Sunday, December 29, 2019

Western Colonization Has Affected The Ways Countries

Western Colonization has affected the ways countries view themselves in various facets from economically to socially. Although the initial wave of colonialism has somewhat passed, that is the act of going and occupying other territories , Western ideals still manage to have an effect on how countries conduct themselves and how they respond to different situations . When examining South Africa s response to the treatment of Caster Semenya by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) we see this playing out. Semenya is an intersexed South African track star, forced to undergo gender-verification testing in response to her gold medal win at the World Track and Field championship The reasoning behind the call for the†¦show more content†¦Evidence of this idea of scientific racism dates back to the 19th century, when Saartjie Baartman, a South African women, was transported to Britain and France to be scientifically studied as a cause celebre(170). Baartman s exhibit consisted of her being portrayed in a cage for a period of time until she then paraded around the viewers and underwent poking and touching. Viewers could not believe that her buttocks† was real, and subsequently, after her death, George Cuvier [claimed] her body in the interests of science(Hill Collins 26). When thinking about this is comparison to Semenya s affair, it would seem like this was once again a case of a South African women being degraded based on physical appearance and questioning of their African aesthetics. Instead of this being a case of hypersexuality (the over sexualization of black women by the Western world) Semenya would be subject to an increased sexual regu lation. While Baartman was viewed with fascination, Semenya was viewed with contempt, even being referred to as a â€Å"man† by one of her competitors (Dworkin 138). Ironically, had Semenya been born male and chosen to identify as such she would never had undergone the gender-verification testing as a result of not only male privilege but also cisgender privilege. The entire practice of gender-verification is really used to confirm femaleness because of the assumption that superior athletics performances are a natural essence of

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Sirius XM Financial Analysis - 946 Words

Sirius XM Radio Financial Statement Analysis In the previous project assigned to me, I completed a SWOT analysis of Sirius XM Radio where it was noted that the Sirius XM is firmly at the top of its industry. For the purposes of this project, I went through the financial statements of Sirius XM as well as computed several key financial ratios to indicate Sirius XM’s profitability, growth, performance, and efficiency amongst other things. I then compared these ratios to the industry averages as well as with Sirius XM’s top competitors. After completing this close analysis, I found that although Sirius XM is enjoying incredible growth and a strong place in the market, there are still several flags that an investor should still note. The†¦show more content†¦Sirius XM also proves that it can, for the most part, meet its short-term obligations by boasting a current ratio of 0.79. Sirius XM’s current ratio is relatively low because of its strong operating cash flow (over 800M). Just like the debt to equity ratio, this low current ratio can also mean a higher return on assets for Sirius XM. It should however be noted that, when I calculated the quick ratio, I took into account the quick ratio with accounts receivable (0.78) and without accounts receivable (0.32). One glaring issue that I found in the notes to the financial statements of Sirius XM radio is the fact that Liberty Media owns over 50% of Sirius XM radio. Because of this fact, Liberty Media owned all of Sirius XM’s Series B Preferred Stock. In September of 2012, Liberty Media converted over 6 million of these shares into over a billion shares of common stock, which no doubt affected Sirius XM’s earnings per share as well as price to earnings ratio. It should also be noted that in January 2013, Liberty Media converted the rest of its Series B Preferred Stock into common stock as well, which will further affect earnings per share. Overall, Sirius XM is a profitable company, but I am unsure of how much longer Sirius XM will be able to sustain such profitability simply because of its reliance on the auto industry and new customers. Sirius XM’s low retention rate shows that there is no loyalty among its customers, which to me means that on any givenShow MoreRelatedXm Radio And Sirius Financial Analysis Essay1775 Words   |  8 PagesSirius vs. XM: Ratio Analysis and Statement of Cash Flows Paper From the previous company selection paper, we are now familiar with the selected satellite radio broadcasting companies, Sirius and XM Satellite Radio. Our group will now take a further, in-depth look at the ratio analysis and statement of cash flows to get a better understanding of how the companies are doing financially and with in their market. First, we will be reviewing the cash flows for both companies and identifying how muchRead MoreSirius XM Strategic Analysis Capstone Project Proposal2427 Words   |  10 PagesTarget Organization. I plan to conduct a strategic analysis on Sirius XM, Inc. I do not have direct access to this company; however, I submitted a letter to the Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Dara Altman, requesting access to requested information and data that may not otherwise be available. I will use information from the Sirius XM website, the U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC) 10-K and associated reports for Sirius XM. I also plan to research as much relevant informationRead MoreSirius Xm Holdings, An American Broadcasting Company1947 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction : Sirius XM Holdings is an American broadcasting company that provides three satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States: Sirius Satellite Radio, XM Satellite Radio, and Sirius XM Radio. 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Therefore, XM satellite radio provides a greater selection of radio for the various preferencesRead MoreThe Structure And Design Of Organizations1020 Words   |  5 Pagesgoals and missions. Making a business plan more flexible prepares an organization for the worst possible outcomes, like fraud, death in the company, theft, etc. Contingency plans, continuation plans, and even SWOT analysis can go a long ways when planning for the unexpected. A SWOT analysis allows business planners to evaluate the strengths of the organization and gather new perspectives on new directions for the future (Parke, 2004). Organizations must not overlook the environmental factors thatRead MoreQuestions On Mergers And Acquisitions3829 Words   |  16 Pagestransactions. The time between the beginning to end of all the changes is called the transition period. During the transition many things have to occur. Assuming there is an approved decision to combine (either merger or acquisition) and proper financial support, there are many steps that the firm will follow. The staff has to deal with location. Either the companies split between two locations, or relocated some or all employees into one place. Finding a new location can be costly, as it may beRead MoreJetblue Airlines Strategy Audit Report1536 Words   |  7 Pagespull its share ($20 million of the total $128 million) of the airline s initial funding unless the name was changed. JetBlue founded itself as being a low cost airline with the best amenities, such as in-flight entertainment, TV at every seat, and Sirius XM satellite radio. In late Sep tember 1999, the airline moved into some prime real estate with landing a gate at the John F. Kennedy International Airport. On October 22, 2008, JetBlue opened its new hub at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)Read MoreBasic Measures, Policy Statement, and Securities Markets3031 Words   |  13 PagesCorporate Investment Analysis 1 Basic Measures, Policy Statement, and Securities Markets Alvaro Reis Professor Dr. Anthony Criniti. October 16, 2011 Corporate Investment Analysis Abstract 2 Investment world has become in a very competitive arena where every penny if battled. Financial analyst need different tools to scrutinize the market and identify the most succulent securities available for their clients, to accomplish this objective they utilize different mathematical and

