The Meaning of Life Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Meaning of Life My few years on this planet have been a bit confusing. I have learned of many aspects of life from which one can draw meaning, if indeed such meaning can be drawn. I have also learned that there can be no singular meaning of life to stand for us all, or even any one of us. What I have learned above all is that trying to put words to the meaning of life is a task of absolute absurdity. This is not to be confused with the idea that life has no meaning, for life certainly has meaning. However, there is no single meaning of life to be defined - life is different for us all. Therefore, rather than define life for an entire planet, I shall try to explain what life means as I perceive it, and why it means so. When I was a child I felt as though I owned the world. I lived my young life oblivious to the struggles and triumphs of society, simply happy for being in my place with my things. On one cool January evening, as I sat in my room playing with my favorite action figures, simply holding my contentment, my father interrupted my peace to take the family out for dinner. The meal was pleasant to my knowledge, but so ordinary in itself that the meal has long been forgotten, except dessert. I wanted ice cream, but I had no care for the waffle ice cream cones; I preferred my ice cream to be served in a bowl. As I extended for my spoon, it slipped between my fingers and tumbled to the floor. I was taught to never eat with a dirty utensil, but to leave it on the floor would be impolite, so I reached for it intending to place it on the table. As my fingers grasped the shiny object, my forehead nudged the bowl of ice cream that happened to be conveniently near the edge of the table. It was a health... ...to learn - it is a reciprocal relationship, and both aspects are required elements of life. What does this mean? Does this mean that life is merely a story written from the suffering and laughing over a few revolutions around a star, while learning what can be learned before the experience is over? I try not to confuse life with such confusing meanings, for there are far too many reasons to contradict such meanings and even more opinions. Simply put, the sole purpose of life is to just go with the flow. Whatever happens should happen naturally, and it cannot happen by any other method. Even supernatural interference, if present, can be viewed as natural, for who or what am I to decide that the hand of God is not natural? Who am I to say that I am even living outside of my own mind? In conclusion, I have narrowed life to one simple purpose: to live.

The Issue of Inflation Control as an Objectice of Central Banks Essay e

The Issue of Inflation Control as an Objectice of Central Banks This paper looks at the issue of inflation control as an objective of central banks. Viewing the British Commonwealth and Continental European models of ‘zero inflation’ in contrast with the moderate inflation policy of the US provides a case against zero inflation as a policy objective. A variety of issues that surround inflation; e.g., the inflation/unemployment relationship, etc, will be brought to the fore. In the final analysis, it is clear that efforts to eradicate inflation are misguided and more moderate inflation is preferable in an era where steady economic growth is desirable. Introduction Hyper inflation has plagued most of the world’s developing countries over the past decades. Countries in the industrialised world, too, have at times duelled with dangerously high inflation rates in the post WWII era. With varying degrees of success, all have employed great efforts to bring their inflation rates within acceptable limits. Generally, a moderate rate of inflation has been the ultimate goal. More recently, however, a few countries have pursued policies that strive to eradicate inflation altogether through complete price stability. This has proven to be a contentious enterprise, which clearly indicates that there is still no universally accepted solution to the inflation problem. Indeed, there is not even an agreed consensus regarding the source of inflation itself. The monetarist perception that the root of inflation is solely the excessive creation of money remains. So too does the belief that inflation originates in the labour market. And amongst a variety of others, the opinion that inflation â€Å"serves the critical social purpose of resolving incompatible demands by different groups† is also strong. This last, and more widely accepted, case shows that the problem is hardly a technical one; but rather a political one. It highlights the now unquestionable fact that politics and inflation are inextricably linked. And as with all inherently political issues, consensus is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. But, political characteristics do provide flexibility. In some countries, high rates of inflation have clearly been compatible with rapid economic growth and fast rising standards of living. In such cases, it is quite reasonable to suggest that higher r... ...n and France. And unless the elusive benefits of zero inflation soon manifest themselves, it is only a matter of time before the rest of the ‘no inflation’ pack realises they are barking up the wrong tree. Bibliography: Akerlof, George., Dickens, William., Perry, George., ‘The Macroeconomics of Low Inflation’., Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (1996 NI) Dale, Reginald., ‘Zero Inflation is Not a Great Idea’., International Herald Tribune (Tuesday, September 10, 1996) Fortin, Pierre, ‘The Canadian Fiscal Problem: The Macroeconomic Connection’ in Lars Osberg and Pierre Fortin (eds.), Unnecessary Debts (Lorimer, 1996) Fortin, Pierre., ‘The Great Canadian Slump’., Canadian Journal of Economics (November 1996) Freedman, Charles, ‘The Role of Monetary Conditions and the Monetary Conditions Index in the Conduct of Policy’., in Bank of Canada Review (Autumn 1995) Friedman, Milton., ‘The Role of Monetary Policy’., American Economic Review (March, 1968) Frisch, Helmut., Theories of Inflation (Cambridge University Press, New York, 1983) Lovewell, Mark., ‘Getting to Zero: Bank of Canada Policy in Context’., in Bank of Canada Review (Autumn 1996)

