Tesla Motors Essay Example for Free

Tesla Motors Essay Elon Musk successfully established Tesla Motors as one of the leaders in the electric vehicle industry since his induction as CEO in 2008. Tesla Motors designs, manufactures, and sells electric cars and powertrain components. The company also provides services for the development of powertrain systems and components, and sells electric powertrain components to other automotive manufacturers. It markets and sells its vehicles through Tesla stores as well as over the internet (Mora 2014, 1). Consumers and companies are looking to save at the pump, and what better way to do so than with electric vehicles (Mora 2014, 1)? Through government support and raised capital, Musk has put Tesla in an advantageous position to capitalize on the growing electric vehicle market. Battery electric vehicles will increase at a 31.5% compound annual growth over the next seven years (Navigant Research 2013). With Musk’s leadership and innovation, Tesla plans on boosting sales by increasing current production of the Model S, introducing the Model X SUV in 2015, and introducing the more affordable Gen III by 2017 (Recharge Now, Forbes 2013). â€Å"Tesla has now crept onto the top ten list for brand perception, as ranked by Consumer Reports† (Ingram 2013, 1). Tesla is exceeding their own expectations as more consumers are becoming familiar with their company. In 2013, sales totaled to 22,450, while forecasts were set at 21,500 (Ohnsman). All of this success has resulted in Tesla’s stock rising nearly $100 this past year (Yahoo Finance 2014). With people increasingly worrying about the harmful effects of combustion engines on the environment and the limited supply of oil, the market for electric cars has a ton of potential. While there is tons of potential for Tesla, the truth is that they have yet to make an annual profit. Yes, they did raise their revenue from $413 million to $2 billion in the last year, but this still resulted in a net loss of $74 million (Yahoo Finance 2014). This loss is primarily due to the high cost of goods sold, which is why it is so important to keep researching and developing cheaper ways to produce their technology. â€Å"Few expect to trim electric-car battery costs by more than 20%-30% by the planned 2016† (Recharge Now, Forbes 2013). Increasing sales indicates a positive future for Tesla, but if they are unable to effectively reduce the cost of goods their financial condition will suffer. Next, we will examine the opportunities that Tesla could capitalize on with their substantial growth over the past few years. Being that oil is a limited resource, it’s only a matter of time before the supply becomes extremely scarce, resulting in skyrocketing oil prices. This event should cause a major shift to the use of electric vehicles. The average consumer cannot afford the $90,000 and up Model S, but many are still interested in owning an electric vehicle. Musk realizes this opportunity and has begun developing a more affordable model known as the Gen III. In order to launch this model at a price point of around $35,000 Tesla must drastically reduce the cost of batteries. Tesla unveiled details about a plan to build a â€Å"gigafactory†. It will cost them $5 billion, but it will reduce battery costs by an impressive 30% in the first year (Trefis 2014, 1). At peak production, this factory will be able to produce 50 gigawatt-hours of batteries in a year, more than the entire world’s current production (Trefis 2014,2). At this point, Tesla could provide surplus batteries to the electronic industry and potentially become a leading producer of energy storage. Despite all of this, there are potential threats to Tesla’s business, mainly the competition they face in the alternative fuel vehicle market. Many established and upcoming automobile manufacturers have entered, or plan on entering this market. For example, BMW, Cadillac, Porsche, and Audi are promoting new plug-in models aimed at affluent consumers (White 2013, 1). Established luxury brands are muscling on to Teslas turf in part because government policies are forcing them to, and in part because they see Mr. Musk peeling away influential trendsetters they dont want to lose (White 2013, 2). The impact of these new luxury plug-ins on Tesla will depend on whether they are trying to expand the segment, or merely go after the same consumers. With Elon Musk’s plan to increase production of the Model S, while introducing two new vehicles by 2015 and 2017, the Model X and Gen III, we  should expect to see continued success from Tesla Motors. If Musk successfully reduces operational costs and offers consumers an affordable Tesla model, he may trigger an amazing turning point in the auto industry and leave a lasting impression on the world. Works Cited Alpert, Bill. â€Å"Recharge Now!† Forbes. 