All Souls Essay Essay Example for Free

All Souls Essay Essay All Souls Essay In the memoir All Souls, by Michael Patrick MacDonald, one significant event that takes place were the busing movements, along with the riots that followed. During the 70s, when Michael was very young and in grade school, the Boston busing crisis began. The Boston government began busing kids to schools in different neighborhoods, in an attempt to desegregate schools. This caused mass outrage in many areas, especially Southie. Outside of Southie and the projects, society expected people accept these changes and to accept the desegregation. But in Michael’s community, everybody was against this, and took violent actions against it. By both his family and his community, Michael was expected to be against the busing movements. As it would turn out, Michael was also against it. He went as far as to throw rocks at the buses coming into his town. He described it as shameful if you did not partake at least a little bit in the violent acts. This example of the busing is a great example of how one’s mind is influenced by others. Here, Michael can be influenced by one of two sides; larger â€Å"outside† society telling him to accept the busing, or his family and small community telling him to deny it. I feel as if no matter who or what, one is much more influenced by the ones closest to them, whether it be a close family or a close community. Michael describes in the book that at many points, it feels like it’s Southie vs. the World. And no matter what, as another member of the Southie community, Michael will side with his home.

British Airways Analysing Financial And Non Financial Indicators Tourism Essay

British Airways Analysing Financial And Non Financial Indicators Tourism Essay British Airways is considered as one of the largest international airlines of United Kingdom. British airways Plc and many other subsidiaries companies make the whole British Airways group. Currently, British Airways(BA) covers more than 550 destinations. According to the data of the year 2008/09, more than 34 million passengers have travelled through British Airways. British airways main business operating hub location is Londons Heathrow airport which serves the company with large geographical area. British Airways is also listed in stock exchange of London.. (Company Information, n.d.).The following report will analyse and then evaluates both the indicators of the British Airways ie, financial as well as non-financial by making it compare with the performance of other company, which is Dubai based named as Emirates Airlines. Talking about Emirates Airlines, being launched in 1985 and since then shown the signs as of one of the fastest growing airlines of the worlds airline industr y. Currently, the company covers more than 100 different destinations throughout the world. (The Emirates Group, 2009). Further in the report the evaluation of the performance of both these companies is being done by using ratio analysis and there will also be discussion about the financial performance trend analysis of both the companies in the last few years. This report will also look at the managerial and non financial challenges faced by both of these companies using SWOT analysis, and then talking about the challenges and solutions for those challenges. The last section of this report will discuss and analyses the comment by John Rishton due to adoption of IFRS and also look at the differences between IFRS and US GAAP. Section B The following paragraphs will cover the changes and the financial pressures recently faced by the airline sector. According to keynote report, Factors like increase in the prices of oil during first half of 2008 which seriously affected the operating costs of airlines, then the impact of global recession made the condition even worse as affecting the number of passengers and thus decreased the demand for air travel globally. In response the different airlines companies have abandoned those routes which were unprofitable and also cut down the un-necessary costs. In such a difficult phase of the airline sector, the companies must understand that how its customers are rephrasing value and their reaction in the period of recession, instead of cutting down on the budget which they have planned for the market research. Now we will discuss specifically about the British airways and Emirates airlines, also will consider the different financial and managerial challenges that are faced by the above two companies. SWOT analysis is used as tool to clarify the difference between the both the airlines. SWOT analysis Strengths British airways made a strong brand identity as United Kingdoms leading airlines because of trust and loyalty being showed by its customers. Strong brand identity also brought advantages of economies of scale. There is being a new subsidiary launched by British airways named as, Open Skies, which offers only business class for the traffic between U.S and major European countries. British airways has got huge capacity for its air planes because of its main operating base hub ie, at Heathrow airport and With the proposed merger with Iberia, British airways is aiming to become second largest airline company after Air France of Europe. British airways offers different loyalty programmes for its customers as to make sure the again travel from their airlines only. On the other side Emirates airline has made its brand strong in the marketplace using different advertisements and many sponsorships. One of the main strengths of emirates airline is having its focus on diversified market and the entrance into the cargo shipping proved very beneficial for the company. Emirates airline has made its corporate culture by listening and identifying the needs of its customer. Emirates also has low cost, which is around 30% less than its European competitors. With the opening of emirates terminal 3 at Dubai international airport recently and the continuous ability to renew with improvement in the service gives the emirates airline the strength edge over its competitors. Tim Clark who is the president of emirates airline, stated that the past results of the airlines have exceeded above expectations despite of the increase in jet fuel prices for emirates airlines from US$1.68 upto US$2.78 per gallon by the end of the year. Weakness With the opening of new terminal 5 at Heathrow airport by the British airways, the company faced problems with training of staff, which led in flights being cancelled, complains of missing luggage. Moreover the rising fuel prices led to increase in ticket prices. The slowdown of both the UK and US economies has affected British Airways as the company has become very vulnerable to financial instability. The bankruptcies in the US banking sector decreased the number of premium booking passengers in British airways heavily. The route of Heathrow and New York is having huge traffic of passengers and forms an important part of British airways earning. Therefore, the drop in the bookings of premium class affected the profitability of the company. British airways also suffered from increased in non fuel costs like from staff and the landing charges. For emirates airlines, there is some weakness also associated with it, like it is not being successful in all of its diversification and approaches, which has emerged as a weakness of the company. Analysts have blamed the company for too much emphasizing on high end acquisitions and diversifications in spite of getting the type of results from such decisions. As U.S is a major market for the airline industry and