Health education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Health education - Essay Example Morrie had begun to hide his real emotions, when his father married another woman, and he had stipulated to desist in uttering about his late mother. His stepmother was able to fill-in the missing piece he all had ever wanted, but his father remained inexpressive to him. His father wanted to sustain the secrecy of his wife’s death with his youngest son, Morrie’s little brother. All Morrie’s had to prove the existence of their mother was the telegram letter that their mother sent them when she was diagnosed and died. From then on, young Morrie had to hide everything about his mother and kept his sorrow and affliction on his own self (â€Å"Tuesdays with Morrie: Plot overview,† n.d.). The significant thing that this system emphasizes is that Morrie’s emotions that he had been keeping all throughout his childhood have caused him intense isolation. The death of Morrie’s father. The death of his father seemed to be unimportant for the young Morrie. As per time, he was a teenager when his father died. His father was walking down the street when a guy attempted to block his way and showed him a gun. Morrie’s father immediately picked up his wallet from his pocket and began to run. His father seemed to be so scared, and it was last to his belief that he had heart problems, which caused him to death. The moment he saw his father, he felt nothing but hatred. He could not forgive his father, and to cry for his death was not even an option for him. Such a feeling had led him to stay away from his family and lived with friends (â€Å"Tuesdays with Morrie,† 2008). The importance of this system signifies Morrie’s sense of hatred that rooted from his father. The emergence of ALS or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Life was going well for the old Morrie until he discovered his deteriorating illness. He was diagnosed with ALS, or commonly termed as Lou Gehrigs disease, which is deadly and incurable (Felice, White, & Chow, 1998). Morrie commenced to desist doing usual

Misconceptions Among Muslim Essay Example for Free

Misconceptions Among Muslim Essay This is the biggest misconception about Islam, no doubt resulting from the constant stereotyping and bashing the media gives Islam. When a gunman attacks a mosque in the name of Judaism, a Catholic IRA guerrilla sets off a bomb in an urban area, or Serbian Orthodox militiamen rape and kill innocent Muslim civilians, these acts are not used to stereotype an entire faith. Never are these acts attributed to the religion of the perpetrators. Yet how many times have we heard the words Islamic, Muslim fundamentalist, etc. linked with violence. Many people use the name of religions for their own purposes. One should consult the source of Islam and separate what the true religion of Islam says from what is portrayed in the media. Islam literally means submission to Allah and is derived from a root word meaning peace. Islam may seem exotic or even extreme in the modern world. Perhaps this is because religion doesnt dominate everyday life in the West, whereas Islam is considered a way of life for Muslims and they make no division between secular and sacred in their lives. Like Christianity, Islam permits fighting in self-defence, in defence of religion, or on the part of those who have been expelled forcibly from their homes. It lays down strict rules of combat, which include prohibitions against harming civilians and against destroying crops, trees and livestock. Nowhere does Islam enjoin the killing of innocents. The Quran says: {Fight in the cause of Allah against those who fight you, but do not transgress limits. Allah does not love transgressors} (Quran 2:190), {If they seek peace, then seek you peace. And trust in Allah for He is the One that heareth and knoweth all things} (Quran 8:61) War, therefore, is the last resort, and is subject to the rigorous conditions laid down by the sacred law. The term jihad literally means struggle. Muslims believe that there are two kinds of jihad. The other jihad is the inner struggle of the soul, which everyone wages against egotistic desires for the sake of attaining inner peace.

Morality in Slaughterhouse Five :: Essays Papers

Morality in Slaughterhouse Five The destruction of Dresden was not "moral," nor is any destruction, really. We as mere mortals do not have the right to judge what is moral or not, however. That jurisdiction is left to the powers that be. But, we can still make haphazard guesses as to what strikes us as moral and immoral. Killing other humans is not something we were given the authority to do. The means yes, the will, yes; but not the authority. We have no right to decide who lives or dies. Think of it this way, how would you like it if someone decided you should die for something you had done, malicious or not. Events like the utter destruction of Hiroshima or Baghdad, or anywhere else for that matter, are completely detestable. Despite the fact that the inhabitants of those places had done some things to us that were unacceptable, we still had no right to take the action we took. There is no excuse for such action, there is almost always an available alternative to annihilation. Now, Sodom and Gomorrah, on the other hand, were destroyed morally and rightly by the powers that be. The fact that Lot’s wife, and innocent in the matter (despite the fact that she had compassion for the doomed), just happened to make a foolish choice. The cities were destroyed by the powers that be, whether God or the gods, for reasons they saw fit. It would seem the lesson did not take very well. However, this was an exception to the rule. No individual or group of individuals was directly involved in this. Those that were fit to be saved, were, and those unfit for salvation were demolished. With mass killings as undertaken by mortals, there is no determining or innocence or guilt. Innocents are killed alongside guilty. Those not even involved are massacred along with the rest. That is not to say that people should be sorted through, it is just to say that there is no rhyme or reason to it. It is simply senseless killing. The morality of the crusades is also in question. Christians (a.k.a.—the crusaders) believe in acceptance, forgiveness and universality. However, they proceed to kill those that do not comply with their religion. Am I the only one missing something? It seems to me that people of a religious nature would rather discuss and compromise than storm and pillage.

Analysing Willfred Owens Dulce Et Decorum Est. Essay -- English Liter

Analysing Willfred Owen's Dulce Et Decorum Est. ‘Dulce ET Decorum Est’ is an anti-war poem, which emphasizes the intensity of war. The meaning of the ironic title roughly translated into ‘it is good and honourable’ but is not fully established until you examine the poem. The full title ‘Dulce ET Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori’ means ‘it is good and honourable to die for your country’. However the main aspect of this poem is paradoxical to its title. This demonstrates the message Wilfred Owen’s is insinuating and his attitude towards war. The poem is regarding Wilfred Owen and his troop of exhausted soldiers making their way back to base after combat at the front line until a gas shell is fired at them. A soldier is fatally gassed, is put in an ambulance dying slowly and then eaten away from the inside. Owen describes a man being engulfed by gas, â€Å"Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, Under a green sea I saw him drowning.† The death and distress is shown and the harsh actuality of war uncovered. It is almost as though you are reliving the agony the man is suffering. The reader is nowhere near as unfortunate as Wilfred. He was repeatedly tortured by his experiences even after having to encounter them. â€Å"In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.† It is an inescapable memory that haunts him even when he attempts to sleep, on constant replay in his treacherous mind. His feeling of helplessness from that moment were captured and frozen, regret for not helping covered with hope, the possibility that he was unable to do anything useful anyway. A sense of regret, disbelief and anger are reused in other anti-war poems that Wilfred Owen ha... ... aid the pain once and still endured. Owen has created a way that transports the reader back to the scene of the poem. Using the effectiveness of the senses. He describes the sounds, the smells and the sights around to give the feeling that you witnessing the happenings expressed. My final contemplations to conclude this analysis are not in despair but queries, whether it is rhetorical or not I am not completely sure. The thing that concerns me is how the government send men off to fight war when under the misapprehension that they are fighting for their country? Do they have no conscious, no guilt in sending the doomed youth off to their inevitable deaths? The decisions they make obviously have repercussions as do all decisions, but to knowingly condemn so many innocent people to physical and mental torture then death, to me is worse murder, is it not?

International Trade and Finance Speech Essay

This speech delivered by the Speaker of the House to a group of reporters surrounding the topics of international trade, foreign exchange rates, import surplus and how they each impact different constituencies. It will also explain why the government would not be able to restrict importation of goods from China, or if wanted to impose tariffs. The Economy and international Trade The United States was once the highest exporter in all the world. Today, the United States has a negative balance of trade, because of the fact that we now import more goods than we export goods. An example of an import would be oil. The oil that we have imported impacts our businesses and our consumers by making gasoline and other oil derivatives more expensive. This makes prices increase because consumers will have to pay for goods from the fact that the cost of driving will go up. This is a major reason why the government is trying to encourage the development of alternate forms of energy such as coal or natural gas. The goods that the United States imports are not always negative. American consumers have benefited greatly from the imports such as electronics or apparel that is made mostly in Asia. The cost of production for these goods are lower in China and most other Asian countries, making it much cheaper for Americans to buy these types of goods that are being manufactured overseas. The reality of international trade is that production will naturally shift to places where goods can be manufactured more efficiently and at a lower price. What the United States has to focus on is developing new technologies and products of higher quality. With a focus based on innovation and quality instead of labor costs. International trade has an impact on the country’s GDP, the financial markets, and importantly university students. The GDP of the United States becomes stronger when we export goods more than we import goods. If negative trade balances become consistent it can lead to deficits, which will in turn cause the government to borrow more. If the government borrows more this will have an impact on the financial markets which could in time make it more costly for the United States to cover all its deficits. We need to promote our exports in order to help the GDP and make our country more impressive to investors. A healthier economy will create enough employment for those needed, especially university graduates that will be trained for the field. The quotas and tariffs regarding the government’s choices has a direct impact on our trade and the relations that we have with other countries. Reducing tariffs and participating in free trade agreements helps our export businesses. This is a reason why our government has in the past worked for establishing trade agreements with countries as South Korea, Panama, and Colombia. When a free trade agreement takes place the trading partners will erase their quotas or tariffs against products from America, this makes it easier for us to send our products to those countries. Trade is a two way engagement, where both are finding a way to benefit, with consumers benefiting as well and our exports getting higher. Foreign exchange rates are the rates of one type of currency converted to another. Such as the rate for exchange between American dollars and Japan’s Yen which is 76 Yen per dollar. Some currencies are fixed with others. The rates of floating currency is determined by the supply and demand. An example is if the European demand for the dollar increases, the supply and demand relationship between them will cause the price to increase of the dollar in relation to the euro. There are many factors that affect exchange rates that include interest rates, unemployment, political instability, inflation, and GDP. When our GDP becomes higher and our exports become level with our imports, the stronger our currency will be and we will have a better overall financial health. There are some people that believe in protectionist policies that include restricting goods that are coming in from China and several other countries, including imposing tariffs that would increase costs for purchasing of goods in the United States. This kind of policy would be populist and fueled with the good intentions of trying to protect our American jobs, its actual consequences would be an elevating trade war with an opposite effect. History proves that when governments have attempted to restrict trade and enforced protectionist measures, other countries will attempt to retaliate and adopt similar policies. An example is the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which broke records by increasing tariffs on 25,000 goods which had an end effect of reducing imports and exports by 50% as trade partners began with similar style tariffs. This will translate into more unemployment as companies that will export their goods will see a drastic demand drop. Restricting imports from China woul d bring drastic measures from the Chinese government, and our companies would struggle as they would be unable to export goods to that part of the world. References Colander, D. C. (2010). Macroeconomics (8th Ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin International Trade, ISSN 0020-7810, 2011, Volume 45, Issue 1, p. 79 The Journal of Economics, ISSN 0895-3309, 2007, Volume 21, Issue 3, p. 105 Foreign Policy, ISSN 0015-7228, 11/2003, Issue 139, p. 20 The American Foreign Trade, ISSN 0002-8282, 12/1928, Volume 18, Issue 4, pp. 706 – 713

Mythological Approach.

