PESTEL Analysis of ADMAC

PESTEL Analysis of ADMAC A PESTEL analysis is a business measurement tool. PESTEL is a short form for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environment and Legislative factors, which are used to assess the market for a business or organisational unit. The PESTEL analysis is a useful tool for understanding the environmental influences in which organisation are operating, and the opportunities and threats that lie within it. By understanding the environment in which is operating can take advantage of the opportunities and minimise the threats. Specifically the PESTLE analysis is a useful tool for understanding risks associated with market growth or decline, and as such the position, potential and direction for a business or organisation. PESTLE analysis is in effect an audit of an organisations environmental influences with the purpose of using this information to guide strategic decision making. The assumption is that if the organisation is able to audit its current environment and assess potential changes, it will be better placed than its competitors to respond to changes. PESTLE analysis can be used for business and strategic planning, marketing planning, organisational change, business and product development and research reports. To be effective a PESTLE needs to be undertaken on a regular basis. Organisations that do analyses regularly and systematically often spot trends before others thus providing competitive advantage. The Purpose and Function of PESTEL Analysis The purpose of the PESTEL analysis to assess the industry which and company is in. The analysis is to help make decisions and to plan for future events which they operate in the organisation. In addition PESTEL analysis helps to understand the limited influence or impact and all factors that influence an organisation but are out of its direct control. An organisation on its own cannot affect these factors, nor can these factors directly affect the profitability of an organisation. But by understanding these environments, it is possible to take the advantage to maximise the opportunities and minimise the threats to the organisation. Businesses need to take a pro-active approach and be ahead of these changes, rather than hurriedly making alterations to products and processes in a reactive way. This can be achieved through a PESTEL analysis, i.e. an investigation of the Political, Economic, Social, Technological and Legal influences on a business. These forces are continually in a state of change. Political factors are how and to what degree a government intervenes in the economy. Political changes are closely tied up with legal changes and it continually being updated in a wide range of areas. Specifically, political factors include areas such as tax policy, environmental regulations, trade restrictions and reform, tariffs, and political stability. Political factors may also include Social and employment legislation and it will provide information about potential opportunities and threats around labour changes, for example skills shortages. Economic changes are closely related to social ones. The economy goes through a series of fluctuations associated with general booms and slumps in economic activity. In a boom nearly all businesses benefit and in a slump most lose out. Other economic changes that affect business include interest rate, exchange rates and the rate of inflation. In addition Stage of business cycle, Unemployment and labour supply, Labour costs likely changes in the economic environment. These factors have major impacts on how businesses operate and make decisions. Businesses will be more encouraged to expand and take risks when economic conditions are right. For example low interest rates and rising demand. Social factors include health consciousness and include the cultural aspects, career attitudes, population growth rate, age distribution and emphasis on safety. A major component of this is a change in consumer behaviour resulting from changes in fashions and styles. Trends in social factors affect the demand for an organisations products and how that organisation operates. Technological factors include technological aspects such as reduction in communications costs and increased remote working, automation and Impact of Internet. New technologies are continually being developed and the rate of change itself is increasing. The creation of databases and electronic communications have enabled vast quantities of information to be shared and quickly distributed in a modern company enabling vast cost reductions, and often improvements in service. They can determine barriers to entry, minimum efficient production level and influence outsourcing decisions. Furthermore, technological shifts can affect costs, quality, and lead to innovation. Environmental factors include ecological and environmental aspects such as weather, climate, and climate change, which may especially affect industries such as tourism, farming, and insurance. Furthermore, growing awareness of the potential impacts of climate change is affecting how companies operate and the products they offer, both creating new markets and diminishing or destroying existing ones. Legal factors include discrimination law, consumer law, antitrust law, labour law, and health and safety law. These factors can affect how a company operates, its costs, and the demand for its products. In addition this may impact access to materials, quotas, resources, taxation imports and exports etc. Discussion of most pressing issues of company currently facing on ADMAC is the well reputed Real Estate Management and construction company in UAE. Over the past 30years the company successfully completed number of real estate residential projects in UAE. Due to nature of the ADMAC with particular reference to how it has running itself and the current economic climate the assessment of external factors by a PESTEL analysis has been crucial in ADMAC success. This is becourse ADMAC has taken into account the implication for consumers, employees, associated organisation and the company mission statement. Each