Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Difference Between Atomic Weight and Atomic Mass

Difference Between Atomic Weight and Atomic Mass Atomic weight and atomic mass are two important concepts in chemistry and physics. Many people use the terms interchangeably, but they dont actually mean the same thing. Take a look at the difference between atomic weight and atomic mass and understand why most people are confused or dont care about the distinction. (If youre taking a chemistry class, it could show up on a test, so pay attention!) Atomic Mass Versus Atomic Weight Uranium has two primordial isotopes (uranium-238 and uranium-235). Uranium-238 has 92 protons plus 146 neutrons and uranium-235 92 protons and 143 neutrons. Â  Pallava Bagla/Getty Images Atomic mass (ma) is the mass of an atom. A single atom has a set number of protons and neutrons, so the mass is unequivocal (wont change) and is the sum of the number of protons and neutrons in the atom. Electrons contribute so little mass that they arent counted. Atomic weight is a weighted average of the mass of all the atoms of an element, based on the abundance of isotopes. The atomic weight can change because it depends on our understanding of how much of each isotope of an element exists. Both atomic mass and atomic weight rely on the atomic mass unit (amu), which is 1/12th the mass of an atom of carbon-12 in its ​ground state. Can Atomic Mass and Atomic Weight Ever Be the Same? If you find an element that exists as only one isotope, then the atomic mass and the atomic weight will be the same. Atomic mass and atomic weight may equal each other whenever you are working with a single isotope of an element, too. In this case, you use the atomic mass in calculations rather than the atomic weight of the element from the periodic table. Weight Versus Mass: Atoms and More Mass is a measure of the quantity of a substance, while weight is a measure of how a mass acts in a gravitational field. On Earth, where we are exposed to a fairly constant acceleration due to gravity, we dont pay much attention to the difference between the terms. After all, our definitions of mass were pretty much made with Earth gravity in mind, so if you say a weight has a mass of 1 kilogram and a 1 weight of 1 kilogram, youre right. Now, if you take that 1 kg mass to the Moon, its weight will be less. So, when the term atomic weight was coined back in 1808, isotopes were unknown and Earth gravity was the norm. The difference between atomic weight and atomic mass became known when F.W. Aston, the inventor of the mass spectrometer (1927) used his new device to study neon. At that time, the atomic weight of neon was believed to be 20.2 amu, yet Aston observed two peaks in the mass spectrum of neon, at relative masses 20.0 amu and 22.0 amu. Aston suggested there two actually two types of neon atoms in his sample: 90% of the atoms having a mass of 20 amu and 10% with a mass of 22 amu. This ratio gave a weighted average mass of 20.2 amu. He called the different forms of the neon atoms isotopes. Frederick Soddy had proposed the term isotopes in 1911 to describe atoms that occupy the same position in the periodic table, yet are different. Even though atomic weight is not a good description, the phrase has stuck around for historical reasons. The correct term today is relative atomic mass - the only weight part of the atomic weight is that it is based on a weighted average of isotope abundance.

