The history of Canadian hockey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The historical backdrop of Canadian hockey - Essay Example Students of history have contended for as far back as 2 centuries about the roots of hockey. It is commonly concurred that hockey was a development of the game hurley that had been adjusted to playing on ice. The name hockey is accepted to have originated from the French word hoquet which means shepard's stick (Origins and Roots). While British students of history have attempted to make a case for the game, Canadian specialists straight oppose this idea. English student of history Ian Gordon wrote in 1937 that the round of hockey was first played at Windsor Castle in 1853 by individuals from the Royal Family (qtd. in McFarlane 1). Still others place the root in Europe as ahead of schedule as the sixteenth century. A work of art named Trackers in the Snow by Pietr Bruegel from 1565 delineates skaters conveying sticks that take after current hockey sticks. One of the figures is going to strike a little round article (The Origins of Hockey). Canadian scientists anyway rush to bring up t hat the work of art doesn't demonstrate the skates required to be called hockey. Scientists can likewise date Canadian hockey sooner than the 1853 date refered to by Gordon. . Hockey history specialist Howard Dill puts the origination of hockey at Long Pond in Windsor, Nova Scotia in 1810 (McFarlane 1). This is bolstered by Dr. Sandy Young's book, Beyond Heroes: A Sport History of Nova Scotia. Dr. Youthful alludes to a statement by Thomas Chandler Halliburton who moved on from Kings-Edgehill School in Windsor in 1810. He relates playing [...] hurley on the long lake on the ice (qtd. in McFarlane 2). Another unknown understudy composed of his involvement with a similar school and says they used to skate in winter on twilight evenings [...] his front teeth took out with a hurley (qtd. in McFarlane 2). The main reported and confirmed episodes of hockey appear to have been played toward the start of the 1800s in Nova Scotia. Any place it was initially played, it most likely developed in a few places over a time of years and was spread by foreigners and vagrant specialists. Nonetheless, there is little discussion about current hockey. The principal rules to hockey were set down in 1879 by a gathering of Students at McGill in Montreal (McFarlane 2). This established the framework for sorted out school games and set up for the fate of expert hockey. The National Hockey League (NHL) was framed in Canada in 1917 (McFarlane 15). Associations, for example, the Western Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Hockey League appeared and went as out of nowhere as they came. Before the finish of the 1920s, six man hockey had been normalized, the forward pass was permitted in all zones, and the Stanley Cup turned into the restrictive right of the NHL (McFarlane 15). Hockey kept on extending during the 1930s through the 1960s drawing in fans the whole way across North America. Ruled by the Canadian groups of Montreal and the Toronto Maple Leaves, it was additionally effective in northern American urban areas, for example, Detroit, Boston, and Chicago. World War II affected hockey as it did other significant group sports. Transportation turned into an issue and numerous players were drafted or enrolled in the equipped administrations. In any case, by 1970 expert hockey was seeing significant development by the expansion of groups all over North America. The group had worked as a six-group unit for a long time, yet had added 10 groups to their positions in the years 1967-1972 (McFarlane 117). Groups in southern urban areas, for example, Atlanta and Los Angeles were exploiting hockey's

Plato’s account of philosophy Essay Example

Plato’s record of theory Paper Plato was conceived in Athens, in c. 427 B.C.E. During this period, Athens was associated with a since quite a while ago drawn, asset serious and shocking war with Sparta, otherwise called the  Peloponnesian War. The scion of a noble parentage, Plato originated from a separated family. He was the child of Ariston diving from Codrus, one of the early rulers of Athens and Perictione, dropping from Solon, the unmistakable reformer of the Athenian constitution, both of Athenian blue-blooded heritage.. Plato spent most of his life in Athens, with intermittent visits to Sicily and Southern Italy and according to one record, he additionally headed out to Egypt. Insights about the early piece of his life isn't known, however he was unquestionably favored enough to get the best instruction Athens brought to the table to individuals of respectable genealogy. Plato was a supporter of Socrates, whom he thought about the most learned man of his occasions. Plato’s relationship with Socrat es was a defining moment in his life, as it impacted an incredible course, reasoning and thinking. The convincing intensity of his contentions and strategies intrigued Plato and he turned into a nearby partner of Socrates. Socrates was among the most compelling researcher of his occasions and he was a pioneer who worried about the investigation of only good and policy driven issues not at all like his counterparts who were progressively distracted with cosmology and ontology.Considering his recognized causes and the relationship with Socrates, he was normally bound to play a functioning job in political life. Plato tried to accept a huge situation in the political scene of Athens, however he discovered his endeavors being reliably upset. The dissatisfaction is communicated by him in the personal Seventh Letter, wherein he passes on his failure to acclimatize himself with any of the ideological groups or the progressively degenerate systems of his time, all of which added to the dest ruction of Athens(324b-326a).Socrates’ execution on an out of line charge of scandalousness had been overwhelmingly casted a ballot for(approved) by an equitable  court with a vast lion's share in 399. This drove Plato to the end that every current government were defective and ruinous; and would keep on being along these lines, except if the rulers themselves became rationalists or except if the scholars themselves increased political power.It was maybe a direct result of this sentiment that he withdrew to his Academy and to Sicily for actualizing his thoughts. Plato used his broad information and shrewdness to the quest for legislative issues and the composition of disaster and different types of verse. He threefold visited Syracuse to bestow a philosophical demeanor and line of thought to the overbearing rulers, however his exertion demonstrated worthless. The concise endeavor at conferring pragmatic shrewdness having