John Rofle Essay Example

John Rofle Essay Not much is known about Rolfes early life except that he was born around 1585 and was probably the son of a small landholder in Norfolk. In June 1609, Rolfe and his wife sailed for North America aboard the Sea Venture, as part of a new charter organized by the Virginia Company. The ship was caught in a hurricane in the Caribbean and wrecked on one of the Bermuda islands. The group finally arrived in Virginia, near the Jamestown settlement, in May 1610, and Rolfes wife died soon after their arrival. Native Americans living in the region around Jamestown spoke the Algonquin language, and were organized into a network of different tribes led by Chief Powhatan. One of the chiefs daughters was Matoaka, who as a child was nicknamed Pocahontas (Little Mischief). The English settlers at Jamestown had known of Pocahontas since 1607, when she was only around 10 years old. Captain John Smith later wrote that the young princess rescued him from death when Powhatan held him captive in December 1607. In 1613, the English captured Pocahontas and held her for ransom. While in captivity, she studied English, converted to Christianity and was baptized with the name Rebecca. John Rolfe is credited by Ralph Hamor, then Secretary of Virginia, with the experiment of planting the first tobacco seeds that he obtained from somewhere in the Caribbean, possibly from Trinidad. I may not forget the gentleman, worthie of much commendations, which first tooke the pains to make triall thereof, his name Mr. John Rolfe, Anno Domini 1612, partly for the love he hath a long time borne unto it, and partly to raise commodity to the adventurers Rolfe gave some tobacco from his crop to friends to make a triall of, and they agreed that the new leaf had smoked pleasant, sweete and strong. The remainder of the crop was shipped to England, where it compared favorably with Spanish leaf. John Rolfe died sometime in 1622. Although a third of the colony was killed in the Indian uprising of that year, it is not known how Rolfe died. In a life that held much personal tragedy, he had given the colony its economic base. From, Brant Albritton We will write a custom essay sample on John Rofle specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on John Rofle specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on John Rofle specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

3 Cases of Poorly Constructed Short Lists

3 Cases of Poorly Constructed Short Lists 3 Cases of Poorly Constructed Short Lists 3 Cases of Poorly Constructed Short Lists By Mark Nichol In each of the following sentences, the writer is under the misapprehension that the statement includes a list of three words and/or phrases; in fact, each sentence includes a compound list item and a simple list item (or at least is better rendered so that it does), for a total of two items. Discussion of each example explains the problem, and a revision after each sentence resolves the problem. 1. These projects provide the needed insight as to where these measures work, don’t work, and why. One solution for this sentence is to express the elements completely: â€Å"These projects provide the needed insight as to where these measures work, where they don’t work, and why they don’t work.† However, a simpler, more concise solution is to combine work and â€Å"don’t work† into one element: â€Å"These projects provide the needed insight as to where these measures work or don’t work and why.† 2. Many lament a system that is unfair, discriminatory, and one where the American Dream is out of reach. Sentences such as this, as with the first revision in the previous example, can often be repaired by supporting the middle element of the list with phrasing parallel to that of the first and last elements, but the final element is problematic, too, so the simplest approach is to pair unfair and discriminatory: â€Å"Many lament a system that is unfair and discriminatory, and one where the American Dream is out of reach.† (Those words may seem redundant, but in context they are distinct.) 3. The convergence of increased regulation, the need for modernization and innovation, combined with an exponential increase in cyber risk, creates a major challenge for insurance companies.   The complication in this sentence is that â€Å"combined with an exponential increase in cyber risk† is treated as a list item rather than a related but distinct parenthetical. In addition, the second item, with its â€Å"a and b† structure, is already complex. But the simple first item and the complex second item can easily be bridged with a conjunction rather than a comma to become syntactically valid: â€Å"The convergence of increased regulation and the need for modernization and innovation, combined with an exponential increase in cyber risk, creates a major challenge for insurance companies.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Is She a "Lady" or a "Woman"?Expanded and ExtendedThe 7 Types of Possessive Case

