Thursday, October 31, 2019

Marketing - Fictisious Prodcut repositioning Essay

Marketing - Fictisious Prodcut repositioning - Essay Example They sell their product through retailers and other distributing outlets and they have a strategic position in chocolate gift baskets for special occasions. Product repositioning is another key area in marketing. Repositioning relate to the change of the image of product and also targets other buyers. Repositioning is also involves changing the market segment from one to another. Godiva chocolate manufactures change their product position to tween market segment. Currently they are targeting products in general consumers. Their product lines include coffee and cocoa biscuits and other branded chocolates, and their key marketing strategy focused on gift chocolate baskets meant for special occasions. Re positioning in tween market segment in the USA is a very strategic and competitive decision. It is one of the high potential marketing areas mainly intended consumers from aged between 8-12 years. â€Å"The ‘tween’ market represents a whole new marketing challenge -- and opportunity -- for retailers and marketers. Defined by Associate Professor Cele Otnes as "kids ages 8-12," the tween market has approximately $14 billion in annual spending power.† (The â€Å"tween† Market, College of Business Communication Features). Product positioning will depends mainly on consumer’s behavior and perception. Market survey is an important tool before repositioning to identify and determine customer’s needs and wants. The target customers for Godiva chocolates are primarily children in the age group of 8-12 years. They have to consider a proper strategy to reach at their customers, through a strategic market survey to ascertain the reaction of customers as well as main chocolate retailers to determine the final design of the product and its physical attributes like color, size, shape, packaging, brand name etc. It also needs to be ascertained as to what quantity

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Chromatography method that measures everything Essay Example for Free

Chromatography method that measures everything Essay Yes, it is possible to have a single Chromatography method that measures everything. Chromatography is a laboratory technique that enables separation of mixtures. In most cases, the mixture is dissolved in a fluid and directed to a structure to hold another material called stationary phase. The process may be analytical or preparative. What is important is the whether the process can separate the mixture for advanced use, professionally called purification or whether the process is attempting to accomplish minor separation process. Zhang (2007, p. 247) attempts to argue for the possibility of single chromatography; it is suggestive to apply separation including LC and GC. This allows the separation to occur in stages, primarily, the stationary phase, where the substance is held in a narrow tube through and the mobile where the liquidized substance is held under low pressure. Zhang proposes the use of planer chromatography. This technique endeavor uses flat surface, where the substance component is spread. The technique is effective since it allows different compounds to respond to different distances according to how they significantly interact at the stationary phase. Also, this technique uses the retardation factor (IUPAC, 2006), which is distance travelled from the center of spot to the solvent front, where the substance is separated completely. However, for more complex substances, it is good to use a Universal Chromatography interface (UCI) device. This device allows the usage with Chromatography Management, which establishes a hybrid based analytical mechanism combining various Chromatographic devices. Essentially, the device control is through four ports known as RS-232 ports with eight contact-closure relay as well as, eight TTL inputs aided through a computer communication mechanism (Ottosen, Grout MÃ ¼ller, 2009). Technically, the device accepts analogue from multiple detectors from high performance electronics by ensuring accurate signal measurement. In encapsulation, a UCI combines various technologies in one simpler purification process. References Zhang, C. (2007). Fundamentals of Environmental Sampling and Analysis. New York: John Wiley Sons.IUPAC. (2006). Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. Retardation factor, RF in planar chromatography Retrieved January 16th, 2014 from http://goldbook.iupac.org/R05353.html Ottosen, C., Grout, B., MÃ ¼ller, R. (2009). Proceedings of the Ninth Symposium on Postharvest Quality of Ornamental Plants. New York: ISHS Source document

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Consequences and Benefits of Liberalism