fizzled, he withdrew to Athens. His Academy was the e stablishment of learning for subjects as assorted as Mathematics, talk, space science, rationalizations, and different subjects, all recognized as critical for the scholarly and philosophical improvement of understudies. The Academy end up being a significant base for progressive ages of Platonic logicians until its last conclusion in C.E. 529. Some of Plato’s students later became pioneers, tutors, and protected counselors in Greek city-expresses, the most recognized among them being Aristotle. Plato passed on in c. 347 B.C.E.The focal point of this examination paper is to direct a concise report on the philosophical standpoint of Plato to fuse an investigation of his best works and to show the huge commitment made by him in the field of philosophy.Philosophical Tools  Plato is all the more notable for his compositions like the Republic, the Statesman, the Laws and a couple of shorter exchanges which are viewed as carefully political treatises,  and consequently it tend s to be expressed that Plato was a cultivated political savant of his occasions. Contrasted with Socrates, Plato was substantially more precise as a scholar and fastidious in his manners. He set up his own school of theory, the Academy; which turned into a significant wellspring of learning for the progressive age of researchers in Athens. In contrast to Socrates, Plato stretched out his territories of worry to incorporate the investigation of transcendentalism and epistemology, as he attempted to find a definitive constituents of reality.The presentation of the procedure of applied examination was started by Plato without precedent for the historical backdrop of Philosophy, as a way to explain an idea or its significance. As opposed to most different thinkers of his time, Plato thought about calculated examination as a primer advance and not as an end in itself. He thought about basic assessment of convictions, the choosing of which one of the contrary thoughts is right and which o ne isn't right as the subsequent advance and progressively significant advance. Plato considered dynamic about the political request on a similar platform of significance as the decision among harmony and war. This conviction depended on the conviction that general society isn't the most appropriate or adult enough to show up at the right choice, as it is equipped for astuteness just looking back, for the most part after the event of lamentable encounters. In his political way of thinking, the explanation of ideas is in this manner a primer advance in assessing convictions, and right convictions thusly lead to a response to the topic of the best political request. This steady movement from the phases of applied examination, trailed by a basic appraisal of convictions, to the best political request is shown in the works of his book ‘The Republic’.The generally striking and remarkable case of Plato’s develop ways of thinking  appears in The Republic, which is an all-inclusive contention for the most key about the  conduct of human life. Plato uses discourse with an anecdotal character ‘Socrates’ and continues to look at the nature and estimation of equity and different ethics as they occurâ in everyday life, both from the point of view of human culture and in the character of a person. This conversation from that point prompts a top to bottom appraisal of the different parts of human instinct, the accomplishment of information, the capacity to recognize substance and appearance and the fundamental structure of ethical quality. Because of the various scope of issues it addresses, the book can be perused from a few alternate points of view: as a political treatise, or a book on the lead of life, as an investigation of society and the connection of society with that of an individual, a thorough examination on theâ fundamental powerful and epistemological issues or as an academic handbook.Justice as Defined in The republicâ â â â The main segment of the Republic is a conversation on the idea of equity and the point of the conversation is to show up at the real meaning of the subject, through a procedure which includes the proposition, analysis, and dismissal of a few insufficient endeavors at characterizing equity. Since Justice is the most principal moral and political ideas, it joins singular temperance, the request for society, and individual rights which may negate the interests of the general public. Four meanings of equity are propounded; every one of them are talked about extravagantly and afterward disposed of as not being completely predictable with the fundamental premises, and due toâ the related variable components.  Thus the main segment of the book crashes and burns with all the members in understanding that the idea of equity isn't as effectively defiened as it appeared to be because of the irregularities associated with prevalent sentiments of equity. the e This antagonistic res ult can be viewed as an etymological and philosophical therapy.The reportive meanings of equity as comprehended by us from its utilization in day by day life serves to give a halfway comprehension of its significance, yet the all encompassing definition keeps on being tricky without genuine correspondences among individuals and a calculated clearness on convictions. A definition that is simply discretionary or either excessively thin or excessively wide, in light of a deception about equity, doesn't give the chance of correspondence. Non-romantic discoursed are articulations of a definitive correspondence that can occur among people; and genuine correspondence is probably going to happen just if people can share implications of the words they use. Correspondence dependent on deceptions, for example, articulations of belief system, is as yet conceivable, yet appears to be restricted, separating individuals into groups, and, as history shows us, can at last lead just to disarray. Subs equently, in the Republic, just as in other Platonic discoursed, there is a connection between reasonable examination and basic assessment of convictions. The focal point of the second piece of Book I is no longer explanation of ideas, yet assessment of beliefs.In Platonic discoursed, instead of mentioning to them what they need to think, Socrates is regularly getting his questioners to mention to him what they think. In the fifth and fourth century B.C.E., the critics were paid instructors of talk and other down to earth abilities, for the most part non-Athenians, offering courses of guidance and professing to be best able to plan youngsters for accomplishment in open life. Plato portrays the skeptics as vagrant people, known for their expository capacities, who dismiss strict convictions and conventional ethical quality, and he stands out them from Socrates, who as an instructor would decline to acknowledge installment and as opposed to encouraging aptitudes would concede to a uni nvolved investigation into what is valid. One of the members in the conversations, Thrasymachus presents a doubtful and negativist meaning of equity which expresses that equity is anything but an all around relevant virtue however an idea used as a device by the prevailing gathering in the general public; and that since it proves to be useful for the predominant gathering to stifle a greater part of individuals, it is their selective intrigue and that it is has dif

