Current Global Financial Crisis And Islamic Financial System - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 16 Words: 4733 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? The entire world is now in the grip of financial crisis which is most severe since the Great Depression 1930s. It has taken about $3 trillion of bailout and liquidity injecting by number of countries to lessen the intensity of the crisis. Hence, there is a need to restructure the financial world that would help in minimizing the frequency and severeness of such crises in future (Chapra, 2009). It could not be possible to build a new system without determining the primary causes for this financial crisis. The most important cause of all financial crises has been imprudent and excess lending by banks over many years, which has also been acknowledged by many financial institutes. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Current Global Financial Crisis And Islamic Financial System" essay for you Create order This raises the question that what make it possible for banks to involve in such devastating practice which is not only unstable the financial system but also not in their own long-term best interest. There are three main elements which make it possible. First of all inadequate market discipline in the financial system resulting from the absence of profit-and-loss sharing (PLS). The second is the huge expansion in the size of derivatives, especially credit default swaps (CDSs) and the third is assurance to big banks from the central bank that it will definitely come to their rescue and will not allow them to fail. Therefore, bank and financial institute have not undertaken a careful measure against risk, which has led the whole financial system in the excessive volume of credit, excessive leverage and to a volatile rise in asset prices and speculative investment. One of the foremost objectives of Islam is to realize greater justice in human Society. According to the Quran (57:25) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“a society where there is no justice will ultimately head towards decline and destructionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. The financial system may be capable to promote justice if it meets at least two conditions. Firstly, the finance should also share the risk and not only shift the whole burden of losses to the entrepreneur and secondly an equitable share of finance resources should become available to the poor people of community to help eliminate poverty, consequently, expand employments opportunities and hence reduce inequalities of wealth. (Chapra, 2009). To meet the first condition, Islam requires both the financer and entrepreneur to share equally in profit and loss. This will help in introducing greater discipline into the financial system and motivate financial institutions to evaluate the risks prudently and monitor the use of funds by the borrowers. This assessment of risks by the financiers and as well as by the entrepreneur should help in putting greater discipline and reducing excessive lending. Islamic finance should ideally help raise significantly the share of equity and PLS in businesses; even mainstream economist supports the greater reliance on equity financing. Rogoff (1999) states that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"in an ideal world equity lending and direct investment would play a much bigger roleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. On the debt side, Islamic financials system doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t permit the creation of debt through direct lending and direct borrowing but it allow the creation of debt through the sales / lease of real assets which means Islamic debt modes of financing (murabaha, ijara, salam, istisna and sukuk), but, it has, nevertheless, put down number of conditions. The asset sold or leased must be real à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" this will eliminate a huge number of derivatives transactions which involving gambling by third parties who are mostly concerned to claim for compensation for losses which not actually been suffered by them but by principal party The goods being sold or leased must be owned / possessed by seller/lessor- this condition ascertain that the seller (lessor) also take a part in risk to get a share in the return The sale / leased transaction must be real trade transaction à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" this ensure that the creditor take extra measures to evaluate the credit risk but also prevent unneeded explosion in the value and volume of transactions. The risk associated with sales / leased must be borne by lender / seller himself as debt canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t be sold- this prevent the debt from growing above the size of the real economy and also discharge significant volume of financial resources for real sector, hence expanding employment and production of goods and services. History is full with evidence of instability of the conventional financial system. Many prominent economists have argued that this system is inherently unstable and tends to severe financial crisis. They have regarded the interest rate the main cause of huge fluctuations in commodity and asset prices, a source of financial instability, cumulative inflation, and detrimental to long-term economic growth. They have also called for a separation of deposit and investment banking. (Mirakhor, 2009). The main objective of this study is three-fold; firstly understand the global financial crisis and what determinants have caused it; secondly understand Islamic finance in context of global financial crisis and some of its major differences with conventional financial system and thirdly built up a model to assess the compare the financial stability of Islamic and conventional financial system. LITERATURE REVIEW To analyze the determinants which have caused current global financial crisis: a) The TED Spread: Global Finances Thermometer   TED spread is the difference between the LIBOR (The London Interbank Offered Rate at which banks lend to each other) and short-term U.S. government debt (T-bills). It indicates a perceived credit risk in the economy. As T-bills are regarded as risk-free an LIBOR are riskier than T-bills, so LIBOR always exceed the T-Bills. The TED spread, often used as a measure of the general credit risk of an economy is used to decide which date to divide the time series. The original TEDà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?spread was the difference between US Treasure bills and Eurodollar contracts represented by Libor (Brown and Smith, 2005). Marquardt (2008) says that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“TED Spread measures market stress by revealing the willingness (or reluctance) of banks to lend money to one anotherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“A jump in the spread shows how panicky banks are, in that they are charging each other a bigger interest-rate premium than  money  lent to the U.S. government, (CNN Money, 2008). Realized and Expected Writedowns or Loss Provisions for Banks By Region (in billions of U.S. dollars) Source: IMF Global Financial Stability Report Oct 2009. TED speed has always been under 1%, however, it rocketed in 2007 to about 2.5% and in late 2008 moved to highest level of 4.5%. Mid of 2007, newspapers reported Northern Rock, UK Bank, collapsed because liquidity had disappeared and banks were reluctant to lend money to another bank because of the high risk of market after the rise in the TED spread to unprecedented level in the history, then an historical phrase à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"credit crunchà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ emerged; an environment, where even a creditworthy borrower are unable to find funds. Consequently, the central banks had to supply a massive amount of money to the interbank market, but the limited impact of TED spread chart, that in September2008, Lehman Brothers collapsed and filed bankruptcy protection with massive reduction in assets ever. b) US sub-prime mortgage There is no consensus on the exact definition of subprime mortgages. The term subprime is often used to describe certain characteristics of the borrower. For example, a FICO score (a standard industry model to evaluate creditworthiness of a borrower) less than 620 is a common definition of a subprime borrower. Another definition is that a subprime mortgage does not usually need any down-payments and that little documentation is required. However, a broad definition is that a subprime loan entails a high risk of default (Demyanyk et al (2008)). The housing mortgage market in the U.S. has been well functioning over the past two centuries, enabling millions of people to fulfil the dream of home ownership. During this time there has been several periods of disruption in these markets, but none of them as severe as the episode, sometimes referred to as the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“subprime mortgage market meltdownà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? that begun around the summer of 2007, with falling real-estate prices and increasing defaults. Today, economists fear that more than 2 million or more Americans might lose their homes to foreclosure in 2009 (Barth et al (2008)). The banking industry is facing huge losses as a result of the sub-prime crisis. Already banks have announced $60bn worth of losses as many of the mortgage bonds backed by sub-prime mortgages have fallen in value. The losses could be much greater, as many banks have concealed their holdings of sub-prime mortgages in exotic, off-balance sheet instruments such as structured investment vehicles or SIVs. Although the banks say they do not own these SIVs, and therefore are not liable for their losses, they may be forced to cover any bad debts that they accrue. (BBC News, 2007) Many years of strongly rising house prices caused lenders to relax their lending criteria. Loan-to-value ratios rose and low starter-interest rates were introduced (typically for the first two years of the mortgage) to be recouped by higher interest rates for the remaining 28 years of the typical 30 year US mortgage. In many cases the borrowers knew that they could not afford the monthly payments after the initial two-year low interest period expired; they were relying on rising house prices to enable a profit on sale or refinancing The mortgage default rates on these sub-prime mortgages were much higher than predicted by the lendersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ credit models. These models were based upon the historical behaviour of prime borrowers, not sub-prime borrowers who behaved differently. (Amin, 2009) c) Securitisation Securitization is often stated to be part of the originate-to-distribute model, where institutions that originate assets (in this example, mortgages) move them away from their balance sheet by distributing them to purchasers of ABSs (asset-backed securities). The advantages for institutions conducting in securitization is mainly that they are able to free up capital and liquidity by moving the assets away from the balance sheet. Furthermore, securitization is a way of providing liquidity and funding to mortgages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" by investing in an ABS, a Japanese asset manager (for example) might finance the real-estate mortgages of U.S. home owners (Criado and Rixtel (2008)). US mortgage market had moved away from a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"lend and collectà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ model (the bank lends on a mortgage and collect it back over 30 years) to an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"originate to distributeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ model (the bank makes a mortgage loan in order to sell it on.) Originating loans and selling them on means that banks make profits from lending as much as possible, provided that the loans can be sold on; once the loan has been sold the bank is relatively indifferent to its collectability. d) Collateralized Debt Obligations CDOs are ABSs that are constructed by pooling and securitizing in particular higher risk assets such as risky loans or tranches of other ABSs (Criado and Rixtel (2008)). There are different types of classifications for CDOs and one of the most common is cash flow CDOs, a term relating to the scenario where the trust (special purpose vehicle or special purpose entity) involved in the securitization owns the underlying debt posted as collateral in the CDO. A synthetic CDO refers to the scenario where the trust does not own the underlying debt, and instead invests in CDSs (credit default swaps) to synthetically track their performance. The hybrid CDO combines cash flow CDOs and synthetic CDOs. There is also the CDO squared (CDO2) which is a CDO that has securitized the tranches of another CDO. ABS CDOs and CDOs squared thus consist of a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“double layered securitizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (Criado and Rixtel (2008)). Here CDO securities created by Bank 1 and Bank 2 selling their customer loans are purchased by Special Purpose Entity (SPE) 3 which pays for them by issuing CDO securities to investors. As these are CDOs based on other CDOs, they are called CDO2. The challenge with such complex structures is that it becomes almost impossible to accurately project likely defaults on the original customer loans to the likely defaults on the securities issued by SPE 3. In many cases, complex CDO structures involved some sub-prime mortgages being blended with prime mortgages to boost the yield of the overall package of assets. Accordingly, once defaults started happening in the relatively small sub-prime market, that led to a collapse in the market value of a much larger amount of CDOs. The creation of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) by mixing prime and subprime debt made it possible for mortgage originators to pass the entire risk of default of even subprime debt to the ultimate purchasers who would have normally been reluctant to bear such a risk. Mortgage originators had, therefore, less incentive to undertake careful underwriting.   Estimates of Global Bank Writedowns by Domicile, 2007-10 (in billions of U.S dollars) Source: IMF Global Financial Stability Report Oct 2009. e) Credit Derivatives The credit default swap originally thought as a way for bondholders to protect against a bond default can also be used for speculation on the creditworthiness of a company. One key difference between a regular insurance policy and a CDS contract is that the buyer of credit protection does not have to own the underlying instrument. Like most derivative instruments credit default swaps can be used for hedging, speculation and arbitrage. Under a credit default swap contract (CDS) the seller is paid a regular amount each year by the buyer of the CDS. If a credit event occurs in relation to the underlying asset which is referenced by the CDS, the seller pays the buyer for the fall in value of the reference asset. However, the buyer does not need to own the reference asset; in that case the CDS buyer is simply speculating that the reference asset will fall into default. When there is excessive and imprudent lending and lenders are not confident of repayment, there is an excessive resort to derivatives like CDSs to seek protection against default. The buyer of the swap (creditor) pays a premium to the seller (a hedge fund) for the compensation he will receive in case the debtor defaults. If this protection had been confined to the actual creditor, there may not have been any problem. What happened, however, was that hedge funds sold the swaps not to just the actual lending bank but also to a large number of others who were willing to bet on the default of the debtor. These swap holders, in turn, resold the swaps to others. The whole process continued several times.   