Monday, May 25, 2020

Military Conscription, Recruiting & The Draft Overview

Until the prolonged military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army had met its annual recruiting goals. However, that is no longer the case, and many soldiers and officers are not re-enlisting. This pressure on existing resources has led many to speculate that Congress will be forced to conscription, popularly known in the US as the Draft.  For example, retired General Barry McCaffrey, former head of the U.S. Southern Command and division commander during Operation Desert Storm has said, We broke the Army after World War II and paid for it in Korea. We broke the Army after Vietnam War and paid for it with the hollow force of the 1970s. We are doing it again, with an Army that is overcommitted and underfunded. And if we end up in an unprovoked war with North Korea, then the United States could pay a very heavy price as a result. President George W. Bush was equally adamant that the all-volunteer Army is sound and no draft is needed, saying during his campaign, Our all-volunteer army will remain an all-volunteer army... We will not have a draft... The only politicians that supported a draft are democrats, and the best way to avoid a draft is to vote for me. Definition of Conscription Conscription is probably as old as mankind; in general, it means involuntary labor demanded by some established authority and is mentioned in the Bible as a means to build temples. In modern use, it is synonymous with required time in a nations armed forces. Throughout history, conscription has enabled the raising of mass armies at little cost and completely changed the scale of warfare. It enabled Napoleon to raise the first great conscription army of 0.6 million French soldiers which he led against Russia in the late 1790s. It also allowed the Northern German Alliance to raise 1.2 million soldiers against France in the 1870s. By the 20th century, most major powers were relying on conscription for their military. In World War I, the German Emperor Wilhelm II drafted 3.4 million conscripts while Russia drafted 15 million soldiers for its army. Conscription sustained the armies of both Allied and Axis powers during World War II as well NATO and Warsaw Pact during the Cold War. By the second half of the 20th century, conscription was firmly entrenched as a prominent feature in modern societies. At least 27 nations currently require military service, including Brazil, Germany, Israel, Mexico, and Russia. At least 18 nations have volunteer armies, including Australia, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US. Conscription in the US The young United States created a militia in 1792, mandatory for every white male age 18-45. Attempts to pass federal conscription legislation for the War of 1812 failed, although some states did so. In April 1862, the Confederacy adopted the draft. On 1 January 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in the Confederacy. Acknowledging an undersized military, in March 1863, Congress passed the National Enrollment Act, which subjected all single men age 20-45 and married men up to age 35 to a draft lottery. Enlistment bounties led to immigrants and southern blacks forming a sizeable portion (25% and 10%, respectively) of the Union army. The draft was controversial, especially among the working class, because the wealthy could buy their way out for $300 (less than the cost of hiring a substitute, also allowable). In 1863, a mob burned the New York City draft office, touching off a five-day riot that targeted anger at the citys black population as well as the wealthy. The draft resumed in August 1863, after the federal government stationed 10,000 soldiers in the City. Draft opposition occurred in other cities throughout the north, including Detroit. US Conflicts and The Draft Conflict Draftees Armed Forces Total Civil War - Union(1983-1865) 164,000 (8%)inc. substitutes 2.1 million WWI(1917 - 1918) 2.8 million (72%) 3.5 million WWII(1940 - 1946) 10.1 million (63%) 16 million Korea(1950 - 1953) 1.5 million (54%) 1.8 in theatre,2.8 million total Vietnam(1964 - 1973) 1.9 million(56% / 22%) 3.4 million in theatre,8.7 million total                      Twentieth Century World War I led to the Selective Service Act of 1917, which prohibited enlistment bounties and personal substitution. However, it provided for religious  conscientious objectors (COs)  and was implemented through the Selective Service System. About three-quarters of the WWI army of 3.5 million was generated via conscription; slightly more than 10% of those who registered were called into service. Riots such as those that took place during the Civil War were not repeated, although there were protests. For example, about 12% of those drafted failed to show up for duty; 2-3 million never registered. After France fell in 1940, Congress enacted a pre-war (sometimes called peacetime) draft;  conscriptees  only had to serve one year. In 1941, by a one-vote margin in the House, Congress extended the one-year draft. After Pearl Harbor, Congress extended the draft to men age 18-38 (at one point, 18-45). As a result,  approximately 10 million men were drafted through the Selective Service System, and nearly 6 million enlisted, primarily in the U.S. Navy and Army Air Corps. In the early days of the Vietnam war, draftees were a minority of the total US armed forces. However, their higher percentage in