The Future of Electronic Money ( case 1) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Future of Electronic Money ( case 1) - Essay Example There are many viewpoints on whether paper money should be completely eliminated. However, it would seem fair to suggest that paper money will still have a number of uses and it would be impractical to rely completely on electronic forms of money. This is because of the problems that are generally associated with information technology, such as power failures and database overloads, which could cause a break in the system and would therefore necessitate the use of paper money (Khilawala, 2011). It would be foolish to eradicate paper money completely whilst there is still a risk of these things happening. Paper money is also still popular with many. This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, if paper money were to be abolished, the government of that particular country would have to sell assets to ‘soak up the unwanted notes and coins’ (Rogoff, 2002, p2). It would mean a movement from the non-interest holding debt (cash) to interest holding debt (electronic money), which is an unappealing prospect for any government. The public also seem to have an insatiable demand for paper money, with the main reason for this popularity being the anonymity of cash. This is useful for those committing money-based crimes, but also appeals to the innocent as well for a number of different reasons. It has been suggested that when the government is able to identify the holders of cash using DNA techniques, electronic money may then become as popular as paper money (Rogoff, 2002). Conversely, this does mean that electronic money may be more useful for crime-detection. Despite this, there are a number of reasons why paper money is problematic. Governments may print off more paper money in anticipation of certain events as a way of controlling the economy (Jakobsson & Yung, 1996), but if this prediction is wrong then it may cause issues and as a

The method to obtain my information Essay Example for Free

The method to obtain my information Essay The Aim of my study is to look into parents and childrens views on the eleven plus examination. I want to find out if the eleven plus has a negative effect on children which may effect them throughout their lives. I want to look at the effects of the elevn plus on a childs, self esteem, confidence, self perception and motivation to succeed. I am hoping for clear evidence from my questionnaires that will show a clear pattern, either that the examination is effecting children in these areas or not and also what groups of children it effects. My research question is what damage does the eleven plus examination have on children and should the examination be abolished? I have desided to use the questioonaire method to obtain my information. I feel that a questionnaire is the best method of research for this particular topic as I will need information from a large sample group and from different settings. A questionnaire is a quick and efficient method to obtain data however the response rate from a questionnaire may not always be high. I will be giving out double the number of questionnaires that I need to allow for people not completing the questionnaire properly, losing the questionnaire or not handing the completed questionnaire back in time. The particular issue that I have chosen is a very contriversal issue which is an advantage as parents in particular feel very strongly about the issue due to on going talks in education settings and in the media, this makes parents want to voice their opnions as it involves their childrens education and future. The eleven plus is a very talked about topic however it is an extremely sensitive issue that needs to be handled with care especially with young children. I went through various drafts of questionnaires before I had my final draft. I had to make sure that none of the questions would offend a child in any way or that a question would suggest that a child should feel a certain way. An example of a question that may upset a child would be. Do you feel that you are a failure because you failed the eleven plus?. This question could not be used, however I do want to get results from my questionnaire that may answer questions like that.

michael jordan :: essays research papers

Michael Jeffrey Jordan is the son of Deloris and James Jordan. He has three siblings, Ronald James, Deloris, and Larry. Mike was born on February 17th, 1963 in Brooklyn Hospital. He grew up in North Carolina. Before basketball Mike enjoyed playing the game of baseball. I chose him because I knew little about him, like he played with the Chicago Bulls and he got married and had a son. Before I didn’t know he got a divorce. He is currently playing with the Washington Wizards in his fifteenth season of basketball. He is the fourth player to score 30,000 points. Besides basketball, Michael Jordan opened his own school and training camps called Michael Jordan Flight School.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One day Mike’s father made a full basketball court in their backyard where Larry and Michael always played there. He started playing around the age of eight. Every time the two brothers played it made Mike’s skills get better and made him into a better player. He wasn’t sure if basketball fitted his talents, so he went to baseball, football, and track. However, Mike found his love in the game of basketball. He wanted to work on his game to become a pro player so he skipped school to practice, but unfortunately he got suspended. His mother made him study all day. Mike never said an unkind word to anyone and was liked by everyone, even his teachers. When he needed help, he’d come after school to learn more. Some people would make fun of him in front of girls. In that way no one would marry him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A basketball scout picked him in Division I. No one from his school had ever played in Division I. His experience gave him more confidence to play the game of basketball. He played for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels where he made both team and starting lineup. At age 20 Michael was 160 lbs., six foot six inches and could run the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds. His confidence and carelessness improved his game and made him into a great decision maker to lead in all areas of the game. He loss to St. John’s University, University of Missouri, and Tulane University in 1982-1983. The Sporting News named Michael Jordan College Player of the Year. Michael Jordan was drafted to the NBA by the Chicago Bulls in 1984 in the first round (third overall) to start his amazing career as a pro basketball player.

Ancient Cassiterides

Ancient geography The Cassiterides, meaning Tin Islands (from the Greek word for tin: /Kassiteros), are an ancient geographical name of islands that were regarded as situated somewhere near the west coasts of Europe. The traditional assumption, ignoring Strabo, is that Cassiterides refer to Great Britain, based on the significant tin deposits in Cornwall. Herodotus (430 BC) had only dimly heard of the Cassiterides, â€Å"from which we are said to have our tin,† but did not discount the islands as legendary. 3] Later writers — Posidonius, Diodorus Siculus,[4] Strabo[5] and others — call them smallish islands off (â€Å"some way off,† Strabo says) the northwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula, which contained tin mines or, according to Strabo, tin and lead mines. A passage in Diodorus derives the name rather from their nearness to the tin districts of Northwest Iberia. Ptolemy and Dionysios Periegetes mentioned them — the former as ten small islands i n Northwest Iberia far off the coast and arranged symbolically as a ring, and the latter in connection with the mythical Hesperides. Probably written in the first century BC, the verse Circumnavigation of the World, whose anonymous author is called the â€Å"Pseudo-Scymnus,† places two tin islands on the upper part of the Adriatic Sea and mentioned the marketplace Osor on the island of Cres, where extraordinary high-quality tin could be bought. [6][7] Pliny the Elder, on the other hand, represents the Cassiterides as fronting Celtiberia. At a time when geographical knowledge of the West was still scanty, and when the secrets of the tin-trade were still successfully guarded by the seamen of Gades and others who dealt in the metal, the Greeks knew only that tin came to them by sea from the far West, and the idea of tin-producing islands easily arose. Later, when the West was better explored, it was found that tin actually came from two regions: Northwest Iberia and Cornwall. Diodorus reports: â€Å"For there are many mines of tin in the country above Lusitania and on the islets which lie off Iberia out in the ocean and are called because of that fact the Cassiterides. † According to Diodorus tin also came from Britannia to Gaul and thence was brought overland to Massilia and Narbo. [8] Neither of these could be called small islands or described as off the Northwest coast of Iberia, and so the Greek and Roman geographers did not identify either as the Cassiterides. Instead, they became a third, ill-understood source of tin, conceived of as distinct from Iberia or Britain. Od najdawniejszych czasow Brytania znana byla ze swych zloz metali. Fenicjanie i Kartaginczycy sprowadzali stad glownie cyne (plumbum album). Jej glowne zloza wystepowaly w starozytnosci, podobnie jak dzis, na wybrzezu Kornwalii i wyspach stanowiacych jej przedluzenie, slynnych „Wyspach Cynowych† (insulae Cassiterides). W srodkowych rejonach wyspy obficie wystepuje zelazo, ktorego zloza powierzchniowe eksploatowali Brytowie, a z glebokich kopalni wydobywali je Rzymianie. Rzymianie tez rozpoczeli eksploatacje bogatych pokladow miedzi, ktore wystepuja glownie na terenie dzis. Kornwalii, Cardigenshire i Anglesey w poblizu Llandundo. Gory Walii byly natomiast terenami zlotodajnymi kopano tam tez srebro. Tacyt mowi po prostu: „Brytania dostarcza zlota, srebra i innych metali, ktore sa nagroda za zwyciestwo. †Ã‚   Wyobraznie rzymskich najezdzcow rozbudzaly tez inne legendarne bogactwa wyspy, o ktorych opowiada niezastapiony Tacyt: „Ocean rodzi perly lecz nieco sine i blade. †

