Cultural Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Cultural Assessment - Essay Example Taking the stance of the security personnel, when a terrorist event occurs, the following response procedure should be applied, to wit: â€Å"four key actions typically occur in support of a response :( 1) gain and maintain situational awareness; (2) activate and deploy key resources and capabilities; (3) effectively coordinate response actions; then, as the situation permits, (4) demobilize.† (USDNS, 2008, 32) When reporting the incident, call 9-1-1 in times of disasters especially when it poses a threat to human life and to the property. All calls will require: (1) name of caller; (2) telephone number for call-backs at the scene or facility; (3) have local officials been notified of incident – Fire, Police, Sheriff; and (4) date, time and location of the incident. (Emergency Response) In addition, the security personnel and/or management of the subway should inform the National Response Center, the State Emergency Response Commissions and Local Emergency Planning Committees. Fire departments must also be notified. The following telephone numbers should always be ready and all personnel should be advised of these numbers in cases of emergency: MOST IMPORTANT TELEPHONE NUMBERS: EPCRA HOTLINE 1-(800) 424-9346 and NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER 1-800-424-8802. The scope and nature of the terrorist event would dictate the response actions that should be immediately implemented by the local government unit closest to the incident. The following response actions, especially of the media and local government unit, are generally expected: â€Å"(1) Warning the public and providing accessible emergency public information. (2) Implementing evacuation and sheltering plans that include provisions for special needs populations and household pets. (3) Sheltering evacuees in pre-identified, physically accessible shelters and providing food, water, and other necessities to meet the needs of all people, including persons with disabilities and other special needs. (4)

Discussions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 13

Discussions - Essay Example This is because the power of choices is in their versatility, and it enables the investor to adjust their position as per the prevailing situation or circumstances. However, this versatility has its cost and, therefore, the investors should assess this extra cost based on their knowledge and skills. Options also involve a risk which is not suitable for all investors. One should, therefore, be in a position to evaluate the risk associated and develop measures for managing such risks. Being ignorant of such risks will place the investor in a weak position. Stock options are the agreement between two parties to sell or buy an asset. It is the contract that gives one party the right. It does not give the responsibility to buy or sell an asset in the future at a pre-set price known as the strike price or exercise price (Fabozzi, 2008). There are two types of options; call option and put option. Call option is the financial contract that gives the buyer the right but, not the obligation to acquire a given number of assets in the future at a predetermined price. On the other hand, put option gives the right but not obligation to sell a specific number of underlying securities at some future date (Fabozzi, 2008). It is essential to review the proforma quantification in the footnotes periodically in order to access more information concerning the options. Even though the expense is expected not to persist, it changes as the situation changes and as investors, one should continually assess the information to be able to adjust the value or the cost of the option. Consumer spending theory states that, people spend their money at a level that is consistent with their expected average income. The steady average income which is long term is referred to as permanent income. Any individual will only save if his or her current income is higher than the expected permanent income (Thaller, 1981). This implies that people will only

