John The Baptist Essays - Herodian Dynasty, Apocalypticists

John the Baptist We are given the story of the ministry of John the Baptist, called the Precursor or Forerunner of the Lord, with some variation of detail, in the three synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as in the Book of John. Luke tells us of the birth of John the Baptist in a town of Judaea, about six months before the birth of the Saviour. The attendant circumstances, which we have already recounted under the headings of *St. Elizabeth* and *St. Zachary*, his parents, suggest the miraculous and wonderful. The New Testament tells us nothing of John's early years, but we know that his pious, virtuous parents must have reared the boy with care, conscious always of the important work to which he was appointed, and imbuing him with a sense of his destiny. When John began final preparations for his mission, he was probably in his thirty-second year. He withdrew into the harsh, rocky desert beyond the Jordan to fast and pray, as was the ancient custom of holy men. We are told that he kept himself alive by eating locusts and wild honey and wore a rough garment of camel's hair, tied with a leathern girdle. When he came back to start preaching in the villages of Judaea, he was haggard and uncouth, but his eyes burned with zeal and his voice carried deep conviction. The Jews were accustomed to preachers and prophets who gave no thought to outward appearances, and they accepted John at once; the times were troubled, and the people yearned for reassurance and comfort. So transcendant was the power emanating from the holy man that after hearing him many believed he was indeed the long-awaited Messiah. John quickly put them right, saying he had come only to prepare the way, and that he was not worthy to unloose the Master's sandals. Although his preaching and baptizing continued for some months during the Saviour's own ministry, John always made plain that he was merely the Forerunner. His humility remained incorruptible even when his fame spread to Jerusalem and members of the higher priesthood came to make inquiries and to hear him. Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,-this was John's oft-repeated theme. For the evils of the times his remedy was individual purification. Every tree, he said, that is not bringing forth good fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire. The reformation of each person's life must be complete?the wheat must be separated from the chaff and the chaff burned with unquenchable fire. The rite of baptism, a symbolic act signifying sincere repentance as well as a desire to be spiritually cleansed in order to receive the Christ, was so strongly emphasized by John that people began to call him the baptizer. The Scriptures tell us of the day when Jesus joined the group of those who wished to receive baptism at John's hands. John knew Jesus for the Messiah they had so long expected, and at first excused himself as unworthy. Then, in obedience to Jesus, he acquiesced and baptized Him. Although sinless, Jesus chose to be baptized in order to identify Himself with the human lot. And when He arose from the waters of the Jordan, where the rite was performed, the heavens opened and the Spirit as a dove descended. And there came a voice from the heavens, Thou art my beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased (Mark i, 11). John's life now rushes on towards its tragic end. In the fifteenth year of the reign of the Roman emperor, Tiberias Caesar, Herod Antipas was the provincial governor or tetrarch of a subdivision of Palestine which included Galilee and Peraea, a district lying east of the Jordan. In the course of John's preaching, he had denounced in unmeasured terms the immorality of Herod's petty court, and had even boldly upbraided Herod to his face for his defiance of old Jewish law, especially in having taken to himself the wife of his half-brother, Philip. This woman, the dissolute Herodias, was also Herod's niece. Herod feared and reverenced John, knowing him to be a holy man, and he followed his advice in many matters; but he could not endure having his private life castigated. Herodias stimulated his anger by lies and artifices. His resentment at length got the better of his judgment and he had John cast into the fortress of Machaerus, near the Dead Sea. When Jesus heard of this, and knew

Writing a Paper About Myself - Sample on How to Write a Paper About Myself

