The Return: Nightfall Chapter 4

With the signed contract safely tucked in Bonnie's purse, they pulled up to the boardinghouse in which Stefan had taken up residence again. They looked for Mrs. Flowers but couldn't find her, as usual. So they walked up the narrowing steps with the worn carpet and splintering balustrade, hallooing as they came. â€Å"Stefan! Elena! It's us!† The door at the very top opened and Stefan's head came out. He looked – different somehow. â€Å"Happier,† Bonnie whispered wisely to Meredith. â€Å"Is he?† â€Å"Of course.†Bonnie was shocked. â€Å"He's got Elena back.† â€Å"Yes, he does. Just the way she was when they met, I bet. You saw her in the woods.† Meredith's voice was heavy with significance. â€Å"But†¦that's†¦oh, no! She'shuman again!† Matt looked down the stairs and hissed, â€Å"Will you two quit it? They're gonna hear us.† Bonnie was confused. Of course Stefan could hear them, but if you were going to worry about what Stefan heard you'd have to worry about what youthought , too – Stefan could always catch the shape of what you were thinking, if not the actual words. â€Å"Boys!† hissed Bonnie. â€Å"I mean I know they're totally necessary and all, but sometimes they Just Don't Get It.† â€Å"Just wait till you try men,† whispered Meredith, and Bonnie thought of Alaric Saltzman, the college student that Meredith was more or less engaged to. â€Å"I could tell you a thing or two,† Caroline added, examining her long, manicured nails with a world-weary look. â€Å"But Bonnie doesn't need to know even one yet. She has plenty of time to learn,† Meredith said, firmly in mothering mode. â€Å"Let's go inside.† â€Å"Sit down, sit down,† Stefan was encouraging them as they entered, the perfect host. But nobody could sit down. All eyes were fixed on Elena. She was sitting in lotus position in front of the room's only open window, with the fresh wind making her white nightgown billow. Her hair was true gold again, not the perilous white-gold it had become when Stefan had unintentionally turned into a vampire. She looked exactly the way Bonnie remembered her. Except that she was floating three feet off the floor. Stefan saw them all gawking. â€Å"It's just something she does,† he said almost apologetically. â€Å"She woke up the day after our fight with Klaus and started floating. I think gravity hasn't quite got a hold on her yet.† He turned back to Elena. â€Å"Look who's come to see you,† he said enticingly. Elena was looking. Her gold-flecked blue eyes were curious, and she was smiling, but there was no recognition as she looked from one visitor to another. Bonnie had been holding her arms out. â€Å"Elena?† she said. â€Å"It'sme , Bonnie, remember? I was there when you came back.I'm sure glad to see you .† Stefan tried again. â€Å"Elena, remember? These are your friends, your good friends. This tall, dark-haired beauty is Meredith, and this fiery little pixie is Bonnie, and this guy with the all-American looks is Matt.† Something flickered in Elena's face, and Stefan repeated, â€Å"Matt.† â€Å"And what about me? Or am I invisible?† Caroline said from the doorway. She sounded good-humored enough, but Bonnie knew that it made Caroline grind her teeth just to see Stefan and Elena together and out of danger. â€Å"You're right. I'm sorry,† Stefan said, and he did something that no ordinary eighteen-year-old could have pulled off without looking like an idiot. He took Caroline's hand and kissed it as gracefully and unthinkingly as if he were some count from nearly half a millennium ago. Which, of course, was pretty much what he was, Bonnie thought. Caroline looked slightly smug – Stefan had taken his time with the hand kiss. Now he said, â€Å"And last but not least, this tanned beauty here is Caroline.† Then, very gently, in a voice that Bonnie had heard him use only a few times since she'd known him, he said, â€Å"Don't you remember them, love? They nearly died for you – and for me.† Elena was floating easily, in a standing position now, bobbing like a swimmer trying to keep still. â€Å"We did it because we care,† Bonnie said, and she put her arms out again for a hug. â€Å"But we never expected to get you back, Elena.† Her eyes filled. â€Å"You came back to us. Don't youknow us?† Elena floated down until she was directly in front of Bonnie. There was still no sign of recognition on her face, but there was something else. There was a kind of limitless benediction and tranquility. Elena radiated a calming peace and an unconditional love that made Bonnie breathe in deeply and shut her eyes. She could feel it like sunshine on her face, like the ocean in her ears. After a moment Bonnie realized she was in danger of crying at the sheer feeling ofgoodness – a word that was almost never used these days. Some things still could be simply, untouchablygood . Elenawas good. And then, with a gentle touch on Bonnie's shoulder, Elena floated toward Caroline. She held out her arms. Caroline looked flustered. A wave of scarlet swept up her neck. Bonnie saw it, but didn't understand it. They'd all had a chance to pick up on Elena's vibes. And Caroline and Elenahad been close friends – until Stefan, their rivalry had been friendly. It wasgood of Elena to pick Caroline to hug first. And then Elena went into the circle of Caroline's hastily raised arms and just as Caroline began to say â€Å"I've – † she kissed her full on the mouth. It wasn't just a peck, either. Elena wrapped her arms around Caroline's neck and hung on. For long moments Caroline stood deathly still as if in shock. Then she reared back and struggled, at first feebly, and then so violently that Elena was catapulted backward in the air, her eyes wide. Stefan caught her like an infielder going for a pop fly. â€Å"What thehell – ?† Caroline was scrubbing at her mouth. â€Å"Caroline!† Stefan's voice was filled with fierce protectiveness. â€Å"It doesn't mean anything like what you're thinking. It's got nothing to do with sex at all. She's just identifying you, learning who you are. She can do that now that she's come back to us.† â€Å"Prairie dogs,† Meredith said in the cool, slightly distant voice she often used to bring down the temperature of a room. â€Å"Prairie dogs kiss when they meet. It does exactly what you said, Stefan, helps them identify specific individuals†¦.† Caroline was far beyond Meredith's abilities to cool down, however. Scrubbing her mouth had been a bad idea; she had smeared scarlet lipstick all around it, so that she looked like something out of aBride of Dracula movie. â€Å"Are you crazy? What do you think I am? Because some hamsters do it, that makes it okay?† She had flushed a mottled red, from her throat to the roots of her hair. â€Å"Prairie dogs. Not hamsters.† â€Å"Oh, who gives a – † Caroline broke off, frantically fumbling in her purse until Stefan offered her a box of tissues. He had already dabbed the scarlet smears off Elena's mouth. Caroline rushed into the small bathroom attached to Stefan's attic bedroom and slammed the door hard. Bonnie and Meredith caught each other's eye and let out their breaths simultaneously, convulsing with laughter. Bonnie did a lightning-quick imitation of Caroline's expression and frantic scrubbing, miming someone using handful after handful of tissues. Meredith gave a reproving shake of her head, but she and Stefan and Matt all had a case of themustn't-laugh snickers. A lot of it was simply the release of tension – they had seen Elena alive again, after six long months without her – but they couldn't stop laughing. Or at least they couldn't until a tissue box sailed out of the bathroom, nearly hitting Bonnie in the head – and they all realized that the slammed door had rebounded – and that there was a mirror in the bathroom. Bonnie caught Caroline's expression in the mirror and then met her full-on glare. Yep, she'd seen them laughing at her. The door closed again – this time, as if it had been kicked. Bonnie ducked her head and clutched at her short strawberry curls, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her. â€Å"I'll apologize,† she said after a gulp, trying to be adult about the situation. Then she looked up and realized that everyone else was more concerned about Elena, who was clearly upset by this rejection. It's a good thing we made Caroline sign that oath in blood, Bonnie thought. And it's a good thing that you-know-who signed it, too. If there was one thing Damon would know about, it was consequences. Even as she was thinking this, she joined the huddle around Elena. Stefan was trying to hold Elena; Elena was trying to go after Caroline; and Matt and Meredith were helping Stefan and telling Elena that it was okay. When Bonnie joined them, Elena gave up trying to get to the bathroom. Her face was distressed, her blue eyes swimming with tears. Elena's serenity had been broken by hurt and regret – and underneath that, a surprisingly deep apprehension. Bonnie's intuition gave a twinge. But she patted Elena's elbow, the only part of her that she could reach, and added her voice to the chorus: â€Å"You didn't know she'd get so upset. You didn't hurt her.† Crystal tears spilled down Elena's cheeks, and Stefan caught them with a tissue as if each one was priceless. â€Å"She thinks that Carolineis hurt,† Stefan said, â€Å"and she's worried about her – for some reason I don't get.† Bonnie realized that Elena could communicate after all – by mind-link. â€Å"I felt that, too,† she said. â€Å"The hurt. But tell her – I mean – Elena, Ipromise I'll apologize. I'll grovel.† â€Å"It may take some groveling from all of us,† Meredith said. â€Å"But meanwhile I want to make sure that this  ¡Ã‚ ®angel unaware' recognizesme .† With an expression of tranquil sophistication, she took Elena out of Stefan's arms and into her own, and then she kissed her. Unfortunately, this coincided with Caroline stalking out of the bathroom. The bottom of her face was paler than the top, having been denuded of all makeup: lipstick, bronzer, blush, the works. She stopped dead and stared. â€Å"I don't believe it,† she said in scathing tones. â€Å"You'restill doing it! It's dis – â€Å" â€Å"Caroline.† Stefan's voice was a warning. â€Å"I came here to see Elena.† Caroline – beautiful, lithe, bronze-limbed Caroline – was twisting her hands together as if in terrible conflict. â€Å"Theold Elena. And what do I see? She's like a baby – she can't talk. She's like some smirking guru floating in the air. And now she's like some kind of perverted – â€Å" â€Å"Don't finish that,† Stefan said quietly but firmly. â€Å"I told you, she ought to be over the first symptoms in just a few days, to judge by her progress so far,† he added. And hewas different, somehow, Bonnie thought. Not just happier to have gotten Elena back. He was†¦stronger somehow at the core of himself. Stefan had always been quiet inside; her powers sensed him as a pool of clear water. Now she saw that same clear water built up like a tsunami. What could have changed Stefan so much? The answer came to her immediately, although in the form of a wondering question. Elena was still part spirit – Bonnie's intuition told her that. What did it do if you drank the blood of someone who was in that state? â€Å"Caroline, let's just drop it,† she said. â€Å"I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry for – you know. I was wrong, and I'm sorry.† â€Å"Oh, you'resorry . Oh, that makes everything all right then, doesn't it?† Caroline's voice was pure acid, and she turned her back on Bonnie with finality. Bonnie was surprised to feel the sting of tears behind her eyes. Elena and Meredith still had their arms around each other, their cheeks wet with the other's tears. They were looking at each other and Elena was beaming. â€Å"Now she'll know you anywhere,† Stefan told Meredith. â€Å"Not just your face, but – well, the inside of you, too, or the shape of it, at least. I should have mentioned that before this started, but I'm the only one she's ;;met,' and I didn't realize – â€Å" â€Å"You should have realized!† Caroline was pacing like a tiger. â€Å"So you kissed a girl, sowhat ?† Bonnie exploded. â€Å"What do you think, you're going to grow a beard now?† As if powered by the conflict around her, Elena suddenly took off. All at once she was zipping around the room as if she'd been shot from a cannon; her hair crackled with electricity when she made sudden stops or turns. She soared around the room twice, and as she was silhouetted against the dusty old window, Bonnie thought,Oh, my God! We've got to get her some clothes! She looked at Meredith and saw that Meredith had shared her realization. Yes, they had to get Elena clothes – and most especially underclothes. As Bonnie moved toward Elena, as shyly as if she'd never been kissed before, Caroline exploded. â€Å"You just keep doing it and doing it and doing it!† She was practically screeching by now, Bonnie thought. â€Å"What'swrong with you? Don't you have any morals at all?† This, unfortunately, caused another case of thedon't-laugh-don't-laugh choked giggles in Bonnie and Meredith. Even Stefan turned away sharply, his gallantry toward a guest clearly fighting a losing battle. Not just a guest, Bonnie thought, but a girl he'd gonepret-ty darn far with, as Caroline hadn't been shy about letting people know when she'd gotten her hands on him. About as far as vampirescould go, Bonnie remembered, which was not the whole way. Something about the blood-sharing substituting for – well, for Doing It. But he wasn't the only one Caroline had bragged about. Caroline was infamous. Bonnie glanced at Elena, saw that Elena was watching Caroline with a strange expression. Not as if Elena were afraid of her, but rather as if Elena were deeply worriedabout her. â€Å"Are you all right?† Bonnie whispered. To her surprise, Elena nodded, then looked at Caroline and shook her head. She carefully looked Caroline up and down and her expression was that of a puzzled doctor examining a very sick patient. Then she floated toward Caroline, one hand extended. Caroline shied away, as if she were disgusted to have Elena touch her. No, not disgusted, Bonnie thought, butfrightened. â€Å"How do I know what she'll do next?† Caroline snapped, but Bonnie knew that wasn't the real reason for her fear. What do we have going on here? she wondered. Elena afraidfor Caroline, and Caroline afraidof Elena. What does that equal? Bonnie's psychic senses were giving her gooseflesh. There was somethingwrong with Caroline, she felt, something she'd never encountered before. And the air†¦it was thickening somehow, as if it were building up to a thunderstorm. Caroline made a sharp turn to keep her face averted from Elena's. She moved behind a chair. â€Å"Just keep her freakin'away from me, all right? I won't let her touch me again – † she began, when Meredith changed the whole situation with two quiet words. â€Å"Whatdid you say to me?† Caroline said, staring.

