Performance Enhancing Drugs Essay -- Athletics Sports Essays

Performance Enhancing Drugs For many years sports have played huge roles in human’s everyday lives. From entertainment, political, financial and to actually competing in them. The task for the sportsmen or women, especially in the top rank, is to beat the other competitors and get a good result from it. Here there is a high amount of pressure on many athletes coming from the media, coaches, themselves etc. They have the wanting to do well and achieve their goals and aims so much that some of the athletes turn to performance enhancing drugs. Obviously training for competition is the main thing to do but using drugs is another helper to succeeding. So, to their way of thinking, doping does not seem like cheating it just seems like something that has to be done for success. Using chemicals in the hopes of improving athletic performance is nothing new. If you were an athlete in the Greek Olympic days, your coach might have suggested you try different mushrooms to gain a competitive advantage. Doping, however, in the sense used today, really came onto the scene in the 19th century. The first drugs to be used were heroine and morphine. Heroine was mainly found in horse-racing circles, while morphine was very much in fashion in boxing and so-called endurance sports. It was suspected of having caused the death of Arthur Lindon, a Welsh racing cyclist who died a few months after the Bordeaux-Paris race of 1896, thereby becoming the first ever recorded victim of doping. Things really got out of hand at the beginning of the 20th century, with strychnine and ephedrine making their appearance, not to mention steroids. Over the last few years, doping has taken a new, dangerous turn. Growth hormones drugs have appeared, as well as doping i... ...ity without drugs. If the athlete, coach or medical adviser resorts to using drugs to assist performance, they are also cheating themselves. If an athlete, coach or medical officer is caught breaking the rules, it could affect their future career in sport as well as bring shame on the sport, their family and friends or harm their own body’s even result in death. I feel that the use of doping substances or doping methods to enhance performance is cheating, unfair and is contrary to the spirit of fair competition. I feel that performance enhancing drugs are wrong in many ways like the horrible effect they have on the athlete’s body. Also the bad name that it gives to the sport that the athlete cheats at and very importantly the way that young children look up to there favourite athletes and if he/she hears about them taking drugs they may want to try them as well.

Islamization Under Zia Ul Haq Essay

When General Zia-ul-Haq took over as the Chief Martial Law Administrator on July 5, 1997, Islamization was given a new boost. General Zia-ul-Haq was a practicing Muslim who raised the slogan of Islam. The Islamic sentiment has always been fully alive in Pakistan. Various governments have used this to their benefit. There are people who doubt Zia’s reasons for raising the Islamic Slogan; whether it was for political purposes to counter balance Bhutto’s appeal or was it to enforce Islam in its true sense. In his first address to the nation, he declared that Islamic laws would be enforced and that earnest attention would be devoted towards establishing the Islamic society for which Pakistan has been created. General Zia wanted to bring the legal, social, economic and political institutions of the country in conformity with the Islamic principles, values and traditions in the light of Quran and Sunnah, to enable the people of Pakistan to lead their lives in accordance to Is lam. On December 2, 1978, General Zia-ul-Haq delivered a nationwide address on the occasion of the first day of theHijra calendar. He did this in order to usher in an Islamic system to Pakistan. In the speech, he accused politicians of exploiting the name of Islam, saying that â€Å"many a ruler did what they pleased in the name of Islam.† After assuming power and arresting former leader Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on charges of murder, the task that the government was facing was how to gain legitimacy. Since the Islamist parties were already against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, they had the most influence on Zia-ul-Haq’s government. It was announced the government would enforce Nizam-e-Mustafa (Islamic System), a 180 degree turn from Pakistan’s predominantly parliamentary law, as a preliminary measure to counter what he saw as a lack of true Islam in Pakistan. Sharing the ideology of the Wahabi sect, Zia advocated purging Islam of what he considered to be impurities and innovations. He wanted to create a hard line Sunni Islamist state. His reforms were popular with Hanafi and Shia sects who faced widespread discrimination and human rights abuses during his rule. Significant and systematic changes aimed at Islamizing the legal system were initiated in 1979 and carried out under General Zia-ul-Haq. This process not only introduced religious and gender biases in Pakistan’s laws but also brought about far-reaching institutional changes in the country’s judicial