Federal law enforcement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Federal law enforcement - Essay Example he study is to be able to present the actions and improvements in security measures that are done by the different bureaus that are in charge of the law enforcement in the United States concentrating mainly in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Secret Service and the Central Intelligence Agency. In the United States, it can be observed that the law enforcement is dependent on the jurisdictions of the different groups that are responsible for implementing the laws that can be classified on the basis of the locality, the state and national concerns. In the study undertaken which is directed to the attack in the World Trade Center, being a national and international concern, the major law enforcers of the US are put into focus and scrutiny. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Secret Service and the Central Intelligence Agency are the main groups that are responsible for keeping the American land and the population residing in its territory safe and free from harm specifically terrorism. In the event of such tragedy, the sufficiency of the actions and measures that are undertaken to fight crimes such law enforcement groups is in question. For that matter, a study on the actions undertaken to improve the security implemented is in need not only to determine the efficiency of the said groups but to improve the confidence of the population. The specific functions and actions on the improvement of the said bureaus are then the main issue explored in the study. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is one of the most important divisions in the US Federal Government with the main mission to uphold the law and protect the people from different types of threats. For that matter, it is considered as one of the main responsible authorities in the September 11 World Trade Center attack due to the expressed priority of the said group to protect the United States from attacks of the terrorists (â€Å"Quick Fact† FBI). Based on the study

Eliminating the Home Mortgage Tax Deduction Essay

Eliminating the Home Mortgage Tax Deduction - Essay Example White argue that taxpayers were now allowed to deduct interest they pay on secured loan by qualified homes, either their main home or a second home. The loans in this case include first and second mortgages, credit’s home equity line and home equity loans. White (1) argues that recreational vehicles and even boats may also qualify as home in case they have cooking sleeping and toilet facilities. White notes that millions of US homeowners depend on the Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction as a way of reducing their true cost of homeownership and have more disposable income. This interest is filed on form 1040 of schedule A accompanied with other itemized deductions such as medical expenses, real estate property tax and donations. In this case, taxpayers are expected to fill in Schedule A, to determine if their itemized deductions exceed the standard. If this is proved so, then taxpayers will save more money based on their taxes by itemizing. Over the past years, many issues and cont roversies surrounding Home Mortgage Tax Deduction have arisen as to whether or not it should be scraped. Many economists consider it a waste of money due to concern about the federal budget deficit (Perez 1). They argue that Home Mortgage Tax Deduction does very little to assist in lowering income homeowners make the changeover from renters to owners. These economists say that Home Mortgage Tax Deduction only encourage upper income buyers to buy big homes to take bigger mortgages a view which I also concur with. This paper will discuss why Home Mortgage Tax Deduction should be scraped as a way of cutting the budget. History of the residential housing market Muth and Goodman (1) argue that housing is the most precious and unique commodity. In US for instance, about one-seventh of all personal consumption expenditures are on housing exclusive of other household operations and furnishing. They notes that residential real estate accounts for more than half of the US fixed capital stock and about one-quarter of the country’s gross lending investments are made up of construction of residential estates. Mortgage lending has however varied for one-quarter to one-fifth of all funds raised by Americas credit markets. United States is one country that has faced economic housing bubbles over the past few years affecting many parts of the countries housing market. For instance, the prices of housing peaked at the beginning of 2006 with a decline towards 2007 reaching its low recently in this year. For instance, at around December 2008, the home price index of Case-Shiller reported the largest drop in prices in America’s history. It is argued that increased rates of foreclosure between 2006 and 2007 among homeowners in US is what led to the crisis that hit the country in August 2008 for credit, subprime, mortgage, hedge funds. Leader of the realty and mortgage industries Economy Watch (1) notes that real estate industry emerged as one of the major industries i n the united states over the past few years. It argues that the housing bubble witnessed in Florida, California, and Michigan, and New York brought with it major changes in real estate in US. The housing bubble was the result of an increase in valuation of real estate in the US domestic territory. Economy Watch reports that mortgage lenders, commercial banks and other financial

