Looking for the Real Thing The Coca

It was 1886, and fizzy drinks were clearly becoming a thing, soda fountains gradually becoming the most popular places all over the country.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Looking for the Real Thing: The Coca-Cola Company Analysis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More A failure by his very nature, pharmacist John Pemberton decided to try his luck in doing something that was popular at the time, and came up with a new soda fountain drink that could become the â€Å"real thing† and stand out of the range of similar drinks as the ultimate â€Å"champion†. Coca-Cola was the result (Cox, 2008, 113). Down home foodie: 2012 (2012). Retrieved from http://goo.gl/7Ey58D Unfortunately, the Coca-Cola Company is facing several major external threats at present, the growing impact of Pepsi and Dr. Pepper on the soda market being the key one (Deichert, Ellenbecker, Klehr Pesrachick, 2006). A company whose name has b ecome the synonym of the product, Coca-Cola is still not ready to fight a strong, seeing how the recent crisis that the relocation into the global market cot the firm affected Coca-Cola’s stock price. Therefore, the increase in the authority of such companies as PepsiCo and Dr. Pepper/7-Up is the greatest threat for Coca-Cola at present. Another obvious external threat concerns the lack of interest in customers towards Coca-Cola and its products. Coca-Cola’s leader’s unwillingness to change the traditional course of the company and take chances with brand new products may easily lead to customers losing interest.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Perhaps, the given step is rather wise in the light of tight competition – once a company fails with a new product, the rivals will use this failure as a chance to take the company’s place in the mar ket. There is no need to stress that in food production, practically every single outside market factor maters greatly for a company in shaping its reputation and, therefore, the process of achieving the company’s goals. Specifically for Coca-Cola, sociocultural and global factors should be pointed out as the ones of the greatest influence. At first, the given factors might seem only a minor element of the general structure; on a second thought, however, one must agree that these two are especially important for Coca-Cola in the XXI century. To start with, the sociocultural factor is one of the key concerns at present. Unfortunately, due to the recent surge of concerns and false accusations of Coca-Cola being an extremely harmful drink, the company may easily be facing another crisis in 2014. For instance, such reports as Zmuda’s article clearly do not add to the Coca-Cola company’s popularity among its target audience: â€Å"the group is frustrated that Coca-C ola doesn’t spend more money advertising its healthier brands, like Honest Tea† (Zmuda, 2013, October 21, para. 4). True, the company tried to rebut the false accusations by providing its own account of the effects that the drink has on people and even creating the line of product that supposedly had a positive effect on heart health (Coca-Cola, 2012), yet the reputation of â€Å"Killer Coke† seems to have a very strong staying power. Regardless of the numerous attacks of critics and adversaries, the company has been thriving so far and even managed to come up with a brand new campaign regarding the Coca-Cola’s latest initiative in striving for people’s health.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Looking for the Real Thing: The Coca-Cola Company Analysis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Not only has the firm enhanced the production of sugarless cola, but also started funding major r esearches on obesity, heart diseases and other health issues: â€Å"Recent new funding includes a large grant from Coca-Cola† (Harcombe, 2013, January 22, para. 4).Therefore, the sociocultural factor, though clearly very ambiguous, seems to have been working for the company’s benefit so far. Speaking of the second factor, one must admit that after entering the global market, Coca-Cola has been dealing with very tough competition, and the latter still remains a major issue. However, apart from difficulties regarding the choice of the right promotion campaign and advertisement strategy, global market offers a number of alluring opportunities. For example, with the acceptance of the free trade agreement, it has become much easier for Coca-Cola to sign agreements with companies all over the world and sell its products not only in the USA, but also in Europe and Asia, thus, increasing its revenues impressively. For instance, entering into a venture partnership with Endomond o seems to have given the company very good chances for increasing its stock price in 2014: â€Å"Under the new global agreement, Coca-Cola will help Endomondo grow its existing user base and enter into new markets and territories, while helping develop the app’s functionality and drive innovation† (Cioletti, 2013, June 1, para. 15). Since Endomondo has an estimated total of around 12,000,000 users (Cioletti, 2013, June 1, para. 14), Coca-Cola will clearly have great chances for attracting even more clientele and enjoying an even greater success. Five forces of competition, the term coined by Michael E. Porter, also shape Coca-Cola’s policy towards its stakeholders greatly. Presupposing that the company should take buyers, competitors, suppliers, entrants and substitutes into account, the given model allows for evaluating the company’s chances for success in the global market. According to the latest reports, Coca-Cola should pay special attention to the substitutes and the competitors. While the statistics on buyers seems to have been quite consistent over the past few decades, the situation with competition has become much more complicated due to the specifics of the globalized environment.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Instead of winning over the SMEs within its home country and quickly becoming the industry leader, Coca-Cola must maintain its status among the companies of equally good reputation and approximately the same income. Hence the tension within the global market of fizzy drinks comes. Of all the companies producing fizzy drinks and the related goods, Pepsi seems to have been the key rival of the company for ions. Surprisingly enough, even though Coca-Cola has clearly gained the status of the world leader in soda production and is nowadays one of the most recognizable brands period, the PepsiCo has not only withstood the defeat, but also faced it with great dignity. More to the point, it has succeeded in its own way, making it obvious to the Coca-Cola Company that the grand fight between the brands, which will help finally define the winner, is yet to come. As InvestorGuide says, the cost per share is $82.95 at present and is yet to rise for PepsiCo: InvestorGuide (2014). Charts for Pep siCo, Inc. Retrieved from http://app.quotemedia.com/quotetools/chartcache/15347.png Although having a rival that is going to replenish its powers soon be the company’s side might not seem a good prospect for Coca-Cola, there are still a couple of advantages about the current situation that are worth pointing out. To start with, the fact that Coca-Cola has relatively few rivals is alone very uplifting. In addition, it will be easy to use the fight with PepsiCo in order to attract even more attention to Coca-Cola and its brand product.  