FINANCIAL INFORMATION COURSEWORK ASSIGNMENT Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

FINANCIAL INFORMATION ASSIGNMENT - Coursework Example nancial statements as it provides reliance upon the business which is conducted by the company during the year and the user of the financial statement, which can be a shareholder, lender, prospective investor or even employee of the company, can place faith in the fair statement of the affairs presented in it. The ratios of the company, that summarize the performance of the company during the year and previous year, are provided and an in-depth analysis over the results based on the calculated ratios is carried out. The company has maintained its ratio of profitability since the last year as the company had a gross profit and net profit margin of 7.76% and 3.96% last year respectively which was increased marginally to 8.1% and 4.1% respectively. This shows that the company is showing a good bit of increase in its already good profitability. The liquidity management of the company is in good health if we consider the particular industry to which the company belongs to as the retail business sector operates with low liquidity. The company has maintained a current ratio of around 0.75 in both the years. The gearing ratio is quite satisfactory as the company has managed to keep the gearing debt to equity ratio below the standard 1 which indicates that the company is more dependent on equity finance as compared to debt finance which is a good sign for any company. The share price of the company at the end of the current financial year was  £4.2 per share while the share price at the end of the 2009 financial year was  £3.33 per share. Therefore the increase in the share price since then is over 20%. The return on Equity has declined marginally in the year 2010 as compared to 2009 even though the profit margin of the company has increased. The main cause of the decline is the decline in the Assets leverage. The assets of the company have increased but not in the same proportion as compared to last year. If the Return on Equity is calculated by ignoring the equity

Microfinance - how government regulations affect microfinance in Literature review

Microfinance - how government regulations affect microfinance in Brazil - Literature review Example The governments of the nations have a crucial role to play from the regulatory and financing points of view. A lot of measures are required to make this form of financing a sustainable one. This requires the scope of the microfinance schemes to be further widened. There are several challenges that the governments of the countries opting for these kinds of schemes face. There is lack of mobility in the credit and a lot of reliance on the government as the source of the funds. The competitive environment of the microfinance sector is a lot biased towards the public sector organisations. Therefore the government needs to ensure all forms of transparency in the way the markets and the competitive forces work. Several works have been conducted over the years on various aspects of microfinance. A review of the literature would provide an insight into the microfinance sector and the regulatory framework within which the Brazilian microfinance companies work. Microfinance companies are consi dered to be feasible alternatives for banks as well as informal sources of credit. Collaterals are used to ensure the timely repayment of the funds. The specific feature of microfinance is that instead of an individual liability toward the lending institution, there is a cooperative liability towards the lender. This method guarantees that the funds are repaid on time or the payments are paid at regular intervals. If the individuals repay the loans on time, they get incentive to get loans of higher amount the next time which makes the borrowers credit worthy. The individuals opting for these kinds of schemes are forced to save for themselves so that the there is enough collateral for the amount of loan that they have taken. Due to the joint liability feature of the microcredit the risk of default is less because the people of a particular locality know each other well and they can estimate the repayment capacity and the chances of default of their co-borrowers. Along with this each of the parties in the loan can monitor each other. Therefore the basic economic problems like moral hazard or adverse selection can be removed through this feature of microfinance institutions in Brazil (Morduch, 1999, p. 1569). Though chiefly deployed by the NGOs of Brazil, the government is equally active in the developing nations in the promotion of the microfinance institutions and setting up of a stringent regulatory framework for the proper functioning of the industry. The government also has a significant role in granting credit of lump-sum amounts to the microfinance institutions. The study of various situations where the system of microcredit has been implemented has been conducted by the researchers. The results have shown that the schemes have positively affected the economies in which they were being implemented. The repayment rates had been quite high in those countries. This has been possible because of the structure of the model which entails extreme scrutiny of the b orrowers of the funds. The capital that is provided as the loan is also used effectively which necessitated the repayment on time. About 15 million households represent the informal sector in the Brazilian Economy. However, the microfinance institutions have been able to bring less than three hundred thousand under its purview. This means that apart from 2.5% of the prospective market, the remaining has remained untapped. There have been several attempts on part of

