Security on the Web Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Security on the Web - Essay Example Considering all these cons, one must ensure that a good firewall is in place to keep the hackers at an arm’s length, keeping them at bay is an arduous task. This paper will shed light upon internet firewall security and how a good firewall can protect a person from malware, Trojan horses and other undesirable viruses. â€Å"The term "fire wall" originally meant, and still means, a fireproof wall intended to prevent the spread of fire from one room or area of a building to another. The Internet is a volatile and unsafe environment when viewed from a computer-security perspective, therefore "firewall" is an excellent metaphor for network security.† (What is a firewall?) Firewall is not something general, it means several specific things and it is supposed to do several important things to ensure that a user is safeguarded against attacks. Packet filtering is perhaps the most important job of a regular firewall. All the internet activities like downloads, chats and so on a re done in packets, and these packets contain information. Firewall must ensure that these packets are either allowed or disallowed based on the source of the internet protocol address known as the IP address. The destination port of these packets is also very important, the firewall is supposed to allow or disallow these packets purely on the basis of their destination port. Firewall must follow a protocol and allow or disallow packets or information based on the set protocol. This method of packet filtering is highly effective against malware and other dangerous attacks but this is not a foolproof plan. All traffic can be blocked by a firewall which does not make much sense; it should allow certain packets which are safe for the user to receive. It has its weaknesses like it becomes very difficult for a basic firewall to detect spoofing which means the information contained in the packets is falsified. Allowed packets may contain a bug which can retrieve a password and cause unwan ted actions, a basic firewall is vulnerable to these dangers. Circuit relay is another type of firewall which provides enhanced security, application level gateway is perhaps the most advanced of all and provides even better security. Static Packet Filtering: â€Å"Static packet filtering is a firewall and routing capability that provides network packet filtering based only on packet information in the current packet and administrator rules.† (Statistic Packet Filtering) Static packet filtering is based on the following important things: The administrator defines rules. The allowed ports and IP addresses are set by the administrator and only the allowed ports are allowed to send and receive packets. The transport layer contents, the network and the packet contents are all determined by the administrator. Better level of security is provided by the dynamic packet filtering. Static packet filtering does not look at the contents closely, on the contrary dynamic packet filtering screens contents very closely, previous connection states are also considered by dynamic packet filtering which static packet filtering fails to do. The packet headers are very important under static packet filtering, the information stored in the headers determines whether packets should be allowed or dropped. These headers are compared against the control policy which is set by the administrator. Below is an illustration which presents the same concept very comprehensively. (Static Packet Filt

Own Business Essay Example for Free

Own Business Essay If I were to start my own business, the first decision I would make would be in deciding what product or service my company would produce or provide. For example, do I have a greater interest in the area of production or service? In deciding this, I would research the market to determine if there was a need for the product or service I was considering. I would also conduct research to determine what area (s) would be some of the better areas to begin the type of business I plan on undertaking. Things I might consider would be the competition, noticeable need for my product or service in the area and even presenting the idea at a public meeting in the area while evaluating the response I receive. Another key type of decision would be determining the size of the business. Along with determining for example whether the business would be a small business, medium-size or large business, I would need to determine the staffing needs of the business. As Al Coke stated in the book, â€Å"Seven Steps to a Successful Business Plan,† â€Å"What are your short-term and long-term staffing requirements? What kinds of skills will be needed at each level, now and in the future? † (Coke, 2002). Along the same line, what types of employees will be needed for the positions. If my company is involved in technology, I would need to hire individuals with training and education in the technology field. Deciding upon which tools and equipment will be needed for the operation of the business I have chosen would be another key decision needed to be made. For example, if I were considering opening a restaurant, I would need to look into the prices, types and sizes of the various commercial cooking equiptment available. One could include the company’s vision and mission statements as key decisions when starting up a company. As stated in Mr. Coke’s own words, â€Å"You must have two stakes in the ground to build a story and a subsequent business plan: vision and mission. One creates passion and the other provides purpose (Coke, 2002, p. 111). There would be different financial decisions to be made. For example, how much will I need or can I afford for start-up costs? What are the long-term capital investment requirements? In writing all of the financial decisions down, a good question to ask would be, â€Å"Do the financial numbers make good business sense? † (Coke, 2002, p. 33) Although the items listed above would just be some of the key decisions I would make when considering starting a business, I would definitely include a written business plan. In the business plan I would include information like that which I have listed above along with statistical information and data that I would use throughout my business inception and into the future.

