Health and Safety Practices Plan (Part Four), Human Risk Factors Essay

Health and Safety Practices Plan (Part Four), Human Risk Factors - Essay Example For instance, the American history has witnessed violence erupting from the places of work, which not only ruins the lives of workforce in the organization but also results in great production losses. Violence is often meted on such groups as women and the minority groups such as physically handicapped persons. Willful destruction of property is a common form of such violence as a former CEO to Apple Inc finds out in an investigation in the modern day violence at workplaces. Among other vices that Apple Inc faces is the increase in such violence that result to product contamination through virus as well as creation of environmental contaminants, which is more hazardous (Viollis & Kane, 2005). The company therefore increases its efforts to mitigate such a risk in order to overcome the resultant outcomes that such risks pose. Stress Stress, on the other hand, is a common risk that the Apple Inc faces as shown in the article by Denning (2012), which said that the company subjected the e mployees to high risk working environment. The article points out that the company subjects many of its employees to poor working conditions with unfavorable low pays and frequent disposals of employees after exhaustion. The company is celebrated to have great wealth globally, which does not explain such meager payments as the employees are paid. However, the company subjects the employees to poor working conditions, which causes stress, fatigue and wearing out which then contributes to low performance and subsequent dismissal by the company. Substance abuse Substance abuse is on the rise in many of modern day companies with misuse of prescription medicine, alcohol and illicit drugs being common among other manners of substance abuse (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety, 2008). Among other indicators of substance abuse in such a company are increased absenteeism, sicknesses, reduced productivity, preoccupation with the use of such substances at work as well as psycholog ical stress. The company therefore suffers reduction in productivity per employee, increased accidents that cost the organization much in liability, as well as lowered accuracy in productions. Apple, just as any other company invests in mitigation measures and policies to lower such effects that are suffered because of substance abuse. Nevertheless, the substance abuse as witnessed within the company may be attributed to various factors among which are high stress levels, fatigue, low satisfaction on job assignments, repetitious duties as well as ease of access to such substances. Companies invest in design and implementation of policies and programs, which are meant to address such issues as, relates to substance abuse, stress management at place of work as well as work place violence. Effective policies in management of substance abuse involve confidentiality as well as active participation of the management and labor in creation. Mitigation strategies Among the most effective way s of mitigating the human risks experienced at work place is ‘team awareness’ (Bennett & Lehmann, n.d.). This is a mitigation framework, which explains how behavioral management of such risks as substance use, violence as well as stress can be managed through the spirit of teamwork. The management is involved to creating an

Islam, Quran, Sunnah Essay Example for Free

Islam, Quran, Sunnah Essay The paper talks about the importance of the Quran and the Sunnah as the primary sources of Islamic beliefs, practices, and law, and their influence in Muslims daily life Islam. Islam is a religion that was originated when Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) began to spread the teachings of Allah (God of the followers of Islam) in the 7th century. God choose Prophet Mohammad as his last messenger and ordered the Prophet to spread his teachings and to ask everyone to believe in the oneness of Allah and the people who follow Islam are called the Muslims. Quran is the book of God that was revealed to Prophet Mohammad through Angel Jibrael and the Muslims consider the book to be a very Holy Book of God that covers each and every aspect of life and the word Quran stands for recitation. It talks about everything a human being needs to seek guidance for and it tells the right way of how to live your life. When the Quran was revealed, the language it was written in was Arabic, however, now the book is available in all translations so that people can read and understand the true context of the book well and can follow its teachings. The teachings in the Quran differentiate the right from wrong and also tell the benefits of selecting the right path and the consequences of selecting the wrong path. The Muslims who select the right path would always benefit in the world and also in the hereafter i. e. life after death. Quran does not force anyone to adopt the right or the wrong path but it does portray the negative and the positive aspects of the path the Muslims select. As mentioned above, Quran is a complete book of guidance for the Muslims and it covers every aspect of life. To further explain this, I would give some examples of what Quran speaks of. Some of the very basics that Islam as well as other religions also ask the human community to do is to always select the right path that means they should not cheat anyone, they should not lie, they should not betray anyone or should not take the sue share of another person. As said by the Quran and the Prophet Mohammad, the Muslims who will follow the teachings of Islam and implement the etchings of the Quran will always be successful in every way and the most important thing is that Allah (God) will also love such people and this would then result in the worldly reward or the reward of going to Heaven after death. When the Quran was revealed, the companions of Prophet Mohammad used to write down each and every verse of Allah and the Book was later complied and the text is still the same as it was when it was revealed. The Muslims also believe that each and every word is the Book is the word of Allah. Quran is thus very important in shaping up the life of a Muslim and is one of the primary sources of Islamic beliefs. Other than the Quran, the Sunnah is also considered to be one of the primary sources of the Islamic believes. The word Sunnah basically refers to the path that Prophet Mohammad choose to live his life and it includes the traditions he followed, his actions and words, what he practiced. Overall, it basically the way he had chosen to live his life. The Muslims follow the example of the Prophet Mohammad mainly through the Hadiths. Prophet Mohammad did each and everything God asked him to do and led his whole life always by choosing the right path. For instance, Prophet Mohammad taught the Muslims to offer prayers both individually as well as in congregation especially for the men and that is what the Muslims follow today especially on every Friday when all Muslim men go to the mosque to offer the Friday prayers. Since the time of Prophet Mohammad, people have learned how to live in a practical manner and this has been transmitted to their future generations. The Muslims also adopt the living style of the Prophet that includes his habits and style and the way he dealt with the other people. He was always considerate and caring, he always used to forgive others and he always used to be polite with others and this is what the Muslims must inculcate in themselves as well. The Quran also talks about Prophet Mohammad and has commanded the Muslims to follow what the Prophet has taught and to obey the teachings of the Prophet at all times. The significance of Sunnah is moreover also to please God by doing what His most loved Prophet did and to embrace his way of living. Both the Quran and the Sunnah therefore, play a very vital role in shaping up the life of a Muslim and so these have a great influence on the lives of the Muslim community. Work Cited Neusner, Jacob. World Relgions in America: An Introduction. 3rd Edn. Westminster John Knox Press, 2003. Swarup, Ram. Understanding the Hadith: The Sacred Traditions of Islam. 1st Edn. Prometheus Books, 2002. Voorst, Robert. E. V. Anthology of World Scriptures. 6th Edn. Wadsworth Publishing, 2007. Waqner, Walter H. Opening the Quran: Introducing Islams Holy Book. 1st Edn. University of Notre Dame Press, 2008.