While a genuine insurance contract indemnifies only the actually insured party, in the case of CDSs there were several swap holders who had to be compensated. This accentuated the risk and made it difficult for the hedge funds and banks to honour their commitments. The notional amount of all outstanding derivatives (including CDSs of $54.6 trillion) is currently estimated by the BIS to be over $600 trillion, more than ten times the size of the world economy. No wonder George Soros described derivatives as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"hydrogen bombsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, and Warren Buffett called them à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"financial weapons of mass destructionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. The well known American economist Joseph Stiglitz has summarised the role of credit default swaps in the crises: With this complicated intertwining of bets of great magnitude, no one could be sure of the financial position of anyone elseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?or even of ones own position. Not surprisingly, the credit markets froze. (Stiglitz, 2009) f) General over-leveraging   The economies of the UK and US had not suffered a serious recession for many years. In these benign business conditions, companies had gradually increased their gearing, as interest on debt is tax deductible whereas dividends on share capital are not tax deductible. The high gearing was particularly striking in companies owned by private equity firms, which were typically very highly leveraged. If economic conditions worsened, such firms would risk insolvency. To assess the difference between Islamic and conventional finance in context of global financial crisis: Islamic finance is defined as a financial system based on Islamic law known as Sharià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ah Islamic finance is limited to financial relationships involving entrepreneurial investment, subject to the moral prohibition of following (i) interest earnings or usury (riba) and money lending, (ii) haram (sinful activity), such as direct or indirect association with lines of business involving alcohol, pork products, firearms, tobacco, and adult entertainment, (iii) speculation, betting, and gambling (maysir), including the speculative trade or exchange of money for debt without an underlying asset transfer, (iv) the trading of the same object between buyer and seller (bayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ al-inah), as well as (v) preventable uncertainty (gharar), such as all financial derivative instruments, forward contracts, and futures agreements. As opposed to conventional finance, where interest represents the contractible cost for funds tied to the amount of principal over a pre-specified lending period, the central tenet of the Islamic financial system is the prohibition of riba, whose literal meaning à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“an excessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? is interpreted as any unjustifiable increase of capital whether through loans or sales. The general consensus among Islamic scholars is that riba covers not only usury but also the charging of interest and any positive, fixed, predetermined rate of return that are guaranteed regardless of the performance of an investment (Iqbal and Tsubota, 2006; Iqbal and Mirakhor, 2006; Iqbal and Llewellyn, 2000). Since only interest-free forms of finance are considered permissible in Islamic finance, financial relationships between financiers and borrowers are governed by shared business risk (and returns) from investment in lawful activities (halal). Islamic law does not object to payment for the use of an asset, and the earning of profits or returns from assets are indeed encouraged as long as both lender and borrower share the investment risk together. Profits must not be guaranteed ex ante, and can only accrue if the investment itself yields income. Any financial transaction under Islamic law assigns to investors clearly identifiable rights and obligations for which they are entitled to receive commensurate return. Hence, Islamic finance literally à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“outlawsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? capital-based investment gains without entrepreneurial risk. In light of these moral impediments to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“passiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? investment and secured interest as form of compensation, shariah-complian t lending in Islamic finance requires the replication of interest-bearing, conventional finance via more complex structural arrangements of contingent claims (Mirakhor and Iqbal, 1988). The permissibility of risky capital investment without explicit interest earning has spawned several finance techniques under Islamic law. We distinguish among three basic forms of Islamic financing methods for both investment and trade finance: synthetic loans (debt-based) through a sale-repurchase agreement or back-to-back sale of borrower- or third party-held assets. lease contracts (asset-based) through a sale-lease-back agreement (operating lease) or the lease of third-party acquired assets with purchase obligation components (financing lease), and profit-sharing contracts (equity-based) of future assets. As opposed to equity-based contracts, both debt- and asset-based contracts are initiated by a temporary transfer of existing assets from the borrower to the lender or the acquisition of third-party assets by the lender on behalf of the borrower. Islamic à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“loansà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? create borrower indebtedness from the purchase and resale contract of an (existing or future) asset in lieu of interest payments. The most prominent form of such a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“debt-basedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? structural arrangement is the murabaha (or murabahah) (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“cost-plus saleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?) contract. Interest payments are implicit in an installment sale with instantaneous (or deferred) title transfer for the promised payment of an agreed sales price in the future. The purchase price of the underlying asset effectively limits the degree of debt creation. A murabaha contract either involves (i) the sale-repurchase agreement of a borrower-held asset (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“negative short saleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?) or (ii) the lenderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s purchase of a tangible asset from a third party on behalf of the borrower (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“back-to-back saleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?). The resale price is based on original cost (i.e., purchase price) plus a pre-spe cified profit markup imposed by the lender, so that the borrowerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s repurchase of the asset amounts to a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“loss-generating contract.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Different installment rates and repayment and asset-delivery schedules create variations to the standard murabaha cost-plus sale. The most prominent examples are salam (deferred delivery sale), bai bithaman ajil (BBA) (deferred payment sale), istina (or istisna, istisnaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢a) (purchase order), quard al-hasan (benevolent loan), and musawama (negotiable sale). As opposed to the concurrent purchase and delivery of an asset in murabaha, asset purchases under a salam or a bai bithaman ajil contract allow deferred delivery or payment of existing assets. Salam closely synthesizes a conventional futures contract and is sometimes also considered an independent asset class outside the asset spectrum of murabaha (Batchvarov and Gakwaya, 2006). An istina contract provides pre-delivery (project) finance for future assets, such as long-term projects, which the borrower promises to complete over the term of the lending agreement according to contractual specifications. A quard al-hasa n signifies an interest-free loan contract that is usually collateralized. Finally, a muswama contract represents a negotiable sale, where the profit margin is hidden from the buyer. Analogous to conventional operating and finance leases, al-ijarah leasing notes (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“asset-basedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?) provide credit in return for rental payments over the term of the temporary use of an (existing) asset, conditional on the future (re-)purchase of the assets by the borrower. The lease cash flow is the primary component of debt service. The lessor (i.e., financier) acquires the asset either from the borrower (operating lease or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“sale-leasebackà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?/à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“lease-buybackà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?) or a third party at the request of the borrower (financing lease or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“lease-purchaseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?) and leases it to the borrower (or a third party) for an agreed sum of rental payable in installments according to an agreed schedule. The legal title of the asset remains with the financier for the duration of the transaction. The financier bears all the costs associated with the ownership of the asset, whereas the costs from the use of the asset have to be defrayed by the lessee. If the ijarah transaction is a financing lease (ijarah wa iqtina), such as an Islamic mortgage, the repayment through lease payments might also include a portion of the agreed resale price (in the form of a call option premium), which allows borrowers to gradually acquire total equity ownership for a predetermined sales price.15 If the lessee does not exercise the call option at maturity, the lender disposes of it in order to realize the salvage value (put option).16 In an operating lease with a repurchase obligation, the asset is returned to the borrower for the original sale price or the negotiated market price17 unless otherwise agreed.18 In this case, the lenderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s put option represents a repurchase obligation19 by the borrower (at the current value of outstanding payments), which is triggered upon certain conditions, such as delinquent payments or outright default. In Islamic profit-sharing contracts (equity-based), lenders (i.e.,, investors) and borrowers (i.e.,, entrepreneurs) agree to share any gains of profitable projects based on the degree of funding or ownership of the asset by each party. In a trustee-type mudharaba (or mudarabah) financing contract, the financier (rab ul maal) provides all capital to fund an investment, which is exclusively managed by the entrepreneur (mudarib) in accordance with agreed business objectives. The borrower shares equity ownership with the financier (i.e. a call option on the reference assets) and might promise to buy-out the investor after completion of the project. At the end of the financing period, the entrepreneur repays the original amount of borrowed funds only if the investment was sufficiently profitable. Profits are distributed according to a pre-agreed rate between the two parties. Investors are not entitled to a guaranteed payment and bear all losses unless they have occurred due to misconduct, negligence, or violation of the conditions mutually agreed by both financier and entrepreneur. The equity participation and loss sharing in a musharakah contract is similar to a joint venture, where both lender/investor and borrower (or asset manager/agent) jointly contribute funds to an existing or future project, either in form of capital or in kind, and ownership is shared according to each partyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial contribution. Although profit sharing is similar to a mudharaba contract, losses are generally borne according to equity participation. Overall, the different basic types of Islamic finance combine two or more contingent claims to replicate the risk-return trade-off of conventional lending contracts or equity investment without contractual guarantees of investment return or secured payments in reference to an interest rate as time-dependent cost of funds. Such arrangements may become complicated in practice, once they are combined to meet specific investor requirements under Islamic law (El-Qorchi, 2005). Although both Islamic and conventional finance are in substance equivalent to conventional finance and yield the same lender and investor pay-offs at the inception of the transaction, they differ in legal form and might require a different valuation due to dissimilar transaction structures (and associated legal enforceability of investor claims) and/or security design (Jobst, 2006d). Most importantly, Islamic finance substitutes a temporary use of assets by the lender for a permanent transfer of funds to the borrowe r as a source of indebtedness in conventional lending. Retained asset ownership by the lender under this arrangement constitutes entrepreneurial investment. The financier receives returns from the direct participation in asset performance in the form of state-contingent payments according to an agreed schedule and amount. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Z-score for Emerging Markets The z-score measures the degree of vulnerability of a particular business or an industry segment by categorising firms into two distinct clusters, namely strong and vulnerable firms, based on the historical default experience. The construction of the z-score used by the Bank is referenced on the model developed by Altman for emerging markets and employs the multiple discriminant analysis as an underlying statistical tool to derive a linear combination of financial ratios that best discriminate between the two categories. The multiple discriminant analysis improves on the traditional approach of individual or sequential analysis of financial ratios by reducing the reliance on rules of thumb and subjective judgment in determining the threshold levels and relative importance of the ratios. Selected key financial ratios are subsequently consolidated into a composite score to provide a snapshot of a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial health. The discriminant function for the z-score for em erging markets based on the study conducted by Altman is given by the following equation: Z = Based on the z-score, both strong and vulnerable firms can be identified, whereby a higher z-score indicates a lower likelihood of the firm encountering financial distress. Working Capital/Total Assets (WC/TA) The working capital/total assets ratio is a measure of the net liquid assets of the firm relative to the total capitalization. Working capital is defined as the difference between current assets and current liabilities. Liquidity and size characteristics are explicitly considered. This ratio was the least important contributor to discrimination between the two groups. In all cases, tangible assets, not including intangibles, are used. Retained Earnings/Total Assets (RE/TA) Retained earnings (RE) is the total amount of reinvested earnings and/or losses of a firm over its entire life. The account is also referred to as earned surplus. This is a measure of cumulative profitability over the life of the company. The age of a firm is implicitly considered in this ratio. It is likely that a bias would be created by a substantial reorganization or stock dividend, and appropriate readjustments should, in the event of this happening, be made to the accounts. In addition, the RE/TA ratio measures the leverage of a firm. Those firms with high RE relative to TA have financed their assets through retention of profits and have not utilized as much debt. This ratio highlights the use of either internally generated funds for growth (low-risk capital) or OPM (other peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s money)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ higher-risk capital. This variable has shown a marked deterioration in the average values of non-distressed firms in the past 20 years and, in subsequent model updates, we utilized a transformation structure in order to make its negative impact less dramatic on current Z-Scores. Earnings before Interest and Taxes/Total Assets (EBIT/TA) This is a measure of the productivity of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s assets, independent of any tax or leverage factors. Since a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ultimate existence is based on the earning power of its assets, this ratio appears to be particularly appropriate for studies dealing with credit risk. We have found that this profitability measure, despite its reliance on earnings, which are subject to manipulation, consistently is at least as predictive as cash flow measures. Market Value of Equity/Book Value of Total Liabilities (MVE/TL) Equity is measured by the combined market value of all shares of stock, preferred and common, while liabilities include both current and long-term obligations. The measure shows how much the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s assets can decline in value (measured by market value of equity plus debt) before the liabilities exceed the assets and the firm becomes insolvent. (Altman and Hotchkis (2006))