Why Did America Become Involved in WWI Essay Example for Free

Why Did America Become Involved in WWI Essay Why did America become involved in WWI? How did President Wilson justify his decision to enter the war in 1917? Was the war in the national interest? At the start of 1917, the United States and its president was not interested in fighting in the war. President Woodrow Wilson wanted to remain neutral. Even though 2 years earlier in 1915, a Germen u-boat destroyed the R. M. S Lusitania, in which 128 Americans were lost. The United States was interested in selling weapons and help with funding the allies in the war. There were several factors that propelled the United States into the war. One of the factors that contributed in the President’s design in entering the war was a message intercepted by the United States government from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmerman to the Mexican government. This proposed a German-Mexican alliance, if Mexico declared war on the United States. If this happened, it would return Texas and other territories to Mexico. On April 6, 1917, the U. S. joined its alliesBritain, France, and Russia to fight in World War I. World War I was also know as the great war or the war to end all war’s. This Great War cost the United States $33 billion dollars, and 116,708 were killed, along with 204,002 were wounded from the United States. The Great War cost over 37 million lives from both sides. As Woodrow Wilson would describe this war, The Americans who went to Europe to die are a unique breed. (They) crossed the seas to a foreign land to fight for a cause which they did not pretend was peculiarly their own, which they knew was the cause of humanity and mankind. These Americans gave the greatest of all gifts, the gift of life and the gift of spirit.

Royal Mails Human Resource Strategy

Royal Mails Human Resource Strategy 1.The Royal Mail do have three levels of strategies:- Corporate level -which deals with the overall organization. Ex: Geographical regions, Market selection. Business level strategy is mentioned for each type of business carried out by the Royal mail. Functional level- The Finance, Human Resource Management, Production, Marketing, Research and Development comes under this section. The Corporate strategy of Royal mail is designed in such a way that it shows their ability to cope with the market changes in a positive and negative manner. It is the hardships of the employees and their standard customer services makes the Royal mail to get a competitive advantage over its competitors like TNT, DHL etc. Royal Mail which was once said to be the Monopolist in the field of Postal services lost the title of Monopoly in the beginning of 2006. It had 99% of the market share in its hands. Royal mail do have a view to make their corporate Strategic responsibility to become a part of their strategic management process. They are:- 2. Corporate Strategic responsibility includes:- The support of the workers from the workplace which forms the backbone of the Royal mail. The management also deals with the workers in a more friendly manner without any kind of discrimination. Being workers said to be the assets of the firm, Royal Mail takes good care of their workers and regarding the working conditions too. To make its actions designed to have a strong positive effect on its workers, customers and to its suppliers. Achieve a net zero carbon footprint by 2015 and to support their clients to do their activities to have a positive advantage towards the environment and to attain a competitive advantage. With their Corporate responsibility in mind Royal Mail wishes to be different from its competitors Royal mail had created their corporate strategy by taking into consideration of their Organizational objectives and their achievement. It is in the Functional level the Human Resource Strategies arrives. The definition of the Human Resource strategy and the Human Resource Strategies of the Royal Mail from 2005-2010 are mentioned below. 3.Human Resource strategy (Definition):- Before moving to Human Resource Strategy we should know what is meant by the term strategy?.Strategy usually means selecting the best decision from a stream of decisions. According to Lundy and cowling (1998,p16), strategy is: The art of war, generalship, especially the art of directing military movements so as to secure the most advantageous positions and combination of forces. The Human Resource Management team in the Royal Mail directs the workers by motivating them and providing them proper training in order to achieve the Organizational goals and to get a competitive advantage over its rivals. The term Human Resource Strategy is well defined as Human Resource management (HRM) is a strategic approach to managing employment relations which emphasises that leverage peoples capabilities is critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage, this being achieved through a distinctive set of integrated employment policies, programmes and practices. [Bratton and Gold,4e,p3] 4.The Human Resource Strategies from 2005 2010:- Human Resource