Long Jump Essay

It was hypothesized that some characteristics of the positions adopted by long jumpers during the final strides of the approach are significantly related to the distance of the jump,position variables were significantly related to the distance of the jump, through their relationships with the velocity of the approach and the vertical velocity of the CG at takeoff into the jumphe techniques used during the final strides of the approach, the role of elastic energy in the takeoff, the initiation and control of the jumper’s angular momentum, and the techniques used in the landing. This is very unfortunate because the takeoff phase is by far the most critical of the four phases to the success of the performance (Linger, 1980; and Stewart, 1981; Ramey, 1982). Finally, in Stage 4 the jumper learns to coordinate the swinging body segments with the movements previously learned. Each of these distances as well as the total distance jumped is greatly affected by the takeoff variableThe flight distance, which accounts for most of the total distance, is also determined by a number of takeoff variables, the most important being the resultant takeoff velocity. From the discussion above it is clear that in order o maximize flight distance, the takeoff actions must be Even though the landing comes at the end of the jump, the distance attained during this phase is also influenced by the actions performed during the takeoff. Similar to the takeoff distance, the landing distance is also determined by the jumper’s physique and body’s configuration at touchdown. T he optimal configuration at touchdown is one which allows the jumper to maximize distance by extending his/her legs as far as possible in front of the center of mass without falling backward (Dyson, 1977) precisely timed and coordinated

Night World : Soulmate Chapter 3

I he sleek white limousine raced through the night like a dolphin underwater, carrying Thierry Des-couedres away from the airport. It was taking him to hisLas Vegas mansion, white walls and palm trees, limpid blue fountains and tiled terraces. Rooms full of artwork and museum-quality furniture. Everything anyone could ask for. He shut his eyes and leaned back against the crimson cushions, wishing he were somewhere else. â€Å"How wasHawaii , sir?† The driver's voice came from the front seat. Thierry opened his eyes. Nilsson was a good driver. He seemed to be about Thierry's own age, around nineteen, with a neat ponytail, dark glasses despite the fact that it was nighttime, and a discreet expression. â€Å"Wet, Nilsson,† Thierry said softly. He stared out the window. â€Å"Hawaiiwas very†¦ wet.† â€Å"But you didn't find what you were looking for.† â€Å"No. I didn't find what I was looking for †¦ again.† â€Å"I'm sorry, sir.† â€Å"Thank you, Nilsson.† Thierry tried to look past his own reflection in the window. It was disturbing, seeing that young man with the white-blond hair and the old, old eyes looking back at him. He had such a pensive expression †¦ so lost and so sad. Like somebody always looking for something he can't find, Thierry thought. He turned away from the window in determination. â€Å"Everything been going all right while I've been gone?† he asked, picking up his cellular phone. Work. Work always helped. Kept you busy, kept your mind off things, kept you away from yourself, basically. â€Å"Fine, I think, sir. Mr. James and Miss Poppy are back.† â€Å"That's good. They'll make thenext Circle Daybreak meeting.† Thierry's finger hovered over a button on the phone, considering whom to call. Whose need might be the most urgent. But before he could touch it, the phone buzzed. Thierry pressed send and held it to his ear. â€Å"Thierry.† â€Å"Sir? It's me, Lupe. Can you hear me?† The voice was faint and broken by static, but distant as it was, Thierry could hear that the caller sounded weak. â€Å"Lupe? Are you all right?† â€Å"I got in a fight, sir. I'm a little torn up.† She gave a gasping chuckle. â€Å"But you should see the other wolf.† Thierry reached for a leather-bound address book and a goldMont Blanc pen. â€Å"That's not funny, Lupe. You shouldn't be fighting.† â€Å"I know, sir, but-â€Å" â€Å"You've really got to restrain yourself.† â€Å"Yes, sir, but-â€Å" â€Å"Tell me where you are, and I'll have somebody pick you up. Get you to a doctor.† Thierry made a practice mark with the pen. No ink came out. He stared at the nib of it in mild disbelief. â€Å"You buy an eight-hundred-dollar pen and then it doesn't write,† he murmured. â€Å"Sir, you're not listening to me. You don't understand. I've found her.† Thierry stopped trying to make the pen write. He stared at it, at his own long fingers holding the chunky, textured gold barrel, knowing that this sight would be impressed on his memory as if burned in with a torch. â€Å"Did you hear me, sir? I've found her.† When his voice came out at last, it was strangely distant. â€Å"Are you sure?† â€Å"Yes. Yes, sir, I'm sure. She's got the mark and everything. Her name is Hannah Snow.† Thierry reached over the front seat and grabbed the astonished Nilsson with a hand like iron. He said very quietly in the driver's ear, â€Å"Do you have a pencil?† â€Å"A pencil?† â€Å"Something that writes, Nilsson. An instrument to make marks on paper. Do you have one? Quick, because if I lose this connection, you're fired.† â€Å"I've got a pen, sir.† One-handed, Nilsson fished in his pocket and produced a Bic. â€Å"Your salary just doubled.† Thierry took the pen and sat back. â€Å"Where are you, Lupe?† â€Å"The Badlands of Montana, sir. Near a town called Medicine Rock. But there's something else, sir.† Lupe's voice seemed less steady all of a sudden. â€Å"The other wolf that fought me-he saw her, too. And he got away.† Thierry's breath caught. â€Å"I see.† â€Å"I'm sorry.† Lupe was suddenly talking quickly, in a burst of emotion. â€Å"Oh, Thierry, I'm sorry. I tried to stop him. But he got away-and now I'm afraid he's off telling†¦ her.† â€Å"You couldn't help it, Lupe. And I'll be there myself, soon. I'll be there to take care of-everything.† Thierry looked at the driver. â€Å"We've got to make some stops, Nilsson. First, the Harman store.† â€Å"The witch place?† â€Å"Exactly. You can triple your salary if you get there fast.† When Hannah got to Paul Winfield's house the next afternoon, the sheriff was there. Chris Grady was an honest-to-goodness Western sheriff, complete with boots, broad-brimmed hat, and vest. The only thing missing, Hannah thought as she walked around to the back of the house where Paul was hammering boards across the broken windows, was a horse. â€Å"Hi, Chris,† she said. The sheriff nodded, sun-weathered skin crinkling at the corners of her eyes. She took off her hat and ran a hand through shoulder-length auburn hair. â€Å"I see you found yourself a couple of giant timber wolves, Hannah. You're not hurt, are you?† Hannah shook her head no. She tried to summon up a smile but failed. â€Å"I think they were maybe wolf-dogs or something. Pure-bred wolves aren't so aggressive.† â€Å"That print wasn't made by any wolf-dog,† Chris said. On the concrete flagstones outside the window there was a paw print made in blood. It was similar to a dog's footprint, with four pads plus claw marks showing. But it was more than six inches long by just over five inches wide. â€Å"Judging from that, it's the biggest wolf ever heard of around here, bigger than the White Wolf of the Judith.† The sheriff's eyes drifted to the empty rectangles of the broken windows. â€Å"Big and mean. You people be careful. Something's going on here that I don't like. I'll let you know if we catch your wolves.† She nodded to Paul, who was sucking his finger after banging it with the hammer. Then she set her hat back on her head and strode off to her car. Hannah stared at the paw print silently. Everyone else thought there was something going on. Everyone but her. Because there can't be, she thought. Because it has to all be in my head. It has to be something I can figure out and fix quick†¦ something I can control. â€Å"Thanks for seeing me again so soon,† she said to Paul. â€Å"Oh†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He gestured, tucking the hammer under his arm. â€Å"It's no trouble. I want to get to the bottom of what's upsetting you as much as you do. And,† he admitted under his breath as he let them in the house, â€Å"I don't actually have any other patients.† Hannah followed him down a hallway and into his office. It was dim inside, the boards across the windows reducing the late afternoon sunlight to separate oddly-angled shafts. She sat in the contoured chair. â€Å"The only thing is, how can we get to the bottom of it? I don't understand what's upsetting me, either. It's all too strange. I mean, on the one hand, I'm clearly insane.† She spoke flatly as Paul took his seat on the opposite side of the desk. â€Å"I have crazy dreams, I think the world is going to end, I have the feeling I'm being followed, and yesterday I started hearing voices in my head. On the other hand, me being insane doesn't explain wolves jumping through the windows.† â€Å"Voices?† Paul murmured, looking around for a pencil. Then he gave up and faced her. â€Å"Yeah, I know. I understand the temptation. Last night after having those wolves stare at me, I was about ready to believe that there had to be something†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He trailed off and shook his head, lifting papers on his desk to glance under them. â€Å"Something†¦ really strange going on. But now it's daytime, and we're all rational people, and we realize that we have to deal with things rationally. And, actually, you know, I think I may have come up with a rational explanation.† He found a pencil and with an expression of vast relief began to waggle it between his fingers. Hope stirred inside Hannah. â€Å"An explanation?† â€Å"Yeah. I mean, first of all, it's possible that your premonitions and things are entirely unconnected with the wolves. People never want to believe in coincidence, but it happens. But even if the two things are connected-well, I don't think that means that anybody's after you. It could be that there's some sort of disturbance in this area-something that's stirring up the whole ecosystem, making wolves crazy, doing who knows what to other animals†¦ and that you're somehow sensing this. You're attuned to it somehow. Maybe it's earthquake weather or-or sunspots or negative ions in the air. But whatever it is, it's causing you to think that some terrible disaster is coming. That the world is ending or that you're about to be killed.† Hannah felt the hope sink inside her, and it was more painful than not having had it at all. â€Å"I suppose that could happen,† she said. She didn't want to hurt his feelings. â€Å"But how does it explain this?† She reached into the canvas bag she carried instead of a purse and pulled out a folded slip of paper. Paul took the paper and read it. † ‘They've seen you. They're going to tell him. This is your last chance to get away.' † He stuck the pencil in his mouth. â€Å"Hmmm †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I found it this morning wrapped around my toothbrush,† Hannah said quietly. â€Å"And it's your handwriting?† She shut her eyes and nodded. â€Å"And you don't remember writing it.† â€Å"I didn't write it. I know I didn't.† She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. â€Å"The notes scare me. Everything that's happening scares me. I don't understand any of it, and I don't see how I'm supposed to fix it if I don't understand it.† Paul considered, chewing on the pencil gently. â€Å"Look-whatever's happening, whoever's writing the notes, I think your subconscious mind is trying to tell you something. The dreams are evidence of that. But it's not telling you enough. There's something I was going to suggest, something I don't exactly believe in, but that we can try anyway. Something to get to your subconscious directly so we can ask it what's going on.† Get to her subconscious directly†¦. Hannah held her breath. â€Å"Hypnosis?† Paul nodded. â€Å"I'm not a big hypnosis fan. It's not some magical trance like TV and the movies want you to believe. It's just a state of mind where you're a little more relaxed, a little more likely to be able to remember threatening things without choking up. But it's nothing you can't achieve yourself by doing breathing exercises at home.† Hannah wasn't happy. Hypnosis still seemed to mean giving up control. If not to Paul, then to her own subconscious. But what else am I supposed to do? She sat and listened to the quiet helplessness in her mind for a moment. Not a peep from the cool wind voice or the crystal voice-and that was good, as far as she was concerned. Still, it pointed up the fact that she didn't have an alternative. She looked at Paul. â€Å"Okay. Let's do it.† â€Å"Great.† He stood, then reached for a book on the corner of his desk. â€Å"Always assuming I remember how†¦. Okay, why don't you lie down on the couch?† Hannah hesitated, then shrugged. If I'm going to do it, I might as well do it right. She lay down and stared at the dark beams in the ceiling. In spite of how miserable she was feeling, she had an almost irresistible impulse to giggle. Here she was on a real psychologist's couch, waiting to be hypnotized. Her friends at school would never consider even going to a shrink-out here inMontana craziness was okay. After all, you had to be a little eccentric to be living in this hard land in the first place. What wasn't okay was admitting you couldn't deal with it on your own, paying too much attention to it, asking for help. And allowing yourself to be hypnotized was even worse. They all think I'm the most independent and together of any of them. If they could see me now. â€Å"Okay, I want you to get comfortable and shut your eyes,† Paul said. He was perched with one hip on the edge of his desk, leg swinging, book in hand. His voice was quiet and soothing-the professional voice. Hannah shut her eyes. â€Å"Now I want you to imagine yourself floating. Just floating and feeling very relaxed. There's nothing you need to think about and nowhere you need to go. And now you're seeing yourself enveloped by a beautiful violet light. It's bathing your entire body and it's making you more and more relaxed †¦Ã¢â‚¬  The couch was surprisingly comfortable. Its curves fit under her, supporting her without being intrusive. It was easy to imagine that she was floating, easy to imagine the light around her. â€Å"And now you feel yourself floating down deeper†¦ into a deeper state of relaxation†¦ and you're surrounded by a deep blue light. The blue light is all around you, shining through you, and it's making you more comfortable, more relaxed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The soft soothing voice went on, and at its direction Hannah imagined waves of colored light bathing her body. Deep blue, emerald green, golden yellow, glowing orange. Hannah saw it all. It was amazing and effortless; her mind just showed her the pictures. And as the colors came and went she felt herself becoming more and more relaxed, warm and almost weightless. She couldn't feel the couch underneath her any longer. She was floating on light. â€Å"And now you're seeing a ruby red light, very deep, very relaxing. You're so relaxed; you're calm and comfortable, and everything feels safe. Nothing will upset you; you can answer all my questions without ever feeling distressed. Do you understand me?† â€Å"Yes,† Hannah said. She was aware of saying it, but it wasn't exactly as if she had said it. She wasn't aware of planning to say it. Something within her seemed to be answering Paul using her voice. But it wasn't frightening. She still felt relaxed, floating in the ruby light. â€Å"All right. I'm now speaking to Hannah's subconscious. You will be able to remember things that Hannah's waking mind isn't aware of-even things that have been repressed. Do you understand?† â€Å"Yes.† Again, the voice seemed to come before Hannah decided to speak. â€Å"Good. Now, I've got this last note here, the one you found wrapped around your toothbrush this morning. Do you remember this note?† â€Å"Yes.† Of course. â€Å"Okay, that's good. And now I want you to go back in your mind, back to the time that this note was written.† This time Hannah was aware of a need to speak. â€Å"But how can I do that? I don't know when it was written. I didn't write-â€Å" â€Å"Just-just-just let go, Hannah,† Paul said, overriding her. His voice soothing again, he added, â€Å"Feel relaxed, feel yourself becoming very relaxed, and let your conscious mind go. Just tell yourself to go back to the time this note was written. Don't worry about how. See the ruby light and think 1 will go back.' Are you doing that?† â€Å"Yes,† Hannah said. Go back, she told herself gamely. Just relax and go back, okay? â€Å"And now, a picture is beginning to form in your mind. You are seeing something. What are you seeing?† Hannah felt something inside her give way. She seemed to be falling into the ruby right. Her ordinary mind was suspended; it seemed to have been shuttled off to the side somewhere. In this odd dreamlike state, nothing could surprise her. Paul's voice was gently insistent. â€Å"What are you seeing?† Hannah saw it. A tiny picture that seemed to open up, unfold as she stared at it. â€Å"I see myself,† she whispered. â€Å"Where are you?† â€Å"I don't know. Wait, maybe I'm in my room.† She could see herself, wearing something long and white-a nightgown. No, she was that self, she was in her bedroom, wearing her nightgown. She was in Paul's office, lying on the couch, but she was in her bedroom at the same time. How strange, she thought dimly. â€Å"All right, now the picture will get clearer. You'll begin to see things around you. Just relax and you'll begin to see them. Now, what are you doing?† Without feeling anything-except a kind of distant amusement and resignation-Hannah said, â€Å"Writing a note.† Paul muttered something that sounded like, â€Å"Aha.† But it might have been, â€Å"XJh-huh.† Then he said softly, â€Å"And why are you writing it?† â€Å"I don't know-to warn myself. I have to warn myself.† â€Å"About what?† Hannah felt herself shake her own head helplessly. â€Å"Okay†¦ what are you feeling as you write it?† â€Å"Oh †¦Ã¢â‚¬  That was easy. Paul was undoubtedly expecting her to say something like â€Å"fear† or â€Å"anxiety.† But that wasn't the strongest thing she was feeling. Not the strongest at all. â€Å"Longing,† Hannah whispered. She moved her head restlessly on the couch. â€Å"Just-longing.† â€Å"I beg your pardon?† â€Å"I want-so much †¦ I want†¦Ã¢â‚¬  . â€Å"What do you want?† â€Å"Him.† It came out as a sob. Hannah's ordinary mind watched somewhere in amazement, but Hannah's body was entirely taken over by the feeling, racked with it. â€Å"I know it's impossible. It's danger and death to me. But I don't care. I can't help it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I mean, you're feeling very relaxed. You're very calm and you can answer my questions. Who is this person that you're longing for?† â€Å"The one who comes,† Hannah said softly and hopelessly. â€Å"He's wicked and evil †¦ I know that. She explained it all to me. And I know he'll kill me. The way he always has. But I want him.† She was trembling. She could feel her own body radiating heat-and she could hear Paul swallow. Somehow in this expanded state of consciousness she seemed to be able to see him, as if she could be everywhere at once. She knew he was sitting there on the edge of the desk, looking at her dazedly, bewildered by the transformation in the young woman on his couch. She knew he could see her, her face pale and glowing from inner heat, her breath coming quickly, her body gripped by a fine muscular tremor. And she knew he was stirred-and frightened. â€Å"Oh, boy.† Paul's breath came out and he shifted on the desk. He bowed his head, then lifted it, looking for a pencil. â€Å"Okay, I have to admit, I'm lost. Let's just go back to the beginning here. You feel that somebody is after you, and that he's tried to kill you before? Some old boyfriend who's stalking you, maybe?† â€Å"No. He hasn't tried to kill me. He has killed me.† â€Å"He has killed you.† Paul bit his pencil. He muttered, â€Å"I should have known better than to have started this. I don't believe in hypnosis anyway.† â€Å"And he's going to do it again. I'll die before my seventeenth birthday. It's my punishment for loving him. It always happens that way.† â€Å"Right. Okay. Okay, let's try something really basic here†¦. Does this mystery guy have a name?† Hannah lifted a hand and let it drop. â€Å"When?† she whispered. â€Å"What?† â€Å"When?† â€Å"When what? What?† Paul shook his head. â€Å"Oh, hell-â€Å" Hannah spoke precisely. â€Å"He's used different names at different times. He's had-hundreds, I guess. But I think of him as Thierry. Thierry Descouedres. Because that's the one he's used for the last couple of lifetimes.† There was a long silence. Then Paul said, â€Å"The last couple of †¦ ?† â€Å"Lifetimes. It may still be his name now. The last time I saw him he said he wouldn't bother to change it anymore. He wouldn't bother to hide any longer.† Paul said, â€Å"Oh, God.† He stood, walked to the window, and put his head in his hands. Then he turned back to Hannah. â€Å"Are we talking about †¦ I mean, tell me we're not talking about†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He paused and then his voice came out soft and boneless. â€Å"The Big R? You know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He winced. â€Å"Reincarnation?† A long silence. Then Hannah heard her own voice say flatly, â€Å"He hasn't been reincarnated.† â€Å"Oh.† Paul's breath came out in relief. â€Å"Well, thank God. You had me scared there for a minute.† â€Å"He's been alive all this time,† Hannah said. â€Å"He isn't human, you know.†

