Effective Ways to Improve English Essay Example for Free

Effective Ways to Improve English Essay English is important since it is a well known language and has frequently been referred to as a world language. Comfort with English is almost a prerequisite for success in the world today. Regardless of the industry, proficiency in English is an important factor in both hiring and promotion decisions.Being a student in College, English is the major language to communicate with our lecturers, friends and strangers in college.Most of the subjects are written by English too. We must practice to speak English in college so that we can communicate with other people with proper English and even we can gain more marks when we are having a presentation and our oral test in college. First is what most people would advise: read.You can read story books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, comics, English textbooks, instructions and ingredients on food packages, advertisements, etc. Read books whose subjects interest you, and try if possible to get some advice on whether the books you have chosen are written well. Beside that,Reading alone is not enough. I really do think that Malaysians have to develop the dictionary habit. I have observed how reluctant so many Malaysians are to look up a word in a dictionary to find out its exact meaning or meanings. Be best friends with English dictionary. We can use Oxford, Collins, Cambridge, etc. This is such a pity, because never before have we had so many free dictionaries available, on the Internet. So please take advantage of that! Some of them even pronounce the words for you if you click on the right icons. Next,Listen to English songs. Read the lyrics as you listen to the songs.Although just listening to a song in English can be a good way of really learning the words of the chorus in an easily memorable way, if you want to really get something out of listening to English music you will need to take sometime to read the lyrics of the song with a dictionary. If the lyrics are not given in the CD booklet, you may be able to find them on the internet.if We listen and read at the same time or sing along to them, this can be a good way of understanding how sounds change in fast, natural, informal speech. Other than listen to songs ,Watch English movies with subtitles also is a good way of learning English. Not only to have a fun time watching the movie, we would be learning new words at the same time and knowing how to pronounce them . Then try watching without them as you gain confidence. How about improving our writing? If we have no tutor or a friend to help us, One traditional way to make sure you write every day in English is to write an English diary. whenever feel happy or upset or angry about something, try to write how our feel in diary.This is where we can write anything in it. But if you do write something you wouldn ¡Ã‚ ¯t want others to read, make sure you hide it somewhere safe! We can also write about neutral stuff like the places you went that day, what we ate, who we met, what we did, etc. on the other hand,we can Start a blog in English. This is also one way for us to practice our writing. Blog on something that we love. Even for people who dont have to write in English, writing can be a great way of properly learning the kind of vocabulary you need to describe your own life and interests, and of thinking about how to stop making grammar mistakes. The problem most people have is that they dont know what to write about. Besides blogging, try joining online forums, engage in online chatting and more. In addition,learn a new word a day. Keep your own vocabulary notebook and write a new word and its meaning in it every day. Refer to it as often as possible so that the new words will stick in head.We can Improve our Vocabulary by Useing the dictionary to learn new words or an electronic dictionary if cant afford to turn the pagesso much or cope with the small handwriting. An electronic dictionary has synonyms and antonyms or a thesaurus included in it, so its a great deal. Not to mention it corrects your spellings if you enter the word whose meaning you dont know wrong.Never lose the interest to learn new words. Always keep up the practise.A lot of us have studied English in school and are fairly comfortable with reading and writing. However, we hesitate while speaking because we feel that we lack the fluency and may make grammatical mistakes. We are afraid of speaking English in formal situations and we are quick to switch to our native language once we are in the company of our fa mily and friends.peak the language whenever you can. Speak it with friends and family. Don ¡Ã‚ ¯t be shy to try speaking the language. Don ¡Ã‚ ¯t be afraid that others will tease us. In fact, they ¡Ã‚ ¯ll admire us for our courage and confidence. In conclusion,these are the ten most effective ways to improve our English. If you have extra money to spend, you can even sign up for English courses, English camps and so on. Remember Don ¡Ã‚ ¯t get stressed out when it becomes a little difficult,most important piece of advice is: Do something (anything). If you dont do anything, you wont get anywhere. Make it your hobby, not a chore, but above all have fun!