the Army meant that  they formed the majority of infantry riflemen  and accounted for more than half of Army battle deaths. Deferments, including college students, caused the draft and the casualties to be judged unfairly. For example, African-Americans accounted for 16% of Army casualties in Vietnam in 1967 (15% for the entire war). The draft resistance movement was supported by students, pacifists, clergy, civil rights and feminist organizations, as well as war veterans. There were demonstrations, draft-card burnings, and protests at induction centers and local draft boards. Between 1965 and 1975, faced with well over 100,000 apparent draft offenders, the   federal government  indicted 22,500 persons, of whom 8,800 were convicted and 4,000 imprisoned. As the  Supreme Court  expanded the criteria from religious to moral or ethical objections, CO exemptions grew in relation to actual inductions from 8% in 1967 to 43% in 1971 and 131%in 1972. Between 1965 and 1970, 170,000 registrants were classified as COs. President Nixon  was elected in 1968 and had criticized the draft in his campaign. Nixon reduced draftees and gradually recalled US troops from Vietnam. The draft ended in 1973. In 1975,  President Gerald Ford  suspended compulsory draft registration. In 1980  President Jimmy Carter  reinstituted it in reaction to the  Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In 1982,  President Ronald Reagan  extended it. At the end of the Vietnam War, Congress abolished the draft, ending the  Woodrow Wilson  endorsed conscription policy passed by Congress in 1917. It followed the recommendations of a Nixon-initiated Commission on an All-Volunteer Force (Gates Commission). Three economists served on the commission: W. Allen Wallis, Milton Friedman, and Alan Greenspan.  Although we have embraced an all-volunteer army, we still require Selective Service registration  for males age 18-25. By the Numbers Its difficult to compare statistics on US armed forces across this 100  year history. This is because of the emergence of the standing army and US military presence around the globe. For example, during the Vietnam era (1964-1973), the US armed forces consisted of 8.7 million on active duty. Of this number, 2.6 million served within South Vietnam borders; 3.4 million served in  Southeast  Asia  (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and South China Sea waters). Draftees were a relatively small percentage of the total armed service population during this period. Except for isolated statistics (88% of infantry riflemen), data are not easily found which support or refute the theory that draftees were proportionally more likely to be deployed to Vietnam. However, they died in higher proportion. [D]raftees made up 16% of battle deaths in 1965, [but]   they were 62% of deaths in 1969. Status of the All-Volunteer Army The All-Volunteer Army (AVA) put the Army in the same position as the other four branches of service. Today there are two issues are impacting the AVA: missing recruitment goals and involuntary contract extensions. In March 2005, the Christian Science Monitor  reported that, A study conducted by the Army last year [2004] and posted recently on a Defense Contracting Command website (but since removed after news stories discussed the study) indicates that women and young black men are increasingly staying away from the Army. The poll, based on interviews with 3,236 youth ages 16 to 24, showed that recruiting an all-volunteer Army in times of war is getting increasingly difficult. The AVA is not a representative snapshot of America: only  three of five soldiers are white; two of five are African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American or Pacific Islander. This decline comes in the face of ever more generous enlistment bonuses and more recruiters in high school and campus halls, courtesy of a Congressional mandate that schools must allow recruiters on campus. Missing recruiting numbers puts pressure on current soldiers because the military is extending tours of duty and contracts. Extending contracts—issuing stop-loss orders—has been called a backdoor draft. As the  Seattle Times reported,  an Oregon National Guardsman who finished his eight-year enlistment in June 2004 was told by the Army in October of that year to ship to Afghanistan and reset his military termination date to Christmas Eve 2031. Santiagos unit refuels helicopters, not what most of us would think of as a high-tech position. The Army added 26 years to his enlistment; his lawsuit says Conscription for decades or life is the work of despots... It has no place in a free and democratic society. His lawsuit, Santiago v Rumsfeld, was heard by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle in April 2005. It was the the highest court review of the Armys stop-loss policy, which affects about 14,000 soldiers nationwide. In  May 2005, the court ruled in favor of the government. Since the Sept. 11, 2001,  terrorist attacks, about 50,000 soldiers have been subjected to stop-loss, according to Lt. Col Bryan Hilferty,  an Army spokesman. The Case For The Draft Our  first President  eloquently stated the  rationale for national service: ... it must be laid down as a primary position and the basis of our (democratic) system, that every citizen who enjoys the protection of a free Government owes not only a proportion of his property but even his personal service to the defense of it.