Leadership and Administration in Nursing at Ohio State University Article

Leadership and Administration in Nursing at Ohio State University - Article Example In the role of nursing administration, the leader must be concerned with turnover costs and training costs which are part of the operational budgeting process designed to secure the financial interests of the hiring organization. Job burnout caused by the conflict between administration and nursing professionals can lead to high absenteeism and even psychological syndromes that jeopardize both nurse well-being and patient care quality (Maslach, 1993; Schaufeli & Enzmann 1998).Ohio State University recognizes that in order to create a positive organizational culture, secure the liability protection of health care organizations and business professionals, and also to ensure patient safety, management and leadership skills require refinement to improve the overall quality of health care delivery. In order to be an effective nurse practitioner or administrative professional, the competencies required to improve the socio-psychological needs of clinical staff must be identified and enhanced with contemporary students of health care. 3. Audience/Learners Though Leadership and Administration in Nursing are intended to create more contemporary health care professionals, including students in the nursing program and business majors, the program is open to all students in the four-year undergraduate program looking to maximize their leadership and administrative proficiencies. ...ng students in the nursing program and business majors, the program is open to all students in the four-year undergraduate program looking to maximize their leadership and administrative proficiencies. Students must have completed the program Introductory Leadership 103 in order to be eligible for the program, due to the more advanced concepts of socio-psychological understandings included in this program. A C+ average is required in the introductory leadership program to successfully qualify for credit in this program to ensure quality in curriculum delivery and student retention. Course Syllabus / Course Outline 4. Course Title: Modern Administrative Theory i n Health Care Environments 5. Credit Hours and Length of Course Credit hours: 4 Course Duration: 8 weeks – CEU 60 6. Rationale The fundamental leadership and administrative theories provided in first-year management programs often focus on multiple industries, thus negating a more focused curriculum that recognizes the complexities and tangible realities of being employed in the health care industry. This course is designed to streamline administrative and leadership theory with a strict focus on case study leadership and real-life practical application of modern administration in today’s health care organization. In order to facilitate successful socio-cultural relationships with diverse health care professionals and management teams, it is necessary to be equipped with the skill set for leadership quality and competency (Cox, 2005).

The Lost Girl Essay Example for Free

The Lost Girl Essay Declamation by dhang I am a girl, young in heart and in mind†¦ I am carefree, I enjoy doing nothing but play,play and play†¦ I seldom go to school but hmp! nobody cares! Instead,you will see me roaming around standing at the nearby canto, or hanging around at the sari-sari store standing beside the jukebox stand†¦ One day I asked I asked my mother to teach me how to behave, to live, and appreciate all the beautiful things in life. Would you like to know what she told me? She said†¦ Can’t you see, I have to hurry up for my majong session! So I turned to my father to console me. But what a wonderful word he did tell me†¦ Child, I have to finish my overtime work†¦Here’s 500 pesos, go and ask your teacher about that question†¦ Sadly,I attended my class†¦ But I heard nothing but the echoing voice of my teacher,torturing me with her words†¦ Hey yo lazy girl! Why waste your time studying those things? When up to now you can’t even multiply seven by nine? Go home and don’t bother me!!! I am lost†¦confused†¦I don’t know what to do with myself†¦ Where are my parents to guide me? My teachers to give me inspirations? My friends, when I play? I’m lazy and irresponsible. When I try to study, I get punished for not being able to answer. Where now†¦I’m confused†¦ Somebody, please help me†¦ You say that the world is beautiful, why is it treating me this way? Hear me please! Help me please! Help me†¦ I am lost†¦