Management forms the most important function in an Organization as the workers are considered to be the valuable assets of the firm. The right kind of people in right position at the right time is the objective of the HR Manager. It is said that normally in a day HR Manager usually spends 20% of their working hours in dealing with the grievances of the employees without affecting the Organizations routine activities. HR Executives should have an ability to deal with their staffs in a fair and friendly manner rather than imposing more control on them. The Royal Mail take the efforts made by their workers into good consideration and rely on the fact about their career development rather than simply a job. The Royal Mails Human Resource strategies in the period from 2005 to 2010 is mentioned below which includes several threats they faced and the steps undertaken to face those threats. Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2005:- One of the most important actions of the Royal Mail can be seen in the beginning of 2005 which employed candidates from the socially excluded groups. The candidates who were recruited performed very well in the selection process as well as in the Organization too. New recruits by this process were placed in position as post man, delivery van drivers, letter sorting who were ex-service men or those who are homeless. This Pilot program helped the Royal Mail in lowering the cost and labour turnovers and proved as the firm with best employee satisfaction. The employees thus had a long term commitment and had a self motivated approach to work hard for the firm to achieve its goals. The employer expectation of high commitment and the employee expectation of taking care of their social needs made the workers of the Royal Mail to be loyal to the firm and improved the ratio of trust towards the firm. The voluntary organizations like the Royal Association of Disabled and Rehabilitation, Busine ss action on Homelessness etc helped the Royal Mail to get candidates of socially excluded groups. The Human Resource team played a very important function in sorting out the list of disabled candidates and selecting the best candidates through a standard selection process. The Human Resource Manager who have the Management as an art aspect means having inborn talents will have those skills to recruit those people who can contribute to the maximum of their extend towards their Organization. The Royal mail team supervised by Mr. Adam Crozier made record annual profits in 2005 which helped to give 1074 pounds of bonuses to its workers. These were achieved by the employee performance,better customer service by properly trained staff and their performance related pay strategy of the Human Resource team. Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2006:- The Human Resource team in the Royal Mail were able to provide instant solutions to the grievances of the employees. The starting of the year 2006 was not as good for the Royal Mail as it faced a postal strike in Belfast. Nearly 200 postal workers stopped their work for 2 weeks which made a very negative impact on the Royal Mails services to the customers. The customers were said to contact the office directly for any important matters and most of the letters and documents were blocked in some places remained undelivered. The Communication Workers Union says that the strike was due to the bad and unfair practices of the managers towards the workers in Belfast and the core issue is not accepted by the Royal Mail. Important delivery including specialized services were stopped temporarily and the management took immediate action to solve the problem. The Workers in strike were assured that they will not be treated badly when they return to their work and necessary actions will be taken against those who were found guilty. The Human Resource team in the Royal Mail took the issue seriously and they guaranteed that the workers will be treated fairly and without any discrimination. The psychological contract which says high motivation and high commitment should be taken into consideration which made the Human Resource Manger to deal with the situation in a friendly and wise manner. It was this year the Royal Mail lost its position as a Monopoly in the postal Industry and started facing wide spread competition. The management agreed that their will be no reduction in the work force, high job security will be provided with raise in pay scales to the staffs. The Christmas season of 2006 also made the customers of the Royal Mail to suffer due to the strike of 800 workers which caused huge volume of undelivered documents in the office. The managements decision to change some full time post to part time when an job opening arise was objected by the trade union by saying tha t it is against the National agreement. The matter was raised very seriously and the Royal Mail responded to it by saying that the decision will be with the consent of the worker agreement. The strike was stopped by reaching to the point that the new job openings in the Royal Mail will be carried out by the management with the