Othello and Family Guy

Othello Cast inspired by the characters of Michaela N Cleveland Brown as Othello Cleveland Brown is overall a kind person with a hot temper. He becomes jealous easily, especially in terms of his marriage and wife. Cleveland trusts his friends to a fault, and is dim-witted. All these traits strike a strong resemblance to Othello. Similar to Othello, Cleveland racially does not fit in among friends, and both are treated different as a result. Both men also are trusted by their friends, and care more about what is going to make them happy in the moment, rather than long term.Cleveland and Othello tend to speak coarsely and slowly, as opposed to those who they mingle with. Othello and Cleveland furthermore are laid back. The men usually are the puppets of their mates, going with the flow and believing the most ridiculous of things. Cleveland represents Shakespeare's Othello quite perfectly. Brian as Iago Brian is extremely intelligent, logical, and rational character. He is trusted, but not loyal to those who trust him. His motivations are not always clear or obvious.Brian is thought of as â€Å"man's best friend† but he doesn't act that way. He is generally mean spirited, quick-tempered, and has a sarcastic, dry, yet hilarious, sense of humor. These traits bear resemblance to Iago, Othello's enemy. Iago and Brian are also manipulative, deceptive, and untrustworthy. Both characters lack a sense of emotion and compassion, as they are willing to do things, like kill friends or a wife, easily. Brian has a crush on Louis, and Iago is taken by Desdemona.Together they have a love-hate relationship with women, enjoying them physically, but annoyed with femininity and emotional drama. Iago and Brian mirror each other perfectly. Lois as Desdemona Lois is a complex, sweet, yet dark, jealous, and somewhat cold-hearted woman. She is known to cheat, be devious, and be extremely flirtatious, which in turn gets her into trouble. She loves her husband, but doesn't have a pr oblem with being unfaithful to him. She is known to be a beauty, and to have left her father to pursue a crazy lifestyle.Lois is a strong, independent woman despite being a wife. She furthermore has a bewitching affect over men, and she uses this gift to get what she wants. Desdemona is very much like Lois in all this attributes. Desdemona seems innocent but is truly brilliantly mischievous. Both are smart, but don't always think before they act. They are both comparable, thus match beautifully. Joe Swanson as Michael Cassio Joe makes a perfect Cassio. Joe is a police officer, just as Cassio is a lieutenant.Joe is devoted, loyal, moral, masculine, buff, admirable, and honorable. Cassio in ‘Othello' is also very much like this. Glenn Quagmire as Roderigo Roderigo is rich, rather foolish, too trusting of Iago, and interested in Desdemona. Quagmire is also well off, acts unintelligently, and is interested in women to an extreme. Both men are so obsessed over a certain woman they will do whatever it takes. They trust their friends to a fault and lack compassion. Both men exemplify immaturity too. Therefore, Quagmire and Roderigo quite nicely pair up.Bonnie as Bianca Bianca and Bonnie were prostitutes, loved fame and a title. They spoke softly and meaningfully. ‘ Carter as Brabanzio Carter is fatherly, rich, over-protective of his daughter, self-important, powerful, devious, blustering, and gets angry with his daughter's husband numerously. Brabanzio is also fatherly, a senator, very protective of his daughter, devious, blubbering, self-intelligible, and is upset when his daughter leaves him for Othello. Both men hate their sons-in-law with a fiery passion. They are two of a kind.

Pros and Cons of Vivisecton

Scholastic Essay â€Å"Animals are people too? † This is a question that might be asked by an inquisitive person. Literally speaking, animals are not people. However, animals have feelings too and should be treated the way people are treated. In today's modern society, vivisection is a free practice. This is due to the fact that animals are not protected by humans and are free to be caught and used in mankind's experiments in a pursue of knowledge. One might ask : What is vivisection?Well, so to speak, vivisection is the practice of performing operations on live animals for the purpose of experimentation or scientific research. In my opinion, there are pros and cons to this practice. First and foremost, I would like to say that one of the pros of vivisection is for medical advancement. More specifically, vivisection is used for medical experimentation. The best way to test potentially new medicines is by using animals. If the test is successful, then the medicine will be teste d on humans. Read more about Pros and Cons Of ReligionThe reason vivisection is carried out is because the lifespan of an animal is shorter than the lifespan of a human. Therefore, the lifespan of an animal is considered to be less valuable than humans. Any breakthrough in medicine does not only benefit humans, but it might also benefit animals as well as plants. Medical Advancement: Additionally, new medicines can also help animals too, so this falls under the philosophy of the needs of the many (animals) outweigh the needs of the few (animals).Meaning the few animals that are sacrificed or tested upon is worth less than the many animals that are potentially saved or helped, thus helping the greater good is more morale. Of course, this opinion is subjective to each person. Product Safety: Another popular reason for animal testing is for determining the safety of products, such as cosmetics testing. In theory, animals used for safety testing are typically not killed and remain healthy, however th ey are often maltreated.Again, it is commonly considered that the safety of people outweighs the safety of animals, thus animal testing for safety is common. Scientific Knowledge: Animal testing and experimentation is an excellent source to increase scientific knowledge. No one knows what knowledge that will be attained through animal testing, so the value of such animal testing cannot be ascertained ahead of time or even guessed. The most common examples of animal experimentation for scientific knowledge are animal biopsies and vivisections in schools to teach children biology and medical procedures.While this type of animal testing might not yield immediate useful results, it has been helpful in the long term of helping science. Accuracy: Finally, the biggest reason for animal testing is because it works better than any other alternative. Why animal testing can yield results different than human testing, the similarities between animals and humans is staggering and thus helpful to mankind. Reasons Against Animal Testing Torture and Suffering: Animals undergoing testing can be subjected to torture and suffering.Alternatively in some cases, some animals may be even cured of their ailments and diseases during the process of animal testing. Death: Animals can, and sometimes often, die in the process of animal testing. Ethics/Morality: The ethics and morality of testing on animals is often debated. A large number of people do not believe animal testing is ethical, however they often concede that it is necessary. Choice: Since animals cannot volunteer for animal testing, then some people believe animal testing is not ethical.These people believe that it is only ethical to test on subjects who willingly give their consent for self testing. Accuracy: As mentioned before, animals are different than people, thus their testing results are not always useful or practical for human comparisons. Therefore, if the usefulness of animal testing is in question, then animal tes ting should be reconsidered. Price: Finally, the price of keeping and disposing of animals can be quite high. That is why testing, on computer simulations, has increased recently. However, the accuracy of computer simulations is less than animal testing.

