Van Gogh Quotes Essay Example For Students

Van Gogh Quotes Essay I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people. I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process. We will write a custom essay on Van Gogh Quotes specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now There may be a great fire in our hearts, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke. If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. I dream of painting and then I paint my dream. There is no blue without yellow and without orange. The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream. Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.

The Chair, The Needle, The Gas Chamber essays

The Chair, The Needle, The Gas Chamber essays The Chair, The Needle, The Gas Chamber. The death penalty or capital punishment, is a controversial issue that a lot of people have debated. It has been part of the criminal justice system since the earliest of times. During the 1700 B.C., the Babylonians decreed death for crimes, even minor ones. The early Egyptians were also accustomed to the enforcement of the death penalty. Egyptians were sentenced to death for a crime, such as disclosing the location of sacred burial grounds. In todays world, capital punishment is still a part of the criminal justice system. Every time someone is sentenced to death a question of whether capital punishment is right arises. Should it be included in our justice systems? In dealing with the issue of whether capital punishment is right or not, we should consider all of the arguments involved. We must consider the economic argument, the deterrence argument, the retributive argument, and the utilitarian argument for capital punishment. After understanding these arguments, we will see that, although a majority of people thinks putting criminals to death is wrong and must be banned, the practice of capital punishment is nonetheless a justifiable option. Capital punishment is the oldest and most commonly used punishment since the earliest times. It is a punishment that is still used in our modern justice systems. Capital punishment is retained in 92 countries and territories in 1990, including the United States (37states), China, and Islamic Countries.1 In the Collins College Dictionary, Capital punishment is defined as the punishment of death for committing a serious crime. In Roman law the term had a wider significance and meant, besides the summum supplicium (death), those punishment that affected the caput (status) of the citizens, namely banishment (aquae et igni interdictio) under the republic or deportatio (deportation) un...

Judicial precedent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Judicial precedent - Essay Example â€Å"Judicial precedent means the process whereby judges follow previously decided cases where the facts are of sufficient similarity. The doctrine of judicial precedent involves an application of the principle of stare decisis. In practice stare decisis means, inferior courts are bound to apply the legal principles set down by the superior courts in earlier cases (Tufal, p.1). The words stare decisis means standing by previous decisions. In other words, once a verdict has given by an upper court in a particular case, that verdict should be applied to all future cases of similar nature. It should be noted that only the verdicts given by the upper courts will come under judicial precedent. The verdicts or judgement of previous cases often considered seriously by the courts before making the final verdicts in the existing cases. Advocates often remind the courts about the verdicts of previous cases of they feel such verdicts help them in one way or another in the existing cases. It i s a common practice that lower courts will never try to change the verdicts of upper courts. So, lower courts will always try to follow the judgement of upper courts if the cases handled by them are similar in nature. There are two types of precedent existing; binding and persuasive. The reasons for reaching a particular judgement are often included in the final judgement. The judge will explain which factors forced him to arrive at the final verdict. â€Å"The reasons which are necessary for them to reach their decision amount to the ratio decidendi of the case. The ratio decidendi forms the legal principle which is a binding precedent meaning it must be followed in future cases containing the same material facts† (Judicial Precedent). The terms ratio decidendi means reason for decision. In short, binding precedent is mandatory while lower courts take decisions. On the other hand, persuasive precedence is not so. In persuasive precedence, Judges can decide whether they shoul d follow or not follow past verdicts. It should be noted that a judgement includes, many binding and not binding elements. All the binding elements should be followed in future cases whereas other elements need not be followed later. Thus, binding precedence is compulsory whereas persuasive precedence is not compulsory for the lower courts while taking decisions. Judicial precedence helps judges in deciding; Are the cases, for instance: (a) sufficiently similar that the decision of case (1) should be applied in case (2)?; or (b) sufficiently different that the decision of case (1) should not be applied (never mind be considered binding) in case (2)?; or (c) are the factual differences of minimal significance so that case (1) is likely to be applied to case (2)?; or (d) are the facts different, but the principle underlying the decisions in the cases similar? This can be a difficult one. Here you need to be sure what was the principle that was established in the past case: does the re asoning— the ‘why?’—in the past case apply to the second even though the facts differ? In some instances this may even involve using one case in, say, shipping law, to answer a question about the liability of a fairground company to a local authority in the law of contract (The Doctrine of Judicial Precedent, p.155) Judicial precedence helps courts in many ways. It should be no

