Parallelisms and Differences:Rastafarianism and Judaism Essay -- Rasta

Parallelisms and Differences:Rastafarianism and Judaism The two religions of Rastafarianism and Judaism embody many of the same characteristics, as well as their ancestry. Although the Rastafarians, at times, inaccurately explain the bible, their belief in the Old Testament is still prevalent. Many of the customs are almost identical, but the rationale behind the traditions and laws contrast greatly. In 1933, when Leonard P. Howell was arrested for using"seditious and blasphemous language,"to boost the sale of pictures of Haile Selassie, he stated that Selassie was,"King Ras Tafari of Abyssinia, son of king Solomon by the queen of Sheba."1 Howell knew that in later years factual information about Selassie's true origin would be declared. As an Ethiopian constitution of 1955 confirms, Haile Selassie in his position as Emperor,"descends without interruption from the dynasty of Menelik I, son of Ethiopia, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon of Jerusalem."2 This constitution, therefore, gives us direct evidence from Ethiopian sources of an existence of a section of the Ethiopian Population practicing the Jewish Religion. According to the bible, King Solomon, King of Israel and the Jews, was paid by a visit from the Queen of Sheba, an Ethiopian Monarch. The Kebra Negast, the book of the glory of kings, states that by a trick, King Solomon inveigled the queen into sharing his bed with the result of a new born son, Menelik, who in due course became king or negus of Ethiopia.3 The queen was very impressed during her visit to the Holy Land, and adopted the Jewish Religion. But her son Menelik, when he grew up, visited his father, and transferred the Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem to Axum. It is at this point where a new r... ...USA, no publishing given) Sanhedrin 90b 31 King James, Holy Bible, Song of Solomon, (USA, no publishing given) Berakhot 28b 32 King James, Holy Bible, Song of Solomon, (USA, no publishing given) 33 King James, Holy Bible, Song of Solomon, (USA, no publishing given) Genesis 3:18 34 King James, Holy Bible, Song of Solomon, (USA, no publishing given) Exodus 10:12 35 King James, Holy Bible, Song of Solomon, (USA, no publishing given) Proverbs 15:17 36 King James, Holy Bible, Song of Solomon, (USA, no publishing given) Psalm 104:14 37 Barret, Leonard E. The Rastafarians (Boston: Beacon Press 1997) p129 38 Kolatch, Alfred J., The Jewish Book of Why (Jonathan David Publisher 1981) 118 39 Barret, Leonard E. The Rastafarians (Boston: Beacon Press 1997) 40 Barrow, Steve and Dalton, Peter, Reggae: The Rough Guide (London: Rough Guides LTD1997)191

Presonal Writing: My First Impression Of My Teacher Miss Vicki :: essays research papers

Presonal Writing: My First Impression of My Teacher Miss Vicki   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My first impression of Miss Vicki was a highly authorative figure towering over me. Her voice boomed and the earth shook whenever she marched. She seemed like such an unapproachable and distant person. That was in the first year of High School. She was my Literature teacher then.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During my first year in school, she struck terror in my heart. And everyone else's of course. The mere mention of her name made the most unruly classes silent. The birds stopped screeching. Even the earth felt still. The omniscent presence of rumours stating that she didn't like Junior High students was not much of a help.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nevertheless, the 2 years of Junior High passed by rather quickly. Soon, I was promoted to Senior High class. I had worked hard and gotten the subject combination that I wished for. Together with a bunch of old friends, I soon settled down in class comfortably.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As fate would have it, she was fortunate enough to be my form teacher that year. I almost choked in alarm when I heard the news. This time round, however, I resolved not to cower in terror whenever she was near. I decided to face the fact that we were going to meet each other for the next 365 days. Instead of trying too hard to lick her boots, I tried my best to be my natural self in front of her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Still, I could not shake off the ice-cold image that she possessed in my heart. True, her corney jokes sometimes sent me into frolicking laughter, yet at other times these jokes simply fell flat the moment she uttered them. My lovely class, however was always ready to laugh at the right time and place of her amusing stories. Afterall, we would not want to run the risk of her temper erupting in front of us like Mount Saint Helens spewing molten rock and

