Essay on Asymmetric Threat and Differences between International and

On Asymmetric Threat and Differences between International and Domestic Terrorism - Essay Example This form of intimidated has caused the nation to suffer economically as the security of the citizens is compromised while working thus affecting productivity. Terrorism is among the asymmetrical risks affecting the United States. The term asymmetrical threat refers to a threat where the group causing the terror is widely spread and operates within a shadowy network. The group is difficult to identify as it is camouflaged within the citizens living in the country. The organized groups are at times well funded and possess technology and weapons that are used to cause terror within the country. In simpler terms, asymmetric treats can be used to refer the technique of warfare that is not fair. The term fair in war can be used to refer to the use of surprise or unconventional weapon during the war. Asymmetric treat is successful mainly due to the use of the attacker’s strength to exploit the opponent’s weakness. Politics plays a significant part in the nature of terrorism w ithin a country. The United States have been attacked by many threats from Muslim nations. The world trade center came under attack from a Pakistani decedent in 1993 called Ramzi Yousef. The group parked an explosive filled rental van in the packing lot of tower one. His idea was to collapse the tower onto the second tower using urea nitrate. The bomb did a lot of  destruction but did not collapse according to Ramzi’s plan (Post, Ruby & Shaw, 2002). The paper will evaluate some of the asymmetric threats in the history of the  US and the cause of action taken by the government to counter these asymmetric threats. The government can act through legislative and executive means. This means that the legislative arm of government can create new law or the executive can make laws responding to the treat. One of the significant asymmetrical threats suffered by the US in the resent past includes the September Eleventh bombing of the trade towers. The threats become eminent due to the influence of the US on foreign Muslim nation and the war against terrorism. Prior to the bombing, a series of bombing aimed towards the US and its allies had been witnessed with bombing in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, claiming a total of 19 US casualties and a significant number of the nations citizens (Post, Ruby & Shaw, 2002). The organization responsible for this attack and the threat was the Al-Qaeda group headed by Osama Bin Laden. On September 11, the group hijacked four passenger airliners and attacked America’s trade center which doubled as a symbol of the nation’s economic and military strength. The air strike resulted to the destruction of the buildings and the  killing of 2,726 people on American soil. The action taken by the legislature was aimed at ensuring that such an attack did not take place again and capturing the mastermind of the attack. The public law 107-40 was among the law passed giving the president the power to use force necessary to elim inate any organization responsible. Laws governing judicial detentions were amended to allow secret detention. The department of homeland security was created during this period. The USA patriotic Act allowed the USA government to interdict terrorist and also a criminal statute against those harboring terrorists (Monaghan, 2000). The post World War II world raised increasing concerns regarding the communism threat. Those accused of communism and involvement with the

Swot Analysis Essay Example for Free

Swot Analysis Essay SWOT Analysis is a famous tool to analysis overall strategic position of the business and environment. Besides, people used SWOT Analysis to identify their strategies and create a specific business model that best aligns all the resources and capabilities to requirement to environment which the firm operates. SWOT has divided into two, which is internal factors (S, W)that firm have some to measure it, meanwhile, external factors(O, T) is something not control by us. Strengths are qualities that enable company to achieve their mission; we can observe several strengths from Citibank. Citibank is a global network company by almost seven of the top ten banks in the world and considered as the market share leadership in world. Citibank has experienced to emerge into many foreign markets, although they had not always been a world- class success story. In addition, Citibank is an innovative company who always come out with some ‘new’ services to customer. By open a multinational account services, Citibank has gained the confidence from Japanese consumers. The strong focus on technology and innovative financial services help Citibank to won many awards. Citibank has a good training and development for their employee too. There is always a mentor to guide their employee progress. Hence, Citibank people are great demand from other banks. On the other hand, Citibank do have some weaknesses that may influence Citibank success and growth. They face some conflicts came from bad management and coordination. Citibank merged with Citicorp and Travelers group, there is a report of differences and conflict between two co-CEO, John Reed and Sanford Weill. This problem arises due to different cultures of two organizations. There may lead some communication problems between them, which by language and cultural barriers. External Factors has opportunity and threat, which is not under company control. Opportunity of Citibank is they have offered retail banking services. Citibank has launched their strategy of localized commitment, to employ 95% local employee in Japan. By implement this strategy, Citibank has become very popular by government. Citibank has many opportunities to expand to other foreign countries by implement the multinational account. It will win consumer heart and helps Citibank to become a first enter foreign market more successful. Citibank certainly have threat, the main threat of Citibank is competitor. Citibank’s major competitors include domestic and foreign competitors.  Examples of domestic company are Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubisi and Sanwa Bank. Foreign company are HSBC and Deutche Bank. But Citibank has many competitive advantages which are strong brand equity, innovation a nd localized high employees. With all these competitive advantages, Citibank has much percentage to win among so many competitors.