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Technology Essay

Chief among there is its convenience, efficiency and effectiveness in work, study, and research. It must be said that there are a number of substantial problems associated with the phenomenon of modernized technology. The one that springs immediately to mind is the potential risk of overusing technology in our lives. At the other end of the spectrum, there are many and varied merits to the concept of easily accessible up-to-date technology. Perhaps most importantly, it assists people to carry out their work faster. In my own experience, I found that technological appliances such as computer and mobile phone have assisted me a great deal in my occupation. As an accountant, I usually liaise with my clients to discuss about their account issues. Sometimes, problems can be solved via only a phone call. In addition, the aid of computer has reduced amount of my work significantly. At the end of the day, the positives effects of using digital technology and its convenience and efficiency for most people are more convincing than the negative aspects. If digital technology were never invented, our lives would be never wonderful as they should be. There is a school of thought which contends that features, talents and shortcomings humanity is born with determine our social skills and growth considerably more than any education and real-life scenarios throughout our lives. From my personal perspective, I am unable to concur with this view. First and foremost, it is clearly evident that while beasts inherit all the intuition needed for existence when they come into the world, humanity is virtually useless at birth and takes the first 20 years of life acquiring survival prowess. / To begin with, it is immediately apparent that off spring inherit incredible genetic †hard-wired† abilities at birth, but unless they are encouraged to evolve these, such talents will manifest themselves. / First and foremost, it is clearly evident that if an individual has skill at something, it becomes pparent in earlier youth. People do not wake up one morning as excellent/superb athletes or academics at the age of 35. Similarly, lack of ability or learning difficulties are usually noticed at a very young age. This strongly recommends that babies are neither born with distinct abilities nor they are. †¦.. At the end of the day, in the course of our daily existence, any educative processes and life-changing events exert far g reater control than aspects, natural abilities as well as weak points that are contained in our genetic make-up.

Mexicans and Discrimination Essay

Wetback, spic and beaner are a few of the words people use when talking about a Mexican. Mexican Americans have been the victim of discrimination throughout the history of the United States. Mexicans have a very big stereotype against them. One of the main reasons that they are discriminated against is because of their illegal immigration into the United States. Like many other groups Mexicans immigrated to the United States in search of a better life. Many Mexicans are left with no choice but to come to the U. S illegally because of the cost and obstacles that one has to go through to become a citizen. Because many Mexicans come to the U. S. illegally they are often forced to work physically demanding jobs for less money. Mexican Americans have a long history of experiencing nativism and racism which has resulted in a number of discriminatory conditions and consequences such as, social and geographical segregation, employment discrimination, patterns of abuse at the hands of law enforcement officials, vigilante murder and justice, substandard education, electoral fraud, exclusion from petit and grand juries, forced dislocations from their neighborhoods, voter intimidation, and language discrimination. (Galaviz 2007) Mexicans work under the secondary sector of the Dual labor market. The secondary Dual Labor market has low incomes, little job security, and little training. There are also no rewards apart from wages. Mexicans are forced to work for very low wages either because, as non-citizens, they lack options, or because they may realistically perceive themselves as â€Å"best off† here, even at very cheap wages, than they were back home. (Aponte 1990) For example, many companies offer very poor working conditions and minimum wage because they know that illegal immigrants have no choice but to accept these conditions because of their status. After the United States victory in the Mexican-American War in 1848 a forced treaty was signed. The treaty was known as Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This treaty required Mexico to give up over half its land to the United States in exchange for 15 million dollars. Land given up by Mexico included California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo also guaranteed that Mexican citizens living in surrendered lands would be able to keep property rights and would be given United States citizenship if they remained in surrendered lands for at least one year. However, the property rights of Mexicans were ignored by the United States government and local officials. Mexicans were slowly forced from lands which their families had held for generations in many cases. Many organizations, businesses, and homeowners associations had official policies to exclude Mexican Americans. In many areas across the Southwest, Mexican Americans lived in separate residential areas, due to laws and real estate company policies. This group of laws and policies, known as redlining, lasted until the 1950s, and fall under the concept of official segregation. In many other instances, it was more of a general social understanding among Anglos that Mexicans should be excluded. For instance, signs with the phrase â€Å"No Dogs or Mexicans† were posted in small businesses and public pools throughout the Southwest well into the 1960s. Mexicans were also restricted from being jurors, even if the case involved a Mexican. Schools also discriminated against Mexican children and eventually Mexicans were made to open their own schools. Though times have changed Mexicans are still discriminated against because of the stereotype they are associated with. Many believe that all Mexicans come over here illegally and do not deserve the same rights as citizens do. Even now people believe that Mexicans should be sent back to Mexico and an example of that is Phoenix, Arizona and its Immigration Law.

