Sex Ratio by Geography

Sex ratio is the demographic concept that measures the proportion of males to females in a given population. It is usually measured as the number of males per 100 females. The ratio is expressed as in the form of 105:100, where in this example there would be 105 males for every 100 females in a population. Sex Ratio at Birth The average natural sex ratio for humans from birth is approximately 105:100. Scientists are not sure why there are 105 males born for every 100 females around the world. Some suggestions for this discrepancy are given as: It is possible that over time, nature has compensated for males lost in war and other dangerous activities to better balance the sexes. A more sexually active gender is more likely to produce offspring of their own gender. Thus, in a polygamous society (polygamy where one man has multiple wives), he is likely to have a greater proportion of offspring that are male. It is possible that female infants are under-reported and not registered with the government as often as male babies. Scientists also say that a woman with a slightly over average amount of testosterone is more likely to conceive a male. Female infanticide or the abandonment, neglect, or malnutrition of female infants in cultures where males are favored may occur. Today, sex-selective abortions are unfortunately common in countries like India and China. The introduction of ultrasound machines throughout China in the 1990s led to a sex ratio of up to 120:100 at birth due to familial and cultural pressure to have ones only child as a male. Shortly after these facts became known, it became illegal for expectant couples to know the gender of their fetus. Now, the sex ratio at birth in China has been reduced to 111:100. The worlds current sex ratio is somewhat on the high side – 107:100. Extreme Sex Ratios The countries that have the highest proportion of males to females are... Armenia – 115:100Azerbaijan – 114:100Georgia – 113:100India – 112:100China – 111:100Albania – 110:100 The United Kingdom and United States have a sex ratio of 105:100 while Canada has a sex ratio of 106:100. The countries with the lowest proportion of males to females are... Grenada and Liechtenstein – 100:100Malawi and Barbados – 101:100 Adult Sex Ratio The sex ratio among adults (ages 15-64) can be highly variable and is based on migration and death rates (especially due to war). Into late adulthood and old age, the sex ratio is often highly skewed toward females. Some countries with very high proportions of males to females include... United Arab Emirates – 274:100Qatar – 218:100Kuwait – 178:100Oman – 140:100Bahrain – 136:100Saudi Arabia – 130:100 These oil-rich countries import many men to work and thus the ratio of males to females is highly disproportionate. On the other hand, quite a few countries have far more females than males... Chad - 84:100Armenia – 88:100El Salvador, Estonia, and Macau – 91:100Lebanon – 92:100 Senior Sex Ratios In later life, the life expectancy of men tends to be shorter than women and thus men die earlier in life. Thus, many countries have a very high proportion of women to men in the over age 65 range... Russia – 45:100Seychelles – 46:100Belarus – 48:100Latvia – 49:100 On the other extreme, Qatar has a 65 sex ratio of 292 men to 100 women. That is the most extreme sex ratio currently experienced. There are nearly three old men for every old woman. Maybe countries should begin to trade an over-abundance of elderly of one gender?

Should Prostitution Be A Legal Occupation Essay - 1146 Words

Should Prostitution be a Legal Occupation? Throughout many generations, a topic has always been around: Prostitution. Should prostitution be legalized? Should we keep our laws against prostitution the same? Many topics go hand in hand with prostitution such as, rape culture, sexual transmitted diseases, and drugs. Negative words like those cause a horrible stigma around the outlawed occupation, causing one to only see the downsides of the job. Through analyzing the benefits of decriminalizing prostitution one can see a reduce in STD rates across America, a decreased rate in drug-related and sex trafficking crimes, and new source of tax to help the country s debt. To begin, prostitution can be a very secretive and underground job, due to the prohibition on sex work. Workers are not receiving benefits such as a sense of security from police and health care. Prostitutes can often be raped and transmitted diseases, but because of the laws against this occupation the workers will never step up to receive the help they need in fear of backlash. Legal sex workers in other parts of the world benefit from the safety of the police and the help of health care (Picard). This makes the job much safer and more efficient. â€Å"62% report having been raped in prostitution† states the article â€Å"Facts About Prostitution†. This shows that over half the women involved in sex work are taken advantage of. By decriminalizing prostitution, rape rates among women in sex work would dropShow MoreRelatedProstitution Between Canada And Canada1712 Words   |  7 PagesProstitution in Canada: Changes in Legislation Due to the fairly recent changes regarding the legality of prostitution in Canada, individuals who use and provide these services have been cautious (Warnica, 2015). 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This research intends to adopt an experimental design because it deemed as an ideal researchRead MoreCan People Attitudes On The Legal Status Of Prostitution Be Shaped By Media Representation?1484 Words   |  6 Pagesthe legal status of prostitution be shaped by media representation?’. The hypothesis to question is posited as ‘an individual with less knowledge on the subject (i.e. prostitution and its legality issues) is probably influenced by media on his or her attitude towards prostitution’. 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Despite the fact, none can escape it ourRead MoreShould Prostitution Be An Illegal Business?1533 Words   |  7 PagesProstitution is a controversial topic with a faction of the society arguing that the ancient trade should be leg alized whereas the opponents insist that prostitution should be an illegal business because it is unethical. The commercial sex effects and its nature elicit divided opinion because legalizing prostitution as a trade affects its characteristic as a gendered institution and social nature. A section of the society perceives prostitution as an unequivocal exercise of patriarchal control overRead MoreThe Benefits Of Legalizing Prostitution1500 Words   |  6 PagesThe Benefits of Legalizing Prostitution Prostitution is supposedly the oldest profession in the world. It is legal in some countries, such as the United Kingdom and Germany. However, in the majority of the world, prostitution is illegal. The legalization of prostitution has become a popular dispute between what is morally right and wrong. There would be economic benefits in the amount of revenue that governments generate if prostitution were to become a legal line of work. However, many people areRead MoreThe Legal And Social Implications Of Prostitution1039 Words   |  5 PagesThe legal and social implications of prostitution have been a topic of much concern over the past few decades. Although the issue has been heavily debated, a proper answer to its legalization or criminalization has not yet been defined in many countries throughout the world. While some view that â€Å"sex work† is a justifiable occupation that should be protected under human rights, others argue that it’s legalization would do more h arm than good. According to the Health and Human Rights Journal (2014)Read MoreShould Prostitution Be Legalized?1413 Words   |  6 Pagesdare of doing such a thing. One of these unthinkable jobs is prostitution. It is said to be â€Å"one of the oldest professions, â€Å"yet it’s not viewed as that in our society. There s no box for it when you fill out what your career is. This may seem crazy to some. However, I think that prostitution should be legalized. Prostitution may not be the go-to occupation, but does this give the government the right to make it illegal? Making prostitution illegal has obviously failed, especially since we are seeingRead More Prostitution Should be Legalized Essay560 Words   |  3 PagesProstitution Should be Legalized I think that prostitution should be legalized because it is no different than any other service that we pay to receive. Besides, there are far more serious crimes that require the full attention of our police force than prostitution; therefore, policing it is a costly waste of time and police resources. Furthermore, prostitution is already legal in Singapore, Denmark, and a part of the United States as well. In this Essay, I will discuss these ideas;Read MoreLegalization And Decriminalization Of Prostitution1141 Words   |  5 PagesDecriminalization of Prostitution The legalization and decriminalization of prostitution is a highly debated topic within the area of women’s studies. Prostitution, the sale of sexual services, has been in existence for as long as society has. However, beginning in the 19th century, most states in America began to illegalize prostitution because of moral objections. Today, despite the fact that in 1959 the United Nations concluded that prostitution should not be a criminal offense, prostitution remains illegal

