Discuss in detail the components of the Balance of payments account Essay

Discuss in detail the components of the Balance of payments account - Essay Example The BOP is the country’s way of monitoring the international trading of its product and service offerings, and financial assets (Melvin and Norrbin, 2013, p.59; Cool and Goddard, 2006, p.92, Stovel, 1959, p.21). When a country receives money, it is automatically credited to its account, and it is debited from its account once it has paid or given money. BOP is therefore the inflows and outflows of cash. Inflows are credit and outflows are debit. The work at hand establishes the discussion of the three essential components of the BOP and the issues pertaining to its equilibrium. The current account consists of merchandise exports and imports and invisible exports and imports (OECD, 2000, p.151; Rana and Alburo, 1987, p.50). It is technically the flow of product and service offerings into a country. This also includes revenue on investments done publicly or privately. Generally, the current account consists of three essential components too. The first component is the net export. This is the biggest part of the current account, because it is around 80 to 90 percent. The next component is the net foreign income. This may be the income payment on stocks and bonds. Thus, at some point the net foreign income may be the interest payment on the bond or the dividend payment. Aside from the two components mentioned so far, the other part of current account is the foreign aid (Gaspar et al., 2013, p.93; Eicher et al., 2009, p.352; Clarida, 2007, p.38). Foreign aids are amount of money that the other economies may have directly transferred to a certain economy for the purpose of providing aid. This can also take place when a worker sends money home. Financial account is the next relevant component of BOP. It is the International transfer of capital, and attainment and clearance of assets that are non-financial and non-produced (OECD, 2005, p.45; International Monetary Fund, 2000, p.50). The financial account consists of real assets and financial assets. The real asset

