Terrorism Is Morally Unjustifiable By Stephen Nathanson

As paradoxical as it may seem (to most), it proves difficult to condemn terrorism and have a consistent, non-hypocritical way to judge it. Most definitions of terrorism lack the applicability of all instances of terrorism, there seems to be borderline exceptions which fall within the gray area of such definitions. Stephen Nathanson, in an effort to establish what makes terrorism wrong, bases one of his main arguments on that terrorists are thought to be dreadful because they intentionally seek innocent deaths, while others who kill innocents do so unintentionally (15). In this essay, I shall argue that Nathanson’s definition of innocence, which is mostly used as the core gauge of why terrorism is morally unjustifiable, is badly restricting in that it excludes the cases of political assassinations. Consequently, this insinuates that when using his definition of innocence, attacks on political figureheads may be morally justifiable if it is done for a just cause. To support thi s thesis I will argue that, although, political assassinations do not involve the killing of innocents they are, in most cases, morally unjustifiable contrary to what Nathanson’s argument insinuates. Moreover, I will consider how Nathanson may reply to my contention by objecting that political figureheads cannot be innocent given their political position and will address his rebuttal by demonstrating that within the context of society most of us are not innocent. Nathanson argues that terrorism cannot

Strategies for Improving Student’s Content Area Reading to...

Before a student can even begin to understand how to read expository content within a text book, they must first begin to read meaningfully and they reasons behind why they read. Reading is not just for entertainment, it is also used to acquire information. Reading any form of text opens its audience, the reader, to the world without them having to buy a plane ticket or putting them in dangerous situations to gain firsthand experience (content within storybooks or novels). Reading opens one’s â€Å"cognitive eye†. Once a tolerance for reading is achieved, students can gather information from every text that they read, whether fact or fiction. Reading in content area is basically about â€Å"students interacting with text before, during, and after†¦show more content†¦For example, this strategy could b used to teach a history or literature class, where students are put into groups, assigned a character or historical figure, and using text and other resources, research the person they are demonstrating and make direct quotes from what they have done or said. They present it to their fellow classmates; there each student takes an active role in gathering information to be displayed. †¢ Introducing conflicting thought: Teacher presents students with a scenario that goes contrary to what they have previously learnt, ask them to research the following to discredit either what was learnt or what was now presented to them. For example, this strategy could be used in Science, where the teacher states the sky is not blue, or that colours that we see are not their actual colours, this could be done while teaching the topic of light. Introducing such scenarios causes disequilibrium and students seek the need (through research) to discredit it. †¢ Project based assessment: here students are given topics to review and present. The teacher provides a hotlist (a list of resource books) where they are to gather information and organize it to present orally or otherwise. This strategy could be used in teaching Studies-Studies under any scheme of work, for instance, in teaching about theShow MoreRelatedA Digital World Of Information And Communication1625 Words   |  7 Pagesdigital world of information and communication, it is imperative for us to begin thinking about reading and literacy in a new way. Our students must be proficient in what scholars describe as â€Å"new literacies.† This relatively new perspective in literacy instruction acknowledges and investigates the literacy practices that are borne out of digital technology (Houtman, 2013). In today’s world, being a proficient learner requires more than the traditional literacy skills of reading and writing. StudentsRead MoreLiteracy Is The Foundatio n Of Every Student s Learning Essay1956 Words   |  8 PagesImportance of Literacy Literacy is the foundation of every student’s learning, and learning to read English is a particularly challenging task. The OECD Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies defines literacy as: the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goalsRead More English As A Second Language Education Essay3495 Words   |  14 Pagesdevelop their understanding of mathematics. Students then effectively use mathematical tools, charts, patterns and other strategies, as well as their prior learning experiences to make connections to solve related problems. The majority are able to transfer their manipulative exploration to solving problems with pencil and paper. Students use multiple solutions and strategies when they solve problems. They express their mathematical thinking through drawing, writing, and speaking. Students socializeRead MoreIntegrated Planning Matrix4838 Words   |  19 PagesLearning Area/s Broad objective/s Lesson Objective/s Key learning opportunities Evaluation/assessment Resources (Use if you wish) Literacy, Critical and creative thinking, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia ´s engagement with Asia. English/Literacy/Interpreting, analysing, evaluating Read an increasing range of different types of texts by combining contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge, using text processing strategies, for exampleRead MoreEffective Study Skills and Academic Performance3850 Words   |  16 PagesIntroduction Effective study skills are necessary for a college student to excel academically. The student must develop these skills in order to retain information learned in the present for their future benefit. Study skills can be a combination of several techniques, including time management, note-taking, self-testing, and test-wiseness, to name a few. There is no one best way to study, therefore, techniques can be tailored to the needs of the student to achieve the most optimal result. HoweverRead MoreA Study On Reading Comprehension2670 Words   |  11 PagesReading with Briana: A Case Study in Reading Comprehension There is a great concern over the increase of struggling readers. Studies show â€Å"that when students get off to a poor start in reading, they rarely catch up† (Kelly and Campbell, 2012, para. 1). These students are confronted with the negative ramifications of failing grades, remedial services, grade retention, and low self-esteem. The question of how to best help struggling readers is on the minds of teachers and parents alike. ReadingRead More Differentiated Instruction is Necessary to Meet the Needs of All Learners2784 Words   |  12 Pagesstudent as possible. Understanding students helps guide teachers’ decisions to match appropriate materials and strategies to each learner’s needs. The strategies and activities are student-centered, based on readiness, planned with flexible grouping designs, and changed as needed to meet the needs of all learners. These personalized experiences give students access to all of the information and skills they can assimilate in their learning journeys (Chapman King, 2005). This approach meets the academicRead MoreReading Strategies3482 Words   |  14 Pages Research Paper: READING STRATEGIES FOR ACADEMIC STUDENTS Teacher: Le Thi Tuyet Mai, M.A. Student: Chu Thi Thai Hien Class: CHAV k.17 Student’s Code: 161015 Cantho - December, 2010 TABLE OF CONTENT CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 2 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE 4 II. 1. Definition of Strategies 4 II. 2. Distinction between Strategies and Skills 4 II. 3. Difference Strategic Readers from Poor Readers 4 II. 4. Some Methods for Teaching Reading Strategies 6 II. 4. 1.Read MoreTeaching Struggling Adolescent Readers4531 Words   |  19 Pagesand strategies have different roles in the literacy classroom. Research reviewed suggests that teachers use direct and explicit instruction when teaching intervention programs and strategies to struggling adolescent readers. Direct and explicit instruction helps enhance a struggling adolescents reading ability and, therefore, helps them to succeed in the literacy classroom.  Struggling adolescent readers also need to be actively engaged and motivated in daily literacy activities. Strategies thatRead MoreHow Can Modern Technology Be Used to Aid Learning in Schools2354 Words   |  10 Pageshold of reference materials students had to search for books for a long time or had to get a membership in a library which may or may not be near their homes. However internet has made information gathering an extremely easy task. Students can now easily access and know the various developments taking place at their area of interest at the simple click of a button. Getting reference materials is not meant for only a few students. Now everyone can search and find reference materials in cyberspace and

Henry Davis ThorueaCompare Essay Research Paper Henry free essay sample

Henry Davis Thoruea/Compare Essay, Research Paper Henry David Thoreau was an American author who is remembered for his onslaughts on the societal establishments he considered immoral and for his religion in the spiritual significance of nature. The essay Civil Disobedience is his most celebrated societal protest. Thoreau believed that each individual must be free to move harmonizing to his ain thought of right and incorrect, without authorities intervention. Sharing some of the same political beliefs as Thoreau, Martin Luther King Jr. was besides an American civil rights leader who worked to convey approximately societal, political, and economic equality for Africans by peaceable agencies. In 1963, he led a March in Birmingham, Alabama, to protest citywide racial favoritism. In the writers essays, Thoreau s Civil Disobedience and King s Letter from Birmingham City Jail both portion similar feelings but besides differ in some. Both believe society demands to abandon the machine of authorities. Thoreau, every bit good as King, have similar ideas based on the thought that the lone duty an person has is to his scruples. Another similarity they portion would be minority and the bulk and the unfair ways the minority faces. A difference between the two writers would be the manner they view anarchy. Thoreau believes society, when ready, should predominate upon themselves without a authorities while King believes there should be some kind of governmental counsel. Throughout the two pieces the similarities they portion on thoughts and beliefs can easy be noted every bit good as the differences. Both believed that persons should make what they believe is right in conformity to their scruples. In Thoreau s words he believes # 8230 ; the lone duty which I [ Thoreau ] have a right to presume is to make at any clip what I think is right. Thoreau uses the word duty to asseverate his right to the unity of his ain head. He believes that an person should decline to obey any authorities regulation he believes is unfair. Thoreau himself practiced this philosophy of inactive opposition when, in 1846, he refused to pay toll revenue enhancements. This is similar to King s thoughts, I submit that an person who breaks a jurisprudence that scruples tells him is unfair, and volitionally accepts the punishment by remaining in gaol to elicit the scruples of the community over its unfairness, is in world showing the really highest regard for jurisprudence. King believes that if you go against your scrupless so you are being unfair to yourself. He feels that if you go against your beliefs, so t here is something drawing you to travel against Torahs that are unfair and follow your scruples which it is so good every bit long as you truly believe the jurisprudence is unfair. Peoples shouldn t follow society and what Torahs they inflict upon them, but yet should make what they believe is right. They both agree that if person breaks a governed jurisprudence for the interest of their ain beliefs and accept the effects so they are respectable. This similarity both King and Thoreau portion had an impact on the intent of their authorship to show the importance of following one s scruples to make what is right. Another comparing of the two would be minority vs. bulk. Both Thoreau and King feel that the minority makes up the bulk of the population, nevertheless, they have no say in any governmental determinations. The authorities has all the power and attempts to maintain the minority out of any powerful issues. Thoreau believes that # 8230 ; when the power is one time in the custodies of the people, a bulk are permitted, and for a long period continue, to govern is non because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority but because they are physically strongest. The largest group, which consists of weak ideas, are the strongest because they have the most power to obstruct any strong thoughts of the minority. King provinces that An unfair jurisprudence is a codification inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no portion in ordaining or making because they did non hold the unhindered right # 8230 ; Minority, although they make up the bulk, have no input and hence have no voice. Unjust Torahs forbid the minorities from turning. Therefore, both writers use minority vs/ bulk as an illustration in showing their feelings to demo how unfair Torahs are prohibiting growing of power among minorities. Thoreau and King, although, did oppose one another s thoughts on the topic of lawlessness. Thoreau believes that the best authorities would be no authorities at all. # 8230 ; authorities is best which governs non at all. He believes that if world was ready for it, society shouldn T be governed. Peoples should be able to turn and spread out as an person before taking portion in any authorities, # 8230 ; we should be work forces foremost, and subjects subsequently. King, in contrast, believes that there should be some type of authorities and limitations every bit long as they are merely. In no sense do I recommend hedging or withstanding the jurisprudence # 8230 ; King respects the jurisprudence to a morally right stance. Equally long as at that place in justness to a limitation, King respects and condemns Torahs. Thoreau summed up his thought of the function of authorities in Civil Disobedience. He wrote, there will neer truly be a free and enlightened State until the State comes to acknowledge the person as a higher and independent power, from which its ain power and authorization are derived, and treats him consequently. The essay greatly influenced such reformists as Leo Tolstoy of Russia, Mahatma Gandhi of India, and the leaders of the contemporary American civil rights motions. Both Thoreau and King had an influence over society in the yesteryear and continue to make so. They both believed that an person is better than a society and the lone manner one can spread out is if they break the machine of authorities. The hazard these leaders brought upon themselves is one they risked for world. It is of import that these persons did what they believed should be done, otherwise society would be a mass of weak ideas that would keep down the growing of adult male as an person.

