The Human Breath is a Dangerous Weapon :: essays papers

"The Human Breath is a Dangerous Weapon" A Look at the Economic Conditions of Jamaica and the Lyrics of Reggae Music and Poetry The title for this paper is a quote taken from the poem, "Listen Mr. Oxford Don" Rastafarians use Reggae music and poetry to express themselves; one of their major themes for expression is economic oppression. Jamaica and the Rastafarians suffer more than their fair share of oppression, or as they would appropriately say, downpression, and poverty, yet they are still raising awareness, happiness, and hopefulness. The past and current struggles of the country give way to many powerful words either spoken or sung to the rhythm of Reggae. The General Economic Conditions of Jamaica Compared to Those of America The economic conditions of Jamaica lead to a hard life for many of its citizens. The percentage of the Jamaican population below the poverty line was 34% in 1997 ( 1999 World Development Indicators CD-Rom, World Bank). Like poor people all over the world, the poor people of Jamaica are oppressed, unhealthy, and worried. They do however; know what is going on. They know who their oppressors are, who is in control, who has money, and who has power. Economic numbers, ratios, and statistics can be hard to understand on their own; if they don’t bore you to death first, but once compared to something similar they start to make sense and become interesting. I decided to compare Jamaica’s economic and social indicators with the United States, for two reasons: 1. We are all familiar with the U.S., and the numbers will have more resonance, and 2. " Most tourists to Jamaica arrive from the U.S, which is also Jamaica’s principle supplier of imports and chief market for exports." ( 1999 ABC - CLIO, Inc. Kaleidoscope(Lexus-Nexus)) Some key economic ratios are the GDP and the GNP, these are a measure of income. The GNP(Gross National Product) measures the total domestic and foreign income claimed by a certain economy. It includes the GDP and the money spent in Jamaica by visitors, minus the payments Jamaican’s made in other countries. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) measures the total output of goods and services; it is the sum of "gross value added by all resident and non-resident producers in the economy, plus taxes, minus subsidies not included in the value of the products. (1999 World Bank CD-Rom). The GNP for Jamaica was four billion dollars in 1997.

The Investment Industry :: essays research papers

The Investment Industry   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The investment industry is composed of a wide variety of firms. The main players include independent full line brokerage firms, investment bank subsidiaries of chartered banks, and discount brokers. Independent full line brokerage firms offer a wide range of services, including underwriting, trading of stocks, advice and research. In essence, the full service brokerage subsidiaries of chartered banks offer the same services, however, banks' brokerage firms may have a larger pre-established clientele. Finally, the discount brokers are basic stock brokers that perform trades for clients who do not want investment advice. Usually, this service is targeted toward the sophisticated investor who does his/her own research to incur minimal commission fees.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Banks entered the investment industry in 1987, whereby they took over full-service brokerages, introduced mutual funds to the banking industry and became part of discount brokering. From this time on, chartered banks have expanded their dominance in the industry by acquiring key players in the industry or branching off into full brokerage services. For example, the brokerage firms for CIBC, Royal Bank, Toronto Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal are Wood Gundy, RBC Dominion, Evergreen, Scotia McLeod and Nesbitt Burns respectively. In addition, the aforementioned chartered banks have also branched into the discount brokerage sector.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As of December 1994, the Securities Industry as a whole included 158 firms, directly employs over 24,000 people, has operating revenue of $5.1 Billion and operating profit of $1.2 Billion (Appendix A). Within this industry the largest firms ranked by revenue are: RBC Dominion Securities ($1 Billion), Midland Walwyn ($480 million), Burns Fry ($416 million) and Nesbitt Thomson ($335 million) (Appendix B). It is evident that the industry is highly concentrated in a small number of companies. The top 4 leaders in the industry accounted for 44% of revenue, while the top 8 was 51%.