Accounting Essays Tax Evasion Popularity

Accounting Essays Tax Evasion Popularity Tax evasion is a national pastime that is growing ever more popular. Nick Montague defines taxation as the means by which a civilised society performs that sometimes-uncivil task of taking money from one group in order to give it to another. This definition highlights an important purpose served by taxes. As it is already known, that taxes are a fiscal policy instrument used by the government to achieve broad macroeconomic goals. Generally speaking, taxes are a means used by the government to provide its residents with amenities and facilities like hospitals, safety and education. Thus, any shortage in revenue means that the people wouldnt be able to avail the benefits. From this perspective, as law-abiding citizens, it is imperative for people and corporations to pay taxes. Despite, this common knowledge, tax evasion is prevalent in the society, even worse, individuals and corporations go through great length to devise tactics of evading taxes. The main reason why individuals and corporations engage in tax evasion activities is that it increases the level of disposable income and profits respectively. Tax evasion is defined as the failure to meet tax liabilities by illegal action, such as not declaring income. Needless to say tax evasion is a criminal offence. Prior to starting a discussion on tax evasion it would be essential to briefly highlight that in the UK, tax administration is divided between two departments of state, the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise. The Inland Revenue administers Income Tax, Corporation Tax (on company profits), Capital Gains Tax, petroleum taxation (relating to oil exploration and extraction in the UK and surrounding waters) and Stamp Duties (e.g. on land transactions). The levying of VAT, tax on gambling and customs and excise duties is the responsibility of the Customs and Excise Department. In addition to these two revenue departments, local authorities levy the new Community Charge (poll tax) and the Department of Social Security is responsible for national insurance contributions. Often tax evasion is confused with tax avoidance. According to Denis Healey, former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer: The difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion is the hickness of a prison wall. This paper will aim to present an in depth analysis of why individuals/companies engage in tax evasion. It will also analyse whether the self-assessment system encourages or discourages tax evasion. And, finally the paper will conclude by evaluating the efforts made by the government to combat tax evasion. It must be highlighted that taxation is used for many other purposes than raising revenue. Some writers have argued that the purpose of taxation can also be seen as an instrument of economic and social policy to influence behaviour. In other words, it can therefore be the intention of the tax that it is avoided. For example, it has been argued that higher taxes on alcoholic drinks (Cook and Moore, 1994, Irving and Sims, 1993) and tobacco (Viscusi, 1994) would reduce the consumption of those products and lead to improvements in the health of the population. In the UK, Inland Revenue has, traditionally, had a deferential approach towards income. With the introduction of self-assessment system from 1996/7 there has been a movement away from that stance in recent years. Evasion of taxes Tax evasion analysis typically assumes that evasion involves individual taxpayers responding to some given policies. However, evading taxes could require the collaboration of at least two taxpayers. Detection depends on the costly avoidance activities of both transacting partners. An increase in sanctions leads to a direct increase in the expected cost of a transaction in the illegal sector, but it may also increase the incentive for the partners to cooperate in avoiding detection. The total cost of transacting in the illegal sector can fall, and tax evasion may increase. Most countries tend to follow a progressive taxation system, more the income more tax would be levied. From this perspective it might appear that it is unfair for the government to levy more taxes on individuals/companies for generating more income for the economy and themselves. However, it must be a noted that in addition to boosting the economy, it is governments responsibility to think about economic development and welfare of everyone. They have to balance economic growth and economic development. This concept has been debated and the viewpoint of unfairness of the tax system has led parties to evade them, in other words, discovering ways and means of not paying the dues to the government. Research studies conducted to find out the extent of the UK black market economy indicate that it has increased. The number of unincorporated business accounts and company accounts received annually by the Inland Revenue have increased from 2m to 2.25 million and from under 600,000 to nearly 700,000 respectively between 1984/85 and 1988/89 alone (Inland Revenue, 131st Annual Report, 1989). Surveys conducted by Brown, Levin, Rosa and Ulph (1984) concluded that about 5% of workers in Britain held two or more jobs and that the income tax lost from second job tax evasion probably amounted to around 1.1% of income tax receipts or 0.3% of national income. Their survey excluded evasion by persons who have only one job (which includes large numbers of the self employed), Capital Gains Tax and VAT evasion, and evasion of tax by companies. In response to deterring people from engaging in tax evasion, Inland Revenue introduced the self-assessment system, very simply, is a way of working out and paying tax. As required by the Inland Revenue (IR), self-employed people, company directors, minister of religion are required to fill up the self-assessment form at the end of every tax year. Supporting documents are provided to make it easier for the people to fill up the form and submit it. With the improvement in technology, IR offers business services for employers, individuals, contractors, companies and agents, option to fill up the forms online, which ensures automatic tax calculation, quicker repayment, and online acknowledgement which is safe and secure. Thus, IR is removing any possibility of hassle and introducing the convenience factor to make people comply with the tax requirements. Many initiatives have been taken to combat