I Opened The Door On Portals, Fantasy, And My Disability

I Opened The Door On Portals, Fantasy, And My Disability Once upon a time, I opened a door and instead of finding Narnia, I found my disability. Once upon a time, I had a disability and it opened a door into fantasy. Neither of these statements is completely true, but each holds tendrils of truth, wisps of it to explore and understand something a bit deeper about both my disability and my reading choices. I’ve always been curious about why people gravitate towards the type of reading that they do, how it reflects parts of their personality, or their environment as a child, or the way they acquire books. I learned something that felt like a revelation after reading two mostly unrelated books back to back. Has that ever happened to you, where books seem to magically align in just the right order to create some kind of understanding you didn’t have before? In this case, the two books were The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow and Broken Places Outer Space by Nnedi Okorafor. The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a magical novel where doorways to other worlds are layered upon our own. It’s set in the early 1900s, and January Scaller lives with her adoptive father in a mansion full of unique objects, archaeological finds her adoptive father collects, just as he has collected herâ€"a mixed-race girl, as she is constantly reminded. Her biological father wanders from country to country, hunting these artifacts. When January Scaller finds a door in the midst of fields in a town her adoptive father has dragged her to, she doesn’t see how ill-fitting it is in the landscape. How improbable. How unsafe. What she sees is hope. Possibility. An adventure. She and the door are similar in all these ways. While I loved this novel for its lyricism and whimsy and just general gorgeousness, I would never have made a deeper, more personal connection with it if it weren’t for also reading Broken Places Outer Spaces immediately afterward. In Broken Places, Nnedi Okorafor relates the true story of becoming suddenly disabled in her early college years. What was meant to be a fairly routine surgery instead left her paralyzed, a college athlete with big dreams of running professionally. Writing, at this point, had not occurred to her. As she lay in her hospital bed, she began to hallucinate alien-like bugs. She began thinking about doorways and thresholds as she descended down the “rabbit hole of pain.” When she reemerged, still broken, still disabled, she found herself drawn to science fiction, to the recreation of broken things into something even better, and to stories about her past. It’s the combination of these elements that led to her career as a science fiction author. Disabili ty became a threshold, a portal into another world and the opportunities therein, and an entirely different aspect of herself. Her memoir is saturated with portal metaphors and reading it so soon after The Ten Thousand Doors of January made me think about the portals in my own life. And it especially made me realize that my disability and reading choices were inextricably linked, and how one became a portal for the other, and vice versa. I first passed out in the 4th grade lunch line. My best friend Stephanie caught me. At the time, I didn’t realize what had happened. I thought I’d faked passing out because I was angry with another best friend of mine, Katie, for absolutely no reason. I have no idea why I would think these two things could possibly be connected, but that’s the narrative I told my parents, and I had no more incidents until a couple of years later when I began “falling” a lot while taking showers. At first, I said nothing to my family. But when Mom asked about my bruises, I told her I was clumsy and slipped a lot in the shower, and I believed that. It was chalked up to teenage growth spurts, though in fact, I’m quite short and pretty much stopped growing by sixth or seventh grade. The debilitating headaches I started having were attributed to hormonal migraines, and I was prescribed medicine for them. My frequent illnesses were a repercussion of having allergies. Everything had a reason. At this time, my reading preferences began to change too. As a child, I preferred horror. I loved the delightful tingling feeling of fear, of goosebumps rising on my arms, of breath catching in my throat. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Goosebumps, Fear Street, and everything Stephen King were my top reading choices, though I’ve always read a bit of everything, and I also had Sunfire Romances,  American Girl books, and The Baby-Sitters Club on rotation. I read a little fantasy. The Hobbit and A Wrinkle in Time come to mind, and I enjoyed both. But fantasy wasn’t my bread and butter. That started changing in about 7th grade, and especially by high school. I tried to continue with horror and thumbed through my mom’s books, but nothing resonated. So I turned to my dad’s bookshelves instead, packed with fantasy pocketbooks. Mercedes Lackey became a favorite, as did David Eddings, Robert Jordan, Tamora Pierce, among many, many others. I found myself identifying with the teenage protagonists of these novels, whose onset of magic left them sick for days or weeks, near death until they were finally trained in their magic. And even then, casting a spell had a cost. It left them exhausted, often bedridden. I knew the feeling. I’m quite sure horror works in similar ways for others. In Emily Foster’s compelling essay “The Monster in the Mirror: On Horror, Disability, and Loving Both at Once,” she explains her attraction to horror as a disabled person: “It is so very gratifying, as a person who unsettles, to write unsettling characters and unsettling experiences, to rejoice in our survival when so many narratives kill us off or make us safe and tidy again.” I wish I could’ve seen horror in that way, but instead, I no longer felt the compelling need to be scared. It was an emotion that no longer interested me, and I often felt disgusted