Deployment of Emergency Care Practitioners by UK Ambulance Services Essay

Deployment of Emergency Care Practitioners by UK Ambulance Services - Essay Example The emergency health care practitioners were to be given specific target to emergency 999 calls so that they can provide appropriate care in the community. To make sure that all the health care workers adapt to this plan in a positive manner, an advisory team comprising of nurses was formulated. This team participated in discussions concerning adoption of various processes. This programme was a transformational programme rather than a change programme. Moreover for evaluation purposes, data relating to calls reviewed by nurses was collected and analyzed. Surveys related to patient satisfaction were carried out. These were done by contacting patients through telephone and make them answer a questionnaire. It was looked upon that there is proper accuracy of documentation and that all the call meets the required minimum satisfaction criteria. Peer reflection was also used to identify learning outcomes and improvements required for achieving good standards. Good news stories as well as case study materials are used for demonstration, identification of areas meant for further development. The increasing role of an emergency care practioner has increased job opportunities also. For deployment of the emergency personnel in urgent situations the nurse advisors role was also introduced. This helps to respond in a more appropriate manner. Study conducted on this area has revealed that about 600 to 700 ambulance journeys are saved each month by providing the patient with more appropriate outcome with the sustained expansion of the referral pathways. Analysis of statistics gathered in 2005 showed that almost 74% of the patients seen by the emergency service providers did not require the services of an ambulance. 50% did not require hospital treatment. The East midlands ambulance services team have a wide diversified staff group comprising both male and female workers. The scheme followed by the group has enabled to reflect needs of communities, patients

Motivation Through Acknowledgement Essay Example for Free

Motivation Through Acknowledgement Essay Impact of being a charismatic leader Leadership is about the ability to influence people by personal attributes and behaviours; different leadership qualities may be needed in different circumstances. Charismatic leadership: A charismatic leader is a leader whose followers are attracted to his or her personality and charm. People using this leadership style excel at working a room and making others feel that they are truly important and needed for the leader (and the cause) to be successful. These magnetic leaders do this through actions such as: Direct eye contact Remembering personal details about the person they are speaking with e. g. use of name or enquiry after family/social matters Giving their complete focus to the other person for the time they are with them Reading their surroundings and being skilled at detecting the moods of the audience and Adjusting his or her behaviours and speech to suit the situation at hand. Their approach when leading teams is to have their enthusiasm rubs off on their team members by being extremely positive and energetic. Teams do, however, need more than just a charming leader to keep them sustainable over the long term. Impacts of Charismatic Leadership Selling The Vision: These leaders are often exceptional at selling the vision and getting people to come along for the ride. They are geniuses at helping people to see possibilities and potentials to buy into something bigger than themselves. They are generally masters at weaving stories and anecdotes that enable people to buy into a big dream e.g. JFK leading a nation to put the first man on the moon Inspiring: Their generally optimistic and positive nature draws people to them like a moth to a flame. Often these leaders do inspire people to be at their best and the work environments they create can be very motivating to employees and colleagues alike. Drive Results. A highly charismatic leader can have people willing to walk over hot coals for him or her. Because of this they can achieve results and often get things done that other leadership styles may not. Think Hitler, Lee Iacocca Charismatic leadership is certainly a dynamic and empowering form of leadership, and combined with other styles of leadership, it creates a powerful force that gives people the enthusiasm and  self-management to achieve great results. A leader is a person who has a vision, a drive and a commitment to achieve that vision, and the skills to make it happen. A leader is a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal.

