Constructivism and international relations Essay

Constructivism and international relations - Essay Example Thus the debate between liberals and realists forms an axis of contention regarding international relations. Constructivists reject the idea by neorealism that states have a one-sided focus on material advantage. Wendt for example argues the most significant character of international relations is based on social term and not material items . Furthermore, social reality is subjective to international affairs. The social and political world cannot define international relations as a physical institution outside human cognizance. The main focus is, therefore, the extent of anarchy and power in relation to interaction and learning. Wendt (1992) focuses his argument more on rejecting the neorealist position to which constructivism results to anarchy which is mainly geared to self-help of states . In these aspects, state identities and interests come from the relationship subsisting between international and domestic societies. Constructivists argue that state interests are not defined by egoistic terms. This situation is effective because egoistic interests do not form a significant aspect of individuality and are based on individual representation relationships. The relative stabilities in these individual relationships act as if they were authorized by an institution. A lot of convergent factors expose states towards egoism, which in most cases do not preclude collective interests. Constructivism is interested in converging domestic values from a transnational scale through the establishment of democratic institutions.

Rabies Virus Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rabies Virus - Research Paper Example The RNP complex along with the the viral RNA is comprised â€Å"of the proteins L (transcriptase), N (nucleoprotein), and NS (transcriptase-associated)† (Rupprecht). â€Å"These aggregate in the cytoplasm of virus-infected neurons and compose Negri bodies, the characteristic histopathologic finding of rabies virus infection. The M (matrix) and G (glycoprotein) proteins are associated with the lipid envelope. The G protein forms the protrusions that cover the outer surface of the virion envelope and is the only rabies virus protein known to induce virus-neutralizing antibody† (Rupprecht). Rabies virus can be either the fixed type or street (wild type) (Rupprecht). Incubation period In dogs, the incubation period is usually 3-6 weeks but it may range from 10 days to a year. In man, the incubation period is usually from 1-3 months though it may be as short as 10 days or as long as 3 years. Incubation period is usually short in persons bitten on the face or head and long in those bitten on the legs. Incubation period is shorter in children. (Ananthnarayanan) Reservoirs of infection and host range The rabies virus infects a wide range of hosts, including dogs and cats, raccoons, coyotes, skunks, foxes, bats, and human beings. Any warm-blooded animal can be infected with rabies; however, some animals like wolves, foxes, and coyotes are more susceptible (Ananthnarayanan) Transmission About 99.8% of reported cases of rabies are due to bites of animals. The â€Å"other forms of transmission that have been reported includes contamination of mucous membranes, faulty vaccines, corneal transplants, and aerosol transmission† (Rupprecht) Signs and symptoms Rabies virus affects primarily the central nervous system, and causes an acute infection. In humans, there are five clinical stages: â€Å"the incubation period, prodrome, acute neurologic period, coma, and death† (Rupprecht) The prodromal period usually lasts from 2 to 10 days and clinical sympt oms are first noticed during this stage. The symptoms may include fever, general malaise, fatigue, cough, sore throat, dyspnea, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, dysphagia, abdominal pain, diarrhea, irritability, vertigo, headache, anxiety, nervousness and apprehension (Rupprecht). Some significant features like â€Å"insomnia, nightmares, depression, increased agitation, photophobia, priapism, and increased libido, may also occur† (Rupprecht). In that case, it suggests the presence of psychiatric disturbances encephalitis, or other brain abnormalities (Rupprecht). A pathognomonic feature in the acute neurologic period is difficulty in drinking together with intense thirst. Attempts to drink brings painful spasms of pharynx and larynx, producing choking that patients later develop a dread for even the sight or sound of water (hydrophobia) (Scheld & Whitley) In the acute neurologic period, the disease is categorized as dumb rabies if paralysis is the main clinical feature and as fur ious rabies if the symptom of hydrophobia is the main clinical feature. Both types of rabies may show signs like â€Å"focal and generalized convulsions, muscle fasciculations, hyperventilation, paresthesia, hypersalivation and nuchal rigidity† (Rupprecht) After the acute neurologic period ends, the patient may develop a rapid, irregular type of breathing. Very soon, paralysis and coma develops. Unless ventilator support is instituted, the patient may

Video game controversy Essay Example for Free

Video game controversy Essay Technology has (had) come a long way since the early years of life. The use of technology to humans, is to enhance or improve whatever it may be to have a much quicker advancement or have a better and easy going lifestyle. But in the more recent years, technology has turned for the worst. Specifically speaking, video games. Video games in its early years were meant for a positive use, much like any other type of game; to simply act as a fun activity to pass time. That is not the case anymore because of how dangerously advanced and addicting video games can be. In fact it’s so dangerous nowadays that countries like South Korea are contemplating whether or not to ban video games. Why is it dangerous? Video games influence a type of negative social behavior, has a direct correlation to the cause of Insomnia, and is relevant to the increasing obesity rates in America. Playing video games can lead to many negative effects on a person. Video Games influence a type of negative social behavior. â€Å"The effects of videophilia are substantial and include obesity, attention disorders, lack of socialization and poor academic performance† (Video Game Addiction). The person (game player) may lose social skills and qualities depending on the level of video game addiction. Usually, the player is spending so much time on the game that he/ she is neglecting other areas of life. A common sign of video game addiction is constantly talking about the game almost constantly. â€Å" It is more likely to talk down upon a peer after a violent video game session† (Tiret). These types of social skills are not acceptable to continuously practice. The people that talk down on peers because of the violent video game session could go into depression or anxiety because of what others say or think about them. Young Children love playing rated M 18+ games that contain violence and other profound content (Parks). â€Å" the more time children and teens spend playing violent video games the more likely they are to display aggressive behavior† (Tiret). The more violent the game is, the more violent the player will be. It’s morally wrong to be mean for absolutely no reason towards other human beings. The effects on aggressive behavior can be long lasting (Tiret). A build up in anger is not healthy. If the constant aggression keeps up, the aggressive person will be ostracized by classmates or friends. Insomnia is easily caused by the lack of sleep, which is a common symptom of a video game addict. â€Å"Studies have shown that people deprived of contact with nature were at greater risk of depression and anxiety† (Wilderness Adventure). â€Å"In a study by Breslau and associates, patients with insomnia were nearly 4 times more likely to suffer major depression than those without insomnia† (Johnston). A depressed person will look at everything negatively and have no motivation to go outside. The person may even view his/ her life not even worth living. Stress and depression can be caused by a variety of things resulting in insomnia. Stress may be caused by hours on the computer playing a game without rest. Depression may hit the person, depending on intimacy with the video game, once he/she loses a lot. â€Å" insomnia and its associated daytime sleepiness had significant negative effects on cognitive functioning and impaired their subjects’ ability to perform ordinary tasks† (Johnston). â€Å"Excessive Sleepiness has been linked to learning disabilities in children and cognitive and memory problems in adults† (Johnston). If this keeps up then the next generations will become less capable than the ones before which shouldn’t happen. Remembering what you ate for breakfast will be very difficult. â€Å"Poor sleep hygiene includes an irregular sleep schedule, stimulating activities before bed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Mayo Clinic). The ‘stimulating activities’ could translate into playing video games before you sleep. The effects of the stimulating activities causes the person to stay awake