Liquid Definition in Chemistry

Liquid Definition in Chemistry Liquid Definition AÂ  liquid is one of the states of matter. The particles in a liquid are free to flow, so while a liquid has a definite volume, it does not have a definite shape. Liquids consist of atoms or molecules that are connected by intermolecular bonds. Examples of Liquids At room temperature, examples of liquids include water, mercury, vegetable oil, ethanol. Mercury is the only metallic element that is a liquid at room temperature, although francium, cesium, gallium, and rubidium liquefy at slightly elevated temperatures. Aside from mercury, the only liquid element at room temperature is bromine. The most abundant liquid on Earth is water. Properties of Liquids While the chemical composition of liquids may be very different from each other, the state of matter is characterized by certain properties: Liquids are nearly incompressible fluids. In other words, even under pressure, their value only decreases slightly.The density of a liquid is affected by pressure, but generally, the change in density is small. The density of a liquid sample is fairly constant throughout. The density of a liquid is higher than that of its gas and usually lower than that of its solid form.Liquids, like gases, take the shape of their container. However, a liquid cannot disperse to fill a container (which is a property of a gas).Liquids have surface tension, which leads to wetting.Although liquids are common on Earth, this state of matter is relatively rare in the universe because liquids only exist over a narrow temperature and pressure range. Most matter consists of gases and plasma.Particles in a liquid have greater freedom of movement than in a solid.When two liquids are placed into the same container, they may either mix (be miscible) or not (be immiscible). Examples of two miscible liquids are wat er and ethanol. Oil and water are immiscible liquids.

10 Things You Should Never Say During An Exit Interview

10 Things You Should Never Say During An Exit Interview You’ve quit your job to move onto sunnier pastures. Or perhaps you’ve even been laid off. For whatever reason, if you’ve been called in for an exit interview, it’s best to be prepared. It’s a great opportunity to be honest about your experience at that company or in that position, and a great way to get honest feedback about your performance. And, while you may want to burn the place down on your way out the door, it’s important to keep things cordial and professional. You never know when you might run into this HR rep or that co-worker again. Take the high ground and refrain from burning any bridges.Here are 10 things you should never say before  your exit interview.1. â€Å"This place is ‘going downhill/a sinking ship/lost without me†If you’re really as invaluable and under-appreciated as you feel, they’ll notice the lack of you just fine on their own. Don’t  alienate anyone in the process. Avoid soundi ng egotistical or nihilistic. Keep it classy.2. â€Å"So-and-so was mean to me/did something bad/hates it here, too†Pointing fingers is just rude. So is getting a colleague, no matter how hated, into trouble. And outing someone for being miserable in a job is never a kindness. What if they can’t find a suitable substitute and are stuck there? You will have made their lives miserable for no reason.3. â€Å"SHOW ME THE MONEY!†Don’t make it about money. Don’t insinuate the company isn’t viable or solvent, or that you’re just a total mercenary out to make as much as you can with no sense of loyalty whatsoever. If you must cast your new job in a more favorable light, emphasize your need for more challenges and growth and thank them for the opportunities they’ve given you to learn.4. @%!$#You may feel like running naked through the office with both middle fingers pointed high and dropping f-bombs in your path as you depart, but pleas e curtail that urge. Stay professional, take the higher path, lead by example. The last thing you want is a reputation for being a loose-cannon lunatic in your industry. And believe me, word will get around if you fly off the handle.5. â€Å"Never, ever again.†You may know your limits. You may be 110% sure you’d never ever consider working there again. But it’s best to leave unsaid.6. â€Å"You could have made me stay, you know. If only you had†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Insert: â€Å"offered me more money,† â€Å"given me Karen’s office,† â€Å"bribed me.† There is nothing productive that can follow this. If they really wanted you to stay, they would have tried to make you a convincing offer. There’s no sense pointing out the obvious.7. â€Å"Nobody likes working here.†This is only marginally better than outing a particular colleague, but still not a wise choice. If management has no idea that everyone is miserable, then that is the ir problem. Nothing you do or say will make it any better. It might actually make it worse.8. â€Å"I really think you should have put in a snack machine.†Anything that makes a very specific point about equipment or physical office space is probably a waste of (both) your time. Keep it in the neighborhood of things that matter.9. â€Å"Hate†Even if you just want to mention that you hated a particularly vexing software system, don’t resort to using the word â€Å"hate.† It’s far too strong and makes you look weak and immature.10. â€Å"My boss was just awful.†This is probably the worst possible thing you can say in one of these situations. Even if it’s true and your boss was Machiavelli himself, stay classy and don’t let anyone accuse you of having a vendetta or a bias. There are ways to be honest about the working environment or impediments to your being able to faithfully execute your job without being vindictive.

