Ap comaprison china and egypt Essay

Nomads have been known to roam the eastern hemisphere since the beginning of time. The nomadic people and their incursions had affected China and Egypt both, however there impact varied greatly from region to region. China and Egypt both share that the nomads brought chariots to either region, but they differ in the fact that in Egypt most people were forced to become nomadic and driven out of their homes, while China did not. In both China and Egypt the nomadic people brought new culture to each society. Mainly they brought cultural diffusion to each. From each place the nomads traveled from, apiece of that culture got incorporated into China and Egypt, bringing new ideas, and improving society. Chariots were also a similarity that the nomads brought to both China and Egypt. Mainly nobles, and the military used the chariot as a way of transportation. The chariot was a way of showing social hierarchy, and also improved warfare tactics. These similarities greatly impacted and improved the great societies of China and Egypt. The effects of the nomads and their incursions on China and Egypt differed in many ways. The Chinese living near the Yellow River had to become nomadic due to agricultural reasons, while in Egypt the nomadic life style was forced upon them by being forced out of their homes. Due to the Chinese becoming nomadic because of agricultural reasons, many issues formed between the non-nomadic Chinese people and the nomadic Chinese people. So for 2,000 years the nomads harassed, invaded, and even conquered the settled agricultural civilizations of the Chinese empire causing many incursions. Counter to that the nomad people helped flourish the Egyptian life style along the Nile, raising its population tremendously. Lastly one other difference of the effect of nomadic people and their incursions on both Egypt and China was, in China the nomadic people concentrated on herding their animals, and in Egypt not so much. I think the differences between the way the nomads affected China and  Egypt were do to the way the different empires were run. The governments were ran differently, there for making it tough for the similar attributes the nomads brought, making it hard to affect them both in the same way. In the end weather the affect of the nomads and their incursions were similar in both China and Egypt or different, those attributes that were brought to the societies by the nomads helped form those two top regions today.

Lab Report on milk co-motion Essay

1. Provide a possible explanation of phenomenon you observed based on the  result of your experiment. When food color is added to milk, it floats because it is less dense than milk. The non-polar fat in the milk prevents the food color from spreading, as it cannot participate in hydrogen bonding with water. When detergent is added to milk and the food color, the non-polar ends of the soap molecules attracts towards the non-polar fat of milk, and the interaction of the detergent with the fat in milk results the food color to swirl around. Whenever the detergent touches the milk, it breaks up the drops of fat, which spread out, allowing the food coloring and milk to mix. The food coloring swirls into the places where the fat was. Detergent molecules dissolve fat of milk by having one hydrophobic end (which interacts well with the fat) and one hydrophilic end (which interacts well aqueous part of the milk). 2.How would the results of this experiment differ if: a)Skim milk was used? (Milk from which the cream (fat) has been taken is called skimmed milk.) If skim milk was used, the drops of food color would dispersed in milk without  the need of detergent because all the fats has been taken out of milk and it  allows  the food color to dissolve in it. b)Homogenized milk was used? (Homogenized milk is the milk in which all the fat are mixed so that it does not rise on the top) Fat is insoluble in water. Water-soluble food colors will spread and dissolve in water, but their motion would be slow if homogenized milk was used, because milk contains globules of fat, the fat that is mixed in. The swirling and churning motion would be partly due to the attraction between soap and the milk’s fat particles. 3. Research emulsifying agents and how they are used in the food in the food  industry? EMULSIFIER – An ingredient used to bind oil soluble and water soluble ingredients. Substances that are soluble in both fat and water and enable fat to be uniformly dispersed in water are emulsifiers. Emulsifying agents used in foods include agar, albumin, alginates, casein, egg yolk, glycerol monostearate, gums, Irish moss, lecithin, soaps.Emulsifying agents work by reducing surface tension, forming complex films on the surface of emulsified droplets and creating a repulsive barrier on emulsified droplets to prevent their coalescence. 4. What is an emulsifying agent in the body? Explain how it works? Emulsifying agent in the body: The emulsifying agent in the human body is bile. It is a bitter, alkaline, brownish-yellow or greenish-yellow fluid that is secreted by the liver, stored in the gallbladder, and discharged into the duodenum. Bile contains  bile acids, which are critical for digestion and absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins in the small intestine. Many waste products are eliminated from the body by secretion into bile and elimination in feces.