Change Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Change Management - Essay Example For a business, change management means describing and executing processes and/or expertise to deal with changes in the corporate environs and to earn profits from ever-fluctuating prospects. Up-and-coming adaptation to change is as vital within a business as it is in the normal domain. Just like floras and faunas, officialdoms and the persons in them without doubt come across changing circumstances that they are defenseless to handle. The more effectually you deal with transformation, the more probable you are to grow well. Adaptation might consist of inaugurating a well-thought-out procedure for answering to changes in the corporate surroundings (for instance an instability in the economy, or a menace from the opponents) or instituting handling tools for answering back to ups and downs in the place of work (for example new strategies, or machineries) (Change Management, 2007). Change is neither a new concept nor has it been introduced in recent years. It is an understood fact that things change with time and obviously there are numerous factors that are brought in the change. The University of Bolingoo is under the process of a technological change which is making the application process completely online i.e. no more paper applications. Technology is a very broad factor that is influencing every part of the organization. This type of change is a non-routine change and is not easy to implement as it involves high cost in terms of money, effort and research. In this era, technology is making it difficult for firms to keep up with the change with the same frequency and for universities the business is all about knowledge and how to obtain it. For any organization, which plans to bring in the change it needs to focus on five factors for starters, The university needs to list down all the reasons why it thinks that this type of technological change is necessary. Creating awareness in the campus is very important. Students and employees feedback on the reason woul d prove to be very beneficial. Likewise, consider the plus and minus points of the change. If the plus points out weight the negative ones then it would be advised that the change is brought in. Next up are the skills and knowledge that would be required to bring in the change such as more skilled, high hi-tech employees who have expertise in this department. Evaluation of the person’s ability to perform these skills needs to be identified. It is important to list down the reinforcements and to know if the incentives are in place to bring about the change and make it last. Similarly, the 5Whys tool is also important as the first question that would arise from a structural change is Why the change? In this case, the change is necessary for the reasons it could be that the clerical staff take a long time to procedure enrolment forms and students have no options but to stand in queues for a long period of time which would be annoying and stressful. But on the other hand, it is n ot the mistake of the clerical staff either, since they require checking and confirming all the details in the form and they have to make sure the information is correct. Then, there are J-customers too, who not intentionally, but do take a lot of time of the administrator for the reason that these customers are not usually unable to understand the correct language. But this problem

Employee Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Employee Relations - Essay Example BCL has been operating since its origins with this structure with little or no changes made, the new managing director, however, is young and highly educated, and having worked his way through the business, wants to implement changes to the structure and make the business more modern in its approach to all the major functions mentioned above. The writer of this report has been appointed as the new HR Director, whilst a new operations manager, who also happens to be the new managing director’s colleague in university, has been appointed to replace the outgoing manager. Through a consensus, the three senior managers have come to an agreement that major structural changes need to made, by reducing the management hierarchy, and by forming a strategic partnership with a leading high street grocery retailer, Cost-Savers, in a bid to see the business streamlined and cost effective. The new partnership is expected to cut costs down in terms of premises rentals, as BCL will have their shops within Cost-Savers shops. Another key factor is that Cost-Saver and BCL will share a distribution depot while one of the smaller of BCL’s depots will be shut, and where Cost-Savers and BCL are in the same location, the BCL shop will be closed whilst core and flexible staff of that BCL shop will be offered positions at the Cost-Savers shop, and the rest made redundant. Also certain low profit stores of BCL will be shut altogether. The