Comparisons of Economic Terms Essay

Look at health care from an economical view point and learn how economics has a major effect on the management of health care in our society. I chose the first two words on the list, resources and quality, along with opportunity cost, to discuss in this paper. In the discussion the terms will be defined and the relationship that the terms share in the view of market economics and the health economics will be analyzed. The question will be asked, â€Å"How are these three terms related and the effects they share on the health care community. Also what affects do they play in health care’s organizations economical view point?† The market economics and the health economics definition of the terms shed a different perspective on the economics of the health care industry. The two views influence the health care industry in order to be successful and maintain the ability to serve the public. There must be a sound understanding of economics, because health care is based on finances and services; and how well the finances and services are to be managed. These terms are similar in marketing and health care but they also differ in meanings based on the situation. Economics study how people make choices for using resources and the health care organizations use the same principle. The success of health care depends on effective management of the resources. The economic resources affect the usage of medical care and its services. Terms viewed from a market and health stand point and from an economics stand, compared to health care are resources, opportunity cost, and quality. Definition of Economic Terms Resource: a supply of something that someone has and can use when it is needed (â€Å"Merriam Webster .com†, 2014). Opportunity Cost: the added cost of using resources that is the difference between the actual value  resulting from such use and that of an alternative (â€Å"Merriam Webster .com†, 2014). Quality: a characteristic or feature that someone or something has a high level of value or excellence (â€Å"Merriam Webster .com, 2014). Market Economic Term: Resource, Opportunity Cost and Quality Resource is defined by Merriam Webster dictionary as, a natural source of wealth or revenue, computable wealth. In economics resource is a source of supply, support, or aid, especially one that can be readily drawn upon when needed (â€Å"Merriam Webster .com†, 2014). Health economics term: Resource Opportunity cost and Quality Health Care Economic Terms: Resource, Opportunity Cost and Quality As health care terms they are defined as such: Opportunity cost is, the economic definition of cost, also known as opportunity cost, is the value of opportunity forgone, strictly the best opportunity forgone, as a result of engaging resources in an activity. Note that there can be a cost without the exchange of money. Also the economists’ notion of cost extends beyond the cost falling on the health service alone; it includes costs falling on other services and on patients themselves. Resource is defined as, the basic inputs to production – the time and abilities of individuals, natural resources such as land and capital. Quality is a generic concept reflecting concern with the modification and enhancement of life attributes, as, physical, political, moral and social environment; the overall condition of a human life(â€Å"Glossary Of Frequently Encountered Terms In Health Economics†, 2003). Market Economic Terms: Resource, Opportunity Cost and Quality Quality is the choicest care or the excellence of something. Recourse the tools and manpower to achieve a task and opportunity cost is the final value placed on the product or service. Cost and quality have a great influence in the health care industry. The quality of health care has increased in the last thirty years; along with cost at an even faster rate (Gretzen, 2007). Market Economics Compared to Health Economics The difference in the terms of market economics & health care economics is as follows. Market economics is trade â€Å"the making of a buck.† A place where buyers and sellers exchange dollars for a product and/or services (Gretzen, 2007). Health care economics is the purchasing of health care services, the doctor is the seller and the patients are the buyers. In other situations  the pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment producers and so on are the sellers and the clients/patients are the buyers. Gretzen states these transactions are based on the terms of the trade, (Gretzen, 2007). In market economics the resources that are used can influence the quality of product, produced and depicts the cost that will be attached to the product for the buyer to be required to pay for the product. In health care economics resources, quality and cost do work as separate entities, as well as one entity. The resources of health care economics depicts what the health community can produce as a whole. Will research technology, health plans, etc., be available? Will health care be affordable and available to all that need it? And will the quality be able to meet the standards the federal government and the medical communities have set when providing health care and services? These are the questions to be looked at by the marketing and economics teams in the health care community. So they can answer yes to all the questions that are on the minds of many. Conclusion When reviewing the economic terms from both side of the coin, market economics and health care economics, resource, quality and opportunity cost are key to the level that health care can be marketed to the community. Health care can be produced and delivered well, at the same time. It can, at the same time, be an affordable value and a high quality product also. Despite Gretzen’s view of health care’s high cost reflecting the public’s willingness to pay for health care when â€Å"confronted with the possibility of death; we will pay for just about anything to get our health back.† (Gretzen, 2007) mentality. References (2014). Retrieved from Merriam Webster: www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quality Gretzen, T. (2007). Healthcare Economics and Financing (3rd. Ed.). Health Definitions/Glossary of Frequently Encountered Terms in Health Economics. (2003). Retrieved from US National Library of Medicine: www.nlm.nih.gov/nichsr/edu/healthecon/glossary.html#Cost

10 Classification Essay Topics on Marketing Communications

10 Classification Essay Topics on Marketing Communications If you are tasked with writing about marketing communications, you have to decide whether you want to focus on a specific type of marketing, or a specific type of communication method to really reach your consumers, or even a type of leadership which is conducive to good communication or good marketing. Below are some facts to help you along the writing path. Figuring out how to manage marketing freelancers can be difficult, especially if your team is compiled of contributors from around the world. Part of the appeal of managing a freelance staff is the flexibility it affords and the cost savings pertaining to costs which would otherwise be incurred housing staff in a physical office. But this is not to say that managing freelancing staff is without its struggles. Some people utilize micromanagement, especially when they work with freelancers because the distance causes a fear regarding loss of control. Micro management causes so much attention to detail that it creates direct failure. It also leeches time otherwise devoted to responsibilities. When marketing freelancers make decisions on their own, it can cause irritation. A micro managing boss will ask for detailed reports on anything and everything that the marketing freelancers do and this will cloud overall goals and restrict the flow of information. The pathologies associated with this style include denial and narcissism, but perhaps more important is the overall doubt this management style brings. When a boss doubts their freelancers’ abilities and interferes on a regular basis, it stiffens creative abilities and inhibits working relationships. This is perhaps even more prominent in the world of freelance management because in life of a single board meeting or a face to face conversation where all project details are discussed, each detail of a project would otherwise be sent in an individual email or message, clogging up an inbox and appearing overbearing. The creation of this strict and overbearing work atmosphere causes marketing freelancers to leave. Not offering any oversight means a boss is failing to fulfill their role. They might be seen as â€Å"caring† by the marketing freelancers, someone interested in their daily lives and feelings, but this nice attitude is typically avoidant too and makes it difficult at best to carry on a legitimate conversation. By not assuming the responsibilities and roles of a boss, it threatens the success of the remote staff. This level of poor management causes simple errors, unintentional mistakes, which go unnoticed. When bosses attempt to manage their freelancers in this fashion, they avoid all confrontation or difficult discussions and never properly lead. Marketing communications are best done in the way of the transformational business leader who can adequately lead a group of freelance employees. This is a leader who is strict, but not too extreme, and who is also lenient and caring but not to the point that it interferes with productivity. This is a boss who inspires freelancers with the company vision of development and has clear goals established to meet all business ends. This form of management encourages and motivates all remote freelancers without inhibiting them or being overbearing. Managing a staff remotely can be made easier with the proper tools. For example: rather than emailing freelancers every hour and requiring detailed reports that amount to micromanagement, project management tools make it easy to add or assign tasks to freelance team members as those tasks arise. These tools convert traditional business settings into virtual ones which allow conversations, documents, and tags to be maintained individually for each project/project heading. This alleviates the need for micromanagement as it offers clear updates as soon as each person logs in. Other beneficial tools for the transformational leader include features that generate progress reports as necessary and alleviate the need for time wasting meetings. They also allow for automatic reminders to be sent to all freelancers. Transactional Leadership involves the idea of an exchange between manager and his subordinates: the employee is paid commiserate amounts of money in exchange for his co-operation and compliance. This would mean that communications with marketing staff would empower the manager to discipline his subordinates for failing to comply or underperforming. While at the outset, this style of leadership sounds excessively control oriented, the benefits to this style stem from the fact that it clarifies everyones purpose, providing a certain unity of vision. In addition, since it evaluates primarily on the basis of performance, ambitious over performing employees, it can be rewarded extra compensation, thus reinforcing that behavior. Downsides to this leadership are that it can stifle employees leading to low staff retention rates. It is focused on short-term tasks and can stifle creativity. While counter-productive in creative or knowledge-based industries, it may come handy in other situation s. Bureaucratic Leadership is characterized by managers who work by the book, rigorously following rules, while also encouraging their marketing subordinates to do the same in all professional communication. This style of leadership is effective, even mandatory in high safety risk environments (such as chemical and manufacturing plants) and where financial transactions involving large sums of money may be involved. Its downside however, is that it can be very constrictive in environments that seek to foster creativity and enterprise, since people are rewarded for their conformance rather than their talents or expertise. Proponents of the servant leadership marketing communication model suggest that servant leadership is a good way to get ahead, considering how ethics and values play an increasingly important role in businesses. It leads to a healthy corporate culture and highly motivated employees. However, servant leaders may get overshadowed by leaders who employ more aggressive leadership schemes. This form of leadership is also suited to environments that require quick responses to contingencies. This type of leadership is most effective in scenarios that involve elected leadership, such as teams, committees and community organizations. Autocratic leadership and communication is effective in low skilled industries, where a large number of unskilled laborers perform an allotted task, supervised by an autocratic management. It is also effective in the military, where the generals have to make a series of complex strategic decisions letting the soldiers focus on carrying out the tasks allotted to them. We hope that these facts will become a solid foundation for your marketing communications classification essay. Don’t forget to see our 20 varied topics list and sample essay below along with the guide on how to write one. Are you ready to hire an essay writer to have your classification paper written from scratch? Try our writing service now! References: Kotler, F. Keller K, L. Framework for Marketing Management 5th Edition    by Prentice Hall March 14th 2011 Belch, George E, and Michael A Belch.  Advertising And Promotion. Boston, Mass.: Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2001. Print. Blythe, Jim.  Marketing Communications. Harlow, England: Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2000. Print. Pelsmacker, Patrick de, Maggie Geuens, and Joeri van den Bergh.  Marketing Communications. New York: Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2001. Print. Schultz, Don E, Stanley I Tannenbaum, and Robert F Lauterborn.  Integrated Marketing Communications. Lincolnwood, Ill., USA: NTC Business Books, 1993. Print. Smith, P. R, and Ze Zook.  Marketing Communications. London: Kogan Page, 2011. Print. Wood, Gill.  Marketing Communications. Oxford: Elsevier, 2004. Print.

Proposal for a Replacement of the Failing Social Security System essays

Proposal for a Replacement of the Failing Social Security System essays My assignment was to imagine that the Social Security system was about to go bankrupt and to create a plan or program to replace it. 1. Institute more job training programs for disabled. 2. Many disabled individuals are punished for working. Their social security checks are halted if they are employed. Even the paycheck from a 40 hour workweek is not enough to cover their medical and special assistance needs. Perhaps decrease their payments without canceling them so they can maintain a reasonable standard of living. 3. Starting with companies that receive federal funding, encourage the creation of an objective evaluation system. Each employee will be evaluated every six months. If deficiencies in the average performance of their duties are detected a meeting will be set up. At this meeting the deficiencies will be brought to the attention of the employee. Remedies to the deficiencies (becoming a part-time employee, additional training, adaptive training, etc.) will be offered. If the remedies are accepted, the employee will be evaluated in six months. If the deficiencies in their average performance have not been significantly decreased they will immediately become part to half-time employees for one month. They will be dismissed at the end of this month. 4. Full-service "retirement adaptation" centers will be established in all communities. These will be staffed by volunteer and paid retirees. If a retiree is interested in enrolling in college the center will assist them in filling out application and financial aid paperwork. Retired teachers and professors could provide tutoring for fellow retirees and other pupils in college and the public school systems. Every class in the public school system could have a foster grandparent. Retired aerobics instructors and exercise physiologists could conduct physical fitness programs. Retired mental health professionals could conduct group and individual t ...