10 Things You Should Never Say During An Exit Interview

10 Things You Should Never Say During An Exit Interview You’ve quit your job to move onto sunnier pastures. Or perhaps you’ve even been laid off. For whatever reason, if you’ve been called in for an exit interview, it’s best to be prepared. It’s a great opportunity to be honest about your experience at that company or in that position, and a great way to get honest feedback about your performance. And, while you may want to burn the place down on your way out the door, it’s important to keep things cordial and professional. You never know when you might run into this HR rep or that co-worker again. Take the high ground and refrain from burning any bridges.Here are 10 things you should never say before  your exit interview.1. â€Å"This place is ‘going downhill/a sinking ship/lost without me†If you’re really as invaluable and under-appreciated as you feel, they’ll notice the lack of you just fine on their own. Don’t  alienate anyone in the process. Avoid soundi ng egotistical or nihilistic. Keep it classy.2. â€Å"So-and-so was mean to me/did something bad/hates it here, too†Pointing fingers is just rude. So is getting a colleague, no matter how hated, into trouble. And outing someone for being miserable in a job is never a kindness. What if they can’t find a suitable substitute and are stuck there? You will have made their lives miserable for no reason.3. â€Å"SHOW ME THE MONEY!†Don’t make it about money. Don’t insinuate the company isn’t viable or solvent, or that you’re just a total mercenary out to make as much as you can with no sense of loyalty whatsoever. If you must cast your new job in a more favorable light, emphasize your need for more challenges and growth and thank them for the opportunities they’ve given you to learn.4. @%!$#You may feel like running naked through the office with both middle fingers pointed high and dropping f-bombs in your path as you depart, but pleas e curtail that urge. Stay professional, take the higher path, lead by example. The last thing you want is a reputation for being a loose-cannon lunatic in your industry. And believe me, word will get around if you fly off the handle.5. â€Å"Never, ever again.†You may know your limits. You may be 110% sure you’d never ever consider working there again. But it’s best to leave unsaid.6. â€Å"You could have made me stay, you know. If only you had†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Insert: â€Å"offered me more money,† â€Å"given me Karen’s office,† â€Å"bribed me.† There is nothing productive that can follow this. If they really wanted you to stay, they would have tried to make you a convincing offer. There’s no sense pointing out the obvious.7. â€Å"Nobody likes working here.†This is only marginally better than outing a particular colleague, but still not a wise choice. If management has no idea that everyone is miserable, then that is the ir problem. Nothing you do or say will make it any better. It might actually make it worse.8. â€Å"I really think you should have put in a snack machine.†Anything that makes a very specific point about equipment or physical office space is probably a waste of (both) your time. Keep it in the neighborhood of things that matter.9. â€Å"Hate†Even if you just want to mention that you hated a particularly vexing software system, don’t resort to using the word â€Å"hate.† It’s far too strong and makes you look weak and immature.10. â€Å"My boss was just awful.†This is probably the worst possible thing you can say in one of these situations. Even if it’s true and your boss was Machiavelli himself, stay classy and don’t let anyone accuse you of having a vendetta or a bias. There are ways to be honest about the working environment or impediments to your being able to faithfully execute your job without being vindictive.

Infomation system management exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Infomation system management exam - Essay Example Overall, companies need to use data mining in order to enhance their customer relationship management (CRM) skills. Analysis needs to focus for the company, upon any problems that its customers may be having. This is one of the basic marketing rules of customer service in action. The present analysis therefore advocates the position that not only should these standards become lucrative trade-offs. â€Å"Current emphasis on customer relationship management makes the marketing function an ideal application area to greatly benefit from the use of data mining tools for decision support. A systematic methodology that uses data mining and knowledge management techniques is proposed to manage the marketing knowledge and support marketing decisions† (Data, 2010). Another solution is to use Customer Relationship Management to market more effectively and reach the client better. â€Å"When customer relationship management CRM) came on the health scene approximately six years ago, some viewed it with skepticism and primarily saw it as a way to refine rather than reinvent marketing. More progressive marketers adopted the CRM techniques of compiling all consumer and market data into a centralized database and used data mining to more narrowly define target audiences based on characteristics rather than general demographics† (Paddison, 2004). Yet another solution could focus more on the management of the company than the client, and highlight management having a working knowledge of marketing and being able to work with marketers and consultants in a proactive manner that reflects the abovementioned external dynamism of the IT market. Data mining is advocated by companies. In terms of environment that are narrowly defined by marketing parameters, the local market offers expanded opportunities that should be taken advantage of by the

Introduction to Financial Accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Introduction to Financial Accounting - Assignment Example The researcher states that it is important to recognize that there are various types of financial statements; the balance sheet, the income statement, the statement of retained earnings and the fourth one is the statement of cash flows. The balance sheet also abbreviated as BS is the one that includes records that show the financial position of the organization as at a certain time. It is particularly charged with offering information on the organization’s assets, liabilities and lastly the capital outlay. Through the balance sheet, the various stakeholders are able to analyze the strength and potential of the enterprise. The income statement, on the other hand, gives information on how the enterprise performed within a certain period in time. It usually includes operating and non-operating activities that resulted into bringing in revenue or incurring of expenses by the firm. Therefore, when the two are drawn together the end result is a loss, a profit and rarely an equal bal ance and for this reason it is in other words termed as the profit and loss account or statement abbreviated as P & L. The third is the statement of retained earnings which gives information on the various changes that have occurred to retained earnings of an organization within a certain period. It shows how the retained earnings as at the beginning of a certain period was affected during the period to arrive at the closing balance of that period. The last record is the statement of cash flows which shows where a company’s financing is derived from and the various spending channels of the said finances. It shows an account of cash and cash equivalents and how these are flowing in and out of the company.