Analytic Hierarchy Process in Operations Management

Question: Discuss about the Analytic Hierarchy Process in Operations Management. Answer: Introduction The project deals with the issue statement where the content is included about the target market, poor management, and lack of supervision by the managers and the supervisors, the focus is given on the profits of the company and the sales of the Custom Gear Inc. The problem the Custom Gear is experiencing is being stated in the project, which includes lack of the order size, lack of the future growth, inventory and the production management and many others. The actions that have been taken by Mr. Rhodes are narrated in the project. Issue statement Inappropriate production process, inappropriate target market, poor management, poor control system, suppliers are not efficiently delivering raw materials and the profit earned by the Custom Gear is not adequate. Eastern Gear is experiencing many problems that include: Lack of the policy of the order size: Eastern gear has accepted a huge lot of the order size which is been seen in the exhibit 2 of the case study. It can be seen that in the order size 1 the total number of orders are taken are 80. In size 2, the number of orders is 53. In size 3 the number of orders are 69 and so on. On the other hand, President of the Eastern Gear has also taken decision to accept the huge orders from the customers. Lack of planning for growth: It appears that the company does not have any plan to expand their business in the future. This may be the reason and the company can face problems with respect to the cash flows, problems of capacity and other problems that are associated with the growth of the company. Inventory and production control: The expediting seems to be the rule rather than the exception. Twenty percent of the total orders have the rush tags on it. The processing time of the production has increased from two to four weeks, and there does not seem the production and inventory system are not in place. There are certain orders are being handled on the rush basis and that may be disruptive with the smooth flow of the production. Objectives that are followed in the operations: It is not clear that the operations should be focusing on the cost of the product, delivery and quality of the product and the flexibility. The focus should be laid down on the objectives of the operations. The order entry system is been flawed: The time is lost between the design that is desired by the customer is flawed because the order is taken by the James and therefore, is reviewed by the engineer. The problems that are faced by Mr. Rhodes are been divided into four parts: 1. Production process, 2. Target market, 3. Management, 4. Suppliers. In case these problems are resolved, the impact of these will be seen in the goodwill of the company. Production process: The sluggish production process of the Custom gear has caused problems related to the delays in the production, late deliveries and the poor quality of the product. The main problem of the production process of the custom gears is the standard job shop layout. Every workflow has the set of the processes. Depending on the operations, the materials flow from one work centre to another. The cycle below shows the path that the typical order will follow is: Taking into consideration the floor layout of the Custom gear, it can be taken into account that the work centres are not arranged into the correct order of the workflow. They can be said to be unstructured. To get rid of this problem the layout of the shop should be arranged in the following manner: Target market: The main target of the Custom Gears is the engineering research and the development laboratories or the manufacturers. These result in the number of the small number of the gears. Custom gear is losing the market share as it is targeting small manufacturers who order very small amount of the gears from the company. This results in the low sales and revenue for the company. In order to increase the sales as well as the profits of the Custom Gear should try and target the large companies that are in need of the more of the custom gears. Doing this Custom Gear does not have to find more of the customers because the profits gained from one company would be huge. The management issues that the Custom Gear is facing are the past due raw materials in the shop. The manager and the supervisor must take note of the inventory that is lying on the shop. The materials that have expired are mostly because of the errors that have been caused by the supervisor or the manager. In order to get rid of this problem the supervisor should take extra care while placing the orders with the suppliers and avoid wastage of the resources. The company has also recorded many lost orders. Therefore, in order to get rid of the problem the management should ensure that all the orders are properly documented this ensures that the files should not be missing and there exists no complaints from the customers side about the lost orders. The operation strategy is related to the product, process, method, quality, cost and scheduling. Moreover, like any other organization the Custom gear has the definite relation with the operations strategy: Design of the product The design of the product should have a match between the operations management, finance department and the supply chain management and should look at the customers need. The methods and the processes The methods take into account the process of transforming raw material into the finished products. The process considers the conversion of inputs into outputs. Therefore, these two process in closely linked to the process design. The process selection and the facility layout takes into account the implications of the supply chain management. Cost A cost is the variable factor that affects the pricing and the profits of the organization. Organizations that have high degree of productivity in comparison with their competitors have a comparative cost advantage. Scheduling Custom Gear must plan the schedule orders deliberately. The rush orders and the large orders should be made carefully. Operating resources Operating resources are necessary for the personnel and material which is generally necessary to carry out the project. The examples of the operating resources are materials, machines, labor, tools, fixtures and many others. Custom Gear must complete the process of the operating resources. Recommendation The above-mentioned analysis that is been done on the Custom Gear Inc. the lack of proper and efficient operational controls will bring adverse changes in the organization. The sluggish production process, selection of suppliers and objectives of the sales target, the poor layout of the job shop also slowed down the production process and created confusion. The Custom Gear should target the large-scale manufacturing companies where they can get huge orders and earn the maximum revenues out of it. The production process should be changed the quality of the products should be given maximum attention. The resources that are getting wasted should be given utmost importance by the supervisor and the managers. Bibliography Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., Brennan, R. (2012).Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Prentice-Hall, London. Becker, J., Kugeler, M., Rosemann, M. (Eds.). (2013).Process management: a guide for the design of business processes. Springer Science Business Media. Chang, J. F. (2016).Business process management systems: strategy and implementation. CRC Press. Davenport, T. H. (2013).Process innovation: reengineering work through information technology. Harvard Business Press. Ferrell, O. C., Hartline, M. (2012).Marketing strategy, text and cases. Nelson Education. Fitzsimmons, J., Fitzsimmons, M. (2013).Service management: Operations, strategy, information technology. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Jeston, J., Nelis, J. (2014).Business process management. Routledge. Khanna, R. B. (2015).Production and operations management. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.. Krajewski, L. J., Ritzman, L. P., Malhotra, M. K. (2013).Operations management: processes and supply chains. New York: Pearson. Subramanian, N., Ramanathan, R. (2012). A review of applications of Analytic Hierarchy Process in operations management.International Journal of Production Economics,138(2), 215-241.

Policies for Reducing Unemployment free essay sample

Demand side policies to reduce demand-deficient unemployment (unemployment caused by recession) †¢ Supply side policies to reduce structural unemployment / (the natural rate of unemployment) Demand Side Policies [pic] Demand side policies are important when there is a recession and rise in cyclical unemployment. (e. g. after 1991 recession and after 2008 recession) 1. Fiscal Policy Fiscal policy can decrease unemployment by helping to increase aggregate demand and the rate of economic growth. The government will need to pursue expansionary fiscal policy; this involves cutting taxes and increasing government spending. Lower taxes increase disposable income (e. g. VAT cut to 15% in 2008) and therefore help to increase consumption, leading to higher aggregate demand (AD). With an increase in AD, there will be an increase in Real GDP (as long as there is spare capacity in the economy. ) If firms produce more, there will be an increase in demand for workers and therefore lower demand-deficient unemployment. Also, with higher aggregate demand and strong economic growth, fewer firms will go bankrupt meaning fewer job losses. We will write a custom essay sample on Policies for Reducing Unemployment or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Keynes was a strong advocate of expansionary fiscal policy during a prolonged recession. He argue that in a recession, resources (both capital and labour) are idle, therefore the government should intervene and create additional demand to reduce unemployment. Impact of Higher AD on Economy [pic] However, 1. It depends on other components of AD. e. g. if confidence is low, cutting taxes may not increase consumer spending because people prefer to save. Also, people may not spend tax cuts, if they will soon be reversed. 2. Fiscal policy may have time lags. E. g. a decision to increase government spending may take a long time to have an effect on increasing AD. 3. If the economy is close to full capacity an increase in AD will only cause inflation. Expansionary fiscal policy will only reduce unemployment if there is an output gap. 4. Expansionary fiscal policy will require higher government borrowing – this may not be possible for countries with high levels of debt, and rising bond yields. 5. In the long run expansionary fiscal policy may cause crowding out, i. . the government increase spending but because they borrow from private sector, they have less to spend and therefore AD doesn’t increase. However, Keynesians argue crowding out will not occur in a liquidity trap. 2. Monetary Policy Monetary policy would involve cutting interest rates. Lower rates decrease the cost of borrowing and encourage people to spend and i nvest. This increases AD and should also help to increase GDP and reduce demand deficient unemployment. Also lower interest rates will reduce exchange rate and make exports more competitive. In some cases, lower interest rates may be ineffective in boosting demand. In this case, Central Banks may resort to Quantitative easing. This is an attempt to increase money supply and boost aggregate demand. Evaluation †¢ Similar problems to fiscal policy. e. g. it depends on other components of AD. †¢ Lower interest rates may not help boost spending, if banks are still reluctant to lend. †¢ Demand side policies can help to reduce demand deficient unemployment e. g. in a recession. However, they cannot reduce supply side unemployment. Therefore, their effectiveness depends on the type of unemployment that occurs. Supply Side Policies for Reducing Unemployment Supply side policies deal with more micro-economic issues. They don’t aim to boost overall Aggregate Demand, but seek to overcome imperfections in the labour market and reduce unemployment caused by supply side factors. Supply side unemployment includes: †¢ Frictional †¢ Structural †¢ Classical (real wage) Policies to Reduce Supply Side Unemployment 1. Education and Training. The aim is to give the long term unemployed new skills which enable them to find jobs in developing industries, e. . retrain unemployed steel workers to have basic I. T. skills which helps them find work in service sector. – However, despite providing education and training schemes, the unemployed may be unable or unwilling to learn new skills. At best it will take several years to reduce unemployment. 2. Reduce Power of trades unions. If unions are able to b argain for wages above the market clearing level, they will cause real wage unemployment. In this case reducing influence of trades unions (or reducing Minimum wages) will help solve this real wage unemployment. . Employment Subsidies. Firms could be given tax breaks or subsidies for taking on long term unemployed. This helps give them new confidence and on the job training. However, it will be quite expensive and it may encourage firms to simply replace current workers with the long term unemployment in order to benefit from the tax breaks. 4. Improve Labour Market Flexibility. It is argued that higher structural rates of unemployment in Europe is due to restrictive labour markets which discourages firms from employing workers in the first place. For example, abolishing maximum working weeks and making it easier to hire and fire workers may encourage more job creation. However, increased labour market flexibility could cause a rise in temporary employment and greater job insecurity. 5. Stricter Benefit requirements. Governments could take a more pro-active role in making the unemployed accept a job or risk losing benefits. After a certain time period the government could guarantee some kind of public sector job (e. g. cleaning streets). This could significantly reduce unemployment. However, it may mean the government end up employing thousands of people in un-productive tasks which is very expensive. Also, if you make it difficult to claim benefits, you may reduce the claimant count, but not the International Labour force survey. 6. Improved Geographical Mobility. Often unemployed is more concentrated in certain regions. To overcome this geographical unemployment, the government could give tax breaks to firms who set up in depressed areas. Alternatively, they can give financial assistance to unemployed workers who move to areas with high employment. (e. g. help with renting in London)

Garrett Morgon Essays - Garrett, Free Essays, Term Papers

Garrett Morgon Essays - Garrett, Free Essays, Term Papers Garrett Morgon Garrett Morgon was born on March 4,1877 in Clayville, Kentucky. Garrett was the second child in the Morgon family. Garrett got his name by his matermal grandfather. Garretts mother was named Eliza Reed. She was the doughor of the Reverend Garrett Reed. He was the ministor of the church where Garrett was babtized. Garrett attended Branch Elementary School in clayville. He only attended school for the first three months, he worked in the fields for the other nine months. Garrett would burn inside when he thought of having to go back to the fields to work. When he was fifthteen, he asked his parents if he could leave to go on his own, so they both agreed. So Garrett left his home in Clayville and left for Cincinnati, Ohio where he worked as a handyman for a while for a white land owner. He saw no future in this, so he moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he only arrived with only a dime. Soon after he invented the safety mask ( The Safety Hood), he came up with a new device. One day he saw an accident with a carriage & a automobile & with he growing numbers in automobiles on the streets he said Why not have electrical light signals at intersections with different colored lights as signals for stopping or going? The first born traffic light signal system (which is now used allover the world), was first used on November 1923 (U.S. Patent number 1,475,024). The traffic signals where bought from Garrett to GE (General Electric) corporation for the sum of $40,000. Before his death, Garretts traffic signal was cited by the U.S. goverment for inventing the first traffic signal. After two years of illness, on July 27, 1963 Garrett died at the age of eighty-six. Garrett life was a long, happy, and extremely useful one. The world is safer because of his long work!

