the social e-commerce permit the organisations to incorporate this form of platform with squat initial fixed costs. The next opportunity focused by the researcher is, Easy update of product via social media. This was considered as an opportunity because the vendors or the organisations can update the information of the products and also its associated relevant media over the social networking sites with fewer efforts, particularly if matched to the conventional shopping, therefore it is helpful in offering the customers with the latest fashions and trends regarding the merchandises and the products (Baghdadi, 2013). Another opportunity is, Improved market trends prediction. It is one more primary reason for implementing the social e-commerce technology in the business operations. The social networking sites helps in developing the social interactions, which emphasis the customers to maintain, foster and cultivate th e online associations, it is an important and vital predictor of the purchasing behaviour and patterns of the consumers. Next opportunity is, Better approachability of the network shops. In the marketplaces of social e-commerce, the expanded networks can make the shops more approachable to the potential buyers, thus, it helps in improving the business of the resellers. Also, the shops are much more probable to be discovered by the browsing consumers (Huang, Yoon and Benyoucef, 2012). Another opportunity of social e-commerce is, Increased accuracy level of the recommender system. For attaining improved incorporation of the recommender system, it is essential to offer an advanced and efficient user tracking. The identification of the activities of the buyers over the social networking services offers the social e-commerce an opportunity for creating more customized offers and supports the clients for coping up with the wide informational loaded issues which occurs on a continuous basi s in the social e-commerce businesses (Lee, et al., 2006). Numbers of researchers and analysts have given their arguments which oppose the benefits and advantages of social e-commerce, as they are more focused upon the numerous issues and challenges which are prevailing in the social e-commerce applications. The first challenge discovered is, The development of the feasible business models. The organisations which are small in nature have to encounter a potential challenge related to funding because of the basic revenue needs required for supporting a wide social e-commerce initiative (Linda, 2010). To implement an efficient and successful social; e-commerce, an organisation must grasp the correct combination of the strategic direction, technical process and financial resources. The capital needed for implementing the changes is extremely high for validating the requirement of change and usually the small scale organisations does not have huge investments for implementing such technologies (Lu, Fan and Zhou, 2016). The next challenge is, Development of the new theories. The diversity of the new technological challenges for the social e-commerce necessitates the development of the new and innovative theories. Therefore, the social e-commerce is fetching increasing attention from the industry and the academic for the development of the innovative technologies and theories for understanding the behaviour of the users in regards with the social media (Cecere and Owyang, 2010). Another challenge encountered is, Work and time to manage and implement social e-commerce. For implementing a social e-commerce platform, the organisations are required to spend resources and time to find the required assets and to manage the internal organisation. Presently, the need to work rapidly and evolution of the global crisis prevents the resources from being intended to the incorporation of the social e-commerce platforms. The next challenge is, Some features occurring as initially challenging for use. It is analyze d that the features of social e-commerce can be challenging and difficult for the customers to use, particularly if they are innovative and are not the intuitive tools (Nadeem , et al., 2015). Another challenge or problem is, Popularizing the new platform. There has been a significant increase in the number of social e-commerce platforms, and in that case it becomes difficult for the organisations to fetch the attention of the adequate number of the customers (Salvatori and Marcantoni, 2015). The next major challenge is of, Privacy or Security. It is widely researched and identified that that the social networking websites and the social e-commerce platforms are frequently the sufferers to the social engineering outbreaks. Thus, the illegal activities such as disclosing or sharing of the sensitive and confidential information on publically approachable or even internally shared workstations may result in invasion of the privacy and security breaches (Ronca, Calvanese and Birtolo, 2013). Another challenge is, Less control over the social networking sites which are external. Relying completely upon an outward social network is not at all safe and it can be justified with various explanations. For example, at the time of issue of server getting down of the social network, the organisation and the business may face the potential threat of losing their online sales because of this issue (Fija?kowski and Zatoka, 2011). Another challenge in social e-commerce is, Capturing the right user associations. At the time of conducting the analysis of the social network, it is essential to engage to the challenge of acquiring the customers relationships via identification of their mutual interest. The explicit association between the customers just demonstrates the part of the associations; in fact, most of the users who have mutual interest are associating with each other just in an implicit manner. Therefore, it is complex and hard to attain the correct and appropriate user relati onships (Salvatori and Marcantoni, 2015). Conclusion This paper offers the outcomes attained from a systematic review of the diverse literature available on the subject of social electronic commerce. The literature was based upon the various journals, books, articles and paper of various researchers focusing upon the application of social e-commerce. From the literature