Writing a Paper About Myself - Sample on How to Write a Paper About MyselfA sample on how to write a paper about myself is very good for anyone who has a tight schedule and is trying to write a topic that they are familiar with. Some students that I have taught, do not have a lot of time and want a better way to help them become successful in this matter. The sample that I am about to tell you about will give you a few tips that will help you write the paper about yourself.First, when you are writing your own words, you must first understand that it is not easy. You need to realize that you need to take a chance and write what you know and love. You need to consider your own life, your past, your family, and you need. For example, if you do not feel comfortable writing about yourself, then there is no reason for you to write the paper about yourself. Always be respectful and write from your heart.Second, when you are writing a paper about myself, you should begin by describing who yo u are. Once you describe yourself, write about your family, friends, profession, hobbies, and other things that may be important to you. You need to consider where you live, the lifestyle that you lead, and other things that you do.Third, after you have described your personal life, you should focus on your professional life. The sample on how to write a paper about myself says that you should start by describing your profession. You need to write about your occupation, name of your company, how long you have been in the industry, and other things that are important to you.Fourth, in the first paragraph, you should talk about your family and work before going into your personal life. In other words, you should have three paragraphs. In the first paragraph, you should talk about your professional life before talking about your family and your personal life. After your professional life, you should start to talk about your family, friends, and other things that are important to you.Fi fth, in the second paragraph, you should talk about your family and your professional life before continuing to talk about your personal life. The last paragraph should include all of your ideas. You should share your personal information about your family, friends, and other things that are important to you. However, you do not want to ramble.Sixth, in the last paragraph, you should talk about your personal life. In other words, you should share your idea about you, your family, and other things that are important to you.When you are able to write your own words about yourself, you will be able to make your life easier. After you finish the paper, you should look at it and see that you wrote everything that you needed to.

Politics Essay Example

Politics Essay Example Politics Essay Politics Essay Political Science is the systematic study of the state and government. The word political is derived from the Greek polis, meaning a city, of what today would be equivalent of sovereign state. Science comes from the Latin score, to know Scope of Political Science: 1 _ Political theory 2. Public Law 3. Public Administration Political Theory It refers to the inure body of doctrines relating to the rolling, form, behavior, and purposes of the state are dealt with the study of political theory. Public Law the (a) organization of governments, (b) the limitations upon government authority, (c) the powers and duties of governmental offices and officers, and (d) the obligations of one state to another are handled In the study of public law. Private Laws are the one which govern the relations among individuals, public law is so specialized that separate courses offered in each of its subdivisions, namely: (a) constitutional law, (b) administrative law, and (c) international Law. Public Administration attention Is focused upon methods and techniques used branches of government. N. B, today, legislative bodies have been forced to delegate greater discretion to executive officers responsible for the conduct of government policies and powers. Thus we find many administrative agencies exercising quasi-legislative and quasi- judicial powers. Interrelationship of Political Science with other branches of learning: History History is past politics and politics is present history. Political Scientist adopts a historical approach and employs knowledge of the past when he seeks to interpret present and probable developments in political phenomena. 2. Economics Refers to the study of production, distribution, and conservation, and consumption of wealth. Political Scientist adopts an economic approach when seeking to interpret matters like public financial policies and government regulation of business. 3. Geography Geopolitics It is concerned with the study of the influences of physical factors such as population pressures, sources of raw materials, geography, etc. Upon domestic and foreign politics. 4. Sociology anthropology It is deeply concerned with the origins and nature of social control and governmental authority, with the abiding influences of race and culture upon society, with the patterns of collective human behavior. 5. Psychology It promotes studies of the mental and emotional processes motivating the political behavior of individuals and groups. Particular topics under this are: public pinion, pressure groups, and propaganda. 6. Philosophy in academic philosophy and also to the political scientist. 7. Statistics and Logic Political theorist must have abroad background knowledge of current political problems and he must employ scientific methods in gathering and evaluating the data in drawing conclusions. 