Pricing Strategies for FirstGroup PLC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Pricing Strategies for FirstGroup PLC - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the FirstGroup Company operates a wide range of transport services such as bus, coach, rail & tram, as well as, the yellow school bus. The headquarters of the company are at Aberdeen Scotland, with the company’s Chief Executive Officer and chairperson being Tim O’Toole and Martin Gilbert respectively. These two provide the company with a great insight and appropriate leadership necessary to achieve its goals and objectives. The incorporation of the company was in 1986 and has had tremendous growth over the years to expand its operations even to international markets. Currently, it is among the leading transport services company in the world, specializing in road and rail transport. This is evident from the revenue brought in by the company over the years, such as in March 2013, the company recorded net revenue of  £ 6,901 million. On the other hand, the operating income of the company for the same financial period was  £ 335 million, whil e the net income for the company during the same period was  £ 172 million. This shows how profitable the company is in its operations. the company provides employment opportunities to numerous jobless people across the markets in which it operates, with its number of employees by the end of a trading period of March 2013 being 120,000. In addition, the company has an online platform that enables its customers to enjoy convenience and efficiency while dealing with it, as well as, provide the company an opportunity to increase its market control and holding within the industry by gaining a competitive advantage over other market players. The FirstGroup PLC undertakes a number of transport services across various markets and routes within the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Ireland and Denmark where it operates. In order to maximize its profits, the company has to adopt a pricing strategy that enables it to make a profit with every transaction. As such, it adopts a differ ent pricing strategy depending on the type of transport service it provides, such as by bus, train or tram, as well as, the route and distance in which it operates, considering the other factors if transportation such as traffic jams, calibre of passengers, as well as, the frequency of the routes they use.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Essay Example for Free

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Essay The relationship between Pip, Estella, and Jaggers is going through much growth throughout the story. Pips and Estellas relationship is very similar to as when Pip was just a common boy, and there is not much hope for the relationship to become real. Jaggers also has and will have much influence on the lives of Pip and Estella. The relationship between Pip and Estella is not getting much better and there is not much hope in it, the main reason being that Estella still treats Pip the same as when he was just a common boy. Estella explains that she has no heart and cannot feel emotions, which is from the quote You must know, said Estella, that I have no heart -if that has anything to do with my memory (223). Estella, because she says she has no heart, will not have any feelings for Pip even if she grows to be a gentleman. This shows how there is not much hope in their relationship, because Estella will never have love for Pip. Estella also still calls Pip boy which is shown from the quote You silly boy, said Estella quote composedly, how can you talk such nonsense (248)? Estella still calls Pip boy, as if he was just a common boy, even though he has become more a gentleman. This shows how Estellas attitude for Pip has not changed and probably will not change, which does not bring much hope to their relationship. Another example is when Estella allows Pip to kiss her, just like she did before; shown from the quote Will you never take warning? Or do you kiss my hand in the same spirit in which I once let you kiss my cheek (250)? Pip responds by kissing her, and this shows how Pip is only allowed to kiss her when she tells him he can, even though he has become a gentleman. Their relationship has not seemed to become better because of this, and almost seems as if they are puppets, only doing what Miss Havisham wants them to do. Pips and Estellas relationship overtime has not improved because of Estellas view that Pip will always just be a common boy to her, and another reason being that she says she does not have a heart. Jaggers has and will have much influence on the lives of Pip and Estella in different ways. One way he has influenced Pips life is by becoming his guardian and fulfilling many of his needs, such as in the quote Ill go round presently, and pay our friend off (228). Pip said he does not like  Orlick working at Miss Havishams, so Jaggers pays him off. This has influenced his life by allowing him to think that he could get anything he wants, now that he is wealthier and has Jaggers, who is a powerful man in society. Another way Jaggers has influenced Pip is by giving him advice on which tutor to pick, shown in the quote I dont recommend him, observe; because I never recommend anybody. The gentleman I speak of is one Mr. Matthew Pocket (130). Jaggers has influenced Pips life by suggesting a suitable tutor, who Pip becomes very good friends with. Estellas life has been influenced by Jaggers, one way being that he did something so now they feel an awkward presence towards each other. This is shown at when they are at Miss Havishams estate having dinner, where they avoid making eye contact with each other. Jaggers is a very influential man to Pip and Estella, which impacts both of them in many ways. The relationship between Pip, Estella, and Jaggers is going through great changes and growth. Pips and Estellas relationship throughout the story has mainly stayed the same, as Estella has no care for a serious relationship and treats Pip like he was still a commoner. Even though Estella discourages the relationship, Pip wants to be in one with her even more. Jaggers influence on Pip has grown as he has much influence on him by giving him advice as his guardian.