The Human Brain and Philosophy

As early as the 70s science had established right brain superiority at performing visual and spatial tasks, such as drawing three-dimensional shapes, and left brain specialization for language, speech, and problem solving. (Gazzaniga,1996). By 2005, Gazzaniga said scientific research has proved that the brain could insists on created belief. He said research findings tend to show that the left-hemisphere interpreter is not only a master of belief creation, but it will stick to its belief system no matter what.In this context the scientist in effect is also warning us that the brain could serve to make humans slaves of their philosophical or religious belief: Any time our left brain is confronted with information that does not jibe with our self-image, knowledge, or conceptual framework, our left-hemisphere interpreter creates a belief to enable all incoming information to make sense and mesh with our ongoing idea of our self. The interpreter seeks patterns, order, and causal relation ships. (Gazzaniga, 2005).The implications for religion and philosophy are tremendous, but more striking with recent findings is that ancient philosophers without the aid of neuro-cognitive science research have long before seen some semblance of similarity with what science now is uncovering. Philosophy of the rationalist schools of thought expounded extensively on how we can perceive truths: through experience or by reason, and/or a combination of both. (Empiricism, Rationalism, or a mix of both thinking. ) The dialogue ranged from the point that reason determines knowledge to the extreme position that reason is the unique path to knowledge.Brain and Philosophy 2 But going even further back to ancient philosophy, Socrates expounded long ago on the Greek belief that the soul had an irrational and a rational side, and that the ideal would be to develop the rational dominating the irrational. The Platonic dictum of know thyself, is in effect the rational mastering the modern brain to mean man's full potential. Descartes later also upheld reason and the scientific method, asserting that such empirical experiences such as dreams (among the experiential but unreliable illusionary reality) cannot determine reality.Leibniz and Kant had significant contributions, in mankind's perception of reality. In trying to make sense of the many opinions on reality and experience, Leibniz at one point argued that the universal reality is the best that the Creator can make out of the universe—a case or sort of optimization — explanation that seemed to have tried to make sense out of the rational and empirical explanations of what the mind perceives as chaotic. Philosophy tries to make sense out of everything, using argument or reason — and experience, but as Socrates seemed to have proved long ago, we always ended up in the inquiry where we began.Ultimately what common source all these arguments come from is clearly the brain itself, whose physiology and funct ions are magnificently being unraveled by science. Ironically Gazzaniga seemed to be also warning us that what inhibits the unraveling is right there in our brains too, in the left hemisphere which resists the inconvenience of new findings that challenge our long held beliefs. . If we shall let the full flowering of the rational to proceed, as Plato and Socrates had long espoused, it looks like we're the better for it. This unites the end of philosophy with what our scientists are trying to help us find out.(2005) Brain and Philosophy 3 References 1 Gazzanga,M. â€Å"Whole Brain Interpreter†: Science News, February 24, 1996. Retrieved October 15, 2008 http://pegasus. cc. ucf. edu/~fle/gazzaniga. html 2 Gazzanga,M. The Ethical Brain by Michael Gazzaniga . (Chicago. : Dana Press 2005) ,145-55. Retrieved October 15,2008 from http://www. press. uchicago. edu/Misc/Chicago/1932594019. html 3. Definitions of rationalism and empiricism used the Stanford encyclopedia Retrieved October 15,2008 http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/rationalism-emp

Corporate finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Corporate finance - Essay Example 1. The argument of the purchasing manger that there would be savings of $96000 over a period of eight years holds no grounds. First of all it is not clear whether manager is arguing the saving in absolute terms (net cash flow) or in terms of profits. The manger has calculated the savings of $96000 as under: The calculations of purchasing manager are absolutely wrong, as he is taking total cost of manufacturing of the present in- house activity and comparing it with only cost of purchasing the component from Amalgament Components. Manufacturing costs and purchasing price are altogether incomparable costs. He has altogether ignored the many expenses required to be added to the cost of purchases to make it comparable to manufacturing cost, like depreciation on Scanner of $8000, freight inward, assembling cost of the product, salaries of administrative and selling staff and many other assembling, administrative, selling expenses, and even the taxation outflows. 2. The suggestion of selling the machinery is absolutely illogical. The machinery was purchased only one year back for $45000 and selling only for $5000 is no good suggestion, considering the fact that the firm would suffer a loss to the tune of $35000 after taking into account capital allowance for two years. If at all machinery is to sold, it should be done at a time when the proposal of buying the component actually start bringing profits, as the machinery has got few alternative uses as per production manager. 3. The argument about only 60% use for current 4 years of warehouse holds grounds when $50000 is planned to be spent on extension of warehousing facilities after the fourth year, particularly when a capital allowance can be claimed @ 4%. The matter needs serious consideration while evaluating the buying option. 1. The argument of production manager that present machinery holds 8 years of useful life, and also machinery could be used for alternative purposes as well are valuable arguments from

How Are Women Influenced by Contemporary Islamic Movements Today Research Paper

How Are Women Influenced by Contemporary Islamic Movements Today - Research Paper Example A historical insight reveals that the inception of the concept of ‘Islamic Feminism’ had its roots in Egyptian society. In the modern context, the revolt of women in the Muslim society in gaining an equal social and religious image gave a further spurt to the concept of ‘Islamic Feminism’1. The religion of Islam has a considerable impact on the women class of society from time immemorial. Women of the modern period are found to use the same religion to gain a better place in society. The growth of Islamic activism in the Muslim countries is found to render significant impact on woman class of such societies. An observation of religious fundamentalist activities practised in countries like Pakistan, Egypt, Iran and Lebanon reflect on the identification of women as a single and different class in the social order. Moreover, it is found that the Islamic religion is moving forward to earn a close relationship with the issue of anti-women movements throughout the world. To this end, it is observed that the global Muslim society uses women to symbolize their religious solidarity and religious ethnicity. This large amount of stress rendered to identify women as a separate social class and use of them to highlight a religious body dampens the spirit of humanity in women. It is found that women in the Muslim religious society are often tied to issues of social values and code of conducts produced by the conservative practices. Further, the growth of a Muslim state is clos ely believed to be associated with increasing the control over the women class. It is observed that even in the contemporary Muslim world the women are not allowed to have a choice on their dress codes. The women in the Muslim countries have to cover up their faces in a veil, which reflects them to be belonging to a definite religious class. Equally, the women  are governed to bear certain definite social conducts as would reflect them in being Muslims. In regards to setting up a distinct dress code for women, the Muslim religion cites certain specific advantages in regards to Muslim households.