combined hands of the trade union to make decision regarding whether to treat the vacancy full time or part time and the management assured that no staff will be forced to change his full time job status to part time. The closing of the sorting office in Paddington, London in the same year was explained by the Royal Mail as a step taken in order to improve their customer satisfaction and productivity against the wide spread rumours about some illegal actions of the postal workers. The 950 workers who worked their were temporarily kept away from their duties and some of them were given transfer offers. The workers commitment in a firm not only depend on their s alary but also on other factors like work atmosphere, employee- employer relationship, colleague character etc. The sacking of 5 workers who treated their women colleague very badly in one of the Royal Mail branch shows the immediate response taken by the Human Resource team in those matters which affects an employee to perform well in an Organization and to reduce those activities which affects the reputation of the firm. The Human Resource team has made recently certain improvements in the health and safety measures for the workers due to the huge fine the firm had to pay regarding the death of an employee, which was made as a health and safety issue by the court. Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2007:- The Privatization of the Royal Mail was the main problem discussed by the Human Resource team in the Royal Mail and the workers point of trust towards the firm tends to decrease day by day affecting their performance in the work. The Communication Workers Union was opposing the issue but some managers say the Privatization will help the future of the Royal Mail. A deal was agreed between the management and the labour union in 2007 followed by stopping the workers strike. The new policies changed the working time and new technologies were introduced which was implemented in each and every branch of the Royal Mail improved the productivity and performance of the workers. The new modern way of thinking and acting was successful in the Royal Mail. Also Mr. Mark Higson the managing director of the Royal Mail added that the future of the Royal Mail Pension scheme will not form any part of the agreement. The Human Resource Strategy of making the employees feel they are a part of the firm made the management to come to a point of distributing around 20% of its shares to the employees was opposed by the Government and the plan was turned down. The Human Resource team and the other managing partners have plan to explore the unused markets and to identify new opportunities to make the Royal Mail to offer quick and friendly based customer services. The Human Resource Department also do have plans to provide Occupational pension schemes for their employees in future. The Human Resource Manager also responded to the worst situation of poor quality service by the Royal Mail in Scotland and he promised to provide better customer service the coming year. The contract lose with the online service provider Amazon hits very badly towards the Royal Mail and its bad position to face more rigorous competition. Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2008:- In order to face the competition and the consideration of the future of the Royal Mail, the Human Resource Department made plans to reduce the number of workers and providing better benefits for those who remains. The Workers and the union feared about the reduction of the full time jobs and including more part time workers. The Privatization of the Royal Mail which the British public doesnt like was also considered as the main issue by the trade unions and the management. The Privatization will cause more job losses says the union members but the Royal Mail needs finance to support its future plans says the Management. The Management also planned to change the offices from old buildings to new ones in which the trade unions responded and they said that the change of offices will cause problems in sorting of letters, loosing some customers and they feared about loosing jobs too. Also plans were prepared by the Human Resource team to raise the salary scale of the executive Directors o f the Royal Mail who are the main key players in obtaining maximum profit. The Devanna model which shows performance appraisal, Human resource development and reward systems should be given due consideration. Many office branches of the Royal Mail were shut down and the remaining workers should be motivated by their performance and the management should create trust from the side of the workers which in turn gives high commitment. The Soft HRM feature of high commitment and high motivation as well as the Hard HRM feature of managing the workforce in a more rational way should be undertaken by the Royal Mail. Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2009:- To Prevent the customers complaint about the closing of the post offices the Human Resources team implemented a plan to provide mobile post office services to the customers by Van. The Royal Mails plan to make 30% privatization was opposed by the public and the Government continuously, if privatized it will cause raise in prices, job losses and the customers as well as the workers trust in the Royal Mail will reduce. The Human Resources team introduced new uniforms to the workers which is suitable for the climate and having big pockets to place the hand held computers which the customers prefers to sign and trace items was considered as a part of the improvement in the delivery system of the Royal Mail. The year also faced a strike on the pay cuts, salary freeze of the workers. The Communication Workers Union said that even cutting the wages or freezing the salary will not help the Royal Mail instead it should implement new ideas in technology and new advanced machinery to support th e workers. All over the strike is making the customers to move away from receiving the services from the Royal Mail. In the matter of improving their services, the Royal Mail and the Microsoft had joined hands to hands by introducing the new e-mailing service without having computers. The HR strategy of how to compete with their rivals has made the above decision to implement in the Royal Mail. Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2010:- The Privatization of the Royal Mail is the main consideration of the Royal Mail as the firm is running out of Finance, huge pension deficits and inefficiency in operations. The private fund is needed for the smooth function of the Organization, says the Managing director of the Royal Mail. The Human Resource Manager is taking keen steps in promoting the existing workers with good training but most of the workers had lost the trust with the Royal Mail. The privatization will cause more job losses, price for the products will be raised and the top level managers will get more benefits; a trade union leader says in a meeting. The workers says that if the new management can help them in providing benefits and good promotional appraisal packages to them, it is better to get privatized. The natural constraints like volcano ashes also affected he Royal Mails service in some part of the United Kingdom. The Psychological contract between the employee and the employer is broken. The employees social and other needs are not fully met and the huge sacking of employees made them to loose commitment towards the firm which leads to inefficiency, reduced services, low productivity and down turn of profits. The Royal Mail is still considered as the provider of the best service among the European nations with lowest service charges. The Human Resource team have plans to increase the state pension age for men. The Royal Mail is trying in many ways to improve its services by providing different varieties of stamps, weekend services, superior customer service but the competition and its bad financial position is weakening its movements to go forward. Even though it is known that the entry of new firms into the Postal Industry is very difficult due to entry restrictions, the Royal Mail is facing very tough competition. The firms like TNT, DHL and many of the online services are serious treats to the Royal Mail. The day when the Royal Mail lost its Monopoly in 2006 marked the beginning of competition as a headache to the Royal Mail. Another problem which the Royal Mail faces is the reduction in the volume of the letters but the postal workers tells that the number is increasing day by day. The Royal Mail like all other firms had undergone a SWOT ANALYSIS to understand its positives and Negatives internally and Externally. TheSWOT analysis is done to identify their threats and opportunities, strengths and weaknesses. 5.SWOT ANALYSIS:- The Swot Analysis is usually conducted by the management which gives the Royal Mail a good indication of its Strength and Weakness internally and its Opportunities and Treats in the outside market. The highly skilled hard working staffs having high commitment motivated by the efficient management and the firms large and other financial resources forms the Strength of the Royal Mail. Some complaints have been raised regarding the letters not reaching the destination and stealing of the letters/parcels by its staffs affects the Royal Mails prestige and the strikes which are made by the trade unions in Royal Mail forms its major weaknesses which hardly hits its reputation and directly states that employees are not satisfied with the management actions. The Royal Mail do have new opportunities to identify more customers and Business clients and providing support to them which will have a competitive advantage over its rivals. The Competitors like TNT, DHL, UKMAIL and the possibility of more rivals to enter the Industry forms the main threats for the Royal Mail. The wide usage of internet, online banking, online delivery and e-mailing has reduced its number of customers to a large extend has made huge reduction in the volume of mails in the Royal Mail is also considered as big threats. The Royal Mail still stands as the Standard postal service in the United Kingdom with its valuable staffs and its improved services like First class service, weekend service etc. Royal Mail also provides online supports and International postal services. The Administration of the Royal Mail includes series of committees like The Audit and Risk committee, The Management board, Pensions committee, Remuneration committee, Nomination committee and Social and Responsibility Committee. The new Human Resource Strategy and policies are being Introduced by the Royal Mail in order to face these threats and for the motivation of the workers. 