main changes in the management structure include: Reduction of the number of districts from 16 to 12 District managers will be given expanded responsibilities for product placement, identifying new opportunities and increasing sales within their district Each regional manager will be given the added responsibility of providing development opportunities for store and district managers Each store manager will be given autonomy to recruit staff, promote products, stock products on own discretion, and have more direct contact with head office. All managers will be coached to become leaders and not merely managers for their sectors. Staff would be given the added incentive of a profit based six monthly bonus to boost their sense of belonging to the organisation. The main task given to the writer as HR Director is to come up with a plan to make sure the above changes have a positive effect on staff, and that an employment relationship culture of teamwork is brought about through the changes. This would mean engaging the staff in matters related to key decision making, and change the existing non-directional management of individual stores to align with corporate directions. Key Literature Review: From the above introduction, it can be inferred that BCL has decided to go from a hierarchical, and centralised organisational structure to a horizontal and decentralised structure. It is therefore important to understand these terms before delving any deeper. Organisational Structure: The term ‘organisational structureâ€⠄¢ simply refers to the way in which job tasks are formally divided, grouped, and coordinated. It involves the processes of work specialisation, where tasks in the organisation are subdivided into separate jobs; departmentalisation, where the subdivided jobs are grouped together; chain of command, which

Motivation and the Brain - Eating Healthy Essay Example for Free

Motivation and the Brain Eating Healthy Essay Eating right is essential for positive motivation and clear thinking. The brain, specifically the hypothalamus, along with the cerebral hemisphere works closely with physiological stimulation. This includes all five of our senses, specifically speaking, taste. Explaining the brain function associated with eating, I will discuss the influence of extrinsic and intrinsic factors, which will include heredity and involving the environment. In addition I will discuss the motivation need to succeed in eating healthy. The main function of the hypothalamus is homeostasis, or maintaining the bodys state in which it works. Factors such as blood pressure, body temperature, fluid and electrolyte balance, and body weight are held to a precise value called the set-point. The Hypothalamus organizes and controls many complex emotions, feelings and moods, as well as all motivational states including hunger, appetite and food intake, and everything to do with the concept of pleasure including satisfaction, comfort and creative activities (Incredible Horizons, 2009). It appears that almost everything the Hypothalamus does is related in some way to weight management and controlled weight loss. When the Hypothalamus is not working properly, food becomes more important, but increasingly more unfulfilling. We end up never feeling satisfied with the foods which we have eaten, gradually eating more and more to try to compensate for whatever is lacking. From a metabolism point of view, the Hypothalamus not only governs the motivation to eat, but most importantly how eating is to be experienced, if it is satisfying or not, and how deep the satisfaction occurs. This gives an idea just how important a healthy hypothalamic function really is (Incredible Horizons, 2009). Understanding how the hypothalamus works and keeping it healthy could be an extrinsic motivational factor to eat healthy. Being educated on how food affects the brain but also the body as a whole would be an example of extrinsic motivation. However, it is how we learn to eat, hereditarily speaking that gives us the tools to start out eating healthy from a young age or not. Lifelong food preference tends to start to develop while a baby is still in the mother’s womb. The strongest pattern for future food preferences is formed during the age of 9 to 19 months of age (Vera, 2009). At this time, everything connected with food intake leaves a strong imprint on the child’s brain. Also, the baby is tasting everything with his or her mouth; toys, shoes, body parts, etc. Concurrently, the child is memorizing the experiences of his mother and fathers eating habits; what they are eating, what they are feeding the baby, their emotional reaction to the baby’s consumption of these foods all while the unsuspecting parents believe that the child does not comprehend much of what is going on. The reality is the child is forming food habits for a lifetime. Whatever the first tastes, textures, smells an sights of food are, that child will crave them for the rest of his or her life, especially in moments of distress. Because of this, it would appear that comfort food is not too far from the truth. This was often a time in a child’s life when their mom or dad focused much love and caring on them and purely through association finds its way into our adult lives when we feel