Investigating circuit city comany Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Investigating circuit city comany - Essay Example This article basically illustrates the mistakes that Circuit City undertook before its eventual demise and how its archrival, Best Buy, continued to thrive on the contrary. Circuit City’s failure was not as a result of the downturn in the economy only; its principal failure was in its bad management over the course of the years. The article is well written as it gives us an idea of where Circuit City once was at the peak of the industry and how it slowly succumbed to the changing market, eventually giving up its position as the market leader to Best Buy. The writer also shows the differences in Best Buy and Circuit City; two companies which took entirely different approaches leading to one prospering to be the market leader and the other having to liquidate. The author also used simple and easy to understand writing style and vocabulary that is easy to comprehend. In this article, the writer seems to have one goal in mind and that is to give a clear explanation of Circuit City ’s failure. ... However, this article clearly illustrates this by providing the reader with an insight into what really happened to the second best electronic merchandise store. Circuit City to Shut Down By Parija B. Kavilanz This article also gives a detailed account of Circuit City’s filing for bankruptcy, the approval of the motion to liquidate its remaining stores and all the events that followed the decision to liquidate all the company’s assets. This article outlines how the company had been forced to close shop following its inability to pay up its debts, which shows that the values the company had adopted prior to this had all failed in achieving the company’s future objectives. What led to the unfolding of these events is also a question that is well documented in this article. Therefore, this article offers a reader the ending to the sad story of the now defunct Circuit City. The writer of this article had the intention of telling his readers how the company’s m ismanagement run the company down until it closed business. The whole process of how the company started by closing a number of shops and laying off workers is also illustrated in this article. This article shows the outcome of the stalled negotiations of Circuit City with its creditors and lenders; liquidation. The article gives a picture of the events that unfolded following the decision to liquidate all Circuit City’s assets. All the efforts that the company had undertook to save it from going under had all been in vain as Circuit City was forced to close shop. The liquidation process was from then on, all systems go! The author also uses a brilliant technique of leaving the reader in suspense by informing us that despite all the miscues that Circuit City took there was still hope that the company

Characteristics Of Mega Events Criminology Essay

Characteristics Of Mega Events Criminology Essay Mega-events, such as the Olympics, are highly prized by national and civic planners, and simultaneously hold political, economic and cultural happenings Boyle and Haggerty, 2009. They are global spectacles, used by nations to impact directly on urban generation and international standing (Alhert, 2006). Their nature is one that is non-routine, and of limited duration, requiring management of large movements of visitors, co-coordinators, and athletes. Characteristics of mega-events makes them exceptional (Fussey and Coaffee, 2012), demanding organisation and planning that requires significant alteration to the governance of the host city or country. This, and the vulnerability that follows from this, makes them a key target for security practices. The pressures faced by host nations from international committees, such as the International Olympics Committee (hereafter the IOC) plays a significant role on the domestic security arrangements (quote) The appeal of hosting the Olympics is one that invokes inspirational images of athletes competing in idyllic settings (Burbank et al, year). The Summer Olympic Games have been called sport mega-events, because of their scale (Roche, 2009). London 2012 alone saw an extra 260,000 visitors to the capital (The Week, 2012). They are highly visible, deeply symbolic occasions that take place in large