6. The new Human Resource strategy to support the Royal Mail in the present bad condition:- Steps have been taken in the all the levels of the Organization to support the firm from the credit crunch and competition. To the workers:- Workers are provided with improved new range of training and guaranteed performance related pays. The employees who are considered as a valuable assets in the Royal Mail were provided with revised employee policies and procedures and long term job security and motivation. In order to improve its reputation and to obtain a good employee- employer relationship some additional steps were also taken. They are:- The new plan for temporary redundancy and early retirement are going to be enforced as soon as possible. Existing contracts will be renewed and new standardized contracts will be provided to the employees. The introduction of new machinery and techniques helps the workers to achieve world class standard in performance. The new revised Pension scheme plans are going to implement for those employees in the Royal Mail pension scheme. The working hours, the minimum wages are also revised. The safety of the staffs are taken in great consideration. Improved working conditions, first aid facilities, stress relief exercises, changing their job tasks over a period of time, self appraisal process, promotional and increments are also introduced to the new plan. To the firm:- The modernization of the firm with improved customer service support is the main objective of the firm. The co-operation of the Management with the workers and the trade union added with signing an agreement in new policies and procedures of the firm supported by the trade union is going to happen. The improved efficiency and productivity with unmatched competition by providing lower price and better quality services to its clients. To the Trade Union:- The firm will give suitable position for the trade union in its management activities. Support from the trade union in motivating the workers to cope with the Organizational rules and regulations and to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. To develop new communication levels between the trade union and the management. 7.The Royal Mails respond to the Competition and to the recent Credit Crunch:- The Royal mail which was once called as a Monopoly firm now faces serious competition and holds a bad reputation due to its continuous strikes , shutting down of the offices and complaints regarding its employees. Even though any firm can compete with its rivals in two ways, one way by reducing its prices and the other is by improving its quality of service/product. The Royal Mail provides high quality service to its customers and also the lower service/product price compared with its competitors helps the Royal Mail to attain a sustainable competitive advantage. The Human Resource team is making its level best efforts to prevent such issues but the employees relationship with the management is unclear. One of the main issues is the privatization of the Royal Mail which make the staffs to loose trust towards the firm making them de-motivated. The corporate strategy is well defined and the Human resource planning and its strategical process is some what following the corporate strateg y. Making a friendly relation with the CWU and a strong psychological contract between the workers and the Management is very much needed for the smooth functioning of the Royal Mail. The recent credit crunch has made the Royal Mail to close most of its offices and to sack many of its employees. The economic downturn in the UK is being faced by the Royal Mail in some extend due to its highly skilled, flexible core employees. The peripheral workers who were highly skilled were also taken into good consideration by the Royal Mail. The customers still rely on the Royal Mail due to its better quality services and lowest prices compared to its competitors the TNT, DHL, UKMail etc. The name of the above model is The Five Forces Framework which is developed by [Porter 1980] shows the fact from where does the competition come from?. We can combine this model with the Royal Mails competitive nature. It has elements like 1.Potential entrants mentioned as new competitors of the Royal Mail. 2.Rivalry from existing firms like TNT, DHL etc which are faced by the Royal Mail with its high quality products/services and of its highly skilled workforce who are trained and developed by their talented Human Resource team. The substitutes can be shown as the e-mail, online transfers and online mail ordering groups. Threat from the customers