Causes and Effects of Debt and Recessions

Causes and Effects of Debt and Recessions The great Depression in parts of World As we mentioned before, the Great Depression mainly started in the United States, but the U.S. was not the only state that was affected by it. Other states around the world were also affected by the economic recession of 1930s. Herbert Hoover, the president of the United States during the years of the Great Depression, attempted to recover the country by establishing some internal and external policies. Hoover’s believe was that too much interference of the federal government would end America’s independence and self-determination. Hoover also created projects to increase the public works’ funding, but they only created jobs for a small part of the unemployed people. Then in October 1931, Hoover set up the National Credit Corporation (NCC) in an attempt to calm the money deficiency. However, this program failed because it didn’t satisfy the nation’s expectations. In 1932, Hoover was the one who requested that Congress set up the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) to make mortgages to businesses but in the end it didn’t succeed. In 1932, Congress passed the Emergency Relief and Construction Act to support for a federal relief. Yet, this program couldn’t invert the collapse during the Great Depression. Because Hoover failed to recover the United States, social unrest and violence began to surface while the depression deepened. Unemployed workers, relief recipients, and unpaid schoolteachers piled up together and performed demonstrations to show their disappointment. Even though Hoover initiated some internal programs to help the recovery of economy, he was slow to respond to the depression. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff In 1932 Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. It increased the tariffs by 50%. The increase of the tariff with 50% will make the imported goods more expensive and the people will buy the nation’s goods which led to the increase of demand.-But the countries of Europe reacted with the increase of their tariffs which decreased the exports of USA ~ 70%. The war of trade impacted further the prices of agricultural goods which decreased more and then more farmers bankrupted. The tariffs damaged not only American farmers, but they damaged the German unstable economy too. Germany started to pay the reparation to France and UK based on the Versailles Treaty. UK and France decreased the payments to loans that they had from the banks of USA which further weakened the banks in USA. War debts at the end of World War I All European nations had to pay over $10 billion ($115 billion in 2002 dollars) to USA. The economies of Europe had been destroyed from the war, therefore they hadn’t the money to pay back of. While USA requested the money back from former allies, this enforced the requests of European Countries to Germany to pay the reparations based on the Versailles Treaty, but Germany could not pay these reparations. This situation worsened the crisis since Europe could not buy goods from the USA. The decline of world trade helped to bring the great depression. FDR New Deal Following the Social Unrest of 1932, the people had blamed Hoover for failing to recover the States from the Great Depression. When Franklin D. Roosevelt came to power on March 1933, many thought that he was strived to end the Great Depression completely. During his campaigns, he promised to help the poor farmers, unemployed people, and also the elderly. Other than declaring a bank holiday, Roosevelt had created a new program for the economic recovery called the New Deal, which aimed to help the jobless, to recover the the economy, and prevent another depression. Here is a list of the New Deal programs and their purposes: The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) provided jobs for the unemployed from age 17 to 29. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) helped by paying the states so they could give money and clothing for the unemployed people. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) paid farmers to stop growing specified crops, such as cotton, grain, tobacco, and corn. The National Recovery Administration (NRA) regulated wages, price control, and economic conditions in the industry. The Public Works Administration (PWA) made possible the construction of ports, schools, and aircraft carriers. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) employed many unskilled people to do public work projects. In 1934, FDR launched the Second New Deal which was more concentrated on increasing purchases and public social security. The Second New Deal programs dealt with reforming and also recovery. Some of Second New Deal programs and their purposes are listed below: The Social Security Act, sought to help the old people by setting up a pension system. The act also gave the States money to aid dependent children and people with disabilities. The National Labor Act, created a National Labor Relations Board for protecting the organized labor rights. The second AAA, established in 1928(verify 1928 apo 1938), was established for agriculture recovery to pay farmers for conservation methods, but only if they limited the necessary crop production. U.S. Housing Authority Act, established in 1937 in order to construct better house buildings by demolishing ghettos. Eventually, the New Deal that FDR launched couldn’t end the Great Depression since many agricultural problems were left unsolved. It is still dubious at how the Deal programs helped ending the depression. The Deal did, however, restore hope that was missing in the United States during the depression and also eased the hardships of its economy even though by the end of 1930s the country’s economy was still bad. The major change of USA Economy happened after the event of Pearl Harbor which noted the entry of USA in World War II. The people and industry of USA were in the functionality of war. The war’s weapons were needed urgently All the people worked for the war, the men trained to in order to be soldiers while the women worked in fabrics. There were the urgent needs for the Food for inside country and overseas at the war front. The entrance of the USA in World War II finished the Great Depression in the USA B. Worldwide Impact The Depression was followed by a global collapse of the industrial economy in Europe and the U.S., which also brought political and economic tension on every society. Furthermore, the depression brought a sequence of difficulties in the West and economic flaws in the world.As we mentioned, the starting of Great Depression is typically linked to the Crash of the stock market on October 29, 1929. However, in some countries it started by early 1928. In the same way, while the ending of Great Depression is related with the entrance of the USA to World War II in 1941, in different countries it finished at different times. The USA’s economy was growing in the middle of 1938 while many countries around the world were hurt by the Great Depression, those industrialized and also those that exported raw materials. Effects of Great Depression worldwide United States Most people see that the Great Depression had its starting point in the United States in 1933, when more than 15 million Americans were unemployed and the economic production decreased by almost 50%. Canada The Depression also hit Canada very hard, with the unemployed labor force 30%. The unemployment rate was less than 12% at the starting of World War Two. Australia Australia was affected hard too. The salaries dropped and the unemployment was 32% by 1931 Europe After World War II, most European countries owned a lot of money to American banks but the loans were so high and they couldn’t pay them. Since the American government didn’t accept the debt, Europe started borrowing money to pay back. However, as the economy of USA started to slow down, the European countries founded in difficulty where to borrow money. Further the United States had the high tariffs. European countries couldn’t sell the products in markets of USA. These countries started to have the failure to pay the loans. After the crash of stock market banks stayed afloat. They recalled their loans. While the money ran out of Europe and returned to USA, the European economies started to go down separately. The farmers throughout faced the food overproduction and the low price. The production of food had increased in the reply to needs of war. Many farmers bought the new equipment borrowing heavily, believing that the good market will continue to be higher. But the increase of production in Europe and the