Annotated Bibliography Sexual Violence Against Women and...

Sexual Violence: Rape Demonstrations (1) Walthen, CN, Harriet, MA, and Macmillan, L (2003) Interventions for Violence Against Women: Scientific Review. JAMA. 5 Feb 2003. Vol. 289, No.5. Retrieved from: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=195898 The work of Walthen, Harriet, and Macmillan (2003) examines intimate partner violence and how it is prevalent and associated with significant impairment however, the report states that it is not clear which interventions if any serve to reduce the rates of abuse and reabuse of women. The objective of the study reported is to conduct a systematic review from the view of primary health care of the evidence available on interventions focused at the prevention of abuse or reabuse of women. 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Throughout history, differences between social propaganda have separated and formulated prejudiced ideas about different religions. All across the world, there are people, on all ranks of the social hierarchy, who are being deprived of their rights and are not being heard by their local governments, so they bear up arms and create subversiveRead MoreHunyango Sa Bato - Abdon Balde Jr.6135 Words   |  25 PagesDomestic violence, also known as  domestic abuse,  spousal abuse,  battering,  family violence, and  intimate partner violence (IPV), is defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one partner against another in an  intimate relationship  such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation.[1]  Domestic violence, so defined, has many forms, including physical aggression or assault (hitting, kicking, biting, shoving, restraining, slapping, throwing objects), or threats thereof;  sexual abuse;  emotiona l abuse;Read MoreAnnotated Bibliography Agars, M. D. (2004). Reconsidering the Impact of Gender Stereotypes on the1800 Words   |  8 PagesAnnotated Bibliography Agars, M. D. (2004). Reconsidering the Impact of Gender Stereotypes on the Advancement of Women in Organizations. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 28(2), 103-111. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2004.00127.x This article reveals the disparities in the workplace due to gender stereotypes favoring men over women in executive positions. Women have a much more difficult path to obtain executive positions, and maintain them. This article helps by showing the number of high-level womenRead More Legalize Prostitution Essay2912 Words   |  12 Pageslegalizing or at least decriminalizing prostitution. The following questions should be addressed. Would legalization reduce some of the inequalities and abuse suffered by the women involved? On the other hand, by legitimizing prostitution, would society reverse decades of work to promote human rights and improve the status of women? On the surface, this looks like a rehashing of a timeless debate. However, it is not. The question is no longer about morality -- is prostitution a vice and are those involvedRead MoreEssay about African American Male Feminist2019 Words   |  9 PagesFredrick Douglass’s â€Å"The Rights of Women†, Alexand er Crummell’s â€Å"The Black Woman of the South: Her Neglects Her Needs† and Langston Hughes’s â€Å"Madam Poems† along with some other works to support my response. Exploring the theory of the early and modern feminist as well as the changes that took place that created the black feminist or the black womanist and lead up to the male feminist. References to Greek organizations, landmark judicial cases and powerful black women who are relevant to today’s societyRead MoreAnnotated Bibliography on the Progression on Changes During the 1960s3103 Words   |  13 Pages Historical fiction part 3: research: annotated bibliography (15 resources) Era 1: United States in the 1960s POV: from a NASA woman spy POV who worked to spy in Russia, age is about 27-30 1. Cabral, E. (2008, March 10). What a Ride! (cover story). Student Research Center. Retrieved January 10, 2014, from http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?sid=48dacef8-9126-4b87-9d13-3d736a97643d%40sessionmgr4004vid=1hid=4101bdata=JnNpdGU9c3JjLWxpdmU%3d#db=mihAN=31381859 †¢ This article from theRead MoreLibrary Management204752 Words   |  820 Pages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 Violence and Crime in the Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 External Impacts on Human Resources—Legal Protections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Equal Employment Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Other Important Federal Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284 Affirmative Action and Comparable Worth . . . . . . . . . 285 xii Contents Sexual Harassment . . . . . . . . . . . .