Effects Of The Financial Crisis On Iceland Economics Essay

Effects Of The Financial Crisis On Iceland Economics Essay The country of Iceland is the smallest economy within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with a gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007 of about $11.8billion. The Icelandic economy has been based on marine and energy resources. More recently, Iceland has developed a very strong services sector, which accounts for two-thirds of the economic output. Since the start of the decade i.e. from 2000, Iceland has experienced particularly strong growth in its financial services sector. Trade accounts for a large share of Icelands GDP, with imports accounting for 46% in value and exports accounting for 35% in value of goods and services of GDP. Icelands main export item was fish and other marine products until the year 2006, when Iceland began to capitalize on its abundant thermal energy resources to produce and export aluminum. A combination of economic factors over the early to mid-2000s led to Icelands current economic and banking distress. In particular, access to easy credit, a boom in domestic construction that fueled rapid economic growth and a broad deregulation of Icelands financial sector spurred the banks to expand rapidly abroad and eventually played a role in the eventual financial collapse. Iceland benefited from favorable global financial conditions that reduced the cost of credit and a sweeping liberalization of its domestic financial sector that spurred rapid growth and encouraged Icelands banks to spread quickly throughout Europe. The 2008-2010 Icelandic financial crisis was a major ongoing economic crisis in Iceland that involved the collapse of all three of the countrys major banks (Kaupthing, Landsbanki, Glitnir) following their difficulties in refinancing their short-term debt and a run on deposits in the United Kingdom. Relative to the size of its economy, Icelands banking collapse was the largest suffered by any country in economic history of the world. This was the main reason why Iceland had to suffer so much in the crisis. Commenting on the need for emergency measures, Prime Minister Geir Haarde said on 6 October 2008, There [was] a very real danger that the Icelandic economy, in the worst case, could be sucked with the banks into the whirlpool and the result could have been national bankruptcy. He also stated that the actions taken by the government had ensured that the Icelandic state would not actually go bankrupt. At the end of the second quarter 2008, Icelands external debt was 9.553 trillion Icelandic krà ³nur (à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬50 billion), more than 80% of which was held by the banking sector. This value compares with Icelands 2007 gross domestic product of 1.293 trillion krà ³nur (à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬8.5 billion). The assets of the three banks taken under the control of the FME totaled 14.437 trillion krà ³nur at the end of the second quarter 2008. MONETARY POLICY Monetary policy is the process a the government, central bank, or monetary authority of a country uses to control (i) the supply of money, (ii) availability of money, and (iii) cost of money or rate of interest to attain a set of objectives oriented towards the growth and stability of the economy. Monetary theory therefore provides insight into how to craft optimal monetary policy. Monetary policy is contrasted with fiscal policy, which refers to government borrowing, spending and taxation. During the financial crisis, Icelands monetary policy credibility had been very seriously damaged. Unsatisfactory inflation outcomes had already undermined the credibility of the monetary framework, even before the financial crisis started and, consequently, inflation expectations were poorly anchored. Icelandic economists had said that due to the huge impact of the crisis, rebuilding the credibility was likely to take time, and also maintaining it might be very difficult. However, after the crisis, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had voted to lower the Central Bank interest rates by 0.5 %. By supporting the interest rate cut, it lead to the appreciation of the krona in trade weighted terms. As in the ISLM Model, a decrease in the interest rates leads to an increase in the money supply. Therefore, this has lead to an expansionary monetary policy, as the interest rates were lowered, and also the MPC supported or voted for lower interest rates. MONETARY POLICY GRAPH The above graph shows the shift in the LM towards right, which has lead to an expansion in the LM curve. Since the MPC voted for a lower interest rates , the money supply was increased. Therefore, the LM curve shifts from LM1 to LM2, leading to an expansionary of the monetary policy. FISCAL POLICY In economics, fiscal policy can be defined as the use of government expenditure and revenue collection to influence the economy. Fiscal policy refers to the overall effect of the budget outcome on economic activity. There are three possible stances of fiscal policy: Neutral stance, which implies a balanced budget where, govt. spending = Tax Revenue Expansionary stance, increase in the govt. spending and reduction in tax revenue Contractionary stance, decrease in the govt. spending and increase in tax revenue During the financial crisis, there was an increased government debt. Due to the recession and rising debt servicing costs, the public deficit was projected to be above 10% of GDP in 2009, adding to the public debt burden. As a result, a considerable fiscal consolidation was therefore needed to put public finances back on a sustainable path and to pave the road for a successful euro-area entry. It was also important to reduce the deficit vigorously in the coming years, so that the country can reach the goal of balance. In order to eliminate the deficit, the government of Iceland had the option of tax increases as well as spending cuts, it then decided to opt for the former as they were easier to introduce immediately. The starting point for the tax increases would have been to reverse tax cuts implemented over the boom years, but Iceland could no longer afford. This would involve the increase in the personal income tax and also lift the reduced rate of VAT (Value Added Tax). This planned fiscal consolidation, would involve measures which would help to contain the expenditures. FISCAL POLICY GRAPH The above graph, shows the shift in the IS curve towards left, which leads to the contraction of the IS curve. Since the govt. decided to reduce their expenditure and increase the taxation, in order to consolidate the fiscal policy, the IS has moved towards left, leading to an contractionary fiscal policy. INFLATION In economics, inflation can be defined as the rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When the price level rises, then each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, annual inflation is also erosion in the purchasing power of money a loss of real value in the internal medium of exchange and unit of account in the economy. The effects of inflation on an economy are manifold and can have both simultaneously positive and negative impacts. Since Iceland, comes from a small domestic market, the banks in Iceland have financed their expansion from getting loans on the inter-bank lending market and, more recently, by getting deposits from outside Iceland (which are also a form of external debt). Large amount of debt was also taken by the households, which was equivalent to 213% of the disposable income, causing inflation in the country. Due to the practice of the Central Bank of Iceland issuing loans (liquidity) to the different banks on the basis of uncovered bonds which are newly issued and printing money on demand, this lead to inflation being exacerbated. Due to the financial crisis, the country of Iceland suffered inflation. On 25th of March 2008, popular website, Bloomberg.com that Iceland had raised its rates to 15% by raising its repo rate by a huge 1.25% in one day. The website also reported that the country was facing an inflation rate of about 7%. However, the Central Bank of Iceland had a goal of maintaining the inflation rate of about 2.5%. Also the Icelandic currency, krona has declined against the euro, from about 100 ISK per euro at the beginning of the year (2008), to its nadir of 125 on March 19 2008. Due to the interest rate hike it had the effect of moving it to about 116 from about 122. In August 2006, the country of Iceland made news when it had increased its interest rate to 13.5%. At that time, the krona was very strong against the euro. Iceland made news previously in August, 2006 when it increased its interest rate to 13.5%. The krona was then trading at a stronger at 90 to one euro. Some main factors why Iceland incurred inflation was mainly due to, the value of krona depreciated, secondly the prices of various commodities kept on soaring, and lastly, there was uncertain effect on wage agreements on labour costs. Since the financial crisis brought a huge change in the development of the economies in the world, as well as making many banks go bankrupt, the Icelandic debt is now over 320 billion krona, which is roughly about $4 billion US dollars. This figure is huge; as one can say considering that its about a quarter of their GDP. INFLATION GRAPH Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2010 6.60 7.30 8.50 2009 18.60 17.58 15.19 11.89 11.63 12.18 11.32 10.90 10.81 9.71 8.63 7.50 2008 5.77 6.79 8.72 11.76 12.32 12.74 13.55 14.54 14.02 15.89 17.15 18.13 2007 6.89 7.41 5.87 5.29 4.67 4.01 3.76 3.45 4.18 4.47 5.19 5.86 The above graph shows Icelandic inflation rate over the past 3 years. In the graph, one can make out how the inflation rate climbed up consistently in the year 2008, whereas in the year 2009, the inflation rates kept on falling except in the month of June where it increased, but since then it had kept on decreasing. In the year 2008, the reason why inflation rate climbed up consistently, was because of the krona which had been depreciating, where as in the year 2009, the inflation rates kept on falling as the property prices fell, which resulted in the fall of prices. UNEMPLOYMENT Unemployment can be defined as people who do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the past four weeks, and are currently available for work. Also, people who were temporarily laid off and are waiting to be called back to that job are counted as unemployed. Some types of unemployment are listed below: Structural Unemployment. Frictional Unemployment. Cyclical Unemployment. Since the financial crisis, lead to large percentage of unemployment all over the world, Iceland was also one of them which had a quite high rate of unemployment. Unemployment in Iceland increased tree times more by the end of November 2008. There were more than 7000 registered jobseekers (about 4% of the workforce) in November compared to just 2136 at the end of August 2008. The debt repayment had become more costly as household debt (80%) and 13% denominated in foreign currencies had become indexed. The impact of the crisis was such that since October 2008, 14% of the total workforce had experienced reductions in pay, whereas around 7% of the workforce had their working hours reduced. According to IFL (Icelandic Federation of Labour) president Gylfi Arnbjà ¶rnsson, the above figures were lower than expected More than 85% of the workforce who were currently registered as unemployed in the country, stated that they had become unemployed or lost their jobs in October after that, due to the economic collapse. In December 2008, the unemployed figures which were registered in Iceland was 4.8 per cent, or around 7,902 people an increase of some 45 percent in November, according to the figures from the Directorate of Labour. These unemployment figures were the highest, Iceland had recorded since January 1997. In the same month i.e. December in the year 2007, unemployment rate partly was 0.8 percent, or 1.357 people. The Directorate of Labour had estimated that the figure will rise to 6.4-6.9 percent by the end of January 2009. Among those unemployed, the rate of unemployment among young people had increased the fastest, with the number of registered 16 to 24 year olds jumping from 1,408 to 2,069 in the month to the end of December 2008. This age group accounts for 23 percent of the entire jobless total. UNEMPLOYMENT GRAPH 0.00% 1.00% 2.00% 3.00% 4.00% 5.00% 6.00% 7.00% 8.00% 9.00% 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 The above graph shows the rate of unemployment over the past 7 years. During the financial crisis, the rates skyrocketed especially in the year 2010, due to the banking as well as financial collapse. Many became jobless as banks and other sectors were closed. Other reason why the rate was high in 2010 was, because the fishing sector was affected. This sector accounts for 10% of the total workforce in the country. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is defined in economics as a basic measure of a countrys overall economic output. It is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a country in a year. It is often positively correlated with the standard of living, though its use as a stand-in for measuring the standard of living has come under increasing criticism and many countries are actively exploring alternative measures to GDP for that purpose. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) can be determined in three ways, all of which should in principle give the same result. They are the product (or output) approach, the income approach, and the expenditure approach. Prior to the 2008-2010 crises, the economy of Iceland had achieved high growth, also had a low rate of unemployment, and a remarkably even distribution of income all over the country. The economy depended heavily on the fishing industry which is the main source of their income, which provides 70% of export earnings and employs 10% of the work force. Icelands economy had been diversifying into manufacturing and service industries in the last decade, with new developments in software production, biotechnology, and tourism. During the global financial crisis, the crisis-stricken Icelandic economys GDP shrank by a record 6.5% in 2009, despite having a decent growth of 1% in 2008 and massive growth of 6% in 2007. The decrease in the gross domestic product (GDP) by 6.5% was a record in the national accounts of Iceland. There was a sharp decline in GDP in last year (2009) as the domestic expenditure plunged by 20.1%, then the household consumption also fell to 14.6% due to unemployment and government consumption dwindled by 3%. Also, Icelands fixed capital formation dropped by 49.9%. These were the reasons why the gross domestic product (GDP) fell by a huge margin, in the year 2009. After the crisis, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Iceland managed to expand at an annual rate of 3.30 percent in the last quarter i.e. in the year 2009. Iceland Gross Domestic Product is now worth 17 billion dollars or 0.03% of the world economy, according to the World Bank. Icelands Scandinavian-type social-market economy combines a capitalist structure and free-market principles with an extensive welfare system, including generous housing subsidies. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) GRAPH Year Mar Jun Sep Dec Average 2009 -5.10 -0.40 -7.20 3.30 -2.35 2008 2.90 -6.00 1.80 3.20 0.48 2007 2.10 0.80 5.10 -1.00 1.75 The above graph, describes the changes in the gross domestic product (GDP) of Iceland over the past 3 years. During the years 2007 2008, Iceland recorded a growth in the GDP, which helped in boosting the Icelandic economy. However, most of the year in 2009, it recorded a huge decline of 6.5%, except in the last quarter i.e. in the month of December where it a recorded a positive GDP. The main reasons why the GDP declined in the year 2009 was because the household consumption, the government consumption, as well the domestic expenditure rate had fallen massively, resulting in a negative GDP for the most part of the year. CURRENCY The Iceland currency which is known as krà ³na had been declined more than 35% against the euro from January to September 2008.Inflation of consumer prices was running at 14% and Icelands interest rates had been raised to 15.5% to deal with the high inflation. In the month of October 2008, the effects of financial crisis brought about a collapse in the Icelandic banking sector. The Central Bank of Iceland abandoned its attempt to peg the Icelandic krà ³na at 131 krà ³nur to the euro after it had tried to set this peg in the month. During the month, the Icelandic krà ³na was trading at 340 to the euro when trading in the currency had collapsed because the last major Icelandic bank had been takeover by the FME and thus the loss of all krà ³na trade clearing houses. Then, the central bank introduced restrictions on the purchase of foreign currency within Iceland. From October to November, the European Central Bank quoted a reference rate of 305 krà ³nur to the euro. The Central Bank of Iceland had then set up a temporary system of daily currency auctions in the month of October to facilitate international trade. The value of the krà ³na was determined by supply and demand which took place in these auctions. The first auction sold à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬25 million at a rate of 150 krà ³nur to the euro. Commercial krà ³na trading outside Iceland had again been started in the end of October, at an exchange rate of 240 krà ³nur to the euro, after which Icelandic interest rates had been raised to 18%. The foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank of Iceland had felled by US$289 million during the month of October 2008. During November 2008, the real exchange rate (discounting inflation) of the Icelandic krà ³na, which was quoted by the Central Bank of Iceland, was approximately one-third lesser than the average rate from the period 1980-2008, and also 20% lower than the historical lows during the same period. The external rate which was quoted by the European Central Bank was still lower. On the last trading day of the month November, the Central Bank of Iceland had quoted 182.5 krà ³nur to the euro, while the European Central Bank had quoted 280 krà ³nur to the euro. INTERNATIONAL TRADE The economy of Iceland is small and subject to high volatility. Icelands standard of living is among the worlds highest, in part due to the overall openness of its economy, which has allowed Iceland to reap significant benefits from specialization and trade according to a report on the trade policies and practices of Iceland published by the WTO Secretariat. Iceland has a mixed economy with high levels of free trade and government intervention. Iceland has a free market economy with relatively low taxes compared with other OECD countries. However, government consumption is less than in other Nordic countries. Icelands trade policy is pursued along three main tracks: multilateral trade liberalisation through the WTO, regional liberalisation through the European Economic Area (EEA) with its EFTA/EEA partners and the European Union and finally, bilateral free trade agreements in cooperation with its EFTA partners Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Icelands international treaties hav e strengthened foreign trade. The EEA Agreement covers the free movement of goods, persons, capital and services. Membership in the EEA in 1994 and the Uruguay Round agreement brought greater market access for Icelands exports, capital, labor, and goods and services, especially seafood products. Agriculture is heavily subsidized and protected by the government, with some tariffs ranging as high as 700 percent. Iceland is a part of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The WTO was established on the 1st of January 1995. It is an organization designed to supervise and liberalize international trade. Since the early 1990s, Iceland and its other partners in the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland have established an extensive network of contractual free trade relations in Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean region and with countries in other parts of the world. The WTO deals with controlling of trade between participating countries; it provides a framework for negotiating trade agreements. The country has signed a large number of multilateral and bilateral agreements. Iceland is furthermore strongly committed to the Doha Development Agenda and a fair and equitable outcome that will benefit the entire membership. Iceland supports the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund, which is intended to assist developing countries in taking advantage of the opportunities created by increased trade liberalization. Iceland exports 40% of fish and fish products, 40% of aluminum and alloys and animal products. The main imports are machinery and equipment, petroleum products, foodstuffs and textiles and Cement. Icelands primary import partner is Germany, with 12.6%, followed by the United States, Norway, and Denmark. Currently, the largest trading partner countries are Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries. The fishing industry is one of the most important industries. It provides 70% of export income and employs 6.0% of the workforce; therefore, the state of the economy remains sensitive to world prices for fish products.  [i]  The diversity of Icelands exports has, however, increased significantly in recent years, due to structural reforms and privatisation of state owned entities in finance and other sectors. Exports of manufactured products have been growing rapidly. Services now account for 36% of total export revenues while in 1990 the share was 26%. Icelands ratio of services to total trade is one of the highest among OECD countries. It is the Governments stated objective to provide Icelandic agriculture with a realistic opportunity to adapt to changes in its operating environment, to the benefit of farmers and consumers alike. The growth of international trade had been affected in the 1930s by the existence of tariffs and other barriers to international trade. To avoid such problems an agreement, the general Agreement of Trade and Tariffs, was concluded between 44 countries which included Iceland. Iceland joined GATT in 1968. GATT stated that an international agreement should be created which required a binding code of conduct for international trade; its main objective was the liberalization of world trade. Its principle was that there would be mutual benefits if international trade took place on the basis of non-discrimination and should be gradually reduced through negotiations. The liberalization for international trade gave Iceland confidence in their trade. During the period 2003-07, Iceland developed from a nation best known for its fishing industry into a country providing sophisticated financial services, but was consequently hit particularly hard by the 2008 global financial crisis, which extended into 2009.  [ii]   Self-protection and self-preservation have characterized Icelands foreign trade policy since its independence from Denmark. While Iceland is a highly developed country, until the 20th century, it was among the poorest countries in Western Europe. However, strong economic growth has led Iceland to be ranked first in the United Nations Human Development Index report for 2007/2008.  [iii]   TARIFF Iceland enjoys some of the strongest economic freedoms among all countries However; Iceland is very isolationist as regards to the import of farm products and licenses as well as state monopolies of imports (undergoing a dismantling). Some plant products such as potatoes and flowers are subject to seasonal limitations. Iceland implements high tariffs on agricultural products in order to protect the domestic agricultural sector. Tariffs on certain varieties of vegetables, e.g. tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers are significantly higher during the growing season to protect domestic greenhouse producers. Meat and dairy products, and potatoes are also protected by substantial duties. Animal feed can carry tariffs up to 55%. Over 90% of imports are not subject to import restrictions or duties other than the same value-added tax applied to domestically produced goods. Special excise taxes are levied on sugar and some sugar products, potatoes, and motor vehicles. Agricultural products remain the most heavily taxed. In March 1970, Iceland acquired full membership in EFTA. On 28 February 1973, Iceland ratified a trade agreement with the European Community (later named the European Union) leading to the elimination of tariffs on industrial goods. A law authorizing the establishment of free trade zones went into effect in 1992. Icelands trade regime underwent considerable liberalization in the 1990s with accession to the European Economic Area (EEA) in 1993, and the Uruguay Round in 1994. Current duty rates generally range from 0% to 30% ad valorem and the average weighted tariff is 3.6%. Some goods enter duty-free, such as meat, fish, and dairy products. Icelands average MFN applied tariff is 5.9%. A high percentage of tariff lines (70%) benefit from duty free treatment. The average MFN applied tariff rate  for agricultural products is 18.3% (WTO definition) compared with 2.5% for other goods.  [iv]   Iceland offers preferential tariffs on imports from 37 WTO Members under several free-trade agreements. Regional liberalization has advanced the most within the framework of the European Economic Area (EEA); nonetheless, the average tariff on products from EEA partners is still 3.2%, reflecting the exclusion of several agricultural products from duty-free treatment. A new Customs Law came into force on 1 January 2006 (Act No. 88/2005). According to the authorities, customs clearance for all importation aspects is computerized; electronic data interchange (EDI) covers 98% of the declarations of import and export firms. Customs clearance using EDI takes a matter of minutes, or a few hours if processed manually. CONCLUSION The occurrence of the financial and economic crisis left economists and policymakers wondering about its causes. A vast majority of economist and policymakers blamed the free-market reforms. At the beginning of 1990s, the government of Iceland implemented a set of free-market reforms under the leadership of David Oddsson. The companies own by the state were privatized. Financial markets were liberalized. The central bank was granted full independence in refining extensive inflation. Also, the corporate tax rate was cut from 52 percent in 1985 to 15 percent in 2008. When the financial crisis battered the stock market which led to the breakdown of the banking sector, many economists, analysts and policymakers immediately blamed free-market reforms as the foremost origin of the crisis. However, the empirical evidence and a macroeconomic analysis reverse this kind of thinking. The main origin of the financial and economic crisis that evolved in Iceland is a failure of monetary policy. In 2002, Iceland witnessed a mild recession that ended quickly. Ever since then, the central bank constantly failed to meet the inflation target. In response, it raised benchmark interest rate to double-digit levels. As a consequence of a stunning gap in interest rates, the Icelandic krona strongly appreciated. In such circumstances, high domestic interest rates discouraged the domestic banking sector from borrowing in domestic currency. With interest rates standing at double-digit levels, uncovered interest parity encouraged households, firms and banks to borrow in foreign currency. Iceland has been a part of the news lately because of the recent volcanic eruptions which took place on 15th April 2010 in the glacier Eyjafjallajokull in South Iceland. Day to day business in Iceland apart from the directly affected areas in the south has not been affected. The ash hurled into the atmosphere by the eruption has however caused serious disruption of air traffic due to which number of flights have been cancelled and also heavy losses has been incurred to the aviation sector, especially in UK.

