Degrading a Famous Work of Art

Degrading a famous work of art. â€Å"As the painting fame spread. It was inevitable that the icon would attract the iconoclast and be debunked. The main pioneer was Marcel Duchamp† (Sassoon, p. 265). Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) was known as an artist with a sense of humor, who also claimed that art could made out of anything at all, and getting famous in about 1917. He promoted Dadaist ideas that we can see it clearly through his art style, a little bit violent to the traditional art.He created the new thought on the original one by changing a little bit some figures on the work under the new title and show different point of view. Marcel Duchamp referred L. H. O. O. Q as a readymade or assisted readymade which he did not make it. He transformed Mona Lisa work in about 1919, and titled with L. H. O. O. Q meaning â€Å"She has a hot ass† in French. Marcel Duchamp took a cheap postcard of Mona Lisa, and sketched a beard and moustache on her face with implying meaning that she is man; the one in the picture is portrait of real man.In addition, he really cared about Leonardo Da Vinci's life time. Besides, Duchamp had psychoanalyzed Leonardo sexual life to art, and argued Leonardo Da Vinci was homosexual. As a criticized artist, Marcel Duchamp somehow discovered he hidden self-portrait points on the picture along with his researches about Leonardo Da Vinci's art life works and then disclosed the secrets behind the painting. The other word, Marcel Duchamp considered that Mona Lisa is a portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci.This is the answer why Duchamp gets more famous in his life of art. The idea has shocked a lot of people that they never thought about, and with this later on, Leonardo sexuality had been researched continuingly. Until now, with the modern technology, Lilian F. Schwartz compared Leonardo portrait on Mona Lisa theme in 8 steps variations first from Leonardo turn to become Mona Lisa, we can explore the this idea more closely.However, whatever t he rumors are, in the fact, the paintings fame now has been spreading all over the world. Mona Lisa has been talked about, written about, copied, and even parodied. Positively or negatively, we all agree that all the criticized comments, ideas show that everyone is really cared about this masterpiece, and the mystery behind it. Leonardo Da Vinci is a greatest artist ever who has big influence to the world art and inspire later generation artist. Degrading a Famous Work of Art By angelianl 234

Home Theater Systems

The development of in-home theater surround sound speakers has evolved drastically in the past decade, turning people's generic living areas into replicas of movie theaters. Home theater systems were initially four-channel audio systems created originally by Dolby Digital Surround systems.With the increase in technological advancements throughout the past decade, Dolby Digital has released ts highest speaker system of seven-channels. At first, during the early 50's and 60's the movie industry found that the more channels of sound that was added, the higher enjoyment and response was given back by the audience. Therefore, as a result speakers were added behind the audience for the surrounding sounds and the left and right speakers were then used for the music. The invention of the home theater system generally relates to the reproduction of stereophonic sound.More particularly to the reproduction of the stereophonic sound associated with a video image of some sort. Images and sounds a re reproduced so hat dialog is localized to the video image and ambience or surrounding sound effects are reproduced in a manner that immerses the listener or consumer in realistic or three-dimensional sound field. In previous attempts to reproduce these sounds, numerous monophonic and stereophonic sound systems have been developed in an attempt to achieve reliable sound reproduction. 1] Monophonic audio refers to the reproduction of sound through only one channel. When using monophonic audio you cannot tell which direction the sound was produced.

Racial Profiling within America’s Criminal Justice System Essay

The criminal justice system of America is deeply scarred with racial bias. Crimes are being committed and, in turn, are resulting with innocent people doing hard-time. Thankfully, newfound methods of appealing court rulings are finding justice for these minorities; however, the results are as shocking as the crimes being committed. When it was found that the majority of successful appeals were of minorities, the true defects of the system was apparent. The minority community is being critically judged for things they’re not doing. Throughout the last decade lawmakers have be aiding the racial profiling scene. Arizona legislature passed a law allowing for an officer to demand papers of any person that proved their legal citizenship. The law, intending to lower the illegal immigrants in Arizona, became a symbol for racial profiling within our government. President Obama strongly opposed the passing of the law saying that it threatened â€Å"to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe† (Archibold). It is a very rare occasion where the President speaks out about state legislature, proving the enormity of the law and its regards to human rights in America. The law, dubbed the â€Å"Show Me Your Papers† law, has Arizona residents furious. Faulting someone of being illegal, purely based on their appearance is a very subjective issue. Someone with a last name of Garcia or Rodriquez is much more likely to be suspected of being in the country illegally rather than someone with the last name of Smith. Because Smith has a very typically â€Å"American† last name, he, most likely, wouldn’t be asked to prove citizenship. This is a perfect example of the kind of profiling that Arizonians are concerned about. Not only have lawmakers been creating laws supporting racial profiling, but laws such as the â€Å"Stand your Ground† law in Florida are allowing for racial profiling to occur under a pseudonym. The â€Å"Stand your Ground† law allows for someone to use deadly force, if needed, in order to protect themselves from harm’s way. The recent slayings of teenagers Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, two African American teenagers, have so far been defended under the law, bringing uproar to the state–especially among the black community. Even worse, it’s considered legal. Families and friends of these children defend them as being upstanding citizens killed due to their race. Although Martin and Davis have not been the only people murdered under the law, they are the ones bring publicity to it. Due to the media attention, the policy’s effect on different racial groups is finally being questioned. John Roman, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center, conducted a study intending to measure the racial bias within the policy. Roman focused his study on killings that were considered justified within the eyes of the court: the murder of people that just committed a felony. â€Å"Roman found that the killings of black people by whites were more likely to be considered justified than the killings of white people by blacks†¦. In non-Stand Your Ground states, whites are 250 percent more likely to be found justified in killing a black person than a white person who kills another white person; in Stand Your Ground states, that number jumps to 354 percent.† (Childress). Roman’s findings show that even laws that weren’t aimed to become a racial issue are. The issue, however, is that it’s not being stopped despite the blatantly obvious ramifications. Some might argue that people of color are being convicted for more crimes than other races because they’re the ones committing more crimes. A valid point, however, with the recent advancement of these races throughout society, it would be thought that these numbers would be heading in opposite directions. In reality, minorities are being served harsher consequences than their white counterparts despite their equal standing in society. Michigan State University (MSU) conducted a study revealing that there was often racial bias when selecting a jury—especially those involving minority parties. The study conducted by MSU examined jury selection as well as the decisions made by said juries. â€Å"The MSU study of capital charging and sentencing found that those who kill whites are more likely to get the death penalty than those who kill blacks. The MSU study found that a defendant is 2.6 times more likely to get the death penalty if the victim is white.† (ACLU). Following the study, North Carolina passed a law entitled the â€Å"Racial Justice Act†. This piece of legislature made it possible for inmates to appeal their sentences due to supposed racial profiling. Since the passing of the law last year, there have been 4 successful appeals. The law doesn’t guarantee that the whole sentence will be reversed; however, it puts in place a system that allows for flaws in the length/severity of the sentence to be readdressed. The passing of the law as well as the MSU study prove that although there are more minorities being charged for crimes, the charges are of ill-willed intentions. In addition to undeserved charges, DNA testing has exonerated hundreds of people for crimes in which they were convicted over the past few years. When DNA testing became readily available to the criminal justice system, crucial flaws began to surface. It was realized that people were serving hard-time for felony crimes they didn’t commit. University of Virginia Law professor, Brandon Garrett, studied the first 200 people exonerated through said DNA testing. He compared the demographics of the exonerees concluding that â€Å"[Of] the innocent group, all male save one†¦71 percent were minorities. The vast majority of exonerated rape convicts (73 percent) were black or Hispanic, while studies show only about 37 percent of rape convicts are minorities.† (Wood). These hundreds of people are provide valid evidence supporting that, although people of color are being convicted of more crimes, they are also being cleared of said crimes. Racial ethnicity plays a large factor when it comes to being convicted of a crime. Oftentimes, a person of color is automatically assumed to be more likely of committing a crime than a Caucasian person. People of minority races are being targeted as criminals purely based on their looks rather than their guilt. Laws have been passed both for and against said issue, providing for a government that is facilitating racism. Racial profiling isn’t an act that would be thought of as happening in the 21st century, following the Civil Rights movement of the mid 1900’s. Despite the advancements in society, America’s criminal justice system hasn’t quite advanced so far. Works Cited Archibold, Randal. â€Å"Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on Immigration† NYtimes.com April 23, 2012. Web. New York Times January 30, 2013. Childress, Sarah. â€Å"Is There Racial Bias in ‘Stand your Ground’ Law?† PBS.org, July 31, 2012. Web. UNC-TV January 30, 2013 ACLU. â€Å"North Carolina Racial Justice Act† ACLU.org, December 17, 2012. Web. American Civil Liberties Union January 30, 2013 Wood, Mary. â€Å"Study of First 200 DNA Exonerations Shows Flawed Criminal System† law.virginia.edu, July 23, 2007. Web. University of Virginia February 2, 2013

Government's Influence on Career Choices in Public or Private Sector Research Paper

Government's Influence on Career Choices in Public or Private Sector - Research Paper Example This essay stresses that the government usually does serious marketing for the less preferred jobs such as the army. The marketing campaigns make the compensation and conditions for an average US army official very lucrative and tempting. Whenever government faces a shortage of labor, they embark to marketing just like the private sector. The continued positive branding of some careers may have an enormous impact on individual’s career choices. This paper makes a conclusion that the government international relations have an influence on an individual’s career path. Some career paths may demand that one flies to a foreign country to further studies or just to carry out the job itself. Consider a scenario where a US citizen has landed a prime job in a foreign country. If the US government is not in conducive international terms with such a country, say Iran, an individual may not have the urge to pursue his career in such a hostile foreign environment. It goes without saying the immigration department, and the federal laws governing US workers in foreign countries will not be lenient enough to make some happy to take up the job in the said country. In fact, US after warning its citizens not to head to certain places in pursuit of careers may decide to play a passive role in the case of an incidence. Therefore, international relations and government labor laws concerning working in foreign nations may have an effect on the decision one makes career wise.