after reading one of my mom’s novels. Maybe it was a natural change in personality, and also there was a significant change in my home life at the time that could’ve affected my reading,   but I also think it was connected to the physical effects of my continuing health problems. Instead, fantasy became the portal by which I experienced acceptance and hope as a disabled person, which is similar to January Scaller finding hope and acceptance through fantastical doorways in The Ten Thousand Doors of January, though not as a disabled person, but as a girl and woman who could never fit in and be accepted for who she was because of the color of her skin. For me, fantasy became a portal into reimagining what I would much much later find out is a chronic autonomic disorder (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Disorder, among other things) into something positive. I deeply identified with the protagonists in these fantasy novels. Though they suffered, their experiences of dizziness, exhaustion, headaches, etc. all stemmed from the positive force of magic running through them. I didn’t actually believe I was magical, though of course, I imagined I was. Who doesn’t? Where kids today await their Hogwarts letter, I waited for my white horse, but I knew it would never co me. I was very aware of my reality, but fantasy novels showed me I could still belong.   Unlike Okorafor, I didn’t receive a diagnosis until more than a decade after my health problems began, and actually, they think something else is going on, too. Thankfully, my doctors never questioned my symptoms, which commonly happens with my particular set of health problems (and to women in general). It’s just that my doctors, in a small Tennessee town, had no idea what they were dealing with. Because it took so long to receive a diagnosis, it was very difficult for me to understand what was happening to my body. I never received an immediate moment of epiphany like Okorafor. I never said to myself while reading fantasy, “this is like me. I feel like this too.” Instead, it became a subconscious attraction, though this is conjecture. But it’s a conjecture that makes sense now, especially after reading Broken Places.   I’ve discussed before how reading fantasy made me a feminist. It makes sense then, as feminism is meant to uplift those demeaned by a patriarchal culture, that fantasy would also empower me as a disabled woman. Fantasy still has a long way to go in disability representation, and I hope to someday contribute more diverse perspectives, but it still gave courage to a preteen and teenage Margaret, struggling with something she wouldn’t fully understand for another decade, and still doesn’t fully. Portals can lead us to places where we can be accepted, where we can fit in, where we can be our essential selves. For both Okorafor and I, disabilities became our portals, though for Okorafor they led her to science fiction, and for me fantasy. In another way, fantasy became a portal into understanding my disability as something integral to myself, and not something to be ashamed of. Similarly, January found fantastical doors as a portal into acceptance, into realizing she’s beautiful and perfect exactly the way she is. While these two books are certainly not the only books about portals with similar themes, the congruence of reading them back to back gave me a deeper understanding of myself and my reading. Sign up to Swords Spaceships to  receive news and recommendations from the world of science fiction and fantasy. Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.

Analysis Of Michael Ondaatje s The Family - 901 Words

Michael Ondaatje’s fictionalized memoir Running in the Family uses the motif of mapping to represent the narrator’s reconstruction of his family history. The memoir develops a parallel between the mapmaking of European explorers who colonized Ceylon and Ondaatje’s attempt to make sense of his family’s chaotic and disordered past, which is difficult to trace due to the way it has become mythologized by gossip and rumours. In Running in the Family, the depiction of mapping as an uncertain art suggests that the search for objective truth is rendered impossible by the subjective perceptions of those who interpret information with their own unique point of view. These biased understandings demonstrate the flaw of accepting subjective statements marketed as facts to be true. When Ondaatje first references Ceylon in cartographical terms, the â€Å"glances† and â€Å"theories† used to describe the first impressions of explorers establishes a sense of uncertainty in their interpretations (45). The author describes these images as â€Å"false maps†, and observes that the â€Å"shapes differ so much they seem to be translations† (45). The inaccuracy implied by the word â€Å"false† and the reconstruction connoted by â€Å"translations† suggests that the explorers who created the maps conceived them in bits and pieces, never quite grasping a clear and unbiased image of Ceylon due to their own subjective point of view. Even the title of the chapter itself, â€Å"Tabula Asiae† (45), serves to reinforce the idea thatShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Michael Ondaatje s Running Of The Family Essay927 Words   |  4 Pagesphysically in a classroom, instead could be found wandering about aimlessly. I could never understand why they were all heralded as paragons in their field. They were never there. We once spent 3 days discussing the purpose of trees in Michael Ondaatje’s Running in the Family. From a student perspective there seemed to be very little organized planning, and most of it was student directed. Through, from a pre-service teacher perspective, I understand the absence of planning was probably due to us beingRead MoreSummary Of The Family Notebook 2051 Words   |  9 Pages9/14/2016 2B Running in The Family Notebook Assignment Section 1 – Chapter Summaries Prologue: Drought Since December – shows the author getting used to the climate of Ceylon because of how much it differs from where he came from. †¢ Intense heat †¢ Reminiscing of when he used to be in Ceylon Asian Rumors: Michael longs for a return to Asia. This section expresses his feelings for Ceylon and how important the place is to him. Asia – analyzes and dreams about Asia during Michael Ondaatje’s farewell party

The Famine, Affluence And Morality By Peter Singer