INTERNSHIP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

INTERNSHIP - Essay Example I did get in touch with (name of the person) concerning the issue of internship in (company name). Who briefed me on the need to have a Human Resource Generalist so as to enhance customer services and relations between patients and the staff. During the internship, I would have to perform the following tasks in order to gain the required knowledge. First, I would strive to improve the client staff relation with each other. I would also ensure that we provide quality services to the customers every time. I would also channel for the advocacy of patients with an aim of improving medical providence in the hospitals. My supervisor during the internship period would be (name of the person). He or she would ensure that I carry out my actions as per the guidelines through the evaluation he will submit to my educational institution. The internship is quite beneficial to me as it will help me gain the knowledge and experience of a healthcare administrator in the future. I will utilize the skills acquired from my internship once I complete my studies at the university. It will be upon me to ensure that the relations between the customer and the hospital personnel has improved. The right form of communication will be used whenever passing on information from one section to the other. Would also ensure that the services offered by the company have risen to a considerable level. Together with Master’s degree, I also have other educational qualifications that give me an upper hand in the above-described job opportunity. I graduated from the Gardner-Webb University College Boiling Springs, NC with a Bachelor degree of Science in Health Care Management in December 2012. Personality is vital in the medical field to enhance the success. I am confident of my communication skills both in written and verbal form thus making it easier for me to communicate efficiently with the patients. I also have the

Owning a Computer for Writer Is Not Necessarily, Equal Right to an Essay

Owning a Computer for Writer Is Not Necessarily, Equal Right to an Equal Share of Resources - Essay Example The articles are on the case against helping the poor. The article argues that everyone on the earth has an equal right to an equal share of resources. In the current situation, two-thirds of the nation is poor and the other third comparatively rich with the United States being the richest of all. The article argues on the plans that are made by those countries that are rich and those that are not rich. This brings the difference between the countries. The third article is about sustainability. In the recent situation, the term sustainability has been wrongly used to refer to practices that are reputed to be more environmentally important than others. The term is indispensable and should be used as the cornerstone for all the planning that is used in a country. The axioms of sustainability are defined in the article. The first axiom is that a society that remains to use acute resources untenably will collapse. The second axiom is population growth or growth in the rates of consumption of resources cannot be sustained. The third axiom is that to be sustainable, the use of renewable sources must be preceded at the rate less than or equal to replenishment. The fourth axiom is that the use of nonrenewable energy sources and the rate at which they decline must be greater or equal to the rate of depletion. The last axiom brought about is that sustainability requires that the substance that is introduced into the environment from human ac tivities be reduced and compact harmless to biosphere roles. The issue that all three essays are concerned with is on resources. In the first essay, the argument is on the reasons that make the author not being able to buy a computer.  

Economies of Asia Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Economies of Asia - Assignment Example However, it is clear that the policies were not well thought since by 1959 the communes could not succeed in meeting the demands of the policies (Riskin 117-133).The commune leaders on the other hand could not push its subjects towards achieving the set goals, and some would even be charged for the same. It is evident that the factors of production were not factored in by Mao since the machines produced were not of good quality. Riskin explains how the farm machinery produced were completely destroyed while being used in the farms (117-133). This means that the food produced could not be harvested even with China presenting a perfect environment for agricultural practices. The policies can, therefore, be said to have put more focus on quantity as opposed to quality productions. Riskin explains how the policies could not deal with drought issues on some parts of the country and floods on the other (117-133). Even with high produce from the farms, Riskin explains how starvation occurred in different places in the country, to the extent that the government had to measure food for its citizens (42, 77, 136). In the industrial sector the same issue of not focusing on factors of production was imminent. As seen in the work of Riskin, the backyard furnaces were seen to consume huge amounts of coal (125-126). Since China’s railway system was heavy reliant on coal at the time, the coal driven train suffered a great deal since they did not have enough energy that would be useful for transport form place to place (Riskin 127, 195). Also, it is key to know that the in as much the production of steel was high prior to 1958, the products were of very low quality (Riskin 125-126). A good example is that of the home made utensils such as pots and pans that were made of the lowest quality steel and could not even be recognizable (Riskin 273, 279). It is true that the steel was produced but was

Issues Related To The Auditor Independence Research Paper

Issues Related To The Auditor Independence - Research Paper Example Self-review threats also present threats to independence while advocacy threats may present unbiased opinions on the financial position of the firm. Intimidation threats such as coercion the owners of the firm will hinder the independence of the auditor. Auditor’s independence must be about integrity, objectivity, and skepticism (Basu, 2009). The auditor is expected to monitor the integrity of the financial statements, review the internal financial controls, review the effectiveness of the internal audit department, and provide non-audit services while considering the ethical guidelines concerning the auditor’s work. Rotation of audit staff and partners will safeguard the familiarity threat and minimize self-interest threats to independence (Flood, 2012). In order to maintain independence, the auditors are required by law o maintain integrity, competence, objectivity, performance, and courtesy. The auditor must safeguard himself or herself from self-interest threats by abstaining from any direct or indirect financial interest in the audit work (Flood, 2012). The auditor should not take any loan, the guarantee of a loan from the client, or engage in undue dependence on the total fees paid by the client. ... In this case, the auditor should not be a promoter of the shares or securities of the client and should not act in litigation or solving of disputes with third parties. The auditors must avoid the familiarity threats and observe ethical guidelines that prohibit conflicts of interests such as abstaining from engaging in audit work if the client is a close family member (Adelopo, 2012). The auditor must not accept any hospitality or gifts from the client, the directors or employees of the client (Basu, 2009). Auditors may face intimidation threats such as the threat of replacement due to disagreements on certain accounting principle, dominant personality of senior management, and pressures to reduce the amount of audit work in order to reduce the audit fees.

Think about what it would be like to be a pioneer moving to the West Essay

Think about what it would be like to be a pioneer moving to the West during the 1800s - Essay Example Missionaries, explorers, and traders of the 1830s discovered that the west had fertile land for farming and good hunting opportunities. In the 1840s, miners discovered minerals in the west such as gold, silver, lead, nickel, and iron, factors that provided increased chances for pioneers to get a job in these mines. The forests of the west provided timber for construction and sale to the people in the eastern states. The west also provided good sceneries’ for exploration and adventure and these would inform my decision (Josephson 15). Once I decided to move to the west, I would have prepared for the difficulties I would encounter on my way there. Pioneers packed supplies to last them the length of the journey lest they starved and failed to make it to their destination. Pioneers had to endure cold and snow on their way to the west. Some of their wagons broke down and delayed their arrival. I would confirm my baggage to ensure a successful journey to the land that had great prospects (Josephson

Trial the development of Joe Keller Essay Example for Free

Trial the development of Joe Keller Essay The audiences sympathy for Joe Keller oscillates throughout the play. Ranging from deep compassion to undisputed rage, the audience has plenty of time to view Joe Kellers development as the central character of the novel. His emotional growth from beginning to end facilitates the empathy that the audience shows; hence, Miller uses Keller as a character in order to build up the compassionate side of the audience in order to assemble a fabricated and well thought out character. Firstly, Keller tries to change Annes mind with respect to Stephen, and goes about it in a calm and relaxed manner. He mentions, I want him [Stephen] to know, Annie while hes sitting there I want him to know that when he gets out hes got a place waitin for him. His use of ellipsis is ambivalent, on one hand, it could signify the deep emotion that Keller feels towards Stephen, but on the other hand, another concealed meaning could be that Joe is thinking about what he is saying, and therefore does not want to say anything wrong, and consequently has something to hide, giving him a more ominous figure. However, the repetition of he and him shows how sympathetic he feels towards the incarcerated man, hence giving the audience the impression that Joe Keller has emotions and can therefore be sympathised with. Subsequently, Miller also casually slips in phrases that Keller says in casual conversation that show how passionate and considerate Keller is towards his family. When speaking to Anne about Stephen, he says, with a commanding outburst in high nervousness that A father is a father! This shows how important family is to Keller, however, the commanding outburst and nervousness also suggests that Keller has a hidden motive, and Chris presence may have influenced his body language, which suggests that Keller has done something wrong to be able to lose his son. This plays on the audiences sympathy positively, because the audience can empathise with Kellers love for his family and recognize his individual situation. Thirdly, Keller suggests that Stephen is a helpless coward in a conversation with his son, George, and offensively gives numerous examples in his defence. Keller mentions that Stephen damn near blew us all up with that heater he left burning for two days without water. Emotive words such as damn, blew and burning all have negative implications, giving the impression that Keller was the brains behind the business. The fact that Keller was also driving in, but restrained suggests that he wants to inflict his own ideas and beliefs onto George, but knows that he must restrain himself, giving the same implication that Keller has something to hide. However, this could also be considered as a defensive, rather than an offensive conversation, as George uses a rather accusational tone towards Keller and is studying him thoroughly. Finally, Chris holds great admiration for Keller, but is destroyed once he learns of his fathers terrible secret. When the realisation finally hits, Chris stutters in a broken whisper, Then you did it? The ellipsis shows the amount of thought that went into the phrase, suggesting that he doesnt want his father to be guilty but at the same time, wants to find out the truth. Keller begins to become afraid of him, [with] his deadly insistence suggesting that his son is his biggest asset but also his biggest downfall. This also shows, once again, that nothing is bigger than family to Keller. This conflict of ideologies, Chris with his morals and ethics, and Keller with his persistent cherishing of his family no matter what the cost, creates a disequilibrium within the play. At this point, the audience begins to sympathise with Chris rather than Keller, which diminishes Millers slow build up of Kellers respectability, providing more of a tragic ending to Keller. However, this tragic ending can also be interpreted as a chance to further sympathise with Joe, as his world comes crashing down around him. Ultimately, Keller commits suicide at the end of the novel, resulting in the tragic downfall of Keller. He says, I think to him they were all my sons. This line shows the realisation of his wrongdoings. His morals and ethics are finally shown, as he stares blankly into the piece of paper in his hand. His suicide could represent Keller as taking his responsibilities rather than hiding from them, however, it could also suggest that Keller was a coward and he was merely running away from the problems that he was to face if he did not accept his offences. Evidently, his defensive stance when talking to George, his conflict of beliefs with his son, and his ultimate sacrifice all have a large part to play in Millers manipulation of the audiences sympathy. Keller was a coward and used scapegoats or escapism to run away from his problems, giving the ultimate impression to the audience that Keller as a human is not to be sympathised with. However, his growth as a character and his self-understanding both provide a suitable route to empathise with him, truly showing that the audience can choose whichever interpretation they prefer.

Cathedral written by Raymond Carver Essay Example for Free

Cathedral written by Raymond Carver Essay In the story Cathedral written by Raymond Carver, it seems that stereotypes of the blind form barriers between the blind and the sighted. The man in the story has always had misconceptions of the blind which came from the movies (Carver 1). The title, Cathedral, is significant because it helps the man envision the life of Robert. As Robert, the blind man, entered his life, it was hard for the man to form any bond with Robert due to his visual impairment. The man even created a picture in his mind of what Robert would look like, and how he would act. This is because the man has never had any interaction with a blind person, making him have preconceived ideas about Robert. Having Robert stay at the mans house left the man feeling quite uneasy. Not only was Robert a threat to his wife, he also thought that Robert may be a hassle to deal with. The man stated, I wasnt enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me (Carver 1). Because the man had such strong images in his mind about Robert, the first time he saw Robert caught him by surprise. Roberts appearance was not unordinary, and did not look like a blind person. He wore brown slacks, brown shoes, a light brown shirt, a tie, a sports coat. Spiffy (Carver 32). At this point, the mans ideas about the blind peoples appearance had been contradicted. When the man realized that his assumptions about Robert were false, and that they actually shared some things in common, he began to feel more comfortable with Robert, even being, glad for the company (Carver 84). This is the first time the man was being polite and friendly to Robert. Soon after, a bond between Robert and the man had begun after a program about cathedrals came on the television. The man becomes aware that, There were times when the Englishman who was telling the thing would shut up, would simply let the camera move around over the cathedrals (Carver 92). The silence in the room became awkward for him because he realized that Robert did not know what was happening when the narrator stopped speaking. Since the mans stereotypes were beginning to shed during the cathedral conversation, the man came more open with Robert, and realized that Robert is not much different from the rest of society. The two of them began to  compare how well each of them envisioned the cathedrals. Robert gave facts that were heard tight off the television, demonstrating his limited knowledge. The man also attempted to describe this cathedrals, theyre really big,(Carver 100) he explains, theyre massive(Carver 100). At this point, he understood just how little he actually knew about the cathedrals, even with a picture right in front of him. Now the man is awakened to his newly, humbled, equal position along side Robert, with the help of the cathedral. With the mans stereotypes diminishing, he became to trust Robert and is giving him a chance to build a relationship. When Robert brought up the idea for the man to draw the cathedral out as Robert follows, the man was able to appreciate what blind people go through. When he finished the drawing, Robert said, Well are you looking?(Carver 125) The man replied, Its really something(Carver 126). The man had allowed himself to experience, even if for just a few minutes, what Robert experiences every second of his life. This was the same man, who only a few hours ago did not want Robert to be in his house. Overcoming prejudices, fears, and misconceptions are only possible when you allow yourself to get close to a person who these feelings are directed towards. By the man becoming close with Robert, he was capable to see what was necessary to gain an understanding of what life is like for a blind man, with the help of the vision of the cathedral. The man began to draw the cathedral to try and help Robert visualize what one looked like. What he did not realize is that Robert was actually helping him visualize what blindness felt like.