The Indigo Spell Chapter Nineteen Free Essays

string(27) " improve my opinion of it\." SOMEHOW, I STILL LOST. If Adrian were capable of on-the-fly calculations, I’d swear he was using his powers to affect the way the dice rolled. Most likely, he either had some innate and inexplicable Monopoly skills I just couldn’t understand – or he was very, very lucky. We will write a custom essay sample on The Indigo Spell Chapter Nineteen or any similar topic only for you Order Now But through it all, I had fun, and losing to him was a lot better than having Veronica haunt me in my sleep. He continued the dream visits for the next few days, and although I never felt completely safe from her, I at least didn’t have her occupying the forefront of my mind at all times. That honor was saved for my weekend trip to St. Louis, which came around more quickly than I expected. Once I was on the plane, the reality of what I was about to attempt hit me. This was it, the point of no return. In the safety of Palm Springs, I’d been able to maintain a somewhat cool and collected attitude. St. Louis had seemed far away back then. Now the tasks ahead of me seemed daunting and kind of crazy. And dangerous. There was no part of this that wouldn’t get me into serious trouble. Lying to Stanton. Breaking into top secret servers. Even charming information out of Ian could have repercussions. And really who was I to think I would have any ability to lure secrets from him? I wasn’t like Rose or Julia. They had men fawning all over them. But me? I was socially awkward and pretty inept when it came to romance. Maybe Ian liked me, but that didn’t mean I’d have some magical power over him. Of course, if that part of the plan with him failed, then I’d be free of my other tasks. Every single part of this was overwhelming, and as I stared out the plane’s window, watching St. Louis grow closer and closer, my feelings of dread grew. My palms were too sweaty to hold a book, and when I refused food, it was because of the queasiness in my stomach, not some obsession with calories. I’d gone back and forth on whether to get a hotel room or stay at the facility itself, which provided guest housing for visiting Alchemists like me. In the end, I opted for the former. The less time I spent under the watchful eyes of my masters, the better. It also meant I didn’t have to worry about my outfit attracting attention. I hadn’t exactly followed all of Adrian’s suggestions, but the dress I’d purchased for this trip was a bit racier than my normal business casual wardrobe. Okay, a lot racier. It would have been completely out of place among the modest and neutral-colored attire Alchemists usually wore. But when Ian met me in the hotel’s lobby for dinner, I knew I’d made the right choice. â€Å"Wow,† he said, eyes widening. â€Å"You look amazing.† Apparently, his Alchemists sensibilities weren’t offended by my outfit. It was a form-fitting minidress that went about to my mid-thigh, with an open back and a disconcertingly low V-neck that gave me cleavage I hadn’t even known was possible. Any demureness the dress’s long sleeves might have offered was undone by the fabric combination: a beige underdress covered in black and maroon lace. It gave the illusion that I was wearing lace with nothing underneath. The saleswoman had assured me that every part of the dress was supposed to fit that snugly (for once in my life, I’d actually suggested a larger size) and that I needed at least four-inch black heels to make it all work. With the help of a lot of hairpins, I’d even managed to pull my hair up into a bun, which wasn’t easy with my layered haircut. I felt conspicuous walking through the lobby, but no one gave me any shocked looks. The few I did get were admiring ones. The hotel was pretty posh, and I was just one of a number of women dressed in holiday cocktail dresses. Nothing scandalous or out of the ordinary. You can do this, Sydney. And wearing a revealing dress wasn’t nearly as difficult as breaking into a server, right? Right? I smiled as I approached Ian and gave him a quick hug, which was weird both because it was with Ian and because I felt naked in the dress. This femme fatale thing was harder than I’d thought it’d be. â€Å"I’m glad I got to see you again,† I said. â€Å"I know what an inconvenience this must be, with no notice.† Ian shook his head so adamantly that I almost expected to hear rattling. â€Å"N-no. No trouble at all.† Satisfied he’d gotten a look, I slipped on my coat, a mid-length black trench, and gestured toward the exit. â€Å"Time to brave the elements?† He hurried ahead of me to open the door. A scattering of snowflakes drifted down, resting on my coat and hair. My breath made a frosty cloud in the air, and I had a momentary flashback to traipsing across that field with Adrian. Little had I known that search for Marcus would lead to me running errands for him in a tight dress. Ian had parked in the hotel’s front circle drive. He drove a Toyota Corolla, which was made even more boring by the fact that he’d chosen it in white. A little air freshener shaped like a tree hung from the rearview mirror, but rather than the usual pine scent, a small label declared it to be â€Å"New Car Scent.† Mostly it smelled like plastic. I put on a brave face. Marcus really owed me one. â€Å"I made us a reservation at this really great seafood place,† he told me. â€Å"It’s close to the facility, so we can head on over to the service right away.† â€Å"Sounds great,† I said. I never ate seafood in any landlocked state. The restaurant was called Fresh Cache, which didn’t improve my opinion of it. You read "The Indigo Spell Chapter Nineteen" in category "Essay examples" Still, I had to give it credit for attempts at a romantic atmosphere. Most of the lighting came from candles, and a pianist in the corner played covers of easy-listening songs. More well-dressed people filled the tables, laughing and chatting over wine and shrimp cocktails. The host showed us to a corner table, covered with burgundy linen and decorated with a scattering of green orchids. I’d never seen any up close and was actually quite taken with how exotic and sensual they were. If only I was here with anyone but Ian. I was hesitant to take my coat off. It made me feel exposed, and I had to remind myself of the consequences of Alchemists and Warriors working together. As soon as the dress was unleashed again, I had the satisfaction of seeing Ian melt once more. I remembered Adrian’s advice about confidence and put on a smug smile, hoping I gave the impression that I was doing Ian a great favor by allowing him to be in my presence. And, to my complete and utter amazement, it seemed to work. I even allowed myself to indulge in a dangerous thought: maybe it wasn’t the dress wielding such power here. Maybe it was me. Opening the menu, I began skimming for a beef or poultry option. â€Å"What do you recommend?† â€Å"The mahi mahi is great here,† he said. â€Å"So is the swordfish.† The waiter stopped by, and I ordered a chicken Caesar salad. I figured they couldn’t really mess up the anchovies in the dressing. We were left alone to wait, with nothing to do now but move on to small talk. Ian picked up the ball. â€Å"I suppose you still can’t tell me much about where you’re at, huh?† â€Å"Afraid not. You know how it is.† I buttered a sourdough roll with what I was pretty sure was exactly half a tablespoon. I didn’t want to go too crazy, but I could allow myself a little indulgence since I ordered a salad. â€Å"I can tell you I’m in the field. I just can’t say much else.† Ian’s attention shifted off my neckline as he stared into the candle’s flame. â€Å"I miss that, you know. Being in the field.† â€Å"You used to be, right? What happened?† I hadn’t thought much about it lately, but when Ian had accompanied Stanton and me to the Moroi court, he had been pulled from his post to make the trip. He’d been assigned somewhere in the south, Florida or Georgia, I thought. â€Å"Those Moroi holding us prisoner is what happened.† He shifted his gaze back to me, and I was startled at the fierceness I saw. â€Å"I didn’t handle it very well.† â€Å"Well, none of us did.† He shook his head. â€Å"No, no. I really didn’t handle it well. I kind of freaked out. They sent me to anger management training afterward.† I nearly dropped the roll. I had in no way expected that. If someone had asked me to name the top ten people who needed anger management, Ian wouldn’t have even made the bottom of the list. My father, however, would have been near the top. â€Å"How – how long were you there?† I stammered. â€Å"Two weeks, and then I was good to go.† Admittedly, I didn’t know the extent of the rage that had landed him in anger management, but I found it interesting that two weeks was good enough to deem him ready to work again. Meanwhile, Keith’s scheme to use Moroi to make money had earned him at least two months in re-education – maybe more, since I hadn’t heard any updates in a while. â€Å"But they wouldn’t let me work in the field,† Ian added. â€Å"Figure I shouldn’t be around Moroi for a while. So that’s why I’m stuck here.† â€Å"In the archives.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Doesn’t sound so bad,† I told him. I wasn’t entirely lying. â€Å"Lots of books.† â€Å"Don’t fool yourself, Sydney.† He began tearing a pumpernickel roll into pieces. â€Å"I’m a glorified librarian.† Maybe so, but that wasn’t my concern. What was my concern was Wade telling me that the archives were on a secure level, one floor up from the surveillance room that held security footage. He’d drawn me a map of each floor, making sure I memorized the layout and the best ways to get in and out. â€Å"I’d still love to see them,† I said. â€Å"I mean, the history they contain is amazing.† Again, not entirely a lie. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table, and had the satisfaction of seeing his eyes drop to my plunging neckline again. This wasn’t that difficult! Really, I didn’t know why I hadn’t been using my â€Å"womanly charms† a long time ago. Actually, I never really knew I had any, until now. â€Å"Could you get me in for a tour? Of the archives specifically. You seem like the kind of guy who could get access to . . . a lot of places.† Ian choked on his roll. After a bout of coughing, he glanced up at my face, then my cleavage (again), and then back to my face. â€Å"I’d, um, love to, but it’s not really open to the public – I mean, even the Alchemist public. Only those with special scholar access are allowed in. We could look at the general access parts of the building, though.† â€Å"Oh. I see.† I looked down at my plate, pouting slightly, but didn’t say anything else. As the waiter arrived with our food, I hoped my silence was making him reconsider what he could be missing out on. Eventually, Ian couldn’t take it anymore. He cleared his throat, maybe because there was still bread stuck in it. â€Å"Well, I might be able to . . . you see, the problem is just getting you down to the secure levels. Once you’re through that checkpoint, it’s not hard to get you into the archives – especially if I’m working.† â€Å"But you can’t do anything about the main checkpoint?† I coaxed, as if all real men should be able to do that. â€Å"No, I mean . . . maybe. I’ve got a friend who works there. I don’t know if he’s got a shift tomorrow, but he still might be able to help. He owes me some money, so I can use this as a trade. I hope.† â€Å"Oh, Ian.† I flashed him a smile that I hoped rivaled one of Marcus’s. â€Å"That’s amazing.† I remembered what Adrian had said. â€Å"I’d be so, so grateful if you could pull it off.† My reaction clearly delighted Ian, and I wondered if Adrian had been right about how â€Å"so, so grateful† was translated. â€Å"I’ll call him tonight after the service,† Ian said. He looked determined now. â€Å"Hopefully we can make it happen before your flight tomorrow.† I rewarded him by hanging on his every word for the rest of dinner, as though I’d never heard anything quite so fascinating. All the while, my heart raced with the knowledge that I was now one step closer to fulfilling Marcus’s task, one step closer to potentially proving a connection to a bunch of gun-toting zealots and the organization I’d served my whole life. The salad was tiny, so I agreed to see the dessert menu after dinner. Ian suggested we share, but that was a little too intimate for me, not to mention unhygienic. So, I ate an entire lemon tart by myself, confident in the knowledge that I was still a long ways from the five-pound mark. When Adrian had told me I’d look healthier if I gained a little weight, he’d added that it would improve my bra size. I couldn’t even imagine what that would do for this dress. The Alchemist center in St. Louis was contained inside a giant, industrial building that went undercover as a manufacturing plant. Moroi facilities – the court and their schools – usually posed as universities. How ironic that â€Å"creatures of the night† would live among beautifully landscaped gardens while â€Å"servants of the light† like us skulked in ugly buildings with no windows. Inside, however, everything was pristine, bright, and well-organized. A receptionist checked us in when we arrived at the main desk and buzzed us through, along with many others who arrived for the service. There were golden lilies everywhere. For many, this was a fun-filled family event, and lots of children trailed their Alchemist parents. It made me feel strange as I watched them, these kids who had been born into our profession. I wondered how they’d feel ten years from now. Would they be excited to step up to the plate? Or would they start questioning? The center had three floors aboveground and five underneath. People off the street could hardly just come wandering in, but we still took precautions by keeping the more benign offices on the main floor. As we all walked down the corridor to the auditorium, we passed Payroll, Travel, and Maintenance. All the offices had clear windows looking into them from the hall, maintaining the Alchemist ideal that we had nothing to hide. The secure offices belowground weren’t quite so open, however. I’d been in this facility once before for a training seminar, and it had actually taken place in the auditorium we entered for the service. Despite the spiritual theme of tonight’s event, the room bore little resemblance to a church. Someone had gone to the effort of decorating the walls with red-bowed evergreen garlands and setting pots of poinsettias on the stage. The room had a state-of-the-art audio-visual system, including a giant screen that gave a larger-than-life look at whatever was happening onstage. The auditorium’s seating was so efficient that even those in the farthest corners had a pretty clear view, so I think the screen was just for emphasis. Ian and I found two seats near the middle of the auditorium. â€Å"Aren’t you going to take off your coat?