The Music of Josquin des Prez Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Music of Josquin des Prez - Research Paper Example that he did not compose what his patron wished – he composed when and what he wanted and that the reason as to why he frequently changed his jobs was that compared to his counterparts, he demanded a higher pay. Josquin was mostly celebrated for his motets and chansons and was very particular about his songs – if anyone tried to alter them, he became very furious. His contemporaries admired his composing skill greatly. These included Cosimo Bartoli a Florentine mid-century composer who asserted that Josquin’s standing was equivalent to Michelangelo’s stature in sculpture, as well as Martin Luther who confessed that the mastery that Josquin had was so great that it defied comparison with the endeavors of his counterparts. Additionally, Heinrich Glarean, a theorist and humanist from Switzerland, in his judgment of Josquin, confessed that Josquin’s skill was utterly versatile, so endowed with a natural vigor and acumen that he was able to do anything pertaining music. Glarean adds that this polyphonist’s songs gracefully and fluently expressed the moods of the heart matchlessly (Knighton & Fallows 15). In their commentary on Josquin’s artistic and historical position in music development, Davison and Apel compares him with Raphael, his contemporary in painting history (225). Another writer by the name Charles Joseph gives a commentary on Josquin’s inventiveness arguing that what has made his music to be so popular is its intriguing compositional logic. Josquin expertly integrates the simplest motivic cells into great melodic compositions of architectural perfection. Consequently, composition and analysis teachers have always advocated that their students examine his works thoroughly (Judd 299). Another person who praises Josquin is Henricus Glareanus. While analyzing his melodic structure and modal mixture, Glareanus pays tribute to Josquin praising this prince of the perfect art for his handling of the modes producing profound pathos, sonorous beauty

Understanding the concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Understanding the concepts - Essay Example And, thus, it ultimately assists the management to arrive at a decision. 2. According to Whittington and Delaney (2010), the primary benefit of the debt financing is that it allows the firm owners to retain full power and control over their business dealings (p.220). Debt financing does not involve complex reporting processes and, therefore, it is easy to administer. In contrast, this concept would not be beneficial for small businesses as they may find difficulty in obtaining access to potential financial sources. In addition, it would be an uneasy task for small firms to make regular monthly interest payments. Generally, organizations tend to issue stocks rather than bonds to generate funds because bonds are just debt securities while the stock is a capital asset. More precisely, bond issue would further contribute to the firm’s liability as compared to stock issue. 3. According to Harle, Luders, Pepanides, Pfetsch, Poppensieker, & Stegemann (2010), safer investments or investments having the least uncertainty may generate lower average returns, whereas investments having more uncertainty or risky investments would bring higher average returns. Hence, the level of risk a firm takes can have a great influence on its volume of revenues. Thus, financial returns are related to risk. 4. â€Å"Beta† is the blended, overall return of a particular asset type, which may be divided further by market, sector or some other organization, such as size† (Fraser-Sampson, 2011, p.164). In other words, it is the tool used for measuring and comparing the volatility of a security or portfolio against the market as a whole. â€Å"Beta† is computed by using regressions analysis. The â€Å"beta† higher than 1 indicates that the security’s price will be more volatile, while the â€Å"beta† less than 1 indicates a less volatile price compared to the market as a

Role of brand elements in developing brand equity Essay

Role of brand elements in developing brand equity - Essay Example Competition is immense in current business world and prominent companies are looking for every opportunity to increase their competitive power. Brand building is one way of increasing competitive power. Branding is a process intended for building awareness about a product or service. It enhances customer loyalty towards a particular product or service. It helps a product or service to distinguish itself from other products or services. Brands have different attributes which help them to cement their place in the minds of consumers. According to Kathiravana, et al., (2010) â€Å"Brand attributes consist of ‘bits’ of information that are linked to a brand name in consumer memory and that, when combined with the brand name, make up a brand’s image†( p.21) â€Å"Brand Equity is the value and strength of the Brand that decides its worth. It can also be defined as the differential impact of brand knowledge on consumer’s response to the Brand Marketingâ₠¬  (Brand Equity - Meaning and Measuring Brand Equity, 2013). It is the value that a consumer gives to a particular brand. For example, iPhone 5, Nokia Lumia and Samsung Galaxy S3 are some of the leading smartphones available in the market at present. Apple Inc. is the second largest company in the world in terms of market capitalization and they are the most valuable technology company in the world at present. Samsung on the other hand is one of the rapidly emerging consumer electronics company in the world and its products are well accepted in the market. Nokia was the leader in the mobile phone manufacturing industry until recent times. All these factors or brand elements will influence the consumers when they go for the purchasing of a smartphone. This paper analyses the role of brand elements in developing brand equity. Role of brand elements in developing brand equity Some of the major elements of brand equity are; changing market share, profit margins, consumer recognition o f logos and other visual elements, brand language associations made by consumers, consumers' perceptions of quality and other relevant brand values (Wilson C. 2008). Brand elements such as brand names, URLs, logos, characters, slogans, jingles and packaging are playing an important role in developing the brand equity. Brand names â€Å"Consumer behaviour blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics†(Zeb et al., 2011, p.225). For example, the name Apple actually represents a fruit. However, in consumer electronics industry, Apple represents Apple Company. A fruit stall owner may not be confused when a consumer asks for Apple. Same way, an electronics product dealer may not be confused when a consumer asks for Apple. The name Bill Gates remind us about Microsoft even through there are plenty of people in that name. Moreover, the name Microsoft reminds everybody about the computer OS whereas the name Android reminds about mobile phone OS. In shor t, brand names have the ability to touch the minds of consumers in one way or another. They play an important role in identifying the brand and building brand equity. According to Mishra & Datta (2011), â€Å"Brand  Name  (BN) was seen to have a strong impact on Customer Based  Brand Equity (CBBE),  Brand  Association (BAS) and Perceived  Brand Quality (PBQ) in case of students whereas for professionals brand  name  had a stronger impact on  Brand  Awareness (BA)†(p.109). Students and professionals interpret brand names in different ways. It should be noted that students or teenagers consider the opinions of others while taking any purchasing decision. In other words, they will purchase products based on the mouth publicity. Viral marketing or