Yahoo – Strategic Management Analysis

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Yahoo! Inc. , over its journey of almost 17 years has become the world’s largest online network integrated services provider with users exceeding 500 million in numbers worldwide (Yahoo FAQ, 2012). It has a presence in more than twenty markets and regions across the globe and is best known for its search engine and host of other services like finance, e-mail, advertising and social media. Yahoo! Inc. was started as a personal website directory by two doctorate candidates at Stanford University named David Filo and Jerry Yang.Filo and Yang realized the potential of generating revenue from their web directory by allowing companies to advertise their products on their online directory. Soon, Yahoo was notable enough to gain the attention of Sequoia capital, a venture capital firm. Sequoia provided much needed capital to Yahoo and Tim Koogle, a Motorola executive was hired as Yahoo’s Chief Executive Officer. Koogle’s excellent management skills and vision took Yahoo to the new heights of success i. . Yahoo! Inc. ’s stock price rose from $5 a share to almost $244 a share in 1999 (Jones, 2007) However, despite the leadership that the company enjoyed in its initial years, the company over the past years seems be losing market share to its arch rival Google Inc. Google has been outdoing Yahoo for the past many years now, gaining market share and increasing its customer base manifolds. Over the course of past few years, Yahoo! Inc. ade a slew of changes in its objectives, business model and to its external, internal environment and strategy to shore up its performance and regain lost ground to its main competitor Google. Herein, we shall take a close look at some of such factors through defining the company’s mandate, internal analysis as well as external analysis. INTRODUCTION The company under consideration Yahoo! Inc. (referred to hereinafter as â€Å"Yahoo†) is one of the world’s largest online netwo rk integrated services provider with a combined user base in excess of 500 million.Yahoo provides a whole host of network based services, however over its existence of past 17 years, many such similar service providers have shored up especially after the dot com boom. Some of these new players took the path of specializing in a particular form of service while others brought a whole gamut of new services with the old ones. World Wide Web has grown exponentially over the past years giving rise to the intense rivalry between companies involved. This intense rivalry especially with the likes of Google is one of the biggest challenges for Yahoo.In this case study, we try to first understand the backdrop in which the company is operating including its mission and vision for the future, its ultimate goals and philosophy regarding its business, its business model, external analysis based on Porter’s five forces model and finally internal analysis based on distinctive competencies, c ompetitive advantage and profitability. This document is prepared based on the information provided in the case, â€Å"Yahoo† (Jones, 2007) as well as numerous external sources such as Yahoo’s website and its annual reports circa 2011. COMPANY OVERVIEWYahoo was incorporated as an Internet service provider that would serve both the users and the businesses globally. Yahoo was founded by two Stanford PhD candidates in January 1994 named Jerry Yang and David Filo. However, today Yahoo has become one of the world’s largest global online network integrated services provider. Yahoo today has a user base of 500 million per month. It has a presence in more than 30 countries worldwide and provides services in more than twenty different languages. The company presently operates out of Sunnyvale, California in the United States.Yahoo first went public on the NASDAQ (YHOO) in the April of 1996. The stock had opened for $ 13. 00 per share of the company and by the very dayâ €™s end; it had reached a closing of $ 33. 00 per share (Yahoo Overview, 2012). In Dec 1999 the company was also added to the S&P 500 index. Recently, in early 2012, Yahoo had appointed Scott Thompson as the new CEO who was then replaced by Marissa Mayer in the month of May (Perez, 2012). Also in June 2012, the company also hired the former director at Google, Michael Barrett, as its Chief Revenue Officer.In April 2012, the company announced a cut of about 14 % of its workforce. This was expected to save the company around $ 375 million annually and is scheduled to be completed by end of this year (Liedtke, 2012). MANDATE The mandate of a company sheds light on why it exists, what it hopes to achieve in reference to the expectations of the stakeholders. Yahoo changed it mission statement from just â€Å"focusing on being a search portal† to â€Å"want to connect people to their passion, communities and world’s knowledge† (Baker, 2007).Yahoo’s mission Statement refers to the fact that the company envisages to achieve two major objectives; first one is to provide personal digital experience to their customers so that they remain happy doing things they like especially in the web and secondly to provide a unique way to the advertiser to connect to the consumers and help to build their business (Yahoo FAQ, 2012). In simple terms, as Yahoo enables people to connect with their passion in various fields i. e. sports, music etc. , it will in turn provide Yahoo with an excellent opportunity to generate advertising revenue from music and sports companies etc.The core values of the company provide a sense of direction that the company adheres to and the way it is going to do it, and the goals it wishes to achieve via the same. The company on its website has outlined six Core values that drive the company forward. These are namely (Yahoo Values, 2004). a. Excellence: The Company mentions of it always seeking quality and knowing that the suc cess should never be taken for granted and hence learn from own mistakes. b. Innovation: The Company believes in creativity and is ready to adapt to change in market trends and respond with calculated and responsible steps. c.Customer Fixation: The Company is always looking to maintain the trust of the customers and respond to the customers need and try to exceed them. d. Teamwork: The Company believes in and tries to encourage the best of the ideas from the entire organization and to foster collaboration and yet maintain individual accountability. e. Community: The Company seeks to serve both communities globally and the Internet Community as a whole in general. f. Fun: The Company also possesses a sense of humour and believe that the same is essential to the success of the company and also do appreciate and celebrate their achievement.From the aforementioned Core Values and the present scenario of the company, it seems Yahoo’s main challenge is keep up with its two very imp ortant core values namely Innovation and Customer Fixation which are integral for it to be the market leader in web portal industry. The main stakeholders of Yahoo are; its stockholders that invest their capital in the company, customers that use Yahoo’s web portal, advertisers that market their products through Yahoo’s online services and employees who provide it intellectual capacity leading to the creation of innovative new online products and services.Yahoo’s employees want a fair, ethical treatment and a stable job, advertisers expect to connect to their market segment by advertising on Yahoo, customers want enjoyable and innovative products that make their daily life easier and most importantly stock holders have an expectation that Yahoo will pursue strategies that increase company’s revenue and profitability maximizing shareholder value. EXTERNAL ANALYSIS COMPETITIVE FORCESYahoo operates in â€Å"the Internet products, services, and content marke ts, which are highly competitive and characterized by rapid change, emerging and converging technologies, and increasing competition† and that their most significant competition is from â€Å"Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and AOL (Yahoo 10K, 2011). Yahoo is a part of web portal industry where revenue generation is dependent on online advertising which in turn requires a large number of user base to generate any significant revenue.Advertisers prefer to advertise their products through web portals that have a large user base and offer products and tools which help them reach their target audience. In web portal industry, degree of rivalry amongst competitors is quite high, competitors compete aggressively against each other through innovative new product offerings and/or by lowering prices for advertising but Product differentiation is becoming increasingly difficult due to the fact that over the years industry has gone through consolidation and main players such as Google, Yah oo, MSN etc. ave gained a significant amount of market share creating an oligopoly. Industry has entered a mature stage in the western hemisphere such as Europe and North America but a lot of potential is available in emerging markets of Asia and South America where it is in growth stage. Due to the nature of internet, entry in to the web portal industry is relatively easy but based on the amount of capital, innovative skills and technological knowledge required to attract and maintain a large user base in the web portal industry, the threat of new entrants that can compete directly with Yahoo is quite low.Yahoo does charge some fees for certain premium services but generally its main services such as email and search are free of cost which is common amongst competitors in web portal industry. The range of services offered in web portal at little or no cost means that switching cost for users is quite low. Buyers also include those advertisers who would buy ad space on the website. Even though Yahoo’s revenue stream is not concentrated at any individual advertiser or user but low switching costs for users combined with the intense rivalry in the industry to gain advertisers puts bargaining power of the buyers at medium.Yahoo’s search engine essentially is a mechanism that provides users with an ability to search through content present on the internet. This content is freely available on the internet for Yahoo to collect and categories hence supplier power for Yahoo’s search engine is quite low. Web portal industry in which Yahoo operates does not have a lot of substitutes. Some possible substitutes for Yahoo’s products and services are; postal service is substitute of Yahoo’s e-mail service, financial newspapers are a substitute for Yahoo’s financial section, etc. but most importantly there are no efficient substitutes for search engines on web portal industry in both online or offline world. Because of the lack of ef ficiency of substitutes to products and services offered by web portal industry, the threat of substitutes is low. Recently Web portal industry has gained a possible complementor in the form of latest smart phones with high speed mobile internet access which gives user an ability to be online at any place at any given time. Smart phone technology combined with the web portal industry gives both parties involved a better opportunity to satisfy customer demands.MACRO ENVIRONMENT Aforementioned analysis was based on Porter’s five forces model which is subject to macro-environment. We shall now analyse different forces in the macro-environment. Economic conditions might affect Yahoo as it derives most of its revenue from businesses and individuals who advertise their products and services on the internet. Any slump in the economic growth may lead to a reduction in advertising budget of businesses which will eventually affect Yahoo. In the emerging markets such as those in Asia an d South America, Yahoo is presented with an excellent opportunity to expand its business.Along with the opportunity, Yahoo may also face stiff competition in emerging markets such as China where local competitors have gained considerable market share i. e. Baidu, Inc. in China has 63% of the market share and is Yahoo’s main competitor in that region (Barboza, 2010). Political and legal forces tend to affect businesses operating in the web portal industry especially in the emerging markets. Regulations on the internet service providers generally vary from country to country i. e. in certain countries local providers enjoy special protection through regulations giving them competitive advantage over Yahoo.Yahoo was successfully sued in France for its failure to keep Nazi memorabilia off its Web pages as it is considered a crime in France (Claburn, 2006) and in 2010 Google pulled out of China after failing to negotiate with Chinese government (Carlson, 2010). Internet is a rapid ly growing industry, and with low barriers to entry and low switching costs, technological forces heavily influence Yahoo. With the advent of new technologies, competition and rivalry between players in web portal industry is likely to be more intense driving down revenues as a result.Development in technology may give rise to newer forms of advertising media which can potentially take away revenue from Yahoo. Yahoo mainly operates in the online world and number of users with access to internet is growing rapidly and user base in the developed countries is very well spread out across all demographics. More and more people in the developing countries are getting access to the internet which is likely an opportunity for Yahoo. INTERNAL ANALYSIS We shall now discuss the internal environment of the company and how can it have any sort of material impact on the performance of the company.The internal Analysis of the company would include the distinctive competencies of the company, the c ompetitive advantage and the profitability of the company. The first and foremost distinctive competency of the company is the ability to enable people relate to their passion. This is as per Yahoo’s mission statement and is also reflective in the product portfolio. The company is probably the leader in the industry in terms of the number of services and products that the company offers. This range of product offering has not been observed to be present with the other competitors i. e. Flickr, a omprehensive imaging database, Yahoo Finance provides accurate financial Data in almost real time, etc. The second distinctive competency of the company is the brand name of the company, which has helped it retain its users despite its consistent problem in bringing new innovative products like its competitors Google and Facebook. The third and most important is the efficiency of Yahoo marketing services and its ability to attract customers and publishers. Since its beginning the busi ness model of Yahoo has been heavily reliant on contextual advertising and offering premium services.And this segment of business of Yahoo has still kept it in business. And not to forget the next competency of the company is its famous search and portal. Though the search algorithm used by the company has gradually been updated to the changing demographics of the business, but still some work needs to be done on it to make it a sheer strength for the company. Yahoo still possesses some competitive advantage as compared to its rivals. Firstly, Yahoo’s directory is very well-structured and authenticated business library and it can be developed and customized to act as a new and good source of revenue.Second is the ability of Yahoo to provide customized and contextual advertising. Another very important competitive advantage of the company is the hold of Yahoo in the mobile segment with its auxiliary products and even partnerships with third party service providers. And probabl y last but not the least is the employees of the company, who proved tremendous support, and technical knowhow, that helps Yahoo shore up with customized solutions for its customers and also help in maintain a virtually glitch/hassle free website quality.As far as profitability is concerned, this is something that has not been going right for the company. Over the past four quarters, the company has not seen any significant growth in its revenue and has in fact witnessed a decline in the operating profitability due to a rise in non-recurring expenses (Yahoo Income Statement, 2012). However since the new CEO took over in the month of July, she has embarked on a new strategy of Brownfield expansion via the M&A route and other critical decisions, that is set â€Å"to revive growth and boost profitability† which is a very positive and ncouraging news for investors (Womack, 2012). Yahoo’s decision to hire executives Michael Barret as a CFO and Marissa Mayer as a CEO seems t o show that Yahoo understands the threat that Google poses as both Barret and Mayer were executive at Google prior to joining Yahoo. From the above analysis, it seems that the company is better poised on its internal environment than external environment. And it needs to improvise on its assets and brand to shore up its market share and performance.Yahoo’s recent layoff of 14% of its work force seems to be beginning of new strategy of refocusing the company towards its core competencies, product innovation and growth. REFERENCES Yahoo FAQs. (2012). Investors FAQs. Retrieved from http://yhoo. client. shareholder. com/faq. cfm Jones, G. R. (2007). Yahoo. In C. W. L. Hill & G. R. Jones (Eds. ), Strategic Management An Integrated Approach (8th ed. , pp. C102-C114). Boston, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. Yahoo Overview. (2012). Overview. Retrieved from http://pressroom. yahoo. net/pr/ycorp/overview. aspx Perez, J. C. (2012, 07 16).Yahoo picks google's marissa mayer as ceo. Macworld , Retrieved from http://www. macworld. com/article/1167728/yahoo_picks_googles_marissa_mayer_as_ceo. html Liedtke, M. (2012, 04 04). New yahoo CEO Scott Thompson cuts 2,000 jobs The Christian Science Monitor, Retrieved from http://www. csmonitor. com/Innovation/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0404/New-Yahoo-CEO-Scott-Thompson-cuts-2-000-jobs Baker, L. (2010). Yahoo ; google’s mission statements: Do they connect?. Search Engine Journal, Retrieved from http://www. searchenginejournal. com/yahoo-googles-mission-statements-do-they-connect/4924/Yahoo Values. (2004). Yahoo! we value. Retrieved from http://docs. yahoo. com/info/values/ Yahoo 10K. (2011, 12 31). Yahoo 10k Annual Report. Retrieved from http://files. shareholder. com/downloads/YHOO/2120211742x0xS1193125-12-86972/1011006/filing. pdf Barboza, D. (2010, 01 13). Baidu’s gain from departure could be china’s loss. The NewYork Times. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com/2010/01/14/technology/companies/14baidu. html? _ r=1 Claburn, T. (2006, 01 13). Yahoo loses lawsuit over nazi memorabilia sale. Information Week, Retrieved from http://www. informationweek. om/yahoo-loses-lawsuit-over-nazi-memorabili/177100347 Carlson, N. (2010, 03 22). Breaking: Google pulls out of china. Business Insider, Retrieved from http://articles. businessinsider. com/2010-03-22/tech/29990556_1_google-com-hk-google-s-china-googlecn Yahoo Income Statement. (2012). Income statement. Retrieved from http://in. finance. yahoo. com/q/is? s=YHOO Womack, B. (2012, 08 10). Yahoo strategy review may result in changes to cash plans. Bloomberg, Retrieved from http://www. bloomberg. com/news/2012-08-09/yahoo-ceo-strategy-review-may-result-in-changes-to-cash-plans. html