emirates airline does not cater to many places in the U.S., which is also a weakness for the company. Opportunities If British airways will fully acquire the Iberia airlines with currently 13% share, then it will be in the list of the worlds biggest airlines having approximated combined stock market capitalisation worth of EUR 5.5 billion. There is an opportunity for the British airways to expand more in emerging markets like Middle East Region, India, and China. Another opportunity for British Airways is to now improve the operating conditions of its terminal 5 at Heathrow airport. The company should focus on minimum cost of travelling to fulfil customer needs. With the increase of fuel efficient aircrafts of British airways it can minimize the environmental damage, as protection of environment is emerged as an important issue throughout the world. The company should also see an interest of customers towards new places and develop new routes wherever possible. On the other hand for emirates airline the opportunity lies in which, it can use its well developed infrastructure business to go into the new emerging markets where internet adoption is not very well developed. Same as for the British airways, there is also an opportunity for emirates to introduce new routes by observing the interest of customers. As also Dubai and the middle-east region is more advancing for tourism and commercial purpose enables emirates airline to grow. Emirate airline does no pay income tax so this also gives a tax benefit to it. This saves around $250 million of money per year. Also due to close proximity of Dubai from Indian and Pakistan gives a chance to the airline to access hugely available cheap labour. The benefit of cheap labour in the emirates airline can be seen from the figure as from the total operating budget of the company, the cost of labour accounts upto 18% which is very less as compared to Lufthansa airline having 27% and united airlines with 2 9% of cost of labour. Threats The current threat to British airways is from current economic slowed down, increased fuel prices and weaker pound. The global recession has severely affected air transportation. The travel and tourism industry is moving towards including more green practices. There is pressure from European Union on all the airlines companies to limit carbon emissions Across EU. After the events of 11 September 2001, the security measures have been more tighten by the airline companies. There is also strong competition from low cost airlines, cruise and rail transport that constitutes a bigger share in travel market. Low cost carriers are increasingly looking for new routes for customers with affordable ticket price. Another matter of concern for British Airways is the trade union power. The trade union already did many strikes in august 2004 and 2005. Cost of fuel is also can be at risk as the political situation in Iraq is supporting the rise of oil prices, which will result in add up of another à ‚ £100 million to the cost of British Airways. Whereas, there is severe threat on emirates airlines also from its competitors naming Qatar airways and Etihad airways. Due to political instability in middle-east could lead to have a negative impact on emirate airline. Although the cargo commercial and passenger segments of emirates airlines have managed to achieve their targets, but increasing oil prices affected last quarter net income. As more desire of commodity trading affected oil prices due to brokers were not revealing the actual figure of shortage of raw material. 4 Challenges: There are some of the challenges still left out to be tackle by the BA at the time of developing its climate change programme. As the company operate in environment which is uncertain and political environment is just a part of whole environment but it gives challenges like of changing climate. BA has taken various initiatives to face solved these challenges right from developing in-depth understanding on how to face these challenges, keeping debate with government and asking for their cooperation. (British Airways SWOT Analysis, 2006). BA had to face many threats from competition besides the security threats like after the incidence of 9/11 terrorist attack, as its been considered as amongst the world most profit making airlines so for them to lead the industry the competition becomes more stiff for that they not only have to face threats like escalating fuel cost but also have to operate with low cost. BA has been helped by keymetric with 2006 transformational online programs to save nearly about 38 millions. Operating profit has gone down to 80 percent which shows sheer and utmost decrease due to the weak customer confidence and thus reducing the traffic volumes. Challenges are mainly face due to the so many cost which has become hot air balloon and going high, if busted will not beneficial for the company. The cost balloon include so many costs like right from fuel cost, employee cost, cost of engineering, landing fees and besides this, also includes more operations costs due to delay in shifting to terminal 5 like, cargo handling costs, trucking charges, cost of ground equipments, IT and strong euro rate etc. Whereas, Emirates airlines firstly penetrated the market by launching it s routes to the places in west Africa like in Nigeria and Ghana altogether. To sustain in to the market and feel the presence in these two countries there is also a challenge to be able to handle many multilingual issues and the problems with double byte sites. As emirates is present internationally, to manag e its data which is globally spread through internet, the company took the decision of spreading out SDL Tridions content for management solution. With such a decision enabled the Emirates, to cater to wider and variety of audience. As now the customers from all over the world can access to common information available to them. (Simon, 2007) Solution: Aviation industry requires huge sums of investment to operate and it adds risk to the return as well. The main money source of income for firms is shareholder. BA secures its position in the world aviation through focusing its aim towards its prospective shareholders and product betterment with handing cost efficiently. BA aims to achieve unique culture in airline by focussing towards customer and their requirements. BA believes that, differentiating their strategy from their competitors will bring the huge market. After being loosed the battle in to the business class which has been collapsed, after their position has been taken over by Silver Jet Airlines as a business class leader. But after this move in the aviation industry, British Airways took some good decisions like purchasing of Lavion Paris Airline, which was a quiet successful for BA. British Airways is always prepared to the change according to the environment and that alo shows in their course of planned action. BA has released the Terminal 5 which was going through good functioning with 6 million passengers (Marzouqi, N.D.). Emirates on the other hand, had find out a niche for itself as a route for success and not in the way of following others. Unlike BA, emirates was not very much affected by 9/11 incident and also with decline of profit levels, seat factors the company managers didnt shake and through their belief in their company and dedication took them out in such a crisis situation and thus, they were remained profitable. Whereas, other airlines were reducing and laying off their workforce so as to cut down the cost but, emirates didnt do this and their unique working paid off. (Sull, 2005)

