United Nations, focused on international law Essay

United Nations, focused on international law - Essay Example At the end of World War II, fifty-one countries committed to preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security established the UN on 24th October 1945. Today, nearly every nation in the world belongs to the UN and its membership totals 191 countries.Each member country has to obligate to all the requirements of the UN charter. This charter is an international treaty designed to protect future generations from the scourge and curse of war and written to affirm fundamental human rights. The purposes of the United Nations, as set forth in the Charter, are to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems and in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; and to be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these ends.The United Nations comprises of six main bodies. Five of them - the General Assemb ly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council and the Secretariat - are based at UN Headquarters in New York. The sixth, the International Court of Justice, is located at The Hague in the Netherlands.The General Assembly makes decisions on the key issues and world's most pressing problems, and is represented by each member nation with the account of one vote each. The Security Council carries out decisions pertaining to international peace and security. ... There are certain other UN offices and programmes that work to improvise the living conditions of the world and the people on the whole. Two such important offices to mention are United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). The UNESCO was founded in November 1945 with the aim to build peace in the world through knowledge, social progress, exchange and mutual understanding among peoples. The UNICEF was created in December 1946 by the United Nations to provide food, clothing and health care to European children facing famine and disease in the aftermath of the Second World War. Their mandate is to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. The UN provides the means to help resolve international conflicts and formulate policies on matters affecting all of us. In this process, all the Member States have a right to be heard and to cast a vote, irrespective of their size, wealth and economic positions, political views and social systems. UN and International Law As per its prime objective of maintaining peace and security throughout the world, and managing and resolving any conflicts arising out of international disputes, United Nations has undertaken the progressive codification and development of international law by forming a comprehensive body of international law. The over 500 conventions, treaties and standards resulting from this work have provided a framework for promoting international peace and security and economic and social development. They legally bind states that

Explain the different roles played by (i) the central bank, (ii) Essay

Explain the different roles played by (i) the central bank, (ii) depository institutions, and (iii) depositors in the determina - Essay Example For example, there is a strong proof that when money increases rapidly in an economy, there develops a direct relation between money-supply and long-term price inflation. On the other hand, a decrease in the level of money supply in a country leads to a decrease in economic activity, tightened spending levels and a fall in consumer demand. The quantity theory of money states that money supply has a relationship that is directly proportional in nature to the price level (Friedman, 1956). Different institutions have different but correlated roles to play in the determination of money supply in a country and the global economy. Examples of such institutions are the central bank and depository institutions. Depositors also have a part to play in this. Roles of the central bank Every country has a central bank that monitors and determines money supply in the country’s economy. In the US, the money supply is determined by the US Federal Reserve, the central banking system of the US. Its role is to foster economic growth in the US by regulating the actions of private banks and stabilizing the money supply. The Federal Reserve, also known as Fed, uses the expansive monetary policy as a guide in expanding the US money supply (Shin, 2009). Using the expansive monetary policy, the Federal Reserve channels more reserves to the banking system so as to allow private banks more liquidity and to make sure that they have the required ability to issue loans. In the UK, determination of money supply is the function of the Bank of England while that of the counties under the EU is the European Central Bank (ECB) (Burda and Wyplosz, 1997). In order to stabilize an economy in a country, the central bank has the power to determine the level of money stock through the operation of different monetary policies. These policies include reserve requirements, open market operations and discount rates. The most dominant among the three monetary policies is the open market operations p olicy. According to Howells and Bain (2009), an open market operation is a situation in which the central bank purchases or trades government securities for cash in an effort to contract or expand the total money supply. Money supply in the country will increase if the central bank purchases government securities but it will contract if the central bank sells government securities. The responsibility of the central bank in relation to fractional reserve banking is to hold a particular fraction of all deposits. This can be in account with the central bank or in cash. In order to alter money supply, the central bank alters the percentage of total deposits that needs to be held by commercial banks. In this way, the central bank can increase the monetary base in a country by reducing the reserve requirements or reduce the monetary base by increasing the reserve requirements (Mishkin, 1998). The central banks also determine money supply in a country by controlling discount rates. This is possible because the central bank in every country supplies commercial banks with the money they require to meet consumer demand. Therefore, the central bank can meet and control consumer demand for money by controlling the national interest rates. For example, the consumer demand for money will increase greatly if the interest rates decrease while a decrease in consumer demand for money will arise if the interest rates increase. Roles of depository institutions By definition, depository