Roger Williams :: essays research papers

Roger Williams ... A Brief Biography Drypoint etching, 1936, by Arthur W. Heintzelman, commemorating the Tercentenary of the founding of Rhode Island by Roger Williams. Courtesy of Roger Williams University Archives. ROGER WILLIAMS was born in London, circa 1604, the son of James and Alice (Pemberton) Williams. James, the son of Mark and Agnes (Audley) Williams was a "merchant Tailor" (an importer and trader) and probably a man of some importance. His will, proved 19 November 1621, left, in addition to bequests to his "loving wife, Alice," to his sons, Sydrach, Roger and Robert, and to his daughter Catherine, money and bread to the poor in various sections of London. The will of Alice (Pemberton) Williams was admitted to probate 26 January 1634. Among other bequests, she left the sum of Ten Pounds yearly for twenty years to her son, Roger Williams, "now beyond the seas." She further provided that if Roger predeceased her, "what remaineth thereof unpaid ... shall be paid to his wife and daughter...." Obviously, by the time of her death, Roger's mother was aware of the birth in America in 1633 of her grandchild, Mary Williams. Roger's youth was spent in the parish of "St. Sepulchre's, without Newgate, London." While a young man, he must have been aware of the numerous burnings at the stake that had taken place at nearby Smithfield of so-called Puritans or heretics. This probably influenced his later strong beliefs in civic and religious liberty. During his teens, Roger Williams came to the attention of Sir Edward Coke, a brilliant lawyer and one-time Chief Justice of England, through whose influence he was enrolled at Sutton's Hospital, a part of Charter House, a school in London. He next entered Pembroke College at Cambridge University from which he graduated in 1627. All of the literature currently available at Pembroke to prospective students mentions Roger Williams, his part in the Reformation, and his founding of the Colony of Rhode Island. At Pembroke, he was one of eight granted scholarships based on excellence in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Pembroke College in Providence, once the women's college of Brown University, was named after Pembroke at Cambridge in honor of Roger Williams. In the years after he left Cambridge, Roger Williams was Chaplain to a wealthy family, and on 15 December 1629, he married MARY BARNARD at the Church of High Laver, Essex, England. Even at this time, he became a controversial figure because of his ideas on freedom of worship.

Changes in Soviet Values

Changes in Soviet Values Films in the Soviet Union during Stalin's rule were primarily made for propaganda purposes. Some of the most famous films at the time were â€Å"Chapaev,† â€Å"Circus,† and â€Å"Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears,† which were all were aimed at describing Soviet Values during and after Stalin's rule. The film â€Å"Chapaev† was produced in 1934 and was set during the Russian Civil War, and like â€Å"Circus,† which was produced two years later, they both reflected Soviet ideals of Stalin's rule. â€Å"Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears† was produced in 1980, and it showed the changes in Soviet values after Stalin's reign in the 1950's and 1970's. Even though each of these propaganda films is set in different time periods, each one illustrates the changing social values of that time. The movie â€Å"Chapaev† was directed by the Vasilyev brothers and was produced in 1934. The movie depicts the story of a soldier made commander named Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev, who led the Red Army to victory in the Russian Civil War. The main theme portrayed in â€Å"Chapaev† is the idea of â€Å"social realism,† and to show this the producers tell the story of the Soviet principals of equality within society, and the growth of the party. In one scene of the movie, Chapaev's men loot local farmers, and Chapaev's newly appointed commissar arrests the men involved and return the livestock. Initially, Chapaev was angry with his new commissar for arresting his men, as he feels he was undermining Chapaev's power, but he learned to agree with him because the peasants supported him upon the safe return of their livestock. Chapaev's new commissar explained to him that the entire war was being fought for the peasants, and by stealing from them it was hurting their image. This scene shows the equality within society that the Bolsheviks party was going for, and therefore the party gained more support. This scene in particular was propaganda because in war, armies do steal from farms, that's just a fact, but when they return the livestock it makes the Bolshevik party look patriotic and respectful. In this movie Chapaev is portrayed as a flawless example of what a Soviet man should be like. He is a man who believes in every man being equal and in order for a party to strive it has to be focused on the needs of the group not just the individual. In Soviet History Chapaev is considered a hero and rightly so, his stand against theft and sacrifice for the war effort makes him an ideal Soviet man. The movie â€Å"Circus† was directed by Grigori Aleksandrov and was produced in 1936. Similar to the movie â€Å"Chapaev,† the theme in â€Å"Circus† is focused on equality in the society