8. Jurisprudence This branch of public law is concerned with the analysis of existing legal systems also with the ethical, historical, sociological, psychological foundations of law. Concepts of State Meaning of the State State is a community of persons more or less numerous, permanently occupying a definite portion of territory, having a government of their own to which the great body of inhabitants render obedience, and enjoying freedom from external control. Elements of State: 1. People 2. Territory 3. Government 4. Sovereignty 5. Recognition This refers to the mass of population living within the state. There is no requirement as to the number of people that should compose a state. But it should be neither too small nor too large: small enough to be well-governed and large enough to be self-sufficing. The smallest state is Vatican. China has the largest population. 2. Territory Components of Territory: . Terrestrial/land mass 3. Fluvial 4. Maritime Domain The smallest state is Vatican State with an area of 0. 43 square kilometers. It would fit in Racial Park in Manila. The biggest state is Canada with an area of 3,852,000 square miles which covers a surface nearly as large as Europe. The Philippines has a total land area of about 115,707 square miles . It refers to the agency through which the will of the state is formulated, expressed and carried out. It is the supreme power of the state to command and enforce obedience to its will from people within its Jurisdiction, and to have freedom from foreign control. Two manifestations of Sovereignty: 1. Internal or the power of the state to rule within its territory; 2. External or the freedom of the state to carry out its activities without subjection or control by other states. External sovereignty is often referred to as independence. N. B these internal and external aspects of sovereignty are not absolutely true in practice because of the development of international relations and consequently international law. . Legal sovereignty is the possession of unlimited power to make laws. It is the authority by which law has the power to issue commands. 2. Political sovereignty is the sum total of all the influences in a state which lie behind the law. It is roughly defined as the power of the people. What is emporium? Dominion? Secure obedience thereto, maintain peace and order within its territorial limits, defend the State against foreign invasion, and do any other act of government over its people and territory. Dominion refers to the independent proprietary right of possession, use, conservation, disposition or sale, and control by the State over its territorial lands. How do you treat the Claim of the Philips. Over Saba? Is it emporium or dominion? Answer: It is both emporium and dominion. We seek to own exclusively Saba and in so owning, we have to exercise our sovereignty to govern the same. Characteristics of Sovereignty Permanence; Exclusivity; Comprehensiveness; Absoluteness; Individuality; Inalienability; and Impressibility Permanence means it exist in the same form forever or for a very long time. Exclusivity means it is limited to a group of people. Comprehensiveness means including everything, so as to be complete comprehensive knowledge of the subject. Absoluteness means possessing unlimited power: having total power and authority. Individuality means the state or condition of being separate from others. Inalienability means it is impossible to take away or not able to be transferred or taken away, e. G. Because of being protected by law. Impressibility it means not to be taken away or impossible to remove or violate the peoples imperceptible rights. Governance manner of government: the system or manner of government; 2. Tate of governing a place: the act or state of governing a place; 3. Authority: control or authority It means the management of the affairs of a business, organization, or institution. GOVERNMENT Forms of Government: The principal forms are the following: 1 . As to number of persons exercising sovereign powers; 2. As to extent of powers exercised by the cen tral or national government; 3. As to relationship between the executive and the legislative branches of the government; 4. As to source of power or authority: 1 . As to number of persons exercising sovereign powers: A. Government by one AY) Monarchy or one in which the supreme and final authority is in the hands of a single person without regard to the source of his election or the nature or duration of his tenure. Monarchies are further classified into: Monarchy, form of government in which one person has the hereditary right to rule as head of state during his or her lifetime; the term is also applied to the state so governed. Monarchs include such rulers as kings and queens, emperors and empresses, tsars, and Kaisers. Two types of Monarchical government: 1 . Absolute Monarchy or one in which the ruler rules by divine right; and 2. Limited monarchy or one in which the ruler rules in accordance with a constitution. The power of the monarch varies from absolute to very limited; the latter is AAA Authoritarian or one in which the supreme power of the dictator whose power is usually through force. 1 . Strict and demanding obedience: favoring strict rules and established authority; 2. Demanding political obedience: belonging to or believing in a political system in which obedience to the ruling person or group is strongly enforced. B. Government by few Bal Aristocracy or one in which political power is exercised by few privileged class. . People of highest social class: people of noble families or the highest social class 2. Superior group: a group believed to be superior to all others of the same kind 3. Overspent by elite: government of a country by a small group of people, especially a hereditary nobility 4. State run by elite: a state governed by an aristocracy. 