Answers to Questions About Plurals #2

Answers to Questions About Plurals #2 Answers to Questions About Plurals #2 Answers to Questions About Plurals #2 By Mark Nichol Here are DailyWritingTips.com readers’ queries about plural usage, and my responses. 1. I am working on a book about the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship, and the author has used MIL and DIL throughout to abbreviate. But the plural forms of those terms are mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, so what are the plural forms of the abbreviations? The author uses MILs and DILs, but that style incorrectly implies that the plural falls at the end of the compound noun (mother-in-laws and daughter-in-laws.) Should the abbreviations be MsIL and DsIL? Mother-in-law and similar constructions include what’s called a postpositive adjective, in which an adjective follows the noun it modifies. (The second words in â€Å"attorney general† and â€Å"accounts payable† are also postpositive adjectives.) In abbreviations of such terms, ignore the position of the plural form, and attach the s at the end, or omit it altogether. For example, â€Å"attorneys general† is abbreviated AGs, not AsG, and â€Å"accounts payable† is abbreviated APs, not AsP. If you’re going to abbreviate mothers-in-law, MILs is the way to go. 2. Our team mascot is a wildcat, so I would expect people to use Wildcats when talking about the school teams in general. Is there a rule for singular or plural use when identifying a specific organization, as in â€Å"We are the Wildcats† or â€Å"This is the Wildcat football program†? Team mascot names should be treated as plurals except when, as in the case of Stanford University’s Cardinal (not Cardinals) ugh the name is singular: â€Å"The Wildcats are undefeated this season.† The program should also be referred to in the plural form: â€Å"This is the Wildcats football program†; the only instance in which the singular form is used is when referring to an individual player, as in â€Å"John Smith was a Wildcat when the team won the state championship.† 3. When someone says, â€Å"He only answers with yesses and nos,† is that the correct way to spell the responses? Also, do I need to put each word in quotations? I could revise to â€Å"He only answers with yes or no,† but what if I have to record the statement verbatim? Write, â€Å"He only answers with yeses and nos† no internal quotation marks. (Technically, only should follow answers, but this is a transcription.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:75 Contronyms (Words with Contradictory Meanings)Taser or Tazer? Tazing or Tasering?How to Style Titles of Print and Online Publications

The relationship among professional values, ethics and career success Essay

The relationship among professional values, ethics and career success - Essay Example this issue, as some have argued that on long-term perspective; it is very essential and imperative to perform tasks while implementing professional values and remain ethical in the organization. Experts have noticed that employers seek to hire individuals with professional values. However, a number of adversaries (O’Donovan-Polten, 2001) of this school of thought have argued that in today’s business world, it has become very difficult to remain ethical, as managers and employers incline employees to perform some jobs while setting aside professional or ethical values in order to acquire more revenues. In this regard, employees end up in acting unethically to satisfy managers and employers that is a critical issue in this debate as whether tasks with unethical considerations performed for managers and employers will fall under professional values or not. It is an observation that a number of individuals focus on satisfying managers and employers personally rather than fulfilling the organizational tasks, in order to acquire quick promotion and personal benefits. Unfortunately, abovementioned has been the usual practice at jobs that deteriorated the professional values that were once essential for acquiring and maintaining jobs (Wines, 2006). In other words, experts have witnessed a transformation in the category of professional values that now focuses more on employer/manager’s satisfaction rather than fulfillment of organizational objectives and mission. At the same time, many optimists (O’Donovan-Polten, 2001) in the society believe that ethical values play a significant role in success of any career. Some experts have indicated that it is important for an individual to remain ethical in order to perform his/her job in an efficient manner, as once an employee remained unethical, he/she will end up being the same in the future as well, reducing the chances of getting success. However, it has now become very important for employers to remain ethical and

RESEARCH PAPER Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Research Paper Example of world history, while playing these constructive roles, some leaders have succeeded, continuing their good work; however certain other leaders did not perform those roles in an optimal manner raising criticisms from various quarters. Fidel Castro, Cuba’s National leader belongs to the second category of leaders. That is, as a revolutionary, he overthrew a dictatorship regime giving a lot of hope to the Cuban people, however could not continuously carry out the constructive and developmental activities, first as the Prime Minister and then as the President. So, this paper will discuss how Castro by leading the Cuban Revolution became the country’s leader, raising a lot hopes and how he could not fulfill those expectations. Fidel Alejandro Vittore Castro Ruz was born in 1923 in Birà ¡n, located in the modern-day province of Holguà ­n. He is one of the three children born out of wedlock to a landowner, Angel Castro and his much younger housekeeper and cook, Lina Ruz Gonzà ¡lez. As his father was previously married and did not recognize his marriage to Castro’s mother, Castro taking his mother’s name as the surname spent most of his childhood in foster homes and Catholic boarding schools, finishing high school at a Jesuit school in Havana in 1945. After his father married his mother, when he was 15 years old, he started using his father’s name of Castro as his surname. Then in late 1945, Castro joined the law school at the University of Havana and it is there, he was introduced to anti-Americanism. The unasked for intervention of the U.S. in Cuba in 1898 and the resultant negative impacts on the Cuban society because of the heavy U.S. presence, created ill-will against the U.S. in Castro’s mind. That is, U.S. presence led to the concentration of wealth only in the hands of foreigners and upper class lighter skinned Cubans with Spaniard ancestry, depriving the dark-skinned Cubans, and this created increased tension among the classes and growing

The World Is More Depressed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The World Is More Depressed - Essay Example The major argument of the article is that the process of urbanization and the advancement in technology are major causes of increased depression globally. This is because, with urbanization, comes fractured families, increased use of drugs and alcohol, as well as poverty, all of which are risk factors for depression (Luhrmann, n.p.). On the other hand, technological advancement has increased access to information about other people especially through social media, causing people to compare their lives with those of others, and thus becoming depressed. The author has a bias for India as the country she has visited frequently and understands its situation more than elsewhere globally. Thus she uses it as the predominant example of increased depression, while the situation could be even worse elsewhere. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the article? The strength of the article is that it has applied the backing of various scientific studies from different parts of the world to ba ck the argument. The weakness is that the author has less exposure to the conditions of the rest of the world in relation to depression, thus paints India as the most affected country. The first-hand experience and scientific data of depression from the rest of the world, other than India, Japan, Britain, and the USA, is missing. The article is effective since it has been able to deliver the message in a more comprehensive and scientifically backed manner, through the application of data from different scientific studies.

An information booklet providing guidance and explanation on research Coursework

An information booklet providing guidance and explanation on research techniques and methodologiesdesign suitable for an area of professional practice - Coursework Example Risk analysis and risk assessment are concepts that are interchangeable and they form the basis of risk management. It's an ongoing process where: Assets are identified and valued. Vulnerabilities associated with an asset are identifiedand their severity is assessed. Threats are identified and chances of their occurrenceare assessed. The threat and vulnerability relation isexamined which might result in the manifestation ofany risk. Policies are used in accordance with the impact of thisrisk manifestation. Existing controls are defined and corrective actions areproposed so that the impact of any risk is reduced to thelevel that can be accepted for a particular environment. So Risk Management can be defined as a continuous process of planning, implementation of those plans , promoting awareness and monitoring of security measures to mitigate, transfer, eliminate or control to an acceptable level. Various objectives of the risk management process include: The aim of risk management is "reduce business exposure by balancing counter measures investment against risk"(Birch&McEVOY,1992;45) The purpose of risk management is "to minimise the expected loss"(Suh &Hun,2003:150). The goal of risk management is "select risk mitigation, risk transfer and risk recovery measures so as to optimise the performance of an organization"(Jacobson,2002;1) IMPORTANCE OF RISK MANAGEMENT It is easy to manage an organisation when all things are at its place, but during crucial times of risk management, the job becomes tough. Then comes the tough managerial Decision Making. Cooperation is required in such times from all the sectors of the company. Treating risks after...Both the words sound daunting, but they have simple meanings in the field of research. Epistemology can be defined as the "study of knowledge and justified belief" .When epistemology is considered as" the study of knowledge", it is concerned with questions like: what are the sources of knowledge what are the conditions of knowledge What are the structure and limits of knowledge. When it epistemology deals with ' justified belief", it asks questions like what makes beliefs justified Whether justification is external or internal to one's mind to sum it up, Epistemology deals with the creation ok knowledge and dissemination of knowledge. "Any research can be affected by different kinds of factors which, while extraneous to the concerns of the research, can invalidate the findings" (Seliger & Shohamy 1989, 95).The primary responsibility of any good researcher should be controlling the factors that might hamper the validity of a research. This map draws the metaphor of a journey through the road which shows how research is similar to a journey that begins from conceptualisation and the aim and ultimately the journey ends at the conclusion. To achieve expertise in Risk management for..,the research approach, application and the appropriate research questions are vital.

Children and Advertisement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Children and Advertisement - Essay Example The advertisers target the children in their advertisement since they are the most likely to change and adopt the corporations ideologies. Companies and large advertising agents seek to create a future investment by influencing the children today without considering some of the effects they pose to these children. Changing a child’s perspective today means that the child will be oriented into buying the said product in the future and has a minimum chance to be influenced by the then advertisements. The paper will deliberate on the effects caused by television advertisements to children. The paper will reference children as a term to represent all those below the age of eighteen years. The first effect attributed to watching commercials on the television is being persuaded to seek the product. Dittmann (2014) states that children tend to recall most of the ad’s content following a single exposure to the commercial. These commercials increase a child’s desire to possess the advertised product without considering the limitations and the challenges associated with the acquisition. Commercials incorporate psychological research to make them more compelling and convincing (Dittmann, 2014). Through the use of doublespeak, these advertisements persuade the children that they ought to have the product and an easy way to achieve their goal is to nag the parent. Doublespeak is the deliberate use of language that disguises the actual meaning (Lutz, 1997). Advertisers have adopted the use of doublespeak in their commercials to mask their intent and persuade children into acquiring these products. Lutz (1997) states that advertisers use words to show product superiority even when the products are of equal quality to the competitors’. For example, advertisers gloss over the competition’s disadvantages that certain products present through the manner in which they