Sleep Deprivation And Academic Performance Physical Education Essay

Sleep Deprivation And Academic Performance Physical Education Essay The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleep deprivation and academic performance. Specifically, this study examined the awareness of students on the importance of sleep, to determine the average amount of sleep a student get a night, to show the correlation between sleep deprivation and academic performance as well as to investigate the comparison on sleep deprivation between Arts and Sciences students. This study employed a quantitative research methodology involving the use of questionnaires. The result shows that majority who obtain higher CGPA were those who slept for less than 7 hours, but the students who obtained lower CGPA were also those who slept less. Hence, sleep deprivation is negatively correlated with academic performance among CFS IIUM in this study. Sleep is a crucial necessity in our life as it helps to restore energy, repair the body, lose weight and keeps us mentally and physically alert (Malana, 2011). It is also very important in improving memory and reducing stress. Judy Monroe Peterson (2010) defines sleep as a state which we become oblivious to the world around us. The need for sleep is just like how we need food and water. For most people, it is normal to spend one-third of their lives sleeping. In the Islamic perspective, sleep is the sign of the power and greatness of Allah SWT in creating a perfect system in humans life. Besides, Islam clearly emphasizes on the importance of sleep. There have been many times the Quran mentions about sleep and guidance on the good nature of sleep. In the Quran, Allah says, And it is He who has made the night for you as clothing and sleep [a means for] rest and has made the day a resurrection. (25:47) Sleep deprivation is defined as an overall deficiency in the necessary amount of sleeping hours that a person is supposed to have in a day. Average adults need seven to nine hours of sleep (Morganthaler, 2011). Sleeping for less than 6 hours a night has been shown to affect coordination, mental alertness and can even lead to irritability, mood disorders, weight gain, and hallucination (Ramiccio, 2011). Previous research have shown that people who are sleep deprived perform worse on thinking and memory task than who are not suffering from sleep deprivation. If we do not get enough sleep, the memory of what we have learnt that day will possibly not remain for long. Nowadays, people tend to neglect the importance of sleep in life. Sleep deprivation is said to have been affecting millions of people around the world, especially college students. College students are more likely to suffer from sleep deprivation due to their hectic lifestyle. They often have to stay up past midnight to complete their assignments, projects and work on time. Some students even pull all-nighters as a means of learning to achieve higher grades. Research shows that students who often pull all-nighters and sleep deprived have slightly poorer academic performance than students who do not (Perkins, 2011). According to Lowry, Dean, and Manders (2010), a students GPA does have a relationship with the amount of sleep a student receives per night. In their findings, the students who slept more a night tend to get higher grades than the students who did not. The results pertaining to sleep deprivation showed that sleep quantity, and not sleep quality correlates with academic performance. Previous studies outlined by W. Kelly, K. Kelly and Clanton (2001) concluded that short sleepers would report lower GPAs than long sleepers. The lack amount of sleep the short sleepers experienced affect their academic achievement as a result of a decreased ability to focus on education-related activity. Trockel, Barnes and Egget (2000) supported that sleep habit accounts for some of the variance in first year college students GPA. Ahmed et al. (2012) also suggested that poorer academic performance is shown to be associated with a late bedtime on weekdays and weekends. Their study showed that from 410 students surveyed, 28% had excellent performance and 72% had average performance. The excellent group had an earlier bedtime every day in contrast to the average group which had a higher percentage of students who felt sleepy during class. With these propositions, it can be concluded that certain sleep habits are