The Meaning of Life Essay Example for Free

The Meaning of Life Essay What is the meaning of life. The meaning of our lives, the purpose, and the dreams both dashed and realized, and the expectations forced upon us by others. In other words how do you translate what life is? Translation means to explain in simple terms. What is it supposed to be about? There are different answers for different people at different times in their lives. A persons lifetime is filled with self-examination. Why am I here? What am I doing? Is this as good as it gets? You have a beginning. Youre in the middle, and your story hasnt ended yet. If one would recognize the greatest things we have in life, they would not be asking this question. These great things are faith, hope, and love. Faith is the one that can keep one from asking questions. If God wanted us to know something, then we would know it. In most religions, Christian ones in particular, the question of meaning in life is inextricably wrapped up in a relationship with God. Living in, for, with, and through him. Therefore, how one answers the meaning of life question bears directly the existence of God. Soren Kierkegaard said to be the father of existentialism maintains that there are three basic answers to the question of the meaning of life. He called these stages of life, because he believed that people progressed from one stage to the next. Whether or not that is true, there do seem to be at least three fundamental outlooks on life. One is a life devoted to pleasure. This value perspective can be shown by a person whose only concern is for what they are doing now. They would rather gain from pleasures in life without any regards to how they might affect their future. Another stage is those choosing ethical and moral paths. People who are honest and loyal demonstrate this in their everyday lives. Finally, there is a live religiously. This has been the popular way of life for many of us. It is going to church and practicing your faith Stace argues, the present age has begun to weaken faith in God. The concept of a supernatural person has begun to seem unlikely to many people. The Bible no longer seems as respected for many Catholics. While many people say they believe in God they are beginning question whether faith and God are the answer to the meaning of life. Most of us whether we choose to admit it or not show that material things are what we base our lives around. These ideas are at the heart of existentialism, which is a view of life that says that human beings are the creators of their own sense of meaning or purpose. The most famous existentialist, John Paul Sartre in his books and novels developed several themes that portray existentialism. The first is the notion that existence precedes essence. A legacy of traditional philosophy has been that we have a fixed human nature. Sartre challenged that we have no such set purpose or meaning. Our real meaning or who we are is a result of our decisions. We are what we decide. The second associated concept is the importance of human freedom. Sartre believed that every human being has the freedom to live life as we choose to. He believed that we are often terrified by our freedom, and in fact frequently do not want to take responsibility for our own actions. This attitude Sartre called bad faith. Bad faith is an act of self-deception in which we rationalize our actions as being caused by circumstances instead of being self-caused. Basically blaming others for our own deceptions and mistakes. The third major concept of existentialism is the idea of the Absurd. The philosopher Albert Camus popularized this concept. The concept of the absurd is promoted by atheistic existentialist, such as Sartre and Camus. The similarity between Christian and atheistic existentialist is the significance of human freedom and the belief that we are the makers of our own lives One of the most significant pieces of the decline of religious faith is the continuing awareness that there may not be any purpose in life. Both Albert Camus, and Stace, write from this perspective. They believed that traditional Christians have found security in the belief that their lives are invisibly directed or orchestrated by God. That we have assumed that God has a plan for our life, that things happen for a purpose. But as we experience, if we do, the decline of faith or the reality of God in our lives, we come to realize that perhaps we are more responsible than God is for what happens to us. We begin to realize or suspect that it is we, not God, who is the creator of our lives. We are responsible for who we become. Of course, there are always going to be those people who doubt everything God stands for. For them, the body dies and eternity is darkness, I suppose. The fight is going to be, perhaps even as it has been a battle between those who reject God and the, and those who know that God is real. The soul is ones conscience. Without the acknowledgement of that soul, there is no inner voice that helps guide him in the decisions that he makes. Yet, the soulless atheists still seek to discover the meaning of life, and this is where the battle is fought. They are simply stating that there is no meaning to their lives they have no soul, there can be no meaning. Theists realize life isnt fair. People arent created equal. Atheists believe that until all people actually are equal, life is meaningless, and this is the connection we have to make for them. People are not equal, people will never be equal, and if this equality is the requirement for accepting the meaning of life, then life will always be meaningless. If ambition brings about advantage, those advantages must be neutralized. This is the goal of the atheist. If there is nothing but darkness after life, the goal must be to create heaven on earth. Everyone has questioned their purpose