The Rationality of the American Voter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Rationality of the American Voter - Essay Example Can charisma alone be enough to win an election when faced with a public that is generally ignorant of the political process and the important issues at stake By improving the education of the voter, we can elevate the level of leadership in politics. In the absence of information, a candidate's charm, likeability, and charisma all contribute to an image that the voter seizes upon to make their electoral decision. A candidate's ability to project an image of almost super-human proportions resonates well with a public that is caught in times of crisis. Wars, a bad economy, depreciating social structures, and cultural turmoil all play into the hand of the charismatic leader as voters look for relief from their hardships and despair (Bass & Riggio, 2006, p.64). During these periods of political upheaval, voters are less interested in the issues and more interested in salvation from the looming dire situation. Candidates will take this opportunity to exploit the current situation or negatively characterize the opponent's alternatives. The 1992 election saw a charismatic Bill Clinton defeat the incumbent George Bush. Bush was characterized as a 'wimp' and Clinton was able to capitalize on his charming appeal with the slogan 'it's the economy stupid'. Had there been a booming economy, the American voter would have been more reluctant to change and would have been more likely to stay with the stabil ity of the sitting president (Alvarez & Nagler, 1998, p.1362). In addition, Clinton was able to portray the economy in bleaker terms than the voter understood. The slight economic downturn of 1992 was enough to create an opportunity for a charismatic candidate. The education of the voter, as portrayed by the candidate, was less important than the situation that they were caught up in. When voters are ignorant on the issues, under-informed, and generally politically naive about the electoral process, charisma can be an overriding factor. Media outlets that have a political agenda that they promote often influence voters, but offer limited information. Talk shows, pundits, radio talk show hosts, and pop culture all contribute to an air of confusion and irrationality for the average citizen. It is more likely the case that a voter loyal to a party will may make a decision based on who informed them rather than if they were informed. Therefore, the effect of charisma on the voter will be most heavily felt among the independents that will ultimately decide the election. According to Silva and Costa (2006), "rational ignorance is not to explain the behavior of the entire population of voters, but rather only that of swing voters" (p.39). Widely known figures will emphasize their accomplishments and record, but a relatively unknown challenger may have to rely on image an d charisma (Miller, 1990, p.530). Silva and Costa conclude that, "factors like the candidate's image and charisma may dominate a rigorous evaluation of his performance" (p.40). Often, uneducated voters cannot delineate between the truth and the fiction in political campaign ads. In today's climate of ideologues, characterizations, and partisanship, charisma can be a deciding factor in a close election. To rely on charisma alone to carry a candidate to victory is dependent upon a voting public, particularly the independent middle, which is

Children and Advertisement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Children and Advertisement - Essay Example The advertisers target the children in their advertisement since they are the most likely to change and adopt the corporations ideologies. Companies and large advertising agents seek to create a future investment by influencing the children today without considering some of the effects they pose to these children. Changing a child’s perspective today means that the child will be oriented into buying the said product in the future and has a minimum chance to be influenced by the then advertisements. The paper will deliberate on the effects caused by television advertisements to children. The paper will reference children as a term to represent all those below the age of eighteen years. The first effect attributed to watching commercials on the television is being persuaded to seek the product. Dittmann (2014) states that children tend to recall most of the ad’s content following a single exposure to the commercial. These commercials increase a child’s desire to possess the advertised product without considering the limitations and the challenges associated with the acquisition. Commercials incorporate psychological research to make them more compelling and convincing (Dittmann, 2014). Through the use of doublespeak, these advertisements persuade the children that they ought to have the product and an easy way to achieve their goal is to nag the parent. Doublespeak is the deliberate use of language that disguises the actual meaning (Lutz, 1997). Advertisers have adopted the use of doublespeak in their commercials to mask their intent and persuade children into acquiring these products. Lutz (1997) states that advertisers use words to show product superiority even when the products are of equal quality to the competitors’. For example, advertisers gloss over the competition’s disadvantages that certain products present through the manner in which they

Same-sex relationships and same-sex families Essay

Same-sex relationships and same-sex families - Essay Example This essay analyzes that the history of same-sex marriages and families, as well as the current political, cultural and social standing, all implicate boundaries, stereotypes, and inequalities that persist within society. Cultural Boundaries The concept of same-sex marriages and families is one which is divided and marginalized first because of the cultural implications that are within society. The roots of the United States claim equality and a sense of humanitarian acts in the Constitution. However, there are cultural divisions which are based on opposing history known for creating boundaries and marginalized groups. The traditional outlook that is within society moves back to the Puritan legalities in which the country was founded from. The religious implications include individuals that are interested in a married life and stable household that remains as a part of the upbringing of those in society, otherwise, it is considered sinful. This has transferred to contemporary society , specifically seen in cultural traditions such as the 1950s in which the woman and man are designated specific roles in the household and the characteristics of the family are designated with needing a refined upbringing. The representative culture which is known to be traditional and conservative in nature carries the cultural boundaries of opposing same-sex marriages and families (Wax, 2007). The problems with traditional roots that are a part of the culture are further divided by the gender roles and sexual orientation and definitions which are in the modern culture. The concept of same-sex marriage is one which raises questions about gender identity and the role which one should have in the family. When looking at the marriages, there is a specific association with the gender role, specifically because there isn’t a defined role with mother and father. If children are in the family, then it is usually conceived outside of the same-sex relationship or is based on finding a father or mother to assist with the child, which is picked genetically. The question which is raised comes from the concept of identity as well as what the gender role should be in these relationships. The concept becomes based on the idea that the family and the marriage are illegitimate because the gender roles can’t be defined or stereotyped into the same category as others (Ledsham, 2007). Social Implications The stereotypes based on gender roles and traditional means not only are based on the accepted cultures that are a part of society. There are also social implications which are based on accepting and rejecting those that fall into this stereotype. The main social implication starts with exposing the marginalized group within society while creating the stereotypes that immediately change the status of those that are building a same-sex marriage or family. When looking at social components, it can be seen that there are sex discrimination roles which form and take pl ace because of the stereotypes which occur from gender identity and the beliefs which are placed into the ideals of the same sex families. The concept of equality is one which becomes illegitimate because of cultural wars which are placed in society and which create boundaries between the groups of same-sex or traditional marriages (Widiss et al, 2007).