Supporting people with long term health conditions

Supporting people with long term health conditions This report reflects on the care needs of 67 year old Kingsley, at 55 he was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes then at 65 Kingsley suffered a stroke. After a lengthy stay in hospital he was moved to a nursing home where he currently lives, he is not happy in the nursing home and wishes to be discharged and return home to the care of his wife. He displays his unhappiness to care staff with bouts of anger and frustration. He has a social worker assigned to his case who is currently undecided if Kingsley should return home to his wife, he questions the layout of the home and his wifes ability to cope with Kingsleys care needs. Kingsley and his wife have some difficult decisions to make and should be able to discuss these with the social worker as these will have a fundamental impact on where he lives as this will be instrumental to his wellbeing. Living with a long term health condition can have its challenges when receiving health care, its paramount that a care user receives the correct level of support and information available. A psycho sociological perspective offers a holistic approach which addresses an individuals needs and an anthropological perspective which offers a biological study of the human being. A psycho sociological perspective addresses an individuals psychological health and wellbeing needs which are individual to functioning within human society. This perspective highlights that factors such as age, gender, environmental living conditions and the individual differences that people face are to be considered in health needs and care issues. A psycho-social approach to public health aims to incorporate the environment which will address the health of groups of people by social context, social class, location and how accessible they are to local resources. In the past this has been referred to as the social model of health (K217, Learning Guide 2, p43). The structure of the social model of health aims to make health services more affective, accessible and acceptable to individuals. The components are as follows (K217, Learning Guide 2, p43). To acknowledge the influence that health has on political, economic, social, psychological, cultural and environmental factors and also biological factors. To improve health a focus must be placed on the socio-economic environment. To achieve community participation with shared decision making between lay people and practitioners. Health services to collaborate with other government agencies and sectors. Commitment to equity and accountability in health. The use of evidence which is qualitative and quantitative. The concept of this perspective is that the focus of social causes are linked to illness rather genetics. If the social causes which are causing a detrimental effect on health are addressed then a better quality of life and sense of wellbeing are to be achieved. In Kingsley case he is not socially active because of the environment he is currently living in, which is restricting him from participating in any social networks, which gives the practitioners power over him so he is then not part of the decision making regarding his wellbeing. Holism perspective The practice of holism is to recognise that each persons needs are unique to ones own identity. It acknowledges that focus is to be given to lifestyles and choices which have an impact on health and illness. The approach links all aspects of a persons physical, mental and emotional state to create a composition of a state of health and illness. The approach of a biomedical perspective will address medical conditions with a biological, anatomy, and a physiology view but ignores an individuals needs, as a holism approach would address the individuals needs which would have an effect on lifestyles and choices. So a Biomedical perspective has a place in some health conditions such as Diabetes which will address the medical needs such as insulin. But a holistic approach will identify the whole person combining their mind, body and spirit. This can be helpful for practitioners to understand how a Diabetic may be feeling with effects of injecting insulin, are they coping with self management of the condition. The whole person approach to care is to give service users the ability to move on from the professional dominance in the doctor centred model and to achieve the self care model which is to encourage independence. (K217, Learning Guide 2, p42). Discussion. The contribution of theory. Do theories have a place in health and social care services and how can they help people like Kingsley who is suffering from a long term health condition. Theories in health and social care are developed from two perspectives Good research and medical engagements which results in theories from evidence. Generalised practice and an understanding of experience within a profession, these theorises are developed from practical experiences. Theories in understanding long term health conditions can be found in two perspectives bio medical and the social model of health. The bio medical approach is that the body functions normally but when things go wrong a specialist can repair the body; its focus is that biological problems can be addressed with medicine. The social model of health recognises biological factors but also includes the recognition of the influence of health being a matter of psychological and social addressing the wellbeing of an individual. If just a bio medical approach to theory was taken of Kingsleys situation he would have been diagnosed with two long term health conditions a stroke and type two diabetes by a practitioner then undergone biological treatment in hospital, were tests were taken and symptoms were controlled with medication. He is now living with two conditions controlled by medication. Bio medical may adapt mechanical metaphors which presume that a practitioners approach is to be an engineer and to fix what is malfunctioning with medication (K219, leaning guide 1, p36). The N.H.S. point out that a stroke is a medical emergency and should be diagnosed as soon as possible this would be in a bio medical environment. A bio medical view would be taken to determine the emergency treatment needed and also for after care with medication, therapists, physiotherapist and G.Ps. The N.H.S also highlight that the social model of health should be incorporated into a patients social care needs social workers would ass ess a patient and their carers needs and offer services such as meals on wheels and home care services (N.H.S. 2011). A purely social view of theory to long term health conditions would offer Kingsley and his with sociological support in dealing with his conditions addressing needs for his wellbeing. Kingsley has experienced a change to his identity, because of his illness he feels he can no longer contribute in society. Kingsleys illness has made it impossible for him to work so he now relies on the welfare benefit system so his identity has changed from a working man providing for his family to the sick role. The sick role can be identified when an ill person becomes exempt from a social role of responsibilities examples are because of illness, a sick person will not get better without being taken care of and the sick person will want to overcome illness and should be obligated to seek the correct professional help to deal with an illness (Parsons, 1951, p.294). This theory of the sick role has an element of social care and bio medical, society will address an ill persons needs with benefits and c are issues and a biological factor will be present with medication. What can be learnt from research and practice guidelines? Research show that suffers from a long term health condition such as a stroke may face physical disabilities and suffer from social exclusion which can lead to spoiled identities. The Stroke Association commits approximately two and a half million pounds per year in to research of stroke prevention and treatment .Two key achievements are (The Stroke Association 2011). Staying physically fit after 40 cuts risk of a stroke. People who are physically fit after the age of 40 can lower their risk of stroke by as much as 50 percent, compared to people who arent as physically fit (The Stroke Association 2011). The benefit of occupational therapy for stroke care home residents. A recent study funded by the Stroke Association has shown how beneficial even a small amount of occupational therapy can be to residents in care homes who have had a stroke. The study, carried out is extremely significant as the care home population is an understudied and extremely vulnerable group (The stroke Association 2011). The research suggests that prevention can reduce the risk of a stroke and that life style changes and rehabilitation will help with the recovery process, learning to deal with the effects that the stroke has had on them and learning to adapt to the limitations caused by stroke. Rehabilitation would also address the need for any support in dealing with social, emotional and practical issues. A government report on long term health conditions and self care (Your health, your way, 2009) is aimed at promoting discussion between health and social care professionals and people with long term health conditions, it addresses what options, support and information are available for health care users who wish to self care. The N.H.S. and social services want to encourage people with long term health conditions to self care, its shared aims and values for the transformation are to ensure that service users and their carers are not discriminated because of illness or disability and are supported to be able to: Live independently and be able to sustain a family unit, which will avoid children taken on inappropriate caring roles. To stay healthy and to be able to recover quickly from illness. The ability to exercise control over their own life and if appropriate the lives of family members. To participate economically and socially as active and equal citizens. Have the best quality of life, irrespective of illness or disability and retaining respect and dignity. (Your health, your way, 2009, p.4) Self care is build around a holistic process that places the service user at the centre of their own care but also recognising that different issues can impact on an individuals health and wellbeing so the process is supportive, individual, flexible and non-judgemental, the focus is solely on enabling the individual to achieve the outcomes that they want for themselves. People who use services completed a survey prior the transition to self care and after the changes had occurred the findings are. (Your health, your way, 2009) (Your health, your way, 2009) The results show how being empowered to take a more active role in health and well-being can improve quality of life. People who are living with a long term condition can benefit enormously from being supported to self care. They can live longer, have less pain, anxiety, depression and fatigue, have a better quality of life and be more active and independent (Your health, your way, 2009, p.6). Theory and practice. The social model of disability (K217, Learning Guide 6, p43) plays a significant part in a care service users life, such as Kingsley. This theory accepts that people will experience differences in life because of health issues such as stroke and diabetes, but questions that the difference is the problem when society does not adapt to such differences. The theory was introduced in the 1970s when disabled activists debated that society is the problem that faced disabled people not the individuals disability. This approach has a commitment to improving the lives of disabled people, by promoting social inclusion and removing the barriers which oppress disabled people (Tom Shakespeare, 2006, p 9). The biomedical paradigm ignores the differences between individuals and is criticised for overlooking social influences which have an effect to health care (K217, Learning Guide 2, p40). This is clear in the case of Kingsley; he has received biomedical treatment in the past for type 2 diabetes and now for a stroke from medical practitioners. Kingsley is now experiencing differences in life to an able bodied person as well as a change to his identity to being disabled because he cannot walk or use his right hand without being aided. The nursing home were Kingsley now lives accepts his disabilities and provides care for him such as assistance to walk and use his right hand. Two people assist Kingsley to get out of bed, shower and dress him. The environment is restricting his independence and making him disabled relying on assistance and there are no aids he can use himself which would give him control of his care. Empowering people who use services (K217, Learning Guide 10, pp28-34) is a theory which would allow Kingsley to become involved in his health care needs. The focus of the theory is the concern regarding the need for people to participate in their health care needs, and that empowerment will encourage them to use services and empower them to participate within them. People need to be encouraged to use health care services but also need to empower themselves to participate within a service. Health and social care services encourage users to become empowered; this can be with support groups with people who share similar experiences (Diabetes NHS, 2011). Key factors of the theory are that power and control should be equally divided between service provider and user, several options will be available to the user which there will have knowledge on, information supplied to assist in making decisions and if the user is dissatisfied with the system has the option to decline any further use of the system and make a complaint. Involving people who use health and social care services with empowerment gives them achievement by (K217, Learning Guide 10, p30). Having control and being engaged with services. Equal share of power with practitioners. The contribution of planning individual services and the development of good practice. Including all members of society. Empowerments goal is to involve participation at all levels in care services allowing users to have a say and to be engaged in their care needs working with practitioners to satisfy care needs. Empowerment is a way of equalising the distribution of power between users of services and practitioners (Tuner, MacKian, Woodthorpe, 2010, quoted in Learning guide 10, p.30). Kingsleys care needs are being dictated to him by the care home and his social worker if he was to be empowered to use care services and was to empower to participate in services he may be more actively contented with his care needs. Conclusions and recommendations Who cares for Kingsley and where he receives care are now important decisions to make. The decisions will influence his care needs and his future wellbeing. This report highlights the concerns that people who have long term health conditions face with care needs and the services that provide care. Clearly when a person suffers from an illness such as a stroke or diabetes an emergency response for care is received from a medical practitioner who will offer a biomedical diagnoses and if needed medical treatment and medication. As was the treatment Kingsley received, the next phase in the care process is how after care support and treatment is provided for people with a long term health condition. Kingsleys individual care needs have not been addressed; he may be adequately receiving biomedical care in the nursing home and his basic fundamental needs for living such as shelter, food and warmth are being provided his individual needs are not being considered. Kingsley wishes to return home to the care of his wife, a psycho sociological perspective will identify that his individual psychological health and wellbeing in society is not being fulfilled. The care home environment is restricting him from participating in main stream society; he cannot be active within society because he has no access to social networks. This will be a fundamental reason for his bouts of anger and frustration as before his illness he was social active and provided for his family. Kingsleys care needs are unique to his new identity as a disabled person with a long term health condition, along with a psycho sociological perspective a holistic approach will help to identify the impact this is having on his health, lifestyle and wellbeing. The social worker assigned to Kingsley is concerned that his wife would not be able to cope with his care needs, one option is to recognise what difficulties in society will be restricting Kingsley because of his disability (The social model of disability). The care home is disabling Kingsley because of its lack of practices and environment. If the social worker was to work with Kingsley and his wife to identify the support needed to provide a self care package such as direct payments (K217, Learning Guide 10, p29) this would allow them to be independently in control over which services they use. Allowing them to live independently as a family and able to participate economically within society.

Free Terrorism Essays: We Must Oppose Peaceniks :: September 11 Terrorism Essays

We Must Oppose Peaceniks There is a certain segment of the population on any contemporary college campus that is never satisfied unless it is dissatisfied. So addicted is this small minority to the rush one receives from righteous indignation that, after centuries of moral progress in what is by now a relatively just society, their lives are reduced to a desperate search for sufficiently eye-catching evils to combat. Sweatshops one year, the low wages of University workers the next - while collegiate activism addicts often find themselves fighting real and continuing injustices, their brief battles are mere momentary fads, reduced to being the political equivalent of bellbottoms or boy bands. In the middle of the 2001 fall fashion season, however - a season which was supposed to bring with it both shorter hemlines and renewed opposition to the IMF - Americans witnessed evil in its purest and most dramatic form. Here, finally, was a genuine need for immediate action. Habitual activists thus joined their fellow students in giving blood and helping to organize aid for the victims of the tragedy, and I applaud them for their good work. Horrified at for once being part of a moral majority, however, this coterie soon found that the relief effort was insufficient to satisfy its old addiction. A real jolt of righteous indignation, it seems, comes only from a stance directly opposed to that of the American mainstream, or, as they like to call it, the capitalist hegemony. The movementarians needed to find a new, less popular movement for themselves, and sure enough one was to be found with relative ease - a late '60s classic that never goes out of style, one by the name of "peace." Generally speaking, I too am in favor of peace. (For the record, I'm generally well to the left of Joe Lieberman.) Not only would I take a state of peace over a state of war any day, I am also opposed to such military tactics as the invasion of randomly selected developing nations or the wholesale slaughter of their innocent civilians. Except for those with a religiously grounded commitment to absolute pacifism, however, we can all agree that there are times when certain acts of war are both appropriate and just. The vast majority of the American people believe that now is one of those times, and they are right to do so.