Mythological Approach. A mythological critic examines a work for repeating patterns that show thereasoning for various aspects of human life. In other words, upon analyzing a piece ofliterature, one will discover the "why's" of the human race. This could be anything frombirth and death to defeating death itself.A story that contains these aspects would be "Young Goodman Brown" byNathaniel Hawthorne. In this story, Goodman Brown has to take a spiritual journey on awalk through the forest. He encounters the Devil and he tempts Brown with all sorts ofways to 'leave the path.' The exact opposite of the Devil is represented in Brown's wife,Faith. Faith represents Brown's faith in God.An excerpt that best represents the Mythological Approach to Criticism is asfollows: "'Dearest heart,' whispered she, softly and rather sadly, when her lips were closeto his ear, 'pr'y thee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed to-night. A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts, that she' s afeard ofherself, sometimes. Pray, tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in theyear!(2186)" This is a prime example of Faith's relying on premonitions.An example of the use of Archetypal Approach to Criticism would be the pinkribbons found in Faiths hair. There is a point in the story where Brown can't turn backfrom his journey, and because of this, Brown sees Faiths' ribbons fall from the sky."There was a scream, drowned immediately in a louder murmur of voices, fadinginto far-off laughter, as the dark cloud swept away, leaving the clear and silent sky aboveGoodman Brown. But something fluttered lightly down through the air and caught on thebranch of the tree. The young man seized it, and...

Free Essays on Email Etiquette

Email etiquette refers to a set of dos and don’ts that are recommended by business and communication experts in response to the growing concern that people are not using their email effectively or appropriately. Since email is part of the virtual world of communication, many people communicate in their email messages the same way they do in virtual chat rooms: with much less formality and sometimes too aggressively. Email etiquette offers some guidelines that all writers can use to facilitate better communication between themselves and their readers. One overall point to remember is that an email message does not have non-verbal expression to supplement what we are "saying." Most of the time we make judgments about a person’s motives and intentions based on their tone of voice, gestures, and their proximity to us. When those are absent it becomes more difficult to figure out what the message sender means. It is much easier to offend or hurt someone in email and that is why it is important to be as clear and concise as possible. Electronic mail (E-mail) cannot replace personal contact. David Angell states that electronic email has many advantages, â€Å"†¦eliminates phone tag, †¦breaks down the distance and time barriers of telephone calls and traditional written communication, †¦shortens the cycle of written communication, †¦improves productivity, †¦creates flexibility†¦by reducing telephone interruptions.† (Angell-Heslop 2). There is a tendency to be less formal or careful, which can sometimes provoke anger. Remember that direct, person-to-person contact is best for handling sensitive, difficult, complex, or emotional issues. Therefore, a company needs to implement etiquette rules for the following three reasons: professionalism, by using proper email language your company will convey a professional image, efficiency, emails that get to the point are much more effective than poorly worded emails, and protection from liabil... Free Essays on Email Etiquette Free Essays on Email Etiquette Email etiquette refers to a set of dos and don’ts that are recommended by business and communication experts in response to the growing concern that people are not using their email effectively or appropriately. Since email is part of the virtual world of communication, many people communicate in their email messages the same way they do in virtual chat rooms: with much less formality and sometimes too aggressively. Email etiquette offers some guidelines that all writers can use to facilitate better communication between themselves and their readers. One overall point to remember is that an email message does not have non-verbal expression to supplement what we are "saying." Most of the time we make judgments about a person’s motives and intentions based on their tone of voice, gestures, and their proximity to us. When those are absent it becomes more difficult to figure out what the message sender means. It is much easier to offend or hurt someone in email and that is why it is important to be as clear and concise as possible. Electronic mail (E-mail) cannot replace personal contact. David Angell states that electronic email has many advantages, â€Å"†¦eliminates phone tag, †¦breaks down the distance and time barriers of telephone calls and traditional written communication, †¦shortens the cycle of written communication, †¦improves productivity, †¦creates flexibility†¦by reducing telephone interruptions.† (Angell-Heslop 2). There is a tendency to be less formal or careful, which can sometimes provoke anger. Remember that direct, person-to-person contact is best for handling sensitive, difficult, complex, or emotional issues. Therefore, a company needs to implement etiquette rules for the following three reasons: professionalism, by using proper email language your company will convey a professional image, efficiency, emails that get to the point are much more effective than poorly worded emails, and protection from liabil...

Why Ming China Ended the Treasure Fleet Voyages

Why Ming China Ended the Treasure Fleet Voyages Between 1405 and 1433, Ming China sent out seven gigantic naval expeditions under the command of Zheng He the great eunuch admiral. These expeditions traveled along the Indian Ocean trade routes as far as Arabia and the coast of East Africa, but in 1433, the government suddenly called them off. What Prompted the End of the Treasure Fleet? In part, the sense of surprise and even bewilderment that the Ming governments decision elicits in western observers arises from a misunderstanding about the original purpose of Zheng Hes voyages. Less than a century later, in 1497, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama traveled to some of the same places from the west; he also called in at the ports of East Africa, and then headed to India, the reverse of the Chinese itinerary. Da Gama went in search of adventure and trade, so many westerners assume that the same motives inspired Zheng Hes trips. However, the Ming admiral and his treasure fleet were not engaged in a voyage of exploration, for one simple reason: the Chinese already knew about the ports and countries around the Indian Ocean. Indeed, both Zheng Hes father and grandfather used the honorific hajji, an indication that they had performed their ritual pilgrimage to Mecca, on the Arabian Peninsula. Zheng He was not sailing off into the unknown. Likewise, the Ming admiral was not sailing out in search of trade. For one thing, in the fifteenth century, all the world coveted Chinese silks and porcelain; China had no need to seek out customers - Chinas customers came to them. For another, in the Confucian world order, merchants were considered to be among the lowliest members of society. Confucius saw merchants and other middlemen as parasites, profiting on the work of the farmers and artisans who actually produced trade goods. An imperial fleet would not sully itself with such a lowly matter as trade. If not trade or new horizons, then, what was Zheng He seeking? The seven voyages of the Treasure Fleet were meant to display Chinese might to all the kingdoms and trade ports of the Indian Ocean world and to bring back exotic toys and novelties for the emperor. In other words, Zheng Hes enormous junks were intended to shock and awe other Asian principalities into offering tribute to the Ming. So then, why did the Ming halt these voyages in 1433, and either burn the great fleet in its moorings or allow it to rot (depending upon the source)? Ming Reasoning There were three principal reasons for this decision. First, the Yongle Emperor who sponsored Zheng Hes first six voyages died in 1424. His son, the Hongxi Emperor, was much more conservative and Confucianist in his thought, so he ordered the voyages stopped. (There was one last voyage under Yongles grandson, Xuande, in 1430-33.) In addition to political motivation, the new emperor had financial motivation. The treasure fleet voyages cost Ming China enormous amounts of money; since they were not trade excursions, the government recovered little of the cost. The Hongxi Emperor inherited a treasury that was much emptier than it might have been, if not for his fathers Indian Ocean adventures. China was self-sufficient; it didnt need anything from the Indian Ocean world, so why send out these huge fleets? Finally, during the reigns of the Hongxi and Xuande Emperors, Ming China faced a growing threat to its land borders in the west. The Mongols and other Central Asian peoples made increasingly bold raids on western China, forcing the Ming rulers to concentrate their attention and their resources on securing the countrys inland borders. For all of these reasons, Ming China stopped sending out the magnificent Treasure Fleet. However, it is still tempting to muse on the what if questions. What if the Chinese had continued to patrol the Indian Ocean? What if Vasco da Gamas four little Portuguese caravels had run into a stupendous fleet of more than 250 Chinese junks of various sizes, but all of them larger than the Portuguese flagship? How would world history have been different, if Ming China had ruled the waves in 1497-98?