The Globalization of Service Marketing Essay Example for Free

The Globalization of Service Marketing Essay Nowadays, the globalization pushes the service marketing into the fierce competition. Furthermore ,we can not avoid it ,because it influence every aspect of our lives. So many people think whether it is an opportunity or a challenge in this fierce competition? How Can they take use of the service to dominate the marketplace. This essay will discuss how does the globalization affect the service marketing, how do the companies manage the service in the globalization? The overview There is no doubt that the rapid progress in science and technology improve the quality of the products. but because of the sharing technology, there is not much difference between the products. And with the change of demand,the service marketing are playing an important role in the market . Furthermore , with the development of the globalization,no one can say that goods can live without service. The basically and most important is that the services are driving the development of the economy and provide jobs for many people. For example, in the USA, services now services now accounted for 74 percent of US gross domestic products. And in 1970s service jobs accounted for 55 percent of all jobs, today it account for 82 percent of total employment . The idea in tangible The impact of globalization on service marketing is very obvious ,such as Wall Mart ? Carrefour ? McDonald ? Kentucky , they are affected by the globalization. Now they open the branches all over the world, in our Mian Yang we also can see their branches. So their service around the world Therefore, other companies should know how to manage the service in the globalization, and improve the quality of service to meet the customer. Firstly, the company must know that the globalization of service marketing brings risks and opportunities. They must to be familiar with the new market. furthermore,In order to satisfy the customers, maintain the customers and their loyalty , the company must identify the potential customers and their different services demand, especially those 20% customers which can bring 80% of a company’s profits. Secondly ,different people have different demand,different people from different places have different culture . That is to say, the company must develop a service delivery system that standardizes the service offering. Thirdly, the company will be given greater in the use of promotional techniques to development the new market, so the advertisement and the internet can do it. The ads as a medium can give information with clear and definite objectives. It also can transmit message about the products. Above all ,the ads create a good image of the company and attract the customers to buy products. As for the internet, it always plays an important role in the service. The internet provides a very convenient way in the service marketing, No matter where and when, the internet service marketing can do it, it make the service more efficiency . For example, Tao Bao is good online shopping platform, we are glad to buy on the Tao Bao . The Payoff It is obviously that the globalization affects the service marketing greatly. The companies focus on the technical in the product, it can promote the sales, at the same time, it also improves the quality of service. And for the service delivery system, it meet different demands, make the customers feel well, in the long run ,those customers is our honest customers . he ad and internet is very important two parts in the service ,it make the service more convenient and efficiency. The customer satisfaction become the key in industry, and all the companies have to know, it is more important to focus on the customers, and the company must pay more attention to the quality control? technical resources, The Close Economic globalization lead to the service marketing becomes a great global market; the most important is that the service marketing has a huge market with big potential and wide prospect. The companies do not only care about the products they sell, but also concern about the customers, and they must care about the whole service process. All companies should size the opportunity of globalization to make use the technical resources to improve the quality of product. Besides the ad and internet must use for improving the image of company. In a word, the globalization influences the whole service process. The globalization makes the companies open their branches from here and there, the product spread the global, so the service around the world too.