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Industry information from 1993 displays further segregation, between retail, institutional and integrated firms. Integrated retail-institutionalized firms (RBC Dominion Securities, Scotia McLeod, Nesbitt Thomson, Wood Gundy) made up 66% of the industry's revenue, while strictly institutional firms (First Marathon Securities, Gordon Capital Corp. and Loewer Ondaatje McCutcheon Ltd.) made up 21% and Retail firms (Green Line Investor Services Inc.), 15% (Appendix C). The following analysis will outline the investment dealer's industry, specifically the life cycle, critical success factor, strengths, weaknesses, target markets and profitability. Life Cycle   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The demand for investment financial services is expanding. This becomes evident by examining the average increase in revenue which has occurred over the 1990-1994, 5 year span. This amounts to a 114% increase in revenue, ($2.4 Billion and $5.13 Billion), (Appendix A). An additional indication of growth in the investment industry is the fact that the number of firms in the industry has

Absolutism under Louis XIV

Louis XIV lived from 1638- 1715 and became the king of France in 1654. At the time he became king, France was financially ruined, politically corrupt, and divided between warring nobles and private armies and under the threat of riots from the people, especially in Paris. Louis XIV was an absolute monarch. Absolutism is the system of rule that allows one or more rulers to maintain absolute power over everything in the land. There is no higher power and even the Parliament could not overrule Louis’ decisions.As absolute monarch, Louis XIV set about reforming the state politically, economically and culturally. Louis XIV’s absolute monarchy had three components: †¢ Centralization- this meant that the monarchy was the center of everything. All decisions from the monarchy were undisputable and final. All counties and villages were expected to follow this rule to create a united state and a centralized leadership. †¢ Economic reforms- â€Å"Under the guidance of Je an-Baptiste Colbert (1619-83) a â€Å"modern† system of accountancy and yearly state budgeting was introduced.Colbert also supervised systematic attacks on corruption, removing, punishing, or paying off office holders. He also introduced tax reforms – ending exemptions, tax-farming, and military collection of taxes – and state support for industry, science, trade, and the arts. As regards the operations of the state, Colbert raised government income to the point when it could pay for quite massive expenses. Government subsidizing and directing of industry and manufacture increased productivity, raised wages, and brought France into the trade wars with the English and the Dutch.Colbert, like many French officials, repeatedly remarked that the inhabitants must pay the tax not only because it would raise additional funds, but also because paying the levy was ‘the obedience which is due His Majesty. † †¢ â€Å"Theater of Monarchy†-this is the public representation of royal power and glory. Under the theory of absolutism, sovereignty is grounded in God, not the people. The glory of the monarch is, as it were, the earthly point at which is expressed both the glory of the state – as a social whole ordered around and dependent upon the monarch – and the glory of God from whom the monarch derives power and role.It was therefore important to show, through royal events and presentations, the state as personified by the king. Louis XIV distinguished between â€Å"nature as it ought to be†, as ordained by God, and â€Å"nature as it is†, disrupted by human activity. As the new, distant and mysterious God no longer intervened directly in the natural order, it fell to the monarch to uphold â€Å"nature as it ought to be† and prevent it disintegrating into disorder. One of his reforms began with the acquisition of the providence of Roussillonnais in 1659, which was inhabited by a specific ethnic g roup known as the Catalans.Louis XIV understood that there can be no shared political allegiance without shared cultural values. Thus a government, if it is to exercise its political authority in an area, must first make the region culturally homogeneous with the ruling nation. Louis XIV undertook to replace the Catalan ethnic identity with the French one, mandating the foods, clothing, legal system, language, educational institutions, and religious traditions that should be used in the province. The Catalans did not agree with Louis and made it clear with smuggling, legal battles and even open rebellion.They wished to maintain their own culture and laws and did not want to accept the monarchy as their ruler. Like all peasants, they were reluctant to pay taxes to the monarchy and many turned to smuggling as an alternative. By the 1680’s, however, Louis XIV and his government were successful in achieving their goal of political assimilation. The Roussillonais had accepted Fran ce as their political rules but continued to conduct their legal, commercial, judicial, and religious business in the Catalan language, continued to dress as Catalans, to give their children Catalan names, and to celebrate traditional feasts.They were quite firmly French in a political sense, and equally firmly Catalan in their culture. A trend that began in the 