My Dream Free Essays

My Dream Holiday My dream holiday doesn’t involve only one place but the whole world, because it is to tour the world’s most astonishing places. Firstly there’s Manhattan. New York. We will write a custom essay sample on My Dream or any similar topic only for you Order Now As one of the most popular tourist destinations and heavily populated places anywhere in the world, Manhattan offers something for everyone, including vast amounts beauty, irrelevant of what you consider to be beautiful. From the lush greenery and openness of Central Park to the awe-inspiring and breathtaking view from the top of the Rockefeller Centre to the iconic Statue of Liberty, it would be difficult for anyone to visit Manhattan and not find part of it stunning. It was not until the voyage of Henry Hudson, an Englishman who worked for the Dutch East India Company, that the area was mapped. Hudson came across Manhattan Island and the native people living there in 1609, and continued up the river that would later bear his name, the Hudson River, until he arrived at the site of present day Albany. Secondly there’s Ireland There’s one town in particularly which is a â€Å"must†. This town is called Killarney. It is located in the province â€Å"Munster† in Country Kerry. Its population was last taken in 2006 and found to be 16931 people. Killarney has featured prominently in early Irish history, with religious settlements playing an important part of its recorded history. Its first significantly historical settlement was the monastery on nearby Innis fallen Island found in 640ad by St. Finian the Leper, which was occupied for approximately 850 years. Thirdly there’s Meteora, Greece. The word â€Å"meteora† means â€Å"Suspended rocks†. The area of Meteora on the Greek mainland is a collection of six monasteries that were constructed on limestone rocks many centuries ago. The six monasteries includes â€Å"The Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron, Varlaam, Rousanou, St. Nicholas Anapausas, St. Stephen and The Monastery of the Holy Trinity. Their beautiful to look at both up close and from afar, each of the six Eastern Orthodox monasteries are still inhabited to this day. Then there’s the wondrous Creation located in Australia. The Great Barrier Reef. It is officially the largest reef system on earth. The Great Barrier Reef has almost 3,000 reefs encompassed within the 2,600 kilometer area of land that it covers. Although the Great Barrier Reef is clearly visible from space, it is when looking at it from underneath water when it truly appears to be beautiful and somewhat magical. Over 1,500 types of fish call the Great Barrier Reef home and in excess of 400 types of coral can be viewed in the area. Next on my list comes the extraordinary city, Venice. This is one of the most popular cities in Italy. Venice is known primarily for its canals, which provide both romantic and commuter travel within the city. There are, however, many other reasons why a visit to Venice is a must, notably some amazing feats of architecture. It seems as if every step you take, you will encounter some aspect of the city worth admiring. The major sights like the basilica and piazza of San Marco are perhaps the city’s most famous. There is however much more, but there’s always next time for the rest. How to cite My Dream, Papers

Business Forecasting and Data Analysis

Question: Discuss about the Business Forecasting and Data Analysis. Answer: Introduction: Making smart and efficient choices is necessary for every individual whether a business person, a lawyer, a student or an old person. Smart choices are necessary for an organization to achieve goals. Management tries to suggest efficient solution for the problem they come across during planning. The complexities related to a problem make it a different choice to reach out for the conclusion. Executives are hereby implementing different management model in order to achieve a desired result. Effective planning and decision making are necessary to attain a competitive advantage against others (Porter, 2008). Planning is the foremost need of every business organization which is carried at all management level. The process of planning is carried out by the managers in order to deliver efficient results. Starbucks is operating in more than 37 countries with 30,000 stores. Starbucks is considered as one of the dynamic brand which has reinvented the coffee experience. It has given an unusual Coffee experience to US which never existed before (Need 2006). The brand has changed the taste, lifestyle and penetrated deep inside root covering consumer from every background. It has found a unique way to make an appeal to its customer despite of its high prices. Starbucks follow a broad strategy in order to grow under a global competitive environment with systematic planning. Growth strategies are used to exploit customer connection. It sells lot of product apart from coffee and they do it by developing products with other companies. They have launched a prepaid card that is used to make easy purchases. They are trying to find an innovative way to grab potential customers (Spulber, 2009). Companies another successful expansion is in music. According to Schultz music is a part of caf culture and this will help in adding value to the brand image. For this purpose Starbucks has launched a music caf at Santa Monica, California. Customers are allowed to burn their own compilation. Starbucks has kept their brand quality by managing all the production process under one head. They have undertaken the activity of growing coffee, selecting the coffee