Carrie Chapter One

News item from the Westover (Me.) weekly Enterprise, August 19, 1966: RAIN OF STONES REPORTED It was reliably reported by several persons that a rain of stones fell from a clear blue sky on Carlin Street in the town of Chamberlain on August 17th. The stones fell principally on the home of Mrs Margaret White, damaging the roof extensively and ruining two gutters and a downspout valued at approximately $25. Mrs White, a widow, lives with her three-year-old daughter, Carietta. Mrs White could not be reached for comment. Nobody was really surprised when it happened, not really, not at the subconscious level where savage things grow. On the surface, all the girls in the shower room were shocked, thrilled, ashamed, or simply glad that the White bitch had taken it in the mouth again. Some of them might also have claimed surprise, but of course their claim was untrue. Carrie had been going to school with some of them since the first grade, and this had been building since that time, building slowly and immutably, in accordance with all the laws that govern human nature, building with all the steadiness of a chain reaction approaching critical mass. What none of them knew, of course, was that Carrie White was telekinetic. Graffiti scratched on a desk of the Barker Street Grammar school in Chamberlain: Carrie White eats shit. The locker room was filled with shouts, echoes, and the subterranean sound of showers splashing on tile. The girls had been playing volleyball in Period One, and their morning sweat was light and eager. Girls stretched and writhed under the hot water, squalling, flicking water, squirting white bars of soap from hand to hand. Carrie stood among them stolidly a frog among swans. She was a chunky girl with pimples on her neck and back and buttocks, her wet hair completely without colour. It rested against her face with dispirited sogginess and she simply stood, head slightly bent, letting the water splat against her flesh and roll off. She looked the part of the sacrificial goat, the constant butt, believer in left-handed monkey wrenches, perpetual foul-up, and she was. She wished forlornly and constantly that Ewen High had individual-and thus private-showers, like the high schools at Andover or Boxford. They stared. They always stared. Showers turning off one by one, girls stepping out, removing pastel bathing caps, towelling, spraying deodorant, checking the clock over the door. Bras were hooked, underpants stepped into. Steam hung in the air; the place might have been an Egyptian bathhouse except for the constant rumble of the Jacuzzi whirlpool bath in the corner. Calls and catcalls rebounded with all the snap and flicker of billiard balls after a hard break. ‘-so Tommy said he hated it on me and I-‘ ‘-I'm going with my sister and her husband. He picks his nose but so does she, so they're very-‘ ‘-shower after school and-‘ ‘-too cheap to spend a goddam penny so Cindi and I-‘ Miss Desjardin, their slim, nonbreasted gym teacher, stepped in, craned her-neck around briefly, and slapped her hands together once, smartly. ‘What are you waiting for, Carrie? Doom? Bell in five minutes.' Her shorts were blinding white, her legs not too curved but striking in their unobtrusive muscularity. A silver whistle, won in college archery competition, hung around her neck. The girls giggled and Carrie looked up, her eyes slow and dazed from the heat and the steady, pounding roar of the water. ‘Ohuh?' It was a strangely froggy sound, grotesquely apt, and the girls giggled again. Sue Snell had whipped a towel from her hair with the speed of a magician embarking on a wondrous feat and began to comb rapidly. Miss Desjardin made an irritated cranking gesture at Carrie and stepped out. Carrie turned off the shower. It died in a drip and a gurgle. It wasn't until she stepped out that they all saw the blood running down her leg. From The Shadow Exploded. Documented Facts and Specific Conclusions Derived from the Case of Carietta White, by David R. Congress (Tulane University Press: 1981), p. 34: It can hardly be disputed that failure to note specific instances of telekinesis during the White girl's earlier years must be attributed to the conclusions offered by White and Steams in their paper Telekinesis: A Wild Talent Revisited-that the ability to move objects by effort of the will alone comes to the fore only in moments of extreme personal stress. The talent is well hidden indeed; how else could it have remained submerged for centuries with only the tip of the iceberg showing above a sea of quackery? We have only skimpy hearsay evidence upon which to lay our foundation in this case, but even this is enough to indicate that a ‘TK' potential of immense magnitude existed within Carrie White. The great tragedy is that we are now all Monday-morning quarterbacks †¦ ‘Per-iod!' The catcall came first from Chris Hargensen. It struck the tiled walls, rebounded, and struck again. Sue Snell gasped laughter from her nose and felt an odd, vexing mixture of hate, revulsion, exasperation, and pity. She just looked so dumb, standing there, not knowing what was going on. God, you'd think she never ‘PER-iod!' It was becoming a chant, an incantation. Someone in the back-ground (perhaps Hargensen again, Sue couldn't tell in the jungle of echoes) was yelling ‘Plug it up!' with hoarse, uninhibited abandon. ‘PER-iod, PER-iod, PER-iod!' Carrie stood dumbly in the centre of a forming circle, water rolling from her skin in beads. She stood like a patient ox, aware that the joke was on her (as always), dumbly embarrassed but unsurprised. Sue felt welling disgust as the first dark drops of menstrual blood struck the tile in dime-sized drops. ‘For God's sake Carrie, you got your period!' Sue cried. ‘Clean yourself up!' ‘Ohuh?' She looked around bovinely. Her hair stuck to her cheeks in a curving helmet shape. There was a cluster of acne on one shoulder. At sixteen, the elusive stamp of hurt was already marked clearly in her eyes. ‘She thinks they're for lipstick!' Ruth Grogan suddenly shouted with cryptic glee, and then burst into a shriek of laughter. Sue remembered the comment later and fitted it Into a general picture, but now it was only another senseless sound in the confusion. Sixteen? She was thinking. She must know what's happening, she†¦ More droplets of blood. Carrie still blinked around at her classmates in slow bewilderment. Helen Shyres turned around and made mock throwingup gestures. ‘You're bleeding!' Sue yelled suddenly, furiously. ‘You're bleeding, you big dumb pudding!' Carrie looked down at herself. She shrieked. The sound was very loud in the humid locker room. A tampon suddenly struck her in the chest and fell with a plop at her feet. A red flower stained the absorbent cotton and spread. Then the laughter, disgusted, contemptuous, horrified, seemed to rise and bloom into something jagged and ugly, and the girls were bombarding her with tampons and sanitary napkins, some from purses, some from the broken dispenser on the wall. They flew like snow and the chant became: ‘Plug it up. Plug it up. Plug it-‘ Sue was throwing them too, throwing and chanting with the rest, not really sure what she was doing – a charm had occurred to her mind and it glowed there like neon: There's no harm in it really no harm in it really no harm-It was still flashing and glowing, reassuringly, when Carrie suddenly began to howl and back away, flailing her arms and grunting and gobbling. The girls stopped, realizing that fission and explosion had finally been reached. It was at this point, when looking back, that some of them would claim surprise. Yet there had been all these years, all these years of let's short-sheet Carrie's bed at Christian Youth Camp and I found this love letter from Carrie to Flash Bobby Pickett let's copy it and pass it around and hide her underpants somewhere and put this snake in her shoe and duck her again, duck her again: Carrie tagging along stubbornly on biking trips, known one year as pudd'n and the next year as truck-face, always smelling sweaty, not able to catch up; catching poison ivy from urinating in the bushes and everyone finding out (hey, scratch-ass, your bum itch?). Billy Preston putting peanut butter in her hair that time she fell asleep in study hall; the pinches, the legs outstretched in school aisles to trip her up, the books knocked from her desk, the obscene postcard tucked into her purse; Carrie on the church picnic an d kneeling down clumsily to pray and the seam of her old madras skirt splitting along the zipper like the sound of a huge windbreakage; Carrie always missing the ball, even in kickball, failing on her face in Modern Dancing during their sophomore year and chipping a tooth, running into the net during volleyball; wearing stockings that were always run, running, or about to run, always showing sweat stains under the arms of her blouses; even the time Chris Hargensen called up after school from the Kelly Fruit Company downtown and asked her if she knew that pig poop was spelled C-A-R-R-I-E: Suddenly all this and the critical mass was reached. The ultimate shit-on, grossout, put-down, long searched for, was found. Fission. She backed away, howling in the new silence, fat forearms crossing her face, a tampon stuck in the middle of her pubic hair. The girls watched her, their eyes shining solemnly. Carrie backed into the side of one of the four large shower compartments and slowly collapsed into a sitting position. Slow, helpless groans jerked out of her. Her eyes rolled with wet whiteness, like the eyes of a hog in the slaughtering pen. Sue said slowly, hesitantly: ‘I think this must be the first time she ever-‘ That was when the door pumped open with a flat and hurried bang and Miss Desjardin burst in to see what the matter was. From The Shadow Exploded (p. 41): Both medical and psychological writers on the subject are in agreement that Carrie White's exceptionally late and traumatic commencement of the menstrual cycle might well have provided the trigger for her latent talent. It seems incredible that, as late as 1979, Carrie knew nothing of the mature woman's monthly cycle. It is nearly as incredible to believe that the girl's mother would permit her daughter to reach the age of nearly seventeen without consulting a gynaecologist concerning the daughter's failure to menstruate. Yet the facts are incontrovertible. When Carrie White realized she was bleeding from the vaginal opening, she had no idea of what was taking place. She was innocent of the entire concept of menstruation. One of her surviving classmates, Ruth Grogan, tells of entering the girls' locker room at Ewen High School the year before the events we are concerned with and seeing Carrie using a tampon to blot her lipstick with. At that time Miss Grogan said: ‘What the hell are you up to?' Miss White replied: ‘Isn't this right?' Miss Grogan then replied: ‘Sure. Sure it is.' Ruth Grogan let a number of her girl friends in on this (she later told this interviewer she thought it was ‘sorta cute'), and if anyone tried in the future to inform Carrie of the true purpose of what she was using to make up with, she apparently dismissed the explanation as an attempt to pull her leg. This was a facet of her life that she had become exceedingly wary of†¦ When the girls were gone to their Period Two classes and the bell had been silenced (several of them had slipped quietly out the back door before Miss Desjardin could begin to take names), Miss Desjardin employed the standard tactic for hysterics: She slapped Carrie smartly across the face. She hardly would have admitted the pleasure the act gave her, and she certainly would have denied that she regarded Carrie as a fat, whiny bag of lard. A first-year teacher, she still believed that she thought all children were good. Carrie looked up at her dumbly, face still contorted and working. ‘M-M-Miss D-D-Des-D-‘ ‘Get up,' Miss Desjardin said dispassionately. ‘Get up and tend to yourself.' ‘I'm bleeding to death!' Carrie screamed, and one blind, searching hand came up and clutched Miss Desjardin's white shorts. It left a bloody handprint. ‘I †¦ you . . .' The gym teacher's face contorted into a pucker of disgust, and she suddenly hurled Came, stumbling, to her feet ‘Get over there!' Carrie stood swaying between the showers and the wall with its dime sanitary-napkin dispenser, slumped over, breasts pointing at the floor, her arms dangling limply. She looked like an ape. Her eyes were shiny and blank. ‘Now,' Miss Desjardin said with hissing, deadly emphasis, ‘you take one of those napkins out †¦ no, never mind the coin slot, it's broken anyway†¦ take one and†¦ damn it, will you do it! You act as if you never had a period before.' ‘Period?' Carrie said. Her expression of complete unbelief was too genuine, too full of dumb and hopeless horror, to be ignored or denied. A terrible and black foreknowledge grew in Rita Desjardin's mind. It was incredible, could not be. She herself had begun menstruation shortly after her eleventh birthday and had gone to the head of the stairs to yell down excitedly: ‘Hey, Mum, I'm on the rag!' ‘Carrie?' she said now. She advanced toward the girl. ‘Carrie?' Carrie flinched away. At the same instant, a rack of softball bats in the corner fell over with a large, echoing bang. They rolled every which way, making Desjardin jump. ‘Carrie, is this your first period?' But now that the thought had been admitted, she hardly had to ask. The blood was dark and flowing with terrible heaviness. Both of Carrie's legs were smeared and splattered with it, as though she had waded through a river of blood. ‘It hurts,' Carrie groaned. ‘My stomach †¦' ‘That passes,' Miss Desjardin said. Pity and self-shame met in her and mixed uneasily. ‘You have to †¦ uh, stop the flow of blood. You-‘ There was a bright flash overhead, followed by a flashgunlike pop as a lightbulb sizzled and went out. Miss Desjardin cried out with surprise, and it occurred to her (the whole damn place is falling in) that this kind of thing always seemed to happen around Carrie when she was upset, as if bad luck dogged her every step. The thought was gone almost as quickly as it had come. She took one of the sanitary napkins from the broken dispenser and unwrapped it. ‘Look,' she said, ‘Like this-‘ From The Shadow Exploded (p. 54): Carrie White's mother, Margaret White, gave birth to her daughter on September 21, 1963, under circumstances which can only be termed bizarre. In fact, an overview of the Came White case leaves the careful student with one feeling ascendant over all others: that Carrie was the only issue of a family as odd as any that has ever been brought to popular attention. As noted earlier, Ralph White died in February of 1963 when a steel girder fell out of a carrying sling on a housing-project job in Portland. Mrs White continued to live alone in their suburban Chamberlain bungalow. Due to the White's near-fanatical fundamentalist religious beliefs, Mrs White had no friends to see her through her period of bereavement. And when her labour began seven months later, she was alone. At approximately 1:30 P.M. on September 21, the neighbours on Carlin Street began to hear screams from the White bungalow. The police, however, were not summoned to the scene until after 6:00 P.M. We are left with two unappetizing alternatives to explain this time lag: Either Mrs White's neighbours on the street did not wish to become involved in a police investigation, or dislike for her had become so strong that they deliberately adopted a wait-and-see attitude. Mrs Georgia McLaughlin, the only one of the three remaining residents who were on the street at that time and who would talk to me, said that she did not call the police because she thought the screams had something to do with ‘holy rollin'.' When the police did arrive at 6:22 P.M. the screams had become irregular. Mrs White was found in her bed upstairs, and the investigating officer, Thomas G. Mearton. at first thought she had been the victim of an assault. The bed was drenched with blood, and a butcher knife lay on the floor. It was only then that he saw the baby, still partially wrapped in the placental membrane, at Mrs White's breast. She had apparently cut the umbilical cord herself with the knife. It staggers both imagination and belief to advance the hypothesis that Mrs Margaret White did not know she was pregnant, or even understand what the word entails, and recent scholars such as J. W. Bankson and George Felding have made a more reasonable case for the hypothesis that the concept, linked irrevocably in her mind with the ‘sin' of intercourse, had been blocked entirely from her mind. She may simply have refused to believe that such a thing could happen to her. We have records of at least three letters to a friend in Kenosha, Wisconsin, that seem to prove conclusively that Mrs White believed, from her fifth month on, that she had ‘a cancer of the womanly parts' and would soon join her husband in heaven †¦ When Miss Desjardin led Carrie up to the office fifteen minutes later, the halls were mercifully empty. Classes droned onwards behind closed doors. Carrie's shrieks had finally ended, but she had continued to weep with steady regularity. Desjardin had finally placed the napkin herself, cleaned the girl up with wet paper towels, and gotten her back into her plain cotton underpants. She tried twice to explain the commonplace reality of menstruation, but Carrie clapped her hands over her ears and continued to cry. Mr Morton, the assistant principal, was out of his office in a flash when they entered. Billy deLois and Henry Trennant, two boys waiting for the lecture due them for cutting French I, goggled around from their chairs. ‘Come in,' Mr Morton said briskly. ‘Come right in.' He glared over Desjardin's shoulder at the boys, who were staring at the bloody handprint on her shorts. ‘What are YOU looking at?' ‘Blood,' Henry said, and smiled with a kind of vacuous surprise. ‘Two detention periods,' Morton snapped. He glanced down at the bloody handprint and blinked. He closed the door behind them and began pawing through the top drawer of his filing cabinet for a school accident form. ‘Are you all right, uh-?' ‘Carrie,' Desjardin supplied. ‘Carrie White.' Mr Morton had finally located an accident form. There was a large coffee stain on it. ‘You won't need that, Mr Morton.' ‘I suppose it was the trampoline. We just †¦ I won't?' ‘No. But I think Carrie should be allowed to go home for the rest of the day. She's had a rather frightening experience.' Her eyes flashed a signal which he caught but could not interpret. ‘Yes, okay, if you say so. Good. Fine.' Morton crumpled the form back into the filing cabinet, slammed it shut with his thumb in the drawer, and grunted. He whirled gracefully to the door, yanked it open, glared at Billy and Henry, and called: ‘Miss Fish, could we have a dismissal slip here, please? Carrie Wright.' ‘White,' said Miss Desjardin. ‘White,' Morton agreed. Billy deLois sniggered. ‘Week's detention!' Morton barked. A blood blister was forming under his thumbnail. Hurt like hell. Carrie's steady, monotonous weeping went on and on. Miss Fish brought the yellow dismissal slip and Morton scrawled his initials on it with his silver pocket pencil, wincing at the pressure on his wounded thumb. ‘Do you need a ride, Cassie?' he asked. ‘We can call a cab if you need one.' She shook her head. He noticed with distaste that a large bubble of green mucus had formed at one nostril. Morton looked over her head and at Miss Desjardin.