17th century was for the ruler to govern from one location versus the many homes and palaces of the past. Louis XIV was one such ruler, moving from the royal palace of the Louvre in Paris to a permanent home in Versailles. It was from this location that he ruled France for his entire reign. Louis XIV was also known as the â€Å"sun king† due to his use of the symbol as his personal emblem.As the highest star, now accepted by science as the centre of the universe, the sun was an obvious choice to symbolize absolutism’s claim to constitute the political centre of earthly life. The sun was both terrifying and awe inspiring, dazzling through its brightness, yet also warming and beneficent, and without its presence all life would whither away. One of the ways a monarch distanced himself from his subjects was to show his magnificence and largesse. This came in the form of elaborate operas, lavish banquets and court music.It was not uncommon to have fountains with slowing wine, roast oxen, coins minted for the occasion and bread handed out to the masses. This was to show the generosity and benevolence of the ruler and assure the people that their trust in the monarchy was well placed. It also served to reiterate the idea that the monarch was the center of everything and should be respected as such. Not everything regarding absolutism was beneficial, especially for the peasants of the land.The taxes imposed by Louis XIV and his government went far to provide funds for the monarchy and various military skirmishes, but The accumulative effect of these taxes was well observed by the royal commission ers sent to investigate the collection of taxes in the Orleanais and Le Maine in 1687 who observed that: there are hardly any peasants that own property†¦there are only small farmers who own nothing. The proprietors must furnish them with cattle, advance them money on which to live, pay their tallies and take in payment the peasant’s entire portion of the harvest. Even this is sometimes insufficient to cover his debts.Thus the small farmers earn nothing; they leave the land as destitute as they came to it. What cash was left they said went into paying taxes so that there was almost no money left for individuals; from this comes the decline of commerce. As a result, riots and rebellions by the peasants were common. Tax collectors met with violence or even death in some instances. It was not until Louis XIV’s General Controller of Finance†, Jean-Baptise Colbert changed the way things were done regarding the taxes. Colbert's everyday management of the taxes was intelligently conceived precisely to reduce the difficulties experienced earlier.Much effort went into collecting existing taxes as equitably as possible, into preventing the accumulation of arrears (those of the final years of the war being formally cancelled), and into making the most unpopular forms of coercion a last resort. 94 Although the revenue from indirect taxes was greatly increased this was achieved without creating new levies. The significance of this policy was emphasized when financial pressure was increased after the renewal of war in 1672, with the new duties of 1675, the marque d'etain and the papier timbre, setting off the last major rebellions of the ancient regime.Under Louis XIV’s absolute rule, France enjoyed a peaceful and prosperous era. Colbert reformed the taxes and they dwindled down to custom duties, a tax on salt and a tax on land. He also encouraged trade and commerce by the merchants and inventors of the land and sought to decrease the Frenchà ¢â‚¬â„¢s dependence on foreign goods. These acts stopped the internal civil wars until almost a hundred years later. During Colbert's ministry the position of the laborers was doubly affected, by more stringent tax assessment and by a sequence of good harvests which resulted in low grain prices.Since these trends favored the mass of poor peasants, there was little prospect of uniting communities in revolt behind an unpopular minority of the rich, whose difficulties were in any case only relative. It was not until Napoleon that France had internal discord again. Other areas of improvement were the legal reforms Louis XIV implemented. The major legal code instituted at this time was the basis of the Napoleon Code which in turn is the basis for the modern French legal codes.The War of Spanish Succession began when the King of Spain, Charles II, bequeathed all his possessions to Philip duc D’anjou, who was the grandson of Louis XIV. This made Philip the king of Spain. Aside from the fact that others wanted to claim the throne for themselves, the crowning of Philip assured Louis XIV of a Spanish alliance in his quest to expand. Other countries joined the side of the Holy Roman Empire, who wanted to stop France from expanding any further. Philip and Spain sided with Louis XIV and France. The war was fought both in Europe and in North America, where it was known as the â€Å"Queen Anne’s War.