The eNotes Blog The Sound of Silence NASA Probes Record Earths Chorus

The Sound of Silence NASA Probes Record Earths Chorus Heres a question for Science teachers to ask their classes: If space made a noise, what would it sound like? The reverberations of Neil Armstrongs footsteps? Space junk clanging together?   The chatter of little green men? Or perhaps, early morning birdsong? An illustration of the earths magnetosphere, where our planets magnetic field collides with charged particles from the Sun. Yes, unlikely as it is, Earth actually gives off a noise that most liken to birds chirping. We know this because when NASA wasnt busy sending a rover to explore Mars, it created a device to detect the sounds of an atmosphere much closer to home. Surrounding our planet are rings of plasma which are pulsing with radio waves. Those waves are not audible to the human ear alone, but radio antennae can pick them up, and thats just what an instrument the Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS) on NASAs recently launched Radiation Belt Storm Probes has done. Scientists have known of Earths chorus for several decades, but one of the missions of the Probes project has been to uncover the science behind the emissions. The sounds come from a part of Earths outer atmosphere called the magnetosphere (pictured above) an area where charged particles from the sun interact with the earths magnetic field. Fortunately for us, the radio waves emitted by Earths atmosphere occur in the same frequency of sounds we can hear. That means that, once the waves are picked up by a radio transmitter and translated into sound waves, we can listen to the hauntingly beautiful sounds of our home planet, recorded below: The project will continue for two more years and will also investigate the phenomenon of space weather, which actually affects us on the ground by knocking out satellites and power grids. Who knew space suffered weather like the rest of us? Idea for a Classroom Activity: Earths Song Objective:  To help students connect the concepts of magnetic fields and radio waves. Grade Level: 4-8 Time Needed: 20-30 minutes Dialogue/Worksheet:  Can you imagine what space would sound like if we could listen to it?  What kind of sounds do you think we would hear? (Have students draw Earth and its magnetic field. This activity should follow a unit on magnetism and polarity.) Did you know that the magnetic field makes a noise when tiny particles from the Sun hit it? We cant hear this sound just by listening with our ears. We need radio waves to be able to hear it. What kinds of objects detect radio waves? (Have students list the many different items that pick up radio waves. Ex. radios, baby monitors, garage door openers, cell phones, radio-controlled toys, TVs, wifi, airplanes etc.) Radio waves make up a a type of sound wave that travels through the air at a frequency humans cant hear. They travel much faster than the sound waves you hear when I speak. But we can hear them when we use a radio. The antennae pick up radio waves from the air and switch them into sound waves, which we can hear through the speakers.   Earths magnetic field gives off its own noise because radio waves are   electromagnetic. Using a radio antennae, we can pick up this sound and listen to the planet.   (Play audio of Earths chorus.) What did that sound like to you? Did its sound surprise you? If you could give Earths song a name, what would you call it? Resources: NASA explains Radio Waves Reference Guide: Electricity and Magnetism QA: Definition of radio waves

How Does Globalization Affect Economy Essay Example

How Does Globalization Affect Economy Essay Example How Does Globalization Affect Economy Essay How Does Globalization Affect Economy Essay Question 1 Daniel Griswold begins, that every consumer profits from free trade. Due to him positive effects of an overall competition are: a vast variety of products and services, fair prices and best quality. He points out that everything is available everywhere, even fresh flowers in winter. Moreover the income rises because of the variety entailed by imports. In addition he claims that cheaper products help to fill the gap between poor and rich. Question 2 From Helena Norberg-Hodge`s point of view, money from the taxpayer is wasted on infrastructure. This infrastructure is only built to make the transportation of goods cheaper and faster. In addition she claims that due to that fact small businesses, like family hold shops, have a disadvantage and often need to be given up by the owners. So in her eyes the often quoted sentence: â€Å"Think globally, act locally. † doesn’t represent the truth. Question 3 The two authors look from different points on the subject of Globalization. Daniel Griswold gives priority to the advantages of the consumer, while Helena Norberg-Hodge looks at the destroyed small, local businesses. Beyond that, Mr. Griswold seems to be an advocate of Globalization due to the positive effects for people. Due to the article of Helena Norberg-Hodge she is not as enthusiastic about Globalization as her opponent. She sees difficulties with the state as a donor of unjustified subventions for infrastructure that not everybody helps. Question 4 From my point of view both authors have justifiable arguments. Due to Globalization small businesses have a very hard fight against the global players. Not only because of the intervention of the state, but also because they don’t have the economic power to compete with multinational companies. So I think the argument is not false, that subventions for roads or communication facilities help these multinational firms, but on the other hand they are an indicator for a developing world. The fact, that â€Å"free trade† harms small businesses as well may be true, but following to the model of â€Å"free trade† and the advantages, it is at the moment the best model for business operations. Due to that, living standards in the whole world are rising and the technological development is growing fast. Daniel Griswold argues that â€Å"free trade† helps to produce better products, offers a greater variety of products and services and helps to make products better. From my point of view this is definitely true. So I also think that trade hurdles, as high taxes, doesn’t make sense for a developing world. It is important that trade is â€Å"free† to be most effective. From my perspective even small businesses can profit from â€Å"free trade†. If someone produces a good that is worth buying, people will buy it. So I think trough techniques as the internet it is now and in future possible to sell it all over the world.

Persecution of Women in the Middle East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Persecution of Women in the Middle East - Essay Example "Many Christian women live in restricted countries where Christianity is not tolerated--over 200 million Christians in 80 countries worldwide are persecuted because of their faith. Women of the Way is "a program of Open Doors mobilizing women to become strategically involved in strengthening persecuted Christians" and works to educate and minister to these women, whose social situations often prohibit them from receiving Christian materials or speaking out freely about their faith." (Persecuted Women) Women are still considered the weaker sex in the Middle East and they are oppressed day in, day out. Women are primarily oppressed because of their faith in Christianity. Many Christian women have had to bear the brunt of this and many continue to face the consequences of their religious beliefs. It is really sad that these women can't be helped; it is high time to put these women out of their misery. They sink into despair when they are ostracized or persecuted. Some of them are even k illed because of their faith in Christianity, this is unacceptable and something has to be done about this sooner rather than later. Islam is misunderstood by the Muslims and they tend to punish the women, they end up banishing these poor women. They inflict pain upon them and they fail to realize the real values of Islam. Religious belief is the most important reason because of which the women in the Middle East are persecuted. ... This has been a very popular practice in the Middle East; women must be protected at all costs and they must be given much better treatment than what they are receiving. "Under the Islamic Republic of Iran, discrimination and segmentation on the basis of religion and gender have been institutionalized in the constitution, government policies, and state ideology. The system explicitly favors men over women, Muslims over non-Muslims, and Shiite Muslims over other Muslim sects.The constitution and the Shari'a-based penal and civil codes, especially those sections pertaining to family and personal status, legalize the subordination of women, treating them as second-class citizens with unequal rights. Women's rights activists have launched widely publicized equal-rights campaigns that have been successful within the parameters established by the theocracy. However, the overall legal framework remains discriminatory, with the state's theocratic underpinnings consistently negating its progr essive and democratic elements." (Access to Justice) Islam restricts women from wearing revealing clothes and any woman found wearing revealing clothes is often persecuted. These draconian laws are only for women, no such laws exist for men in the Middle East. Women are targeted in the name of Islam; Islam never supports persecution of women. Human beings have started deriving satisfaction by inflicting pain upon other human beings. This practice of persecution goes to reflect the pain inflicting tendencies in place; women get exploited in the name of Islam. They can't go out nor can they attend a school. They remain uneducated and weak, this is a method of exploiting them and this is also a

Immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Immigration - Essay Example However, in the pursuit of the freedom and success that people dream about, many migrate to foreign countries, risking so many things and achieving nothing but being trapped in similar or even worse situations than those which they have left at home. This paper will look deeper into the political and economic issues which are the issues people leave home and the same problems which they face in their new residents as well as possible remedies for such situations. In Flight from Oaxaca, the author shares why Luz Dominguez, Marcela Melquiades and other Mexican immigrants have left their homes. It is revealed that the primary reason for their flights is poverty. They all agree that life in their country of origin is difficult where the minimum wage cannot even be enough to feed their families. Their poverty, though, is not because they are lazy. Instead there are forces that are out of their control. For instance, the political situation in Oaxaca, a state of Mexico, brought about too many difficulties to the citizens. In 2006, there had been so many protests because of the belief that there was fraud in the July presidential election. This led to the paralysis of major businesses. In addition, other grievances came out due to the situation. For instance, citizens claim that Mexico is not a poor country but it has become one because the oil which is being exported does not go back to the people which, they have now questioned. Mexicans say that if the government will only do its job well, the people will not suffer and will not have to choose moving out of the country. For reasons of poverty and political issues, Dominguez and other Mexicans crossed the borders to the United States. However, they seem to have forgotten to consider that even in the United States, there are political issues and poverty is also a common problem to the residents. It may be true that

Server-side scripting of web pages part 2 Essay Example for Free

Server-side scripting of web pages part 2 Essay

The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber by Ernest Hemingway Essay

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber In Ernest Hemingway's story, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," Francis Macomber, according to Hemingway, is a very unhappy man because of his cowardly display after facing a wounded lion and because of his inability to stand up to his wife. However, Francis Macomber regains his happiness and bravery while out hunting buffalo; unfortunately, it is short lived. Francis Macomber is a man in his mid-thirties, "very tall, very well built†¦ and considered handsome." He excelles at court games and has quite a number of big-game fishing records, yet, this morning he â€Å"has just shown himself to be a coward.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The ordeal started the night before when Francis was awakened by the sound of a lion roaring, which frightened him for the rest of he night. In the early morning Francis, Margot (his wife) and their guide Robert Wilson go out to hunt for this lion. After coming upon the lion, Francis shoots three times, hitting it twice and only wounding it. The wounded lion went trotting off into the tall grass, hiding and waiting for the hunters to come after him. Before the men go in after the lion, Macomber sat, "sweating under his arms, his mouth dry, his stomach hollow feeling, wanting to find the courage to tell Wilson to go on and finish off the lion without him." As the men enter the tall grass, the lion came charging at them. The next thing he knows, Macomber is "running wildly, in panic in the open, running ...