Organizational Culture In Strategic Management

Organizational Culture In Strategic Management Culture plays an important part in our society. It refers to beliefs and codes of practice that makes a community what it is. It also plays the same role in organizations. A strong organizational culture will provide stability to an organization as it has significant influence on the attitudes and behaviours of organizations members. Most of companys top managers have a strong awareness that the culture of a company is crucial to everything they do and plays irreplaceable part in their success. However, not many companies can admit that they can describe their culture and fully understand how important it is in the success of their businesses. Therefore, this paper will give a deeper insight about how an organizations culture can have a great influence on its strategic management processes. What is Organization Culture ? There are various explanations and elements to define organizational culture. For some, it means top management beliefs and values about how they should manage the organization and conduct the business (Lorsch 1986). For some, it is an evolutionary process relating to people that creates unique characters for the organization (Hatch 1993). However, in general, organizational culture has been defined as the pattern of fundamental assumptions or beliefs that a specific group has developed through learning to deal with its problems of internal assimilation and external adaptation, and that have been approved to work effectively, and therefore it can be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, feel and behave in relation to those problems (Schein 2009). The Importance of Organizational Culture in Strategic Management : Considering the importance of organizational culture and its impacts in strategic management is very essential. As organizational culture and strategies are both social processes, many strategists argue that culture and strategies are connected. According to Alvesson (2002), cultural dimension plays a vital role in all aspects of an organization. It is so impacting that it can determine the success and failure of an organization. In leadership concept, organizational culture has been identified as one the important components that strategic leaders can use to develop dynamic organization. Culture reflects the way in which people in an organization set objectives, manage their resources and perform their tasks. Culture also affects people behaviour unconsciously. Even in those organizations where the ideal of organizational culture do not receive much explicit attention, how people think, feel, value, believe and behave in a company are generally influenced by ideas, beliefs and perce ption of a cultural nature. According to Schein (2010), organizational leaders achieve success by constantly sending clear signals about their priorities, beliefs and values. Once culture is established and accepted, they become a strong management tool for leaders to communicate and energize their members with beliefs and values to do their jobs in a strategy supportive manner. When leaders succeed in promotion ethical culture in the organization, they will also become successful in organizational growth and consequently are competitive to their rivals. Therefore, it is very important to develop a strong culture in the organization as well as strategies that are suitable to the culture in order to be strengthened by it. If a particular strategy does not match with the organization culture, it could be almost impossible to accomplish expected outcome from the planned strategy. Organizational Culture, Vision and Mission in Strategic Management : One of the perspective to look at how organizational culture supports strategic management is through its influence on organizations missions and visions. Missions and visions play an important part in companys strategic management. According to Harrison and John (2010), a written mission statement is one of the most common way that managements use to communicate with their staffs about strategic direction. Generally, missions and visions state the companys purpose and values which provides ideals and direction for the company as it interacts with the marketplace. This will not only give a sense of purpose to internal and external stakeholders but also help them in resource allocation decisions which is very for carrying out companys strategy management. However, in order to have an effective missions and visions, managements need to connect them to organizational culture. In fact, one of the way to see an organizations culture through its reflection in core values (Schein 2010). Acc ording to Tocquigny and Butcher (2012), core values are the set of belief or ideology by which an organization operates. They are the foundation of organizational culture. In this fast paced era when everything is changing, core values are still constant. The organization may develop new strategies, policies or even significantly restructure; however, the fundamental identity of the company still remains intact. These values are the essential, foundational principles that will guide the organizations vision, mission and strategies as well as define and differentiating the organization from its competitors (Senske 2003). They create a foundation of attitudes and practices that every members have to agree to follow in order to support the vision and long term success of the organization. They also provide reference points and goals which allows organization to shape and strengthen its business. As internalized perception and beliefs can motivate staffs performance to exceptional level s, an effective strategic leaders need to understand and develop their intended implemented strategies that are suitable to organizational culture in order to pursue the vision of organizations leaders. Until organization decides what those cultural values are, and how they will interact with each other, ità ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s very difficult to do anything else, whether setting goals, establishing measurements, solving problems or even making decision effectively. One example about how organizational culture can support companys vision and mission is Facebook. Facebook is described as a cutting edge technology that constantly taking on new challenges in the worlds of milliseconds and terabyte. Their vision for the company is to create a fast changing and innovative company. They do not aim for perfection that requires a long time in order to launch the product but they weigh heavily on being able to make and ship products quickly, get customers feedback and continue to innovate it. In order to encourage creativity and innovation within the company, Facebooks culture created by Zuckerberg is a relaxed, unstructured and open culture. Employees can come and go as they please, with no standard work schedules which results in more employee freedom. If employees need to chill out, they can play video or table-top games. Collaboration and teamwork are encouraged to be in an informal communication and atmosphere. They also constantly encourage people to keeping things fresh, innovative and interesting, to be bold in experimenting new ideas, without any meddling from above. All of these have fostered for a fun-loving, casual and creative working environment which makes their staffs satisfied while achieving their goal to be a rapid innovative technology company (Robbins and Judge 2011). Organizational Culture as Competitive Advantage in Strategic Management : Another reason that makes culture become a determinant of business success or failure is due to its contribution in organizations competitive advantage. Creating and sustaining competitive advantage in a particular industry is always the major concern in organizations strategic management. This is because competitive advantage will help the organization to differentiate itself from its competitors while strengthening its position in the market place. According to McDonald and Gandz (1992), culture can contribute positively to the competitive advantage of companies. It can be a great tool for organization to increase their level of performance which makes it become more competitive in market place. Fernandez and Hogan (2003) have stated that culture is the underlying attitudes and beliefs that can strongly influence individual and group behaviour. When members in an organization share the same beliefs and values, they can understand what kind of attitudes they expect themselves and ot her people to show in working place as well as how they need to behave and react in particular situation in order cooperate well with each other. As they understand what the company is trying to accomplish, it will motivate them to work for a higher purpose which in turn helps to set an organization apart from the competition (Gilmartin 1999). Managements can also use organizational culture as an effective tool to dictate, control and manage employee behaviours in their strategic management (Sinha 2008). In fact, this is a more powerful way of managing employee than companys rules and regulations. Leaders in the company can use culture to influence, educate and shape their staff s mindset and attitude to gain their support in following the companys plan and procedure while reducing resistance in the organization. Having a strong, positive and strategy-supportive culture will affect the energy, enthusiasm, working habits and operating practices of employees which will not only booste r the efficiency and effectiveness in the department but also attract many people to work in the organization while reducing their staff turnover, hiring and training cost which results in yielding a competitive advantage. Not only contribute to companys competitive advantage , organizational culture also sustains the companys competitive advantage. As a company starts to experience the superior financial performance, its competitors will also starts to seek to copy what they believe is the source of competitive advantage that generates the success of the company. After examining the relationship between culture and superior financial performance, Barney (1986) concluded that culture is the factor that can help companies to generate sustained competitive advantage. He strongly believes that a strong and valuable organizational culture is one of the most sustainable competitive advantages a company can have. This is because a valuable and rare cultures is very difficult to imitate. Giving enough time and money, competitors can duplicate almost everything what an has done. They can hire away some of the companys best people. They can reverse engineer the companys processes. However, when it comes to orga nizational culture, they canà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t duplicate the organizations culture. It is very hard for people to define culture clearly, especially in respect of its contribution to value of companys product and service. Another reason for this is that culture is usually related to historical aspects of company development as well as to the vision, beliefs and inspiration from particular strategic leaders. Organizational culture is the uniqueness and the identity of an organization that will differentiate the company from its competitors. If companies know how to make use of culture in their strategic management, it will be a powerful tool for them to sustain their competitiveness and consistence in the market while helping them to achieve success in their strategy implementation. Even when rivals try to apply the firms cultural attributes, there will be no guarantee that they can produce the same culture or obtain superior financial performance just like what the company has achieved. A good example to illustrate this point is Zappos company. Knowing that customers nowadays not only focus on good products but they also demand excellent service from the outlets, Zapposs strategic plan is to build a long term brand that not just about shoes, clothing or online retailing but to be about the best customer service and the best customer experience. To be able to achieve this goal, Zappos believes that organizational culture is the only answer. They believe that if they can get the culture right, most of other stuffs such as great customer service, or passionate employees, or building great long term brand will naturally happen on its own. In order to make employees to deliver an excellent service, instead of just using rules and procedures like other companies to educate staffs, the managements in here have shaped their staffs mindset and attitude by using culture to transmit their message to their staffs. Zappos have created a culture that encourages employees to wow e ach other by being yourself, as crazy or weird as possible, showing your care and love for other people, and just having fun in the workplace. As the employees start to be wowed by their colleagues, they will automatically want to do the same thing for other people, especially for their customers. This culture not only makes employees to be happy in their workplace but it also encourages staffs to be creative and enthusiastic in wowing their customers which results in increase in their repeated customers and their sale performance. This culture is something unique that people usually do not find in other companies which makes it attractive to their staffs as well as to other people to work in Zappos. It becomes a competitive advantage of Zappos which cannot be copied by other competitors. It makes Zappos become more competitive and differentiate themselves from their rivals in the market place (Hsieh 2010). Organizational Culture and Strategic Decision Making : Another perspective for managements to consider about the importance of their organizational culture in strategic management is its impact on their strategic decision making. As it has been mentioned above, culture is the organization s identity, values, beliefs that influences how people, from managements to employees, behave in the organization. Therefore, Thompson and Martin (2005) have concluded that organizational culture is the heart of all strategy creation and implementation. Organizational culture provides the framework for the organization, which affects nearly all the organizational activities, from the execution of strategy to the acceptance and implementation of new processes (Soyer, kabak and Asan 2007; Hill 2009; Cumming and Worley 2009). For managements, culture affects their behaviour unconsciously. It affects the choice, incidence and application of the modes of strategy creation, which reflects the values and preferences of the strategic leader. Managements do thin g in particular ways because it is implicitly expected behaviour influenced by organizational culture. Culture also influences the selection of people for particular jobs, which results in affecting the way in which tasks are carried out and decisions are made. In addition, it influences the ability of a leader to deliver his or her ideal and vision to other members of the organization as well as gaining their support and commitment when it comes to applying new strategy in the organization. In order to have a successful strategy implementation, it requires the right attitude, approach and commitment from employees which can only be influenced by culture. When a strategy match with companys culture, the culture will become a valuable ally in strategy implementation and execution. When it is not a part of the change strategy, management will usually find it difficult to implement the strategy successfully as well as achieving their target (Lawson and Ventriss 1992). Berry (1983) also believes that it may be a wiser choice for managements to select a business or strategy that will fit their companys organizational culture well in order to shift the firm toward a new strategy instead of accomplishing cultural change, which can be very difficult to achieve. Therefore, it is very important to identify the existing cultural dimensions of the organization in order to achieve successful strategy implementation. Organizational culture can be a powerful source to support companys strategy but at the same time, it can also become a great barrier to leaders if they do not consider it carefully. By understanding the elements of organizational culture and its impact on peoples behaviour, I believes that strategic leaders will be better equipped to make wise decision in making and implementing strategies to their organization. One example about how culture influences strategic decision is Walmart. In Walmart, their philosophy is to offer customers a lower price than they can get in anywhere else. Its culture is based on low cost end of every transaction in order to make profit, not from the pricing end. With the principle of saving is important as pricing, the plan has always been to drive costs out of the system in the stores, from the manufacturers profit margins, and from merchandise brokers and other middlemen, all in the service of driving down prices at the retail level, in order for Walmart to sell more, increasing the amount of business with the vendor. In order to keep their expense low, Walmart limits its store locations to rural communities with a maximum population of 10,000. This will not only hold down real estate costs but also protect the company from heavy competition in metropolitan areas. They also try to find healthy suppliers that can provide timely deliveries at low prices. Management s in here also constantly check their competitors price to make sure that Walmart offer the best drive. All of these strategic decisions support the main principle and target which is saving costs as much as possible in order to offer lowest prices in the market (Refrigerated Transporter 2002). Conclusion : In conclusion, I firmly believe that there is a strong connection between organizational culture and strategic management. Every organization has its own unique culture. It is not only the organizations identity but also the philosophy, principles that every member in organization believe and value, which affects not only peoples attitude in the organization but also the strategic decision making and management in the company. If vision and mission of organizations leaders is the goal that the company is aiming, then I believe that culture will be the compass that leads company to achieve that goal. Without the support from organizational culture, it may be impossible for companies to achieve their intended result. Culture also plays an important role in companys competitive advantage. It is a vital element that will helps organization to protect and sustain their competitive advantage from their competitors. As organization keeps building, treasuring their culture as well as careful ly considering and applying it to their strategic management, I believe that the company will be able to accomplish their goal and their leaders vision.

Euthanasia and Religion Essay -- Euthanasia Physician Assisted Suicide

Euthanasia and Religion      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the world today, medical technology is so advanced that a terminally ill patient can be kept alive for months or even years - sometimes against the will of the patient. When did suicide become a sin, and who decided that it was? "Opinion polls consistently show a majority of people professing all varieties of faiths support a change in the law for voluntary euthanasia. Even amongst Roman Catholics, more people support euthanasia than oppose (a poll in Scotland showed over 50% support), in spite of the church's opposition" (Religion and the Right to Die 1). And still in the United States assisted suicide is illegal in all but one state, Oregon.    "Official church policies usually oppose euthanasia. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest single funder opposed to euthanasia. It invests more money in its fight against euthanasia than all the combined resources of right to die societies around the world many times over" (R&RD 1).    In today's society, few churches prohibit passive euthanasia - where the patient refuses treatment or medication. The Evangelicals, Islam and the Mormon Church are faiths that restrict any type of euthanasia - passive, active or voluntary and involuntary. The most liberal of faiths Episcopalian, Unitarian, Methodist, Presbyterian and Quakers allow at least individual decision making in the choice for active euthanasia, as do the Hindu and Sikh religions. "Suicide (self-deliverance) is accepted by a number of faiths. There is the Jaina ethic of voluntary death through fasting. It is often thought that the Roman Catholic Church absolutely prohibits suicide, but Catholic theologians have confirmed that the prohibition, whilst being the Vatican's current ... ... would make if I were faced with the issue.    In my opinion, euthanasia is a moral grace to end the pain and suffering of terminal illness.          WORKS CITED Pavon, Father Frank "Brief Reflections on Euthanasia" April 2, 2001   Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.priestsforlife.org/euthanasia/euthrefl.html.>  Ã‚   1- 8.    Euthanasia: The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, April 2, 2001   Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/e/euthanas.htm.  Ã‚   1-4 Euthanasia. April 1, 2001 http://islam.org/Science/euthanas.htm   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1-3.    Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide: "All Sides of the Issue" April 2, 2001   Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.religioustolerance.org/euthanas.htm.  Ã‚   1-17.    Religion and the Right to Die. March 22, 2001.   Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.euthanasia.org/religion.html   1-4 Roy, Vance. Personal Interview, April 15, 2001. Via Internet email.

