Liberal Peace

Essay Topic: â€Å"The global reach of liberalism will inevitably lead to peace and security for all† what are the grounds for this argument? Answer: Liberalism is a theory of international relations with a view point that human is born good and free. In this question will require a discussion on the Democratic Peace Theory which was emphasised after the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union. The main argument was that democratic states tend not to fight other democratic states. This theory has been associated largely with writings of Michael Doyle and Bruce Russet.Early authors like Immanuel Kant also foreshadowed the theory of peace between liberal democracies in his essay â€Å"Perpetual Peace† written in 1795. The idea that Liberalism will inevitably lead to peace and security was based on the ground that Liberal democracies naturally seek for peace, the spirit of free commerce, the interdependence among states and the principle of Human rights. Liberalism by de finition sees human beings as non- violent, born good and seeking to develop ties and as such naturally they are not interested in waging wars. In Kant’s words, peace can be perpetual. War is therefore both unnatural and irrational.According to Doyle wars were created by militaristic and undemocratic government for their own interests. Paine also in his work â€Å"The right of Man† said the war system was contrived to preserve the power. War provides governments with the excuses to raise taxes and expand bureaucratic apparatus and increase their control over the citizens. However according Liberals Democracy will create a zone of peace. If we defined democracy as the government of the people for the people by the people then it will be impossible for citizens who bear the burdens of war to elect a government who will take them to war (Doyle 1967: 1151).Nations like France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and Austria are less likely to fight any war among them since they have memories of the damages and massive destructions of the world war one and world war two. Democratic states have much respect for civil rights. If it is wrong for an individual within a state to commit a crime against another individual so does it applies to democratic nations. It is wrong for one democratic nation to wage war against another democratic nation. This idea was also developed in Kant’s rgument about the league of peace or pacific federation (Foedus Pacificum) This idea of peace is based on all human beings which stand in an ethical relationship to one another. For Kant’s â€Å"this league of does not seek any power of sort possessed by any nation, but only the maintenance and security of each nation’s own freedom â€Å". Doyle will later expand on this proposition that liberal states have a unique ability and willingness to establish peaceful relations among themselves. The second key assumption of liberalism on which peace and security can be achieved is the practice of free trade among nations.The mercantilist period of history is linked to the rise of the modern nations in Europe. This period could be described as the time which nations were focused narrowly on gaining wealth and discouraging imports. The mercantilist policies included restrictions on import and development of colonial empires. Mercantilist view was that of the Louis XIV’s finance Minister, Jean Baptist Colbert who said â€Å"trade is a source of finance and finance is the vital nerve of war† According Carr â€Å"the aim of mercantilism was not to promote the welfare of the community and its members but to augment the power of the state†.In process of promoting export mercantile nations setup barriers to discourage import and conflicts were often caused. However Kant said unhindered commerce between the people of the world unite them in a common and peaceful enterprise. Later view by Joseph Schumpeter also supports the claim of Kant. According to Schumpeter, capitalism produces an unwarlike disposition; its populace is â€Å"democratised individualised and rationalised† therefore democratic capitalism leads to peace.Over the last 15 years regional trade agreements have become defining features of the modern economy and a powerful force for globalisation. As of July 2007 more than 380 regional trade agreements had been notified to the World Trade Organisation (Crawford and Fiorentino). As the French philosopher Baron of Montesquieu said in 1748 â€Å"peace is a natural effect of commerce† (Humphery’s 2004) increasingly many countries are realising that their interest may best be served by integration with like-minded countries that have similar economies.Regional trade integration can support peace. The believe that trade can foster peace among nations have been seen it real world practice when in December 2004 Israel and Egypt signed a trade protocol with the US designed to accelerate the rapprochement between the two countries. This deal allowed the Egyptian to export freely the US. Another examples of this agreement which seeks promote peace through trade is the regional agreement signed by the Tunisian and the Morocco Governments with the EU this in order to curtail the rise and spread fundamentalism in these two countries.These examples justify the claim by the American radical democrat Paine when he announced that â€Å"if commerce were permitted to act to the universal extent it is capable, it would extirpate the system of war. Closely linked to the idea of Free Trade and commerce as means of achieving peace and security among Liberal nations is the notion of interdependence and liberal institutionalism, no nation in the world can claim absolute independence or dependence. All nations are closely linked to each other and have become interdependent on each other.The evolution of communication, transportation, the invention of deadly weapons such as the nucl ear bomb, the contagious nature of economy and the growing demographic pressure on the planets are just few of the factors that explain this interdependence. The formation of regional economic groups such as the European Union, the North American Free Trade Agreement in the Latin America, the ASEAN, in Asia and the African Union were inspired the belief that the likelihood of conflict between states would be reduced by creating a common interest in trade and economic collaboration.Liberal Institutionalism also agrees the interdependence of nations can create a zone of peace which Kant called the Pacific Federation of which is made of more than sixty countries. War according to Kant is less probable to occur between any two nations of this federation this does not mean that pacific nations do not go to war. In the nineteenth century countries like the United States and the Great Britain have continually had misunderstanding and wars but after the reformation of the British Parliament in 1832, Britain and the United States were able to negotiate their disputes without resorting to conflict.Britain and France who were rivals in colonial front were able to form an entente against the illiberal Germany before the World War I. President Woodrow Wilson will late proclaim the reigning peace in message of April 2, 1917: â€Å" Our object now as then, is to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world as against selfish and autocratic power and to set up amongst the really free and self-governed people of the world such a concert of purpose and as will henceforth ensure the observance of those principles. †

Bartolomeu Dias Biography Essay

Why on earth would a person sail around the southernmost tip of Africa without modern sailing technology such as GPS? Bartolomeu Dias was such a person to accomplish his great voyage around the Cape of Good Hope. He was born in Portugal around 1450 and was a Portuguese navigator and explorer and was known as the first European who sailed around the southernmost tip of Africa and reached the Cape of Good Hope. Bartolomeu Dias’ achievement had ultimately led to expansion of trade routes and the foundation Portuguese Empire. He came from a Portuguese noble family and his father was a member of a Portuguese court (Alchin). When he grew up, he also became a member of the royal Portuguese court like his father. Some people believed that his descendants were seamen and explorers. When Bartolomeu Dias was young, he could receive high-level education compared to other ordinary people. He also leant many languages, physics, geometry, mathematics, and astronomy. The privileged childhood that he led, such as environment that he was in and the education that he received allowed him to be well-educated and be able to sail around the world. Despite his cleverness, his navigational and sailing skill was extremely high and later he became the sailing-master of the man-of-war which was British Royal Navy description for a strong warship. Through years of voyage, Bartolomeu Dias discovered the sea route around Africa and his voyage lead to the foundation of Portuguese Empire which helped to make the trade between Africa and Asia increase. Motivation Bortolomeu Dias is a well known Portuguese navigator who is the first to travel around the southern tip of Africa and name it the Cape of Good Hope. He comes from a noble family, so he can have much support even if the country didn’t support him. Dias’ family is not only rich, but also much of his relatives have seagoing background. Since he comes from a noble family, he was well-educated. During his education, he learned about math, physics, and astronomy. In addition, because of his relatives, he also has experience of navigation and exploration (Loon Lake). In 1487, he was chosen by Portuguese King John 2 to go and explore a path to the Indian Ocean through the southern tip of Africa (LLC). During the period of time which Dias live in, Portuguese, Spanish, and other European countries are trying to discover more about the world and find different ways to get to other countries to expand their colonies. To compete with other empires, the kings will send an intelligent and reliable explorer to be the sea captain who is able to lead the crews on the voyage. The Portuguese King selected Dias on the voyage because of his background. Dias was a superintendent of the royal warehouse (Hartig, Otto), so the king knows about much about his background. Because of his educational background, he is able to use his knowledge of astronomy and his navigation skills in the voyage to correctly sail on the Atlantic Ocean without getting to the wrong place or getting lost at the ocean. Dias became a successful explorer who brought glory to his home country because of his omni-directional knowledge. His attitudes toward study enable him to complete the mission. If he didn’t work this hard, how could they find their destination accurately? How can Dias open the road for Gama? Details of Adventure Most records of Bartolomeu Dias’s early voyages have been lost from time to time. There are, however, three of his voyages that are currently known to historians, including his journey on a war ship in around 1481 (wikipedia), his voyage to the Cape of Good Hopes, and his last exploration as an advisor for Vasco Da Gama, in which he and his fellow sailers were tragically killed in a storm. Bartolomeu’s most famous exploration is his second trip, which brought Europeans to the southernmost tip of Africa for the first time. The crewed sailed off from the port of Lisbon in Portugal in 1487 (biography. om). At first Bartolomeu followed the map created by Diogo Cao, another portugese explorer. Bartolomeu brought with him the standard padroes for staking territories for Spain and marking coasts for later explorations (biography. com). On February 3, 1488, Bartolomeu’s crew landed on the Sao Brass, modern day Mossel Bay. There, they encountered an extremely hostile local tribe, who threw stones at the ships until the Portugese shot dead one of their tribesmen. As they sailed further along the southern coast of Africa, Bartolomeu’s crew started to fear because their food supply is running low. They want to end the exploration immediately and travel back to Andra Do Salto, where they left 15 men to watch over their food supply. Bartolomeu convinced his sailers to give him three more days before heading back. They finally stopped at Kwaaihoek, where they planted a padroe and headed back toward Portugal. On their way back, Bartolomeu Dias named the second cape they encountered Cape of Storms, which later became the Cape of Good Hopes. After 15 months of travel, they covered over 16,000 miles and arrived at Lisbon in 1488 (Alchin). 7 men died on this historical journey. Bartolomeu’s crew brought tons of jewelries with them on this trip and traded for ivory along the African coast (BBC News). The Impact of Voyages Batrolomeu Dias is the Portuguese explorer who rounded Africa’s southern tip, then sailed up part of Africa’s east coast before returning home. [World History 544] Also, he discovered Brazil, which later becomes a very important place for mining gold, silver and trading raw materials. Because he discovered the route that rounds Africa, Vasco da Gama was able to round the Africa and found the Spice Islands, or now days Philippines. Philippines gave Portuguese large amounts of spices, and also, they could hold a great power in trade with Asia. The reason they could hold that much power is because they found the route to Asia. And at that time, Portuguese was the only country who knew the trade route toward Asia. And Bartolomeu’s voyage helped Vasco da Gama to find his route to Africa. So, Bartolomeu’s voyage had an impact on Vasco da Gama’s voyage, and da Gama’s voyage had a huge impact on Portuguese’s trading and economy. Overall, Bartolomeu’s voyage had an impact on Portuguese’s trading and economy. Also, â€Å"his trip contributed to the establishment of the Portuguese Empire in the begining of the 16th century, that would lead to an increase in trade in Africa and Asia with Portugal. He appears in the Portuguese bills of 2,000 shields. † [theageofdiscovery – Bartolomeu Dias]. Usually, a great person who is respected by people, and who contributed for the country a lot will appear on the bills of the country. So, appearing on the bill prove that Bartolomeu Dias had a huge impact on Portugal’s history.