obtained, it can be perceived that the subject of social e-commerce is fetching increasing interest from the society and the theorists. It has also analyzed that the organisations should implement the social e-commerce platform, offering the technological aspects which permit the product suggestion and the customer interaction. By such things the organisations can attain huge economic growth. From the various literature, there has been identified several challenges in the implementation of the social e-commerce which can further helpful in future research. There are serious problems and challenges such as privacy and security, these challenges acts as the barricades in the smooth functioning of the social e-commerce. There are various opportunities identified in the literature which can help the organisations to gain attention towards incorporating the application of social e-commerce in the business operations. In future, it is predicted that there will be wide and vast research over the subject of social e-commerce and its pros and cons for the consumers and the business organisations. References Baghdadi, Y., 2013. From e-commerce to social commerce: a framework to guide enabling cloud computing.Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research,8(3), pp.12-38. Cecere, L. and Owyang, J., 2010. The rise of social commerce.A Trail Guide for the Social Commerce Pioneer. URL: https://www. supplychainshaman. com/wpcontent/uploads/2010/11/rise_of_social_commerce_final. pdf, Stand,19, p.2013. Fija?kowski, D. and Zatoka, R., 2011, September. An architecture of a Web recommender system using social network user profiles for e-commerce. InComputer Science and Information Systems (FedCSIS), 2011 Federated Conference on(pp. 287-290). IEEE. Frutos, S.M., Giones, F. and Miralles, F., 2014, June. Social Media engagement as an e-commerce driver, a consumer behavior perspective. InInformation Systems and Technologies (CISTI), 2014 9th Iberian Conference on(pp. 1-6). IEEE. Huang, Z. and Benyoucef, M., 2013, July. User-centered investigation of social commerce design. InInternational Conference on Online Communities and Social Computing(pp. 287-295). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Huang, Z., Yoon, S.Y. and Benyoucef, M., 2012. Adding social features to e-commerce. InProceedings of the Conference on Information Systems Applied Research ISSN(Vol. 2167, p. 1508). Lee, M.K., Cheung, C.M., Sia, C.L. and Lim, K.H., 2006, January. How positive informational social influence affects consumers decision of Internet shopping?. InSystem Sciences, 2006. HICSS'06. Proceedings of the 39th Annual Hawaii International Conference on(Vol. 6, pp. 115a-115a). IEEE. Liang, T.P. and Turban, E., 2011. Introduction to the special issue social commerce: a research framework for social commerce.International Journal of electronic commerce,16(2), pp.5-14. Linda, S.L.L., 2010. Social Commerce---E-Commerce in Social Media Context.World Academy of Science Engineering and Technology,72, pp.39-44. Lu, B., Fan, W. and Zhou, M., 2016. Social presence, trust, and social commerce purchase intention: An empirical research.Computers in Human Behavior,56, pp.225-237. Nadeem, W., Andreini, D., Salo, J. and Laukkanen, T., 2015. Engaging consumers online through websites and social media: A gender study of Italian Generation Y clothing consumers.International Journal of Information Management,35(4), pp.432-442. Pavlou, P.A., 2003. Consumer acceptance of electronic commerce: Integrating trust and risk with the technology acceptance model.International journal of electronic commerce,7(3), pp.101-134. Ronca, D., Calvanese, A. and Birtolo, C., 2013, March. A flexible framework for context-aware recommendations in the Social Commerce domain. InProceedings of the Joint EDBT/ICDT 2013 Workshops(pp. 105-110). ACM. Salvatori, L. and Marcantoni, F., 2015, July. Social commerce: A literature review. InScience and Information Conference (SAI), 2015(pp. 257-262). IEEE. Salvatori, L. and Marcantoni, F., 2015. SmartSocialMarket: A Social Commerce Architecture. Seedorf, S., Thum, C., Schulze, T. and Pfrogner, L., 2014. Social co-browsing in online shopping: the impact of real-time collaboration on user engagement. Turban, E., Lee, J.K., King, D., Liang, T.P. and Turban, D., 2009.Electronic commerce 2010. Prentice Hall Press. Vajapeyajula, A., Radhakrishnan, P. and Varma, V., 2015, December. Survey of Social Commerce Research. InInternational Conference on Mining Intelligence and Knowledge Exploration(pp. 493-503). Springer International Publishing. Wang, C. and Zhang, P., 2012. The evolution of social commerce: The people, management, technology, and information dimensions.Communications of the Association for Information Systems,31(5), pp.1-23. Wu, J., Xu, M., Mo, Z. and Liao, L., 2015. The research of design based on social commerce.International Journal of Social Science Studies,3(4), pp.157-165. Yang, C.C., Yang, H., Tang, X. and Jiang, L., 2012, August. Identifying implicit relationships between social media users to support social commerce. InProceedings of the 14th Annual International Conference on Electronic Commerce

Monday, March 30, 2020

An In-Depth Review of Star Reading Assessment Program

An In-Depth Review of Star Reading Assessment Program Star Reading is an online assessment program developed by Renaissance Learning for students typically in grades K-12. The program uses a combination of the cloze method and traditional reading comprehension passages to assess forty-six reading skills across eleven domains. The program is used to determine a student’s overall reading level as well as identify a students individual strengths and weaknesses. The program is designed to provide teachers with individual student data, quickly and accurately. It typically takes a student 10–15 minutes to complete an assessment, and reports are available immediately upon completion. The assessment consists of approximately thirty questions. Students are tested on foundational reading skills, literature components, reading informational text, and language. Students have one minute to answer each question before the program automatically moves them to the next question. The program is adaptive, so the difficulty will increase or decrease based on how a student performs. Features