external factor would have been and continues to be examined and categorised in terms of whether its implication is negative or positive large or minor significance, continues impact so on. Whether the scanning of ADMAC, economy downturn in UAE is most pressing issue of the company has faced. Following discussion is to explain how it impacts the company. Past recent years there was economy boom at UAE, more development projects, infrastructure projects and real estate project was started and huge amount of money was invested. The sharp increase in construction, along with other key factors, has meant the industry was seeing a lack of skilled and unskilled construction staff. The demand for certain categories of employees and skill is also influenced by changes in social structure in an economy. Firms employing in construction have greatly enhanced the worth of technicians, surveyors and engineers during the last couple of years. In that time the firms are offer generally high salaries and wages due to competition of workforce of industry. The boom of economy now over, while the present it going to down little by little, therefore the climate of economic and labour market in UAE is low. Companies operating in fields like ADMAC have compelled to reduce their workforce due to high competition and short of new real estate construction projects. ADMAC have maintained excess workforce up to now but still excess labour turnover creates unnecessary expense and reduces efficiency to the firms. In some situations even after implementing some of the cost saving initiatives, redundancies can still become inevitable and this can pose significant challenges for an employer as many complex issues need to be address including legal, compensation, natural turnover of workers of the company and future economic changes of the region. Most property markets are certainly influenced by the forces of supply and demand. In the economy boom time thousands of new residents and workers are arriving in UAE causing demand for property to increase. In that time, many firms like ADMAC were having more than enough real estate construction projects. Unfortunately economy is now downturn, therefore many residential properties are not rented out or relinquish. The result of that is either ADMAC or other firms in the field are unable to get value for money from the residential properties where they were invested. On present economy climate of UAE, the investors are not investing a new residential project. Therefore competition between contractors are high due shortage of residential project. As a result ADMAC used to reduce their profit and risk markups to win the new contracts. In this reason the company profitability is squeezed or some financial losses due to unexpected risk in the construction. The above impacts are currently most pressing issue of ADMAC and those are occurring company financially unstable. 4.1.0 Example of PESTEL. POLITICAL The UAE Government has established a Federal Real Estate Regulatory Authority in order to co-ordinate regulatory efforts at the local and federal level. [source: EstateDubai.com] The main concern of the authority is about foreign property developers, who wholly finance their projects from local banks, without sufficient capital. Some foreign developers even depend on the local banks for complete funding, putting the lenders at risk of losing their finances, when the developer fails to complete their projects, or flee the country, leaving behind a huge debt. The government intention a regulation is to limit the finance being made available to foreign developers, who do not have a stake in the capital of their projects. So that regulation is help to keep real estate sector safe during the recession time. Over the last few years the UAEs real estate property market seen remarkable growth. The local burgeoning real estate property industry is anchoring the UAE governments economic diversification efforts. Favourable government policy frameworks and active participation of private sector have facilitated one of the worlds most desirable economy environments in terms of investments and revenue generation. Further, population growth, rapidly increasing economy, progressing service sector and promising travel and tourism sectors, rising purchasing power and strong consumer confidence are driving the industry. The modern shopping malls anchoring modern hypermarkets, highly developed free trade zones, shopping events and relaxed tax provision provide auxiliary growth thrust to the real estate sector. ECONOMY Economic conditions are influenced by political and government policy, being a major influence affecting government decisions. The UAEs central bank was keeping interest rates low to encourage economy growth in the country during the recession time. [www.arabianbusiness.com]. Interest rates play an important role in real estate activity. High interest rates tend to freeze the real estate market. If the interest rates are low, housing is more affordable and also is encourage homeowners to upgrade their houses. This will increase the demand of Real Estate market. In other hand interest rates affect the cost of capital and therefore to what extent a business grows and expands, it will be attractive for company to invest and grow with expectations of being profitable. Oil Company in UAE has decided to increase petrol prices by 11% which is highest percentage of gulf region.