Salem Witch Trial :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Between the months of June to September of 1692, the infamous witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts resulted in the deaths of twenty men and women as a result of witchcraft charges. Hundreds of others faced accusations and dozens were jailed for months during the progress of the trials. There are an numerous number of explanations for the hysteria that over took the puritan population of Salem. This year marked a very disturbing time in the history of the Salem that is unique in the entire history of the United States of America and, in some respect, also in the history of all over the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The maps show the locations of major landmarks, farms, land grants, physical features, and the dwellings of prominent and important residents in Salem during 1692. For example the maps claimed that accusers came mainly from families who lived in the western part of the village, while the accused witches came predominantly from families living nearer to Salem Town. The following persons are not included on the map: the â€Å"afflicted girls† Sarah and Dorcas good, who had no fixed residence; Mary DeRich; and the five Villagers who were both accusers and defenders in 1692. The charts reveal older women were accused of witchcraft because of their economic vulnerability and because they were liable to senility, depression, or both. They also indicate that most of the accused witches were both young and old women. The men fall highest in the category as witnesses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Church was the cornerstone of 17th century life in New England. Most people in Massachusetts were Puritans. Puritans are colonists who had left England seeking religious tolerance. But the strict Puritan code was far from tolerant. It was against the law not to attend church, where men and women sat on opposite sides through long services. The Puritan lifestyle was restrained and rigid. People were expected to work hard and repress their emotions or opinions. Individual differences were frowned upon. Even the dark, somber Puritan dress was dictated by the church. Since Puritans were expected to live by a rigid moral code, they believed that all sins from sleeping in church to stealing food should be punished. They also believed God would punish sinful behavior. When a neighbor would suffer misfortune, such as a sick child or a failed crop, Puritans saw it as God’s will and did not help. Puritans also believed the Devil was as real as God.

Street Children – Bangladesh

STREET CHILDREN – BANGLADESH Children in Bangladesh have to face many challenges. In Bangladesh over 40 million people are living below the poverty line and most of these families do not have own land. They are living and farming in flood-prone areas and face yearly natural disasters, inefficient agricultural technologies, low education, a polluted environment. These family did not get proper health services and is in limited employment. Undernourishment is the common issue for the children. 50 percent of children under age 5 are undernourishment.Children are facing imperative problem with schooling. Very small percent of them complete their primary education. Among them only 40 percent girls complete their primary education. In this situation they need our help. Help the children†¦. This is my very small step to help the Street Children in Bangladesh. They need our help. So we should forward our good hand to help hem. For doing this kind of great job money is not only th e solution, we need the people with good heart and I think you are the one of them.I hope your cooperation to do something good for the children. So come on and cooperate with us with your good think, knowledge, even with a single word. Help the children†¦. If you are stuck for a few minutes at a traffic signal in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, you will probably see children rushing up to the windows of your vehicle. Some of these children carry flowers; some have a stack of books in the crook of their arms, some carry bundles of newspapers and some have candy for sale. They try their best to earn sympathy from commuters to sell their goods.This painful scene is ubiquitous on the streets of Dhaka. These street children are known as Pothoshishu. The street is where they earn their living. The total number of street children in Bangladesh is estimated at 400,000. Almost half of these children live in Dhaka city alone. A very large percentage of these children are young girls. Thes e female street children are especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. On March, 2012 Unnayan Onneshan published a report titled â€Å"social connection of the street girls in the context of Dhaka city, Bangladesh† [pdf].The research shows that the majority of the street girls (37. 50%) sell flowers for a living. 18. 80% of these young girls are forced into prostitution, 6. 25 % work in the clothing industry, 6. 25% become beggars, 12. 50% start as shopkeepers and 6. 25% are paper-hawkers. Almost half of these girls have a measly daily income of Tk. 101-299 ($1. 25-$3. 75). The daily income of 43. 75 % of the girls is Tk. 300 (US$3. 75) and above. But they seem to be the lucky ones, because 6. 25 % of the street girls earn less than Tk. 100 ($1. 25) per day.Almost 45% of these girls do not receive any treatment from government medical facilities or clinics. 3 out of 10 of these girls have never been enrolled in any type of educational institution. Most women in Banglad esh are vulnerable to fall victim to abuse such as rape, murder, eve teasing, dowry and acid attacks. But the street children who spend their childhood under the open skies of Dhaka face such risks on a daily basis. This graph is taken from the above report, which shows statistics of violences inflicted upon street girls:

Paper Religion Research

Paper Religion Research Paper Religion Research Paper Religion Research: Belief in Unapproachable Many students often face difficulties in writing papers on Religion research. Professors and teachers give complicated exercises their students and require delivery from them very often. Hoping to find help-assistance they have to seek support on writing services that could offer them definite papers religion research. According to the theme of paper religion research you may write your opinion and attitude to this topic. In the beginning of your paper religion research you may point out that religion is the belief in admiration of substance called god. Paper Religion Research: There is No God but One Continuing and developing the religion theme in paper religion research, it is necessarily to specify, that there several world well-known religions. If you have to write paper religion research you may use these topics: 1. Christianity Christianity - the largest by number of believers world religion. Christianity appeared in Pal estine as a result of Jesus Christ and his closest followers. The extension of Christianity, especially in the first five centuries of our era, grows very rapidly. The majority of Christians glorify Jesus Christ as the second person of the divine Trinity, one God in three persons (hypostasis): God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The sacred book is Bible. Most Christians believe in the Incarnation, due to Jesus death atoned all the sins of human. Most Christians realize the necessity of the sacraments -special sacred action. 2. Islam Islam is one of the most spread global religions. It is followers- Muslims. Islam appeared in Arabia, the founder is Muhammad. In the Arab conquests result Islam gained popularity in the Middle East. Quran contains all main principles of Islam. The main dogmatic point is the worship of a single almighty God. Almost all countries with basic Muslim Islam is the state religion. 3. Buddhism Buddhism is one of the global religions, it appeared in ancient India. At the heart of Buddhism - the doctrine of four truths: there is suffering, its cause, the state of liberation and the path to it. There is no soul in Buddhism. Paper Religion Research: Rhetorical Question. In the conclusion of your paper religion research you should approach to the main question Is there a God? Does not matter where in the globe religion appeared, way or another it suggests one God. Be careful in writing paper religion research, listen to your heat. Believe in words you are writing and people will accept them.

