Bailey Surname Meaning and Origin

Bailey Surname Meaning and Origin Bailey is derived crown official or officer of the king in county or town. Keeper of a royal building or house. A person of high rank. From the Old French for bailiff and/or the Scottish term bailie, a municipal officer corresponding to an English alderman. Bailey is the 66th most popular surname in the United States and the 56th most common surname in England. Surname Origin Scottish, French Alternate Surname Spellings BAILIE, BAILLIE Genealogy Resources for the Surname Bailey 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? Bailey Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Bailey surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Bailey query. FamilySearch - Bailey GenealogyFind records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Bailey surname and its variations. Bailey Surname Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Bailey surname. Cousin Connect - Bailey Genealogy QueriesRead or post genealogy queries for the surname Bailey, and sign up for free notification when new Bailey queries are added. DistantCousin.com - Bailey Genealogy Family HistoryFree databases and genealogy links for the last name Bailey. References: Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005. Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

Six Book Blogs You Need to Read

Six Book Blogs You Need to Read Apart from the book blogs role as a dynamic forum for discussion and the exchange of book titles and other reading material, book blogs have become the stage where you, the budding writer, can turn the spotlight on yourself and become a celebrity- not necessarily by winning the Nobel Prize for Literature like Bob Dylan, but by putting yourself, your views, and your literary skills out there to a potential audience of millions. In this post, I am presenting a list of my favorite book blogs. Whether youre a professor of literature, a bookworm, or an undiscovered writer yearning for recognition, you will find great books, open discussion forums, writers tips, and excellent reviews in these top book blogs.The Book Designer- This is my top choice of book blog because it offers excellent advice on how to establish yourself as a writer using a captivating, user-friendly design and great tips on how to crack the literary space. The author of this blog, Joel Friedlander, states: Writers chang e the world one reader at a time. But you cant change a book thats still on your hard drive or in a box under your bed. So, his message is this, Get your book out there! And he shows you how through a clearly enumerated list of suggestions that include Amazons Createspace, which shows how to get your book ready in print form for Amazons worldwide audience. If you want to produce your own e-Book, Amazon Kindle or Smashwords will lead the way.Alternatively, the blog shows you how to publicize your book through your own WordPress website. This blog also provides some excellent tips for monetizing your writing skills by using Google AdSense ads, private ads, and sponsorships. This is a go-to blog for writers and designers that covers just about anything you want to know about writing or designing a book. It shows you how to access self-training kits for writers, how to self-publish, how to market articles both on social media and in the real world, and how to use book design templates i n Microsoft Word. If you use the wealth of information this blog offers to put your lurking genius out there, you have every chance of becoming a cyber celebrity.The Millions- The New York Times has described The Millions as an indispensable literary site, and I include it as my number two choice. It serves not only as a blog on which people are free to comment and review books and articles, but also as an extraordinary and original source of contemporary books that will have you laughing or crying at the choice of titles, and there are thousands. Consider Jacob Lamberts Like a Fried Egg Sliding off a Fat Mans Naked Thigh: 18 Fair-use Similes, or the article, The Art of Compassion on Donald Trumps Hats. The interactive nature of this blog is implicit in a host of excellent articles relating to the arduous process of writing a book and articles that invite comments and suggestions. One article by Nick Ripatrazone deals with the quintessential nightmare all writers face at one time or another- immobility. The advice it offers to writers incapacitated by introversion and a lack of self-confidence is Dont Worry. Dont Wait. Write.There are thousands of interesting ideas, book titles, articles, and suggestions in The Millions as well as essays, columns, quizzes, poetry, and a section called Ask the Writing Teacher in which readers can ask virtually any writing-related question, from how to deal with Fifty Shades of Rejection to how to handle transitions. This is a wonderful site with a touch of individual genius that will bring you back for more.The Indie View- So, lets suppose youre into horror stories, and youre looking, for example, for Barbara Watkins book Six-Pack of Blood. You dont want only the Six-Pack; you want to find every e-book Watkins has written, and, for good measure, you also want to know which of her books has horrified the world the most. In other words, you want to read the detailed reviews. You wont find that information at your local bookstore, but you will find it at the Indie View, which offers authors of e-Books from around the world the opportunity to set up their own pages on the Indie View website. The only caveat is that the e-Book authors work must have been reviewed before submission.What I love about this site is the video trailers it offers as an incentive to read the authors works. The trailer to Watkins Six-Pack of Blood opens with an invitation to Turn on the Lights, Check the Locks, and Get Ready to Scream! Its not all horror, of course, and the list of authors from around the world covering a variety of genres is truly impressive. The great advantage of this site is that it offers to promote the works of its e-Book authors, giving them a free cyber shove into the real world where their names could eventually end up alongside the likes of Tolstoy, Irving Stone, James Joyce, and, who knows, even Alfred Hitchcock!Omnivoracious- I am including this Amazon blog in my list of top book blogs not only for its imag inative, user-friendly design and its very strong emphasis on interaction and open discussion, but also for its incomparable coverage of books and book-related topics. Clearly, Amazon is the worlds front-runner as a book provider: recently, Amazon accounted for 64% of the sales of printed books online. And the virtual bookstores blog, Omnivoracious (hungry for the next good book): The Amazon Book Review, does a great service to Amazons reputation. In fact, this blog has an outstanding ability to identify best-selling titles that are current and which will continue to sell. One look at Amazons Best Books of the Year will offer you an ample choice of reads throughout the next year, and if you prefer shorter reads, this blog offers some very informative book-related articles, such as The Best Childrens Books for 2016 or The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books for November.Omnivoracious, which was launched in 2007, has evolved into a dynamic forum on which Amazon editors can discuss their craft, the strategies they employ to bring their books to the public stage, and the passion they have for subjects ranging from nursery rhymes and nail polish to rocket science and sex. In fact, theres something for everything on Omnivoracious, and dynamic interaction on the content of fiction and non-fiction titles that include cookbooks and kids books, romance and science fiction. A special attraction on the Omnivoracious blog is its presentation of current celebrity picks. These include Ransom Riggs Favourite Reads of 2016, and Mara Wilsons Favorite Reads of 2016. Omnivoracious also has a superb eye for particular genres that will attract the public eye: Graphic Novel Friday: Best Comic and Graphic Novels for 2016 is one. As the biggest online bookstore in the world, Amazon has the resources and experience to make this one of the most-read literary blogs in the world.Critical Mass- If you want to feel the real pulse of the worlds literary heartbeat, this blog should be on y our bucket-list of places to go before you die. Established by the National Book Critics Circle in New York City in 1974, it serves an online membership of 600 critics, authors, and literary writers offering incisive commentary and reviews on books and other literary works from around the world. Another great attraction is its encyclopedic list of websites where authors, reviewers, and commentators can access almost any information in the literary world. Critical Mass features the latest works of current members, reports on literary events from around the country, and discusses the content of literary websites, blogs, individual articles, books, and essays.The categories and archives featured in Critical Mass are a veritable treasure-chest of literary information, featuring such subjects as Adventures in e-Reading, 30 Books in 30 Days, and Conversations With Literary Websites. Particularly attractive is the bullet-like presentation of current news and reviews featuring writers and r eviewers around the world. For example, Jim Ruland reviews The Haunted Looking Glass, an anthology of Ghost stories selected by Edward Gorey for his column, The Floating Library, in San Diego City Beat. The icing on the cake is the blogs video and podcast offerings, which cover such diverse subjects as The VIDA Count and Gender Bias in Book Reviewing and The NBCC on Unlikeable Characters in Contemporary Fiction. The National Book Critics Circle is the driving force behind this impressive blog, and establishes an important literary standard in its annual literary awards, which frame which authors are the ones who count in cyber space and the real world.Helping Writers Become Authors- Youre sitting at your desk about to write a book. Your head is crammed with ideas so diffuse that you wonder whether your heads going to explode. What am I going to write for the intro? Should I put the intro at the end of the book? What is the plot? Who are the characters? How do I define them? Theres n o symmetry to the ideas, no order, no outline. Youre stuck, and the page stays blank. If this sounds familiar to you, this blog is exactly what you need. The blog is written by K.M. Weiland, and when she delivers her strategies for writing amazing prose, she knows what shes talking about. She is the award-winning, best-selling author of Outlining Your Novel and Structuring Your Novel, and her blog is a compass that will steer you through the rough waters of creative writing until you reach your destination.Perhaps the outstanding feature of Weilands blog is its user-friendly format and the way in which she invites you in to formulate a plot, investigate ways in which to write about characters, identify the central theme of your story, and form an outline for your book that will make you a celebrity author. Having experienced the trauma aspirant authors endure in addressing these issues, I would highly recommend this blog as an indispensable guide to creative and structured writing. Besides the wealth of instructional writing information K.M Weiland offers in her blog, she has the writers gift of bringing a smile to your face or a twinkle to your eyes on your dullest days. She describes herself as a person who lives in make-believe worlds, talks to imaginary friends, and survives primarily on chocolate truffles and espresso. Perhaps theres a little bit of her in all of us.

