WHITE NIGHTS AND POLAR LIGHTS essays

WHITE NIGHTS AND POLAR LIGHTS essays 1. How important is the acquisition of Russian Oil to a Western oil firm? How would you value the worth of this acquisition for different companies? Lets first take a look at the natural advantage of investment in oil industry in Russia. Russia is the worlds largest single producer of crude petroleum. Its reserves of petroleum were the seventh largest in the world and its reserves of natural gas the largest. Moreover, Russia is located directly next to the lucrative European and Japanese markets and boasted an existing network of pipelines and refineries capable of serving Western Europe. Investment in Russian oil seemed relatively free of the currency constraints that dogged other potential investments since oil exports could presumably be priced and sold in hard currency. But in the middle of 1990s, the political risk increased. The government had passed measures taxing foreign owned ventures nearly to the point of bankruptcy. With the unravelling of Soviet Union, the oil market was reopened to the outside world and permitted to woo foreign investment again. To facilitate investment, the law that allowed for foreign participation in the exploration of natural resources, granting a legal right for joint ventures with 30% or greater foreign participation to export 100% of their oil, stipulating only that exploration and extraction licenses be granted on the basis of public bid or auction had been passed. Despite rapid attempts to create a Western-style legal frame work, Russias legal system remained underdeveloped, lacking any serious foundation of contract, property, or corporate law. No Western investor could be confident of how the laws would be interpreted, or on what grounds legal decisions would be made. Tax was also a big problem bothered foreig n investors. The Russian Subcommittee on Taxation acknowledged that taxes absorbed roughly 52% of the gross revenues of petroleum projects or even as high as 75% ...

An Overview of the Top Awards and Honors for Economists

An Overview of the Top Awards and Honors for Economists Not surprisingly, the most prestigious award that a living economist can get is the Nobel Prize in Economics, awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Nobel Prize is, in a lot of ways, a lifetime achievement award, despite the fact that its often awarded to economists well before they retire. Since 2001, the prize itself has been 10 million Swedish kronor, which is equivalent to between $1 million and $2 million, depending on the exchange rate. The Nobel Prize can be split among multiple individuals, and prizes in economics have been shared by up to three people in a given year. (When a prize is shared, it is generally the case that the winners fields of study share a common theme.) Winners of the Nobel Prize are called Nobel Laureates, since in ancient Greece laurel wreaths were used as a sign of victory and honor. Technically speaking, the Nobel Prize in Economics is not a true Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prizes were established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel (upon his death) in the categories of physics, chemistry, literature, medicine and peace. The economics prize is actually named the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel and was established and endowed by Sveriges Riksbank, Swedens central bank, in 1968 on the banks 300th anniversary. This distinction is mostly irrelevant from a practical perspective, since the prize amounts and the nomination and selection processes are the same for the Economics prize as for the original Nobel Prizes. The first Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded in 1969 to the Dutch and Norwegian economists Jan Tinbergen and Ragnar Frisch. Many economists have been awarded since then. Only one woman, Elinor Ostrom in 2009, has won a Nobel Prize in Economics. The most prestigious prize awarded specifically to an American economist (or a least an economist working in the United States at the time) is the John Bates Clark Medal. The John Bates Clark Medal is awarded by the American Economic Association to whom it considers to be the most accomplished and/or promising economist under the age of forty. The first John Bates Clark Medal was awarded in 1947 to Paul Samuelson, and, whereas the medal used to be awarded every other year, it has been awarded in April of every year since 2009. Because of the age restriction and the prestigious nature of the award, its only natural that many economists who win the John Bates Clark Medal later go on to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. In fact, about 40 percent of John Bates Clark Medal winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize, despite the fact that the first Nobel Prize in Economics wasnt awarded until 1969. (Paul Samuelson, the first John Bates Clark Medal recipient, won just the second Nobel Prize in Economics, awarded in 1970.) One other award that carries a lot of weight in the economics world is the MacArthur Fellowship, better known as a genius grant. This award is granted by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which announces generally between 20 and 30 recipients each year. 850 winners have been chosen between June 1981 and September 2011, and each winner receives a no-strings-attached fellowship of $500,000, paid out quarterly over a five-year period. The MacArthur Fellowship is unique in a number of ways. First, the nominating committee seeks out people in a wide variety of fields rather than focusing on a particular area of study or expertise. Second, the fellowship is awarded to individuals who exhibit a capacity to do creative and meaningful work and is thus an investment in future results rather than simply a reward for past achievement. Third, the nominating process is very secretive and winners are unaware that they are even under consideration until they receive a phone call telling them that theyve won. According to the foundation, over a dozen economists (or economics-related social scientists) have won MacArthur Fellowships, beginning with Michael Woodford in the inaugural year. Interestingly, six MacArthur Fellows (as of 2015) - Esther Duflo, Kevin Murphy, Matthew Rabin, Emmanuel Saez, Raj Chetty, and Roland Fryer- have also won the John Bates Clark Medal. Despite there being significant overlap among the recipients of these three awards, no economist has achieved the triple crown of economics yet.