Consequences and Benefits of Liberalism Liberalism as a political idea has become far too complicated. It appears there is as much liberalism as there are liberals. Some of which are: libertarianism, classical liberalism, bleeding heart liberalism, economic liberalism, political liberalism, social liberalism, high liberalism, objectivism, anarcho-capitalism, and most popularly neo-liberalism. It is safe to say that these numerous views on Liberalism amount to an opaque understanding of liberalism, which needs to be sorted out instantly. The controversial question is ‘’ what exactly is liberalism and what are the best ways to achieve maximum utility in the economy as well as the society via liberalism? Due to the inconclusive nature of this term, various economists have their distinct views on liberalism, ranging from absolute freedom to, liberalism with use of force, to feminism and liberalism, liberalism and its response to corporate political spending, liberalism and public reason and so on. Milton Friedman assesses political liberal thought from the 17th century to today. He explains that over the past 350 years, liberalism has been responsible for the progressive change that has taken place in the United States and England. Friedman believes that the success of liberalism is based on the initial idea of liberalism itself, and observes, that this ideology is committed to progress and has as its goal, the improvement in the preference of people both politically and economically. Regardless of this, liberalism has been criticised by the conservative agenda, which is of the opinion that there is an excess impact of government in liberalism, which contradicts the initial idea of th e term itself. Friedman is of the belief that the government engages in reckless spending, high taxation and monopolizing world power. However, liberalism holds that while government has power, the power should be limited; therefore the government has the duty to respect the liberty of individuals, tolerate religious groups, making modern democracy and outgrowth of liberalism. Liberalism is based on the idea of democracy; therefore its principles should be based factors that promote minimal government intervention on economic issues and maximum voice of the people. Some of these issues related to liberalism are as follows; the determination to get past nationalism. Liberalism should prioritize free movement of labour as well as capital. Basically, this view is against the existence of boarders, therefore it calls for advanced countries, to make major investments in 3rd world countries in order to elevate them to the point where emigration becomes optional as opposed to an act of sur vival. The bottom line of this view is the belief that the entire world should be a single economic zone. When this happens human potential can be fully maximized, hence labour’s ability to reach its maximum value. Secondly, education should be easily attainable, and should have no actual beginning and an end, hence the abolishment of an authoritarian structure of the traditional university. Education should not prepare individuals to serve others, but should acquire a global sense of joy and pleasure, a movement of play and adventure it has lost. Finally, the money economy must end in order for there to be diverse lifestyle. Neoliberalism is the theme of the current economy we live in; therefore exploitation is simply seen as a means to an end. Friedman’s view enables us to see reasons why liberalism should change the view of the economy and how it measures progress.   According to Friedman’s view, based on the initial idea of liberalism, separating human action from money and removing the need to accumulate money as a function of physical survival, new forms of human relationship, will come into being that we can hardly anticipate yet. Art will at last become democratized and liberating, because its compromise with money will not be a factor. Contrary to Milton Friedman’s view on liberalism and the ideal form it’s supposed to take, Liberalism is not as straightforward as it sounds. Greener, another economist is of believe that, liberalism and force are immensely related. He points out the fact that regardless of what we believe liberalism to be, the issue of military action may appear to be a contradiction. According to Greener, in the 1980’s, some authors have tried to show the relationship between liberalism and democracy, stating that liberalism promotes peaceful relations. There is a strong belief that liberalism is the nucleus of democracy. Regardless of these relations, greener believes that people are brainwashed and believe that there is only one view of liberalism; hence we have become programmed to do what the leaders of economy want, without even knowing it. Greener believes that there are actually various liberal approaches based on the priority that is given to the values that are held. H e is strongly of the opinion that liberal approaches differ because of the emphasis placed on different values. Some of the values that are part of the liberalism are tolerance and consent versus progress and civility, or values of cosmopolitanism versus communitarianism. Liberalism and the use of force could be justified on the grounds that’s there are different values, such as self-defence, or the creation of liberal entities. Liberals highlight the necessity of military forces in order to protect liberal societies and states.   This is a paradox in itself but greener lays emphasis on the importance of rights, rule of law, individualism, tolerance and consent. The idea of the comprehensiveness of liberalism, based on concept of progress and a resolute view of development and civility, provides a major site of altercation in speculating about the use of force when apposed against ideals of tolerance and consent. The second part of the article examines this key site of deba te and explores the tension between cosmopolitan and communitarian views point out the various instances   the deployment of militaries can be justified by which of those liberal terms. Finally, with some reflections about the urgent need for those of us in the international relations field to be able to articulate just what kinds of liberal values are being pursued in the global arena so that we may better assess future actions undertaken in the name of liberal values. An interesting question to ask is, is feminist political liberalism possible? Hartley. C and Watson lay emphasis on the relationship between feminism and liberalism. The ideal idea behind liberalism is to promote equality, but feminism recognizes in the liberal capitalist system that there is still gender inequality. The fact is the liberal principles include democracy, tolerance and equality for all citizens. Besides that, liberalism holds many different comprehensive doctrines as reasonable. The position taken is that political liberalism can be feminist, as far as particular political conceptions of justice can have feminist content’’, but also because the core commitments of political liberalism is geared only to secure genuine substantive equality for all, including women’’(p122). Feminism was simply the application of liberal principles to women. Women were seen as having fundamentally the same nature and interests as men and thereby entitled to the same rights. Thorough feminists in the 1970’s strongly opposed the liberal assimilation of womens claims; based on the belief that liberal conception of person did not signify women’s nature.   They insisted that although  Ã‚   the liberal individual was based on impersonal notion and coherence, womens moral life was entrenched in her body and emotions.   Higgins, T.E supports this point by enlightening us on how liberalism has limited has limited the usefulness for promoting feminism. She lays emphasis on this point by stating that liberalism does not really define an agenda that guarantees women’s rights and improvements in women’s condition in society. Higgins basically sees liberalism as holding many of the contradictions that prevents it from being a theory that could stand strongly in favour of feminism. Higgins claims that liberalism holds that there are commitments to equal citizenship in the public as well as in private realms, hence creati ng the corresponding conflict, due to the lack of agreement as to where the boundary is, between public and private. Higgins claims that for a theory to be considered liberal there has to be some agreement as to a robust boundary defining these two. Basically this just means that, for something to be liberal it has to respect the liberty of choice and people must be considered as having equal worth as choosers. Unfortunately, she is of the belief that liberalism disregards boundaries and fails women in the private area. Seeing that womens difference develop into an illiberal nature in contrast to liberal man, the identical issues are raised as those that occur in the cultural case, although as well as     the mere fact that men and women would seem to have to live together in the private realm if the race is to be satisfactorily continued. Women are not treated as a self-reproducing cultural group. Nevertheless, illiberal women could be distinctively represented in the public sphere. This would turn into a compromise between the representatives of conflicting values. One could argue that woman be viewed as a weaker group whose members need an element of preferential treatment in order to attain equality on all grounds, but this view is heavily frowned on, due to the mere fact that it contradicts the idea of liberalism, which is treat everyone equally. Liberalism can also been viewed from the point of view of public reason. Macedo.S criticizes the society, showing many areas in which liberalism has shown shortcomings. He criticizes the fact that many liberal societies condone war through their war like foreign policies. He is also goes further to criticize the way in which the society accepts the unequal treatment of African Americans, the poor as well as the disabled and the way it marginalizes and excludes people. In addition to that, he sees society as mobilizing people to work on their behalf. Other areas of criticism that have been raised include sexual permissiveness, the lack of commitment in marriage and the divorce that has become commonplace, as well as the practice of abortion. As Macedo explains, He believes the society ‘’should be like Jesus’ ‘and not be as focused on materialism, consumerism and self- concern as they are. The materialistic nature, catalysed by the hunger for profit maximizati on, has led to gross exploitation of individuals, increasing the gap between the poor and the rich. This neoliberal effect contradicts the value and practices that liberalism supports. Liberalism seems to be inevitable in the global economy we live in and has significant impact on every economy. The European economy is the one of the most dominant and Pheiffer.C review of resilient liberalism in Europe’s political economy enlightens us on how liberalism appears to have lost its dominance in society with capitalism being the means of moving ahead of progress. But it appears that’s liberalism had to make some changes, and as Pheiffer maintains, liberalism shows that it was resilient and emerged as neo-liberalism, and supported competitive markets, with global free trade, and capital mobility, with a state that is no longer in charge and wanting to help everyone, but rather a state that Is there to provide support the growth of business.   Liberalism that had existed for so many years came under attack but still maintained most of its principles, although it’s constantly moving towards the idea of smaller government intervention. Liberalism has transformed into neo-liberalism and has compromised its principles in light of what it sees as progress. Laying emphasis on minimal government intervention and the increased transformation of liberalism to neo-liberalism, Isaacs, D.M, in his review of liberalism’s response to corporate political spending, talks about how liberalism is ‘’the intellectual movement that emphasizes freedom as the ultimate goal and the individual as the ultimate entity in society, pertaining to a free man’’ This basically means, in a society where there is liberalism, , there is minimal effort to limit and restrain individuals. Isaac’s claims that regardless of the fact that liberalism is about freedom as well as progress, corporate political spending is inconsistent with liberalism because it undermines government’s ability to fulfil its proper role; weakens the checks and balances that the separation of political and economic power places on political authority, and reduces the ability of individuals to counter special interests (Isaacs, p12). Ironically, he enlightens us on a major similarity between liberalism and conservatism, showing how liberalism embraces some of the thinking of conservatism. Both liberals and conservationist believe in substantial economic growth, hence their gross support of neo-liberalism.   Both parties are of belief that neo-liberalism is the sole aim for economic growth, seeing no alternate factor. Due to their rigid views on neo-liberalism they fail to see any cons of this system, regardless of the fact that neo-liberalism is potentially responsible for obliterating various economies. Referring to the initial question, on what liberalism actually is, over the years, it has been able to transform itself. Due to the inevitable adaptation of globalization and its popularity in the world we live in today, the most dominant form of liberalism is neo-liberalism.   Personally, I have a neo-liberal perspective globalization, hence my support of profit maximization. I believe we earn what we work for, and it serves as an incentive to maximize efficiency. On the other hand, profit is not always maximized in a corporate socially responsible way, making exploitation the order of the day in neo-liberal system. Like everything in life, there is always a way to make the best of every situation. Neo-liberalism is undoubtedly inevitable; considering the adoption of globalization therefore we have to adopt ways to incorporate the neo-liberal view into an efficient economic and social system. Neoliberalism comes with some major issues as mentioned all through the essay, some of which are the increase in gap between rich and poor, increase in unemployment rate and after effects from globalization. However, these issues can be solved with one basic solution; the Government should partially take care of the market in the best way it can. To start of, the government should prioritize the welfare system so that less privileged individuals can get enough financial support to live a safe life. If the world is only dependent on laws of neo-liberalism, less privileged individuals find it impossible to earn any chance to   thrive nor enhance their economic conditions, however, they will get the opportunity to broaden their family budgets and go achieve their goals, when the government provides financial back-up to them. Personally, I am of the belief that it’s nation’s duty to support members of the society and inspire them to reveal their potentials for nation and themselves. Afterwards the legislative council should consider providing jobs for people. Some of the nations are aiding unemployed people by offering living expenses and find the jobs for them.   Due to this, there has been a significant reduction in the unemployment rate in those countries.   Finally, it will be helpful if the nation controls how much the country should be globalized. Globalization, due to its profit-making motive, has the potential to promote cultural neglect. Therefore, it’ll be vital for the government to supervise the balance between folk cultures and new cultures that both globalization and neo-liberalism have created.   What is liberalism? I ask again. Some say it is the maximum level of freedom, others say it’s a faà §ade for exploitation. Truth is, it is simply what we make it. Major economist like Milton Friedman has enlightened us on the positive consequences of liberalism; such as economic growth. While others such as Macedo and Hartely, highlight the weaknesses of liberalisms, emphasizing on how it has the potential to brain-wash individuals, due to the placebo effect that liberalism is the ultimate solution to all economic and societal issues; as well as its hidden discrimination against females respectively. After intense evaluation of liberalism, it is safe to say that the viral spread of globalization has made it inevitable, so as mentioned earlier; the best way to fully utilize this system is through the corporation of the government as well as the private sector in the right proportions. CITATIONS Friedman, M.B.(2015). In praise of liberalism: An assessment of liberal political thought from the 17th century to today. Review of contemporary philosophy, 14,11-36. Greener, B.K.(2011). Liberalism and the use of force: Core themes and conceptual tensions. Alternatives: Global, Local, political,36(3) Hartley.C.& Watson(2010). Is a feminist political liberalism possible? Journal of Ethics & Social Philosophy, 5(1), 121-142 Higgins, T.E.(2010). Feminism as liberalism: A tribute to the work of Martha Nussbaum Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, 19(1). Isaacs, D.M.(2014). An unexpected frond: Liberalism’s response to corporate political spending. Suffolk University Law Review, 47(2),1-30 Macedo, S. (2012). Hauerwas, Liberalism, and Public Reasons: Terms of engagement? Law and Contemporary Problems, 75(4) Pheiffer, C.F.(2013). Review of resilient liberalism in Europe’s political economy. The journal of philosophical Economics. 7(1),1-5 diZerega, G.(2011). Spontaneous order and liberalism’s complex relation to democracy. Independent review,16(2)

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Extraordinary Olive Essay -- Botany

The Extraordinary Olive The several uses of the olive tree, Olea europaea L., have long been recognized and celebrated by human civilization. Olive trees have been cultivated since prehistoric times in Asia Minor, and introduced with human migration and trade throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, into Africa, and eventually into New Zealand and North America. Thomas (1995) lists the beginning of olive cultivation as aproximately 3000 B.C. Olives appear in one of the first cookbooks ever discovered. As long ago as the 17th century B.C., the olive was considered sacred. In Greek mythology, Athena is said to have placed an olive tree on the Acropolis in order to win over the denizens of Attica, a favor for which the city became her namesake, Athens (Anonymous 1997). The champion at the Olympic Games was crowned with its leaves. "Offering an olive branch" is synonymous with peaceful intentions. The oil was burned in the lamps of sacred temples, as well as being the "eternal flame" of the Olympic games. There are many references to the olive in the Bible. One of the most significant is in the tale of Noah and the Flood. The dove, sent out to search for a sign of land and life, returned with none other than an olive branch. Moses proclaimed that all men who worked to cultivate olives were exempt from military service (Grieve 1995). The olive is often referred to as a symbol of goodness, purity, and life. The miracle of Hanukkah was the olive oil which burned for eight nights when there was only enough to last for one day (Prero 1996). It is clear that the olive was an important part of life in the Mediterranean, as is the world over today. Description Olive trees are graceful in appearance, with elegant lanceolate silv... ... shallow. The "mission olive" of California derives its name from the Franciscan missionaries who originally planted them near San Diego around 1759 (Anonymous 1997). Olive production has also recently spread to New Zealand and Australia, but these continue to be incidental yields in comparison to the Mediterranean region. References Anonymous. 1997. Olives. Grieve, M. 1995. Botanical.com; A Modern Herbal. Olive. Electric Newt. Neff, R. and D. ResSeguie. 1995. Oil of Olives, An Ancient Wonder. Sundance Natural Foods. Prero, Y. 1996. Chanukah and Olive Oil: Lessons in Devotion. YomTov, vol.II#22. Thomas, J. Dec, 1995. Olive Fact Sheet. Tous, J. and L. Ferguson. 1996. Mediterranean Fruits. From J. Janick (ed.) Progress in New Crops. ASHS Press, Arlington, VA. p.416-430. U.S.D.A. 1995. An Economic Assessment of Olives. (Executive Summary).