nut, roasting the coffee and grinding it to get the best coffee. They believe in undertaking each activity concerned with manufacturing of coffee so that they dont have to share profits. They do have core competency in the coffee industry that provides them with a cutting edge over others. Starbucks has cut off unnecessary expenditure over working process in order to create a place in a competitive marker. Moreover they provide a proper training to their staff so that they can provide an excellent coffee experience (Michelli, 2006). The legal compliance of Starbucks are organized in sync in order to avoid future disputes. They are taking proper precautionary measures while planning their strategies according to supervision authority. This has helped them to coordinate with the local market needs and to fulfill the visi on of the company. Starbucks around the world is known for the corporate social responsibility projects. They have committed to carry out business in a responsible manner. They build a healthy relation with farmers all over the world while providing a high quality coffee which their customers are expecting. Starbucks believes in providing a healthy environment to the customers by encouraging them to take care of environment (York, 2010). Their target is to make 100% reusable and recyclable cups to ensure proper usage of goods. Unlike other companies Starbucks is planning to reduce their carbon footprint in order to promote usage of water and energy to encourage usage of effective resources. There planning and decision making program regarding protection of environment has helped them to achieve sustainable growth (Simon, 2009). Starbucks competitive strategy is to conquer every local market in the world and to create customized goods according to countrys preferences. Starbucks encourages community involvement which will create a sense of responsibility in the mind of the consumers. They believe that being involved in the community services creates a sense of belongingness. It helps in getting people together in order to inspire and make a change while creating a difference in people lives (Kotabe and Helsen, 1998). They believe in creating a competitive advantage by creating innovative ideas, providing new experiences to the guest and consistently creating adding new products in their menu. There strategy is to saturate the market by spreading out the locations of outlets so that one store doesnt cut the profit of other. They have established stores looking after the demography, traffic pattern, and location of the competitive restaurant (Lovelock, 2011). There strategy is to blanket the whole area to cut the profits of the other stores in the same locality. Starbucks is completely focusing on increasing the foot traffic in a particular part of t he town. Starbucks has achieved market dominance with millions of customers visiting their store per week. Starbucks is using licensing to enter Middle East market because it allows them to minimize capital outlay for making marketing research and decreases the local market expertise. In case of expanding through wholly owned subsidiary Starbucks offers technology protection which provides engagement in the global strategic coordination (Doole and Lowe, 2008). They care about the quality of their employees that is providing them with a cutting edge against various other coffee chains. Effective employment policies have helped them to take full advantage against other brands. Employees across the globe are taught in a manner to retrieve maximum output (Graham, 2008). Starbucks is known worldwide for the services it is providing to the customers. It has created a competitive advantage against others. Starbucks is constantly focusing on the competitive strategies by adding innovative ideas. Howard Schultz believes in improvising according the market needs. Growth is essential for an organization in order to create a difference. Marketer is looking for new techniques in order to succeed. Starbucks strategies are well aligned with the market needs. They are currently operating in more than countries. Moreover they have incorporated the local culture in their caf to give a strict competition to the local coffee shops. Customers are ready to pay heavy prices for their cup of coffee at Starbucks which is an advantage for the company. There global competitive strategy is promoting the vision of Howad Schultz while achieving a sustainable growth. Competitive advantage is necessary for an organization to sustain against other companies. This has become evident that effective planning and decision-making helps in providing a competitive edge. References Doole, I. and Lowe, R., 2008.International marketing strategy: analysis, development and implementation. Cengage Learning EMEA. Graham, H., 2008.Marketing strategy and competitive positioning. Pearson Education India. Kotabe, M. and Helsen, K., 1998. Global marketing management.New York. Lovelock, C., 2011.Services marketing: People, technology, strategy. Pearson Education India. Michelli, J.A., 2006.Starbucks experience. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Need, W.C.D.H.P., 2006. Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. Porter, M.E., 2008.Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors. Simon and Schuster. Simon, B., 2009.Everything but the coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks. Univ of California Press. Spulber, D.F., 2009.Economics and management of competitive strategy. World Scientific. York, E.B., 2010. Starbucks gets its business brewing again with social media.Advertising Age,81(8), p.34.