Amazon’s Competitive Analysis Essay

Competitors are the firms that compete to serve the same customers in the same marketplace. Competitors can compete directly or indirectly. Competition happens on two levels: Product or service competition. Due to the shift of focus for Amazon, it has become the â€Å"Earth’s biggest anything store†. Its competitors have expanded from just online book retailers Barnes and Nobles and Borders to top audio retailers CDNOW.com and online auction house e-bay.com. Amazon has an overall lead of 40% market share against the other online retail firms. Their international business has more than doubled over the past 2 years Amazon’s primary value chain includes purchasing/sourcing, marketing, distribution and after-sales services, which includes returns and exchanges from unsatisfied customers. Their main focus is in the purchasing/sourcing and in the distribution of the products to the consumers. Their investments are therefore, geared towards warehouses in key points of high consumer demand areas and an efficient delivery and distributing system to service all its consumers. Thus, Amazon controls most of its distributing system that spans across borders. How does Amazon compete? Competes through Quality, service, and low price. How effective is each? Quality – they make sure that their product reach the customer with no damage and always serve their customer with the best product. Service – Amazon delivers the product within a week. Less lead time Low price – reasonable pricing. How powerful? Amazon is power because they were the first to start an online business. They have more customers due to this. The customers are loyal to Amazon and will do their shopping only at Amazon. Amazon is very profitable and is doing well currently. How aggressive? Amazon.com has remained on top of the online retailing business despite the entrance of giants such as Barnes and Nobles and Borders. Their success is attributed to two factors; timing and continuing to invest heavily into the inventory and distribution systems. Amazon, by being the first of its kind, has a big lead over the nearest competitors due to their experience and its reputation as the first movers. Their thrust remains on improving efficient delivery systems across borders and to build name recognition as the number one retailing firm in the Internet. They have also ventured into different retail options to keep that lead. Marketing, Innovative inventory and distribution systems, and name recall have helped Amazon build a sustainable competitive advantage. Will diversification into new markets finally turn a profit for Amazon.com before the dotcom godfather burns through the last of its savings? In five years Amazon.com has built the world’s biggest online store. However, despite generating expected $1bn ( £0.67bn) sales from the Christmas retail season alone, profit has proved elusive. Despite its profligate sales, business-to-consumer e-commerce’s pre-eminent player is not expected to enter the black until year-end, according to financial analysts’ most-optimistic forecasts. Meanwhile, a cost-intensive diversification strategy casts doubt on the prospect of the company ever turning a profit, according to a growing chorus of company-watchers. In order for any online retail company to remain prosperous and income generating, they must invest a lot of time and money into research and development of more efficient operations and distributions systems. This proved to be key for the Market Leader in online retailing, Amazon.Com. Conclusion – Many Amazon-watchers believe diversification will saddle the company with an unsustainable cost burden. â€Å"There is an incompatibility between its brand proposition of offering a dominant breadth of assortment and achieving profitability,† b. While the threat from dotcom upstarts has receded with their reduced ability to raise funds on the investment market, the challenge from bricks and mortar retailers adding online stores is getting fiercer. As well as wielding generous Internet war chests from established profitability, physical retailers will benefit from a maturation of the online market. The lunched of Amazon.com in July of 1995 was the creation of a new and bold way of doing business on the Internet. Amazon.com forced the traditional physical world brick and mortar retailer in the book industry to change the way they target the industry’s consumers and then epitomized Business-2-Consumer e-retailing. Although, Amazon.com started as an online bookstore, The bricks and clicks mantra revolves around the idea that the winning — and profitable — formula for electronic commerce success is leveraging the best of the physical and virtual worlds. In theory, it should give physical retailers venturing on to the Web an edge over pure dot-com e-commerce companies because they can efficiently extend their existing infrastructure and complement their real world stores. So far, the most successful retailers have been those that have taken an aggressive approach to the Internet like Amazon. The bricks-and-clicks model is gaining momentum as the e-commerce market matures. A growing number of retailers have finally gotten serious about doing business on-line, now that fast-moving dot-com players such as Amazon.com Inc., eBay Inc. and eToys Inc. have carved out market niches. By creating an independent on-line unit that has the freedom to develop its own merchandising and marketing strategies, Amazon has the freedom and flexibility to capitalize on opportunities. Toys â€Å"R† Us Inc. stumbled when  it decided to protect its stores and offer only a limited selection of merchandise on its Web site. That gave eToys and Amazon.com a window of opportunity to win customer loyalty and rapidly grow sales, while Toys â€Å"R† Us struggled to play catch-up. The Market is moving toward a system where it is no longer going to be only Internet or only bricks and mortar,† he says. â€Å"Amazon’s mandate is not focused on where the business was, but rather where the opportunities are.† Another model is being pursued by Peachtree Network Inc., which is creating an on-line grocery network across Canada. Rather than spend heavily to build warehouses and purchase delivery trucks, Peachtree offers a service to regional grocery chains that lets them provide consumers with an on-line ordering system. The grocers, which already have the infrastructure, process the orders and handle delivery. Amazon.com has parlayed its Internet expertise to compete very successfully against traditional â€Å"bricks & mortar† book retailers such as Barnes & Noble, and Borders; Price line has leveraged its e-commerce patents and business model to challenge the incumbent travel agent industry. Thus, the pure Internet plays are very well-positioned to leverage the Internet to overwhelm their incumbent competitors who are locked into their â€Å"bricks & mortar† channels. However this is not necessarily true for all industries. If an incumbent can update its business model and supporting organizational infrastructure, it can successfully leverage the Internet just as effectively. Companies that exist to engage in commerce in the Internet’s digital marketplaces are known as digital players. For example, Amazon.com exists as a digital player that uses digital processes to transact physical products such as books, and videotapes. By using the Internet as its sole marketing and support channel, Amazon.com has been able to avoid heavy â€Å"bricks and mortar† investments that weigh upon its physical competitors such as Barnes and Noble, and Borders. Incumbent competitors are beginning to establish their own websites so that they can continue to serve their clients who are already on the Internet, and also to serve new market segments. However the pure digital players, if they do not already have brand-recognition or are not affiliated with existing brand names, often have to invest significantly  in marketing and other promotional expenditures to gain consumer awareness. Market Entrants Leverage Disruptive Innovations Since market entrants by definition do not have established business models and distribution channels  with the related cost structures, they can exploit the strategic flexibility provided by disruptive innovations to devise business models and strategies to compete successfully in the emerging marketplace. Unlike the incumbents who have to work within the constraints of their existing business models, organizational structures, and cultures, these entrants can craft their business strategies based upon the unique enabling opportunities provided by the disruptive innovations.