20 Proficient Essay Topics The Best Facts from the History of Internet Development

20 Proficient Essay Topics The Best Facts from the History of Internet Development In our previous guide, 11 facts on Internet history for a proficient essay, you were given some very interesting research material and now you must be aching to go with a particular topic. You’re in luck because this part of the guide is going to do just that. We have a few highly essay-worthy topics you might find helpful. We assure you after reading these 20 topic suggestions, your mind will be swirling with creative ideas. Here are 20 topics on Internet history for a proficient essay: The Inspiration Behind the Internet. The Global Expansion of the Internet Moral and Ethical Dilemmas with The Expansion of the Internet technology Globally Traffic Handling on the Internet. Spread of the Internet Through Satellites in Outer Space From Telephone to the Internet – Point to Point Communications to Wide Area Networks The Modern Historical Uses of the Internet in Cases Of Wars, Turmoil and Natural Disasters. How File Sharing Conquered a Major Chunk of the Internet Business Uses of the Internet – from Inception Till to Date. The Unreliability of the Internet – No Alternative to the Internet The Evolution of the Internet Development of WWW at CERN Birth of TCP – Transmission Control Protocol Brief History of Internet Browsers The Distribution of the Internet through ISPs The Future of the Internet – What to Expect Now The History of E-marketing How the Internet Revolutionized the Field of Research The Science Behind Domain Names Why Is the Internet Termed as the Most Important Scientific Discovery of the 20th Century? These topic suggestions are sure to spark your intellectual juices so you can write a compelling essay on the Internet’s history. You have half your work cut out; the next part of this guide is a detailed piece on how to write a history essay on the Internet. That’s not all; below is a sample essay on one of the topics mentioned above. This is to give you a fair idea on how to go about writing the essay. Without further ado, here’s the sample essay: Sample Proficient Essay: Development of WWW at CERN It was the year 1980 when Tim Berners-Lee built ENQUIRE. At the time, Mr. Lee was an independent contractor who worked at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research). ENQUIRE was originally designed to be a database for people and models of software. Other purposes included displaying hypertext which means that every page of ENQUIRE was connected to another existing page. Although his contract in the year 1980 was to expire in December, Mr. Lee would return to CERN four years later in 1984 and this time, in a more permanent capacity. He took over the emerging demand and challenges of information management at a time when physicists from all over the globe were desperately looking for better means to share data. It was a dire need at the time to have a common machine which could share data and presentation software. After the return of Mr. Lee at CERN, TCP/IP protocols were installed on a few specific machines which were running non-Unix platforms. Within a few years the institution became one of the most prominent Internet hubs in Europe. CERN’s infrastructure was then the perfect nest for the Internet’s egg to be laid in and all this was possible due to Berners-Lee. And we saw the creation of The Web. In March 1989 Berners-Lee, presented a project proposal which would make access to large hypertext databases possible through typed links. This proposal, unfortunately, was far ahead of its time and attracted very little attention, though Berners-Lee’s boss, Mike Sendall, encouraged him to start building the platform. Hence, Berners-Lee began working on the NeXT workstation to make the proposal possible. It came to be known by several names such as The Information Mine, Mine of Information and Information Mesh. Eventually, Mr. Lee settled on the name we know today as the World Wide Web. It was a lonely road after that, so to speak, and it wasn’t until Christmas of 1990 that Mr. Lee had all the tools necessary to launch a functional Web; the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 0.9, the first Web browser, the first web server, the first HTTP server software and last but not the least, the first ever web page were all made official, which explained the project itself. The initial browser was able enough to handle FTP files and access Usenet newsgroups. The limitation was that it could only run on NeXT. It was Nicola Pellow who translated the system to a simple text browser known as Line Mode Browser which almost any computer could run. To ensure that CERN would still be used, Bernd Pollermann uploaded CERN’s contact information on the web. This was a good development because earlier web users had to log onto the mainframe if they wanted to get that contact information. References: Kenneth P. Birman (2005). Reliable Distributed Systems: Technologies, Web Services, and Applications. Springer-Verlag New York Incorporated. Hillebrand, Friedhelm (2002). Hillebrand, Friedhelm, ed. GSM and UMTS, The Creation of Global Mobile Communications. John Wiley Sons Abbate, Janet (1999). Inventing the Internet. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press Ryan, Johnny (2010). A history of the Internet and the digital future. London, England: Reaktion Books. Turings Legacy: A History of Computing at the National Physical Laboratory 1945–1995, David M. Yates, National Museum of Science and Industry, 1997 Tanenbaum, Andrew S. (1996). Computer Networks. Prentice Hall. Mueller, Milton L. (2010). Networks and States: The Global Politics of Internet Governance. MIT Press.

The Life Of Benjamin Franklin Essays - Benjamin Franklin

The Life Of Benjamin Franklin Essays - Benjamin Franklin The Life of Benjamin Franklin When one takes a look at the world in which he currently lives, he sees it as being normal since it is so slow in changing. When an historian looks at the present, he sees the effects of many events and many wise people. Benjamin Franklin is one of these people. His participation in so many different fields changed the world immensely. He was a noted politician as well as respected scholar. He was an important inventor and scientist. Particularly interesting is the impact on the scientific world. Benjamin Franklin was a modest man who had had many jobs in his lifetime. This may help explain his large array of inventions and new methods of working various jobs. He did everything from making cabbage-growing more efficient to making political decisions to being the first person to study and chart the Gulf Stream movement in the Atlantic Ocean. Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706. He was the fifteenth child in a family of seventeen kids. His parents, Josiah and Abiah Franklin, were hard working devout Puritan/Calvinist people. Josiah Franklin made candles for a living. Since the Franklin?s were so poor, little Benjamin couldn't afford to go to school for longer than two years. In those two years, however, Franklin learned to read which opened the door to further education for him. Since he was only a fair writer and had very poor mathematical skills, he worked to tutor himself at home. Benjamin Franklin was a determined young man. As a boy, he taught himself to be a very good writer. He also learned basic algebra and geometry, navigation, grammar, logic, and natural and physical science. He partially mastered French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Latin. He was soon to be named the best educated man in the country. When he was 12-years-old, he was apprentice to his brother in printing. Benjamin's brother founded the second newspaper in America. Many people told him that one newspaper was enough for America and that the paper would soon collapse. On the contrary, it became very popular. Occasionally, young Benjamin would write an article to be printed and slip it under the printing room's door signed as "Anonymous". The following is a direct quote from Franklin's Autobiography. It describes his writing the articles as a boy. "He (Benjamin's older brother) had some ingenious men among his friends, who amus'd themselves by writing little pieces for this paper, which gain'd it credit and made it more in demand, and these gentlemen often visited us. Hearing their conversations, and their accounts of the approbation their papers were received with, I was excited to try my hand among them; but, being still a boy, and suspecting that my brother would object to printing anything of mine in his paper if he knew it to be mine, I contrived to disguise my hand, and, writing an anonymous paper, I put it in at night under the door of the printing-house. It was found in the morning, and communicated to his writing friends when they call'd in as usual. They read it, commented on it in my hearing, and I had the exquisite pleasure of finding it met with their approbation, and that, in their different guesses at the author, none were named but men of some character among us for learning and ingenuity. I suppose n! ow that I was rather lucky in my judges, and that perhaps they were not really so very good ones as I then esteem'd them." Benjamin liked the printer's job but couldn't ezd being told what to do all of the time. He desperately felt the need to be his own boss. That day would come. In 1730, Franklin married Deborah Read, who was the daughter of the first Philadelphia landlady. Read was not nearly so well educated as her husband. In old letters that she had written to him, there are many misspellings and improper punctuation marks. They were a very happy couple despite their differences. They eventually had two boys and one girl. One of the boys, William, became governor of New Jersey. When Franklin was 21-years-old, he began his career as a civic leader

Cross Cultural Managment and Communication at Mitsubishi Essay

Cross Cultural Managment and Communication at Mitsubishi - Essay Example Such a lack of communication is causing problems in the Rand D department in the US. Moreover, there are time delays due to poor communication, lack of coordination and the general employee dissatisfaction of not having the work done between the two departments. With the frameworks, the report intends to identify the problem areas of these two departments and thus be able to come up with a solution to these problems. The frameworks used in the report are Hofstede and the research of Hall. These have been chosen as they will help highlight the problems that the two departments of Mitsubishi are facing. As per Frank, M. (2001) the first framework analyses the organizational culture which is influenced by the national culture. This thus gives a stark comparison of the two cultures and thus the differences once highlighted indicate to the solutions of the problems. The Hall research has been used to analyze because it analyses and highlights the characteristics of the individual employees as well as their collective characteristics as a team. Such characteristics reveal the problems that they face and thus help in understanding the situation better. With the use of these frameworks an attempt has been made to analyze the problems for Mitsubishi and to see how the cross cultural communication and management affects the working of an organization. Moreover, what factors create such problems and make t hings difficult for a firm’s progress are illustrated. Mitsubishi has its operations in US that oversees sales, finance, manufacturing and research and development. However there are stark differences in the culture and management styles in the operations of the firm’s Japanese and American operations. This is because there are cultural, legal, political and economic differences in the two countries which account for the differences in the management styles.