tax evasion. In the UK, for instance, attempts are being made to increase co-operation between the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise. This has involved joint policy consultation and improvements in exchanging information. One particular initiative has been to set up a joint unit to provide a single source of information and advice for businesses facing financial difficulties and who wish to enter into voluntary arrangements. A step in this direction has been that of the European Union Savings Directive. It aims to counter cross border tax evasion by collecting and exchanging information about foreign resident individuals receiving savings income outside their resident state. The Government believes that exchange of information between tax authorities is the best way to ensure that individuals pay the right amount of tax on cross-border income from savings. The Government therefore supports the Directive, the ultimate aim of which is effective taxation by exchange of information. The above is a major step towards decreasing evasion of tax. The above highlights the importance of transparency in accounts and benefits of sharing information across the countries. Introducing VAT was also an attempt towards tax harmonisation and making it more difficult for companies to evade tax. The recent scandals of Enron and Parmalat have highlighted the importance of having transparency. VAT was introduced to combat cheating, smuggling and minimise tax evasion. The same principle was behind harmonising VAT in the EU one of the advantages was the limited possibility for fraud in the supply chain. However, it was found that VAT system was used to systematically defraud tax administrations. Despite the efforts made to minimise tax evasion, fraudsters have detected the inherent weaknesses that exist in the controls exercised and have been exploiting those weaknesses for their own financial gain. It was found that with the introduction of the VAT and intrastate system, compliance costs had been reduced by approximately two-thirds. It is a known fact that taxes in any form, whether direct or indirect, is a source of revenue for the government. Government tends to use tax money either from individuals or businesses to fund various country development projects and work towards providing a better living condition to its citizens. While this is an idealistic picture about the motive of the government, in reality, people tend to evade taxes for many reasons. It has been a subject of constant debate to find out the best measure or basis for taxation and the latest taxation system for indirect tax is the consumption base. It has been argued that it would more suitable to charge taxes based on the consumption made. VAT is the tax system which follows the above mentioned tax base. The purpose was not only to curb tax evasion but also be an efficient model for taxation. The European model of the VAT system has been applauded and adopted by many countries as it is a common belief that VAT system based on the European mode l provides least possible way of evading tax because it has a system of invoicing which helps in establishing an audit trail. Authors like Cnossen have listed the various advantages associated with the following the VAT system. Amongst other things, to ensure that tax evasion is minimised, the government needs to look into improving tax compliance. The following pointers were suggested to improve tax compliance: Training employees so that they have an understanding of the entire system of tax administration. There should be better publicity about how the tax system works, the benefits derived from complying with the tax system and how the IRS deals with abuses of the system. Making the procedure automatic to eliminate any possibility of reducing unscrupulous practice. Simplification and fairness is required because continuous changes and complexity in tax law have a negative effect on compliance. Also the law should be applied consistently. Organisational structure should be arranged so that taxpayers issues or problems can be resolved through a single point of contact. There is also a need for specialisation so that expertise of particular industries may be developed to improve dealings with taxpayers and there should be better customer service. Better and increased cooperation with state, local and foreign governments is required to tackle the problem. More assistance should be provided for small businesses to help them comply and increase their awareness levels. Coordination of compliance efforts would be required and incentives must be provided when people comply and penalties must be imposed when people evade taxes. A more organised approach to influence legislation A sense of responsibility must be inculcated in the people towards taxes. It is easier to get something done when people take responsibility towards it. Inland Revenue faces problems to tackle the problem due to shortage in trained tax inspectors, reflecting the departments more general difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff. Research studies conducted in this area have indicated that people tend to move towards the private sector where pay and conditions are perceived to be better. The department believes that the situation can only improve when there is more political commitment in Government to tackling evasion, supported by the allocation of the necessary resources to pay inspectors competitive salaries. Conclusion In summary it can be said that though steps have been take to minimise tax evasion yet it exists and continues to exist. Despite the efforts made towards curbing it, there will always be elements in the society who would come up with mechanisms to defeat the system. The challenge therefore lies in keeping up the efforts to minimise tax evasion. As individuals taxes must be paid accurately and as corporations ethical business practices would ensure that illegal activities like tax evasion could be kept at bay. Thus in conclusion it can be said that even though tax evasion appears to be a national pastime that is growing ever popular, measures are being devised to combat it. BIBLIOGRAPHY Melville, A. Taxation: Finance Act 2004, 10th Edition, (2004), Financial Times, Prentice Hall, London El-Agraa, A.M., The European Union Economics and Policies, (2001), Sixth Edition, Prentice Hall. Gwartney, J.D., Stroup, R.L., and Sobel, Russell, S. Economics Public and Private Choice, (2000), Ninth edition, Dryden