of Star Reading It is easy to set up and use. Star Reading is a Renaissance Learning program. This is important because if you have Accelerated Reader, Accelerated Math, or any of the other Star assessments, you only have to do the set up one time. Adding students and building classes is quick and easy. You can add a class of about twenty students and have them ready to be assessed in about 15 minutes.It correlates with Accelerated Reader. Many schools across the country use Accelerated Reader. To maximize the effect of Accelerated Reader, students should be limited to books that correlate to their specific Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Star Reading provides teachers with each student’s individual ZPD that can then be entered into the Accelerated Reader program to limit students to books that will not be too easy or too difficult for them to read.It is easy for students to use. The interface is plain and straightforward. This minimizes the chances for a student to be distracted. Student s have two choices when answering the multiple-choice-style questions. They can use their mouse and click on the correct choice, or they can use the A, B, C, D keys that correlate to the correct answer. Students are not locked into their answer until they click next or push the Enter key. Each question is on a one-minute timer. When a student has fifteen seconds remaining, a small clock will begin to flash at the top of the screen, letting them know that time is about to expire for that question. It provides teachers with a tool to easily screen and progress monitor students who need reading intervention. Star Reading comes with a screening and progress monitor tool that allows teachers to set goals and monitor a student’s progress as they move throughout the year. This easy-to-use feature allows teachers to quickly and accurately decide whether they need to change their approach with a particular student or continue doing what they are doing.It has an adaptable assessment bank. The program has an extensive assessment bank that allows students to be assessed multiple times without seeing the same question. In addition, the program adapts to the student as they answer questions. If a student is performing well, then the questions will increasingly become more difficult. If they are struggling, the questions will become easier. The program will eventually zero in on the student’s correct level. Useful Reports Star Reading is designed to provide teachers with useful information that will drive their instructional practices. It provides teachers with several useful reports designed to assist in targeting which students need intervention and what areas they need assistance in. Here are four key reports available through the program and a brief explanation of each: Diagnostic: This report provides the most information about an individual student. It offers information such as the student’s grade equivalent, percentile rank, estimated oral reading fluency, scaled score, instructional reading level, and zone of proximal development. It also provides tips to maximize that individual’s reading growth.Growth: This report shows the growth of a group of students over a specific period of time. This period of time is customizable from a few weeks to months, to even growth over the course of several years.Screening: This report provides teachers with a graph that details whether they are above or below their benchmark as they are assessed throughout the year. This report is useful because if students are falling below the mark, then the teacher needs to change their approach ​with that student.Summary: This report provides teachers with whole group test results for a specific test date or range. This is very useful for comparing mul tiple students at one time. Relevant Terminology Scaled Score (SS)  - The scaled score is figured based on the difficulty of the questions as well of the number of questions that were correct. Star Reading uses a scale range of 0–1400. This score can be used to compare students to each other as well as themselves over time.Percentile Rank (PR) - The percentile rank allows students to be compared to other students nationally that are in the same grade. For example, a student who scores in the 77th percentile scores better than 76% of students in their grade but lower than 23% of students in their grade.Grade Equivalent (GE) - The grade equivalent represents how a student performs compared to other students nationally. For example, a fifth-grade student who scores a grade equivalent of 8.3 scores as well as a student who is in the eighth grade and third month.Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) - This is the range of readability which a student should be required to select books. Reading in this range provides students with t he optimal opportunity to maximize reading growth. Books at this level are not too easy or too difficult for the student to read. ATOS  - A readability formula that uses average sentence length, average word length, vocabulary grade level, and the number of words to calculate the overall difficulty of a book. Overall Star Reading is a very good reading assessment program, especially if you already use the Accelerated Reader program. Its best features are that it is quick and easy to use for teachers and students, and reports can be generated in seconds. The assessment does rely too much on cloze reading passages. A truly accurate reading assessment would use a more balanced and comprehensive approach. However, Star is a great quick screening tool to identify struggling readers or individual reading strengths. There are better assessments available in terms of in-depth diagnostic assessments, but Star reading will give you a quick snapshot of where a student is at any given point.  Overall, we give this program 3.5 out of 5 stars, primarily because the assessment itself isn’t broad enough and there are times where consistency and accuracy are of concern.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Curbs and Sidewalks

