A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my en Essays

A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. I am alone, and feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine. I am so happy, my dear friend, so absorbed in the exquisite sense of mere tranquil existence, that I neglect my talents. I should be incapable of drawing a single stroke at the present moment; and yet I feel that I never was a greater artist than now. When, while the lovely valley teems with vapour around me, and the meridian sun strikes the upper surface of the impenetrable foliage of my trees, and but a few stray gleams steal into the inner sanctuary, I throw myself down among the tall grass by the trickling stream; and, as I lie close to the earth, a thousand unknown plants are noticed by me: when I hear the buzz of the little world among the stalks, and grow familiar with the countless indescribable forms of the insects and flies, then I feel the presence of the Almighty, who formed us in his own image, and the breath

Divorce Hurts Children

Divorce Hurts Children Free Online Research Papers Over half of couples seeking a divorce still have kids living at home. Some parents don’t realize when they file for a divorce the damage and effect that it will have on their children. Divorce hurts children no matter what their circumstance is. Parents start fighting in front of the kids over who did what and how stupid they were for getting married in the first place. Then they go to court to hear the judge make the decision of who gets what from their divorce. But the hardest part of the divorce for children, I think, is seeing their parents fighting over who gets custody of them. Firstly, during the divorce the parents are really determined to find out who did what. They try to shift the blame on each other for whatever the other parent did to cause their family to break-up. Whatever reason, the parent tries to give an explanation of why they are divorcing the other parent. They do this by getting the children involved in their arguments about the divorce. They make the children angry because of the hurtful words that they say to each other in front of them. They get so mad at their parents for causing all of their pain; they no longer want to be with them. I had a similar situation that I went through about 20-years ago. I, too, got a divorce. I would be the one always trying to pick up the pieces of their broken hearts. Our children loved both of us very much that they really didn’t know how to react. I would try to make excuses for him when he didn’t show up on visitation day; however, when he did come to pick them up ,he would say hurtful things to them about me. It was hard on my kids and to this day is still hard for them to accept. As of today their real father chose not to be in their lives because of the divorce. They do have a great stepfather, who is always there for them, but it doesn’t replace the hurt of what their real father did to them. So when you are thinking about getting a divorce, think about all the effects that it will have not only to you but your children as well. How bad or how well children deal with the divorce depends on how the situation is handled. Secondly, they go to court so the judge can decide which parent gets what in the divorce proceedings. When the kids see parents divide their belongings they sometimes feel abandon by the other parent; especially, if that parent has to move away to another city. They might have to move out of the very same house they grew-up in, so the custodial parent can support all of them. All the children can probably think of is their life they once had is gone forever. My children and I had to move away from their dad, because the city that we lived in didn’t have a job for me there. At first, It was hard for the children to leave their dad behind, because they went everywhere with him. They had to get adjusted to a new town as well as their new school. The only place I could get a job to coincide with their hours was at the school cafeteria. Luckily, my mother worked for the school and helped me get on with them as a dishwasher. Nonetheless, we all made it through but it was real har d on them until they got use to the idea of not having their dad around as much. All children ever want is for their parents to get along with one another. Real life is not always a perfect picture that we imagine, it has its ups and downs. Thirdly, when parents start fighting over the children is like a tug of war instead of using rope they use their children. They use their children as levers or pawns to go against one another in the divorce. There lives and routines are disrupted by their parents divorce. It is mandatory for the children to go on there visitation with the other parent, so they have to go no matter what the situation is. In my situation, he got the kids two months out of the summer because we lived so far away from him. They couldn’t see their friends for the whole summer, that really hurt my children. You could tell on their faces that they would get depressed when they would have to go for the whole two months. I didn’t have trouble with them until about May. They would start acting up in school, because they knew once school was out, they would have to go with their dad for the summer. Not only was it hard on the kids but me as well. Couples arguing about visitation rights, please remember to put your children first before your own feelings. All in all, divorce hurts children in so many ways; we can’t even begin to comprehend what’s going on in their little brain. It can throw the child’s entire life into a whirlwind. Their emotions run high; they think everything around them is falling apart and there’s nothing they can do about it. All they see is their family broken apart. Parent’s always fighting about the littlest things. Whatever is running through their minds is going so fast they really can’t take control of the situation. However, they don’t know how they will feel once the divorce is final. How are they going to survive if only one parent is supporting them? The family they once knew and loved, will no longer be. Parents with children living at home needs to come up with a better solution of solving their marital problems instead of bringing everything out in the open. It can therefore be thoroughly justified that divorce does hurt our children. Research Papers on Divorce Hurts ChildrenEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoHip-Hop is ArtThe Spring and AutumnThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductGenetic Engineering

