Sphere :: Essays Papers

Sphere Sphere: Summary The Sphere is a novel about a huge vessel that is discovered in the South Pacific on the ocean floor. A group of scientists descended to investigate the mysterious discovery. The protagonists are the scientists: Norman, Ellen, Captain Barnes, Dr. Johnson, Beth, Harry, and Ted. The antagonist of the story at the beginning is a set of tragedies. Later the antagonist turns out to be themselves. The book starts out with the scientists having to take many vigorous mental and physical tests. Qualifying them to submerge themselves thousands of feet down into a spaceship of phenomenal dimensions. Many personality conflict arise. At one point communication is almost permanently lost with the surface world. An idea the spacecraft is from the future is shortly lived. Once the Sphere is opened, total anarchy takes control of the scientists lives. A monstrous squid, 15 times the size of a normally larger squid, emerges and destroys the living quarters of the scientists. Now they are forced to live in the spacecraft with all communication lost with the outside world. Killer shrimp, fire, and internal floods follow the introduction of the squid. Barnes is eaten alive by the gigantic squid. After the climax and many deaths the few people left discover whoever enters the Sphere is granted the power that everything they think or imagine happens or is created. Either it's conscious or subconscious, while they're sleeping or awake, or even if they really want it to happen. They also it was planted by another world as a test of its full capabilities and consequences. Ted actually imagines his own death, only to kill himself. Once their emergency submarine is lost, they realize they have a serious problem being trapped together.

Political Philosophy of the Philippines Essay

Graft and Corruption has always been a big problem for the Philippines. Many presidents (if not all) in the past, are solidly accused of creating and approving projects of which the budget is way more than the necessary expenses and way more than the outcome. Some are accused of accepting bribes from various groups of big syndicates that operate lottery illegally. Some of these presidents were greatly affected by all these accusations about their governance that they resort to forced resignation, but some were brave enough to stand by their government and stay seated in the throne despite all the allegations thrown against them. I know that this administration has been very consistent in telling the people about their prime focus for the next six years of the Aquino governance, and that is a government that is free of corruption. From the time of the 2010 presidential elections until now, it has always been the greatest advocacy of President Aquino. For this year’s State of the Nation Address, the President took time to emphasize all the lapses and anomalies of the previous administration that were discovered in the early part of the present administration. There were investigations and inspections done to know where all the money of the national budget had gone. And they discovered that there are a lot of questionable releases of budgets. President Aquino also shared their solution to all these arising questions like appointing a Truth commission, who will lead the investigations regarding all the questionable budget approval of the previous administration. Also, included in the State of the Nation Address are the different strategies that are considered by the government to answer the rising problem of unemployment in the country, the plans for the Philhealth, the National Land Use Bill, and many more. For me, this is a good way to start the 6-year governance of this administration. Corruption is now in the minds of the people as something that is tearing this country apart, as something that is bringing the people down and as something that is inevitable to any administration. But with the strong determination and the strong will that this government is showing the people against corruption, they are gaining the trust of the people and with trust comes the support, which is for me an important part in any government. The fight of the government against corruption is something that the people appreciates because they have witnessed how life is with a corrupt leader, and with this fight the people sees a new light, they see a hope that there really could be a bright future for all of us. I also would like to emphasize that this philosophy of the government if pursued well, could actually bring a big big change in the state of the country today, more funds to go to proper projects for the people. But the question still remains. Can they really eliminate corruption within the government? Of course I am not against the capacity of the government to execute all their plans against corruption, but the government is a big institution and the president cannot do it all by himself. He would need the support and participation of all the employees from the highest position in the palace to the smallest rank in all the branches of the government. This philosophy is great but we need to impose it properly so that all the plans will not go into waste and so that we will all benefit from it.