Elixirs For Your Memory Essay Research Paper free essay sample

Elixirs For You Memory Essay, Research Paper ? Elixirs For Your Memory: The blitz is on for gingko and other herbal merchandises, but are they panaceas or placebos? ? -Time Magazine September 13,1999 Recently, everyplace you turn, you see or hear about new herbal redresss used for bettering one? s memory and concentration. One more often discussed is Ginkgo Biloba. It is an herbal substance that offers hope for bettering memory, concentration and encephalon maps. Ginkgo Biloba is a derivative of a leafy cosmetic tree that originated in eastern China. It is said to increase blood flow to the encephalon, bettering watchfulness and concentration ( Drummond, September 13,1999 ) . Although many people who are presently taking this medicine swear by it, who truly knows if it does better encephalon maps or if it is merely a placebo? The article? Elixirs For Your Memory? discusses the latest information sing Gingko Biloba. At big, most research workers are still diffident about the medicine. We will write a custom essay sample on Elixirs For Your Memory Essay Research Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Many feel that extended probe and experimentation is still needed before trusty consequences can be established. Yet, on the other side, traditional therapists have no uncertainties about Gingko Biloba and believe that it has been used in Chinese medical specialty for old ages working admirations for it? s receiving systems. Obviously, the makers of these medicines besides believe that the medical specialty is a success for bettering encephalon maps. If you were to inquire a memory expert his or her sentiment about Gingko Biloba, the most likely reply would be that they are disbelieving about it and other encephalon supporters ( Drummond, September 13,1999 ) . ? Most of these merchandises have non be investigated to any important extent that would justify the claims that are being made, ? says Doctor Ronald Peterson, a neuroscientist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. ? Other research workers are even more to the point. All the media, they say is simply a instance of a placebo consequence run amok: people want their memories to acquire better, so they do. Give them a sugar pill, and they likely wouldn? T know the difference? ( Drummond, September 13, 1999 ) . Many persons are concerned with the recent liking taken toward these medical specialties. One concern comes from authorities research workers. Their concern is that 1000000s of people are steeping addendums without any thought what the substance side effects are, whether positive or negative. ? The National Institutes of Health is set abouting a survey of the effects of Gingko Biloba on aged people with mild memory damage, but it will be old ages before consequences are in? ( Drummond, September 13, 1999 ) . Consumers of such merchandises have small to travel on other than the maker? s claims and inconclusive research. Even more alarming, Gingko Biloba and other substances are non regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. The authority and pureness of the merchandises vary from trade name to trade name. At that, who reads labels any longer before starting foreign substances into their oral cavities? Many utilizations of these substances haven? t the slightest thought what they are devouring and what the does and wear? Ts are while taking the medical specialty. One Don? Ts involved with Gingko Biloba is that persons who are taking acetylsalicylic acid or other blood dilutants should foremost confer with their doctor before get downing the merchandise. The ground is because Gingko Biloba contains anticlotting features ; when it is taken in combination with blood dilutants it can do internal hemorrhage ( Drummond, September 13, 1999 ) . One facet is by and large agreed on, there is non plenty known about memory substances to measure the possible hazards. Most research so far has been conducted on worlds enduring from Alzheimer? s disease or on laboratory animate beings such as mice. Scientists are now merely get downing to carry on research on how the memory reacts to the natural ripening procedure. It is a batch more complex than people assume and it is traveling to take a batch of clip inorder to happen replies to memory loss and ways to forbid it. One twenty-four hours it possibly rather possible to take a medicine to forestall memory loss or Alzheimer? s disease. Until so, ? Experts suggest following the phrase Use it or Lose it. By merely reading a book or work outing a crossword mystifier on a regular footing can make admirations, even if it is non clear why? ( Drummond, September 13, 1999 ) . In drumhead, the article suggests that taking substances may non be the best thing to make at this point in clip. Much more research and probe is needed before jumping into a substance dependence. The best advice is to merely utilize your memory so that it doesn? t fade off. Medical Diaries sometimes tend to differ with what information the general public receives from the media refering medical informations and finds. As it relates to the article about Ginkgo Biloba, the medical diaries seem to hold a somewhat different sentiment about the utilizations of herbal substances. The general thought in the medical diaries is that there is non adequate information on these herbal substances to do an educational determination. Having the cognition of the substance uses and its possible side effects is indispensable to enable doctors to order medicines that are most effectual for his or her patients. Yet, one facet that was non included in the article is informations sing the latest surveies being conducted to better understand herbal substances. Many surveies that are presently being conducted in the USA and Europe suggest assuring consequences refering the usage of Gingko Biloba. The consequences are uncovering that Gingko Biloba infusion is an effectual therapy for a assortment of perturbations of intellectual maps. Some bettering consequences from these surveies are improved memory loss, attending and watchfulness. Another survey suggests that Gingko Biloba infusion may assist grownups get by with the emphasis that they face on a day-to-day footing in their lives. Harmonizing to yet another survey, the hereafter of Gingko Biloba is doubtless in the promise of decelerating down Alzheimer? s disease. So far, scientists have been able to decelerate down Alzheimer? s disease by six months clip in clinical trails ( Clostre F, July 1999 ) . In comparing the media article? Elixirs For Your Memory? and the medical diaries, it can be concluded that the information provided by the media is true. The article suggests that Gingko Biloba may hold assuring consequences as does the medical diaries. However, one facet that is different between the two is that the media article does non incorporate many animating properties that are found in the medical diaries. If the reader were merely to read the article, he or she would likely be convinced that Gingko Biloba doesn? T hold much hope in the hereafter. It doesn? t include any information about the current surveies that are taking topographic point that suggest that Gingko Biloba will hold a promising consequence in the hereafter. The medical diaries portion penetrations on remedies, utilizations and benefits that Gingko Biloba may convey approximately, such as bettering emphasis degrees that grownup? s face in their day-to-day lives and on decelerating down the effects of Alzheim er? s disease. The media article concentrates more on the ruins of taking the medicine at this point in clip. What is says though is non false. From both the media article and the medical diaries, it is suggested that it is likely non the best thought to take any substances at this point in clip, unless a physician prescribes it. Both agree more clip and research is needed before consumers begin taking any medicines. Overall, the media article is a small unjust as it regards to devouring Gingko Biloba. Alternatively of merely discoursing the substance at big and speaking about the possible ruins of taking the medicine, the article should hold included some information about the current undergoing surveies. It would let people to hold a broader thought of what is traveling on in the medical universe. It would likely put people? s heads at easiness cognizing that there is assuring hope in the hereafter for interventions that will assist the ineluctable memory loss that unluckily comes with old age. Many persons are greatly concerned and scared about memory loss such as Alzheimer? s disease. Knowing that possibly, if merely a little opportunity, these persons will non hold to meet it sets many heads at easiness. Hopefully the hereafter holds many finds and remedies for memory loss and mental stableness. But until so, one? s best stake is likely to loosen up, utilize your memory every bit much as possible and bask it. The manner people worry themselves about issues that are out of their control merely makes things more hard on the head and organic structure. Drummond, Tammerlin. ? Elixirs For Your Mind: The blitz is on for gingko and other herb tea merchandises, but are they panaceas or placebos? ? Time Magazine 154 ( 1999 ) : 60-61. Clostre, F. ? Ginkgo biloba infusion ( Egb 761 ) . State of cognition in the morning of the twelvemonth 2000. ? Ann Pharm Fr 1999 July ; 57 Suppl 1: 1S8-88. Ness J, Sherman FT, Pan CX. ? Alternate medical specialty: what the informations say about common herb tea therapies. ? Geriatricss 1999 Oct ; 54 ( 10 ) : 33-8, 40, 43.

The Whole

Leadership is essential to organizations and as such, a leader has to define his/her core competencies before getting to know those of his/her followers. Some of the core competencies that a leader should possess for effective leadership include vision and adaptability, priority setting, passion and intuition, competitive spirit, being a good listener, influencing, and trusting. One of the key leadership approaches is the use of the whole-person approach.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on The Whole-Person Approach of Leadership specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The approach requires the use of the head, heart, feet and hands (Bruce and Montanezm 18). The benefits associated with this form of leadership are such as motivation, competencies, caring, inspiration, improved performance and production, expertise, values, expertise, integrity, and development of a an organizational culture. Moreover, the approac h is a reflection of the human side of leadership. Under the whole-person approach, each of the parts (head, heart, hands, and feet) plays different roles although they are intertwined. They also represent different components associated with organizational leadership. The leader’s head stands for the unique expertise, knowledge, values, character, motivation, and competencies possessed by the leader (Bruce and Montanezm 18). It may also present the intellectual property, attitude, integrity and the education of the leader. The hands of the leader represent the skills, customer service, hand-on coaching, follow-through, implementation, and manufacturing (Bruce and Montanezm 20) The leader’s feet may represent the foundation upon which the leaders and the organizations were built, organizational stability, organizational culture, its growth, tradition, history, and the founders of the organization (Bruce and Montanezm 18). Lastly, the heart of the leader is the center s tage of leadership. Particularly, it may represent hope, team spirit, emotional; intelligence, pride, core values, and feelings. When the four components are combined, they form the humanness in leadership. Therefore, an organization should treat its employees as human/whole person rather than mechanical producers. This approach ensures that an organization comes to terms with the real-world individual challenges that employees face in and outside the organization. Success in an organization is an attribute of those in charge. A successful organization is able to achieve its organizational objectives and develop a culture that incorporates the beliefs, culture, and values of different parties. Leaders are basically change agents endowed with power and influence. They are required to empower and influence their followers. Power is a form of control that a leader exercises over other people.Advertising Looking for critical writing on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It makes people more strong and invincible. However some people are scared of it while others feel impotent without it. When power is used well in an organization, it inspires and uplifts others into achieving their dreams or targets. It is influential and empowers other people in the workplace to realize their goals while they reach organizational objectives. Power can be ranked in form of coercive power, utility power, and principled power. In my view, leaders should encourage the use of the whole- people to create wholeness rather than individualism. This creates team spirit as different aspects of employees are explored. Among the three paths of power, I believe that the principled power is the most appropriate one because its foundation is trust, respect, honor, and belief in other people. It creates interdependence, synergy, and mutual respect. To realize what one wants, the path of principled power is most encouraged because it is more fulfilling compared to the other paths of power listed earlier. Works Cited Bruce, Anne and Stephanie Montanez.  Leaders Start to Finish: A Road Map for Developing Top Performers. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press, 2012. Print This critical writing on The Whole-Person Approach of Leadership was written and submitted by user Carlee U. 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.