significantly related with academic performance. Hamza et al. (2012) in their research concerning sleep disorder also discovered that among medical students the ESS score indicated that 36.6% of participants were considered having abnormal sleep habits. Normal ESS scores (p=0.019) and the academic grades >3.75 was related with sleeping between 6-10 hours per day. The results demonstrated that abnormal ESS scores were associated with lower academic performance (p=0.002). However, contrary to other studies, a research by Mehrunissa and Anam (2011) argued that sleep did not seem to have any effect on the academic achievement. Their study showed that students who slept for less than 7 hours obtained good grades (A, B) but the majority who failed were also those who slept less. Furthermore, 63.5% of the participants still thought that sleep did not affect their academic performance. Hence, it is concluded in their studies that sleep deprivation did not correlate with students academic performance. Hence, this present research is conducted to study the relationship between sleep deprivation and academic performance among CFS IIUM students. It is presumed that students who are sleep deprived have lower GPAs than students who sleep well. The research questions to be investigated in this study are as follows: Do students consider sleep as important? What is the average amount of sleep the students get a night? How does sleep deprivation correlate with the GPA of the students? Who are more sleep deprived, arts or sciences students? Methodology Introduction This section discusses the methodology of the research. The main purpose of this research is to study the relationship between sleep deprivation and academic performance among Centre for Foundation Studies IIUM students. Surveys were administered to college students of Centre for Foundation Studies IIUM with 6000 students population to assess their sleep patterns and behaviour which correlates with their academic achievement. Data for the research were collected through distribution of questionnaires and surveys online. Instruments The use of quantitative research methodology is employed in this study which is the questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of 6 questions divided into 2 sections which comprises of demographic information and questions concerning sleep assessment. All are close-ended questions. Question 1, 2 and 3 consist of multiple choice questions while Question 4 consists of Yes/No question. Question 5 and 6 are Likert scale type of question and students are required to answer all questions. Respondents The respondents of the study were the students from Arts and Sciences programmes at CFS IIUM. A total of 50 questionnaires were distributed manually and via online surveys. Of these numbers, 16 are Arts students while 34 are Sciences students. Procedure The questionnaires were distributed randomly to all CFS IIUM students at various places such as classrooms and hostels. The surveys were also conducted online. Data Analysis For data analysis, data were entered into the computer and tabulated. The tabulated data were then presented in the form of bar graph, column graph and pie chart by using the spreadsheet software which is Microsoft Office Excel. Data were analyzed from the graph to describe the data as it was easier and more readable. Findings and Discussion This section discusses the results of the research on the relationship between sleep deprivation and academic performance among CFS IIUM students. The findings will be divided into important topics found from a survey received from 50 students of CFS IIUM. The Awareness on The Importance of Sleep Figure 1: The Importance of Sleep Among Students Figure 1 shows how each student rated the importance of sleep. Referring to the graph, it is found that majority of CFS IIUM students were aware that sleep is very important which comprises 58% of them and almost 40% of students said that sleep is important while only 4% believe that sleep is not important. Majority of the students of CFS IIUM were aware with the importance of sleep regardless of what courses they are in. The results were anticipated as the respondents were all students and they probably had known many facts about sleep from various reading material such as magazines and books. Besides, there were handful of students with computers and internet that made it easier for them to