longer in bed. Some argue video games can be healthy to a person. One of the biggest positive effects video games can have on a person is the fact that makes people happy. As a result, video games have become an easy scapegoat for numerous violent tendencies and social behaviors. Video games are indeed a scapegoat, but it doesn’t hide the fact that the people who play these games as a scapegoat are neglecting themselves from the real world. These people will not get to experience what it’s really like in the real world. Based on solid scientific evidence, video games may actually fill basic human needs that the real world fails to satisfy (Shapiro). This applies to people who have social anxieties causing these people to refrain from the outside even more. The people are not completely solving their problems, only temporarily. It is not the game’s fault for these negative effects. There are millions who play the game and don’t go out and do the negatively portrayed actions on the news. The criminals mention the games’ names and blame the games. Violent games are very influential on a person. â€Å"Reality is too complicated to blame playings games, moving pictures, or letters on a page† (Parks). Games are where people get ideas from. Life is commonly sealed into one perception for a person, and curiosity comes from ideas that have never been heard of before. Addiction of video games can easily lead into obesity which is a dangerous and lethal disease. Video games create an obstacle for children. â€Å"Children today spend an average of 6 hours each day in front of the computer and TV, but less than 4 minutes a day in instructed outdoor play† (Wilderness Adventure). There is an extreme amount of physical inactivity. The calories are not burned which turn into fat later on. â€Å"Getting less than seven hours of sleep a night can cause changes in hormones that increase your appetite† (Mayo Clinic). Less sleep IS a vital cause of obesity. Eating most of your calories at night contributes to weight gain. â€Å"Overweight and obesity are linked to more deaths worldwide than underweight† (WHO). Being overweight and obese brings cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and even some cancers. The obese people are not outside and running which leads into no training for the cardiovascular system. While playing video games, gamers do not pay attention to what they eat which could lead into a massive buildup of diabetes. â€Å"More than 40 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2011† (WHO). 41% of certain cancer burdens are attributable to overweight and obesity. Children who play video games fit into this category. The topic of video games being perceived as a positive thing today is growing out of hand. It’s like spreading a humongous lie to gullible innocents. Affecting social behavior in a negative manner, causing obesity, and developing insomnia are serious matters. The negative effects of playing video games are severe and the idea of playing video games should not be taken lightly.

How Capital Structure Affects UK Cost of Capital

How Capital Structure Affects UK Cost of Capital Abstract Firms require a reasonable capital structure to meet the required target. To raise the finance, firms normally choose to review some different factors that are taken into account in considering. In this study, the author will examine the correlation between capital structure and the cost of the capital. As the cost will be a main factor for the firms to raise the finance. And different of capital structure will cause variable cost. This report will review the literature in capital structure and cost of finance. Along with the availability of source of finance, including the matching principle, a famous tools trade-off theory. As well as the argument follows, pecking order theory and agency cost theory. Drawing a conclusion based on the research survey data collection. Justify the relationship in how capital structure affects capital cost. Introduction The term capital structure refers to the mix of different types of funds which a company uses to finance its activities. Capital structure varies greatly from one company to another. For example, some companies are financed mainly by shareholders funds whereas others make much greater use of borrowings. Since the seminal publication of Modigliani and Miller (1958), corporate finance researchers have devoted considerable effort to investigating capital structure decisions (e.g. Myers, 1977 and 1984). Significant progress has been made in understanding the determinants of corporate capital structure with an increased emphasis on financial contracting theory (for example, Barclay and Smith, 1995; Mehran et al., 1999; and Graham et al., 1998 and, for an international view, Rajan and Zingales, 1995). This theory suggests that firm characteristics such as risk and investment opportunity set affect contracting costs. In turn, these costs impact on the choice between alternative forms of finance such as debt and equity, and between different classes of fixed-claim finance such as debt and leasing. The author will examine the relationship between the cost of capital and the structure of capital, and the effect of cost to raise finance in terms of making financial decision in the firms. Literature review 2.1 Theory of capital The origins of capital structure theory lie in the models of optimal capital structure that were developed in the wake of the famous Modigliani-Miller irrelevance theorem. These models later became to be known as the static trade-off theory (see e.g. Modigliani and Miller, 1958, 1963; Baxter, 1967; Gordon, 1971; Kraus and Litzenberger, 1973; Scott, 1976; Kim, 1978; Vinso, 1979). In this theory, the combination of leverage related costs (associated with e.g. bankruptcy and agency relations) and a tax advantage of debt produces an optimal capital structure at less than a 100% debt financing, as the tax advantage is traded off against the likelihood of incurring the costs. This theoretical result is now widely accepted in the profession. However, in seeking to model the wide diversity of capital structure practice, a number of additional factors have been proposed in the literature. 2.2 Factors that affect capital structure First, the use of debt finance can reduce agency costs between managers and shareholders by increasing the managers share of equity (Jensen and Meekling, 1976) and by reducing the free cash available for managers personal benefits (Jensen, 1986). Second, Myers and Majluf (1984) argue that, under asymmetric information, equity may be mispriced by the market. If firms finance new projects by issuing more equity, under pricing may cause les profit for existing shareholders in terms of the project NPV. Myers (1984) refers to this as pecking order theory of capital structure. The underinvestment can be reduced by financing the mispriced equity by the market. Internal funds involve no undervaluation and even debt that is not too risky will be preferred to equity. If external finance was required, firms tended first to issue the safest security, debt, and only issued equity as a last resort. Under this model, there is no well-define target mix of debt and equity finance. Each firms observed debt ratio reflects its cumulative requirements for external finance. Generally, profitable firms will borrow less because they can rely on internal resources and retain earnings. The preference for internal equity implies that firms will use less debt than suggested by the trade-off theory. Other factors that have been invoked to help explain the diversity of capital structures include: management behaviour (Williamson, 1988), firm-stakeholder interaction (Grinblatt and Titman, 1998), and corporate control issues (Harris and Raviv, 1988 and 1991). 2.3 How to finance The conventional discussion on a firms choice between long-term and short-term debt has generally focused on three aspects: matching debt maturity with asset life; extending the term-to-maturity of loans to stretch the firms debt capacity; and concentrating long-term debt issues in periods of relatively low interest rates. Recent development in the financial research literature has advanced several economics concepts such as transaction and agency costs, tax-timing option, and information asymmetry, to the debt maturity choice paradigm. Brick and Ravid (1985) show that taxes can also imply an optimal debt maturity structure. Depending on the term-structure of interest rates, long-term (short-term) is optimal, since it accelerates the tax benefit of debt given an increasing (decreasing) term structure. When firms cannot reveal the true quality of their cash flows, i.e. when information asymmetry exists, they can prevent or abate undervaluation by using a variety of signalling devices, such as debt (leverage), dividend payments or the maturity structure of debt. Thus, information asymmetry gives firms an incentive to signal their quality and credibility by taking on more debt and shortening their debt maturity. A higher leverage, especially more short-term debt, signals favourable inside information to the market because it offers the possibility to renegotiate terms in the future, when more information