In the â€Å"Famine, Affluence and Morality† Peter Singer argued that individuals are morally obligated to grant most of their belongings to famines. He puts his argument as following. â€Å"suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are bad. If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without derby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it.† (Singer,454) John Arthur’s objection to this theory is that Singer’s second premise which he calls â€Å"greater moral evil principle† is not the whole picture and does not consider entitlement of individuals. He explains that Singer’s claim that great moral evil principle â€Å"explains our felling or that it appears uncontroversial† (singer, 454) is not sufficient since moral equality is also important. Arthur’s criticism of Singer’s view is established in his concept of a social moral code, which is â€Å"a system of principles, rules and other standards designed to guide people’s conduct.† (Arthur 501) Arthur explains that our social moral code approves both great moral evil principle and entitlement or right, which is consists of negative and positive right. Many has argued that Arthur’s formulation of positive right concept does not seems to be right. One point here is that the distinction between positive and negative right is not as distinct as Arthur’s assumption. Or there are rights that cannot be easily assigned to negative or positive right. Consider the newborn babies’Show MoreRelatedFamine, Affluence and Morality by Peter Singers929 Words   |  4 Pages In this essay I will be arguing why a utilitarian could possibly disagree with Peter Singers Argument presented in â€Å"Famine, Affluence and Morality.† After reading such an interesting paper I must say as much as I disagreed with Singers viewpoints I almost found it difficult to object them with support. From a utilitarian point of view we are to maximize Happiness by reducing suffering. How can Giving possible make someone unhappy? But as I was thinking a saying came across my mind, â€Å"Two steps forwardRead MoreFamine, Affluence and Morality by Peter Singer1486 Words   |  6 PagesIn his own essay â€Å"Famine, Affluence and Morality†, Peter Singer puts forth some compelling arguments for affluent people to give what they have in excess, to the suffering people of the world. Before any criticism is made, here is the argument: - There are people suffering and dying from lack of food, shelter and medical care. - People suffering and dying from lack of food, shelter and medical care is bad. - If you have the power to prevent something bad from happening without sacrificing †¨anythingRead MoreFamine, Affluence, and Morality by Peter Singer1107 Words   |  5 Pages Famine, Affluence, and Morality by Peter Singer The Elements of Reason #8 1. Use two or three sentences to state the main purpose or argument in this article. In other words, what is the argument the author is making? (This should be a specific argument. We all know that the authors are writing about morality and ethics.) The main purpose or argument in this article is that Peter Singer believes that richer nations should give assistanceRead MoreIn Famine, Affluence, And Morality, Peter Singer Argues1553 Words   |  7 PagesIn Famine, Affluence, and Morality, Peter Singer argues for the utilitarian system of ethics. To thoroughly understand this system, one must first accept the notion that the individual has a moral obligation to prevent something bad from happening if it is in their power to do so. For Singer, there is no inherently good moral compass one must strictly abide by. Actions that are considered good or bad differ based on the situation in question. Contrarily, Immanuel Kant asserts that there is intrinsicRead MoreThe Problem of Poverty in Famine, Affluence, and Morality by Peter Singer1112 Words   |  5 Pages Peter Singer is often regarded as one of the most productive and influential philosophers of modern times. He is well-known for his discussions of the acute social, economic, and political issues, including poverty and famines. In his â€Å"Famine, Affluence, and Morality†, Singer (1972) discusses the problem of poverty and hunger, as well as the way this problem is treated in the developed world. Singer believes that charity is inseparable from morality, and no distinction can be drawn between charityRead MorePeter Singer: Famine, Affluence, and Morality Essay1399 Words   |  6 Pagesone person is worth more than another (Lillehammer, 2011, p. 90). As we read in â€Å"Famine, Affluence and Morality,† Singer asserts that suffering from lack of food, shelter and medical care are bad. If we accept this assumption, and if we can, by our actions, prevent this bad from occurring, we are morally obligated to do so unless in so doing we sacrifice something that is of â€Å"comparable moral importance† (Singer, 1972, p. 500). Not all consequentialists agree with giving to Singer’s suggested â€Å"levelRead MoreAnalysis Of Peter Singer s Argument On Famine, Affluence, And Morality Essay1729 Words   |  7 PagesI’m a strong believer in that anyone can make their own choices in life. There is no such thing as â€Å"moral obligation† in my books, however there does exist â€Å"courtesy† or â€Å"kind-heartedness.† Peter Singer’s argument regarding famine, affluence, and morality is, in my opinion, strongly influenced by sympathetic and empathetic feelings based on observations in a still developing country. In a sense, his reasoning is subjective and biased because he seems to focus only on the problem, and not the circumstancesRead MoreI.Introduction. Famine Is A Highly Prevalent And Debated1106 Words   |  5 PagesI. Introduction Famine is a highly prevalent and debated topic. Written in November 1971, Peter Singer’s â€Å"Famine, Affluence, and Morality† addresses famine as a moral issue. Peter Singer, as a Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, focuses on ethics and moral values, and with his text, I will analyze this moral dilemma and show that the reasonable and well-thought Peter Singer’s argument is successful. II. Peter Singer’s Argument Peter Singer begins by laying out two basic premises: 1.Read MoreFamine, Affluence and Morality1663 Words   |  7 PagesSinger’s Famine, Affluence, and Morality Ametra Heard PHI208 Ethics and Moral Reasoning Instructor Zummuna Davis January 14, 2013 Singer’s Famine, Affluence, and Morality In the Peter Singer’s article â€Å"Famine, Affluence, and Morality†, he discusses the way that people should take moral in their help toward the support of the Bengal famine crisis. Singer states three obligations that would help the Bengal region through the means of a wealthy person, and those individuals living life on a dayRead Moresociety poverty has various definitions that lack the true picture that poverty depicts. Dictionary500 Words   |  2 Pagesreflected in Peter Singer’s â€Å"Famine, Affluence and Morality† essay and the opposing essay written by John Arthur in â€Å"World hunger and moral obligation: the case against Singer.† Peter Singer raises the question of poverty and our obligations toward it in his essay â€Å"Famine, Affluence, and Morality†. In the essay, Singer addresses the question of what obligations we have toward those around the globe who are suffering from lack of food, shelter or basic needs. Singer uses the terms ‘relieving famine,’ but