The Importance of Wearing School Uniform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Importance of Wearing School Uniform - Essay Example However there are other reasons to fathom in due context as well. The basic premise of having school uniforms in the first place is that they bring to light the issue of equality within the mass cross section of students and there is no discrimination of rich and the poor amongst them. It makes sure that the students learn to live with each other without any differing constraints so that they can turn into good human beings when they grow up. Furthermore, the notion is emphasized by the fact that a certain discipline is maintained when these students wear the same clothes day in day out, so as to bring to light the issue of oneness and unity. This speaks volumes of the lessons that are imparted by the schools, not only in the present day but also of the yesteryears. Discipline issue is thus one of the significant aspects when we discuss the exact rationale for having school uniforms. A number of different researches and surveys that have been held as to find out whether these school uniforms are liked by the students or otherwise show that these students have a 33% likeliness ratio whereas the remaining 67% do not quite approve of the idea in its essence. They believe that the school dictated clothing is not an â€Å"in† thing and it does not mesh with their idea of wearing funky and colorful clothes, more so which portray the real selves of theirs. A number of these respondents raised the view that their sense of freedom seems to be lost when they wear the school uniforms and they are thus confined to the four walls of the school or alma mater for that matter. They just want to break free from the clutches of school and aspire to live in a world which is not dictated by the teachers, lecturers and headmasters. School going children want to have a free life which is not governed by anyone. One of the views that is put down by the school authorities in the light of the whole discussion is that the school uniforms emphasize

Choose a country, which underwent a recession, and where fiscal and Essay

Choose a country, which underwent a recession, and where fiscal and monetary policies were used to overcome the recession - Essay Example It is said to be integral in a free trade economy. The United Kingdom recession of 1981 was a result of the monetary strength which in turn affected manufacturing and by the government’s policy to reduce its past inflation of 27%; they enforced a stringent monetary policy by impeding their borrowing. Taxes were increased and the consumer’s purchasing power was diminished resulting to a downfall in spending. After a decade, in 1991 a ‘boom and bust’ of the UK economy ensued. Growth was seen at rapid growth that became unsustainable that inflation rose to 10%. Again, government set in and imposed interest rates to halt the people’s spending. These interests had a domino effect as it affected mortgage consequential to foreclosure of housing loans or sell thereof (EconomicsHelp, n.p.). Recession is a phase of the business cycle usually following a peak. It is a period characterized by a decline in the total output, income, employment and trade. This econ omic downturn is also marked by the widespread contraction of business activity in many sectors of the economy. But because many prices are downwardly inflexible, the general price level is more likely to fall only if the recession is severe and prolonged. If an economy fails to recover from a recession, then a depression occurs (McConnell and Brue, 134). The economy of the United Kingdom is no exception for these economic recessions as they already experienced and recovered from recessions several times. What is apparent in today’s economy is that it has a global characteristic which has a worldwide effect among interdependent countries. Many believe that a plummet in Real GDP will ultimately affect employment. In the Great Depression of the 1930s which included the UK, the famous economist Keynes debunked this concept and contended that negative output over a period will not necessarily clear out on its own as was regarded by the notion of the self-correcting aspect of a fr ee economy. He cited that there are four reasons for this; first, â€Å"Firms should cut wages to reflect lower prices but in reality workers are very resistant to cuts in nominal wages,† second, â€Å"2. If wages were cut in response to unemployment workers would have less spending power therefore AD would continue to fall,† and third, â€Å"In a recession people have low confidence and therefore spend less. Keynes said this was the â€Å"Paradox of Thrift† (EconomicsHelp, n.p.). In typical years, gross investment or all the country’s investment goods - both that replace machinery, equipment, and buildings that were used up or worn out or just made obsolete in producing the current year’s output and any net additions to the economy’s stock of capital exceeds depreciation or the amount used up over the course of a year (McConnell and Brue, 116). During these years, the net investment is positive and there will a recorded rise in nation†™s stock of capital. However, if gross investment is less than depreciation, net investment will be negative. This means that the economy is disinvesting because it is using up more capital than it is producing. When this happens, the nation’s stock of capital will shrink. When capital shrinks, the economic activities will also decline or slow down. This is what happened in the Great Depression of 1930s and its effects were felt by all countries across the world. Banks play important role in an economy. They act as intermediary between the producing and the consuming units. Banks take in leakages in

Work placement report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Work placement report - Essay Example Structurally, ARP consists of a senior group of directors which govern the activities of mid-level managers. It is typically a top-down hierarchy where decisions about how to provide community support and the internal activities of workers and volunteers are created. ARP consists of a centralised business structure where decision-making is generated in middle-layers and higher levels of management. The senior leadership coordinates the different programmes in use to provide alcohol treatment and housing services and these decisions outline the generic activities of lower-level support employees on a daily basis. Middle level managers generally gather insight from the lower level support groups for any internal changes to programmes which are of concern, making the organisation more efficient internally. ARP also provides training to its workers in the areas of alcohol prevention so that they are equipped with the social and psychological skills necessary to assist what are considered to be at risk groups. In the process of providing alcohol treatment and housing support services, generic community counselling is necessary which suggests the importance of having a positive view on racial, age and gender diversity as well. These support workers also provide the majority of the prevention literature when those in need of treatment need statistics or encouragement. What does all of this spell out? ARP seeks to be creative in its efforts to provide treatment to those in need by creating an environment where care is an organisation-wide initiative in order to assist people in becoming independent of reliance on alcohol. This is done through innovation, a company which appears to be focused on surpassing excellence in this area, and efforts to enhance community relationships. The clients of ARP include certain at risk groups and groups which are currently seeking alcohol treatment or support housing, including ex-military citizens. In many ways,

That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded Essay - 4

That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded tomorrow. Consider knowledge issues raised by this statement in two areas of knowledge - Essay Example For instance, as proven by Albert Einstein, it is known that the highest velocity that can be possible is the quickness of light, but it was observed that there is quicker velocity than the quickness of light. It is worth mentioning that whatever a person believes is based upon the authority as it decides what has to be accepted in the society. However, as there is a change in time accordingly there is a change in knowledge as well. Thesis Statement. Correspondingly, the objective of the essay is to discuss the issues relating to knowledge that have aroused and how the knowledge attained before can be discarded due to the changes occurred in today’s prevailing situation. Knowledge issues or problems associated with knowledge are terms which do not have a single definition as this definition might cause confusion. However, these issues are directly related to understanding the world. These issues are open to exploration and enquiry of strength along with problems relating to knowledge. These issues help in finding out how knowledge can be of assistance along with limitations of knowledge in collaboration with the approaches of explanation and confirmation in different aspects of knowledge. In a broader perspective, knowledge issues include an assortment of aspects which could be approached from the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) viewpoint wherein it allows exploration, discussion and development of the issues. For instance, most frequently raised questions by students, â€Å"Are the textbooks and questions provided by the teachers’ right?† is a knowledge issue when it is framed appropriately in TOK objectives along with aims context (Carroll , â€Å"Knowledge Issues†). Moreover, it can be expected that if the knowledge issue is treated properly then it would certainly deal with aspects that can be interlinked in different relevant ways. This is the reason because of which the knowledge issue is treated in

Lobbying on Standard Setting in Accounting Assignment

Lobbying on Standard Setting in Accounting - Assignment Example The present paper has identified that the chairman of SEC is selected through political appointment by the federal government. Thus, it is less likely that chairman would not be influenced by the activities of lobbying in the field of setting accounting standards. The lobbying activities in the field of accounting standard setting is directed at influencing the FASB in providing more flexibility to the firm in their accounting practice with no attention towards the safeguarding the long term interests of the firm as well as the investors (Andre, Cazavan-Jeny, Dick, Richard and Walton, 2009, p.24). The intentions of the lobbies are guided by narrow interests of enhancing short term economic value of the firm by allowing relaxations in the accounting standards which are contradictory to the rules and regulations prescribed by FASB. The process of standard setting in accounting is guided by the rules and regulation of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The process of standard setting in accounting is guided by the rules and regulation of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The issues involved in the process of standard setting in accounting bring to light the influence of politics and activities of lobbying on setting the standards for accounting (Ball and Foster, 1982, p.165). The activities of lobbying in the setting of standards in accounting explains that politics and lobbying have a direct influence over the activity of standard setting as in the financial policy framework of the organizations. The lobbying activities include purposeful intervention with an aim to manipulate the setting of accounting standards with the help of economic activities so that the economic value added to the company could be enhanced (Beresford 1, 1997, p.90). This is, however, viewed to be inconsistent in accordance with the guidelines of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The activities of lobbying is aimed at derailing the standard setters from t he achieving the objectives as set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board though reporting of consistent financial statements. FASB recommends improvement of transparency in accounting by setting the standards on accounting procedure and providing flexibility in the process of reporting financial statement and accounts. The issues related to lobbying on standard setting in accounting arise when the Congress is influenced by the politically influential constituents which are misdirected to achieve self motivated interests (Beresford 2, 2001, p.85). The lobbying by the accounting firms in the process of standard setting could also lead to improve of accounting standards being set by their clients. This is achieved by addressing the areas of ambiguity in the accounting rules prescribed by Financial Accounting Standards Board. The various issues in case of lobbying in the area of setting accounting standards highlight the interests of the companies to reduce costs and attain flexib ility in financial reporting (Bertomeu and Cheynel, 2013, p.814). For example, the accounting standards set by FASB requires the company account to be reviewed on a periodic basis by the auditors.