in life for example in his article, My Confession, Leo Tolstoy has gone through his life without ever really questioning the meaning. Then he periodically questioned it until one day he eventually could not picture himself living anymore until he came up with an answer to his questionings. All the things he was thought to be living by no longer made any sense or had any meaning at all to him. He tried to answer his question many different ways, but whichever way he went he kept coming up with a dead end. He first thought the answer must be his family. Although he loved them very much, as humans they are confronted with the same questions he is. They are living this lie right along with him pretending that they have all the answers, or just simply ignoring the questions. He next thought the answer to be in his work. Eventually, coming to the realization that with all of his success in art and poetry he had become distracted. He was using art as a decoy. Without knowing his answers to the meaning of life, it was wrong and useless to depict these lies to others. He soon felt as if life had stopped, and was even contemplating suicide when he came to the realization that faith is present in each one of us and is what makes our lives meaningful. Everyone must believe they have a purpose here, for if they didnt they would not be living at all. For life to have true meaning, that meaning must come external to the individual and be somehow consistent with life as a whole. Christians would argue that only God could grant this. It is the helping hand, which guides us through life with an honest and loving heart. Jesus is the only man to lead a true, meaningful life. His life is really the only life of meaning and it is only through him that we have the opportunity to live meaningful lives. Without accepting this answer, one will have only difficulty for the rest of their lives, especially in answering the question of the meaning of life. If you accept this answer, however life is much simpler, because your search is over. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life? John 14:6. The way the truth and the meaning of life itself. There are scriptural accounts of people claiming to see God, and while a witness is more proof than no witness is, there is no way to scientifically verify these statements. They must be accepted purely on faith. Some say that the existence of humans or planetary balance is proof that God exists. These do not prove He exists. Christians believe God is in control of everything in the universe, and created the same. God created all beings, and every atom in this universe. We know God exists because He says He does. The bible is His word, left for us to read. Psychologist Viktor Frankl wrote in Mans search for Meaning that we should not ask what we expect from life, but what life expects from us. He was making the point that people must deal with what daily tasks are put in front of them. Instead of arguing and complaining, we have to take action. Our strength is shown through the soul survival of the hardships we face. Which brings us to the problem philosopher John Hick was facing. In his article, The Problem of Evil he asks the question, if God is perfectly loving, he must wish to abolish evil. But evil exists; therefore God cannot be both omnipotent and perfectly loving. The very fact that there is such suffering gives good cause to doubt not only the value of the whole human race, but also the existence of God. A God that can be said to care in the slightest for whats been created, any God who has power over all things, who is anything other than a horrible monster who finds cruel unusual joy in squeezing every last drop of suffering out of them. It would rule out anything even vaguely resembling the God that Christians speak of. A God who deserves our utter hatred not our worship. However, Hick found that although harsh and painful, evil did have purpose in the world. He stated in his article, the finest characteristics of personal life must have a good deal in common with our present world. It must operate according to general and dependable laws: and it must involve real dangers, difficulties, problems, obstacles, and possibilities of pain, failure, sorrow, frustration, and defeat. Without these sufferings, we would not be able to know what happiness and love really was. Evil provides us with the possibility of soul making, and according to free will, we must choose our fate. The Laws of nature must be abided by without them the world could not exist. God may be creating the lesser of the evils. There must be suffering in order for God to give inner strength that compensates for loss, and gives the sufferer inspiration to live faithfully and effectively. What God provides are the resources so we can face the suffering and make something positive come from it. He gives the direction and power to make these resources work. He gives hope and wisdom to find the way past the suffering, and to learn from it. John Paul II gave us an outline of what is believed to be the salvific meaning of suffering. Suffering as he wrote in the Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris, cannot be transformed and changed by a grace form outside, but from within? This question of human suffering is not answered directly by God. As man begins to share in the sufferings of Christ, the answer is discovered within in him. Suffering changes and can either increase or decrease, and in those moments Christians become aware of Gods closeness. We are given inner peace and spiritual joy when we suffer generously. When we are suffering we are never alone we are with Christ. With Christ everything has meaning whether its moments of happiness and peace or of pain and suffering. Nothing in life can be fully explained without God. . Look to the bible and Jesus gives us the