Ethical Issues of Lay Offs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethical Issues of Lay Offs - Essay Example Lay-offs are defined as â€Å"suspension or termination of employment (with or without notice) by the employer or management.† (Business Dictionary 2009) Layoffs are management’s option when faced with situations such as financial difficulties, positions are no longer required, business slow-down, or work interruption. This could be categorized as follows: to save the company, to change, and to improve the company. Regardless of the rationale, layoffs cause undue stress, emotional pain, anguish and suffering for the terminated employees. On the other hand, the managers who are assigned to deliver the blow are also faced with sorrow or guilt, as the case may be. It is in this regard that layoffs are closely evaluated in terms of ethical issues which arise due to the critical consequences that arise. Due to these consequences, layoffs become controversial ethical issues. Velasquez & Rostankowski (1982) averred that â€Å"an act with ethical or moral consequences is that such an act involves decisions freely taken that will have positive or negative consequences for others†. According to Gilbert (2000), â€Å"in some circumstances, laying off some employees is the ethical thing to do, and managers who fail to do so are guilty of unethical conduct. In other circumstances, no ethical defense of layoffs can be found, and managers who decide on layoffs in these circumstances are guilty of unethical acts. In a wide range of circumstances in between, there are ethical arguments for and against layoffs.† To determine the morality of a decision or an action, one approach is that of utilitarianism which holds that a moral decision or action is one that results in the greatest good for the greatest number of people. (ibid.) Using this approach, management justifies that it is common to layoff on the basis that terminating 1000 personnel if this move will save the organization from bankruptcy and hence preserve the jobs of 5000 others.   

Steps for Investment Strategy for Stock Market Essay - 3

Steps for Investment Strategy for Stock Market - Essay Example As the capital market is very volatile and requires very efficient and effective strategies for making investments in stock market. The stock markets are highly uncertain, and it is difficult to predict. Therefore, the chances of loss are higher without proper investment plan. This paper will attempt to present an argumentative discussion on the investment strategy for a stock market. In regard to trading strategies in the stock market, many have argued against the stock investment by claiming it as a zero-sum game as there is an equal number of winners and losers. The stock market is highly volatile and to take a winners’ position is quite challenging. An efficient trading strategy can make gains in bullish as well as in the bearish market. The following figure presents volatility of the FTSE for the last forty years. The most of investors who faced great loses due to investments in the stock market are mainly caused by their lack of knowledge and lack of general awareness. In fact, many investors having very limited knowledge regarding stock investments tend to face losses from the stock market investments and their investment behavior mainly driven by behavioral finance. The investors often make the investment based on their behavior which is mainly driven by unconventional market behavior. For example, investors should buy a stock when it comes to its lower boundary and sells just before it is supposed to fall. However, generally, investors do the opposite and face losses. However, there are also certain factors that must be taken into consideration, and the entire investment should follow systematic steps.  