10 June 2013. Web. 16 October 2013. â€Å"Electric Vehicle Market Forecasts. Navigant Research. Navigant Consulting Inc, 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. Ingra, Antony. Tesla Gains In Brand Awareness. Green Car Reports. High Gear Media, 4 Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. Mora, Victor. Is Tesla Motors an Attractive Investment? Wall St. Cheat Sheet. Wall St Cheat Sheet, 21 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. Ohnsman, Alan. Tesla Rises After Model S Sales in 2013 Exceed Forecast. Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 15 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. â€Å"Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA).† Yahoo Finance. Web. 13 March 2014. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=tslaql=1. Trefis. Gigafactory Will Cost Tesla $5 Billion But Offers Significant Cost Reductions. Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. White, Joseph B. BMW, Cadillac Aim to Pull Plug on Tesla With Pricey New Cars. The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones Company, 20 Nov. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

Handguns in Households with Children Essay -- essays research papers

Handguns in Households with Children   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Guns in America are a problem as bad as the drug problem: 43% of households that have children have handguns in them; 10 children die every day from handguns, approximately one every 2  ½ hours. That is the same of a classroom of children every two days. Parents do not realize that children get the physical capacity to reach and discharge a firearm long before the ability to understand the potential consequences of these actions. Parents who insist on keeping guns in the home should be urged strongly to store their firearms unloaded and locked in a secure place. Actions like these will reduce the probability of children being killed by a firearm. The presence of handguns in households with children frequently leads to fatal accidents, suicides, and murders.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The majority of handguns kept in homes are NOT kept safely locked up, simply because people are stupid enough to believe that they need to be able to access that gun as fast as possible in case of emergency. These people keep their guns in bedside drawers, closets, under mattresses. Most of the children who are involved in fatal accidents are older children. In 1999, the most recent year which data are available, 34 children under the age of 5 died in gun accidents. Among children aged 5-9, there were 56 fatal gun accidents; and among children aged 10-14, 146 fatal accidents. For instance, on July 21, 1999, in Lakepark, Florida, a 6-year-old boy fatally shot his 5-year-old brother Corey Andrew Wilson, as the boys played with a shotgun they found under a bed in their grandparent’s bedroom. The best way to reduce gun risks is to remove guns from home. Candamo 2   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Children suicide has truly become a problem of outbreak proportions in America that must be addressed from every direction. As numerous studies have shown, children use guns in roughly two out of every three-suicide attempt, and handguns are used in 70% of these. In 1998 alone, 1200 youth in America committed suicide with a gun, the same of one every seven hours. Children suicide attempts are usually impulsive acts, and the easier it is to carry out. Using a firearm in a suicide attempt drastically increases the likelihood that the attempt will be fatal. Simply having a gun in the home actually increases the chances of suic... ...ban or recall hundreds of products that cause injury or death to very small numbers of children, yet they will not pass laws making guns safer because of the NRA. Maybe people may not be able to fight the NRA on the national level, but there are many cities and states that have already taken one step forward. Such a small number, however, is not enough to convince the politicians that they don’t need the NRA’s money or votes. The children need their help.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, despite the guidelines regarding safe firearm storage in homes with children, a study reports less than half of gun-owning parents store their firearms safely. Many parents underestimate the risk of leaving their children in the home with an unlocked and loaded firearm. The gap between awareness and reality is particularly great for gun-owning parents. More gun-owning parents trust their children with a loaded gun and believe that their young child can tell the difference between a toy gun and a real gun. And in many cases they will not be able to tell the difference. So to have handguns in homes around children will sooner or later produce fatal accidents, suicides, and even murders.