Friday, December 13, 2019

The Return Shadow Souls Chapter 23 Free Essays

That â€Å"night† they moved in, choosing the hour while the other estates they passed were darkened and quiet. Elena, Meredith, and Bonnie each picked a room on the upper floor as a bedroom, all close together. Nearby was a luxurious bathing room, with a pale blue and white marble floor and a unique pool shaped like a giant rose, fully large enough to swim in, heated by charcoal, with a cheerful-looking servant to tend it. We will write a custom essay sample on The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 23 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Elena was delighted with what happened next. Damon bought a number of slaves quietly, in a private sale from a respectable dealer, and then promptly freed them all and offered them wages and time off. Almost all the former slaves were only too happy to agree to stay, and only a few chose to leave or ran away, mostly women in search of their families. The others would remain and become Lady Ulma’s staff once Damon, Elena, Bonnie, and Meredith left after freeing Stefan. Lady Ulma, was given a â€Å"senior† room downstairs, although Damon almost had to use brute force to install her in it. He himself chose a room that was an office by day, since he wasn’t likely to spend much of the night in the house anyway. There was a slight embarrassment over that. Most of the staff knew of the ways of vampire masters, and the young girls and women who came to sew or who lived on the estate and cooked and cleaned seemed to expect some sort of rota to be worked out, with each of them taking turns at being donors. Damon explained this to Elena, who quashed the idea before it could be implemented. She could tell that Damon was hoping for a steady stream of girls, ranging from flowerlike to red-cheeked and buxom, who would be glad to be â€Å"tapped† like beer kegs for the pretty bangles and baubles that were traditionally given. Elena similarly disposed of the idea of hunting for hire. Sage had mentioned that there were even rumors of a possible Outside connection: a very advanced training course for Navy SEALs. â€Å"And they can come out the world’s only vampire seals,† Elena had said sardonically, in front of a group of male slaves this time. â€Å"They can go out and bite sharks. Certainly you guys can go out and hunt some humans like a pair of owls hunting mice – just don’t bother to come home afterward, because the doors will be locked†¦permanently.† She held Sage’s gaze until her expression became a steely glare and he’d hastened off to do something else around the estate. Elena didn’t mind Sage’s informal moving in with them. And after hearing how Sage had saved Damon from the mob that ambushed him on the way to the Meeting Place, she had determined in her own mind that if Sage ever wanted her blood, she would give it to him unhesitatingly. After a few days, when he had stayed around the house near Dr. Meggar’s and then moved with them into Lady Ulma’s compound, she had wondered if her diminished aura and Damon’s reticence weren’t depriving him of something he should know about. So she’d thrown broader and broader hints at him, until once when he had doubled over, and then, with tears of laughter (but had it only been laughter?) in his eyes, had come over to her and said that the Americans had a saying, no? You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. In his case, he said, you could lead a snarling black panther – her normal mental iconic image of Damon – to water, if you h ad electric cattle prods and elephant ankusha, but that afterward you’d be a fool to turn your back on it. Elena had laughed until she, too, cried, but had still pledged that if he wanted her blood, a reasonable share was his. Now she simply felt glad to have him around. Her heart was too full already, with Stefan, Damon – and even Matt, despite his apparent desertion – for her to be in danger of falling for another vampire, no matter how terminally fit they were. She appreciated Sage as a friend and protector. Elena was surprised at how much she came to rely on Lakshmi as each day passed. Lakshmi had begun as a sort of gopher, doing the running around that no one else wanted to, but more and more, she had become Lady Ulma’s maid-in-waiting and Elena’s source of information about this world. Lady Ulma was still officially bedridden, and having Lakshmi ready at any time of the day or night, to send messages, was wonderfully convenient. Too, she was someone that Elena could ask questions of that otherwise would get her eyed as if she were crazy. Did they need to buy plates or was food served on a large hunk of dried bread, which acted as a napkin for greasy fingers as well? (Plates had been recently introduced, along with forks, which were all the rage now.) How much were the men and woman of the household entitled to in wages (which had to be calculated from scratch, since no other household paid its slaves a geld, merely clothing them from a community uniform cache, and allowi ng them one or two â€Å"feast days† a year)? Young as she was, Lakshmi was both honest and bold and Elena was grooming her to become Lady Ulma’s right hand, after Lady Ulma had become well enough to be the lady of the house. How to cite The Return: Shadow Souls Chapter 23, Essay examples