and the growth of the party. The movie depicts the story of Orlova, an American circus artist who is forced to flee the racism in America after giving birth to a black baby. Orlova ends up in Russia and start her circus career there, and she becomes a huge star. In fear of being exposed, Orlova stays in the circus and works for her cruel German boss von Kneishitz. Von Kneishitz is the only person in Moscow who knows about her black baby, but he is also the only person in Russia who cares that her baby is black. The movie climaxes with the revealing of her baby to her beloved audience, but in contrary to what Kneishitz thought would happen, the audience shows the baby love by passing him around and singing a lullaby to him. When Marion asks the Ring Master to explain everyone’s reaction, he says, â€Å"In our country, we absolutely love children. You may have a child of any color here: black, white, red, or even striped like a zebra or polka-dotted. Whatever's your pleasure! † It cannot be denied that this movie is a propaganda film. It portrays that everyone is equal in the Soviet Union and that everyone is antiracist. In fact, in the 1930's Jews were highly discriminated against, as proof through public anti-Semitism. Therefore, we see the films impression of racial equality as false. The movie â€Å"Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears,† (â€Å"Moscow† for short) was directed by Vladimir Menshov and was produced in 1980. The movie begins in the 1950's and goes until the 1970's. Although this film accurately shows a change in Soviet ideals, it is important to note that â€Å"Moscow† does have some levels of propaganda. For example, Katerina's lover, Gosha, is seen as the ideal model citizen, especially when Katerina and Gosha talk about how Gosha is perfect and flawless. It need not be said that nobody is perfect, but the films portrays Gosha as the ideal citizen. This time period was significant in Soviet history because it showed a transition in Soviet values. This movie shows how traditional values in the Soviet Union became modernized as time progressed in the post Stalin era. During the 1970's, the Soviet Union became neo-traditionalist, in the sense that they held on to their old values while attaining new ones. For example, we get a clear understanding of how Russia was adjusting to time with the development of Tonya, Ludmilla, and Katerina's live styles. Of all the three main women in the play, Tonya is the best example of a traditional Soviet lifestyle. She marries at a young age and settles for a domestic life with a man that makes a respectable living. Katerina, on the other hand, marries at a much older age but to a man named Gosha who exhibits traditional Soviet values as well. For example, after Gosha gets in a fight, Katerina forbids him from ever fighting again, and Gosha agrees, but tells Katerina if she ever yells at him again he will leave her. Later in the same conversation, Gosha tells Katerina that it goes against his values that a woman makes more money than a man. This shows that there are still traces of traditional Soviet values in 1970 Russia. Tonya and Gosha both show that there are links to traditional soviet values even though its thirty years after Stalin's reign. In contrast to the way Tonya and Gosha live, the lives of Ludmilla and Katerina give us examples of how Soviet values changed and modernized over time. For example, in the beginning of the film, signs of change in Soviet values are apparent. Early in the film, Katerina and Ludmilla go to the French Film Festival to admire the rich and famous. Ludmilla admits to Katerina how she thinks one of the female actresses is beautiful, and how she would love to live the life of her. This shows how people, especially women, were being exposed to materialism in Russia, and it was socially acceptable to aspire to be rich and famous. Katerina also shows a change in Soviet values for women. She is the head of a corporation after a series of floor promotions, and she lives in a nice apartment providing for her family. This is a perfect example of Soviet values changing from the idea that women in the Soviet Union didn't have rights or power, to the modernized Soviet values where women were powerful. In conclusion, the movies â€Å"Chapaev,† â€Å"Circus,† and â€Å"Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears† are all largely applauded films that show the history and progression of changing Soviet values. â€Å"Chapaev† and â€Å"Circus† were both produced under Stalin’s reign, and they both contain some amount of Soviet propaganda as well as accurate references to Soviet values. They portray the traditional Soviet ideals of equality and unity of the Bolshevik party and how they were foremost in Soviet society. On a different note, â€Å"Moscow† takes place in a much later time, and proves that some Stalin era Soviet ideals were kept, but the attempt for modernization brought a necessary change in the ways people lived. As a result of the two sets of values portrayed through Gosha and Tonya, and Ludmilla and Katerina respectively, we see that Soviet ideals eventually became neo-traditionalistic. The shift in Soviet ideals occurred because Stalin's long and influential reign came to an end. After such a long time of repression, it can be argued that this change was inevitable.