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Political Institutions Essay

The parliament which is officially known as the European Parliament is the only union’s body that directly elected. It is made up of 785 members who are elected for five year terms by universal suffrage and are determined by the political loyalty. By virtue of being the only elected body of the union, parliament reflects the more than 500 million citizen’s wishes, however, it has relatively weaker power as compared to the council in some areas such having the absolute legislative   powers. Its powers include co-owning the legislative and budgetary authority of the union with the council. Further, it has power over the commission which the council do not enjoy and hence earning it the praises that it is the most powerful and democratic legislature in the globe. [Parliament overview, 2007] Its current president who also doubles as its speaker is Hans-Gert Pottering elected in 2007. The council of the European Union which was also known as the Council of Ministers due to its composition, it is composed of national ministers, one per nation, who meets various capacities depending with the issue to be discussed e.g. if it is security matters being discussed then the respective ministers in charge of security matters in every nation attends the council. It co-holds both the legislative and budgetary powers with the parliament, and further it holds the executive powers, making it the main decision making organ of the EU. The power of the council is however, kept at bay through a rotating kind of its leadership, its presidency rotates between the member states every six months and therefore preventing any attempts to override the mandate of the council over the other unions institutions. Again, the decision making is subject to voting with majority or unanimity being set as the requirements, with the votes being allocated by the ratio of population. The council’s power also extends to the control of the other two pillars of the union namely; the common Foreign and Security Policy and the Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal matters. [The Council of the European Union, 2007] The commission of the European Communities forms the executive arm of the union; its composition includes one member each from the union’s states i.e. twenty seven. The members are elected on condition that they will not represent their respective national interests. The body’s main duty is to draft all the law of the union and has a monopoly of legislative inventiveness within the European Community pillar; however, the laws are subject to approval by both the parliament and the council. Again, its powers extend to overseeing the daily  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   activities of the union and also it has got a duty to up hold the law and treaties and hence playing the role of a â€Å"Guardian of the Treaties† that makeup the union. Its powers are put to check by the fact that the president who is the commissions head is nominated by the council and approved by the parliament. Other members of the commission who are known as the commissioners are proposed by member states in consultation with the commission’s president and again approved by the parliament. The commission’s current president is Jose Manuel Baroso who together with his commission was elected into office in 2004. [Institutions: Commission, 2007]   This is the supreme court of justice of the European Communities also known as the European Court of Justice; it acts on Union law matters. It is composed of twenty seven judges one apiece from the member states, the court president is chosen (elected) from among the 27, currently Vassilos Skouris is the occupier of the post. The courts major role is to make sure that the Union law is adhered to by all the member states, its supremacy is seen on the fact that the Union law overrides national laws of members nations. For instance in 2001 it ruled that a section of the national constitution of Germany was not in order with the Union law because it barred women from engaging in military roles. [20] The court of justice does not act all alone in matters concerning the Union law; it is assisted by two lesser courts known as the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (CFI) and Civil Service Tribunal. [Institutions: Court of Justice, 2007] The sensitivity of fraud cases and the fact that the Union’s Budget involved large amounts of money, an auditing body was necessary; the court of auditors is responsible for the monitoring of the expenditure of the union and preparing yearly audits on the Union’s budget. Its name does not necessarily imply any legal or judicial powers but it gives views on legislations that involve financial matters. It is composed of one member apiece from the union members and who are appointed by the council every six years, with the president being elected every three years from among them, currently Hubert Weber occupies the seat. [Institutions: Court of Auditors, 2007] With new laws and treaties being enacted chiefly to accommodate new members and new ideologies and partly to streamline the functioning of the Unions institutions, new institutions have been proposed to be created. Under Lisbon Treaty of Changes the following institutions are proposed; the European Council, which has been formerly acting as an informal body under the Council â€Å"of ministers†. Its inception will see it assuming the executive powers that were initially the preserve of the council of ministers and therefore becoming the highest political body of the Union. Other powers will include delineating the Union’s policy agenda and creating the momentum for integration, other features will be similar to that of the council of ministers. The other proposed institution is the European Central Bank, this bank is tipped to represent the interests of the euro-zone i.e. the fifteen states that have adopted the euro, and the main idea behind the formation of this body is to induce fiscal controls in order to sustain price stability. Its governance will include a board made national bank governors and a president appointed by the European Council; currently Jean-Claude Trichet is the president. [Draft Treaty modifying, 2007] The European Union system of government though unique can be likened to other models of governance, for instance, Germany’s federalism and the Swiss federal council where power is principally shared between the state and the federal government with the states having a principal say in the decision making process even at the federal level unlike in US where powers are clearly divided between the state and the federal government with the state having limited say over decision making process. The rotating presidency, the choice of lesser cities to host the headquarters of the Community Institutions, the spreading of executive powers between the institutions, are some of the   equal representation measures employed by the EU. [Borzel, Tanja A, 2002]    References:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   EU Law Blog, available at;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://eulaw.typad.com, accessed on November 26, 2008 Merging of the executives, available at;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.enalu?lang=2&doc=473, accessed on November 26, 2008 EUR-Lex: Treaties, available at;

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

What Are the Causes of the Vietnam War

The Causes, Events, and Aftermath of the Vietnam War. Digital History. â€Å"The Vietnam War. † Digital History. 30 Sept. 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. . The Vietnam War started as a disagreement between communist North Vietnam and anti-communist South Vietnam. Before this disagreement was a war between Vietnam and the French. Vietnam received 2. 6 billion dollars in financial support from the United States between 1945 and 1954. Nixon, who was President of the United States at the time, sent in troops to attempt to slow the process of sending troops and supplies from North Vietnam to South Vietnam.If I was a Vietnamese person living in Vietnam at the time I would think this would be an act of injustice by trying to make it an unfair war by removing the supply flow making them starve to death or get surrounded with no weapons. Also I feel that it was unjust of the Vietnamese to accept money from the United States then go to war with us after we provided them with financial support of the French. The Oxford Companion to American Military History. Ed. John Whiteclay Chambers II. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Copyright  © 1999 by Oxford UP.President John F. Kennedy secretly sent 400 troops to South Vietnamese to fight what was called the counterinsurgency war. I believe this was a move of injustice due to the face that Kennedy did not tell the people of the United States they were going to help support a war over seas. After Kennedy was assassinated in 1961, more than 16,000 military troops in South Vietnamese and more than 100 troops had been killed. I feel Kennedy’s assassinated was also an act of injustice and I feel that it was also a major cause of us going into the war even more.Four years later in March of the year 1965, President Johnson sustained bombing of targets north of the 17th parallel. Then on March 8th, he dispatched 3,500 Marines to South Vietnam. After he dispatched them, the United States was now at war, Declaration or not. I feel this could also be an act of injustice because the people did not have any say in this war and now people were going to be drafted to it. PBS. â€Å"Battlefield:Vietnam | Timeline. † PBS. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. . On May 7, 1954 the Vietnamese forces captured the French command post of Dien Bien Phu.The French commander then gave the order to seize fire. The battle lasted 55 days and more than 3,000 French troops died and 8,000 were wounded. Viet Minh got the worse of it though. They lost over 8,000 people and over 12,000 wounded. I feel this is injustice because is it really worth it to loose more men than the other side just to capture a fort? In the late 1961’s [pic]President John F. Kennedy orders more help for the South Vietnamese government in its war against the Vietcong.The U. S. backings included more than 3,000 troops and new equipment. On November 4th 1961, two days before the presidential election, the Vietcong dropped mortar shells onto Bien Hoa Air Base killing 4 soldiers, and 76 wounded along with five B-57 bombers destroyed. I feel that this was injustice because while all of us are busy voting for the new President the Vietcong got us by surprise. â€Å"Vietnam War. † The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia. com. 6 Oct. 2010 .In part, the war was a legacy of France's colonial rule, which ended in 1954 with the French army's catastrophic defeat at Dienbienphu and the acceptance of the Geneva Conference agreements. Elections scheduled for 1956 in South Vietnam for the reunification of Vietnam were canceled by President Ngo Dinh Diem. I believe this action of cancelling the election after the French defeat and even after accepting the Geneva Conference agreements. Although his action was denounced by Ho Chi Minh, I still feel this was injustice toward the people of Vietnam.Diem’s government faced increasingly opposition of the Viet Cong who were insurgents aided by North Vietnam. Another act of injustice n ear the end of the war was the massacre at My Lai. This was a massacre of many Vietnamese UNARMED citizens by UNITED STATES soldiers. In the course of the operation about 347 citizens were shot to death. To me, this incident going unknown until autumn of 1969 even though the event took place on March 16, 1968, is almost just as bad as it happening itself. â€Å"Vietnam War. † International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A.Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Vol. 8. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 612-617. Gale World History in Context. Web. 4 Oct. 2010. In 1946, U. S. president Franklin Roosevelt had written to the British ambassador that he believed â€Å"Indochina should not go back to the French, but that it should be administered by international trusteeship. † I think this is a bit of injustice to the French because the United States should not have intervened in the first place and let every other country do what we want rather than us coming in and try ing to make it better for them.In reality though the only thing we are trying to do is make money for ourselves or make it better for us. Eventually the United States sided with South Vietnam because the United States where afraid of communism and that’s what North Vietnam wanted. Why we got involved in this blows my mind because we don’t live there, we won’t be affected by this so why do we care if the people in Vietnam want communism or not. This is how the causes of the Vietnam War resulted in Injustice. Wikipedia. â€Å"Vietnam War. † Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 03 Oct. 2010. Web. 04 Oct. 010. . In the post-war era, the United States struggled to learn the lessons of military intervention. The casualties of the Vietnam side were 1. 1 million dead and 600,000 soldiers wounded. Civilian deaths by Operation Rolling Thunder were between 52,000 and 182,000. I feel this injustice of killing a possible 100,000 Vietnamese women and children is just comp letely outrageous. After the war in Vietnam Chemical affected the Vietnamese people by causing a poisoning in the food chain, a change in the landscape, and it also caused birth defects and many diseases.As of 2006, the Vietnamese government had estimated that 4,000,000 victims of dioxin poisoning in Vietnam. Also, between 1961 and 1967, the U. S. Air Force sprayed 20 million gallons of concentrated herbicides over 6 million acres of crops and trees, affecting an estimated 13% of South Vietnam's land. Now killing the women and children during the bombing was bad enough. Now they started poisoning food and tried to get them into RVN-controlled areas. I feel this is injustice because of all the unneeded deaths of civilian causalities. What Are the Causes of the Vietnam War The Causes, Events, and Aftermath of the Vietnam War. Digital History. â€Å"The Vietnam War. † Digital History. 30 Sept. 2010. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. . The Vietnam War started as a disagreement between communist North Vietnam and anti-communist South Vietnam. Before this disagreement was a war between Vietnam and the French. Vietnam received 2. 6 billion dollars in financial support from the United States between 1945 and 1954. Nixon, who was President of the United States at the time, sent in troops to attempt to slow the process of sending troops and supplies from North Vietnam to South Vietnam.If I was a Vietnamese person living in Vietnam at the time I would think this would be an act of injustice by trying to make it an unfair war by removing the supply flow making them starve to death or get surrounded with no weapons. Also I feel that it was unjust of the Vietnamese to accept money from the United States then go to war with us after we provided them with financial support of the French. The Oxford Companion to American Military History. Ed. John Whiteclay Chambers II. New York: Oxford UP, 1999. Copyright  © 1999 by Oxford UP.President John F. Kennedy secretly sent 400 troops to South Vietnamese to fight what was called the counterinsurgency war. I believe this was a move of injustice due to the face that Kennedy did not tell the people of the United States they were going to help support a war over seas. After Kennedy was assassinated in 1961, more than 16,000 military troops in South Vietnamese and more than 100 troops had been killed. I feel Kennedy’s assassinated was also an act of injustice and I feel that it was also a major cause of us going into the war even more.Four years later in March of the year 1965, President Johnson sustained bombing of targets north of the 17th parallel. Then on March 8th, he dispatched 3,500 Marines to South Vietnam. After he dispatched them, the United States was now at war, Declaration or not. I feel this could also be an act of injustice because the people did not have any say in this war and now people were going to be drafted to it. PBS. â€Å"Battlefield:Vietnam | Timeline. † PBS. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. . On May 7, 1954 the Vietnamese forces captured the French command post of Dien Bien Phu.The French commander then gave the order to seize fire. The battle lasted 55 days and more than 3,000 French troops died and 8,000 were wounded. Viet Minh got the worse of it though. They lost over 8,000 people and over 12,000 wounded. I feel this is injustice because is it really worth it to loose more men than the other side just to capture a fort? In the late 1961’s [pic]President John F. Kennedy orders more help for the South Vietnamese government in its war against the Vietcong.The U. S. backings included more than 3,000 troops and new equipment. On November 4th 1961, two days before the presidential election, the Vietcong dropped mortar shells onto Bien Hoa Air Base killing 4 soldiers, and 76 wounded along with five B-57 bombers destroyed. I feel that this was injustice because while all of us are busy voting for the new President the Vietcong got us by surprise. â€Å"Vietnam War. † The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia. com. 6 Oct. 2010 .In part, the war was a legacy of France's colonial rule, which ended in 1954 with the French army's catastrophic defeat at Dienbienphu and the acceptance of the Geneva Conference agreements. Elections scheduled for 1956 in South Vietnam for the reunification of Vietnam were canceled by President Ngo Dinh Diem. I believe this action of cancelling the election after the French defeat and even after accepting the Geneva Conference agreements. Although his action was denounced by Ho Chi Minh, I still feel this was injustice toward the people of Vietnam.Diem’s government faced increasingly opposition of the Viet Cong who were insurgents aided by North Vietnam. Another act of injustice n ear the end of the war was the massacre at My Lai. This was a massacre of many Vietnamese UNARMED citizens by UNITED STATES soldiers. In the course of the operation about 347 citizens were shot to death. To me, this incident going unknown until autumn of 1969 even though the event took place on March 16, 1968, is almost just as bad as it happening itself. â€Å"Vietnam War. † International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A.Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Vol. 8. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 612-617. Gale World History in Context. Web. 4 Oct. 2010. In 1946, U. S. president Franklin Roosevelt had written to the British ambassador that he believed â€Å"Indochina should not go back to the French, but that it should be administered by international trusteeship. † I think this is a bit of injustice to the French because the United States should not have intervened in the first place and let every other country do what we want rather than us coming in and try ing to make it better for them.In reality though the only thing we are trying to do is make money for ourselves or make it better for us. Eventually the United States sided with South Vietnam because the United States where afraid of communism and that’s what North Vietnam wanted. Why we got involved in this blows my mind because we don’t live there, we won’t be affected by this so why do we care if the people in Vietnam want communism or not. This is how the causes of the Vietnam War resulted in Injustice. Wikipedia. â€Å"Vietnam War. † Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 03 Oct. 2010. Web. 04 Oct. 010. . In the post-war era, the United States struggled to learn the lessons of military intervention. The casualties of the Vietnam side were 1. 1 million dead and 600,000 soldiers wounded. Civilian deaths by Operation Rolling Thunder were between 52,000 and 182,000. I feel this injustice of killing a possible 100,000 Vietnamese women and children is just comp letely outrageous. After the war in Vietnam Chemical affected the Vietnamese people by causing a poisoning in the food chain, a change in the landscape, and it also caused birth defects and many diseases.As of 2006, the Vietnamese government had estimated that 4,000,000 victims of dioxin poisoning in Vietnam. Also, between 1961 and 1967, the U. S. Air Force sprayed 20 million gallons of concentrated herbicides over 6 million acres of crops and trees, affecting an estimated 13% of South Vietnam's land. Now killing the women and children during the bombing was bad enough. Now they started poisoning food and tried to get them into RVN-controlled areas. I feel this is injustice because of all the unneeded deaths of civilian causalities.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Words Drawn from Trahere