Case study snyder v phelps Essay

Snyder v. Phelps (2011) Fred Phelps, the pastor at the Westboro Church, along with his followers believes that God punishes the US for allowing homosexuality freedoms, especially within the military. To express their feelings the Westboro Church and its people sometimes picket military funerals in hopes that their voices will be heard. In 2006 Albert Snyder’s son who was a Lance Corporal for the United States Marine Corps was killed in the line of the duty during his time in Iraq. Matthew Snyder was killed in Anbar, Iraq when he was the gunner on a Humvee that ended up rolling after hitting something. The Westboro Church decided that they would picket Matthew Snyder’s funeral, notifying the sanction holding the funeral in advance what they planned on doing. When the Westboro Church and its followers arrived to picket this funeral they made sure to stage the picket on public land that was adjacent to a public street. Making sure that they didn’t violate any written laws they also made sure to abide by anything that was appointed to them by the police taking care of the funeral. The Church members stood outside this church during the funeral reciting different hymns and verses from the Bible. Albert Snyder wasn’t aware of what the signs said until after the whole funeral took place, claiming that he could â€Å"really only see the tops and couldn’t make out what they actually said. † Following the funeral, Snyder noticed on the news that the signs some gruesome stuff such as, â€Å"God Hates the USAI Thank God for 9/1 1,† â€Å"Thank God for Dead Soldiers,† and â€Å"Don’t Pray for the USA. † Snyder decided that he would then sue Fred Phelps, claiming that the picketing aused him and his family severe emotional distress. In his defense, Phelps argued that everything that took place that day was completely legal under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. The main issue that this case faced legally, was whether Westboro’s signs and comments while picketing Matthew Snyder’s funeral related to matters of â€Å"public concern† and in turn, decide whether there is too much protection under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court made it clear that they were only going to determine this ruling ased on â€Å"matters of public concern† as opposed to â€Å"matters of purely private significance. The Supreme Court affirmed that the picketing amounted to speech on issues that are public; they felt as if one of the main things that the First Amendment covers is the right to picket based upon public issues. The Court felt as if although the signs that were used â€Å"may fall short of refined social or political commentary, the is sues they highlight – the political and moral conduct of the United States and its citizens, the fate of our Nation, homosexuality in the military, and scandals involving he Catholic clergy – are all matters of public import. Albert Snyder realized all of the protection under the First Amendment but he claimed in rebuttal that that picketing was intended to shape an attack on Snyder over a rather private matter. Although the Supreme Court realized that Snyder had a strong claim at the time because of the circumstances that were evident, at the same time they must also hold to the law which noted that Maryland did not have a law imposing any types of restrictions on standpoint, the Supreme Court decided that Fred Phelps and his followers were in all f their legal rights to picket that funeral. The Court expressed their acknowledgment of the picketing of a US Soldier’s funeral and the idea that many Americans would feel as if the Westboro Church was â€Å"morally defective†, but it rejected those factors as means for any type of lawsuit that could be tendered to the church. Though a Jury ended up awarding the family of Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder millions of dollars, the US Supreme Court upheld the circuit court’s dismissal of the verdict over unruly circumstances. Freedom of speech is something that is considered one of the reatest things available by both sides of the political lanes. Both Conservatives and Liberals strongly believe in freedom of speech, but it is Liberals that are more likely to take the realm of expressing themselves publically. Liberals take pride in the idea of the â€Å"political left†, which basically outlines their devotion to America’s First Amendment the right to free speech. Although it is usually Liberals that we see voicing their opinion publically, the Westboro Church is overall a Conservative group because of what they stand for. Most people including the