Curbs and Sidewalks Curbs and Sidewalks Curbs and Sidewalks By Maeve Maddox Rod poses the question: In Spanish the words curb and sidewalk are interchangeable. Is it the same in English?    In U.S. English, the word sidewalk refers to a paved footpath alongside a street or a road. The sidewalk is usually raised above the level of the road. The curb is a stone or concrete edging between the road and the sidewalk. In British usage, curb is spelled kerb. What Americans call a sidewalk, British speakers call the pavement. Merchants that Americans call street vendors or sidewalk vendors are called kerb-merchants or kerb-vendors by British speakers. Curious about the alleged lack of distinction between sidewalk and curb in Spanish, I looked the words up in my New World Spanish Dictionary and found the following: acera: sidewalk; Mexican banqueta encintado: curb (of a sidewalk) bordillo:curb borde de acera: curb Comments from Spanish speakers welcome. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Beautiful and Ugly WordsHow to Punctuate with â€Å"However†Capitalizing Titles of People and Groups

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Facundo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Facundo - Essay Example The book discusses different themes and also outlines, in length, different important concepts based upon which the future of the Argentinean politics is to be defined. What is critical is the extensive coverage of the concept of nation in the book and how interlinked the ethnicity, culture and nation with each other. Facundo also discusses at length as to who shall be taken into consideration while building the nation and who are to be left out while deciding upon how the culture and politics of a nation to be explored and understood. It is also critical to note as to how the concepts of civilization as well as barbarianism has been actually pitted against each other in defining the overall concept of nation. (Ludmer, 2002) This paper will choose topic 1 of the assignment and will discuss and explore the concept of nation as discussed in Facundo besides discussing as to who he considers as unwanted and need to be left. This paper will also discuss and explore some of the contradictions in his arguments. One of the key parts of the overall arguments in Facundo is how the author has actually been able to relate the culture and geography. By presenting a historical analysis of the geography of Argentina as well as its culture, Sarmiento actually has been able to demonstrate as to how the interaction of geography and culture is important for defining what a nation is and what should be its future orientation. By presenting a historical analysis of the geography and the people, Facundo has been able to demonstrate as to who are the people who have been the cause of the problem for the nation in past. It is critical to note that Sarmiento updated Facundo in its different versions and editions hence actually outlining as to what is his vision for the nation. As such the overall contents of the book depended upon the circumstances prevailing at that time and Sarmiento seem to have driven lot of power and ideological ground

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Cutural competence and cutural proficency (social work perspective) Essay

Cutural competence and cutural proficency (social work perspective) - Essay Example cultures; value diversity; institutionalizing cultural knowledge, the capability for cultural own assessment; and awareness of the dynamics that are inherent during cultures interaction (Goodson, 2001). The article describes the cultural beliefs, attitudes, awareness’s, biases, and history heritage of people from England and Afghanistan. More so, the discussion focuses on contrasting and comparing the two cultures, checking other social work theories and how to educate organizations and communities. Culture: since the start of British history, various battles and wars placed the Great Britain under the ruling of Vikings, Venetians, Saxons, Normans and Romans. The mixture intensified because of the refugee’s migration from Ireland, Russian and France (Smith, 2007). The result of the blending is several races with distinct statues, builds, cultural habits, hair colors, skin and gastronomy. There are three domineering languages in England: Welsh, Scottish and English. 92% of the populations are white, 3% are black, 1.3% is Pakistan, 1.2% is mixed, and 1.6% is other races. Major religions: 72% are Christians including Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican and Roman Catholic. 23% are undetermined or unspecified, 3% are Hindu and 2% are other denominations. In 1998, at least 20% of the total population believed in God, 15 percent were agnostics and 10 percent were atheists (Goodson, 2001). Nevertheless, the principal religious traditions in England are Buddhism, Judaism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. In the recent era, there are a cult and pagan religions such as Transcendental Meditation, Unification Church, and goddess religion, among others. Awareness and education: the models of learning in England involve the direct interaction between a child and a parent or teacher. Major ceremonies for secular initiation for young adults and children are present in the educational clubs and process. Afghanistan is mountainous and landlocked, which has undergone

Monday, January 27, 2020

Double Indemnity As A Film Noir Classic Film Studies Essay

Double Indemnity As A Film Noir Classic Film Studies Essay It is indeed true that Double Indemnity represents one of the best examples of a film noir and has also been viewed to set some standards for the upcoming movies. In film noir, elements like violence, sexual harassments, adultery, crime and greed are representatives of similar evil types in the society with a moral conflict emerging at the base of the plot (Gene 145). Considering the characteristics of film noir, the Double Indemnity film seems to cover almost all of them. The film contains the ambiguous antihero, stories driven by crime, shady lighting and some other several qualities that qualify it in the genre. This is actually a perfect example of a film noir with dark stories that are criminally manipulated. In the movie, Walter Neff says that, Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money and a woman, and I didnt get the money, and I didnt get the woman. Pretty, isnt it? (Gene 170). This line actually gives us the overall view of the films move as being dark and