Pregnancy and Juno free essay sample

The protagonist of the film is 16-year-old, Juno MacGuff. Juno has to face the dilemmas of an unexpected pregnancy. She finds what seems to be the perfect adoption couple, but when her adoption plans take a turn for disaster, Juno must dig herself out of her sticky situation and do what’s best for her baby. At the start of the film, Juno decides to have unprotected sex with her close friend, Paulie Bleeker. Her choice to have un-protected sex is a choice she hasn’t taken into a whole lot of consideration, consequently leading Juno to becoming pregnant. The mise-en-scene at the start of the film shows us how Juno now feels about her pregnancy. Juno stands across from the armchair Bleeker and she had sex on, while a voice over says, ‘It started with a chair. ’ The armchair seems much larger than Juno even though they are about the same size. We will write a custom essay sample on Pregnancy and Juno or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The chair represents Juno’s sudden pregnancy, something dominant, something overwhelming her. Juno looks small in comparison to the chair, showing us that she feels small, insignificant and weak. New Zealand has a shocking teen pregnancy rate, with 3,800 babies born to teens throughout the country every year. Teenagers who have sex without using protection may not expect to end up with a pregnancy, because they naively believe that the chances of a pregnancy are too slim for it to happen to them. When a teen becomes pregnant they can be left in a position of helplessness because they were never prepared to deal with a baby. This is the consequence of not being careful enough and not protecting yourself when aving sex, something that Juno has to deal with. Juno plans to quickly get rid of the baby by arranging an abortion. Juno goes to the clinic where she meets a Soo-Chin, fellow classmate, who is holding an anti abortion sign in the clinic car park. Soo-Chin tells Juno that her baby is well alive inside of her, and has even grown fingernails. Juno finds this interesting, but continues into the clinic. She waits for her appointment inside, but as she is waiting, the reality t hat her baby is in-fact alive inside her scares Juno into canceling her abortion. This is shown by the added foley sound effect of people’s fingernails inside the clinic. As Juno waits she hears the sounds of people’s fingernails drumming, filing and scratching reminding her that her own baby already has fingernails. The sound of the fingernails starts to resemble a pulse, making Juno feel uncomfortable and nervous, causing her to run out of the clinic. Juno later arranges a closed adoption instead of an abortion. Many pregnant teens who choose not to abort do so because they do not want to cause pain to the baby living inside of them. This choice means that they have to carry on with the pregnancy at their tender age. They later keep the baby or adopt out likewise to Juno. Juno chooses a couple, Mark and Vanessa, who seem like the perfect parents for Juno’s child, and so Juno arranges a closed adoption. But nearing the end of Juno’s pregnancy, she discovers that Mark plans on leaving Vanessa, throwing all of Juno’s adoption plans away. Juno becomes distraught; but even without Mark in the picture, Juno realizes that Vanessa is dedicated enough to love and care for the baby. This is shown to us by the technique of the bird’s-eye view, when Juno and her friend are at the mall, and spot Vanessa. Juno looks down at her from above, almost as if she was assessing her, and sees that Vanessa naturally has a way with children. Juno writes a note to Vanessa saying that she is still up for the adoption if Vanessa is too. We see that the carefully thought out choice that Juno makes turns out positively, as Vanessa gets the child that she’s always wanted, and Juno’s life settles again. The use of set shows us that the dilemma has concluded, as we see a rocking chair, with a voiceover that says ‘It ended with a chair. ’ Vanessa’s room is cluttered and her clothing is very casual, showing that she has finally let go of her proper, uptight self. The mise-en-scene of the very final scene also shows us that Juno’s choice resulted well, as Juno and Bleeker are seated opposite each other. They are in complete symmetry and are of equal size, showing us that they are both in harmony and all is well. Adoption is a process growing in popularity in today’s society. It can be very convenient for both sides of the adoption. People who desperately want their own children and cannot have any can adopt someone else’s child, giving the child a nurturing home that the child probably wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. The biological parent of the adopted child is probably unable to provide a nurturing home for the child, or not at an age where parenting is an option. So the choice of adoption becomes convenient for them, knowing that their child will go to someone else who will love them and will be able to take very good care of them. Many techniques help build up the important idea that all of our actions will have consequences. We see that sometimes, spontaneous choices can lead to unexpected, negative results, such as Juno’s pregnancy. We see that sometimes, our gut feeling or instinct can change our choices, like when Juno decides not to abort her baby. Juno also shows us that choices that are thought out will usually turn out for the better, an example we see from the ending of the film. Because the teen pregnancy rate in New Zealand is one of the highest in the world, Juno is an easily relatable film for teenagers in our country, who may even learn a thing or two from watching Juno’s situation play out before us. This is why the film Juno is such a successful and charming watch. Great – apart from a couple of inaccuracies and a suggestion or two that I have made in-text, this is definitely working towards Excellence level.

George Braque essays

George Braque essays Although George Braque (May 13, 1882 - Aug. 31, 1963) was one of the most influential painters of the twentieth century his name is all but forgotten. He has received little credit for his efforts towards the creation of analytic cubism. Many art historians believe that his prestigious role as father of analytic cubism was cut short because of Picassos fame. Many arguments have arisen asking the question: Who is the father of cubism? There is no doubt that Picasso started the spark which ignited modern art movements with the creation of Les Demoiselles dAvignon.. But, soon after Picasso created this work Braque created Houses at LEstaque. This painting started the analytic phase of cubism. With this in mind, it can be stated that Picasso is the father of modern twentieth century art and Braque is the father of analytic cubism. George Braque is one of the most influential painters of the twentieth century. He co-worked with Picasso to create cubism and helped spark all the future art movements of the twentieth century. As well as this, he was the influence that made Picasso the fame that he was to become. Braque has never received the recognition he should have because of Picassos fame, but his personal position in the art community was high and his involvement with World War One was a major culprits that aided in his downfall in artistic popularity. Who the father of cubism?, has always been a question that has pondered the minds of art historians and scholars. It is clear though that both Braque and Picasso played their prominent role in the creation of cubism. Picasso provided, with his proto-Cubist Demoiselles, the initial liberating shock. But it was Braque, largely because of his admiration for Cezanne, who provided much of the early tendency toward geometrical forms. Braques early tendency towards geometric form and cubes was the spark which ignited the...