Developments During Middle Age: Case Study

Developments During Middle Age: Case Study Cynthia Lane One of my interviewees is a 66 year old male by the name of Greg Williams, who was a single parent until his three sons left home and periodically returned home. Mr. Williams started his own business with an 18 wheeler but when the fuel became unaffordable he started a landscaping business, he now has 12 homes he landscapes. Mr. Williams feels his contributions to society is vital because he takes lunches to seniors, run errands for seniors, takes them to their appointments and spends time with them. Mr. Williams volunteers helping seniors and others to register to vote during election sea son. The most significant invention Mr. Williams has had in his lifetime was when he and his wife remodeled their home by replacing the living room ceiling, replaced the floors with natural wood, plastered the walls and painted. This project would have cost more money they had and it was perfect after completion. Mr. Williams best accomplishment was when he had a towing company he contracted himself out with Triple AAA. He said, â€Å"He had to do a lot of growing to do; what he thought he didn’t and the teachings helped him to be who he is today†. Mr. Williams’s goal he would like to achieve in five years would be to become the Director of the Senior Citizens Center. There are so many seniors falling through the cracks and are not being services or get recognize and are being turned away. Mr. Williams would tell someone younger than him â€Å"Get on the right path to get your education and everything else will fall into place†. Life as a teen in my day, there were no distractions like computers, cellphones, WiFi, kids now a days play video games; I had chores to do in my time, they do not know what work is all about. I was punished when I did wrong and my parents meant what they said for me to do. Kids today get away with doing wrong and run their parents. Mr. Williams replied, â€Å"No, I was taught discipline, morals, and standards; love thy neighbor and do onto others as you would want them to do onto you. â€Å"No I did not attend college I didn’t think I had time since I had three boys to raise without a mother; I had to be both parents. It was a no brainer for me to pick-up where my kid’s mother left off and takes care of my boys. Mr. Williams explained, he had no choice of the matter; my parents did not throw me away and I was not going to throw my boys away either. In his 20’s Mr. Williams remembers how dumb he was, 30’s how life changes started, he seen things for what they were, 40’s he began to be more settled in life and his self, 50’s he had life by the horn, understanding his foundation, my 40’s help me build on my life, 60’s he said, â€Å"he was proud of where he came from, what his parents gave him to build on†. An event of all the hurdles, some he didn’t think of how to deal with, the unexpected, some good and some not so good. The difference in ages are 20’s existing, 30’s foundation took shape, 40’s foundation came together, 50’s close to completion, and 60’s finally completed. What Mr. Williams remember on Christmas there would be oranges, apples, fruit cake and good home cooked meals not like every day meals, one the 4th of July, 1969. We dug a pit and had a pig roast and Barbequed it under the ground. Raising my kids was a struggle, as a single parent with the help of my mother and sisters I learned to become both parents. The best part Mr. Williams said, â€Å"Knowing he had three sons  that needed him and looked up to him through the struggle. The hardest part was to see them grow up and not need he like before. In other words, it was hard to let go, he felt his life had fell apart. Mr. Williams is proud his boys grew up to become grown men, with values of life; knowing what’s important and what’s not, knowing when to stand and not to stand. From Mr. Williams’s interview I would place him in Erikson’s theory. Mr. Williams has started and stopped careers in his lifetime, strived to raise his boys as a single parent and succeeded. Mr. Williams’s personality changed throughout his life from happy, sad, disappointed, discouraged, to content. The next interviewee is a woman in her 50’s she is a widower with two children. Her name is Ms. Pennington. Ms. Pennington is a mother and grandmother twice, her husband died of an asthma attack. Ms. Pennington’s accomplishment she’s proud of was going to school to become a beautician it was her dream. She felt she was making a contribution to society because she felt every woman should look their best at being beautiful and their hair is the first thing people would notice. Ms. Pennington feels her family is very important to her she would do whatever she could to make things better. Ms. Pennington had a good heart and she cared for her family very much. Ms. Pennington as a child could remember playing with her sisters as a beautician she would help her mother out by doing their hair while her mom does other things. One thing Ms. Pennington could remember is creating a wig on her own. The style of wigs at the beauty stores was expensive and she felt she could make a wig the way she wants. Her best accomplishment would be becoming a mother she felt she was not going to have any children in her future. A goal Ms. Pennington would like to accomplish is to return back to school and become a paralegal. Ms. Pennington loves legal opportunities and she wants to be working with a lawyer. Life being a teen in Ms. Pennington day was more of a restricted life. Her parents were very protective and she and her sisters stayed home and did house work, learned to cook maintain the house, learn to wash clothes. She was not allowed to watch TV any time of the day, she had chores to complete, kids today if the parent does not have anything for them to do they do nothing, they are not learning how to maintain a home learn to cook, wash clothes do other chores and disobeying their parents. Ms. Pennington felt the way she grew up was the best life she had, she was taught how to respect others, manners, how to be truthful and not lie. There was no technology like today, she would be able to manage how to lie without technology if need be. Teenagers these days are not told the old ways of living, it would be difficult for them to survive in drastic situations. Ms. Pennington went to a vocational school; she applied to fulfill her long life dream to become a beautician. She would buy magazines on different hair styles and became interested in learning how to replicate the same hair styles. Ms. Pennington really had two dreams the other dream was to become a model, she loved fashion everything about it, you have to have great hair to be a model so she became a beautician first and a model second. Ms. Pennington was asked about her holiday celebrations, she could remember how her parents did not have a lot of money to buy toys but they would by cases of fruits, apples, oranges, pears, and cases of assorted nuts. Her mother would bake something special for everyone and the dinners were limitless with food. All the holidays were the best since, there was a lot of us kids we were just thankful to have parents who showed us love and was able to have food with a large family. Ms. Pennington dedicates her life raising her children, her daughter is the oldest and she has a daughter, than her son who also has a son. The best part of raising her kids was being together, shopping and playing and watching them grow; the hardest part was when they became sick and I didn’t like it when they were sick. When their father died was another hard part for them to struggle with. My kids makes me proud every day, I can count on them to be there for me when I need them and they are good kids. As a mother and grandmother I would like to leave a legacy to my kids and grandkids to let them know how much I love them and would do anything for them. Love yourself and God don’t get into trouble you cannot get out of. Help those who need your help. Ms. Pennington would fit under Levinson’s theory because even though it was not mentioned, Ms. Pennington went through many midlife crisis in her lifetime. My interview with her was almost emotional, when her husband died her whole life changed, Her children changed and it was a hard situation to overcome. Adulthood is different for everyone, no one adult is the same, we all go through life changes at a different time in our lives and we also handle life problems differently, eventually we all will come to together to understand we all are the same but different. References Grand Canyon University –PSY 102-Lecture 7 Santrock, J. W. (2012). Life-span development (14th ed,). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill

How appropriate is the title to the subject matter of the Novel Essay

How appropriate is the title to the subject matter of the Novel Enduring love? Throughout the novel Enduring Love McEwan opens the reader’s eyes to many different forms of love through the actions and emotions of his characters. He also makes us aware that people are able to have more than one love. The first love we encounter is that between Joe and Clarissa whose relationship up until the day of Logan’s death was â€Å"without a trace of complication†. The fact that the novel starts with something as clichà ©d as a picnic could represent their relationship so far, it not only sets the scene but instantly tells the reader about the kind of relationship Joe and Clarissa have. McEwan takes the opportunity to show us how much Joe is in love with Clarissa by letting us know that her birthday gift from him was the â€Å"most expensive single item† he had ever bought and â€Å"must have cost Joe thousands†. Another example of the strength of Joe and Clarissa’s love is in chapter three when they turn to each other for comfort after Logan’s death. Joe believes that sharing his every thought and feeling with his partner will exorcise his demons (â€Å"I wanted to tell Clarissa†, â€Å"I wanted to tell her I loved her†) and in turn Clarissa reveals her need for Joe’s love in her moment of fear and instability; â€Å"I just want to hold you†. Although Clarissa is in love with Joe, she’s â€Å"also in love with another man†. She is an English academic studying the last letters of Keats and is passionate about her work. McEwan informs the reader of her great love for Keats through her trip to Harvard, USA; as much as she loves Joe, she sacrificed his company for six weeks to search for â€Å"hypothetical letters† and her most prized possession is the â€Å"... ...being that although the Professor and his student â€Å"are in love†, they would rather have â€Å"kept it secret† unlike Luke who is â€Å"leaving his kindly beautiful wife and bonny twin daughters† to live with the actress, presumably causing pain and chaos for his family. With an age gap of thirty years and the original relationship being student-teacher, Bonnie and Professor Reid’s love is unconventional to say the least. Both the Professor and Luke are throwing away their successful professional lives for the love of women. The meaning of the title Enduring Love could mean a love that has to be endured or one that can endure. By the end of the novel Joe and Clarissa’s love endured and for Joe, Parry’s love had to be endured. The title’s significance is that it is neither one nor the other; it is both as it is relevant to each form of love explored in the novel.

Free College Essays - The Role Model in Huckleberry Finn :: Adventures Huckleberry Huck Finn Essays

Huckleberry Finn: His Role Model Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is written from the view point of the boy Huckleberry Finn. He tells about the adventures he is having on the Mississippi River with a runaway slave, whose name is Jim. It becomes apparent early in the book that there are a couple of people who play major roles in Huck's life. One is Jim and the other is Tom Sawyer, the person Huck wishes he could be like. Tom Sawyer is a leader to Huck from the very beginning of the book, when Huck is living with the Widow Douglas. She is raising Huck because his father is a drunk and is not in the area. Huck is doing fine living with the Widow Douglas for awhile, but he soon tires of her way of life. Huck does not like having to stay clean all the time and having to wear neat clothes. He also doesn't appreciate her attempting to civilize him, so he puts on his old rags and leaves. Tom Sawyer is the one who is able to convince Huck to come back to the widow and "be respectable" (p. 1). Huck wants to be a part of Tom's gang, so he agrees to go back. It takes a certain type of person to make Huck willing to go home because it is a lifestyle he really doesn't like. Tom has that kind of control over Huck's decisions. Another reason that Huck looks up to Tom as a role model is that Huck feels Tom is more intelligent than himself. Huck is amazed by how brilliant Tom is. "What a head for just a boy to have! If I had Tom Sawyer's head I wouldn't trade it off to be a duke, nor mate of a steamboat, nor clown in a circus, nor nothing I can think of" (p. 236). It isn't simply that Tom is smarter. It is that Tom often makes Huck feel he isn't as smart. One example is when the two boys are trying to free Jim. Huck doesn't understand why they have to do things the hard way. That is when Tom says, "Oh, shucks, Huck Finn, if I was as ignorant as you I'd keep still" (p. 243). Tom also says, "Why, hain't you ever read any books at all?" (p. 242). It is true that Tom has more schooling than Huck, and this also plays a role into Huck's belief that Tom is smarter.

Freedom of Press or Danger to Troops? Essay examples -- essays researc

Freedom of Press or Danger to Troops? The news has been an important source of information for as long as it has been around. News during a time of war is sometimes the only way a family member, friend, or general public have any idea what the soldiers are going through. Having this source of information can help rally support for our troops when they need all the support they can get. As reporters are granted more access to military operations the information they are provided, and have to report on, become a great responsibility and they should make sure to only make public what should be made public. Information is increasingly becoming the most important weapon in any militaries arsenal, so we should be more careful as to how that information is obtained and dispersed. With respect to the war in Iraq and other military operations abroad I don’t feel the press should be required to be given as much information or granted as much battlefield access as they have been. I am all for the freedom of the press and being informed as to what is happening to our troops, but to many times has information been distributed that could have had a negative impact on the outcome of an operation. One example is when Geraldo Rivera basically drew out in the sand on live television the position of the troops he was tagging along with. â€Å"Geraldo Rivera, reporting from Iraq for Fox News last week, drew a map in the sand, on camera, that gave away his unit's location† (Poniewozik 1). As he should...