system. Zia’s Islamization drive was ardently supported by religious parties,  particularly the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), which emerged as one of his regimes key coalition partners. JI’s founder, Maulana Abul Ala Maududi, endorsed Zia’s Islamization efforts and described them â€Å"as the renewal of the covenant between the government of Pakistan and Islam† (Haqqani, 2005, p.139). In turn, Zia’s support and patronage of the JI allowed the party to gain a foothold in the government so much so that crucial ministries, such as the Ministry of Information, were allocated to JI nominees. However, state sponsored Islamization intensified sectarian divisions between the Sunnis and the Shias 1 who opposed the application of the Hanafi fiqh in areas such as Zakat (Islamic tax) rather than Ja’fari fiqh, which they follow. The Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqh-e- Jafari (INJF-Movement for the Establishment of the Shia Fiqh) was formed in 1979 and led Shia opposition to some of the measures instituted by Zia (Talbot, 2005). The Islamic conservatism and the Islamic state became Zia’s primary policy of his military government. Intensified Islamic Policies to radicalize the country had the West worried. The secular socialist orientation and socialist economics process was an attempt to upset to Pakistan’s order of operation on a routine life, as Zia maintained. General Zia rejected Bhutto’s philosophy and was reported to highly hostile of Bhutto’s philosophical rationale, â€Å"Food, Clothing, and Shelter.† General Zia defended his policies in an interview in 1979 given to British journalist Ian Stephens, as he puts it. â€Å"The basis of Pakistan was Islam. The basis of Pakistan was Muslims in the subcontinent are a separate culture. It was the Two-Nation Theory that carved out of the subcontinent as Pakistan. Mr. Bhutto’s way of flourishing way of this Society was by eroding its moral fiber. Mr. Bhutto eroded the moral fiber of the society by pitching students against teachers, children against their parents, landlord against tenants, workers against mill owners. Pakistanis not incapable of economic productions. It is because Pakistanis have been made to believe that one can earn without working. We are going back to Islam not by choice but by the force of circumstances. It is not I or my government that is imposing Islam. It was the 99 percent of people wanted; the street violence against Bhutto reflected the people’s desire of wanting just as the campaign for Pakistan Movement. I am just giving the people what they want.† In 1983, Nusrat Bhutto reasoned General Zia’s policies as she puts it: â€Å"The (scream) and the horrors of 1971 war†¦.  are (still) alive and vivid in the hearts and the minds of people of [Pakistan]†¦. Therefore, General Zia insanely†¦. used the â€Å"Islam [card]†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. to ensure the survival of his own regime†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The Government of Zia-ul-Haq took a number of steps to eradicate non-Islamic practices from the country. He introduced the Zakat, Usher, Islamic Hadood and Penal code in the country. Prohibition Order Drinking of wine (i.e. all alcoholic drinks) was not a crime at all under the Pakistan Penal Code. In 1977, however, the drinking and selling of wine by Muslims was banned in Pakistan and a sentence of imprisonment of six months or a fine of Rs. 5000/-, or both, was provided in that law. Under the Prohibition Order, these provisions of law were replaced by the punishment of eighty stripes, for which an ijma of the companions of Muhammad ever since the period of the Second Caliph Omar was cited. However, the law does not apply to non-Muslims, who can possess a license to drink and/or manufacture alcoholic beverages from the government. Prayer timings Instructions were issued for regular observance of prayers and arrangements were made for performing noon prayer (Salat Al Zuhur) in government and quasi-government offices and educational institutions, during office hours, and official functions, and at airports, railway stations and bus stops Reverence for fasting Ordinance An â€Å"Ehtram-e-Ramazan† (reverence for fasting) Ordinance was issued providing that complete sanctity be observed during the Islamic month of Ramazan, including the closure of cinema houses three hours after the Maghreb (post-sunset) prayers. Definition of Muslim By amending the constitution, General Zia also provided the following definition of a Muslim and a non-Muslim * (a) â€Å"Muslim† means a person who believes in the unity and oneness of Almighty Allah, in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophet hood of Muhammad, the last of the prophets, and does not believe in, or recognize as a prophet or religious reformer, any person who claimed to be a prophet in any sense of the word or of any description, whatsoever, after Muhammad. * (b) â€Å"Non-Muslim† means  a person who is not a Muslim and includes a person belonging to the Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, or Parsi community, a person of the Qadiani Group or the Lahori Group [i.e. Ahmadis] or a person belonging to any of the scheduled