The Twenties and Thirties :: American America History

The Twenties and Thirties The twenties and the thirties were very unusual time periods in American History. In some ways they are alike, but in most ways they are very different. The twenties were a time of fun and partying. This is probably the reason it is called the Roaring Twenties. All of the thirties were known as The Great Depression. It was probably called that because of the stock market collapse and the millions of people without jobs. In the twenties, industry took a very big step. The automotive industry was the largest industry there was. The assembly line made mass production possible, and the industry boomed. Henry Ford's assembly line, located in Detroit, Michigan, was the largest one in the country and possibly in the world. When Ford first started making cars, the only car he made was a black Model-T. Almost everybody in the United States had a car. Three-out-of-four families owned one or more cars. With the assembly line they made a lot more cars in one day than they did before. Instead of paying for the cars with cash, people could now use credit to purchase items. Since most families didn't have the money, they would buy the car with credit and pay off the debt later. The thirties was a bad time for the automotive industry. By now Ford had made a Model-A and had three new colors: tan, purple and black. All of the companies were making more cars than they could sell. Nobody had enough money to buy a car because of all of the banks going under. Millions of people lost whole fortunes. Since no one had the money for a car, the cars were not being sold. This caused a big problem. The dealers were very optimistic. They continued to make cars hoping that sales would go up. The new credit law was a wonderful idea. It allowed people to purchase items like a television or radio. The invention of the radio united the nation. The news that was heard on the radio was heard by everyone that had a radio. It was the best form of entertainment of its time. Soon thereafter, the television was invented. Once again people took advantage of the credit and purchased televisions. The television still did not take place of the radio. The radio was still used for listening to music. Many people were spending more money than they had.