Email Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Email Policy - Essay Example The technologies like telephone and other earlier modes of swift communication systems too had some problems on the issues of etiquette in their usage. But on contrary, the current issue in monitoring email is virtually monitoring everyone due to the comprehensive connectively among all users in the organization. The apprehensions on the policy of archiving all the emails to disturb on the productivity of the company from the resentment generated due to restriction imposed on the freedom of employees expression is not very serious. The research studies undertaken across the world to assess the employees attitude towards email user policy strongly recommends that absence to articulate an effective email policy would give wrong signal on the user attitude (Weisband and Reinig, 1995). The experience of Jason Perry clearly justifies this finding that the absence of a proper policy too have given the users to take the technology to their personal advantage and made it detrimental to the r eputation and credibility of the organization. But in the case of M/S Johnson & Dresser, the issue that confuses the top management is on the outcome of the implementation rather than the policy framework preparation for the email usage in the company. More over, Jason Perry as an architect for the effective implementation of the policy shall prepare necessary exercises to sensitize the entire community around him in the organization to reinforce in them the need for a code of email usage in the organization. And to create a proper prudent approach towards this rather than an offensive strategy, it would also be essential for the CEO and the other responsible members in the company to have a public release of the company policy as a benchmarking program in creating digital ethics codes (Simmers, 2002). This would help the employees to rally behind such a noble cause which otherwise would be invite significant amount of suspicion in the mind of the employees. On the content

PAPER ON WORLD WAR I Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

PAPER ON WORLD WAR I - Assignment Example The second one is The Treaty of Versailles and the third one is The Balfour Declaration 1917. There is no other war that has brought about changes in the map of Europe in such a dramatic way like the First World War. The war caused the disappearance of four powerful empires. One is the German empire. The second is the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The third is the Ottoman Empire and fourthly, many nations did gain their independence from Russia. Four dynasties as well as their ancillary aristocracies all fell after the war. Serbia and Belgium were damaged and France was not left out either. The war continued for some seven more months until treaties were signed to end the war formally. Germany had agreed to sign the treaty of Versailles on June 28 1919 (Grayzel, 2013, p. 137). The United States failed to formally end its involvement in the war until the Knox-porter resolution that was signed in July 1921. The resolution was signed by President Warren G Harding representing the British Empire thus ceasing the state of war. After the treaty of Versailles, the treaties with Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire were signed. However, there was much strife following the negotiation of the latter treaty with the Ottoman Empire. The strife entailed the Turkish War of independence. The final peace treaty was between the allied powers and the republic of turkey. After the war, a series of treaties were imposed by the Paris Peace Conference on the central powers to end the war officially. The treaties brought the League of Nations to life in 1919. The treaty state d that the central powers were responsible for the loss and damage brought about to the allied forces. Austria Hungary was partitioned in to several states. The states included Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. The Russian Empire had already withdrawn from the war in 1917 lost part of its western frontier since nations such as

Case Study 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

2 - Case Study Example It had the expertise, and had the best knowledgeable game developers in the market then. With these strengths defined, the management could have looked at the weaknesses. Weaknesses are the internal factors that if not managed properly can potentially affect an organization’s very existence. Weaknesses in most times are what other competitors dwell in in offer to win a competitive advantage over other firms in the same industry. When Kotick took over the leadership of the activation blizzard company, he looked at the weaknesses of the EA Company, and capitalized on t5hese to get the company on it5s feet again. After a number of years, the company surpassed the company in the level of sales and the market share. Had EA seen these weaknesses and capitalized on them, perhaps Activision Blizzard would not have taken over from its market leadership. In essence, an opportunity is an unexploited business idea. Kotick, after joining the industry saw a number of opportunities that EA c ould not see. Subsequently, the company managed to take over the leadership of the gaming business from the EA Company. Therefore, exploiting these opportunities before Activision Blizzard could, would have given the company a competitive advantage and saved it from the slippage that it currently faces. Threats on the other hand are a myriad of setbacks that would potentially affect the existence of the company. Competitors are part of the threatening factors for a company, a factor that EA never saw until it was very late. By the time it realized the strength of Activision Blizzard, it was too late as it controlled the biggest portion of the video-games market. 2. Michael Porter’s generic strategies theory consists of three strategies that businesses apply in order to stay ahead of their competition thus maintaining their competitive advantage. Porter classified these strategies into two dimensions, which included the strategic scope and the strategic strength competitive ad vantages. While the strategic scope focuses on the demand side by particularly paying attention to the size and composition of the market, strategic dimension focuses on the supply side of the organization, especially how to meet the needs of the target market (Mun, 10). In his theory, the cost leadership strategy involved two main ways of achieving the competitive advantage in a market, i.e. profit maximization by reducing costs but charging industry rates, or increasing the market share by charging lower market prices. Since the main objective of cost leadership is cost maximization, the costs that customers have to pay for commodities is a different issue (Mun 10). EA could have charged exorbitant prices for its games, regardless of the supply in the market. Perhaps, its games priced high, despite the market prices being relatively low. This way, customers could have preferred the company’s biggest competitor, Activision Blizzard. Differentiation strategy is the manner in which companies strive to make their products unique from the rest of the competitors in the industry. Through research, an organization can provide high quality products and through effective sales and marketing strategies. While Activision Blizzard capitalized on the features of its games, and providing its customers with improved games, EA relaxed, and never improved on the quality of its games through features. Activision

Evaluation of the Financial Statements of Ford and General Motors Research Paper

Evaluation of the Financial Statements of Ford and General Motors - Research Paper Example The company manufactures cars worldwide, which includes countries like Canada, Mexico, United States, China, UK, and many other countries. General Motors was among the top auto-makers of the world and one of the most well-known in America. The objective of the company was to be the most successful automaker in a span of 5 years and also ensure that the marketing strategies such as e-commerce technologies are utilized for the overall growth of the organization. The mission of the company was to become the most respected automakers in the world. General Motors was indeed successful in moving towards its goals. We would be presenting a comparative analysis of the financial statements of both the companies to evaluate the financial status of both General Motors and Ford. The financial analysis would include evaluation of the financial statements of Ford and General Motors, which would assist in understanding the revenue and profitability of the two companies and the operating expenses that the company has to bear. The financial data for the last 2 years has been studied for such purpose. We would be considering the financial highlights of General Motors after its restructuring. The market share of General Motors has increased by 0.4 percent in 2011 from 11.9 percent in the year 2010. Even a hike of 13 percent has been recorded in sales than the last year. General Motors had to downsize due to bankruptcy, so after restructuring the company created 17,500 jobs in America. The company also added around 3,400 dealerships more in US alone to provide better services to customers and a wonderful sales experience. In the Asian market such as China, General Motors has again gained its leadership position. The revenue in 2011 has been recorded to be $ 150 billion, which was $ 135.6 billion in 2010. Similarly, the net income was $ 4.7 billion in 2010, which has increased to $ 7.6 in 2011.  

Company analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Company analysis - Essay Example As such some governments put censorship laws that are meant to control the quality of information that can be accessed from or disseminated through the internet. The company should establish these factors first before launching the publication in different countries. Accessibility to the internet depends on the economic status of the country. Some countries are so poor such that resources are committed to other pressing issues. In such areas, spending money on women issues may be seen as a luxury which may not be afforded by many people living under poor conditions. In some countries, issues related to gender particularly feminism are viewed as a threat to the society since they can destabilize the moral fabric. Some societies are patriarchal hence the level of tolerance of issues related to feminism is low. Therefore, it is important for the company to establish these factors in each country it intends to set business. Since this is a global online publication, it is important for the company to establish the level of infrastructure as well as telecommunication development in each country it intends to penetrate. Internet connectivity varies from place to place across the globe. The distribution pattern is skewed in favour of the developed countries while the developing countries still lag behind in terms of telecommunications infrastructure since the internet is the major communication tool that would be used for all activities of the

Evaluation of the Financial Statements of Ford and General Motors Research Paper

Evaluation of the Financial Statements of Ford and General Motors - Research Paper Example The company manufactures cars worldwide, which includes countries like Canada, Mexico, United States, China, UK, and many other countries. General Motors was among the top auto-makers of the world and one of the most well-known in America. The objective of the company was to be the most successful automaker in a span of 5 years and also ensure that the marketing strategies such as e-commerce technologies are utilized for the overall growth of the organization. The mission of the company was to become the most respected automakers in the world. General Motors was indeed successful in moving towards its goals. We would be presenting a comparative analysis of the financial statements of both the companies to evaluate the financial status of both General Motors and Ford. The financial analysis would include evaluation of the financial statements of Ford and General Motors, which would assist in understanding the revenue and profitability of the two companies and the operating expenses that the company has to bear. The financial data for the last 2 years has been studied for such purpose. We would be considering the financial highlights of General Motors after its restructuring. The market share of General Motors has increased by 0.4 percent in 2011 from 11.9 percent in the year 2010. Even a hike of 13 percent has been recorded in sales than the last year. General Motors had to downsize due to bankruptcy, so after restructuring the company created 17,500 jobs in America. The company also added around 3,400 dealerships more in US alone to provide better services to customers and a wonderful sales experience. In the Asian market such as China, General Motors has again gained its leadership position. The revenue in 2011 has been recorded to be $ 150 billion, which was $ 135.6 billion in 2010. Similarly, the net income was $ 4.7 billion in 2010, which has increased to $ 7.6 in 2011.  