Words Drawn from Trahere Words Drawn from â€Å"Trahere† Words Drawn from â€Å"Trahere† By Mark Nichol The Latin verb trahere is the source of an assortment of words pertaining to drawing or to drawing or pulling out. This post lists and defines the English descendant tract and terms formed from that root word; a follow-up post will discuss trahere’s disguised offspring. Most words in the trahere family are based on tract, which itself refers to an area of land (hence â€Å"tract home† to refer to a dwelling that is part of a housing development) or to a bundle of related nerve fibers or an anatomical system, as well as, less commonly, a period of time. (Tract also refers to a political or religious pamphlet.) A tractor is a vehicle that pulls. (A tractor that pulls cargo containers is sometimes called a semitractor, or a semi.) Traction is the act of, or the force exerted in, pulling, or a force that causes a moving object to resist movement, or, figuratively, support necessary to achieve progress. Words that combine a prefix with tract include abstract (literally, â€Å"draw from), which as an adjective means â€Å"disassociated,† â€Å"formal,† â€Å"impersonal† or â€Å"theoretical† and as a noun means â€Å"summary of a document.† Abstraction is the quality of exhibiting one of these states, or the act or state of summarization. Meanwhile, to attract is to literally or figurative draw toward; attraction is the associated force or quality, and something that attracts is an attractor. Contract (literally, â€Å"draw with†) means â€Å"enter into an agreement†; â€Å"be affected by† or â€Å"incur†; or â€Å"physically shorten,† â€Å"restrict,† or â€Å"wrinkle.† (Contraction is the act or condition of being restricted or shortened.) As an adjective, the word pertains to being hired for a task rather than as an employee; one who works under these conditions is a contractor (not a contractee), and a contractor may hire assistants or specialists as subcontractors. The adjective contractual refers to an agreement, but something that can be contracted is contractible, and the capacity to be contracted is contractability. In the euphemistic slang of organized crime, to put out a contract on someone is to hire someone to kill someone else. One who detracts takes away, and the act is detraction. That word generally refers to an instance of belittling or disparagement, and the actor is a detractor. Distrahere, meaning â€Å"draw in different directions,† is the parent word of the verb distract and the noun distraction, as well as distraught, an adjective originally meaning â€Å"deranged† or â€Å"mad† but now most often pertaining to emotional distress. Extract means to take out, and an extract is something taken out; such an action is an extraction. To protract (â€Å"draw forward†) is to continue or extend; the word is not employed as a noun, but a protractor is one who protracts or a muscle that does so, as well as a mathematical tool for drawing and measuring angles. (Protracted serves as an adjective.) To retract, by contrast, is to draw back in, or to disavow or withdraw a claim or other statement, including an offer or a promise. An act of retracting is a retraction. Meanwhile, to subtract is to take away, especially in the mathematical sense, and subtraction is the act of taking away. A subtrahend is a number subtracted by another. (The other is called a minuend; that word, related to minor and minute, is from the Latin verb minuere, meaning â€Å"lessen.†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comparative Forms of Adjectives"Replacement for" and "replacement of"10 Tips to Improve Your Writing Skills

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Customer loyalty

Customer loyalty With the many career opportunities available to us in this free society, how does one chose what he or she wishes to do for the rest of their lives without letting faith decide for them? Realistically, no on wants to work a "slave" job in a factory for the rest of their lives, however, under certain circumstances, some people are stuck in this situation. With so many options, how does one select the career field that is right for them? Even though you may narrow down your field, there are still many options left. Lets say business is the field you decide to enter; there are still many different types of careers in the business field, such as an accountant, a stock broker, an insurance agent or a salesperson. All of these occupations are related to each other in some way or another; yet, they all have their own unique characteristics.Deutsch: Klassischer Marketing-Mix Franzika eines ...The most appealing aspect of business to me is the area of entrepreneurship. How one can resist the temptation to be their own boss as apposed to being ordered around your whole life by some arrogant, egotistical, power hungry figure of management. With the possibility of setting your own hours, determining your own holidays and reaping the rewards of all the hard work you put in, rather than some corporation who does not share the rewards with you. This is what I plan to do with my accounting degree obtained from Canisius College, to open my own business and to use the accounting, marketing, management, financing and economic knowledge to run my business profitably.A business enterprise is a very complex organization that consists of many different departments such as marketing, accounting, management and finance. These departments must work together as one to create a successful organization. Each...