Children Don’t Need To Learn More Languages Essay

With technology progress advances communication between foreign countries. Nowadays everybody has to know english, because it’s some kind of international language. And it’s recommended to know some other languages: french, german, chineese as example. But our children don’t need to learn more languages in the future. Why? We will find the answer from the text below. Some people say: â€Å"_Those who know many languages live as many lives as the languages they know_†. It’s obvious that it’s silly to argue with this statement. It’s really necessary, because language is the soul of intellect. But people are very slothful. And we know, that progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things. Nowadays we have electronic dictionaries in our smartphones, some of them have voice recognition. Who could imagine that ten years ago? And who can imagine, what will we have in ten years? I will try. Everybody has installed dictionary in his gadget: phone, PC, Tablet PC, even in clocks. And this dictionary can translate all languages, even unimportant, like languages of small african villages. All the devices have voice recognition, so you don’t need type text. And they can translate not only words, but phrases, sentences and even texts. But people learn languages, because you don’t use dictionary while having conversation. Though in other 10 years mankind will get rid of this problem. Everybody will have small ear-device, which will translate all the words, all the languages, all the accents. People will just hear some echo of people, and the main thing – they will hear the translation instantly. Nowadays such devises are used on international meetings, political conventions. But they are far from perfect, there are  still little mistakes, so programmers need some time to do ideal ear-translator. There are a lot of words, which have several meanings. As example phrasal verbs: â€Å"call†, â€Å"run†. Or such words like ‘break†, â€Å"like†. How computer will distinguish such words? Computers become better and better, their power and capacity increases every day. Nowadays computers can analyse information and change it’s own algorithm. In the near future such computers will be open to general use. And computer will see, what words people use, and use the most appropriate words. Somebody can say, that computer is just a programm, script. And you must have intellect and mind to translate languages, that computer will never replace human. But who could imagine robots, playing the piano and violin? Who could imagine planes without pilots and cars without drivers? Artificial Intelligence becomes more intelligent, more smart. So electronic dictionaries are really possible to supplant interpreters. However US author Elbert Hubbard said: _†One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man†_, that’s why there will be several linguistic scientists who will translate books, but all the world will use digital translators. But there is another scenario of world evolution. Nowadays all international political meetings are held in english, a lot of computer programms are written in english. There are several companies in Moscow and some other big russian cities, where all the stuff speaks on english. New generation use english more and more often. Sometimes it seems, that they know english better, than russian. So, english becomes international language. In this way, do we need other languages? Of course, people will speak their native language, and english will be the secondary one, for international communication. It will be enough to have a good command of just two languages (three or four in some countries like Austria). So we can draw a conclusion: thanks to technological progress we and our children have no need to learn more languages in the future. We will learn  only two languages, our native and international one. Everything else computers will assume.

Japanese Writing for Beginners

Japanese Writing for Beginners Writing might be one of the most difficult, but also fun, parts of learning Japanese. The Japanese dont use an alphabet. Instead, there are three types of scripts in Japanese: kanji, hiragana and katakana. The combination of all three is used for writing. Kanji Roughly speaking, kanji represents blocks of meaning (nouns, stems of adjectives and verbs). Kanji was brought over from China around 500 C.E. and thus are based on the style of written Chinese characters at that time. The pronunciation of kanji became a mixture of Japanese readings and Chinese readings. Some words are pronounced like the original Chinese reading. For those more familiar with Japanese, you might realize that kanji characters do not sound like their modern-day Chinese counterparts. This is because kanji pronunciation is not based on modern-day Chinese language, but the ancient Chinese spoken around 500 C.E.   In terms of pronouncing kanji, ththere are two different methods:  on-reading  and  kun-reading. On-reading (On-yomi) is the Chinese reading of a kanji character. It is based on the sound of the kanji character as pronounced by the Chinese at the time the character was introduced, and also from the  area  it was imported. Kun-reading (Kun-yomi) is the native Japanese reading associated with the meaning of the word. For a clearer distinction and an explanation of how to decide between on-reading and  kun-reading,  read what  is  On-reading and Kun-reading? Learning kanji can be intimidating as there are thousands of unique characters. Start building your vocabulary by learning the top 100 most common kanji characters used in Japanese newspapers. Being able to recognize frequently used characters in newspapers is a good introduction to practical words used every day.   Hiragana The other two scripts, hiragana and katakana, are both kana systems in Japanese. Kana system is a syllabic phonetic system similar to the alphabet. For both scripts, each character typically corresponds with one syllable. This is unlike kanji script, in which one character can be pronounced with more than one syllable.   Hiragana characters are used to express the grammatical relationship between words. Thus, hiragana is used as sentence  particles  and to inflect adjectives and verbs. Hiragana is also used to convey native Japanese words that do not have a kanji counterpart, or it is used as a simplified version of a complex kanji character. In order to emphasize style and tone in literature, hiragana can take the place of kanji in order to convey a more casual tone. Additionally, hiragana is used as a pronunciation guide to kanji characters. This reading aid system is called furigana. There are 46 characters in hiragana syllabary, consisting of 5 singular vowels, 40 consonant-vowel unions and 1 singular consonant. The curvy script of hiragana comes from the cursive style of Chinese calligraphy popular at the time when hiragana was first introduced to Japan. At first, hiragana was looked down upon by educated elites in Japan who continued to used only kanji. Consequently, hiragana first became popular in Japan among women as women were not granted the high levels of education available to men. Because of this history, hiragana is also referred to as onnade, or womens writing.   For tips on how to properly write hiragana, follow these stroke-by-stroke guides.   Katakana Like hiragana, katakana is a form of Japanese syllabary. Developed in 800 C.E. during the Heian period, katakana consists of 48 characters including 5 nucleus vowels, 42 core  syllabograms  and 1 coda consonant. Katakana is used transliterate foreign names, the names of foreign places and loan words of foreign origin. While kanji are borrowed words from ancient Chinese, katakana is used to transliterate modern-day Chinese words. This Japanese script is also used for onomatopoeia, the technical scientific name of animals and plants. Like italics or boldface in Western languages, katakana is used to create emphasis in a sentence.   In literature, katakana script can replace kanji or hiragana in order to emphasize a characters accent. For instance, if a foreigner or, like in manga, a robot is speaking in Japanese, their speech is often written in katakana. Now that you know what katakana is used for, you can learn how to write katakana script with these numbered stroke guides. General Tips If you want to learn Japanese writing, start with hiragana and katakana. Once you are comfortable with those two scripts, then you can begin to learn kanji. Hiragana and katakana are simpler than  kanji,  and have only 46 characters each. It is possible to write an entire Japanese sentence in hiragana. Many childrens books are written in hiragana only, and Japanese children start to read and write in hiragana before making an attempt to learn some of the two thousand kanji commonly used. Like most Asian languages, Japanese can be written vertically or horizontally. Read more about when one should write vertically versus horizontally.

Free Essays on G.W. Bush Budget Opinion Piece

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH’S FY 2006 BUDGET PROPOSAL As one who is deeply interested in politics and its study, and who is engaged to a degree in its happenings, several observations have been noted by my person. It began with smaller details juxtaposed with overall outlooks. I began to notice, the more I attended my public high school, that it needed significant improvement in terms of its programs and methods of teaching and examination. After a semester in England, I compared it to my experience at my university back home, and so great discrepancies in quality of education and in terms of political activism. My home campus is a politically dead one, with students worried about a job market as opposed to world affairs. I began to notice that this was true in many other universities, as explained to me by my friends. My list of observations could go on, including but not limited to the poor quality of presidents relative to foreign prime ministers and former presidents, the lagging of American innovation behind that of the Europ ean Union, and a growing bureaucracy that makes the government America’s biggest employer. Which segues perfectly into President Bush’s budget: it presented a bigger government under a supposed â€Å"fiscal conservative.† The government has grown under this president, and he doesn’t deny that the government is in the business of being â€Å"compassionate.† But once again, education is under-funded. And this of course doesn’t make the administration that different than others. On numerous occasions, both parties have failed to address the serious problems in our education systems and opportunities they offer in a competitive global market. Perhaps the only positive thing that has occurred is the No Child Left Behind Act which was a Clinton brain-child. It passed under Bush, and isn’t positive to me in that it’s a great program, only that it’s an experiment with an ailing educational s... Free Essays on G.W. Bush Budget Opinion Piece Free Essays on G.W. Bush Budget Opinion Piece PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH’S FY 2006 BUDGET PROPOSAL As one who is deeply interested in politics and its study, and who is engaged to a degree in its happenings, several observations have been noted by my person. It began with smaller details juxtaposed with overall outlooks. I began to notice, the more I attended my public high school, that it needed significant improvement in terms of its programs and methods of teaching and examination. After a semester in England, I compared it to my experience at my university back home, and so great discrepancies in quality of education and in terms of political activism. My home campus is a politically dead one, with students worried about a job market as opposed to world affairs. I began to notice that this was true in many other universities, as explained to me by my friends. My list of observations could go on, including but not limited to the poor quality of presidents relative to foreign prime ministers and former presidents, the lagging of American innovation behind that of the Europ ean Union, and a growing bureaucracy that makes the government America’s biggest employer. Which segues perfectly into President Bush’s budget: it presented a bigger government under a supposed â€Å"fiscal conservative.† The government has grown under this president, and he doesn’t deny that the government is in the business of being â€Å"compassionate.† But once again, education is under-funded. And this of course doesn’t make the administration that different than others. On numerous occasions, both parties have failed to address the serious problems in our education systems and opportunities they offer in a competitive global market. Perhaps the only positive thing that has occurred is the No Child Left Behind Act which was a Clinton brain-child. It passed under Bush, and isn’t positive to me in that it’s a great program, only that it’s an experiment with an ailing educational s...

Government Should Provide Free Public Education to Children of Illegal Research Paper

Government Should Provide Free Public Education to Children of Illegal Immigrants - Research Paper Example It’s good for them and the nation as well. In addition, school administrators do not have the time, resources or inclination to fill the role of immigration authorities or law enforcement. The U.S. Department of Education recently made the right decision when it instructed all school districts to offer an education to all students within their jurisdiction regardless of their immigration status or prevailing public opinion. Educating young persons living in the country should not be subject ideological battles or political agendas. People who work or attend school in the U.S. without proper authorization cannot be compared with drug or weapon smugglers. The vast majority people living in the U.S. illegally do not commit crimes. Immigrant families are much like any other family and their children are innocent bystanders. However, if those children are not allowed to go to school they will not likely become productive citizens and become a burden on society in the form of welfar e recipients or criminals which costs the public more than educating them would. â€Å"If the children of illegal immigrants are not educated, they are more likely to end up as adults mired in despair and crime. If they continue to live in this country - and many will - their problems will become ours and affect taxpayers in other  ways.† (â€Å"Should,† 2011). ... Until that happens all public schools should welcome all children who walk into a classroom. The evidence and common sense dictates that all children should receive an education but ardent ideologues insist the kids of illegal immigrants not receive publically funded schooling. They believe it encourages illegal immigration, an added incentive to come and stay illegally in the U.S. indefinitely. The financial burden on schools is already stretching available funds to the limit. Adding non-citizens simply adds to the problem. â€Å"Most public schools are struggling to educate the students who are enrolled legally. The open-door policy promoted by the U.S. Department of Education places a greater burden on taxpayers at the expense of their own  children.† (â€Å"Should,† 2011) For example, the cost to educate children in the State of California totals $11,649 per student annually. Nearly one million students are children of illegal immigrants. Therefore, these students take more than $11 billion from a state education budget that totals $72 billion. (Izumi, 2010) The thinking of those opposed to education children of illegal immigrants is they would be more willing to go back to their respective places of origin if their kids could not be educated in the U.S. â€Å"The battle against illegal immigration must be fought on many fronts. When we wall off important ways to reduce it, we undercut other  efforts.† (â€Å"Should,† 2011). Americans are divided about down the middle on the issue. Support for allowing these children to receive public education stands at 47 percent while 49 percent oppose it. These numbers vary slightly by region. People in the Midwest are evenly split 50-50. Those on the Northeast favor it 52-48 percent while