has become available. Long-term debt entails higher information costs than short-term debt, because the market expects a stronger deterioration of quality than insiders do. Firms with a low level of information asymmetry are therefore more likely to issue long-term debt (Flannery, 1986). In the study of international capital structures, Rajan and Zingales (1995) argue that it is important to test the robustness of US finds in different environments. They identify as potentially important the cross-country differences in tax and bankruptcy codes, in the market for corporate control and in the historical role played by banks and security markets. Methodology This survey focuses primarily on the determinants of the capital structure policy of firms but also includes some questions on topics that are closely related to the capital structure. For example, the questions address their approximate cost of equity to the managers, how they estimate their cost of equity (with CAPM or other methods), and whether the impact on the weighted average cost of capital is a consideration in their capital structure choice. The survey was developed after a careful review of the capital structure literature pertaining to the U.S. and European countries. For ease of comparability, the author tried to keep the format and design the survey similar to that of Graham and Harvey (2001), but modified or simplified some questions that are likely to be relevant in the UK context. For example, literature suggests that there are strong differences in corporate objectives between American and UK financial systems since the former system focuses on maximizing shareholder wealth while the later emphasizes the welfare of all stakeholder including employees, creditors and even he government. To examine this difference, the author ask the CFOs about the extent to which different stakeholders influence their firms financial decisions, the author also ask the firms the percentage of their free float share and whether they have preference or common share. 3.1 Sampling The initial samples for mailing the survey consist of a total of 57 firms from UK. The choice of initial sample was based on selecting firms that are representative of the UK firms, are widely traded, are comparable across country, and are public limited with available information. These criteria are important to justify the firms specific difference. From this sample, 9 firms were deleted because of non-availability of addresses and another 17 firms were deleted because they declined to participate in the survey, leaving a final sample of 31 firms. The survey was anonymous as this was an important criterion to obtain honest responses. In the mailing a letter was included that was addressed to the CFO or CEO explaining the objective of the study and promising to send a copy of the findings to those who wished to receive. A total of 12 responses were received by mail, which represents a response rate about 38 percent. 3.3 Summary of findings The respondent firms represent a wide variety of industries with a larger concentration in manufacturing; mining; energy and transportation sector; high technology; and financial sectors. About three forth of firms have a target debt to equity ratios, and about half of these firms maintain a target debt to equity ratios of one. Further, many respondents have a large percentage of their total debt in short term. About 80 percent of respondents report that they calculate their cost of equity, and over 77% of them employ the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to calculate this cost. The estimated cost of equity reported by respondents ranges between 9%-15% only few firms report cost of capital greater than 15% The correlations among the demography variables of this survey are largely as predicted in the literature. These correlations will be discussed in detail in the next section. Analysis Three sets of factors in managers opinion that are likely to influence capital structure of firms are selected based on a review of literature. The first set is based on the implications of different capital structure theories such as the trade-off theory, the pecking order theory, and the agency cost theory. Generally the managers will make the financial decisions based on theories and through these decisions to affect their cost of capital. The second set relates to the managers timing of debt or equity issues since literature suggests that managers are concerned about financial flexibility. With evidence support in the findings, most of managers within all industries consider the financial flexibility as the most important issue when raise finance. Finance by short term may give the company advantage in changing their status to meet the changing world environment and provide less risks in investments. Finally, the last set of factors is based on common beliefs among managers about the impact of capital structure changes on financial statements such as the potential impact of equity issue on earnings. This factor shows the important of experience in managers mind and how it will be impact on the decisions. In summary, to analyse a companys capital structure, we assume that the company is only financed by two ways, either by shareholders equity or borrowings. It is just to consider how cost of capital affect the different proportion of debt in capital structure. Figure 8: Two advantages and two disadvantages of borrowing Advantages Disadvantages 1. Cheap direct cost because debt is less risky to the investor 1. Financial leverage causes shareholders to increase their cost of capital 2. Cheap direct cost because interest is a tax deductible expense. 2. Bankruptcy risks if borrowings are too high. The main advantage of borrowing is that the debt has a cheaper direct cost than equity. Debt is less risky to the investor than equity (low risk result a low required return) Interest payments are tax deductable whereas dividends are not. However, borrowing has two distinct disadvantages. Firstly it causes shareholders to suffer increased volatility of earnings. This is known as financial leverage. The increased volatility to shareholders returns resulting from financial leverage causes shareholders to demand a higher rate of return in compensation. The second disadvantage of borrowing is that if the company borrows too much, it increases its bankruptcy risks. At reasonable levels of gearing this affect will be imperceptible, but it becomes significant for highly geared companies and results in a range of risks and costs which have the effect of increasing the companys cost of capital. Limitation and Ethical issue The research focus on the UK market and respondents are from different areas of industry. The limitation has been carried out. First will be the time of the research. As a three months research, the data was not examined as correct enough to support the authors point. The data collection should be carrying continually in a long period of time and often reviewed at some certain time. Second, the way of collecting these data is limited by mailing. The survey may not represent the whole market as the limited number of respondents. A research should conduct all the possible methods including quantitative and qualitative. Finally, as this is not a professional research, lots of objectives in the research declined to give feedback in judging their financial structure in the case some of this could be their classified information. The ethical issue has been raised in this research; this will be honesty in the feedbacks from the respondents. As this survey is anonymous research, the managers may not give the right information in case of rising threats in competition. The importance of financial structure in firms causes the mangers to think before they actually answer the questions. The privacy issue in their mind raised that they may not want to share all the information regarding to the financial statement. Conclusion The purpose of this article is to supplement the existing literature with an analysis of the factors determining the financial structure affecting the cost of capital. The analyses give rise to the following conclusions. The study presents a dynamic model to address the possibility of adjustment costs incurred in reaching an optimal capital structure. And examine the literature in the factors in capital structure in affecting the cost of financing a firm through the facts in reality. The conclusion can be drawn as the cost of capital is a key factor that firms taken into account when raise finance along with the financial flexibility. On the other hand, the capital structure of a firm will affect the firms cost in both short term and long term. The firms raise the finance to meet the required target, there is no such a way to limit firms financial structure. They may want to choose a short term loan to meet flexibility of cash flow, in the contrast; the long term finance may require more information and satisfaction of the firms. The cost of capital depends on how firms finance their capital structure. Reference and bibliography Barclay, M.J. and C.W. Smith (1995), The Priority Structure of Corporate Liabilities, Journal of Finance, Vol. 50, No. 