pessimistic. Walter Neff as played by Fred MacMurray goes to renew his automobile insurance and engages in an adulterous affair with Phyllis Dietrichson as played by Barbara Stanwyick who was an already married woman. This actually demonstrates a typical film noir relationship. From this, the viewers can actually justify from the actions that these characters are doomed (Leitch 126). In a film noir, lighting forms one of the important principles of aesthetics and also provides clues to the function of the characters. For example, as Neff enters the office, only thin white light bars are seen. They appear projected across Neffs chest as if he is in jail. But as he puts the lights on, the room suddenly changes to being flooded with white as all the shadow are eliminated. This technique enables the viewers to have a hint on the nature of Neffs actions. that he is seeking redemption, bringing himself out of the shadows metaphorically, in the form of a confession, into the light (Leitch 113). In other words, all this help the viewers to get to understand the character as well as narrative function of Neff as Male Protagonist which is actually a vital component of classic film noir. Double indemnity also begins with music that is non-diagetic. This installs the viewers with a sense of urgency and action that is expected. The characters in the movies are flawed but one will still love and enjoy watching them since they are real. Not all the characters in the film overcome immerse odds like prevention of the world destruction or saving the village. We find some characters giving into sin making, then enjoy the brief excitement and eventually pay the consequences of their actions (Leitch 145). Film noir characters are very real but their ending is not good. For example, Neffs destiny arrives after him just after he is inside his apartment. NEFF: So at eight oclock the bell would ring and I would know who it was without even having to think, as if it was the most natural thing in the world (Leitch 153). Eventually Phyllis shows up and they passionately embrace each other. She speaks ill of her husband as a volatile and controlling man always getting into her nerves. Neff finally gives in to help her murder her husband to gain the insurance cash. Themes in the Plague Exile/separation. This theme is evident by Rieux and Rambert. The two characters are separated from the love of their life (women they love). The theme also appears in many other citizens whose names were note mentioned but were separated form their own loved ones. Considering the closure of Oran gates, the individuals who happened to be still out of town were locked out. The town entirely feels in exile for being separated from the rest of the outside world. According to Rieux explanation, he expresses That sensation of a void within which never left us, that irrational longing to hark back to the past or else to speed up the march of time, and those keen shafts of memory that stung like fire (Camus 187). Considering somebody like Rambert, he is not only separated from the person he wants to be with but also restricted from being in own apartment or home. Therefore, exile suggests deep metaphysical implication that relates to loss of belief that individuals dwell in environments whe re they can be free to achieve goals, find meaning and feel at home. Religion. People are always fond of turning to religion at times of calamities as the novel examines. Paneloux (the priest) gives religious perspective in his sermons in contrast to Rambert, Rieux and Tarrous humanist beliefs. Paneloux believes that indeed there is a rational explanation to the plaques outbreak unlike the other characters. He describes the outbreak as a flail of God in his first sermon after the outbreak. He says that God had intentions of separating wheat from chaff (good from bad). According to his description, it was not the will of God for the calamity. He looked on the evil-doing in the town with compassion; only when there was no other remedy did He turn His face away, in order to force people to face the truth about their life (Malcolm 26). Therefore, according to the Priest, the ultimate goal of suffering is achieving the good in a way that the light of God will still shine despite of the horrible events with Christian hope being grated to everyone. Love. The theme of love is widely demonstrated in this novel. As much as love for mankind can make one sacrifice own self interest to defend the interests of the society, the opposite seems to be true with love for individuals. The novel discusses towards the end that a human being does not hope for anything more than just love especially when avoiding disappointments. Considering the plaque, the priest expresses that this is only because of the too much love that God has for them. Love is also evident from Rieuxs reactions towards Rambert including his attempt to escape. He says that, Forgive me Rambert, only well, I simply dont know. But stay with us if you want to. For nothing in the world is it worth turning ones back on what one loves. Yet that is what Im doing, though I do not know (Malcolm 68). Given three things in life: love, work and death; Rieux chooses to work and claims that it is his duty to do so while Rambert counters this by choosing to love more than to do his job.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Lucy Essay Essay

