10 Best Writing Communities You Need to Join Today - Freewrite Store

10 Best Writing Communities You Need to Join Today - Freewrite Store Back in the very early 2000s, when the internet was still young, YouTube didn’t exist, and Facebook was just a twinkle in Mark Zuckerberg’s eye, I joined a Yahoo Group for writers.  Ã‚   Why? I was writing fiction that I wanted to publish online – but first, I wanted to get it peer-reviewed. And not long after I signed up, one of the other writers reached out to me and offered to help me with my 30,000-word novella. She said she saw promise - and some things that needed fixing. I accepted her offer and began an amazing friendship that stands strong to this day.  Ã‚   It still amazes me that this stranger from across the world was willing to give up her time, for free, to help me hone my craft. It took several months of rewrites. She didn’t pull any punches with her feedback, but she was always constructive and kind, and her advice was invaluable, as was the input from the other writers after I finally reached the stage where I was happy to release my story to the wider group.   I’ve been a big fan of online writing communities ever since. If you’ve never joined one before, you might not be aware of the full range of benefits you can get by signing up.    Support   Writing is a pastime (or profession) with a unique set of challenges that only another writer can truly understand. Being part of an online community gives you the chance to interact with others who understand your struggles, frustrations and challenges, and who can offer helpful encouragement and wisdom. It provides you with a group of people with whom you can discuss and explore your ideas and your roadblocks, and who can encourage you to keep going when you’ve hit a creative brick wall.   Critique   When you’re emotionally involved in a piece of writing, it can be hard to assess it objectively. Not sure if your plot makes sense? Do your characters ring true? Are their motivations plausible? Family and friends often lack the technical ability or the courage to provide truly constructive feedback, whereas an online community provides you with a diverse group of writers with a wide range of experience who can help you gain valuable insight on your strengths and weaknesses.   Knowledge   Every writer brings something new to a community in terms of experience, genre, format, perspective, tips, processes and ideas. A writing community gives you a forum to exchange knowledge and take away the most useful tidbits to apply to your own writing. Offering to critique someone’s work can also be a valuable learning experience which gives you exposure to a plethora of writing styles. Many communities also offer their members access to learning resources.   Resilience   One of the things any writer needs to learn to deal with is criticism - no writer is going to be accepted by every publisher or enjoyed by every reader. Writing is a very personal and emotional activity, and it can be  difficult to hear negative things about your work, and scary to share it with strangers. Good writing communities will help you build your resilience to feedback by being constructive, thoughtful and helpful.   Marketing   If you’re going down the self-publishing route, you’ll need some marketing skills, and being part of an online community puts you in contact with other writers who have been there, done that, and can share what has worked for them. Most communities also have avenues through which you can promote your own books to other members.   If you’re keen to experience the support, companionship and knowledge that comes from joining an online writing community, here’s a list of the ten best groups you can join right now:   1.  Scribophile   One of the world’s largest and most active communities, Scribophile operates on a karma system, whereby you have to critique others’ work before you can submit your own. However, if you pay for premium access ($9 per month or $65 per year), you get unlimited submissions and an ad-free experience. Scribophile also offers the opportunity to compete in writing contests (for cash!). All levels of writing ability are welcomed and almost every genre covered.   2.  Insecure Writers’ Support Group   This community was created by sci-fi author Alex Cavanaugh, who realized that there were a lot of lost souls out there scouring the internet for help with their writing. Today, it has a Facebook group with over 4000 members and a mission â€Å"to share and encourage†. The community’s website boasts a wealth of information including links to writing tips, publisher lists, marketing guides and contests. There’s a weekly newsletter and even a free guide to publishing and beyond.   3.  Absolute Write Water Cooler   If you’re looking for a purely forum-style group, then Absolute Write Water Cooler is a great place to start. With almost 68,000 members at the time of writing, it’s extremely active, well moderated, and there are threads on everything from writer’s block and grammar to publishing and freelancing. Plenty of writing formats are covered including podcasts, graphic novels and scriptwriting, to name a few. There are dozens of discussions about writing-related topics to get involved in, and a section where you can find yourself a beta reader, writing buddy or mentor.    4. Chronicles   This community is the largest forum that caters specifically to science fiction and fantasy writers. Aside from the writing forums that offer workshops, critiques, challenges and resources, it’s a great place to discuss the genre as a whole. Topics cover TV and film, featured authors, the publishing industry and more.   5.  The Next Big Writer   If you’re focused on getting your work critiqued, The Next Big Writer offers an international audience of authors – many of them published – to provide you with feedback on your writing and support with every aspect of your craft. This forum isn’t free but comes with a rich list of features for the membership ($8.95 per month, $21.95 per quarter or $69.95 per year) including guaranteed feedback, unlimited posting, access to premium groups, discounts on classes and entry into site competitions.   6.  She Writes   Looking for a supportive community of female writers? She Writes might be the right one for you. It’s the largest online writing community exclusively for women. Once you’ve joined, you can follow specific groups and content topics, post your own blog and read the articles posted by other members (more than 30,000 available). She Writes also operates its own self-publishing platform, where you can invest in professional coaching, editing, e-book creation and printing.   7.  Nanowrimo   Sometimes you need a deadline to give you that extra bit of motivation. Nanowrimo stands for National November Writing Month. Started in 1999 by freelance writer Chris Baty, it’s an online novel-writing challenge held from 1–30 November every year, with the objective of writing a 50,000-word novel. The community aspect comes in the form of camaraderie across social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and you can also join theNanowrimo forums to discuss all aspects of the novel writing process and share your journey with other participants. If the timing and word count don’t suit, tryCamp Nanowrimo instead, which holds virtual writers’ retreats in April and July for projects of any format and length.   8.  Talentville   Screenwriters – this community’s especially for you. Talentville is designed to help aspiring screenwriters not only hone their craft through collaboration and education but also to build connections within the industry. With over 10,000 screenwriters and more than 200 industry professionals registered, one of Talentville’s goals is to actively promote worthy work to agents, managers and producers. Membership ranges from free (with posting limitations) to $99 per year.   9.  Agent Query Connect   If you’ve already finished your manuscript, this online social network could be your best choice. It specializes in helping you get your book published, with discussion topics and helpful resources covering everything from writing query letters and finding agents to self-publishing and promotion. You can even get your query letter peer-reviewed.   10.  Reddit   Reddit is a vast social network made up of subreddits that focus on every topic imaginable, and there are plenty of writing-related discussion boards in which you can participate. It’s free, and sometimes unmoderated, but great if you have a very niche area of interest or are looking for a large and diverse group. With almost 700,000 subscribers, r/writing is a great place to start.    BONUS: 11. Freewrite Insiders Our Freewrite Insider group has over 30,000 writers all over the world who are serious about improving their writing process.   From free resources, quality content, and exclusive discounts on the latest writing tools, this is one  email newsletter that every writer who is serious about their craft needs to be part of.  Ã‚         About the author: Claire Wilkins is a freelance copywriter and editor from New Zealand. She loves to write about travel, health, home, and proper punctuation. After a career in financial services spanning almost three decades, Claire left the corporate world behind to start Unmistakable - her writing and editing business. She creates website copy, blogs, and newsletters for creative agencies and small businesses, and  specialises  in polishing existing content until it shines. In her spare time, Claire enjoys cloud-spotting, singing in the car and editing video.

