Economic Structure Of The Mafia :: essays research papers

The Mafia is viewed by many people as a bunch of gangsters like those that they might see on movies such as Goodfellas, The Godfather, or Donnie Brascoe. In all actuality the Mafia represents much more than that, it is an entity within itself. The original Sicilian Mafia was just a group of families controlling certain territories in which they each laid claim to. These families were headed by a dominant male and were usually in competition with other families. The members of these families would engage into various "illegal and legal businesses with each other and outsiders" (Fiorienti and Peltzman 38). In the introduction to The Economics of Organized Crime, Fiorentini and Peltzman claim that between the years of 1860and maybe ranging all the way to 1957, the "Mafia was not a membership organization but a natural outgrowth of culture, politics and law enforcement" (Peltzman 38). Many have tried to eliminate the Mafia from its’ "control" of the underworld and its’ stranglehold on politicians and government. Under the fascist movement in the late 20’s and 30’s of Cesare Mori, Mori tried to eliminate the Mafia in any way in which he could. This attempt at elimination was quite unsuccessful since the Mafia’s base was so far ranging. ""Arlachhi (1986 44-5) concluded in 1983 "there does not exist a centralized criminal organized called the Mafia… The cosca mafiosa is a simple organism but a solid one, without formalism or bureaucracy. Within it are neither statutory ordinances, initiation rites nor courts of judgment"" (Fiorienti and Peltzman 38). This is in contrast as to what others recognize as organized crime. In direct retrospect to his earlier writings, Arlacchi claims that, through interviews with Mafia members, there is a more formal organization within the Mafia and that the Mafia does have initiations. The United States Mafia definitely was different than the Sicilian Mafia when trying to generalize them. The American Mafia consisted of only around 24 families whereas the Sicilian Mafia consisted of hundreds of families. These families were much larger than their Sicilian counterparts and that the families were most definitely organized and formal. " A detailed case-study of one of these families and its legal and illegal activities as of 1970 (Anderson, 1979) found that the Mafia family itself was not a firm; rather, its members entered into various businesses on their own account" (Fiorentini and Peltzman 39).

History of British Literature

Late Medieval Period 14th Century British Literature 14th and 15th were period of transition from feudalism to pre-industrial era. A time of political, social and ideological conflicts; England was in war with France (the hundred year war 1337-1453 Edward’s claim to the French throne and attempt to bring England, Gascony and Flanders under unified political control). The defeats in France lead to deepening the internal crisis. The decline in agriculture together with the rise in the population resulted in frequent famines and helped the spread during the 14th c. of the â€Å"Black Death†. 381 – The Peasants’ Revolt. Culture: by 15th century England had become a nation with the sense of separate identity and indigenous culture 1362- English became the official language in court and was also used in schools. 14thc. witnessed the first original literary works written in English. Middle English literature English literature of the medieval period, c. 1100 to c . 1500. Background The Norman conquest of England in 1066 traditionally signifies the beginning of 200 years of the domination of French in English letters. French cultural dominance, moreover, was general in Europe at this time.French language and culture replaced English in polite court society and had lasting effects on English culture. But the native tradition survived, although little 13th-century, and even less 12th-century, vernacular literature is extant, since most of it was transmitted orally. Anglo-Saxon fragmented into several dialects and gradually evolved into Middle English, which, despite an admixture of French, is unquestionably English. By the mid-14th cent. , Middle English had become the literary as well as the spoken language of England. The Early PeriodSeveral poems in early Middle English are extant. The  Orrmulum  (c. 1200), a verse translation of parts of the Gospels, is of linguistic and prosodic rather than literary interest. Of approximately the same date,  The  Owl and the Nightingale  (see separate article) is the first example in English of the  debat,  a popular continental form; in the poem, the owl, strictly monastic and didactic, and the nightingale, a free and amorous secular spirit, charmingly debate the virtues of their respective ways of life. The Thirteenth Century Middle English prose of the 13th cent. ontinued in the tradition of Anglo-Saxon prose? homiletic, didactic, and directed toward ordinary people rather than polite society. The â€Å"Katherine Group† (c. 1200), comprising three saints' lives, is typical. The  Ancren Riwle(c. 1200) is a manual for prospective anchoresses; it was very popular, and it greatly influenced the prose of the 13th and 14th cent. The fact that there was no French prose tradition was very important to the preservation of the English prose tradition. In the 13th cent. the  romance, an important continental narrative verse form, was introduced in England.It drew fro m three rich sources of character and adventure: the legends of Charlemagne, the legends of ancient Greece and Rome, and the British legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Layamon's  Brut, a late 13th-century metrical romance (a translation from the French), marks the first appearance of Arthurian matter in English (see  Arthurian legend). Original English romances based upon indigenous material include  King Horn  and  Havelok the Dane, both 13th-century works that retain elements of the Anglo-Saxon heroic tradition.However, French romances, notably the Arthurian romances of  Chretien de Troyes, were far more influential than their English counterparts. In England French romances popularized ideas of adventure and heroism quite contrary to those of Anglo-Saxon heroic literature and were representative of wholly different values and tastes. Ideals of  courtly love, together with its elaborate manners and rituals, replaced those of the heroic code; a dventure and feats of courage were pursued for the sake of the knight's lady rather than for the sake of the hero's honor or the glory of his tribal king.Continental verse forms based on metrics and rhyme replaced the Anglo-Saxon alliterative line in Middle English poetry (with the important exception of the 14th-century alliterative revival). Many French literary forms also became popular, among them the  fabliau; the exemplum, or moral tale; the animal fable; and the dream vision. The continental allegorical tradition, which derived from classical literature, is exemplified by the  Roman de la Rose, which had a strong impact on English literature. Medieval works of literature often center on a popular rhetorical figure, such as the  ubi sunt,  which remarks on the inevitability? nd sadness? of change, loss, and death; and the  cursor mundi,  which harps on the vanity of human grandeur. A 15,000-line 13th-century English poem, the  Cursor Mundi,  retells human histo ry (i. e. , the medieval version? biblical plus classical story) from the point of view its title implies. A number of 13th-century secular and religious Middle English lyrics are extant, including the exuberant  Sumer Is Icumen In, but like Middle English literature in general, the  lyric  reached its fullest flower during the second half of the 14th cent. Lyrics continued popular in the 15th cent. from which time the  ballad  also dates. The Fourteenth Century The poetry of the alliterative revival (see  alliteration), the unexplained reemergence of the Anglo-Saxon verse form in the 14th cent. , includes some of the best poetry in Middle English. The Christian allegory  The  Pearl  (see separate article) is a poem of great intricacy and sensibility that is meaningful on several symbolic levels. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,  by the same anonymous author, is also of high literary sophistication, and its intelligence, vividness, and symbolic interest render it possibly the finest Arthurian poem in English.Other important alliterative poems are the moral allegory  Piers Plowman,  attributed to William  Langland, and the alliterative  Morte Arthur,  which, like nearly all English poetry until the mid-14th cent. , was anonymous. The works of Geoffrey  Chaucer  mark the brilliant culmination of Middle English literature. Chaucer's  The Canterbury Tales  are stories told each other by pilgrims? who comprise a very colorful cross section of 14th-century English society? on their way to the shrine at Canterbury. The tales are cast into many different verse forms and genres and collectively explore virtually every significant medieval theme.Chaucer's wise and humane work also illuminates the full scope of medieval thought. Overshadowed by Chaucer but of some note are the works of John  Gower. The Fifteenth Century: The 15th cent. is not distinguished in English letters, due in part to the social dislocation caused by the prol onged Wars of the Roses. Of the many 15th-century imitators of Chaucer the best-known are John  Lydgate  and Thomas  Hoccleve. Other poets of the time include Stephen  Hawes  and Alexander  Barclay  and the Scots poets William  Dunbar, Robert  Henryson, and Gawin  Douglas.The poetry of John  Skelton, which is mostly satiric, combines medieval and Renaissance elements. William  Caxton  introduced printing to England in 1475 and in 1485 printed Sir Thomas  Malory's  Morte d'Arthur. This prose work, written in the twilight of  chivalry, casts the Arthurian tales into coherent form and views them with an awareness that they represent a vanishing way of life. The  miracle play, a long cycle of short plays based upon biblical episodes, was popular throughout the Middle Ages in England. The  morality play, an allegorical drama centering on the struggle for man's soul, originated in the 15th cent.The finest of the genre is  Everyman. English Society in the 14th Century Summary:    The Canterbury Tales is set in fourteenth-century London, one of the medieval period's great centers of commerce and culture. In England at this time, society was still very strictly ordered, with the King and nobles having all power in things political and the Catholic Church having all authority in spiritual matters. English Society in the 14th Century The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, is recognized as the first book of poetry written in the English language.This is because poetry was often written in Italian or Latin not English, even writers from England wrote in the other languages because English was considered low class and vulgar, but after Chaucer's writings were published they became a recognized and legitimate work. The Canterbury Tales gives modern readers a good judgment of language in the 14th century as it also gives a rich, elaborated tapestry of medieval social life, combining elements of all classes, from nobles to wo rkers, from priests and nuns to drunkards and thieves.The view of the Canterbury Tales being held up as a precise reflection of English society in the 14th century is significantly correct, because they were very attached to the church and beliefs and the way they all act in the Tales shows how they really were a society of the Church. â€Å"The Canterbury Tales is set in fourteenth-century London, one of the medieval period's great centers of commerce and culture. In England at this time, society was still very strictly ordered, with the King and nobles having all power in things political and the Catholic Church having all authority in spiritual matters.However, trade and commerce with other nations had expanded dramatically in this century, giving rise to a new and highly vocal middle class comprised of merchants, traders, shopkeepers, and skilled craftsmen. † The story starts with a general prologue that provides a panoramic view of society England begins the period with wars, unrest, and almost chaos; it concludes with a settled dynasty, a reformed religion, and a people united and progressive. England in 1300 was well on the way to rapid expansion. It was rapidly increasing in intellectual and mathematical sophistication.Technically, thanks to water power and the mechanical discoveries that flowed from it, England was in the midst of what many historians call the Medieval Industrial Revolution. One reason there seems to be such a break between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance was that there was in fact a break. The 14th Century was a time of turmoil, diminished expectations, loss of confidence in institutions, and feelings of helplessness at forces beyond human contro. lThe 14th century in Europe was a time of great unrest. This as primarily caused by the outbreak of bubonic plague better known as the Black Death. Another cause were the peasant revolts, and the schism within the Catholic Church. The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer , is recognized as the first book of poetry written in the English language. This is because poetry was often written in Italian or Latin not English, even writers from England wrote in the other languages because English was considered low class and vulgar, but after Chaucer's writings were published they became a recognized and legitimate work.The Canterbury Tales gives modern readers a good judgment of language in the 14th century as it also gives a rich, elaborated tapestry of medieval social life, combining elements of all classes,from nobles to workers, from priests and nuns to drunkards and thieves. The view of the Canterbury Tales being held up as a precise reflection of English society in the 14th century is significantly correct, because they were very attached to the church and beliefs and the way they all act in the Tales shows how they really were a society of the Church.Alliterative verse: 8th – 14th century AD The story of English literature begins with the Ger manic tradition of the Anglo-Saxon settlers. Beowulfstands at its head. This epic poem of the 8th century is in  Anglo-Saxon, now more usually described as Old English. It is incomprehensible to a reader familiar only with modern English. Even so, there is a continuous linguistic development between the two. The most significant turning point, from about 1100, is the development of Middle English – differing from Old English in the addition of a French vocabulary after the  Norman conquest.French and Germanic influences subsequently compete for the mainstream role in English literature. The French poetic tradition inclines to lines of a regular metrical length, usually linked by rhyme into couplets or stanzas. German poetry depends more on rhythm and stress, with repeated consonants (alliteration) to bind the phrases. Elegant or subtle rhymes have a courtly flavour. The hammer blows of alliteration are a type of verbal athleticism more likely to draw applause in a hall fu ll of warriors.Both traditions achieve a magnificent flowering in England