Black world study reflection paper, based on reading and viewing Essay - 1

Black world study reflection paper, based on reading and viewing materials - Essay Example In the early 60s, stereotyping was rife in United States whereby people from certain races were subjected to discrimination. In a bid to oppose the treatment, many resorted to art using music and other forms. With time, the Americans recognized very race courtesy of art demonstrated by many artists. For this reason, it is appropriate to agree that â€Å"dance, poetry, music can bring difference in this country and in this world† (Brown, p.2). To cement this point, various movies have been released where the oppression in many Islamic countries happen. As a result, some countries like Qatar have lately been viewed as civilized due to its approach to various issues. Additional, singer Elton John, a renowned gay activist has transformed the way same-sex marriages are viewed through music. As a result, same-sex marriages have been legalized and the couples are treated the same as heterosexuals. From the case materials, the story of Primus proves beyond reasonable doubt the power of art. Even though stereotypes still exists in today’s society, it is appropriate to state that much of the change that has been witness is due to art. For instance, in the case of Primus, the owner at the Cafà © society judged her as per her appearance. However, upon insisting for a chance, Primus, â€Å"danced with such skill and enthusiasm at her audition that she earned a coveted slot as a Cafà © Society entertainer† (p.13). From the above explanation, it is clear that afterwards, the perception towards Primus change thanks to art. It is for this reasons that emphasis is made on the power of art. Indeed, it has the capability to change the society but only when given a chance. Racism issues in United States were rampant but one of the people who actively participated in its end was primus. Interestingly, to do this, ‘she waged her artistic and political fight for