16 More Ways to Build Your Web Credibility

16 MORE WAYS TO BUILD YOUR WEB CREDIBILITY This week, I have to send a big thank-you to one of our awesome clients, Dan K. After reading our earlier blog post about building web credibility, Dan did a little research on his own and sent us some really cool information about The Stanford Web Credibility Project. This project is studying the components of website credibility, and the site is a great resource for anyone with a website. One of my favorite parts of the site is the Stanford Guidelines for Web Credibility, which offers scientific proof that little things – like having a physical address or correcting typos on your site – can make a big difference. So, with Stanford as a starting point, I combed the web and put together this list of 16 things you can do to boost your web credibility: 1. Make it easy to contact you – your contact information should include an email address, phone number, and a physical address. 2. Use a professional, industry-appropriate design. 3. Make your site easy to use, and make it easy for visitors to find what they need. 4. Update your site’s content. A blog is a great, quick way to add fresh content. If you don’t have one already, start one. 5. Make sure your site is free of typos, misspelled words, and factual errors. Proofread your content carefully. Even better, have a coworker or detail-oriented friend proof your site for you. 6. Include an â€Å"About† page. 7. Post your privacy policy, and make it easy to find. 8. Include a link to your contact information and physical address on every page. People don’t like to spend time searching for your email address or phone number. 9. Use photographs – and try to avoid clip art when possible. Use photos of your actual employees, facilities, etc. 10. Use trust seals. 11. Use customer testimonials and case studies. And, don’t be shy about asking. In most cases, clients who liked your work won’t mind putting in a good word for you. 12. Link to other sites, like trusted organizations, industry experts, anything relevant that you’d like to share with your visitors. 13. Include an FAQ page that answers some basic questions like how your service/product works, payments accepted, return policies (if applicable), anything that might be a point of confusion. 14. Include emblems and/or links if you’re a member of an industry-specific organization. 15. Rein in your creativity: Avoid unusual color combinations (like white text on a black background), and don’t use funky, hard-to-read fonts in your body copy. 16. Don’t write things like â€Å"according to research† or â€Å"based on recent studies† – unless you can link to a credible study that supports your statement. Adding a few links or posting customer testimonials may not sound like much, but to the people who visit your site, these small details can be the difference between a new customer and a one-time visitor. So, check out the Stanford research for yourself it’s interesting reading. And, thanks again to Dan K. for the information! If you want to read more for yourself, here are a few resources about web credibility: †¢ Read about â€Å"Web Credibility Destroyers†

NYSE and NASDAQ

NYSE and NASDAQ Executive Summary The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) are the two largest exchanges in North America. These two attract not only the most prominent exchange traders in the United States of American but also have the most number of equities in the country.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on NYSE and NASDAQ specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is a known fact that hundreds of companies in the US prefer to trade their stocks with well established exchanges (Cootner, 1964). The long experience of both the NYSE and the NASDAQ in this sector makes them reliable. They have efficient systems and personnel to make sure that stock trading takes place without the slightest flaw. Similarities between the NYSE and the NASDAQ The New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations have a variety of features in c ommon. One notable similarity between the two is that both of them are controlled by the Stock Exchange Commission. This is a commission that safeguards the buyers and sellers of stock from fraud. It also ensures that the two exchanges adhere to the laid down laws and procedures in the sector. The commission not only protects the buyers and sellers but also the two exchanges. It does this by removing or hindering instances of unfair competition caused by either of the exchanges to the other (Blakey 2006). Secondly, both the NYSE and the NASDAQ can be easily accessed by members of the public. This can be done through dealers of the two companies which are always available for customer service. Just like any other company, the two companies are also open for public investment. As a matter of fact, both of them trade their own stocks at the stock exchange markets. Their stock quotes can be found on most stock exchange markets across the United States of America. Differences between the NYSE and the NASDAQ The differences between the NYSE and NASDAQ are more compared to the similarities. First and foremost, the transactions of the NYSE take place in a real physical place in New York City. This is the place where buyers and sellers assemble to buy and sell their stocks. On the other hand, the transactions of the NASDAQ do not take place in a real physical place. All the transactions are carried out through an electronic system. All the buy and sell orders are received and communicated over a telecommunications network. The process involves direct contact between the market makers and the investors.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The second noticeable difference between the NYSE and NASDAQ is the fact that, while the NYSE operates on an auction market, the NASDAQ operates on a dealer market. In NASDAQ trading, there is no contact between the sell er and the buyer. The market makers act as intermediaries between them. They are responsible for matching buying and selling orders. On the contrary, NYSE trading involves typical selling and buying where both the buyers and sellers are present and actively involved in the process. There is actual bidding on the price of the stocks and the highest bidder is matched with the seller who asks for the lowest price. The final difference between the NYSE and the NASDAQ is about the role of those who are in charge of controlling buyer-seller traffic in each exchange. The controller in the NYSE is called the specialist while that in the NASDAQ is called the market maker. While the specialist is charged with the responsibility of matching buyers and sellers, the market maker’s duty is to facilitate the flow of trade by transacting with the sellers and buyers. In other words, the specialist merely controls the buyers and the sellers, but the market maker actually identifies the buyer f or a particular stock and facilitates the transaction. The Public Company Accounting and Investor Protection Act of 2002 This is a federal law of the United States that was passed on July 30, 2002. Its enactment followed cases of fraud and doctored financial records in a number of firms across the nation. The law was enacted at a time when investors and the general public had lost confidence in public firms. This is due to the fact that investors had lost billions of dollars in cases of fraud that affected companies such as WorldCom and Enron. Therefore, the main purpose of the act was to restore the trust that almost everybody had lost in public companies. The act led to the formation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Committee (PCAOC). This committee assumes the role of auditors and oversees and regulates accounting firms. The committee is also responsible for registering auditors and inspecting their work in order to vet their quality. Moreover, the committee formulates policies and guidelines that regulate the operations of audit firms. The act also establishes a set of standards that advocate for the external independence of auditors. This autonomous operation of audit firms is necessary to avoid jeopardizing the genuine results of the audits. It is required that the audit firm should not have any other relations with the same client that it carries out audit services for. This ensures that the two parties only relate professionally hence leading to the submission of genuine financial records.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on NYSE and NASDAQ specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Conclusion In conclusion, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National Association of Security Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) share a couple of similarities as well as differences. However, the number of differences exceeds the similarities. From the second part of the report, it is evident that The Public Company Accounting and Investor Protection Act of 2002 has regulated accounting activities and financial records in public companies. Reference List Blakey, P. (2006). The efficient market approximation. IEEE Microwave Magazine,7(1), 28–31. Cootner, P. H. (1964). The random character of stock market prices. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Coffee Production on the International Markets Term Paper

Coffee Production on the International Markets - Term Paper Example Unfortunately, FLO has faced a number of challenges in rolling out its â€Å"sustainability criteria.† This has especially been attributed to overreliance on supply chain relations in the administration and management of this endeavour (Jaffee 12). While Fairtrade has sought to offer solutions for economic sustainability at the producer level, it fails to provide a solution to macroeconomic variations which dictate price and credit behaviour. This has triggered massive campaigns within the consumer markets in favour of fair-trade labelled coffees. The global supply of coffee is approximated to have been 8 percent above the demand as per 2003 world’s depressed prices. This, in turn, led to world’s coffee prices hitting its all-time lowest in 30 years, has declined by about 50 percent in a span of three years. Governments eager to boost their export earnings contributed heavily to this scenario as they encouraged their farmers to grow more coffee. All this was done oblivious of the catastrophic impact on the world market. East African countries such as Uganda, Ethiopia, and Kenya are among the coffee producers that were heavily hit by this price slump. The low coffee prices in the global market had rippling effect as small farmers who contribute significantly to the total production started feeling exploited. Fairtrade was thus adopted to restore some sanity in within the coffee industry. The specific objective was to protect small farmers in the developing world from exploitation by the developed world. Fairtrade thus guarantees $1.26/pound (a living wage) in addition to access to credit facilities from cooperatives (Ruben, Ruerd, and Simone 23). The creation and consequent demand for Fair-trade labelled coffee has forced the likes of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts to rise up to the occasion and address social responsibilities as demanded by the developing countries.  

