How far does Pentheus Essay Example for Free

How far does Pentheus Essay At the beginning of the play I think I would be inclined to agree that Pentheus deserves his punishment but by the end after we are shown the way that Dionysus reacts to him and how his punishment is completed, I would probably say he does not deserve the punishment he was given. In my opinion it was vile and unnecessary but the ancient Greeks took the Gods will very seriously and the fact that a King was not welcoming to a new god, seemingly insulted them and thus forced Dionysus to exact revenge upon him. At the start when Pentheus enters he declares that he has heard rumours that this new god is driving the women to leave their homes and have criminal actions. He says his worshippers are frolicking and satisfying the lusts of men. He is basing these blames purely on rumour and even calls Dionysus a parvenu god. He is not respecting the new god and even though he knows the gods can punish humans, he still refuses to worship him; he even states that he will leave him out of his worship when he goes to sleep. He calls him some foreigner and disrespects him by saying he is a wizard conjuror and had fragrant golden curls, not meaning to compliment him but insult him. Here perhaps he does deserve his punishment because he is disrespectful and unkind to the new god because he is a cynical ruler. Cadmus and Tiresias encourage Pentheus to allow Dionysuss worship into the city but here will listen to none of it and he is rude to both of them (which again, is not expected of a king but his pride and arrogance overpowers his respect for his elders). He has absolutely no piety towards Dionysus and insults him once he is brought (in disguise) to Pentheus. He is given many warnings by Dionysus but Pentheus chooses not to hear then and ignores him, he is spoken to in riddles but Pentheus once again shows no understanding and Pentheus even goes as far as mocking Zeus and this makes us pity him because he does not understand what is going on. In this instance I do not believe he deserves his punishment. He doesnt believe in Dionysus and his obsession with order proves his downfall, in spite of the warnings he is given. Later in the play Dionysus has the upper hand by hypnotising Pentheus and forcing him to see a bull and trying to tie it up. Here we begin to feel sorry for Pentheus and think that it is cruel of Dionysus to trick him. There is a contrast between the rage and frustration of Pentheus and the calmness of Dionysus. A herald comes and tells Pentheus about the worship of the Bacchants and Dionysus is quick to trick him to witness it himself, he is lured like a child and is easily persuaded by Dionysus because he is still hypnotised by him. Because he becomes so child-like and vulnerable our pity for him increases because he is unable to control his actions from here on. I do not believe he deserves his fate now because he is lured by Dionysus charm and he has put all of his trust into the gods hands. We feel sorry for Pentheus here and because he is more innocent here (is persuaded to dress up as a bacchant) and does not deserve this cruel punishment Dionysus has planned for him. Dionysus now becomes the cruel one and plays with Pentheus vulnerable state and mentions sick jokes towards his death by saying you shall ride home in your mothers arms. Which is terrible dramatic irony and we are forced to feel compassionate towards Pentheus because we know exactly what is going to happen to him. Because it is his mother that is going to kill him, I believe he does not deserve to be killed like this, but by his mother killing him it forces us to take more pity on Pentheus and Agave and I do not believe he deserves his punishment like this. It just proves the malice of Dionysus and how far he will go to induce punishment on the city of Thebes in order to be worshipped. So Pentheus deserves his punishment because he was unwilling to accept a new god and refused to worship someone he did not believe in and this resulted in his death but he did not deserve the way in which he was punished because it was his mother who was forced to do it and he was brutally ripped apart while in a child-like state of mind and under Dionysus control. So we feel sympathy towards him and I do not believe he deserved his punishment

Financial System and Formal Credit Services in Vietnam

Financial System and Formal Credit Services in Vietnam An overview of the Vietnamese financial system Over a 4-year period from 1988 to 1992, the Vietnamese government have initiated a wide ranges of economic reforms in order to enhance the transition itself from a centrally-planned to a market-oriented economy. Along with the implementation of state enterprise reforms and external trade liberalization, the Vietnamese government have promoted a huge number of banking sector reforms, which has resulted into a diversification of the financial system. First, a Soviet-style mono banking system has switched to a two-tier banking system in 1988s with the four sector-specialised state-owned banks separated from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and playing a key role in the banking system. These four state-owned banks include the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), the Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank), Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (VBARD) and the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV). The SBV acts as the central bank, providin g both on-site and off-site inspection and supervising the operations of both banks and non-bank financial institutions. The public banking sector is comprised of the five state-owned commercial banks which altogether dominates the market. Second, the Vietnamese government also encouraged and created various opportunities for the influx of new players into the financial sector. These newcomers consisted of foreign banks, non-bank financial institutions such as insurance companies, join-stock commercial banks, join-venture banks, even credit funds and cooperatives. In addition, this policy has led to a dramatic rise in the quantities of branches and representative offices of existing state-owned commercial banks at that period. Bank for Foreign Trade, for example, has totalled 32 municipal and provincial branches (World Bank 2002). The branch network of the banking sector totally covers nearly 10,000 wards and communes throughout the nation. The economic reform process has, additionally, brought about the marked transformation in agriculture production sector. The presence of private family farms and non-farm enterprises in rural sites has increased pressures on the government for the establishment of credit institutions. Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (VBARD) and Vietnam Bank for Social Policy (VBSP) has then become the dominant financial service providers to the low-income population, and used the extensive network of political mass organizations to mobilize, appraise, and monitor clients (BWTP 2008). Like many other developing countries, Vietnamese credit markets is the coexistence of formal and informal credit markets. In general, rural financial system in Vietnam can be grouped into three main categories: formal sector, semi-formal sector and informal sector (Marsh et al. 2004; Lan and An 2005). The formal sector includes Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (VBARD), Vietnam Bank for Social Policy (VBSP) and People Credit Funds (PCFs) (World Bank, 2002). Semi-formal credit is provided by the National and International programs targeting at a selective range of borrowers and conforming to certain development targets (Pham and Lensink, 2007), and by Microfinance Programs of Mass Organizsations as well as by Savings and Credit Schemes supported by NGO and donors. The informal sector consists of private moneylenders, revolving credit associations (RCA), relatives, friends and other individuals. The informal sector has been the traditional provider of credit in rural a reas, as the result of an underdeveloped formal credit market (Marsh et al. 2004). In programs towards poor and vulnerable households, the Vietnamese Government included credit provision through microfinance institutions (MFIs) in their anti-poverty programs for the rural areas (Commins et al., 2001). These are programs focusing on female clientele who often join in groups, providing small loans for them to invest in income-generating activities (Armendariz and Morduch, 2005). The expected outcome is that rural female entrepreneurs can cope better with emergencies such as unfavorable natural events or be protected from further impoverishment during economic stress (Rutherford, 2002). The formal sector has been the key credit provider in the Vietnamese rural credit market, in which VBARD and VBSP are both the dominant. VBARD has the largest percentage of outstanding loans in the year 2010, accounting for 63%, followed by VBSP at 30%. The third position belongs to PCFs, at 6%. In contrast, microfinance institutions occupies merely 1% of outstanding loans. Figure: Percentage of outstanding loans of main sourcesto household borrowers Source: (PCFs 2010; VBARD 2010; VBSP 2010; Mix Market 2012) Source: Microfinance Resource Centre (2001) Regulations regarding banks With the aim of improving the provision of credit for individuals, households and firms in need and enhancing the effectiveness as well as the soundness of credit providing institutions, the Vietnamese government has promulgated a wide range of regulations on banking operations. These laws set numerous regulations for credit products offered, as well as for activities of credit institutions, ranging from capital norms, restrictions on asset/liability management and limits on credit institutions’ investment in real estate. In 2010, the government has issued the Decree No.41/2010/ND-CP on a wide range of credit policies aimed at agricultural and rural development. First, credit institutions should, under the decree, be encouraged to provide their credit services for rural areas with appropriate interest rates, in accordance with commercial lending mechanism. Second, lending procedures should be simplified, facilitating rural borrowers to get access to loans. Moreover, assistance policies for rural borrowers should also be built up so as to curb expected risks, say, natural disasters, earthquakes or epidemics. Third, the decree will operate as a legal framework for the political system and the whole society in the enhancement of the lending provision for the agricultural and rural development. Interest rate policy Interest rate policy is among crucial policies for the reform of banking sector regulated by The Law on Banks and Credit Institutions. Since 2000, the government has gradually liberalised interest rates. And it is the liberalization of the interest rate that gives financial institutions a little more freedom in determining the rates on lending and saving (WB, 2002). The replacement of the base interest rate mechanism plus margins for the ceiling mechanism regarding the domestic currency-based lending has then been applied for all formal financial institutions. Both base lending rate and margin, under this mechanism, acts as limits for the lending rate requirements of the banks. This new mechanism provides adequate flexibility to credit institutions and should help to enhance firms’ access to credit (IMF, 2002a). Furthermore, the Vietnamese government has also undertaken the regulation for the difference between lending rates and saving rates. According to this regulation, this spread cannot exceed 0.3% and 0.5% per month for short-term loans and medium-term and long-term loans respectively, which has in turn discouraged rural financial institutions from extending small loans to the rural poor and low-income households, given the high transaction costs for small loans (Dao, 2002). Lending technology In Vietnam, there are two prevailing lending methods namely individual lending and group lending. As shown in the table below, group lending has become more popular than individual lending, with the proportions for the year 1995, 1998 and 2001 standing at 98.1%, 92.1% and 87.6% respectively. Meanwhile, the percentages for individual lending method was much lower between 1995 and 2001. While individual lending technology typically focuses on the role of monitoring each individual borrower, the mechanism for group lending technology relies on the enforcement of joint liability of joining members. Generally, lending technologies can be distinguished based on different dimensions such as the primary source of information, screening and underwriting policies/procedures, structure of the loan contracts, and monitoring strategies and mechanisms (Berger and Udell 2006, hereafter BU06). Source: McCarty (2001) Collateral Under Decree