† he asked hopefully. No way was I going to unleash the dress in this den of taupe and high collars. Besides, if I kept the coat on, it would just give him something to keep looking forward to. Adrian would be proud of my ability to manipulate the opposite sex . . . and I couldn’t help but wonder just how well Adrian would be able to stand up to this dress. Clearly, I was getting overly confident with this new power. â€Å"I’m cold,† I said, pulling the coat tighter. It was kind of ridiculous since the lights from the stage and high number of bodies had already made the room stifling, but I figured since it was so cold outside, I could get away with it. For someone who always seems to be so cold, you sure can warm up pretty fast. â€Å"Sydney? Is that you?† I froze, not from the shock of hearing my name, but from the voice that had said it. I’d know that voice anywhere. Slowly, I turned away from Ian and looked up into my father’s face. He was standing in the aisle, wearing a heavy wool suit, with melted snowflakes in his graying dark blond hair. â€Å"Hi, Dad,† I said. Then I saw who was standing beside him. â€Å"Zoe?† It was all I could do not to jump up and hug her. I hadn’t seen or spoken to my younger sister since that night I’d been pulled out of bed and sent on my Palm Springs mission. That was the mission she believed I’d stolen from her, no matter my protests. It was the mission that had driven her away from me. I eyed her now, trying to assess where we stood. She didn’t wear the blatant hatred she had at our last meeting, which was a good sign. Unfortunately, she didn’t look all that warm and friendly either. She was cautious, studying me carefully – almost warily. She did not, I noticed, have a golden lily on her cheek yet. â€Å"I’m surprised to see you here,† said my father. His parting words to me had been â€Å"Don’t embarrass me,† so I wasn’t really astonished by his low expectations. â€Å"It’s the holidays,† I said. Forcing a smile now was far more difficult than it had been with Ian. â€Å"It’s important to be here with the group. Do you know Ian Jansen?† Ian, wide-eyed, jumped up and shook my father’s hand. Clearly, he hadn’t expected a parental meeting so soon. â€Å"It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.† My father nodded gravely and looked back and forth between the two of us. Whatever surprise he’d had at seeing me here had just been trumped by me being here with a date. Glancing at Ian, I tried to guess how he’d appear to someone like my dad. Clean cut, respectful, an Alchemist. The fact that Ian tended to bore me was irrelevant. I doubted my father had ever thought much about me dating, but if so, he probably hadn’t thought I’d get a catch like this. â€Å"Would you like to join us, sir?† asked Ian. I had to give him credit; he’d overcome his initial shock and was now in proper suitor mode. â€Å"It would be an honor.† At first, I thought Ian was just laying it on thick. Then I realized meeting my father might actually very well be an honor. Jared Sage wasn’t a rock star, but he did have a reputation among the Alchemists that, by their standards, was outstanding. My father seemed to like the flattery and agreed. He took a seat beside Ian. â€Å"Sit by your sister,† he told Zoe, nodding in my direction. Zoe obeyed and stared straight ahead. She was nervous too, I realized. Looking her over, I felt an ache from how much I’d missed her. We’d inherited the same brown eyes from our father, but she’d gotten Mom’s brown hair, which made me a little jealous. Zoe also looked a lot more put together than the last time I’d seen her. She wore a pretty dark brown cashmere dress and didn’t have a single hair out of place. Something about her appearance bothered me, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it at first. It soon hit me. She looked older. She looked like a young lady, like my peer. I supposed it was silly of me to feel sad, since she was fifteen, but I kind of wished she could stay a little kid forever. â€Å"Zoe.† I kept my voice low, not that I needed to worry about the men overhearing. My dad was interrogating Ian. â€Å"I’ve been wanting to talk to you for so long.† She nodded. â€Å"I know. Mom tells me each time you call.† But there was no apology for dodging my calls. â€Å"I’m sorry about the way we left things. I never meant to hurt you or one-up you. I thought I was doing you a favor, saving you from getting involved.† Her mouth tightened, and something hard flashed in her eyes. â€Å"I don’t mind being involved. I want to be involved, you know. And it would’ve been great! Being in the field at fifteen. I could have a stellar career. Dad would be so proud.† I chose my next words very carefully so that she wouldn’t take offense. â€Å"Yeah, but another year with Dad will really be, um, stellar. He’s got so much experience – and you want to get as much as you can, believe me. Even if you have to wait for an assignment at sixteen, you’ll still be ahead of the rest of us.† Each word out of my mouth made me feel sick, but Zoe seemed to buy it. I wasn’t bothered by her wanting to be part of the cause – but it killed me that she was clearly doing it to impress our dad. â€Å"I suppose. And I am learning a lot. I wish I could at least get some field experience – even if it’s not my own post. It’s all theory with Dad. I’ve never even seen a Moroi.† â€Å"I’m sure he’ll fix that.† I didn’t like encouraging this, but at least she was speaking to me. The lights dimmed, ending our conversation. Organ music filled the room, and the scent of frankincense drifted around us. Incense and resin were common components in magic, and my mind was instantly starting to make associations from the spell books I’d painstakingly copied. Frankincense is used to heal burns. It can also be used when casting divining or purifying spells – I immediately stopped that train of thought. Even if I was keeping it to myself, thinking about magic in the middle of an Alchemist church service was pretty sacrilegious. I shifted uncomfortably, wondering what all these people would think if they knew the truth about me: that I practiced magic and had kissed a vampire. . . . Alchemist priests were called hierophants. They performed blessings and offered moral advice, when needed. In day-to-day affairs, they wore suits, but for this occasion, the lead hierophant wore robes that reminded me uncomfortably of the robes some of the Warriors had donned. It was yet another reminder of our shared history – and maybe our shared future. Marcus had been right. This was a mystery I had to solve, regardless of where I stood on breaking the tattoo. I’d attended services like this off and on throughout my life and knew the Latin prayers by heart. I chanted along with the rest of the congregation and listened avidly as the hierophant reaffirmed our goals, his voice echoing through the sound system. Even though the Alchemists’ religion had loose connections to Christianity there was very little mention of God or Jesus or even Christmas. Most of his sermon was about how we had to help protect humanity from the temptation of following Strigoi who offered unholy immortality. That warning, at least, wasn’t exaggerated. I’d heard stories and even seen for myself what happened when humans decided to serve Strigoi. Those Strigoi promised to turn their servants as a reward. Those humans helped Strigoi spread their evil and became monsters themselves, no turning needed. Keeping those dark vampires hidden was for the good of weak humans who couldn’t protect themselves. I paid especially close attention when the hierophant mentioned the Moroi offhandedly in his sermon, as a means to an end in defeating the Strigoi. He didn’t exactly inspire warm and fuzzy feelings about them, but at least he wasn’t calling for Moroi and dhampir destruction either. I agreed with a good part of the message, but it no longer filled me with the fire it once had. And when the hierophant started droning on and on about duty, obedience, and what was â€Å"natural,† I really began feeling disconnected. I almost wished there was more talk of the divine, like you’d find at a normal church service. With everything going on in my life, I wouldn’t have minded a connection to a higher power. Sometimes, when I listened to the hierophant, I wondered if everything he was saying had just been made up by a bunch of people sitting around in the Middle Ages. No holy mandate required. I felt like a traitor when the service ended. Maybe Adrian’s joke had been right: I didn’t even need Marcus to break my tattoo and connection to the group. Glancing at my companions – and even the other Alchemists in the room – it was clear I was alone. All of them looked captivated by the sermon, devoted to the cause. I was again eerily reminded of the Warriors and their fanatical devotion. No, no, whatever else the Alchemists are guilty of, we have nothing to do with that kind of unhinged behavior. And yet . . . it was more complicated than that, I realized. The Alchemists didn’t shoot first and ask questions later or make our members battle each other. We were civilized and logical, but we did have a tendency to just do what we were told. That was the similarity, one that could be dangerous. Zoe and my father walked out with Ian and me. â€Å"Isn’t it amazing?† she asked. â€Å"Hearing that . . . well, it just makes me so glad Dad decided to raise another Alchemist in the family. It’s good to boost our numbers.† Had that truly been his motivation? Or was it because he didn’t trust me after I’d helped Rose? It was infuriating that the only conversation I could have with Zoe centered around Alchemist rhetoric, but I’d take it over the silence of the last few months. In my heart, I longed to talk the way we used to. I wanted it back. Even though she’d warmed up a little, that old familiarity that had once existed between us was gone. â€Å"I wish we had more time,† I told her once our groups were ready to part in the parking lot. â€Å"There’s so much I want to talk to you about.† She smiled, and there was a genuineness in it that warmed me. Maybe the distance between us wasn’t irreparable. â€Å"Me too. I’m sorry about . . . well, the way things were. I hope we get some time together soon. I . . . I’ve missed you.† That nearly broke me down, as did her hug. â€Å"We’ll be together soon, I promise.† Ian – whom my father now seemed to regard as a future son-in-law – drove me back to my hotel and couldn’t stop gushing about how awesome it had been to meet Jared Sage. As for me, I could still feel where Zoe had hugged me. Ian promised he’d get in touch with me in the morning about a tour of the archives. Then, weirdly, he closed his eyes and leaned forward. It took me a moment to realize that he expected a good-night kiss. Seriously? That was how he went about it? Had he ever even kissed anyone before? Even Brayden had displayed a little more passion. And, of course, neither guy measured up to Adrian. When I did nothing, Ian finally opened his eyes. I gave him another hug – with the coat on – and told him how happy I was that he’d met my dad. That seemed to satisfy him. Adrian made his nightly check-in with me once I was asleep later on. Naturally, he wanted to know about my dress. He also kept trying to find out how exactly I’d won Ian over and seemed amused at the few details I decided to give him. But mostly I couldn’t stop talking about Zoe. Adrian soon gave up on the other topics and simply listened to me gush. â€Å"She spoke to me, Adrian!† I paced around the reception hall, clasping my hands in excitement. â€Å"And she wasn’t mad. By the end, she was happy to see me. Do you know what that’s like? I mean, I know you don’t have any brothers or sisters, but to have someone you haven’t seen in a while welcome you back?† â€Å"I don’t know what it’s like,† he said quietly. â€Å"But I can imagine.† I was too caught up in my own joy at the time, but later, I wondered if he was talking about his incarcerated mother. â€Å"It’s nice to see you so happy,† he added. â€Å"Not that you’ve been miserable lately, but you’ve had a lot to worry about.† I couldn’t help but laugh at that and came to a halt. â€Å"Are you saying evil witches and espionage are stressful?† â€Å"Nah.† He walked over to me. â€Å"All in a day’s work for us. But I’m going to make my way to bed now. You seem like you can get by without me tonight.† He’d visited me every night since Veronica’s dream. Most of the trips were short now, but I still knew it was a lot of effort and spirit for him. â€Å"Thank you. I feel like I can’t say that to you enough.† â€Å"You don’t have to say it at all, Sage. Good luck tomorrow.† Right. Stealing top secret info from a highly secure facility. â€Å"Thanks,† I said again. A little of my mood dimmed, but not all of it. â€Å"No matter what happens, though, patching things up with Zoe makes me feel like this mission is already a success.† â€Å"That’s because you haven’t been caught.† He cupped my face in his hands and leaned close. â€Å"See that you aren’t. I don’t want to have to dream visit you in prison . . . or wherever it is bad Alchemists go.† â€Å"Hey, at least I’d have you for company, right?† He gave me a rueful headshake, and the dream vanished around me. How to cite The Indigo Spell Chapter Nineteen, Essay examples

