Are There Any “Winners” in War? Essay

War is not a game people play to win prizes or gain recognition for their skill. After one side surrenders, and a treaty is signed, one side does go home feeling like a winner. Both sides suffer irreplaceable losses. For this reason, there are no true winners in war. Some people may feel that they came out of the war victoriously, but as Agatha Christie said, To win a war is as disastrous as to lose one. For example, in the American Revolution, we won, but is it really victory when 8,000 Americans died on the battlefield? We lost more soldiers than the British lost during that war, yet we came out of it looking like winners. Theres a reason that every country that participates in war is a loser, whether they lost more men, they didnt get what they wanted out of the war, or they started the war and caused all the deaths that took place within it. So far 3,974 soldiers have died since the war was launched in Iraq on March 20, 2003. More than 81,000 Iraqis have died in the same war. These lives can not be replaced. These atrocities can not be mended. The moment lives are disrupted, and the moment a life ends, you have officially lost the war, even if it hasnt ended yet. When a soldier is sent to war, their loved ones hope for their safe return, but all the while knowing that some will be lost along the way. And all they can do is hope that their loved one will not be one of the thousands that die. Numerous soldiers from both countries come home with severe injuries that affect how they will live for the rest of their life. 29,320 American troops alone have been wounded in the Iraq war. They are not able to do things they once could and they often regret joining the army. Because of the appalling events that soldiers are subjected to, they often return from battle with harsh psychological effects, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I man I know has slept with a weapon in hand for thirteen years after coming back from being in the war. He sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night and thinks he is in combat. He frantically looks for his gun and screams for someone to give him orders. Some Soldiers also have survivors guilt, and they feel bad that they made it out alive but a friend didnt. In addition, some soldiers may feel remorseful over killing somebody, and from there on  live a lamented, guilt ridden life. Most people who are involved with war go through at least one of these things, which is another reason that nobody comes out of war being a winner. The countries involved in the war suffer economically as well. For example, the United States has spent almost 500 billion dollars on the war in Iraq, which could have been forestalled. Instead of using this money to support war, it could be donated to hospitals, or used to help find cures to diseases. Using the money for these causes would benefit us to a great extent, unlike using the money for war. Iraq will have to rebuild their country because of all the destruction we have caused over there, which will also cost a lot of money. Regardless of who wins according to who drops or surrenders first, both sides lose. Neither side wins because neither side was courageous enough to go about their disputes in a means other than war. They couldnt come to a consensus over how to solve their problems. Adults should act like adults and work out their problems through conversation instead of acting through violence, because if they fail to do so, the consequences will be extremely unpleasant. In war, you always lose more than you gain. You may get what you went to war for in the first place, but in the process you have lost so much that it just isnt worth it. There are no winners in war, just survivors. bibliography: http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/http://www.iraqwarveterans.org/war_stories.htm