Policy of Medicare System Essay Example for Free

Policy of Medicare System Essay With the evolution of new drug-resistant strains of maladies in the contemporary period, scientists are now going back to nature in pursuit of pristine defenses. Says Dr. Robert Nash, research director of Molecular Nature in the United Kingdom, â€Å"Dandelions, sea pinks, nettles, even bluebells were used to treat diseases. There is a good reason for going back to see if there was anything behind these traditional uses† (Amundsen 132).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In our backyard, there is a bed of bluebells and never had it dawned on me that bluebells prove to have anti-virus and anti-cancer properties. That they were used in the 13th century against leprosy (Amundsen 155). Not that I would really want to prepare for any possible leprosy case that may stem at home; but the thought of having nifty bluebells in the garden can give comfort on good health and brainy ancestors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the library, the books speak of one thing about healthcare; that it is the management of the resources of healing. Darrel Amundsen, in his book Medicine, Society, and Faith in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds, pointed up the wonder of natural medicines and traditional medicine. Stanley Reiser tells us of how medical care evolved from technological point of view. Dorothy Porter’s Social Medicine and Medical Sociology in the Twentieth Century talks about where the health care industry has drifted through different eras. It has had a major impact on how people perceive health on the whole. From the unborn and mothers to all the phases of childhood to the youth and the adults to the older people, health care has been in packages essential at various stages of the human being. Additionally, the practitioners have done a lot of education, investing awe-inspiring sum of finances and effort in educating the public. Professional patronizing and obscure terminology will give way to cooperative educational approaches, and client-oriented rehabilitation. This approach is estimated to provide the most appropriate package of health services suited to ensure a healthy well-being of all age groups. In every industrialized country, excluding the United States (U.S.), the provision of health care has become the financial responsibility of the state over the past 100 years. Taxes on both employers and workers and general tax revenues financed the health care insurance system. This was the procedure in Western Europe and Great Britain (Warner 360-368).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The exception of the U.S. can be credited to the native value the Americans placed on self-help and repulsion against dependency. After 80 years of anxiety, the federal government of the U.S. has accepted the system but with some degree of responsibility. When the medical care program was introduced to them, it has become a complex mix of public and private payments. The extent covered the maldistribution of resources and disproportions of access (Porter 9). Nevertheless, across the surveys, the U.S. health care system becomes the country’s largest employer. Approximately, 597,000 are physicians, 137,000 are dentists, 1.8 million are nurses, and nine million are field workers (Warner 356).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Administering the federal health care activities was charged to the Department of Health and Human Services. Health insurance comprises all forms of insurance against financial loss resulting from injury or illness. The most common health insurance coverage is for hospital care, including the physician services in the hospital. Major medical policies protect the insured against calamitous charges, paying a sum of that ranges from $10,000 to $1,000,000, after the policyholder has paid a preliminary deductible amount (Warner 371). Patients usually have out-of-pocket expenses since doctors’ charges are not entirely covered by the insurance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Overheads for healthcare services in the U.S. alone have been mounting sharply for about over a decade. Insurance coverage is potholed. Coverage for home care of the chronically ill is nigh on absent. A fixed sum is paid for a service except for hospital insurance. More often than not, this payment must be supplemented by the patient (Warner 358).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Problems also arose in the aspect of recruitment and distribution of physicians. About one-fourth of U.S. physicians were engaged in primary patient care. That included obstetrics, internal medicine, pediatrics, and family medicine. In the slums of big cities, physicians are sparse but profuse in the more affluent sub-urban areas (Porter 12). One of the more daunting areas of health care is the prohibitive cost of medicines. At present, there is no governing body that regulates the price of medicine. This means that the manufacturers dictate the prices. With this discretion, expectedly the prices could be set as high as excusably possible. To ornament with justice, their marketing strategy has spawned the mentality that â€Å"branded is better.† Came the managed healthcare system. The genesis of contemporaneous managed care can be trailed to the prepaid plans providing healthcare to rural, shipbuilding and construction workers in the U.S. in the 1920s and 1930s. Managed healthcare have likewise existed in ancient China when doctors were supposedly paid only while they kept their patients healthy. Although many of the procedures used by managed healthcare to regulate expenditures have existed in African countries for a time, it was only since the latter part of the 20th century that the concept of managed care has been both in full swing in an effort to provide Africa with low-priced quality healthcare and denigrated by others (Porter 10-11). But in the U.S., managed healthcare was only firmly established when briskly swelling healthcare costs in the 1970’s and 80’s led to the passing of legislation providing for the establishment of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) (Warner 370).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   HMOs and the government has since then been on the lookout for effective alternatives. The government and the private sector all face the problem of financing the uncontrolled inflation of cost in the medical care program. Others blame it on the growing numbers of people who seek care. Some on the greater use of laboratory costs and of specialists in diagnosis and treatment (Reiser 16). Needless to say, the synergistic force of the sectors wanted programs that were cheap but were at least, effective.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hospitals were responding to increasing cost demands. They attempted to introduce more competent management schemes. Proprietary hospitals have found greater earnings in chain operations. Other efforts to slash costs included hiring less-expensive professional workers, like nurses and paramedics, in the hope of getting basic care to patients at a lower fee (Porter 10). The health care system has indeed been an entrepreneurial idea. However, paradox has it that in due time, antibiotics, vaccines, and other vital medicines will be short of availability at least, among the 5.6 billion people, according to the World Health Organization (Porter 18). Scarcity of producers of medicines has nothing to do with it. Maldistribution and capitalistic exploitation will make the medicines inaccessible to the poor. Over 40 million Americans have some form of heart or blood vessel disease, and the combined costs of treatment and lost income exceed 50 billion dollars annually. About 4 million people, 10 percent of those with cardiovascular diseases, have coronary artery disease. Because of these findings, the Framingham Study considers cardiovascular disease as one of the leading epidemiological diseases in the country. A more distressing fact rings throughout the Third World countries whose healthcare programs are financed by their governments on less than 1 percent cut from the gross domestic product (Porter 15-16). At this reality, whose son or daughter will not be underfed? Every major city had slum areas that housed the poor and unemployed, and declining farm incomes created rural poverty. Amid the growth and confidence of the postwar years, United States leaders initiated programs of aid to help people at home and abroad improve their way of life. Programs of domestic aid included funds for education, medical care for the poor, and urban renewal programs. International air programs begun soon after the war sought to help United States maintain economic and political stability (Fusfeld and Bates, 1984). Poverty-stricken people suffer from the lack of many things they need. For example, they are less likely to receive adequate medical care or to eat the foods they need to stay healthy. The poor have more diseases, become more seriously ill, and die at a younger age than other people do. Poor people often live in substandard housing in socially isolated areas where most of their neighbors are poor. Many low-income families live in crowded, run-down buildings with inadequate heat and plumbing. The jobs most readily available to the poor provide low wages and little opportunity for advancement. Many of these jobs also involve dangerous or unhealthful working conditions. Financial, medical, and emotional problems often strain family ties among the poverty-stricken. Furthermore, the healthcare system of countryside Americans is dense. For instance, Indians are lacking relative to their urban equivalents in many important ways that shape their health: they are unduly economically inferior, proportionately lesser are of working age, and they have not fulfilled as much of education. Topographical access is of principal interest in several rural states. Indians who reside in remote areas, comparatively far from urban areas or centers, sometimes find it hard to get in touch with healthcare personnel or services. In respect of urban inhabitants, rural dwellers have to trek farther to care and tackle other problems such as mediocre road and rail network, and short of public transportation. These problems are distinguished yet their resolution escapes the labors of the U.S. Legislature, and local governments. Culture is another driving factor, including influential customs (Nabokov). The Indians’ unfavorable health behaviors, employment of folk medication, the impact of traditional religion on healthcare, and estrangement from countrywide society all play a part to the way they care for their health. To make the decisions centralized, World Medical Association was founded as an organization of several of the world’s national medical associations. Instituted in 1947, this medical society has embraced an international code of medical ethics and many other ethical pronouncements. The center of operations is in Ferney-Voltaire, France (Porter, 2000). One of the pivotal epidemiological methodologies for an improved healthcare provision is an informed public. If the individual does not understand what he or she must do to preserve health and reduce his or her risk of a probable epidemiological disease, if he or she does not recognize when he or she needs outside help, and if he or she or members of his family are not prepared to take the appropriate steps to obtain this help, then all of the world’s medical knowledge will be of little value. The educational process that would prepare an individual to help preserve his or her own health and reduce his or her epidemiological risk should ideally begin in his or her youth when lifelong patterns are being formed, and continue throughout his or her adult life. A hospital management’s role is twofold: helping to build good health habits in the young, and serving as agents in adult health habits through public information and education programs designed to teach preservation of health and raise the general health consciousness of the people. The practicing physician, emergency medical services, the clinic or neighborhood health center, the hospital as a whole stand to be prepared in implementing medical line of defense. Even at times the nonmedical person who is on the scene when an acute emergency occurs are relied on. In order to be effective, the hospital carrying out the epidemiological measures, together with these individuals and services, are obliged and expected not only to be capable of providing healthcare, but must be prepared to do so in a manner that is acceptable and accessible to, and understood by, the public. The epidemiological measures of a hospital in this area shall also address such things as professional education, healthcare standards, and public information regarding access to care and services. Another approach is that which serves as the underpinning of the rest of the strategies and plans; it is the biomedical research to identify such epidemiological factors as dietary fats, smoking, hypertension, etc., that adversely affect human health and to devise methods for preventing, diagnosing, and treating these conditions and the diseases to which they contribute. In this regard, the hospital has a unique role to play, in that while they cannot the huge sums needed for large-scale clinical trials or epidemiological studies, they claim to have an excellent mechanism for supporting young investigators who are juts beginning their research careers, helping them gain the experience and results necessary to compete for larger grants in the national and international arenas. The emphasis is practically placed on the support of quality research projects having high merit ratings. To adequately develop such improved measures by Medicare, it should have the hospital require a programmed effort that first takes into consideration the fact that the hospital cannot be all things to all people. It may have quite limited resources in terms of money, volunteers, and staff in other departments, and the need for each of these resources may always seem to exceed the supply. Since there are numerous programs and activities that are capable of improving health of the patients to some degree, hard choices must be made regarding the disposition of these resources. This implies priority setting, which is made more efficient by the establishment and implementation of a hospital-wide, goal-oriented, long-range planning process. Such a process helps the hospital focus its epidemiological measures on high yield, cost-effective projects that either help prevent the healthcare provision, or provide ongoing relief and control, yielding the highest return on time and money invested. All in all, medical institution evolved across time to deal with problems of health and disease using epidemiological measures that are based on mortality, morbidity, disability, and quality. More specifically, medical institution was perceived performing a number of key functions in modern societies. First, it treats and seeks to cure disease. Second, the medical institution attempts to prevent disease through maintenance programs, including vaccination, health education, periodic checkups, and public health and safety standards (administrative medicine). Third, it undertakes research in the prevention, treatment, and cure of health problems (preventive medicine). And fourth, it serves as an agency of social control by defining some behaviors as normal and healthy and others as deviant and unhealthy. Although health care can take its roots back when one of the greatest achievements of civilization was the naissance of medicine, real health comes from within. The quality of life of an individual is governed by the swelling bearing of his positive personal health-seeking activities and behaviors. And with the help of heath care, tomorrow’s health centers will fill out today’s precision diagnostic services with equally scientific self-care and wellness programs. Future healthcare will increasingly concede to the empowerment of the individual. Perhaps the way healthcare began more than two thousand years back differs from the way it will continue in the next two thousand years or so. The gods may still have a role but not for the folks to plead to for kinder nature. A common Supreme Being might then take the place of them and be prayed to in exchange for a kinder world. If in the past, the causes of illnesses may have been shared between man and nature, from this time forth, diseases would be brought about by the caustic arms of industrialization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Whose healthcare would not be needed most in the midst of volatile worldwide climate and industrial population? Typhoons come and leave natural borne diseases. McDonald’s open their stores and send resentful stomachs to the healthcare clinics. Who would not consequently draw a smart plot from the commercial appeal of healthcare? For healthcare, this means an upsurge in affliction as well as a digression of resources away from healthcare toward reform. The pandemonium disrupts food supplies, infectious diseases multiply, and alarm triggers stress-induced illnesses. The beginnings of medical care may have been deemed mad and laughable. Then again, its inheritance, with the help of worsened worldwide scenarios, is rendering the underprivileged mad and the moneyed having the last laugh. References Amundsen, Darrel W. (1996). Medicine and faith in early Christianity. Medicine, Society, and Faith in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Chambers, Donald and Kenneth Wedel. Social Policy and Social Programs: A Method for the Practical Public Policy Analyst, 4th edition. Pearson Publishing. Fusfeld, Daniel R., and Timothy Bates. (1984). The Political Economy of the Urban Ghetto. Southern Illinois University Press. McDaniel, W. B. (1959). â€Å"A view of 19th century medical historiography in the United States of America.† The History of Medicine. Nabokov, Peter. Native American Testimony: A Chronicle Of Indian-White Relations From Prophesy To The Present (1492-1992). Penguin Publishing. Porter, Dorothy E. (1975). Social Medicine and Medical Sociology in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Reiser, Stanley J. (1984). â€Å"The machine at the bedside: Technological transformations of practices and values.† The Machine at the Bedside: Strategies for Using Technology in Patient Care. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Warner, Martin S. (1985). Medical Practice and Health Care During the Revolutionary War and Early National Periods. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

The History Of The Internet :: essays research papers

Term Paper: The History of the Internet The Internet began like most things in our society, that is to say that the government started it. The Internet started out as a experimental military network in the 60's. Doug Engelbart prototypes an "Online System" (NLS) which does hypertext browsing editing, email, and so on. The Internet is a worldwide broadcasting resource used for distributing information and a source for interaction between people on their computers. In 1973, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated a research program to investigate techniques and technologies for interlinking packet networks of various kinds. It then expanded to other governmental agencies and then to higher education. This was called the Internetting project and the system of networks, which emerged from the research, was known as the "Internet." Al Gore is described as "an advocate of the information superhighway". He helped bring it to our national attention that he invented the Internet. It is not true that he invented the Internet but it is true that he had a small part in its development. Since the early sixties, when Al Gore was still in high school, the development of networking technology had already started. It is true that the Internet has grown and flourished tremendously during Gore's tenure, but that hardly means he caused it to happen. The Internet has revolutionized the computer and communications world like nothing before. The Internet enables communication and transmission of data between computers at different locations. The Internet is a computer application that connects tens of thousands of interconnected computer networks that include 1.7 million host computers around the world. The basis of connecting all these computers together is by the use of ordinary telephone wires. Users are then directly joined to other computer users at there own will for a small connection fee per month. The connection conveniently includes unlimited access to over a million web sites twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There are many reasons why the Internet is important these reasons include: The net adapts to damage and error, data travels at 2/3 the speed of light on copper and fiber, the internet provides the same functionality to everyone, the net is the fastest growing technology ever, the net promotes freedom of speech, the net is digital, and can correct errors. Connecting to the Internet cost the taxpayer little or nothing, since each node was independent, and had to handle its own financing and its own technical requirements.