Juvenile Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Juvenile Justice - Essay Example According to a report from the National Institute of Justice, â€Å"Research indicates that a relatively small group of serious juvenile offenders who are also serious drug users account for a disproportionate amount of all serious crimes committed by juveniles.† (Vanderwaal, et al. 1) This report shows that serious juvenile drug abusers are at a subsequently higher risk for the eventual commission of serious crimes. The fourth group of juvenile alcohol and drug users is the hard core user who is unable to function within society, and may present a much higher threat to society and themselves as a direct result. While the fourth group is extreme and may seem to be more severe type it would likely be the third group that would present the largest threat to society and the user themselves. The third grouping spends time and money that they may need to steal to obtain the drugs and is still able to function to a degree within society. By virtue of ability to function and extreme desire for the substances of choice this user would likely represent the greatest threat. Reference page: Vanderwaal, et al.,. "Breaking the Juvenile drug-crime cycle, a guide for practitioners and policymakers." National Institute of Justice (2001): 1. Web. 23 Apr 2011. http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/186156.pdf

The Shallows Agreement and Partial Disagreement with Nicholas Carrs Essay

The Shallows Agreement and Partial Disagreement with Nicholas Carrs Approach to Internet Privacy - Essay Example For purposes of this particular analysis, the author will analyze Nicholas Carr’s â€Å"The Shallows†. Rather than delving into it point by point agreement for rebuttal of Carr’s piece, this author will attempt to integrate the analysis based upon Carr’s of the means by which more and more websites such as Google and Facebook seek to track their online users and glean potentially harmful levels of personal preferences and surfing history. As a means of such an analysis, it is the hope of this author that the reader will be able to integrate with one of the most important issues that exists within the realm of technology during the current era; the right an expectation to privacy. Although it is always been a policy of firms seeking to maximize their profits to endeavor to gain valuable information with regards to their client base, the extent to which websites such as Facebook and Google have gone to extract this information from their users is unprecedented. One of the trade-offs to the readily available information and use of social networking that both of these sites, as well is a host of others, display is the facts that they provide lengthy, nuanced, and ultimately confusing privacy policies that are written in what can only be described as many pages of legalese (O’Brien & Torres 69). Naturally, such privacy policies are intended not towards protecting the privacy of the individual Web server; rather, they are designed to protect against any liabilities that the firm may incur based upon their otherwise unscrupulous gathering of information of their users. It is the belief of this particular researcher that such practices are highly unethical and represent breaches of consumer confidence that in any other industry would be taken as an affront to consumer privacy and respect. Unfortunately, the level to which government is willing to safeguard the users of these monolithic and highly lucrative firms are extraordinarily limited (Carr 105). Although it is beyond the scope of this analysis to offer an in-depth discussion of why this might be, it is the belief of this particular researcher that the line between industry and government is particularly blurred both with respect to Facebook and to Google. This blurring has not helped the consumer/web surfer whatsoever; rather, it has only helped these firms to further market their products and seek to gain valuable information with regards to the habits and preferences of the millions of individuals that use their services on a daily basis. In the past, cooperation between the government and private firms has rarely turned out to the overall benefits of the end consumer. Although s uch a situation is possible, the level and extent to which government is currently reliant and highly cooperative with the likes of Google, Facebook and others does not bode well for the right to privacy from the end user/consumer (Gilbert 8). Naturally, the key concern is not center necessarily upon the fact that Google and others are seeking to track and retain this information; rather, the key issue becomes what did they intend on doing with such information/how will they use it/for how long will they keep it and who ultimately has access to it? Recently, I was so troubled by the level to which so many websites sought to place tracking cookies on the computer that I downloaded an ad on to Mozilla Firefox which is called â€Å"Ghostery†

Triangle Factory Fire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Triangle Factory Fire - Essay Example Immigrants desperately needed work and were at a disadvantage because they were â€Å"struggling with a new language and culture† (â€Å"Remembering the Triangle Factory Fire: 100 Years Later†). Because of this, the workers were willing to work in conditions that many would consider unacceptable and unbearable. Women as young as fourteen worked in factories to help support their families, and most did not have the protection of a labor union that acted on their behalf. Though labor unions, such as the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union and the Womens’ Trade Union League, existed at the time, the Triangle Waist Company was a non-union shop (â€Å"Remembering the Triangle Factory Fire: 100 Years Later†). Managers locked workers in to the building once the work day started, required them to leave by a single exit at the end of their shifts, and subjected the workers to a search as they left the building. On the day of the fire, witnesses noted that the doors were locked, and only one of the two elevators available to transport workers from the upper levels of the building was in operation. Additionally, a worker who escaped the fire related that the water buckets intended for use in the event of a fire were empty (â€Å"Remembering the Triangle Factory Fire: 100 Years Later†). These are just a few of the factors that contributed to the magnitude of the disaster. The New York (State) Factory Investigating Commission formed as a result of this tragedy, uncovered the extent of what it called a â€Å"neglect of the human factor† (â€Å"Remembering the Triangle Factory Fire: 100 Years Later†). The findings of the Commission indicated that attention to light and illumination, ventilation, cleanliness, and basic â€Å"indispensable comforts† would not only improve the workers’ condition, but would also benefit the companies by increasing efficiency and effectiveness. The Commission states that â€Å"the standardization of factory sanitation is

