Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Star Traveling To The Millennium Essay Example For Students

Star Traveling To The Millennium Essay Word Count: 2205 Presently as we are quickly moving toward the Millenium numerous individuals are getting the blues. This appears to be preposterous in light of the fact that this offers we all an ideal opportunity to begin once more. NASA is grasping this opportunity to develop and extend their areas of expertise. The expression, Space, the last wilderness, communicates the universes fixation on space travel, that began a very long time before it even became famous 30 years back in Gene Roddenberrys TV arrangement Star Trek. Sci-fi has engaged our way of life for a considerable length of time. We will compose a custom exposition on Star Traveling To The Millennium explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now Films, for example, Star Wars and Planet of the Apes have helped fuel our craving to get off the planet earth, find new living things, and vanquish the stars. Sci-fi dreams of universes past our close planetary system have taken on a progressively sensible angle since stargazers found that the universe contains planets in shockingly huge numbers. Contemplating those far off planets may show how unique Earth truly is and reveal to us progressively about our place known to mankind (NASA landing page). Finding a planet that can bolster human life would change our general public into the Jetsons. These thoughts are soon to turn into our real factors. NASA is at present trying different things with numerous techniques to attempt to investigate the external edges of the system. So as to comprehend NASAs fervor about star voyaging, we will initially fly through current ventures concerning space travel, second investigate three potential advancements being tried different things with for the year 2000, at long last bring a stumble into our future and experience how star voyaging will transform ourselves as we approach the finish of the second millenium. NASAs objective of quicker, better, less expensive has been the inspiration for them to grow new crucial, and to approve at no other time utilized advancements in space. The new advances, whenever demonstrated to work, will reform space investigation in the following century. As per NASAs New Millennium Program landing page, keep going refreshed on September 16,1999, NASAs current undertaking of Deep Space 1 exhibits a portion of their most intriguing advances. One of the most amazing is the trying of a particle motor that should be multiple times more proficient than fluid or strong rocket motors. Profound Space 1 was propelled on October 24, 1998. It is the primary crucial NASAs New Millennium Program, which highlights flight testing of new innovation, instead of science as its principle center (Rayman 4). These new advances will make shuttle of things to come littler, progressively practical, solid, and closer to the objective of proficient space travel. As per Dr. Marc Rayman, the delegate crucial and boss strategic for Deep Space 1, there are 12 cutting edge innovations locally available the shuttle and seven have finished testing (5). In spite of certain glitches, the incredible lion's share of the cutting edge innovations have worked amazingly well. Rayman likewise stated, Mission architects and researchers can now unhesitatingly utilize them on future missions(4). The entirety of this testing is currently making ready for star voyaging. The extraordinary hindrance in this street to the stars, be that as it may, is the sheer trouble of getting anyplace in space. Only accomplishing circle is a costly and hazardous recommendation. Current space drive innovations make it a stretch to send tests to inaccessible goals inside the close planetary system. Rockets need to follow multiyear, aberrant directions that circle around a few planets so as to pick up speed from gravity helps. At that point, the specialty comes up short on the vitality to return. Luckily, engineers have no lack of innovative designs for new drive frameworks that may some time or another extend human nearness past this planet. Against issue, minimized atomic rockets, and light sails are three thoughts that specialists are trying different things with. In any case, these thoughts are in their early stage stages and it is now more than obvious that the undertaking is as troublesome as it might be, yet at the same time stay conceivable. Robert Frisbee, a specialist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Lab stated, at this moment, in light of our present degree of numbness, every one of the three vitality sources are similarly unimaginable or conceivable (DiChristina 2). A portion of these thoughts are simply extreme refinements of current rocket or fly innovations. Others tackle atomic energies or ride on ground-breaking laser shafts. .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348 , .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348 .postImageUrl , .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348 .focused content zone { min-tallness: 80px; position: relative; } .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348 , .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348:hover , .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348:visited , .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348:active { border:0!important; } .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348 .clearfix:after { content: ; show: table; clear: both; } .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348 { show: square; change: foundation shading 250ms; webkit-progress: foundation shading 250ms; width: 100%; murkiness: 1; progress: mistiness 250ms; webkit-progress: haziness 250ms; foundation shading: #95A5A6; } .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348:active , .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348:hover { obscurity: 1; change: darkness 250ms; webkit-change: murkiness 250ms; foundation shading: #2C3E50; } .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348 .focused content territory { width: 100%; position: relat ive; } .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348 .ctaText { outskirt base: 0 strong #fff; shading: #2980B9; text dimension: 16px; textual style weight: intense; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; text-enrichment: underline; } .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348 .postTitle { shading: #FFFFFF; text dimension: 16px; text style weight: 600; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; width: 100%; } .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348 .ctaButton { foundation shading: #7F8C8D!important; shading: #2980B9; fringe: none; fringe span: 3px; box-shadow: none; text dimension: 14px; textual style weight: striking; line-stature: 26px; moz-outskirt sweep: 3px; text-adjust: focus; text-beautification: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-stature: 80px; foundation: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/modules/intelly-related-posts/resources/pictures/straightforward arrow.png)no-rehash; position: supreme; right: 0; top: 0; } .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348:hover .ctaButton { foundation shading: #34495E!important; } .u361e48415396 d42f3f6315f306fee348 .focused content { show: table; tallness: 80px; cushioning left: 18px; top: 0; } .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348-content { show: table-cell; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; cushioning right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-adjust: center; width: 100%; } .u361e48415396d42f3f6315f306fee348:after { content: ; show: square; clear: both; } READ: Prostitution Essay Even the reciprocals of room lifts utilized for raising cargoes into space are on the planning phases. Out of the considerable number of thoughts that have been raised, NASA . Star Traveling To The Millennium Essay Example For Students Star Traveling To The Millennium Essay Presently as we are quickly moving toward the Millenium numerous individuals are getting the blues. This appears to be preposterous in light of the fact that this offers we all an ideal opportunity to begin once more. NASA is grasping this opportunity to develop and extend their specialties. The expression, Space, the last boondocks, communicates the universes fixation on space travel, that began a very long time before it even became famous 30 years prior in Gene Roddenberrys TV arrangement Star Trek. Sci-fi has engaged our way of life for quite a long time. Motion pictures, for example, Star Wars and Planet of the Apes have helped fuel our craving to get off the planet earth, find new living things, and overcome the stars. Sci-fi dreams of universes past our close planetary system have taken on a progressively sensible perspective since stargazers found that the universe contains planets in shockingly huge numbers. Contemplating those far off planets may show how uncommon Earth truly is and reveal to us progressively about our place known to mankind (NASA landing page). Finding a planet that can bolster human life would reform our general public into the Jetsons. These thoughts are soon to turn into our real factors. NASA is presently trying different things with numerous techniques to attempt to investigate the external edges of the universe. We will compose a custom article on Star Traveling To The Millennium explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now So as to comprehend NASAs fervor about star voyaging, we will initially fly through current tasks concerning space travel, second investigate three potential innovations being explored different avenues regarding for the year 2000, at long last bring a stumble into our future and experience how star voyaging will completely change ourselves as we approach the finish of the second millenium. NASAs objective of quicker, better, less expensive has been the inspiration for them to grow new crucial, and to approve at no other time utilized innovations in space. The new advancements, whenever demonstrated to work, will change space investigation in the following century. As indicated by NASAs New Millennium Program landing page, keep going refreshed on September 16,1999, NASAs current task of Deep Space 1 shows a portion of their most extraordinary innovations. One of the most noteworthy is the trying of a particle motor that should be multiple times more productive than fluid or strong rocket motors. Profound Space 1 was propelled on October 24, 1998. It is the principal strategic NASAs New Millennium Program, which highlights flight testing of new innovation, instead of science as its principle center (Rayman 4). These new advancements will make rocket of things to come littler, progressively practical, solid, and closer to the objective of productive space travel. As indicated by Dr. Marc Rayman, the appointee strategic and boss crucial for Deep Space 1, there are 12 cutting edge innovations locally available the rocket and seven have finished testing (5). Regardless of certain glitches, the incredible lion's share of the cutting edge innovations have worked very well. Rayman additionally stated, Mission architects and researchers can now unhesitatingly utilize t

Saturday, August 22, 2020

The Levels of Deception in Twelfth Night Essay Example For Students

The Levels of Deception in Twelfth Night Essay Twelfth Night is a play that relies upon misleadings. Without misleading none of the plays significant storylines could exist in the manner that they do. As may be normal, the trickeries fall into various sorts of double dealing, and furthermore a wide range of levels. These can be portrayed as levels of significance some including entire plots and some solitary a couple of minor occasions and levels of how clear every trickiness is. The misdirections come in various appearances, including purposeful misleading, self-trickiness and others. Purposeful duplicity is vital to the plot. One part of this is the component of camouflage. This can be isolated into strict camouflage, as characters adjusting their appearance, and the fa㠯⠿â ½ade which characters present to the world so as to appear to be changed to how they truly are. Likely the most significant and extensive trickiness in the play is Violas mask as a man, Cesario. This has numerous ramifications for herself as well as other people. She first camouflages herself for security in an outside land, she wishes the ocean skipper to support her dress as a man with the goal that she can discover work. The outcomes of this are key to the play. On the off chance that Viola had not sustained this trickiness she would not have met Orsino, and correspondingly Olivia and Sebastian may never have hitched. Violas camouflage is of an elevated level, relating similarly to its significant results, how evident and silly it is to the crowd, and furthermore that it is muddled and hard to keep up, as Viola needs to mask her sex as well as her inceptions of social class. We will compose a custom exposition on The Levels of Deception in Twelfth Night explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now Feste masks himself so as to trick Malvolio, utilizing the entertaining components of exacting camouflage. As Sir Toby Belch says: put on this outfit and this whiskers; cause him to accept thou workmanship Sir Topas the clergyman Aside from the promptly evident duplicity seen here, this camouflage is intriguing in various ways. Shakespeares utilization of the name Topas is significant, as the semi-valuable stone topas was prestigious for its capacity to fix frenzy. Individuals from Shakespeares crowd may have known this, and would think that its silly identified with the way that Malvolio was supposed to be distraught. It is odd that this camouflage from the outset appears to be pointless. Malvolio is secured a dull room and can't see Feste. Anyway its motivation is to make satire for the crowd. This camouflage is very savage in the manner that it beguiles Malvolio, however it is really observed as entertaining by the crowd and by different characters. Shakespeare plainly plans this diverting perspective with Feste as; satisfying the job of authorized numb-skull, all that he says is intended to be entertaining: Malvolio: great Sir Topas, go to my woman Feste: Out, hyperbolical fiendtalkest thou of only women? Feste is totally mindful of what Malvolio implies now and all through the scene, yet Shakespeare decides for him to purposely misconstrue, bringing about a brilliant comedic circumstance for the crowd. Numerous characters in the play mask their actual feelings, character and personality without truly wearing a camouflage. A prime case of this is Feste. He is seen to be a dolt, which is really his occupation. In any case all through the play he shows his knowledge in the remarks he makes and his bits of knowledge. He has some shrewd musings, for instance, on the topic of goodness: Anything that is retouched, is nevertheless fixed: prudence that violates is nevertheless fixed with transgression; and sin that corrects is nevertheless fixed with excellence. This isn't the sort of remark that a silly individual would be required to make; thus we see obviously that the title fool is just a front, and that Festes genuine character is altogether different. Feste is likewise appeared as profoundly keen, for instance when he says to Maria if Sir Toby would leave drinking, thou wert as clever a bit of Eves tissue as any in Illyria. this is an exact prognosticating of the marriage among Maria and Sir Toby that happens. Shakespeare makes reference to the Biblical record of creation to propose Marias gentility. Remarks made by Feste all through the play show the crowd that the first picture Shakespeare makes for him by comments, for example, Olivias Take the idiot away are deluding. Feste, in spite of the demonstration that he puts on, is clearly not a numb-skull. Other people who are not what they have all the earmarks of being incorporate Olivia who isn't as genuine in her grieving as she would appear, and Sir Toby and Sir Andrew who are absolutely not as grave and capable as their raised position would demonstrate. A considerable lot of the plays misleadings are realized by liars and lying. One clear case of this is the gulling of Malvolio by Sir Toby, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Fabian and Maria. In retribution for his rigid perspectives they choose to deceive him utilizing an adoration letter composed by Maria, which seems to originate from Olivia. The plotters are anxious to acknowledge this out of their abhorrence for Malvolio and to mortify him. They anticipate the happiness and parody this duplicity will cause: .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c , .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c .postImageUrl , .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c .focused content region { min-tallness: 80px; position: relative; } .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c , .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c:hover , .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c:visited , .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c:active { border:0!important; } .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c .clearfix:after { content: ; show: table; clear: both; } .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c { show: square; progress: foundation shading 250ms; webkit-change: foundation shading 250ms; width: 100%; darkness: 1; progress: obscurity 250ms; webkit-change: haziness 250ms; foundation shading: #95A5A6; } .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c:active , .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c:hover { mistiness: 1; progress: murkiness 250ms; webkit-progress: murkiness 250ms; foundation shading: #2C3E50; } .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c .focused content territory { width: 100%; position: r elative; } .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c .ctaText { fringe base: 0 strong #fff; shading: #2980B9; text dimension: 16px; textual style weight: striking; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; content enhancement: underline; } .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c .postTitle { shading: #FFFFFF; text dimension: 16px; text style weight: 600; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; width: 100%; } .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c .ctaButton { foundation shading: #7F8C8D!important; shading: #2980B9; outskirt: none; fringe span: 3px; box-shadow: none; text dimension: 14px; text style weight: intense; line-stature: 26px; moz-outskirt range: 3px; content adjust: focus; content embellishment: none; content shadow: none; width: 80px; min-tallness: 80px; foundation: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/modules/intelly-related-posts/resources/pictures/straightforward arrow.png)no-rehash; position: supreme; right: 0; top: 0; } .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c:hover .ctaButton { foundation shading: #34495E!important; } .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c .focused content { show: table; tallness: 80px; cushioning left: 18px; top: 0; } .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c-content { show: table-cell; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; cushioning right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-adjust: center; width: 100%; } .u045613d890356162d113f119ddcb485c:after { content: ; show: square; clear: both; } READ: Shakespeare Assignment: Romeo and Juliet; Act 3 Scene 5 EssaySir Andrew: Oh, twill be splendid! Maria: Sport imperial, I warrant you This demonstrates an extraordinary complexity to the entangled and upsetting outcomes, which Viola had acknowledged before are her very own aftereffect double dealing: Gracious time thou must unravel this, not I! It is too hard a bunch for me tuntie Here Shakespeares rhyming couplet finishes up a specific idea, and for sure the scene. The similitude, contrasting trickiness with a bunch, is powerful as a bunch contains various strands which, having gotten trapped and interlaced; will be difficult to fix. This is fundamentally the same as a meaning of duplicity. Sir Toby deceives Sir Andrew at different focuses in the play. One case of this misdirection of Sir Andrew is discovered when Sir Toby and Fabian entertain themselves via conveying lies between Sir Andrew and Cesario at the event of their duel: Sir Toby: Fabian can rare hold him there Sir Andrew: Let him let the issue slip and Ill give him my pony Sir Toby: (to Cesario) Theres no cure, sir, he will battle with you fors vows sakes Shakespeare makes sensational incongruity with the principal line of this discourse as the crowd understand that the main explanation Fabian can rare hold Cesario is on the grounds that he is so edgy to escape! This likewise contains a clue that the fellowship between Sir Andrew and Sir Toby is a trickiness in itself as Sir Toby doesn't stop for a second to utilize Sir Andrew for amusement similarly as he prior utilized Malvolio. There are additionally implies given that Sir Toby just needs Sir Andrew around for his cash; he says, I have been unforgettable to him, fellow, somewhere in the range of 2,000 in number or something like that. This is probably the most profound degree of duplicity in the play. On the off chance that it is valid, at that point the whole companionship of these two characters depends on a misdirection. This is a major issue, which diverges from the comic subject of the play. This trickiness is rarely really determined, just alluded to. Characters in Twelfth Night regularly mislead others, yet they are similarly prone to bamboozle or betray themselves. Malvolio is an extraordinary victim of this. He trusts himself to be all around well known. Appropriately noted by Olivia: O, you are tired of self esteem Malvolio His outrageous egomania gives satire to the crowd, and a ground for his misdirection over the letter, as he likewise accepts erroneously that Olivia adores him and may wed him. This shows by and by his misleadingly high assessment of himself; that he figures he may wed into the more elite classes of society in spite of being just a s