Perceptions Of Risk And Travel Intentions Tourism Essay

Perceptions Of Risk And Travel Intentions Tourism Essay Despite its resilience, tourism is also seen as a fragile industry as it is vulnerable towards various attacks and crises events, such as wars, incidents of terrorism, outbreak of diseases, political instability, and so on. Boniface and Cooper (2005) noticed that in recent years, the global tourism industry has suffered an increasing number of serious disasters and crises. The impact of globalization of the tourism market means that events occurring in one part of the world can have a significant impact on other parts of the world. Tourism is an important economic sector for many countries. However, as the tourism industry is highly prone to risk from external factors and pressures in the operating environment, planners in charge of tourism have to develop strategies to manage the impact of crises and disasters so as to protect society in general and tourism business in particular. Against this background, this chapter offers a better understanding of the type of travel risks, touris ts perceptions of travel risks, the impact of perceptions of risk on travellers travel intentions and travel risks associated with Thailand. TRAVEL RISKS Risk is defined as the uncertainty a person would face when they cannot foresee the consequences of a decision made (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000). It has become an important factor when it comes to considering global tourism because safety, calm and peace are the fundamentals in attracting potential tourists to a destination (Sonmez, 1998). Travel risk is defined as the possibility of meeting a danger while engaging in travel (Fischhoff et al. 1984) or the consciousness of security and awareness of the likelihood of damage during travel (Wogalter et al. 1999). Tourists will experience travel risk during the process of consuming and purchasing travel services (Tsaur et al. 1997). Perceived travel risk is often referred to travellers perception of negative results of buying travel products (Murray 1991; Dowling and Staelin 1994; Zeithaml and Bitner 2003) or the unclear travel decision outcome (MacCrimmons and Wehrung 1986). Perceptions of travel risk vary according to different types of travel risk (Reisinger and Mavondo 2005). In the tourism literature, there are several types of travel risk listed out by tourism scholars such as cultural risk, equipment or functional risk, crime risk, health risk, financial risk, physical risk, natural disaster risk, psychological risk, political risk, social risk, terrorism risk and time risk (Reisinger and Mavondo 2006a, 2006b). Reisinger and Mavondo (2006a, 2006b) offer definitions of these various risks: Cultural risk: refers to the possibility of facing cultural misunderstanding, difficulties in communicating with foreigners, inability to adjust to the life and living standards in the foreign land. Equipment or functional risk: is the likelihood of equipment, mechanical, organizational problems that may occur during travel or at a destination (accommodation, attractions and transportation). Roehl and Fesenmaier (1992) found out from their research result that the respondents mentioned equipment risk as the highest perceived risk factor among the others. Crime risk: refers to the possibility of victim being robbed or becoming the subject of a murder or rape. Health risk: is the possibility of getting sick and unwell while travelling or at a destination. It was stated by Richter (2003) that health organisation such as World Health Organization (WHO) was not successful in performing its original duty of reporting and preventing the outbreak of new and serious disease. However, there is an increasing number of individuals awareness towards the seriousness of heath risk they may face while travelling abroad. Health diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in the Asia-Pacific region and Mad Cow Disease in Europe have caused a significant impact towards travel flows (Richter, 2003). Financial risk: refers to the possibility of travellers not being able to obtain value for money, lost or waste money if the expectation for the trip is not fulfilled. In tourism, price was a major demand factor. Hsieh et al. (1994) found that both non-package and package tourists have the common view of getting the value for the amount that they have paid for their vacation. Physical risk: refers to the possibility of getting injured physically; it includes danger and injury that are harmful to health (accidents). It was also defined as the possibility that there is a probability that ones health will be exposed to risk, sickness and injury due to the factors like weather, law and hygiene problems found during the tour (Tsuar, Tzeng and Wang, 1997). Natural disaster risk: refers to the possibility of being affected by a natural disaster event such as eruptions of volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, typhoons, floods, tsunamis, wildfires and droughts. Psychological risk: imply that there may be a possibility of damaging self-image as the travel experience may not reflect the tourists personality or self-image. Political risk: means that tourists may get involved in the political chaos of the destination being visited. Social risk: refers to the possibility of disapproval from friends, associates or family with regards to the vacation choices. Tourist may suffer a lower social and personal status or emerge as being unfashionable. Also, as according to Reimer (1990), he argued