I.T and Hauhaus Essay Example for Free

I.T and Hauhaus Essay As they are the competitor within the market, the retailing strategies to be used are similar. Therefore, it is easier to collect and compare the financial data and draw out the conclusion to see which company would be worthier to invest. The report covers the company and industry background, ratio analysis, future forecast of two companies’ performance. 2)Company Background Bauhaus (0483, HK) Bauhaus was found in 1991. It has been listed on HKEX stock market since 2005. There are more than 200 retails store and over corners and point of sales in Hong Kong, Macau ,mainland China and Taiwan,. Apart from selling different foreign brand, liked Cheap Monday, G-Star, EVISU etc, Bauhaus also building the local brand liked Salad, T Tough Jeansmith and 80/20. It is a leading retail store in selling casual wear, especially for jeans item. There are 234 Bauhaus shops in Asia. Using the wholesale strategy, Bauhaus can expand the business from Asia to Western country. In the future, it may diversify its product line like launch more foreign brand to increase its competiveness. I. T (0999, HK) I. T was found in November of 1988. It has been listed on HKEX stock market since 2005. The Group has an extensive self managed retail network extending to nearly 450 stores across Greater China with staff around 4,800. The brands are well accepted in Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Australia, the Philippines and France. More stores will be opened in these places in the future. The feature of I. T retail store is group several brands in a sizable retail location. It owns a number of in-house brands liked 5CM, fingercroxx and X-large, as well as distributing European and Japanese designer’s brands such as French Connection and A Bathing Ape Comme des Garcons, DG, etc. 3)Industry Outlook Hong Kong is one of the fashion hubs in Asia. There are a wind variety of local and international fashion brand locate there flagship store in Hong Kong. The competitive is dynamic and incentive. Hong Kong consumers are willing to spend money on fashion and clothing. As the purchasing power of is high, so the demand of fashion product is huge. According to CIA THE WORLD FACTBOOK, this entry gives the gross domestic product (GDP) or value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year. From this result, Hong Kong is ranking to 37 after compared to 227 countries in the year of 2010. According to the information from Asia Case Research Centre (ACRC), it shows that retail is the 2nd largest sector in the service industry that accounted for 85. 7% of Hong Kongs GDP. Also, The Census and Statistics Department (C;SD) indicate that the value of total retail sales in October 2011, provisionally estimated at $34. 2 billion, increased by 23. 1% over a year earlier. Analyzed by broad type of retail outlet and comparing October 2011 with October 2010, wearing apparel increase 14. 6%; footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories increase 11. 3%. This data proofs that the demand of fashion items is huge and purchasing power in this region is relatively high. Besides, tourists come to Hong Kong are increasing each year; they bring with high purchase power in fashion items, especially those Chinese tourists. According to the statistics released by the Immigration Department, about 800,000 to 900,000 Mainland visitors travel to Hong Kong monthly. It shows that Hong Kong’s market has a huge potential development chance. According the data of Hong Kong government, the sales revenue of retailing business has a growth during April of 20010 to Feb of 2011. It is because the economic environment is better than past year. Hong Kongs GDP fell in 2009 as a result of the global financial crisis, but a recovery began in third quarter 2009, and the economy grew nearly 6. 8% in 2010. In addition, China’s economy growth fast, the performance of its economy growth is greater than the other country. And Hong Kong’s economy is influenced by China very much. In the future, we can see that Hong Kong’s retailing business will growth rapidly. It seems a great chance to develop the retail business; however, there are some risks on the growth of fashion retail business in Hong Kong. Nowadays, Globalization is a hot topic of the world, more and more foreign brands enter in Hong Kong market, such as GAP, Forever 21, Zara, HM and Monki, etc which provide good price and trendy design merchandises. They regarded Hong Kong as the stepping stones to go into the China market. With more branding in Hong Kong, the competition between them is becoming more intensive and serious. Therefore, the local fashion retailers have to build up their competitive advantages to withstand the impact from those foreign brands. Also, because of the inflation of Hong Kong and China, the cost of the materials, labor and transportation is getting higher. Garment manufacturing is a labor intensive activity. The cost of garment is mainly from the increasing labor cost and transportation cost. In order to deal with, the retailer probably need to order more amount of quantity each time to achieve the economy of scale, so the cost will be lower. Furthermore, as we know that Hong Kong’s rental price of shop is the first three expensive in the world. The rental price has been increasing rapidly in the recent years. From 2010 to 2011, the rental price was increased more than ten percent. So, rental price of the store is a core cost of any business, especially fashion retailer as it needs a large space for displaying and storing the products. The rental cost affects the profit of the fashion retailers. To conclude, Hong Kong fashion retail market is still positive. There are many great opportunity for Hong Kong fashion retail to expand its business. However, there are some uncertainty need to be pay attention, such as the entrance of foreign brands and the unstable rental cost. So, the local fashion industry needs to create a competitive strategy to deal with. For example, local fashion retailers can use the attractive marketing strategy, liked collaboration with other brands, provide excellent customer services and building great brand image. 4)Ratio analysis i) Test for profitability I. T (in HKD 000)Bauhaus (in HKD 000)* a)Return on Equity (Net income / Average stockholders’ equity)416945/[(1843212+1477723)/2] =25. 1%25. 1% b)Profit margins (Net income/ Net Sales)416945/3834422 =10. 9%11. 4% ii)Test for liquidity I. TBauhaus c)Current Ratio Current Asset/ Current liabilities1873282/1012495 1. 85%3. 3 d)Quick Ratio (Current Assets- Inventory)/ Current liabilities(1873282-736717)/1012495 =1. 1%1. 7 e)Inventory Turnover Cost of goods sold/ Average Inventory1405482/[(736717+394520)/2] 2. 52. 0 iii)Test for Solvency and equity position I. TBauhaus f)Debt/Equity Ratio Total liabilities/ Total stockholders’ equity(1012495+429852)/1843282 0. 78(149 7+126461)/494938 0. 26 iv) Market test I. TBauhaus g)Price/Earnings ratio Current Market Price per Share/ Earning per Share4. 88/0. 33 =14. 82. 98/0. 32 =9. 3 h)Dividend Yield Ratio Dividends per share/ Market price per share0. 146/4. 8 =3. 0%0. 177/2. 98 =5. 9% *Quote from annual report* Two financial reports announced in different date- Bauhaus- For the year ended 31 March 2011 I. T—for the year ended 28 February 2011 i )Test for Profitability Profitability is a primary measure of the overall success of the company. This is a class of ratios that are used to assess a business’s ability that generate earnings compared to its expenses and other relevant costs incurred. To determine rather the company is valuable for investing or not which need to get high profitability when compared with competitor’s company. However, in fashion industry, the sales revenue is seasonal. For example, the sales revenue is much higher during Christmas and Chinese New Year in Hong Kong. So, we should not compare the retailers fourth-quarter profit margin with the profit margin from the same period a year before because it would be far more informative. a)Returns on Equity This ratio indicating how much income was earned for every dollar invested by the stockholders. ROE can reflect if they have used the money that invested in the company to generate much more income. If the ROE is low, it shows that the returns of the investors will not be high. And the company doesn’t utilize the resources that they have invested. Two companies have a similar result of this ratio. Both two companies can generate about 20% of income using stockholders’ equity. It is because retail store is not very high investment to enter the market; it has higher ROE when compare to other industry liked Construction Company. In order to measure the company is worth to investing on; ROE ratio should not be lower than 15%. So, two companies are worth to invest on. b)Profit margin Profit margin is an indicator of a companys pricing strategies and how well it controls costs. It is calculated by finding the net profit as a percentage of the revenue. A low profit margin indicates a low margin of safety: higher risk that a decline in sales will erase profits and result in a net loss, or a negative margin. The higher profit margin means that the company has a higher ability to generate profit. I. T’s result is 10. 9%, it is lower than Bauhaus 11. 4%. I. T should minimize the expense. Bauhaus has a higher profit margin in 2010/2011. It shows that they have put effort to maximize the profit. Since compared with last year (10. 5%), it has been increased. i) Test for liquidly It is a class of financial metrics that is used to determine a companys ability to pay off its short-terms debts obligations. A companys ability to turn short-term assets into cash to cover debts is of the utmost importance when creditors are seeking payment. Bankruptcy analysts frequently use the liquidity ratios to determine whether a company will be able to continue as a going con cern. c) Current ratio This ratio measures the ability of the company to pay current debts as they become due. It is the important ratio that we can identify if the company has a good cash flow. If the debts recalled but the company does not have enough money to pay it, the company may be asked to bankrupt. On the other hand, current ratio should be in appropriate level. Ratio is too high means the company did not fully utilize the current assets to generate the profit. Bauhaus have a higher current ratio than I. T, it means Bauhaus’ ability of returning the debts is greater than I. T. It can more utilize current assets to generate more income. It shows that they have $3. 3current assets for returning $1 of current liabilities. Investor need to concern the ability of a company that utilizes the current asset. I. T has a lower Current ratio than Bauhaus. However, it is enough ability for them to returning the current liabilities when they are recalled. And it shows that I. T has better utilization of the assets to generate profit. It shows that they have $1. 85 current assets for returning $1 of current liabilities. d) Quick Ratio Quick Ratio is similar with the current ratio with no consideration on the inventory factor. It is more representatives to measuring rather the company can return the current liabilities immediately. The quick assets included Cash, Accounts receivable etc. These assets can return into cash in short time. Inventory will not be counted in this ratio as it may need longer time to return into cash and a risk of cannot be sold. It is a very important ratio for fashion industry, since the trends cycle of clothing is fast, the product may be in today, but out day tomorrow. So, fashion retailer should not keep too many inventories. Bauhaus have a higher in Quick ratio, however, compared with the current ratio, it is a great variation on two ratios. It means that the inventory tied up its current assets. It is not a good issue on a fashion company. They need to bare the risk on high discount of the product when the product is outdated. It will be high losses on the revenue. They can minimize the inventory through different method, liked big sale, buy one get one free and so on. Although the quick ratio f I. T is lower than Bauhaus, it is enough to returning the debts when all the current debts are recalled. e) Inventory Turnover This ratio measure how quick of a company sells their inventory. Higher inventory turnover lead to shorter cycle on inventory. Since inventory is not easily being sold out and transform into cash in a short period, fashion retailer should not hold too much inventory. Since fashion items are easily faded out. If the company store too much stock, the risk of the inventory cannot be sold out will be increase. Also, the expenses of storing will be occurred. Once the inventory is outdated, the company needs to sell it in a large mark down price. The profit of the company will be affected Since Bauhaus have a lower level on inventory, its inventory turnover will much slower than I. T. It may tie up the capital if the inventory cannot be sold. So, company should reduce the level of inventory. I. T has a greater performance on inventory turnover. It shows that they have shorter cycle on inventory. So that it is much easier transforming inventory into cash. iii) Test for Solvency and equity position It’s a set of ratio that to test the company can be able to meet it long-term repayment responsibility. It provides a measurement of company can continue to meet its debt obligations. f) Debt/ equity Ratio This ratio measure a companys financial leverage calculated by dividing its total liabilities by stockholders equity. It indicates what proportion of equity and debt the company is using to finance its assets. I. T’s result is 0. 33, shows that $0. 33 liabilities that exists for each $1 invested by the owners. It is a very low value. Bauhaus’s result is 0. 21, which is lower than I. T. In the Balance Sheet, we can find out that Bauhaus did not ask for the long term debts from the third party. It shows that they don’t have the interest burden. The result shows that two companies is not using the debt financing to acquire the financial resources, liked selling bonds, bills or notes to the investors. Debt financing is much higher risk than equity financing. As these two companies is listed company, they would like use the equity financing to raise money. And the equity financing method is more safety and no regular interest burden. v) Market Test Market test relate the current market price of share of stock to an indicator of the return that might accrue to the investor. It based on the share markets perception of the company. It can let the investor to know if the company is worth to invest. g) PE Ratio Current Market Price per Share/ Earning per Share This ratio measure the re lationship between the current market price of the stock and its earnings per share. The higher the ratio, the higher the perceived quality of the earnings by the share market. It also shows the future growth of company. If the P/E ratio is too high, it means that the value of the company is overstated. And it is not a good choice to investing on that company. I. T have a higher PE ratio than Bauhaus it means that the quality of the earnings by the share market is higher. It is more worth to invest h) Dividends Yield ratio This ratio measures the dividend-paying performance of different investment alternatives. The higher of result, the better performance. Bauhaus have a higher result, it shows that they have higher dividend-paying performance. If the investor wants to put the money into low risk and long term investment. They can choose this company. 5)Limitation on analyses of ratio Since two financial reports is announce in different ended date. The result may not be accurate. The fashion retail industry turnover is seasonal, like The Chinese New Year of 2011 was in February so the sales turnover must be high in that moment. After that, the turnover will be drop. So, these two companies will in different sales turnover rate. 6)Forecast of the company’s future prospects This part can be divided in to two parts, the 5 years income statement analysis and potential risk of the company. a)I. T The diagram shows that turnover have been increased gradually during 2007 to 2011. Although 2008-2009’s local economy is in down turn, the company still can strive to increase of turnover. It is predict that the company will probably maintain the increment since the economy situation is recovering and the local residents will spend more money on clothing items. The diagram shows that I. T had undergone a decrease on profit in year 2009 due the poor economy situation. And they suffered decrease of financial income. And the operating expense was higher than 2008. After 2009, there was a great improvement on profit. It has six times more profit comparing during 2010and nine times during 2011. It is predict that the company will probably maintain the increment of the profit if it can keep the level of expenses. However, there are some risks have been raised. The operating cost is increasing during these 5 years. Since the rental price is much higher in the recent years. They should adapt different strategy in order to keep the cost in the low level. Another risk is that I. T needs to pay attention that is the exchange issue. Since I. T sources many merchandises from different countries and the foreign exchange is unstable. For example, Japan YEN is much higher exchange rate. However, I. T’s buying office purchase many Japanese fashion brand products. So the cost and price of the merchandises will be impacted by the exchange rate. To deal with risk management, I. T embed a risk alert culture throughout the Group, the Internal Audit Department has implemented an annual internal control risk self-assessment to allow major business units to identify and analyze the risks underlying the achievement of business objectives and to determine a basis for how such identified risks to be managed and mitigated. In the coming future, I. T should pay more attention on risk management in order to prevent suffering from the economy situation and to have a greater growth. Bauhaus Bauhaus also have a gradual increase of turnover during 2007-2011. The increment from 2009 to 2010 was slowly. It may because of the economy situation was still not recovered yet. However, there was a sharply increment from 2010 to 2011. It is predict that, the turnover will be increased faster. Bauhaus also suffered a decrease of financial income in 2009. After 2009, there was an improvement on profit growth. However, the improvement is less than I. T. The diagram shows that the profit properly tends to be increased. Bauhaus also face the foreign currency risk and operation cost increment risk. The Group continuously monitors its foreign exchange position and, when necessary, will hedge foreign exchange exposure arising from contractual commitments in sourcing apparel from overseas suppliers. Generally, the Group introduces conservative strategies on its financial risk management. In the future, Bauhaus will have a great growth. However, in the fashion business market, the information is run fast, the risk is always happen. The company should build up a risk management system to minimize the risk of company operation. 7)Conclusion The financial performance of both Bauhaus and I. T compared in this report is great. And the prediction of their future growth is positive. Thereby, two companies are worth to be invested. The above ratios show that Bauhaus have a better performance than I. T. For the investor that can undergo low risk, so the investment on Bauhaus is more preferable. It is because the company growth and financial debt position is better, and it has a higher dividend yield, and they keep on paying the dividends in last 5 years. For the investor who wants to have higher return, I. T will be a good choice. It is because the PE ratio is lower, so the company still has a great improvement and the share price probably being increased. It’s good for the investor that purchasing the stock in low price and then sold them in higher price.