Like Riding a Bike

The saying â€Å"it is just like riding a bike† is very commonly used to describe a skill that virtually everyone masters and usually at an early age.   It also means that once the skill is mastered it is never forgotten.   For me, however, this skill was not easy and I still would not consider it mastered.   The difficulties I had in learning how to ride a bicycle not only haunted much of my childhood, but carried over into learning how to drive a car.   The challenging experience began when I was five years old. My mom bought me a new bicycle with the intention of teaching me how to ride it, I learned to ride at age ten and at sixteen was reminded of the difficulties when it was time for me to get my driver’s license.   My struggle was not due to a lack of coordination or ability, because I have been very active in varying sports beginning with football at the age of four.   I excelled at baseball, lacrosse, basketball, roller hockey, and football, but feared the bicycle. I loved the brand new bicycle Mom bought for me and was anxious to learn to ride.   When I actually got on the bike however, I did not feel like I was in control.   As a person who needs to feel in control of situations, I was not comfortable.   Mom said I would gain control as I became better and learned to balance.   I tried to learn and she tried to teach for years.   These attempts usually ended in a screaming match between us and never seemed to get me any closer to mastering the art of bike riding.   I was embarrassed to be the only person my age who did not know how to ride a bicycle, but the fear of injury and lack of control always won out over the embarrassment. By the age of ten, Mom had given up trying to teach me, because we were both tired of it.   I had outgrown the bicycle Mom had bought me without ever riding it.   Through the many battles over it and failed trials, though, it looked like it had been through a war.   I had three younger siblings by this time and all of them had learned to ride bicycles with no more than the usual struggles of learning.   When my four-year-old brother, Dominic, mastered the skill, I knew it was time I overcame my fear and learned.   Somehow, I took strength and courage from my little brother and managed to keep a bicycle in the upright position long enough to say I could ride a bike.   I continue to struggle with the balance and would not say the skill is something I ever mastered, but at least I got over feeling like a failure. When it came time for me to learn to drive a car, the fear of not being in control returned.   I put off getting my permit in attempt to make excuses for not getting my license.   Everyone else my age seemed very excited to have the opportunity to drive, but I found ways to avoid it. I used the same courage I had gained with the bicycle to tackle my fear of driving and met the challenge.   I did not want to be the only teenager around that could not drive a car. At age sixteen I did get my license and have become a good driver.   It did not require balance as the bicycle did and control was easier to gain. Although the fear of not being in control has played a part throughout my life to this point, I have not let it take over my life.   With courage and determination, I have overcome the difficult challenges in my life and plan to take on any new challenges that come along with the same determination.   When people are faced with challenging situations, they have two choices. They can either give up and accept defeat or they can face their fears and the challenge and triumphantly overcome them.   Now when I hear the phrase â€Å"it’s like riding a bike† I know the task might not be easy, but it can be accomplished and once it is learned it will never be forgotten.   It is very easy for young children to be permanently affected by childhood experiences and although I laugh about it now, it did play a role in my learning to drive a car.

E-Commerce Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

E-Commerce Systems - Essay Example E-commerce is not only limited to the exchange of goods or services, it involves a broad range of activities in different departments such as design, finance, promotion, distribution etc (OECD 2001). This has become one of the most popular and productive sources for business transactions (Kerner 2005). Companies invest great deal of their resources to have an appealing presence on the internet to attract consumers towards their products and services. There are two main classifications on the basis of which strategies are formulated to promote and market the products and services of the respective company- business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). These classifications are made on the basis of the type of target market that is chosen by the business owner; the buying-end can either be a business itself (B2B) or an individual consumer who has certain requirements (B2C). B2B sales are targeted for a limited segment of customers whereas B2C sales are aimed for the whole set of consumer market (YourDictionary.com n.d.). The competition in the markets is more than ever and is still increasing. This has arisen as a result of the consumer’s access to global products and services rather than being restricted to local ones. E-business makes access to global products even more convenient. Companies are required to possess an attractive presence on the World Wide Web since otherwise they will loose the race for greater market shares and revenues. The following are some of the incentives that are gained by B2C websites: The dynamic nature of the web facilitates frequent promotions by companies regarding their products and services and these marketing strategies cost much lesser than the conventional modes of promotion and marketing. The internet user generally browses the website himself. The marketing messages can be reached to him on a personal level. There may exist enhanced responsiveness in the medium of the

