Butlers Chocolate Company Essay Example

Butlers Chocolate Company Paper Butlers Chocolates was established in 1932 by Mrs Bailey Butler. In 1959 the company was purchased and has been owned by Mr. Seamus Sorensen since that time. The Butlers Irish Chocolates brand was born in 1984. It was named in memory of Ms Marion Bailey Butler. Butlers Chocolates is located is Clonshaugh, Dublin 17 since 2003. It is a private manufacturing limited company. The company is the leading luxury chocolate producer in Ireland and operates from a custom built production facility in North Dublin. The starting point was, when in 1932, Mrs. Bailey-Butler began to produce a range of handmade chocolates from her house in Dublins Fitzwilliam Square. The company produces a wide range of delicious confectionery products including chocolate assortments such as truffles, fudge, toffee, chocolate bars and seasonal novelties. In November 1998 the first Butlers Chocolate Cafe opened its doors on Wicklow St, Dublin. Since then, thousands of customers have visited the shops. In addition to a relaxing cafe ambience, Butlers Chocolate Cafes also offer a top quality retail outlet. This unique combination is now very successful. It is a unique concept that has become hugely popular with tourists and locals alike. Butlers have also introduced many other innovations including: We will write a custom essay sample on Butlers Chocolate Company specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Butlers Chocolate Company specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Butlers Chocolate Company specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer * mail order gifts * internet marketing * club membership * discount schemes. Nowadays Butlers Chocolate Cafe has a big market. In 1998 due to new website www.butlerschocolates.com went live, fourteen Butlers Chocolate Cafes have opened, including 2 franchises in New Zealand. Retail shops have already opened up all over Ireland. The company has created a very successful concept Butlers Chocolate Cafes of which there are now 8. There is a flagship cafe at Dublin Airport and another one at Dundrum Town Centre. The most recent cafe opening has been in Oliver Plunkett Street in Cork last December. Butlers have also expanded into the U.K market and their chocolates are now widely available in most major airports throughout the UK and at Waitrose stores. From 2006 to the present day Butlers have developed new products, launching their first organic chocolate range, dark chocolate selection, 200g Chocolate cube range, Butlers Chocolate Cafe ice cream as well as Take Home Ice Cream amongst others. Also in collaboration, Butlers Chocolates launched a range of chocolates with Irish Fashion designer, Orla Kiely.1 The Cafes are a unique concept and offer the consumer the ultimate chocolate treat. This treat is delivered by way of chocolate drinks, chocolate cakes and pastries and hot beverages, including the award winning Butlers Hot Chocolate. Their Hot chocolate Sauce has won a gold medal at the London Great Taste Awards. The company has won a number of awards in recent years including the Bord Bia Brand Marketing Award and the Crest Retail Excellence Award for Butlers Chocolate Cafe, Henry Street. What make Butlers chocolates so different is the combination of the finest chocolate with fresh Irish cream, butter, eggs and secret recipes. Butlers Irish Handmade Chocolates are still located in Dublin and Mrs. Bailey-Butlers original recipes and techniques have been handed down to the present generation. They have stood the test of time, winning many top awards, in Ireland and abroad. The Irish Chocolate Company supplies three distinct markets. First one is an international duty free market which was opened in Irelands main airports such as Dublin, Shannon and Cork. In addition, duty free outlets were sourced on the ferry routes between Ireland and the UK. Also the company produces a range of gifts that have been proven very successful in international market including England, US, Russia and Dubai. It has gained a significant foothold over the last four years in the domestic market as well. The company has strived to choose stores that are match with the Butlers brand, looking for prestige, exclusivity and luxury.

Five Pillars of Islam Essays

Five Pillars of Islam Essays Five Pillars of Islam Essay Five Pillars of Islam Essay Checkpoint: The Five Pillars of Islam What are the central beliefs of Islam, and how are they reflected in the Five Pillars† (McInerney, 2003)? Which of the Five Pillars do you feel would be easiest to fulfill, and which would be the most challenging (McInerney, 2003)? A central belief of Islam is monotheism. This is a belief of only one God, Allah. The believer’s purpose is to serve Allah and live a moral life by following the Five Pillars. Muslims are obligated to follow these Five Pillars in the Qur’an, the holy book to all Muslims. The Five Pillars are faith, prayer, Zakat, the fast, and hajj. All of these Pillars show devotion to Allah. The first of the pillar of Islam is faith or Shahadah. The believer must profess God is the only god and Muhammad is His messenger. Muhammad is not a god but a messenger of God for guidance. The Qur’an requires believers tell others of Islam in order for them to make an intelligent choice. The second pillar is prayer. The believer recites a series of prayers and passages from the Qur’an while kneeling and bowing five times a day while facing Mecca. : When the prayers are recited by a congregation, all stands and bow shoulder to shoulder, without any class distinction. During the prayer, the kneeling and bowing shows submission to Allah. Repeating the prayers is believed to strengthen one’s belief in God’s existence and carry this belief deep into one’s heart and all aspect of external life. Prayer is also used to purify ones heart, develop the mind and conscience, stop evil in a person, and awakening higher aspiration and morality (Fisher, 2005). Zakat, spiritual tithing is the third pillar. At the end of the year the believer donates two and half percent of all their income to the less fortunate. This is done for purification and growth. The belief is to help decrease the inequalities in wealth and prevention of personal greed. Charity is a necessity for Muslims. The fourth pillar is fasting. Although frequent fast are recommended the only fast required is during Ramadan. This is to honor the first revelation of the Qur’an to Muhammad. The believer must abstain from sexual relations, drink, food, and smoking from dusk to dawn during the entire month of Ramadan. Muslim’s lunar calendar is 354 days so Ramadan moves through all seasons. Muslims believe fasting purges the body of impurities and provides clarity and a light body to move and act. It teaches one not to allow anything to enter the mind and heart to distract one away from God. Fasting help controls one body’s desire while mastering the lower emotions of jealousy and anger. The pilgrimage to Mecca, hajj, is the fifth pillar. All Muslims who can financially afford this trip is expected make the trip at least once in their lifetime. The series of symbolic rituals are designed for the believer to experiences a closeness with God like never before. The males dress in special garments not sewn, all looking alike. No distinction is detected. Circling of Ka’ba seven times symbolizes the continual rotation around the One by the angels of all of creation, to the seventh heaven. The pilgrim’s heart should be filled with the remembrance of Allah. The pilgrim visits the sacred field of Arafat. This site is believed to be where Adam and Eve were taught that humans were created exclusively for worshipping God (Fisher, 2005. ) Here prayer is from noon to sunset for the forgiveness of anything that has separated them from God. The central belief of Islam is, monotheism, prayer, tithing, charity, fasting, and visiting Mecca, echoed in the Five Pillars of Islam. Although I am not of the Islam faith, the easiest pillar to follow is Zakat. Charity and tithing is a part of my life. I believe in it with all of my heart. It helps me to stay grounded, not put a high level of importance on materialistic objects, and level headed. I also believe God would approve. God does not want His children to be greedy. God want us to help others. I do believe in one God. However, I don’t believe Muhammad should have all the emphasis shown, a self proclaim messenger. I believe in only one God. Therefore I believe the first pillar would be the hardest. Fisher, M. P. (2005). Living Religions (6th ed. ). Pearson Education: Prentice Hall