Japanese Industrialization and Economic Growth Essay

Japan achieved sustained growth in per capita income between the 1880s and 1970 through industrialization. Moving along an income growth trajectory through expansion of manufacturing is hardly unique. Indeed Western Europe, Canada, Australia and the United States all attained high levels of income per capita by shifting from agrarian-based production to manufacturing and technologically sophisticated service sector activity. Still, there are four distinctive features of Japan’s development through industrialization that merit discussion: The proto-industrial base Japan’s agricultural productivity was high enough to sustain substantial craft (proto-industrial) production in both rural and urban areas of the country prior to industrialization. Investment-led growth Domestic investment in industry and infrastructure was the driving force behind growth in Japanese output. Both private and public sectors invested in infrastructure, national and local governments serving as coordinating agents for infrastructure build-up. * Investment in manufacturing capacity was largely left to the private sector. * Rising domestic savings made increasing capital accumulation possible. * Japanese growth was investment-led, not export-led. Total factor productivity growth — achieving more output per unit of input — was rapid. On the supply side, total factor productivity growth was extremely important. Scale economies — the reduction in per unit costs due to increased levels of output — contributed to total factor productivity growth. Scale economies existed due to geographic concentration, to growth of the national economy, and to growth in the output of individual companies. In addition, companies moved down the â€Å"learning curve,† reducing unit costs as their cumulative output rose and demand for their product soared. The social capacity for importing and adapting foreign technology improved and this contributed to total factor productivity growth: * At the household level, investing in education of children improved social capability. * At the firm level, creating internalized labor markets that bound firms to workers and workers to firms, thereby giving workers a strong incentive to flexibly adapt to new technology, improved social capability. * At the government level, industrial policy that reduced the cost to private firms of securing foreign technology enhanced social capacity. Shifting out of low-productivity agriculture into high productivity manufacturing, mining, and construction contributed to total factor productivity growth. Dualism Sharply segmented labor and capital markets emerged in Japan after the 1910s. The capital intensive sector enjoying high ratios of capital to labor paid relatively high wages, and the labor intensive sector paid relatively low wages. Dualism contributed to income inequality and therefore to domestic social unrest. After 1945 a series of public policy reforms addressed inequality and erased much of the social bitterness around dualism that ravaged Japan prior to World War II. The remainder of this article will expand on a number of the themes mentioned above. The appendix reviews quantitative evidence concerning these points. The conclusion of the article lists references that provide a wealth of detailed evidence supporting the points above, which this article can only begin to explore. The Legacy of Autarky and the Proto-Industrial Economy: Achievements of Tokugawa Japan (1600-1868) Why Japan? Given the relatively poor record of countries outside the European cultural area — few achieving the kind of â€Å"catch-up† growth Japan managed between 1880 and 1970 – the question naturally arises: why Japan? After all, when the United States forcibly â€Å"opened Japan† in the 1850s and Japan was forced to cede extra-territorial rights to a number of Western nations as had China earlier in the 1840s, many Westerners and Japanese alike thought Japan’s prospects seemed dim indeed. Tokugawa achievements: urbanization, road networks, rice cultivation, craft production In answering this question, Mosk (2001), Minami (1994) and Ohkawa and Rosovsky (1973) emphasize the achievements of Tokugawa Japan (1600-1868) during a long period of â€Å"closed country† autarky between the mid-seventeenth century and the 1850s: a high level of urbanization; well developed road networks; the channeling of river water flow with embankments and the extensive elaboration of irrigation ditches that supported and encouraged the refinement of rice cultivation based upon improving seed varieties, fertilizers and planting methods especially in the Southwest with its relatively long growing season; the development of proto-industrial (craft) production by merchant houses in the major cities like Osaka and Edo (now called Tokyo) and its diffusion to rural areas after 1700; and the promotion of education and population control among both the military elite (the samurai) and the well- to-do peasantry in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Tokugawa political economy: daimyo and shogun These developments were inseparable from the political economy of Japan. The system of confederation government introduced at the end of the fifteenth century placed certain powers in the hands of feudal warlords, daimyo, and certain powers in the hands of the shogun, the most powerful of the warlords. Each daimyo — and the shogun — was assigned a geographic region, a domain, being given taxation authority over the peasants residing in the villages of the domain. Intercourse with foreign powers was monopolized by the shogun, thereby preventing daimyo from cementing alliances with other countries in an effort to overthrow the central government. The samurai military retainers of thedaimyo were forced to abandon rice farming and reside in the castle town headquarters of their daimyo overlord. In exchange, samurai received rice stipends from the rice taxes collected from the villages of their domain. By removingsamurai from the countryside — by demilitarizing rural areas — conflicts over local water rights were largely made a thing of the past. As a result irrigation ditches were extended throughout the valleys, and riverbanks were shored up with stone embankments, facilitating transport and preventing flooding. The sustained growth of proto-industrialization in urban Japan, and its widespread diffusion to villages after 1700 was also inseparable from the productivity growth in paddy rice production and the growing of industrial crops like tea, fruit, mulberry plant growing (that sustained the raising of silk cocoons) and cotton. Indeed, Smith (1988) has given pride of place to these â€Å"domestic sources† of Japan’s future industrial success. Readiness to emulate the West As a result of these domestic advances, Japan was well positioned to take up the Western challenge. It harnessed its infrastructure, its high level of literacy, and its proto-industrial distribution networks to the task of emulating Western organizational forms and Western techniques in energy production, first and foremost enlisting inorganic energy sources like coal and the other fossil fuels to generate steam power. Having intensively developed the organic economy depending upon natural energy flows like wind, water and fire, Japanese were quite prepared to master inorganic production after the Black Ships of the Americans forced Japan to jettison its long-standing autarky. From Balanced to Dualistic Growth, 1887-1938: Infrastructure and Manufacturing Expand Fukoku Kyohei After the Tokugawa government collapsed in 1868, a new Meiji government committed to the twin policies of fukoku kyohei (wealthy country/strong military) took up the challenge of renegotiating its treaties with the Western powers. It created infrastructure that facilitated industrialization. It built a modern navy and army that could keep the Western powers at bay and establish a protective buffer zone in North East Asia that eventually formed the basis for a burgeoning Japanese empire in Asia and the Pacific. Central government reforms in education, finance and transportation Jettisoning the confederation style government of the Tokugawa era, the new leaders of the new Meiji government fashioned a unitary state with powerful ministries consolidating authority in the capital, Tokyo. The freshly minted Ministry of Education promoted compulsory primary schooling for the masses and elite university education aimed at deepening engineering and scientific knowledge. The Ministry of Finance created the Bank of Japan in 1882, laying the foundations for a private banking system backed up a lender of last resort. The government began building a steam railroad trunk line girding the four major islands, encouraging private companies to participate in the project. In particular, the national government committed itself to constructing a Tokaido line connecting the Tokyo/Yokohama region to the Osaka/Kobe conurbation along the Pacific coastline of the main island of Honshu, and to creating deepwater harbors at Yokohama and Kobe that could accommodate deep-hulled steamships. Not surprisingly, the merchants in Osaka, the merchant capital of Tokugawa Japan, already well versed in proto-industrial production, turned to harnessing steam and coal, investing heavily in integrated sp inning and weaving steam-driven textile mills during the 1880s. Diffusion of best-practice agriculture At the same time, the abolition of the three hundred or so feudal fiefs that were the backbone of confederation style-Tokugawa rule and their consolidation into politically weak prefectures, under a strong national government that virtually monopolized taxation authority, gave a strong push to the diffusion of best practice agricultural technique. The nationwide diffusion of seed varieties developed in the Southwest fiefs of Tokugawa Japan spearheaded a substantial improvement in agricultural productivity especially in the Northeast. Simultaneously, expansion of agriculture using traditional Japanese technology agriculture and manufacturing using imported Western technology resulted. Balanced growth Growth at the close of the nineteenth century was balanced in the sense that traditional and modern technology using sectors grew at roughly equal rates, and labor — especially young girls recruited out of farm households to labor in the steam using textile mills — flowed back and forth between rural and urban Japan at wages that were roughly equal in industrial and agricultural pursuits. Geographic economies of scale in the Tokaido belt Concentration of industrial production first in Osaka and subsequently throughout the Tokaido belt fostered powerful geographic scale economies (the ability to reduce per unit costs as output levels increase), reducing the costs of securing energy, raw materials and access to global markets for enterprises located in the great harbor metropolises stretching from the massive Osaka/Kobe complex northward to the teeming Tokyo/Yokohama conurbation. Between 1904 and 1911, electrification mainly due to the proliferation of intercity electrical railroads created economies of scale in the nascent industrial belt facing outward onto the Pacific. The consolidation of two huge hydroelectric power grids during the 1920s — one servicing Tokyo/Yokohama, the other Osaka and Kobe — further solidified the comparative advantage of the Tokaido industrial belt in factory production. Finally, the widening and paving during the 1920s of roads that could handle buses and trucks was also pione ered by the great metropolises of the Tokaido, which further bolstered their relative advantage in per capita infrastructure. Organizational economies of scale — zaibatsu In addition to geographic scale economies, organizational scale economies also became increasingly important in the late nineteenth centuries. The formation of the zaibatsu (â€Å"financial cliques†), which gradually evolved into diversified industrial combines