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Albert Camus the Plague free essay sample

Can God possibly exist in a world full of madness and injustice? Albert Camus and Samuel Beckett address these questions in The Plague and Waiting for Godot. Though their thinking follows the ideals of existentialism, their conclusions are different. Camus did not believe in God, nor did he agree with the vast majority of the historical beliefs of the Christian religion. His stance on Christianity is summed up most simply by his remark that in its essence, Christianity (and this is its paradoxical greatness) is a doctrine of injustice. It is founded on the sacrifice of the innocent and the acceptance of this sacrifice (Bree 49). Camus felt that Jesus Christ was an innocent man who was unjustly killed. This does conflicts with all of Camus values. However, Camus did not believe that Jesus was the son of God. Camus inability to accept Christian theology is voiced in The Plague by Riex and juxtaposed against the beliefs preached by Father Paneloux (Rhein 42). We will write a custom essay sample on Albert Camus the Plague or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Panelouxs attitude toward the plague contrasts sharply with Rieuxs. In his first sermon, he preaches that the plague is divine in origin and punitive in its purpose. He attempts to put aside his desires for a rational explanation and simply accepts Gods will. In this way he is not revolting and therefore falls victim to the plague. Father Panelouxs belief that there are no innocent victims is shaken as he watches a young boy die of the plague. Camus purposefully describes a long, painful death to achieve the greatest effect on Paneloux: When the spasms had passed, utterly exhausted, tensing his thin legs and arms, on which, within forty-eight hours, the flesh had wasted to the bone, the child lay flat, in a grotesque parody of crucifixion (215). Paneloux cannot deny that the child was an innocent victim and is forced to rethink his ideas. During his second sermon, a change is seen in Father Paneloux. He now uses the pronoun we instead of you, and he has adopted a new policy in which he tells people to believe all or nothing (224). Father Paneloux, as a Christian, is faced with a decision: either he accepts that God is the ultimate ruler and brings goodness out of the evil that afflicts men, or he sides with Rieux and denies God. The conclusion formed by Camus is that because this is a world in which innocent people are tortured, there is no God. Samuel Beckett does not necessarily deny the existence of God in Waiting for Godot. If God does exist, then He contributes to the chaos by remaining silent. The French philosopher Blaise Pascal noted the arbitrariness of life and that the universe works based on percentages. He advocated using such arbitrariness to ones advantage, including believing in God. If He does not exist, nobody would care in the end, but if He does, a believer is on the safe side all along, so one cannot lose. In this play, either God does not exist, or He does not care. Whichever is the case, chance and arbitrariness determine human life in the absence of a divine power. This ties in with the two tramps chances for salvation. As one critic observes, For just as man cannot live by bread alone, he now realizes that he cannot live by mere thinking or hanging on in vain to a thread of salvation which does not seem to exist (Lumley 203). This explains Vladimir and Estragons contemplation of suicide after Godot remains absent for yet another day. One could also argue, in the absurd sense, that each man has a fifty-fifty chance of salvation. One of the two prisoners who were crucified with Jesus was given salvation. This element of chance for salvation can also be extended to Pozzo and Lucky in Waiting for Godot. When they come across the two tramps, Pozzo is on his way to sell Lucky because he claims that Lucky has grown old and only hinders him. In this way Pozzo is trying to draw that fifty-fifty chance of salvation for himself. One of the ways in which Lucky hinders him is that Lucky could be the one to be redeemed, leaving Pozzo to be damned. Even Luckys speech is concerned with salvation: Given the existence of a personal God outside time without who from the heights of divine apathia divide athambia divide apaia loves us dearly with some exceptions for reasons unknown and suffers with those who for reasons unknown are plunged in torment. (28) After removing all of Luckys nonsensical meanderings, the gist of his speech is that God does not communicate with humans and condemns them for unknown reasons. His silence causes the real hopelessness, and this is what makes Waiting for Godot a tragedy