emotionally distressed or needing comfort. Human behavior patterns forming in childhood are crucially important for parents to pay close attention to the eating habits they are helping their children form (Vera, 2009). Promoting healthy eating habits with special care introducing fresh fruits and vegetables to their children as much as possible; in addition, parents must keep this promotion up otherwise children will fall prey to the society’s image of food which is unhealthy; another extrinsic example. In today’s society negative eating habits are advertised in every corner. According to Not Alone website, the top ten lists of popular food most people eat on a regular basis may not appear too alarming: a burger meal, Pizza, Spaghetti, or even a hot dog meal. However, after reviewing the nutritional analysis it should be alarming! For example, a burger meal contains 1300 calories, 34 grams of protein, 189 grams of carbohydrates and 44 grams of fat. This is equivalent to 38 teaspoons of sugar and a half of a stick of butter (McKeith, Ph. D. , 2005). The normal daily calorie intake should be 2,550 for men and 1,940 for women (McKeith, Ph. D. , 2005). Unfortunately the typically daily intake for both men and women are on average 3, 877 calories. Knowing these statistics should lead a person to use internal motivation to recognize the severity of the issue and begin to eat healthy. To conclude, eating right is essential for positive motivation and clear thinking. We have learned the hypothalamus, along with the cerebral hemisphere works closely with physiological stimulation including taste. I’ve explained the brain function associated with eating, discussed the influence of extrinsic and intrinsic factors including heredity and the environment. Lastly, I discussed the motivation need to succeed in eating healthy. References Breck, K. B. (2011). A practical guide to a happy life. Retrieved from http://www. kristenguide. com/Health/Weight_Loss/ways_to_stay_motivated. asp Incredible Horizons. (2009). Hypothalmus Function. Retrieved from http://www. incrediblehorizons. com/balance-Hypo%20function. htm McKeith, Ph. D. , G. (2005). 10 Foods People Eat On a Regular Basis. You Are What You Eat: The Plan that Will Change Your Life. Not Alone. Retrieved from http://www. enotalone. com/article/25017. html NowLoss. (2011). Getting Motivated. Retrieved from http://www. nowloss. com/how-to- get-motivation-to-lose-weight. htm The Life Co. (2009). A new recipe for life!. Retrieved from http://www. thelifeco. com/cok-okunanlar. aspx? id=478 Vera, Dr. (2009). Hereditary Eating Habits. Quantum Evolution. Retrieved from http://www. quantumevolution. comau/hereditary_eating_habits. htm.

Literature Review Of Flooding And Flood Risks Environmental Sciences Essay

Literature Review Of Flooding And Flood Risks Environmental Sciences Essay The concept of flooding has a multi-disciplinary definition based on the interest of the defining discipline. However, flood is generally taken to include any case where land not normally covered by water becomes covered by water (FWMA, 2010: Pt 1). In recent decades there have been raging scientific and media debates on likely changes in flood regimes generated by land-use changes and climate change (Ranzi et al, 2002). The crux of most of these debates is centred on the simulated risk from such flood events. These risks are related to human health, infrastructure, socio-economic well-being of affected individuals and damage also to archaeological relics. Methods of evaluating and assessing flood risk have been developed in the field of insurance, technological and environmental fields (Molak, 1997; Jones, 2001). Although river flooding is often related to natural disasters, the impacts of human activities such as urbanization have been observed by many scholars (Sala and Inbar, 199 2; Kang et al, 1998; Ranzi et al, 2002). Flood risk is expressed in terms of the probability of occurrence of adverse effects of flood related hazards and vulnerability with potential consequences (Mileti, 1999; Merz, et al, 2007; FWMA, 2010). Although a number of approaches have been tested for flood events prediction, hydraulic models have been specifically designed to predict flood inundation (Horritt and Bates, 2002). Consequently, in the development of an effective and efficient flood risk management strategy hydraulic, hydrologic and socio-economic factors must be taken into consideration (Merz et al, 2007). 2.2 Urbanisation and Flooding Urbanization and flooding are intricately linked in both developed and developing countries. Increasing population growth and continued urban expansion has led to a reduction in surface permeability which invariably increases surface runoff in the absence of alleviating urban drainage design (Kang et al, 1998; Parker, 1999; Ranzi et al, 2002). Although the UK has only small rivers by world standards, with the tendency for smaller-scale floods to occur (Wheater, 2006), considerable economic and infrastructural losses arise from urban flooding (Mark et al, 2004). This loss is significantly higher in smaller river bank communities. For instance, Wheater (2006) notes that the 24hr rainfall in Carlisle on the 8th and 9th of January 2005 resulted in the loss of two lives, an estimated