No.41/2010/ND-CP, the mechanism of collateral for loans has been regulated as follows: First, credit institutions may take the provision of loans to customers with or without security assets into consideration under current regulations. Second, collateral-without lending conditions, procedures, and loan amounts must be in compliance with current provisions of law on credit institutions’ provision of loans to borrowers. For individuals and households engaged in agriculture, forestry, fishery or salt production, the amount of loan can total up to 50 million VND, whereas the figure for households operating business or production activities or providing services for agriculture and rural areas is up to 200 million VND. And up to 500 million VND for cooperatives and farm owners. Third, credit institutions consider providing trust-reliant loans for individuals and households on the basis of guarantee by sociopolitical organizations in rural areas under current regulatio ns. Sociopolitical organizations have responsibility of coordinating and performing all or some of the credit operation stages after reaching agreement with the lending credit institutions. In reality, collateral is regarded as one of mandatory requirements for loans by formal credit institutions. Credit institutions often ask for collateral from borrowers in order to ensure the probability of loan repayment, as well as reduce the asymmetric information between borrower and formal lender. The asymmetric information occurs since most of the banks stay far away from potential rural borrowers, and they find it difficult to acquire previous credit history information as well as current production/business information about those borrowers. In such a case, collateral requirements are given so as to mitigate these problems. Collateral is usually in the form of immovable assets such as land use certificates, buildings, fixed assets, bank accounts, and other valuable assets, in which land use certificates and real estate are the most preferred collateral by banks. In rural areas, there has been a small number of households that have met the collateral requirements imposed by fo rmal financial institutions, whereas a markedly bigger number of rural borrowers have faced the lack of of collateral for their loans. This has, in turn, confined rural borrowers from having access to loans from formal credit institutions. In such cases, these rural borrowers have to search for other credit providers that do not require collateral, say, private moneylenders, friends, or neighbours which all belong to the informal sector. Therefore, giving households the possibility to obtain land-use rights and use them as proof of collateral can give rise to the asymmetric information alleviation between borrower and formal credit lender, thus fostering credit transactions in rural credit markets accordingly. The formal sector Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (VBARD) Established in 1998 along with the the intense reform of the financial system and the reintroduction of commercial banks in Vietnam, the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (VBARD) has been regarded as a state policy bank and received subsidy from the Vietnamese government. VBARD has also been known as a legal entity with the sharp focus on the agriculture sector and rural areas. By the end of 2001, VBARD has become among leading commercial banks in Vietnam, having the most extensive branch network in Vietnamese rural areas. The bank then had an operating network of more than 2,300 branches and transaction offices nationwide at the end of 2010. There are the three following credit methodologies that VBARD has utilized for its lending operations. The first methodology is the the provision of individual loans for rural borrowers and enterprises. The mandatory requirement for this loan type is a proof of collateral, in which a land use certificate the so called â€Å"Red Book† for agricultural land or â€Å"Green Book† for forest land is the most widely used. Second, VBARD has also applied group lending mechanism in order to increase its coverage of rural households, as well as to reduce transaction costs associated with small loan collection. According to this method, each member of lending group bears equally the joint responsibility of loan repayment before a new round of loans is initiated. The eventual methodology involves the existence of guarantee groups formed by members of mass organizations, say, Vietnamese Women’s Union, Farmer’s Union or Youth’s Union in lending process. These m ass organizations play an important role in guaranteeing the loan repayment, and loans offered by VBARD are then channed through these groups to the target borrowers who are mainly unable to provide a proof of collateral. VBARD specializes in lending to rural households and small-scale enterprises involved in agriculture or off-farm enterprises, but the bank has recently expanded its urban branch network to capture the market of urban small enterprises (BWTP 2008). The outstanding loans granted by VBARD to the economy totalled up to 414,755 billion VND in the year 2010. While the percentage of loans for households accounted for 51%, the figure for non state-owned company was 43%. The proportions of loans supplied to state-owned company and to small cooperative enterprises were considerably lower, at 5% and 1% respectively. Figure. Outstanding loans of VBARD by sector Source: VBARD (2010) The flow chart 1 indicates the credit procedures adopted by VBARD. It is clear that there are thirteen distinct stages in the process of loan provision, beginning with the collection of loan application forms by bank officials and ending with the delivery of appropriate loans to the borrower. Chart 1: Lending procedures by VBARD in Vietnam Notes: 1. Bank officials receive loan application forms from the applicant; 2. After receiving loan application forms, bank officials report to the head of the credit department; 3. The head of the credit department assigns a bank official to examine the loan application forms to see if it is filled in properly; 4. The assigned bank official appraises the applicant, mainly based on collateral; 5. The assigned bank official informs the head of the credit department about the applicant; 6. The head of the credit department assesses the information and reports it to the director of the bank; 7. Director of the bank decides on the loan and informs