Financial Performance Of Selected Commercial Banks In Uganda Finance Essay

Financial Performance Of Selected Commercial Banks In Uganda Finance Essay Persistent poor financial performance in commercial banks in Uganda yet stakeholders continuously alleged that corporate governance of these banks was doubtful, provoked the writing of this paper. Disclosure and trust, which constitute the integral parts of corporate governance, provide pressure for improved financial performance (Mark2000). This paper aims at establishing the relationship between the core principles of corporate governance and financial performance in commercial banks of Uganda. Findings indicate that Corporate Governance predicts 34.5 % of the variance in the general financial performance of Commercial banks in Uganda. However the significant contributors to financial performance include openness and reliability. Openness and Reliability are measures of trust. On the other hand credit risk as a measure of disclosure has a negative relationship with financial performance. It is obvious that trust has a significant impact on financial performance; given that transpar ency and disclosure boosts the trustworthiness of commercial banks. Banks both local and international should enforce full disclosure practices and transparency practices thereby enhancing trust in order to survive in the competitive financial landscape. Introduction The International financial landscape is changing rapidly; economies and financial systems are undergoing traumatic years. Globalization and technology have continuing speed, financial arenas are becoming more open, new products and services are being invented and marketed and regulators everywhere are scrambling to assess the changes and master the turbulence. An international wave of mergers and acquisitions has swept the banking industry as boundaries between financial sectors and products have blurred dramatically. In this brave new world, one fact remains unchanged. The need for countries to have sound resilient banking systems and strong banks with good Corporate Governance then will use competition to strengthen and upgrade their institutions that will survive in an increasingly open environment (Kaheeru, 2001). According to James Wolfensohn former World Bank Group President, Corporate governance is about promoting corporate fairness, transparency and accountability (Financial Times, 1999). Governance is a requisite for survival and a gauge of how predictable the system for doing business in any country is. In developing countries, the importance of governance is to strengthen the foundation of society and chip into the global economy. International standards and guidelines on corporate governance have been established by many multilateral organizations including the OECD and the Basle Committee in the effort to ensure improved legal; institutional and regulatory framework for enhancing corporate governance in institutions such as banks and financial markets (Kibirango, 2002). Specifically, the World Bank has proposed guidelines for good corporate governance in the financial sector, because of the critical role of the sector as the main vehicle for robust economic growth and effective transmission of monetary policy In Uganda, the factors responsible for poor corporate performance especially in banks emanate from lack of transparency, accountability and poor ethical conduct (Kibirango, 1999). Commercial banks failures have been linked to self-inflicted causes resulting from bank owners; ICB(International Credit Bank), GBL(Greenland Bank), and Coop Bank were afflicted with the one-man management syndrome of corporate governance exemplified by Thomas Kato (ICB), Sulaiman Kiggundu (GBL) and USAID (Co-op Bank). There was no separation between senior management and the board of directors in ICB or GBL and that management took little account of depositors interests. The board of ICB consisted of 4 members of the Kato family including a six -year- old child GBL had two boards of directors but neither had a say in the running of the bank for instance ICBs audit report cited connected or insider lending to a tune of UShs. 4 billion In the case of GBL the July 1998 Bank of Uganda (BOU) Audit Report stated that as per30th June 1998, Insider lending stood at Ushs.22, 722 million representing 47 percent of customer deposits and accounting for 5 5 percent of the total loan portfolio yet the maximum amount the bank could lend according to FIS 1993 was Ushs.975 million only. The report also cited that in most cases credit was extended on sole instructions of then Managing Director without any or minimal documentation (BOU, 1999). At the time of removing the Managing director in December 1998, the bank was more illiquid than what the financial statements were showing. Greenland Bank had tried to cover up the shortfall through kiting cheques between them selves and Uganda Commercial Bank and this involved instruments worth about Ushs. 4 billion. At the time of handing over, Kigundu admitted having made huge investments (UShs. 37bn off-Balance Sheet) mostly in related companies without disclosing these in books of the bank. In addition, he had secretly solicited for substantial deposits UShs. 20 billion which were kept off the financial Statements of the bank (BOU, 19, 1999). The B.O.U. closure of the above mentioned banks was intended to awaken the owners, directors and managers of the other commercial banks to institute sound corporate governance principles and foster better financial performance. It is worth highlighting that, insufficient financial disclosure evidenced by high level of off-balance sheet items, lack of transparency resulting from gross mismanagement and dubious accounting actions as observed in cases of ICB, GBL (Yunusu, 2001) and TransAfrica Bank Ltd (B.O.U., 2002) are detrimental to interests of banks stakeholders especially the depositors. The banks capital, asset and earnings values are affected and as a result the financial performance is questionable. This may be due to poor corporate governance. Amazingly, even after the intervention by Bank of Uganda through the closure of at least three commercial Banks in 1999, a number of Commercial Banks in Uganda have continued to register poor financial Performance, for instance, National Bank of Commerce in 2001/2002 reported a loss of 729,000,000/= and the banks liabilities swelled to 5bn/= in year 2002 from Ug. Shs 2.3bn in 2001.Citibanks profits fell from Ug. Shs. 4.1bn. in year 2001 to 2.3bn/= in year 2002 (Aggrey, 2003), Similarly, the Balance sheet position of Stanbic Bank (U) ltd. for year 2001 declined by 14.24 per cent compared with a growth of 19.19 per cent in 2000. Loans and advances, which comprised 32.95 percent of total assets declined by 24.42 percent, and the efficiency ratio deteriorated from 31.65 percent to 35.07 percent (Stanbic Bank Uganda, 2001). The overall aim of this paper is to investigate the link between, financial performance and the Core pillars of corporate governance; transparency, disclosure and trust in commercial banks in Uganda, within International and local Commercial Banks with headquarters in Kampala District, Stanbic Bank, Cairo Bank, Orient Bank and CERUDE Bank were the key focus in this paper. In order to achieve this aim bank annual reports formed a major source of financial data used to gauge financial performance. Financial performance was measured using CAEL Model which was later correlated with corporate governance variable. An Overview of the Key Variables To understand corporate governance and financial performance variables in relation to commercial banks, the major corporate governance pillars i.e. financial transparency, disclosure and trust are dissected. Financial performance especially relating to commercial banks is also reviewed based on the performance dimensions comprising capital adequacy, asset quality, earnings and liquidity. The significance of stakeholders in commercial banks is also highlighted. These are compressed in a conceptual framework Revenue Authority and Bank of Uganda, the expectation of government is that, information from these enterprises should not be biased and misleading. Management has to take into account the stakeholders expectations when they set a strategic direction but this can only be attained through sound corporate governance. Corporate Governance Corporate governance is about building credibility, ensuring transparency and accountability as well as maintaining an effective channel of information disclosure that would foster good corporate performance. It is also about how to build trust and sustain confidence among the various interest groups that make up an organisation. Indeed the outcome of a survey by Mckinsey in collaboration with the World Bank in June 2000 attested to the strong link between corporate governance and stakeholder confidence(Mark, 2000). Given that a study has already been carried out on the extent to which board composition affects team processes (orientation communication feedbacks, coordination, leadership and monitoring), board effectiveness and performance of the selected financial institutions in Uganda (Rosette, 2002), the researcher picked three basic tenets of Corporate Governance; Transparency, Disclosure and Trust in relation to commercial bank financial performance in Uganda, these tenets fall under the accounting field. The constructs/tenets are reviewed in the following sections. Transparency Transparency is integral to corporate governance, higher transparency reduces the information asymmetry between a and bondholders), mitigating the agency problem in corporate governance (Sandeep et al, firms management and financial stakeholders (equity2002). In Uganda lack of transparency is attributed to the closures of commercial banks (Yunusu, 2001). Bank Transparency The concept of Bank transparency is broad in scope it refers to the quality and quantity of public information on a banks risk profile and to the timing of its disclosure, including the banks past and current decisions and actions as well as its plans for the future. The transparency of the banking sector as a whole also includes public information on bank regulations and on safety net operations of the central bank (Enoch et al, 1997 and Rosengren, 1998). Weak transparency makes banks asset risks opaque. Stock market participants including professional analysists such as Moodys encounter difficulties in measuring banks credit worthiness and risk exposures (Poon, Firth, and Fung, 1999, Morgan 1999, and Jordan, Peek, Rosengren, (2000)). Ball (2001) argues that timely incorporation of economic losses in the published financial statements (that