Dividend Policy and Share Prices

Introduction In this paper the impact of dividend policy of the companies on the firm’s share prices is analysed and different views in the context of the semi-strong form of the efficient market hypothesis are contrasted. The overview of the traditional and most recent empirical investigations of the stock market reaction to the dividend announcements is provided and different findings are discussed and compared. Three companies have been selected from the FTSE All share price index. These companies are Tesco, Burberry and Vodafone. These firms belong to different sectors of the economy.Tesco is the largest retailer in the UK, Burberry is a fashion firm and Vodafone is the telecommunication services company. The dividends and accounts have been retrieved from annual reports of the companies (Tesco, 2011; Burberry, 2011; Vodafone, 2011). The share prices were sourced from Yahoo Finance (2012). The copies of the company accounts are provided in the appendices. Dividend Policies of Companies These three companies were chosen for the following reasons. Firstly, it was intended to choose large companies that have an established dividend policy and revenue of more than ? billion a year. Secondly, the companies from different industries had to be analysed. Thirdly, both services sector and goods sector were intended to be analysed. Finally, it was interesting to compare both pro-cyclical firms (e. g. Burberry) and counter-cyclical firms (e. g. Vodafone). The former are very sensitive to the effects of the economic recession whereas the latter are less sensitive because consumers would still have to use mobile phones and services regardless of their financial position.The dividend payout ratio has been calculated for these companies for the period from 2007 to 2011. The following formula was used: Dividend payout ratio = dividends per share / earnings per share The results are summarised in the following figure. Figure 1 Dividend Payout Ratios Source: Annual Re ports of Tesco (2011), Burberry (2011) and Vodafone (2011) The payout ratios indicate different dividend policies adopted by the three companies. Tesco’s policy is aimed at maintaining a constant dividend payout ratio, which is very common for mature industries such as retailing.In these industries the majority of the large companies are â€Å"cash cows† for the investors and therefore the dividend policy tends to show constant payout ratios, which inspires trust in the company and expectation of future stability. In contrast, the dividend policies of Vodafone and Burberry are not aimed at a constant payout ratio. In fact, as the following figure demonstrates, the policies of Vodafone and Burberry are aimed at dividend growth. Figure 2 Final DividendsSource: Annual Reports of Tesco (2011), Burberry (2011) and Vodafone (2011) However, whereas Vodafone demonstrates a â€Å"steady dividend growth strategy†, Burberry demonstrates the a strategy that does not show a specific pattern but can be interpreted as a signal to the market because in 2009 the company announced the dividends that were equal to the dividends announced in the previous year in spite of the accounting losses suffered by the firm which were reflected in negative earnings per share (Appendix C).This move can be interpreted as a sign that the management attempted to signal the market that the losses are temporary and the company was expected to recover quickly. It is interesting to note that the latter policy is inconsistent with the position that dividends should be paid out of earnings rather than accumulated capital or reserves. Furthermore, the companies could undertake an alternative dividend policy which would imply linking the dividend payout to the investment opportunities that could be managed by firms (Brealey and Myers, 2003).If the company has many projects that offer positive net present value, then it would be recommended that dividends could be retained and reinv ested in the firm. Only residual earnings, which are left after investments in all positive NPV projects could be distributed as dividends (Bodie et al, 2009). Dividend Announcements and Share Prices Dividend announcements and their impact on share prices can be explained by the semi strong form of the efficient market hypothesis (EMH).Efficient market hypothesis implies that the only thing that may impact the stock prices is new information, since all other possibly influencing parameters are already included in the firm’s stock price (Palan, 2004). The efficient market hypothesis may be divided into three forms: the weak form, the semi-strong form, and the strong form. The weak form implies that share prices bear or reflect the past prices and trade volume information, the semi-strong form adds publicly available information to the weak form, and the strong form adds even insider information to the efficiency approach (Harder, 2008).Empirical evidences show that successive changes in stock prices are independent and this independence is in line with the efficient market hypothesis, as markets promptly react to the new information (Fama et al. , 1969). In this context it may be assumed that dividend announcements convey particular positive information about the company and provide signals about future performance of