HR Roles and Responsibilities Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

HR Roles and Responsibilities Paper - Essay Example HRM has since been ascribed an essential role in achieving the goals of organizations. Its rise had important implications on the recognition of workers. The competencies of employees have been given more notice in recruitment and selection as well as in training and development (Van Marrewijk & Timmers, 2003). Its strategic position as a sounding board for top management and facilitator and change agent in the restructuring and transformation processes of the company is equally balanced with its role as an important partner for employees. â€Å"Thus, the HRM function positions itself in two ways: as the architect of new organizational structures and work systems, and as coach in management development processes and companion of employees in turnaround processes† (Van Marrewijk & Timmers:174) Movement from traditional personnel management towards HRM is caused by factors such as â€Å"increased level of competition, less availability of trained workforce, less committed workforce, rapidly changing technology, increased level of downsizing and restructuring of organizations† (Budhwar:143). Further, the increased importance and interest in HRM may be enhanced by the introduction of the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs), Investors in People (IIP) standards, increased pressure on training and enterprise councils (TEC) and the â€Å"welfare to work† projects. The ever-increasing functions of HRM have given birth to two practices – integration and devolvement. Brewster and Larsen (1992) define integration as â€Å"the degree to which HRM issues are considered as part of the formulation of the business strategy† and devolvement as â€Å"the degree to which HRM practices involve and give responsibility to line managers rather than personnel specialists.† (411-412). This paper will focus on the practice of devolvement. Unloading

Is the MPAA Rating System Fair Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Is the MPAA Rating System Fair - Essay Example rating system should not be ruled out, it would be appropriate to follow a fair open system rather than conforming to the outdated societal norms and beliefs. Unless and otherwise a renovation is made to the system, the whole thing seems to be of no worth to the film industry and its audience. Tracking back to the history of MPAA; in 1930, they crested the ‘Hays Code’ holding just two categories, ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’, which were later overhauled by the current 5-rating system in 1968, comprising of G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 ratings. â€Å"For almost 40 years the US film industry was governed by the Motion Picture Production Code, which banned nudity, drug use, religious ridicule, disrespect for the law and other depictions in film that would have the effect of lowering society’s moral standards.† (Fieser, 2011). The system’s ultimate goal was to defend the artistic freedom of the filmmakers, at the same time, fulfilling the parent’s need to determine the film’s appropriateness for their children. Recently, there have been claims that the MPAA is not fair and is too conservative in its ratings. It is also criticized of being arbitrary in its rating decisions, consequently affecting numerous filmmakers with its random sexually-obsessed and biased judgments. This issue is well-portrayed in This Film Is Not Yet Rated, as it exposes the reasons and rules of ratings behind the mysterious organization, its membership and its bias in rating the films. To top of that, the film also uncovers the entity’s secrecy, its specific functioning and its rules. According to the film, the board does not have any specific members or guidelines but adheres to the so-called norms of an outdated system, which has turned out to be a mess. The entire concept of MPAA seems to be absurd in many cases. Normally, the NC-17 rating is regarded to have explicit sexual content, regardless of the scale of violence portrayed. What makes the issue harsher is that

War on Drugs in Colombia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

War on Drugs in Colombia - Essay Example Colombia became the source country and the main supplier of cocaine to the world markets in the nineties. Almost 80% of the cocaine used in America came from Colombia. This illegal narcotic trade yielded billion of dollars as revenue, most of which was used to fund armed groups which were involved in drug production as well as trafficking. For the past fifty years or so, Colombia has been a very unstable country. In the 1960s it was the two Marxist guerilla outfits the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that were creating instability. In the 1970s it was drug trafficking that became a big problem for Colombia. Drug cartels almost controlled the country then. In the 1990s the right-wing paramilitaries were formed mainly consisting of drug traffickers and landowners. The main paramilitary group was the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). The conflict in Colombia began even before large-scale production of cocaine began. The conflict was clearly a result of the unequal distribution of wealth and resources and the fact that people could get away with the abuse of human rights. The guerrilla forces vilated human rights and the wealthy in turn formed paramilitary forces to protect their power. The paramilitary forces dominated the drug trade, and the guerrillas have used money from the drug trade to finance their activities. â€Å"The War on Drugs† is the name given to the action taken by the United States and the participating countries to stop the supply of drugs to the United States and also to lessen the demand for drugs among the people.