[source: Khaleej Times]. This price hike of the construction materials is attributed to the increase in fuel prices as they have directly impacted the construction and transportation costs, thus having a multiplied effects and a significant decrease in profit margins of the company. SOCIAL The UAE is very receptive to inflows of educated skilled people. The expatriate community is one of the largest in the world. However, for the most part the process for obtaining a visa is very simple and most applications are accepted. In this reason, UAE construction and real estate sector not expecting shortage of skilled workforce in the country near future. The UAE is a traditional Muslim country where the teaching of Islam plays a vital role in every aspect of life. From politics to education, from business to foreign relations, people look to Islam for direction. Thus the women have many more restriction as per their traditional teaching. Although, the society is slowly accepting women in the workplace. According to recent reports, now more than ever women are entering the workforce and even starting their own businesses, which is a significant improvement considering the restrictions women face. For the construction sector, women of the UAE and their continuing advancement mean a potential market with wide possibilities. TECHNOLOGY Technology is widely recognised by on strategic management as part of the organization and the industry part of the model as it is used for the creation of competitive advantage. Today, this means using computers wherever possible is to be easy organisation work process. Keep detailed record that can be accessed immediately, make financial transaction faster. Maintain the necessary level of stock factories or retail outlets or speed up communication via the Internet and emails. The effectiveness of companys advertising, marketing and promotional programs. The new technology of internet and television which use special effects for advertising through media. They make some products look attractive. ENVIRONMENT UAE new infrastructure facilitate plan including high speed metro projects and road project interconnecting with seven emirates will foster higher development and maturity in the real estate market. The prices of properties located close to metro stations and bus stations are already beginning to rise, marking the first signs of a transportation plan effect on the property market. The trend implies that with just three months left for the opening of Metros Red Line, home buyers are already beginning to take into consideration the ease of transport when choosing their home. This is a positive sign for real estate market, which has had a difficult year with the prices of flats and villas. One of the main reasons UAE is gaining popularity and attracting investors and visitors is the attractions it has to offer. Here the sun shines all around the year and the city offers a taste of exotic and exiting pleasures to all its visitors, irrespective of their age. All the modern facilities and infrastructure of the west combined with eastern hospitality and local customs make one feel like home in UAE. This has led to many people migrating here for work and living in the mild weathered heaven. This increased the demand for real estate and property and renowned developers and builders stepped in to adorn UAE with the worlds most exciting towers, shopping plazas, residential duplexes and business complexes. [source :BuyDubaiproperty] LEGAL Legislations pertaining to issuance of permanent resident status for foreigners purchasing a freehold property in select housing projects will further strengthen the real estate market in UAE. Recently, UAE government reviewing their property market regulation to assess the impact of the global financial crisis on current economy climate in the country, which has been hit due to an outflow of capital. According to the Gulf news The UAE federal government is reviewing the issue of freehold property visas linked to foreigners ownership of properties in different emirates. It is positive news and will bring a lot of faith and confidence in the market and freehold visas is to attract foreign investors to real estate sector in UAE. Mortgage Law No 14 for 2008, legalizing the housing finance sector in a 35-article law includes all procedures concerning a mortgage and its legal effects on the concerned bodies, as well as execution procedures on the mortgaged property, and the relations between the mortgage lender and borrower based on international best practices. The law will help better regulate the emirates growing real estate market, partly tainted by project delays and corruption probes. The law stipulates that mortgage contracts be registered with the Land Department, specifying the size of the loan, the repayment period and the value of the property. The law makes all mortgage deals that are not registered with the Land Department null and void, allowing the department to better regulate property and mortgage transactions. The law also requires that mortgages taken out on properties be sold by registered financial institutions, and be insured. It also regulates relations between both parties involved in the mortgage process, and the Land Department, which is responsible for implementing the law and ensuring the rights of both parties. Under the law, mortgage lender shall be a bank, financial institution or a finance company licensed by the UAE Central Bank to practice the activity of property finance. The law will definitely boost investor confidence in the real estate market of Dubai and expand the housing finance sector. 6.0.0 Conclusion Business planning at planned levels is a continuing process by which the long-term objectives of a company may be formulated, and subsequently attained, by means of long-terms planning actions designed to make their impact on the company as a whole. Corporate planning also involves deciding the policies of the company in pursuit of its objectives. Thus business aims and ethical considerations are brought together. PESTEL analysis looks at the external environment influence and is an appropriate strategic tool for understanding the environment in which business operates, enabling the company to take advantage of the opportunities and minimise the threats faced by their business activities. When strategic planning is done correctly, it provides a solid plan for a company to grow into the future. With a PESTEL analysis, the company can see a future of time, and be able to clarify strategic opportunities and threats that the organisation faces. By looking to the external environment to see the potential forces of change looming on the future, firms can take the strategic planning process out of the field of today and into the future.