Introduction Fundamental Analysis

Fundamental analysis involves examining the economic, financial and other qualitative and quantitative factors related to a security in order to determine its intrinsic value. It attempts to study everything that can affect the security’s value, including macroeconomic factors (like the overall economy and industry conditions) and individually specific factors (like the financial condition and management of companies). Fundamental analysis, which is also known as quantitative analysis, involves delving into a company’s financial statements (such as profit and loss account and balance sheet) in order to study various financial indicators (such as revenues, earnings, liabilities, expenses, and assets). Such analysis is usually carried out by analysts, brokers and savvy investors. Many analysts and investors focus on a single number – net income (or earnings) – to evaluate performance. When investors attempt to forecast the market value of firm, they frequently rely on earnings. Many institutional investors, analysts and regulators believe earnings are not as relevant as they once were. Due to nonrecurring events, disparities in measuring risk and management ability to disguise fundamental earnings problems, other measures beyond net income can assist in predicting future firm earnings. Two approaches of fundamental analysis: * The top-down investor starts his or her analysis with global economics, including both international and national economic indicators, such as GDP growth rates, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, productivity, and energy prices. He or she narrows his or her search down to regional/industry analysis of total sales, price levels, the effects of competing products, foreign competition, and entry or exit from the industry. Only then does he or she narrow his or her search to the best business in that area. * The bottom-up investor starts with specific businesses, regardless of their industry/region. How does fundamental analysis works ? The analysis of a business' health starts with financial statement analysis that includes ratios. It looks at dividends paid, operating cash flow, new equity issues and capital financing. The earnings estimates and growth rate projections published widely by Thomson Reuters and others can be considered either ‘fundamental' (they are facts) or ‘technical' (they are investor sentiment) based on your perception of their validity. The determined growth rates (of income and cash) and risk levels (to determine the discount rate) are used in various valuation models. The foremost is the discounted cash flow model, which calculates the present value of the future * Dividends received by the investor, along with the eventual sale price. Gordon model) * earnings of the company, or * Cash flows of the company. The amount of debt is also a major consideration in determining a company's health. It can be quickly assessed using the debt-to-equity ratio and the current ratio (current assets/current liabilities). The simple model commonly used is the Price/Earnings ratio. Implicit in this model of a perpetual annuity (Time value of money) is that the ‘flip' of the P /E is the discount rate appropriate to the risk of the business. The multiple accepted is adjusted for expected growth (that is not built into the model). Growth estimates are incorporated into the PEG ratio, but the math does not hold up to analysis. Its validity depends on the length of time you think the growth will continue. IGAR models can be used to impute expected changes in growth from current P/E and historical growth rates for the stocks relative to a comparison index. Computer modelling of stock prices has now replaced much of the subjective interpretation of fundamental data (along with technical data) in the industry. Since about year 2000, with the power of computers to crunch vast quantities of data, a new career has been invented. At some funds (called Quant Funds) the manager's decisions have been replaced by proprietary mathematical models. Benefits of fundamental analysis: * Identifying the intrinsic value of a security. * Identifying long term investment opportunities since it involves real time data. Drawbacks of fundamental analysis: * Too many economic indicators and extensive macroeconomic data can confuse novice investors. * The same set of information on, macroeconomic indicators can have varied effects on the same currencies at different times. It is beneficial only for long term investments. Fundamental Analysis Tools These are the most popular tools of fundamental analysis. They focus on earnings, growth, and value in the market. For convenience, I have broken them into separate articles. Each article discusses related ratios. There are links in each article to the other articles and back to this article. The articles are: * Earnings per Share – EPS * Price to Earnings Ratio – P/E * Projected Earnings Growth – PEG * Price to Sales – P/S * Price to Book – P/B * Dividend Payout Ratio * Dividend Yield Book Value * Return on Equity Ratio Analysis: Financial ratios are tools for interpreting financial statements to provide a basis for valuing securities and appraising financial and management performance. A good financial analyst will build in financial ratio calculations extensively in a financial modelling exercise to enable robust analysis. Financial ratios allow a financial analyst to: * Standardize information from financial statements across multiple financial years to allow comparison of a firm’s performance over time in a financial model. Standardize information from financial statements from different companies to allow an apples to apples comparison between firms of differing size in a financial model. * Measure key relationships by relating inputs (costs) with outputs (benefits) and facilities comparison of these relationships over time and across firms in a financial mode. In general, there are 4 kinds of financial ratios that a financial analyst will use most frequently, these are: 1. Performance ratio 2. Working capital ratio 3. Liquidity ratio 4. Solvency ratio These 4 financial ratios allow a good financial analyst to quickly and efficiently address the following questions or concerns: 1. Performance ratio: * What return is the company making on its capital investments? * What are its profit margins? 2. Working capital ratios: * How quickly are debts paid? * How many times is inventory turned? 3. Liquidity ratio: * Can company continue to pay its liabilities and debts? 