The Progressive Era Essay Example for Free

The Progressive Era Essay The Progressive Era was a period of time when mass groups of people pushed for major changes. Some became successful while others werent. Many different approaches were used to try and change four areas. They were protecting social welfare, promoting moral improvement, creating economic reform, and fostering efficiency. The Progressives believed in four major principles which are demonstrated in the actions they took to support them. One objective the Progressives enforced was protecting social welfare, which they established in many ways. These groups of people wanted desperately to fix urban problems. With this mind set, the YMCA (Young Mens Christian Association) was founded. This association opened libraries, sponsored classes, and built swimming pools/handball courts, for the good of the city. A major supporter and leader of this reform was Jane Addams. She created settlement houses in many cities; they were homes for women to stay until they were back on their feet again. Jane Addams actions inspired many other women to become involved. With all that occurred during the Progressive Era, work sometimes seemed pointless, but thanks to numerous peoples hard work and dedication, many of the organizations still exist today. One significant goal the Progressives struggled to change was promoting morals. The Womens Christian Temperance Union became very involved during this reform. Frequently they would visit inmates and mental patients to see how they were managing during their time of hardships. WCTU believed that all women should have the right to vote. Suffrage for women was a heavily debated issue during the Progressive Era. One main leader of the moral improvement reform was Susan B. Anthony. She had no limits; she would try every law available related to voting in any way. She became a woman of power and an idol for others. Another notable debate at this time was prohibition, the banning of alcohol. Reformers believed that with alcohol out of the picture, the poor could live a better life and many of the poor were immigrants. Therefore the immigrants would have an easier life when first coming to America. Alcohol was a part of the culture, so the push to ban alcohol would be a difficult task for the leaders. Promoting moral improvement became an important but laborious goal for the Progressives. Another goal for the Progressives was creating economic reform. They fought for many changes in business. Some started to question Laissez Faire; in turn other people began to move towards socialism. The Sherman Antitrust Act was also brought back into play. The government used its power to bust monopolies, therefore helping small businesses. Also, Muckrakers wrote newspaper articles that criticized big businesses and social wrongs. Upton Sinclair, author of The Jungle, tried to show the naà ¯ve public and government the truth about the meat companies. His book involved detailed and gory findings that when published aroused many people. Sinclairs book influenced Theodore Roosevelt, the current President of the United States at the time, to send officials in to the meat factories to investigate what was really going on. Upon this investigation, new laws were made and enforced. The Pure Food and Drug Act dictated that companies must print on the labels what was truthfully in the product. Efforts made to change the economy were time consuming and troublesome but yielded good results. The last principle the Progressives believe in was fostering efficiency. The reformers wanted things to be orderly and organized. To them, this was being efficient, by not wasting energy. The idea of scientific management included many practices including applying science to businesses and making things simple would produce more money. This was the main concept of scientific management. Henry Ford was a supporter of scientific management. Mr. Ford developed the assembly line, which increased production by a large amount. With the introduction of the assembly line, work for the employee became demanding and repetitive. The worker stood in one place, where they were presented with work from a conveyor belt. Ford then brought the five-dollar workday into play attracting many employees to come work for him. Fostering efficiency was a well-met goal for the Progressives. In summary, it can be stated that the Progressive Era brought many changes into our generation. Even though quite a few of these actions happened in the 1900s they still affect us today in 2001. The Pure Food and Drug Act, the YMCA, and others still exist today with few revisions. The Progressives had four main principles which they believed in and even today they continue to influence us.

Evolution and Creation Essay -- essays research papers

Evolution vs. Creation How was the earth created? There are several different answers to this question. One is from a religious viewpoint and stems from the Bible. Another comes from the world of science and is based on evidence that has surfaced over the last century. The theory of evolution comes into direct conflict with another theory that has been around for thousands of years, the theory of creation. The theory of evolution claims that humans have evolved over thousands of years from apes. The creation theory discredits evolution and claims that God created man. As the teaching of the theory of evolution has been accepted into most public schools, a new controversy has arisen about whether or not the theory of creation should also be taught in public schools. The theory of evolution was first presented in 1859 by Charles Darwin and has influenced history as an alternative to the theory of creation. Evolution is simply change; it is a process that results in genetic changes in a population spread over many generations. The theory of evolution suggests that all the species that have ever existed descended from a single ancestor from the past. This theory claims that humans, through gradual continuous changes, have evolved from the ape family. These gradual continuous changes arose from the need for species to better adapt to their environment. Since mutation is a random process, the changes can either be beneficial, unfavorable, or have no use at all. This theory is largely supported by the findings of paleontology, anthropology, and genetics and involves the process of natural selection. Fossil records have been used as empirical evidence to support the theory and have concluded that Homo sapiens share â€Å"clear anatomical, genetic, and historical relationships to other primates.† This trend of evolution is never ending and continues to occur in all life forms. The theory of creation is based on the first eleven chapters in the Bible, and is by some considered to be part of world history. This theory supports the notation that the world was created in six days and that Adam and Eve were the first humans. The theory states that the world is young, only ten thousand years old. The Bible states that man is made in the image of God, therefore God created mankind. Creationists use this to further justify that God created man, not apes. It also claims that all... ...ce will always be questioned and doubted regardless of the empirical evidence that supports it. Mounting empirical evidence has proven through scientific means that evolution is no longer a theory, yet those who are eternal supporters of the theory of creation continue to attempt to discredit the theory of evolution. The theory of evolution is an acceptable subject to be taught in public schools because it is a subject that is based on scientific discoveries, making it appropriate for science classes. The theory of creation is based on religion and religion is a subject that should not be taught in public school, but one that is the responsibilities of the parents. Because of the diversities of religion in our country, soley Christian values and theories should not be taught to children in the classroom settings. Resources Bergman, Jerry. Teaching Creation and Evolution in Public Schools. Creation Ex Nihileo Technical Journal, 1999, Vol. 13, Issue 2. Bronson, Michael. 7-Day Creation: Figurative or Literal. Understanding God and his Universe, Section 11, 2001. Jackson, Wayne. The Influence of Evolution Upon Religion. Reason and Revelation, Augusta 1995, Vol.15, Issue 8: 60-61.