Monday, July 27, 2020

Metaphors That Can Fit Your Life or Journey

Metaphors That Can Fit Your Life or Journey Happiness Print Metaphors That Can Fit Your Life or Journey By Leonard Holmes Reviewed by Reviewed by Amy Morin, LCSW on October 28, 2019 facebook twitter instagram Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist, author of the bestselling book 13 Things Mentally Strong People Dont Do, and a highly sought-after speaker. Learn about our Wellness Board Amy Morin, LCSW Updated on November 05, 2019 Philip and Karen Smith / Taxi / Getty Images More in Self-Improvement Happiness Meditation Stress Management Spirituality Holistic Health Inspiration Brain Health Technology Relationships View All Metaphors are figures of speech that state that one thing is actually another thing. They are a way of creating a comparison that while not literally true, provides a figurative meaning. Metaphors for life are a way of comparing life to other things in a way that may help you think about your life and problems in a different way. Collectively, metaphors not only help people describe and make sense of their lives, but can serve as a source of encouragement, motivation, or gratitude. There are a number of common metaphors that can be used to inspire you (or help you get out of a rut) in your daily life. For example, some people see life as a battle. Every encounter is a struggle, and if they dont win, they feel like they have lost. Others view life as an adventure. A new day brings new opportunities to explore, and if something goes badly today, theres always tomorrow. Origin of Metaphors How do these metaphors develop? As children, we begin to understand and organize the world. If we think of the brain as a filing cabinet, then childhood is when we open the files and label them. We often spend the rest of our lives putting new material in these old files. If childhood was healthy, then we may have a pretty good filing system. If it was a struggle, then we often see struggles for the rest of our life. We dont know the origin of many life metaphors, but many have stood the test of time for good reasons. How do metaphors help us make sense of our lives? Uses for Metaphors in Daily Life Metaphors not only help us define and describe an experience, but they can be used to improve our lives in many ways. If you are facing a challenge, a metaphor might help you see the big picture and give you strength; for example, someone going through cancer treatment may view the journey as climbing a mountain. Metaphors can also provide a picture that helps others enter your world. Its true that a picture is often worth a thousand words, but a word picture (a metaphor) can sometimes do the same. Finally, a negative metaphor may help you see that you havent been living your life the way you wish, and might just be the stimulus you need to make changes right now. Common Metaphors for Life Metaphors for life are not always obvious. We may have to stand back a long way to see patterns like this in our lives. Metaphors can be positive or negative. Because the way we look at lifeâ€"which is often much easier to understand with a word picture (metaphor)â€"can have a great impact on how our lives unravel, its worthwhile thinking about which metaphors below fit the life you are living today. These are just examples and not every metaphor will resonate with every individual. Take a moment to think of other metaphors that may describe your life or serve you better. A Garden If you see a garden as a metaphor for your life, you may see that relationships with family and friends can be cultivated like flowers or vegetables. Relationships, like flowers, need regular watering. They need sunshine. Sometimes they need to be pruned. Sometimes you need to weed the garden (eliminate toxic friends). The end result of careful and regular care, with timely interventions for insect infestations or decay, can lead to plants  (or relationships) that are growing, producing oxygen that helps you breathe, and create beauty as they flower. A Battle You may see a battle as a metaphor for your life if everything is a competition or a struggle. In a battle, you are always either winning or losing. If a battle represents your life, you may wish to look at how life isnt always about winning or losing. Relationships, especially, are not always a competition. Sometimes it is better to be loving than to be right or win. A Mission Viewing your life as a mission can be either positive or negative. You may feel that you have talents and gifts you wish to share widely. On the other hand, in believing that you have the truth, you might feel that you need to convince others that your point-of-view is right. Just as with missions throughout history, your life can be a platform to bring goodness to the world, or instead, impose your beliefs on those who do not wish to hear them. A Journey A journey is a common metaphor for life as it reminds us that the destination is not our only goal. Like with any form of a journey, there are times when the roads are straight (life is on an even keel) and times when they are winding. There are ups and downs and potholes along the way. And there are often wonderful surprises and fun discoveries that you would never have experienced if it wasnt for the route you chose. An Adventure An adventure can also be a beautiful metaphor for life. We dont always know where we are going, but the thrill of our travels (day to day living) leaves us excited and ready to see new things. A Building A building is a solid metaphor for life and can be a reminder that a sturdy foundation is needed before building higher. Once you have a firm foundation in place, whatever that means to you, its easier to confidently add floors and rooms which will stand the test of time and weather. A Roller Coaster A roller coaster can be a metaphor for life in general, or instead, describe the speed bumps we all encounter. For example, people with cancer know all too well the roller coaster effect of a challenging diagnosis. Using the metaphor of a roller coaster also illustrates what many people who have had hardships understand so well. You dont fully experience the high points of your journey without the contrast of the lows. As recent proof of this theory, studies are now finding that being diagnosed with cancer changes people in positive ways as well as introducing challenges. A Stained-Glass Window The metaphor of a stained-glass window illustrates not just the variety of lights and colors which make up our world, but the beauty in every person and situation. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude by taking the time to see what isnt obvious at a quick glance can be illustrated by this metaphor. A Mountain Climb Climbing a mountain is a great metaphor for many parts of our lives. It can describe our education or the steps we take in climbing the corporate ladder. Life often consists of hierarchies. This metaphor also illustrates that it often takes hard work, determination, and sometimes sheer endurance to get where we wish to go. Most mountains paths are not directly uphill, but take us down through valleys to get to the next peak. Emotional resilience allows you to follow the trail as it descends before it turns the corner and heads back up again. A Race A race can be both a positive and negative metaphor for life. In the biblical sense of the metaphor, we are called to run the face of life not only for the prize. A race can also be a negative metaphor as in the rat race of our lives, describing how sometimes we are so busy going from one place to another that we never really stop to enjoy any particular moment. In yet another negative sense, a race can describe the practice of always finding the fastest route, or needing to keep up with the proverbial Joneses. A Courtroom If you view life as a courtroom, life can be challenging. In a courtroom, everything in life should be fair. Real-life, however, is not always fair. Good people die young and criminals go free. If you try to constrain your life to the metaphor of a courtroom you open yourself up for repeated disappointment. Stepping Stones Stepping stones can be a metaphor for life in many ways. In a negative sense, stepping stones may describe the phenomena in which we barely get comfortable where we are before we are looking for a better job or a bigger house. In another sense, stepping stones can be a very positive metaphor of a life lived with goals in mind, and conscious awareness of the steps needed to get there. In yet another sense, such as those stepping stones crossing a stream in a Japanese garden, they can describe how we sometimes take a detour right or left along our way to prevent negative influences from catching up with us. A Classroom Life is a classroom in so many ways and there are always new lessons to learn no matter your age. This metaphor can be a reminder to keep your mind active and learning throughout your life. A Prison A prison can be a metaphor for a life in which you feel out of control. You may feel like you dont have choices and that others have the power. If this is you, it might be helpful to visualize a key to the door by which you can escape to your freedom, and what that might mean in real life. Learning to reframe a situation such as this can shift your perspective and change everything. A Battery A battery can be a life metaphor of being drained and recharged through life, such as the daily drain of energy-related to work, followed by weekends and evenings in which to recharge. Often taking small periods of time to recharge at frequent intervals leaves your battery less likely to die (lose all energy). Effects of Life Metaphors While there are no specific studies looking at commonly held life metaphors and wellness, positive thinking is beneficial in many ways. A general attitude of optimism has been correlated with lower rates of cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and infection.?? How to Use Metaphors In Your Life The examples above are just a few of the life metaphors that illustrate peoples lives. What metaphor(s) fit your life? Do they work for you or do they cause problems and limit your choices? Its possible to change metaphors or modify yours (such as adding the key to the prison cell,) but it can take some effort. Taking the time to think about the metaphors which fit your life can be used to find patterns that arent working well for you, to motivate you in positive directions, and to help you cope with the obstacles we all periodically face. Think of your life metaphors today, but dont stop there. Periodically re-think your life metaphors. Are they positive metaphors that bring you peace and contentment, help you reach goals, or allow you to see the beauty around you? Or are they negative metaphors which are limiting your life? The particular metaphors you choose should be those that fit you alone, not somebody else. Good mental health includes having life metaphors that help you see the big picture of your life. After thinking about your life metaphors, learn about other ways in which you can become a positive thinker and reduce stress in your life. Great Ways to Relieve Everyday Stress

