Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Scot-free

Scot-free Scot-free Scot-free By Maeve Maddox â€Å"To escape scot-free† means to elude merited consequences: [Construction] Site Deaths Soaring as Bosses Escape Scot Free No escape: independent directors won’t go scot free Now all the doctors at Mid Staffs escape scot-free over deaths. In the Middle Ages a scot was a tax or tribute paid by a feudal tenant to his lord. The word derives from a Scandanavian word meaning tribute. It came to stand for different kinds of payments levied for services. In Kent and Sussex, the scot was a tax for the maintenance of drainage systems and flood prevention. In some contexts the scot was simply the bill owed for drinks or entertainment. Explanations of the expression scot-free may be found on numerous web sites. Most of the sites I’ve browsed correctly trace the term to the word for a tax, but a few cling to a mistaken idea that the expression has something to do with the 1857 US Supreme Court ruling known as the â€Å"Dred Scott Decision.† For example, this confident explanation: Its spelt scott-free and refers to a famous US Supreme Court decision involving the black slave Dred Scott. Ironically Scott lost his suit, though you wouldnt know it from the well-known phrase. The misspelling scott occurs both as an error and as a play on the name of someone named Scott. For example: Lincoln’s Assassin Got Away Scott Free (misspelled headline at YouTube) American Idol recap: Getting off Scott-free (The reference is to a contestant named Scott MacIntyre.) The lingering association of scot-free with Dred Scott is probably owing to vague recollections of high school history: a man named Scott wanted to be free. To refresh your memory, here’s a recap of what the Dred Scott Decision was about: In 1846, Dred Scott, then 47 years old, sued the Missouri state government on behalf of his wife, two daughters, and himself; the suit contended that they were being illegally held in slavery. Scott was born into slavery in Alabama. When he was about 30, he was sold to an Army doctor in Missouri. During the following years, Scott married, fathered two daughters, and lived at different times in the free states of Illinois and Wisconsin. Scott’s lawsuit contended that residence in a free state conferred freedom. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court where, in 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote the majority opinion: the Scotts were property and property rights were protected by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. Although Dred Scott lost his case, he did not die in slavery. His owner’s widow married an abolitionist who returned the family to Scott’s original owner. The former slave owner had since moved to Missouri and become an abolitionist; he freed Scott, his wife, and their two daughters. Dred Scott died of tuberculosis after enjoying only seventeen months of freedom. His wife Harriet survived him by eighteen years. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Synonyms for â€Å"Leader†Probable vs. PossibleContinue and "Continue on"

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Tetracolon Climax (Rhetoric and Sentence Styles)