the firm. The decision about paying dividends is made by the firm’s managers and often supported by shareholders’ voting.Since dividend announcements bear useful information, from the efficient market hypothesis view point this information is reflected in the share price changes immediately after the public announcement (Bodie et al, 2009). The three companies that were chosen have been used to test the semi strong form of the EMH and whether the dividends announcements made by Tesco, Vodafone and Burberry had a significant impact on shareholder returns and share prices. So, the null hypotheses of the analysis are the followin g:H0: Dividends have a positive and significant effect on the share prices H0: Dividends have a positive and significant effect on the weekly stock returns. The alternative hypotheses are the following: Halt: Dividends do not have a significant effect on the share prices Halt: Dividends do not have a significant effect on the weekly stock returns. According to EMH in its semi strong form, the information on dividends should be quickly absorbed into the stock prices during the first week and hence the acceptance of the null hypotheses will be consistent with the semi strong efficiency.However, if abnormal returns persist in the longer run, e. g. three months, the EMH in the semi strong form can be rejected. Empirical evidences also provide support for the semi-strong efficient market hypothesis, implying that stock market efficiently and quickly adjusts to new information about dividends (Aharony and Swary, 1980). However, the research of Amihud and Li (2006) finds that the reaction of stock market to dividend announcement is not constant. It is concluded that cumulative abnormal returns promoted by dividend announcements decline to zero in due course.The findings suggest that dividend announcement are less informative over time, and this may be related to the reluctance of managers to pay extra expenses related to dividends (Amihud and Li, 2006). Moreover, the recent decrease in propensity of companies to pay dividends is sometimes related to the lower informational contend of dividend announcements. Since institutional investors are normally better informed and tend to play key roles in public firms, the costly dividends have become a less popular way to provide information (Baker, 2009).The study of Asquth and Mullins (1983) also suggests that stock prices and shareholders’ wealth are impacted by initiation and increase of dividends. Moreover, the effect of dividend increase is stronger than the influence of dividend initiation. The results are in lin e with assumption that dividend announcements bear valuable information for investors. Dividend policy may be used as a simple way to signal managers’ view of the company’s recent and future performance (Asquth and Mullins, 1983). However, it must be stated that dividend policies are not directly influencing share prices and lead to their changes.Instead, dividend policies are changed by managers when some fundamental developments in company’s performance are expected, and these developments cause the change of the share prices. Thus, dividend announcement is only the way for investors to obtain information about these fundamental developments. Similarly, there are no evidences that a company value may be increased through increase of dividends, since dividends only convey signals about fundamental changes in the company and are viewed as only by-products of the changes (Moles et al. 2011). Nevertheless, the study of Shiller (1981) challenges the efficient marke t hypothesis suggesting that the volatility of stock prices are too high to be explained by the future dividends. A more recent investigation of Mehnidiratta and Gupta (2010) supports the semi-strong form of efficient market hypothesis concluding that stock prices promptly and accurately react to the publicly available information, particularly to dividend announcements. The two-stage study tests the share prices response to dividend announcement.The first stage included the evaluation of beta based on post facto returns on stock and market index and predicted returns on every of the stocks. The second stage these values were used to calculate abnormal returns around the day of announcement. The results provide information that though investors do not obtain significant value prior to the dividend announcement day or on the event day, they do gain value after the announcement. Investors move their security positions on the announcement day which implies that after the event day ther e is informational value in dividend announcement.The evidences prove that the increases in dividends imply more positive abnormal stock returns, and this supports the efficient market hypothesis (Mehnidiratta and Gupta, 2010). But there are also empirical evidences of little stock market reaction to dividend announcements at some periods (Hasan et al. , 2012). The event study methodology was used to evaluate the effect of cash dividend announcements on the share prices. The data about abnormal returns around the event day was analysed and the events before, on, or after the announcement day were pooled.The tested assumption states that payment of cash dividends is the most significant factor that impacts all prices around the event days (Hasan et al. , 2012). In the following figures the results of the regression analysis and statistical tests applied to the regressions are presented. Table 1 Effects of Dividends on Investor Weekly Return Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coeffici ents Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) .012 .009 1. 