Project Investments in Unilever Company

The choice of a product or service that an entrepreneur wishes to invest in is an important factor to consider before bringing it to the market. Any investment project chosen should produce returns to benefit all stakeholders and other interested parties that the project affects directly or indirectly.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Project Investments in Unilever Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The paper utilizes axe anarchy fragrance for women, a new product that Unilever Company has launched on the market, as a case product in a bid to show the financial implication or consideration that the case company made before investing in the product. Unilever is a big corporation that deals with production or manufacture of many kinds of household products. Axe anarchy is the latest innovation or rather new product that the company has launched on its market (Unilever PLV, 2012, Para. 3). This product is ther efore financed by the company. The company has put in place enough funds that are used to innovate and manufacture new products on the market. The company is quoted in the securities exchange market as exemplary in terms of the quality of its products. Some of its finances come from the owners of the business who are the shareholders. Because of the high amount of money the company receives from its shareholders, it is able to carry out various innovations besides venturing in the production of multiple types of products. Unilever PLV therefore generates its funds through the sale of shares to its investors, a process known as equity funding (Unilever PLV, 2011, p. 15). This form of acquiring fund is advantageous because investors who buy the shares are not entitled to any interest. Bondholders, on the other hand, require that interest be paid to them. Therefore, this method allows the company to access capital for use to produce and market its products. The investors are only entit led to profits and losses in equal measures. Hence, the method does not have any impact to the company. Another advantage that the company will accrue from this form of financing is that there is no collateral required for this type of investment. Furthermore, the company is only obliged to pay dividends on the earnings that it makes. This therefore protects the company from any court proceedings or accusations when the company fails to make profits on the products.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, the business is not faced with a threat of collapse, as it can come up with other strategies to ensure survival. Furthermore, investing or financing this project through shared capital makes the company have a full control of the funds. The company is able to keep the funds indefinitely without being asked by the investors (Safania, Nagaraju Roohi, 2011 p.78). Furthermo re, the company has an opportunity to make decisions on whether to invest in the product or not. The decision is solely based on the management of the company that has been given the responsibility to carry out managerial decisions on the behavior of the shareholders if they help in the growth of the company besides helping further in accruing of more profits for the organization. Production of new products or services requires the organization to carry out a clear calculation on the total cost of producing the new product or service to ensure that it gets some profits after the product is sold. In this case, Unilever PLC Company will be required to analyze each investment components of producing axe anarchy fragrance for women to the moment it is sold. Therefore, various factors will be put into consideration. One of the investment components of producing this new product is the cost of producing or purchasing raw materials that are required for the manufacturing of the product. Th e cost of transportation of raw material to the company for production, as well as distribution to the suppliers and retailers should be factored in the company’s marketing strategies. The cost of paying salaries to the employees who ensure that the product is manufactured or converted from its raw materials to the time it reaches the consumers should also be provided. Logistic costs are also paramount and worth considering such as storage costs and administration costs among other costs. It is also important to consider the costs related to government taxes. Other costs include marketing. For the product to reach a wide market to attract high sales, the company needs to invest heavily on its marketing strategies. Media must be used to reach a wide audience coverage including television ads, billboards, internet, social media, and traditional forms such as print media among many other mediums. All these costs should be calculated and the right figure known to help the company in determining its price that should be competitive in the market to enable many customers to use the products. The product should also be of high quality to suit the target audience i.e. Young boys and girls.