The Value of Subprime Mortgage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

The Value of Subprime Mortgage - Essay Example ot address prime mortgages, prime mortgages â€Å"are typically made to borrowers who have a strong credit history and can demonstrate a capacity to repay their loans...†2 On the other hand the term â€Å"subprime† is generally classified as mortgages or loans made to borrowers with an undesirable or elevated credit history or loan to borrowers with desirable credit history that â€Å"exceeded the property value†3 In such a case the borrower is typically charged with a higher interest rate and â€Å"up-front and continuing cost†4 in order to balance the risk associated with the likelihood of delinquencies or even foreclosure.5 In the article Prime Mortgages -Think Twice the writer, Michael Challiner points out that the subprime market accounts for over 4000 types of subprime mortgages. Furthermore, Challiener emphasized that the subprime â€Å"mortgages are extremely complex, higher fees tend to be charges, the amount lent compared to the value is likely to be lower and the interest higher than in the rest of the mortgage market.†6 The rapid growth of subprime mortgage loans began in the late 1990s.7 The growth was a result of the three pieces of federal regulations. First in 1980, Congress enacted the â€Å"Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA) of 1980" under Title V which preempted the interest rate cap.8 Two years later in 1982 the Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act (AMTPA) was enacted which provided for flexibility in the use of â€Å"interest rates and balloon payments.†9 By 1986 another law emerged this time the Tax Reform Act (TRA) which â€Å"prohibited the deduction of interest on consumer loans, yet allowed interests on mortgages for a primary residence as well as one additional home.†10 As such, the late 1990s regulations show the emergence of the subprime market into the â€Å"wider capital markets as it rapidly secured a place in both the home purchase and home equity mortgage market.†11 This paper examines the

Economics (the law of demand and supply) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Economics (the law of demand and supply) - Essay Example The price that people are willing to pay for a certain product correlates with the quantity of goods supplied are supplied by the suppliers in the market. In economic terms, the law of supply states that the price of the product plays a pivotal role in determining the amount of goods that can be produced at a certain period since this is what people will be willing to buy at that moment. Thus, the law of supply is directly related to the price of the product given that it shapes the behaviour of suppliers. The relationship between the price of the product and the quantity supplied can be graphically illustrated using graphs called supply curves. As going to be explained, it can be seen that there is a movement along the supply curve as well as a shift in position of the same supply curve to the left or to the right as a result of various reasons. As such, this essay seeks to evaluate the main difference between movement along the supply curve as well as a shift in position of the sup ply curve. Various factors that can contribute to the shift in the supply curve are also going to be outlined and discussed in detail. According to Kotler and Armstrong (2004), a supply curve is used to show the quantity of products that can be supplied into the market at a particular price. This curve is diagrammatically presented in an upward slope where each point along the slope depicts the price of the goods and the quantity supplied at that particular moment.... If the price is high, this also entails that the level of supply is also high since the producers will be willing to supply more which is likely to result in the generation of more revenue which constitutes the basics of every business. As such, there is an upward or downward movement along the supply curve as shown in Figure 1 below. Figure 1 Source: http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/economics3.asp As illustrated in the graph above, points A, B and C are showing the relationship between the price of the product and its supply. An upward movement along the supply curve from point B to C shows that an increase in the price of the product also means an increase in supply. It can be seen that P2 is lower that P3 while at the same time Q2 is lower than Q3. Price is the major determinant of the movements along the supply curve. The movement can also be downward where lower prices will mean the quantity supplied is low as well. The higher the price, the higher the products l ikely to be supplied given that more revenue will be generated as a result of high prices. On the other hand, a shift in the supply curve occurs when there is a change which is parallel to the original position of the supply curve. This shift can be on the left side or right side of the original supply curve. When this shift occurs, the price of the product remains the same (Netmba, 2010). There are other variables which are different from price change that can cause the supply curve to shift either to the left or right side of the original supply curve. For instance, an improvement in manufacturing technology can lead to a shift in the supply curve. There are also various factors that can cause the supply curve to shift as

Orgnization design class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Orgnization design class - Essay Example The essay proposes a number of ways the organization can use to switch their consumer to the younger generation from the old. Further, it provides the reasons and benefits of shifting their brand position. The world’s statistics support that the young people make up the largest portion of the world’s population. As such for any marketer, in the motorcycle industry, the young people should be key target population. The young population consists a significant portion of the markets. Compared to the older population, there are a number of strategies that the marketers ought to articulate differently to reach out and attract the young population. First, the digital age is a technologically knowledgeable. The information and communications industry are fully appreciated by the young population hence the most effective marketing method. Social media is among the top most effective platform of reaching out to the young persons from the age of 15 to 34. The age group is within the age bracket of potential consumers. As such, the company’s marketing strategy should exploit the social media platforms available such as Facebook, Tweeter, and Myspace. The mobile phone is part of most young people’s lives. It is the easiest way of impressing the young people (Venzke, 29). Another approach is developing models that are appealing that are appealing to the young generation. The company’s current models have majorly attracted old people and mainly men. Therefore, the new brands should have the young males and females in mind. For this to successful, the young generation specialist should be deeply involved in this strategy. Clearly, such are the only person who is aware of what the young people want. They will help deliver what is appealing to the target population. The employees should be the company’s greatest asset. They will help

IT - Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

IT - Project Management - Essay Example Despite the fact that the code of ethics may not be accepted in the academic field, universality may not be wide accepted because of difference in culture, and varied business environment. It is believed that ethical codes should be accepted across all the business environments and ethical principles arise (Cleland, & Gareis, 2006). There are various reasons that can be attributed to this. one is that since professional ethical codes are quite useful and that they share several grounds, they thereby increase the usefulness of adhering to the ethical codes. In adhering to the professional codes of ethics, accountability and standards are established within a profession. In a professional field where standards exist, one would use to evaluate his/her behaviors and compare with expectations from the profession code of ethics. When professionals have defined their ethical rules, they will easily identify on their limits on which to act upon. In setting up the accepted codes of ethics for professionals that they should attain at their minimum efforts, the standards will help push them to meet the expected practices and conducts. In practicing what the code of ethics actually states, the public will consider to be having value and professionals will be acting as examples to the reality. If professionals fully stick to the codes of ethics, they will be honored, and seen as reliable and be seen to practice faithfulness and follow what is good instead of doing what have been set to the as minimum acceptance. Trade-off is a case where one decides to lose quality in a given aspect but gain quality in another aspect in return. There are a number of players of tradeoff. In electricity, electrical engineering employs tradeoffs used in amplifiers to trade gain properties such as bandwidth, stability of the gain and bias point, immunity noise, and finally the distortion in the nonlinear is reduced. Information scientists employ tradeoffs as their tool of trade. They believe th at a given program may be faster in processing if more of its program is used. Such a tradeoff is termed space-time tradeoffs (Kerzer, 2009). It was not his. It was sussy’s In medicine, tradeoffs are faced with problems as far as tradeoff is concern. For instance, a prostrate cancer patient has to weigh the chances of a prolonged life expectancy verses treating stress. That kind of tradeoff is known as patient trade off. In tradeoff that exists in a government, the controversies that exist in politics and problems faced in the social arenas at a given time. Any kind of political event can be considered a series of tradeoffs, and that the foundation of it core vales are targeted to the politicians or high profile people. Trade-off can also be found in music; in this field, instruments of a soloist can be termed tradeoff since they perform the duties of a soloist. For instance, a lead guitarists performing in a musical group, the two shares a guitar solos. Tradeoff mainly appli es to a case where heavy metals are used during a twin guitars featuring. Project management experience documentation Project management concerns planning, controlling of resources so as to complete the project successfully thus achieving set goals. During my work in one of the constructing firms as a project manager, I ensured that all the stages that are to be undertaken and activities involved in the project were well planned. During the planning, all the teams who were in my function were involved. Before the project commenced,

JFKs assassination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

JFKs assassination - Essay Example The successor of JFK Lyndon B. Johnson suffered a credibility gap as illustrated in the polls. That showed that Americans no longer trusted their government due to other evils happening around the same time such as Vietnam War, assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior,and the unfolding Watergate scandal preceding years of malaise. The death of the lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald dispelled shock and confusion during an abortive transfer by strip club operator Jack Ruby. President Johnson instituted the Warren Commission to unravel the mysterious death of JFK. It became as one of the most vilified investigation panel in American history due to conspiracy and cover up. Hawken investigates that Lee Harvey Oswald is the likely assailant linked to the death of JFK. Prior to the death of JFK, Oswald was a Marine that worked as a radar operator based at U-2 spy plane. Once he left the Marines, he went to Russia where he interacted with KGB operatives. He lived an extravagant lifestyle probably due to crucial information he passed to the Soviets concerning U-2 spy operatives. In reality, Oswald was working for the CIA while smokescreen as a traitor to America. Warren affirms that Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots that killed JFK from the building’s southeastern sixth-floor window. That is the same evidence depicted by Dallas Police Department, FBI, and Texas School Book Depository employee. Conspirators’ theories posit Oswald as a lone gunman in the league of other plotters that fail to gain foothold in the popular imagination of the likelihood of having another gunman. A Philadelphia attorney observes confusion, shock, and pandemonium at the crime scene amidst sensory assaults of wailing sirens, roaring motorcycles, and animated throng cheering the arrival of the President. Skeptics stress on the eyewitnesses reports that seem to contradict the official conclusion. Several witnesses claim of hearing four shots while the Warren report cites of three

Orgnization design class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Orgnization design class - Essay Example The essay proposes a number of ways the organization can use to switch their consumer to the younger generation from the old. Further, it provides the reasons and benefits of shifting their brand position. The world’s statistics support that the young people make up the largest portion of the world’s population. As such for any marketer, in the motorcycle industry, the young people should be key target population. The young population consists a significant portion of the markets. Compared to the older population, there are a number of strategies that the marketers ought to articulate differently to reach out and attract the young population. First, the digital age is a technologically knowledgeable. The information and communications industry are fully appreciated by the young population hence the most effective marketing method. Social media is among the top most effective platform of reaching out to the young persons from the age of 15 to 34. The age group is within the age bracket of potential consumers. As such, the company’s marketing strategy should exploit the social media platforms available such as Facebook, Tweeter, and Myspace. The mobile phone is part of most young people’s lives. It is the easiest way of impressing the young people (Venzke, 29). Another approach is developing models that are appealing that are appealing to the young generation. The company’s current models have majorly attracted old people and mainly men. Therefore, the new brands should have the young males and females in mind. For this to successful, the young generation specialist should be deeply involved in this strategy. Clearly, such are the only person who is aware of what the young people want. They will help deliver what is appealing to the target population. The employees should be the company’s greatest asset. They will help