German Legal System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

German Legal System - Essay Example The move toward political unification in the 19th century was accompanied by a trend toward legal unification, particularly in commercial matters. In other areas of law, however, the prerogatives of each political entity still governed and only after the attainment of political unification under Prussian dominance in 1871 were a start made on drawing up German legal codes (Berle & Means, 2005). Moreover, the impact of Nazi ideology was greatest on the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. This is because, the Code of Criminal Procedure was distorted almost beyond recognition by the activities of the Nazi-inspired People's Court, in which those convicted of crimes against the state were often sentenced to death (Berle & Means, 2005). The Law on the Reform of Civil Procedure was adopted on 27 July 2001 was the main issue within the Germany legal system in early 21st century. This reforms were designed to prepare the German judiciary for the 21st century against the background of scarce financial and personnel means, the overall goal of the reform law was to enhance efficiency and transparency by reducing the duration of civil proceedings while at the same time maintaining the high level of legal protection traditionally offered by German courts (Berle & Means, 2005). Yes there is room for improvement. The Law on the Reform of Civil Procedure can be strengthened on the issue the proceedings at first instance. The role of the first instance in general can be enlarged by limiting the standard of review at second instance (Berle & Means, 2005). Qn.2 My attitude to pre-contractual negotiations and discussions differ in 3 jurisdictions, in regard to legal responsibilities in each country (Australia, china and Germany) because the differences approaches applied pre-contractual negotiations and discussions can be explained by historical or cultural factors. This is because the laws relating to pre-contractual negotiations and discussions originate from specific historical or cultural factors of the country they are applicable. Qn.3 In Germany, a supervisory board not only has the power of supervising the board of directors and company operation, but also of supervising the financial affairs of the corporation and making business decisions to a certain extent (Berle & Means, 2005).The supervisory board has the duty of submitting their work reports to the supervisory board. In such a case, the supervisory board is not only the supervisory institution but also the decision-making institution of the corporation and has authority over the board of directors. In china, according to the Company Law, the shareholders' meeting has the authority of electing both directors and supervisors of a company whereby the boards are obliged to submit their reports to the shareholders' meeting for review and approval (Berle & Means, 2005). A supervisory board should have no less than three members and among them there should be a proper proportion of employee representatives. Unlike the German practice where the proportion of employee representatives is stipulated by law, the Chinese law leaves this to the articles of association of a company (Berle & Means, 2005). Australia should introduce supervisory board into its legal system. This is due to the fact that, in the modern global economy, competition exists not only in products but also in corporate governance systems. Therefore, reviewing Australia's current corporate

Balance score card Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Balance score card - Essay Example Gradually Invest on New Equipments with the Help of a Financer and the Commune. The Mayor could help out in financial matters since both have the same goal on providing the local community with the access to health care services as well as in maintaining the employment of ABC Hospital stakeholders. The Mayor has the power to grant the hospital some money to buy the needed equipments and facilities and lessen the tax collection from the organization. Establish a Strict Guidelines and Random Checking on the Quality of Products & Services that are Currently Outsourced. This will enable the hospital to acquire the best quality products and services at lower costs. It is not wise to reduce the cost by allowing the quality of food being served to the patients to suffer. Encourage Expansion and Investment on Equipments for the Rehabilitation Ward. Allowing further development and investments on specific wards that has a big market potential could minimize opportunity loss. Transferring some beds from the less active wards into a bigger rehabilitation ward will encourage maximizing the use of existing equipments. Reallocation of available resources is important because of the limited funds. Maximize Economies of Scale on Existing Wards. This strategy will help keep down the operational costs. By carefully analyzing and studying the demand for each ward in the hospital, the management could easily decide on whether to expand or cut down the size of each ward. In line with restructuring the size of wards, the number of nurses and doctors should be assigned according to the demand in each ward. Re-establish the Customers’ Confidence on the ABC Hospital. With the use of the media and church, it would be easier for the organization to re-establish the name and reputation of the hospital as the best in delivering quality services to the community. Using the media and advertisements to announce the

Global Era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Era - Essay Example For example, the United States has improved its ties with Canada, United Kingdom and France. This has been an approach of ensuring both countries have a better hand in running their economy and other external affairs. The close ties with these countries have improved education, economy, wealth creation and an improvement concerning pollution. To begin with, the United States and United Kingdom are two countries that have been working together for a long time. Apparently, they are some of the greatest economies of the world. Therefore, working together would be a prudent approach in improving the economy of each other. As a fact, the relations between the U.S and UK are complex relations that range from shared history to corporation in the present day (Reitan 8). First, the two countries have various similarities in their religious affiliations, language and identical system. Therefore, they are prepared to work together since they have similarities. This is a better avenue of making close ties with each other as they are bound to benefit. Secondly, both UK and U.S have expatriates in each other country. Expatriates are professionals that assist in solving contentious issues that affect the two countries. Similarly, the expatriates help in strategizing on the best approaches in the two countries. For example, in this global era, both UK and U.S are adept in fighting terrorism (Reitan 9). Since the September 11 attacks, the UK and U.S have been categorical in annihilating terrorism. This has embedded trust in each other as they are fighting on the same side. Thirdly, the United States and United Kingdom have developed â€Å"special relationships† with each other concerning the â€Å"trans Atlantic alliance.† This is an approach where the UK and U.S make ties to assist the global economy. This will instil stability in the world as many countries will realize the positivity of this approach. Lastly, the relationship between the UK and U.S is considere d the most fundamental bilateral joint venture in the world. On one hand, the U.S has the American foreign policy. This policy deems to enhance the ties between the U.S and the UK. On the other hand, UK has initiated the British foreign policy. With these two policies in place, the two counties will have enhanced approaches to development (Reitan 9). Apparently, many countries have benefited from such policies as the two countries offer unparalleled help. As a fact, these two policies have helped the two countries in political alignment, commerce, finance, mutual trade corporations, technology and academics. For example, UK is the leading investor in the U.S, while the U.S is the principal investor in the UK. Mutual relationships between Canada and the United States have been in existence for over two centuries. Apparently, this led to development of the international relationships, which were considered mutually beneficial. As such, the United States has been influential in making close ties with Canada, as a country. To begin with, the two countries are economic partners. The United States is a chief economic partner to Canada. Similarly, Canada has improved its economic investments in the United States to level the trade. This has been a major step in ensuring the two countries are mutually benefiting in the global era. When Canada invests in the United States, there is a mutual benefit where there is job and wealth creation. These developments are also extended to Canada as the two countr

Final Paper- Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Final Paper- Research Proposal - Essay Example In the country, water scarcity is believed to be part of the reasons for civil conflict as accompanied by instances of high poverty rates, high population density and income inequalities. In the urban migrant settings, religious, ethnic and class differences are believed to exacerbate the community-wide patterns of adapting to environmental scarcities due to water conflicts. Therefore, the understanding of the nature of conflicts in these region requires not only the spatial investigation as shall be conducted by this study, but also in-depth socio-economic study of the factors that might result in the situation (Hay 145-148). This research proposal shall be guided by these perspectives in assessing the spatial impacts of water scarcity in Villa Israel, Bolivia, an area in which water scarcity conflicts have been part of normal life for an extensive duration. This is because, with each seasonal water shortage, the residents of the area are often forced to make hard decisions on their usage of available social and economic resources. As a result, the current result will add to the informational bank on the matter by bridging the information gap that has existed in relation to the reciprocity and sociability aspects of the subject matter. The general objective of this study shall be to assess the severity of water scarcity in the region by determining its spatial impacts on the reciprocal and social relationship exchanges in the marginal setting. This shall be studied alongside minor objectives such as: a. To document the water scarcity incidence in the research community through development and testing of scales for water consumptions and interviews on the water use by households based on proximity to the water sources. The general methodology that shall be applied in this study shall be a descriptive research design that focus on the ethnographic perspectives of the study to yield data for analysis. The target population for the study shall be the

Introduction to wind energy systems Research Paper

Introduction to wind energy systems - Research Paper Example Coal and nuclear energy have adverse environmental impacts despite being examples of alternative sources of energy. Wind power looks extremely promising as much as it has comparatively high costs. According to Johnson (14) a typical wind energy system has a turbine which works to harness kinetic energy and convert it into usable power. A wind energy system can also be combined with a solar panel. The introduction of a solar panel to the wind energy system is supposed to increase overall efficiency in terms of power generation. In other words, these two technologies complement one another. This power provides electricity for farms, homes, schools and business establishments. Site selection is very important in such a way that, for a small home, the site should be more than half an acre of land and the wind speed should be at least 16km/h (Johnson, 5). The size of the turbine to be installed greatly depends on energy consumption; for instance, homes require smaller turbines as compared to business establishments. It follows that the smaller the turbines the lesser the noise produced. The sound produced can easily be compared to the whispering of leaves as the wind blows past them. Wind energy systems can either be on-grid or off-grid. The off-grid system occurs when a home or business enterprise totally relies on the power generated by turbines and it is completely disconnected from the electric utility company. Studies reveal that this system is 30% more costly than on-grid. This system is made up of a wind turbine mounted on a tower (Appstate). The tower is usually wired up to a control box which works to regulate battery charging. Ecomall believes that an electric utility is expected to give credit to the owner in the event that a grid tie power system sends its electricity to the public grid. The electric company will sum up the monthly credits so as to determine the amount of money owed to the owner of the wind energy system;

Horace Mann Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Horace Mann - Research Paper Example Education is considered one of the primary needs of the society for wholesome development of the society and all its constituents. It is therefore of vital importance that children are imparted the right kind of education at the right time, to make them better citizens for tomorrow. Earlier public schools were considered as means of nurturing the talents of ‘natural aristocracy’, but Mann sought to change the notion and made efforts towards democratizing the education sector so that public schools can also prove to be useful for the larger and deserving sections of the society (Dewey, 1964). The fact that today public school education is available for everybody is a testimony to the success of such efforts from Mann. Born on May 4, 1796 Horace Mann got his initial education from the congregational church in Franklin, Massachusetts (Ritchie, 2009). For many years he practiced law, was a member of state senate for three years, when he became the Secretary of Massachusetts Board of Education in 1837. This proved to be a big turning point in his life and in the history of United States of America. Those days were known for sectarian religious education, meant for the privileged few. Mann started raising his voice against this practice and in the process ended up ruffling the feathers of a number of influential people in the society. He started advocating the non-sectarian religious education. He continued his campaign till he was elected to the House of Representatives in the year 1848, which further paved the way for the cause being taken up by him. While advocating education as a means of development Mann introduced two major goals for the twentieth century (Brick, 2005); Today, while talking about education emphasis is laid on around round development of the student. This appears to be straight out of the thoughts propagated by

Evaluation of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in the Marketplace Essay

Evaluation of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in the Marketplace - Essay Example The indexing of information provides an easy way of getting the information to the consumers on Twitter. Indexing of the information again provides the updates about the products to be got by the customers in real time. Again the method of indexing on twits can help consumers to search for more information about a particular product instantly. Twitter has improved its strategies for marketing in the business world. That is an indication of success in its development. Second, Twitter also provides new business ventures for its users. For instance, the speaker states that some users find Twitter convenient to follow states agency publications. Further, Conan indicates that there is no limitation on the number of persons to follow on twitter. In addition, it is not very necessary to follow an individual to get his or her twits. An individual can follow another user but do not follow the person and the person can read your twits. Twitter can, therefore, give one unlimited space to follow more and more Twitter accounts. In a case where one wants to explore the marketplace for business, and then the persons can understand the very diverse business area of interest. The advantages of the use Twitter, therefore, indicate the success of Twitter in the future in the marketplace. It will give a space for one to understand very diverse market area through twitter. That is an evidence of the success of Twitter in the marketplace. According to Lucy, the monthly traffic web traffic indicates that Facebook is posing much more threats to LinkedIn (1). In most of the blog posts, almost a half-dozen blogs show that Facebook is gaining dominance over Myspace in the made-up social media war. Twitter and Facebook have been integrated by their founders such that one can synchronize both Facebook and Twitter account as just update on one account, and the other account would automatically be updated.