Black Economic Empowerment and Corporate Governance in Zimbabwe Essay

Indigenous Zimbabwean as defined in the National indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act refers to anyone who, before independence in April 1980, â€Å"was subjected to unfair discrimination [presumably in Zimbabwe] on the grounds of their race, and includes a descendant of such a person†. Thus indigenous Zimbabwean means any person who before 18 April 1980, was disadvantaged by unfair discrimination on the grounds of his or her race , and any descendant of such person, and includes any company association, syndicate/ partnership of which indigenous Zimbabweans form the majority of the members or hold the controlling interest. National indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, defined indigenisation as a deliberate involvement of indigenous Zimbabweans in the economic activities of the country, to which hitherto they had no access, so as to ensure the equitable ownership of the nations resources. Empowerment means the creation of an environment which enhances the performance of the economic activities of indigenous Zimbabweans into which they would have been introduced or involved through indigenisation. The locus of control shifts from managers to workers so that the workers become responsible for their actions but managers do not lose their involvement. Workers are considered as strategic business partners so that participation and involvement of workers is enhanced. Workers who participate in programs designed for learning are encouraged, recognised and utilised. Empowerment brings element of commitment and identity that is we are citizens of Zimbabwe. Corporate governance is a term derived from a Latin word gubanare which means to steer. It is the manner of directing and controlling the actions and affairs of an entity. Reduced to basics, it is the exercise of powers and actions to achieve goals of an organisational entity. Core concepts of corporate governance include†¦ accountability, responsibility, fairness, transparency, sustainability, good board practices, control environment, board commitment, openness, reputation, stakeholder interface, ubuntu. Background to Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Despite reports that the Zimbabwean government is mulling over accelerating the implementation of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act passed in 2008, many foreign firms continue to operate their businesses. Lured by the ever increasing attraction of the Zimbabwean economy, which has been propped up by the economic stability brought about by the unity government, foreign economic players are making inroads into the Zimbabwean market. For example, the British American Tobacco company under its Zimbabwean subsidiary, BAT Zimbabwe, last year purchased 15 million kilograms of tobacco. The company will consumed just 10% of the crop and exported the rest to other BAT operations worldwide. Mining company, Zimplats, which is owned by South Africa’s Impala Platinum also recorded impressive gains and is reportedly seeking to increase platinum mining in the country and production at some of its mines. A report by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) shows that factory-capacity utilisation in the country is up to 57% from less than 10% before the unity government, which is an encouraging sign for investors. Dr E.  Bloch warned that South Africa, Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner in the region, will be watching the empowerment issue closely, especially since they have several interests in the country. â€Å"Zimbabwe must be wary of scaring off investment. Empowerment must be acceptable to SA as well. Our version of their Black Economic Empowerment initiative must not scare them off,† he said. In Zimbabwe today, industry and commerce is predominantly the domain of big conglomerates, who own most businesses in all sectors. The levels of black people’s participation in industry and commerce and business entrepreneurship continues to be unacceptably low. As it stands, blacks who suffered discrimination due to their race have not really enjoyed the benefits of the Indigenisation Act. The indigenisation process therefore runs the risk of appearing to have been designed for the exclusive benefit of a certain class and in turn loosing the very credibility and broad based support that it requires to be a success. The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act is not merely a moral initiative designed to redress the wrongs of the past, it instead serves as a pragmatic growth strategy designed to realise the nation’s full economic potential. However, neither the pasts wrongs nor future’s promise can be addressed without prioritising indigenous people’s economic empowerment. Officials are not acting in good faith regarding the implementation of the Indigenisation Act. They are looking the other way when foreigners continue to hog the retail business space and other secondary sectors. One only needs to look at how foreign nationals, particularly the Chinese have crowded out emergent black businesspeople from the retail trade to appreciate the concern. This is a sector that ought to remain exclusively indigenous. While Zimbabwe direly needs investment to create jobs enough to absorb a growing legion of jobless locals, there is absolutely no need to give the Chinese or any other foreign nationals the advantage to crowd out indigenous people from sectors that require nominal capital to start. Indigenous people have been crowded out of the lucrative diamond mining business by foreign companies. Government should also encourage firms to meet indigenisation targets by creating Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOP) for groups of black employees. An ESOP is a means through which employees can own a share of the company they work for and employee ownership increases production and profitability, and improves employees’ dedication and sense of ownership. The government should not scuttle business ambitions of emerging indigenous entrepreneurs instead its major role should be to facilitate and create a business atmosphere that assists those with business acumen and pedigree to develop their enterprises for the betterment of a majority of the people. The Shabanie and Mashaba Mines saga is a case in point. It is an enduring lesson of how government should never, ever flex muscles in a sector which it is clueless about. The consequences are evident for all to see and do little to convince even those that the empowerment programmes are meant to benefit. Indigenous people who have the acumen to run a particular business should be given the chance to do so without government interference. It remains a sad reminder to national goals for economic emancipation when locals are squeezed out of the business and when these locals see opportunities they have identified being whittled away simply because of petty bureaucracy. Regulations of the Zimbabwe Indigenization Policy Regulations to implement the 2008 Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act requiring local control of foreign firms doing business in Zimbabwe took effect amid rising concern the program would dash any interest investors might have in the country. The regulations require companies with a value of more than US$500,000, to report on the distribution of new shareholdings. The Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act proposes for a 51 % transfer of shares in foreign companies to indigenous black citizens. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions criticized the drive to establish black majority control of foreign companies, saying indigenization will benefit just a few blacks who will replace minority whites. Businesswoman Marah Hativagone, director of the food processing ingredients company CodChem and a former president of the National Chamber of Commerce, said indigenization is desirable but added that the current initiative is poorly timed as it comes just as the economy is recovering its footing. Under Sections 3 and 4 of the Act, overseas-owned firms with an asset value of more than $500,000 (? 332,000) will have five years to sell a 51% stake to indigenous Zimbabweans. Failure to do so attracts a jail sentence. The foreign-owned firms have 45 days from the day of implementation of the Act to inform the government how they will achieve majority indigenous shareholding within five years. The regulations apply to â€Å"companies, associations, syndicates and partnerships whose object is the acquisition of gain; effectively this covers everything other than literary and charitable associations†. Under Section 4 of the regulations, all businesses with an asset value of more than US $500 000 must send the Minister a form [which is set out in the regulations] showing the extent to which they are indigenised and, if they are not majority-owned by indigenous Zimbabweans, their plans for indigenisation; these plans must conform with guidelines provided in the form. Existing businesses must submit the form to the Minister by the 45th day from the day of implementation but it is not a criminal offence to fail to submit the form — if a business fails to do so. The Minister can send it a form and order the business to complete it; only if the business fails to comply with the Minister’s order will it commit an offence [Section 4(4)]. Having received a form from a business, the Minister has 45 days within which either to approve the business’s indigenisation plans or to make his approval dependent on the plans’ conformity with a notice which the Minister published in the Gazette before the 1st March 2011. If a person or company that controls a business whose asset value exceeds US $500 000 relinquishes control over the business, the transaction will have to be approved by the Minister, and the approval will be conditional on the transaction conforming to indigenisation targets set out in an approved indigenisation plan [Section 8]. Under section 9, anyone who â€Å"projects or proposes an investment for which an investment licence is required in terms of the Zimbabwe Investment Authority Act† will have to obtain the Minister’s approval before obtaining such a licence, and â€Å"any investor requiring a licence in terms of the Zimbabwe Investment Authority Act† will have to obtain the Minister’s approval before investing in sectors of the economy which are listed in the Third Schedule. These sectors include agriculture, transport, â€Å"wholesale or retail trade†, barber shops, advertising agencies and milk processing. If goods or services are obtained from a supplier under the Procurement Act and the supplier is not controlled by indigenous Zimbabweans, the supplier must subcontract to competent indigenous businesses — but only if the supplier â€Å"is required by the Act to subcontract to businesses whose controlling interests are held by indigenous Zimbabweans. † Businesses will have to satisfy the Minister annually that they are indigenising in accordance with the law. Under Section 15 the Minister will establish a database of people who want indigenous Zimbabweans to acquire an interest in their businesses, and of indigenous Zimbabweans who wish to â€Å"partner† those people. The role of the Indigenisation Policy to the Economy Zimbabwe’s much publicised indigenization and economic empowerment program must aim at creating new wealth . The real solution is to grow the economy and in the process generate new wealth which in the process creates jobs and brings national prosperity. Zimbabwe’s broad based black economic empowerment must not merely focus on correcting historical wrongs. It should be refined and become a pragmatic growth strategy that aims to realise the country’s full economic potential while helping to bring the black majority into the economic mainstream which further creates a market for enterprises. The program must clearly identify individuals with potential who can be supported to build enterprises and businesses from scratch and create new wealth and jobs. The over focus on re-distributing current wealth only serves to bring disrepute to an otherwise very noble and necessary program. There are several practical steps which need to be developed and followed to ensure the program becomes a resounding success which include skills development and access to Entrepreneurial infrastructure. The ownership, management, socioeconomic development and preferential procurement are critical areas of broad based economic empowerment program which need to be clarified and developed to ensure the program’s success without disrupting established businesses which are already employing thousands of people and contributing to the Treasury through corporate and income tax. The rules of engagement of the Broad based Economic empowerment program must be well laid out in advance for all investors to understand. If done haphazardly the economy shrinks and more people go hungry because investors flee and the skills that we need also flee, we see that what we have inherited has turned to ash. A credible empowerment program must be aimed to ensure broader and meaningful participation in the economy by indigenous people to achieve sustainable development and national economic security. In light of Globalization and dominance of Foreign Direct Investment and Sovereign Wealth Funds in distribution of capital it is imperative for the economic empowerment to be done within the confines of the law. Admittedly Zimbabwe has several attractive features such as mineral resources, educated labour force, excellent weather etc but investors have multiple other potential investment destinations. This means Zimbabwe still has to be competitive in attracting FDI and the economic empowerment program implementation needs to take into account international trends and internationally acceptable practices on dealing with empowerment matters. Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans should shun being associated with grabbing other peoples businesses or assets but should rather develop a reputation as being welcoming to investors who will help in creation of new wealth. The focus should be on creating wealth and not grabbing, seizing or looting. It has been correctly noted that direct intervention in the distribution of assets and opportunities was needed to resolve the economic disparities created by historical colonial policies which had favoured white business owners and citizens at the expense of everyone else regardless of their education, skills or ambition. The World over BEE is intended to transform the economy to be representative of the demographics, specifically race demographics of the country in particular its racial make-up must be reflected reasonably in the ownership of resources and access to opportunities. There is need to avoid victimizing one section on the population even though it may have been a beneficiary of past ill-thought out and discriminatory policies of the past. It has been observed and universally accepted that â€Å"Societies characterised by entrenched gender inequality or racially or ethnically defined wealth disparities are not likely to be socially and politically stable, particularly as economic growth can easily exacerbate these inequalities. Thus broad based economic empowerment initiative is a necessary and critical program which should be carried out in a transparent and accountable manner for the benefit of broad sections of society which were previously systematically excluded from the Economy. The role of the Indigenisation Policy to Corporate Governance C. R. Baker and B. P. Quere contend that most theories on corporate governance do not acknowledge the importance of the state in bringing about good corporate governance practices but tend to focus instead on relationships between boards of directors, managing directors, shareholders and other stakeholders. This approach would leave the government abdicating its responsibilities to the citizens in the country because ultimately business practices impact on the general populace. Here the Enron saga is a case in point. Instead governments have tended to take the role policing the aftereffects of bad corporate governance practices. A pragmatic shift should be taken in the case of Zimbabwe. A proactive stance that anticipates the foregoing implementation of the indigenous economic empowerment strategies on corporate governance as we know it in industry and commerce today should be formulated. Conclusion Thus there is need for government and industry to realise that if boards of directors are to remain legitimate their constitution will have to change to reflect the new shareholding structure. Braudel, 1985, as quoted by C. R. Baker and B. P. Quere points out that it is the responsibility of government to put in place rules and regulations that specify to a very fine degree, the operations of businesses in the economy. Indeed, the advent of the global financial crisis has show that governments have been wanting by leaving firms with inadequate corporate governance that has precipitated the recurrent global crises. Despite the inadequacy of company law and the newly gazetted and revolutionary indigenization law, it is interesting that the government makes no mention of good corporate governance needs in its mid-term economic policy framework, when the global financial crises put forward a compelling case for government intervention in establishing good corporate governance practices. Thus, on one hand, company laws have been preoccupied with the formation and dissolution of business entities, while on the other hand indigenization law has been concerned with the redistribution of shareholding in firms, but both fall short of the modern responsiveness to the laying down of good corporate governance practices. As the government puts in place the new shareholding structures, it is imperative that codes of best practice for corporate governance are instituted so that empowerment of indigenous people does not lead to an economic downturn as happened with the land redistribution programme at the turn of the century.