cities, combining intensive media coverage with astringent security and surveillance strategies (Boyle and Haggerty, 2009: 257). The exceptional nature of these events requires examination of the threats they face, the worlds counter-terror measures, extensive surveillance technologies, and how these intensified measures are often legitimized in perpetuity as part of the legacy of the games (Coaffee etl, 2011:3314). Further to this, the essay will go on to show how surveillance technologies are subsequently deployed across large swathes of populations, highlighting the prominent point of the public and private sector surveillance. (THIS IS HOW I HAVE ARRANGED THIS ESSAY! WHEN YOU FINISH READING CAN YOU LET ME KNOW IF YOU THINK I SHOULD TALK ABOUT HOW I USED DIFFERENT PHILOSPHERS THEORIES, OR SHALL I JUST KEEP THAT IN THE MAIN BODY?) Traditional Risk Since the end of the Cold War, there has been a shift in national and international threats. Where national borders were considered then to be the primary area to be secured (Quote!), more recently, ballistic missiles have taken a side line to more topical city threats, such as dangerous backpacks on the London Undeground, high-jacked aircrafts and attacks on subways. The way cities are demonised in terrorist rhetoric, for example, means mega-events intersect with a range of complex global processes. ( am I making sense So theres a link between the threats to these cities and then going on to them hosting mega events!) The scale of the Olympics makes them susceptible to these inherent complexities, most notably seen in the terrorist attack on the Israeli national team in the 1972 Munich Olympics. Such events demonstrate to the extremes of societal risks that are observed in their duration. With this said, traditional hazards, such as the adaptation and logistics of mega-events through infrastructure seen in the construction of venues, present external risks, as they alter the urban environment, and have ecological impacts. (Bubank et al, 2002). These risks have moved away from natural hazards towards man-made risks (Beck, 1992), and are ever-present, regardless of political context. New types of Risk Deterritorialization contributes to the global development of the Olympics, which in turn, gives way to global telecommunication, international travel and the migration and passage of goods across borders (Jennings, 2012), all elements that lead to the contagion of risk. This Olympic globalisation has produced a global industry of risk assessment and risk management. In 1996 the Atlanta Olympics saw the Clinton Administration along with his counter-terror team anticipate a plan for a hijacked plane being flown into the main stadium (Clarke, 2004). Post 9/11, the climate of insecurity (Yu et al. 2009: 392) has affected security planning further, and games that are perceived to display a high-risk naturally leads to an advanced security posture, with the planning of London 2012 being the most recent instalment. Some scenarios may seem bizarre and outlandish to a non-security expert (Peter Ryan, 2002), and would be considered unthinkable, for example, UFO invasion on the Olympic Park (Kawash, 1997). For the security officials, considering all scenarios, (check commas please!) however absurd, has now become common practice. The extremity of these scenarios is displayed in the U.S, where most military arguments about the future are an obsession with sci-fi, and a ruined future of a cityscape (Graham, 2010). New innovations, like the Boston Dynamics-built AlphaDog LS ( Rundle, 2012), a robot able to cope with all types of landscapes, reinforce these concerns. The attitude of thinking the unthinkable means even the more extreme precautions are permitted in light of perceived threats. All precautions are seemingly accepted by the public. As technology advances, host nations face growing pressure to meet the challenges presented to them by new forms of security vulnerabilities (Corer, 2012). Cyber-terrorism is one such example of new and growing threats. The 2008 Beijing Olympics was faced with 12 million cyber-attacks per day (Ormsby, 2010). This type of threat to the Olympics illustrates the change in both security and globalisation risks very clearly. Taking note of the 2008 Olympic cyber-attacks, the UK government took on an initiative to introduce new cyber-security plans for the London 2012 games, through IT networks, to help prevent internet crime (Home-Office, 2010). In terms of security risk, there was a conscience effort made to ensure the UK government would not over-regulate and restrict the internet. Further to this, the proliferation of real-time risk management technology, an innovation developed from previous games in Athens and Salt Lake City (Quote) into the 2012 Olympics, demonstrated how the UK con sciously put international efforts in the heart of strategies improving cyber security (Ashford, 2012), which is evidence of a consideration of the globalisation risks and effects. Foucaults position on governance, one generated from