Trolley problem and Utilitarianism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Trolley problem and Utilitarianism - Essay Example If consequences are all that matter then the Trolley Problem won’t matter much to a utilitarian, but, few would argue that it raises some serious difficulties with the said moral philosophy. 2) The Trolley Problem presents a utilitarian with a predicament. A train is coming; its current course is going to kill four hapless workers. You, the utilitarian, have the power to flick a switch that will save the four men, but you will as a result kill some other worker as the train will be diverted to his track. Most utilitarian thinkers would not have a problem with doing this. One life is worth sacrificing for four; the end justifies the means-consequences are all that matter, after all. But, if there wasn’t a switch, and instead a very large man, large enough to stop the train, was standing over a bridge in front of the workers, would you be prepared to push him in front of the train to save the four of them? If consequences are all that matter, then this is exactly what the utilitarian would have to do: commit murder. 3) John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism posits that the right action is that action which generates or leads to the most utility or happiness (utilitarianism.com). He begins though by stating that whatever action that is proved to be good, must be proved to be good by its ability to achieve something that is good in itself (utilitarianism.com). ... He argues that human rights are protected through a judicial system only as a means of securing happiness (utilitarianism.com). Happiness is the primary pursuit of man, and the principle of utility is, by definition, the most direct path to it. To Mills the utility principle is a natural social sentiment between humans and that human society would bond and benefit greatly from embedding utilitarianism into it foundations (utilitarianism.com). The responsibility of an individual in this kind of society is to make as much utility for as many people as possible even if that means sacrificing or endangering themselves for the good of others (utilitarianism.com). Any one person is not allowed to value his happiness over the happiness of others. 4) There are several difficulties with utilitarianism. Most importantly, it places too much emphasis on the consequences of actions. If we were to make all of our decisions based on our expected outcomes of events, how are we to feel about those de cisions if we are so often wrong in our predictions? This point is intended to raise doubt; simple doubt in the primary means of divining decision-making for the utilitarian. Furthermore, the Trolley Problem would make even the most hard-nosed kind of utilitarian reconsider their position, because it takes their principle of utility to a point where it condones murder. Most people would have serious trouble pushing a large man to his death to stop a train from killing four other people. What this says is that humans have some other moral codes or ideas about common decency that is disagreeable to strict utilitarianism. So thinking only in consequences might not be the answer for every occasion; we have to temper the principle with other ethics. There is another weakness

National Food Security Bill 2013 Essay Example for Free

National Food Security Bill 2013 Essay Only three percent of Indians pay income tax; our tax-GDP ratio is among the lowest in the world. This must change. Our elites must realise that India’s poverty has damaging consequences for them, and that they can help decrease it. The food security bill, with all its limitations, will hopefully contribute to generating such awareness, says Praful Bidwai. After vacillating for years over taking any pro-people measures, the United Progressive Alliance finally did something bold and worthy by having the National Food Security Bill passed in Parliament a promise made in the UPA’s â€Å"first 100 days† agenda after its return to power in 2009. The Bill won a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha, with a margin exceeding 100, because non-UPA parties including the Janata Dal-United, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and even the Shiv Sena felt they had no choice but to support it. It sailed through the Rajya Sabha too. The stage was set by a rare, spirited speech by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, in which she described the legislation as India’s chance to ‘make history’ by abolishing hunger and malnutrition, and emphasised that India cannot afford not to have the law: â€Å"The question is not whether we can [raise the resources] or not. We have to do it.† The NFSB has invested meaning, public purpose and a degree of legitimacy into the UPA’s otherwise corruption-ridden, shoddy and often appalling performance in government under an increasingly right-leaning leadership. This at once put the Bharatiya Janata Party on the defensive. Its leaders were reduced to opposing a measure that represents genuine social progress, and making thoughtless statements about the Bill being about ‘vote security’, not food security. The BJP now has nothing to offer to the nation but obscurantist programmes like building a temple at Ayodhya, and parochial, and predatory pro-corporate agendas under Narendra Modi’s rabidly communal leadership. The Bill is open to the criticism that it doesn’t go far enough. Instead of universalising subsidised food provision, it confines it to two-thirds of the population, and truncates it further by limiting the food quota to five kilos of grain per capita per month instead of the 35 kg per family demanded by right-to-food campaigners. The per capita quota puts small households, such as those headed by widows and single women, at a disadvantage. A universalised Public Distribution System, covering the entire population, has been proved to be more effective and less prone to leakage than one targeted at ‘below-poverty-line’ groups in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and even poor, backward Chhattisgarh. The relatively well-off won’t stand in queues at ration shops; they select themselves out of a universal PDS. Besides, a large proportion even of those officially defined as poor don’t possess BPL ration cards. The ratio can be as high as 40 percent in some highly deprived states. The latest National Sample Survey reveals that 51 percent of rural people possessing less than one-hundredth of a hectare of land have no ration cards of any kind; less than 23 percent have BPL cards. The problem of identifying the poor remains unresolved. Nevertheless, the broader coverage proposed under the NFSB and the simple, attractive formula of rice at Rs 3 per kg, wheat at Rs 2, and coarse grains at Re 1 marks a definite improvement over the current situation. It creates a right or entitlement for the poor, which can go some way in reducing acute hunger. However, right-wing commentators, including neo-liberal economists, credit-rating agencies, multinational and Indian big business, and writers/anchors in the media, have vitriolically attacked the NFSB as an instance of reckless â€Å"populism†. Some claim it will do to little to relieve malnutrition among Indian children, almost one-half of whom suffer from it. Yet others contend that the poor don’t want or deserve subsidies; they aspire to work, earn more and eat better. And almost all of them say the NFSB will entail excessive wasteful expenditure of Rs 1.25 lakh crores. This will aggravate India’s growing fiscal crisis and further depress already faltering GDP growth, now down to four-five percent. Eventually, this will work against the poor. Besides, if investment and growth are to be revived, India can’t spend so much on food security.

Privacy Supportive Geo-Location Search Software

Privacy Supportive Geo-Location Search Software Devika BV 1 Introduction 1.1 Purpose The purpose of this document is to present a detailed description of the Locating Service Similarity with Privacy using queries. It will explain the purpose and features of the system, the interfaces of the system, what the system will do, the constraints under which it must operate and how the system will react to external stimuli. 1.2 Document Conventions 1.3 Product Scope This web application is chosen for an academic study and implementation. Location-based applications utilize the positioning capabilities of a mobile device to determine the current location of a user, and customize query results to include neighboring points of interests. However, location knowledge is often perceived as personal information. One of the immediate issues hindering the wide acceptance of location-based applications is the lack of appropriate methodologies that offer fine grain privacy controls to a user without vastly affecting the usability of the service. In specific, the following are the contributions towards this project. A novel architecture for LBS applications that is directed towards revealing privacy/utility trade-offs to a user before an actual geo-tagged query is made. A proof-of-concept design for a privacy-supportive local search location based search. 1.4 References Exploiting Service Similarity for Privacy in Location Based Search Queries Qin Liu, Guojun Rinku Dewri, Member, IEEE, and Ramakrisha Thurimella IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PARALLEL AND DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS VOL:25 NO:2 YEAR 2014 â€Å"Supporting Anonymous Location Queries in Mobile Environments with Privacy Grid,†in Proceedings of the 17th International World Wide Web Conference,2008, pp. 237–246. B. Bamba, L. Liu, P. Pesti, and T. Wang 2. Overall Description This section will give an overview of the whole system. The system will be explained in its context to show how the system interacts with other systems and introduce the basic functionality of it. It will also describe what type of stakeholders that will use the system and what functionality is available for each type. At last, the constraints and assumptions for the system will be presented. 2.1 Product Perspective To begin with, this is a very dynamic concept. Usability has a twofold meaning a) privacy controls should be intuitive yet flexible, and b) the intended purpose of an application is reasonably maintained It is worth mentioning that a separate line of research in analyzing anonymous location traces has revealed that user locations are heavily correlated, and knowing a few frequently visited locations can easily identify the user behind a certain trace. The privacy breach in these cases occurs because the location to identity mapping results in a violation of user anonymity. The system attempts to prevent the reverse mapping—from user identity to user location—albeit in a user-controllable manner. 2.2 Product Functions Mobile search is an evolving branch of information retrieval services that is centered on the convergence of mobile platforms and mobile phones, or that it can be used to tell information about something and other mobile devices. Web search engine ability in a mobile form allows users to find mobile content on websites which are available to mobile devices on mobile networks. The first module is to build a mobile search engine with ranking based approach to retrieve results with respect to the localized position of the user. Geo-tagging is a function, where devices can insert metadata with geographical information (coordinates) into a file such as photo, associating it with the geographic location it was taken at. In response to this first query phase, the user obtains a service-similarity profile. This profile is a representation of the similarities in the query output at different geographic locations. The exact form taken by this profile, as well as the data structures employed in computing this profile, may vary from application to application. A location movement engine on the user side then determines a noisy location to use based on the user’s privacy profile and the retrieved service-similarity profile. What is private and what is not private should be actually defined before the query has been raised, this helps the result set not to include those details that are private to the user and thus it would not be shared by the application. The service-contour inferencing is not just a collection of positions, but includes additional information about the businesses located at those positions such as names, addresses, categories, subcategories. Additionally, some specific values such as feedback score, the entire profile of the entity with personal information, so on and forth. The following could be the modules for this project: Login/Register module Search results by ranking module Similarity profiler service module Service-contour inferencing module 2.3 User Classes and Characteristics The user is expected to be Internet literate and be able to register/login and know how to search for information from the system. The user is expected to know how to provide information. The interface, however, provides easy access to all these, nonetheless, the user needs to know the basics to operate and get the best results. The user is expected to be Windows literate and to be able to use button, pull-down menus, and similar tools. There are two types of users who can interact with the system: 1. The registered users who will get access to information of the businesses for a specific location; 2. The business owners who may receive personal information regarding the user at a specific location. 2.4 Operating Environment The following Hardware configuration is expected to smoothly execute the project. Processor Pentium V or above Speed 2.1 GHz or above RAM 1 GB RAM Hard Disk 60 GB Key Board Standard Windows Keyboard Mouse Two or Three Button Mouse Monitor SVGA The following Software configuration is expected to smoothly execute the project. Operating System : Window 7 or above Language : C# (.NET Language) Front End : Visual Studio 2010 Database : SQL Server/Express Web Server :Internet Information Server (IIS 6.0) 2.5 Design and Implementation Constraints Since the application searches data from the database server, it is crucial that there is a good bandwidth/good system resource for the application to function. Data-base search can be laborious when we have larger-data to be executed. 2.6 Assumptions and Dependencies One assumption about the emulator product is that it will be always be used with internet connection, since it has to collect information about a random user moving from the API’s. It is also assumed that the internet connection is stable during these transactions. If not high, a moderate speed is required to operate with the system. Another assumption is that since the API’s are third-party services, this could go down or may not work as expected at times. However, it is assumed that the down-time may not be longer enough to disrupt the working of our emulators. 2.7 System Environment 3. External Interface Requirements This section provides a detailed description of all inputs into and outputs from the system. It also gives a description of the hardware, software and communication interfaces and provides basic prototypes of the user interface. 3.1 User Interfaces A first-time user of the mobile application should see the log-in page when user opens the application. If the user has not registered, they should be able to do that on the log-in page. Refer to Fig. 2. If the user is not a first-time user, they should be able to see the latitude and longitude information where the user is current located, see Figure 3. On selecting the user destination, the random movement is simulated and reported by the system. Fig. 2. Login Screen Fig. 3. Current Location Fig. 4. Random User Movement 3.2 Hardware Interfaces No external hardware devices are expected to be used in this project. A system with Windows Operating System running on it should be fine to run the web application. 3.3 Software Interfaces Windows Operating System (OS) XP or 7.0, SQL Server/Express will be used for the database storage. Multiple API’s and JavaScript’s would be used in this project. There may be some usage of the web services (as applicable). 3.4 Communications Interfaces The communication between the different parts of the system is important since they depend on each other. However, in what way the communication is achieved is not important for the system and is therefore handled by the underlying operating systems and the database for both the cloud and the web application. 4. System Features 4.1 Login/Registration Module The user should be able to register or login (if already a member) from the mobile emulator. The login/register module helps the user to locate his geo location and will be able to view the businesses/services surrounding the user. The system will also ensure that the privacy details of the user are shared only what is made â€Å"Public† or â€Å"Private† by the user. Modifications to this sensitive information are provided to the user by the system. 4.2 Search results by ranking module In general, a local search application provides information on local businesses, events, and/or friends, weighted by the location of the query issuer. Location and service accuracy trade-offs are clearly present in a local search LBS. A privacy-supportive variant is therefore well-suited for this application class. Local search results tend to cycle through periods of plateaus and minor changes as one moves away from a specified location. The plateaus provide avenues for relaxation in the location accuracy without affecting service accuracy, while the minor changes allow one to assess accuracy in a continuous manner. Given a search term (e.g. generic ones such as â€Å"cafes†, and targeted ones such as â€Å"starbucks coffee†) and a highly generalized user location (e.g. the metropolitan city), the privacy-supportive LBS generates a concise representation of the variation in the 10-nearest neighbor result set as a hypothetical user moves across the large metropolitan area. Once the representation is communicated to the user, he/she can infer the geographic variability that can be introduced in her location coordinates to retrieve all or a subset of the result set. 4.3 Similarity profiler service module This profile is a representation of the similarities in the query output at different geographic locations. The exact form taken by this profile, as well as the data structures employed in computing this profile, may vary from application to application. A location perturbation engine on the user side then determines a noisy location to use based on the user’s privacy profile and the retrieved service-similarity profile. The LBS processes the query with respect to the noisy location. 4.4 Service-contour inferencing module The result set from the query is not simply a collection of positions, but includes additional attributes about the businesses located at those positions. This could range from names, addresses, categories, subcategories, to specifics such as value, feedback scores, and entire profiles of individuals with personal information. The ranking function is often a well-guarded business secret on how these attributes are combined. Another approach is to send a set of similarity matrices to the user, one each corresponding to a specific co-ordinate in the grid. The approach requires the computation and transfer of an inordinate amount of information. 5. Other Nonfunctional Requirements 5.1 Performance Requirements The requirements in this section provide a detailed specification of the user interaction with the web application software and measurements placed on the system performance. The system on which this client application runs should have installed .NET framework 2. The following software(s) must be installed for smooth implementation of the project. Visual Studio 2012 IIS Web Server/Service SQL Server database Browser application such as Internet Explorer / Mozilla / Google Chrome Windows Mobile Emulator Windows operating system with wired or wireless internet connection 5.2 Safety Requirements All care should be taken to ensure that at any point there is no compromise on the safety requirement during the process of building/executing this project. At this time, there is none that needs serious consideration. 5.3 Security Requirements Database should be password-protected. The system should allow access to users only with a login credentials.