Friday, May 22, 2020

Rene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy Essay

Rene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy Rene Descartes’ third meditation from his book Meditations on First Philosophy, examines Descartes’ arguments for the existence of God. The purpose of this essay will be to explore Descartes’ reasoning and proofs of God’s existence. In the third meditation, Descartes states two arguments attempting to prove God’s existence, the Trademark argument and the traditional Cosmological argument. Although his arguments are strong and relatively truthful, they do no prove the existence of God. At the start of the meditation, Descartes begins by rejecting all his beliefs, so that he would not be deceived by any misconceptions from reaching the truth. Descartes acknowledges himself as, â€Å"a thing†¦show more content†¦Descartes is able to examine ideas and gain knowledge form them. Innate ideas mean they are present at birth, in other words we are implanted with certain ideas at our creation. He often uses ‘innate ideas’ to explain the mind’s original programming. â€Å"An infant’s mind is programmed with the rules of logic. Consider as an example the valid rule, modus ponens. Let P and Q stand for variables†¦ the rules states that, if P then Q is true and P is true, then it follows that Q is true. We know that we are programmed with this rule because young children, who have never studied logic and have never entertained the rule, when given an argument in which the variables above are replaced by actual sentences, are able to in tuit the validity of the argument.† Descartes believed our minds are programmed with eternal truths, â€Å"Whatever comes into existence must have been brought into existence by something else.† He also discovers that the idea of God is only part of his initial programming but also that God, operating through secondary sources such as his parents, is the programmer. Adventitious ideas are created by outside objects but Descartes, â€Å"points out that, even if his adventitious ideas are produced by external objects, he has no reason for believing that his ideas resemble the objects which produced them.† Descartes believesShow MoreRelatedRene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy1234 Words   |  5 Pages In Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes does and experiment with wax to try to prove that things actually exist in this world. This essay is going to prove how we can tell that things actually exist and what can perceive the wax. Rene Descartes starts off with a description of the wax so he can prove to us the changes that will happen throughout his experiment. â€Å"Let us take, for instance, this piece of wax. It has been taken quite recently from theRead MoreMeditations On First Philosophy By Rene Descartes Essay839 Words   |  4 PagesPrà ©ciso of Meditations on First Philosophy Through his series of books, Meditations on First Philosophy, Renà © Descartes enlightens his philosophical ideas about knowledge in which we should discard all belief we aren’t absolute certain about and establishes what we know for sure. In the introduction he clarifying the main ideas of each of the 6 books and using to them build up to his belief. Starting with the First Meditations, he discusses about doubt. He believed that there are no real foundationsRead MoreThe Meditations On First Philosophy By Rene Descartes916 Words   |  4 Pages The Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes is a thorough analysis about doubt. Descartes describes his method of doubt to determine whether he can truly know something. One of his major arguments is the proof of the existence of God. In this paper, I will attempt to unravel the flaws in Descartes proof that God exists. In the meditations, Descartes evaluates whether or not everything we know is a reality or a dream. Descartes claims that we can only be sure that our beliefs are trueRead MoreMeditations On First Philosophy By Rene Descartes1062 Words   |  5 PagesIn Meditations on First Philosophy, Renà © Descartes philosophies made a substantial advancement in enabling us to understand the world around us by querying many of the Aristotelian doctrines that are still being discussed in philosophy today. He attempts to answer the question; can you fully trust your senses? Descartes uses methodological doubt, which is a process of being skeptical about truths of someone’s belief to revoke from his senses. In Meditation One: Concerning Those Things That Can BeRead MoreRene Descartes Meditations On First Philosophy1758 Words   |  8 PagesPerhaps the most startling conclusion reached by Renà © Descartes in Meditations on First Philosophy is his proposed disconnection between the Mind and Body. Striving to separate the spiritual from the corporeal to enable scientific examination of the earthly without interference from the divine, Descartes conceives that the two basic human substances, Mind and Body, are distinct and therefore able to exist separate of one another in his [in]famous claim of substance dualism. His conclusions rest uponRead MoreEssay on Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes1561 Words   |  7 Pages In his work, Meditations on First Philosophy, Renà © Descartes writes to rid pre-conceptions, and disprove all belief in thoughts that are not certain, accepting only what can be known for sure. In his Meditation VI: Of the Existence of Material Things, and the Real Distinction between the Mind and Body of Man, he discusses his belief that the mind and body are two separate substances, claiming that the nonmaterial mind and the material body, while being ontologically distinct substances, causallyRead MoreRene Descartes s Meditation On First Philosophy802 Words   |  4 PagesRenà © Descartes objective in Meditation on First Philosophy is to construct philosophy as a solid methodical study and discipline alike the sciences. To do so he must first suspend belief in all things doubtful and from their go about verifying the true concepts of the world. In meditation II he verifies that he is a thinking thing and finds that the certainty of the cogito â€Å"I think therefore I am† lies in the distinct perception of what he affirms. From this he generates a general rule of evidenceRead MoreEssay on Rene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy2121 Words   |  9 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Descartes believes that knowledge comes from within the mind. This is a single indisputable fact to build on that can be gained through individual reflection. While seeking true knowledge, Descartes writes his Six Meditations. In these meditations, Descartes tries to develop a strong foundation, which all knowledge can be built upon. In the First Meditation, Descartes begins developing this foundation through the method of doubt. He casts doubt upon all his previous beliefs, including â€Å"mattersRead MoreAnalysis Of Rene Descartes s Meditations On First Philosophy 1399 Words   |  6 PagesPhilosophy Essay 1 Rene Descartes was born in in La Haye, France, in 1596 and he studied at La Fleche Jesuit College and University of Poitiers. Descartes also lived in Germany, Holland and Sweden. He then worked in the army as a private councillor and then as a court philosopher. Descartes book ‘Meditations on First Philosophy’ was first published in 1641. The edition used to write this essay was edited by John Cottingham and was published by the Cambridge University Press in 1996. Descartes wasRead MoreAnalysis Of Rene Descartes s Meditations On First Philosophy1066 Words   |  5 Pageswhat is reality? Among these writers were Renà ¨ Descartes and George Berkeley, who respectively argued that everything perceived must be real due to God being unable to deceive, and that the physical world only exists in one’s mind. In my view, it is not certain that the physical world is real, but one should act as if it is. Renà ¨ Descartes, in Meditations on First Philosophy, wrote each section after successive â€Å"meditations.† In Descartes’s first meditation, he claims it is unable to be proven whether

Saturday, May 9, 2020

The Sexting Phenomenon Essay - 1198 Words

Cell phones are common objects found in the pockets and bags of almost everyone one in the world. Recently, cell phones have been getting teens and adults into trouble. Most individuals send and receive text messages. The newest trend among some individuals is â€Å"sex-texting† or â€Å"sexting.† Sexting is a dangerous yet contagious phenomenon contaminating the lives of teens and adults all over the country, if not the world. This phenomenon can have serious consequences. Even after surveying 1300 teenagers, one in five say they’ve sexted, although they know that it could be a crime (Feyerick and Steffen). Sexting is a growing epidemic and the only way to prohibit its growth is to develop close relationships with the kids of today’s†¦show more content†¦Not only can sexting get attention, but it can also be used as a tool to get a man interested, if not already interested. A woman who has sexted before claimed that sexting is just anothe r tool in the arsenal to flirting (Tapper). In that same article, another woman said that sexting â€Å"lets your inner woman out. (With your cell phone) you can be the freakiest, dirtiest and most sexually uninhibited woman around.† This same woman also claimed that sexting is â€Å"another tool in the arsenal to stay on his mind 24/7† (Tapper). Teenagers see sexting as high-tech flirting as well (Kingston). Sexting isn’t just something to do while bored or to get attention, but it’s also used to stay on the mind of his or her lover all the time. Although it is a useful tool to get on someone’s mind, sexting can alter, if not destroy, the perception of how we look at the human body. It can be a piece of beauty that we should care for, or it can be a piece of garbage that we can toss to whomever we’d like. Sexting is degrading the image of the body. Kids and even some adults need to know about the importance and beauty of the body. If we teach the sexting population about how to care and respect the body, then maybe we can decrease the amount of people sexting (Rede). But, part of the problem with this solution is that some individuals fell they already know about the importance of the body and they don’t think that way. Instead,Show MoreRelatedTeenage Sexting Essay631 Words   |  3 PagesThe act of sexting has many negative consequences. The number of teenagers whom participate in sexting is rapidly increasing. Sexting has become a widespread phenomenon that has destroyed lives and has caused emot ional distress to many teenagers and young adults. Sexting gives teenagers the feeling of acceptance and the chance to be popular by gaining attention but what they fail to realize is the attention they are receiving is negative and it affects their reputation. Once a sext message has beenRead MoreGender, Gender And The Media1501 Words   |  7 Pagessex. These representations of media can influence the general public s perception of the different genders. Sexting is a prevalent hot spot in recent years which is connected to gender and digital media. People usually use their cellphones to send sexually suggestive messages including naked images or dirty pics and words to their partners. For adults, it is clear that sexting is a phenomenon that is not constrained to simply unattached individuals looking for fun, it is used by those in intimate relationshipsRead MoreSexting: Virtual Abuse of the Human Body Essay1293 Words   |  6 PagesSexting: Virtual Abuse of the Human Body While the increased access to technology over the recent years provides almost every consumer with new communication tools at his or her fingertips, it also leads to negative effects. â€Å"Sexting† has become extremely popular, especially among teenage consumers. This new action is said to be any sexually explicit messages or pictures between cell phones. Sexting has become so emotionally and physically dangerous that there have been cases where suicide or otherRead MoreSexting : A Part Of Their Sexual Engagement Essay1702 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction: (200 words) Sexting among teenagers has become a part of their sexual engagement with each other over the last decade. Sexting refers to electronic communication between people in a sexual context via written text, naked pictures or partly naked pictures between participants that send and receive sext messages. It seems that the mainstream perception is that sexting brings about risky behaviour among this young demographic. Research supports that, however, not enough research hasRead MoreSexting Among Teenage Girls and Boys1435 Words   |  6 PagesOver the last few years, there has been a lot of discussion and debate over the topic of sexting. It has become a widespread phenomenon, the number of teenage girls and boys, men and women who participate are rapidly increasing, and with this too comes the rise of moral panic within societies. Individuals within the communities are becoming more and more fearful, afraid and shocked at this new form of youth culture hysteria. Although young people ‘expressing’ their sexuality has become much moreRead MoreTechnology Is The Answer On Technology966 Words   |  4 Pagesbut it’s actually stunning it. My generation is using technology for all the wrong reasons; sexting, texting while driving and walking, social media and video gam es etc. In recent years the new phenomenon among teens has been sexting. To try and take control of this the court systems have started to charge teens for sexting. Just in September a North Carolina Teenage couple faced felony charges for sexting. Studies show that 39% of all teens have said that they have sent sexually suggestive messagesRead MoreMedia Representation Of The Body1510 Words   |  7 Pagestheir age and produce explicit images. The desire to be in a relationship, like those seen in media, quickly lead to the sexting phenomenon among young adult. But a majority of these teens do not realize the legality of doing such things, and lawmakers quickly attempted to control the situation. So as legislations attempted to form to protect children, about the â€Å"phenomenon of ‘sexting’, which appear[ed] to be caught between debates on the sexual rights of children and the role of the state in protectingRead MorePrivacy : Privacy And Privacy1504 Words   |  7 Pages which their families are exposed, children could be exposed to pornography or other inappropriate content. Cyberbullying on social media is linked to depression in teenagers, according to new research that analyzed multiple studies of the online phenomenon. Victimization of young people online has received an increasing level of scrutiny, particularly after a series of high-profile suicides of teenagers who were reportedly bullied on various social networks. In 2013, for example, a spate of suicidesRead MorePornography Research Paper1128 Words   |  5 Pagesthey view. Many suffer from psychological effects, social effects, legal issues, or religious implications. Here we will look into the research that has been performed globally on pornography and what has been discovered because of this growing phenomenon. Among a very religious and sexually conservative population in Indonesia, we are still very easily, able to see the effects of pornography. Indonesia is a Muslim-majority nation (90% of population) with very strict laws against pornography consumptionRead MoreThe Negative Effects of Social Networking on Teenagers1547 Words   |  6 Pagesminute of essential academic study, approximately every 3 minutes student are distracted by social networking sites. The more sites they opened on their gadgets, the more time they wasted, and it appearances on their worse studying performances. This phenomenon does not happened only with high school students; collage students also have direct impact on their academic works, too. Another study of freshman women in collage illustrates that freshman women spend approximately 12 hours using social media,

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Mississippi Burning Free Essays