82 Oligarchy 1 . Small governing group: a small gr oup of people who together govern a nation or control an organization, often for their own purposes; 2. Entity ruled by oligarchy: a nation governed or an organization controlled by an oligarchy; 3. Overspent by small group: government or control by a small group of people. Sources of their power: By births. By wealthy. By wisdom In an aristocracy, although the power of government is wielded by a few, hermetically the administration of government is carried on for the welfare of the many. Whenever the interests of the people as a whole are made subservient to the selfish interests of the rulers, aristocracy becomes a form of government known as oligarchy. CLC Democracy or one in which political power is exercised by the majority of the people. It is further classified into: CLC . Direct or pure democracy or one in which the will of the state is formulated or expressed directly and immediately through the people in a mass meeting or primary assembly rather than through the medium of representatives chosen by the people o act for them. CLC . 2 Indirect, representative or republican democracy or one in which the will of the state is formulated and expressed through the agency of a relatively small and select body of persons chosen by the people to act as their representatives. 2. As to extent of powers exercised by the central or national government: A. Unitary government or one in which the control of national and local affairs is exercised by the national government; B. Federal government or one in which the powers of government are divided between two sets of organs, one for national affairs and the other for local affairs, ACH organ being supreme within its own sphere. Didst. Bet. Federal Unitary Covet Federal states, such as the U. S. And Switzerland, comprise unions of states in which the authority of the central or national government is constitutionally limited by the legally established powers of the constituent subdivisions. In unitary states, such as the United Kingdom and Belgium, the constituent subdivisions of the state are subordinate to the authority of the national government. Countries with federal political systems have both a central government and overspent based in smaller political units, usually called states, provinces, or territories. These smaller political units surrender some of their political power to the central government, relying on it to act for the common good. In a federal system, laws are made both by state, provincial, or territorial governments and by a central government. In the United States, for example, people who live in the state of Ohio must obey the laws made by the Ohio legislature and the Congress of the United States. Federal political systems divide power and resources between central and Central governments decide issues that concern the whole country, such as organizing an army, building major roads, and making treaties with other countries. In unitary systems, with laws giving virtually all authority to the central government. The central government may delegate duties to cities or other administrative units, but it retains final authority and can retract any tasks it has delegated. The central government in a unitary system is much more powerful than the central government in a federal system. Government: A. Parliamentary government or cabinet gobo. Is one in which the executive and selective branch of the government are dependent or executive branch is part of the legislative branch. B. Presidential government or one in which the state makes the executive independent from the legislative. Distinctions bet. Presidential Parliamentary In parliamentary governments, of which the United Kingdom, India, and Canada are examples, the executive branch is subordinate to the legislature. In presidential governments, such as in the U. S. , the executive is independent of the legislature, although many of the executives actions are subject to legislative review. A. De facto is one not so constituted or founded with the existing constitution but has the general support of the people and has effective control of the territory over which it exercises its powers. B. De Cure is one which is constituted or founded in accordance with the existing constitution of the state but has no control of the territory. C. Hereditary Elective Checks and Balances, the doctrine and practice of dispersing political power and creating mutual accountability among political entities such as the courts, the president or prime minister, the legislature, and the citizens. The first check comes from the fact that different branches of the government have overlapping authority, so each branch can act as a limit on the other. For example, the president can veto an act of Congress. A two-thirds majority in Congress can then override the presidents veto. The president appoints major federal officials, but only if the Senate by majority vote agrees. Separation