Friday, November 22, 2019

An Overview of Sanctuary Cities

An Overview of Sanctuary Cities While the term has no specific legal definition, a â€Å"sanctuary city† in the United States is a city or county in which undocumented immigrants are protected from deportation or prosecution for violations of U.S. federal immigration laws. In both a legal and practical sense, â€Å"sanctuary city† is a rather vague and informal term. It can, for example, indicate that the city has actually enacted laws that restrict what their police and other employees are allowed to do during encounters with undocumented immigrants. On the other hand, the term has also been applied to cities like Houston, Texas, which calls itself a â€Å"welcoming city† to undocumented immigrants but have no specific laws regarding enforcement of federal immigration laws.   In an example of a states’ rights conflict arising from the U.S. system of federalism, sanctuary cities refuse to use any local funds or police resources to enforce the national government’s immigration laws. Police or other municipal employees in sanctuary cities are not allowed to ask a person about their immigration, naturalization, or citizenship status for any reason. In addition, sanctuary city policies forbid police and other city employees from notifying federal immigration enforcement officers of the presence of undocumented immigrants living in or passing through the community. Due to its limited resources and the scope of the immigration enforcement job, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) must rely on local police to help enforce federal immigration laws. However, federal law does not require local police to locate and detain undocumented immigrants just because ICE requests they do so. Sanctuary city policies and practices may be established by local laws, ordinances or resolutions, or simply by practice or custom. In September 2015, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency estimated that about 300 jurisdictionss of large U.S. cities with sanctuary laws or practices include San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Boston, Detroit, Seattle, and Miami. U.S. â€Å"sanctuary cities† should not be confused with â€Å"cities of sanctuary† in the United Kingdom and Ireland that apply local policies of welcoming and encouraging the presence of refugees, asylum seekers, and others seeking safety from political or religious persecution in  their countries of origin. Brief History of Sanctuary Cities The concept of sanctuary cities is far from new. The Old Testament’s Book of Numbers speaks of six cities in which persons who had committed murder or manslaughter were allowed to claim asylum. From 600 CE until 1621 C.E., all churches in England were allowed to grant sanctuary to criminals and some cities were designated as criminal and political sanctuaries by Royal charter.   In the United States, cities and counties began adopting immigrant sanctuary policies in the late 1970s. In 1979, the Los Angeles police department adopted an internal policy known as â€Å"Special Order 40,† which stated, Officers shall not initiate police action with the objective of discovering the alien status of a person. Officers shall not arrest nor book persons for violation of title 8, section 1325 of the United States Immigration code (Illegal Entry).† Political and Legislative Actions on Sanctuary Cities As the number of sanctuary cities grew over the next two decades, both the federal and state governments began taking legislative actions to require full enforcement of federal immigration laws.   On September 30, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 addressing the relationship between the federal government and local governments. The law focuses on illegal immigration reform and includes some of the toughest measures ever taken against illegal immigration. Aspects considered in the law include border enforcement, penalties for alien smuggling and document fraud, deportation and exclusion proceedings, employer sanctions, welfare provisions, and changes to existing refugee and asylum procedures. In addition, the law prohibits cities from banning municipal workers for reporting persons immigration status to federal authorities. A section of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 allows local police agencies to obtain training in the  enforcement of federal immigration laws. However, it fails to provide state and local law enforcement agencies with any general powers for immigration enforcement. Some States Oppose Sanctuary Cities Even in some states housing sanctuary or sanctuary-like cities and counties, legislatures and governors have taken steps to ban them.In May 2009, Georgia’s Governor Sonny Perdue signed state Senate Bill 269, a law prohibiting Georgia cities and counties from adopting sanctuary city policies. In June 2009, Tennessee’s Governor Phil Bredesen signed state Senate Bill 1310 banning local governments from enacting sanctuary city ordinances or policies. In June 2011, Texas Governor Rick Perry called a special session of the state legislature to consider state Senate Bill 9, a proposed law banning sanctuary cities. While public hearings on the bill were held before the Texas Senate’s Transportation and Homeland Security Committee, it was never considered by the full Texas legislature. In January 2017, Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened to oust any local officials who promoted sanctuary city laws or policies. â€Å"We are working on laws that will ... ban sanctuary cities [and] remove from office any officer-holder who promotes sanctuary cities,† stated Gov. Abbott. President Trump Takes Action On January 25, 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled â€Å"Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States,† which, in part, directed the Secretary of Homeland Security and Attorney General to withhold funding in the form of federal grants from sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal immigration law. Specifically, Section 8 (a) of the executive order states, â€Å"In furtherance of this policy, the Attorney General and the Secretary, in their discretion and to the extent consistent with law, shall ensure that jurisdictions that willfully refuse to comply with 8 U.S.C. 1373 (sanctuary jurisdictions) are not eligible to receive Federal grants, except as deemed necessary for law enforcement purposes by the Attorney General or the Secretary.