The Rise And Challenge Of Neoliberalism To Neorealism Politics Essay

The Rise And Challenge Of Neoliberalism To Neorealism Politics Essay The neo or the new kind of liberalism and realism was developed in the 1970s as a significant change in theories of International Relations. The neoliberalism is an advancement of liberalism thinking, as it believes to a cooperation and interdependence between States and non-state actors, while the neorealisms theory is focused on the idea of conflict. For the liberals or neoliberals, they have a more optimistic view of peaceful relations, but compared to liberals the neoliberals are highly focused on creating institutions to manage the international system. The neorealists compared to realists argue that the causes of conflict are different. While realists believe that the self-interest of states create conflict, the neorealists explain that the conflict comes from the anarchy, as the lack of authority involves states to seek power and develop a system of self-help. The development of neoliberal theory was formulated by Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye (1977) based on interdependence model. The founder of neorealism school is Kenneth Waltz (1979), he stands out from realists about the question of the balance of power. For realists the equilibrium results from the willingness of politicians, but Waltz believes that the balance of power is an attribute to the international system which is composed of selfish units, regulate themselves. Thus for him, the less major powers there are, the more stable the international system is. Therefore the number of poles is reduced to increase system rigidity and more people choose carefully. Having in mind this above statement, the main purpose of this essay is to examine in some detail how neoliberalism is a response to neorealism and how it can challenge the realisms simplistic approach and neorealist theory of the international system. To begin with an analysis of the rise of neoliberalism, it is important to explain the main concept of this theory as this is also the rise of institutions, of pluralism, of rationality. Then, by different ideas from authors the discussion and argument on the debate will be analysed in order to identify the key points of neoliberalism to counter neorealism. The renewal of liberalism occurred after World War II to regulate international system for a peaceful world order. The ideas of neoliberalism are based on cooperation through international institutions and international organizations, which play an important role in the international distribution of wealth and power to maintain stability. Indeed, the major authors like Stephen Krasner (1982) and the founder of neoliberal thought, Robert O. Keohane (1984) has published a book After hegemony and both develop an hegemonic stability theory, they argue that the hegemon provides public goods through institutions (e.g. International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization), determine the content of rules and procedures of cooperation in order to act in the interest of all. Thus the hegemon provides a necessary and sufficient function for the creation and maintenance of international regimes. The neoliberals saw institutions concentrated on international regimes defined by Krasner (1983) as institutions possessing norms, decision rules, and procedures which facilitate a convergence of expectations. Neoliberalism also refers to a rise of pluralism, which is viewed as the source of liberal justification (Robert B. Talisse, 2005, pp. 60) that relies on the assumption of rationality. This leads to an interaction between states, as the rationality involves them to focus on strategy in which actions will lead to reactions by others, then the result will depend on the interaction of other state strategies (Tim Dunne, et al., 2007). Thus the pluralism involves multiple forces in the international system. As David Armstrong, et al., (2007, pp. 85) state neoliberals no longer looked inside states, at how they are politically organized, but rather followed neorealists in treating states as rational actors. The rise of neoliberalism leads to an emergence of international institutions, often called neoliberal institutionalism is focused on collective actors, as they provide rules and norms that support the interaction of states that will work all together. Neoliberals are much more pragmatic than liberals. The notion of international institutions (e.g. International Monetary Fund, World Bank) differs from liberals, especially after the publication of Robert O. Keohanes book After Hegemony (1984). The institutions have a huge influence on states and have provided a way to challenge neorealism. International institutionalism can explain non-security policy areas, the focus goes beyond trade and development issues, like cooperation in trade, monetary policy or environmental protection (David Armstrong, et al., 2007). Thus, institutions, by pushing states to work together, facilitate international cooperation in reducing inherent uncertainties in anarchy. Also one of the major difference with realism is how they see the concept of anarchy (Grieco 1988). Both theories agree on state action and anarchy in world politics. Even if neoliberals recognise their proximity to neorealists, how they manage their similarities is different. Like neorealists, states are important but run with other entities (institutions, organizations). The anarchy, for neorealists, is the absence of authority above states, leading to conflicts on international system. This also means that a state is the guardian of its own security and independence (Spanier, 1978 pp. 11), thus the guarantee of security and safety for states does not exist. The self-interest for neorealists is based on the measurement of gains and have preference on relative gains where states refer to power balances (Grieco, 1988). They believe in hegemonic cooperation, where the hegemonic state holds the position of power to arbitrate any coalition in international system with a preponderance of economic and military power (Hobson, J. M.,2000, pp 39). For neorealists, cooperation can be used to obtain some goals, but it is limited and risky as it introduces the possibility of attack from another state, even if the other state is an ally. According to Waltz for each state the prior research of security is achieved by relying only on itself. However would this lack of trust and cooperation towards other states tend to a dependence of the hegemonic state ? Neoliberals in response have demonstrated that anarchy cannot only deal with a constant threat of use of force by major powers. Miller, B. (1995, pp. 52) in his book called When Opponents Cooperation: Great Power Conflict and Collaboration in World Politics, has raised and competed theoretical perspectives to advance plausible explanations. He stated that the small number of great powers and the use of force are insufficient factors to induce cooperation in conflict resolutions. The cooperation under anarchy (Oye, K. 1986) is possible. Unlike neorealists, they argue that the concept of self-help is not the most profitable for a state because of the risk of war. The cooperation may respond to the self-interest of a state. Neoliberals argument is actually the strongest one because they introduced idea of complex interdependence (Robert O. Keohane and J. Nye, 1977) to explain how multiple actors, agencies and forces can be managed in the world system. Keohane and Nye do successfully cha llenge structural realists as they provide a better understanding of changing security. They explain, for example, that in post Cold War era the security changed through multiple communications in multipolar system. Moreover they argue that using force by military actions are costly and tend to negative effects on economic goals. This also leads to a risk of nuclear rise. Therefore, complex interdependence assumed that the military power is not necessarily effective in economic and political interests of states. If issues occurred between great powers and smaller states, the great powers should dominate. However, the US experience in Vietnam (1961) shows the failure of neorealist theory on bipolar system. Keohane (1997, pp 187) has remarkably explained that : Failure of great powers to control smaller ones could be explained on the basis of independent evidence that in the relevant issue- areas, the states that are weaker on an overall basis have more power resources than their stronger partners, and that the use of power derived from one area of activity to affect outcomes in other areas (through linkages) is difficult. Thus the complex interdependence has arguably challenged the neorealist theory in security concerns. The concept of Prisoners Dilemma, used by neorealists, is based on idea that they have a policy of self-help by default because they could not know the behaviour of other states. How to predict the behaviour of other states ? How to reduce the uncertainty in the situation of international anarchy ? The neoliberals responded by international institutions and international regimes creation. According to Keohane (1986) international regimes facilitate cooperation by reducing uncertainty. He argued that regimes were created to solve the Prisoners Dilemma concept where states share a common interest in cooperation. The regimes are operated between self-interest states aware of all the benefits they can get from the coordination of their policies. In contrast to neorealists, they are concerned with absolute gains getting the best possible deal. Grieco stated that State seeks to maximize their individual absolute gains and are indifferent to the gains achieved by others (Baldwin, 1993, pp 117). By using absolute gains neoliberals seek a long-term cooperation through institutions which are considered for neoliberal institutionalists as the mediator and the means to prevent to cheating in the world system (Baylis and Smith, 2001). Keohane and Nye (1977) have clearly defined the importance of institutions as powerful norms. Indeed, NGOs and networks are strongly effective in penetrating states and use domestic norms and rules to force political leaders to focus on global issues. The most significant argument is found in neoliberalism theory because international institutions encourage the opportunity of negotiations and focus on collaboration and distributional issues. Thus the collective aim is to achieve a positive outcome (Martin, Lisa L., and Beth A. Simmons, 1998). One of the relevant example to illustrate the importance of institutions is the World Trade Organization (the WTO agreement) created in 1995, its goal is to provide free trade agreements and settle disputes between nations. If governments are confident to other ones they would not establish barriers to trade and would not try to do so. Thus they will be more willing to cooperate. The WTO system widely contributes to strengthen that trust and the negotiations lead to agreements by consensus. Small countries can benefit from greater bargaining power. It is important to remain that without a multilateral regime such as the WTO system, the more powerful countries could further unilaterally impose their force on their smaller trading partners. Thus smaller countries would have to deal individually with each of the major economic powers and would have more difficulties in resisting to pressures. But with the WTO system, smaller countries may be more effective if they have opportunities to create alliances and share their resources (e.g. Association of Southeast Asian Nations, 1967). Besides, major economic countries will also find their interest as they can negotiate with almost all of their trading partners at a time. As emphasized earlier, neorealists greater focus on power and security as a core goal through military force and tangible assets, but for neoliberals the dominant goal is the welfare through institutions and organizations. Walts focus is based on anarchical structure of the international system, states compete each other in order to survive. Neorealists also share common ideas as defensive realism because anarchy causes a security dilemma leading states to worry about one anothers future intentions. Thus leaders mistakenly believe in aggression to make their state secure. For example: in the Cold War era, the Soviet Union with their nuclear weapons threaten the safety of America. One of the other popular neorealists, John Mearsheimer (2003), leader in offensive realism, believes in status quo power and blamed security competition between great powers. However the neoliberals concept on international institutions is the best means to avoid conflicts and hostility as they have an independent causal impact because they oversee global tasks that states do not (T. Dunne, et al., 2009). As they represent a third party or neutral parties they have a complete autonomy to deal with states and promote values and goals on a global scale. One of the dominant strand for liberalists and neoliberalists is the democratic peace theory, based on Kants notions of Perpetual Peace. While neorealists completely dismiss this idea of democracy where states have no conflict among each other, neoliberals use this peaceful argument to counter neorealists on their use of force. The democratic peace theory is the argument that democracies do not tend to, or rarely go to war with each other. People are directly affected by decisions of war, the public opinion is therefore important as it affects the political behaviour. Democratic norms emphasize on the importance of dialogue and negotiation, the same for trade relations. Besides, the main reasons that democracies do not go to wars or militarized conflicts against each other are the fact that state leaders have cultural and institutional restrictions (Doyle, 1986). Neoliberals stand as a challenge to neorealists in providing argument for peaceful and cooperative international relations through democratic peace. Michael Doyle (1983) finds three pillars based on : first, peaceful conflict resolution between democratic states, second the common values among democratic states and third economic cooperation among democracies (R. Jackson, G. Sorensen, 2007, pp. 44). It is argued that this theory is also used as a tool to create homogenous world and challenge states sovereignty in the era of globalisation. Whereas neorealists think that globalisation does not exist because states only have state-interests. For them the globalisation would be economically bad, with negative outcomes such as dangerous inequality, rebellion, conflicts. In response to this negative idea, neoliberals think that globalisation can lead to community of states and new interests. Moreover, the democratic peace theorys benefit is to identify and condemn countries for human rights violations. While neorealists dismiss cultural differences between states, neoliberals emphasize the importance of culture and morality. For both, democracy must be normalized meaning that they have normative quality in which how the world ought to be or the way the world should be ordered. Democracy remains a moving target (M. Brown, et al., 1996, pp. 268) and is used by neoliberals to challenge neorealists as a response to war and a collective solution for peace. The American hegemony is also a debate between neoliberals and neorealists. This is, on the one hand, viewed as a hard power by neorealists as the USA have ability to impose their will on other political states: in terms of military force, technological growth, they have permanent seat in the UN Security Council, nuclear weapon power and economic power. On the other hand, the concept of soft power (Nye, J.) has a different view of hegemony, as emphasized earlier, it used other means, like culture, ideology, institutions. If the power of the US, analyzed in terms of resources and influences, is obviously not what it was in the 1950s, but this decline should not be exaggerated. The pax Americana is more a myth than a reality, the US has never enjoyed a complete hegemony. Nye believes that they should consider sharing their leadership to face the transnational interdependence. Robert Cox (Canadian neoliberal) thinks that hegemony and leadership terms are confused to describe the domination of one power in the international system. He stated that hegemony is a leadership by consent and is not a power struggle, but rather functions in a subtle way, by a kind of universal consent. Nye finds that the power definition has a lack of uniformity. That is why he undertook two approaches of the power definition : The first one, is to identify the factors of power : they can be measured from natural resources, territory, population or as political factors from institutions, organisations. A clear understanding of the factors are important to then define the power. The second approach is the goals of the power. For neorealists and realists the goals are the defense of national interests. However, Nye added that action fields of power are numerous and different. The challenge for the US is how to keep their hegemony as long as possible. In hard power the goal is to keep superiority, the US should more take active part in foreign conflicts (they tend to do since 9/11). As they cannot intervene everywhere (due to internal expenses) they must make a selection, necessarily based on national interests. In this instance their hegemony would appear as a strong supremacy. In soft power, the US must continue to promote exchanges and keep their advanced technology. As a response to neorealist theory, neoliberals argue that the use of force and a bilateral system are not effective. Arguments are based on peaceful world order by the creation of international institutions, organisations and regimes. Indeed, these ideas have successfully challenged neorealist thoughts, as organisations like the WTO allowed to reduce conflicts and settle disputes. They especially lead to agreed members to cooperate through negotiations, the community of states is the main successful factor in order to avoid conflicts and wars. Finally, the notions of hegemony or power are used in both theories but have different meaning. Some similarities are also found in both, like universality, uniformity or anarchy and critics argue that instead of a debate this is more a neo-neo synthesis  [1]  .

