Use of the financial statements to make business decisions Essay

Use of the financial statements to make business decisions - Essay Example When the calculations are done, they indicate that at a price of $40.97, the Coca-Cola Company spent a total of $4,015.06 million to repurchase 98 million of common stock in 2014. On the other hand, at a price of $37.11, the company used a total of $4,490.43 million to purchase 121 million shares in 2012. This indicates that the company spent just $475.37 million to repurchase 23 million more shares in 2012, which means that the extra shares only cost an average of $20.66 per common stock repurchased in 2012. This simply goes to show that the extra shares of common stock that were purchased in 2012 above the 98 million mark were very, compared to the price of the common stock in 2014, since they cost 50% less. Additionally, if the Coca-Cola Company had to repurchase 121 million common stocks in 2014, it would have used a total of $4957.37 compared to $4490.43 that the company used to repurchase 121 million common stick on 2012, which shows that the Coca-Cola Company would have saved a total of $466.94 million, if it would have purchased more common stocks in 2012. Therefore, based on these calculations, it would be much cheaper for Coca-Cola Company to repurchase more common stock when the prices are lower since it would save a lot of money. In this respect, the Coca-Cola Company financial statements can help the management to make a decision on whether to use some more of the company’s profits to repurchase more common stocks, other than waiting until the price of the common stock increases.

Truth and Socrates Essay Example for Free

Truth and Socrates Essay ?Euthyphro is a dialogue between Socrates and a traveling cleric. The two men meet at court, where the cleric, Euthyphro, claims to have a clear definition of piety. Socrates exclaims that he wishes to know the definition of piety so that he may better defend himself in his upcoming trial. Euthyphro agrees to teach Socrates, and so they begin to discuss. Early on, Socrates makes clear his desire for a universal truth, or a definition of piety that will be true in every case. Euthyphro makes several attempts to define piety in a way that satisfies Socrates. The first attempt at a definition does not satisfy Socrates because it is merely an example. In trying to define piety, Euthyphro merely states that his current undertaking at court is pious. While Socrates does not disagree outright, he presses Euthyphro for a universal definition of piety that could be used in every situation. Euthyphro’s second definition, â€Å"what is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious,† pleases Socrates because it is a universal statement. This definition is general enough to be widely applicable, and seems to outline the defining characteristics of piety. Upon closer inspection, however, Socrates finds the definition unsatisfying. Because the gods disagree about so many things, and act in contradiction to each other, it would be foolish to assume they would all agree upon the definition of piety. Euthyphro points out in his defence that all the gods would agree that Euthyphro’s current action of bringing his father to trial is pious. Socrates dismisses this, as it is not a universal definition and is essentially just another example. Euthyphro attempts to satisfy Socrates by amending his definition slightly. Piety, says Euthyphro, is what all the gods love, and the impious is what all the gods hate. Socrates is not satisfied by this definition, either, and so he tries a different tack to extract a definition from Euthyphro. Socrates does this by asking: â€Å"Is the pious being loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is being loved by the gods? † When Euthyphro seems unsure, Socrates simplifies his question with an analogy. He asks Euthyphro if something is â€Å"carried† because it is â€Å"a thing carried,† or if it is â€Å"carried† because something is carrying it. Both men agree that the action confers the state of being. That is, a thing loved is so because someone loves it, and the thing itself is not creating a state of â€Å"loving† within the people around it. Likewise, being loved is not a state inherent to the thing loved, but is the result of the love others bear for the thing. Moving from his analogy back to Euthyphro’s definition, Socrates shows the fallacy in Euthyphro’s statement. Being god-loved cannot confer piety, as it confers â€Å"god-loved-ness† instead. Therefore, in Euthyphro’s statement, all the gods loving something would make that thing universally god-loved, but in no way makes it pious. An act is loved by the gods because it is pious, and not the other way around. Socrates, presumably tired of Euthyphro’s poor definitions, takes a stab at defining piety himself. He muses to Euthyphro that piety is a species of the genus justice, and that perhaps starting there would help the two men to agree