Assignment paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Assignment paper - Essay Example In this essay, my main focus will be on the critical analysis of my cultural gift giving practices in the U.S and the gift giving practices in the Chinese culture. The U.S gifting season is also the traditional holiday season. This season begins during the Thanksgiving, moving to the Christmas and ends with the New Year Eve. The St. Valentines Day has also been included in this season by the modern media (Gifts and Ideas 1-3). The act of giving gifts to family members, friends and business associates is dictated by the American customs and culture. These are covered by well thought out gifts depending on the occasion. Due to the cultural melting of the American culture, there has been a lot of influence on the other minority ethnic groups in America such as the Hispanics, to also adopt and incorporate the modern American cultural elements of gifting and celebrations within their own cultural celebrations. Various gifts are given by the Americans as gifts to other during various occasions. The most common gifts given out include cards, flowers, food items, gift baskets, chocolates, cakes, wines, spa gifts and perfumes among other. The main reason for giving out these gifts is for appreciation purposes. Gift giving is also a common practice in the American culture during the Christmas period that usually marks the birth of Jesus. During this period, gift giving usually crowns the occasion, and it becomes the most important ritual performed. To begin with, there is the gift giving session done by the parents to their children where the latest gadgets are usually given out to them. Other people also buy different kinds of gifts such as CDs, jewelry, books and gourmet food among other gifts to their relatives, parents and lived ones. Another occasion in America during when gift giving is done much is during the mothers day that usually falls on the second Sunday of May, each year. According to the American culture, mothers should be given

Reporting the Survey on Green Organic Restaurant Research Paper

Reporting the Survey on Green Organic Restaurant - Research Paper Example There are significant challenges pertaining to convincing consumers that Green Organic cafe is introducing a new product, and it is healthy, or it promotes a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, the cafe has to direct, shape and focus on how customers will perceive its new product. How customers see an organization’s brand is not just what their eyes see but what they think and feel (Kotler, Pfoertsch and Michi 187). Green Organic cafe’s main objective is to promote healthy lifestyle by emphasizing on the quality of their product and the uniqueness of raw food. Presently, the raw food trends have less exposure, and are a well-known lifestyle in other parts of the world. There is lack of knowledge about raw food, in Kazakhstan, which might be a constraining force. A negative impression, which will be harder to change, can be created when clients lack information. Therefore, this survey has the main objective of carrying out a thorough market analysis. The study seeks to find ou t the restaurants and cafes in Almaty that are perceived to serve healthy food. Furthermore, the study seeks to establish the level of efficiency of online shopping service in the food industry in Almaty. The main hypothesis of this study is to establish whether there is a relationship between the perceptions of what healthy food is and accepting the new brand/ product, which is raw food. Another hypothesis is that of establishing whether there is a relationship between efficiency of online shopping service in the food industry and acceptance of new brands. Given that there are no traditional or new media channels that Green Organic cafe has used for promotion, the hypotheses will establish whether there is a relationship between online shopping service in the food industry and acceptance of new products and brands introduced by restaurants that are perceived to serve healthy foo