Goddesses and Sexual Assault in Greek Myth

Goddesses and Sexual Assault in Greek Myth Everyone knows the stories of Greek gods sexual encounters with mortal women, such as when Zeus stole Europa in the shape of a bull and ravished her. Then, there was the time he mated with Leda as a swan, and when he turned poor Io into a cow after having his way with her. But not only human women suffered violent sexual attention from the opposite sex. Even the most powerful females of them all - the goddesses of ancient Greece - fell victim to sexual assault and harassment in Greek myth. Athena and the Snake Baby Patroness of Athens and all-around brilliant divinity, Athena was rightly proud of her chastity. Unfortunately, she ended up enduring harassment from fellow gods - there was one, in particular, her half-brother, Hephaestus. As Hyginus recounts in his Fabulae, Hephaestus approached Athena - whom he says agreed to marry her brother, although that’s doubtful. The bride-to-be resisted. Hephaestus was too excited to keep control, and, â€Å"as they struggled, some of his seed fell to earth, and from it, a boy was born, the lower part of whose body was snake-formed.† Another account has Athena coming to her blacksmith brother for some armor, and, after he attempted to rape her, he â€Å"dropped his seed on the leg of the goddess.†Ã‚  Appalled, Athena wiped his sperm off with a piece of wool and dropped it on the ground, inadvertently fertilizing the earth. Who was the mother, then, if not Athena? Why, Hephaestus’s own ancestress, Gaia, a.k.a. Earth. The child resulting from Hephaestus’s attempted rape of Athena was dubbed Erichthonius - although he may have been one and the same with his descendant, the similarly-named Erechtheus. Summarizes Pausanias, â€Å"Men say that Erichthonius had no human father, but that his parents were Hephaestus and Earth.† Dubbed â€Å"earth-born,† as in Euripides’ Ion, Athena took an interest in her new nephew. Perhaps that was because Erichthonius was an interesting fellow - after all, he was to be king over her city of Athens. Athena stuck Erichthonius in a box and wrapped a snake around him, then entrusted the child to the daughters of Athens’ king. These girls were â€Å"Aglaurus, Pandrosus, and Herse, daughters of Cecrops,† as Hyginus says. As Ovid recounts in his Metamorphoses, Athena â€Å"ordered them not to pry into its secret,† but they did anyway†¦and were either repelled by the snake and baby snuggling - or the fact he mightve been half-snake - or were even driven insane by Athena. Either way, they ended up committing suicide by jumping off the Acropolis. Erichthonius wound up becoming king of Athens. He established both his foster mother’s worship on the Acropolis and the festival of the Panathenaia.   Heras Hardly on Cloud Nine Not even the Queen of Olympus, Hera, was immune to disgusting advances. For one, Zeus, her husband, and the king of the gods may have raped her to shame her into marrying him. Even after her wedding, Hera was still subjected to such horrible incidences. During the war between the gods and the Giants, the latter stormed their rivals’ home on Mt. Olympus. For some reason, Zeus decided to make one giant in particular, Porphyrion, lust after Hera, whom he was already attacking. Then, when Porphyrion tried to rape Hera, â€Å"she called for help, and Zeus smote him with a thunderbolt, and Hercules shot him dead with an arrow.† Why Zeus felt the need to jeopardize his wife in order to justify his murder of a giant - when the gods were already slaying the monsters left and right - boggles the mind. This wasn’t the only time Hera was nearly raped. At one point, she had an ardent mortal admirer named Ixion. In order to satisfy this guy’s lust, Zeus created a cloud that looked exactly like Hera for Ixion to sleep with. Not knowing the difference, Ixion had sex with the cloud, which produced the half-human, half-horse Centaurs. For presuming to sleep with Hera, Zeus sentenced this man to be strapped to a wheel in the Underworld that never stopped turning. This cloud-Hera had a long career of her own. Named Nephele, she ended up marrying Athamas, a king of Boeotia; when Athamas’s second wife wanted to harm Nephele’s children, the cloud lady popped her kids onto a ram - who just happened to have a Golden Fleece - and they flew off. In a similar episode to Hera and Porphyrion, the giant Tityus lusted after Leto, the divine mother of Apollo and Artemis. Writes Pseudo-Apollodorus, â€Å"When Latona [Leto in Latin] came to Pytho [Delphi], Tityus beheld her, and overpowered by lust drew her to him. But she called her children to her aid, and they shot him down with their arrows.†Ã‚  Also, like Ixion, Tityus suffered for his misdeeds in the afterlife, â€Å"for vultures eat his heart in Hades.† Holding Helen and Pursuing Persephone Apparently, sexual assault on the divine ran in Ixion’s family. His son by a prior marriage, Pirithous, became best friends with Theseus. Both guys made vows to abduct and seduce (read: rape) daughters of Zeus, as Diodorus Siculus notes. Theseus kidnapped a pre-teen Helen and may have fathered a daughter with her. That child was Iphigenia, who, in this version of the story, was raised as Agamemnon and Clytemnestra’s kid and was, of course, sacrificed at Aulis in order for the Greek ships to get good winds to sail to Troy. Pirithous dreamed even bigger, lusting after Persephone, daughter of Zeus and Demeter and wife of Hades. Persephone’s own husband kidnapped and raped her, ending up forcing her to stay in the Underworld a good part of the year. Theseus was reluctant to try to abduct a goddess, but he had sworn to help his friend. The two went into the Underworld, but Hades figured out their plan and chained them down. When Heracles trotted down to Hades once, he freed his old pal Theseus,  but Pirithous remained in the Underworld for eternity. Ancient Greece as a Rape Culture? Can we actually identify consent or rape in Greek myth? In some colleges, students have requested trigger warnings before discussing particularly violent Greek texts. The incredibly violent circumstances that appear in Greek myths and tragic plays have led some scholars to deem ancient Greek tragedy a â€Å"rape culture.†Ã‚  It’s an interesting notion; a few classicists have argued that misogyny and rape are modern constructs and such ideas can’t be used effectively when evaluating the past. For example, from one perspective arguing  for terms like â€Å"seduction† and â€Å"kidnapping† over â€Å"rape,† negates the character’s anguish, while other scholars see rape as an initiation rite or identify victims as the aggressors. The above hypotheses can be neither confirmed nor denied but can present different arguments for the reader to consider both sides and to add a few more stories to the repertoire of seduction or sexual violence in Greek myth. This time, there are stories of the highest ladies in the land - goddesses - suffering as their female counterparts did.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Goes on the Road Essay