Trends And Issues In Curriculum And Instructions Education Essay

Trends And Issues In Curriculum And Instructions Education Essay The Jamaican Early Childhood Curriculum was recently crafted. The curriculum is built on the principle that children learn best when content from various disciplines along with skills from the developmental domains are in line with the childrens holistic view and experience of the world. The curriculum therefore considers learning through play, sequenced learning, individual learning, the practitioners multiple roles, and inclusion of all learners and the domains of development, the learning environment, proper assessment, the role of parents and the role of community (Davies, 2008). While the curriculum addresses various objectives that need to be met in fostering Early Childhood learning and outlines the requisite instructions, there are challenges to the implementation of the curriculum. Broadly speaking, these factors are usually internal and external. These factors reduce the effectiveness of the curriculum and weaken the chance of effective learning at the Early Childhood Level. The factors drive a mismatch between the situation that the curriculum was designed to target and the reality. This difference causes the actual learning outcome to deviate from the intended learning outcome. The curriculum is based on an assumption that the student is operating at a particular level, the students parent and environmental background offer a certain level of support, and the teacher operates at a certain level. It is fair to believe that this is normally the case. However, curriculum implementation breaks down whenever these assumptions do not hold. In my view, the internal factors may be best represented by teachers, students, school infrastructure and resources. Teachers are given the primary responsibility to implement the curriculum. A teachers creativity, capabilities and qualification enables him/her to transfer the content of the curriculum in a meaningful way that will connect with the diverse groups of learners. According to Jalongo and Isenberg (2012) a teachers knowledge of the children and the content of the curriculum will enable him/her to possess the ability to provide for the childrens strengths and weakness. The capable teacher will be able to facilitate the childs interest and to develop the knowledge, skills, values, and dispositions they will need to become productive members of the society. Jalongo and Isenberg (2012) posit that the teacher strategies and plan for learning is the thread that weaves the curriculum. They refer to this as the what of teaching, and the how of teaching. Its therefore, imperative that teachers plan for the students learning in order to cater for the diverse learning styles in their classroom. The methodologies that the teacher employs should fit the students ability to gain knowledge and develop the necessary skills. Also, the teacher should be competent and acquire keen insights on the capabilities that children possess in order to cater for holistic development. If this is not achieved, then the implementation of the curriculum would have failed. A key ingredient for the successful implementation of any curriculum is a keen understanding of the learner. Jalongo and Isenberg (2012) posit that a curriculum should focus on what a child knows and can do and what a child should know and can do. Hence the content of the curriculum should take into account the needs, interest, age and stage of development and the social and cultural context of the child. The child as the learner possesses the ultimate success of the curriculum. This takes into account the abilities, skills, background knowledge and exposure /experience that the child acquires before entering the learning environment. According to Puckett and Diffily (2004) being aware of the differences in childrens development, strengths and challenges will allow curriculum planners and teachers to plan effectively in order to meet each childs developmental needs. Jalongo and Isenberg (2012) stated that a curriculum should consider the following; Child development and learning, Chi ld needs, abilities and interest as well as their socio cultural context in which they live. I strongly believe that these factors will enable the teachers to perform effectively within the teaching and learning environment. The school infrastructure and resources play a vital role in the delivery of the schools curriculum. It is my observation that the size of the student population relative to the size and quality of the physical accommodation of a school impacts the quality of curriculum implementation. According to Krogh and Morehouse (2008) the environment outside the classroom should be rich with potential and becomes a valuable multiuse arena. They also indicate that the physical environment plays an integral and vital part in supporting practices that encourage high levels of child initiated engagement and exploration. It is my view that the environment plays a key role in stimulating the cognitive processes required for effective curriculum implementation. I believe that the infrastructure of a school attracts a particular socio economic class from within the community. As a result, this will determine the quality of students and teachers who are enrolled in and employed to the school. It also establishes the quality of curriculum implementation that will occur. This will drive the resources that these schools are provided with. Greater resources mean that the school is able to properly finance the required staffing and infrastructure improvements that facilitate the learning process. My school is located in the rural area of St. Andrew and its serves children from low socio economic backgrounds. Therefore, the implementation of the curriculum faces barriers as the students are unable to relate to the information, the teachers have limited educational training and the resources are limited to meet the needs of the students. This poses a challenge for the curriculum to be fully implemented and for the required learning outcomes to be obtained. In my view, external factors usually include parents, home and community. I believe that these factors are crucial to the implementation of the curriculum. Parental involvement is a key determinant to successful academic achievement. This sets the foundation of the learning attitude that children carry to the learning environment. Support from parents increases the academic achievement in later years. Burke (2010) postulates that a child whose parents are passionately active and involved in their education at an early has a distinct advantage when compared to his/her peers. I believe that the involvement of parents facilitates the childs willingness to appreciate the importance of a solid education. This involvement can break or build the implementation of any curriculum. In my opinion, parents are generally unaware of the powerful effect that they have on what and how the content of a curriculum is designed and implemented. I believe that parents are an essential part of resource bu ilding. Strong parent teacher associations (PTAs) and effective parental involvement in school administration goes a far way in strengthening fund raising activities and in acquiring external support in building the school infrastructure. I strongly believe that parents are the first line of support for all children. They are the primary source of socialization and set the foundation for formal learning to take place. The home is the initial environment for optimal nurturing and it ideally creates a sense of belonging. In integrating parental role in curriculum implementation, a one-size fits all approach cannot be taken. We have to take into consideration the socio economic status of these parents as well as their educational background. The background of these parents, especially in rural environs, allows for limitation on the input they can offer to the implementation of the curriculum. Hence, little or no involvement occurs and the inability to hold teachers accountable for poor curriculum implementation becomes a major issue. Burke (2010) states that when parents are involved in the educational process of their children, they will be able to include or add additional information and insight from their own persona l experiences to teachers in order to support their childs learning and development. Community is seen as the secondary source of socialization. When we examine a community, we need to take into account the structure, culture and socio economic factors that shape the community. Couchenour and Chrisman (2011) stated that when the cultural background of the community does not match the cultural and educational context of a school then the academic achievement will be affected. This, I believe, is crucial in the implementation of the curriculum. In my opinion, the cultural background of the students and the parents may prevent a school from attaining a targeted culture. The interrelatedness of the school and the community greatly impacts the achievement of the objectives of the curriculum. Rural communities are largely comprised of farmers and unemployed individuals who sparingly acquire secondary education. Urie Brofenbrenners bioecological theory explains that understanding a childs development requires us to view the child in his socio culture context that includes f amily setting, community and the wider society (as cited in Couchenour and Chrisman, 2011). It is my view that the community plays a vital role in shaping the culture of the school. Depending on the socio economic, culture, structure and educational factors the implementation of the curriculum will be extensively affected. In conclusion, many factors affect  curriculum  implementation. It is my view that internal factors such as teachers, students, school infrastructure and resources and external factors such as parents, home and community are vital factors that may pose positive and negative effects on the implementation of the curriculum. At the early childhood level, the content and objectives of the curriculum should be centred on the childs needs and interest. How we address their needs and interest is dependent on the instructional objectives carried out by the teacher, the availability of resources and the learning environment of the school. It is my view, therefore, that a curriculum customization is needed at the Early Childhood level in order to cater for the different internal and external factors indicated above. A customized blueprint will produce effective, critical and holistic thinkers within our community and wider society.