tied together through central holding companies, is a case in point. By the 1910s these had evolved into highly diversified combines, binding together enterprises in banking and insurance, trading companies, mining concerns, textiles, iron and steel plants, and machinery manufactures. By channeling profits from older industries into new lines of activity like electrical machinery manufacturing, the zaibatsu form of organization generated scale economies in finance, trade and manufacturing, drastically reducing information-gathering and transactions costs. By attracting relatively scare managerial and entrepreneurial talent, the zaibatsu format economized on human resources. Electrification The push into electrical machinery production during the 1920s had a revolutionary impact on manufacturing. Effective exploitation of steam power required the use of large central steam engines simultaneously driving a large number of machines — power looms and mules in a spinning/weaving plant for instance – throughout a factory. Small enterprises did not mechanize in the steam era. But with electrification the â€Å"unit drive† system of mechanization spread. Each machine could be powered up independently of one another. Mechanization spread rapidly to the smallest factory. Emergence of the dualistic economy With the drive into heavy industries — chemicals, iron and steel, machinery — the demand for skilled labor that would flexibly respond to rapid changes in technique soared. Large firms in these industries began offering premium wages and guarantees of employment in good times and bad as a way of motivating and holding onto valuable workers. A dualistic economy emerged during the 1910s. Small firms, light industry and agriculture offered relatively low wages. Large enterprises in the heavy industries offered much more favorable remuneration, extending paternalistic benefits like company housing and company welfare programs to their â€Å"internal labor markets.† As a result a widening gulf opened up between the great metropolitan centers of the Tokaido and rural Japan. Income per head was far higher in the great industrial centers than in the hinterland. Clashing urban/rural and landlord/tenant interests The economic strains of emergent dualism were amplified by the slowing down of technological progress in the agricultural sector, which had exhaustively reaped the benefits due to regional diffusion from the Southwest to the Northeast of best practice Tokugawa rice cultivation. Landlords — around 45% of the cultivable rice paddy land in Japan was held in some form of tenancy at the beginning of the twentieth century — who had played a crucial role in promoting the diffusion of traditional best practice techniques now lost interest in rural affairs and turned their attention to industrial activities. Tenants also found their interests disregarded by the national authorities in Tokyo, who were increasingly focused on supplying cheap foodstuffs to the burgeoning industrial belt by promoting agricultural production within the empire that it was assembling through military victories. Japan secured Taiwan from China in 1895, and formally brought Korea under its imperial rule in 1910 upon the heels of its successful war against Russia in 1904-05. Tenant unions reacted to this callous disrespect of their needs through violence. Landlord/tenant disputes broke out in the early 1920s, and continued to plague Japan politically throughout the 1930s, calls for land reform and bureaucratic proposals for reform being rejected by a Diet (Japan’s legislature) politically dominated by landlords. Japan’s military expansion Japan’s thrust to imperial expansion was inflamed by the growing instability of the geopolitical and international trade regime of the later 1920s and early 1930s. The relative decline of the United Kingdom as an economic power doomed a gold standard regime tied to the British pound. The United States was becoming a potential contender to the United Kingdom as the backer of a gold standard regime but its long history of high tariffs and isolationism deterred it from taking over leadership in promoting global trade openness. Germany and the Soviet Union were increasingly becoming industrial and military giants on the Eurasian land mass committed to ideologies hostile to the liberal democracy championed by the United Kingdom and the United States. It was against this international backdrop that Japan began aggressively staking out its claim to being the dominant military power in East Asia and the Pacific, thereby bringing it into conflict with the United States and the United K ingdom in the Asian and Pacific theaters after the world slipped into global warfare in 1939. Reform and Reconstruction in a New International Economic Order, Japan after World War II Postwar occupation: economic and institutional restructuring Surrendering to the United States and its allies in 1945, Japan’s economy and infrastructure was revamped under the S.C.A.P (Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers) Occupation lasting through 1951. As Nakamura (1995) points out, a variety of Occupation-sponsored reforms transformed the institutional environment conditioning economic performance in Japan. The major zaibatsu were liquidated by the Holding Company Liquidation Commission set up under the Occupation (they were revamped as keiretsu corporate groups mainly tied together through cross-shareholding of stock in the aftermath of the Occupation); land reform wiped out landlordism and gave a strong push to agricultural productivity through mechanization of rice cultivation; and collective bargaining, largely illegal under the Peace Preservation Act that was used to suppress union organizing during the interwar period, was given the imprimatur of constitutional legality. Finally, education was opened up, partly through making middle school compulsory, partly through the creation of national universities in each of Japan’s forty-six prefectures. Improvement in the social capability for economic growth In short, from a domestic point of view, the social capability for importing and adapting foreign technology was improved with the reforms in education and the fillip to competition given by the dissolution of the zaibatsu. Resolving tension between rural and urban Japan through land reform and the establishment of a rice price support program — that guaranteed farmers incomes comparable to blue collar industrial workers — also contributed to the social capacity to absorb foreign technology by suppressing the political divisions between metropolitan and hinterland Japan that plagued the nation during the interwar years. Japan and the postwar international order The revamped international economic order contributed to the social capability of importing and adapting foreign technology. The instability of the 1920s and 1930s was replaced with replaced with a relatively predictable bipolar world in which the United States and the Soviet Union opposed each other in both geopolitical and ideological arenas. The United States became an architect of multilateral architecture designed to encourage trade through its sponsorship of the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the predecessor to the World Trade Organization). Under the logic of building military alliances to contain Eurasian Communism, the United States brought Japan under its â€Å"nuclear umbrella† with a bilateral security treaty. American companies were encouraged to license technology to Japanese companies in the new international environment. Japan redirected its trade away from the areas that had been incorporated into the Japanese Empire before 1945, and towards the huge and expanding American market. Miracle Growth: Soaring Domestic Investment and Export Growth, 1953-1970 Its infrastructure revitalized through the Occupation period reforms, its capacity to import and export enhanced by the new international economic order, and its access to American technology bolstered through its security pact with the United States, Japan experienced the dramatic â€Å"Miracle Growth† between 1953 and the early 1970s whose sources have been cogently analyzed by Denison and Chung (1976). Especially striking in the Miracle Growth period was the remarkable increase in the rate of domestic fixed capital formation, the rise in the investment proportion being matched by a rising savings rate whose secular increase — especially that of private household savings – has been well documented and analyzed by Horioka (1991). While Japan continued to close the gap in income per capita between itself and the United States after the early 1970s, most scholars believe that large Japanese m anufacturing enterprises had by and large become internationally competitive by the early 1970s. In this sense it can be said that Japan had completed its nine decade long convergence to international competitiveness through industrialization by the early 1970s. MITI There is little doubt that the social capacity to import and adapt foreign technology was vastly improved in the aftermath of the Pacific War. Creating social consensus with Land Reform and agricultural subsidies reduced political divisiveness, extending compulsory education and breaking up the zaibatsu had a positive impact. Fashioning the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (M.I.T.I.) that took responsibility for overseeing industrial policy is also viewed as facilitating Japan’s social capability. There is no doubt that M.I.T.I. drove down the cost of securing foreign technology. By intervening between Japanese firms and foreign companies, it acted as a single buyer of technology, playing off competing American and European enterprises in order to reduce the royalties Japanese concerns had to pay on technology licenses. By keeping domestic patent periods short, M.I.T.I. encouraged rapid diffusion of technology. And in some cases — the experience of International Business Machines (I.B.M.), enjoying a virtual monopoly in global mainframe computer markets during the 1950s and early 1960s, is a classical case — M.I.T.I. made it a condition of entry into the Japanese market (through the creation of a subsidiary Japan I.B.M. in the case of I.B.M.) that foreign companies share many of their technological secrets with potential Japanese competitors. How important industrial policy was for Miracle Growth remains controversial, however. The view of Johnson (1982), who hails industrial policy as a pillar of the Japanese Development State (government promoting economic growth through state policies) has been criticized and revised by subsequent scholars. The book by Uriu (1996) is a case in point. Internal labor markets, just-in-time inventory and quality control circles Furthering the internalization of labor markets — the premium wages and long-term employment guarantees largely restricted to white collar workers were extended to blue collar workers with the legalization of unions and collective bargaining after 1945 — also raised the social capability of adapting foreign technology. Internalizing labor created a highly flexible labor force in post-1950 Japan. As a result, Japanese workers embraced many of the key ideas of Just-in-Time inventory control and Quality Control circles in assembly industries, learning how to do rapid machine setups as part and parcel of an effort to produce components â€Å"just-in-time† and without defect. Ironically, the concepts of just-in-time and quality control were originally developed in the United States, just-in-time methods being pioneered by supermarkets and quality control by efficiency experts like W. Edwards Deming. Yet it was in Japan that these concepts were relentlessly pursued to revolutionize assembly line industries during the 1950s and 1960s. Ultimate causes of the Japanese economic â€Å"miracle† Miracle Growth was the completion of a protracted historical process involving enhancing human capital, massive accumulation of physical