Press JOURNALS AND ARTCILES Agha, A. and Haughton, J. (1996), Designing VAT Systems: Some Efficiency Considerations, The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 78 (2) pp 303-308 Joumard, I. (2001), Tax Systems in European Union Countries, OECD Working papers ECO/WKP(2001)27 Nam, C.W., Parsche, R. and Schaden, B. (2001), Measurement of Value Added Tax Evasion in Selected EU countries on the basis of National Accounts Data, CESInfo Working Papers 431. Ohsawa, Yoshiaki (2003), A Spatial tax harmonisation model, European Economic Review 47, pp 443-459 Scabrosetti, S. (2002), Tax System and Reforms in Europe: France, Societa Italiana di economica pubblica, Working papers 186/2002 Shoup, C.S. (1957), Some distinguishing characteristics of the British, French, and United States Public Finance System, American Economic Review, Vol. 47 (2) pp 187-197 Verwaal, E. and Cnossen, S (2002), Europes new border taxes, JCMS Vol. 40 (2), pp 309-330 Entrepreneurship and Growth: Tax Issues, (2002) Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry. OECD. Indirect Tax Treatment of Financial Services and Instruments, (1998), Report of the OECD

The Dramatic Setting of the Gorgias :: Gorgias

The Dramatic Setting of the Gorgias ABSTRACT: I analyse the dramatic setting of the Gorgias by contrasting it with that of the Protagoras. The two dialogues are closely related. In the Gorgias Socrates states that the rhetorician and the sophist are basically indistinguishable in everyday life. In both the Protagoras and the Gorgias, his confrontation with his interlocutors is metaphorically related to a descent to Hades. However, while the events in the Protagoras are narrated by Socrates himself, the Gorgias has readers face the unfolding events without mediation. The temporal and spatial framing of the Gorgias is indeterminate, while both aspects are described in detail in the Protagoras. I maintain that the magical passage from an indeterminate "outside" to an indeterminate "inside" in the Gorgias is significantly related to the characters' attitude towards the boundaries of each other's souls, which are constantly ignored or attacked. As a matter of fact, the dialogue presents a very impressive amount of anger and exchange of abuse, which never ceases until the end. I suggest that the temporal framing demonstrates that the beginning and the end of the dialogue are closely connected. Socrates unexpectedly arrives and refutes Gorgias by asking him unexpected questions. The last myth of judgment indicates that Gorgias' attitude is comparable to that of the mortals who lived during Kronos' age, while Socrates brings about a liberation from appearance which is analogous to the innovations brought about by Zeus. The Gorgias has been often characterized by commentators as a remarkably bitter dialogue. After all, the dialogue presents a war between philosophy and rhetoric. Socrates is involved in three discussions of growing length and complexity with characters who, to various degrees, defend the power of rhetoric and the superiority of political life over philosophical life. It is a "fighting dialogue", as is also suggested by its incipit: "to war and battle." One would expect Socrates to win against his non-philosophical interlocutors. However, this is not the case. The more the conversations proceed, the more they are infiltrated by anger and misunderstanding, the more one is under the impression that Socrates may well silence his interlocutors but he hardly persuades them. His last interlocutor, Callicles, not only is not persuaded by him, but at one point even refuses to talk to Socrates and leaves him with the choice between abandoning the discussion altogether and performing a monologue. The myth of last judgment, which concludes the dialogue, is addressed to Callicles.

Corporate Law Essay -- Business, Free Market

Harmonization of private international law aspects concerning corporations is the best way to resolve the uncertainties surrounding corporate cross-border mobility. Harmonization of substantive laws concerning corporations is, on the other hand, unattainable and undesirable? Discuss in relation to: (i) Regulating company law matters; AND (ii) Regulating their insolvency. 1. Introduction Modern day corporations with their multilateral nature have created their owned corporate governance regime. Proponents argue that this corporation are replacing states and brining their own current in world’s economy especially the free market. Further, with the wave of globalization these firms have established themselves so firmly in the local and cross border markets that are beyond the imagination as to compare to the perception when the idea of company was formally conceived in legislative instrument. The ongoing process of globalization has also provided corporation with profound changes in the way they conduct their business. Today international transactions are not merely exchange of goods with the foreigner as was in the recent past. Now, corporations are involved in every transaction and there are number of agreements and process going in between such transactions. Comparatively there are more complex legal regimes on one hand, and liberty of abolition of national b arriers with great competition. Today, corporations have a number of methods to capture any market around the globe. There are thin line for demarcation of the area of private international law and public international law as both govern the relationship between international person and states or international person with international person or both depending on th... ...ng. [FN9] That is, the con-tracts between shareholders and other constituencies and the constitution between shareholders and managers create appropriate incentives for the value of the firm to be maximised and distributed amongst the various claimants. The need for judicial intervention should be limited to exceptional cases (although the definition of ‘exceptional’ may be debated). Much attention has been paid to the role of contracts in the theory of the firm, but the role of the constitution as a regulator of collective action by shareholders has not been analysed systematically. [FN10] In the section that follows, I initially *422 analyse the role of organisational constitutions in regulating collective action in general terms, having regard to the constitutional economics of James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock. [FN11] I then apply this model to corporations.