The Crucible - How John Proctor Changed Essay -- Essay on The Crucible

The Crucible - How John Proctor changed throughout the storyline from mistreating his wife by cheating on her while she was ill with Abigail, to someone who took the blame so no one else got in trouble. The Crucible In this essay I will talk about how John Proctor changed throughout the storyline from mistreating his wife by cheating on her while she was ill with Abigail, to someone who took the blame so no one else got in trouble. The Crucible is based on the true story of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials where people were hanged if they were accused of being a witch. All of them were innocent and wrongly hanged. Arthur Miller has changed some of the play so it would be easier to write about like the girls in crying out has been reduced and Abigail's age has been raised. There were also 7 judges of equal authority which has all been symbolized in Hathorne and Danforth. The story starts out with a group of girls who were caught dancing in the woods by Reverend Parris. He also saw one of them naked in the woods. Next morning Betty falls ill and Parris keeps asking what's wrong with her and what did Abigail do to her. He asks about the devil and Abigail sees this as an opportunity to blame people for being involved with the devil and getting her own back on people. We then see people coming into the house and leaving. Abigail tells all these people who she saw with the devil. Later on we get introduced to John Proctor who was respected in Salem and even feared. He is in his middle thirties and was a farmer. Then in Act2 John Proctor sits down to dinner with his wife, Elizabeth. Mary Warren, their servant, has gone to the witch trials, disobeying Elizabeth's order that she remain in the house. Fourteen... ...eople were acting quickly. At the beginning everybody speaks with the same dialect. He uses goody for names which is short for good wife. And people call each other with mister and miss. This all contributes to the feeling of a different society. Distanced not only by time but by the way it communicated. While we was reading it in class, there was some people who thought that John Proctor took the easy way out and was being selfish by committing suicide and leaving his children and wife to them selves and not standing up to the rest of the village by knowing that people wouldn't like him anymore and if he died then he wouldn't have to put up with that. I think though that he changed during the play and did what was right by trying to do his best and make up to his wife about his mistakes. He changes and tries to take the blame instead of everyone else.

Development of an Enterprise Resource Planning System Essay

Riordan Manufacturing Inc. is a global plastics manufacturer that was founded in 1991 and employs 550 people. They have since expanded to three locations in the U. S. and one in China. Due to these expansions the company is now experiencing communication and processing issues. Each system needs to be connected to the others in order to improve the tracking and productivity as well as communication between systems. We have been asked to develop a plan to implement a system to connect all of the people and locations into one enterprise system that will give the company access to information from any location at any time. This document covers our plan to achieve this goal for Riordan Manufacturing Inc. Statement of Scope and Goals Riordan Manufacturing has requested that an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) be developed and used in the San Jose, California; Albany, Georgia; Pontiac, Michigan; and Hangzhou, China offices. The goal of this ERP project is to stream line the manufacturing, distribution, and inventory management systems across all plants and to use only one system. The newly proposed system will give Riordan Manufacturing a wealth of opportunity to grow its business and sustain the customers that it has already. The new system will assist the company in obtaining the goals that it has set forth with in its missions statement by providing solutions for its customers. Each of the four Riordan Manufacturing offices is utilizing different software programs to manage their manufacturing, distribution, and inventory. This type of environments provides very little functionality. The efficiency of this is also overwhelming because each plant in essence is not communicating with each other over one system. All of this makes it difficult to track accurately inventory, generate meaningful reports, respond to the information requests from stakeholders, and to make important decisions. Riordan Manufacturing needs an integrated solution that will provide real-time access to data for reporting, inventory, and distribution. The scope of the project is as follows: * A document that identifies specific modeling of the software that the company wishes to be implemented across the board as well as its dates for execution and go live plan. Detailed project plan to monitor and track the progress of the implementation * A communication plan so that status, upcoming events, milestones, and other general information can be shared with the project team as well as the stakeholders. * Risk assessment in order to identify any issues that may arise through out the project and have a contingency plan established before these issues arise. * An easy to use end user environment will be implemented. * All modules of the ERP system will be tested prior to implementation * End users will be trained in the use of the system and all modules before implementation. Technical and end user documentation will be created and finalized before implementation. * Process and procedural documentation will be created and finalized before implementation * All maintenance and support responsibilities will be assigned to those who will manage after implementation We will also hold a post implementation meetings and have evaluate the project implementation prior to the close of the project (Apollo Group, 2012). Support Measures for Success We believe it is important to track success in steps. We will be using Microsoft Project as a project management tool. This will give us the ability to track costs, labor, time and resources to ensure that the project is going as planned and also to know if there are any issues in any of these areas. Our goal is to bring the project in on time and within budget while still meeting all of the requirements for a successful implementation. Success is an ongoing goal and the focus of measure needs to be taken even after the project has been completed to unsure that choices made during the implementation still producing profit. Changes made need to be made during the support phase if additional functionality is needed. Adding more locations or applications to the system may also require altering the measurement standards of success. Summary of Project Feasibility To determine the feasibility of this project a number of factors must be considered, the first being the economic feasibility. Economic feasibility takes into consideration the overall cost of implementation and maintenance of the ERP system. It asks the questions of rather there be any cost savings through implementation of an ERP? Can be ERP increase the revenue for Riordan? And over time, will investment into the ERP decrease (O’Brien & Marakas, 2009)? In general, it must justify that the overall cost of the ERP give an adequate return of investment (ROI) back to Riordan (Motiwalla & Thompson, 2009). Next operational feasibility is looking at rather Riordan’s infrastructure can currently handle the demands of an ERP system. Then if not, changes are going to have to be made to those systems some that the implemented ERP can operate successfully. Also, it looks at the proposed ERP and rather it fits the business model of Riordan (O’Brien & Marakas, 2009). Finally, technical feasibility has to be looked at, to determine if current technology can solve the problems address by Riordan (Motiwalla & Thompson, 2009). Proposed Systems Requirements List Some of the system requirements needed to improve the functionality of Riordan’s raw material and finished product tracking process are as follows (O’Brien & Marakas, 2009): * Unify the process at all facilities to track raw material coming into them. So purchasing can order material in a more efficient manner. * Unify the process at all facilities to monitor the production levels at each plant so management and sales can plan future strategies. * Unify the process at all facilities to give real-time inventory control so management can better plan and coordinate inventory control. Determination of Requirements The aspects that will ensure the information required for this project is gathered successfully are: knowing who should be involved, what questions to ask, formulating a plan, and deciding on the method of delivery. Every stakeholder needs to be identified and contacted for needed user requirements. Once the stakeholders have been identified creating a list of questions needing to be answered will assist in planning and determining the delivery method. Stakeholders can review the questions prior to their monthly stakeholder meeting. The different types of deliveries are system observation, interviews, questionnaires, document review, or Joint Application Development (JAD) sessions. Information gathering techniques will be used to determine the users’ needs. Based on these needs the appropriate ERP system can be designed and implemented. The following techniques will be used to gather information needed on the current process; system observation, interviews, questionnaires, document review, and Joint Application Development (JAD) sessions. Because much of the manufacturing, distribution, and inventory management are gathered through manual process, a system observation and interviews will be handled all at once to document the entire process and system throughout each location. Observing system usage will give great insight into who is using the system and how they are using it. System observation includes manual processes such as comparing shipping documents to scheduled orders receiving report. Stakeholders to be contacted for requirements will be limited to the following roles with Riordan Manufacturing; member of order shipping team, member of sales department, member of manufacturing team, truck drivers, shipping area supervisor, member of receiving area team, receiving clerk, and inventory clerk. A questionnaire is a cost-effective way of gathering additional supporting information. This method of gathering requirements will be used for truck drivers because they are on the road. The use of an online format for the questionnaires to be completed will be the most successful. During the system observation, interview, and questionnaire phase a list of current documents used will be compiled. These examples will be reviewed for information needed for the proposed ERP system. Prototyping Another popular method uses documentation but at a high level and combines with a process of rapid design and testing of a working model of a solution. This method is called prototyping. This method is very beneficial because it allows the users and stakeholders to see how their requirements will be used to produce the system process. Taking the high level requirements and turning it into a user interface that is visual to the user and is a working prototype to see how it will flow. This allows for interaction and can turn some requirements into different solutions and determine which requirements are mandatory and which ones are going to be optional. It provides a more real feel for what the system process will look like and allows for visual confirmation that this is what the company is looking for (Owens, 2009). List of Confirmed Requirements As it stands now the companies most sophisticated location is the San Jose office. The ERP that is residing in that location should be adapted throughout each other location. Along with this the installation of a VoIP system which will allow for a more flowing form of vocal communication between the company and its customers. It also allows the sales team or anyone who is outside the office to connect and accept phone calls even when not on site. All of the locations should have a software upgrade from the current to Microsoft Office 2010. Access points should be installed so that each department see’s only the information that is necessary for their use. This access should only be granted through the technical IT staff after being approved by their specific supervisor. All of the operating systems should be upgraded to Windows 7 because of the smooth use with all of its programs. Reporting should be done either using SQL or Microsoft Access to allow for customized reporting and integration of reports made for each department (Apollo Group, 2012).

Balancing Penn Foster Studies Essay

Balancing Penn foster studies with work and family Being a full time working father of one, I have the responsibility of taking caring of my mother, wife and son. However this doesn’t hinder me to continue my studies, though it has some difficulties on adjusting the life in between my studies and family life. The hardest part for me in balancing my studies, work and family demands is just how to set up the time so everything is balanced out. I guess that we all must have to make personal sacrifices in order to be successful and have a fulfilling life. With proper planning however the balance between work, family, and collage studies is possible to obtain. Everyday I must make choices on how I will manage my time so I can keep the balance of my studies, work, and family demands. Maintaining the balance between everything is an everyday process. This is where the real task of balance takes place. While attending the Penn foster online courses and sitting time back for my studies, I also have a family to take care of, which requires most of my time. I also have    a full time job that requires me to work on the grave yard shift. Despite the fact that each of the responsibilities need more time on their own I have to set specific times up in a daily planner and discuss these set of specific times with my family and friends so that they can help me keep the balance between work, family demands, and my collage studies. I know that people struggle everyday to balance their studies, work, and family demands. However, I also believe that each person must come up with their own way of balancing things out in their life, so they are happy and successful. Keeping the balance between work, family demands, and college can be a very difficult process to do, but with the support from family and friends it can be done. Generally speaking, nothing is in possible in this world. Many people think that once they have their own family they ignore their studies and focus on their work. This is all because they think they will not get enough time to concentrate on their studies while looking after their work and family. I was also of such kind of people for long time until I got the advice from friends and families and got the courage to continue my studies. The difficulties of adjusting time cannot be denied however, managing ones time will solve all the difficulties. The idea of online studies has also contributed a lot in encouraging many working people who have family as well to continue their studies at their convenience time and place. Besides, going through the difficulties of attending your studies while taking care of your family and work is also worth as it will lead you to a better and successful life in the future.