The Racism in Othello Essays -- Othello essays Shakespeare

The Racism in Othello  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Throughout the duration of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Othello, there is a steady stream of racism. It is originating from not one, but rather several characters in the play. In the opening scene, while Iago is expressing his dislike, rather hatred, for the general Othello for his having chosen Michael Cassio for the lieutenancy, he contrives a plan to partially avenge himself (â€Å"I follow him to serve my turn upon him†), with Roderigo’s assistance, by alerting Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, to the fact of his daughter’s elopement with Othello. Roderigo shares Iago’s prejudiced attitude toward Othello: â€Å"What a full fortune does the thicklips owe / If he can carry't thus!† The word thicklips is a disparaging reference to a facial characteristic of many members of the black race. When, by loud shouting, Brabantio is awakened, Iago commences with a series of racial epithets:    Zounds, sir, you're robb'd; for shame, put on   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   your gown;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Even now, now, very now, an old black ram   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Is topping your white ewe. Arise, arise;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Awake the snorting citizens with the bell,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Arise, I say. (1.1)    The phrase old black ram and the word devil both make reference in an offensive manner to dark skin color. The allusion to white ewe has the effect of putting Othello’s darkness into sharp contrast. A few lines later Iago once again turns his invective fully on Othello with three stinging racial epithets:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   'Zounds, sir, you are one of those that will not   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   serve God, if the devil bid you. Because we come to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   do you service ... ... the blacker devil!      OTHELLO. She turn'd to folly, and she was a whore.      EMILIA. Thou dost belie her, and thou art a devil! (5.2)    Following Iago’s murder of Emilia, he is captured; Lodovico addresses Othello, who is so dejected at having been deceived by his ancient:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   O thou Othello, thou wert once so good,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fall'n in the practise of a damned slave,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What shall be said to thee? (5.2)    Needless to say, damned slave has racial overtones. Shortly thereafter, the hero, in remorse for the tragic mistake he has made, stabs himself and dies on the bed next to his wife, his sorrow being as deep as his love.    WORKS CITED    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.   

Wedding Toast - Best Man Essay -- Wedding Toasts Roasts Speeches

Wedding Speech – Best Man Hello my name’s Paul and I’m Martin’s best man, although I’m sure Martin will have a new name for me by the time I’ve finished this. When Martin asked me to be his best man I was initially thrilled at the prospect. Unfortunately it didn't take long for this feeling of well being to dissolve into utter apprehension as I remembered the last time I had to stand up in a room full of people†¦.. I was found guilty and fined $300. I went to a wedding two weeks ago that was held in a nudist colony. Apparently I was just half an inch away from being the best man there too. By the way, if anyone is running a book on the length of this speech could I put $5 on it lasting 12 minutes please? Martin Firstly I’d like to congratulate Martin on his speech. I'm particularly impressed with the fact that you all paid attention and followed his instructions not to laugh. I’m also impressed that Martin followed my instructions to dress smartly today, although I am a bit disappointed he decided to copy my outfit. I have known Martin for over 10 long long years now. When I first met him in college he was loud, aggressive, rude, abusive and swore a lot, but just look at the man he’s become now†¦..nothing has changed. Whilst at college we discovered a local nightclub called Winkers. I would regularly witness Martin’s unique, raw, undiscovered style of dancing in Winkers that left the women speechl... ...any more happy years of friendship. On behalf of all of us in this room I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Pete and Sue Foster for the wonderful hospitality they have shown today. Martin would also like to thank Pete and Sue, in advance, for how well they’re going to treat him in the future. I’d also like to thank the bridesmaids and ushers today for their invaluable contribution to the wedding, I’m sure you’ll all agree with me that they all look wonderful. So, finally (get a glass in your hand): Here's to love, laughter And happily ever after. As Martin and Anne start their new life Please stand and toast the new husband and wife Ladies and gentlemen†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦the Bride and Groom

Medical Billing and Coding

Medical Billing and Coding Medical billing and coding is one of today’s high paying careers. The definition for Medical – code is descriptions that physicians and the heath care providers, and facilities use to describe healthcare procedures and diagnosis into numeric or alphanumeric designations. Coding is the descriptions of diseases, injuries and procedures into numeric or alphanumeric codes, there are three basic steps in locating codes. First we locate the term in the Alphabetic Index, then verify the code number in the Tabular list, finally assign the code when it has been verified by the physician and the coder. We must locate the term in the Alphabetic Index. In coding the correct codes and to be paid by the insurance company the coder must code accurately and precisely so the first step in coding it to locate the main tern in the Alphabetic Index of the coding book. If a main term cannot be located, then try searching for sub terms, notes, or cross- reference. A coder can refer to any notes in the Alphabetic Index. When the code is located it must be verify in the Tabular list coder then will review the title of the chapter, section, and category to make sure that the correct code has been identified. The coder will read and follow instructional notes and refer to any other codes as instructed if the coder is unsure it is then discuss with the physician. Once the main term is verified the coder then will assign the code to be used for several different reasons: reporting medical necessity for services performed, identifying conditions to alert the healthcare provider, and to supply date for clinical care, research and education purposes. â€Å"The importance of consistent, complete documentation in the medical record cannot be overemphasized. Without documentation accurate coding cannot be achieved. †

Digital Marketing: Benefits Consumers or Advertisers?