Managerial economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Managerial economics - Assignment Example 6) Firms competing in a perfect competitive market industry in most cases have little motivation for competition due to knowledge on the market dynamics (Baumol 67). As a result, their understanding of the market hampers the growth and need for incentives for developing technology. Changing consumer trends, the stature and change of traditional target markets could encourage development of research so that these trends can be monitored and dealt with effectively. For instance, young people are difficult to understand since they change their trends and preferences dynamically (Baumol  68). 1) a) MTA is monopolistic in the New York Area and it poses a great deal of control over the transport market in the New York Area. This is because despite the drop in the vehicle numbers, MTA still had the opportunity to increase the toll charges for accessing and using the roads and bridges. This strategy and move is a monopolistic move since it does not conform to the rules of demand and supply (Baumol 70). b) MTA could set small toll charges for them to maximize on profit to be realized in using the toll service. This is because this strategy would not increase the expense but it would lead to increased revenue. Increase in vehicles numbers is related to the reduced toll charges (McConnell  46). c) The best decision would be to lower the tolls fees because this would the help in increasing in the customer/vehicle numbers (McConnell  91). On the other hand, increasing the vehicle numbers would make more money through revenues to MTA. 2) a) The strategy of increasing the ticket prices could work for QuadPlex in its push to make more earnings and profit. This is because; QuadPlex theatre enjoys monopoly in the cinema business in Idaho Falls. b) The market power for QuadPlex can be measured through the number of people who visit the cinema hall and the other alternatives forms of entertainment eating on

The organizational redesign with information systems Essay

The organizational redesign with information systems - Essay Example From this research it is clear that within legal systems, an information system is a combination of hardware, software, procedures, policies, people, information and data which is involved in the management of a firm’s business legal functions with an aim of meeting organizational objectives and goals with efficiency and effectiveness. The hardware within information systems includes the physical aspects of the system such as computer components and the related equipment. The software is a set of applications that are used alongside the hardware to effectively perform organizational or business functions. The software applications in a legal setting include information processing systems, database packages, finance and accounting packages, anti malware applications, and word processing packages. The policies of a legal information system comprise of the set standards for proper management of the system according to the internal and universal norms of legal firms’ functi oning. Davison and Deeks assert that procedures in a legal information system are the steps through which various legal activities and processes within the systems should follow to ensure that efficiency is enhanced and thus achievement of high quality of legal services. In an information system, the people are the human resource and expertise who are involved in various organizational activities and processes. Therefore the employees in a legal firm including the lawyers and firm management are the people who are involved in the processing of information within the information system. Data or information is a significant aspect of an information system because it helps organization to function and survive in the business environment through its application to enhance all business processes and to compete favorably within the market. The data in a law firm include records of law processes, client information, evidence material, legal proceedings and financial data. Kadiyala and Klei ner (2005) say that examples of information systems applicable in a law firm include transaction processing systems which include as set of applications for the processing of the daily legal activities and processes of the firm. Decision supports systems are other examples of information systems that are important in the decision making process of law firms and thus serve as an essential tool for the management team. Management information systems are commonly used technologies which facilitate the management process of all functional areas of any firm as demonstrated by Broadbent and Weill (1999). Other information systems such as expert systems can be used in law firms to perform specialized functions analysis of legal scenarios that would help defense of prosecuting teams to come up with a solid argument during legal processing. Forbes Solicitors Forbes Solicitors offer legal services to both commercial and individual clients. The firm operates nine offices which are committed en tirely

Common European Army Essay Example for Free

Common European Army Essay The UK and France have been willing to follow the USA’s example of military force and shown support for the idea of an EU army. Other nations have clearly rejected this approach on the basis of pacifist arguments and because they are reluctant to commit to the high level of military spending this would imply. While the EU does like to see itself as the diplomat of the world and flaunt its achievements with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), it still ponders the possibility of a middle-of-the-road strategy of militarization and securitization. There is no necessity as regards the creation of European Union Army because member states already cooperate sufficiently with each other. Creating an EU army would prove to be unnecessary because most European states are already members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. For several decades NATO has been defending the military interests of Europe. It is hard to see a problem that NATO cannot solve, which the European Defence Force could instead. NATO exists to deal with situations of such magnitude that the nations of Western Europe are likely to adopt a common defence policy. In contrast, the EDF is targeted at smaller geopolitical incidents which would otherwise be ‘beneath’ the notice of NATO. Unfortunately smaller incidents by their nature do not have uniform effects on all EU member-nations, and are therefore unlikely to generate a consensus of policy among EU nations. The EU has as much power as it has, regardless of whether they have a single military or each nation cooperates accordingly with its own forces. A single military may give the appearance of more power, but nothing more unless great policy changes went along with its creation. It can be concluded, therefore, that there is no urgent necessity for creating a common European army at this moment and for now NATO is sufficient for the EU defence policy. Creating a common European Army would not be in accordance with the EU policy and would undermine the sovereignty of member states. Even if we assume that the massive costs of a standing military force can be borne by the EU and ts members, the key barriers to establishing a standing defence force are often political. Creating a European Defence Force de novo would require to decide on several questions, namely the command structure, whether the role should be merely defensive or include peacekeeping, the choice of equipment and supplier, creating a common defence policy, and choosing a language of communication. All of these questions involve political considerations or economic vested interests, all of which are likely to result in ongoing wrangling that will yield an ineffective EDF. The Treaty of Lisbon foresees that Member States can make available civilian and military resources to the Union for the implementation of its Common Security and Defence operations. However, any Member State has the right to oppose such operations and all contributions to them will be always on a voluntary basis. There is little or no will amongst EU governments to increase defence spending to the sort of levels required to make an EU based defence and security credible. Indeed, only the Dutch government has designated a specific part of their defence budget for the ESDP. A group of Member States who are willing and have the necessary capability will be able to undertake disarmament operations, humanitarian and rescue tasks, military advice and peace-keeping tasks. No Member State can be forced to participate in such operations. In conclusion it is reasonable to say that, although the creation of a common European army might bring more unity it will be an unfair act, since the interest of member-nations in the area of defense policy are very divergent. Therefore, in order to preserve sovereignty and financial stability military capabilities in the EU should remain in national hands.

DBQ On Jacksonian Democrats Essay -- Advanced Placement US History

It is agreeable that the Jacksonian Democrats perceived themselves as strict guardians of the United States Constitution. It is not agreeable with how they went about preserving the political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity they stood for. While trying to create this balance, Jackson used tactics favorable only to his opinion. Jackson’s main idea was to rid of aristocracy, giving the power to the poorer classes, standing against rich white men. The flaw in their scheme was that the people who came up with this idea were all rich white men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the Jacksonian Democrats’ attempts to reduce the influence of the rich was by vetoing the charter to the Bank of the United States. Jackson stated his reasons in Document B mainly as a precaution of...

Comparing and Contrasting Machiavelli’s Ideas

Question: Two Word Count: 1000 Karl Marx and Niccolo Machiavelli are interested in two completely different forms of government. Yet both philosophers share many of the same key terms. They both understand the power and importance of deceit, and how it is gained. They also are equally opinionated when it comes to the subject of property and money. This essay will seek to explain, compare, and contrast Machiavelli’s ideas on power with Karl Marx’s ideas on Money. Marx believes that money has a misused transformative power in Bourgeois society, one which he argues, that we are currently subjected to.He claims that, â€Å"Money is the pimp between man’s need and the object, between his life and his means of life. But that which mediates my life for me, also mediates the existence of other people for me. † (page 136 Economic And Philosophic Manuscripts) Here he is saying that in this peculiar political economy, money is the only universal means of actualizing the needs and means of life for man. Money is so eminent and necessary that it not only mediates if or when your needs are meant, but it influences the way you see others and the way others see you.Marx goes on to say, â€Å"That which is for me through the medium of money-that for which I can pay†¦-that am I, the possessor of the money. † (page 137 Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts) Basically money has the unnatural effect of creating an authentic mirage of someone through its buying power. Marx goes on to list ways in which money can nullify natural deficiencies of a certain person, and thus contrary to human nature. Throughout the rest of the passage, [The Power of Money in Bourgeois Society], Marx cites similar examples that all lead to the conclusion that money â€Å"is the general confounding and compounding of all things. (page 140 Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts) That is to say, the ability of money to act on â€Å"all natural and human qualities† in two incompatible ways, that is compounding and confounding, is a bad things. It causes friction and complacency at the same time, which is unnatural. Marx wishes to rid us of the use of money and its effects in a Bourgeois Society because it is wholly unnatural, deceitful, and allows people to have disingenuous characteristics. Niccolo Machiavelli knows the importance of deceit to the ruling class too.Machiavelli says â€Å"It is not essential, then, that a Prince should have all the good qualities which I have enumerated above, but it is most essential that he should seem to have them,† (page 46 The Prince) because â€Å"men in general judge rather by the eye than the hand. † (page 47 The Prince) To Marx, money allows this type of transformative deception; however, to Machiavelli this ability seems to be more of a character trait. Machiavelli says this can be achieved by appearing to be the â€Å"embodiment of mercy, good faith, integrity, humanity, and religion. (page 47 The Prince) The first four characteristics, he says are the least important when compared to the last. Appearing religious is achievable by being complacent to the Catholic Church and wearing the â€Å"cloak of religion†, according to Machiavelli. This â€Å"cloak of religion† allows â€Å"pious cruelty†, and with his cloak a prince appears justified in his actions, no matter how cruel. (page 59 The Prince). Marx also knows the power of religion to quell the lower class, as the cliche goes, â€Å"Religion is the opium of the people. (Lecture Notes 3/6/13) Religion keeps the poor pacified because they are living for a better afterlife. They are also willing to blindly follow religious/political leaders in order not to obscure these chances. Both philosophers understand that money and religion can be deceptive. Machiavelli wishes to utilize this power in accord with dishonest characteristics to keep his subjects pacified. Marx wishes to point out this m ost unnatural power and free the Proletariat from its grasp.Niccolo Machiavelli also understands the power of money, when it comes to the conservation of power. Both political philosophers agree that the best government should not be rapacious. This perceived agreement is actually in stark contrast. Machiavelli believes that a prince should not, â€Å"burden his subjects with extraordinary taxes, and to resort to confiscations and all the other shifts whereby money is raised†, (page 41 The Prince) because rapacity â€Å"breeds hate as well as ignominy. (page 42 The Prince) To avoid this type of public condemnation Machiavelli proposes that a prince should be surreptitiously miserly and avoid â€Å"interfering with the property†¦ of his subjects, than in any other way. † (page 47 The Prince) Machiavelli is saying that the less a prince interferes with his subject’s money and property, the more likely his reign will succeed. As I have said, Karl Marx disagre es with Machiavelli’s ideas on what the best government should be restrictive of. In the first two measures of the Manifesto of theCommunist Party Frederick Engels and Marx state that one, â€Å"Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes†, and two, â€Å"A heavy progressive or graduated income tax†, (page 230 Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts) are key for a successful revolution of the Proletariat. These measures, along with the other eights purpose, is to rid society of class distinction. Marx wishes to rid society of private property, under the Bourgeoisie’s power, because it is the product of â€Å"class antagonism,† and the â€Å"realization† of â€Å"alienated labor† by an â€Å"alienated man. (page 81 Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts) The heavy progressive taxes would work to equalize all income. These measures set out by Marx may seem clutching, but they are only meant to restr ict the power of the Bourgeoisie. Marx’s perfect form of government would allow workers to keep the product of their labor, that is â€Å"the objectification of [their] labor†, instead of it being appropriated by the Bourgeoisie, which ultimately leads to the alienation of the laborer from the world, himself, and fellow man. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts pages 71-72) So Marx’s communism is rapacious, but only in the interest of preventing unjust rapacity by the Bourgeoisie. Marx’s measures are in obvious conflict with Machiavelli because of the two philosopher’s preference and understanding of government. Machiavelli wishes to appease his subjects to a certain extent, whereas, Marx wants the subjugated proletariat to become a public power without political character. But they both do not want anybody grabbing, what they respectively perceive, as someone else’s.They also understand the power and importance of deceit, although they have somewhat different ideas on how it is achieved. Machiavelli and Marx comparatively are on the opposite side of the coin. Marx represents the suppressed proletariat and wishes to free them. Machiavelli is advising Princes on how to pacify his subjects. These differences are irreconcilable, but hopefully this paper has clearly explained each philosopher’s arguments and given a better idea of how they might be compared.