the head of the credit department; 8. The head of credit department informs the assigned bank official about the decision; 9. The assigned bank officer informs the applicant; 10, 11, 12. Internal information among the bank’s specialized departments; 13. The treasury department disburses loans to the applicant, if accepted. Source: Adapted from Ninh (2003) Vietnam Bank for Social Policy (VBSP) The Vietnam Bank for Social Policies was established under Premier’s Decision No. 131/2002 QD-TTg dated October 4th, 2002 and the Government’s Decree No. 78/ND-CP dated October 4th, 2002 on the provision of credit for the poor and other policy beneficiaries. VBSP was set up on the basis of the reorganization of the Bank for the Poor and separated from VBARD with the aim of detaching the lending policy mechanism from the commercial lending mechanism. Since then, VBSP has developed its own network of 610 branches in 63 provinces/cities throughout the country and has extended loans to 46% of the poor in rural and mountainous areas (GSO Report on the results of VHLSS 2006). VBSP’s operations are under the supervision of the State Bank of Vietnam, whose the primary objective is to provide non-collateralized preferential loans of different rates and maturities to poor individuals, households, and organizations eligible for social benefits and policies. VBSP is conducting the method of entrusted lending via the four mass organizations, namely Women Union of Vietnam, Farmer Union of Vietnam, War Veteran Union of Vietnam and Youth Union of Vietnam. These four organizations take charge of some lending steps of VBSP such as establishing savings and credit groups; organizing certifying poor households, supervising borrowers in using loans properly etc, whereas VBSP has responsibility for conducting loan disbursement, loan collection and safe treasury management. The credit programs provided by VBSP has become increasingly diversified and appropriate with different borrowers. First, for the purpose of the implementation of the National Target Program on Hunger Eradication and Poverty Elimination initiated in 1988s, VBSP has established credit programs particularly targeting at poor households living in rural areas. The second customer group of VBSP is university/college students whose families are ranked as poor households at the commune level or village level. The objective of this lending is to support financially for those students in order that they have opportunities to fulfill their study. The third credit program of VBSP is for households living in disadvantaged and remote areas where there is very poor infrastructure or challenging climate conditions. The fourth credit program involves an implementation of the national strategy on clean water supply and environmental sanitation in rural areas for living conditions improvement, and the target customers are still poor households in rural places. Fifth, VBSP also builds up credit programs for job creation aimed at poor households and small business enterprises. Apart from credit programs listed above, there are still other various programs supporting for poor households in rural areas. The table below gives a comparison in terms of the percentages of outstanding loans allocated by VBSP for numerous credit programs between 2004 and 2010. It is evident that credit programs for production and business of poor households made up the largest percentage in both years, with 82% in 2004 and 40% in 2010. The second largest in 2010, which occupied 29% of the total outstanding loans, was credit programs for education. In contrast, that for migrant workers to go abroad accounted for only 1%. Table: The proportions of outstanding loans by credit programs. Source: (VBSP 2004; VBSP 2010) In regard to the loan interest rate, in 2013, the annual lending interest rate of the market was 10.8%, while the figure for VBSP was merely 6.0%. That means VBSP subsidized 4.8% of the lending interest rate for the poor (World Bank 2004). Since the decision No. 579/QÄ -TTg dated May 6, 2009 on the support of the lending interest rate for VBSP’s loans was issued, the annual interest rate on loans for agricultural production and off-farm jobs reduced by 5%, from 7.8% to 3.8%, while that of the market was standing at 10.5% on average. By late 2010, VBSP’s total outstanding loans mounted to 89,461 billion VND, 14 times higher compared to that in 2001. People’s Credit Funds (PCFs) People’s Credit Funds were established in 1993 after the collapse of rural credit cooperatives. According to Hung (1998), PCFs were constructed on the model of the Caisse Populaire system in Quebec, Canada, with the technical support from the Development International Desjardins (DID). PCFs were funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and supervised by the State Bank of Vietnam.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI is a procedure, in wide use since the 80s, to see the anatomy of the internal organs of the body. It is based on the phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), first described in landmark papers over fifty years ago (Rabi et al. 1938; Rabi, Millman, and Kusch 1939; Purcell et al. 1945; Bloch, Hansen, and Packard 1946) (4 ). . The MRI is a valuable diagnostic and research tool with also practical applications for surgical planning and conquering diseases. This imaging procedure is painless and non-invasive although sometimes discomforting as the patient lies down in a body tube that surrounds them. For many years, closed MRI units have been the standard in helping physicians make a diagnosis. These closed MRI units featured a long tube that the patient would be placed inside during their procedure. This was often uncomfortable for many patients due to the "closed in" feeling and was especially stressful for patients who suffer from claustrophobia. The newest generation of MRI units is now open on all four sides which completely alleviates the "closed in" feeling, while still providing the physician with the most accurate information possible to aid in diagnosis (2).. A patient does not see or feel anything. A faint knocking sound may be heard as the machine processes information. Patients may choose to listen to music -- even having the option of bringing their own CDs to listen to. Most MRI procedures take less than an hour. MRI technology is based on three things: magnetism, radiofrequency and computers. The magnetic resonance