on pious qualities. Socrates uses a poem as an example: â€Å"You do not wish to name Zeus, who had done it, and who made all things grow, for where there is fear there is shame. † While surely, says Socrates, those who feel shame also feel fear for their reputation or good name, those who feel fear do not necessarily feel shame as well. Being fearful of disease or poverty is not shameful, and is quite understandable. Shame is a smaller part of fear, covering a smaller area, just as piety covers a smaller area than justice, although the two entirely overlap. With a newfound agreement on the properties of piety, Socrates again asks Euthyphro to define piety by what part of justice it constitutes. Euthyphro states that â€Å"the godly and pious is the part of the just that is concerned with the care of the gods, while that concerned with the care of men is the remaining part of justice. † Socrates seems pleased by this new definition, but has one area that must be further defined – namely, the term â€Å"care for. † Socrates points out that the term â€Å"care for† means to benefit the object of care. Caring for the gods would then benefit them and make them better, an impossible act of hubris that flies in the face of the religion of the day. Euthyphro quickly enhances his definition: it’s the kind of care that a slave gives to his master. Socrates continues to press Euthyphro and demands to know what goal the gods intend to achieve by way of human service. Euthyphro gives a long-winded answer that Socrates immediately reduces to two independent clauses. The first is that the gods achieve, by way of human servitude, piety on earth in their servants’ actions. The second is that piety is the knowledge of how to sacrifice and pray. Socrates points out that Euthyphro’s latest definition reduces piety to a sort of commerce between gods and men, where pious men are the best bargainers and most skillful traders. Euthyphro agrees, although he would prefer grander wording. Socrates then asks: If pious men are trading with the gods, and the gifts from gods to men are obvious, then what are the gifts from men to gods? Euthyphro answers that the gods desire from men pleasing attitudes such as honour and reverence. Socrates once again reduces Euthyphro’s statement to a simpler form: â€Å"The pious is once again what is dear to the gods. † The argument has come full circle, back to a point where an object is conferring an action upon actors, and logical analysis leads round and back again. Socrates points this out, eager to dive back into defining piety, but Euthyphro claims he is now in a hurry and must continue the conversation some other time. While Euthyphro is unable to define piety in a convincing way, Socrates himself takes up the challenge in The Apology. While he doesn’t come right out and say it in so many words, Socrates clearly details how a man should act throughout his life and care for his soul to ensure a pious existence. According to Socrates, a man who wishes to live a pious life, insofar as he wishes to take the greatest care of his soul and follow the purest pursuits on Earth, should seek the truth in any form, at any cost. This is most clearly expressed by the statement â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living. † Socrates would presumably define piety as the pursuit of truth. Piety, in the religious world of Socrates, can be taken as a more all-encompassing trait than it might be in modern times. Because everyone in Socrates’s society participated in the same religion, piety was a universally positive trait. Good things came from the gods, and men who engaged in religious acts were generally also pillars of Athenian society. Today piety has a narrower definition. Because religion no longer holds the position it once did in the world, and because people follow so many different religions, piety has been relegated to a rather specific set of qualities, most of which involve devotion to the church. In Socrates’s time, goodness and godliness were so close as to be inseparable, and so to be pious was to be a multitude of positive adjectives that existed in the wide realm of goodness and godliness. Piety is a desirable trait in humans, spawning bravery, kindness, wisdom, and all manner of positive attributes in those who are considered to be pious. However, each of these positive attributes is directly connected with discovering truths. Bravery or courage, one of the most readily identifiable positive traits, is a special kind of knowledge (Plato, Laches 196. c). By understanding the risks and rewards of a particular action in a certain situation, brave people will risk themselves to a certain degree, presumably because they have calculated the rewards to be justifiably great. An equally courageous act, the admission of ignorance, would allow a general to withdraw his troops from a potentially compromising situation, probably to the disdain of his fellow generals. While scorn may be heaped on this general