The Blue Sword CHAPTER FOUR

She stared out of her bedroom window at the moonlit desert. Shadows drifted across the pale sand, from one shaded hollow to the next clump of dry brush. Almost she could pretend the shadows had direction, intention. It was a game she often played. She ought to be in bed; she heard two o'clock strike. The location and acoustics of the big clock that stood in the front hall were such that it could be heard throughout the large house it presided over – probably even in the servants' quarters, although she had never had occasion to find out and didn't quite dare ask. She had often wondered if it was perversity or accident – and for whatever reason, why wasn't it changed? – that the clock should so be located as to force the knowledge of the passing of time upon everyone in the Residency, every hour of every day. Who would want to know the time when one couldn't sleep? She had had insomnia badly when she was fresh from Home. It had never occurred to her that she would not be able to sleep without the sound of the wind through the oak trees outside her bedroom at Home; she had slept admirably aboard the ship, when apprehensions about her future should have been thickest. But the sound of the ceaseless desert air kept her awake night after night. There was something about it too like speech, and not at all like the comfortable murmur of oak leaves. But most of that had worn off in the first few weeks here. She had had only occasional bad nights since then. Bad? she thought. Why bad? I rarely feel much the worse the next day, except for a sort of moral irritability that seems to go with the feeling that I ought to have spent all those silent hours asleep. But this last week had been quite as bad – as sleepless – as any she had known. The last two nights she had spent curled up in the window-seat of her bedroom; she had come to the point where she couldn't bear even to look at her bed. Yesterday Annie, when she had come to waken her, had found her still at the window, where she had dozed off near dawn; and, like the placid sensible maid that she was, had been scandalized. Apparently she had then had the ill grace to mention the matter to Lady Amelia, who, in spite of all the alarums and excursions of the week past, had still found time to stop at Harry's room just at bedtime, and cluck over her, and abjure her to drink some nice warm milk (Milk! thought Harry with revulsion, who had given it up forever at the age of twelve, with her first grown-up cup of tea), and make her promise to try to sleep – as if that ever had anything to do with it – and ask her if she was sure she was feeling quite well. â€Å"Very well, ma'am,† Harry replied. Lady Amelia looked at her with concern. â€Å"You aren't fidgeting yourself about, mmm, last week, are you?† Harry shook her head, and smiled a little. â€Å"No, truly, I am in excellent health.† She thought of the end of a conversation she had heard, two days past, as Dedham and Peterson left Sir Charles' study without noticing her presence in the hall behind them. † †¦ don't like it one bit,† Peterson was saying. Dedham ran his hand over the top of his close-cropped head and remarked, half-humorously, â€Å"You know, though, if in a month or a year from now, one of those Hillfolk comes galloping in on a lathered horse and yells, ‘The pass! We are overwhelmed!' I'm going to close up the fort and go see about it with as many men as I can find, and worry about reporting it later.† The front door had closed behind the two of them, and Harry proceeded thoughtfully on her way. â€Å"I hope you are not sickening for anything, child,† said Lady Amelia; â€Å"your eyes seem overbright.† She paused, and then said in a tone of voice that suggested she was not sure this bit of reassurance was wise, as perhaps it would aggravate a nervous condition instead of soothing it: â€Å"You must understand, my dear, that if there is any real danger, you and I will be sent away in time.† Harry looked at her, startled. Lady Amelia misread her look, and patted her hand. â€Å"You mustn't distress yourself. Sir Charles and Colonel Dedham will take care of us.† Yesterday Harry had managed to corner Jack when he came again to closet himself with Sir Charles for long mysterious hours. Harry had lurked in the breakfast room till Jack emerged, looking tired. His look lightened when he saw her, and he greeted her, â€Å"Good morning, my dear. I see a gleam in your eye; what bit of arcane Damarian lore do you wish to wrest from me today?† â€Å"What was it exactly that you said to Corlath that morning, just as he left?† replied Harry promptly. Jack laughed. â€Å"You don't pull your punches, do you?† He sobered, looking at her quizzically. â€Å"I don't know that I should tell you – â€Å" â€Å"But – â€Å" â€Å"But I will. In the days of Damar's civil wars, a man pledged himself so, to his king, or to the particular claimant he wished to support. It was a particularly dangerous and unsettled time, and so the ritual swearing to one's leader meant rather a lot – more, for example, than our Queen's officers taking an oath to her, as we all must do. The phrase still carries weight in Hill tradition †¦ but you see, my giving it to Corlath was a trifle, hmm, unprofessional of me, as Homelander protecting the Homelander Border from Corlath. A calculated risk on my part †¦ † He shrugged. â€Å"I hoped to indicate that not all Homelanders are †¦ unsympathetic to the Free Hillfolk, whatever the official attitude is.† Harry lay down in her detestable bed after Lady Amelia left her, and dozed, after a fashion, till midnight; but then the darkness and peacefulness wakened her, and she came again to her window-seat to watch the night pass. Two-thirty. How black the sky was around the stars; nearer the horizon were longer flatter glints in the darkness, unsuitable for stars, and these were the mountains; and the desert was shades of grey. Without realizing it, she drifted into sleep. There was the Residency, stolid and black in the moonlight. Faran and Innath would stay here, with the horses; it was not safe to take them any nearer. He would go the rest of the way on foot. Safe! He grinned sourly behind the safety of the grey hood pulled over his face, and slid into the shadows. The adventure was upon them, for good or ill. â€Å"Sola, not an Outlander,† Faran had begged, almost tearfully; and Corlath had flushed under his sun-darkened skin. There had been certain romantic interludes in the past that had included galloping across the desert at night; but he had never abducted any woman whose enthusiastic support for such a plan had not been secured well in advance. Corlath's father had been a notorious lover of women; unsuspected half-brothers and half-sisters of the present king still turned up occasionally, which kept the subject in everyone's mind. Corlath sometimes thought that his own policy of discretion in such matters only made his people nervous because they didn't know what was going on – or if anything was. For some time now there hadn't been, but by the gods, did his own Riders really expect him to break out by making an ass of himself over an Outlander – and now of all times? But, on the other hand, he could not well explain his reasons – even to himself – although his determination was fixed, as he had unhappily realized the moment the words were out of his mouth. But he hated to see his people unhappy – because he was a good king, not because he was a nervous one – and so, while he could rightfully have told Faran to let it be, he had given as much of an answer as he could. â€Å"This is an affair of state,† he said slowly, because he could not quite bring himself to say that his kelar was concerning itself with an Outlander, even to his Riders, who were his dearest friends as well as his most trusted subjects. â€Å"The girl will be a prisoner of honor, treated with all honor, by me as well as by you.† No one had understood, but they were a little soothed; and they avoided thinking about the unwritten law of their land that said that a kidnapped woman has been ravished of her honor, whether she has been actually ravished of anything beyond a few uncomfortable hours across somebody's saddlebow or not. It was generally accounted an honor for a Hillman or woman to be seduced by a member of the royal family – which was why kelar, originally a royal Gift, continued to turn up in odd places – if a somewhat uncomfortable honor, for who could be entirely at ease with a lover who must never quite meet one's eyes? And Outlanders were peculiar, as everyone knew, so who did know how they might react? â€Å"Sola,† Faran quavered, and Corlath paused and turned a little toward the man to indicate that he would listen. â€Å"Sola, what will happen when the Outlanders find her gone?† â€Å"What of it?† â€Å"They will come after her.† â€Å"Not if they do not know where she has gone.† â€Å"But – how could they not know?† Corlath smiled grimly. â€Å"Because we shall not tell them.† Faran, by his own choice, had not been one of those who accompanied his king to the council with the Outlanders; Forloy and Innath and the others who had gone were wearing smiles to match the king's. The Outlanders could not see what happened under their very noses. â€Å"You shall leave here at once, and travel, slowly, toward the mountains; and set up camp again where the Leik spring touches the surface. There you will wait for me. I will return the way we came, in secret, in three days' time, so that the girl will not disappear too soon after the Hillfolk were seen in the Outlander station. Then I shall take the girl from her bed as she sleeps in the big house, and ride back to you.† There was a meditative silence; at last Faran said: â€Å"I would go with you, Sola. My horse is fast.† His voice was still unhappy, but the quaver was gone; and as he looked at the faces of the six Riders who had been with Corlath when he spoke with the Outlander commissioner, he began to feel curious. He had never seen an Outlander, even from a distance; never looked upon an Outlander town. After three restless days at the deserted campsite, Corlath, Faran, and Innath rode swiftly back toward the Outlander town. Corlath thought: They can't see us even in broad daylight when we gallop toward them with cloaks flapping and horses whinnying. We creep like burglars to an empty house, pretending that it has an owner because we can't quite believe it is this easy. Faran and Innath knelt down where they were and did not look as their king left them, for they knew they would see no more than he wished them to. The horses waited as silently as the men, but the king's bay stallion watched him go. The only sound was the wind whispering through the low brush and the horses' long manes. Corlath reached the house without difficulty; he had expected none. Watchdogs ignored him, or mysteriously counted him a friend. There were several black-and-brown furry shapes lying about sullenly snoring in the Residency garden. Outlander dogs did not like the northeast Border of Daria; and Hill dogs, who would have awakened at once and watched him silently, did not get on well with Outlanders. He passed the stables, but the grooms slept as heavily as the dogs. He couldn't see in the dark, but even in the places where the moonlight was no help he knew where things were. He reached the wall of the house and laid a hand on it. Depending on what sort of a mood the kelar was in, he could occasionally walk through walls, without knocking them down first, or at least see through them. And then again, sometimes he couldn't. It would be tiresome if he had to break in like the common burglar he felt, and wander from room to room looking at faces on pillows. There was even the remote chance he could get caught at it. No. This wasn't going to be one of those times: the kelar was with him – since it had gotten him into this dilemma, he thought, at least it was going to help to get him out of it – and he knew almost at once where she was. His only bad moment was when that damned clock in the front hall tolled like a call for the dead, and seemed to reach up the stairs after him like cold pale hands. She was curled up, drooping and asleep on a