Fate and free will Essay Example for Free

Fate and free will Essay Fate is described as the power that determines the outcome of events before they occur, while free will is the act of freedom towards a decision. Oedipuss fate was determined before he was born, yet he took it into his own free will to end up the way he did.  The role of fate was simple; Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Oedipus tried to prevent his fate by running away from his alleged parents, but the gods would still cause a catastrophe in Oedipuss life. The powers of the gods determined the events that occurred, such as, him marrying his actual mother and killing his father. One example of Oedipuss free will was the fact that he took it upon himself to travel from Corinth to Thebes so that he would not have the opportunity to kill his adopted father and marry his adopted mother. Another example of Oedipus showing free will arose when he killed Laius. He could have let Laius pass without any confrontation but instead killed him over who would pass in the street first. This caused a lot of turmoil in Thebes and nervous tension in Oedipuss life. Oedipus utilized his free will by not listening to people who told him his fate; for example, when Tiresias told Oedipus his fortune, that he would kill his father and marry his mother, Oedipus immediately brushed him off and condemned him. Before Oedipus stabbed his eyes out, he proclaimed, you shall not see me nor my crime, not see my present shame, go dark for all time blind. He took it upon himself to thrust his eyes out. He did this because he couldnt bare the shame of his life and he did not want to see what h is life would transpire to be. While the outcome was predetermined, Oedipus used his free will to determine how the events leading to the outcome would happen. The gods knew what would happen to Oedipus in the end, but did not take it upon themselves to make it occur. The act of Oedipus actually killing Laius, his real father, and marrying his mother, was his act of free will even though the outcome of the event was already predestined. While Oedipus tried to find out his true identity and find the killer of Laius he only tried to prevent his downfall once, in the beginning of the play and that was by leaving Corinth to get away from his assumed parents. During his reign he did not try to prevent his downfall. If he wanted to prevent his ruin he could have found out the truth secretly or he could have taken it upon himself to look for Laiuss killer or he could have kept the news to himself and no one would have ever known. In conclusion, fate and free will took place in the play. The gods knew what would happen to Oedipus and however Oedipus determined him self is how it would occur. It leads to wonder if our lives are head by free will or fate or if they go hand and hand.

The Jealousy Essay Example for Free

The Jealousy Essay Normally you have to listen to the boring facts before getting started; unfortunately, you will not avoid them this time either. However, it’s probably nice for you to know who writes what you’re going to read and why I have ended up writing this book to help you. You will quickly discover that my book is quite different from many other things that you’ve might read about jealousy. The reason is that my book is more a personal portrayal, rather than a professional book built on a lot of inspiration. The advantage is that you’ll get a very authentic look at jealousy, and it contains a lot of inspiration to keep yourself free from jealousy, without having to feel you are reading text from a psychologist. (Not because there is something wrong with going to a psychologist.) Just so you know, if you read my book to do something about your jealousy, there is a lot of hope for you, because you’ve actually moved beyond the 80% of all others who are jealous and are doing nothing about it. You have acknowledged that you are jealous and need to do something about it fast as possible. You have taken the responsibility without blaming it on others. Well done! It’s important for me to say, that if you don’t take the responsibility yourself, you will keep being jealous until you do. So who am I? My name is Kim Falidan, I’m 25 years old, and I’m living in Copenhagen, Denmark. If you ask me, I study on one of the world’s most â€Å"tasteful† educations, which is the chief cook education. In my spare time, I commit myself to the psychotherapeutic world, which you probably don’t think is a complete coincidence, since I have written an e-book about jealousy.But it wasn’t only the strong passion for the psychotherapeutic world which has inspired me. Just to confuse you further, it is actually the book that inspired me to dig deeper into my hobby.Where did the book come from? It came from a hell †¦ No, I don’t exaggerate, but I wish I did. My eternal and hopeless struggle against jealousy lasted for a period of almost 6 years. It took me 6 years before I got rid of my unhealthy jealousy.I mentioned something about hell, but it couldn’t have been so bad, could it Kim? Well, it was. Jealousy is an emotion that everyone has, some have less and some have more. I was at the high state of jealousy.It’s not because my jealousy has led to physical or mental violence or something, but it has devastated my emotions unbelievably.Jealousy has cost me several relationships, and even more moments in my life, that should have been happy for me.Since you’re here now, you probably already know what I’m talking about.I went down with stress and depression a few times, because of my eternal struggle with and frustration about my jealousy. The jealousy took the people I loved away from me constantly. Not that everyone broke up with me, I actually broke up with them, because the jealousy was killing the love i had and today I feel sorry for them. Those I didn’t break up with I simply scared away, and today I really understand why they reacted like they did. I don’t know if you’ve already experienced something like that yourself, but you can stop it now or make it stop before it happens! I’m sure you’r e reading this book for a reason, and I don’t have to remind you how important it is for you to get rid of jealousy as fast as possible. If you’re reading The Jealousy Book, and doing exactly as I tell you, you’re on the right track. Luckily, I don’t have any more broken doors or furniture in my apartment, though I used to, as a result of a jealousy bomb which exploded from time to time. No, today I’m happy and living with the woman of my life. I have been in love for almost a year now, but that’s another story. It’s quite an amazing love story if you ask me. No matter how jealous you are, you have the strength to defeat it if you get to know yourself better. And you will, right? If your answer is yes – then good, because it’s actually quite easy, you just have to â€Å"wake-up† first and get that green monster out of yourself.There are no excuses, and it takes no time to read about it compared to the difference it can make for your life now and in the future. So go ahead, you’re the only one who can make a difference. I’m really glad you’re here, and I’m sure you’ll be the same after you have read it.For the women who read my boo k, it’s important for me to point out that you can easily read it and get the full benefits. Jealousy is a feeling both sexes have in common in equal measures. And for those with a jealous partner, the above also applies to you. Maybe not because you are jealous yourself, but because you really do have the power to help your partner to become free of jealousy. Believe me; you will thank yourself for it later, and your partner will especially thank you for doing so. Let me be a little metaphorical now. The blood, sweat and tears I’ve felt to get the experience I describe in the book, we can look at from a helicopter’s perspective.The helicopter is in front of you now, free and ready to fly you over the jealousy horizon. My book is the helicopter. You can even determine the color of the helicopter, but I decide where we fly. As I said earlier, it’s the jealousy horizon; we will fly over together in the forthcoming moments. Believe me; you will be amazed about the impact of something as simple as having an overview. While you read the book, you’ll get the opportunity to do some exercises. I recommend that you do them all as well as you can. But there is one very important main exercise throughout the whole book and that is to write down everything you think is important for you to remember. In most cases, you need to have a pen and a paper or maybe a Word document to record the exercises for each chapter. If you do that, you will insure that you get all the personal benefits from my book. Choose the color of your helicopter, and when you feel ready and comfortable, go read on.