for â€Å"fleeing,† his courage and strength of character saves the lives of his soldiers to fight another day; a prouder or more ignorant general would foolishly stand his ground and lose. Prudence, it would seem in this situation, is part of bravery. The observance of the truth, that of the general’s previous ignorance of the current field of battle, allows the general to be courageous and brave. Truth is far more important than anything else. Truth is possessed by the gods, and occasionally discovered by man, perhaps by some design of the gods. When mathematics was discovered, and the objective truths of the hypotenuse and division were used, the gods were credited with the creation, or perhaps the release of, these intangible and indisputable truths. Men could not touch them, overturn them, or argue about them. They simply were. When the prophet at Delphi relayed a message from the gods, specifically that no man was wiser than Socrates, the truth of the matter was unquestioned by Socrates. Socrates, incredulous at this prophecy, began to pursue the meaning of the statement. Socrates refers to this as â€Å"my investigation in the service of god. † Wisdom, a desirable trait on its own, seems to be the knowledge of things. But how could Socrates be the wisest man? He had no knowledge of many things, such as politics, poetry, or craftsmanship. As he interviewed learned men in Greece, he began to realize an important difference. Many men in Greece had knowledge of things. They knew how to write, fight, or create, but these were not the truths Socrates sought. These were merely the men’s experiences, an amalgamation of experience. An objective truth, such as the use of a hypotenuse, was nowhere to be found. Socrates, in his staunch pursuit of truth, considered what he knew to be true in the same manner as geometry. He realized there was little he knew so well as his own ignorance – namely, the truth was that he did not know much at all. And so it became clear to Socrates that his wisdom was a by-product of the admission of his own ignorance, and that the pursuit of truth, no matter how damaging to the reputation of the seeker, was considered wise by the gods. Truth and piety became intermingled for Socrates, as he followed his divine mission in the pursuit of truth, no matter the cost to his reputation, or the danger it posed for him. Socrates’s willingness to die for the truth is an act of piety, as is his impoverished life and disregard for his reputation. When Socrates meets someone who thinks he is wise, Socrates believes he is coming to the assistance of the gods by showing that person his ignorance (Plato, Apology 23. b). Socrates devotes his whole life, and his death, to the pursuit of truth, no matter the cost. Because Socrates associates the notion of truth so closely with the gods, it could be said that his god is truth, and vice versa. When the notions of â€Å"god† and â€Å"truth† become synonymous, Socrates’s definition of piety becomes apparent. Bibliography Brickhouse, TC. and Smith, ND. (1990). Socrates on Trial. Oxford University Press. Grube, G. M. A. and John Cooper (2002). Five Dialogues. Hacket Publishing. Linder, Doug (2002). The Trial of Socrates. University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law. Retrieved November 11, 2013. Plato (400 BC). Apology. 17a-42a. Plato (400 BC). Euthyphro. 2a-16a. Plato (400 BC). Laches. 178a-201a. Plato (400 BC). Crito. 43a-54e.

Role of Firms in Science and Technology | Essay

Role of Firms in Science and Technology | Essay What roles do firms play in the generation and diffusion of new scientific and technological knowledge? Illustrate your answer by reference to one or more example. Introduction: The differences in the types of organisations, their structures, their goals and perspectives, and the way they recognise and face challenges can breed a lot of opportunities and avenues for producing and distributing new information to the world. Technology and science has made wonders for almost everyone living in this planet. It has changed the way we live. It has also introduced new sets of problems and issues which must be strategically addressed. Firms are already in the forefront of responding to changes and challenges in their environment. They respond to these challenges through strategies that make use of support systems like technology and scientific research. Today’s business and social transactions are being supported more and more by technological and scientific innovations and strategies. Knowledge of advanced technologies in the different sciences and frontiers has largely advanced most careers and business prospects. According to Dorf (2001, p. 39), [1] the purpose of a business firm is to create value for all of its stakeholders. As the firm tries to create new wealth for its shareholders, valuable products and services for its customers, it is already in the process of generating and distributing new sets of information. This includes the