Critique on Open City Essay -- Film Movies

Critique on Open City â€Å"Open City† is a neo-realist film that followed the movement in Italy during World War 2. The film is neo-realistic because it has that ‘reality’ like feeling to it by following specific characters through their daily stressful lives that are screwed up from poverty and war. It has many qualities that make it in some ways ‘closer’ to the characters. While watching, the viewer is sucked into the story and immediately feeling emotional with the families and the other various characters in the film. The main reason is Rossellini's choosing dramatic music and kids with big eyes. This film is divided into two separate parts. First, is a story that shows a situation in Italy during the Nazi occupation of World War II. There are a couple of members of a secret underground movement that try to keep the Nazis away from them. This movement is made up of poor Italians, who are troubled by the war and other Nazi ideologies. One of the members of the revolutionist group is engaged to a mother of the young boy, and the wedding is about to take place in a matter of days. But all sorts of problems follow, and all of this is based on how the Nazis will finally catch up with these traitors. The second, more effective and emotional part of the film is a tragic melodrama. At the beginning, the movie appears to be very dark and gloomy. This is shown from the riot at the bakery and the young revolutionist running away from authorities. There was so much trouble that the family went through to eat, and survive. The tension increases so smoothly yet it drives the nerves of the watcher during the family argument scene (which proves to be very effective). The only relief of any kind is portrayed by the younger generation. They are the only ones that manage to actually have explosives. Smart move by the director as the kids are the only sense of any kind of future since there was so much trouble the day the Nazi’s entered the OPEN CITY. Some more devastation is the mistreatment of women by Nazi soldiers when families are evacuated from their houses. The soldier still tried to molest the women despite her vulgar responses to his gripping. The following scene when the revolutionist was caught and taken by authorities had a very good build up to it. Rossolini showed us all the trouble in a matter of minutes and to add to it, the running of the woman... ...res about. In this scene though he pointlessly attempts to protect the Jesus statue from the nakedness of the other statue the same way he tries to protect his friends from the ‘enemy’ or fascists. This is another good example of how Rossellini seems to be more of a documentary-style reality film. This film was part of the Italian Neo-realism era that did not use standards in filmmaking. They used a few different elements like non-professional actors doing most of the minor roles. The film was mentioned in class to be shot in 1945 when the war was still occurring and it was great timing for shooting in Italy. Mainly because the scenery they used was real. In the long-run, the film’s main topic was based on a widely spoken about important issue at the time- war. Open City is one of the most interesting films due to many aspects. Mainly for giving a picture of a situation which at the time happened not too long before the end Nazi occupation and enhanced the effect by being a melodrama. At times the film felt like a documentary, but that’s what made it quite interesting as well. These historical facts guarantee that Rossellini’s film is important, even if not always perfect. Critique on Open City Essay -- Film Movies Critique on Open City â€Å"Open City† is a neo-realist film that followed the movement in Italy during World War 2. The film is neo-realistic because it has that ‘reality’ like feeling to it by following specific characters through their daily stressful lives that are screwed up from poverty and war. It has many qualities that make it in some ways ‘closer’ to the characters. While watching, the viewer is sucked into the story and immediately feeling emotional with the families and the other various characters in the film. The main reason is Rossellini's choosing dramatic music and kids with big eyes. This film is divided into two separate parts. First, is a story that shows a situation in Italy during the Nazi occupation of World War II. There are a couple of members of a secret underground movement that try to keep the Nazis away from them. This movement is made up of poor Italians, who are troubled by the war and other Nazi ideologies. One of the members of the revolutionist group is engaged to a mother of the young boy, and the wedding is about to take place in a matter of days. But all sorts of problems follow, and all of this is based on how the Nazis will finally catch