Underdevelopment Development Africa And Latin America Politics Essay

Underdevelopment Development Africa And Latin America Politics Essay Introduction The widespread economic international inequities and the big technological gap that exits between the rich and the poor-the developed and the developing countries-have virtually divided the world into two parts: The Rich or the North, and the Poor or the South. The rich countries are technologically developed and economically well off. By virtue of this, they are in a position to maintain and even strengthen their hold not only over international economic system but also over the economies and policies of the poor countries. The poor countries, which are industrially, technologically and economically under-developed, continue to live under the neo-colonial dependence upon the rich. In the past, they were the victims of imperialism and colonialism, and even after becoming sovereign independent states, they continue to suffer from poverty and under-development as the legacies of the past history and face continued exploitation at the hands of the rich countries. The latter through seve ral devices like foreign aid, multi-national corporations,, control over international economic institutions and protectionist trade and economic policies, are virtually forcing the under-developed countries to live with under developed nation and these developed nations create hegemony upon the underdevelopment countries, so called third world countries. If we study the population and resources among these two, developed and underdeveloped nations; 70 percent of population are living in the later category and 30 percent of populations are living as developed nations, but at same time on the side of the spectrum 70 percent of resources excess by developed nations and only 30 percent of resources excess by the underdeveloped nations. This is undoubtedly a very wide disparity. In the international arena every nation interacts with others because of technology and free trading. But the developed countries have been creating hegemony in many ground with their powerful aids of advance technology, sophisticated weapons and powerful army. In this paper I would like to draw the condition of Africa and Latin America and their positions in the contemporary international standards. How these two nations have been suffering chronic hunger, poverty, contagious diseases, racial discrimination, gender disparity, low literacy rate and unstable government all through in the earlier twentieth century. Attributable to these issues, Africa and Latin America have paid heavy prices But the developed nations settled their industries in this region. They pulled out natural resources and used cheap labours and finally they exported goods in the international market. But these two nations did not get any noteworthy benefits out of this, because their lands were merely used for the purpose of industrial development without a reciprocal promise of development even the labour contribution by these two nations are not very significantly rewards . And these industries created more pollution for these nation ultimately the environment pollute d what eventually native people were affected with many diseases. At the rudimentary stages the positions and conditions of both, Africa and Latin America were some how similar. If we see the history of these two nations, the prime source of income was farming. But the rural oligarchies and the rich men were holding the 70 percent of lands and where as there were only 30 percent for the rest of the population. After the independence, African countries they settled their new farming policy, which were based on the cooperative model. In this model the new government was settled down with some reforms in the farming sectors. The government checked the middle men profit for the shake of farmers to sale directly the crops in the market. The new Govt. revised the colonial price standard. It introduced opened market system for market prices. It created the cooperative farms for price fixing and also created present friendly opportunities for a market oriented development. But due to some adverse forces and conditions the policies made by the Govt. were no t effective. Seidman mentioned, how the managerial was so corrupt as a result the price was very low for the peasants to sell their crops out side the county. [INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY SERIES1, Page 242.] Seidman point out that, In Ghana, the peasants objected to the Nkrumah governments state buying agency, the United Ghana Farmers Council. The post-1966 coup government tried to persuade the transnational buying firms to purchase cocoa directly from the peasants, but they refused. Apparently, they preferred to let local traders or cooperatives do the task. That insulated the transnational from blame when falling world prices pushed producer prices down. The Tanzanian government also tried to substitute government agents for marketing cooperatives; but costs mounted, export prices fell, and, blaming the government, many peasants simply stopped cultivating export crops. After several years, the government re-established the marketing cooperatives.The developed countries farmers used pesticides and they cultivate the crops in the large amount of area. But the Africa and Latin Americas farmers did not have capacity to apply in the farming land for increase of the production capacity and t he land fertility was decrease and the environment degradation due to this farmers lost their fertile land. Many African family, they invested their money in the cattle, but send their cattle near the desert sand because of feeding. [INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY SERIES1, Page 243,258] The African society mainly dominated by patriarchy system, so the condition of women was so venerable. The women did not have any property right, even the girl child did not send to school. In Kenya the private ownership only acknowledged to the male members. The Kenya society totally male domination, even in the bureaucracy also effected by the male domination. Whatever policy took place in the bureaucratic level, the women did not include in that policy formulation. The bank also did not give lone to the female members of the family. Particularly any country or a society for their development, the both male and female participation should be necessary. But in Africa and Latin America society was totally mail domination. So it is the one of prime causes of underdevelopment. Hence the position of women have to develop as they have same capacity to generate wealth, and they also have rights to participate in the development process what ultimately help for the progress of nation building.Any society or nation comes in to sphere of underdevelopment due to several reasons, viz. hunger, poverty, unstable government and not solely from the backwardness. Same kind of situation was happening in Africa and Latin America. [The Crisis of African Development: Conflicting Interpretations and Resolutions., p. 527.] Immediately after independent many third world countries adopted some structural development, in the nation building process viz. road, port, hospital, new institution, education and high expenditure in the military sector. However these govt. expenditures remained consistently below those of high income countries. The foreign private investment and exim policy in the international market, But the market did not grow because of inherent corruption in the structure. The developed countries exported the heavy machinery, croups, clothing and food and the third world countries likes Africa and Latin America export the oil, gold and luxury item in the developed countries. We can closely observe how the underdeveloped countries exploit in the international market. The open market gave benefits to the rich developed or the rich countries. The Africa and Latin America did not gain any benefits from the open market and therefore the economy was shrunk. [Underdevelopment of Development, p. 301. Copyright  © 1996 by Sage Publications,] In the 19th century the Latin America society has had barbarism and the European cultural value influenced the Latin American culture. The elite saw the European domination in the society. In the second half of 19th century the Latin America excess the scientific knowledge and export the raw material and import the industrial products. [p. 150 Latin American past, present and future.] For the Latin America economy development, the United Nation Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA )laid the foundation for the economic analysis, empirical groundwork, and institutional support that would later inform the search for the bases of Latin American development. The ECLA scholar such as, Andre Gunder Frank, Raul Prebisch, Paul Baran, and Fernando Henrique Cardoso, combinely worked for the development of Latin America. Andre Gunder Frank gave the dependency theory. In his theory he says that, the capitalism generates the wealth so that, the underdeveloped nations they can interact in the capital global market. But the developed nations they settled down their industries in the underdeveloped reasons. In the open market process the underdeveloped nations they became loser, because the developed nations they settled industries in this poor reason. Extract the minerals and export in the world market. But they did not get benefits out of it. He studied the Chile and Braz il past and present history. This two countries histories reflect that, during the epochs of colonialism free trade, imperialism excess the wealth from this reason. At the present time also the free market capitalism exploit in the name of development. Fernando Henrique Cardoso one of the scholar, who among the ECLA group also gives the theory of dependency. How the poor nations became poorer, due to capitalism and free market the developed nations they access raw material in low price from the underdeveloped countries. Cardoso is a sociologist. He studied the socio economy condition of Latin America. He was the president of Brazil and earlier he worked as a economic minister for Brazil in 1980. [Underdevelopment of Development, p. 162. Copyright  © 1996 by Sage Publications.] After imperialist predominance were able to cope with the new situation by maintaining proprietorship of the local export economy in the hands of native bourgeoisies. Some countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile the export sectors controlled by the local bourgeoisie directly linked with productive sector and they gained their own benefits and create the hegemony. So the country was unable to overcome from the poverty. The Africa and Latin American countries has some regional conflicts and for which the neighboring country do not interact with its neighboring countries. For example, in Africa the Zimbabwe is a land lock country, so for its treading, it needed for treading communication through South African countries. But Zimbabwe did not get the permission. So these are the things which are create the situation for the underdevelopment. The World Bank and the IMF funding the finance for structural adjustment. But Africa and Latin American countries still underdevelopment. All the financial support are meet with failure, due to corruption and the institution were not capable to maintained the funds and the bureaucracy was corrupt too. So the World Bank and the IMF funds were not benefits for the development of the Africa and Latin America. But many scholar they criticizes the World Bank and IMF policies. Because these financing agencies, they saw their own benefits, and the return duration was 7 to 8 years and the interest rate was so high and how a country can sustain development within a sort period. Some scholar they said that, the world bank and the IMF work for the developed nation and it controlled by them. [ INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY SERIES1, p. 306. ] Immanuel Wallerstein criticizes the imperialism and he says that neo-imperialism creates its hegemony through open market. The USA and other developed nations they capture the global market and access the raw materials from the underdevelopment reasons, in the low price. So it is a new kind of colonialism settled through MNC and TNC. These agencies work for the developed nations and give the finance support to the underdeveloped countries for industrial development. [p. 355. underdevelopment of development] Conclusion The development and underdevelopment mainly based on the policies and more importantly the structural adjustment. But in Africa and Latin American countries suffered due to many causes, these two reasons have many disparity such as racial discrimination, gender discrimination and feudal base society and many other cause for underdevelopment in Africa and Latin American countries.

Huckleberry Finn Book Report :: essays research papers

THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN AUTHOR’S SKETCH Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. When Samuel Clemens was four years old, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri, where he spent his childhood. Clemens first approach to literature was through typesetting for a newspaper in 1851. At the time Orion, his brother, was a newspaper publisher in Hannibal. From 1857 until 1861, he served as the pilot of a riverboat on the Mississippi River. He later used this experience in creating his novels. His first writings appeared in a newspaper on February 2, 1863 under the pen name “Mark Twain.'; Clemens fell in love with Olivia Langdon and married her in 1870 after a long courtship. The Clemens’ family lived in Hartford, Connecticut from 1871 until 1891, the period of his best writing. In 1872, he published his first book, Roughing It. He published The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1876. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, considered his masterpiece of writing, was published in 1885. He received many honors and a great deal of recognition for his writings. Clemens died of Angina on April 21, 1910. MAIN CHARACTERS Huck Finn - the central character of the novel and the son of the town drunk. Jim - Miss Watson’s runaway slave whom Huck helps to gain his freedom. Pap - Huck’s father who comes back to town when he learns about the reward. Tom Sawyer – Huck’s friend who is about his same age. ELEMENTS OF PLOT (1) Setting The setting of Huckleberry Finn was in mid Eighteenth Century America. The first few chapters were set in St. Petersburg, Missouri. The town was patterned after Hannibal, Missouri, where Clemens spent his childhood. It is located on the Mississippi River about 80 miles from St. Louis, Missouri. Most of the novel’s setting is on the Mississippi River south of St. Petersburg. (2) Beginning Situation Huck Finn, a boy of about 12 years, was the son of the town drunk. Widow Douglas adopted him so that she could civilize him and raise him to be a gentleman. Huck did not like going to school, attending church or dressing up. Tom Sawyer, Ben Rogers, and Joe Harper were his friends at the local school. Huck and Tom found a treasure hidden by bank robbers and were allowed to keep six thousand dollars each, for themselves, as a reward. Huck’s father heard about his son’s treasure and returned to St.