The Use of Soma to Shape and Control Society in Huxleys Brave New Worl

The Use of Soma to Shape and Control Society in Huxley's Brave New World The future of the world is a place of thriving commerce and stability. Safety and happiness are at an all-time high, and no one suffers from depression or any other mental disorders. There are no more wars, as peace and harmony spread to almost every corner of the world. There is no sickness, and people are predestined to be happy and content in their social class. But if anything wrong accidentally occurs, there is a simple solution to the problem, which is soma. The use of soma totally shapes and controls the utopian society described in Huxley's novel Brave New World as well as symbolize Huxley's society as a whole. This pleasure drug is the answer to all of life's little mishaps and also serves as an escape as well as entertainment. The people of this futuristic society use it in every aspect of their lives and depend on it for very many reasons. Although this drug appears to be an escape on the surface, soma is truly a control device used by the government to keep everyone ensla ved in set positions. In the utopian society Huxley creates, everything is artificial. The future of the world depends merely on a handful of directors, and everyone else is simply created as a pawn to maintain this futuristic economy. One of the ten world controllers in the "Brave New World" portrayed in the novel is Mustapha Mond. Mustapha is a driving force behind the utopian society that keeps everyone happy, yet empty inside at the same time. In fact, Mustahpa Mond has been interpreted to mean "the chosen one," for he is like a God to the people (McGiveron 29). People are created in laboratories such as the "Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre," where peo... ... through life without ever truly having to face reality or make logical decisions. Soma symbolizes and shapes many parts of society and is arguably the main symbol in Huxley's satirical masterpiece. The truth is that this utopian society is synthetic and massed produced like soma, and society is cowardly while soma is a crutch to humanity. Works Cited Clareson, Thomas. "The Classic: Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World.'" Extrapolation. 3.1 (1961): 33-40. Hoffman, Nicholas. "Huxley Vindicated." The Spectator 249.8036 (1982): 8-9. Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: HarperPerennial, 1989. Jog, D.V. Aldous Huxley The Novelist. India: Book Centre, 1979. McGiveron, Rafeeq. "Huxley's 'Brave New World.'" Explicator 57.1 (1998): 27-30. Meerloo, Joost. "How Will Man Behave?" The New York Times Book Review. New York, 1958: 22-23.

A Comparative Study of the Efficacy of Pilates and Acupuncture

Chronic low back pain is the diagnosis for individuals who have been suffering from acute back pain but have not showed any signs of improving.In a manner of speaking, chronic low back pain occurs when an individual’s acute back pain has reached the duration of 91 days without improvement (Bogduk & McGuirk, 2002). Chronic low back pain has various treatments, and this research aims to determine which is appropriate.According to Colleen Craig (2001), pilates exercises abdominal muscles, and one of these abdominal muscles, if properly attended to, can prevent chronic low back pain. Acupuncture, on the other hand, is also used for the treatment of low back pain (Liao, Lee, & Ng, 1994).Problem Statement and HypothesisThis study intends to determine whether or not pilates and acupuncture produce better results than that of traditional lumbar stabilization exercises for the treatment of chronic low back pain. The hypothesis of this research is that alternative methods, such as pilat es and acupuncture, are superior over the traditional lumbar stabilization exercises in treating chronic low back pain.AssumptionFor this research, it is assumed that pilates and acupuncture produce better results than that of the traditional lumbar stabilization exercises when it comes to treating patients with chronic low back pain.Purpose and SignificanceThis study aims to compare other modes of therapy to the traditional lumbar stabilization exercises and to determine whether other modes of therapy, specifically pilates and acupuncture, can help improve the conditions of patients who have chronic low back pain.The significance of the study is that it can provide information about which physical therapy is appropriate for individuals who have chronic low back pain. New information about various treatments can help enhance physical therapy and produce better results.Nature of Study and Theoretical FrameworkAn integration of quantitative and qualitative methods will be conducted th roughout the course of the study. The use of quantitative methods is vital for these will determine the empirical data that will contribute to the accuracy of the study. On the other hand, through the use of qualitative methods, the study will be able to provide insight on what the patients think of the aforementioned treatments.Research QuestionsThis study aims to address the following:Which treatment is more effective in the treatment of chronic low back pain? Why is the treatment more effective than the other treatments? What are the pros and cons of alternative treatments for chronic low back pain?   Definition of TermsChronic back pain – the condition wherein the individual has been suffering from acute back pain and has not shown any signs of improving after the duration of 91 days (Bogduk & McGuirk, 2002).Pilates – a â€Å"system of exercises† (Breibart, 2005, p. 3) that helps to stretch and strengthen the body as well as improve its posture and tone (B reibart, 2005).Acupuncture – the insertion of â€Å"hair-fine needles† (Tierney, 1999, p. 1) into certain areas of the body in order to stimulate the healing capacity of the individual’s body (Tierney, 1999).

The Iron Age - Social and Technological Advances

The Iron Age - Social and Technological Advances The European Iron Age (~800-51 BC) (see also the African Iron Age) is what archaeologists have called that period of time in Europe when the development of complex urban societies was spurred by intensive manufacturing of bronze and iron, and extensive trading in and out of the Mediterranean basin. At the time, Greece was flourishing, and the Greeks saw an explicit division between the cultured peoples of the Mediterranean, as compared to the barbaric northerners of central, western and northern Europe. Some scholars have argued that it was Mediterranean demand for exotic goodssalt, furs, amber, gold, slaves, foodstuffs, eventually iron weaponrythat drove the interaction  and led to the growth of an elite class in the hillforts of central Europe. Hillfortsfortified settlements located on the tops of hills above Europes major riversbecame numerous during the early Iron Age, and many of them do show the presence of Mediterranean goods. European Iron Age dates are traditionally set between the approximate period when iron became the principal tool-making material and the Roman conquests of the last century BC. Iron production was first established during the Late Bronze Age  but did not become widespread in central Europe until 800 BC, and in northern Europe by 600 BC. Chronology of the Iron Age 800-450 BC (Early Iron AgeHallstatt in central Europe, Jastorf in north central Europe) The early part of the Iron Age is called the Hallstatt culture, and it was during this time in central Europe that elite chiefs rose in power, perhaps as a direct result of their connections to the Mediterranean Iron Age of classical Greece and the Etruscans. Hallstatt chiefs built or rebuilt a handful of hillforts in eastern France and southern Germany, and maintained an elite lifestyle. Hallstatt sites: Heuneburg, Hohen Asberg, Wurzburg, Breisach, Vix, Hochdorf, Camp de Chassey, Mont Lassois, Magdalenska Gora, and Vace 450-50 BC (Late Iron Age, La Tà ¨ne) Between 450-400 BC, the Hallstatt elite system collapsed, and power shifted to a new set of people, under what was at first more egalitarian society. The La Tà ¨ne culture grew in power and wealth because of their location on important trade routes used by the Mediterranean Greeks and Romans to acquire status goods. References to Celts, conflated with Gauls and meaning central European barbarians, came from the Romans and Greeks; and the La Tà ¨ne material culture is broadly agreed to represent those groups. Eventually, population pressure within the populous La Tà ¨ne zones forced younger La Tà ¨ne warriors out, beginning the massive Celtic migrations. La Tà ¨ne populations moved southward into Greek and Roman areas, conducting extensive and successful raids, even into Rome itself, and eventually including most of the European continent. A new settlement system including central defended settlements called oppida were located in Bavaria and Bohemia. These were not princely residences, but instead residential, commercial, industrial and administrative centers that focused on trade and production for the Romans. La Tene sites: Manching, Grauberg, Kelhim, Singindunum, Stradonice, Zvist, Bibracte, Toulouse, Roquepertuse Lifestyles of the Iron Age By ca 800 BC, most of the people in northern and western Europe were in farming communities, including the essential grain crops of wheat, barley, rye, oats, lentils, peas, and beans. Domesticated cattle, sheep, goats and pigs were used by Iron Age people; different parts of Europe relied on different suites of animals and crops, and many places supplemented their diets with wild game and fish and nuts, berries and fruit. The first barley beer was produced. Villages were small, usually under a hundred people in residence, and the homes were built of wood with sunken floors and wattle and daub walls. It wasnt until near the end of the Iron Age that larger, town-like settlements began to appear. Most communities manufactured their own goods for trade or use, including pottery, beer, iron tools, weapons, and ornaments. Bronze was most popular for personal ornaments; wood, bone, antler, stone, textiles and leather were also used. Trade goods between communities included bronze, Baltic amber and glass objects, and grinding stones in places far from their sources. Social Change in the Iron Age By the late 6th century BC, construction had begun on fortresses on the tops of hills. Building within the Hallstatt hillforts was quite dense, with rectangular timber-framed buildings built close together. Below the hilltop (and outside the fortifications) lay extensive suburbs. Cemeteries had monumental mounds with exceptionally rich graves indicating social stratification. The collapse of the Hallstatt elites saw the rise of La Tà ¨ne egalitarians. Features associated with La Tene include inhumation burials and the disappearance of elite tumulus-style burials. Also indicated is a rise in the consumption of  millet  (Panicum miliaceum). The fourth century BC began the out-migration of small groups of warriors from the La Tà ¨ne heartland towards the Mediterranean Sea. These groups waged terrific raids against the inhabitants. One result was a discernible drop in the population at early La Tene sites. Beginning in the middle of the second century BC, connections with the Mediterranean Roman world steadily increased and appeared to stabilize. New settlements such as Feddersen Wierde became established as production centers for Roman military bases. Marking the traditional end of what archaeologists consider the Iron Age, Caesar conquered Gaul in 51 BC and within a century, Roman culture became established in central Europe. Sources Beck CW,  Greenlie  J, Diamond MP, Macchiarulo AM, Hannenberg AA, and Hauck MS. 1978.  The chemical identification of baltic amber at the Celtic oppidum Starà © Hradisko in Moravia.  Journal of Archaeological Science  5(4):343-354.Bujnal  J. 1991.  Approach to the study of the Late Hallstatt and Early La Tà ¨ne periods in eastern parts of Central Europe: results from  comparative  classification of Knickwandschale.  Antiquity  65:368-375.Cunliffe B. 2008. The Three Hundred Years that Changed the World: 800-500 BC. Chapter 9 in  Europe Between the Oceans. Themes and Variations: 9000 BC-AD 1000.  New Haven: Yale University Press. p, 270-316Hummler M. 2007.  Bridging the gap at La Tà ¨ne.  Antiquity   81:1067-1070.Le Huray JD, and Schutkowski H. 2005.  Diet and social status during the La Tà ¨ne period in Bohemia: Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of bone collagen from Kutn Hora-Karlov  and Radovesice.  Journal of Anthropological Archa eology  24(2):135-147.Loughton ME. 2009.  Getting smashed: the deposition of amphorae and the drinking of wine in Gaul during the late Iron Age.  Oxford Journal Of Archaeology  28(1):77-110. Marciniak A. 2008.  Europe,  Central  and Eastern.  In: Pearsall DM, editor.  Encyclopedia of Archaeology. New York: Academic Press. p 1199-1210.Wells PS. 2008.  Europe, Northern and Western: Iron Age.  In: Pearsall DM, editor.  Encyclopedia of Archaeology. London: Elsevier Inc. p 1230-1240.