answer. Love God with your whole heart, mind, body and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. If you do this, you are following all the commandments. Humble yourself and give the praise and glory to our creator. God the Father our creator is love and he loves you very much. God created us to worship him and he deserves all the praise because he is the first and the last. He has no beginning and no end. Just look around and take in all the beauty he has created. Everyone is special and made in the image of God. We are nothing without our creator. Sin will keep us from God for he is pure and perfect. It is hard to let go of pleasure and putting ones self first. However, the key to peace and happiness is to surrender your freewill to God, the author of life, and he will give you complete, happiness, peace, contentment and purity you are looking for. That is what we were created for. God is made evident every day when the sun comes up, and there is still air to breathe, and you made it through the night. One cannot believe that everything we know was created by accident. Things are just too perfect to have happened by chance. Man is too corrupt a creature to have invented the beautiful things in the world, as in faith, hope and love. He allows evil in this world because He wants us to have the opportunity to choose either Him or evil, thereby proving our love for Him. If His were the only game in town, then there would not be a free will conscious choice for Him. It is evident that the meaning of life has to far to complex for any one to fully understand or agree on the same answer. All these ideas of these different philosophers are not necessarily inaccurate, just incomplete. All pieces to a puzzle that one has no way of fully figuring out. No one has seemed to accomplish this yet in life. There are so many obstacles that we face as we try to achieve a higher good. Many of these are based in the fact that we are human beings, and because of that are flawed by the ways of our culture. Things such as self-doubt, worry, ignorance, and the values put into our heads since the day we were born all are roadblocks on our way to a higher level. Also being human beings makes vulnerable to the ways of the world around us, so it is not easy to block these things out of our lives. This life is a stage in which we are to develop our minds, bodies, and souls to their highest potential in preparation for the afterlife. Only God could ever really show anyone true meaning.

The second largest clothing retailer

The second largest clothing retailer Look Good Pay Less Primark is a retail group which is the second largest clothing retailer in uk and targets young, fashion-conscious under 35s.Primark offers wide quality fashion basics at value for money prices. Research shows Primark as a leading retailer in value clothing. Primarks offer to the customer is one of high-quality merchandise, at value for money, backed by Primarks service promise. Primark prides itself on its loyal customer base. Primark stores ltd is an subsidiary of associated British Foods which employs 96.000 employees in 44 countries with global sales of  £8.2bn. Employing 27.000 people in Great Britain and ranking as GB 2nd largest clothing retailer by volume and voted best value high street fashion. By ITV and GMTV viewers. The successfulness of Primark because it offers super competitive prices with efficient distributions, supply and volume buying Primark trades in high quality merchandise at value for money backed by promise Look Good Pay Less communicates Primarks value based offering. In a precise manner to its core target audience, making half its sales in women wear, quarter sales in menswear and children wear and other items which make the rest of the constituting sales. Competitors of the retailer are HM, Next, Matalan,T K Maxs and George clothing and many more retail outlets on the ground of sales and marketing its products. Primark competes on product, ethical strategy with there code of conducts promising customers 100% product satisfactions on all grounds including fair trading. The successfulness of Primark has lead to the retailer source there manufacturing of their products, from over seas. The countries in which it operates include India and Bangladesh, and the selling includes countries such as England, Ireland, Spain and Germany. Primarks current plans include expansion to Portugal were it hopes to have the same success. However Primark has in resent become under the spotlight for its unethical manufacturing as it has been accused of employing child labour and in resent times for having its merchandise in UK operating swetshops, which have harboured illegal immigrants employed well below the minimum wage. This has effected the reputation of Primark. This can affect the success they achieve in Portugal. The role in which I play with in the organisation will affect my job. As I work with in the headquarters of Primark in the UK, I am a marketing director. Currently working on the expansion to Portugal. I need to face the issues above as they have effected the reputation of Primark. On a global scale as Primark is now seen as corrupt in its market place as they seemed unaware of the hidden workers that manufacture their clothing, and not being seen as fair traders. For my own career was effected by this as I was given ethical training an now being given the task to improve the reputation of Primark and illustrate the changes that are taking place with in the environment of Primark, from both with in the organisation and external. Oscola reference Primark. about: Primark history Available at:

The Merger Of Bp And Amoco