4. Solvency ratios: * What is the level of debt in relation to other assets and debt to equity? * Is the level of interest payable out of profits? Why conduct fundamental analysis? Fundamental analysis helps you determine if a company is a good or poor investment choice. Imagine you’re a venture capitalist or a bank, who must decide if that company is worthy of a loan or equity investment. How can you evaluate whether this particular company deserves your investable capital? Fundamental analysts consider the following in making their decision to invest (or not): * Is the company making a profit consistently? (While this is naturally the most important question for investors, it’s important to consider the answer in a bigger context. A single profitable quarter for a new company might be a fluke. In the same regard, a drop in profitability for an established blue-chip company might just be a temporary setback. ) * Is that profit growing or declining over time? * Is the company holding its own relative to the competition? Is it a leader in its sector? Is that sector growing or declining in importance to the overall economy? * Can the company pay its bills adequately? If you were to dismantle the company’s operations today, what would be the intrinsic value of its assets versus the value of its debts? What information do we need to perform fundamental analysis? We can think of fundamental analysis as â€Å"investing by the numbers,† since much of the work involves evaluating financial statements issued by the company. Here are a few key statements you should learn to read and understand. All publicly traded companies in the United States are required to file statements of financial condition on a regular basis. These include the 10-Q, a quarterly statement, and the 10-K, an annual statement. Each statement follows a prescribed form to include certain basic information. Publicly traded companies are also subject to audits by government agencies that oversee their given industry. Those audits may be either scheduled or random events. The results of a regulatory audit may also be published–interesting reading for a would-be investor. The 10-Q and 10-K are good places to start your fundamental research, but you’ll likely want to dig deeper into the specifics. For that you’ll need to understand three interrelated types of statements: the balance sheet, the income statement and the cash flow statement. Reading a balance sheet: Assets As the name suggests, a â€Å"balance sheet† presents a picture of how the company’s assets – the value a company takes in – are â€Å"balanced out† against its liabilities – what the company must pay out. When Assets equals Liabilities plus Equity, that’s when the statement is said to be in balance. You can look up a balance sheet for any publicly traded U. S. stock on the TradeKing website under Quotes + Research > Quotes + News + Research. Just enter the company’s ticker symbol and you’ll be on your way. In most cases, balance sheets are presented in left and right side format. You'll find Assets on the left, and on the right side of the page are the Liabilities and Equity. (Sometimes these items are listed from top to bottom instead of left to right. ) Assets include resources the company has that are worth something. Many of these are self-explanatory, like Cash & Investments. Others are less familiar, like Current Assets, which refers to the value of assets that are readily converted into cash, such as Inventory or Receivables. Longer-term assets vary depending on business type, but may include such things as property or equipment values. Since long-term assets gradually decrease in value over time, Accumulated Depreciation is subtracted from this. Note that depreciated assets may show up as having little or no value on the balance sheet but may have a much greater market value if sold. Reading a balance sheet: Liabilities Liabilities are obligations the company has made to outside parties who have provided resources. In essence, these outside parties may have lent money or other supplies to the company and therefore are owed repayment. It’s important to note these outside parties do not have ownership in the company; they are creditors. Items under Liabilities include Accounts Payable, the amount the company may owe suppliers, and Income Taxes Payable, which is self-explanatory. Note that Current Liabilities, which are short-term, are listed separately just as Current Assets are. This section may also contain long-term debt obligations: for example, if the company has taken out bank loans to finance equipment or real estate, or if the company has issued corporate bonds to investors. A figure called the Quick Ratio helps investors determine if a company’s assets and liabilities are in a healthy balance. The quick ratio measures a company's ability to meet its short-term obligations with its most liquid assets. The higher the quick ratio, the better the financial position of the company. It’s calculated as follows: Note that the Quick Ratio is more conservative than some other liquidity measures, like the Current Ratio, because it excludes inventory from current assets. If you believe the company might have difficulty turning their inventory into cash, then the Quick Ratio might give a more accurate picture of the company’s short-term financial strength. Reading a cash flow statement: The cash flow statement helps investors answer questions like: Is the company generating enough cash needed to fund growth? Is growth outpacing cash generation, requiring additional financing? Is the company generating enough cash to cover its short-term needs? In times of easy credit, companies may be able to patch over cash flow interruptions with interim financing; during tighter credit markets, though, such financing may not be as readily available. In those situations, steady cash-flow generated by the company’s operations becomes especially important. There are three big categories of cash flow to pay attention to here. Word of warning: it’s not always crystal-clear from just glancing at a cash flow statement which line items represent cash flowing IN versus cash flowing OUT. Cash generated by and used by the company’s operations is summarized in the Net Cash Flow – Operating Activities line. That line includes cash flowing in as well as cash-out. The company’s long-term investing of cash is detailed in the Net Cash Flow – Investing line. That consists of cash flowing out. The third and last part, the â€Å"Net Cash Flow – Financing† line, shows the cash a company raised through from financing activities. That’s cash that came in. The very bottom line shows the net change in the company’s cash position. If you add the line to the cash on the balance sheet from the previous year, you’ll get the current cash position on the current year’s balance sheet.

Is America prepared for another terrorist attack?