Free Essays on The Woods

are put together in a way to create the thinking mood. The second stanza in the poem backs up the first with a definite time and location. In lines five and six it is understood that the speaker is far away from anywhere familiar. He is so far that the horse is doubtful about where they are. In line seven â€Å"Between the woods and frozen lake† gives the scene and it seems to be quiet and lonely out there. The next line gives the idea that it is night and very dark, â€Å"The darkest evening of the year†. That line can be looked at from two different perspectives; it can be the most lightless night, or real dark emotions. It can also be a combination of the two; it is a dark winter night and the speaker is depressed also. The last part of the poem, lines nine through twelve brings the strangeness of the poem. The only sole with the speaker is his horse. The horse was already puzzled by the stop and the horse wants to know the reason for the stop. â€Å"He gives his harness bells a shake† to see what was going on, and this conflicts with the quietness of the scene. At first all that could be heard was the wind and the snow. The speaker is s... Free Essays on The Woods Free Essays on The Woods â€Å"The Woods† Frost’s â€Å"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening† is one of the most esteem works of modern poetry. The thinking mood of this poem is accompanied by imagery that creates a mental picture of being in the woods on a snowy evening. The poem has an easy flow because of simple words and rhyme, and this makes the poem even more astounding. The poem follows each line in order to give the reader a sense of being in the woods on a winter evening. The first two lines give the setting of the poem. The poem mentions the woods and gives the whereabouts of the travelers’ home â€Å"his house is in the village though†. The speaker in the poem is taking a slow pace because he is simply watching the falling snow. The words of the first part of this poem is dull, but the words are put together in a way to create the thinking mood. The second stanza in the poem backs up the first with a definite time and location. In lines five and six it is understood that the speaker is far away from anywhere familiar. He is so far that the horse is doubtful about where they are. In line seven â€Å"Between the woods and frozen lake† gives the scene and it seems to be quiet and lonely out there. The next line gives the idea that it is night and very dark, â€Å"The darkest evening of the year†. That line can be looked at from two different perspectives; it can be the most lightless night, or real dark emotions. It can also be a combination of the two; it is a dark winter night and the speaker is depressed also. The last part of the poem, lines nine through twelve brings the strangeness of the poem. The only sole with the speaker is his horse. The horse was already puzzled by the stop and the horse wants to know the reason for the stop. â€Å"He gives his harness bells a shake† to see what was going on, and this conflicts with the quietness of the scene. At first all that could be heard was the wind and the snow. The speaker is s...

Citizens United - A Primer on the Court Case

Citizens United - A Primer on the Court Case Citizens United is a nonprofit corporation and conservative advocacy group that successfully sued the Federal Election Commission in 2008 claiming its campaign finance rules represented unconstitutional restrictions on the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech. The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision ruled that the federal government cannot limit corporations - or, for that matter, unions, associations or individuals - from spending money to influence the outcome of elections. The ruling led to the creation of super PACs. â€Å"If the First Amendment has any force it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech,† Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority. About Citizens United Citizens United describes itself as a being dedicated to the goal of restoring government to U.S. citizens through education, advocacy, and grassroots organization. â€Å"Citizens United seeks to reassert the traditional American values of limited government, freedom of enterprise, strong families, and national sovereignty and security. Citizens Uniteds goal is to restore the founding fathers vision of a free nation, guided by the honesty, common sense, and good will of its citizens,† it states on its website. Origins of Citizens United Case The Citizens United legal case stems from the groups intention to broadcast â€Å"Hillary: The Movie,† a documentary it produced that was critical of then-U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, who at the time was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. The film examined Clintons record in the Senate and as the first lady to President Bill Clinton. The FEC claimed the documentary represented electioneering communications as defined by the McCain-Feingold law, known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. McCain-Feingold prohibited such communications by broadcast, cable, or satellite within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election. Citizens United challenged the decision but was turned away by the District Court for the District of Columbia. The group appealed the case to the Supreme Court. Citizens United Decision The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in favor of Citizens United overruled two lower-court rulings. The first was Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, a 1990 decision that upheld restrictions on corporate political spending. The second was McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, a 2003 decision that upheld the 2002 McCain-Feingold law banning â€Å"electioneering communications† paid for by corporations. Voting with the Kennedy in the majority were Chief Justice John G. Roberts and associate justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Dissenting were justices John P. Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. Kennedy, writing for the majority, opined: Governments are often hostile to speech, but under our law and our tradition it seems stranger than fiction for our Government to make this political speech a crime. The four dissenting justices described the majority opinion as a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self-government since the founding, and who have fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering since the days of Theodore Roosevelt. Opposition to Citizens United Ruling President Barack Obama leveled perhaps the most vocal criticism of the Citizens United decision by directly taking on the Supreme Court, saying the five majority justices â€Å"handed a huge victory to the special interests and their lobbyists.† Obama lashed out at the ruling in his 2010 State of the Union address. With all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests - including foreign corporations - to spend without limit in our elections, Obama said during his address to a joint session of Congress. I dont think American elections should be bankrolled by Americas most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people, the president said. And Id urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to correct some of these problems. In the 2012 presidential contest, though, Obama softened his stance on super PACs and encouraged his fundraisers to bring in contributions to a super PAC that was supporting his candidacy. Support for Citizens United Ruling David N. Bossie, the president of Citizens United, and Theodore B. Olson, who served as the group’s lead counsel against the FEC, described the ruling as striking a blow for freedom of political speech. â€Å"In Citizens United, the court reminded us that when our government seeks ‘to command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear, it uses censorship to control thought,’† Bossie and Olson wrote in The Washington Post in January 2011. â€Å"The government argued in Citizens United that it could ban books advocating the election of a candidate if they were published by a corporation or labor union. Today, thanks to Citizens United, we may celebrate that the First Amendment confirms what our forefathers fought for: ‘the freedom to think for ourselves.’†

Treatment of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Servicemen Research Paper

Treatment of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Servicemen - Research Paper Example Research reveals that three categories of person are inflicted on this disorder. These categories could be broadly identified to be ‘war veterans’, ‘assault survivors’ and people diagnosed with ‘painful childhood history’. The research focuses upon military personnel who have developed the PTSD disorders during the various traumatic disorders faced in war (England, 2009). The research throws light on some instances due to which people are subjected to PTSD. Children who are neglected or abused in their childhood days develop this disorder in their youth or in adulthood. The research reflects that people who have a traumatic past are subjected to this disorder when they gradually grow old. Sexual Assault survivors account more in number to become mental patient that is associated with the disorders of PTSD. Women who feel neglected in the society may develop the chances of PTSD (Mayo Clinic 2015). Researchers have collected the information about the military personnel and the fact that becomes known is that around more than one million military U.S. troops were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, since 2001. These military families have faced with a number of challenges, especially those families where soldiers’ belonging to that family have not returned home. Soldiers are subjected to PTSD as they face in war and subjected to more stress like circumstances in the confrontation. Mental pain is more severe than physical pain. A family member, as well as the soldier, face this disorder due to the traumatic situations they face during the traumatic lifestyle they have incurred. PTSD symptoms are very common among military personnel, as they have to readjust with civilian life after coming from the military background. ‘Hyper vigilance’, ‘nightmares’ and ‘insomnia’ as soldiers try to assimilate and execute their war zone experiences. The se symptoms are likely to be stronger for those who have undergone immense stress during the immediate lifestyle. In RAND study, corporation that provide objective research services, it was found that out of five military veterans deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, one is found to exhibit the symptom of PTSD (Maguen, 2008).