Morality in Slaughterhouse Five :: Essays Papers

Morality in Slaughterhouse Five The destruction of Dresden was not "moral," nor is any destruction, really. We as mere mortals do not have the right to judge what is moral or not, however. That jurisdiction is left to the powers that be. But, we can still make haphazard guesses as to what strikes us as moral and immoral. Killing other humans is not something we were given the authority to do. The means yes, the will, yes; but not the authority. We have no right to decide who lives or dies. Think of it this way, how would you like it if someone decided you should die for something you had done, malicious or not. Events like the utter destruction of Hiroshima or Baghdad, or anywhere else for that matter, are completely detestable. Despite the fact that the inhabitants of those places had done some things to us that were unacceptable, we still had no right to take the action we took. There is no excuse for such action, there is almost always an available alternative to annihilation. Now, Sodom and Gomorrah, on the other hand, were destroyed morally and rightly by the powers that be. The fact that Lot’s wife, and innocent in the matter (despite the fact that she had compassion for the doomed), just happened to make a foolish choice. The cities were destroyed by the powers that be, whether God or the gods, for reasons they saw fit. It would seem the lesson did not take very well. However, this was an exception to the rule. No individual or group of individuals was directly involved in this. Those that were fit to be saved, were, and those unfit for salvation were demolished. With mass killings as undertaken by mortals, there is no determining or innocence or guilt. Innocents are killed alongside guilty. Those not even involved are massacred along with the rest. That is not to say that people should be sorted through, it is just to say that there is no rhyme or reason to it. It is simply senseless killing. The morality of the crusades is also in question. Christians (a.k.a.—the crusaders) believe in acceptance, forgiveness and universality. However, they proceed to kill those that do not comply with their religion. Am I the only one missing something? It seems to me that people of a religious nature would rather discuss and compromise than storm and pillage.

What Is Psychology? :: Psychology Expository Essays

Psychology is the study of the behavior of living organisms. The people that study the behaviors are called psychologists. There have been many studies done by these people to try and figure out why people or animal do the things they do. Psychology's four main goals are to describe what occurred, explain why it occurred, predict what event is likely to occur next, and to change to prevent unwanted outcomes. Psychologists study the process of thinking, learning, cognition, emotions, motivations, and personalities. An example of one study that has been done would be why a dog salivates to the sound of a bell and show. This behavior is due to a conditioned stimulus becoming a conditioned response. Another experiment done was with a baby and a white mouse to see if the baby would be scared if something happened while grabbing for the mouse. There are several different types of psychologist for different problems. One example is a school psychologist. In education and school psychology, they study the process of education and works to promote the intellectual, social, and emotional development of children in the school environment. The main type of psychology is called clinical psychology, which specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of mental and behavioral disorders. Behavior is any observable action or reaction of living organisms. There are many levels of behavior that is studied in psychology. Some psychologists concentrate on the behavior that at a high level like having aggression or being prejudice. There are four main characteristics needed to be an observable behavior, which are: the organism itself, motivation, knowledge, and competence. Behavior cannot be studied without the organism there in body. Also, motivation must be in place for the study of behavior because it is an immediate cause of a behavior. Knowledge is something that the organism already knows. In order to examine it, you need to understand the environment and what he/she/it knows, thinks, and remembers.