media portray and roclaim that the Westboro Church is a Liberal party but when you dig deeper you start to notice that isn’t really the case. The Westboro Church has many things in common with those that claim to be Conservative; â€Å"both are against marriage equality, both are for the replacement of constitutional government with religious dogma of their particular form of Christianity, both are for the reduction of the rights of minorities and women, and both are for getting rid of reproductive rights and family planning. † The case of Snyder v. Phelps places before us a choice where we ust decide between the ethical values of basic respect versus the legal right of the First Amendment, freedom of speech. From an ethical perspective, it is easy to decide this case based upon the ideas that we adopted over time that all in all became a social norm. The ethical value of respect at a funeral will easily make someone choose the side of Snyder’s in this case Just because over time we have established that funerals are meant to mourn and to pay respect to not only the fallen but also the family of that person. Although it may be interpreted that the reason that the Westboro Church chose to take action the way that they did was because it was necessary to get their point across, ethically it is frowned upon because of how we know funerals are supposed to take place. The Westboro Church had many options to establish the point that they were trying to get across such as the newspaper, TV, or the radio, but instead they chose to do it at a US Marine’s funeral which ended up working in their favor gaining them national recognition. Potter Stewart, a once US Justice wrote with regards to Ethics that, â€Å"Ethics is knowing the difference between hat you have a right to do and what is right to do. This quote explains the complete ethical aspect of this case because it describes how legally, the Westboro Church had every right to do what they did that day but ethically they were in the wrong intruding on the privacy of a grieving family at a funeral service less than 300 feet away. While the Justices made it clear that they understood where Al bert Snyder and his family were coming from, they also stood firm with the idea that the Westboro Church was practicing the First Amendment which allows the freedom of speech to he public. One of the Justices following the court case described the entire case as powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both Joy and sorrow, and as it did here inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. As a nation we have chosen a different course to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate. The problem that is now faced upon America after the ruling that the Westboro Church did nothing wrong is, how much is too much in regards to â€Å"a few† igns becoming too many? Would enough signs have changed the nature of the content of Westboro’s message towards the Snyder family? The effect of this case on the public is something that isn’t necessarily brought up but it is evident in many places because you have to realize that the public mainly sees this as a case of a family being stripped of what they believe should be a quiet and peaceful funeral . With the ruling ending the way it does it has the public wondering how far the First Amendment freedom of speech can really get you and the fine print behind our US Constitution. Overall, the US Supreme Court case touches many aspects whether it is ethically, legally, politically, or socially. It is hard for most ethically driven people to accept the fact that the Westboro Church not only got no penalty for what they did at Matthew Snyder’s funeral, but they also received no further details about stopping the picketing of funerals. In regards to legal aspects, this case set in stone that the First Amendment freedom of speech allows for not only speech that is accepted ethically but any type of speech that strays away from a personal attack. In most of he public’s opinion the Westboro Church was in the wrong that day for not allowing a grieving family time to privately mourn the loss of a family member but although what they did was frowned upon they stayed within their legal rights which forces the court to drop their case. Although Albert Snyder lost this case his family was awarded millions of dollars and they also received support of the majority of the public against the Westboro Church and their actions not only that day, but in the future. Snyder left the courtroom after the ruling with not complete satisfaction but rust that his point was spread across America which was to notify them of what the Westboro Church does and what they caused not only himself, but his family.