damage of  £450 million and flooding of over 2000 properties when the flood defences were over-topped. The engineering and design of flood defences are based on hydrological and hydraulic models of river ca tchments. Hydrological models simulate surface runoff from rainfall while the hydraulic model describes structural controls of the river system (Kite, 2001; Mark et al, 2004; Kidson et al, 2006; Heatlie et al, 2007). We conclude that urbanization can represent a very significant increase in flood risk at small catchment scale, but that the effects are commonly mitigated, to a greater or lesser extent, by design measures. The impacts of effects at larger scales are complex and depend on the relative magnitude and timing of sub-catchment responses and the performance of mitigation strategies. Relative effects of urbanization on flooding are expected to decrease with increasing storm return period, but the performance of mitigation strategies for events rarer than the design criteria adopted is largely unexplored. 2.3 Global warming and Flooding Though it is still difficult to attribute global warming recorded this century to the enhanced greenhouse effect and the resultant increase in observed rainfall (Reynard et al, 2001; Robson et al, 1998), the recurrent incidence of floods and their magnitude in the UK in recent times have raised major concerns that the effect of climate change is already being felt across the country (Robson, 2002). Milly et al, (2002) produced the theory Global Climate Models have been used to determine the likelihood of increased flood risk from global warming. Reynard et al (2001) used the CLASSIC (Climate and LAnd use Scenario Simulation In Catchments model) continuous flow simulation model to assess the potential impact of climate and changes in land use on the flood regimes of the Severn and Thames rivers. They found that for the 2050s, the climate change scenarios results in an increase in both the frequency and magnitude of flooding events in both rivers. Similarly, Milly et al (2002) observed that the frequency of great floods increased significantly during the twentieth century. Accordingly, the statistically significant positive trend in the risk of floods was consistent with the results from the climate model (Milly et al, 2002). Roy et al (2001) investigated the impact of climate change on summer and autumn flooding on the Chateauguay river basin. Their study reveals serious potential increases in the volume of runoff, maximum discharge and water level with future climate change scenarios for a three 20-year periods spanning 1975 1995, 2020 2040, 2080 2100. 2.4 Modelling of Flood events The simulation of extraordinary flow events characterized by high hydraulic risk has posed serious problems for policy makers, engineers and environmentalists around the world. The use of 1-D modelling for predicting flood risk generated by events of different return period or multiple land use and climate change scenarios is widespread (Lin et al., 2005; Mark et al., 2004; Horritt and Bates, 2002; Mark et al., 2004; Lin et al., 2005; Hall et al, 2005). In their study, Bates and De Roo (2000) demonstrated the use of a 1-D model type storage cell called LISFLOOD-FP to produce designated channel cells for channel routing and uniform flow formulae for floodplain routing, through the process of discrete raster-based analysis derived from a DEM at 100, 50 and 25m resolutions respectively and applied to a major flood on a 35km reach of River Meuse. Syme (2001) notes that in addition to rapid wetting and drying, the strength of TUFLOW is its powerful 1D linking options, modelling of hydraul ic structures, treatment of levees and embankments, effective data handling and quality control outputs. Horritt and Bates (2002) conclude that HEC-RAS models calibrated against discharge gave good flood predictions of inundated area on a 60  km reach of the river Severn, UK. Reed and Robson, (1999, cited in Dawson et al., 2006) stressed that many flood estimation problems were likely to arise at ungauged sites due to the unavailability of flood peak data recorded in the UK Flood Estimation Handbook (FEH). The FEH is produced by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology with information about River catchments in the UK such as, rainfall frequency estimation, statistical procedures for flood frequency estimation, rainfall-runoff and catchment descriptors. Dawson et al., (2006) used the Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) technique to estimate flood statistics for un-gauged catchments (for most of the River catchments in the UK). The index flood analysis from the ANN results produced a comparable accuracy to that obtained from the Flood Estimation Handbook (FEH), but the flood estimation for each catchment was carried out for only a 10, 20 and 30 year flood event period giving room for short term flood defence preparation thereby incurring future expense on what ca n be predicted for up to 1000 years. A study by Yang et al (2002) on prediction of flood inundation and risk, using GIS and Hydrodynamic model showed the ability to use a DEM manipulated in GIS and translated into MIKE21 (a modelling environment). In the study, different scenarios were evaluated and results translated to the GIS environment for visualization and analysis on flood events for an estimated 100-year flood return period. However, Yang et al, stressed that there were no real means to calibrate the simulations from the modelling output, as flow and stage data were rarely recorded for flood events and also, compare between outputs from MIKE21 and MIKE1, the former, being an upgrade of the latter. 