Seal Team Six Memoirs of an Elite Navy Seal Sniper

The hiss Is that not everybody Is born to be a seal and If you are treated Like the author you will not have any better chances. The author Is very descriptive In the way he presents stones. One of his stories Involves him on a Nilsson to shoot a target from 500 yards away. The Reader feels Like they are standing over him as he talks about what Is going on around him. Even the way he describes what Is happening to the gun in the story is amazing. The author also is great at narrating, he adds in essential details to make all of the stories sound real and if an average reader wouldn't understand something it is explained short and sweetly.At the end of all of the stories the author makes a point to say that the missions and becoming a Navy Seal is hard and not recommended. In my mind the book was very interesting. Some parts most readers could have dealt with less detail such as his abusive childhood. The book was extremely accurate coming from a Navy Seals point of view. All of the m issions most readers have heard about have more details that the news couldn't tell you. To me the book was very important, I like to know what how someone could o through something like becoming a Navy Seal and how they survive.Every detail was important to the story because if the author didn't say what was said then the book could have been completely different. The author's arguments are very well said and I believe to be true. The reason is reading about everything he has gone though could not be repeated and ever come with the same result. He states very clearly in chapters about his childhood that beating your child will not make them a Navy Seal, So Don't Do It. Also it takes more mental strength to become a Navy Seal than hysterical strength.He says that in BUD's training he had seen the most physically strong bodies and the men who had them didn't last a week. This Is because of all the mind games that go on inside their heads. Mental strength Is what makes a Seal. This bo ok was very eye opening to what Is going on In the world around me. Some of the Issues are very interesting and I now know things I wouldn't have without reading this book. The author talks about many missions but the one I remember hearing about on the news was when the Somali pirates took over a ship and snipers shot all here of them.I had no Idea what went on behind the scenes of the mission. Like I TLD know that at night seals went Into the water or that the reason the boat was towed was because we offered to get the Somali pirates out of choppy water. I enjoyed learning about the different missions and how they were carried out. My opinion of the book is that it was well organized and I couldn't put the stories any toner way. I en cover AT ten KICK Is very appealing, It NAS an American Hag Ana Is very colorful. The layout of the book is superb. All of the stories are in the correct lace to make you want to keep reading.The only thing I would change is in the beginning of the bo ok there are a lot of intro pages and at the end of the book there is an unnecessary glossary. Considering everything, I enjoyed the book. I thought it was very interesting and fun to read. Some parts could have had less information (his childhood). Books like Seal Team Six are my favorite type of book. I enjoy the action and how the author makes you feel as if you are looking over his shoulder and can see and feel everything he does. I would suggest others read this book.

Digitizing Family Movies - Transfer Videotapes to DVD

Digitizing Family Movies - Transfer Videotapes to DVD Somewhere in your house is a box or drawer full of videotapes - aging home movies full of birthdays, dance recitals, holiday gatherings, a childs first steps and other special family moments. You havent watched the movies in years but, unfortunately, the years are still taking their toll. Heat, humidity and improper storage cause videotapes to deteriorate, decaying the magnetic particles that represent your precious family memories. By converting those old VHS tapes to digital form, you can effectively stop the deterioration in its tracks. It also allows you to use your computer to edit out the boring and blooper moments, add music or narration, and make extra copies for your family and friends. What You Need The basic requirements are easy- a computer and a camcorder or VCR which can play your old videotapes. Other important items youll need include a device to get the video in and out of your computer (video capture), the software to edit it, and a DVD-burner to copy the video onto DVDs. Video Capture HardwareTransferring videotape to DVD is actually pretty easy to do yourself, but will require some special hardware. Depending on your computer setup, you may already have what you need. Three major options for transferring footage from old videotapes to computer include: Transfer footage via a video cardTo transfer video footage to your computer youll need the right cables and hardware. If you have a newer computer, you may already have what you need. Check the back of your computer and follow the cord coming from your monitor. If you see multicolored (red, white and yellow) plugs on the same card, then youre in luck. With a RCA A/V (audio/video) cable youll be able to directly connect your video camera or VCR directly to your computer. If your video card also has a round S-Video jack, use a S-Video cable in place of the yellow RCA video input for superior video quality. If your video card doesnt have RCA input jacks, you can also choose to replace it with a new video card. Transfer footage via a video capture card or deviceA cheaper and often easier alternative to replacing the entire video card in your computer is to add a video capture card. Youll need an empty PCI slot in the back of your computer to install one. Alternatively, there are some wh ich will plug into an available USB slot, which is easier than having to open your computer to plug in the card. Video capture cards usually come with software on CD which will walk you through the steps of transferring video from your VCR or Camcorder to your computer. Transfer footage via a video capture cardIf your computer doesnt have a DVD burner, then the best solution may be to purchase an external DVD recorder. These connect to the computer via a USB port and have built-in video capture technology, allowing you to capture video, edit it, and burn it to DVD with a single device. Digital Video SoftwareIn conjunction with the hardware, youll also need special software to capture, compress and edit the video footage on your computer. The digital video software assists you with capturing the video from your video camera or VCR, and also allows you to cut/edit the footage or add fun special effects such as narration, transitions, menus and background music. In some cases, digital video software may have come with your video capture card or device. If not, there are a number of free video editing programs, such as Windows Movie Maker, that can perform some of these functions. If you want to get fancy, then programs such as Adobe Premiere Elements, Corel VideoStudio, Apples Final Cut and Pinnacle Studio make it easy to get your movies on DVD with professional results. Plenty of Hard Drive SpaceIt may not sound like a big deal, but the hard drive on your computer will need a lot of free space when youre working with video - as much as 12-14 gigabytes (GB) of space for every hour of footage you import. If you dont have that much space to spare, consider purchasing an external hard drive. You can get a 200MB external hard drive for less than $300 enough room for plenty of video, plus a place to backup your photos, genealogy and other files. Working with such large files means that youll also need a powerful computer. A fast processor (CPU) and plenty of memory (RAM) will make it much easier to transfer and edit video. Transfer Edit Your Video Whichever video capture option you use- a special video card, a video capture card or a DVD recorder - the steps for capturing and editing the video from your camcorder or VCR are basically the same: Make the connections. Connect the cords from the output jacks on your old camcorder (if it plays videotapes) or VCR to the input jacks on your video capture card or DVD recorder. Capture the video. Open your video software and select the import or capture option. The software should then walk you through the steps necessary for recording the video to your computer. Save the video at the highest quality possible. Old videotapes are already of poor enough quality, without further degrading the footage more than necessary during the compression process. If youre short on space, then capture, edit and burn small sections of video at a time. Once youve burned the resulting video to DVD you can delete it from your hard drive, freeing up space for more video transfer. Edit out unwanted footage. Once youve transferred the video to your computer you can edit and rearrange the scenes into a nice finished product. Most digital video editing software will have already automatically separated yo ur raw video footage into scenes, making it easy to shuffle things around. Now is also the time to delete the boring stuff and edit out dead time, like the 20 minutes of footage you took with the lens cap on! Generally, this process is as easy as drag and drop. You can eliminate choppiness in the final product by adding cool transitions from scene to scene, such as fades and page turns. Other special features you may want to play with include titles, photos, narration, menus and background music. Create Your DVD When youre satisfied with your edited movies, its time to transfer them to DVD. Again the software will walk you through the steps. Just as with import, youll probably be given a choice of quality settings. For the best image quality limit the video you save on a single DVD to an hour or less. Choose a high-quality DVD-R or DVDR disk (not the rewritable version) on which to burn your video. Make at least one backup copy as well, maybe more if you plan to delete the digital video from your computers hard drive. Other Options for Transferring Video to DVD If you dont have a computer, there are options available for transferring video to DVD, sans PC, using a DVD recorder unit. If you want to do any editing before burning to DVD, youll need a DVD recorder unit with a hard drive. Fancy editing is still best done on a computer, however. Alternatively, you can pay a professional to convert your VHS tapes to DVD, although this service doesnt usually come cheap.