Case study assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case study assignment - Essay Example The Tokyo management concept could not be successful because the French population was not as open to the American ideas as was the Japanese audiences, very exited to see the American Disneyland experience no matter what it cost. Financial losses compelled management to charge high rates of rooms rent and food served. The management found flaws in the European perspective of market financing while comparing it with the US market financing. Later, management revised the marketing plan for Disney by implementing strategic and tactic changes at the right time. Changes were made to adapt to the French culture by allowing wine andentry of pets in the Disneyland. The French characters like Zorro, Mary Poppins, and Alladin were casted in advertisements along with celebration of Donald Duck’s birthday to position EuroDisney on the top of the European destinations for short time visits. The new French CEO changed marketing tactics by capturing local markets based on different touristsà ¢â‚¬â„¢ habits. Advertisements and packages were structured according to the city marketing trends. Park admission rates were reduced by 20% and room rents by 30% with special promotions for the winter season. The name of the park was changed to Disneyland Paris (Case Study). Taking a lesson from its experiences of Tokyo Disney management, the Hong Kong Disneyland marketing strategy was made keeping mainly the Asian audiences in view. Local cultural traditions were particularly taken care not to antagonize the feelings of public as it happened in the case of Tokyo Disneyland. The American experience matched only in the matter of admission fee, which was marginally more affordable and similar to the Disney’s US parks in California and Florida than to the fees in Tokyo and Paris (Asia Times 2005). According to Roy Tan Hardy, vice president of marketing and sales of Hong Kong Disneyland, regarding park’s attractions â€Å"We carried out extensive, in-depth consumer insight

Forensic Chemical Pathology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Forensic Chemical Pathology - Essay Example First is through the sublingual or (buccal) cavity where some drugs are administered into the body beneath the tongue or the cheek from where they are absorbed from the animal body into the human circulation system (Houck and Siegel, 2006). These drugs are also administered orally, this the most method used in drug administration into the body by many individuals. In addition, the drug can be introduced through rectal organ, a method mostly used in children (Houck and Siegel, 2006). Besides entrance organs, the drugs can also be administered through, parenteral routes that is, through intravenous injection, intra-arterial injection, inhalation, intramuscular injection and topically through the eye, skin and intra-vaginal parts. This is the process by which drug molecules passes from the administration site to the circulation system in the body of human being. This process applies to all forms of drug administration routes except through injections where drug is introduced directly into the blood system (Houck and Siegel, 2006). The absorption of the drug demands that absorption of drug should move from cell to cell through permeable membranes. The process of blood absorption takes place through passive diffusion into the circulatory system of the body. The rate at which the drug is absorbed into the body is always relative to the concentration of the drug taken (Houck and Siegel, 2006). These drugs absorption can therefore take place through lipid diffusion in the cells or by aqueous concentration of solution or by active method. Drug distribution, is the process by which the drug taken leaves the circulation system and moves into the tissues and organs of the body. This process is made possible by diffusion into interstitial fluid and other cells from the circulation. Besides drugs can be transported through active method in hepatic cells, from where they go through enzymatic biotransformation (Houck and Siegel,

Risk in building house Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Risk in building house - Research Paper Example This step will help in simplifying the complex process. This step is also very important and every potential risk must be made note of and it should be dealt with accordingly. There are several risks involved in building a house and one needs to be very cautious not to ignore any risks. This step will facilitate all the other steps and it will decrease the level of uncertainty. This step is one of the most important steps of all, the risks that have been made note of should be dealt with and the best way of dealing with these risks is to have backups or plan B. Plan B is very useful and it again brings down the level of risk. These steps are dependent and one cannot be completed without the support of the other, monitoring is another very important step and if this is not incorporated then the whole process may fail. Monitoring reduces the risks involved in building a house, after the process of planning is completed, it is essential to ensure that the steps decided must be incorporated and this is where monitoring and controlling comes into the picture. Maintaining a risk register is also important and all these steps should be followed when one decides to build a house in order to bring down the level of uncertainty involved in this complicated process. It is integral to divide this perplexing process into two namely Mitigation and contingency. When it comes to receiving the material for the house, it must be ensured that everything is received well before the deadline and a deadline of one week is set. As far as the mitigation is concerned, one must find another vendor should the primary vendor fail to provide the material required to build the house. The weather conditions is another aspect that requires great deal of attention, it must be checked beforehand and it must be made sure that the conditions are ideal for the workers to start the

Discrimination and Male-Female Earnings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Discrimination and Male-Female Earnings - Essay Example Even so, in terms of pay, women are seen to receive less than men. Research has shown that on similar levels of an organizational hierarchy, men make almost twenty-five percent more than that earned by women. Many experts are of the opinion that pay discrimination is a myth in present globalized economy. They are of the opinion that such pay differentials largely occur due to certain social factors such as, a difference of education, choice of job and difference in career objectives. Hence, it cannot be adequately termed as discrimination. Even after taking into account such factors, it has been observed that unfair discrimination of wages still exists. Women in the modern economic world constitute almost half the workforce in most industries. Women, although are not the primary, are considered as equal breadwinners in five out of ten families in most developing nations. In most societies, women obtain similar or even more education than men. Yet, it is seen that most institutions pr efer paying women lesser. The studies conducted over gender discrimination of wages suggest that if the wage gap continues to widen as its present level, then it would take another fifty years for women to earn at the same level (Gardeazabal and Ugidos 165). Women continue to be discriminated in respect of pay, hiring, and promotions. These factors have become so common in the workplace that women have begun accepting them as part of their work life. Â  The first few years after graduation are the most important period for both men and women in respect of starting and setting up their career paths. At this time, both the counterparts are young, unmarried and have very little or no job experience.

Causes and Effects in Zeitoun Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Causes and Effects in Zeitoun - Essay Example Zeitoun, as Abdulrahman is addressed in the novel, remains in the city during the storm away from his family. His experience at sea gives him an insight into his present and he knows he has been chosen for this task. The Hurricane Katrina in particular plays a vital role as it affects the lives of many characters especially Zeitoun’s. Being away from family Zeitoun struggles in the sunken city with his canoe helping people out of the mess the storm had caused and checking on his properties. Kathy meanwhile is under great pressure from her relatives who show no respect for her religious practices such as her â€Å"hijab† and urge her to have pork. Without Zeitoun she is all alone with her children in what may seem to be a hurricane, much greater than Katrina. Zeitoun continues working hard making himself available as much as he could, feeding abandoned dogs and helping the others in need. He feels that this is a task that God has deliberately put him in so he should give it his best shot. If the storm did not occur, he would have been united with his family trying to cope with their personal issues. The hurricane brought with it a test for the people of New Orleans and exposed the brutalities of the government. Kathy manages to escape from her relatives and goes to live with her Muslim friends in Phoenix with her children. Kathy and Zeitoun talk to each other through a phone connection that is still working in one of their properties. The calls suddenly stop to Kathy’s surprise and she does not hear from her husband for many days thinking he has died. Then she learns that Zeitoun and three of his friends have been arrested. Unfortunately they were accused of being terrorists. Zeitoun receives this favor from the government for helping people in the hard time during the hurricane and the brutality which follows leaves the readers to wonder what wrong Zeitoun had done to deserve such a treatment. â€Å"The country he had left thirty years ago had been a realistic place. There were political realities there, then and now, that precluded blind faith†¦ always, would work out fairly and equitably. But he had come to believe such things in the United States. Things had worked out. Difficulties had been overcome. He had worked hard and achieved success. The machinery of government functioned. †¦--the policy, the military, the prisons--that was meant to protect people like him was devouring anyone who got close.† (Egger 2010) The politics and nature seem to be working so closely in the novel that one wonders if both were part of the same plot. The hurricane and the war on terror coincided in the United States so much so that both took the lives of the innocents some way or the other. Zeitoun is forced to stay in a Guantanamo-style jail behind a bus station where he is suspected and informed by the guards that he is a terrorist; a piece of information that he himself is surprised to hear. On being returned to hi s family he looks like â€Å"a sad old man† who has lost nearly twenty pounds of weight. Zeitoun still believes that God had His way of testing him (Egger 2010). The test seems to be a two-way deal. It did not only test a random Syrian painting contractor who lived in New Orleans, it also tested the nation’s ability to protect its own people. The story of Zeitoun spells the sorry state of affairs that the nation was undergoing. What remains a mystery

Risk in building house Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Risk in building house - Research Paper Example This step will help in simplifying the complex process. This step is also very important and every potential risk must be made note of and it should be dealt with accordingly. There are several risks involved in building a house and one needs to be very cautious not to ignore any risks. This step will facilitate all the other steps and it will decrease the level of uncertainty. This step is one of the most important steps of all, the risks that have been made note of should be dealt with and the best way of dealing with these risks is to have backups or plan B. Plan B is very useful and it again brings down the level of risk. These steps are dependent and one cannot be completed without the support of the other, monitoring is another very important step and if this is not incorporated then the whole process may fail. Monitoring reduces the risks involved in building a house, after the process of planning is completed, it is essential to ensure that the steps decided must be incorporated and this is where monitoring and controlling comes into the picture. Maintaining a risk register is also important and all these steps should be followed when one decides to build a house in order to bring down the level of uncertainty involved in this complicated process. It is integral to divide this perplexing process into two namely Mitigation and contingency. When it comes to receiving the material for the house, it must be ensured that everything is received well before the deadline and a deadline of one week is set. As far as the mitigation is concerned, one must find another vendor should the primary vendor fail to provide the material required to build the house. The weather conditions is another aspect that requires great deal of attention, it must be checked beforehand and it must be made sure that the conditions are ideal for the workers to start the