† In addition, the order directed the Department of Homeland Security to begin issuing weekly public reports that include â€Å"a comprehensive list of criminal actions committed by aliens and any jurisdiction that ignored or otherwise failed to honor any detainers with respect to such aliens.† Sanctuary Jurisdictions Dig In Sanctuary jurisdictions wasted no time in reacting to President Trump’s action. In his State of the State address, California’s Governor Jerry Brown vowed to defy President Trump’s action. â€Å"I recognize that under the Constitution, federal law is supreme and that Washington determines immigration policy,† stated Gov. Brown. â€Å"But as a state, we can and have had a role to play †¦ And let me be clear: we will defend everybody - every man, woman, and child - who has come here for a better life and has contributed to the well-being of our state.† Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has pledged $1 million in city funds to create a legal defense fund for immigrants threatened with prosecution due to President Trump’s order. â€Å"Chicago has in the past been a sanctuary city. ... It always will be a sanctuary city,† said the mayor. On January 27, 2017, Salt Lake City Mayor Ben McAdams stated he would refuse to enforce President Trump’s order. â€Å"There has been fear and uncertainty among our refugee population the last few days,† McAdams said. â€Å"We want to reassure them that we love them and their presence is an important part of our identity. Their presence makes us better, stronger and richer.† In Tragic 2015 Shooting, Sanctuary Cities Stir Debate The tragic July 1, 2015 shooting death of Kate Steinle thrust sanctuary city laws into the center of controversy. While visiting San Francisco’s Pier 14, the 32-year old Steinle was killed by a single bullet fired from a pistol admittedly held at the time by Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, an undocumented immigrant. Garcia Zarate, a citizen of Mexico, had been deported several times and had been convicted for illegal re-entry into the United States. Days before the shooting, he had been released from a San Francisco jail after a minor drug charge against him was dismissed. Although U.S. immigration officials had issued an order that police detain him, Garcia Zarate was released him under San Francisco’s sanctuary city laws. The uproar over sanctuary cities grew on December 1, 2017, when a jury acquitted Garcia Zarate of charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, finding him guilty only of illegally possessing a fire arm. In his trial, Garcia Zarate claimed he had just found the gun and that the shooting of Steinle had been an accident. In acquitting him, the jury found reasonable doubt in Garcia Zarate’s accidental shooting claim, and under the Constitution’s guarantee of â€Å"due process of law,† guarantee, his criminal record, history of prior convictions, and immigration status were not allowed to be presented as evidence against him.   Critics of permissive immigration laws reacted to the case by complaining that sanctuary city laws too often allow dangerous, criminal illegal immigrants to remain on the streets.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Health Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Health Psychology - Essay Example through the use of a certain medium. Communication may be done in a conscious or in a subconscious level and either intentionally or unintentionally. This process requires a vast range of skills such as speaking, observing, questioning, analyzing, and evaluating (Barnlund, 1968). Several models have been made regarding communication. One of these models is the Shannon and Weaver’s model or the Transmission Model of Communication. The following flowchart shows the basic premise of the model and its flow of communication. The information source produces the message and is then encoded into signals for message transmission. The channel is the media through which the message is sent. Through the process of message sending, some noise is present causing the message to be seen differently by the receiver. The receiver decodes the message sent and once it is decoded, it is deemed as having arrived to its final destination (Shannon & Weaver, 1949). In this model, the source or the one who delivers the message encodes the message via a channel which the receiver decodes. This model simply shows that the source communicates about the topic he/she is knowledgeable and his/her message is formed with a specific content, elements, treatment, structure and code. All these are delivered via a channel, which is comprised of the receiver’s sense and are decoded by the receiver (Berlo, 1960). All models of communication try to explain the basic flow and process of communication. In all models of communication, it shows that communicating is a two way process wherein both the sender and the receiver takes part. A physician’s communication skills play a great role in a patient-physician relationship. In fact, good communication has always been important in medical practice and is the keystone for patient-physician relationships. Communication is the main means for physicians to interact with their patients. Certain traits of communication allow trust