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Project Investments in Unilever Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More By breaking this cost down, the company will also be able to know the amount of money that it has invested in the new product, as this will enable it to have a clear estimate or projection of the profits that it is likely to accrue from the sale of the product. Furthermore, this analysis is vital is enabling the company to either progress with production of the product or not. For instance, if the cost of production is very high and surpasses the income level of the target audience or customer, it will not be viable for the company to produce such a product. The company can as well seek an alternative source of funding that costs less. In this case, the best option that the company can source its funds is through debt financing. This refers to borrowing of funds in the form of loans that are repaid over a certain period. The company can decide to borrow funds over a short term-less than one year- or a long-term scheme, which extends to more than one year. The major sources that the company can seek for these funds are from government agencies or banks that provide loans with a certain percentage of interest. This option of sourcing for finances has a number of benefits. For instance, the interest that is paid on the loan is deductible. Therefore, the company will benefit from tax advantage. In addition, the company will be able to retain its ownership. The lender of the money, whether financial institution or government agencies, cannot get or receive ownership of the company. Furthermore, lenders cannot claim any future profits or revenues of the company, as the lender will only be given the principle loan plus the interest as agreed between the lender and the party. It is also easy to raise funds using debt financing because it does not require the company or the borrower to comply with the federal or state securities’ regulations. Debt financing is also a very good method of sourcing for funds because a company is able to establish good relationships with the lenders. Hence, it can secure future financial assistance of a short and or a long-term financial health in time of need (Mitton, 2008, p.27). Ensuring that the history of a company is conducive for borrowing, the company is required to ensure that there is balance between the debt and equity ratio. The company must also demonstrate that it can be able to repay the loan within the stipulated duration to time. Furthermore, the company can source its funds from debt financing because it enables the company to have freedom in terms of its financials.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This helps the company to invest in projects or products that it feels can boost its profits. Axe anarchy fragrance for women is such a product. It therefore allows the company the discretion to make its own strategic decisions that can help to promote or stir economic growth of the company. Therefore, the company can opt for this form of sourcing its fund as an alternative method. The debt equity method of sourcing for funds is one of the cheapest and affordable methods that will enable the company to meet its needs including meeting costs of production and marketing of the products. In conclusion, finding the right source of funds for the Unilever Company can influence its operation positively when it comes to investing in new products or services. The paper has used axe anarchy fragrance for women as a case product from the company. Therefore, the use of equity financing whereby the company sells its shares is one of the appropriate sources of funds that Unilever used to seek fun ds and promote this product. Various investment components are however important in helping business decide whether to invest in a project or not. An alternative source of funds that can be used as an alternative is debt financing because it costs less to the company. Reference List Mitton, T. (2008). Why Have Debt Ratios Increased for Firms in Emerging Markets?. European Financial Management 14(1), 127-151. Safania, S., Nagaraju, B., Roohi, M. (2011). Relationship between Long Term Debt- to-Equity ratio and Share Price — a study on NSE, INDIA (2007-2010). International Journal of Business Management Economic Research, 2(4), 278- 283. Unilever PLV (2011). Financial Statement. Web. Unilever PLV. (2012). Latest from out brands: Axes launches its first fragrance for women. Web. This essay on Project Investments in Unilever Company was written and submitted by user Kallie Riggs to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Square Dancing Essay Example

Square Dancing Essay Example Square Dancing Paper Square Dancing Paper Essay Topic: Rip Van Winkle What is Square Dancing? Square dancing was first developed by lonely farmers as a means of entertaining and wooing their livestock (or at least thats the rumor Im choosing to believe/spread). But honestly, how drunk on moonshine and bored with wife-beating did people used to be to develop this Jig of humiliation? More importantly, how†I reiterate HOW is it still around today? I mean wasnt Bugs Bunny mocking this like 60+ years ago? Barnfolk during a hootenanny. Personally, Im for Jettisoning into the sun everyone involved in any non-farming interaction that regularly takes place in a barn. Who the hell wants to dance around a riggin barn?! Barnfolk, thats who† and they permanently forgot to evolve. Lets talk about some things that would be present at any square dance Jig- off. First, its impossible to picture a group of people square dancing without there being that one guy with the obscenely long Rip Van Winkle beard. Of course, he wasnt magically asleep for 20 years when it grew, unless you count his life-long whiskey haze and vow against critical thinking. Second, the band always does that foot-stomp knee-slap head-bob thing, telepathically conveying the message were all a bunch of sinine hicks and we love it! The head-bob is