in the late 14th century, towards the end of the Middle English period. Piers Plowmanand  Sir Gawainare masterpieces which look back to Old English. By contrastChaucer, a poet of the court, ushers in a new era of English literature. Piers Plowman and Sir Gawain: 14th century AD Of these two great English alliterative poems, the second is entirely anonymous and the first virtually so. The narrator of  Piers Plowmancalls himself Will; occasional references in the text suggest that his name may be Langland.Nothing else, apart from this poem, is known of him. Piers Plowman exists in three versions, the longest amounting to more than 7000 lines. It is considered probable that all three are by the same author. If so he spends some twenty years, from about 1367, adjusting and refining his epic creation. Piers the ploughman is one of a group of characters searching for Christian truth in the complex setting of a d ream. Though mainly a spiritual quest, the work also has a political element. It contains sharply observed details of a corrupt and materialistic age (Wycliffe  is among Langland's English contemporaries).Where  Piers Plowman  is tough and gritty,  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight(dating from the same period) is more polished in its manner and more courtly in its content. The characters derive partly fromArthurian legend. A mysterious green knight arrives one Christmas at the court of King Arthur. He invites any knight to strike him with an axe and to receive the blow back a year later. Gawain accepts the challenge. He cuts off the head of the green knight, who rides away with it. The rest of the poem concerns Gawain, a year later, at the green knight's castle. In a tale of love (for the green knight's wife) and subsequent eceit, Gawain emerges with little honour. The green knight spares his life but sends him home to Arthur's court wearing the wife's girdle as a badge of sha me. Geoffrey Chaucer at court: AD 1367-1400 In 1367 one of four new ‘yeomen of the chamber' in the household of Edward III is Geoffrey Chaucer, then aged about twenty-seven. The young man's wife, Philippa, is already a lady-in-waiting to the queen. A few years later Chaucer becomes one of the king's esquires, with duties which include entertaining the court with stories and music. There can rarely have been a more inspired appointment.Chaucer's poems are designed to be read aloud, in the first instance by himself. Their range, from high romance to bawdy comedy, is well calculated to hold the listeners spellbound. Courtly circles in England are his first audience. Chaucer's public career is one of almost unbroken success in two consecutive reigns. He undertakes diplomatic missions abroad on behalf of the king; he is given administrative posts, such as controlling the customs, which bring lodgings and handsome stipends. Even occasional disasters (such as being robbed twice in fo ur days in 1390 and losing ? 0 of Richard II's money) do him no lasting harm. A measure of Chaucer's skill as a courtier is that during the 1390s, when he is in the employment ofRichard II, he also receives gifts at Christmas from Richard's rival, Bolingbroke. When Bolingbroke unseats Richard II in 1399, taking his place on the throne as  Henry IV, Chaucer combines diplomacy and wit to secure his position. Having lost his royal appointments, he reminds the new king of his predicament in a poem entitled ‘The Complaint of Chaucer to his Empty Purse'. The last line of each verse begs the purse to ‘be heavy again, or else must I die'.Henry IV hears the message. The court poet is given a new annuity. Henry is certainly aware that he is keeping in his royal circle a poet of great distinction. Chaucer's reputation is such that, when he dies in the following year, he is granted the very unusual honour – for a commoner – of being buried in Westminster abbey. Troil us and Criseyde: AD 1385 Chaucer's first masterpiece is his subtle account of the wooing of Criseyde by Troilus, with the active encouragement of Criseyde's uncle Pandarus. The tender joys of their love affair are followed by Criseyde's betrayal and Troilus's death in battle.Chaucer adapts to his own purposes the more conventionally dramatic account of this legendary affair written some fifty years earlier byBoccaccio(probably read by Chaucer when on a mission to Florence in 1373). His own very long poem (8239 lines) is written in the early 1380s and is complete by 1385. Chaucer's tone is delicate, subtle, oblique – though this does not prevent him from introducing and gently satirising many vivid details of life at court, as he guides the reader through the long psychological intrigue by which Pandarus eventually delivers Troilus into Criseyde's bed.The charm and detail of the poem, giving an intimate glimpse of a courtly world, is akin to the delightful miniatures which ill ustrate books of hours of this period in the style known asInternational Gothic. Yet this delicacy is only one side of Chaucer's abundant talent – as he soon proves in  The Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury Tales: AD 1387-1400 Collections of tales are a favourite literary convention of the 14th century. Boccaccio'sDecameron  is the best-known example before Chaucer's time, but Chaucer inThe Canterbury Tales  outshines his predecessors.He does so in the range and vitality of the stories in his collection, from the courtly tone of ‘The Knight's Tale' to the rough and often obscene humour of those known technically as  fabliaux. He does so also in the detail and humour of the framework holding the stories together. His account of the pilgrims as they ride from London to Canterbury, with their constant bickering and rivalry, amounts to a comic masterpiece in its own right. The pilgrims, thirty of them including Chaucer himself, gather one spring day at the Tabard in Southwark.The host of the inn, Harry Bailly, is a real contemporary of Chaucer's (his name features in historical records). He will act as their guide on the route to Canterbury and he proposes that they pass the time on their journey by telling stories. Each pilgrim is to tell two on the way out and two on the way back. Whoever is judged to have told the best tale will have a free supper at the Tabard on their return. Of this ambitious total of 120 stories, Chaucer completes only 24 by the time of his death. Even so the collection amounts to some 17,000 lines – mainly of rhyming verse, but with some passages of prose.The pilgrims represent all sections of society from gentry to humble craftsmen (the only absentees are the labouring poor, unable to afford a pilgrimage of this kind). There are respectable people from the various classes – such as the knight, the parson and the yeoman – but the emphasis falls mainly on characters who are pretentious, scurrilous, m endacious, avaricious or lecherous. The pilgrims are vividly described, one by one, in Chaucer'sPrologue. The relationships between them evolve in the linking passages between the tales, as Harry Bailly arranges who shall speak next.The pilgrims for the most part tell tales closely related to their station in life or to their personal character. Sometimes the anecdotes even reflect mutual animosities. The miller gives a scurrilously comic account of a carpenter being cuckolded. Everyone laughs heartily except the reeve, who began his career as a carpenter. The reeve gets his own back with an equally outrageous tale of the seduction of a miller's wife and daughter. But the pilgrim who has most delighted six centuries of readers is the five-times-married Wife of Bath, taking a lusty pleasure in her own appetites and richly scorning the ideals of celibacy.