Geometry and Its Relation to Video Games

Geometry and Its Relation to Video Games Free Online Research Papers The definition of the word â€Å"Geometry† is a surprisingly short one. The definition is the mathematics of the properties, measurement, and relationships of points, lines, angles, surfaces, and solids. It sounds like a fairly complete definition, but it really isn’t. Geometry expands on so much more than that. Geometry is everywhere in our every day lives. Everything we look at, every second of the day has at least some kind of geometric property to it, for example, the I-Pod you use everyday. That thing is chock-full of geometry. The screen is a rectangle, one of the most basic geometric shapes there is. The pixels that make up that screen are little squares which consist of 3 small rectangles facing vertically. The three rectangles use the 3 base colors, Red, Green, and Blue, which are individually lit at different brightness’s to create a shade of color, and all the other pixels on the screen work in conjunction with each other to produce one image on the screen. It’s a very fascinating subject. Without modern geometry, the I-pod wouldn’t exist, or if it did, it would most likely look far different from what it does now. Geometry is believed to have been discovered back in 30,000BC, by our ancient ancestors. It all started with Paleolithic peoples in central Europe and France recording numbers on bones. Then as the years went on, the Babylonians and the Egyptians had their own things going on as well. The Egyptians started using hieroglyphic numerals, and the Babylonians started using a sexagesimal number system for recording financial transactions. Then later, the abacus was developed, and more astounding events in mathematical history came to being. Video games have been using geometry for decades. They have been using them in abstract and non-abstract ways. The first games to use geometry were the old Two-Dimensional arcade games we all knew and love back in the late 70’s and 80’s. An example would be old school Atari, and another example would be the old NES. Those used simple 8-bit graphics systems which consisted of little squares of different colors, which when combined in the right fashion, created well defined shapes and characters. We also can’t forget about the old arcade games we used to play, like Battlezone, which came out in 1980. That game was heavily reliant on geometry. That game used little triangles, trapezoids, and squares to create Three-Dimensional looking tanks and objects. There is also another golden oldie that most people know about and play more than once a week. The game is called Tetris. It was originally conceived by a man named Alexey Pajitnov, and was released in 1985. It is a favorite amongst many people across the world. It involves using irregular geometric shapes created by sequences of squares joined together. The objective is to form an uninterrupted line of squares across one area of the playing field to continue the game, and get points. You can rotate these shapes to have them fit into the empty gaps the way you want them to, in order to strategically form a line. This game used geometry in a very simple way, but nowadays geometry is used in a far, far more sophisticated way than ever before. Now we have Pixel Shaders, Anisotropic Filtering, and Dynamic Shadows and the huge multitude of complex things that make modern video games, such as Call of Duty 3 or the upcoming title, â€Å"Crysis†, look as good as they do. With the upgrades in hardware that game consoles have received over the years, it’s no surprise to the tech geeks, and non-geeks alike, that games are looking more and more lifelike every day. With these huge advances in hardware technology, it brings whole new ways to the table, to utilize geometry towards the development of video games. A video game will start off as a concept, then advance into the first few lines of code that start its primary development. A video game cannot become a video game unless it has a graphics engine. The graphics engine consists of all the lines of code and data needed in order to make use of all this amazing hardware technology and most importantly, geometry. The way geometry is used, is actually simpler than it seems. First it starts out with the Software Development Kit that is used to make the game. The artists who use the Software Development Kit have to create the Maps, or Environments that the player will be playing in through the duration of the game. Everything in a video game starts out as a wire frame model. This wire frame model is made up of a huge multitude of polygons. The amount of polygons in the model depends on the complexity of the graphics engine and what platform the game is intended for. For example, a game that is to be released on the Xbox360 would have a lot of polygons in the models. A game to be released on the Playstation2 would have a much lower amount of polygons in the models because there is far less rendering power in the Playstation2 than there is in the Xbox360. It takes a lot of power to render all those polygons and texture them, and add all the lighting for the environment, and add shaders, and everyt hing that goes into making a final output image. The characters of the video game go through a very similar process. They are all made up of a wire frame as well. These are called player models. Player Models have the thousands of polygons, the other models do not. There are fewer polygons around the leg area, fewer around the stomach, but far, far more as you go up and once you get to the face you won’t be able to count them anymore. There used to be very few polygons in Player Models. As the years went on however, the amount of polygons kept increasing to the beautiful graphics we have today. Geometry is also used in movies too. In order to create the mind blowing special effects we see in Sci-Fi films, the same principles are used. You use a Software Development kit, and then you create a wire frame model of what you want to do, then finish it by adding lighting and shaders to the scene, and texturing your wire frame. This has been a procedure used by all the special effects companies such as Industrial Light and Magic and Weta Digital. One of the first major CGI characters to use geometry in order for it to come to the screen was the water face in the movie called, â€Å"The Abyss†. It was revolutionary It’s amazing how much geometry there is in this world, and how much of it we don’t notice. It’s not like we neglect to notice, we just can’t notice because of all of our other daily concerns whether it be getting to work on time, or just simply going to sleep. There is so much to still be discovered in Geometry; uses for it, new shapes, and many other things. It is just a matter of time before we discover it all, and there is nothing left. Research Papers on Geometry and It’s Relation to Video GamesThe Hockey GameAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsCapital PunishmentMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductThe Project Managment Office SystemResearch Process Part OneTrailblazing by Eric AndersonThe Spring and AutumnHip-Hop is Art