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Goes on the Road - Essay Example Pervious attempts at a portable design have met with limited success due to the sensitivity of the technology that is required. NMR technology works on the principle of identifying an atom's structure by measuring its resonance. As spinning nuclei in the atom are subjected to an intense magnetic field, they will line up with the lines of magnetism either opposing them or matching them. As another oscillating magnet is induced into the field, the nuclei begin to reverse the direction of their spin. When the spin reverses, energy is released as the nuclei go from a higher state to a lower state or vice versa. A coil can pick up this energy as electricity in the same way a magnet can induce an electric current through an electrical wire in a generator. The researcher is not looking only for electric current. The key to NMR is finding the frequency of the externally oscillating field where the nuclei give off the most energy. This is known as the frequency of resonance. By monitoring the electrical output over a range of frequencies, scientists look for the frequency where the output spikes. This is unique for every different element and by measuring this frequency, the element can be identified. By evaluating the mix of elements and their relative quantities, complex molecules can be identified. The article notes that while previous portabl

Research Summary and Ethical Considerations , consequences of nurses Essay

Research Summary and Ethical Considerations , consequences of nurses working long hours. needs to bequalitative or quantitative study - Essay Example Patients go to the hospital expecting the best of care from the nurses. When this is not the case due to nurses working for long hours, there emerges a cause for concern and immediate remedy. The consequences of nurse working for long hours are prioritized because of the intensity of human suffering that is associated with poor medical attention /care. The purpose of this study is to identify the consequences of long working houses for nurses and how they affect their ability to provide appropriate medical care to patients. Consequently, the goals of this study lead to formation of recommendations that can be adopted to handle the problem at hand. The purpose and the research question are directly related to the problem. Exploring ways to answer the research questions will give relevant information on the nature of the problem and provide insights on ways to deal with it. Qualitative methods such as case study analysis are appropriate in answering these research questions. Basically, the key consideration is how the nurses who work over long hours have behaved over time. The cases will provide information for analysis. There are qualitative and quantitative studies that have concentrated on highlighting the major consequences of long working hour’s for nurses. The school of nursing from the University of Pennsylvania conducted a study in 2012 where 22, 275 nurses were interviewed to give their experiences of working for more than 10 hours. The same study also interviewed patients who had been attended to by the nurses after the elapsing of the recommended working hours. Close to 80% of the nurses reported burnout due to fatigue and said they felt sleepy after working for 12-13 hour shifts. 70% of the patients interviewed reported dissatisfaction with the attention and medical care given to them by the nurses working for long hours. It has also been noted in the research conclusions that not much is done to improve the situation the nurses face. Other

Discovering Your Authentic Leadership Essay Example for Free

Discovering Your Authentic Leadership Essay The article discussed authentic, original, leadership. It explained the importance of discovering one’s own leadership. To do that, the article points that you should be yourself! Do not impersonate another leader. By doing so, people around you will know that you are trying to behave like someone else, which may lead to mistrust. Authentic leaders are usually passionate about their goals. They make sure to always practice their values, lead with both their emotions and their minds and they aim for long and meaningful relationships. Original leaders give meaning to their lives by overcoming difficult experiences. By giving meaning to their lives, leaders become more effective. Authentic leaders make it a point to develop themselves on their own. They dislike having a plan handed to them that limits them and forces them to follow a certain pattern or procedure set by someone else. They see that as a kind of copying someone else’s style. When making their own plan for development, they install their own values and morals into it. Thus making it easier for them to practice those values and developing them further. It is also essential for authentic leaders to balance their motivation sources. They should balance judgment, criticism and reprisal. Original leaders see their organization as a very important aspect of their lives. This enables them to clarify their beliefs, values and their understanding of important issues. They also give honest feedback to people around them when it is needed. The practical steps of being an authentic leader are to stay grounded , Empower people around to lead, learn from their life, knowing themselves, practicing their values, balancing intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and finally build a support team.

Existentialism in Kafkas Metamorphosis :: Metamorphosis essays

Existentialism in Kafka's Metamorphosis      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The book Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka, is based on the views of existentialism.   One of these main views is alienation or estrangement which is demonstrated by Gregor's relationship with his family, his social life, and the way he lives his life after the metamorphosis.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although Gregor doesn't realize it, the relationship between him and his family is not good. Gregor is taking over his father's responsibilities leaving nothing for Gregor's father to be responsible for. At the same time, Gregor is making plans to send his sister to a good school, but he fails to discuss this idea with her.   To make things worse, Gregor even goes as far as to lock his own bedroom doors at night. He thinks that his family is content with what he is doing, but the only thing that Gregor accomplishes is to alienate himself from his family.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Not only is Gregor alienating himself from his family, but he is also alienating himself from society.   Gregor goes on many trips for his job, and instead of going out to meet people, he stays at the motel and does nothing. For this reason Gregor doesn't have a friend or a girlfriend that he can find support in.   He follows the same routine everyday of his life and fails to look ahead into the future.   By secluding himself like this, Gregor's life becomes like the life of a cockroach.   It is for this reason that he transforms into this creature.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gregor's life as a cockroach is no different than his life as a human. Whenever Gregor tries to communicate with someone, the only thing that comes out of his mouth are cockroach noises that scare his family, and his appearance causes his family to not want be around him. His sister tries to take care of him, but eventually she becomes weary of this never ending task and forgets about him. Gregor is once again alienated from his