Terrorism is one of the disasters feared all over the world. America particularly is most prone to a terrorist attack than any other nation. The government has tried to come up with several measures to ensure they are ready and prepared to counter any terrorist attack that may occur, especially after the unexpected 2001 September 11th attack. However, eight years later, America is still not fully prepared incase of another attack. This term paper addresses the issue of the preparedness of America in dealing with or preventing terrorist attacks.Is America prepared for another terrorist attack? Introduction The threat of terrorist events involving weapons of mass destruction is real. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon changed the United States forever, ushering in a host of new and unprecedented realities for the American people, for the intelligence and national security communities, for medical personnel, for private security entities, and perhaps especially for the police, fire, and emergency medical personnel.In particular, police, fire and emergency medical service personnel, the agencies and individuals most likely to be the first responders to possible terrorist attacks, faced compelling demands to adopt new strategies and tactics, to undertake new training, and to view their roles and their work in an entirely different way. This term paper aims at finding out whether the American government has prepared enough to counter another terrorist attack without experiencing the problems encountered in 2001. The police, fire and emergency medical personnelAs first responders, police, fire, and emergency medical service personnel are our first line of defense in case of a terrorist attack, but the enormity and complexity of the challenges that they face makes it abundantly clear that they alone cannot bear the responsibility for ensuring our safety. Although first responders play an absolute critical role in homelan d security and domestic preparedness, and although a great deal of attention and resources have already been focused on them to counter the terrorist threat, much more needs to be done.Perhaps most important, realistic potential that American people, towns, and cities may again come under attack from terrorist demands that significant system changes occur throughout the range of public agencies and private entities charged with the responsibility of ensuring public safety. For the American government to be fully prepared, it must develop and implement a broader, more coordinated, more cohesive, and more focused approach to terrorism and to weapons of mass destruction and that approach must involve new relationships between and among all of these public agencies and private entities.(Roberts, 2005) The police and the emergency workers who might be called on to respond initially to a nuclear, biological, or chemical event are not adequately trained to deal effectively with those event s. This is not to say that most police and emergency workers lack any training in this area. It means that they lack the highly specific training and special expertise required to recognize and deal with many of the complex and unique threats posed by such events. At present, many also lack the special tools, gear, and protective equipment these events may require.Patrol officers, firefighters, and emergency medical service personnel who initially respond to an event involving weapons of mass destruction should not be expected to undertake the specific duties and responsibilities that are better performed by well-equipped and more highly trained specialists. (Lustick, 2006) Since they lack the necessary equipments to deal with the crisis, their primary role should be to recognize the threat, to minimize additional exposure to chemical or biological agents, to ensure safety of victims, to safeguard the scene, and to report their findings to those more competent to deal with these iss ues.Another primary responsibility is to minimize their own contact with the chemical of biological agent and to provide as much information as possible to ensure the safety and the effectiveness of other responding units. First responders who rush in to a weapons of mass destruction event not only risk death or serious injuries from secondary devices that may have been placed at or near the scene precisely to disable or kill rescuers, but they may also become a significant liability to other victims as well as to other responders if they become contaminated or injured themselves.Such first responders who rush in and become victims may exacerbate the overall problem, consuming precious time and resources. (Mandaville, 2009) Developing capacity to prevent terrorist attacks Surveillance, physical barriers, and advanced technology have played a prominent role in the security improvement efforts explored by most communities since the September 11th terrorist attack. For example, securit y cameras are keeping watch over banks, embassies, schools, and a variety of other buildings as well as traffic intersections, shopping centers, parks and many other public gathering spaces.The striking image of London subway bombers captured by the cities extensive video surveillance system and a raising sense that similar attacks could happen in the United States are renewing interest in expanding police camera of public places. The London bombings showcased the capabilities of digital video surveillance system when ,after July 7 and July 21, 2005, attacks, authorities quickly produced relatively high resolution images of the suspected bombers that benefited fast moving investigators.However, critics said that the London attacks also highlighted the limitations of camera surveillance: they did not prevent terrorist bombings in the heart of the city. (Forest, 2006) Still, even with suicide bombers, camera surveillance can help with the hunt for the terrorist