Should gambling be illegal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Should gambling be illegal - Essay Example It is not surprising that 51 percent of American adults consider casino gambling â€Å"acceptable for anyone,† (Popkin and Hetter 1994), as the proliferation of sports books and new casinos on virtually every Indian reservation continues unabated. Adding gambling addictions, scams, the drain on taxes, and the unchecked expansion of Internet gambling to the mix, this lucrative industry is draining much of the life out of families and the economy to the point that its illegalization is the only answer. With America’s continued economic downturn, gambling is exacerbating society’s financial woes, as it also reported to feed into costly collateral damage seen in alcoholism, prostitution, drug abuse, destroyed families and various criminal behaviors. But compared to the revenues generated by other segments of the entertainment industry, does gambling really take that big of a bite out of America’s pocketbook? To get an idea, a government report stated that in 1 997, Americans spent some $50 billion on gambling, which was more than all the money spent on movie tickets, theme parks, recorded music, and video games combined, which generated a substantially lower $39.9 billion (Campbell 1999). The government has even gotten into the gambling business through seemingly harmless state lotteries, which are often touted as â€Å"supporting our schools,† yet many taxpayer dollars go into funding gambling winnings. And even though it is noted that â€Å"Legal gambling operations in the U.S. pay millions of dollars in taxes annually to the local and federal governments,† (Hammer 2001), it is also contended that gambling throws away a great deal our federal government’s money. Yet it is argued that shutting down the gambling industry could have disastrous effects, â€Å"What happened with alcohol [prohibition] was a disaster . . . Nobody wants this business, which is flourishing offshore, being pushed back onto the streets and th e back alleys of the U.S. . . . there’s a huge opportunity here [for the government to collect revenue],†(Carruthers 2004). But legal experts assert that legalized gambling has never been on the scale to resolve any social issues, as â€Å"States frequently overestimate the financial impact of gambling revenues,† (Popkin and Hetter 1994). Consequently, it is hard to argue that keeping gambling legal will outweigh the harmful financial and social ramifications that this frivolous pastime carries with it. Feeding into the burgeoning gambling industry with its lotteries, casinos and sports books is the expansion of Internet gambling, which has ensnared Americans in the dangerous privacy and comfort of their own homes. To give a perspective of its growth, it is estimated that worldwide Internet gambling accounted for $300 million in 1997 (Campbell 1999), $2.2 billion in 2000 (Bedell 2011), and the projected amount for 2006 came to $100 billion (Baker 1999). In additi on, â€Å"It is reported that more than 4.5 million Americans have gambled online at least once,† (Bedell 2001) and it is also reported that online sports books take in more money from the Super Bowl than all Las Vegas sports bookies combined (Any Given Sunday). And with increased Internet gambling, there has been a proliferation in criminals scamming gamblers by illegally obtaining personal information, including credit card, social security and pass code data. To curb the wide-scale online scams, much legislation has been

Small Business Appraisal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Small Business Appraisal - Essay Example However, there have been a number of Indian start ups in the domain, with quite a few bigger Indian business houses too throwing their hat in the fray. One of the most prominent start ups in foods and services retailing domain is Lite Bite Foods (LBF). LBF operates in the high growth segment of Quick Dining Restaurants (QDR) and Quick Restaurants (QR). It was founded by a group of High Networth Individuals and industry professionals, and has been funded by an Institutional Venture Capital firm. The firm has entered into strategic tie ups with a number of well known food brands, and is presently in the roll out phase. As per the company website, it already about half million square feet of retailing space under is management and is aggressively looking at adding more space. This small business was started to cater the need for fast food in Indian population. In the given project, the business as well as management of the business will be discussed after undertaking the theory of small business and entrepreneurship. ... ble for developing small businesses which were started by a single person, later on other family members like sons, relatives and friends might join with the owner which results in increase in the size of business. Many famous multinational business of today had started as a small business by a single owner. These examples act as motivations for millions of people to start their own small business. Even today the small business plays a vital role in gross domestic production in developed countries like US. As per a report published in September 2010, the multinational companies in US buy goods and services from more than 6,000 American small businesses that amount to $3 billion. This represents approximately 24 percent of the total buying done in US. Thus, these small enterprises are important partners of the US multinational companies. The government policies of US are also concerned for development of small business in America. As for example, the resent agreement of $ 1 billion fo r increasing new export by US firms will boost demand for goods and services and this will benefit the SMEs. As per the data, the small businesses are responsible for 99.7 percent that is $29.6 million business in US during 2008. Almost 49.6 percent of total payroll employment done in US is offered by small business. The young small business are important for creating new jobs as small business within the age of two years are accounted for creating 25 percent of new jobs in last few years (Business Roundtable, 2010, p.1-2). Not just in developed nations, even in emerging nations, the small businesses are important for the economy like China and India. There are several factors that influence small business growth in these markets. Among these factors, socio-economic condition, availability