Financial Reporting of Economics and Business

Question: Describe about the Financial Reporting of Economics and Business? Answer: (a) An economist and an accountant both are efficient enough to measure income but the manner of computation is different. Economist measures income on the basis of several assumptions related to future events where as accountant follows accounting concepts which is based on past events. Inflation plays a very vital role in income measurement because inflation is inversely proportional to purchasing power which is generated by income. Price of the commodities are increased due to inflation and this prise rise of commodities indirectly affects income generated by people, both accountant and economics consider the importance of inflation but in a different ways as economists considers on the real income based on inflation rates where as accountants inflate the historical income with the inflation rates. (b) The different theories that had been developed in the recent times are being done in the form of Capital Maintenance Theories which comes under the purview of the Changing Price Values Method which was being formulated for deciding the value of the assets and their valuation at the time of decision making. These theories were not able to survive due to the non existence of basis of maintaining a consistent tracking of the changing economic scenario as well. The CVA known as current value accounting served with many practical issues due to which this could be carried for accounting of wealth and value in the present terms. (Chow, 2012) (c) Cocoa means continuously contemporary accounting which suggests that in order to survive in this competitive environment an organisation has to adopt the needs of the changing environment and this requires cash. So organisations must have strong certain current cash equivalents, this is possible only when the base of the company is rock solid and all the applicable accounting principles and policies are being followed by the company. Fair value accounting also deals with the same tune that proper accounting principles and policies should be followed and all the assets and liabilities should be valued at fair value to make the base of the company stronger.(Persson, 2013)(d) Fair Value Accounting is a new concept which is introduced to reduce the complexities created by traditional historical cost accounting method. The financial statement is prepared for disclosing the current position of the business and then such financial statement is audited by the auditor who provides his opi nion on true and fair view of the contents of the financial statement. So to fulfil this requirement fair value accounting is introduced. The main concept is measure any asset or liability at that amount which it would fetch today. This new concept had introduced earlier it will reduce the impact of Global Financial Crisis of 2008 where big corporate become bankrupt as they carried their assets at historical cost hence under stating or over stating the accounting figures(Laux, 2010) (e) Proprietary theory follows the concept of all are one means the entity and its owner are no two different persons rather for the purpose of accounting both are treated as one because at the end owners are the beneficial from the working of the entity. Proprietary theory lays the base for the development of the other accounting theories as the analyst analyse the given theories and search the need for the solving the problems arising from this theory and in this way more advanced and more suitable accounting theories are given which is now helping everyone in doing proper accounting. (f) Proprietary theory is now considered as on old theory although it is still applicable to certain organisations but now a days organisations tends to not to follow this theory. According to companies act 2013 companies and its members are treated as separate entity. So in order to tune with the applicable laws the organisations also wants to follow modern accounting theories rather than this old theory which creates lot of complications for the owners of the company which the owners dont want to handle as transparency is required in todays world.(Watner, 1982) We are aware that the concept of Epistemology deals with the branch of knowledge and a philosophical concept that deals with theories of sources and knowledge. As accounting is a field of knowledge that has its origination from the various theories formed for this purpose. So the concept of epistemology is widely useful to the accounting theory concept. The account theories are developed out of intense knowledge of the human and the economy behaviour which is being studied by this concept of Epistemology. One of branches of epistemology is to deal with historical aspects in order to determine the correct course of actions. As accounting is a study of knowledge so it can be said that it is very useful for the process of developing accounting theories.(Whittington, 2008) The two different types of epistemology in the world of accounting are Infallibilism and Reliabilism.The concept of reliabilism speaks that the overnight and historical beliefs in the field of accounting can only be done if it is proved by the processes that take place during the research stages and gathering knowledge stage by the people.The concept of infalibilism says in order to prove a traditional accounting theory no false steps should be taken by any of the knowledge posting people as it needs to be proved by using this branch of knowledge as a whole.(Mohammad Nizarul Alim, 2014)Concept means providing base to any thing and similarly the basic accounting theories provides base on the basis of which accounting can be done. There is no such fixed rule that in a particular situation only this theory is to be followed. Application of accounting theory depends upon situations to situations. It is commonly heard that regulation is substitute for theory and there is no acceptable theory in accounting. Regulations are made by various acts made by government to keep a check on the working of the companies and companies had to follow the applicable regulations in order to avoid the heavy penalties for non compliance. So we can say that regulations are not the substitutes for theories it is rather a key enabler for the applicability of theory. Different situations demand different accounting theories so we can say that there is no single applicable accounting framework in each and every situation.(Freedman, 2013) Yes the conceptual framework project had significantly contributed to the development of accounting theories. Without base no building can stand and conceptual framework laid a strong base for the development of many modern accounting theories. One cannot ignore the relevance and importance of conceptual framework in accounting field, many accounting standards are developed on the basis of conceptual framework.(ACCA, 2014) Bibliography: ACCA. (2014). accaglobal. Retrieved 03 2015, from ACCA: https://www.accaglobal.com/in/en/student/acca-qual-student-journey/qual-resource/acca-qualification/f7/technical-articles/iasb-conceptual-framework-financial-reporting.html Chow, J. H. (2012). Financial reporting. In J. H. Chow, Financial reporting (pp. 1-77). London: The London school of economics and business. Freedman, J. (2013). What Is the Conceptual Framework Developed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Chron , 1-1. Laux, C. (2010). Did Fair-Value Accounting Contribute to the Financial Crisis. Journal of Economic Perspectives , 93-118. Mohammad Nizarul Alim, M. A. (2014). THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHARIAH ACCOUNTING:. In M. A. Mohammad Nizarul Alim, THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHARIAH ACCOUNTING: (pp. 109-117). Indonesia: University of Trunojoyo Madura. Persson, M. E. (2013). The Rise and Fall of Comprehensive Accounting Theories: R. J. Chambers and Continuously Contemporary Accounting. Social Research Network , 1-1. Watner, C. (1982). The Proprietary Theory of Justice in the Libertarian Tradition. THE JOURNAL OF LIBERTARIAN STUDIES , 1-1. Whittington, G. (2008). Fair Value and the IASB/FASB Conceptual Framework Project: An Alternative View. Abacus , 1-1.