generation of new scientific and technological knowledge which would eventually be adopted by the society and other businesses as well. A firm then leads its market through effective technical and scientific innovation, sound business management of resources, and a solid technological strategy for the success of its business. Improved technology and increased scientific knowledge will help increase food production, efficient management of resources, allow faster access to relevant and mission critical information, and enhanced business competitiveness. Technology has the most potential to deliver business sustainability and viability through the many opportunities for research and innovation. While it cannot be denied that firms of today have a very definite and pivotal role to play in the generation of scientific and technological knowledge, much of their contribution center on how they formulate strategies to introduce new knowledge into their business functions. Technology has been known to support a lot of business and decision making processes. Technology strategy should be considered a vital part of any strategic planning. Incorporating high-end technology without careful considerations of other organisational issues is a sure formula for failure. The growth of technology presented managers with a complex variety of alternatives. Many executives and managers are using the advent of technology as an opportunity to reconsider their business operations (Irving and Higgins, 1991).[2] Many still feel that technology and any available scientific knowledge can solve a lot of organisational problems. Unfortunately, other executives see technology as a panacea for various organisational ills. Sometimes, the introduction of technology may increase organisational and societal problems. Firms have a definite role when it comes to the way technology and scientific knowledge is generated and distributed. With their technological and scientific knowledge at hand, they can be technology enhancers, identifiers of new markets, sources of customer exploration, and a gateway for information interchange. However, powerful technologies and scientific knowledge can have the potential for great harm or great good to mankind (O’Brien, 2001).[3] Competition in the business environment has led to a lot of advanced technological and scientific research and development. Investment in a lot of monetary and manpower resources has increased the need for firms to compete with each other in the introduction of new technologies which may alter the political, economic, and social landscape. Gene Amdahl was interested in starting a new computer firm to compete with International Business Machines (Goodman and Lawless p. 66).[4] He understood quite clearly that he needed a new technological design, a service and support system, and a good library software. He chose to design his computer to be IBM-compatible. Regardless of the technological wonders he designed into his new computer, it would operate all the existing IBM software. This strategy has greatly enhanced his customers’ access to new IBM technologies as well as his own. While his company has tailored itself from another company’s technology, it was able to create and generate a new set of ideas which not only enhanced his company’s image but IBM’s as well. High technology firms who generate a lot of technological and scientific knowledge have been able to identify new markets in the fields of computers, biotechnology, genetic engineering, robotics, and other markets. These firms depend heavily on advanced scientific and engineering knowledge. Michael Dell, for example, started building personal computers in his University of Texas dorm room at age 19 (Ferrell and Hirt, 1996).[5] His innovative ideas and prototyping techniques have made Dell Computer one of the leading PC companies in the world with sales of $2.9 billion. Because of his company’s capacity to use technology to perform decision-making and focus on new customer demands and tastes, he was able to identify strategic markets for his PC Company all around the world in different contexts. When he shifted to new markets, other industry players followed. These industry players created another set of opportunities to explore other means. Through the early 1990s, Dell sold directly to the consumer through its toll-free telephone line (Schneider and Perry, 1990).[6] Eventually, it expanded its sales to the Internet and has logged a significant percentage of its overall sales from the Internet. This strategy has lowered overhead for the company. The web site is a significant part of Dell’s strategy for moving into the new millenium. Company officials predict that within the next few years, more than half of their sales will be from the web. Supporting such a booming online sales are a robust infrastructure of communication devices and networks, Dell servers, and electronic commerce software from Microsoft. Just as with the globalisation of markets, changes due to advances in technology is not new to business marketing. Yet, technology change is expected to create new ways of marketing that haven’t existed (Dwyer and Tanner, 1999).