The Merger Of Bp And Amoco British Petroleum and Amoco announced their merger on August 11th of 1998 as the largest industrial merger in history worldwide. Initially the plan was to convert all the BP service stations in the United States into Amoco, whereas overseas all the Amoco service stations were supposed to be converted into BPs. However, in 2001 BP announced that all Amoco service stations would be renamed into BP while some others would be closed or disposed of, leading to an entire rebranding of Amoco Fuels. During 2008, almost all Amoco Fuels service stations had been restored by BP Gasoline with Invigorate and just a few of them remained operations under the original Amoco brands name. On April 2010, Chevron purchased some of the remaining Amoco Fuel service stations, mostly in Mississippi and converted them into Texaco service stations. After the spill in the Gulf of Mexico from Deepwater Horizon, BP considered to rebrand their US based operations back into Amoco Fuels as the company suffered a decline in sales on account of the negative publicity associated with the incident. Companys background: In 1909, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC) was incorporated as a subsidiary of Burmah Oil Company to exploit a concession to search for oil in Iran. By 1935, it became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), but after the assassination of the pro-western Prime Minister Ali Razmara, the oil industry in Iran was nationalized and National Iranian Oil Company was formed displacing the AIOC. By the time, the British government owned the AIOC and contested the nationalization at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, but its complaint was dismissed. However, in 1953, National Iranian Oil Company became an international consortium, and AIOC resumed operations in Iran as a member of it. The AIOC became the British Petroleum Company in 1954 and the British government was controlling it again. In 1959 the company expanded beyond the Middle East to Alaska and by 1978 it acquired a controlling interest in Standard Oil of Ohio. Nevertheless, British Petroleum Company continued operating from Iran until the Islamic Revolution in 1979, when the new regime confiscated all of the companys assets within the country without compensation, bringing the end of the British 70 years presence in Iran. Between 1979 and 1987, the British governments entire holding on the company was sold to several private investors and in 1987, British Petroleum negotiated the acquisition of Britoil. Moreover, Standard Oil of California and Gulf Oil had merged in 1984, it what would be known as the largest merger in history at that time; however the antitrust regulation relented many of its operating subsidiaries in the Gulf and sold some stations and a refinery in the eastern United States, allowing British Petroleum to acquire most of them. Finally, John Browne, who had been on the board as managing director since 1991, was appointed group chief executive in 1995. Browne is considered the responsible for BPs three major acquisitions; Amoco, ARCO and Burmah Castrol. Development of the merger: In 1997 BP and Amoco net income was US$ 4.6 billion and US$ 2.7 billion respectively. Combined revenues were US$ 108 billion and capital employed US$ 57 billion. The combined market capitalization was calculated around US$ 110 billion, a figure which would place the newly formed corporation among the top three oil companies in the world. The deal was expected to deliver synergies from cost savings that would add at least US$ 2 billion pre-tax a year by the end of 2000 to the earnings already separately targeted by the 2 companies. Finally, when British Petroleum merged with Amoco in December 1998 the company also acquired Burmah Castrol plc. and Arco (Atlantic Richfield Co.) closing the deal in early 2000. BP continued selling Amoco branded petrol even in service stations with the BP identity since Amoco had been rated as the best petroleum brand by consumers for 16 consecutive years comparable only to Chevron and Shell. In 2008, the high grade available petrol from BP (BP Gasoline with Invigorate) was still called Amoco Ultimate and BP decided to move it as most of its petrochemical businesses into a separate entity called Innovene within the BP Group. Terms agreed for the merger: The pre-merger negotiations conducted between the two companies were relatively fast compared to other transactions in the same scale. The benefits expected both companies were easily identified and agreements were developed in a friendly manner. The terms were disclosed immediately and were summarized as following: Value of the merger: US$ 53 billion Merger deal instrument: share swap (exchange of stock) Exchange Ratio agreed: Amoco shareholders were offered 3.97 BP shares for each share of Amoco common stock Amoco shareholders premium above BPs current market value: 25% Increase in number of shares after the merger: 15% Shareholders structure after merger: 60% BP shareholders 40% Amoco shareholders Headquarters of the new company after merger: BP Amoco plc. headquarters remained in London and Amocos head office became the headquarters for the companys North American operations Trading market for the companies: BP and Amoco shares would remain listed on the London Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange Companys management structure after merger: BPs CEO Sir John Brown would continue leading the company co-chaired by BPs chairman Peter Sutherland and Amocos chairman Larry Fuller Staff cuts after merger: BP Amoco plc. confirmed cost reductions from a cut-off in personnel; the two groups had 99,450 employees together, with BP employing 56,450 and Amoco the rest. The reduction in first stage would represent 11% to 13% of the total Combined reserves: 14.8 billion barrels. Serving 17,900 BP service stations around the world and 9,300 Amoco service stations all in the US Options pegged to the merger: Amoco granted BP an option to purchase 189,783,270 shares of Amoco common stock