MBA Admissions Essays - An Entrepreneurial Passion :: MBA College Admissions Essays

MBA Admissions Essays - An Entrepreneurial Passion    My love for business is not something I was born with. It took over a decade of experience and exploration to discover my passion. This discovery began ten years ago when I accepted a position at The Pitney Bowes Corporation. My job was to make unsolicited phone calls to prospective businesses in order to sell our base model postage meter. All that was required was reading a script, word for word, to potential buyers. Yet, after a week of working at Pitney Bowes, I still didn't know important details about the meter, like what it looked like, and how it actually operated. My manager acted a bit surprised when I asked to see the meter, but she agreed, and I took a walk to an adjacent building where I saw first hand what I was selling. It looked completely different from what I had expected, but by viewing and touching it first hand, my ability to convey to people what I was offering improved dramatically. Once I viewed the device, I felt more confident to adlib on the sales pitch. In a couple of weeks reading my hybrid pitch led to a higher rate of sales. People were more apt to buy from someone who sounded like a person and less like a robot. My sales steadily improved and in my third month I was the number one sales person out of over 200 employees. Management implemented some of my changes in the selling process and as a result, overall sales of the entry model postage meter increased significantly.    After my days of selling postage meters were long over, and I was in my senior year of college, I decided to start my own company. I wrote two books on college admission and college life and marketed them through the internet. After three month of diligent work, I sold over 500 books and expanded the company to five employees. Since selling only two books was proving so successful, I decided to branch out and try my hands at an affiliate driven superstore. I partnered with web sites like Amazon.com and Reel.com and became officially licensed to sell their merchandise. My time and effort resulted in many visitors to my on-line superstore, but sales were few and far between. The business needed a change of direction.

What did Hoggart and other British cultural critics see the “juke box boys” (Hoggart, 1958, 247) as a portent of?