Buyers are another segment of the Five Forces Model that can be used in order to improve the company’s score. Though it is admittedly hard to come up with a new promotion campaign for a company that has practically become a staple of soda production industry, there are enough chances for using the customers’ loyalty for the company’s benefit. Moreover, the aforementioned rivalry with PepsiCo may also stir the buyersâ€℠¢ interest towards the company’s products. Still, the â€Å"buyers† element in the Five Forces Model laves much to be desired in terms of the clients’ loyalty. The Coca-Cola Company needs to keep in mind that a number of people hardly differentiate between the two organizations, seeing how each of the companies is known for creating practically the same products as the other one. One might find the given statement rather doubtful, since there are a number of companies producing soda; it should be noted, though, that both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are known for creating a diet soda (Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke correspondingly); producing root beer (Mug Root Beer and Barq’s), mineral water (Coca-Cola’s Cristal and PepsiCo’s Aquafina), and so on. Therefore, it is crucial that Coca-Cola should come up with a unique strategy in order to be as different from PepsiCo as possible. When it comes to discussing the strengths of the product, the incredible res ults of Coca-Cola marketing are often brought up. Indeed, judging by the fact that Coca-Cola has practically become a household name over the years of its existence, one must admit that its advertising campaigns have paid off impressively. Not only does the drink stand out of the range of similar soda drinks, but is often related to a number of other nonetheless popular brands, such as the personal of Santa Claus. Coca-Cola Santa Claus (n. d.). Retrieved from http://www.adbranch.com/wp-content/uploads/coca-cola_santa_claus_raiding_the_refrigerator_1937-610Ãâ€"428.jpg Apart from very impressive marketing, Coca-Cola has also become wildly popular due to its grand rivalry with Pepsi. Coke vs. Pepsi (n. d.). Retrieved from http://www.nogarlicnoonions.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Coke-vs-Pepsi5.jpg Sadly, the company also has a number of weaknesses. Speaking of rather basic problems of the brand, its lack of initiative regarding the new avenues of marketing should be mentioned. Apar t from its dubious reputation in terms of its effects on people’s health, Coca-Cola has also faced a rather upsetting drop in its market value. According to the latest report, the product’s price dropped by $0.1, or 0.25%, which resulted in a $0.113 (0.28%) drop in the company’s shares, the latter being reduced to $39.647, with the resulting EPS of 1.929 (InvestorGuide, 2014c). The given tendencies are definitely worth paying more attention to. It seems that Coca-Cola needs a colorful and memorable promotion campaign that will attract more customers. It is also remarkable that Dr. Pepper has recently appeared among Coca-Cola’s major rivals, nearly ousting Pepsi from the picture. InvestorGuide (2014a). Detailed quote for the Coca-Cola Company. Retrieved from http://goo.gl/9l6QLd InvestorGuide (2014b). Detailed quote for Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. Retrieved from http://goo.gl/Uj3ilb Nevertheless, Coca-Cola’s position among the rest of the soda producing companies seems rather stable. Compared to the previous year, the losses are not that big, which means that the company is capable of using its key strength as the mean to sell the product to the target audience. Speaking of the organization’s resources and capabilities, Coca-Cola sells its product to 200 countries and operates with around 250 Coca-Cola bottlers (Conley, 2012, June 18). Coca-Cola’s value chain also deserves considering closer. To start with, the company has a very interesting strategy for communicating to its suppliers; known as SGP, or Supplier Guiding Principles, it presupposes that the relationships with the partner companies supplying raw material should be based on mutual respect, equality and business integrity (The Coca-Cola Company, 2012). Thus, the outbound logistics of the company seems to be impeccable. Speaking of the inbound logistics, one must mention that the Coca-Cola Company employs retailing research councils, which help the firm define the best possible strategies for delivering its product to the customers on time and in its best condition. Due to the recent introduction of the latest technology into the company’s production process, the latter has been improved quite a few notches; even though it will take time to make sure that every single employee has been trained properly in order to operate the equipment in question, the effects of the technological â€Å"mini-revolution† within a comparatively conservative realm of the Coca-Cola Company can be considered a major breakthrough. The company is also doing extremely well in terms of its outbound logistics, as the recent research shows. Marketing and sales, though, could definitely use some improvement, since the organization has not been making any radical changes in its image for several decades, even though its original gimmick seems to have worn out its welcome in the global market. Reference List Cioletti, A. (2013, June 1). Alway s Coca-Cola. License. Retrieved from http://www.licensemag.com/license-global/always-coca-cola Coca-Cola (2012). Fit – new diet coke commercial – supporting women’s heart health. Retrieved from http://www.coca-colacompany.com/videos/fit-new-diet-coke-commercial-supporting-womens-heart-health Coca-Cola Santa Claus (n. d.). Retrieved from http://www.adbranch.com/wp-content/uploads/coca-cola_santa_claus_raiding_the_refrigerator_1937-610Ãâ€"428.jpg Coke vs. Pepsi (n. d.). Retrieved from http://www.nogarlicnoonions.