Foundation and Empire 11. Bride And Groom

THE MULE Less is known of â€Å"The Mule† than of any character of comparable significance to Galactic history. Even the period of his greatest renown is known to us chiefly through the eyes of his antagonists and, principally, through those of a young bride†¦ Encyclopedia Galactica Bayta's first sight of Haven was entirely the contrary of spectacular. Her husband pointed it out – a dull star lost in the emptiness of the Galaxy's edge. It was past the last sparse clusters, to where straggling points of light gleamed lonely. And even among these it was poor and inconspicuous. Toran was quite aware that as the earliest prelude to married life, the Red Dwarf lacked impressiveness and his lips curled self-consciously. â€Å"I know, Bay – It isn't exactly a proper change, is it? I mean from the Foundation to this.† â€Å"A horrible change, Toran. I should never have married you.† And when his face looked momentarily hurt, before he caught himself, she said with her special â€Å"cozy† tone, â€Å"All right, silly. Now let your lower lip droop and give me that special dying-duck look – the one just before you're supposed to bury your head on my shoulder, while I stroke your hair full of static electricity. You were fishing for some drivel, weren't you? You were expecting me to say ‘I'd be happy anywhere with you, Toran!' or ‘The interstellar depths themselves would be home, my sweet, were you but with me!' Now you admit it.† She pointed a finger at him and snatched it away an instant before his teeth closed upon it. He said, â€Å"If I surrender, and admit you're right, will you prepare dinner?† She nodded contentedly. He smiled, and just looked at her. She wasn't beautiful on the grand scale to others – he admitted that – even if everybody did look twice. Her hair was dark and glossy, though straight, her mouth a bit wide – but her meticulous, close-textured eyebrows separated a white, unlined forehead from the warmest mahogany eyes ever filled with smiles. And behind a very sturdily-built and staunchly-defended facade of practical, unromantic, hard-headedness towards life, there was just that little pool of softness that would never show if you poked for it, but could be reached if you knew just how – and never let on that you were looking for it. Toran adjusted the controls unnecessarily and decided to relax. He was one interstellar jump, and then several milli-microparsecs â€Å"on the straight† before manipulation by hand was necessary. He leaned over backwards to look into the storeroom, where Bayta was juggling appropriate containers. There was quite a bit of smugness about his attitude towards Bayta – the satisfied awe that marks the triumph of someone who has been hovering at the edge of an inferiority complex for three years. After all he was a provincial – and not merely a provincial, but the son of a renegade Trader. And she was of the Foundation itself – and not merely that, but she could trace her ancestry back to Mallow. And with all that, a tiny quiver underneath. To take her back to Haven, with its rock-world and cave-cities was bad enough. To have her face the traditional hostility of Trader for Foundation – nomad for city dweller – was worse. Still – After supper, the last jump! Haven was an angry crimson blaze, and the second planet was a ruddy patch of light with atmosphere-blurred rim and a half-sphere of darkness. Bayta leaned over the large view table with its spidering of crisscross lines that centered Haven II neatly. She said gravely, â€Å"I wish I had met your father first. If he takes a dislike to me-â€Å" â€Å"Then,† said Toran matter-of-factly, â€Å"you would be the first pretty girl to inspire that in him. Before he lost his arm and stopped roving around the Galaxy, he – Well, if you ask him about it, he'll talk to you about it till your ears wear down to a nubbin. After a while I got to thinking that he was embroidering; because he never told the same story twice the same way-â€Å" Haven II was rushing up at them now. The landlocked sea wheeled ponderously below them, slate-gray in the lowering dimness and lost to sight, here and there, among the wispy clouds. Mountains jutted raggedly along the coast. The sea became wrinkled with nearness and, as it veered off past the horizon just at the end, there was one vanishing glimpse of shore-hugging ice fields. Toran grunted under the fierce deceleration, â€Å"Is your suit locked?† Bayta's plump face was round and ruddy in the incasing sponge-foam of the internally-heated, skin-clinging costume. The ship lowered crunchingly on the open field just short of the lifting of the plateau. They climbed out awkwardly into the solid darkness of the outer-galactic night, and Bayta gasped as the sudden cold bit, and the thin wind swirled emptily. Toran seized her elbow and nudged her into an awkward run over the smooth, packed ground towards the sparking of artificial light in the distance. The advancing guards met them halfway, and after a whispered exchange of words, they were taken onward. The wind and the cold disappeared when the gate of rock opened and then closed behind them. The warm interior, white with wall-light, was filled with an incongruous humming bustle. Men looked up from their desks, and Toran produced documents. They were waved onward after a short glance and Toran whispered to his wife, â€Å"Dad must have fixed up the preliminaries. The usual lapse here is about five hours.† They burst into the open and Bayta said suddenly, â€Å"Oh, my-â€Å" The cave city was in daylight – the white daylight of a young sun. Not that there was a sun, of course. What should have been the sky was lost in the unfocused glow of an over-all brilliance. And the warm air was properly thick and fragrant with greenery. Bayta said, â€Å"Why, Toran, it's beautiful.† Toran grinned with anxious delight. â€Å"Well, now, Bay, it isn't like anything on the Foundation, of course, but it's the biggest city on Haven II – twenty thousand people, you know – and you'll get to like it. No amusement palaces, I'm afraid, but no secret police either.† â€Å"Oh, Torie, it's just like a toy city. It's all white and pink – and so clean.† â€Å"Well-† Toran looked at the city with her. The houses were two stories high for the most part, and of the smooth vein rock indigenous to the region. The spires of the Foundation were missing, and the colossal community houses of the Old Kingdoms – but the smallness was there and the individuality; a relic of personal initiative in a Galaxy of mass life. He snapped to sudden attention. â€Å"Bay – There's Dad! Right there – where I'm pointing, silly. Don't you see him?† She did. It was just the impression of a large man, waving frantically, fingers spread wide as though groping wildly in air. The deep thunder of a drawn-out shout reached them. Bayta trailed her husband, rushing downwards over the close-cropped lawn. She caught sight of a smaller man, white-haired, almost lost to view behind the robust One-arm, who still waved and still shouted. Toran cried over his shoulder, â€Å"It's my father's half-brother. The one who's been to the Foundation. You know.† They met in the grass, laughing and incoherent, and Toran's father let out a final whoop for sheer joy. He hitched at his short jacket and adjusted the metal-chased belt that was his one concession to luxury. His eyes shifted from one of the youngsters to the other, and then he said, a little out of breath, â€Å"You picked a rotten day to return home, boy!† â€Å"What? Oh, it is Seldon's birthday, isn't it?† â€Å"It is. I had to rent a car to make the trip here, and dragoon Randu to drive it. Not a public vehicle to be had at gun's point.† His eyes were on Bayta now, and didn't leave. He spoke to her more softly, â€Å"I have the crystal of you right here – and it's good, but I can see the fellow who took it was an amateur.† He had the small cube of transparency out of his jacket pocket and in the light the laughing little face within sprang to vivid colored life as a miniature Bayta. â€Å"That one!† said Bayta. â€Å"Now I wonder why Toran should send that caricature. I'm surprised you let me come near you, sir.† â€Å"Are you now? Call me Fran. I'll have none of this fancy mess. For that, I think you can take my arm, and we'll go on to the car. Till now I never did think my boy knew what he was ever up to. I think I'll change that opinion. I think I'll have to change that opinion.† Toran said to his half uncle softly, â€Å"How is the old man these days? Does he still hound the women?† Randu puckered up all over his face when he smiled. â€Å"When he can, Toran, when he can. There are times when he remembers that his next birthday will be his sixtieth, and that disheartens him. But he shouts it down, this evil thought, and then he is himself. He is a Trader of the ancient type. But you, Toran. Where did you find such a pretty wife?† The young man chuckled and linked arms. â€Å"Do you want a three years' history at a gasp, uncle?† It was in the small living room of the home that Bayta struggled out of her traveling cloak and hood and shook her hair loose. She sat down, crossing her knees, and returned the appreciative stare of this large, ruddy man. She said, â€Å"I know what you're trying to estimate, and I'll help you; Age, twenty-four, height, five-four, weight, one-ten, educational specialty, history.† She noticed that he always crooked his stand so as to hide the missing arm. But now Fran leaned close and said, â€Å"Since you mention it – weight, one-twenty.† He laughed loudly at her flush. Then he said to the company in general, â€Å"You can always tell a woman's weight by her upper arm – with due experience, of course. Do you want a drink, Bay?† â€Å"Among other things,† she said, and they left together, while Toran busied himself at the book shelves to check for new additions. Fran returned alone and said, â€Å"She'll be down later.† He lowered himself heavily into the large comer chair and placed his stiff-jointed left leg on the stool before it. The laughter had left his red face, and Toran turned to face him. Fran said, â€Å"Well, you're home, boy, and I'm glad you are. I like your woman. She's no whining ninny.† â€Å"I married her,† said Toran simply. â€Å"Well, that's another thing altogether, boy.† His eyes darkened. â€Å"It's a foolish way to tie up the future. In my longer life, and more experienced, I never did such a thing.† Randu interrupted from the comer where he stood quietly. â€Å"Now Franssart, what comparisons are you making? Till your crash landing six years ago you were never in one spot long enough to establish residence requirements for marriage, And since then, who would have you?† The one-armed man jerked erect in his seat and replied hotly, â€Å"Many, you snowy dotard-â€Å" Toran said with hasty tact, â€Å"It's largely a legal formality, Dad. The situation has its conveniences.† â€Å"Mostly for the woman,† grumbled Fran. â€Å"And even if so,† agreed Randu, â€Å"it's up to the boy to decide. Marriage is an old custom among the Foundationers.† â€Å"The Foundationers are not fit models for an honest Trader,† smoldered Fran. Toran broke in again, â€Å"My wife is a Foundationer.† He looked from one to the other, and then said quietly, â€Å"She's coming.† The conversation took a general turn after the evening meal, which Fran had spiced with three tales of reminiscence composed of equal parts of blood, women, profits, and embroidery. The small televisor was on, and some classic drama was playing itself out in an unregarded whisper. Randu had hitched himself into a more comfortable position on the low couch and gazed past the slow smoke of his long pipe to where Bayta had knelt down upon the softness of the white fur mat brought back once long ago from a trade mission and now spread out only upon the most ceremonious occasions. â€Å"You have studied history, my girl?