John Grisham - Rainmaker Essays - English-language Films

John Grisham - Rainmaker The world is full of great novels. From Sherlock Holmes to the three musketeers. As the years progress more novels are written and more money is made. John Grisham is a rising star in literature. His books have enticed readers and has given the people something good to read. What makes his books great is that they are so realistic. He applies his personal law and trial knowledge into the books he writes.What it is about ? It was his last semester of law school. Rudy Baylor was assigned to give free advice to a group of seniors. It is at that very time, and that very place, that Rudy encounters his first true clients. Dot and Buddy Black. They have been robbed by a powerful insurance company. A company with millions of dollars in assets. They have caused the suffering of a young man. They have ruined his chances to live by not issuing their coverage that they were obligated to give. Donny Ray, son of Dot and Buddy is dying of Lukemia, he is going to die, his chances for survival are over and it is a matter of months. Rudy does'nt realize the case that has fallen into his lap until phone calls are made. There is a great problem, however, Rudy is broke, he hasn't even passed his bar exam yet. And will go head to head with one of America's most experienced and accomplished defense attorney's. *From the beginning of the novel to the last word, Rudy is plagued with a series of mishaps and problems. When something looks bright the clouds come in and ruin the hope. Rudy is in Luck. As the big trial begins, he is given a judge that is definetly on his side and 12 jury members that think the same way that he does. After researching great benefit, the insurance company, Rudy discovers cover ups by the company. He also discovers Great Benefits harsh way in getting rid of their numerous mistakes. n How it relates to your audience The TrialObviously Rudy is not stupid. He enters all the facts he has discovered and uses them to help solidify his position in the minds of the jurors As the trial goes on Rudy is given another problem. A beaten girl is discovered by Rudy at the hospital during his studying. Her husband has repeatively beaten her with an aluminum softball bat. Her ankle is broken and her life is in shreds. Rudy knows that these beatings will continue if the couple divorces but the young girl of 18 is unable to leave because she believes that she is still in love with him.n John Grisham does not maintain one single story, instead he creates numerous events so that the reader does not get bored with the main story. *From minor cases to FBI investigations, John Grisham does a swell job in creating a global society. He shows that lawyers have cares concerns about what is going on in the world and contrary to popular belief, lawyers dont focus mainly on cases and they have lives to. Ever-since The Firm was published, in 1991, John Grisham has been in a creative state. His five books that followed the firm, combine to form a total of approximately 50 million copies in print. Why ? The answer is because his thrilling stories and intense legal intrigue is in such a great demand. Now in The Rainmaker Grisham has weaved his talent into the storyline and has created a powerful, and at times humerous , tale of one young lawyers quest for fame,fortune and most importantly, hapiness. I am positive that this novel will rise to the best sellers list, And after reading this book, you will think alike. This novel is for all ages and all types. If the book you are searching for, is for excitement or pleasure. The Rainmaker is a great novel and provides a goood read. John Grisham has done his homework now do yours and read this good book.

A Brave Black Regiment History of the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry Regiment

A Brave Black Regiment History of the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry Regiment Introduction â€Å"A Brave Black Regiment: History of the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry Regiment† by Luis Emilio tells the history of one of the most famous infantry regiments ever to serve in any American War. It primarily consisted of black soldiers who were led by white officers, and they provided valuable service to the Union Army during the American Civil War.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on A Brave Black Regiment: History of the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry Regiment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It was one of the first black combat units assembled in the Northern States so there was a lot of interest and curiosity surrounding it. At a time when there was a lot of debate about the suitability of using blacks for armed combat, its performance was always going to be closely monitored, and the outcome would have a significant bearing on the fate of blacks in the army and the country as a whole. There were so many negative perceptions surrounding blacks serving in the army around this time but this only served to foster a sense of unity and determination amongst the black soldiers and their white officers, which spurred them to fight gallantly in the battles that they were involved in as a unit. History of Formation The outbreak of the Civil War saw many free black men volunteer to enlist in the U.S. military but there was a 1792 law in place that barred colored people from serving in the military. With the Union forces suffering a series of heavy military defeats, and fewer white men volunteering to join the army, Congress repealed the 1792 law in 1862 and passes a Militia Act that gave the president powers to employ blacks in any military or naval service. In March 1863, the then Governor of Massachusetts, John A. Andrew authorized the formation of the regiment and personally picked Colonel Robert Gould Shaw to command the unit[1]. The recruitment process was mainly done by white abolitionists, including Colonel Shaw’s parents, with the help of prominent black abolitionists like Frederick Douglass whose two sons were amongst the recruits. The unit trained at Camp Meigs in Reedville, near Boston under the close supervision of white soldiers. The 54th left Boston in May 1863, ready to do battle for the union, but were initially used to provide manual labor behind the frontlines. They tasted their first battlefield action when they stopped a Confederate assault in July the same year. Pay Disputes Author Luis Emilio clearly documents how the black soldiers of the 54th regiment were discriminated against in terms of payment for military service. During recruitment, they were promised salaries and allowances equal to that being paid to the white soldiers, which was $13 a month at that time. Instead, the black soldiers were paid $10 per month, and still $3 from this were withheld for clothing, meaning they took home only $7 per month[2] .Advertising Looking for book review on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This drew wide protests from many quarters. Colonel Shaw, the white officers and the black soldiers of the 54th regiment boycotted collecting their pay until this matter was addressed. Congress eventually enacted legislation that granted equal pay to black soldiers in June 1864. A Lasting Legacy The 54th regiment was disbanded after the end of the Civil War, but it left an indelible mark in history. The black soldiers of the 54th and in other units played a crucial role in helping the union achieve victory in the war. The black soldiers were tough, resilient and brave, and they fought with a lot of determination. A monument was constructed in their honor in 1884-1898 on the Boston Common and is part of the Boston Black Heritage Trail. Colonel Shaw died in battle, and was buried in the trenches alongside the other black soldiers who suffe red the same fate. Shaw’s parents supported this, as they felt that their son deserved to lie amongst his soldiers that he had led so valiantly in battle. The 54th regiment also produced the first black man to win the Medal of Honor. Sgt. William H. Carney of Company C received this recognition for exceptional bravery on the battlefront in which he risked his life openly to save their flag. The spreading news of heroics of the 54th regiment led to more blacks enlisting for service in the army in many other units all over the country. Conclusion In writing â€Å"A Brave Black Regiment: History of the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry Regiment†, Luis Emilio documents a very important turning point in America’s history that paved the way to the acceptance of blacks as first class American citizens, enjoying all the freedoms and privileges like their white counterparts. Black leaders pushed strongly for the recruitment of black troops since it presented the perf ect opportunity for the black man to prove his courage and patriotism on the battlefield. The nation would be obligated to grant them first class citizenship if they participated in the war to defend their territory. When President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, blacks got their chance to fight for full citizenship. The Civil War become about more than preserving the Union; it became the war of freedom for all American people, both white and black. The role played by the black soldiers of the 54th regiment, and all the black soldiers who fought in the war, helped speed up the general acceptance of black people as true American citizens.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on A Brave Black Regiment: History of the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry Regiment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Bibliography Emilio, Luis. A Brave Black Regiment. Boston: Da Capo Press, 1995. Footnotes Lu is, Emilio, A Brave Black Regiment (Boston: Da Capo Press, 1995), 210. Luis, Emilio, A Brave Black Regiment (Boston: Da Capo Press, 1995), 214

Global Warming In Ohio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Global Warming In Ohio - Essay Example Global Warming In Ohio Carbon pollution is seen to be one of the greatest contributors to the issue of global warming. It has been observed that the single major source of this pollution are the power plants that use coal as a fuel to produce energy. Not only that, but statistics have shown that the state of Ohio has a share of 20 percent among the carbon polluters in the United States ("Blade"). The major dilemma of the community is that even though this piece of information is now a widespread fact, there is no imposition of any sort of federal limits on the rate and quality of the emissions from these power plants. For many years, the government has been unwilling or rather said to be least bothered about implementing any kinds of measures that would help in solving this issue. With the increase in the population and hence, the demand of fuel in both commercial and domestic sectors, coal power stations continue to spring up every now and then all across the state. This coupled with the government’s ignorance simply happens to add fuel to the fire of global warming. Any guidelines or standard measures proposed by organizations dedicated towards protecting the environment have more or less been ignored up till now. Little has been made out of those that have been considered worthy enough to act upon since the rate of pollution is much higher than their capacity to deal with.

Profile without interviewing the person Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Profile without interviewing the person - Essay Example His television career also did not remain devoid of exceptional success owing to the fact that the globally acclaimed television project he starred in ran successfully for about six years. Later, Smith experimented with movies as well and conquered that show business area also as was expected from him considering the sheer devotion and dedication which he is naturally bound to show no matter whatsoever he pursues in life. Smith’s movie career was all set considering myriad mega blockbuster hits he starred in and he is also engrossed in acting in movies currently. He married twice and shares his second marriage with fellow celebrity Jada Smith. Smith’s â€Å"20-year career that just keeps getting hotter, all combined to put the actor in that celebrity sweet spot that all stars crave, but few ever attain† (Fox News) and owing to such unique career, he got able to crown himself with the title of â€Å"The Most Famous, Famous Guy of 2008† (Fox

Financial analysis and risk management of Kingfisher Plc Essay

Financial analysis and risk management of Kingfisher Plc - Essay Example The major retail brands of Kingfisher Plc are B&Q, Castorama, Brico Depot and Screwfix. The company is also operating in Turkey in 50% joint venture with Koc Group. The market capitalisation value of Kingfisher Plc is  £ 9100.92 million. The sales turnover of the company as on February 2014 was around  £ 11.1 billion and the pre-tax adjusted profit was  £ 744 million. Asia is its key sourcing market, along with Eastern Europe, Turkey, South America and Middle East. The main competitors of the company are Wolseley Plc, Homebase limited and Leroy Merlin (London Stock Exchange, 2014). The financing of the company includes a number of debt funding instruments such as, bank borrowings, leases, medium term notes and US private placement debt (Kingfisher, 2014b). Keeping in view the international nature of Kingfisher’s business and growing globalisation across the world, certain strategic factors need to be considered by the company regarding its geographical location, financing and its degree of completion. From competitive position, the company presently belong to one of the top-performing companies in retail sector and major strategic advantage of the company is its tendency to acquire small businesses. The company has undertaken joint venture to enter the Turkish market, which is considerably an important strategy. Hence, the company’s entry strategy differs from market to market. The SWOT analysis of Kingfisher Plc shows that the major strengths of the company are dominant market position, healthy business ratios and innovative products and services. The weaknesses include less investment in research and development and excessive dependence on France and UK market. The opportunities of the company are growth in e-retail an d global home improvement industry while the company can face threats like slow economic growth of European market, rising cost of manpower and high competition. The financial trend analysis has been done on last