is, conservatism) increases the effectiveness of corporate governance, compensation systems, and debt agreements in motivating and monitoring managers. For instance, improved governance can manifest in a reduction of the private benefits that managers can extract from the company or in a reduction of the legal and auditing costs that shareholders must bear to prevent managerial opportunism Governance research in accounting exploits the role of accounting information as a source of credible information variables that support the existence of enforceable contracts, such as compensation contracts with payoffs to managers contingent on realized measures of performance, the monitoring of managers by boards of directors and outside investors and regulators, and the exercise of investor rights granted by existing securities laws. There are a number of issues to consider in this regard. First, the existence of a strong financial accounting regime is likely a precondition for the existence of a vibrant stock market and in its absence the notions of equity-based pay and diffuse ownership of firms become moot (Ball (2001) and Black (2000)) Institutional Variables Used to Measure Corporate transparency comprises. Financial accounting disclosures of major stakeholders, Timeliness of disclosures, Information dissemination and completeness of information. Robert Abbie (2001) concur with BPS especially on institutional transparency, they outline the transparency dimensions as; Completeness of financial information, Release of information, Timeliness, and Means of dissemination. Disclosure Given the recent corporate scandals (US Based; Enron, WorldComà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Heidi and Marleen (2003) and Uganda Based; Greenland Bank Ltd, ICB(Japheth (2001)) restoring public trust is at the top of the agenda of todays business leaders. Greater information provision (disclosure) on the companys capital and control structures can be an important means to achieve this goal. High quality and relevant information is crucial for exercise of governance powers. Full Disclosure seeks to avoid financial statements fraud(Beasley, 1996; Beasley et al, 2000). Prior studies have concentrated on disclosure of items such as management earnings forecasts (Johnson et al, 2001; Lev and Penman1990) or interim earnings (Leftwich and Zimmerman 1981), or have examined a very general disclosure index of financial and/or non financial items (Chow and Wong Borren, 1987). The CIFAR Index (i.e. a disclosure index created by the Center for Intentional Financial Analysis and Research (CIFAR) rates annual reports on the inclusion or omission of about 90 (rather traditional and mandatory financial) items from the following categories; general information, income statements, balance sheet, funds flow statement, accounting standards, stock data and special items (Laporta et al, 1998). Dangers of Voluntary Disclosure The most common arguments against voluntary disclosure from a managerial perspective are fear of giving away sensitive information to competitors and procurement of extra costs for collecting and disclosing the information (Eccles and Mavrinac (1995), Healy and Palepu (1993), Reich and Cylinder (1997).However, it is worth noting that as competition continues to bite, the basket of secret information tends to reduce. Financial Disclosure Financial disclosure, which is a key component of the newly proposed Basel Capital Accord, is reviewed in the following paragraphs. In April 2003, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS, 2003a), headquartered at the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland, released the new Basel Capital Accord, which replaced the1988 Capital Accord with an attempt to set regulatory capital requirements that are comparable across countries. The purpose of pillar three is to complement the other pillars by presenting an enhanced set of public disclosure requirements focusing on capital adequacy. This pillar is examined in more detail than the first 2 pillars given that disclosure represents one of the key variables in the scope of this study. Details of Pillar Three Pillar Three addresses the issue of improving market discipline through effective public disclosure. Specifically, it presents a set of disclosure requirements that should improve market participants ability to assess banks capital structures, exposures, management processes, and, hence, their overall capital adequacy. The proposed disclosure requirements consist of qualitative and quantitative information in three general areas: corporate structure, capital structure and adequacy, and management. Corporate structure refers to how a banking group is organized; for example, what is the top corporate entity of the group and how are its subsidiaries consolidated for accounting and regulatory purposes. Capital structure corresponds to how much capital is held and in what forms, such as common stock. The disclosure requirements for capital adequacy focus on a summary discussion of the banks approach to assessing its current and future capital adequacy. The Concept of Trust Trust means many things. Everyone knows intuitively what it is to trust; yet articulating a precise definition is not a simple matter (Wayne Megan 2002). Trust is difficult to define because it is so complex, in fact, Hosmer (1995) has observed. There appears to be widespread agreement on the importance of trust in human conduct, but unfortunately there also appears to be an equally widespread lack of agreement on a suitable definition of the construct. Trust is a multifaceted construct, which may have different bases and phases depending on the context; it is also a dynamic construct that can change over the course of a relationship (Wayne and Megan, 2002). Facets of trust There are at least five facets of trust that can be gleaned from the literature on trust (Hoy Tschannen-Moran, 1998; Tschannen-Moran Hoy 2001). Benevolence, reliability competence, honesty and openness are all elements of trust (Wayne Megan 2002). Benevolence perhaps the most common facet of trust is a sense of benevolence confidence that ones well being or something one cares about will be protected and not harmed by the trusted party (Baier, 1986; Butter Cantecell, 1984; Cummings Bramily, 1996; Deutch, 1958 Frost, Stimpson Maughan, 1978; Ganbetta, 1988; Hosner, 1995; Hoy Kupersmith 1985; Mishra 1996). Reliability at its most basic level trust has to do with predictability that is, consistency of behaviour and knowing what to expect from others (Butter Cantrell, 1984; Hosmer1995). In and of itself, however, predictability is insufficient for trust. We can expect a person to be invariably late, consistently malicious, inauthentic, or dishonest when our well-being is diminished or damaged in a predictable way, expectations may be met, but the sense in which we trust the other person or group is weak. Competence: Good intentions are not always enough when a person is dependent on another but some level of skill is involved in fulfilling an expectation an individual who means well may nonetheless not be trusted (Baier 1986; Butter Cantrell, 1984; Mishra, 1996). Competence is the ability to perform as expected and according to standards appropriate to task at hand, many organisational tasks rely on competence. Honesty: Honesty is the persons character, integrity and authenticity Rotte r (1967) defined trust as the expectancy that the word, promise, verbal or written statement of another individual or group can be relied upon. Statements are truthful when they confirm to what really happened from that perspective and when commitments made about future actions are kept. A correspondence between a persons statements and deeds demonstrates integrity. Openness: Openness is the extent to which relevant information is shared; it is process by which individuals make themselves vulnerable to others. The information shared may be strictly about organisational matters or it may be personal information, but it is a giving of oneself (Butter Cantrell, 1984, Mishra, 1996) such openness signals reciprocal trust a confidence that neither the information nor the individual will be exploited and recipients can feel the same confidence in return. Individuals who are unwilling to extend trust through openness end up isolated (Kramer, Brewer Hanna, 1996). In Uganda, as in many oth er countries, there is a rooted distrust in most of the public sector Shleifer, and Vishny, (1993) this may also be the case for the private sector in which the commercial banks fall. Macro-Economic Variable Macro-economic variables through factors such as inflation and changes in interest rates may either enhance or distress commercial banks financial performance. Cordella levy Yeyati (1998a) point out that if the shocks of the economy are wide and banks cannot control their asset portfolio risks, then full transparency of banks risk positions may destabilize the banking system. A countrys macro economic environment may also affect transparency levels therefore it becomes difficult to relate to financial performance of commercial Banks. Consider Uganda where the economy is shaped by a number of straining factors like unemployment, 38% of entire population under the poverty line. Such factors have a serious impact on the behaviour of potential account holders or even those who operate accounts. This means that even if there is proper transparency, full disclosure and trust in the banking industry, the above challenges may negatively affect financial performance in Uganda. In this paper, these together with other social, political and technological factors are assumed invariable. Relationship of Transparency, Disclosure, Trust and Financial Performance Transparency, disclosure and trust, which constitute the integral part of corporate governance, can provide pressure for improved financial performance. Financial performance, present and prospective is a benchmark for investment. The Mckinsey Quarterly surveys suggest that institutional investors will pay as much as 28% more for the shares of well governed companies in emerging markets (Mark, 2000). According to the corporate governance survey 2002, carried out by the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange and accounting firm Price Water House Coopers (PWC), the majority of investors in Malaysia are prepared to pay 20% premium for companies with superior corporate governance practices. Financial Performance and financial institutions Financial soundness is a situation where depositors funds are safe in a stable banking system. The financial soundness of a financial institution may be strong or unsatisfactory varying from one