the governed rather than imposed by the government ( year)) was seen to reconceptualise the role of government. The Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude (2012) quoted that the internet has flourished because it has been shaped by its users, not by governments, with this said, focus should be mainly on the network structure of the internet, where the information-sharing groups collectively form a basis for governance (Beresford, 2003). Conceptually, management of these network structures and sharing-groups which lead to cyber terrorism should focus on deterrence, rather than punishment; once the attack has occurred, no legal punishment will suffice. In short, punishment achieves little, and the impacts of cyber terrorist attacks are much worse, due to the difficulty in stopping viruses spreading around the globe. Again, this is a risk born from the effects of globalisation. Counter Terrorism Threats to mega-events are present in different forms, seen in a diverse range of groups that target them. Right-wing extremists were charged with the intent to cause explosions around the Olympic site in Sydney 2000, and ethno-nationalists who attacked the power supply to the opening ceremony in Barcelona 1992 (Fussey and Coaffe, 2012) are just two examples of threats to mega-events that embody an atypical nature. The threat of international terrorism at a mega-event was first seen with a series of aircraft hijackings and continuing onto the 1972 Munich Olympics when Palestinian Militants Killed 11 Israeli athletes, as previously mentioned. This was the first instance where Olympics and Terrorism were linked in popular consciousness (Cottrell, 2009). It was symbolic, in its demonstration of how terrorism is an eminent threat to all major events internationally. Cities bids for the Olympics have had to demonstrate how well they are able to deal with international terrorism in its many forms. Most recently, the bidding team for London 2012 had to project the citys anti-terrorist resilience before the IOC and international audiences. This practice acts also as insurance in gaining support for large security budgets, estimated to be around US$1.7 billion, in addition to new powers of surveillance and social control. In light of London 2012, UK police and local authorities referred to the hosting of the event as the greatest security challenge that the UK has faced since the Second World War (Graham, 2009). Since 9/11, the war on terror has taken front stage and formed a shadow around the world. The security steps that were taken forward to the London Olympics from Athens 2004 and Bejing 2008 promised to be on an unprecedented scale. Several contextual issues were highlighted about the risk of London 2012 being the site of major terrorist incidents. The recognition of London as a world city has bought it to the forefront of tourism, drawing in visitors and terrorists alike, granted for differing reasons (Ghaffur, 2007) (PLEASE CHECK THIS LINE!). The threat of terrorism to London, and the need for Olympic security, was exhibited in a very short space of time; the debate of security for London 2012 began on July 7th 2005, following the London suicide bombings, just a day after London won the Olympic bid. Londons transport system was overcome by four suicide bombers in an attack that killed 52 people (Guardian, 2010). These events were significant in illustrating the vulnerabilities of London and the Olympics to external threats and contingencies. Further to this, the attacks showed the spatial and temporal displacement of terrorism, where attacks do not need to necessarily take place at the time of the event to cause an impact. One of the more unusual aspects of the international side of sport mega-events is that rather than the more well known international terrorism, many groups that do target events have more local socio-political motives, for example the Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna (Reference ETA, year), contrasting to the more evident international element of the games. Such acts cause instability to the usual global security models used to police these events, (Fussey and Coaffee, 2012). The home-grown radicalism that was blamed for the 7/7 bombings in London can be seen as an example of an act with a local socio-political motive, caused by global issues another effect of globalisation which came to global attention, and had a profound effect on the 2012 Games. Security coming home. The Olympic Games of 2004 were an example of the interaction between surveillance and social control. There was intense monitoring in Athens, which saw interconnected networks of electronic surveillance gadgetry that were web-like, in that it spanned out and was able to expand into the whole city, for example through vehicle tracking devices and motion detectors ( Samatas, 2007)THIS IS MY EXAMPLE TO CLARIFY!These forms of control reflect the idea of Panoptican, from the political philosopher Jeremy Bentham (year) which was later advanced conceptually by Foucault (1997), where he stated that in the contemporary service of social control, the state takes on an all-seeing observation role, probing and monitoring the activities of all citizens. Given the existing level of public and private surveillance in the UK, the superpanoptic approach that was piloted in Athens 2004 was easily integrated into the heart of the 2012 Olympics. London has more public and private CCTV cameras than any other city in the world, and through this, the idea of total surveillance became realistic (Reenie, 2008:4). The 2012 mega-event was a stimulus to the process of totalitarian intrusiveness. (SOUND OK?) Policing has the general role of dealing with disorderly conditions in neighbourhoods, and is present in myriad police strategies, ranging from order maintenance to zero tolerance strategies (Eck Maguire, 2006). The work of the police today is very much influenced by the private sectors and cooperations (Boyle paper) and total-security now becomes part of the spectacle of mega-events. London 2012 saw the Metropolitan Police take conscious measures in ensuring their first steps would be to put technological footprints across London. Advancements in CCTV saw new software that was able to integrate all of Londons CCTV cameras, all able to follow individuals around the city (quote.), putting forward this idea of a surveillance ring (Coaffee, 2004) to allow tracking of the movements of traffic and people. Further to new measures being implemented, such as advanced facial and iris recognition software, able to identify suspects and connect multiple crime scenes (Quote), many public transport vehicles, along with the VIP buses that were used in the London games, had been equipped for the authorities to recognise if drivers were acting erratically, a trend often seen in hijacking. Here, however, lay a fundamental question in what act could be deemed as erratic, and what qualifications personnel should have to make such decisions, and control it. All of this fits well with Foucalts early work on governmentality, and how power only exists when put into action (219) and that it is belonging to institutions rather than the individuals that allow the institutions to function. Put simply, measure to prevent certain behaviour leads to the control of individuals. These technologies (can you tell the ones above?) have been used as a medium to exercise the big-brother state. New machinery that is used allows the incorporation of the police/military apparatus in London, under the pretense of keeping the country safe from terrorism (Morgan, 2008). In keeping with public reassurance, it now does matter too much as to whether or not the security systems actually work, but rather what their proclaimed standards are. Work from Oscar Rays (year) has shown that a large amount of money was spent on equipment in Athens, which did not work. What did work, however, was the aftermath of it being used for surveillance in Greek society. These notions were once again observed in 2012, where governments and security-related interest groups often magnified in the public mind the terrorist threat and climate of fear, all in aid of justifying the use of these control strategies that are used to counter anti-social behaviour and danger from other public spaces, and gain support to introduce identity cards that link citizens to a state held database (Coaffe and Murakmi Wood, 2006: 565). As the Olympics are for a limited period, it is assumed that they are only a temporary security zone, lasting for the duration of the games. This, however, is not the case. As these events are now a recognised target for security threats, society now gives leeway to governments, even if these protections transgress from the constraints that are normally accepted by the citizens, as a result of securtization (Waever, 1995). The London Olympics and its security did not exist in isolation, but in a continuum of the increasing state of security and surveillance. Extra powers the state may acquire are often met with scepticism by citizens, in fear they may become permanent. However, these security measures can be concealed in an object that is seen as the norm for such prestigious events, for example the stadium. IS THIS OK LINKS WITH THE NEXT POINT! The architectural methods of Secure by Design (quote) . They also extend to the outer surrounding areas, where explosives may be hidden; litter boxes and drains (Coaffee, 2010). These methods are far from temporary, but this reconfiguration spreads beyond the time of the event under the title of legacy, where counter-terrorism design features are used to embed security in community areas, thus legacy is often used to legitimate broader and more long-term goals. The advantage of many of these regeneration progammes is that they become a catalyst for the transformations of parts of the city, as was seen in London. The official Olympics website (2012) stated that neglected sections of East London would be redesigned into the East Village, a complex designed to be converted into