† Israel has often cited an example of highly-trained and effective armed services—one peopled by mandatory national service. However, unlike a draft which selects only a subset of the population, Most Israeli citizens are required  to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for a period of between two and three years. Israel is unique in that military service is compulsory for both males and females. The closest that the US has come to such a policy was at the time of Washington when white males were required to be part of the militia. National service has been proposed and debated in Congress intermittently since Vietnam; it has not been successful. In fact, Congress has reduced funding for voluntary forms of service, such as the  Peace Corps. The Universal National Service Act (HR2723) would have required all men and women aged 18-26 to perform military or civilian service in furtherance of the   national defense and  homeland security, and for other purposes. The required term of service was defined as 15 months. It was introduced by Rep. Rangel (D-NY), a veteran of the Korean War. Prior to action in Iraq, when he first introduced this bill,   he said, I truly believe that those who make the decision and those who support the  United States  going into war would feel more readily the pain thats involved, the sacrifice thats involved if they thought that the fighting force would include the affluent and those who historically have avoided this great responsibility...Those who love this country have a patriotic obligation to defend this country. For those who say the poor fight better, I say give the rich a chance. Its not hard to find passionate calls for mandatory national service for all. Its more difficult to find similar calls for a draft lottery. The conservative  American Enterprise Institute  quotes former draftee Charles Moskos, A draft would dramatically upgrade the quality of U.S. recruits because it would give the military access to a true cross-section of our youth. Due to enticing economic and educational alternatives elsewhere, the number of military enlistees who achieve advanced scores on qualifying tests has dropped by a third since the mid-1990s.  In the fiscal year  2000, the Army actually took in some 380 recruits with felony arrests.Most telling, over a third of new military members currently fail to complete their enlistments. Contrast this with the one in ten draftees who didn’t complete their two-year obligations when we last had a draft. It’s much better to have most soldiers serve a short term honorably than to have large  cohorts  discharged for cause. Many people who talk about bringing back the draft are raising the issue because they believe the US armed forces are stretched too thin. Anecdotally, this position is supported by regular news reports of troops having their time in Iraq extended. Arguments Against The Draft Warfare has changed dramatically since Napoleans march to Russia or the battle of Normandy. It has also changed since Vietnam. There is no longer a need for massive human cannon fodder. Indeed, the military has gone high tech, with missions in Iraq being guided by military minds located on US soil, according to Thomas Friedman in  The World Is Flat. Thus one argument against the draft makes the case that highly skilled professionals are needed, not just men with combat skills. The Cato Institute argues that even  draft registration should be abandoned  in todays geopolitical climate: The notion of security insurance sounds superficially appealing, but in the case of registration, we should ask, Insurance against what? Virginians have little need of earthquake insurance; farmers who till Nebraskas cornfields need not purchase hurricane insurance. America, the worlds sole remaining superpower with by far the most powerful and technologically sophisticated military, does not need draft registration.The sign-up was always intended to quickly generate a large conscript army—similar to Americas 13-million-man military in World War II—for a protracted conventional war against the  Soviet Union  and Warsaw Pact centered in Europe. Today that kind of conflict is a paranoid fantasy. Consequently, the premium for registration insurance would be better spent elsewhere. Likewise, Cato endorses an early 1990s  Congressional Research Service report  that says an expanded reserve corps is preferable to a draft: A requirement for major increases in combat forces could be met much more quickly by activating more reserves than by instituting a draft. A draft would not provide the trained officers and non-commissioned officers to man effective units; it would only turn out freshly trained junior enlisted recruits. Catos author also notes that there is nothing wrong with avoiding  forced participation  in a war of dubious moral validity and strategic value. Even  veterans remain divided  on the need for a draft. Conclusion Compulsory national service is not a new concept; it is rooted in government policies of the late 1700s. A draft changes the nature of national service because only a sub-set of citizens must serve. At two key points in American history, the draft was highly divisive and resulted in massive protests: the Civil War and Vietnam. President Nixon and Congress abolished the draft in 1973. Reinstituting the draft would require an act of Congress. Sources Archiving Early AmericaNYC Draft RiotsSelective Service