2.5 One-Dimension ISIS flood Modelling The ISIS model has been used extensively in modelling inundated flow regimes of rivers across the UK (Heatlie, et al. 2007). The Manchester Ship Canal, a 58 km long river located in North West England and constructed in 1894 to include the navigable part of River Irwell (including River Irwell at Radcliffe, Bury) was one of the last major watercourses in the United Kingdom to be analysed with hydraulic modelling techniques (Heatlie, et al. 2007). In preparation of an indicative flood mapping (IFM), the EA used an unsteady ISIS 1-D hydraulic model for the mapping of a 47km length of the Upstream Bristol Forme catchment to define areas at flood risk in 2002 (Syme et al, 2004). According to past studies (Costa-Cabral and Burges, 1994; Bodis, 2007; Rees, 2000) it is evident that the use of Digital Elevation Model (DEM) in flood model creation have played a big role in the successful presentation of hydrological and topographical drainage basin data analysis (Peckham, 1998) because it depicts an array of elevations across the basin at regularly spaced intervals (Cunha, 2009). This eliminates the assumption that the catchment or area is a flat surface without contours. In research carried out by Sansena Bhaktikul (2006) on the integration of hydraulic modelling and GIS towards the study of river the Mae Klong (Bangkok, Thailand). The runoff frequency analysis was used in the creation of a flood risk map. The study also showed that the results from the simulation carried out, was properly presented in GIS and DTM format, by making use of the contour and river spot height data. Sansena Bhaktikul (2006) conclude their study by suggesting that further studies be done on larger basins by dividing them into sub-basins and the network link to integrate them should be introduced to have an overview of the basin. The runoff flow in flood plains, river channels and man-made structures are important factors in the study of runoff flow behaviour prediction of flood areas, they added, and thus further studies are therefore recommended to include rainfall runoff models in upstream and unsteady areas. 2.6 Aim To develop an appropriate one-dimensional ISIS hydraulic model of flood events that includes upstream catchments of the River Irwell and produce a flood map to predict flood extents an extreme flood event period. 2.7 Research Question Does the inclusion of upstream catchments improve the net flood prediction model of the river Irwell? What areas are most vulnerable to flood risk in Radcliffe, Bury? To what level should the flood defences be built around the Radcliffe area?

The Admirable Qualities in Puritans Illustrated by Anne Bradstreet and Cotton Mather :: essays research papers

According to Mrs. Anne Bradstreet and Mr. Cotton Mather, I think Puritans have some admirable qualities, such as the relationship with the family - especially Mrs. Bradstreet with her husband, and she was trying hard to be a great mother. In addition, Mr. Mather was strong and powerful person even though his life was darkened by disappointment and tragedy. He tried hard to make a difference for his life. From Mrs. Bradstreet's poem - 'To My Dear and Loving Husband', she had a really good relationship with her husband. Her husband and she loved each others a lot, you can tell from 'If ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were loved by wife, then thee' (To My Dear and Loving Husband, Anne Bradstreet, P. 263). In addition, she missed her husband when he went to work for public employment and she wanted him to come home. In ?A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment?, she wrote she missed her husband and she could see him in her head, my heart, my eyes, my life and ever more. She would be home and welcome him when he comes back (A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment, Bradstreet, P. 264). In another poem, she showed that she could not live without her husband. She wrote she wanted her husband and her lived in one house, like a couple of mullets living in one river until the die (Another [Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment], Bradstreet, P.264). I think Mrs. Bradstreet loved her children more than herself even though when her children grew up and left her alone. In her poem, she wrote that she had eight birds - which were her eight children, after they grew up they left one by one and live with their partner. However, she must nurse them to grow up even though she had to take care of them twenty-four hours by seven days (In Reference to her Children, 23 June, 1659, Bradstreet, P. 264). She would not let her children get hurt by any chance, she would protect them forever. In the poem, she wrote that I bred you with my pain, I fed you with all my care because I wanted to keep you soft and warm. I opened my wings to protect you off from harm.