How to Solve Poverty

A’Leigha Jackson Period: 5/6 March 20, 2013 Social Inequalities on Gender Roles/Gender Inequalities Rural women suffer systematic discrimination in the access to resources needed for agricultural production and socio-economic development. Credit, extension, input and seed supply services usually address the needs of male household heads. Rural women are rarely consulted in development projects that may increase men's production and income, but add to their own workloads.When work burdens increase, girls are removed from school more often than boys, to help with farming and household tasks. Gender equality makes good economic and social sense. A gender role is the place you hold in a family, relationship or society as a whole because you are male or female. Typically, your gender role is action-oriented and focused on whether you work outside the home or play a nurturing role within the family Gender inequality is like for example people say that boys are better in sports than girls.I believe that is not true, girls are as good in sports as boys are. The audience in sports is more focused on the male species than the women. There is a high rate of people watching man sports than girl sports. In Basketball there is a NBA and there also is a WNBA but, many people watch the NBA instead of the WNBA because they are more appealed to the man basketball team. In Marriage the Gender role is a big part in marriage. In gay couples many people wonder who is playing the man and who is playing the guy.Gender inequalities spring from the soil of male dominated societies in which women, to a greater or lesser extent, are seen as second class. Gender inequalities are also interwoven with class, race and religious structures. Gender inequalities range from reactionary notions of women’s abilities and their sexual availability to cultural and traditional views of femininity and women’s proper roles. From wolf whistles to rape, lack of education to unequal pay , women are paying the price.HIV positive women, including HIV positive young women, are paying the price many times over. Gender inequality goes hand in hand with HIV–related stigma and violence so HIV positive women face a double dose of discrimination. Another on is equal pay for equal work is one of the areas where gender equality is rarely seen. All too often women are paid less than men for doing the same thing. In Conclusion, in Gender Roles and Gender inequalities there are many things that people face in these areas today.

Analysis of the Hungarian Mobile Market Essay

Introduction The mobile market is still one of the most rapidly expanding business sectors in Hungary. Openness to new technologies and society’s need for swift communication, have elevated current statistics to show that the number of mobile telephones in Hungary exceed that of landlines. And it appears that the balance continues to shift more in favor of mobiles. This is characterized by the occurances of the previous years. At the end of 1999 the proportion of landline to mobile use was two to one, by the end of 2000 the number of landlines was only 25% higher than that of mobiles. Recently, over the course of the past few years dramatic changes have taken place. The country’s leading mobile provider, Westel Mobile Rt., reached 2 million subscribers by June 12, 2001; at the same time Pannon GSM reported 1.5 million subscribers, while the number of Vodafone subscribers was around 260,000.According to a recent report of the Telecommunications Supervisory Office, the number of opera tional mobile telephones in October 2003 amounted to 7,614,256. Given the tendencies of previous years, this number is expected to increase. Therefore, we can observe that mobile penetration has increased by nearly 100% over the course of the last few years. Growth shows no sign of slowing with the market. This makes it one of the highest growing markets in eastern Europe. But how will the Hungarian mobile-market develop further? Can the sharp increase of recent years be maintained, and when can we expect signs of market saturation? The Main Market Players Westel Mobile On 16 June 2000 Westel’s analogue and digital divisions, Westel Radiotelefon and Westel 900 GSM, officially became known as Westel Mobile; the company required a name change to reflect the fact that it was scheduled to introduce a GSM-1800 service. Westel was granted a GSM-1800 licence in mid-1999 when the government awarded Hungary’s third digital concession to Vodafone. In the interest of promoting fair competition, Vodafone was afforded a year-long period of exclusivity before Westel was allowed to launch its own GSM-1800 offering. Westel began sales of dual-band handsets in January 2000 in preparation for its November launch. Westel’s GSM subscriber base almost doubled during the course of 2000, from 842,000 to 1.6 million, growth which the company has attributed to the popularity of its pre-paid service Domino. The sale of Domino packages accounted for 76% of total revenues in 2000 and by the end of the year