that the style of vacation such as the number of places visited, distance travelled, regularity of travelling and destinations unusual nature may impress a travellers peers. Or that with the existence of peer pressure, it can act as a strong motivation for people to purchase upscale trips. Terrorism risk: relates to the possibility of being caught in a terrorist act, for example hijacked plane, biochemical attack or bomb explosion. Time risk: refers to the possibility of wasting too much time on travel experience, as the tourist waste time doing unnecessary stuff or that the product did not perform on time. Perceptions of Risk and Travel IntentionS One of the factors affecting a tourists decision-making process is perception of risk. In this sense, it acts as a deciding factor (Freyer and Schroder, 2007, p. 136), and has significant impact on tourism demand. For example, studies have illustrated that perceptions of high risk in a destination are associated with a decrease in the demand of tourism (Prideaux and Laws, 2007; Sonmez, Apostolopoulos and Tarlow, 1999). This could be due to the fact that tourists buying behaviour is influenced by destination image and that with the freedom to choose from a wide range of destinations, most tourists are not likely to travel to places associated with risks (Pechlaner et al. 2007, p. 158). Destination image affects not only the travel decision of potential travellers but also acts as an influential factor towards the perceptions and holiday activities of tourists at a particular location. Therefore, when a destination is linked to negative images, there will be a probability that the tour ists will choose a safer substitute destination (Freyer and Schroder, 2007, p. 136; Gurtner, 2007, p. 82). It is useful to understand how individuals are influenced by perceived risk while making the decision. In general, perceptions of individuals may be affected by external factors that are a problem for local tourism business and destination management to influence (Kozak, Crotts and Law, 2007). There are uncontrollable factors such as natural disasters (Faulkner and Vikulov, 2001; Huang and Min, 2002; Huan et al. 2004), outbreaks of diseases (MacLaurin, 2004) and terrorism attacks. These types of factors may cause a lasting effect in the perceptions of tourists when they happen. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the nature of these incidents and disasters so as to foresee the potential impacts they have on the industry and to control their consequences. Recognizing human basic needs for safety and security is needed to make potential tourists feel safe prior or during their trips. However, it is unfortunate to know that safety and security problems are often destination depende nt (Kozak, Crotts and Law, 2007). Sonmez and Graefe (1998b) identified two types of decision makers, risk averse individuals and risk seekers. Risk averse decision makers would prefer to choose a destination of lower risk and are willing to forgo some expected return in order to reduce differences in possible outcomes. On the other hand, risk seekers are likely to show less concern regarding safety factors towards the choice of destination and are most willing to sacrifice some expected return. Clearly, information about the factors influencing perceptions of risk would allow tourism and destination managers to develop a better understanding of what may potentially scare off tourism market segments as well as what they can do to attract them (Dolnicar, 2007, p. 107). Reisinger and Mavondo (2006) stated that each and every individual perceive and react to travel risk differently. It is said that tourists perceptions towards travel risk differ depending on gender (Darley and Smith 1995; Loker-Murphy and Pearce 1995; Carr 2001; Lepp and Gibson 2003). However, Sonmez and Graefe (1998) argued that there is no relationship between gender and travel risk whereas Mattila et al. (2001) identify some gender differences in health risk behaviour during travel period. It is also said that females have restrictions in their choice of travel due to their gender (Lynch and Atkins, 1998). This could be due to the fact that females generally perceive higher travel risks than men. For example, women are more concerned about food and health related risks and that experienced male travellers are less likely to change their travel plans when it comes to facing potential terrorism, natural disaster and health related risks (Kozak et al. 2007). In addition, other than g ender, personality might be influential on individuals perception of travel risk as well (Carr, 2001). Tourists perceptions of travel risk also differ depending on age as younger tourists tend to perceive higher travel risk than older tourists. This also means that travel-related risk actually declines as individuals grow older (Gibson and Yiannakis, 2002). It is said that older individuals can be more or less risk averse than young individuals depending on their wide personal and observational learning experiences, experimentations and abstract conceptualisation. However, Sonmez and Graefe (1998b) argued that there is no relationship between age and travel risk. In this case, the relationship between age and perception of travel risk remains unclear. Reisinger and Movondo (2006a, 2006b) argue that, different nationalities and cultures are differentiating factors with respect to perceptions of travel risk. Bontempo et al. (1997) found that risk perception of tourists from western countries differs significantly from that of Chinese