Sweet Basil Marketing Plan

In order to Increase market share and sales, Sweet Basil will target dine-in, take-out, and take-n-bake pizza lovers In the cities of Treated, Rewind, USA, and Monrovia. The strategies for increasing sales are to first penetrate new markets, then increase usage and size of customer orders. This will be conducted through unbeatable value and the finest ingredients that cannot be received anywhere else in the area. The marketing mix for Sweet Basil will consist of mobile marketing, flyer distribution, a website, social media outlets, television advertising and email newsletters.The objectives for many of these avenues are to provide coupons and discounts as well as gain consumer loyalty. The business does a great Job already with returning patrons so it is time to focus energy on effectively penetrating new markets. Sweet Basil will look to Increase sales by 40% or $110,400 and achieve a market share of 30% In Treated and 20% In the surrounding clues. This will ensure success and will provide a break even before the first 6 months. 2. 0 Situation Analysis Currently, the economic market condition in the united States and California is primarily recession.Overall, the pizza business is doing k. Tit flat sales of about $38 billion for the past 3 years (Kara 2011). Consumers are becoming much more particular when it comes to value and where they spend their hard earned money. Sweet Basil pizzeria is doing quite well during the recession but it is having trouble inquiring new consumers. Prices of flour, produce, and cheese are on the rise so It Is important to Increase business and revenue to cover these associated costs. These forces are uncontrollable In the macro environment along with the rising unemployment from the recession.It is important to instill value and personalized maintain/increase repeat customers. There are many successful dine-in and take- out pizza companies that fail to provide the opportunity for consumers to purchase take-n-bake pizzas. Consumer s are going to ultimately purchase from the establishment that provides the best value and quality mixture. Sweet Basil offers dine-in, take-out, and take-n-bake pizzas, leaving the delivery market to competitors. With this in mind, Sweet Basil is very capable of increasing sales with the development of take-n-bake pizzas and a solid marketing strategy. 2. Market Summary Sweet Basil Pizzeria is an extremely reputable pizzeria in the city of Treated, California. Besides being well known, Sweet Basil also maintains a strong competitive advantage with its owner, James Decrease, being a hotel restaurant management graduate from Purdue University and restaurant industry veteran for well over 25 years. James has been able to carefully select his target market due to his extensive industry experience. As mentioned before, the current pizza market is motionless at around $38 billion per year, which isn't so bad considering worldwide market conditions.Many loyal customers have been moving du e to rising foreclosure rates and this hurts return business. An astonishing 93% of Americans eat pizza at least once a month and approximately 3 billion pizzas are sold every year (Hinkle 2009). This leaves plenty of room for competition and growth for Sweet Basil take-n-bake pizzas in the current market. Even though Sweet Basil's target market demographics is tailored to consumers in the San Gabriel Valley and surrounding areas in southern California, we reserve the right to increase the area if growth is substantial.The average salary of southern California Jobs is $55,000 a year (Simply Hired 2011), which leaves plenty disposable income for the on-the-go working class individual. Many consumers in southern California lead extremely busy lifestyles, which makes it hard to cook for a family. There are currently seven pizza restaurants/parlors in Treated, California. None of these pizza establishments offer take-n-bake pizzas for sale, so the only real competition is frozen pizzas at the super market. Our consumers enjoy high quality pizza with fresh ingredients at an affordable price.This provides incredible value to the customer and a much better alternative to people having to bake store bought frozen pizzas. Sweet Basil provides its customers with an extensive value for their hard earned none. Consumers choose Sweet Basil pizza because we serve their needs through our unique ingredients and fresh homemade sauce and dough. People want more than Just a bland, regular tasting pizza and we tailor our unique blend of basil, garlic, and oregano to pizza lovers throughout the Los Angels area.Sweet Basil serves over 10 different types of specialty pizzas creating enjoyment for all types of palettes. Our pizza can be picked up with no wait and is never sold unless it has been made within 7 days to increase the quality that you'll find in the frozen section of the super markets. Since no other pizza establishments in Treated offer take-n-bake style pizzas, we will be able to control the market for consumers that are looking for a fresh alternative. Nearly every single frozen pizza brand from Disgorging to Stouffer increased it's sales in the 52 weeks between summer 2009-2010 (BIB International 2010).Disgorging made the most out of the entire top 10 frozen pizzas in 2010 Digestion's sales throughout the world, it's important to notice that they increased sales from 2009 to 2010 and that the market doesn't show any signs of decreasing. Pizza is an American tradition that most people love to eat and Sweet Basil's quality ND delicious ingredients create the competitive advantage. 2. 2 SOOT Analysis * Strengths: Sweet Basil's strengths consist of a number of things currently going into the take-n-bake market.For one, Sweet Basil is the only pizzeria that currently offers take-n-bake pizzas; the competition is very minimal other than store bought frozen pizzas. Second, Sweet Basil has a stellar reputation amongst the surrounding community, catering to schools and businesses reaching new customers daily. Sweet Basil only uses the freshest ingredients and everything is homemade including the bread and delicious sauce. The pizzeria is located in a prime location, right next too Seven-Eleven, getting optimal exposure from the public. Weaknesses: Currently there are a couple of solid weaknesses that can cause some undesired hurdles for Sweet Basil's take-n-bake pizzas. First off, Sweet Basil has not done any marketing yet for the new take-n-bake concept and all of the marketing in the past has been through word of mouth solely. Another weakness is that consumers are already familiar with the competition and that could make it very difficult to market to consumers that haven't tried Sweet Basil pizza before. Finally, Sweet Basil pizzeria doesn't have any distribution outlets other than the restaurant located in the city of Treated and delivery is not offered.These issues certainly need to be addressed and solved so that they don't affect Sweet Basil pizzeria negatively. * Opportunities: While pizza continues to be popular in America, it is evolving. Fierce discounting and coupling by top players has squeezed other pizza Sellers (Kara 2011). This leaves a great opportunity for Sweet Basil to offer coupons and discounts through a variety of medias and advertising. Another opportunity is that the market appears to be very teddy for take-n-bake/frozen pizza purchases. This can certainly provide Sweet Basil with a chance to reap some of the market share with its high quality, affordable pizzas.Second, Sweet Basil's take-n-bake pizzas don't use up any additional resources or time than their freshly made take-out or dine-in pizzas, making start up costs insignificant. One possibility in the future could be to contract with grocery store chains to offer frozen pizzas more conveniently to consumers. Sweet Basil can increase revenue by attracting customers that don't live close to the pizzeria or prefer o make pizzas a t their own home. * Threats: Potential threats for Sweet Basil include possible competition from neighboring pizzerias in the area should they decide to start a take-n-bake operation.Another possible threat could be an increase in direct and indirect costs such as electricity for freezing the take-n-bake pizzas. An increase in gas prices could also be a possible threat for sales of pizza because consumers may not be willing to drive to the pizzeria. An increase in labor costs due to the slightly complex routine behind making take-n-bake pizzas ready for customers. 2. Competition As briefly stated earlier, there are currently 5 other pizza restaurants in Treated and we compete for pizza loving customers on a regular basis.These competitors great sum of customers that can be earned with the proper marketing campaign. The seven places to get pizza in Treated are Pizza Hut, Domino's, Hungry Hosier's Pizza, Treated Pizza Co. , Little Caesar, Flying Pizza, and Cost (which is Sweet Basil's only real take-n-bake competition other than grocery store brands). People can purchase freshly made pizza to order at all of these establishments, but these competitors eave not developed a take-n-bake concept yet. This leaves the market wide open for Sweet Basil to compete with better-known chains such as Cost and grocery store brands.The seven pizza establishments in Treated do not pose as much threat to Sweet Basil's Take-n-Bake pizzas as the store bought brands and Cost pizza. When considering true competition it is important to observe the characteristics of the take- n-bake pizza that Sweet Basil will offer. The pizzas are going to be 16†³ in length, which is fairly large for take-n-bake pizza. This means that single-serve frozen pizza sonnets really pose a significant threat because we are marketing to larger parties and families who are constantly on the go. Sweet Basil's large 14†³ pizzas will come with a variety of toppings.With this in mind the only store boug ht competitors that are offered at nearly all super markets are Disgorging, Tombstone, Red Baron, California Pizza Kitchen, Freshest, and Tony's (BIB International 2011) in order of popularity/sales. The other main competitor that Sweet Basil has to beware of that is gaining popularity is Cost's take-n-bake frozen pizzas because they offer more rationalized service and quality than the other brands. Cost pizzas are also larger in size (16†³) and cost a little more than the other brands (Cost 2011). 