Stakeholder Influences on Programs Essay Example for Free

Stakeholder Influences on Programs Essay Peace Domestic Violence Agency’s mission is to reduce victim trauma, empower survivors, and promote recovery through direct services. PDVA is committed to reducing the incidence of sexual assault and domestic violence through education and strives to challenge societal norms and beliefs that condone the perpetuate violence in the community. Stakeholders and the influence they have in a program plan, along with staff and administration personnel, is usually inadequately misunderstood and has room for alterations. Stakeholders are defined as a corporate party that can affect or be affected by actions of the business. A major stakeholder can make or break a program’s success depending on the positive support or negative reactions it conducts. We have to remember that some stakeholders may have strong connections to the community and hold great influence on others who may be investors or potential investors. This kind of hidden influence with authority (mainly political) is very capable of causing major disruption to the development and concerns that impact citizens within the community and how a program progresses. A good example is the recent scandals with a funding collection charity organization, known as Quadriga Arts and the many agencies associated with them, charging outrageous fees for service and never delivering any charity funding collected. They have many agencies’ who state they help veterans and support homeless food banks, animal shelters, to name a few, when in fact they are not providing funding collected from nationwide donations to these charities and non-profit organizations. Too much fraud is going on and this is another factor making respectable organizations to have a difficult time acquiring funding. A few bad apples are destroying great respectable organizations, because of their own greed and recklessness. We have this kind of fraud also within our own government establishments especially in defense contractors, banking institutions, and veteran life insurance companies, just to name a few more. Finding stakeholders is unfortunately getting fewer and fewer and more difficult and this is why large corporations are joining together and getting involved more so, than private individuals who might become liable and become possibly involved with a larger, fraudulent agency. Protection comes in groups more than the average individual might have. The needs and expectations of the stakeholder must always be considered when planning a program within the community where it resides. Stakeholders need to be given a good sense of security as well as the agency, and that positive outcome will promote positive change. Some stakeholders of course have different out looks on what success is, causing conflicts and concerns and the agency should be aware of this as well when excepting a stakeholder. This is when the agency has to be strong in its goals and mission and show positive plans for positive outcomes with the target population and what is required and prioritized for success within their communities. The give and take is; always conduct a thorough vetting process of stakeholders as stakeholders should do the same when funding any agency. The bottom-line is when final partnership is achieved then everyone is liable for any misfortunes or crimes committed within the agency. PDVA administration and staff have the same interests as their stakeholders especially when it comes to financing and possible audits that may accrue from government agencies. This is especially true when addressing private foundations/ non-profit 501(c) 3 organizations like PDVA. Since PDVA is working with human services, and also receiving grants, the agency and the stakeholders are responsible for any inside conflicts of interest or other inappropriate interests that may be present or transpire. The agency and stakeholders have to be aware of the strict regulations concerning any grants, donations, and funding they acquire, and comply with any Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assessment or audit if requested. The agency has to ensure that all parts of their programs are for non-profit, and no one person or stakeholder benefits from the agency’s assists in case of agency closure. Peace Domestic Violence Agency has two funding grant programs at this time for nonprofit agencies. The Small Grants Program† which offers a one-time grant of up to $5,000. 00 to registered charities with an annual budget under $500,000. 00. The second is â€Å"The Investor Program† which is an innovative funding program designed to support six organizations under each of the objectives of the â€Å"Supporting Families program†. This is up to $150,000. 00 a year for three years. This of course is not including private donations, charities and other fund raising activities that are available in the Portland Metropolitan Area and work together. Example is; Catholic Charities Oregon, Gateway Center for Domestic Violence, Women of Wonder Day and Oregon Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Violence (OCADSV). Along with these funding charities Portland also has in operation, mentor programs in local schools, sports programs and religious entities that contribute to the prevention of domestic violence among youth’s, through fundraising events and donations. The city of Portland also has the court system now applying mandatory youth camps or home parent programs instead of incarceration. But probably, most and foremost, is the education, prevention and awareness of drug and alcohol abuse and the consequences involved. For example; we have to ask ourselves who has these problems, the children or their parents, and how we protect children whose parents don’t protect them and promote or influence drinking and drug activities, or even worse violent gang activities for profit. I believe education is the answer along with empowerment and enforcement. We have so many parents that have no idea how to play the role of a parent or they don’t have or want to make the time. With this being said we also have to look at the nation, the economy, and availability of employment within our target population and how it directly affects the community and involvements for family survival. When parents have to work two to three jobs to support their families, it is hard to be in control of your children when your never home. Children cannot babysit children and relatives or friends who have substance abuse addictions cannot be responsible or creditable for mentoring these children. Example; latch key children and unemployed adults should have a safe place like community recreation centers, job and preparation training, along with professional staff for mentoring, counseling, interaction, and developing safe alternatives for these parents and children who find themselves in abusive or neglected situations and need to have a safe place to go. When we have stakeholders contributing to PDVA they both have one common goal, this is to develop a program(s) that benefit and enriches the lives of children and parents through education, protection, and awareness within the community. If the agency’s administration and staff can ensure that the agency will follow their objectives, the program will be successful and continue to receive the frequent assistance needed from stakeholders, then and only then can the agency achieve its goals and have the trust of the community it serves. Team work and involvement makes all the difference especially when the agency speaks out against violence and abuse to the community. The final conclusion is to have the agency’s administration, staff, stakeholders, and the community on the same page and be accountable for their program(s) and mostly be involved. This is to protect, educate and make everyone aware of domestic violence, prevention, rape, abuse (physical and verbal), bullying, gang activities, child trafficking, and alcohol/ substance abuse. Everyone within the agency and the community needs to identify, speak out and report these activities and to do it in a safe protective method, for this is what saves lives. To have law enforcement, probation officers, professional trained advocates, hospitals, schools, churches, local businesses, neighborhood watch programs, and community centers becoming one in corporation, to eliminate domestic violence and abuse of any form, before it transpires and becomes a life threating situation. Having a place to go, any time, day or night is a must. To learn new trades and keep everyone active, growing and progressing towards recovery and success. Children and parents need to stay active and constantly progressing towards success, not falling into idle time to get in trouble or make trouble. My grandmother use to say â€Å"Idle time is the work of the devil†

