Risk Study Report (occupational health and safety) Essay

Risk Study Report (occupational health and safety) - Essay Example eport focuses on this important subject matter, which is covering the riskiness of Hot Air Balloon Flight and presenting measures in order to minimize the riskiness. During vacations, people like to enjoy almost every other available activity, Hot Air Balloon Flight has also become a point of consideration for many travelers and tourist. It can be more popular only when it gets more and more safer. The chances of error and number of accidents must be as low as possible in order to rank oneself as a reputable Hot Air Balloon Company. This report has been divided into four major parts, each of which covers individual aspects of Hot Air Balloon Flights. Nowadays, there are many sports and activities which are becoming center of attraction of adventurers and travelers. Some of the most common activities include surfing, skydiving, paragliding, traveling in Hot Air Balloon etc. All of these activities have some risks associated with them. Legal jurisdictions have made it compulsory to assess the risk. There are various strategies which need to be implemented in order to avoid any uncertainty or unpleasant situation. Number of events of Hot Air Balloon take place every where all year round. The activity of Hot Air Balloon which will be discussed in this paper primarily is â€Å"Dubai Hot Air Balloon Flight†. Further information for this events is being mentioned in the subsequent section of this paper. Hot Air Balloon is one of the most popular adventure activity. Modern balloon technology and training systems assure that it is unlikely for people to get wounded in a Hot Air Balloon accident. Despite of that, since Hot Air Ballooning is an adventure activity and all types of adventure activity do carry some level of risk. Dubai Hot Air Balloon Flight is an event which takes place in Dubai all year long. People from all over the world come to Dubai to enjoy the glitz and glamour of this city. Along with this, they also prefer to enjoy the Hot Air Balloon early morning

Criminal Justice System Essay Example for Free

Criminal Justice System Essay When defining crime it different from country or may be even states such as in the United State American, according to the law at hand. In this paper, one will learn the definition of crime as it applies here in the U.S.A in Its relationship to the law, and the two most common models of how society determines which acts are criminal. One will also describe the government structure as it applies to the criminal justice system. Then identify choice theories and their assumptions in regard to crime. Furthermore, describe the components of the criminal justice system and the criminal justice process. In addition, identify the goals of the criminal justice system. Last but not least, one will address one’s thought on if the criminal justice system is a system. Finally, one will summarize the conclusion in its entirety. According to (CJI Interactive, 2013) crime is defined as conduct in violation of the criminal laws of state, the federal government or local jurisdiction, for which there is no legally acceptable justification or excuse here in the U.S.A. This only means where one is located determine whether or not it is a crime. The most common models of how society determines which acts are criminal are consensus and the conflict. In one’s mind this leads to the description of both, consensus model has to do with diverse, people thoughts, most society whom shares the same moral value system. Most people think this system is deemed harmful to the society. On the other hand conflict also is consider diverse in many ways, however, this group engage in a much power struggle with most dominant groups that makes values about the law. The main thing is without laws people could not say that something is a crime. The government structure as it applies to the criminal justice  system consists of three branches of government: Legislature, Judiciary, and Executive in which the whole system work together in preventing crime in the U.S.A. However, there are the criminal justice system for each city or state, three basic department agencies within the every state the police, courts, and the department of correction. Each of the agencies is components that work together design, and structured to be fair, integrity, and professional. The federal government has standard guideline that affects every state. Furthermore, every state has its own guideline of the laws, and some may be different in every State. In the choice theories of people assumptions in regard to crime are consensus and conflict that explain earlier in the paper. The over important theories is Due Process and Crime Control. Due process consist of individualization, quality, formality courts. Crime control would consist of standardization, quality, informality, and police. Although they are both different in our society the completion between them if one fails either way with society fail the people. In other words they both system must work not to fail our society. The components of the criminal justice system and the criminal justice process consist of five main components are Investigation and arrest, pretrial activities, trail, sentencing, and corrections. These agencies in the criminal justice system work hand-in-hand together as a sequence process of events that le from the arrest to the correction. Together this is the standard process the criminal justice system use in the U.S.A. In all fairness most people thinks that is a fair procedure. The goals of the criminal justice system come in components as well. Most in people are very depending on whom one asks about this, in the people or justice system. According to CJI there are many of goals and different agencies within the system emphasizing the different goals. The role of the criminal justice system is to respond in the name of society, when crimes are committed. The five criminal justice goals are deterrence, incapacitation, retribution, rehabilitation, restoration. In addition there is a standard process in any city. Therefore, at the end of the day it is up to whether federal, state, or city decide on what is best for the  criminals. When it is all said and over with the most important reason is to rehabilitate people and make them whole again. In summarizing, when defining crime it different from country or may be even states such as in the United State American, according to the law at hand. One feels as if many people judge the system, however, one think it is there to help and restore us as one. Writing this paper helped one to gain and give knowledge of every day crime madness in the U.S.A as well as what is consider a crime here in our culture. One has learned many things as it refer to the topic in this paper and the major points that are important through research. References Dreden, E. (2013). The Structure of Criminal Justice System. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.comLegal Schmallager, F. (2011). Criminal Justice Today. Upper Saddle River,, NJ: Pearson/ Prentice Hall. CJi Interactive Multi Media, (2011) University of Phoenix website

Essay --

From the 1800s to the 1930s, Japan and India were technologically similar in that both countries increased the use of machines to produce textiles for the cotton industries. They also had economical similarities because the factory workers were all being paid low wages. Despite the similarities, Japan and India socially differed in the dominance of gender among the workers, as well as where the factory workers came from. Japan and India both increased the use of machinery throughout the years. Document 1, 2, and 6 are evidence proving that both countries increase the usage of machines while producing textiles. The Production of Cotton Yarn and Cloth in India chart (Doc 1) shows that the amount of hand-spun yarn decreased, while the amount of machine-spun yarn increases. The amount of machine-made cloth had also increased significantly in 1914. The increase in machine-made and machine-spun textile shows that India is beginning to rely on machines more than hand power. Likewise, the Production of Cotton Yarn in Japan chart (Doc 2) shows that cotton yarn significantly increased from 5 million pounds in 1884 to 666 million pounds in 1914. The Japanese would have to increase the use of machines as well as the use of hand power to maintain the rising number of yarn produced. The increase of yarn is the result of the Japanese developing in the textile industry. Both charts from Document 1 and 2 display tha t Japan and India increased the usage of machines in making yarn. The Indian economist, Radhakamal Mukerjee, in 1916 (Doc 6) states that there has been a decrease in handwoven clothing as handloom weavers are abandoning their looms in India. The reduction of handwoven clothing is an outcome of the increase usage in textile machines. S... ...d-spun yarn. The journal entry of an Indian worker could be helpful, in that it provides a primary source of the life of a textile worker. Since there were entries on Japanese workers (Doc 3), it would only be beneficial to provide one for an Indian worker. This entry can show the differences in how the workers are being paid and treated. Being provided with this information can help further explain the differences between Japan and India’s workers. In conclusion, they both increased the use of machinery to produce the cotton and managed to pay the workers in low wages. However, in Japan, the majority of the workers seem to be women. In India, most of the workers are men. The laborers come from different places and social rankings, depending on the country. Overall, Japan and India have certain similarities as well as differences concerning the cotton industries.

Coffee Ulbs Essay

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a distinct aroma and flavor from the roasted seeds of the coffea plant. Coffee comes in many types of colour such as dark brown,white,beige,black,light brown,and more. Coffee was first discovered in the northeast region of Ethopia. Cofee cultivation first took place in southern Arabia,appears in the middle of the 15th century in the Sufi shrines of Yemen. According to the ancient chronicle,Omar who was known for his ability to cure sick through prayer was once exiled from Mocha,Yemen to a desert cave near Ousab. Starving,Omar chewed berries from nearby shrubbery but found them to the bitter. He tried roasting the seeds to improve the flavor,but they become hard. He then tried boiling them to soften the seeds,which resulted in a fragrant brown liquid. Upon drinking the liquid,Omar was revitalized and sustained for days. As stories of this ‘miracle drug’ reached Mocha,Omar was asked to return and was made a saint. In production of coffee,it consist of many steps such as processing,roasting,grading the roasting seeds,decaffeination,stored,brewing and finally be served. When processing the coffee,the berries of coffee have been traditionally and selectively picked by hand,only the berries at the peak of ripeness would be selected. After that,green coffee is process by one of two methods. Whether by dry process method or wet process method. Then,it will be sorted by ripeness and colour. After that,the seeds are fermented to remove the slimy layer of mucilage still present on the seeds. When the fermentation is finished,the seeds are washed to remove the fermentation residue. Then,the seeds are dried. Finally,the coffee is sorted again and been labeled. The roasting process influences the taste of the beverage by changing the coffee seed both physically and chemically. During roasting,caramelization occurs as intense heat that breaks down starches,changing them to simple sugars that begin to brown,which alters the colour of seeds. Then the seeds will be grading depends on the colour of roasting seeds. It will be labeled as light,medium light,medium,medium dark,dark or very dark. The degree of roast has an effect upon coffee flavor and body. Many methods can remove the caffeine from coffee,but all involve either soaking the green seeds in hot water or steaming them and using a solvent to dissolve caffeine that containing oils. Once roasted,coffee seeds must be stored properly to preserve the fresh taste of the seeds. Coffee seeds must be ground and brewed to create a beverage. Almost all methods of preparing coffee require the seeds to be ground and mixed with hot water long enough to extract the flavor,but without overextraction that draws out bitter compounds. The roasted coffee may be ground at a roaster,in a grocery store or in the home. Then,the coffee may be brewed by several methods such as boiled,steeped,or pressurized. Once brewed,coffee may be served in a variety of ways. As an example,the white coffee was made into dairy product such as milk or cream or dairy substitute or as a black coffee with no such addition. It may be sweetened with sugar or artificial sweetener.