Dan Bednar The essay will introduce the notion of consensus – the agreement reached between political parties as well as in the society as a whole. However, due to the limitation of this paper, this is a rather an abbreviated description of the whole situation. As a result the British foreign affairs, as well as the importance of immigrant waves on forming the new British culture, will be ignored. Furthermore, the youth phenomenon did not appear overnight as it might seem from reading the following lines. In fact as the teenagers gained more and more attention from the marketplace and the popular press, they also gained more confidence and their voice was heard. The focus here will be on the Teddy Boys youths; the nation's young generation, however, was much more diverse, ranging from middle and upper class youth (with their specific culture) to youngsters organised in clubs and societies. Consensus Since 1951 the Conservative Party won three subsequent elections. The political consensus between the parties â€Å"reflected a consensus in the nation. In the spectrum of political opinion from right to left, the majority of electors had moved towards the middle †¦ leaving only minorities at the extremes† (Hill, 1986 p.7). This was due to a relative affluence of the working classes. They were better off, ate better food and watched more and more television. The Conservative party followed the political line of the Labour years, and, therefore, many ordinary citizens lost their interest in politics as well as their post-war collective enthusiasm (Hill, 1986 p.5). Furthermore, the consensus seemed to be reached between classes: the affluence of the lower classes made it seem like the class distinctions would eventually disappear (Hill, 1986 p.7). The consensus also reached the mass media. After the war the BBC set up a task of a â€Å"‘cultural mission'- elevating national standards† (Caughie, 1986 p.194).* Television hours were limited to a few hours a day: an act of protectionism. The contrast between what the public wanted and what was BBC's policy of educational entertainment was to be challenged by the first private channel. The British cinema was also rigorously protected. Import quotas secured the showing of a certain number of British films. New films were also censored or banned (McKibbin, 1998 p.423-435). As MsKibbin argues, â€Å"contemporaries thought the cinema was a uniquely powerful medium. The country's elites were persistently worried about its potentially subversive effect on England's politics and morality† (1998 p.455). The consensus reached in this area was set up to protect the citizens from what was then thought to be extremely dangerous: exposure to violence, sex and Americanisation. Contemporary studies supported these views: mass media supposedly had immediate effect (Street, 1997 p.62). The Horror of Rock'n'Roll The critics and academics saw the working class youth as the most endangered group. Thanks to the after war baby boom they were large in numbers, were often employed (We Are the Lambeth Boys) and earned more money. They are ground between the millstones of technocracy an democracy; society gives them almost limitless freedom of the sensation, but makes few demands on them – the use of their hands and of a fraction of their brains for forty hours a week. For the rest they are open to the entertainers and their efficient mass-equipment (Hoggart 1957 p. 249). Hoggart describes the Teddy Boys as frequent customers of milk bars, throwing one coin after another into the jukebox machine, reading sex and violence novels. These novels inspired the first British films targeting youth. With the emergence of the X certificate, some of the British studios concentrated on the horror and the sci-fi genres, the most famous being the Hammer studio. Although the cinema attendance numbers dropped drastically, due to the impact of television and shifting demographics (more and more people moving into new towns), the youth remained the largest cinema audience (McKibbin, 1998 p.420). The Hammer horror films were attractive for the youth audience (Street, 1997 p.76) as well as the Rock'n'Roll imports and their British versions (films with Cliff Richard and Tommy Steel). The horror and Rock'n'Roll films had their exploitational strategies in common. They were both taking advantages of certain novelties (scandals, wars) or/and their cinema audiences. These films usually had an inaccurate, sensational approach similar to that of the tabloid press. They, however, managed to express contemporary anxieties (nuclear threat, crisis of masculinity) (Street 1997, p.76-78). Films like Rock Around the Clock benefited from the Rock'n'Roll hype and from the controversy of the music; the assumed link between music and violence. Some Rock'n'Roll features were banned in local cinemas which only added to their popularity. Parents feared their children would turn into delinquents as the youth crime numbers were raising and the tabloid press blew the violent acts of a few into a nation-wide phenomenon (Hill, 1986 p.13-14). Famous filmmakers like Pressburger and Powell were clearly inspired by the horror genre in their film Peeping Tom. As well as some of the Hammer films, the film comments on the danger of science manipulation (Tom was a subject of scientific experiments of his fathers), but goes deeper into examination of the media exploitation itself, reflecting on contemporary anxieties (â€Å"fear of independent women† (Street, 1997 p.78)) and the supposed ‘higher morality' of the older generation (the elderly man, buying pornographic material in the kiosk). We might go further and suggest that the film is a call for realism. The studio in Peeping Tom produces popular murder stories, but when confronted with a real murder, we realize how remote these people are from the topics of their films. Similarly to Hitchcock's Psycho, Powell and Pressburger cast the main character with a good-looking young man – instead of a villain looking character. As Lowenstein argues, the social realism of Peeping Tom shows that these shifting social currents are shot through with anxieties that include viewers ‘like you and me' as agonized participants in ‘life here today'. (2000 p.229) Powell's and Presburger's interest in products of the mass culture is of the same sort as Warhol's interest in advertising, Kubrick's interest in popular genres in The Shining as well as Tarantino's obsession with pulp novels. Angry Young Men Hoggart's