at a price of US$ 41 per share. This represented approximately 19.9 % of the outstanding Amocos common stock Dividend payout after the merger: Both companies would continue to pay quarterly dividends in the ordinary course prior to the implementation of the merger, then its dividend policy was to continue paying 4 dividends a year and with a payout of approximately 50 % of through cycle earnings The Merger Agreement would also provide termination fees to be paid by one party to the other under certain circumstances. The circumstances in which either party is able to terminate the Merger Agreement include: If either Amoco or BP shareholders do not approve the merger and related transactions If the other party enters into negotiations with any other person in relation to an acquisition offer for that party If the board of the other party withdraws or adversely modifies its approval related to the merger Market conditions leading to the merger: In order to get a better understanding about why the BP-Amoco merger is considered as one of the most successful mergers in history and which factors contributed to given success, it is important to deem about the different aspects from the oil industry market that either the management and the shareholders from both companies took into account to be convinced that the transaction would only add value and the risks would be covered: Oil prices worldwide were depressed and had fallen to their lowest levels in over a decade The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil had decreased to US$11.8 in real terms; the lowest price in 25 years No oil company of any significant size was immune to a takeover threat during the early 1990s; their stock prices were depressed. It was cheaper to buy oil reserves on Wall Street than by exploration and development outlays. These pressures caused the major oil companies to engage in a wide range of restructuring activities and costs reductions Restructuring efforts and improvements in technologies had lowered costs to US$16 to US$18 per barrel. Oil prices declined to US$9 per barrel in late 1998. Thus, the overriding objective for the mergers beginning in 1998 was to further increase efficiencies to lower breakeven levels toward the US$11 to US$12 per barrel range Amoco had reported the month before a fall of more than 50% in second quarter earnings Amoco, being the fourth largest US oil producer, was hurt by its lack of international refining Combining the chemicals operations of BP and Amoco would create a business with revenues of US$ 13 billion that together with the strengths of BP in Europe and Amoco in the US would provide a powerful platform for expansion in Asia where both companies already had significant investments The new chemicals business would be one of the worlds largest petrochemicals companies, with leading positions in 7 core products: acetic acid, acrylonitrile, aromatics, purified terephthalic acid (PTA), alpha-olefins, purified isophthalic acid (PIA) and polypropylene. A diversified portfolio of key proprietary technologies Best practices in acquisitions issues indicated that the successful mergers carried out in previous years tended to be those in which the goods or services offered by the companies involved in the transaction were highly similar, contrasting mergers between companies seeking to combine different markets and diversify its business. The latter were considerably more risky and the probability of failure was higher Features of BP-Amoco merger versus Daimler-Chrysler merger: In contrasting the BP and Amoco merger to Daimler and Chrysler, it is important to outline the main differences both in the pre-merger requisite as well as the merger implementation. Particularly, with regard to each companys ability to adapt to the changes after the merger and the manner in which the target markets would accept the new company. The acquisition of Chrysler marked the first time one of the Detroit Big Three automakers would be in the hands of a private equity firm. There are those who say the merger, which faced significant cultural differences, was doomed from the start. Originally, the plan was for Chrysler to use Daimler parts, components and even vehicle architecture to sharply reduce the cost to produce future vehicles. But problems surfaced when Daimlers Mercedes-Benz luxury division, whose components Chrysler would use, was averse to contribute to Chrysler. Further, the immediate perception of the market was that the new company would produce vehicles with lower quality standards Both automakers wanted to enter markets overseas that they had never explored before, and that consumers would be unwilling to accept such change. In the contrary to the car industry, the oil industry had been, arguably more than any other industry, forced to adjust to the massive change forces of globalization and entrepreneurial innovations. It stands out from most other industries in many ways, one being the existence of a truly global market in which 53% of the total volume is traded internationally. Oil itself accounts for about 10% of total world trade, more than any other commodity. Furthermore, there are some other key factors that contributed specifically to BP-Amoco merger success compared to Daimler-Chrysler such as: Amoco and BP believed that the bigger companies among the industry would win the best opportunities Amoco and BPs merger was cataloged by the oil industrys experts as one superb alliance of equals with complementary strategic and geographical strengths which effectively creates a new super-major that can better serve millions of customers worldwide It was known that within the oil industry, the best investment opportunities would go increasingly to companies that had the size and financial strength to take on those large-scale projects that offer a truly distinctive return