Saturday, October 19, 2019

An Introduction to Native American Literature

American literatures embrace the memories of creation stories, the tragic wisdom of native ceremonies, trickster narratives, and the outcome of chance and other occurrences in the most diverse cultures in the world. These distinctive literatures, eminent in both oral performances and in the imagination of written narratives, cannot be discovered in reductive social science translations or altogether understood in the historical constructions of culture in one common name. Vizenor 1) Since the end of the 15th century, the migration of Europeans to America, and their importation of Africans as slaves, has led to centuries of conflict and adjustment between Old and New World societies. Europeans created most of the early written historical record about Native Americans after the colonists immigration to the Americas. 3 Many Native cultures were matrilineal; the people occupied lands for use of the entire community, for hunting or agriculture. Europeans at that time had patriarchal cultures and had developed concepts of individual property rights with respect to land that were extremely different. The differences in cultures between the established Native Americans and immigrant Europeans, as well as shifting alliances among different nations of each culture through the centuries, caused extensive political tension, ethnic violence and social disruption. The Native Americans suffered high fatalities from the contact with infectious Eurasian diseases, to which they had no acquired immunity. Epidemics after European contact caused the greatest loss of life for indigenous populations. In 1830, the U. S. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, authorizing the government to relocate Native Americans from their homelands within established states to lands west of the Mississippi River, accommodating European-American expansion. Perhaps the most important moment of governmental detribalization came with the passing of the Dawes Act in 1887 which set aside 160 acres for each Indian on the reservation, and opened the â€Å"leftovers† up for settlement. According to the U. S. Bureau of the Census (1894), the Indian wars under the government of the United States have been more than 40 in number. They have cost the lives of about 19,000 white men, women and children, including those killed in individual combats, and the lives of about 30,000 Indians. Native Americans were thus pushed out from their own lands and were forced to live in small reservations assigned by the federal government who claimed that setting the Indians on the course to civilisation best ensured their survival. Tribal customs were then forcibly altered and nomadic tribes became sedentary. All Native Americans felt the impact of the new reservation policies, which sought to isolate and contain Indians to make room for an expanding American nation. At the same time that Native Americans were being excluded from the nation, white Americans began to look to them as the source of a unique national identity and literature, distinct from European traditions. Literature from the period depicting Indian characters was incredibly popular, and many works are still celebrated as classics, including James Fenimore Coopers The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Catharine Maria Sedgwicks Hope Leslie (1827), and Henry Wadsworth Longfellows Song of Hiawatha (1855), to name only a few. These texts employ the trope of the disappearing Indian, which represents the deaths of Indians as natural, similar to the changing of the seasons or the setting of the sun, rather than the result of political exclusion or social discrimination. Thus the disappearance of Indians from the American social landscape was not only depicted within this body of writing but also implicitly approved of. At the same time the government sponsored authors and art programs; the proletarian themes of discovery, regionalism, and tourism were new forms of dominance over Native Americans. Therefore, early Native American authors wrote within a hostile political climate and in response to a dominant literary tradition that sentimentalized and condoned the death of Indians. But they found the means to engage with their detractors by authoring their own accounts of Indians that challenged stereotypical beliefs, demanded equal political rights, and proved that Indians were neither disappearing nor silent. Native American authors have faithfully presented some of these issues of inherent native rights, the duplicities of federal policies, and the burdens of racial identities in their short stories and novels. Wynema by Sophia Alice Callahan published in 1891, was the first novel attributed to a Native American author. Callahan, who was a mixedblood Creek, was aware of tribal issues at the time and therefore devoted most of her novel to native issues. Since then many novels by distinguished Native American authors have been published. One of the most important writers among Native Americans in the 1930’s was D’Arcy McNickle, a member of the Flathead tribe of Montana. His first novel The Surrounded was published in 1936, two years after the Indian Reorganization Act was passed near the end of the Depression in the United States. His novel is the poignant story of a mix-breed family and the tragedy of their exclusion from both the red and the white worlds. Because of cultural misunderstandings, which begin between the Indian mother and Spanish father, suspicion, fear, and finally death take their children. The novel is a history of alienation. Kenneth Lincoln who coined the term Native American Rennaissance pointed out that in the late-1960s and early-1970s, a generation of Native Americans were coming of age who were the first of their tribe to receive a substantial English-language education, particularly outside of standard Indian boarding schools and in universities. Conditions for Native people, while still very harsh, had moved beyond the survival conditions of the early half of the century. The beginnings of a project of historical revisionism, which attempted to document—from a Native perspective—the history of the invasion and colonization of the North American continent had inspired a great deal of public interest in Native cultures. During this time of change, a group of Native writers emerged, both poets and novelists, who in only a few years expanded the Native American literary canon.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Does Oil prevent Libya's democracy Research Paper

Does Oil prevent Libya's democracy - Research Paper Example They argued that oil is an impediment to democracy in countries that derive revenue from it. The presence of oil has reinforced autocratic administration. The revenue from the oil regimes prevents the formation of social groups that claim participation and representation in the government. The oil revenues will provide the government with sufficient money and will prevent the mobilization of these groups independent of the state at the end. Oil rent refers to the revenue derived from the sale of oil products (Arwa 19). This income directly accumulates to the administration coffers. The revenue derived implies that the government will not have to tax its citizens. This excise effect minimizes the citizens’ demands for accountability and their aching desire to participate politically in the government adequately. This effect thus eliminates the ruler and the ruled linkages. The net effect is that democracy will less likely thrive in the state. The no taxation or representation i n a state will make the leaders postpone democracy indefinitely. Oil rent enables the government to obtain political opposition to achieve legitimacy. The government has exceptional authority on how to account for revenue and spend because the oil rents directly accrue to the government. In order for the government to win legitimacy and consent from the total population, it uses rewards and even social welfare to dwindle off the social groups. The government is able to redistribute the proceeds to the public by offering education, employment, and a well-developed infrastructure through the welfare system (Arwa 20). In a rentier state, the biggest employer is the government. Only a few people from the total population will benefit from the oil rent through welfare, in addition to other benefits such as land gifts. In the end, the population also becomes a rentier class that regularly engages in a â€Å"rent-seeking behavior". This will influence the individuals to view this behavior as the best option compared to political unrest as a means to encourage redistribution. Loyalty and legitimacy in a rentier state creates patronage networks. Examples of patronage networks involve personal favors in the form of jobs belonging to the public sector and distribution of public resources in terms of licenses, contracts and even projects. This action leads to increased corruption and bribery. The individuals involved in these activities have a tendency of resisting democracy since democracy encompasses high levels of accountability and transparency (Arwa 22). At times, the state uses the oil rent to provide funds for repressive measures aimed at controlling opposition and the population at large. As oil revenues decline, the repression effect takes place thus leaving minimal amounts of money for activities such as patronage and welfare. This repression is achievable by banning of political parties and the independent media thus hindering democracy. Libya’s crisis resulted from the Arabs uprising and unrest in the Middle East. The presence of deleterious governance has been the core influence of the unrest. Then there is the issue of the western interest in the Libyans oil (Martinez, 28). The leadership of Muammar Qaddafi has attracted international interest. A peaceful protest in February 2011 culminated into a global crisis with a violent attack. The situation continued until the royal citizens took arms and engaged in a battlefield that have left so much

Is Theseus an example of a typical ancient Greek hero Essay

Is Theseus an example of a typical ancient Greek hero - Essay Example The story follows the same motifs that are followed by other hero stories. These motifs include the background of the hero, the heroic tasks accomplished by the hero, his love life and his downfall due to his own mistakes. Similar to several other Greek hero stories, the story of Theseus even focuses on the background of the heroes. Lord Raglan has provided events that occur in the lives of a Greek hero and some of these events relate to the background regarding the birth of the hero. Raglan states that a Greek hero is mostly born to a royal mother and his father is either mortal or an immortal person (Dowden 104). The father of a hero in most cases is either a God or a King. In Theseus case, he was actually born to a king named Aegeus but was brought up by a king named Pittheus who was also his grandfather (Grant 14). Raglan even states that just before or just right after the birth of a Greek hero, the child is tried to be killed by his own father or even by his own grandfather. In the story of Theseus, he was not tried to be killed by any of his relatives at birth. Raglan even noted that most of the Greek heroes are brought up by either one of the parents or by parents who are not related to him by blood. In case of Theseus, he was brought up by her mother, but he even had his grandfather as a father image and is not brought up by foster parents. Furthermore Raglan argues that when the Greek hero grows up or reaches the life stage of manhood, he is informed about his actual father and later sets out to claim the kingdom he is going to control in future (Dowden 104). In case of Theseus, his mother later informs him that his father is a King and guides him to perform a task that will prove to the king that Theseus is his son. He completes the task which is to lift a stone and obtain the sandal and sword of his father and sets out on a journey to meet his father and live under his father’s Kingdom. Another important element of a heroic story

Focus group Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Focus group - Assignment Example This paper however used extensively qualitative data from primary sources. By definition, a focus group is a research in which qualitative data is obtained from a small group of people usually between 4 and 15 (Litosseliti, 69). The people in the group are asked about their opinions, attitudes, beliefs and perceptions towards a concept, a service or a product. Since the purpose of this research is to evaluate the Extra Gum with respect to why it is a popular gum and the peoples beliefs about chewing the gum, a focus group therefore appears to be the best way to go about the inquiry (Stewart, 51). This research used primary data from five participants from the engineering departments. The participants were conveniently selected to participate. All of them signed a consent form before engaging in the research. They were all above the age of 18 years with the range of their ages being between 23 years and 36 years. The results obtained from the focus group indicate that all the participants liked chewing gum. Further, all of them liked Extra Gum due to its many flavors (60%) and long smell time (40%). Regarding the shape of the gum, it’s simple and attractive shape was the most likable characteristic of the gum being indicated by 4 of the five participants. From the perspective of the focus group, all the participants indicate that Extra gum faces competition majorly from Mentos. Its major quality that keeps it competitive is the wide area of the breath smell when chewing the gum which was indicated by 4 of the 5 participants. Using wrap gum appeared to be less popular that using can gum with a 2:5 popularity ration between them. All the participant consumers did not mind the price of the gum, but the place of manufactured mattered to all the participants. With 4 of the 5 participants indicating that the gum need change, their advice is varied. Three of the participants suggest that providing wraps that can be used when getting

Thursday, October 17, 2019

A Problem in My Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Problem in My Life - Essay Example The initial stages of work had been challenging yet fulfilling until one of the members started taking unusual control of the group by seemingly imposing uneven delegation of assignments claiming that the majority of the pupils requested more of his service than those of others in our roster. I had thought all along that my own performance was capable of radiating motivation in such a way as to get everyone in the team to operate with a sense of interdependence. Then I figured that some people desired the same amount of recognition I was receiving so that the spirit of teamwork would be best acknowledged. Another cause that might have led to indifference and the urge to manipulate was my failure to interact properly, being accustomed to the individualistic approach toward personal growth at the expense of quality relations. Apparently, I occurred to have overlooked the equivalent significance of the contributions made by the rest of the members. By such failure to promote the welfare of others especially their worth in the collective effort, some had narrowed to thinking that I was conceited.