Tetracolon Climax (Rhetoric and Sentence Styles) Tetracolon climax (or simply tetracolon) is a  rhetorical term for a series of four members (words, phrases, or clauses), usually in parallel form. Adjective: Tetrcolonic. Also called a  tetracolon crescendo. Pronunciation: TET-ra-KOL-un cli-max Etymology: From the Greek, four limbs According to Ian Robinson, Numbers of rhetoricians follow Quintilian in recommending four as the norm, the tetracolon, though Cicero preferred three, and Demetrius says four is the maximum (The Establishment of Modern English Prose, 1998). See Examples and Observations below. Also see: ClimaxIsocolonParallelismParisonSeriesTricolon Examples and Observations It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. (Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, 1863)I write humor the way a surgeon operates, because it is a livelihood, because I have a great urge to do it, because many interesting challenges are set up, and because I have the hope that it may do some good.(James Thurber, letter to E.B. White, April 24, 1951)He and we were a party of men walking together, seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same world; and in two minutes, with a sudden snap, one of us would be gone- one mind less, one world less.(George Orwell, A Hanging, 1931)I had seen s o many begin to pack their lives in cotton wool, smother their impulses, hood their passions, and gradually retire from their manhood into a kind of spiritual and physical semi-invalidism. In this they are encouraged by wives and relatives, and its such a sweet trap.(John Steinbeck, Travels With Charley: In Search of America, 1961) Out of its wild disorder comes order; from its rank smell rises the good aroma of courage and daring; out of its preliminary shabbiness comes the final splendor. And buried in the familiar boasts of its advance agents lies the modesty of most of its people.(E.B. White, The Ring of Time)The same government that you go abroad to fight for and die for is the government that is in a conspiracy to deprive you of your voting rights, deprive you of your economic opportunities, deprive you of decent housing, deprive you of decent education.(Malcolm X, The Ballot or the Bullet, April 12, 1964)Reading is the best medicine for a sicke man, the best musicke for a sadde man, the best counsel for a desperate man, the best comfort for one afflicted.(John Florio, First Fruites, 1578)The city, for the first time in its long history, is destructible. A single flight of planes no bigger than a wedge of geese can quickly end this island fantasy, burn the towers, crumble the bridges, turn the underground passages into lethal chambers, cremate the millions.(E.B. White, Here Is New York, 1948 Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat.(Ryszard Kapuscinski, A Warsaw Diary. Granta, 1985)I got up promptly to tend some new chicks and was busy with them for a half hour before breakfast, thinking of palms and Christ and bombs and dry litter.(E.B. White, Songbirds) Tricolons vs Tetracolons"In the anti-math of writing, the number three [a tricolon] is greater than four [a tetracolon]. The mojo of three offers a greater sense of completeness than four or more."(Roy Peter Clark, Writing Tools. Little, Brown, 2006)

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Critically evaluate the argument that diversity management is good for Essay

Critically evaluate the argument that diversity management is good for organizations, but damaging for employees - Essay Example In forming this culture it is vital for the management to involve diversity initiatives in the business activities of the company. The top management should also promote diversity in the workplace as goal of the company. Diversity is about portraying a culture that recognizes personal needs and contributions. However diversity by nature is perceived to bring complexity in the workplace. This negatively affects the employees due the various cultures. According to Klarsfeld (2010, 126) Employees are bound to feel at ease when working with people from the same cultural background. Diversity management in the organization is good as it promotes maximum production compared to those organizations which do not employ diversity. Diversity as a practice starts and ends with the individual. Today diversity involves the all business practices driven towards creating trust and improving workplace. In order to maintain properly managed diversity in the organization it involves knowing workers ind ividually not as part of a particular culture. Organizations with multicultural diversity tend to portray high levels of engagement and the organization is able to outperform others. The outer-performance is in terms of stock price, turnover rate, stock price, revenue growth, net income and financial growth. According to Mor Barak (2010, 250), one of the important assumptions of diversity management is the strength of relationship between business assets. These include the business systems, practices, goals and the people involved. The compatibility of this interdependent relations as well as its well functioning affects the business operation. The effects are experienced in organizations image, profitability and stability which occur both in short-term or long-term. As suggested by Thomas (2006, 244), in diversity management, the organization needs to have an equal focus on all areas of management. Diversity in management has various benefits to the organization. They include: Easy entry to a changing market situation: Diversification in an organization implies incorporation of different practices. This means that the organization is less likely to have difficulties in adapting to changes. Working under diverse conditions enables the management to be able to handle various situations without fear. Diversity also means exploring various areas of the market therefore the management is aware of the market making its entrance easier. In diversity, employees are handled equally and this gives them the motivation to contribute the organizations development. High quality customer service: Diversification in an organization promotes enhanced customer services. The presence of individuals from different cultural background ensures that the organization can serve different customers and satisfy their needs. In diversity management since workers are used to working and relating with diverse cultural backgrounds, it becomes possible for them to handle different customers . Large-scale business transformation: transformation ensures business operation is more agile, rapid and lean. Diversity management ensures business operations are well transformed. It also ensure accountability in business transformation in large-scale. The diversity in the organization promotes modernization of business operations in business trans