We all realize that us humans have some sort of relation to apes and chimpanzees, but what evolved us from them to becoming bipedal hominids? In this essay I will be inculcating you about the evolution of humans, the captivating discovery of Lucy, an Australopithecus afarensis, and how her uncovering of a new species is so important to our advancement. Lucy is our oldest, most complete human ancestor and it lead to a controversial change in our view of human origins. Lucy is a 3. 15 million year old female hominid, of the genus Australopithecus, whose skeleton was uncovered on November 24, 1974 by Donald C. Johanson and Tom Gray in the Hadar region of Ethiopia. Donald Johanson’s first discovery consisted of a few pieces of a knee bone. He sent the bones to Owen Lovejoy, who was an anatomist and part-time forensic expert. He then examined the bone fragments and concluded that they appeared human, that the joint could â€Å"lock†, which meant the animal could walk upright. This was an important discovery showing an ancient bipedal creature. They named their discovery, â€Å"Lucy† in reference to the well-known Beatles song â€Å"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds†, which played over and over as they celebrated their findings. While only 40% of the skeleton was found, this uncovering of Lucy was very fascinating and answered many questions to our human evolution because it was the missing link between apes and the upbringing of hominids. The discoverers called Lucy, Australopithecus afarensis which stands for â€Å"southern ape of the Afar region†. This genus was one of the earliest species of hominids; the family of bipedal primates also includes homo hablis and homo erectus. While Australopithecus and Homo species vary in many ways, both hominids share common characteristics that define them as a group. The most distinct of these traits is bipedal locomotion, which means they could walk upright instead on being on all fours like apes. The particular and revolutionary characteristics of Lucy is that she had a small skull, a bipedal knee structure, molars, and front teeth of human form and size. Lucy’s skeleton proves that her kind was bipedal by the shape of her pelvis and the angle the femur takes from the hip socket to the knee joint. From her waist down she was hominid, and from her waist up she was still ape, as her skull was still the size of a chimpanzee. Her brain size varies in range from 365 to 385 cubic centimeters and had hand and motor cortex. Her species has a prolonged mouth, strong brow line, and a small forehead. She stood about three and a half feet high and weighed 60-65 pounds. The males were about twice the females size ranging from four to four and a half feet tall. This species also had about 100-120 different calls, hand gestures and signals. This suggests a intricate social and mating system. Evidence shows that she was probably young but fully mature when she died of natural causes. Her corpse is likely known to have sunk into a lake and over millions of years, the lake dried up, buried, and harden her bones which eventually fossilized them and preserved them for us to discover. The following year, again at the famous site of Hadar, Ethiopia, Donald Johanson’s team made the ground breaking discovery of the fossilized remains of some 13 individuals, known as the â€Å"First Family†. They believed that at that time, there was a mud slide that buried and killed tons of these creatures, in all age range, from babies to adults, both male and females. This was believed to be the oldest evidence of human ancestors living in groups. It had also provided us with much more understanding of their lifestyle and habitat. Lucy lived at a time when the Hadar region was not a desert environment like it is today. Instead, it was thought to be more like a woodlands and savannah domain. A. farensis, was not totally ape and yet not quite human, is thought to have probably lived in a variety of habitats. Having evolved into being bipedal as an adaptation to living in the open areas, like grasslands with few trees. They were thought to feed for seeds, berries, fruit, tubers, nuts and termites. The benefit of being able to walk upright gave them the advantage of free hands to grab food or carry their young, looking over high grassland, and developing a bigger brain. Unfortunately for them, they had long dry seasons with no rain which made the food source scarce. Without bipedalism we wouldn’t be able to develop into the hominids that we have become. The Hardy Weinberg’s equation is important for the concept of population genetics. In order for Hardy-Weinberg’s equilibrium of no evolution occurring to work, the following seven conditions must be met: no mutations must occur so that new alleles do not enter, no gene flow can occur, random mating must occur, everyone produces the same number of offspring, the population must be large so that there is no genetic drift, natural selection is not occurring, and all members are breeding in the population. This equation does not work with humans because we do not randomly mate. Usually individuals choose a spouse who has positive attributes that they like, which can include personality, taste, attractive, good with children, intelligence, sometimes race/color, height, humor, etc. In Lucy terms they would want someone who is a good hunter, provider, and smart but they wouldn’t get that option of being picky because they couldn’t travel very far to selection their peculiar mate. Also, natural selection happens all the time as well as mutations but most are not harmful. So if you were to apply this to the A. afarensis, the majority would disprove this equation. A. afarensis were also good at tool making. They used horns and bones as tools but not as weapons, as many people though they did. Also, they would use some stone tools that were known to be the breaking dawn to human technology. Their main predators were â€Å"big cats† such as lions and leopards. They had little to no protection which made them easy prey. Leopards were excellent climbers but they could not climb as well as apes which made it hard to escape. Also the lions are very patient creatures, so they would wait under the tree until they would could down and then they would eat them. Eventually, the robust A. afarensis, a. boisei, a. robustus and a. aeithiopicus would go extinct but the gracile Homo Habilis, which was discovered 2. 6 million years ago by Lewis Leaky, would go on to become our ancestors. In Africa, some of the animals that relied on forest died out because it was too dry. For example, during this period Lucy had disappeared because this species cant survive in that situation. But other species evolved by exploring different dietary sources that were available in that time. For example, many evolved physical adaptations to graze on the new species of plant life called grass that colonized the deforested terrain. The same seems to have happened to our ancestors, who had previously relied on forest foods such as soft fruit. We just kept evolving as the millions of years went by and adapting to new environments. In this essay, as you can see, Lucy was an astonishing discovery and was the missing link to our upbringing. This species was bipedal and hominid from the waste down, ape like from the waist up. They were also smarter than chimps with their different hand and motor cortex, their tool use, and brain size. Without the constant concept and knowledge of evolution occurring, our species would have never of came about but we are very fortunate for this discovery and to be who we are in this world today.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Humanitarian Intervention in Iraq Essay