Mortality Data Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mortality Data Paper - Assignment Example Arrangement of data may take place in any way that the researcher may desire. If the data is in the form of percentages then they may be arranged in an ascending or descending order. The same goes for any data in a numerical form; whether it is the arrangement according to position of something or its quantity, the data is arranged in a fine order in this step. In the second step the illustration or representation of the collected data takes place. There are several ways in which a data can be represented. A graph can be used to demonstrate the percentage or amount of something. Apart from graphs, bar charts of many kinds are used as well; stem and leaf diagrams, tables, pie charts, histograms and such are used as well. This step only includes the choice of way one might desire to represent their data in. The last step of Descriptive Statistics includes mentioning a summary of the collected data. In here an attempt of explaining what the research was conducted on, what methods were used for it, what was the targeted population, the results obtained from the research and a theory that the researchers might have deduced from the obtained results. â€Å"The highest death toll of a population from strokes or cerebrovascular diseases is the population belonging to the middle-income countries while the lowest is the population from low income countries.† A diseases cluster is known as the occurrence of a disease which targets a larger number of people instead of the expected number of populations in a certain area, group of people or time period (California Department of Public Health). An epidemic is known as an outbreak of a biological or viral disorder which spreads into the population of the world. The area for an epidemic is not a certain one and it may spread in many locations at a period of time. The targeted area is not restricted to any kind, any population may become a target and the patients are not isolated to a certain community. Epidemics

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Focus group Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Focus group - Assignment Example This paper however used extensively qualitative data from primary sources. By definition, a focus group is a research in which qualitative data is obtained from a small group of people usually between 4 and 15 (Litosseliti, 69). The people in the group are asked about their opinions, attitudes, beliefs and perceptions towards a concept, a service or a product. Since the purpose of this research is to evaluate the Extra Gum with respect to why it is a popular gum and the peoples beliefs about chewing the gum, a focus group therefore appears to be the best way to go about the inquiry (Stewart, 51). This research used primary data from five participants from the engineering departments. The participants were conveniently selected to participate. All of them signed a consent form before engaging in the research. They were all above the age of 18 years with the range of their ages being between 23 years and 36 years. The results obtained from the focus group indicate that all the participants liked chewing gum. Further, all of them liked Extra Gum due to its many flavors (60%) and long smell time (40%). Regarding the shape of the gum, it’s simple and attractive shape was the most likable characteristic of the gum being indicated by 4 of the five participants. From the perspective of the focus group, all the participants indicate that Extra gum faces competition majorly from Mentos. Its major quality that keeps it competitive is the wide area of the breath smell when chewing the gum which was indicated by 4 of the 5 participants. Using wrap gum appeared to be less popular that using can gum with a 2:5 popularity ration between them. All the participant consumers did not mind the price of the gum, but the place of manufactured mattered to all the participants. With 4 of the 5 participants indicating that the gum need change, their advice is varied. Three of the participants suggest that providing wraps that can be used when getting

Mortality Data Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mortality Data Paper - Assignment Example Arrangement of data may take place in any way that the researcher may desire. If the data is in the form of percentages then they may be arranged in an ascending or descending order. The same goes for any data in a numerical form; whether it is the arrangement according to position of something or its quantity, the data is arranged in a fine order in this step. In the second step the illustration or representation of the collected data takes place. There are several ways in which a data can be represented. A graph can be used to demonstrate the percentage or amount of something. Apart from graphs, bar charts of many kinds are used as well; stem and leaf diagrams, tables, pie charts, histograms and such are used as well. This step only includes the choice of way one might desire to represent their data in. The last step of Descriptive Statistics includes mentioning a summary of the collected data. In here an attempt of explaining what the research was conducted on, what methods were used for it, what was the targeted population, the results obtained from the research and a theory that the researchers might have deduced from the obtained results. â€Å"The highest death toll of a population from strokes or cerebrovascular diseases is the population belonging to the middle-income countries while the lowest is the population from low income countries.† A diseases cluster is known as the occurrence of a disease which targets a larger number of people instead of the expected number of populations in a certain area, group of people or time period (California Department of Public Health). An epidemic is known as an outbreak of a biological or viral disorder which spreads into the population of the world. The area for an epidemic is not a certain one and it may spread in many locations at a period of time. The targeted area is not restricted to any kind, any population may become a target and the patients are not isolated to a certain community. Epidemics

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Best friends Essay Example for Free

Best friends Essay Sometimes I wonder how my life would be without my best friend Tonya, after thirteen years of putting up with each other we are still as inseparable as ever. We know everything about one another, share everything, and spend hours talking to each other developing a relationship that cannot compare any other friendship. Many times when we are together we are mistaken for sisters and its easy to understand why; we both stand little over five foot tall, have blonde hair, blue eyes, and wear the same size clothing. It always seems that my closet has more of her clothes in it than mine and vice-versa. Our mothers can never stop comparing notes as to how many clothes they have bought us that theyve never seen on their actual child wear. When we are together people swears that we speak a different language and between finishing each others sentences, the jumps in topics, and the giggles its amazing that we even understand each other. After spending all day together we always end up talking on the phone for hours and many times repeating the same conversations without ever realizing it. For some people its hard to imagine being friends with someone for so long, but if I were to choose one person outside of my family that I could not do without. I would pick my best friend Tonya. Weve helped each other through the good times and bad and held each other when some guy has broken our hearts and even yelled at each others parents. She is as much a part of my family as anyone else, no matter what anyone says. We are best friends and so much more, everyday I am thankful that we found each other so many years ago because neither of our lives have ever been the same.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Ethical Dilemma Summary and Analysis