† The war lasted for over a decade and as a result, Philip was removed from the line of succession for the throne of France. This made the opposition happy since a union of France and Spain was now impossible. In the end, Louis XIV’s numerous wars and extravagant palaces and chateaux effectively bankrupted the State (though it must also be said that France was able to recover in a matter of years), forcing him to levy higher taxes on the peasants and incurring large State debts from various financiers as the nobility and clergy had exemption from payin g these taxes and contributing to public funds.Yet, it must be emphasized that it was the State and not the country which was impoverished. Before his death in 1715, Louis XIV determined that his five year old grandson, Louis XIII would succeed him to the throne. He is alleged to have told the child â€Å"Do not follow the bad example which I have set you; I have often undertaken war too lightly and have sustained it for vanity. Do not imitate me, but be a peaceful prince, and may you apply yourself principally to the alleviation of the burdens of your subjects†.Although Louis XIV did make some mistakes during his reign, he had many victories as well. His display of absolute monarchy set an example for many of the European princes, who followed his examples of art, food and political systems. Absolutism fell out of favor among the monarchy not long after Louis XIV died but the gains that he made provided a stable base for France to prosper in the future. Louis XIV had been ma rried twice and fathered both legitimate and illegitimate children, none of whom followed in his footsteps of absolutel rule.Works Cited Briggs, Robin. Communities of Belief: Cultural and Social Tension in Early Modern France. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. Parker, David. â€Å"French ‘Absolutism'. † History Review (1997): 14+. Stewart, David. Assimilation and Acculturation in Seventeenth-Century Europe: Roussillon and France, 1659-1715. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. Wilson, Peter H. Absolutism in Central Europe. London: Routledge, 2000.

Kudler Fine Foods IT Security Report and Presentation †Top Threats

Kudler Fine Foods IT Security Report and Presentation – Top Threats Team B has been commissioned to examine the Kudler Fine Foods’ (KFF), frequent shopper, Customer Loyalty Program that is currently in development. The team has also been asked to direct the system development team to ensure the system is established securely so that it properly protects company data and customer information throughout all stages of the system development process. In week 2, the team will examine the Customer Loyalty Program for vulnerabilities in different areas of the system. The study will define the possible threats that exist to the security of the organization’s and the customers’ data and information, the potential vulnerabilities each threat may exploit, and area of the system affected by the threats. Additionally, a summary of the most critical threats to Kudler’s Customer Loyalty Program will be provided. The following table presents the possible threats, t he potential vulnerabilities each threat may exploit, and area of the system effected by the threats: Area of SystemsThreat Potential Vulnerability Networks Unauthorized access Unsecured equipment roomConfidentiality breach E-mail that doesn't employ scanning of messagesDenial of Service Lack of inside firewall can lead to worm spreadNatural Disaster Potential issues from lack of redundancySniffing Network infiltration via wireless access point Workstations Unauthorized access Patches not currentSniffing Old software versionsNatural Disaster Firewall not active Servers Unauthorized access Patches not currentSniffing Old software versionsNatural Disaster Firewall not active Employees Social Engineering Training not currentCorruption UnhappyMalicious behavior poor work ethic Data Corruption Non securedDeletion Unencrypted data Software Corruption Non-securedDeletion Software that does not employee authorized user access Building Tailgating Front door that doesn't have employee securit y guardUnauthorized access Compromised key card accessOf the possible threats to Kudler Fine Foods’ Customer Loyalty Program there are two critical threats discovered during our assessment that warrents Kudler’s immediate attention. The first of these threats is Social Engineering. Social Engineering according to Social-Engineer.org (2013), is â€Å"the act of influencing a person to accomplish goals that may or may not be in the ‘target’s’ best interest. This may include obtaining information, gaining access, or getting the target to take certain action.