Barnes & Noble Survival Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Barnes & Noble Survival - Research Paper Example A company’s long term success depends on how good it is managing its affairs at present and how well it is prepared for the future. If adequate planning is not carried out, a decline will inevitably set in. Therefore planning and making changes for the future before the decline sets in is the key to an organization’s long term success. The way in which company’s decides to make these changes for the future are all defined in the company’s strategic planning. This process often involves making changes with respect to the organization’s environment and the overall quality management plays an essential role in promoting these changes within the organization. Furthermore the allocation and utilization of human and financial resources to their best possible areas is also very important. The leadership of the organization plays a very important role in driving the organizational values and motivating its individuals to superior performance. Once individua ls in an organization are propelled to do their job with full commitment, the organization is moving towards its success. This can be observed in the real life cases where organizations mature, move towards success, and sometimes if effective management is not taken care of the decline sets in and the organization loses its market share, shareholders’ trust and consequently losses may result. ... Recent studies have shown that the employers who believe they have excellent managers are five times more likely to be highly engaged in organizational activities and its overall success than those employees who rate their managers and supervisors as poor. The following graph clearly depicts this relation (The Advisory Board Company, 2011). Therefore it is often said that the managers can either make or break an organization. Therefore it is also very critical to evaluate the management performance timely and regularly and reward the best managers who perform their roles in an effective and efficient manner. The importance of leadership in the success of an organization Often an incapable captain or the ruler of a country is responsible for its downfall. Even though it may be argued that since almost every one of us takes a few if not all the decisions on our own, it makes us a natural leader. While many regard a leader to be the engine of a train and the others are mere followers, u nderstanding who a great is and what makes him stand out from the rest is of great importance. Is a leader only responsible to make the right calls or the horizon that he/she entails is much beyond that? Be it from the political standpoint of a flourishing economy or from the leaders of the big fortune 500 global companies, a strong leadership has played a critical role in driving its success (Davis, 2010). Many argue that having leadership traits is more of an inborn trait rather than instilled into someone’s personality, the point of discussion then shifts to the set of attributes that must be present in an individual to transform into a great leader. Analysis of Barnes & Noble Company Barnes & Nobles is a books retailer selling all types of books through its chain of

Psychology Adult & aging Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Psychology Adult & aging Development - Essay Example isease process that may result from sub-optimal hormone levels, inadequate dietary protein, and other nutritional imbalances, lack of exercise, oxidative stress, and inflammation (Brink 1-4).† As a person grows older, he or she losses a percentage of muscle tone yearly. And as the individual reach the age of 75, the percentage of muscle mass is typically half of what it was during young adulthood. Muscle mass decreases because as people grow older their physical activities become less. Studies likewise show that growth hormones and testosterone levels that helps in muscle development diminishes. And as this happens the muscles cannot contract as fast as before because â€Å"more fast-contracting (fast-twitch) muscle fibers are lost than slow-contracting (slow-twitch) muscle fibers (The Merck Manuals 2).† The lifestyle of an individual plays a major role in his overall health and well being. While there may be studies that show the lifespan of a person basing it on age, gender and race, the possibilities of beating the odds by properly taking good care of one’s self could actually beat the odds. An example of this is: when you start smoking at a young age, say at age 12 or 13, the probability of you acquiring a disease related to smoking is greater that those who smoked at a later age like 25. The explanation here is that at the age of 12 your respiratory system has not still been fully developed to withstand the bad effects of smoking. Thus, at that age most of your lung capillaries were already destroyed and your system is already pumped up with nicotine. Another example is: having a balanced diet and doing regular exercise. By eating properly you nourish your body with nutrients that it needs in order to perform daily activities. And by exerting you tome you muscles and strengthen your overall physique. But if you are a couch potato who simply wants to just lie around and eat junk food – then you could be a candidate for obesity and early stroke –