3 (July) Baxter, N. D. (1967) Leverage, the Risk of Ruin and the Cost of Capital, Journal of Finance, 22 Brick, I. and Ravid, A. (1985) On the relevance of debt maturity structure, Journal of Finance, 40 Flannery, M. (1986) Asymmetric information and risky debt maturity choice, Journal of Finance, 41 Gordon, M. (1971) Towards a theory of financial distress, Journal of Finance, 26 Graham, J.R., M.L. Lemmon and J.S. Schallheim (1998), Debt, Leases, Taxes and The Endogeneity of Corporate Tax Status, Journal of Finance, Vol. 53, No. 1 (February) Graham, J.R. and C.R. Harvey (2001), The Theory and Practice of Corporate Finance: Evidence from the Field, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 60, Nos. 2/3 (May) Grinblatt, M. and S. Titman (1998), Financial Markets and Corporate Strategy (Irwin/McGraw- Hill, USA) Harris, M. and A. Raviv (1988), Corporate Control Contests and Capital Structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 20 Harris, M. and A. Raviv (1991), The Theory of Capital Structure, Journal of Finance, Vol. 46, No. 1 (March) Jensen, M.C. (1986), Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance and Takeovers, American Economic Review, Vol. 76, No. 2, Jensen, M.C. and W. Meckling (1976), Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behaviour, Agency Costs, and Capital Structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 3, No. 4 Kim, E. (1978) A mean-variance theory of optimal capital structure and corporate debt capacity, Journal of Finance, 23 Kraus, A. and Litzenberger, R. (1973) State preference model of optimal leverage, Journal of Finance, 28 Mehran, H., R.A. Taggart and D. Yermack (1999), CEO Ownership, Leasing and Debt Financing, Financial Management, Vol. 28, No. 2 Modigliani, F.F. and M.H. Miller (1958), The Cost of Capital, Corporation Finance, and the Theory of Investment, American Economic Review, Vol. 48, No. 3 (June) Myers, S.C. (1977), Determinants of Corporate Borrowing, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 5, No. 2 (November) Myers, S.C. (1984), The Capital Structure Puzzle, Journal of Finance, Vol. 39, No. 3 (July) Myers, S. and Majluf, N. (1984) Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have, Journal of Financial Economics, 13, Rajan, R.G. and L. Zingales (1995), What Do We Know About Capital Structure Choice? Some Evidence from International Data, Journal of Finance, Vol. 50, No. 5 Scott, J. (1976) A theory of optimal capital structure, Bell Journal of Economics, 7 Vinso, J. (1979) A determination of the risk of ruin, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 14 Williamson, O.E. (1988), Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance, Journal of Finance, Vol. 43, No. 3 (July) Advantage and disadvantage of borrowing, available on website www.accaglobal.com, access on 28.04.2010 How Capital Structure Affects UK Cost of Capital How Capital Structure Affects UK Cost of Capital Abstract Firms require a reasonable capital structure to meet the required target. To raise the finance, firms normally choose to review some different factors that are taken into account in considering. In this study, the author will examine the correlation between capital structure and the cost of the capital. As the cost will be a main factor for the firms to raise the finance. And different of capital structure will cause variable cost. This report will review the literature in capital structure and cost of finance. Along with the availability of source of finance, including the matching principle, a famous tools trade-off theory. As well as the argument follows, pecking order theory and agency cost theory. Drawing a conclusion based on the research survey data collection. Justify the relationship in how capital structure affects capital cost. Introduction The term capital structure refers to the mix of different types of funds which a company uses to finance its activities. Capital structure varies greatly from one company to another. For example, some companies are financed mainly by shareholders funds whereas others make much greater use of borrowings. Since the seminal publication of Modigliani and Miller (1958), corporate finance researchers have devoted considerable effort to investigating capital structure decisions (e.g. Myers, 1977 and 1984). Significant progress has been made in understanding the determinants of corporate capital structure with an increased emphasis on financial contracting theory (for example, Barclay and Smith, 1995; Mehran et al., 1999; and Graham et al., 1998 and, for an international view, Rajan and Zingales, 1995). This theory suggests that firm characteristics such as risk and investment opportunity set affect contracting costs. In turn, these costs impact on the choice between alternative forms of finance such as debt and equity, and between different classes of fixed-claim finance such as debt and leasing. The author will examine the relationship between the cost of capital and the structure of capital, and the effect of cost to raise finance in terms of making financial decision in the firms. Literature review 2.1 Theory of capital The origins of capital structure theory lie in the models of optimal capital structure that were developed in the wake of the famous Modigliani-Miller irrelevance theorem. These models later became to be known as the static trade-off theory (see e.g. Modigliani and Miller, 1958, 1963; Baxter, 1967; Gordon, 1971; Kraus and Litzenberger, 1973; Scott, 1976; Kim, 1978; Vinso, 1979). In this theory, the combination of leverage related costs (associated with e.g. bankruptcy and agency relations) and a tax advantage of debt produces an optimal capital structure at less than a 100% debt financing, as the tax advantage is traded off against the likelihood of incurring the costs. This theoretical result is now widely accepted in the profession. However, in seeking to model the wide diversity of capital structure practice, a number of additional factors have been proposed in the literature. 2.2 Factors that affect capital structure First, the use of debt finance can reduce agency costs between managers and shareholders by increasing the managers share of equity (Jensen and Meekling, 1976) and by reducing the free cash available for managers personal benefits (Jensen, 1986). Second, Myers and Majluf (1984) argue that, under asymmetric information, equity may be mispriced by the market. If firms finance new projects by issuing more equity, under pricing may cause les profit for existing shareholders in terms of the project NPV. Myers (1984) refers to this as pecking order theory of capital structure. The underinvestment can be reduced by financing the mispriced equity by the market. Internal funds involve no undervaluation and even debt that is not too risky will be preferred to equity. If external finance was required, firms tended first to issue the safest security, debt, and only issued equity as a last resort. Under this model, there is no well-define target mix of debt and equity finance. Each firms observed debt ratio reflects its cumulative requirements for external finance. Generally, profitable firms will borrow less because they can rely on internal resources and retain earnings. The preference for internal equity implies that firms will use less debt than suggested by the trade-off theory. Other factors that have been invoked to help explain the diversity of capital structures include: management behaviour (Williamson, 1988), firm-stakeholder interaction (Grinblatt and Titman, 1998), and corporate control issues (Harris and Raviv, 1988 and 1991). 2.3 How to finance The conventional discussion on a firms choice between long-term and short-term debt has generally focused on three aspects: matching debt maturity with asset life; extending the term-to-maturity of loans to stretch the firms debt capacity; and concentrating long-term debt issues in periods of relatively low interest rates. Recent development in the financial research literature has advanced several economics concepts such as transaction and agency costs, tax-timing option, and information asymmetry, to the debt maturity choice paradigm. Brick and Ravid (1985) show that taxes can also imply an optimal debt maturity structure. Depending on the term-structure of interest rates, long-term (short-term) is optimal, since it accelerates the tax benefit of debt given an increasing (decreasing) term structure. When firms cannot reveal the true quality of their cash flows, i.e. when information asymmetry exists, they can prevent or abate undervaluation by using a variety of signalling devices, such as debt (leverage), dividend payments or the maturity structure of debt. Thus, information asymmetry gives firms an incentive to signal their quality and credibility by taking on more debt and shortening their debt maturity. A higher leverage, especially more short-term debt, signals favourable inside information to the market because it offers the possibility to renegotiate terms in the future, when more information has become available. Long-term debt entails higher information costs than short-term debt, because the market expects a stronger deterioration of quality than insiders do. Firms with a low level of