Eli Whtiney essays

Eli Whtiney essays Eli Whitney and Interchangeable Parts The year was 1765. One of the most influential inventors in American history, Eli Whitney, was born in Westboro, Massachusetts. He contributed some of the greatest innovations to American society. There are many different situations that helped shape or inspire Eli. Being exposed to his father's workshop, Eli accumulated an immense amount of knowledge on craftsmanship and mechanics. During college, Whitney's experiences at Yale also had many influences on him. When his pursuit of a law degree failed he began to become distracted by his affinity for mechanics. He also received an education involving advanced science and graduated with honors. Whitney was probably most influenced, though, by earlier attempts at mass production. The British textile manufacturing process inspired him as did a French man named LeBlanc, who had attempted the process of interchangeability but died before seeing its effect. Even though Eli was not certain if it was his own genuine concept, he did obtain cre dit for putting the process into action. Though perhaps best known for his invention of the cotton gin, Eli Whitney's greatest accomplishment was successfully introducing interchangeable parts to America. Until then, every rifle's part had been hand made, thus the parts of one gun did not fit any other gun. Whitney made the parts to his rifles so nearly identical that the machine parts could be interchangeable from one gun to another. For each part of the gun, a template was made. Whitney then invented a machine that allowed a man to cut metal according to a pattern. It was composed of a wheel with its cutting teeth that were driven around the edge of the template. No expert mechanical skill was needed. This machine was known as the milling machine. He first tested his invention on muskets. The federal government's investment and support enabled Whitney to prove the feasibility of his system and establish it as the ...

American Policy that Best Describes Response to Terrorism essays

American Policy that Best Describes Response to Terrorism essays Prior to 9/11, terrorism was just another key problem in American policy and different agencies were tasked to curtail its growth and influence whether it is domestic or international terrorism. 9/11 changed the landscape to the point of having an all-source, central governing body that ensures 24/7 monitoring, prevention and stopping of all terrorist activities. The agency is the Department of Homeland Security tasked to coordinate defense against, and responses to, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil combining border control and consequence management functions as well as a coordinating entity the National Office for Combating Terrorism with broad international responsibilities (Perl, 2003). By aggregating the counterterrorism and anti-terrorism functions into one superbody, the previous problems with jurisdiction and turf wars amongst the FBI, DEA, ATF and other state and local police, intelligence and law enforcements agencies were solve. Hence, American policy in combating terrori sts and terrorism responded with a centralized collection, investigation and implementation agency that ensures all avenues are managed to contain the global threats of this 21st century menace. By combining all its resources into a single cabinet-level agency, the U.S. administration has been seen to have instituted a swift, wide-ranging and decisive (Perl, 2003) action plan that best responds to terrorist threats. The campaign involved rallying the international community, especially law enforcement and intelligence components (Perl, 2003). But despite this noteworthy action, American policy should still look at the root causes of some of the terrorist actions against itself and its citizens. Some sectors in the society especially Muslims and Arabs state that; The method the American administration has used in the war against terror may have complicated the situation even mor...

A Study on the Effect and Impact of Relocation in the Life of Humans

A Study on the Effect and Impact of Relocation in the Life of Humans Human migration is an essential part of survival. Human beings had always migrated to different parts of the world due to varying reasons. Main factors have always been wars, economy and diseases. Migration of humans not only affects the area from which they migrate, it also affects the country or region to which they are migrating. Politics, economy and social life of the host country suffers from the effects of migration. Depending upon various factors, these effects can be positive or negative. Southern Europe, India, Western Asia, Pre-Columbian America and China have been the target of human migration due to their resources and strategic positions. These countries thrived economically and politically due to human migration because they were able to make the immigrants a part of their society. Human migration can cause serious problems for the host country when the society is unable to integrate the immigrants in the social circle. This situation results in extreme racial problems between the natives and immigrants. Migration can have negative and positive effects on both the host (beneficiary) nation, and the first nation. The beneficiary nation is normally an industrialized nation in Western Europe, or the United States. For these nations, foreigners offer different advantages, for example, the accompanying. Settlers will frequently do tasks that individuals in the host nation will not, or cannot do. Transient specialists frequently work longer hours and for lower pay rates, keeping in mind that is disputable, now and again exploitive, it advantages the host nation. Outsiders, when made to feel welcome in the host society, can add to the differing qualities of that society, which can help with resistance and understanding. For the host nations economy, migrants offer an expanded ability pool, on the off chance that they have been knowledgeable in their unique nation. In any case, there are likewise various downsides. Foreigners can be misused for their shoddy work. Creating nations might endur e cerebrum channel as the restricted assets they spend in teaching their understudies add up to next to no if that ability is lured to another nation. The past connection points of interest this issue further. Migration can likewise draw in criminal components, from trafficking in medications and individuals to different types of wrongdoing and debasement. Movement can turn into a social/political issue, where bigotry can be utilized to endeavor sentiments or as a reason for current troubles of nearby populace. Where there is an observation that migrants and displaced people seem to get a bigger number of advantages than neighborhood destitute individuals, strains and threats can likewise rise. Worries about unlawful migration can overflow to sick emotions towards the greater part of outsiders who are reputable and adding to the economy. Numerous pass on attempting to escape their scrape and this can regularly stand out as truly newsworthy giving the appearance that migration is lar gely illicit and wild. Regardless of what have all the earmarks of being vast populace developments, scientists noticed some time prior that individuals still are not ready to move as uninhibitedly as things? In a few spots everywhere, there are extra limitations being set up on individuals developments. An antiquated human progress is characterized to be in the Bronze Age by either refining its own copper and alloying with tin, arsenic, or different metals, or by exchanging for bronze from generation regions somewhere else. Copper-tin minerals are uncommon, as reflected in the way that there were no tin bronzes in western Asia before exchanging bronze started in the third thousand years BC. Around the world, the Bronze Age largely took after the Neolithic period, however in a few sections of the world, the Copper Age served as a move from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. In spite of the fact that the Iron Age for the most part took after the Bronze Age, in a few ranges, the Iron Age encroached straightforwardly on the Neolithic from outside the district. The improvement of states—vast scale, crowded, politically concentrated, and socially stratified nations/social orders administered by capable rulers—marks one of the significant turning points in the advancement of human social orders. Archeologists regularly recognize essential (or perfect) states and auxiliary states. Essential states advanced autonomously through generally inward formative procedures as opposed to through the impact of some other prior state. The most punctual known essential states showed up in Mesopotamia ca. 3800 B.C., in Egypt ca. 3400 BC., in the Indus Valley ca. 2600 B.C., India ca 1800 B. C., and in China ca. 1700 B.C. As they communicated with their less created neighbors through exchange, fighting, relocation, and more summed up ideological impacts, the essential states straightforwardly or in a roundabout way encouraged the development of optional states in encompassing territories, for instance, the Hittites in Anatolia, the Minoan and My cenaean conditions of the Aegean, or the Nubian kingdoms in the Sudan. Teacher Gil Stein at the University of Chicago Oriental Institute expresses The unearthing and archeological studies of the most recent couple of decades have immeasurably expanded both the amount and nature of what we think about antiquated states and urbanism. Archeologists have expanded the extent of their exploration past the conventional spotlight on rulers and urban elites. Flow examine now goes for comprehension the part of urban ordinary people, make masters, and town based ranchers in the general association of old states and social orders. Given the massive geological extension incorporated by the expression the Ancient World. The specialty of iron generation from metal emerged regarding the acts of copper and lead advances in Anatolia, in northern Syria and perhaps at the same time in some portion of Iran. Iron metals were included as fluxes for treatment of sulfide copper minerals. Iron drops, which the neighborhood makers distinguished officially 3100 years BC, contrasting these and meteoritic iron, as of now alluded to the presence of the likelihood of delivering iron, yet this just happened essentially 16 centuries later. Since that time, it is important to figure that just little measures of this, in that time, uncommon metal committed to the most astounding strata of populace or to the sovereigns and their courts could escape this range, most likely as blessings just. Antiquated Egyptians record broad contact in their Western desert with individuals that seem to have been Berber or proto-Berber, and Nubians from the south. As the rock craftsmanship discoveries in the Sahara have demonstrated, the Sa hara likewise facilitated different populaces before its fast desertification in 3600 B.C. whats more, even today keeps on facilitating little populaces of traveling trans-Saharan people groups.