Creativity and Machine Design Essay -- Technology Robots Papers

Creativity and Machine Design Robots and machines have become very prevalent within recent years. We use robots to assemble cars, explore dangerous areas, and even as servants to clean our houses. In the future, we might even see robots help in delicate complex tasks like performing surgery. Many people think that the process that goes behind designing a robot is unimaginative, involving a lot of dull equations and assembly lines. In reality, the design process can be very creative. While the process behind designing a machine is creative, it should be noted though that eventually engineers were going to design robots to perform these tasks. Leonardo Da Vinci sketched early ideas for a helicopter in the thirteenth century, which only became a reality in twentieth century. Robotic maids that can clean the house was a futuristic idea that was seen in the 1960's cartoon "The Jetsons", but the idea of having a robot vacuum the floor has only became popular in the last year or so with iRobot's Roomba. Once engineers found the way to control their machines through the use of microcontrollers and programming, the cost effectiveness and precision of machines enabled them to be used in a wide variety of tasks. Although the ideas for the next tasks for machines may not be creative, the process that goes into developing that machine is a creative process. One of the most popular vacuum cleaners at this time is iRobot's Roomba. The creative engineering behind the Roomba enables the robot to much less expensive when compared to other robotic vacuums of the same size. Most of the other robots use a complex set of sensors and integrated programming to navigate across a floor. The Roomba on the other hand uses a creative and inexpen... ...ecause the ideas of others can stifle and interfere with their own ideas, losing a potentially important idea. The first thing to do when attacking a design problem is to get all the necessary information. If this is not possible, the creative engineer will perform an experiment to find the necessary information. Bibliography Brooks, Rodney. "Artificial life: From Robot Dreams to Reality". Nature 406 (2000): 945-947. Retrieved May 10, 2004, from www.nature.com Hanson, T. F. Engineering Creativity. Newhall, CA: 1987. Osborn, Alex F. Applied Imagination. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1957. Sheehan, John C. "On Applied Science". The Creative Mind and Method. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1960. pp. 95-97. Singer, Irving. Feeling and Imagination: The Vibrant Flux of Our Existence. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2001.

Childhood Obesity Essay

What is making the next generation fat? Just a decade or so ago the debate of childhood obesity was not even a matter to be discussed. Our grandparents never even questioned the weight of their children. Their children, our parents, ate healthy foods at the family dining table and played outside all day long, but the subject of childhood obesity has gained quite a bit of interest since those days. With the ever so growing popularity of fast foods, the introduction of Play station and Xbox games and the more demanding careers of today’s parents, the overdevelopment of both urban and suburban areas our kids are living sedentary lives and are becoming very overweight. The epidemic of childhood obesity is rapidly rising in America. The number of children who are now overweight has tripled since 1980 and the prevalence of obesity in younger children has more than doubled. Overall, approximately 17% or 12.5 million of the children in the United States between the ages of 2 and 19 are already obese (_C_ _enters for Disease Control and Prevention_ _, 2012_). This finding is very disturbing to many Americans and has caused many debates on who is responsible for this rising epidemic and how can we control it. Childhood obesity is measured by the body mass index (BMI). The BMI is calculated using a child’s height and weight. BMI does not measure body fat directly, but it is a reasonable indicator of body fatness for most children. A child’s weight status is determined using an age and sex specific percentile for BMI rather than the normal BMI categories which are used to determine an adult BMI. These are used because a child’s body composition varies as they age and also varies between boys and girls. Overweight in a child is defined as a BMI at or above the 85th percentile and lower than the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex.  Obesity in a child is defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. The causes of childhood obesity are multi-factorial. Obesity in children is caused by a lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating habits, media and marketing campaigns, adverse family conditions, stress and the avai lability of technology. Most Americans agree that childhood obesity is more prevalent today than ever before. If you look into the bedroom of an average American child you find video games, a computer, usually a television and possibly some other electronic gadgets. Today American children have access to just about anything they could ever want. They just ask and most parents will buy them whatever they want. If you looked into the same child’s room thirty or forty years ago you would have probably found baby dolls, toy trucks