Us Postal Service – Insolvency

The United States Postal Service: At the Brink of Insolvency Business 510 – Managerial Economics Final Project Submission February 25, 2012 Executive Summary this report takes a look at the United States Postal Service financial problems, which brought it to the brink of insolvency, after losing more than $25B in the last 5 years. It analyzes factors and performance and postulates corrective actions to bring USPS back to financial solvency. Both microeconomic and macroeconomic factors affecting the firm were analyzed while identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.USPS products and services demonstrate its strengths with its monopoly of the mailing industry and as a government franchise with an open line of credit with the Federal Financing Bank of up to $15B. Weaknesses include lack or very little diversity in its products and services, very restrictive delivery schedules and mandated large delivery points. Opportunities for USPS include increasing its product diversity taking advantage of the internet and other developing technologies it can use to improve its operating expenses. USPS is also experiencing external and internal threats.One of these threats is the wider acceptance of digital technology especially with the internet and email, smartphones and mobile internet, skyrocketing operating costs and inability to make timely changes and responses to mitigate continued losses without having to go through the Postal Regulatory Commission and Congress. In view of this, USPS is recommended to take a multi-prong approach to improve its revenues by increasing product pricing with its shipping services while staying competitive, using the theory of price elasticity of demand to appropriately price its mailing services and diversifying its products.Reduce operating costs by reducing numbers of employees, improving its fleet of vehicles to more fuel efficient vehicles or using alternate energy and also by reducing managed facilities a nd delivery schedules. And finally USPS needs to request Congress to give it authority to effect price changes resulting from out-of-the-ordinary changes in cost of fuel and other materials and resources used in fulfilling its mandate of providing a fundamental postal service to the nation. Overview Establishment and General Business Description Article 1, Section 8, clause 7 of the United States Constitution establishes the U.S. Postal Service. The current post office organization is operating under the provisions of the Postal Reorganization Act of July 1, 1971 designating the US Postal Service (USPS) as an independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, Public Law 109-435 made further revisions and the governing statute is codified in Title 39 of the United States Code. The same public law created the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) bestowing the PRC with regulatory and oversight obligatio ns in the management and operation of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS Annual 10-K Report, 2011). The mandate of the USPS is to offer a â€Å"fundamental postal service† to the entire nation at fair and reasonable rates approved by Congress. This mandate is fulfilled by offering different level of mailing and shipping services throughout the country. As of September 30, 2011, total employees number to 557,251 career employees, down 4. 6% from the year before of 583,908 and 88,700 non-career employees (Annual Report to Congress, 2011).More than 85% of career employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements through one of the following four management organizations: American Postal Workers Union (APWU), National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), National Postal Mail Handlers (NPMHU) and National Rural Letter Carriers (NRLCA). Products and Services The United States Postal Service divides their services into two broad categories: Market dominant mailing services and c ompetitive shipping services. Mailing services include First Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals and Package Services.Shipping Services include but not limited to Priority Mail, Express Mail, Bulk, Parcel Post and Bulk International Mail. Mailing services have set floor prices but generally doesn’t have any set ceiling price up to the allowed maximum size and weight limits (usually 70 pounds for each package). The same holds true for shipping services. All these services are offered through a network of more than 32,000 Post Offices, stations and branches, plus thousands of contract post units, Community Post Offices, Village Post Offices, retail establishments selling postage stamps and other services including the internet, www. sps. com. Additional services offered are sale of Postal Money Orders, leasing of Post Office boxes and sale of post cards or greeting cards. International mail and package services are also available to more than 190 countries (Annual Report to Congress, 2011). The current First-Class Mail stamp costs $0. 45 increased 2. 1% starting in January 2012 that was announced in October 18, 2011. Postal Service Mail pricing is set by the Board of Governors and approved by the PRC. Shipping services pricing is set by law covering both the institutional costs allocation and attributable costs.The institutional cost allocation is determined by the PRC and is currently set at 5. 5%. Thus the shipping cost is the sum of 5. 5% institutional costs (comparable to transaction costs) and attributable cost, representing the direct cost of the mailing or shipping services based from the weight and size of the package (USPS Annual 10-K Report, 2011). Current Financial Statement For the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, the United States Postal Service reported a net loss of $5. 067B from their operation, an improvement compare to the previous year’s loss of $8. 505B. This is despite a reduction of 4. % in the number of its career em ployees from 583,908 to 557,251 (USPS Annual 10K Report, 2011). Just like any other private businesses, the USPS was also greatly impacted by the global economy especially the deep and prolonged economic recession of 2008. Additionally, with improvement in technology, wider availability of internet broadband services, lower cost of personal computers, prevalent use of online banking and also surge in offering of online funds transfers, which not only offers convenience and speed but virtually free, has directly compete and won over some of the mailing services of the USPS.Mail volume deliveries have decreased by 5% in the last two years, 2011 and 2010 and the year before, in 2009, the decrease was a staggering 12. 8% (USPS Annual 10K Report, 2011). The expansion of mobile internet coupled with smart phones will only worsen USPS declining mail volume in the future. Finally, one of the biggest operating expenses of USPS besides transportation costs and plant equipment and facilities i s employee wages and retiree benefits. USPS employment costs makes up approximately 80% of its total operating costs (Kosar, 2012).Employee wages and retiree benefits costs are significantly impacted by wage inflation, health benefit premium increases, retirement and workers’ compensation programs, and cost-of-living allowances. In the last 5 years, the USPS suffered a total net loss of more than $25 billion including $21 billion of expenses for the pre-funding of the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund (PSRHBF) mandated by Public Law 109-435 (USPS Annual 10K Report, 2011). USPS current total debt as of September 2011 is at $13B which is only $2B from its statutory limit of $15B set by 39 U.S. C 2005(a) (Kosar, 2012). Financial statements reported to Congress for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011: Years ended Sept. 30, 2011Percent change from preceding year (dollars in millions) 2011 2010 2009 2011 2010 2009 Operating revenue $ 65,711 67,052 $ 68,090 (2. 0%) ( 1. 5%) (9. 1%) Operating expenses * $ 70,634 $ 75,426 $ 71,830 (6. 4%) 5. 0% (7. 6%) Loss from operations $ (4,923) $ (8,374) $ (3,740) Operating margin (7. 5%) (12. 5%) (5. 5%) Net loss $ (5,067) $ (8,505) $ (3,794) Purchases of capital $ 1,190 $ 1,393 $ 1,839 (14. 6%) (24. 3%) (7. %) Property and equipment Debt $ 13,000 $ 12,000 $ 10,200 Interest expense $ 172 $ 156 $ 80 Capital contributions of $ 3,132 $ 3,132 $ 3,087 U. S. Government Deficit since reorganization $ (22,072) $ (17,005) $ (8,500) Total net deficiency $ (18,940) $ (13,873) $ (5,413) Number of career employees 557,251 583,908 623,128 (4. 6%) (6. 3%) (6. 0%) Mail volume (pieces in millions) 167,934 170,860 176,744 (1. 7%) (3. 3%) (12. 8%) New delivery points served 636,530 739,580 923,595 *P. L. 112-33 had a net impact of a $5. 5 billion reduction of expenses in 2011.P. L. 111-68 had a net impact of a $4. 0 billion reduction of expense in 2009. Graphical representation of USPS operating revenues and expenses from FY 2 004 – FY 2011 Market Structure Monopoly Salvatore D. (2012) defined a monopoly market as â€Å"an organization in which a single firm sells a product for which there are no close substitutes† (p. 388). And of the four sources of monopoly cited (Salvatore, p. 390) is one established by a government franchise like the United States Postal Service. Not all of USPS products and services are monopolized.USPS monopoly is only in their mailing service referring to as its â€Å"dominant mailing service†. No other delivery service company in the industry is allowed to deliver mail. And this includes delivery service companies like UPS and FedEx. Mailing services includes First Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals and Package Services. The USPS’s has monopoly over letter delivery, mailbox monopoly and the ability to suspend the delivery in certain areas. It enforces this monopoly with its armed postal inspectors who can conduct searches and seizures if it suspect s breach of its monopoly.The only exceptions to this monopoly are â€Å"letters accompanying cargo† and â€Å"letters of the carrier† (interoffice correspondence) including bicycle messengers and overnight deliveries (Giddens, 2003). Monopolistic Competition Is defined, â€Å"as the form of market organization wherein there are many sellers of a heterogeneous or differentiated product and entry into and exit from the industry are rather easy in the long run† (Salvatore, D. , p. 396). Although the United State Postal Service does have a monopoly on â€Å"mailing services† it however does not have monopoly over â€Å"shipping services† which it shares with FedEx and UPS.However, this non-monopolized â€Å"shipping service† cannot be classified as â€Å"Monopolistic Competitive† market as there are only few sellers offering the products or services. Additionally, the same products and services are basically homogeneous. Instead it is cla ssified as an oligopolistic market. Oligopoly Is defined, â€Å"as the form of market organization in which there are few sellers of a homogeneous or differentiated product† (Salvatore, D. , p. 412). Products and services offered by the U. S.Postal Service in its â€Å"Shipping Services† division is classified as an oligopoly market. It shares this â€Å"shipping services† market with United Parcel Service and FedEx. With very few firms in the shipping industry, all three (USPS, UPS, and FEDEX) seems to operate more like interdependence firms rather than rivalries. This is evidence by the collaborating services of USPS and UPS called â€Å"UPS Basic† while the one between USPS and FEDEX is called â€Å"SmartPost†. This interdependency operation between these three firms mutually benefits all parties.Although it may look like USPS is getting the shorter end of the deal, but by conducting an incremental analysis it will show USPS is just actually syn ergizing its required mandate of providing fundamental postal services. On the other hand, UPS and FEDEX benefit also from the consolidation by sharing their â€Å"not so profitable† area of their shipping services to USPS to ensure continued services to their customers and at the same time customer loyalty. Competition and Alliances There are a number of communications media competing for the same types of transactions and communications in the mailing and delivery services industry.These include newspapers, telecommunications, televisions, e-mail, social networking and online electronic funds transfers. For the shipping services intense competition is offered by United Parcel Service and FedEx Corporations (USPS Annual 10K Report, 2011), although at the same time these two competitors are also its alliances as described above. United Parcel Service (UPS) Financial comparison Below is UPS’s financial statement for the last three years 2008 to 2010. Comparing U. S. Pos t Office 2010 and 2009 annual total revenues, UPS’s 2010 is only 73. 2% to that of the U. S. Post Office while its 2009 revenue is only 66. 53% to that of the U. S. Post Office. This is proof positive even though the U. S. Postal Office is generally a local national firm, it has larger revenue than a multinational firm like UPS. However, when comparing operating expenses the U. S. Post Office edges UPS by a very large margin. U. S. Post Office total operating expenses of $75. 426B for 2010 more than doubles UPS’ $31. 989B. And for 2009, U. S. Post Office’s total operating expenses of $71. 83B dwarfs UPS’ $31. 692B!While UPS posted a Net income of $3. 488B and $2. 152B in 2010 and 2009 respectively, the U. S. Post Office posted a Net Loss of $8. 374B and $3. 74B in the same years. Income Statement All numbers in thousands Period EndingDec 31, 2010Dec 31, 2009Dec 31, 2008 Total Revenue 49,545,000 45,297,000 51,486,000 Cost of Revenue11,682,000 9,804,000 11, 878,000 Gross Profit 37,863,000 35,493,000 39,608,000 Operating Expenses Research Development- – – Selling General and 30,197,000 29,945,000 32,412,000 Administrative Non Recurring- – – Others1,792,000 1,747,000 1,814,000Total Operating Expenses- – – Operating Income or Loss 5,874,000 3,801,000 5,382,000 Income from Continuing Operations Total Other Income/3,000 10,000 75,000 Expenses Net Earnings Before 5,877,000 3,811,000 5,457,000 Interest and Taxes Interest Expense354,000 445,000 442,000 Income Before Tax5,523,000 3,366,000 5,015,000 Income Tax Expense2,035,000 1,214,000 2,012,000 Minority Interest- – – Net Income From3,488,000 2,152,000 3,003,000 Continuing Ops Non-recurring Events Discontinued Operations- – – Extraordinary Items- – –Effect Of Accounting Changes- – – Other Items- – – Net Income 3,488,000 2,152,000 3,003,000 Preferred Stock And Other Adjustments- †“ – Net Income Applicable3,488,000 2,152,000 3,003,000 To Common Shares Product and Services comparison UPS products and services are homogenous to U. S. Post Office products and services with the exception of mailing services in the United States. UPS is basically a package delivery company (shipping services) providing transportation, logistics and financial services in the United States and in other 220 countries.It also provides letter and document delivery but only those considered time constraint delivery exempted by the U. S. Post Office from its mailing service monopoly. Unlike the U. S. Post Office â€Å"shipping services†, UPS operates internationally thus providing import and export logistic services throughout the world. It also provides various technology solutions for automated shipping, visibility, billing, distribution centers (to various industries like healthcare), technology, retail/consumer and a portfolio of financial services. FedEx Financial co mparisonBelow is FEDEX’s financial statement for the last three years 2009 to 2011. Comparing U. S. Post Office 2011 and 2010 annual total revenues, FEDEX’s 2011 is only approximately 59. 81% to that of the U. S. Post Office while its 2010 revenue is only approximately 51. 80% to that of the U. S. Post Office. Just like with UPS, FEDEX annual revenue is just barely a little over half of the U. S. Post Office annual revenue. However, U. S. Post Office Operating Expenses more than triples FEDEX annual operating expenses hence resulting in huge annual Net Loss to the U. S. Post Office while FEDEX posted a Net Income of $1. 52B and $1. 