tourists. Kozak et al. (2007) used Hofstedes (2010) concept of Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) theory to observe international perceptions of related travel risk in terms of ambiguity and uncertainty; it shows the residents comfort level in terms of low, medium and high risk avoidance. Travellers from high UAI cultures, tend to perceive higher risks when compared to travellers from low UAI cultures (Hofstede and Hofstede 2005). Typically, travellers coming from high UAI (risk-avoiding) cultures do not feel at ease in environment listed as unstructured, risky and unclear as they feel threatened by the ambiguous and unknown. Whereas tourists coming from low UAI (risk-tolerant) cultures are typically more comf ortable with environments involving uncertainty and risk. Low UAI countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and China tend to be more sensitive towards terrorist attack, infectious disease and natural disaster risks (Kozak et al. 2007). Travellers from high UAI countries, such as Germany, perceive higher travel risks and anxiety as compared to Singaporean tourists (Reisinger and Movondo, 2006a). With anxiety, there will be a significant impact on travel intention and perceptions of safety (Reisinger and Movondo, 2005). Past experiences and familiarity with a destination are also factors that affect tourists perceptions of travel risks. Tourists who are more experienced in travelling may perceive lower risks, due to the confidence in the destination gained from previous positive visits (Sonmez and Graefe, 1998b; Lepp and Gibson, 2003; Kozak et al. 2007). However, if the last visit to the destination turns out to be negative, it may cause potential tourists to be nervous about future options. Also, individuals who have travelled to the destination before are more likely to return to the place as they are familiar with the location and that increases their sense of safety in the destination. Relevant research also indicates that tourists who travel with friends/family/partner (collectivists) perceive lower travel risk than tourists who travel alone (individualists). Travel activities involving group activities help act as a cushion against potential risks whereas travelling alone expose individuals to numerous potential risks (Weber and Hsee, 1998). Lastly, tourists perception of travel risk differs according to their education background as well (Sonmez and Graefe, 1998). Better educated tourists are better informed and aware of real travel risks through information obtained from reliable sources. They do not engage, therefore, in misunderstanding of the real situation, hence perceiving lower risks than lower-educated tourists (Laver et al. 2001). Also, according to Park and Reisinger (2010), high income tourists perceive a lower influence of travel risks than low income tourists. It could be due to the availability of finances that lead to a lower concern in travel risks as they have the money to sacrifice if there is a need to pay for damages. It is important to understand the importance of safety and security concerns of potential travellers over a destination, as according to Buttle and Bok (1996) travellers are generally affected by their own perception of risk while making travel decisions. For example, it is highly possible that when travellers perceive higher potential risks as compared to the benefits they might acquire from travelling to a destination, there will be a tendency of cancelling the trip to the destination. This is clearly supported by Sonmez and Graefe (1998a), who state that there is a high probability that tourists would avoid travelling to a destination if they associate the destination with the existence of high levels of risk. As judging from past incidents, there was an indication of an increasing demand in cancellation of trips or holiday plans just right after the attack of 9/11 (Chen and Noriega, 2004; Floyd et al. 2004; Kingsbury and Brunn, 2004). SINGAPOREAN TOURISTS AND RISK PERCEPTIONS As a small country with limited choices of entertainment and natural sceneries for the locals to enjoy, many Singaporeans tend to find the opportunity to travel out of Singapore (Lim and Lui, 2009). There has been an increase in the total number of Singaporeans travelling outbound. With the data extracted from Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA, 2009), it indicates an increase of 804,234 outbound Singapore residents in year 2008 to 6,828,362 as compared to 6,024,128 in 2007. It was also reported that there are an increasing trend among Singaporeans within the age range of 18 to 65 years old to travel to nearby countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and Hong Kong (Lim and Lui, 2009). This could be due to the living lifestyle of Singapore residents as employed Singaporeans generally earn a decent amount of income, and fresh universities graduates receive a good starting pay from their first official job. Which shows a society that is willing to spend on leisu re and recreational activities as travel is considered as part of their lifestyle. According to Lim and Lui (2009) findings, wide spread of swine flu in America and Mexico did stirred up fear among Singaporeans who are intending to travel within Asia Pacific. However, it was not confirmed or known if any risk or crisis would affect Singaporeans plans towards international travelling. ABOUT THAILAND AND TRAVEL RISKS The discussion now turns to Thailand, the research context of this study. Thailand is a country the economy of which depends heavily