North Pacific Right Whale Facts

North Pacific Right Whale Facts The North Pacific right whale is a critically endangered species. Along with the North Atlantic right whale and the southern right whale, the North Pacific right whale is one of three species of living right whales in the world. All three species of right whale are similar in appearance; their genetic pools are distinct, but they are otherwise indistinguishable. Fast Facts: North Pacific Right Whale Scientific Name: Eubalaena japonicaAverage Length: 42–52 feet Average Weight: 110,000–180,000 pounds Lifespan: 50–70 years Diet: CarnivorousRegion and Habitat: Northern Pacific ocean  Phylum: ChordataClass: Mammalia Order: ArtiodactylaInfraorder: CetaceaFamily: BalaenidaeConservation Status: Critically endangered   Description North Pacific right whales are robust, with a thick blubber layer and a girth sometimes exceeding 60 percent of their body length. Their bodies are black with irregular patches of white, and their flippers are large, broad and blunt. Their tail flukes are very broad (up to 50 percent of their body length), black, deeply notched, and smoothly tapered. Southern right whale breaches the surface off Puerto Piramedies, Argentina. Paula Ribas / Getty Images Female right whales give birth once every 2 to 3 years, starting around age 9 or 10. The oldest known right whale was a female who lived at least 70 years. Calves are 15–20 ft (4.5–6 m) long at birth. Adult right whales range between 42–52 ft (13–16 m) in length on average, but they can reach over 60 ft (18 m). They weigh over 100 metric tons. About one-fourth to one-third of a right whales total body length is the head. The lower jaw has a very pronounced curve and the upper jaw has 200–270 baleen plates, each narrow and between 2–2.8 meters long, with fine fringing hair.   Whales are born with patchy irregular spots, called callosities, on their faces, lower lips, and chin, above the eyes and around the blowholes. The callosities are made of keratinized tissue. By the time a whale is several months old, its callosities are inhabited by whale lice: small crustaceans who clean and eat algae off the whales body. Each whale has an estimated 7,500 whale lice. Habitat North Pacific right whales are among the most endangered whale species in the world. Two stocks are known to exist: western and eastern. The western North Pacific right whale lives in the Sea of Okhotsk and along the western Pacific rim; scientists estimate there are about 300 of them left. The eastern North Pacific right whales are found in the eastern Bering Sea. Their current population is believed to be between 25 and 50, which might be too small to ensure its persistence.   North Pacific right whales migrate seasonally. They travel northward in spring to high-latitude summer feeding grounds, and southward in fall for breeding and calving. In the past, these whales could be found from Japan and northern Mexico northward to the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska; today, however, they are rare.   Diet North Pacific right whales are baleen whales, meaning that they use baleen (toothlike bone plates) to filter out their prey from sea water. They forage almost exclusively on zooplankton, tiny animals that are weak swimmers and prefer to drift with the current in massive groups. North Pacific right whales prefer large calanoid copepods- are crustaceans about the size of a grain of rice- but they will also eat krill and larval barnacles. They consume whatever gets picked up by the baleen.   Feeding takes place in the spring. In higher latitude feeding grounds, North Pacific right whales locate large surface patches of zooplankton, then swim slowly (about 3 miles per hour) through the patches with their mouths wide open. Each whale needs between 400,000 and 4.1 million calories each day, and when the patches are dense (about 15,000 copepods per cubic meter), whales can fulfill their daily needs in three hours. Less dense patches, around 3,600 per cm3, require a whale to spend 24 hours feeding in order to meet their caloric needs. The whales will not forage on densities below 3,000 per cm3.  Ã‚   Although most of their visible feeding takes place near the surface, the whales can dive also deeply to forage (between 200–400 meters below the surface). Adaptationsand Behavior Scientists believe that right whales use a combination of memory, matrilineal teaching, and communication to navigate between feeding and wintering grounds.  They also use an array of tactics to find plankton concentrations, relying on water temperatures, currents, and stratification to locate new patches. Right whales produce a variety of low-frequency sounds described by researchers as screams, moans, groans, belches, and pulses. The sounds are high amplitude, meaning they are detectable across long distances, and most range below 500 Hz, and some as low as 1,500–2,000 Hz. Scientists believe that these vocalizations may be contact messages, social signals, warnings or threats.  Ã‚   Throughout the year, right whales create surface active groups. In these groups, a lone female vocalizes a call; in response, up to 20 males surround her, vocalizing, leaping from the water, and splashing their flippers and flukes. There is little aggression or violence, nor are these behaviors necessarily connected with courtship routines. Whales only breed at certain times of the year, and females give birth in their wintering grounds nearly synchronously. Sources Gregr, Edward J., and Kenneth O. Coyle. The Biogeography of the North Pacific Right Whale (Eubalaena japonica). Progress in Oceanography 80.3 (2009): 188–98.  Kenney, Robert D. Are Right Whales Starving? Right Whale News 7.2 (2000).  -. Right Whales: Eubalaena . Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals (Third Edition). Eds. Wà ¼rsig, Bernd, J. G. M. Thewissen and Kit M. Kovacs: Academic Press, 2018. 817–22.  glacialis, E. japonica, and E. australisÃ…  irovic, Ana, et al. North Pacific Right Whales (Eubalaena Japonica) Recorded in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean in 2013. Marine Mammal Science 31.2 (2015): 800–07.