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

History of money Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History of money - Essay Example The function of money is identifying the value of a standard measurement of goods and services. Money is used as a denominator where one can express the measure of the value of a commodity. Money is also identified as existing through human convections. For this reason, human beings have the power to change the value of money or change it. It is in the nature of money that it is identified as being subject to fluctuations due to value with all other commodities that it may be compared to. Money is, however, more stable when compared to goods. This is because good’s value is related specifically to the individuals that demand the goods. Use of money is a measure of value for establishing the proportional value that could make it possible to equalize all commodities with this standard where it is accepted and makes the community and enables exchange.The nature of money is that all commodities, things, and objects are measurable by money. Exchange of goods and services for money occur when the parties reach a common ground for agreement on exchange basing the agreement on the idea of proportionality. The nature of money allows humans to reach an agreement that serves the needs of their intercourse and interaction although it might not be possible to for different goods to be equal.The nature and condition of transactions are dependent on the good and service that the buying party wants. Since nature requires equality, where unequal individuals receive shares unequally, the significance of money in the act of exchange is demonstrated

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Economic Causes of Poverty Essay Example for Free

Economic Causes of Poverty Essay Poverty is the deprivation of necessities that that determine the quality of life. These necessities comprises of the basic human needs and better education which directly influences the type of employment and income earned and enable one to fight poverty. In October 2008 World Bank revised the poverty line to 1. 25 US dollar per day from 1 US dollar per day. After revision of the poverty line measure, an estimated 1. 4 billion people were found to live at this poverty line or below (Otlin, 2008). There is an upward poverty trend; for instance in 2004, 984 million people were living on or below the line of measure i. e. 1 US dollar whereas in 1981, 1. 9 million were living on or below the poverty line (Weaver Park, 2007). Among other causes of poverty, economic causes which include capital flight, unemployment, low income, unfair property laws and unfair trade has really made poverty alleviation in developing countries a complicated issue despite the efforts of these countries to fight against poverty. Rapid flow of money outside a country or any other assets commonly known as capital flight is a major economic cause of poverty. In most cases the movement is due to instability and reduced returns. Investors move their money from one investment to another, either within the same country or to a different country to avoid high inflation and search for stability and increased returns. Capital flight is mostly witnessed in a country with currency instability and sometimes the outflows are intensive thus affecting the whole financial system of the country (Epstein, 2005). The loss of confidence and devaluation of the affected country burdens the citizens and their properties lose the nominal value. This resorts to reduced purchasing power of assets of a country making it very expensive to import goods. Due to devaluation of the economy’s currency, inflation comes in. Consequently, the currency unit can only purchase fewer goods thus accelerating poverty. Capital flight also hampers investment which may reduce economic growth of the developing economies. Unemployment is another economic cause of poverty. It usually occurs when one is ready and able to work but there is no work for him/her. The inadequacies of basic human needs and better education are normally as result of un-employment. A country where there is a higher rate of unemployment, the Growth Domestic Product (GDP) is low since most people are not working. According Epstein (2005), unemployment is a primary cause of temporal poverty. The moment people get job, they supplement their incomes and thus reduce poverty levels. Sounder further says that poverty increases with increase in unemployment duration. People without jobs can be having skill which can improve production, but since they have not been employed, their skills may not be utilized. This can result is low productivity in the country. In other cases, un-employment can be a social cost to the society. Issues like crimes, terrorism and drug abuse which may be as a result of poverty, marginalization and unemployment are costly to eliminate. Money which