Hobbes: Credited through Religion :: social issues

Hobbes: Credited through Religion Although the Catholic faith states that Baptism removes the penalty for past sins including the original sin, it doesn't remove the effects of original sin. It doesn't keep you from sinning. If one is a human being, they sin and thus they are considered â€Å"bad†. This is a fact and it is supported by Biblical texts. Three instances of such will be listed here along with the location of more. The first is Ecclesiastes 7:20 (NKJV) reading â€Å"For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.† The second is similar and is spoken by Jesus himself (Mark 10:18 NKJV) â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœWhy do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.’ This statement is made in response to a man calling Jesus â€Å"good† or blameless or pure. The third is from I John 1:8 (NKJV). It states â€Å"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.† This means that it is untruthful to say that we, humans, may are without sin. More instances of this assertion may be found in I King 8:46, II Chronicles 6:36, Psalms 14:3, Psalms 53:3, Romans 3:12, Romans 3:10, and I John 1:10. By a Merriam-Webster dictionary, one antonym of the adjective, good, is evil. Through this, we may determine that all humans are evil because of their sinful nature. â€Å"†¦God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.† (1 John 3:20, NKJV) God is omniscient; He knows all that has been, is, and will be. One example of this is as such: Before God created Adam and Eve, He knew, in His infinite knowledge, of all that has been and will be, that Satan would tempt Eve and cause her to eat the forbidden fruit. Since He does not change free will, He did not change the out come. He made His divine plan around this happening. Whether you happen to believe this, the Mormon and a â€Å"heretical† view on Adam and Eve, this is a Biblical example of determination—a belief that everything that happens was predestined or that everything that happens was meant to happen. Another Biblical example of determination would be predestination—the belief that since God knew everything that would happen before it happened, He knew who was going to heaven before they lived. These are just two beliefs held by

Japanese Language

8 Tips to learn to speak Japanese effectively Tip 1: Attend Japanese classes If you are just starting out learning Japanese, I suggest that it is best you attend some basic Japanese courses at a local language school in your country. That is because the foundation of the language is so important that if you screw up in the beginning, it will drag you down when you move forward to the intermediate or advanced classes. You will always have to refer back the materials in the basic classes.I have seen many people suffered from their weak foundation and have to give up learning eventually because they couldn't cope with the progress of the lessons. Conclusion? At least build a strong foundation by attending basic classes at a school. The native Japanese teacher there can help to correct your mistakes. You will appreciate a lot when you advance to higher levels. Tip 2: Japanese Learning Software I understand many people cannot commit to attend a regular class.Maybe because they have irregu lar working hours, need to travel overseas frequently due to works, unable to pay the school fees for long terms due to financial issues, or many other personal reasons. In that case, the best alternative is to learn through Japanese learning software like theRocket Japanese, where you can learn to speak Japanese at your own pace and time. This is because it is an online course and therefore you can plan to learn according to your own schedule, anytime, anywhere, so long you have an internet connection.The single reason that I recommend this online software is because it provides one great feature (Rocket Record) that you can use to match your voice to that of the Japanese native's voice in order to perfect your Japanese pronunciation. While your pronunciation can be corrected by a teacher in a classroom, it's impossible to know whether your pronunciation is correct if you were to study by yourself. With this recording feature, now you can simply practise speaking Japanese until you r pronunciation is perfect, all at your own pace. This is the greatest benefit of using Rocket Japanese.I have also done a review on Rocket Japanese. Do check out the page. Tip 3: Stay in Japan I will say this is by far the most effective way if you really want to accelerate the learning progress. â€Å"Immerse† yourself in the total Japanese environment and you will have a big boost to your speaking ability. You are not only learning Japanese in Japan, you are in fact living and blending in the everyday life of Japan. In such environment, you will be forced to speak Japanese, write Japanese, and even think in Japanese if you need to react fast.If you can stay in this environment for at least a year, your Japanese proficiency will be greatly improved. And that is much faster than study the language in your own country, which doesn't provide such conducive environment. There are 2 ways, in my opinion, that enable you to move to Japan. 1. Find a job in Japan so that you can sta y there for a longer term, say 1 to 2 years. One good option is to join the JET program (The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme) and teach your local language (such as English, etc) in Japan. . If you cannot commit to work in Japan, try enrol and study in a short term language course for at least 3 months. However this is also the most expensive way as the living standard in Japan is considerably high as compare to most countries. Tip 4: Work in a Japanese company This is a great way to learn to speak Japanese for free in your own country while you are working. It might be the next best way if you are unable to go to Japan. The key here is to surround yourself with Japanese-speaking people, natives or non-natives.And a Japanese-speaking environment is the best you can get to improve your language. Depending on your position, if you are lucky, you might get the chance to go to Japan for trainings. Make full use of the opportunity, know some Japanese colleagues and friends over the re. Keep in contact with them when you are back home by exchanging emails, communicating using skype or msn, in Japanese of course. If your colleagues or friends want to learn your native language, both parties can then teach each other your own languages, which is beneficial to both of you.This is a more economical way to learn to speak Japanese. Tip 5: Make more Japanese friends If you cannot afford to go to Japan, another way is to know some native Japanese friends in your own country. Check out if there is a Japanese community in the place where you reside in. Get to know the people in the community and learn to speak Japanese with them. These people come to your country due to work or other reasons, so there is a high chance they can speak your native language.Tip 6: Join the activities organized by Japanese Association If there is a Japanese Association near your place, it is wise to join the activities that are organized by the association. The association normally holds many activities to help the locals to learn to speak Japanese. These activities include dialogue sessions with native Japanese, speech contests, Japanese language courses and other cultural activities, aiming to foster the relationship with the local people, as well as helping the locals to appreciate the beauty of the language.Tip 7: Watch Japanese News â€Å"If you cannot listen well, you cannot speak well†. This is the golden rule when learning a new language. Listening is always the â€Å"killing† subject in many languages, especially true in the case of Japanese. I am no exception. Listening has always been my weakest field. In order to overcome this, I make it a point to listen to the news in Japanese everyday. One of the online news sites that I often visit is the TBS News. Over there you can watch the videos and listen to the short summaries of news in Japan.Choose the topic that interest you most, listen to it without first looking at the written script to test ho w much you can understand. It is very important not to look at the script first so that it will force you to get used to listening the language without reading the content. Another reason is to make you concentrate on the listening part. Repeat listening to the same piece of news for a few times until you are sure that you cannot get anything more from it. You then look at the script and listen to the audio again for another few times to clarify those that you don't understand.If you can do this continuously for a few months, you will realize that your listening skill improves tremendously. While this is a good method to improve your listening skill, I only recommend you to do this when you reach the advanced level, or at least intermediate level as the scripts are all written in kanji, hiragana and katakana. If not you will have problem understanding the scripts and get overwhelmed and feel demoralized. Tip 8: Watch Japanese Drama Listening to the news trains you on the formal Japa nese speaking but you may get bored on the topics.Listening to the drama may be much more relevant because dramas are more related to our everyday life as the actors/actresses speak in more casual way. Similar to watching the news, don't look at the subtitles while watching the drama because it not only distracts you from listening to the dialogues in the drama, you will grow more dependent on the subtitles and that will do you more harm than good. Conclusion If you can follow some of the tips I mentioned above, I believe they will help you a lot on learning to speak Japanese in a more effective way