castes. A Federal Shariah Court was established to decide cases according to the teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunnah. Appeals against the Lower and High Courts were to be presented before the Shariah Court for hearing. Blasp hemy of the Holy Prophet (S. A. W.) would now be punishable by death instead of life imprisonment. Zia-ul-Haq selected his Majlis-i-Shoora in 1980. It was to be the Islamic Parliament and act as the Parliament of Pakistan in place of the National Assembly. Most of the members of the Shoora were intellectuals, scholars, ulema, journalists, economists and professionals belonging to different fields of life. The Shoora was to act as a board of advisors for the President. A number of other Islamization programs were carried out including the teaching of Islamic Studies and Arabic, which were made compulsory. Pakistan Studies and Islamic Studies were made compulsorily for B. A., B. Sc., Engineering, M. B. B. S., Commerce, Law and Nursing students. For professional studies, extra marks were given to people who were Hafiz-e-Quran. General Zia-ul-Haq wanted to make Pakistan the citadel of Islam so that it could play an honorable and prominent role for the Islamic world. The steps taken by General Zia were in this direction and had a long-term impact; the Zakat tax introduced by General Zia still holds and so does many of his the other laws. On the other hand Islamization was sometimes used as a political process. Zia’s interpretation of Islam may have contributed to the rise of fundamentalism, obscurantism and retrogression. Since the death of General Zia in 1988, inconsistency and instability has prevailed in Pakistani laws. Instability means that the law is frequently changing or is under threat of change because of differences of opinion among the ruling factions. Three of the most obvious inconsistencies in Zia’s Islamic law are: * Those between legal norms and socially observed norms; * Those between statutory legal norms and the norms applied in practice in the courts (e.g. Hadd is difficult to implement as confession, retraction of confession and strict standards of proof make it difficult to execute); *  Those between different formal legal norms (e.g. non-compliance with the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance is compromised by the courts but is strictly punished under the Zina Ordinance). Another example of this contradiction is that the constitution assures women equal status on the one hand but, on the other hand, they are greatly discriminated in criminal law. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008316story_16-3-2008_pg3_3 http://ijazulhaq.com/zia/biogrophy1.html http://www.rationalistinternational.net/Shaikh/blasphemy_laws_in_pakistan.htm

Burberry - Luxury brand with global business Example For Free - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1063 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? Burberry was founded in 1856 when Thomas Burberry constructed his first outerwear garments for the sportsmen of Basingstoke, England. Burberry has become a leading luxury brand with a global business. Burberry is a British fashion house manufacturing such as clothing accessories, perfume and cosmetics, jewellery etc. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Burberry Luxury brand with global business Example For Free" essay for you Create order Its distinctive tartan pattern has become one of its most famous widely copied trademarks. The red, camel, black and white lines became synonymous with Burberry and mostly people could recognise this brand when they just see the check.Its trademark products are mostly fashionable handbags and exclusive fragrances. The Creative Director is Christopher Bailey and the current CEO is Angela Ahrendts. The Company owns stores in more than 38 countries around the whole world. In 2008 Burberrys revenues were ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¤995.4 millions. In recent decades, the company has become one of the most popular fashion brands in the world. HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH The Prince of Wales have granted the company Royal Warrants. The red, camel, black and white lines became synonymous with Burberry and mostly people could recognise this brand when they just see the check. Burberry has as known as the original British luxury brand which placed by the Royal Army. The company is list ed on the London Stock Exchange and is one of the FTSE 100 Index. Company History In 1879, Thomas Burberry invented gabardine a breathable fabric made using an innovative process whereby the yarn was waterproofed before weaving. This fabric was not only water-resistant but also extremely durable. A patent was taken out in 1888. In 1891, Thomas Burberry opened his first shop in London at the Haymarket, now the site of Burberrys corporate headquarters. In 1901, Burberry was commissioned by the War Office to design a new service uniform for British officers, resulting in the trench coat. After the war, the trench coat became popular with civilians. The iconic Burberry check was created in the 1920s and used as a lining in its trench coats.The Burberry Knight logo was developed and