Social Media Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Media - Research Paper Example The content of the posts on the social media account also adds to the success of the channel of advertising. They should be enjoyable, clear, and informative to the audience not only on the product and sales but also on other aspects. Quotes and jokes are included in the posts to ensure that they are interesting; hence, they attract maximum followers. Being relevant and current is also an important component of social media advertising. Content is frequently updated to ensure that it makes sense mainly depending on the audience. Additionally, it reduces the risk of monotony that not only leads to reduced followers but also loss of the potential buyers to consume the product (Evans, & Mckee, 2010).. Conciliation- When using this method to solve a dispute, the third party gives offers on the solution that vary depending on the variables of the conflict. Law provisions are considered in conciliation (Wankel, Marovich, & Stanaityte, 2010). The best method of resolving customer disputes occurring from purchases from social media provided business links should be negotiation. This is because it offers the best for both parties after negotiating the most favorable terms. The method also ensures that the solution will enhance a stronger bond between social media and business. The federal government can best control the transactions on social media by regulating the number of viewers of the social media posts. Federal government regulates and monitors the number of viewers the sales will also be regulated. The government also introduces policies, rules and procedures to be followed by the firms that use the social media for advertising and selling of either goods or services. The three main branches of government are the executive, judiciary, and the legislature. Making laws is the main function of the legislature (Lathrop, & Ruma, 2010).

Crossdressing and Tranvestism Essay Example for Free

Crossdressing and Tranvestism Essay This critique is based on the video â€Å"Hide and Seek† by Group 29. It is about cross dressing. Cross-dressing represents the act of wearing clothing commonly associated with the opposite sex, including various forms: (1) underwear only, (2) clothes but no makeup or wig, (3) clothes, makeup and wigs, and (4) trying to â€Å"pass† as a woman. There are different terms to address the people who cross-dress, such as cross dresser (CD), transvestite (TV), Drag Queens (normally gay and exaggerated) and female impersonators (actors who play women). However, it is important to note that cross dressing is not identical or relevant to transgender, gender identity and willingness to become the opposite sex. The transvestites only want to dress like the other gender for some time. Statistics have revealed that about 3% to 5% of the populations are transvestites, while the majority of them are heterosexual. According to medical research, the underlying factors of becoming a transvestite are due to family background, the surrounding environment and social learning. Most of the cross-dressers face difficulties such as fears to be discovered by family, friends and partners. However, this is because the society is generally against cross dressers and often described them as insane or having mental problems. For example, in Hong Kong, the society is unfriendly towards cross dressing and the general public does discriminate against the transvestites. Analysis The content of this video is analyzed in four aspects as follows:- Title Titled as â€Å"Hide and Seek†, the video portrays the fear of a male cross dresser to be discovered by his girlfriend. The authors would like â€Å"to show the cross dressers are hiding themselves away but at the same time seeking the identification. † From the video, the message that the cross dressers hope to hide their habit is clearly shown. When the Katherine returns home and opens the door, Joe is very frightened that his cross dressing behaviour is revealed by Katherine. However, the second statement â€Å"at the same time seeking the identification† cannot be directly or passively interpreted from the video, since Joe only exclaims his love towards Katherine when his cross dressing is about to reveal from the sub-title â€Å"There is another girl. But he still loves you. † This statement does not prove that he is seeking for identification, approval or tolerance from Katherine. There is also a lack of any scene to show that Joe, being a transvestite, is searching for identification and recognition from other people. Moreover, if the tile â€Å"Hide and Seek† was not stated and explained by the authors, the audience would not identify the specified meaning of the title. It otherwise gives the impression to audience that the title relates to the hide and seeks between Joe and Katherine when Joe is cross dressing and Katherine is returning home. Plot In the video, the first part shows the actions of a man, Joe and his girlfriend, Katherine at the same time. Joe is dressing on as a woman in the washroom. First, he puts on make-up: Applying mascara and putting on red lip gross. Second, he wears on a shocking pink flower dress, black leggings and bra. Then he caresses his breast in front of the mirror. At the same time, Katherine is going back home, entering the entrance, getting into the lift and opening the doors with keys. When Joe realizes Katherine is coming back with the sounds of keys, he quickly washes his face to remove the make-up, takes off his bra and leggings, and finally uses a cotton pad with make-up remover to remove his eye shadow, eye line and mascara. At the same instant, Katherine is searching for him. Then, Joe walks to Katherine. Katherine is suspicious that â€Å"Why there is smell of fragrance? † and â€Å"Was there another girl? † Joe’s eyes are enlarged to show his fear and speechlessness. â€Å"There is another girl. † â€Å"But he still loves you. † Here, it would like to bring out that Joe does not have any extramarital relations. The â€Å"another girl† means Joe himself. Even though he has the cross dressing behaviour, he still loves Katherine. Character There are two characters in this video: Joe and Katherine. First of all, Joe is a transvestite. I think that his acting is realistic to justify the role of his character. He has acquired mastery of wearing on all the female attire and make-up. After dressing up as a female, his smile and stroke of hands on the breast in front of the mirror can effectively bring the message that he really feels satisfied with it and enjoys transvestism. Moreover, when Katherine is puzzled with the fragrance form Joe, the facial expressions from Joe is vivid to show his fear to reveal he is actually having transvestism at home. Regrettably, there is one shot which looks rather strange. After wearing on the black stockings, he twists his legs and moves his toes. Though the authors describe that scene as â€Å"cross dresser looked at his leg† and they describe it as using the cross dresser’s point of view, and â€Å"it can make the audience understand the mindset of the cross dresser: happy and pleased with his feminine look†, that shot gives an impression to me that Joe was having leg fatigue at that moment so that he moves his legs and toes to relieve the pain. Also, the shot is not basically taken in the cross dresser’s point of view. It is a shot from vertical direction. So, that show does not make me understand the mindset of Joe. To better improve the above scene, the video camera should be put at the angle from Joe’s eyes. And his facial expressions when he is happy and pleased with the feminine look should be filmed. Furthermore, the facial expression of Katherine is not quite realistic and cannot make the audience to understand what she feels. In the shot Katherine has got back home, she searches for Joe elsewhere. Finally when she finds out Joe, she should be feeling suspicious and puzzled why there is a scent of fragrance, according to the wordings â€Å"Why there is smell of fragrance? † However, the facial expression of Katherine gives an impression to me that she is drowsy or just wakes up. Her countenance makes the audience confused about what is going on in the video. With the following wordings â€Å"Was there another girl? † the audience can eventually get the message that Katherine is suspicious with Joe to have another partner. Props In the video clip, plenty of female props are employed to show the symbols of cross dressing. For example, mascara, red lip gross, face powder, cosmetic brushes, black stockings, bra are used. These are the representative symbols of a female. Generally male would not use these things. And the myriads of cosmetic kits in the washroom are adequate to show that Joe wants to dress up to be an attractive and pretty woman. In fact, I feel that the props used in the video are strongly relevant to the theme. They are constructive to bring out the message that Joe is cross dressing and the elements of cross dressing are clearly identified. After watching this video, one can understand what transvestism is and how the transvestite dress in the opposite. In my opinion, to further elaborate the image of a transvestite, except the clothing and make-up, Joe can also wear wigs and high heels to make him more feminine. Music Concerning the music part, there is merits and demerits in the video clip. To begin with, when Joe is putting on mascara and lip gross, the music is quite relaxing and cheerful. However, the music becomes wary and suspicious when he is putting on other cosmetics in the washroom. It is a bit inconsistent that the background music for similar instance of make up is so contrasting. In my opinion, the wary music should start when the camera shot moves to the lobby of the building, which implies that Katherine is coming back. In this way, it can let the audience knows that some dangerous instance is about to begin. On the other hand, the speed of the music in the later part is effective to show that sequence of the video. The music becomes increasingly faster when the climax is reached. The speed is useful to show that Joe is so fear to be discovered by his partner of cross dressing because to many people, cross dressing is something abnormal and should be corrected. Interpretation According to the description from the authors, the aims of video are to let â€Å"people who are too busy and have no time to figure out what cross-dressing is could immediately understand the feeling of cross-dresser and understand they are not monster or insane. Their acts are only pleasure-seeking. † And they believe that the video is â€Å"the most effective way to bring a sense of reality to the readers: how the cross -dresser feel when he is cross-dressing; his deep fear of being discovered and the confrontation faced by the couple. † I think that the video clip is effective to bring out the aforementioned aim of the presentation. In particular, the background music and the facial expression from Joe are realistic and let the audience understand the feelings of the cross dressers. However, normal audience without knowledge to transvestism could not understand the nature of it and disregard the transvestites as insane, since there is only one statement â€Å"But he still loves you. † to show that transvestites would not change their love towards lovers. Meanwhile, there lacks any information or implication to prove that the transvestites are indeed normal as ordinary people. So, this video is not useful to educate to eradicate biases towards the transvestites once communicated to the public. It only broadens the knowledge of acts by cross dressers and their inner feelings to audience. In my view, the video should include information to educate the public to accept the transvestites and feel comfortable and easy to live with them. For instance, we can portray a scene that a cross dressers is having cross dressing and his wife lives with him happily and does not mind it. I think that there should be other scenes to portray the daily life of transvestites, and thus the audience can get an implication that the cross dressers are normal as well. Transvestism is only their habit and it would not harm other parties. This is because I feel that the society is full of discrimination towards the transvestites. They are usually related to abnormal or insane behaviour, mental problems or crimes like rape, indecorum. There should be strong and forceful publications to assure the general public that the transvestites are not insane as they may prescribe. In a nutshell, the message from the video can be partially communicated, and it can only be communicated to audience who already has basic knowledge of transvestism. Otherwise, the audience may still think the cross dressers are insane after getting known to their act. The choice of taking videos to show the implied message of the authors is quite suitable. The way and steps of cross dressing can be clearly identified and shown to audience. It makes the audience understand what the meaning of cross dressing is. Also, audience can understand the feelings of cross dresser after reading this video that they usually perform it secretly and do not want their family, partner and friends to know it. With the help of the additional wordings, the audience can further consolidate the idea of this video. So I think that the aims of authors to use video: â€Å"A good video could be eye-catching and effectively delivered a thought-provoking idea in the readers’ mind. † is justified. A man cross dressing to act as a female is quite an innovative idea and the wordings shown at the end of the video can help the audience to understand the transvestites still love their partners even though they have this habit. Conclusion The video produced by Group 29 â€Å"Hide and Seek† can effectively communicate to the audience how the transvestites do in cross dressing and their fear to be revealed by partners. However, this video is not sufficient to educate the readers to accept transvestism such that transvestites are ordinary people like everyone. Reference Chow, L. S. Hide and Seek by Lai Shan Chow. Retrieved December 13th, 2008, from CITE Mahara: http://mahara-broadening. cite. hku. hk/view/view. php? id=76