appeal was to preserve and enforce original ‘working class' culture. This appeal came about at the same time as the new breed of writers, first just called Movement and later on called the Angry Young Men. They were often of working class origin, and wrote novels about working class youth or about young men fighting bureaucracy and the current social order (Kingsley Amis – Lucky Jim). These ‘angry young men' represented the part of society that was slowly waking up from the consensus dream. The British Empire was facing internal and external crisis (racial upheavals, Suez War). Problems like class distinctions and national identity re-emerged with greater strength. The writers showed discontent with both the traditional highbrow culture as well as the faceless mass culture. However it turned out, that the mass culture swallowed the new subculture soon afterwards*. The films based on the Angry Young Men novels differed from the exploit features in their respectable treatment of the young individual and investigating the causes of their revolt. They might have been inspired by some of the American youth films, like A Rebel Without a Cause: the film is not just another exploit; it examined psychological depths of delinquent behaviour (the influence of the family background). Also the documentary tradition of some of the filmmakers like Karel Reisz was important. Reisz carefully observed youngsters and disclosed that they are much more than young delinquents in We Are the Lambeth Boys. Braine's novel Room at the Top was turned into a successful film. The film's revolt is in its exposed sexuality. As Marwick suggests: â€Å"censorship was itself changing its views as to what was now acceptable to British audiences† (1991 p.73-74). One of the illusions of the 50s was that the class distinction seemed to disappear (Hill, 1986 p.10-11). Clayton's film is a cruel awakening from the classless dream. The young man in the Room at the Top, puts up a tough fight to be accepted by the privileged class, only to realise that he had to pay huge prize for it. His lover dies in a car accident (suicide?). Joe Lampton hates the everyday routine and the oblivion of his own class, but also despises the class he is trying to join: their power and money are the only way to realise his potential. Sillitoe who wrote Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was of working class background. Reisz, who directed the subsequent film, already got a reputation with We Are the Lambeth Boys. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a fierce attack on the ‘great' values of the fifties: affluence of the working class, full employment and mass culture (television). In a way, Arthur is a representative of the disappearing working class culture with his spare time ‘activities': fishing, drinking with friends and revolting. Arthur's parents and his colleague, Jack, represent the new emerging mass culture. They all watch television: Arthur's father to such an extent that he becomes totally absorbed by the medium. When Brenda is getting ready to go out, Jack suggests that one day they will be able to afford a TV set so that she can stay home. The disaffection ..of the young worker is directed against organized society and it bureaucrats, and against the more docile members of he working class, rather than against any identifiable enemy (Marwick, 1982 p.135). Arthur's culture is that of a revolt. He knows that there is something very wrong, but he is not sure how to fight it. Arthur says ‘no' to Hoggart's definition of working class youths: use your hands and a fraction of your brain and you can then be entertained. Arthur's ‘no' is also a ‘no' to the boom of the fifties. The youths were the first to realise the drawbacks, while the older generation was blinded by relative affluence and the pleasures of television. Arthur carries on with the fight until he agrees to marry Doreen. He then conforms to the mass culture of regular wages, consensus and television. His culture of revolt is lost to mass culture. The same can be said of the Angry Young Men movement: it later assimilated with the mass culture, since â€Å"media interest nearly always means immediate expropriation and assimilation by the mass culture† (Taylor, 2000). Conclusion Hoggart saw the emergence of the mass culture as a serious threat to the authentic working class culture. He was one of the first critics who realised the richness of the original popular culture, but he also criticised the highbrow values imposed on the working class. He saw the horror and science fiction films as a sign of classless mass culture and Teddy Boys as a portent of losing one's culture to the universal culture. At the same time, however, a group of writers emerged that created and re-created original working class culture, giving young men the potential for cultural revolution. I have argued that the exploit culture targeting a young audience had a profound effect on the art of the next decade. The Pop art had it's inspiration in trivial entertainment and commercials. The Pop art (art for everyone) made no distinctions between popular and highbrow culture and freed art from all preconceptions. Furthermore, the open dealing with sexual matters in some of the films and novels, opened up the censorship and gave way to artistic freedom. The youth shook the power of the â€Å"highbrow minority† that dictated the shaping of the whole culture and helped the existence of working class bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The youth also gained more attention from advertisers and this resulted in strictly teenage products – fashion, such as jeans and short skirts. The youth changed the whole nature of cinema production. From then on film producers became more aware of their audiences and the films targeted increasingly younger audiences. Also the age of the media planners, directors and producers decreased and the young filmmakers gained more power both in Britain (Anderson, Reizs) and Hollywood (Beatty, Hopper), only to loose it later on due to further commercialism of cinema during the 70s and 80s (Biskind,1998: Introduction). The strength of the youth influence is also in its diversity: it inspired Marxists, trash artists, nihilists, hedonists, feminists and the list could go on. Its main strength is that it enabled wide cultural and political discussions. Arthur was a portent of complex socio-cultural changes that started during the sixties and carry on until today.