184B in 2011 and 2010 respectively. Income Statement All numbers in thousands Period EndingMay 31, 2011May 31, 2010May 31, 2009 Total Revenue 39,304,000 34,734,000 35,497,000 Cost of Revenue14,266,000 11,908,000 12,672,000 Gross Profit 25,038,000 22,826,000 22,825,000 Operating Expenses Research Development- – – Selling General and20,598,000 18,852,000 18,899,000 Administrative Non Recurring89,000 18,000 1,204,000 Others1,973,000 1,958,000 1,975,000 Total Operating Expenses- – – Operating Income or Loss 2,378,000 1,998,000 747,000Income from Continuing Operations Total Other Income/(27,000)(25,000)15,000 Expenses Net Earnings Before2,351,000 1,973,000 762,000 Interest And Taxes Interest Expense86,000 79,000 85,000 Income Before Tax2,265,000 1,894,000 677,000 Income Tax Expense813,000 710,000 579,000 Minority Interest- – – Net Income From1,452,000 1,184,000 98,000 Continuing Ops Non-recurring Events Discontinued Operations- – – Extraordinary Items- – – Effect Of Accounting Changes- – – Other Items- – – Net Income 1,452,000 1,184,000 98,000 Preferred Stock And Other Adjustments- – –Net Income Applicable To1,452,000 1,184,000 98,000 Common Shares Product and Services comparison FEDEX product and services are als o similar to UPS and with USPS’s shipping services. Its services are divided into four segments: FEDEX Express, FEDEX Ground, FEDEX Freight and FEDEX Services. FEDEX Express, Ground and Freight generally deals with domestic and international shipping services while FEDEX Service provides sales, marketing , administrative, information technology and customer service support services including copying and digital printing services.Economic Factors Macroeconomic Factors Unemployment and recession The greatest recession in U. S. history since World War II was declared to have started as early as December 2007 and officially over by June 2009 per National Bureau of Economic Research (Beatty, A, Sept 2010). During the start of the recession, unemployment was at a 5. 0% (Dec 2007) and reached its peak of 10% in October 2009.However, these unemployment figures are misleading because as per Bureau of Labor and Statistics, â€Å"Unemployment† is defined as people who do not curr ently have a job, have actively looked for work in the past four weeks (from the time when the report is prepared) and are currently available for work (Amadeo, n. d. ). It also includes people who are temporarily laid off and waiting to be called back to work. People who are unemployed and have not looked for job in the last four weeks (from the time the report is prepared) are removed from the labor force and are not counted as unemployed.The Bureau of Labor and Statistics also releases â€Å"Alternative measures of labor underutilization† report divided into 6 sections as follows: * U-1 Persons Unemployed 15 weeks or longer as a percent of the civilian labor force * U-2 Job losers and person who completed temporary jobs as a percent of the civilian labor force * U-3 Total unemployed as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate) * U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers * U-5 To tal unemployed plus discouraged workers, plus all other person marginally attached to the labor force, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all person marginally attached to the labor force *U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force Of these six sections, the focus is on the U-3 and U-6 figures. As of December 2008 the official unemployment rate as per BLS Report (U-3 figure) is at 7. 3% while the U-6 figure is at 13. 5%. The difference is 6. 2% meaning while 7. 3% of the work force is being reported as officially unemployed, another 6. 2% are not. And this unreported 6. 2% are mainly those who have stopped looking for jobs or those who hold part time jobs. By June 2009, when the last economic recession was officially declared over, the U-3 and U-6 figures are 9. 5% and 16. 5% respectively. And for the year ending, December 2011, U-3 was reported at 8. % and U-6 at 15. 2% for a difference of 6. 7%. This difference indicates 44. 0% (6. 7% / 15. 2%) of the unemployed is not reported in the official unemployment rate. This is an indication although unemployment rate has been reported to decline from its peak of 10% in October 2009 to 8. 5% in December 2011, there are still far more unemployed people being unreported or have continuously decided not to join the workforce. High unemployment adversely affects the national economy in general including delivery and shipping services firms like USPS. With consumers having less confidence and less money to spend, there is less business for delivery of goods.When unemployment rate is high, there are fewer consumers while still those employed has less spendable money. Hence, retailers’ sales decline so is the order of replacement merchandise directly translating to reducing shipping services both for the retailers and consu mers. In short, there will definitely be a negative impact on USPS revenue. Cyclical changes in the economy, i. e. recession and inflation is nothing new to USPS, however the effect of modern technology like the personal computers and internet is.At the height of the recession, 2009, USPS revenue declined by 9. 1% over the previous year with a total net loss of $3. 74B followed by another $8. 473B net loss in 2010. Unemployment rates peaked from 7. % in January of 2009 to 10% in October 2009 and declined to 9. 4% in December 2010 were in parallel with these revenue losses. The bulk of USPS operating expenses is mostly from its employee wages and retiree benefits and transportation. Of these, employee wages and retiree benefits are the least elastic. With more than 85% of its employees covered by Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA’s), USPS is strictly constrained to react promptly to sudden changes to the economy to reduce its operating expenses, i. e. laying off employees or reducing retiree benefits. Inflation Inflation is defined as a sustained increase in the general level of prices for goods and services.It is measured as an annual percentage increase. As inflation rises, every dollar you own buys a smaller percentage of a good or service. The value of a dollar is never constant and it is referred to as its purchasing power. With inflation there is a decline in the purchasing power of the dollar (Investopedia. com) For USPS, inflation also results in adverse effects on its revenues but mostly it affects the cost of health benefits it has to cover for its employees and retirees. For its operations, the cost of fuel also greatly affects its operating expenses. Cost of living allowances and workers’ compensation programs also add to increased operating expenses.But the most negative impact is the inability of USPS to readily adjust its product and services pricing based from inflation as it requires legislative actions to do so. Government Le gislations Since USPS is a government owned firm, it operates within the guidelines of public laws. Product and services pricing are approved by Congress. In addition, delivery schedules and delivery routes are also regulated by the Postal Regulatory Commission. With the implementation of Public Law 91-375 commonly known as the Postal Reorganization Act of 1971, the USPS became a self-supporting, wholly governmental entity designed to cover its operating costs with revenues generated through providing fundamental postal services to the entire nation (Kosar, 2012).It does not receive annual appropriation from Congress for its operating budget except for the annual $100M congress pays to compensate USPS for the revenue losses incurred for free mailing privileges to blind persons and overseas voters, as directed by Congress. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA) established the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund (PSRHBF) and required USPS to prefund its future retirees’ health benefits at a cost of approximately $5. 5B per year for 10 years with remaining balance amortized in the subsequent next 40- year period. For FY ending 2011, the unfunded obligation to this fund is at $46. 2B (the accuracy of this amount is still being debated depending on what valuation method is used) (Kosar, 2012). Below is the table for the RHBF payments under the PAEA: Table 1.Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund Payments Under PAEA Fiscal Year Payment Due Per PAEA (billions) Status of Payment 2007 $5. 4 Paid in full. 2008 $5. 6 Paid in full. 2009 $5. 4 $1. 4 billion paid 2010 $5. 5 Paid in full. 2011 $5. 5 No payment 2012 $5. 6 Due September 30, 2012. 2013 $5. 6 Due September 30, 2013. 2014 $5. 7 Due September 30, 2014. 2015 $5. 7 Due September 30, 2015. 2016 $5. 8 Due September 30, 2016. Source: Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (P. L. 109-435,  §803; 120 Stat. 3251-3252; 5 U. S. C  §8909(d)(3)(A). ) Due to solvency problems, Congress reduced the FY 2009 payment amount to $1. 4B (P. L. 111-68) while in FY2011, Congress delayed the payment to August 1, 2012 as per H. R. 112-331.By front loading the RHBF, USPS has switched from funding its RHBF from â€Å"out of pocket† cost to pre-funding. It’s this prefunding causing a tremendous financial strain on the firm. It’s also an indicator on how much leverage and control government legislations have over the firm. And this is just one of the two biggest entities having control over the firm’s operations. The other one is employees’ unions. Collective Bargaining Agreements More than 80% of USPS operating cost is due to its employees’ wage; and more than 85% of its employees belong to one of the four unions or referred to as management organizations, i. e. , APWU, NALC, NPMHU and NRLCA.Unfortunately for USPS even though it enjoys benefits from federal regulations like monopoly of mailing services and having the ability to borrow money from the Federal Financing Banks up to $15B or as set by Congress; the same federal laws also put constrains in its ability to increase revenue by increasing prices without prior approval; or decreasing its operating costs by reducing mail delivery schedule; or closing non-performing post offices; or by having power to control labor costs. Statutory processes for resolving disputes between labor and management frequently results in arbitrators being empowered to make binding decisions heavily favoring employees (USPS Annual 10K Report, 2011). With declining revenues since 2007, USPS has been unable to reduce employee numbers to desired sustainable strength, its main operating cost, without having to rely solely on attrition or buy outs due to collective bargaining agreements that heavily favor employees. Future strategy calls for attrition or reduction in employees’ numbers to an additional 120,000 positions by FY2015.However, USPS is unable to achieve this with out overriding current CBA’s and it doesn’t have the power to do so. Microeconomic Factors Personal Computers and Internet In their 2009 annual report, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, approximately 68. 7% percent (81. 939 million households) of all U. S. households have internet access. Out of this 68. 7%, 63. 5% uses broadband service while 4. 7 % uses dial up service with the remaining 0. 4% using either satellite or dish access (BLS, 2010). And the numbers will only continue to grow as personal computers become more affordable and internet services continue to be made available in the rural areas.With internet comes email and social networking services. Although email is a differentiated product from regular paper mail or commonly referred to as â€Å"snail mail†, its purpose and function is completely the same. In short, email is almost a perfect substitute product for regular paper mail. The decline in first-class mail volume started to tak e center stage when the volume of First-Class mail, where USPS gets the majority of its money from, fell below junk mail volume for the first time in 2005 (Leonard, 2011). Total mail volume declined 20% between 2006 and 2010 resulting in a total net income loss of $25B. 1-From 2011 Report on Form 10-K USPS So is email killing USPS?Although decline in First-Class mail alone cannot postulate this to be accurate, there is however undisputed evidence email has delivered a severe financial blow to USPS. Like this is not serious enough yet, digital communications continue to evolve and quickly becoming mainstream. Mobile phones or smartphones are not only capable of making a phone call but also able to send emails just about anywhere they can find service signals from their providers. The phone can also be used to send text (â€Å"texting†), providing not only faster communication than regular paper mail but even better than regular email as it requires no computer to access it and is in real time.To make matters worse for USPS, most businesses are already moving to â€Å"paperless† bill and payment delivery meaning the 20% decline in first-class mail volume in the previous years, not only will it be probably irreversible but will most likely worsen before it gets better. And then there is yet still another evolving technology that could also adversely affect USPS’s other business model, â€Å"shipping services†, and this is with the digital or electronic books. According to Amazon, the largest retailer on the web, Kindle books are just now starting to outsell printed books (Leonard, 2011). Everyday Low Pricing strategies If you are looking for the cheapest postal rate around the world, look no further than the U. S. Postal Service.For a universal rate of 44 cents (before January 12, 2011, where it rose to 45 cents), for the first ounce, a First Class letter mail can be delivered anywhere in the United States and its territories. In compa rison, for the same letter mailed locally, in Norway it would cost the sender $1. 63; in Japan it would be $1. 06, in France it would be $0. 81, in Germany it would be $0. 77, in UK it would be $0. 74 and in Canada it would be $0. 61 (Annual Report to Congress, USPS, 2011). Like this is not cheap enough yet, the Standard Mail is even cheaper consisting mostly of advertising and periodical mails. So is everyday low pricing causing financially losses USPS?In comparison to other postal services it would seem so. An analysis of this dilemma is presented in the business strategies section of this report. Outsourcing and global competition Although most U. S. companies have adopted globalization and have included outsourcing in their strategy to compete in the global market, the U. S. Postal Service remains a sole government franchise operating only nationally. As such it does not include outsourcing as a part of its business model and do not compete globally. Business Analysis Current Fi nancial Performance USPS current financial performance in the last 5 years and especially in the 2011 is in â€Å"dire straits†.With over $25B in net losses over the past five years including $21B of expenses for the prefunding of retiree health benefits, it ended 2011 with only $1. 2B in total cash and only $2. 0B of remaining borrowing capacity. The projected payments for the PSRHBF for 2012 is a staggering $11. 1B ($5. 5B for the deferred 2011 and $5. 6 for the upcoming 2012 contributions) and then there is the payment for workers’ compensation for approximately $1. 3B by September 30, 2012. Even with all the re-structuring tools available for the USPS put into place including price increases just recently approved, USPS will not be able to meet all its current year financial obligations.Unless, congress makes changes to the current requirements of prefunding USPS’ PSRHBF, the firm is technically insolvent even prior to the end of its 2012 accounting period a nd will remain so at least until 2016. Previous Financial Performance The last time USPS posted net income from its operations was in FY2004 ($3. 1B), FY2005 ($1. 