Yahoo's to rise fame Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Yahoo's to rise fame - Essay Example The development of other Yahoo portals outside the U.S. which replicated its business model helped the company to develop. The portals could be accessed by users in twelve different languages. They were also customized to the desire of local users. This increased Yahoo’s number of users greatly, a very important factor as it was user traffic that generated revenues (Jones, 453). The vision by Yahoo to become a global communication, media and retail company led them to go into e-commerce. This strategy was necessary so as to diversify their sources of revenue. The idea was to conduct e-commerce and take a small percentage of revenue as fees. In 1998, Yahoo store was established in line with this strategy. Heavy advertising through radio and television made Yahoo popular. These strategies worked greatly as the number of registered users rose from 26 million to 50 million by the end of 1998. Its share price also rose from $5 to $244 in early 1999 during the dot-com boom (Jones,456). A new strategy to lock in users was developed to reduce the movement of users to other portals. Yahoo allowed users to customize their pages. High degree of customization caused high switching costs and thus making it difficult for users to change. Attractive web content, which was free, also increased traffic to its portal and provided more advert revenues. However, during the dot-com bubble burst, advert revenues fell. This resulted in a fall in the stock price. Competition from new entrants such as MySpace, Monster.com and YouTube further worsened the situation. Google, a new search engine, was also becoming popular. Customized portals such as Amazon .com and social networking portals which entered the market were a further upset to Yahoo. Its content driven strategy came into question as other companies offered for free what Yahoo offered at a fee (Jones, 459). Many analysts believed that it was the over reliance on

Creating a Bankruptcy Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Creating a Bankruptcy Plan - Essay Example assets and liabilities, a liquidation plan of reorganization stating the financial benefits for creditors, and approval of the plan by the company creditors. Within 20 days after filing, debtor meets the appointed bankruptcy trustee to discuss details of the reorganization plan. Within 30 to 45 days after filing, debtor meets creditors in a meeting presided over by trustee to agree on the payment plan proposed by debtor. Discussions, approval, or rejections by the creditors on the disclosure statement, proposed payment plan and analysis of the liquidation plan should be finalized not more than 120 days after filing. When the plan is approved, the debtor is discharged from any debt that arose before confirmation. After confirmation of plan, debtor is required to make payments as stated in the reorganization. A new contractual right replaces the pre-bankruptcy contracts. (Chapter 11) is â€Å"when one is unable to pay his debts any more. The bankruptcy law gives a person who is burdened with debts to have a new start by wiping out his/her debts.†(Maller-Barnes-Bowers-Langvardt, Chap. 20) A debtor is not given a discharge if he has not paid debts for taxes and debts related to committed crimes. or if there are â€Å"debts covered by a waiver of discharge executed by the debtor and approved by the court. An order of discharge cannot also be given to a debtor who has a judicial order to pay domestic support obligations unless he can certify that he is up to date in payments. (Mallor-Barnes-Bowers-Langvardt, Chap. 20) A debtor who has a confirmed plan for reorganization is allowed to request for modification of the plan anytime after its confirmation. According to Chapter 11 Bankruptcy code, modification is allowed if he/she has met some requirements of the Bankruptcy Code. This request will require the creditors’ consensus and approval of the court. Flynn, E, Bermant, G. and Burke, Virginia (2000). â€Å"Bankruptcy by the Numbers†. Executive Office for the

Uprisings of Soviet Union Satellite Countries Essay

Uprisings of Soviet Union Satellite Countries - Essay Example In the 1960s Czechoslovakia, though still a satellite of the Soviet Union was starting to display a certain degree of independence from the Soviet Union. By early 1968, the reformers had gained sufficient strength in the political apparatus to install Ludvik Svoboda as President and Alexander Dubcek as head of the Communist Party. These two took Czechoslovakia onto a path of economic reforms and provided greater press and travel freedoms, and as a result, Czechoslovakia became the most liberal Communist state in the world, with the people enjoying the newly available freedoms. This state of affairs was not to remain for long, as this state of affairs in Czechoslovakia, was alarming to the Soviet Union. Through negotiations, an agreement was reached between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union to slow down the pace of reforms in the country, in an attempt to reduce the alarm of the Soviet Union. However, on August 20, 1968, the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries of East Germany , Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria struck with lightening speed and massive force, so that within a week there more than half a million of these forces spread all over Czechoslovakia. Against this massive military might, the people of Czechoslovakia responded not through military means, but through nonviolent resistance. The Soviets responded with political manipulation and economic pressure that saw the Czechoslovakian leadership gradually give way. The intense initial resistance against the Soviet Union slowly eroded to a disgruntled complacency.

Analysis of The Various Legal Provisions Research Paper

Analysis of The Various Legal Provisions - Research Paper Example However, dealing with employment laws is a day to day affair for any business or industrial undertaking irrespective of the size and magnitude of the operations. Hence it becomes very essential that the employers understand and appreciate their legal obligations under the employment laws especially when the employers are keen of making changes in the working place or in the terms of employment of the workers in order to be competitive and efficient.  Ã‚   As a matter of fact, "United Kingdom [UK] employment law has mushroomed in recent years. Modern UK employment law first saw huge changes during the 1970s. Several Acts of Parliament introduced new and complex legislation in areas such as Equal Pay, Sex Discrimination, Race Discrimination, and Health & Safety. Since then there have been even further extensions to UK employment law, particularly brought about by UK's membership of the European Union which required changes to the UK Employment Law. Changes to the UK employment law have included areas such as the Transfer of Undertakings, Disability Discrimination, National Minimum Wages and Working Time Regulations. Year after year UK employment law continues to extend in all areas of working life."   In the UK the main employment legislation is the Employment Rights Act 1996. Labor legislation like the Redundancy Payments Act 1965 in the UK and the Acquired Rights Directive 1977(ARD) concerning the employment regulations of EU are examples of the development of the legal face of the employment legislation. Similarly every year tens of thousands of UK companies fall foul of UK employment law, many due to lack of knowledge of the legal obligations they face. As a result, many face huge compensation and legal costs.

Social & Ethical Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social & Ethical Issues - Essay Example Kant formulated the categorical imperative as a foundation for ethical action. Two aspects of the categorical imperative are that a person should act such that he1 can also will that the maxim of his action should become a universal law, and he should act such that he treats humanity-both in own and another's person-as an end and never as a means. Kant's theory thus defines ethics on the nature of actions, and not on their outcome (Kay, 1997) The morality of an action depends on intention only. A moral action may cause distress rather than happiness to the one who acts. But morality is more important than happiness. Moral action will ultimately lead to peace of mind (happiness) at having done the right thing. The motive for a moral action should not be the fact that it could lead to happiness, but that the action is moral in itself. Kant maintains that this principle does not recognize any exceptions. Utilitarianism states that the ethicality of an action depends solely on whether it increases utility or not. Therefore the morality of an action depends on its outcome, and on nothing else. Utility is happiness or pleasure, and suffering is disutility. How do these conflicting dicta help us in deciding ethical courses of action, in today's confusing times Let us look at euthanasia. The word euthanasia means "a happy death" and refers to legally sanctioned death. Although some countries have legalized euthanasia (E g Netherlands), there are several ethical issues that arise in its application. First of all, there is the very definition of death. Now that life can be prolonged by sophisticated machines, it gets difficult to decide whether the life that is kept artificially going has really gone beyond a point, where it cannot be brought out of its vegetative state. There have been cases when machines have been switched off, and bodies that were expected to cease, continued in a coma. With the rapid pace at which medical science has been progressing, conditions which were considered untreatable yesterday, can be dealt with today. Therefore, should we not wait before euthanasia is carried out in any instance, as tomorrow may bring a cure Can it be done even if a person while in a healthy state of body and mind has willed that he should be administered euthanasia in case he slips into an irretrievable state of death Is suicide okay Should doctors assist in suicide Then how about unborn children Is abortion permissible Do we have the right to decide on the ending of any life-that of an unborn child, as well The questions are numerous. But evidently there are no clear-cut answers to these. Mill talks about competing utilities. He says that all we need to do is to compute the utility that would be generated by opposing course of actions, and choose that set of actions that generates a higher utility. This is easier said than done. How does one compute utility What is the objective standard to measure this Since utility is based on feelings, how does one measure the strength of feelings If maximizing utility were the only concern, we would be led to bizarre and dangerous conclusions on ethical issues. If morality consisted merely in promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest numbers, then the majority rules, and the minority suffers. Let's look at the

