News Article on Helicopter Deaths in Afghanistan War Essay

News Article on Helicopter Deaths in Afghanistan War - Essay Example The exact number of US soldiers who died is not known, as the US military has not confirmed it, but the news sources reported the number at either thirty or thirty-one. There is some confusion as to exactly how the helicopter really crashed. The helicopter was involved somehow in an attack on a Taliban compound in Wardak Province of the country, but it is not clear how active a role this played in its crashing. According to the New York Times, the helicopter was â€Å"shot down †¦ after a night raid† (Rivera, Rubin, & Shanker). The BBC also says that the helicopter was returning from an attack of some sort, but does not specify the cause, simply stating that it â€Å"went down† and noting that NATO was still investigating the reasons (BBC). Al Jazeera reports a source as saying that â€Å"the helicopter was apparently taking off from a roof of a building during this operation when it then crashed,† although they note that the Taliban was quick to claim they had shot it (Al Jazeera). The three news articles cover this event very differently, both in terms of what related material they discuss and in terms of the language they use to talk about the event. Of the three, the BBC article seemed to be the most neutral both in tone and in its coverage. The headline of this article was â€Å"US special forces Afghan helicopter 'downed' by Taliban† (BBC). ... So, for example, instead of just saying the helicopter was shot down by Taliban, it notes that â€Å"Reports say the Chinook helicopter was shot down by the Taliban† (BBC). By always making a note of its sources and that some statements may not necessarily be correct, the article sounds neutral and does not really take sides or try to make you assume something about the events it reports on. What is also interesting about the BBC article is the range of people it talks to for its information. It does not just get all of its information from American sources, or all of its information from ones in Afghanistan. Instead, there is a more or less even mix of the two, with quotes not only from US Officials and Afghan government officials, but even from the Taliban and just ordinary residents of the area. The version of events that comes out of all this is one in which nobody is really sure exactly what happened yet, and it is implied that we should take what everybody is saying with a grain of salt. The language in the article is also very passive, such as â€Å"An increase in US troop numbers last year has had some success combating the Taliban in the south of Afghanistan, but attacks in the north, which was previously relatively quiet, have picked up in recent months,† (BBC) which leaves off who increased the troops or attacked and does not take sides. In contrast to this, the New York Times article comes down very strongly on the side of the Americans. This is not surprising as it is an American paper. Unlike the BBC article, which starts of by simply stating what has supposedly happened, this article begings with the phrase, â€Å"In the deadliest day for American forces