† The employees themselves are the area of the system affected by this threat. Social Engineering exploits their naivety. General lack of experience in recognizing this type of attack is a major reason for its success. Education on what Social Engineering is and how to recognize attacks coupled with company policies written, put into place, and enforced to prevent individuals from divulging o r even having access to certain information no matter the scenario is the recommended course of action.Next is Denial of Service. According to Conklin, White, Williams, Davis, and Cothren (2012), a Denial of Service (DoS) attack is an attack intended to disrupt a system or service from operating normally. The attacker will attempt, through means of crashing the system, closing out a logged on session, or overwhelming a machine with multiple requests that causes the machine to freeze up or as  stated crash. Kudler’s Customer Loyalty Program information could be affected because the program that accesses customer information could be made unavailable by such a DoS attack.This could cause events such as slow terminal responses, systems going offline while updating customer files, and causing system reboots to return to normal operation. This type of attack exploits the weakness of either not having a firewall running in the terminal or server background or a poorly set up fire wall allowing too many network requests to be handled by the system. Kudler’s IT department should be aware of this and conduct a system check to ensure that the firewall allows requests from only internal or authorized external sources.As requested by Kudler Fine Foods, Team B has conducted an examination of the Customer Loyalty Program concerning the possible threats and vulnerabilities to their system. A table presenting these threats and vulnerabilities as well as the areas of the system affected has been made available for review. In addition, a summary of the top two critical threats that must be addressed by Kudler Fine Foods has been provided.

Global Financial Corporation Essay

Global Financial Corporation (GF) a subsidiary of Global Equipment Company (GEC) is tasked with handling financing for those customers who wish to purchase GEC heavy equipment. Currently GF only processes 51% of the leases within the â€Å"10 days or less† time frame, with some loans taking up above 41 days. Ms. Rodriguez, the Vice President of GF has been directed to decrease loan processing time to 10 days or less with the current staff she has. The current structure of the analysis and evaluation stage does not maximize staff time effectively and as a consequence creates a bottleneck in the process. We recommend switching to a case manager structure. lLan applications can be processed and completed in approximately 3 days. This would allow for an increase in volume to 255 without adding staff (assuming 60% are remain new applications), which is a 16.9% increase, exceeding the 10% anticipated application increase. Background Global Financial Corporation (GF) a subsidiary of Global Equipment Company (GEC) is tasked with handling financing for those customers who wish to purchase GEC heavy equipment. Due to the expense of the equipment many customers chose to finance the purchase with a lease agreement. Currently these loans are processed at GF Bakersfield location, which employs 14 people. A competitor of GEC has promised processing of financing in â€Å"10 days or less†. Currently GF only processes 51% of the leases within the â€Å"10 days or less† time frame, with some loans taking up above 41 days. Ms. Rodriguez, the Vice President of GF has been directed to decrease loan processing time with the current staff she has. Problems The Bakersfield office is operating at only 86% of capacity utilizing 2990.5 hours of processing time (full capacity 3485 hours). In October they processed 218 applications, 89 were standards and 129 were News. The analysis by region shows that Region 1 is handling the most applications at 78 (52 new, highest number among the different regions), averaging 126.7 hours which, equates to 20.1 days. Region 2 is only handling a total of 66 applications (35 new) with an average processing time of 5.7 days, and Region 3 handling 74 applications (42 new), averaging 8.7 days. The Northeast office handles about 35% more applications with essentially the same staff. Only 51% of the applications are processed within the 10 day or less requirement. Analysis of the Current Processing Steps 1. Analysis and evaluation stage is a single channel, interest rate multi channel, loan terms single channel, and final issuing a multichannel. (Exhibit A)The current structure of the analysis and evaluation stage does not maximize staff time effectively and as a consequence creates a bottleneck in the process. With the single channel structure loan applications are unevenly distributed among teams and create higher idle time for teams with less volume of loan applications to process. Utilization among regions varies greatly between 73% – 95%. The following observation of the current structure was achieved using the MMK model (See exhibit B): * Expected wait time in the system for an application in Region 1 is approximately 37 days, with actual processing time of 14.10 hours. This is where the bottleneck occurs as it takes the evaluation team over 16 days out of the 37 to perform the review of 78 applications. * Expected wait time in the system for an application in Region 2 is approximately 11 days, with an actual processing time of 13.40 hours. Of the three Regions, Region 2 processed the least applications of 66 during the quarter being reviewed. With a utilization rate of 73%, Region 2 experienced the most idle time in the evaluation process. * Expected wait time in the system for an application in Region 3 was approximately 15 days, with an actual processing time of 13.56 hours. With utilization rate of 84%, this Region has the ability to handle an increase in applications. * Each region utilized over ten days of average time in system and showed bottlenecks. 