search about this issue. To sum it up, the students awareness on the importance of sleep generally yields a satisfactory result. Number of Hours of Sleep Figure 2: Hours of Sleep per Night Figure 2 shows the average hours of sleep students get per night. Based on the figure, the results clearly show that most of the students sleep for 4 to 6 hours per night. Least students are to have been sleeping for only 1 to 3 hours and 10 to 12 hours per night. In addition, less of the students sleep for 7 to 9 hours per night. Contrary to the previous finding, even though most of the students were aware of the importance of sleep, many of them slept for only 4 to 6 hours per night. This was maybe due to more time spent on studying and students were more likely to stay up past midnight working on tutorials and assignments. Briefly said, most of the students are sleep deprived as average adults need seven to nine hours of sleep to be considered as having a good sleep habit (Morganthaler, 2011). Sleep Behaviour Figure 3: Having a hard time falling asleep at night Figure 3 demonstrates the percentage of students who have a hard time falling asleep at night on a scale of one to six, six being very true and one being not at all true. Majority said that having a hard time falling sleep at night is not true (30%) while only 8% said that it is very true. A possible explanation for this might be that most of the students were not suffering from sleep disorders. This was because having a hard time falling asleep at night indicates disturbance in sleep quality but not sleep quantity. Thus, it was probably the students, although sleep deprived, were still having good quality of sleep. Figure 4: Getting sleepy in class Figure 4 shows the percentage of students who get sleepy in class on a scale of one to six, six being very true and one being not at all true. From the figure, we can see that thirty-four percent of students said that they are neutral in getting sleepy in class and only eight percent said it is true. As what had been discussed previously, getting sleepy in class was also one of the effect of poor sleep quality. Majority said that they are neutral which means the chance to get sleepy is equal. This result shows that the act of getting sleepy is negatively correlated with less quantity of sleep. It might be due to that even most of the students slept for only 4 to 6 hours and considered as sleep deprived, their chance of dozing in class is lower indicating better sleep quality. Figure 5: Pulling all-nighters studying In general, Figure 5 reveals the percentage of students who pull all-nighters on a scale of one to six, six being very true and one being not at all true. Majority of the students chose to be neutral and none of them stated that it was very true to pull all-nighters studying. Pulling all-nighters brought the meaning of when you stay up  all  night through to the next morning with no sleep, for example, studying or working to meet a deadline. The students might be pulling all-nighters infrequently. The possible factors that might lead them to pull all-nighters were studying for upcoming quizzes and examinations and also working on assignments. Figure 6: Having a consistent sleep schedule Figure 6 demonstrates the percentage of students have a consistent sleep schedule on a scale of one to six, six being very true and one being not at all true. Majority of the students stated that it is not true to have a consistent sleep schedule. These findings suggest that the students were not having a consistent sleep schedule due to their busy daily routine. They spent most of their time studying, therefore they tend to have irregular sleep and wake times. The Correlation Between Sleep Deprivation on Academic Performance Figure 7: The Relationship Between Sleep Deprivation and Academic Performance Figure 7 shows the relationship between sleep deprivation and academic performance. Most of the students who obtain CGPA 3.0 to 3.9 and 4.0 slept for 4 to 6 hours per night. The number of hours of sleep for students who achieve CGPA 2.0 to 2.9 are also 4 to 6 hours. This part will present the correlation between sleep deprivation and academic performance among CFS IIUM students by assessing their CGPA. It is hypothesized at the beginning of this study that students who are sleep deprived has lower CGPA than students who sleep well. What is very significant here is, even though, the