Analysis and Consequences of Legal Action(S) Essay Example for Free

Analysis and Consequences of Legal Action(S) Essay Analisis for successful lawsuit report Purpose Per your request, our legal team, courtesy of Legal Eagles, LLP, wishes to advise you regarding your tentative legal action against Mechanics National Bank (â€Å"National Bank†). As you alleged, National Bank was negligent in their failure to remove a lien on your Lagoon Beach property. Our legal team has assessed this and other concerns of your case. Outlined throughout this correspondence are conclusions we have made and recommendations we wish you consider. Before we proceed, we thank you for your trust and assure you nothing less than our highest-quality work. You have expressed to us your interest in recovering compensation for a failed entrepreneurial endeavor involving a hotel property, Hotel California. You also informed us that your acquisition of this property was dependent upon your securing financing through pledging a property you currently own as collateral. In a brief analysis of the facts of your case, we find you may successfully prove liability on the part of National Bank; however, this conclusion is not without concerns, particularly regarding your contract with the owner of Hotel California. This concern and other considerations for your case are also discussed in this correspondence. Factual Background Our notes of the essential facts of your case indicate the following: You sought the acquisition of an existing hotel property located in Palm Desert, Green. You contacted the hotel’s listing agent, Mr. Babak Gordon, and obtained preliminary data on the property, including financial statements of the hotel which you have provided us. On January 5, 2005, the hotel owner, Ms. Shirley Ramirez, Mr. Gordon, and you had a preliminary discussion regarding the purchase and sale of Hotel California. Ms. Ramirez offered to you by phone this property for $4.3 million, excluding the furniture, and the sale was to conclude following a 45 day escrow. On January 6, 2005, you faxed Ms. Ramirez a signed letter both indicating your acceptance of her offer and your preference that the transaction close following a 60 day escrow. Although you never received a reply or confirmation from Ms. Ramirez, on January 30, 2005, you obtained a financing commitment from Bank of the West. Their conditions we re that the bank would obtain a first priority lien on the hotel property along with an unrelated undeveloped parcel of land owned by you in Lagoon Beach, Green. As you have shared with us, you acquired this land in 1984 and had managed to pay off its mortgage on November 1, 2004. However, National Bank failed to remove its lien on the property. You vigorously attempted to get National Bank to remove its lien on this property. You contacted bank officers and explained to them that the lien needed to be removed so that you could pledge the property as collateral and finance your purchase of Hotel California. Because National Bank did not remove this lien, you were unable to finance the acquisition of Hotel California. You later bought a hotel property â€Å"similarly situated† and â€Å"virtually identical† to Hotel California for $4.7 million dollars. Issue From our analysis, we find as reasonable your decision to consider pursuing legal action against National Bank for damages. You have cited National Bank as negligent for failing to follow instructions regarding the removal of a lien from the title of your Lagoon Beach property. If you proceed further to trial, a court of law will try, whether by failing to remove its lien on your Lagoon Beach property, National Bank committed the tort of negligence. Because our analysis has also raised concerns regarding your contract with the owner of Hotel California, Ms. Shirley Ramirez, we must also inform you of a second issue a court of law is likely to try. If you proceed further to trial, a court of law will try whether a legally binding, enforceable contract exists (or existed) between Ms. Ramirez and you. Keep in mind that your legal action for damages may be predicated on whether there was a contract. Roadmap In addition to listing our conclusions, recommendations, and concerns throughout this correspondence, you will find that we have analyzed the likelihood for success of your legal action against National Bank. You have expressed your desire to recover damages for your lost opportunity involving the Hotel California property. For your convenience, a complete and careful analysis has been conducted and detailed throughout this correspondence. GROUNDS OF LIABILITY You have alleged that National Bank was negligent, and you intend to recover damages from National Bank. You will have the burden of proving the prima facie case for the tort of negligence. You must cite evidence and present arguments that support your allegation of National Bank’s negligence. To successfully fulfill your burden you must show that: * Duty: The defendant (National Bank) owed you (plaintiff) a duty of due care. * Breach of Duty: Defendant’s conduct breached that duty. * Actual and Proximate Cause: Actual and proximate causation between defendant’s breach and your (plaintiff’s) injury was present. * Injury: Injured party (you) sustained injury due to defendant’s actions. If you fail to prove these elements, National Bank’s legal team may motion to dismiss your case. In this event, it is possible that your case could then be dismissed without further proceedings. However, if you successfully prove and argue all four of these elements, you must also overcome any affirmative defenses, if applicable, raised by the defendant (National Bank). These defenses are contributory negligence and assumption of risk. From our initial analysis, National Bank will be unable to raise an affirmative defense on these grounds. We will fully assess whether there are on any other legal grounds defenses that National Bank can raise. (See Other Considerations.) Remedies for Negligence If you successfully prove National Bank’s liability, you may be entitled to recover compensatory or actual damages. The damages and compensatory award amounts are determined on a case-by-case basis by the jury or judge presiding over the case. We have included a potential award amount you may be entitled to and you will find a complete discussion on how this determination is made. (See ANALYSIS OF LIABILITY – Injury.) Statutes Governing Contract Law Because the secondary issue (See Issue) and one of our concerns regarding your case is regarding your contract with Ms. Ramirez, we have disclosed applicable information from both the Green Civil Code and our legal library pertaining to 1) offer and acceptance, 2) Green’s statute of frauds, and 3) Green’s â€Å"mirror image rule.† For your convenience, we have bolded and defined legal terminology that will be reiterated in later sections of this correspondence. Offer and Acceptance An offer is the important first step in the contract formation process. A party (offeror) who makes the offer gives another party (offeree) to whom the offer is made the power to bind both parties to a contract simply by accepting the offer. Not every proposal qualifies as an offer. To distinguish an offer, courts evaluate offers on three grounds: First, they look for some objective indication of a present intent to contract on the part of the offeror. Second, they look for specificity, or definiteness, in the terms of the alleged offer. Third, they look to see whether the alleged offer has been communicated to the offeree. An acceptance is â€Å"a manifestation of assent to the terms [of the offer] made by the offeree.† In determining if an offeree accepted an offer and created a contract, a court will look for evidence of three factors: (1) the offeree intended to enter the contract, (2) the offeree accepted on the terms proposed by the offeror, and (3) the offeree communicated his acceptance to the offeror. Statute of Frauds According to the Green Civil Code,  § 1624, any contract transferring an interest in land is invalid if not accompanied by â€Å"note or memorandum.† An unenforceable contract is one that meets the basic legal requirements for a contract, but may not be enforceable because of some other legal rule. A contract for which the statute of frauds requires a form of writing, yet no writing is made, may be declared an unenforceable contract. Mirror Image Rule The traditional contract law rule is that an acceptance must be the mirror image of the offer. Attempts by offerees to change the terms of the offer or to add new terms to it are treated as counteroffers because they indicate an intent by the offeree to reject the offer instead of being bound by its terms. Now that you have an understanding of the relevant law behind the tort of negligence and contracts, and are familiar with the legal terminology of these areas, we proceed into our analysis of the facts of your case and the prima facie case for the tort of negligence. ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL BANK’S LIABILITY Should you pursue further legal action against National Bank, you will have the burden of proving the elements of the prima facie case of the tort of negligence. Below are descriptions of these elements, accompanied by our legal analysis between the facts of the case, prima facie case, and case law from our legal library. Tort of Negligence In Commercial Escrow Company v. Rockport Rebel, Inc., negligence is defined as â€Å"conduct which falls below the standard established by law for the protection of others†. Because of the similarities in the facts between the case of Escrow Company and your case, this case has been used extensively in the forming of the following arguments. We recommend using this case in satisfying your burden for your legal action. Accordingly, you must argue that National Bank’s behavior in failing to remove the lien on your Lagoon Beach property fell below the standard for public protection established by law. Further, to successfully prove negligence, you must argue that National Bank is responsible for some injury you incurred stemming from their alleged mismanagement and failure to remove the lien on your property. With your notes, the facts of your case, and documents you provided us, we have constructed tentative arguments to determine the success of your legal action. You will find these arguments beginning on the next page. Duty According to the case, Commercial Escrow Company v. Rockport Rebel, Inc., â€Å"a defendant owes a duty of care to all foreseeable plaintiffs.† For example, in cases where a â€Å"[defendant] voluntarily assumes the duty to act by promising to the plaintiff to behave in a certain way,† the defendant owes that plaintiff a duty to act with care. According to Judge Utter, a â€Å"defendant also [owes] the plaintiff a duty of care where a contractual relationship between the parties requires the defendant to act in a certain way towards the plaintiff.† Considering these rules of law, National Bank owed you a duty to act as you requested. In your previous correspondence, you indicated that National Bank is â€Å"the lender on your Lagoon Beach property.† You also submitted to us a copy of your deed of trust. To reiterate â€Å"the language in the deed of trust† as part of your contractual relationship with National Bank, National Bank was supposed â€Å"to promptly record a reconveyance of its lien on [your] property upon payment in full of the underlying loan.† Because National Bank failed to do this, we find it foreseeable that you would be prevented from using the property as collateral for your hotel acquisition. Additionally, you also mentioned that you â€Å"vigorously attempted to get†¦ National Bank to remove its lien on [your] property, but to no avail† and despite â€Å"repeated assurances from various officers.† Because National Bank officers assured and essentially promised you that they would remove the lien on your property, National Bank voluntarily assumed a duty to you, if no duty had been present beforehand. In essence, the assurances made to you to process your request indicate that National Bank voluntarily assumed, and therefore owed you, a duty of due care to act as you requested. In light of these arguments, we assure you that you should successfully satisfy this first element – duty – of the prima facie case of the tort of negligence. Breach of Duty According to Commercial Escrow Company v. Rockport Rebel, Inc., in order for a plaintiff to prove negligence, the â€Å"plaintiff is required to show †¦that [the defendant] had breached [defendant’s] duty of care to the plaintiff.† In most cases, a defendant owes a plaintiff a duty to act as would a reasonable person under similar circumstances. In the case of Escrow Company, the Court found that â€Å"in performing services for a client, [the] escrow company has the duty to strictly follow instructions.† Like an escrow company, a financial institution like National Bank most likely has a duty to strictly follow instructions drafted in a deed of trust, or part of a loan or other financial instrument. Because officers on behalf of National Bank did not follow instructions and terms of behavior involving you (as lendee) and National Bank (as lender) detailed in your property’s deed of trust, you may successfully argue that National Bank breached its duty to you. According to our copy of your deed of trust you provided us, National Bank was required to â€Å"promptly record a reconveyance of its lien on the property upon payment in full of the underlying loan.† You had managed to pay off the mortgage on this property on November 1, 2004. Despite this, National Bank failed to remove its lien, even after you requested. Because officers at National Bank did not strictly follow this instruction, National Bank breached the duty of due care owed to you. Causation Satisfying the prima facie case for the tort of negligence also requires that a plaintiff prove that there is a connection (or actual causation) between the alleged breach of duty by defendant and injury suffered by plaintiff. As in the case of Commercial Escrow Company v. Rockport Rebel, Inc., courts assess the existence of a connection between breach and injury by determining whether injury would have occurred if not for breach. A court would employ a similar test in your case. Because National Bank failed to remove the lien on your property, you did not satisfy terms of the loan commitment with Bank of the West and could not secure financing for your acquisition of Hotel California. We find that there is a casual connection. Courts also evaluate the proximate cause (causation) between a defendant’s breach of duty and a subsequent injury suffered by a plaintiff. Proximate causation refers to whether the defendant’s breach of duty and subsequent injury suffered by the plaintiff was foreseeable. Because you vigorously attempted to have officers at National Bank remove its lien on your property and informed them that you needed the lien removed in order to pledge the property as collateral, we find that your injury of loss of opportunity to acquire the hotel property was foreseeable. Injury The final element you must prove to satisfy the prima facie case for the tort of negligence is whether you have suffered injury because of National Bank’s alleged negligence. Due to National Bank’s failure in removing the lien on your Lagoon Beach property, the transfer of ownership agreement of Hotel California between you and Ms. Ramirez allegedly collapsed. Later, you purchased a â€Å"similarly situated† and â€Å"virtually identical† hotel property for $4.7 million, $400,000 more than what you would have paid for Hotel California ($4.3 million). In essence, National Bank’s alleged negligence caused you to incur an opportunity cost of $400,000. This loss of opportunity is under the assumption that a valid, enforceable contract existed between you and Ms. Ramirez. SUMMARY Because National Bank breached its duty by failing to remove its lien on your property, you were unable to secure financing for a $4.3 million acquisition of Hotel California. However, you later purchased a â€Å"virtually identical† property for $4.7 million. You may be entitled to the difference. DEFENSES AGAINST LIABILTY In this portion of this report, we detailed any applicable defenses relevant to your case, and outlined other considerations and concerns we advise you to consider. Although we have found that affirmative defenses to National Bank’s negligence are inapplicable to the particular facts of your case, we have other concerns to discuss. Other Considerations It is the opinion of Legal Eagles, LLP, that National Bank may argue that regardless of whether it removed the lien on your Lagoon Beach property, indefinite would be the transfer of ownership of the hotel property from Ms. Ramirez to you. As our analysis showed, you may successfully prove that National Bank had a duty to remove the lien on your property and subsequently breached that duty by failing to adhere to this instruction. If the failure to remove the lien on your property can be proven to have caused you damage(s), we will advise you to pursue further legal against National Bank. But first we must evaluate the documents you provided us and later the validity of the binding contract between you and Ms. Ramirez. Analysis of Income We have completely revalued the hotel property, Hotel California you were interested in. We used the same method(s) and approaches that most banks in our region would use to appraise the value of hotel properties. The expected value approach places weights on appraisals from two methods. First, we multiplied the past two years’ average gross margin by four. This holds a weight of 40%, because it is expected to be accurate 40% of the time. The value we derived from this method came to $2,462,380.00. Next, we took the present value of the average of the past three years’ cash flows, discounted at an 8% discount rate for 10 years. This method holds a 60% weight. The value derived from this method comes to $2,505,589.13. Our final step is to assign the correct weight to each method and sum the two figures. We can therefore conclude that the Hotel California’s appraisal value is $2,488,305.48. In addition to this, it is acceptable for a company to sell what is known a s â€Å"goodwill.† That is why the listed price of 2.5 million dollars was overstated by $11,694.52. We know that the bank would only allow you to borrow up to the appraised value, $2,488,305.48, unless you either pay 25% of the purchase in cash, or pledge to the bank a first priority lien on the vacant land as collateral. We also know that the latter option was not possible, so we will consider the former. We conclude that 25% of the purchase price of $4.3 million is $1,075,000. Because you were able to only provide $500,000 in cash for a down payment, you did not meet the requirements to borrow more than $2,488,305.48 from the bank, without pledging the vacant land. Hypothetically, if you had decided to borrow $2,488,305.48 from the bank, plus your $500,000 down payment, you would have had $2,988,305.48. This amount still would not have been enough to purchase the Hotel California property offered at $4.3 million dollars. Consequently, we conclude that without pledging the vacant land as collateral, there was no way you could have borrowed enough money to make the purchase. Even though the appraised value was not enough for you to borrow a sufficient amount of money from Bank of the West, we believe the appraised amount you were given was not accurate. There are two reasons why we believe Desert Mirage Accounting should not have relied on the income statement and footnote provided by Ms. Ramirez’s accountant. The first problem lies in the way the accountant prepared the income statement. Mr. Babak Gordon calculated gross profit by taking revenue minus cost of revenue. This method is only used for retailers and manufacturing companies, whereas Hotel California is a service company. The second problem is the verifiability of the financial statements and reliability of the accountant. To be credible, financial statements must follow generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). A financial statement that follows GAAP must be accompanied by a signed opinion letter. The letter can be in the form of: 1) Compilation letter 2) Review letter 3) Audit opinion Finally, this letter must be signed by a certified public accountant (CPA). Because the income statement of Hotel California does not come with any signed opinion letter, we cannot verify its accuracy. Therefore, Desert Mirage Accounting should not have relied on that income statement and footnote information to make the evaluation. In our initial observation of your case, we assumed National Bank’s failure to remove its lien from your Lagoon Beach property caused you to forfeit your opportunity to purchase the Hotel California property. As illustrated by our calculations above, you could not have financed the acquisition of Hotel California without pledging your Lagoon Beach property as collateral. However, after conducting a thorough analysis of your case, we regret to inform you that you may not be able to prove damages stemming from National Bank’s failure to remove its lien from your property. Even though National Bank may have breached its duty to you, National Ba nk could argue that your contract with Ms. Ramirez is invalid or unenforceable. In the event that you do not have a valid or enforceable contract, you are not legally entitled to the Hotel California property or other legal remedies. In essence, regardless of whether National Bank’s negligence can be proved, a transaction between Ms. Ramirez and you might not have occurred if a binding contract did not exist. We will clarify and explain this finding in the next section. Offer and Acceptance Analysis From our analysis, coupled with case law from our case library, we have found that there was no contractual arrangement between you and Ms. Ramirez. In arriving at this finding, we took into account the facts surrounding your case. There are key elements that prevent the institution of a contract, for the purchase of real estate, between you and Ms. Ramirez. In reaching this finding, we referred to the case of Cayetano J. Apablasa v. Merritt Company from our case library. In this case, the Court evaluated a plaintiff’s action for damages resulting from an alleged breach of contract. This plaintiff’s action for damages depended on whether there was an existing contract. The Court found that â€Å"no reasonable construction of evidence† admitted a binding contract between the parties; and that the correspondence that was provided to the Court amounted to â€Å"nothing more than an offer that was never accepted.† In essence, at the conclusion of the plaintiff’s case, the Court’s judge â€Å"entered a judgment decreeing that no contract was entered into, existing, or was ever executed.† Similar to your case, in Cayetano v. Merritt, the initial reply to the offeror’s offer by the offeree did not constitute an acceptance, contrary to what the offeree had thought. The offeree had included a â€Å"proviso† in his perceived acceptance letter to the offeror. In light of this, the Court found that terms proposed in an offer â€Å"must be met exactly, precisely and unequivocally for its acceptance to result in the formation of a binding contract.† This decision supplements our discussing regarding Green’s â€Å"mirror image rule† below. (See Regarding Mirror Image Rule.) Additionally, the Court stated that â€Å"[t]he addition of any condition†¦ is tantamount to a rejection of the original offer and the making of a counteroffer.† In essence, the Court’s decision can be summarized by the following: â€Å"[w]here a person offers to do a definite thing and another introduces a new term into the acceptance, his answer is a mere expression of willingness to negotiate or is a counter proposal, and in neither case is there a contract; if it is a new proposal and it is not accepted it amounts to nothing.† Regarding Green’s Statute of Frauds A key element that is missing in the proof of a contract is that your agreement with Ms. Ramirez was not in writing. The Green Civil Code requires that in order for a contract involving the sale of real property, to be valid, the agreement must be in writing and signed by the party to be charged or by the party’s agent. In your situation, Ms. Ramirez made her initial offer orally over the phone and you replied by a signed fax. There was never a written offer or contract signed by Ms. Ramirez. Therefore, a court of law would most likely find the contract between you and Ms. Ramirez as unenforceable. Even if the alleged contract did not have to be in writing and could be enforceable, there are other additional concerns we have: Regarding the Mirror Image Rule In a situation, such as the one you were in, a proper acceptance must meet the â€Å"mirror image rule.† This rule states that in order for an offeree to properly accept an offer, the offeree must accept the exact offer that was established by the offerer. When reviewing your case, we found that you had intent to accept Ms. Ramirez’s offer, but in your attempt to accept the offer, you added a different term to the agreement. In her offer, Ms. Ramirez required that â€Å"[t]he sale was to conclude following a 45-day escrow.† However, in your reply, you stated that you â€Å"would like to close escrow within 60 days.† A court of law would find that by changing the terms of Ms. Ramirez’s offer, you fail to meet the â€Å"mirror image rule,† and therefore terminated Ms. Ramirez’s initial offer and proposed a counteroffer. Documents you provided us detailing your correspondence with Ms. Ramirez indicate no communication on her part in accepting your counteroffer. Summary We must mention that had there been a contract between Ms. Ramirez and you, you may have been the subject of legal action by Ms. Ramirez. If we assume there was an actual contract between Ms. Ramirez and you with either the 45 day or 60 day escrow term, Ms. Ramirez could have pursued legal action and you could be liable for having breached your contract for your failure to deliver on your promise. You entered into the alleged contract with Ms. Ramirez on January 6, 2005. Regardless of whether there was an agreement for a 45 day escrow or a 60 day escrow term, you failed to secure financing in either time frame. Approximately 80 days after entering the alleged contract with Ms. Ramirez, on March 28, 2005, you contacted Ms. Ramirez to request an extension. The fact that you have no pending legal action brought by Ms. Ramirez may suggest that Ms. Ramirez did not view the arrangement with you as a binding contract. We reiterate that neither party had a binding, enforceable contract. CONCLUSION Ms. Warren, we regret to inform you that success with your legal action is unlikely. There is a high chance you will be unsuccessful, should you purse a legal action against National Bank on the grounds of the tort of negligence. National Bank failed to remove the lien on your Lagoon Beach property, violating the duty of due care owed to you, and disrupting your ability to secure financing for your entrepreneurial endeavor. However, the question of law of whether there was a valid, enforceable contract between you and Ms. Ramirez, is the decisive issue. As our analysis has indicated, a court of law will most likely try the issue of whether there was a binding contract. Thus without the binding contract between you and Ms. Ramirez involving her offer for the hotel (Hotel California), a judge or jury in a court of law cannot rely on how much you would have paid to make a compensatory damages determination. In other words, because your action for damages is predicated on a contract between you and Ms. Ramirez, your damages cannot be established and you incurred no loss of opportunity. Without the loss of this opportunity cost, you have not suffered any injury due in part to National Bank’s negligence. RECOMMENDATIONS Ms. Warren, as Associate Partner of Legal Eagles, LLP, I oversaw the analysis of my legal team and validated their conclusions and findings. In light of the findings of our analysis, I foremost recommend that you consider the following course of action: * Please, do not pursue further legal action against National Bank regarding this cause of action and issue. It is my opinion and the opinion of Legal Eagles, LLP, that pursuing further legal action regarding this issue, considering our evaluation of your case, will result only in additional expense on your part including legal and attorney fees and your time. You will also not receive the resolution that you would like making the process inherently dissatisfying and frustrating. With this in mind, there is another course of action I do recommend. Because you have already attempted to resolve your issue with National Bank regarding the lien on your Lagoon Beach, Green property, you are entitled to contact the regulatory agency of your former bank. All national banks within the state of Green are regulated by different agencies. If National Bank’s lien remains on your property, I recommend you pursue this alternate course of action: * Contact the appropriate state of Green regulatory agency of your financial institution (National Bank) and file a complaint. Your bank’s regulatory agency can help you with your concerns and complaints. There are many regulatory agencies in the state of Green’s banking industry. For your convenience, the appropriate regulatory agency of your former bank, and its details have been listed: According to the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council (for additional information visit www.ffiec.gov), National Bank’s regulator is the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (for additional information please visit www.helpwithmybank.gov). You can visit and reach this regulatory agency online or by phone at (800) 613-6743. The Office of the Comptroller will assist you in getting answers and solutions to your questions and concerns. You can also file complaints against your bank, here. If you decide to proceed with filing a complaint, officials from the Office of the Comptroller will contact National Bank on your behalf regarding your issue for a response. You will then receive a let ter summarizing the results. Those who have sought our legal advice and even had similar experiences as you with National Bank as well have reported that intervention by a regulatory agency expedited the process and liens were eventually removed. We are confident that you have the tools to resolve this issue. LEGAL EAGLES, LLP [ 1 ]. The elements of the prima facie case of the tort of negligence are duty, breach of duty, actual and proximate cause, and injury. [ 2 ]. COMMERCIAL ESCROW COMPANY AND JAMES DE MIK, APPELLANTS, v. ROCKPORT REBEL, INC., APPELLEE. 778 S.W.2d 532; 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 2263 [ 3 ]. CAYETANO J. APABLASA, Appellant, v. MERRITT COMPANY (a Corporation) et al., Respondents. 176 Cal. App. 2d 719; 1 Cal. Rptr. 500; 1959 Cal. App. LEXIS 1542