375 .175 Dividend -. 002 .002 -. 143 -1. 030 .308 Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate imension0 1 .143a .020 .001 .03489 a. Predictors: (Constant), Dividend According to the first regression, dividends do not have a significant impact on the weekly stock returns and hence the null hypothesis related to stock returns is rejected. However, the output from the regression of share prices on dividends demonstrates that the former have a statistically significant positive influence on the share price performance. This was evidenced with the t-test. Table 2 Effects of Dividends on Share Prices Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 151. 362 47. 949 3. 157 .003 Dividend 45. 955 9. 186 .574 5. 003 .000 Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate dimension0 1 .574a .329 .316 191. 66266 a. Predictors : (Constant), Dividend Thus, the null hypothesis related to the effects of dividends on the share prices is accepted. R-squared test has revealed that the second regression had a better fit. Conclusion As the semi-strong efficient market hypothesis suggests, new information including dividend announcement is quickly reflected in the company’s stock prices.Some empirical evidences support the hypothesis (Fama et al. , 1969; Aharony and Swary, 1980). Other findings suggest that the impact of the announcements may decline in the course of time (Amihud and Li, 2006). The recent empirical studies that were reviewed support the semi-strong efficient market hypothesis and find that dividend announcements produce abnormal returns and are positively related to the share prices (Mehnidiratta and Gupta, 2010). But another event study displays different reaction of stock prices to dividend announcement in different years (Hasan et al. , 2012).The analysis in the paper was conducted in th e context of three UK based companies from different sectors. The dividend policies of these companies have been analysed. Furthermore, the relationships between the share prices and the dividends were tested. It was found that the dividends produced a positive and statistically significant effect on the share prices but no significant effect on weekly returns. References Aharyny, J. and Swary, I. (1980) â€Å"Quarterly Dividend and Earnings Announcements and Stockholders’ Returns: An Empirical Analysis†, The Journal of Finance, 31 (1), pp. 1-12. Amihud, Y. nd Li, K. (2006) â€Å"The Declining Information Content of Dividend Announcements and the Effects of Institutional Holdings†, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 41, pp. 637-660. Asquith, P. and Mullins, D. W. Jr. (1983) â€Å"The Impact of Initiating Dividend Payments on Shareholders’ Wealth†, The Journal of Business, 56 (1), pp. 77-96. Baker, H. K. (2009) Dividends and dividend po licy. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Bodie, Z. , Kane, A. and Marcus, A. (2009) Investments, Hoboken: McGraw Hill Professional. Brealey, R. and Myers, S. (2003) Principles of Corporate Finance, New York: McGraw Hill.Burberry (2011) Annual Reports and Accounts, [online] Available at: www. burberryplc. com/bbry/results-centre/respre/rep2011/ [Accessed 6 February 2012]. Fama, E. F. , Fisher, L. , Jensen, M. C. and Roll, R. (1969) â€Å"The Adjustment of Stock Prices to New Information†, International Economic Review, 10 (1), pp. 1-21. Field A. (2005) Discovering Statistics Using SPSS, London: Sage Publications. Gujarati, D. (1995) Basic Econometrics. 3rd ed. , New York: McGraw-Hill. Harder, S. (2008) â€Å"The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Application to Stock Markets†, Scholarly Research Paper, Germany: GRIN Verlag.Hasan, S. B. , Akhter, S. and Huda, H. A. E. (2012) â€Å"Cash Dividend Announcement Effect: Evidence from Dhaka Stock Exchange†, Research J ournal of Finance and Accounting, 3 (2), pp. 12-24. Maddala, G. S. (2001) Introduction to Econometrics. 3rd ed. , Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Mehnidiratta, N. and Gupta, S. (2010) â€Å"Impact of Dividend Announcement on Stock Prices†, International Journal of Information Technology and Knowledge Management, 2 (2), pp. 405-410. Moles, P. , Parrino, R. and Kidwell, D. (2011) Fundamentals of Corporate Finance – European Edition. UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Palan, S. 2004) â€Å"The Efficient Market Hypothesis and Its Validity in Today's Markets†, M. A. Thesis. Germany: GRIN Verlag. Shiller, R. J. (1981) â€Å"Do Stock Prices Move Too Much to be Justified by Subsequent Changes in Dividends? †, NBER Working Paper No. 456. Tesco (2011) Annual Report and Accounts [online] Available at: ar2011. tescoplc. com/ [Accessed 6 February 2012]. Vodafone (2011) Annual Report and Accounts [online] Available at: http://www. vodafone. com/content/index/investors/reports/ann ual_report. html [Accessed 6 February 2012]. Yahoo Finance (2012) Weekly Share Prices [online] Available at: finance. yahoo. co. uk [Accessed 6 February 2012].

