Free Essays on German Greens

Table of Contents  · The emergence of Green parties in Europe: The Greening of Europe Begins  · The Guiding Principles  · Greens on the EU  · Main Political Issues of German Greens  · Current Situation in Germany  · Bibliography The Greening of Europe Begins The Green movement as an electoral force is young. The first ecological and alternative political groups emerged in the 1960's, but most European Green parties were not created until a decade or more later. The very first ecology party in Europe emerged in Britain in 1973. The European elections of 1989 were a spectacular success for the UK Greens, who scored 15 % of the votes. Due to the first-past-the-post electoral system, however, the 2.5 million votes did not translate into one single seat in the European Parliament. In Belgium the French speaking Ecolo was formed in 1980 and gained 5% of the votes and five deputies in 1981. Their Flemish speaking sister party AGALEV had their breakthrough in the local elections of 1982, obtaining 50 local council members. In Italy, the first Greens entered Parliament in 1987, when the list of the ecological movement - Lista Verdi - got 13 MP's and two senators. The Georgia Greens have had a substantial following from their start in the same year. The German Greens are generally regarded as the Mother of all Green parties, although they are not the oldest or the first Green Party to enter national parliament. But their significance comes from being the first Green party to have a strong presence in the legislature of a large nation. The big break came in 1983, when Die Grà ¼nen attracted nearly a million votes (5.6 %) and gained 28 seats out of 497 in the federal Parliament. The Guiding Principles Here are the Guiding Principles, adopted by the member parties of the European Federation of Greens: The European Greens want eco-development. The economy must adapt to what the natural environment can tolerate. The aims of the... Free Essays on German Greens Free Essays on German Greens Table of Contents  · The emergence of Green parties in Europe: The Greening of Europe Begins  · The Guiding Principles  · Greens on the EU  · Main Political Issues of German Greens  · Current Situation in Germany  · Bibliography The Greening of Europe Begins The Green movement as an electoral force is young. The first ecological and alternative political groups emerged in the 1960's, but most European Green parties were not created until a decade or more later. The very first ecology party in Europe emerged in Britain in 1973. The European elections of 1989 were a spectacular success for the UK Greens, who scored 15 % of the votes. Due to the first-past-the-post electoral system, however, the 2.5 million votes did not translate into one single seat in the European Parliament. In Belgium the French speaking Ecolo was formed in 1980 and gained 5% of the votes and five deputies in 1981. Their Flemish speaking sister party AGALEV had their breakthrough in the local elections of 1982, obtaining 50 local council members. In Italy, the first Greens entered Parliament in 1987, when the list of the ecological movement - Lista Verdi - got 13 MP's and two senators. The Georgia Greens have had a substantial following from their start in the same year. The German Greens are generally regarded as the Mother of all Green parties, although they are not the oldest or the first Green Party to enter national parliament. But their significance comes from being the first Green party to have a strong presence in the legislature of a large nation. The big break came in 1983, when Die Grà ¼nen attracted nearly a million votes (5.6 %) and gained 28 seats out of 497 in the federal Parliament. The Guiding Principles Here are the Guiding Principles, adopted by the member parties of the European Federation of Greens: The European Greens want eco-development. The economy must adapt to what the natural environment can tolerate. The aims of the...

Three Privai Products and Three Ingredients Per Product Research Paper

Three Privai Products and Three Ingredients Per Product - Research Paper Example According to Mayo Clinic, tea may also work against viruses that cause genital warts. Tea also contains polyphenols, potent antioxidants that may reduce the risk of cancer, according to TeaBenefits.com. It may also lower both cholesterol and triglyceride levels while it prevents blood clots effectively as aspirin to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Grapeseed oil is pressed and extracted from the seeds of various varieties of Vitis vinifera  grapes, an abundant  by-product  of  winemaking. Primary uses of grapeseed oil include culinary and cosmetics. It is a significant to antioxidant products because it helps in moisturizing the skin. According to wisegeek.com, it is often combined with other oils to make  massage  oil because of its quality to glide well on the skin and its moisturizing properties. It also appears to assist with skin repair because of its mild astringent  and antiseptic qualities. It is also used as a  lubricant  for  face  shaving. Pomegranate seed oil is an extract from pomegranate (Punica granatum), fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to between five and eight metres tall. Pomegranate is native to China, India, Egypt and regions of the Middle East. It is rich and nutritious. Its phytochemical content such as ellagic acid makes it useful to antioxidant products. According to the mountainroseherbs.com, it’s because of these properties that make it commonly used in cosmetics products. It helps to revitalize dull or mature skin, assist with wrinkles, and to soothe minor skin irritations. Pomegranate seed oil adds moisture, improves skin elasticity, and protects the skin. It can also provide relief from minor skin irritations and inflammation such as dry skin, eczema, psoriasis and sunburned skin. In one study conducted by the University of Michigan Medical School (published in the February 2006 Journal of Ethnopharmacology), it have shown that pomegranate