JFKs assassination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

JFKs assassination - Essay Example The successor of JFK Lyndon B. Johnson suffered a credibility gap as illustrated in the polls. That showed that Americans no longer trusted their government due to other evils happening around the same time such as Vietnam War, assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior,and the unfolding Watergate scandal preceding years of malaise. The death of the lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald dispelled shock and confusion during an abortive transfer by strip club operator Jack Ruby. President Johnson instituted the Warren Commission to unravel the mysterious death of JFK. It became as one of the most vilified investigation panel in American history due to conspiracy and cover up. Hawken investigates that Lee Harvey Oswald is the likely assailant linked to the death of JFK. Prior to the death of JFK, Oswald was a Marine that worked as a radar operator based at U-2 spy plane. Once he left the Marines, he went to Russia where he interacted with KGB operatives. He lived an extravagant lifestyle probably due to crucial information he passed to the Soviets concerning U-2 spy operatives. In reality, Oswald was working for the CIA while smokescreen as a traitor to America. Warren affirms that Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots that killed JFK from the building’s southeastern sixth-floor window. That is the same evidence depicted by Dallas Police Department, FBI, and Texas School Book Depository employee. Conspirators’ theories posit Oswald as a lone gunman in the league of other plotters that fail to gain foothold in the popular imagination of the likelihood of having another gunman. A Philadelphia attorney observes confusion, shock, and pandemonium at the crime scene amidst sensory assaults of wailing sirens, roaring motorcycles, and animated throng cheering the arrival of the President. Skeptics stress on the eyewitnesses reports that seem to contradict the official conclusion. Several witnesses claim of hearing four shots while the Warren report cites of three

Ontology in Anselm, Descartes and Kant Essay Example for Free

Ontology in Anselm, Descartes and Kant Essay Ontology is a purported proof that God exists. The ontology provided by St. Anselm in the eleventh century set the standard in Western thought, and on which all subsequent ontology attempted to measure itself. Before the renaissance and the age of reason it was generally agreed that only a fool would deny the existence of God. Accordingly the ontology of St. Anselm employs the attitude of a fool – meaning some one without any of the higher concepts of philosophy – as the crux of the argument. The argument commences with a definition of God: â€Å"Now we believe that [the Lord] is something than which nothing greater can be thought† (81). The association made is to perfection, for only in perfection can we conceive nothing beyond. In traditional attempts at ontology the strategy was to find God amongst the splendor of his creation. Anselm, however, eschewed the evidence of experience and tried to affect a proof from pure thought. It is placed in the head of a simpleton, and in this way is made to appear as stemming from the innate mind, and not clouded by the errors of perceptual understanding. Anselm’s fool wants to cling to the idea that â€Å"God is not!† But such atheism does not strangle the thought processes inside the head. It necessarily searches for perfection, that being the natural inclination of man, which is to seek happiness, comfort, order, and so on. Can the fool imagine perfection, asks Anselm. The answer is that he cannot. For whatever ideal it fixes on, the mind surges past it for something even better. However, this relentless ascendancy within the mind presages the existence of perfection therein, for otherwise the mind chases after nothing. Now, since we have already identified perfection with God, the mind imagines God, and indeed strives towards it. Existence in the mind will not suffice as ontology. Therefore, as the next step in the argument, Anselm attempts to measure the idea with reality. We must next consider whether that which has been imagined as perfect has a corresponding reality beyond the mind. If it does not then we have a contradiction. For being in the mind alone we are then able to imagine something even greater than it. That which was imagined as perfect now turns out have something that is more perfect than it. Anselm is sure that he has found a contradiction here. So he proceeds to conclude:   â€Å"Therefore, there is no doubt that something than which a greater cannot be thought exists both in the understanding and in reality† (82). Descartes, though largely accepting this ontology, doesn’t accept the contradiction derived in the final step. He argues that reality has not been introduced at all, but only an idea if reality. In the final analysis the entire ontology is taking place in the head. It is an imagined God that Anselm proves, says, Descartes, not a real one. His correction, therefore, was to consider the phenomenal world after all. In this manner he laid out what has famously come to be known as â€Å"Cartesian doubt†. The world of sensory experience, when examined philosophically, naturally induces doubt, for all perspectives are subjective. It is impossible to construe an objective form subjective sensory experience. But instead of holding back doubt Descartes allows it full reign. He starts to explore what else can be doubted. Soon it is found that not only material reality, but also all the perceptions and ideas of the mind must also be doubted, for they all stem from the same faculty of understanding. But his doubting reach must come to and end eventually, when he comes to consider consciousness itself. Descartes discovers that he is unable to doubt the â€Å"I†, for it is the â€Å"I† itself that is doubting, i.e. thinking. Thus his famous conclusion, â€Å"Cogito, ergo sum† – I think, therefore I am (68). From the proof of self-existence to the proof of God is a simple step. A self that is subject to doubt is imperfect, and therefore implies the existence of Creator who is perfect. Kant, in turn, comes to dismiss both these attempts at ontology on the simple premise that existence is not a predicate. In other words, it is meaningless to say simply â€Å"God is.† Our concepts of understanding allow us to apply reason in the form of sentences that contain both subject and predicate. So that we can say that ‘God is good’, or that ‘God is merciful’. But simply ‘God is’ is not meaningful, and human understanding does not allow such speculation. In effect, Kant is saying that ontology is not possible. This is in concord with the rest of Kant’s philosophy, which emphasizes that we are not able to pronounce on the noumenal world, i.e. on â€Å"things in themselves†. He describes three categories of noumena – the soul, the material world, and God, the last being the source of the first two. Therefore God is definitely part of Kant’s philosophical scheme, only that he remains beyond human understanding, and we cannot even pronounce on God is the simplest form – ‘God is.† Just as we cannot know anything about the soul, or the material world, as things in themselves, but only come to know the consequences of them. Our understanding is limited to the phenomenal world, where practical reason applies. Kant also speculates on the existence of a transcendental â€Å"pure reason†, that which overcomes the anomalies of practical reason. Pure reason is identified as an end in itself, and is thus identified with perfection. He stipulates it as a moral imperative that we pursue â€Å"pure reason† as the highest goal. Yet he refuses to identify this perfection with God, and differs with Anselm on this point. He also differs with Descartes’ ‘cogito, ego sum’, and complains that logic is being applied to derive existence, the rationale being that the part cannot be used to explain the whole. The least objectionable ontology, in my opinion, is that of St. Anselm’s. To make this point I will show that the refutations put forward by Descartes and Kant are not appropriate. Descartes’ complaint was that the proof given by Anselm is wholly ideal, without reference to the phenomenal world to give it substance. But Anselm does indeed refer to the phenomenal world, when he introduces the postulate that the ideal of perfection has no corresponding existence in the real world. In fact on this postulate the entire argument hinges, for it is used to derive the contradiction, from whence the ontology ensues. â€Å"Cartesian doubt† a merely a long-winded way of coming to the same conclusion. Kant’s complaint, on the other hand, is not really an argument at all, but rather a boast that he has not has to use the words â€Å"God exists† anywhere in his philosophy. For to pick on the grammar of â€Å"God exists† on the justification that the noumenal world is unknowable is taking matters too strictly. Even accepting Kant’s theory, it is not right that we desist from pronouncing the existence of God. He may not have done so explicitly, but Kant does indeed pronounce of the existence of God in the implicit sense. As a moral precept to action he gives us the categorical imperative: â€Å"I am never to act otherwise than so that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law† (13). The universal law is pertaining to the moral law, which is described as an end itself, and therefore is no different from the idea of perfection. An imperative is only categorical when it works universally, without contingency. To paraphrase Kant, the rationale of human existence is to pursue the moral life in order to attain to perfection, in other words, God. Other than the fastidious insistence of grammar, Kant does not really object to Anselm’s ontology. With both Descartes’ and Kant’s objections discredited, Anselm’s ontology must stand as the best, being the simplest and most intuitive. Works Cited Anselm. Basic Writings. Translated by Thomas Williams. Boston: Hackett Publishing, 2007. Descartes, Rene. Meditations on First Philosophy: With Selections from the Objections and Replies. Translated by John Cottingham. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Kant, Immanuel. Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2004.