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Islamic architecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Islamic architecture - Essay Example (Burckhardt, Art of Islam, p. 203) The divine reflections and revelations of Islamic architecture have deep historical roots in multiple cultures and religions. From ancient Greece to twenty-first century technological marvels, Islamic architecture draws from a plethora of rich influences and resources in creating its own unique experience of bringing the sacred and the divine into the human experience. The earliest historical influences arise out of the architecture of Ancient Greece with its Doric, Ionic and Corinthian styles of architecture as defined by their columnar structures. The influence of the Ionic and later Corinthian styles can be seen in columns of the earliest mosques, such as the Hagia Sophia built in 532 A.D in Istanbul (then Constantinople) in which Corinthian style columns can be seen on the left side knave and Ionic-style columns in the center kiosk in the picture at left (Wegner, Hagia Sophia, [internet]) and in the Tulun Mosque in Cairo Egypt built in 876 A.D. in the picture on the right in which the Corinthian style columns provide the supports to all the doorways and arches. (â€Å"Islamic Architecture† in Free Dictionary [internet]) The Romans also added their influence to Islamic architecture. Roman architecture was socio-policitical in nature. Its aim was primarily focused on public events of which the collisem in Rome is the main existing example. Islam absorbed this focus in its architecture as well in the way its people built their communities in consideration of community needs rather than individual glory. (Helms, pp 129-132) Mosques and Madrasahs reflect the spaciousness of the Roman buildings, as places with space for the whole community to gather for edification and worship. A mosque in Armenia provides an example of this with the photograph to the left illustrating its outer simplicity and the photograph to the left showing a floor-plan of its inner spaciousness. When the Byzantine Empire became the dominant force in