students were sleep deprived, they still managed to obtain good results and higher CGPA. But, the students who achieve lower CGPA were also those who suffer from sleep deprivation. In other words, sleep deprivation may and may not affect students academic performance. It is probably other factors that may give impact on students academic achievement other than sleep deprivation such as learning style and level of intelligence. This result of this study seemed to confirm the findings of a study by Mehrunissa and Anam (2011) which also suggested that sleep did not seem to have any effect on the academic achievement. This finding however contradicts another past research finding. Previous research suggested that sleep deprivation has a positive relationship with poorer academic performance. The results pertaining to sleep deprivation showed that sleep quantity, and not sleep quality correlates with academic performance (Lowry, Dean Manders, 2010). Sleep Deprivation Between Arts and Sciences Students Score Number of Students 1 6 10 7 8 7 9 15 30 16 > 3 Table 1: Score of Epworth Sleepiness Scale Table 1 shows that majority of the students obtain the score of 9 to 15 which comprises 30 of them. Scoring 9 to 15 indicates that the subjects are sleepy and should seek medical help. Only 3 obtain 16 or more which showed that they were dangerously sleepy. 10 students score 1 to 6 which means they get enough sleep and not sleep deprived. Furthermore, 7 students obtain 7 to 8 which is the average score indicating also adequate sleep. From Table 1, the students were classified according to their programmes, Arts or Sciences. Figure 11: Comparison of Sleep Deprivation Between Arts and Sciences Students Figure 11 demonstrates the comparison of sleep deprivation between Arts and Sciences students. Based on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale scoring on a scale of zero to three, three being high chance of dozing and zero being no chance of dozing, it is found that Arts students were more sleep deprived than Sciences students. 75% of Arts students suffered from sleep deprivation and only 62% of Sciences students were sleep deprived. This result may be explained by the analysis of Epworth Sleepiness Scale previously which is used to measure level of daytime sleepiness. The questionnaire asked the subject to rate his or her probability of falling asleep on a scale of increasing probability from 0 to 3 for eight different situations that most people engage in during their daily lives, though not necessarily every day. A score of 10 or more is considered sleepy. A score of 16 or more is very sleepy. If you score 10 or more on this test, you should consider whether you are obtaining adequate sleep, need to improve your sleep hygiene or need to see a sleep specialist. Conclusion This research investigated the relationship between sleep deprivation and academic performance. Primary data were collected by randomly distributing questionnaires to 50 students. The following conclusions can be drawn from the study. To begin with, this study has shown that majority of the students knew the importance of sleep in their life. Nevertheless, most of the students in CFS IIUM in this study sleep for only 4 to 6 hours and may be considered as sleep deprived. The occurring of sleep deprivation might be due to their hectic lifestyle. In addition, the students in this study seemed to have quite a good sleep habit and behaviour. The results pertaining sleep behaviour showed that most of the students have a good sleep quality even they were lacking sleep quantity. The main gist of this study is the correlation between sleep deprivation and academic performance. This study showed that majority who obtain higher CGPA were those who slept for less than 7 hours, but the students who obtained lower CGPA were also those who slept less. Thus, the results of this study support the idea that sleep deprivation are not significantly related to academic performance among CFS IIUM students in this study. Undeniably, there are limitations in this study. One of the limitations is that this research was conducted only to 50 respondents of CFS IIUM students. The sample size may also have been insufficient to assess the topic under study. Moreover, the questionnaires were also distributed randomly causing uneven number of Arts and Sciences students. The results may differ when compared to other institutions.