Benefits and cost

Costs would be Just the opposite of several of these, but would also include lack of a good warranty, or not being able to find a place that can service the time-piece. Top Reasons You Want A Nice Watch†, A. Adams, 2011 . ) A weight loss diet can boost self- esteem, energy levels, desirability to those you wish to attract. Good health, though. Is the greatest benefit of a weight loss diet. Costs could be the difficulty level of being able to stick with the diet. Losing weight improperly can cause health issues; if the weight loss diet you have to offer is unhealthy this can be a cost. High prices of weight loss can be prohibitive. (â€Å"Lose Weight, Gain Tons of Benefits†, K. Zealand, n. D. ) Things that could be beneficial to a cruise would be location.Everyone likes to go to beautiful places. Nice accommodation and service areas on board the ship are a must. Other important things can be safety, atmosphere, variety of activities, and areas to relax. Costs could be the expensiveness of the cruise, sea sickness, and boredom. (â€Å"The Pros and Cons of Cruise Travel†, A. Powers, 2012) For a new checking account at a bank, the benefits could be ease of deposits, such as online deposits by way of device APS. Being able to cancel checks easily Is Important. The availability of accessing your cash easily Is very Important.Free ATM and debit cards, and the availability of paperless electronic statements can also be beneficial. Costs would include high bounced check fees, annual account fees, and the fact that many businesses are moving away from even accepting checks. (â€Å"Seven Questions to Ask Before Opening a Bank Account†, G. Dwellers, 2013) Ariel Adams, (2011). Top Reasons You Want A Nice Watch. A Blob to Watch. Retrieved July 14, 2014, blowtorch. Com: http://www. blowtorch. Com/top-reasons-you- want-a-nice-expensive-watch/ Kathleen M. Zealand, (n. D. ). Lose Weight, Gain Tons of Benefits.Web MD. Retrieved July 14, 2014, WebMD. Com : http://www. WebMD. Com/delete/features/lose-wealth-gal.- tons-of-benefits India Powers, (2012). The Pros and Cons of Cruise Travel. Apartment Therapy. Retrieved July 14, 2014, parenthetically. Com: http://www. parenthetically. Com/ the-pros-and-cons-of-cruise-travel-192288 Gerri Dwellers, (2013). Seven Questions to Ask Before Opening a Bank Account. Credit. Retrieved July 14, 2014, credit. Com: http://www. credit. Com/personal-Flanagan- questions-to-ask-before-opening-bank-account/ Benefits and cost By wheelhouses ay of device APS.Being able to cancel checks easily is important. The availability of accessing your cash easily is very important. Free ATM and debit cards, and the Before Opening a Bank Account†, G. Detailer, 2013) July 14, 2014, WebMD. Com: http://www. WebMD. Com/diet/features/lose-weight-gain- the-pros-and-cons-of-cruise-travel-192288 Gerri Detailer, (2013). Seven Questions to Ask Before Opening a Bank Account. Credit. Retrieved July 14, 2014, credit. Com: http ://www. Credit. Com/personal-Flanagan- questions-to-ask-before-opening-bank-account/

10 Facts to Support Your Biology Dissertation With

10 Facts to Support Your Biology Dissertation With A dissertation is a very serious and troublesome academic assignment. The requirements are strict and demanding. It’s necessary to make an in-depth research and study every element and details related to the studied problem. This is not an assignment that can be completed in a day or two. Students write it for months and, still, may fail miserably. In addition, the academic subject can potentially induce some difficulties. Thus, a biology dissertation is pretty complicated. This is a complex learning about animals, plants, microorganisms as well as about the human race. Therefore, it’s not a surprise that this subject is difficult. Not all students are able to handle this task properly. Some may not know the material good enough, the others have poorly developed writing skills, lack time and something of the kind. If you wish to succeed in this important assignment, you ought to continuously improve your writing qualities and enrich the knowledge about every subdivision. However, you may already know what is needed to compose a perfect dissertation. Nevertheless, something might be missing. Sometimes, all that is missing to write a qualified dissertation are some important facts. Accordingly, we have made up a list of 10 facts which are able to support your dissertation in biology. They are the most sought-after aspects that are commonly studied in this direction. Make use out them and nourish your paper. Make allowances for the following essentials: Anatomy of the defects heart. This is a very broad direction, which offers a great variety of options. It is associated with the human, animal, and plant functioning of the heart. Thus, your topic may be related to such diseases as cardiomyopathy. It impairs the normal way our heart is squeezed when it pumps heart. Quantitative and qualitative scientific methodologies. Biology is an important discipline and it requires the implementation of certain methodologies. Use the quantitative and qualitative observations. Quantitative returns numerical data. The qualitative method depends on the specification of the research and is more subjective. It doesn’t record data. Stem cell therapy against diabetes. Stem cell therapy is one of the most promising medical treatments, and it treats lots of severe ailments. One of them is diabetes. Multiple types of research and clinical tests have already approved its potential. You’re free to highlight it. DNA damage and its consequences. Many answers about the human development, behavior, immunity, etc. can be found in our DNA. Once it’s damaged, it negatively reflects on our body. Your dissertation may concentrate on such consequences as oxidative stress, hydrolytic damage, etc. Evolution of Australopithecus. The process of evolution is crucial and gives lots of answers about who we are and how we’ve become those who we are. Learn about the evolution of Australopithecus and use this information in your dissertation. The link between genes and diseases. It’s possible to define the causes of the development of multiple diseases if you learn the influence of genes. Answer how does genetics impact health and disease in your research? Crucial facts about animal extinction. Fauna is important. Unfortunately, many species are already lost forever. There are others under the threat of extinction. Highlight the main factors, which may help to understand why so many animals are gone. The medical resourcefulness of plant. We should never forget about plants. They are the inevitable part of our world and play an important role. Thus, you are welcome to write about their medical usefulness. They are able to cure or/and prevent lots of ailments and health deviations. Ecology issues in Africa. Many things and living conditions of every living creature depend on our environment. We can spot definite tendencies if we study typical problems. Write about problems in Africa, such as deforestation, air, water, oil pollution, loss of biodiversity, etc. Protection of the wildlife in India. It goes beyond all doubts that the matter of wildlife protection is utterly important. It’s difficult to cover this broad theme. Therefore, concentrate on a narrower theme. Thus, you’re free to highlight the current issues of wildlife protection in India. Disclose the possible consequences of ineffective protective measures. Keep these points in your memory. One never knows when this or that theme may come to his/her aid. All these themes are of great importance in biology and can be potentially added to almost every dissertation topic. Take all that is possible and show a link to your main question. It’s quite possible that these facts may play the decisive role to provide your research with the needed grades. Of course, you should use them only when it’s possible. Study your topic from different angles and try to combine it with some of these 10 points. This may be really beneficial.

Annotated Bibliography For Gang Violence Research Paper Example

Annotated Bibliography For Gang Violence Research Paper Example Annotated Bibliography For Gang Violence Paper Annotated Bibliography For Gang Violence Paper Academic Search Premier Obscenest (accessed July 21 , 2014) In this article the authors focus on limiting or disentangling youth gang membership. They also talk about the violence associated with youth gang members. They explain and give data that supports violent and nonviolent offenses committed by youth gang members. Youths that report gang membership whether female or male experience some type of violence throughout their adolescence years. This article basically promotes how strongly gangs influence youths and how life situations can lead to criminal involvement. It highlights ways to prevent youths from turning to gangs for family support and love. The article also recommends interventions to shorten gang careers. This article will help me come up with ways to stop youths from becoming gang members and slowing down gang violence involving youths. Congress of the LLC. S. , Washington, DC. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Youth Violence and Gangs. Hearing on the status of the Juvenile Justice System in America, Focusing on Activities of Youth Gangs and Their Access to Guns, and How Programs Can Help Prevent the Violence Associated with Youth Gangs before the Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice of the Committee or the Judiciary. United States Senate, One Hundred seconds Congress First Session, (November 26, 1991) n. P. : 1992. Eric Obscenest (access July 21, 2014) This article discusses several different ways to prevent youth gang violence. It talks about how youth and gang violence is ruining the country. It enlightens you on how youths are being robbed, raped and killed by one another. It talks bout strengthen law enforcement and about securing a safe haven for the next generation. I had no idea youth gang violence was this massive. Gang violence involving youth membership has gained attention worldwide and this article will be useful toward research paper. Simon T, Ritter N, Menhaden R, editors. Changing Course: Preventing Gang Membership. Washington, D. C. : U. S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013 This article discusses different options on how to prevent youths from joining gangs, which will change the course of their future. It talks about how it requires the public health and safety professionals to work together to minimize youth membership and gang violence. It list key points on why youths join gangs. This article talks about supporting community activities and addressing substance abuse. It educates you on some great ways of resolving youth gang membership. This articles offers a lot of facts and solution to preventing youths from joining gangs and it will be very helpful in writing my research paper.

