Cultural Experience Essay Restaurant essays

Cultural Experience Essay Restaurant essays Visualize entering a massive two-story restaurant with decorative designs seen from every corner of the room. Distinct sounds of the maracas and other instruments can be heard throughout each section of the buildings triangular architectural design. A friendly waitress then greets the whole family with a warm and friendly smile. While seating arrangements are being made, the whole family stares in awe due to the very stunning displays surrounding the caf. While patiently waiting for the meal to arrive, dazzling hand-painted murals, wall tile mosaics, and conga barstools, portraying the daily life of a local Cuban, soon capture the whole familys attention. They noticed that the entire interior walls of the caf are splashed with very stylish, but yet extravagant colors. Shades of light blue, bright yellow, and neon green surround every corner of the room, bringing forth a sense of beauty, and at the same time excitement throughout the Cuban caf. And just when the family starts to conve rse with one another, about the intricate designs inside the restaurant, the friendly waitress soon arrives with the delicious meal in hand. This past weekend, my whole family took a long, deserved vacation to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We eagerly agreed to try out, Bongos Cuban Caf, a Cuban restaurant located at the heart of Downtown Disney. The atmosphere of Bongos Cuban Caf was bright, colorful, and very entertaining. The restaurant did a wonderful job depicting Cuban life and culture. The loud but yet enjoyable Latino music heard throughout the building compliments the cafs vibrant interior. The exterior was a delightful site indeed that was dominated by the massive two-story pineapple-shaped adobe structure that fills the skyline of Downtown Disney with glamour. For our entrees we chose Pescado ($12, listed under "Specialties") and Artesano Chicken ($12.30, ...

NASA Not Ready for Safe Manned Mars Mission

NASA Not Ready for Safe Manned Mars Mission NASA lacks the â€Å"right stuff† to deal with the dangers involved in sending humans to Mars and bringing them back – alive according to the space agency’s own Office of Inspector General (IG). In his 48-page report, NASA inspector general Paul K. Martin stated that NASA â€Å"faces significant challenges† in protecting Mars mission crews, and that it is being too â€Å"optimistic† in projecting its timetable for responding to the risks. As a result, Mars-bound humans â€Å"may have to accept a higher level of risk than those who fly International Space Station missions.† Now planned for the 2030s, NASA’s first human mission to Mars will be fraught with new dangers such as deep space radiation, increased cancer risk, impaired vision, negative effects of extended space travel on human behavior and performance. Reality check: By the 2030s, there will still be no warp drives, transporters, replicators or other â€Å"Star Trek† wonders to help our Mars-bound astronauts get there faster and stay alive longer. In fact, as IG Martin notes, they might even run out of food. Running out of Food? Yes, even basic nutrition could become a big problem, according to the report, because: A mission to Mars and back will take at least 3 years, but the current maximum shelf life for NASA’s prepackaged foods is only 1.5 years.The vehicle carrying astronauts to Mars and back will probably be far smaller than the International Space Station, providing significantly less room for food storage.Periodic resupply missions carrying more food, like those currently serving the Space Station, will not be possible.Finally, NASA scientists do not know how deep space radiation will affect the quality, shelf life and nutritional value of food. While NASA is investigating resupply alternatives, including actually growing food in the Mars spacecraft, the IG stated, â€Å"Despite 35 years of experience with space flight and research in this area, NASA food scientists continue to face challenges from crew member weight loss, dehydration, and reduced appetite that can result in nutrient deficiencies both during and post mission.† Dangers and Costs of Dealing with Them Not Known While NASA has developed ways to deal with most of the risks of travel in low Earth orbit, many of the added risks associated with long duration space travel – like trips to Mars and back are not yet fully understood. In addition, taxpayers, IG Martin also found that NASA cannot accurately project the true costs of creating ways to deal with the Mars mission risks. In fact, the ability of NASA to pay for a manned Mars mission, safe or not, is questionable given its shrinking share of the annual federal budget, which Congress has shown no signs of enlarging any time soon. â€Å"NASA has taken positive steps to address the human health and performance risks inherent in space travel,† Martin wrote, adding, â€Å"Long duration missions will likely expose crews to health and human performance risks for which NASA has limited effective countermeasures. †¦ Accordingly, the astronauts chosen to make at least the initial forays into deep space may have to accept a higher level of risk than those who fly International Space Station missions.† A ‘Culture of Silos’ Dragging NASA Down In his report, IG Martin contends that NASA’s scientists and engineers are held back by their tendency to work in what he called a â€Å"culture of silos,† in which technical teams work and collaborate only with specialists within their own areas of expertise. In other words, not enough research data is being shared. â€Å"We found multiple examples of work taking place on health and human performance risks that suffered from such communication silos,† Martin wrote. According to the report, NASA’s has so far failed to give its astronaut life safety community a designated representative to work with the engineering, safety, and mission planning communities to ensure that issues of astronaut health and physical performance are fully and properly considered. IG Found Some Progress, But†¦ IG Martin did find that NASA had been taking some steps to lessen the risks of the Mars mission including a new Mars rover, set for launch in 2020, that will be able to extract and collect oxygen from thin Martian atmosphere and ways to grow food in the almost sterile Martian soil. However, Martin concluded that NASA must speed up its work on astronaut safety in order to meet its established manned Mars mission goals and timetables.

Evaluate Bribery in the context of International Strategic Marketing Essay

Evaluate Bribery in the context of International Strategic Marketing - Essay Example As it is, international corporate actions are governed by multitudes of responsibilities, codified procedures, and negotiated contracts, strategic alignments with other entities and political groups, joint responsibilities and the likes. The complexities of operations of these international corporations as well fierce market competition often push these entities to resort to drastic measures to achieve their goals. As it is, many of these companies include bribery and cartels as an unwritten part of their marketing strategies. Bribery in itself is considered as illegal in most countries around the world. There are many international as well as local laws and regulations that prohibit this act. Business ethic standards also dictate that bribery and cartels should be avoided. As stated by the Court in the celebrated case of Verizon Communications Inc. v. law Offices of Curtis V. Trinko, 540 U.S. 398 (2004), bribery and cartels are the supreme evil of antitrust and companies should beware about using these strategies to crush their competitors. However, despite the many laws and regulations that attempt to curve this practice, companies still manage to use this tactic to get ahead. The advancement in communications makes it even easier for companies to perform acts of bribery and conceal these acts from the public. Of course there are cases when companies are caught giving bribes as in the case of Siemens in Germany but these incidents are too few compared to the actual number of business entities that are p racticing bribery. Bribery is a complex thing and it comes in many shapes and forms. It can happen between private businesses and government entities. Bribery can also take place between two or more private companies. When it comes to its application, bribery can be an overt act as in the case of outright political corruption and influence peddling or it can be indirect