information asymmetry are therefore more likely to issue long-term debt (Flannery, 1986). In the study of international capital structures, Rajan and Zingales (1995) argue that it is important to test the robustness of US finds in different environments. They identify as potentially important the cross-country differences in tax and bankruptcy codes, in the market for corporate control and in the historical role played by banks and security markets. Methodology This survey focuses primarily on the determinants of the capital structure policy of firms but also includes some questions on topics that are closely related to the capital structure. For example, the questions address their approximate cost of equity to the managers, how they estimate their cost of equity (with CAPM or other methods), and whether the impact on the weighted average cost of capital is a consideration in their capital structure choice. The survey was developed after a careful review of the capital structure literature pertaining to the U.S. and European countries. For ease of comparability, the author tried to keep the format and design the survey similar to that of Graham and Harvey (2001), but modified or simplified some questions that are likely to be relevant in the UK context. For example, literature suggests that there are strong differences in corporate objectives between American and UK financial systems since the former system focuses on maximizing shareholder wealth while the later emphasizes the welfare of all stakeholder including employees, creditors and even he government. To examine this difference, the author ask the CFOs about the extent to which different stakeholders influence their firms financial decisions, the author also ask the firms the percentage of their free float share and whether they have preference or common share. 3.1 Sampling The initial samples for mailing the survey consist of a total of 57 firms from UK. The choice of initial sample was based on selecting firms that are representative of the UK firms, are widely traded, are comparable across country, and are public limited with available information. These criteria are important to justify the firms specific difference. From this sample, 9 firms were deleted because of non-availability of addresses and another 17 firms were deleted because they declined to participate in the survey, leaving a final sample of 31 firms. The survey was anonymous as this was an important criterion to obtain honest responses. In the mailing a letter was included that was addressed to the CFO or CEO explaining the objective of the study and promising to send a copy of the findings to those who wished to receive. A total of 12 responses were received by mail, which represents a response rate about 38 percent. 3.3 Summary of findings The respondent firms represent a wide variety of industries with a larger concentration in manufacturing; mining; energy and transportation sector; high technology; and financial sectors. About three forth of firms have a target debt to equity ratios, and about half of these firms maintain a target debt to equity ratios of one. Further, many respondents have a large percentage of their total debt in short term. About 80 percent of respondents report that they calculate their cost of equity, and over 77% of them employ the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to calculate this cost. The estimated cost of equity reported by respondents ranges between 9%-15% only few firms report cost of capital greater than 15% The correlations among the demography variables of this survey are largely as predicted in the literature. These correlations will be discussed in detail in the next section. Analysis Three sets of factors in managers opinion that are likely to influence capital structure of firms are selected based on a review of literature. The first set is based on the implications of different capital structure theories such as the trade-off theory, the pecking order theory, and the agency cost theory. Generally the managers will make the financial decisions based on theories and through these decisions to affect their cost of capital. The second set relates to the managers timing of debt or equity issues since literature suggests that managers are concerned about financial flexibility. With evidence support in the findings, most of managers within all industries consider the financial flexibility as the most important issue when raise finance. Finance by short term may give the company advantage in changing their status to meet the changing world environment and provide less risks in investments. Finally, the last set of factors is based on common beliefs among managers about the impact of capital structure changes on financial statements such as the potential impact of equity issue on earnings. This factor shows the important of experience in managers mind and how it will be impact on the decisions. In summary, to analyse a companys capital structure, we assume that the company is only financed by two ways, either by shareholders equity or borrowings. It is just to consider how cost of capital affect the different proportion of debt in capital structure. Figure 8: Two advantages and two disadvantages of borrowing Advantages Disadvantages 1. Cheap direct cost because debt is less risky to the investor 1. Financial leverage causes shareholders to increase their cost of capital 2. Cheap direct cost because interest is a tax deductible expense. 2. Bankruptcy risks if borrowings are too high. The main advantage of borrowing is that the debt has a cheaper direct cost than equity. Debt is less risky to the investor than equity (low risk result a low required return) Interest payments are tax deductable whereas dividends are not. However, borrowing has two distinct disadvantages. Firstly it causes shareholders to suffer increased volatility of earnings. This is known as financial leverage. The increased volatility to shareholders returns resulting from financial leverage causes shareholders to demand a higher rate of return in compensation. The second disadvantage of borrowing is that if the company borrows too much, it increases its bankruptcy risks. At reasonable levels of gearing this affect will be imperceptible, but it becomes significant for highly geared companies and results in a range of risks and costs which have the effect of increasing the companys cost of capital. Limitation and Ethical issue The research focus on the UK market and respondents are from different areas of industry. The limitation has been carried out. First will be the time of the research. As a three months research, the data was not examined as correct enough to support the authors point. The data collection should be carrying continually in a long period of time and often reviewed at some certain time. Second, the way of collecting these data is limited by mailing. The survey may not represent the whole market as the limited number of respondents. A research should conduct all the possible methods including quantitative and qualitative. Finally, as this is not a professional research, lots of objectives in the research declined to give feedback in judging their financial structure in the case some of this could be their classified information. The ethical issue has been raised in this research; this will be honesty in the feedbacks from the respondents. As this survey is anonymous research, the managers may not give the right information in case of rising threats in competition. The importance of financial structure in firms causes the mangers to think before they actually answer the questions. The privacy issue in their mind raised that they may not want to share all the information regarding to the financial statement. Conclusion The purpose of this article is to supplement the existing literature with an analysis of the factors determining the financial structure affecting the cost of capital. The analyses give rise to the following conclusions. The study presents a dynamic model to address the possibility of adjustment costs incurred in reaching an optimal capital structure. And examine the literature in the factors in capital structure in affecting the cost of financing a firm through the facts in reality. The conclusion can be drawn as the cost of capital is a key factor that firms taken into account when raise finance along with the financial flexibility. On the other hand, the capital structure of a firm will affect the firms cost in both short term and long term. The firms raise the finance to meet the required target, there is no such a way to limit firms financial structure. They may want to choose a short term loan to meet flexibility of cash flow, in the contrast; the long term finance may require more information and satisfaction of the firms. The cost of capital depends on how firms finance their capital structure. Reference and bibliography Barclay, M.J. and C.W. Smith (1995), The Priority Structure of Corporate Liabilities, Journal of Finance, Vol. 50, No. 3 (July) Baxter, N. D. (1967) Leverage, the Risk of Ruin and the Cost of Capital, Journal of Finance, 22 Brick, I. and Ravid, A. (1985) On the relevance of debt maturity structure, Journal of Finance, 40 