and probably even some books. You would have found the neighborhood children outside playing in the kickball or hide and seek in the yard. Children played outside from sun up to sun down. The playing of these physical activities outside has unfortunately been replaced by the inactive high tech toys of today. The kick ball and hide and seek games of thirty years ago have now been replaced with games being played on the Play Station, Xbox or Wii. It is estimated that children in the United States are spending at least twenty five percent of their waking hours watching television and statistically children who watch the most hours of television have the highest incidence of obesity. If you take another look inside the house of 30 years ago you would find a dad who went to work every day and a mom who stayed home to tend to the household duties and the children. With the rising cost of our day to day living expenses in America, most homes now must have both dad and mom working full time to make ends meet. Over the last two decades there has been an increase in the number of dual income families as more women have entered the workforce and more women become the sole supporter for their single parent family. This new way of living has caused American children to eat whatever is convenient for mom or dad to fix or for some children to eat whatever is easiest for them to fix for themselves. Constraints on time has made working parents rely more heavily on prepared, processed, and fast  foods, which are generally high calorie, high fat, and low in nutritional content. Usually these â€Å"easy† meals come in greasy bags from fast food establishments or in plastic wrappers within a frozen cardboard box and have to be cooked in the microwave before eating. In some homes the stove never even gets warm from preparing a meal more than once a week. These â€Å"easy† meals are contributing to the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. Today’s youth are considered the most inactive generation in history and the marketers of fast food have taken full advantage of it. American children are exposed to some 40,000 or more food advertisements per year. (_U.S. D_ _ept. of Health & Human Services_ _, 2011_). Most of these advertisements promote fast food. Therefore, the expanding fast-food industry is another cause for the rising childhood obesity epidemic. Fast food companies like McDonald’s or Burger King are not only selling their food, but also have a way of marketing which is not fair to consumers. Most fast food restaurants offer a toy together with a children’s meal. Usually the toy is from a popular new movie or television show so it is very appealing to children. Children are stimulated to eat junk food because they know they will be rewarded with a toy. Psychological issues and stress are said to cause obesity in adults, but they both can cause obesity in children as well. Some children have a difficult time dealing with stress, so they use food to comfort them when they feel unsure of things. Like adults, they too use food as a comfort when they feel, bored, anxious or angry. Children in the past did not have to worry so much about parents being divorced and remarried, mothers that worked long hours or fathers that traveled for most of the week. Today’s economy has put financial strain on parents and children cannot help but to hear and feel the results of these tough economic times. The children of this generation are all too familiar with all of these situations. Each child has to contend with different factors in their lives and they too turn to food as a solution. Our environment too has an effect on the growing number of obese children. Experts are now looking to at our environment as a cause of the rapid  increase of obesity in children in the United States. In urban and suburban areas the overdeveloped environment can create obstacles for children to stay physically active. In urban areas the space for outdoor recreation can be scarce, which prevents kids from having a protected place to play. Neighborhood crime, lack of street lighting and busy traffic can impede children from being able to run and play or ride bicycles as a means of daily exercise. In the suburban areas, the evolution of ‘sprawl’ can prevent children from walking or biking and contributes to the great amount of dependence on using motor vehicles to get around. Suburban neighborhoods too lack resources for physical recreation and many suburban neighborhoods do not include sidewalks. Genetics and DNA are also contributing factors in the causes of childhood obesity. A group of British researchers checked the DNA of 300 children who were overweight. They looked for extra copies or deletions of DNA segments. They found evidence that a deletion of DNA may promote obesity. The deletion of chromosome 16 is thought to cause obesity in children because it removes a gene that the brain needs to respond to the appetite controlling hormone leptin. Children with a chromosome 16 deletion appear to have a very strong drive to eat. These children are very, very hungry and always want to eat. (_British Medical Association, 2005_) This very slim chance may be the only cause that we cannot change. Unfortunately, some children are destined to obesity. These children are born with the genes that cause them to put on weight more easily and quicker than other children. These children end up storing