Companies have always found it hard to balance pressing operational Essay

Companies have always found it hard to balance pressing operational concerns with long-term strategic priorities,DISCUSS - Essay Example This may be due to various reasons and mangers are often at the cross roads. Assigning priorities and making decisions becomes a challenge for the business managers when they have to decide what are the sacrifices that have to be made to get along in business. Hence, this essay focuses on the analysis of what causes the companies to compromise on their strategic plans. When a company formulates the strategy, first an internal and external environmental analysis has to be carried out. When we are planning for the future first the organization should have awareness about the internal and external environmental factors that can impact the organization. â€Å"When the environment audit is undertaken, the objective is to develop a finite list of opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses. Here the word finite list is emphasized because the job of the manager is t not make an exhaustive list of all the factors that may affect the organization. But focus should be on key environmental variables that could influence business†1. The importance of the environmental analysis is mostly realized by organizations but the depth of the analysis is often compromised. For example in Toyota corporation, there is a management concept â€Å"to go to the roots†. The meaning of this concept is that, when we are collecting information for analysis, th e information should be collected from the source or in other words from the origin. When an external environmental analysis is done with information collected from the sources and decisions are made based on such in-depth data, the applicability and durability of strategic plans are considerably increased. The information from the external environment should be used to tune up the internal environment to meet the challenges and make good of the opportunities. When an organization needs to possess a competitive advantage its focus should be internalized rather externalized. The ability of a business concern to focus on its

Wooden Bats versus Metal Bats in Baseball Essay

Wooden Bats versus Metal Bats in Baseball - Essay Example Wooden bats are heavier than metal bats because they are solid, and that is why they require more effort to sway than aluminum bats. They also have a smaller sweet spot due to which the hit remains within range, i.e., the hitting zone is small. In other words, the weight of wooden bats is concentrated far from hands, or in other words, the center of gravity lies in the barrel. Thus, the swing weight is higher, which keeps the ball within range and means that the ball will not go much farther. Metal bats are hollow from within. A metal bat is lighter because of a larger sweet spot (Zumerchik 52), and the weight is concentrated very close to the hands, which will make the hit swing much higher as the swing weight is lower. A ball thrown at a higher or faster pace will also go farther. Wooden bats are safer than metal bats because the exit speed of the ball is much slower in case of wooden bats. Thus, the ball comes off with slow speed, which is good as it reduces the danger of injury if the ball hits another player or pitcher. Also, there is no chance that the bat will get tossed away from the hands of the player. This is why major league baseball authorities endorse the use of wooden bats, considering the hit power of the professional players. Metal bats, as they are lighter, can easily get tossed away to injure another player. Also, the larger sweet spot in case of metal bats causes larger exit speed of the ball, i.e., the ball will jump off faster, which could injure anybody within the hitting zone very seriously. There have been many unfortunate events in the past, in which players or spectators got injured due to this issue, as the Associated Press states, â€Å"A New Jersey teenager left brain-damaged after being struck by a line drive while playing in a youth baseball game will receive $14.5 million to settle his lawsuit against the bat.