There were accounting reasons in both companies why the merger would be more appropriate and would create value Amoco had a lack of international refining. Nonetheless, it also had important findings from research and development technologies to offer (a deal with an oil major was only a matter of time) Both, BP and Amoco had significant investments in solar energy and share strong records and reputations for sound operating practices, environmental and social responsibility. It was easy to predict that they were able to share the same practices and therefore the same markets Quite the opposite, Daimler-Chrysler never considered that their businesses were focused on different markets in terms of geographies, type of vehicles and prices. In addition to that, with regard to Chrysler, markets for passenger cars and commercial vehicles were deteriorated at the time of the merger (low growth expectations) In addition, the adaptation of automotive companies after the merger would be much slower than that of oil companies given the production practices of each of the parties. In other words, the extraction of oil was very similar whereas car production had significant differences Conclusions: According to Berkovitch and Narayanan2) there are three major types of motivations for mergers: synergy, hubris, and agency problems. BP-Amoco merger met the three of them: Synergy: efficiency objectives were promised and achieved; costs were reduced by adoptions of best practices from both companies, particularly in combining advanced technologies. The market cap of the company after the merger resulted 12.5% higher than the sum of both companies market cap. Hubris: this motivation may be reflected in overpaying for the target; in this case, Amocos shareholders premium outcome was around 25%, higher than any other merger premium negotiated within the industry. Agency problems: Since the Return on Equity (ROE) and the Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) increased after the merger, it can be assume that the management and shareholders targets were well aligned and therefore agency problems were not implied. Moreover, divergent from Daimler-Chrysler merger; the reasons, the structure, and the implementation of the BP-Amoco transaction reflected the characteristics provided by the oil and gas industry to ensure the success of the merger: There are no significant differences between the product from different brands (petrol is pretty much the same, no matter who extracts it). The industry increasingly utilizes advanced technology in exploration, production, refining, and in the logistics of its operations (it is evident the cost reduction since all the companies require the same expenditures) According to the market conditions related to the oil industry mentioned before, the BP-Amoco merger was convenient and almost needed to push the barriers surrounding the industry as the fall in crude prices and the high costs regarding exploration and development that were required to further increase its production. Concerning to Daimler-Chrysler, many factors were not considered before the merger and limited the achievement of outcomes expected, mainly on issues of marketing, synergies in production and work culture. http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/STAGING/global_assets/downloads/A/ARCO_Key_facts_and_operating_statistics.pdf Mergers and Acquisitions ARCO. 2008 Berkovitch, Elazar and M. P. Narayanan, 1993, Motives for Takeovers: An Empirical Investigation, Journal of Financial Quantitative Analysis, 28 (No. 3, September), 347-362. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080230b.htm. Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 5 Jun. 2010 Copeland, Tom, Tim Koller, and Jack Murrin, 2000, Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Values of Companies, 3rd ed., New York, NY, John Wiley Sons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BP ANNEXES BP Recent financial data in millions of US$ Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Sales 180,186 236,045 294,849 249,465 265,906 284,365 361,341 EBITDA 22,941 28,200 37,825 41,453 44,835 Net results 6,845 10,267 15,961 22,341 22,000 20,845 21,157 Net debt 20,273 20,193 21,607 16,202 16,202

Eisenhower Essay -- essays research papers

The Early Years Dwight David Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890 in Denison, Texas. He was the third of seven sons from David Jacob and Ida Elizabeth Stover Eisenhower. After his birth the family moved to Abilene, Kansas where Dwight graduated from high school in 1909. He was awarded a scholarship to West Point military academy. He was commisioned a Second Lieutenant upon graduation in September of 1915. After being stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Dwight met Mary (Mamie) Geneva Doud, and they were married on July 1, 1916. The couple had two sons, Doud Dwight Eisenhower and John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower. Doud Dwight, nicknamed â€Å"Little Icky†, was born on September 24, 1917. He died three years later ,on January 2nd,1921,of scarlet fever .Their second son was born in Denver on August 3, 1922. He married Barbara Jean Thompson in July of 1947 and they had four children. There are now eight Eisenhower great-grandchildren. Ike Takes Charge: A rise To Power In 1917, the United states joined the Allied fighting in World War I. The prospect of commanding troops abroad excited Dwight, but his superiors did not think he was ready for such a task. It didnt help matters that Dwight was a success in training others for battle. From 1915 to 1918Dwight and Mamie were sent all over the United States. Starting from Ft. Sam Houston, Dwight served in the infantry division at Camp Wilson, and Leon Springs, Texas and Ft. Ogelthorpe, Georgia. He then served with the Tank Corps in Camp Meade, Mar...