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Coke-vs-Pepsi5.jpg Conley, A. (2012, June 18). Coca-Cola resources and capabilities. Retrieved from http://alconley.blogspot.com/2012/06/resources-and-capabilities.html Cox, J. (2008). Sold on radio: Advertisements of the Golden Age of broadcasting. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Company. Deichert, M., Ellenbecker, M., Klehr, E., Pesrachick, L. (2006). Industry analysis: Soft drinks. Retrieved from http://www.csbsju.edu/documents /libraries/zeigler_paper.pdf Down home foodie: 2012 (2012). Retrieved from http://goo.gl/7Ey58D InvestorGuide (2014). Charts for PepsiCo, Inc. Retrieved from http://app.quotemedia.com/quotetools/chartcache/15347.png InvestorGuide (2014a). Detailed quote for the Coca-Cola Company. Retrieved from http://goo.gl/9l6QLd InvestorGuide (2014b). Detailed quote for Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. Retrieved from http://goo.gl/Uj3ilb InvestorGuide (2014c). The Coca-Cola Company (KO). Retrieved from http://www.investorguide.com/stock.php?ticker=KO The Coca-Cola Company (2012). Supplier guiding principles. http://assets.coca-colacompany.com/1b/d5/9c8554554fd29678c97791e27c83/SGP_Brochure_ENG.pdf Zmuda, N. (2013, October 21). Health ad hits Coke: â€Å"Happiness doesn’t come in a red can. Obesity does.† Advertising Age. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/news/maryland-based-foundation-attacks-coca-cola/244847/ This essay on Looking for the Real Thing: The Coca-Cola Company Analysis was written and submitted by user Brooklynn K. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Problems of Internet Addiction Disorder

Problems of Internet Addiction Disorder Brain Damage Internet addiction has many negative impacts on one’s life. The two major effects are brain damage and reduction in cognitive capabilities. Various researches have shown that individuals are better in reasoning and handling matters that require good cognitive abilities before they get addicted to the Internet.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Problems of Internet Addiction Disorder specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Addiction to the Internet comes with a reduction in this ability since the Internet prevents one from thinking as it provides almost all the answers to their questions. Individuals tend to go ahead and search everything on the websites, including the simple tasks they used to handle on their own before getting addicted to the Internet. Another possible cause of a reduction in the brain capabilities is the kind of the materials that one is exposed to on the Internet. Exposure to sexual mat erials makes one spend most of their time thinking about sex. According to the use and disuse law in science, it is only normal that the brain develops in the direction of use. In terms of sex and matters related to it, the individual addicted to pornographic sites on the Internet will therefore be way too good in sexual matters. This, however, comes with a negative impact as far as thinking about other life issues is concerned. It is common knowledge that one may be seated in an exam room and, instead of thinking about the solutions to the questions, the mind is wandering as he/she is thinking of the last scenes seen on the Internet. The person also spends time thinking about when he/she will be free to use the Internet again. Some even go as far as escaping activities that could develop their cognitive abilities just to have a glimpse of the funny internet scenes (Young, Caught in the Net 34). Violence The victim’s tendency to be violent increases since once an individual i s addicted to the Internet, he/she becomes exposed to violent materials in the form of games and movies. In most cases, it occurs because they lose the ability to reason and handle matters using dialogue. Thus, they think that using their muscles to iron out issues is better and much easier than sitting down to discuss them with anybody. A dialogue and other diplomatic means of solving conflicts are seen as a waste of time by those addicted to the Internet. The major reason behind this is that they will want to spend most of their time on their addiction rather than on other life issues, such as solving disputes between them and other human beings. Some persons become violent because of the violent movies or pictures that they download from the Internet (Block 306). Almost every new action movie or picture downloaded from the Internet teaches the addicted individual a fighting skill. Unfortunately, most of these individuals are not professional wrestlers and they have nowhere to pra ctice, and the only available area to apply their skills is on fellow human beings who have no idea of what is going on in the lives of the addicted.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More They also find satisfaction from winning such violent wars as their victims do not possess the same skills. This motivates them and makes them watch more violent movies on the Internet to learn more fighting techniques. At the end of it all, they lose themselves in violence, as they develop high levels of violent behaviors leading to isolation, since people tend to avoid their company (Watts 88). Loss of Self-control An individual addicted to the Internet loses self-control and other social abilities. Self- control is all about being able to use your brain to say No to some things and Yes to others. Unfortunately, those addicted to the Internet lose this capability as they are not in a position to differentiate between what is good and bad in their lives (Damasio 42). Furthermore, addiction to the Internet comes with other addictions, such as pornographic materials, drugs, and masturbation. Once an individual has many addictions, he/she has no room to ponder on whether to be into actions related to the addictions or not. A simple thought related to such persons addictions, or mentioning of the act related to their addiction, comes with a strong urge forcing them to repeat the act. This is indeed degradation of the social ability of individuals and their ability to control their lives. Eventually, they end up losing their lives in the addictions. The levels of violence are likely to go up, as analyzed in the previous paragraph, which has to do with temperamental issues. At times in life, all that is required of an individual is to control their tempers. This will prevent one from indulging in regrettable actions, but those addicted to the Internet resort to other means of s olving temper related issues. They only consider violence the best option to exercise in all circumstances. This is the reason individuals addicted to the Internet become more violent every day. If it happens that one loses their temper at the lowest agitation, they will therefore lose friends, and this will definitely impact their lives negatively (Martin 72). Social Isolation Social isolation is also a major negative impact of being addicted to the Internet. Individuals are good in socializing before they get addicted to the Internet. There is usually a balance between social life and other life matters. This, however, comes to an end immediately after one becomes an Internet addict (Pinker 32). Individuals addicted to the Internet will want to spend most of the time alone in closed rooms away from distraction as they want to give all their concentration to their addiction, since having friends around them may not give them a chance to give undivided attention to the Internet scen es.