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Using Facebook to Cultivate Political Awareness Among Singapore Youth Essay Example for Free

Using Facebook to Cultivate Political Awareness Among Singapore Youth Essay Political awareness refers to the recognition and acquisition of either theoretical or practical political knowledge for our discussion. As the main purpose to cultivate political awareness is to help young voters make informed decisions during various elections, only information related to ‘civics’, that is â€Å"the study of the government with the attention of the roles of citizens† (Hebe, 1967), is considered political knowledge in this paper. We believe that political awareness should be raised for youths of age 13 21; thirteen is the age when most teenagers start acquiring maturity of judgement (Smith amp; Handler, 2007) and 21 is when they acquire the legal right to vote. Young voters should then possess sufficient political awareness to make wiser decisions when casting their votes. Social media is widely recognized as a form of online media that makes communication more interactive. Social media allows users to create and share contents for purposes like social networking through the use of Internet-based applications. Online social-networking refers to the use of websites such as Facebook and Twitter which provides social-networking services (SNS) for users to communicate, share information and maintain online social relations. A recent Singapore study (Russel, 2011) reveals that Facebook, a representative example of SNS, is the third most popular online source for election news and updates after Yahoo and Channel News Asia. There are 2,589,600 users on Facebook, making up half of Singapore’s total population. 1. 2. Current Situation The low political awareness among the youth in Singapore has been a long-existing problem. â€Å"I don’t know and I don’t care†, a typical Singaporean response implies the causes of the problem. One of the reasons that the youth do not gain enough political knowledge is because of the lack of engaging and interactive platforms for information sharing. As a result, few youths are interested, in addition to their poor knowledge in politics. It is important to tackle their disinterest and cultivate political awareness by disseminating related information on engaging and interactive platforms. According to a recent survey by Straits Times, 36. 3% of Singaporeans prefer Internet as their source of local political news. 33% of Singaporean Facebook users are the youths aged 13 – 24 (â€Å"Facebook Statistics Singapore†, 2011), as shown in figure 1. Therein hints the great potential of Facebook at disseminating information to the youth. In the following section, we will further evaluate the level of success of our recommendations using Facebook as a tool of information dissemination. Aged 13-24: 33% Aged 25-44:49% Others:18% Figure 1 User Age Distribution on Facebook in Singapore 1. 2. 1 Case Study: Use of Twitter in South Korea The South Korean political culture had been centered on Confucianism and subjected to bureaucratic-authoritarian rules, resulting in the struggle to cultivate a participant political culture. In fact, studies (Hong, 1998) revealed that majority of South Koreans (52. 7%) are unwilling to engage in politics. Despite the reluctance to be involved in politics, parliamentary elections held on June 2010 had held the highest voter-turnout since 1995 (54. %). A great percentage of this increase is attributed to the increase in young voters, aged 20 – 40, who are largely influenced through SNS. Twitter had played a relatively major role in bringing the Korean’s attentions to voting. A group of politically-aware youths had urged the Korean community to vote, mostly via Twitter. The result: more people saw the reminders and did as urged. The factors to success in garnering votes (especially among youths) are as goes: i. The increasing number of people with smartphones increases the convenience of using Twitter to share information on the go, via these mobile devices ii. Koreans followed the trend of using Twitter to connect with politics started by Barack Obama, President of the United States 1. 2. 2 Comparing Twitter in South Korea and Facebook in Singapore The choice of featuring South Korea in the case study is reasoned by the similarities between South Korea and Singapore, and Twitter and Facebook. A high level of similarities would hence ensure greater chance of success in our recommendations. Political culture reflects the mindsets of the youth regarding political issues, hence is a pivotal determinant in the success of promoting political awareness among the youth. South Korea tends to a subject political culture, while that in Singapore tends to a mid subject-parochial one. The features of both cultures basically demonstrates some inactivity and lack of initiative towards political issues, hence are largely similar. The ubiquity of Twitter and Facebook respectively in South Korea and Singapore is another deterministic factor. Twitter is widely used among South Koreans, resulting in an efficient spread of message to raise voter-turnout. Facebook is, likewise, widely used among the Singaporean youth, which could lead to a similar level of efficiency in spreading political awareness. The features of Twitter and Facebook would also affect how users receive political information, likewise influencing the level of efficiency of spreading political awareness among the Singaporean youth.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Impact of European Colonialism and Imperialism on African Women Essay e