Flannery, M. (1986) Asymmetric information and risky debt maturity choice, Journal of Finance, 41 Gordon, M. (1971) Towards a theory of financial distress, Journal of Finance, 26 Graham, J.R., M.L. Lemmon and J.S. Schallheim (1998), Debt, Leases, Taxes and The Endogeneity of Corporate Tax Status, Journal of Finance, Vol. 53, No. 1 (February) Graham, J.R. and C.R. Harvey (2001), The Theory and Practice of Corporate Finance: Evidence from the Field, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 60, Nos. 2/3 (May) Grinblatt, M. and S. Titman (1998), Financial Markets and Corporate Strategy (Irwin/McGraw- Hill, USA) Harris, M. and A. Raviv (1988), Corporate Control Contests and Capital Structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 20 Harris, M. and A. Raviv (1991), The Theory of Capital Structure, Journal of Finance, Vol. 46, No. 1 (March) Jensen, M.C. (1986), Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance and Takeovers, American Economic Review, Vol. 76, No. 2, Jensen, M.C. and W. Meckling (1976), Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behaviour, Agency Costs, and Capital Structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 3, No. 4 Kim, E. (1978) A mean-variance theory of optimal capital structure and corporate debt capacity, Journal of Finance, 23 Kraus, A. and Litzenberger, R. (1973) State preference model of optimal leverage, Journal of Finance, 28 Mehran, H., R.A. Taggart and D. Yermack (1999), CEO Ownership, Leasing and Debt Financing, Financial Management, Vol. 28, No. 2 Modigliani, F.F. and M.H. Miller (1958), The Cost of Capital, Corporation Finance, and the Theory of Investment, American Economic Review, Vol. 48, No. 3 (June) Myers, S.C. (1977), Determinants of Corporate Borrowing, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 5, No. 2 (November) Myers, S.C. (1984), The Capital Structure Puzzle, Journal of Finance, Vol. 39, No. 3 (July) Myers, S. and Majluf, N. (1984) Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have, Journal of Financial Economics, 13, Rajan, R.G. and L. Zingales (1995), What Do We Know About Capital Structure Choice? Some Evidence from International Data, Journal of Finance, Vol. 50, No. 5 Scott, J. (1976) A theory of optimal capital structure, Bell Journal of Economics, 7 Vinso, J. (1979) A determination of the risk of ruin, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 14 Williamson, O.E. (1988), Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance, Journal of Finance, Vol. 43, No. 3 (July) Advantage and disadvantage of borrowing, available on website www.accaglobal.com, access on 28.04.2010

Social values of welfare: Hong Kong

Social values of welfare: Hong Kong Welfare is all collective interventions to meet certain needs of the individual and/or to serve the wider interests of society may now be broadly grouped intoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ categories of welfare (Titmuss, 1959). The development in the social values of welfare has always been changing throughout the centuries, particularly the 20th century. In traditional Chinese society, people used to believed that social welfare, or fuk lei, was given by kind-hearted philanthropists in society (N. Chow, 1994, p.325). In the early 20th century, the concept of social welfare was still very weak among Hong Kong people. Majority of welfare services were provided by non-government organizations before 1965 (W. S. Chow, 1993, p. 41). The situation changed after the publication of the white paper of the social welfare in 1965. Together with the rise of social worker, more people consider social welfare is part of their civil rights in the following decades. In 1997, the change in sovereignty of Hong Kong and the Asian financial crisis brought a significant impact on the social values of welfare. In the following paragraphs, I will briefly discuss the development of social welfare in Hong Kong and the corresponding social values of welfare, particularly the changes before and after 1997. As will be argued, there are both long term and short term factors that led the changes. The former would be the increasing consideration of civil rights and the latter would be the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the change in sovereignty of Hong Kong and the publication of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Review. In the early 20th century, majority of people considered welfare was given by kind-hearted philanthropists in society. As Hong Kong was a colony of Britain at that time, the colonial government put their focuses on protecting the Britishs interest, particularly the British merchants. Hence, the living environment and welfare of local Chinese were not concerned by the colonial government unless it interfere the interest of British. With this colonial background, local Chinese rationalized the concept of welfare would not be given by the colonial government. The Chinese merchants used their wealth to establish and maintain their reputations and leadership roles through acts of charity (Leung, 1996, p.3). They set up organizations and gave welfare to the locals. Among these organizations, Tung Wah Hospital was the most noteworthy charitable organization which catered the medical services and welfare needs to the locals. Apart from these organizations, churches and clans man association would also give welfare to the locals too. In the post World War II period, the situation had a slightly change. In the post war period, a large number of non-government or voluntary welfare organizations were set up in Hong Kong. It is important to note that most of these welfare organizations had their parent-bodies overseas. A typical example of these organizations would be the Hong Kong Red Cross. During this emergency period, the internationally-linked welfare organization had probably done much more than the government in meeting the welfare needs of people (N. Chow, 1994, p.324). Although the concept of welfare is given by kind-hearted philanthropists was weaken, the majority of the Chinese in Hong Kong are still unable to wipe away the traditional notions of welfare and accept the modern idea that it should be the responsibility of the state to provide the necessary social welfare services (N. Chow, 1994, p. 325). Meanwhile, a large proportion of population was refugee from mainland China (Due to the civil war in Chin a). Part of them considered Hong Kong is there temporary shelter but not their home. Hence, welfare development would not be their consideration as they expected to leave Hong Kong soon. These factors made there were only little pressure groups would fight for the rights for the locals in that period. The situation further changed after 1965. In 1965, the colonial government published the White Paper on social welfare. N.Y. Chow (1993) suggests that to be exact, the beginning of social welfare policy of Hong Kong was after the publication of the first White Paper on social welfare in 1965 (p.41). The White paper was the first government document that discusses social welfare policy in Hong Kong. It explained the welfare development and integrated the experiences from the development. Also, it gives the stands of colonial government toward social welfare policy and reasons that made the government cannot implement comprehensive social policy in Hong Kong. Although the White Paper has been blamed for lacking in-depth discussion on the blueprint of social welfare development and the foreseeable challenges, but this White paper gives a foundation for the further development of social welfare system (W. S. Chow, 1993). The concept of social welfare and government were no longer disseve ring like the past. More people started to integrate social welfare into the role of government. The most rapid change was found in the 70s. There were two major factors that led the change, the Big Bang of social policy and the rise of social worker. The Big Bang of social policy was initiated by the 25th governor of Hong Kong, Murray MacLehose. After MacLehose take office the governor in 1972, he had a strong sense of responsibility towards social welfare, under his influence, amendment of social welfare policy was necessary (W. S. Chow, 1993, p. 52). Apart from it, the increasing social problems (i.e. the riot in 1966 and 1967, Corruption) led the demand for governments involvement in social welfare further increased. These factors urged the publication of the second White Paper of social welfare in 1973. The aim of the White Paper was giving a five year plan of social welfare development and dividing the responsibility in providing social welfare between government and voluntary organizations. The aspects of social welfare in the five year plan included education, housing, m edical service, social allowance, youth services etc. The comprehensive expansion of welfare services increased the involvement of people in social welfare system. The value of welfare would not be given by the colonial government was further weakening in this period. Apart from the Big Bang of social policy, the rise of social worker also led to the significant change in social value of welfare. The rise of social worker could be traced back to the