[7] Du Pont, for example has developed a Rapid Market Assessment technology that enables the company to determine if a market, usually a country or region previously not served) warrants development (Bob, 1996).[8] The result of the analysis is a customer-focused understanding of the foreign market, independent of the level of economic development of that country or region. Technology is changing the nature of business-customer interaction. If applied well, benefits increase to both parties. In the area of retail marketing for example, technology can be used to enhance interaction between retailers and customers. Point-of-sale scanning equipment is widely utilized by supermarkets, department stores, specialty stores, membership clubs, and others-hundreds of thousands of firms in all. Retailers can quickly complete customer transactions, amass sales data, reduce costs, and adjust inventory figures (Berman and Evans, 1998).[9] At some restaurants, when dinner is over, the waiter brings the check-and a sleek box that opens like the check presentation folder used by many restaurants revealing buttons and a miniscreen. The waiter brings it over and disappears discreetly. Following instructions on the screen, you verify the tab, select the payment type (credit card or ATM card), insert the card into a slot, and enter your personal identification number of PIN. You can then enter a tip-a specific amount or, if you want the device to figure the tip, a percentage. Completing the transaction triggers a blinking light. This summons the waiter who then removes the device and the receipt is printed on ano ther terminal (Berman and Evans, 1998).[10] In this manner, the restaurant, as a firm was able to innovate on new ways to make customers make further exploration and application of this new mechanism. This in turn introduced another set of mechanisms for making billing charges to customers in another business setting (like electricity and water bills). With this illustration, innovation on a new technology can be of great help to different industry players. With signature capture, shoppers sign their names right on a computer screen. At Sears, the cardholder uses a special pen to sign a paper receipt-which becomes the cardholder copy-on top of a pressure-sensitive pad that captures the signature, stores it, and displays it on the checkout terminal screen so a clerk can compare it with the one on the back of the credit card. Sears has a brochure explaining the procedure is entirely voluntary and electronic signatures are not stored separately and can be printed only along with the entire sales receipt. Again, innovation centered on how customers can be better served has generated a whole new set of ideas for other firms to research on. Gateway for Information Interchange The web or the Internet has generated a lot of research interests nowadays. People rely on the web for retrieving and sending information. It’s being used for almost all sorts of business and personal transactions like in the area of learning and commerce. Stanford University Library’s HighWire Press began in early 1995with the online production of the weekly Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC). By March 2001, it was producing 240 online journals giving access to 237,711 articles (Chowdhury and Chowdhury, 2001).[11] The journals focus on science, technology, medicine and other scientific fields. HighWire’s strategy of online publishing of scholarly journals is not simply to mount electronic images of printed pages; rather by adding links among authors, articles and citations, advanced searching techniques, high-resolution images and multimedia, and interactivity, the electronic versions provided added dimensions to the information being provided in printed jour nals. The dimensions allowed readers boundless opportunities to follow up what they have initially started. The role of firms here has been magnified quite a bit. Technical and scientific information can be distributed at the least possible time possible and in as many people as possible. In another setting, consider the tremendous savings now those millions of Internet users are able to work from home – or at least, dial into the office more than drive there. Many offices are using the Internet to save office space, materials, and transportation costs. Using email and other electronic documents also saves energy, by saving paper. People who are online are able to explore most of the advantage technology and science has to offer them. It gives them the power to filter out what is and what is not useful. Newspapers are also going online. Arguably, of all the technologies, telecommunications, and the Internet, along with a renewable energy, has the most potential to deliver sustainability and