bank to another (BOU, 2002). External factors such as deregulation; lack of information among bank customers; homogeneity of the bank business, connections among banks do cause bank failure. Some useful measures of financial performance which is the alternative term as financial soundness are coined into what is referred to as CAMEL. The acronym CAMEL refers to the five components of a banks condition that are assessed: Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management, Earnings, and Liquidity. A sixth component, a banks Sensitivity to market risk, was added in 1997; hence the acronym was changed to CAMELS. (Note that the bulk of the academic literature is based on pre -1997 data and is thus based on CAMEL ratings.) Ratings are assigned for each component in addition to the overall rating of a bank s financial condition (Jose, 1999). The ratings are assigned on a scale from 1 to 5. Capital Adequacy: This ultimately determines how well financial institutions can cope with shocks to their balance sheets. The bank monitors the adequacy of its capital using ratios established by The Bank for International Settlements. Capital adequacy in commercial banks is measured in relation to the relative risk weights assigned to the different category of assets held both on and off the balance sheet items (Bank of Uganda, 2002). Asset Quality: The solvency of financial institutions typically is at risk when their assets become impaired, so it is important to monitor indicators of the quality of their assets in terms of overexposure to specific risks trends in non- performing loans, and the health and profitability of bank borrowers especially the corporate sector. Credit risk is inherent in lending, which is the major banking business. It arises when a borrower defaults on the loan repayment agreement. A financial institution whose borrowers default on their repayments may face cash flow problems, which eventually affect its liquidity position. Ultimately, this negatively impacts on the profitability and capital through extra specific provisions for bad debts (Bank of Uganda, 2002). Earnings: The continued viability of a bank depends on its ability to earn an adequate return on its assets and capital. Good earnings performance enables a bank to fund its expansion, remain competitive in the market and replenish and /or increase its capital(Bank of Uganda, 2002). A number of authors have agued that, banks that must survive need: Higher Return on Assets (ROA)., better return on net worth/Equity (ROE), sound capital base i.e. the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), adoption of corporate governance ensuring transparency to stakeholders that is equity holders, regulators and the public. Liquidity: Initially solvent financial institutions may be driven toward closure by poor manage ment of short-term liquidity. Indicators should cover funding sources and capture large maturity mismatches. An unmatched position potentially enhances profitability but also increases the risk of losses (The Ugandan Banker, June 2001). The M represents Management, given that this paper is hinged on financial performance, the management component in not considered in the measure. Generally, literature on corporate governance comprises attributes such as financial transparency, disclosure and trust among others and it is revealed that financial transparency and disclosure enhance trust between the stakeholders and organisations like commercial banks. Capital Adequacy, Earnings and Liquidity are the key dimensions of measuring financial performance in Commercial Banks. In summary, this literature forms an underpinning for the establishment of the association between corporate governance and financial performance. Methodology This study was conducted as a cross sectional and correlational investigation. Given that the key focus was to investigate the relationship between Corporate governance and financial performance. The managers of commercial banks in Uganda may be ensuing the arguments of Eccles Mavrinac (1995), Healy Palepu (1995), and Reich Cylinder (1997) whose studies make a note that voluntary disclosure of information for instance on Total capital bases Tier 1 2 capital, and preference shares may directly give away sensitive information to competitors and the disclosure process itself may lead to extra bank operating costs. Analysis Level of Trust in Commercial Banks On average the Commercial banks are not open to their clients on matters concerning the banks the majority indicated that manages do not tell them what is really going on in the bank; over 62 % were not sure and affirmed this statement. The lack of openness in these commercial banks may raise distrust as noted by Beatty Cantrell (1984), and Mishra (1996) who note that openness signals reciprocal trust a confidence that neither the information nor the individual will be exploited and recipients can feel the same confidence. Many authors conclude that reliability implies a sense of confidence. From URA, it was shown that the commercial banks are open to URA officials about what is going on in the bank (62.5%), it was also found out indicated that the commercial banks are competent in doing their work. The majority of URA officials also indicated that commercial banks are honest to URA and it is also indicated that commercial banks are reliable to URA , Overall analysis from the findings institutes a piece of evidence that URA trusts commercial banks activities. Level of Financial Performance in Commercial Banks As noted earlier, financial performance was considered the dependent variable in this paper, before correlating it with governance variables its magnitude within the commercial banks was ascertained. Secondary data especially from respective commercial banks annual-reports (from 2000 to 2003) were used to extract the summary of the banks financial performance Based on Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Earnings and Liquidity as recommended by BOU for measuring Financial Performance (BOU 2002). Capital adequacy, which is measured by CK/RWAs ratio(Core Capital / Risk Weighted Assets), in most banks was above the central banks, required level of 12%. Asset Quality, which was measured by NPA/ Total advances and Specific Provisions, also indicated that most banks were above the FIS (1993) requirement of 25%. Earnings, which are measured by ROE and ROA ratios, indicated that some banks earnings performance was below zero for instance Bank R. Some other banks indicated a steady movement upwards especially on their ROA Ratios. Liquidity which is measured by Liquidity Assets/Total Deposits and Total Advances/Total Deposits ratios, indicated that in the overall commercial banks were highly liquid over the trend 2000 to 2003,for instance for bank Z the Liquidity Assets/Total Deposits ratios were 119%, 140%, 112 % and 129% respectively, this implied a weakness in the financial performance of commercial banks. Relationship between Corporate Governance and Financial Performance in Commercial Banks. It was disclosed that all the dimensions of financial transparency, Disclosure and trust had positive relationships with most of the financial performance dimensions in commercial banks in Uganda. For instance capital adequacy, earnings, assets quality highly showed positive correlations with openness competence honestly and kindness. This is also in agreement with the McKinsey quarterly Survey Mark (2000) and the Corporate Governance Survey (2000) by the Kuala Lumpar Stock Exchange and accounting firm PWC that noted that there is a link between corporate governance and financial Performance due to the investors willingness to inject more funds in a wellgoverned firm. The extent to which corporate governance influences Financial Performance Regression analysis was used to find the influence of the independent variable Corporate Governance (financial transparency, disclosure and trust) on the dependent variables financial performance (capital adequacy, asset quality, earnings and li quidity). An analysis of Variance was produced reflecting the variables corporate Governance and financial performance. Results indicated that Corporate Governance (Transparency, Trust and Disclosure) predicts 34.5 % of the variance in the general financial performance of Commercial banks in Uganda. The significant contributors to financial performance were openness and reliability. Openness and Reliability all these are measures of trust. On the other hand, credit risk as a measure of disclosure had negative relationship with financial performance, this is in harmony with extant finance literature which highlights that, it is probable that when risky lending increases the payback declines. This in turn negatively affects commercial banks earnings. Conclusion and Recommendations Disclosure whose strongest dimension was ascertained as Credit Risk in this paper is in agreement with the New Basel Capital Accord (2003) and Lopez (2001). On the side of Trust; reliability, openness and honesty came out to be the strongest dimensions to gauge trust in commercial Banks this is in conformity with the study undertaken by Butter Cantrell (1984); and Wayne Megan (2002).Whereas completeness came out as the significant dimension when measuring financial transparency. Recommendations based on the above finds include: Given that the corporate governance can influence over 34% of the financial performance of banks, commercial banks need to adopt and strengthen the corporate governance principles especially on dimensions of timeliness in delivering the financial reports to Bank of Uganda and presenting the details of Loan Advances This means that issues regarding transparency where timeliness and completeness fall should not be underestimated by such banks. After the Commer cial Banks have established mechanisms to enforce proper governance practices such as financial disclosure and transparency. They will automatically build a bond of trust with their numerous stakeholders including customers, society, and government among others. Some of these stakeholders especially customers will in turn invest their funds in these banks. For instance, they buy shares when the respective commercial bank is listed both on the local capital market like Uganda Stock Exchange (USE) or on international Capital Markets like The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or any other capital market. Commercial Banks operating in Uganda, like any form of business organisation, in todays dynamic financial landscape should focus on proper Governance Practices and Principles not only to boost and enhance their financial performances but as path to gaining a better publ