Friday, May 15, 2020

Absolute Advantage By Adam Smith Essay - 1507 Words

Absolute advantage is the ability of a country, individual, company or region to produce a good or service at a lower cost per unit than the cost at which any other entity produces that same good or service. The main concept of absolute advantage is generally attributed to Adam Smith for his 1776 publication An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in which he countered mercantilist ideas Ricardo (International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2007). Adam Smith, the classical economist who was a lead a leading advocate of free trade on the grounds that supported the international trade of labor, founded his concept of cost on the labor theory of value within each nation that labor is the only factor of production and is homogeneous and the cost of a good depends exclusively on the amount of labor required to produce it (Carbaugh, 2014). Smith’s trading concept of absolute advantage for two-nation and two-product world explains that the international t rade will be beneficial when one nation has an absolute cost advantage in one good and another nation has an absolute cost advantage in another good. In short, each nation benefits by specializing in the production of the good that it produces at a lower cost than the other nation, while importing the good that it produces at a higher cost (Carbaugh, 2014). However, Smith argued that it was totally impossible for all nations to become rich simultaneously by following mercantilism because it is possibleShow MoreRelatedInternational Trade Theories, Trade, Cultural Diffusion, And Economic Trade Theory1374 Words   |  6 Pagespromote their international trade. Adam Smith Absolute Advantage Adam Smith a Scottish an economist, known as the father of free trade and he was recognized as the founder of modern economics and as one of the first and most famous thinkers who argued in favor of free trade. According to Blecker (1997) Adam Smith developed the theory of absolute advantage in 1776. The concept of his theory absolute advantage was that, when the country has an absolute advantage should be able to produce more outputRead MoreDifferent Theories Concepts Of International Trade Theories1697 Words   |  7 Pagesbenefits to promote their. According to Blecker (1997) Absolute Advantage Adam Smith a Scottish an economist, known as the father of free trade and he was recognized as the founder of modern economics and as one of the first and most famous thinkers who argued in favour of free trade Adam Smith developed the theory of absolute advantage in 1776. The concept of his theory absolute advantage was that, when the country has an absolute advantage should be able to produce more output of goods and servicesRead MoreAdam Smith and David Ricardo Had More Similarities Than Differences in Their Ideas623 Words   |  3 Pagestrade camp, Adam Smith and David Ricardo. Adam Smith established cornerstone of free trade and David Ricardo put a stepping stone on it. Since Ricardo read the wealth of nations, Smith’s masterpiece, and developed his theory, most of his thinking has a lot of similarities with that of Smith. Division of labor and free trade took deep root in their mind. When it comes to object of nationâ€⠄¢s free trade, however, their opinion showed dissentience with absolute advantage and comparative advantage. DivisionRead MoreThe Theory Behind Absolute Advantage1141 Words   |  5 Pagesforward by Adam Smith (Absolute advantage, 1776) which was then expanded on by David Ricardo with his theory of the Ricardian Model (Comparative advantage, 1817). Also including the Heckscher-Ohlin model (relative factor abundance, 1919, 1933) and the ideas of New Trade Theory (Economies of Scale and Imperfect Competition). These ideas will be evaluated and synthesised to see if these explanations truly explain the reasons of trade theory. Absolute advantage was an idea suggest by Adam Smith in 1817Read MoreA Systematic Theory Of Population Theory1611 Words   |  7 Pageseconomists, along with Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith, and James Mill. Also, he wrote books that deal with theory of diminishing returns, theory of distribution of income, views of unemployment, theory of comparative advantage, and a brief assessment of his overall contribution. However, in this paper, I will focus on Ricardo theory of comparative advantage and how is it an improvement on Smith’s theory of Absolute Advantage. According to the investopedia, a comparative advantage is an economic law that demonstratesRead MoreGlobalization And International Trade Theory1203 Words   |  5 Pagesbig role in every person’s life. The credit should go to every economist who has contributed to the development of international trade theory. Trade is the consequence of the human â€Å"propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another † (Smith, 1776). Different people have different propensities for trading, so do different economic periods have different economic conditions, which require different international trade theories. This could be the material cause for the development of internationalRead MoreAdam Smith : An Era Of Classical Political Economy1430 Words   |  6 Pagesof â€Å"classical political economy†, Adam Smith (1723-1790) has challenged many previous political-economic assumptions, notably the Mercantilist points of view, to prosper and strengthen a state. In his most influential work Wealth of Nations (1779) and various other works of his, he has put forward his arguments, given a critique of their ideas, and formulated theories of how the market and trade should instead be. This essay will show in which ways Adam Smith, as a free economy capitalist, hasRead MoreMercantilism Analysis770 Words   |  4 PagesAdam Smith and David Hume were the founding fathers of anti-mercantilist thought. There were number of scholars who found many limitation of mercantilism even before Adam Smith developed his theory that could fully substitute it. The criticism made by Dudley North, David Hume, and John Locke eroded much of mercantilism and because of which it uncertainly lost its favour during the 18th century. In the year 1969, John Locke made an agreement that prices differ in proportion to the quantity of moneyRead MoreInternational Trade Theory Of Comparative Advantage And Absolute Advantage1485 Words   |  6 Pagestrade explain why countries have the opportunity to trade, theory of comparative advantage and absolute advantage. Adam Smith came up with the theory of absolute advantage where the country that produces more of one good that another country has simply an absolute advantage over it. This theory normally constructed with two commodities and two countries. In Schuhmachers article â€Å"Adam Smith’s theory of absolute advantage and the use of doxography in the history of economics† he says, â€Å"each nation canRead MoreThe Advantages of International Trade803 Words   |  3 Pagesfrom other countries. 2.1 Theory of International Trade The basis for international trade is the specialization. Specialization refers to a country’s decision to specialize in the production of a certain good or list of goods because of the advantages it possesses in their production. Different nations specalize in the production of those goods and services for which their resources are best suited. An individual who attempts to be entirely self- sufficient would have to do everything herself