626B) and FY2006 ($969M), (USPS Annual Report 2007). It was in 2006 P. L. 109-435 became a law relieving USPS of the $27B in pension liabilities for workers with military service (USPS workers with military pension used to be paid by USPS vice the U. S. Treasury) but at the same time USPS agreed to make annual payments of $5. billion for the next 10 years to build up a fund for future retirees. When this bill was signed into law, USPS was ecstatic. So for FY 2006, USPS finished the year with a net income of almost $1B. Little did it know it will be the last time USPS will ever finish the year in â€Å"black†! Future Financial outlook Future financial outlook for USPS is dimmer than ever. With decline in First Class mail volume continuously declining, there is no indication this is not permanent or worse yet decline more in coming years, even if the economy improve. So far USPS seems to be more focus on increasing its revenue by increasing prices in both of each services, i. e. , mailing and shipping services.At the same time, it also wants to reduce its operating expenses by reducing its number of employees and closing or converting some of its branches into â€Å"village post offices†. However, even with all these business strategies, USPS doesn’t seem to focus on how it can re-structure its business model to adapt to digital technologies and the use of Internet. Although, it has adapted its shipping services and selling of stamps into the digital world USPS is yet to make headways into a profitable business model. Business Strategies Product pricing One of the business strategies of USPS and usually most of businesses do is to increase product pricing everytime the end of the accounting period reports â€Å"Net Loss†! This seems to be a knee-jerk reaction since itâ€℠¢s the easiest logic to recoup â€Å"net losses†.And this is because supposedly increase in product pricing directly correlates to increase revenue thus increased profit or having to post â€Å"Net Income† instead of â€Å"Net Loss† at the end of each accounting period. However product pricing is not as plain and easy as it looks. In the case of USPS product pricing, the elasticity of each product pricing should be taken into account. USPS has validated the fact that technology, increased availability of broadband services, growing internet access in homes, declining prices in personal computers, and expanding mobile services has caused a decline in its mailing services. This is directly attributed to e-mails and online banking billing and payments.In short, email and other electronic online banking transactions, although differentiated from regular paper mail are direct substitute products. As such, it can be postulated increasing the price of USPS â€Å"maili ng services† will not necessarily translate to increased revenues. With price elasticity of demand (EP), the more there is a close substitute to a product the higher is the elasticity of demand. This is shown in the below graph: Figure 2: Managerial Economics in Global Economy (Salvatore, D, 2010) With EP greater than one (highly elastic as shown on the upper portion of the blue demand line) the demand line indicates an increase in price (PX) will result in decrease in quantity demanded (QX). With decrease in quantity demanded means reduction in total revenue.Based from the mail volume decline since 2006 (when mailing was cheaper than last year and this year) up to the present it’s almost conclusive further increase in the cost of mailing will only exacerbate the decline in mail volume; making it easier for business managers to make the decision to switch to â€Å"paperless† bill statements and delivery. Although current statutory requirements limit pricing incre ase on â€Å"shipping services† (including mailing services) to rate of inflation, USPS should request Congress to include a direct authority for USPS to increase prices (with approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission, PRC) based from increased cost of transportation, i. e. , fuel, the same strategy used by the airline industry. The airline industry started using surcharges for baggage checked in when the cost of fuel surge to unsustainable levels.USPS should have the same authority to make time sensitive changes to its pricing as it deems necessary for its continued operations with the approval of the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). Even if given this authority, USPS should still consider the competition before it can raise shipping prices and by how much. By having the authority though, USPS can be a flexible firm able to respond in time to stop massive losses while waiting for Congress to give it an approval. Product diversity With technology, USPS has started to adapt the internet for some its product offerings. Customers can go at USPS. com and fill their forms online and even print their mailing or shipping stamps.Additionally, customers can also request home or station pick up by USPS meaning customers need not even to get out of their houses to receive mailing or shipping services. However, these shipping services are also available with USPS competitors like UPS and FEDEX and seem to be doing a better job than USPS. There is however, one product USPS offers that its competitors do not offer and this is Postal Money Order. U. S. Postal Money Orders are very popular and reliable people up to this day prefer them as a form of payment over credit or debit cards or even online fund transfer companies like Western Unions or Paypal. USPS should conduct a study on how to establish a business model allowing it to offer a digital version of its Postal Money Orders.With USPS monopoly on money orders this is almost a sure winner if it can design a digital or online business model for its money orders. In 2010, Paypal posted total revenue of $3. 4B and expects to double this revenue by 2013 (Galante, 2011). On the otherhand, Western Union posted a Net Income of $909. 9M (Yahoo Finance). With potential revenue at this level just from its money order business, USPS is posed to increase its annual business revenue tremendously compare to just increasing its product pricing. Resource utilization USPS resource utilization is obviously not at its optimal level considering the amount of losses it incurred in the last 5 years.Probably the worst resource underutilization is in the excessive number of employees and its huge fleet of gas guzzling trucks and delivery vehicles. USPS was very slow to adapt to new technology and didn’t quite see the effect of the internet with its mailing services and continued rising cost of fuel. This is in spite of the significant decline in First-Class mailing volumes as early as 2005 and the mor e than $100 a barrel of crude oil in 2008. USPS did not initiate to stop Saturday’s mail delivery until 2010 when it was already losing tens of billions in income. USPS tries to optimize its resource utilization by working interdependently with its â€Å"Shipping Services† competitors like UPS’ â€Å"UPS Basic† and FedEx’s â€Å"Smart Post†.However, USPS should strive instead to get as much of this business for itself instead of having to share it with its competitors. This doesn’t mean it has to get rid of this interdependency relationship as it helps in its resource utilization but should try to get as much as it can so as to enjoy the revenue for itself instead of sharing with others. And it can easily accomplish this through pricing, which it has an advantage over the competition. With oil price increases in 2008, USPS should have started switching or equipping its delivery vehicles either to more fuel efficient vehicles or those equipped to use Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). According to Consumer Energy Report. om (Rapier, 2009), based from EPA reports, a gallon of gasoline contains approximately 115,000 BTU’s of energy while a Standard Cubic Feet (SCF) of natural gas contains 1,000 BTU’s (hence 115 SCF of CNG equates to 1 gallon of gasoline). In November 2011, the national average price of gasoline was $3. 37 a gallon while for diesel it was $4. 01 a gallon (Consumer Report, 2011). On the same period, the price for natural gas is $8. 60 per thousand SCF for commercial rate and $4. 53 for industrial rate (EIA. gov, 2012). A thousand SCF of natural gas equates to 8. 7 gallons of gasoline or diesel (1,000 divided by 115), meaning had USPS converted some of its vehicles into CNG, it would only be paying approximately 98. 85 cents to equivalent gallon of gasoline or diesel at the commercial rate price, and even less if given the industrial rate price.At present, price of natural gas has declined al though not significantly but it might as well be because on the other end of the spectrum the price of gasoline rose to almost $4 a gallon from $3. 37 in November 2010, an increase of 18. 7% and it is just starting to get worse. USPS has the largest civilian fleet of vehicles in the world numbering to 215,625 burning through more than 399 million of gallons of gasoline/diesel for a total of 1. 25 billion miles driven (Postal Facts, 2011); it could have easily saved tens of millions of dollars with the use of CNG. USPS should continue with its strategy of reducing its number of employees and post office branches or converting some branches into â€Å"Village Post Offices†. Additionally, it should also strive to reduce its delivery service from a 6-day to a 5-day delivery.Although this may sound like an easy feat to accomplish, i. e. , to reduce operating cost due to reduced mail volume, it is not. This is because although there has been a decrease in mail volume there is howev er an increase in delivery points. So the bottom line is although reducing operating cost is a positive step, USPS can only reduce it for so much and for so long before it starts failing in providing fundamental postal services to the nation; its primary mandate and reason for existence. The other strategy for USPS besides operating cost reduction is synergized on what it is currently accomplishing now and for the future. Cost Volume Profit Analysis Cost-Volume-Profit analysis or breakeven analysis is a process of determining the output where a firm breaks even or earns a target profit from the total revenue and total cost functions of the firm† (Salvatore, D. 2012). Unlike manufacturing or production firms, or any private firms, the USPS has a constant mandate to provide â€Å"fundamental postal service† to the nation. As such, it requires a minimum number of employees, material and other resources to accomplish this task, hence an absolute minimum operating cost. In p rivate sector, when a firm CVP analysis indicates a decline in total revenue (TR) compare to total cost (TC), its tendency is to reduce TC until it is low enough to gain profit.Even better for the firm it has the option of totally abandoning some specific operations or productions if it cannot gain profit despite drastic reductions in TC. However, this is not the case for the USPS. With minimum requirements to provide fundamental postal service to the nation, the USPS cannot reduce its TC to the point it will cease some or even a single part of its operation, despite heavy net losses in income. When USPS is operating at a loss and has done just about everything to minimize its TC, its only other option is to increase the volume of its business to at least break even. With decline in mail volume still yet to hit bottom, USPS needs to venture to different products especially those taking advantage of the internet and other evolving technologies.It is only through additional products o r improvement in current existing products USPS can increase volume of its business to at least cover its minimum operating cost. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Being a government own firm, USPS has some inherent strengths in its business model as follows: 1. Monopoly of the mailing service industry 2. Open Credit lines or borrowing up to $15B from the Federal Financing Bank, which can also be increased in due time with the approval of Congress 3. Large operating capacity with more than 33,000 facilities throughout the nation 4. A non-profit organization whose only financial objective is to break even giving it the strength to undermine the competition through low pricing 5.Highly resilient to cyclical changes in the economy brought by recessions and inflations 6. Modern technological network infrastructures and highly computerized distribution systems USPS should utilize its strengths to increase revenue especially with its business goal of only requiring breaking even. It can also flex its strength in pricing to beat the competition when it comes to its shipping services. With its large operating capacities it should plan to expand its business model to achieve â€Å"economies of scale†. USPS weaknesses also come mostly from the same institution that gave some of its strengths: 1. Large operating cost due to large required coverage in mail and shipping deliveries as mandated by Congress 2.Very little diversity in products and services despite large operating capacities and highly technological networked infrastructure 3. Very little to none bargaining power with employees management organizations or unions 4. Very restrictive operating schedules and product pricing flexibilities 5. Slow adaptability in a highly changing business environment brought by newer technology due to restrictions placed upon the firm by Congress through the Post Office Regulatory Commission 6. Large number inefficient fleet of vehicles 7. Very expensive emplo yee pension and retiree health benefit plans Weaknesses in large number of inefficient fleet of vehicles unnecessarily contributing to high operating cost can be easily avoided with the use of alternate energy like CNG.Congress should give temporary authority to USPS to effect price changes as a result of out of the ordinary changes in fuel costs and other materials and resources it uses to fulfill its mandate. The two most readily available opportunities for USPS mostly come only in two forms, i. e. product diversity and more use of the internet as another source of business revenue. This can be as simple as developing a business model to the current postal money orders so it can be transformed to something like e-Money Order that can be used for online fund transfers the same as Paypal’s or Western Unions business model do. As for product diversity, USPS should start looking into expanding its shipping services to aggressively compete directly with UPS and FedEx.The biggest threat facing USPS is the continuing decline of its mailing services. Despite the big proposal of increasing prices supposedly supplementing losses, it’s more likely the more USPS continue to raise prices in its mailing services the sooner it will decline more. The threat of defaulting with its PSRHBF funding for this year and probably for the following years is imminent. The possibility of a government bailout seems to be very more likely starting this year and the years thereafter. USPS needs to face the reality of the internet technology and should start restructuring its business model so as to treat the internet as an ally instead of an adversary. ConclusionAn expeditious and short term solution to the Unites States Postal Service current financial problem is way out of reach of the sole capability of the firm and requires a congressional legislation to make it happen. This specifically with the firms mandated annual $5. 5B prefund contribution to its PSRHBF where $11. 1B is due by September 30, 2012. In addition there is also the $1. 3B Workers’ Compensation Fund required to be paid to the DOL at the end of the fiscal year. To keep USPS financially solvent and operational at least for the time being, Congress should legislate to postpone payments to the PSRHBF and to the Workers’ Compensation for the next three years.This should give enough â€Å"breathing room† for USPS to stay â€Å"afloat† while at the same time implementing its multi-prong strategies of reducing its operating costs, increasing revenues, diversifying its products and improving its processes and methodologies to attract more customers. References: 1. Amadeo, K, (n. d. ) U. S. Economy, How is Unemployment Defined. Retrieved February 18 2012, from http://useconomy. about. com/od/supply/f/unemploy_define. htm. 2. Average gas prices – – November 21, 2011, Retrieved February 23, 2012 from http://news. consumerreports. org/cars/2011/11/averag e-gas-prices-november-21-2011. html. 3. Beatty, A, (September 20, 2010) U. S. Exits Longest Recession SinceWorld War II, retrieved 19 February 2012 from http://www. commondreams. org/headline/2010/09/20-5. 4. Bentley, M. (April 2010), Carrier Consolidation Services: An inside guide to OPS basic and FEDEX SmartPost, retrieved February 19, 2012 from http://www. parcelindustry. com. 5. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, (February 2010), Current Population Survey, October 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2012 from http://www. census. gov/hhes/computer/publications/2009. html. 6. Galante, J. (Feb 10, 2011). Paypal’s Revenue Will double by 2013, Thompson Says, Bloomberg. Retrieved February 20, 2012 from http://www. bloomberg. com/news. 7. Geddes, R. R. , (June 01, 2003).Opportunities for Anti-Competitive Behavior in the Postal Services, AEI Online retrieved February 12, 2012 from http://www. aei. org/article/opportunities-for-anticompetitive-behavior-in-postal-services/. 8. Inflation: Wha t is Inflation? retrieved February 19, 2012 from http://www. investopedia. com/university/inflation/inflation1. asp#axzz1mtwFSACX. 9. Income Statement, Western Union Company, Yahoo Finance. Retrieved February 20, 2012 from http://www. yahoo. com/finance. 10. Kosar, K. R. (January 27, 2012) The U. S. Postal Service’s Financial Condition: Overview and Issued for Congress, retrieved February 20, 2012 from http://www. fas. org/sgp/crs/misc/R41024. pdf. 11.Leonard, D (May 25, 2011) the U. S. Postal Service nears Collapse†, Bloomberg Businessweek, retrieved February 19, 2012 from http://www. businessweek. com/print/magazine/content/11_23/b4231060885070. htm. 12. Natural Gas Prices Retrieved February 23, 2012 from http://www. eia. gov/dnav/ng/ng_pri_sum_dcu_nus_m. htm. 13. Postal Facts 2011 Retrieved February 23, 2012 from http://about. usps. com/who-we-are/postal-facts/welcome. htm. 14. Rapier, R. (Jun 19, 2009) How Much Natural Gas to Replace Gasoline? Retrieved February 23, 2012 from http://www. consumerenergyreport. com/2009/06/19/how-much-natural-gas-to-replace- gasoline/. 15. Salvatore, D. (2012).Managerial economics in a global economy (5th ed), New York, NY: Oxford University. 16. United States Postal Regulatory Commission, Annual Form 10-K Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 for FY ended September 30, 2011. 17. United States Postal Service 2011 Annual Report to Congress, retrieved February 16, 2012 from, http://about. usps. com/publications/annual-report-comprehensive-statement-2011/annual-report-comprehensive-statement-2011. pdf. 18. United States Postal Service Annual Report 2007 retrieved February 20, 2012 from http://about. usps. com/strategic-planning/cs07/chpt5-002. htm.