registered as a trademark in 1904. New York and Paris opened afterward. During the Second World War, Burberry continued to supply high quality gabardines to servicemen in all branches of the service s for officers. Burberry was first awarded the Royal Warrant from The Queen in 1955. The Burberry check had been primarily used as a coat lining until a presentation was made in 1967, after that the trademark design applied to umbrellas, luggage and scarves products. Burberry was becoming an independent company until 1955, which Great Universal Stores (GUS) took over it. Burberry Group plc was initially started appeared on the London Stock Exchange in July 2002. Accounting Ratios All of the financial data is supplied form the Burberry official web site. Data are all counted as at 31 March of every year. All numbers are presented in 3d.p. form. The currency is GBP in million. Current Assets Ratio = Current Asset : Current Liabilities 2008: pound;588.40 : 436.20 = 1.349 : 1 2009: pound;742.40 : 546.80 = 1.358 : 1 Difference = 1.358 1.349 = pound;0.009 The ratio in 2009 has slightly increased which mean for each pound of current liabilities the business has the higher amount of current asset to return. Acid Test Ratio = Current Assets Inventories : Current liabilities 2008: pound;588.40 268.60 : 436.20 = 0.733 : 1 2009: pound;742.40 262.20 : 546.80 = 0.878 : 1 Difference = 0.878 0.733 = pound;0.145 Current assets are lower than current liabilities in both years. There is about 14 pence more available of current assets to pay each one pound current liabilities without included inventories in year 2009. Gross Profit Ratio = (Gross Profit / Total Revenue) X 100% 2008: (pound;617.70/995.40) X 100% = 62.055% 2009: (pound;665.80/1201.50) X 100% = 55.414% Difference = 55.414 62.055 = -6.641% In 2009, the profit ratio has dropped 6.6% which mean 6.6% of gross profit had decreased inside the total sales. Net Profit Ratio = (Net profit before tax / Total Revenue) X 100% 2008: (pound;195.70/995.40) X 100% = 19.660% 2009: (pound;16.10/1201.50) X 100% = 1.340% Difference = 1.340 19.660 = 18.32% The net profit ratio had dropped sharply by 18.32% which means the revenue contained 18.3% less net profit. Mark up ratio = (Gross Profit / Cost of Goods Sold) X 100% 2008: (pound;617.70/377.70) X 100% = 163.542% 2009: (pound;665.80/535.7) X 100% = 123.823% Difference = 123.823 163.542 = -39.719% The ratio of gross profit to cost of goods sold had decreased by about 40%. Return on Capital Employed = (Net profit before tax/Shareholders funds) X 100 2008: (pound;195.70/495.30) X 100% = 39.511% 2009: (pound;16.10/539.30) X 100% = 2.985% Difference = 2.985 39.511 = -36.526% The ROCE on 2009 2.985% which mean in each pound of shareholders funds, about 3 pence is returned. During 2008 and 2009 the returns had dropped about 37 pence. Fixed Assets Turnover Ratio = (Total Revenue/Fixed Assets) 2008: pound;995.40/364.80 = 2.729 2009: pound;1201.50/383.30 = 3.135 Difference = 3.135 2.729 = 0.406 The turnover ratio in 2009 showed that in each pound of assets value had 3.10 pound returns from the revenue income the ratio return increased about 40 pence. Dividend Yield Ratio = (Dividend per share/Market price per share) X 100% 2008: (pound;0.12/4.50) X 100% = 2.667% 2009: (pound;0.12/2.80) X 100% = 4.276% Difference = 4.276 2.667 = 1.609% The dividend ratio in 2009 showed that for each share will earn 4.276% dividend but raised about 1.6% from last year. Price Earnings Ratio = Market Price per Share / Earnings per Share 2008: pound;4.50/0.32 = 14.062 2009: pound;2.80/0.31 = 9.032 Difference = 9.032 14.062 = -5.03 PER in 2009 showed that for each about 9 pound of share could got 1 pound share earnings and the ratio was about 5 lower than last year. Stock Turnover Ratio = Cost of Goods Sold / Average Stock at Cost 2008: pound;377.70/209.2 = 1.802 2009: pound;535.70/265.6 = 2.017 Difference = 2.017 1.802 = 0.215 Stock turnover ratio had increased by 0.2 from last year. In another word for each pound of stock cost, about 20 pence more will spend on the cost of goods sold. Evaluation Based on the data provided by the site, Burberry has making improvement on sales year by year. This means much more people approbate this brand and enjoy owing it. By looking through the calculation, most ratios didnt seem to have a great difference between years. For the most different gap I think would be the market price per share. It had a huge drop from pound;4.50 from last year to pound;2.80. It was totally affect the net value of the company and the FTSE 100 Index. The main cause of that change was because of the credit crunch in 2008 September. The global share market dipped sharply and millions of people lost their jobs. Those problems engender the crash dive of the currency of Great Britain Pound. However, leading the fashion around the world, Burberry seem did not had a big crash on their retail business. By ceaselessly producing marvellous products, its status would never be affected easily. It is always a representing the classic and modern faction symbol in the UK people thought. People always feel it is a honour to wear Burberry products hence its check and trademark have already emblematise to a luxury logo.