ICT - Webpage Implementation Essay Example for Free

ICT Webpage Implementation Essay After I pass the design to the manager, he gives me some information about his thoughts. He then wants me to start to create a website for their new game, so I use the software Dream weaver to start these jobs. By using the design part, Ive create a page Home. First I set up the front of the page; it contains some news and an Elf picture, also a flash at the bottom right hand corner. At the right hand side, it got different hyperlinks; First page would reopen the Home again; the Information will go to the second sheet as the person click on it. Theres an extra hyperlink added called Feed Back, this is use for the reader who want to give some opinion about the game and anything else. The second work in Home was the Flash, it has a short movie about the game, and it will play automatically as you enter this page. The flashes were creating as: Then I create a second webpage, Information, it include some information about the game, also some background of the shop. This page have the same set up for all the hyperlinks using the Home design, they will go to the direct page as we click on it. The date of the website will be update every time you look at it. The information of the game we use font times new roman so mostly people can be able to read it. Some more information could be fell in as the game were updated, the empty box under the information were a space for that. The next page I make was called download. In this download page, it got lots of different pictures to download, just have to click on the Show Larger Picture button; it will automatically bring you to a larger size of picture. This is another way of hyperlink, which can put lots of picture but save more spaces. Also, the hyperlink of the sheet was working as properly, they would take you to the place you wanted to be. If you click on Home, it will take you back to the homepage of this website. The next slide I create up was Contact. It got some short information for the company, such as phone number, mobile number, and email address. We may use the information to contact the shop and get more details about any problems we got in the game or so. As you click on the email address it will automatic goes to your email and uses this e-mail address to send a mail out. Also, by using the address given we may go to the shop and then we can be sure of more details of the game. The last page of the website use is the feed back. In this pace the person who visits the site can ask any questions, as they fill in the form. As they can see, the underline part is the area for filling in the information. After all the information and the feed back were fill back in, theres an send button at the bottom right hand corner, which can send the opinions to the staff. After I finish the implementation, I immediately show it to the manager. He looks please to have this normal website. He asked me to check that everything is going to be working properly.

The Relationship Between Eloi and the Morlocks in The Time Machine by H

The Relationship Between Eloi and the Morlocks in The Time Machine by H.G. Wells The Time Machine was inventively written as a social critique of the Victorian Era in 1895 by Herbert George Wells, the father of modern science fiction. Wells used the novel to get the messages across on social and political problems at the time when London was on top of the world. The novel criticized mainly on communism, imperialism, capitalism, as well as Social Darwinism. The Time Machine was an adventurous science fiction novel about a Time Traveler, the inventor of a time machine who traveled to the year 802,701 A.D. In the course of his journey, he saw the degeneration and the separation of mankind through the two evolved species, the Eloi and the Morlocks, in which their relationship and their significance would be explained in this essay. When the Time Machine landed in the future, the Elois were the first creature that the Time Traveler had come across. Their name was from the imitation of the word "Elite" and they were the evolved upper classes, the protagonist, who lived above the ground. The Elois were described as being beautiful, peaceful, and graceful. They had their own language in which the Time Traveler described as having "a strange and very sweet and liquid tongue," (Wells, 25). The Elois only lived on fruits since other kinds of cattle or animals became extinct after they ate each other. According to the Time Traveler, the Elois were small and weak as if they were suffering from tuberculosis. Even though the Eloi seemed to be careless and fearless during the day, they were afraid of the dark in which they called "Dark Night". Du... ...the way. The Time Machine definitely gives an eye-opening experience for the people who were unaware of the result from the separations of the classes in the society especially the problems which were caused by capitalism and imperialism. Through the Time Traveler, H.G. Wells described his "grieved to think how brief the dream of human intellect had been. (Wells, 81). He believed that it committed suicide along the process of degeneration in which he powerfully described in this novel. He successfully criticized the Victorian Era in a way that was entertaining, exciting, and educating. Even if Wells meant for the novel to criticize the certain era, it can still be classically and universally use since this problems still last to these days. Bibliography Wells, H.G. "The Time Machine." London: J.M. Dent, 2002.