Contributory Factors To Formation Of ECOWAS

Contributory Factors To Formation Of ECOWAS Economic of West African State ECOWAS and SADC Southern African Development are two of the numerous regional integration bodies in Africa. While ECOWAS is one of the bodies that focus on West African economies, SADC focuses on southern African Economies. ECOWAS is a regional body created on 25th May, 1975 during its first conference in Lagos, where it treaty was signed. The idea of having a united west African body was first proposed by the then Nigerian head of staff, Yakubu Gowon. His idea was to collectively achieve a self-sufficiency through integration of the sixteen West African countries into an economic block with a single market controlled around an economic and monetary union.the community started with a5 members. Later on Cape Verde joined in 1976, but Mutituana withdrew it membership in December 2000. At the moment, the commission has 15 members namely Benin, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Sierra Leone ,Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Senegal, Togo, Gambia, Cape Verde and Burkina Faso. Niger and Guinea have both been suspended due to coup dà ©tat incidences. in detail, the main objective of ECOWAS is to promote co-operation and integration in order to create an economic and monetary union for encouraging economic growth and develo pment in West Africa, through: The suppression of customs duties and equivalent taxes the establishment of a common external tariff; the harmonization of economic and financial policies the creation of a monetary zone. However, due to the slow pace encountered in implementing this treaties, the treaty was revised in Continuo in Benin on July 23, 1993. The new treaty adopted a less rigid collaboration. The new treaty subdivided ECOWAS into The Commission, The Community Parliament, The Community Court OF Justice, ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID). These institutions are intended to be the tools used to implement their policies. Southern African Development Community (SADC), in like manner, is a regional integration body that encapsulates Southern African countries. It is an intergovernmental organization that primarily aims at achieving greater socio-economic corporation and integration as well as political and security collaborations among it 15 member states. The current day SADC is actually product of the formerly existing Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), which was formed in 1980. As the name of SADCC implies, it was only a conference since 1980 until the treaty was signed in Windhoek, Namibia, on 17th august, 1992 and SADC was formally created. After the signing of the treaty, it seized from being a coordinated conference to being a development community. The members are mainly southern African countries, namely: Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republi c of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The core objectives of SADC are: Harmonise political and socio-economic policies and plans of Member States; Mobilise the peoples of the region and their institutions to take initiatives to develop economic, social and cultural ties across the region, and to participate fully in the implementation of the programmes and projects of SADC; Create appropriate institutions and mechanisms for the mobilisation of requisite resources for the implementation of the programmes and operations of SADC and its institutions; Develop policies aimed at the progressive elimination of obstacles to free movement of capital and labour, goods and services, and of the peoples of the region generally within Member States; Promote the development of human resources; Promote the development, transfer and mastery of technology; Improve economic management and performance through regional cooperation; Promote the coordination and harmonisation of the international relations of Member States; Secure international understanding, cooperation and support, mobilise the inflow of public and private resources into the region; and Develop such other activities as Member States may decide in furtherance of the objectives of SADC. On 14 August 2001, the 1992 SADC treaty was revised. The revision shows a change in the structure, policies and measures of SADC. One of the transformations is that political and security cooperation is included in the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security (OPDS). To achieve it objectives, the organisation was subdivided into 8 bodies. i.e. The Summit, comprising heads of state or heads of government, are at the top .OPDS, the Council of Ministers, Tribunal, SADC National Committees (SNCs), and the Secretariat. The formation of both bodies (ECOWAS and SADC) have been necessitated and expedited by many factors ranging from social, geographic, economic, political and security factors. In the subsequent chapter, we shall discuss these factors in detail. Discussion Economic Factors Economic factor is one important factor that contributed to the formation of ECOWAS and SADC. Normally countries where they form economic Integration they have stable and close economic condition. The aim of this chapter is to compare the economic condition of member of ECOWAS and SADC. In this chapter we will investigate about key economic Indicators such as GDP (PPP), GDP (real growth rate), and Inflation Rate, Exchange rate, Current account balance and Central bank discount rate. ECOWAS GDP (Purchasing power parity ) First Key indicator is GDP (PPP). Following graph shows the difference between members of ECOWAS. The average GDP of ECOWAS is 35.63 Billion. Nigeria got the highest GDP between member countries.bot rest of countries are bellow 50 billion USD per year. So we can say somehow they have similar condition in GDP (PPP) and their GDP is almost close to each other. GDP Real growth rate Second Economic factor is Real GDP growth rate, because of 2009 finical crisis we cannot have clear picture of economic growth of ECOWAS, however the graph shows that only one member of ECOWAS experienced negative growth rate in 2009 and rest of countries experienced positive growth rate. The average growth rate is 3.2 Inflation rate Average inflation in ECOWAS is 6.08% and Ghana got the highest inflation rate in ECOWAS which is 19.6% , and Niger got the lowest interest rate which is 0.1% Exchange Rate 6 members of 15 members of ECOWAS use one kind of currency which Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) and their exchange rate is 1 USD = 481.35 XOF. So using one single currency make it easier for countries to form and an economic integration and member of ECOWAS have this advantage and it make them to be more successful to reach their economic goals Current Account Balance: Following graph shows the current account balance of ECOWAS member. CoteDIvoire is the only country which had positive current account balance in year 2009 which was 65 Million USD. Average current account balance is negative $16440 million. Central Bank Discount rate 8 members of ECOWAS have same central bank discount rate which is 4.75%. highest discount rate between member countries belongs to Ghana. Having same discount rate is positive points for countries where they want to form an Economic Integration. SADC GDP (Purchasing power parity ) First Kye indicator is GDP (PPP). Following graph shows the difference between members of SADC. The average GDP of ECOWAS is 76.67 Billion. South Africa got the highest GDP between member countries.bot most of countries are bellow 25 billion USD per year. So we can say somehow they have similar condition in GDP (PPP) and their GDP is almost close to each other. GDP Real growth rate Second Economic factor is Real GDP growth rate, because of 2009 finical crisis we cannot have clear picture of economic growth of SADC, however the graph shows that 6 members of SADC experienced negative growth rate in 2009 and rest of countries experienced positive growth rate. The average growth rate is 0.33 Inflation rate Average inflation in SADC is 10.51%. Seychelles got the highest inflation rate in SADC which is 34%, In other hand Mauritius got the lowest interest rate which is 0.1%. over all they have similar condition. Exchange Rate Average exchange rate between SADC member countries is 1 USD = 836.1. The highest rate belongs to Lesotho and the lowest rate is for Zambia. Current Account Balance: Following graph shows the current account balance of SADC members. 3 countries have positive current account balance in year 2009. The average Current account balance is $165 Million. Angola got the best situation which shows that Angolas export is higher than its Import. However the rest of members got almost similar condition and their balance is almost near each other Central Bank Discount rate Following graph shows central banks discount rate of SADC members the lowest rate belongs to Mozambique which is 9.95 and highest belongs to Angola which is 19.57. the average rate is 13.65%.If we look closely we can see that the rates are very close to each other. and lending condition is almost similar in members country. Social and cultural factor By overview the factor of formation of both African union (ECOWAS and SADC), similarity of society can be claim as one of the factor toward the formation for both of the union. Due to geographical reason, nations that locate in same regions will affect each other in any of their decision making. Moreover, society daily activity or culture may also spread easier from one nation to another within a region due to easier of contact in geographical reason. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was created on May 28, 1975 by signed of Treaty of Lagos. It is a regional group of 16 West African countries namely, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d ivore, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and lastly Togo. ECOWAS was form for the purpose to achieve collective self-sufficient for the member states by means of economic and monetary union creating a single large trading bloc. Despite the wide variety of cultures in West Africa, from Nigeria through to Senegal, there are general similarities in dress, cuisine, music and culture that are not shared extensively with groups outside the geographic region. Islam is the predominant historical religion of the West African interior and the far west coast of the continent; Christianity is the predominant religion in coastal regions of Nigeria, Ghana, and Cote dIvoire; and elements of indigenous religions are practiced throughout. Along with historic migrations, these religions have culturally linked the peoples of West Africa more than those in other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. Traditionally, musical and oral history as conveyed over generations by Griots are typical of West African culture. Many of the religious practices are Islamic, but most are Christian. However, over 50% of the West African populations are Islamic. Mbalax, Highlife, Fuji and Afro beat are all modern musical genres which enjoin listeners in this region. A typical formal attire worn in this region is the flowing Boubou (also known as Agbada and Babariga), which has its origins in the clothing of nobility of various West African empires in the 12th century. The Djembe drum, whose origins lie with the Mandinka peoples, is now a popularly played drum among many West African ethnic groups. The Kora is a 21-string harp-lute of Mandinkan origin, played by various groups in the region. The Djembe, Kora, the silk Kente cloth of the Akan. Peoples of Ghana and the distinct Sudano-Sahelian architectural style seen in the many mosques of the region are the primary symbolic icons of West African culture. The game Oware is quite popular in many parts of West Africa. Soccer is also a pastime enjoyed by many, either spectating or playing. The national teams of some West African nations, especially Nigeria, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, regularly qu alify for the World Cup. Britain controlled The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria throughout the colonial era, while France unified Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Cà ´te dIvoire and Niger into French West Africa. Portugal founded the colony of Guinea-Bissau, while Germany claimed Togoland, but was forced to divide it between France and Britain following First World War. Only Liberia retained its independence, at the price of major territorial concessions. Southern African Development Community (SADC) was formed in 1980. The origins of SADC lie in the 1960s and 1970s, when the leaders of majority-ruled countries and national liberation movements coordinated their political, diplomatic and military struggles to bring an end to colonial and white-minority rule in southern Africa. The immediate forerunner of the political and security cooperation leg of todays SADC was the informal Front Line States (FLS) grouping. SADC do have 15 members (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Mauritius, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Seychelles, and Madagascar(suspended)) which all of them are from southern part of Africa. Southern Africa is home to many cultures and people. It was once populated by San, Namaqua and Pygmies in widely-dispersed concentrations. Due to the Bantu expansion which edged the previous peoples to the more remote areas of the region, the majority of ethnic groups in this region, including the Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Ndebele, Tswana, Sotho, and Shona people, BaLunda, Mbundu, Kikuyu and Luo, speak languages which share common Bantu language traits. The process of colonization and settling resulted in a significant population of European (Afrikaners, Anglo-Africans, Portuguese Africans, etc.) and Asian descent (Cape Malays, Koreans, Indians, etc.) in many southern African countries. The region has a wide diversity of ecoregions including grassland, bushveld, karoo, savanna and riparian zones. Even though considerable disturbance has occurred in some regions from habitat loss due to human overpopulation, there remain significant numbers of various wildlife species, including White Rhino , lion, leopard, impala, kudu, blue Wildebeest, Vervet monkey and elephant. Moreover most of the southern Africa country did produce raw material like gold, diamonds, and iron ore. Political and security factors Besides trade and the benefit of the efficiencies of a regional market, the reason for the establishment of a regional block, is to promote political progress, more especially for government which have been installed due to majority votes of its electorates and the population in a democratic election. The report stresses democratically elected government for a few reasons: To ensure that checks and balances are properly in place, thereby preventing against the concentration of power in a particular political office. To ensure that the views of the people are properly addressed, somewhat ensuring that the government is installed to ensure socio-economic development. These and some others are the reasons why we focus on democratically elected government. Furthermore, there are presently 16 countries in the ECOWAS, with the exception of Republic of Guinea and the Republic of Niger which recently were taken over by military juntas ( more on these nations will follow ) all the other members of the ECOWAS countries are ruled by democratically elected governments. REPUBLIC OF GUINEA In December of 2008 a military coup led by a junior officer in the Guinean army, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, seized