Nigerian Breweries Marketing Analysis

Nigerian Breweries Marketing Analysis EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report is set to discuss about the marketing report of Nigerian Breweries Plc. It covers their history, the PEST analysis, their strategies and tactics. A good marketing report is needed in an organisation to know the status of the organisation and to know where they are failing and succeeding so that they can correct or maintain the situation. This paper would fully explain the marketing report of Nigerian Breweries with a little recommendation. INTRODUCTION Kotler (2002) defined Marketing as the social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others. Marketing is essentially about marshalling the resources of an organization so that they met the changing needs of the customer on whom the organization depends. (Palmer, 2003) Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that customer and organizational objectives. (Drucker, 2005) The concept of marketing as a business philosophy defines marketing as a process that is intended to find, satisfy and retain customers while business makes a profit. But central to all these definitions is the role of the customer and his relationship to the product. A market research is imperative for a company to know what type of products or services would be profitable to introduce in the market. Also with respect to its existing products in the market, good market research enables a company to know if it has been able to satisfy customer needs and whether any changes need to be made in the packaging, delivery or the product itself. (Anonymous, 2009) HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Nigerian Breweries Plc (NBPLC) is the countrys pioneer brewery. Incorporated in 1946, it commenced production in 1949. It started as a joint venture between the United African Company (WAC) International, UK and Heineken of Holland. Thus, at inception, it was 100 per cent foreign owned. By the early 1950s, when it began operating fully, some indigenous traders already involved with its products were invited to become shareholders. Under the indigenization policy of the early 1970s the foreign shareholders were forced to sell a significant proportion of their holdings. Today, the company is 60 per cent Nigerian owned and 40 per cent foreign owned. The 60 per cent Nigerian stake is held by company employees and members of the public, while the 40 per cent foreign ownership is split almost equally between CWA Holdings Limited (for Unilever) and Heineken Brouwerijen BV. Its first bottle of beer, STAR Lager, rolled off the bottling lines of its Lagos Brewery in June 1949. Other breweries were subsequently commissioned by the company, including Aba Brewery in 1957, Kaduna Brewery in 1963, and Ibadan Brewery in 1982. In September 1993, the company acquired its fifth brewery in Enugu state, and in October 2003, its sixth brewery, sited at Ama in Enugu. Ama Brewery is the largest brewery in Nigeria and one of the most modern worldwide. Operations at Enugu brewery were discontinued in 2004, leaving the company with five operational breweries. The company has a portfolio of high-quality brands, including Star Lager Beer (launched in 1949); Gulder Lager Beer (1970); Maltina (1976), which now has three varieties, namely Maltina Classic, Maltina Strawberry, and Maltina with Pineapple; Maltina Sip-it (2005), which was packaged in Tetrapaks; Legend Extra Stout (1992); and Amstel Malta (1994). The company also re-launched Heineken Lager into the Nigerian market in June 1998. Nigerian Breweries is the most capitalized quoted company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), it is also the first company in any sector to declare N12 billion in PBT and the first company in Nigerian history to declare dividend of N8 billion (Vanguard, 2003). Nigerian Breweries operates many related companies, including beverage-related manufacturing companies making corks, labels, bottles, packing crates; and a logistics network, including transport companies, warehousing companies and retail sales management THE MARKET ENVIRONMENT Market Environment is the various external forces that can directly or indirectly affect the many activities of an organization. This is an integral part of environmental scanning. These activities include acquisition of human resources, raw materials, financial resources, and development of goods and services. The marketing environment includes forces such as: political, legal, regulatory, economic, social, technological, and competitive. Nigerian Breweries Plc functions in two different market enviroment namely the Macro and Micro which affects it externally and internally. (Kotler, 2004), the PEST analyses and the Porters Five Forces model of Nigerian Breweries would be discussed in this report. PEST analysis stands for â€Å"Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis† and describes a framework of macro-environmental factors used. (P)OLITICAL ANALYSIS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Political analysis involves elections, employment law, consumer protection, environmental regulations, industry-specific regulations, competitive regulations, inter-country relationships/attitudes, war, terrorism, political trends in the country where the company is based. The political situation in Nigeria has experienced a stable balance since the commencement of the democratic governance and this has impacted on Nigerian breweries plc in different ways. Politically, Nigerian breweries was affected positively when the ban on importation of barley was lifted as well as placing a 20% tariff on both products by the federal government on January 6 1998, this increased its options of raw materials for production as the company had been forced to make use of local corn and sorghum for brewing in the past. Sales in Nigerian Breweries have been on the rise as opposed to the style in European and other developing markets partly because despite the individual state governments efforts by creating laws to regulate the sales and distribution of alcoholic products it has not put in-place proper control mechanism to checkmate and control the phenomenon of alcoholic consumption, this is due to the laxity in enforcement of laws in Nigeria and the high level of corruption in government (Daily Trust, 11 September 2008). (E)CONOMICAL ANALYSIS Economical Analysis involves the exchange rates and stability of the host country, skill level of work force, labour cost, and Economic level of growth, unemployment rate, inflation rate and interest rate. Nigeria is a growing economy therefore it is less affected by the recent global economic financial crisis and this has a positive impact on the sales of Nigerian breweries products as people have disposable income and can spend more on drinking of beer products, this therefore is a positive development for the company (Malandrakis, 2009). Also, the unemployment rate in Nigeria is really high and it makes a lot of people idle and they spend most of their time at bars which helps increase the sales of beers. The Exchange rate in Nigeria is low comparing to the US dollar and it can affect the business when the raw materials are being imported as it cost a lot of money. Another economical issue which is affecting Nigerian Breweries negatively is based under the labour cost which is the lack of constant electricity supply in Nigeria; this has forced the company to make use of alternative means of power supply such as generators were the company spends a huge budget on diesel which has a constant increasing price. (S)OCIAL ANALYSIS Social Analysis involves the Demographics, Class Structure, Gender, and Age, Attitude (health and environmental consciousness) The production of recreational centres in major cities which have all been changed to drinking joints locally known as â€Å"Joints† (Daily Trust, 11 September 2008) has changed drinking of beer into a social activity. It has observed that people prefer drinking out with friends as drinking of beer has become similar with celebrations such as weddings, parties, clubs and other social gatherings, among youths drinking is done in order to belong. This social drinking habit is clearly evident as it supports on trade sales which dominates the Nigerian market with a market share of 80% sales (Malandrakis, 2009). In northern Nigeria, states like Zamfara, Kano, Kaduna and Sokoto ban beer drinking because of their Sharia Law. A law is passed around that people who drink any form of alcohol or commit adultery, theft would be severely punished (The Guardian, 2002) and this affects the sales of beer in that region. Nigerian breweries is also involved in social responsibility by sponsoring events such as star quest which is aimed at discovering new musical acts (Nigerian Tribune, 8th June 2009) amongst other social events and creative writing workshop, a program created to groom the young writer (Vanguard, 15 July 2009). (T)ECHNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS This involves inventions, new discoveries, research, energy uses/sources/fuels, communications, and rates of obsolescence, health manufacturing advances, information technology, internet, and transportation. Technology has not been a major aspect in Nigerian Breweries Plc but they have invested in the equipments used for beer production to make it have its original taste. They also invest in generators for electricity because of the electricity issues in Nigeria. The Social factors have the strongest effect on the market power of Nigerian Breweries Plc as drinking is a lifestyle which has evolved over the years. The Porters five forces apply new entrants, Buyer power, Supplier power, Substitute and Rivalry for analysis. POTENTIAL ENTRANTS Potential Entrants are other organisations interested in entering the industry. Potential entrants trying to come into the brewery industry in Nigeria find it very difficult because of a lot of mostly the Government policies, the cost of exit and entrance and this puts Nigerian breweries at a comfortable position as market leaders and leaves the company with nothing to worry about as regards new companies that may spring up. Other reasons why new companies find it difficult to come into the industry is because the switching cost is really high so any new company cannot just switch or leave the industry, brand loyalty is really high because the public is used to the products of Nigeria Breweries. SUBSTITUTES From Porters Model, substitute products refer to products in other industries. To the economist, a threat of substitutes occurs when a products demand is affected by the price change of a substitute product. Finding a substitute for beer in Nigeria is practically impossible because drinking beer in Nigeria has become part of social activity and also with the affordable price for the average and low earners (a bottle of star larger beer costs N140 which is less than a pound and is cheaper compared to wines, brandys and other bottled alcoholic drink) it has the price has a competitive advantage over the type drink like wine and brandy. The only major competitor within the industry that Nigerian breweries has in beer products is Guinness Nigeria Plc and both companies have between them 77% market share (WW8) therefore it would only take a special brand to substitute either of these brands. BUYER POWER Buyer power can be explained as the impact that customers have on a producing industry. This occurs when there are many suppliers and one buyer. In Nigeria Breweries, the buyer power is very little as they are the major supplier in the industry and the customers have little option but to get products from Nigeria Breweries. Buyer power can also explained by switching cost which is expensive due to the high prices of substitutes like wines and brandy. Also, Nigerian Breweries have grown so well that consumers have very strong brand loyalty on their products such as Gulder, Star. SUPPLIER POWER This can simply be explained as when there are many buyers and just one or little supplier. Nigerian breweries has a very high supplier power because the use of local corn and sorghum for manufacturing of beer has a high market value because of the limited availability of barley and other substitutes for brewing of beer, the farmers and suppliers of this raw materials have the power to raise their prices as they wish, leaving Nigerian Breweries at their mercy. RIVALRY The Nigerian beer industry has only 2 major companies in the industry which are Nigerian breweries and Guinness Nigeria Plc and this gives Nigerian Breweries less competition but high rivalry because there is low switching cost since the cost of a beer from Guinness Nigeria is almost the same price. Rivalry could also low because there are only two companies in the industry so it has enough market for both of them and it can gear its strategies against only one major competitor (Oyeyinka, 2002). THE COMPETITION OF NIGERIAN BREWERIES The major competitor for Nigeria Breweries is Guinness limited Nigeria, it manufactures beer in the brand mane of â€Å"Harp† in Nigeria. Harp Lager Brewery is located in Ikeja, Nigeria. This Nigerian brewery belonging to Tony Joyce started production in 1981. The annual production of beer is about 1,500,000 hl. The other beer production units of Guinness Nigeria Limited are located in Agbara, Benin, Aba in Imo. The other little breweries include Benue breweries, Olympic breweries, Sona Breweries and Consolidated Breweries. In general, competition for Nigerian Breweries is minimal as its only major competitor is Guinness Nigeria limited. Nigerian Breweries has the edge over these competitors majorly because of its brand loyalty and because of the fact that it has being producing beer for over 60 years. It also has a lot of branches all over Nigeria so as to reach the customers demands. MARKETING STRATEGY A marketing strategy is a process or model to allow a company or organisation to focus limited resources on the best opportunities to increase sales and thereby achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. (Ulrich et al, 2002) Nigerian Breweries Plc uses Marketing strategy to maintain competitive advantage. It uses the market segmentation, targeting and positioning as a means of carving out its own share of the market and catering for their needs. SEGMENTATION Market Segmentation can be defined as dividing a market into distinct groups with distinct needs, characteristics, or behaviour that might require separate products or marketing mix. (Anonymous, 2002) Segmentation refers to individuals and organisations with similar characteristics having significant implications for the determination of market strategy (Jobber, 2007), Segmentation can be broken down into Geographical segmentation, Demographic segmentation, Psychographic segmentation, Lifestyle, social class, and personality-based segmentation Behavioural segmentation. Nigerian breweries Plc segmentation is in relation to its consumers which serves all classes and ages of legal drinkers. In Nigeria, drinking beer is seen as a social event of festivity and because of its affordable price, it can be seen amongst the high, middle and lower class earners. The advertisement way of life which the company has built up over the years to appeal to all age groups and societal status types has also helped boost their market sales. Nigerian Breweries have advertised their major beer product (Star) as a drink that delivers superior enjoyment and brightens all social occasions this is so because the drink is seen as a key to happiness and celebration by its consumers. In general, Nigerian Breweries focuses on all the segment of market and has produced different types of products which covers all the segment of market in Nigeria TARGETING Market Targeting can be defined as the selection of a particular market segment toward which all marketing effort is directed. Market targeting enables the characteristics of the chosen segment to be taken into account when formulating a product or service and its advertising. (Keegan, 2001) Nigerian breweries have targeted their beers towards different market segments using a differentiated targeting strategy and they have two major beer products that target different classes and age groups. The â€Å"Star† beer product targets the youth, this is evident from most of its advertisements and sponsorship programs which is usually directed toward the younger generation while the â€Å"Gulder† beer product targets the older and higher financial class of people, this is also evident in its own type of advertising methods and sponsorships. POSITIONING It could also be defined as the place the product occupies in consumers minds relative to competing products. (Anonymous, 2002) Market positioning depends much on how competitors position themselves, a producer can be said to be successful if he can achieve the mental position which he/she is trying to make in the mind of the consumer. Nigerian breweries Plc have two major beer brands, Star and Gulder which respectively for the younger celebrating generation and for the more sophisticated and older generation of drinkers., This brandings falls in line with the customers perceptions of the two products as more of the younger generation identify with the Star brand which is not as bitter in taste as the Gulder brand which is more expensive in price than the Star brand. THE MARKETING MIX The term marketing mix refers to the primary elements that must be attended to in order to properly market a product or service. Also known as the 4 Ps of marketing which are Price, Promotion, Product and Place. PRICE The price you set for your product or service plays a large role in its marketability. Pricing for products or services that are more commonly available in the market is more elastic, meaning that unit sales will go up or down more responsively in response to price changes. (Jones, 2007) Price can be stated as the actual or rated value of a valuable product which is up for exchange; some define it as amount of money paid for product (Kotler et al, 2005) The price of the products (Star beer) produced by Nigerian Breweries is affordable for all the consumers in the market because it is produced from local corn and sorghum which is cheap so they make their profit and satisfy the customers which are mostly the youth and since most of their sales are mostly made from youth, the price would always remain affordable so as not to lose customers and reduce sales. PRODUCT Kotler et al, 2005 defined Product as anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need Nigerian Breweries has two main beer products and they can be described as the core products of the organisation i.e. they serve their actual purpose for which it is bought by the customer which is for the quenching of thirst. However Gulder brand can be described as a luxury product meant for the sophisticated individual, these products are classified as consumer product because they are bought by the consumer to actually consume and not for other purposes. Nigerian Breweries has more than enough products for every type of consumers. They produce bottled water for thirst, Star beer for the youth, Maltina for the consumers that do not take alcohol. PLACE This term really refers to any way that the customer can obtain a product or receive a service. (Jones, 2007) Nigerian Breweries Plc has a wide distribution channel and makes use of external companies for distribution of its products nationwide; Nigerian Breweries use other transportation companies to assist distribute their goods nationwide. This system of distribution helps make the product more available to the consumers but this however limits the direct contact between producer and consumers which reduces feed-back time for the producers. PROMOTION Promotion is concerned with any vehicle you employ for getting people to know more about your product or service. Advertising, public relations, point-of-sale displays, and word-of-mouth promotion are all traditional ways for promoting a product. Promotion can be seen as a way of closing the information gap between would-be sellers and would-be buyers. (Jones, 2007) Nigerian Breweries Plc carry out sales promotion in two ways namely Consumer sales promotion targeted at the ultimate consumer market and trade sales promotion targeted at the members of the marketing channel, such as wholesalers and retailers, benefits of sales promotions include increased profit making. Examples of Nigerian Breweries sales promotion are â€Å"Star Xmas Carnival† which was targeted at the companys retailers and consumers were prizes like bags of rice, DVD Players and other items were won by consumers each day for 21 days (Ekeh, 2009), Gulder ultimate search were the winner took home 3 million naira cash prize (Ajayi, 2004). EVALUATION OF STRATEGY AND TACTICS Nigerian Breweries has been one of the major companies in the brewery industry for more than 60 years so it is fair to say that their strategy and tactics over the years have been close to spot on. In response to competition, Nigerian Breweries has been involved in several re-branding, product development and diversification efforts in the last 5 years. In 2006, the company launched its Guilder Max brand which was a darker, richer version of the successful Guilder Lager. In an attempt to enter the soft drink market, NB launched the Farouz brand of soft drinks (pineapple and pear flavour). Recently, they repackaged the Maltina brand by introducing a larger sized bottle while maintaining the price of the former bottle. The Star brand which is the flagship product of the company was also rebranded and has achieved huge success since then. RECOMMENDATION FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT Nigerian Breweries is already a major force in Nigeria but it is still not internationally recognised like other International companies in the industry so the major recommendation for Nigerian Breweries would to expand their products internationally or at least expand it within Africa. They could also build new refineries in different places in Africa to help expand their organisation. Since the distribution of their goods is done by other companies, they could venture into that business so they could proper feedback from their customers and be able to satisfy them more effectively. They could also venture into production of new brands of products so as to broaden their market. Investing in technology can also help with the growth of their organisation. Building vending machines can also help with the effective distribution of their product. CONCLUSION Nigerian Breweries is and would remain one of the major brewery companies in Nigeria and this marketing report that shows their strategies and tactics have tried to explain the reasons why they are such a major force in the brewery industry in Nigeria. It is obvious that there is room for improvement by them expanding their market and business into new countries but the important thing is that they are succeeding in their primary goal which is being able to satisfy their customers in their home land. REFRENCES Amos Etta, 16 october 2004, Gulder; After the search, what next? Vamguard News paper. Bennett Linda A., Ph.D, Carlos Campillo, M.D, C.R. Chandrashekar, M.D and Oye Gureje, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., FRANCZP, 1998, Alcoholic Beverage Consumption in India,Mexico, and Nigeria, A Cross-Cultural Comparison. Ekeh Desmond, 3 January 2009; 2008 Brand review: Consumer promotion as key driver, The Guardian Newspaper Kotler Philip et Al, 2002, Principles of marketing. Fourth European edition 4th European edition. Essential Guide to Marketing Planning / Marian Burk Wood. Jobber David, 2007, Principles and Practice of Marketing, 5th edition; Maidenhead McGraw-hill Education. Jones, Scholes 2007, Exploring corporate strategy: text cases. 8th edition. Malandrakis Spiros, 2009, Nigeria Spearheads Optimistic Outlook for Beer Sales in sub-Saharan Africa, Euro Monitor Moschis P George, 1993, Life Stage Segmentation for Marketing Strategy Development Nigerian Tribune, 8th June 2009 Obike Uche, 2005, Nigeria Breweries Continues to Expand Market Share; This Day Newspapers Oldroyd Mike, 2004, CIM Revision Cards, Marketing Environment; Butterworth Heinemann. Oyeyinka O, Banji, 2002, Manufacturing Response in a national system in Nigeria, The United Nations University. Ulrich R, Mc Donald, Shellhamer, Lopetcharat, 2002, Promoting Brand Benefits; The role of consumer Psychographic and lifestyle. Journal of consumer marketing. Vanguard, 5 June 2003, Nigeria Breweries Consolidates Corporate Leadership; Africa New Wang Weiyue, 2009, Managing Customers and Markets; Salford Business School. http://www.nbplc.com/homepage.php (ww1) http://www.heinekeninternational.com/nigerian02.aspx (ww2) http://web.ebscohost.com/ (ww3) http://allafrica.com/stories/200809110416.html (ww4) http://www.ias.org.uk/resources/publications/theglobe/globe200202/gl200202_p6.html (ww5) http://www.fas.usda.gov/grain/circular/1998/98-02/dtricks.htm (ww6) http://research.afrinvestwa.com:8080/GetDownload.aspx?dwlID=74 (ww7) http://www.euromonitor.com/Alcoholic_Drinks_in_Nigeria (ww8)