Jcg Global Air Services

UV1317 Rev. Jan. 6, 2009 JCG GLOBAL AIR SERVICES Sam Bursk set about the task of preparing a fuel plan for his upcoming four-leg flight to Boston, the New York City area, Dallas, and back. Like the other 13 corporate pilots he worked with, Bursk enjoyed flying a lot more than doing paperwork. But unlike some of his colleagues, Bursk rather enjoyed the challenge of constructing a fuel plan. JCG Global Air Services JCG Global Air Services (AS) operated four aircraft to serve the transportation needs of the corporate headquarters of the JCG Company.Located on a 1,415-acre campus in Moline, Illinois, the headquarters housed the executive and administrative staff of JCG’s divisions along with a wide array of company-wide functions. Close to 2,400 JCG employees worked at headquarters. Company executives routinely used AS to fly to company factories, marketing facilities, and customer locations throughout the world. The company’s largest and most expensive aircraft, the Gulfst ream GV, had a range of 6,000 nautical miles. Purchased in 2001, it was flown throughout the world including the growth areas of India and China.It could carry up to 13 passengers, a flight attendant, and two or three pilots. It burned fuel at a rate of approximately 450 gallons per hour. The firm owned and operated two Cessna Citation X aircraft (CE750), which it had purchased in 2002 and 2004. The CE750 (Figure 1) was the fastest nonmilitary plane in the world and often went from Moline to as far as South America, Europe, and Western Russia—a larger range than most small jets. Its fuel burn rate of 310 gallons per hour coupled with its 13,000-pound-capacity tank meant that Figure 1.Cessna Citation X aircraft.  © Bryan Correira (used with permission) http://www. flickr. com/photos/bcorreira/2540324650/ This case was written by Richard S. Reynolds Professor Phillip E. Pfeifer as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an a dministrative situation. Names have been disguised. Copyright ? 2008 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved. To order copies, send an e-mail to [email  protected] com.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the Darden School. Rev. 1/09. Purchased by ersin koc ([email  protected] com) on March 07, 2013 -2- UV1317 it required a fuel stop to reach these more distant destinations. It carried up to eight passengers and two pilots. The company’s newest aircraft was a 2006 Cessna Citation Sovereign (CE680).Used only within North America, this craft carried up to eight passengers and burned fuel at approximately 270 gallons per hour. Each of the four aircraft was budgeted for 650 flight hours per year, and AS had an annua l budget of $22 million—less than 0. 1% of company sales. The department consisted of 14 pilots (including the department manager and two pilot managers), six maintenance technicians, and four support staff members who were responsible for scheduling and office support.The Upcoming Flight In two days, the CEO and CFO of the JCG Corporation had a trip scheduled from Moline, to Boston, the New York City area, Dallas, and then back to Moline. The purpose of the trip was to pick up some key analysts and mutual fund managers in Boston and New York and show them the new JCG factory in Dallas and the new JCG distribution center in Moline. They would be picking up two passengers in Boston and four in New York.As usual, AS would use the airport in Teterboro, New Jersey, as their destination in the New York City area; it was the closest airport to Wall Street, Manhattan, and the Lincoln Tunnel. Each U. S. airport carried a four-letter identifier beginning with the letter K. The upcomin g four-leg flight would go from KMLI to KBOS to KTEB to KDAL and back to KMLI. Pilots at AS were responsible for creating and filing their own flight plans with the U. S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). One element of the flight plan was the takeoff and landing weight of the aircraft.To calculate these, one started with the basic operating weight (BOW) of the craft and added the weight of the passengers and fuel. The BOW included the structure of the aircraft, a stocked galley, emergency equipment, and the crew. The only weight components that varied from flight to flight were passengers and fuel. The only component that varied from takeoff to landing on a given flight was fuel. (For the purposes of this case study, we ignore the possibility of executive skydiving. )Tinkering with Tankering This meant that one of Bursk’s first tasks was to determine a fueling plan for the upcoming flights. Coming up with a fuel plan was not a joyful task for pilots because there was no straightforward way to calculate how much fuel to take on or â€Å"upload† at the beginning of each leg. One question was whether or not to â€Å"tanker. † Tankering referred to a practice in which extra fuel was uploaded initially to avoid having to purchase higher-priced fuel at destination airports. AS operated its own fuel farm at Moline,Purchased by ersin koc ([email  protected] com) on March 07, 2013 -3- UV1317 which kept its fuel costs low. Fuel at Moline at the time cost $3. 