Female Ambiguity :: essays research papers

Female Ambiguity: Kirke from The Odyssey vs. Bianca from The Taming of the Shrew   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Women are ambiguous characters throughout texts such as The Odyssey and The Taming of the Shrew. In these two stories, there are female characters that are deceitful and beguiling towards men. Kirke and Bianca are two comparable characters that display such behavior. I will explain how both characters display ambiguity by hiding their true nature behind actions that they wouldn’t normally take; therefore these female characters are being deceitful to those who fall for their actions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kirkie displays her obscure behavior at the point of The Odyssey when some of Odysseus’s crew is sent up to Kirke’s hall. When the men lay eyes on her she is weaving on her loom. Kirke’s weaving is a domesticated action to the crew of Odysseus’ men who witness it. Before the men see her the carnivorous mammals at her entryway that seem to be under her spell intimidate them. Kirke’s weaving alone is not what enticed the men to her, yet it was her singing which was described as beguiling, that made the men believe she was an angel. â€Å"Low she sang in her beguiling voice, while on her loom she wove ambrosial fabric sheer and bright, by that craft known to the goddesses of heaven.† (Homer 171) This action of weaving and singing gains the trust of the weary men who then wish to approach her. The sirens also sing. Somehow with female singing men lose their rational thoughts and become hypnotized by the sound. Weaving is an action used at least by one other female character, Penelope that deceives a large group of men into thinking that the female is harmless and domestic. In this story all the females that sing use it as a lure of the men and it works every time, however the waving trick didn’t work so well for Penelope and her secret of unraveling a shroud she would spend all day weaving was discovered. The crewmen in this part of the story see Kirke singing on the loom and it strikes their hearts and they seem to narrowly forget about the wolves and lions at her entrance only to see her young beautiful image as a fine woman. Polites, one of Odysseus’ crewmen broke the silence held by the men to assure them that this womanly duty Kirkie performs makes her seem harmless and that they should not hide away from her.

Aspirin Overdose Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aspirin is one of the most commonly used drugs in history. Aspirin is used for many different reasons. People use Aspirin for its cardiovascular blood thinning properties, for its pain relieving properties and for it antipyretic properties, to name a few. Most people don’t know what Aspirin is, but only what it does for their particular needs. I will attempt to describe some different aspects of Aspirin and Aspirin overdose. I will give a brief description of what Aspirin is, chemically speaking and where aspirin originates from. The use of Aspirin for attempted suicide is common as a primary drug or as a co-drug. I will explain the possible signs and symptoms an overdose patient will experience, and the assessment, and the prehospital treatment for the patient.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Aspirin is derived from a chemical extracted from willow bark: Salicylate Acid. Salicylate Acid has a long history of uses. During Medieval times herbalists used it for its palliative properties. In the mid 1900’s, chemists isolated the active ingredient of willow bark, salicylic acid, and Aspirin was developed. It quickly became the drug of choice as a pain reliever, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory. The first company to develop Aspirin for commercial use was the Bayer Company. Today Aspirin is used daily by millions of Americans to help reduce the risk a heart attack. Until the late 1900’s, with the development of Aspirin alternatives such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, Aspirin was the most widely used drug around, and a common drug of choice for the overdose patient.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Aspirin has many affects on the body when taken in excess amounts. One common affect is hyperventilation, which causes the patients PCO2 to drop from normal limits. The body will attempt to compensate for this by excreting bicarbonate, which results in an increase in pH blood levels. If this is not corrected, it will lead to metabolic alkalosis. Excess amounts of Aspirin will have many affects varying in severity such as severe illness, seizures, shock, and sometimes coma. Some of the more common symptoms include hypotension, tachycardia, tachypnea, nausea and vomiting, decreased level of consciousness, hypoglycemia, and tinnitus.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the pre-hospital initial assessment of the ... ...nbsp;  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, Aspirin is a drug that is commonly used in many aspects of home health care. People take Aspirin daily for different reasons, including pain control and cardiovascular therapy. Aspirin overdose is a common finding and is often a co-drug in suicidal attempts. Overdose patients present with varying degrees of symptoms. Some of the more common symptoms include hypotension, tachypnea, nausea and vomiting, hypoglycemia and tinnitus.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When a paramedic encounters a patient who presents with Aspirin overdose, the paramedics primary concern is to stabilize all life threatening conditions, secondly, the paramedic must perform an in-depth patient interview in the attempt to establish how much Aspirin was ingested and how long its been since ingestion. Initial treatment for the patient with Aspirin overdose is the administration of 100% oxygen and continuous monitoring of the patients vitals signs and ECG. If indicated, the paramedic should administer Activated Charcoal to prevent the ongoing absorption of Salicylatic Acid. Finally, transport the patient to the emergency department for physician evaluation and blood analysis.

Kimpton Hotels Earthcare Program Essay

What are the benefits of Kimpton’s environmental sustainability initiatives? What are its costs? The benefit of the program is to put back into the earth what is being taken out. Many companies who support Eco friendly establishments will book specifically with the Kimpton hotel in support of their EarthCare program. The costs are greater for not putting back into the environment what is taken out. In the long run being non eco friendly will cost Kimpton hotels more than what they spend on the initiative. How would you justify the EarthCare program to Kimpton’s board of directors and stockholders? That is, what is the business case for the program? The business case for the stockholders would be increased bookings from corporations and individuals that support the EarthCare program. By Kimpton hotels implementing an aggressive eco friendly plan, their hotels will stand out from the rest and be well known for their commitment to put back into the earth what they take. What challenges face the EarthCare program, and how might Kimpton overcome them? A couple of challenges that they face is the increased cost for some of the raw materials, such as sheets. A way to overcome that is to have aggressive buyers that work diligently to get the cost down by bulk buying for all of the hotels and then distributing from one central hub. The second challenge would be the employee’s acceptance to the program. This can be overcome simply by getting all employee’s involved in the initiative and keeping the line of communication open so that every stays informed and feels part of the decision process. What further steps should Kimpton take to institutionalize its environmental commitments? Kimpton should show their commitment by becoming ISO 14000 certified. This would show their commitment to customers, investors, shareholders and stakeholders.