what?? :: essays research papers

whatsz going on ?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Recently there was a major breakthrough in scientific research – the mapping of all DNA in a human gene has been complete. A couple of years ago, this seemed to be an impossible task for scientists to accomplish. All this scientific advancement leads us to believe that the day when the human being will be cloned is not far away. Human cloning has always been an issue of controversy, be it in ethical or moral terms. This issue shakes us all to our very souls. For humans to consider the cloning of one another forces them all to question the very concepts of right and wrong. The cloning of any species, whether they are human or non-human, is ethically and morally wrong.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Recently there was a major breakthrough in scientific research – the mapping of all DNA in a human gene has been complete. A couple of years ago, this seemed to be an impossible task for scientists to accomplish. All this scientific advancement leads us to believe that the day when the human being will be cloned is not far away. Human cloning has always been an issue of controversy, be it in ethical or moral terms. This issue shakes us all to our very souls. For humans to consider the cloning of one another forces them all to question the very concepts of right and wrong. The cloning of any species, whether they are human or non-human, is ethically and morally wrong.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Recently there was a major breakthrough in scientific research – the mapping of all DNA in a human gene has been complete. A couple of years ago, this seemed to be an impossible task for scientists to accomplish. All this scientific advancement leads us to believe that the day when the human being will be cloned is not far away.

Business Is Booming Essay

The Broadway Cafe needs to take advantage of e-business strategies if it wants to remain competitive. Create a document that discusses the many e-business strategies that The Broadway Cafe could use to increase revenue. Be sure to focus on the different areas of business such as marketing, finance, accounting, sales, customer service, and human resources. PROJECT FOCUS: * Explain how understanding e-business can help you achieve success in each of these areas. A few questions you might want to address include: 1. What type of e-business would you deploy at The Broadway Cafe? 2. How can an e-business strategy help The Broadway Cafe attract customers and increase sales? 3. What types of metrics would you want to track on your e-business Web site? 4. How could you use an e-business strategy to partner with suppliers? 5. How could a portal help your employees? 6. Would you use Kiosks in the cafe? By implementing the e-business strategy into broadway cafà © I believe that this would help us more to success in our small business. Referring to the e-business strategies I would deploy both the B2B and the B2C strategies. The B2B strategy is definitely a helpful tool that we will be used to deal with all our suppliers. This strategy makes communication between organizations easier.it will help us to keep track of our orders , make our data entry easier for our employee, helps to keep track of our shipment and orders.it will help us to have a good management plan as well.another plan that we can count on is the electronic data interchange EDI by implementing this we would be able to exchange private message between our business and other organizations. From another side we have the B2C strategy and it’s the relationship between our cafà © and its customer.by implementing this strategy in our coffee shop we will allow first all internet users to have access to our coffee sh op and have an idea what’s broadway cafà © is all about and second we’ll allow our customer to have access to their preferable coffee shop. This strategy will allow our customer to make online orders in a small or large quantity and it will make our base of customer larger than before. The e-business strategies in our broadway cafà © will definitely play a big  role in the marketing of our cafà © it will definitely help our customers to meet our new products and to stay attached to the old ones and at the same time it will introduce our product to some new customers . the e-business will definitely help in reducing cost through both strategies the B2B and the B2C.these strategies will allow our customers to have access to their products 24/7 and that help us to increase our sales. A portal is very important for our employee, it makes things easier to understand and clear and allow them to make any important changes that has to be done and showed to public.and from another side kiosk will help our customer to get all information they need online,any events or changes or how to use coupons for discounts etc.

What Is a Bboy?