97 a gallon. In contrast, fuel purchased at KBOS cost $8. 35 a gallon. As a simple example of tankering, Bursk could decide to upload enough fuel at KMLI to carry him through both of the first two legs, thereby avoiding buying fuel at KBOS. In essence, AS would carry or tanker from KMLI the fuel needed to fly from KBOS to KTEB. One factor that worked against tankering was ramp fees.Ramp fees were fixed fees charged to each landing jet by the destination airport’s general-aviation terminal; the fees covered the costs of operating the terminal. The ramp fee at KBOS was $800. The fee was waived with the purchase of 500 or more gallons of fuel. To begin the process of constructing a fuel plan, Bursk assembled the information in Exhibit 1. The fuel burn numbers were fairly easy to calculate based on flight miles and aircraft. (The burn numbers included the fuel used during taxiing at the departing airport. Although the calculation was more complicated than just multiplying miles by average gallons per mile (because extra fuel was used at takeoff), most pilots could do the calculation in their heads. Fuel prices, ramp fees, and minimum gallons needed to waive the ramp fees could all be found on the Internet. In addition to the cost of fuel and ramp fees, Bursk needed to consider the limitations of the CE750 (Exhibit 2). The fuel tank capacity was a firm physical limit, and the departure ramp and landing weight limits were structural limits developed by the manufac turer and approved by the FAA during aircraft certification.To calculate departing ramp or arrival weight, Bursk added BOW to the weight of the fuel and the weight of the passengers (passenger weight calculations were based on a company-mandated figure of 200 pounds per person, including luggage). There were two final considerations. The company specified that aircraft always land with at least 2,400 pounds of fuel. Any fuel plan Bursk developed would have to be one in which the weight of fuel at arrival met or exceeded 2,400 pounds. This â€Å"safety stock† was there to ensure jets had enough fuel to make it to an alternate airport should there be bad weather at the destination airport.The second consideration was that the company dictated immediately bringing the fuel level up to 7,000 pounds upon arrival back at KMLI. The rationale for this was that the aircraft would always be ready to go at a moment’s notice. This meant that Bursk’s fuel plan should begin w ith the CE750 containing 7,000 pounds of fuel. (For flights using the larger Gulfstream GV aircraft, the policy was to always land with at least 4,500 pounds of fuel and bring its fuel level up to 8,700 pounds upon arrival at KMLI. As Bursk prepared to put pencil to paper to create a fuel plan for the upcoming KMLI to KBOS to KTEB to KDAL to KMLI trip, he paused to ponder why aircraft gauges measured fuel in pounds and yet fuel was sold in gallons. Like every other pilot at AS, he knew the importance of the number 6. 7—the weight in pounds of a gallon of jet fuel. Purchased by ersin koc ([email  protected] com) on March 07, 2013 -4Exhibit 1 JCG GLOBAL AIR SERVICES Flight Details UV1317 Leg 1 2 3 4 Depart KMLI KBOS KTEB KDAL Arrive KBOS KTEB KDAL KMLI Miles 890 176 1,202 628 Duration (hrs:mins) 2:00 0:40 2:55 1:35Fuel burn including taxi (pounds) 4,800 2,000 5,300 3,100 Fuel price ($/gallon) $3. 97 $8. 35 $7. 47 $6. 01 Ramp fee $800 $450 $400 Minimum gallons to waive fee 500 300 350 Exhibit 2 JCG GLOBAL AIR SERVICES Aircraft Limitations (in pounds) Aircraft Maximum Ramp Weight Maximum Landing Weight BOW* Fuel Tank Capacity CE750 36,400 31,800 22,200 13,000 GV 90,900 75,300 48,800 41,300 *BOW = basic operating weight of the aircraft, including crew and excluding the weight of fuel and passengers. Purchased by ersin koc ([email  protected] com) on March 07, 2013