Heart of Darkness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Heart of Darkness - Essay Example In making his comments upon London at the beginning of the book, Marlow illustrates the lesson he learned in the jungle, that the social impression of imperialism as an illuminating force for good brought to the desperate primitive peoples was a lie based on false cultural beliefs. He does this by reflecting out loud about the history of London and how it parallels in many ways the current history of Africa by questioning the difference between civilized and savage. It is obvious to the other men sitting on the deck that the concept of light as it is applied to men refers to the 'enlightened' or advanced culture. The narrator makes this clear as he talks about the rich history of the Thames and the glorious characters of those who have traveled on it. "They had all gone out on that stream, bearing the sword, and often the torch, messengers of the might within the land, bearers of a spark from the sacred fire. What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth! ... The dreams of men, the seed of commonwealth, the germs of empires" (Conrad, 3). These are all presented as positive elements or a kindness bestowed on those less fortunate. The splendor that was England would be graciously shared with the lazy, unintelligent brutes of the dark places without any consideration as to where that wealth was coming from. It is clear from the way the narrator describes things that he considers England to have always enjoyed such a privileged and recognized status. Only one of these men, Marlow, seems to see things differently, describing London in terms that make it sound very much like their present conceptions of the darkness or uncivilized nature of Africa. It is just as the narrator is winding down about the greatness of the civilization that lives on the banks of this river that Marlow interrupts everyone's thoughts with the sudden and cryptic statement used as epigraph above: "And this also ... has been one of the dark places of the earth" (2). In this passage, Marlow talks about the area of London as it was when the Roman soldiers found it. Although there was already a flourishing society at work on the island, as there were several flourishing societies found in Africa as European explorers pushed deeper and deeper into the forests, the Romans felt themselves engulfed by the same kind of darkness being experienced in Africa. â€Å"Sand-banks, marshes, forests, savages – precious little to eat fit for a civilized man, nothing but Thames water to drink. †¦ Here and there a military camp lost in a wilderness, like a needle in a bundle of hay – cold, fog, tempests, disease, exile, and death – death skulking in the air, in the water, in the bush. They must have been dying like flies here† (Conrad, 4). The darkness he describes for the Romans entails much more than the simple change in geography and weather from their Mediterranean home and sounds very much like how the Europ eans thought of the men they found in Africa at that time - savages who have nothing decent to eat or drink, strange illnesses, difficult or impossible terrains. Marlow's reflection on the Romans also draws parallels between the ancient Romans and the contemporary British as bringers of light to the dark places

The Bill in Legislation Requiring BSN within 10 Years of Graduating Assignment

The Bill in Legislation Requiring BSN within 10 Years of Graduating - Assignment Example Majority of New Jersey State Nurses Association (NJSNA) members have voted to support this legislation at the March 31, 2006 meeting. In 1999, Harris Poll conducted a nationwide survey wherein the results indicated that 76 percent of the public think that nurses should have at least four years of undergraduate education for sufficient preparation. In 1978, the American Nurses Association (ANA) House of Delegates recommended that by 1985, the preparation for entry into professional practice would be a baccalaureate degree. This was seconded by their 1965 position paper that was inspired by the Comprehensive Nurse Training Act in 1964. This motivated reviews on nursing responsibilities, practice, and education. There are many reasons why different groups are pushing for the educational advancement of registered nurses. One major purpose is to promote professional behaviors. It is believed that this may promote a higher level of understanding the complexity of healthcare resources signi ficant in caring for patients. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, a study conducted by Linda Aiken and her colleagues concluded, â€Å"In hospitals with higher proportions of nurses educated at the baccalaureate level or higher, surgical patients experienced lower mortality and failure-to-rescue rate† (2003). ... Sufficient academic preparation helps nurses to be equitable with other fields in healthcare. In addition, proper education boosts evidence based practice which is handier in the nursing profession. This significance will then give way to professional collaboration. Schools will have more opportunities to partner with relevant industries. As a result, this bill will increase the qualification of faculty members. Those with bachelor’s degrees are expected to advance their schooling by pursuing master’s programs. As the requirement for students become more compelling, faculty standards have to be cultivated. These educational changes, ultimately seek for the enhancement of the nursing practice. This approach maintains its respect for all educational entries while addressing the evolving competencies required. For those with associate degrees, they may continue practicing while furthering their nursing education. For instance, a registered nurse with an associate degree ma y continue to work while finishing his bachelor’s degree. Currently, there are more schools working with other institutions to deliver innovative and flexible means. Hospitals and other kinds of healthcare facilities can also advance themselves with the promulgation of this bill. With more staff having distinguished education, an institution makes its chances higher to be accredited by the Magnet Recognition Program which is being supervised by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Health care facilities that receive this recognition pride themselves with outstanding patient care and nursing services. Sponsors The bill is being sponsored by Senator Stavisky and Assembly Member Morelle. These two legislators share common ground regarding their experience and emphasis on