Ethical Dilemma Summary and Analysis Hardeep Kaur   Ã‚   An ethical dilemma is a situation in which often includes a clear mental clash between two things or decisions. In ethical dilemma if we obey one decision than it would bring about disobeying another. Ethical dilemma is also known as moral dilemma. Ethical dilemmas make the situations too difficult. A person has to choose only one way from two of them- a moral or an immoral way. Ethical dilemmas can be seen everywhere in our daily lives. However everybody has their own particular experience towards ethical dilemma. In reality, good values participate in everybodys life. We need to oversee and take a look after our moral values and in addition towards our desires also. There are three conditions that must be available for a circumstance to be viewed as a moral problem. The primary condition happens in circumstances when an individual, called the operator, must settle on a choice about which strategy is ideal. Circumstances that are awkward however that dont require a decision, are not ethical dilemmas. The second condition for moral situation is that there must be distinctive strategies to look over. Third, in a moral situation, regardless of what game-plan is taken, some moral guideline is traded off. As it were, there is no immaculate arrangement. In any case, the ethics of care focuses on the moral hugeness of tending to the necessities of the general population for whom we accept risk; it is in a general sense about associations. Beyond this, the ethics of care is shown as a record of significant quality that adversaries traditional approaches and hypothetical frameworks about consideration on rights, commitments, value, independence and sensible reason. By following good values, individuals make issues and disarray in their life. Everybody has distinctive purpose for the moral issue. For example, social issues, financial issues and emotional issues. In this document, I am going to talk about an ethical dilemma that I faced personally. Education is described as a moral enterprise and many of the professional dilemmas teachers encounter have an ethical aspect. (Ulvik, 2016) I am going to explain an ethical dilemma in my one year of teaching experience. After my IELTS exam, I started teaching in a school as an English teacher. I was a fresher teacher, so I did not knew much about the schools of my area. After few weeks of my job in school, I noticed that the management of the school was really bad. They did not appoint required staff. There were only few teachers in the staff. In Indian schools, students pay fees monthly, they increased the tuition fees after two-three months and did not gave any proper education to students. Parents expected a lot from the school. They expect a bright future of their children, but the future of students was dark in that school. The student- teacher relationship was not good. Teachers did not care about the students. Positive student-teacher relationships are related to students academic achievement and behavioral and emotional adjustment (Sointu, 2016)   I saw that some teachers ask children to do their personal tasks, such as bringing something from the market for them and some male teacher s also asked children to bring food for them from home. I know that schooling system in India is not so good and but it was worse. I tried my best to teach students everything very perfectly. I cannot help those students to get rid of this management because if I will raise my voice or take any action, I can lose my job and it was against my profession, I cannot go against that organization in which I work and if I will not take any action then I will let the future of those children going into dark. So, at that time I had two options, and I chose to keep quiet. But I think that I did wrong. I became selfish at that time. I should think for those children at that time instead of thinking about me. But I was helpless at that time. Ethical dilemmas affect our societal, professional and personal values. I think that the decision I made at that time was good but now I think that it was not good. Many values were affected. Taking the social values in account, teachers are the second person after parents on which a child believes the most. In India, it is said that teachers are the second parent of the children. Teachers are the member of society from which society expects a lot. They are professionally respected and are provided with high level of education. They teach them like the parents, they also protect them if they are in any problem. A student can share his problem with teacher if he hesitates from parents. It is said that teachers cannot cause harm to their students. I violated all these societal values. I became selfish and did not protect my students from that school management. I feel ashamed and guilty now. Beside this, my profession was teaching, a teacher is second parent of students. Education is d escribed as a moral enterprise and many of the professional dilemmas teachers encounter have an ethical aspect. Parents and students trust a lot on the teachers. But because I was in fear of losing my job and I cannot go against the organization in which I work, I violated some of my professional values also. I was unable to maintain that trustworthy band between parents, teachers and students. Even none of them know this at that time, but whenever they will know they will blame every teacher. Apart from this, I personally feel guilty. My personal values were spoiled. The values such as service of humanity, trust which my parents, my teachers taught me were violated. I violated the rules of my religion that we should help everyone regardless of our own selfishness. I cannot forgive myself thinking that I how did not I care for those kids. There are various ethical standards that are being challenged in this situation. Numerous professions all through the ages have set themselves moral rules that express the states of mind and awareness of others expectations that individuals are required to appear towards their work, articulating the basic qualities and rule that they ought to have regarding their calling. The teaching profession depends on the idea of instructors as specialists who have been appointed particular errands by society, which has likewise set them up for such undertakings by furnishing them with the vital state of training. The profession then requests that the delegates chose to play out these undertakings ought to exhibit high moral measures in all circumstances. An exclusive expectation of professional ethics is a standout amongst the most vital assets accessible to educators, controlling their work and their intelligent relations at the expert level. The work of educating ought to incorporate thought and assessment of the morals of ones own objectives and intentions. ln this sense the reason for the present record of an educators expert morals is to classify and advance the feeling of what is morally right that has dependably been a piece of practice a professional level of expert ability. I think that I have violated all these ethical standards of teaching profession. Now I am going to explain the theories and model that I will use to solve this dilemma which I think that I should use at that time. Utilitarianism is the theory that says that an act is right (moral) if it is useful in bringing about a desirable or good end (Thiroux, 2017). There are two types of utilitarianism: Act utilitarianism and Rule utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism says that everyone should perform that act which will bring about the greatest amount of good over bad for everyone affected by the act (Thiroux, 2017) whereas rule utilitarianism says that everyone should always establish and follow that rule or those rules that will bring about the greatest good for all concerned (Thiroux, 2017). In my situation, I should apply utilitarianism theory. To give a better future to students, I should act against the school to bring a desirable and good end. Acting according to act utilitarianism, I should had act against the school to improve the condition of school that will bring the greatest amount of good over bad for students and everyone (like parents and society) affected by that act. Personally, at that time, the decision that I made was good. But I regret afterwards. As rule utilitarianism says there should be some strict rules that should be followed to improve school standards. The ethical decision making model that I will use to solve my ethical dilemma is The Ethical Problem-Solving Model. The first step of this model is identifying the problem or dilemma. The dilemma was that the students were not given proper education in the school in which I used to teach. I was professionally appointed in school as a teacher and I see that students are not given their rights. I was unable to help them because I was in fear of losing my job. Also I cannot go against the organization I work. So this was the dilemma. Second step of this model is to identify potential issues involved in the problem in terms of rights responsibilities and welfare of all involved. The rights and responsibilities of teachers are to help students in every situation, regardless of their own selfishness. So I should help students to gain better education and raise voice against students. Students should be given proper and quality education as if they will be given proper education then the future of country will be secured. It is my responsibility towards the nation and society. I should create awareness among students. It should help them and the society also. The third step of this model is to review relevant code of ethics if they apply. According to me, on behalf of a social worker, a social worker shall respect the intrinsic worth of the persons served in professional relationships with them. So if I apply this to my situation, I should respect the peoples i.e. students, parents, society and nation as well and act on behalf of serving them as best as I can. The fourth step of the model is to review applicable law s and regulations regarding the dilemma. There was right to education act in India that every Indian has right to get education, so according to that they should be given proper education. The RTE Act says that there is the right and access to quality education to all children in India (Kothari, 2016). Although, there are not proper accurate laws relating exactly to the dilemma. But the students as a citizen of democratic nation, have the right to know that they are being discriminated. They are not given proper education. They have freedom to fight for their rights. They have freedom to speak against the school. On basis of humanity, every individual have the right to expose off a bad management or a bad activity harming the society. No organization have the right to spoil the future of the students. They management should be punished and closed. They are spoiling the future of the country not only the students. So, they government should act upon them. The fifth step of the proble m solving model is consulting to get other perspectives about the problem. When I observed the problem in the school, I discussed it with a few of my close teachers and asked about their views on the problem. Most of those said that just dont interfere in anything. Just let go on how it is going previously. The students which were studying from nine ten years in the same school were used to of the situation. They dont think that the system should be changed. A minority group agreed with my decision, but we alone cannot raise voice against such a big organization. The sixth step of the model is to consider courses of action. In this step, as a teacher the courses of action that I can take are, the first thing is that I should aware the students about the bad management and convince them to fight for their rights. I should help and support students in every situation of their fight for rights. Or the other side of this is that I should not speak anything and just watch the future of s tudents spoiled by the management which I did at that time. Despite this, the other course of action is that I should aware the society to protest and start a reform against the schooling managements that they are spoiling the future of the students. I could also go to the head of the organization and warn him or her to improve the situation of the school and the quality of education. The seventh step of the model is that enumerate consequences of various courses of actions. So in this step, is I consider the first course of action, the students will be aware of the problem and they can fight for themselves. If in their future life, they face the same problem they can fight for themselves and against the injustice. It will give students a power and strength to be independent for their rights and justice. The second course of action will protect my job as it already did because I applied it but it is not good to be selfish in any profession. The next course of action was that I shoul d create a feeling of protest in society. It will create awareness in public against bad management. But it will also create imbalance in society. The other course of action was to approach to head of organization and warn them. This will protect the organization from being disrepute. The problem will be solved politely and without any disputes. The last step of the model is decide on best course of action. According to me, awareness in students and helping them to fight for their rights is the best solution. The students will learn to fight for them. They will not accept injustice in their future life if they will be taught to fight against it in the school life. If students will be aware, then these kind of schooling management will fear and will not even think of doing discrimination with students by not giving them proper education. They will fear that the students can take an action against the management. So this action is best one. The other plans can be applied but I dont th ink so that they will be that much effective. In the textbook, chapter 3 values and professional ethics, it lists the core values of social service worker profession that were very helpful in developing the resolution for dilemma. The core values include respect for inherent dignity and worth of persons; pursuit of social justice; service to humanity; integrity of professional practice; and competence in professional practice (Miller, 2007). These are the values listed for social worker profession. But I think that every profession should follow these values. According to me, in this ethical dilemma situation, the teacher should act in accordance to respect the dignity and value of students and expectations of society. A teacher should act in regard to provide justice to students and he/ she should work for providing good service to humanity. A teacher should not tolerate this for his own child so he should not tolerate this for other students of the society. The code of ethics that implies to the situation is that a social worker shall not behave in a manner that discredits the profession of social work or diminishes the publics trust in the profession. So as a teacher, I should help the students and not be selfish. I should not act in a way that publics trust should be diminished. I should act against the school because that would be best for the society, regardless of thinking about the school. And another code of ethics is that a social worker should promote excellence in the profession. So in the situation, the teacher should help the students and create a good example in the profession. It should be a lesson for other teachers also. To conclude, I can say that the decision that I should aware students is the best and if I would had made this decision at that time it could save their future. But I was not this much aware of it at that time.   Students are aware of teachers actually caring about them; they are able to immediately sense hypocrisy and are aware of the differences between snobbish and authentic behavior. The moral impact on students is important with regard to what they can see and hear around them. (Gluchman, 2016) So if I will help students then it will make a good bond between teacher and students and they would respect the teachers. The students of that school thought that the teachers are cruel. But if I will create love and affection in their hearts and a feeling of getting rid of bad management then they will respect the teacher. At that time, I had a little idea to help students, but I never thought to prepare students to protest for their rights. At that time, I was a bit worried abou t students, and a lot about my job. But now I think that we should not be selfish. Student power can do anything. So, if this decision would be made at that time it would be much better. References Gluchman, V. . (2016). Ethical relationships in the teaching profession in Slovakia. Journal Of Educational Sciences Psychology, 01-20. Kothari, J. a. (2016). A battle of rights: the right to education of children versus rights of minority schools. Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal , 195-218. Miller, P. (2007). Ethical Decision Making. Nelson Education. Sointu, E. T. (2016). Longitudinal associations of student-teacher relationships and behavioural and emotional strengths on academic achievement. Educational Psychology, 457-467. Thiroux, J. a. (2017). Ethics: Theory and Practice. Pearson Education. Ulvik, M. S. (2016). Ethical aspects of professional dilemmas in the first year of teaching. Professional Development In Education, 236-252.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Processing Emotions in Mrs. Dalloway and Demonology :: Virginia Woolf Rick Moody Social Classes Essays

Processing Emotions in Mrs. Dalloway and Demonology Hold them in or let them out; typically these are the only two options one has in dealing with their everyday emotions. Over time, making this decision has differed greatly. The transition between holding in your emotions and letting them out can be seen between two writers from two different eras. In Virginia Woolf’s Mrs.Dalloway, she portrays people in upper class England during the first half of the 20th century and how they process their emotions. Then, in Rick Moody’s short story Demonology he reveals how an average American family during the latter half of the 20th century chooses to handle their emotions. These two stories are perfect examples of how different eras dealt with their feelings in a completely different manner. There can be many connections drawn between these two stories as to the situations the characters are living in and what they have to deal with. Given that they each take place in completely different time periods, the story lines act as a steady base to make judgments as to how they handle their emotions. The story lines also act as a reliable source as to what was going on during each time period. So with these two books, we are able to take them out of there context and actually view them as real life history. By doing this we are able to compare the two different eras and see how they decided to handle their emotions. To begin comparing these two stories, the easiest comparison that is made is that both are stories that are based in one day. This allows us to see how they react to everyday situations. Second, they both deal with people conversing amongst one another. Each person has an image to up hold throughout the two stories. This is most apparent in Mrs. Dalloway since the main character is always trying to uphold her status amongst her social bracket. This is also the case in Demonology where the narrator’s sister is living the typical materialistic American life style, be it through her kids or simply her decisions on anything she does. Finally, these two stories allow us to see how people handle themselves when confronted with marital issues and most importantly how they deal with tragedy. All of these comparisons set the stage for an open look as to what each author and era had to deal with and the way they went about it.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Violence In Video Games :: essays research papers

You open your eyes to a narrow hallway with various passages opening to the left and right. The walls seem to be made of some pseudo-stucco material. You ignore the passages as you head forward to the opening at the end of the hallway. A spacious chamber opens up before you, with three passageways that open to the left, forward, and right respectively. After a few steps forward, you turn around and see another floor above the original hallway you came in, about twenty feet up. There are ramps from the left and right heading up towards it. At the foot of one of the ramps is a small white box with a red cross on it. As you walk closer to inspect it, footsteps are heard coming from behind you. You spin around to face a man of generic description toting a sinister looking modified chain gun. Before you can say anything, he opens fire, unloading three or four rounds into you. Time to take evasive action. You backpedal to the right, arriving at the white box. You feel instantly healed. Tu rning, you sprint back into the hallway you came in from, dodging left and right to avoid flying bullets. The second right takes you into a small windowless room with nothing but a low-powered handgun and some loose clips littered about the floor. It will serve its purpose. The gun seems heavier than it should be as you slam a clip home and take an ambush position to the right of the door. The man barges in and misses seeing you. You take careful aim and unload eight rounds into the back of his skull. As he falls to the ground in his final death throes, the words ‘Falco_Lombardi fragged NeoNess101 with a handgun’ appear at the top of your vision. You smile to yourself and pick up his chain-gun, ready now for anything. This is the type of rush most gamers get playing an online multiplayer first-person shooter such as Quake III, Unreal Tournament, Half-Life, or classic DOOM. But can these games be destructive to mental health? Can they actually desensitize people to the point where they cannot tell the difference between reality and virtual reality? The evidence will be presented for it, the evidence against it, and then I’ll show my own personal experience. You can draw your own results. First of all, the evidence that video games promote violence.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Joyriders – Creative Writing