up with these traitors. The second, more effective and emotional part of the film is a tragic melodrama. At the beginning, the movie appears to be very dark and gloomy. This is shown from the riot at the bakery and the young revolutionist running away from authorities. There was so much trouble that the family went through to eat, and survive. The tension increases so smoothly yet it drives the nerves of the watcher during the family argument scene (which proves to be very effective). The only relief of any kind is portrayed by the younger generation. They are the only ones that manage to actually have explosives. Smart move by the director as the kids are the only sense of any kind of future since there was so much trouble the day the Nazi’s entered the OPEN CITY. Some more devastation is the mistreatment of women by Nazi soldiers when families are evacuated from their houses. The soldier still tried to molest the women despite her vulgar responses to his gripping. The following scene when the revolutionist was caught and taken by authorities had a very good build up to it. Rossolini showed us all the trouble in a matter of minutes and to add to it, the running of the woman... ...res about. In this scene though he pointlessly attempts to protect the Jesus statue from the nakedness of the other statue the same way he tries to protect his friends from the ‘enemy’ or fascists. This is another good example of how Rossellini seems to be more of a documentary-style reality film. This film was part of the Italian Neo-realism era that did not use standards in filmmaking. They used a few different elements like non-professional actors doing most of the minor roles. The film was mentioned in class to be shot in 1945 when the war was still occurring and it was great timing for shooting in Italy. Mainly because the scenery they used was real. In the long-run, the film’s main topic was based on a widely spoken about important issue at the time- war. Open City is one of the most interesting films due to many aspects. Mainly for giving a picture of a situation which at the time happened not too long before the end Nazi occupation and enhanced the effect by being a melodrama. At times the film felt like a documentary, but that’s what made it quite interesting as well. These historical facts guarantee that Rossellini’s film is important, even if not always perfect.

Food and Beverage Packaging Innovation Essay

Beverage giant Coca-Cola wants to get a little love for its iconic cola drink from the upscale consumer set, so its decided to create and test-market a sleek set of contoured aluminum bottles for its flagship Coke brand. Yes, we said aluminum bottles. The Atlanta, Georgia USA-based beverage company chose the annual Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference in the Big Apple last Friday (February 22) to introduce the attractive, new 250-ml soda bottles, which come in red, black and silver aluminum. Thus far, the beverage company is offering its regular Coke, Diet Coke and Coke Zero varieties in the red (pictured at left), black and silver aluminum bottles. A Coca-Cola executive at the conference on Friday said the company is test-marketing the upscale-looking aluminum pop bottles in the U. S. , and wanted to introduce them to the influential consumer analysts group as way to get attention and feedback on the new packaging concept. Coke isn’t doing away with its soda cans or plastic bottles. Rather, its test-marketing the aluminum containers as a new packaging option. The beverage marketer also hopes the new, sleek look will attract more younger consumers who are always looking for the next new thing, along with more higher-income, upscale consumers who are into style. Currently, Coca-Cola isn’t selling its snazzy, aluminum-bottled Coke varieties in retail stores. Rather, they have been introduced thus far in select night clubs and bars, and offered for sale at some special events. The beverage marketer is however selling a version of its fairly new Coca-Cola Blak (pictured at left), a carbonated coffee-cola beverage, in a brown and black colored 250-ml contoured aluminum bottle in France. the aluminum bottle’s color is very similar to the color of the carbonated coffee beverage inside. In 2006, Cocoa-Cola bottled Coke and Diet Coke in similar sleek silver aluminum bottles for its year-long M5 promotion. The bottles, which were made for the beverage marketer by Exal USA, won a number of industry product packaging awards and were grabbed-up by consumers as collectors items. Coke also recently introduced a version of its Caribou brand iced coffee line in small aluminum bottles. And Coca-Cola’s number one competitor in the carbonated soda category, PepsiCo, has introduced a version of its Mountain Dew soda brand in aluminum bottles. Exal USA also produces the current