Determinants of Germany’s Economic Robustness Essay

Exports account for more than one-third of national output and the Germany’s strong export performance in goods or merchandise is also denoted by the term Exportweltmeister (world champion exporter). However, analysis of German’s economic history demonstrates that the country did not face constant growth throughout the years. It also had to face moments of recession just like other countries and its own past (reunification) appeared to have been a cause of German’s slow growth at times. Following are figures of German’s GDP throughout the last 3 decades which will help us to emphasise our statement. While the decrease in the year 1990s can be associated with the unification and the costs involved, that of 2010-2011, can be associated to the global recession that the world experienced then. Yet, even in the recession marred years, the German economy managed to stay stable as the world sixth largest country in terms of GDP (2009. ) Now, against the background of fragile global recovery and the intensification of the eurozone crisis, Germany has recorded strong GDP growth and a declining trend in unemployment. What’s the secret of such a robust economy? Referring to Germany, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said in December 1989 at a Strasbourg summit â€Å"We defeated the Germans twice! And now they’re back†. Although this statement was related to politics, it appears to be relevant in the economic context as well. As such, our study will consist of analysing more in details the secret behind this particular success or consistency and will also involve comparison of countries which also have more or less the same pattern of Germany but still cannot reach their level of development to underline what are those parameters which make Germany so unique. Current Situation Germany’s economy is holding up better than expected amid the Eurozone’s debt crisis, as robust demand from outside of Europe has helped offset weak activity on the continent. Several other factors contribute to Germany’s solid macroeconomic position. Germany is the only major advanced economy which had lower unemployment rate in 2012 than it had in 2007. The level of German GDP has increased by a cumulative 5. 8% since the beginning of 2010, compared to 2. 3% for the eurozone. The monetary conditions set for the entire eurozone by the ECB are accommodative for Germany given the strong cyclical position of its economy. As a consequence of safe-haven capital inflows, yields are also at extremely low levels. Furthermore, Germany has a strong net external creditor position and a large, albeit gradually declining, current account surplus. The German financial sector has stabilised since 2009 and liquidity is abundant in the current environment. However, meeting Basel III requirements will remain a challenge for German banks in light of modest profitability and still a high leverage. Since mid-2008, German banks have cut their total eurozone exposure by â‚ ¬332bn, a 30% fall, of which â‚ ¬187bn was withdrawn from Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, a fall of 44%. Despite this fast pace of deleveraging, the quality of the remaining assets may well deteriorate further as the recession deepens in the periphery. In its semi-annual economic outlook, the German central bank raised its forecast for domestic GDP growth this year to 1. 0% from 0. 6% in the December outlook due to better-than-expected first quarter growth that was largely the result of strong exports to emerging markets. The upward revision brings economic activity near its potential growth rate of 1. 25. Growth in 2013 is seen at 1. 6%, down 0. point from December’s forecast due to a statistical correction resulting from the revisions for this year. The Eurozone crisis â€Å"may have left its mark, but the good structural condition of Germany’s economy and the robust global economy have maintained the upper hand,† Still, the outlook remains â€Å"highly uncertain,† with risks stemming â€Å"overwhelmingly† from external factors. While weak Eurozone g rowth in the debt crisis has already been factored in to the forecasts, Germany’s export-driven economy would be vulnerable to a â€Å"noticeable weakening† of conditions outside of Europe. Germany remains exposed to the systemic component of the crisis. A significantly deeper recession of its large eurozone trading partners could also push Germany into recession with negative repercussions for the fiscal stance as well. Furthermore, additional sizeable contribution to eurozone bail-out funds, on top of the EFSF guarantees, could push German debt level above 90% of GDP, close to the upper limit Fitch generally considers consistent with a ‘AAA’ rating. Materialisation of these risks would put downward pressure on the rating. Germany has all the ingredients of a declining public debt path. The economy is growing, budget deficit is moderate and nominal interest rates reached record low levels. Nevertheless the longer track record serves as a warning sign. Despite the fiscal rules of the eurozone, the debt/GDP ratio had increased to 83% by 2010 from 55% in 1995. During the 13 years of monetary union, the German debt ratio declined in only five years and has been above the 60% reference value since 2003. PROBLEM STATEMENT The problem that leads us to undertake this research is simple. Observing the amazing performance of Germany in the international market even in the period of recession, one wonder how this can be achieved by them while the others are still struggling. It becomes apparent that there must be some particular reasons behind this success. Research Question/Hypothesis H1: There is something unique that make Germany successful in the international market. H2: There is a relationship between the implementation of new economic policies with the economic performance of Germany H0: There is nothing unique about Germany’s success. They work on the same policies as other countries. OBJECTIVES AND AIMS OVERALL OBJECTIVE By this study, we hope to underline the policies that led Germany to success and from this knowledge, have a better understanding of the strengths and weakness of a business environment. Overall, we aim to have clear knowledge about impact of business environment on performance of business undertakings. In the long term, we can use the technique used in this research to analyse any business environment before setting up of any business firm. Also, we can advice other developing countries about implementing those policies which could benefit them considering their own business environment and also be on their path of development just like Germany. This research can be considered as a tool to determine business opportunities as well. SPECIFIC AIMS Understand the parameters that made the economy very strong in the market How is that amidst the gloom Germany continues to be the engine that drives the Eurozone economies, and also helping to bail out a few? How does the robust, high-tech manufacturing sector continue to be the export champion? What role do the academic system and â€Å"Deutsche Tugenden† play in the success? What is the special Trade School training system that creates highly skilled technical workforce? Take into considerations other macroeconomic indicators particular to Germany Understand how one can take advantage of the strengths and weakness prevailing in its environment * Have valuable and actual knowledge of economic concepts BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE 1. (Raymond J. Ahearn and Paul Belkin; the German Economy and U. S. -German Economic Relations 2010) By most standards, post-war West Germany registered impressive economic performance in the first decades of its existence. But beginning in the mid-1990s, the German economy has been on a much lower growth path, averaging about 1. 5% of GDP per year. Unemployment has also risen steadily. These trends, which have been exacerbated by a steep 5% decline in German GDP growth in 2009, raise questions about the long-term vitality and strength of the German economy. A number of factors help explain Germany’s declining growth rate. One factor has been the high cost associated with integrating the formerly communist East German economy into the Federal Republic since reunification in 1990. A second has been the growing cost of Germany’s generous social security and welfare programs and associated regulations which some believe may undercut incentives for work and entrepreneurship. A third is an economy that is more geared towards exporting than domestic investment and consumption. With declining economic growth and rising expenditures on social protections, Germany faces significant budgetary and resource constraints. A prosperous German state remains critical to both the U. S. and European economies. Difficulties Germany may have in regaining a stronger economic position are important concerns, affecting the U. S. -German partnership’s ability to mutually address and manage a range of bilateral, regional, and global challenges. The report therefore elaborates on these themes in three parts: the first section examines Germany’s economic performance in historical perspective and assesses some of the domestic factors that may be contributing to Germany’s less than optimal performance; the second discusses the reform challenges facing Germany’s political leaders; and the third section evaluates a few salient U. S. -German economic policy differences and strains that seem to be influenced by Germany’s weakened economic situation. 