can be used to alleviate the living standards is used for fighting crimes instead. Unemployment brings income inequality which widens the gap between the rich and the poor. Winefield (2002), points out that unemployment leads to delay in experience gain which reduces productivity. Moreover, in countries which provide job search allowance, the government expenditure goes high because more people are entitled to these allowances. This can force the government to reduce money given to other crucial sectors for example agricultural sector which can be a source of livelihood to the country’s population. Taxes may also increase due to high government expenditure resulting to increase in prices of commodities. Low income means that people will have a limited purchasing power. Winefield (2002) points out that, low income earnings place people near or on at the poverty line. He further argues that, raising the incomes by increasing the wages without dismissing their job opportunities has historically minimized poverty rates. According to his research findings, increasing minimum wage will help reduce poverty levels, however minimal. Small household budgets experience the greatest impacts since they have a limited purchasing power. This has facilitated poverty in developing countries. Increases in food prices and an instant steep rise in agricultural commodities is another economic cause of poverty. The rise in food prices can be attributed to increased demand of staple commodities, higher energy prices especially fuel and electricity which affects transportation and production costs of agricultural products and farm inputs e. g. fertilizer and pesticides. Food prices may also rise due to lack of alternative market outlets for agricultural product and low yields of cereals (Anker, 2006). Competition between industrial commercial organizations is healthy and encouraged by market economies. However, unfair property laws by competitors and use of malicious ways to gain business mileage e. g. making false and direct attack to a competitor may scare away potential investors. At times it happens despite the fact that a code of conduct has been set to guard against this behavior. Unfair competition which comprises of all acts and practices during industrial and commercial transactions which are contrary to honest practices may hamper selling and buying of good and services. Unfair competition may include confusion caused in relation to another enterprise’s products or its activities, acts that are misleading for instance, false implications of a competitor’s product, and damaging the goodwill of the competitors. All this may lead to unfair competition which causes decline in sale of goods or services. Eventually, this will translate increased levels of poverty in the affected economies due reduced sales, exports and other losses that may arise from unfair trade. In conclusion, poverty alleviation is a complex issue to deal with. It requires that all relevant stakeholders get rid of their selfish interest so that they can deal with the root causes of poverty. All causes of poverty ranging from economic, governance, demographic and social factors, environmental factors, if looked into by good governance, transparency in public expenditure, strengthening of management capacity and improvement of the public service delivery will help in promoting a competitive private sector environment for development and trade regime liberalization. This can contribute greatly to poverty alleviation in the world and especially in developing countries in Africa, Latin America and East Asia. A fair trade between developed and developing countries is fundamental if the question of poverty in developing countries is ever to be addressed. For instance, disruption of trade in Africa has greatly affected the process of integration in business. As a result poverty levels have increased undermining and lowering the livelihoods of small scale farmers and producers as well as depriving the young people their rights. References: Anker, R. , (2006); Poverty Lines around the World: A New Methodology and Internationally Comparable Estimates. International Labor Review Journal, Vol. 145 Epstein, G. A. , (2005); Capital Flight and Capital Controls in Developing Countries. ISBN 184376931X, 9781843769316, Edward Elgar Publishing. Otlin, J. , (2008); The Causes of Poverty: Thinking Critically about a Key Economic Issue. Journal of Social Education, Vol. 72 Weaver, C. Park, S. , (2007); The Role of the World Bank in Poverty Alleviation and Human Development in the Twenty-First Century: An Introduction. Global Governance Journal, Vol. 13 Winefield, A. H, (2002); Unemployment, Underemployment, Occupational Stress and Psychological Well-Being. Australian Journal of Management, Vol. 27

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Advertisers Strategies to Target Gay Audiences in Attitude and Gay Times :: essays research papers fc