machine, is a big and strong magnet. When the body is inside, every proton of the body is oriented in the same way (for instance, with the positive pole up). Water ... ...netic Resonance Imaging is one of the most accurate imaging modalities available today. It is an application of computer technology that has generated knowledge for the future and for practical application today. The field of imaging continues to expand as avidly pursued new dimensions in the acquisition of physiological and biochemical information occurs. WWW Sources 1) Principles of Functional Magnetic Resonance , http://www.mch.com/ 2) Consultants in Radiology , http://www.cirpa.com/Pages/OpenMRI.html 3) MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences , https://cognet.mit.edu/login/?return_url=%2Flibrary%2Ferefs%2Fmitecs%2Fugurbil.html 4) Tracking Neural Pathways with MRI , https://cognet.mit.edu/login/?return_url=%2Flibrary%2Ferefs%2Fmitecs%2Fugurbil.html 5) MRI OF HIPPOCAMPUS IN INCIPIENT ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE http://www.uku.fi/neuro/37the.htm

Young Male Violence and the Communities that Nurture It Essay examples

Jerry sat nervously at his desk, staring at the clock while about twenty pairs of eyes momentarily glanced over or glared at him. The seconds were slipping by far too quickly as the teacher finished explaining the homework assignment for the next day, and Jerry could feel the sweat slipping down his back in just the same way. All day long he had heard second hand threats from the other kids at school that Tim Stern was going to pound him before the day was through, and Tim sent vicious looks his way to reaffirm the rumors. The bell rang and Jerry darted from his seat; he ran down the hallway to his locker where he grabbed his skateboard for the ride home. A couple of his friends ran into him, and together they began sprinting out of the school building. One of the teachers yelled after them, â€Å"Slow down boys! There’s no fire!† They hadn’t been fast enough, because Tim and his friends and a whole group of onlookers were already waiting in the alley just beyond the school parking lot. Jerry threw his things on the ground. Tim was furious because Jerry had verbally humiliated him the day before in a restaurant most of the kids at school hung out at; to make matters worse, Jerry had just started dating Tim’s ex-girlfriend. The crowd was excited because both of the boys were pretty well built; bets had been placed, and the cliched chant, â€Å"Fight! Fight! Fight!† spilled out before Jerry and Tim could even exchange words. Without hesitation, Tim threw the first punch and Jerry, stumbling backward, tripped and fell to the ground. The crowd of kids roared and Tim shook hands with some of his buddies. While no one was looking, Jerry sprung up and dealt a hard blow to the back of Tim’s head with the trucks of his skateboard. T... ...minance. If you will recall, in the beginning of this report I stated that a teacher was calling out to some young men, â€Å"There’s no fire!† However, in reality there is a fire, and this fire takes the form of the pressure on young males to be violent members of our species. Whether it is an urban community’s physical violence, a suburban community’s mental violence, or the sexual violence common to both, it is interesting to note that so much of it is strongly upheld and created by the working culture of men. Much of the violence has to do with the pressures on males to be providers: something we often think has disappeared. Ultimately, it is exactly these kinds of pressures, norms, and customs in combination with a general need for acceptance that amount to the stress on young men to make it to the top. This is what fuels the fire of young male violence.

Tourism in Thailand :: essays research papers

Tourism in Thailand’s National Parks: The Problems it Brings â€Å"Rainforests are currently being destroyed at a rate of over 200,000 square kilometers a year according to the US National Academy of Sciences† (Wheeler). Some of these rainforests are located in Thailand’s national parks. In Thailand, there are 15 national parks set aside for conservation, though only 80% of these parks remain intact today. These Parks represent approximately 13% of Thailand’s land. The purpose of these parks is for the conservation of the forests and wildlife, educational tours and research studies, as well as recreational adventure (Wheeler). In 1961, The Royal Forest Department (RFD) of Thailand passed the National Park Act. This act stated that activities which endanger any resource within the park boundaries are strictly prohibited. These activities include settlement, land ownership, grazing, the manipulation of waterways, geological deterioration, logging, hunting, and colleting of forest products. These provisions obviously do not a pply to park officials who protect and maintain the park for education, technical research, and facilitate recreational activities† (Pipithvanichtham). One of the main reasons for the Thai government’s plan to expand tourism facilities in the national parks is to bring in foreign money into the economy through tourism to these areas. However, there are concerns that the effects of increasing tourism in these areas will lead to mismanagement, corruption, and environmental destruction. Therefore, the Thai government should not be promoting tourism in Thailand’s national parks. The government claims that problems associated with tourism in national parks can be dealt with by careful planning and with the participation of government agencies. For example, the RFD is making an effort to protect the National Parks. The RFD plans to update their existing park laws and regulations to make them more suitable for the modern times. The RFD and the Kasetsart University conducted a training session for all national park chiefs to provide them a chance to learn about park management policies. The RFD hopes to develop some means of cooperation with other countries, particularly in the fields of expertise which it lacks† (Pipithvanichtham). While the RFD has a plan, it will require money to enact it. Currently, there is not enough money to fund this plan coupled with governmental mismanagement. The parks are not funded well enough, which has caused the amount of upkeep in the parks to decrease. The cost of managing Thailand’s national parks is met using the government’s central budget and park entrance fees.