pre-paid users outnumbered post-paid customers, ac counting for 52% of the total subscriber base; this had risen to 57% three months later. By the end of March 2001 Westel had signed up a total of 1.8 million subscribers and in mid-June 2001 it registered its two millionth customer, by which time 60% of its customers were pre-paid. Westel launched its WAP service in early February 2000 and by the end of the year claimed that 100,000 customers were using WAP-enabled handsets. According to the company, there will be a boom in its WAP services once access times have been cut by GPRS. In spring 2001 Westel launched GPRS to a couple of hundred users and has scheduled full commercial launch for 1 August. It is aware that the technology could be slow to take off, however, and has already indicated that initial growth could be affected by the lack of handsets. A major development for Westel customers in 2000 was the introduction of the GreenZone tariff package, which allows customers living in rural areas to make lower cost calls. The GreenZone covers around 80% of Hungarian territory. In addition Westel has roaming agreements in place in 87 countries with 196 networks. It has also highlighted the popularity of SMS services; 200 million were sent during 2000 and in the first half of 2001 Westel customers sent more than 30 million per month. Westel Mobile retained its dominance over the market having almost doubled its subscriber base during the course of 2000, from 842,000 to 1.6 million, giving it a market share of 53.1%. By March 2001 the number of subscribers had reached 3.39 million, equivalent to a penetration rate of 33.7%. estel Mobile is owned by Matav (51%) and Deutsche Telekom (49%). Pannon GSM Although growth was steady during 2000, Pannon gained little ground on Westel; at the end of March 2001 it claimed a market share of 40.4%, up slightly on the 39.3% it recorded a year earlier. At the same date its subscribers numbered 1.37 million, 38% of whom were signed up to its pre-paid package Pannon Praktikum, which was launched in November 1997. By May 2001 Pannon announced that its customer base had reached 1.5 million. It has offered WAP services since early March 2000 and claims to have signed up several thousand users in the first four months. Majority shareholder KPN announced in June 2001 that it was seeking to offload its stake in Pannon as well as its minority stakes in the Ukraine and Indonesia. Interest in the stakes has been high and at the time of writing KPN confirmed that talks with potential buyers were well under way. Analysts have suggested that Vodafone may show interest in acquiring Pannon to strengthen its position in the country; it is not believed that Vo dafone will be deterred by the fact that Pannon is likely to be sold in conjunction with VoIP operator Pantel. Pannon is owned by KPN (44.66%), Telenor (25.78%), Sonera (23%) and TDC (6.56%). Vodafone Hungary When the VRAM consortium launched Hungary’s third digital mobile network under the Vodafone name in November 1999 it stated that its aim was to achieve a market share of 10% by the end of 2000. It failed to reach this target, signing up 200,000 customers, equivalent to just under 6.5%. Nonetheless, growth has been rapid. By March 2001 Vodafone had signed up 223,000 subscribers, up 374% from the 47,000 it claimed a year earlier. At the beginning of 2001 Vodafone announced that it would invest USD60 million in Hungary to build 400 base stations nationwide in addition to the 800 it has already installed. Vodafone has invested hundreds of millions of dollars since the inception of its Hungarian project to fund infrastructure, marketing and technological advances. The VRAM consortium consists of Vodafone (50.1%), RWE Telliance (19.9%), Antenna Hungary (20%) and Magyar Posta (10%). Market Share Development in Hungary Total Subscriber Development in Hungary Market Analysis This market is characterized by severe price discrimination implemented by all the participating firms. All three members of the market have pre paid and post paid packages available to their customers. It is observable that more users choose the pre paid packages in general. This can be derived from the price discrimination of the competing firms on the market. The following diagram also illustrates this tendency. Since the slope of the two lines is determined by the cost per minute it is obviously the lower envelope that represents the line according to which buyers should base their preference-based decisions. A customer who does not uses his or her mobile a lot will choose one of the pre paid packages. Controversially someone who is willing to talk much on his or her mobile will choose the post paid package, which implies to pay more for getting the started and costs less to use. In the intersection point of the two lines is the point where the customer is indifferent between the two. The market had witnessed unprecedented growth during 2000. At the end of the year it was home to 3.1 million users, this constitutes a 92.5% increase on the previous year