Dividend announcements and share prices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Dividend announcements and share prices - Essay Example The term signaling is commonly used in economic analyses. It refers to "the idea that one party (termed the agent) conveys some meaningful information about itself to another party (the principal)." ("Signaling", 2006) Also, signaling is based on the principles of asymmetric information. This says that, "In some economic transactions, inequalities in access to information upset the normal market for the exchange of goods and services." ("Signaling", 2006) In such a situation the signaling hypothesis says that, two parties could get around the problem of asymmetric information by having one party send a signal that would reveal some piece of relevant information to the other party. As mentioned, dividend announcements are one way by which information is conveyed to investors as well as to the market. The information content of dividend announcements has long been explored by various researchers and analysts. Moreover, various studies have been conducted to determine how dividend announcements affect the price of the shares of the company in the market. Different theories have been created to explain how certain factors affect the information content of dividend announcements and how effect that such information may have on the stock prices. The subject of the information content of dividend announcements warrants research for it affects several parties. For one, investors and shareholders are directly influenced by the stock prices of shares. Also, previous research has suggested that when dividend announcements are made, abnormal returns are seen especially during the period surrounding the announcement. (Starks, 2004) In this paper, one area of dividend announcements will be explored. Particular focus will be given on the size effect or the effect of the size of the firm on the abnormal returns that are seen when dividend announcements are made. This research will concentrate on the size effect as made evident in the Australian stock market. By conducting such analysis, this research will be able to answer the following research question: What is the effect of dividend announcements on asset prices Theoretical Framework This research will follow the methodology utilized by Mozes and Rapaccioli (1995). Their study aimed to determine the role of dividends in explaining the size effect. The said study is a follow up on past researchers that have been conducted wherein it was discovered that, on average, the firm's security price increases around its announcement of an increase in dividends or a special dividend. Moreover, previous researches have shown that the converse likewise holds. This means that a firm's security prices tens to decrease when an announcement of a decrease in dividends or a discontinued dividend is made. Also, past studies have shown that reactions to dividend changes are greater for small firms than for large firms. Using empirical analysis, the study of Mozes and Rapaccioli (1995) aimed to investigate "the extent to which dividend announcements affect the relation between firm size and the amount of information provided by earnings announcements." However, since this research does not concern itself with earnings announce