in the form of bargaining power, their change of demand, their potential for forward integration (which is implemented by the firm with the availability of suitable Human Resources). Threat from the Suppliers includes their bargaining power, switching costs, market dominance of the suppliers, the potential for backward integration (which is implemented by the firm with the availability of suitable Human Resources). The suppliers include the printing and stationery, technology, clothes, transport and travel agents. The Royal Mail uses the Generic Strategies frame work of Mr. Porter(1985) to define how they faced these competitions. The basic idea which is derived from the framework is:- Any firm can compete with other by lowering their prices Competing in the matter of quality makes each firm different Focusing on the main market and its customers can gain competitive advantage over its rivals. The Human Resource strategy of identifying the competitive areas and setting plans for how to compete helped the Royal Mail to face all types of competition and to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals. The Human Resource Management team of the Royal Mail have a good background from the Top Ranked Business Schools added with their inborn talents and experience helps the Royal Mail to compete with their rivals in a more technical way which is difficult for the competitors to identify and which makes the Royal Mail to have a strong base in the UK postal industry. The top quality products/services with the top quality employees makes the Royal Mail to move forward with confidence. The Human Resource strategy of implementing new techniques and training services with the performance related pay aspect for the workers can be seen in the Royal Mail. Last year the Royal Mail received three bronze awards from the World Class Manufacturing Association for its performance, health and saf ety care of its workers. The Royal Mail consider each and every worker in the matter of safety and performance and they say that if they can make one worker to perform well, it will make another to perform well and it goes on and the whole workers will perform well gives high productivity and profits to the firm. 8.Conclusion:- The essay can be concluded by stating that the Royal Mail have to face the credit crunch and the present difficulties in order to hold a strong position in the UK postal Industry. The Royal Mail do have a strong corporate responsibility strategy and Human Resource strategy which is properly planned and helpful to the employees as well as the to the firm for further development. The Human Resource Strategy from 2005 2010 shows the problems faced by the Royal Mail and the Strategies used by them to solve these problems. The privatization and the pension deficits are the main problems faced currently by the Royal Mail in which the management have certain plans to overcome the situation. The new entrants and the present rivals are competing very roughly with the Royal Mail and they are faced by the Royal Mail by its good quality services and its lowest service/product prices.

Da Evil Deer :: essays research papers

It all started on the opening day of deer season. The beautiful day was just cold enough to want a jacket but, but hot enough to where if one was worn you’d sweat to death! It seemed like a typical opening day. It wasn’t though, it turned out to be quite different.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I walked out to my favorite tree belt with my trusty gun at my side and waited for the buck I had been eyeing for months. I needed a nice buck this year. See I bet Buddy that my deer would be twice as big as his. Twenty bucks was up for grabs and I needed to buy a new paintball gun.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As I thought about what kind of gun I wanted, the biggest buck I had ever seen showed up about 100 yards away from where I sat. That was my ticket to twenty dollars. I raised up my gun, put the deer in my crosshairs, and sat there for a second to admire it’s beauty. That‘s not all I noticed though. The deer had red eyes, and below the red eyes, on the ground, set an AK-47 with a weird scope.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I thought sweet! Not only will I get twenty dollars, I’ll also get a new assault rifle that someone left lying around! Then it occurred to me that I was the prey. I got up and ran! Lead flung by me as I made my way to the Jeep. All of a sudden blood started squirting out of my leg! I thought cool, that didn’t even hurt! But my leg gave out and I fell to the ground.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As I was lying there, I devised a new plan. I layed their acting dead and waited for the deer to pick me up. He threw me over his shoulder, and I slowly pulled out my hunting knife. A quick slice and the psychotic, evil deer was laying on the ground out cold. The twenty bucks was mine! Then, as I was cutting the deer open, a button buck jumped out of the evil deer, and my monster buck disappeared! As the deer hopped away I noticed two things.