capital including infrastructure and private manufacturing capacity, the importation and adaptation of foreign technology, and the creation of scale economies, which took decades and decades to realize. Dubbed a miracle, it is best seen as the reaping of a bountiful harvest whose seeds were painstakingly planted in the six decades between 1880 and 1938. In the course of the nine decades between the 1880s and 1970, Japan amassed and lost a sprawling empire, reorienting its trade and geopolitical stance through the twists and turns of history. While the ultimate sources of growth can be ferreted out through some form of statistical accounting, the specific way these sources were marshaled in practice is inseparable from the history of Japan itself and of the global environment within which it has realized its industrial destiny. Appendix: Sources of Growth Accounting and Quantitative Aspects of Japan’s Modern Economic Development One of the attractions of studying Japan’s post-1880 economic development is the abundance of quantitative data documenting Japan’s growth. Estimates of Japanese income and output by sector, capital stock and labor force extend back to the 1880s, a period when Japanese income per capita was low. Consequently statistical probing of Japan’s long-run growth from relative poverty to abundance is possible. The remainder of this appendix is devoted to introducing the reader to the vast literature on quantitative analysis of Japan’s economic development from the 1880s until 1970, a nine decade period during which Japanese income per capita converged towards income per capita levels in Western Europe. As the reader will see, this discussion confirms the importance of factors discussed at the outset of this article. Our initial touchstone is the excellent â€Å"sources of growth† accounting analysis carried out by Denison and Chung (1976) on Japan’s growth between 1953 and 1971. Attributing growth in national income in growth of inputs, the factors of production — capital and labor — and growth in output per unit of the two inputs combined (total factor productivity) along the following lines: G(Y) = { a G(K) + [1-a] G(L) } + G (A) where G(Y) is the (annual) growth of national output, g(K) is the growth rate of capital services, G(L) is the growth rate of labor services, a is capital’s share in national income (the share of income accruing to owners of capital), and G(A) is the growth of total factor productivity, is a standard approach used to approximate the sources of growth of income. Using a variant of this type of decomposition that takes into account improvements in the quality of capital and labor, estimates of scale economies and adjustments for structural change (shifting labor out of agriculture helps explain why total factor productivity grows), Denison and Chung (1976) generate a useful set of estimates for Japan’s Miracle Growth era. Operating with this â€Å"sources of growth† approach and proceeding under a variety of plausible assumptions, Denison and Chung (1976) estimate that of Japan’s average annual real national income growth of 8.77 % over 1953-71, input growth accounted for 3.95% (accounting for 45% of total growth) and growth in output per unit of input contributed 4.82% (accounting for 55% of total growth). To be sure, the precise assumptions and techniques they use can be criticized. The precise numerical results they arrive at can be argued over. Still, their general point — that Japan’s growth was the result of improvements in the quality of factor inputs — health and education for workers, for instance — and improvements in the way these inputs are utilized in production — due to technological and organizational change, reallocation of resources from agriculture to non-agriculture, and scale economies, is defensible. Notes: [a] Maddison (2000) provides estimates of real income that take into account the purchasing power of national currencies. [b] Ohkawa (1979) gives estimates for the â€Å"N† sector that is defined as manufacturing and mining (Ma) plus construction plus facilitating industry (transport, communications and utilities). It should be noted that the concept of an â€Å"N† sector is not standard in the field of economics. [c] The estimates of trade are obtained by adding merchandise imports to merchandise exports. Trade openness is estimated by taking the ratio of total (merchandise) trade to national output, the latter defined as Gross Domestic Product (G.D.P.). The trade figures include trade with Japan’s empire (Korea, Taiwan, Manchuria, etc.); the income figures for Japan exclude income generated in the empire. [d] The Human Development Index is a composite variable formed by adding together indices for educational attainment, for health (using life expectancy that is inversely related to the level of the infant mortality rate, the IMR), and for real per capita income. For a detailed discussion of this index see United Nations Development Programme (2000). [e] Electrical generation is measured in million kilowatts generated and supplied. For 1970, the figures on NHK subscribers are for television subscribers. The symbol n.a. = not available. Sources: The figures in this table are taken from various pages and tables in Japan Statistical Association (1987), Maddison (2000), Minami (1994), and Ohkawa (1979). Flowing from this table are a number of points that bear lessons of the Denison and Chung (1976) decomposition. One cluster of points bears upon the timing of Japan’s income per capita growth and the relationship of manufacturing expansion to income growth. Another highlights improvements in the quality of the labor input. Yet another points to the overriding importance of domestic investment in manufacturing and the lesser significance of trade demand. A fourth group suggests that infrastructure has been important to economic growth and industrial expansion in Japan, as exemplified by the figures on electricity generating capacity and the mass diffusion of communications in the form of radio and television broadcasting. Several parts of Table 1 point to industrialization, defined as an increase in the proportion of output (and labor force) attributable to manufacturing and mining, as the driving force in explaining Japan’s income per capita growth. Notable in Panels A and B of the table is that the gap between Japanese and American income per capita closed most decisively during the 1910s, the 1930s, and the 1960s, precisely the periods when manufacturing expansion was the most vigorous. Equally noteworthy of the spurts of the 1910s, 1930s and the 1960s is the overriding importance of gross domestic fixed capital formation, that is investment, for growth in demand. By contrast, trade seems much less important to growth in demand during these critical decades, a point emphasized by both Minami (1994) and by Ohkawa and Rosovsky (1973). The notion that Japanese growth was â€Å"export led† during the nine decades between 1880 and 1970 when Japan caught up technologically with the leading Western nations is not defensible. Rather, domestic capital investment seems to be the driving force behind aggregate demand expansion. The periods of especially intense capital formation were also the periods when manufacturing production soared. Capital formation in manufacturing, or in infrastructure supporting manufacturing expansion, is the main agent pushing long-run income per capita growth. Why? As Ohkawa and Rosovsky (1973) argue, spurts in manufacturing capital formation were associated with the import and adaptation of foreign technology, especially from the United States These investment spurts were also associated with shifts of labor force out of agriculture and into manufacturing, construction and facilitating sectors where labor productivity was far higher than it was in labor-intensive farming centered around labor-intensive rice cultivation. The logic of productivity gain due to more efficient allocation of labor resources is apparent from the right hand column of Panel A in Table 1. Finally, Panel C of Table 1 suggests that infrastructure investment that facilitated health and educational attainment (combined public and private expenditure on sanitation, schools and research laboratories), and public/private investment in physical infrastructure including dams and hydroelectric power grids helped fuel the expansion of manufacturing by improving human capital and by reducing the costs of transportation, communications and energy supply faced by private factories. Mosk (2001) argues that investments in human-capital-enhancing (medicine, public health and education), financial (banking) and physical infrastructure (harbors, roads, power grids, railroads and communications) laid the groundwork for industrial expansions. Indeed, the â€Å"social capability for importing and adapting foreign technology† emphasized by Ohkawa and Rosovsky (1973) can be largely explained by an infrastructure-driven growth hypothesis like that given by Mosk (2001). In sum, Denison and Chung (1976) argue that a combination of input factor improvement and growth in output per combined factor inputs account for Japan’s most rapid spurt of economic growth. Table 1 suggests that labor quality improved because health was enhanced and educational attainment increased; that investment in manufacturing was important not only because it increased capital stock itself but also because it reduced dependence on agriculture and went hand in glove with improvements in knowledge; and that the social capacity to absorb and adapt Western technology that fueled improvements in knowledge was associated with infrastructure investment. References Denison, Edward and William Chung. â€Å"Economic Growth and Its Sources.† In Asia’s Next Giant: How the Japanese Economy Works, edited by Hugh Patrick and Henry Rosovsky, 63-151. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1976. Horioka, Charles Y. â€Å"Future Trends in Japan’s Savings Rate and the Implications Thereof for Japan’s External Imbalance.†Japan and the World Economy 3 (1991): 307-330. Japan Statistical Association. Historical Statistics of Japan [Five Volumes]. Tokyo: Japan Statistical Association, 1987. Johnson, Chalmers. MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1982. Maddison, Angus. Monitoring the World Economy, 1820-1992. Paris: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2000. Minami, Ryoshin. Economic Development of Japan: A Quantitative Study. [Second edition]. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan Press, 1994. Mitchell, Brian. International Hi storical Statistics: Africa and Asia. New York: New York University Press, 1982. Mosk, Carl. Japanese Industrial History: Technology, Urbanization, and Economic Growth. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2001. Nakamura, Takafusa. The Postwar Japanese Economy: Its Development and Structure, 1937-1994. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1995. Ohkawa, Kazushi. â€Å"Production Structure.† In Patterns of Japanese Economic Development: A Quantitative Appraisal, edited by Kazushi Ohkawa and Miyohei Shinohara with Larry Meissner, 34-58. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979. Ohkawa, Kazushi and Henry Rosovsky. Japanese Economic Growth: Trend Acceleration in the Twentieth Century. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1973. Smith, Thomas. Native Sources of Japanese Industrialization, 1750-1920. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988. Uriu, Robert. Troubled Industries: Confronting Economic Challenge in Japan. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996. United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Report, 2000. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Citation: Mosk, Carl. â€Å"Japan, Industrialization and Economic Growth†. EH.Net Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples. January 18, 2004. URL http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/mosk.japan.final