All Quiet on the Western Front :: essays papers

All Quiet on the Western Front Mental abuse is sometimes overlooked, because of the rough physical abuse, but soldiers see a good side of both during wars. Maria Remarque shows the mental part of abuse on the book All Quiet on the Western Front. The narrator discusses all the hard times that went on during World War I, all through the book. Paul Baumer, the narrator, explains it when he and his friends enter the German army, very deeply although he is only eighteen. Baumer tells a story about fighting for their own sanity as well as their country. As the war begun, he and his friends got an real look at what the war was truly about. This book shows the conflict coming during the actual war, the boys use their spirits to try to overcome it. But the mind against reality that is described in the books, gives them a reality check on how life really is. During the beginning of the book, Remarque explains the boy's job, relating it to how hard it is to be in the war. Their was always something, not getting much sle ep, relieving the front line, and they also didn't have much to eat. What was going to happen, is described good by the way that the author talked about the life of the soldiers, but the boys failed to realize reality. Thinking that the war was just an ideal character. Convincing the reader to believe the boys didn't know the risk they were taking by being in this war. They way the boys viewed it, shows that, true their are some hard times in wars, but their minds are young and they thought it was just another thing to talk about. When they should have been taking things more serious, but thinking about the good parts helped them to keep a hold on their sanity. "They ought to have been mediators and guides to the world of maturity, the world of work, of duty, of culture, of progress to the future", was the beliefs of the boys after their friend Behn dies. Their generation thought that the authorities were going to look after, and take care of them, the authorities were thought of real highly by them. Until their friend passed away, then everything changed. "We had to realize that our generation was more to be trusted than theirs", this is where they came to reality that, everybody was taking c are of their selves, and didn't want anything to do with other peoples problems.

House of Representatives Essay

The US federal legislature is bicameral, therefore it consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and in theory they should both be of equal power. However, in reality it is the Senate which is considered to hold the most power, although there are arguments to in favour of them having equal rights. In order to reach a balanced judgement I will consider both sides of the argument, beginning with the claim that the Senate is more powerful than the House of Representatives. Senators represent an entire state, as members of the House of Representatives only represent districts, highlighting from the outset their different abilities to reach a broader spectrum of people, along with Senates being 1 of 100, and House members being 1 of 435. Therefore Senators have an easier avenue to implement their work, as a House representative has far less status, due to them being far denser in numbers a clear example of this is that of Bill Frist who in January 2003 became majority leader after only eight years in the Senate. While at the same time Representative Nancy Pelosi became House minority leader, but she had been a member in the house since 1987. This further highlights the ability of those with the senate to gain more status. Power within Congress is very much concentrated within committees, rather than that of the Chamber floor in question, which further highlights the Senates greater status, as Senators are far more likely to chair committees, which furthe r heightens their status on Capitol Hill. Senators are known both state-wide and even some are known nationwide, as House members are generally known in neither category. As a typical American sitting in the public gallery of the senate probably would not find difficulty in recognising such Senators as John McCain and John Kerry, as both have been their party’s presidential candidate. This is a different story within the house as most people would be unable to recognise representatives other than their own however there have been few exceptions such as Ron Paul, although this does further highlight the lack of status the House members have and as a consequence hindered power. This point is backed up even more by the time members have before they face re-elections, as in the Senate this period is every six years but only every two in the house. Consequently displaying the implication of House members being less important than that of Senators who have a longer period to make themselves known to their people and carry o ut their work without the hindrance of elections. The senate is widely seen as a launching pad for a presidential campaign, as Presidents Obama, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy and Truman were all former members of the Senate. While no member of the House in recent years has been chosen to run for President apart from Ron Paul in 2012, showing the Senates dominance within Congress in this area, as further instilling this point is the fact that 14 out of the last 15 elections the Democrats have nominated a senator as their vice-presidential candidate. However, when it comes down to passing legislation the two chambers have mostly equal powers, as neither chamber can overturn the decision made by the other, therefore the senate cannot dominate the House. Along with the ruling that both chambers must approve constitutional amendments, the House does however have exclusive powers over money bills, but this is overshadowed by the Senates ability to ratify or even reject a treaty even though a super majority would be needed. The only power the House holds that would appear to make them more powerful is that over the president and Vice-President, as they have the ability to elect the resident in the rare event of deadlock within the Electoral College. Although this is an almost irrelevant power as the house has not exercised it since 1824. Overall, it is apparent that members of both chambers are paid equal amounts, even though this is not an overriding argument for the two holding equal powers, it does add weight to them both having relatively equal powers, with the Senate receiving a greater amount of status within American Politics, this does not however mean they have an increased amount of power, the house is purely hindered by some factors such as the amount of members, which then makes many claim the Senate to be far more powerful than the House of Representatives, when the reality is slightly contrasting.