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Problems of Internet Addiction Disorder specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Friends tend to engage them in conversations that require concentration while they are using the Internet, yet they want to have all the time to surf the Internet. Thus, they develop poor relations with their friends, as they are not willing to follow the conversations with them and, in most cases, they take a lot of time to answer questions that are necessary to keep the conversations going. When they finally answer the questions, the answers are usually wrong or kill the conversation, and with time, friends and family members lose interest in conversing with the individuals. The temper and violence issues also have a great impact on the individual’s social life. Nobody will enjoy staying around a person who punches them from time to time. All persons enjoy their peace and staying around calm people w ho can handle their tempers. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the individuals addicted to the Internet. Loss of Interest in Life The Internet is a major issue in the lives of the addicted. They will spend a good amount of hours staring at Internet sites, reading funny materials, or watching silly movies. Addicted individuals will want to sacrifice every aspect of their lives just to have time to go through the Internet. Sleep becomes a thing of the past for these individuals. They go to bed with their laptops or Internet-enabled phones. All they do is chatting over the Internet with people they do not even know. When caught up with sleep, they go out of bed to wash their faces. They do their best not to fall asleep easily, thus having more time to chat with their so called â€Å"friends†. For married couples, addiction may cause breakups or even divorces in extreme cases (Young, Internet Addiction 7). This happens when one partner finds it difficult to stay around the addicted. For instance, an addicted individual will laugh in the middle of the night just because of an interesting chat or scene on the Internet. They end up waking up their partners in marriage, and with time, their partners will want to sleep alone in separate beds just to have some sleep. This way, the sexual contact, or even the romance, that is meant to keep a couple together disappears. The addicted individual may find sexual satisfaction from the Internet pornographic scenes forgetting that they have partners who need them. This is another reason as to why married individuals end up cheating on their partners. It is common sense that if one cannot get what they want from their partners, they will look for it elsewhere. Eating is also a thing of the past for individuals addicted to the Internet since they eat less quantities of food, and with time, they become emaciated and lose their strength. A truly internet addiction is a vice that kills all the other aspects of one†™s life (Dijik 46). Solutions to Internet Addiction Feasible solutions refer to methods that can be used to solve the problem and that will provide a desirable outcome. These solutions are;support from family members and rehabilitation of the addicted individuals. Family members, friends, and other people in the lives of the addicted have a big role to play to help them out.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Family members and friends can create social events that make the addicted forget about the Internet for some time (Wallace 39). They can take them for swimming, mountain climbing, or enjoyable picnics. It is always advisable to replace bad addictions with good addictions like jogging, playing chess, or scrabble. Such activities will see the addicted spend less time on the Internet, and later on, they will be out of their trap. Rehabilitation centers can also be attended by individuals who really want to overcome their addictions. At the centers, they will be taken through therapies that are likely to reduce their level of addiction (Welch 99). They may be treated with the help of music play lists, positive games, or even lessons that discourage them from using the Internet. The use of mobile phones that are not Internet enabled is another way of fighting the addiction. This means that the individuals will only use the Internet when they get to cyber cafes or their computers. Indeed , Internet addiction is a vice that can take away an individual’s life, if not done away with at early stages, and thus dealing with it is a worthy endeavor. Counseling is also another step that can be taken to ensure that the addicts are saved from their obsession. This process involves getting a psychiatrist to talk to the addicted individuals so as to understand why they prefer the Internet compared to the normal social life. Sometimes, people end up being addicted to the Internet due to unsolved psychological issues that can be dealt with by the psychiatrist. Block, Jerald. Issues for DSM-V: Internet addiction  American Journal of  Psychiatry  165.1 (2008): 306–307. Print. Damasio, Antonio. The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of  Consciousness. New York, NY: Mariner Books, 2000. Print. Martin Paul.  Sex, Drugs Chocolate: The Science of Pleasure. London, UK: Fourth Estate, 2008. Print. Pinker, Steven. How the Mind Works. New York, NY: Brilliance Publishers, 2012. Print. Van Dijik, Jose. The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print. Wallace, Paul. The Psychology of the Internet, London, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Print. Watts, Duncan. Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age. London, UK: Vintage, 2009. Print. Welch, Edward. Addictions: a Banquet in the Grave. Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania: P R Publishing, 2010. Print. Young, Kimberly. Caught in the Net: How to Recognize the Signs of Internet  Addiction. London, UK: Routledge, 2011. Print. Young, Kimberly. â€Å"Internet Addiction: Symptoms, Evaluation, and Treatment.†Ã‚  Professional Resource Press 17.1 (2006):1-35. Print.