I had just died by getting trapped and then squeezed to death as the walls closed in on me playing `Tomb Raider Three'. In addition, I had successfully reached the final stage, when I died and then remembered that I had forgotten to save the last stage after being on the computer for hours upon end. At this point, I was agitated and really annoyed when I heard, â€Å"Ah, shut it you over drunk sod! † my parents were at each others' throats again. â€Å"If I were to have a death wish it would be to kill you in such a way that your entrails would ooze out slowly†¦ † replied my disturbingly vexed father. After hearing months of non-stop controversy, I knew that there was only one thing left to say. Moreover, I was meditating about†¦ † I want a divorce, I want a divorce now! † mum bawled down the stairs. Well I knew that I shared a special bond with my mum, but reading my thoughts, she is positively becoming a mind reader, I thought trying to avoid the topic. It could have just have been intuition. There was a silence in the long empty corridor leading up to the stairs, where I sat fed up and angry with my parents. Looking at the bare gloomy walls which stared at me, as if it was my fault that they ere separating, I thought of all the memories they bore. My childhood, which I shared with my parents, both my parents. A tear came to my eye, which I quickly wiped off my freshly tanned, mocha coloured cheeks. When it comes to emotional stuff, I am quite shy and keep things bottled up, whereas usually I am very open and loud, well so my friends have told me. `I have had enough' I thought to myself. With this thought in mind I gave my best friend, Mia, a call, and not very surprisingly she was just as bored as I was. I did not tell her about what had just happened, but I got the feeling that she knew I as not the perky self I normally am, even if I am bored out of my brain! â€Å"Why don't I bring, Kaz, Neil, AJ and myself around yours, in ten? † â€Å"Sure, but we can meet outside my house near the garage. † I slyly said, so that they do not have any encounters with either of my parents. â€Å"Yeah I'd probably get lost around your yard, with it being so big `n' all† Mia laughed back. â€Å"Right then, see ya in ten, bye† â€Å"Bye† and she hung up. I still clung onto the receiver, hoping she was still there, this was because I was afraid to go upstairs, in case they start talking about custody battles. `What am I thinking? they hate me and they are splitting up for spite. I will then probably end up an orphan, because neither of them will want me! `Shut up Neha! ‘. I realised I was going insane just like my diabolical parents. I kept pacing up and down the hall, waiting for Mia and the others to turn up. Which is when I realised, `the neighbours have gone on holiday and have left the house keys and the car keys for the BMW Z3 to mum'. A light bulb went on in my head. And the only word, which was lit up in my head, was `revenge'. â€Å"What's up Neha? † shouted Mia from across the road, wearing as usual, her long black three-quarter-length trench coat. Nothin' wanna go for a ride? † â€Å"You mean in that! † Neil pointed at the BMW, in excitement, which was parked in the garage, with the garage door raised. â€Å"Why not, got nothin' betta to do† I answered surprised that he even had to question me. â€Å"All get in before my parents suspect anything! † I yelled at Mia and the others, who immediately dashed across the road, past the old and fragile granny who lives at number 49, who inherited her mansion after her millionaire husband died last year. Jinita Batavia Page 2 28/04/2007 Kaz, who was sitting in the passenger seat quickly started up the car y turning the key in the ignition. That was when I got into the drivers' seat, and realised how short the top of my body actually is! I could not see beyond the fence, which was only five metres away from us! We sped away as fast as the `bima' could take us. We drove down the Highstreet. However, as it was a bit of a squeeze with the small sporty Z3 cramming two in the front and three in the back, with Neil being quite big, – not offending him, we cut the jaunt short and decided to cruise down small empty alleys, on the outskirts of the town. â€Å"We can make this place our territory, you know like a gang, or even etta a society like the Free Masons who stay anonymous. † Suggested AJ fidgeting around in the back seat. â€Å"That's a brill idea, but your forgetting something cleva clogs†¦ how do you suggest we actually get here, without any wheels? † said Kaz in a sarcastic tone. I was busy trying to tune the radio, when I heard a cry, `ah, it must be an owl or something' I thought, with it being about ten o'clock it was a good presumption. I finally found the `house and garage' station that I was searching for. â€Å"Turn up the base, I mean we are cruzin' in a bima, so might as well cruise in style Neha, innit Mia. AJ also insisted that we wind down our windows so that we are not only seen but also heard. It had only been a few seconds after I thought I had heard a cry, when I heard squeals. â€Å"Here that people? † â€Å"What babe? † â€Å"Oh, do shut up with that babe crap Neil! † â€Å"Fine hear what? † both AJ and Neil said momentarily. â€Å"I hear it now! † replied Kaz. I jolted the car to a halt and then I quickly opened my door to see what was going on, and to my horror, Kenny was lying in the middle of the road a couple of metres behind the car. He was waving his arms around in the air as if he could not breathe! â€Å"Kenny, Kenny, he's †¦ e's†¦ um†¦ dead! I†¦ I†¦ killed†¦ him† I stuttered, in shock. By now I was shivering, then AJ put his arm around me, to comfort me, or so I thought at that time. He brought me back to the car, where everyone were all shaken up and really stiff, peering through the curved windows in shear horror. They convinced me that we should not wait around, because no one saw and now no one except them, will find out. I felt assured and got back behind the wheel, after Mia , who had been quiet throughout the journey slowly came out with, â€Å"I knew it, I knew that this was going to happen, it was written in the stars. Even though she is my best friend, she does come out with bull sometimes, with all that superstitious nonsense that she believes in! After successfully picking our-selves up and returning back to earth, after such an incident had occurred I thought that I should carry on with my original plan. This was to have a minor knock about with the BMW. So we crashed into a lamppost, head on and dented the brand new spoiler on the front of the car. Then finally after a night of laughter, horror and fulfilment I first dropped off AJ, Kaz, Mia and then Neil home, impressing their neighbours in the process, after returning to my never ending ightmare, my house. I parked the car back where it was and then crept in through the back door. I walked up the stairs slowly, so that the stairs would not creek. I then ended up asleep within a minute of lying on my bed. In the morning, it was raining hard, pounding on the roof, above by bedroom. To this I woke up and turned on my radio. Craig David was on, with his recent debut single. I automatically rose from my bed sheets, grabbed my hairbrush, and started to sing and bop along to Jinita Batavia Page 3 28/04/2007 the beat. I was half way through waving my hands around, pretending I as Craig David at a gig when†¦ â€Å"What is this, Adam you prick, what the fuck have you done to the car? † My dad rushed down the stairs with a piece of toast in his mouth as he tied his robe together with his hands. â€Å"What, what? † dad cried, confused. I was sniggering from the corner of the stairs. The innocent face of my dad with mum hurling accusations at him as if they were tennis balls, was a sight to see! After lunch, with mum having hers in the kitchen and dad, being the couch potato of the house, he was flopped out in front of the television set; we heard a knock at the door. I thought it would probably be Mia, so I scampered to the front door to let her in and inform her about the plan that had been successful. But to my dismay there was a woman standing at the front door who went by the name of `Constable Stevenson. ‘ â€Å"Are your parents in darlin'? † she said in a proud PC kind of voice. `Wanna-be PC' I thought to myself and gave out a snigger. â€Å"It is not a laughing matter, now go call your parents†¦ † `Hold your horses woman she's so†¦ uh! ‘ I thought. After hearing a stem, strong deep voice at the door mum came rushing to see what was going on. â€Å"Can I help you constable? † Can I help you constable? † I mimicked. Luckily, no one heard except dad, who was also now at the door, and he gave me that big-eye look to stop it†¦ or else. â€Å"May I have a look at your car? † â€Å"I have a search warrant hear†. â€Å"Sure† said my mum not realising what she had just said then, â€Å"Hold on, why do you want to see our car? † † Well, there has been a murder in the local area, and it was witnessed to have been a hit and run and they said that there was a red car involved. Moreover, I believe that you have a red car sitting in your garage. † â€Å"Yes, well†¦ † mum, at that point gave dad a guilty look, but dad just ooked confused and walked back down the hall with a mug of tea in his hand to watch some television again. Mum thought to herself for a while and then realised that it would be unlawful to lie and with hold evidence, and also she would not have one of those messy divorces if her husband was behind bars, so she decided to spill. Then, mum went over to the car and bent down to show the PC the dent in the car. At this point, I was having a ball, the only thing that could make this better was a nice big tub of popcorn. â€Å"This looks nasty, and yet quite fresh, when did this happen love? † Mum was hesitant in saying â€Å"Last night, I expect† â€Å"OK so who was driving the car at the time of this incident? † the constable's voice was now developing a tone to it. A nasty tone. â€Å"I'll get the forensic team to take a closer look at this†. In saying this she pulled out a mobile about the size of her ego and started to dial. â€Å"Oh† was all that mum could come out with, after this huge enquiry about the car that was not even theirs. She was probably thinking that it actually was dad who killed the boy, ‘that's great' I thought to myself, not realising the charges or sentences dad could be faced with. After the forensic team arrived, about twenty minutes later they were able to come up with a full report. â€Å"I'm sorry to say, that we found some navy fibres attached to the front bumper and some very distinctive blood stains, which are of a person with blood type O, just like Kenny. † `That was strange, because when we hit Kenny there was not a dent anywhere, what can you say, but the police ain't as good as they make themselves out to be. ‘ Jinita Batavia Page 4 18/03/00 â€Å"I'm afraid you're under arrest. † The PC said relieved that this case was over. And it must have been one of the quickest cases ever! We'll have to take you down to the station; anything you do or say will be held against you later in court. † Those lines were just like the ones you here on television programmes. Ah well, dad would not be confused about that then, unlike everything else, as he watches television twenty-four/seven. Now that that was over, I thought that I should celebrate. `Wow' I thought to myself, I never thought I could put someone, especially my own dad behind bars, maybe I should try it more often! In addition, I also now have an extra room, as well as a mum, so I am safe from an orphanage†¦ for now!