cells that provide them with crucial logistical support. Emerging technologies offer even greater promise. In 2006, Chicago installed gunshot detection equipment on cameras to automatically alert authorities and point the camera in the direction of the sound.Also, New Jersey Transit has a pilot project in one station that uses computer analysis of video to alert authorities of suspicious behavior, such as someone leaving a package behind. Authorities are also experimenting with facial recognition software, though existing versions are of limited use in scanning crowds for suspected terrorists. In San Francisco, the mayors have been noted advocates for expanding the city’s surveillance camera program. (Alexandrov, 1996)Another example of preparedness for a terrorist attack is by the Long Beach Airport in southern Los Angeles County, which has developed a plan to implement a sophisticated wireless video surveillance platform. The airport, an alternative to Los Angeles International Airport hosts majo r Airlines such as Alaska Airlines, America West Airlines and Jet Blue Airways. The new wireless surveillance system’s purpose is to enable three separate Long Beach Airport security operation centers to simultaneously monitor distant sites, including secured airport areas, public parking lots, and road way tunnels.This system provides a single wireless solution for viewing, storing and managing real-time video from more than 100 cameras, becoming one of the very first wireless surveillance systems to be installed at any airport in the United States. With this integrity, security platform personnel at three locations in Long Beach (the Command and Control Centre, the Security Operations Centre, and the Security Safety Office) will be able to monitor information while viewing live video feeds at the same time from the same computer. (Fawdah etal, 2003)Video surveillance has also become a prominent feature of the nation’s passenger railways. For example, the Washington D . C. , Metro system has partnered with the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, and the Department of Justice to develop the Program for Response Options and Technology Enhancements for Chemical or Biological Terrorism (PROTECT). PROTECT combines a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system, an operations control centre, and advanced sectors to alert authorities if a terrorist releases a chemical or a biological agent on a subway platform or in a train.Preparing Americans Psychologists are beginning to have a stronger appreciation of the fact that humans are extremely resilient, even in times of crisis. Accordingly, the American government should also try to nurture the quality of resilience in its citizens. More recent work has considered how this concept has relevance, not just for adults, but also for communities, particularly in the wake of a disaster; it is argued that community resilience can be nurtured through readiness, response and recovery phases of a disaster.So, for instance, by minimizing the subject fear of terrorism, the American government can empower its citizens to exert a greater level of confidence in their respective communities’ abilities to anticipate and respond to security threats. Ultimately, in doing so, one of the most potent weapons that terrorists possess -fear- may be squashed. (Rowitz 2005) Its also critical not to install fear in individuals when preparing for disaster, since such individuals generally ignore such messages; additionally, fear arousing information is particularly helpful when followed by practical suggestions as how to address given concerns.Some have argued that the Department of Homeland Security, along with its affiliated Web site(www. ready. gov) has failed to appropriately address individuals’ fears and the ways to nurture resilience by making extreme and often erroneous suggestions (e. g. , encouraging individuals to have a supply of antibiotics on hand) while not addr essing events that have a greater likelihood of promoting panic (e. g. , how to get trampled in a crowd should a â€Å"dirty bomb† attack occur). (Ursano, etal 2003) AnalysisThere is no further need to speculate as to how the American government would likely respond to a terrorist attack, such as the 2001 terrorist attack. It is evident that significant work remains in order to secure the American Homeland incase of an attack or when disaster strikes. The occurrence of Hurricane Katrina was a good indicator of America’s preparedness. By the end of four days or so after Katrina struck, National Guardsmen and supplies started to pour into the city. Most, but not all, residents had been evacuated out of New Orleans and left with very uncertain futures.The rescuers were met unprepared, which led to delays in rescuing the victims. Katrina dramatically revealed the incredible degree to which we are still unable to respond and proactively anticipate disasters. However, that t here have been, are, and will likely always be large gaps in protecting the American homeland should not be surprising. In a country as geographically vast as the United states, American needs to appreciate that –regardless of whether politicians may promise-every square inch of this country can not be guarded or protected at all times.Whether in a mall, on a train, at a school or in the work place, most of us are probably well aware that if someone is intent on carrying out a physical harm to others, there is a good probability that such an event will occur. Sadly, there are many instances of deadly violence that have occurred at all of the above locations and others, such as the shooting, rampage that took place in 1993 on the Long Island Railroad or the 1999 Columbine High School Massacre. There is also a difference between acts executed by one by one or two troubled individuals versus those committed by an organized group of individuals such as al Qaeda