Study of the key Mergers Acquisitions of Banco Santande (2002-2010) Free Essays

string(76) " it attracts the bidding company to have acquisition of the target company\." ABSTRACT Mergers and acquisitions (MA) play a vital role in the corporate finance world. For many companies, M A is source of external growth when company organic growth has already reached at peak. Globalisation of the world economy allows company expanding their operations and also competes against the domestic players through mergers and acquisitions. We will write a custom essay sample on Study of the key Mergers Acquisitions of Banco Santande (2002-2010) or any similar topic only for you Order Now This study highlights the success story of acquisition of UK bank â€Å"Abbey National† by Spanish Bank – â€Å"Banco Santander† in November 2004.This acquisition profoundly transformed the Group Santander’s business profile, provided the growth opportunity in most profitable attractive market, diversified the risk and substantially increased the market capitalisation. This study examines the Santander strategic development post acquisition, impact on their financial performance also their long term performance in stock market. This cross – border M A has been very beneficial for the Santander. Santander continues to focus on delivering value for shareholders through organic growth and acquisitions. Analysis of the topic has been demonstrated by several examples. The data and the information source are publisher’s websites, literatures, news, and, various articles. 1. 0 INTRODUCTION Privatisation and deregulation have brought substantial changes in the financial markets since the 1970s. In 1980 deregulation was encouraged in the EU which brought major structural change. Introduction of the single currency in Europe was example of further deregulation, which encouraged countries to open their markets to foreign competition. Abbey National had gone through a big transformation in the last century from a building society, to successful bank and finally to a â€Å"bid† on the market. Abbey National was a well-established domestic name in the UK. It has been a successful business in the past. Abbey National proceeded to expand through mergers and acquisition in order to maintain its market position, however, diversification of its core businesses and a lack of focus resulted in large losses for the group from year 2001 had total loss of ?984million in 2003. In 2001 the Lloyds TSB placed offer to takeover, which was likely to result in a large market share ownership within the UK by one bank. This was overturned by Competition Commission and the Office of Fair Trading as it was against the public interest. Santander realised Abbey National as a safe investment compared to its Latin American banks that have been losing money for the last two years. Moreover, this acquisition for Santander was a new interest in retail banking, which was Abbey National’s strength. Abbey National plc and Banco Santander Central Hispano, SA reached an agreement on the terms of a recommended acquisition by Banco Santander of Abbey on 26 July 2004, which was formally approved by the courts and Abbey became part of Grupo Santander on 12 November 2004. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW Mergers and acquisitions are source of external growth when organic growth is not possible. For smaller companies there is constant threat to their continued independent existence by the big player/competitor. The terms Mergers takeover are synonymously used although there is narrow distinction between the two. Merger is reorganisation of assets into a new organisation having agreement of both their shareholders. Merger involves company of similar size which reduces the dominance of each other. A take over is acquisition of the ordinary shareholders capital by another company. This may be financed by cash payment, an issue of securities or a combination of both. In acquisition bidding company is larger and dominant than the target company. Broadly takeovers can be classified into following three categories – â€Å"Horizontal takeover† – Company operating in the same industry and similar stage of production â€Å"Vertical takeover† – Operating at different stages production within the same industry. Vertical takeover may be a move forward in the production process to secure distribution outlet, or a move backward in the production process to secure the raw material supply. â€Å"Conglomerate takeover†- Combining two companies operating in different area of business. When there is international dimension involve it is called cross border acquisition. Justification for acquisitions – â€Å"Economic† â€Å"Synergy† – â€Å"When assets and /or operations of two companies complement each other, so that sum of their combined output is more than individual some†. â€Å"Economies of scale† – â€Å"Similar to above as the scale of operation is larger and better efficiencies/ output are experienced1.† â€Å"Elimination of inefficient management† – â€Å"Acquisition helps replacing inefficient manager by efficient managers leading to deliver better performance and output1.† â€Å"Entry to new markets† – â€Å"Entry to new geographical and business area right from scratch may not be an economical option so acquisition is chosen as efficient route to expansion.† â€Å"To provide critical mass† – â€Å"Smaller companies experience lack of credibility because of their small size. Because of the increasing importance of R D and brand investment, merging company’s pool resources to establish critical mass required to provide cash flows to finance such requirements1.† â€Å"Means of providing growth† – When company finds organic growth difficult then this strategy will be a quick solution for providing growth. â€Å"Market Power share† – Horizontal acquisitions increases market share and earn monopoly profits, whereas vertical acquisition increase company power in raw material or distribution. 2. â€Å"Financial â€Å" â€Å"Financial synergy† – If the cost of capital decreases as a direct result of acquisition. In conglomerate takeover because of lack of correlation between the cash flows of different companies reduces the volatility of cash flow. These results in reduced business risk and cost of capital may decreases. â€Å"Target undervaluation† – â€Å"Target company’s shares are undervalued where capital markets are not efficient as a result company may be a bargain buys†. â€Å"Tax consideration† – Tax exhausted company will be benefited with the acquisition of non tax exhausted company so that tax allowable benefits can be brought forward which may offset capital allowance interest. â€Å"Increasing earning per share† – â€Å"Earning per share increases if the bidding company has a higher price/earning ratio than its target company†. 