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

`` Howl `` By Allen Ginsberg - 1047 Words

â€Å"Howl† by Allen Ginsberg can be labeled as a prose poem, but it does not seem to fit any one category in literature. One could argue that â€Å"Howl† can not be confined by categorization because of how different in style and form that it is. This version of the poem was published in 1956 and has three parts. It can be viewed as a stream of consciousness with many random comma placements and few chances to take a breath while reading it. The poem is constantly building upon itself giving the reader little time to pause. The long stretched out lines help add to this effect of, what Ginsberg called, â€Å"a big long clanky statement† (492). By stretching out the sentences Ginsberg adds to the overall lengthy feeling that the poem has. The beginning of the poem has a dedication to Carl Solomon, a friend Ginsberg met in the Columbia Psychiatric Institute. He drew inspiration from Solomon’s work in â€Å"Howl† and thought highly of him as an intelle ctual person. The first line of the poem reads, â€Å"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,† and the speaker continues on from there (492). Right away readers are thrown into the speaker’s view and what he has seen in his life. The first misplaced comma is one of many, but symbolizes the chaos that he is describing all around him. In our class discussion we talked about how the speaker alienates an older generation in this quote because he is speaking about the younger generation that he is part of. ThisShow MoreRelatedHowl, By Allen Ginsberg1256 Words   |  6 PagesHowl for Somebody I Never Met in a Place I Never Heard of about a Cause we Already Won Howl, by Allen Ginsberg, is an inaccessible writing with such obscure references from a unique personal life and small subculture from 50 years ago that it cannot stand on its own today. It tackles issues society has already decided, makes them completely unrelatable, and attempts to shock readers. Except to literary historians, this poem is irrelevant to modern society because of constant references to obscureRead MoreEssay on Howl by Allen Ginsberg2877 Words   |  12 PagesHowl: How the Poem Came to Be and How it Made Allen Ginsberg Famous When Allen Ginsberg sat down at a secondhand typewriter in 1955 and began the first of his many subsequent drafts of Howl, he had no idea of the controversy it would cause. I fact, he didnt even set out to write a formal poem and especially not one that he would consider publishing. Instead, what the 29 year old began would materialize into his most famous literary work and the cause of a much publicized trial debating theRead MoreAnalysis Of Howl By Allen Ginsberg1107 Words   |  5 Pagesglobalization. In the poem Howl, by Allen Ginsberg who is one of the Beat writers, he uses almost all the themes used by the Beat writers. The Beat writers asked intellectual questions about sexuality, identity, bureaucracy and religion. When re-reading their work years later we might perceive it as being naà ¯ve, but yet for any person who experiences the puzzled time of life between the age of 13 and 30 will relate to these questions asked by the Beat writers. The word â€Å"howl† is usually associated withRead MoreAnalysis Of Allen Ginsberg s Howl1745 Words   |  7 PagesThe importance of the symbolism of madness in Allen Ginsberg’s Howl. The theme of madness is vital in Allen Ginsberg’s Howl, as a poem written by a young voice with the purpose to intentionally shock audiences. It presents views of insanity and madness as both tragically victimizing the talented young minds of America, causing the straight-cut society to oppress and restrain their creativity in psychiatric hospitals; but also as a sort of liberation, allowing the artist to connect to their creativityRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Howl By Allen Ginsberg Essay981 Words   |  4 PagesHowl The standard types of poems out there in the world doesn’t really define poetry but points it to a certain direction, from haiku to slam poetry to Shakespearean. The list could go on of the many types of poetry. Poetry was a way to tell stories or exaggerate cultural events. The poem â€Å"Howl†, written by Allen Ginsberg was written in the 1950’s and captures the many struggles in life that many people were experiencing during this time. There is no clear indication as to exactly what the poemRead MoreEssay on Howl Kaddish By Allen Ginsberg2521 Words   |  11 Pagesamp;quot;Howlamp;quot; and amp;quot;Kaddishamp;quot;, the overall tone of the poem hits you right in the face. Allen Ginsberg, the poet, presents these two poems as complaints and injustices. He justifies these complaints in the pages that follow. Ginsberg also uses several literary techniques in these works to enhance the images for the reader. His own life experiences are mentioned in the poems , the majority of his works being somewhat biographical. It is said that Allen Ginsberg was aheadRead MoreAnalysis Of Allen Ginsberg s Howl And 1661 Words   |  7 PagesAllen Ginsberg was one of the greatest admired Beat Generation poets, who particularly used free flowing, aggressive and occasionally a discourteous style of language to show that the rule and social structure over heterosexuality can be filled with opposition, so he decided to release queerness. Ginsberg strongly disputed capitalism and conformity that notably consisted of sexual repression, so he incorporated in the development of counterculture and challenged the heteronormative, procreation-drivenRead MoreAllen Ginsberg, Howl Cultural Imapact Essay2878 Words   |  12 Pagesthats what the poet does.† Allen Ginsberg believed this wholly and based his means of poetry by what he said in this sentence. One cannot censor thoughts, just as one can’t censor expression. Ginsberg faced controversy for sexual content and profanities that he used in his poetry, but those were merely his private thoughts that he brought to the public. His poetry fueled a whole generational revolution in the 1950s. In times of cookie cutter uniformity Allen Ginsberg went against norm and wroteRead MoreChallenging the Modernity of American Culture: The Howl by Allen Ginsberg1165 Words   |  5 Pages In the poem Howl, Allen Ginsberg challenges the modernity of American culture, which enforces the â€Å"best minds† (1) to give up their freedom to conform to the desired sense of normality. Ginsberg states â€Å"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked/ dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix† (9). His expression of Moloch The angry fix is what all of these â€Å"best minds† look for after being stripped of their freedom to conformRead MoreSocial Pressures Reflected in Ginsbergs Howl Essay921 Words   |  4 PagesSocial Pressures Reflected in Ginsbergs Howl Post World War II America produced a number of images that will be forever imprinted on the minds of Americans. Such images as television shows like Leave It To Beaver and I Love Lucy, movies such as An Affair To Remember, and Brigadoon, are watched frequently even in todays society. But in this world of fairytale movies and the American Dream, what about those who didnt fit into the picture of perfection and prosperity? These men