Profile of Demeter the Greek Goddess

Profile of Demeter the Greek Goddess Demeter is a goddess of fertility, grain, and agriculture. She is pictured as a mature motherly figure. Although she is the goddess who taught mankind about agriculture, she is also the goddess responsible for creating winter and a mystery religious cult. She is usually accompanied by her daughter Persephone. Occupation: Goddess The family of Origin: Demeter was a daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and so a sister of the goddesses Hestia and Hera, and the gods Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus. Demeter in Rome: The Romans referred to Demeter as Ceres. The Roman cult of Ceres was initially served by Greek priestesses, according to Cicero in his Pro Balbo oration. For the passage, see Turas Ceres. In Graeco Ritu: A Typically Roman Way of Honoring the Gods [Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 97, Greece in Rome: Influence, Integration, Resistance (1995), pp. 15-31], author John Scheid says the foreign, Greek cult of Ceres was imported to Rome in the middle of the third century B.C. Ceres was also referred to as Dea Dia in connection with a three-day May Ambarvalia festival, according to Tibullus and the Ambarvalia, by C. Bennett Pascal, in The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 109, No. 4 (Winter, 1988), pp. 523-536. Also see Ovids Amores Book III.X, in an English translation: No Sex Its the Festival Of Ceres. Attributes: The attributes of Demeter are a sheaf of grain, a conical headdress, a scepter, a torch, and a sacrificial bowl. Persephone and Demeter: The story of Demeter is usually combined with the story of the abduction of her daughter Persephone. Read this story in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. Eleusinian Mystery: Demeter and her daughter are at the center of the widest spread Greek mystery cult the Eleusinian Mysteries a mystery religion that was popular in Greece and in the Roman Empire. Named for the location in Eleusis, the mystery cult may have started in the Mycenaean period, according to Helene P. Foley, in The Homeric hymn to Demeter: translation, commentary, and interpretive essays. She says that substantial remains of the cult begin in the 8th century B.C., and that the Goths destroyed the sanctuary a few years before the start of the fifth century A.D. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter is the oldest record of the Eleusinian Mysteries, but it is a mystery and we dont really know what transpired. Mystery Cults of the Ancient World Review Myths Involving Demeter: Myths about Demeter (Ceres) re-told by Thomas Bulfinch include: ProserpineThe Rural DeitiesCupid and Psyche Orphic Hymn to Demeter (Ceres): Above, I provided a link to the so-called Homeric Hymn to Demeter (in public domain English translation). It tells of the abduction of Demeters daughter Persephone and the trials the mother went through to find her again. The Orphic hymn paints a picture of the nurturing, fertility goddess. XXXIX.TO CERES. O Universal mother, Ceres famdAugust, the source of wealth, and various namd: 2Great nurse, all-bounteous, blessed and divine,Who joyst in peace, to nourish corn is thine:Goddess of seed, of fruits abundant, fair, 5Harvest and threshing, are thy constant care;Who dwellst in Eleusinas seats retird,Lovely, delightful queen, by all desird.Nurse of all mortals, whose benignant mind,First ploughing oxen to the yoke confind; 10And gave to men, what natures wants require,With plenteous means of bliss which all desire.In verdure flourishing in honor bright,Assessor of great Bacchus, bearing light: Rejoicing in the reapers sickles, kind, 15Whose nature lucid, earthly, pure, we find.Prolific, venerable, Nurse divine,Thy daughter loving, holy Proserpine:A car with dragons yokd, tis thine to guide, 19And orgies singing round thy throne to ride: 20Only-begotten, much-producing queen,All flowers are thine and fruits of lovely green.Bright Goddess, come, with Summers rich increaseSwelling and pregnant, leading smiling Peace;Come, with fair Concord and imperial Health, 25And join with these a needful store of wealth. From: The Hymns of OrpheusTranslated by Thomas Taylor [1792]

The notion that Internally Displaced Persons are forced migrants Essay

The notion that Internally Displaced Persons are forced migrants denied rights to claim asylum - Essay Example The category we are interested with is the people who have been exiled within their own country. Moving on further one more that is to be known is why such migration do takes place. This can be divided into three broad classes. The first of it being the most common and easily viewed reasons keeping in view the present situations. People are forced to leave their shelter and peaceful life when their own state and government fails to provide adequate security to their people. Ibrahim, M. (2005) As a result the populace is left with no reasons to but leave their country unwillingly. Second, comes the cause when people are made to leave their homes for the so- called development the state undertakes, in many cases the people are initially promised to be given a place, a shelter but it turns out to be false. It generally incorporates in it the infrastructural improvement like dams, roads, canals, infrastructure expansion, and urban extension and so on. Finally, we have the persons who hav e been left homeless due to the uncalled natural disasters like floods, cyclones, torrential rainfalls, deadly hailstorms and the list may go on. In the recent the frequency of these calamities have led it to become one of the most prominent reason for the internally displaced people or what we may on a general base term as forced expatriates. Moreover, now we take up internally displaced people as to how they come up in this category. It is one of the most misunderstood categories. It is generally confused with refugees although both of them have and entirely different concept. Therefore we first we should have a proper idea as to what refugees are and what makes them different than the persons who are displaced within their own country. Refugees have been ensured protection with the help of different treaties, laws and conventions which also guarantees the refugees or foreign expatriates rights in any part of the world. As the UN has elaborated, refugee is term which would be give n to those entire people who are made to leave their homes and go beyond their country’s borders i.e. they move out of the place of their birth or nationality and settle in some foreign lands. Indra, D. (ed) (1999). The refugees have been recognized since the olden times, they are product of wars or foreign domination over a place. Since 1984 there has been great development so that plea of refugees can be heard and their needs can be looked after. We have many governmental and independent bodies working for refugees. On the other hand, when it comes to the IDP’s we see that they are hardly looked after. Koser K. (2007). They are not given proper rights nor are they looked after by their own state. Currently, there are present fifty-two countries, which have been inflicted by this problem. Amongst all these countries Africa tops the list with the most internally displaced people due to the ethnic and religious violence which has been ongoing for quite long. We do not h ave many organizations that are there to help these people who are made to leave their own homes and have to move some other part of the country but they are not treated in the way they should be as the citizens of the country. We have an acronym for them which DPRE’s a term used to refer such people by the governmental and military organizations. Cohen, R (2006). This is an increasing problem but has not been given much importance however, in the nineties

Philosophy paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 3