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Do we have less face-to-face interaction because of social networks - Research Paper Example These have made it easy for people to communicate with anyone irrespective of their geographical location. Social networks have brought innovative ideas. Currently, social games have taken away the free time that people used to have and share with friends. People especially the young generation are spending much of their time playing games and chatting with friends. Although a certain school of thought argues that this reduces boredom, the role that family members and friends played cannot be replaced by social network. Statistics indicates that the number of stress-related diseases has increased tremendously especially among the young people. This is because they no longer share their feeling which cannot only be done through face-to-face interactions. On the other hand, the number of people suffering from obesity and other diseases related to less physical activities has increased. This is because people no longer walk or jog. Instead, they spend much of the time interacting throug h the social network. A quantitative method was used in order to collect information concerning the topic of study. This was crucial in coming up with an in-depth conclusion on whether the social network has played a significant role in reducing face-face interactions. A sampling method was used to determine the number of people who use social networks to chat with friends and family members. The samples were selected randomly in order to avoid any cases of biasness. This was significant in ensuring that the information obtained was reliable and up-to-date Qualitative research was also conducted. The nature of the problem could not be understood through exploratory research only. The use of sampling ensured a reduced survey bias through the use of focus groups. It also ensured that the ideas from a broad spectrum have been used before making the final findings and conclusion. The wide amount of views was important in ensuring that questionnaire constructed was