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Case Study of Dexus Properties Group Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Study of Dexus Properties Group. Answer: Business operations: The company undertaken fore review is the Dexus property group which is an Australian Real Estate Investment Trust which invests, develops, manages and trades the Australian office and also the industrial property. The company owns a diversified portfolio which mainly consist of central business district offices which are held for longer term and are also leased (Are, 2017). Investments and investment activities: The following are the investment activities included: Capital expenditure on fixed assets Capital expenditure on other assets Net assets from acquisitions Sale of the fixed assets and businesses Purchase and sale from investments Sale and maturity of investments (Are, 2017). The following are the financing activities of the company: Cash dividends on common equity shares and preferred shares Change in the capital stock Repurchase of the common and preferred stock Sale of common and preferred stock Proceeds from stock options Other proceeds from sale of stock Issuance or repayment of debt (Market watch, 2017). Financial reporting practices: The companys financial statements have bene prepared using the historical cost basis. But the derivative financial instruments, investments in the financial assets along with the defined benefit obligations have been prepared on the basis of the fair values. These statements have been prepared using the applicable Australian Accounting standards including the interpretations of the country of austral and the Corporations Act 2001. These also comply with the International financial Reporting Standards and the interpretations as have been issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. Industry size: The industry has the size of $43.8 billion which was recorded during august, 2002. Industry growth: The industry shows an equity growth of 87.50 % (SMH, 2017). Industry supply chain: The supply chain efficiencies drive in the demand and supports the large retailers and the transport and the logistics occupiers which supports in the industrial demand. This takes in the advantage of the competitive pro commitment market which improve and consolidates the supply chains. There are larger retailers and the transport and the logistic occupiers that support the industrial demand. There are consolidated supply chains in respect of which there is an occupier demand which varies widely between the status of Sydney and the Melbourne, Brisbane. This is mainly due to the compliance in the demand of the solid pre lease demand in these markets and also due to the stronger values that would be achieved for the fully leased buildings. The year 2017 is most likely to be more subdued which follows the reduction in the projects that have bene planned in Brisbane and Perth. The rents are also likely to remain subdued and also stable since there is a pre-commitment in the market which remains competitive. There are land constraints too. Major players: The major players include Investa Property group, GPT group, ALE property group, Westfield corp Charter Hall group (PIR, 2017). Market shares of Industry players: Dexus market 9.61 B (Bloomberg, 2017). Investa Property group- $4,561 M (Invests smart, 2017). GPT group- 8.68 B AUD (Bloomberg, 2017). ALE property group- 927.95 M AUD Westfield corp- 15.88 B AUD (Bloomberg, 2017). Charter Hall group 2.46 B AUD (Bloomberg, 2017). Critical success factors: The Company is one of the leading real estate group in the country. It drives its success from the passionate innovation and collaboration which seeks to deliver in the right amount of space for the customers all across the extensive portfolio of the properties relating to the offices, industry and retail. The company caters to the needs of the customers and also delivers the services that are designed so as to add in the value to the partners. The company focusses on being the wholesale partner of choice. The demand for the top quality office buildings remains strong even when there are some of the challenges that exists in the lesser quality of the buildings (Dexus, 2017). Major threats: The following are the factors that threatened the same: The population of the country is ageing and so, the people have a different way of doing things and hence, they may not be able to afford the prices There is an underfunding of the state and the local retirement system which would present a challenge for the industry (Hoak, 2017). There is a change in the demand of the office space This also goes in line with the change in the demand for the retail space There is an issue related with the amount of the commercial real estate loans which would be required to be refinanced in the next couple of years. An attention has to be paid to the sustainability which would serve as the main thing when it comes to the saving of the environmental resources There are many of the commercial properties that are overvalued (Market watch, 2017) References: Are, W. and Business, O. (2017).Dexus - Capabilities. [online] Dexus.com. Available at: https://www.dexus.com/who-we-are/our-business/capabilities [Accessed 1 Sep. 2017]. Are, W. and Business, O. (2017).Dexus - History. [online] Dexus.com. Available at: https://www.dexus.com/who-we-are/our-business/history [Accessed 1 Sep. 2017]. Bloomberg.com. (2017).CHC:ASE Stock Quote - Charter Hall Group. [online] Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/CHC:AU [Accessed 1 Sep. 2017]. Bloomberg.com. (2017).DXS:ASE Stock Quote - Dexus. [online] Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/DXS:AU [Accessed 1 Sep. 2017]. Bloomberg.com. (2017).GPT:ASE Stock Quote - GPT Group/The. [online] Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/GPT:AU [Accessed 1 Sep. 2017]. Bloomberg.com. (2017).WFD:ASE Stock Quote - Westfield Corp. [online] Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/WFD:AU [Accessed 1 Sep. 2017]. Cummins, C. (2017).Mixed outlook for AREIT sector. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/business/property/mixed-outlook-for-the-areit-sector-20161006-grwbfz.html [Accessed 1 Sep. 2017]. Hoak, A. (2017).The top 10 threats facing real estate. [online] MarketWatch. Available at: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-top-10-threats-facing-real-estate-2012-07-17 [Accessed 1 Sep. 2017]. InvestSMART. (2017).Investa Property Group. [online] Available at: https://www.investsmart.com.au/shares/asx-ipg/investa-property-group [Accessed 1 Sep. 2017]. Marketwatch.com. (2017).DuluxGroup Ltd.. [online] Available at: https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/duluf/financials/cash-flow [Accessed 1 Sep. 2017]. www.pir.com.au. (2017).Competitors. [online] Available at: https://www.pir.com.au/listed [Accessed 1 Sep. 2017].