professionalization of social work and the implement of professional training at the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong in the mid-1960s. In the 1960s, Fabian Socialism was the most fashionable approach taught in the social work schools of the two universities (N. Chow, 1994, p.327). Equality, freedom and fellowship are the central values of Fabian Socialism. The social work students in 60s and 70s were strongly influenced by these values. They had a strong sense of working towards a more equal and justice society. Hence, when the students became social workers in society, they would try to advocate policies that achieve to these two ideals. More people would consider welfare as a means to achieve an equal society. Meanwhile, the young social workers at that time also stres sed on civil rights. They believed that social welfare is one the important parts of civil rights. When they graduated, they would educate and advocate the public to uphold their civil rights through different social actions. As a result, under this influence, it led to the rise of the awareness of welfare system as rights enjoyed by citizen. Another significant change of social values of welfare could be found in 1997. The major factor that led to the change is the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. Before the crisis, the economy in Hong Kong was at boom. Majority of people were actively investing in property market and stock market. At that time, people emphasized on material values and short-term time horizon. Material values are the major criterion used to evaluate the worth of things and people (C.K. Wong, K. L. Chow K.Y. Wong, 2001, p.68). Meanwhile, majority of Chinese investor were looking for the maximum benefit in the shortest period of time. Topley states that many Chinese still prefer to invest in non-industrial property and trade because of the relatively quicker return of capital and profits. When investing in industry, the overwhelming desire of investors is to look for quick profits by whatever means present themselves as attractive in the short run rather than to look for opportunity for starting long-term investment. (as cited in Lau, 1982, p.70) As both of the property market and stock market were so flourished, the economic environment enabled people to achieve the above goals simultaneously. This in turn led Hong Kong became one of the wealthiest cities in Asia. The living standard in Hong Kong was one of the highest in Hong Kong history in the early mid 1990s. As most people could sustain their life in the market, they put less consideration on the welfare system. At that time, people would consider social welfare system was only for those who were in need in society, like elderly and disabled people. In other words, despite the underprivileged and the corresponding pressure group, majority in society would not care about the welfare system as they believed they could achieve self-sustentions in market. In general, social welfare development was overwhelmed by economic development at that period. But a significant change was provoked by the 1997 financial crisis. A great depression in both stock market and property market was provoked by the crisis. Lots of people were bankrupted because of the suddenly fall in the property market. Also, a massive unemployment was accompanied with the economic downturn, particularly in the financial sector. The decline in consumption led to further depression in other non-financial sector. The financial crisis brought two major impacts on the welfare system. First, it led to a significant fall in the tax income of the government. Second, more people fall into the safety net of the welfare system. In other words, it led an increase in demand for welfare services. Simultaneously, it would increase the welfare expenditure of the government. As these two factors happened at the same time, this brought heavy pressure on the financial budget of the government. At the same period, the sovereignty of Hong Kong changed back to China. One of the problems that foresee by the government is the increase in immigrants from China. In the review report of CSSA that published by the Social Welfare Department, it suggests that the increase in mainland immigrants would lead to an increase application for CSSA. It implies that the government believes that a number of mainland immigrants would rely on the welfare system for livelihood. Before the publication of the report, the government already spread this ideology through news and government press. At that time, the government disclosed different abusive cases of CSSA by the new immigrants. This made the public also be believed the new immigrants would bring pressure to Hong Kong welfare system. The economic downturn, mainland immigrants, together with the foreseeable aging population, these made the government believed a review for welfare system is necessary. As the government wanted to tighten the budget for social welfare expenditure, the publication of the review report was a means of government to the public support. This report brought a momentous impact on the social value of welfare. In particular, there were more people believed that abusive cases are common in the welfare system after the publication of the report. For example, the report suggested the level of benefits for four-person household is high. The average monthly payment for a four-person household increased in 120% from 1980s to 1990s. But the median wage of workers only increased 41%. The government suggested that this would create disincentive to work and lead to long term dependency on welfare system. According to a survey, 36.4% of respondents believed that the increasing number of CSSA cases becau se the criteria for application is too lenient (C.K. Wong, K. L. Chow K.Y. Wong, 2001, p.5). Although the way and method that government used to interpret and present the statistics had bias and hidden agenda, majority still believed that CSSA was breeding lazy people. Since CSSA has a strict income test and asset test, statistics of Suspected Fraud and Abuse was minimal. But the mass media created a negative image of CSSA recipients as they only reporting fraud and abusive cases. This, in turn, created a strong labeling effect on CSSA recipients. In a survey, 40.8% of respondents agreed that CSSA recipients are not deserved to be help (C.K. Wong, K. L. Chow K.Y. Wong, 2001, p.9). This reflected the fact that CSSA recipients were stigmatized. Apart from stigmatization of CSSA recipients, the role of welfare that interpreted by the public is also worth to discuss. Compare with giving direct welfare, people considered that self-reliance would be more appropriate. In a survey, 70.3% of respondents believed that people should satisfy their needs through self-reliance. On the other hand, only 8.6% respondents believed that people should satisfy their needs through social welfare (C.K. Wong, K. L. Chow K.Y. Wong, 2001, p.30). The development of the concept self-reliance could be explained by the Utilitarianistic Familism. Utilitarianistic Familism is social values of the Chinese people in Hong Kong (Lau, 1982). Chinese people would put the interest of family member in a higher priority over others. The bonding of the family members was strong. In addition to the extended family structure in the early mid 20th century, people would not look for help from government; rather, they would look for help from family members. As most problems could be solved without the help of government, it contributed to the development a sense of self-reliance. This concept is particularly prevailing value hold by the older generation (i.e. Those who born in the Post War Baby Boom). From the above discussion, we can see two sets of contradictory social values of welfare have developed in Hong Kong. On one hand, more people consider social welfare as their civil rights. On the other hand, people stigmatize some welfare recipients. It makes the rights of accessing welfare become alienated from the civil rights. These two contradictory values lead to different conflicts in society. Social workers, pressure groups and non-government organizations are striving for destigmatization of the welfare recipients. Lots of social actions like social demonstration and public forum are used to promote this civil rights. But at the same time, the government is attempting to marginalize the welfare recipients in order to reduce the welfare expenditure. From time to time, the government would publish the fraud and abusive case in CSSA. It seems that it wants to remind people that abusive cases are still common in welfare system. These, in turn, led to never-ending debates between the two interest groups. As seen in above discussion, it is hard to find a consensus towards the value of welfare in Hong Kong. The historical background, personal experiences and education would have a strong influence on the development of our value. But it seems that government would spread concepts and ideas that deviated from the principles of social welfare equality and equity, because its political agenda. Whether the ultimate goal of government is bring a stable and harmonious society in Hong Kong is questionable.