3. â€Å"Managerial Motives† – This may also arise if managers are more concerned satisfying their own objective rather than with increasing the wealth of shareholders. Sometimes motives behind such acquisitions are to increase managers pay power. Factors influencing takeovers trends are as follows – (i)â€Å"Booming Stock exchange† – With the increase in share prices it attracts the bidding company to have acquisition of the target company. You read "Study of the key Mergers Acquisitions of Banco Santande (2002-2010)" in category "Essay examples" (ii) Increase in company’s real liquidity and profitability encourages takeover. (iii) Deregulation external source of finance (debt) more easily available in the market. 3.0 RECENT HISTORY – 3.1 Origins Growth The Abbey National Building Society was formed following the merger of two long standing building societies in 1944. During the period of 1970 and 1980 it gained reputation for innovation changes. In 1988, Abbey National plc was incorporated as a bank and in 1989 the Society transferred business to Abbey National plc. September 11th attack in New York Enron turned out in 2001 damaged confidence in various financial areas. From this point, Abbey struggled from financial losses and a tarnished image. In 2003, the brand name was shortened to Abbey. There was major reorganization of the bank in September 2003. In 2004 it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Grupo Santander of Spain After two successive years of losses Abbey returned to profit in 2004 even though there was big cost of reorganization post acquisition charges (?564 million). Abbey was renamed Santander UK in January 2010. Table 1 – Grupo Santander’s Performance comparison in Year 2004 2005 Source – Santander Annual Report 2005 http://www.santandershareholder.com/financial-information/reports-and-publications/ Table 2- Abbey Full Year Results for the Year 2004 2005- Source – Abbey 2005 Full Year Results – http://www.aboutsantander.co.uk/investors/financial-results-and-presentations/2005.aspx 3.2 Main economic and legal environments in main market – There has been a good economic environment for business growth till 2007. Market was hit by deep recession in 2008 which continued till 2009. Year 2010 saw the recovery. Table 3 – Main Economic highlights 3.3 Strategic developments (2002-2010) Santander Consumer continued to develop its two-pronged growth strategy – organic and selective acquisitions – with excellent results. Banco Santander has expanded its operations aggressively with several acquisitions in the last decade. Santander strategy is to follow the business model of proven success in European and Latin American countries, and was applied in Abbey. The pillars of this model are – Focus on retail banking Diversification, efficiency Prudence in risks Balance sheet strength Flexible style of management, which enables them take advantage of business opportunities Adapt easily to the countries where they operate and to the changes and new challenges. 3.4 Business Opportunities On 26 July 2004 â€Å"Banco Santander Central Hispano† announced the acquisition of â€Å"Abbey National plc†, the acquisition was formally approved by the courts on 12 November 2004. In June 2006, â€Å"Banco Santander Central Hispano† purchased almost 20% of Sovereign Bank. In May 2007 consortium â€Å"Banco Santander Central Hispano†, â€Å"Royal Bank of Scotland† and â€Å"Fortis† made an offer to takeover â€Å"ABN AMRO†. In October 2007 acquired â€Å"ABN AMRO†. As part of the deal, â€Å"Grupo Santander† acquired â€Å"ABN AMRO’s† subsidiary in Brazil and its subsidiary in Italy. On 13 August 2007, â€Å"Banco Santander Central Hispano† changed its legal name to â€Å"Banco Santander†. In November 2007, it sold Banca Antonveneta to Monte dei Paschi di Siena. In March 2008, Banco Santander sold Interbanca, a subsidiary of Banca Antonveneta, to GE Commercial Finance In July 2008 it intended to takeover the UK bank Alliance Leicester, the acquisition was completed in October 2008.This was followed by the acquisition of the savings business of UK bank Bradford Bingley (BB) in September 2008. The banks, along with Abbey, are to be merged together under the Santander name in the UK by the end of 2010 These acquisitions saw Santander managing diversified portfolio which reduced the risk and also provided a profitable growth to emerge as the largest financial in the world. Santander’s continues to focus on the attraction, engagement, development, progression and retention of its senior leaders. 3.5 Long term performance in stock market – Table 4- Stock market Key Performance for Santander 2002- 2010 The above table shows Santander Group robust performance in the last decade. Share prices had doubled prior to the 2008 when there was worldwide recession and stock prices tumbled down. Company has shown a great resilient performance and recovered slowly to a steady growth position. Figure 1 – Share Prices of Banco Santander Figure 2 – Market Capitalisation of Banco Santander 4.0 Empirical Supports Table 5 – Key Ratios Performance of Banco Santander 4.5.1 Liquidity ratio Liquidity ratio shows company’s ability to repay short-term creditors out of its total cash. The liquidity ratio is the result of dividing the total cash by short-term borrowings. Current ratio = Current Assets/Current liabilities Figure 3 – Current Ratio of Banco Santander 4.5.2 Profitability ratio These ratios express the company ability to generate earnings as compared to its expense. Various measures used in this analysis are Return on equity (ROE), return on capital employed (ROCE), and return on asset (ROA) . 4.5.2.1 Return on equity Return on equity (ROE) – This measures rate of return on the ownership interest. It’s efficiency of generating profits from every units of shareholders equity. This is expressed as following formula – ROE = Net profit after taxes/Average shareholders’ equity Figure 4 – ROE of Banco Santander 4.5.2.2 Return on capital employed This measure earning with capital invested in the company. This is expressed as ratio of earning before interest taxes to the capital employed. Capital employed is represented as total asset less current liabilities or fixed asset plus working capital. ROCE = Net profit after taxes/Capital Employed Figure 5 – ROCE of Banco Santander 4.5.2.3 Return on Assets This measures the profitability of company’s assets in generating revenue. This is ratio of Net Income to mode of total asset. ROA = Net profit after taxes / Total Assets Figure 6 – ROA of Banco Santander 4.5.2.4 Cost-Income ratio This is measure of efficiency. This measure change of cost compare to income. It directly affects the profit margin. As the efficiency decreases means cost decreases or income increase or increase in cost is less compared to income. This results in improved margin. Figure 7 – Efficiency of Banco Santander 4.5.3 Investment valuation ratios Investment ratio is measure of returns in future. This is an anticipated value/Forecast on the investment. 