of Powers, the doctrine and practice of dividing the powers of a government among different branches to guard against abuse of authority. A government of separated powers assigns different political and legal powers o the legislative, executive, and Judicial branches. The legislative branch has the power to make laws. The executive branch has the authority to administer the law†primarily by bringing lawbreakers to trial†and to appoint officials and oversee the administration of government responsibilities. The Judicial branch has the power to try cases brought to court and to interpret the meaning of laws under which the trials are conducted. A government of separated powers is less likely to be tyrannical and more likely to follow the rule of law: the principle that government action must be constrained by saws. A separation of powers can also make a political system more democratic by making it more difficult for a single ruler, such as a monarch or a president, to become dictatorial. The division of powers also prevents one branch of government from dominating the others or dictating the laws to the public. Most democratic systems have some degree of separation of powers. POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES Liberalism, attitude, philosophy, or movement that has as its basic concern the development of personal freedom and social progress. The course of liberalism in a given country is usually conditioned by the character

Barilla Essay Research Paper Barilla SpA AGiorgio

Barilla Essay, Research Paper Barilla SpA ( A ) Giorgio Maggiali was going progressively frustrated. As manager of Logistics for the universe # 8217 ; s largest pasta manufacturer, Barilla SpA, he was acutely cognizant of the turning load that demand fluctuations imposed on the company # 8217 ; s fabrication and distribution system. Since his assignment in 1988 as Director of Logistics, he had been seeking to do headroom on an advanced thought proposed by Brando Vitali, who had served as Barilla # 8217 ; s manager of Logistics before Maggiali. The thought, which Vitali called Just-in-Time Distribution ( JITD ) , was modeled after the popular # 8220 ; Just-In-Time # 8221 ; fabricating construct. In kernel, Vitali proposed that, instead than follow the traditional pattern of presenting merchandise to Barilla # 8217 ; s distributers on the footing of whatever orders those distributers placed with the company, Barilla # 8217 ; s ain logistics organisation would alternatively stipulate the # 8220 ; appropriate # 8221 ; bringin g quantities-those that would more efficaciously fitting end consumer # 8217 ; s needs yet would besides more equally administer the work load on Barilla # 8217 ; s fabrication and logistics systems. For two old ages Maggiali, a strong protagonist of Vitali # 8217 ; s proposal, had tried to implement the thought, but now, in the spring of 1990, small advancement had been made. It seemed that Barilla # 8217 ; s clients were merely unwilling to give up their authorization to put orders as they pleased ; some were even loath to supply the elaborate gross revenues informations upon which Barilla could do bringing determinations and better its demand prognosiss. Possibly more disconcerting was the internal opposition from Barilla # 8217 ; s ain gross revenues and selling organisations, which saw the construct as impracticable or unsafe, or both. Possibly it was clip to fling the thought as merely impracticable. If non, how might he increase the opportunities that the thought would be accepted? Company Background Barilla was founded in 1875 when Pietro Barilla opened a little store in Parma, Italy on via Vittorio Emanuele. Bordering the store was the little # 8220 ; research lab # 8221 ; Pietro used to do the pasta and staff of life merchandises he sold in his shop. Pietro # 8217 ; s boy Ricardo led the company through a important period of growing, and in the 1940s, passed the company to his ain boies, Pietro and Gianni. Over clip, Barilla evolved from its modest beginnings into a big, vertically incorporate corporation with flour nothings, pasta workss, and bakery-product mills located throughout Italy. SPA ( Societa per Azioni ) can be translated as # 8220 ; Society for Stockholders # 8221 ; and interpreted as In a crowded field of over 2,000 Italian pasta makers, Pietro and Gianni Barilla differentiated their company with a high quality merchandise supported by advanced selling plans. Barilla revolutionized the Italian pasta industry # 8217 ; s selling patterns by making a strong trade name name and image for its pasta, selling pasta in a certain -cardboard box with a recognizable colour form, instead than in majority, and puting in large-scale advertisement plans. In 1968, to back up the double-digit gross revenues growing the company experienced during the 1960s, Pietro and Gianni Barilla began building of a 1.25 million square metre state-of-the art pasta works in Pedrignano, a rural town 5 kilometer outside of Parma. The cost of this monolithic facility-the largest and most technologically advanced pasta works in the world-drove the Barillas deeply into debt. In 1971, they sold the company to the American multi-national house W. R. Grace, Inc. Grace