Watergate Scandal and President Nixon Essay example -- American Preside

What kind of person commits three major violations of the national law and gets away with it? Well that person is Nixon. President Richard Nixon was one of the most famous presidents in the United States. He was mainly renowned for his huge role in the Watergate scandal. The Watergate scandal was important because Nixon and his cabinet arranged to get people to spy on the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate building. After it became clear Nixon was responsible, he manages to resign before he was going to be impeached. President Nixon was involved with the Watergate scandal and should be sentenced to jail because he organized it, which then got leaked out and finally led to his resignation. Nixon was the mastermind behind the mission and the main reason he organized it was to find out secret information of the Democrats. He organized a committee to help him ensure his victory in the elections. â€Å"The committee to reelect the President† (CRP) used unfair tactics to get what they wanted. They organized a group of thugs – â€Å"Plumbers† to sneak into the Watergate and plant listening devices. The plumbers, James W. McCord, Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez, and Frank Sturgis however, were caught by the police. Nixon didn’t want anyone to find out about the break in. He said shortly after the plumbers were caught "In all my years of public life, I have never obstructed justice. People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook; I earned everything I've got." Nixon lied through his teeth just to get the public attention on something else. What he didn’t realize was that it was th e beginning of his demise. Although many Americans didn’t care about the little scene in the ... ...r’s mission, people got infuriated with the scandal, and he resigned to get away with his mistakes. He got impeached because he violated of constitutional oath, prevented, obstructed, and impeded administration of justice, and concealed those responsible of prison. He violated the constitutional oath because he did not serve his country the way he is supposed to. He obstructed, prevented and impeded administration of justice because lied that he was not responsible for the scandal. He concealed those responsible of prison because he didn’t tell the authorities who else was involved in the scandal. John Srica, Carl Woodward, and Bob Bernstein did an amazing job uncovering the scandal and who was behind it. Nixon should go to jail because everybody else who was responsible did. However, he escaped the wrath of jail because the next president, Gerald Ford pardoned him.

Planet of Slums Essay

As the sprawling sky rocketed buildings, and electrifying industries began to show the dreams of unlimited potentials, our eyes are yet to catch nasty travails of the urban life in all its vicissitude. 2005 was a witness to the ever increase in population in cities- expecting to reach 10 billion mark in 2050, but majority of them confined in the areas characterized by crumbling houses, dirty water, unhygienic environment, and very minimum sources and nothing in the name of social services, and ever increasing unemployment rate. These are slum areas of the urban cities where maximum of migrants from villages and small towns find their place. â€Å"Planet of Slums† by Mike Davis is an exploration of these dark corners of the most virtualized urban cities and, also reflects his deep commitment for raising our consciousness towards the real causes behind the unprecedented growth of these slum areas. He analyzed the grim view of this global phenomenon over the past half-century and what this billion strong slum population had in store for political future. From as far as places like Brazil to New Guinea, and from Senegal to Pakistan, rural folks are leaving their traditional occupation and landing in the slums of the urban cites for new growth and income opportunities in new occupational arenas. In countries like Africa and Latin America, people flocked to cities to escape from either the war or famine or got attracted by the income growth in factories producing clothes like t-shirts, sneakers, and toothbrushes never heard of before. Though the impact of migration process is being felt since the first industrial revolution, yet the conditions and the environment they have been staying in truly reflect their shattered dreams. They dream of getting rich but what they are gaining in cities like Manchester, Chicago, Tokyo and Mumbai are their unending lives in dirty towns and squatter camps. Guldin’s case study of Southern China exposes the point that it is not only the cities which are being developed but it is also the vice versa, â€Å"Villagers become more like market and xiang towns, and county towns and small cities become more like large cities. † (Davis 2006: 9) Many countries are also witness to the bubbling city lives reaching at the doorstep of the rural folks in their own villages or towns. It has quite happened in Malaysia where journalist SeaBrook highlighted the fate of several fishermen, â€Å"Engulfed by urbanization without migrating, their lives overturned, even while remaining on the spot where they were born. †(Davis 2006: 9) The lives of fishermen had all been uprooted by the new waves of urbanization, which cut off their homes from sea due to new highway, polluted their fishing ponds due to urban waste, and deforested the neighboring hillsides to construct apartment blocks. Johannesburg is one of the many cities, which is a witness to the degeneration of soil owing to continuous inebriated mining. More than half of the non-white population is surviving at informal settlements in areas where there is abundant of toxic waste and chronic ground. But the most classic case recorded by Davis is Mumbai in India, where the people earning higher level of income own 90 per cent of land whereas poor people are overcrowded. CBC News correspondent drafted a picture of the third largest city in the world after Tokyo and Mexico. Mumbai has 10 million people with majority of the population belonging to slum areas and the Dharavi at the vicinity of Mumbai is considered to be the largest slum in Asia. (Benoit 2006: Online) The lands where the slums are developed are the most