An Introduction to the financial tools in measuring Liquidity and Profitability

An Introduction to the financial tools in measuring Liquidity and Profitability Tools that are important in monitoring business are liquidity and profitability. Liquidity refers to solvency meaning how quickly assets can be converted to cash while the income statement measures the financial performance of an entity through measuring profitability. The main financial documents of a company measures profitability and liquidity, the statement of comprehensive income measures profitability whilst liquidity is measured by the statement of financial position. Liquidity is measured by comparing the current assets and current liabilities of an entity. Current assets are resources of a business maturing within a year whilst current liabilities are the short term obligations of a business maturing within a year. Therefore, when measuring liquidity we measure the ability of an entity to cover its short term obligations with its current resources which includes inventory, Debtors, cash in the bank and petty cash amongst other resources. If a firm can cover its current obligations with its current resources twice it is considered liquid meaning it can cover its current obligations with few difficulties and any ratio less than that is considered illiquid meaning the entity will face difficulties in settling its current obligations which is not a good sign for any entity. Profitability is measured by matching revenue for a period with expenses for that period. Revenue is the proceeds an entity receives from selling its products from its core business activities. Whilst expenses are those costs incurred during a period in the process of generating sales revenue. Examples of expenses include electricity, rent, depreciation, salaries and wages e.t.c. The excess of revenues over expenses means the business is profitable whilst the vice versa means its making a loss. Profitability is measured in the income statement, and in addition to cash items it also considers non cash items such as depreciation. As a result profitability is not a true reflection of the cash generated by the business given the fact that it is drawn on an accrual basis. Yearling Ltd The company is faced with disagreements between two departments which are the accounting and finance staff. The accounting staff believes that if the company is profitable it should be able to pay for its obligations whilst the finance staff disagrees. The elaboration in the above paragraphs has explained profitability and liquidity and differences can be identified from the explanations. That is profitability means the ability of the firm to cover its operational expenses with its operational revenue and this includes cash and non cash items and hence can not measure the ability of a firm to pay its obligations. On the other hand liquidity measures the ability of a firm to cover its obligations with its resources and hence a perfect measure of the ability of the firm in covering its financial obligations. Hence, a profitable firm can be illiquid i.e. can face liquidity challenges in meeting its obligations. Conclusion The financial managers staff is right in advocating for party budget cut in order to reduce their financial obligations given the challenge they are faced with. On the other hand the accounting staff are wrong in thinking that a profitable firm implies liquidity as these are two different things as was discussed in the previous paragraphs. Question 2 Question 3 3.1.1. Debt Ratio A  debt ratio compares a companys total  debt to its total assets. Debt consists of the amounts borrowed or owing to creditors. The ratio is used to gain a general idea as to the amount of leverage or debt being used by a company. A low percentage means that the company is less dependent on debt or leverage i.e. money borrowed from and/or owed to others. The lower the proportion, the less leverage a company is using and the stronger its equity position. This is so because the lower the chances that the company will be liquidated to meet the debt obligations. In general, the higher the ratio, the more risk that company is considered to have taken on. Debt ratio is calculated by the following formula: For the companies under discussion their debt ratios are as follows: Pelican Paper Ltd Timberland Forest Ltd 1000000/10000000 5000000/10000000 10% 50% Timberland Forest Ltd has got a high ratio of 50% compared to the ratio of Pelican Paper Ltd of 10%. This means that Timberland has a high financial risk as it is financed by debt more than Pelican. The more debt compared to equity a company has, which is signalled by a high debt ratio, the more leveraged it is and the riskier it is considered to be. 3.1.2. Times Interest earned Ratio A metric used to measure a companys ability to meet its debt obligations. It is calculated by taking a companys earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and dividing it by the total interest payable on bonds and other contractual debt. It is usually quoted as a ratio and indicates how many times a company can cover its interest charges on a pre-tax basis. Failing to meet these obligations could force a company into bankruptcy. The ratio is calculated as follows: Times Interest Earned=Earnings before interest and taxes/interest For the two companies their respective ratios are as follows: Pelican Paper Ltd Timberland Forest Ltd 6250000/100000 6250000/500000 62.5 times 12.5times Pelican Paper Ltd has a high times interest earned ratio of 62.5times compared to Timberlands of 12.5times. This means Pelican has a high ability to cover its debts compared to Timberland as reflected by the number of times they can cover their interest obligations with available earnings. Conclusion Timberland has a high financial risk reflected by a high debt ratio and a lower time interest earned ratio. 3.2 3.2.1. Operating Profit margin Operating profit margin is the proportion of operating profit to Sales revenue for that period. Operating profit margin indicates how effective a company is at controlling the costs and expenses associated with their normal business operations. A high ratio means a high profitability whilst a lower means less profitable. The ratio is calculated as follows: Operating profit margin = operating profit/sales The respective ratios for the two companies are as follows: Pelican Paper Ltd Timberland Forest Ltd 6250000/25000000 6250000/25000000 25% 25% The companies has the same ratios and this implies that they are equally good in managing their costs and expenses hence profitability based on this ratio. 3.2.2. Net Profit Margin The ratio measures the percentage of profit available to ordinary shareholders to Sales. This number is an indication of how effective a company is at cost control. The higher the net profit margin is, the more effective the company is at converting revenue into actual profit. The net profit margins are a good way to compare companies in order to gauge which ONES are relatively more profitable. The ratio is calculated by the following formula: Net profit margin = Earnings available for ordinary share holders/sales The respective ratios of the two companies are as follows: Pelican Paper Ltd Timberland Forest Ltd 3690000/25000000 3450000/25000000 14.76% 13.80% Pelican has a high ratio compared to Timberland which means a high profitability based on this ratio. Therefore Pelican is profitable than Timberland. 3.2.3. Return on Total Assets Measures profit in proportion to total assets, in other words the effectiveness of management utilising the available assets in generating profits. A high ratio means greatest effectiveness and profitability. The ratio is calculated as follows: Return on total assets = Earnings available for ordinary shareholders/Total assets For the two companies the respective ratios are as follows: Pelican Paper Ltd Timberland Forest Ltd 3690000/10000000 3450000/10000000 36.90% 34.50% Pelican has a high ratio compared to Timberlands hence high profitability. 3.2.4. Return on common equity Measures the return earned on the ordinary shareholders investment in the firm. The amount of net income  returned  as a percentage  of shareholders equity.  Return on equity  measures a corporations profitability  by revealing how much  profit a company generates  with the money shareholders have invested.  Ã‚   ROE is expressed as a percentage and calculated as: Return on Equity = Net Income/Shareholders Equity Net income is for the full fiscal year (before dividends paid to common stock holders but after dividends to preferred stock.) Shareholders equity does not include preferred shares. The two companies ratios are as follows: Pelican Paper Ltd Timberland Forest Ltd 3690000/9000000 3450000/5000000 41% 69% Pelican has a lower return on equity compared to Timberland and based on this ratio Timberland is more profitable compared to Pelican. 3.3. Timberland has become more profitable because of the larger debt. Debt has a fixed interest payment and its tax allowed meaning it is tax deductable and as a result a high debt means a high interest payment and lower tax hence increased profits. 3.4. The risks undertaken by Timberland investors are basically financial risks which include the liquidity risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Question 4 Item Change(Rands) inflow(I)/outflow(o)/neither(N) Cash +100 I Trade and other payables -1000 O Short term borrowing +500 I Long-term borrowing -2000 O Inventory +200 O Non-current assets +400 O Trade receivables -700 I Net profit +600 Depreciation +100 N Repurchase of shares +600 O Cash dividends +800 I Sale of shares +1000 I Question 5 5.1. Year Cashflow PVIF(5%) PV 1 800 0.95 761.90 2 900 0.91 816.33 3 1000 0.86 863.84 4 1500 0.82 1234.05 5 2000 0.78 1567.05 Present Value of mixed cash flows 5243.17 5.2. The amount that can be paid at most is 5  243.17 5.3. Present Value of the mixed cash flows at 7% is as follows: Year Cashflow PVIF(5%) PV 1 800 0.93 747.66 2 900 0.87 786.09 3 1000 0.82 816.30 4 1500 0.76 1144.34 5 2000 0.71 1425.97 Present Value of mixed cash flows 4920.37 An opportunity cost of 7% implies that the investor will be prepared to pay less now and earn the same return as the one who pays more at 5% return. Question 6 6.1. Risk Averse Describes of an investor who, when faced with two investments with same or a similar expected return and different risks, will prefer the one with the lower risk. Given the trade off between risk and return its means risk averse investors will always lose on a potential of earning higher returns as investments with lower risks tend to have lower returns. 6.2. Risk indifferent This describes investors who overlook purposely risk when deciding between investments. They are also called risk neutral investors and they are mainly concerned with an investment expected return. 6.3. Risk seeking Describes investors who are willing to take additional risks for investments that have relatively low expected return. This contrasts with a typical investor mentality risk aversion. They tend to take higher risks in an effort to earn higher returns. They are also termed risk lovers. 6.4. Financial managers are best described as risk averse as they always seek to minimise risk when they make financial decisions. Question 7 7.1. Standard deviation measures the deviation of the returns from the expected return whilst range measures the differences between the highest possible return and the lowest return of a project. The higher the standard deviation the higher the risk whilst the same can be said about range, therefore project A is less risky as it has the lowest standard deviation and range compared to other projects. 7.2. Project A has a lower standard deviation 7.3 Standard deviation measures extend at which the returns are dispersed from the expected return of an asset. But it does not measure proportionately, so given different returns standard deviation will not be proper to use it as a measure of risk for purpose of comparison. 7.4 Coefficient of variation = Standard deviation/Expected Return Project Coefficient of variation A 2.9%/12% 0.24 B 3.2%/12.5% 0.26 C 3.5%/13% 0.27 D 3%/12.8% 0.23 7.5 Coefficient of variation is a best measure of risk for purposes of comparison as it measures proportional deviation from the mean. Given that Grassland owners are risk averse they will choose a project with the lowest coefficient of variation which is project D based on the table above. Question 8 8.1 Comparison of Ordinary shareholders and other providers of long term capital Ordinary Shareholders Other Suppliers of long term capital Dividends to be paid are at the discretion of the companies board of directors Receives a fixed interest whether the company made profit or not. Dividend payments are taxed Interest payments are tax deductible Permanent form of financing They mature Have secondary claims to assets and income of the company. Have primary claims to income and assets of a company. Owners of the firm Creditors of the firm Have voting rights Dont have voting rights. 8.2 Rights offering are when ordinary shareholders are offered new shares at a discounted price first before they become available to the public. Therefore, this offering protects a firms shareholders from dilution of their holding in such a way that they are given preference to maintain their holding first by being offered proportional new shares to their holding. In that manner protected from a possible dilution if they were to be taken by new shareholders. 8.3. Authorised Shares Authorised shares quantify the maximum total shares a company can be allowed to issue. In other words it is the number of shares a company is authorised to issue highlighted in its articles and memorandum of association. It is from this that the company can decide on the number of shares that it can issue and can only issue at most to this amount of authorised shares otherwise it can issue less. Issued shares Its the number of shares that has been issued and paid for and it represents part of the amount equity reflected in the statement of financial position. These also represents the amount of he authorised shares held by the public. Issued shares represents the sum of issued and treasury shares. Treasury shares A company can decide to purchase part of the issued shares back for some reasons. If it does the shares will be held by the company and they do not participate in any thing i.e. they do not participate in voting nor receive dividends. These types of shares are the ones termed treasury shares 8.4. Preference shareholders tend to have more favourable basic rights in terms of the distribution of earnings and assets compared to ordinary shareholders. They often have features of debt instruments which makes them superior in terms of claims compared to ordinary shareholders. The claims that preference shares will be discussed in the paragraphs that follow; Preference shares have a fixed claim on the firms income that takes precedence over the claim of ordinary shareholders. This makes them less risk compared to ordinary shareholders as they have guaranteed income. Given that they are participative preference shares they will also have preference over ordinary shareholders in the distribution of earnings. Furthermore, if they do not receives the dividend earnings it implies the ordinary shareholders they have not as well. This then makes and shows that the ordinary shareholders are the true risk takers. In the event of liquidation, preference shares do have a preference over ordinary shareholders in claims over assets of the firm. In other words they are paid their initial capital first before ordinary shareholders could be paid. 8.5. The cumulative future of preference shares refers to the guaranteed payment of dividends to the shares irregardless of the performance of the company. In the event of a company having less financial resources to pay for the dividend, it will be deferred and paid as and when the company realizes the resources to pay. In other words the dividends are accumulated and paid when the company can. For example, if a company is liable to pay a 10  000 dividend annually for preference shares and it happens that one financial period the lack financial resources to pay the dividend they defer it to the following financial period. As a result, in the following financial period they will have to pay a dividend of 20  000 which covers the 10  000 for the last period and the 10  000 for the current period. Question 9 Valuation of shares with no dividend growth, the formula is as follows. 9.1 Share price = Dividend per share/cost of capital 2.4/0.12 R 20.00 9.2 2.4/0.2 R 12.00 9.3 The higher the risk the higher the value, a lower interest rate results in a higher value. This is so because the lower the interest rate the higher the risk of default and that risk should be compensated by an increased capital value. The reverse is also true for a higher interest rate as it has resulted in a lower capital value.