2. Product Offering The new product offering of Sweet Basil Pizzeria is very concise and direct. The take-n-bake pizzas will only be offered in the 14†³ size and will consist of only five different varieties such as pepperoni pizza, cheese pizza, vegetarian pizza, Sweet Basil Favorite (all combo toppings), and BBC pizza. All of these pizzas are made with the finest local produce from Mike's Foods and ingredients provided from JACM DOD service distribution. Sweet Basil Pizza will be extremely fresh, having been made within a week from the date of purchase.Customers can feel assured they are getting a high-quality pizza with greater freshness than any other brand currently in the target market. Valued consumers will also be able to call in orders if they require special toppings or especially large orders. Consumers will also be able to purchase packets of our most popular ingredient â€Å"Sweet Basil†, which is a combination of secret spices containing garlic and basil. This mixture is absolutely delicious and makes any pizza caste even better than it normally would. 2. Keys to Success The major factors that will make Sweet Basil a huge success among the competition in the Los Angels area is our stellar personalized service, finest ingredients, competitive price, and homemade sauce/dough recipe. Personalized service and quality/recipes are the main advantages that Sweet Basil Pizzeria is aiming to use as their competitive advantage. Sweet Basil alrea dy has a considerable customer dimension from its fourteen years of success and this must keeping up to date with ingredient costs, researching local stores and purveyors to ampere value/price mixtures.According to the National Restaurant Association, the top trend right now is locally grown produce (Stevenson 2010). Sweet Basil only purchases the finest, locally grown produce from Mike's Foods in Treated. The new take-n-bake product that sweet basil offers is no more expensive than providing it's everyday to-go pizzas to valued customers. This makes the overall product cost extremely low and creates a major factor in the success of this new idea for Sweet Basil Pizza. The pizza and restaurant business is a difficult industry to tackle; product/industry knowledge is a necessity to succeed.Sweet Basil is always staying familiar and up to date with current practices in order to remain competitive. This factor is something that Sweet Basil will surely continue to practice and exploit. Continued customer satisfaction is a concept that Sweet Basil will continue to present to its valued patrons. 2. 6. Critical Issues As a pre-established company, Sweet Basil maintains an exceptional product, gaining return customers and recognition daily. The major critical issues for Sweet Basil is to: * Gain market exposure- Sweet Basil doesn't currently spend any money on marketing to Treated or its surrounding cities.Word of mouth from satisfied customers is a great type of free marketing but it doesn't increase quickly enough. Sweet Basil will now be able to offer a product to customers that live further away; therefore, it should target more customers using different avenues of marketing. Train additional staff- training is a 2-3 month period depending on the speed of the employee and this could slow the business down if not forecasted properly. Since Sweet Basil doesn't deliver, it is currently run with no more than 2 employees at a time.If customers and sales increase signif icantly, sustainability will rely on the ark force. New hiring measure may be needed. * Monitoring quality assurance and customer service- the pizzeria must maintain a reputable amount of quality and service in order to ensure that the growth strategy doesn't Jeopardize the current benchmark. Quality will be monitored by gaining feedback from customers and allowing them to offer suggestions through questionnaires. * Expansion- expanding through the creation of additional parlors in Dearth's surrounding cities may be a necessity if it proves both profitable and sustainable.This is more off long-term critical issue but must be recognized nonetheless. . 0 Marketing Strategy The primary target for Sweet Basil's marketing strategy will be towards households and businesses in the cities of Treated, Monrovia, USA, and Rewind. Americans love pizza and it is clear that everyone in these cities should be marketed because of pizza's popularity and sustained growth throughout past years. For no w, Sweet Basil only offers take-out, dine-in, and take-n-bake services to its patrons, which leaves delivery open to competition.Sweet Basil realizes that they can serve 65-70% of Pizza Power Report). Undoubtedly there is a substantial amount of market share that an be earned with the proper market-challenger attack strategies. Sweet Basil anticipates being able to sell more pizza to current customers, sell to market segments that have not previously been targeted, and gain a higher market penetration. Word of mouth advertising has been Sweet Basil's sole source of advertising for the past fourteen years and now the time has come to try a new initiative to increase growth and profits.Although word of mouth advertising is extremely effective and well trusted from consumers, Sweet Basil finds that most loyal clients did not hear about the pizzeria until the first couple years of residing in Treated. With this in mind, the pizzeria will kick off some new marketing strategies to increas e its overall exposure to the businesses and households in its target market. Sweet Basil will look to gain new customers through new-market segment strategies.More consumers need to be aware of Sweet Basil's unparalleled service and great tasting pizza; word of mouth advertising will not penetrate as many consumers as supplementary advertising. Sweet Basil also looks to engage in encirclement attacks throughout the before-mentioned cities in order to gain exposure into some of the competition's territory. Finally, Joint partnership advertising will be conducted to decrease overall advertising costs. Paper flyers will be attached to every take-out box, promoting take-n-bake pizza to current patrons, which well result in increased usage.Flyers that include coupons will be served to residential and commercial properties in order to increase new customers. This will help Sweet Basil primarily increase sales over time but will also help in gaining exposure to the target market. A recent study shows that 46% of pizza consumers report that coupons or promotions influence where they decide to purchase their pizza (Barrett, 2010 Pizza Power Report). If these statistics prove to be true, Sweet Basil will surely be able to earn new business amongst the community.Sweet Basil will also exploit other forms of integrated marketing communications through website development, mass SMS marketing to loyal patrons, and usage of social media platforms. The website will allow consumers to view the menu and leave comments, questions, and concerns, which will be viewable for everyone to see. Catering is a huge source of Sweet Basil's success and consumers will be able to navigate through catering options and information. People will also be able to add themselves onto the weekly email that will be sent out to include coupons and special promotions.This will help Sweet Basil in obtaining more market exposure to current and new clientele. â€Å"With so many people now using the Inter net to search for products and services it is now acknowledged that having a business website is Just about as essential as having a telephone† (Touched, 2001). Sweet Basil will also utilize mass text message marketing in order to promote specials and promos that are offered each week. This will be initiated using Decontrolling. Mom to ensure that these messages can be sent every other week to market different promos and special items to consumers.Each customer will be asked if they would like to receive promotion emails and text messages from Sweet Basil. The success rate for permission based mobile marketing campaigns is around 25% Oarfish, 2006). This will ensure seamless impersonal communication to Sweet Basil's loyal patrons. Lastly, Sweet Basil's marketing include the development of a Faceable, Namespace, and Twitter account so loyal patrons can feel more united with Sweet Basil's service and undeniable quality food. The Namespace and Faceable pages will allow customers to view the menu and catering options that Sweet Basil offers.This type of marketing is virtually free although it is time consuming to continuously update. Sweet Basil will also utilize cable television marketing in order to market to new customers. Advertising will only be targeted to Time Warner Cable's Foothills and West Covina coverage areas in the San Gabriel Valley (Coverage Area 2011). Mostly sports programs on ESP. and popular shows on Bravo will be targeted to enhance Sweet Basil's exposure to their target market. This will be exercised during the first 90 days of marketing plan.All of these integrated marketing communications will allow Sweet Basil to reach a large market of new consumers as well as continue to gain increased business with existing patrons. These marketing strategies were also selected due to their low cost and minimal time consumption required. 