Causes and Effects in Zeitoun Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Causes and Effects in Zeitoun - Essay Example Zeitoun, as Abdulrahman is addressed in the novel, remains in the city during the storm away from his family. His experience at sea gives him an insight into his present and he knows he has been chosen for this task. The Hurricane Katrina in particular plays a vital role as it affects the lives of many characters especially Zeitoun’s. Being away from family Zeitoun struggles in the sunken city with his canoe helping people out of the mess the storm had caused and checking on his properties. Kathy meanwhile is under great pressure from her relatives who show no respect for her religious practices such as her â€Å"hijab† and urge her to have pork. Without Zeitoun she is all alone with her children in what may seem to be a hurricane, much greater than Katrina. Zeitoun continues working hard making himself available as much as he could, feeding abandoned dogs and helping the others in need. He feels that this is a task that God has deliberately put him in so he should give it his best shot. If the storm did not occur, he would have been united with his family trying to cope with their personal issues. The hurricane brought with it a test for the people of New Orleans and exposed the brutalities of the government. Kathy manages to escape from her relatives and goes to live with her Muslim friends in Phoenix with her children. Kathy and Zeitoun talk to each other through a phone connection that is still working in one of their properties. The calls suddenly stop to Kathy’s surprise and she does not hear from her husband for many days thinking he has died. Then she learns that Zeitoun and three of his friends have been arrested. Unfortunately they were accused of being terrorists. Zeitoun receives this favor from the government for helping people in the hard time during the hurricane and the brutality which follows leaves the readers to wonder what wrong Zeitoun had done to deserve such a treatment. â€Å"The country he had left thirty years ago had been a realistic place. There were political realities there, then and now, that precluded blind faith†¦ always, would work out fairly and equitably. But he had come to believe such things in the United States. Things had worked out. Difficulties had been overcome. He had worked hard and achieved success. The machinery of government functioned. †¦--the policy, the military, the prisons--that was meant to protect people like him was devouring anyone who got close.† (Egger 2010) The politics and nature seem to be working so closely in the novel that one wonders if both were part of the same plot. The hurricane and the war on terror coincided in the United States so much so that both took the lives of the innocents some way or the other. Zeitoun is forced to stay in a Guantanamo-style jail behind a bus station where he is suspected and informed by the guards that he is a terrorist; a piece of information that he himself is surprised to hear. On being returned to hi s family he looks like â€Å"a sad old man† who has lost nearly twenty pounds of weight. Zeitoun still believes that God had His way of testing him (Egger 2010). The test seems to be a two-way deal. It did not only test a random Syrian painting contractor who lived in New Orleans, it also tested the nation’s ability to protect its own people. The story of Zeitoun spells the sorry state of affairs that the nation was undergoing. What remains a mystery

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Essay Example for Free

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Essay The novel that has inspired me the most is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I first read the book when I was thirteen years old. Since then, I have reread the novel at least twice a year. There are many features of the novel that has touched me in a profound way. However, there is one aspect that distinguishes this book as my absolute favorite and as the novel that enthuses me: its description of courage. The honorable feature that the novel contains that most inspires me is its truly unique portrayal of courage. The main character, a lawyer named Atticus Finch, states that, â€Å"[Real courage is] when you know youre licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.† In other words, true courage is trying to do what is right even if you know you are most likely going to lose. Indeed, Atticus does just that. In a town located in the Deep South during the 1930s that is highly prejudiced against African Americans, Atticus defends an innocent black man accused of rape by a white man and his daughter. In the months leading up to the trial, Atticus and his family, specifically his children, experience resentment from the townspeople. Atticus himself realizes that, â€Å"[he] won’t win.† Despite this, Atticus presses on, but ultimately, he loses the case. Inspiringly, even though Atticus knew he would not win the case, he tried anyway because he knew it was the right thing to do. Because of its inimitable portrayal of courage, To Kill a Mockingbird is the book that inspires me most. I can only hope when I am faced with an ethical dilemma that will affect my family and me negatively, that I will have the courage to do what I know to be morally right.