The 1988 movie â€Å"Mississippi Burning† directed by Alan Parker, is loosely based on true life events surrounding an FBI investigation that followed the 1964 murder of three civil rights activists by members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in a small Mississippi town.   The investigation led to the conviction of some prominent figures in the town including members of both the sheriff’s and mayor’s offices who were also members of the KKK. The movie documents the methods used by the KKK to control the black community at that time. We will write a custom essay sample on Mississippi Burning or any similar topic only for you Order Now    The well masked intimidation, violence and murders of black people in the community by the KKK must be seen as acts of terrorism and therefore, the unorthodox methods employed by the FBI to uncover the crime can be justified as necessary and appropriate given the circumstances. The movie portrays a war waged by the KKK against non-Anglo Saxon people in the South during the early 1960’s.   Blacks, Jews, Catholics, Turks, Mongols were all targets of the KKK.   In fact, the list of unacceptable races or origins was extensive, but in the South at that time, the main target of KKK aggression was black people. The KKK used violence, intimidation and coercion as means of controlling the black people and creating a culture of fear in the community.   So effective were these tactics that even non-racist members of the community, such as the deputy’s wife in the movie (played by Frances McDormand), who were sympathetic to the plight of the black people, were afraid to speak up or voice their opinions for fear of backlash and reprisal. While an all-encompassing definition of terrorism is difficult to pin down, the Jackson, Mississippi Division of the FBI defines terrorism as â€Å"the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.† The United Nations goes further to state that terrorists are usually clandestine and that â€Å"the immediate human victims of violence are generally chosen randomly or selectively from a target population, and serve as message generators.†Ã‚   Based on these definitions, it is clear that the actions of the KKK were indeed terrorism.   The violence perpetrated by the KKK against the black people in the community was unlawful, intimidating to the civilian population, anonymous (KKK members wore cloaks), and random means of sending a message to the larger population. In the movie, two very dissimilar FBI agents head the investigation into the disappearance of the three activists.   In the beginning, the investigation is lead by Agent Ward (played by Willem Dafoe), a young, very correct and by-the-book northerner.   He does not understand the unwritten rules of the South and therefore, his methods fail to yield the results that he hopes for or has achieved elsewhere in his short but successful career. In fact, his investigative techniques actually jeopardize the safety of the black people in the area because the KKK, watching every move the FBI make, go to great and sometimes violent lengths to make sure no one speaks to the investigators.   Agent Anderson (played by Gene Hackman), on the other hand, is from Mississippi and understands more about the culture of the South.   Only when he employs more extreme and rather questionable methods that mirror the methods of the Klan themselves, do the FBI close the case and convict the killers. If the KKK is to be classified as a terrorist group, then it must follow that all members of the Klan assume some of the responsibility for the crimes they committed.   In the case of this film, one could extend the guilt even further to include the entire community.   It was clear that the actions of the Klan were cruel, deadly and well known amongst the townsfolk and yet almost everyone stood back and allowed them to continue their reign of terror.  Ã‚   In light of the greater good therefore, the FBI were justified in taking the actions they took to stop the KKK and thus hopefully curtail further violence and intimidation in the community. The atrocities committed by the KKK against non-white members of the community were more than crime.   These actions were terrorism and all members of the group played a role in perpetuating the terror.   We are all responsible for hatred. References Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jackson Division. (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2006 from http://jackson.fbi.gov/cntrterr.htm Definitions of Terrorism.   United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2006 Zollo, Frederick and Robert F. Colesberry. (Producers), Parker, Alan. (Director). (1988). Mississippi Burning [MotionPicture]. United States: MGM.       How to cite Mississippi Burning, Essay examples

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Turtles Favorite Fish Essays - Turtle, Living Fossils,

Turtles Favorite Fish The project I am working on is called "Which Type of Fish do Turtles Prefer to Eat?" I chose this topic because I wanted to see if the size and color of the fish really matter when it comes to the turtle's eating. I also chose this topic because of the fact that I always have greet colored fish left in the tank after I feed my turtles. I am especially interested if the size of the fish matters when the turtles are eating. I say this because when they are eating it looks like they go after a particular type of fish it usually is the bigger fish in the tank. But the main thing I really want to figure out is if it really matters to the turtle. I want to know this because maybe turtles are like other animals in that they might chose the food they eat or maybe they don't care what they eat. Materials The materials I used to conduct my project were very simple. I used two turtles which were my own and I uses a thirty gallon tank to house the turtles used goldfish as the food for my experiment. The goldfish I used varied in size and color. Some of the fish were big and some were of medium or small size. The color of the fish also varied. Some of the fish were orange, white, red, or Gerry used a video camera to record the turtles section of fish. I recorded the activity of the turtles when I was not there to watch them. Some of the other things I used were a feeder to help me monitor what type of fish I was feeding the turtles. Procedure The procedure I used was simple. Every day I would put in different types of fish. One day I would put in big fish with a orange color and the next day I would put in fish that were smaller and that have a different color. I did this for three months. After each feeding period I would record my results. Hypothesis I think that the turtles will eat the fish according to their size. I feel that the big turtle will eat big fish and the smaller turtle will eat the smaller fish. And for the color of the fish I think that the turtles will choose the brighter colored fish because they are easier to see and that the turtle may have an easier time distinguishing it as food instead of a rock or log or something floating in the water. Results The results I had were that the smaller turtle still ate the bigger fish and that the turtles seemed to always eat the brighter colored fish first. Really I think that the turtles really didn't care what size e the fish was but what the really cared about was the color of the fish. I say this because each time I fed them there always seemed to be a lot of gray colored fish left over. The results of my experiment somewhat correlated to my hypothesis in that the color of the fish has an affect on what the turtle will eat. Conclusion The conclusion of my experiment is that the turtles don't really care about the size of the fish, but the turtles really care about the color of the fish. I know this because during my experiment the turtles seemed to favor the orange fish and the always left the gray fish there. Even when there were only gray fish in the tank the turtles still did not choose to eat them. So in conclusion of my experiment the turtles don't really care for size but the turtles really care about the color of the fish. General Information Scientific classification Trachemys Scripta Elegans. Common name Red-Eared Slider or Florida turtle. Geographic distribution This native of the south of the United States is found in many places of the world. It has been introduced by people who bought them as pets to later release them in the wild when they decide they don't want to keep them anymore. This represents a big problem. In southern Europe, for example, the red-eared slider competes for survival against the costume of Europe who is now in danger of extinction. Size It can grow up to 30 cms (11.8 inches). Longevity In the wild it can live about 20 years, but in captivity some specimens have been reported to live

Friday, March 20, 2020

E Commerce Versus Technology Companies Is there a Difference essays

E Commerce Versus Technology Companies Is there a Difference essays Wall Street has a habit of defining e-commerce companies as technology companies and vice versa. Unfortunately, this description has more to do with convenience than accuracy. Most technology companies have a large e-commerce component. Similarly, virtually all e-commerce companies rely on sophisticated technology to operate their businesses. This large overlap in the technology and e-commerce domains has led to the two terms being used interchangeably. This, however, ignores the reality that the two sectors have quite different characteristics. Technology companies have the goal of increasing society's technological capabilities. This encompasses a variety of different companies, from software to infrastructure support to hardware components and related applications such as biotechnology. Many of these companies rely on e-commerce as a component of their business. Technology and its advancement, in these cases, is the product, not the means. E-commerce companies comprise any businesses that facilitate or take advantage of electronic commerce as the foundation of their business. For e-commerce companies, technology is the means. It enables the companies to connect with consumers, but the product itself needn't be technology or even technology-related. "E-commerce covers outward-facing processes that touch customers, suppliers and external partnersIt involves new business models and the potential to gain new revenue or lose some existing revenue to new competitors." (Bartels, 2000). One of the largest and most familiar e-commerce companies is Amazon.com. Amazon was established in 1994 as an online book retailer. Unlike its competitors, such as Barnes and Noble, and Borders, which now operate online and bricks-and-mortar sites, Amazon has always been located exclusively in cyberspace. Because it is strictly an online retailer, Amazon ha...

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Definition and Examples of Syllogisms

Definition and Examples of Syllogisms In logic, a syllogism is a form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. Adjective: syllogistic. Also known as a  categorical argument or a standard categorical syllogism. The term syllogism is from  the Greek, to infer, count, reckon Here is an example of a valid categorical syllogism: Major premise: All mammals are warm-blooded.Minor premise: All black dogs are mammals.Conclusion: Therefore, all black dogs are warm-blooded. In rhetoric, an abridged or informally stated syllogism is called an enthymeme. Pronunciation: sil-uh-JIZ-um Examples and Observations Among this countrys enduring myths is that success is virtuous, while the wealth by which we measure success is incidental. We tell ourselves that money cannot buy happiness, but what is incontrovertible is that money buys stuff, and if stuff makes you happy, well, complete the syllogism.(Rumaan Alam, Malcolm Forbes, More Than I Dreamed. The New York Times, June 8, 2016)Flavius: Have you forgot me, sir?Timon: Why dost ask that? I have forgot all men;Then, if thou grantst thourt a man, I have forgot thee.(William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act Four, scene 3 Major Premise, Minor Premise, and Conclusion The process of deduction has traditionally been illustrated with a syllogism, a three-part set of statements or propositions that includes a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. Major premise: All books from that store are new.Minor premise: These books are from that store.Conclusion: Therefore, these books are new. The major premise of a syllogism makes a general statement that the writer believes to be true. The minor premise presents a specific example of the belief that is stated in the major premise. If the reasoning is sound, the conclusion should follow from the two premises. . . .A syllogism is valid (or logical) when its conclusion follows from its premises. A syllogism is true when it makes accurate claims- that is, when the information it contains is consistent with the facts. To be sound, a syllogism must be both valid and true. However, a syllogism may be valid without being true or true without being valid.(Laurie J. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell, The Concise Wadsworth Handbook, 2nd ed. Wadsworth, 2008) Rhetorical Syllogisms In building his theory of rhetoric around the syllogism despite the problems involved in deductive inference Aristotle stresses the fact that rhetorical discourse is discourse directed toward knowing, toward truth not trickery. . . . If rhetoric is so clearly related to dialectic, a discipline whereby we are enabled to examine inferentially generally accepted opinions on any problem whatsoever (Topics 100a 18-20), then it is the rhetorical syllogism [i.e., the enthymeme] which moves the rhetorical process into the domain of reasoned activity, or the kind of rhetoric Plato accepted later in the Phaedrus.(William M.A. Grimaldi, Studies in the Philosophy of Aristotles Rhetoric. Landmark Essays on Aristotelian Rhetoric, ed. by Richard Leo Enos and Lois Peters Agnew. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1998 A Presidential Syllogism On  Meet the Press, . . . [Tim] Russert reminded [George W.] Bush, The Boston Globe and the Associated Press have gone through some of their records and said theres no evidence that you reported to duty in Alabama during the summer and fall of 1972. Bush replied, Yeah, theyre just wrong. There may be no evidence, but I did report. Otherwise, I wouldnt have been honorably discharged. Thats the Bush syllogism: The evidence says one thing; the conclusion says another; therefore, the evidence is false. (William Saletan, Slate, Feb. 2004) Syllogisms in Poetry: To His Coy Mistress [Andrew] Marvells To His Coy Mistress . . . involves a tripartite rhetorical experience which is argued like a classical syllogism: (1) if we had world enough and time, your coyness would be tolerable; (2) we do not have sufficient world or time; (3) therefore, we must love at a faster rate than gentility or modesty permit. Although he has written his poem in a continuous sequence of iambic tetrameter couplets, Marvell has separated the three elements of his argument into three indented verse-paragraphs, and, more important, he has proportioned each according to the logical weight of the part of the argument it embodies: the first (the major premise) contains 20 lines, the second (the minor premise) 12, and the third (the conclusion) 14.(Paul Fussell, Poetic Meter and Poetic Form, rev. ed. Random House, 1979) The Lighter Side of Syllogisms Dr. House: Words have set meanings for a reason. If you see an animal like Bill and you try to play fetch, Bills going to eat you, because Bills a bear.Little Girl: Bill has fur, four legs, and a collar. Hes a dog.Dr. House: You see, thats whats called a faulty syllogism; just because you call Bill a dog doesnt mean that he is . . . a dog.(Merry Little Christmas, House, M.D.)LOGIC, n. The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding. The basic of logic is the syllogism, consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusionthus: Major Premise: Sixty men can do a piece of work sixty times as quickly as one man.Minor Premise: One man can dig a posthole in sixty seconds;thereforeConclusion: Sixty men can dig a posthole in one second. This may be called the syllogism arithmetical, in which, by combining logic and mathematics, we obtain a double certainty and are twice blessed. (Ambrose Bierce, The Devils Dictionary) It was at this point that the dim beginnings of a philosophy began to invade her mind. The thing resolved itself almost into an equation. If father had not had indigestion he would not have bullied her. But, if father had not made a fortune, he would not have had indigestion. Therefore, if father had not made a fortune, he would not have bullied her. Practically, in fact, if father did not bully her, he would not be rich. And, if he were not rich . . .. She took in the faded carpet, the stained wall-paper, and the soiled curtains with a comprehensive glance. . . . It certainly cut both ways. She began to be a little ashamed of her misery.(P.G. Wodehouse,  Something Fresh, 1915)