Goodbye, Superboy: a Fond Farewell to the Last Romantic Essay

MANILA, August 21, 2003 (STAR) BY THE WAY By Max V. Soliven – Much has been written about Ninoy Aquino, whose name needs no introduction to many of our readers. Commuters pass by his statue daily on Ayala Avenue in Makati’s Golden Mile, and another monument to him in Manila. But monuments and statues, and glowing encomiums do not a hero make. But my thesis is that today, Ninoy is a forgotten hero. There was so much hype in the first halcyon years after the overthrow of the tyrant Ferdinand E. Marcos, and too many silly celebrations, with excessive hoopla, of each succeeding anniversary of the EDSA â€Å"people power† revolution (and then an EDSA II, and, sanamagan, even an EDSA III so-called) that the man whose heroism and sacrifice inspired not merely the first people power barricades, but a national upsurge I prefer to call â€Å"The Spirit of 1986† has been forgotten. These days, in fact, the Filipino spirit has been dampened, our self-confidence crushe d under the weight of each revealed inequity, and tales of resurgent corruption, graft, vaulting ambition — plus the disgraceful debacle of a contrived escape of the Jemaah Islamiyah mad-bomber, Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, from police â€Å"prison.† This is a time for us to remember a man who believed the Filipino was â€Å"worth dying for,† and from him gather the renewed resolve that the Filipino is worth living for, as well. But let us not sound maudlin. Ninoy would have laughed at such sticky sentimentality. When he was sent by the old Manila Times to cover the Korean War (the 50th anniversary of whose conclusion was just commemorated some weeks ago) he was 17, the youngest correspondent of them all. The Time’s editors Dave Boguslav and Joe Bautista had spotted that gung ho quality in Aquino that was to rocket him to fame — and, in the end, impel him remorselessly to his final rendezvous with treachery at the Manila International Airport. Ninoy was a hard-nosed newspaperman, and what set him apart from so many others was precisely his nose for the news. He had an eidetic memory for facts, figures and detail. â€Å"You get the facts,† Dave Boguslav told him when he sent him off to war, â€Å"and I ’ll take care of the grammar.† Ninoy delivered — and a star reporter was born. Ninoy paid his dues as newsman. He took risks where others preferred to be prudent. For him life was a great adventure — and a short and glorious life better than a long and dull one. God granted him his wish. Everyone has already written a torrent of words about how Ninoy had been a Young Man in a Hurry. He became the youngest town mayor — just a shade underage; the youngest deputy governor, then governor, the youngest Senator (he almost topped the polls, coming in slightly behind late his comprobinsyano, Tarlac’s elder Sen. Jose J. Roy). If a free election had been held in 1973 (but martial law intervened and dashed that prospect), Ninoy — whose only rival in his own Liberal Party was the late Senate President Gerry Roxas — would almost certainly have been elected president. Aquino had that golden tongue to which every politician aspires, but with which only a few are gifted. It goes beyond rhetoric or eloquence on the entablado: a strange power to move hearts, provoke laughter, attract loyalty and affection, whip a crowd up to a frenzy and the fervor of a crusade, inspire hope in listeners miserably perched in the brink of despair. Ninoy was so eloquent in English, Tagalog, Kapampangan, and even Ilocano (his native Tarlac, after all, is a province of three dialects) that he was accused of glibness. He was dubbed â€Å"Superboy,† partly in admiration, party in derision. It took martial law and cruel imprisonment to make us realize that the Boy had become a Man. By a quirk of fate, I was assigned to be his cellmate in the maximum security compound of Fort Bonifacio when we were arrested as â€Å"subversives† in September 1972. Out of the 400 prisoners crammed into the Camp Crame gym, after we had been picked up between midnight and dawn, 11 of us were singled out by name and told by a colonel to step forward. Ninoy had nudged me cheerfully in the ribs and exclaimed in a stage whisper, â€Å"Eto na, eto na! Firing squad na tayo.