The problem with determinism Essay Example for Free

The problem with determinism Essay The traditional view is that of the compatibilists which states that freedom is the ability to act, or not to act, according to the determinations of the will. It is so defined to make it compatible with the theory of determinism, which essentially states that all actions have a causal explanation due to the state of the world in the moment previous. However, the definition is clearly inadequate due to the fundamental flaws of determinism and its failure to account for deliberation or personal choice. A superior alternative is offered by what Taylor calls the theory of agency, but is more commonly known as libertarianism. In discussing a theory one must start with some data in order to prove the validity of the theory, and in discussing determinism this is no different. Two suitable criteria dealing with the decision making process are: firstly that we at times deliberate with the view of making a decision , and secondly regardless of whether I deliberate I sometimes have a personal choice in the decision making process. These criteria are ideal because they are both things that we as individuals are fairly certain of so any acceptable theory must account for them in some way. For common sense, a virtue in argumentation, suggests that it is easier to accept the veracity of partial self-determination in the decision making process than an abstract philosophical theory. To asses the applicability of the data to determinism a more in depth examination of determinism is needed, which Taylor defines as having three tenets: Firstly, that the theory of determinism is true. Secondly, that voluntary behaviour is free unless constrained, and finally that causes of voluntary behaviour are certain states, condition, decisions, and desires. The principle problem of determinism is precisely this last tenet, for what are the causes of the inner states that cause my actions? Where do they come from? Are they under my control? If determinism is true then the problem of infinite causality arises for the causes of the actions must themselves have causes. When applied to the two original data the infinite causality of determinism renders these data false. Take deliberation as an example. I can deliberate only about future actions, but there are always causes to everything I do making the outcome of the deliberation inevitable and the process itself irrelevant. The incompatibility of determinism and deliberation does not bode well for the second datum, as if I am to have a personal choice in an action then I must be able to concretely execute any of the options associated with the action. But if determinism is true there can again only be one option due to the chain of causes thus negating the option of personal choice. A better theory, one that incorporates these two essential data is what Taylor calls the theory of agency, but is more commonly known as libertarianism, which postulates that human beings are frequently, but not always, self-determining beings. To further understand the theory of agency and thus its advantages it is first necessary to examine how it deals with the causation of actions. If an individual is relatively free in his decision making it follows that the individual agent can be considered a cause for the resulting action. For example, if I move my hand then the obvious cause of the motion is me and not some infinite series of causes. The lack of such a sequence of causes, unlike the one put forward by determinism, is an advantage for it allows the theory of agency to be rid of the problems of determinism discussed above. Moreover this allows libertarianism to incorporate the two criteria originally put forth. Under libertarianism deliberation becomes not just possible, but quite logical as it makes sense to ponder a matter over which I have control of the outcome. Then obviously, if I am at least a partially self-determining entity then I have a fair amount of personal choice in what course of action I should pursue. Aside from avoiding the problems of determinism, perhaps libertarianisms greatest advantage is its common sense appeal. For example, if I am considering whether to order a Big Mac for lunch or a McChicken, it makes much more sense to me that through deliberation I can choose which sandwich I would like to eat, rather than the existence of some infinite chain of events that pre-determines that I will eat a Big Mac. It is of course necessary to acknowledge that common sense and simplicity are not absolute truths, but as Bertrand Russell wrote, in support of common sense, in The Problems of Philosophy, Since this belief [in the existence of physical objects] does not lead to any difficulties, but on the contrary tends to simplify and systemize our account of our experiences, there seems no good reason for rejecting it. (Russell, 24) While Russell was addressing another problem the logic of common sense he applied most definitely applies to the case at hand as well. As a concluding argument in favour of libertarianism consider, the very fact of reading and grading this essay. If determinism were true then this essays grade would have long been pre-determined by a series of causes stretching back to before its very creation thus rendering useless the whole process. Texts Cited Russell, B. Problems of Philosophy. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1997. Taylor, R. Metaphysics. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall, 1993.