Don’t Live to Eat but Eat to Live Essay

The title sounds easy right? Eat to live, don’t live to eat. Simple enough. So why do I go to the park and half of the people I see are overweight or severely obese? Why are their kids fat? Why do my coworkers have fat rolls that hang off the back of their chairs? It’s a question I have asked myself over and over again. There have been many theories as to why people are fatter today than they were 100 years ago. Now you can choose to believe the BS about good calories and bad calories or that we are fatter because we don’t eat like our ancestors. You can also choose to believe that calories don’t matter and we are fat because of the processed junk food we consume so much of. By taking a look at fat people, we can make the most probable assumption that they consume more calories than they expend. So, if you are in tune with what happens when energy intake is greater than expenditure, you know the excess energy is stored as body fat or contributes to LBM gain under certain situations. Why is this important? A long time ago when we had to chase down our food and stab it with a sharp object, storing fat was essential for survival as it could be days or weeks before we might feast again. So after I expended all of that energy hunting down the kangaroo, you can bet your sweet loin cloth I am going to sit and stuff myself for the next few days. Now some of that ingested energy went to preserving lean body mass but a lot of the excess was shuttled right into my fat cells. Thankfully we have the ability to store fat, otherwise I wouldn’t be here today writing this article. So here is what I have noticed. While it’s not revolutionary, it’s not something we think about much. We are Emotional Eaters Many of us are emotional eaters. We sometimes eat to relieve stress and find comfort in eating certain foods. While I have not looked at statistics, I am willing to bet those of us at high stress jobs are more likely to be overweight than those in less stressful positions. I witnessed this at a previous job where over half of the workers there were over weight and some were dangerously obese. The day job was very stressful and the cafeteria served some really calorie dense food. People would go to lunch and take the edge off by eating a foot long chili cheese dog or go down the road and polish off a few big macs. Then when it was time to head home, I am sure many hit the pint of ice cream for their post dinner indulgence. I have also noticed people working in lower stress environments to be slimmer and more fit. I supposed they had more energy and vigor outside of work to be more active than their stressed out counterparts. Now this could all be coincidence and anecdotal but I have a hunch there is more to it than that. Lots and Lots of Food If you live in America, you know how easy food is to come by. We are constantly being told to eat thanks to TV, radio and the internet(I am thinking about ordering a pizza right now because of the Domino’s ad I see on the web page). This seems to screw with our natural cravings. It’s like we only become hungry because food is always in front of our face. So we only think we are hungry. We eat and then a few hours later are bombarded again with more advertisements of food. Time to go to Wendy’s! No wonder we are a bunch of fatties. Lack of Balance This is probably the biggest factor in the obesity epidemic we are facing. The fact is most people are very sedentary. We wake up, go to work, sit for 8 hours and return home to sit some more until we hit the sack. Now this may sound a bit exaggerated but it’s not far from the truth for many. Most of the people living like this are very chunky too. People like to argue and say they have a metabolic disorder. They say â€Å"I eat the same amount that my grandparents used to eat and they were always thin. † I wonder if working on a farm and doing manual labor had anything to do with them staying so slim? If you are sedentary and desire to maintain your weight it’s most definitely a great idea to begin working out a few times per week, burn some calories and move around a bit more than usual. Perhaps you can begin walking on your lunch break. If you don’t have time to do any extra activity, then the only way to manage your weight is by watching what you eat and keep it at your maintenance intake. Now ideally, you will be doing both of these(exercise and watching your diet) for optimal results. Eat To Live Eating purely out of necessity is often hard to do because some food tastes so good. Sometimes we eat a little too much or indulge a bit too often. I am not telling you to completely limit your intake of what you really enjoy eating because that will only make you crazy. This is coming from the guy ho eats cereal every day because he absolutely loves it. I really love a big bowl of Cap’n Crunch with cold whole milk. The main point I am trying to make here is we should view food as energy and nothing else. You simply need energy to live. Do not get hung up on food being bad or good, clean or unclean. This will only lead to a terrible relationship with food. I have experienced some slight issues with binge eating, thus I had to take the time to reestablish a healthy relationship with food. Nowadays I am not concerned with what I eat, as long as I eat enough for my current goals. I make sure to get my protein, fish oil and fill in the rest with the other macros. I may eat pizza, tacos, oats or have a few beers. Once you can view food as nothing but a fuel source, a piece of chocolate cake or a bowl of rice is essentially the same difference. They both provide energy. We need energy to live. Don’t live to eat, eat to live. Many people struggle to attain the health goals that they want to achieve. Whether those goals are losing weight, lowering cholesterol levels or just getting into better overall health, the foundation for those goals is a healthy diet. Diet is a four letter word. I’m not sure if you’re aware of that. When people hear the word diet, they cringe. They immediately think it means you have to eat very little, and the food that you’re allowed to eat must taste terrible. I am here to tell you that does not have to be the case. When I talk about diet I mean diet in its most basic meaning. The first definition of diet listed in the dictionary is as follows: Diet (n) – food and drink considered in terms of its qualities, composition, and its effects on health. It’s not about breaking down what you’re eating a cutting a bunch of it out to lose weight. It’s about the quality of the food that you are putting into you mouth and how it will affect your overall health. It truly is about your habits with regard to food. When patients come