Intellectual property Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Intellectual property - Essay Example The mentioned sections will attempt to elaborate the legal ground that all businesses in the county have concerning their innovations and creativity that involves business ideologies. The preparation of this report gives a solution to Mr. William Lowie, referred to as Mr. L concerning ownership rights for one of his products in the UK market. The report is also in correspondence with the requisitions of the Supervising Solicitor, Hannah Littlemore. The client, Mr. L is the proprietor of a company called WL Ltd based in Weyford. Mr. L, a British citizen set the company up about five years ago; he owns 95 percent of the shares, and his wife the other 5%. Both Mr. L and his wife are full-time employees of WL Limited. The firm specializes in designing and manufacturing quality products for DIYers. The company is small, but thriving, and has grown substantially in terms of turnover and profit over the last few years. Mr. L designed on of his best-selling products called the Lowie Handibelt. The product is a leather belt with holes and pockets for tools, and with a useful attachment that allows a drill to be used without getting it out of the belt. The Handibelt is made by skilled employees in WL Ltd.’s workshops and went on sale about 18 months ago. WL Ltd sells mainly by mail order and through independent DIY shops in the UK. Sales of the Handibelt have been good and have increased steadily since its launch. The product got a particular boost four months ago when it won an award for Best New DIY Product. About a week ago, Mr. L received an e-mail from a friend, Joe Pennington, congratulating him on WL Ltd.’s deal with Whitesfield Plc. that had apparently allowed the Handibelt to go into mass production and to be sold in major DIY chains. Mr. L was puzzled, as he has no deal with Whitesfield, and had never had any contact with them. He has, however, started to receive letters from people claiming to have bought a Handibelt been disappointed by its low quality.

CONVERSING WITH TWO OR MORE WRITERS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

CONVERSING WITH TWO OR MORE WRITERS - Essay Example Although Matt Miller and Susan Headden appear to be making two different points, they actually agree that the American education system demands a degree of standardization. Matt Miller’s arguments concerns with reforms that encompass every part of education. Unlike Susan Headden, he makes an argument stretching beyond assessments. In the beginning of his article, Matt Miller gives the example of a nationalistic figure, Horace Mann, in advancing his thesis (Miller 1). He cites Horace’s ideas of developing common schools that would thrive on public funding and attendance by all students. His arguments stretch over the whole spectrum of American educational landscape by arguing that the curriculum should face national management. On the other hand, Susan believes that lack of standardized assessment deters the progress of education (Headden 1). She states that it is difficult to make educational policies if stakeholders do not have adequate representation of the real system. Both authors agree that financial inequity and limited finances are responsible for the problems stalling the progress of the American educational system. Matt argues that America has a regressive tax system that offers more benefits to the rich than it offers to the less privileged individuals. This means that the rich individuals have limited proportion of their wealth in tax form while the poor have a large proportion of their wealth in taxes. This creates an educational implication on communities while raising funds for schools. Schools in rich neighborhoods can easily raise more funds per pupil since the rich possess significant wealth in high-value property. On the other hand, segregated communities cannot easily raise proper funds in terms of dollars per pupil. Since taxes represent a sizeable percentage of school funding, poor schools faces difficulties in raising funds for essential activities such as

Reversing Heart Disease by Dr. Dean Ornish Article

Reversing Heart Disease by Dr. Dean Ornish - Article Example Low calories slow metabolic rates which makes it difficult to lose weight. In Reversal diet, fewer calorie consumption increases instead of decreasing metabolic rates. Thus, consuming lot of fat gives us a quintuple whammy (Ornish, 250). Reversal diet allows egg white which has high protein. Other than this, protein consumption remains low since animal products are not allowed (Ornish, 247,252). Blood cholesterol comes from animal products like meats, poultry, fish and dairy. Moreover, saturated fat found in animal products is also converted into cholesterol by the liver (Ornish, 254). Dr. Stamler and his colleagues have found out that people with cholesterol levels higher than 180 have increased the risk of heart disease. He has concluded that range of safe cholesterol levels is very small (Ornish, 255). An average person consumes 40 to 50 percent of their calories as fat. The ideal amount that should be consumed is less than 10 percent of calories as fat (Ornish, 246). Saturated fat increases our blood cholesterol level unlike polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat (Ornish, 256). Hydrogenation is the manner by which fat is made more saturated. Therefore, there is more saturated fat in moderately hydrogenated oil (Ornish, 257). Epidemiological research tells us high cholesterol and saturated fat increase blood cholesterol level leading to higher risk of coronary heart disease (Ornish, 258). HDL is considered as â€Å"good cholesterol† while LDL as â€Å"bad cholesterol†. People practicing American diet have the same risk of coronary heart disease.

Funding in singaporean health system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Funding in singaporean health system - Essay Example The funding also enables competition between the different private health care facilities. The funding also encourages individuals to choose between the public and private health care facilities. Singapore uses the 3M health care financing and services provision. The first 'M' is the Medisave introduced in 1984, the second 'M' is the Medishield introduced in 1990 and the third 'M' is the Medifund introduced in 1963. These 3M form the centerpiece of Singapore health care financing. The 3M medical strategy was designed to curb the reliance of the public on fee for service, third party reimbursement. New medical schemes have been added to the 3M, these include the Eldercare and Elderfund. The Singapore government offers subsidies to public health, outpatient services, hospital services and preventive care. Classes B and C are highly subsidized accounting for the higher costs of running private hospitals. This is practiced at the private sector. It is done individually or through an employer. It is popular among professionals and companies. It is practiced in the private sector. With this type of funding, the companies control the health care expenditure. The system is not used at a national level in Singapore. Widely practiced in Singapore's private sector. ... Fee for service Widely practiced in Singapore's private sector. It is practiced at a family medicine and specialist level. This form of financing for the private sector is growing rapidly in Singapore. It is based on free to choose basis. It is personal and very efficient. However it cannot serve the Singapore entire population as it is expensive. The sector progress as the economy grows (Toh, 2008). Cost containment In the Singapore method of health care financing the health care cost do not pose any problem so long as the rising national income is matched with the health care costs. This means that as the GDP increases, the health care costs should also plummet. This however is problematic due to the fact that the health care cost might increase faster than the GDP. As hospitalization cost increase the cost of the premiums are bound to increase. In the 3M system, all the money spent on the health care is directly the money earned by the health facilities. This system makes the health care providers lack any incentive to contain costs. The system thus limits health care providers from practicing entrepreneur skills. The 3M scheme has resulted in the cutting back of the government spending on healthcare but not to the private spending. Government promotion to the private sector Singapore is striving towards becoming a regional medical hub. This initiative is funded by the government and aims at promoting the private health care sector. The government has spent millions of dollars in attracting foreign based biotechnology and pharmacetucal companies. Some multinational drug companies operating in Singapore include Merck, Sharp & Dohme, Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Schering-plough and Pfizer. (Taylor & Blair,

Personal Values Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 13250 words

Personal Values Development - Essay Example For employees to be productive in an organization, they need to hold positive attitudes toward the elements of organizational life. For example, one should view such factors as work, authority, taking risks in decision making, the need for control, and the need for change in a positive way. I try to avoid a negative attitudinal posture toward these factors because they will keep one's job satisfaction continually low as well as stimulate considerable resistance to many normal organizational processes and activities. Someone with the wrong attitudes shies away from high effort because the performance it yields is not perceived as worthy. It is not "real" performance from the viewpoint of the employee (Langan, 1994). Personal values develop during a long time and are influenced by work environment and communication. I pay a special attention to understanding of my colleagues and effective communication, high standards of work performance and personal growth. Strong ethical principles help me to solve problems of daily life and behave morally in difficult situations. Problem-solving skill is the ability to identify, define, and resolve difficulties. One with this skill has an inquisitive mind, an ability to reason, and a desire to search for truth. These employees know how to investigate and analyze a problem situation and to diagnose sources of trouble. This skill also involves creative ability--ability to generate novel ideas and to derive multiple ways of attacking a problem (Mayer, 2000). Problem-solving skill is in part manifested in one's capacity for critically evaluating potential solutions to problems and for making decisions. Many employees simply do not understand how to make a quality decision. Indeed, many fear making decisions because of the risk of choosing the wrong course of action. The quality decision maker knows how and does not shy away from the task. He or she has likely mastered the scientific method as applied to problem solving and, because of this, likely has a high measure of self-confidence relative to decision making. Problem-solving skill is critical for every employee at every level in an organization. Every employee faces problems daily. Machine operators need to diagnose causes of breakdown and then get their machines fixed. Department managers may need to diagnose why customers may be disgruntled and then attempt resolution. Top-level managers have to diagnose such things as the causes of declining sales, poor employee performance, and flaws in organizational communications systems. A strong sense of duty guides my behavior and decision-making. My actions are guided by judicial action based on the Judeo-Christian teachings that are the foundation for most of the moral and ethical direction of business and government. In the meantime in the moral-ethical area, more emphasis is being placed on psychology and the philosophies (everything is relative; nothing is absolute; everything is constantly changing, so set your own morals and ethics based on the times). Broad issue orientation has given way to sharper focus not only on issues but on social awareness, social responsiveness, and on social responsibility implementation of these issues. I agree that employees need to hold values compatible with organizational life. Strong economic,