50 Synonyms for Leader

50 Synonyms for Leader 50 Synonyms for â€Å"Leader† 50 Synonyms for â€Å"Leader† By Mark Nichol Here’s a list of words that can take the place of leader. 1. Administrator: a person with short-term or long-term responsibility in the latter sense, usually a generic term; also, one given responsibility over an estate 2. Archon: one who presides (informal), or a chief magistrate in Athens in classical times 3. Autocrat: one with absolute power 4. Boss: someone in authority or control, as a manager or supervisor or a politician who does not have official status as leader of a political entity but has the actual power 5. Captain: a commander of certain military, law-enforcement, or firefighting units with the official rank of captain, or one who commands a vessel regardless of actual rank, or, by analogy, one who is an acknowledged leader (as in the metaphorical phrase â€Å"captain of industry†) 6. Coach: one who helps others acquire knowledge or develop skills, especially in athletics, either in groups or, as a tutor, individually; also, one of various types of vehicles 7. Chair (or chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson): one who leads a board of directors or trustees, a committee, or an academic department or presides over a meeting 8. Chief: the leader of an organization or department (informal except in such titles as â€Å"chief of police† and â€Å"chief information officer,† or in reference to the leader of a band or tribe of Native Americans) 9. Chieftain: the leader of a band, clan, or tribe 10. Commandant: a leader of some military units 11. Commander: a leader of a certain military, law-enforcement, or firefighting units with the official rank of commander, or one in command of such a unit regardless of actual rank, or the leader of some organizations or societies 12. Commanding officer: the senior officer of a military unit 13. Commissioner: the leader of a bureau or department in the public sector, a leader with responsibility for some subordinate geopolitical entities, or the administrative leader of a professional body of athletic teams; also, a member of a commission 14. Conductor: one who coordinates the performance of an orchestra or other large music ensemble; also, someone who collects fares on public transit, or a material that permits the flow of energy, heat, or sound 15. Dean: a member of the clergy or a school administrator in charge of part of a church jurisdiction or part of a learning institution, or responsible for counseling and monitoring students, or, informally, someone recognized as preeminent in his or her field 16. Demagogue: one who leads a political party or movement and maintains influence through emotional appeals 17. Director: the leader of an administrative unit, or one of a group of people responsible for the governance of a corporation or a nonprofit organization, or the person in charge of a theatrical production or an orchestra or another music ensemble 18. Dictator: an authoritarian head of state, especially one who obtained leadership by force 19. Doyen (or the feminine form doyenne): a person distinguished in a certain endeavor, or a senior member of a group 20. Executive: one with administrative or managerial authority 21. Figurehead: one who has the appearance of authority but has only a nominal leadership role; this term is inappropriate for referring to someone who is actually in authority or has significant power 22. General: a commander of a military unit with the official rank of general, or one who leads with the character of a general 23. Generalissimo: the commander in chief of an army, or one who conducts himself or herself with an authoritarian attitude stereotypical of a military dictator 24. Governor: the chief official of a state, a colony, or another subordinate political entity 25. Guide: one who literally or figuratively leads others toward a goal; also, a handbook or other informational resource 26. Head: a leader of a department or operation (generic) 27. Headman: a leader of a tribe 28. Manager: a leader of a department, or someone with responsibility for all or part of a business or operation (sometimes generic); also, one who directs or advises an athlete or a performer or assists with a sports operation 29. Master: the leader of some institutions or societies, a person in command of a merchant vessel, or synonymous with governor or ruler; also, one with power or responsibility over another 30. Mentor: one who counsels or guides, especially in the pursuit of knowledge or skill 31. Minister: a high-ranking government official; also, a diplomatic representative or, in some religious organizations, a member of the clergy with administrative responsibilities 32. Moderator: one who presides over an assembly, discussion, or meeting to monitor adherence to procedures and rules 33. Officer: one who holds a position of responsibility in a company or organization or in a military unit 34. Point person: someone who is the focus of an operation or project 35. Potentate: a powerful sovereign 36. Power broker: an influential person 37. President: one who leads a political entity, a company, or an organization for a fixed term or temporarily presides over an assembly or a meeting 38. Presider: synonymous with chair, moderator, and president 39. Principal: a person in authority, especially one in charge of a school or other institution; also, a leading performer, one who delegates to an agent, or a perpetrator of a crime 40. Prolocutor: one who presides or serves as a spokesperson 41. Rector: a member of the clergy in charge of a parish or another jurisdiction, a leader of some schools or universities, or one who directs 42. Ringleader: a leader of a group engaged in illicit activities or an informal group of compatriots 43. Ruler: a sovereign leader 44. Shepherd: one who leads and protects a flock of livestock or, by extension, a group of people, especially a congregation of worshippers 45. Skipper: the commander, master, or senior officer on a vessel or, by extension, any leader (informal) 46. Spearhead: the leader of an activity, project, or movement 47. Standard-bearer: a charismatic leader of a movement 48. Superintendent: the leader of a school district or another entity; also, the caretaker of a building 49. Supervisor: a leader of an administrative unit 50. Tyrant: an oppressive leader (This post features offbeat, informal words for â€Å"leader.†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Arrive To vs. Arrive AtLatin Plural Endings25 Idioms About Bread and Dessert

US GAAP IFRS Convergence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

US GAAP IFRS Convergence - Essay Example According to the research findings over the past 15 years, many accounting controversies and scandals have caused financial turmoil and resulted in the bankruptcy of several major firms. In response to these events, the IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) began developing the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) to provide transparency and comparability for investors across the world. Today, more than 113 countries have adopted the IFRS or are in the process of converging to the standard. While countries such as Canada adopted the IFRS as early as 2011, the United States has maintained that transition from the US GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) to the globally accepted IFRS will require more time. The US GAAP is the accounting standard followed by all companies registered in the United States. Doherty estimates that the US will not be able to adopt the IFRS completely before 2015. As a result, both the FASB (Federal Accounting Standards Board of the US) and the IASB have been working to achieve convergence between the two standards. However, this convergence exercise has been ongoing for several years as related agencies including the FASB, IASB, SEC and the general industry debate on the pros and cons of specific rules and regulations. The first step towards achieving convergence between the US GAAP and IFRS was initiated by the Norwalk Agreement in 2002, under which both governing bodies pledged their commitment towards the goal of convergence and agreed to realize it by the year 2008. The boards met once again in 2008 to discuss outstanding milestones and agreed to fulfill them by 2011. Both organizations planned to achieve this through joint projects that would help define and establish a set of principle-based standards (Nobes and Parker, 2010). Achieving these objectives, within the stipulated time period, has however not been possible, owing to a number of bottlenecks and shortcomings on the part of both the IASB and the FASB. For example, both parties realized during 2010 that they would be unable to resolve all outstanding issues by 2011 (Brands, 2011). In response, they decided to prioritize all such projects based on their relative importance. Despite ensuring quicker resolution of these urgent issues, many prioritized projects such as ‘Financial Instruments’ and ‘Revenue Recognition’ are yet to be resolved. As a result, other ‘low-priority’ projects like ‘Income Taxes’, ‘Financial Statement Presentation’ and ‘Liabilities’ are unlikely to be resolved in the near future (Bruce, 2010). Much of the delay can be attributed to the overwhelming and diverse nature of public feedback, received in the form of exposure drafts, which need to be thoroughly examined and analyzed to determine the most appropriate standard. The delay is further exacerbated, as the boards then have to prepare subsequent drafts after taking al l public feedback into consideration and re-expose them for further public scrutiny. Most recently, the FASB and IASB announced that they would re-expose their latest drafts on revenue and leases. Based on their expected date of publication and comments from interested parties, the effective date for both standards is unlikely to be set any earlier than 2015 (Jamal, 2010). Thus, it is evident that despite considerable planning it has been impossible to prevent unavoidable delays in the early adoption of a common accounting standard. Hail, Leuz and Wysocki (2010a) blame the IASB and the FASB for ignoring due diligence and instead focusing their efforts towards meeting the deadline. He criticizes both rule-setting bodies for setting highly optimistic targets instead of

Pablo Picasso as One of the Most Important Figures in Cubism Essay

Pablo Picasso as One of the Most Important Figures in Cubism - Essay Example The paper "Pablo Picasso as One of the Most Important Figures in Cubism" discover an important movement in art history and analyzes some examples of Picasso's painting. The main aim of Picasso was to depict an item as it is seen through several viewpoints independently. This made Picasso and Braque to become friends and later they developed the aspects of cubism together. Largely Picasso’s à ©poque negre, was largely inspired by the African art and this overlapped the first phase in cubism that is known as analytical cubism. It was through the Picasso’s artwork and styles that marked the beginning of abstract art. This made Picasso to reach a place of abstraction in painting that was radical break from the classical dominance of content over form. Therefore the most important aspect of cubism by place is the neglect of form in favor of content. Below is an analysis of one of Picasso’s paintings and comparison with other styles of artistic work during this period for understanding of the actual artistic work. Above is one of the most remarkable paintings of Picasso known as Les Demoiselles d’Avignon 1907. The painting represents a good sample of cubism that uses geometrical work to represent images that the painter wishes to express. The painting signaled a different direction and the painting clearly reflected the aspects of cubism of presenting contents in dimensional views as compared to form as had been the order of artistic work before. According to the VSAVCS the early cubism started from 1907 to 1909.... Largely cubism was based on intellectual experiment and structure as compared to the expression of emotions. This made it more practical to use geometrical shapes in this artistic work a high contrast to other artistic work in this period. In addition VSAVCS (2009) further elaborates that the later period of synthetic cubism lasted between 1912 and1914 and this represented colligated objects into their paintings. This represented the synthetic cubism that as described above portrayed colligated objects into their paintings. Picasso guitar sheet music glass of 1912 Incidentally, according to the 20th Century Art (n,d) the work of Picasso as portrayed above was not restricted to one of the artistic period. For example the above painting has aspects of both Renaissance and baroque properties, and yet does not fit to any of these artistic periods. Corot, Chemin de Sevres, 19th century is a good example of Renaissance artistic work. Bailey (4) argues that most of the artistic work that ar tists have been painting for several centuries either belonged to the renaissance or the Baroque period artistic work. Renaissance work was more elaborate in using light and depth and a well fitting frame that portrayed the aspect of form, where all the elements in the painting fit. Comparing the painting by Picasso with this typical Renaissance painting, the painting has light shades and fits to the frame correctly as required by the Renaissance artistic work. However, the painting has no depth and uses some forms of geometric shape that are not common with Renaissance artistic work. On the other hand, the baroque period was characterized by the use of flowing forms that use dark shapes and that are

Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Communication - Essay Example This new innovative technology came into being in 1998 and within a short span of time became popular specially among youngsters. The reason for its increasing popularity is the ease of usage and accessibility it has brought in communication. Moreover, certain scholars call it as an innovative tool and an interesting mode of communication. This is because electronic communication has brought ease not only for young people but also for businesses and students of all ages. Even elders are benefited with it since electronic communication has given birth to virtual communication, which has made it convenient to talk face-to-face with relatives overseas. Yet where this communication medium has benefited the society, it has brought with it certain downsides as well. This is because where virtual communication and networking has helped bring people closer, it has also developed certain negative consequences in numerous ways. In this paper we will be evaluating both the positive and negative contributions of electronic methods of communication in our society (Middlewood & Abbott, 124; Krus, 28-1 to 28-8). First off, we will discuss the benefits electronic communication has brought to our society. Firstly, on a personal level, virtual means of communication has helped people build closer ties with their family and friends living overseas. This is due to the social networking websites like Skype and Facebook through which people could communicate with their friends and relatives no matter what place or country they are in. Both the networking sites provide the facility of video calls which allow face-to-face conversations with the other person anywhere in the world (Middlewood & Abbott, 124; Krus, 28-1 to 28-8). On academic level, virtual communication has enabled the students to communicate more conveniently with teachers/instructors at a faster speed. Also, the networking sites mentioned has enabled the students to take virtual classes on Skype. Email facility and Face book communication (which includes the study groups made on Facebook nowadays and other academic groups) provides student with the ease of getting instant feedbacks from teachers. Also Smart phones have further enhanced the communication since through smart phones, students and instructors can instantly communicate with each other. Moreover, the new trend of Colleges and Universities developing their own grading software on their websites has made it easy for professors to update student grades online in minutes. On the other side, students could immediately log in and see their results without waiting for the next day or so to get their reports in paper form. In addition, electronic communication through social networking websites have enabled professors to upload study materials on their College website account or on the Facebook group, which could be accessed by students within seconds. Most importantly, virtual/electronic communication has turned our environment into a paperless environment, since everything is documented and managed online (Middlewood & Abbott, 124; Krus, 28-1 to 28-8). On a business level, virtual communication has enabled businessmen to conduct meetings online without having to travel to another city or country. Emails, faxes and social networking websites have benefited the businesses in the fields of marketing, finance, public relations and all kinds of management. It is with the help of social networking and

Prop13, 98 Serrano vs. Priest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Prop13, 98 Serrano vs. Priest - Essay Example Serrano vs. Priest ruling called for an equalization of the rates at which the property was taxed and the expenditure incurred per pupil. Serrano vs. Priest highlighted the pressing educational issues of its times like the impact of the class differences and racial discrimination on the fundamentality of public education (Regalia). This ruling came down heavily on the instances of tax-base disparities translating into inequities in the educational expenditures per pupil in different neighborhoods (Regalia). There is no denying the fact that pragmatically speaking, this ruling has failed to achieve its objectives. However, this decision certainly laid down the fundamental principles that were to guide the quest for educational equity in the state. Precisely speaking, it invalidated the educational inequities emanating from class and race differences and ushered in the principle of justice in the education system. Prop 13 is primarily a tax law that was voted on and passed by nearly 65 percent of the voters in California in 1978. Prop 13 reduced the tax accruals to the state by 57 percent (authorSTREAM). This directly translated into a dire shrinkage in the tax revenues accessible to the school districts. Prop 13 reverted the property assessments back to the 1976 values and capped at no more then 1 percent of the property value (authorSTREAM). It set a limit on the valuation of property to be 2 percent per year, unless a property was sold (authorSTREAM). In case a property was sold, it was to be reassessed at its value at the time when it was sold, tagged to a 2 percent tax cap (authorSTREAM). Prop 13 required all the state taxes to be ratified by a two-thirds majority in the legislature and all the local taxes by a two-thirds majority of the people (authorSTREAM). Prop 13 jeopardized the education system in California by subjecting it to neo liberalist economic values and relatively conservative social

An analysis of the Caravan industry in Hull, United Kingdom Essay

An analysis of the Caravan industry in Hull, United Kingdom - Essay Example Static caravans are used as holiday homes and they are kept stationary in various places. All these options available for holiday venture and thus individuals must make wise decisions depending on their needs. Most of the caravans are used on holiday places. In the United Kingdom, there are various holiday places where caravans are used. The most popular ones are Cleethopper, Skegness, mablethorpe, and hornsea. Caravanning activities are very popular in these places. Most of these places are found in Hull and that is why hull has become very popular with caravanning. Moreover, there are various caravan-manufacturing companies in Hull. The caravan manufacturers in hull include Willerby Holiday Homes Ltd, Burstner Ltd, Corona Caravans Ltd, and Coachman Ltd. Among these manufacturers, the major ones are Willerby Holiday Homes Ltd and Corona Caravans Ltd. The reason for this is the large market share the two companies have in the caravan industry. As showed above, Hull has several caravan manufacturers. Some manufacture static caravans while others manufacture movable caravans. The company that is popular for manufacturing static caravans in Hull is Willerby Holiday Homes Ltd. Corona Caravans Ltd on the other hand is very popular in Hull for manufacturing movable caravans. The models made by different manufacturers vary both in shape and in characteristic. The reason why the companies in this industry try do this is to increase their competitiveness in this volatile market. Productions of caravans that are different from those of other companies convert the competition in this industry to an indirect. This promotes the survival of these companies in the caravan industry. Caravan industry is the greatest employer in the United Kingdom offering more than two percent of the total workforce. The employees employed in this industry undertake various responsibilities from management to

Prop13, 98 Serrano vs. Priest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Prop13, 98 Serrano vs. Priest - Essay Example Serrano vs. Priest ruling called for an equalization of the rates at which the property was taxed and the expenditure incurred per pupil. Serrano vs. Priest highlighted the pressing educational issues of its times like the impact of the class differences and racial discrimination on the fundamentality of public education (Regalia). This ruling came down heavily on the instances of tax-base disparities translating into inequities in the educational expenditures per pupil in different neighborhoods (Regalia). There is no denying the fact that pragmatically speaking, this ruling has failed to achieve its objectives. However, this decision certainly laid down the fundamental principles that were to guide the quest for educational equity in the state. Precisely speaking, it invalidated the educational inequities emanating from class and race differences and ushered in the principle of justice in the education system. Prop 13 is primarily a tax law that was voted on and passed by nearly 65 percent of the voters in California in 1978. Prop 13 reduced the tax accruals to the state by 57 percent (authorSTREAM). This directly translated into a dire shrinkage in the tax revenues accessible to the school districts. Prop 13 reverted the property assessments back to the 1976 values and capped at no more then 1 percent of the property value (authorSTREAM). It set a limit on the valuation of property to be 2 percent per year, unless a property was sold (authorSTREAM). In case a property was sold, it was to be reassessed at its value at the time when it was sold, tagged to a 2 percent tax cap (authorSTREAM). Prop 13 required all the state taxes to be ratified by a two-thirds majority in the legislature and all the local taxes by a two-thirds majority of the people (authorSTREAM). Prop 13 jeopardized the education system in California by subjecting it to neo liberalist economic values and relatively conservative social

Case study on abercrombie and fitch Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

On abercrombie and fitch - Case Study Example A marketing strategy in any business is a tool to a competitive advantage. It refers to setting the marketing plans, objectives and working towards market share. Marketing strategies are dynamic due to the different circumstances or environments companies do business. It is then necessary for a marketing manager to scan the environment before laying the most appropriate marketing strategy. The scan is conducted for both internal and external environments. In the internal environment, a marketing manager will have to consider the marketing mix, performance and any possible constraints that affect its implementation (Roederer, 2013). The most effective marketing strategy features market segmentation, targeting and then product differentiation or positioning. The first step is dividing the market into subsets of consumers with common needs. Consumer grouping is possible through the following segmenting the market. First, market can be segmented geographically, which gives precise features and common characteristics determining the needs of consumers in that particular region. Rainy regions will have high demand for raincoats and gumboots while hot regions will be in great need of summer clothing. Second, segment using variables like age, education and gender that is referred to demographic segmentation (Roederer, 2013). Third, there is behavioral segmentation whereby customers are grouped according to their usage rates and attitudes. The subset then gives the demand level. Fourth, cultural segmentation will consider putting together customer with same belief and moral values. The marketing manager will also be able to understand different culture preferences to provide only what is acceptable in a particular culture. Market segmentation gives some information about the potential customers. The data is useful in defining the target market. Using such data, the marketing manager can know what is needed