into my office diet is always something that we modify. Patients come to see us for a wide range of conditions, but dietary change is almost always necessary. There is the occasional patient that already has a perfect diet, but they are few and far between. Patients are very motivated at first to change their eating habits because they are very motivated to feel better. As they get into their programs motivation dwindles and people begin to miss their comfort foods. It really is amazing how much people depend on food to make them happy. It should not be that way. Food can certainly be a source of joy. There is nothing better than a good piece of steak or a tasty chicken breast sometimes. However, if foods become your only enjoyment there is a problem. Food should be nourishment, not your sole source of pleasure. Patients, even when they are achieving the results they desire, complain about the dietary changes they’ve been forced to make. Of course the alternative is to continue down the path they were on, eat as they wish and continue to feel bad. Either way they feel trapped. This is where the mind set needs to switch. They need to finally realize that they need to eat to live, not live to eat. If a person can understand that concept, accept it and then apply it, dietary changes are easy. You are eating to be healthy and therefore happy. Not the other way around. Patients that have the hardest time changing often do not accept this concept. They don’t want to give up ice cream, candy, cakes, etc. ecause they get enjoyment out of consuming them. There are physiological reasons for this of course, but even when those are addressed the mindset does not change. If one can decide to use food as a tool to get healthy rather than a tool to be happy changes occur much faster. Remember this concept: food is fuel for our bodies. We need it to function. We need it to live. We can certainly enjoy it, but it should not be a tool to make us happy. We should view food simply as something that can nourish our bodies and make us healthy. Viewing it this way makes it much easier to make good choices. Inevitably people who choose â€Å"comfort foods† make bad choices. When was the last time you heard that someone over ate chicken breast? It doesn’t happen. People over eat the bad stuff like donuts, chips or ice cream because they are eating for joy, not for nourishment. Abiding by the eat to live, don’t live to eat mantra will serve you well because it will help you make the right diet choices for the right reasons. Chances are, you’ve tried to lose weight. The first goal of dieting is to stop further weight gain. The next goal is to establish a realistic weight loss goals. Any intentional weight reduction results in health benefits. And, the amount of weight loss can improve your health. Changing your behavior to adopt a healthier lifestyle can be tough; however it’s easier to make healthy lifestyle changes one step at a time. Sticking to a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables and exercising regularly are also proven ways to prevent diseases such as cancer and heart complications. Losing weight is not simple because many factors affect how much or how little food a person eats and how that food is metabolized by the body. Your weight depends on the number of calories you consume, how many of those calories you store, and how many you burn. If you decrease your food intake and consume fewer calories than you burn, or if you exercise more and burn up more calories, your body will reduce some of your fat stores. In order to turn your body into a weight loss machine, you must start by determining how many calories you should consume each day. Weight loss can be accomplished by eating fewer calories and by exercising to help you burn fat and calories and keep the weight off. Exercise can boost your metabolism increase muscle mass as a result you burn more calories. The most effective method for weight loss is reducing the number of calories you consume while increasing the number of calories you burn through physical activity. In order to reach this goal, you must multiply your current weight by 15 that’s about the number of calories per pound of body weight needed to maintain your current weight if you do at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day. To lose one to two pounds a week your food consumption should provide less than your total weight-maintenance calories. You will also need to build more activity into your day. In order to lose at least a pound a week, try to do at least 30 minutes of physical activity at least three days a week, and reduce your daily calorie intake. Physical activity is an important part of weight management. However, calorie intake should not fall below 1,200. Becoming physically active can help you burn extra calories and naturally increase your glucose uptake by increasing your metabolism and muscle mass. Whether you want to drop 10 pounds or 100, the truth is that no weight loss plan will work if you don’t stay with it. Our bodies require a complex array of nutritional components, and especially the micro-nutrients that are missing from the normal diet. The question is how to do this while eating less. The answer is to eat super foods, or booster foods. Booster foods provide us with a full spectrum concentrated nutrition with minimal caloric content. A well-functioning metabolism has three jobs: it converts energy from the food we eat into work and heat; it eliminates toxins and any unnecessary nutrients in the form of waste; and it stores glucose in the form of lycogen and extra energy as fat for future use. All of these functions are interrelated and interdependent; they rely on each other. One cannot function properly without the support of the other two. Healthy leanness results from burning fat and building muscle. Many people try to lose weight, but fewer people lose weight and keep it off. The first step in losing weight safely is to determine a realistic weight goal. If you want to lose weig ht, cutting calories or controlling your portions is a good place to start. After determining a reasonable goal weight, devise an eating plan. Our eating habit and lifestyle have a great impact on our body. This does not mean you have to stop eating your favorite foods. It means you must reduce your caloric intake. Set a realistic weight loss goal. One of your goals should be to lose a few pounds and be able to keep it off for a long time. Eating foods high in fiber, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains can be an important aid in weight maintenance because eating enough of fiber can help make a person feel full or curb your appetite longer. Weight loss is a continuous process.