Evidence For And Against Climate Change Environmental Sciences Essay

Evidence For And Against Climate Change Environmental Sciences Essay Climate Change is a very controversial global issue which has committed supporters and detractors. Critically evaluate the evidence for and against climate change and provide your own assessment of the current and future risks that the planet faces by 2050. It is expected that you will give a broad view of your subject giving weight to policy, regulatory, economic and risk management impacts as well as health and environmental impacts. Use a case study to illustrate a key component of the climate change agenda. The worlds climate is changing and the consequences are serious, wide ranging and long-term. Despite the overwhelming scientific consensus that this is happening, the issue of climate change has its detractors, whose opposition to the phenomenon range from disagreeing about the extent of the problem, the extent of mans influence, to the accuracy of the modeling techniques. During the essay the evidence from both sides will be evaluated and the current and longer term economic, social, and environmental effects assessed. The definitions of climate change vary greatly, but the two most useful are the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) definition where broadly speaking climate change relates to a change in climate which is attributed, directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity, which is perhaps a more useful definition. Firstly before looking at the evidence for climate change it is useful to understand the global energy flow (radiative budget), which was first suggested by Kiehl and Trenbirth (1997), illustrated in picture 1 below: Picture 1 The incoming solar radiation, often labelled in percentage terms, must match the outgoing short and longwave radiation to achieve radiative equilibrium. Radiative forcing is the measure of the influence that a specific factor has in altering the balance of this incoming and outgoing energy, and is therefore a useful indication of the importance of that factor to change the climate. Positive forcing will generally mean that the surface of the earth is warmed, whilst negative forcing tends to cool the surface. The Kyoto protocol, adopted in December 1997 and entering into force in February 2005, committed all Annex1 countries (39 industrialised countries the EU) to a reduction in four greenhouse gases (Carbon dioxide, Methane, Nitrous oxide and Sulfur hexafluoride) and two groups of gases called hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) (often found in refridgerants) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) (also in refridgerants but having a wide variety of medical and non-medical uses and according to Askam, Khalil et al. (2003) having a lifetime up to 50,000 years). Carbon dioxide is perhaps the most studied and well known of the anthropogenic GHGs. Since some infra-red radiation leaving the planet is absorbed by CO2, the greater the CO2 the greater the absorbtion and reflection of heat and the warmer the climate. Perhaps the most significant indicator of the increase in the level of CO2 in the last 50 years is shown in graph 1 below. This is the measurement of CO2 concentrations as measured in Hawaii, far from industrial areas so no localised bias is present, though these measurements have been replicated around the world (e.g. Pieter P. Tans and Thomas J. Conway 1968-2002) Monthly Atmospheric CO2 Mixing Ratios from the NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory Carbon Cycle Cooperative Global Air Sampling Network, 1968-2002. NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado 80305, U.S.A.) Graph 1 Image created by Robert A. Rohde / www.globalwarmingart.com Similar measurements have been found in ice core samples, which enable us to get a much better picture over time. Graph 2 below shows the CO2 variations over time from the past 420,000 years. Graph 2 Image created by Robert A. Rohde / www.globalwarmingart.com This shows the CO2 levels fluctuating in line with the ice-ages, however, the most important section is the insert the marked increase since the industrial revolution from around 1750/1800. A clear indication of humans influence. More evidence is given in the IPCC 4th Annual Report Working Group summary that the concentration of atmospheric CO2 has increased from 280ppm (pre-industrial level) to 379ppm in 2005. In addition the annual CO2 concentration growth was larger during the last 10 years (1995-2005 : 1.9ppm per year) than it has been since the beginning of continuous direct atmospheric measurements (1960-2005 : 1.4 ppm per year). In a similar fashion the levels of Methane (from a pre-industrial level of 715ppb to 1732ppb in the early 1990s and 1774ppb in 2005) and Nitrous oxide (from pre-industrial levels of roughly 270ppb to 319ppb in 2005) have increased markedly over recent years. Looking at the radiative forcing discussed earlier the There are many different indications of how the climate has altered, and over several different timescales ranging from the most recent 150 years since 1860, since roughly the time of industrial revolution since 1750 and for the past 10-100 thousand years. Each of these will be looked at in turn. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change in its most recent report in 2007 stated: Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level. Most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations. This is an advance since the TARs conclusion that most of the observed warming over the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations. Discernible human influences now extend to other aspects of climate, including ocean warming, continental-average temperatures, temperature extremes and wind patterns The time series shows the combined global land and marine surface temperature record from 1850 to 2009. The year 2009 was the sixth warmest on record, exceeded by 1998, 2005, 2003, 2002, and 2004. This time series is being compiled jointly by the Climatic Research Unit and the UK Met. Office Hadley Centre. The record is being continually up-dated and improved (see Brohan et al., 2006). This paper includes a new and more thorough assessment of errors, recognizing that these differ on annual and decadal timescales. Increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to human activities are most likely the underlying cause of warming in the 20th century. Brohan, P., J.J. Kennedy, I. Harris, S.F.B. Tett and P.D. Jones, 2006: Uncertainty estimates in regional and global observed temperature changes: a new dataset from 1850. J. Geophysical Research 111, D12106, doi:10.1029/2005JD006548 http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/info/ Detractors In a debate that has become highly polarised the label climate sceptic is readily slapped on anybody who stands on the soapbox and contradicts Al Gore. In reality, the sceptic landscape is more varied, ranging from those scurrilously pursuing scientific truth to others with more obvious economic or political gains to play for. Richard Lindzen, an American atmospheric physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been one of the most vocal in expressing concerns over the validity of computer models used to predict future climate change. He argues that they may be over-predicting future warming due to a failure to properly account for the climate systems water vapour feedback. However he has also been an active contributor to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment reports. Gavin Schmidt, a climatologist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies commented that Lindzen agrees with about 90 per cent of what other climate scientists are saying, yet the last 10 per cent is sufficiently different to label him a contrarian. Stephen McIntyre, editor of sceptic blog ClimateAudit and former director of several state-owned Canadian mineral exploration companies, is known in the climate science community for his continual demands for raw data. McIntryre was behind an orchestrated campaign that led to 60 Freedom of Information requests being made to CRU scientists at the University of East Anglia in a single weekend in July. However, while potentially vexatious, McIntyre has made genuine scientific contributions, notably spotting a mistake in NASA data that led to the average US temperatures to be reduced about 0.15C for the period 2000-2006. Philip Stott, an emeritus professor of biogeography at the University of London (although not a published climate scientist), has publicly argued that the climate is too complex and chaotic a system to make long-term predictions on. None of these scientists are climate change deniers, but they question the certainty of the scientific consensus. Several Tory MPs have recently contradicted the Green Conservative line of the Cameron era. Peter Lilley, one of only three MPs to vote against the governments Climate Change Bill in October, has accused climatologists of an unconscious conspiracy in which a dogmatic determination to conform to a consensus driven by the incentive of public funding has made them happier to let the data fit the theory rather than the opposite. David Davis has also spoken out on what he describes as a ferocious determination to impose hair-shirt policies on the public. Taxes on holiday flights and noisy wind turbines are too high a price to pay, he suggests. Both MPs claim to be open to the possibility that man has significantly contributing to climate change, but both remain unconvinced by the evidence. Former Tory Chancellor Nigel Lawson, has also publicly stepped up his opposition to environmental policy, founding the think tank, the Global Warming Policy Foundation, complete with a board of fairly distinguished academics to provide scepticism with a respectable face. However, the think tank was this week accused by scientists of appearing to misrepresent scientific data on its website. At the far end of the spectrum, figures such as Sarah Palin appear to be happy to disregard scientific evidence wholesale in favour of economic gain. Despite substantial differences in outlook, bundled together under the sceptic brand, the views of these individuals appear to be increasingly gaining favour with the public in the lead up to Copenhagen. PLAN For climate change Against climate change Case study Assessment of current risks Assessment of future risks to 2050