Effect of European Imperialism on African Women      Ã‚  Ã‚   What effect did the European imperialism in Africa have on the women of both continents? And was this effect advantageous or injurious to the women themselves? Judging by the extremely limited amount of information available on the subject, one could conclude probably a very minimal one. However, upon further investigation, one can see that this effect, although ignored by historians, was very profound and real to the women who lived in Africa in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The majority of the information obtained is about the impact of imperialism on the women of Africa, which is to be expected in today's politically-correct society. However, this causes some difficulty in understanding the consequences of imperialism for women in Europe. Thus that topic won't be addressed here. In Africa, however, the European colonialism completely altered a lifestyle and culture, particularly the roles of women in that culture (Gross and Bingham volume II 52). There is some disagreement as to whether the effects of European imperialism over Africa were detrimental to the progress of women.    It's difficult to understand the effects that Europe had on Africa until one comprehends the state of living for the women before Europeans embarked upon their colonialism. Women were traditionally considered equals or near equals to men in many aspects of some African societies. Farming was the primary occupation of almost every African woman (Gross and Bingham volume I 70). Women were a significant part of the work force and essential to their families' survival (Gross and Bingham volume I 53). Many tribes had female chiefs, and females were given other high-ranki... ...ism." European Imperialism. Online. Internet. 27 Feb. 2000. Available. <http://www.ga.k12.pa.us/academics/US/history/euro/euroread/imp.htm>. "French in West Africa." University of Pennsylvania African Studies. Online. Internet. 27 Feb. 2000. Available. <http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/k-12/french_16178.html>. "Gender, Culture, and Class in Walter Rodney's Writings on Guyana." Saxakali-Publications. Online. Internet. 27 Feb. 2000. Available. <http://saxakali.com/saxakali-publications/moses6.htm>. Gross, Susan Hill and Marjorie Wall Bingham. Women in Africa of the Sub-Sahara, volume I: Ancient Times to the 20th Century. St. Louis Park: Glenhurst Publications, 1982. Gross, Susan Hill and Marjorie Wall Bingham. Women in Africa of the Sub-Sahara, volume II: The 20th Century. St. Louis Park: Glenhurst Publications, 1982.   

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Contact (Call) Center Managers?

1. What lessons are there from these two examples for contact (call) center managers? Services are different from manufacturing, with the key service difference being the interaction of the customer in the delivery process. Service design is no longer considered to be an art form as logical approaches to better design and management of service systems are emerging. In a facilities-based service, the customer must go to the service facility. In contrast, in a field-based service, the production and consumption of the service takes place in the customer's environment. Internal services refer to services required to support the activities of the larger organization. There is a blurring of manufacturing and service firms since the manufacturer product always has a certain percentage of service content. Services are also seen as the next source of competitive advantage for firms. In services we also consider the amount of customer contact or the physical presence of the customer in the system. Service systems range from those with a high degree of customer contact to those with a low degree of customer contact. Service encounters can be configured in a number of different ways. The service-system design matrix includes six common alternatives. Flowcharting, like in manufacturing process design, is the standard tool for service process design. The flowchart, or service blueprint, emphasizes the importance of design. Poka-yoke systems applied to services prevent mistakes from becoming service defects. Approaches to services include the production line approach, the self-service approach, and the personal attention approach. Service guarantees are not only a marketing tool for services but, from an operations perspective, these guarantees can be used as an improvement incentive and can focus the firm's delivery system on things it must do well to satisfy the customer

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Language needs African American Language

The difficult part of the Ebonics controversy is an extremely old problem in the United States that the status of African American as American and their dialect. It was greatly makes it difficult to develop a state national level educational policy for using it in the classroom as a way to move toward Standard American English that was long to implementation is local. It was probably standard when it we proposed for the state or in national, we run in to problem of identifying exactly what is the meaning of it. This problem can be Avoid by addressing the issue in less effective as â€Å"home language†. If in practice the policy were, directed generally at all home languages the special needs of African American Vernacular English speakers would be unaddressed. however, the policy were expanded to national educational policy directed at the African American Vernacular English there would be strong pressure to identify or even develop a standard version for African American English in order to properly implement. Which would continue to neglect those who do not speak the new standard, and worse it would result in the need for African Americans to learn two standards. The Standard English and African American English were the two standards that the African American needs to know. The validity and systematically of the home language is reasonable However, the use of contrastive analysis ends up sending exactly the message that the resolution was intend to eliminate. If the student’s home language is allowed in the classroom and then systematically translated by the teacher of Standard American English and then no matter what the language or method used there is the implication that what is being corrected is an mistake, the home language is in error. In this, such of way, the decision could result in even greater stigmatization of the African American Language than already exists. The proposal to use Bilingual education methodology to move one language system to another has intrinsic logic that there are systematic differences between two languages and the methods and materials have already been develop and tested. However, the message sent here in practice would be one that is consistent with the intent of the Ebonics Resolution. By classifying African Americans among immigrants populations and the implication is that, immigrants they remain outsiders until they were assimilate themselves to another language or culture. In effect there us an implication that African American do not gain their full citizenship by birth but earn the assimilating to American culture which by implication is a culture that is not their own. The status of the home language of African Americans is controversial even among those whose sociopolitical goals are one and the same providing equal opportunities for employment and education to a minority group that has historically received less that its fair share of the American trance. The issue remains contentious because nobody agree the use of their language variety towards African Americans. The United States continues to struggle with two worthy but often contradictory ideas in integration and the celebration of diversity. At the end, little was clarified or even changed by the Ebonics resolution but the African Americans continues to underachieve in the United States educational system nearly guarantees another discussion of this matter.   