Miracles Do Exist essays

Miracles Do Exist essays Do you ever feel lonely? Have you ever lost all hope and then out of nowhere all your troubles are gone? Boyz II Mens song, The Color of Love, speaks of these painful feelings and how to overcome them. I decided to write about this song because loneliness is a universal feeling that we can all relate to. When you feel alone you can experience confusion and mixed emotions. These mixed emotions can lead you to do things you might not want to do or you do not realize at the moment what it is that you are doing. Loneliness is something that everyone has gone through and there is no denying it. When you feel lonely all you want is some sort of comfort and advice. Someone to help you through the good times and the bad times. If you are lucky that special person will be by your side to help you and show you the way to happiness. After overcoming hard times everything seems to fall back into place and you do not feel out of place anymore. And I was at the end of my rope, I needed someone to cut me loose. To me this quote means going through hard times and yearning for someones attention. This verse explains how the artist was lonely and needed someone to help him through his hard times. He needed someone to give him advice and ease his pain. Being at the end of your rope means to have nowhere else to go and either your life ends there or you find a way to go on with life. It is like that is all you can take and you need to let all of that pain out by talking about it to someone so that you do not have to carry your burden anymore. When the artist is singing this verse the music is really soft and this song might put you into a soothing mood. It is a slow song that can relax you. The second verse talks about how to overcome your pain. An angel out of the blue gave me the sense that I might make it through, describes how a special person out of nowhere put the artist back on ...

Why the South Lost the Civil War

Why the South Lost the Civil War Although the reasons for the defeat of the Confederacy in the American Civil War are debated just as energetically as the causes of the war, the answer to the question, â€Å"Why did the South lose the war?† was actually answered a long time ago. Three Reasons of the Union Victory Some years after the war ended, Confederate General George Pickett – who was actually a much better officer than his being the namesake of the famously doomed Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg might suggest – was asked why he thought the South lost, to which he replied, â€Å"I think the Yanks might have had something to do with it.† The Confederacy did not lose the Civil War, the Union beat them, and it was not until the very last few months of the war that it was at all clear that they would. CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR The reasons for the Union victory are usually described as advantages in three areas: resources, strategy, and performance on the battlefield. While it is true that the North ultimately bested the South in all three, these advantages were for much of the war either not as great as they appear now, or were not well-applied; and the forces of the Confederacy had some considerable advantages of their own. Reason 1: Resources Confederate General Robert E. Lee certainly thought the disparity of resources between the North and South was to blame for the Confederate defeat; after surrendering the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox on April 10, 1865, he explained in his farewell address to his soldiers, â€Å"After four years’ arduous service, marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, declared Lee, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources.† That was a bit of an understatement; the Union had two-and-a-half times the population of the South, had a vastly superior road and rail network, and when the war began, was producing over 90 percent of the country’s iron and very nearly all of its weapons, industrial advantages that only increased significantly as the war progressed. The Confederacy relied almost entirely on trade with Europe and the Northern states for industrial goods; for example, there was only one factory in the south – the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia – that was capable of producing large weapons, iron plating for ships, and heavy locomotive components. Nonetheless, the South managed to keep itself supplied for much longer than the differences in capabilities suggest it should have. While the Union blockade of the Confederacy – helped immensely by the capture of important ports such as New Orleans, Mobile, and Wilmington – did almost