The internet has revolutionized a lot of things in our lives, including one of our favorite hobbies, shopping. Shopping has gone to a new level in the new millennium. Online shopping has hit the market with consumers and advertisers trying to buy and sell products. Customers now have the opportunity to search for their required products online, with a price that they want and with a price that fits their wallets. On the other hand, advertisers can now easily market their products online without even renting a shop!So many websites like Buy. com, Amazon. com, NewEgg. com and many others have come with their websites to feature various advertisers and suppliers to market their products on their websites where online consumers from across the globe can purchase these products and services. So who has more control over digital products and services? In my opinion, advertisers have more control over consumers. First of all, advertisers have the opportunity to market their products to an i nternational market without even having a shop.All they have to do is to search a product that is wanted by the market, and take some pictures of this product and put in on websites like e-bay or even create an own site for free! Potential consumers from all over the world will be able to see this product, and if it is a wanted product, business will start booming. According to recent research, it was estimated that there was around 1 billion internet users in 2008 and this number is expected to grow annually (Bischof et.al 2000). It could be assumed that the internet market would keep growing and that would give internet advertisers a vast opportunity to advertise and market their products online. Therefore, this mainly benefits advertisers over consumers. Apart from that, advertisers will also have the opportunity to position themselves to cater to selected market segments due to the wide variety of consumers from different countries and expectations (Bischof et. al 2000).To do th is, an advertiser must first study the market segment so that the advertiser can then study the behavior of the consumer and understand the consumers’ expectations and therefore capture this market segment (Rodgers & Thorson 2000). The size of this market share may increase or decrease according to population growth and other social, economic and environmental factors. Even if advertisers get 1% out of the 1 billion internet market, they will be making a lot of money due to the volume of business online.Apart from that, if advertisers could find their ideal positioning in the market, the advertiser’s brand or business name would be easily spread thru the internet as there are many third party websites that allow consumers to share their views and opinions on certain products or services. As a matter of fact, from the above, advertisers are actually choosing who they want to sell their products or services too, again a benefit towards advertisers rather than consumers. There is also a competitive environment online which would keep the company growing and not stagnant like a brick and mortar store.Advertisers can now track the number of customers that are visiting their websites (Wind & Mahajan 2001). This will give them an indication as to the number of customers that they get every month and the number of purchases made. With this information, these advertisers could get an idea of how well or how poor their business is doing; and by using this information, companies can then decide on their next course of action. Consumers can compare price, product brand, quality and other features online while sharing notes with other fellow consumers.As mentioned above, there are also third party websites who function as an intermediary between sellers and consumers who provide full details of price and product quality rating that makes it easy for consumers to choose from. Competition is good for advertisers as it allows the company to grow and make more pr ofit and therefore once again, benefits advertisers over consumers. Keeping this in mind, advertisers also have the opportunity to check out competition online and provide competitive products to their customers.According to Wang et. al (2001), customers who are happy with their purchases are less likely to have complaints and are therefore more prone to become return customers. Return customers could mean loyal customers that allow advertisers to sell their products and services without the worry of finding new online customers. Apart from that, if the advertisers’ product or service is compatible or better than the competitors’ products, there will be free publicity of the product by third party reviews.Although most research actually argue that consumers have more benefits than advertisers, based on the argument above, advertisers manipulate consumers into thinking that they have more benefits when they actually do not. Websites who promote themselves as catering to customer needs are actually advertisers themselves, and therefore this creates an illusion to the customer that they are controlling what and how the shop online. As a conclusion, digital marketing benefits the advertisers more than the consumers.To summarize, one of the reasons for this is that advertisers have the opportunity to market their products to an international market without even having a shop. Furthermore, advertisers will also have the opportunity to position themselves to cater to selected market segments due to the wide variety of consumers from different countries and expectations. Apart from that, there is also a competitive environment online which would keep the company growing and not stagnant like a brick and mortar store. Advertisers also have the opportunity to check out competition online and provide competitive products to their customers.