on its tourism industry. Tourism is the major export service of Thailand, actually accounting to about 6-7 percent of the countrys national Gross Domestic Product (EIU ViewsWire, 2003). From a tourism perspective, over the years Thailand has been branded as a friendly, exotic, exciting and natural destination. It is considered to be a popular travel destination among tourists as it is considered to be a hospitable country towards visitors as well as a country rich in cultural heritage, historical tourist destinations and natural attractions (Koumelis 2004; National Identity Board, 2000). Tourists generally have many choices on attractions and activities in Thailand as there is a wide selection such as: the beautiful beaches located in the South, rainforests and mountains in the North, huge shopping malls or market located in the city, etc. According to Rogers (2003, p. 276), the most important factor attracting tourists would have to be the value for money. Staying in Thailand is cheap because of the availability of cheap accommodation and food. Engaging in activities does not cost much, which is why the destination attracts many young tourists as it is affordable. Thus, with a combination of all these favorable factors, Thailand emerges as an attractive tourism destination. However, according to Campiranon, K. (2008), there has been a rise in the number of the occurrence of crises events in Thailand has caused worries regarding their impact on the image of the country. For example, towards the end of 2004, disasters such as the Tsunami, SARS epidemic, bird flu or avian flu had caused a significant drop in international arrivals to the country. In addition, the serious worldwide recession emerging in mid 2008, caused a decrease in the desire of tourists to travel. Furthermore, Thailand was suffering from political instability crises, whereby the Suvarnabhumi Airport was closed down on 26 November 2008 by the yellow shirt or Peoples Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters, which mainly consists of royalists, businessmen and the urban middle class who are the opposition of the former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra and his allies. On 11 April 2009, Thailand was assigned to hold the East Asia Summit in Pattaya, but this resulted in an attack by the Red shirt mob, which mainly consists by a large proportion of rural-based and working-class Thais who are the supporters of Thaksin and his policies. This caused the significant delay of the summit and the evacuation of world leaders to safety. Following the cancellation of the East Asian summit was the uprising of violent riots and the declaration of emergency by the prime minister the very next day. The graph below illustrates the international tourist arrivals to Thailand between years 2007 to 2010. Source: www.ThaiWebsites.com According to the data extracted from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT, 2010), there have been a decrease in international arrivals from 3.64 million in the first quarter to 2.96 million in the second quarter of 2009. As compared to the previous first two quarters of 2007 and 2008, the figures appeared to be lower. However, despite all the serious commotions that had happen in April, tourism arrivals increased towards the end of 2009. In the last quarter of 2009, it was reported to have a higher arrival rate as compared to 2007 and 2008. It was then brought forward to the first quarter of 2010, whereby there was a significant increase in tourist arrivals. However, just when hopes of returning to healthy levels of industry growth were up, serious demonstrations held by the Red shirts during the month of April negatively affected tourist arrivals in the second quarter of 2010. From here, we can see that with the negative factors affecting Thailands tourism, the influence of it act ually seems to last just a few months each time it happen, and that tourists will resume their interest in Thailand as their selected tourist destination thereafter (ThaiWebsites, 2010). CONCLUSIONS Following the analysis presented in this chapter, the main conclusion is that a negative destination image leads to negative tourists perceptions of risk. This in turn affects tourists intention to visit the destination if there are other options to choose. Also of particular relevance to this study is the conclusion that tourists perceptions of risk is associated with factors such as socio-demographic variables (e.g. age, gender), previous travel experience, travel party size, education level and nationality. Travelling has been part of Singaporeans lifestyle as Singapore lacks the leisure activities and natural sceneries to entertain the locals in long run. Therefore, travelling to nearby countries like Thailand is an attractive destination choice as it is affordable and suitable for short holiday trips. There is however, no known data on how Singaporeans are affected by risk or crisis towards their holiday planning. In recent years, Thailand has been vulnerable towards risks such as the outbreak of diseases, natural disasters as well as political instability. Visitor arrivals were seen to have decreased during the occurrence of crises events, and various businesses were affected as a result. Thus, this study aims to study the following three researched question: Singaporeans have a low perception of risk with regards to travel to Thailand. Socio-demographic has a positive relationship with the perceptions of risk. Intention to travel has a positive relationship with the perception of risk.