Cordination Compounds Essay

* FLEXIDENTATE CHARACTER OF POLYDENTATE LIGANDS; * Poly dentate ligands have flexi dentate character in the sense that all donors atoms may not form coordinate bonds with the central metal atom or ion. For example; EDTA which is the hexa dentate ligand also acts as tetra dentate or penta dentate in certain complexes. Similarly sulphate ion, which is a bi dentate ligand, also acts as a mono dentate ligand in certain complexes, e.g. in [Co(SO4)(NH3)5]Cl. * LABILE COMPLEXES; * A complex in which the ligands can be easily replaced by other ligands is called a labile complex. * GEOMETRY OF [CuX4]2- IONS; * The halide complex of Cu (2) shows two different stereo chemistries. In (NH4)2[CuCl4], [CuCl4]2- ion is square planar, but Cs2[CuCl4] and Cs2[CuBr4], the [CuX4]2- ions have a slightly squashed tetrahedral shape. Tetrahedral [CuCl4]2- ions are orange whereas, square planar [CuCl4]2- ions are yellow in colour. * GREATER STABILITY OF Co(+3) COMPLEXES THAN Co(+2) COMPLEXES; * Co+2 ions are very stable & are difficult to oxidise. Co+3 ions are less stable and are readily reduced by water to Co2+. In contrast Co(+2) are less stable and are readily oxidised to Co(+3) complexes, i.e. Co(3) are very stable. This is because CFSE of Co(+3) with d6 configuration is higher than Co(+2) with d7 configuration. * SIDGWICK THEORY OR EFFECTIVE ATOMIC NUMBER (EAN) RULE; * Sidgwick put forward a rule to explain the stability of complexes on the basis of effective atomic number as follows:- EAN of metal in complex= atomic number –oxidation state+2Ãâ€" co-ordination number A stable complex is formed if the EAN is equal to the atomic number of the next noble gas. Thus, from the calculation given in the table below, [Fe(CN)6]4- is more stable than [Fe(CN)6]3- Though this rule is found to be applicable in many cases, yet it fails in no. Of cases as illustrated by last two examples given in the table below: complex| Oxidation state| Atomic number | Co-ordination number| EAN| [Co(NH3)6]3+| +3| 27| 6| 27-3+2Ãâ€"6=36, i.e. [Kr]| [Fe(CN)6]4-| +2| 26| 6| 26-2+2Ãâ€"6=36, i.e. [Kr]| [PtCl6]2-| +4| 78| 6| 78-4+2Ãâ€"6=86, i.e. [Rn]| [Fe(CN)6]3-| +3| 26| 6| 26-3+2Ãâ€"6=35| [Ag(NH3)2]1+| +1| 47| 2| 47-1+2Ãâ€"2=50|

Evil in Sula, Yellow Wallpaper, and Love Medicine

No Rest for the Wicked â€Å"l started out thinking that one can never really define good and evil. Sometimes good looks like evil; sometimes evil looks like good,† this quote by T. Morrison highlights the fact that evil is relative. Although evil can be, in many ways, self-defined, many characters in novels can be perceived as one thing while they are another. Written works such as, Sulk, Love Medicine, and The Yellow Wallpaper contain several examples of good vs. evil that take a closer look to deceiver.First, in the novel Sulk, there are several characters that prove that looks can be achieving. For example, the character Sulk is perceived as a terrible person in the book. The people of the Bottom hate her for everything that she is, despite the fact that she followed the example of her mother. The story states, â€Å"The death of Sulk Peace was the best news fossils up in the Bottom had had since the promise of work at the tunnel† (150). They accuse her of things th at, in their society, were deemed horrible and not moral. When Sulk attempts to help a child she is only further accused of wicked ways.Sulk only does what she knows, and only hurts Nell because f her blindness to what their relationship has become. As well, Newel's mother is seen as a good person in society. Helene attends church as does what is proper. The story states, â€Å"Helene Wright was an impressive woman, at least in Medallion she was† (18). However, in an attempt to be a good mother Helene pushes her opinions down Newel's throat, leaving imagination away and replacing it with a sense of alienation. Helene wants people to see her as a wonderful woman, but her actions and motives seem only to follow selfishness and a need for importance.Moreover, Jude does what is right by society. Jude attempts to work, he takes care of his family, he does everything he was meant to do. The story states, â€Å"Along with a few other young black men, Jude had gone down to the shack where they were hiring† (81). But Jude only married because he was settling, and when Sulk came around he didn't have a quarrel with cheating on his wife with her best friend. He then leaves him family behind, leaving Nell to take care of the children. And, Eva is a character that can be interoperable as evil, but she only does what she does because she loves her children.Eva kills her own son by lighting him on fire. The story states, â€Å"†¦ Threw it onto the bed where the kerosene-soaked Plum lay in snug delight† (47). Even her daughter does not understand why Eva would do such a thing. But the truth of the matter is that Plum was slowly wasting away, Just the shell of the person he once was. His unhealthy habits and his inability to take care of himself after he was traumatized by the war brings Eva to the decision to end his suffering then and there. Secondly, in the novel Love Medicine there are several examples of evil and good reflections. For instance, t he character Marie goes to the convent.Though this can be seen only as a good and pure thing, it is revealed to the readers that Marie wants only the praise and glory she would find there. The story states, â€Å"And they never thought they have a girl from this reservation as a saint they have to kneel to (43). Maria's reasons are not good, but rather they are wicked reasons that are identified as sins. Moreover, once Marie is within the convent it is revealed that she is not the only wolf in sheep's clothing. The nun, Leopold sees the devil inside Marie. In an attempt to banish the devil from Marie, she physically harms the young girl.The two both speak of love and both seem to have some degree of hate for the other. The story states, â€Å"She always did things this way, to teach you lessons† (51). Leopold then lies about Maria's injuries to the other nuns to save herself. As well, Nectar is perceived as a strong individual by the community. Although Nectar keeps a high p osition in his community and is seen both as handsome and good, he only has such a great position because Marie made him. It was Maria's work that made Nectar what he was. Even though he owes her a great deal he still cheats on her.He turns away re love in favor of Lulu, committing adultery. He cares for Marie and understands he has obligations to her, but he loves Lulu. He states, â€Å"l do not compare her with Marie. I would not do that. But the way I ache for Lulu, suddenly, is terrible and sad,† (127). He puts his love first in several situations such as, when he planned to leave Marie. Lulu is also a seemingly wrongly accused character. Lulu has got a serious reputation as being a loose woman in the community. She even sleeps with married men because she does not seem to respect the value of marital ties.However, Lulu is a errors of passion and love. The story states, â€Å"And so when they tell you that I was heartless, a shameless man-chaser, don't forget this: I lov ed what I saw' (228). Lulu's true nature is not that of evil, it is that of love. Although some can argue that her actions were questionable, it is within her intentions that the truth is found. Lastly, in the short story The Yellow Wallpaper, evil and good is a battle that continues through the story. For example, John attempts to take care of Jane by forcing her to bed rest and limiting her activity.Although he is a high standing doctor ND her husband it is with Cane's point of view that the reader discovers that the bed rest could be doing more harm than good. The bed rest does not allow Jane to function as a normal human being. The story states,† Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good† (1). It seems that, because John is a doctor, he must know what is best for Jane and that the treatment must be good. Perhaps John himself is not evil, but the result of his actions leave Jane in a state of no return.If evil is defined by the opposite of good then his actions have evil results. As well, John takes away Cane's ability to write. Cane's loss of a creative outlet is something that she finds could be making things worse. The story states, â€Å"l think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me† (4). Cane's mental state wavers as the story continues. Her own free will is practically ripped from her, and her writing is left to be done in secret. And, John once again creates â€Å"evil† results as he keeps Jane away from other people.The story states, â€Å"It is so scrounging not to have any advice and companionship about my work† (4). Despite her plea to be around others, John does not trust it. His actions lead Jane farther down her road to insanity and leave her with only her own thoughts of the wallpaper through the day. Moreover, the woman in the wallpaper can be completely perceived as evil at first glance. If the woman in the wallpaper, or the center of Cane's insanity, takes away Cane's ability to be a person, than she must be evil. Yet, it is only when Jane reaches the point of full insanity that Jane finds herself free.Able to do what she wants, albeit a bit strange, Jane finds freedom completely. As the story states, â€Å"Vive got out at least,' said l, ‘in spite of you and Jane. And Vive pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back† (14)! As a symbol of woman's suffrage, the lady in the wallpaper shows the reader how women, forced into the restraints society has put on them, must choose between insanity, and slavery. It is hard to pinpoint evil or give it a certain definition. Where are the lines drawn? Who determines what is right, necessary, and bad?The ever pondered question that enders if people can be labeled good or evil, or if no one is strictly either, pounds through the mind of those that read. Written works such as, Sulk, Love Medicine, and The Yellow Wallpaper allow readers to see beyond what society may see in a person and look deeper into their actions and motives. Taking a step back from one's own opinions, the reader can see the many point of views that leave certain actions, characters, and situations more clear on the moral side. If, like beauty, evil is in the eye of the beholder, there can never be a definite definition of the word.