Graduation project Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Graduation project - Research Paper Example The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is located in the Middle East and is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Characterized by numerous business opportunities, the country is among the top rated investment destinations of the world. To most people, the name Saudi Arabia is associated with religious oppression and fewer people always think of investment to this unique location. Located in the middle of the Asian desert, Saudi Arabia is a dry country with a rich number of oil wells that is one of the key economic boosters that the country has. Most of the oil is sold to the western countries that either promise cash in return or improve the living conditions of the Saudi people. Starting or doing a business in Saudi can be quite challenging especially for foreign investors. The country has strict Islamic laws that govern almost all the industries and sectors of the economy. In order to facilitate the writing of this paper, literature on how trade is affected in Saudi Arabia was c ollected with relevance to the topic of discussion kept in mind. The banks and the entire economy strictly follow the Shariah laws of banking that maintain that loans do not gather any interest at all. It is for this reason that most investors find it challenging especially if their field of business will be affected by the strict laws. Coming into power in 2005, his majesty king Abdullah has had a lot of impact on the economy and living standards of the Saudi people. The country currently enjoys peace and is one of the countries in the Middle East that experience peace and political stability. This paper is a critical review of the current laws and economic standards that affect businesses in Saudi and some of the challenges that one might face in order to establish a business in Saudi. It is however important to note that this guide is a general overview of the situation in Saudi and should not

What Is The New Economic Model Economics Essay

What Is The New Economic Model Economics Essay Earlier of 2010, Malaysia government introduces the four pillars of national transformation which the aim is to achieve Vision 2020. The New Economic Model (NEM) is part of the four pillars of national transformation. The figure above showed the pillars of NEM. NEM consists of several plans and strategies such as Government Transformation Plan (GTP), Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), 10th 11th Malaysia Plan, and Principle of 1 Malaysia. Combination of these plans can form the NEM which plays the role of shelter to our country. From the bottom, there are 10th and 11th Malaysia Plans. These plans will act as the supported foundation for the NEM. With the aids of GTP and ETP, NEM can be implemented more comprehensive. However, if without the 1 Malaysia concepts, our shelter cannot complete. Therefore, concept of 1 Malaysia will act as the roof to cover all the plans and strategies. The NEM is an economic plan in Malaysia which is unveiled on 30 March, 2010 by Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razaks. NEM will generate benefits for all Malaysians. This economic plan is proposed to gain double income per capital Malaysia by 2020. Besides that, one of the NEMs propose is to reduce income disparity between the rich and poor in Malaysia, improve the system of affirmative action to becoming more competitive market and investor friendly, and improving workers productivity. Figure 1.2: Goals of New Economic ModelThe focus of the NEM is to transform the Malaysian into a developed and competitive economy whose people enjoy a high quality of life and high level of income from growth that is both of inclusive and sustainable by 2020. The keys to the plan as described unveiling are high income, sustainability and inclusiveness, which together will translate into a high quality of life for the rakyat. The first goal of NEM is high income. NEM aims to bring Malaysia to high income country with per capita income US$15,000 until US$20,000 by 2020. Currently, per capita annual income in Malaysia only worth at $7,000 in US currency; under NEM plan the figure would be double to US$15,000. When achieve this target, Malaysia would be able to escape from the middle income trap. Inclusiveness is second goal of NEM. Under inclusiveness, all Malaysian include Sabah and Sarawak enables to fully benefit and share the nation wealth. In additional, inclusiveness which can ensure that every citizen right could be preserved and no group could be ignored in the nation. Discrimination and bias will fully prohibited. The last goal of NEM is sustainability, which its refers to current generations meets present needs without compromising the future generations. Because of that, government will safeguard the natural resources that we have now from miss-spent. Furthermore, sustainability of the quality life will be pursuing and government takes action in order to reform the sector so that it achieves efficiency and equity. To achieve the goals of New Economic Model, there are eight Strategic Reform Initiatives (SRIs) those recommendations by NEAC. First SRI is re-energising the private sector. That because private sector play an important role in enhancing economic growth in the country. So, private sectors are encouraged to involve themselves in investment especially in high value added products and services so that sustained economy growth and high income country can be generated. Second SRI is developing quality workforce and reducing dependency on foreign labour. Under this policy, government will focus on labour markets and ensure that to work well. Efforts will put on such as workers must work efficiently to increase productivity and wages. Under the adjustment of labour market must be smooth, government need to ensure that workers are doing in the correct jobs which match with their knowledge and skill. Brain-drain problem needs to be solved to attract our skilled labour so that they can contribute in Malaysia economy. Besides that, government also focuses to generating a talented workforce to meet the needs of a high-value knowledge economy. Therefore, wage-restraining labour market distortions, such as excessive and indiscriminate use of foreign labour, will be removed. Creating a competitive domestic economy is a third SRI in NEM. To create the competitive domestic economy, many distortions such as subsidies, price controls and a myriad of distortion-creating incentives will be removed. Additionally, government also will build entrepreneurship to achieve this policy. Therefore, the ETP will help the vulnerable groups with an enhanced social safety net such as health care, education and etc, and a special transformation fund for them. The fourth of SRI is strengthening of the public sector. Public sector must be re-engineered. The reform programmes will continue to improve and speed up decision making processes using the whole-of-government approach and others. Government also focuses to improve the service delivery to rakyat. One main point in this policy is government want to reduce the friction costs. That means government wants to zero tolerance for the corruption. SRI 5 is transparent and market friendly affirmative action. Government will encourage equal and fair economic opportunities, and ensure that affirmative action programmes will continue in order to achieve the objectives, rent-seeking and market distorting features which have limited their effectiveness of the programme should be eliminate. Furthermore, this policy also emphasize in narrowed the gap between rich and poor. The real intention to reduce the income disparity is because in Malaysia still have