completely stop the flow of material from other countries after 1862, illicit trade with the North through the border states of Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland was harder to stop, and kept a trickle of much-needed supplies flowing right up to the very end of the war. Reason 2: Strategy One aspect of the Confederate defeat that is debatable is the degree to which the strategy by which they pursued the war was imposed on them by political realities versus how much of it was the result of poor decision-making. All the South had to do was defend itself; the onus was on the North to ‘take back’ the rebellious part of the country. The Confederacy, however, comprised a huge territory, nearly 750,000 square miles. Some Southern military leaders, most notably General Joseph E. Johnston, advocated what in hindsight probably would have been a sound defensive strategy: giving up territory to defend key places like the major cities and doing most of the fighting with the North using guerrilla forces. The prevailing view, however, was that recognition of the Confederate States of America by other countries like England and France (and the desperately needed military assistance that would have come with it) was only possible if the South could demonstrate that it was a legitimate nation that could defend itself. That meant facing the Union forces in conventional fashion, defending the entire Confederate territory, and taking the fight to the Union where possible; this was the strategy preferred by Confederate leader Jefferson Davis (who unlike his Union counterpart Abraham Lincoln had extensive military experience) and General Lee. The unavoidable problem with the Southern strategic situation is that the initiative lay entirely with the North; Union forces could strike wherever it seemed most advantageous to do so, and the Confederate forces would largely be limited to reacting to it. To be fair, they did so magnificently more often than not. Lee’s repeated offensive-defensive campaigns in response to Union invasions of Virginia stymied the North – and almost ended the war in mid-1864 – until the final few months of the conflict, and even in the face of the brilliant war of maneuver conducted by Union generals Grant, Sherman, and George Thomas in the West, Confederate leaders like Johnston, Braxton Bragg (a general to whom history has, quite unfairly, not been kind), and Nathan Bedford Forrest presented a formidable challenge and delayed the eventual Southern defeat. Reason 3: Performance on the Battlefield One of the obvious reasons the Civil War was the most savage conflict ever fought by American soldiers is that from the highest generals to the lowest privates in the ranks, the two forces were so evenly matched in terms of talent and motivation, even if the advantage of numbers went to the Union. Most of the leaders on both sides had trained and served together in the pre-war Army; many were brothers-in-arms as young officers in the Mexican War 20 years earlier. The conventional view that â€Å"Southerners made better soldiers† because most of them were farmers, handy with weapons and horses and used to rough living, overlooks the fact that an overwhelming number of Union troops were from the farming states in the upper Midwest. For example, the famed â€Å"Iron Brigade† of the Army of the Potomac, one of the most-feared units in either army, and one of the few who could claim to have defeated the equally-renowned Stonewall Jackson was made up entirely of men from Wisc onsin, Michigan, and Indiana. The advantage to the Union on the battlefield largely came about because of its superiority in firepower and numbers, but also because Southern leaders made a few more bad decisions at wrong times than their Union foes. Lee’s two invasions of the North – which ended in the horrific battles of Antietam and Gettysburg – were unnecessary and costly strategic mistakes, compounded by a number of uncharacteristic errors during both campaigns. Likewise in the West, General Bragg’s outstanding victory at Chickamauga was wasted when he failed to follow up on it, allowing Grant to come to the rescue and eventually defeat Bragg at Chattanooga. Could the Confederacy have won the Civil War? The weight of evidence tips the balance towards the answer, â€Å"Probably not.† Yet the question is still interesting and worth discussing, even after 150 years. WHEN IS MILITARY FORCE JUSTIFIED? An excellent, detailed history of the Civil War can be found in James M. McPherson’s 1988 book, Battle Cry of Freedom, which explains the Civil War in-depth from the end of the Mexican War in 1847 to the tragic assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865.