cushioned shelf built out from a curved window; and for a moment pity struck him and he hesitated. What good will pity do me? he thought almost angrily; I'm not here by choice. But he wrapped the cloak around her with unnecessary tenderness as he breathed a few words over her head to make sure she would sleep. Harry struggled out of some of the oddest dreams she'd ever had into a dim and foggy reality full of bumps and jolts. Was she ill? She couldn't seem to make out what was happening to her, save that it was very uncomfortable, and it was not like her to have difficulty waking up. She opened her eyes blearily and saw something that looked like dawn behind something that looked like hills, although she was a long way from them †¦ Where she was, she then realized, was slung sideways across a horse's withers with her feet sliding across his shoulder with every stride – no more comfortable for him than me – and she was held sitting upright by an arm round her middle that clamped her arms to her sides, and her head appeared to be bouncing against a human shoulder. Her only clear notion, and it wasn't very, was that she was perfectly capable of riding a horse herself, and resented being treated like a bundle or a baby: so she struggled. She raised her head with a gasp and shook her face free of the deep hood pulled over it; tried to sit up a bit farther and turn a bit more to the front. This caused the rider to rein his horse in abruptly; except she realized there were no reins. The rider seized her a little more firmly and then there were two other men on horseback beside her, and they dismounted and came toward her at once. They were dressed like Hillfolk, with hoods pulled low over their faces; and quite suddenly, still not understanding what had happened to her, she was afraid. The rider who held her handed her down to the men beneath; and she noticed that the shoulder her heels were knocking was bright bay, and the mane long and black. Then as the two men caught her by the arms, her feet touched the ground, and she fainted again. She woke once again in twilight, but this time the red glow came from the opposite direction. This time she awoke feeling more like herself; or she thought she did, but her surroundings were so unlikely she wasn't sure. She sat up and discovered she could; she was lying on a blanket, still wrapped in a dark hooded cloak that wasn't hers; and underneath she discovered she was still wearing her nightgown, and the dressing-gown over it. She was barefoot; she spent a light-headed minute or two trying to remember if her slippers had disappeared or if she'd never put them on – last night, or whenever it was – caught herself here, and looked around. She was in a bit of a hollow, with a scrub-covered dune behind her. Over her was a sort of tent roof, pegged out in a square, but with only one side let down. The other three offered her a view of the dune; the sunset, if that was what it was; and three men crouching over a tiny smokeless fire, built against the opposite arm of the same dune. Around its edge she could see the black hills fading in the last light, and three horses. Three lumps that might be saddles lay near them, but the horses – a grey, a chestnut, and a blood bay – were not tethered in any way. She had only just looked at these things with a first quick glance, and had not yet begun to puzzle over them, when one of the men stood up from the fire and walked over to her. The other two appeared to pay no attention, remaining bent over their knees and staring into the small red heart of the fire. The third man knelt down near her and offered a cup with something in it that steamed, and she took it at once without thinking, for the man's gesture had been a command. Then she held it and looked at it. Whatever it was, it was brown, and it smelled delicious; her stomach woke up at once, and complained. She looked at the cup, and then at the man; he was wrapped in a cloak and she could not see his face. After a moment he gestured again, at the cup she held, and said, â€Å"Drink it.† She licked her lips and wondered how her voice was going to sound. â€Å"I would rather not sleep any more.† That came out pretty well. There was another pause, but whether it was because he did not understand her – his accent was curious and heavy, although the Homelander words were readily recognizable – or was choosing his answer carefully, she could not tell. At last he said: â€Å"It will not make you sleep.† She realized that she was much too thirsty to care whether or not she believed him; and she drank it all. It tasted as good as it smelled, which, she thought, gave it points over coffee. Then she realized that she was now terribly hungry. â€Å"There is food if you wish it.† She nodded, and at once he brought her a plate of food and some more of the hot brown drink. He sat down again, as if with the intention of watching each mouthful. She looked at him, or rather at the shadow beneath the hood; then she transferred her attention to her plate. On it, beside the steaming hump of what she took to be stew, was an oddly shaped spoon; the handle was very arched, the bowl almost flat. She picked it up. â€Å"Be careful,† he said. â€Å"The sleep you have had makes some people sick.† So I was drugged, she thought. There was a peculiar relief in this, as if she now had an excuse to remember nothing at all about how she came to be where she was. She ate what she had been given, and felt the better for it, although the meat was unfamiliar to her; but the feeling better brought into unwelcome prominence all her questions about where she was, and why, and – worst – what next. She hesitated, looking at her now-empty plate. It was a dull grey, with a black symbol at its center. I wonder if it means anything, she thought. Health and long life? A charm against getting broken or lost? Or a symbolic representation of Death to Outlanders? â€Å"Is it well?† the man beside her asked. â€Å"I would – er – be more comfortable if I could see your face,† she said, trying to strike a clear note among reasonable timidity, dreadful cowardice, and politeness to one's captor. He threw back his hood, and turned his head so his face was clearly visible against the fading light behind him. â€Å"My God,† she said involuntarily: it was Corlath. â€Å"You recognize me, then?† he inquired; and at her startled nod – Yes, Your Majesty, she thought, but her tongue was glued to her teeth – he said, â€Å"Good,† and stood up. She looked dazed; he wished he might say something to reassure her, but if he couldn't explain to his own people why he was doing what he was doing, he knew he would be able to say nothing to her. He watched her gathering her dignity about her and settling it over her stricken expression. She said nothing further, and he picked up her plate and cup and took them back to the fire, where Innath scrubbed them with sand and put them away. Harry was too busy with her own thoughts to suspect sympathy from her kidnapper. She saw him as a figure in a cloak, and watched him join his men at the fire; neither of them looked her way. One stamped out the fire and packed the cooking-utensils in a bag; the other saddled the horses. Corlath stood staring at the hills, his arms folded, his cloak shifting in the evening breeze; the light was nearly all gone, and she soon could not discern his still figure against the background of the black hills. She stood up, a little shakily; her feet were uncertain under her, and her head was uncertain so far from the ground. She walked a few steps; the sand was warm underfoot, but not unbearably so. The two men – still without looking at her – slid past her, one on each side, and dismantled the tent, rolled it up, and stored it away so quickly it seemed almost like magic; and as the last bag was fastened to a saddle strap, Corlath turned, although no word had been spoken. The red bay followed him. â€Å"This is Isfahel,† he said to her gravely. â€Å"You would say perhaps †¦ Fireheart.† She looked up at the big horse, not sure what response was required; she felt that patting this great beast would be taking a liberty. To do something, she offered him the flat of her hand, and was foolishly gratified when he arched his neck and lowered his nose till his breath tickled her hand. He raised his head again and pricked his ears at Corlath; Harry felt that she had just undergone some rite of initiation, and wondered if she'd passed. The other two men approached them; the other two horses followed. Am I about to be slung over the saddlebow like a sack of meal again? she thought. Is it more difficult to do the slinging when the sack in question is standing and looking at you? She turned her head away, whereupon the other two men were found to be looking intently at the sand around their boots. The baggage was all tied behind their saddles, and the hollow they stood in looked as bare and undisturbed as if it had never sheltered a campsite. She turned her head back to Corlath again. â€Å"I can ride – at least a little,† she said humbly, although she had been considered an excellent horsewoman at Home. â€Å"Do you think I might sit †¦ facing forward, perhaps?† Corlath nodded and let go the horse's mane. He adjusted the leather-covered roll of fleece at the front of the saddle, then turned back to her. â€Å"Can you mount?† She eyed the height of the horse's back: Eighteen hands if he's an inch, she thought, and that may be conservative. â€Å"I'm not sure,† she admitted. Then, to the horror of the other two men, the puzzlement of Fireheart, and the surprise of Harry herself, Corlath knelt in the sand and offered her his cupped hands. She put a sandy foot in the hands, and was tossed up as easily as if she were a butterfly or a flower petal. She found this a bit unnerving. He mounted behind her with the same simple grace she'd seen in the Residency courtyard. The other two horses and their riders came up beside them; they wheeled together to face the hills, and together broke into a canter; Harry could detect no word or gesture of command. They rode all night – walk and canter and brief swift gallop – and Harry was bitterly tired before the line of hills before them began to emerge from a greying sky. They stopped only once; Harry swung her leg over the horse's withers and slid to the ground before any offer of help could be made; and while she didn't fold up where she stood, there was a nasty moment when she thought she might, and the sand heaved under her like the motion of a horse galloping. She was given bread, and some curious green fruit, and something to drink; and Corlath threw her into the saddle again while his men bit their lips and averted their eyes. She wound her hands in Fireheart's long mane, stiffened her back, and blinked, and willed herself to stay awake. She'd said she could ride, and she didn't want to be carried †¦ wherever they were going †¦ but she wasn't going to think about that. Just think about sitting up straight. Once when they slowed to a walk, Corlath handed her a skin bag and said, â€Å"Not much farther now,† and the words sounded kindly, not scornful. She wished she could see his face, but it was awkward to twist around to peer at someone who was just behind one's shoulder, so she didn't. The contents of the bag burned her mouth and made her gasp, but she sat up the straighter for it. Then as she stared at the line of hills, and squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, and was sure that the sky was turning paler, she was not imagining things, the three horses pulled up to a walk, then halted, ears forward. Corlath pointed; or to Harry it seemed that a disembodied hand and arm materialized by her right cheek. â€Å"There.† She followed the line his finger indicated, but she saw only waves of sand. The horses leaped forward at a gallop that appalled her with its swiftness at the end of such a journey; the shock of each of Fireheart's hoofs striking the ground rattled her bones. When she raised her eyes from the lift and fall of the black mane over her bands, she saw a glint of white, and of grey shapes too regular to be dunes. The sun broke golden over the hills as the three horses thundered into the camp.