Herman Mudgett Essay Example for Free

Herman Mudgett Essay Problem Statement H. H. Holmes was dubbed the first male serial killer in the United States; however, his profile did not entirely fit the characteristics of a male serial killer. Should H. H. Holmes be considered a â€Å"Black Widow†? Purpose Imagine a killer who enjoyed torturing his victims with a variety of methods, but got paid for it. Meet Dr. H. H. Holmes or also known as â€Å"The Torture Doctor†. He was a serial killer who hit Chicago in the late nineteenth century. He killed with the intention of receiving money, mostly in the form of insurance claims. Criminologists have characterized this as a trait mostly belonging to female serial killers. It is â€Å"Black Widows† who kill relatives for the insurance money. Therefore Holmes should be classified as having similar characteristics to a â€Å"Black Widow† or that of a female serial killer. Findings Herman Webster Mudgett born May 16, 1861 to Levi and Theodate Mudgett in Gilmanton, New Hampshire had a privileged life. His family was wealthy and he was a bight child. (5) His household was run with a strict Methodist structure and his father was a violent alcoholic. He was bullied in school and in one instance forced to face a real skeleton which is believed to be the start of his fascination with corpses. (2) He became curious with Anatomy after that. Mudgett expressed a huge interest in medicine and was enrolled in the University of Michigan in 1882. He excelled in Chemistry and Anatomy and they seemed to be a natural talent for him. He was extremely eager to work on the cadavers. (2) He graduated in 1884. â€Å"This was a unique feature for a serial killer because most serial killers do not finish school.† (2) It is not because they are not intelligent enough; it is because they lack the motivation. This is where Mudgett was different; he had the persistence and motivati on to finish school. It was easier because it was something he did enjoy and it was a gateway for his early crimes. Mudgett would steal corpses from the medical school after making false insurance claims on a person, naming himself the beneficiary. He would distort the bodies making it look like an accident and then identify the body as the person he took the claim out on. (1) This is most likely the reason he stayed in school; he was making a profit. This is where he started using his alias Henry Howard Holmes or H. H. Holmes and Herman Mudgett would eventually cease to exist.(2) His crime spree and fascination with corpses would continue well after medical school. After a string of insurance fraud and traveling the country Holmes made it to Chicago. He began working at a drug store owned by an ill Dr. Holton in the neighborhood of Englewood. Holton died not long after and Holmes convinced Mrs. Holton to sign over the pharmacy to him and then she mysteriously disappeared. (5) While owning the drug store he continued to scam people sometimes selling false drugs and avoiding paying back his credit. (2) Holmes did enjoy making money and tricking people, but he wanted more. Holmes bought an estate on 63rd street and Wallace right across the street from the pharmacy that would later be called the â€Å"Murder Castle.† The construction of the building was very curious. Holmes was the architect and always kept a change of workers so he was the only one who ever knew the full structure of the building. (2) It was three stories with the ground floor belonging to commercial buildings including his relocated drug store. The top two were designated for his murderous fantasies. It had a labyrinth structure and consisted of false doors, windowless rooms, chutes, and trap doors. (5) The Castle â€Å"was equipped with secret passages, trapdoors, soundproof rooms, doors that could be locked from the outside, gas jets to asphyxiate victims, and a kiln to cremate the bodies.† (3) The basement is what held even worse horrors. There was a furnace big enough to hold a human body and huge acid baths. There were also tables where he could perform on the bodie s. (2) The Castle would open a door for Holmes to make even more money. Holmes was a man who would make money off of anything he could and his killings were no different. After he had tortured and killed he victims he would clean and mount their bones. In the basement â€Å"some were meticulously dissected, stripped of flesh, crafted into skeleton models† (5) He would then sell the skeletons to medical schools and doctor’s offices.(2) He had gained connections with these places, so no one questioned him. (5) He was living out his fantasies and making money off of it and now the perfect opportunity was about to come along. The 1893 World’s Columbian Exchange in Chicago would take place only a couple miles from Holmes’ home â€Å"The Castle.† The fair lasted from May to October. Holmes opened his building for the visitors and furnished and ran it like a hotel. â€Å"Unfortunately, some of his guests did not survive his hospitality.† (1) Just like most serial killers Holmes picked easy targets; tourists. Few people would know exactly where they were staying and it would be awhile before anyone reported them missing. However Holmes did differ from other male serial killers in that he did not stick to a type. Most of his victims did happen to be women, but he also killed children and men. Disappearances associated with the fair were linked to his castle (1) Outside of using his castle on unknowing tourists he was a seducer of women. Many of Holmes’ victims were women whom he had seduced and tricked into signing over their life savings. He usually employed females to work for him â€Å"many of whom were required as a condition of employment to take out life insurance policies for which Holmes would pay the premiums but also be the beneficiary† (5) and these women would later become his victims. Some of these women he killed where women who he had tricked in to giving him their property after they thought he was going to marry them. One example was Julia Conner and her daug hter Pearl. She was a mistress of Holmes and got pregnant. She demanded marriage and Holmes agreed if he could perform an abortion. Julia agreed, but mysteriously vanished along with her daughter. (2) He also promised Emiline Segrand marriage if she gave him her life savings. He sealed her in his vault where she suffocated to death. (2) He did have a marriage that actually went through, three in fact. He did have three marriages that all happened to coincide with each other. His first wife Clara Lovering was before he went to medical school. He filed for divorce at the time of his second wife, but it failed to go through. After he began using his alias H.H. Holmes he married Myrta Belknap in 1887. He lived with her and their daughter, Lucy, in Illinois for a while before he made it to Chicago. Holmes married is third wife, Georgiana Yoke, in 1894 after his killing spree in Chicago. Each one of these women never became one of Holmes’ victims and would live out their lives not knowing he was a serial killer till he was caught. (5) The only person who ever knew about what Holmes did was Benjamin Pitzel. Benja min Pitzel became associated with Holmes when Holmes was first constructing the Castle. Pitzel was a carpenter who was a drunkard that could never hold a job down. Holmes needed a right hand man who was tough and would do anything for money; Pitzel fit this description and had already committed petty crimes. (2) Pitzel was married with five children and needed to provide for his family, so he did what Holmes asked him to. Together Pitzel and Holmes committed lots of fraud and forgery. When Holmes was forced to leave Chicago because creditors were closing in Pitzel followed. They went cross country and continued to commit more fraud and other suspected killings under different aliases. (5) During one of these crimes Holmes was incarcerated for the first time in his life. Running low on money and needing to escape plan. Holmes and Pitzel concocted a plan where they would get Pitzel’s wife to take out an insurance claim on him and then they would fake Pitzel death. (5) Before they could get started on the scam Holmes was arrested for a different crime that landed hi m in a Texas jail. For some reason Holmes spilled his entire plan to his cellmate Marion Hedgepeth, a convicted train robber. Hedgepeth gave Holmes the name of a shady attorney in return for $500 of the money he got. (4) Holmes was shortly bailed out by his new wife Georgiana Yokes. (2) Holmes was now beginning to make mistakes and the law was going to catch up with him. Now Holmes could get on to finish the scam of faking Pitzel’s death, but Holmes did not fake it, he actually killed his longtime associate. This was most likely his plan all along; he wanted to get rid of loose ends. Holmes and his attorney, acquired from his former cell mate, identified the body. Mrs. Pitzel unknowing it to be her real husband split the money with the two men, but in the end Holmes ended up with most of her share. (2) Holmes was becoming paranoid and realizing that he was making mistakes. â€Å"Becoming concerned that the five Pitzel children might expose him, he went away with three of the children, eventually killing them.† (1) There was still one mistake out there that would lead to his demise. Almost two months after Pitzel’s body was found Hedgepeth, the former cellmate, sent information about the insurance fraud to police when he never received his compensation from Holmes. Police sent the Pinkertons, a private security guard and detective agency; on Holmes’ trail (5) What they discovered would be horrifying. Holmes was caught on November 17, 1894 in Boston. His only outstanding charge was on a horse theft and detectives needed more to hold him. It was only when his old custodian from the Castle informed the authorities that he was never allowed to clean the upper floors did they found out about his murders past by â€Å"uncovering Holmess efficient methods of committing murders and then disposing of the corpses.† (5) Along with Holmes’ vast array of obvious torture equipment, pieces of human bones were discovered. None of the murders were proven because of the lack of evidence except for four that of Benjamin Pitzel and his three children. Police tracked down the children’s bodies when chasing Holmes across the country. The two girls were found in Toronto and the boy in Indianapolis. (5) Holmes reign had come to an end. It was never discovered how many people H. H. Holmes had actually killed, but missing people and peculiar activity always seem to surround him not including the fact that he had a killing house. No one will ever be certain; the only person who may have known the true story was killed by Holmes. Also Holmes confessed his innocence until the day he was hung on May 7, 1896 at age 34. (2) Towards the end, however, he did come clean but his story always seemed to change. He did confess to 27 murders, but some researchers have suggested it exceeds 200. (3) The one confession he did seem to stick with was that he said he resembled the Devil. (2) Whatever the number Holmes was a serial killer who learned how to make a profit off of it. Conclusion Dr. H. H. Holmes’s characteristics did not fit that of a normal male serial killer. For starters he finished college unlike most of his predecessors. It might have been due to the fact that he had endless cadavers to work on or because he was planning his criminal career. Holmes also received monetary gain from most of his victims. He did enjoy seducing and killing victims, but his motives did involve receiving money. This is a trait often associated with female serial killers. Criminologists distinguish traits from male and female serial killers. One of the traits associated with females is that their motives usually involve monetary gain. The â€Å"Black Widow† is a female serial killer who kills her husband or other relatives to receive the insurance money. Holmes fits this description because most of his victims were women whom he had seduced and promised marriage or employees after receiving rights to their property. Holmes fits characteristics of both genders, but the profile of a Male Black Widow fits him more than anything. Recommendations Holmes should be classified as a â€Å"Black Widow† even though he is a male. It is true the biggest trait of a â€Å"Black Widow† is the female part, but gender should not be as important as motive. Gender unconsidered Holmes clearly fit the description. Therefore criminologist might reconsider classifying primarily on gender. Looking primarily at gender leaves gaps and flukes that do not seem to fit the â€Å"normal† stereotype in profiling and Holmes proves that. Holmes is a â€Å"Black Widow.† Bibliography (1) H.H. Holmes. 2012. Biography.com 18 Apr 2012, 06:28 http://www.biography.com/people/h-h-holmes-307622 (2) H. H. Holmes Americas First Serial Killer. Dir. John Borowski. Waterfront Productions, 2004. Documentary. (3) John Philip, Jenkins. Mudgett, Herman Webster. Britannica Biographies (2011): 1. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 18 Apr. 2012 http://ezproxy.scottsdalecc.edu:2309/ehost/detail?sid=87fc7c73-9859-4344-a053-88394e30cdd1%40sessionmgr15vid=4hid=13bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5hAN=32418760 (4) Martin, John B. The Master of the Murder Castle: A Classic of Chicago Crime. Harpers Magazine. Harpers Magazine Foundation, Dec. 1943. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. http://www.harpers.org/archive/1943/12/0020617. (5) Wikipedia contributors. H. H. Holmes. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes

Market Entry Strategies of Wal-Mart

Market Entry Strategies of Wal-Mart Founded in the year 1962, by Sam Walton, Wal-Mart was a single discount store in Rogers situated in the state of Arkansas. Then the growth of the Wal-Mart chain of stores has been tremendous. Initially the chain consisted of 9 stores amounting to a total sale of 1.4 million US dollars and the growth exploded with a overall sale of 118 billion US dollars in the year 1998 and the number of stores amounted to over 2,316 stores. The company also includes discount stores, warehouse outlets offering deep discounts, the whole sale club, supercenters of Wal-Mart. The success story of Wal-Mart is unique in the history of retailing and this success could greatly be attributed to the dynamic leadership of Sam Walton. Its innings in the international arena started when the company inaugurated a store in Mexico in the year 1991. Then the international chain kept on expanding to many nations like Argentina, Canada, Germany, South Korea and Brazil. By the year 1998 the number of international store s of Wal-Mart alone amounted to over 600 and these stores generated a revenue of over 7.5 billion dollars (Wal-Mart Annual report, 2008). The lines of merchandise of Wal-Mart is inclusive of electronics for consumers, goods related to sports, house wares, items for the lawn and the kitchen, apparels, paints, hardwares, items for repairing the automotives and their maintenance, games, grocery, toys, fashion items for homes, goods related to other types of maintenance activities. In the region of the United states, the company plays an important role in the generation of jobs and the number of jobs created by the company amounts to over 800, 000. Apart from this the company is also involved in the supporting of many types of manufacturing jobs in the US and this is being facilitated through the campaign called America first (Wal-Mart Annual report, 2008). International presence of Wal-Mart The company is involved in the serving of over 179 million people in one year and it also possesses over 2 million associates all over the world. The number of stores possessed by Wal-Mart numbers to over 7, 343 and its Sams Clubs are also present in over 14 markets. Hence it is not surprising that it is the biggest retailer in the whole of United States. From the year 2002 the company has been topping the list of fortune 500 list and in the year 2006 it was pushed to the second place, next only to Exxon- Mobil due the rise in the price of oil in that year. In the year 2008, the annual revenue generated by Wal-Mart was over 378 billion dollars (Wal-Mart Annual report, 2008). Hence the company continues to be successful in many nations exploiting the human resources as well as the other resources in the nations. Its idea is to capitalise on the strategy set by the company for global expansions and the present targets of Wal-Mart are the big nations with huge human resources like Russi a and India (Newsweek, 2007). There are lot of strategies employed by the company and it has had a huge impact on the local culture of the retail in every nation it has occupied so far. The major strategies that are used by the company before it ventures into another company are as follows: Establishment of partnership with the organisations and business that are present locally Working in close association with that of the governments of the states and nations Trying to exploit the flourishing purchasing power of the people in the middle class (Newsweek, 2007) Strategies for global expansion The strategy used by Wal-Mart at the multinational level is being modified in such a way that it becomes the transnational strategy and the key aspects of this strategy includes response at the national level, operations at the international level and also taking lessons from the operations that are being conducted on a global scale. The aim of the company in following such an approach is that it should become the best choice for goods that are low cost in the United States as well as the whole world (Fishman, 2006). As the company is basically a retail company it stresses on the concept of orientation of the consumers by acquisition as well as distribution of goods at a low cost and at the same time facilitating learning on a global scale by the process of decentralisation, tackling competition over the borders and by sharing its acquired knowledge. But still in the global business arena, the company is relatively new and on its way to become a leading player. The stress placed by t he company on the concept of national response has to an extent, brought about reductions in the operational efficiency of the company because it was not able to accomplish economy of scale which is enjoyed by the customers when it comes to the products that are standardised. The company is involved in the formulation of blueprints for the managers when it comes to the strategies which they are supposed to follow (Coleman, 1999). According to the needs as well as the culture of the people there is a high level of adaptation and the company has its location which is proximal to its market. The company also shows a lot of sensitivity when it comes to individual needs of every nation and also responds in an appropriate manner to these needs. There is also close contact and co-operative working shown by the company with the respective government so that every rule or legislation that has been passed by the government could also be taken into account while designing the strategies. The company is also involved in a lot of community works by provision of sponsors for the student community and contributes its share to the welfare of the people in the nations where it has its operations. Success factors of Wal-Mart Each of the stores operated by Wal-Mart is from that of the product being stocked by the company which would move towards the equipment at the front end and this would go a long way in helping checkouts in a rapid manner with the philosophy set by the company in place- provision of goods at low prices every day and at the same time providing customer services that are of top quality. Hence the added advantage of the low costs is that the expenses incurred in organisation of promotions for sales could be cut down to a large extent. Moreover the predictability of sales also increases. The company firmly believes in the system of cross docking inventory system and hence has invested a lot in the same. The process of cross docking has led the Wal-Mart to attain economies of scale and this has in turn brought about considerable reductions in the costs that are incurred for sales. In the system followed by Wal-Mart, there is a continuous delivery of the goods to the stores in a time of max imum two days and at times there are no requirements even to inventory them. Hence the shelves of Wal-Mart are refilled faster than four times of the existing competition in the market (Thomson, 1998). This is a particular advantage possessed by the company when it comes to competition. The power of buying of Wal-Mart is leveraged by means of purchasing in bulk quantities and also the company takes care of its own distribution. Hence every day low prices are guaranteed by the company and hence it has become a one stop shop. Hence at present the company owns stores in a variety of companies like argentina, mexico, brazil, Canada, UK, Korea china and also in Germany (Nelson, 1999). Single business strategy The major reason behind the success of Wal-Mart lies in the fact that the company believes and concentrates on the strategy of single business. This is the strategy that has been providing the company with success over a period of over 30 years. In the three decades the company has never believed in the concept of diversification for the sustenance of its growth and also its advantages at the competitive level. Hence the services provided by the company and the low prices offered are the major reasons behinds its success. The concentration on one particular strategy also poses a threat to the company because it is equivalent to place all the eggs in one single bucket (Richter, 1998). Supply chain, distribution The competitive advantage gained by a company depends on the efficiency existing in the system of operation of the company and also on the degree of efficiency of the supply chain. The chain of stores owned by Wal-Mart is highly successful only due to the ability of the company in the distribution of the merchandise from that of a huge network of distribution centers that are modern and are in turn served by means of truck fleet that is private. Wal-Mart has also been highly efficient in the maintenance of a good position in terms of the instock and also in the filling of the shelves that are in the new stores being established by the company every year. This is evident from the fact that though Wal-Mart has increased its sales by 30 in a time of two years, there was only a 12 percent increase in the inventory value at the cost of replacement in the same period of time (The Bay Area Economic Forum, 2003). Hence the strategy of leveraging a chain of supply for the purpose of restricti ng of the growth of the inventory continued to be followed by the company and during the first quarters resulted in a 14 percent increase of the inventories and a subsequent 3 percent increase in the inventories. Wal-Mart was also highly efficient and capable of investing in distribution capacities that are new and particularly this is true in case of the foods sold which is one of the areas responsible for a major portion of the growth shown by the company. The first centre for distribution of food by Wal-Mart located at Clarksville is only 10 years and there are twelve other centers for food distribution which are very new (Economist, 2006). WAL-MART IN INDIA Wal-Marts entry into India The nation of India is very different from the other nations in many ways. Being aware of the historic challenges and changes that have shaped the nation, the Indian government as well as the private sector existing in India have been taking rapid steps for the better shaping of the retail sector that is evolving at a rapid pace. Hence the changes taking place in the sector of retail should be considered keenly by the retailing giants. In the structure of the Indian retail transformations are continually being introduced and it is expected that the retail sector would grow towards 635 billion dollars by the end of the year 2015. The growth of the Indian population compounded by the escalation in the disposable incomes of the people of India is the basis for this boom in the sector of retail. Particularly the retailing of food is experiencing growth by leaps and bounds and the Grocery and Food segment contributes to around 60 percent of the whole of the market of India (Franklin 2001) . It was in the year 2005 that Wal-Mart began to look for ways to venture into India.. This was possible due to the decision of the Indian government to relax the regulations pertaining to the opening of foreign direct investment in India. The initial plan of Wal-Mart was the launching of whole sale stores in the country by means of joint ventures by the year 2008. it also had the initial target of expanding to over 75 nations in time of 7 years. But since the company faced a lot of opposition from the Indian side, they had to hold up their plans. However in the year 2008, there were three stores opened by Bharti retail in the stated of Punjab under the name of Easy days. Sunil Mittal from Bharti also mentioned that the local markets would be the source of over 90 percent of the goods and this combined operation would also lead to Wal-Mart increase its sourcing at the global level from the nation of India. The aim of the joint venture between Bharti and Wal-Mart is that Bharti would su pply Wal-Mart with the products it buys directly from that of the agriculturists, artisans and craftsmen (Goetz and Swaminathan, 2006). The challenges facing Walmart in India India was rated as one of the top international investment destination in 2005 amongst 30 other emerging markets that were short-listed for mass merchant and food retailers who wished to internationalize (Business Credit, 2006). Compared to other countries, India is seen as a rapidly accelerating economy whose gross domestic product (GDP) is rising at an average annual rate of about 7.5 percent continuously for the past three years (Choi, 2006; Economist, 2006) while its retail market has witnessed a growth of 10 percent on average (Business Credit, 2006). It is stated that the Indian retail market with a projection of $250 billion annually, is actually the worlds eighth largest market and it is expected that this will reflect a growth of more than 7% yearly (Dutt, 2005). These factors reflect that it is the strong economic conditions of the country that draw the attention of companies such as Wal-Mart who are interested in starting operations in the Indian retail market. Despite deregulations which have seen the rapid rise of the Indian economy, the retail economy is protected from foreign competition as rules disallow direct foreign investment in this sector. The multi-brand retailers cannot invest directly in the country and are not even allowed to open and operate their own stores (Kravilanz, 2006). This rule has forced Wal-Mart to enter into a partnership venture with Bharti Enterprises, which in turn is an Indian business group that is a leader in countrys telecom sector. This joint venture between Wal-Mart and Bharti has resulted in them managing the supply chain together while it is Bharti Enterprises that will act as franchisees to conduct the retail operations (Lakshman, 2006; Mukherjee, 2006). This particular model in India that has been selected by Wal-Mart will throw open likely challenges pertaining to ownership as well as internalization dimensions of the model. This particular model is not the way Wal-Mart operates in other countries s uch as Germany and South Korea. Thus the company needs to take care that the definition of the model is in tandem with the partnership entered into with Bharti as well as the strengths that are associated with Wal-Marts classic operating model. There have been cases wherein partnerships have failed. This would require Wal-Mart not only to manage its joint -venture closely but simultaneously work patiently with Bharti. Wal-Mart also needs to protect well the huge amount of supply chain and information technology intellectual property that it has introduced in the joint venture. As far as India is concerned this is a big challenge and there is a requirement on part of Wal-Mart to comprehend in detail managing the relation in this context at least. As far as the location is concerned, the size of market undoubtedly makes India an attractive destination which however is limited by many facets that need to be managed in order to ensure success. The present population of India is more than a billion. Despite having a large population that is relatively poor, the strength of Indias middle class population is around 300,000,000 people, which makes the number much larger in comparison to the total US population (Choi, 2006; Economist, 2006). This will prove advantageous to Wal-Mart as it has a large potential to which it usually caters to. The Indian market may be large but is typically characterized by intricate variety and difference. The complexity is clearly visible by differences that exist in religion, language, dialect, value system, food habit, economic buying power, clothing selection, fabric, tradition, and access to transportation. Indeed markets in India comprise of several sub-markets. The main factor will be how successful Wal-Mart is in segmenting the market as per different facets. The ability of Wal-Mart to build merchandise that is local and its ability to locate and supply approximately 75,000 products that are usually sold in a typical supercenter will be put to test (Dutt, 2005). The standards of Indian shoppers are difficult to meet as the Indian middle class customer is usually a value-conscious shopper. This is clearly reflected in the Indian customers mindset of expecting products that meet global standards albeit at process those are Indian.