Business Strategies Of Mc Donalds Marketing Essay

Business Strategies Of Mc Donalds Marketing Essay The main objective of a business strategy is to provide superior value, differentiation, and core competencies for a company that has clear missions, goals and objectives that are important and necessary to the strategic formulation of a company. The mission is a quality definition of who the company is and what it expects to accomplish, further defined by goals and objectives. Goals are directly linked with the mission and are general statements of desirable outcomes. Objectives are goals or purpose with specific targets and time periods. We will further discuss in detail of how these missions, goals and objectives are so important in the formulation of Business strategy. Strategic management The way in which employees are managed to maximize the potential of achieving business objectives is called Strategic Management. It has a very positive impact on a business and can significantly improve its growth only if Strategic management is effectively used. It is all about formulating strategies and the key to making it work for the business. McDonalds McDonalds is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 31,000 local restaurants serving more than 58 million people in 118 countries each day. More than 75% of McDonalds restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local men and women primarily selling the world some of its favorite foods World Famous Fries, Hamburgers (Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, etc), Chicken McNuggets, Egg McMuffin, milkshakes, hot drinks, desserts and most recently also offer salads and fruits. Their rich history began with our founder, Ray Kroc. The strong foundation that he built continues today with McDonalds vision and the commitment of our talented executives to keep the shine on McDonalds Arches for years to come. The History of McDonalds The McDonalds restaurant chain of today began its humble beginnings in a renovated barbecue car-hop restaurant in San Bernardino, California by two brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald. Dick and Mac left their Manchester, New Hampshire home and headed to California for work after graduating from high school. Mac and Dick borrowed $5000.00 and opened a barbecue drive-in close to a high school in 1940. They hired attractive carhops and offered a menu of 29 items. Business boomed. Families came for the low prices and teens came to check out the carhops. By 1947, the restaurant was losing business. Families were getting more concerned about their finances and the teens seemed to be more interested in hanging out than in purchasing food. Dick and Mac took notice of these changes in clientele and noticed hamburgers made up 80% of all food sales. They decided to close the restaurant and reorganize. The restaurant was reopened in mid December of 1948 as the first self-service, assembly line, and drive-in offering 15 cent hamburgers, 19 cent cheeseburgers, 20 cent malts and 10 cent fries. By 1952 the business was booming. The brothers had purchased 8 mixers for their milkshake production and ordered two more. This purchase caught the attention of the owner of the Multi-mixer, Ray Kroc and changed the history of McDonalds. Ray noticed that this hamburger stand continued purchasing from him and he decided to go check it out. Ray was very impressed with the McDonald brothers self service concept and their booming business that now included a few franchises. He made a proposal to expand their business across the country with himself supplying the Multi-mixers. The brothers were not interested in becoming so large but did agree to give him exclusive rights to the McDonald system. Kroc opened his first franchise in Des Plaines, Chicago in 1955 and subsequently sold 18 more in the first year. He collected 1.9% of gross sales and turned in 0.5% of that to the McDonald brothers. He was barely breaking even in this arrangement, until he met Harry Sonnenborne, who encouraged him to lease or purchase the property for all future McDonald franchises. The operators would pay him either a monthly rent or percentage of their gross sales, whichever was greater. Kroc created a 75 page manual outlining the specifics of running a McDonalds to ensure all restaurants had the same cleanliness standards, the same amount of meat in each hamburger, the specifics for cutting and preparing French fries. The McDonald brothers resisted these changes and many arguments ensued. In 1960, Ray Kroc convinced Dick and Mac McDonald to sell the legal rights to him for 2.7 million dollars. At the time of this transaction, the chain had more than 200 restaurants. In 1990, after public outcry concerning cholesterol, McDonalds switched from beef tallow to pure vegetable oil in their french-fries. In 2006, McDonalds began a design Forever Young in all their restaurants using the traditional yellow and red colors and adding olive and sage, using more brick and wood with less plastic. With the vision of two brothers and the marketing strategy of one high school drop out, McDonald Corporation has grown to be the favorite fast food restaurant to millions of customers in more than 100 countries around the world. Business Goals, Objectives and Mission McDonalds S.M.A.R.T objectives Market share objectives Market share can be achieved within a specified period of time if objectives are set accurately Increasing profits objective is to increase profits or percentage of sales for a certain period of time. Survive Current/present hard times the business is in. Growth Business objectives may state growth by 15% year on year for the next 5 years ahead. Increasing brand awareness over a certain period of time. Mission Statement A mission statement is a brief and to point representation of a company or organizations purpose for existence. It is a formal document that states the objectives of a company or organization addressing concept like moral/ethical position of the company, public image, target market, etc. McDonalds Aims and Objectives Having great concerns bout the organizations customers. Being socially responsible for the companys welfare. Serving high standard and quality food with quick and outstanding service all along with great value for money. Maintain a good and friendly environment. McDonalds vision is to be the worlds best quick service restaurant experience. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness, and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile. McDonalds is known through out the world for their commitment to inclusion and diversity not only with their employees but with their franchises and suppliers. Core Objectives of McDonalds The core objective and mission of McDonalds is to be the worlds premier consumer product organization mainly focusing on convenient fast foods. They practice producing financial rewards to their investors hence providing opportunities for growth and enrichment for their employees, business partners and for the communities in which they operate. They strive for Honesty, Fairness and integrity in everything they do. McDonalds responsibility is to continually improve all aspects of the world in which they operate   environment, social, economic   creating a better tomorrow than today. Their main vision is put into action by a series of programs focusing on environmental stewardship, activities to benefit society and their commitment to building shareholder value by making McDonalds a truly sustainable company. Values and Principles of McDonalds. Core value is customer experience McDonalds is alive because of their customers and they demonstrate their appreciation by providing them with high quality products and services in a clean and welcoming environment, with great value for their money. Commitment to their people the key to their continuous success is them providing opportunity, nurture talent, developing leaders and reward achievement. Through their experience they believe that a team of well trained individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences, working together in an environment that fosters respect and drives high levels of engagement. Believing in the McDonalds system their foundation is based on their business model depicted by the three-legged stool of owner/operators, suppliers and the employees and their balance of interest among the three group is key. Operation of business ethically At McDonalds, business is run to high standards of fairness, honesty and integrity, individually being accountable and collectively responsible. Giving back to their communities They help their customers build better communities, support Ronald McDonald House Charities, scope and resources to help make the world a better place. Growing the business profitably As McDonalds is a publicly traded company, they work continuously to provide sustained profitable growth for their shareholders. Continuously striving to improve Through constant evolution and innovation, McDonalds aims to anticipate and respond to changing customer, employee and system needs. Stakeholder Analysis It is a technique adopted by organizations, used to identify and assess the importance of key people, groups of people, or institutions that may significantly influence the success of their activities or projects. This technique can either be used alone or with team members involved. Significance of a Stakeholder Analysis.