The Minimum Wage Essay -- Minimum Wage Research Paper

"The minimum wage is something that F.D.R. put in place a long time ago during the Great Depression. I don't think it worked then. It didn't solve any problems then and it hasn't solved any problems in 50 years." -- John Raese For many years it has been a matter of conventional wisdom among economists that the minimum wage causes fewer jobs to exist than would be the case without it. This is simply a matter of price theory, taught in every economics textbook, requiring no elaborate analysis to justify. Were this not the case, there would be no logical reason why the minimum wage could not be set at $10, $100, or $1 million per hour. Historically, defenders of the minimum wage have not disputed the dis-employment effects of the minimum wage, but argued that on balance the working poor were better off. In other words, the higher incomes of those with jobs offset the lower incomes of those without jobs, as a result of the minimum wage l "levitan". Now, President Obama is advancing the novel economic theory that modest increases in the minimum wage will have no impact whatsoever on employment. This proposition is based entirely on the work of three economists: David Card and Alan Krueger of Princeton, and Lawrence Katz of Harvard. Their studies of increases in the minimum wage in California, Texas and New Jersey apparently found no loss of jobs among fast food restaurants that were surveyed before and after the increase [ l "card-92b", l "krueger", and l "katz". While it is not yet clear why Card, Katz and Krueger got the results that they did, it is clear that their findings are directly contrary to virtually every empirical study ever done on the minimum wage. These studies were exhaustively surveyed by the Minimum Wage Study Commission, which concluded that a 10% increase in the minimum wage reduced teenage employment by 1% to 3%. The following survey of the academic research on the minimum wage is designed to give nonspecialists a sense of just how isolated the Card, Krueger and Katz studies are. It will also indicate that the minimum wage has wide-ranging negative effects that go beyond unemployment. For example, higher minimum wages encourage employers to cut back on training, thus depriving low wage workers of an important means of long-term advancement, in return for a small increase in current income. For many workers this is a very ... ...g (1996), " `Who Gets What' from Minimum Wage Hikes," Industrial and Labor Relations Review 49 (April): 547-52.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ------, and T. A. Finegan (1989), "The Minimum Wage and the Poor: The End of a Relationship," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 8 (Winter): 53-71. 23w  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Card, D., and A. Krueger (1995), Myth and Measurement (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press).  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Deere, D., K. M. Murphy and F. Welch (1995), "Employment and the 1990-1991 Minimum Wage Hike," American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 85 (May): 232-37.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gramlich, E. (1976), "Impact of Minimum Wages on Other Wages, Employment, and Family Incomes," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 2: 409-51.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lang, K. (1994), "The Effect of Minimum Wage Laws on the Distribution of Employment: Theory and Evidence," Working Paper, Boston University.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Neumark, D., and W. Wascher (1995), "The Effects of Minimum Wages on Teenage Employment and Enrollment: Evidence from Matched CPS Surveys," NBER Working Paper No. 5092, April.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Smith, R., and B. Vavrichek (1992), "The Wage Mobility of Minimum Wage Workers," Industrial and Labor Relations Review 46 (October): 82-88.

Dreams Rem :: essays research papers

Dreams are a form of cognitive activity that occur during sleep. Like vivid memories and daytime fantasies, dreams involve visual images in the absence of external visual stimulation. Some dreams are so realistic and well organized that we feel as though they must be real-- that we simply cannot be dreaming this time. Dreaming has always been the subject of controversy. Egyptian papyrus documents dating back to 2000 BC discuss dreams and their interpretations. In ancient Greece the dreamer was believed to be in contact with the gods. In 1900, Sigmund Freud ushered in the modern age of dream research in his monumentally original book The Interpretation of dreams. According to Freud, dreams have a meaning which can be deciphered if one looks deeply enough. In his view, the dreams concerns the dreamers past and present, and it arises from unknown regions within. He saw the dream as significantly analogous to a hysterical symptom. On the surface, they both appear meaningless and bizarre, but they become understandable when understood as veiled expressions of an unconscious clash between competing motives. Freud developed an elaborate theory and how the mind works while asleep. In 1953 sleep researchers led by Nathaniel Kleitman made the important discovery of rapid eye movement--or REM-- sleep. Curious about the long-standing observation that the eyeballs of sleeping subjects in both humans and animals periodically move during sleep, they connected laboratory subjects to equipment that measured their brain waves, muscle tone, and eye movement. About 90% of the time when subjects were awakened during REM sleep, they reported a dream. Prior to laboratory REM research, it was unknown how frequently Humans dreamed. Some theories even held that dreaming was a signal of mental disturbance. With laboratory REM research, however, subjects can be awakened after each REM period in order for researchers to extensively sample most mental activity that occurs during sleep. It was discovered that humans, and all mammals--except the echidna or spiny anteater, and perhaps the duckbill platypus-- dream every night. In adult humans these dreams begin about 90 minutes after the sleep begins and recur about 90 minutes apart with increasing length, for a total of nearly 2 hours of REM dreaming per night. With approximately five dreams a night, humans will have about 136,000 dreams in a lifetime, spending the equivalent of six years in a REM dream state. For a newborn, REM sleep constitutes 50% of sleep.