Philosophy paper - Essay Example What is in question is whether it is the mind/soul that makes us do things or it is the physical body. It is also a question of whether the mind (consciousness, or agent intellect) and body (matter) are one or distinct since it is the physical body that performs the functions. Materialists believe that â€Å"everything in the world is made of physical matter and everything does what it does because of laws that govern physical matter or laws of physics† (Dardis, 2008, nap). As such, what makes things happen in the world according to materialists, are physical properties and as such, the mind is physical. Aristotle rejects this view as he believes the mind or agent intellect is â€Å"separate, inviolable and unmixed† with matter (Caston, 2006, p. 318). The mind thus has non-physical properties. He is also a strong emergentist as he believes in the hierarchical arrangement of souls with each level of hierarchy supervening upon substance of preceding level (supervenience) and in a downward causation. Jeffrey M Schwartz being an emergent dualist on the other hand believes that mental phenomena are in some respects non-physical. This essay will evaluate the views of Aristotle and Schwartz on the nature of mental causation in order to draw out their areas of similarities and differences. Aristotle is of the view that the soul is identical to the body and also inseparable from the body just like wax and seal and that the souls and minds are ways bodies are organized. In his book On the Soul written 350 B.C.E Aristotle defines a soul as the actuality of a natural body whereby the body is the subject matter (Book II, Part 1). This is due to the fact that it is the property exhibited by the body. Just as a statue is made from Bronze, Bronze being the material and the statue being the final form, so is a soul to the body. The soul (physical reality or brain) thus is the form of the body or the primary substance and the body is the matter of

Development Of Port Services In Sri Lanka Tourism Essay

Development Of Port Services In Sri Lanka Tourism Essay 1. In the world today, all countries are inter connected in more than many ways. of all these connections, transport service are considered to be the most important and unavoidable connection. this transport service may be either human or cargo transport. Today to day there are many ways and methods of transport. Although most of these modern systems are quick and easy .the most ancient sea transport system is still the reliable and the profitable way of transport. Sri Lanka is rich with strategically located natural ports that are === by many other nations. These ports have the potential to be the best ports in the Indian ocean. they should be developed to an international expected standard with modern facilities and features. before embarking on the development of these ports , an in depth study of a few internationally famous ports should be made. If handle methodically and properly, Sri Lanka ports could be the best in South Asia and also be the province economic recourse of the country. This paper is an attempt to analyze and consider the measures that have to be adopted by the authorities in order to develop national ports to maintain highly efficient and productive ports as transshipment centers with adequate capacity equipped with most modern technology and facilities. At present several measures have been taken towards this goal, there is more that could be done to obtain making use of the existing resources. AIM 3. The aim of this service paper is to propose and suggest ways and means of developing Sir Lanka as the leading maritime and aviation center in the South Asian Region. that can complete with the most competitive and user friendly ports in providing high quality port, shipping and aviation service. BACKGROUND 4. For thousands of years, the highly strategic location of the ports of Sri Lanka has lured many a merchant. This is a location that connects Middle East with the Far East, with links to the Australian and African continents and it is the gateway to South Asia. From the past up to date many ships that use the international sea communication route are using Sri Lankan port services due to various reasons such as easy access, quality of the service, cheap labor etc. Therefore Sri Lanka should take maximum advantage of seaports to promote international trade by getting commercial and industrial activities which directly assist the economic progress of the country. The other countries of the region are developping their ports to gain economic benefits out of this sea transportation system. To face this competitive market we need to gear our sources to get the necessary attraction of the world. 5. On the other hand, today Sri Lanka with its far-reaching economic changes and policies has improved infrastructural facilities, tax incentive, opportunities for investment of capital for new industries, and above all the guarantee of the safety of capital invested and presents a favorable environment for foreign investment capital. This transformation of the economy has resulted in the increased industrial and trading activities in Sri Lanka. So this present trade development has influenced the need of development in the port and shipping sector in the country. 6. Sri Lanka Port Authority has the responsibility with the mission to increase our customer base profitability by providing excellent an service and world class facilities. PORTS AND ON GOING PORT DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS 7. As an island Sri Lanka is privilege to have natural harbors all around the country. But the country was not able to use a few numbers of ports due to various reasons such as war, lack of infrastructure facilities, investment capacity etc. At present with the high economic growth and the end of the armed conflict in may 2009 provides a firm base for all development activities. Port services which were growing significantly in the year 2010.The present ports and development projects are as follows: a. Port of Colombo. It is the main port in Sri Lanka. Located on the southeast side of the island and it is facilities include two terminals, Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) and Queen Elizabeth Quay (QEQ).From 1987 to 1997 due to the commitment , it has done so many development to control the container traffic. For example in mid 1990s it increased from less than 500,000 Twenty foot Equivalent Units (TUEs) over 1.5 million Twenty foot Equivalent Units. But it was not sufficient in 2003 and 2004 around 40% of west to east traffic was being diverted from Colombo port to more competitive ports out side Sri Lanka. Then Sri Lankan governments desire to create public-private partnership in 1999 to improve expands, operate and manage Queen Elizabeth Quay (QEQ) with South Asia Gateway Terminals (private) limited. To day under mentioned projects are going on: (1) Colombo South Harbour development Project. In ocean of about 1000 hectares on the South West of the percent breakwater this proposed harbour will be located. It will have four terminals , 1200 meters each capable of accommodating deeper draft vessels in the future. The development is expected to be done in two stages. The first stage to intfastructure with pulic funds and the second stage for terminal facilities with private sector participation. This project will promote the following Sri Lanka: Facilitate economic growth. Increase competitiveness in international trade. Lower transport cost and faster delivering times. Container handling capacity wills increase. (2). Jaya Container Terminal for the Enhancement of Capacity. Detail design of the extension of the Jaya Container Terminal has been completed. this will enhance the capacity of port of Colombo to accommodate the mega container carriers now and in the future. This also expected to berth two 8000 Twenty foot Equivalent Units container ships at the same time. (3). New