Dove and Axe Campaigns Controversy

Dove and Axe Campaigns Controversy Unilever: Axe / Dove Controversy Unilever is a leading multinational corporation which was formed by Anglo-Dutch cooperation in 1930 as a result of merging the Soap maker Lever brother and Dutch company Margarine Unie. The merger resulted to a large export of palm oil product which promoted the growth of the company. The Company has expanded since then opening branches all over the world. It has so many outlets in the world and has a large share of het world consumer product market with several brands in the catalog. The company also owns foods and beverage brands, cleaning brands and other personal care brands. The company has a large work force of more than 180,000 people in the world with revenue of more that US$58 billion. The company was established from Roternd and London companies which also act as the mother companies for all other branches in the world. (Unilever, 2008b) Recently the company has been engulfed in one of the most heated controversy in the history of business world arising from its advertisement. The company has been engaged in a various criticisms before but the recent one seems to have attracted the attention of unlikely quarters from politicians to the human reign activists. It has become a subject to social conversation all over the world due to its mode of advertisement. There have been many blogs in the internet that have been used against the company and its advertisement strategy especially the recent one Axe/dove advertisement which has attracted most criticism even before they make their impact on the market. The market of the two brands Axe and Dove have attracted the advocacy groups who have been campaigning for the need to have commercial-free childhood advertisements. The campaign has in form of writing several letters to the company in order to force it to withdraw the advertisement from the market. What is in the controversy about these products? The dove product advertisement has been used as a marketing strategy that is said to be promoting real beauty. In the advertisement there is a dove that is promising the girls a good care if they use the products. In this regard no one can understand how a dove can promise the girl a good care. The company has however described the advertisement as showing the need to have real beauty rather than acting as an advisement to encourage girls to use the products and has therefore started a campaign that is aimed at funning projects for girl child. But this is contradicted by another advertisement of its products Axe deodorant which has been described as having an effect of ‘epitomizing the sexist and degrading making that has been undermining girls’. This has been shone to be a potential harm to the health development of grid as contradicted to the other advertisement of the Dove which promotes health self-image for all women. (Newman, 2007) The company has been on the defense saying that the Dove brand is meant to show women the need of feel beautiful always which has been expressed by wide way in the today’s stereotyping of beauty and it is meant to inspire women to be taking car of them. For this reason the company has created Dove Self-Esteem Fund that is meant to educate and act as inspiration to girls. On the other hand the Axe campaign shows ‘the mating game’ and expressed the desire of men to get noticed by women. (High, 2007) The above advertisement has been causign a lot of criticisms for the company not only from the civil activists but also from political arena. It has been descried as the higher hypocrisy in marketing and there have been threat of taking of civil action by not allowing the Dove Fund to take seminars to school unless the Axe advertisement is changed. Let us analyze the effect of the advertisement and the impact they may have on the company and its businesses. SWOT analysis of the advertisement Being a large multinational company, there are several advantages that the company can enjoy amid such a criticism of the advertisement. At the same time there are some weakness in the controversy that may make the company lose its credibility in the market and therefore loss of sales. Let us look closely at the SWOT analyze of ht advertisement and their implications. Strengths Unilever is a large multinational company that has been in the market for along time now. In this regard, the company has been able to establish its operation in all the markets ands therefore it has a world wide appeal. Due to the fact that is has been able to operate in many countries, the controversy may not cause any effect on it sales. This is due to the fact that the company is known for famous brands that have been satisfying the needs of the consumers. Therefore there may not be many customers who will be affected by the controversy and who are likely to change their preference of its brands due to the controversy. Therefore the current controversy may not affect its international market though it may affect some of the regions where this campaign is concentrated. Those who are involved in the criticism may not be able to reach all the regions of the world. With such wide of brands in the market, the company sales may not be affected even if it withdraws just one brand in the market. (Pandya, 2001) The company has been able to cut a niche in the market and therefore no any amount of criticism that may destroy its images. There has been a new trend in the market where the value of a product is not evaluated by the level of criticism on the level of support that the products receive but by the level of individual satisfaction on the brand. For this reason a lot of people may not be looking at the controversy that has been created around the brands but they would rather focus on the effect fullness for the brands. Since there has not been any criticism about the product to the consumers, there is likelihood that it will not have effect on the marketing of the product. All the consumers of the brands have not presented any complain to the company about the effectfulnes of the brand and therefore they are likely to ignore any call not to use the brand. There could have been a negative effect on the marketing of the brand if there have been reported physical effects on the users. But the controversy is surrounding the advertisements and therefore it is not likely to have any effect on the marketing. In most cases the marketing of a product is affected by the effects of the particular product to the consumers. If the criticism is based on the health effect of the brands, it may have raised serious concerns about the marketing of the product but the controversy is centered about ‘hypocrisy’ which does not attract the attention for the uses of the products. Another strength that the company has on the position of the brand is in the target consumers. The company is targeting the young people who are likely to be influenced most by the advertisement. The specific target of ‘the mating game’ is one of the most influential things that are likely to attract many young people to the product. It should be understood that these young people do not understand the effects of what you can argue all day on ethics in advisement. They are simply attracted to what they can relate with and what makes them feel like others. Therefore they are not likely to change their perception about the product based on the criticism on the advertisement. (Georges, 1999) Most of those how are involved in the criticism are not within age bracket of the target customers of the products. Most of those who are involve in the criticism of the product are not young and even if they coordinate comparing to send letters to the company not many young people are likely to send their letters. Therefore the strength that the company has on this advertisement is that the target customers are not the one who are involved in the criticism and are not likely to change their perception of the products. This is not likely to have a negative effect on marketing of both brands to the target customers. (Unilever, 2007a) It has also been observed that not all people are in crisis of the campaign. Some have descried it as a genius market strategic that is likely to lead to high sales for the product. Therefore the company is likely to get positive support from those how do not see it in negative view. Weaknesses At the same time that are some weakness that are linked to the criticism that the company has been receiving. There is likelihood that the conflict will affect the image of the product in the market. The strength of the brand in the market depends on the positive notes that it receives from thee market. Positive notes are likely to affect the perception for the brand in the market by all consumers. It has been shown that bad perception on products is likely to have a negative impact on the sales. Therefore the more positive comment that a products receives from the market, the more positive impact it is likely to get from the market. In this regard, the criticism is likely to have negative impacts on the perception of the company in the market. In this sense the customers are likely to change their perception about the products of the company in the market. The company has been enjoying a good perception in the market based on the quality of products that it has been offering to the consumer. However this is changing with time as the consumer become more aware of their rights. one of the characteristic of modern consumers is that they have become more powerful in the market and are likely to have an impact on the way a company makes its sales. Therefore the current criticism of the company may impose a consumer led campaign that is likely to tarnish the name of the company. In this regard, the company is likely to lose a lot in case the consumers change their perception. (Golin, 2007) There is also a likelihood that the current controversy is likely to affect the sales of the product due to the influence the civil activists may have on the company. Most of those who are criticizing the company are parents who have a lot of influence on their children. As such they are likely to influence their children depending on the comments that they make about the products. In this regard they are likely to influence their children not to buy the products with the fact that most of them especially the females are unlikely to buy it. In this regard the brands are unlikely to acquire new customers. The survival of brand in the market depends on the way it attracts, and retains new consumers. With such criticism, the brands are not likely to attract new customers which may have an effect of reducing the overall consumption of the brand. (McManis, 2007) The criticism on the brand may extend it on other brands on the company. Once the costumers changes there perception about the company, they are likely to change their overall perception of the products of the company. In this sense the company may start recording low sales even on other brands. The increased use of information technology and the posting of the comments about the products in the internet are likely to attract the attention of more people which is likely to have damage on the reputation of the product in the market. In this regard there is likelihood of having a worldwide customer changed perception on the brands which is likely to affect their sales all over the world. The ‘onslaught’ videos that have been released on the crisis are likely to affect the operation of the company. Already there is a threat by civil groups that they will stop the Dove-Fund from holding seminars in schools and other area whether the company targets the young people. This is likely to have a negative effect on the programs of the company and in a way may lead to disruption of is normal flow of programs of a failure of the whole program all together. Opportunity There are a lot of opportunities that the company can still exploit in order to market its brand in the market. Already the company has clarified on the intention of the advertisements as being to encourage beauty and give women a reason to be more beautiful and the other being to show mating game and the desire for men to be also clean and attracted to women. In this regard the company has an opportunity to prove its critics wrong by appealing more to the target customer who may be affected by the controversy. The company has already started the Dove-Fund which is taking care of the education for girl. This is one of the opportunities which the company can use in order to clear the air about its products and the criticism that it is getting from the activists. This is because under the program the company would be making a direct appeal tot the consumer rather than the activists. The company should also start the same fund for men in order to embrace the youth. Through close interaction with the youth, the company is likely to presence the brands in the market and helps them to defy criticism of the brands. (Gillete, 2007) There is also an opportunity of the company to change the name of the brand or to change the whole advertising strategy before the brand has devastating effect in the market. In this regard the company can the name of the brand in the market or change the advertising strategies if it sees that the brands are likely to cause negative effects in the market. This will give the company a time to preserve the brands in the market and also preserve the name of the company in face of the rising criticism. The company can also produce another advertisement which contradicts the first ones and which gives a positive message as claimed by the activists. This would be in line with contradicting the issues that have been raised by the activists and to showing the genuinely of the company rather than the hypocrisy as has been expressed by the activists. This will help to save the company from the onslaught by the activists. Threats There are many threats the company may be facing as a result of the advertisements. First it is to be understood that this is no the first criticism of the company and it has been criticized on other areas of being unethical in business. For example the company has been criticized of buying palm oil from dealers who have been destructing forest cover. Therefore there is a threat of the current conflict attracting the attention of the consumer on all other conflicts that have been there about the company. This is likely to have a damaging effect on the name of the company especially at this time when the concept of ethics in business has taken root in consumers. (Moore, 2008) There is a threat of he company making loses on the brand and withdrawing them from the market which may affect the operation of the company not only in the domestic market but also in the international market.