Narcolepsy :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Wake Up! A Quick Look at Narcolepsy It is estimated that humans spend one-third of their lives asleep (1). With sleep appearing to be not only the ultimate pastime, but also a survival imperative, the field of sleep research is quite broad, boasting many different areas of study. By examining phenomena like sleep disorders neurobiologists can hope to understand the mechanisms of normative sleep, in addition to perfecting treatment for suffers. Narcolepsy is one such disorder that affects an estimated 250, 000 or 1 in 2000 Americans; similar numbers are estimated for Parkinson's or multiple sclerosis (2). A widespread, though often misdiagnosed disease (fewer than 50, 000 are aware of their condition), narcolepsy can be characterized by chronic daytime sleepiness, cataplexy, sleep paralysis, and hypanogic hallucinations (3 ). The latter three of the tetrad of symptoms also occur in non-narcoleptic individuals; sleep episodes are the main determinant in diagnosis. Only 20 to 25 percent of narcoleptics suffer from all fou r symptoms (2). This paper has several goals, all of which involve clarifying the disease and its symptoms in different contexts. In order to do this sleep will first be explained in some detail, followed by a biological and psychological treatment of narcolepsy. Research of narcolepsy and its implications for the future shows steps to be taken in order to garner a better understanding this particular brain/behavior relationship. To start at a beginning of sorts, REM sleep and its importance should be discussed. Sleep is in fact not the passive activity it was once assumed to be. It appears that during sleep many things are going on in the brain, which are documented by electroencephalograms (EEGs) measuring neocortical neuronal activity. Sleep occurs in a cycle of distinct stages, with apparent contrasts from early sleep, deep sleep, and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep (4). During REM sleep neurons in the neocortex behave similarly to how they would when a person is awake, displaying desynchronized EEG. The first REM stage occurs 70 to 90 minutes into sleep and approximately 20% of a night's sleep is spent in this type of sleep (4). Since this stage of sleeping is associated with dreaming, it is logical that in REM sleep muscles become temporarily paralyzed, a state called muscle atonia. REM sleep is important for overall health and regulation of the nervous system. In other sleep stages, or non-REM stages, E EGs are synchronized, only partial muscle relaxation is present, and dreaming is less frequent (2).