valuable real estate areas but all are illegal and every day government vehicles come in one part of the slum areas or to the next for the demolition and every time they are established again. Several times, state had tried to enter into deal with private individuals for the redevelopment of the lands and for providing new houses for slum dwellers but this process has been unsuccessful. These slum dwellers are the backbone of the city Mumbai providing the labour for menial jobs like train operators, construction workers, factory workers etc. Davis said that, â€Å"These polarized patterns of land use and population density recapitulate older logics of imperial control and racial dominance. † (Escobar 2007: 27) Even though the economies of mega cities like Lagos, Kinshasa, and Dar Es Salaam have been deteriorating or remaining stagnant still since last many years, these cities have been continuously attracting new arrivals. Davis attempted to focus on the reasons behind the growth of slums that had been the matter of concern for economists since many years. The debt crises of 1970s and 1980s, and the restructuring of the developing economies in third world by International Monetary Fund during 1980s have been the main culprits. During the mid seventies, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) began to grant loans to the developing nations on the conditions of structural adjustment policies. The term denotes the changes in the policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank for granting the new loans at lower rate of interest to the developing countries with certain conditions. The conditions are levied to ensure the proper use of the money lended and to reduce fiscal imbalance of borrowing countries. The developing nations had to privatize their public services department and infrastructure, devalue their currencies, initiate in the growth of crops for exports, and remove the subsidies and this had a direct impact on the local farmers and manufacturers who were forced to enter into competition with the First World agribusiness and corporations. Davis evoked, â€Å"Rapid urban growth in the context of structural adjustment, currency devaluation, and state retrenchment has been an inevitable recipe for the mass production of slums† (Davis 2006: 17). The World Bank and IMF became a part of the capitalist system in the international scenario subsequently supported by Reagan, Thatcher, and Kohl (Davis 2006: 153). According to Davis, â€Å"Debt has been the forcing-house of an epochal transfer of power from Third World nations to the Bretton Woods institutions [World Bank and IMF] controlled by the US and other core capitalist countries [†¦] The [World Bank’s] professional staff are the postmodern equivalent of a colonial civil service† (Davis 2006: 153-4). The global forces with their weapons of the deregulation and mechanization of agriculture, and promotion of the consolidation of smallholdings into large ones created the surplus of rural labour forcing them to make the urban slums their final destination, as the job market in the cities became on the verge of extinction. In Davis own words, â€Å"Over-urbanization’ is driven by the reproduction of poverty, not by the supply of jobs. This is one of the unexpected tracks down which a neo-liberal world order is shunting the future† (Davis 2006: 16). It is not only rural folks but also import substitution industries, public sectors, and middle classes felt an impact. (Davis 2006: 16) Millions of city-dwellers were directly pushed into poverty due to Neo-liberalism. But along with this, the same policies that had shattered the small public sector enterprises gave boost to the private enterprises, importers, military personnel and many leading players controlling political circles. Besides undertaking economic consideration, Davis espouses upon the various social, religious, ethnic and political movements making their presence felt at the every corner of the dwelling of urban poor. For e. g. the resistance movement of Islam at the Casablanca and Cairo, street gangs dominating the streets of Cape-town and San Salvador, the movement Pentecostalism at Kinshasa and Rio de Janeiro, and revolutionary movement at Caracas and La Paz became hallmark of the new movement initiated by American regime as their war over terrorism. But this war was nothing but a setting of a stage of a long prolonged war between the American regime and the slum dwellers. Going with the UN-Habitat Report, â€Å"Challenge of Slums†, which went public in 2003, Davis emphasized the final aspect to the whole holocaust that lay behind the growth of an ugly phase of the urbanization. He cited the â€Å"Retreat of the State, as the main unfounded reason for the increase in poverty and unequal division of income and wealth during 1980s and 1990s. Davis 2006: 154) These state of affairs led to the development of the â€Å"virtual democracy, whereby all the control of the macro-economic policies of Third World nations are controlled from Washington. † (Davis 2006: 154) Adding to the cause also is the corruption among leaderships, institutional failures and structural adjustment programs that eventually led to the transfer of wealth from poor to rich nations. Besides, haphazard way of the developing of roads and increasing traffic beckoned the environmentalists’ towards the extensive amount of population and ever-growth of the rows of slums near the roadsides and railways tracks. Initially Davis was going to give title of his book, The World Is a Ghetto, but the motive of the writer was to bring to the notice of the world the changes that had emerged in the global scenario though appearing to be on the development side yet it is a false notion as amidst the high rise buildings, industries, hotels and restaurants, zooming vehicles on the road, there are darker corners we often ignore. These slums are posing the problems of imperial order and social control that began to come to the notice of geopolitics. In a deep ironic note, Davis says if America aims to leash out the terrorists into the social and cultural periphery, it would be making the poor developing cities as permanent battlefields. Planet of Slums is an eye opener for the world imperialistic orders to make them analyze the fact that no city can virtually grow on wealth alone.