Succubus on Top CHAPTER 24

Seth had chided me for being late, but with five daughters, the Mortensens were always running late. So no one, except Seth, really paid much attention to my tardiness. Likewise, with so much chaos, no one really noticed that he and I didn't talk much. The girls spoke more than enough for all of us, and I took some comfort in their presence. As always, they couldn't get enough of me, crawling all over me and tugging at my sleeve to make sure they had my undivided attention. I enjoyed it all in a bittersweet sort of way. Convinced Seth and I were on the verge of a break-up, I mostly kept thinking that this would be the last time I would hang out with this wonderful family. Andrea provided us with an equally distracting birthday/Thanksgiving meal. Terry and Seth had helped her, it turned out, but I still marveled that they had pulled it off while still managing the little ones. I said as much to Andrea. â€Å"Parenthood makes you the ultimate multitasker,† she informed me. â€Å"You'll see what I mean when you have kids.† I smiled back politely, not bothering to tell her there'd be no kids for me. â€Å"Besides,† Terry said with a grin, â€Å"we understand you're already sort of a superwoman. Seth was telling us about some crazy shindig you threw together at the bookstore?† â€Å"Uncle Seth said it was cool,† added Brandy. â€Å"It was a fest,† I corrected, glancing at Seth in surprise. I couldn't figure out at all what his feelings were for me. He'd invited me over and had apparently been singing my praises. None of that jibed with the fallout I expected from the Bastien incident, nor his initial stunned reaction to it. Seth opened presents after dinner, the bulk of which were books and more contributions to his wacky T-shirt collection. â€Å"Where's your present?† Kendall asked me. â€Å"I left it at home.† We all hung out and talked after that, my apprehension mounting as I wondered where this evening would lead. When the party finally disbanded, Seth asked me if I wanted to go somewhere. I took a deep breath. It was now or never. â€Å"Let's go to my place.† Once back there, we stationed ourselves on my couch – at a proper distance – and talked about everything except our relationship. I told him about my new position and got his congratulations. He told me about some interesting fan comments he'd received at the signing. When this had gone on for nearly thirty minutes, I couldn't take it any more. â€Å"Seth, what's going on?† I demanded. â€Å"With us.† He leaned his head back against the couch. â€Å"I wondered when we'd get to this. Can't avoid it any longer, huh?† â€Å"Well, yeah. This is a big deal. This isn't like a dispute over where to go for dinner†¦this is us. Our future. I mean, I†¦you know. You know what I did.† â€Å"I do.† He studied my ceiling for a moment, then turned his amber brown eyes on me. In that moment, I almost understood why he always seemed to be staring somewhere else. When he turned his eyes directly on you, it was a hard and powerful thing. They were electric. â€Å"Aren't I allowed to forgive you?† â€Å"Er†¦no. Well, I don't know.† This conversation echoed the one I'd had with Bastien earlier. He had said the same thing, and after weighing everything, I'd decided it wasn't worth being mad at him. Was it so easy to forgive the ones you loved? â€Å"I won't lie, Thetis, it hurt. It still does. But, in some ways†¦well, it's only one step away from what you normally do.† â€Å"A big step.† He laughed. â€Å"Whose side are you on? Are you trying to turn me against you?† â€Å"I'm just trying to make sure you stand up for yourself.† â€Å"You're always worried about that. Don't worry. I'm not a complete doormat.† â€Å"I didn't mean that. I just†¦I don't know. I'm not very good at this dating thing.† â€Å"I know that. Neither am I. I've done plenty of stupid things in my past relationships. I deserve a few karmic turnabouts. Of course, that doesn't mean I want this to become an ongoing thing, but one mistake†¦one mistake I can forgive. If I haven't had much practice dating, you've got to be even worse after, what, how many years of casual, uh, flings?† â€Å"A lot,† I replied vaguely. For some reason, I was reluctant to tell Seth my age. He picked up on that, his eyes narrowing ruefully. â€Å"And right there. That's another thing. Almost worse than what happened. You're doing it again.† â€Å"Doing what?† â€Å"You don't tell me things. Things about you. It's like you're afraid to show me who you are. But like I said, that's what love is. You open yourself up. I want to know you. I want to know everything about you. Sometimes I feel like no matter how strongly I feel about you†¦I still don't know you at all.† â€Å"I'm not very good at that part either,† I said softly. Seth pulled me into an embrace, crushing me against him. There was a fierceness in that motion, an unflinching sense of possession that stirred my blood. â€Å"You're my world right now, Georgina, but I can't go on with this†¦not if there's no honesty.† His tone was gentle and loving, but I heard the warning between the lines. I'd had my fuckup. The next time, I would not get such amnesty. This terrified me a little, yet I was proud of him and realized I had a lot more to learn about him too. He had every right to be laying down the law. He was not a doormat. I regretted my mistakes, and while I was glad to be forgiven this time, I didn't want Seth to waste his life on me if I couldn't ever treat him right. My young French lover, Etienne, had never recovered. I'd learned years later that he'd broken his engagement, staying forever single. He'd thrown himself into his painting, earning a small following. Several portraits of me – as a blond Josephine – still hung in private European collections. Etienne had not been able to get me out of his system, and it had made a mess of him. I wanted things to work with Seth so badly. I wanted us to be together and be happy for as long as we could manage it. But if we couldn't, I didn't want him to waste his life on me as that young painter had. â€Å"I love you,† I murmured into Seth's shoulder, astonished when the words just slipped out. And I realized then just how much I meant them. He inhaled deeply and held me even tighter, and I felt the love pouring off of him, even with no spoken declaration. â€Å"I'm pretty sure I don't deserve you.† â€Å"Oh, my Thetis, you deserve a lot of things. And honestly† – he shifted around and studied me – â€Å"as much as it hurts†¦I'm sort of glad that you, you know, had that chance with Bastien.† I frowned. â€Å"That chance to be with a copy of you?† â€Å"Well, no. That's still kind of weird. I mean the chance to have sex and, well, enjoy it. Every time I think about what you do on a regular basis†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He closed his eyes a moment. â€Å"I just envision you being raped over and over. And I hate it. It makes me sick. I'm glad you were with someone you cared about†¦even if it wasn't me. You deserve to have good sex for a change.† â€Å"You do too,† I said, overwhelmed by Seth's nonstop selflessness. â€Å"And you know†¦if you ever wanted to find someone and just, well, have sex for the fun of it†¦well, you could. You know, just to fulfill the physical need. I wouldn't mind.† I didn't think I would, at least. I uneasily recalled my slight jealousy over his correspondence with Maddie. He looked at me seriously. â€Å"I don't have sex just to fulfill a need. Not if I can help it. Sex may not be a requisite part of love, but it is an expression of love. It should at least be with someone you care about.† The answer didn't surprise me. In fact, it suddenly reminded me of something. â€Å"Hey, I've got something for you.† Despite our dire romantic status, I had nonetheless chosen twenty of the best pictures Bastien had taken of me and had Hugh print them this week. I hadn't known until now that I'd actually be able to give them to Seth. I found them in my bedroom, bound with a pink ribbon. â€Å"Your birthday present.† I started to hand the pictures over. â€Å"Wait,† he said. He opened up the messenger bag he carried his laptop around in. A moment later, he offered me several sheets of paper. I gave him the pictures. We sat in silence, each of us studying our respective offerings. For half a second, I thought he was sharing a manuscript after all. A few lines into it, I realized it was addressed to me. It was the writing he'd promised me a while back. The detailed exposition of all the things he wished we could do. Reading it, I sort of lost track of the world around me. What he'd written was exquisite. Some of it was like poetry. A beautifully crafted ode to my beauty and my body and my personality that made my heart swell. Other parts were brazenly explicit. Hot and steamy. They made O'Neill and Genevieve's elevator look like a kindergarten classroom. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as I read. When I finished, I looked up at him breathlessly. He was watching me, as the pictures had taken less time to peruse. â€Å"I take it all back,† he told me, holding up one of the shots. It showed me sitting crosswise in a chair, naked. My legs draped over the edge lazily, showing a nice view of my pink painted toenails. A hardbound copy of one of Seth's books sat on my lap. â€Å"Sex might be a requisite part of love after all.† I glanced down at the manifesto. â€Å"Yeah. It just might be.† We sat there a moment, then burst out laughing. He rubbed his eyes. â€Å"Thetis,† he said wearily, â€Å"what are we going to do with ourselves?† â€Å"I don't know. Do the pictures just make things worse?† â€Å"No. They're wonderful. Thank you. They're a good way of having you†¦even if I can't have the real thing.† An idea slowly coalesced in my mind. The pictures just involved looking. Looking was safe. And one didn't just have to look at a two-dimensional image. â€Å"Maybe†¦maybe you can have the real thing.† He gave me a quizzical look, and I hastily amended: â€Å"In a hands-off way. Come on.† â€Å"This seems dangerous,† he said when I led him to the bedroom. Sunset was filling the room with mood lighting. I pointed to a chair in the corner. â€Å"Sit there.† I moved to the opposite corner, hoping it was enough space. â€Å"What are you – Oh.† He bit off his words, swallowing. â€Å"Oh.† I slid my hands slowly up over my hips and breasts, over to the top button of my blouse. Slowly, deliberately, I unfastened the button. Then, just as carefully, I moved down to the next button. And the next. Then I unbound my hair, letting it fall messily over my shoulders. A striptease is all about letting go of self-consciousness. And it's about pacing too, I supposed. Admittedly, doing a show in front of Seth, whom I loved, moved into a realm I felt a little unfamiliar with. Nervous energy twitched inside me, but I didn't show it on the outside. I was on the stage, and I moved through my steps with sultry confidence, watching my own hands sometimes and making eye contact with him at others. This was part of my gift to him. He obviously liked seeing my body, even if, for the moment, he watched like one frozen, eyes wide and face carefully controlled. The blouse eventually fell to the floor, followed by the skirt. I'd had bare legs earlier today but had covertly shape-shifted on thigh-highs while we walked to the bedroom. Left only in those and a cherry-red bra and panty set made of satin, I languidly moved my body in smooth and alluring ways as I played with edges and straps. The stockings came off next, each one rolled down with delicate motions that let my hands slide against my own skin. Left in almost nothing, I savored the shining satin, trailing my fingertips over the bra and panty's surfaces. At last they peeled off too, and I was left in only my skin, left fully exposed and with a surprising heat burning in my lower body. I had turned myself on as much as him. I stood there a moment, like I was taking in applause before an audience, then started to walk across the room. â€Å"No,† he said, voice thick and husky. His fingers dug into the chair's arms. â€Å"You'd better not get too close.† I stopped, laughing softly. â€Å"You don't strike me as the assaulting type, Mortensen.† â€Å"Yeah, well, there's a first time for everything.† â€Å"So you liked?† â€Å"Very much.† His eyes were drinking me in, ravenous and needful. â€Å"That was the best thing I've ever seen.† Pleased, I stretched out my muscles, holding my arms over my head a moment before exhaling and letting my hands fall. As they did, I ran them down over my breasts and thighs in a careless gesture I didn't really even think about. Yet, as I did it, I saw his posture stiffen slightly and that fire in his eyes flare up. A slow, dangerous smile spread over my face. â€Å"What?† he asked. â€Å"I don't think the show's over yet.† I sat back on the bed, then slid myself up so I was propped up against the pillows in full view. Watching him and his every reaction, I moved my hands up to my breasts, feeling them. But these were not the touches that came with a sensual undressing. These were caresses of a different sort. A more urgent sort. I want to see you in the throes of orgasm, Seth had written in his missive. I want to see your whole body writhing, your lips open as you drink in your own pleasure. Only yours, no one else's. Just you, completely given up to ecstasy. I stroked my breasts, cupping them, feeling their softness and curving shape. My fingers moved and stroked my nipples, teasing them further, moving in lazy circles. I ran my thumbs over them, reveling in their sensitivity. When my breasts were finally taut and aching, I let my hands travel down over my smooth and flat stomach, examining and lingering on every part until I reached my thighs. Parting them ever so slightly, I slipped two fingers between the waiting lips so I could stroke that throbbing knot of nerves, moaning without even realizing it. Something about Seth watching aroused me more than I'd expected. I was dripping with wetness, aching and scorching. I slid my fingers over and over that burning, swelling spot, stoking the rapidly growing need. Arching my body, hearing the soft cries escaping from me, all I could think about was Seth's eyes on me. Doing this for him, was in many ways, more genuine than actual sex with Bastien-turned-Seth had been. This was as intimate as he and I could ever be. It wasn't exactly the same as the honest communication we kept talking about, but in a way, I was opening myself to him after all. Exposing myself without inhibition. I kept expecting the succubus energy-need to pick up on this scam, but either the distance or the fact that I was doing this to myself continued to trick it. We'd found a loophole after all. As my fingers continued to rub between my lips, bringing me closer and closer to that crest, I moved my other hand down and thrust a couple of fingers inside of me. This elicited a moan of yearning, and I opened my thighs further, letting Seth get a full view. Faster and harder both sets of fingers worked, touching everything, building and building up that delicious pleasure until I felt like I couldn't take it anymore. Like I was going to burst. And then, I did. Sparks and lightning shot through my body, radiating from my core outward until every part of me tingled with life. I cried out again, loudly, my body writhing against the sheets as spasms racked my muscles. What had started as an ostentatious show had become something more. Doing this for Seth – with Seth – had reawakened something sleeping inside of me. I had lost control; my own body had taken over. When I finally calmed down, I lay back against the covers, my breathing shallow as I recovered myself. I could feel sweat all over me. And with that physical response, an emotional and almost spiritual one radiated through me as well. Like the experience had somehow lit a flame within me. One that hadn't died with the orgasm. One that had nearly gone cold once – long ago – but now shone fiercely. A moment later, I heard Seth stand up. Gingerly, he moved to my side, just barely sitting on the bed. We stared at each other, neither of us speaking, our eyes conveying all we needed to each other. He reached out a hand, like he might stroke my cheek, then pulled back. â€Å"I'm afraid to touch you,† he whispered. â€Å"Yeah. It might†¦might be wise to hold back on that for a little longer. Just in case it kicks in.† â€Å"I take back what I said earlier about the stripping. This was the best thing I've ever seen.† He crooked me a smile. â€Å"No, you're the best thing I've ever seen. Everything about you.† I smiled back. â€Å"We might have found a workaround.† â€Å"For you maybe. As it is, I'm, uh, feeling a little†¦uncomfortable right now. I'm glad you were able to get a release, at least.† I suddenly sat up, energized. â€Å"Well, why can't you?† His smile dropped. â€Å"What? Like in the bathroom?† â€Å"No. Right here.† â€Å"You're joking.† â€Å"No.† I could feel my lips turning into a mischievous smirk. â€Å"Fair is fair. Quid pro quo. I did it for you, now it's your turn.† â€Å"I†¦no. No. I can't do that.† â€Å"Sure you can. There's nothing to it.† â€Å"Yeah, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No buts. You're the one going on about openness and sharing. â€Å" â€Å"Whoa. That's not even the same.† â€Å"It is.† I rolled over so that I was not quite in a pouncing position, but pretty close. I gave him a smoldering look. â€Å"How do you think I was able to do all that? I thought about you. I thought about you being over me while I spread my body for you. I opened up to you. I let you see everything. I wanted you to have that part of me. Nothing held back. And now I want to see the same.† I leaned close, starting to tug his shirt off. â€Å"I want to see you come. I want to see you give in to that desire. I want to see your face when you touch yourself and think about me.† â€Å"And they say I'm good with words.† He closed his eyes for a moment. â€Å"I can't believe you can have this effect on me.† I pulled his Spam shirt over his head. â€Å"I'm waiting.† Seth stared at me, then carefully and hesitantly began taking off his pants. He tossed them on the floor and moved on to his adorable flannel boxers. He paused there, clearly nervous, and then removed them in a quick motion before he could turn back. I looked him over admiringly, seeing him naked for the first time. As my gaze lingered between his legs, I had to work to keep a straight face. Bastien hadn't done him justice. â€Å"This is going to be hard,† he observed. â€Å"It already looks hard to me.† â€Å"Stop making jokes.† â€Å"Sorry. Just relax, that's the key.† I sat back away from him, putting some distance between us once again. â€Å"Drop the self-consciousness. Just give in to how you feel.† He nodded and took a deep breath. â€Å"Thanks, coach. Can you move over to your side – yeah. There. And then, the hand†¦yes, put it right there. Perfect.† He shook his head, an almost comic look of misery and eagerness on his face as his hand slowly moved down. â€Å"I need a good view of you to pull this off, I think, so I can keep my eyes off me. If I pay too much attention to what I'm doing, the absurdity will hit. â€Å" â€Å"Well then,† I said, getting comfortable. â€Å"Don't look down.†