Terminal Management System. This system will be implemented with the Sri Lanka port Authority (SLPA). It will replace the present obsolete computer system of the Jaya Container Terminal with modern computer system providing Networking, Radio data and Communication System. b. Galle port. The gall port is located very close to the international sea transport route. It is the very the only Sri Lankan port that provides for pleasure Yachts. All those facilities were destroyed by the Tsunami. It is proposed to develop this port to attract rich tourists and passenger carrier ships. c. Trincomalee Harbour Renovation. Ten times as much as the Colombo, the Trincomalee harbour is considered to be one of the most strategically situated natural harbour in the world. This harbour was tentatively considered to cater for bulk and break bulk cargo transportation. Coming under the new development project the Nagenahira Nawodaya great improvement and vast development is expected to take effect in this famous port. Development of the Hambanthota Port. Hambantota region is considered to be an under develop area both economically and socially. The construction of a sea port in that region will greatly enhance the improvement and the development of that area. the presence of a port in that area will certainly make it an industrial region. Unlike development an also functioning port, this newly constructed port can be streamlined to serve it expected goal. It has to be properly planned and executed. It is to be a commercial harbour will definitely of a more convenient and cost effective access to and from the Southeast region for goods and cargo from the West coast. It will also reduce the congestion in the Colombo harbour. Development of Port in Oluvil. In the process of developing the Eastern Region under the Nagenahira Nawodaya programme it has been decided to build a port at Oluvil. If so constructed it will be the Southern link in the developing chain of coastal harbours. This harbour will be another commercial harbour and basin for fishing crafts. Port of kankasanthurai and point pedro. This is one of the most Tsunami devastated ports in Sri Lanka. It needed urgent rehabilitation and improvement. This improvement includes the repair of the breakwaters, roads and pears. Wrecked and dredging have to be removed from the harbour basin. The Sri Lanka port Authority has carried out urgent and temporary repair to enable it to function without our interruption. The government of India has aided for the removal wracks and for the construction of a new pear. Very vital sections of the harbour are beyond use. The Sri Lanka port Authority while renovating the harbour, have decided to study the feasibility of developing Point Pedro in to a Sri Lanka port Authority regional port. COOPERATIVE VALUES OF SRI LANKA PORT DEVELOPMENT AUTORITY The SLPA is one of the major contributors to the economy of Sri lanka. As a key revenue earning and service providing agency, the role of SLPA is directly to the excellence of its delivery service. In this regard the value system of the authority is the basis for the success of its operational relationship with the stakeholders. These values could be categorized under the following. Dependability Timeliness Accuracy Accountability for Achievement Team Spirit Commitment Reward Recognition Performance with integrity It will be the responsibility of the chairman / chief Executive Officer, The managing Director and Other Senior management staff to inculcate the above values at all levels of the Authority. Hambantota is planned to undertake initially general cargo such as cement, steel, fertilizer, timber, bunkering services, port related industries, coal, RO-RO facilities, off shore services such as ship Chandling, supply of water fuel, crew changes, ship building and ship repair facilities etc. Contract for the construction of phase 1 was awarded to Chinese Joint venture Construction Company at the total cost of US$ 360m and the port will be operational in year 2010 SERVICES RENDERED BY OUR PORTS TODAY 8. Sri Lanka has a number of commercial ports and a National Shipping Fleet to provide services for the Maritime Transport Industry. The governments also encourage and develop multi country consolidation and entrpot trade on a large scale. a. Container Operations. Development of JCT and QEQ facilities enhance the productivity in container handling and off dock facilities such as inland container depots to ease the congestion within the ports. b. Ancillary Services. Ancillary services including ship building, ship repair, ship chandelling, salvage and towage, bunkering services, ship chandelling and off shore supplies, cruise shipping marinas and ship management are available. c. Tariff Concessions. Tariff concessions including lowest Transshipment rates in the region, restoring Transshipment rates irrespective of the mode, attractive rebates of up to 20% of the stevedorage, free storage (of 21 days) for transshipment etc. d. multi country consolidations and enterpot cargo. A separate warehouse has been provided specially for this purpose at the port access road. Special tariff concessions have been given to this multi country consolidation operation that use warehouse within the port. e. Information systems. Computerized systems for planning and control of container handling operations, data interchange between the shipping agents, inquiries available from the personal computers and port users and one stop documentation centre. f. transportation systems. Coordinated port facilities with inland transport and distribution systems in terms of control the ship traffic. g. infrastructure facilities. Connecting road, rail, and barge facilities. I. Other services. Handling of dry and liquid cargo, bulk and break bulk cargo, car carriages and passenger liners. J. port security. Sri Lanka ports authority complies with the relevant requirements of the international ship and port facility security code, contributing to the enhancement of maritime safety and security. MANAGEMENT OF PORT DEVELOPMENT . 9. To gain the status of regional mega hub port in the south Asian region sri lanka will have to compete with Singapore, Port Kelang, dubai and Aden.in this attempt we will be forced to use all possible resources. Therefore following are the salient points which required when developing port service in Sri Lanka: When developing ports according to the national plan. A comprehensive study should be need of each individual port. These should be combination of medium term and long term planning. While the existing ports are improved by the introduction of modern facilities. The recourses should be constructed according to the international standards. Complete and viable is that which includes all necessary facilities such as transshipping, cargo shipping, fire fighting and rescue service and the like. Planning of new ports should leave space in their for any future improvements. Any future development of existing ports should have the possibility of absorbing any new introduction. The organizational structure of any new port should be flexible enough to adapt to business environment changes. The planning section of management service department should be responsible for the following task: Traffic trend and performance statistics. Forecasting of future traffic shipping and cargo. The evaluation of new trends in ships and cargo handling. The analysis of requirements, water , load equipments and storage. The preparations plan for the future. Preparation of future traffic demands. Forecasting of traffic is an art which need a lot of understanding and experience. This may require the assistance of out side agents, but yet these reports should be checked mathematically and tactically before implementation. In arriving at this dicisions they should have considered the following targets: National economic targets. Have past trends clearly explained and the need for continuation of these trends be questioned. Have the port records being studied well. Will the change of each industry have any effect of the future traffic? The building of new ports. SUMMARY 16. In the two years following the end of a brutal war, Sri Lankas economic growth is projected to exceed six percent, according to the World Banks first annual assessment of regional economies.  