high imports from USA caused the decrease of the price, which made the payment of the debts very hard. The farmers leaved the rural areas. The international trade of Europe with USA decreased significantly during the depression period mainly due to the establishment by U.S government of Smoot-Hawley Tariff Policy in 1930 which applied 50% tariff to imported goods. The U.S government formed this policy in order to help and protect the companies of USA by increasing the demand for domestic goods. But, the charging with a high tariff of the goods from imports dropped the trade between USA and other foreign countries, including Europe, so created unemployment out of the country while the factories closed up. Kinderberger (1986) shows that during 1933 international trade decreased by 33% compared to the trade in 1929. France Despite being affected by the World War I, France wasn’t affected that much compared to the other European countries during the Great Depression, since it wasn’t dependent in trade. By 1930s, the country was characterized by high unemployment and political anxiety. Germany After the First World War, Germany was angry for losing their territory and paying war debts, while America provided loans in order to rebuild German economy. But, these loans stopped during the Depression causing the rising of unemployment and the development of extremism in the political system. In 1921, Germany made the first compensation payment and one year later they claimed that they wouldn’t be able to manage paying any longer. The reasons because German people put their faith in Hitler were because of their humiliation, the enormous debt, and the economic crisis after World War I. Nazi Germany, which boasted the economy and reached full employment, kept low level of wages while not harmonizing the allocation of investments and constantly growing its dependence from military production. Poland During the Great Depression, Poland, the newly independent country, experienced a quick and deep recession. The economy grew in the 1920s by attracting foreign wealth and loans. Then in 1929, a financial crash made the capital flow reduce and eventually the prices of agricultural products fell. The severe results of the economic collapse were social, being accompanied with high unemployment and low wages of agricultural workers. The total production of industry in 1932 was ~40% less than in 1928. But, the economy of Poland had developed by 1934 and increased past 19% in 1937. Because of this, the Polish government wanted to acquire capital in private and launched a strategy called the â€Å"Polish Etatism†. The strategy permitted the polish government to take control of the saving banks, the operation of foreign exchange, cartels and foreign trade. Additionally it influenced a huge investment program in public labor and the private actions. One projectthat was a great achievem ent was the Central Industrial District development in 1936, which was concentrated on the military, transportation, agricultural, industrialization, and urbanization improvement. Romania In Romania, the sector that was hit very hard was the agricultural one where the government earnings fell because of the decline of the agriculture products exports. By 1932, the taxes fell and the government began to aid the poor by forcing their repayment’s delay. However, during the depression, the government needed with any cost the fiscal balance so it was hard for it to intervene in the economy. During the first years, there wasn’t any understandable plan with the goal to fight depression, but instead to fight the most important problems. Furthermore, Romania had a huge problem with the foreign debt. Since European states couldn’t take loan to deal with their debts, import limits were increased and in 1932 the control on exchange was established. The industry of Romania managed to recover during the 1930s, however the most of people were too poor to impact the increase of consumption and demands, and in addition the developments in foreign markets could not help since they became protectionists as effect of Depression. Greece During the inter-war period, in Greece was present a strong belief in favor of financial independence and nationwide autonomy. Derilis and Costis (2006) claimed that this ideology could have been changed into an actual policy in 1932. The economy was focused more internally and was led by the state, which was to some degree a reaction to the other nations’ activities that broadly presented controls on trade and fees. High taxes, determinable restrictions and the use of mutual clearing agreements were broadly utilized. The state involvement in economic issues increased throughout the 1930s. The guideline of Greek Economy was now the greater independence using the inside resources and less dependence from the international economy. This tendency was noticeable in both industry and agriculture (Aldcroft, 2006). Yugoslavia In reality Yugoslavia was not hit particularly hard by the crisis, though the peasants faced the worst, being unable to pay and calling for the government action to relieve them of their debts. The government reduced taxes for the farming communities and eliminated debts for about 600, 000 small farmers. The government`s response to the crisis was under heavy French influence. The government tried to balance the budget and National Bank started promoting deflationary monetary policy, and imposed exchange control in 1931. Soon the government recognized the error of its economic policy and in 1933 started to pursue more expansionary fiscal policy, which soon turned deflation into inflation. The government was also spending money on public works, and was actively trying to influence the commercial banks to lower their interest rates. Comparing the Great Depression and the Economic Crisis of 2008 There have been a lot of comments and misconceptions about the comparison of the Great Depression and the Great Credit Crisis of 2008. Both of them were originated in US and then spread out the world. The Trade, capital flow and policies on prices of commodities were the factors which spread worldwide the Great Depression. Depending from their specifics and the above factors, different countries faced different effects. For example, France was almost passive, whiles some other countries, such as Japan, was affected and used largely the monetary and fiscal policies during that period. On the contrary, the Great Credit Crises was global, started in US and with bigger influence in US. It impacted the global world economy with even worse effects in other countries exports, production and equity prices decline. But in the similar way with the measures taken during the Great Depression, different countries reacted in different ways. Some countries applied more aggressive monetary and fiscal policies; some other applied less aggressive ones. Summary The crash of the stock market on October 1929 wan not the cause of Great Depression. It was a symptom. It was followed by the bank closing crisis which reduced largely the money flow in the country, drop of demands and production and increase of unemployment as well. The major causes of the depression were the wrong policies established by the Federal Reserve, wrong ration of investments in production vs. the salaries, overproduction in industry and agriculture, and inequality of wealth distribution. Other factors such as the needs for the reconstruction of economy, the needs for renovation of old industry and railway rods, massive people migration and natural ecologic disasters influenced badly the economy during the Great depression. The measures taken by the President Hoover administration in order to ease the effects of depressions were late and not sufficient while most of them failed. President Roosevelt administration applied several measures as part of so called New Deal Programs, which were effective, helped for easing and avoiding the effects of Great Depression but did not end it. These measures returned back the hope and confidence of investors and consumers, and combined with the increased production which served the demands of WWII, created the foundation for the US economy recovery and then for a rapid development of it after the war. The great depression was not only a local USA crisis; it was global and widespread in world. The impact of it was different for each country depending from their domestic economy specifics and dependency from the world economy. In some aspects, the Great Depression worldwide effects and reaction to them, joined by the weakness and confusion in the outside foreign policies were one of the causes which pushed the world into WWII.