Environmental program Essay

Superfund is an environmental program formed to address abandoned hazardous waste sites. It is also established by the amended Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980. The law was enacted in the height of the discovery of dumps of toxic wastes in the 1970. The law permits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up such hazardous locations and to require responsible companies/persons to do clean up or compensate the government for EPA-initiated cleanups. The Superfund cleanup procedure is intricate. It starts on the assessment of the sites and placing them on the National Priorities List, then conduct cleanups on them. Located at 4109 West Linebaugh Avenue in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida, the Southern Solvents, Inc. served as a delivery and trade point for tetrachloroethylene. The chemical, which is also known as perchloroethylene or PCE was stored in four aboveground storage tanks in the facility from 1977 to 1985. The facility distributed the chemicals for dry cleaners located within the area. From 1985 to 1989 the facility was leased to P. J. ’s Spa and recently leased to a commercial painting company. The whole property of Southern Solvents, Inc. is about 100 feet wide and 185 feet deep. When the company is still in operations, the aboveground tanks were individually filled from tanker tanks that brought the chemicals to the facility. One former tank had a capacity of 3,000 gallons while the size of the other three is still unknown. It is believed that leaks and spills of tetrachloroethylene happened while the tanks are being filled and emptied. The tetrachloroethylene that spilled and leaked was not contained and eventually goes down into the nearby sandy soil. In 1988, when the facility’s drinking water well and several private drinking wells nearby, it was positive contamination of tetrachloroethylene and related compounds of trichloroethylene and 1,2-dichloroethan. The Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services advise instantaneously the residents within the area to stop using water from these wells and supplied bottled water to owners and tenants in the area. The Florida Cites Water Department and the Northwest Hillsborough County Utilities have four wells that draw water from an aquifer within 4 miles of Southern Solvents facility. They provide water supply to more than 46,000 people in St. Petersburg, Hillsborough County, and nearby communities. As early as 1994, EPA conducted preliminary assessment of the site and its threat to the community. On July 27, 2000, Southern Solvents site was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL). Various studies then undergoes since the signing of the Superfund Contract that commits the State for 10 percent of the cost for the clean up. Until now, there are only initial steps of chemical oxidation studies and soil vapor extractions are done into the site. Reference: Environmental Protection Agency, Florida. (2009, March 20). Southern Solvents. Retrieved March 24, 2009, from http://www. dep. state. fl. us/waste/quick_topics/publications/ wc/sites/summary/141. pdf Environmental Protection Agency, United States. (2009, January 30). Superfund. Retrieved March 24, 2009, from http://www. epa. gov/superfund/about. htm