A Tale Of Two Cities :: essays research papers

Throughout the book, A Tale of Two Cities the theme of sacrifice is used to help the reader realize the cost of life, as well as to develop the plot through the effects of those sacrifices. Through the characters of Sydney Carton, Dr. Manette, and Ms. Pross the theme of sacrifice is developed. The theme of sacrifice brings key aspects of the plot together, and Carton's sacrifice brings the novel to closer in the end. Sydney Carton paid the highest cost of sacrifice with his life, and in doing so he was very similar to Jesus Christ. Carton laid down his life for a man who had never done anything for him and who in fact had abused his relationship as demonstrated on page 191 when Carton describes himself in Darnay's view as "a dissolute dog who has never done any good, and never will." Similarly Jesus Christ let himself be beaten, abused, and killed for the same people who spit in his face. Other people in both cases thought that Jesus and Carton were not thought to be much more that dogs, while they both sacrificed their lives so these people who treated them like dogs could live. Both Carton's and Jesus' sacrifice was inspired by a deep desperate love for which they were willing to do anything. Carton was willing to die for Lucie because of his desperate, scandalous love for her, just as Jesus showed his love for man when he was willing to give up his life for every man. This level of love makes the sacrifice even more valuable and brings things to closure. Finally, Carton and Jesus both knew that through their sacrifice, others could have life. Carton's death breathed life into Darnay just as Jesus Christ's death breathes life into those who trust in him. The importance of their death is that it brings life. The role of Carton's sacrifice in the plot is that the cost of life is sometimes high. Through his sacrifice the cost and privilege of living can be measured, just as Christians can see the true cost and privilege of life through Jesus Christ's sacrifice. Dr. Manette also sacrificed much of his life by giving up his own personal goals and agenda for Lucie. On page 125 Dr. Manette says, "any fancies, any reasons, and apprehensions, anything whatsoever, new or old against the man she really loved†¦they

foolear The Wise Fool in Shakespeares King Lear Essay -- King Lear e

The Wise Fool in King Lear      Ã‚  Ã‚   Whether or not the role of the Fool is an important one within King Lear is arguable. Although he seems to have great insight into much of the plays main events, he seems not to have any real influence on both the plot as well as the outcome of the play. He remains the sole character who does not have any direct link with the events of the plot, coupled with an unusually early exit; this raises the question of his significance. However at the very least he does certainly serve as entertainment not only for Lear but the audience as well, with his honesty, wittiness, and clever speeches that not only adds to the light humour but also to show us that the Fool could indeed be perceived as being one of the wisest characters in the play.    The main roles of the Fool seem to be as Lear's conscience, as a comedian to provide light relief from the tragic play as well as a means of communicating his themes such as the idea of foolishness, self-knowledge. In addition, he is the only person with the ability to speak to Lear in the manner he does. He also serves as a reminder for Lear for his actions within the play, in particular his stupidity and mistakes.    The Fool appears in the middle of Act I Scene 4 of the play and immediately we can clearly see his integrity when talking to others. He tells Lear "thou must needs wear my coxcomb" which suggests the king to be the Fool rather then himself and that Lear was foolish to divide his kingdom as he has done. Kent before him had criticized Lear for his decision causing him to be banished from the kingdom, however the Fool receives no such punishment showing us that he can get away with actions that are far more courage... ...easons as to why he actually leaves remaining unseen again in the play. At this point in the play, Lear finally goes mad; therefore, this suggests that the Fool unneeded, as Lear no longer has the ability of reasoning. This also suggests that the Fool is indeed a metaphor for Lear's conscience. Additionally, this is also the point where Lear begins to finally learn that he has made some terrible mistakes. This could be suggesting that the more foolish we become, the wiser we are because as Lear finally loses his mind, he finally gains insight into his mistakes.    Works Consulted:    Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Ed. R.A. Foakes. Surrey: International Thomson Publishing Company, 1997.    Willeford, William. The Fool and His Scepter: A Study in Clowns and Jesters and Their Audience. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1969.   

Writing Techniques in Art Spiegelmans Maus and Kurt Vonneguts Slaught

Writing Techniques in Art Spiegelman's Maus and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five BAM! ZONK! POW! ZAP! What images do these words bring to mind? For many people, they illicit scenes of Batman and his sidekick Robin, fighting their way through a legion of bad guys while arriving only seconds after their arch-villain has escaped. From these short, succinct, nonsense words, images of battles are painted over a much larger canvas; the delicate balance and constant struggle between good and evil is illustrated in black and white terms. Unlike comics or television, life does not fit within these binary opposites. In a war there are good guys, bad guys, and everything imaginable in-between. ZONK! POW! Did a bad guy get thrown into a pile of crates or did our hero get knocked out from behind? These simple words are not enough for us to distinguish the difference between good and bad or right and wrong. At the same time, no artist or writer or illustrator could ever hope to present a situation in its entirety. How would a sentence like, ‘the hero, who although he treats his wife in a derogatory manner, punched a bad guy to save a damsel in distress’ serve as a gauge of morals or justice? It is not the creator’s job to portray an entire event, but rather, to present the event in a way that the audience can understand and draw their own conclusions from. In Maus, Art Spiegelman does not make any apologies about what he includes or leaves out from his story. Maus is not meant to be a story that encompasses World War II or the Holocaust, but rather, a story about the life of his father, Vladek Spiegelman: I still want to draw the book about you†¦/The one I used to talk to you about†¦/About your life in Po... ... but rather, that it was humanity itself which suffered. It is interesting that we cannot definitively say that either Maus or Slaughterhouse Five was intended to be an anti-war book. For an author to have taken a side would have opened their book to more criticism and opposition than they already harbor. Instead, both Vonnegut and Spiegelman chose to mask their true meaning behind subtle hints and allusions. We cannot put either book into the black or white category of pro or anti-war. Even Vonnegut by his own admission states that, â€Å"all I would have to do would be to report what I had seen† (Vonnegut 2). Maus and Slaughterhouse Five are not about proving a point or pushing an agenda. Instead, they present the absolutes of good and evil in a simple and concise way so that we may be able to distinguish all of the many gradients that lie in-between.

Sy’s Fish Company Risk Analysis Essay

As Sy’s business grows there are certain risks and that must be acknowledged and addressed in order to make operations run smoothly and efficiently. Below are the risks that have been identified and recommendations to mitigate them. Risk: Sending documents to Sy via mail. There is a high probability that the documents could be lost and therefore the transactions never recorded. Mail can take up to a week to receive so the timing would be affected. Transactions would be recorded in the wrong period and adjustments would have to be made to correct this. Recommendation: Sy should implement an information technology system so documents can be recorded in a timely manner and not lost in the mail. Risk: Return policy There is not a limit of days a customer has to return the fish. A customer can order fish, and if they are unhappy three months later, they can return the fish for a full refund no questions asked. This is a risk because customers can take advantage of this policy therefore affecting sales revenue. Recommendation: Sy sells only fresh fish to customers. Because of this, he needs to change his return policy to 15 days. This will ensure that customers do not wait to return fish months later after the fish has gone bad. Risk: Bookkeeping and Job Responsibility All of Sy’s bookkeeping is done by various employees from various stores. Having employees from various locations doing different parts of bookkeeping is risky because not one person is held responsible. Transactions cannot be collaborated from beginning to end until all the paperwork is received from each individual. Recommendation: If Sy plans on growing his business he is going to have to hire more employees to help with the bookkeeping. He should have separation of duties to avoid falsifying of information. All the bookkeeping should be done in one location. Internal controls should be set up for the process of recording transactions. Risk: Accounts payable procedure Natalie holds all the miscellaneous payable documents for payment at the end of the month. She records the document being received on the same day she issues payment. This is a risk because it effects what period the documents are recorded. Natalie pays all fishers in one lump sum instead of separating each payment. This is risky because it could be recorded incorrectly and there is no way to know which order was input wrong. Recommendation: She should record each miscellaneous payable document on the date received and the date paid should be when the check was written. She should record each fisher payable document individually. Risk: Bad Debt Sy does not know how much each customer owes or when they will receive payment. This is a risk because he will not be able to account for bad debt. Recommendation: He should make an accounts receivable ledger to study which customers have not paid and how long they are past due. By keeping records it will be easier to account for bad debt. Risk: Payables checking account Money in the payables checking accounts that has not been claimed cannot be traced back to the vendor. This affects revenue recognition and is a risk because Sy does not know where this money is going. Recommendation: There should be a record of what vendors have cashed their checks. Implement a direct deposit system to pay vendors and fishers. Risk: AFS securities There is no documentation on Sy’s AFS securities. There are no footnotes or explanations on the beginning balance sheet (Appendix 1). This is a risk because external users do not know where Sy’s investments are going. If there are no footnotes or explanations for the security investors they might not want to invest. Reccomendations Sy needs to add additional disclosures to explain his security and what he plans on doing with it.