Analysis of Global Corporate Strategies: Honda Case Study

Analysis of Global Corporate Strategies: Honda Case Study Introduction Honda may be the worlds leading automobile manufacturer, but the company is far more than cars. Some might assume that part of Hondas success came from its rich Japanese heritage and discipline, some might attribute the companys success to Hondas efficient and manufacturing and unique manufacturing system, which continues to turn out some of the industrys most impressive cars. However, thats only a very small part of the company strength. Managers who hope to emulate Hondas success must look beyond its administration and manufacturing system. The many pieces that comprise Honda from applications to management philosophies to products, combine to create a growth machine that is remarkably consistent. Therefore, this report is carried out to analyze the global corporate strategies adopted by Honda Motors and other world-class automobile makers. A) Compare and contrast the meaning of business level strategy and corporate level strategy in a global context. Business level strategy is a strategy that concerns developing competitive advantage. A firm must be able to supply a product or services more closely fitted to clients needs than rival firm. (De Witt and Meyer, 2004, pg. 667) By integrating and coordinating the sets of commitment and actions, a firm gains competitive advantage by exploiting core competencies in specific product market. In the Honda case study, it is clearly shown that Hondas strategy of right-first-time or build in quality give Honda the competitive advantage by going against the theory of the western management model which says that: high quality cost more and took longer, low cost meant low quality; fast delivery cost more and risked low quality. (De Witt and Meyer, 2004, pg. 667) By adopting the right-first-time strategy, Honda saves a lot of money and time due to the reason that less wastage will incur and also the save on the time of testing the product again after it was completed. With the money and time save d, Honda can concentrate on further research and development plans. Corporate Level Strategy on the other hand is mainly is concerned with what type of businesses the company should venture in to compete with the development and coordination of that portfolio of businesses. Corporate Level Strategy is made up of strategic plans at the highest organization and corporate level. It involves portfolio analysis, diversification and primary structure. It is not restricted to one particular area such as marketing, personnel, production/operational or financial implications, all the departments that were mentioned are all taken into consideration. For multi-business firms, corporate level established the allocation of resources such as cash, allocation of staff, equipments and other resources are being distributed. In addition, because market definition is the domain of corporate-level strategists, the responsibility for diversification, or the addition of new products or services to the existing product/service line-up, also falls within the realm of corpor ate-level strategy. The corporate level strategy that Honda adopted to venture in the automotive industry from a motorcycle manufacturer has shown result by being the top manufacturer in the world for economy and midsize cars, compact SUVs and midsize SUV. (http://google.mini20.com) B) Critically evaluate the process of reconciling dichotomies at Honda Motors with reference to the product-related core competencies versus process-related core capabilities dichotomy. The competitive advantage that Honda has over its competitors such as General Motor and Ford is its advanced internal combustion engines which can be found in all the various model of Honda Motors, which is an evident that Honda has successfully reconciled dichotomy. Let us take an example of the Honda case study, when all the players in the automotive industry are doing nothing to reduce pollutants due to the traditional view of pollutant can only be reduced by cleaning up the pollutant after combustion. Honda on the other hand did not believe on that view and after RD, came out with a CVCC (compound vortex controlled combustion) engine which will be able to reduce the pollutant in the internal combustion by lowering the maximum combustion temperature. At the same time, while its competitors do not believe in a car can be both fuel economy and engine power, again Honda do not believe in that and manage to introduce its VTEC (variable valve timing and lift electronic control) engine which in normal mode, the electronic controlled fuel injection system will control the fuel thin mixture which provide economy; while accelerating, the electronic controller will then allow a fuel rich mixture to provide significant more power. On the process related core capabilities, Honda has sought to combine the advantages inherent in what have normally been seen in the West as dichotomous. It is a norm for automotive manufacturer to produce with the traditional chain driven line which is controlled by a centralized system in the assembly line, which need very little skilled workers, what they needed is those workers that can obediently follow the instructions given to do the same job repeatedly to cut down on the cost of production. Honda on the other hand sees things differently. It has experimented on the free flow system which allows the worker to control the unit that is going to be assembled. The worker will confirm that the unit is in satisfactory condition before it will be sent to the next assembly point. That way, the cost of retesting the unit in later part will be eliminated. In addition to that, workers could be given a sense of control over the production process since they could make the decision that th e task has been carried out properly and should be sent to the next assembly point. In this way, efficiency and dignity can be combined. Again Honda has did things differently by over turning the traditional Western thinking that both efficiency and dignity could not exist at the same time. Another example of Hondas success is the production planning. Unlike its competitor which, completely adopting the large lot mass production production line system which, means that the production is organized to produce thousands of identical or virtually identical products in a row or series. In this system, at the expense of the product variety, cost reduction is achieved. Honda on the other hand, planned its production on a batch basis. Even though it is still implementing the large lot mass production, it had developed a small batch production system. With the system implemented, the units are sent down the assembly line in batches in which each vehicle is exactly the same including its colors. Workers therefore execute exactly the same task for each batch. Components are delivered to the assembly line in batches which exactly match the vehicles they will be fitted into. The objective is to combine the advantages of large lot mass production (simpler logistics and quality contro l, less error, and easier to program schedule) and small lot production (ability to offer a wider range of products to customers and greater worker involvement and satisfaction). Question 2 A) Too much Debt and Risk of Bankruptcy Mergers and acquisitions do not always benefits a company that initiates it. It will be very costly for a company if the decision of MA is made wrongly. Lets take Proton in Malaysia and QQ in China as an example; both are vehicle manufacturer in their respective country. QQ is not doing very well in China, but Proton is eyeing on the huge low cost vehicle will have in China market. Proton hopes to get into the huge low cost vehicle market in China by merging or acquiring QQ. The first obstacle could incur is the high legal expenses. Proton paid a huge amount of money for the legal expenses to acquire QQ and right after that the amount of debt that QQ is carrying will be transferred under Protons custody. Investment on RD is the next step in order to produce the right type of vehicle for the low cost vehicle market in China which may take a long time to develop, and then followed by the advertising and promotion. All the steps that were mentioned earlier will require a big amount of f unds that it is impossible for Proton to have. The only alternative is to seek back up from finance company. Adding up the debts that QQ is having previously and the exposure of Proton from the finance company, the debts are too much for Proton to handle. If the ROI was not realized as what Proton has forecasted, Proton will have a very high risk of being sued bankruptcy by the finance company or the debtors. B) Potential for Product Synergies It has long been viewed that product market synergies are key drivers of mergers. Mergers are a quick way to potentially increase product offerings if synergies arise from asset complementarities. One important dimension of synergies is the ability of merging firms to create new products and differentiate themselves from rivals when merging firms have complementary assets. Rhodes- Kropf and Robinson (2008) model similarity and asset complementarities as a motive for mergers but do not present direct evidence of their importance. In competitive markets, mergers are a quick way to potentially increase product offerings to increase product differentiation if synergies are important. Thus, firms may have incentives to merge with _firms that have different skills or technologies that increase the ability to introduce new products through synergies. However, because acquirers may be better at managing similar products due to managerial expertise and familiarity, mergers offering greater pr oduct similarity can also add value. There is thus a tension between merging with a firm whose product is very similar, and a firm whose skills or technologies are different enough from rivals to help differentiate the acquirer. C) Access to New Technologies and Emerging Markets Benefits such as access to new technologies and emerging market generate cost efficiency by having economies of scale and gain in market share can be obtained from having MA. For example, Chinas Chery and Japans Mitsubishi. If MA were to happen between this 2 company in 2 different country, it will be a win win situation for both parties. Firstly, Chery as a new player in the automobile industry would not have the technology to manufacture high performance engine, but by having MA Mitsubishis technology is accessible by Chery, in order to make sure that even Chery is a Chinese company but owns Mitsubishi technologies in its engine. It is very crucial to portray the image of Chery as a China product with Japans technology to ensure that a larger market share can be captured in China itself. Secondly, if Mitsubishi wanted to venture into China which is an emerging market it would not be easy due to the cost issue. To set up a manufacturing plan in China is the only way to deliver the v ehicle to the customer in the fastest way, but by doing that if the demand for their vehicle is not what Mitsubishi has forecasted, the will be in the financial upset stage. Therefore, by having MA, Mitsubishi can train the local staff to be more skillful to handle their assembly job. All they have to do is send in the parts for the local employees to assemble. In that way, the cost of operating a manufacturing plant can be eliminated and will be able to meet customer requirement of a shorter time to receive the vehicle that they have ordered. Question 3 A) Using information from relevant literature on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and appropriate examples from global automotive makers and suppliers; explain the impact of CSR on organizational performance in both financial and non-financial areas. CSR is defined as open and transparent business practices that are based on ethical values and respect for the community, employees, the environment, shareholders and other stakeholders, in short is a form of corporate regulation integrated into a business model. CSR basically do not take into consideration that how a firm spends it money but what is the way used by the firm to make money. In financial areas for those who are in the automotive industry, the most impact that CSR will create lies within the environmental issue. All of us that are living in todays world are talking about environmental friendly. As all of us know that while fuels are burned to create energy to move a vehicle, it will create pollutant to our environment. Therefore, those who are in the automotive industry must seriously take this factor into account to improve on the technology of the engines to reduce the amount of pollutant being release by vehicles into our environment. In order to do that, it will req uire RD, and that will automatically require a lot of funds to be invested in. To recap on the above phase of what is the way used by the firm to make money, the way used by the firm to make money in this case is environmental friendly by investing in RD so that the engine will release lesser pollutant to be more environmental friendly. In addition to that, for those loyal and skillful staff, the company should send them for training in Head Quarters for their carrier advancement. That will at first cost funds from the company but once they are back from training, their productivity and skill will be improve and in other words will transfer into profit for the company. As for the non-financial areas, those companies which put weight on CSR will have a better reputation among the end user. For example, Honda organizes a one day activity for all his staff to help clean up the city or organize tour to visit old folks home and orphanage. As an end user, I will have a feeling that even t hough Hondas final objective is to make money but it did have the consideration to give it services back to the society. B) Compare and contrast Japanese and Western strategic leadership model by reference to Table 5 in the Honda case study. Explain which of the two model you prefer, and why? There are 2 different kinds of management models in the Honda case study. Let us now compare the 2 models and later part decides on which model is more suitable for todays business. Let us compare the two models by the category. In Western management system, the work process model shows that its employees are categorized in the are those employee who just do their daily job but do not have a thought of how to improve on their job and they poses no skill to do their job. The Japanese on the other hand will have workers that are the thinking type and are multi-tasking. The production organization and logistics in the western management model will produce large lot production and just in case logistics and uses the push system; where as the Japanese will only have small lot production and just in time logistics and uses pull system. In the organization, westerners practice vertical type of management, fragmented duties and individually responsible for the action they have done. Japanese on the other hand practice horizontal type of management, broad duties and the group will be responsible even if the actions are cause by individual doings. As for the labor relations, the westerners will be more on job control focus, cross-company unions and hire and fire. Unlike the westerners, the Japanese emphasize on employment condition focus, enterprise unions and job for life. In the industry organization set up, western management model separates firms and have a distant inter-firm relations. The Japanese on the other hand believe in Keiretsu families and close inter-firm relations. Overall, the western management model is based on mass, standardized and fordist; where as the Japanese is lean, flexible and post-fordist. In my opinion, both of the model has its pros and cons. Therefore, the best thing to do is to integrate both of them. For example, a firm should implement horizontal management style to allow more communication but individual for responsible so that employees will have the motivation to work hard to climb up the corporate ladder which will create value for the firm. For production and logistics, both large lot production and small lot production can be integrated so that no wastage of time if some of the parts are not supplied on time. When comes to labor relations, the firm should also uses both hire and fire and job for life. Hire and fire for those bad workers and job for life for those who is good and loyal. Therefore, no single management style is suitable for all kind of business. The important thing is to customize the theories to the type that best fits the business.

Microsoft vs. Netscape :: essays research papers

Battle of browsers: rounds one and two In 1994, Marc Anderseen invented a new way to search and retrieve information from the Internet: the Netscape Navigator. Netscape’s rising sales and the phenomenal growth of the Internet make its shares go through the roof and even before the Company had any profit; it was valued at $2.7 billion. However, the scenario didn’t go that well for so long and a very powerful and ambitious man came into the picture. Bill Gates put 2,000 of his best programmers to create a browser of his own: The Explorer. The battle of the browsers officially started; Microsoft’s share of the browser market increased from 2.9 percent at the end of 1995 to more than 40 percent by the end of 1997, while Netscape’s market share fell to 54 percent. The Internet was growing at an outstanding pace and many people believed that it was going to affect every business. However, Gates dismissed the Internet and Netscape as unimportant, saying that they would have no impact on him. He quickly found out how wrong he was and how these new threats in the environment were going to affect his business, and he managed to find the way for converting this threat into an opportunity. Thus, he changed the direction of his strategy and he entered into a new business: the Internet world. He realized that he was missing out an opportunity in the market that could make his company grow in a huge way; so he adopted a follower strategy, which is very ironic knowing that they have always been the leaders. He strategically fit-in by matching his resources and strengths (capital, know-how and people) to the changing environment. As Netscape was ahead he needed to act quickly before it was too late, so he took advantage of his power as a leader and focuse d on regaining position over Netscape by adding the browser as an integral part of Windows, giving free copies to the public and forcing manufacturers to install the browser on the machine. In other words, he used his best existing resource which was Microsoft Windows as part of the strategy and used his monopoly to stifle competition and defeat its rivals. However, this strategic choice could have never succeeded at the business level, if Microsoft wouldn’t have the competitive advantage of understanding the customer and the market as they do.

Executing the Innocent :: capital punishment essays

The risk of executing innocent persons is a decisive objection to the institution of capital punishment in the United States. Consequentialist arguments for the death penalty are inconclusive at best; the strongest justification is a retributive one. However, this argument is seriously undercut if a significant risk of executing the innocent exists. Any criminal justice system carries the risk of punishing innocent persons, but the punishment of death is unique and requires greater precautions. Retributive justifications for the death penalty are grounded in respect for innocent victims of homicide; but accepting serious risks of mistaken executions demonstrates disrespect for innocent human life. United States Supreme Court decisions of the 1990’s (Coleman v. Thompson and Herrara v. Collins) illustrate the existence of serious risk and suggest some explanations for it. I live in a city (Philadelphia, PA) whose District Attorney seeks the death penalty more often, and with greater success, than any other D.A. in the United States. In Philadelphia, as elsewhere in the U.S., the majority of defendants in capital trials are poor, and rely on court appointed defense lawyers paid by the local jurisdiction. It is no coincidence that a city which sends large numbers of convicted murderers to death row has "an unusually impoverished system" for representing indigent defendants. According to Tina Rosenberg, where private attorneys "routinely" charge $50,000 to defend a capital case, Philadelphia pays court-appointed lawyers a $1700 flat fee for preparation and $400 for each day in court. The executive administrator of Philadelphia's courts reckons that this averages $3519 a case.(1) Those numbers help to explain why District Attorney Lynn Abraham's department has such a high percentage of homicide defendants sentenced to death. They also suggest that Philadelphia runs an especially great risk of sending to death row some persons who are innocent of the crime for which they were convicted. But why does Philadelphia ask for the death penalty so often—in Rosenberg's words, "virtually as often as the law will allow"? (320) D.A. Abraham says that she considers herself the representative of the victim and the victim's family, and that the death penalty is the right thing to do for them. (321) This is essentially a retributive rationale for capital punishment. The risk of executing innocent human beings is the focus of this paper. I believe that this risk is so significant that it constitutes a decisive reason for the abolition of capital punishment in the United States.