The Nature and Mission of the Church in the Twenty

The Nature and Mission of the Church in the Twenty The progress of the human thought cannot be stopped, and it is associated with a lot of changes in the spheres of the people’s life which are traditionally discussed as invariable and their aspects as constant. This statement was considered as relevant for analysing the elements of religion and faith during a long period of time.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Nature and Mission of the Church in the Twenty-First Century specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the 20th century brought significant changes to all the spheres of the person’s everyday life, including the issue of spirituality and morality. From this point, the Catholic Doctrine was rethought according to the tendencies of the modern life in the middle part of the 20th century. The triggers of the process could be observed even earlier when the representatives of the intelligence had concentrated on the problem of understanding the rol e of the Church in the life of a Christian in the 19th century. The approaches to the question which were typical for the Middle Ages were inappropriate for the discussion of the issue in the new era. In spite of the fact the major norms and exegeses of the role of the Church for the Christians remained unchanged after the Second Vatican Council and its decision, the way of interpretation was altered significantly. Being a witness to Christ, the present-day Church has the sacramental nature, but its mission is to be intelligible for everyone as the part of the real world; to serve everyone and support people on their way to Christ and salvation. The nature and mission of the Church in the 21st century is associated with the long history of the Church’s development during the centuries, but today the role of the Church and its elements should be discussed with references to the modern reality. Moreover, it is possible to state that the role of the Church depends on changes in society. To discuss the problem, it is important to focus on such an aspect as the sacramental character and nature of the Church which does not change, but new interpretations are added to the understanding of the concept. The Second Vatican Council emphasised the Church and its character as sacramental. To understand the fact, it is necessary to refer to the notion of a sacrament.Advertising Looking for essay on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Thus, Gleeson states that the main elements of Christianity have the sacramental character because it is common to discuss Christ, the Church, or the Eucharist as sacraments along with the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church (Gleeson, 2004, p. 1). Sacraments can be analysed from many perspectives and acquire different meanings according to the deepness of the person’s understanding the concept. That is why, it is possible to explain a sacrament as a sign of God’s presence. The Church as a living witness to Christ is one of the main sacraments because it can be discussed as the place and notion in relation to which God’s presence is real. Stating that God is present in the Church, people state the sacramental nature of the Church. The sacramental nature of the Church is also based on the aspect that a concept of sacrament is closely connected with the concept of mystery in relation to the character of the Church (Noll, 2006, p. 39). The Church is the mystery as the reflection of God’s will in the world, and the Church is the main sacrament because the presence of God in the world is associated with the nature of the Church, basing on the notion of mystery. Focusing on the rethought mission of the Church as the necessity to be an instrument for the people’s salvation, to serve them according to the aspects of reality and to be intelligible, it is important to discuss this interpretation characteri stic for the 20th and 21st centuries with references to the earlier visions of the issue. The Church the norms and rules of which were presented with references to the Council of Trent could be characterised as the hierarchical institution based on dogmas and laws. The connection of the Church with reality also depended on the hierarchical approach. Being an institution, the Church concentrated on its role and position, but not on the real service for the public.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Nature and Mission of the Church in the Twenty-First Century specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More From this point, the universal position was more important than the local connection between the Church and people from the definite territory (McBrien, 1994). The orientation to the public in relation to the locality as the aspect of the real world became possible during the 20th century. What is the most controversial interpret ation of the Church’s mission presented by the Second Vatican Council? In his work, Drumm concentrates on the problem of the people of God, and this issue is closely associated with the aspect of connecting the Church with the real life and with the idea of salvation. It was stated earlier that people look to Christ to find the salvation. Moreover, the Church is the community of the people called by God. From this perspective, it is important to belong to the Church to be saved because the Church has the special meaning for the salvation. Nevertheless, Drumm accentuates that according to the present-day interpretation of the Church’s role, Christianity can be discussed from the point of an individual and the fact of belonging to the Church is not significant because the Church serves for all the people in spite of their status of belonging to it (Drumm, 1998). Thus, this change in the interpretation can be discussed as the shift to focusing on the people’s spiri tuality and individuals’ salvation, but on the Church as the institution with its strict norms. The service for all the people is more important today because of the real practical character of the Church revealed with the help of this role. That is why, it is possible to speak about Christianity and, as a result, the Church as the product of marketing. McGrath claims that the American approach to the aspects of Christianity is associated with the marketing strategies the main objective of which is to gain the definite benefits (McGrath, 2002, p. 46). However, Phan connects the similar aspects with the problem of pluralism as it develops in the American society actively influencing all the spheres of the people’s life, including their visions of religion and spirituality (Phan, 2007).Advertising Looking for essay on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Thus, discussing the new approaches to explaining the nature and mission of the Church presented according to the Second Vatican Council, it is possible to refer to the new interpretations as to new products which are necessary for the people in the 20th-21st centuries. The Church acquired more connections with reality not only when the texts of the Mass were translated but also when the presence of God in the Church and Christ in the world were emphasised, depending on the Church’s mission to serve for all the people in spite of their belonging to the Church. The mission of the Church in the society of the 21st century is a rather provocative question. Nevertheless, many researchers associate the Church as the influential instrument for affecting the people’s vision of morality which functions basing on a tradition. Birch and Rasmussen discuss the church as â€Å"a bearer of tradition† (Birch Rasmussen, 1989, p. 127). From this point, the Church is significant for leading the people on their moral paths where the Church provides them with the necessary knowledge of the moral norms and traditions and the understanding of the good and evil. According to Darragh, the role of the Church for the development of the people’s morality is based on the definite tradition. From this perspective, the Church gives the person such a possibility to grow morally because the Church is associated with such a kind of tradition in relation to the principles of the practical theology (Darragh, 2007). From the point of the Church’s impact on the public’s morality, the changes in discussing the Church as a sacrament brought the changes to the people’s understanding the norms of ethics. The world associated with the religion became Christ-centred, but not the Church-centred as it was earlier (Drumm, 1998). Moreover, the significance of following moral norms and rules is based in the modern world on the individual’s viewpoint o n the problem which is influenced by the theory about virtues, but it is not determined by strict laws proclaimed by the Church (Lovin, 2000). The Church of the New Testament was oriented toward being an institution, proclaiming hierarchy and universalism. The Church of the 20th-21st centuries is oriented toward faith and religion as the necessary aspects of the social culture and individual’s spirituality (Lennan, 1998). Today, self-expression in following the moral norms according to the Christian ethics is more significant for people than the usage of rules and laws which are not intelligible and unconnected with reality. Reforms in discussing the role of the Church were important for the people because the aspects of their religious life should also be correlated with the events in the real world. The changes in interpreting the mission and the role of the Church in comparison with the discussion based on the earlier explanation of the New Testament can be summarised with determining witness, worship, and service as the main aspects of the Church’s role (Noll, 2006, p. 37-38). The Second Vatican Council shifted the accents from understanding the Church as the hierarchical institution which was rather opposite to the real world to presenting the Church as the base for the people’s salvation and for the everyday life dependent on the ethical norms and rules. It is important to note that several centuries ago the meaning of the texts of the Mass was almost unavailable for the people because of the absence of translation. Moreover, the strict hierarchy of the Church’s authority and their power made people discuss the Church as a specific institution but not as the community of those people who are united to follow the Word of God. Thus, the reforms and differences in interpreting the basic principles associated with the role of the Church proposed by the Second Vatican Council were important for the Christians. The Word of God, the celebration of the Sacraments, the importance of service were determined along with the other significant points. Furthermore, the Church is a witness of Christ because Christ declared the Kingdom of God, and the Church was discussed as associated with the presence of God (Lennan, 1998). Joining the Church, people started their way to find the salvation. From this point, the mystery of the Church is discussed in the context of God’s will and the notion of sacrament. To conclude, the main changes in interpreting the nature and mission of the Church in the 21st century in comparison with the earlier variants of their explanation are based on the tendencies in interpreting the presence of God in the world and the issue of salvation. Today, each Christian is discussed as the person who can share the sacraments as the signs of God’s presence in the world. The fact of belonging to the Church is not as important as it was earlier with references to the person’s individ ual approach to his or her spirituality and following moral norms. Thus, the Church is a sacrament, and the sacramental nature is accentuated by the mission of the Church to serve for all the people in relation to their salvation. According to its role, the Church became the part of the real world which supports people during their way to Christ. The Church should be also discussed as the community in which all the people have the opportunity to reach the holiness as the part of salvation. References Birch, B. C., Rasmussen, L. L. (1989). Bible and ethics in the Christian life. USA: Augsburg. Darragh, N. (2007). The practice of practical theology: Key decisions and abiding hazards in doing practical theology. Retrieved from http://aejt.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/395736/AEJT_9.9_Darragh_Practice.pdf Drumm, M. (1998). Modern trends in sacramental theology. Retrieved from http://theology1.tripod.com/readings/Michael_Drum.pdf Gleeson, B. (2004). Symbols and sacraments: Their hu man foundations. Retrieved from http://aejt.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/395674/AEJT_2.10_Gleeson_Symbols_and_Sacraments.pdf Lennan, R. (1998). An introduction to Catholic theology. New York, NJ: Paulist Press. Lovin, R. W. (2000). Christian ethics: An essential guide. USA: Abingdon Press. McBrien, R. P. (1994). Catholicism: New study edition. USA: HarperCollins. McGrath, A. E. (2002). The future of Christianity. USA: Blackwell Publishing. Noll, R. R. (2006). Sacraments: A new understanding for a new generation. New London, CT: Twenty-Third Publications. Phan, P. (2007). Evangelization in a culture of pluralism: Challenges and opportunities. Retrieved from http://aejt.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/378591/AEJT_9.1_Phan_Evangelization.pdf

Ethics Class- Euthanasia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Ethics Class- Euthanasia - Essay Example The article also takes a stand in favor of passive euthanasia, under certain guidelines and conditions only. Definition of euthanasia and key terms attached to it: Euthanasia is derived from a Greek word that means ‘good death’ (eu- good and thanatos- death). It is actually a practice adopted to terminate the life of terminally ill patients so as to end their suffering, which is intractable and unbearable. As Cundiff frames it, â€Å"the decision to allow a terminally ill person to die usually comes after multiple treatments have failed to cure or control a patient’s disease and the prognosis is poor. Patients themselves, and family members, begin to appreciate that further heroic treatment would only prolong suffering and dying and not give a realistic chance at remission or recovery (Cundiff, p.3)1. The American Medical Associations Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs defines the term as follows "Euthanasia is commonly defined as the act of bringing about the death of a hopelessly ill and suffering person in a relatively quick and painless way for reasons of merc y. In this report, the term euthanasia will signify the medical administration of a lethal agent to a patient for the purpose of relieving the patients intolerable and incurable suffering† (cited in Le Baron, Definitions)2. There are two main forms of euthanasia in practice, voluntary and involuntary euthanasia. Voluntary euthanasia is performed with the consent of the sufferer. It may be in the form of a written directive or it may also be given as advance directions, to be performed later. Involuntary euthanasia is performed without the consent of the patient and is done with the permission of the closest relative of the sufferer. The other forms of euthanasia are active euthanasia and passive euthanasia and assisted suicide. Active euthanasia involves mercy

Poverty across cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Poverty across cultures - Essay Example The monitory need for the basic needs is what falls under the group. Bodily poverty refers to lack of physical health and access to health living condition. Mental poverty is the lack of thinking which affects the access to education and knowledge (Ravallion 368). Cultural poverty refers to the lack of coming together in a society leading to a disconnect between individuals in the society. Political poverty refers to the inability to understand the difference and how political systems work leading to neglect of rights such as the right to vote. The above descriptions illustrate the diverse understanding of poverty in the society (Ravallion 368). Despite the differences, all the definitions refer to lack of access to something that may make life better or easier. Poverty has been used in the society to define the inability to meet basic needs of the society with its effect being adverse in the society. Poverty affects the society at both individual and society levels. The inability to meet the basic needs may force individuals to turn to criminal activities, which in turn create insecurity which becomes as a social problem. Poverty and relationship development Poverty affects mental development, which in turn affects development and relationships. Many believe that poverty is all about money, but the thought is wrong because poverty is complex and covers a myriad of issues that affect personality and in turn affect the society. Under mental reasoning, poverty is defined as a chronic mind/body condition influenced and propagated by negative thinking. The situation is made worse if the situation involves other types of poverty affecting other spheres of health. Children brought up in poverty stricken family exhibit different character because of their brain adapt the suboptimal conditions. However, the brain changes every day allowing children from poverty stricken families succeed in life. From research carried out by Jerry, the cognitive development of children is affected by poverty. Children from poverty develop impaired exposure to critical enrichment factors. The situation is same in adulthood as witnessed in the story narrated by Gorge Orwell in the Down and out from Paris to London. The main character in the story argues that why should one waste sleep because of the murder? (Orwell 67). The statement illustrates the lack of societal values in the society. The main focus of the whole incident is on how sleep is valuable than the murder witnessed. Such reasoning indicates the effect of poverty in the development of values in life. Amazing comment of the narrator is on being back to sleep within three minutes. The generalization to justify the action by stating that they are working people, and there is no need to waste sleep on such issue is a consolation argument. The development of relationship with the society is evident by how the narrator reacts on the witnessed murder case (Orwell 234). Poverty affects the values of the individu al by influencing the values esteemed. These values affect personal relationship development. According to Jerry, parent from poverty use different vocabulary every day, but the number and complexity of the vocabulary used are few and less complicated compared to families with greater income. The success of the argument can be supported by the level of vocabulary used by the narrator in describing situations encountered in life. The effect of pover