Goldman Sachs Essays

Goldman Sachs Essays Goldman Sachs Essay Goldman Sachs Essay The Goldman Abacus Fund: Ethics You Can Count On Or Ethics That Don’t Add Up Set Up Imagine a physician is on the golf course with one of his colleagues, who happens to be a cardiologist. Somewhere on the back nine the cardiologist begins to tell the physician about one of his patients, a 52 year old man with blood pressure of 145/99, who is 40 lbs. overweight, chain smokes, and enjoys 7 to 8 martinis a day. In spite of medications, in the words of the cardiologist, the patient is â€Å"a ticking time bomb. The first physician asks for his friend’s patient’s personal information, and after the golf game, goes to see his State farm agent, where he takes out a 1 million dollar life insurance policy on the ‘time bomb† guy. Are the actions of the physician ethical? Taking out such a policy is of course illegal, as the doctor does not have what is known as an insurable interest. But assuming the doctor took no steps to encourage th e man’s death, under the theory of rational egoism his actions would be justified. Furthermore, as macabre as the doctor might seem in betting on the death of another human being, Sternberg would consider his actions to be within the realm of ordinary decency. In 2007, amid historic economic development, a scenario emerged similar to the one just described. Although the players and events were quite different, the same philosophical question was raised: is it ethical to benefit from someone else’s demise. Living in a society riddled with envy and resentment, many onlookers thought so. Two parties in particular did not. They were John Paulson Co. , a hedge fund company established in 1994, and Goldman Sachs Co. a global investment banking and securities firm founded in 1869. The Events The story has its beginnings in 2005 when 49 year old Paulson, a man with a Wall Street reputation of mediocrity, hired an out of work analyst, Paolo Pellegrini. Pellegrini’s job was to crunch numbers on a befuddling trend which â€Å"everyone† seemed to be maki ng money on except Paulson (Zuckerman). After a year’s worth of late nights, Pellegrini determined that not only were housing prices soaring independently of interest rates and well beyond the pace of inflation, but that when the bubble did pop, it would send home prices down more than 40%. : When Pellegrini showed his charts and figures, Paulson couldn’t believe his eyes. Finally the housing market boom made sense to him. What also made sense to him was the market’s inevitable crash. Paulson had to find a way to make money on this prediction. Initially Paulson and Co. bought large lots of credit default swaps, which in effect were insurance policies against â€Å"risky† subprime mortgage debt (Zuckerman). Paulson was paying up to an 8% premium to guarantee against the default of mortgages he didn’t even own. Paulson and Co. spent months accumulating these mortgage insurance policies before deciding that the process was too slow. Paulson needed another way to short the housing market, preferably one with great leverage. A collateralized debt obligation seemed to be the perfect means to Paulson’s desired end. To understand how Paulson was able to make a $15 billion profit on his market prediction, a closer look at the 3 main financial instruments used is needed. Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS), Collateralized Debt Obligations, and Credit Default Swaps are all financial instruments used by both commercial and investment banks. RBMSs are bonds which are backed by a pool of residential mortgages. These bonds have different ratings based on the default risk of the varied prime and subprime mortgages. Even though the initiating bank may continue to service the loan to the homeowner, the mortgage itself will likely end up being sold again and again, often being pooled as an asset base to compose a RMBS. Collateralized Debt Obligations are securities collateralized by debt. Basically, a CDO is where a financial institution bundles a bunch of debt and sells it as a package to other financial institutions (Stephen D. Simpson). CDOs commonly take RMBSs a step further by packaging a series of them into one portfolio. The CDO collects cash from the pool of bonds it contains, and from this cash, distributes interest and principle payments to the CDO’s investors. If the underlying securities fail (as in the case of a defaulted subprime mortgage), the investors lose the money they put into the CDO. In the case of the Goldman Sachs Abacus deal, rather than a cash-based CDO, a synthetic CDO was packaged. A synthetic CDO differs from a CDO in that it does not own the underlying asset (portfolio of bonds). Instead it uses credit default swaps to mimic the risk associated with the assets (bonds) listed in the portfolio. A credit default swap is a means to achieve risk transfer from the bond holder to another party. When a bond holder buys a CDS, he is buying insurance against the bond defaulting, by paying a series of premiums to the CDS seller. In the event of default, the CDS seller must compensate the bond holder with the face value of the bond. Back in 2006, these vehicles were viewed as free money. Many economists and banking institutions believed the U. S. had reached a period of indefinite, sustained growth, meaning the likelihood of mortgage default, even at the subprime level, was low. The top banks, with presumably the most savvy, sophisticated money managers in the world, took advantage of this by heavily participating in these high leverage instruments. In 2005, senior traders from Bear Sterns to Goldman Sachs shared the sentiment that the housing market was solid and in no danger of collapse. By December of 2006 however, though not going public with its stance, Goldman decidedly turned bearish on the mortgage industry. Early in 2007, Paulson approach Goldman requesting that they structure a CDO with (allegedly) the inclusion of 123 hand-picked RBMSs which Paulson believed to be most likely to default (Quinn). He also asked Goldman to help him find another party who would take the other side of his desired market position. Goldman agreed, was paid $15m in fees by Paulson and Co. , and Abacus was born. Goldman assigned 29 year old a junior bond trader named Fabrice Tourre with managing and promoting Abacus to investors. Tourre approached IKB Deutsche Industriebank, who expressed interest only if a third party choose the RMBS. As such, Goldman enlisted ACA management to choose the RMBS which would compose Abacus. At this point, Tourre allegedly led ACA to believe that Paulson was going to invest $200M into Abacus. Thinking this, ACA also directly invested $42m into Abacus and took on the role of insuring $909M worth of credit default swaps; (unknown to ACA, Paulson was on the other side). With a third party (ACA) now selecting the RMBS, Tourre convinced IKB to invest $150M into Abacus. Ultimately these were the events which led the SEC to file charges against Goldman on April 16, 2010. The Outcome A year after Abacus was assembled and marketed, Paulson’s prediction came true. 99% of the CDO had been downgraded, rocketing the value of the credit default swaps he bought. John Paulson netted $1bn. n what Gregory Zuckerman of the Wall Street Journal would call â€Å"the perfect trade. † IKB lost nearly its entire investment of $150M. ACA Management lost $841M. When the dust settled, eyebrows were raised and eventually charges were filed. Goldman was charged with fraud in structuring and marketing of a CDO which was secretly intended to fail. The fraud charge alleged that Goldman allo wed Paulson to strongly influence ACA in selecting the RMBS which would make up Abacus. The charge also alleges that ACA was deceived to think that Paulson had an interest in the CDO’s success rather than failure. Paulson was not charged and has maintained that ACA â€Å"had sole authority over the selection of RMBS in the CDO (Quinn). The Facts ACA Management was both the portfolio selector and the largest investor to Abacus. Owned by one of the largest banks in Europe, ABN Amro, ACA management specialized in CDOs and portfolio selection. Put another way, they knew exactly what they were getting into, they just happened to be wrong. Paulson had been unsuccessfully â€Å"betting against† the housing markets since 2005. During 2006-2007 insurance against defaulting mortgages (CDS) became extremely cheap. During the period, many banks were selling CDS to collect what they saw as low risk insurance premiums. ACA was to collect $1,545,300 in premiums per year through insuring Abacus. Paulson’s role in Abacus was not made clear to investors, but the anonymity he maintained is both legal and commonplace on Wall Street. All the players at the table were among the most sophisticated banking institutions in the world, which could not be better equipped with experts to perform the due diligence of investigating a prospective investment. Ethical Analysis In a 2009 Rolling Stone article, Matt Taibbi accused Goldman Sachs of being â€Å"a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity,† Goldman he states, was the cause of the housing bubble through creation and use of financial instruments such as CDOs and CDSs (TAIBBI). The dramatic description hardly instills an image of ethical behavior. But is it true? Taibbi has it backwards. The Housing and Community Development Acts of 1974, 1982, and 1987 had been making mortgages easier to obtain long before the 1994 invention of Credit Default Swaps, (although the first CDO was issued by Drexel Burnham Lambert in 1987) (Frej). It is because we live in a society where there exists too much envy and resentment that media figures such as Matt Taibbi point the finger at those who succeed, and scream â€Å"hey, that’s not fair! † When people defaulted on their home mortgages, it was not because of Paulson or anyone else making money. It was because of their own greed and desire. People acted like children giving in to the impulse to grab the â€Å"shiny object† i. e. large mortgage, when in fact it was their responsibility to perform due diligence and conclude whether or not such mortgages were financially feasible. Was it unethical for Goldman/Paulson to benefit by means of others’ demise? Just as in the opening example of the patient who was certain to die, so too were historical numbers of mortgages destined for foreclosure. And while wealth creation is not a zero sum game, equity trading often is; every buyer needs a seller. ACA management and IKB were trying to profit by knowingly taking risks. They lost. For Goldman and John Paulson, it was â€Å"just business. † There were no intentions beyond profit maximizing, nor did they act in any unfair or unethical way. Goldman and Paulson did their best to maximize the long term value for their investors in a business designed around risk. In the end it was Paulson and Company’s countless hours of research and study which led them to the decisions they made. Had anyone else done the same, they likely would have gained similar compensation. This would be in line with Sternberg’s principle of distributive justice. Conclusion There has been recent talk from the likes of Warren Buffet to Barack Obama about the evils of complex financial instruments. They say CDOs and CSOs should be banned or at least controlled with more regulation. This is a much too simple solution to the problem of financial responsibility. If CDOs and CSOs get banned, another instrument with the same potential effect (good or bad), will be right around the corner. Living in a period of record government hand-outs, it is no wonder people think everything either is free or obtainable with minimal effort i. e. mortgages. Financial responsibility must be taught at an early age, whether at home or at school. The path away from any future financial crisis will be seen when people have an understanding of money and make gains through distributive justice.