BaBar Experiment :: Chemistry Science Scientific Essays

BaBar Experiment Abstract I investigated the L = 1 mesons D*2(2460)0 and D1(2420)0 using data gathered by the BaBar detector at Pep-II. The decay process of these particles is interesting because it could serve to confirm or deny certain predictions made by HQET models. Thus far, the data gathered rougly conforms with measurements made by the CLEO and ARGUS collaborations. The data is still preliminary, however, and as such this paper should be considered merely a summary of the work done thus far. 1 Introduction 1.1 The BaBar experiment The BaBar detector at Pep-II was designed to study B mesons produced in asymmetric e+e- collisions. \Asymmetric" refers to the fact that the colliding electrons and positrons have different energies. This gives the resulting particles momentum in the laboratory reference frame, allowing their lifetimes to be measured even if they carry away most of the collision energy. In the current run at Pep-II, electrons are stored in one ring at 9 GeV and positrons in the other at 3.1 GeV. This sets the collision energy right at the T(4S) resonance, a short-lived combination of a bottom quark and its antiquark. This decays preferentially into a pair of mesons B and B|hence the name of the detector. Mesons are short-lived systems made up of a quark and an anti-quark; Bs are mesons in which one quark is a bottom (or an anti-bottom) and the other is a light quark (up, down, strange, or their corresponding antiquarks). The BaBar detector is optimized to measure the decay process of these B's as precisely as possible. It is hoped that differences between the B and the B decay processes will be uncovered and measured, which will lead to a better understanding of CP symmetry violation. \CP violation" describes an event that breaks the so-called Charge{ Parity symmetry. For a time, it was believed that if matter and antimatter were interchanged (hence, Charge) and if right and left were reversed (Parity), systems would behave in an identical manner. This symmetry has since been found to be broken in certain kaon decays, and it is suspected that further violations will be discovered in B decays. Note that if time is reversed as well as charge and parity, then the system will behave in an indentical manner; this is known as CPT symmetry, and is required for Lorentz transformations. It is hoped that learning more about events that violate the \broken" CP symmetry will shed some light on the relative scarcity of antimatter in the universe.

Human Service Agencies Essay

Human service agencies are formed by and for the public. As communities grow and change, the need to respond to the demands of these dynamic societies also increases. Not only does the society lay itself open to positive opportunities, it is also exposed to the negative drawbacks of this dynamism. In fact, there are so many social issues that individuals alone cannot resolve. These are matters concerning the society that need sufficient and appropriate attention also from the society. These agencies do serve as intermediaries between solutions to problems and individuals, families, and societies. There are many issues that individuals, families and societies have that need communal action. I believe that these important issues include the most rampant problems nowadays encountered by people. Even the simplest problems like underage alcoholism, drug dependence, compulsive gambling, widespread crimes†¦ these are social issues that need immediate attention. Issues starting in individuals or within families also necessitate consideration. Some of these are problems of child and women abuse, violence within and outside families, severe and persistent illnesses, including contagious ones, severe emotional disturbances experienced by people, and the like. I think, these ‘simple’ matters must be acted upon immediately by service organizations like human service agencies. This is to mediate and assure proper assistance to individuals and families, thereby assuring their safety, peacefulness, health and wellness, and the society’s as well. I also believe that there are no least important issues, as long as individuals or families, or members of the society are involved, they are considered issues that must be resolved†¦ immediately. I arrived at this standpoint because I myself am a member of this society. Directly or indirectly, I rely and I may rely in the future in these human service agencies for betterment, improvement, protection and the like. And I must not be concerned only about myself but also about the welfare of the whole society.

Personalized general health assessment Essays

Personalized general health assessment Essays Personalized general health assessment Paper Personalized general health assessment Paper Scientific and social changes of the 21st century have brought as radical change in the Health care delivery system (Patricia A Potter, 2005). The Healthcare profession has evolved through time to establish a firm role in the medical domain based on strong ethical, moral and professional principles. The healthcare practices have undergone a positive shift from that of a vocation to a professional status today and is ‘accountable’ today. Healthy People 2010 contain comprises of 467 objectives that clearly identify specific measures to monitor health in the first decade of the 21st Century (cdc.gov). Each objective comprises a statement of intent, a baseline value for the measure to be tracked, and a target to be achieved by the year 2010. The objectives are organized into 28 specific areas, each representing an important public health problem. PERSONALIZED GENERAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT General Health Assessment: 1.Personal Wellness Score: As of 03/29/2007 for Titilayo bakre; Personal wellness score is 84 against the achievable wellness score of 100. The results of the assessment are based on patient’s answers compared with U.S. average scores for people of the same sex, age and lifestyle habits. This is then compared to the highest possible score to arrive at the patient’s wellness score. A wellness score of 84 indicates moderate risk and that the patient might already be experiencing health problems. Thus, it was time to start making changes following the recommendations in this report to get her health back on track.