Graduate School of Mechanical Engineering Personal Statement for

Graduate School of Mechanical Engineering for Admission - Personal Statement Example My short-term plan is to get admission in the Master’s in Mechanical Engineering program to gain new knowledge and refine my existing knowledge of all subjects related to this field of study some of which include engineering mechanics, circuits and motors, engineering thermodynamics, manufacturing engineering, and machine design. My long-term goal is to work as a mechanical engineer in some well-renowned organization. I have collected information about different universities and programs that can serve my interests and have concluded that a higher education in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago would be the most suitable option for me to fulfill my educational and professional goals. My interest in teaching developed since I was a child and was studying in a grammar school. Ever since I can remember, my dad used to take my brothers and me near the train tracks, the airport, or parking lots with classic muscle cars. I used to feel very excited about all that stuff. The sheer power, creativity, and accuracy that went into making these machines were all simply incredible. Years later, my parents took our family to Florida. A location that was my dad’s favorite place to visit, Cape Canaveral, very quickly became mine as well. Posters, pennants, LEGOs, models (die-cast and hand-made), and drawings all of which pertained to some sort of automotive machine, airplane, water vessel, or spacecraft became my center of attention. One could say that I am simply and more than anything in love with engines and their mechanical composition. This is the reason for me to step into the field of engineering at graduation level. Now when I have almost finished my graduation, a higher degree in a particular engineering dimension would play a vital role in increasing my knowledge, as well as in making me a knowledgeable ad successful mechanical engineer. I am interested in getting my master’s degree from the University

Organizational Structure CJ409 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Organizational Structure CJ409 - Essay Example According to Moore and Trojanowicz (1998), â€Å"it is only when fear is unreasonable,or generates counterproductive responses, that it becomes a social problem† (pp. 1-2). Concurrently, the authors disclosed that through police strategies for reducing fear, subsequent repercussions actually lead, not only to a reduction in crime but in improving quality of life issues. 3. What are some possible causes of fear of crime at the Center? The possible causes of fear of crime at the Center are news reports of criminal activities and rumors or â€Å"second-hand information about criminal victimization† (Moore & Trojanowicz, 1998, p. 3), particularly about car thefts in parking lots. 4. What is missing in the current community-police relationship between the Greenfield Police department and the senior citizens? What is apparently missing in the current community-police relationship between the GPD and the senior citizens is direct contact and coordination with the senior citizens at the center. This means that police officers should not be only seen to regularly patrol in the area, but they should go to the center, communicate with the senior citizens regarding their alleged fears, and assure them that crime incidence is significantly low and that their neighborhood is actually safe. 5. Suggest a community policing strategy to reduce the fear of crime at the Senior Citizens’ Center. As the evening shift supervisor, one of the community policing strategies that could potentially assist in reducing fear of crime at the Senior Citizens’ Center is to regularly be on foot patrol at the park during evenings, after communicating with them directly at the center. Also, they should put signs to discourage teen-aged kids to skateboard along the pathway to the park and ask community leaders to provide another space for skateboarding. As confirmed in a study written by Antony Pate, et al. (n.d.), â€Å"programs ‘designed to increase the quantity

Commentary on the questionnaire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Commentary on the questionnaire - Essay Example Due to this fact, I oftentimes predisposed to being more of an evaluator of a situation and/or a particular issue. Although I realize that the test is not capable of analyzing or measuring each and every aspect of my personality, it is quite possible that I have overestimated my skills as an evaluator and should instead focus upon improving this particular aspect of my approach as a function of affecting a more positive outcome in the future. Interestingly, and somewhat surprisingly, the test denoted that irate and 11 out of 12 as far as being an â€Å"ideas person†. Whereas I have long prided myself with respect to the fact that I come up with potential solutions to issues and seek to engage teams in a positive way, the ranking of 11 out of 12 with respect to this category was not expected. In such a manner, this encourages me to continue this particular approach and engage team members with potential solutions and ideas as a means of effecting positive outcomes in the future. Furthermore, due to the fact that I have long held an interest in creativity and focused upon approaching issues from a standpoint that is uncommon to others, the potential for maximizing efficiency and benefit of being and ideas person comes to be represented to an even more full and complete degree. Additionally, as has been noted above, I have long understood myself to be both shy and somewhat in approachable in a situation that is defined by group interaction. Because of this, my scores with respect to leadership are rather low/moderate. Although ranking 6 out of 12 does not denote the fact that I am fearful of any level of leadership, it most certainly underscores the fact that I am not at ease or within a zone of comfort engaging with a position of leadership and directing others with respect to how they might best engage the tasks at hand. What was additionally noted had to do with the fact that I ranked relatively

Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency Essay Example for Free

Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency Essay The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) is an Australian government agency. It is statutory authority located within the portfolio of the Australian Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA). EOWA’s role is to administer the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (Commonwealth)[1] which was passed by the Federal Parliament in November 2012, and through education, assist organisations to achieve equal opportunity for women. Outlined in Part III Section 10 of the Act, the Agency is primarily a regulatory body, whose role is to annually monitor the reporting of eligible Australian organisations on equal opportunity for women in their workplaces. The Agency also has responsibility to undertake research, educational and other programs, and more generally promote the understanding of equal opportunity for women in the workplace within the community. In 2012, the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 was replaced by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012. The passing of the new legislation means the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency has now been renamed the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. The Employer of Choice for Women (EOCFW) citation is announced annually  since the 2001 inaugural list of 55 organisations. As of 2012, the list had grown to 125 organisations.[2] Gender pay gap in Australia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Main article: Gender pay gap Gender pay gap in Australia refers to the difference between the average female and average male salary. It is calculated on the average weekly ordinary time earnings for full-time employees published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The gender pay gap excludes part-time, casual earnings and overtime payments.[1] Australia has a persistent gender pay gap. Since 1990, the gender pay gap remained within a narrow range of between 15 and 18%.[2] In May 2013, the Australian gender pay gap was 17.5%.[3] Studies A 2009 report by the National Center for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) prepared for the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairsstated: Using robust microeconomic modelling techniques, based on a comprehensive and critical evaluation of several methodologies, we found that simply being a woman is the major contributing factor to the gap in Australia, accounting for 60 per cent of the difference between women’s and men’s earnings, a finding which reflects other Australian research in this area. Indeed, the results showed that if the effects of being a woman were removed, the average wage of an Australian woman would increase by $1.87 per hour, equating to an additional $65 per week or $3,394 annually, based on a 35 hour week. (The second most important factor in explaining the pay gap was industrial segregation.)[2] Data collected by NATSEM for the Catalyst Australia publication, Equality Speaks,[4] found that the gap between the average wealth of men and women also varies according to the occupations and industries in which they are engaged. According to industry, the largest gap in personal wealth between men and women is within the ï ¬ nance and insurance sector ($330 600 versus $88 500) where many women work. By contrast, there exists only a small differential in the construction industry ($63 500 versus $62 700) where few women work. In other industries where many women work, there are large wealth gaps: for example, in health and community services ($174 000 versus  $68 000) and retail trade ($84 000 versus $34 000). Turning from industry to occupation, other signiï ¬ cant disparities are revealed. The greatest disparity between the average wealth of men and women is amongst elementary clerical, sales and service workers ($110 400 versus $19 900). Jobs that fall within this category include sales assistants, security guards and laundry workers. The smallest relative wealth gap can be seen in advanced clerical and service workers ($91 600 versus $83 500). Jobs in this occupational category include book-keepers, personal assistants and secretaries. Ian Watson of Macquarie University also examined the gender pay according to occupation, specifically the gap among full-time managers in Australia over the period 2001-2008. He found that between 65 and 90% of this earnings differential could not be explained by a large range of demographic and labor market variables. Watson notes that a major part of the earnings gap is simply due to women managers being female. He also found that despite the characteristics of male and female managers being remarkably similar, their earnings are very different, suggesting that discrimination plays an important role in this outcome.[5] Economist Paul Miller explored the degree to which the Australian gender pay gap differs across the wage distribution and found that the gender pay gap was much greater among high wage earners than among low wage earners. At the top of the wage distribution (95th quantile) the pay gap reached 25% or more while at the bottom the pay gap was around 10%. He concluded that the notion of a ‘glass ceiling, whereby women struggle to advance beyond some point in the more typical career path, is certainly prevalent in the Australian labour market.[6] In a similar study, Hiao Joo Kee found that the gender pay gap increased at higher levels of the wage distribution in the private sector – leading to her conclusion that a glass ceiling existed there – but that the gap in the public sector was relatively constant over all percentiles. Moreover, Kee found that the acceleration of the pay gap across the wage distribution does not vanish even after extensive controls. She concludes that the gender pay gap in both sectors was a result of differences in returns to the same characteristics between men and women.[7] Trends in the Australian labor force[edit] In 2010 Australian females represented 50.2% of the Australian population and  45.3% of the workforce.[8] Trends within the Australian labour force have female workforce participants increasingly more educated than their male counterparts with more females completing year 12 and going on to university than males in 2008 females made up 55 per cent of students enrolled in Australian tertiary institutions.[9] In 2010 Finance was the industry with the widest gender pay gap at 32.2%, followed by Health Care and Social Assistance at 27.2% and Mining at 22.7%.[10] Cases and legislation Until 1969, legislation allowed employers to pay women a minimum rate of pay that was 25 per cent less than male employees doing the same or similar work. In 1969 the first federal pay case[11] established the principle of equal pay for equal work. The 1969 case established a principle that affected 18 per cent of women workers, mostly teachers and nurses.[12] In 1972, the second federal equal pay case widened the 1969 principle to equal pay for work of equal value in line with International Labour Organisations Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (100).[13] This meant that women were awarded the same rate of pay as men no matter what work they were doing, as long as it was assessed as comparable in value. New South Wales (NSW) was the first Australian industrial jurisdiction to legislate for equal pay in the Female Rates (Amendment) Act in 1958.[14] In 2000, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission created Australia’s first Equal Remuneration Principle (ERP). The principle provides an avenue for unions to seek redress where they believe work has been undervalued on a gender basis. In 2002, the Full Bench of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission fully ratified the Crown Employees (Librarians, Library Assistants, Library Technicians and Archivists) Award 2002, which incorporated pay increases of up to 26%. The Commonwealth Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986 was enacted to improve equity in the Australian workforce and establish the Affirmative Action Agency. It aimed to promote equal opportunity for women in employment and eliminate discrimination by the employer against women. In 1999 the agency was changed to the Equal Opportunity in the Workplace Agency to administer the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (Commonwealth).[15] In 2009 an Australian House of Representatives Pay Equity Report called on the Commonwealth Government to elevate pay equity to  be a clear objective of modern awards and recommended the establishment of a federal Pay Equity Unit and the conducting of mandatory pay equity audits for companies with 100 employees or more.[16] Western Australia Western Australia has the largest gender pay gap of any state or territory in Australia. As of August 2010 it was 24 per cent, representing a gap between average weekly ordinary time male and female earnings.[17] Research has failed to adequately account for all the factors that underpin Western Australia’s relatively large gender pay gap and thus explain why its gender pay gap is higher than the rest of Australia, which was 17 per cent in August 2010.[18] A specialist Pay Equity Unit in Western Australian was established in 2006 to address the States gender pay gap. The Western Australian Pay Equity team in the Department of Commerce developed the WA Pay Equity Audit Tool, a resource for employers to use in assessing workforce data and assist in the development of strategies to improve pay equity and female career progression in the workplace. The Tool was adopted nationally by the Equal Opportunity in the Workplace Agency.[19] Income and wealth inequality, how is Australia faring? Australians like to think of themselves as egalitarian, and for much of our history we believed our income and wealth was spread around evenly. The Conversation is running a series, Class in Australia, to identify, illuminate and debate its many manifestations. Here, Peter Whiteford investigates what has happened to income and wealth inequality in Australia in recent times. Australians like to think of themselves as egalitarian, and for much of our history we believed our income and wealth was spread around evenly. For many years, the world also shared that view. As early as the 1880s, visitors  remarked on Australia’s relatively equal distribution of wealth, the lack of visible poverty, the country’s generally comfortable incomes and its relatively few millionaires. As late as 1967, prime minister Harold Holt could say that he knew of no other free country where â€Å"what is produced by the community is more fairly and evenly distributed among the community† than it was in Australia. From the 1980s onwards, however, this view of Australia came under scrutiny. As historian John Hirst wrote: ‘Egalitarianism – see under myths’: so runs the index entry in a standard sociological text on Australian society. The most common measure of inequality is the Gini coefficient, which varies between zero and one. If everyone had exactly the same income then it would be zero (perfect equality). If one household had all the income then it would be one (complete inequality). The most recent figures for OECD countries, from around 2010, show that Australia is the 11th most unequalof the 34 OECD members. Australia has only ever briefly been below the OECD average Gini coefficient: just as the mining boom started in 2003. Trends in income inequality Working out what has happened to inequality in Australia over the long term is complex. While there is disagreement about overall trends, according to economists Andrew Leigh and Tony Atkinson, inequality declined between the 1950s and the late 1970s, with Peter Saunders identifying an increase in the 1980s. These long-run estimates are usually based either on wage trends or income tax data, which means that findings apply to individuals rather than households. Household incomes after benefits and taxes, however, are generally regarded as a better measure of economic resources. Since the early 1980s, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has conducted regular high-quality surveys of household incomes. The most recent survey covers the 2011-12 year. Research by economists David Johnson and Roger Wilkins found that the Gini coefficient increased from around 0.27 in 1981–82 to around 0.30 in 1997-98. Subsequently, the official ABS income statistics show that the Gini coefficient increased to 0.34 just before the global financial crisis in 2008, then fell to 0.32 in 2011-12. The ABS points out that changes from year to year are sometimes not large enough to be statistically significant. Yet the cumulative picture is of an upward trend, punctuated with periods in which inequality has fallen. Whether the most recent fall continues or is reversed remains to be seen. Trends in wealth inequality For many years, statistics on the distribution of wealth were even sparser than comprehensive statistics on the distribution of income. The improvements in income statistics achieved by the ABS were more recently matched by the collection of information on wealth – or more precisely on â€Å"net worth† (assets minus liabilities). According to the ABS, the wealthiest 20% of Australian households, with an average net worth of A$2.2 million per household in 2011-12, accounted for 61% of total household net worth. The poorest 20% of households accounted for 1% of total household net worth, and had an average net worth of $31,000 per household. This means that the wealthiest 20% of Australian households had net worth that was 68 times as high as the least wealthy 20%. In contrast, the 20% of Australian households with the highest disposable income were about five times better off than the poorest 20%. So, it seems pretty clear that wealth is much more unequally distributed in Australia than income. Or is it? This depends on how you look at it. The most recent Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report, prepared by Anthony Shorrocks, one of the most highly respected world experts on wealth distribution, estimates that the distribution of wealth in Australia is the second least unequal (after Japan) of 27 major countries and the 12th least unequal of 174 countries. It is also notable that the Credit Suisse report finds that Australia has the second highest average level of wealth in the world and the highest median wealth. The ABS survey – used by Credit Suisse – also presents two ways of looking at the distribution of wealth: first, by ranking households simply by the amount of wealth they have; second, by ranking households by how much incom e they have. When the ABS ranks households by their incomes, the 20% with the lowest incomes have an average net worth of around $437,000, while the 20% with the highest incomes have about $1.3 million in net worth. This means that the poorest one-fifth of households, measured by income, hold 12% of net wealth, while the richest  one-fifth hold 36%, a ratio of about 3 to 1. These figures suggest that wealth is actually more equally distributed than income when the joint distribution of income and wealth is used which is a more comprehensive measure of total household resources. These two approaches yield remarkably different pictures of wealth distribution. This reflects the fact that people accumulate wealth over the course of their life. Young people starting off in their first job generally don’t have much in the way of wealth, but as they grow older they will purchase homes – which have been the great wealth â€Å"equaliser† in Australia – and accumulate superannuation and other savings. As a result, older people have much higher average wealth than younger people, but older people generally have lower incomes than younger people. So, why did we think that income was equally shared in Australia if it wasn’t? The answer is that most of the earlier studies were based on a limited income measure: usually wages before tax and usually full-time wagesfor men. In the past, Australia’s wage-fixing system compressed the wage distribution. As late as 1999, Australia had the highest minimum wage relative to the median in the OECD. If you are a full-time employed male wage earner in Australia, then you have a lower level of income inequality than in Denmark, otherwise one of the lowest inequality countries. The most important source of inequality in Australia is whether you have a job or not. So the pillars of egalitarianism in Australia were high wages, high home ownership and low unemployment. If we want to regain this position, we need to ensure that unemployment remains low and that low-income earners are able to buy into affordable housing. References 1. Jump up^ Australian Government. Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999. Retrieved 2013-09-26. 2. Jump up^ Employers compete to be first choice for women. Employer of Choice for Women (EOCFW). The Workplace Gender Equality Agency. 13 Mar 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2013. 2. ^Changes to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act reflect a shift in focus. |http://www.dibbsbarker.com/publication/Changes_to_the_Equal_Opportunity_for_Women_in_the_Workplace_Act_reflect_a_shift_in_focus.aspx DibbsBarker. 13 February 2013. 1. Jump up^ Department of Commerce. Frequently asked questions about pay equity. Retrieved on May 06, 2011. 2. ^ Jump up to:a b National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling. The impact of a sustained gender wage gap on the economy. Report to the Office for Women, Department of Families, Community Services, Housing and Indigenous Affairs, 2009, p. v-vi. 3. Jump up^ Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency. 6302.0 Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, May 2013. Australian Government, 2013. 4. Jump up^ Catalyst Australia, Equality Speaks Chapter 10, 2009 5. Jump up^ Watson, Ian (2010). Decomposing the Gender Pay Gap in the Australian Managerial Labour Market. Australian Journal of Labour Economics, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 49-79. 6. Jump up^ Miller, Paul W. (2005). The Role of Gender among Low-Paid and High-Paid Workers.Australian Economic Review, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 405-417, quote p. 413-414. 7. Jump up^ Kee, Hiao Joo (2006). Glass Ceiling or Sticky Floor? Expl oring the Australian Gender Pay Gap. The Economic Record, Vol. 82, No. 259, pp. 408-427. 8. Jump up^ Toohey, Tim, David Colosimo Andrew Boak (2009). Australia’s Hidden Resource: The Economic Case for Increasing Female Participation. Melbourne: Goldman Sachs JBWere Investment Research, p. 3. 9. Jump up^ Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Student 2009 Full Year: Selected Higher Education Statistics. 10. Jump up^ Australian Bureau of Statistics, Average Weekly Earnings. Catalogue 6302.0, Time Series Tables 10A 10D. 11. Jump up^ Equal Pay Case 1969 (1969) Volume 127 Commonwealth Arbitration Reports p. 1142. 12. Jump up^ Brenda Finlayson. Equal Pay – We’ve Come A long Way. Workers Online, Issue No 17, 11 June 1999. 13. Jump up^ C100 Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951. 14. Jump up^ NSW Industrial Relations. A history of pay equity. 15. Jump up^ Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency. Overview of the Act. 16. Jump up^ Parliament of Australia, House of Representatives. Inquiry into pay equity and associated issues related to increasing female participation in the workforce. 17. Jump up^ Australian Bureau of Statistics. Labour Force. 6202.0, Table 8, November 2010 (trend data) 18. Jump up^ Department of Commerce. Frequently asked questions about pay equity. 19. Jump up^ Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency. The Pay Equity Audit Tool.