3. 1 Mission Statement â€Å"We exist to provide the best quality dine-in, take-out, and take-n-bake pizza to the Route 66 communities of the San Gabriel Valley. This will be accomplished through unmatched customer service, value, and great tasting pizza; creating a memorable experience for all to enjoy'. 3. Marketing Objectives Sweet Basil will achieve a few concrete objectives through its current and future marketing actions. The first and most crucial goal for the pizzeria is to conduct new- market segment strategies in order to earn new customers throughout Treated, Monrovia, USA, and Rewind. This strategy will be initiated immediately at the start of Quarter 2 this year now that Sweet Basil's take-n-bake pizzas are now in production. The target market objective is to increase overall market share, earn new customers, and amplify purchases to increase sales by 40% from now throughApril 2012. Collectively, Sweet Basil seeks to increase overall market share to 25% of all dine-in, take-out, and take-n-bake purchases in Treated and 13% of market share from Monrovia, Rewind, and USA. This al so includes 15% market share transactions from employees of local businesses in Treated and Rewind as well as 25% market share to households in Treated, Rewind, Monrovia, and USA. In order to accomplish these goals, Sweet Basil will have to gain at least 30 new customers every week on average and the goal is to be able to retain 90% of them.This strategy ill allow the pizzeria to maintain strong, positive growth each quarter through it's increasing customers. Another objective is increasing consumer usage to where customers are purchasing Sweet Basil products at least one more time per week. This will include increasing the purchase volume of each consumer as well. New consumers will be able to be measured by asking them how they heard about Sweet Basil to begin with and afterwards asking them if they would like to receive coupons and promotions by email and text in the future. Sweet Basil's target is to achieve the before mentioned market share by the end of 2012.Sweet Basil will a lso set promotional objectives in order to reach new customers through brand and company awareness as well as implementing strategic sales promotions. Millennial will information through word of mouth (Mr.. Youth, 2011). A major objective will be to grow the pizzeria's followers on Faceable and Namespace to 750 people by the end of 2011 to engage in more promotional initiatives. Seasonal and promotional entrees will be posted on these social media sites every other week to maintain consumer usage. The address, phone number, menu, and catering options will all be included n these sites as well.Sweet Basil will be hiring an individual to hand out door flyers to residential households and businesses in the cities of Treated, USA, Rewind, and Monrovia (starting in the city of Treated). This marketing effort will be conducted every Wednesday and Thursday from am to pm for the residential areas and every Monday for local businesses. Similar flyers will be on every take-out pizza box as we ll to notify customers of the option to purchase take-n-bake pizzas. No additional employees would have to be hired for the business as long as business doesn't increase more than 50%.The flyers will include specials and combos that can be purchased in exchange for the coupon on the flyer. Each flyer will have a coupon to receive 1 free slice with a purchase of any take-n-bake pizza. The flyers will also contain a coupon to purchase a take-n-bake pizza for 25% off. Additional specials will be included on the flyer and sponsors will be able to advertise on the other half of the flyer. The sponsors will incur all costs for the production of the flyers and will also include Sweet Basil's website, Faceable, Namespace, and Twitter information for nonusers..These flyers will be very similar to the email and text messaging blasts that Sweet Basil will be conducting every other month. Sweet Basil will look to enhance partnership efforts with local businesses, schools, cities, and clubs in o rder to increase exposure and maintain growth. Catering services and pizza specials will be offered for discount prices depending on the size and occasion of the order. Sweet Basil looks to increase its catering by 5% to businesses and residential areas. This will also help Sweet Basil gain more exposure and market share from satisfied customers. 3.Financial Objectives Sweet Basil will be targeting a number of sound financial objectives in order to increase profits and sustainability. As stated in the marketing objectives, increasing sales by 40% during the first 365 days is the target for Sweet Basil. Overall, Sweet Basil aspires to collectively reach 30% market share for Dearth's dine-in, take out, and take n bake pizza sales by the end of 2012. The goal for Rewind, USA, and Monrovia will be 20% overall market share. Currently, Sweet Basil obtains 30% of it's business from take out orders, 50% from dine in business, and 20% from catering.With the current market conditions, Sweet B asil's overall gross income amounts to $23,000 on average per month. The gross income should amount to at least $32,200 per month on average by April 2012 in order to realize a successful marketing plan. This would amount to an extra $110,400 in gross income a year, which would only be substantial if costs remained low. Sweet Basil doesn't require hiring an extra employee for the additional expected business so long as it doesn't exceed a 50% sales increase. Social media sites such as Faceable, Namespace, and Twitter are free which makes it a valuable marketing source financially.Sweet Basil will be using decontrolling. Com to send out SMS blasts including specials and deals for and allows for 5,000 customers to be included. The annual cost for this service then amounts to $960/year while emails are virtually free to send to loyal subscribed customers. Sweet Basil's website will be created for $1000 through a current part- time employee that is also going to school for web design. T his will be built during slow business hours at the restaurant to decrease hourly costs for the web development. The web domain will cost around $100 dollars a year to maintain.One f the expensive strategies for Sweet Basil Pizza is the cost of hiring on an employee to work Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday for 24 hours a week handing out flyers. The employee will be paid $8/her, so the annual cost will come out to about $12,000 if gas costs are associated. The flyers will be free to Sweet Basil because the sponsors will incur that cost. The most expensive marketing source will be advertising on Time Warner Cable during the first 90 days of marketing plan initiation. As mentioned earlier, only ESP. and Bravo will be targeted and we will run 4 commercials per day on both networks.With a cost of $40 per spot, Sweet Basil will incur a total cost of $28,800 Just in television advertising costs. An increase in sales will not result in a significant increase in utilities since the restauran t hours will remain the same and because the pizza oven is always left on. The cost of running the oven 2417 isn't much different from the cost of turning it off at night and the oven takes an hour to warm up to 600 degrees when opening in the morning. After all the costs are subtracted, Sweet Basil can make a return of $67,540 but the increase of ingredients, labor, and materials have not been subtracted from this mount.All of the before mentioned other than pizza ingredients and material will remain the same regardless off 40% increase in sales. 3. 