† (This is it, this is it. We’re going to the Firing Squad). Yet, they didn’t shoot us. They trucked us instead to Fort Bonifacio, where they sent a military chaplain to hear our confessions — thus reinforcing our conviction that we were to be executed. Once more, we were disappointed. All throughout, it was Ninoy, who surely realized he was the number one target, Marcos’ favorite bete noir, the dictator’s pet nemesis, tried to cheer us all up. The days of captivity stretched into weeks, the weeks into months. Nobody who has never been in prison can understand what you suffer from is simply being caged — you suffer from the uncertainty of it all, and from boredom. You never know when your military jailors, who have the power of life and death over you, will drag you out and shoot you, at any hour of day or night. Afte r a while, the world outside becomes a memory — you begin to forget that there are streets with people and vehicles in them, and noise, and hustle and bustle, and bright colors and pretty girls. One gray day follows the other and you learn to live from one day to the next. Yet, I wasn’t bored, because I had Ninoy to entertain me. We talked, we read. We swapped ideas, jokes, argued ideologies. We dreamed dreams. We went jogging during the exercise hour and steeled ourselves to run a mile in seven minutes. It was then that I realized that Ninoy Aquino, for all his wit, his air of bright cynicism, and his veneer of tough political pragmatism, was an incurable romantic. He had visions of the Filipino rising up to overthrow any tyranny. He had pinned his hopes on the Filipino’s love of freedom and his will to resist either coercion or seduction. He had faith in the Filipino. At nightfall, the soldiers — many of them Ilocanos — would come to our barracks-prison and Ninoy would regale them with stories of the Korean War. Or the Vietnam War, which we had both covered. We would talk of the Huk campaign, which we also had covered. Ninoy’s spellbinding recollections were so mesmerizing that after a week or so I had warned him: â€Å"Watch out brod. You will soon be accused of conducting teach-ins. Those guards are beginning to like us too much.† Sure enough, after three weeks, we found a notice on our bulletin board. The guards had all been replaced. The notice said: â€Å"Our guests (yep, that’s what they called us at the â€Å"Bonifacio Hilton†) are requested not to talk to the guards who have been ordered not to talk to them.† â€Å"You see, you see,† I chided Ninoy. â€Å"Those poor fellows have been sent to the battlefront in Mindanao, just because they laughed at your jokes!† When this writer and the rest of us were released, Ninoy and the late Pepe Diokno were left behind, but in separate barracks. Ninoy spent seven years and seven months in solitary confinement. On the front page you’ll find a photograph of the two of us arm in arm with each other. This was taken when he was allowed home at last — under heavy guard — for a brief â€Å"Christmas leave† after seven years in jail. We hugged each other at the entrance of his Times Street home in Quezon City: â€Å"Max, Max,† he laughed. â€Å"How right you were. I thought I would be out in six months or a year because the people would demand for my freedom, but you were the one who told me to dig in for the long haul — I remember you said from five years to 10 years. But you know, prison has been good for me. I have had time to think, to read, to formulate my ideology, to find God. What is ambition? It’s nothing. I have put all ambition away — all we must fight for is for our people to be happy, and to be free.† We talked about proposing a formula for a return to free elections to Marcos. He had written Marcos a letter, he said, suggesting national reconciliation. Everybody knows the rest. Aquino, after his two-week furlough, went back to his lonely prison. He suffered a heart attack. Worried about international reaction, particularly the reproof of the American government (although President Ronald Reagan and Nancy were good friends of Macoy and Imelda) they let Ninoy go off to Texas, and exile, for an emergency heart operation. We warned him not to return. I told him, â€Å"They will kill you.† But on Aug. 21, 1983, a Sunday, he came home to die in his own country. In a last interview with Radio Veritas, Aquino had declared: â€Å"Kamatayan lamang ang makapipigil sa akin (Only death could stop me from coming home).† Most politicians bet on a sure thing. Ninoy gambled on the goodness and sense of decency of the Filipino. A pragmatist would have kept himself safely in the United States preserving his life â€Å"until a better day.† But Ninoy was a romantic who believed that promises must be kept, pledges must be redeemed, and death — if awaited him — must be faced in order to show the people that there are things more important than life. When he died, I penned an adieu entitled: â€Å"Goodbye, Superboy! A Fond Farewell to the Last Romantic.† Thus the title of this piece. Yet, I hope Ninoy was not the last romantic — for such romantics are what we desperately need in these painful days of harsh and bitter realities. Someone once said that it is far better to soar with the eagles, braving the hunter’s gun, than to scratch on the ground with the chickens. The hunter’s gun finally found Ninoy Aquino at the airport which now bears his name. His spirit was freed to soar among the stars. I am proud to have known him. To have been touched by him. To remember him now.