Geological Resources In Hong Kong Environmental Sciences Essay

Hong Kong is a little particular administrative part located at the southern portion of China. Within a little country, it has a really rich geological diverseness ( Yeung, 2010 ) . The geological diverseness can be valued in assorted facets, depending on which parties can be benefited. Some of the values can be regarded as resources, which can be used to make good to human existences. The geological resources profit our life in different ways, such as in our economic system, society and the environment. In this essay, it is traveling to concentrate how different geological resources benefit Hong Kong people in inside informations. When speaking approximately geological resources, most people would believe of mineral ore. There are different minerals ores distributed across Hong Kong, both metallic and non-metallic one, such as the lead mine in Lin Ma Hang and the tungsten mine in Needle Hill, but all of them are closed due to no net income ( Sewell, Tang, & A ; Shaw, 2009 ) . Although the economic system of Hong Kong is no longer based with primary industry now, there was a flourishing excavation industrial activity in the yesteryear. This was the Fe ore located in Ma On Shan which was the lone industrial mine running in a big graduated table of all time in the history of Hong Kong ( Ruan, 2009 ) . The formation of the Fe ore is due to the endogenic procedures, which is described as the followers ( Wu, 2003 ) . The volcanic activities in Ma On Shan country 1000000s old ages ago causes magma invasion. Before the volcanic activity, the type of stones in Ma On Shan was chiefly sedimentary stone. The invasion along faults causes chemical reaction between the stone and the magma, known as contact metamorphism. High temperature and force per unit area modifies the chemical science of the affected sedimentary stones, and go metamorphous stone ( Skarn ) . As the sedimentary stone is more permeable, H2O infiltrates. Magma heats up the H2O. As hot H2O has higher solubility, it solutes the minerals in the magma and brings to the lower temperature topographic points harmonizing to the jurisprudence of geothermic gradient. The fluid is known as geothermofluid. Minerals in the geothermofluid sedimentation when the H2O temperature drops, as the solubility of minerals reduces. The perennial procedure causes enrichment of minerals and forms the Fe ore. The environing country of the mine has developed quickly with schools, markets and church established, to function the mineworkers and their households. However, the Fe mine has been abandoned in 1976, go forthing a few mineworkers remaining at that place with empty schools and church ( Ho, 2009 ) . The geological resources in Ma On Shan witnessed the rise and autumn of a topographic point and the people. The topographic point now becomes a site for tourers to boost, to hold merriment and to research the excavation history. Non-metallic mineral Besides minerals that can be sold for net income, rock quarrying and sea sand excavation can non be ignored because they are indispensable for the development of Hong Kong. Hong Kong has rich screen of volcanic stones with 50 % and 35 % of flinty stone ( Geopark, 2009 ) . They are utile for building. There are three preies, managed by CEDD, located in Lam Tei, Anderson Road and Shek O, which are really of import in supplying edifice stuffs for the building undertakings ( CEDD, 2009 ) . Furthermore, the stone stuffs are besides used for reclamination in developing the new towns every bit good as for the Victoria Harbour. The dirt and stone minerals in the borrow country in Tai Tong East were extracted for the building of Tin Shui Wai New Town. Some of the stones in the preies and the sea sand from the sea were used for the reclamination undertakings along the Victoria Harbour. Without these resources to increase the sum of level land, it is non easy to happen adequate infinites to busy a big sum of population in Hong Kong. Rock quarrying has a really long history in Hong Kong which can be traced back to the yesteryear when the Hong Kong had non yet opened by the British people. During that clip, Hakka people settled in different topographic points in Hong Kong, trusting on rock quarrying for life. One of the celebrated sites is the Four Hills in the East Kowloon, which are Ngau Tau Kok, Sai Tso Wan, Cha Kwo Ling and Lei Yue Mun, stand foring the beginning of rock quarrying history by Hakka people in Hong Kong ( Yu, 2009 ) . The Hakka people have use the local stuffs to construct their houses and the stuffs are granite ( Wordie, 2007 ) . The Hakka people besides earned their life through pull outing the granite by manus and sold it. Their stones have become the building stuffs of some of import edifices such as the Legislative Council Building ( Sing Tao Daily, 2007 ) . Some of the stones are sold to Guangzhou to construct the Sacred Heart Cathedral in 1861 ( Wordie, 2007 ) . With such rich in resources, people get richer and the Hakka small towns started to turn. Their rock-mining narrative can be reflected in the Hakka common people vocal every bit good ( Li, 2010 ) . Therefore, the geological resources helped to put down the foundation of their Hakka civilization in East Kowloon. In add-on, it besides reflects the character of hardworking of Hakka people and their part to the society development. The chemical weathering of felspar in granite leads to the formation of china clay ( Waugh, 2005 ) . Therefore, kaolin mine can be found in Cha Kwo Ling in East Kowloon every bit good. Another celebrated site utilizing china clay as the beginning for doing China is in a Hakka small town in Wun Yiu in Tai Po. In fact, the name of the topographic point reflects its economic activity V doing China. Wun Yiu has established since the in-between age of Ming Dynasty ( Chen, 2007 ) . The Hakka built a temple to praise the Saint of Potter V Fan Xian ( OA?P ) . Every twelvemonth, the Hakka people in the small town observe its birthday which is a alone civilization in that topographic point ( Chan, 2008 ) . However, due to cut downing militias of china clay, the china-making activities was stopped in 1930s and the villagers changed to farming to gain a life ( Chan, 2008 ) . The jubilation still continues. The geological resources non merely profit the economic system in at that place, but besid es of import to their civilization and the societal coherence. Agribusiness Besides direct stuffs extraction, human sorts so indirectly extract the minerals in dirt through agribusiness. Soil is besides an of import geological resource to people. Fertile dirts are normally weathered from pyrogenic stones because pyrogenic stones are formed in the beginning of the stone rhythm ( Troeh & A ; Thompson, 2005 ) : In the beginning of stone rhythm, the stone signifiers from chilling of lava or magma which keeps most of the minerals. By the procedures of enduring and eroding, the pyrogenic stone will be broken in pieces and transported to other topographic points through erosional agents. During the procedure of transit, the minerals in the pyrogenic stone will be lost to the environment such as solution in H2O. As a consequence, the minerals in the sedimentary stones are few, comparing with pyrogenic stone, so the dirt derived from sedimentary stones is sterile. In Hong Kong, pyrogenic stone has the largest surface screen for approximately 85 % ( Geopark, 2009 ) , so most of the land is suited for the flora growing. Generally, the agricultural lands are found on or shut to the pyrogenic stone, particularly the volcanic stones. For illustration, the dirts and the minerals on the mountains in Lam Tusen, which the type of the stone on the mountains is volcanic stone, are carried to the low-lying land to enrich the dirt. Therefore, agricultural activities are active along the Lam Tusen Valley. Without the volcanic stones, the life of the people in there will be really rough as turning nutrient on an sterile land is hard. For that ground, geological resources, in this instance, are indispensable for the endurance of human existences. Tourism The weather-beaten and scoured stones are besides geological resources which are of import for the development of touristry. In Hong Kong, there are different landscapes characteristics are associated with different geological procedures. Due to strong predominating air current from the E, it is easy to happen erosional coastal characteristics in the eastern portion of Hong Kong, by the action of moving ridges ( Sewell, Tang, & A ; Shaw, 2009 ) . In Tung Ping Chau, sea stack, sea cave and wave-cut platform can be found ( Ng & A ; Chan, 2008 ) . These characteristics provide beautiful sceneries for the tourers to astonish and appreciate. Besides costal eroding, weathering is besides of import in determining the stone characteristics. For illustration in Po Toi, there are a batch of interesting and typical stone characteristics on the island, such as the Buddhist Monk and the Tortoise Traveling up the Hill ( Ng & A ; Chan, 2008 ) . These geological resources are recreational musca volitanss for people to bask during vacations. Such characteristics have attracted a batch of tourers from local and abroad, which can assist to advance the local touristry in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has a great geodiveristy and has a possible to set up a Geopark. With the aid of the Chinese Government, the Geopark is officially opened on 3 November 2009 ( Government News, 2009 ) . The geopark is divided into two chief parts, which are the sedimentary stone parts in the Northeast New Territories and the volcanic stone parts in Sai Kung, with a sum of eight scenery sites ( HKSAR, 2010 ) . In the beginning of six months since the park established, it has attracted more than half million visitants ( Huang, 2010 ) . These tourers spend money on booking boats, engaging a usher, basking the seafood on the outlying islands and purchasing traditional seafood from the villagers. In add-on to the outgos passing outside the park, the gross generated from touristry due to the geopark, is expected about 200 million dollars a twelvemonth ( Ming Pao, 2010 ) . With the use of the geological resources, it contributes to our economic system development and provides occupations chances fo r the local people. It can heighten the image and repute of touristry industry of Hong Kong every bit good ( Huang & A ; Weng, 2009 ) . Education and scientific research Furthermore, these sites have instruction and scientific values to people. For instruction intents, these geological landforms provide a platform for people and particularly the childs to understand the endogenic procedures and exogenetic procedures in determining the Earth surface. It is astonishing to cognize the power of the Nature. The characteristics will non be formed in the manner the fables told us, such as the Amah Rock was formed because the God turns the adult female and the babe into stone ( Cai, 2009 ) . In fact, the formation of the Amah Rock is due to different sorts of enduring procedures acted on granite. Another illustration is Ma Shi Chau Special Area where is a best topographic point for geographics lesson, as sedimentary stones, coastal landforms, turn uping and blaming can be found on this small island ( Wong, 2009 ) . Therefore, the geological resources help us to heighten our physical geographics cognition. For scientific values, the research workers and experts can understand the development of the Earth history through reading the stone samples. By understanding our yesteryear, the geological history of Hong Kong can be reviewed and so it can be used to foretell the hereafter. The environmental alteration can be identified as good, such as low-lying rise and clime alteration. They are utile for environmental modeling for scientific research. Other geological history, the human sort history can be studied, as the dirt under the surface keeps the artefacts for the archeologists in future to delve them up. In add-ons, geodiversity supports biodiversity, through supplying nutrients for workss and home grounds for animate beings ( Ng, 2006 ) . By understanding of the maps of stones and their relationship, it can increase the public consciousness that protecting stones is a manner to protect the natural ecosystems. Therefore, the geological resources are important in assisting instruction and scientific research. Burial things The geological resources can lend the society through supplying topographic points to bury our refuse. In Hong Kong, happening a topographic point to bury our tremendous refuse produced every twenty-four hours is hard. Presently, the society has a hot argument on the issue of spread outing the landfill site in Tseung Kwan O, doing the authorities in a hard state of affairs ( Guo, 2010 ) . Other than burying refuse, burying dead organic structures is another job that the authorities has to cover with. The deficit of infinites for hive awaying ashes is limited. Some lands are converted into ash Fieldss by some private developers to gain net income, even though some of them have non received permission from the authorities ( Cheung & A ; Wong, 2010 ) . In order to work out the jobs, the direction of the geological resources V land, has to be careful to avoid farther complications. Legends and civilization Finally, some of the typical stone characteristics has become a fable or being praised for its supernatural power. For fable, the Amah Rock is an illustration. One of the illustrations is the Lovers Rock in Bowen Road in the Mid-level. During the Chinese Valentine Day, a figure of people would see Lovers Rock to wish a durable relationship or hold a boy- or girlfriend ( Lu & A ; Mai, 2003 ) . For Lion Rock, it gives a sense of properties and a contemplation to the character of Hong Kong people. The geological resources provide a platform for people s imaginativeness and creativeness. It besides gives faith to people who are confused or without confident. Therefore, it contributes to our psychological science. Decision To reason, the geological resources are rich in this small metropolis. There are metallic and non-metallic minerals which support the local civilization, economical development and the infrastructural buildings. The typical landforms encourage touristries and so provide occupation chances. The geological characteristics can ease the instruction and scientific research. Last, the legendised stone characteristics give some cultural values to Hong Kong. These resources are indispensable to our day-to-day life as we depends it for money, nutrient, lodging and besides the psychological demands. Therefore, the geological resources should be treasured as they belong to each of us in Hong Kong. We have to collaborate together to protect them before it is excessively late.

Cuba and US relations essays

Cuba and US relations essays In the early 1900s, Cuba was a stomping ground for many of the rich and famous from the United States. Many famous movies stars and wealthy business entrepreneurs spend their vacations there along with a substantial amount of money. Trade and commerce between the United States and Cuba flowed freely and abundantly. Even with the Dictatorship-like regime of Batista, the countries benefited from the economic trade between them. This was all about to come crashing down as revolts against Batista occurred and Fidel Castro came to power within Cuba. It was after Castro took power that the United States changed its way in which it dealt with Cuba dramatically. The United States decided it would place major sanctions against Cuba and would try to cut Castro off of dealing with not only the United States, but any other country the US dealt with as well. It was during this time that the Cold War was in its adolescence stage and the United States was doing everything in its power to make sure that smaller, third world countries did not become communist or even associate themselves with the Soviet Union in any way. One of the reasons sanctions were placed against Cuba was that during the revolution against Batista, research was done into Castros background and it was shown that two of his lieutenants; Ernesto Che Guevara and Fidels brother Raul, were said to be communists. The research also led one to believe that even though Castro might not be a Marxist-Leninist, he was a Soviet sympathizer . After more in-depth research into Castros background, it was shown that he had no ties in any way to the Communist nor did he even have much sympathy for it. These sanctions were put into place against Cuba as Fidel Castro came into power in 1959 and have not seen any real changes up to the present time. The reason the United States implemented these sanctions against Cuba were for a couple of reasons....