end of 1999. This also beat the government’s forecast of a target of 2.5 million by a considerable margin. Also noteworthy is that mobile penetration reached an impressive 30.7% in December 2000, up from just 15.9% twelve months earlier. The market is growing indeed. according to analysts, 2002’s tendencies were easy to predict. The fast growth continued in the mobile market. However, it seems harder to foresee the development of the market later on. The only fact evident is that in the long run, there will be more mobile terminals in the country than the number of people living in it. Hungary’s new telecommunications act, which is currently being debated in Parliament, is also expected to further boost competition in the mobile phone market. With three competing mobile phone operators the Hunga rian market is probably the toughest in the entire region. Mobile Penetration Development in Hungary The second year of liberalized telecommunications in Hungary was marked by a decline in the number of fixed-line subscribers, but a persistently growing mobile market. In the first quarter of 2003, the number of mobile subscriptions (including active SIM cards and analogue subscription) rose to over 7 million for the first time, says a telecommunication market quarterly report compiled by the National Communications Authority (HIF). A comparison of 2003’s summer figures with those from the summer of 2002, shows an increase in mobile phone subscriptions of 22%. The numbers illustrate a major trend in the telecommunications sector of, let’s not forget, a country of only 10 million inhabitants. Westel leads the sector with a 47.5% market share, while Pannon GSM ranks second at 36.94%, followed by Vodafone, the smallest player, but one that is quickly growing with a 15.56% share of the market, according to HIF. Prices appear to increasingly level off, and the competition is speeding up. Therefore the mobile companies react faster to each other’s steps. Several years ago it took mobile operators almost half a year to counter each other’s marketing actions, but today it is a matter of days. This type of price war competition was started by Vodafone, Hungary’s third mobile phone provider, which entered the market in 1999. Vodafone’s Vitamax pre-paid cards became an instantaneous hit. Initially Vodafone’s prices were some 15-20% lower than anything offered on the market, but in the time since Westel and Pannon have lowered their prices as well. Pannon’s new campaign: â€Å"De-Juice† was a response to Vodafone’s younger image, and offers prepaid options along side Pannons already existing Praktikum service. Since March this year, Westel has introduced three new pre-paid Domino packages that offer competitive and unified tariffs on calls mad e to fixed-line or other mobile networks. There is also a considerable amount of price competition in the post-paid sector. Similarly to the post-paid packages, there is a very large array of package allocation possibilities. Of these assortments Westel’s cheapest offer for subscribers is its ‘Tà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½rsalgà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ M’ package, under which users can call within the network for 36.75 Hungarian Forints per minute in peak hours. Under Pannon’s ‘Horizont’ package, subscribers can choose between three different categories (Bà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½nusz, Plusz, Extra) that offer economical prices for calls made at different times of the day. In the meantime, Vodafone has come forward with its Rock ‘n’ Roll ‘Csà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½cs Plusz’ subscription package, which offers a tariff of 6 Forints per minute for the first 10 minutes of a call made to any network. So competition is fierce among mobile operators for post-paid subscribers and pre-paid card users. Although companies believe they will win customers by advertising the lowest prices, we have ascertained that many pre-paid packages hide additional charges for calls made after prime time hours. Many analysts say that even after Hungary’s new telecom law takes effect, price competition will continue since there are still significant reserves in pre-paid card rates. Although mobile operators are extremely careful about detailing their strategies, we believe that telephone equipment prices, along with regular subscribers, will remain the main campaign elements in the future. One aspect of the new telecom law states that from May 1, 2004, customers may keep their mobile numbers even if they switch providers. It seems that this will greatly rearrange the market. It can be expected that pre-paid phone customers will probably have to pay much more for the mobile handsets (as opposed to being relatively cheap, as is the case right now), as it would not be in any company’s interest to give expensive, modern phones cheaply to customers who could change providers at any moment. Meanwhile, the value of regular subscribers is expected to grow and those customers who sign a long-term contract will probably be the most important ones. Pannon GSM, for instance, seems to put more focus on the post-paid customer segment instead of the SIM card market. The current price competition, mostly focused on pre-paid card users, is seen spreading to subscribers who would be able to make cheaper calls as well. Vodafone is also pursuing a similar strategy. Telecom Policy Director Pà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½l Marchart says: â€Å"I expect that the new regulation will stimulate market competition even in those markets that show monopolistic signs today.