the vision of integrated optical communication networks, is compelling enough for people to understand the underlying role that technology firms play in today’s technology-based society. Computer networks and the Internet have largely been the biggest technological br eakthroughs made throughout the century. And the possibilities are even growing bigger for firms to do more to leverage its use. Conclusion: Firms play a very important role in the generation of new information and their eventual diffusion into the overall structure of businesses and society as well. Firms are seen as responsible generators of new ideas which not only help them attain competitive advantage over their rivals but also are also unconsciously improving the lives of people from different places around the globe. Competing firms explore different technical and scientific innovations which match their business strategy especially in a globalised business setting. The rate at which firms do research and development has spawned the need for further collaboration and cooperation even among their competitors in order to protect their strategic advantage. The introduction of technological and scientific standards has helped guide the introduction of new knowledge to definite direction to take. Firms also serve as a window to a lot more opportunities for information exchange and interaction between customers and even their competitors. The Internet has been the biggest contributor to the generation, infusion, and distribution of knowledge. It has also provided a lot of opportunities for firms to invest their time and resources in order to facilitate easier access to their products and services. It has also created a new set of commerce and learning methods which allowed more and more people to get involved even if time and distances presented challenges. The driving force behind all of these innovations is change. Without it, firms will not be motivated to introduce new sets of ideas and distributed them. Knowledge is empowerment. Acquiring technical and scientific knowledge through the initiatives of different organizations not only increases further competition but also improves the different political, social, and economic dimensions of society. The generation and diffusion of scientific and technological knowledge will not be possible if firms are not aware of the changes that are constantly shaping their business landscape. Today’s challenges is not on how technological and scientific information can be generated and distributed. It is more on using this knowledge on the right place and at the right time. Bibliography Books Berman, B and Evans, J (1998), Retail Management: A Strategic Approach, Prentice  Hall, New Jersey. Bob, Donarth (1996), Global Marketing Management: New Challenges Reshape  Worldwide Competition. Chowdhury, G and Chowdhury, S (2001), Information Sources and Searching on the  World Wide Web, Library Association Publishing, London. Dorf, Richard (2001), Technology, Humans, and Society: Towards A Sustainable World,  Academic Press, San Diego, California. Dwyer, F and Tanner, J (1999), Business Marketing: Connecting Strategy, Relationships,  and Learning, Mc-Graw Hill, Singapore. Ferrell O and Hirt, G (1996), Business: A Changing World, 2nd edn, Times New Mirror  Higher Education. Goodman, R and Lawless, M (1994), Technology and Strategy: Conceptual Models and  Diagnostics, Oxford University Press, New York. Irving, R and Higgins, C (1991), Office Information Systems: Management Issues and  Methods, John Wiley and Sons, Ontario. O’Brien, James (2001), Introduction to Information Systems: Essentials for the  Internetworked E-Business, McGraw-Hill, Singapore. Schneider, G Perry, J (1990), Electronic Commerce, Thomson Learning, Singapore. Footnotes [1] Dorf, Richard (2001), Technology, Humans, and Society: Towards A Sustainable World, Academic Press, San Diego, California. [2] Irving, R and Higgins, C (1991), Office Information Systems: Management Issues and Methods, John Wiley and Sons, Ontario. [3] O’Brien, James (2001), Introduction to Information Systems: Essentials for the Internetworked E-Business, McGraw-Hill, Singapore. [4] Goodman, R and Lawless, M (1994), Technology and Strategy: Conceptual Models and Diagnostics, Oxford University Press, New York. [5] Ferrell O and Hirt, G (1996), Business: A Changing World, 2nd edn, Times New Mirror Higher Education. [6] Schneider, G Perry, J (1990), Electronic Commerce, Thomson Learning, Singapore. [7] Dwyer, F and Tanner, J (1999), Business Marketing: Connecting Strategy, Relationships, and Learning, Mc-Graw Hill, Singapore. [8] Bob, Donarth (1996), Global Marketing Management: New Challenges Reshape Worldwide Competition. [9] Berman, B and Evans, J (1998), Retail Management: A Strategic Approach, Prentice Hall, New Jersey. [10] Berman and Evans. [11] Chowdhury, G and Chowdhury, S (2001), Information Sources and Searching on the World Wide Web, Library Association Publishing, London.