Moving beyond fit: the role of brand portfolio characteristics in consumer evaluations of brand reliability

DelVecchio’s article deals with the effects of brand extensions on company sales, especially with regard to the affected brands. Brand extension is hereby taken to mean how companies offer completely new products under the existing brand names. The target market could be the existing customer base or completely new one.Companies extending their brands are especially interested in increasing sales revenue by offering more products. According to DelVecchio (2000) the extensions could be a double edged sword to the implementing companies; it could increase sales to higher levels or could reduce brand loyalty to brands formerly dear to consumers. Marketing executives in companies intending to extend brands therefore have a hard task of investigating the level of brand loyalty before thinking about extensions.Understanding the risks involved with brand extensions should therefore be taken as the first step laying strong foundation for future sales. DelVecchio (2000) has specificall y stated that having many brands associated with the one being extended increases the possibility of success. This in consideration that respective company brands happen to have already proven themselves in the face of competition.Extensions are therefore seen by consumers as just another attempt for respective company to meet market needs and demands. Coca-Cola Company is the best example of a company that effectively uses its wide products to improve brand extensionality; its Coke drink is available in Zero, Vanilla, and Diet extensions (Makwana 2008)—all which succeed in their mission of satisfying specific market segments’ tastes.DelVecchio’s analysis leads to conclusion that brand loyalty is the foundation for successful brand extensions, which explains why companies that exceed consumer expectations succeed in their brand extension initiatives.Coca-Cola is yet another company whose consumer loyalty has boosted its extended brands, as well as remaining as t he world leader in carbonated drinks market. Ralph Lauren is another company that has been able to use its consumer loyalty to extend its Polo brand from clothing to home decor and furnishings. Consumers highly satisfied with the clothing had confidence in the new line of products and immediately embarked on making purchases.Companies whose products have narrow brand loyalty are on the other hand faced with diluted popularity of products being extended. For instance, Chrysler Motor Company faced with diluting popularity of its Jeep Liberty after extending this product into Jeep Patriot. Fact that Liberty had insignificant consumer base meant that extending it to Patriot would hurt it (Liberty) even further (BusinessWeek 2006). Indeed American car manufacturer’s current declining sales problems develop from extending unpopular products.These car assemblers go to an extent of one brand’s chassis for product extension purposes, such as Ford’s use of the popular F15 0 chassis to make more Ford brands. Unfortunately for such businesses, consumers end up understanding what is happening in the extensions and therefore feel cheated.The only solution is to ditch the affected companies’ products altogether and start patronizing competitors’ products. In retaliation to a point made previously in the paper, it is vital for companies to cultivate consumer loyalty in products they could be planning to extend in the future, failure of which result to loss of business even on well established products.ReferencesBusinessWeek, 2006, Jeep’s Misguided Compass, Available from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/oct2006/bw20061025_140103.htmDelVecchio, D., 2000, Moving beyond fit: the role of brand portfolio characteristics in    consumer evaluations of brand reliability. Journal of Product and Brand   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Management. Vol. 9 No. 7, pp. 457-471.Makwana, B., 2008, Coca-Colaâ⠂¬â„¢s Targeting Niche Market through Brand Extension.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Available from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.ibscdc.org/Case_Studies/Marketing/Brands%20and%20Branding/MA  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   R0089A.htm