4 Target Markets As stated earlier, Sweet Basil's target market will consist of all pizza lovers in the Route 66 cities of the San Gabriel Valley. In recent studies, 93% of Americans eat pizza at least 1 time a month, (Pizza Plan, 2011) which means there is a sizeable target market for Sweet Basil to penetrate. There are 21,782 residents in Treated, 46,672 in USA, 37,523 in Monrovia, and 1,433 in Rewind, which brings a total consumer ma rket of close to 110,000 people (city-data, 2009).Rewind consists of businesses for the most part, which gives Sweet Basil an opportunity to increase dine-in sales to workers during the day and catering services for luncheons and special events. Consumers report that 45% of restaurant pizza orders are for take- out and 20% of orders are for dine in (Barrett, 2010). The general strategy for Sweet Basil will be â€Å"differentiation† as described in Porter's generic strategies (Marketing Management, 2009). Sweet Basil offers an incomparable product compared to the rest because they use the best and highest quality ingredients while having the nines recipes.The key source of this distinction is the â€Å"sweet basil powder† that patrons can top on their pizza after it is made. Take-n-bake pizza is not offered in any other restaurants in the area other than Sweet Basil, which gives them an advantage for consumers that want a more unique taste. Consumers have a need for gre at tasting quality pizza that can be purchased right when they want it with little wait time and low cost. Sweet Basil certainly meets this need with the before mentioned points of difference and being able to dine-in and take-out as well. ND be out quicker than if they purchased fast food.Many consumers like driving by on their way home from work to get a late night special $6 one topping pizza that is hot and ready between 6-pm to feed their family after a busy workday. Others choose to stock up on take-n-bake frozen pizzas to serve at their convenience. Catering services are offered to businesses and patrons that have the need to feed a large event or party and a much more extensive menu is offered in order to add variety. Sweet Basil patrons range from all ages and nationalities, which is the advantage of offering a product that 93% of people engage in at least once a month.Pizza is also a relatively inexpensive way to feed a family and large parties of people in residential are as. This makes pizza ideal for people that are currently affected by the downfall of the economy and increases in unemployment. High school kids and local workers are a major part of the afternoon dine-in business that Sweet Basil receives during the week. Nearly 95% of Sweet Basil's business comes from returning customers, which proves that there is room for new customers. This also roves that the product tastes great and has an eminent price-quality comparison. . 5 Positioning Nearly all Americans enjoy eating pizza because it is a delicious and quick meal, which gives Sweet Basil an advantage over selling other products. In a recent survey initiated by Technetium, results show that 68% of those that have children 18 and under living in their household say that pizza occasions usually involve children (Barrett, 2010). This shows that pizza is a very popular amongst families but Sweet Basil does well with single person households and local workers since pizza is sold by he slice un til pm.This also helps in closing the gap for Sweet Basil's consumers and leaves only those that prefer ordering their pizza and having it delivered. Sweet Basil is not trying to offer delivery service any time soon, but many patrons prefer Just coming in to take-out their pizza rather than ordering delivered pizza from a competitor. This is exactly how Sweet Basil positions itself to consumers; the prices are low and affordable, the quality of food and flavor is unrivaled, and the experience is optimal. As mentioned earlier, â€Å"Sweet Basil† powder adds for a uniqueness that ant be tasted anywhere else which positions the business very well.All pizzas are created from scratch, using a large mixer for dough and fresh store bought produce, meats, and ingredients from local purveyors. Pricing strategies are used as well to effectively position Sweet Basil's food offerings. Sweet Basil sells pizza by the slice for only $1 where other companies may charge up to $3/slice. Sweet Basil also sells its large one topping take-out, dine-in, and take-n-bake pizzas for $8, which is a phenomenal value considering all of the top grade ingredients used.This creates a rice-quality comparison that isn't reciprocated from any competitors in the target market. Sweet Basil is able to position itself to a completely new market with the recent creation of its take-n-bake pizza. Minute reports that frozen pizza can be found in 66% of all households (Barrett, 2010), which gives Sweet Basil a nice competitive advantage over other pizza businesses in the San Gabriel Valley. Sweet Basil notices possible opportunities if they were to contract and create partnerships with local grocery stores and markets. Another possible opportunity in the future would be to

Carmen

Movement, space and dynamics are used in Mat Ek’s work Carmen to portray the various characters throughout the piece and to determine their relationships therefore gaining a greater understanding of the characters and the narrative. Micaela (M) is a respectable and adequate woman who is loyal to her fiance but is always leading him and influencing his behavior in life. The first movement we see from M is at a low height with collapsing, repeated contractions which give us an initial idea of her silent presence amongst her fiance Don Jose while he is conversing with the other solider portraying the idea of her intimidation of other men. Her movements are curved in shape though still very forceful, sharp and have a punch like force about them which gives the idea she is conscience of Jose, giving his directions and guidelines of how the behave. She then progresses into a lot of sustaining movements, which she continuously motions upward, giving the impression and the resemblance of appreciation of life and her faithfulness toward Don Jose. Symbolism of a wish to have a child occurs at 0. 33 through the use of curved â€Å"cradle-like† motions which shows the couples desire to settle down and be a family. There is also a repetitive floor pattern as M often travels away from Don Jose but then travels directly back towards his representing her dedication and loyalty as she always returns to her fiance and also the idea of her constant presence. M’s dynamics then take a sudden change as she is not longer performing contracted, closed movements in a repetitive nature which portrayed her ideal feministic nature of being loyal and she now has a less controlled nature about her performing asymmetrical kicks and contrasting shapes as she seems to let loose the further she ventures away from Jose which symbolizes her soul connection to him as she always returns back. The duet performed by M and Don Jose see’s M return to her original circular, curved shape movements and we see Jose’s unison with her, always a step behind which gives a sense she is showing him the way. Both of their movements are free yet heavy and they have a curved shape about them implying the hidden control and tension between them but also the trance they set each other in as the appear slightly â€Å"playful† and always drawn upwards with high levels and strong gestures such as lifting M up at 1:39 and high suspension movements at 1:09 to the sky symbolizing the feeling of being content and happy. Jose’s continuous following of M and his placement in space of always being slightly behind M symbolizes his shyness and the controlling nature his fiance possesses over him. At 1:44 we see M and Jose linking arms with M pointing to the direction she wishes to head while Jose looks at her in admiration and awaiting her next gesture again portraying the idea of her leading and controlling power she has over him and his obedience to this power. As the group of female dancers come in we see a dramatic change in the dynamics and movements of the dance as in comparison to M, these dancers have a much more open body position about them with much greater use of the entire kinosphere of each individual. The use of multiple kicks and turns which take up a large amount of space around the dancer display their confidence and high self esteem. At 2:45 the girls perform a controlled turn as they have a strong posture and arm position with head titled towards the sky to convey a strong, open shape which further portrays the idea of the confidence and â€Å"teasing† nature they possess in the males presence. As the males and female perform a direct swap in sides we see the males perform loose, uncontrolled arm movements which shows the uncontrollable urge they have to go and â€Å"dance† with the girls and how crazy they females make them along with the back and forth floor pattern the girls create as they swap sides and they lead the boys in and then head back the other direction which also conveys the teasing nature of the females. At 3:12 the males perform a percussive movement as the floor pattern leads them towards the females which emphasizes their excitement, yet the fact they are giving into the females which comments on the power the women posses over the men. The floor pattern shows the males always behind and following in the females paths, almost repeating similar movements that the females do which further emphasizes the idea of the females controlling the males actions and the males chasing them. This idea is also finally show at 3:29 when the females run over the backs of the males showing their dominance and power over them. Escamillo, the confident and desired new man in town conveys the idea of his confidence and power over everyone in his dramatic entry at 3:39 as the first movement we see of him is a open, strong and angular jump travelling to stage front. This jump automatically gives us the idea of his superiority over everyone else. His movements are sharp and angular which the choreographer to convey his confident, powerful ersonality and his intriguing use of controlled and dramatic dynamics of movements. The final section performed by the girls shows a soften, less controlling side of them which is communicated by their use of curved, soft movements and powerless dynamics and motions and shows the idea of their admiration and lust toward Escamillo. In conclusion, the use of various dynamics, movement and space is used in the extract to portray the characters, thei r emotions and determine relationships and further enhance and gain a better understanding of the characters to overall convey the narrative.