Discovery Of Society Essay -- essays research papers

What is the meaning of society? It’s a simple word but with a very complicated definition. Society is our own everyday reality. It’s features such as economics, culture, language and philosophy is what unites individuals and creates a society. In the book, â€Å"The Discovery of Society†, written by Randall Collins and Michael Makowsky we are able to capture the ideas and beliefs of a variety of social thinkers. All of these thinkers had a different perspective towards what a society needs to survive and maintain itself afloat.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of these social thinkers was Karl Marx (1818-1883). He was a German political philosopher and revolutionist. Marx was very concern with the history of class struggle. He felt that the history of society was a history itself of the struggles that existed between the ruling and the oppressed social classes. In Marx’s time, slaves were considered the â€Å"have not’s† and were the ones doing all the work while the â€Å"have’s† were taking advantage of their effort. According to Marx, the economy was organized around industrial production and commercial exchange, which explains why he classified the bourgeois society into two main classes. These classes were; the capitalist who owned the factories, banks and the goods to trade and the proletarians who owned nothing but their own labor power. Marx felt that the division of classes was what was responsible for the conflict and suffering of all society. This is what encouraged Marx to believe that chaos was the only way in which classes would break up and no longer exist. Marx was able to get his point across in the modern socialist doctrine, better known as the Communist Manifesto. Even though, Marx was ordered to leave Paris because of all his revolutionary activities he did set a great influence on all communist literature. The situation of the banishment of Marx was very similar to what one of the characters in the book of, â€Å"Brave New World†, Bernard Marx, had to experience. This certain character is similar to Karl Marx because of the way in which he didn’t agree with the system that already existed. This caused the World Controller to decide that it was best to sent him away in order to prevent him from putting ideas in the minds of other individuals of the society. In the case of Karl Marx the character, World Controller, could be associated with the Belgian go... ...on. In the book, â€Å"Things Fall Apart†; we are able to see this situation when the British attempt and succeed in colonizing the society of the Ibo and other neighboring tribes. In this example, its really a contradiction which is set by the British because they wanted to force this society to be who they weren’t and the British didn’t take into consideration the organization already set up by the Ibo. I feel we still have a few more years to go before we could actually comprehend the meaning of society. As for the past philosophers, some of them did depict a close picture of what was expected in the present time. To be honest, the social thinker I could relate the most is Karl Marx for the reason that he was so strongly opposed to class division. Even though, it would be great if there weren’t any divisions in our society but it is impossible. I feel this way because in our society exists too much racism. Also no matter how hard we try not to classify people into groups its difficult. You either have money and you are on the top level or middle or you have no money and are homeless. In this society and every other one it’s all about the Benjamin’s in your pocket and bank account!

Progressive Historians :: American America History

Progressive Historians One must decide the meaning of "progressive historiography." It can mean either the history written by "progressive historians," or it can mean history written by historians of the Progressive era of American history and shortly after. The focus that was chosen for this paper is more in keeping with the latter interpretation, if for no other reason than it provides a useful compare-and-contrast "control" literature. The caveat is this: the focus of this report is on the predominant question of the historiographical period: was the war a revolution or a war for independence? One could choose many other questions to argue, questions that historians have for years disputed about the revolution, but there are a number of reasons why this report was chosen for this particular assignment; the two best follow. First, it is an old and time-honored question that professors and instructors have posed to their students for years; of pre-Civil War historiographical questions, it is perhaps second only in fashion during the last twenty to twenty-five years to the Jefferson-Hemmings paternity controversy. Second, the revolution-or-independence question is one of those which must be answered through interpretation. A case cannot be made that is so utterly conclusive as to exclude all others; it is that very fact that makes history at once so frustrating and so fascinating. What better way could there be to loo k at the writings of a specific school of historians? Therefore, in the pursuit of "personal truth," we must proceed... Perhaps the most famous of all progressive historians is Frederick Jackson Turner. His most famous argument is not devoted strictly to the American Revolution, but instead to the effects of the American frontier. In a sentence, his argument is that the frontier was the chief determinant in American history. This is not to say that Turner did not write about the war; he did, in his seminal work, "The Frontier in American History," there are discussions of the frontier's effect on the coming of the revolution. It is worth noting, before exploring Turner's arguments, that the frontier in this period was only about one hundred miles from the Atlantic coast. Of course, as the period under scrutiny approaches the war chronologically, the frontier moves away from the ocean. But it is important to remember that Turner defines the Jamestown of Captain John Smith in 1607 as the frontier in its initial stage.