In March of 2003 the United States of America invaded the Middle Eastern nation of Iraq. Under many pretenses, the stage was being set for this invasion, one reason calling for the invasion was that Bush administration and its officials assured the world that the Hussein regime was producing weapons of mass destruction or WMD’s, which would pose a huge security threat to all the nations around the world. Another being the fact that Hussein supported the group responsible for the attacks on our country on September 11th 2001, which angered plenty of Americans and seemingly justified violence to be used. And also the fact that Hussein needed to be removed from power as he was a brutal dictator who was committing egregious acts of violence against his own people. Therefore a humanitarian intervention would be called for using militaristic means. The administration under President Bush pushed the idea on the American people and the world that Iraq would be a better place without H ussein in control, also making the world a safer place. This war has cost the lives of approximately 600,000 Iraqis and 3,163 American soldiers, not to mention other soldiers from other nations involved in the conflict. The actions leading up to the subsequent invasion and occupation affected Iraq negatively and caused consequences that harmed all of Iraqi society, mainly innocent people. The way the world dealt with Saddam Hussein wasn’t proper nor in the best interests going forward for the Iraqi people and the citizens of the world based on many factors. Years before boots were even on the ground in Iraq, the world had taken extreme steps to curb Iraqi aggression, most notably beginning in 1990 when Iraq invaded its neighbor Kuwait in August. There were many reasons why Iraq may have invaded Kuwait. Some say that it was because Kuwait was stealing Iraqi oil and even the fact that Iraq owed Kuwait large sums of money after the Iran-Iraq war. But one of the very first steps that were taken was that the United Nations (UN) became heavily involved. The UN includes the UN Security Council (UNSC) which is the group that has control over UN military force and is in charge of implementing resoluti ons against regimes that may be breaking international law. The first resolution put in place against Iraq was UNSC 678, which was implemented just a few days after the Iraqi Revolutionary Guard invaded the country. UNSC 678 â€Å"authorized force against Iraq, to eject it from Kuwait and to restore peace and security in the area.† This action was ordered through all necessary means including use of the military. This was known as the Gulf War, but UNSC 678 only applied to the actions taken in 1990 through 1993 and does not include the intervention in 2003 by American and coalition forces. Next was UNSC resolution 1154, passed in 1998 and which mandated that Iraq was not allowed to be in possession or manufacture chemical, biological, or nuclear weaponry. This resolution also stated that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its inspectors were required to inspect Iraq’s suspected nuclear and weapons manufacturing facilities. Iraq did not completely comply with the resolution because they did not allow unrestricted access with what the IAEA inspectors wanted to see. This was seen as a shady move to much of the world and as if the Hussein regime had something to hide. A final warning to Iraq was issued in 2002 in UNSC resolution 1441, which was the last warning to the Hussein regime to comply with the demands of the previous UNSC resolutions and limit their weapons capabilities. In Alex Conte’s book, Operation Iraqi Freedom he states that, â€Å"Resolutions 678, 687, 1441, and 1154 do not legitimize use of force in Iraq† (Conte 139-162). There are only a select few instances in which the UNSC authorizes the use of force, one being if the expression â€Å"all necessary means and measures† is used in the resolution or if a member state of the UN is granted a mandate for action in another state and it is approved by the UNSC. Wording for many of these resolutions was very controversial be tween representatives of various nation states on the UNSC, regarding what powers one could legally take. But overall none of these UNSC resolutions approved of any military action to be taken in Iraq humanitarian or not in 2003; so in other words, all of the military actions that were taken were not legal in any form and against international law. The economic sanctions against Iraq also heavily affected the country before it was invaded by the coalition forces in 2003. â€Å"Iraq’s devastation is not primarily the result of American bombing†¦but the economic crisis that befell the country before the first shot was fired† (Rieff 185). The sanctions placed on Iraq were intended to hurt the Hussein regime, but in fact they just hurt the people under Hussein’s rule and put the entire Iraqi economy into terrible condition. The sanctions were a response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and reportedly used as a deterrent to Hussein’s aggression in the area, but the people hurt most by the sanctions were innocent Iraqis. â€Å"From 1991 until 2003 t he effects of government policy and the sanctions led to hyperinflation, widespread poverty, and malnutrition† (Dodge 706). This goes to show the negative effects that the sanctions had on the citizens of Iraq. Also mentioned in Rieff’s book, Democratic Dreams and Armed Intervention: At the Point of a Gun, is the fact that daily life was getting harder for Iraqis and their ability to receive the same goods as they had before the sanctions diminished drastically; â€Å"Before the sanctions Iraq imported 70% of its food, medicine, and chemicals, UNSC resolution 661 stopped all of that† (Rieff 187). These facts made