† In reality however, the new regulations are being carefully scrutinized and opinions vary. It is questionable whether they will fulfill the function of creating real market competition. Prices would radically drop if real market competition existed in the market. This question was first raised by Hungary’s Competition Authority (GVH). The office made headlines recently with its inquiry into the telecommunications services sector, which resulted in imposed fines for Westel and Pannon. The sector inquiry enabled GVH to achieve a more accurate view of the mobile phone sector. The office found several problems on the mobile market, mainly with the pricing of calls generated from mobile phones to fixed-line networks. GVH accused mobile operators of utilizing restrictive practices in-order to increase mobile use in Hungary. The inquiry alleged that there is a mobile phone cartel in Hungary. But of course in the end it accused mobile service providers of little and did not prove that there were coordinated actions taken on by the mobile firms. GVH could not even prove that call fees to other networks were too high, but only stated that some contracts among mobile providers could distort competition. Westel was fined HUF 210 million and Pannon GSM HUF 150 million by GVH. The fine is not substantial, however, and accounts for a mere fraction of mobile operators’ turnover. Westel and Pannon said they will appeal the GVH decision in Hungarian courts. Vodafone did not have to pay any fines. The mobile companies agreed that fees for calls to other mobile service providers would cost less than calling fixed-line operators. In Summary then, we believe it is safe to say that continued competition and occasional price-wars will continue to surface among the three mobile conglomerates in Hungary. We have just recently perused in the latest issue of the Budapest Times that the new telecoms legislation has just been officially approved in Parliament. The new telecom act will come into force January 1, 2004 for fixed-lines and May 1, 2004 for mobile networks, just in time for the EU entry. We are yet to see what real effects this law will have on market competition, and if predatory and limit pricing attempts will be detected and penalized by the GVH. Also of note for future developments is Hungary’s ensuing EU absorption. Although it is expected that new fixed-line operators will enter the Hungarian market after EU integration, in the mobile market, the situation is quite different. Given the considerable number of active mobile phone users in the Hungarian population, it seems inconceivable that a potential new entrant firm could operate efficiently next to the incumbents. They would need a lot of resources and a good financial background, since return on the investment would probably take a good number of years. The fact that the number of mobile providers is not bound to increase in the future is one issue that all three firms seem to agree on. However, we believe that eventual new entrants will or should make their way on the market, since this would further promote competition which is an obvious goal of the Hungarian Competition Office (GVH). What we, consumers can do is to hope that at some point in time prices and minimum average costs will tend to meet, setting an end to the presence of dead weight loss. This way welfare as well as consumer surplus will be maximized on the Hungarian mobile market. Bibliography Sources Consulted and Referenced: Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) official website; www.gvh.hu Hungarian National Communications Authority (HIF) official website; www.hif.hu Pannon GSM Mobile Service Provider Corporation official website; www.pannongsm.hu The Budapest Times Newspaper. Issue: Nov 28. – Dec 4. 2004; www.budapesttimes.hu Vodafone Mobile Service Provider Corporation official website; www.vodafone.hu Westel Mobile Service Provider Corporation official website; www.westel.hu

Moss and McAdams Accounting Firm Essay