Rhetorical Analysis Franklin Delano Roosevelt Essay

â€Å"Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.† Those are the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Those words will be eternally repeated when discussing the topic of Pearl Harbor. The words contained in this speech show his utter disdain pertaining to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The purpose of President Roosevelt’s â€Å"Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation† was to educate the nation on what had happened on December 7th. He also wanted to justify his reasons for needing to go to war with the Empire of Japan. Each and every word in this distinguished speech played on the emotions of the american people, and it provided significant support for his purpose. The powerful words Roosevelt used in the address gave strong support that grabbed the American peoples’ attention, and. One convincing statement he makes was when he said, â€Å"The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.† Roosevelt wanted to be sure that the congress and the nation knew the facts behind the tragedy. In that short statement he informs the people that he had no idea that the attack was coming, in his words the attack came suddenly. He also tries to explain Americas relationship with Japan before the attack in this section, â€Å"The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.† That showed the American people what events had taken place prior to the disaster at Pearl Harbor. He wanted the people to know that he was under the impression that the two nations were at peace, and that they were nowhere near a state of war. Another purpose for the address was that Roosevelt wanted to justify going to war with the Empire of Japan. One such section of the speech was when Roosevelt said, â€Å"The distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued  peace†. Roosevelt tried to make his audience feel appalled by the actions of Japan in that excerpt. He wanted to show the audience that Japan was deliberately misleading the American People into having them believe that all they wanted was to make an effort for peace, when at the same time they were preparing for war. In the speech addressing the nation he stated that after the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor they did not stop their. They continued on to attack neighboring countries and city-states. He tried to convince the audience that not only the lives of the American people were at stake but the lives of surrounding countries that may not be able to defend themselves. â€Å"No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory†, through this passage the president wanted to reassure his audience that if they did in fact go to war the end result would be that America will obtain absolute victory. The President not only wanted to educate the American people on the events that occurred, but he also wanted to reassure them if they did in fact go to war, they would come out victorious. Roosevelt’s striking words helped a nation recover from one of the greatest tragedies in the nation’s history. Roosevelt believed that through his words the nation would hold their ground and beat back any enemy that would come their way.

Essay Topics

Essay Topics Essay Topics Essay Topics Choosing an essay topic may be one of the most difficult parts of the essay writing process. Very often you are asked to write something interesting from you life experience. It is clear that there were a lot of interesting events in your life, but you need to choose the most significant one. Without good essay topic you can't express yourself as a personality. Choosing essay topics is difficult and takes a lot of time. But don't panic and relax. Once you've chosen a topic related to your life's event - check it. Tell somebody why you remember this particular event, how it changed you as a person, how you reacted. If the answers impress your listener you may start writing an essay. While writing an essay, use your own voice, don't let someone else tell you what to write. Tell your story and make the essay to be your own. Your essay should be original, but it doesn't means that you should write about something you don't know. In most cases, the tutor pays more attention to how a student writes covers a topic rather than to a topic itself. Your tutor wants to see fine writing that reflects mature thought, a mastery of the language, clear structure, and a topic that tells something new about you simply because you tell a good story. Essay writing requires grammatical accuracy. Your writing must be understandable, clear and direct. Essay Help If you decided to write about a single event in your life, you should use the narrative structure which can also be chronological. It can be filled with action, dialogue, and subtle details. Write chronologically doesn't mean that you should rattle off a schedule of events. It is better to provide many details about a very specific set of events. The sequence of events will help you to avoid the difficult task of transitioning between paragraphs. Even if the narrative is one of the most effective forms of writing for an essay it can also be rather difficult. Start writing your essay with a brief story, it is one of the most common and effective method. The focus of the essay is usually on the point of view of the narrator. Some students think they need to choose such college essay topic that will amaze the admissions committees. But that's not what colleges are looking for. Instead, they simply want to learn more about who you are and what your way of thinking is. Custom Essay Writing Services There are as many essay topics as there are students in the world.   The imagination of your tutors has no boundaries.   Based on our experience in custom essay writing, we were impressed by some essay topics assigned by the tutors.   It seemed that the given topic was impossible to research.   However, strives to meet the expectations of all customers and write a good essay on any topic.   It is easy to be our customer because you get professionally written custom essay prior to deadline and pay a reasonable price for it.