Japanese monetary policy Essays

Japanese monetary policy Essays Japanese monetary policy Essay Japanese monetary policy Essay Japanese monetary policy BY x51 lt9 The rather poor economic performance of Japan since the early 1990s provided inspiration to US and I-JK policy makers in how they addressed the 2007 financial crisis. How did US and I-JK policy makers respond to the 2007 financial crisis in a way that was different to the response in Japan? This part of the question would benefit from quantitative evidence. There are several similarities between the Japanese financial crisis of the 1990s and the global financial crisis that started in 2008. Countries like the US and the I-JK ealized this and have studied the measures that were taken by the Japanese central bank (Bank of Japan) at the time in order to learn from it. Measures that proved to be effective have been taken into account and are currently being applied in adapted forms by the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) and the Bank of England (the British central bank). In order to understand these measures, a brief recapitulation of Japans crisis will be given first in this paper. Subsequently, a comparison will be made with US and UK policies in order to analyze the differences and similarities. In the three decades following 1960 Japan achieved a rapid economic growth. Euphoria about the economic prospects started to break out due to the long period of excellent economic growth rates, which is referred to as the Japanese post-war economic miracle. In the 1980s overconfident institutions, firms and citizens started massive borrowing and aggressive speculation, which caused the economy to overheat. A bubble was created in the stock exchange and in the real estate market, which came to burst at the beginning of the 1990s. The resulting negative wealth ffect caused the Japanese people to cut their expenditure and increase savings. People had no trust anymore in the banks, which had turned into zombie banks due to the large amount of non-performing assets on their balance sheets (toxic debt), and therefore they kept their savings outside the banking system. Dropping sales (due to increased saving) resulted in Job losses, which in turn led to even more saving and less spending. By this way the Japan provisionally saved itself into a recession. The Bank of Japan first reacted to the recession with conventional monetary policy. They reduced interest rates in order to stimulate the economy. However, due to the collapse of asset prices, the insolvency of banks and firms and the refusal of Japanese consumers to spend their income, the Japanese economy slipped into deflation from 1998. The deflation worked as an incentive for the Japanese people to save even more and spend even less, since saving yields a positive return when there is deflation. The Bank of Japan responded by further lowering the interest rate to (close to) 0%. Because of the deflation however, the real interest rate was still positive and people continued to save. Since the interest rate could not be dropped below 0% the Bank of Japan reached a state of monetary policy impotence, see fgure 4. FIGURE 4 Janese Interest Rate (Benchmark Interest Rate) Japan also suffered from fiscal policy impotence. Neither significantly increasing government expenditure nor dropping taxes was possible to stimulate the economy. The first because Japan did not have the funds (they were in debt) and the latter because the conservative and risk averse Japanese citizens were very likely to save tax cuts instead of spending them. For a long time, the Bank of Japan believed that economic growth and recovery of sset prices would bring things back to normal over time. Their efforts were focused on prevention of bank failures and collapse of the financial system and not on active recovery. The zombie banks, which were for a large part responsible for all the misery, were implicitly protected. Accounting rules were relaxed, so that banks got the opportunity to conceal their financial trouble. There was no public support for any form of financial bailout that would solve problems on a more structural basis and throughout the 90s the financial institutions continued to muddle along. This eriod is known as the lost decade (Vollmer Bebenroth, 2012). In the early 2000s the Bank of Japan tried a different approach. They came with an important policy innovation, called quantitative easing. Under the quantitative easing program the Bank of Japan started to increase the monetary base, in order to flood the banks with liquidity. The idea was that the banks could lend this newly created money to households and firms and that this would lead to an increase in consumption expenditure and investments. In addition to the quantitative easing, the bank of Japan also broke with their revious policy of regulatory forbearance. They implemented a series of accounting reforms that made it more difficult for banks to conceal their bad loans. By making the financial sector balance sheets more transparent the bad debt problem was emphasized and it became clear that the accumulation of non-performing loans had to be curbed. A certain degree of public support for recapitalization was secured, which made it politically possible to inject public money in the financial sector (Lipscy Takinamt, 2013). These unconventional policy measures seemed to assort effect. After a long period of rial and error and policy experimentation, the Japanese managed to turn the tide and modest economic growth was recorded until the global financial crisis kicked in in 2008. Although the growth fgures had not been fantastic, the Japanese gain and loss during anti-crisis were noticed by UK and US policymakers. In their view, the Japanese experience had highlighted what policy actions should be taken or avoided to deal with a financial crisis. Basically, the reaction that followed from the UK and the US to the 2008 financial crisis is fourfold: interest rate cuts, quantitative easing, bank bailouts and change of hese actions much faster and more determined than Japan however. For the interest rate cuts and the quantitative easing, this is greatly illustrated in the fgures below(See figure 5 and 6). FIGURE 5 United States Interest Rate 2007-2012 (Benchmark Interest Rate) Source from: tradingeconomics. com FIGURE 6 United Kingdom Interest Rate (Benchmark Interest Rate) Where Japan had reduced interest rates gradually, the US and the I-JK took relative much sharper cuts. Also, they introduced quantitative easing on a much larger scale. As can be seen from the expansion in outstanding balances at the central bank, the onetary base was increased to a much larger extent (See Figure 7). FIGURE 7 central sank Balance Sheets (US, UK AND JAPAN) Source from: (Philips, 2013 ) Another lesson learnt from Japan was that you should not let toxic debt create zombie banks. Both the US and the I-JK immediately injected massive amounts of public funds into large commercial banks when they ran the risk to fail. To Justify these bail outs to the public, great transparency of the financial sector balance sheets was sought after, for instance by doing stress tests. Also, the Japanese case was frequently referenced to in order to secure public support. The public resentment against the irresponsible and risky behavior of financial institutions that caused the financial crisis, has contributed to a change in regulations. These will continue to change, since the debate about acceptable risks, supervisory authorities and banks that are too big to fail is still ongoing. If the evolving regulations, combined with the measures that were first introduced in Japans financial crisis of the 1990s, will be the way out of the crisis remains to be seen (See Figure 8). Monetary policy in Japan and the United States Source from: (Lipscy Takinami, 2013)