4.5.3.1 Dividend payout ratio (DPR) This ratio measures the percentage of earnings (net income) per common share allocated to paying cash dividends to shareholders. Dividend payout ratio is indicates the earnings of dividend by every share against the earning per share. DPR= Dividends per common share/Earnings per share. Figure 8 – DPR of Banco Santander- 4.5.3.1 Earnings per share (EPS) This express part of a company’s profit allocated to each outstanding ordinary share. Earning Per Share is a measure/tool used by investors to asses profitability based on the number of shares they hold/own. EPS = (Net Income – Dividends on preferred stocks)/Average outstanding ordinary shares Figure 9 – EPS of Banco Santander Conclusion In this study the research has been carried out on the M A in general and role of M A on the financial performance of Banco Santander in particular. Deregulation of having single currency Europe wide globalisation opened the market for foreign companies to expand their operation compete against domestic players. This acquisition is a case of cross- border where Santander got opportunity of acquiring diversified portfolio which reduced risk in their business. Ratios such as Liquidity, Profitability, Investors, Gearing Returns have been considered pre post acquisition for analysis in order to understand the financial performance of the bank in the last decade. Santander continued to grow organically and also followed very aggressive cross border acquisitions as a strategy. Santander has shown a very robust performance post acquisition. In 2005 after acquisition of Abbey Santander profits soar group shown 35% rise in profit during the first six months. Overall rise was 44% in the year. Santander continued acquisitions and business growth has been significant year on year basis. Santander performance has been resilient during recession and shown great recovery in 2010. Assets, Market Capitalisation, Profits, Earning Per Share has shown significant growth in the last ten year. High profitability led Santander to pay high dividend to share holders. Santander continues to focus on shareholder values and paid big returns to share holderâ€⠄¢s money. Santander emerged as world’s biggest financial group in a decade. References Watson, D. Head, A (2010) Corporate Finance: Principles Practices, Abbey National (2004) â€Å"History† According to http://www.aboutabbey.com Abbey National (2004) â€Å"Annual Report† According to www.abbeynational.co.uk BBC News (2001) â€Å"A battle for Abbey National† According to http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1170339.stm BBC News (2003) â€Å"Abbey National slumps into losses† According to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2799905.stm Forbes (2004) â€Å"Abbey National Shareholders OK Takeover† According to www.forbes.com Taylor. G (2003) â€Å"UK Building Society demutualization motives† Business Ethics, Volume 12 Issue 4 Page 394 Webster. J (2001) â€Å"Final Thematic Report – Retail Financial Services† According to www.tcd.ie/erc/Servemploi/reportspdf/FinalThRep/sevthrefiancial.PDF 5th Edition, Harlow: Prentice Hall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_National http://www.aboutsantander.co.uk/ â€Å"www.google.co.uk† http://www.aboutsantander.co.uk/investors/financial-results-and- presentations/2005.aspx http://www.santandershareholder.com/financial-information/reports-and-publications/ How to cite Study of the key Mergers Acquisitions of Banco Santande (2002-2010), Essay examples

Manhattan Thirties Flash Essay Example For Students

Manhattan Thirties Flash Essay The poem Manhattan Thirties Flash is exactly what the title states. It is a quick description of Manhattan in the 1930s. The author, Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) was a well-known firebrand, Ginsberg was a leader of the â€Å"beat movement† of the 1950’s and of the cultural and political protests of the 1960’s. He often writes about spiritual survival in a dehumanized, repressive society. You can see the dehumanization throughout the poem for example in line one when Ginsberg writes, repetitive machine Crash cookie-cutting. When he says, repetitive, this lets you know that the same thing is being done over and over again, like it is a program. Cookie-cutting, says that there is a template and it is being mass produced. Line two and three state, dynamo rows of soulless replica Similitudes brooding tank-like in Army Depots. The mention of the tank-like Army Depots means that what he sees is just an area filled with orderly components. Then again in line four, exactly the same exactly the same exactly the same with no .. Not only is Ginsberg directly telling you that there is no variation, but by him repeating, exactly the same, he further pushes his views. In line six, overwhelming force of robot obsession, our slaves are not alive, by him saying robot obsession he means that people are being forced into this dehumanized environment, and that we are just slaves of society. Once again in line nine, crowds of executive secretaries alighting from subway 8:30 A.M., one could clearly see that by stating this, Ginsberg wants you to see how we are part of a system, a repetitive system. He leads you to believe that these secretaries exit the subways every day at the same time, although he never states that. When examining the punctuation, you notice in lines one through three that there are several words unusually capitalized. The words are Crash, Similitudes, and Army Depots. They signify a central theme that these comparisons of society are perfectly arranged. The comparisons are of society and how it is ultimately a machine. In lines ten and eleven, bloodflow in cells thru elevator arteries stairway glands to typewriter consciousness, Ginsberg uses the text to resemble an analogy. Bloodflow in cells is to elevator arteries as stairway glands is to typewriter consciousness. Finally, he mentions the Con Ed skyscraper in line twelve. This random insertion of a companys name means that we are a slave to the systematic society. A society controlled by businesses but run by men.