Business Information Systems (tesco's data processing and networks) Essay

Business Information Systems (tesco's data processing and networks) - Essay Example Tesco’s information systems can be studied from different angles. We shall focus on studying them from the functionality aspect. Let us analyze one of the critical components of Tesco’s Information Systems, the Supply Chain Management System. Tesco is well known for its best practices in Supply Chain Management, which includes â€Å"lean management† and using RFID technology. The key strategy behind maintaining advantage over its competitors has been innovation in the supply chain. Tesco has aimed to innovate at each point of its supply chain. This includes point of sales management, continuous replenishment system, cross dock distribution centers and use of a single vehicle to distribute to several stores (ICMR n.d.). The Continuous replenishment system is a key component in Tesco’s Supply Chain system. The application monitors and controls the inventory in real time at all stores. This provides with real time data to analyze and take important decisions. This modernized application is of unique type and has been deployed in all of Tesco’s data centers across the world. Having a common operating model across all centers around the world, Tesco saves a lot of cost in deployment and maintenance of systems. A company called Micro Focus modernized and extended Tesco’s Continuous Replenishment (CR) application to operate on the latest IBM System p servers and AIX Unix (Computing 2007). MIS system at Tesco is another component of the overall information system of Tesco. After achieving massive growth and expansion, Tesco came up with the idea of developing a single Management Information System (MIS) to fulfill both local and global data reporting requirements. The aim of the MIS is to spread out the key practices and performance indicators at all locations and provide business insight at each store irrespective of the size or maturity of

Information System Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Information System Managment - Essay Example To conduct this study, I have used two basic methods. First a secondary research to give me theoretical background about information system. The tools used were: Books, Articles, and Websites along with various charts and reports available and deduced in the course of investigation. Second primary research to provide a background on ETC and its current strategies strategic objectives, mission and vision, as a foundation for my research The resources conferred with were from analytical activities and personal observations on operation and customer services. Also books and journals were used. Telecom industry should ever succeed in providing customers to communicate to their kith, kin or co-workers with better approach according to their requirements. When it comes to UAE a nation where employees are present form almost all countries around the world; communication thus is having very high priority. Etisalat is a name heard attached to UAE and its telecom system. ETC is a very rich company with ample excellence of successful history above which they structured their undetermined deep knowledge as telecommunication heart of UAE. Acquisition spree of ETC has revealed as success for them within as well as outside UAE. They have already made up to achieve licenses to work any various other countries across the world. â€Å"Etisalat, with its long history of sponsorship and support for community and charitable projects in the  UAE, is interested in encouraging the adoption of CSR policies by companies operating in the Middle East, according to Ahmed Bin Ali, Manager of Pub lic Relations for Etisalat.† 3 With their success history in telecom sector, they are even expanding to other areas of business as well. 4ETC has been the solitary donor of telecommunications facilities inside the UAE for the past 31 years. â€Å"Etisalat has been the telecommunications service provider in the UAE since 1976, and has built