Mcdonald’s Business Strategy

A Comprehensive Business Plan developed by McDonald Management, Inc. 11410 N. E. 124th Street #223 Kirkland, Washington 98034 USA O: 425-822-3106 C: 206-257-9839 [email  protected] com Table of Contents Page 3 Page 5 Page 6 Page 9 Page 11 Page 12 Page 16 Page 18 Page 21 Executive Summary Our Business Plan The Market Defined World View Pilot Program (Ethiopia) Projected Market Share Market Strategy Promotion Competition The Bottled Water Industry Product Development – Four Keys Norit Ultra-Filtration System (Perfector – E) Solar Powered Modules Prototype configuration and assemblyThe Patented 20-liter Tamper-proof Bottle Organizational Development USAgua Partnership Program US Home Office East Africa Central Assembly Distribution (Operators to Owners) Mile Stones Financial Statements Sales Projections Personnel Budgets Cash Flow Projections Income Statements – Projected Expense Statements – Projected 2 Executive Summary W e are now in a position to profit ably enter into the lucrative and expanding worldwide market for pure, clean, safe drinking water. We have developed and will introduce to the world, the concept of small community commercial water purification systems. Also you can read  Business Ethics ComprisesWe call our systems ‘USAguaâ„ ¢ Pure Water Kiosks’. Each of our Kiosks is capable of taking in 8,000 liters of dangerously polluted raw water every day and, through the technologically phenomenal process of ultra-filtration, they process that unhealthy water into safe, clean, purified drinking water. Our systems are containerized, modular, solar powered and ultra-filtered — they function completely ‘off-the-grid’. Our markets are the vibrant, sophisticated, newly emerging middle-classes of the developing world. These middle-class niches represent over one billion people and their numbers are growing daily.These people realize the importance of safe drinking water for themselves and their families but, at the same time, they know that their governments are incapable of providing this most basic need. What is important to our program is that these middle class families are financially capable of paying fo r our water. The proof is the fact that they now consume literally tens of millions of gallons of bottled water every year. Our competition is the bottled water industry and, very soon, we will have a substantial piece of that market.The product we sell is clean, pure, safe drinking water. How we produce, market and sell our product is through our USAgua Pure Water Kiosks Program. Our Kiosks are a melding of two wonderful technologies just now coming into their own. The first is called ‘ultra-filtration’. Picture a bundle of spaghetti sized perforated tubes through which polluted water is pumped under pressure. The perforations are so small that they block viruses, bacteria and parasites down to a ‘Log 2-4’ EPA rating. This means that the water we sell is 99. 99% pure or better when it leaves our system.And, because the filters require only ‘back-flushing’ instead of costly filter replacements, the long-term costs are minimized. The second basi c technology we have employed is Solar Power. Our Kiosks, including all the necessary pumps, batteries, electronics and lighting requirements run perfectly using a Solar Power package designed specifically for our needs. The initial costs of the solar option are steep, but the long term reliability, the fact that we don’t depend on any outside sources of energy and the nearly-maintenance-free specifications we have developed, make them a perfect fit in developing countries. Our ultra filtration systems and our solar power systems have been rigorously field tested by their manufacturers. Our own design engineers have melded the two technologies together, combined them with our storage tanks and lab gear and integrated them seamlessly into our retail USAgua Kiosks. After a final prototype development program, our manufacturers will ship their modules to our USAgua Central Assembly Plants in our target markets. We will use local technicians to retrofit universally available frei ght containers and perform final installation and assembly.Once our Kiosks are complete, they will be delivered to our ‘Operators’ in the field. Our Management Team will locate, recruit and train local ‘Operators’ in our various ‘Target Markets’. In time, our Operators will be given the opportunity to own their own USAgua Kiosk, thus allowing us to tap the entrepreneurial energy and spirit that can be found within individuals in every corner of the world. Our USAgua Operator program will ensure our market position and stability through world-wide name branding, equipment standardization, standardized maintenance routines and universally accepted accounting procedures.With the help of some very smart engineers we have developed the concept of our USAgua Pure Water Kiosks. At the same time, we have put together a business model that takes the best of the American business concepts we are so proud of and we, very carefully, introduce them into the potentially lucrative new middle-class markets of the developing world. Our ‘financial package’ is strong. Our assumptions and our projections are conservative, our research is up to date and our key players are heavy on both education and real world experience. We are ready to take the next giant step forward.To that end, we are asking to secure a US $2,200,000 Investment package so that we can bring our USAgua International Program to fruition. Please, feel free to call me anytime for more information or clarifications. Sincerely, Timothy McDonald 4 Our Business Plan The World Wide Market Defined: Of the 6 billion people in the world today, over 3 billion1 live either totally ‘off-the-grid’ or in communities not serviced by safe, dependable water systems. Families within this demographic, no matter their economic level, are left vulnerable to water borne diseases including viruses, parasites and bacteria.The negative social and economic repercussions of not having access to safe, clean drinking water are immense. Some United Nations reports have gone so far as to predict that safe drinking water will be as economically significant as oil within the next decade2. We intend to be a big player in solving the drinking water problem. We have designed both our USAgua Water Purification System and our Business Model to be universally adaptable. Our equipment and our business model will function beautifully in the suburbs of Nairobi, along the Yangtze River in China and in the mountains of northern India.Anywhere there is both a source of water (no matter how polluted) and an open view of the sun, our USAgua water purification systems will work. Anywhere there are energetic and entrepreneurial individuals who aspire to a better life for their families, our USAgua Operator network will prosper. At the ‘Macro’ scale, our market is unlimited. Good business practices, however, dictate that we start small and grow carefully. We wil l introduce our program to a small, representative market we are familiar with. One that can be easily documented and controlled.In our ‘Pilot Market’ we will learn a great deal from both our successes and our mistakes. Once we have field proven both our equipment and our business model, we will enter additional markets with much greater knowledge and enthusiasm. _________________________________ It is very important to understand that we are in competition with the ‘Bottled Water Industry’ in all aspects of our program. The statistics and the markets for bottled water, world wide, are the statistics and markets relevant to USAguaâ„ ¢. _______________________________________ 1 2 United Nations Development Program Report – August 2008United Nations Development Program Report – August 2008 5 Our Ethiopian Pilot Program and Our Share of the Market For several reasons, including a thirty year professional involvement in East Africa, we have cho sen the country of Ethiopia to establish our ‘Pilot Program’. The Ethiopian Market Defined: Population (millions) 2007 Population growth (annual %) Life expectancy at birth (years) Literacy rate GNI (US $ billions) GNI per capita (US $ ) 78. 6 2. 6 55. 0 38. 5 19. 4 220. 0 The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) acquired these statistics: Health of population using improved drinking-water sources, 2006, total 42 (cut and paste from the UNICEF 2008 Report) These UNICEF statistics show us that there is a large segment of the Ethiopian population that understands the need for safe water. The definition of ‘improved drinking-water sources’, however, does not address the quality of the water. It only documents the fact that the water has been drawn from a centralized source and is conveyed to the end user via an established distribution network; either municipal water systems, tanker trucks or bottled water.The water may or may not be processed. It ma y or may not be safe. The quality of both the tap water and the bottled water in Ethiopia is suspect due to poor infrastructure maintenance and a lack of Health Department regulation enforcement. 3 3 UNICEF Annual Report – 2006 6 The Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency (CSA) estimates that currently 4. 18% of the households, nationwide, have access to community water systems and taps within their homes. Ethiopia Total 2004 2. 2 2006 2. 7 2008 3. 3 Current 4. 18 (cut and paste from the 2008 CSA Report)This means the vast majority of people considered to have access to ‘improved drinking water sources’ are using tanker truck delivery (very dangerous) or bottled water. (78. 6 million X 42%) – 4. 18% ) = 31. 4 million people drink non-tap water. ) The CSA also publishes a quarterly retail price listing for nearly every commodity found in Ethiopia. In 2008 the average cost per liter of bottled water was 6 birr. (Ethiopian currency) BEVERAGES – NON ALCOH OLIC Ambo Mineral Water†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 500cc 3. 00 3. 00 3. 00 3. 17 3. 00 3. 00 2. 50 3. 00 2. 96 2. 50 3. 00 3. 00 2. 50 2. 5 Bure Mineral Water†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 500cc – – – – – – – – – – – – – – (cut and paste from the 2008 CSA Report) ! (Or †¦ US $0. 48/liter at the current exchange rate) The CSA has not been able to estimate a total volume of bottled drinking water produced or consumed. We have been told many reasons for this lack of statistical documentation. The most plausible is the lack of government oversight and a huge black market for recycling local water in used plastic bottles. This is a very dangerous practice and one the central government has taken action to stop. 4 A few assumptions:W e are going to assume, in the interest of simplifying our Business Plan, that within and near the cities of Addis Ababa, Mekele, Bahra Dar, Nazerit and Awass a ( a total population of over 27 million ) there is a need for 27,000,000 liters of pure, safe drinking water every day. (27,000,000 X 365 days = nearly 10 Billion liters per year) (One liter of safe drinking water per day is the World Health Organization’s minimum requirement. ) 4 Ethiopian Health Ministry – 2008 7 Our Pilot Program Cities: 10% Purchase Vicinity of Population Addis Ababa 15,375,000 15% Purchase 20% Purchase 5% Purchase Bottled Water at US $0. 50/liter Bottled Water at US $0. 40/liter Bottled Water at US $0. 30/liter Bottled Water at US $0. 20/liter 1,537,500 2,306,250 3,075,000 3,843,750 Nazerit 3,580,000 358,000 537,000 716,000 895,000 Bahri Dar 1,790,000 179,000 266,850 355,800 447,500 Awasa 1,430,000 143,000 214,500 286,000 357,500 Mekele 4,825,000 482,500 723,750 965,000 1,206,250 27,000,000 2,700,000 4,050,000 5,400,000 6,750,000 $1,350,000 $1,620,000 $1,620,000 $1,350,000 $492,750 ,000 $591,300,000 $591,300,000 $492,750,000 Population Market Va lue Market Value Per Day Per YearOur Pilot Program Market Our Pilot Program Market focuses on five major cities in Ethiopia. We can take a very conservative but educated guess that 15% of the 27 million population is capable of purchasing 1 liter of drinking water every day for US 0. 40/liter. (about a billion and a half liters per year demand) 1,248,000 liters (62,400 20-Liter USAgua Bottles) is the annual sales figure we have projected for each of our USAgua Kiosks. Or less than one tenth of one percent (. 001%) of our Pilot Program Middle-class Market Demand. Our Kiosks are actually capable of physically producing ,920,000 liters of safe, clean drinking water annually, but for budgeting and logistical reasons as well as a conservative margin of safety, we are building our Business Model on a 1,248,000 liters/year basis or a 4,000 liters per day sales capacity, six days per week. ! The total cost to our USAgua Kiosk Program to produce, bottle and sell safe, clean drinking water is less than $0. 10 per liter The universal laws of supply and demand would tell us that we could completely dominate the ‘Bottled Drinking Water Industry’ in our Pilot Program Market.By assuring two things — Highest Quality, Lowest Price — we should expect to capture a substantial share of this huge market while at the same time realizing a very profitable return on investment very quickly. It is not difficult to imagine 40 USAgua Kiosks working profitably within Ethiopia within two years of start-up. 8 Market Strategy The Market for pure, clean, safe drinking water already exists. It is large, growing and lucrative. Our dominant piece of that worldwide market is what we will develop. Branding†¦ W e own the internet web domain and the trade marked name, USAguaâ„ ¢.We are now in the process of building a comprehensive website that will address everything from the biology of parasites, bacteria and viruses to the science of removing those contaminants from our drinking water. It will show how important safe drinking water is to individuals, societies and economies. It will differentiate our USAgua Water Purification Kiosks from our competition, the bottled water industry. Our website will play very well in East Africa. Since the election of President Obama, a new, very pro-American, attitude has emerged. America and all things American are now very popular.Our USAgua Kiosks provide safe drinking water at standards equal to or better than our American EPA standards for domestic drinking water. In East Africa, they trust our standards and want that same high quality for their families. Our Kiosks are painted in American national colors. The USA in USAgua is meant to emphasize our American roots and our American standards. When a USAgua Kiosk is delivered to an African community our customers will feel that part of America has arrived. Our USAgua 20-liter plastic bottles are designed to be used and re-used and re-used by the family to which they are assigned.The boldly branded bottles can not be refilled by anyone other than our Kiosk operator. Our branded one-liter personal bottles will be carried with pride on the streets of our communities. The name, USAgua, will be synonymous with American high quality and good health. Lower retail pricing†¦ W e know there is a large and growing demand for safe, pure drinking water. On the macro scale this is evidenced by the rise of the bottled water industry in every city and village in the world. In Ethiopia, our Pilot Program Market, we know the retail price of a liter of bottled water is US$0. 48.The laws of supply and demand dictate that as the price is lowered, the demand rises. The cost of our water, including all business related expectations, is less than US $0. 10 per liter. We will price our product to maximize both the quantity sold and the profit generated. 9 Flyers and Brochures Distributed Locally †¦. And a billboard or two Because each of our US Agua Kiosks are designed to satisfy the drinking water demand of only 400 families per day, (we are saying 10 liters per family per day) the geographic market area for each of our Kiosks is small, (by design) less than one square kilometer.Prior to our Kiosks arriving at their final destinations, a local flyer and brochure campaign will saturate the area to introduce our program. Community meetings will be held to educate members of our market and sell our products. A large colorful bill-board will be erected so that people will begin identifying our branding. 10 Competition: The Competition for our Pilot Program Market (and every other market in the developing world, for that matter) consists of a handful of legitimate Centralized Water Bottling and Distribution Companies as well as black-market water bottle recycling scams.The government is now in the process of both adopting new quality standards for all bottled water plus they are developing the means to enforce those standards. Because none of the major international bottled water producers (Danone, Nestle, and Coca-Cola) have entered the African markets, statistical documentation is lacking for total production and demand. We do know a few things, however. First is that the existing legitimate bottled water industry depends on centralized plants that are, by definition, saddled with the tremendous costs associated with transporting heir product to market. Plus, they must purchase plastic bottles that will be used only once, but then become potential competition as those same bottles are refilled on the black-market and resold. We also know that the end user of bottled water is becoming much more sophisticated. They know full well the problem with boot-legged water and in most cases have gone back to boiling local water (at a tremendous expense in fuel) rather than purchase suspect bottled water. The Bottled Water Industry is not the answer for the Developing World. 