I have decided to spilt the following essay into 4 sections, the first three concern different adverts and the final one is a discussion of gay advertising in general. The first advert I shall be looking at is "Couvette Duvet Cover" from Gay Times, Issue March 2000, page 67. This is a written text, as far as the author is aware this text does not appear in any other medium. The text was found whilst looking for adverts specifically aimed at gay men. I decided to analyse this text as it appears to be unusual in that no people appear in the advert, usually in gay advertising as with other genres at least one person or maybe more are used. The advert that the author is undertaking analysis of is one among many copies that are distributed in magazines (specifically gay) and may well appear in poster form as well. This influences my interpretation as the advertisers aim to reach a wide audience, not only those who are reading the magazine. The advert is indexical in representation. The important signifiers in the text are the colours of the Duvet, they are the colours of ‘gay pride’, this is not usually known by people outside of the genre. Therefore the advertiser has placed in the corner the text "100% Gay", so that there can be no doubt as to whom the text is aimed at. The Duvet is also for a double bed, this is important as it implies a couple. As does the fact there are ‘littered’ around the small section of room we see a selection of items in pairs. Examples are, the two pairs of trousers, the two organisers, two tables and two ‘bent’ lamps on the table on the right hand side of the picture. An important point to consider is also the lack of a carpet, the implication here is the floor being easier to keep clean than a carpet, although there is a corner of a reed mat showing. The picture gives a impression of a room that is serene, peaceful, secure and relaxed, the person who inhabits the room is relaxed about being Gay (shown by the Duvet cover). The advertiser is trying to sell this image to the consumer. Although the signs are primarily directed at people who are gay and ‘on the scene’ it is possible that the signs will also make sense to other readers who are not connected to it (although perhaps not the significance of the colours).