the fat more easily than other children. There is not anything these children can do about their genes. Despite the strong influence that genetics can have on the epidemic of childhood obesity, studies show that our genetic makeup has not changed dramatically over the last couple of generations. Therefore the increases and prevalence of childhood obesity has to be mostly from other behavioral and environmental factors, not genetics. There are a number of root causes of obesity in the children of the United States. Selecting one or two main causes is next to impossible because the potential influences are multiple and intertwined. With the contributing factors of technology, family structure, advertising, stress and our  physical environment we are making the next generation fat. We can make small changes that will have a significant impact on the issue of childhood obesity. Parents and caregivers can encourage children to adopt healthy eating habits and be more physically active. We need to focus on overall good health, not necessarily a certain goal weight. We should teach and model healthy and positive attitudes toward food and physical activity. We should establish daily meal and snack times, and eat together as families as much as possible. When we shop for groceries we should purchase foods that will give children a wide variety of healthful foods to choose from. We should try to plan meals and serve them in sensible portions. Allowing children to â€Å"scoop† their own food can promote them eating in unhealthy amounts. These are just a few ideas of small change that can make a huge difference. We also need to promote exercise as much as possible. Having children walk to school when distance and safety allows is great exercise. Children should be encouraged to play outdoor games rather than just be allowed to sit in front of the television. There are plenty of activities that our children can do to get exercise. Remember even household chores like raking leaves or running the vacuum cleaner constitute as exercise. Washing the car on a hot summer day can be fun while they are getting exercise. Some children will jump at the chance to earn a few bucks. Children can be rewarded with a few dollars and they will never know they are being bribed into getting some exercise. Eating out is another place to be mindful of our decisions. When eating out is it important to be conscious of our food choices and try to keep healthy eating in mind. Lots of fast food places now offer healthy alternatives. The obesity issue is prevalent in the next generation, but it is not too late for us to work together to reverse this epidemic. REFERENCES British Medical Association, June 2005. _Preventing Childhood Obesity._ London: British Library Catalog. Centers for Disease Control, July 16, 2012, _Overweight and Obesity_. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html Ford-Martin, Paula. _(2005) The Everything Parent’s Guide to the Overweight Child._ Massachusetts: Adams Media Hassink, Sandra G, MD, FAAP. (2006) A _Parent’s Guide to Childhood Obesity._ United States: American Academy of Pediatrics. Herscher, Elaine, Woolston, Chris and Tartamella, Lisa. (2004) _Generation Extra Large._ New York, New York: Basic Books. Ludwig, David, MD, Ph.D. (2007) _Ending the Food Fight._ New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne, Ph.D. (2005) â€Å"I’m Like, So Fat!† New York: The Guilford Press U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, April 19, 2011, _Childhood Obesity._ Retrieved from: http://www.hhs.gov

Patterns in Religion Adherence Essay

Patterns in religious adherence have been steadily changing since the 1947 Australian census. The most noticeable difference is in the constant drop in the number of people that identify themselves as belonging to the Anglican church- an average of 2% every 5 years. In 1947 39% of the entire population claimed to be Anglican and by 2011 that number declined to 17.1%. Although Christianity is still the most popular religion in Australia the overall number of adherents has dropped from 88% to 63%. After World war 2, Australia saw an increase in many denominations in Christianity. More traditional churches such as the uniting church and the Presbyterian and reformed churches all experienced a downturn, losing 14.9% and 11.7%. The newer Pentecostal movement gained momentum with a 25.7% increase since 1996. Catholic, Baptist and orthodox churches also saw significant increase and gained 6.8%, 7.3% and 9.5% respectively. In Australia, 1947, 0.5% claimed to belong to a religion other than Christianity, but in 2006 increased to 5.6%. Buddhism 2.1% Hinduism 0.7%, Islam 1.7% Judaism 0.4% and other religions 0.5%. Hinduism was the fastest growing religion with a rate of 120.2% Buddhism and Islam also grew quickly. The other religions category rose 58.8% (includes spiritualism, wicca and Swedenborg) Judaism gained 11.3% which is smaller than the other religion but still significant and Australian aboriginal traditional religion had a decrease losing 29% between 1996 and 2001. Immigration has been the most dramatic effect leading to an increase in some groups and the decline of other. Other reasons are the movement from one denomination to another, seeking answers in new religious or spiritual movements and an increase in those who acknowledge that they have no religion. Besides Israel Australia has taken in more