the bottom 40 percent of households earn an average lower than RM1,500 per month. Besides that, government want make sure that all Malaysian get equitable and fair opportunities through the transparent process. The sixth SRI is building the knowledge base infrastructure. The key focus here is to promote an economic transformation in the industrial, agricultural and services sectors for innovation by strengthening the delivery of high quality education that nurtures innovation and technology. The aims of this policy are to create an ecosystem for entrepreneurship, promote an environment for innovation and lastly establish stronger enabling institutions. SRI 6 is enhancing the sources of growth. Malaysia will control its natural resource endowment and made sectors of comparative advantages as the main sources of high value added growth. From that, government can maximize spillover effects into new areas of activities. The aims from this policy are to create value from first mover and other comparative advantages, develop greater integration between the product and etc. Lastly, SRI 8 is ensuring sustainability of growth. Our country is rich in natural resources. So the purpose of this policy is to preserving our natural resources from the wasting. At the same time, government focuses to safeguarding the interest of future generations. The safeguarding interest of future generations will be complemented by sustainable public finances through stringent fiscal discipline. 2.0 Why we need NEM? Figure 2.1: GNI Per Capita (1990-2008; USD Thousand) Source: The World Bank The figure had shown the gross net income (GNI) per capita for nine selected countries which are Korea, Czech Republic, Slovakia Poland, Poland, Chile, Argentina, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia that at the middle income boundary in 1990. This figure reveals the position of the Malaysia had reached a middle income boundary since 1990. Malaysia had performance well in the early 1990 and able achieved 9 percent growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) in the mid 1990. However, Malaysia stood at middle-income position for three decades and unable to break up the middle-income trap and achieve to high income nation despite its achievement in the past few decades (Abdullah, 2010). The figure show that Korea, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Chile had cross over middle-income trap and achieved as a high income nation especially Korea with the GNI per capita USD 19,830 in 2009 which is high than the goal of NEM that USD 15,000 targeted for Malaysia. NEM report states that economic engine is slowing due to the absence of the private investment, difficulties of doing business, low value added industries, low-skilled jobs and low wages, stagnating productivity growth, insufficient innovation and creativity and lack of appropriately skilled human capital. Malaysia trapped in a low-cost, low-value economic structure; persistent low wages too are not attracting and retaining domestic and foreign talents, making it more difficult to move up the value chain (Teoh, 2010). The figures 2.2 have shown the private and public investment conditions in Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore: Figure 2.2: Private and public investment as share of GDP (1989-2008; %) Source: BNM, CEIC, Bank of Thailand The GNI per capita of Malaysia was seriously affected by Asian financial crisis 1997 when Malaysia had a good performance in the investment in mid 1990 which occupied 40 percent of GDP in Malaysia. However, the investment in Malaysia had fallen to 20 percent of GDP in 2008 (NEAC, 2010). This was implied that Malaysia was facing difficulties in recovery from the economic recession after 1997. Besides that, the foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign portfolio investment (FPI) were the main reasons that Malaysia suffers in capital flight due to the financial crisis. This had supported with the figure above which Malaysia had experienced rigorous declined in private investment due to the government and Government Linked Company (GLC) presence has discouraged the private investment and the barriers of the regulation for foreign company entries Malaysia domestic market (NEAC, 2010). Importantly, Thailand was recovered from the economic recession quickly compare to Malaysia that stagna ted in private investment. Moreover, Malaysias competitiveness in term of attracting foreign direct investment also show a declining trend which Malaysia global competitiveness index has dropped to 26th in the 2011 show that Malaysia was less attractive compared to other countries such as Singapore are closely related with Malaysia (World Bank, 2011). In public investment context, Malaysia had more reliance on the public investment rather than private investment which the private and public investment share are occupied almost same percentages of share in GDP in recent year even high than private investment after the economic recession. The averages annual growth of three components contributed to Malaysias economic growth from 1991 until 2006 was shown as below. The figure 2.3 implies that Malaysia more focus on the public investment which government expenditure relatively increase compared to other two components. In contrary, the contribution of investment toward economic growth was declined from 14 has dropped to 3 implied that Malaysia is reliance on the consumption to driving economic growth rather than investment after post-crisis. Figure 2.3: Average annual growth from 1991 to 2006 of Malaysia Whilst NEM emphasize on pushing Malaysia toward a high income nation, the inclusiveness also highlight in this model to reduce the income disparities of Malaysia. According NEM reports, there are only top 20 percent of Malaysian income earners shown the strong of income growth as presented in the figure 2.4. The bottom 40 percent of households have experienced the slowest growth of average income, earning an average of RM1,222 in 2008 (NEAC,2010). This one of the factor needed to concern in Malaysia in order to assist Malaysia achieves the Vision 2020. Figure 2.4: National household income (Average by segment, 1980-2008;RM) Source: MDI Thus, the NEM is needed as bold approach that provided policy measures derived from the SRIs in order to pushing Malaysia economic cross over the middle-income trap and provide the equitable and fair opportunities to Malaysian in order to reduced the gap between poorer and richer widening. However, the success of the NEM is significantly reliance on the steadfast commitment by government to implement NEM, the preparedness of the rakyat to comprise the difficult changes and a big push of strategic policy measures but not incremental changes (NEAC, 2010). 