Operation Pastorius - World War II German Operation Pastorius

Operation Pastorius - World War II German Operation Pastorius Operation Pastorius Background: With the American entry into World War II in late 1941, German authorities began planning to land agents in the United States to collect intelligence and carry out attacks against industrial targets. Organization of these activities was delegated to the Abwehr, Germanys intelligence agency, which was headed by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris. Direct control of the American operations was given to William Kappe, a long-time Nazi who had lived in the United States for twelve years. Canaris named the American effort Operation Pastorius after Francis Pastorius who led the first German settlement in North America. Preparations: Utilizing the records of the Ausland Institute, a group that had facilitated the return of thousands of Germans from America in the years before the war, Kappe selected twelve men with blue-collar backgrounds, including two who were naturalized citizens, to begin training at the Abwehrs sabotage school near Brandenburg. Four men were quickly dropped from the program, while the remaining eight were divided into two teams under the leadership of George John Dasch and Edward Kerling. Commencing training in April 1942, they received their assignments the following month. Dasch was to lead Ernst Burger, Heinrich Heinck, and Richard Quirin in attacking the hydroelectric plants at Niagara Falls, a cryolite plant in Philadelphia, canal locks on the Ohio River, as well as Aluminum Company of America factories in New York, Illinois, and Tennessee. Kerlings team of Hermann Neubauer, Herbert Haupt, and Werner Thiel were designated to strike the water system in New York City, a railroad station in Newark, Horseshoe Bend near Altoona, PA, as well as canal locks at St. Louis and Cincinnati. The teams planned to rendezvous at Cincinnati on July 4, 1942. Operation Pastorius Landings: Issued explosives and American money, the two teams traveled to Brest, France for transport by U-boat to the United States. Embarking aboard U-584, Kerlings team departed on May 25 for Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, while Daschs team sailed for Long Island aboard U-202 the next day. Arriving first, Daschs team landed on the night of June 13. Coming ashore on a beach near Amagansett, NY, they wore German uniforms to avoid being shot as spies if captured during the landing. Reaching the beach, Daschs men began burying their explosives and other supplies. While his men were changing into civilian clothes, a patrolling Coast Guardsman, Seaman John Cullen, approached the party. Advancing to meet him, Dasch lied and told Cullen that his men were stranded fisherman from Southampton. When Dasch refused an offer to spend the night at the nearby Coast Guard Station, Cullen became suspicious. This was reinforced when one of Daschs men shouted something in German. Realizing that his cover was blown, Dasch attempted to bribe Cullen. Knowing he was outnumbered, Cullen took the money and fled back to the station. Alerting his commanding officer and turning in the money, Cullen and other raced back to the beach. While Daschs men had fled, they saw U-202 departing in the fog. A brief search that morning unearthed the German supplies which had been buried in the sand. The Coast Guard informed the FBI about the incident and Director J. Edgar Hoover imposed a news blackout and commenced a massive manhunt. Unfortunately, Daschs men had already reached New York City and easily evaded the FBIs efforts to locate them. On June 16, Kerlings team landed in Florida without incident and began moving to complete their mission. The Mission Betrayed: Reaching New York, Daschs team took rooms in a hotel and purchased additional civilian clothing. At this point Dasch, aware that Burger had spent seventeen months in a concentration camp, called his comrade for a private meeting. At this gathering, Dasch informed Burger that he disliked the Nazis and intended to betray the mission to the FBI. Before doing so, he wanted Burgers support and backing. Burger informed Dasch that he too had planned to sabotage the operation. Having come to an accord, they decided that Dasch would go to Washington while Burger would remain in New York to oversee Heinck and Quirin. Arriving in Washington, Dasch was initially dismissed by several offices as a crackpot. He was finally taken seriously when he dumped $84,000 of the missions money on the desk of Assistant Director D.M. Ladd. Immediately detained, he was interrogated and debriefed for thirteen hours while a team in New York moved to capture the rest of his team. Dasch cooperated with the authorities, but was unable to provide much information regarding the whereabouts of Kerlings team other than stating they were due to meet in Cincinnati on July 4. He was also able to provide the FBI with a list of German contacts in the United States which had been written in invisible ink on a handkerchief issued to him by the Abwehr. Utilizing this information, the FBI was able to track down Kerlings men and took them into custody. With the plot foiled, Dasch expected to receive a pardon but instead was treated the same as the others. As a result, he asked to be jailed with them so they would not know who betrayed the mission. Trial Execution: Fearful that a civilian court would be too lenient, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered that the eight would-be saboteurs be tried by a military tribunal, the first held since the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Placed before a seven-member commission, the Germans were accused of: Violating the law of warViolating Article 81 of the Articles of War, defining the offense of corresponding with or giving intelligence to the enemyViolating Article 82 of the Articles of War, defining the offense of spyingConspiracy to commit the offenses alleged in the first three charges Though their lawyers, including Lauson Stone and Kenneth Royall, attempted to have the case moved to a civilian court, their efforts were in vain. The trial moved forward in the Department of Justice Building in Washington that July. All eight were found guilty and sentenced to death. For their assistance in foiling the plot, Dasch and Burger had their sentences commuted by Roosevelt and were given 30 years and life in prison respectively. In 1948, President Harry Truman showed both men clemency and had them deported to the American Zone of occupied Germany. The remaining six were electrocuted at the District Jail in Washington on August 8, 1942. Selected Sources U-boat.net: Special OperationsHistoryNet: German Saboteurs Invade America in 1942FBI: George John Dasch the Nazi Saboteurs

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 14

Project management - Essay Example In addition, the paper will also evaluate current issues prevailing in project management and real instances in order to assess role of stakeholders in management of different types of projects. Project stakeholders are a group of individuals who has positive or negative interest in a project, which in turn affect functionality of the project. In general, interests and attitudes of individuals can be dissimilar towards a project. In any project, the primary stakeholders include: Since different stakeholders have separate set of interest in a project, their influence differs across various groups or individuals. However, every stakeholder is important for a project and one should understand their level of interest in the project as this affects success or failure. Moreover, it is the stakeholders who judge performance of a project, instead of project team and manager (Kerzner, 2013). Considering the role of stakeholders, it is crucial that their priorities, need, influence and interest are thoroughly analysed. The analysis results in better understanding of important stakeholders and development of appropriate communication strategy for stakeholder management. One of the important tools is stakeholder mapping, where key stakeholders are identified and categorised as per their interest and influence (Newcombe, 2003). A decade ago, stakeholder management was an area, which drew least amount of attention and was hardly considered in any sort of project development. Yet, growing complexity in the project management area has resulted in consideration of stakeholders as critical element of projects. There are internal as well as external stakeholders and they differ on grounds of project scope, geographical location and external environment of the project. It is a difficult task to manage the stakeholders and requires continuous involvement of project members such as, managers, for continuous improvement in relationship and building mutual trust (Pan, 2005). An