Panera Bread Analysis Essay Example for Free

Panera Bread Analysis Essay Panera Bread is a fast food restaurant where many people go to eat a quick, filling meal. Panera appeals to most people because of the amount of options it offers, which makes it difficult to be dissatisfied. After choosing foods to use on our good day and our bad day, we immediately noticed several differences. For breakfast on the bad day we chose a pecan roll; while on the good day we chose a whole grain bagel with reduced fat roasted vegetable cream cheese. The first thing we saw was that the pecan roll was much higher not only in calories, but calories from fat, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and sugars. At the same time however, the dietary fiber and protein, essential nutrients, were much lower in the pecan roll. The choices of drinks in the morning also have a great difference between them. The Pumpkin Spice Latte contains 78% more calories than the Hot Coffee. For lunch on a bad day, the large Mac N’ Cheese would be a perfect choice. This meal alone has 980 calories. As if just the meal was not bad enough, Panera offers a side to go with it. For the side of this meal, we chose the French baguette. For the good day we decided that the Classic Salad would be the best choice. It has minimal calories and a great supply of several different nutrients. The side that we thought would best fit this meal is an apple. A drink that would go with the bad day for the lunch meal is a frozen caramel frozen drink. Shockingly, the amount of calories in this drink is more than the amount of calories in our entire breakfast on our good day. Dinner for the bad day at Panera Bread would be steak and white cheddar hot Panini. It contains almost half the amount of kcals the average person should consume in one day! In addition to those 1,000 calories we chose a side of a bag of Panera’s’ kettle chips. For the good day dinner, we chose a â€Å"You Pick Two†, the meals being half of a tuna sandwich on honey wheat and a cup of low-fat garden vegetable soup. The side for the â€Å"You Pick Two† would be a dill pickle that has 5 kcals. The drinks for these two meals would be a large lemonade on the bad day, and a tropical hibiscus flavored iced herbal tea on the good day. If you wanted to have a dessert at the end of both days, the bear claw pastry would be a great choice for the bad day, while the cinnamon coffee crumb cake would work the best for the good day. What we learned from doing this project is that even though Panera Bread comes off as somewhat healthy for fast food, it can be really unhealthy for you depending on what you pick. The meals that we chose for the bad day were so high in calories and sodium that we both will never consider these meals as an option again. An example of this was the Mac N’ Cheese. If you order a large, you are consuming 2470 mg of sodium, which is more than the suggested amount you are supposed to consume in one day and it is only one meal. At the same time, you are only taking in 3 grams of dietary fibers. The steak and white cheddar Panini was very similar in this way, absolutely no bang for your buck! On the other hand, we learned that Panera could be somewhat healthy on what you pick. For example, the â€Å"You Pick Two† was not an overall bad choice. It was just a tuna salad sandwich with garden vegetable soup and the kcals and cholesterol was not too high. The only thing that was high, yet not too shocking, was the sodium in the soup. The classic salad was also something that was surprising healthy, even with the dressing on it. It was only 170 kcals with no cholesterol or sodium. On the good day, you would consume about 1200 kcals in total. In comparison, one meal of the bad day consisted of this many kcals.

Hamlets Frustration Essay -- Hamlet

Hamlet's Frustration In order to understand Hamlet, we must understand his frustration. This frustration is most clear in his famous monologue, famously beginning with the line "Oh what a rogue and peasant slave am I." This self-condemnation is contrasted by his admiration for the actor of the previous scene, who "in a fiction" is able to "force his soul to his own conceit." The word "soul" is an example of metonymy, as the soul represents the actor's "visage," "tears," "distraction," and "voice." Thus Hamlet equates "soul" with one's actions, so by his own comparison his soul is weak, as he does not take action against the king. The second sentence is furthermore a rhetorical question, beginning with, "Is it notÃ…  " So clearly Hamlet's lack of emotion is "monstrous" in his own mind at the very start of the monologue. The equation of "Hecuba" to "nothing" is then contrasted by Hamlet's "cue" being the murder of his father. Hamlet then states that the actor would "drown the stage with tears" if he were in Hamlet's position. The visual hyperbole which is compounded by the repetition of rhythm ("Make mad the guilty," "appal the free") and the deep assonance ("cleave," "ear," "speech," "free,") serves to further prove Hamlet's belief that he is inadequate, weak, since both the sounds and the exaggeration build to and are immediately compared with Hamlet himself. Hamlet directly holds himself up to the actor and then begins to apply his feeling of inadequacy to his exact situation. The fragment, "yet I" is isolated to emphasize the contrast between the actor and himself, action and inaction. The following metaphoric phrase "dull and muddy-mettled rascal" can only be spoken slowly, thereby illustrating the hesitation through b... ...oretically have an impact, though in reality the purpose of the play is to verify something that Hamlet already knows. It is therefore a convoluted method of procrastination and a haphazard way of avoiding all of his self-criticisms. Works Cited and Consulted Danson, Lawrence. "Tragic Alphabet." Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. Rpt. from Tragic Alphabet: Shakespeare's Drama of Language. N. p.: Yale University Press, 1974. Rosenberg, Marvin. "Laertes: An Impulsive but Earnest Young Aristocrat." Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Masks of Hamlet. Newark, NJ: University of Delaware Press, 1992. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html