International trade Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International trade - Research Paper Example A market analysis is conducted upon Saudi Arabia to measure the political, economical, social factors which might influence the marketing strategy of Manuka Health. After careful investigation, the company plans to enter the Saudi Arabia market with the help of franchising strategy, as the franchising strategy is one of the most used modes of international expansion being more flexible in operation. Manuka Honey will promote its product through trade shows, store location and through the media, mainly print media and television. After the company has marked its presence it is going to further expand into other cities of Saudi Arabia and, finally, plans to expand globally. Company Overview Manuka Health is a pioneer in the development of innovative and natural products by utilising the unique properties of bioactive compounds which are found in New Zealand. The company works with research centres based in the USA, UK, Australia, Germany, Japan and New Zealand, which helps to reveal th e efficacy of the company’s product. Manuka Honey is dedicated to manufacture, as well as marketing of a quality range of innovative natural healthcare products in order to improve the health and the quality of life of people across the globe. Manuka believes in nature and science, as its tagline says â€Å"Given by nature. ... The company has set a standard and all the honey needs to meet a certain level of quality and safety in order to ensure that the level of bioactive compounds is maintained well. Manuka Health operation is certified for using organic in the process of organic honey; it is raw but at the same time no added chemicals are being used during the process and hot water is used to clean the plants. Manuka Health is committed to utilize the most sustainable business practice, through which it is possible to minimize the impact on the environment (Manuka Health). Manuka health comprises of various products and categories which are stated below: Manuka Honey and its products comprise of MGO 550+, 400+, 250+, 100+ and 30+ Manuka Honey; BIO30 New Zealand Propolis: product consists of tablets, capsules, liquid and Tincture. Functional Food: Manuka Honey and Green Tea, honey with green tea extract, with Bee Venom, Manuka Honey and Activaloe gel and fresh royal jelly. Bioactive supplement: Bee Pollen Capsules and Granules, MGO 400+ Manuka Honey and Colostrum, green lipped mussel oil, and Royal jelly Capsules. Winter Wellness: Manuka honey kids Syrup, Honey syrup, Propolis and Manuka Honey throat spray, BIO 30 New Zealand Propolis peppermint Suckles, Honey suckles and Lemon Suckles. Personal care: Soap, body lotion, hand and nail cream, lip balm, toothpaste and Manuka oil and with tea tree oil. New Zealand Gourmet: Honey, Shortbread, Tawari honey, Wild Flower Honey, Southern Clover Honey, kamahi Honey, Rewarewa Honey and honey blend. Wound Care: wound dressing, wound gel and breast pads with Manuka Honey (Manuka Health, 2012). SWOT Analysis Strengths Extensive range of natural New Zealand origin products: MGOâ„ ¢ Manuka Honey, Propolis, Royal Jelly, Bee

Personal Values Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 13250 words

Personal Values Development - Essay Example For employees to be productive in an organization, they need to hold positive attitudes toward the elements of organizational life. For example, one should view such factors as work, authority, taking risks in decision making, the need for control, and the need for change in a positive way. I try to avoid a negative attitudinal posture toward these factors because they will keep one's job satisfaction continually low as well as stimulate considerable resistance to many normal organizational processes and activities. Someone with the wrong attitudes shies away from high effort because the performance it yields is not perceived as worthy. It is not "real" performance from the viewpoint of the employee (Langan, 1994). Personal values develop during a long time and are influenced by work environment and communication. I pay a special attention to understanding of my colleagues and effective communication, high standards of work performance and personal growth. Strong ethical principles help me to solve problems of daily life and behave morally in difficult situations. Problem-solving skill is the ability to identify, define, and resolve difficulties. One with this skill has an inquisitive mind, an ability to reason, and a desire to search for truth. These employees know how to investigate and analyze a problem situation and to diagnose sources of trouble. This skill also involves creative ability--ability to generate novel ideas and to derive multiple ways of attacking a problem (Mayer, 2000). Problem-solving skill is in part manifested in one's capacity for critically evaluating potential solutions to problems and for making decisions. Many employees simply do not understand how to make a quality decision. Indeed, many fear making decisions because of the risk of choosing the wrong course of action. The quality decision maker knows how and does not shy away from the task. He or she has likely mastered the scientific method as applied to problem solving and, because of this, likely has a high measure of self-confidence relative to decision making. Problem-solving skill is critical for every employee at every level in an organization. Every employee faces problems daily. Machine operators need to diagnose causes of breakdown and then get their machines fixed. Department managers may need to diagnose why customers may be disgruntled and then attempt resolution. Top-level managers have to diagnose such things as the causes of declining sales, poor employee performance, and flaws in organizational communications systems. A strong sense of duty guides my behavior and decision-making. My actions are guided by judicial action based on the Judeo-Christian teachings that are the foundation for most of the moral and ethical direction of business and government. In the meantime in the moral-ethical area, more emphasis is being placed on psychology and the philosophies (everything is relative; nothing is absolute; everything is constantly changing, so set your own morals and ethics based on the times). Broad issue orientation has given way to sharper focus not only on issues but on social awareness, social responsiveness, and on social responsibility implementation of these issues. I agree that employees need to hold values compatible with organizational life. Strong economic,

Comparing Two Perspectives of Management Essay Example for Free

Comparing Two Perspectives of Management Essay Management is the attainment of organisational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning, organising, leading and controlling organisational resources (Samson Daft, 2009, p. 12). In essence, the final outcome of management is to achieve organisation goals and managers in various levels should achieve goals effectively and efficiently by intelligently utilizing financial, human and other resources in hand. The four skills which may assist managers to achieve these organisational goals are planning, organising, leading and controlling. Traditional vs. Modern Perspectives The practice of management can go back as far as 3000 BC. It developed over thousands of years from Traditional style of management to Modern today. Traditional Perspectives Traditional Perspectives includes (Samson Daft, 2009): 1.Classical Perspectives – concentrates on making the organisations an efficient operating machine. 2.Humanistic Perspectives – emphases understanding human behaviour, needs and attitudes in the workplace. It has taken more consideration of behaviors, needs and attitudes as well as social interactions and group processes. *For the purpose of the report, I will not elaborate on each item mentioned above. Use Human Resources Perspective as an example. It suggests that Jobs should be designed to meet higher-level needs by allowing workers to use their full potential (Samson Daft, 2009). This theory was initially supported by a ‘dairy farm’ view and further illustrated by the Maslows hierarchy of needs and McGregor Theory X Theory Y. It is my understanding that the theory suggests people generally perform better if they are given full rein to their imagination and creativity. This, in details, means: 1.People are given freedom to fulfill their desired physiological, safety, love/belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization (Maslow’s Hierarchy) needs and wants. They may not be satisfied with all five of them, but fulfillment in any of the above may somewhat increase productivity; 2.Management assumes that employees enjoy working and will seek responsibilities under working/learning process and does not believe in punishment to keep the employees in line. Instead, it believes that employees will exercise self-control if they’re committed (McGregor’s Theory Y). Toyota Motor Corporation is one of the world leading automobile producers and its philosophy is the famous ‘Toyota Way’. The two pillars are ‘Wisdom and Kaizen (improvement)’ and ‘respect for human nature’ (Saruta 2006). Without going into the full description of ‘Toyota Way’ philosophy, we will mainly discuss one component as an example: Improvement. The company motivates employees through a series of incentives, such as wage, on-job education, and progressive promotion. Hence it presents work as something interesting and worthwhile for worker’s self-motivation. In the Japanese operation, this philosophy helped the company achieved long working hours and concentrated labour. Unfortunately it hasn’t been working as successful in other countries. Does this mean the employees in other countries haven’t fulfilled any of their interests? Managers must understand that employees will be motivated by unmet needs; and that once a need is satisfied, it is no longer a motivator (Fisher 2009). There may be environmental factors the management did not consider. Cultural difference for instance may affect the effectiveness of this philosophy. Being in a country with a generous welfare system like Australia, people’s desire for a balanced work/social life style is much stronger than financial achievement. In this instance, Toyota management in other counties should realise the differences in worker’s needs and present other incentives accordingly. Modern Perspectives Modern Management Trend is developed to collaborate with the more complicated technologies, organisational environment and unforeseeable uncertainties in today’s world. Modern Management Theories are focused on how individuals contribute to organisation and corporate performance while the performance of the chief executive is dictated by the organisation’s financial returns and shareholders’ expectations (Weymes 2004). The three major contemporary extensions of the perspectives (Samson Daft, 2009): 1.System Theory; 2.Contingency View; 3.Total Quality Management. *For the purpose of the report, I will not elaborate on each item mentioned above. Use Contingency View as an example. This theory is an extension of the humanistic perspective in which the successful resolution of organisational problems is thought to depend on management’s identification of key variables in the situation at hand (Samson Daft, 2009). It believes there is no universal approach that works consistently in every situation. Management should always consider aspects within and outside the organisation and utilise various concepts and techniques appropriately. Looking at this theory from a horizontal angle, Knootz (1981) has simplified it into ordinary words, ‘there is science and there is art, there is knowledge and there is practice. One does not need much experience to understand that a corner grocery store could hardly be organised like General Motors, or that the technical realities of petroleum exploration, production, and refining make impracticable autonomously organised product divisions for gasoline, jet fuel, or lubricating oils’. Different organisations have different variables which determine the size of the company, the management hierarchy, the service procedure and so forth. Looking at it from a vertical angle, an organisation may have diversified subsystems and external affiliates. Today’s managers cannot afford to ignore the uncertainties evolved around these elements. Grandori (1984) noted a decision maker needs to classify the state of uncertainty that characterises a decision situation, eliminate the strategies that are not feasible in that situation, and select a feasible strategy. To realise the contingency approach its potential as an effective construct for maintaining and improving managerial effectiveness in a hyper dynamic environment, its development must proceed in a systematic unified and directed manner (Luthans Stewart, 1977). IKEA, as an example, is the world’s most successful mass-market retailer, reaching 33 countries and hosting 410 million shoppers a year; the furniture is made by about 1,500 suppliers in more than 50 countries. Its signature feature is the flat packed product that customers assemble at home. To target the dramatic technology development in 21st century, the company introduced online shopping to address convenience and traceability. The company designs its own, and also broadens the product mix into food and general living supplies (â€Å"IKEA Company Profile†, n.d.). Investment risks can be sufficiently minimised, and it is best described by the old adage â€Å"never put all your eggs in one basket†. Traditionally, a showroom with a team of salesmen and delivery truck drivers is the focal point of a typical furniture retailer. Globalisation and widely spread use of internet will eventually force them out of the market. IKEA tackled these issues from supply-chain, customer satisfaction and diversification of investment risks. It further demonstrates the contingency approach is used to sustain IKEA’s completive edge in all time. Although these strategies may not be suitable in 10 years time, contingency view will always exert management to evaluation situation at hand and make decision accordingly to sustain performance. Conclusion Generally speaking, the traditional perspectives of management tend to standardise a managerial approach across the board by analysing one particular scenario with a number of assumptions. However, the modern perspectives recognise the uncertainties in reality and take many aspects into consideration of their decision making process. Contingency view is not a brand new theory that is completely different from the traditional perspectives. Whilst we are not suggesting the traditional perspectives are untrue, managers should be selective according to the situation at hand and use a combination of approaches to tackle from all angles. Management in the modern world is no longer a unitary practice; it is an art. Continuous education and professional development can only offer the mandatory knowledge. Real life experience and rational conduct at time is the key to successful management.