the and we love it part. Third, well you may not see this, but square dancing is the only dance where its easy to picture a random farm animal suddenly standing up on two legs, Joining in, and it seems natural. Another bumpkin seduced by a Jigging goat. Bumpkins promenading across the room with goats and sheep; why not? They make- out with them regularly anyhow. I will admit Im fairly su rprised they called it square dancing at all considering the highest level of schooling in the room is probably a forged G. E. D. like they know what a square is) Bunch of geometrically confused hill-folk buck-toothed and guffawing as they spin around a cow trough. Damn I hate that square dancing still exists! One thing thats hard for me to picture is anyone hearing square dance music coming from a barn and not getting the imperative urge to run in the opposite direction. Speaking of the music, isnt there Just that one swing your partner song and thats it? Photo taken during a rendition of their song Proud to be Illiterate. I guess its nard to play a variety ot tunes when your band consists ot people playing he washboard, broomstick-bass, and blowing into that Jug with the >OCC on it. Stay tuned for my upcoming entry on Jug bands Speaking of the musicians, apparently square dancing was so lacking in class that renamed the violin the fiddle. I can picture that conversation: Hey hairy, drooling Jug band member, is that a violin youre playing? A vi-o-what? Welp, I dont rightly know, mister. An accurate de scription of square dancing. I Just fiddle with it, so I guess thats what it is. a fiddle drool, drool, drool, slurping p drool, more drool* Im sure he also fiddles with other things like the engine of his primer-colored pick-up truck and his malformed wiener whenever his cousin is watching. I dont mean to over generalize, but in reiterating my idea to launch all square dancers into the sun, I propose it would do the world more good than harm. This is exactly what square dancing looks like to me. Im willing to bet that other long-standing traditions like racism, sexism, fear of progress, and hatred for the scientific community would prove directly correlated as they dropped exponentially. Sad Fact 1: Theres an international association of square dance callers named Callerlab. Seriously. An international organization. Sad Fact 2 : Did you know that square dancing has been designated the official state dance in 19 states? State dance?! Why the HELL are there even† Oh I give up! (*gun fires and body hits the floor*) End. Supplemental material: Link to Bugs Bunny in Hillbilly Hare. Excerpt of lyrics from Pickle Up a Doodle, a square dance call. When that devil comes a-courtin, Ah-haw! Hell catch all eight, with a right hand half, Back by the left, go once and a half. Turn the corner by the right, make a wrong-way thar, And ya pickle up a doodle in the middle of the star. Shoot that star, left allemande, gonna pass your partner by, You box the gnat with the next one, and you swing er mighty high. Walk all around that corner, turn a left hand round your girl, Four ladies chain, chain the big, wide, wicked world. Roll promenade a shady lady. Gents roll back, but only one, Promenade, youre gonna have a little fun. It aint no sin to swing and sway, An you pickle up a doodle in the middle of the day.

Lucky Expressions

Lucky Expressions Lucky Expressions Lucky Expressions By Maeve Maddox Reader Emma requests a post on the expression lucked out: The †¦ times Ive heard people using [lucked out] to mean youre out of luck as opposed to expressing good luck or fortune is bordering on ridiculous. The expression to luck out is an American coinage dating from 1954. It means to succeed through luck. Specifically, according to the OED, it is to succeed in a difficult, testing, or dangerous situation. For example: He really lucked out on that exam; every question he had studied for was on it. The expression to be out of luck means to be unfortunate. For example: Youre out of luck: the last train has left the station. Two other uses of luck as a verb are: to luck into: to acquire by good fortune, without effort on ones part. Example: He lucked into a sweet deal on that car. to luck upon: to meet with, to find. Example: He lucked upon some old clothes he had wanted to give away†¦ The noun luck entered English in the 15th century from a Dutch word meaning happiness or good fortune. Its related to German Glà ¼ck, fortune, good luck. The multiplicity of expressions with the word luck, incorporate associations with Chance and Fortune in the sense of the powers that arrange the uncertain fates of human beings. One can have good luck, bad luck, or ill luck. My father used the expression If he didnt have bad luck, hed have no luck at all. People say that its good luck to find a four-leaf clover, but bad luck to break a mirror. Some people are said to have good luck, meaning that they are generally fortunate, while some are said to have no luck, meaning that they are generally unfortunate. Here are just a few more of the many expressions that employ the noun luck: Good luck! said to someone setting off to some uncertain undertaking like an exam or an audition. Better luck next time! said to someone who has failed to achieve some goal. Just my luck! said by someone who has missed out on something desired. To be down on ones luck to be in straitened circumstances, for example, jobless. Luck of the Irish a contradictory expression that can mean either bad luck, or extraordinary good luck, depending on the context. The Best of British luck usually meant ironically, the way Americans might say Good luck with that. The sense is go ahead and try, but youre probably not going to succeed. Trust to luck undertake a difficult task with insufficient preparation, hoping that all will go well. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Regarding Re:Time Words: Era, Epoch, and Eon7 Proofreading Steps