David Le Date 3/20/13 Dr. Hasell ENGL 1301 – 38107 Word Count: 1,159 What is a Bboy? (final) Bboying is not just a movement. It is a passion, a language, a form of art and expression. The terms bboy (be-boy) and breaker come from the words beat boy and break boy. Bboy refers to someone who dances to the beat of the music and breaker refers to someone who dances to the break section of a song. The part of a song where there is no singing, just pure instrumental music. Essentially bboys and breakers are the same.Breaking is very different and unique when you compare it to other styles of dance. Ballet revolves around graceful movements while bboying can be whatever the dancer feels like doing during a song. All that matters is the beat of the music and the passion of the dancer. The most important thing about bboying is having the opportunity to express yourself, that brief moment when you can be true to yourself. Bboying is a unique form of art. You may have heard that painters need inspiration before they can create art.For a bboy, the music is the inspiration, from the instant you feel the beat moving through your body to the very end of each dance set. That small interval of time is when someone would paint the picture of what he or she is feeling through physical movements. Some might have the urge to do power moves. These moves involve require strength and complete control over the body, for example hopping while holding a one handed handstand. Other dancers might feel the music is moving them to express in slower more fluid motions by maybe gracefully sliding and spinning while on their knees.There are some basics moves for breakdancing but the best dancers are original and create their own personal signature moves or styles. Once a year the best bboy crews from all around the world will come to one spot and battle each other through dance in order to gain respect from other dancers all around the world. This event is called battle of the year. I th ink one of the biggest defining things about battle of the year is that the winning prize money is only three thousand dollars. After this is split between maybe 10 crew members the amount of time put in to win doesn’t pay off.But to these professional bboys the pride that comes with winning is all that is needed. When the dance battles take place each crew will take turns sending in one member to freestyle to the music. Each bboy is different, there cannot and never will be two people that dance with the exact same style. This is one of the amazing things of breaking. A friend of mine likes to dance with a wobbly drunkenness with each step in order to taunt his opponent while another friend is very serious in order to show that the opponent has no chance of winning the battle.I’ve seen one dancer end his freestyle set smoking an imaginary cigarette and throwing it onto his opponent to tell him he had just gotten â€Å"smoked†. Now, if this was any other hobby o r sport, doing these sorts of things might get you beat up. However, this is one of the beauties of the bboy culture. Even after conveying such mean and hurtful actions every bboy understands that it is all part of the â€Å"act† and it is nothing personal. Over time clowning or making fun of your opponent has become a very essential part of dance battles. After each battle all competitors will always shake hands and hug, even if it is a total stranger.For most bboys, respect is given right from the second someone else decides to express themselves over the music in the spotlight. This is because most breakers know that it takes courage to would out in front of a crown and express yourself ignoring what people may think. The complex language of dance is solely unique and is what makes the bonds and friendships between breakers so powerful. Sweat, pain, and exhaustion are all things that intersect the path of bboying. To any true dancer, the drive to improve will always out wa y the pain and the downsides.Every crash is a lesson; the only way to improve as dancer is to learn from previous mistakes. Over the years technology has made this easier; many bboys can now simply record themselves in order to watch for errors or mistakes during their practice sessions. While this helps decrease the time it takes to learn things, true breaker will never stop and always strive to be a better dancer. Ultimately there is no finish line; the real goal is the friendships and memories that will be made through this journey. He or she will always be trying to beat that future opponent who may be good or bad.There are four main elements of bboying; power, footwork, top rock, and freezes. Power moves have the steepest learning curve of them all. The most basic power move is called the windmill and this on average takes at least 6 months to learn just one rotation. And when I say six months, I mean six months of practicing every day for one hour minimum. There are many bboys out there who love power moves for this very reason. They are so hard to master, and achieving them makes it worth that much more. The best bboys have a good balance between all four of these different styles.During this adventure of learning each style, good breakers dissect each move in attempt to make new and original things out of the old. It may be just one slight difference of being lower or higher with your legs or it could be a whole combo of fast stepping movements stringed together with original fluid transitions. This is the true beauty of bboying; one can do whatever one wants. There is no one in the world that can say you are doing your own style incorrectly. Creativity is a truly amazing thing. Because of the nature of the brain, there is an endless amount of combinations and movements that can be thought of or discovered.Dancing, to put it simply, is a vessel to express ideas and emotions. The only reason breaking is still thriving today is because there is always so mething new that can be created. Every generation will build off what their previous generation has made and make it their own. Over time the â€Å"foundation† moves have changed, and it will always continue to evolve as long as there is music and a will to express. Some might say that other things make up a true dancer, but out of all of them I would have to say the most vital things are to be original, be unique, be you; bboy.