The Caste System Ideology in Akira Kurosaw’s Seven Samurai :: Movie Film Essays

The Caste System Ideology in Akira Kurosaw’s Seven Samurai Akira Kurosaw’s Seven Samurai is a film that encompasses various ideologies in order to allow the audience to understand the lives of Japanese people during the 1600’s. The film delves deep in social issues of the roles of the people within the society, the expectations as well as the obligations within the respected castes and elements within groups of ; suffering, working together, protecting family and working for the better good of the community. The caste system ideology is most clearly presented of all the ideologies named. The caste system is embedded in the Japanese culture as well as their way of life. Both the samurai and the farmers are bound by the roles that are imposed by the society. The samurai soldiers are proud protectors of the art of war, they accept their fate in battle as well as their duty to die for the causes they fight for. As the film comes to an end the samurai stand at the foot of the hill with the graves of the fallen soldiers, yet they do not mourn, rather accept the fate of the warriors and understand their place in the caste system. The farmers have a tough time gathering enough samurai to protect their village from the bandits. They are afraid of the warriors, yet they are giving up everything the village posses to employ the samurai to protect the village. After the village is safe, the farmers no longer want the samurai to stay imposing themselves in their village. The separation of the castes is rather obviously displayed in the love affair between the farmer’s daughter and the youngest samurai. The two are actually forbidden to be together due to their social status. This fact is evident when the battles end, the village is safe again, yet the girl chooses to stay with her village than to be with the young samurai. The crossover of the castes did not happen in this film, to show how love can transcend all boundaries and last forever; instead the two fall back into their respected roles in the society.

How does fitzgerald tell the story in chapter

â€Å"How does Fitzgerald tell the story in chapter 1 of ‘The Great Gatsby? † Fitzgerald opens the first chapter introducing us to Nick Carroway, who is clearly of first person narration and he is telling the story from the future. By telling the story as though it has already occurred, Fitzgerald has created the Illusion that his maln character has already experienced the events that are unfolding. This ensures that Nick is a retrospective narrator throughout the book but also obviously a bias story teller.Fitzgerald makes it known that Nick has already met all the characters and knows hem and their story, he openly has his own personal Judgements and opinions of them, also making It clear he is going to be a bias narrator, giving out inaccurate and one-sided information to the reader. The chapter also tells us about Nick's life in New York when he lived in 1922 and his life in West Egg. Fitzgerald's purpose of chapter one is mainly to introduce the characters of the bo ok and to drop hints and revelations for the events in the rest of the book, such as suggesting themes of class and characterisation of Gatsby.The chapter also presents us the relationship etween Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Furthermore, the housing is deeply described by Fitzgerald, â€Å"A sunken Italian garden, a half-acre of deep, pungent roses, and a snub- nosed motor boat that bumped the tide offshore†. This presents an Image of wealth and the strong themes of money linked with social class due to the immense description of the expansive home Tom and Daisy took for granted. The author's description of the houses shows the difference clearly between Nick's home which hed â€Å"Rented In one of the strangest communities†, Inexpensive In comparison toTom and Daisy's house which was a representation of old money. This is again also shown in chapter one with Gatsbys home which Nick had described as a â€Å"mansion†, Implying that his house Is huge and could possibly link to Gatsby's personality from what we know of him. This shows that Gatsby has new wealth and that he simply bought his mansion to fit his stereotyped personality and ego. Fitzgerald still telling the story from Nicks point of view, makes the audience aware that Nick is new into this lifestyle, and that he is not particularly wealthy within his own devices.However I think It's clear from the start that Nick will have to change his personality also In order to fit in with everyone else and his friends. This is due to the fact that when Nick leaves the Buchannan's' house, he is â€Å"confused and a little disgusted. † This is aimed at the attitude Daisy has towards Tom's evident promiscuity and blatant affair he has going on with a girl from New York as Daisy is aware and doesnt show any sign of caring that her husband Is having an affair as she Is not making any effort to stop it.He's confused as to why Daisy doesn't simply leave Tom and find someone else, but as I said he has yet to adjust to the mind-set of the rich and foolish upper- class. This Is done well by Fitzgerald however, as It gives Nicka sense of lower status In comparison to his friends in that before he becomes Involved them he must first adjust his personality. Not only does this work on a human level, but it also reveals more about Nick's character as he explained how genuine and non-judgemental he completely fake in front of these friends he has made.This can Introduce and theme of people being fake'. The author starts off the story in chapter one, talking to the reader through Nick, â€Å"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one†¦ ]ust remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had. † – This is the first case of Fitzgerald pointing towards the reader and asking them to look at themselves. This is because of the fact that we all Judge our friends, our familV'How does Fitzgerald tell the story in chapter 1 of ‘The Gre at GatsbV? , and other members f community in our mind, but we do not all have the courage to come out and say it. Nick does not talk of his opinions as far as I know from chapter one to his friends, the story tells us all his accurate Judgements of the other characters. However I don't think we can trust his completely as he is bias. I think Fitzgerald has purposely done that to leave a mystery of Nick from what I can tell from chapter one alone, but also Nick can be considered reliable as he speaks his opinions to the readers and doesn't hold back what's on his mind.Nick is portrayed to us as an honest guy in the first hapter, however I think he is of the theme fake' a he is being nice to the people he has met so far despite the Judgements he has formed of them. So he gets along with everyone in public but Judges them in private which is only revealed to us readers. I think that Nick is a very real and genuine character, and that Fitzgerald has created an accurate depiction of the average American man. He isn't born to old money, and isn't born in to new money, he's Just born into a normal family, making his own judgements.Even though Nick can be considered a secret hypocrite. And even though he claims to be appalled and disgusted by the ways of the rich and upper- classes due to the cheating that goes on, on Tom's behalf, it fascinates him, and he wants to know more. I think that this is where Fitzgerald has made us somewhat ‘like' Nick as he is Just a normal person trying to change to fit in with his surroundings and peers. So I think that Fitzgerald is telling us the story in chapter one through Nick as us readers can relate to him being a regular person, so in some ways we live the story and there is a part of Nick in all of us.