Rise of Islam

Rise of Islam BY stall One of the greatest cultural spread experience in world history was the rise of Islam. Beginning in the Arabian peninsula and Middle east, It ruled over areas of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Islam was appealing to people In many different varieties of communities. It brought valuable changes as an outcome of correspondence while frequent In regards affiliating with orthodox local belief structure. Muslims urged new cultural proselytes for hundreds of years, beginning at around 700 CE.There were many conquests, far outstretched trade, and extended missionary movement. The geographical aspects of the Muslim people were fairly well accustomed by 1450 CE, which was the end of the post-classical period. Salami's spread was progressive though remarkably sudden given the substantial geography and assorted regions concerned in. So what really provoked Islam to distribute their culture throughout the globe? How did the intensity of Islam become so surreal? The answer is mi litary conquest, wide spread trade, political domination and religious ideas.A supporter of the spread of Islam was Its religious attractiveness. Islam represented the truth. They ad many fastened rules and laws. People were tempted by Islam due to peace, comfort, and security they distinguish In It. It also appealed to people that there was only one God (Allah), whom had no partner, son, companion or resemblance. The root of the word Islam Is Salem', meaning to be In peace with God. In document B (Verses from the Curran) it reads, â€Å"Those who submit to God and accept the true faith; who are devout sincere, patient, humble ,charitable, and chaste. This shows that Allah was fair to those who were fair to him, not bring unjust fairness to the people of Islam. Another cause of Salami's spread was due to their immense military force. Islam spread vastly to other cultures in a factor of military conquest, even though the religion was forbearing of other beliefs. Muslims rarely ever proceeded their religion with force unto people, commonly looking to charging a special tax on the opposition communities.The famous Jihad, or also known as the holy war recounted by the prophet Muhammad, was primarily used for defense of the faith. It was not used for forced conversion, even though there were minor exceptions. But the triumph of Muslim forces could generate a setting In which other people found It sensible to convert, or in which they were enticed to the religion plainly because of its visible power and accomplishment. During Muhammad' death in 632 CE, a large growth of Islam spread throughout the Arab's.This growth helped impel Arabs to an outpour of conquest, and military rapidly spread through the Middle East, involving the Byzantine Empire. North Africa was one untimely conquest. An unsteady median government, the caliphate, was devised for this West Asian- North African innards by Muhammad inheritors; it thrived until the thirteenth century. Political conquest was a major importance to the thriving of Islam. The Islamic government's primary aim was to Institute a truly Islamic society.Islam does not ponder society to be merely an assemblage of Individuals. Rather, It reckons that society also comprises of their social relationships and the social system In which these Individuals exist. These are perhaps the most ultimate factors of a society, as different isosceles are designated as being developed or undeveloped and complex or plain, according to edge and the structure of the overpowering political system, are all part of the compound web of social relationships that contribute to the structure of society.Therefore, an Islamic society, by visibility, is a supreme society in which social order is esteemed and managed according to fundamental Islamic benefits, teachings and rulings. Lastly, another aspect that caused the blooming of Islam was their extensive trade. The first converts were the Sudanese merchants, accompanied by a few rule rs and courtiers. The masses of rustic peasants, however, endure little grazed.In the lath century, the Lombardi interface, directed by a party of Barber nomads who were stern observers of Islamic law, gave the conversion process a new surge in the Ghana empire and past. The spread of Islam throughout the African continent was neither concurrent nor unvarying, but followed an unhurried and adaptive path. People who spoke of the Islamic religion and its ways of peace strode down the trade routes, spreading Islam to the merchants and people. In conclusion, the spread of Islam was due to the fact that they believed in peace, keeping religion stable and secure.