2. Financial System Stability Assessment, report prepared by the Monetary and Capital Markets and European Departments and approved by Jose Vinals and Antonio Borges, June 20, 2011; results in the following main findings: The main findings of the FSAP are: * The German financial system is recovering from the global crisis, yet low profitability hampers many banks’ ability to build stronger buffers against the shocks that could hit the global economy and especially Europe; * Structural reforms are overdue. The Landesbanken require thorough restructuring and probably downsizing, but the imperative to loosen constraints and strengthen banks’ commercial orientation is more general; * The standard of financial sector regulation and supervision is high. The crisis showed that more timely information, additional on-site supervision, and follow up through forward-looking supervisory action are needed; and * The framework to manage financial crises has been enhanced significantly, particularly with the introduction of a new bank resolution regime. Deposit protection schemes need to be rationalized, and Germany should actively help efforts to develop mechanisms to deal with cross-border crises. Very interesting report, but emphasises on the financial sector of the country and its current scenario only. 3. Talking about articles with reference to the German’s secret for economic robustness, there are various available were the authors aim to point out these parameters which made Germany so powerful in today’s market. As such, an article from www. guardian. co. k goes on saying: â€Å"Germany invested heavily in its Bavarian science and technology base, identifying future growth sectors and building clusters of excellence to attract investment†¦ it’s still â€Å"making stuff†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ While the British focused on becoming lawyers and money men, Germany continued to respect engineering and making things (not just money)†. Mr James Dyson, Author of Ingenious Britain, did not agree that this par ameter was the cause behind the German success and responded to this statement by saying â€Å"In your coverage of the German success story, not a word has been printed on the German â€Å"housing market†. It is as if this were detached from the overall economic and cultural formula. Is it not a fact that Germany has a large, affordable rented sector with secure tenancies that deters a quick- housing-buck mentality? Does this housing culture not sustain investment in proper wealth creation (ie manufacturing) and thereby reduce the cycles of property boom and bust? † Well, Mr Olaf Plotner the dean of executive education at the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) in Berlin and author of Counter Strategies in Global Markets in his post in Forbes magazine also shares his views about the reasons to justify the German’s success. He goes on saying: â€Å"cooperation between unions and employers plays a major role in the success of German industry. But that’s just one part of a much bigger picture†¦ German businesses have been able to avoid the focus on the short-term shareholder that dogs so many large companies elsewhere because of an ownership structure that seems unique to Germany†¦ the companies give importance to uniting ownership and management. † As of now, we have already different views from different people as they all try to explain the German success. Well, these views are not the only one. According to Mr Richard Anderson Business reporter for BBC News, â€Å"Germany is a country whose inhabitants work fewer hours than almost any others, whose workforce is not particularly productive and whose children spend less time at school than most of its neighbours. But still, the German economy is so powerful†¦why? † Mr Anderson structured is study under three main headings. Euro bliss †¦. Germany has benefited greatly from the euro; Germany adopted a much weaker currency than would otherwise have been the case†¦ This has provided a terrific boost to German exports, which are cheaper to overseas consumers as a result†¦. Just as important are the relatively low levels of private debt†¦ German companies and individuals refused to spend beyond their means†¦ Germans are uncomfortable with the concept of borrowing money and prefer to live within their own means. â€Å"In German, borrowing is ‘schulden’, [the same word for guilt. ] There is an attitude that if you have to borrow, there is something wrong with you,† Labour reforms †¦the Social Democratic government was able to use its close ties with labour unions to push for moderation in wage inflation. The reforms laid the foundation for a stable and flexible labour market. While unemployment across Europe and the US soared during the global downturn, remarkably the jobless number in Germany barely flickered. German workers were simply willing to work fewer hours, knowing that they would keep their jobs because of it. Job skills And in Germany, there is fewer stigmas attached to vocational training and technical colleges than in many countries. Research Gap The read reports do not seem to treat with the actual factors behind the success, hence we believe into scope for our research. Since in these articles, the German economic history I study but then related to other topics just like in the case of US-German relationship or the study of the German financial markets. True that these reports will help us in our study and can be used as a basis, they surely permit us to look at the German’s economy from a different point of view. Most of reports seem to elaborate a lot on the negative features of the economy, not that we intend to ignore the negative features but what we are trying to do here is to explain how despite these features, Germany is able to hold such a position in the global market. Specifically we want to pinpoint the special policies which allow this achievement and propose economic models to other developing countries in order to permit them to also achieve such a miracle. Thus, reading the articles, we can see there are already numerous parameters that each of authors believed to be the one behind the success of Germany. Our study will therefore constitute in analysing these factors and comparing the performance of Germany with that of other countries which also have this factor. We will also try to analyse the impact that the implementation the each factor had on the economy of the country. To emphasize on the relevance of this research, we can another article by in the New York Times which states: â€Å"Germany had the formula right all along. † Hence, our study will be directed towards analysing all the various aspects that made the formula right and try to make it right in our business environment as well! In fact, a diagnosis research is one which is directed towards discovering what is happening, why it is happening and what can and is to be done about it. It aims at identifying the causes and helping to arrive at possible solutions. Diagnostic research probes into the reasons `why? and goes beyond the problems. Our research is directed towards giving us in-depth knowledge about the reasons which made Germany successful today and we are interested in knowing which of these can be used by other nations as well. Our study will be divided into the following chapters: Chapter 1: here we will deal with the introduction to the study and the aim and purpose of the same. The subject background will also be studied in this step. We intend to trace the economic history of Germany in this section from World War II till today; macro and micro economic variables will be explained and we can propose an elaboration on the economy theory that is followed by the country. Chapter 2: will be dealing with review of books, articles, research papers and journals published with respect to the topic and identification of the research gap. Chapter 3: will elaborate on the research design. Here the parameters that we aim to use in our research will also be defined. As such, the parameters that we wish to study are as follows: 1. GDP, 2. Debt to GDP ratio, 3. Unemployment, 4. Household debt, 5. Inflation, 6. Commodity price swings 7. Foreign trade – imports/exports, net surplus, 8. Social spending, 9. Education, 10. Healthcare, 11. Pension funds, 12. Manufacturing vs. agrosectors, 13. Private ;amp; Public undertakings, 14. Patents 15. Innovation, 16. Mittelstand 17. Housing prices, 18. Real estate, 19. New firms reg. 20. Firms winding up, 21. New investments, 22. Banking, 23. M ;amp; As abroad, 24. Fuel prices Chapter 4: the data collected will be analysed and interpreted I this chapter Chapter 5: appropriate findings can be drawn from the data processed and conlusion will follow Population and Study Sample Our study will require interaction with economic experts and other industry-related experts who will give us insight and information about the various policies that are prevailing in Germany and their impact on the economy. Sample Size and Selection of Sample Here, we can select purposive sample and we will require snowballing as a technique as well since our study is very particular and one expert might put us into contact with another of his colleagues. Sources of Data The main sources of data will be secondary but experts’ insights in terms of interviews will constitute our primary data also. Collection of Data The secondary data will collected by visiting websites, reading books, analysing research papers, articles and other thesis. The primary data is collected by mean of interview. Data Analysis Strategies They will be use of regression analyse the percentage change that the implementation that each parameters did on the economy They will also be use of correlation to analyse the data from other countries which implemented each particular parameter. First, we will have to analyse each of these parameters in the German environment and then compare the German performance with other countries’ which have the same potentiality.