2.  Interest rate stage is a multi channel process and is working effectively. Applications are processed quickly and are usually turned over to the next step within 30 minutes. The utilization rate is consistent at 64%, which means that this staff member can continue to devote only half of his time to this task. 3.  Loan terms stage is a single channel and has similar issues as the analysis and evaluation department. It creates bottleneck and work is unevenly distributed. 4. Final issuing stage is an effective multichannel process with a consistently high utilization percentage. Each application takes less than 4 hours to process and utilizes time consistently at 93% of capacity. Alternatives Redistribute the staff to eliminate the bottlenecks in the process. Automate the input of information into a computer database at the sales level eliminating duplicate entry. * Generic queue would decrease processing time to 9 days. Evaluation will drastically reduce to 2 days of processing, increasing utilization and reducing idle time. Active time in the system will be reduced to 13.72 hours. Change all stages to a multiple, multiphase channel (Exhibit C &D). There would still bottleneck from the evaluation stage. * Case manager would increase active time of application to 18.5 hours; however, significantly reduce queuing time to approximately 3 days. This is assuming there are no teams during the evaluation stage and that the average time would double to 9.5 hours, which may not be the case. Change to multiple channel – assignment – multiphase. (Exhibit E &F) Eliminate bottleneck, service rate of 22.2 per FTE, per quarter. Recommendation We recommend switching to a case manager structure. This would mean that one person will be responsible for the completion of a loan application (Exhibit E). This will provide for most efficient way to minimize idle time and maximize utilization rate. Loan applications can be processed and completed in approximately 3 days. This would allow for an increase in volume to 255 without adding staff (assuming 60% are remain new applications), which is a 16.9% increase, exceeding the 10% anticipated application increase.

Tattoos in Society

Tattoos in Society Even though tattoos are sometimes viewed as unprofessional and offensive, tattoos are just a form of art because tattoos should not hinder someone from anything in life and people with tattoos are just as human as everyone else. Tattoos have been around for a long time and have always been a subject that causes conflicts and contradictions, both negatively and positively. Some companies do not allow their employees to have visible tattoos, some do. There are jobs out there that are strict with the dress code and grooming conduct. Where I work, one of the dress code restrictions are that if you do have visible tattoos or body art, they are to be covered by either band-aid or sleeves, if anyone has a tattoo or piercing other than the ears they have to cover them up with a band aid or wear clothing that cover the tattoos. On the flip side there are other jobs that do not have a problem at all with employees having visible tattoos. They are allowed to have then and show them freely. Society is forced to make a choice as to whether they should accept them or not. People now days especially those of younger ages, are more open to the idea of tattoos and the reason for having them. There are still people that believe that having a tattoo either means that you are a bad person or that you’ve been to jail, or that people use them as a way to rebel against society. Individuals who think that about a person are stereotyping without knowing the real meaning of them. Whatever the reason is for getting a tattoo be ready to get attention from it, it might be in a good way or in a bad way. There are many different reasons why people get tattoos. In ancient times tattoos were mainly used as status symbols, amulets, and signs of religion. Now days they are mainly used as a form of expression, adornments, a way to show their individuality, or also as a declaration of love. People get tattoos with their loved ones name or a symbol that would represent them. They also get pictures of things that have a special meaning to them or something that reminds them of something important in their lives. Religious tattoos are very common in some religions and in others they are een as a sin or a way to rebel against your religion, for