red, black and silver contoured aluminum bottles Coca-Cola is test-marketing in the night clubs and at selected venues, and is thinking about introducing to retail food and beverage stores. Coca-Cola is far from the first U. S. everage company to introduce its drinks in aluminum bottles. In fact, the concept of packaging beverages in aluminum bottles begin taking off in the U. S. about two years ago. Juice marketers, energy drink-type bottlers, beer companies and others began introducing beverage products in aluminum bottles in 2005, and the practice is growing. The trend also is catching on in places like France, Australia and Mexico, where some bottlers are doing the same. In Austral ia, beer brand marketer Fosters recently introduced â€Å"Crown Lager† in attractive gold aluminum bottles. Fosters is now exporting the aluminum-clad lager to the U. S. as well. In Mexico, a new beverage called â€Å"Hot Hangover Tea† is being marketed in silver, red and black aluminum bottles. The tea-based drink is said to cure a hangover in addition to tasting good. Of course, is one is drunk and drops the fairly heavy aluminum bottle on a toe, the cure might be worse than the affliction. French juice company Teisseire is marketing a line of juice cordials in 330-ml aluminum containers in retail food stores, cafes and other venues in France. The bottles have a specially-shaped neck which is designed to make it easy for kids to grip. The bottle’s graphics are colorful and bold against a brushed aluminum background. Teisseire–as do all the other beverage companies–say a key selling point of the aluminum bottles, in addition to the sleek look, is that they chill rapidly. The bottles also are 100% aluminum so are recyclable as well. The beer category in particularly is seeing a mini-explosion in the use of aluminum bottles on a selective basis. In addition to Australia’s Fosters, U. S. raft beer marketer High Falls Brewing Company, based in Rochester, New York, has two varieties of beer–Pale Ale and Honey Brown lager–which come in aluminum bottles, and which are selling extremely well, especially in bars and clubs–but also in supermarkets, convenience and liquor stores. Other brewers are following suit and introducing varieties of their beers in aluminum bottles. Being such an international iconic brand though, the fact that Coca-Cola has introduced three of its Coke varieties in the sleek, contoured aluminum bottles is a big deal. Coke’s innovation goes a long way in helping to legitimize the aluminum bottles as viable beverage packaging options. It will obviously be interesting to see if Coca-Cola decides to expand its current pilot-test of the of the contoured aluminum-bottled sodas beyond the night clubs and selected special event venues anytime soon. The company executive at the New York conference said the success of the current pilot programs would be the primary determining factor regarding if and when Coke expands distribution of the aluminum -glad soft drinks nationally to food and beverage stores. It seems to use the Coke in the contoured aluminum bottles would be perfect for selected distribution to upscale retailers like Whole Foods Market, Target, Cost-Plus World Market, Trader Joe’s and the numerous regional, upscale food retailers throughout the U. S. , like Publix in Florida, H. E. B. in Texas, Bristol Farms and Gelson’s in Southern California, Wegman’s on the East Coast, and many others. The same in the UK with retailer’s like Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, for example. We don’t see the aluminum bottles becoming a big-selling mainstay of the giant beverage company’s brand line-up though. Price competition is too aggressive in the carbonated soft drink beverage category to do any serious volume with a package that isn’t dirt cheap to produce, bottle and sell. However, we think the sleek, contoured aluminum Coke drinks could do very well as a niche item at the upscale-type of retailers we mentioned above, as well as be a big hit at higher-end night clubs across the U. S. and internationally. Think New York and Miami in the USA, London, Moscow, Mexico City and a few other international cities where style and beverage choice seem to be synonymous these days. For trend-setting consumers, packaging can be King. Not only that, but if a consumer saves enough of the sturdy, aluminum Coke bottles, they can even melt them down and make something out of them: perhaps a backyard BBQ, a post-modern aluminum planter box for the garden, or a sleek red or silver aluminum wagon for junior. In fact, perhaps Coca-Cola should launch a contest. Perhaps something like: Design the best item made out of used Coke aluminum soda bottles. Not only would that be fun marketing, it would be the green thing to do. After all, reuse is even better than recycling from an environmental standpoint.