Rhetorical Analysis “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr

Ever imagined a world without Google? Have you ever asked yourself how our grandparents managed studies without Google? How did they go about reading the long the long texts letter by letter without the option of skimming through them? Were there other reading techniques that were almost equivalent to Google in efficiency and speed that have since become extinct and that we might run to should we wake up one day and realize that Google was just but a dream in our long sleep that was too good to be true? Will we manage to pin down the two- sentenced killer point in a journal with a thousand pages. How I wish I could shout ‘YES' but am afraid those brains are almost extinct in the world we live in. Nicholas Carr narrates his disappointment in Google in his article,† Is Google Making Us Stupid?† According to him, our minds have evolved to quick and easy skimming in search of information. He talks of how students used to read long texts without skimming. He mentions how one would concentrate and keep focus for long hours with their minds totally lost in the reading, unlike today. Carr recalls how he used to easily immerse himself in books and lengthy articles and would spend hours going through them with his mind caught up in the long prose and would or narratives. He compares this to his current state of mind where his concentration drifts away after just the first few pages of the prose before he starts considering to switch to other duties most of which would come second in his priority list back in the old days.His love for long reading hours has turned into torture to him. He compares the two reading habits and concludes that his way of thinking has changed over the years with reading especially through long stretches of prose moving down his priority list. To show that he is not the only one undergoing the reading evolution, he brings out other writers and bloggers including Scott Karp who share in his ordeal and from all of them its evident that the human mind and the use of the internet are correlated in that the functionality of the human mind can be transformed thus losing some features and gaining new ones when exposed to different environments, e.g. the internet for longer hours. The internet has made them all prefer to go for the easier option of skimming through the reading materials topics and parts of the body instead of trying to focus and concentrate on the whole content to get the information in details as it used to be. Most readers thus end up reading less. Carr explains the findings of research and experiments done on the human brain and the use of the Internet. He describes how the connections in the neurone system of the brain can be manipulated from its initial form to a completely new form. The conclusions are that when an individual uses the Internet for long, his/her neurocircuits can be manipulated and reconnected thus reducing their capacity to read like before, i.e. by contemplating and concentrating for long hours, which practically makes us stupid. In one of the research, the findings by the British Library, a team of UK educational consortium and university college London Scholars, the evidence as experienced by Nicholas Carr, writers and bloggers Scott Karp included, it proven that persons' capacity to read for long hours, contemplating and concentrating has been by far by the use of internet. They opt to skim through texts and headlines, which are unlike their traditional reading style where they would focus, concentrate and read for long hours deeply glued on the long proses going through word after word. In the article, he describes how the brain can switch forms from the old connections to a completely new form that's losing its original form. Nicholas says that he has had a feeling of someone or something reconfiguring his brain and transforming it into something else that he cant literally describe. He feels that due to long exposure to a different environment, his brain has been disconnected from its older connections and that through the Internet his brain is being corrupted in that he is now seeing things very differently. The Internet works in such a manner that it generates more profits form the user. As we surf, we tend to visit different sites that mostly create Internet traffic. In some instances, advertisement links normally pop-up while surfing. These sites are normally intended to market some businesses, and they act as distractors that encourage slow reading. When the mind is programmed to slow destructions, we end up not surfing for the intended issues. For instance, when a person uses the Internet to perform given research, he or she may end up with poor findings due to the distraction of the mind. Therefore, Internet users must learn how to evade the advertisement sites in a bid to maximize on the limited time. Nicholas Carr asserts that a majority of the advertisements have a financial obligation of collecting our data as we visit the business links. In this light, they normally reap heavily the more we click on the unwanted sites. Human beings have become highly dependent on the Internet to the extent that they browse even the obvious things. For instance, a person may even decide to surf for the reasons as to why children must obey their parents. This is a subject that is common to every person and should come naturally instead of browsing to get more information. The Internet indeed makes up stupid since most of the people spend much time thus reducing the concentration of the mind. The mind is then triggered in such a way that it will solely depend on the Intern even when serving for the obvious issues. In summary, I think that people need to use Google when it is only necessary and start doing traditional research. This aspect will indeed result in the development of sharp minds that can also become innovative.