The World Is a Stage, and All Are Merely Players Essay Example

The World Is a Stage, and All Are Merely Players Essay Example The World Is a Stage, and All Are Merely Players Paper The World Is a Stage, and All Are Merely Players Paper Introduction to Theatre Review on As You Like It. All the worlds a stage, And all the men and women merely players. touched my heart when I sat under a tree in dog wood park to see the play which leaves me no doubt that this is As you like it written by the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist and play write William Shakespeare. They play started at 7. 00pm in the evening and it was directed by Steven W Gwilt. They story as about a girl named Rosalind who was the nephew of a king named Duke Fredrick and a boy named Orlando who was a prince. Rosalind and Orlando fell in love with each other when they meet at a wrestling competition. Their love goes deeper when Rosalind went to forest with her cousin Cilia and a fool guy named Touchstone in search for her banished father in a disguise of a man and named herself as Ganymede and coincidently meets Orlando while Orlando was expressing his love for Rosalind with the nature of the forest and Heather. With the disguise Rosalind appeared in front of Orlando and said that his love for Rosalind isnt enough. To prove his love Orlando had to woo Ganymede. Along with this story there were other love stories also. The fool Touchstone fell in love with Phebe who came along with them and there is the story of the couple Jacques and Audrey. Orlandos elder brother Oliver also fell in love with Cilia. The story ends with a happy wedding in the end. The acting of the main character Rosalind and Orlando was very good. Their ostumes and acting was true to the play. The theatrical condition was small but it was good. The voice of the actors was loud and clear. They gave a very good gesture but at the beginning When Orlando and Oliver heard the name of Rosalind and Cilia and their relation with Duke Fredrick they used high five which was funny but it might not true with the play. And when Rosalind and Cilia decided to go to the forest together they used something similar to high five which was also funny but It might not be true with the play. I think this things wasnt true to the play because the story was about a very long time ago and I dont think high five was used as gesture in those time. The reaction in all the situation was good but the Reaction a Heather wasnt that good. When they entered the forest they made sound of foot behind the scene which was a brilliant idea and their entering and going out of the scene as perfect timing. This showed me that they had good teamwork. The entire presentation of the play was good but the banished father Duke the senior faced his ack to the audience a lot of times. The whole set was very good. But they only showed two set, the forest and the kingdom. And they didnt showed the play of Orlando killing the snake and tiger. They made a second floor on the set which helped the audience see two scenes at a time but going to second floor sometimes make audience that they were climbing mountain where there is no mountain story in the book. The dress up and costumes was perfect. But the dress up of Heather and Duke senior was not that g Because Heather dressed up pretty well but Dukes ress was like a forest guy which might made audience think that Heather is the Duke senior and Duke senior is Heather. The songs were very nice especially the last song. But the music that was played during the intervals was kind of modern type which didnt make the story looked like that it was a story of past times. On my opinion the liked the show very much. Even though some of the dialogues were changed and some of the things made it looked like it wasnt true with the play but it made the play funny and interesting which made me liked it.

Holistic Nutrition Mini Essays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Holistic Nutrition Mini Essays - Essay Example They match particular molecules with each other in order to produce desired reactions in the body. However, these enzymes cannot work without co-factors. This is where minerals come in. â€Å"Unless an enzyme is accompanied by its co-factor/mineral, or a substitute co-factor/mineral, it will simply sit around doing nothing† (Kennedy, 2009). Copper serves as a co-factor for different enzymes in the body. It is vital in hemoglobin synthesis in order to convert tyrosine into melanin, which, in turn protects the skin from the ultraviolet rays of the sun. It is also important in the metabolism of Vitamin C, and consequently helps in maintaining the elasticity of the body’s ligaments and tendons. Zinc is also a co-factor for different enzymes in our body. â€Å"Zinc assists the various enzymes that metabolize carbohydrates, alcohol, and fatty acids† (Cichoke, 2000). They also work with enzymes that metabolize proteins and dispose of free radicals in the body. These various co-factor activities make zinc a very effective anti-oxidant. Iodine is a co-factor in enzymes which help produce the thyroid hormone thyroxine. â€Å"Iodine is necessary for thyroxin, and thyroxin is responsible for maintaining a normal metabolic rate in all the cells of the body† (Kennedy, 2009). The minerals mentioned above, are just some of the co-factor minerals essential for the healthy functioning of our body. Minerals act as catalysts, as spurs to the existing enzymes in our body in order to eventually produce the desired effect into our system. Minerals can potentially be helpful and harmful to our body. As with any nutrient ingested into our body, too much minerals can be toxic to our system. One such mineral is manganese. Manganese toxicity usually results to multiple neurologic problems. It is even more dangerous when inhaled because it immediately goes to the brain without being metabolized by the liver. In some instances, it can result to permanent neurologic

Divorce who values marriage In the 21st Century Essay

Divorce who values marriage In the 21st Century - Essay Example Ignorance is presented by lack of sufficient information on the expectations of the institution of marriage as well as unrealistic expectations that most couples have before they enter into marriage. All these factors are bound to create dissatisfaction within the marriage leading to divorce as a means to freedom and self-sufficiency (Anne-Marie, 2014). Cases of divorce have been on the rise in the current generation resulting to a number of concerns on the sustainability of the institution of marriage in the present century. Cultural factors is regarded as one of the main causes of divorce presently. This is evident by the increased cases of secularization trends, liberalization of norms regarding individual choice as well as less religious influence on marriage. Marriage has indeed become a personal choice rather than a covenant before God that binds individuals for the rest of their lives. As a result of the emerging sociocultural trends in the world, divorce laws have increasingly been liberalized making it easy for couples to file for divorce. This has made divorce to be socially accepted due to loss of stigma that was initially attached to it and increased opinion that it is the easiest solution to marital problems (Booth, 1999). Increased rise in individualism has led to a lot of emphasis being laid on rights as opposed to duties leading to people viewing the institution of marriage as lacking mutual responsibilities. Individualism that is marked by an ideology of self-gratification has greatly affected marriages as people seek divorce in search of happiness, companionship and fulfillment. Lack of tolerance within marriages as is the case in the United States and other Western nations does not offer room for solving marital problems as they emerge. Divorce can also be traced to demographic factors such as the age at which people get married. Past studies have indicated that youthful marriages are more prone to divorce than those who