Statutory Interpretation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Statutory Interpretation - Case Study Example Alec took a pecuniary advantage by deception of Vera to gain more money from the woman by dishonestly selling to her a computer that is worth 1000 for 2000. When he supplied the computer to her, he insisted that the computer is worth every penny of the 2000 given to him by Vera. There was no reason as to why the old woman would have thought the computer in question was not worth 2000 and we can not say that he was reckless to the representation of the computer. Alec knew very well the actual cost of the computer since they sold the machine at 1000 but she took advantage of the old woman and charge her double the amount the computer is worth. This act is a criminal offence under s 15 Theft Act 1968 for acquiring extra money from Vera dishonestly from the sale of the computer. For this case, Alec if convicted is liable for imprisonment of a term not exceeding ten years. This Theft Act was brought about to protect ordinary citizens from exploitation by people who want to obtain property from them in a dishonesty manner by deception. 1 For the case where Brian, an employed IT technician obtained services by deception is liable for criminal offence under the s 1 Theft Act 1978. ... Brian was a cousin to Bryan and since they share the same surname, there is no way as to why Wendy would have doubted the representation. Brian held both the season ticket that belonged to Bryan and his driving license and since they share the same surname, we can not say the Wendy was reckless to the representation and he failed to verify the two documents. For this case, Brian if convicted is liable for a criminal offence under s 1 Theft Act 1978. The Act was enacted to bring to book those who dishonestly obtain services by deception. Brian deceived Wendy, the gate attendant to believe that the services of attending to the football match has already been paid for and he was entitled to watch the football. For this case, he obtained services of watching football match by deception hence he is liable for criminal offence under s 1 Theft Act of 1978. 2 For the case where Alec advertised for a post of a qualified IT specialist who was to be graduate of BSc degree in IT but he ended up recruiting Brian who had faked that he was a graduate. Brian obtained pecuniary advantages by deception to be hired by Alec where he pretended to have graduated with a Bsc. Degree in IT where else he was using Bryan degree certificate. There is not way Alec would have noted that Brian was not a graduate since he had a degree certificate. The name Brian and Bryan looks similar and one would not note the difference between the two names and this led to Alec being deceived by Brian and recruited him to the position of a qualified IT technician believing that he was a BSc. Degree graduate. Brian was dishonest since he knew very well that he was not a BSc. Degree graduate and yet he went ahead of applying for position of a qualified IT technician with a fake degree certificate. For

Peloponnesian War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Peloponnesian War - Essay Example Division was evident especially due the two rival systems of alliances where neither could allow the other to be superior to the other. Sparta led the Peloponnesian league while Athens headed an empire of city-states 454 BC, the Delian league treasury, was transferred to Athens. After two years, Athens which dominated the vast Mediterranean Sea naval alliance started treating the league members as subjects rather than partners. Sparta had initially rejected the proposal of formation of the league. Athens then began fighting short wars to force members who had any intentions of defecting from the league to stay and those who had already left to rejoin. 433 BC, Athens, signed a treaty with Corcyra (modern day Corfu) to provide mutual protection, the move was interpreted as an act of provocation by Sparta and its allies and the following year Sparta cancelled her treaty with Athens. 433 BC, Athens, banned trading activities with city-states allied to Sparta. Athens also introduced high taxes to other states that led to the weakening of the Delian league. Sparta then declared war to stop Athenian control and dominance. 431 BC, Spartans ally, Thebes, sent a contingent of soldiers to seize and control a town called Potidea. However, they failed and the soldiers were caught and imprisoned. The residents of Potidea put the advancing troop of 200 to death. A day later Athens sent a messenger to plead with the townspeople against such abrupt action but it was too late as it marked the beginning of a long battle, a war. According to Thucydides the immediate causes of the Peloponnesian war were the Corinthian opportunism. It all began when Corcyra and Corinth began disputing over Epidamnos; the dispute drew Athens and Sparta which lead to the formation of a powerful group of allies. As the initial dispute escalated another one sprung up over Potidea in northern Greece between Athens and Corinth. The squabbles began a free fall into deeper conflict. The Epidamnos and