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Management of Halliburton

Management of Halliburton Free Online Research Papers Individual Management Planning: Halliburton This paper will discuss the planning function of management of Halliburton. Within this paper I will analyze the impact that legal issues, ethics, and corporate social responsibility has had on management planning, and the three factors that I believe influence the company’s strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning. Halliburton has had a great deal of legal issues that have been dealt with since the beginning of the operation. Political influence has also played a big part within the Halliburton franchise. First I would like to show some insight into Halliburton was started and founded. Halliburton was founded in 1919, by a man named Erle P. Halliburton. He started the company in Duncan, Oklahoma by borrowing a wagon, a team of mules, and a pump. He built a wooden box and started an oil well cementing business. Today Halliburton employs more than 50,000 people in approximately 70 countries (Halliburton, 2009). In 1926 Halliburton took the initial steps in becoming a worldwide organization by selling five cementing units to an English company, which was the start of the Eastern Hemisphere. After that Erle’s brothers were sent to Canada to open a business there as well. Halliburton expanded to Venezuela in 1940, and by 1946 they had expanded into Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and the Middle East. Other franchises of Halliburton have been started and opened all over the globe. When evaluating the planning function of management I have noticed that by being stationed all over the globe, Halliburton has many different departments tailored specifically for the geographical area that the company is in. Each place that Halliburton is located is an office for that location. Halliburton’s main office was in Houston, Texas but they have relocated their headquarters to Dubai, which is in the Middle East country. Halliburton holds annual planning processes for improving HSE and Service Quality. The performance Improvement Initiative (PII) was introduced in 1997 and helps to ensure organizational alignment. â€Å"The PII includes a review of past performance, and assessment of currently available tools, and the development of objectives and strategies for continuous global improvement† (Halliburton, Introduction). In the planning function within the Halliburton organization, the company also incorporates risk identification, risk control, and contingency plans. Incorporating these risk control factors allows the company to control and mitigate risk. Their planning function incorporates the company mission and vision into strategy and action plans that responds to customer wants and needs. The planning function of Halliburton has allowed the company to expand and grow into a multibillion dollar company today. Without planning and using the strategies Halliburton would not have made it in the world today. The planning function includes â€Å"What, why, when, where and how to do it. Who is responsible for what and who to interact with, how to know that we have done it right, and how to make it better† (Correia,P; Lastra, E; Nino, J.M.). The impact that legal issues, ethics, and corporate social responsibility have had on management planning within Halliburton have been tremendous. During the company’s process of having the headquarters stationed in Houston, TX the organization was not happy about having to pay such high taxes or even any taxes to speak of. Therefore, the company relocated to Dubai. Dubai is located in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia. The reason for the relocate was to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. By moving the headquarters here and the CEO and other top executives the company can argue â€Å"a portion of its profits should be attributed to the no – tax jurisdiction† (Cray, C.). Dick Cheney has also had a big impact on the issues surrounding the management planning. Dick Cheney was appointed CEO from 1995 to 2000 and Halliburton’s revenue from the federal government contracts almost doubled. Cheney used his political influence to bring in government contra cts. This has impacted planning within Halliburton because of the issues they are now dealing with. There stocks have fallen and with Cheney’s departure the company share prices started to sink. Halliburton had to initiate the PPI in order to keep things afloat while Cheney was there and even more so after he left. Another legal issue that has impacted the planning function of management would be not keeping honest records of their sales and costs from 1998 to 2001. Halliburton expected workers to keep fraudulent records to make the company look more profitable than it was to keep share prices high. This has led to the company having to do quarterly reports to see where the company is. Halliburton has been investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and by the Justice Department for making fraudulent records and the company has even paid out $7,500,000 and never admitted any wrong doing. Halliburton has paid out millions of dollars to make the lawsuits disappear a nd not make headlines for a great deal of time so that the stock prices stayed up and they would not lose their shareholders. â€Å"In 2001 a court ordered the company to pay $130,000,000 and the decision was kept secret. When the judgment later became public the company’s stock price dropped forty -two percent† (Outen, Gwen, 2004). The examples I can provide for the ethics would be that Dick Cheney was involved with Halliburton and used his political influence to secure federal and government contracts. This is very unethical for an organization to do. If the organization cannot secure the contracts without the influence of the political aspects then they should have not received the contracts to begin with. The legal issues would be that the organization did not pay their fair share of the taxes and relocated to avoid paying them. Another example would be that they falsified the books in order to look more profitable then what they were. The social responsibility I would have to say would be the relocation to avoid paying the taxes. They are avoiding social responsibility here by not paying the taxes that are due. Instead the company has set up off shore accounts in the Cayman Islands so that the money they receive on contracts completed cannot be taxed by the government in the United States. This money that is in the Cayman Islands accounts does not have a corporate tax and the United States cannot impose a tax on money that is not here (Cray, C.). The three factors that influence the company’s strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning would be shareholders, growth in customer satisfaction, and stock price, without these three factors Halliburton would not be the company they are today. Halliburton is a Fortune 500 company and the ownership status is that the company is publicly traded. The shareholders help with keeping the company operational along with the growth and customer satisfaction of their work. The stock prices determine the planning that will take place and where the company needs to go and how to get there. These three factors I believe are the most important regardless of what organization it is. Without these three factors the company would not be able to stay afloat as customers, shareholders, and stock prices allow the public and the company to know where they are and where they are going. Halliburton may have done some things that are unethical, immoral, and have raised some legal issues but they are the second largest oil services company in the world (Outen, G., 2004). The management planning that has been implemented has helped Halliburton and this has made them see that making fraudulent claims to raise their stocks has only caused legal issues. Chuck Dominy, Halliburton’s vice president for government affairs said it best â€Å"We are the only company in the United States that had the kind of systems in place, people in place, contracts in place, to do that kind of thing† (Cray, C., 2004). With the new planning system in place Halliburton may see their fair share of legal issues again but they will survive and continue to keep thriving and profiting in today’s economy. References Correia, P.; Edgardo, L.; Nino, J.M. (no date). Halliburton management system: Lessons learned during deployment and implementation. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from http://biblioteca.iapg.org.ar/iapg/ArchivosAdjuntos/CongresodeCalidad/089.pdf Cray, Charles. (no date). CorpWatch. Holding corporations accountable. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from corpwatch.org.article.php?list=typetype=15printsafe=1 Cray, Charles. (2004). Dissecting Bush. Bush administration policies under the microscope. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm2004/05012004/may-june04corp1.html Halliburton. (2009). History of Halliburton. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from halliburton.com/aboutus/PrintPreview.aspx?navid=970pageid=2312 Halliburton, (no date). Introduction. Doing the right thing. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from halliburton.com/public/tttcp/contents/Books_and_Cataloge/web/ServiceTools/H03280_intro.pdf Outen, Gwen. (2004, August). Economics Report. Halliburton’s legal troubles. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from voanews.com/specialenglish/archive/2004-08/a-204-08-13-2-1.cfm?renderforp Research Papers on Management of HalliburtonThe Project Managment Office SystemLifes What IfsMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalPETSTEL analysis of IndiaMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever Product