The interim period requires improvements to existing facilities to bridge the gap between growing demand and shortfalls in facilities, so as to ensure that customers are not lost to competing rival ports.   Such losses would have disasters impact on the future of the Ports in Sri Lanka. So it is very vital to initiate actions for renew and expand existing ports in the aspect of Developing Sri Lankan ports as the leading Maritime and Aviation center in the South Asian Region with the most competitive and user friendly ports and airports to provide high quality ports, shipping and aviation services. But it should within the broad national strategy; the development of each individual port must be comprehensively planned. The development of a port consists of a combination of medium-term and long-term planning of new facilities plus-in the case of existing ports-a programme of short-term action to improve the management With New technologies, which can spur changes and will improve the operations. For example, the development of a container terminal can be accompanied by the introduction of modern data-processing methods to improve the quality of the information necessary for managers to control the flow of containers. RECCOMANDATIONS Developing Sri Lankan ports as the leading Maritime centers in the South Asian Region with the most competitive and user friendly ports, following policy decisions has to follow when projecting new ports or expansion of existing ports To consolidate the position of the Colombo Port as an International hub port for container operations and as a logistics center in the South Asian region. To develop a competitive marketing strategy in order to establish the port of Colombo as an International hub-port. c. To develop the port of Galle as a regional port as well as an alternate commercial cargo handling port to the port of Colombo and to develop this port to attract rich tourists and passenger carrier ships. To develop Trincomalee port as an ecologically sensitive, leisure and light commercial port. To develop the port in Kankasanturai, Oluvil and point-pedro as regional commercial ports. To build and establish the Hambantota port initially as a service providing industrial port, and in the long term develop it to be a commercial port for more convenient and cost effective access to and from the Southeast region for goods and cargo from the West coast. Then it will also reduce the congestion in the Colombo harbour. To maintain a high level of productivity and service excellence by enhancing knowledge, skills and creativity and inculcating positive attitudes to all port employees, through systematic Human Resource Development programmers. To develop a strategic development plan for all sea port of Sri lanka.

Meme Analysis: Rage Comics Essay

Many people may always say a picture is worth a thousand words; well the information held within the rage comics represents much more and exemplifies the perfect example of this saying. The Rage comic meme is about a series of comics that can be made by anyone using the common rages faces, which are also memes. These comics are web-based and usually describe real life scenarios from the rage comic creator. The first amateur Rage Comic originated in 2007 on an image board site named 4chan consisting of four panes. The first comic starred the ffffuuuu guy, which is the first ever created rage face. The Rage Comics started to spread a few years after the first rage comic was created. The rage comics gained its popularity on the internet forum Reddit. In January of 2009, a subreddit was launched by Reddit which became more popular than expected. This subredditt was widely known as f7u12 and was called â€Å"FFFFUUUUU†, the rage guy. This rage guy represented serious disappointment, exasperation, or displeasure in any situation within a comic. The subreddit f7u12 allowed users of Reddit to create their own comics, which led to the creation of many other rage faces and characters in the rage comics. As the Rage Comics transformed, many characters became popular, while others didn’t. A few of the most popular rage faces is the Okay guy, the cereal guy, the forever alone guy, and the Y U NO guy. When these faces are seen in a comic, most Rage Comic readers already know what the face stands for. For example, the forever alone guy represents disappointment and loneliness in life and may be used in a comic where a person goes through a break up. The cultural reference in these Rage Comics is used to make fun of society resulting in humor. In normal life one person may do something and expect a certain response, well in the rage comics it is similar. The responses are displayed through the rage faces and rage characters. Usually at the end of a comic there is a punch line (rage face) that represents an emotion because of the situation that just occurred. One known cultural reference that the rage comics represent is the me gusta guy. This shows a cultural difference because you do not need to know Spanish to know what me gusta mean. This character is usually used in a situation responding to an awkward or disgusting event. This meme in my opinion has made its own statement because it has certain words that are used in the comics that mean certain things. For example, in almost every comic there is going to be some form of derp or herp. In actuality derp is used to represent stupidity, but in the rage comics it is used as expression to represent unimportant dialogue, just as blah blah is used. Using derp or herp in the rage comics is also a form humor showing social indifference by not caring. The rage comics use a different language tied in with the cultural norms that we all understand to create humor. The original context of the meme, Rage Comics was to humor others with your ridiculous stories that may or may not have happened to you. In some cases the rage comics’ mutations fit well into new context, and then on the other hand some are taking way out of proportion. For example, there are quite a few rage faces and when making rage comics you are expected to use the correct rage face or chara cter that will fit your scenario. Also people have taken it out of hand because when you think of a comic you think of something simple with few words. Some people don’t grasp the concept of the rage comics so when the comics are sometimes mutated it’s been for the worse and not for the better. The comics that are mutated for the better represent great new context because the more rage faces the better you can describe your scenario in a comic with few words. To conclude, Rage comics are used to take serious moments and put them into a comic to make it not so serious and funny. Rage Comics have came a long way, too long of a way that it is losing its social meaning. When the Rage Comics first started to spread and become popular is when it had its greatest cultural impact, although it still has an impact today. The Rage Comic has a great affect on all cultures because the different rage makers give people something to get into to express feeling in a different way. In the end from its origin, even though the punch lines at the end are called rage faces, they all are not meant to represent rage. It just kept its name from the first â€Å"ffffuuuu† guy. You can pretty much find rage comics anywhere on the internet if you search Google, but here are a few sites that have them. http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/rage-comics http://memebase.cheezburger.com/ragecomics/page/3 http://ragecollection.com/