Hate Crime Laws: Are They Constitutional? Essay -- essays research pap

Are hate crime penalty enforcement laws constitutional? â€Å"That’s Gay.† If you are around teenagers today, that is a phrase you will most likely hear very often. It is not necessarily meant as a homophobic or hate-filled remark, and most of the time it is referring to an object, an idea, or a conversation; things that obviously have no sexual orientation. But now, according to a bill passed by the senate, it could almost be considered a hate crime. Many people support the widening of hate crime laws, assuming that with stricter penalties, the crimes will lessen. In June, 2004, Senate passed a bill that received a record number of votes, passing 65-33, including 18 Republicans voting yes. The measure will add sexual orientation, gender and disability to the list of motives that provide for enhanced federal prosecution of a violent crime against a person (Lochhead). The current hate crimes law, which originated during the civil rights movement of the 1960s when many Southern states failed to prosecute assaults on African Am ericans, includes crimes motivated by hatred based on race, color, religion, and national origin. Many see this as a step forward, but there are some who think it is unconstitutional. Religious groups argue that "It advances the radical, well publicized agenda of homosexuals to gain acceptance for, and legal recognition of, homosexuality as a normal lifestyle" (Toalston). So who’s right? Should there be a separate category for crimes committed to minorities? Shouldn’t all crimes be treated just as serious as another? I believe that the categorizing of crimes into Hate Crimes is just further segregating people because of their differences, and that paying more serious attention to crimes committed on minorities is sending a bad message to those who are in the majority. First off, many people perceive hate crime perpetrators as crazed neo-Nazis or "skinheads". However, most hate crimes are carried out by otherwise law-abiding citizens who see little wrong with their actions. Alcohol and drugs sometimes help fuel these crimes, but the main determinant appears to be personal prejudice. New FBI data shows that the number of hate crimes reported in 2003 increased slightly, from 7,462 in 2002 to 7,489 in 2003. The 7,489 hate crime incidents reported to the FBI in 2003 involved 8,715 separate offense... ...will continue to believe that the widening of the classifications of hate crimes is just a way to keep certain people happy and to make them feel safe, while it really only further separates people who are viewed as different. Hopefully, sometime in the near future, we will figure out how to reach the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups of the world and prevent them from harming others. But I can tell you right now, that will not be accomplished by passing any bills that include the word â€Å"victim†, because it proves itself that its too late to help. Bibliography Lochhead, Carolyn - â€Å"Senate OKs bill including gays as hate crime victims† The San Francisco Chronicle, June 16, 2004 Toalston, Art – â€Å"Baptist agency lists '10 Reasons' to oppose hate crimes legislation† The Baptist Press, July 2 CivilRights.org - â€Å"New FBI Data Reports Increase in Hate Crimes† November 17, 2004 http://www.civilrights.org/issues/hate/details.cfm?id=26241 APA.org - Hate Crimes Today: An Age-Old Foe In Modern Dress http://www.apa.org/pubinfo/hate/ www.fbi.gov – Uniform Crime Reports http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm

Violence in Playgrounds and How to Curb the Menace

VIOLENCE IN PLAYGROUNDS AND HOW TO CURB THE MENACE Violence is on the rise in playgrounds and there are always young children who stand defenseless in the face of their peers, who may happen to be bigger than them and as such take the advantage to pick on the little ones. A report by the Federal School Authorities in Cairo have showed there has been a 70% increase in bullying report cases in 2005 playground, compared to the 15% recorded in 2002. this vividly shows a tremendous increase in bullying on playgrounds. Parents today have a major role to play in counseling their children over the bullying issue. However some parents may decide to tell their children to retaliate, but on a closer look that may not seem to be a good solution. Firstly, if a child decides to fight back, it puts him in an even greater risk because he may be outnumbered by the bullies and that even makes him more defenseless. Secondly, in the event of trying to defend himself, the child may adopt violent methods which he may have seen on T. V like stabbing or kicking in the guts. Consequently, inflicting a major injury on his fellow peers. Thirdly, by parents telling their kids to stand up and defend themselves, they are passing a subliminal message to children which may seem to encourage violence among the children. My final reason is based on a childhood experience ; a child was persistently bullied by a group of children and when he decided to confront his parents about the issue they asked him to stand and defend himself. The next day he took a knife to the playground and used it on the bully. The following are proper methods and solution to be used in such events. †¢Do not blame the child if he finally works up the courage to report bullying. It isn’t right to criticize him for not handling the situation. For example don’t ask him â€Å"Well, what did u do to bring it on? †. Also remember that hitting back is not a choice at playgrounds and is not encouraged at all. It might get him into trouble especially if the playground is for the school. To sum up parents should be aware that bullying prevention programs are often a very effective way to solve the problem rather than fighting back.

The Strength of Weak Ties

Here I would like to emphasize a bit on Social Capital. Social capital according to me is the pool of ties that a person encompasses during his lifetime including strong and weak ties. Persons with higher social capital are bound to be better off with greater health and general well being. Social capital helps to leverage the people we communicate with for the benefit of our shared and individual interest. We can relate this with a famous punch line – â€Å"I scratch your back, you scratch mine. The basic hypothesis of Granovetter’s work is that our acquaintances play a very important part in connecting different networks to one another. A personal example which I would like to share is that I have around 30 very closely knitted friends and family members and about 300 odd acquaintances. These acquaintances are comprised of my old classmates, co-workers and some friends through social networking groups. In the digital world these are friends connected through facebook, LinkedIn, orkut etc. Personally speaking it makes sense that in some cases my family and my close knitted friends are best suited to provide me with quality options and choices. For the most part I believe this is true under certain circumstances during personal care when I am sick or when I need advice for some personal decisions in life. But when it comes to looking out for a job the theory comes true to life. I would be naturally tapping my network of acquaintances and assuming I have a good amount of social capital in my network, I would be more likely be presented with more opportunities than my family and close knitted friends. Another example explaining the theory of weak ties is between the social networks existing in this globe. We can take an example of how LinkedIn is different from Facebook and why that difference matters. Weak ties are the social â€Å"degrees of separation† beyond the people we actually know. Facebook primarily is about knowing who you know, connecting with people who are already in your social circle. In my experience it does little to help you develop weak ties and it does nothing to introduce you to people you do not know. There is an interesting paradox that Facebook, perhaps, reinforces our stereotypes, because we are just getting content from our mostly like minded friends. LinkedIn by contrast, is about helping people expand their circles and improve their opportunities. LinkedIn has been slower to take off because it is a harder â€Å"get. † Beyond being a resume building site, why do I need this? If I'm not looking for a job or to find sales leads, why bother? Once you look at it from a content perspective, however, the benefit becomes clearer. Those â€Å"weak ties† provide you with â€Å"micro-nutrients† that your â€Å"strong ties† may not. Further investigation into the analogy of strong and weak bonds in physics is warranted, but the most immediate application in terms of content strategy is the serendipitous model of magazine content. If we consider content that a reader is looking for (through a Google search, for instance) to be strongly bonded, then the content they find along the way (in sidebars and various â€Å"asides† to use the html5 term) are weakly bonded. Magazines have always created content environments where their readers discover new things—and some of those things are advertisements. This serendipity of discovery is key to the pleasure of magazine reading and the financial success of the magazine business, but it has not translated all that well online. To end my observations I completely agree with this theory however I would like to bring an important aspect that a perfectly balanced strong and weaker ties help an individual to do the best and for the society at large. Thanks & Best Regards Pranav