thousands of affordable homes, a community centre, and grounds for local residents to enjoy sports. THIS BIT IS NOT FINISHED! BUT SO FAR IS IT OK? I AM GOING TO GO ON TO EXPLAIN ABOUT ETHNIC CLEANSING PROGRAMMES. ITS GOOD SO FAR, YEAH. These sort of modifications are not temporaryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Military Urbanism- Security Sports have often been linked to the wide discourse of urban growth and regeneration (Schimmel, year!), aiding in a new form of Foucaults Boomerang effect, which has been fuelled by the extending neoliberal globalisation. A form of this affect is the way military and security complexes now try and apply defence-style technologies to the domestic sites of the city. This is mirrored well in light of the Olympics, where high tech security surveillance technology, originally from the battle-field, is now used in mega-events. Military-security complex works in two ways. The first is by implementing direct military-type approaches to security. The failed work of the contractor G4S for London 2012, and the mobilisation of British troops, demonstrated how traditional military approaches will always remain necessary. In this instance, the military were asked to provide an extra 3, 500 troops to guard the London Olympics. These games show that despite new technologies, the Olympic Games continue to appear over-reliant on the armed forces. (Guardian, 2012) The second way is by using the forces of existing military personnel. Working with these approaches does not necessarily mean that one is moving away from the past, ignoring the strength of military practices, but rather adding a contemporary twist to the traditional militaristic and urban transformations (Graham, 2010). These contemporary security strategies work through the blurring of boundaries between military and civilian spheres. With this, there is the entry of military technologies, strategies and logics for the surveillance and control of populations in and around the stadium. London 2012 saw the RAF use drones, carrying laser-guided bombs and missiles, including the Hellfire air-to ground weapons. Urban Militrisation/New Military Urbanism- GLOBALISATION BIT this is keeping with the same subject but globalisation bit. This growing interaction between sports mega events and the military-industry complex also allows analysis to be viewed through the window of globalisation, and marketing. The use of security technologies in mega-events is a multi-billion dollar industry. Lobby groups work hard to convince state leaders into becoming booming homeland security markets, because these markets of technology are growing very rapidly in times of economic decline. These practices allow security companies to pilot and display their exemplary security technologies, in the hope that it will lead to them being transferred into a more routine social environment. This trend was recognised by an analyst for the US-based Security Industry Association: the Olympics not only showcase world-class athletes, they showcase world class security technologies and services from our industry (Bristow, 2008). Israel is one such example. Recognised as the worlds leading participant in the security and surveillance industrial co mplex (Brzezinski, 2004), the countrys long history in dealing with suicide bombers, along with its highly developed and hi-tech economy, gives it the capacity to exploit the climate of fear that surrounds todays major sporting events. With this said, Israels representatives are heavily involved in the planning and facilitation of mega-event security. London 2012 was an example of this as Israeli initiaitves saw aircrafts being used for crowd surveillance, an expertise often used by the Middle Eastern country for population control (Kosmas, 2012). Security companies are not the only organisations that benefit from the Olympics. More international impact is in the form of commercial sponsors, the worlds largest growing form of marketing (IEG Network, 2001). Sponsers are very willing to invest in the games, as they believe the spirit of the spectacle means that spectators are regularly exposed to promotional messages under favourable conditions, where the customers can be relaxed and absorb corporate messages. (Abratt et al, 1987). A by-product of being a sponsor is the ability to temporarily relocate some of the staff to the host nation and allow investments to be made. This is a clear example of globalisation. The paradox here, however, is that once a hallmark is made between the cooperate sponsors and the games, their worldwide officers and staff become targets, which could lead to reluctance to participate. Further to this, the host nations terrorism threat level provides another reason why sponsors may refuse to participate in the events. This causes a massive crossover with countries looking like safe havens of security for a world-wide spectacle. In short, sponsors will be reluctant to participate in events happening anywhere that does not have a high counter-terrorism