members.While we c an fully eradicate the risk of single terrorists, we can certainly do more to minimize the risk posed by terrorists groups, although this risk too can never be completely eliminated. Conclusion The new realities of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction demand a new set of policies, practices and relationships among and between a host of entities and institutions charged with the responsibility to ensure public safety. The government still has a lot of work to do in readiness of effective response should another terrorist attack occur.As learnt from the experiences and lessons of the September 11th attacks on the world Trade Centre and the Pentagon, police, fire, and emergency medical services face unprecedented challenges in the future, and similar challenges confront virtually every institution in the United States. As seen in this paper, there are a lot of issues, problems and threats posed by the specter of terrorism and terrorists’ use of weapons of mass destruction. This calls for the need for highly coordinated response and recovery planning that integrates resources, skills, personnel, and capabilities of a range of public sector organizations.No plan can pretend to be perfect, there are simply too many unforeseen issues and exigencies that arise in specific events, and the planning must therefore be crafted for flexibility and adaptability. This involves nothing less than a new midst that accepts, accounts for, and takes up the challenges posed by the realities of our world. Recent studies reveal the extent and the dimension of the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, their availability to terrorists and extremist groups, and the massive casualties that can inflict on public safety personnel and members of the public.These threats are not likely to subside, and in fact may increase. (Ackerman 2007). There is a pressing need for more and better training for the first responders to such events so that they can recognize events involvin g weapons of mass destructions and so that they can operate safely to minimize deaths, injuries, and damage. Similarly, there’s need for more and better equipment to help rescuers achieve their goals. This calls for a new mindset among emergency workers, and a mindset for of safety and preparedness that infiltrates all their duties and activities.In addition to anticipating and preventing terrorism, Americans need to have a better understanding of the root causes of terrorism. We should not excuse or condone the actions of terrorists. It is also naive logic to presume that terrorists are simply evil individuals and that killing such people will end the security concerns. Individuals such as al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi absolutely need to be captured or killed. References 1) Forest James J. F. (2006). Homeland Security: Public spaces and social institutions.Greenwood Publishing Group 2) Roberts Albert R. 3rd edition. (2005). Cri sis intervention handbook: assessment, treatment, and research. Oxford University Press US; pg 189-198 3) Rowitz Louis (2005). Public health for the 21st century: the prepared leader. Jones & Bartlett Publishers; pg 80-90 4) Lustick Ian (2006). Trapped in the war on terror. University of Pennsylvania Press; pg 8 5) Ackerman Bruce A. (2007). Before the Next Attack: Preserving Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism. Yale University Press; pg 114-116 6) Mandaville Michael(2009).Citizen-Soldier Handbook: 101 Ways Every American Can Fight Terrorism. Dog Ear Publishing, 2009; pg 89-95 7) Fawdah Yusri, Fielding Nick. (2003) Masterminds of terror: the truth behind the most devastating terrorist attack the world has ever seen. Arcade Publishing; pg 201 8) Alexandrov Stanimir A. (1996). Self-defense against the use of force in international law; Martinus Nijhoff Publishers; pg 181-183 9) Ursano Robert J. , Fullerton Carol S. , Norwood Ann E. (2003). Terrorism and disaster: individual and comm unity mental health interventions. Cambridge University Press; pg 287

Cantebury Tales essays

Cantebury Tales essays Geoffrey Chaucer depicts different aspects of medieval English society through his use of various characters in his work, The Canterbury Tales. The characters he uses are all unique in their occupations, attitudes, and social status. Each characters tale reflects various aspects of Chaucerian society. Many of these problems are still evident in todays society. The Wife of Baths tale opens with a Knight raping a young woman. Sexual assault is still a substantial problem facing the world today. In using the Knight, Chaucer shows that no one is above such a horrific act of violation. It still is a prominent issue in the twentieth century that many people must face and learn to overcome. All to often, people are judged by appearance or status in life rather than what is really important. Chaucer displays this issue through the Knight not wanting to fulfill his responsibilities to the old woman. It is only after she turns into a beautiful young woman that the knight looks forward to fulfilling his obligation to her. In American society people tend to focus on looks or material possessions as opposed to inner qualities. The Pardoner bases his tale on the consequences of greed and deception. Due to the fact that society often judges people on their status, they strive to become wealthy . Their overall concern with gaining wealth leads to greed. People put morals and values aside to achieve a position of power. They will do what it takes to attain their ambitions even if it means deceiving a friend to do so. This has been an detriment to society through the centuries. Issues that Chaucerian society faces have lasted through the ages. The social, moral, political, and religious issues that Chaucer depicts in The Canterbury Tales, are still prominent in the Twentieth Century. ...