Ceramic Materials In Cutting Tools

Ceramic Materials In Cutting Tools Traditional cutting tools are mostly made of steels and irons, however, ceramic cutting tools are developed quickly these years. Ceramic cutting tools have a lot of advantages over other cutting tools in certain areas. Ceramics possess a lot of required properties for cutting tools such as high strength and good thermal conductivity. The development of ceramic cutting tools has once been hindered by the high cost and difficulty in manufacturing ceramics. Thanks to the improvement of materials engineering and the advent of composites, both the cost and the difficulty of manufacture have been resolved. The market share of ceramic tools has increased in recent years, which indicates that the ceramic cutting tools are well along in development. With a comparison and evaluation of many processing routes, die pressing and sintering are chosen as the most convenient and appropriate way for the manufacture of ceramic cutting tools. There are a lot of potential ceramic materials can be used in cutting tools and most of them are alumina or silica based. Composites have also attracted much attention with a relatively low cost and high performance. Cutting tools Cutting tools are designed to separate materials. They can be divided into different categories, each of which has its own characteristics and requirements for the materials used. The mostly used materials for cutting tools are steel and iron. However, with the development of materials science and engineering, ceramic cutting tools are playing a more and more important role. Ceramics are usually very hard, heat resistant and have little reactivity with steels, which are properties vital for cutting tools. Hence they can be used at high cutting speed without deformation and dissolution.[1] However, ceramics have their own drawbacks that they lack toughness and are sensitive to mechanical or thermal shock, which has limited the use of ceramic materials in cutting area. Humans have used ceramic cutting tools for more than 100 years. [2] The cutting objects vary from very soft substances (butter) to extreme hard things (steels). In the early days, the major composition of these ceramic tools was alumina. However, the toughness of alumina material then was low and softened by glassy phases, which were the reasons why their applications were limited. [1] With the effort of scientists, materials science and technology has dramatically developed so that the properties of ceramics have been greatly improved. They become harder by improving the purity, less brittle with some additives and tougher with reinforcements. [1] The first ceramic material used in cutting tools was Alumina. [1] A variety of other ceramics have also been produced to be specifically used in cutting tools manufacture. There are three categories available, namely pure oxide ceramics, mixed oxide plus carbide or nitride and silicon nitride based material. [2] Whisker reinforced ceramic materials, with high toughness and hardness at high temperature, has pushed forwarded the development of ceramic cutting tools. Figure 2.1 Cermet indexable milling tools [1] There are a lot of aspects that should be considered when the materials are chosen. The following three aspects were taken into consideration in the design of the tool material. [2] Firstly, the surface layer should possess the highest heat conductivity that is favourable for dissipation of cutting heat. Secondly, the thermal expansion coefficient of the surface layer should be the lowest of all the layers of the materials so as to form residual compressive stresses in the surface layers in the fabricating processing, which may partially counteract the stresses resulting from external loading. Finally, the value of maximum Von Mises stress should be the lowest in order to guarantee the structural integrity of the compact. [2] The properties of the ceramic are not the only factor involved in the material choice, the economic factor has also played an important role in the consideration of the material. [1] One of the main focuses in ceramic industry is how to cut the prime cost and the future developments most important direction must be cost reduction. New kind of raw materials and methods are needed to attain this goal. In the future, with the development of material science and technology, more methods will be used in improving ceramics. The perfection of coating technology and the progresses in composites will promote the usage of ceramics in cutting industry. CMCs (ceramic matrix composites) are considered to be one of the most popular materials used for cutting tools in the future. Current market situation There are three main cutting tools markets. Solid tools and indexable inserts; milling, turning and drilling tools are investigated to show the trend of current market of cutting tools. Grades include carbide, ceramic, cermet, CBN/PCBN, diamond and steel. Products are analyzed by country and end-use markets.[3] The consumer markets are specifically broken down by each of the following geographic regions: [3] à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ China à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ United States à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Germany à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Japan à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Korea à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Italy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ France à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Taiwan à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ United Kingdom à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Brazil à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Other EU à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Other NAFTA à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Other Europe à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Other Asia/Pacific à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Other Latin America à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Rest of World The geographic regions from top to bottom represent the biggest markets for cutting tools. The United States Cutting Tool Institute which was formed when the Metal Cutting Industry and Cutting Tool Manufactures Association merged is now said to represent 80% of the domestic cutting tool market.[4] Great strides continue to be made in the cutting tool market that result in reduced bench time and additional handwork, as well as heavier depths of cutting which leads to increased productivity and higher accuracy. Over the past ten years the cutting tools market has increased dramatically. The tools have taken on very specific roles depending on the application. Now there are specific carbide grades, coatings and geometries to match the customers needs. The market is predicted to expand and grown and achieve new heights. [4] The majority of end users in industry of cutting tools are listed below: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Aerospace à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Automotive à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Chemical Processing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Communications à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Construction à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Defense/Military à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Electronic à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ General Machining à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Medical/Research à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Oil Gas à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Paper Pulp Industry à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Power Generation Global market for cutting has been captured by the metal cutting tools for a long time. However, some special properties make the advanced ceramics tend to be more inexpensive, longer life, larger range of application, which become a competitive advantage for manufacturers.[4] Therefore ceramic cutting tools are expected to recapture the cutting market. The competition among manufacturers is expected to remain intense, which forces the manufactuers to work harder to get a smaller market share. The three largest competitors focus on carbide-tipped tools and carbide inserts worldwide. Current materials used There are four main ceramic compositions used in the cutting tool industry have been outlined below, the most important aspects of each material have been highlighted. [5] Sialons A sialon is a class of ceramic based on silicon nitride. The ceramic is composed of four different ceramic powders; silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3) and silicon nitride (Si3N4). The fourth component is either yittria (Y2O3) or magnesium oxide (MgO). The yittria is used to aid in the sintering process to increase efficiency of the process. [5] Sialons have very low coefficient of thermal expansion meaning that they are good in situations of thermal shock. Sialons are retain their hardness at temperatures of 800ÃÅ'Ã…   C to 1000ÃÅ'Ã…   C which enables them to be very effective when machining heat resisting alloys. They are also effective when machining hardened die steels and cast irons at high speed. [6] Aluminium oxide-based ceramics These ceramics are composed as their name suggests but are commonly found with small additions of zirconia (2-5%).the additional zirconia is added to increase fracture toughness. Al2O3 based ceramics show an increase in mechanical properties above 800ÃÅ'Ã…  C. Below this temperature the hard metals posses a greater strength than the ceramics. The hardness of the ceramic can be increased further by 30-40% with the additions of titanium carbide or titanium nitride. These harder ceramics are generally used for finishing and harder metals. Another common addition to the (Al2O3 + ZrO2) base are silicon carbide (SiC) whiskers at around 25%. The whiskers act as reinforcements to the structure and increase the toughness. This enables the ceramic to be used for cutting nickel based super alloys at high speed. [5] Silicon Nitride The ceramic has a density of around 3.2g/cm3 and the grain size is approximately 2-3 micrometres. Silicon nitride boasts good wear resistance and cutting edge strength as well as high resistance to thermal shock. Si3N4 is generally used in the field of providing a roughing grade for turning and milling cast iron. The bad solution wear properties of silicon nitride restrict the ceramic from being used as a cutting tool for machining steels. The high resistance to thermal shock means the ceramic can be used with and without the use of coolants. Money can be saved on cooling equipment in such a controlled manner. [5] Cubic Boron Nitride Cubic boron nitride is a synthetic compound, in its natural state it has a soft hexagonal crystal structure. Ton achieve a cubic structure it is heated to 1400ÃÅ'Ã…  C in 60kbar of pressure. This has a great effect on the hardness of structure, (Around 4000VDH) this is similar to diamonds hardness. [6] Carbon boron nitride is a polycrystalline and is used in applications where hard metals become limited by the cutting speeds employed. Examples are; high speed steels, tool steels, case hardened steels, chilled cast iron and satellite. Carbon boron nitrides hardness is second only to diamonds, for this reason carbon boron nitride offers great wear resistance and the ceramic will not need to be replaced on cutting tools as much as others. Harder metals are also possible to machine with more efficiency, however carbon boron nitride offers no advantage when machining softer materials. [5] Composites The properties of ceramics are dramatically improved by using some sizes, such as TiC, Co and WC, as dispersed phase, named composite ceramics. The type composite ceramics is the Si3N4 composite ceramics, which hardness, bending strength and toughness is higher than the simple Si3N4-based ceramics. It also has a better thermal impact resistance. Because of its special properties, it is widely used in machining cold hardened cast iron roller, and it can finish the work of coarse and precise machining of roughcast, for overcoming the low machining hardening of steel parts used in the