In The Skin Of A Lion Essay -- essays research papers

When studying a novel it sometimes helps to look at the language used in a specific passage. In the novel In The Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje, this approach is extremely helpful. It will help you better understand the characters and give you a clearer idea of what the author is trying to say. Within the novel, the passage entitled “The Skating Scene,'; where Patrick observes the loggers skating late at night, is stylistically interesting. By looking at metaphors, symbolism and diction, we can gain a better understanding of the characters and make connections within the scene and then to the novel as a whole.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In “The Skating Scene'; many metaphors are used throughout, making is very poetic. One very powerful metaphor seen in this passage is: “This was against the night'; (page 22). This emphasizes the light and dark imagery found in this passage. Ondaatje points out that for Patrick day is work and night is rest, however, he sees the loggers skating and having fun at night. They are going against what Patrick has been taught. In a way they are showing him a new side to life and he is transfixed. This sense of excitement is also shown in the pace of the passage. As the loggers are skating the pace gets faster, and then starts to slow down when he goes back home to his routine life. By going against the night, the loggers are essentially breaking the rules: “Their lanterns replaced them with new rushes which let them go further past boundaries'; (page 22). This idea of going past boundaries reminds us of a part later in the novel. Patrick goes past boun daries when he sets fire to the Muskoka Hotel on page 168. Instead of being an observer like he always is, he actually steps in and goes “against the night.'; By comparing Patrick in “The Skating Scene'; to when he goes to the Muskoka Hotel, we can see how he grows and changes throughout the course of the novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another powerful metaphor in this particular scene is: “And a moon lost in the thickness of clouds so it did not shine a path for him towards the trees'; (page 20). This metaphor again emphasizes the light and dark imagery in the scene. Even though there is no path for Patrick to follow, he still finds his way to the skaters by travelling towards the light from their l... ...ple, “….they could leap into the air and crash down and it would hold the,'; (page 22), “When they collided sparks fell into the ice….'; (page 21), and “their lanterns…..let them go further past boundaries'; (page 22). Personification is also used to show that the skaters have magical powers: “A tree branch reached out, its hand frozen in the ice, and one of them skating under it'; (page 21). The idea of witches and magic reminds us of a quote on page 93. Patrick talks about Clara and says “ Something about her cast a spell on me…I don’t know what is it.'; It seems that Patrick is fascinated with people who possess these magical qualities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is evident that by doing a stylistic analysis of a passage, we can get a better understanding of characters and make connections within the passage and then to the rest of the novel. This is certainly the case with “The Skating Scene'; in Michael Ondaatje’s In The Skin of Lion. The metaphors, symbols and diction he uses in this particular passage clearly show that he is truly a brilliant writer.