Detective story Essays

Detective story Essays Detective story Essay Detective story Essay Essay Topic: City Lights I needed a new case fast. Sitting in my dump of an office was not going to earn me money. It had been a while since I was in action, and my office looked like a huge tornado had walked through it. The wallpaper was beginning to peel off and turn yellow. My desk looked like it had seen better days and my floor didnt even exist due to the sea of papers. I was beginning to get a headache thinking about the state of the place. One glass of whisky should solve that problem.As I sunk into my leather chair, I turned and looked out of the window. That was the only positive aspect about being in this office. The view was magnificent, especially in the evening when the city lights were on. With darkness covering the city, all its flaws were hidden and for a few hours every night, London looked attractive.I was beginning to relax when a knock on the door ruined the peace. I muttered a curse and yelled Come in. The door slowly creaked open and my annoyance increased. For goodness sake, the door wasnt that hard to open and the area around it was actually paper free. But my complaints stopped short when I saw who stepped in. This one was a looker. Even just looking at her legs was enough to tell me that this was going to be an interesting client. My eyes travelled from her legs further upwards to find a tight-fitting black pencil skirt that wrapped itself snugly around her legs and hips and a pristine white shirt that clung to the top half of her body, outlining her wonderful figure.After staring at that for a while, I finally tore my eyes away to look at her face, I wasnt disappointed. Blessed with such a body, she even had the face to match. Golden blonde hair that was carefully styled framed a face that had a pair of big, crystal-blue eyes, a petite nose and round, full lips. I must have had my mouth hanging open as her luscious lips curved into a dangerous smile that told me she knew she had this affect on men.Her eyes scanned my shabby office, ta king in the peeling wallpaper and the avalanche of files. Youre needing a spring-cleaning here detective, she finally said, her voice soft but also with a playful edge to it. I grinned. Oh it needs much more than that, miss? Jeyman. But I prefer to be called Carla. Nice to make your acquaintance, Carla. Im terribly sorry, I would offer you a seat if there was Carla smiled. No its quite alright detective. This will only take a moment. Her eyes darted nervously around the room, as if she didnt want to meet my eye. Well she began hesitantly. For nearly a month now I have had someone stalking me her voice faded away and she glanced at me from under her long lashes. I nodded, signalling her to continue. But this person stalking me is nothing like the usual ones. You know, the ones who constantly call you, leave you gifts like flowers and chocolates. She seemed to turn pale as she told her story and she began to tremble slightly.You cant imagine, detective, the kind of sick and disgusting things this person leaves outside my door. She stopped and closed her eyes momentarily. When she opened them, tears were brimming at the edges. I was taken aback. My first impression of this woman was nothing like what it was before. She then reached into her handbag and pulled out a brown envelope. I hope you dont think strangely of me detective, but I took a picture of every gift he left me. I gave her a reassuring smile. Youve helped me immensely here Carla, by taking the pictures. I assure you that I will out who it is.I escorted Carla as far as the door then returned to my desk. I took a deep breath and poured out the contents of the envelope onto my desk. There were about thirteen Polaroids and another smaller envelope. I picked up the first one and nearly fell out of my chair. I was disgusted. The picture showed someones waste arranged to form the message Darling Love with several splatters of blood around it. This was something no lady should encounter. I was also curious a s to what the smaller envelope contained, and proceeded to open it. What slid out of it made me whistle. A cheque of five thousand pounds stared at me. Carla must have been extremely desperate, but what puzzled me was why she didnt go and report it earlier. I mentally kicked myself for forgetting to ask her.As I was about to look at the next picture, I heard a knock. Was it Carla again? Come in! I yelled. My facial expression must have been obvious as my old partner, Tom Hosp, smirked and said So glad to see you too. I pretended to not hear him and looked at the second picture instead. Oh Im hurt Matt, wheres the welcoming of an old friend? Have a seat, I said. If you can find one. I looked down at the next picture. This one was a horror. It looked like someone had butchered a whole generation of pigeons and chopped off their heads and this time the message was Love You. Suddenly the Polaroid disappeared from my hands and I looked up in annoyance to find Tom examining it, his mouth the shape of an o. I sighed. About half an hour ago, a pretty lady came to me about a nutcase who leaves her gifts. Not like ideal thing to give a lady huh. Oh man, Ive seen something like this before. I perked up. You have? Sure.About two months ago I had complaints from a few women and a man that they were had all sorts of rubbish arranged into a message. What? Men as well? Yeah. Seems like this one swings both ways. Oh Lord. Did you guys ever find out who did it? No. The harassments stopped after they were reported so were never pursued it. Now its back again. Was there any particular pattern? Hmm. They were all very good looking people and had money. I nodded. That matches. When they complained, how long had it been happening for? For nearly a month, they all said. They didnt report it straight away though, they thought it would stop after a week. That answered my question as to why Carla didnt do something about it as soon as she received her first gift. So thinking about it, t he gifts that Carla is getting should stop as shes reported it now, right? If her stalker is following her every move, then yes, it should stop. But that would mean that the perp would most likely find someone else to bother. I started massaging my temples. This case was turning out to be more complicated than I thought.Tom had finally managed to persuade me to come out for a drink. Come on! You being cooped up in here all day is degrading your looks, he joked. I ignored him and focused on my whisky, drinking it slowly and feeling the warmth spread through my body. I didnt want to drink too much. A clear mind was needed because I had misjudged how much work was needed for this case. I finished the drink and turned to Tom. Im heading back to the office. I need time to think about this case. Ill catch up with you later. Tom began to protest but I had reached the door, and the cold wind outside drowned out his voice. I quickened my walking pace, as the wind was beginning to get violent . Really, London weather was so unpredictable. One minute you have sunshine, the next a thunderstorm.From a distance, I noticed that something was not right. I clearly remembered switching off the porch light when I left with Tom. I slowed down my walking and made my steps silent. With Carla coming to me earlier about someone following her, I wasnt taking any chances. As I got closer, I felt a chill running through my spine. There on the landing in front of me, was blood everywhere and to me it looked like animal guts. I felt my blood run cold at the message: Youre Next.