History of Napkin Folding

History of Napkin Napkins have been in used from the times of ancient Roman Empire and prior to them, in ancient Greece. References to word napkin  dates back to 1384 AD. Spartans from ancient Greece (around 4th century BC)are known to have used bread slices made from a lump of dough as napkins to wipe their hands and it is possible that they ate these bread napkins after use. The ancient Romans (first to 5th century AD) are known to have used cloth napkins (called Mappa) to protect from food spill and wipe mouth. The guests brought their own napkins and carried away left-over delicacies in their Mappa.With the fall of Roman Empire, napkins disappeared from the dining table. Napkins returned to adorn the dining table many centuries later and the classic painting  Last Supper  from 1464-1467 AD by Dieric Bouts depicts the use of Napkins on the dinner table. By 16th century, napkins were part of rich dining experience and came in many sizes, known by various names like diaper, se rviette, touaille (for towel) depending on the size and intended use. 17th century saw the use of big sized napkins measuring 35inches by 45 inches to help accommodate the needs of eating with bare hands instead of spoon/forks.The size reduced when forks and spoons were accepted as part of regular dining experience in major parts of Europe in the 18th century including Great Britain. The 17th century also saw French come up with elaborate rules for nobility class which included instructions on napkin usage, a predecessor to modern day napkin etiquette, including the one which instructs the guests to not use the napkin for wiping the face or clean teeth or worse, rub nose. Asians – Japanese, Thai, Chinese and Indians have not been using napkins during the meal.While Indians are known to use bare hands for meal and rely on water to wash their hands before and after each meal, Chinese and Japanese use those magical chopsticks which seem to pick up everything they eat, keeping th eir hands clean and stain free. Types of Napkins Napkins are made of paper or cloth that is made of cotton or linen. Clothes are quite popular in formal dining while fast foods and certain restaurants too tend to serve paper napkins. Big occasions like weddings often go for paper napkins since sheer number of guests attending the wedding makes cloth napkins less practical.In general, cloth napkins are usually the choice for those who care for ambience and the environment. To me, cloth napkins are environment friendly while exuding a feeling of luxury. Paper Napkin with Monograms It is often possible to have paper napkins ordered for marriages (and other special meal occasions) with names or initials of the bride and bridegroom embossed on the napkin. Customers are given the option of having custom colors, custom patterns, custom monograms imprinted on the napkin. The size of napkin provided at table varies from occasion and place of dining.Smaller size napkins of about 5 inches x 5 inches are used when serving drinks or starters/appetizers or snacks. For lunch, larger sized napkins measuring about 14 inches to 20 inches square size are provided. Napkins supplied for dinner are even bigger, often of size 20 inches to 22 inches square. The idea is to increase the size of the napkin as the quantity of food/drinks served/consumed increases. This helps take care of the increased risk of spillage with increasing quantity of food and drinks. As a host, when providing napkins to your guests or customers, you need a achieve a good balance of size and utility of the napkins.Napkins which are too big in size for the purpose can only increase laundry load for little or no soil/spills on the napkins. Napkins are made of cotton or linen or linen-cotton mix, although it is possible that a few napkins are made of other materials like synthetic or silk. They come in variety of colors although white seems to be the most popular choice of color. I prefer white napkins over other s since it is easy to detect stains early with white napkins. Restaurant set with White Napkins I often see white napkins being used in restaurants.White conveys cleanliness since it is easy for guests/customers to see the care you have taken to ensure the napkin is clean, fresh and washed. Often napkins and table cloths are sold together as a set to form one matching set of clothes adorning the dining table. Napkin Folding Aside from being conscious about color, size and texture of the napkin used for dining, discerning hosts who care for ambience often go for various  napkin folds  that help the guests feel very welcome, convey a feeling that you value their company, that you are willing to go the extra mile to make the occasion a happy one.A great napkin fold adds to the setting. Some of the folds can be so creative and nice that it is difficult for us to make up our mind to unfold them during the start of the meal. This site has a number of napkin folds which will provide fo r a warm, friendly environment at lunch/dinner time. A few are easy yet elegant while others could require a little more time and skill. Pyramid Napkin Fold Some are more formal while others are pretty casual ones. Some of the folds take just a few minutes of your time and even those who have never folded before can do them relatively quickly.Start with the easy ones and then move on to more difficult folds. Some of these folds require stiff clothing or starching while ironing or washing. Try out multiple folds to see which ones you like or prefer. Apart from the many popular napkin folds listed here, you may find it useful to visit a resource dedicated to paper folding Origami for more ideas on how to fold napkins. If you plan to try out complicated Origami folds, be mindful of the fact that an elegant napkin fold on a lunch/dinner table is less about demonstrating your mind skills than it is about setting the mood for a hearty meal.In other words, do not overdo napkin folding. His tory * Creative napkin folding may have started during the reign of Louis XIV, when people decided to present napkins as an art form. However, napkin folding really took off around the turn of the last century. Function * A creatively folded napkin can make the simplest meal classier, and dinner guests are always impressed by an artfully folded napkin resting at their table setting. * Straight Vinyl SkirtingVinyl with velcro hook designed to drape over the foam edge to floor. www. tiffinmats. com Significance * The art of napery folding has been compared to origami, and many different types of three-dimensional figures may be produced. Types * You can learn to fold napkins into pyramids, pockets for flatware, flowers, hats, fans, slippers and various animals. Considerations * The best type of cloth napkin to use for napkin folding is crisp linen, as it holds its shape better than other types of cloth

John Wesley’s Thoughts on Slavery Essay

Introduction John Wesley was an ordained minister of the Anglican Church in England in the eighteenth century. He is considered as the founder of the Methodist movement. The Methodist movement started out at Oxford University where John Wesley, his brother Charles and other like-minded individuals began gathering together for prayer and for religious purposes through what they called the â€Å"Holy Club†. They practiced discipline in observing the sacraments of the church; they conducted regular outreach programs designed for the elderly, the prisoners, the sick and other disenfranchised members of the society (Pollock, 1989). Although the Methodist movement floundered in England during the time spent by John Wesley in Georgia in America, it gained new strength upon his return in the 1740s. Because of his new found fervor upon hearing Martin Luther’s preface to the Book of Romans, he began his itinerant preaching and traveled extensively throughout England preaching about the Christian faith (Pollock, 1989). John Wesley and Slavery John Wesley was opposed to debauchery and the drinking of wine. In addition, his sermons and his writings were also opposed to slavery. When Wesley was in the British colony of Georgia, he saw the way that masters treat their slaves as well as the way in which these slaves were sold as cattle. In 1774, John Wesley published one of his reflections entitled Thoughts on Slavery. On this pamphlet, he expounded on the slave trade—how the slaves were taken from their native lands and transported to the New World to provide important workforce for the plantations. He condemned slavery as an act which cannot be reconciled with Justice and Mercy (Brycchan Carey, 2002). In the said pamphlet, John Wesley appealed to both slave-traders and slave owners to stop the practice and he closed with a written prayer for their soul. In this address to the slave-traders, Wesley’s accusations and dispensations were impassioned and unrelenting. He lamented the lack of compassion in the slave traders because of the way that they treat the slaves (Brycchan Carey, 2002). Wesley’s opposition to slavery even led him to commit his support to the Abolitionist movement. The abolitionist movement grew in power and magnitude towards the end of the 1780s. At this time, John Wesley risked his personal safety by preaching on the matter of slavery and condemning such practice in Bristol, which was then a trading port for slaves. During this sermon, there was uproar among the people, which Wesley described in supernatural terms as the way that Satan fights for his kingdom. This uproar, however, could have been caused by the slave-traders whose operations were just around the area where John Wesley was preaching (Brycchan Carey, 2002). Conclusion Until the end of his life, John Wesley fervently condemned and opposed slavery. The pamphlet he wrote about his Thoughts on Slavery was published once more before he died. His anti-slavery stance was carried on by the followers of the movement he founded—Methodism. As the Methodists continue to gain strength and following all throughout England, and later in the United States, Wesley’s thoughts on slavery became even more popular and added momentum to the move to abolish slavery. Reference Brycchan Carey (2002). John Wesley: Biography. Retrieved 17 Sept 2007 from http://www. brycchancarey. com/abolition/wesley. htm. Pollock, J. (1989). Wesley the Preacher. London: Lion.