power in a bloodless coup after the death of president Lansana conte, after years of hanging on to power. As mention earlier, the report focuses on democratic governments and this was displayed when people were killed by the military under the new government. Human Rights Watch accused members of the presidential guard of carrying out a premeditated massacre of at least 150 people at the rally and raping dozens of women. REPUBLIC OF NIGER The ousted president of the republic is president Mamadou Tandja, who dissolved parliament after the countrys constitutional court ruled against plans to hold a referendum on whether to allow him a third term in office. According to the constitution, a new parliament was elected within three months.This touched off a political struggle between Tandja, trying to extend his term-limited authority beyond 2009 through the establishment of a Sixth Republic, and his opponents who demanded that he step down at the end of his second term in December 2009. Besides the example of Guinea and Niger, the political situation in the western Africa sub region, have been marred by conflicts, civil, societal, political and violent changes in government and revolts. In Sierra Leone, the Congo and Liberia, we have conflicts that erupted from the disagreements for the control of the nations vast deposits of Diamonds. This act put these countries in a state of chaos, and also led to the enslavement of individuals, some of whom were used to mine for diamonds at gun point. There were also reports of child soldiers in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The conflict in sierra loane was reportedly initiated by a former corporal in the sierra leoeneian army, Foday Sanko, and he was rumored to be supported by former rebel leader and president of Liberia president Charles Taylor. After years of conflicts, these nations have however achieved relative peace, with new and hopefully stable democratic governments. The political situation in the southern region of Africa is one of relative peace and stability. With the exception of Zimbabwe which has had some unrest due to a change in government policies and a shift in the political situation of the nation. The same also lies for Madagascar, which had a change of government in a bloodless coup, by the mayor of the capital (Antananarivo); the nation was subsequently suspended from the SADC after the fact. Regional peace and security ECOWAS became concerned early on with peace and regional security which are necessary factors in the socio-economic development of the Member States. Thus, the Authority of Heads of State and Government adopted a non-aggression protocol in 1978, a defence assistance protocol in 1981 and a declaration of political principles in July 1991. This declaration which is a plea for democratic principles in the sub-region condemns unequivocally any seizure of power by force of arms. It must also be pointed out that in 1990 the Authority of Heads of State and Government created an ECOWAS cease-fire follow-up group called ECOMOG. This peace-keeping force had cause to intervene in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau. LIBERIA After it had been deployed in the Republic of Liberia in August 1990, ECOMOG worked there to restore peace, ensure security and law and order. It also engaged in many humanitarian activities aimed at reducing the sufferings of the people. In sum, ECOMOG helped considerably to create favourable conditions for the holding in Liberia of the free and democratic presidential and parliamentary elections of 19 July 1997. Eleven Member States of ECOWAS provided contingents for the operations in Liberia these are: Burkina Faso, Cà ´te dIvoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo.Two other African States also participated, Uganda and Tanzania. SIERRA LEONE The intervention of ECOMOG forces in Sierra Leone occurred following the overthrow of the lawful government of this country headed by President Ahmed Teejan KABBAH. In February 1998, ECOMOG restored constitutional legality and reinstated the government of the democratically elected President. All the antagonists in the conflict, namely, the lawful government, the RUF rebels and the members of the (AFRC) military Junta signed in Lome in September 1999 an agreement protocol on the final settlement of the Sierra Leonean crisis. Following the appeals made to the international community for it to give meaningful assistance for a final restoration of peace, a United Nations peace-keeping force UNAMSIL replaced ECOMOG forces in Sierra Leone. The ECOWAS countries which provided contingents for ECOMOG operations in Sierra Leone are Ghana, Guinea, Mali and Nigeria. GUINEA BISSAU In June 1998, units of the armed forces of Guinea Bissau led by the former Chief of Defence Staff went into rebellion. On account of the bilateral defence and security agreements that linked his country to Guinea and Senegal, President Joao Bernardo Vieira asked for the intervention of the armed forces of these two countries. At the request of the lawful authorities of Guinea Bissau and in order to reaffirm its support for the elected government of Guinea Bissau, the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government decided to restore peace and reinstate President Vieira in authority over the entire country. A mechanism for supervision and control of the cease-fire was set up by ECOWAS with the contingents of soldiers sent by Benin, Niger and Togo. In spite of the numerous cease-fire agreements signed between the parties to the conflict in Guinea Bissau, the democratically elected government of President Vieira was finally overthrown. Drawing lessons from this failure and in order to reinforce peace and security in West Africa, the Executive Secretariat of ECOWAS initiated the establishment of a mechanism for the prevention, management and settlement of conflicts and for the maintenance of peace and security in the sub-region. The ECOWAS Mechanism For Conflict Prevention, Management And Resolution, Peace-Keeping And Security Our sub-region has been ravaged in recent times by violent upheavals which, each time, have resulted in the wholesale loss of human lives, wanton destruction of property, and suffering and desolation for the innocent civilian population. These civilians are frequently pushed by famine and disease into taking refuge in neighboring countries or becoming displaced persons within their own countries. It is fortunate that on each occasion, the ECOWAS sub-region, unlike the other regions in Africa, has been able to set in motion ad hoc conflict resolution procedures which have made it possible to circumscribe its crises. ECOWAS peace-keeping activities have in the main been considered commendable despite a few shortcomings noted. However, in view of the heavy human, material and financial cost of such conflicts and their negative impact on the development of the states concerned and on the sub-regional integration process, it has now become necessary to shift emphasis from conflict resolution to conflict prevention. To this end, but also for better management of full scale conflicts as well as internal crises which are now the most common, the Heads of States and Government decided at their meeting in Lome on 17 December 1997, to establish a mechanism for conflict prevention, management and resolution and for peace-keeping. The scope of the mechanism would be extended to include security-related issues. With respect to conflict prevention, management and resolution, appropriate proposals were advanced regarding the establishment of an observation and monitoring system and a number of organs that would assist in containing and defusing imminent conflicts. The observation system would consist essentially in the establishment of a regional network within which states would be grouped into zones. A Regional Observation and Monitoring Centre should be established within the Executive Secretariat to give warning of impending crisis. All information having a bearing on regional peace an security collected by zonal bureaux would be transmitted to the centre. The centre will record and analyze all such data and take action on any signs of a breakdown in relations between Member States or of alarming socio-political developments within Member States. Four (4) observation centers were created with headquarters in Banjul (The Gambia), Cotonou (Benin), Monrovia (Liberia) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). The necessary political implications can quickly be drawn and appropriate measures taken. To facilitate this process, it is proposed that a Council of Elders and a Mediation and Security Council should be established. It was proposed to use African traditional practice as a guide and establish a Committee of Elders made up of eminent personalities from the sub-region, Africa and beyond, who would use their vast experience, good offices and competence on behalf of ECOWAS to play the role of mediator, conciliator and arbiter. Its members would be chosen by the Executive Secretary in consultation with the Chairman of Council as and when the need arose. A Mediation and Security Council comprising nine Member States will be empowered, on behalf of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, to take such emergency decisions as may be required in crisis situations. It is proposed that the Mediation and Security Council should consist of 9 Member States elected for a two year mandate, and that the current and immediate past chair should have automatic membership on the Council. The Council may consider and make recommendations on issues within its area of competence within any or all of the following bodies: the Committee of Ambassadors of the nine (9) Member States; the Committee of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Internal Affairs and Security, and the meeting of Heads of State of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council. These different bodies may solicit the opinion of defense and Security Commission. Membership of the Commission shall be dictated by the issues for discussion. Member States may therefore be represented by their Chief of Staff, security chiefs, experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, heads of immigration, Customs, narcotics, or border patrols. The Commission shall examine the technical aspects of defense matters and advise on the requirements of the administration and logistics support for peace-keeping operations. In cases of armed conflict, ECOWAS shall employ both political and military intervention. The term ECOMOG shall continue to designate the military instrument of ECOWAS. ECOMOG shall be based on a standby arrangement involving the use of national contingents that shall be earmarked, trained and equipped, and organised for deployment at short notice. Another major innovation is the proposal that ECOWAS should intervene to undertake peace-keeping operations in internal conflict where the situation: threatens to trigger a humanitarian disaster; pose a serious threat to peace and security in the sub-region; erupts following the overthrow or attempted overthrow of a democratically-elected government. The draft mechanism lays down the procedure to be followed where the decision is taken to intervene. Proposals are also made regarding the composition of ECOMOG, its chain of command, duties and functions and funding for administrative and logistics support. In order to correct the impression that ECOWAS has failed, in previous operations, to adequately support its peace-keeping operations with humanitarian action, it is suggested that, in situations of conflicts or natural disasters, ECOWAS should ensure a high profile with regard to alleviating the suffering of the populace and hastening the return of normalcy. A number of recommendations were made in respect of this and of peace-building. The scope of the mechanism was widened to include security issues, in accordance with the directives of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs and Security. A number of recommendations in the draft mechanism attempt to address the concerns of our leaders concerning the movement of light weapons and ammunitions and the increasing incidence of cross-border crime. The Executive Secretariat has sought to combat small arms proliferation more effectively by preparing a draft declaration of a moratorium on light weapons based on the moratorium presented by Mali on the importation, exportation and manufacture of light weapons and the Programme for Coordination and Assistance for Security and Development (PCASED). The draft declaration has been adopted by the Heads of State and Government. The European Union generously made available to ECOWAS an amount of 1.9 million Euros for undertaking certain operational activities of the mechanism. Having addressed the issue of a security outfit in western Africa, it is worthy to note that the SADC does not have an established military outfit. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION SADC The community adopted objectives to look out for the welfare of the member states. In dealing with matters of anything against this i.e violation of human rights all must be put in correcting and condemning such situations. However this has not been the case on the ongoing Zimbabwean catastrophe, in fact this is one of SADC s biggest failures. In attending to the matter in which Robert Mugabe has been in power for 40years now, in which he unlawfully took land from white people who contributed a lot to the economy through farming giving it to poor black people who cannot even do anything with it, breaking his own black peoples houses. The opposition took a stand against all the wrong that was going wrong in the country earning many of them brutal military attacks, many died, many imprisoned for no good reason the opposition leader even ran to Botswana after alleged rumors of plots to kill him by the Robert-led millitary. All that SADC did was send the former South-African president Th abo Mbeki for peace talks between the ruling ZANUPF and the opposition MDC. This effort could be applauded however Thabo Mbeki happens to be one of Roberts best friends back from the colonialism days they fought for freedom together, which is why he and SADC adopted the silent diplomacy way to go about the matter. This proved very useless the situation worsened civilians were killed everyday for opposing the ruling party, many people died of diseases even worse the economy collapsed, taking things to the core the world imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe. The world spoke SADC kept saying we will do things our way. This is to say SADC needs more efficient, effective and stronger methods in matters involving peoples lives. They should condemn when democracy is not well practiced only Botswana and Namibia took a strong stance to say this is inhuman and the situation should be given more seriousness. Silent diplomacy is not working more power-backed methods must be put in place to see to it t hat peoples rights are not violated ,democracy an rule of law are seen to. There is a continuing loss of millions of lives to HIV/AIDS but the message is being spread on how to prevent infection. It then becomes a problem when a prominent leader in society like Jacob Zuma the current South-African president promotes promiscuity otherwise. The man is married to five women but 2years back he was involved in a rape scandal in which he was alleged to have raped an HIV positive women knowing of her status but not caring to get infected and passing it on to his wife. The man hid behind culture