Marks and spencer group

Marks and spencer group 1. Vision (mission Statement) Marks and Spencer Group (MS) is a retailer of clothing, foods and Homeware. It operates through owned stores and franchise stores. The company has two reportable geographic segments: UK and international. MS operates through a chain of 622 stores across UK and 278 international outlets throughout 34 countries worldwide The companys operations can be categorized under two divisions: food and general merchandise including clothing and home ware. The food division focuses on fresh, natural, healthy food; special celebration products; authentic ready meals and exceptional everyday food such as Oakham chicken and Aberdeen Angus steaks. It chain of 205 franchised Simply Food stores operates in railway stations, Heathrow Airport and motor service areas. These stores offers its customers an opportunity to shops between visits to the companys main stores. The clothing division product portfolio includes womens wear, mens wear, lingerie childrens wear and footwear. Hong Kong, India, Bangladesh , Sri Lanka and Turkey offices provides the raw materials to the division. This division offers some prominent brands which includes: Autograph, Limited Collection, Cellozione, Blue Harbour, Girls Boutique, Per Una and Ceriso. The home division product and services caters homeware and home accessories; kitchen and tableware; lighting; and furniture products. The division also offers catalogue and online services (Company Overview 2009) The vision of this project would be to bring up the Limited collection brand of Marks Spencer the most sought after product in the market. This research will put up strategies which in turn make the limited collection brand to be most popular in both UK and international segment. 2. Aims Rebrand the Marks and Spencer Limited Collection to resonate with the brands long standing vision. Expand the brands current target market. Create an in-store environment that represents the aspirations of the brands target consumer. Market research is an orderly, objective way of learning about people. The people who buy from you or might buy from you (AG strategies 2003). This research will mainly aim at setting market targets against which results can be evaluated. It also works out the time needed to make the presence felt. To calculate the right price as the price is the value of the product we offer and a sum which can be afforded by the customers. 3. Objectives; Tactics Expand the brands target audience to the demographic of women aged 30-45 over 12 months, aiming for a 15% increase in sales within each 6 months period. Develop and maintain successful relationships with its target customers in order to capture a value from customers to create profit and customer equity. Exploiting the opportunity to mace process of comparing the companys products and processes to those of competitors or leading firms in other industries to find ways to improve quality and performance. 4. SWOT Analysis Situation Analysis Internal Analysis Corporate Social Responsibility at Marks and Spencer has traditionally been interpreted as a paternalistic regime for the large labour force of shop assistants which provides a provision of quality and value for money for the customers. As 90 per cent of these were women cared for by women supervisors, perhaps ‘maternalistic would be a better word. The welfare facilities were no doubt appreciated by the Companys numerous retail workers (Chapman, S 2004). Though the clothing market faced a difficult year many factors, Marks Spencer remain the number one brand on the High Street. MS continued to develop their brands, with particular focus on improving their value, while injecting newness and style across their ranges. The three fold aim we had at the time of beginning the womens wear brands two years ago have been established and fulfilled successfully. They were mainly to clearly segment all our brands in line with our clear customer profiles; to keep our brands fresh; and to offer great quality and value at all price points. ‘In 2000 Sir Harry Djanogly, Chairman of Coats Viyella, announced to an incredulous textile world that it was no longer profitable to supply MS. Then Charnos closed its dedicated factories for the same reason, whilst Bairds, Gents and Bentwood were axed by new bosses at MS head office, and Dewhirsts sharply cut back and were forced to close several factories. The chain store group finally decided it could manage with three major British clothing suppliers (Coats Viyella, Courtaulds and Dewhirsts) but when the first of these severed the connection, MS was left with serious problems (Chapman, S 2004). The market we are dealing with very little lead time so that we need to get new products into the stock more frequently than anticipated. External Risks and Opportunities Concentrating solely on the youth may not be the wisest thing to do. As the youth can be very unpredictable, moreover now the youth are sheltering back home due to the recruiting freeze. The demographic between the young and the retired will provide the best opportunities. In our ageless society, for those in their late 30s and beyond looking or feeling young has retail appeal. Appealing accessories will also help to put the limited collection to the main stream of sought after brand. Peronis latest promotion offers customers the chance to win an Antonio Berardi leather laptop case (Birra di Moda), pitching this accessory as something aspirational and exclusive. In reality, a series of factors might make the man bag an increasingly practical and popular purchase. The trends of 50s and 80s now again making an uproar, if one exploit the opportunity in a right manner on could capture the attention of potential buyers. 