mining facilities. Its disadvantage is poor abrasion machining. [6] Coating material Coating technology plays a very important role during the cutting tool manufacture. It is used to produce the perfect cutting tools which have both hard surface as well as high toughness. With the development in the last 10 years, this technology has made materials with high-speed cutting, hard cutting and dry machining possible. Cutter coating can be divided into four kinds. They are chemical vapor deposition (CVD), Low-temperature chemical vapor deposition (PCVD), Middle temperature chemical vapor deposition and PVD. However, cutting tools are expected to be coated differently to meet the demands for comprehensive mechanical properties. Therefore more attention should be paid to make coating thinner and coating temperature lower. [6] The future materials The future of ceramic cutting tools is dependent on the development of super hard coatings for the cutting tools. A new coating for a ceramic cutting tool is a titanium aluminum nitride coating. The coating helps to control the temperature of the cutting tool when it is used at high speeds. This allows for quicker cutting and therefore a more efficient process. [6] The coating also adds to the lifespan of the tool, in some cases it can make the tool last several times longer. It is important to note that the addition of the coating also adds 10% to the cost of the tool although this is immediately recovered by lasting much longer. [7] Possible processing route Most of the ceramics are processed by shaping and sintering. The shaped ceramics are called green body. The shaping process of ceramics is crucial as it can influence the properties of the sintered products such as porosity. Nowadays, the main methods of forming ceramic green bodies include die pressing, slip casting, pressure casting, and injection molding. Shaping All the methods above start with a suspension where the ceramic particles are mixed with a liquid or a polymer melt, proper dispersant, and possibly further additives such as binders, plasticizers, and antifoaming agents so that a well-dispered, nonagglomerated ceramic slurry can be made. Die pressing can be divided to many different pressing route such as dry pressing, cold isostatic pressing and hot isostatic pressing. Green bodies are manufactured by pouring powders into the die and these granules are formed under certain pressure. [8]The method of dry pressing is almost as the same as the cold isostatic pressing. The two methods are widely used in the industrial production of ceramic materials, accounting for their productivity ,and the development of cold isostatic pressing makes green bodies of higher density possible. Slip casting and pressure casting are included in the drain casting techniques, which invovle a solid-liquid separation process to form a dense green body. [8] The driven force of flow liquid in the two castings is an external pressure gradient. [8] Slip casting is a low-pressure filtration of which the driving force provided for the green bodies forming is the capillary suction.[9] slip casting is slow compared with die pressing but complex figure can be obtain. Pressure casting is usually used to fabricate the traditional clay-based ceramic materials, such as pottery and sanitary porcelain. [9] Pressure filtration is an improved method of slip casting, the casting rate is raised and the green bodies have a higher density. [9] Both die pressing and casting are plagued by some genetic problems. The liquid flow of the suspension is required and the stress gradient may also lead to nonuniform densities of the green body which lead to the pockety mass.[9] Injection molding is an excellent method to form smaller objects. The mixture of powders and binder are intruded to the mould and form green bodies. [9] However, the removal of the binder which can be burned at relative low temperature has been a problem. Crack and imperfections will be introduced during this procedure. [8] There is also a technique called solid freeform fabrication(SFF) by which we can form a ceramic green body without using a mould. All the process is controlled by computer using 3D CAD designed before the process.[10] This method have been used to form complex figures, however, the surface finish is poor. [9] This method has not been widely used for its immature technology. Sintering After shaping, the density of a green body is usually about 50% of its theoretic density. Full densification can be achieved by sintering at temperature up to 1800 °C.[11] During this process, individual powder particles can get enough energy to bond together realize the transformation from the porosity present to the compaction stages. Composites processing Composites are consisted of two parts: the matrix phase and the reinforcing phase. Generally, the combination of the two parts is achieved through a melding event. After the melding event, the part shape is set. According to the melding event, the methods of composites preparation can be classified into four main methods ¼Ã… ¡vacuum bag moulding, pressure bag moulding, autoclave moulding and resin transfer moulding (RTM).[12] Besides, there are some other types of moulding that include press moulding, pultrusion moulding, filament winding and so on. [12] Composites can also be devided into metal matrix composites(MMC) and ceramic matrix composites(CMC) based on the matrix materials. According to the temperatrue of metallic matrix during processing, the processes of MMC can be classified into five categories: [14] 1).liquid-phase processes, 2).solid-liquid processes, 3).two-phase (solid-liquid) processes, 4.) deposition techniques 5) In situ processes. The selection of materials and processing route Then dry processing has much influence on the green microstructure and production rate. We must treat this opreation to avoid the problem of cracking and warping. The desired result in ceramic part production is fast drying, but fast drying causes cracking. It has been studied that decreased drying rates results in the increasing green densities. The size of power also affects ceramics sintering properties. These days, nonasized powder attracts much attention, because of its special properties (mechanical, optical, magnetic and electrical). The compacts of nanosized powder can be sintered at significantly reduced temperatures, thereby lowing the firing cost.[10] And it is possible to get high density ceramic body in the formation of nanosized particles.[11] From the ceramics already discussed the best ceramic to use for this product would be the Aluminium oxide-based ceramic. It is already widely used in the industry so there is no need for testing to make sure it works. When cutting the cutting tools increase in heat rapidly, sometimes this has an effect however with Al2O3 their mechanical properties get better the hotter they get. The ceramics hardness will also be increased further with addition of silicon carbide whiskers. These whiskers add reinforcement to the structure and increase it toughness. Therefore the cutting tool can be used at higher speeds. Not only will our ceramic have added strength from the whiskers but with have a tough outer shell from a coating of TiAlN. This coating has a high bond strength, high hardness, abrasion resistance and high cutting speed.[8] From all of the possible processing routes in the industry, it has been decided that Dry Pressing would be the route which is most beneficial to the company. Dry Pressings most appealing feature is the productivity factor. Its fast productivity means that the product quantities are increased therefore meaning that costs will be reduced. Ben Franklin one said Time is money, he was right. Reducing production times reduces the amount of time staff needs to work, it reduces the amount of time that machines have to be on, and therefore it reduces the costs of production. Dry Pressing is conducted with granulated or spray-died powder containing 0 to 4% moisture which is where Dry Pressing gets its name from.[1] There are some disadvantages of using this process but the many disadvantages overrule this fact. One of these disadvantages is that high pressures are used in the process, but then again these high pressures are not as high as the ones used in pressure casting. Dry pressing can only gain good results if all the steps prior of the forming or pressing is kept under careful control. The product once leaved the die cavity is in a plastic condition and if not handled carefully, may deform. With dry pressing there is no limit to the compositions which can be used because the plasticity of the body is not relied on to aid the forming. Under normal conditions and supervision it is possible to produce ceramics to very good tolerances. In special cases with very close controls tolerances can be kept which are considerably better than usual. Slip casting is in need of too much careful control to be able to mass produce at a beneficial production rate, especially with the long time it takes to cast articles on the mould. Pressure casting is pretty much the same as slip casting but with added pressure to speed up the casting time. This added pressure is not justified because it is too expensive and does not take enough time off the process. Injection Molding has a few defects, which can occur to the product. There can be an incomplete fill within the mould, knit lines, and microcracking, which will all, have a visual defect on the finished body. Concluding, the dry press process has the least amount of possible defects to occur in comparison to other process routes. It is the quickest route with great productivity and can offer very high tolerances. These are the main reason for our choice of dry pressing process route. 7. Reasoned argument for RAC The ceramic that has been selected to be taken forward is Al2O3 + (2%Zr) + (20%SiC whiskers), there is no issue in using this composition legally. However the methods of using the cutting tool must be reviewed as such patent 4,879,277 which claims . In a method of cutting metal wherein a cutting tool is brought into contact with a metal workpiece and the cutting tool and metal workpiece move relative to each other whereby metal is removed by the cutting tool from the metal workpiece, the improvement comprising using a sintered composite cutting tool having a matrix consisting essentially of alumina and 2-40 volume percent silicon carbide whiskers distributed therethrough. [14] A work around the patent would have to be implemented if the material is to be used in such a way. A variation in whisker content or physical machining could help to deviate from the patents claims. RAC could create a competitive edge for themselves by proceeding with this option as it will help them to differentiate themselves to most of their competitors. The material selected is a very cutting edge material with extremely high levels of performance. Many of the competitor businesses would not have adopted this material and may continue to use a lesser and cheaper material such as unreinforced aluminium oxide based ceramics. RAC will be able to offer a faster and more efficient cutting solution to their clients. The superior technology is likely to attract new customers to the business leading to a larger market share. The harder cut edge and faster cutting speed will lead to a greater cutting quality also, the tools will be able to be smaller in size and so more precise machining is possible. The business will be able to supply their service to a wider range of clients requiring different finishing qualities. From the market analysis carried out previously it is clear that the cutting tool industry is a blooming one. It is encouraging that the market has grown so dramatically over the last ten years and that there is an increased demand for new cutting tool technologies. The need for faster and more accurate methods will remain the same as the products on the market continue to develop in complexity. To conclude the ceramic and manufacture process put forward can be projected to be a positive step for RAC after considering the factors involved. The only problem to resolve before proceeding with the decision is the patent on the ceramic and its method. Once this is resolved the decision to proceed is an easy one and should lead to business success.