Patient safety in the operating room Research Paper

Patient safety in the operating room - Research Paper Example In this essay, patient safety in the operating room shall be considered in terms of how safety can be ensures, the effects of denying patients their safety and importance of the promotion of safety in the operating room. What is Patient Safety? Patient safety is an integrated process of ensuring that a patient who visits the operating room for surgery is not put at risk to situations that would harm or worsen the health condition of the patient in any way. Safety of patients in the operating may be jeopardized in several ways including wrong site surgery, wrong medication and leaving foreign material in the bodies of people. Measures for ensuring safety in the operating room The need to ensure patient safety is indispensible and a basic right of every patient that cannot be undermined in anyway. To achieve safety however, a couple of measures need to be put in place. First of such measures is work experience of practicing surgeons and nurses. The oversee of surgical operations in the operating room is such a complex medical practice that it demands the hands of highly qualified, competent and experienced health professional to undertake. However, the problem of low staff base, employee turnover and lack of employee retention has led to a situation where most health facilities fall on inexperienced nurses and surgeons to handle cases in the operating room (Dodd, 2003). ... ould bring them up to speed with current developments in the surgery fraternity so that they will not in any way lug behind in the jurisdiction of their duties. Another important factor that needs to be put in place to ensure safety in the operating room has to do with communication. Expects have identify the breakdown of communication and poor communication as serious risk factors for the increased cases of absence of safety in the operating room. For example Jean Nagelkerk, GVSU vice provost for health, registered nurse and family nurse practitioner reports that â€Å"a breakdown in communication causes up to 70 percent of errors† (Kopenkoskey, 2011). Safety in the operating room is therefore advocated through the creation of an effective communication system between surgeons, nurses and patients. Between surgeons and nurses, there must be a team approach that ensures that the team has communicated well among itself and that it is highly aware of what it is going to do even before surgery starts. During team discussions, specific instructions must be given on what each person’s role is going to be like so that the practitioners do not get nervous and naive during the operation. At the time of operation also, it is important that communication goes on among the practitioners especially when need developments on the operation crop up. After the operation to, communication must go on about the effectiveness of the operation process and how the patient can be helped to recover quickly. Communicating to the patient is also important because the patient needs to be informed of what is expected of him or her in order that he or she does not create situations of complications either during or after the operation. Another important measure for ensuring safety is pointed out

Bill of Rights - Freedom of religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bill of Rights - Freedom of religion - Essay Example The documentation of religious beginning in America is found in the Mayflower Compact of 1620 which is a common referencing material. In 1648, the â€Å"Lauues and Liberty† of Massachusetts adopted banishment as the punishment to any person who criticized the baptizing of infants. Execution was put forward as the punishment for any one who worshiped any other God rather than the Lord God. The witch, blasphemer or a child who cursed their parents were executed through capital punishment. In 1648 and 1688, a total of five women were put to death because of practicing witchcraft and 16 other practitioners of witchcraft were put to death through hanging on the Salem Common in 1692. In 1660, Mary Dyer who was a Quaker was hanged On Boston Common after it was alleged she refused to stop preaching that the baptizing of infants was wrong and people may have a direct relationship with God without clergy intervening. In year 1659 and 1661, three other Quakers were hanged on the Boston C ommon for heresy. The Puritans of Massachusetts and the Anglicans believed in God, Slavery and witchcraft but they did not believe in religious freedom. (Gunn, 2004, p 442)1(Gunn, 2004, p 442) In 1649, the Catholic Maryland adopted the â€Å"Act Concerning Religion† .This act protected Protestants and Catholics who professed to believe in Jesus Christ from being prosecuted by puritans 2(Feldberg, 2002, p 8). However, the law later established a death penalty among the people who did not believe in trinity and prevented any critical utterances against the evangelists, the virgins and the apostles. Many of the legislators saw the law as helping to reduce religious conflicts but the Puritans of Maryland opposed it because it was very negligent and later requested the American Puritans to suppress the law. When Cromwell came into power in England, the Puritans of Maryland and Virginia joined other groups in ousting the Catholics and the Act was revoked in 1654. As a result, four Catholics were executed, all Catholics priest were exiled and Jesuit estates vandalized. The Maryland experiment in tolerating of religious ideologies only lasted for five years. (Gunn, 2004, p 443) In the 17th and 18th centuries, anti-catholic, laws discriminating against Catholics existed through out colonies. In some instances, the Huguenots who had fled from France supported the legislation. The Pennsylvanians who for along time resisted the anti-catholic laws that prohibited Catholics to hold political office and from voting also embraced the laws. In 1774, the English parliament adopted the Act of Quebec Act which provided religious freedoms to all catholic in her colonies. The Continental Congress and the legislatures in America condemned the Act for establishing an act of tyranny even though; the Act provided partial freedom to Catholics. Thus freedom of religion became the first right to be identified in the Bill of Right. The problem was that the statement of â€Å"free e xercises of religion† was omitted in the fist constitution on the Bill of Right. In 1787, the congress debates led to the adoption of the Bill of Rights but they did not assert that the freedom of religion was above other rights. Even after the Bill of Rights and the constitution was ratified, freedom of religion did not manifest itself uniformly since anti-catholism was prevailing in all protestant settlements. In the 18 century, the prominent personalities in America who struggled for religious liberty like Thomas Jefferson engaged in the condemnation of anti-catholism. John jay sponsored a law which was meant to deny the Catholics political rights unless they gave up their allegiance to the pope. (Gunn, 2004, p 444) In 1786,

Analysis Politics of Japan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Analysis Politics of Japan - Research Paper Example It brought in an overwhelming substance on the part of the Japanese people, the political scientists and analysts, and historians as well as its foreign alliances for the reason that the political party which ruled for the nearly half-a-century was defeated for a whimsical short period of time. "The summer 2009 electoral victory of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) over the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) holds historical significance, not only for political scientists but also for the people of Japan, and possibly for the country’s Asian neighbors and the United States as well." (Pekkanen and Krauss, 2010, p. 05) While it is no longer ruling now, the success history of the LDP has been very convincing. It is considered to be one of the most successful political parties ever formed in the entire political history of the world. Pekkanen and Krauss (2010) state that since 1995, there was a non-stop dominion by the LDP over Japan until a short stoppage for ten months from 1993 - 1994. In the House of Representatives - albeit being minor nevertheless the more dominant house - the party hoarded an astonishing reputation when it did not commit any lost for more than 50 years up until August of 2009. Seen this way, the downfall of LDP presents a thought-provoking question as to why it was defeated within a fleeting period of time. It had become a norm for the Japanese people to live under the governance of the LDP. As we can recall, the only disruption to their reign was when a minute cluster decided to separate from the LDP in order to take hold of supremacy and influence as part of a different union that did not do more than just to ratify laws and proposals prior to its disintegration. Japan democracy works in accordance with the electoral consequences that took place in the past. Approximately 60% of all LDP officeholders were produced and many other currently serving and past officials were unseated.  