3.0 Conflict between first part and second part of NEM The affirmative action policy had been implemented for a long period in Malaysia which granting special status and privileges schemes to Malays aims to reduce bumiputera poverty and special scheme were adopted to reallocate corporate assets in Malaysia from Chinese-Malaysians and Indian-Malaysians to the benefit of bumiputeras (Lee, 2011). This is because bumiputera only occupied 2.6 percent of ownership in the corporate sector in 1971 which relatively lower than other community. This policy also focuses on bumiputeras contribution toward national wealth and 30 percent equity of company reserve to the bumiputera in the certain selected sectors that rise up the government expenditure which the total government debt is 41.5 percent of GDP is relatively high for a regime that provide few social services (Lee, 2011). Importantly, these schemes had encouraged the rent seeking bumiputera elites dependent on government assistance and requested the continuation of affirmation action. In this context, the NEM incorporates a new approach which can be summarized as inclusive growth. Inclusive growth is pro-poor growth and is concerned not only with the level but also the effect of persistent inequality on economic growth and poverty alleviation (NEAC, 2010). A key challenge for inclusive growth is to attain a balance between the special position of Malays, the natives of Sabah and Sarawak and legitimate interests of other group (Abdullah, 2010). Hence NEMs market-friendly affirmative action programmes in line with the principle of inclusiveness had revised from the past affirmative action will discontinue past practices that gave rise to unhealthy and pervasive rent-seeking and patronage activities; ensure equitable and fair opportunities through transparent processes; provided the assistance to the bottom 40 percent of households which 77.2 percent are bumiputeras and many are located in Sabah and Sarawak; allow right to use to resources on the basis of needs and m erit to enables improvement in capacity, income and well-being; have sound institutional frameworks for better monitoring and effective implementation(The Star Online, 2010). In SRI 5, NEM proposed that the revised affirmative action policy should be based on the bottom 40% of households. An affirmative action policy based on the low income group such as giving preferential treatment to the relatively disadvantages group proposed in NEM would be in the interest of distributive justice. Affirmative action will reflect on all ethnic groups equally as long as they qualify for access to resources under affirmative action. Moreover, an Equal Opportunity Commission (EEC) is proposed with the responsibility of monitoring and considering cases of discrimination and unfair treatment in the economy to cover both the public and private sectors (NEAC, 2010). Interestingly, in the NEM concluding part, targeted programmes for the bumiputera Commerce and Industry Community (BCIC) is one of policy measures for income disparities which contradict with the market-friendly policy. In the targeted programmes, market friendly, transparent and granted on the basis of needs and merit was emphasized on the special programmes in order to allow beneficiaries to adapt with the impetuosity competitive business environment to become self sufficient although weaning them away from prolonged dependence on such special programmes (NEAC, 2010). The NEAC recommends that Government and GLC procurement reservation for BCIC should continue but be targeted for bumiputera SMEs only. This was obviously implied that there is conflict between the reservations for BCIC with the market-friendly affirmative action that purposed in the first part of the NEM. According Asia Views, 34 years after implement New Economic Policy (NEP), official statistic states that bumiputera held equity in Malaysia stood at 18.7 percent or close to 11 percent below the target (Teoh, 2011). Moreover, there are a small layer of people (and it is a multi-ethnic group) have used the policy of affirmative action for the bumiputera to improve themselves through rent seeking, over-priced contracts and naked corruption. The majority of the bumiputera have only received a minor portion of the economic assistance that they were supposed to have received, and a large number of them are still stuck in poverty (Devaraj, 2010). However, NEM does not advocate the removal of the special position of bumiputera and the legitimate interests of the other communities (Abdullah, 2010). There are some arguments that support the retention of 30 percent bumiputera equity. In the targeted programmes for BCIC, open tenders for government and GLC procurements which are reserved for bumiputera small-medium enterprises will foster greater inter-racial unity (Khoo, 2010). 4.0 Issues facing by NEM In NEM, it is an economic model where it promises to bring Malaysia escape from the middle income trap and promote to high income level. The targeted income level will be USD 15,000 to 20,000 per capital in year 2020. Inclusiveness and sustaining are the considered factors in making policy. There are three important issues will be highlighted through NEM. There are: Education Entrepreneurial Skills Institutional Reform First issue that will discuss is education. Why education will be an issue in NEM? The most probably answer is that education is a persistent factor and it was also the root to Malaysia economy problems. Besides that, it is also the one of the factor that cause Malaysias investment growth one step behind if compares to our neighbour countries such as Singapore and even Thailand. Another significant reason is because NEM highly depends on technology upgrading, creation of a knowledge-economy and the development of a highly skilled workforce. In these three perspectives, high quality of human capital, innovation and effective RD is needed. To fulfill the requirements of NEM, education system plays an important role. The problems behind of education are education reform and brain-drain problems. First of all, education reform is an effort to change the present education system. When people talk about the education reforming, tertiary education will be the focus. University will be the root of blame because graduates unable to performing in their workplace. However, the blame should not only go to university. This is because students only spent three to four year time in university according to their course taken. Primary school and secondary school were occupied most of their time. Interest, intellectual curiosity, and creativity should be cultivated from younger period. Besides that, basic knowledge should be instilled from young to promise for the future understanding. When students are weak in the basic knowledge, they may find difficulty in their future study. Cannot be denied, universities have responsibility too. The most probably problem is graduates cannot speak and write proper English. Lectures and professors in university should teach in proper English. Foreign student exchange programme can encourage students speak and write better English. Not only the quality of the teachers in primary school and secondary school should be improves, however, the quality of lectures and professors need to be improved too. Another problem related with education in Malaysia is Brain-drain problem. Brain-drain problems can be defined as the loss of skilled intellectual and technical labour through the movement of such labour to more favourable geographic, economic, or professional environments. In