Ray Charles Robinson Essays -- Soul Music Biography Musician Essays

Ray Charles Robinson Ray Charles Robinson, more commonly known as Ray Charles (to avoid confusion with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson), was born in the southern city of Albany, GA on September 23, 1930. He was a prolific, multi-talented singer, pianist, bandleader, and composer who, when on stage captivated his audience not only by his musical ability, but also because he was a blind, African American man. He was given the nickname â€Å"the Genius† for his capability of combining the music of gospel, jazz, pop, country and rhythm and blues (R&B), known as â€Å"soul music.† Charles began going blind at around age five, and had completely lost all eye sight by age seven. The cause of his blindness was never confirmed, but most believe it was due to glaucoma. By then, his family had moved to Greenville, FL, and Charles had already begun playing the piano. Charles’ mother never took pity on him, she began teaching him things even before he became completely blind. He never saw his being blind as a weakness, and that helped him out tremendously as a child and into adulthood. He soon began attending the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind, as a charity student, where he perfected his piano skills while learning how to play various other instruments. He also learned how to read and write music, type, and compose scores in Braille. Both of Charles parents were dead by the time he was fourteen, and at age fifteen he was orphaned and left St. Augustine to begin his professional music career. For almost two years, he played for local bands in Florida, but then he headed to Seattle, WA which has been said to be the turning point in Charles’ personal and professional career. During the ear... ...lobe Award nominations. Works Cited "Charles, Ray." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2005. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 22 Jan. 2005 < http://search.eb.com/eb/article?tocId=9022591&query=RAY%20CHARLES&ct= >. "Charles, Ray." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2005. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 22 Jan. 2005 < http://search.eb.com/ebi/article?tocId=9310645&query=RAY%20CHARLES&ct= >. Ray Charles: The Official Site. Comp. Chad Hanson, Ira Merrill, and Raenee Robinson. Mar. 2001. RCR Production, Inc. 22 Jan. 2005 < http://www.raycharles.com/ >. "Ray Charles." Ed. Larry Sanger, and Jimmy Wales. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 15 Jan. 2001. Wikipedia Online. 22 Jan. 2005 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Charles >. The History of Rock 'n' Roll. Comp. D K. Peneny. Mar. 1998. 22 Jan. 2005 < http://www.history-of-rock.com/ray_charles.htm >.

Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2010

Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2010 A case discussion note January 17, 2012 1. Historically, why has the soft drink industry been so profitable? Historically, the soft carbonated soft drink (CSD) industry has been valued at $74 billion in the United States. In order to understand the reasons why the industry has been hugely profitable despite the ‘Cola Wars’, an examination of the CSD industry with Porter’s five forces analysis will be conducted. As market leaders, the analysis will be centred on both Coke and Pepsi (hereafter â€Å"C&P†). Threat of new competition: Barriers to entry in the CSD industry are extremely high and there are various factors to support this. Firstly, both C&P spend gargantuan amounts of funding of advertisement. According to Exhibit 8, in 2009 alone, both C&P spent $234 million and $145 million respectively in advertising expenditure. Therefore, while the actual initial capital investment needed to start up a CSD company is relatively economic, the amount required by new entrants to continually push their brand and gain visibility is extremely high. Due to these extreme levels of expenditure on marketing and brand awareness, the two cola companies have accrued exceedingly high levels of brand equity and consumer loyalty worldwide. As such, even with sufficient funds for start-up and subsequent advertising, new entrants are unlikely to sway persisting consumer tastes. Because of the sheer scale of both CSD companies, both C&P have pre-existing contracts with their bottlers, thus limiting their bottlers’ ability to produce similar products with rival brands. Additionally, through the use of extensive consolidation through the use of acquisitions and re-franchising of their bottlers, both C&P have made it essentially impossible for new entrants to find bottlers for the distribution of their drinks. In the event that the new entrants decide to build their own bottling plants (which is quoted to potentially cost hundreds of millions in the case), they would only find themselves facing insurmountable fixed start-up costs in addition to the ridiculous amount they have to spend on marketing. Even if new entrants somehow found a way to produce and market their drinks, the incumbents’ (C&P) far-reaching networks would make it impossible for them to secure any form of distribution channels. Shelf spaces in supermarkets were dominated by C&P because supermarkets were given a cut of the profit generated from the sales of their products. These cuts accumulate to a significant amount of profit-generation for the retailers. Additionally, combined, C&P owned 89% of national pouring rights. The fact that the incumbents had exclusivity in both supermarkets, fountain outlets, and other forms of retail channels would make it almost impossible for new entrants to distribute their products. Bargaining power of consumers: Historically, the two main customers of soft drink producers were supermarkets (29. 1% of distribution) and fountain outlets (23. 1%). In general, retail outlets have been unsuccessful in asserting much bargaining power over the industry. In part due to the level of fragmentation as well as their reliance on C&P as drivers of customer traffic. Longstanding contracts and acquisition of fountain outlets also serve to weaken consumer’s bargaining power. Bargaining power of suppliers: Major suppliers for C&P provided commodities in the form of cans, sugar, bottles, etc. These products were highly homogenous and could be substituted easily. The aluminium can industry, in particular, depended on firms like C&P because they were majority buyers. Due to such dependence, suppliers asserted little or no bargaining power over the industry. Intensity of competitive rivalry: Even though C&P are essentially a duopoly in the CSD industry, competition between the two have traditionally centred on marketing efforts like advertising, new products, and promotions rather than pricing. Their rivalry, historically, was also in a market with consistent growth. As such, profits were not adversely affected even though their rivalry was highly documented and publicised. Threat of substitutes: There are a number of alternative substitutes for soft drinks and these include beer, bottled water, tap water, juices, tea, coffee, wine, powdered drinks, milk, and distilled spirits. Yet, according to Exhibit 1, Americans, historically, consistently drank more CSDs than any other beverage. As such, the threat of substitutes affecting C&P’s profitability was limited. To further nullify the effects of substitutes, they also produced and promoted their own range of substitutes to reduce potential losses. 2. Compare the conomics of the concentrate business with that of the bottling business. Why is the profitability so different? Using data from Exhibit 4, we are able to see that the operating income of a concentrate producer is 32% of its net sales while that of a bottler is only 8%. The reason the bottling business earns significantly lesser than its concentrate counterpart can be attributed to two main factors – significantly higher cost of goods sold (COGS) and the existence of selling and delivery expense. We see that the COGS of a bottler are at 58%, much higher than the concentrate producer’s 22%. The reason for this difference is predominantly due to Master Bottler Contracts established to allow for a certain level of â€Å"price fixing† on the concentrate producers’ part. Additionally, as mentioned previously, raw materials for concentrate producers are abundant and homogenous; hence COGS for them will be significantly lower. Also, the bottler is in charge of selling and delivery, and hence incurs an 18% selling and delivery expense while there is no such expense on the concentrate producer’s part. These reasons explain why the concentrate business has a more profitable business model than the bottling business. . How has the growing popularity of non-carbonated soft drinks influenced the industry? Non-carbonated soft drinks have been gaining popularity in the past decade, increasing from 13% in 2000 to 17% in 2009. This growing popularity has resulted in the generation of both local and global strategies by CSD firms unwilling to lose out on the budding market. In order to capitalize on the opportunity, both C&P greatly expanded their lines of beverages to include sports drinks like Gatorade and tea-based drinks like Lipton. Majority of drinks introduced during this time were non-CSDs. Besides creating new products, Coke also aggressively gained market share through acquisitions and extending their fountain services to include coffee and tea. The non-CSD opportunities globally were also aggressively pursued by companies like C&P. To gain localized expertise, however, the soft drink companies did not merely think to introduce new products into foreign markets. Instead, they resorted to acquiring the respective market leading, non-CSD companies in the countries they chose to invest in. The companies of choice were usually major fruit juice producers. Beyond takeovers, C&P also tried their hands at innovation and localization of beverages. These mainly came in the form of integration of local drinks (e. g. blended green tea with Sprite) or utilization of local ingredients in the production of new drinks (e. g. beverages with Chinese herbs). The emergence and rapidly growing popularity of the non-CSD has garnered much retaliation from major players in the CSD industry. In order to get their share of the pie, they have formulated expansion strategies both locally and globally which seem to center around acquisition.