immigrants (relative existing population) than any other country in the world. Because of this there are now 14 orthodox denominations in Australia and more Eastern Catholic churches to cater for a wider range of ethnic communities. The national church life survey (surveys conducted in major churches in Australia) shows some of the reasons for the increases and decreases in Christian denominations, these being attenders switching from other denominations, decreasing their attendance or stopping attending completely, people attending for the first time or after an absence of a number of years, the birth of children often encourages them to come back and death. Pentecostal churches have the most amount of people switching into their denomination as well as the most amount of people drifting away or switching again. New age religions were also among the fastest growing faiths in the 2001 census increasing by 140% in the 5 years since 1996. Hinduism was not noted in 1947 but in the 1996 census Hinduism had taken 0.4% of adherents from a religion other than Christianity, by 2001 it had grown to 0.5%, 2006- 0.7% and 2011- 1.3%. The decline of the â€Å"White Australia† policy in the 1970’s meant it became easier for migration from a greater range of ethnic groups. Immigration from Asia (India, Malaysia and Indonesia) and the Middle East (particularly Lebanon, Iraq and Iran) has extended Hinduism. Overseas wars and persecution have led to waves of immigration from affected areas for example Lebanon in the 1980’s, which led to an increase in Hinduism in Australia. Many Hindus where also brought to Australia from India by the British to work on cotton and sugar plantations. Hinduism is the fastest growing religion and the fastest since 2006, increasing from 148,130 to 275,534 accounting for 1.3% of religions other than Christianity. This may not be only from immigration from countries where Hinduism is prominent but also because of Australians curiosity and need to experience different things. Hinduism focuses on polytheism meaning they worship many deities, but some Hindu’s describe it as one god in many different forms, some people may have been beginning to search for something other than Christianity and the basics of it, so Hinduism became more popular as a way for people to experience a wider array on how to live life in accordance to religion. Hinduism accepts the existence of all religions; it allowed people to express their spirituality. It may have also been the diversity of the Hindu beliefs that interested Australians, and played a part in its rapid growth.

Analysis on death of the moth by Virginia Woolf Essay

The passage â€Å"The Death of the Moth† has been excerpted from Virginia Woolf’s (1882-1941) collection of essays and published one year after her death. Throughout this particular passage, she symbolizes a moth and its insignificance yet contribution to nature, along with her views on life and death. She skillfully elaborates about this moth, providing information that reveals it is much more noteworthy than it is treated. She begins her writing with a general idea of moths, and although the sentence â€Å"they are hybrid creatures, neither gay like butterflies nor somber like their own† is written in a factual manner, it is actually not a fact; it is her method of expressing that moths are unique individuals, not completely like butterflies and not completely like their own kind. Virginia’s purpose of displaying it in this factually manner is to verify the strength of her belief in this phrase. The moth was trapped and put so much effort into retrieving its freedom that she felt a slight sense of pity for the trapped moth. Nevertheless, she still watches it without reacting to aid it. As she watches it, she realizes the moth has not given up yet, as if it has plenty to strive for. Woolf describes the moth as â€Å"pathetic†, since it was battling against the inevitable and was in pain because of the profound effort that seemed unworthy in her eyes. We see that with numeral examples from this essay, Virginia carefully chooses her style of writing and literary devices to make her writing effective, detailed, and emotionally expressive. It is difficult to understand what exactly motivates her to write like this, and how exactly it reflects her reason for suicide, but there are still many interpretations. She did, however, persistently mention her fascination by the creature, as it had so much determination to live, thrusting its body uneasily, attempting to save itself. The moth seemed to have a dignity that it was holding on to, as it fought vigorously to live. Personally, I think this is the reason people find her motive to voluntarily give up her own life to be extremely ambiguous. The message Woolf is trying to convey to the reader is that one must give in to death, as it is part of the life cycle. One needs to give in to the inevitable, as all beings will die and it is only a matter of time. Even though this particular moth used to be pathetic in her perspective, Virginia now watched it as if it were a renowned masterpiece. The moth had transformed into becoming a truly magnificent creature in her eyes; thus her use of paradox is meant to keep us thinking and wondering. For sixty years now, students and professors of the English language have been studying her rhetorical modes, in hopes of bringing out the true meaning behind her literature.