Letter of Recommendations

Letter of Recommendations Letter of Recommendations The letter of recommendation for any position or a promotion is to give an overall assessment of the candidates potential in excelling in the new position. In other words, the letter of recommendation is the support the candidate professional promise depending of the assessment that was done in the previous position that the candidate held. The importance of the recommendation letter is to give and highlight on the key and important areas of the student that will only show his strengths and the fitness for the position. The letter of recommendation should be well typed, clear and precise. The following qualities make the letter look more profession and well organized and this is what most recruiters look for in the letter. Is the letter focusing on the applicant? The letter of application should concentrate on the applicants capabilities and promise of his fitting to the next position. Description of the applicants record; The letter of recommendation should highlight on the performance of the applicant in his former position as this will give a hint on how well equipped he is for the next position. The letter of application should contain an overall record of the accomplishments of the applicant for this will enable the recruiter assess the capability of the applicant. The letter of recommendation should also portray characteristics that will support the applicant through giving the recruiter an easy way to predict the potential growth of the applicant. The letter of recommendation usually consists of three main parts, the introduction, assessment and recommendation or conclusion. Introduction part gives a general highlight of the applicant while the assessment gives the data or evidence of the capability of the applicant. The recommendation part recommends the applicant in the new position through the support of the assessment.

Ancient Greek Athletics of Pentathlon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ancient Greek Athletics of Pentathlon - Essay Example As the Greek term pentathlon suggests, in the Ancient Greek pentathlon, athletes competed in five items which included a wrestling competition, a sprint item or a race the length of the stadium, long jump, discus throw, and javelin throw. Some significant questions arise in this background. Why were there no individual events for discus, javelin and long jump in the ancient Olympics Why were these events limited to the combined pentathlon event The answers to these questions lead one to the ultimate conclusion that the different items of the pentathlon were not just some sports events, but rather they are very distinctly linked to the social and cultural systems of the Greeks which gave primary importance to the development and the progress of the citizens. All these competition items were opportunity for the Greek valiant men for expression of their sheer quality. This Ancient Greek athletics were very much part of the Greek tradition and through the epic tradition of the Greeks one can find examples of their pertinent importance in their culture. The real importance of these athletic competitions may be measured on the basis of the question of prestige and the glorification of the athletes in the pentathlon. To the mighty Greeks, who was the prime most race of the world in their age, pentathlon presented with an opportunity to express their greatness as a prestigious groups or a particularly important people. It may be argued that while these competitions provided the Greeks with an opportunity to achieve personal glory and might in a culture which ranked excellence of physical strength and valor, there has been greater value to these athletic items in the preservation of the state's interest which is, of course, the well being and advancement of the citizens who are benefited from the physical effort they invest in pentathlon. However, the more significant value of the pentathlon was that the events aimed at the overall progress of the Greeks contributing to its rich cultural and social systems. Pentathlon consists of five items - Discuss (Diskos), Javelin (Halma), Long Jump (Akon), Running (Stadion) and Wrestling (Pale). These items were linked to the progress of the individual and they are related with the social and cultural systems which emphasized the glorification of individuals in every sphere. Thus, the events were performed together rather than individually. "The Olympic games were not proving grounds for real combat The games were more symbolic, religious, and entertaining. Unlike hoplite, team-style warfare, the ancient Olympics were individual sports which allowed an individual Greek to win glory." (Gill). There are myths about the pentathlon which establish Jason, the leader of the Argonauts, as the originator of pentathlon. In the year 708 BCE, pentathlon became an Olympic event. It was in the 18th Olympiad that the pentathlon was introduced. The events in pentathlon ensured the developments of the chief skills of the individual which make one national hero and the example of Odysseus who was successful in every event in the pentathlon proves this social as well as cultural focus of the pentathlon. The role of pentathlon in arousing the national pride and prestige of the Greeks has its testimonies in the epics of the Greeks. Thus, in the Homer's Odyssey, one finds evidence of pentathlon