Competition A Theory Of Competition Essay - 1644 Words

a. Theory of Competition Competition in the economic sphere denotes the process of rivalry between firms for the patronage of customers. The European Commission defines competition as a situation in which firms or sellers â€Å"independently strive for buyers’ patronage in order to achieve aparticular business objective, for example, profits, sales, or marketshare†7. Richard Whish refers to competition in the commercial world as â€Å"a striving for the custom and business of people in the market place†8. In this sense, competition is the equivalent of rivalry between firms; this rivalry may be in different forms such as for price, service, or a combination thereof, or other factors. Competition is at the heart of the market-based economy. The debate about the relative merits of a market-based economy versus a state-controlled, planned economy that raged for decades seems to have been broadly settled in favour of the former. Countries across the globe are reforming their economies, and undertaking privatization and deregulation. As they do so, the forces of competition come increasingly onto the centre stage of the economy. Competition is the process by which sellers strive to gain the patronage of buyers in achieving their primary objectives of increased sales, larger market shares and greater profits. Sellers are more likely to attract and retain buyers if the quality of their goods or services is higher and the prices lower than those of their rivals, or if they are innovative inShow MoreRelatedCompetition Policy : Theory And Practice1477 Words   |  6 Pages Market Power 1. Introduction With the development of economics, market power is a heated topic. Motta (2005) states that market power refers to the ability of firms to set prices above marginal costs in the book called Competition Policy: Theory and Practice. George A. Hay thinks â€Å"The modern concept of the market power focuses on the potential for consumers to suffer injury through the actions of a single firm or a group of firms acting in concert†(1991) in his essay about market power in antitrustRead MoreArgument Against Perfect Competition Theory Essay1551 Words   |  7 Pages0 Argument against Perfect Competition Theory Theory of perfect competition has severe shortcomings that limit its application in business. Generally, its assumptions fail to hold in the real world, which makes the theory implausible as discussed below. Firstly, it assumes that buyers and sellers are price takers in the market. As such, it presumes that there are many buyers and sellers that are insignificant and equally small for the conditions of perfect competition to exist. However, in eachRead MoreThe Theory And Monopolistic Competition Minimum Wages1926 Words   |  8 Pagesunemployment and give less chances to young people to find a job. However, according to oligopolistic theory and monopolistic competition minimum wages will eventually lead to higher employment, rather than the opposite. This view will be carefully discussed and analysed in this paper with empirical evidence. Oligopsony is described as a market with few buyers, while monopsonistic competition is â€Å"an oligopsony with free entry, so that employer profits are driven to zero†. Two great examples ofRead MoreUsing Oligopsony Theory And Monopsonistic Competition2001 Words   |  9 Pagesa labour market. However it is unrealistic due to the existence of competition between employers. In contrast, it is more appropriate to model the labour market as under â€Å"oligopsony† and â€Å"monopsonistic competition†. Bashkar, Manning and To (2002, p 156) define Oligopsony in labour market as: â€Å"Oligopsony describe a situation where employer market power persists despite competition with other employers† For monopsonistic competition, it describes the condition which oligopsony has free entry or exitRead MoreUsing Oligopsony Theory And Monopsonistic Competition1047 Words   |  5 Pagesunrealistic due to the existence of competition between employers. In contrast, it is more appropriate to model the labour market as under â€Å"oligopsony† and â€Å"monopsonistic competition† situation. Bashkar, Manning and To (2002, p 156) define Oligopsony in labour market as: â€Å"Oligopsony describe a situation where employer market power persists despite competition with other employers--the number of employers does not need to be small.† For monopsonistic competition, the term describes the condition whichRead MoreGame Theory Is The Study Of Decision Making Under Competition1289 Words   |  6 PagesGame Theory is the study of decision making under competition. More specially, Game Theory is the study of optimal decision making under competition when one individual s decisions affect the outcome of a situation for all other individuals involved. Game Theory can be broadly classified into four main sub-categories of study: - Classical Game Theory - Combinatorial Game Theory - Dynamic Game Theory - Other Topics in Game Theory As a mathematical tool for the decision-maker the strength of gameRead MoreTraditional Trade Theory, New Economic Geography Theory And The Interplay Between Globalization And Competition1602 Words   |  7 PagesThis study identifies four strands of thought that outline the factors which can lead to the over-concentration of services; traditional trade theory, new trade theory, new economic geography theory and the interplay between globalisation and competition. It is from this four factors in which the negative effects of the over-concentration of services are created. These negative effects will be discussed and analysed in a bid to understand what can done to reduce them. Polycentricity and territorialRead MoreThe Pharmaceutical Industry with Reference to Key Strategy Theory, Analyse and Evaluate the Changing Nature of Competition Within the Global Pharmaceutical Industry1996 Words   |  8 PagesThis essay will analyse the factors that shaped the competition within pharmaceuti cal industry. It will look at the key players in the market and try to answer how they obtained the competitive advantage over their rivals. Moreover his paper will also examine the main business models in pharmaceutical industry and look how the companies react to the changing nature of competition, by re-assessing their strategies. According to the case, written by Holland Batiz (2004), the pharmaceutical industryRead MoreThe Strength of Competitive Analysis905 Words   |  4 PagesOUTLINE INTRODUCTION: Competition Theories Compete It is never doubted by academic circles and business environments that the strength of competitive analysis, if not the top, is one of the most important critical success factors in creating and managing marketing strategies. The way a business adapts to competitive environments, characteristic of its focus being self-centered, competitor-centered, customer-driven or market driven (Day and Nebugandi, 1994), will define its placeRead MoreA Research Study On An Academic Research Essay1658 Words   |  7 Pages1.0 Introduction An academic research involves a comprehensive investigation of theories, principles and decisions criteria among other study materials with an aim of identifying facts and drawing conclusions. Ultimately, there are lots of benefits associated with research in learning as well as in solving real life problems. For instance, it allows for knowledge building through evaluation of existing theories (Webb, 2007). In this case, the researcher is exposed to research work conducted earlier