LC Financing. Comparison between an Islamic and a conventional bank in Essay

LC Financing. Comparison between an Islamic and a conventional bank in Qatar - Essay Example It is a financial agreement – a secure mode of payment - between an importer and exporter for goods shipped (Finance). In Wall Street Words, David L. Scott defines a letter of credit as â€Å"a promise of payment in the event that certain requirements are met. A letter of credit essentially substitutes the credit of a third party (usually a large bank) for that of a borrower. In the case of municipal bonds, an LOC generally permits a trustee to draw six months' interest and sufficient funds to retire outstanding bonds at par in the event of default† (qtd. in Letter of Credit). Since L/Cs carry a risk for the issuing bank in case the client defaults, the bank assesses the client’s creditworthiness and financial position to evaluate his ability to pay in the future. In some cases, the bank may ask for a security to minimize chances of loss. There are various departments within the bank which cater to such analysis and evaluation in order to judge whether the custom er is worthy of providing credit or not. If the customer simply is asking for a letter of credit then the bank assumes responsibility for the traded goods coming into the country. In that case, checks and balances are even stricter and require that the customer is of extremely good credit worthiness based on which financing and LC facilities are then provided. Corporate and commercial banking departments are formulated where teams sit and evaluate companies for their creditworthiness as well as their capacity to pay back the loans that they have taken. Other departments that may be involved in this case may include Risk Management department, Credit management department, Commercial Banking and Audit as well as a committee that is formulated especially to evaluate credit packages that are developed through the corporate or commercial banking departments. (Islam). Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP 600), issued by the International Chamber of Commerce, includes the latest rules which govern letter of credit transactions in international trade finance worldwide. What are  L/C finance contracts? There are various financial solutions offered by banks for trade financing. L/C finance contracts are one of them, with modern banks offering a wide range of L/C financing products to meet complex needs of traders. One of these is export contracts through which the exporter's bank extends a loan to him. Trade loans are regarded as an important trade finance technique. They are especially suitable for wholesalers and manufacturers as they can be utilized for both one-off and regular purchases of raw materials, goods, etc. The bank can extend finance until payment from the on-sale of goods is provided by the client (Barclays). L/C finance contracts in Islamic bank Muslim jurists believe that reward for capital needs to be linked to the outcome of any project if financing is being extended by the bank. They are of the view that gains should be made v ia trade involving sale and purchase (Hanif 3). Islamic banks have thus come up with alternate, Shariah-complaint financial solutions for customers as compared to conventional banks. Murabaha is one of the most commonly used principles in Islamic trade finance. It refers to: â€Å"†¦a contract of sale and purchase at a profit margin between the supplier and the purchaser of the good. The