Health is wealth Essays

Health is wealth Essays Health is wealth Paper Health is wealth Paper The strength of nation I determined by the health status of its citizens: a nation with predominantly unhealthy people is likely going to have reduced national output indexed by her Gross National Product and even the gross domestic product. The importance of health cannot be overemphasized at all levels of education and government. Besides, health is not just the absence of disease but a state of mental, physical and social wellbeing [WHO]. This implies that a healthy individual is one that is stable in his/her tripartite nature, maintaining homeostasis at these levels. In lieu of this, it is important to consider health and health related cultural practices that help to promote and sustain good health among the populace; these practices form the fulcrum of preventive care, and also constitute parts of palliative patient management. CULTURAL PRACTICES Culture is a way of life; it is the totality of a group of people. It involves their communication symbols, languages, education pattern, arts, methods of exchange and socialization, norms and beliefs, special events and the nature of their governance. It also includes the expectations of every member of the community. In this vein, health and health cultural practices refer to activities carried out regularly to maintain the sanity of the environment in which one resides, to maintain a good state of health and improved standard of living for local inhabitants; such are directed at preventing sources of ill-health such as infection, pollution in various forms, metabolic imbalance, accidents/trauma, immune suppression, neoplasia. It also includes measures taken to restore health in its absence such as care for the sick. PRODUCTIVE PRACTICES In essence, such health and health related cultural practices are broadly categorized into Preventive measures [targeted at preventing ill health by specific health measures], Restorative [Care in the presence of disease when there is hope of restoration to normal health; this is particularly seen in contemporary diseases like malaria, typhoid, influenza, measles, etc], and palliative [care in the presence of an incurable disease without hope to total or partial restoration to normal health] Preventive Measures that are employed as cultural practices: SANITARY MEASURES: this involvement regular clean up of the environment, rooms and work centers. Such help to maintain a clean environment that can support good living; this also inhibits the life cycle of infective agents and especially vectors such as insects [mosquitoes, tse-tesfly, arthropods, mammals]. This includes sweeping and mopping, grass and lawn mowing, washing dirty plates and hands after engaging in any acts that stain the hand and some others which are part of everyday house chores. Planting of trees and herbs: This helps to replenish the earth; it is also important in maintaining the stability of the ecosystem. It improves carbon and oxygen cycles that are inevitable for survival on the planet. DIET: this is a major way that health is maintained as typified by the signs and symptoms of a malnourished individual; such people suffer enormous discomfort and are prone to ill-health because of immune suppression. This underscores the fact that we are what we eat; our state of health is an indication of our diet status all things being equal. Cultural practices that encourage good and balanced diet are not common; many people are used to fast foods which are high-risk sources for contacting infections, and also for outbreaks from contamination. Besides, there are` reports that food obtained form these places contain trans-unsaturated fat that is not compatible with the health of the vascular system, as it predisposes to development of cardiovascular disorders and other co-morbidities. Some of the eating habit in this control also predispose to obesity and diabetes mellitus. Exercise: This is another health related cultural practice that is very important to maintain good and stable health. Only a few people all over the world engage in these productive acts. However, there are some cultures of the world that promote exercise as a normal way of life by virtue of the vigorous nature of activities and deliberate practices they are exposed to, on a daily basis. Other productive practices include massage and acupuncture to relieve stress and pain, respectively.

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

Creation Myths - Essay Example One of the common elements is the presence of a god or gods that brought about the creation of the elements of the sky and the earth and the first humans. This provides insight to the beliefs of people in ancient times that no physical environment or beings came from nothing. They were created by a supreme being in the same way that people create things from the materials present in the environment. In so many ways, the myths are a representation of the story of beginnings and creations in the human setting. For instance, the three creation myths include a theme of birth. In the Egyptian creation myth, "Ra (the sun) came out of an egg that appeared on the surface of the water" (Aldokkan). Ra also gave birth to other gods. In the Greek myth, Chaos, the void that encompasses the entire universe, gave birth to Gaia, called Earth, and Uranus, the sky (Elliot). The Enuma Elish tells of the union of Apsu (fresh water) and Tiamat (salt water) giving birth to gods. The first part of the first tablet talks of "their waters commingling as a single body" ("The Enuma Elish"). Another similarity among the three myths is the allusion to water and chaos when there was nothing yet that existed. In the Egyptian myth, this is represented by Nu, the watery chaos. In the Enuma Elish, everything began with Apsu and Tiamat, who represent the waters. In the Greek story, an unending stream of water, dominated by the god Oceanus, surrounded Chaos. The use of the water theme should not be surprising, as it would have been very much influenced by the fact that in the past, a large part of the earth was covered by huge amounts of water. There were also many tales of floods and inundation in ancient times, pointing to how the physical environment would have been like during those times. All of the creation myths also contain the themes of wars, revenge, and quest for power among gods that eventually led to the creation of various parts of the universe. With the creation myths, the gods possess immense powers that brought them in conflict with other gods. In all the myths, there is also the common theme wherein a sole supreme being emerges through all the chaos. In the Greek myth, this is represented by Zeus, who triumphed over his father, Cronus. This victorious being in the Babylonian myth is Marduk, who defeats Tiamat, splits her body into two to form the heaven and the earth ("The Enuma Elish"). The Egyptian myth has two versions, but in those two versions, it was either Osiris or Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris in one version, that emerged as the supreme being. In all the depictions of the behaviors and actions of the gods, one can see how much people in the past were amazed and acted under the mercy of the gods. Most of the ancient beliefs and religions attribute godlike attributes to elements and forces of nature. Nature is the one uncontrollable force for man that he believed that their outbursts manifested by earthquakes, strong storms, or volcanic eruptions, must have been due to the anger and temper of the gods, or the mischief of man. In any case, man is dependent on the gods of nature, who may wage war against other gods with little or no thought of the creatures, including men, on earth. Man is dependent on nature to grow his crops and produce food, and he would have to rely on faith in

The Manson Murders Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Manson Murders - Term Paper Example He got to know Mary Brunner, a 23-year-old graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and moved in with her. He made her agree to his bringing other women to her resident and soon they were sharing her residence with 18 other women. Manson established himself as a guru in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury which was emerging as the signature hippie locale in 1967’s Summer of Love. He had many followers who travelled with him in an old school bus which they had re-wrought in hippie style. They travelled as far north as Washington state, then southward through Los Angeles, Mexico, and the southwest. They picked up many other proponents of their beliefs who joined their group from all over the places that they had travelled. The group is known as the Manson family. In the late spring of 1968, Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys picked up two hitch-hiking girls of the Manson Family. This resulted in his meeting with Charles Manson. The two became well acquainted soon a nd Wilson allowed him to stay at his house in Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, with his â€Å"family†. Wilson paid $100000 that was accrued to him due to the family. He also paid for Manson’s recording sessions and introduced him to Gregg Jakobson, Terry Melcher, and Rudi Altobelli. Rudi Altobelli owned a house that he soon rented to actress Sharon Tate and her husband, director Roman Polanski. The family was asked to move out of Wilson’s house by his manager and the whole family relocated to Spahn's Movie Ranch not far from Topanga Canyon in August 1968. They did helpful work at the ranch with the women giving sexual pleasure to George Spahn, the 80-year old owner of the ranch. The group was joined by Charles Watson who was a Texan and had moved to California after quitting college. He met Manson while he was hitch-hiking and Watson gave him a ride. Manson had established the family at alternate headquarters in the surroundings of Death Valley during the first da ys of November 1968. They had acquired two more ranches. One of them was Myers which was owned by the grandmother of a new woman in the family. Second was Barker which was owned by an elderly, local woman. The family had represented themselves as musicians to that woman and she agreed to let them stay if they would fix up things. (Sanders, 2002) The Beatles’ â€Å"White Album† had a great impact on the Manson family. Manson thought that the Beatles had given a hidden message to all the whites and the racial tension was going to be intensified in America. He convinced his group that the blacks were soon going to rise in rebellion against the whites. He predicted a disaster and told his group that they were intimated in the album that they were chosen to preserve the worthy in the upcoming catastrophe. In early January 1969, the Family positioned itself to monitor L.A.'s assumed tension by moving to a canary-yellow home in Canoga Park, near the Spahn Ranch. By February 1 969, the family created an album containing songs similar to those of The Beatles’ album. Manson’s vision was thought of as completed and the family had established that the murders of whites by blacks would not be devoid of retaliation by whites. In short, the family was anticipated a riot and was looking to play an active part in the favor of whites. They made plans to cause harm to the rebellious blacks with escape strategies. Manson named the impending apocalypse "Helter-Skelter.† They were told that Terry Melcher was coming to listen to their