Quran and Science Essay

Islam and science describes the relationship between Muslim communities and science in general. From an Islamic standpoint, science, the study of nature, is considered to be linked to the concept of Tawhid (the Oneness of God), as are all other branches of knowledge.[1] In Islam, nature is not seen as a separate entity, but rather as an integral part of Islam’s holistic outlook on God, humanity, and the world. This link implies a sacred aspect to the pursuit of scientific knowledge by Muslims, as nature itself is viewed in the Qur’an as a compilation of signs pointing to the Divine.[2] It was with this understanding that the pursuit of science was tolerated in Islamic civilizations, specifically during the eighth to sixteenth centuries, prior to the colonization of the Muslim world.[3] According to theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili, the modern scientific method was pioneered by Islamic scientist Ibn Al-Haytham (known to the west as â€Å"Alhazen†) whose contributions are likened to those of Isaac Newton.[4] Alhazen helped shift the emphasis on abstract theorizing onto systematic and repeatable experimentation, followed by careful criticism of premises and inferences.[5] Robert Briffault, in The Making of Humanity, asserts that the very existence of science, as it is understood in the modern sense, is rooted in the scientific thought and knowledge that emerged in Islamic civilizations during this time.[6] Muslim scientists and scholars have subsequently developed a spectrum of viewpoints on the place of scientific learning within the context of Islam, none of which are universally accepted.[7] However, most maintain the view that the acquisition of knowledge and scientific pursuit in general is not in disaccord with Islamic thought and religious belief.[1][7] Physicist Taner Edis argues this is because some Muslims are reading into the metaphorical language of the Holy books what is not there, including recent scientific discoveries.[8] Overview The religion Islam has its own worldview system including beliefs about â€Å"ultimate reality, epistemology, ontology, ethics, purpose, etc.†[9] Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the final revelation of God for the guidance of humankind. Science is the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.[10] It is a system of acquiring knowledge based on empiricism, experimentation, and methodological naturalism, as well as to the organized body of knowledge humans have gained by such research. Scientists maintain that scientific investigation must adhere to the scientific method, a process for evaluating empirical knowledge that explains observable events in nature as results of natural causes, rejecting supernatural notions. Islam, like all religions, believes in the supernatural that is accessible or interacts with Man in this life. One of the most important features of Science is the precise quantitative prediction. In this aspect it differs from many religious texts where physical phenomena are depicted in a very qualitative way, often by the use of words carrying several meanings. History Classical Islamic science Science in medieval Islam, Islamic cosmology, Astronomy in medieval Islam, Mathematics in medieval Islam, Physics in medieval Islam, and Medicine in medieval Islam  In the history of science, Islamic science refers to the science developed under Islamic civilization between the 8th and 16th centuries,[11] during what is known as the Islamic Golden Age.[ It is also known as Arabic science since the majority of texts during this period were written in Arabic, the lingua franca of Islamic civilization. Despite these terms, not all scientists during this period were Muslim or Arab, as there were a number of notable non-Arab scientists (most notably Persians), as well as some non-Muslim scientists, who contributed to scientific studies in the Islamic world. A number of modern scholars such as Fielding H. Garrison,[13] Abdus Salam and Hossein Nasr consider modern science and the scientific method to have been greatly inspired by Muslim scientists who introduced a modern  empirical, experimental and quantitative approach to scientific inquiry. Some scholars, notably Donald Routledge Hill, Ahmad Y Hassan,[14] Abdus Salam,[15] and George Saliba,[16] have referred to their achievements as a Muslim scientific revolution,[17] though this does not contradict the traditional view of the Scientific Revolution which is still supported by most scholars.[18][19][20] It is believed that it was the empirical attitude of the Qur’an and Sunnah which inspired medieval Muslim scientists, in particular Alhazen (965-1037),[21][22] to develop the scientific method.[23][24][25] It is also known that certain advances made by medieval Muslim astronomers, geographers and mathematicians was motivated by problems presented in Islamic scripture, such as Al-Khwarizmi’s (c. 780-850) development of algebra in order to solve the Islamic inheritance laws,[26] and developments in astronomy, geography, spherical geometry and spherical trigonometry in order to determine the direction of the Qibla, the times of Salah prayers, and the dates of the Islamic calendar.[27] The increased use of dissection in Islamic medicine during the 12th and 13th centuries was influenced by the writings of the Islamic theologian, Al-Ghazali, who encouraged the study of anatomy and use of dissections as a method of gaining knowledge of God’s creation.[28] In al-Bukhari’s and Muslim’s collection of sahih hadith it is said: â€Å"There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment.† (Bukhari 7-71:582). This culminated in the work of Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288), who discovered the pulmonary circulation in 1242 and used his discovery as evidence for the orthodox Islamic doctrine of bodily resurrection.[29] Ibn al-Nafis also used Islamic scripture as justification for his rejection of wine as self-medication.[30] Criticisms against alchemy and astrology were also motivated by religion, as orthodox Islamic theologians viewed the beliefs of alchemists and astrologers as being superstitious.[31] Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149–1209), in dealing with his conception of physics and the physical world in his Matalib, discusses Islamic cosmology, criticizes the Aristotelian notion of the Earth’s centrality within the  universe, and â€Å"explores the notion of the existence of a multiverse in the context of his commentary,† based on the Qur’anic verse, â€Å"All praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds.† He raises the question of whether the term â€Å"worlds† in this verse refers to â€Å"multiple worlds within this single universe or cosmos, or to many other universes or a multiverse beyond this known universe.† On the basis of this verse, he argues that God has created more than â€Å"a thousand thousand worlds (alfa alfi ‘awalim) beyond this world such that each one of those worlds be bigger and more massive than this world as well as having the like of what this world has.†[32] Ali KuÅŸÃ §u’s (1403–1474) support for the Earth’s rotation and his rejection of Aristotelian cosmology (which advocates a stationary Earth) was motivated by religious opposition to Aristotle by orthodox Islamic theologians, such as Al-Ghazali.[33][34] According to many historians, science in Islamic civilization flourished during the Middle Ages, but began declining at some time around the 14th[35] to 16th[11] centuries. At least some scholars blame this on the â€Å"rise of a clerical faction which froze this same science and withered its progress.†[36] Examples of conflicts with prevailing interpretations of Islam and science – or at least the fruits of science – thereafter include the demolition of Taqi al-Din’s great Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din in Galata, â€Å"comparable in its technical equipment and its specialist personnel with that of his celebrated contemporary, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe.† But while Brahe’s observatory â€Å"opened the way to a vast new development of astronomical science,† Taqi al-Din’s was demolished by a squad of Janissaries, â€Å"by order of the sultan, on the recommendation of the Chief Mufti,† sometime after 1577 AD.[36][37] Arrival of modern science in Islamic world At the beginning of the nineteenth century, modern science arrived in the Muslim world but it wasn’t the science itself that affected Muslim scholars. Rather, it â€Å"was the transfer of various philosophical currents entangled with science that had a profound effect on the minds of Muslim scientists and intellectuals. Schools like Positivism and Darwinism penetrated the Muslim world and dominated its academic circles and had a noticeable impact on some Islamic theological doctrines.† There were different responses to this among the Muslim scholars:[38] These reactions, in words of Professor Mehdi Golshani, were the following: â€Å" 1. Some rejected modern science as corrupt foreign thought, considering it incompatible with Islamic teachings, and in their view, the only remedy for the stagnancy of Islamic societies would be the strict following of Islamic teachings.[38] 2. Other thinkers in the Muslim world saw science as the only source of real enlightenment and advocated the complete adoption of modern science. In their view, the only remedy for the stagnation of Muslim societies would be the mastery of modern science and the replacement of the religious worldview by the scientific worldview. 3. The majority of faithful Muslim scientists tried to adapt Islam to the findings of modern science; they can be categorized in the following subgroups: (a) Some Muslim thinkers attempted to justify modern science on religious grounds. Their motivation was to encourage Muslim societies to acquire modern knowledge and to safeguard their societies from the criticism of Orientalists and Muslim intellectuals. (b) Others tried to show that all important scientific discoveries had been predicted in the Qur’an and Islamic tradition and appealed to modern science to explain various aspects of faith. (c) Yet other scholars advocated a re-interpretation of Islam. In their view, one must try to construct a new theology that can establish a viable relation between Islam and modern science. The Indian scholar, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, sought a theology of nature through which one could re-interpret the basic principles of Islam in the light of modern science. (d) Then there were some Muslim scholars who believed that empirical science had reached the same conclusions that prophets had been advocating several thousand years ago. The revelation had only the privilege of prophecy. 4. Finally, some Muslim philosophers separated the findings of modern science from its philosophical attachments. Thus, while they praised the attempts of Western scientists for the discovery of the secrets of nature, they warned against various empiricist and materialistic interpretations of scientific findings. Scientific knowledge can reveal certain aspects of the physical world, but it should not be identified with the alpha and omega of knowledge. Rather, it has to be integrated into a metaphysical framework—consistent with the Muslim worldview—in which higher levels of knowledge are recognized and the role of science in bringing us closer to God is fulfilled.[9] † Compatibility of Islam and the development of science Whether Islamic culture has promoted or hindered scientific advancement is disputed. Islamists such as Sayyid Qutb argue that since â€Å"Islam appointed† Muslims â€Å"as representatives of God and made them responsible for learning all the sciences,†[39] science cannot but prosper in a society of true Muslims. Many â€Å"classical and modern [sources] agree that the Qur’an condones, even encourages the acquisition of science and scientific knowledge, and urges humans to reflect on the natural phenomena as signs of God’s creation.† Some scientific instruments produced in classical times in the Islamic world were inscribed with Qur’anic citations. Many Muslims agree that doing science is an act of religious merit, even a collective duty of the Muslim community.[40] Others claim traditional interpretations of Islam are not compatible with the development of science. Author Rodney Stark, argues that Islam’s lag behind the West in scientific advancement after (roughly) 1500 AD was due to opposition by traditional ulema to efforts to formulate systematic explanation of natural phenomenon with â€Å"natural laws.† He claims that they believed such laws were blasphemous because they limit â€Å"Allah’s freedom to act† as He wishes, a principle enshired in aya 14:4: â€Å"Allah sendeth whom He will astray, and guideth whom He will,† which (they believed) applied to all of creation not just humanity.[41] Decline In the early twentieth century ulema forbade the learning of foreign languages and dissection of human bodies in the medical school in Iran.[42] In recent years, the lagging of the Muslim world in science is manifest in the disproportionately small amount of scientific output as measured by citations of articles published in internationally circulating science journals, annual expenditures on research and development, and numbers of research scientists and engineers.  Skepticism of science among some Muslims is reflected in issues such as resistance in Muslim northern Nigeria to polio inoculation, which some believe is â€Å"an imaginary thing created in the West or it is a ploy to get us to submit to this evil agenda.†[44] Scientific issues in the Qur’an and Hadith The belief that the Qur’an had prophesied scientific theories and discoveries has become a strong and widespread belief in the contemporary Islamic world; these prophecies are often offered as evidence of the divine origin of the Qur’an [45]; see scientific foreknowledge in sacred texts for further discussion of this issue. Taner Edis wrote An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam.[46] Edis worries that secularism in Turkey, one of the most westernized Muslim nations, is on its way out; he points out that Turkey rejects evolution by a large majority. To Edis, many Muslims appreciate technology and respect the role that science plays in its creation. As a result, he says there is a great deal of Islamic pseudoscience attempting to reconcile this respect with other respected religious beliefs. Edis maintains that the motivation to read modern scientific truths into holy books is also stronger for Muslims than Christians.[8] This is because, according to Edis, true criticism of the Qur’an is almost non-existent in the Muslim world. While Christianity is less prone to see its Holy Book as the direct word of God, fewer Muslims will compromise on this idea – causing them to believe that scientific truths simply must appear in the Qur’an. However, Edis opines that there are endless examples of scientific discoveries that could be read into the Bible or Qur’an if one would like to.[8] Edis qualifies that ‘Muslim thought’ certainly cannot be understood by looking at the Qur’an alone – cultural and political factors play large roles.[8] Russel Glasser (Skeptic on â€Å"The Atheist Experience† TV show with Matt Dillahunty and Jeff Dee) argues that interpreting the Qur’an like this is cherry picking and risks simply confirming the biases of the investigator.[47] Conception and inherited characteristics The most prominent of the ancient Greek thinkers who wrote on medicine were Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen. Hippocrates and Galen, in contrast with Aristotle, wrote that the contribution of females to children is equal to that of males, and the vehicle for it is a substance similar to the semen of males.[48] Basim Musallam writes that the ideas of these men were widespread  through the pre-modern Middle East: â€Å"Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen were as much a part of Middle Eastern Arabic culture as anything else in it.†[48] The sayings in the Qur’an and those attributed to Muhammad in the Hadith influenced generations of Muslim scientists by siding with Galen and Hippocrates. Basim Musallam writes: â€Å"†¦ the statements about parental contribution to generation in the hadith paralleled the Hippocratic writings, and the view of fetal development in the Qur’an agreed in detail with Galen’s scientific writings.†[48] He reports that the highly influential medieval Hanbali scholar Ibn Qayyim, in his book Kitab al-tibyan fi aqsam al-qur’an, cites the following statement of the prophet, when asked the question â€Å"from what is man created,†: â€Å" He is created of both, the semen of the man and the semen of the woman. The man’s semen is thick and forms the bones and the tendons. The woman’s semen is fine and forms the flesh and blood.[49] † Creation and evolution The Quran contains many verses describing creation of the universe; God created heavens and earth in six heavenly days[7:54] the earth was created in two days[41:9], and in two other days (into a total of four) God furnished the creation of the earth with mountains, rivers and fruit-gardens [41:10]. Then heavens and earth formed from one mass which had to be split [21:30], the seven heavens were created from smoke [41:11], forming layers, one above the other [67:3]. The angels inhabit the seventh heavens. The lowest heaven is adorned with lights [41:12], the sun and the moon (which follow a regular path) [71:16][14:33], the stars [37:6] and the constellations of the Zodiac.