Sunday, February 16, 2020

Informative speech on music and marketing or Presentation

Informative on music and marketing - Speech or Presentation Example This era is regarded as techno-oriented era more commonly as digital age therefore the old marketing strategies are not going to work here anymore when there is lesser time consuming, cheap and easily accessible marketing strategies are available through social media. Internet is now hailed as â€Å"â€Å"contemporary society’s great equalizer of social, economical, and political power†, with little cost and immense communication effects (Fox, 2009). Various marketing tactics such as viral marketing are spreading consumer awareness of the product even by masking their names generating their attention and intriguing consumers before even revealing the company’s name. Reverse psychology marketing strategies also create interests and awareness among the consumers by tarnishing the brands (Fox, 2009). Buyers no longer wait for the new marketing information and they are not even paying much attention today. They are more interested in seeking out the desired informat ion in their own ways. The flyers, brochures, TV ads, in transit media etc have become too trivial. On the other hand, asking face book about which novel marketing tactic to use is effective, in which it is mired and there is an ongoing debate for that. Zuberance, a firm, allows its customers to advocate about the company on their favorite social media channels. They are requested to write a review or recommendation about the product that is accessible to the company official website endorsed with customer’s name and spread around his peer network and he actually finds himself as a promoter of the product. Our timings of consuming meals is varying greatly due to work load, late night studies, slumber parties, networking hangouts etc. Many of the U.S restaurants are being triggered due to this changed habit of the people around. Consequently, Big M launched a new marketing tactic of luring and targeting these â€Å"up-high nights† and nocturnal diners with value deals. They extended their closing hours till 2 a.m. Furthermore, they also started offering mid night deals on Night Hunger menu with Buffalo wings from Thursday till Saturday. Almost all the restaurants are targeting the Nighters with their light night menus where serving the â€Å"Nighters† has now become a niche. Another significant marketing tactic was used by Target (Big Data) which identified the pregnant ladies before anyone. Target conducted an exclusive and extensive research on the shopping habits of the pregnant females for example when they purchase vitamins, see the couples and kids, and many more. They utilized this research and started sending the valuable coupons to those they had identified as â€Å"pregnant†. A father of a girl who had been receiving such coupons complained about these annoying coupons but later on discovered that he was unaware that her daughter was pregnant but they knew it. So it is a cliche now which says, â€Å"All stores will be doin g this, and all governments will be doing this. Your doctor will do this. Your employer will do this. This is the new norm† (NPR STAFF) Another very amusing tactic is how Google tracks the flu. Google never wastes or ignores any of its searches stores every bit of the searches. Google used to scribble over the searches screening them with intent to look for those searches from the database that were either a likely predictor or related to the outbreak of flu collecting from certain various regions of America. The seasonal flu outbreaks is reported by CDC, â€Å"

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Career Development Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Career Development - Coursework Example Consequently, in order to develop high level of educational accomplishments amongst students, it is fundamental that one start by building stronger self-efficacy for the scholar early enough. Thus, self-efficacy is much imperative topic amongst the educators and psychologists as studies have established, self-efficacy to have an impact on psychological states to motivation to behavior. Individuals can be persuaded to believe and consider that they have the capabilities and skills to succeed. When an individual says something encouraging and positive to another person will help one to attain a goal The most important action plant towards self-efficacy personal development is mastery experiences; the most effectual means of developing strong sense of self-efficacy is by mastery experiences. Performing a task successfully strengthens our sense of self-efficacy. Conversely, failing to sufficiently deal with duties or confront may weaken and undermine self-efficacy. Therefore repeated carrying out of an activities in business for instance auditing, it will help in grasping all the essential details required in auditing, hence mastering of experience. The next action plan self-efficacy personal development is social modeling. With keen observation of what others performing the tasks and duties, I will be able to perform it later. Therefore, social modeling is achieved by witnessing other individuals successfully finishing a job or task. Observing individual accomplishing something by continued endeavor raises observers attitude and beliefs that they can also have the capacity to master similar activities to thrive. With social modeling, it boosts one’s self esteem to carry out the tasks that has been observed. Similarly, when the other party performing the tasks made a mistake, one can correct from the mistake observed and perform much better. The third action plan for self-efficacy

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Impact of Financial Crisis on Islamic Banks