Examine the influence of Heaneys childhood upon his poetry :: English Literature

Examine the influence of Heaneys childhood upon his poetry Introduction Seamus Heaney was born on a farm in county Derry in North Ireland on April 13th 1939 he was one of nine children. The Heaney family had lived in that area for centuries and had been farmers for generations. He grew up in the country and the countryside was a crucial focus point for his poetry, this is shown in the poems The early purges, The forge, Digging, Follower and Death of a naturalist. He grew up in a rural community which was very important to him as well as village traditions, history and religion. Nature was important to him. This is illustrated in Death of a naturalist and Follower. He looked back to the farm for inspiration in his writing when he writes about the farm in Digging and the follower. In Follower, Seamus writes about his father Patrick. Seamus had a great deal of respect and admires his father for his farming skill again this is evident in Follower. Seamus and his father separated as Seamus grew smarter and away from the farming life and towards poetry and literature. Heaney was Catholic and at school he became aware of the Catholic and Protestant problems in Ireland which later inspired him to write about politics and the problems in Ireland. Heaney wrote very realistic poems about life in the countryside and wanted to show what it was really like (rough and hard).This is clear in Death of a Naturalist and Early purges. When he was twelve he won a scholarship to St Colun's boarding school in Derring later he won another scholarship to Queens university where he studied English. When he was at university he started to write poems and the increasing problems in Ireland became apparent to him and his poems examined these problems. In the early sixties he wrote his first volume Death of a naturalist. Analyzing four Heaney Poems I have chosen Death of a naturalist, Follower, Digging and The early purges because I think they represent the influences that Heaneys childhood had on his poems. Death of a naturalist was one of Heaneys' first poems and was the title of his first volume. The poem symbolizes the innocence of childhood because he uses simple and uncomplicated language. The teacher in the poem is very patronizing and explains sex and mating in a very toned down way she said, 'The daddy frog was called the bullfrog and how he croaked and how the mammy frog laid hundreds of little eggs and this was frogspawn'. The early part of the poem is seen through the eyes of a child and as

Charcoal as Plant Fertilizer

Charcoal is considerably neutral, and the natural wood types are perfect in their ability to amend nearly any type of soil. Today, you may here the term bio-char, and this refers to the larger quantities of organic charcoal being produced for use on organic farms and the like. Charcoal is clean, chemical free in most cases, clean to produce when processed properly, and offers an outstanding result without the potentially harmful chemicals and additives so often thrown in to expensive commercial fertilizers. There are many qualities that charcoal brings to the dinner table, to research, to nature, and to the world that you may not recognize as such unless they are pointed out. Due to its extremely high surface area, nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus stick to the charcoal and provide an excellent home to soil friendly bacteria and thus essentially turning charcoal into a slow release fertilizer. Inoculate it with fertilizer before applying. Most of the plants growers nowadays are looking forward for an efficient yet affordable way of growing healthy plants, which are weed and worm free. The Group of â€Å"Kids of Einstein† has chosen this Investigatory Project entitled â€Å"Charcoal as Plant Fertilizer† with the idea that this will be the solution of most of the concerns of the plant-growers around the world. Charcoal can be an alternative for the commercial fertilizers which are more expensive to buy. Charcoal can be found and bought all around and has less cost than of fertilizers. This is a very big help for plant growers. This project was chosen because the group believes that having this would encourage others to spread the news of more effective fertilizers rather than using the commercial ones. This is helpful not only of its guaranteed effect but it can also help lessen the expenses of the plant growers that would help them get more motivated of planting knowing that they can save more.

Animal Farm Extended Response Essay

Do you think Animal Farm’s message would come across effectively to someone who knows nothing about soviet history or the conflict between Stalin and Trotsky? What might such a reader make of this story? George Orwell’s novella ‘The Animal Farm’ is directed at Russia during the Stalin era. The novella’s characters reflect on actual people during the Stalin era. The novella tells of what happened during Stalin’s reign including the controversy with Trotsky. Many of Stalin’s traits were shown through Napoleon as he made his decisions on the farm but whether or not the reader could connect it to Stalin is another matter. For an individual to read this book and fully understand what it is talking about, the reader would definitely need a vast understanding of the era and the personality conflicts. The novella portrays Stalin as a power hungry pig that swindles his way to the top, with the assistance of some associates as well (further pigs). This is exactly what transpired during the soviet era when Stalin took control. For an individual to make that connection they would need to first try link the actions of Napoleon and the similarities should give it away, but for someone who doesn’t identify anything about the era then no, they have nothing to link it to, but it is still possible for the individual to notice the communism occurring throughout the farm and make the connection to the politics side of the aforementioned. Stalin and Trotsky’s controversy is easily depicted through the two main animals, Napoleon and Snowball, but only to those who have the knowledge of their disputes. If someone without this knowledge tried to make sense of it then they wouldn’t understand the soviet side to it but they would still understand the logic in Napoleon being worried about Snowball taking first actions against him and taking him out of the picture. George Orwell’s message in Animal Farm is quite obvious. The reader will get the message but not the social commentary. The novella includes all the historic moments of the Soviet Russian world and lifestyle even if the  reader cant link it to history it still can play a big part in today’s society as it can be applied to many day to day occurrences such as family, work or generally everyday life.