Because It Is Running by

Because It Is Running By – 2. Delprove A. â€Å"This is Edie, Wil, said his mother. She’s going to be helping me out. [†¦] When was this decided? he said. † Edie meets Wil, opposites meet. In Because It Is Running By these two main characters, Wil and Edie, meet when Wil’s mother hires Edie to help out with some chores. As the first quote might allude to, Wil is not very happy with Edie coming into his life. Eventually Wil seems to accept Edie as they spend some time together and get to talk. One thing leads to another and one day Wil invites Edie out and buys her a drink. When Wil realizes that Edie is leaving soon, he accuses his mother of throwing Edie out of the house. Edie is heading for Marrakesh, Morocco and, as the text ends, Wil is with Edie and Wil suggests that he could go to Morocco. Wil is a young man who is not in his teenage years anymore. He lives with his mother and has probably done so most of his life. We know that he has never left Great Britain and, at this point, the only woman in his life is his mother. We don’t know much of Edie’s past. We only know of where she is now and where she’s going. These two main characters have completely different approaches to life. Edie is staying with his mother where everything is safe, while Edie dares to enter new areas unknowing of what will happen. â€Å"Never been abroad. Never been on an aeroplane. I’m just a fucking peasant. † â€Å"Don’t do that, she said. † â€Å"I seen you thinking it, he said. With your Pernod and your fancy accent† [†¦] â€Å"I think you are where you are. † I think this is a very interesting dialogue between Wil and Edie, which gives us some idea of who our main characters are, especially Wil. Wil is very much aware of his lifestyle, within the safety borders, and the dialogue might indicate that he is somewhat ashamed of it. When later, he says that â€Å"I could go to Morocco†, he is probably fascinated by Edie and her way of life. He wants to see what happens if you leave the comfort zone. All in all, the last sentence of the text basically sums up Wil’s way of life: â€Å"[†¦] things continuing in the same way. † While Edie is the opposite who has only been at their place during summer, until she is moving on to another distant location – which is fascinating to Wil. There are several themes in this text: relationship between a mother and her son, relationship between a boy and a girl. But in my opinion the main theme is breaking the comfort zone or, as the old Latin phrase goes, Carpe Diem – seize the day. Wil probably had his reasons for living with his mom, but if you’re too scared to go anywhere else, who knows, you might just end up dying as the same â€Å"fucking peasant† that you have been your entire life. The title of the text, Because It Is Running By, could refer to Wil who is just letting life run by, instead of getting the best out of it and becoming a part of it. Text 4, Making the decision to take a gap year, deals with this matter. There are many things to worry about when leaving the comfort zone, such as loneliness and language problems. But all these factors are just a part of the adventure that life is supposed to be. You can’t know what experiences you’re missing out if you’re well pleased with where you are. It’s our life and our responsibility to get the best out of it – seize the day or die regretting the time you lost. Picture 1, Desired Freedom, shows a man leaning, with his arms, against the window and a dove painted on the wall. Like Wil and Edie; the man and the dove are opposites. Since there are no bars on the window we can conclude that he is not in prison. But then again, this man has probably imprisoned himself, by not living life to the fullest. He has only spectated life from the sidelines, but he doesn’t dare to go to the other side of that window and experience what it’s like. The dove, on the other hand, is completely free. And the dove knows what to do to survive. Its mother might have fed it at first, but eventually it has to live life on its own. Even if that means going to dangerous territories to find food, the dove knows that it must be done in order to survive. It doesn’t wait in its own prison and end up dying in regret. Which way of life would you rather imitate? B. Because It Is Running By is a text which is basically built up of dialogues, with remarks from a narrator. Since there are many dialogues in the text, it is written in colloquial language. That means a large amount of very short sentences, which aren’t necessarily grammatically correct. An example of this is the above-mentioned dialogue: â€Å"Never been abroad. Never been on an aeroplane. I’m just a fucking peasant. † â€Å"Don’t do that, she said. † â€Å"I seen you thinking it, he said. † However, typical slang used in colloquial language, such as â€Å"gonna† and â€Å"wanna† is not used in the text. The text is not written with formal language and there are very few difficult words. The text can be rather annoying to read, due to the fact that there are many stops throughout the text, caused by small sentences. Also, Wil often jumps from one subject to another, which can be frustrating for the reader. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Song: Avenged Sevenfold – Seize The Day

An Idea That Failed

Kamala who worked in â€Å"ICC bank† used to reach her workplace In her car. One day,she was unable to start her car and as she has to report In office 9 o'clock sharp but she did not have time to get the car repaired-So she decided to take a bus. When the bus arrived,it was overcrowded but if she waited for another one,she would have not made it in time. So she boarded it and somehow managed to reach office in time. On reaching the bank,she remembered carrying her cell phone with her. When she checked her Jeans pocket†¦ She was shocked on not finding it there.Her pocket was empty. Maybe It was stolen. â€Å"l should not have boarded a crowded bus. Maybe somebody has picked my pocket there†,she said to herself-Manager Gathers too had just reached the bank-seeing Comma's face she understood that there was some problem. â€Å"What is the matter,Kamala? Why are you looking upset? L's everything all asked. â€Å"Marry,my cell phone has been stolen†,spoke Kamala nervously. â€Å"You did not have any cell phone! â€Å"surprised Gathers said. â€Å"Yesterday was my birthday and It was a birthday gift to me from my husband. He had bought It yesterday†,salad Kamala.Olathe is saddled us go to the Police Station and get a report lodged†,Gathers said. Disappointed Kamala will it matter? I won't get the cell phone back† â€Å"We must get a complaint lodged for every crime. The thief will soon be caught you see and you will get your cell phone back†,the manager assured. 000 so both went to the Police station. Landscape venue who was on duty writing the report inquired,†What was your phone number? â€Å". Then Venue dialed the number from his phone. â€Å"l am sure. You will not get through. The thief either must have taken out the Simi card or must have switched off the phone†,a disillusioned Kamala said.The cleverest of the thief's also commits a mistake somewhere. Maybe your cell phone thief leaves a clue too†,Landscape said. On not getting the number for the first time,the inspector tried again. â€Å"it is said softly and switched on his speaker phone. A voice responded,†Hello,who is speaking? † â€Å"There is a good news for you. Our company rewards a cell phone buyer every month with two tickets to Ago†¦ The winner's name is taken out through lottery. You are the lucky one who has purchased a cell phone yesterday and won the prize. Elf you do not want to avail of the trip,we will offer you a cash of prize RSI. ,OOH,† Venue said. Gathers and Kamala understood that Venue played a trick to trap the thief in the net. And he was successful too. The thief responded,†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ will avail of the cash prize. When and where will I get the prize. † â€Å"You can come to our office if you want. Or we could send our officer to hand you over the prize. You will Just have to come and show your cell phone to us†, said the inspector. â€Å"l will come to your the thief â€Å"Anytime. Our address is 8-404,Maharani Bag and my name is Venue An excited thief said,†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ will be there in two hours†.Keeping the phone down the inspector said,† The thief seems very greedy. He did not even think where we got his number from. ‘ was apprehending that if he enquired that I would not know what to say. † A surprised Kamala asked,†whose address was the one you gave? † â€Å"The same company's from where you bought your cell phone. Krishna is my friend and he is General Manager of that company†,informed Venue. â€Å"You managed to ensure the thief very Gathers. â€Å"You may leave now. Len an hours time you will get your cell phone and the thief too will be caught,† Venue assured. L forgot to tell you that my cell phone has a small Barbie sticker on its inside by my aught†,informed Kamala â€Å"This will make it easier to identify your cell Venue. One hour later inspector re ached his friend Krishna office and told him about everything. Curtain. SAA has no idea. Speaking arrogantly to Krishna,Parade said â€Å"Did you rang me up? I have come to collect my prize of RSI. 50,OOH† â€Å"Where is your cell phone? â€Å"asked Krishna. Parade showed the cell phone. Krishna opened the cell phone and saw Barbie sticker inside it. He said,†Come out,inspector. The person you were waiting for is here† When Parade saw Venue he was shocked.He could not even dream that he would be aught like this one day. â€Å"How many cell phones have you stolen till now? â€Å"Landscape asked sternly. â€Å"Five hundred†,parade,petrified could not lie. Venue arrested Parade immediately and put him behind bars. Kamala was too happy getting back her cell phone. She praised Venue for his efficiency. â€Å"More than my efficiency it was the foolishness of parade that helped. Elf he had not talked on the cell phone,my plan would not have worked. Parade is very clever but committed a mistake this time†,Venue said. Parade was punished with one year imprisonment. Many of his friends too were put behind bars.They were very happy to see him but when they learnt about his foolishness,they all had a hearty laugh. His best friend Panda said,†Parade,you are so clever. Everyone calls you clever,Parade. How could you commit such a mistake? You should not have talked with that cell phone. You should have at least enquired. After all,the buyer was to get a prize, not you. You had stolen it. You must have thought that you would get RSI. 50,OOH easily. You have not only made a fool of yourself but also let us down too† Parade could not speak a word and sat with a hung face. His accomplices too refused to accept him as his leader. THE END