Personal Narrative - Rejoice in the Lord Always Essay -- Personal Narr

Personal Narrative- The Bible Spoke to Me I sat on my bed. Alone. Lonely. But I wasn’t. Everything that everyone had said, left unsaid, was with me. Smothering me. As scenes danced mockingly through my mind, I cried out, â€Å"Does anyone care about me?! Does anyone care if I come to school or church-would anyone notice if I just quit?!† A small, still voice whispered in my ear. Something stirred, struggling to be free, but my tormented mind smothered it, preferring to drown in self pity. â€Å"Does anyone listen to me? Does anyone want me?† I moaned. As I sank into despair, a book caught my eye. Buried beneath homework, magazines, and litter was my poor bedraggled Bible, falling apart from years of use-none of it recent. I dragged it out and opened it to Philippians. â€Å"Rejoice in...

Is Atkins good or bad? :: essays research papers fc

Is Atkins good or bad?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Take a good look around, and you will see sexy and skinny people staring you in the face in some shape or form by the media. It seems like a propaganda machine that is trying to poison your mind, telling you can only be attractive, if you are either super skinny or super buff. Well folks, I have something to say. Look around and examine the average person. Most people do not look like models. To be attractive is to be thin, so a long-standing fad is people doing whatever it takes to be thin. As a consensus, America is not very patient, so we go for the quick fix. That is where the new Atkins diet comes into play. Eat all the fatty foods we want, and we can lose weight? Yes, sign me up for that. Is this paradise or what? No restrictions on diet and the pounds melt away. Millions of people swear on it. However, some do not buy into this high fat, low carbohydrate diet. Most physicians and nutritionist’s believe Atkins diet has long-term effects that endanger your health.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The influence of Atkins is spreading all over the country. Some restaurants are promoting having an Atkins friendly menu, so people can eat fatty but low carbohydrate foods. Carbohydrates if you did not know are energy that you get from grain products such as bread and pasta. When you do not burn the energy, it gets stored in your body, and it becomes fat. It is as simple as that. However, with the media promoting it all over, this trend is spiraling out of control. Millions of people are swearing by it. I am guessing this is due to the mindset of our country. We are always on the outlook for a painless and easy shortcut. Since this is a new trend, not much is known about the long-term effects of this diet, but many scientists are skeptical, because it is contradicting their earlier philosophy of losing weight by eating less, and exercising more. â€Å"Most public health professionals and organizations strongly disapprove of this diet.† (Goodman) I feel that while this benefits you in the short run, you are only setting yourself up for failure, when you return to your normal diet. Seriously, think about it, how can you say no to French toast or pasta from Olive Garden?

Nazis Pursuit of the Perfect Race :: Marriage Germany Nazis History Essays

Nazis' Pursuit of the Perfect Race The organization of the argument of this paper is not particularly imaginative since this writer â€Å"lists† elements in a strictly sequential order, but he or she demonstrates familiarity with a wide range of documents and concepts of the Reader while working closely with the specific language of the document he or she is presenting. 1. Remember that you are a German. 2. If you are genetically healthy you should not remain unmarried. 3. Keep your body pure. 4. You should keep your mind and spirit pure. 5. As a German choose only a spouse of the same or Nordic blood. 6. In choosing a spouse ask about his ancestors. 7. Health is also a precondition for physical beauty. 8. Marry only for love. 9. Don't look for a playmate but for a companion for marriage. 10. You should want to have as many children as possible." (CR 286) This document, the "Ten Commandments for Choosing a Spouse" from the "Advice Center for the Improvement of Genetic and Racial Health" of the Aryan society, is a compilation of recommendations to reinforce the position of the "Nazi policy of pursing racial purity" (Ellis, Esler 365). It was published in 1934 as Nazi propaganda to influence the public to move towards the Nazi government's ideal society of Aryans. The problem in executing this plan was that the restrictions placed by the Nazi government against non-citizens caused the marriage rate to decline. In achieving this dream, Hitler tried to redefine gender roles in Nazi Germany in order to return the woman to the household and "restore her to her true profession - motherhood" (Ellis, Esler 365). The "Ten Commandments for Choosing a Spouse" is an example of Hitler's campaign towards his Aryan utopian society. Even though the high school textbook claims that women took secondary roles in Nazi Germany, women were so important to the