Palfinger Ag Case Study

Palfinger’s AG – Property, Plant, and Equipment a. ) Palfinger’s property would include the property that they have to store the forklifts and other large inventory that they have on. The equipment would include all equipment that is necessary to make the inventory that they sell such as the cranes. b. ) This number represents the total of the plant, property, and equipment that Palfinger has. This number should be recorded as the historical cost that the plant, property and equipment was purchased at.This total number also has the total sum of amortized depreciation subtracted out to get the net amount of PP&E that is put on the balance sheet c. ) In the notes to the financial statements, Palfinger reports the plant, property and equipment of the following: †¢ Land and equipment †¢ Undeveloped buildings and investments †¢ Plant and machinery †¢ Other plant, fixtures, fittings, and equipment †¢ Payments and assets under construction d. â €Å"Prepayments and assets under construction† represents expenses that have prepaid for and assets that haven’t been finished yet. Because the assets aren’t completed and haven’t been used, they aren’t being depreciated. The reclassification comes from allocation of depreciation from the newly completed projects that now have been put to use. e. ) Palfinger depreciates its property and equipment by using straight-line depreciation over the prospective useful lives of the relevant assets.They allocate 8-50 years on buildings, 3-15 years on plant and machinery, and 3-10 years on fixtures, fittings, and equipment. This policy does not seem reasonable because there is a short 8-year building useful life. Because of this, Palfinger’s ROA and EPS ratios are heavily impacted. f. You can both depreciate replacements investments, and value enhancing investments that are capitalized and depreciated over the new useful life or original useful life.The alternative method to this would be to just expense out the costs of renovations or value enhancing investments. This way it is completely hit on the income statement, and is not shown on the balance sheet. g. ) i. According to the notes to the consolidated financial statements, Palinger bought $61,444 worth of new PPE in 2007. ii. There was a change of ($733) concerning government grants. According to IAS 20 government grants for property, plant, and equipment are presented as reductions of the acquisition and/or manufacturing costs.When these are deducted from the account, it lessens the amount depreciated during the life of the acquired assets. iii. Depreciation expense for 2007 was $12,557. iv. Net book value of total disposed PPE, was $1,501 (Derived from $13,799 – $12,298) h. ) To derive the gain or loss Palfinger incurred, we compute their proceeds from the sale of PPE $1,655 and subtract it from $1,501 (net book value). This gives us a total gain of $154. i. ) i. Str aight Line |Year |Beg |Dep. Exp |Accum Dep. Ending Bal | |1 |$10,673 |$1,880 |$1,880 |$8,793 | |2 |8,793 |1,880 |3,760 |6,913 | |3 |6,913 |1,880 |5,640 |5,033 | |4 |5,033 |1,880 |7,520 |3,153 | |5 |3,153 |1,880 |9,400 |1,273 | ii. Double- declining- balance depreciation Year |Beg |Dep. Exp. |Accum Dep. |Ending Bal | |1 |$10,673 |$4,269 |$4,269 |$6,404 | |2 |6,404 |2,562 |6,831 |3,842 | |3 |3,842 |1,537 |8,368 |2,305 | |4 |2,305 |922 |9,290 |1,383 | |5 |1,383 |110 |9,400 |1,273 | . ) i. Net book value at end of year 1 is $8,793. Less what you received on the sale $7,500. Gives you a disposal loss of $1,293 using the straight-line method of depreciation. You then add the disposal loss from the previous years depreciation $1,880, which results in a total income statement impact of $3,173. ii. Using double- declining method, the first year ending balance of $6,404 is subtracted form the proceeds of the sale netting in a gain of $1,096 on the disposal.Once this is subtracted form the pre vious years depreciation $4,269, you get a total income statement impact of $3,173. iii. The total income statement impact is exactly the same. The computations turn out to be identical because it is essentially a backwards way of computing the initial cost of the asset of $10,673, minus the proceeds from the sale $7,500, which both gives you $3,173. The difference between the two is perception. One reports a gain on disposals, while the other reports a loss. k. ) | Palfinger |Palfinger |Caterpillar |Caterpillar | | |2007 |2006 |2007 |2006 | |Net PPE |149,990 |98,130 |9,997 |8,851 | |Total Assets |528,314 |409,366 |56,132 |51,449 | |Common Size |28. 4% |24% |17. % |17. 2% | |Dep |12,557 |9,980 |1,797 |1,602 | |Sales/Rev |695,623 |585,205 |41,962 |38,869 | |Common Size |1. 8% |1. 7% |4. 3% |4. 1% | This table shows that Palfinger has much more assets involved in PPE at 28. 4%, than does Caterpillar 17. 8%. l. ) |Palfinger |Palfinger |Caterpillar |Caterpillar | | |2007 |2006 |2007 |20 06 | |Sales or Rev |695,623 |585,205 |41,962 |38,869 | |Avg. PPE |124,060 |94,091 |9,424 |8,420 | |PPE turnover |5. 61 |6. 22 |4. 45 |4. 2 | Turnover went down about 11% (5. 61/6. 22) for Palfinger, we also see the despite being less effective they’re still more efficient then Caterpillar by about 26% (5. 61/4. 45) in regards to PPE sales for every dollar spent. m. ) Depreciation, Amortization & Impairment expense1,960 Accumulated Depreciation & Impairment1,960 n. ) i. Due to the companies building location concept ii. Accumulated depreciation impairment1,755 Depreciation, Amortization, & impairment expense1,755 The credit is posted to an account the company has called revaluation reserve, if it is the initial write up. iii. |2007 | |Net Sales | $695,623 | |Avg. PPE Adjusted |124,060 – (1,755 x 0. 5) = 123,183 | |Turnover Adjusted | 5. 65 | The ratio has changed 5. 61 to 5. 65, which is not a very significant difference. Recalculating the impact of the write offâ€⠄¢s compared to the total net PPE is considered a minimal change for the company.