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Developments and Training

In the world we are living in organizations are faced with risks and threats due to introduction of technology and thus for organizations to succeed in their operations they need to train their employees so that they can overcome these risks and threats. Training involves using an experienced person to inform, teach and to convey information to the audience so that they can acquire the necessary skills and knowledge that would enable them to perform their effectively in their organizations. If people in the organizations are trained they become satisfied with the work that they are doing and this improves their morale.With the effective training employees can not leave their organizations because training it enables them to have the relevant skills and knowledge needed to perform their activities effectively. The image of the company can improved when the training is conducted because the employees in the organization become motivated and they enable them to talk about the positive s ide of the company. When an organization conducts training it enables it to develop strategies that can help the organization to achieve its objectives since training enables one to acquire new ideas of running and managing the operations of a company.It also helps a company to manage its finance effectively since training ensures that the management determine the issues that are cost effective thus it reduces the expenses of the company. In case of a public company which is a business organization, it is owned by the shareholders who contribute money known as capital. This capital is used to finance the operations of the business and incase the organizations may lack some funds to run their businesses they can borrow funds from the commercial banks and International bodies such as International Monetary Funds and the World Bank.The company is usually run by people known as the directors they ensure that the operations of the company are run effectively, incase the companies receive profits at the end of their financial periods they can distribute the profits in form of dividends to the shareholders and in other cases their can retain some of their money in reserves so that they can be able to do other business affairs such as expanding the company to meet the needs of the customers of the company. http://www.businessballs. com/training program evaluation.htmlIn companies there are many people who are employed, some of whom may be recruited directly from college and thus may lack the necessary experience to run the affairs of the company, others may have the experience to run the company but may lack relevant experience to run the affairs of the company thus there is a need to train all its employees so that they can gain the relevant experience that is required to run the company’s affairs effectively.The company can develop in house training program this program is usually designed to suit the needs of the company’s its allows the employees to train and develop their skills without moving from their working environment thus it saves on time and money since the employees don’t need to travel from one place to the place in order for them to acquire the knowledge and skills of running the company successfully.This training program is designed to train employees of a manufacturing company that produces horticultural products . The Company has more than one hundred employees who are trained on how to handle the product carefully because they are manufactured for export purposes and thus safety precautions must be taken because the products are manufactured using poisonous chemicals since act as preservatives and enable the product to last for a longer period of time without getting spoilt.The Coastal Recursor Humanos is a communications computer company that sells the leading safety training videos ,cd-roms,interactive safety training programs ,safety handbooks,trairning toolkits and safety posters thus the horticultura l company can access this facilities so that it can effectively train its customers on how to handle this products.The company can identify its training needs by obtaining information from the employees of the company about problems that they experience in the company such as poor working environment that can affect the performance of the employees for example if there is inadequate working area for the employees to work on or if the employees may be under paid or over worked this can affect their performance thus the in-house training program can enable the management to address the problems of the employees of the company and they can thus take the necessary measures to rectify the problems of the company . A training need of the can be identified through looking at the position of the economy, if the economy of the country is performing well then the management need to train their employees frequently so that they can be able to cater for the demands of the customers .When the ec onomy is performing properly the circulation of money is usually high and this leads to high demand for goods and services thus the need for the management train to it employees on how to handle the employees , but if the economy of the company is not performing properly the training program activities of the company can be reduced due to lack of the necessary resources to develop the program since for the program to run effectively it needs money to purchase the training videos ,training tool kits and the training safety posters from the Coastal Recursors Humanos communications company and money to hire the trainers is required to cater for their wages and salaries http://www. businessballls. com/freeonlineresources. htm .The management of the company can develop its program by establishing the training mediums that can ensure that it achieves its objectives this include internal mediums the company can access the information about improving the operations of the business by consul ting the employees themselves, they can give the management the reasons why they are not performing and thus identify the problems in the organization thus a good program can be developed and structured to meet the needs of the employees in their workplaces . The management can acquire information from other parties who are not employees of the company to gather information about the policies that need to be implemented so that the company can run it activities effectively thus this can sharpen the companies effectiveness and can help improve its performance.The training materials that can be used by the management of the company are templates, samples, resources such as articles, tools and diagrams they can provide information to help the company employees understand its operations they contain detailed information about the structure roles and responsibilities of the employees this act as a guide of how the company has been designed and thus it makes it ease for them understand th e activities of the company. http://wwbusinessballs. com/workshops. htm The training materials can be created by the experts of the programs they can do this by determining the needs of the company that need to be addressed . They need to outline the skills that they intend to teach .The skills need to be divided into groups and then into steps so that the necessary time can be allocated to the tasks that need to be urgently addressed. Once the steps have been prepared and all the necessary information that needs to be tackled by the experts of the programs they should design the presentation perfectly so that all the relevant information that needs to be conveyed to the employees is done effectively. http://wwbusinessballs. com/workshops. htm The management of the company can deliver its training through workshops that entail team building, communications, motivation, and planning these can empower the employees of the company to work more effectively since it enables them to acqui re the necessary information that is needed to run the affairs of the company effectively.Training can be delivered through conducting in-house training, by creating a tailored course and by recognizing informal training this helps the company to reduce its expenses, helps the management to deliver its information to the employees effectively and reduces wastage of time and money since the information that needs to be conveyed is always within the reach of the employees of the company. The effectiveness of a in house training program can be evaluated by the top management who ensure that training program is carried out effectively. They also ensure that training plans are properly documented so that they can give the management the direction of conducting their business.There are evaluation materials that a company can use so that it can determine how it performs its activities these are end –of- program validation method, feedback process and follow-up instruments they deter mine what the employees have learnt in their in house training programs ,they give the employees time to reflect on the all that they have learnt and also enables them to apply all that they have learnt during the training section . The evaluation questionnaires can be used to evaluate whether the objectives of the company have been applied. The employees of the company need to prepare action plans so that they evaluate whether they have understood all that they have been taught in the in- house training program, incase they have not applied the necessary techniques of carrying out their activities then they can take the necessary measures to implement them.The in-house training program for the company can be sustained through establishing long-term goals and then implementing the goals of the company so that there can be consistency in carrying out the activities of the company. The management should be involved in the development of the program since they can ensure that all the n ecessary information that needs to addressed is followed and finally implemented The goals of the company can be sustained if the companies results show some improvement, if the results of the company don’t improve then the management can either rectify the program or they can develop another programs that can suit the needs of the company.An in-house training program can be enforced by the managements company through ensuring that all employees who don’t comply with the rules and regulations of the company are dealt with accordingly such as they may be punished so that they can comply with the rules and the regulations of the company. The in house training programs can bring high performance to the company because if the management of the company addresses the problems that have been identified by the management and the employees of the organization then the company can operate successfully. If in the in- house training program the trainer is able to identify the uniq ue potentials of the employees and then be able to illustrate how the employees would be assigned with tasks they are familiar so that they can perform effectively then this can be a good sign that the in-house program is effective.