Females and males had equal but complementary roles in traditional Aboriginal life Essay

The purpose of this report is to show that women and men shared many roles in Traditional Australian Aboriginal life. It is acknowledged that men and women were given equal and complementary roles when it came to ceremonies, hunting and gathering, raising and initiating the children, building shelter and throughout the leadership hierarchy. This is proved through evidence collected and presented in the following paragraphs. The roles of both men and women were important and neither was thought to be as more significant than the other. While men had certain roles and women had other roles, they complemented each other which made day to day life easier and more bearable for the group. There were many different types of ceremonies performed by the Australian Aboriginals. Some ceremonies performed were initiation ceremonies, funeral ceremonies, cleansing ceremonies and ceremonies to great other tribes or groups of Australian aboriginals onto their land. During initiation ceremonies, young boys and girls begin the journey to become a man or woman. They are often taken away from the group and left in the bush to be shown and taught by the elders. The elders will pass on the laws relating to their country, spiritual belief and the role and obligations they have within the tribe. [1] This ceremony is performed by both men and women and each role they play complements the other. While men look after the young boys and women look after the young girls, without their roles complementing each other, neither group would be able to co-exist. In funeral ceremonies, both men and women elders would smoke out a house where a person may have died. This is to rid their community of the potential of the deceased’s bad spirits coming back. They also find the last place the deceased person was and smoke it for the same reason. [2] During this ceremony, they would often cut open their own flesh to show their pain and sorrow because one of them had passed. They sung and danced to ensure the deceased’s spirit had left to return to its birth place where it was to be reborn into the world. [3]Without both the men and women complementing each other throughout this ceremony, they would not be able to be performed. Aboriginal people believe that when a person dies, their spirit goes back to the Dreaming Ancestors in the land. This is only possible if certain ceremonies and rituals are performed. They used dances and special songs in times of death or mourning periods. It is also thought that when a person dies they are one with the land again, so often, the aboriginal group will vacate the area that a group member died. It is unsure whether this is out of respect or out of fear that the spirit will return and haunt them. They will return to the place sometime within a year and bury the bones of their dead group member. All other ceremonies that are performed by the Australian Aboriginals were able to be performed by both male and female members of the group. Some also include other groups or tribes. It is known that the Australian Aboriginals were avid hunters. They had a very deep knowledge of their land and believe they were born of it. They also had great knowledge of water sources and seasonal changes which affect the type of food readily available to them. They were knowledgeable about certain foods which were poisonous to them and knew when and how to avoid them should they ever come across these foods. Both males and females made different but complementary contributions when it came to hunting and gathering. The roles of both men and women were complementary in that they worked together to gather food to prepare a meal. Women gathered things such as vegetables, eggs, honey, roots, fruit, and small reptiles such as snakes and goannas. Mostly, the men hunted larger animals such as emus and kangaroos as well as birds. [4] The preparing of such foods was done by both the men and women. It is believed that women were the main carers of young children in traditional Australian Aboriginal society. However, during initiation, the men took over the role of caring for the young boy so they could be taught the laws of the land. When a young boy was roughly six years of age, he would go and join the male adults to learn about hunting and food gathering while the young girls would remain with the women to learn about different things such as child bearing, child rearing and food gathering [5] Because of a combination of nomadic lifestyle and the regions sunny climate, aboriginal people believed there was no need to build shelters or dwellings. The shelter that was used in permanent camps consisted in a frame made from saplings, or straight branches, covered with materials that were available locally such as leafy branches or sheets of bark. In some areas the covering of the shelter was sheets of soft paperbark, which were pulled down from trees. In other areas they used bushes and leafy branches instead because the bark was not available. Australia has such a mild climate, most of the time, they would sleep in the open, and warmth was often provided by a fire or two. They would sometimes be accompanied by a dingo or camp dog, which would also provide warmth to the man or women who it slept beside. During the wetter and colder seasons, they sometimes used closed dome-shaped shelters which were made with a frame of different sized sticks bent over, which joined in the middle to make the dome shape. They were not very big, standing between one and two metres tall. The frame for these was covered with whatever materials that could be found locally such as sheets of bark, layers of soft grass and leaves. [6] Both men and women would collect and assemble the shelters used as well as the campfire. Sometimes they had daytime fires which needed protection from the wind, so they used bushes and branches as a windbreak. Women would gather the leafy branches and bark that is needed to make the roof while the men would gather the saplings and/or the straight branches used to make the frame. Another form of shelter used when available was small or shallow caves that were often hidden behind rocks or bushes. These provided natural shelter for the nomadic Australian Aboriginals. [7] Both men and women had various roles when it comes to leadership in the Aboriginal culture. Both genders would contribute in leading ceremonies, tribal or group meetings and hunting parties. Although it is often shown that men have the main role of being an elder, women also were elders. Elders were leaders of the group who shared knowledge of the laws surrounding the land and how each member of the group intertwines with another. Elders are valuable members of each aboriginal tribe or group as they bring the wealth of knowledge and pass it down generation to generation. While male elders bring knowledge of hunting bigger animals, laws of the land and initiation, female elders bring knowledge of child irth, food gathering and child rearing. The knowledge used by both male and female members of the group helps them to become one with the land. In conclusion, in Traditional Australian Aboriginal life men and women were proven to share roles and complement each other through various ways. Through raising children, hunting and gathering, ceremonies and in leadership they comple ment each others roles so that the tribe or group can exist harmoniously. While men seem to have the main role throughout the Australian Aboriginal culture, it has now been proven that without the complementary role of women, the group would not continue to coexist.