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

The Wind in Willows Book Review

'The Wind in Willows' Book Review The Wind in the Willows is a childrens story that lives in the hearts and minds of its readers well into adulthood. With its subtle blend of anthropomorphism and very-British humor, the book is a classic tale of river life and friendship. The Wind in the Willows is surprisingly dark and thrilling in placesparticularly in the later chapters and the battle of Toad Hall. The book provides something that few novels of its time can claim: all-round entertainment for all ages. The story confirms the power of close friends and courage to make a difference in the lives of others. Overview: The Wind in the Willows The novel begins with Mole, a peace-loving little animal, doing some spring cleaning. He soon meets another of the people who live by the river, Ratty, who enjoys nothing more than messing about in boats. After a number of pleasant afternoons having picnics and spending time on the river, Mole and Ratty decide to visit one of Rattys friends, Toad whowhen they arriveexplains to them his latest obsession, a horse, and cart. They go for a ride with Toad, but whilst on the road, they are tipped over by a speeding motorcar (which completely breaks Toads little cart). Far from being upset by the loss of his favorite toy, Toads first thought is that he, too, wants one of those incredible automobiles. This obsession leads him to trouble, however. Much to Mole, Ratty and their old and wise friend Badgers sadness, Toad is soon arrested and sent to prison for stealing a motor car. However, within the gaol, one of the guards daughters soon feels sorry for the poor Toad (who certainly wasnt made for prison life), and gives him some old washerwoman’s clothes and helps him to escape. Toad returns to the river and is welcomed by his friends, who tell him that his home, Toad Hallonce his pride and joyhas been overtaken by the cruel woodlanders: the stoats and the weasels. Some hope does seem to be in sight. Badger tells Toad that there is a secret tunnel leading back into the very heart of Toad Hall and the four friends follow it, leading them right into the lair of their enemies. An enormous battle ensues and Badger, Mole, Ratty and Toad manage to rid the hall of stoats and weasels, placing Toad back where he belongs. The rest of the book suggests that the four friends will continue in their easy-going lifestyle, occasionally taking trips on the river and eating picnics. Toad manages to curb his obsessive behavior, somewhat, but cannot completely cure himself. Englishness in The Wind in the Willows The true joy of The Wind in the Willows is the image of English life: a very Georgian, upper-middle-class take on the world in which the countryside is covered by an incessant summer time and which days can be spent idling by the riverside and watching the world go by. Because of the success of The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame was able to leave his unhappy job in a bank and live very much the life he represented in the pages of the booka life full of cake at tea time, and the soothing sound of the river running past. The novel is also very much loved for its characters: the slightly pompous and ridiculous toad (who is completely carried away by his latest obsession), and the wise old badger (who is crotchety, but who has very high regard for his friends). They are characters who embody the English values of fortitude and good humor. But, these creatures are also incredibly honorable and willing to fight (even to the death) for their little piece of England. There is something ineffably comforting about Grahames little storyfamiliar and also very powerful. The animal characters are completely humanized, but their personalities and characteristics are still linked to their animals characters. The Wind in the Willows is wryly humorous and tremendously fun. This book is one of the greatest childrens books of all time.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Growing Criminal Law Special Issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Growing Criminal Law Special Issues - Assignment Example Growing Criminal Law Special Issues The U.S. Department of Justice (2011) notes, there is need of urgency in addressing growing criminal special issues. The department observes that most public opinion polls rank crime and fear of crime as one of the most important issues that need to be addressed. Racketeering is one of the special crimes and is becoming a growing issue in criminal law; it’s part of organized crime whose main aim is to entrench continual patronage (Eskridge, 2010). Administrators and public policymakers in the criminal justice system are paying more attention to this growing issue in the criminal law and its complexity. There is need for traditional criminal justice system to undergo fundamental rethinking that aims at responding appropriately to this growing criminal law issue. Therefore, criminal justice policies such as community corrections, policing, imprisonment, sentencing, and adjudication needs to be changed in significant way to respond to these eme rging special issue in criminal law (Neese, 2003). ... First it is important to understand how RICO criminal defense practice came about. This practice emerged as a result of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act which was passed by the Congress in 1970 Blakey (2008). The Act was appropriate at that time as the Congress was seeking to eliminate the adverse consequences of organized crime on the economy of the United States. Since then, the Act has been expanded to include several other procedures of crime. Neese (2003) notes that the Act plays critical role in enabling the federal government in fighting international and national dimensions of organized crime such as racketeering. The fact that organized crimes and racketeering in particular is a threat to public safety cannot be disputed. That is why for over the years particularly in the 1970s and the early 1980s, the RICO criminal defense practice has been performing relatively well (Blakey, 2008). However, it has been noted that in the most recent of times the performance of this practice has declined considerably. Anderson and Jackson (2004) argue that this decline is highly attributed to the effort that the United States government is putting to crack down on organized crimes. In particular, the government has focused on two main areas in its fight against these crimes; business that are employing individuals who are not legally allowed to work in the United states and focus on illegal immigrants who are engaging in organized crimes. The U.S. Department of Justice (2011) notes that organized crimes such as those covered in the RICO Act are being perpetrated by the immigrants especially from Russia thus undermining creation of the rule of law efforts. This explains the reason why the fight against organized crimes has