5. PESTEL Analysis Political Analysis The global nature of the crisis will make it far more difficult for many countries to rely on devaluing currencies to make their economies more competitive and increase export volumes. Deflation will affect emerging economies especially if the national currency is depreciating sharply. There is also then a danger that imported inflation will get out of hand. That said raising interest rates to strengthen the local currency in a time of recession and low liquidity is pure poison for the respective economy (Verdict 2009). Among the Top Five economies, the major mature economies of western Europe (Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain), rankings remained stable with the UK ahead of France. And in the Top 10 Polands consumer expenditure has leapfrogged Belgiums. However, Greece has displaced Austria in the Top 10 and has overtaken Sweden in the process (Verdict 2009). Economical Analysis ‘Marks Spencer is the leading retailer in the clothing market, with a market share of 10.4% in 2008. It has wide price architecture and targets a broad customer base through its variety of sub brands, though mainly attracts older, more affluent customers. Intense competition from value players as well as other department stores has placed Marks Spencer under great pressure, particularly in clothing where the difficult economic environment is forcing consumers to be much more selective about what they spend their money on (How Briton Shops 2009). ‘As an effect of the recession customers have become savvier in their shopping habits and are increasingly concerned about value. As a result, shoppers are buying from a bigger pool of retailers to ensure they are getting the best value for money. Though Marks Spencer continues to focus heavily on the value of its clothing, its offer is not as enticing as those of value retailers Asda, Primark and Matalan, which have all increased their main user shares'(How Briton Shops 2009). Social Analysis ‘However, customers mainly visit other clothing stores that are at the value end of the market. Five of the eight other clothing stores used by loyal main users of Marks Spencer are value retailers, highlighting how important it is for the retailer to stay competitive on price while also offering superior quality to ensure its success (How Briton Shops 2009). Technological Analysis ‘Opportunities for cross-shopping across departments remain. Though it sells electricals, food, footwear and homewares as well as clothing, Marks Spencer does not appear as the main store in these categories for its main customers for clothing. Footwear in particular should be a focus for the retailer, given the close proximity of the department to clothing and the opportunity to point out to customers co-ordinating themes for outfits (How Briton Shops 2009). In menswear, MS has looked to differentiate with technical product innovation, such as water and stain repellent Stormwear finish in trousers and a silver finish on the Freshfeet range of socks said to reduce the presence of bacteria that cause smelly odours (Mintel 2009). 6. Competitor Analysis According to Verdict research report 2009, Next is observed to be positioned in the second largest retailer after Marks Spencer with 7.1% share of the market in UK. Their main target market is aimed at 25-45 years old women and men consumers. They offer a wide range of products such as womens wear, menswear, children-wear, accessories, footwear, homewares and furniture (Verdict, 2009). While the other retailers have dropped their price and launched valued products During the recession in 2008, Nexts marketing strategy had been successful by retaining their products at same level of quality, design and price where other retailers have launched value ranges and dropped price. By assuring their quality and design, they also achieved positive impression on their brand image from the customers. However, they are still failing to attract young customers ranging 25-34 year olds. Over the past two years, Next had achieved very strong and solid online sales as known as the Next Directory, which ranked them as the highest online market share among the competitors. As one of Nexts marketing strategy, Next does not use their brands to target different segments of its customer base. Unlike Marks Spencer and Debenhams, Next limits and narrow its apparel resulting low loyalty from consumers. 7. Strategy Tactics Segmentation We want our customers to get what they are looking for. Mintel international group has announced that MS is the destination for clothes shopping for the over-45s, according to our consumer research, and is thus well placed to benefit from the expected ageing of the population. Where as the under 25s group had very limited appeal to the product MS carried. It is very clearly with in the plan that the aim of new strategy will be to make it appealing to the all three segments with more frequent stock updates at least by each week. On the one hand this means keeping the door open to the 30-somethings, encouraging an easy transition to MS shopping later. The recently launched Indigo range of casualwear and denim suggests a step in this direction, but the range falls short of offering anything really attention grabbing, in Mintels view. However, the more catwalk-led autumn 2009 collection could succeed in this. A strong childrenswear offer could also contribute, by bringing mums into the stores (Mintel 2009). The 40-somethings of today are the contemporaries of supermodels like Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer, while the 50-somethings share their birth decade with Madonna, and while they may not aspire to look like these celebrities, they are influenced by the whole younger for longer trend. Catering for increasingly young attitudes with flattering cuts and materials is likely to be key, and something we believe the new Portfolio range has not fully succeeded in yet (Mintel 2009). Now the targeted segments will be a) 18-25, b) 25-40, c) 40-50, 50 and above The 18-25 segment will be the one that is shying away mostly from the wants they have due to the economic back down turns, and the alluring styles and pricing will be crucial for the revival of that segment to the expected out come. 7. Marketing Mix Making best use of the 4Ps Product The product offer has now expanded beyond the capacity of any individual store, underlining the importance of seamless integration between the physical stores and the back catalogue. While MS reports that it is trialling in-store ordering, Mintel feels this is an area where ensuring ease of access across channels would maximise synergies (Mintel 2009). MS has traditionally been all about one brand show room for clothes They always had From underwear to outerwear Across occasions from casual through business to formal Across price points in the middle mass market For almost all ages (perhaps with the exception of teens and young adults) Including footwear and accessories Now this has got to change a bit more appealing to todays tastes to make it an impacting product stock. The sub-brands divide the collection by fashionability/quality and, to a certain extent, by price, though segmentation of the offer in-store sometimes falls short of supporting this to maximum effect.