Parable Of The Prodigal Son Analysis Religion Essay

Parable Of The Prodigal Son Analysis Religion Essay In the Bible, one can find many different ways in which the text of the Bible demonstrates basic principles and standards through stories, poetry, narratives, prophecy, and apocalyptic literature. The most common in the Gospels, of the teachings of Jesus Christ, is the parable. What is a parable? A parable is a fictitious story designed to teach a lesson through comparison or contrast. For this paper, we will examine the Parable of the Prodigal Son, found in the fifteenth chapter of Luke. In this paper, we will explore the theme of the theme the chapter in which the Parable of the Prodigal son is found, as well as the parables interpretation, and practical applications. The Parable of the Prodigal Son taught by Jesus was proclaimed to teach forgiveness. However, before we can further examine its theme, a historical and literary analysis of the Gospel of Luke must be conducted to enhance the readers approach to how one comprehends this books message. The dating of the third Gospel is important in grasping the historicity of it. While the exact year of authorship is not known, many scholars believe it was written between 60-85 A.D. One may also note that the third Gospel does not directly identify its author. (Roberts). We are left to examine the internal and external evidence in order to draw the most plausible conclusion. The piece of evidence, which drives some to Lukes authorship of the third gospel, is that the author presents himself as Pauls companion and is pointed out in Pauls writings in Philemon 24 and Colossians 4:14 as one of Pauls traveling companions. While the dating and authorship of the third gospel have been established, the context for the parable of the prodigal son and the elder brother in Luke 15:11-32 in Jesus ministry seems à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦to be a story designed by Jesus to put in perspectiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦what God was doing as he consorted with sinners. (Nolland). By the time the reader arrives at the fifteenth chapter of the gospel of Luke, they have already seen Jesus experience encounters with numerous situations of confronting sinners including: the angered people in the Temple on the Sabbath day in Nazareth in Luke 4:28-29, the judgmental Pharisees watching Jesus heal the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath in Luke 6:6-11, the sinful woman with an alabaster flask of ointment in Luke 7:36-50, and a Samaritan village which rejected Jesus in Luke 9:51-56. These events, which lead up to Jesus telling the parable of the prodigal son, seemed to build up to a strategic location of order for this parable for God to spea k through the author of the importance of forgiveness. While historical background of the Gospel of Luke is important, the literary background of it is equally exigent. The passage of Luke 15:11-32 is an allegorical, realistic story, which is rich in homely detail and characterization. (Drury). If the parable is read or heard as solely anecdotal, it may be entertaining, but it does not do accomplish the goal of the speaker. While the overall purpose of this parable is mainly to offer the reader or hearer a new understanding of the situation and to lead them to make a decision, the story also forms together to break into two separate stories of one family which ties together at the end of the parable. The first focuses on the prodigal son in verses 11-24, and second on the elder brother in verses 25-32. In both parts of the story the focus is first on the son and then on the father. (Talbert). Historically and literarily viewing what is commonly known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son is imperative in journeying through an examination of this parable. Authors Interpretation of the Parable Since the purpose of this paper is to express how Jesus told the Parable of the Prodigal Son to teach forgiveness, this portion of this paper will concentrate on verses 11-32 of Luke. This section of the paper will show the detailed specification of how Jesus taught people with relevant topics in every persons life, namely forgiveness. The parables beginning is one that shows the choices of the younger son. Verses 11-13 begin this parable. Verse 11 begins the parable by stating, A certain man had two sons. (The Holy Bible, KJV/AMP). This verse gives the reader the facts of the people involved in this story. There was a certain man, and this man had to have two sons. After the reader is introduced to the basic facts of the story, verses 12-13 show the choices of the younger son. The key portion of verses 12-13 is shown in the latter portion of verse 13 where the text states, there wasted his substance with riotous living The word riotous shows the sinful act of the younger son. This portion must be where the younger son first sinned in the story due to his ignoring that his father had a moral claim on his property, that his father, so long as he lived, had a right to call, in case of necessity, upon the sons labour and his savings. (Derret). Verses 14-16 shows the dilemma of the younger son. Verse 14 expresses the difficult dilemma the youngest son finds himself in is two-fold: he squandered the money, and a famine ensued. This famine is no ordinary famine. The famine is a severe famine. (The Holy Bible, NIV). As a result, the younger son is forced to feed pigs in verse 15. Because the feeding of pigs was highly frowned upon in the Jewish culture as is shown in Leviticus 11:7 and Deuteronomy 14:8, this act continues to lead the son further away from the father The next verse, verse 16, shows a true act of desperation and shows how quickly the younger son came to the realization that pigs were eating better than he did. Verses 17-19 express the younger son coming to his senses as to what is truly wise for his life not only for food, but also for seeking forgiveness and mending a relationship he had previously injured. Although he made a major mistake in his life, he finally came to the point of realization that he was wrong, and he must go to his father to seek forgiveness. Verses 18 and 19 represent what the younger son says he will say when he seeks his fathers forgiveness. Verse 19 shows where the prodigal son feels he has burnt his bridges, and he is literally no longer worthy to be called his fathers son.15 He is so humbled at this point that he asks for the opportunity to even be a hired servant. Verse 20 represents a reunion between a father and son who, despite conflict in their relationship, sought reconciliation beginning in this verse. The father was so excited about the return of his son that he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. (The Message). This action by the father was contrary to all custom; in the near East, a mature man loses all dignity when he runs. (Schweizer). This greeting from the father running to the younger son was one of warmth and forgiveness. Verse 21 contains the deliverance of the rehearsed speech from verses 18 and 19. The younger son finally asked for forgiveness after so much time of disobedience. The father did not interrupt the son to cause him to fail conclude the previously rehearsed speech of forgiveness. Not only was a kiss on the cheek a sign of forgiveness, but also a sign of reconciliation. As this action from the father represented the forgiveness and reconciliation, the robe represented a sign of honor, the ring represented a sign of authority, the shoes a sign of a free man, and the feast a sign of joy. Verses 27-30 show the older brother with an opposite response than the father pertaining to the return of his brother. Instead of excitement, he was bitter and jealous. During this bitterness the older brother was just as sinful as his younger brother who sinned in other ways. Verses 31-32 conclude the parable of Luke 15:11-32 and marks the response by the father to the elder brother. The father reminds his eldest son all that I have is thine, signifying that all that is left is his to inherit. (The Holy Bible, KJV/AMP) Nevertheless, he also reminds him about his brother, who was thought dead, has returned alive to them. I believe Jesus included this parable in his ministry to remind the people that God, the Father, like the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, is willing to allow his children to venture off and explore the world. When his children make a mess out of their situation and are not worthy to come back Him, God stands waiting and watching for his children to return. And when they do, He is there to embrace them with open arms, clothe them with honor, and celebrate their return. Practical Application of the Parable The Parable of the Prodigal son is a story that expresses the reality of giving into temptation, the jealousy that comes as a result of sibling rivalry, the forgiveness of a loving father. The reality of giving into temptation is one that occurs by all people as all have sinned and fallen short of God glory. This story began with the younger son giving into temptation in verse twelve by saying, Father, give me the part of the estate that lays upon me. As Enron employees saw an easy opening of temptation cross their paths, they, too gave into temptation, and faced consequences for that. Although the parable of the prodigal son is a story which was told over 2,000 years ago, it still teaches the same lesson in the twenty-first century which was intended back then. Not only does the parable of the prodigal son and the elder brother teach the reality of giving into temptation, but it also teaches the reality of being jealous because of sibling rivalry. The jealousy the elder brother showed in verses 29 and 30 of Luke chapter 15 was apparent when the elder brother said to his father, I have been serving you for so many years and I have never passed by a command of yoursà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but when this son of yours cameà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦you sacrificed the fattened calf for him. These verses are similar to any sibling rivalry of children growing up and the situation occurs where one child receives more attention, a nicer Christmas present, or is just simply not favored as much as their sibling. This is present to different extents in many siblings relationships. As this was true in this parable, it is also true today. The parable of the prodigal son and the elder brother concludes by the father teaching the elder brother through his fatherly wisdom that its important to look past the previous mistakes of his younger brother and to celebrate the repentance and return of a fellow family member. Just like then, the Parable of the Prodigal Son illustrates the forgiveness of the Father in Heaven. When his children slip and fall from the grace of God, God does not turn his back on his children and forget about them. Instead, God is always waiting for us to return. Moreover, when we do return, He will welcome us into his arms and place us back at the table where we belong. Reflective Conclusion By doing this assignment,

Symbolism in A Good Man is Hard to Find and Araby Essay -- Flannery O

Symbolism In the short story, â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find†, by Flannery O'Connor, every object including the characters are symbols. The Grandmother for example is the one and only dynamic character, represents all of us who have had to feel grief or needed to ask for forgiveness. As Flannery O'Connor has suggested, the story is a spiritual journey because of the Grandmother's quandaries. In the beginning of the story the Grandmother is obsessed with everything worldly and superficial. She cares only about how others perceive her, â€Å"Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet. In case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady† (O'Conner 413). She gets dressed up for a car trip so that, on the random chance that they would be in a car accident and that in that wreck she would be thrown from the car and laying on the pavement, she would be happy because the people passing by would think that she is a lady. This represents us as humans because daily we choose to be way too self-conscience. We care what people think whether we admit it or not. The first thing that comes to mind is me and my make-up. Make-up is a perfect example of us women caring a great deal about what others think of us. She is also very selfish in her activities. Instead of caring about what is best for the family, she wants to go to Tennessee because she has friends there whom she would like to see. There are three stages of thought for the Grandmother. During the first stage, which is in the beginning, she is completely focused on herself in relation to how others think of her. The second stage occurs wh... ...hat in just reading it the first time I looked right past. It wasn’t until my dad made me actually read some parts out loud that I understood. Even in these short stories, there is so much meaning packed into them. It shows how intelligent these writers actually are. In the beginning I didn’t care too much for this quirky little love story â€Å"Araby† yet after analyzing it, it has become one of my favorites and has inspired me to go back and re-read a few of the stories in this book that I may have just brushed past. Symbolic representation has become very interesting to me and both of these stories among many others are filled with it. Works Cited O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." 1955. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. 4th ed. Ed. Robert DiYanni. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998. Joyce, James. â€Å"Araby†. Kirszner and Mandell.

Conquering Nature Essay -- Nature Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Conquering Nature "What we call Man's power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument." (The Abolition of Man, 420) Imagine, if you will, a basketball game in which two teams are in the midst of an intense game. Just because your team knows what it is the other team is doing and the workings of all their plays does not mean you know how to stop them, let alone that you are winning. It is the same with Nature. Just because we know how things work and are able to manipulate certain parts of it for our advantage does not even begin to imply that we have the capability of possessing it, of 'conquering' it. I don't even think we even want to pretend to have conquered it. You see, there is a stark difference between progress and possession. For if Nature is truly at our beckon call, then the latest hurricane or tornado that stole thousands of human lives and destroyed acres upon acres of natural reserves was actually within our control to stop--those disasters were then humanity's own fault. Unless we are r...