Deforestation: Ecosystem and Private Sector Views

Trees are one of the most important aspects of the planet we live in . They are very important to the environment , economy and of course for us humans. They are also important for the climate of the earth , as they act as filters for carbon dioxide . However , the trees on our planet are being depleted at a very fast rate and governments must take an action to make a change. To discuss deforestation we need to look at a role of government and its economic policies .Also we need to look at how the private sector views the ownership of property and its resource at the expense of the environment. Deforestation is the felling and clearance of the land , mostly in the (Less Economic Developed countries. ) . Deforestation occurs in many ways. Most of the clearing its done for agricultural purposes, and planting crops. Some farmers use a( slash and burn) process which is environmentally .Deforestation and forest degradation are ultimately the result of decisions by agents made such as priv ate , corporations and communities. Generally, the main agents in the process of degradation belongs to the private sector. For example landowners are motivated by making commercial profits by forests. So if the private agents have to pay for some of the cost of depleting forests, they are more likely to have more of an incentive to take care of the environment. For example to convert forest land for other uses.Pearce and Warford (1993) argue that :†High discount rates are one cause of environmental degradation because they encourage individuals to opt for short term measures that satisfy immediate needs or wants and ignore more environmentally appropriate practice such as planting trees, there is no market to take account of this divergence between private and social preferences Deforestation has many effects on climate. It plays a major role in recycling rain back into the clouds as it receives rainfall.As a result , when the land is cleared , flooding and drought becomes a serious problem, because rainwater travels quickly through the ground without the forest to regulate it . The burning and felling of the forests is also exacerbating the Greenhouse effect. .Deforestation robs the world of countless species , destroying crucial biodiversity and loosing species with potential uses in medicine , agriculture and industry. the Biodiversity is very important to the Ecosystem and without it we would be in a dangerous positions..In 2000 environmentalist groups won a major victory against ranchers . They were able to block a low that would have allowed private agents to clear a rainforest and land with no restrictions. Another victory come in 2004 when Brazilian government created two large rainforest reserves, for sustainable activities only . Deforestation has a major impact on the environment, such as rising sea levels , soil erosion and compounds in the forests. There are some ways to avoid deforestation.In this essay I tried to show this matter of both sided can benefit if they take in to consideration each other needs . As good way to prevent people from cutting or burning down trees is to by encouraging and re-educating environmentally friendly practices in business as well as in a personal lives. They can take an ownership and contribute to a sustainable future for the environment , by being more socially responsible . Governments and nations can develop policies which will protect and limit the damage to the environment.

Philosophy of life: wisdom and meaning of life Essay

Good afternoon Dear Audience, today I am here to speak about something we are all going through. But first of all, let me start with some questions. I am sure that we all tried to find the answers to them at least once in a lifetime. Do you know what is Time? Or What is Space? Maybe you know what is Conscience? Or what is a Dream? Is there Heaven? or Hell? How can we live without knowing whether we are the ones to choose our own paths? And are we sure that we really Live? So many questions remain unanswered. And all these issues and many many others are in a constant connection with our Lives. Life is something we are all here going through and this is exactly the thing I would like to talk about today. There are a lot of technical definitions for the word Life, but can we really fit the whole meaning of this word in a sentence from the dictionaries, most of which claim that Life is the aspect of existence that processes, acts, reacts, evaluates, and evolves through reproduction and metabolism. But what is life really about, if anything? Basically, scientists, today are contemplating about 2 possible theories. That life is either a meaningless accident arising from the laws of physics operating in a meaningless universe, or it is a ‘step’ in a so-called planned ‘experiment’. I say ‘step’, for this, cannot be the end. The current state of life is yet too unstable and undeveloped for it to be the end. And I say ‘experiment’ since the evolutionary nature of life suggests that its future is unknown. If therefore the universe itself has a purpose, it seems most likely to be to explore what the outcome of the evolutionary experiment would be. And here comes the question of what kind of the outcome will we eventually acquire. In our contemporary world, we all get to listen to scientific debates on how, when and where life will come to an end. However, questions remain which may never be resolved. In this vacuum, philosophers and religious thinkers have attempted to give meaning to life by suggesting goals: Plato suggested the acquisition of knowledge, Aristotle to practice virtue, and the Stoics, mental fortitude and self-control. Today’s philosophers echo the existentialist view that life is full of absurdity, although they also tell us that we must put meaning into life by making our own values in an indifferent world. But if life is just a journey from womb to tomb, will such ‘meaning’ be sufficient to allow the traveler at journey’s end to feel that it was worthwhile? The worthwhile journey, the Beginning, and the End, Birth and Death, talking about Life I can not skip on talking about Time. All animals except humans live in a continual present, with no sense of the temporal distinctions of past, present, and future. Our consciousness of time is, therefore, one of the most important distinguishing features of humankind. It comes as no surprise, then, that from time immemorial, philosophers, teachers, and theologians have speculated on the true nature of time. Does time have a substance and, if so, what is it made of? How do we know that time really exists? Does time have a beginning and an end? There is a general agreement among philosophers that time is continuous and that it has an intrinsic direction or order. There is also a more or less general agreement that it is objective, rather than subjective or dependent on its being consciously experienced, and also that so many different physical processes bear consistent time relations to each other . However, even given that, many differing opinions and approaches to what time actually is have been put forward over the centuries. Presently, most websites and books on the subject begin with a candid admission that time is a curious and slippery concept which continues to defy definitive explanation despite hundreds, even thousands, of years of trying. We are told that time is â€Å"enigmatic† and â€Å"ineffable†, but that does not help us much in our search for the true nature of time. Nearly two and a half thousand years ago, Aristotle contended that â€Å"time is the most unknown of all unknown things†, and arguably not much has changed since then. Despite the fact that we don’t know exactly what time is, we still try to develop and move forward. Throughout my entire speech, I’ve been constantly repeating one word. â€Å"WE†. Just 2 letters. Do you know what they mean, since I don’t? We call ourselves Human beings. And, actually, being a human today does not necessarily mean being humane, being able to read or write, being able to work and provide yourself with everything that is needed. Generally speaking, the main features that distinguish us from animals are our abilities to think unconventionally, speak multiple languages, develop all-around spheres, from literature to sciences, from arts to business, and ,of course, we are different, since we believe in more than what we see and we hope for more than what we possess. Lately, I’ve been thinking about our Lives a lot, and I couldn’t resist the desire to share my thoughts with you, which, of course, are backed up by the scientific facts and evidence. While thinking about it, I’ve listened to myself carefully and eventually noticed that inexplicable voice speaking from within. Most of the time we don’t pay enough heed towards this part of our being., however, it should not be taken for granted. Some call it inner voice, others prefer to call it conscience. This is the reason, employed in questions of right and wrong. It is that within a man which approves or condemns his actions. The inner voice is a principle without which a man falls easily into temp ­tation, and every temptation succumbed to means degradation of his best instincts. He feels that he is no longer the same, but something weaker, something polluted, and the secret uneasiness and self-reproach which pursue him are the biting of conscience. Even though this voice should evoke all the notions of what is right and what is wrong there are some whose ideas of justice and injustice are so perverted that even the most wicked actions bring no remorse and at times even win their approval. Principles are not born in a man but are the result of training and association. It should be the endeavor of all of us, so that when temptation comes we will not fall, but resist it, and with every victory strengthen our character until we grow into noble, firm and self-reliant people. So, wherever you go and whatever you do your inner voice is always there, whispering the right answer. From time everlasting, we’ve always been trying to find the answers to as many questions as possible. We come up with the possible explanations, however, there is no-one out there to say that we are moving in a right direction. Who knows, maybe we are just fooling ourselves, and while, relying on our own science, we try to explain the inexplicable, we are increasingly driving ourselves into the jungles, from which, one day, we will not be able to find a way out. Just look at all the global conspiracy theories, most of which seem not only inconceivable but totally delirious. Let me name couple of them in order for you to have a comprehensive picture of what I am actually talking about. The water fluoridation theory, for instance, claims that the water we drink actually contains fluorite, which allegedly brainwashes the entire population of the Earth and makes us susceptible to inculcation. Or the other theory which states that the Moon does not exist, since it’s a hologram put there by someone unknown. And finally, the theory which assures us that lizard people, also known as ‘reptilians’ run the world. What the believers actually propose is that the top echelon of our government is actually controlled by shape-shifting reptilian aliens, who have been lording power over humans to turn them into mindless slaves for their own purposes. I can not deny the fact that hundreds of conspiracy theories look like the ravings of a madman, however, how can we be so sure that all of these bizarre guesses come from nowhere? How can we be so sure about something yet unknown? We have to set priorities for ourselves. This is all about our Lives, not anyone else’s. In today’s ruthless world you either live in lies and ignorance, or you leave your carefree life behind and go search for the Truth. Life is just a wink of an eye if one thinks of eternity. It’s fast and it’s short but it’s worth every single second since it can not be bought, it can not be changed nor can it be returned, ever. And in order to make your Life a worthwhile journey, be sure to rejoice in every single day as if it is the last one you have. Thank You for Your attention!