Finding Home in Food Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Finding Home in Food - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that since his teenage years, Western food has been a source of great attraction and enjoyment to the author. Fast food like burger and pizza had become his favorite since his teenage days. Eating pizza was one of the most pleasurable activities in his young days. The researcher has remembered going to a pizza joint near his school every weekend. Although it was not considered good by his family to have fast food, he used to love it. The author was discouraged from going to these joints. However, he used to manage going there with his friends on weekends. The researcher’s memories are filled with the fun and enjoyment that he has had while going to the fast food joints. He loved the cheese, different toppings and the starters that were all made in a Western way. Going to pizza joints made him feel that he was ‘modern’ in his outlook. For the author, eating fast food was like being a part of the ‘developed’ w orld. He used to look forward to going to pizza joints and enjoy the pizzas. So when the researcher got a chance to travel to the United States, he thought that he was going to have the greatest time in his life. The author knew that it is the country where burgers and pizzas are found in great varieties and sizes. Moreover, there was no one to stop him from having it. So he thought that his time in the USA will be filled with great entertainment and fun. The author thought that he will not miss his home much. However, his journey to the United States proved his thinking completely wrong.... I had thought that fast food is one thing that I cannot live without. Soon I realized that I was wrong. By the fifth day, I started remembering home food. My mind started dwelling on home made food and beverages. On that day, I told my friends that I will order the pizza. I took the number for nearby pizza joint and called them. I went outside my room to avoid my friends from listening to me. When I became sure that no one was listening, I asked the guy on the other end, â€Å"Do you have pizzas with Asian toppings?† The customer care guy gave a long â€Å"mmmmmmm† and said â€Å"No sir, we don’t.† I was quite disappointed and ordered the usual pizza. By this time, i.e. in just five to six days from the time I arrived, I had lost my enthusiasm towards fast food. I was craving for spices and variety in food. Even then I thought that maybe I am feeling home sick and hence, missing the food. I thought that if I have just one dish of Asian food, I will go back to the fast food with the same enthusiasm. However, my heart was saying something else. Fortunately, the confusion between the mind and the heart was cleared very soon. The next day, one of my distant relatives came to visit me. She brought a big Tiffin box full of Biryani, an Asian dish made of rice, chicken and spices, for me and my friends. She said she thought that home made food will make me feel at home. I said it is nothing like that, and that I am quite used to the Western food. My friends coughed to hide their laughter. After all, there was no strength in my statement. They had realized that I was craving for home made food now. However, as I did not want to lose the challenge, I tried my best to hide the truth.

Creation and Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Creation and Science - Essay Example For example, considering Hegel’s The Phenomenology of Spirit we see that everything exists is reasonable in this world is reasonable, vice versa everything reasonable exists. And all this happens because there is some Absolute Spirit, which makes everything rationally matched. Doesn’t it look like the Intelligent Design Theory? The theory explains that â€Å"many features of the natural world, particularly biological structures, are too complex to be explained by naturalistic causes and, thus, can only be explained as products of an intelligent designer – i.e., God† (Clark, et. al. 2007). The point is that this theory is some kind of combination of religion and science, a method of reconciliation of the two approaches to discovering creation of the world. Scientific development of 18-19th centuries showed that people started trying to avoid God as prime cause of the universe. Empiricists focused their attention on the method aimed to reveal all the mysteri es. In fact these methodological changes in research led to the great variety of theories, which denied God’s existence. But even though they denied it, there still were a lot of phenomena scientists weren’t able to explain. Darwin’s revolutionary theory of natural selection claims that human beings are just a result of evolution and struggle of certain species for existence, which caused creation of human race. It turns out that Darwin didnt need God to create the universe, and his theory is considered to be the most popular scientific theory of the origin of species, including humans. But when we talk about creation, we consider not only human beings and their origins; also we broaden our research trying to find the origins of every part of this universe, animated and inanimate nature. The most famous theory of creation is the one that was described in Genesis, the very first book of Bible. It is said in the narration that God made

What role does sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) play in wars, Essay

What role does sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) play in wars, and how can peace processes best respond to it - Essay Example Therefore, it is sexual contacts without individuals consent to torture that involves the genitalia (ICRC, 2013). A couple of elements make some people more vulnerable to sexual violence than others. Gender, age and situation posed upon the victims, are some of these factors. Women have been found more vulnerable than men possibly due to their physicality and elements like biased cultures that exploit their vulnerability. Men and boys have been found vulnerable to the events of detention and seclusion. Sexual and gender-based violence comes with severe implications during and post the particular acts. Victims are physically harmed, are traumatized psychologically, and sustain sexually transmitted infections, and such scenarios result in death in some incidences. The survivors deal with stigmatization in the society and may experience rejection. Sexual and gender-based violence have been found to play a key role during wars in many parts of the society. There are established peace pro cesses to address it. The world has witnessed combatants commit these injustices to vulnerable victims during armed conflict. Such incidences have been documented in the world featuring those in Syria, Rwanda, DRC Congo, Cambodia, Haiti, Bangladesh and many other places. Therefore, we can identify the role of these acts in wars and understand how well to address them. Media houses have reported massive rape crisis in Syria, an element that has illuminated the role of sexual violence during armed conflicts. The government forces in Syria have been documented as using rape as one of their military tactics to handle those communities that are affiliated with the rebels (Kerry Crawford, 2014). The act would instill fear in such communities and thus chose to withdraw their loyalty towards the rebel. The government is taking advantage of their vulnerability to suit its needs and agenda. The deeds are degrading to

The Truth about Rap Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Truth about Rap Music - Essay Example The Home Affairs Committee of Great Britain’s Parliament debated whether or not rap music had a positive influence on Britain’s youth. Ultimately, the Home Affairs Committee agreed that rap music like any other type of music could incite criminal behavior. However, the Committee acknowledged that given rap music’s appeal to the youth, has been used productively. For instance pastors have been using some of the more exciting genre of rap to inspire Britain’s youth and to influence positive behavior. Great Britain’s Youth Offending Teams are also using rap music that could have a positive and encouraging impact on troubled youth (Great Britain Parliament 2007, p. 127). Positive rap does not draw the kind of media attention that gangsta or materialistic rap draws and this accounts for general perceptions that rap music is corrosive and inciting. Rap artists such as De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Common, Wyclef and Talib Kweli use rap lyrics tha t promote education, responsibility and pride in ethnicity. In this regard, positive rap contributes to the individual listener’s own personal value and to the good of that listener’s own humanity (Elligan 2004, p. 43).

Creation and Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Creation and Science - Essay Example For example, considering Hegel’s The Phenomenology of Spirit we see that everything exists is reasonable in this world is reasonable, vice versa everything reasonable exists. And all this happens because there is some Absolute Spirit, which makes everything rationally matched. Doesn’t it look like the Intelligent Design Theory? The theory explains that â€Å"many features of the natural world, particularly biological structures, are too complex to be explained by naturalistic causes and, thus, can only be explained as products of an intelligent designer – i.e., God† (Clark, et. al. 2007). The point is that this theory is some kind of combination of religion and science, a method of reconciliation of the two approaches to discovering creation of the world. Scientific development of 18-19th centuries showed that people started trying to avoid God as prime cause of the universe. Empiricists focused their attention on the method aimed to reveal all the mysteri es. In fact these methodological changes in research led to the great variety of theories, which denied God’s existence. But even though they denied it, there still were a lot of phenomena scientists weren’t able to explain. Darwin’s revolutionary theory of natural selection claims that human beings are just a result of evolution and struggle of certain species for existence, which caused creation of human race. It turns out that Darwin didnt need God to create the universe, and his theory is considered to be the most popular scientific theory of the origin of species, including humans. But when we talk about creation, we consider not only human beings and their origins; also we broaden our research trying to find the origins of every part of this universe, animated and inanimate nature. The most famous theory of creation is the one that was described in Genesis, the very first book of Bible. It is said in the narration that God made

The Truth about Rap Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Truth about Rap Music - Essay Example The Home Affairs Committee of Great Britain’s Parliament debated whether or not rap music had a positive influence on Britain’s youth. Ultimately, the Home Affairs Committee agreed that rap music like any other type of music could incite criminal behavior. However, the Committee acknowledged that given rap music’s appeal to the youth, has been used productively. For instance pastors have been using some of the more exciting genre of rap to inspire Britain’s youth and to influence positive behavior. Great Britain’s Youth Offending Teams are also using rap music that could have a positive and encouraging impact on troubled youth (Great Britain Parliament 2007, p. 127). Positive rap does not draw the kind of media attention that gangsta or materialistic rap draws and this accounts for general perceptions that rap music is corrosive and inciting. Rap artists such as De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Common, Wyclef and Talib Kweli use rap lyrics tha t promote education, responsibility and pride in ethnicity. In this regard, positive rap contributes to the individual listener’s own personal value and to the good of that listener’s own humanity (Elligan 2004, p. 43).