South China Sea petro-politics Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

South China Sea petro-politics - Term Paper Example South China Sea is a vast area in the Pacific Ocean that stretches from Singapore to Taiwan and borders mainland china to the North, Philippines to the west, Malaysia to the north east and Indonesia and Vietnam to the south east. South China Sea has remained a major maritime heart of the entire South East Asia region and its strategic location has particularly made it one of the busiest international sea lanes. The geopolitics of the region has been particularly characterized by disputes that dates back to the end of the World War 11 when the bordering states such as Vietnam, mainland China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia began to scramble to occupy the various islands in the region (Burgess, 2003). Historically the South China Sea region has for a long time been considered to a major flashpoint for regional tensions in the Southeast Asia. Although the conflicts have primarily been territorial and political disputes, the main cause of these political challenges is the scramble for the energy resources in the region. This is particularly because the region is estimated to have as high s 213 billion barrels of oil and this is a huge prize. On the other hand, the region also has n abundant natural gas reserves estimated to be around 266 trillion cubic feet and this is nearly 70% of the regions total petroleum resources. Since the 1990s, the disputes in the volatile region have increasingly transformed from a purely territorial conflict to a chain of interconnected conflicts involving competitive claims of oil and gas energy reserves as well as the other ocean resources such as fishing. With an estimated oil and gas energy reserves of nearly 28billion barrels according to American experts, the sensitivity of the regions conflicts has significantly impeded any effort to harness these petro energy resources as well as the effective determination of their economic feasibility of the resources in the region. This paper critically discusses the current petro-politics in the South China Sea with particular focus on the background of events as well as the interplay of the factors that have contributed to the current conflicts in the regions. Geopolitical and territorial disputes in the South China Sea The South China petro-politics has largely been characterized by an interstate dispute over territory and s overeignty of the vast resources found in the area particularly in the two islands of Spratlys and Paracels that are claimed by a number of countries in the region. For instance, according to Shen(2002), China claims almost the entire region stretching hundreds of miles arguing that it has a historical right over the area since it has always been an integral part of China for more than 2000 years. On the other hand, Vietnam has been increasingly disputing China’s historical account and the Asia country maintains that China only began to claim sovereignty over the two islands and the surrounding regions in the 1940s. According to Vietnam, both the chains of Islands and their surrounding regions are entirely within its territory and the country has documents to prove that it has been actively ruling Spratys and Paracels islands since the 17th century. The other major claimant of the energy rich region is Philippines which justifies its claims by its close geographical proximity to the two island chains. Both China and Philippines also claim another island known as Huangyan Island which is 100miles away from the Philippines and 500 miles from china(Manning, 2000). Additionally Malaysia and Brunei are now claiming a significant chunk of the South China Sea territory arguing that the region falls within their economic exclusion zones as defined by the UN convention on the law of the sea which was ratified in 1982.Brunei however does not claim any of the Islands that are currently under dispute. History of the conflict In 1947, the then Chinese government

Whom can art offend Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Whom can art offend - Essay Example in Germany had confiscated the art space in the country, by terming such art as â€Å"degenerate† and thus establishing policies that would restrict the use of modern art in Germany1. This art exhibition was organized by Adolf Ziegler, and it was attended by over three million people, who were involved in viewing different artwork exhibitions. Despite this exhibition being a response to the restriction of the application of modern art in Germany, the exhibition was able to meet its objective of popularizing the modern art that Germany was prohibiting. In this respect, art can be offensive to some part of the society, based on the content of artwork that is being displayed, which the society might consider to be offensive, or to be against the acceptable social moral values2. Thus, while the Degenerate Art Exhibition could have been offensive to the German government and some of the German population that was opposed to the modern art principles, the Islamic world has been offe nded by several art applications throughout the modern history. The Islam world has considered some form of art, both print and visual, as offensive to the ideals and values that the Muslims holds dear. "The Innocence of Mohammed" is one of such films that was developed and aired in America, directed by Sam Bacile, which then became highly controversial due to its anti-Prophet Muhammad d and anti-Islam sentiments and contents3. The release of the film caused the Islamic world to protest against its allowed viewership, considering that the film was ridiculing the very fundamental Muslim principles that the religion regards critical. In response to the release of the film in 2012, protests sparked in different Muslim nations, such as Egypt, Syria and Libya, where the protesters were involved in â€Å"burning the USA flag and also attacking the USA diplomats† to those countries4. The protests were far more violent in Libya, where the protesters burnt down the USA consulate in the country and also

Abstract article on evolution of hazardous explosives emergency Research Paper

Abstract article on evolution of hazardous explosives emergency response - Research Paper Example The trend today has been the development of realistic plans which are put down on paper. It is however noted that the emphasis of putting such plans on paper has to some extent drawn focus away from the planning process itself and from the original goal of ensuring that the community is well prepared in the case of emergencies. Unlike in previous times when emergency response was the preserve of federal, regional and local governments, the activity today involves policy makers, law enforcement agencies as well as the military. With regard to terrorism, a lot of emphasis has been put on understanding the way human beings behave when subjected to stress based on information logically drawn from past studies on technological and natural disasters. Explosion emergency preparedness and response today involves the sharing of information and cooperative planning among a diversity of parties unlike what used to happen a couple of decades ago. One of the main concerns when it comes to emergency response planning and execution is citizen panic. Based on past experiences with natural and technological disasters, new models of human behaviour in the event of different explosive disasters have been developed. A lot of variations in human behaviour in disasters are based on the effects and nature of the agents that cause the explosion. Past studies have shown that some agents cause higher and more acute fear levels as compared to others. Some of the elements that have been considered by emergency planners and responders in the event of disasters include the patterns of citizen response which are impacted by such factors as disaster syndrome, and panic among other factors. In general, it is noted that the response of citizens in the event of disasters such as explosions can be predicted. The outcome of such disasters on victims and citizens to a large extent can be extrapolated from past literature on people’s responses to