1. At the end of the case if you were Palmer, how would you respond? It was clear from the beginning everyone involved could have handled things more professionally in order to maximize time, and resources while maintaining a healthy and productive work environment for all employees. From the start of the project it was evident that Olds knowledge and skills were definitely in demand. Because his expertise was so in demand, when met with an organizational structure that had an obvious weak matrix structure, it caused great adversity. In this case we learn Ruby Sands had the role of functional manager and therefore ultimately made a decision that affected Palmer’s account. As soon as Palmer recognized the problems he should have addressed the issue then and presented the possible risk, moving forward the best option for Palmer is to find a suitable replacement for Olds. And accept the fact that valuable employees leave projects all the time for one reason or another. Also, Palmer should address his concerns regarding the situation on a whole to include Crosby’s unwillingness to be a team player as a way to avoid similar situations happening in the firm’s future. In conclusion, Palmer is the project manager; it is his responsibility to handle all aspects of the project to include communication. Effective communication would have lead to a better outcome. 2. Discuss what Palmer could do, if anything, to avoid losing Olds: Project managers are ultimately responsible for performance. Therefore it is Palmer’s responsibility to ensure that appropriate protocol is made between the time, cost and performance requirements of the project. In addition, the project manager is also responsible for the aspects of Leadership, such as problem solving, teamwork, negative politics and customer expectations. To avoid losing Olds, Palmer should have realized the struggles Olds was faced with, such as working extra hours to accommodate both projects and accounts, as a result the impact that it had on work-life balance took its toll on Olds and put him in a difficult position.

Geographical Transformation of the Caribbean Islands Assignment

Geographical Transformation of the Caribbean Islands - Assignment Example Prior to the introduction of the Spanish our culture had been relatively insular. This is not to say that we did not trade with neighboring cultures and tribes; however, the drive to settle and explore for distant lands, even if we knew they existed, was not part of our cultural legacy. I would say there were many reasons for this; however, the primary cultural reason was due to the fact that our culture had derived from a group of individuals that were keenly aware of the unique demographics constraints that island lifestyle exhibited. Rather than being able to simply expand and colonize a new area, the Caribbean island ecosystem had taught our people how to manage the resources we had, supplement the ones we did not, and seek to find a way to supply the needs of our people without having to expand outwards. This is not to say that wars did not exist. There were numerous examples within our recent history when neighboring chiefs and tribal leaders coveted the position, riches, or sl aves that another neighboring group possessed. As a rsult, these battles were fought in much the same way that the Spanish fought to take control of our way of life, women, riches, and future. It was in October of 1492 that I became acquainted with what would spell the end of our civilization; although at that time, the ominous nature of the encounter was overcast by the sheer curiosity and fear that many of my tribesmen exhibited. What I first saw was a group of hairy-faced, colorful, and shiny men that I took for a type of embodiment of a god; or at the very least demigods. These men strode upon the sand and the thin thatch that covered the interior of the island with a heavy stride that set them apart from any man I had ever seen. I soon learned that the reason for their heavy and seemingly uncertain steps was due to the fact that they had been at sea, on board ships, for a long period of time. Accordingly, their ability to quickly acclimate to the sandy soil of Mamana was severe ly hampered. Although the fear soon gave way to curiosity, there was also a sense of foreboding that is now all too clear with respect to how the tribesmen viewed the Spanish. Upon coming ashore and making contact with the tribes chief and spiritual leaders, the Spanish wasted no time in seeking to find if there was anything that our people could offer them that would profit them. By standards of our culture, it was not common to greet a stranger and immediately make inquiries as to his overall wealth and a firm account of the things he possesses. For this reason, many of our tribesmen became wary of the way that the Spanish behaved and fearful of what type of intentions they harbored with respect to our lands and to our people. Now ten years later, I have grown to resent the way that the Spanish govern our culture. True, their technology has rapidly changed the way we lived; however, it has not improved the overall quality of our lives. Moreover, the effects of their conquest have meant that our culture, our religion, and our language is becoming more and more diminished each and every day that passes. For many reasons this troubles me. However, the single largest concern I have with respect to this is the fact that my children and their children’s children will grow up in a world that does not even resemble the one