Critique of a Political Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Critique of a Political Speech - Essay Example The opening phrase â€Å"Good evening, tonight I can report to the American people and the world†¦Ã¢â‚¬  makes it clear that the speech is a formal announcement, and that the President is conscious that his words will become a part of history. The word â€Å"report† implies that he will stick to a factual account, and the language that he uses to describe events in Pakistan follow this up, for example â€Å"an operation† (paragraph 1) â€Å"counterterrorism professionals† (paragraph 6) â€Å"a targeted operation (paragraph 11) â€Å"took custody of his body† (paragraph 11). This use of plain and logical language, describing neutrally what happened is called an appeal through logos. The action is presented as a straightforward continuation of America’s counter-terrorism strategy following the 9/11 terrorist atrocities. This can be seen when the President sets out the chronological train of events in his planning and execution of anti-terroris t actions: â€Å"Over the years I have repeatedly made clear that we would take action†¦That is what we have done† (paragraph 15) The timeline of consistent and logical action is also projected into the future: â€Å"Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort†¦ We must – and we will – remain vigilant† (paragraph 13). The way that the President delivers the speech is sober and serious, with no pageantry and no audience present. He stands in a dark suit at a podium, inside the Whitehouse but not in any remarkable location. The American flag is held in shot at the opening but the camera focuses very quickly upon the President’s head and shoulders. There is a small â€Å"WHGOV† logo at the top right of the screen, and a full White House credits screen is shown at the end, but apart from that there is no emphasis on the Presidential status of the speaker. This is very clever, because it allows the President to speak as a human be ing, as well as a head of state. He appears determined and calm, and not triumphalist. He even acknowledges the work of his predecessor in office and political opponent, and agrees with him: â€Å"I ‘ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11,†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (paragraph 14) This persona of the calm and dignified leader, victor in long battle and steadily carrying on with the country’s business is an appeal through ethos. It uses President Obama’s political status and personal manner to persuade the audience that â€Å"this is a good and historic day† (paragraph 16) and â€Å"Justice has been done.† (paragraph 19). These last two statements are delivered in the same sober style as the accounts of the action of Pakistan, inviting the audience to trust in his judgement on these matters of interpretation. In fact the President must have known that there would be a lot of angry and worried reactions to the fact that Osama bin Laden was e xecuted without trial. It could be argued that he was not brought to justice at all, and that invading Pakistani air space without permission and then killing him was an act of terrorism which America should be ashamed to admit. These technicalities are not mentioned by the President, and his reassuring persona encourages the audience to concentrate on the result, and not the means that was used to get there. The most obvious rhetorical appeals in the speech are those which use the technique of pathos, a style defined as â€Å"an appeal based on emotion†

The right of Refusal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The right of Refusal - Essay Example Patient education is an excellent procedure to try in an effort at discovering why the patient is being uncooperative. The education must be complete enough so that the patient is aware of why the dental x-rays are needed. This will also allow the patient to see that the doctor has his best interest uppermost in his mind. At this point, fear must be addressed in a positive manner. Doctors have a responsibility to make their patients as comfortable as possible with the procedure that they are about to endure. At the same time, the patient must realize that the doctor is well within his rights to refuse to treat the patient if the doctor is unable to obtain satisfactory x-rays. If the patient is in the doctor’s office and must be treated, the doctor should treat the patient as best as he can and then suggest that on his next visit, the patient see another dentist. To treat a patient and not really know what one is treating is negligent on the part of the doctor. Documentation mu st be maintained by the doctor in a permanent patient file in order to protect himself. A letter to the doctor’s lawyer which explains the situation is in order.

Kierkegaard and Dewey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Kierkegaard and Dewey - Essay Example Dewey then gives an example of religion; how religion can have a lasting and deep impact on the course of a nations history. Religion or a certain set of ideas can control peoples feelings and beliefs, and that is not any less of a control than that of political oppression. Culture is also determines what elements of human nature dominate it, which have resulted in the belief that one aspect of human nature is the determining factor of human society. This is confusing the effect with the cause, as it is a societys culture that determines which aspect of human nature dominates according to Deweys argument. So the basic idea of Deweys first chapter is that if political freedom is to be maintained it is through culture and not through the individuals, as they are themselves motivated and to a degree "controlled" by culture. The exaggeration of one aspect of human nature as the sole motive behind human behavior is itself culture driven; this is well supported by historical facts. For every age gives rise to a motive of behavior that accords with its cultural needs. And the example Dewey gives is England during the industrial revolution; as the economic situation was intense it gave rise to the belief in a sole human motivator that is in harmony with this economical situation. 2- In chapter 2, Dewey discusses the differences that lie within the same society, how they might affect society and how they are not an objection to his theory of cultural domination over human behavior within society. In this chapter he concludes that: "No estimate of the effects of culture upon the elements that now make up freedom begins to be adequate that does not take into account the moral and religious splits that are found in our very make-up as persons. The problem of creation of genuine democracy cannot be successfully dealt with in theory or in practice save as we create intellectual and moral integration out of present disordered conditions." This perhaps sums up

Knolege creatain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Knolege creatain - Essay Example . Balmisse et al (2007: 118) take up this concept stating that knowledge management is a type of tool which , through ‘ social interaction and interface customization’ enables the sharing and transferring of necessary data. In 2010 Martin-Niemi and Greatbanks came up with produced an interesting discussion centering on â€Å"ba† which is said to be defined as ‘place’. This ‘ba’ becomes the means of relationships being developed, and enabling workers to contribute their knowledge and so enhance their joint experiences and so create a communicative environment which all can participate and share. This figure above shows how knowledge is accumulated when individuals and groups share a common working environment. Such sharing is not just the field of a few elite experts, but must include participation by all. An emphasis is made in this type of knowledge creation upon both explicit as well as tacit knowledge as well as how these varying types could be shared. The former . explicit knowledge, is the easier to share because of its basis in individual talents. The model referred to as SECI, refers to the various stages, i.e. socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization. This model can be used to demonstrate how blogs can be utilised within my company. We became interested in blogs as a way of encouraging groups of employees to contribute the knowledge they had. After only a few months it was possible to see positive developments. However, it was clear that full participation by all employees was necessary in order to create the optimum amount of knowledge. At the present time usage remains limited, but the company is actively developing a programme of incentives with the aim of encouraging employees to share their knowledge. There are a number of benefits to the use of blogs. As well as encouraging the

12 Steps to Recovery Essay Example for Free

12 Steps to Recovery Essay Addiction of any substance is an extremely difficult thing to accept. When we finally realize that We have a problem it is up us to admit it. Once we have accepted that we are addicted we have made the first and most important step to recovery. We learn that once recovery is what we want in our lives there are steps to take these steps is to mean we are ready to completely give yourself to a higher power. This higher power can be anything or anyone we want it to be, whether it be God or someone we can really trust and depend on. There are 12 steps to recovery that will help us stay clean and help us be successful in staying in recovery. This we call the â€Å"12 Step Program. † The first step to recovery is we admit we’re powerless over our addiction and our lives have become unmanageable. This means admitting weeven have an addiction problem. By saying your life has become unmanageable states that we don‘t want to continue living your life the way have been during your addiction. Our addiction has taken over our life, and admitting that we’re an addict helps us take responsibility for our actions instead of blaming others as we did before. The second step is we have come to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity as we knew it. See more:  The Story of an Hour Literary Analysis Essay For most of us our higher power is god. We would give everything to our higher power and ask him for forgiveness. We then would recite the Serenity Prayer to help us. The Serenity Prayer is â€Å"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference! † This is a very powerful prayer as I feel today. The third step is that we’ve made the decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand and know him. We allow him to guide us through the recovery process we are going through. He lets us know that we are not alone in this, and we will never be alone again as long as we have him in our lives. The fourth step is making a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. We look inside ourselves to find out what our morals are and to figure out what we believe in. We figure out what we stand for and learn what we think is right and wrong in life. In this step you must become brutally honest with yourself knowing that there’s nothing we can do to change the past. This does not mean you are a bad person but that you have made some bad decisions in our lives, that we as human beings are not perfect. The fifth step is when we have admitted to God, ourselves, and another human being the exact natures of our wrongs we have done during our addiction. Completing this step gets the monkey off your back pursay. More than most people the addict lead a double life. This means we are only showing what we want people to see. Not being honest and showing our true colors. We still continued to lie and expected to be able to stay clean. Through this step we learned that this is not possible in order to stay clean and live a honest life through recovery. Those of us that belong to religious sanctuaries can confide in the proper person of that faith . Others that are not religious may find someone they can confide in such as a doctor or therapist. Someone that we can trust to keep what has been said in confidence. We cannot disclose anything to our family because we are not allowed to say things to them that will make them unhappy. We cannot save our own skins by making someone else unhappy. By doing so our fears come closer and we begin to realize that our life is opening up and showing what our life was really about . This is the scariest thing we will do. And the hardest step to complete out of all 12 of them. The sixth step is when we ask God to remove these defects of character. Which in turn means we surrender our whole self to God? When we are ready, we say to him something like this: â€Å"My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen† The seventh step we become willing to ask God to help us to remove all of our shortcomings. This is not a long step and like I said previously it’s not one of the hardest steps to do during recovery.