brought extra capital investing and professional direction patterns to the company and launched an of import new Mulino Bianco ( # 8220 ; White Mill # 8221 ; ) line of bakeshop merchandises. Throughout the 1970s, confronting hard economic conditions -and new Italian statute law that both capped retail pasta monetary values and increased cost-of-living allowances for employees, Grace struggled to do its Barilla acquisition wage off. In 1979, Grace sold the company back to Pietro Barilla, who by so had secured the # 8216 ; necessary financess to buy it. The capital investings and organisational alterations that Grace had brought to Barilla, combined with bettering market conditions, helped Pietro Barilla launch a successful return to the company. During 1980s, Barilla enjoyed an one-year growing rate of over 21 % ( see Exhibit 1 ) . Growth was realized through enlargement of bing concerns, both in Italy and other European states, every bit good as through acquisition of new, related concerns. In 1990, Barilla was the largest pasta maker in the universe, doing 35 % of all pasta sold in Italy and 229/6 of all pasta sold in Europe. Barilla # 8217 ; s portion in Italy comprised its three trade names: the traditional Barilla trade name represented 32 % of the market, the staying 3 % of market portion was divided between its Voiello trade name ( a traditional Neapolitan pasta viing in the costly section of the semolina pasta market ) and its Braibanti trade name ( a high-quality, traditional Parmesan pasta made from eggs and semolina ) . About half of Barilla # 8217 ; s pasta was sold in northern Italy and half in the South, where Barilla held a smaller portion of the market than in the North but where the market was larger. In add-on, Barilla held a 29 % portion of the Italian bakery-products market. In 1990, Barilla was organized into seven divisions: three pasta divisions ( Barilla, Voiello, and Braibanti ) the Bakery Products Division ( fabricating medium to hanker shelf-life bakeshop merchandises ) , the Fresh Bread Division ( fabricating really short shelf-life bakeshop merchandises ) , the Catering Division ( administering bars and frozen crescent rolls to bars and pastry stores ) , and the International Division. ( Exhibits 2 and 3 show the organisational construction of -the company. ) Corporate central offices were located next to the Pedrignano pasta works

Social Research problem statement Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Research problem statement - Coursework Example pt of security today, is not restricted to political or social factors alone but engulfs a wide range of aspects including environmental, social economic and climate change (Homer, 1991). The issue of Global warming and its potential hazardous aftermath has been addressed by various security experts and academic scholars as being of crucial significance and raised alarm over the capacity of such environmental issues to foreshadow critical issues such as food and water scarcity, and fair and equal allocation of resources, which would in turn lead to large scale migration resulting in heightened tensions and widespread, disputes (Matthew, 1989). Environmental change has been, since long, considered as a major security threat by security analysts the world over and as a consequence several polices have been implemented to address and tackle the issue and recognize the repercussions of sudden and unexpected changes in the climate as an impending menace for international security. For instance, according a report presented in 1994 by Sir David King, chief scientist – British Government, climate change is a far greater threat to the world’s stability than international terrorism (BBC news, 2004). Similarly climate change was acknowledged as a major concern and hence included in the British Foreign Policy, as a major security threat, by the then Foreign Secretary of Britain, Mrs. Margaret Beckett, in the year 2006 at a conference in Berlin (British Embassy – Berlin, 2007). A report presented to the U.S. government suggested declaring ‘climate change’ as a major security issue owing to its potential to cause serious damage to the security of American citizens as well as its impact on the United States military operations. The study titled National Security and the Threat of Climate Change seeks methods in which the impending environment change is a threat multiplier in already feeble regions and aggravating conditions that result in failed states which in