Impact of Financial Crisis on Islamic Banks Chapter 1 Background / Introduction of recent financial crises and Islamic banking system The credit crunch is widely blamed upon the sub prime crisis which originated in America, where banks offered housing loans to those known in the industry as ninjas (no income, no job, no assets). Such people often had poor financial track records. However these loans were subsequently repackaged into financial products known as ‘collaterised debt obligations (CDOs). They were then mixed in with ‘prime loans and sold on to other banks via the wholesale market. In theory, this trading in debts was meant to spread the risk of bad loans amongst many different banks, thereby reducing risk. In fact, it lead to the ‘sub prime problem infecting not just the banks that offered the dodgy loans in the first place, but a far, far greater number of banks who bought the ‘toxic loans via the wholesale markets. The knock-on effect of this was for banks to suddenly become unsure of the value of their ‘toxic assets and as a result to stop lending each other money, or to lend money only at much higher rates. As a result the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) shot up to unprecedented levels, which in turn massively increased the cost of providing loans to the general public according to Khan (2008). The Western perspective also argues that this initial problem with sub prime debts triggered a secondary problem whereby banks which relied for cash flow principally on accessing funds from other banks via the wholesale market, suddenly found they could no longer borrow enough money to meet their cash flow requirements This is what led to the crisis with collapse of 150 year old Lehman Brothers and take over of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, which, more than any other bank relied on the wholesale market rather than its own depositor funds to meet the banks day-to-day cash requirements Khan (2008). According to Bashir (2008) the paralysis in interbank lending led in turn to banks drastically reducing the money they lent to customers, as well as dramatically raising the cost of existing loans. This in turn substantially reduced demand for property and led to the ongoing crash in the property market. This is now feeding back to create a yet bigger problem for the banks because property is what they mostly hold as collateral for all the debts people owe them. Evidently this collateral is now worth a lot less than a year ago, and this will inevitably lead to a much higher rate of loan defaults and repossessions Bashir (2008). Having covered a secular analysis, we now turn to Islam, which proposes a very different explanation for these problems. According to Haddad (2008) Islam does not consider money to be a commodity, which can be traded at a profit, that is to say a transaction that is interest (or usury) based. Thus the reality of negating this Islamic consideration provides us with the first part of the problem. Interest, known as Riba in Arabic, is one of the major violations of Gods law, and when it spreads through society becoming an established norm without any condemnation nothing can be expected but divine wrath. Islamic banks do not borrow or lend on international money markets because interest is not allowed, traditionally they have a larger proportion of their assets in reserve accounts with central banks. Islamic banking is based on the principles of risk sharing between depositor and investor in theory, meaning that customers practice greater oversight of an Islamic banks lending performance. Shariah law stipulates that Islamic securities should be asset-based, which means that a trader must own the asset being traded. This, in turn, proscribes most forms of futures trading, as goods that the seller does not own or will not deliver cannot be the subjects of an Islamic contract. Practices such as short selling, consequently, are not a feature of Islamic Banking according to Haddad (2008). According to Siddiqi (2009) Islamic finance is growing in various parts of the world. It has moved from a mere theoretical concept to a practical reality. Islam not only prohibits dealing in interest but also in liquor, pork, gambling, pornography and anything else, which the Shariah (Islamic Law) deems Haram (unlawful). Islamic banking is an instrument for the development of an Islamic economic order. The core principles of Islamic economics system are justice, equity and welfare. Islamic economics seeks to establish a broad based economic well being with full employment and optimum rate of economic growth, it will bring socio economic justice and equitable distribution of income and wealth. Islamic economics will also ensure the stability in the value of money to enable the medium of exchange to be a reliable unit of account and a stable store of value Siddiqi (2009). According to Bagsiraj (2009) in the Islamic economy, Islamic banks act as venture capital firms collecting peoples wealth and investing it in the economy, then distributing the profits amongst depositors. Islamic banks act as investment partners for those who need money to do businesses, becoming part owners of the business. The banks should only be able to recoup their original capital by selling their share of the mortgage/business at the prevailing market value. As real partners, Islamic banks should have no objection to owning real assets and hence should be ready to share the consequential risk. This scheme, although seemingly inconsequential, could constitute a major relief to Islamic banks clients, as they would no longer live under the burden of debt and fear of repossession Bagsiraj (2009). Further more, according to Siddiqi, (2009) Islam neither endorses the capitalist nor the communist financial model. However, both the capitalist and socialist systems share certain elements with Islam, such as encouraging people to work, to be productive and earn as much as they can. Islam promotes an awareness of the hereafter in the hearts and minds of believers and instructs them not to be overcome by greed or excessively attached to money. The Islamic economic and financial system is based on a set of values, ideals and morals, such as honesty, credibility, transparency, clear evidence, facilitation, co-operation, complementarities and solidarity. These morals and ideals are fundamental because they ensure stability, security and safety for all those involved in financial transactions. Islamic Shariah prohibits economic and financial transactions that involve lying, gambling, cheating, gharar (risk or uncertainty), monopoly, exploitation, greed, unfairness and taking peoples mone y unjustly Siddiqi, 2009. The aim of this research is to examine the extent to which the Islamic banks have been affected by the recent financial crisis in contrast with its conventional counterpart. Chapter 2 Literature review 1.1 Detailed history of credit crunch: According to BBC website a credit crunch is an economic condition in which loans and investment capital are difficult to obtain. In such a period, banks and other lenders become wary of issuing loans, so the price of borrowing rises, often to the point where deals simply do not get one. When a National Public Radio journalist asked the famous economists Nouriel Roubini, Kenneth Rogoff, and Nariman Behravesh, their reaction on the monthly report that was just released by the U.S. Department of labor, their answers were â€Å"Its worse then anybody had anticipated†; â€Å"Its pretty disastrous†, and â€Å"I am shocked† Langfitt (2007). Before the report was published, the economic forecasters view was that the report would show the U.S economy increased about 100,000 jobs in August. Instead there was a net loss of 4,000 jobs; there was no growth for the first time in four years. U. S Department of Labor (2007). The forecasters were not done getting it wrong, however, after publication of the jobs data, a number of them predicted the news would bolster the U.S. stock market, because they argued, the employment report practically guaranteed that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rate on September 18, Instead, investor panic over the employment report caused the market, which had been volatile during most of the summer, to quickly lose about 2% on all major indices as per Whalen (2007). The Federal Reserve did eventually cut rates as expected, but it took a number of reassuring comments by U.S. central bank governors on September 10 to calm Wall Streets fears according to Monica (2007). What is now clear is that most economists underestimated the widening economic impact of the credit crunch that has shaken U.S. financial markets since at least mid-July 2007. According to Times online (2009) years of lax lending inflated a huge debt bubble as people borrowed cheap money and ploughed it into property. Lenders were free with their funds, especially in the US, where billions of dollars of so-called Ninja mortgages no income, no job or assets were sold to people with weak credit ratings (called sub-prime borrowers). The informal notion was that if they ran into trouble with their repayments rising house prices would allow them to re mortgage their property as per times online (2009). It seemed a good idea when Central Bank interest rates were low; the trouble was it could not last. Interest rates hit rock bottom in America in 2004 at just 1 per cent, but in June that year they began to rise Bernank (2006). As interest rates jumped, US house prices started to fall and borrowers began to default on their mortgage payments sparking trouble for us all BBC websites (2009). According to Mullan, 2008 easy money conditions made funds available to finance millions of US ‘sub prime borrowers, less well-off people who in earlier times would not have been seen as credit-worthy enough to get a plastic card never mind a home mortgage. These extra homebuyers helped reinforce the pre-existing rise in property prices, producing price hikes in many regional markets across the US. By summer 2007, the market had turned house prices were falling and default levels were raising Mullan, 2008. When the sub prime crisis hit, liquidity froze in the wholesale money markets, not just in the US but also across the Western world nytimes (2008). Following the common pattern of all credit crises, at a certain point never precisely predictable, because of the ‘elastic nature of credit debt becomes too extended for some borrowers when their circumstances change, default levels begin to grow, and the upward spiral of credit expansion and asset price appreciation turns into its unwelcome opposite Mullan, 2008. Just as mortgage issuance and rising US house prices fed on each other for several years, so now price falls and mortgage foreclosures reinforce each other BBC websites (2009). The difference with the credit crisis this time is that the necessity for writing off the bad debts spreads far beyond the original lenders, the banks and the other institutions, which issued the sub prime mortgages, repackaged the debts and sold them on elsewhere into the financial system the process of passing on debt from one institution to another has long been a feature of the financial markets, this activity became so frequent that the terminology of ‘securitization became commonplace, as bank lending was repackaged and sold on as bonds or securities, the same underlying value of a piece of financial paper (or electronic account) becomes reproduced often multiple times elsewhere in the financial system Economichelp.org (2008). In essence, such loans are resold as assets to others so that the same underlying value becomes used many times over, is what the credit system has been about since its early days. This time, in fact since the 1980s, the scale and scope of the repackaging of debt was simply more extensive than ever Mullan (2008). Hence the emergence of trading in ‘derivatives instruments derived from the original credit note that dominates modern financial markets trading. More recently, over the past few years, this practice spawned a number of new acronyms which have been a feature of the terminology for todays crisis: ABSs (asset-backed securities, with the ‘assets often being those home mortgages); CDOs (collateralised debt obligations); and SIVs (structured investment vehicles these are the alternative secondary financial bodies which invested in the new mortgage-backed financial instruments) according to Mullan (2008). 1.2 Causes of credit crunch Inaccurate Credit ratings: According to Acharya, Viral, Bharath, and Srinivasan, (2007) The Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDO) market has grown substantially since 2001 with issuance volume reaching $551.7 billion in 2006. While securitization makes financing more accessible for firms and households1, it also presents regulatory challenges, as rating agencies and institutions struggle to keep up with the rapid pace of financial innovation on Wall Street. According to Coval, Jurek, and Stafford (2008) Since summer 2007, both academics and practitioners have blamed complex CDOs for being, in part, responsible for the current sub prime crisis and credit crunch. While more than 85% of the dollar value of CDO securities issued was rated AAA by either Moodys or Standard and Poors (SP), 3 several major banks and financial institutions eventually had to write-off substantial portions of their balance-sheets related to investments in CDOs, largely those backed by sub prime mortgages. In 2007, Moodys downgraded $76bn in CDO securities and another $150bn remained on credit watch as of January 2008. Downgrades in November 2007 alone numbered 2,000 and many downgrades were severe, with 500 trenches downgraded more than 10 notches.4 The ensuing confusion about the true value of these complicated securities and the extent of exposure by financial institutions, incited a credit crunch with effects beyond sub prime mortgage related investments. In another words the securities, especially the now-notorious C.D.O.s, for (collateralised debt obligations) were probably too complex for anyones good. Investors placed too much faith in the rating agencies which, to put it mildly, failed to get it right. It is tempting to take the rating agencies out for a public whipping. But it is more constructive to ask how the rating system might be improved. Thats a tough question because of another serious incentive problem. Under the current system, the rating agencies are hired and paid by the issuers of the very securities they rate which creates an obvious potential conflict of interest. The following figure shows the typical collateralised debt obligations (CDO) structure and CDO issuances over time respectively: 1.3 Sub prime market collapse: According to Khan (2008) As the housing sector continued to inflate due to the appetite for housing by Americans, the sub prime sector continued to also grow. Commercial banks entered what they considered a buoyant market that could only raise, many Americans refinanced their homes by taking out second mortgages against the added value to use the funds for consumer spending. The first sign that the US housing bubble was in trouble was on the 2nd April 2007 when New Century Inc the largest sub rime mortgage lender in the US declared bankruptcy due to the increasing number of defaults from borrowers. In the previous month 25 sub prime lenders declared bankruptcy, announcing significant losses, with some putting themselves up for sale. Khan (2008) also highlights the crisis that then spread to the owners of collateralized debt who were now in the position where the payments they were promised from the debt they had purchased was being defaulted upon. By being owners of various complex products the constituent elements of such products resulted in many holders of such debt to sell other investments in order to balance losses incurred from exposure to the sub prime sector or what is known as ‘covering a position. This second round of selling to shore up funds and meet brokerage margin requirements is what caused the collapse in share prices across the world in August 2007, with the market getting into a vicious circle of falling prices, leading to the further sales of shares to shore up losses. This type of behavior is typical of a Capitalist market crash and is what caused worldwide share values to plummet. What made matters worse was many investors caught in this vicious spiral of declining prices did not just sell sub prime and related products; they sold anything that could be sold. This is why share prices plummeted across the world and not just in those directly related to sub prime mortgages Khan (2008). International institutes who poured their money into the US housing sector realized they will not actually receive their money that they loaned out to investors as individual sub prime mortgage holders were defaulting on mass on such loans this resulted in all those who took positions in the housing sector not being able to pay the institutes they borrowed money from. It was for these reason central banks across the world intervened in the global economy in an unprecedented manner providing large amounts of cash to ensure such banks and institutes did not go bankrupt Khan (2008). According to bbc.co.uk the European Central Bank, Americas Federal Reserve and the Japanese and Australian central banks injected over $300 billion into the banking system within 48 hours in a bid to avert a financial crisis. They stepped in when banks, such as Sentinel, a large American investment house, stopped investors from withdrawing their money, spooked by sudden and unexpected losses from bad loans in the American mortgage market, other institutions followed suit and suspended normal lending. Intervention by the worlds central banks in order to avert crisis cost them over $800 billion after only seven days. 2.1 Islamic Banking: The beginning of Islamic Banking: The earliest writings on the subject of Islamic banking and finance date back to the forties of the twentieth century Nejatullah (1981) and the earliest practice can be traced to early sixties Mahmud (1995). The literature showed ambivalence between the model of an intermediary designed after conventional commercial banks and one like an investment company serving individuals seeking profits as well as the community needing development. Models of commercial banking based on two-tier Mudaraba came from economists aspiring to build an alternative to a system of banking and finance hinged on interest. Some of them placed the issue in the larger context of the struggle between capitalism and socialism in which Muslim intellectuals projected Islam as having a different approach resulting in a distinct economic system with its own financial institutions. Community initiatives looked forward to something workable while avoiding interest. The nineteen-sixties saw the establishment of an interest-free bank in Karachi, that of Tabung Haji in Malaysia, and saving-investment banks in Mit Ghamr in Egypt, that were based on sharing profits and avoided interest. Only Tabung Haji survived, Haji (1995), thanks to its roots in the community, its narrow focus, official blessings and clear structure as a business. Early in the nineteen seventies came the Dubai Islamic Bank, taking deposits in current as well as investment accounts and engaging in profit-making activities directly as well as through working partners. The Islamic Development Bank, which started operations in 1975, was designed to serve Muslim countries and communities by arranging finance for trade and development on non-interest bases. By late nineteen-seventies there were half a dozen more banks in the private sector in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, and the Gulf. The following decade saw a rapid expansion bringing the number of banks to dozens by the end of the decade. To banks were now added non-bank financial institutions, like investment companies and insurance companies IAIB (1997). According Mohammad (1970) till the end of the nineteen-seventies, largely a plea for replacing interest in bank lending by profit sharing. This would change the nature of financial intermediation, making the fund owners as well as the financial intermediaries share the risks of enterprise with the fund users. Early literatures main emphasis was on fairness. Making the fund-user-entrepreneur bear all the risks of business and allowing fund owner and bank claim a predetermined return was regarded to be unjust. The environment in which productive enterprise was conducted did not guaranty a positive return, so there was no justification for money capital claiming a positive return irrespective of the results of enterprise, it was argued. Hadi (1973), Nejatullah (1968). It was also argued that most, though not all, the other problems of capitalism were rooted in the practice of lending on interest. Among these problems were unemployment, inflation, poverty amidst plenty, increasing inequa lity and recurrent business cycles Mohammad (1955), Ala (1961), Mahmud (1972), According to Mohammad (1970) abolishing interest and replacing it by profit sharing could solve these problems. It was not until the next decade that Islamic economists were able to fortify these claims by sophisticated economic analysis, especially at the macroeconomic level. The focus at this stage was largely on pointing out the