A Criticism Of Incompatibilism

A Criticism Of Incompatibilism In Van Inwagens paper, An Argument of Incompatibilism, he posits in his consequence argument that, under determinism, there is no moral consequence of intentional actions. It is hard to think that one can act without free will. We seem to be able to make our own choices in life every step of the way, yet we are still exceedingly aware of situations and even decision that we seem to have no control over. This is the issue philosophers often encounter in the study of free will in our causally determined world. The subject of free will has been a matter of intense debate in the philosophical community for ages. Not surprising, seeing as its very concept has profound implications on metaphysical, deontological and moral grounds; the absence of free will puts into question the existence of moral responsibility, free thought and even our own existence. However, the compatibilists think that there are certain flaws in some of the premises of Inwagens argument that make it unreliable. David Lewis points out that two of the premises in Peter Van Inwagens Consequence Argument do not support it being viewed completely in the strong or weak sense of determinism. Incompatibilists such as Inwagen have trouble with the idea of determinism, or at least in the context of free will. Determinism is the view that there is a predetermined future that is created by events in the past while being governed by the laws of nature (Van Inwagen, 1983). A common example of determinism is the predestination paradox of time travel. What you do in the past affects what happens in the future, but unfortunately the future stays the same no matter whatever you try to do because you would still have caused the future regardless. When you apply determinism to something like intentional actions, it means that what youve done could have been predetermined to happen due to something having happened in the past. In the context of the free will debate, compatibilists subscribe to this very concept of determinism. This philosophical viewpoint is commonly brought up in free will related arguments. A reason for this is that that the idea of a causally determined future is d istressing when applied in the context of free actions. That is to say, that because everything is predetermined, there is technically no free will; whichever actions one believes they are doing is in fact simply an illusion. In his paper, Van Inwagen outlines seven propositions, which encompasses the Consequence Argument that argues against that fact. His argument seeks to remove determinism from the arguments of freewill due to the fact that it is deemed incompatible. In his Consequence Argument, Van Inwagen uses an example of a governor choosing not to raise their hand and influence the process of the final deliberation of a criminals death sentence. In this argument, he outlines the conditions that would have governed free will in a deterministic world in the form of six premises. In the Consequence Arguments first three premises, the argument outlines that intentional human actions are causally necessitated because they all happen within the natural, causally determined, world (Zimmerman, 2010). That is to say, the actions are determined to happen. The argument then goes on to outline the notion that if an event is necessitated by prior events, it could not have happened other than the way it actually happens (Zimmerman, 2010). This follows that because of the previous propositions, human actions cannot happen in any other way than what has already happened. For instance, following the arguments logic, I could only open a door ajar when I chose to do so because I was causally determined to do so. Finally, Inwagens Consequence Argument finally goes onto the topic of free will; a person can only be considered free if he can actually do otherwise on an action. Unfortunately, as stated before, any action a person does happens because it could not be done otherwise. Ultimately, following this line of reasoning, the person cannot do otherwise and is thus following the illusion of free will as he performs his seemingly intentional actions. Now, returning to the Inwagens example of the governor, we see what implications Inwagens argument has on this proposed scenario. By the logic of the Consequence Argument detailed earlier, the governor, despite having chosen to refrain from raising their hand, is not performing the action under their free will. In fact, according to the Consequence Argument, if determinism is true than there is no free will involved in the governors action. This has some severe implications on that particular subject. What it means is that since free will is not involved in his performing an action that would ultimately be responsible for sending a man to his death, the governor cannot be held morally responsible for that act. Hence, by this logic, the absence of free means one could not possibly be held morally responsible for anything they do. This certainly sounds like an outrageous, yet distressing, conclusion. How could there be any form of responsibility, or any rational thought even, in a dete rministic world when every action is seemingly predetermined? It is with this thought in mind that Van Inwagen argues that free will and, by extension moral responsibility, has no place in the deterministic world. So does this mean we can safely remove the possibility of free will in determinism? The compatibilists say otherwise. David Lewis, a compatibilist himself, has an interesting critique of Inwagens argument. In his paper, Are We Free to Break the Laws?, he argues that there are ways responsibility-grounding freedom of action (Zimmerman, 2010) can exist alongside determinism. Compatibilism is the view that free will does have a role together with determinism, specifically soft determinism. In his paper, he divides determinism into two different categories, hard and soft determinism. Hard determinism is defined, as a sort of determinism in where there seems to be no room for free will. Soft determinism, on the other hand, is the belief of the exact opposite, allowing for free will in the deterministic world. Lewis himself is a soft compatibilist. In Are we free to break the laws? he argues that there is a flaw in the consequence argument. Lewis admits that [he is] able to do something su ch that, if [he does] it, a [causal law will] be broken (Lewis, 1981), although he claims that the incompatibilists behind the Consequence Argument takes this claim to the extreme or what he calls the strong sense. To an incompatibilists, this statement can be taken to mean that he can break the very laws of nature (Lewis, 1981). These are the definition of the weak and strong theses. The difference between the two is that the weak thesis, which says that a [causal law will] be broken (Lewis, 1981) implies that whenever he decides to take an action, the act itself is what causes a law to be broken. A nice analogy of the weak thesis can be summed up with a simple rock thrown at a window. If someone throws a stone and in the process breaks a window, then, following the logic of the weak thesis, the act of throwing the stone is what ends up breaking the window. On the other hand, the strong thesis suggests the very act of performing an action means that he himself has broken the law. U sing the same example from before, instead of the act of throwing the stone, it is the thrower himself who breaks the window. Lewis outlines an important distinction between two different ways of viewing the premises of Van Inwagens Consequence Argument. The difference between the strong and weak theses plays an important part in Lewis argument. Lewis rejects the strong thesis that the Consequence Argument seems to imply but accepts the weak one. From the weak thesis he posits that one can actually do otherwise in the Consequence Arguments presumably unyielding deterministic actions. Lewis introduces a concept, which he calls a divergence miracle, since breaking a causal law requires nothing short of one. A divergence miracle is a divergence in the causal history that occurs before the act is performed. That is to say, that prior history may have been changed had the governor from Van Inwagens example raised his hand. Although, thats not to say that this would not be the case had the person simply chose not to have done so, Lewis claims that a miracle might have taken place, only to have its work undone by a second miracle (Lewis, 1981). This is where the weak thesis plays a significant role. Lewis states that for him to perform an a ction that would result in the breaking of a law, a divergence miracle independent of his own actions offers an alternate causal history that would allow the lawbreaking action to be possible. Lewiss paper draws attention to two premises from Inwagens Consequence Argument, most specifically the fifth and sixth premise. In Inwagens sixth premise, he states that a person could not have rendered a law of nature false (Van Inwagen, 1983). Lewis cites an example, which Van Inwagen has used in defense of this premise, of the possibility of the construction of an apparatus that can potentially violate the laws of physics. It follows that, following the rough outline of the sixth premise, if it is possible such an apparatus can be made then the laws of physics have certainly been rendered false (Van Inwagen, 1983). However, according to Lewis, while this proposition can be rejected, on the grounds that we have no choice what the laws of nature are (Van Inwagen, 1983), and in turn support viewing it from the strong sense. That is to say we cannot break the laws of nature. However, this defense is not suitable when being viewed from the perspective of the weak thesis. Inwagens sixth premise has an opposite effect. In defense of his fifth premise, he says that there is no way he can render false a conjunction that the Spanish being defeated in the past with the proposition that he will never visit Alaska (Van Inwagen, 1983). Inwagen believes that the reason one cannot render that false is that any deviation from actual events would be incompatible with any past state of the world taken with the laws of nature (Van Inwagen, 1983). Lewis counters this argument by saying it is completely irrelevant due to the fact that the claim of ones inability to render those false is only true in the sense of the weak thesis, but it completely neglects the strong thesis. The problem with these premises, according to Lewis, is that the arguments that Inwagen uses to support these premises are not sounds, seeing as neither of them addresses the Weak and Strong Theses. Generally the problem with the Consequence Argument, according to Lewis, is that it is not consistent in its premises. As outlined earlier, Inwagens fifth and sixth premises cannot both be viewed according to either the Strong or Weak Theses alone. This has the effect of weakening Inwagens argument, since it lessens the severity of the deterministic viewpoint; the inconsistency in views shows that that part of the argument seems unsound. In addition, Lewiss concept of divergence miracles also offers some welcome changes to the determinism that Inwagens Consequence Argument paints less rigid and unyielding. Such inconsistencies ultimately undermines what would normally be a rather solid argument convincing us of what would seem to be a no space for free will alongside determinism. Peter Van Inwagens Consequence Argument is seemingly unsound given that the argument does not hold up completely well when viewed from the Strong or Weak Theses that David Lewis had outlined. Incompatibilists have produced a fairly strong, if disturbing, argument of the potential link between determinism and free will. However, the viewpoints that result from the rejection of compatibilism, such as hard Incompatibilism and libertarian incompatiblism, seem far more alarming. One either outright rejects free will while the other posits that the world is not complete causally determined. Compatibilism on the other hand seems easier to accept.