The Write to Santa Program in Canada

The Write to Santa Program in Canada More than 6,000 Canada Post volunteers, both staff, and retirees help the Jolly Old Elf with Canada Posts Write to Santa program. Every year, over a million children from all around the world, take advantage of the program by writing to Santa and receiving a personal reply. Letters are answered in the language in which the letter was written, including Braille. Requirements for Letters to Santa Via Canada Post All mail should include a full return address so Santa can answer. Be sure to mail your letter so it gets to Santa before December 14.  Santas mailing address is: Santa ClausNorth PoleH0H 0H0Canada No postage is required for letters to Santa from Canada. However, from other countries, you will need to mail them with the appropriate postage for your country to deliver the envelope to Canada where Santa and his helpers can receive it and reply. Canada Post asks parents to make sure letters to Santa do not include treats for Santa, like cookies. For the fastest delivery to Canada from other countries, its best to use standard sized envelopes and ensure you have placed the correct postage. Santa does not have an email address, according to Canada Post. You will need to send him paper mail. Receiving a Reply From Santa If you send your mail from Canada by early December, you should receive a reply in the mail by December 14, according to Canada Mail. If you dont get a reply, send another letter before December 14. Mail sent by December 14 should have a reply back to your child by December 24. Replies to other countries may take longer as they are dependent on the delivery by the mail systems of those countries.   Getting Creative With Your Childs Letter to Santa Santa and his helpers are happy to see your childs wish list. But you can enliven your letter with pictures, drawings, funny jokes, and stories telling about your childs favorite games, sports, friends, pets, and other details. This helps  brighten the mail and make it easier for Santa and his elves to craft a personal response that will delight your child. It can be a fun experience to help your child write the letter and explore what excites them and what they find most interesting in their lives. Tips for Teachers In order for Santa to write the best letters, his elves need some information about each child. Teachers may check with Media Relations at Canada Post to find templates and checklists to complete a class package of letters to Santa. Yearly requirements and tips are often released in mid-November.   To make sure your students get a response before schools and daycares break for the holidays, mail your classroom letters by December 8. Note that this date may change from year to year, depending on where weekends fall and the volume of letters experienced.

An Analysis of Japan and China Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

An Analysis of Japan and China - Assignment Example China is the world’s second largest market for consumer goods after the US (Martinsons, 2002). On average, consumers spent an annual average of US$61 on FMCG online an increase of 9.8% from 2010. In 2011, on average, shoppers for FMCG products made three trips while shopping online against 97 offline shopping trips over the same period. The average online transaction amount per trip was US$21, 80% greater than an offline transaction that averaged US$11.50. Attitudes related to e commerce showed that 29.9% of people doing online shopping are comfortable while 17.9% felt it is safe to purchase online. This indicates that there is large potential in China’s e-commerce markets (Ke, 2010). Japan has been innovative in technology with shopping lists growing significantly due to lower costs of setting up businesses online. Japanese consumers who previously were reluctant to do online shopping have grown the online retailing business to a multi-billion dollar market (Fitzsimmon s &Okada, 2002). According to Hamburg market research, the Japans B2C e commerce revenues are forecasted to grog annually by a low double digit percentage between 2012 and 2016 due to high average spending and growth in online shoppers (Herbig & Milam, 1994). Environmental analysis China’s environment has suffered degradation as the country reform its economy because of urbanization and industrial development. The environmental damage costs up to 8% of China’s GDP thus the development of China’s environment protection industry to respond to the environment degrading over the past two decades (Takao, 2012). China focuses its investment to environmentally friendly projects a shift form infrastructure. Energy... This essay stresses that Japan’s legal structures to foreign investors are bureaucratic and present legal hurdles. The main business structures that foreign companies open in Japan are representative office, branch office, and subsidiary company and limited liability partnerships. Representative offices are not allowed to engage in sales activities. Branch offices do not have independent decision-making abilities since they do not have legal corporate statuses. However, foreign investors can invest in Japan through joint ventures with Japanese companies. Corporate enterprise tax is the local tax levied on foreign companies conducting business in Japan. Corporate taxes levied on taxable income. This paper makes a conclusion that the researcher recommends interested Australian companies wishing to go international to invest in China. China is the world most populated nation with over 1.3 billion people compared to Japan, which has a population of approximately 128 million people. As such, China presents more chances of cheap labor and a ready market for the produced products and services. Growth in ecommerce is high in China than in Japan presenting an opportunity for investment. Both Japan and China have stringent environmental regulations. However, Japan being the most affected in emissions is more likely to pass stringent rules regarding pollution than China. China is well adapted for globalization by enacting laws that are in line with WTO guidelines. This puts it in a better position to attract foreign investment than Japan.