Malaysia, brain-drain problems reach a critical stage where within the past nine years; only less than one percent of Malaysian who work overseas are willing to return to their mother land (Chua, 2011). The questions come out with why the professional are not willing to return to their mother land? Is that they will achieved greatness in performing their speciality, social status even prosperity if they develop their talent and skill overseas? Certainly, there must be several reasons why this happened. The first and the most, attractive wages in overseas encourage local professionals not dong their speciality in their mother land. For example, in United Kingdom, a fresh graduates from a degree of law can average earn  £36,500 a year in a law firm whereas in Malaysia fresh entrance only pay RM 21,600 a year. Second reason for brain drain in Malaysia will be the job opportunity. Especially for those job are unavailable in Malaysia, they are force to move to overseas to found the place where they have chances to performing. For example, in the political field, Penny Wong, who born in Kota Kinabalu, is a first openly gay and at the same time she is one of the members in Australian Commonwealth cabinet. Besides that, she is also the Australian Minister for Finance and Deregulation. In Malaysia, she might not have chance to step in political field just because of she has unique preferences. The other example will be the famous shoes designer Jimmy Choo who is expert in fashion line. He is also a Malaysian but contribute lots in London through fashion line. If he remains his expertise in Malaysia, he might not that successful because Malaysia has less market and demand in fashion line. In science and technology sector, although Malaysia has motif to join in this sector, however, resistance is still especially in the technology that we have might loss behind. Pua Khien Seng, who born in Selangor, was the first in the world who invented the USB pendrive that we widely use today. He is now currently own a listed company worth RM4.3 billion in Taiwan. Among the example, they are not return to Malaysia maybe is because they cannot perform their expertise in Malaysia, but not because of they are not willing to return to their mother land. The second issue that been emphasize is the entrepreneurial skill. Entrepreneurship can be defined as the recognition and pursuit of opportunity without regard to the resources you currently control with the confidence that you can succeed, with the flexibility to change course as necessary, and with the will to rebound from setbacks according to Bob Reiss, in his book Low-Risk, High-Reward: Starting and Growing Your Small Business With Minimal Risk (Hupalo, 2004). The reason why entrepreneurial skill is highlighted is because of it is close concern with SRI1 in NEM where its core has the re-energisation of the private sector as its goal. When the private sector as the targeted sector to growth, entrepreneur will be the focus because small and middle enterprise are highly depends entrepreneurship. However, the issue behind is that bumiputera entrepreneurs are less representation is nation wealth. Since the New Economic Policy, bumiputera entrepreneurs are given special treatment where there are 30% of the equity ownership are been given. According to a journal article, bumiputera entrepreneurs are less successful is due to several factors. The factors include inability to compete, lack of competency and capital, customer-related problems, employee-related problems, unfavourable economic conditions, bureaucracy, supplier discrimination, and negative community attitudes were found to be crucial (Abdullah, Hamali, Deen, Saban, Abdurahman, 2009). This meaning that among the bumiputera entrepreneurs, they must sharpen their skills to flourish without any dependence on government handouts. Of course, if NEM want to achieve successful, the equity ownership issue should be adequately address. The third issue will be discuss is the institutional reform. Institution reform can be defined as the changes to transportation organizations policies and practices to support government implementation. Institution reform should in term of norm, habits and convention in society must support efficiency and competitiveness of a country. Civil liberties and more liberal political do helps in promote economic development. Therefore, the issue behind is that how much of our government do given the liberty? It is suppose to have institution reform to gain fully freedom of speech, freedom assembly and demonstration. Unluckily, in NEM, it is lack emphasis on the state capture. State capture can be defined as the efforts of firms to shape the laws, policies, and regulations of the state to their own advantage by providing illicit private gains to public officials. It is always referring to corruption. Although there are zero-tolerance for corruption been mention in NEM, however, it just a list of it. There are no proper and effective strategies being introduce to reduce the corruption problems in our country. According to Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Malaysia corruption score is getting lower from year 2008 to 2010. This ranking is based on data from independent institution such as World Bank, Economist Intelligence Unit and World Economic Forum. The score of CPI have the scale from zero to ten. The lowest score zero show it is high corruption and low transparency. When the score is ten, it is high transparency and lowest corruption. Malaysia corruption scores as follow show that corruption problem is getting serious from year to year. Table 3.1 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of Malaysia from 2008 to 2010. 2008 2009 2010 Malaysias CPI 5.1 4.5 4.4 Source: (Rogers, 2009) Therefore, more and more effective policy and strategies should be draw up to cure this problem in our country. 5.0 Challenges in NEM NEM is about to change Malaysias current economic condition to the better economic in 2020 through the NEM goals. Change is the buzzword in order to reach the goals. However, in order to change, Malaysia faces challenges in terms of: Mindset Political will Labor force Satisfying all quarters? Sustaining the change Mindset is refers to the way of how people thinking. The people mindset as well as the politicians mindset must be ready to the changing in Malaysian economy through the NEM policy. Most of people in Malaysia are not aware that Malaysian economies are lagging behind some of the countries that now experience the emerging economies such as China and India. This mindset changing is the biggest challenge for the NEM to achieve its goals, because the operationalization of NEM is requiring the whole nations contribution. If they are not willing to change their mindset, then there is a big potential for the NEM policy to not work smoothly or it might fail in achieving its goal. As the Malaysian Prime Minister speech on March 30, 2010, he said that the process of changing the nations mindset is not easy and while the process, there will be a painful moments. This is because in the short term, there will be entrenched opposition and some of economic sectors