deficiencies of capitalism and linking them to the institution of interest, among other things. With this went the arguments showing that it was possible to have banking without interest and that it would not adversely affect savings and investment Ala (1961), Ala (1969) Iqbal (1946), Nejatullah (1969). Hasan (2005) The most significant development during the late nineteen-seventies and early eighties was the advent and proliferation of Murabahah or cost-plus financing. What the businessman got from the Islamic bank under this arrangement is the commodity he needed purchased by the bank at his request, with the promise to purchase it from the bank at a price higher than its purchase price, to be paid after a period of time. Each Murabahah transaction created a debt. Compared to funds supplied on a profit-sharing basis, funds invested in Murabahah transactions were safe. Within a couple of years of the introduction of Murabahah in late nineteen seventies, it conquered the landscape of Islamic finance, assigning Mudarabah or profit-sharing to a corner accounting for less than ten percent of the operations. Security of capital invested rather than magnitude of returns to capital ruled the roost, insofar as the fund owners were concerned. However, the proliferation of Murabahah did give a big boost to Islamic finance during the coming decades. Their total number by year 2004 may have exceeded 200, spread over more than fifty countries. Archer and Karim (2002) the seventies also saw Pakistan officially committing to interest-free Islamic banking, followed by Iran and Sudan in the eighties. Meanwhile Malaysia developed a new approach of introducing Islamic banking and finance under official patronage, while the main system continued along conventional lines Indonesia followed in early nineties. This pattern later became the model for certain countries in the Gulf, like Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE. With the spread of Islamic financial institutions across the globe and enlargement of the size of funds managed by them, came the involvement of big players in the international financial arena like Citibank, HSBC and ABN AMRO according to Archer Karim (2002). According to Vogel and Hays (1998) in the development of theory of Islamic finance and banking, the late seventies and the eighties saw many significant contributions. Murabaha or cost plus financing, acknowledged only grudgingly in documents such as the Islamic Ideology Council of Pakistan Report on Elimination of Interest from the Economy, earned full recognition as well as respectable rationale. The controversy around its legitimacy, its efficacy hardly had any impact on the speed with which it conquered the landscape of Islamic finance. Practitioners of Islamic finance report they tried to push through sharing based Finance but the results were not encouraging Attiyah (2007). The laws of the land did not (may be, could not) offer the financier same protection from false reporting of profits by the users of funds, even against outright fraud and deception, not to speak of delay in payment, as was offered to borrowers in a lending contract. There seemed to be no room for collaterals. On top of all this there were projects to be financed that simply defied profit-sharing finance, like long term municipal plans to lay sewage-pipes in a city. In this case, returns to the finance would accrue over many decades in the future while costs had to be met in the present. In the absence of a market on which shares could be floated, even medium term Mudarabah bonds designed to finance development of WAQF property did not succeed Khairallah (1994). Recourse to trade based modes of finance became necessary. This happened with privately established Islamic banks in the Gulf area as well as with the Islamic Development Bank. By the early nineteen-eighties, Murabahah had become the dominant mode of Islamic finance everywhere. As pointed out above, early theory had failed to pay due attention to trade based modes of finance and to the issue of capital protection. Murabahah seemed to fill the gap. According to Khairallah (1994) the macroeconomic implications of Islamic banking were still being worked out on the assumption that it would be largely based on profit sharing. It was argued that financial intermediation based on profit sharing rather than lending will contribute to greater stability in the economic system in general and the financial markets in particular. It was also argued that such a system would be more efficient than the conventional system Khairallah (1994). 2.2 An overview of Islamic Banking and Financial products: The earliest Islamic financial product to appear on the scene was investment deposit with an Islamic bank or investment certificate issued by an Islamic investment company IIBI (1995). Both were based on profit-sharing/ Mudarabah between the depositor/certificate holder (Rabbal-mal) and the bank/investment company (Mudarib). The next to appear were based on sale. Murabahah is sale with a mark-up on purchase price, payment being deferred. Ijarah is sale of usufruct of an equipment or real estate owned by the seller. Murabahah proceeds on the basis of a purchase order by a client who commits to buy the commodity involved. Originally introduced as contracts between two parties both Ijarah and Murabahah ended up in the form of securities. Bypassing controversies around operating leases versus financial leases Nejatullah (2005b) The market seized upon Sukuk. Ijarah bonds are investment certificates indicating ownership of a real asset subject to a lease contract yielding predetermined rent yields, they are very popular in the Gulf, unlike the Sukuk based on Murabahah receivables that are considered valid only in Malaysia. Adam and Thomas (2004). Other sale-based modes in Islamic finance are Salam and Istisnaa Islamic banks started by using them as bases for extending finance to agriculture and industry respectively. As they had no interest in taking possession of the commodities or the manufactured goods involved, there was usually a parallel contract reversing the flow so that the bank ended up with cash, larger in amount than that paid by it in the first contract. In their more developed forms, the Islamic financial market now has Sukuk based on Ijarah, Salam and Istisnaa. The buyers of Sukuk periodically get a predetermined income over and above the privilege of redemption at par on maturity, as in case of conventional bonds. According to (http://www.bankislam.com.my) there are efforts to develop secondary markets on which these Islamic bonds could be traded. If and when these efforts succeed, the same markets could handle variable return Mudarabah bonds or Sukuk based on Mudarabah/musharakah. The big difference would be in there being no guaranteed value on redemption as these investors are vulnerable to losses too, unlike those who invest in fixed income Sukuk mentioned earlier. We have to examine, first how trade based modes of finance got in, and second, how bond-like Sukuk were constructed. Later on, we go on to economics: the impact of fixed income financial products on an economy aspiring to be Islamic. Malaysia introduced sale of debt (Bay Al-Dayn) in Islamic finance. It also brought in Inah, a way of obtaining cash now against a larger amount of cash to be paid after a period of time, on the basis of sale contracts on deferred prices followed by buyback contracts at lower cash prices. The first Islamic bank to come up in Malaysia, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, started its operations in 1983. It is now marketing about 50 innovative and sophisticated Islamic banking products and services, comparable to those of their conventional counterparts (http://www.bankislam.com.my). A second Islamic bank, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad commenced operations in 1999. The Central Bank of Malaysia also decided to allow the existing banking institutions to offer Islamic banking services using their existing infrastructure and branches. The long-term objective of BNM is to create an Islamic banking system operating on parallel lines with the conventional system This involves some interaction between the two systems, which is overseen and organized by the central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, which has in-house National Shariah Advisory Council. An Islamic Inter-bank Money Market launched in 1994 plays a significant role in this regard (http://www.bnm.gov.my). There is also Mudarabah Inter-bank Investment facilitating interaction between deficit and surplus Islamic banks. The backbone of the whole structure seems to be the Government Investment Issue (GII). It was originally based on ‘the Shariah contract of Qard Hasan, the holder being given back only what he/she gave. ‘Any return on the loans (if any) is on the absolute discretion of the government. But, in 2001, the basis of Government Investment Issue (GIIs) issuance was further enhanced to accommodate the need to develop further the secondary market activities of the Islamic money market. An alternative concept of GII based on Sell and Buy Back Arrangement was introduced in June 2001. Under this arrangement, the Government will sell its identified assets at an agreed cash price to the buyer and subsequently buy back the same assets from the buyer at an agreed purchase price to be settled at a specified future date (http://www.bnm.gov.my). Saleem (2006) says besides complying with the prohibitions against interest and the financing of forbidden activities, Islamic banking products are based on the concept of property exchange, profit and risk sharing, and certainty. Uncertainty (gharar) is not permissible, and contracts for banking services must clearly define the responsibilities and rights of the customer and bank as to the ownership of property, fees, and risk sharing. 2.3 Istisnaa The Istisnaa the second kind of sale where a commodity is transacted before it comes into existence. This allows the Bank to order for the goods or equipment required for a construction project according to the choice of the client and delivers them to the client. The client agrees to pay in installments at specified dates. There are two sub types of Istisnaa contracts, which are classified based on the commodity bought or sold Saleem (2006). 2.4 Ijarah Islamic Investments ‘Ijarah is the process by which (Usufruct of a particular property is transferred to another person in exchange for a rent claimed from him/her). It is the equivalent of ‘Leasing in commercial banking. This allows the Bank to order for Capital assets required for the customer against a rental agreement with him. The title Impact of Financial Crisis on Islamic Banks Impact of Financial Crisis on Islamic Banks Chapter 1 Background / Introduction of recent financial crises and Islamic banking system The credit crunch is widely blamed upon the sub prime crisis which originated in America, where banks offered housing loans to those known in the industry as ninjas (no income, no job, no assets). Such people often had poor financial track records. However these loans were subsequently repackaged into financial products known as ‘collaterised debt obligations (CDOs). They were then mixed in with ‘prime loans and sold on to other banks via the wholesale market. In theory, this trading in debts was meant to spread the risk of bad loans amongst many different banks, thereby reducing risk. In fact, it lead to the ‘sub prime problem infecting not just the banks that offered the dodgy loans in the first place, but a far, far greater number of banks who bought the ‘toxic loans via the wholesale markets. The knock-on effect of this was for banks to suddenly become unsure of the value of their ‘toxic assets and as a result to stop lending each other money, or to lend money only at much higher rates. As a result the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) shot up to unprecedented levels, which in turn massively increased the cost of providing loans to the general public according to Khan (2008). The Western perspective also argues that this initial problem with sub prime debts triggered a secondary problem whereby banks which relied for cash flow principally on accessing funds from other banks via the wholesale market, suddenly found they could no longer borrow enough money to meet their cash flow requirements This is what led to the crisis with collapse of 150 year old Lehman Brothers and take over of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, which, more than any other bank relied on the wholesale market rather than its own depositor funds to meet the banks day-to-day cash requirements Khan (2008). According to Bashir (2008) the paralysis in interbank lending led in turn to banks drastically reducing the money they lent to customers, as well as dramatically raising the cost of existing loans. This in turn substantially reduced demand for property and led to the ongoing crash in the property market. This is now feeding back to create a yet bigger problem for the banks because property is what they mostly hold as collateral for all the debts people owe them. Evidently this collateral is now worth a lot less than a year ago, and this will inevitably lead to a much higher rate of loan defaults and repossessions Bashir (2008). Having covered a secular analysis, we now turn to Islam, which proposes a very different explanation for these problems. According to Haddad (2008) Islam does not consider money to be a commodity, which can be traded at a profit, that is to say a transaction that is interest (or usury) based. Thus the reality of negating this Islamic consideration provides us with the first part of the problem. Interest, known as Riba in Arabic, is one of the major violations of Gods law, and when it spreads through society becoming an established norm without any condemnation nothing can be expected but divine wrath. Islamic banks do not borrow or lend on international money markets because interest is not allowed, traditionally they have a larger proportion of their assets in reserve accounts with central banks. Islamic banking is based on the principles of risk sharing between depositor and investor in theory, meaning that customers practice greater oversight of an Islamic banks lending performance. Shariah law stipulates that Islamic securities should be asset-based, which means that a trader must own the asset being traded. This, in turn, proscribes most forms of futures trading, as goods that the seller does not own or will not deliver cannot be the subjects of an Islamic contract. Practices such as short selling, consequently, are not a feature of Islamic Banking according to Haddad (2008). According to Siddiqi (2009) Islamic finance is growing in various parts of the world. It has moved from a mere theoretical concept to a practical reality. Islam not only prohibits dealing in interest but also in liquor, pork, gambling, pornography and anything else, which the Shariah (Islamic Law) deems Haram (unlawful). Islamic banking is an instrument for the development of an Islamic economic order. The core principles of Islamic economics system are justice, equity and welfare. Islamic economics seeks to establish a broad based economic well being with full employment and optimum rate of economic growth, it will bring socio economic justice and equitable distribution of income and wealth. Islamic economics will also ensure the stability in the value of money to enable the medium of exchange to be a reliable unit of account and a stable store of value Siddiqi (2009). According to Bagsiraj (2009) in the Islamic economy, Islamic banks act as venture capital firms collecting peoples wealth and investing it in the economy, then distributing the profits amongst depositors. Islamic banks act as investment partners for those who need money to do businesses, becoming part owners of the business. The banks should only be able to recoup their original capital by selling their share of the mortgage/business at the prevailing market value. As real partners, Islamic banks should have no objection to owning real assets and hence should be ready to share the consequential risk. This scheme, although seemingly inconsequential, could constitute a major relief to Islamic banks clients, as they would no longer live under the burden of debt and fear of repossession Bagsiraj (2009). Further more, according to Siddiqi, (2009) Islam neither endorses the capitalist nor the communist financial model. However, both the capitalist and socialist systems share certain elements with Islam, such as encouraging people to work, to be productive and earn as much as they can. Islam promotes an awareness of the hereafter in the hearts and minds of believers and instructs them not to be overcome by greed or excessively attached to money. The Islamic economic and financial system is based on a set of values, ideals and morals, such as honesty, credibility, transparency, clear evidence, facilitation, co-operation, complementarities and solidarity. These morals and ideals are fundamental because they ensure stability, security and safety for all those involved in financial transactions. Islamic Shariah prohibits economic and financial transactions that involve lying, gambling, cheating, gharar (risk or uncertainty), monopoly, exploitation, greed, unfairness and taking peoples mone y unjustly Siddiqi, 2009. The aim of this research is to examine the extent to which the Islamic banks have been affected by the recent financial crisis in contrast with its conventional counterpart. Chapter 2 Literature review 1.1 Detailed history of credit crunch: According to BBC website a credit crunch is an economic condition in which loans and investment capital are difficult to obtain. In such a period, banks and other lenders become wary of issuing loans, so the price of borrowing rises, often to the point where deals simply do not get one. When a National Public Radio journalist asked the famous economists Nouriel Roubini, Kenneth Rogoff, and Nariman Behravesh, their reaction on the monthly report that was just released by the U.S. Department of labor, their answers were â€Å"Its worse then anybody had anticipated†; â€Å"Its pretty disastrous†, and â€Å"I am shocked† Langfitt (2007). Before the report was published, the economic forecasters view was that the report would show the U.S economy increased about 100,000 jobs in August. Instead there was a net loss of 4,000 jobs; there was no growth for the first time in four years. U. S Department of Labor (2007). The forecasters were not done getting it wrong, however, after publication of the jobs data, a number of them predicted the news would bolster the U.S. stock market, because they argued, the employment report practically guaranteed that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rate on September 18, Instead, investor panic over the employment report caused the market, which had been volatile during most of the summer, to quickly lose about 2% on all major indices as per Whalen (2007). The Federal Reserve did eventually cut rates as expected, but it took a number of reassuring comments by U.S. central bank governors on September 10 to calm Wall Streets fears according to Monica (2007). What is now clear is that most economists underestimated the widening economic impact of the credit crunch that has shaken U.S. financial markets since at least mid-July 2007. According to Times online (2009) years of lax lending inflated a huge debt bubble as people borrowed cheap money and ploughed it into property. Lenders were free with their funds, especially in the US, where billions of dollars of so-called Ninja mortgages no income, no job or assets were sold to people with weak credit ratings (called sub-prime borrowers). The informal notion was that if they ran into trouble with their repayments rising house prices would allow them to re mortgage their property as per times online (2009). It seemed a good idea when Central Bank interest rates were low; the trouble was it could not last. Interest rates hit rock bottom in America in 2004 at just 1 per cent, but in June that year they began to rise Bernank (2006). As interest rates jumped, US house prices started to fall and borrowers began to default on their mortgage payments sparking trouble for us all BBC websites (2009). According to Mullan, 2008 easy money conditions made funds available to finance millions of US ‘sub prime borrowers, less well-off people who in earlier times would not have been seen as credit-worthy enough to get a plastic card never mind a home mortgage. These extra homebuyers helped reinforce the pre-existing rise in property prices, producing price hikes in many regional markets across the US. By summer 2007, the market had turned house prices were falling and default levels were raising Mullan, 2008. When the sub prime crisis hit, liquidity froze in the wholesale money markets, not just in the US but also across the Western world nytimes (2008). Following the common pattern of all credit crises, at a certain point never precisely predictable, because of the ‘elastic nature of credit debt becomes too extended for some borrowers when their circumstances change, default levels begin to grow, and the upward spiral of credit expansion and asset price appreciation turns into its unwelcome opposite Mullan, 2008. Just as mortgage issuance and rising US house prices fed on each other for several years, so now price falls and mortgage foreclosures reinforce each other BBC websites (2009). The difference with the credit crisis this time is that the necessity for writing off the bad debts spreads far beyond the original lenders, the banks and the other institutions, which issued the sub prime mortgages, repackaged the debts and sold them on elsewhere into the financial system the process of passing on debt from one institution to another has long been a feature of the financial markets, this activity became so frequent that the terminology of ‘securitization became commonplace, as bank lending was repackaged and sold on as bonds or securities, the same underlying value of a piece of financial paper (or electronic account) becomes reproduced often multiple times elsewhere in the financial system Economichelp.org (2008). In essence, such loans are resold as assets to others so that the same underlying value becomes used many times over, is what the credit system has been about since its early days. This time, in fact since the 1980s, the scale and scope of the repackaging of debt was simply more extensive than ever Mullan (2008). Hence the emergence of trading in ‘derivatives instruments derived from the original credit note that dominates modern financial markets trading. More recently, over the past few years, this practice spawned a number of new acronyms which have been a feature of the terminology for todays crisis: ABSs (asset-backed securities, with the ‘assets often being those home mortgages); CDOs (collateralised debt obligations); and SIVs (structured investment vehicles these are the alternative secondary financial bodies which invested in the new mortgage-backed financial instruments) according to Mullan (2008). 