Archeozoic Era Essay

The Archeozoic Era stretches from about 3.8 billion to 2.5 billion years ago. Traditionally, the beginning of the Archean is defined to coincide with the oldest rocks discovered. As recent discoveries have pushed back the earliest dated rocks to about 4.0 billion years old, the beginning of the Archean has also been pushed back correspondingly. However, most texts still continue to date the beginning to 3.8 billion years ago. As the Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB) ended with the Hadean, the newly forming crust continued to stabilize, and eventually led to the creation of the continents. When the continents first appeared is still under debate. The Earth in this period was moderately warm. Although the sun was about 30% cooler than it is today, the geological activity of the earth was much higher, leading to a somewhat temperate climate. Most of the earth was covered with oceans. The atmosphere contained mostly methane and little to no oxygen; therefore it is considered a reducing atmosp here. Although recent discoveries may change this view, it is generally believed that life first evolved in the Archean. Some of the oldest fossils of life on Earth include the Apex Chert (3.465 billion years old) and stromatolites (3.45 billion years old) from Australia, and the Swaziland microfossils from Africa (also about 3.45 billion years old). Dating the oldest life forms is difficult. Stromatolite-like structures have been shown to be as old as 3.5 billion years, but it can be debated whether they were made by living organisms, or natural forces (hydrothermal vents). The earliest conclusive radiometric markers of life (such as O-12 uptake, or the first evidence of photosynthesis, for example), date to about 2.7 billion years old. However, it is widely believed that the first life appeared much earlier, possibly around the beginning of the Archean, around 3.8 billion years ago, or even in the Hadean. The earliest chemical markers of life are dated to about 3.8 billion years, but this is not the same as finding microfossils. [EDIT: the oldest conclusive evidence of life has been pushed back to ab out 3.43 billion years old, at Strelley Pool in Western Australia.] The first organisms were likely non-photosynthetic, utilizing methane, ammonia or sulfates for their energy needs. Photosynthesis became common with the cyanobacteria, perhaps as early as 3.5 billion years ago. The oxygen produced by these bacteria went into oxidizing rocks on the Earth and the iron in the oceans, so there was no increase in atmospheric oxygen for a very long time. Atmospheric oxygen did not begin to rise significantly until billions of years after photosynthesis first began. The Archean was the period in which continent formation first began. The surface of the Earth had started to solidify in the Hadean, with the presence of liquid water as early as 100 million years after the formation of the Earth. But the early crust was unstable, and was continually eroded, recycled and re melted. During the Archean these areas of land increased in size and during the middle Archean the first continent sized expanses of land first appeared. These proto continents no longer exist, but their remnants are sometimes found in cratons, areas of ancient rock that survive on some of the continental shields today. Cratons typically appear when the overlying rock (mostly volcanic igneous rock) is buried deep, but not deep enough to be re melted. Instead, the heat and pressure converts it into metamorphic rock. These are areas where the crust has thickened, with fresh igneous rock on top and metamorphic rock beneath (though folding of the crust can obscure this relationship). For reasons that are not well understood, there were extensive cratonization events towards the last third of the Archean, which have never been repeated in the history of the Earth. However, continents as we know them today, with continental plates and plate tectonics did not appear until the very end of the Archean. The Earth When the Archean began, the Earth’s heat flow was nearly three times higher than it is today, and it was still twice the current level at the transition from the Archean to the Proterozoic (2,500 Ma). The extra heat was the result of a mix of remnant heat from planetary accretion, heat from the formation of the Earth’s core, and heat produced by radioactive elements. Most surviving Archean rocks are metamorphic or igneous. Volcanic activity was considerably higher than today, with numerous lava eruptions, including unusual types such as komatiite. Granitic rocks predominate throughout the crystalline remnants of the surviving Archean crust. Examples include great melt sheets and voluminous plutonic masses of granite, diorite, layered intrusions, anorthosites and monzonites known as sanukitoids. The Earth of the early Archean may have supported a tectonic regime unlike that of the present. Some scientists argue that, because the Earth was much hotter, tectonic activity w as more vigorous than it is today, resulting in a much faster rate of recycling of crustal material. This may have prevented cratonisation and continent formation until the mantle cooled and convection slowed down. Others argue that the oceanic lithosphere was too buoyant to subduct, and that the rarity of Archean rocks is a function of erosion by subsequent tectonic events. The question of whether plate tectonic activity existed in the Archean is an active area of modern research. There are two schools of thought concerning the amount of continental crust that was present in the Archean. One school maintains that no large continents existed until late in the Archean: small protocontinents were the norm, prevented from coalescing into larger units by the high rate of geologic activity. The other school follows the teaching of Richard Armstrong, who argued that the continents grew to their present volume in the first 500 million years of Earth history and have maintained a near-constant ever since: throughout most of Earth history, recycling of continental material crust back to the mantle in subduction or collision zones balances crustal growth. Opinion is also divided about the mechanism of continental crustal growth. Those scientists who doubt that plate tectonics operated in the Archean argue that the felsic protocontinents formed at hotspots rather than subduction zones. Through a process called â€Å"sagduction†, which refers to partial melting in downward-directed diapirs, a variety of mafic magmas produce intermediate and felsic rocks.[citation needed] Others accept that granite formation in island arcs and convergent margins was part of the plate tectonic process, which has operated since at least the start of the Archean. An explanation for the general lack of Hadean rocks (older than 3800 Ma) is the efficiency of the processes that either cycled these rocks back into the mantle or effaced any isotopic record of their antiquity. All rocks in the continental crust are subject to metamorphism, partial melting and tectonic erosion during multiple orogenic events and the chance of survival at the surface decreases with increasing age. In addition, a period of intense meteorite bombardment in the period 4.0-3.8 Ga pulverized all rocks at the Earth’s surface during the period. The similar age of the oldest surviving rocks and the â€Å"late heavy bombardment† is thought to be not accidental Palaeoenvironment The Archean atmosphere is thought to have nearly lacked free oxygen. Astronomers think that the sun had about 70–75% of the present luminosity, yet temperatures appear to have been near modern levels even within 500 Ma of Earth’s formation, which is puzzling the faint young sun paradox. The presence of liquid water is evidenced by certain highly deformed gneisses produced by metamorphism of sedimentary protoliths. The equable temperatures may reflect the presence of larger amounts of greenhouse gases than later in the Earth’s history. Alternatively, Earth’s albedo may have been lower at the time, due to less land area and cloud cover. By the end of the Archaean c. 2500 Mya, plate tectonic activity may have been similar to that of the modern Earth. There are well-preserved sedimentary basins, and evidence of volcanic arcs, intracontinental rifts, continent-continent collisions and widespread globe-spanning orogenic events suggesting the assembly and destruction of one and perhaps several supercontinents. Liquid water was prevalent, and deep oceanic basins are known to have existed by the presence of banded iron formations, chert beds, chemical sediments and pillow basalts. Geology Although a few mineral grains are known that are Hadean, the oldest rock formations exposed on the surface of the Earth are Archean or slightly older. Archean rocks are known from Greenland, the Canadian Shield, the Baltic Shield, Scotland, India, Brazil, western Australia, and southern Africa. Although the first continents formed during this eon, rock of this age makes up only 7% of the world’s current cratons; even allowing for erosion and destruction of past formations, evidence suggests that continental crust equivalent to only 5-40% of the present amount formed during the Archean. In contrast to Proterozoic rocks, Archean rocks are often heavily metamorphized deep-water sediments, such as graywackes, mudstones, volcanic sediments, and banded iron formations. Carbonate rocks are rare, indicating that the oceans were more acidic due to dissolved carbon dioxide than during the Proterozoic. Greenstone belts are typical Archean formations, consisting of alternating units of metamorphosed mafic igneous and sedimentary rocks. The meta-igneous rocks were derived from volcanic island arcs, while the metasediments represent deep-sea sediments eroded from the neighboring island arcs and deposited in a forearc basin. Greenstone belts represent sutures between protocontinents Life during the Era Fossils of cyanobacterial mats (stromatolites, which were instrumental in creating the free oxygen in the atmosphere ) are found throughout the Archean, becoming especially common late in the eon, while a few probable bacterial fossils are known from chert beds. In addition to the domain Bacteria (once known as Eubacteria), microfossils of the domain Archaea have also been identified. Life was probably present throughout the Archean, but may have been limited to simple non-nucleated single-celled organisms, called Prokaryota There are no known eukaryotic fossils, though they might have evolved during the Archean without leaving any fossils.No fossil evidence has been discovered for ultramicroscopic intracellular replicators such as viruses. Eoarchean Period The earliest part of the Archean eon is known as the Eoarchean. We’ve defined it chronometrically as a 200 million year period from 3.8 to 3.6 billion years, although the earlier boundary (3.8 billion) is not universally recognized. Since the Archean begins roughly with the earliest known rocks, the beginning of the Eoarchean will vary, based on estimates of the ages of the oldest rocks currently known. The Eoarchean is best known through the Isua Greenstone Belt, which is the oldest known rock formation (3.8 – 3.7 billion years old). This area, located in southwestern Greenland, contains metamorphosed volcanic (mafic) and sedimentary rocks. Much of the belt is derived from basaltic and high-magnesium basaltic pillow lavas. During the Eoarchean, crust formation (which began in the Hadean) continued. Due to the cessation of LHB, some of this crust survived and became incorporated into continents, which formed much later. The earth was mostly covered with water, with volcanoes and volcanic islands emerging here and there. The oceans were green and acidic from dissolved iron compounds. They sky was orange from high concentrations of methane, ammonia and carbon dioxide. The climate was probably temperate. Earth produced about 3 times as much heat internally as it does today, which compensated for the dimmer sun, and made the earth intensely geoactive. Life first emerged during this period, if not earlier. The earliest life was probably based on methane or some similar chemistry. Paleoarchean Period The Paleoarchean is a 400 million year long period within the archean eon, dating from 3.6 to 3.2 billion years ago. There are no specific rocks layers that separate this level – it has been defined chronometrically. This era is very significant for the history of life on earth. Both archaea and eubacteria evolved during the paleoarchean, implying that the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all life of earth existed during this era. The oldest stromatolites date back to about 3.5 billion years, within the Paleoarchean. These were colonies of cyanobacteria, which are the only class of bacteria that produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis. They might not have been the oldest photosynthetic bacteria (some reports suggest that purple bacteria or rhodobacter developed photosynthesis first), but vast numbers of cyanobacteria were instrumental in changing the geology of earth and the evolution of life through the production of oxygen. Although cyanobacteria first started producing oxygen in this era, it is important to remember that no significant amounts of oxygen existed in the atmosphere at this time, because of vast quantities of oxidizable materials in the earth’s crust and the iron in the oceans, which absorbed any oxygen that was produced. Continent formation continued, with increasingly larger land masses emerging from the oceans. It has been proposed that the first super continent, Vaalbara, came into existence in this era, around 3.3 billion years ago (may have been as early as 3.6 billion years ago). This is based on the similarity in sedimentary sequences on the South African Kaapvaal craton and the West Australian Pilbara craton (hence the name vaal-bara). This theory is controversial, and if Vaalbara did exist, it had started to break up by about 2.8 billion years ago, shown by the diverging paleomagnetic history of these two cratons from that time on. Mesoarchean The Mesoarchean is another era that has been defined chronometrically, rather than geologically. This era covers the middle of the archean, from 3.2 to 2.8 billion years ago. The Mesoarchean continued the trends from the previous Paleoarchean era. Continent formation continued. Plate tectonics forced the separation of the Kaapvaal and Pilbara cratons, and the separation of these ancient parts of South Africa and Australia was complete by the end of the Mesoarchean, around 2.8 billion years ago. Another super continent that may have originated during the mesoarchean was Ur. This consisted of the South African Kaapvaal and West Australian Pilbara cratons (which were originally together in Vaalbara, but no longer contiguous now), plus the Indian Bhandara and Singhbhum cratons, and some regions of what is now the east Antarctica. It is believed that Ur survived for a very long time, joining with other cratons to later form Rodinia, and even later, Pangaea. Although life evolved much earlier, the first incontrovertible fossils appear from this period. Stromatolites were prevalent in coastal waters, with their cyanobacteria continuing to pump oxygen into the atmosphere. However, atmospheric oxygen levels remained very low, as the oxygen continued to be used up in oxidizing minerals on the earth’s crust and in the sea. All life from this period was consequently anaerobic. The oldest banded iron formations (BIFs) are dated to this period. BIFs are a type of sedimentary rock, consisting of layers of iron-rich minerals such as hematite and magnetite, alternating with iron-poor layers of shale and chert. It is believed that oxygen produced by the cyanobacteria precipitated out the iron (as oxides) which had previously been dissolved in the acidic oceans. The layering indicates a pattern of cyclical activity, showing oxygen â€Å"pulses†. It is unknown if these pulses corresponded to seasonal activity or some other factor. The formation of banded iron formations continued until as recently as 1.8 billion years ago, at which point it is presumed that most of the iron in the seas had already been precipitated out. There are some more recent formations, that were thought to represent events corresponding to local oxygen depletion (if oxygen is depleted, iron continues to wash into the sea through the rivers and accumulates in solution until the oxygen level rises again and it is precipitated). However, more recent research shows that this â€Å"local† oxygen depletion may have been global — the result of the â€Å"snowball earth† scenario where all life (including cyanobacteria) came close to extinction. Banded iron formations contain enormous amounts of oxygen, perhaps as much as 20 times the amount of oxygen present in the atmosphere today. Together with other such oxygen â€Å"sinks† they explain why it took so long for atmospheric oxygen levels to start rising after the appearance of the cyanobacteria. Neoarchean The last 300 million years of the Archean eon have been chronometrically classified as the Neoarchean, from about 2.8 billion years ago to 2.5 billion years ago. Many of the processes described earlier, that originated in the Mesoarchean, established themselves in the Neoarchean. Cyanobacteria started producing significant amounts of oxygen in this period. This eventually lead to the Oxygen Catastrophe during the early proterozoic, in which rising levels of oxygen poisoned much of the life that existed at the time. There is some evidence that life first colonized land during this period. There has been some evidence that microbes colonized some land masses as early as 2.75 billion years ago, but the thinking was that such colonization was very limited in scope and insignificant. However, more recently, evidence has started to accumulate that there may have been a large scale colonization of land by microbes, which broke down rocks to release sulfur and molybdenum that eventually washed into the oceans. This was thought unlikely because at the time there was no ozone layer (which appeared hundreds of millions of years later after the oxygen catastrophe, after oxygen levels had built up sufficiently in the atmosphere), so life on land was unprotected from UV rays. However, microbes may have lived deep within the rocks. During the Neoarchean, large continents first appeared on earth, with modern plate tectonics (with subduction zones, continental plates sliding over each other and the upwelling of lava to produce new crust where continental plates tore apart). The first large continents were formed (when we call previously existing continents such as Vaalbara or Ur â€Å"super continents† it’s not because of size — they were smaller than Australia — but because they were the only continents around). Certainly there was recycling of crust prior to this period (perhaps all the way back to the hadean), but earlier continents formed at hotspots over mantle plumes, rather than at subduction zones. Continents basically grow by getting lighter and tougher. Cyclic re-melting and reformation of rock through lava flows (igneous differentiation) gradually separates the lighter minerals, and allows the development of felsic rocks from mafic rocks. Lighter rocks are more buoyant, and resist recycling by floating over the liquid mantle. The archean ended about 2.5 million years ago, with the beginning of the proterozoic. This was the end of the period when mostly geological processes affected the surface of the Earth, and the beginning of the period when life started to play a significant part in what was happening on Earth.