In A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway portrays the idea that life and war Research Paper

In A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway portrays the idea that life and war create nothing but hopelessness and tragedy - Research Paper Example The relationship between Henry and Catherine blossoms and results in Catherine becoming pregnant. Post treatment, Henry has to return to the waterfront leaving behind Catherine and consequently is taken as captives. However, he manages to flee and returns to Catherine. Both of them escape to Switzerland where fate desolates them and both Catherine and the new born baby dies leaving Henry devastated. The theme of love, separation and desolation in the novel can be rightly claimed as a parallel to William Shakespeare’s immortal tale of love and sacrifice Romeo & Juliet. The major theme of this book was to present love as a major theme against war and all kinds of wrongdoing in the world. From the beginning to the end of this novel, every incident was associated with rain. And other images of water. The rain always associated with destruction, sorrow and death, As this story was all about the death of a lover and destruction caused by the war therefore the backdrop of rain was ap propriate to demonstrate the scenario. But in this story the rain was not only the symbol of destruction, it was also used as a symbol of life when Henry were able to escape from the authority twice through a river and lake. There was a clear indication that all the character of this novel was trying to dissociate themselves from the horror of war by means of involving in different games. For Henry, the biggest diversion was his love Catherine. He first treated his love as a game, but slowly started to realize the attraction and connection that he was having with her and how she able to change his life. This love story in the backdrop of the horror of WWI was a resemblance to the immortal love story of Romeo and Juliet. The story portrays that love is always more important than war, and life and war can only bring hopelessness and tragedy. A Farewell to Arms: A story of sacrifice A Farewell to Arms finds its place among the best tragic creations of Ernest Hemingway. Baker in his boo k says that Hemingway himself â€Å"referred to the story of Lieutenant Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley as his Romeo & Juliet† (Bloom, 69). The striking similarity between Henry and Catherine and their Shakespearean counterparts, Romeo and Juliet is how the love relationship between them, which started as flirtation affair, graduated to mature relationship where they held their own even when the odds were stacked against them. The background of the love story between Catherine and Henry is the Austria-Italy war amidst the grueling World War I while the Shakespearean lovers had to hold out the Montague-Capulet family feud. Drawing other similarities between the two immortal creations of love and sacrifice, Baker says â€Å"Neither in Romeo & Juliet nor in A Farewell to Arms is the catastrophe a direct and logical result of the immoral social situation† (Baker 99). Baker concludes that Catherine’s death â€Å"is an unfortunate biological accident† and â€Å"the death of Shakespeare’s lovers is also precipitated by an accident – the detention of the message bearing friar† (Baker, 99). Baker also observes that â€Å"Catherine’s death,†¦.shows a kind of artistic inevitability. Except by a large indirection, the war does not kill Catherine any more than the Veronese feud kills Juliet†. (Bloom, 39). Hemmingway does not portray every graphical detail of the war. The only strong depiction of war comes in when the book illustrates the bombardment and injury of Henry immediately after the

Nurture Makes Euthanasia More Acceptable Essay Example for Free

Nurture Makes Euthanasia More Acceptable Essay Euthanasia is the practice of mercifully ending a persons life in order to free someone from a deadly disease. The Greek word â€Å"Euthanasia† simply means â€Å"good death†. This refers to the intentional ending of a person or animal’s life to relieve suffering and pain. It is also known as â€Å"Mercy Killing†. It is a serious ethical and political issue in today’s society because it goes against the norms of traditional medicine. It is so, because some people define euthanasia as a form of suicide. However, some people actually think that it is a choice that concerns the quality of life. In fact, people have different standards regarding the worth of life. Others believe that being clinically alive is enough to say that a person should live, but for others, it is simply inadequate. If a person’s life is lacking in self awareness or intrinsic presence as a human being, due to extreme physical or mental suffering, then that person should be able to choose a dignified death rather than an undignified existence. This is evident because of moral conscience, social bias or pressure, and financial situations. It is portrayed that nurture or environmental factors plays a role that make euthanasia more appealing. In short, some people tend to disregard the moral and ethical values of life when they see a person suffering. Indeed, despite of the moral and ethical issues that contradict the concept of euthanasia, there are certain factors it impacts society positively, which leads it to be more socially acceptable. One factor that makes euthanasia more acceptable is because of moral conscience. It is argued that euthanasia is not considered as a good practice because it weakens the society’s respect for life. It is believed that all human beings are to be valued despite of their age, gender, sex, religion, social status and their potential for achievement. However, some people who have a different perspective in regards to conscience oppose this idea. Moral conscience urges a person to do well and avoid evil. In this case, the evil that is being measured in this view is prolonging the suffering of a dying person. Also, the act of accepting to end the suffering of a person is a responsibility that is caused by conscience, which does not violate the purity of life. One of the writers from the book Euthanasia, John Shelby Spong, says that conscience really does play a role in making a decision between mercy killing and natural death. He explains that: â€Å"In the past, when medical care was rudimentary and death seemed to be entirely in the hands of God, the issue of euthanasia was simpler. Humans had little technology that could prolong life. In modern times, however, science endows doctors with previously unimagined powers to keep a body alive even when that person no longer has any quality of life. I believe that assisting in such a person’s suicide does not violate the sanctity of life. However, to prevent people from being victimized by family members who could profit from death of a relative, safeguards need to be established. These include requiring people to have living wills specifying the extent of treatment they want in the event of a serious accident or illness and requiring hospitals to have a bioethics committee to help decide on issues of euthanasia†. 1 In short, moral conscience helps out a dying person to finish his or her suffering. In contrast, they must take into consideration that they can only perform euthanasia if the person dying agrees to get it done. Through this, people are actually respecting the choice of the dying person since being human also means being respected. Being able to respect a person’s decision, it also builds a relationship between the person dying and the person who is witnessing the suffering. This now creates a social bias between the people around them since people tend to persuade what they think is right. This is another factor that makes euthanasia more acceptable. Social bias or pressure is defined to be a prejudicial attitude towards a certain race, culture, gender, color, age, group and religion. It also tends to change a person’s perspective, attitude, and values to conform norms. From the book, Euthanasia: The Debate Over the Right to Die, Seamus Cavan says that: â€Å"According to this argument, the very fact that a person is in the end stages of a terminal illness makes it unlikely, if not impossible, that his or he decision to die could meet any of the proposed criteria. They point out that being in the end stages of a terminal illness is by definition an extraordinary situation that makes it difficult or impossible to make rational decision†. It explains that, people in such a position, they argue, are already faced with all kinds of pressure that make it more likely that they will choose death. They may be extraordinary pain. They may feel humiliated or degraded by their inability to take care of themselves. They may feel as if they are a burden to their family or loved ones, in either an emotional or financial pressure to end their life so as not to incu r further medical costs. They are quite likely to be depressed, in the medical sense, by their situation and thereby unable to think clearly. Their judgment may be clouded by pain or medication. Also, social bias does really affect a person’s decision when it comes to euthanasia. It is appealing because there is an evident sense of personal responsibility and braveness made by the dying person to relieve their own pain. When they think this way, they tend to make it positive for the people around them, instead of prolonging their agony. Even though, it will be hard for the people around the dying person to accept his decision to die, it is still respected. Financial situations, like social bias, also play a role in making euthanasia more appealing. Financial situations are also considered as one of the factors why euthanasia should be more practiced by people. Financial situations are part of euthanasia because some people cannot afford to pay the medical bills of that person. This is much evident especially in 2nd and 3rd world countries because some people don’t earn enough money from their jobs to pay the prices of their hospital bills. In this case, it is considered to be in a form of a passive euthanasia. Passive euthanasia occurs when a patient dies because medical professionals either don’t do something necessary to keep a patient alive or stop doing something that can keep the patient alive. People who suffer from poverty, for example, might not be able to afford life-sustaining drugs or life-saving operation that would extend someone’s life. Passive euthanasia may also occur if doctors turn off a life-support machine or disconnect a feeding tube, which is the only means of keeping a person alive because unfortunate people can’t afford it. These actions may be carried out at the request of a dying person or their legal representative, who is often a family member. Dr. Mark from the article Alive and Kicking also says that: â€Å"As people in developing countries learns about euthanasia, they are requesting it as a way of out of the misery of poverty and hopelessness†. 3 These people believe that it is only through euthanasia that will help them save money and discontinue the suffering and pain of this person. In this concept, it is a win-win situation because both have compromised to be free from suffering physically and financially. All in all, it is important to note that the levels of these factors come into information whether it can be personal, environmental, or financial. It is shown that nurture does affect the views and perspectives of people when it comes to euthanasia. Considerations have to be made whether the position from one of these areas is even acceptable. It is so, especially with the separation of the views between the dying person and society. The three factors that were mentioned earlier must be considered thoroughly in order to see its impact to be positive. In the current world of rationed care and economic rationalism, it is not hard to imagine a situation where the availability of euthanasia becomes seen as a cheaper, easier, rational option to providing intensive support, community living and care for those who wanted and needed it. There is no doubt that euthanasia brings a positive factor that opens the options for people. Certainly, euthanasia has factors that deal with society that makes it more acceptable.

Can Technology Dehumanize Our Society Essay Example for Free

Can Technology Dehumanize Our Society Essay Technology can dehumanize our society including our school/s. Its because in the advancement and modernization of things which to be manipulated by the people(gadgets etc. ), life has to be somehow be convenient and easier but we should also look on the side that technology can remove skills and qualities of people in dealing with things around them and they wont find any alternatives or options if technology is always present. For instance, in school/s, particularly in a classroom setting, if all of the students have their own personal computers, they will rely and be much independent through visiting websites that could provide answers on their research given by their teacher, the negative result of this is that, yes, they surely easily access information by just clicking one at a time but the traditional way of finding and acquiring information from books(more accurate information than those of the websites) or any reading materials that could somehow develop their reading skills is already gone. Indolence and laziness may occur also. The negative result of technology is that people will just have to sit all day long and will have to be dependent on technology. As ive heard also, some people are just infront of their laptops having thisonline schooling and if you could accomplish the length of time needed, youll be having/ given a diploma . For me, of course it isnt bad but the essence of formal schooling(attending school. being evaluated and monitored by a mentor is already gone). Despite of all the advancement of technology, we became a society of indolent people relying so much on it.