example in the Buddhist and Hindu religions tattoos are a big part of their religion. They use them to represent their culture and their religious beliefs. In the Christian and Jewish religion tattoos are seen as a bad thing to do to your body, they believe that the body should be kept clean or without any modifications. For some individuals peer pressure from the new society to have tattoos makes them want t o get one even when it means to break your religious rules. In the Hindu religion the women get really creative tattoos in different parts of their bodies like on their hands. These are usually done when they get married, the tattoo artist will create a design on the palm of the brides hand and in the design they incorporate the name of the bride the groom has to find it first in order for them to consume their marriage. These traditions are still used today just like they were used for thousands of years. As time goes by tattoos are being accepted more in society, and they are seen differently. There will always be those who still disagree with them and that are still against them and that they would judge those who have them. Tattoos have been around for years. We believed that the oldest known tattoos have been found on Egyptian mummies, until in 1991 there was a mummy that was named The Ice Man and it is believed to be about 5,200 years old. It was discovered in the Italian-Austrian border. In Egypt, scientists have discovered the oldest tattooing tools dating back to 1450 BC. The oldest tattooed mummies found were mostly women it seems that men were not getting as many tattoos as women did. Excavators believed that these women were marked because it was believed that they were woman of â€Å"dubious status† as the author Joann Fletcher from the Smithsonian magazine mentioned it. This could be a reasonable reason for having found more mummies that were women. The tools used back in ancient times were described to be a sharp point set in a wooden handle, flattened needles that when tied together would provide repeated patterns of multiple dots. Now the tools have evolved but are still the same concept a needle that pierces the skin repeatedly creating the same effect on the skin. It was a painful process back then and it has not changed. You get severe burning when getting the tattoo and sometimes the person cannot take the pain and they have to stop the process, o they are left with a tattoo that is halve way and the they have to go through the removal process if they wish to remove it. Although the tools are more advanced the pain you get when getting a tattoo is still the same. The most used color in the Egyptian culture since ancient times has been black and in other cultures it has been the brighter colors that were most common. Now all of the colors are as equally popular. There are some that are more popular than others like Red, Green, Yellow, Blue, and White these colors are usually used as tint. There are different types of pigments that are used now days, there are organic based, mineral based, and plastic based, and the plastic based pigments are the one’s used for brighter colors. The ink used is usually FDA approved but there are still places that use the illegal ink, some of the ink that people use is not for the skin and this will result in an infection. As time goes by the pigments fade in the skin as they have sun exposure and with time the pigment goes deeper into the dermis so the image fades and becomes less recognizable. The colors that are more likely to fade are red, yellow, and pink. You can use sunscreen lotion to help protect the skin from the sun that in the long run will help maintain the look of the tattoo and it will help from fading. One of the cons of tattoos other than the rejection from society is the bad side of tattoo removal. When you decide that you made a bad choice on a tattoo or you decide it’s not something you want anymore you have the choice to remove it with a laser. The procedure is said to be pain full and the tattoos are not removed in its entirety it still leaves a scar. You also run the risk of catching an infection when getting the tattoos since the skin is getting pierced several times and it is left open after the tattoo is done. The worst case scenario would be if you catch HIV, this happens when a person that is infected with this deadly virus has gotten a tattoo and the tattoo artist did not disinfect the needle properly so the next person that gets a tattoo will run the risk of getting infected. The different countries that use tattoos the most are Japan, Samoa, Africa, and New Zealand. They all have different parts of the body that they prefer to get tattoos; in New Zealand they tattoo the face to represent status, lines of decent and tribal affiliations. These tattoos are called â€Å"Moko†. In India and Thailand they preferred tattoos on the arms and legs they use the tattoos to show strength. In Africa they used tattoos in a different way; since it is very hard to see the tattoos on their dark skin they would make