Global Economy Essay Example for Free

Global Economy Essay Below is a list of essay questions, the ONE question that you will be required to write on will be chosen from the list below. 1. Identify a current international political or economic issue and write on the cause(s) and impact globally. (500 word limit) 2. Select one project you have worked on in the past and write an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the execution, including an assessment of your own contribution. (500 word limit) 3. Identify a key industry leader in Nigeria today and give reasons why you admire this person and outline the person’s contributions to the economy and society. 4. What is the relevance of the MBA degree in the current business environment? Is the degree necessary for success? If you miss this examination or would like to do the GMAT instead, you have until June 28, 2013 to submit your GMAT score in order to have an interview scheduled for you. For details of the GMAT, please visit www. mba. com I wish you all the best. Regards, Nubi Achebo (Dr. ) MBA Director

Building Rapport in Community Setting

Building Rapport in Community Setting Clint B. Magbago Introduction This written report is all about cultural assortment which is also relating to or including many different cultures. To give you an idea what this written report is all about, it is having a heart and mind that concede, accepts, values and celebrates other ways in which people live and interact all over the world. Everybody is embraced by cultural diversity at any rates of their cultural differences. People are harmonious by cultural diversity over common phase that includes acceptance, well-being, security, esteem and physical, emotional and spiritual neutrality. FILIPINO CULTURE The Filipino culture consists of a variety of different cultures. These cultures vary from different places in the country. Although there are many cultures, there are common practices practiced by the Filipinos. Firstly, Filipino people commonly use the words Mano Po. Mano is a Spanish word for hand while Po is used in the end of the sentence when addressing elders or superiors. (Filipino Customs And Traditions) This implicates a show of respect to elderly people. Mano po is done by putting the right back hand of the elderly on the forehead of the younger ones. This also means that a blessing is given by the elderly people. Secondly, Filipinos have their unique traits of Family close ties. It is one of the outstanding cultural values that Filipinos have. The family takes care of each other and is taught to be loyal to family and elders by simply obeying their authorities. (Traditional Culture And Modern Culture: Mans Fall From Grace) One of the good examples is having a family reuni on during temporal and religious holidays like Christmas, fiestas, holy week, wedding, birthdays and many more where all the relatives are invited regardless of the number of people going. This means that Filipino culture is not only a traditional practice but also in the spiritual aspects of family bonding. Lastly, we Filipinos are very romantic. When it comes to dating, a traditional dry run is done where a man serenades a woman. In our language, it is called harana. Harana is one of the most popular forms of courtship to show that a man is very serious with his intentions to a woman. (Filipino Customs and Traditions) The young man will sing a love song in front of the ladys house. The man usually brings an instrument like guitar or sometimes it is done in acapella. You will figure out if the woman has the same feelings if she opens their windows when the young man started to sing. It also shows a sign of respect to the man who is serenading. In addition, the parents of the woman must be there to entertain the man after serenading. Usually, he is offered with food and drink. Getting to know the mans intentions, the family tends to ask questions and decide whether he is fit for the hand of their daughter. FILIPINO BELIEFS When it comes to religion, the Philippines are one of the large catholic cluster in Asia. Filipinos believe that having a strong devotion may lead to a better life and their guidance to face everyday life. (Filipino Customs And Traditions) Some Filipinos go to church every Sundays, others go twice or thrice a week depends on their devotion and how they reflect their self. Filipinos have a strong faith and belief when it comes to religion. One good example of this is Sinulog where it is a feast of Jesus Christ when he was a small child and is celebrated in Cebu City, Philippines during the 3rd Sunday of January. Different people of different countries and different places in the Philippines are all gathered together to witness the festival of the saint. They usually do the sinulog dance where they dance together with the statue of a small Jesus Christ in the street. With this celebration some people may risk their lives because of too many people gathered in the street, some are exhau sted and others are cannot breath. On worst case scenarios, it may cause a stampede. Moreover, there is another event like this, namely the feast of the black Nazarene (in Quiapo Manila) where many people wanted to touch the statue with their small handkerchief in hopes of transferring the blessing and luck from the statue. This can be a bit dangerous since thousands of people are gathered around the statue. On the other hand Filipinos also believe in superstitions. These beliefs are nabes of our culture, for one make out their beliefs from the leverage of what their customs, they charge culture and traditions to discuss anonymous or try to affright the people. Some are practiced primarily because Filipinos believe that there is nothing to lose if they will comply with these beliefs. (Filipino Customs And Traditions) it is thought by our distinct ancestors that there are other different living things that still exist in our world that we do not see in our own naked eye, and we need to respect them for us to be free from harm or any possible danger. FILIPINO COSTUMS AND VALUES Filipino people have a different variety of taste when it comes to food. We also have different specialty from different regions of the Philippines where they made unique types of lovely and tasty cuisine, but there is this one well known type of food where you can see it any every occasions. Filipinos call it lechon. It is a roasted pig that most Filipinos love because of the crispy and crunchy skin and the belly part that has a fantastic taste. It is delicious because all of the ingredients are put inside the belly of the pig that allows it to ooze out and spread all throughout the body. In addition Filipinos like to eat, we have this unique diet that came up to a six meals a day and some are eating midnight snack before going to sleep. RUSSIAN CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS On the other hand, there are many different cultures that are migrating here in Auckland. One of this is the Russian people but they have lesser number of population. They have an organization here that celebrates their own unique custom and traditions. As what I have observed, Russian people here in Auckland they have this irrational attitude so dont ever give try to reason out to them because it will never work for them. They have this chaos belief, serendipity, and adaptation. (Russian Customs And Traditions). In addition, they prize generosity, they can have you their final meal they have if they take that you really require it. So if you are in need they will help you as long as they can, but you have to give back in return. Moreover Russian people also are quite emotional if they have problems. They will keep it to themselves thats why Russians are prone to suicidal attempts. They are also very respectful to women especially to old women. If there are gathering and they invited you, you must bring some present like beer or something that can contribute. Furthermore, Russian people dont talk too much to strangers, but they are a very good friend when you know them better. Russians are not racist; we were grown up in the world, where everybody is equal and where the friendship of nations is an important part of our agenda. (Russian Customs And Traditions). If encountered with a different looking person, Russians tend to stare at people. But, this does not mean that they are judging the person, it is so because they see the person is different and they havent seen one in their country. In addition Russian people also believe in force field, for example the sunlight, they set stored by giving to them a good mood and nice feeling. TWO STRATIGIES ON HOW TO BUILD TRUST AND RAPPORT I think in dealing with this kind of culture is not easy for me to do but there are plenty of ways to catch their attention and established rapport. Firstly, you must accept their culture so that you will know and understand their way of living. In this way, we will be able to understand and interact easily with them. Secondly, you must introduce yourself properly and explain to them what your intentions are because they are cautious when it comes to strangers. Knowing each other is simplest way in establishing trust and rapport to one another. CONCLUSION In conclusion, there are no boundaries of getting to know other cultures, worried no more as long as you know its limitations and able to deal, understand, accept, and respect each culture as we encountered in our daily journey. REFERENCES Filipino Customs And Traditions. Vigattin Tourism (ARTICLES) Philippines. N.p., 2017. Web. 29 Jan. 2017. Russian Customs And Traditions. Way to Russia Guide. N.p., 2017. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.

Carrying A Concealed Weapon, In California, Is A Threat To Society Essa

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Matilda Crabtree, 14, was shot and killed by her father when she jumped from the closet and yelled ‘BOO’ to scare her parents; her last words were, ‘I love you, daddy.†(Rottenberg 87) Laws that regulate carrying concealed weapons (CCW) have been wildly debated in the California and the US. There have mainly been two different types of laws. One is a type of legislation known as â€Å"may need† laws, which issues licenses to people who are in absolute need of carrying a concealed weapon. The other is known as â€Å"shall use† laws, which is a lot more lenient for people and makes it easier for the general public to get a gun. This law gives state authorities to issue concealed weapon licenses to any adult who does not have a felony conviction or history of mental illness. The use of firearms is justifiable only when a person is threatened with serious bodily injury. It does not mean that if a person is stealing your system from your car, you can shoot them. Legalizing concealed weapons to the general public is a direct attack on society’s safety in public places. Too many people will resort to force instead of a chance to runaway; everyone would rather be a hero. At the moment there are 31 states in the United States that permit people to possess a concealed weapon; California is not one of them. Carrying a concealed weapon is a threat to society because there have been too many accidents, concealed weapon laws might cause criminals to act more violently, and finally carrying concealed weapons might stimulate violent confrontation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Shall use† CCW laws do not cut down the amount of gun violence. Even though these laws are pretty recent, studies show that more carefree concealed weapon laws will not decrease the amount of gun related violence. Based on data collected from three states, University of Maryland researchers David McDowall, Colin Loftin, and Brian Wiersema found that the homicide rates did not significantly drop in these states following the adoption of Concealed Carry Laws. Instead, in three of the five cities studied these researchers found a statistically significant increase in the rate of gun related homicides - 74% in Jacksonville, 43% in Jackson, and 22% in Tampa (Ford 65).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Carrying a concealed weapon creates a false sense of security and diverts attent... ...nal, even when well-trained police officers are involved. The idea that poorly trained, self-appointed vigilantes are running through our streets looking to become heroes, should not make any of us feel safer. Arming a society does not create civility nor does it produce solutions to gun violence. We cannot solve our society’s disease of violence by arming ourselves with the epidemic. Work Sited Fisherman, Steve (1993, October). â€Å"What You Know About Guns Can Kill You,† Vogue, 32-38. Ford, Liam T.A. (1994, August/September). â€Å"Gunning for Change,† Reason, 64-66 Kirchner, Paul (1994, February). â€Å"Defending Gun Ownership,† Chronicles, available from 934 N. Main St., Rockford, IL. 61103-7061 Reese, Charley (1996, January). â€Å"You Can’t Beat an (Armed) Woman,† Conservative Chronicle, available from Box 29, Hampton, IA. 50441. Rottenberg, Annette T. (1997). Cease fire advertisement. The Structure of Argument. Boston: Bedford Books a division of St. Martin’s Press Inc. Sojourners (1994, March). â€Å"Annie Get Your Gun,† available from 2401 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009. Voll, Daniel (1995, March). â€Å"The Right to Bear Sorrow,† Esquire, 79-83