Gift Card Bring Advantages And Disadvantages

Gift Card Bring Advantages And Disadvantages A discussion text can be defined as a text which presents a problematic discourse. This problem will be discussed from different viewpoints. Discussion is commonly found in philosophical, historic, and social text. Generic Structure of Discussion The structure of a discussion text comprises: Statement of issue: Stating the issue which is to discussed; List of supporting points: Presenting the points in supporting the presented issue; List of contrastive points: Presenting other points which disagree to the supporting point; Recommendation: Stating the writer recommendation of the discourse Language Feature of Discussion Introducing category or generic participant Using thinking verb; feel, hope, believe, etc Using additive, contrastive, and causal connection; similarly, on the hand, however, etc Using modalities; must, should, could, may, etc Using adverbial of manner; deliberately, hopefully, etc Example 1 Hacking: Pro and Contra? Do you know what a hacker is? Well, a hacker is a person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems on computers and they like to stretch the capability of the systems. And you know what, the activities they do in the computers are called hacking. So, whats the problem with hacking and its hackers? Well, the problem is whether hacking and its hackers is legal or illegal? What I mean is that people in the world have many different views about hacking and the hackers. Some of them take sides, but many object. To get back to what I was saying previously, let us see the positive points of a hacker, shall we? Although in most places breaking into computer systems is considered illegal, I believe that hackers dont do anything illegal because they only want to know and try the systems. I dare to say that a hacker likes finding the strengths and the weaknesses of a computer system. They feel proud if they can find the weaknesses. So I dont really see the crimes in this case. In addition, these hackers sometimes help the police catch the white collar criminals, such as bank robbers, money launderers, credit card forgers. For example, in 2000, the U.S. hackers caught some Singaporean hackers who made Virus Love to break up the programs of the U.S. National Security system. Nevertheless, those who object to the good points of a hacker say that hacking is a crime. The reason is that some hackers use their brilliant skills to break into banks and other vital institutions where they can get money, destroy information, and the worst thing is they can get secret information and sell it to another country. This is a treachery. Take for example, in 1994, The U.S. government broke a conspiracy of computer hackers out of Majorca, Spain. These hackers were responsible for accessing and eliminating 190,000 telephone credit card numbers over computer bulletin boards in America and Europe. Seeing this fact, I dont blame those who think negatively about hackers. To put the whole thing in a nut shell, I personally think that hackers are not bad people with their brilliant skills. However, they could be bad because of money orientation to get the wealth. Thats just the point. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 2 Birth Control Most people agree that some form of family limitation or spacing is desirable for the good of the family and society. But individuals and groups-especially religious groups-differ sharply on the methods of birth control that they consider moral and acceptable. Couples that practice birth control do so for various reasons. They may want to limit or space their children, or to have no children at all. Young couples often postpone having children so that both partners can work full-time. Other couples space their children so they can give each child as much attention as possible. Some women are advised by their doctors to avoid pregnancy for health reasons. In many countries with rapidly growing populations, the government encourages couples to limit the size of their families. Even though birth control has gained in acceptance, opposition to the practice is continuous. Some people fear that birth control encourages sexual relations outside marriage or that government might impose birth control. Some religious groups oppose birth control on moral grounds. Some religious groups teach that artificial methods of birth control are immoral because they separate the two purposes of intercourse in marriage-conjugal love and the procreation of children. Although they oppose all artificial birth control, they consider natural family planning acceptable. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 3 Convenience or Care? When something issued by someone, we say it has been consumed. We as consumers use many things, both natural and processed. We consume more of the Earths resources than other animals do and, as a result, we cause problems for the environment. Like all animals, we need clean air and water, food and shelter for survival. Unlike other animals, however, we have certain want. These are items that are not necessary for our survival, but that we want because they make our lives easier or more enjoyable. Environments claims that a great deal of waste is created by both the production and the consumption of these items or product. Disposable products, such a pens, take away food containers, plates, shavers and cutlery, are made using the Earths resources. When these products are thrown away, the resources are lost. Another example of waste is the unnecessary packaging on many products. The material is often not recycled and used again. Throwing thing away also increases pollution. The amount of disposable plastic litter that ends up in waterways is a serious problem. When this waste reaches the oceans, it can kill marine life. Industrialist counter these arguments with their own point of view. They claim that consumers expect to be able to purchase food which is attractively presented, prepackaged to extent its life and easy to store. In a busy society, convenience is a priority. Products which make life easier, era in demand. Industrialist argue that they cater to this perceived need. Packaging is also big business and provides jobs for many people who might otherwise be unemployed and a burden to society. Environmentalist declare that for thousands of year, people survived perfectly well with re-usable products. However, people of the twenty-first century have become used to wing in a thrown-away society. It is up to each one of us to dispose of waste products carefully, recycle as much as possible and to reduce the stress on our environment. Think when buying pre-packaged goods and consider whether the same products can be bought without the extra wrappings. Lets make the best of what we have. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 4 Gift Card Bring Advantages and Disadvantages Gift cards become more popular during recent years. For example, in one season of holiday, sales reach $19 billion in United Stated and seem to grow more in the following season due to their convenience in the side of consumers and retailers. In retailers side, gift cards bring them some benefits. Selling gift card in simply selling product. When the cards are sold, they will get benefit. Additionally, gift card tends to be a matter of image and trend which means it is not strictly influenced by the functionality. Since gift card is the trend, the sales will increase significantly. However, there is potential disadvantages in the side of consumers. For example, itune gift cards apply process in the way of completing the shopping. they need do one step to another steps in processing the shopping. Likely, most of the steps apply time and date of validity or expiration. When certain step loose that validating date, the gift cards may be in risk. The gift card can be rejected to redeem. Again, in retailers side, producing card its self is costly. It means that there is additional cost which retailers have to pay. In whatever thing, we need to be wise. if we can use that gift. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 5 The advantages and Disadvantages of Distance Learning A few years ago, distance learning was seen as an inferior way but nowadays even famous and established traditional colleges and universities are providing distance learning courses and it is generally considered a way to improve ones life. However, people still argue whether distance learning give more advantage or disadvantage. Some of them who see the benefit of distance learning will say that distance learning needs no commuting. Of course it saves money and time that students would take. Furthermore, distance learning can be done at any students convenience. Mostly of the classes of distance learning are asynchronous. It means that students do not have to attend a lecture at a fixed particular time and place. Students can review the assignments and do their homework during off-hours or from home. Additionally, distance learning gives more accessibility. No one can deny it. People with limited mobility may encounter the problem when they take traditional class. With the online class system, the problem is absent. Despite the many advantages, the other people will see that distance learning is costly and needs complex technology. To attend online learning, student must have a computer with possibly access to the internet. Admitted or not, such technology devices are not always available for common students. Another disadvantage of distance learning is that it does not provide immediate feedback. Unlikely traditional classroom, students have to wait for the feedback and comment until the instructor has review the works and sent response to them. Most of the time students will study alone. Distance learners may feel isolated or miss that social physical interaction that comes with attending a traditional classroom Regarding the individuals learning style, some students are able to learn when there is a live interaction between them and the available of accompanying teacher while others dont really need it. So before deciding a choice of attending distance learning or not, each student needs to do a fair analysis regarding the kind of person he/she is. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 6 Pros and Cons National exam becomes the hot topic in most of discussions. Though the Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the go-vernment on the organization of the national exams, the controversy over whether it is necessary to maintain the national exams (UN) has continued. Some debates include the primary questions such as; does the quality of Indonesia education depend on the national exam?, will the quality of the Indonesian education system worsen without natipnal exam? People, who support the national exam explain that the quality of the Indonesia education system will drop without the national exam, so they try to defend the current system. Hoever there are people who disagree with the opinion. Those who against this national exam kept in our high school education say that it doesnt need the national exams because the quality of education does not just depend on the national exam. Further, the national exam only measures a small portion of students competence in specific subjects, and does not measure students competences throughout the semester. In fact, the national examination can still be useful as an instrument to evaluate or detect the level of students cognitive competence in several subjects, on a national scale. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 7 The Advantage and Disadvantage of Nuclear Power Nuclear power is generated by using uranium which is a metal mined in various part of the world. The first large scale of nuclear power station was opened at Calder Hall in Cumbria, England in 1956. Some military ships and submarines have nuclear power plant for engine. Nuclear power produces around 11% of the worlds energy needed, and produces huge amounts of energy. It cause no pollution as we would get when burning fossil fuels. The advantages of nuclear plant are as follow: It costs about the same coal, so it is not expansive to make. It does not produce smoke or carbon dioxide, so it does not contribute to the greenhouse effect. It produces huge amounts of energy from small amount of uranium. It produces small amount of waste. It is reliable. On the other hand, nuclear power is very, very dangerous. It must be sealed up and buried for many years to allow the radioactivity to die away. Furthermore, although it is reliable, a lot of money has to be spent on safety because if it does go wrong, a nuclear accident ca be a major accident. People are increasingly concerned about this matter. In the 1990s nuclear power was the fastest growing source of power in many parts of the world. Note on the Generic Structure of Discussion Text Discussion is a process to find the meet point between two different ideas. It is important to to get the understanding between the two differences. In many social activities, discussion is the effective way to calm down any friction and difference in thought, perception and recommendation. This example of discussion text present the two poles, between the advantage and disadvantage of using nuclear plant to fulfill the energy needed. It is a case which need to be talked and discussed from two points. They are represented in the generic structure which is used: Stating the Issue: In the first paragraph, it is stated that using nuclear power can be the choice in fulfilling the needed energy. Supporting Point: In the second paragraph, it is presented the advantages of nuclear power plant to be used as the source of the worlds energy needed Contrastive Point: The third paragraph shows the balance. It gives the contradictory idea in using nuclear power plant as the resource of energy. Recommendation: This text is ended with a similar recommendation on how people should concern in the matter of nuclear energy. Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text? Example 8 Hunting Fox Foxhunting is a subject that provokes very strong feelings. Many people believe that it is cruel to hunt a fox with dogs and totally agree with its ban. Many farmer and even conservationists, however, have always argue that the fox is a pest which attacks livestock and must be controlled. (Taken from: www.bbc.co.uk) Comprehension Questions: What is the main idea of the text? Where is the information about the main idea located? What supporting details can be found in the text? What is the function of the text? How do you know? What are the generic structures of the text? Can you identify each of the feature (generic structure) in the text? In which sentence? What are the language features of text?