mechanism. IS THIS ALL OK SO MAYBE SOMEWHERE IN HERE I SHOULD ALSO ADD THAT IS IS THE PRIVATE SECTOR TAKING OVER? WHAT DO YOU THINK?! SO IM TALKING ABOUT SPONSERS HERE AND THE FACT THAT THEY WILL NOT BE WILLING TO PARTICIPATE IN ANYWHERE THEY THINK DOESNT HAVE A HIGH COUNTER TERRORISM MECHANISM! Conclusion NOT COMPLETE AGAIN!! ONLY FIRST PARAGRAPH! Mega-events present a special case for understanding the relationship between large-scale security practices and globalisation. It is an illustration of threats related not only to terrorism, but also to organised crime and political protest (Giuillanotti and Klauser, 2012). Securing the spectacle goes beyond the infrastructure, and into the economic sector, national reputation, and the impact of humans (Coaffee and Johnston, 2007). Cities that host mega-events are now expected to show a strong form of anti-terrorist resilience before international audiences (Boyle and Haggerty, 2009). Long after the event has left, surveillance technologies, urban redevelopment, and other transformations, may all remain in place as security enforced measures that structure, frame, and film everyday social life. Mega-events foster a legacy of knowledge, networks, and habits that have a bearing on the lives of not just those who attend, but the citizens of the city, long after the event. These events also display the invisible and visible security all in one, where the likes of infrastructure have an outward projection of security, through embedded electronic devices, hiding the other form ofà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.cleansing programmes! I ASSUME THIS BIT NEEDS TO BE FINISHED, HAHA. The line between free speech and human rights. Policing the police might take on a role of citizen duty. If the average citizen can be filmed why can the police not? While CCTV is now an every day norm of British society, what is becoming more common is the use of camera phones and social networking. AND THIS BIT! Each mega-event is part of an extensive process, where by the institutions and officials learn and advice on security lessons to their successors. The new hosts hope to improve on their predecessors and each hope to deliver spectacular security (Boyle and Haggerty, 2009), with this comes militarization and coordination that is needed to extend into time and place.

Financial Difficulties Facing Power Companies in Brazil :: Energy, electric, Utilities

Due to the size of the losses and their impact on the income of power distribution utilities, this issue has become a matter of much concern to these enterprises which must estimate them properly and draw up solutions to curb them effectively. Another pressing problem on the power market is payment in arrears . Over the past decade, the capacity to make prompt payment for essential services has been dropping sharply in Brazil, whether they are provided by the Government or by public utilities private enterprises. With rising unemployment and shrinking income, many consumers are forced to postpone payment of their electricity bills, particularly in view of steady tariff increases, which rose an averagea total of 231.24% between 1995 and 2004 . (ANEEL, 2004), well over the inflation rate, as a result, it is estimated that unpaid electricity bills in Brazil reached R$ 3.15bn (US$1.3bn) in 2002. The composition of these overdue payments, as per customer group, shows that R$760mi (US$304mi) was caused by unpaid electricity bills from medium and large clients, supplied with high and medium voltages (Group A); R$1,6bn (US$640mi) corresponding to debt built up by residential consumers, small commercial and industrial companies, much from Government facilities, and street-lighting, all supplied by the low voltage network (Group B); and R$800mi (US$320mi) owed by Governments. AGAIN? WHERE THE GOVERNMENT IS? An important point issue is the strong relatiosnships between electricity losses and unpaid bills. These two phenomena are so closely linked that a reduction in one may prompt an increase in the other. A customer caught stealing power is connected up properly to the grid and is then charged for the stolen power, in addition to a fine, payable in installments. If the costumer fails to pay thiese unpaid electricity billss and/or fails to pay the installmentscharges, the power supply is interrupted after some a short time. A customer without power may well return to stealing, again becoming again a loss problem. This same cycle may also be triggered by unpaid electricity bills: when customers have their power supply cut off because they are unable to pay their bills, they may start to steal through clandestine connections, with similar consequences. The cycle may start with unpaid electricity bills. A customer unable to pay his/her bill has his/her power supply cut off, which ca n lead him/her to steal. In other words, a more severe reaction by public utilities in relation to unpaid electricity bills may have as an unintended and undesirable consequence to turn a defaulters into a â€Å"thieves†f.