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Galileo Galilei Was Born At Pisa On The 18th Of February In 1564. His

Galileo Galilei was born at Pisa on the 18th of February in 1564. His father, Vincenzo Galilei, belonged to a noble family and had gained some distinction as a musician and a mathematician. At an early age, Galileo manifested his ability to learn both mathematical and mechanical types of things, but his parents, wishing to turn him aside from studies which promised no substantial return, steered him toward some sort of medical profession. But this had no effect on Galileo. During his youth he was allowed to follow the path that he wished to. Although in the popular mind Galileo is remembered chiefly as an astronomer, however, the science of mechanics and dynamics pretty much owe their existence to his findings. Before he was twenty, observation of the oscillations of a swinging lamp in the cathedral of Pisa led him to the discovery of the isochronism of the pendulum, which theory he utilized fifty years later in the construction of an astronomical clock. In 1588, an essay on the center of gravity in solids obtained for him the title of the Archimedes of his time, and secured him a teaching spot in the University of Pisa. During the years immediately following, taking advantage of the celebrated leaning tower, he laid the foundation experimentally of the theory of falling bodies and demonstrated the falsity of the peripatetic maxim, which is that an objects rate of descent is proportional to its weight. When he challenged this it made all of the followers of Aristotle extremely angry, they would not except the fact that t heir leader could have been wrong. Galileo, in result of this and other troubles, found it prudent to quit Pisa and move to Florence, the original home of his family. In Florence he was nominated by the Venetian Senate in 1592 to the chair of mathematics in the University of Padua, which he occupied for eighteen years, with ever-increasing fame. After that he was appointed philosopher and mathematician to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. During the whole of this period, and to the close of his life, his investigation of Nature, in all her fields, was never stopped. Following up his experiments at Pisa with others upon inclined planes, Galileo established the laws of falling bodies as they are still formulated. He likewise demonstrated the laws of projectiles, and largely anticipated the laws of motion as finally established by Newton. In statics, he gave the first direct and satisfactory demonstration of the laws of equilibrium and the principle of virtual velocities. In hydrostatics, he set forth the true principle of flotation. He invented a thermometer, though a defective one, but he did not, as is sometimes claimed for him, invent the microscope. Though, as has been said, it is by his astronomical discoveries that he is most widely remembered, it is not these that constitute his most substantial title to fame. In this connection, his greatest achievement was undoubtedly his virtual invention of the telescope. Hearing early in 1609 that a Dutch optician, named Lippershey, had produced an instrument by which the apparent size of remote objects was magnified, Galileo at once realized the principle by which such a result could alone be attained, and, after a single night devoted to consideration of the laws of refraction, he succeeded in constructing a telescope which magnified three times, its magnifying power being soon increased to thirty-two. This instrument being provided and turned towards the heavens, the discoveries, which have made Galileo famous, were bound at once to follow, though undoubtedly he was quick to grasp their full significance. The moon was shown not to be, as the old astronomy taught, a smooth and perfect sphere, of different nature to the earth, but to possess hills and valleys and other features resembling those of our own globe. The planet Jupiter was found to have satellites, thus displaying a solar system in miniature, and supporting the doctrine of Copernicus. It had been argued against the said system that, if it were true, the inferior planets, Venus and Mercury, between the earth and the sun, should in the course of their revolution exhibit phases like those of the moon, and, these being invisible to the naked Galileo Galilei Was Born At Pisa On The 18th Of February In 1564. His Galileo Galilei was born at Pisa on the 18th of February in 1564. His father, Vincenzo Galilei, belonged to a noble family and had gained some distinction as a musician and a mathematician. At an early age, Galileo manifested his ability to learn both mathematical and mechanical types of things, but his parents, wishing to turn him aside from studies which promised no substantial return, steered him toward some sort of medical profession. But this had no effect on Galileo. During his youth he was allowed to follow the path that he wished to. Although in the popular mind Galileo is remembered chiefly as an astronomer, however, the science of mechanics and dynamics pretty much owe their existence to his findings. Before he was twenty, observation of the oscillations of a swinging lamp in the cathedral of Pisa led him to the discovery of the isochronism of the pendulum, which theory he utilized fifty years later in the construction of an astronomical clock. In 1588, an essay on the center of gravity in solids obtained for him the title of the Archimedes of his time, and secured him a teaching spot in the University of Pisa. During the years immediately following, taking advantage of the celebrated leaning tower, he laid the foundation experimentally of the theory of falling bodies and demonstrated the falsity of the peripatetic maxim, which is that an objects rate of descent is proportional to its weight. When he challenged this it made all of the followers of Aristotle extremely angry, they would not except the fact that t heir leader could have been wrong. Galileo, in result of this and other troubles, found it prudent to quit Pisa and move to Florence, the original home of his family. In Florence he was nominated by the Venetian Senate in 1592 to the chair of mathematics in the University of Padua, which he occupied for eighteen years, with ever-increasing fame. After that he was appointed philosopher and mathematician to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. During the whole of this period, and to the close of his life, his investigation of Nature, in all her fields, was never stopped. Following up his experiments at Pisa with others upon inclined planes, Galileo established the laws of falling bodies as they are still formulated. He likewise demonstrated the laws of projectiles, and largely anticipated the laws of motion as finally established by Newton. In statics, he gave the first direct and satisfactory demonstration of the laws of equilibrium and the principle of virtual velocities. In hydrostatics, he set forth the true principle of flotation. He invented a thermometer, though a defective one, but he did not, as is sometimes claimed for him, invent the microscope. Though, as has been said, it is by his astronomical discoveries that he is most widely remembered, it is not these that constitute his most substantial title to fame. In this connection, his greatest achievement was undoubtedly his virtual invention of the telescope. Hearing early in 1609 that a Dutch optician, named Lippershey, had produced an instrument by which the apparent size of remote objects was magnified, Galileo at once realized the principle by which such a result could alone be attained, and, after a single night devoted to consideration of the laws of refraction, he succeeded in constructing a telescope which magnified three times, its magnifying power being soon increased to thirty-two. This instrument being provided and turned towards the heavens, the discoveries, which have made Galileo famous, were bound at once to follow, though undoubtedly he was quick to grasp their full significance. The moon was shown not to be, as the old astronomy taught, a smooth and perfect sphere, of different nature to the earth, but to possess hills and valleys and other features resembling those of our own globe. The planet Jupiter was found to have satellites, thus displaying a solar system in miniature, and supporting the doctrine of Copernicus. It had been argued against the said system that, if it were true, the inferior planets, Venus and Mercury, between the earth and the sun, should in the course of their revolution exhibit phases like those of the moon, and, these being invisible to the naked