The Complete List of SAT Subject Tests

The Complete List of SAT Subject Tests SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The SAT Subject Tests are a chance for you to show where you have specialized knowledge. With these tests, you can indicate to colleges which subjects interest you and which you've taken the time to get to know well. With that being said, how can you decide which SAT Subject Test to take? First, let's take a look at all the SAT Subject Tests from which you can choose. List of SAT Subject Tests In total, there are21 SAT Subject Tests (we're counting Biology E and Biology M as two separate tests). Nine of these tests cover four core subject areas- English literature, history, math, and science: Literature US History World History Math Level 1 Math Level 2 Biology - Ecological Biology - Molecular Chemistry Physics The other12 Subject Tests cover nine different languages. Half of these tests have a listening component: French French with Listening German German with Listening Spanish Spanish with Listening Modern Hebrew Italian Latin Chinese with Listening Japanese with Listening Korean with Listening Simply put,there are 21 different variations of tests to choose from. All SAT Subject tests cover 13 subject areas- four core courses and nine languages. Now, let's take a look at how many students take each SAT Subject Test, from most to least. We'll also show you the average scores these students achieve on the tests: SAT Subject Test Average Score # of Test Takers (2016-18) Math Level 2 693 427,765 Chemistry 666 208,588 US History 640 178,258 Physics 667 169,950 Math Level 1 605 162,998 Literature 607 150,361 Molecular Biology 650 116,622 Ecological Biology 618 91,866 Spanish 647 51,808 World History 622 43,660 French 628 18,725 Chinese with Listening 760 13,173 Latin 626 7,088 Spanish with Listening 662 6,937 Korean with Listening 761 5,364 French with Listening 668 3,819 Japanese with Listening 703 3,436 German 620 1,875 Italian 666 1,396 German with Listening 618 1,297 Modern Hebrew 612 980 Source: SAT Subject Tests Percentile Ranks As you can see, the tests based on core courses- i.e., literature, math, history, and science- tend to attract the largest number of students. When it comes to tests that have listening and non-listening options, more students typically opt for the non-Listening option. You'll also notice a large variation in the average scores of SAT Subject Tests. A higher mean score does not necessarily mean that the test is easier; instead,it likely means that students who opt for that test know that subject really, really well. Check out our analysis of which SAT Subject Tests are the easiest based on their average scores and other factors. Now that you know what options you have, how can you decide which Subject Test to take? How to Decide Which SAT Subject Tests to Take In order to decide which Subject Tests to take, you'll need to think about a variety of factors, from what kinds of tests colleges want to what subjects you're especially skilled at. We introduce three important questions to ask yourself before you commit to a particular Subject Test. #1: What Do the Colleges You're Applying to Want? First off, you need to know the testing requirements of the colleges you're applying to.How many Subject Tests does each of your schools want you to take? Is one a technology school that'll take a close look at your knowledge in math and science? Or is one a liberal arts college that wants you to demonstrate a range of abilities by taking one test in literature and another in math? Some colleges have adoptedtest-optional or test-flexible policies,which means you might be able to submit scores from Subject Tests in place of scores from the general SAT or ACT. Check out our article for the full list of colleges with these policies. These approaches can be really helpful for you to know as they let you shape your application in a way that's best for you. Another factor to consider is placement in college classes. Some colleges might prefer listening language tests to non-listening language tests, for example, because they demonstrate that extra dimension of fluency. If you're a native speaker, the listening language test will likely be pretty easy for you to achieve a great score on. If you're not a native speaker, however, you want to make sure that your language skills have reached a very high level before taking a language Subject Test. College requirements and expectations play the biggest role in which SAT Subject Tests you decide to take. But within those requirements, you might still have several options. Now you have to consider where you can best demonstrate your subject mastery. #2: Which Subjects Do You Know Best? The SAT Subject Tests test your knowledge of a particular subject rather than your reasoning skills. In this way, they're closely aligned with your high school classes and the finals or AP exams you take to demonstrate your content and conceptual knowledge. Since people often devote more time to learning about things that actually interest them, the SAT Subject Tests essentially tell a story about you- what you're interested in and have dedicated time to understanding. For instance, ifyou love reading and analyzing books, you should probably take the Literature test. Not only will you be more likely to get a high score on it, but you'll also be indicating your personal interests to admissions officers. As you can see, the SAT Subject Tests offer one more way you can individualize your college applications and tell a story about your personality and identity. By the way, did you know you have six chances a year to take a Subject Test?In other words, you don't have to wait until your junior year to take one. You might be ready to take the Biology or Chemistry tests, for example, at the end of your freshman or sophomore year. The two Math tests, on the other hand, typically require several years of high school-level math. Despite the many opportunities you have to take an SAT Subject Test, generally speaking,the best time to take one isnear the end of the school year,when you've been studying all the relevant material and the content is still fresh in your mind. #3: Which Format Is Best for You? The third and final factor has to do with the format of the Subject Test. As we've touched on above, some tests have language components while others don't, and others- such as the Biology tests- have two different versions to choose from. Language Tests As mentioned previously, the French, Spanish, and German language tests offer listening and non-listening options. If you have strong listening skills, the listening versions of the tests will be a great way to demonstrate fluency. They might also place you in a higher level once you get to college. (Check with the individual college on this policy as some have their own placement tests.) If you don't feel confident in your listening skills, on the other hand, your best bet would be to take the non-listening option or another SAT Subject Test altogether. The language tests tend to be difficult to score highly on if your language skills are limited to a classroom environment. Biology Are you intrigued by populations and energy flow within systems? Or do you prefer to know how cells work and talk about the ins and outs of photosynthesis? There are two options for the Biology Subject Test: Ecological Biology and Molecular Biology. While both tests share a core 60 questions, each also has an additional 20 questions with either an ecological or molecular focus. You can further explore the differences between these two tests and try practice questions here. Math If you're taking a math Subject Test, you have to decide between Math Level 1 and Math Level 2. For Level 1, you'll need to have taken at least two years of algebra and one year of geometry. By contrast, for Level 2, you should have taken these plus some trigonometry and pre-calculus. Both tests require you to use a graphing calculator, but Level 2 requires more complex use of the calculator. You can learn more about the Math Level 1and Math Level 2tests by visiting the College Board website. As is the case with the listening language tests, Math Level 2 has a higher mean score and lower standard deviation, meaning most students who take it score near the relatively high mean score of 693. Therefore, if you're not super confident in your math skills, it'll likely be harder to score in a high percentile. And don't be alarmed if you score an 800 on SAT Math 2 and see you're only in the top 79th percentile- getting a perfect score matters more than what percentile it is! Conclusion: Finding the Best SAT Subject Tests for You Ultimately, you're the expert on your own learning. You know what captivates you or makes you fall asleep. You also know whether you learn best by seeing, listening, doing, or combining some of these methods. You've probably already been drawn to and chosen the high school classes that'll determine which exams on this list of SAT Subject Tests you should take. You know yourself better than anyone else, so as long as you research the Subject Tests and have a strong sense of what'll be on them- and know what your colleges' requirements are!- you will make the right decision about SAT Subject Tests. What's Next? Another important consideration about SAT Subject Tests is when to take them- especially when you have to schedule them around the regular SAT/ACT and all your other activities. Check out our article on thebest dates to take the SAT Subject Tests. Are you also studying for the SAT or ACT?Read all about when you should start preparing and how you can design a balanced SAT/ACT schedule. Want that coveted 1600 SAT score or 36 ACT score? Read our famous guides to scoring a perfect SAT score and a perfect ACT scoreto get started! Need a little extra help prepping for your Subject Tests? We have the industry's leading SAT Subject Test prep programs (for all non-language Subject Tests). Built by Harvard grads and SAT Subject Test full or 99th %ile scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so that you get the most effective prep possible. Learn more about our Subject Test products below:

How Similes Work

How Similes Work A simile is a direct comparison of two different and often unrelated objects. Similes  are useful for making creative writing come to life. Common similes include run like the wind, busy as a bee, or as happy as a clam. Before looking at any examples, you should try a little brainstorming exercise. First, jot down a list of characteristics of the subject youre writing about. For example, is it noisy, dense, or annoying? Once you have a shortlist completed, look over those characteristics and try to imagine an unrelated object that shares those characteristics. This list of similes will help you come up with your own examples. Similes That Include the Word Like Many similes are easy to identify because they include the word like. The cat slipped through the crack like liquid.The delicious smell meandered through the house like a stream.That bed was like a pile of rocks.My heart is racing like a frightened rabbit.The fire alarm was like a screaming baby.Watching that movie was like watching paint dry.The winter air was like a cold razor.The hotel was like a castle.My brain was like a sun-baked brick during the exam.I shook like a rattlesnakes tail.Being grounded is like living in an empty desert.The alarm was like a doorbell in my head.My feet were like frozen turkeys.His breath was like a fog from a haunted bog. As-As Similes Some similes use the word as to compare two objects.   That kid can run as fast as a cheetah.Hes as cute as a frogs dimple.This sauce is as hot as the sun.My tongue is as dry as burnt toast.Your face is as red as hot coals.His feet were as big as a tree.The air was as cold as the inside of a freezer.These bed sheets are as scratchy as sandpaper.The sky is as dark as ink.I was as cold as a snowman.Im as hungry as a bear in springtime.That dog is as messy as a tornado.My sister is as shy as a newborn fawn.His words were as soft as snowflakes on a leaf. Similes can add a creative flourish to your paper, but they can be tricky to get right. And remember:  similes are great for creative essays, but not really appropriate for academic papers.

Financial Costs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financial Costs - Research Paper Example He aims at reducing the liabilities to the firm while being cautious not to paralyze the production level. Financial cost reduction plans have to place the input and output factors of at equilibrium in order to maximize efficiency. This paper discuses the significance of financial cost to a firm, various cost reduction methods and the aspect of financial restructuring. Significance of Financial costs Financial costs are the expenses that a company incurs in all its activities in commodity production and delivery. These are all the costs that the company pays for in all its activities. They include the cost of raw materials, processing in the production level, transportation, administration expenses like rent, loans payment, salaries tax payments and insurance payments among many other liabilities. Keeping clear accounting records on the financial costs is very important for any given company since the costs are used to determine the profit margins. This is done through a series of ac counting calculations that indicate the overall profit margins by subtracting the cost of the liabilities from the total production value (Codjia, 2012). Financial costs are also very important to a company because they can be referred to when determining the growth rate of a given company. This is done through a professional analysis of the relationship between the input cost and the subsequent output. A company may be investing huge amounts of capital and receiving low profits that influence a slow growth rate. Business analysts can help a business to rectify such an issue through financial restructuring plans. The plans aim at reducing the financial costs while increasing the profit margins. Such strategies strongly rely on the accounting records for the financial costs to pinpoint the loopholes in the company and the areas of insignificant competences that need to be eliminated (Codjia, 2012). During management accounting, the financial costs records are very important in drafti ng a cost effective strategy for a company. Most companies boost their capital with borrowings from banks and other financial agencies. These money borrowing agencies normally request for financial cost audits of the companies that seek loans from them in order to determine whether the companies are qualified for their loans. The relationship between management accounting and financial costs in a firm enable the analysts in the company to draw a feasible periodic business plan (Codjia, 2012). Financial costs are significant to a company in the process of budget making. Allocation of funds during the preparation of the annual budget of a company requires an analysis of the financial costs so that the right amounts are injected to the various processes in the company (Codjia, 2012). The financial costs also enable the planners to detect the deficits in the financial plan before they take loans. It gives an analysis of the total capital input. Financial costs also help in detecting the areas in the firm where the liabilities are accumulated. This may be helpful in the process of reducing production costs. The competitiveness of a company lies in its profitability level. Financial costs are used in the preparation of overall balance sheets and cash flow statements that are used to attract investors in companies. The investors compare the financial cos

Court system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Court system - Essay Example According to the article, it is even possible for Casey to be set free if Judge Belvin Perry rules that Casey could serve the years concurrently. The article also gave a brief background on the details of the trial. It also discussed the varied reactions on the verdict from the people inside and outside the courtroom. I think that the writers of the article presented the facts of the case in a fair and unbiased manner. They gave both sides of the case in an objective manner. However, there was one part of the article where I doubted their being fair, specifically in page 2. The title given to that part of the article is â€Å"Casey Anthony’s Shocking Verdict† (Hopper, Friedman and De Nies 2). I think that the word â€Å"shocking† implied that the authors expected a guilty verdict. I myself am not in agreement with the â€Å"not guilty† verdict given by the jury. I felt that there was enough evidence to convict Casey for the gruesome murder of her daughter. The question left unanswered by the article is whether an appeal could still be made by the prosecutors.