† he asked, pleasantly. Bayta nodded. â€Å"I was the despair of my teachers, but I learned a bit, eventually.† â€Å"A citation for scholarship,† put in Toran, smugly, â€Å"that's all!† â€Å"And what did you learn?† proceeded Randu, smoothly. â€Å"Everything? Now?† laughed the girl. The old man smiled gently. â€Å"Well then, what do you think of the Galactic situation?† â€Å"I think,† said Bayta, concisely, â€Å"that a Seldon crisis is pending – and that if it isn't then away with the Seldon plan altogether. It is a failure.† (â€Å"Whew,† muttered Fran, from his comer. â€Å"What a way to speak of Seldon.† But he said nothing aloud.) Randu sucked at his pipe speculatively. â€Å"Indeed? Why do you say that? I was to the Foundation, you know, in my younger days, and I, too, once thought great dramatic thoughts. But, now, why do you say that?† â€Å"Well,† Bayta's eyes misted with thought as she curled her bare toes into the white softness of the rug and nestled her little chin in one plump hand, â€Å"it seems to me that the whole essence of Seldon's plan was to create a world better than the ancient one of the Galactic Empire. It was failing apart, that world, three centuries ago, when Seldon first established the Foundation – and if history speaks truly, it was falling apart of the triple disease of inertia, despotism, and maldistribution of the goods of the universe.† Randu nodded slowly, while Toran gazed with proud, luminous eyes at his wife, and Fran in the comer clucked his tongue and carefully refilled his glass. Bayta said, â€Å"If the story of Seldon is true, he foresaw the complete collapse of the Empire through his Jaws of psychohistory, and was able to predict the necessary thirty thousand years of barbarism before the establishment of a new Second Empire to restore civilization and culture to humanity. It was the whole aim of his life-work to set up such conditions as would insure a speedier rejuvenation,† The deep voice of Fran burst out, â€Å"And that's why he established the two Foundations, honor be to his name.† â€Å"And that's why he established the two Foundations,† assented Bayta. â€Å"Our Foundation was a gathering of the scientists of the dying Empire intended to carry on the science and learning of man to new heights. And the Foundation was so situated in space and the historical environment was such that through the careful calculations of his genius, Seldon foresaw that in one thousand years, it would become a newer, greater Empire.† There was a reverent silence. The girl said softly, â€Å"It's an old story. You all know it. For almost three centuries every human being of the Foundation has known it. But I thought it would be appropriate to go through it – just quickly. Today is Seldon's birthday, you know, and even if I am of the Foundation, and you are of Haven, we have that in common-â€Å" She lit a cigarette slowly, and watched the glowing tip absently. â€Å"The laws of history are as absolute as the laws of physics, and if the probabilities of error are greater, it is only because history does not deal with as many humans as physics does atoms, so that individual variations count for more. Seldon predicted a series of crises through the thousand years of growth, each of which would force a new turning of our history into a pre-calculated path. It is those crises which direct us – and therefore a crisis must come now. â€Å"Now!† she repeated, forcefully. â€Å"It's almost a century since the last one, and in that century, every vice of the Empire has been repeated in the Foundation. Inertia! Our ruling class knows one law; no change. Despotism! They know one rule; force. Maldistribution! They know one desire; to hold what is theirs.† â€Å"While others starve!† roared Fran suddenly with a mighty blow of his fist upon the arm of his chair. â€Å"Girl, your words are pearls. The fat guts on their moneybags ruin the Foundation, while the brave Traders hide their poverty on dregs of worlds like Haven. It's a disgrace to Seldon, a casting of dirt in his face, a spewing in his beard.† He raised his arm high, and then his face lengthened. â€Å"If I had my other arm! If – once – they had listened to me!† â€Å"Dad,† said Toran, â€Å"take it easy.† â€Å"Take it easy. Take it easy,† his father mimicked savagely. â€Å"We'll live here and die here forever – and you say, take it easy.† â€Å"That's our modern Lathan Devers,† said Randu, gesturing with his pipe, â€Å"this Fran of ours. Devers died in the slave mines eighty years ago with your husband's great-grandfather, because he lacked wisdom and didn't lack heart-â€Å" â€Å"Yes, by the Galaxy, I'd do the same if I were he,† swore Fran. â€Å"Devers was the greatest Trader in history – greater than the overblown windbag, Mallow, the Foundationers worship. If the cutthroats who lord the Foundation killed him because he loved justice, the greater the blood-debt owed them.† â€Å"Go on, girl,† said Randu. â€Å"Go on, or, surely, he'll talk a the night and rave all the next day.† â€Å"There's nothing to go on about,† she said, with a sudden gloom. â€Å"There must be a crisis, but I don't know how to make one. The progressive forces on the Foundation are oppressed fearfully. You Traders may have the will, but you are hunted and disunited. If all the forces of good will in and out of the Foundation could combine-â€Å" Fran's laugh was a raucous jeer. â€Å"Listen to her, Randu, listen to her. In and out of the Foundation, she says. Girl, girl, there's no hope in the flab-sides of the Foundation. Among them some hold the whip and the rest are whipped dead whipped. Not enough spunk left in the whole rotten world to outface one good Trader.† Bayta's attempted interruptions broke feebly against the overwhelming wind. Toran leaned over and put a hand over her mouth. â€Å"Dad,† he said, coldly, â€Å"you've never been on the Foundation. You know nothing about it. I tell you that the underground there is brave and daring enough. I could tell you that Bayta was one of them-â€Å" â€Å"All right, boy, no offense. Now, where's the cause for anger?† He was genuinely perturbed. Toran drove on fervently, â€Å"The trouble with you, Dad, is that you've got a provincial outlook. You think because some hundred thousand Traders scurry into holes on an unwanted planet at the end of nowhere, that they're a great people. Of course, any tax collector from the Foundation that gets here never leaves again, but that's cheap heroism. What would you do if the Foundation sent a fleet?† â€Å"We'd blast them,† said Fran, sharply. â€Å"And get blasted – with the balance in their favor. You're outnumbered, outarmed, outorganized – and as soon as the Foundation thinks it worth its while, you'll realize that. So you had better seek your allies – on the Foundation itself, if you can.† â€Å"Randu, said Fran, looking at his brother like a great, helpless bull. Randu took his pipe away from his lips, â€Å"The boy's right, Fran. When you listen to the little thoughts deep inside you, you know he is. But they're uncomfortable thoughts, so you drown them out with that roar of yours. But they're still there. Toran, I'll tell you why I brought all this up.† He puffed thoughtfully awhile, then dipped his pipe into the neck of the tray, waited for the silent flash, and withdrew it clean. Slowly, he filled it again with precise tamps of his little finger. He said, â€Å"Your little suggestion of Foundation's interest in us, Toran, is to the point. There have been two recent visits lately – for tax purposes. The disturbing point is that the second visitor was accompanied by a light patrol ship. They landed in Gleiar City – giving us the miss for a change – and they never lifted off again, naturally. But now they'll surely be back. Your father is aware of all this, Toran, he really is. â€Å"Look at the stubborn rakehell. He knows Haven is in trouble, and he knows we're helpless, but he repeats his formulas. It warms and protects him. But once he's had his say, and roared his defiance, and feels he's discharged his duty as a man and a Bull Trader, why he's as reasonable as any of us.† â€Å"Any of who?† asked Bayta. He smiled at her. â€Å"We've formed a little group, Bayta – just in our city. We haven't done anything, yet. We haven't even managed to contact the other cities yet, but it's a start.† â€Å"But towards what?† Randu shook his head. â€Å"We don't know-yet. We hope for a miracle. We have decided that, as you say, a Seldon crisis must be at hand.† He gestured widely upwards. â€Å"The Galaxy is full of the chips and splinters of the broken Empire. The generals swarm. Do you suppose the time may come when one will grow bold?† Bayta considered, and shook her head decisively, so that the long straight hair with the single inward curl at the end swirled about her ears. â€Å"No, not a chance. There's not one of those generals who doesn't know that an attack on the Foundation is suicide. Bel Riose of the old Empire was a better man than any of them, and he attacked with the resources of a galaxy, and couldn't win against the Seldon Plan. Is there one general that doesn't know that?† â€Å"But what if we spur them on?† â€Å"Into where? Into an atomic furnace? With what could you possibly spur them?† â€Å"Well, there is one – a new one. In this past year or two, there has come word of a strange man whom they call the Mule.† â€Å"The Mule?† She considered. â€Å"Ever hear of him, Torie?† Toran shook his head. She said, â€Å"What about him?† â€Å"I don't know. But he wins victories at, they say, impossible odds. The rumors may be exaggerated, but it would be interesting, in any case, to become acquainted with him. Not every man with sufficient ability and sufficient ambition would believe in Hari Seldon and his laws of psychohistory. We could encourage that disbelief. He might attack.† â€Å"And the Foundation would win.† â€Å"Yes – but not necessarily easily. It might be a crisis, and we could take advantage of such a crisis to force a compromise with the despots of the Foundation. At the worst, they would forget us long enough to enable us to plan farther.† â€Å"What do you think, Torie?† Toran smiled feebly and pulled at a loose brown curl that fell over one eye. â€Å"The way he describes it, it can't hurt; but who is the Mule? What do you know of him, Randu?† â€Å"Nothing yet. For that, we could use you, Toran. And your wife, if she's willing. We've talked of this, your father and I. We've talked of this thoroughly.† â€Å"In what way, Randu? What do you want of us?† The young man cast a quick inquisitive look at his wife. â€Å"Have you had a honeymoon?† â€Å"Well†¦ yes†¦ if you can call the trip from the Foundation a honeymoon.† â€Å"How about a better one on Kalgan? It's semitropical beaches – water sports – bird hunting – quite the vacation spot. It's about seven thousand parsecs in-not too far.† â€Å"What's on Kalgan?† â€Å"The Mule! His men, at least. He took it last month, and without a battle, though Kalgan's warlord broadcast a threat to blow the planet to ionic dust before giving it up.† â€Å"Where's the warlord now?† â€Å"He isn't,† said Randu, with a shrug. â€Å"What do you say?† â€Å"But what are we to do?† â€Å"I don't know. Fran and I are old; we're provincial. The Traders of Haven are all essentially provincial. Even you say so. Our trading is of a very restricted sort, and we're not the Galaxy roamers our ancestors were, Shut up, Fran! But you two know the Galaxy. Bayta, especially, speaks with a nice Foundation accent. We merely wish whatever you can find out. If you can make contact†¦ but we wouldn't expect that. Suppose you two think it over. You can meet our entire group if you wish†¦ oh, not before next week. You ought to have some time to catch your breath.† There was a pause and then Fran roared, â€Å"Who wants; another drink? I mean, besides me?†