Destalinization in Soviet Russia

Destalinization in Soviet Russia Destalinization was the process begun by Nikita Khrushchev, following the death of former Russian dictator Joseph Stalin in March 1953, of first discrediting Stalin and then reforming Soviet Russia leading to large numbers being released from imprisonment in Gulags, a temporary thaw in the Cold War, a slight relaxation in censorship and an increase in consumer goods, an era dubbed as ‘The Thaw’ or ‘Khrushchev’s Thaw’. Stalin’s Monolithic Rule In 1917 the Tsarist government of Russia was removed by a series of revolutions, which climaxed at the end of the year with Lenin and his followers in charge. They preached soviets, committees, groups to govern, but when Lenin died a man of bureaucratic genius called Stalin managed to warp the entire system of Soviet Russia around his personal rule. Stalin showed political cunning, but no apparent compassion or morality, and he instituted a period of terror, as every level of society and seemingly every person in the USSR was under suspicion, and millions were sent to Gulag work camps, often to die. Stalin managed to hold on and then win the Second World War because he had industrialized the USSR at vast human cost, and the system was so enshrined around him that when dying his guards daren’t go and see what was wrong with him out of fear. Khrushchev Takes Power Stalin’s system left no clear successor, the result of Stalin actively removing any rivals to power. Even the Soviet Union’s great general of WW2, Zhukov, was shunted into obscurity so Stalin could rule alone. This meant a struggle for power, one which former Commissar Nikita Khrushchev won, with no small amount of political skill himself. The U-Turn: Destroying Stalin Khrushchev didn’t want to continue Stalin’s policy of purge and murder, and this new direction- Destalinization- was announced by Khrushchev in a speech to the Twentieth Party Congress of the CPSU on February 25th , 1956 entitled ‘On the Personality Cult and its Consequences’ in which he attacked Stalin, his tyrannical rule and the crimes of that era against the party. The U-turn shocked those present. The speech was a calculated risk by Khrushchev, who had been prominent in Stalin’s later government, that he could attack and undermine Stalin, allowing non-Stalinist policies to be introduced, without damning himself by association. As everyone high up in Russia’s ruling party also owed their positions to Stalin, there was no one who could attack Khrushchev without sharing the same guilt. Khrushchev had gambled on this, and the turn away from the cult of Stalin to something relatively freer, and with Khrushchev remaining in power, was able to go ahead. Limits There was disappointment, especially in the West, that Destalinization did not lead to greater liberalization in Russia: everything is relative, and we are still talking about an ordered and controlled society where communism was sharply different to the original concept. The process was also reduced with Khrushchev’s removal from power in 1964. Modern commentators are worried by Putin’s Russia and the way Stalin seems to be in a process of rehabilitation.

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 135

Summary - Essay Example There were so many restrictions in that Africans had limited movements and could only access limited areas of the states. By 1877, reconstruction was no more because Africans had been separated and thus were considered second-class citizens. These were some of the things that the author explains that had influenced Africans to fight for their positions. During the 1920s, there were lots of negative socio-political perceptions about the blacks. This was readily evident when blacks were stripped off their rights to access medical rights among others after the First World War. They had a rough time fighting for equality and good treatment which however, increased the cultural and social drift. The continuous fight depicts education as an important tool which can shape leadership skills (Lewis, 1987). For instance, W.E.B. Du Bois used such skills in fighting against racism. He supported Pan Africanism since it was in favor of African ideologies in terms of culture, language and ethnicity. Racial and political equality was a major concern by most African Americans. Even though some radical American whites considered it a myth, a good number of them ganged up to help in the fight for equal rights. Washington’s philosophy was a major contributor to African oppression. For this reason, Africans had to rely on paternalism in which the Southern whites offered symphathy. All in all, they had to accept the oppression and admit the superiority of whites. The Africans, while in the south took education seriously, began to save money and made investments. This was the only means through which they could get their equal rights and identity. Even while trying to popularize the African culture, some key aspects must have been forgotten especially the stereotype associated with â€Å"tap dancing Negro† (Lewis, 1987). This was something that most visual artists like Stuart Davies embraced all along. However, African elites considered such a move to be a racial joke since it