the Iraqi citizens hate the crippling sanctions that were being placed on them because of the aggression of just their dictatorial leader. Many scholars believe that the sanctions made life already under a brutal dictator even more constrained and restrictive. Iraq before the sanctions was a very strong welfare state just like many of the oil rich nations of the Middle East which gave pensions to their citizens based on oil income, about â€Å"40% of Iraqi households were dependent on government payment† (Dodge 709). But because of the sanctions that same forty percent had to find other ways to receive income in a worsening economy. Many citizens such as Khaled Afra, a student opposed the sanctions just as they opposed the rule of Hussein, â€Å"Saddam was a criminal, the biggest. But the sanctions were also criminal†¦ You see the sanctions really crushed our dreams – not my personal dreams only, but those of my Iraqi people, all of us† (Rieff 193). Hussein did use the sanctions to his advantage though; he used them as premise to form Iraqi public opinion against the sanctions, the various governments of the West, and the United Nations. Huge propaganda campaigns began in the country and in a way were very successful, Hussein, for example, would convince his people that in fact he wasn’t evil and it was the nations of the West that were evil as they placed the sanctions on Iraq to try and starve innocent Iraqis. Hussein even agreed to the Food for Oil program, which help ed relieve some of the pressure and troubles faced by civilians as a result of the sanctions. The program allowed Iraq to sell its oil not for money but for food, medicine, and other supplies that were highly needed in Iraq at the time. Iraqi citizens loved this and praised Hussein for going through and agreeing with the program. A highly questioned component of the sanctions placed on the regime is why did they last so long? As mentioned earlier, the sanctions began right after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 but yet they didn’t end until 2003 when the American invasion of Iraq began. Most in the international community believed that the sanctions should’ve ceased to exist after the Gulf War was over or maybe just for a few more years after Iraqi forces were pushed out of Kuwait, but not for a full thirteen years. â€Å"Even many Arab nations who supported the sanctions at first believed that they should have been removed after Iraq left Kuwait† (Rieff 190). Most nations, even those who were against the Hussein regime saw the sanctions being in place after Iraq was ejected from Kuwait as unnecessary, cruel, and throwing salt on the wounds of a nation. The sanctions just made life worse for the regular citizens of Iraq, but the worst was yet to come. One good thing that may have come out of the sanctions is the fact that they did prevent the Hussein regime from obtaining or creating any weapons of mass destruction because the country just could not afford the types of technology needed to do so. Another factor that made conditions even worse for Iraq was the failed planning and research that should’ve been completed before the invasion of the country. â€Å"Fear that Iraq was developing a weapon of mass destruction became sufficiently unbearable to Bush and Congress that they launched and supported a preemptive war based on a poorly defined threat† (Sheenan 6). For one many were forced to believe that Hussein was in possession of WMDs which he wasn’t, therefore that threat did not even exist at all and should be exempt from reasons to invade and occupy the country. Planners of the invasion came up with a plan to oust Hussein from power using what they referred to as the decapitation thesis. The decapitation thesis is just as literal as it sounds, remove the head of the government, referring to Hussein and other high ranking Ba’ath party officials, and continue to use the body, which would be the institutions still under state control, as the head is replaced with new leadership. But the plan did not work as it was supposed to; after Hussein was ousted the country just fell into a power vacuum. Who would the people turn to for leadership? Because Iraq no longer had very strong state institutions, they were collapsed and were no longer working since the country was invaded. â€Å"In the space of two years, because of invasion a nd then state collapse, Iraq went from Rogue, the first category of problematic state, to the second, collapsed. Although military intervention into Rogue states has become increasingly common since the Cold War, it has to date been largely unsuccessful† (Dodge 706). This goes to show that largely — based on the past and places in similar situations — that Iraq was destined to fail. And besides the fact that the planners didn’t fully investigate the situation it seemed that they have even had other objectives besides the ones being expressed to the public. For example, â€Å"In April 2006, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited Baghdad to intervene in internal discussions about the government and to seek assurances that any future government would allow the United States to preserve its military bases in Iraq† (Arnove 116). Why would the U.S. need to establish bases in Iraq if the primary goal was humanitarian and to free the repressed people under the Hussein regime? Humanitarian intervention was also a huge factor in why the invasion and subsequent occupation was being justified in Iraq. Humanitarian interventions are usually mandated and put in place at the request of the legitimate government that needs the intervention. In this case the government of Iraq would have needed to explicitly ask outside powers to intervene, in which they did not. â€Å"The Security Council did not approve the invasion and the Iraqi government; its existence on the line, violently opposed it† (Roth 1). The Hussein regime opposed such an intervention obviously because it would signal an end to their rule. Even if it was to be a humanitarian intervention by the rules of international law the leaders accused of the alleged crimes against humanity should be brought on trial by the International Criminal Court (ICC). This was not the case for Iraq; none of the high ranking Ba’ath party officials including Hussein were even tried.