KOSOVO PEACE ACCORD :: essays research papers

Kosovo Peace Accord Kosovo is the southern province of Yugoslavia and is spread over an area of approximately 4300 miles; of the two million population, 90% are Muslims and 10% are Serbs. The Muslims had been demanding independence for the past few years but the Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosovic played the butcher's role by shelling and destroying valleys of the Albanian Muslims. The Serbs, under his orders, committed heinous crimes, which included gang rapes of Muslim women and torturing thousands of Kosovers to death. The world condemmed Serb atrocities but Milosovic was unmoved and continued his brutal behavior. When the situation got worsened, the European Council and the NATO took a serious note of it. NATO threatened Yugoslavia with air strikes if Milosovic did not come to terms. Peace talks were arranged in France and draft of the peace Agreement was prepared. The Kosovo Albanians signed an international peace plan in 1999 but Milosovic did not sign it, and consequently NATO gave March 24, 1999 as the deadline to Milosovic to sign the peace plan failing which Yugoslavia would face NATO air strikes. NATO started its air strike when Milosevic failed to sign the peace accord by March 24, 1999. It bombed civil and military targets all over the Yugoslavia, which included military installations, oil refineries, ammunition stores, airfields, Radio and T.V. Stations etc. These air strikes continued for 79 days till 10 June 1999, but during this period, the Serb atrocities continued, which forced about half the Muslim population (Muslim Albanians) to leave Kosovo and seek refuge in Albania and Macedonia. Apart from supporting NATO, the United Nations also helped the refugees by providing them food and shelter. The NATO strikes inflicted heavy damages upon Yugoslavia, which forced Milosovic to accept the international peace plan. With the acceptance of the peace plan by Belgrade, the 79 days NATO bombing was temporarily suspended on 10 June 1999. Simultaneously the Serb troops were withdrawn, and NATO and Yugoslavia military commanders held talks in Macedonia to implement the peace terms. The Serb troops were replaced by the UN peacekeeping force (KFOR); thus, began the "Operation Joint Guardian" aiming at the return and rehabilitation of Kosovo refugees in Kosovo. It was a huge and challenging task as the province of Kosovo was badly damaged due to the war. The UN Security Council, on 10 June 1999, had adopted the peace plan for Kosovo by 14-0 votes which asked for the replacement of the Serb forces by the 50,000 peace-keeping force (KFOR) in Kosovo.