Essay about Scarlet Letter

Essay about Scarlet Letter Essay about Scarlet Letter Puritanical Vengeance Revenge is a thematic motif found in the puritanical works The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller. While Roger Chillingworth in The Scarlet Letter seeks vengeance against Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale for their adulterous actions, Abigail Williams in The Crucible likewise seeks revenge against Goody Proctor for the pursuit of her husband, John Proctor. However, revenge in both novels proves to be a double edged sword, for not only do Chillingworth’s and Abigail’s victims take injury to vengeance, but so do Abigail and Chillingworth themselves. Although Puritans believed retribution was an act reserved only for God, both novels show that Puritans mercilessly follow through with vengeful acts, despite their belief that revenge is not to be sought by humans. Therefore, these novels show that revenge is an inherit trait among human character, and is a transcendent desire through the generations that is found within modern society, and will forever be an instinctive human act. Nathaniel Hawthorne presents the concept of revenge as an unnatural act that transfigures a person's soul into a black and hollow shell. Never satisfying, revenge consumes the life of Roger Chillingworth, who is absorbed into the role of punishing both Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne. Chillingworth is so intent on vengeance that he loses his human self in the process. Believing himself justified in his pursuit, Chillingworth's vengeance is seen by Dimmesdale as "blacker than my sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart" (Hawthorne 161). Even though committing the sin of adultery, Dimmesdale shows the pursuit of revenge as an even more heinous crime than his. Furthermore, Hester, also an adulteress, seeks forgiveness from Dimmesdale for her keeping of Chillingworth's identity; "Let God punish! Thou shalt forgive" (Hawthorne 161)! exclaiming that only God may punish Hester for her crim es. Evans adds that Chillingworth "forgets, however, that [Dimmesdale] is known to God, the only judge who ultimately matters. Chillingworth's declaration is therefore less a sign of any disinterested concern for justice than an indication of his prideful (and sinful) yearning for personal revenge" (Evans par. 7). In addition, Arthur Miller's character Abigail Williams seeks revenge against Goody Elizabeth Proctor, for she desires Proctor's husband, John. Thus Abigail begins a wave of hysteria on witchcraft, accusing any who would compromise her quest to be rid of Goody Proctor. As said by Bryer, the "manipulative" Abigail utilizes her power to accuse Elizabeth as Abigail "gets caught up in the power she wields" (Bryer par.2). With this power, she even boldly warns "Mr. Danforth. Think you to be so mighty that the power of Hell may not turn your wits" (3.796)? and is unafraid to remove anyone in her vengeful path. As the town believes she is a messenger of God to rid the town of ev il, she is thought to be justified in her accusations as a suitable means for revenge. However, John Proctor realizes her intent; "I’ll tell you