Reading Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Reading Reflection - Essay Example It helps bring out the element of suspicion in the story. When one is reading any literary work, it is necessary for the reader to shift from the real world to the imaginary world where he understands the story better (Guerin, 2005). The title of the book piqued my interest to know what Walter might be doing in the secret world and hiding it away from the real world. In his daydreams, Walter is portrayed as a man of high esteem. It would therefore be necessary for me as the reader to know the secret behind Walters’ high esteem. In the first instance of his daydream, the crew insinuates that the, â€Å"old man will get us through, he is not afraid of hell†. This instance creates an image of a man who is not afraid of situations. It is also interesting to know why other members hold the man in such a high esteem in his group. The scenes portrayed in the daydreams sustain my interest in the story. The first instance of a daydream Walter is a commander, the second daydream he is a famous surgeon attending to a millionaire. The last second daydream Walter is a witness in a courtroom whereas the last instance of a daydream, he is a captain of a warplane. My interest in this story was driven by the desire to know whether Walter wanted to become some of the people described in the daydreams in his real life. ... The reader should account his feelings with certain aspects in the literary work that makes him have the feelings. This approach requires the reader to connect with the story, and assess the insight that the connection with the story brought (David, 1984). It is also paramount for the reader to consider the connection with the story and other stories that he has read. He should then evaluate if the connection added anything new to what he already knew. In this story, there is a connection with the Walter’s day dreaming behavior. The daydreams in this story, which help the reader to connect with the story, enable one to understand the meaning of the story. Walter’s daydreams are all frenzied ranging from flying in the middle of a deadly storm, working with faulty machines in surgery room, as well as facing a firing squad boldly. It is evident that the daydreams may be prompted by the chaos in his life brought about by his relationship with his wife. His wife is portrayed as a person who always quarrels with Walter over one thing or another. The aspect of Walter daydreaming is a means of escaping tribulations in his real life. He wants to escape to a world where he is in control of his own situations. He escapes from the real world to an imaginary world where he is in control of his own affairs. It is however worth to note that his escapism leads him to more troubles. In one instance as he is daydreaming, he is unable to pack the car correctly only to be assisted by the packing attendant. While heading to town with his wife, he daydreams and ends up over speeding the car. His daydreaming behavior also makes him forgetful. He forgets what his wife requested him to buy before they left home. The style of telling the story helps us to

Introductory financial accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Introductory financial accounting - Essay Example storical cost basis of presenting the information is more consistent and reliable way of presenting the information as compared to recording the information at fair value. This is mostly due to the implausible assumptions behind the computation of fair values by the organizations. Current financial crisis has highlighted once again the issues related with the use of market to market and convergence of accounting standards. It is widely accepted that one of the key reasons for the financial crisis was mark to market accounting under which banks were forced to write down the values of their assets and hence book the losses in their accounts. Mark- to Market value process therefore has the capability to create financial instability. (Enria, 2004). However, despite such arguments against the mark to market and convergence of accounting standards there are still important benefits or advantages which can be driven from the use of mark- to market accounting as well as the convergence of international accounting standards.( Ebling, 2001). The use of fair value accounting not only improves the characteristics of the financial accounting reporting but it also allow investors to have better insight into the overall affairs of the firm.( Chisnall,2001). This report will therefore attempt to discuss the advantages of international convergence of accounting standards, assessing the impact of mark-to market on the profit and loss, balance sheet amounts as well as gross margins of Wesfarmers Ltd. Further advantages and disadvantages of the use of historical cost as well as the market value will be discussed. As discussed above that one of the key debates at the international level involve the convergence of financial reporting standards and developed a mutually agreed conceptual framework for financial reporting at global level. This is also due to the fact that organizations are increasingly becoming global in nature with business interests in different parts of the