Market continuum analysis Essays

Market continuum analysis Essays Market continuum analysis Paper Market continuum analysis Paper Health and human development form integral component of overall socio-economic development of any nation. The organizations and financing of healthcare in different countries are different. In each country, the design of health services and the means by which these services are financed depend on the country’s political culture, history, and wealth. Several frameworks and models have been developed by analysts to explain these systems and to help compare healthcare systems in a meaningful manner. The work of Odin Anderson and Milton Roemer is most notable among them. Anderson developed the concept of the â€Å"uneasy equilibrium† between the private and public healthcare sectors, and he organized health systems on a continuum based on the level of government involvement in the financing and organization of health services. In his market-minimized/market-maximized continuum Anderson explains that the degree to which a state centralizes financing and planning and the relative size of its public sector determine its position in the continuum, and as well the extent to which it influences the procedures of the economy itself. (Berkowitz, 2004) The market-maximized end of the continuum focuses on the concept of change through the private market with limited government involvement. According to Anderson, Such transformation may be speedy or sluggish, but it is natural to the system and its speed is also normal. It is incremental, not revolutionary. Anderson has positioned the United States at the far end of the market-maximized end of the spectrum. The market- minimized end of the spectrum, on the other hand, focuses on the socialistic strategy of planned economies and government programs for distributive justice and aims to modify with deliberate speed and at a scheduled pace. The United States health care system has moved its position on Anderson’s market-minimized/market maximized continuum. This oscillation has affected Socio-economic, Demographic, Health status, Political areas in United States. (King, 2005) Effect of the oscillation on Health status of United States Health systems in each and every country in the world, regardless of their wealth or level of economic development, are struggling to deal with multiple demands and pressures. With modernization and industrialization the developed countries like United States are experiencing epidemiologic Transition. This term refers to a change in the type of diseases and sickness experienced within a society. Changes in mortality structure are the principle result indicator by which the epidemiological transition is evaluated. People in industrial area have to live with industrial waste and polluted water and air. Slums arose in industrial cities and became central points for poverty and the spread of disease. Epidemics of smallpox, typhus, diphtheria, measles, and yellow fever were well-documented. Tuberculosis and respiratory diseases such as pneumonia and bronchitis were even more serious problems, and they were exacerbated by harsh working situations and crowded living conditions. The United States health care system has taken several steps to educate people about health issues, provide uncontaminated food and water, safer and better living conditions. As a result, now in United States, major sources of morbidity and mortality result from chronic and non communicable diseases. Many of these diseases are related to lifestyle, such as increased lung cancer due to smoking or high rates of cardiovascular disease that result from obesity and lack of exercise. Common diseases among wealthy, developed nations include arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension. These diseases do not result from malnutrition or lack of access to health services. Instead these are results of excesses in personal lifestyle or simply be due to increased longevity, which causes the body to become more susceptible to such conditions. Consequently, in United States populations generally suffer with considerable chronic diseases and, thus, continual healthcare is needed. (Lamb, 2004) Effect of the oscillation on Socio-economic structure of United States Economic development seems to be the primary factor involved. However, economic development also brings modern determinants of health, which arise mainly from changes in lifestyle and from the hazards of contemporary and imperfectly understood technology. In United States people have become more civilized, living in a very high life style. But this development has also introduced both positive and negative influences such as use of tobacco, use of alcohol, etc which are injurious to health. Several psychological factors have an impact on suicidal tendencies, including social isolation, crises, depression, and alcoholism. Due to steady Industrialization and accelerating competition in market gives rise to an environment of tough competition. Competition along with more complex production and distribution environments requires identifying and reducing necessary costs, such as costs associated with development, manufacturing, distribution and service. (Anand, 2006)