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

The Evolution of the First Tetrapods

The Evolution of the First Tetrapods Its one of the iconic images of evolution: 400 or so million years ago, way back in the prehistoric mists of geologic time, a brave fish crawls laboriously out of the water and onto land, representing the first wave of a vertebrate invasion that leads to dinosaurs, mammals, and human beings. Logically speaking, of course, we dont owe any more thanks to the first tetrapod (Greek for four feet) than we do to the first bacterium or the first sponge, but something about this plucky critter still tugs at our heartstrings. As is so often the case, this romantic image doesnt quite match up with evolutionary reality. Between 350 and 400 million years ago, various prehistoric fish crawled out of the water at various times, making it nearly impossible to identify the direct ancestor of modern vertebrates. In fact, many of the most celebrated early tetrapods had seven or eight digits at the end of each limb and, because modern animals adhere strictly to the five-toed body plan, that means these tetrapods represented an evolutionary dead end from the perspective of the prehistoric amphibians that followed them. Origins The earliest tetrapods evolved from lobe-finned fishes, which differed in important ways from ray-finned fishes. While ray-finned fishes are the most common type of fish in the ocean  today, the only lobe-finned fish on the planet are lungfish and coelacanths, the latter of which were thought to have gone extinct tens of millions of years ago until a live specimen turned up in 1938. The bottom fins of lobe-finned fishes are arranged in pairs and supported by internal bones- the necessary conditions for these fins to evolve into primitive legs. Lobe-finned fishes of the Devonian period were already able to breathe air, when necessary, via spiracles in their skulls. Experts differ about the environmental pressures  that prompted lobe-finned fish to evolve into walking, breathing tetrapods, but one theory is that the shallow lakes and rivers these fish lived in were subject to drought, favoring species that could survive in dry conditions. Another theory has it that the earliest tetrapods were literally chased out of the water by bigger fish- dry land harbored an abundance of insect and plant food, and a marked absence of dangerous predators. Any lobe-finned fish that blundered onto land would have found itself in a veritable paradise. In evolutionary terms, its hard to distinguish between the most advanced lobe-finned fish and the most primitive tetrapods. Three important genera nearer the fish end of the spectrum were Eusthenopteron, Panderichthys, and Osteolopis, which spent all of their time in the water yet had latent tetrapod characteristics. Until recently, these tetrapod ancestors nearly all hailed from fossil deposits in the northern Atlantic, but the discovery of Gogonasus in Australia has put the kibosh on the theory that land-dwelling animals originated in the northern hemisphere. Early Tetrapods and Fishapods Scientists once agreed that the earliest true tetrapods dated from about 385 to 380 million years ago. That has all changed with the recent discovery of tetrapod track marks in Poland that date to 397 million years ago, which would effectively dial back the evolutionary calendar by 12 million years. If confirmed, this discovery will prompt some revision in the evolutionary consensus. As you can see, tetrapod evolution is far from written in stone- tetrapods evolved numerous times, in different places. Still, there are a few early tetrapod species that are regarded as more-or-less definitive by experts. The most important of these is Tiktaalik, which is thought to have been perched midway between the tetrapod-like lobe-finned fishes and the later, true tetrapods. Tiktaalik was blessed with the primitive equivalent of wrists- which may have helped it to prop itself up on its stubby front fins along the edges of shallow lakes- as well as a true neck, providing it with much-needed flexibility and mobility during its quick jaunts onto dry land. Because of its mix of tetrapod and fish characteristics, Tiktaalik is often referred to as a fishapod, a name that is also sometimes applied to advanced lobe-finned fish like Eusthenopteron and Panderichthys. Another important fishapod was Ichthyostega, which lived about five million years after Tiktaalik and achieved similarly respectable sizes- about five feet long and 50 pounds. True Tetrapods Until the recent discovery of Tiktaalik, the most famous of all the early tetrapods was Acanthostega, which dated to about 365 million years ago. This slender creature had relatively well-developed limbs, as well as such fishy features as a lateral sensory line running along the length of its body. Other, similar tetrapods of this general time and place included Hynerpeton, Tulerpeton, and Ventastega. Paleontologists once believed that these late Devonian tetrapods spent significant amounts of their time on dry land, but they are now thought to have been primarily or even totally aquatic, only using their legs and primitive breathing apparatuses when absolutely necessary. The most significant finding about these tetrapods was the number of digits on their front and hind limbs: anywhere from 6 to 8, a strong indication that they couldnt have been the ancestors of later five-toed tetrapods and their mammalian, avian, and reptilian descendants. Romers Gap Theres a 20-million-year-long stretch of time in the early Carboniferous period that has yielded very few vertebrate fossils. Known as Romers Gap, this blank period in the fossil record has been used to support Creationist doubt in the theory of evolution, but it is easily explainable by the fact that fossils only form in very special conditions. Romers Gap particularly affects our knowledge of tetrapod evolution because, when we pick up the story 20 million years later (about 340 million years ago), there is a profusion of tetrapod species that can be grouped into different families, some coming very close to being true amphibians. Among the notable post-gap tetrapods are the tiny Casineria, which had five-toed feet; the eel-like Greererpeton, which may already have de-evolved from its more land-oriented tetrapod ancestors; and the salamander-like Eucritta melanolimnetes, otherwise known as the creature from the Black Lagoon, from Scotland. The diversity of later tetrapods is evidence that a lot must have happened, evolution-wise, during Romers Gap. Fortunately, we have been able to fill in some of the blanks of Romers Gap in recent years. The skeleton of Pederpes was discovered in 1971 and, three decades later, further investigation by tetrapod expert Jennifer Clack dated it smack to the middle of Romers Gap. Significantly, Pederpes had forward-facing feet with five toes and a narrow skull, characteristics seen in later amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. A similar species active during Romers Gap was the large-tailed Whatcheeria, which seems to have spent most of its time in the water.

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Seven Birds for Seven Brothers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Seven Birds for Seven Brothers - Essay Example 3. From the musical, gender relations have been demonstrated in the movie where the females are expected to be well-behaved. The girls were expected to be good cooks and carry themselves with dignity. Males, on the other hand, are expected to be hard working and provider in the family. The setting of this musical shows â€Å"man’s world†. For instance, Fred Bixby owns store while his wife works with him. Milly works in a local bar where she is expected clean after the customers. 4. The clips on youtube of the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers have captured the spirit of the original movie to the extent where they create a clear picture of the original film. The musical numbers used are appropriate for the scenes. The filmed musical uses location and beautiful scenery to try and bring out which would be impossible in a live musical. 5. My favorite musical number is Bless Yore Beautiful Hide. It talks of what kind a wife, Adam. The song brings out the qualities of a woman Adam would like. From the song, one can tell the performer is looking for a wife to