1.2 Causes of credit crunch Inaccurate Credit ratings: According to Acharya, Viral, Bharath, and Srinivasan, (2007) The Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDO) market has grown substantially since 2001 with issuance volume reaching $551.7 billion in 2006. While securitization makes financing more accessible for firms and households1, it also presents regulatory challenges, as rating agencies and institutions struggle to keep up with the rapid pace of financial innovation on Wall Street. According to Coval, Jurek, and Stafford (2008) Since summer 2007, both academics and practitioners have blamed complex CDOs for being, in part, responsible for the current sub prime crisis and credit crunch. While more than 85% of the dollar value of CDO securities issued was rated AAA by either Moodys or Standard and Poors (SP), 3 several major banks and financial institutions eventually had to write-off substantial portions of their balance-sheets related to investments in CDOs, largely those backed by sub prime mortgages. In 2007, Moodys downgraded $76bn in CDO securities and another $150bn remained on credit watch as of January 2008. Downgrades in November 2007 alone numbered 2,000 and many downgrades were severe, with 500 trenches downgraded more than 10 notches.4 The ensuing confusion about the true value of these complicated securities and the extent of exposure by financial institutions, incited a credit crunch with effects beyond sub prime mortgage related investments. In another words the securities, especially the now-notorious C.D.O.s, for (collateralised debt obligations) were probably too complex for anyones good. Investors placed too much faith in the rating agencies which, to put it mildly, failed to get it right. It is tempting to take the rating agencies out for a public whipping. But it is more constructive to ask how the rating system might be improved. Thats a tough question because of another serious incentive problem. Under the current system, the rating agencies are hired and paid by the issuers of the very securities they rate which creates an obvious potential conflict of interest. The following figure shows the typical collateralised debt obligations (CDO) structure and CDO issuances over time respectively: 1.3 Sub prime market collapse: According to Khan (2008) As the housing sector continued to inflate due to the appetite for housing by Americans, the sub prime sector continued to also grow. Commercial banks entered what they considered a buoyant market that could only raise, many Americans refinanced their homes by taking out second mortgages against the added value to use the funds for consumer spending. The first sign that the US housing bubble was in trouble was on the 2nd April 2007 when New Century Inc the largest sub rime mortgage lender in the US declared bankruptcy due to the increasing number of defaults from borrowers. In the previous month 25 sub prime lenders declared bankruptcy, announcing significant losses, with some putting themselves up for sale. Khan (2008) also highlights the crisis that then spread to the owners of collateralized debt who were now in the position where the payments they were promised from the debt they had purchased was being defaulted upon. By being owners of various complex products the constituent elements of such products resulted in many holders of such debt to sell other investments in order to balance losses incurred from exposure to the sub prime sector or what is known as ‘covering a position. This second round of selling to shore up funds and meet brokerage margin requirements is what caused the collapse in share prices across the world in August 2007, with the market getting into a vicious circle of falling prices, leading to the further sales of shares to shore up losses. This type of behavior is typical of a Capitalist market crash and is what caused worldwide share values to plummet. What made matters worse was many investors caught in this vicious spiral of declining prices did not just sell sub prime and related products; they sold anything that could be sold. This is why share prices plummeted across the world and not just in those directly related to sub prime mortgages Khan (2008). International institutes who poured their money into the US housing sector realized they will not actually receive their money that they loaned out to investors as individual sub prime mortgage holders were defaulting on mass on such loans this resulted in all those who took positions in the housing sector not being able to pay the institutes they borrowed money from. It was for these reason central banks across the world intervened in the global economy in an unprecedented manner providing large amounts of cash to ensure such banks and institutes did not go bankrupt Khan (2008). According to bbc.co.uk the European Central Bank, Americas Federal Reserve and the Japanese and Australian central banks injected over $300 billion into the banking system within 48 hours in a bid to avert a financial crisis. They stepped in when banks, such as Sentinel, a large American investment house, stopped investors from withdrawing their money, spooked by sudden and unexpected losses from bad loans in the American mortgage market, other institutions followed suit and suspended normal lending. Intervention by the worlds central banks in order to avert crisis cost them over $800 billion after only seven days. 2.1 Islamic Banking: The beginning of Islamic Banking: The earliest writings on the subject of Islamic banking and finance date back to the forties of the twentieth century Nejatullah (1981) and the earliest practice can be traced to early sixties Mahmud (1995). The literature showed ambivalence between the model of an intermediary designed after conventional commercial banks and one like an investment company serving individuals seeking profits as well as the community needing development. Models of commercial banking based on two-tier Mudaraba came from economists aspiring to build an alternative to a system of banking and finance hinged on interest. Some of them placed the issue in the larger context of the struggle between capitalism and socialism in which Muslim intellectuals projected Islam as having a different approach resulting in a distinct economic system with its own financial institutions. Community initiatives looked forward to something workable while avoiding interest. The nineteen-sixties saw the establishment of an interest-free bank in Karachi, that of Tabung Haji in Malaysia, and saving-investment banks in Mit Ghamr in Egypt, that were based on sharing profits and avoided interest. Only Tabung Haji survived, Haji (1995), thanks to its roots in the community, its narrow focus, official blessings and clear structure as a business. Early in the nineteen seventies came the Dubai Islamic Bank, taking deposits in current as well as investment accounts and engaging in profit-making activities directly as well as through working partners. The Islamic Development Bank, which started operations in 1975, was designed to serve Muslim countries and communities by arranging finance for trade and development on non-interest bases. By late nineteen-seventies there were half a dozen more banks in the private sector in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, and the Gulf. The following decade saw a rapid expansion bringing the number of banks to dozens by the end of the decade. To banks were now added non-bank financial institutions, like investment companies and insurance companies IAIB (1997). According Mohammad (1970) till the end of the nineteen-seventies, largely a plea for replacing interest in bank lending by profit sharing. This would change the nature of financial intermediation, making the fund owners as well as the financial intermediaries share the risks of enterprise with the fund users. Early literatures main emphasis was on fairness. Making the fund-user-entrepreneur bear all the risks of business and allowing fund owner and bank claim a predetermined return was regarded to be unjust. The environment in which productive enterprise was conducted did not guaranty a positive return, so there was no justification for money capital claiming a positive return irrespective of the results of enterprise, it was argued. Hadi (1973), Nejatullah (1968). It was also argued that most, though not all, the other problems of capitalism were rooted in the practice of lending on interest. Among these problems were unemployment, inflation, poverty amidst plenty, increasing inequa lity and recurrent business cycles Mohammad (1955), Ala (1961), Mahmud (1972), According to Mohammad (1970) abolishing interest and replacing it by profit sharing could solve these problems. It was not until the next decade that Islamic economists were able to fortify these claims by sophisticated economic analysis, especially at the macroeconomic level. The focus at this stage was largely on pointing out the deficiencies of capitalism and linking them to the institution of interest, among other things. With this went the arguments showing that it was possible to have banking without interest and that it would not adversely affect savings and investment Ala (1961), Ala (1969) Iqbal (1946), Nejatullah (1969). Hasan (2005) The most significant development during the late nineteen-seventies and early eighties was the advent and proliferation of Murabahah or cost-plus financing. What the businessman got from the Islamic bank under this arrangement is the commodity he needed purchased by the bank at his request, with the promise to purchase it from the bank at a price higher than its purchase price, to be paid after a period of time. Each Murabahah transaction created a debt. Compared to funds supplied on a profit-sharing basis, funds invested in Murabahah transactions were safe. Within a couple of years of the introduction of Murabahah in late nineteen seventies, it conquered the landscape of Islamic finance, assigning Mudarabah or profit-sharing to a corner accounting for less than ten percent of the operations. Security of capital invested rather than magnitude of returns to capital ruled the roost, insofar as the fund owners were concerned. However, the proliferation of Murabahah did give a big boost to Islamic finance during the coming decades. Their total number by year 2004 may have exceeded 200, spread over more than fifty countries. Archer and Karim (2002) the seventies also saw Pakistan officially committing to interest-free Islamic banking, followed by Iran and Sudan in the eighties. Meanwhile Malaysia developed a new approach of introducing Islamic banking and finance under official patronage, while the main system continued along conventional lines Indonesia followed in early nineties. This pattern later became the model for certain countries in the Gulf, like Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE. With the spread of Islamic financial institutions across the globe and enlargement of the size of funds managed by them, came the involvement of big players in the international financial arena like Citibank, HSBC and ABN AMRO according to Archer Karim (2002). According to Vogel and Hays (1998) in the development of theory of Islamic finance and banking, the late seventies and the eighties saw many significant contributions. Murabaha or cost plus financing, acknowledged only grudgingly in documents such as the Islamic Ideology Council of Pakistan Report on Elimination of Interest from the Economy, earned full recognition as well as respectable rationale. The controversy around its legitimacy, its efficacy hardly had any impact on the speed with which it conquered the landscape of Islamic finance. Practitioners of Islamic finance report they tried to push through sharing based Finance but the results were not encouraging Attiyah (2007). The laws of the land did not (may be, could not) offer the financier same protection from false reporting of profits by the users of funds, even against outright fraud and deception, not to speak of delay in payment, as was offered to borrowers in a lending contract. There seemed to be no room for collaterals. On top of all this there were projects to be financed that simply defied profit-sharing finance, like long term municipal plans to lay sewage-pipes in a city. In this case, returns to the finance would accrue over many decades in the future while costs had to be met in the present. In the absence of a market on which shares could be floated, even medium term Mudarabah bonds designed to finance development of WAQF property did not succeed Khairallah (1994). Recourse to trade based modes of finance became necessary. This happened with privately established Islamic banks in the Gulf area as well as with the Islamic Development Bank. By the early nineteen-eighties, Murabahah had become the dominant mode of Islamic finance everywhere. As pointed out above, early theory had failed to pay due attention to trade based modes of finance and to the issue of capital protection. Murabahah seemed to fill the gap. According to Khairallah (1994) the macroeconomic implications of Islamic banking were still being worked out on the assumption that it would be largely based on profit sharing. It was argued that financial intermediation based on profit sharing rather than lending will contribute to greater stability in the economic system in general and the financial markets in particular. It was also argued that such a system would be more efficient than the conventional system Khairallah (1994). 2.2 An overview of Islamic Banking and Financial products: The earliest Islamic financial product to appear on the scene was investment deposit with an Islamic bank or investment certificate issued by an Islamic investment company IIBI (1995). Both were based on profit-sharing/ Mudarabah between the depositor/certificate holder (Rabbal-mal) and the bank/investment company (Mudarib). The next to appear were based on sale. Murabahah is sale with a mark-up on purchase price, payment being deferred. Ijarah is sale of usufruct of an equipment or real estate owned by the seller. Murabahah proceeds on the basis of a purchase order by a client who commits to buy the commodity involved. Originally introduced as contracts between two parties both Ijarah and Murabahah ended up in the form of securities. Bypassing controversies around operating leases versus financial leases Nejatullah (2005b) The market seized upon Sukuk. Ijarah bonds are investment certificates indicating ownership of a real asset subject to a lease contract yielding predetermined rent yields, they are very popular in the Gulf, unlike the Sukuk based on Murabahah receivables that are considered valid only in Malaysia. Adam and Thomas (2004). Other sale-based modes in Islamic finance are Salam and Istisnaa Islamic banks started by using them as bases for extending finance to agriculture and industry respectively. As they had no interest in taking possession of the commodities or the manufactured goods involved, there was usually a parallel contract reversing the flow so that the bank ended up with cash, larger in amount than that paid by it in the first contract. In their more developed forms, the Islamic financial market now has Sukuk based on Ijarah, Salam and Istisnaa. The buyers of Sukuk periodically get a predetermined income over and above the privilege of redemption at par on maturity, as in case of conventional bonds. According to (http://www.bankislam.com.my) there are efforts to develop secondary markets on which these Islamic bonds could be traded. If and when these efforts succeed, the same markets could handle variable return Mudarabah bonds or Sukuk based on Mudarabah/musharakah. The big difference would be in there being no guaranteed value on redemption as these investors are vulnerable to losses too, unlike those who invest in fixed income Sukuk mentioned earlier. We have to examine, first how trade based modes of finance got in, and second, how bond-like Sukuk were constructed. Later on, we go on to economics: the impact of fixed income financial products on an economy aspiring to be Islamic. Malaysia introduced sale of debt (Bay Al-Dayn) in Islamic finance. It also brought in Inah, a way of obtaining cash now against a larger amount of cash to be paid after a period of time, on the basis of sale contracts on deferred prices followed by buyback contracts at lower cash prices. The first Islamic bank to come up in Malaysia, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, started its operations in 1983. It is now marketing about 50 innovative and sophisticated Islamic banking products and services, comparable to those of their conventional counterparts (http://www.bankislam.com.my). A second Islamic bank, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad commenced operations in 1999. The Central Bank of Malaysia also decided to allow the existing banking institutions to offer Islamic banking services using their existing infrastructure and branches. The long-term objective of BNM is to create an Islamic banking system operating on parallel lines with the conventional system This involves some interaction between the two systems, which is overseen and organized by the central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, which has in-house National Shariah Advisory Council. An Islamic Inter-bank Money Market launched in 1994 plays a significant role in this regard (http://www.bnm.gov.my). There is also Mudarabah Inter-bank Investment facilitating interaction between deficit and surplus Islamic banks. The backbone of the whole structure seems to be the Government Investment Issue (GII). It was originally based on ‘the Shariah contract of Qard Hasan, the holder being given back only what he/she gave. ‘Any return on the loans (if any) is on the absolute discretion of the government. But, in 2001, the basis of Government Investment Issue (GIIs) issuance was further enhanced to accommodate the need to develop further the secondary market activities of the Islamic money market. An alternative concept of GII based on Sell and Buy Back Arrangement was introduced in June 2001. Under this arrangement, the Government will sell its identified assets at an agreed cash price to the buyer and subsequently buy back the same assets from the buyer at an agreed purchase price to be settled at a specified future date (http://www.bnm.gov.my). Saleem (2006) says besides complying with the prohibitions against interest and the financing of forbidden activities, Islamic banking products are based on the concept of property exchange, profit and risk sharing, and certainty. Uncertainty (gharar) is not permissible, and contracts for banking services must clearly define the responsibilities and rights of the customer and bank as to the ownership of property, fees, and risk sharing. 2.3 Istisnaa The Istisnaa the second kind of sale where a commodity is transacted before it comes into existence. This allows the Bank to order for the goods or equipment required for a construction project according to the choice of the client and delivers them to the client. The client agrees to pay in installments at specified dates. There are two sub types of Istisnaa contracts, which are classified based on the commodity bought or sold Saleem (2006). 2.4 Ijarah Islamic Investments ‘Ijarah is the process by which (Usufruct of a particular property is transferred to another person in exchange for a rent claimed from him/her). It is the equivalent of ‘Leasing in commercial banking. This allows the Bank to order for Capital assets required for the customer against a rental agreement with him. The title