indents in the skin like Braille. In ancient Greece and Rome the Persians would tattoo the woman with exotic beauty marks. In Central America the Mayas would use tattoos as a sign of courage. The most common tattoos now days are those of the zodiac signs, names, pictures of family members, or someone they admire. In the ancient times the most common tattoos were of symbols that were used as amulets or were part of the religion. Now most tattoos are colorful and there are even tattoos that glow in the dark. These are not so common since you can only see then under a black light; they are becoming very popular in clubs. Tattoos have evolved throughout time and people become more and more fascinated by them. Society will always have different opinions about tattoos, People’s religions and their different beliefs will always play a major roll in the way people perceive tattoos and those who have them. Society should consider the opinion of the opposite side before judging and before stereotyping someone. The people that have tattoos should also consider the other persons point of view and their reasons for not liking a tattoo or not wanting a tattoo. If we educate ourselves more about the reasons for some to have them and the reasons of those that oppose to them we would be more open to the subject of tattoos. http://www. smithsonianmag. com/history-archaeology/tattoo. html http://historyoftattoos. org/ http://www. essortment. com/all/historyoftatto_rkyb. htm http://www. colourlovers. com/blog/category/articles http://www. livestrong. com/article/12437-tattoos-and-tattooing/

HRM and the External Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

HRM and the External Environment - Essay Example Markets have expanded rapidly, transcending all boundaries and going beyond a local and even a national scale, to a more global level. Furthermore, technological advances have also greatly influenced and shaped the socioeconomic sphere today. That is to say, market expansion and technological progress have made the economy a much more challenging one today. For example, now, it is much harder to keep track of the latest fashions and trends because the producer does not directly know the consumer, and hence cannot gauge the consumer’s latest tastes or feelings towards a product (Houseman, pp. 149-170, 2001). Moreover, since there are many indirect links in marketing today, the ‘loyalty’ factor that was characteristic of a buyer-seller relationship and that used to work heavily in favour of some suppliers is no longer there, and there is an increased pressure on the companies to do well to keep their consumers satisfied. Now, there is a much greater pressure on firm s than before to deliver, in that there is increased competition and to thrive – or even survive – in their fields, firms must not only perform well, but also perform better than their competitors perform. Furthermore, trends have also changed greatly as new tastes and fashions grip society, and consumers’ demands are constantly altering, forcing businesses to adapt to them and provide products and services that fit their latest needs and demands (Houseman, pp. 149-170, 2001). Overall, in an economic environment where competition is paramount, consumer satisfaction is of the utmost importance to a business’s returns and so, to keep up with this pace, businesses must cater to new demands, and adapt to cost-cutting and more productive strategies to maximize status and profit. Naturally, to keep abreast of this faster moving market, businesses have had to address their strategies and alter their policies. These changes include an assessment of the production process, evaluation of employees, research etc., but one of the biggest changes made to the structure of the businesses has been to promote and increase greater flexibility in the workplace (Houseman, pp. 149-170, 2001). Workforce flexibility refers to â€Å"an organisation’s ability to adapt its human resources in a manner appropriate to increasingly changing environmental conditions† (Houseman, pp. 149-170, 2001). This approach allows a business to allocate tasks based on which jobs on an agenda require the most attention, for example, deciding the product that requires more work forces at a certain time. In addition, more work forces can come under hiring if demand calls. This is a very efficient strategy as unforeseen human resources staffing needs can be met without any significant loss to the business, and at the same time, workers earn more in terms of skills and training in other areas of their work as well. Need for an organisational restructure may come abou t due to a sudden increase in demand, or a certain, unexpected problem in the production line. For example, during a slow hour, cashiers could be used to help stock shelves, this is efficient because no workers are left idle, and a faster way to marketing can be approached (Wood, pp. 367-413, 1999). At other times, for example, if the supermarket is very busy and has a massive in-flow of customers, workers that were,