11 Product Development †¦.. some h istoryFor generations, scientists around the world have known that viruses, parasites and bacteria are present in much of the water we drink. They have also known that these tiniest of creatures are the source of the water borne diseases that have plagued humanity since Lucy stood up on her two legs and peered over the tall grasses of the African Savannah. Personal Note: McDonald was stationed in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia in 1973-75 only 20 miles from where Lucy – Australopithecus afarensisr – was discovered. On several occasions his Agricultural School and Farm hosted Lucy’s rcheologists. They appreciated the water system he had developed that pulled water from the muddy Awash River and provided them safe, pure drinking water. In the developed world, from our largest cities to our smallest villages, our technology has solved the problem of purifying our waters. In America, we long ago realized the importance of safe water to the overall health and well being of our society. It was so important to previous generations that they mandated our government to set and enforce the highest water standards in the world.Our municipal and community water systems now process and distribute a dependable flow of amazingly inexpensive water to the homes of every citizen. The success of America is due, in no small part, to the overall health of our people. And, the overall health of our people is, in no small part, due to our wonderful communal water systems. On the macro scale, the per gallon cost of water in America is very small; a penny or two a gallon at the most. The reality is, however, that a water purification plant and a distribution network are tremendously expensive to develop and operate; tens of millions of dollars.And, the technical sophistication necessary to maintain these systems is overwhelming to any but the most advanced economies. For so many reasons (economic, political, cultural, technical) there is little hope that the vast maj ority of people in the second and third worlds will ever be able to build and maintain the water systems necessary to provide safe water for their people. Even now, as a burgeoning middle class emerges, the central governments are powerless to act. The problem is just too large and the costs too high. 12 Product Development †¦. the Stars Line UpThe USAguaâ„ ¢ Pure Water Kiosk Program is†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Four Components. The product we sell is clean, pure, safe drinking water. How we produce, market and sell our product is through our USAgua Pure Water Kiosks Program. Our Kiosk Program brings together four independent but equally important physical components. Namely: Ultra-Filtration, Solar Power, Retro-fitted Freight Containers and Keyed, Tamper-proof 20-liter Bottles. 1. Ultra-Filtration†¦ This is a water filtration method developed and patented by Norit X-Flow, a member of the global Norit Companies. Norit is headquartered in theNetherlands with sales offices throughout the world including one just outside of Chicago. Ultra-filtration is easy to visualize. Picture a bundle of spaghetti sized perforated tubes through which polluted water is pumped under pressure. The perforations are so small that they block viruses, bacteria and parasites down to a ‘Log 2-4’ EPA rating. This means that the water they process is 99. 99% pure or better when it leaves their system. And, because the filters require only ‘back-flushing’ instead of costly filter replacements, the long-term costs are minimized.Norit’s filters can be used for months and then ‘back-flushed’ to remove all contaminants. The actual filters will last for years. Ultra-filtration is truly a marvelous breakthrough. One of the first applications that Norit X-Flow developed for its Ultra-filter technology was a very clever machine they call the Perfector-E Mobile Water Purification System. It was originally designed for emergency responders to be used in the aftermath of devastating natural disasters; earthquakes, floods and hurricanes. The systems are small, strong and highly mobile.They can be transported and set up in any disaster area within hours. They are totally self contained and can draw and purify water from almost any source including exposed surface waters, local lakes, rivers, ponds and irrigation systems. The Perfector-E System can provide literally thousands of gallons of pure, safe drinking water per day to a disaster area under the most extreme conditions. And, there is another very positive aspect to Norit’s system. It is not a big energy user. With some adaptations, we can actually run the systems exclusively on solar power. 13 2.The second basic technology we have employed is Solar Power. Our Kiosks, including all the necessary pumps, batteries, electronics and lighting requirements run perfectly using a Solar Power package designed specifically for our needs. Our solar energy system was designed by H-Dot Logic, a solar engineering company here in Seattle. The initial costs of the solar option are steep, but the long term reliability, the fact that we don’t depend on any outside sources of energy and the nearlymaintenance-free specifications we have developed, make them a perfect fit in developing countries. . Our Kiosks – Our Containers. We have chosen to utilize universally available, standard steal 20 foot cargo containers as the physical basis of our Kiosk system. Containers are strong and secure. They are easily transported on any flatbed truck in the world, and once they are delivered to our overseas locations, they will serve as the actual retail Kiosk facility. Our in-house engineers have designed the retro-fit of the containers to comfortably house all the various components in and around the retail shell.The solar panels, the gravel pre-filters, the external raw water storage tank, the internal finished water storage tank with the UV sterilizer, the Ultra-fil ter modules, the pumps, the battery packs, all the electronics and a water testing system are all neatly configured inside the container. In addition to designing the retrofit, our Kiosk’s will have a copy written exterior color and graphic scheme. The graphic scheme, once painted on our containers will provide a great advertising platform for our USAgua Brand. A prototype unit still needs to be assembled.USAgua Kiosk # 0001, the prototype, will be assembled in Seattle, Washington. A careful documentation video of the specifications and assembly methods will be produced. This process will take about four months to accomplish. Once the first Kiosk is ready it will be shipped from the Port of Seattle to Ethiopia. Once in Ethiopia, USAgua #0001 will be delivered to our Central Assembly & Fabrication facility. Our local Management will use it to train a team of assembly mechanics. We will then begin purchasing containers on the local market and preparing them for the arrival of o ur Filter and Solar modules.Within a four month period, we will be assembling and delivering two complete USAgua units per month. 4. The Keyed-Tamper Proof Bottle Program: One of the reasons the bottled water industry is not a good fit for the developing world is because the plastic bottles are disposable. Each new bottle, when discarded becomes a potential competitor as people refill the bottle and sell it on the black market. Our USAgua bottles are specially designed to discourage re-use by anyone but the family to which it was assigned. The bottles will have a tamper proof valve and seal that can only be refilled at USAgua Kiosks.This makes the bottles un-usable outside our network and assures our customers that the water inside our stamped and sealed bottles has not been counterfeited on the black market. Our prominent USAgua Logo on each bottle will help promote our brand where ever it is found. 14 Organizational Development Thirty years of experience working in developing coun tries has taught us many things. One of the most important is that without a very involved and powerful Management presence ‘on the ground’, no program can succeed.For the success of any project in the developing world, including ours, it is vitally important that we back-up our 21st century technology with an equally robust Management and Operations Program based on century’s old tried and true Business Practices. We call our In-Country USAgua International Management and Operations Program ‘Our Partnership Program’. It is based on five powerful strategies: 1. Recruiting the best and the brightest. Every developing country in the world has vibrant, honest, well educated, hardworking, entrepreneurs looking for an opportunity to improve themselves, their families and their communities.Our Country Director will identify and recruit these individuals. We will offer them a good basic family wage with the added incentive of merit-based pay raises. 2. In-C ountry Training for our Operators Our USAgua in-country Management Staff will train every recruit in Kiosk system functions, maintenance procedures, program hygiene, local marketing and program bookkeeping. Trainees will work with seasoned Operators during a six month apprenticeship program. If they prove themselves capable, they will be offered a position as an Operator or Operator’s Helper for one of our USAgua Kiosks. . In-Country Operations Management. We will have one Project Manager for every 10 USAgua Kiosk Operators. These Project Managers will visit each Kiosk Operator every month to make sure that the extremely high USAgua standards are being met and maintained. The PM’s are also in charge of auditing and banking functions. There will be zero tolerance for bookkeeping errors. In addition to our Project Managers, we have a Maintenance & Repair team that routinely visits each Kiosk making sure that no small maintenance problem becomes a big repair problem due t o lack of Operator vigilance. 4.Advertising and Marketing Support Each Kiosk comes with an introductory advertising budget for local marketing. We will saturate any new locale with USAgua literature. In addition, our Staff will visit each Kiosk to conduct community seminars in water quality and family hygiene. 15 5. Operators to Owners Program After two years as a USAgua Operator we will offer some of our most gifted and hardworking employees the opportunity to purchase their own USAgua Kiosk. We are wholly convinced that there exists a universally powerful business strategy that assures the success of a program such as ours.This is called ‘pride in ownership’ and we intend to tap that strategy to its fullest. Our US Office The home office of McDonald Management is in Seattle, Washington as will be the home offices of USAgua International, Inc. At the top of our organizational chart is the President and CEO, Timothy McDonald. Mr. McDonald has a BS in International Econo mics (minor in Civil Engineering) with Masters work in International Economics all from the University of Washington. He has been in and out of East Africa for over thirty years with our State Department as both an employee and an independent contractor.He will oversee day to day operations both in the US and overseas. Norit X-Flow International will provide the Ultra-filtration modules. H-Dot Logic will provide the solar package design and modules. R. L. Clark and Associates of Redmond, Washington will be in charge of Investor Relations, financial program development and implementation. Bahiru G. Egziabiher will be the Country Director in Ethiopia for our Pilot Market Program. He holds a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington and has worked for Seattle City Light for over twenty years. Bahiru holds duel US and Ethiopian citizenship.Dalrymple and Associates will be in charge of our Kiosk design and equipment coordination. In addition his company has desi gned our logo, the graphic presentation of our USAgua name and our color schemes and themes. RedRover Marketing will be in charge of our website design, maintenance and hosting. Our Office in Ethiopia W e will lease a centralized office/warehouse facility in Addis Ababa where we will identify, recruit and train a team of assemblers and fabricators to retrofit our containers, install our filtration systems, our solar modules and our storage tanks.Our paint shop will brand each Kiosk with our name, our logo and our color scheme. 16 Bahiru Egziabiher, our Country Director, will be in charge of our Ethiopia operations including the central warehouse and assembly facility. He will oversee the assembly of two complete USAgua Kiosks per month once we get underway. McDonald and Exziabiher and, eventually, a small team of Project Managers, will identify, recruit and train a Network of USAgua Operators. These Project Managers will be responsible for assuring the high standards of training, ma intenance, product quality and accounting standards for each of their Network Operators.Within two years there will be 40 Kiosks producing pure water in Ethiopia. There will be one Project Manager for every ten Kiosks. Our Operator Network is the key to our program. Once our USAgua Operators are identified and recruited, they will go through a thorough training program. They will serve a two year apprenticeship and then, if they have proven themselves capable of maintaining our extremely high standards, they will be given the opportunity to own their own Kiosk. In this way we will tap the entrepreneurial spirit of those who will make our entire program a success.How Hard is it to Enter the Ethiopian Market? The World Bank ranks countries world wide by their ‘Ease of Doing Business’. Of the 183 countries rated, Ethiopia ranks #107. In comparison, Egypt is #106 and Kenya is #95. Since 1993 when the people of Ethiopia removed their previous communist government and replace d it with one decisively more moderate and business friendly, the new leadership has striven to open its economy to a more capitalistic model. In the past 10 years, Ethiopia has been gradually re-writing its constitution in an attempt to open new markets and stabilize its business community.These efforts have paid off. In 2008-9 the World Bank ranked Ethiopia at #122 for ‘ease of starting a business’. This year they are ranked # 93. And, they are getting better every year. The following statistics are all from the World Bank. Ease of doing Business 107 Starting a Business 93 Dealing with Construction Permits 60 Employing Workers 98 Registering Property 110 Getting Credit 127 Protecting Investors 119 Paying Taxes 43 Trading Across Borders 159 Enforcing Contracts 57 Closing a Business 77 Summary of Indicators – Ethiopia Starting a Business Procedures (number) 5Time (days) 9 Cost (% of income per capita) 18. 9 Min. capital (% of income per capita) 492. 4 17 Dealing with Construction Permits Procedures (number) 12 Time (days) 128 Cost (% of income per capita) 561. 3 Employing Workers Difficulty of hiring index (0-100) 33 Rigidity of hours index (0-100) 20 Difficulty of redundancy index (0-10) 30 Rigidity of employment index (0-100) 28 Redundancy costs (weeks of salary) 40 Registering Property Procedures (number) 10 Time (days) 41 Cost (% of property value) 2. 2 Getting Credit Strength of legal rights index (0-10) 4Depth of credit information index (0-6) 2 Public registry coverage (% of adults) 0. 1 Private bureau coverage (% of adults) 0. 0 Protecting Investors Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 4 Extent of director liability index (0-10) 4 Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 5 Strength of investor protection index (0-10) 4. 3 Paying Taxes Payments (number per year) 19 Time (hours per year) 198 Profit tax (%) 26. 8 Labor tax and contributions (%) 0. 0 Other taxes (%) 4. 3 Total tax rate (% profit) 31. 1 Trading Across Borders Documents to exp ort (number) 8Time to export (days) 49 Cost to export (US$ per container) 1940 Documents to import (number) 8 Time to import (days) 45 Cost to import (US$ per container) 2993 Enforcing Contracts Procedures (number) 37 Time (days) 620 Cost (% of claim) 15. 2 Taking into account the above information provided by the World Bank, it will take McDonald Management about 90 days to secure all the necessary permits, licenses, patent protection registrations and lease agreements in Ethiopia. This will all be done prior to our first Kiosk leaving the US. 8 Mile Stones First Three Months Investors have been identified and secured†¦ A US $2,200,000 credit line is opened †¦ Dalrymple & Associates secures a short term warehouse lease where the prototype Kiosk will be assembled and the process documented. Norit X-Flow, H-Dot Logic and USAgua finalize specifications for the prototype filter/solar modules The USAgua Prototype is completed and Unit #0001 is prepared for shipment to Africa I n Month One, McDonald and Exziabiher leave for East Africa to secure business licenses and leases.While in Africa McDonald and Exziabiher identify and recruit a team of mechanics and fabricators as well as a Project Manager. They identify the first five individuals for the USAgua Operators Network. Months 4 and 5 USAgua Kiosk number 0001 is shipped from Seattle to Addis Ababa USAgua – Seattle begins producing and shipping filter/power modules to Ethiopia at the rate of 2 units per month. Containers are purchased and retrofitted in our Addis Ababa facility at the rate of 2 units per month.Assembly begins and the first delivery of a unit is accomplished. Months 6 -12 All elements of our program are coordinated and we are assembling and placing USAgua Kiosks in client communities at the steady rate of 2 units per month. Project Managers and Operators are continuing the training, quality control and apprenticeship programs. Month 13 W e achieve income/expense financial Break Even Month 24 The first 40 USAgua Kiosks are in place and working. The first USAgua Operator recruits are offered ownership of their Kiosks. 19 Business Plan SummaryW e are confident that a vibrant and lucrative market for safe, clean drinking water exists in every country of the world. We are also confident that we have the right Technology and Business Model to enter and eventually dominate those markets. To prove this, we are going to introduce 40 of our USAgua Kiosks into the Ethiopian market. There we will show that our technology is exactly right; that each of our Kiosks can be operated and maintained profitably for years. And, that our Business Model is sound and worthy of the trust our investors have shown.We have developed a set of financial projections. These itemize the key elements of our program and put a dollar figure on their implementation. They show that an initial two year investment of US $2,200,000 will produce an operating income/expense breakeven within a year and actual profit by the end of the 40 Unit 2 Year Pilot Program. Anyone interested in viewing our Financial Report, please, call Timothy McDonald. He will be more than happy to send along our spreadsheets. Many Thanks, Timothy McDonald 206-257-9839 20