Wicca Vs. Paganism Essays -- essays research papers

Wicca versus Paganism   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wicca and Pagan are two religions, which have many similarities as well as many differences within each area. Wicca is a sect of Pagan in which each has their own variations on the religion. A good way to put it; all Wiccans are Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan. Witch is a term used for any practitioner of Wicca. The Webster's II Dictionary defines witch as 1. A woman who practices sorcery or is believed to have dealings with the devil, 2. An ugly, vicious old woman; hag. Wicca is described by the American Heritage Dictionary as the cult of witchcraft. Pagan is the religion under which many different religions are practiced. Webster's II Dictionary defines pagan as one who does not acknowledge the god of Christianity, Islam, or Judaism; heathen. Most parts of these definitions are wrong. Wicca is a sect of Paganism, in which different practices are learned, worshipped, and taught. One form of Wicca is Solitary Practitioners the other is Coven Practitioners. The forms of Wicca that are practiced vary in most uses. Solitary Practitioners usually 'pray';, read, meditate, and cast magik and spells alone. Whereas Covenants practice these familiar things amongst a group of anywhere from two people up to thirteen people. In Pagan practices, these things are practiced normally within a group setting of anywhere from two people to hundreds of people. Both practices use a magik circle which is either drawn imaginary or with the use of a broom or sea salt. This is to keep out any negative energy from entering the circle while any type of practice is being done. This keeps the practitioner(s) from any harm or wrongdoing. Both of these religions are nature-based and usually have one of three belief systems in common: polytheism, pantheism, and animism. Both of these religions use many objects in their practices or studies. Both Wiccans and Pagans will use what is called Magikal tools. These are known to include, incense, candles, athames; usually known as a black handled knife, the broom; used to 'sweep'; away negative energies, the cup or chalice; used to hold such things as blessed water, wine and other fluids, the cauldron; used as an instrument in which to cook and for brew making, also used for scrying, and most importantly, the pentacle. The pentacle is usually a flat piece of brass, gold, silver, wood, wax... ...ifferent. Many Pagans prefer to worship within a coven or group. Each person would take on a different aspect within the group. Each person plays a different part within the circle. There is a group of teachers, called the High Priestess and High Priest. The High Priestess and Priest would control any and all worship sessions, much like the Christian churches. Each person thereafter might control a corner, or element, and the less powerful of them all would worship and watch the ceremonies take place. Pagans do not have a Book of Shadows, in which to worship. This religion is an oral based religion, passed down from mouth to mouth. Pagans may rely upon any natural force, such as a body of water, or a natural rock formation. They use these to help them focus energy upon their gods or goddesses. Both, Pagans and Wiccans, have varying religious practices; however, many of them are also similar. Pagans focus more on the group aspect of tradition and the 'old times';, whereas, Wicca is based primarily upon the needs and wants of the witch. This could even include practicing Christianity on the side. Both religions do; however, have in common many uses of tools, spells, and 'prayers';.

Movie Review of Tristan and Isolde :: essays research papers

In Medieval times during King Arthur’s reign beholds the legend of Tristan and Isolde, which is retold in this film packed full of daring action and romance. Director, Kevin Reynolds, and writer, Dean Georgaris put the classic legend up on the screen. It is rated PG-13 for the many battle sequences and some brief sexuality, but is still suitable for most audiences. In 125 minutes, you may enjoy many deadly battles and enticing romantic scenes as well. Reynolds did a stupendous job on recreating the love story of the Irish King’s daughter, Isolde, played by Sophia Myles, and Tristan, played by James Franco, who is from an English tribe and the Irish’s enemy. During one breathtaking battle, the bold and courageous Tristan is hurt tremendously and is thought to be dead so they put him in the ocean. Ironically, he is not dead, and a lonely Isolde finds him on the sandy beach, barely alive. With the help of her maid, Isolde nurses him back to health, and during this time they fall madly in love with each other. Isolde misleads Tristan to believe that she is someone else during the time he spends with her. She also discovers that she is promised to marriage to the man that has helped her father out continuously through the years. He is also the man that Tristan killed in a battle, during a fight that left them both near death, but only the other man dying. Tristan must return to his own country and can’t be seen by any of the Irish so he leaves quickly. When he returns he discovers that the Irish king, Donnchadh wishes to throw the English tribes into chaos, so he has a tournament between the English, to fight among themselves. The prize is his daughter. Tristan wins the princess' hand for Lord Marke, who wishes to put all the tribes in union. Isolde who sees the fight and thinks she may now marry Tristan rushes up to him and says, â€Å"I am yours I am all yours † Tristan is horrified to see that the woman he wins for Marke, is Isolde, and she is devastated as well. Worse, Marke is a good and worthy future king, whose belief in Tristan has made him the young knight who he is. First, separated by countries at war, and now because of the respect to king and country, Tristan and Isolde must stay apart. Movie Review of Tristan and Isolde :: essays research papers In Medieval times during King Arthur’s reign beholds the legend of Tristan and Isolde, which is retold in this film packed full of daring action and romance. Director, Kevin Reynolds, and writer, Dean Georgaris put the classic legend up on the screen. It is rated PG-13 for the many battle sequences and some brief sexuality, but is still suitable for most audiences. In 125 minutes, you may enjoy many deadly battles and enticing romantic scenes as well. Reynolds did a stupendous job on recreating the love story of the Irish King’s daughter, Isolde, played by Sophia Myles, and Tristan, played by James Franco, who is from an English tribe and the Irish’s enemy. During one breathtaking battle, the bold and courageous Tristan is hurt tremendously and is thought to be dead so they put him in the ocean. Ironically, he is not dead, and a lonely Isolde finds him on the sandy beach, barely alive. With the help of her maid, Isolde nurses him back to health, and during this time they fall madly in love with each other. Isolde misleads Tristan to believe that she is someone else during the time he spends with her. She also discovers that she is promised to marriage to the man that has helped her father out continuously through the years. He is also the man that Tristan killed in a battle, during a fight that left them both near death, but only the other man dying. Tristan must return to his own country and can’t be seen by any of the Irish so he leaves quickly. When he returns he discovers that the Irish king, Donnchadh wishes to throw the English tribes into chaos, so he has a tournament between the English, to fight among themselves. The prize is his daughter. Tristan wins the princess' hand for Lord Marke, who wishes to put all the tribes in union. Isolde who sees the fight and thinks she may now marry Tristan rushes up to him and says, â€Å"I am yours I am all yours † Tristan is horrified to see that the woman he wins for Marke, is Isolde, and she is devastated as well. Worse, Marke is a good and worthy future king, whose belief in Tristan has made him the young knight who he is. First, separated by countries at war, and now because of the respect to king and country, Tristan and Isolde must stay apart.