may experience adverse effects. But in the long term, the mindset changing will bring lots of benefit to the nations. Political will is one of the key and important enabling factors for the NEM in supporting changes in this new policy. Without the political will, it is hard for the government to achieve the goal in NEM. In NEM report, it has mentioned that the political will and leadership needed to break the log-jam of resistance and preparing the peoples. In other words, the government must have the determination to break the log-jam of vested interest and beneficiaries of rent-seeking. If the log-jam of vested interest and beneficiaries of rent-seeking is still exists during the operationalization of NEM, it will cause to only some party gained the benefit of NEM and this result to inequality and lead to the failure in achieving the NEM goals which is inclusiveness. To achieve the NEM goals, political together with the intellectual leadership must demonstrate the necessary commitment to the NEM besides the political will and leadership need an emphasis on a coherent explanation of the vision and agenda of the NEM and transformation process (The Star, March 301, 2010). Furthermore, after the government spending about RM40 billion to came out with the policy, it is a big loss if the political will is not willing to operationalize this new policy. There must be a mindset changing and political willingness in order to successfully transforming to the NEM and achieved its goal while facing these challenges ( November 12, 2010, Dato Dr Mahani Zainal Abidin, Institute and International Studies, Malaysia): Getting the needed in investment but this will require restoring investors confidence via accommodating business environment. Undertake restructuring prices for goods and services will improve economic efficiency but may initially raise consumer prices and costs of doing business. Transforming the education system as a medium and long term task but requires policy consistency. Reduced dependence on foreign labor encourages firms to move up the value chain or embrace automation while those cannot, will exit and this also costing some local jobs. Moving towards green economy and promoting energy efficiency but this will require expensive initial investment and may erode price competitiveness. Reducing inequality between income levels and between rural and urban areas while striving for high economic growth. Addressing problem of urban poverty and improving infrastructure while maintaining a balance with achieving high investments in urban areas. One of the NEM intentions is making Malaysia entering the new phase in the industrialization process, moving away from a low-cost, export-oriented strategy to a higher value-added capital intensive and high technology-based industrialization where it is requiring a highly-skilled labor force. Comparing a knowledge-based economy or k-economy, NEM is an advance economic structure which requires a huge number of knowledgeable and high-skilled labors in new and emerging fields such as robotic engineering, information and communication technology and bio-technology and this development requires a high percentage of knowledge workers which would become the backbone of the Malaysian economy (February 18, 2011, Blog Rasmi Jabatan peguam Negara). High-skilled workforce not only needed in industrial sector but in service sector as well. Without the existing of high-skilled labor, it is impossible to entering the new phase besides high-skilled labor also one of the factors that attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to invest in Malaysia. But then, Malaysia is now facing the brain-drain problem where most of the talented, knowledgeable and high-skilled labor force moves to the more developed country such as Singapore. This matter becomes one of the challenges in NEM because in order to fulfill the requirement of high-skilled labor force, they have to attract back those Malaysian who work outside from Malaysia to work back at their motherland. Not only to attract them back but also find a way on how to eliminate the brain-drain problem and to reduce the number of high-skilled labor force that move away from Malaysia. They have to recognize what the factors that make all the high-skilled labor work out from Malaysia and develop some policy or law to prevent them work out from Malaysia. Since Malaysian people is consist of various races and religion, when making a policy it must satisfying

The Punic Wars Essay example -- First Punic War, Second Punic War

Romans were a very powerful people, and their influence grew and spread very quickly. Through organized armies and great tactics they pushed themselves up the Italian peninsula, seizing land and territory from the Etruscan League. Rome now owned most of the Italian peninsula except for what was owned by the Gaelic Tribes. (Barker) They grew into quite the power and all of Europe recognized them as a powerful force. Their influence grew and spread across the Mediterranean Sea and it forced the meeting of the two greatest forces of the Mediterranean Sea. It is 264 BC and hostilities between the Carthaginians and the Roman republic are on the rise. The fate of the island of Sicily hangs in balance. The Romans hunger for power and land, while Carthage wants the same. Both are powerful and rich traders and planned to stay that way. They were both the most powerful forces in the Mediterranean. Romans held military glory in the highest regard, and made military service a required part of political advancement. Carthage also held military glory highly but their military mainly consisted of mercenary soldiers rather than citizen soldiers Carthage had one of the greatest militaries of the entire world. Carthage had an extremely powerful naval fleet, and advanced war tactics. Carthage borrows much of its war tactics from the Greeks, such as the phalanx which proved to be extremely effective in warfare. Carthage recruited the majority of its army from mercenaries from Spanish Iberia. The most famous of Carthaginian infantry was the Sacred Band, deadly elite spearmen who fought in a tight phalanx. The Sacred Band were also said to be strong devotes to their goddess known as Tanit (Basar) The wealthier mercenaries fought using Greek wea... ...ols/armor/) Basar, Paul. "The Arms and Armor of The Punic Phoenicians." The Arms and Armor of The Punic Phoenicians. (http://phoenicia.org/carthagearmor.html) Phil Barker "Etruscan League." Etruscan League. ( http://dba.spearhead1944.com/Etruscans/webpage/etruscan.htm) Rickard, J., Battle of Trebia, late December 218 BC, (http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_trebia.html) UNRV "After the Battle of Cannae." After the Battle of Cannae. UNRV, (http://www.unrv.com/empire/after-cannae.php) Sigurdasen. "Battle of Lake Trasimene: Hannibal's Carthaginians Ambush, Defeat Romans."The American Legion's Burn pit†. (http://burnpit.us/2012/06/battle-lake-trasimene-hannibals-carthaginians-ambush-defeat-romans) Hickman, Kenny. "Punic Wars: Battle of Zama." About.com Military History. (http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/battleswarsto1000/p/zama.htm)