The Complete Guide to Ebook Publishing Platforms

The Complete Guide to Ebook Publishing Platforms The Complete Guide to Ebook Distribution At Reedsy, our goal has always been to help authors through every stage of the publishing process, from the actual writing down to the marketing and promotion. However, if there's one thing our marketplace can't do, it's the actual publishing of the book. By that, I mean pressing the button that puts your book up for sale on Amazon - and other retailers.Ebook distribution is a complex, ever-evolving topic. Every year, new retailers open their gates, while existing ones close. To make authors’ lives easier, we’ve compiled everything you need to know about ebook distribution in this guide - which we religiously update every year to make sure that all the information in it is up to date. Everything you need to know about ebook distribution (but never considered asking) Now, there are two ways to read this post. If you want to know everything, go from top to bottom and absorb all the information. If you’re just looking for simple, clear-cut instructions on how to get your books onto the major ebook stores in the best way possible, then head straight to our optimized distribution setup infographic.What you need before you publish: formats, ISBNs moreBefore you can get your book up on different ebook stores, you'll need a couple of things: your properly formatted ebook files and a professional cover design.ISBN for Self-Publishers: The Complete Guide Read post Most e-retailers (e.g. Amazon) don’t require your ebook to have an existing ISBN, and most ebook publishing platforms (e.g. Draft2Digital) will provide one for free anyway. Some platforms like PublishDrive don’t offer a free ISBN, but will instead assign to your book another kind of unique identification number which will be accepted by the different stores they publish to.So, all in all, you don’t need an ISBN for ebook publication. Are there benefits to getting one? Yes: if you purchase your own ISBN and register it to your publishing company, your book will show up on retailers as being published by you (rather than by the publishing platform you used). Top #selfpub tip: If you purchase your own ISBNs, each format of your book needs its own. If you do purchase your own ISBNs, here’s the one rule you need to know: each format of your book needs to have its own ISBN. This means, in theory, that your .mobi on Amazon should have a different ISBN from your EPUB on the other stores. If you publish a print book as well (check out our list of print  book distributors right here), then your paperback and hardback will need different ISBNs as well.In the US, you can purchase ISBNs at Bowker. In the UK, you can purchase them at Nielsen. In Canada, you’re lucky, they’re free, and available through the Canadian ISBN Service System (CISS)! 🠍 A professional cover designOn top of your EPUB or .mobi, the other file you’ll need to upload is your book cover file. It’s important to check each retailer/distributor to see exactly what dimensions they require for covers. For example, Draft2Digital recommends a JPEG with dimensions of 1600 Ãâ€" 2400 pixels (a 1.5 ratio), whereas Amazon currently recom mends dimensions of 2,560 Ãâ€" 1,600 pixels (a 1.6 ratio). Knowing your dimensions ahead of time can save you and your cover designer time and ensure that your entire design appears as you intended.We have written extensively on this blog about the importance of hiring a professional cover artist to design your cover. If you want to find out to work with a world-class designer without breaking the bank, read this.Now that you have all the files you need to publish your ebook, it’s time to make one of the biggest decisions in your author career: are you going to publish exclusively on Amazon, or â€Å"go wide†?Amazon exclusivity vs â€Å"going wide†Surely, if I want to maximize my sales, I should make my ebook available to as many retailers as possible, right? That’s true, but here’s the trick: Amazon will offer you a lot of promotional advantages to entice you to publish your book exclusively on their stores. And depending on your book, genre, and marketing strategy, these benefits can far outweigh the drawbacks of not selling on Apple Books or Kobo. When is KDP Select not your best option for ebook distribution? #selfpub tips The case for Amazon exclusivityWhether you choose to be exclusive or not, your first ebook distribution step will be to upload your book to Amazon through Kindle Direct Publishing. This is when you’ll be presented with an option: enrolling in KDP Select.KDP Select is the name of Amazon’s exclusivity program. In exchange for not listing your book anywhere else (that includes direct sales or giveaways through your website, by the way) for a minimum period of 90 days, you’ll get access to:Kindle Countdown Deals: for a period of 7 days every 90 days, you can discount your book. This â€Å"countdown deal† will be promoted to Amazon customers, and you’ll earn the 70% royalty - even on sales below $2.99.Kindle Free Promotions: for a period of 5 days every 90 days, you can set your book as free on the Kindle store. This free promotion will grant your book quite a bit of visibility on the free store.Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owners’ Lending Library : KDP Select books are automatically enrolled in Kindle Unlimited (KU) and Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL), two subscription services that are extremely popular among Amazon customers. KU/KOLL authors are paid a percentage of the KDP Select Global Fund based on the number of pages of their books read by KU/KOLL subscribers every month.On top of these benefits, a KDP Select ebook will also earn you 70% royalty for sales to customers in Japan, India, Brazil and Mexico (35% otherwise).The case for â€Å"going wide†Amazon controls around 80% of the ebook market in the US and UK, but their market share is much lower in other countries. In Canada, for example, Kobo alone controls over 25% of the ebook market. In Germany, Tolino has the same market share as Amazon.Not being exclusive to Amazon - what we call â€Å"going wide† - gives you a chance to reach these other readers. Also, building a meaningful presence on smaller retailers can sometimes be easier than competing on Amazon (even with KDP Select’s perks).For a closer look at the pros and cons of Amazon exclusivity, take a look at this in-depth article. The ebook publishing landscape is an ever-changing one, and can be hard to navigate even for the most seasoned indie authors. We hope this post helped shed some light on the numerous distribution channels and opportunities available to authors, and how to make the most of them. We promise we'll do our best to update both our recommendations and the huge spreadsheet of aggregators and retailers on a regular basis.Acknowledgements: we'd like to give our thanks to Dan Wood at Draft2Digital, Monica Dubà © at PublishDrive and Giacomo D'Angelo at Streetlib for their help on our research. Special thanks as well to indie author Rohan Quine  whose distribution setup inspired us to write this post in the first place, and to Janell Robisch for her feedback.If you have any questions or comments about our recommended setup, or if you just want to have a virtual fireside chat with us about ebook distribution (who doesn't love that topic?!), please drop us a line in the comments below!

Opinion Editorial Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Opinion Editorial Paper - Essay Example Whereas college education is also needed in the work industry, the same faces danger of extinction with the increasing number of university graduates who become potential candidates for college based professions. Therefore, this paper seeks to discuss the claim that college education has been sidelined in the work industry Whereas a sizeable part of the population has already obtained at least a degree academic level, jobs available for graduates are becoming rare and more competitive. One of the viable alternatives is to empower academically and technically, lower academic persons to equip them with profound skills necessary to handle job opportunities in this category. Our broad economy needs to have a diverse system of incorporating all sorts of skills in the market since not all professionals need a college education. This can be done by increasing the salaries involved of the workers in this category. Mostly, these jobs needs people with less educational skills but have an abili ty to perform in the labor market. It is upon the government to evaluate and come up with a better education schemes and policy that will incorporate this system of education (Mishel, 2012). The question whether college education is for everyone has remained as a controversial question in most societies. Arguments constructed from intellectual point of view are biased towards acquisition of college education. People working in real working environment will argue that their college education has little or no significance to the work they do in their workplace. In such cases, people argue that they had to learn new skills in order to fit into their current work environment despite having gone through relevant education. Although college education is important in the work place, it is not sufficient. This is because the success of college graduate is measured by their success in the job market. In most cases, the relevance of a course will be measured with reference to the number of em ployed graduate and the amount of their earnings. Various measurements also include the duration within which college graduate stays without acquiring employment. According to most of such measurements, college education plays a less significant role in determining the success of a college graduate in the job market. It is important to appreciate that college students represent an important part of the society. Indeed, their role in the work industry cannot be underestimated. there are many jobs particularly demanding college level qualifications. However, employers are certainly tempted to employ highly qualified university students for the same jobs because of the competition. This implies that college education may become useless with time. A time will come when college education will just be a formality and not a lifetime investment. Ideally, college education focuses on how things ought to be with little or no emphasis on how thing work out in the real job environment. The emph asis on the theoretical aspect of college education is the sources of disconnection between college education and the real work environment. The disconnection can however, be minimized by creating a more practical-based education than a theoretical based education. In such case, colleges will train their students on how to apply knowledge acquired through their studies more than how to acquire the knowledge (Juhl 3). Due to the