Optimism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Optimism - Essay Example Furthermore, the study concludes that irrespective of its nature, components, and roots, optimism has remarkably positive impact on human life and conditions. Defining Optimism Anthropologist, Lionel Tiger defines optimism as â€Å"a mood or attitude associated with an expectation about the social or material future-one which the evaluator regards as socially desirable, to his [or her] advantage, or for his [or her] pleasure† (18 qtd. in Peterson 44).On the other hand, optimism is attributed to be a sense of personal control, and ability to identify meaning in one’s own life experiences. Optimism is a valuable psychological resource which is long believed to be associated with mental health (Frankle, 1963; Seligman, 1998; Taylor, 1989 qtd. in Taylor et al. 99).Such psychological resources become extremely important when individuals are exposed to challenging or threatening occurrences (Taylor 1164).These resources work as reserves which enables people to cope with diffi cult situations in an efficient manner (Taylor et al. 99).Theorists Scheier and Carver(1985) referred optimism as a generalized anticipation that good as compared to bad will happen an individual confronts problem in crucial domains of life(qtd. in Franken 476). In general, the idea of optimism refers to an individual’s overall positive approach towards life and what it has to offer. Biological Component of Optimism Lionel Tiger (1979) puts forth the biological explanation of optimism. He maintains that in early days, when human left forests, being hunters they had to face death and injuries continuously. Because human mind is inclined towards learning from experiences, he abandoned the tasks associated with negative results. Therefore, it is biological adaption for humans to develop a basic sense of optimism. Furthermore, Tiger argues that when human body is injured, it releases endorphins. Generally, endorphins have two attributes; analgesic attributes which decreases the f eeling of pain, and feelings of euphoria. Humans are biologically adaptive to positive emotions when injured in order to keep the process going (hunting) due to our ancestors’ experiences, therefore, optimism is a trait which is induced biologically (Franken 1994, qtd. in Dunavold 4). Several theorists believe that optimism is a personality trait rather than an emotion. They regard optimism as an inborn temperament which means that people are inherently optimistic or pessimistic ( Dunavold 4). Learned Component of Optimism Many researchers believed that optimism is a way of thinking which can be learned. As Martin Seligman’s idea of learned optimism, in addition to Daniel Goleman confirm that the concept that both hope and optimism can be learned. He identifies that self-efficacy leads to hope and optimistic view in life. Self-efficacy refers to the belief that one has control over life events and his ability to meet the challenges as they appear in life (qtd. in Dunav old 4). However, Dunavold disagrees with the theory and states that, â€Å"... optimism can (not) be learned. Dr. Seligman’s method of teaching optimism relies heavily on active thought processes which I believe is more of a cognitive activity...Optimism can (not) be reinforced or stifled. Additionally†¦

Countertrade :: essays research papers

CounterTrade Paper Countertrade is a trade between two countries by which goods are exchanged for other goods rather than for hard currency. Countertrade is often the solution for exporters that may not be able to be paid in his or her home currency and according to the text few exporters would desire payment in a currency that is not convertible. "Sometimes both parties are happy with the goods they receive, other times one country will liquidate the received asset, ultimately receiving cash in the deal. This is also referred to as "using barter to complete a trade." (www.investopedia.com, 2004) An example of countertrade is, the former Soviet Union would often countertrade, agreeing to trade, say, Soviet oil for another country's vehicles. After researching this subject, I have learned that countertrade is an umbrella term covering a wide range of commercial mechanisms for reciprocal trade. Reciprocal trading (two-sided trading, trade in return) occurs when the trade customers is also a supplier. The reciprocal trading arrangements may or may not be formally linked. In practice, reciprocal trade may strengthen an existing trading relationship, and may even create mutual dependencies, which may create new trade relationship. Barter is probably the oldest and best known example of countertrading, however others, such as offset, buyback, tolling and switch trading, have also evolved to meet the requirements of a more sophisticated world economy. All of these generally involve the exchange of goods or services to finance purchases, rather than using cash alone. "The importance of countertrade as a trading tool has increased since early 1970s -especially in markets where there is a shortage of foreign exchange and countertrade may be the only effective marketing mechanism for doing business." (www.barternews.com, 2003) "One of the unique risks of countertrade transactions is that companies often find themselves handling products with which they are not familiar. This is probably the greatest risk in a countertrade transaction." ((www.barternews.com, 2003) Approximately 130 out of 192 countries in the world require countertrade, one form or another, in their procurements. Many of them did so after having undertaken intensive and serious studies. Many global companies have dedicated in-house specialists dealing specifically with countertrade. Some 20% to 30% of world trade is countertrade. The annual global market size for countertrade is estimated to be between US$200 to US$500 billion. No one really knows what are the correct percentages are and how large the true market size is.